American Paranoia: You-Know-Who Is Out to Get Us

The drum beats getting louder. The wolves circling the tree for the final assault. The president under fire. The plot against America repeated on an endless loop out of every media, congressional, and pundit hidey-hole. Even the ‘party of the people’s liberal cadre have joined the hue and cry. It’s “likely” the Russians have something to do with Donald Trump. (Jeff Merkely) “Russia interfered in our elections & attacked our democracy” (Elizabeth Warren). This isn’t the first time the intelligence community has had “high confidence” that someone was out to get us. Who can forget the Iraq WMD caper when everyone (who was anybody) knew that we were in the crosshairs of a dangerous demagogue. That was then, this is now and the stakes are considerably higher, the threat of nuclear war considerably graver. Games of chicken have a nasty habit of turning on their creators. We try to distinguish the forest from the trees in this article.

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Exceptional America to U.S. Workers: Drop Dead

“Sis, Boom, Bah” —Whoops of joy from all sectors of the American noise machine, media pundits, neoliberal economists and media talking heads celebrating the rebirth of the American economy. An economic miracle, we are told, that will float all boats. The streets may not be paved with gold —yet but count on it, in the words of one of our former delusional presidents (there’s 45 to choose from), there’ll be a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage. In a more recent example, ex-president Obama was still patting himself on the back for all those jobs his administration created “We saw the longest streak of job creation in American history by far… A streak that still continues by the way…”

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Democrats in Free Fall – Devouring Their Young to Go for the Gold

The Democratic Schism is going full tilt. Not to be confused with the Great Schism in the Catholic Church in 1054 when the Eastern Christian Churches under the leadership of the Patriarch of Constantinople split with the Western Christian Churches led by the Pope (Leo IX in this case). However, it is instructive to note that both schisms 864 years apart have as their defining features winning at all costs, political jealousies, and rancorous disagreements over philosophy and beliefs. The Great Schism of 1054 was not resolved until 1965 when Pope and Patriarch met and the Schism became a draw.

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Worried About the Supreme Court Making Abortion Illegal? For 15 Million Women It Already Is.

All hell has broken loose and the keepers of the pro-choice flame are outraged. With the retirement of Justice Kennedy, who hot-footed over to the White House to say his adieus personally, President Trump has plenty of time to appoint a rock-ribbed conservative pro-lifer (no more of this “swing” vote nonsense) and get his choice confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate. You know the kind he’s looking for— a wingnut determined to come between women and their uteruses.

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Americans on the Dole: Working More and Getting Less

Remember the hullabaloo when the predators behind payday loans were finally outed? Not that we hadn’t always known that something was rotten in payday land. What we didn’t know was that our political leaders were co-conspirators. Overwhelming us with phony reassurances that “[this is] … our new American moment… There has never been a better time to start living the American Dream.” (President Trump’s first State of the Union speech)

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Getting the Short End of the Stick —Why #Me Too Might Not Be the Best Answer

I met them all. Some were vicious and crooked. But…
you saw Hollywood with their eyes—an overcrowded
brothel, a merry-go-round with beds for horses.”
—Marilyn Monroe

“One-in-four women [25%] said they have earned less than a man who was
doing the same job; just 5% of men said they have earned less than
a woman doing the same job.”
—Pew Research Center

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When U.S. War Criminals Become Nobel Peace Prize Laureates

Reporter: “Do you deserve the Nobel Peace Prize do you think?”
President Trump: “Everyone thinks so, but I would never say that.”

Judging by two U.S. presidents, Theodore Roosevelt and Barack Obama, and one secretary of state, Henry Kissinger, who have received Nobel Peace Prizes, President Trump’s might well be within shouting distance. Full disclosure: Woodrow Wilson was the third sitting president to receive a Nobel and his credentials for war criminal status are almost as impeccable as the other two. However, space and time limit us to the worst-case examples. In a later post, we may examine how President Wilson stacks up in the presidential war criminal sweepstakes.

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Workers Don’t Stand a Chance When the Supreme Court Rules that Greed is Good

Close your eyes and pretend you’re having the worst nightmare of your life. You work at Walmart, making their median salary (half of Walmart workers earn more than you, half earn less) of $19,177. You’ve just discovered you would have to work for 1,188 years to earn the $22.2 million that CEO Doug McMillon made in 2017. If that realization isn’t depressing enough, prepare to be depressed anew. Even your measly pittance and that of other workers isn’t safe from the thievery of your employers.

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