Hot Stove Issues – Suspicious Angels

American Justice: As Unequal As American Economics

August 29, 2018August 29, 2018 Suspicious Angels Leave a comment

What in Sam Hill is going on? Donald Trump revoking security clearances of the assorted also-ran ex-ghouls who used to be officials in what the government and beltway media would have you believe is the “best and brightest’ intelligence community in the world. They said that fifty years ago -it wasn’t true then and it isn’t true now. Those in danger of losing their pot of gold (aka their security clearance} include two admitted perjurers, an Obama apologist who was willing to publicly lie about the administration’s dirty dealings in Libya and an army general who uses his security clearance to shill for big, fat government contracts for the defense industry. There is however a real threat to Americans who don’t have security clearances and powerful friends in D.C. It’s all spelled out in the 2012 NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act) sections 1021, 1022. Back in 1942, also in the midst of war (six less than the U.S. is involved in today) FDR, like Obama, considered a “man of the people” detained over 120,000 Japanese-Americans without charge or trial in military concentration camps. Think history can’t repeat itself? Read this article, and don’t think it can’t happen again.

Suspicious Angels Gets It Wrong

August 22, 2018August 22, 2018 Suspicious Angels Leave a comment

Want to gloat a little? Run don’t walk to “Suspicious Angels Gets It Wrong.” That’s right, we are confessing that our overly optimistic hope that Neil Gorsuch would grow a moral vision consonant with democratic values flew in the face of our recognition of how an increasingly authoritarian, billionaire-run government, with leaders from both sides of the aisle profiting by our endless war strategy chooses justices who know the game and how to play it. We make up for our egregious faux pas by shining the light on departing Justice Arthur Kennedy, not swing-justice Kennedy, but right-wing Justice Kennedy appointed by the right’s lodestone, Ronald Reagan and never forgetting for a moment whose beat he was marching to. What does it all come down to? Democracy sold to the highest bidder and a Supreme Court willing to sanctify the transactions which include installing a president, legalizing voter suppression laws and dealing a death-blow to the U.S. union movement. Abortion rights are probably their next target. Justice takes on new meaning when democracy is corrupted by wealth and power. One thing for sure – the U.S. has left its democratic “cred” in the dust and the corporatist warmongers now control both politics and policy.

American Paranoia Part 2: American “Innocence” Vs. A World of Enemies

August 8, 2018August 8, 2018 Suspicious Angels Leave a comment

That big snore you hear in exceptional-land signals the end of the road for Russia-gate. When asked, only 1% of the America public believe the Russian caper was a major problem. The enemies most Americans care about are skyrocketing health costs, stagnant wages, life-time student loans, rising interest rates, crumbling infrastructure and the climate change-caused rain and fire destroying huge swaths of the “homeland.” Russia-gate has fallen out of the top ten. Even predictions of a coming Armageddon aren’t cutting much ice. This sorry state of affairs prompted leaders of America’s intelligence agencies to hold a group sing-a-long touting “new evidence” that “Russia continues to engage in malign operations” (as per usual no evidence to support that claim). if you read last week’s article American Paranoia: They’re Out to Get us, you know that even scaredy-cat Americans aren’t buying the hype. To find out how D.C. elites and their media buddies hope to reverse the Russia-gate death spiral, don’t miss American Paranoia Part 2: American “Innocence” Vs. A World of Enemies.

Exceptional America to U.S. Workers: Drop Dead

July 25, 2018July 25, 2018 Suspicious Angels Leave a comment

“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…”

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

July 18, 2018July 18, 2018 Suspicious Angels Leave a comment

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.

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

July 11, 2018July 11, 2018 Suspicious Angels Leave a comment

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.

Americans on the Dole: Working More and Getting Less

July 4, 2018July 4, 2018 Suspicious Angels Leave a comment

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)

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

June 13, 2018June 13, 2018 Suspicious Angels Leave a comment

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.

U.S. Public Schools in Free Fall: A Tragi-Comedy in Three Acts

May 23, 2018May 23, 2018 Suspicious Angels Leave a comment

Act 1 —January 18, 2017 —Confirmation hearing for Department of Education Secretary nominee Betsy DeVos in front of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions: A sampling of the future Secretary of Education’s deep thinking on and incisive grasp of the thorny issues involved in educating America’s children:

Senator Chris Murphy: “Do you think guns have any place in or around schools?”

DeVos: “I think probably there [referring to a school in Wyoming], I would imagine that there is probably a gun in the school to protect from potential grizzlies.”

Guess Who Wants to Get Their Hands on your DNA? With the Help of the Supreme Court, They May Succeed

May 16, 2018May 16, 2018 Suspicious Angels Leave a comment

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water…not so fast. The first shoe dropped when profit-making companies assailed our eardrums and our intellect to convince us that handing them our DNA for permanent inclusion on their DNA database was a dandy idea. We shredded that hokum in “Hijacking Your DNA – It Could Cost You Your Freedom”. As we pointed out, the two most disastrous consequences of paying one of these outfits to “unlock the secrets of your DNA” — your DNA becomes permanently ensconced on their DNA database giving them co-ownership of what makes you tick and once you surrender your DNA, it might (without your permission or knowledge) be accessed by the long arm of the 17 intelligence agencies that undergird the surveillance state.

Category: Hot Stove Issues