Thebeerdoctor’s NewsCloud Journal

ELECTION IN A TIME OF UNCERTAINTY

thebeerdoctor — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 23:00:29 +0000

It is coming down to crunch time in the U.S. presidential election, and the nation is in the grasp of incredible uncertainty. The mind numbing occupation of Iraq still continues, and neither of the two leading candidates will say exactly when this insanity will end; only ambiguous time tables , or time horizons, are floated out there, with caveats of “when conditions on the ground make withdrawal possible” or “when the mission is brought to completion”.
For John McCain it is all about winning, or at least not losing. A part of the Arizona Senator believes that with enough fire power, boots on the ground, and bribery of important local militias, the situation can be made manageable.
For Barack Obama, the Illinois Senator tries to assume the moral high ground by saying he was against this war from the start. But as veteran Middle East correspondent Robert Fisk has noted: “what does Obama want to do with his soldiers once he withdraws them from Iraq? He’s going to send the poor devils back to Afghanistan, that graveyard of foreign armies where the Taliban were so utterly defeated in 2001 that they are now stronger than ever.”
Uncertainty has become the lay of the land. The economic troubles, so exacerbated by petrol inflation, has lead to massive job loss, home evictions and bankruptcies. What were once seen as aberrations, have now become standard signs of the spiraling down economy. The main response from Senator McCain to the oil crisis is to drill drill drill! Senator Obama speaks of a windfall profits tax on Big Oil, and even mentioned swift boat funder T. Boone Pickens, who said: “this is a crisis we can not drill our way out of.”
How any of these suggestions will lower the price of gasoline is any body’s guess. The higher the price of gasoline, the more the profits of Big Oil increase. Exxon-Mobil’s recent quarterly earnings were the largest in history. Senator Obama mentions this, but how he would be able to get taxes on Big Oil through the legislature remains to be seen.
Then there is the business of the election itself. The McCain campaign have made it their number one focus to try an impugn Obama’s character as much as possible, by any means necessary, so as to plant xenophobic seeds of doubt that they hope will grow in the minds of the electorate, until they become convinced that the ambitious graduate of Harvard Law is not “one of us” and not ready to lead.
It has also been noted that black Americans are uneasy about Barack Obama’s candidacy. Not because they don’t support him, they do. But there is an uncertainty among plenty of folks, who have difficulty imagining him actually accomplishing this historic task, and fear their hearts will be broken, by hook or crook, or something even worse.
One thing that seems to have disappeared is the idea of any kind of landslide victory. That is why some democrats say that Senator Obama should choose Senator Clinton for the vice presidential ticket. Hard core Obamakins would howl of course, but they may just have to get over it.
Historically it should be remembered that John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson were not good friends, when he was picked as JFK’s running mate. And it should also be remembered, that with Lyndon on the ticket, Kennedy won the state of Texas. Without winning that state, in that very close election, John Kennedy would have never become the President. It just might be that Senator Obama faces a similar dilemma in this election.
It is worth noting that Hillary Clinton won the Ohio and Pennsylvania primaries, among others. She proved to be strong among older white women in those states. These are votes that Barack Obama will certainly need, in the event of a very close election.
This all may seem strange to those who bought into the idea of a new kind of politics. But Senator Obama has proven, with many recent reversals in policy, to be in fact, a flexible, pragmatic politician. Conventional wisdom has it that he will pick for VP a governor or senator from a state that seems to be in play. But many of the people glowingly mentioned by the mainstream news are somewhat unknown to the general public. By contrast, everybody knows Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.

WILL IT EVER END?

thebeerdoctor — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 14:09:33 +0000

It really is all about oil. This is where the neoconservative and neoliberal visions merge. After the hell fire that President Bush ignited by invading Iraq, causing many thousands of unnecessary deaths, now there is talk of bringing in big corporate oil companies, to get those valuable resources under control. Ah yes, the holy blessings of the free market (Barack Obama is a believer, he himself has said it) that will unleash the entrepreneurial spirit (John McCain is also a believer, he himself has said it) of profit and efficiency.
If the truth be told, the United States government did not give a damn about what Saddam Hussein did to his subjects. During the cold war, the Central Intelligence Agency helped him to be a handy anti-communist tool. Not even when Iraq nationalized its oil supply did relations with Washington go sour. It should be remembered that Saddam Hussein defied the OPEC embargo of the 1970’s, and sold oil to the United States. No, that did not stop the love fest. When Iraq attacked Iran, the United States sided with Saddam, because the US government wanted some pay back for the hostage crisis.
No, what tore it , between Saddam Hussein and Washington, was when he demanded euros instead of dollars for the oil. This would never do. And besides, George Bush knew Saddam was a bad man, he tried to kill his daddy.
The current estimate is that the US spends $138 billion annually on protecting the oil supplies, a figure that continues to increase. Despite all the patriotic pandering about bringing democracy to the world, the control of oil is what all this slaughter is truly about. But should it be? The real question is: by what constitutional mandate is the government given the right to interfere with the sovereignty of other nations. Sovereign nations who may have bad governments (don’t we?) and problems, but are what they always are, their own.
That is why the presidential process has become such a disappointment. Neither McCain or Obama are willing to do the proper constitutional mandate of withdrawing our troops from foreign entanglements. Instead they argue over who knows the best way to fiddle. Both want to increase military spending. Both want to keep pushing around the world.
All of this partisan pagaent politics is a huge distraction from realizing this country’s constitutional crisis. Both Republicans and Democrats are evading this, hoping that fear, uncertainty, doubt, will win over the gullible before they realize that the country they live in, the country they have been told, all of their lives, that holds so much promise… that country no longer exists.
Neoliberalism like neoconservatism has delusions of empire. After the guns comes the carpetbaggers. Control of fossil fuels is a brutal industry, whether it is Nigeria or The Baltic States. For many, oil is the only business, and everything must be sacrificed: human rights, environment, the rule of law, in order for the flow to be continuous. If continuous war is a consequence, so be it. A disasterous policy to be sure, but for for those on top of this pyramid, who cares? There is still plenty of money to be made.
I recently found a picture of an Iraqi Muslim family celebrating Christmas. They are wearing their Santa hats and smiling, in front of their Christmas tree.
I look again at the photograph and ask myself: why, with all that is holy, would anyone want to blow these people up? That is of course the problem of this world. Politicians justify savagery and call it being strong.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

thebeerdoctor — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 19:17:50 +0000

It is hard for some to imagine, but Senator Barack Obama may turn out to be the perfect candidate for the neo-conservative agenda. His recent speech at the AIPAC conference revealed a harder line than that of Vice President Dick Cheney, when it comes to the Middle East. He offered this caveat: “Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided.”
That is a very dangerous sore to pick if there is going to be any hope for any kind of peace. A complete denial of the Palestinians to East Jerusalem has been a point of contention for decades. Why did Obama say this? Was it to prove to this hawkish Zionist advocate group that he totally gets their agenda?
“Let me be clear, said Senator Obama, “Israel’s security is sacrosanct. It is non negotiable.”
Sacrosanct? Last time I heard that phrase was back in the 1980’s, when General Alexander Haig said that about the defense budget. What a twisted notion our political leaders have about the security of the United States. Both of the main parties think it is perfectly acceptable to tie our destiny to another country, supposedly as a defensive posture, but in reality it is just a means to continue the armaments industries. As Senator Obama said: “As president, I will implement a Memorandum of Understanding that provides $30 billion in assistance to Israel over the next decade–investments to Israel’s security that will not be tied to any other nation.”
$30 billion over a decade? That’s $3 billion dollars a year. An increase in American largese that underlines the fact that the United States government is simply not interested in avoiding foreign entanglements. Exporting more weapons sows the seeds of future conflicts, which alas, is the most hideous cynical reason of all.
Senator Obama claims he wants to end the war in Iraq, but does he really? The plan to build fifty permanent bases there, already in the works, will undoubtably continue, no matter who is elected president. That iron triangle that John McCain use to speak of, is being embraced in a truly bipartisan way. The privatization of the military will also continue. Senator Obama refuses to endorce H.R. 4102, the Stop Outsourcing Security Act. A brief exchange with Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman, revealed that the junior Senator from Illinois has not only a talent for lofty rhetoric, but also equivocation:
Sen. Barack Obama: Here’s the problem. We have140,000 private contractors right there, so unless we want to replace all of or a big chunk of these with US troops, we can’t draw down the contractors faster than we can draw down our troops. So what I want to do is draw–I want them out in the same way we make sure that we draw out our own combat troops, alright? I mean, I–
Amy Goodman: Not a ban?
Sen. Barack Obama: Well, I don’t want to replace these contractors with more US troops, because we don’t have them, alright? But this was a speech about the economy.
Amy Goodman: The war is costing $3 trillion, according to Stiglitz.
Sen. Barack Obama: That’s what–I know, which I made a speech about last week. Thank you.
On the Barack Obama web site it states: “Obama will immediately begin to remove our troops from Iraq. He will remove one to two combat brigades each month, and have all of combat brigades out of Iraq within 16 months. Obama will make it clear that we will not build any permanent bases in Iraq.”
This all sounds well and good, until you get to the next sentence: “He will keep some troops in Iraq to protect our embassy and diplomats; if al Qaeda attempts to build a base within Iraq, he will keep troops in Iraq or elsewhere in the region to carry out targeted strikes on al Qaeda.”
Enough is enough. Despite the pageant thrills of electing the first black President, when you examine the double speak on foreign policy, you’ll find that any rumors about correcting the military-industrial-congressional complex are greatly exaggerated, to say the least. How ironic that Senator Obama used the phrase from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the fierce urgency of now, to explain the reason for his presidential campaign. It should always be remembered that Dr. King used those words in a speech denouncing the Vietnam war. It would have been grand if Senator Obama would have applied some of those peace and justice principles, when he addressed the AIPAC conference. But that is asking too much. He looks good. He talks well. But he is really just a politician. If elected, he may bring about some domestic reform and just might restore some our stolen liberties. But his pandering about Iran being a threat to us, even makes that seem dubious. Obama supporters who denounced Senator Clinton before she quit, use to say: She’ll say anything in order to get elected. Senator Obama’s performance at the Amercian Israel Public Affairs Commitee, proved him to be the same.

THOUGHTS ON JOHN McCAIN

thebeerdoctor — Sun, 25 May 2008 06:46:12 +0000

There is an uneasiness about the Senator from Arizona. You see it on his face when a lesbian television host asked him about same sex marriage. Its a kind of whole body nervous laugh that suppresses uncomfortable anger. “My friends, my friends,” he will often say, that is almost his trademark, like Richard Nixon’s let me make one thing perfectly clear.
Identity and clarity have become a problem for the Republican Presidential Candidate. In this hyper-driven media universe, perception has become a constant concern. Not only are there tiny camera phones, microphones etc., but there is the 24/7 internet, ready to swallow it whole. So endorsements from crackpot pastors and former lobbyists with dubious connections, becomes a kind of odd parlor game, to see who is the next in line to be thrown to the curb. This of course is bipartisan.
What is referred to as mainstream media long ago dubbed John McCain as a Maverick. This designation has been kind to the Arizona senator. For those who know the meaning of the word, he is perceived as an independent thinker, a straight shooter as it were, ergo, the straight talk express. For those who do not know the word’s meaning, it invokes a cool riverboat gambler, a young Jim Garner, long before he became a shill for reverse mortgages. Whatever the perception, the label has helped in the past, and even now it is still trying to be applied.
Unfortunately, the archive of time has a way of catching up with you. Difficult transgressions from your past can suddenly resurface. The Keating Five scandal of 1989 was about the perception of corruption. John McCain said: “The appearance of it was wrong. It’s a wrong appearance when a group of senators appear in a meeting with a group of regulators , because it conveys the impression of undue and improper influence. And it was the wrong thing to do.”
It appears that conveying the wrong impression is a top priority to avoid. The recent release of Mrs. McCain’s tax records, despite her desire to keep them private, was done so there is no appearance of trying to hide something. As song writer Leonard Cohen once said: “soon there’ll be a meter on your bed, which will disclose what everybody knows.” Psychologically, presidential politics is a very tough arena, especially with all this, all inclusive, all invasive technology. For a man over seventy years old like John McCain, sometimes it must be bewildering.
So it is not too surprising that in a poll conducted with voters over 65 years of age, over seventy percent thought that John McCain was too old to be president. That is not age discrimination but a more honest assessment of what we are capable of, in different stages of life. This review of the job resume is important.
Senator McCain’s efforts to unite with the Republican party are difficult. Having to pander and subsequently abandon the more toxic extremist elements that usurped the Grand Old Party, has made Senator McCain appear awkward at best. The Middle East gaffe, with Senator Lieberman whispering in his ear, was quickly dismissed by big time media, as simply the Senator was having a moment.
One of the biggest assertions that attempts to make McCain’s biography bullet proof, is the claim that he is a genuine American hero. This is of course based upon his harrowing years as a POW during the Vietnam war. Never mind that he was participating in an illegal war by dropping bombs on a country with mostly agricultural peasants. If he had been put into an American prison for refusing to follow unconstitutional orders, citing the Nuremberg War Crime Trials as precedent, he would be a hero, but not in the Republican party.
Senator McCain often appears to be a thoughtful man, but other times, seems to head in the opposite direction. This is the famous temper that is whispered about, of an angry man with expletives flying out from his mouth. Then of course there is his rather weird sense of humor, that some of his colleagues have commented to not be very funny at all.
On Halloween, 2005, John McCain paid tribute to Rosa Parks from the floor of the Senate. “Rosa Parks was a civil rights icon,” John McCain noted, “who galvanized the American civil rights with her simple act of protest. She will be dearly missed but her legacy will never be forgotten.”
Certainly this was a somber tribute to a historic person. McCain, being a seasoned politician, knows how to wear different hats for different occasions. Ten days before the Halloween elegy, he was all fun and games at the Al Smith Memorial Dinner, with “my good friend, Mike Bloomberg.”
“I’m glad the Mayor, my fellow Republican is here.” The Arizona Senator remarked. “But Mike, I think we’re all relieved that the organizers decided against holding this dinner at the Apollo Theater.”
Some folks say that the straight talk express is a riot.
It will not be surprising if some new archival material, be it audio or video, will emerge to reveal the Senator from Arizona, in a hard to explain, off color moment, designed to betray his strong leadership image. No, it would not be surprising at all. The party that John McCain professes to belong to, does not actually exist any more. To maintain political survival, McCain has had to kiss the blarney stone of Bush. When running against George W. in 2000, he soon discovered he did not have the big steam money of the House of Bush. The very same evangelical knot heads he attempts to embrace now, spread vicious lies about him and his family then, the South Carolina primary being a glowing example. It would be kind if someone close to the Senator said: “John, this is not your father’s republican party.”
But that is not going to happen. The Big Wheels at Republican Central have some problems with some of McCain’s views, but these can be adjusted. He is wealthy, but he is not Big Money, so he is forced to do a dance for contributors. Attempting to pilot the ship of state, after the Cheney-Bush junta, is a formidable task. My friends, John McCain wants you to know, is ready to take on the job.

BACK ON TOP, BACK IN BUSINESS

thebeerdoctor — Sun, 11 May 2008 17:36:08 +0000

First thing, I am no longer banned on The Huffington Post. Why I was, and the speculation, lead to a piece for which I received excellent support from readers of Streetalker.com and Truthdig.com. My speculations over content, may in fact have nothing to do with it. It could have been some technical glitch in their system. Since I never received any feedback from Huffpo, I guess I will never really know. To all who sent me encouragement I say Thank You.
But this blog is not about that. Now that the occupation of Iraq grinds on into its sixth year, I would like to tell a true, personal story, that happened to me on May 2, 2003. One day after George W. Bush strutted out his flight suit on the aircraft carrier, under the banner MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.
It is difficult for some to remember what a jackbooted mentality prevailed at that time. The subservient media were all too complicit in going along with whatever nonsense the government threw out as reasons for this insane aggression. It was generally accepted that overwhelming violence (shock and awe) was not only a tactic but a solution.
At the time, then as now, my business is beer. A new Hofbrauhaus had just opened in Newport, Kentucky. At that time, the Hofbrauhaus in Hong Kong had recently closed, so there were only two in the world: Munich, Germany, and Newport, Kentucky. I was going to make my way over there that evening. I knew, being May 2, they would have their marvelous Maibock on tap. For The Beer Doctor, this was a very good thing.
I should also note that I am an “ale and safety” kind of person. I do not believe in drinking and driving. So I took a metro bus downtown and literally walked across from Cincinnati, using the old L&N bridge that had recently been repainted, as a bicycle and pedestrian thoroughfare, known as The Purple People Bridge. This was mostly an initiative on the part of the commonwealth of Kentucky. The Cincinnati entrance side had not been refurbished yet; in fact it was a kind of public works blight, where the remnants of a bicentennial display of printed metal sheets where either torn off, or degraded by graffiti spray paint. There was busted glass, thrown away cans and the smell of ancient urine. It would be months before the city got around to making the Ohio entrance presentable.
I made my way across on foot, wearing a white cotton barn coat without its lining. I also wore a 100% wool brim outdoors hat from California.
When I arrived at the Hofbrauhaus in the early evening, there was already a line formed of people waiting to get in. I went up to the entrance and said: “I am the Beer Doctor, and I am here to review your beers.” I was immediately ushered in.
What followed was a wonderful couple of hours. I ordered a stein liter of their Maibock which lasted me during the entire visit. I ordered some food which was delicious. The patrons were friendly but there was slight uneasiness. I then realized the cause: I was the only one in the hall wearing a hat that was not a baseball cap.
After a wonderful time, I left, and then I remembered Mother’s Day was only nine days away. I knew that the gigantic Party Source, located about 6 blocks east, sold some of the best greeting cards in the entire area. So sauntered my way over there. A long time patron because of their extensive beer collection, I decided to go to the beer department to see what new brews had come in. This is where the trouble began.
A fairly tall, state trooper looking chap suddenly appeared. I said: “How’s it going?” He said: “I want you to leave.”
Robert Ringer once said that when people with guns talk, he listens. I said: “OK” and immediately proceeded to leave. A shuttle from Newport to Cincinnati stops across the main street from The Party Source. I saw one coming, so I hurried across the four lane road to reach the stop. Then I heard: “He’s fleeing!”
It was the local police. Four prowlers appeared at the intersection, with eight cops in tow. They proceeded to drag me back across the road, where they started flailing me with their batons, studiously avoiding my face, but everywhere else on my body was fair game.
Fully aware of Rodney King and other law enforcement horror stories, I thought what a strange way to die. But then my instinct for survival kicked in, I thought I better play possum. Which I did. I closed my eyes and just laid there as they continued to beat me. Finally, a Sargent I later learned, leaned down and started smacking me in the face, saying: “Hey buddy wake up!” I did not respond. One of the younger members of this police posse, a plumb face patrolman fresh out of high school, nervously laughed out loud: “maybe he’s dead!”
Finally realizing I was not resisting arrest, or for that matter, anything else (talk about satyagraha!), they proceeded to pull me up, throw me into the back of a prowler, where I was taken to the Newport jail.
At the Newport jail there was a person in charge ( I am not making this up) named Officer Slocum. I asked Mr. Slocum if I could make a telephone call. He responded by knocking me down on the concrete floor of the holding cell, where I landed on my left forearm, which began to swell. There were six other “prisoners” in that cell. What crime did all of us share? None of us were driving a car. I had heard of places where they consider pedestrians to be criminals, if not terrorists, but this was the first time I saw it in action.
I will spare you dear reader much of the gory details. Suffice to say it took another day and a half to get out of jail, and another week to get the matter settled, several hundred dollars lighter. It seems they had attached the ridiculous charge of “fleeing” to being publicly intoxicated. This was no small matter, since the local legislature had enacted a law that made fleeing a mandatory one year sentence. All of this was because of another drug war horror story, where a man escaping with grass in his pocket, jumped from the road onto a walkway bridge, where an officer in hot pursuit, attempted the same jump but missed. falling and dying into the frigid Ohio river.
Since the only lawyer who can represent you is one you purchase in the commonwealth of Kentucky, I decided to represent myself. I explained what happened to the judge, and the prosecutor immediately dismissed the fleeing charge. I was fined, which, when you get right down to it, was what this was all about: money extraction. It was most certainly traumatic to say the least. I was terrified to go out of my house for nearly half a year. What was the most difficult part was sensing this new gestapo type America was here to stay. Bush was claiming he knew best. The Microsoft corporation were making claims that they owned the content on the internet. The government had decided that anyone that might be Muslim, could be a person of interest. People were (and still are) being detained, tortured, and never charged.
But much good has also happened in the ensuing five years. People, and I mean the vast majority, no longer consider the Bush-Cheney administration to be valid. There have been too many lies exposed: weapons of mass destruction, Pat Tillman’s friendly fire death, etc. There is only so much BS that anyone can stand.
When I think back to that awful year, I was a terrified beaten individual. But no longer. I write this as testament to say, despite everything, things can get better. The internet has all kinds of open source applications created by ingenious folks who believe communication is for everyone, not just the privileged few. People are beginning to find their voices, so very soon, those who advocated compassion and reason and who were unjustly ignored, will be back on top, back in business.
Thank You is my only prayer. Carpe Diem Vita Brevis.

WHEN WRIGHT IS WRONG

thebeerdoctor — Thu, 01 May 2008 13:54:28 +0000

He wished it hadn’t turned out like this, but there is nothing to negotiate. Jeremiah, Barack is not going to have a sit down with you. You think of yourself as top capo in your Chicago church, but the young skipper has a much bigger crew. Business is business even when it is personal. Jeremiah Wright showed deep disrespect for Obama and his posse.
Maybe all the recent attention went to the 66 year olds’ head. At the National Press Club he clearly was having a good time, no matter who it might trouble. The visual antics during the questions time revealed a I don’t give a damn attitude that was remarkable for also being hilarious. Maybe I have been observing politics too long, but I couldn’t help wonder is there a hidden sponsor for this show?
The Louis Farrakhan question completely tore it. So the good Reverend thinks Farrakhan is one of the important voices of the 20th century. When the Nation of Islam capo speaks, black people listen? I do not know much, if anything, about religious organizations, but I have known jazz musicians from Chicago tell me that the Nation of Islam is a gangster organization, part and or parcel of the prison industrial complex. Their outreach programs help prisoners to lead moral lives free of drugs, but also free of an individual personality. Proof once again, that religion in most of its myriad forms, is actually up to no damn good.
Rev. Wright’s refusal to criticize the most honorable Louis Farrakhan has probably more to do with south side Chicago local politics, than anything else. As one former AACM percussionist told me: “Chicago is a gangster city.”
It was indeed a sad moment when Barack Obama had to call in his marker on his former pastor. He had no choice. The Aids-US Government conspiracy theory is not as crazy as the Illinois Senator thinks. But defense of Farrakhan? That’s a nut that can be certified by Planters. The Obama folks with all their media savvy, should have seen this coming. But they either refused to see the implications or suffered from misplaced loyalty on the part of their candidate. Whatever it was, it was indeed a spectacle to watch Barack Obama having all his hope boiled right out of him.
Barack Obama should have known that if his pastor is friends with Louis Farrakhan there would be trouble. The very same Louis Farrakhan who teaches us “Yacub’s History”. That all the racial problems started 6000 years ago, when a a mad genetic scientist created white people. Surely, Obama had lived in Chicago long enough to have heard these stories. Perhaps he thought it could all be glossed over… is that what community organizers do? John McCain can get a free ride when it comes to certifiable nut jobs such as John Hagee and Rod Parsley because as the media continues to reminds us, the Senator from Arizona is an American hero. Never mind that John Hagee claimed that hurricane Katrina was God’s way of showing his displeasure with homosexuality, or that Parsley wants a holy war (jihad?) against the false, evil religion known as Islam.
The point is, from my observations, politics and religion do not belong in the same house, let alone the same room. John Kennedy, for all of his vaults, had one thing correct: religion at best, is a personal private matter, and has no business in statecraft. This was expedient on his part, in order to make clear that the President does not take marching orders from Rome. The same man who did not even use the word God, when addressing the nation on the Cuban missile crisis. What would he have thought of the junior Illinois Senator telling those in attendance at a rally, how he prays to Jesus every night? How far this nation has fallen from its secular strength.
How ironic that this religious belief that our politicians pander to has nothing to do with spirituality. Bush, McCain, Clinton, Obama all claim Jesus as their ally. Rev. Wright stated that the God that the slave owner prays to is not the same as the God the slaves pray to. This may be true, but one thing is true, for every blessed one of them: all are talking to an invisible being. Such irrational moments should be personal, and for God’s sake, private!
I am reminded of Peter O’Toole in The Ruling Class:
“You say that you are God?”
“Yes because every time I pray, I find I’m talking to myself.”

INSANITY’S HOLY LADDER

thebeerdoctor — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 16:34:00 +0000

First there is the banality of the news: US STEPS UP AIR STRIKES IN BASRA. A glib announcement to be sure, sandwiched between celebrity gossip and the latest political drool pool. It seems so abstract, so distant. President Bush proclaims this to be a defining moment. Everybody is “aiming to make sure that we have enough of a presence to make sure that we’re successful in Iraq.”
What is considered successful in Iraq is something only the commander-in-chief and his handlers can define. But something that needs no further definition is the terror and horror wrought on the Iraqis from these air strikes. Any concern about the moral ambiguities of such actions, becomes simply an argument over whether those found in the smoldering rubble, were civilians or combatants. One thing is certain, whatever their political status, they are all equally dead.
There is something about the inherent vicious cruelty of the Bush occupation doctrine that most people in the United States do not want to comprehend.
“This is a test and moment for the Iraqi government, which strongly has supported Prime Minister Maliki’s actions, ” George Bush instructed. Tell that to the forty or so policemen who surrendered their weapons to Sheik Salman al-Feraiji, representative of Moktada al-Sadr, in exchange for an olive branch and a copy of the Quran. They explained that they could not fight their brothers in the Mahdi army.
“They’re fighting some pretty tough characters,” George Bush noted, while explaining US support of Nuri Kamal al-Maliki’s crackdown on Shia militias. “People who kill innocent people to achieve objectives. And yes, there’s going to be violence, and that’s sad.”
This statement was not as dead pan glib as the vice president’s So? But equally distressing. Here is certified proof that war, or as in this case, occupation, is in itself a form of terrorism. But the people orchestrating this debacle refuse to admit this, they would rather, look at the big picture, where the inhumanity of deliberate deception becomes abstracted to a sound bite blur: Things are getting better in Iraq, I don’t care what anybody says. The surge is working. This is freedom’s defining moment.
Working for whom is the real question here. This is certainly not the case for the ordinary Iraqi who struggles to find clean water and electricity, and avoid becoming collateral damage from some misguided precision air strike. How would an ordinary US citizen feel if our cities were occupied with helicopter gun ships hovering about? One of the chief demands of the fiery radical cleric, as he is referred to here, is for the occupiers to get the hell out of his country. If the roles were reversed, and the United States was occupied, Moktada al-Sadr would be considered a fiery patriot.
“It’s still a dangerous, fragile situation in Iraq, ” President Bush cautioned. Apparently the surge is working, just not quite as well as they thought.
Using military rationalization to justify this horrendous conflict, makes the candidacy of Senator John McCain a precarious choice for president. Despite the news media excusing his foreign policy gaffes, the last thing this country or world needs is an uninformed leader, when attempting to repair the broken hornets nest that is Iraq. But this is pointless to bring up with those who subscribe to the we are not going to cut and run like they did in ‘91 mantra. The ever elusive goal of victory remains the raison d’etre, even if that involves a systematic eradication of empathy. What a peculiar form of Christianity. The holy mission of bringing democracy to the people of the world, is said to be President Bush’s plan from God. He is resolved to bring them liberation, even if it kills them, one or all.

A TRUTHLESS MONSTER

thebeerdoctor — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:18:06 +0000

This is going to be tough. It has to be. First the quote: “It is difficult for the ordinary voter to come to grips with the notion that a truly evil man, a truthless monster with the brains of a king rat and the soul of a cockroach, is about to be sworn in as president of the United States for the next four years…”
That was Hunter S. Thompson, writing about George H.W. Bush on September 14, 1987. This could also apply to the wife of a former president, who just happens to be running for the very same office. Why do I say this? Well you only have to look at the manure being shoveled out from the team Clinton barn.
“He would not have been my pastor,” Senator Clinton announced, passing judgment on the Reverend Jeremiah Wright. “You don’t choose your family, but you choose what church you want to attend…”
The arrogance that comes out of the Senator’s mouth is astounding. Woe betide anyone who has the temerity to question the authority of the United States government. According to Mrs. Clinton and the media minions, that is treasonous talk. The “chickens coming home to roost” remark about 9/11 that was so shocking, it is now classified as hate speech. I do not know the sphere of the Washington insiders, but I heard the same analysis said by white people, less than a month after the event.
With the advent of the video loop, we can now hear and see, ad nauseam, Reverend Wright saying “God damn America!” Never of course putting this into any kind of context. But why should it? It is doing the job intended. Joseph Goebbels would be proud. Do not think, emotionally react. A gut check, from day one.
Recently the prime minister of Australia made a public apology for the way his country treated the aboriginal people. It is difficult for some of the jingoists to admit, but there is honor in admitting shame. Hillary Clinton has praised Martin Luther King. Was it hate speech when Dr. King said that the U.S. government was one of the great purveyors of violence in the world? To call a black minister’s criticism of the United States government “hate speech”, reveals an intolerance that prevents real change from taking place. Barack Obama attempted to address this in his famous remarks about race. But it does not seem that the whirling dervishes of spin media had a clue to what he was talking about.
John McCain has been given essentially a free pass when it comes to careful examination of his spiritual supporters, John Hagee and Rod Paisley. Perhaps it is alright to be endorsed by religious nut jobs, just as long as they support aid to Israel and want to go to war with Iran. Jeremiah Wright is hateful when he speaks of justice for the Palestinians.
Another remarkable acrobatic trick of team Clinton was to marginalize the vote for the Iraq war resolution. According to their take, the vote was unfortunate, with the had I known then what I know now alibi. But an examination of the record shows that 23 Senators said No to that resolution, including Barbara Boxer of California, Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan. Just what did those ladies understand that the Senator from New York did not?
“President Bush’s speech in Cincinnati and the changes in policy that have come forth since the Administration began broaching this issue some weeks ago have made my vote easier.” So said Senator Clinton from the Senate floor, before casting her yea vote. It is not surprising that she refuses to admit she made a disastrous mistake. That would be admitting participatory shame, which is something a leader, ready from day one (as her inflated resume indicates), can never do.
So this wrenching spectacle continues. Hillary Clinton and her team, including the very snide ex-president, continue to demonstrate that when it comes to seeking power, there is no room for principles.
Since I am not a part of the Obama campaign, I do not have to do a mea culpa, like Samantha Power. I stand by my statement. “Truthless” is a word invented by Hunter Thompson. But it so apt for this situation. I leave you the rest of his prophetic quote: “And he will bring his gang in with him, a mean network of lawyers and salesmen and pimps who will loot the national treasury, warp the laws, mock the rules and stay awake 22 hours a day looking for at least one reason to declare war, officially, on some hapless tribe in the Sahara or heathen fanatic like the Ayatollah Khomeini.”
RIP Hunter S. Thompson.
The Beer Doctor

SO WHAT?

thebeerdoctor — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 18:00:58 +0000

The agony known as Iraq continues no matter what anybody does to try and stop it. The democrats for the most part, have proven to be the media conscious medusoids of legend. For their irresponsible part, they refuse to stop the funding of President Bush’s disaster, while the republicans, as least those in the loop, dismiss the idea of stopping the killing and maiming of their fellow Americans, with claims that the surge is working, and that defeat (i.e. withdrawal) is not an option. Just what exactly is winning, no one can explain.
Nor does anybody seem to have an explanation for why suicide attacks occur on a continuous basis. According to The Independent of Great Britain, there have been well over a thousand suicide attacks in the five years of the American occupation. Many of these attacks are not by jihadist battle hardened fighters, but rather young people who for whatever reason, economic or religious, see this as a shortcut to paradise, or imortal fame, or both.
Such blood and sacrifice should not seem too strange, even to the most complacent American. After all, is not George W. Bush often extolling the virtues of ultimate sacrifice: for the good of the team, for the good of the cause? POTUS has no problem with sending thousands of people across the globe, fully armed to do battle with the evil ones. He is ready, he informs us, to smoke them out of their holes, dead or alive. Of course religious insanity has a part to play in this. Like Osama Bin Laden, George Bush believes he is performing God’s will on earth. Delusional righteousness becomes a danger to humankind that can not be exaggerated.
Deadeye Dick Cheney shocked many folks when he said: So? When asked about the seventy five percent of the population poll that thought that the Iraq war was not worth it. The arrogance was unsettling, but then, what does the Vice President fear? Judicial Watch can force Hillary Clinton to release her public logs as First Lady, but they could not get Cheney to release the minutes of the infamous Energy Task Force. The public be damned he says, and so it is. There is great difficulty in facing the fact that we have powerful myths that are, quite sadly, accepted to be reality. The commonly held notion that might makes right, helps to enable those supposedly in charge, to spend billions of dollars perpetrating violence. But there is difficulty, at least on a public relations front, when the enemy’s arsenal mainly consists of improvised explosive devices and of course, suicide bombers. While the other side, the good guys as it were, have everything from B-52 bombers to robotically guided drones. Perhaps that is why Mr. Cheney used an odd analogy to the Civil War, as an alibi to all this filth and carnage. With an unfounded belief in the invisible, even the most horrendous activity can be perceived in a noble light.
So the question then is: what is a rational peaceful person to do? It is rather obvious that solutions to these troubles will not be found on television. Jerry Mander once pointed out that the television industry thrives on conflict. It is not surprising, considering the enormous sums of money involved. War is portrayed as noble (never mind those Winter Soldier meetings). National Health Care is impossible (just look at the drug ads on the evening news). And conflict is celebrated, from Obama versus Clinton, to pay per view, ultimate extreme fighting.
It is indeed a corporate culture that demands that the ownership class knows what is best for us all. Democracy, as it is seen, is simply getting the yokels to vote every four years. It is no historical accident that the first people who were allowed to vote in this country, where slave owning white men with land. How strange it is to talk of exporting democracy, when right here, it is one continuous struggle.

CAUGHT UP IN THE CONCEPT

thebeerdoctor — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 08:21:06 +0000

I recently spoke to a friend of mine and said somewhat dramatically that this election may be the last gasp for this country to be a democratic republic founded on human freedom. The signs of a rather dismal future are everywhere. The money is devalued. Oil has become a commodity god that justifies everything from torture to preemptive war. To paraphrase James Baker during Gulf War I, “in a word, it is about oil”. And do not forget greed. The billions being looted by the corporate outsourcing of the military, will continue no matter who gets elected. The main difference between the two political wings is that the republicans would never consider something so regressive as a windfall profits tax. KBR, Blackwater, and Bechtel etc., put out real money to make sure that never happens. The political machine needs grease. Always.
So it is quite understandable that the political establishment feels threatened by Senator Barack Obama. For the first time in twenty years, there is a distinct possibility that the pageant government known as the presidency, will not be under the control of the Bush-Clinton crime families. Imagine that! It is no wonder that the Clinton team have resorted to the kitchen sink concept of campaigning. Karl Rove is most likely, very proud.
Add to all of this, the news media’s obsession with creating a story, using ambiguous talk about image, momentum, and of course, who is raising the most money. Suddenly it is time to call in the experts. Folks who will explain that Senator Clinton is stronger than ever, despite an enormous amount of mathematical evidence to the contrary. Pay no attention to that person behind the curtain. Obama they claim, is a light as a feather fairy tale ready to float away. Not exactly the truth, but if it sticks when you throw it up a wall, use it.
All of this helps to explain the alibis given when the election results do not turn out favorably. So if 600,000 more voters went for Obama, it is because the country, as Geraldine Ferraro put it, “is caught up in the concept”. According to the former vice-presidential candidate, Obama’s success is due to affirmative action. That is why he was the first black president of the Harvard Law Review. Who would have known?
Racism, sexism, fear mongering and ridicule are useful weapons in the team Clinton toolbox. The disingenuous nature of Mrs. Clinton’s behavior should cause even her most loyal supporters to examine this election more carefully. What exactly is the concept to be caught up in? To maintain the status quo? Unfortunately maintaining things as they are, is very high maintenance indeed. The protection of the wealthy corporate elite is job number one. How else can you explain why national health care remains some abstract point of argument, rather than, as the British would say, a proper public service.
The fact that the United States government embraces the concept that violence and the purveying of it, is now proper global policy, only reveals how far the national character has been corrupted by mindless jingoistic fear. Barack Obama keeps pointing out that fear is not a working model. That not only the Iraq war is bad, but what is worse is the mindset that lead to it taking place. There is genuine empathy on the part of the Illinois candidate, for all of those not connected. People worried about losing their homes. Worried about loved ones being killed in wars no one seems to be able to explain. Worried about their analog televisions. Worried about vehicles that keep demanding more money for gasoline. Worried about jobs to get more money to buy more things, to get deeper in debt. Worried about cell phone coverage and the price of entertainment. Yes, the vast majority of Americans are caught up in the concept of a way of life, that soon, may no longer be possible. In such an atmosphere, it is not all that surprising that many ordinary Americans have said: it is time to try something different.