The Most Useless Thing in the US? Political Parties

Time to update slightly my original post about the evils of political parties.  In the first sixteen+ years of this century they have certainly not become any more useful than when John Adams said:

There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leader, and concerting measures in opposition to each other. This, in my humble apprehension, is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our Constitution.  (could be a headline anywhere, 2016)

or George Washington said (excerpted version appeared in my earlier post):

The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries, which result, gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of Public Liberty. 

Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind, (which nevertheless ought not to be entirely out of sight,) the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it.
It serves always to distract the Public Councils, and enfeeble the Public Administration. It agitates the Community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms; kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which find a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passions. Thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another.

There is an opinion, that parties in free countries are useful checks upon the administration of the Government, and serve to keep alive the spirit of Liberty. This within certain limits is probably true; and in Governments of a Monarchical cast, Patriotism may look with indulgence, if not with favor, upon the spirit of party. But in those of the popular character, in Governments purely elective, it is a spirit not to be encouraged. From their natural tendency, it is certain there will always be enough of that spirit for every salutary purpose. And, there being constant danger of excess, the effort ought to be, by force of public opinion, to mitigate and assuage it. A fire not to be quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume.

Most of the Founding Fathers, and the first four presidents of the United States all agree - political parties are highly undesirable and will be the downfall of this "great experiment" that is the United States.

In my opinion, there are two things that cause me to disregard a statement completely and out of hand that is made in the public forum: 1) an obvious logical fallacy or grievous error in reasoning (see any news site comments online or any letters-to-the-editor page for a plethora of examples); 2) any statement by a political party member or backer.

Membership or partisanship in any political party of any kind by anyone immediately reduces my respect or estimation of the individual's intellect or usefulness to zero.   Joining a political party means surrendering forever that one thing that makes humans special -- the ability to think, reason, and react to our world and adjust our understanding and expectations to meet a constantly evolving and changing reality.  It is an admission that "I am a non-thinking, barely functional idiot who only responds to money, and I will follow my chosen party's platform no matter how immoral, un-American, against the country's best interests, or un-constitutional it may be". 

Political parties actively discourage any such exercise of intelligence, and thus have driven the US into an impotent, second-world status and toppled it from a position of true leadership and dominance that it enjoyed immediately after World War II.  Whether that status was truly earned through intellect, noble deeds, and desire to see all humankind progress or was just a more genteel version of self-centered econo-terrorism abetted by eco-terrorism is a topic for interesting discussion at another time.

The current high point is that political parties are rapidly losing influence in the US and they don't realize it.  They still have a tight, monopolistic grip on the so-called election process, but in a positive sign the ranks of independents are constantly growing in recent years, making up a greater percentage of the electorate.

The political parties create a two-year charade of choosing the presidential candidates, but in reality they are eliminating the majority of intelligent, thoughtful voters through their limiting participation to the "factions" (see Washington above). Other first world countries easily accommodate elections that change governments in a few months time.  The only purpose for extending our election cycle is to improve the ability of "big money" to flood the airwaves with false advertising.

If you want to (or need to) be coddled by an always-rigid, nothing ever changes cocoon of ignorance - join a religion...they are hurting for members/followers/sycophants/mind slaves too.

If you really want to participate as a human being in the greatest experiment in human governance ever conceived -- then register to vote, and actually vote!  But as a thinking, reasoning Independent - not as a brain-dead sycophant of others!

What Is the Gas Mileage on That Thing?

It's been awhile since we visited the F-35, that overblown, can't shoot, and pilots don't want to fly money pit at the Pentagon. 

It turns out now the ongoing costs are stubbornly refusing to go down...they basically need an overhaul every few hours of use, and they were recently nixed from crossing the Atlantic....the "little" ocean!

Guantanamo's Wreckage

I have recently become involved in a BBC effort that solicits commentary and analysis of BBC-produced programs.  It gave me the opportunity to listen to this documentary broadcast on the Guantanamo Bay prison - but  with the emphasis on prisoners who have been released.

It is a program that does not spoon-feed the listener the viewpoint they are supposed to be adopting like so many US "cable news" programs these days.  You actually need to think here - the story is told through the experiences of real people who were incarcerated at Guantanamo.  The story eventually tells itself very well, and it is not a pretty one for US citizens who in a very real way are responsible for the unjust, inhuman, and quite frankly invented reasons for keeping some of these people there at all.

The Mystique of War

This insightful TED Talk by Sebastian Junger, a journalist who has covered many war zones is well worth watching.  This is why our politicians need to stop sending our young people off to far corners of the world on ill-designed quests for the politician's satisfaction of some abstract ideology, and then assuming that everything is going to be just fine and there will be no after-effects from the experience.

Naughty, Naughty Pentagon!

Sometimes I wonder if it is avarice, shrewdness, indifference, or just plain old incompetence that makes the Pentagon the worst run cabinet-level department almost since its inception.  At least a small part of the Senate (which is still getting a few things done, unlike the comatose House) is asking some pointed questions.

Pentagon Goofiness

The Pentagon sometimes gets caught feeding its part of the "military-industrial complex" that Eisenhower warned us about.  The A-10 "Wart Hog" retirement is one of them.  An ugly, but deadly warplane...if you were the bad guy in any ground wars in the last few decades, you did not want to see this thing popping up over the horizon.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/critics-accuse-air-force-manipulating-data-support-10-retirement/

Compare that to the F-35 which costs more (pre-deployment) than any other weapons system ever dreamed up by the Pentagon (even Reagan's Star Wars joke cost less).

It's all your money folks....

Time to Call BS on Congress...Again

I long ago gave up on anything said by anyone who is a member of a political party, much less a member of Congress.  But it turns out that Congress in particular has been lying to us with greater vigor than normal about taxes (and so have several "anti-tax" groups).  

There is collective rotten-egg-on-the-face today of every member of Congress who has ever (falsely) wailed about the "tax burden" on the poor US.   It just isn't so folks...the only place we have to go is to join a couple of sterling, role model countries...Chile and Mexico. 

Besides, everyone knows, the rich corporations that support your campaigns don't pay taxes anyway !

The Ugly Pus of the Bush II Dynasty Starts to Ooze

Some of the really ugly aspects of the Bush II realm are starting to emerge finally, and they are presenting the Obama administration with some ugly choices in some areas because the administration is basically bound to defend the acts of prior administrations in most cases. 

One of the ugliest is the CIA's "role" in the Bush-era war on terror, which paints neither the US government, nor the CIA in particular in a particularly flattering light.

The Real F-35 Story

The 60 Minutes report that I posted about unfortunately turned out to be a disappointing fluff piece, interviewing only proponents of the program from the Pentagon and elsewhere. There was a minimal amount of tsk-tsking and hand wringing about "gee we know it costs a lot" (but it isn't my money.....so send some more...). 

60 Minutes journalistic quality has slipped in several areas in the last few years, and I no longer trust them as much as I once did.  However, I had hoped with a program so deeply flawed and based on such ridiculous assumptions from the outset as the F-35 they would do better.

Fortunately the Project On Government Oversight (POGO) stepped into the breach.  This article is an interview with Winslow Wheeler, director of POGO's Straus Military Reform Project which is full of interesting and insightful analysis into that tax-dollar cesspool we call the Pentagon.

He mentions a website that is dedicated to tracking the F-35 abomination and hopefully spurring people to do something about it.

Both the POGO page and the website have this video, but it is important enough that I am posting it here as well.

    

My only regret is that I did not coin "The Jet That Ate the Pentagon", but then again with the prevailing attitude in Washington DC of "just keep pouring money onto it" where the Pentagon is concerned it may not be possible for any program to actually "eat the Pentagon".

Inequality in the Land of Equality

This is one of the best Shields and Brooks episodes in recent memory.  They are basically in agreement that income inequality is serious and unsupportable but seem uncertain about how or if government has the will to actually do anything about it.

I especially appreciated Mark Shield's observation about the last four years...95% of the US wealth flowed to the top 1% of the individuals who own 33% of the available stock.  Doesn't sound like socialism to me either, Mark!

 

I'm Calling BS!

There is a lot of backslapping and congratulations on the "bipartisan budget deal" that President Obama signed today.  The sound of politician's arms patting themselves on the back is almost deafening, but in reality this is still light years from where how the budget process is supposed to work.  There are specific dates in law that are to be met for the Executive to submit to Congress a budget request for the next year.

Throughout all of this recent mess the Executive branch has been doing quite a lot better at meeting its dates than Congress.  Congress just never bothered to pass any kind of a budget for the years 2011, 2012, or 2013 (law requires them to pass it by April 15)...instead relying on a bunch of "here's a check to tide you over" resolutions that shut down large parts of the government (but left the profligate money-spewers at the Pentagon largely unhampered). 

Instead of any congratulations...all 535 members of Congress should be slinking off home to write their resignation letters, for the crime of perpetrating fraud on the American citizen and taxpayer.     

In other words...BS to the "miraculous budget deal"!

Revolving DC Door Works Both Ways

The "revolving door" in Washington usually refers to people in DC "retiring" to cushy lobbyist or advisory jobs from posts of influence (or sometimes only a lowly Congressperson). 

But this particular spinning door actually works both ways...as this Center For Public Integrity article notes when an industry insider gets to "oversee" the industry he was an "insider" (and partier) to. 

The folks at CPI do great work and you should read their reports regularly (and support them if able), but sometimes it must seem to them like such an uphill battle.... 

Land of Oppportunity? Not so Fast

If you are open-minded enough, here is a presentation that tells the economic story of America today in concrete, factual terms.  I checked the data behind this, and it is pretty accurate.  For links to the references behind the presentation, go to the YouTube page and open the 'References' section:

The Folly of the Filibuster

I disagree with David Brooks on this one - I don't think the presence of the filibuster helps in any way the reputation, "comity", or certainly the effectiveness of the Senate.   The filibuster is not mentioned in any fashion in the Constitution, instead it is a pure invention of evil political parties to try and subvert the process to their own ends.

Indeed, I think the filibuster is an abject admission of failure:

"My ideas or standing are so poorly reasoned out or just plain indefensible that I cannot persuade anyone to move to my side, or even compromise.  Therefore I will basically throw a second-grader's schoolyard fit until my face turns blue (or I keel over), then you will be sorry!!!".  

Pentagon Waste - Carrying on a Proud Tradition

I have written elsewhere in this blog about the proudly un-auditable Pentagon waste machine that shreds (or just plain loses) taxpayer dollars each and every day and seems very unconcerned about it.  (Of course, all they have to do is ask the Repubs for more I guess). 

Reuters is now taking its own look at it, putting a very human face on some of the very real victims -- US service men and women.  Then in the second part they outline how the Pentagon literally cannot keep track of anything...not just money.

The Congress That Couldn't, Wouldn't, Didn't

The rudderless, aimless Congress that hasn't done anything for the last four years seems to be circling the drain...unfortunately they are creating a whirlpool that threatens to take the world economy down with it.  I really wish we had the ability in this country to have a 'vote of no confidence' capability.  The citizenry at large is beginning to think the same way I see....

• 60 Percent Say Fire Every Member of Congress
• Shutdown Debate Damages GOP

By the way, Independents are now a larger group than either political party, so the news is even worse there -- the pool that Congress has to draw from if they ever hope to attract more non-thinkers back to their ranks:

21-Point Swing Against Congressional GOP Among Independents

F-35 Strikes...The Pentagon...Again

The unbelievably incompetent saga of the Pentagon and the F-35 continues.  The Pentagon's own auditor, the Defense Department Office of the Inspector General says that the Pentagon oversight was both "inadequate" and "ineffective".

At this point in the costly debacle (follow the Pentagon Spending tag in the cloud on the right side of the blog or search for 'F-35'), I think the only appropriate comment is...."no s*it Sherlock"!!!

Tired of the "Shutdown" BS yet?

The idiocy of the morons in Congress (yes, all 535 of them) has gotten the country nowhere...and it really is a debate about nothing going on in Washington right now (see video below).  Given that all of the parties involved are political party members, which brings their intelligence into question anyway, there is not a lot of hope.     

Enjoy an intelligent, informed discussion of the issues, not available anywhere else on public media except for PBS News. 

If You Want a Concrete Reason for the Shenanigans in DC

I know....what ISN'T shenanigans in Washington DC these days? 

I am talking specifically about the Repubs and their particular form of insanity.  (Insanity of course being defined as doing the same crazy or self-destructive thing over and over again and expecting a different result).  Their prolonged childish hissy-fit over the AHCA does have a dark side to it...one that I suspect has a great deal of truth in it, possibly even the primary reason for their insanity.  Keep in mind this analysis is written by a former executive at one of the nation's largest health insurers who finally decided he had seen enough:

http://www.publicintegrity.org/2013/09/30/13474/beginning-end-major-health-insurers

The Tea Party Hates the US

The Tea Party heralds itself as some kind of a heroic 'back to the roots' of America type organization, but I and a number of other thinkers I respect believe it is just the opposite.  They are in fact holding us back from the things that need done to undo the damage that has been wreaked on the country by the government and most particularly the "me generation" since the end of the Cold War. 

A Soviet expert on the United States (Georgi Arbatov) was prescient at the time when he said "We are going to do a terrible thing to you.  We are going to deprive you of an enemy."  Oscar Wilde said "In this world there are only two tragedies.  One is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it."

Since the late 80s, the US has turned inward...while the rest of the world took the innovations largely fostered in the US and used them to open up the rest of the world.  In many ways we are now the cloistered, festering, ignorant country that China was before they were 'opened' to the rest of the world. The sad thing is, the Tea Party in particular but all of Washington DC in particular seems to want to keep it that way and nail the doors shut permanently.

The above link is to Tom Friedman's column, and I have just started reading his book (co-authored with Michael Mandelbaum)  "That Used To Be Us".  This linked column is essentially the theme of the book in a nutshell.  Watch this space for a review when I finish it -- it is sobering, yet hopeful reading about the future of the US and what we can yet leave our children if only we can keep the Neanderthals like the Tea Party out of the way.