Wednesday, December 30, 2009

The 9th and 10th Amendments




The 9th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution alludes to "rights retained by the people"; the 10th Amendment alludes to "powers reserved to the people."

Funny how these unarticulated Constitutional rights have remained unarticulated these 222 years...

What if the people of this nation had retained not only unspecified rights and reserved not only unspecified powers but also a sense of Constitutional entitlement and a political imagination?

I dare to suggest that we wouldn't be floating aimlessly in this ship of fools; but, perhaps, I'm overly optimistic.

Obama's secret war in the Yemen against "al-Qaeda" is just further confirmation of his complete subservience to the Plutocratic Machiocracy that this country has become. Anyone paying attention knows that the Yemeni government has been involved for years in a protracted tribal revolt that has absolutely nothing to do with any part of the world EXCEPT the Yemen.

The stooge who managed to set himself on fire on Northwest flight 253 was just that: a stooge. He does not appear to have any credible connection whatsoever with the ongoing civil war in Yemen.

Obama is entirely complicit with the radical Right's imperialistic war-plan. All of this is just dress rehearsal for Iran--which may have been the "real" target from the very beginning.

Maintaining unemployment levels at 10% should ensure a healthy recruiting pool for the military. Everything is falling into place.

Some of us thought that Obama was going to be the "black Bobby Kennedy." Perhaps he is better thought of as the radical Right's "Manchurian candidate."

What a betrayal.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

A Noun, A Verb, and 9/11

Do you recall that bon mot delivered by Joe Biden against the cynical 9/11 mantra of Rudy Giuliani during the last Presidential race?

Anyone listening to Obama's speech at West Point should have been reminded of that clever line--only this time, it applies to Biden's running mate, Barack Obama.

It's no longer enough that Obama is substantially continuing the criminal policies of his predecessor; he's even employing Bush's speech writers.

"My fellow Amnesians, 9/11, 9/11, 9/11, 9/11, 9/11, 9/11, 9/11. Oh, and by the way, did I mention 9/11? Good thing you won't fall for that scare tactic any longer! Thank you and God bless the Orwellian States of Amnesia."

What an arc George W. Obama has traveled in the past 12 months: from the sublime campaign, to the ridiculous sell out of healthcare "reform" to the insurance and pharmaceutical companies, to the contemptible fear-mongering with which he introduced his plan to "finish the (undefined) job" in Afghanistan.

The U.S. will increase its troop strength in that beleagured country by at least 30,000 souls. Our stalwart ally, Great Britain, has promised to cough up an additional 500 troops. If I've done the math right, that comes to a commitment on the part of Great Britain that is 1/60th of our own.

The Brits are clearly content to let Obama hang himself on his own pitard. But then, this has always been Halliburton's war, and Blackwater's, and Raytheon's--not the war of the British people, who might take umbrage should their government engage in such a reckless escalation of this U.S.-created conflict.

This is also the Democratic Party's war, what with the 2010 mid-term elections looming and the Obama Administration's duplicity on numerous fronts--campaign promises completely ignored, and with a straight face--threatening the Party's ample seat-advantage in Congress. An advantage that the Administration has squandered from day one of its tenure in office.

And yet, like dogs, we the sheeple of these Orwellian States return to our own vomit.

"Struck me kind of funny/Kind of funny, yes, indeed/How at the end of every hard earned day people find some reason to believe" [Bruce Springsteen].