Politics as Monopoly

Our elected leaders sure do like to strut and crow about how great things are going. We're on an economic roll and we need to keep it growing. The war is going fine thank you. Climate change? I don't see any climate change. All you need to do is shut up and trust us and do your part by driving around and shopping and everything will be hunky dory. On and on it goes. But we're on the verge of shopping ourselves into oblivion. There are two jokers in the deck that these same leaders refuse to take seriously. Global warming and peak oil. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that sooner or later oil will run out. Period. There is no argument. The effects of global warming are all around us and they are becoming more painfully obvious every day. Either one will drastically change the way we live. Both together will be devastating if we don't make major changes. Only the fools in D.C. would ignore and deny either global warming or peak oil. Only the truly corrupt and greedy that infect far too many of the worlds corporate boardrooms would demand that their paid for fools in D.C.do so. And only an idiot would willingly believe any of them. Greed, denial, and ignorance don't make for good national policy. We need to kick these bozos out. We can't afford to be held hostage by a Corporatist Party any longer.

Don't take these corporate types lightly. Not the ones who head the corporations, not the ones in Congress, and not the ones in the White House. It's easy to assume that they are simply misguided, and if we could only make them see the error of their ways they would change and do the right thing. Not likely. They're not blind and they're not stupid. They can see what's going on as well as anybody. They also see that they can get away with as much as a willing public and those we elect to office will let them get away with. And they will continue to do so as long as they face no real resistance. They have morons like Limbaugh and O'Reilly blathering away to reinforce their message and help buffalo the public, but as long as we let them they are going to play our society and political system as if it were a giant game of monopoly. You know -- we want it all, we'll get it all. You lose. In Monopoly you play to control the wealth and resources in order to drive everyone else out of the game. Then the winners gloat about their shrewdness for a while, pack up the game, put it back in the box and move on to something else. But life isn't Monopoly. That's one thing these guys can't seem to grasp. When this game is over it's just over. We can't put it back in the box. When we've sucked up the last drop of oil, when we've altered the environment and the climate to the point that they can't support us anymore we lose. Our children and grandchildren lose. The winners lose too. I just hope their grandchildren appreciate the sacrifice.

Global Warming #2

We've all heard the official D.C. policy on global warming by now. We can't do anything to hurt our economy.We need to study it more so we can bring the real facts to the debate. But you know what? There's nothing to debate. The real facts are out there all around us. The only thing that needs to be done is to take strong, decisive action to reduce our carbon emissions. Now. World wide. The only ones who still insist on debating global warming are those who stand to profit from not taking action and those who choose denial over action. The White House, Congress, and the news media are loaded to the rafters with losers of both stripes. We can't afford to keep them around any longer. Elected officials we can get rid of. The media are a different story. Shame and ridicule probably won't work. This bunch seems to be immune to embarrassment. We'll have to ignore them and get our information from those who aren't afraid. There are plenty of independent voices around.

The evidence of global warming is all around us. The list could go on for pages, and indeed does, but I won't waste our time. A few examples will do for now. Wildfires are raging yet again here in the west. 2000 was a bad fire year, the worst in recorded history. Until 2005 came along. Then that became the worst year on record. Now 2006 is shaping up to be worse yet. Why? No George, it's not because we haven't done enough logging. As of November 2005 18% of the lower 48 was suffering from moderate to extreme drought. That was up from 6% in November 2004. What will it be this year? We'll find out.
Cold northern air meeting hot, wet gulf air is forming super storm systems that spawn upwards of a hundred tornados in one day as happened in the Midwest earlier this year.
The Arctic is melting right before our eyes. Ice packs and glaciers are disappearing. Places above the Arctic Circle are seeing rain and standing water along with temperatures near fifty degrees in February. Yes folks, in February. North of the Arctic Circle.

Bottom line is that we need to reduce our fossil fuel consumption worldwide by 70% and we need to do it now. Tough job? You bet. That's why we need action now. It isn't negotiable. Nature won't compromise for our benefit. Get on the backs of our elected officials. Grill the new candidates. Find out where they stand. Tell them we demand a commitment to strong aggresive action on global warming. Anything less isn't good enough.

Here's a couple of websites to check out -- GlobalWarming Solution.org, based right here in Missoula, Montana, and worldviewofglobalwarming.org, a website by photographer Gary Braasch in Oregon. Both can give you a good idea of what's going on and what needs to be done.

Looking For An Opposition Party

I may sound like an old Democrat who wants to see his party regain power in this country. But that's not entirely true. It's only about half true. I want to see an opposition party regain power in this country. If the Democrats will take over that role, that would be fine. I do think we need to work with the tools we have available right now. Time is short. Rebuilding the Democratic party will simply be faster than building a third party. That can wait. It will be worthwhile, but it can wait. Besides, we're ruled right now by a single party with two wings, the fanatics and the moderates. It's simple arithmetic -- you can't build a third party before you have a second one.

I was raised in a Democratic home back when the Dems actually stood for something. It sickens and horrifies me to see what the party has become, so I don't call myself a Democrat anymore. This country has been taken over by a gang of bold, brazen, privateering, profiteering, sword rattling corporate maniacs. They are fronted by BushCheney&Co and an army of semi-intelligent radio and TV voices whose only function seems to be to confuse the public and intimidate the Democrats. It's been working well for them so far, but things are changing. American people for the most part are far smarter and less gullible than these jackasses give us credit for. We are seeing the true horrors of this current regime and are starting to look around for some answers. The Democratic party is another story. They've become a willing and active part of the whole sorry mess and are totally clueless about what to do about it. With few exceptions, they still keep their heads in the sand. Don't make noise, don't attract too much attention, don't piss these clowns off and we may win an election or two. It hasn't worked yet and it's not going to work now. Too many of us aren't going to accept that anymore. We want real change, we want a party with the guts to fight for what's right, and we want it now.

If the Democrats will step up to the plate and become that party again I will gladly call myself a Democrat. If they won't we'll have to look elsewhere for an opposition party. An election isn't a political sporting event. It isn't about which team wins. It's about the future of this country and this world. It's about the future of our children and grandchildren. It's up to us to make sure they have one.

So Long Joe

OK Dems. Are you getting a clue yet? Here in Montana we had our primary election in June.You D.C. Dems backed a guy named John Morrison.You figured he's just the guy to fit into your gutless game plan, and maybe you were right. Only thing is, much to your chagrin, us unruly troublesome voters picked the other guy. A guy named Jon Tester. In Connecticut last week Joe Lieberman got the thumbs down. He's been shuffling off to the right as fast as his little feet will take him. The fine folks in Connecticut said so long Joe, we've seen enough of your kind, and went for a guy named Ned Lamont. Do guys like Tester and Lamont represent real change? Who knows? Let's put them in office and find out. If they don't we'll have to push them around a little bit. That's our job.

Joe Lieberman now wants to run as an independent. So let him. Vote him down again. Send the bum out on the street where he belongs. Maybe the Republicans will pick him up. There's been a lot of wailing and whining by the so-called liberals about how all of this is going to destroy the Democratic party. Well guess what guys? It's too late. The Dems have pretty well destroyed themselves already with their pathetic, spineless caving in to the right wing noise makers.

George Bush and his Republican gang have handed you the best opportunity in decades to take America back. Will you do it? Or will you continue to keep your mouths shut, play it safe, and continue to follow the lead of these corporatist fanatics and the loudmouthed morons who sound off for them on the radio and TV? Time will tell. In the meantime folks, vote for Jon Tester. Vote for Ned Lamont. Vote for whoever is running in your state who might represent real change. Let's replace the current whimpering, craven, yellow-bellied Democratic party with a real, honest, fist-swinging opposition party now in '06. Then let's do it again in '08. Oh yeah --so long Joe...

Global Warming #1

Global warming is here folks. We're seeing it all over the country this summer. Most of us are anyway. The growth maniacs, the corporatists, and most of our elected officials pretend not to. They ignore it and deny it and downplay it for the sake of their own particular agendas, but they see it too. Nobody could really be that stupid.

Hurricane season hasn't really cranked up yet, but there is plenty of other weather happening. Record heat waves. Then the cold fronts following them are unusually strong. The west is suffering from severe drought and fires, as are parts of California. Places like El Paso are flooding. So is New England. Power supplies in major cities are failing due to overload and getting knocked out by severe storms. And this is just the beginning.

The refusal of the President and the Congress to address global warming and to take aggressive action is nothing short of criminal negligence. People are dying. Other animal and plant species are dying. Tropical diseases are moving farther north. Storms are leaving thousands homeless. The future of our children and grandchildren is in jeopardy. The list keeps growing. Yet nothing is done because we don't want to hurt our economy. That's criminal negligence in my book.We all need to face one fact. All of us. Nature is not going to adapt to our economy. We need to adapt to nature's limits or our economy will be the least of our problems. We'll be too busy just trying to survive.

We all need to confront our elected officials and lay it on the line. Get with it on global warming or we'll fire you. The same goes for those running for office this fall -- address the issue or don't count on many votes. And we're not talking about lip service and baby steps.We mean real action. Find out who's working locally on global warming and get involved. Check the internet and get informed. Register to vote if you haven't already done so. Then vote. It's time to take action now.