Marty’s blog

AP/Star Tribune: Democratic leaders looking at ways to overturn changes to endangered species rules

Is the Bush administration insane, ignorant, cynical, terribly evil. Yes to all. The sheer, shocking reality of the Bush years is that in their view, as made perfectly clear by their consistent actions, there is no future for the planet and for our species.

Profit and greed over everything.

Human creations and inventions - even civilizations - are disposable; economies can be rebuilt, jobs recreated, lifestyles adapted. But once a species is lost, it is gone forever. Not just for our children’s and grand-children’s generations, but for all future generations. The intentional killing off of species is the most evil act our species commit. And all species losses are intentional because they are all avoidable. If we chose to make the necessary sacrifices. Which we mostly do not.

Profit and greed over everything.

I think that this often forgotten quote of William Beebe should should be at the core of the way we define our own existence in the 21st Century. Because our own survival depends on it. There is little else that can be said about our world with such overwhelming certainty.

“When the last individual of a race of living things breathes no more, another heaven and another earth must pass before such a one can be again.”

Summer came and went.  Where?  I guess I blinked and missed it.  So it’s time to button up any house projects and get things ready for Winter.

Work on the house is stopped…again.  There is no way I can justify spending an unneccessary dime when I don’t know where my next paycheck is coming from.  We’re only maybe a few months ahead as it is and our reserves are almost depleted.  Same as everyone else;  mortgages, insurance, college tution…  And the down side of being self-employed is that there isn’teven the cushion of unemployment benefits.  Yeah, I know I could pay in to unemployment insurace, but name me anyone who is self-employed who’s got the dough?  There are a lot of us out there, and we’re not counted in the statisitcs!

Not complaining really, just saying.  So life right now is about scrounging up work here and there and just enjoying the little things.

This season, we can enjoy the house for the first time with a finished bathroom and kitchen, living and dining rooms and other simple things like doors and floors that aren’t plywood.  And we can enjoy driving up and seeing the outside our house and some - but not nearly all - finished landscaping.  So I’m still thankful for a pleasant home and our ability, at least for now, to pay for it.

And when the Frau pulls up to the house she can park her car here:

Yes, I got rid of more stuff and shrunk my workspace, so there’s finally room in the garage for a car.  Oh joy!  Yes, I’m learning again to be joyful for small things and silver linings.

Are the economic disaster and the insanely expensive economic bailouts, that will dearly cost us and the next several generations, just another manifestation of BushCo’s shock doctrine?   I think so.

BushCo, after pillaging the economy and facilitating the redistribution of our wealth upwards for the past eight years - mainly using two pseudo wars, and deregulating all oversight and regulatory responsibilities of the government so the financial institutions can more easily rip us off, to name a couple of instances, I wonder now if it all was by design.  And as such, prelude to BushCo’s last giant trillion-plus handout to their billionaire capitalist buddies.  I don’t really believe there was any kind of grand conspiracy as such.  But a philosophy can be as dangerous as a conspiracy.

What many of us saw long ago, our eyes wide open and jaws gaping in shock and disbelief, even as Bush stole the 2000 election, was just such a philosophy that would - and did - lead to where we are today.

By the way, by “pseudo wars” I don’t mean to imply that tens, or hundreds, of thousands of Americans or Iraqis have not been maimed or killed, or that the entire infrastructure of a country, Iraq destroyed.  I do mean to imply that - one war being waged voluntarily and the other, more necessary but only partially and inadequately waged - we never acted like a ”country at war”, ready to make the necessary sacrifices to win them.  These are both wars strongly motivated by profit –  and not for the profit of the American public of the people of those countries.  And the longer the wars, the greater amount of Americas wealth reditributed upward.

Americans, scared in their beds since BushCo’s exploitation of 9/11 - scared by the greatly eggagerated threat of “terrorism”, have not only been “shocked and awed” into giving up their treasure in dollars, but their inherited treasure trove of freedoms that were once guaranteed by a now weakened Constitution.

And today BushCo, still having some time left in office, is seeing a last great opportunity to not only soak this generation, but our children and grandchildren as well.

All this bailout money won’t just dissappear folks.  It will line someone’s pockets.  And I’m sure it won’t be mine or yours.  But right now we are in shock and we don’t care.  We just want to pay next month’s mortgage, or have enough money to go to the dentist for a filling in a bad tooth, of to buy groceries, or to have a job.  We’ll do anything, including giving up the store.

When naive working class people who blindly voted Republican ape the words they’ve heard from the con men (and women) during the presidential campaign, and talk about “socialism” and “redistribution”, they don’t know how right they are.  And they don’t understand why.  They’ll still rally around non-issues like abortion and gay marriage while the people they vote for who exploit those issues to blind them, are picking their pockets.  Big time.  Time to wake up, if you’re not already.  You job, your pension, your future is next.  And the number of married or unmarried gays will not have any effect on the bank taking your house.

Asian Americans for Obama ‘08: President-Elect Obama Lays a Wreath at the Bronze Soldiers Memorial in Chicago with Tammy Duckworth to Mark Veterans Day

(Watch the video linked at the bottom)

AP/Yahoo: Palin says she might run for high office again

What does Sarah Palin lack? Humility, introspection, education, curiosity, intelligence, empathy, critical thinking, sensitivity, eloquence.

Or is it maybe a basic but solid understanding of things like: history/geography/biology/all of science/government/the Constitution/the law/the media/the environment/the economy/foreign policy/energy/religion (indeed - having one does not necessarily provide you with an understanding)/education…?

How about all of the above? And more. She lacks much, much more.

Yet, I expect the President of the United states to have all that, and much, much more.

She could be president!? Based on what? That fact that the Constitution allows it? That she is likable? That she is crass, aggressive, self-absorbed and ambitious? That she could win for “the party” and “the base”. Is that all a person, or the citizenry, should require?

And at this historic moment in our history, as our electorate celebrates one of its rare moments of wisdom, it is cringingly, embarrassingly painful to still be having a conversation about her. But because we’re still having the conversation, it invites comparison; yet it would be a gross indignity to our current president-elect to even begin to make such a comparison. In any case, her lack of the most basic and necessary skills and attributes to be president, frankly, does not merit consideration or debate. That is, assuming, as we like to flatter ourselves, we are indeed an advanced and progressive society.

With such profound ignorance, of course Palin “wouldn’t hesitate to run for the presidency in four years if it’s God’s will”. And how will she know if and when God exercises his will?

Were she ever to be in a position of great responsibility or power, what a terribly dangerous combination of missing personal attributes she would bring to the job!

Don’t already start campaigning for 2012. Please, Sarah, we’re tired! Sarah…please, please, PLEASE — stay in Alaska! Please?

Oh, those poor moose and grizzly bears.

Geez, how can you not love Rachel Maddow?

Can we recall Sarah Palin’s journalism degree?!

And this: Erica Heller/Huffington Post: How Do I Thank Thee, Sarah Palin?

McHenry County (Illinois) favored a Democratic president for the first time in 152 years! Though a Republican stronghold since the Civil War, it seems the demographics are changing here. I sensed some change, even in the short two years I’ve lived out here, but I never imagined it had already gotten this far.

Also, our Congresswoman, Democrat Melissa Bean (8th district) also won her third term. She made local history four years ago defeating a fossilized and entrenched Republican who thought he was invincible.

And you thought I only came out here to breathe the fresh air. Oh, yes, the fresh air!

I woke up feeling more wonderful than I can remember in a long time. For the first time in history, the entire world is celebrating the election of an American president - because for the first time the president (elect) looks like the rest of the country and the world. This is so amazing, a concept for which I never set aside a place in my world view because I had never thought it would happen.

Of course, there is still a lot to overcome. I was so overjoyed to see the old John McCain reappear last night as he was again statesmanlike in his concession speech. But it was evident that there is still a lot of hatred out there from many of his supporters. And I’ll surely continue to hear a lot of racism from family, friends and neighbors that will still make me cringe, but now it seems like we’ve finally built a strong foundation on which to construct a new kind of democracy, within which we can all wage a much stronger fight against that racism.

We’ve fought and beaten down racism at the base, and now we’ve won the battle at the top. What’s left is that big place in the middle.

Our democracy now looks like it can be one that represents not only all Americans, but all citizens of Planet Earth - and the planet itself. But I hope - right now I’m optimistic - it will be more than looks. When I saw that crowd at Chicago’s Grant Park yesterday, alas only on TV, I saw the face of America. I was at home, but was certainly at Grant Park in spirit.

For today, I won’t think about the nuts and bolts of the enormous job ahead. Instead, for today, I’ll indulge myself in emotions and tears - I’m completely overwhelmed by the greatest feelings of optimism I can remember. For the first time in my life, I’m really proud of my country.

My wife and I were in Indianapolis yesterday - a few hours from where we live near Chicago - as hundreds of other Chicagoans headed to this important swing state to get out the vote for Obama. We spent the day walking neighborhoods and ringing doorbells. The weather was great. The people were great.

What was most impressive to us was the organization of the Obama campaign, down to the smallest detail. With several offices throughout the city they efficiently managed hundreds of volunteers, had well organized lists of registered voters and addresses from which we canvassed the neighborhoods - even down to the door-hangers which were printed separately for each precinct, listing the location of the polling place for that precinct.

Here are some of the very hard-working campaign workers and volunteers getting ready to hit the streets, at the now shuttered UAW headquarters in Indianapolis.

Some of the very depressed neighborhoods we visited really showed the need for some big changes in government.

I’m confident that some change will come. How much over the next four years? We’ll see. Unfortunately, Obama, if elected, will have to start his administration with the daunting task of cleaning up the mess of eight years of disastrous Republican rule and the Bush/Cheney administration. The election of Barack Obama will only be the beginning, not the end.

The scenery driving down through Indiana was gorgeous (except for the stretch through the wasteland of refineries and storage tanks and all that around Gary - what an otherworldly wasteland!), and then we came home to this.

I never used to like Fall (as a kid, it always meant “back to school” - yuck), but now I love it!

And I think of all the opportunities that have fallen into my lap, and which I deserve less than so many others. I count my blessings every day, and know that it’s not an just an option, but a responsibility, to give back. I rarely idealize people and leaders anymore, but I think Barack Obama is an almost perfect model for that.

That said as I have the TV on and listen again to John McCain spreading more hate - two days before the election, and McCain has no other message than selfishness and hate. That’s sad.