preposterous chutzpah

so, i'm pissed now.  33 times the house of ill repute has pushed through a bill they damn well know has absolutely no chance of getting anywhere.  this same mother fucking congress that, after firing up millions of bat-shit voters, went on and on and on about how they were going to focus everything on jobs, jobs, jobs.  and since those clowns have taken over the circus, the economy has slowed.  less jobs are being created, the unemployment rate is climbing again, and we're headed into yet another round of economic trials and tribulations...as europe tries to weather its storm. 

we are in dire straits here.  our economy and society are so far out of whack that we need serious, smart, mathy, wonky, _thinking_ people in government.  people who can work together to solve problems, re-invigorate industry, repair our schools and roads (even if that means telling unions who get in the way of progress to go fuck themselves), put some balance back into our economy, some harmony into our society, and try to strike some semblance of fairness.  our democracy exists when the people are represented by the people.  and that's not what we have right now.

america has become a land where the people are represented by the very few with a whole lot of dough (see oligarchy).  we are a land of morons, completely duped into clinging onto and fighting over nonsensical issues (see blow jobs, birth certificates, religious differences, whether climate change is happening, why a waiting period and background check to purchase a semi-automatic weapon is equivalent to tyranny) whilst policies and laws are being bought--at very high prices (see k street)--for the benefit of people of great wealth. and for what? job creation? bullshit. if mitt romney and his richy rich friends were investing their money back into america, there would be more jobs here. not only are they not investing it in america, they aren't even keeping it in this country.

why does mitt romney need to keep money in offshore accounts?  so he doesn't have to invest a small fraction of those dollars into america's coffers?  doesn't he already have a house with an elevator?  what the fuck else does that guy need?  would it really kill mitt to help support america's schools and repair and rebuild her roads?  or to help us get out of this ruinous financial black hole we find ourselves in right now?  the guy that doesn't even have pride enough in his country to share some of his wealth toward america's greatness now wants to be its leader. and people are actually considering voting for him...

~k

the deficit delusion

the "out-of-control", "unsustainable", "certain doom" american deficit is but a joke. i'm so sick and tired of hearing about it, when nary a soul - not a single politician, and frankly, not a single american - wants to actually do a thing about it.

no one wants taxes to go up. no one wants social security cut. no one wants medicare cut. no one wants defense spending cut. so from where and how, pray tell, are we meant to raise the funds to cut the deficit?

wishful thinking in magic land, i guess. much like the rest of politics in this country...

~k

dream a little dream

in the midst of a very productive lame duck session of congress (d.a.d.t. repealed, START ratified, another giant stimulus package passed), and president obama knocking some heads, a most unfortunate dream slipped through the cracks of congress.

okay, so immigration in america is a subject most don't even want to touch. sooooo many morons out there... despite the fact that we are a nation of immigrants, little seems to fire up the masses more than "mexicans stealing our jobs," "building a fence along the border," "terror babies," or whatever other racially inflammatory bout of idiocy our media and the right wing are able to stir up.

funny thing is, that our immigration policy hurts the american economy much more than it hurts anyone or anything else, save perhaps the tens of thousands of kids who grew up in america thinking their whole lives that they were american citizens, only to discover at college app time or military entry time that they're here illegally (we'll get to this in just a sec).

american immigration policy puts a cap on the number of foreigners who can legally migrate here in any given year. a lot of the folks who want to be here came here legally, attended our universities, and possess knowledge, skills, and an entrepreneurial spirit that might be a boost to our economy. if only we'd let them stay. but we don't. and off they go, back to the whence from which they came, to take their education, skills, and job-creating entrepreneurial spirit to boost an economy in another corner of the world.

as for the "mexican problem," again complete and utter nonsense. yes, there is drug-related violence on the borders, and yes, the obama administration's uptick in border patrol has resulted in reduced violence, more arrests, and fewer illegal border crossings. but the folks crossing the border illegally are also creating a bit of an economic boom themselves. they move into neighborhoods, which means they are buying housing, groceries, clothing, and other necessary life items that the job force has to create and distribute. and they are, frankly, taking jobs you and i don't want for a paycheck you and i don't want. further, they are paying taxes into social security, medicare, and state and federal coffers for services most will never use. check the stats. all true.

but americans think with their feelings, not their heads, with their fear and not their hope. otherwise, the dream act would also have passed through this lame duck session of congress.

the dream act offers a 6-year road to citizenship for kids who grew up in america, albeit illegally (often without even knowing it), so long as they finish college or complete two years of military service. these are americans, people who contribute to our society and our economy, who are being punished for the sins of their parents. it's a no-brainer bill, with bipartisan backing. but the senate still can't muster a filibuster proof 60-vote majority, primarily because republicans are unduly slapping contentious labels like "amnesty" onto a bill meant to do the right thing for thousands of innocent children who had no say in whether they entered this country legally or otherwise.

but like so much else in this country right now, it's not about right or wrong, but about the cries of the ignorant malcontents who, in this particular case, can't see beyond the words "illegal immigrant"...

~k

an end in torment

for weeks, i've been riveted by lawrence wright's the looming tower, an incredibly well-researched and even more impressively written (see pulitzer prize) account of the rise of islamic terrorism and al queda in particular. i've had nightmares, chewed my fingernails to the quick, and relived moments of terror that truly will live forever in infamy.

i learned far too much about osama bin laden, those who came before him (sayyid qutb, ramzi yousef), and their misplaced, irrational even, hatred of america. and the more i learned, the less i understood. men from an insular part of the world, fanatically religious, separated from women, politically and socially oppressed, uneducated: with no plan, no valid worldview, surrendering to god via martyrdom, and twisting the quran to suit their moral depravity, with eyes set on destroying america because who else is to blame for their woes...

and the worst part is that we knew all this, yet foolishly turned a blind eye, in underestimating the power in devotion to cause.

we let 9/11 happen.

after the uss cole bombing in the port of aden in yemen, just under a year before the world trade center crashed to ground zero, the fbi had everything it needed to know that a larger attack on american soil was in the works. all's it needed to link the impending disaster to those set on carrying it out was the information the cia wasn't sharing. and they knew the cia had the info they needed. and the cia knew too. but they didn't share because, well, because no one wanted its toes stepped on.

on 12 september 2001, the cia handed over everything that could have prevented 9/11 had they turned it over on 10 september 2001.

i relived 9/11 today. the emotion. the anger. the sadness. the helplessness. but this time, i did it knowing it could have been stopped, knowing that but for big egos at the top of agencies that exist to protect us, the looming tower would never have been written, those planes would have landed safely as scheduled, and the terrorists on board would have been picked up long before that infamous day was carried out.

and still i weep, and weep harder still. for as senseless as war seems, even the just kind i support, it makes even less sense knowing we waited too long, trusted too deeply in ignoble egos, lost too much, and gave too little to still be stuck in the graveyard of empires osama bin laden sought to draw us into...

~k