Today, I was sitting on my front porch and reminiscing on other 4th of July moments in my early lifetime. I remembered when I was around nine years old, and my Daddy was home for a change. At the time we were stationed at MacDill AFB (as my dad was a SAC commander back then, and that was a SAC base, aka know as the Strategic Air Command.) That base was in Tampa, Florida.
Anyway, Daddy piled all us into the station wagon, all ten of us children and we went off to see the fireworks at a local field. I sat up front with Daddy and my older sister who was as usual angry and agitated that she had to share 'shot gun seat status,' with me. She kept pushing me further and further towards Dad, and finally my Dad had enough of it. He said, to her, 'what the hell is wrong with you, leave your sister alone, she's not bothering you.' My sister replied, and called me by her chosen nick name for me, which my other brothers and sisters had picked up on recently.
She looked at me, and said, 'You mean 'Ms. Stupid?' 'All she ever does is ask stupid questions and all she ever asks about is why this, why that, and she never shuts up, and I'm sick of it.' My dad pulled the car over, and he was red in the face.
My other brothers and sisters were laughing in the back seat, and my Dad turned the car off, and cleared his throat. He waited until there was complete silence in the car.
He looked over at my older sister, and said: 'If I ever hear you or any of the rest of you call your sister, 'Ms. Stupid,' I will personally whip your ass, and put you on full detention in your rooms for a period of no less than six months, is that clear to all of you?'
My older sister got out of the car, slammed the door, and my Dad followed suit. The windows were rolled down, as it was hotter than Hades that day. We all heard him say to her: 'Get your ass over here, this minute.' She came towards him, and she started her tirade: 'She never shuts up, she won't leave anyone alone for a minute, and all she asks about are really dumb things, just yesterday, she asked me, how toilets work, and where do birds go when they die, she also asked me why is it that the crabs we catch down at the ocean are foolish enough to be caught, she also asked me why you want us to look up everything in the Dictionary. Really dumb stuff, and she never shuts up.'
My Dad stood back, with his arms folded, and he did something I would never have expected: He laughed his ass off. The tension in the car broke, and my older sister just looked at him in wonderment. He said: 'So why are you just noticing this now? You know your baby sister has always been like that from the time she could talk, but what is your problem with it?' My sister replied, 'I just think her questions are dumb.' And my Dad replied, 'They are not dumb to her, she wants to know lots of things about life, and how it all works, so tell me what is so dumb about that?' 'What is so stupid, about asking questions?' 'Are you telling me or her that she is stupid for asking questions?'
My sister kicked the sand on the side of the road, and would not look at my Dad in the eye. Finally she said, 'No one else asks such dumb questions, and no one her age asks them either. All she ever does is reads books, and she doesn't want to learn about how to dance, or be cool, and no one even likes her for being so stupid and dumb.' My Dad, just shook his head. He said, 'Did it ever occur to you, that you could actually learn something yourself, if you listened to her questions, and have a real conversation? Does that ever enter into your mind?' My sister replied: 'I'm not interested in those things, I don't care about them.' My Dad said, 'Well, then you listen to me,' and he looked over at the rest of us in the car. He continued: 'The day that you all stop asking questions about life and how it works, is the day that I will be deeply ashamed of any of my children.' He looked at all of us long and hard, and then he said to my older sister, 'Now get your ass back in the car.' She did as he asked, and before he started the car again, he reiterated: 'Don't any of you ever, ever call your sister, Ms. Stupid, and if I hear of it again, you will be hearing from me and there will be severe repercussions, do you understand that?' There were no answers. He said, "I did not here you,' and then they all replied to him in a big 'YES Daddy.'
We went on to the Fireworks, and had a wonderful time. We sat on blankets, and ooohed and awwwweed, and afterwards, Daddy took us all down to the Diary Queen, and we ate big fat banana splits, and got sick later on. It was such a huge treat. But the upshot, was from that moment on, my Dad took a much larger interest in me as one of his children, and he allowed me into his tiny little amazing private library (which I was already sneaking into, that smelled of leather, old spice, and pipe tobacco). He started giving me book reports to do, on many varied subjects. He taught me about the Greek Philosophers, early Greek theater and also took me to many museums, and just incredible films. He introduced me to Martin Luther King and to the Kennedy Brothers. He taught me about Eugene O'Neill, Tennessee Williams and later on Truman Capote. He also warned me about politics, and understanding what being a true Democrat was all about. He pointed out the same MIC complex warning that President Eisenhower pointed out. He taught me about the history of the Irish, and the American African community, and all that they had in common including jazz and great, great music. He taught me what it was like to live through a real Depression, as he did growing up. I never forgot any of that. He taught me to never, ever stop asking questions.
This is exactly the reason I have made a full commitment to question my own party, and President Obama. You want to rake the Rethugs over the coals, by all means, feel free to. Lord knows there are enough Front Page stories and diaries about them. That is not my focus.
I am not going to turn away as to what the reality is now, as millions and millions of Americans are suffering at the hands of both parties. I know how we got here, and why we got here. I know who sold out, and who did not, but please stop telling me what has happened in the past, 'was for the good of all, to so call: save the economy,' when that is nothing but bullshit.
We are in fact on the precipice of watching our final safety nets being cut by our own Democrats and by President Obama in the name of so called, 'Shared Sacrifice.' It doesn't seem to matter to some Democrats and Independents, as to how much we have already paid. It doesn't seem to matter, anywhere, anymore that most Americans want us the hell out of the endless wars, like TODAY. Who is listening? NO ONE. Same for the fake HCR reform bill, and same for the fake Financial Reform Bill, that were less than half measures, they were bullshit reform measures that were nothing less than tiny band aids put upon the walls of the huge Leaking Hoover Damn that is now breaking apart in front of our eyes. Get over it, and get real.
The real deal is this: We have a new huge Propaganda machine in full tilt boogie coming down the pike by both parties that are selling us what is called the so called continue the extend and pretend: The Theory of Positive Thinking on the MSM, that no one least of all the dying and former Middle Class and poor are simply not buying anymore, because what is coming next is the final cutting of our safety nets: Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, brought to you by President Obama, the Blue Dogs, the other fake Democrats, and of course, their partners in crime, the Rethugs:
But incoming president Obama failed to act. Whether he failed to see the opportunity, didn’t understand it, or was simply not interested is moot. Rather than bring vested banking interests to heel, the Obama administration instead chose to reconstitute, as much as possible, the very same industry whose reckless pursuit of profit had thrown the world economy off the cliff. There would be no Nixon goes to China moment from the architects of the policies that created the crisis, namely Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, and Director of the National Economic Council Larry Summers.
snip...
The first was the refusal to consider investigations of any kind. Obama is widely reported to have studied the early days of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s administration for inspiration; it would be impossible for him to miss the dramatic steps FDR took, including supporting the continuation of a Senate Banking Committee investigation into the misdeeds of the Roaring Twenties, the Pecora Commission. The Pecora Commission not only kept the bankers on the defensive, but it also did the forensic work into the abuses. It was critical to bring the nefarious practices to light to devise durable and lasting reforms.
snip...
Indeed, the adoption of the Theory of Positive Thinking has virtually guaranteed that nothing will change, unless there is sufficient deterioration in the real economy or the financial markets to provide compelling counter-evidence. One example is the “paying back the TARP” charade. As the banks continued to post improved earnings, no matter how phony they were, they argued that they were now healthy and should be allowed to pay back the TARP funding that had been crucial to their survival. The reason they were so keenly motivated to do should have been reason enough to deny their request: namely, that they wanted to escape restraints on executive compensation, virtually the only demand that the government had made. But overpaying staff and keeping too little in the way of risk reserves was precisely the behavior that led to the near collapse of the financial system. Going back to business as usual would virtually guarantee more looting of major financial firms and another series of collapses.
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/...
And now, here we all are, watching the 'more looting' going on right in front of our eyes. Point in case as to the bullshit bait and switch game going on in the State of California:
In-home care for the elderly will be significantly reduced and state welfare benefits will be slashed.
The department that provides services for developmentally disabled people saw its budget cut by $577 million, on top of $700 million in cuts two years ago, according to SF Gate.
"These cuts will forever haunt our conscience," said Bob Blumenfield, a Democrat who chairs the California Assembly's budget committee. "However, those of us who do vote for this budget can take comfort with the knowledge that we did what was necessary to move ourselves toward stability."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
Did you get that people? 'These cuts will forever haunt our conscience,' crap? That is nothing but code for more of the same, bullshit: 'Let the poor and elderly pay for what Wall St./the Banks destroyed, but above all, let's all keep pretending that this is leading us into more so called 'stability.' And of course, how deeply sorry, and how this is suppose to (OMG, forever haunt the conscience of fellow Democrats like Bob Blumenfield.) What does that mean to them, when a elderly citizen will be thrown out of a nursing home, or freeze in their homes, or be relegated to cutting off the medications they need to stay alive? Oh to buy food to eat? What is the difference these new 'death panels' and what the Rethugs have been doing for the past few years? Nothing that is what. They are one in the same. Get real.
That is what is called, the new propaganda machine going on by both our Democrats and the insane right wing: The Theory of Positive Thinking, or the Tinkerbell Theory, or Green Shoots, or the Tooth Fairy Propaganda. It's all the same, take your choice.
Believe me I absolutely know that when the Rethugs come to the fight, they bring a dragon fire breathing bazooka nuclear weapon, and our Democrats keep bringing a broken crappy rubber sling shot to the fight. I get that. And I know what is at stake here. We all know how important the social issues are, but now we are coming down to food on the table, and the right to stay alive. What is your pick on this, because that is the final discussions we are having now. I am not discounting social issues, but I am asking about the most basic issues between life and death now. And that is what we are facing regardless of whether you want to fact it or not. You bet you ass I care about my gay brothers and sisters, damn right I care about DADT, and DOMA, damn right I care about honest Immigration Policies and the Unions in our nation, and care about all of these issues, but without food on the table, what does that mean to you when our jobs, the poor, elderly, and children are being thrown out on the streets and by the wolves who destroyed out nation in the first place?
Right now from where I sit, the Rethugs do not have a chance in hell of getting elected, but that can all change in the wink of an eye. What I am more worried about is the most basic issues facing President Obama. If he does not turn the economy around, (and it dosen not appear that either party is going to deal with a real jobs program, or the housing crisis, or those that will soon no longer have unemployment insurance or food stamps), then who at that point in time, when we get someone like Mitt Romney or worse, Michele Bachmann shoved down our throats will you blame?
I mean, please tell me, who you will blame?
Will you blame your fellow Democrats, or is this going to be all the 'bad bad progressives fault,' because they 'just don't understand how politics work meme?' Will you blame the Independents and the crossed over Republicans and Libertarians and centrists? Will you blame the millions of Americans who are now living in their cars, on the streets, with their in-laws or parents, who cannot find a job and who have lost all faith in the system? Or better still, will you just blame 'the system?' I mean that is the way to push the new 'Easy Button,' of the 'Theory of Positive Thinking Propaganda Machine.'
Just do me a big favor ok? Stop pretending the President Obama did not have choices to make because he did, and when he turned his back on any, and I mean any kind of accountability, most of all for Wall St./the Banks (or the continued Bush Doctrine), then regardless of what you may not understand, is that he also turned his back on those that trusted him and put him into the White House, the former Middle Class and poor of this nation. And those, regardless of what you may not understand these are the same people who are now dejected, degraded, disenfranchised, dismayed and disgusted and filled with despair and will not show up to vote. Got it?
So let us just, for the sake of argument, put ourselves into the Future Time Machine, that will propel all of us into the next 20 months or so. So I will base this (LOL) crazy and wild prediction on the actions to date of President Obama, our Blue Democrats, and other Fake Democrats, and of course the insane Rethugs to date and their past actions:
We come down to the final talks before the Nuclear Option of the Debt Sealing talks of the new so called Deficit Hawks. This is of course right before they take their huge long summer break, whereby they are allowed to shit, once again all over the people of this nation to thereby enjoy the fruits of their labor in the fully Gated Communities and exclusive Country Clubs of the Oligarchy of an long extended vacation, because after all, haven't they earned a break? After all, their 'fat coffers have been well fed by their endless fund raisers' while they all pretended to be paying attention to the business of this nation, whereby nothing if little was done to solve the business of the people of this nation that pays their fact fucking salaries.
The final deal is on the table for what they are all calling 'Shared Sacrifice.' Also known as 'Full Steam Ahead Austerity Movement USA Style.' First to go down, Medicare and Medicaid. Next to go down, huge cuts in Social Security, thereby setting all these programs up for future privatization. (Not unlike our new private Mercenary Armies in the Middle East, or our new private Prison's in our nation..same difference). Next up for the States: cutting off unemployment and food stamps, and the complete destruction of the Unions, with no help from our National Democrats.
Last on the table: the Military Industrial Complex, a real Job's Program, An answer to the destroyed Housing Market in our nation, or holding those accountable for the continued and outrageous FRAUD. An honest agreement for renegotiating NAFTA, or any of the other Free Trade Deals for the Unions. Corporate taxes on the Oil Companies or any other Corporations in our nation.
Oh, what? You are surprised at my predictions? Dear me, dear me, clutching my pearls and sipping more kool aide. See this excellent diary on Social Security being right front and center on the table for cuts:
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Yes, people, the Dream Lives on.....only it is a real nightmare of our own making. As I said, the Rethugs bring a fire breathing dragon bazooka nuclear weapon to the table, and our Democrats bring a broken shitty little rubber sling shot, and we still dare to blame each other in our party for this travesty? I think not.
Get real. We made our bed and now we have to sleep in it. Unless President Obama has a real 'wake up call' or whatever, I doubt very seriously where the former Middle Class and poor are going to end up.....on the streets, without a prayer, with nothing to eat. But I can tell you this, they sure as hell won't be in line to vote again for our party, and that is just the way real life works.
These honest hard working Americans who turned out in record numbers for President Obama may not be the smartest people on earth, or high end information voters, but they sure as hell know who the hell is standing up for them and who is not. It really is that simple.
More's the pity, and as always I wish it were not so. I had high hopes, and now I simply refuse any longer to buy into the new propaganda of the so called 'Theory of Positive Thinking.' I am way past that point in time, and I am way past anyone on this site blaming other Democrats for calling the truth out for what it was in the first place.
We elected President Obama as a 'new and better Democrat,' didn't we? Now we are down to the wire, and as the looting continues in these final Deficit Hawk debates, let's see who get's the final push over the cliff, shall we? I think I know who the hell that is going to be.
Thanks as always and a special thanks to my wonderful Dad, who taught me to never stop asking questions, ever. Love you Daddy, where ever your are. A true American Hero, who spend a year a half of his life in Stalag 11, a Nazi War Camp as a young Lt. USAF Memphis Bell Fighter for the great, great Mighty Eighth Air Force out of Bull St., from Georgia (that I wear proudly on the bumper of my car.) He taught me so much in a very quiet and proud way. You fight for what you believe in, and that is all you have in the end between yourself, your soul, and who you are as a person.
Sometimes at night, at the end of the day, when no one can see me but me, I remember those words he taught me, and it keeps me going to this day.
Don't ever stop asking questions, because when you do, you are lost.
Ms. B.