This diary may be more of a collection of observations than a resourced, documented effort to inform people of news.
Observations from other diaries headlines; Republicans fear running for office this year, Republican Party out of money, Republican fundraising is weak, Clinton loses ground to other candidates, Ron Paul rakes in donations, Mike Huckabee sounds like a populist(he isn't).
What could it all mean?
More after the break.
In my boomer-age lifetime I have once before witnessed a similar political atmosphere like we are in today. It was prior to the 1976 Presidential election which followed the ravages of the Watergate scandal.
The nation was still full of rage over Vietnam and being deceived by Richard Nixon with the Watergate cover-up being the tip of the iceberg of Republican malfeasance, way too much of it was varnished over in some collegial spirit presided over by the power brokers of conventional wisdom.
Democrats made an error then THAT WE CAN NEVER AFFORD TO MAKE AGAIN, we must kill the Hydra of PRIVATIZATION and have those who promote it retreat from the public discourse beaten and chastised and punished for damaging this great nation.
What we received for our efforts to "heal" the nation has been 28 years of marching rightward toward a Conservative/Libertarian utopia where Government is replaced with private corporations in the belief that each citizen needs to individually act as their own agent as they navigate a new world where all government function are replaced by market forces with competing private entities supplying all services at competitive prices to all.
The call this concept Privatization and it is killing this nation.
Instead of citizens jointly owning the nation, the conservative/libertarian propose to sell it off to the highest bidder (in leases that will live longer than those who created them) in order for the "private sector" to profit from the bounty of the "peoples property".
Before this march rightward commenced there was the 1976 election with results that made the powers that be very nervous and brought the entrenched DC elite together to ensure that 1976's election results would be futile for Americans wishing to end the old power structure.
Jimmy Carter, an outsider, came into Washington and the White House to the great disappointment and consternation of the entrenched elite that perpetually assume they speak for the people even after the election that explicitly repudiated that assumption.
The elite were ready to throw up political roadblocks and deride Carter's Administration almost instantly after the Election was decided.
The major newspapers, TIME and NEWSWEEK immediately bemoaned the new Carter team and predicted rough sledding for the new Administration and basically threw their weight and that of their "conventional wisdom" into the proposition that "outsiders" would be unable to navigate the new ship of state through the mine laden sea of DC politics.
The media were setting up the Carter Administration for a fall before he even took office to the delight of the entrenched powers that form the Lobbying industry as well as the Republicans who, while reeling from their recent scandal, had been given a free pass in many instances for past transgressions against the citizens (think Nixon's pardon as being only the tip of the iceberg) as the Democrats were cajoled into shutting down their investigations of Republican malfeasance as a way of "healing" the nation.
Problem was, that the Republicans weren't in any mood to change their "modus operandi" and they were ready to do their damnedest to ensure the nation was in for a rough time and with the help of OPEC (think BIG OIL) and an incurable cancer diagnosis for the Shah of Iran the nation tumbled into a period of high inflation (which had begun during the Vietnam War,anyone remember WIN whip inflation now buttons? or that Richard Nixon sent a government check for $100 to every citizen over 18)oil shortages and the return of Ayatollah Khomehni from Paris to Iran.
There was a great amount of pressure put upon the Administration to allow "humanitarian medical treatment for the Shah" to be performed here in the United States, which resulted in the Shah, incurably ill, coming to the US for treatment which failed to help him but did trigger the take-over of the US Embassy in Tehran and the holding of the hostages for 444 days until moments after the Inauguration of Ronald Reagan as President (timing is everything including suspicious).
Before the Carter Administration left town "Privatization" was a new buzzword echoing in the halls of Congress.
Now to today, my case for the need for ANY DEMOCRAT BUT HILLARY for President.
It is my considered opinion that for the first time in our lifetimes (OK those around for 1932 saw the one before) the playing field is as close to level as it has ever been with the explosion of information outlets and opinion centers that now exist.
The nation has a HUGE desire to change direction and make a definitive break with the past. Hillary Clinton is more than SYMBOLIC of our recent past and provides no incentive to the American voter desiring change. She, as a Clinton, is SYNONOMOUS with past Presidents (whether good or bad the baggage exists) and represents NO NEW FUTURE for this nation.
While as a Democrat, I will work diligently for her election over any Republican, but, the nation's path to future dynamic change that is essential to the vitality of this nation re-creating a healthy middle class does not exist with the election of a DLC type candidate.
Many of you here are willing to hedge your bets and support her today in the belief that her name and connections will enable her to be the easiest to elect.
Does that mean we are ready to compromise ourselves just to get a President from the Democratic Party?
To that, I say look around, are there any real signs of power within the Republican Party? Or, are they in a near meltdown mode? I believe it is the latter and point to the strength of Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee with the Republicans this year. Even the Republicans appear to have had enough of the Corporatist, crony-fied, entrenched power merchants whose live have been advanced, enhanced and lavishly perpetuated by those interests who's incomes depend upon making implements of death and destruction.
The Republican ownership society as they envision is one of selling off what belongs to the people as "privatization" and approaching citizenship as that of shareholders(where the average citizen holds but a few shares)of a nation rather than as equal citizens.
The nation is ready for a change, and the dynamics are coming together, this next year may be the best opportunity to restructure the government and bring it back into the hands of those who truly own it.
NOW!
This is no time to hedge our bets by looking towards past heroes as answers to our problems, but to, recognize the opportunity for what it is and campaign for real change.
Whomever is elected will have to fight the battle of their political lifetime's as every entrenched power group still assembled will be at war with the citizens that demand change, expect this to be the beginning of a long, long struggle.
Prepare to win it.
Concepts of information delivery must be crystallized and used often to penetrate the daily discourse of DC politics.
Such as the rhetorical question "Who would hire an executive who openly states that the company they seek employment from is incompetent and must be sold off in order to make it better."
No one would hire a candidate who wants to destroy the company, but we here it from the Republicans daily.
The logic is appalling but the media has accepted the garbage and those who own the media, love the garbage,in fact, they thrive on the stuff.
It is plain stupid not to denigrate anyone seeking office on the basis that the government is bad.
Not one corporation in the nation, or possibly the world, would consider hiring such a person.
But, Republicans have been elected on this absurd fallacy for years!
In the real world when those things happen it is called a HOSTILE TAKEOVER!
Nations are not companies, citizens are not shareholders, nor should the two concepts be allowed to co-exist within each other.
We already have the "ownership" of this nation and it is high time for us to re-possess it from those who wish to sell it off.
How is adding a layer of profit (while removing job security and reasonable benefits to many) to the concept of operating a government efficient or in the best interests of those citizens negatively effected?
Americans lose when their government functions are privatized, the average person loses their jobs or their benefits,or both, and while there appear to be savings, it is only a re-distribution of wealth upward to a few at the cost of the many.
The individual citizen has been under attack by people who wish to have government dissolve into a patchwork quilt of private enterprise built on marketplace theory that in essence can only operate with competition.
Government, by definition and operation cannot operate with competition. There can be no competing Vital Statistics Bureaus, or Licensing, or Police, Fire, or Judiciary.
We need ads with old "Harry and Sally" arguing about whether their marriage certificate is on file with "VERI-MARRIAGE" or "RECORDS-R-US' or VITALSTAT.COM" because this is the future if the trend continues.
If not, how long will it be before Corporate Armies like BLACKWATER will be ready to "compete' with our national forces?
Privatization is a method of permanent civil war in the making.
It is patently absurd to imagine a nation where the individual must remember what company was used to file their birth records or where they obtained their Social Security card, but, that is the world envisioned by many Republicans and Libertarians.This is the future of the United States if we don't stop the march to absurdity this next election.
If you're still with me, remember all change begins within the individual, make a promise to yourself and keep it, to VOTE, and GET OUT THE VOTE OF AT LEAST 10 OTHER PEOPLE YOU KNOW, our future is in OUR HANDS.
Democrats and independents and even some Republicans will respond to a Democratic who espouses real American values and promises to work for the benefit of the many rather than as an agent of the privileged few.
The nation needs a clean break with the identity of the old power structure.