Gabrielle Giffords

by Pa Rock
Political Observer

At times I catch myself getting a little critical of Arizona, particularly Arizona politicians. It's easy to be critical in Maricopa County where we have a sheriff and a county attorney sharing a brain - and not a very good one, at that, where my congressman, Trent Franks and Beans, proves time and again that he is mostly beans, and where a Presidential visit is tantamount to a call to arms. Our U.S. Senators, Kyl and McCain, both have 3rd degree chapped lips from kissing the butts of every teabagger and know-nothing in the state, and the State Superintendent of Schools is openly contemptuous of education.

But there are some bright spots in this state. Five of the state's nine congresspeople are Democrats, and of those five, the brightest star is Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona's 8th Congressional District. I first became aware of this amazing young lady last spring when someone at one of her town hall meetings got so excited that he left his gun behind after the event. I instinctively knew that morons don't take guns to the events of other morons, which meant that Giffords must have something positive going for her.

And she does. The Tucson native is well educated. She received a B.A. in sociology and Latin American history from Scripps College in California, and completed a Master of Regional Planning at Cornell. She focused her studies on Mexico–United States relations while at Cornell. (Her congressional district is one of only ten in the United States that shares a border with Mexico.) Rep. Giffords was a Fulbright Scholar in Chihuahua, Mexico, and she has also been a fellow at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. She has an education and a work history that served as an ideal preparation for service in Congress. (For years, my congressman in Missouri was a used car dealer who was openly suspicious of anyone with an education!)

Congresswoman Giffords fashions herself a "blue dog" Democrat, but that has to be political posturing because her record does not support that appellation. While in the Arizona legislature she worked tirelessly for improved health care, especially for women and children. She is also pro-choice and pro-gun control, garnering the endorsement of Emily's List and a grade of D+ from the National Rifle Association and a D- from the Gun Owners of America. Blue Dog, indeed!

Her primary strength, however, has to be in understanding what is going on in Mexico and in the logical support of comprehensive immigration reform that includes a guest worker program. She has her finger on the pulse of our neighbor to the south, noting recently that the maquilladora factory system - the one that came about when U.S. manufactures rushed across the Rio Grande for cheap labor after Clinton signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and screwed the unions - those same maquilladoras are now packing up and moving to Asia for even cheaper labor. It is illogical to think that unemployed Mexican factory workers are going to sit on the curb and starve when jobs are available in Los Estados Unidos. ("The United States" for you gringos who refuse to learn even an elemental smattering of Spanish.)

Congresswoman Giffords is married to astronaut Mark Kelly, making her the only current member of Congress to have a spouse who is a member of the Armed Forces, and the only member of Congress to ever have a spouse in space.

Gabrielle Giffords is one smart cookie, and the good citizens of Arizona's 8th are damned lucky to have her representing them in Washington! I may just have to move to Tucson!

Oklahoma Students Fail Basic Citizenship Test

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

In preparation for Constitution Day, the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, a conservative think tank, wanted to get a handle on the civics knowledge of Oklahoma high school students - so they commissioned a survey. Strategic Vision, a national polling organization, came up with a simple test of ten questions that were taken from the actual exam that immigrants have to take to become U.S. citizens. The questions that the polling organization selected were very simple, soft balls actually, whose answers should be nearly automatic in our informed society.

Here are the questions that were asked of Oklahoma high school students:

1. What is the law of the land?

2. What do we call the first ten amendments to the Constitution?

3. What are the two parts of the U.S. Congress?

4. How many justices are there on the Supreme Court?

5. Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?

6. What ocean is on the east coast of the United States?

7. What are the two major political parties in the United States?

8. We elect a U.S. Senator for how many years?

9. Who was the first President of the United States?

10. Who is in charge of the executive branch?

Immigrants must score 60% on the exam in order to qualify for citizenship. Using six of ten as a passing grade, only 3% of the Oklahoma students who were surveyed would have passed the test.

Not only would 97% of Oklahoma high school students have failed the test, three out of four could not answer question #9 - Who was the first President of the United States? Really!

(This may explain why Oklahoma sends the likes of Tom Coburn and James Mountain Inhofe to the United States Senate - for six year terms! Or why every county in the state went for John McCain in the presidential election - hoping to elect him President so that he could run the executive branch!)

Brandon Dutcher, the head of the conservative think tank that commissioned the survey, did point out one saving grace for Oklahomans - he said that Arizona had similar results! Color me surprised!

Noting that Thomas Jefferson had warned that a nation can't expect to be ignorant and free, Mr. Dutcher said, "It points to a real serious problem. We're not going to remain ignorant and free."

Are you listening Senator Coburn? Senator Inhofe? Senator Kyl? Senator McCain? Is there a reason why students in your states are basically ignorant about United States government, history, and geography? Is your focus on the future, fighting for things like education, health care, and social justice - or do you spend your official time appearing at tea parties and stirring discontent for political gain? Are you demonizing government and convincing today's youth that it is irrelevant, or worse yet, evil? You may not like our President, but do your personal feelings merit the need to be openly disrespectful toward the man or the office?

Is that the way you were raised?

Are you setting a positive example for tomorrow's leaders?

I didn't think so.

Southern Charm

by Pa Rock
Social Commentator

There was a cultural myth when I was growing up that said - whatever their faults, southerners could always be counted on for politeness. A southern lady was a lady. She might not like you, or your politics, or your Blue Tick Hound, but she would have you parked in a comfortable chair with a glass of cold and sweet iced tea before you could doff your ball cap and bid her good afternoon.

A southern gentleman was a gentleman. Oh, he might take a mistress and hit the bourbon a little too often, but he was a gentleman who subscribed to all of society's conventions regarding good manners.

She was Scarlett O'Hara and he was Colonel Sanders, and they were the poster people for order and decorum. But it was a myth. The ideal was false. There were no (or damned few) gentle southern souls sipping their mint juleps and dispensing kindness to every wayfarer who happened to stroll across their plantations. Real southerners at the time I was growing up were more apt to be raging crackers and hillbillies who fought integration and prayed to a white male God who smiled kindly on the likes of Bull Connor, Orville Faubus, George Wallace, and Lester Maddox. They bombed black churches, murdered civil rights workers, and overtly supported the likes of the Ku Klux Klan and other hate groups.

But that was decades ago. Integration happened. The South slowly progressed into the American mainstream. Witness Atlanta, for example, a fairly liberal and progressive city that is leading the South into the twenty-first century. All of that ignorant cracker and hillbilly stuff is history - it's a New South.

Or is it?

Representative Joe Wilson, a Republican of South Carolina, showed his class and his ass tonight at the President's speech before Congress when he felt obliged to yell out "You lie!" at one point during the speech. He was, of course, playing to his voters back home - people who would appreciate name-calling and rudeness - ignorant crackers and hillbillies. Good job, Rep. Wilson. You may be the fool nationally, but the good ole boys back home are gonna love that shit. What a great sound bite for your next election! You really told that uppity colored boy a thing or two - by God!

Kudos to my senator, John McCain, for calling the fool, Joe Wilson, out on his bad behavior.

Update: I just heard Rachel Maddow say that Congressman Joe Wilson has issued a written apology to President Obama. So, in the words of the immortal Miss Emily Litella, "Never mind!"

(But I still think the slimeball will use the sound bite in his reelection campaign!)

John McCain Says Something Smart! (Stop the Presses!)

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

John McCain, the ex-POW and war hero who married his way into money and a political future, can be inspiring. He was a beacon to political outsiders in 2000 when he tried to block the Bush juggernaut with his "straight talk" express. But Karl Rove, who was driving the Bush juggernaut, rammed right into McCain's bus in a place called South Carolina by convincing the Republican primary voters of that state that the Arizona Senator might be just a tad too open minded on the subject of race to carry the GOP's Klan robes, much less its banner.

So McCain lost that nomination and went slinking back to the Senate with his tail tucked militarily between his hind legs - where he licked his wounds and waited for another try when Bush left office. This time Johnny Boy wasn't going to take any chances with the bigots and morons who run the Republican Party machinery. In a bold, though stupid, move, he made a pilgrimage to Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, where he planted a big wet kiss on Jerry Falwell's flabby ass. From there he quickly spiraled downhill until he was left with almost no integrity - which made him a shoe-in for the Republican nomination. He frosted the cake by selecting completely incompetent and vacuous Sarah Palin as his running mate. It was a match made in Heaven - on a day when God was off fishing someplace else!

The principled John McCain of 2000 could have run a tough race against Obama, but that John McCain would have never gotten the nomination from his angry white party. The new McCain was offensive to enough people to secure the Republican nomination, but found it impossible to get enough ordinary Joe's to hold their noses and vote for him. He couldn't get the nomination being a human being, and he couldn't win the election being a moralistic cretin.

What's a John to do?

McCain is too old to run for President again, (Please, Lord, let it be so!), but he still has to pander to the know-nothings who run the Republican Party because he has a Senate primary opponent in 2010 who is well to the right of most of humanity. That is why he came out earlier this week and said that he would vote against confirmation of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. (McCain has spoken passionately in the past about the need to incorporate Hispanics into American culture and government.)

But even with McCain's continuous sucking up to people he knows in his heart are illogical and dangerous kooks, he did manage to say something bright today on Twitter. Here is his most recent tweet - I was quite impressed:

"Town hall meetings are an American tradition - we should allow everyone to express their views without disruption - even if we disagree!"

As reported for the past several nights on several television networks, these "spontaneous" crowds showing up to heckle Congressmen and public officials are not spontaneous at all. They are being recruited, provided with scripts of how to disrupt and rattle the speakers, and are even being bussed from event to event. Kudos to Senator McCain for having the cajones to speak out against these mindless agitators!

Senator, I don't know what you put on your Fruit Loops this morning, but whatever it was - keep pouring it on! America is a better place when the real John McCain actually does some straight talking. Please consider doing it more often.

Holy Oklahoma!

by Pa Rock
Social Observer

Certain of our fifty states are way too easy to ridicule, primarily because of the dolts that they seem to "religiously" elect to public office. Recent postings on this blog have taken Arizona to task over various absurdities (like the state’s rampant desire to have no restrictions on gun ownership, and the pervasive feeling that government should run quite well without any revenue, thank you very much!), and a nutty legislator from Missouri who thought that children who were hungry would be more motivated. (Yeah, more motivated to get out and steal food!) I have managed to ignore most of the silliness in the other forty-eight, but a barrage of recent news out of Oklahoma is forcing me to widen the loony net.

Overview: Oklahoma was the only state in the union to have all of its counties carried by McCain in the 2008 general election. And while many, though certainly not all, Oklahomans will declare emphatically that they are not racist, that is one important social component at play in the Sooner State. Southwest and south central Missouri, as well as rural western Arkansas voted for McCain en masse, as did Oklahoma. As a former resident of that three-state area, I can say without hesitation that the populace is focused on thumping the Bible and keeping the “coloreds” in their place. Many were salivating over the rumors that Obama was a secret Muslim because that provided them with a more socially acceptable reason for voting against him than the race issue would have been.

So jump to the present.

Last week Oklahoma’s senior U.S. Senator, James Mountain Inhofe, described the man who was about to become his new colleague in the Senate, Al Franken of Minnesota, as a clown. Yes, Al Franken was a nationally known comedian several years ago – and he made a very good living at it. Mr. Franken has also been a successful author, a radio personality, and, did I mention, a cum laude graduate of Harvard University. Clown, indeed!

Senator Inhofe, on the other hand, is a graduate of the University of Tulsa, without honors, and used to be president of Quaker Life Insurance Company – an organization that went into receivership on his watch. He is also one of the loudest skeptics of global warming - a position that some wags might be tempted to feel is connected to the over one million dollars that he has received in political contributions from the oil and gas industry. He also has a propensity for citing the Bible to back up his position on various pieces of legislation. Who’s the clown?

Former President George W. Bush (the dumb and dangerous Bush) gave a Fourth of July speech this week in the small Oklahoma town of Woodward. Bush, ever the patriot, reportedly spoke for a fee, though apparently no one is yet publicizing the size of the check that the good people of Woodward cut for the for the unemployed politician. Tickets for the event ranged from $25 to $500, and supposedly a highlight of the event was Bush’s retelling of some of his favorite poop jokes. One can only hope that everybody profited from the experience!

But the nuttiest thing out of Oklahoma last week by far was a resolution introduced in the state legislature by Republican (of course!) Representative Sally Kern. The overly pious Ms. Kern has submitted a proposal entitled Oklahoma Citizen’s Proclamation for Morality, a document that places blame for the economic crisis in America on the moral collapse of our nation. The mean-spirited Ms. Kern is clearly not a believer in the concept of the separation of church and state, and her contempt for President Obama borders on being savage - never mind that the economy went into the crapper under his successor, Republican George Bush. Sally Kern's wingnut manifesto follows:

We the People of Oklahoma, Invoking the guidance of Almighty God, in order to secure and perpetuate the blessing of Liberty; to secure just and rightful Government; to promote our mutual Welfare and Happiness, do establish this proclamation and call upon the people of the great State of Oklahoma, and our fellow Patriots in these United States of America who look to the Lord for guidance, to acknowledge the need for a national awakening of righteousness in our land.

WHEREAS, "It is Religion and Morality alone, which can establish the Principles upon
which Freedom can securely stand" (John Adams); and

WHEREAS, "We have no government armed with power capable of contending with
human passions unbridled by Religion and Morality" (John Adams); and

WHEREAS, "Our Constitution was made only for a Moral and Religious people" (John
Adams); and

WHEREAS, "We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the
power of government...but upon the capacity of mankind for self-government, upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God" (James Madison); and

WHEREAS, "Freedom is not a gift bestowed upon us by other men, but a right that
belongs to us by the laws of God (Benjamin Franklin); and

WHEREAS, "God who gave us life gave us liberty and can the liberties of a nation be
thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the Gift of God" (Thomas Jefferson); and

WHEREAS, "Whether any free government can be permanent, where the public
worship of God, and the support of Religion, constitute no part of the policy or duty of the state" (Joseph Story); and

WHEREAS, "We hold sacred the rights of conscience, and promise to the people...the
free and undisturbed exercise of their religion" (Roger Sherman); and

WHEREAS, "This great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians"
(Patrick Henry); and

WHEREAS, "When you...exercise the right of voting for public officers, let it be
impressed upon your mind that God commands you to choose just men who will rule in the fear of God" (Noah Webster); and

WHEREAS, "The principles of genuine Liberty and of wise laws and administrations
are to be drawn from the Bible" (Noah Webster); and

WHEREAS, the people of Oklahoma have a strong tradition of reliance upon the
Creator of the Universe; and thought secure when we have removed

WHEREAS, we believe our economic woes are consequences of our greater national
moral crisis; and

WHEREAS, this nation has become a world leader in promoting abortion,
pornography, same sex marriage, sex trafficking, divorce, illegitimate births, child abuse, and many other forms of debauchery; and
WHEREAS, alarmed that the Government of the United States of America is forsaking
the rich Christian heritage upon which this nation was built; and

WHEREAS, grieved that the Office of the president of these United States has refused
to uphold the long held tradition of past presidents in giving recognition to our National Day of Prayer; and

WHEREAS, deeply disturbed that the Office of the president of these United States
disregards the biblical admonitions to live clean and pure lives by proclaiming an entire month to an immoral behavior;

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that we the undersigned elected officials of the people of Oklahoma, religious leaders and citizens of the State of Oklahoma, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world, solemnly declare that the HOPE of the great State of Oklahoma and of these United States, rests upon the Principles of Religion and Morality as put forth in the HOLY BIBLE; and

BE IT RESOLVED that we, the undersigned, believers in the One True God and His
only Son, call upon all to join with us in recognizing that "Blessed is the Nation whose God is the Lord," and humbly implore all who love Truth and Virtue to live above reproach in the sight of God and man with a firm reliance on the leadership and protection of Almighty God; and

BE IT RESOLVED that we, the undersigned, humbly call upon Holy God, our
Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer, to have mercy on this nation, to stay His hand of judgment, and grant a national awakening of righteousness and Christian renewal as we repent of our great sin.

Signed on the second day of July in the year of our Lord Christ Two Thousand and Nine.

Where to begin? Ms. Kern’s disgust for President Obama is evident, first-off, by the way she consistently refuses to capitalize his title. She seems to be incensed by the fact that he did not stop the government to observe the National Day of Prayer, a highly political event that was thought up by a group of rabid anti-communists just after World War II. The original intent was to quietly slip God back into the operations of American government. President Truman told the group of fascist fundamentalists who were promoting the idea that they could basically to go to hell, but they were eventually able to foist the concept onto Eisenhower. Since the 1950’s every President has been coerced into doing the bidding of this right-wing religious cabal – at least on that one special day. If President Obama can resist the pressure to give in to these intolerant bastards, more power to him!

I noticed also that Ms. Kern likes to quote the crusty old Puritan, John Adams, a man who openly yearned for a hard-ass God to be feared by one and all. Perhaps she would benefit from spending time reading some of the thoughts on religion of his successor, Mr. Jefferson. Jefferson was so distressed over what he considered to be false teachings placed into the mouth of Christ, that he wrote his own version of the Bible.

Thomas Jefferson said, “Christianity has become the most perverted system that ever shone on man. Rogueries, absurdities and untruths were perpetrated upon the teachings of Jesus by a large band of dupes and importers led by Paul, the first great corrupter of the teaching of Jesus.” Did you catch that, Sally? The real Jesus may have been a lot more fun-loving and tolerant than the manufactured one that you worship. Maybe he was even a sexual being. Heaven forbid!

Sally, if you want to live in abject terror of a mean and wrathful God, do it in the privacy of your home, or in church – but keep your God and your religious intolerance out of government! This is America, Sally, and we have the right to believe or not to believe as we see fit. Our government is a compact designed to serve all of its citizens – white, black, brown, oriental, Christian, Muslim, Jew, straight, gay, healthy, sick, disabled, rich, poor, all of the citizens of Oklahoma, and even me!

Times are tough, Sally. Get over yourself and quit wasting Oklahoma’s money!

The Roots of Domestic Terrorism

by Pa Rock
Social Crusader

While our country seems to be all about finding and fighting foreign terrorism, particularly if it can be tied to Muslims or Mexicans, as often as not we completely ignore, or try to ignore, a far more brutal and insidious variant of extremism: domestic terrorism.

America is awash in hate groups. They burn clinics, kill doctors, protest at funerals, terrorize immigrants, disparage non-Christian religions, and vilify racial and ethnic minorities, gays, and independent women. These people often believe that their government is corrupt, voting is inconsequential, and the possession of guns is the only sure way of maintaining their freedom.

The past two weeks have witnessed two classic examples of hate crimes, both carried out by “lone wolf” extremists – people who participate in the fiery hate rhetoric but commit acts of violence on their own.

Scott Roeder, an anti-abortion activist, killed Dr. George Tiller in church on Sunday morning two weeks ago. This past week James Von Brunn, described by an ex-wife as being a “racist alcoholic,” killed Stephen Tyrone Johns, a black security guard at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC. Both were senseless acts committed by people whose minds had long ago succumbed to the deleterious effects of prolonged and bitter hatred.

People don’t arrive in this world imbued with hatred, they acquire it through a learning process – the same way that others learn how to become accepting and to love. The haters are patiently and painstakingly trained by social critics and master haters who fan the flames of ignorance and then run for cover whenever one of their creatures explode.

Bill O’Reilly, a socially irresponsible entertainer on Fox News, referred to Dr. Tiller dozens of times on the air as “Tiller the Baby Killer,” yet when Scott Roeder went over the edge and murdered the physician, O’Reilly proclaimed sanctimoniously that he hadn’t pulled the trigger. He didn’t murder Dr. Tiller.

Perhaps not, but he was most certainly an accessory. O’Reilly's hateful sputum was sprayed on the masses for a reason, and Scott Roeder was the stupid and willing pawn who finally acted on it.

The very day that 88-year-old James Von Brunn stormed into the Holocaust Museum and killed a black security guard, Rush Limbaugh had been on the radio saying that all Barack Obama and God had in common was that neither had a birth certificate. In addition to being a loud and proud racist, Mr. Von Brunn was also a “birther,” one of the many who subscribe to the fiction that Barack Obama was born outside of the United States and therefore ineligible to be President. (Factoid: One of the 2008 Presidential candidates actually was born outside of the United States – John McCain was born in Panama.)

Rush Limbaugh didn’t kill Stephen Tyrone Johns, but his malarkey certainly helped to keep a mental deficient like James Von Brunn stirred up.

Last July (2008) a fellow named Jim David Adkisson entered the Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee, and opened fire with a shotgun killing two people and wounding others. He chose his target for the indiscriminate attack because of its association with liberalism, noting that he hated liberals, gays, and democrats. When police searched his home they found the following three books: Liberalism is a Mental Disorder by radio talk show host Michael Savage, Let Freedom Ring: Winning the War of Liberty Over Liberalism by Sean Hannity, and The O’Reilly Factor: The Good, the Bad, and the Completely Ridiculous in American Life by Bill O’Reilly.

Savage (whose real name is “Weiner”), Hannity, and O’Reilly didn’t carry a weapon into a church in Knoxville and open fire, but the bile flowing from their pens helped to motivate Adkisson to commit his horrid crime.

America is armed and dangerous. It is a house on fire with a basement full of powder kegs. Hate speech fans the flames, and when one of the kegs explodes – as it is bound to do – the bigoted bastard who lit the fuse rushes out to face the cameras and deny any responsibility.

Domestic terrorists are our worst enemies, a far greater threat to the survival of this nation than any danger from abroad. It is well past time that the "good" and "Christian" Americans who commit these atrocities are recognized for what they truly are: terrorist scum. It is also well past time that their cheerleaders and enablers accept a fair share of responsibility for the part that they play in these crimes against America.

And it is certainly well past time that all of these criminal bastards get the treatment they so richly deserve.

Waterboarding, anyone?

Ain't No Liberty at this "University"

by Pa Rock
Educator

Not every university is the same. Some are private and very good - like many of the Ivy League schools of the northeast, and some are public and also very good - like many schools in the state university systems. A true university is a refuge for those wanting to explore and increase the accumulated knowledge of the world. Real universities tolerate divergent points of view. Unfortunately, there are also some truly bad schools also posing as universities, schools with no tolerance of divergent points of view and whose sole function is to push religious dogma and fight the acquisition of knowledge at every turn.

Liberty University (sic) of Virginia is a grand example of the latter. It is a private school founded by the late televangelist and hate-monger, Jerry Falwell. Liberty prides itself on not encumbering its students with genuine knowledge about the real world, and produces graduates who don't believe in evolution, or apparently, even the two-party system.

The school is little more than a pit of religious fundamentalism. It is the place where John McCain actually lost the 2008 Presidential race when he showed up there a couple of years earlier to lick Falwell's boots as he tried to worm his way back into the good graces of his party's reprobate wing. Many of the kinder and gentler Republicans were aghast at his hypocrisy, and went on to vote for Obama.

Liberty University (sic) allowed a crack in its know-nothing shell last October, one month before the election, when it inexplicably granted a small group of students the right to start a Democratic Club. Apparently that was a move that their fat cat fascist funders could not abide, because last week the university (sic) pulled the plug on its fledgling attempt to accommodate some bipartisanship on campus.

Last Friday Mark Hine, the Vice President of Student Affairs at the pseudo hole of higher learning, sent an email to the Democratic Club president, Brian Diaz. The email, which young Diaz said came "out of the blue" decreed that the club must stop using the university's (sic) name, holding meetings on campus, or advertising events. Violations of that edict could lead to expulsion.

The university (sic) official said yesterday that it could not sanction an official club that supported Democratic candidates - apparently on moral grounds. But, he added for clarification, "We are in no way attempting to stifle free speech."

So far there is no confirmation to the rumors that students who refuse to recant their Democratic tendencies will be burned at the stake - but this story is still evolving!

The Invasion of Phoenix

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Fifty-five thousand out-of-towners are going to converge on Phoenix this week to celebrate and support their interpretation of the Second Amendment. Yup, the good ole boys (and girls) of the National Rifle Association will be convening here to peruse armaments and swap paranoid fantasies with wild abandon. Oh, the tales they will tell and the guns they will fondle!

This is a very big deal locally, supposedly the largest gathering ever at the Phoenix Convention Center. One Chamber of Commerce flack estimated that the visitors will consume more that 10,000 room nights in the Valley of Hell, and the spending effect will pump about $70 million into the local economy. Spend away, suckers, we'll take your money!

A billboard out by the Air Force Base proclaims that the event will have acres and acres of guns and gear for sale. I'm sure thousands of the baddest guns will be loaded into those black SUV's and quickly transported to Nogales, Mexico, and points south. This should be a real boon for the drug dealers - not having to traipse all over the country looking for massive quantities of deadly bargains! Phoenix ought to have one of these gun-shows-on-steroids every year, or even twice a year!

The NRA convention comes at an especially good time for Arizona in a political sense. Our new governor, Jan Brewer, and John McCain will both be there flapping their right wings and squawking like Rush Limbaugh on a full tank of speed.

Last night the state legislature passed an absurd piece of legislation making it illegal for property owners to prohibit their employees from keeping guns in their cars (on company property) while they are at work. A spokeswoman for the NRA said that her organization supports property rights, but the God-given Second Amendment protections trump property rights every time. (It's true! You can't make this crap up!) This probably would not be a great time to be working in one of the local post offices!

Arizona ranks 5th nationally in states with the highest percentages of gun deaths. Nearly 7,000 people died by gunfire in this crazy state between 1999 and 2006. The new armed workplace law should help to propel us to number one in short order! (I'll bet the state's funeral directors had some lobbyists working to pass that jewel!)

Our local National Public Radio affiliate, KJZZ, ran a story on this commercial madness. They interviewed an old couple who are strong NRA supporters. The man carried a card in his wallet that listed "ten ways Barack Obama threatens the Second Amendment." His wife barked about how Obama (she couldn't bring herself to refer to him as "President") was going to be the "ruination" of America. The husband chimed in that it wasn't about his color (which meant that it assuredly was!), but that he and his wife were against Obama's political policies.

So, for the next few nights, downtown Phoenix will be in full Halloween mode. The streets will be pulsing with hillbillies, hookers, soldiers-of-fortune, arms dealers, drug dealers, fascists, racists, and countless other types of miscreants and miscreant wannabes. It ought to be a real hoot. Hell, I may even punch a couple of holes in one of my good sheets and go join the party!

Phoenix - gotta love it - or leave it!

Arrest Cheney and Haul His Sorry Carcass to The Hague!

by Pa Rock
Public Citizen

Dick Cheney needs to crawl off into a hole and pull the hole in after him. One would assume that after eight years of systematically dismantling the Constitution of the United States and shaming his country as no other Vice-President has since the days of Aaron Burr, The Dick would have the decency to just shut up and go away. But one would be wrong.

This morning as I was getting ready to go paint, I had the CBS news program, Face the Nation, playing for background noise. Cheney was the guest, and he was in full attack mode.

The former Vice-President is very pissed that President Obama released the torture memos and shined a light on the crimes of the previous administration. Cheney is going at it hammer-and-tong trying to rewrite, or at least justify, the history of his glory days. He has very good reason to be in attack mode: he doesn't want to be the subject of civil suits that could put a dent in all of those Halliburton millions that he piled up while he was supposed to be serving America - and he doesn't want to go to prison - even one of the country club prisons frequented by Republicans and the business classes.

I used to agree with President Obama that nothing would be accomplished by dredging up the past and trying to punish the Bush administration officials for their stupid, dangerous, and treasonous acts. But that was then and his is now. If The Dick is insistent on flaunting himself in front of every available camera and microphone and bloviating about how much safer he made America, then I say let Congress, and the Courts, and the Spanish judges, and The Hague have him - and let the cow chips fall where they may!

America doesn't owe Dick Cheney squat, but he owes us for destroying our national pride and our reputation for fairness and honesty. Cheney and his minions managed to decrease our national integrity to a level comparable to that of North Korea in just eight short years. The Dick owes us for the deaths of over four thousand of our finest young people (and the senseless mangling of countless thousands of others) in a futile and needless war - while letting our true enemy, Osama bin Laden, a relative of Bush and Cheney's Saudi oil buddies, get away. He owes us every corrupt dollar that was funneled to Halliburton, Blackwater, and Kellogg, Brown, and Root for those scurrilous no-bid contracts. And lest we forget the thousands of dead and mutilated Iraqi children, their blood is on his hands as well. All of those bills need to be paid.

But, the former Vice President did not really come up with anything new or newsworthy until near the end of the interview when Bob Schieffer asked him about the leadership of the Republican Party, and, in particular, should the party be looking for leadership from a moderate like Colin Powell or a firebrand like Rush Limbaugh. Cheney took the bait and ran with it.

Cheney said, "If I had to choose in terms of being a Republican, I'd go with Rush Limbaugh." He then went off on a mean little tirade about the renegade Powell supporting Barack Obama over McCain in the November election.

Translation: Colin Powell was a good nigra back when he was steppin' and fetchin' and carrying water for the Bush team - telling their lies to the United Nations with a straight face, but now that he has developed a spine - well...the Republican party doesn't need any nigras that have the ability to stand tall. Rush Limbaugh is a more representative face of the Grand Old Party.

How sad is that?

Republicans Goosestep Toward Party Purity

by Pa Rock
Amused Spectator

Arlen Specter, the moderate Republican Senator from Pennsylvania today became the moderate Democratic Senator from Pennsylvania. Specter said that he no longer felt at home with the Republicans who seem hellbent on letting hard right wing ideology define their party for the foreseeable future. Democrats are happy because they are now just one vote short of a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, and Al Franken is going to be seated as the new Democratic Senator from Minnesota sooner or later. President Obama said that he was "thrilled" at Specter's change of parties.

Specter's big switch had more to do with political realities than it did with ideology. Republicans were planning to unseat him through a tough fight in the Pennsylvania Republican primary. The seventy-nine year old Specter, who isn't ready to retire, did the math and decided he had a better chance of political survival by running as a Democrat.

And the Republican ignoramus comitatus was quick to bid Arlen Specter a hale and hearty farewell, with remarks similar to Roy Clark's classic line (gender bent): "Thank God and Greyhound he's gone!" Most were on the air all day braying about how much better off the party was without him. There were a few exceptions to that idiot-ology, though. Maine's Senator Olympia Snowe said the loss of Arlen Specter from the Republican ranks was "devasting." Senator Snowe, one of only a handful of moderate Republicans in America, may one day be forced from the ranks of the "real" Republicans herself.

America's premier gasbag and the de facto head of the Republican Party, Rush Limbaugh, bid good riddance to Senator Specter today, and suggested that he take John McCain and his daughter, Meghan, with him. (Take another bottle of pills, Rush. It will all be better in the morning!)

The Republican purists are glad to see Arlen Specter fly his true colors and join the opposition. Keep on purifying the party, folks, and your next Minneapolis convention will fit into the Larry Craig memorial restroom at the airport!

Trivia: As a young man, Arlen Specter was a lawyer working for the Warren Commission on the assassination of President Kennedy. He was the person who came up with the "magic bullet" theory to explain how one shooter could have done so much damage.

Finally: A McCain Worth Quoting!

by Pa Rock
Cultural Commentator

There are people who believe that if John McCain had remained true to his maverick persona that he perfected in the 2000 primary against George Bush, he would have beaten Obama, or at least given him a decent race. But the 2008 McCain veered sharply to the right, and crawled into bed with the batshit wing of the Republican party - the group that adorns itself with crosses, swastikas, and cheap bed linens. Unfortunately for him, the old Bush coalition didn't coalesce this time around, and John McCain learned the hard way that America truly was ready for a change.

Now, however, another McCain is emerging as somewhat of a maverick in her own right. True, Meghan McCain, the Senator's daughter from his second batch of kids, holds no elected position, but she is using her famous name to try and slap some sense into the Republican party. Meghan is a blogger who developed a good-sized fan base of young Republicans during the election.

Last week she remarked in her blog that she didn't "get" Ann Coulter and found her to be offensive, insulting, and confusing - a description that is somewhat tame - considering the subject matter. Ms. Coulter ignored the lowly blogger.

A few days later the 24-year-old Ms. McCain suggested in her blog that Republicans ought to seek compromise with Democrats. (Oh, that her daddy would listen to that bit of sanity!) Laura Ingraham, a right-wing radio mouthpiece took issue with that bit of commonsense, and replied with a tried and true Republican staple - insults. Ingraham referred to Ms. McCain as "a Valley Girl gone awry" and a "plus-sized model." (Or, for those encumbered with a home-schooling degree, dumb and fat.)

Meghan was on The View and struck back in the spirit of her old man back when he wasn't afraid to speak his mind. She informed the nation that Laura Ingraham could "Kiss my fat ass!"

You go girl! A little straight talk never hurt anybody!

On Religion and Pornography

by Pa Rock
Social Critic

The Gallup organization released a poll last month that revealed a couple of important findings regarding religiosity in the United States. First, the poll demonstrated that we live in a basically religious country where 65% of Americans regard religion as "an important part of their daily lives."

The second significant finding of the poll was that the degree of religiosity varies widely by region. There is, according to the poll by Gallup, a distinct "Bible Belt" where religion plays a very significant aspect in peoples' lives. That belt is a strip across the American South that includes eleven of the most religious states: Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee, Louisiana, Arkansas, Georgia, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Kentucky, and Texas. The least religious states were in New England and the West: Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, and (are you listening, Sarah?) Alaska.

Political note: Nine of the ten most religious states voted for McCain, and nine of the ten least religious states wound up in the Obama column.

Okay, so let's overlay the results of that poll with a new piece of research on America's interest in Internet pornography. The researcher was Benjamin Edelman, and his work was also published last month.

A major on-line porn provider gave their credit card billing records (anonymized so that porn clients were identified only by their zip codes) to Mr. Edelman. After a statistical analysis of those records the researcher was able to delineate a group of states that were the heaviest subscribers to Internet porn and a list of states that were the lightest subscribers.

The most "porn-a-holic" states were Utah, Alaska, Mississippi, Hawaii, Oklahoma, Arkansas, North Dakota, Louisiana, and West Virginia. That list includes the home of the Mormon Church (Utah - which was ranked number one in Internet porn usage), Sarah Palin's Alaska, and four states of the Bible Belt: Mississippi, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana.

The least porn dependent states were Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon, Tennessee, Ohio, New Hampshire, Michigan, New Jersey, and Delaware.

Political note: Eight of the top ten pornography consuming states voted for John McCain, and six out of the lowest ten voted for Barack Obama.

What does all of this mean? Does going to church regularly fan the flames of prurient desire? Do stories of all of those lusty babes of the Bible get the blood flowing south? Can the human spirit take only so much sanctimonious blather before it goes looking for something more titillating? Should we keep our kids out of church for the sake of their immortal souls?

It all sounds so hopeless - the higher we set our sights, the further we fall. But there is a glimmer of hope. The research on Internet porn usage showed that people in the most religious areas did cut back on their acquisition of pornography on Sundays!

Can I have an Amen!

A Brighter Future

by Pa Rock
Old Fart

It's easy to get down on things and worry that the world is going to hell in a hand basket, especially in dire economic times like the ones that we are currently experiencing. But there is a brighter future just starting to peek over the horizon, and it will be ushered in by people much younger than myself.

Arizona is a good case in point. It is basically a conservative place that has put forth national candidates named Barry Goldwater and John McCain, and prides itself in having the most sadistic sheriff in America. The population is old, especially during our warm winter months when the blue haired "snowbirds" descend into the state from the nation's colder regions.

But Arizona also has a vibrant and diverse cultural base of Hispanic Americans as well as a significant Navajo and Hopi Indian population. There is nothing that I enjoy more than putting the top down on my little car in the cool of the evening and driving through the Hispanic sections of Phoenix, listening to the music, absorbing the smells of Mexican cooking, and taking in the vibrant colors the adorn the street signs and businesses.

The future of Arizona, as with the nation as a whole, lies with its young people. The total population of the state includes 59% non-Hispanic Whites, and 30% Hispanics. But that number changes significantly with its teen population which is currently 45% non-Hispanic Whites and 41% Hispanic. Not surprisingly, Arizona's teens think differently than their elders - and some of that free-wheeling thought will stay with them as they age - just as it did with my generation.

The Morrison Institute of Public Policy at Arizona State University released a poll of 950 Arizona teens (age 13-19) last week that portrays the young folks of this state as decidedly more liberal than the old fogies who are currently making such a mess of things. And while all is not roses with this group - for instance, like teens historically they still practice risky behaviors with regard to sex, drugs, and cars - this group does offer a lot of promise.

One of the items on the survey involved how these young people define the good life. Twenty-percent said that to have a good life it is necessary to have lots of money. Thirty-three percent said that doing good for others is an element of the good life, 57% said it involves having a happy family, and 58% tie the good life to having an enjoyable job. My father grew up during the Great Depression. Sadly, he and many in his generation have only one standard for success - money.

Older people in our country are racially and culturally sensitive. While the baby-boomers leaned toward Obama in the last election, their surviving parents did not. Ninety-three percent of the teens surveyed by the Morrison Institute agree with this statement: "I enjoy being among people with different backgrounds and lifestyles." The world is getting better in spite of itself.

These young people are tuned into national issues, and again their responses signal that a new day is at hand in Arizona and America. Immigration is a hot-button issue in the southwest (actually, in most of America), and demagogues are constantly using it to stir the rabble. But these young people are not as fearful of immigrants, even illegal immigrants, as are the older residents. Seventy-five percent of teens taking the survey said that illegal immigrants should be given the chance to become citizens. Three out of four young people surveyed are accepting of these people who risk their lives crossing into the United States in order to make a better life for themselves and their families. We are going to age out of these hateful times!

Remember all of that science that the Bush team tried to rewrite? It didn't take, at least not with Arizona teens. Seventy-two percent of them agreed with the statement that "Global warming is a long-term crisis caused mostly by human action, not just natural temperature changes." Al Gore is proud, and so am I!

Sixty-five percent of the teens in the Morrison Institute survey agreed that the choice of whether or not to have an abortion should be left to the woman involved. Fifty-six percent agreed that there should be more legal restrictions on gun ownership. Trust me on this - those are not the views of their parents!

The subject of evolution is a little murkier, but still shows promise. Forty-three percent agreed with the statement "The theory of evolution best explains how life developed on earth." Thirty-one percent disagreed with that statement, and 26% were undecided.

Gay marriage, anyone? Thirty-nine percent agreed with this statement: "I think marriage should be allowed only between a man and a woman." Fifty-one percent disagreed - that's over half of the teens surveyed who are open-minded on the subject of gay marriage! Ten percent were undecided.

How about helping those less fortunate than ourselves - basic Christian charity? Twenty-percent agreed with this uncharitable comment: "Society is too generous to poor people, who would be better off if made to stand on their own two feet." Sixty-four percent disagreed with it, and 16% were undecided. Wow! America has been castigating the poor since the days of Reagan, but these kids must have not gotten the memo!

One subject that the Arizona teens did not have a clear opinion on was the death penalty. This statement brought a fairly even distribution of responses: "The value of the death penalty outweighs the danger of executing an innocent person." Thirty-six percent of the kids agreed with that statement, 32% disagreed, and 32% were undecided.

Overall, I am amazed and pleased at how bright the future looks for Arizona, and I have a sense that young people around the world are nurturing the desire to roll up their sleeves and take charge of their lives and their planet.

I wish them Godspeed!

Reddest of the Red, Bluest of the Blue

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Howard Dean, the out-going Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, came to his position four years ago with a desire to get away from the national slugfest over just two states, Florida and Ohio. Dean envisioned a fifty-state strategy in which the Democratic Party would be politically aggressive in every state of the union. Though many in both of the major national parties blithely smirked at Dean’s naiveté, he proved to be right on the mark. Dr. Dean realized that the voting population is getting younger and they are better educated - two demographics just aching to be courted by the Democrats.

Barack Obama also recognized the value of a national campaign. His smart Internet organization gave him an enormous money edge that allowed him to expand his campaign into states that have been traditionally Republican. This aggressive posture in Red states forced the McCain campaign to spend money and energy in states that they could have ignored in more ordinary circumstances.

The fifty-state strategy was effective. Team Obama won in places where Kerry and even Clinton had not been successful. Virginia turned blue for the first time in forty years. North Carolina also surprised many by finding its way into the Democratic column. Florida and Ohio, the two states that had placed and kept George Bush in the White House, went to Obama, as did normally Republican Nevada, Colorado, and New Mexico. Obama even took one electoral vote from Republican Nebraska.

By and large, the United States is much more purple today than it is blue or red, lending credence to President-elect Obama’s sage observation that “we are not a red America or a blue America, but the United States of America.”

There are, however, still some parts of the country that are resistant to turning purple. The presidential election results of 2008 would indicate that Hawaii (the birthplace of Obama) and much of New England are unabashedly blue. In fact, Obama won all of the counties in Hawaii, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Vermont, with little Vermont giving him his highest percentage of votes of any of the states – a whopping sixty-eight percent!

And which state was the reddest of the red? Oklahoma won that title hands-down! Oklahoma was the only state in the Union in which McCain won every county. (Even the Mormon bastions of Utah and Idaho gave up some counties to Obama!) Oklahoma also gave McCain his largest statewide win with sixty-six percent of the votes.

Those liberals seeking communities rich in kindred spirits might do well to consider relocating (if they are not already there) to Hawaii or the northeastern United States. And if your thing is gun ownership, controlling what other people do in the privacy of their own bedrooms, and Christian zealotry, Oklahoma might just be your ideal comfort zone.

The rest of us may just have to hold our tongues as we slowly turn purple!

Piss Off, Joe!

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Senator Joseph Lieberman, a once prominent Democrat who rose to the heights of being Al Gore's running mate in 2000, has been on a downward spiral since he became a cheerleader for the Oil War in Iraq way back in 2003. His ardent support of that ill-conceived and misguided military misadventure resulted in him losing the Democratic primary election in Connecticut in 2006.

In order to save his Senate seat, Lieberman ran as an independent and managed to defeat the Democratic and Republican candidates. He came back to an evenly split Senate as an independent and caucused with the Democrats, allowing them to keep the chairmanship of all of the Senate committees, and in return allowing Lieberman to remain chairman of the Homeland Security Committee. It was a classic marriage of convenience: the Democrats needed Lieberman to stay in control, and Lieberman needed the Democrats to remain relevant.

But then came the 2008 Presidential election. For months Joe Lieberman has served as John McCain's right hand man, joining him in public appearances, coaching him on Middle East fine points - like the differences between Sunni Muslims and Shia Muslims, and probably checking the water temperature in the bathtub before McCain got in.

Not only was Joe not supporting the Democratic ticket, he was actively campaigning against them! That should be it - marriage over! But for some inexplicable reason, Harry Reid seems to be hesitating about taking Lieberman's Homeland Security chairmanship away from him. The Democrats have a solid majority now and no longer have to pander to two-faced Joe. The man who should have been elected Vice President as a Democrat in 2000, has now turned his back on all of those who worked so hard to get him elected. It's time to return the favor!

Harry Reid needs to call the clown into his office and fire his butt, and if he doesn't do it, the Democratic caucus in the Senate needs to do it for him. Let the old fart roam off into the wilderness and live with the Republicans. Even that is better than he deserves!

Arizona Votes

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

I telephoned the Elections Office in Maricopa County today to ask if there was a way that I could determine if my mail-in ballot had been received and tallied. After ten minutes of listening to recordings and pressing numbers, I finally reached a human. I told the young man that I had mailed in my ballot three weeks ago. Would there be, I asked, a list of voters who had actually voted posted somewhere after the election so that I could ensure that my ballot had been received? "What is your name, sir?" he asked politely. After I told him, there was a pause for a few minutes, and then he came back on the line and told me that my ballot had been received and counted. Mail-in voting is so easy and so convenient!

Estimates are that one-third of the national electorate may have already voted by election day. Thirty states have some sort of early voting process, and I suspect that they will have fewer problems on election day than those states that cram all of their voters into one twelve-hour period. There certainly should be less waiting and hassle in places where citizens have been allowed to vote early. Who knows, election day might be one of the two or three days a year that we have rain in Arizona!

The Obama campaign began doing television advertising in Arizona today, after most polls moved the race from "solid McBush" to "lean McBush." John McBush has homes in several states, and some of the locals feel that he is more transfixed on life in Washington DC than he is on life in Arizona. Some wags refer to Arizona's Senator Kyl as our "workhorse" and McBush as our "showhorse." So long-story-short, McBush is losing ground in his home state and Obama is going to give him a run for Arizona's ten electoral votes. It's about damned time!

MSNBC reported tonight that McBush has a one-point lead in the polls in Arizona, and that Obama is twelve points ahead of McBush in the state's early voting. My call to Maricopa County today ensures that I am part of that twelve-point lead.

John McBush is up for re-election to the US Senate in two years. If he chooses to run again, Arizona's most popular politician, Governor Janet Napolitano, will send him to Sun City for a long-overdue retirement!

I am hoping for a surprise Obama visit to Arizona over the weekend. It's a shame that he doesn't have time to visit Alaska as well!

Soaking the Poor

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

John McBush continues to rant and roar over the Obama plan to "re-distribute" the wealth, referring to his opponent as the "re-distributor" in chief. McBush is worried, and rightly so, that Obama will increase taxes on the rich - people like himself and Mrs. McBush. Their income is conservatively estimated at over a third of a billion dollars a year. So what did Sweet Cindy do to earn that monster income? Why, absolutely nothing! She inherited it.

So, step one, let's set aside the conservative whine about the unfairness of taxing those who worked so very hard to accumulate their fortune. That happens, of course, but more often that not wealth is acquired from the previous generation. Republicans in particular want to protect wealth that is passed down. We used to have taxes in this country on estates, and most people really didn't have a problem with the concept of an estate or inheritance tax - because the people receiving the inheritance had done nothing to earn it. But then a group of legislators came up with the idea of re-branding inheritance taxes as "death taxes" and suddenly started belching about how the government was even going to follow you into the grave to get their greedy paws on your hard-earned money. Never mind that the dearly departed would have no use for the money other than to maintain a state of privilege for his or her heirs.

And conservatives traditionally hate the concept of progressive income tax. In the early 1900's people with a very little money paid a very low rate of income tax. That has since risen dramatically. Why? Well, it's because in the early 1900's people who made more money paid a higher rate of taxes on their income. The percentage paid on taxes was graduated and rose with the amount of income. The ultra rich were hit with a 90% tax rate. And the conservatives whined that this, too, was unfair. If a person made more, they should be able to keep it. They presented it as a matter of fairness. Their goal was a flat tax, where everyone pays the same percentage.

There has always been a strong push, again from conservative quarters, to eliminate income tax altogether and impose instead a national use tax - a sales tax. Governor Huckabee rode that horse this year, and we will continue to see it trotted out in future elections as long as society dares to keep itself in good repair by taxing either property or income.

Sales tax is a very bad joke on a very vulnerable segment of the population. I have heard educated people blather on about how it is the fairest tax because everyone pays - and those poor people don't skate by just because they own no property or have a miserably low income. But sales tax is regressive, the opposite of progressive. The poor pay a much bigger percentage of their income on sales taxes than the rich. Whereas the poor often have to put all of their income into ordinary living expenses such as food, medicine, and gas, the very wealthy spend a much smaller portion of their income on things that are taxable. They never have to put it all on the line just to get by.

Remember Cindy McBush. Her monthly credit card bill recently was $150,000, and a good portion of that probably was subject to sales tax. But Sweet Cindy makes a third of a billion a year. So much of her income will not be exposed to sales tax, no matter how crazy she gets with her shopping.

The banks also conspire to fleece the poor. Most people have a checking account to conduct their business, but often the poor have no money left for savings. They spend it all just to survive. When the overdraft fee charged by banks is at a national average of over $29.00 per check, as it is today, the poor get clobbered coming and going. (My father was once a director in a small rural bank. He said the most lucrative income that particular bank had going for it was overdraft fees. And now that bank has ATM cards - another cash cow. When a person has to use some other bank's ATM, both banks get to collect a fee of up to three dollars or more.) The rich have plenty of cash and don't have to subsidize the banks with overdraft fees or ATM fees. My bank provides overdraft insurance, but you have to qualify in order to get it. In other words, if the wealthy do write a hot check, it is automatically covered at no fee. Nice, huh?

We all know that society needs funds to operate, but the wealthy feel that they should be immune from financial squeeze that plagues the poor. One class pays the bills and another class enjoys the benefits. Maybe it isn't the wealth that needs to be re-distributed, but it would certainly be nice if the responsbility for funding society could be shared by those sitting on its wealth!

Racism's Last Hurrah

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

One week from tonight America will experience a watershed event: the election of a black man as the forty-fourth President of the United States. Some worry that the election of Barack Obama will loose a torrent of of racial attacks spurred on by white racists with low IQ's and poor self-concepts. (Indeed, a couple of drunken hillbillies were busted in Tennessee this week for planning to terrorize a predominantly black high school and murder one-hundred-and-two black students before assassinating Obama. These bozos did have a flare for the dramatic - they were going to commit their horrendous crimes wearing white tuxedos and top hats!) Others worry that if the election is derailed at the last minute by some rogue state officials such as the Secretary of State in Florida (2000) or the Secretary of State in Ohio (2004), angry blacks will pour into the streets seeking revenge.

And I confess to being very concerned that something bad could happen either before the election or afterwards. Some of Sarah Palin's speeches have been little more than thinly veiled incitements to riot, and McBush has given up on talking about himself, electing instead to constantly hammer away at the awful things that he thinks his opponent has planned for America.

But I have begun to feel better about the prospects of a fair election and a smooth transition of power. The Obama numbers are up in almost every demographic. He leads among old people, young people, women, and now even among white men. Polls show that he leads among veterans of Bush's Oil War and among service people currently serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. People are deciding across the board that he is the candidate best able to fix the economy, end the war, and restore America's image as a world leader. It's a tall order, but they recognize that Obama is the candidate with the best chance of bringing about the changes that our country so desperately needs.

National Public Radio has a correspondent on the road talking to people in swing states. Today she was in St. Louis, MO, and interviewed several people who were planning to vote for Obama. Some were older individuals who had never voted before because they felt that their votes wouldn't be counted or make a difference. Now they are all planning to vote, they are all sensing some ownership in America.

One black man who was featured said something very poignant about the long struggle for equality in this country. It follows:

"Rosa sat so Martin could walk;

Martin walked so Obama could run;

And Obama ran so our children could fly!"

Amen, brother. Amen

Hogs at the Trough

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

The average salary in the United States is $45,000 per year, and there are millions of people in this country who work for even less than that. We all like to think that we are in the economic middle class, but, in reality, the middle class is quietly disappearing and we are quickly becoming a nation of ultra rich and miserably poor. The rich are doing fine, thank you, and they would like the government to keep it's hand off of their money. They say that they are the economic engines of our country, and when they make money some of it will trickle down. The poor, meanwhile, scurry around looking for the trickle.

Sometimes the government tries to help correct the situation by providing some assistance to the poor. When that happens, the rich scream "socialism" and wail about the unfairness of having to pay taxes. At other times the government provides assistance to the rich through tariffs, use of national resources, and bailouts. The rich justify their welfare as being necessary for the health of the economy.

So welfare for the poor is a bad thing, and welfare for the rich is a good thing. Progressive income taxes - where the wealthy pay a greater percentage of their incomes in taxes - is a bad thing, while sales taxes - where the poor pay a greater percentage of their incomes in taxes - is a good thing.

Everything is backward! No wonder we are in such an economic mess!

Tonight I heard on the news that all of the big Wall Street firms, including those feeding at the bailout trough, are still planning on giving enormous bonuses to their employees at the end of the year. Yep. Big bonuses for poor performance - and they're using our money to do it!

Our Senators and Congressmen make six-figure salaries, three and four times the national average salary. A person can live on that salary, even in Washington D.C. Yet today, Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska was convicted on seven counts of not reporting gifts from lobbyists - gifts worth at least a quarter-of-a-million dollars! An oil supply company called Veco remodeled his house at little or no cost. I could use that service. What about me, Veco?

And then there is straight-talking John McBush. His ranch in pricey Sedona,, Arizona, didn't get good cell phone service, so AT&T and Verizon rushed up and put up two cell towers just for him and his family - for free! I am from a little town in the Ozarks that gets darned little cell phone service. Hey, Verizon, I send you money every month. How about putting a cell tower up on my little farm?

Where is my bailout, and where the hell is that damned trickle?

The Goldwaters of Arizona

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

My daughter, Molly, lived in Arizona for a decade before I moved here. A couple of years ago while she was working in hospice care, Molly asked me if I had ever heard of some guy who ran for President named Barry Goldwater. Molly had learned this antiquarian name while working with an older lady who had been one of the good Senator's last caretakers.

Barry Goldwater was the Republican candidate for President in 1964. He was solidly trounced by the incumbent President, Lyndon Baines Johnson. I remember him well. I was sixteen that summer, and I was a Goldwater supporter. That's right. Liberal old Rock was once an enthusiastic partisan for Barry Goldwater, a.k.a. "Mr. Conservative." I even gave a speech in his behalf at a high school mock political rally. (I'm actually not ashamed of that. Another Goldwater supporter that year was a 17-year-old girl in Chicago by the name of Hillary Rodham.)

Goldwater was a political freak, so outside the mainstream of American politics at the time that those who supported him were routinely were laughed at and ridiculed. A week before the election he was given a modicum of respectability through a thirty-minute television speech by an unemployed actor named Ronald Reagan. Goldwater wound up winning his home state of Arizona and five states in the cracker belt of the American south. Two years later Ronald Reagan was elected governor of California, and went on to an even better job in January of 1981. Barry Goldwater went on to serve a couple of more decades in the United States Senate before returning to Arizona for his final days.

The Goldwater family has been in the news this week talking about politics, and from their public pronouncements, they seem to be divided along generational lines similar to those that affected the Macys and the Rodhams and many other families in 1964. Senator Goldwater's niece, C.C. Goldwater, declared yesterday that she and her siblings, and most of her cousins, were supporting the candidacy of Barack Obama. She said clearly:

"Our generation of Goldwaters expects government to provide for constitutional protections. We reject the constant intrusion into our personal lives, along with other crucial policy issues of the McCain/Palin ticket."

She added:

"My grandfather (Paka) would never suggest denying a woman's right to choose. My grandmother co-founded Planned Parenthood in Arizona in the 1930's, a cause my grandfather supported."

C.C. Goldwater also said, in discussing the current campaign, that

..."the Republican brand has been tarnished in a shameless effort to gain votes and appeal to the lowest emotion, fear."

But no good deed goes unpunished, and today Barry Goldwater's son, Barry M. Goldwater, Jr., took issue with his niece, saying that she should work within the Republican party to promote the values that her grandfather stood for. He went on to declare that he supports McCain.

I'll cast my lot with C.C. Something tells me that the man who authored Conscience of a Conservative would not be pleased with the massive debt incurred by the Bush administration. I doubt that Senator Goldwater would be impressed with our Dear Leader abdicating his duty as Commander in Chief and allowing "yes" men in uniform complete latitude in conducting the abysmal war. And I don't really believe that a man whose central philosophy was that the government should intrude in people's lives as little as possible would give two damns about what people did in the privacy of their own bedrooms!

Barry Goldwater was a giant of the times. Bush, Cheney, McCain and Palin all claim to be conservatives, but they are just bungling dwarfs not fit to stand in his shadow. It is time that they all piled into their clown car and drove off into the sunset - because a new day is fixing to dawn in America!