News Flash: War With Iran Likely


For those of you who believe that any operation at this stage of the game is a dead deal, be forewarned, you’re wrong.

At least, if you accept the arguments presented by Seymour Hersh in the latest issue of the New Yorker.

Hersh explains that the Special Operations Command, our most elite special forces, taking orders from the president, is already, and has been, conducting operations against Iran to destabilize the country.

These and other operations involving agents and special forces are taking place in Iran with the mission to discover as much as possible about the Iranian nuclear program. They are even talking about kidnapping Iranian scientists.

Hersh says that he has it on good authority that forays into Iran are being made from other countries and involving troops from Afghanistan and bordering countries.

According to Hersh this has been going on for quite some time and was the reason Admiral Fallon, who objected to such tactics, was fired from his position as head of CentCom.

Moreover, Hersh points out that everything is primed and ready to go, the submarines, the cruisers, the aircraft carriers, the missiles and the carrier based pilots along with other assets.

It seems that it is Bush’s intent to increase critical mass until there is an explosion which will destabilize the country and result in not only another war, but another win for Republicans who will support the War under McCain.

It is a cynical view but predicated on what we know, all too credible and it is time now for the Democratic Congress, the media and the people of this country to tie Bush’s hands before he can go any further in bringing about the Armageddon that he desperately seems to want.

The Power of One Society,

Les Aaron
The Armchair Curmudgeon.

fROM MY INTRO TO CONSPIRACY THEORY:

Are Conspiracy Theorists the Victims of a Conspiracy?

June 29, 2008

On the Trilateral Commission and the NAU

A Work in Progress Series:

By the Power of One Society

Les Aaron

Intro:

I wonder if the whole idea of framing of those of us with an interest in conspiracies would have resulted in the invention of the term, “conspiracy theorist” by those who are up to their necks in conspiracies and wish to deflect attention from themselves.

Preface:

Let me preface my remarks:

Some time ago, in a kind of Brownian motion familiar to most chemistry students, I discovered that if I were going to get to fundamental underlying truths, I would not be able to escape delving in conspiracy theories or investigating what was available through research on secret societies and their relationship to real time events. In the process, I was framed as a conspiracy theorist even though I seldom give voice to my views.

Why were my views so ardently dismissed as conspiracy theory with all of the pejorative associations? What puzzles me is that the reaction to what I have reported seems intentionally focused and repetitive and far outweighs my findings or comments.

Were there those who were potentially frightened by what an investigator might discover?

And, by the way, what is a “conspiracy theorist?”

According to the Encarta Dictionary, a conspiracy theory is the belief that “event is plot—a belief that a particular event is the result of a secret plot rather than the actions of an individual person or chance.”


My involvement with what many consider to be a near cousin of phrenology or something equally ersatz, unsubstantiated or lacking in credibility, was the result of my attempt to understand what the Bush administration was all about because nothing else I could uncover seemed to fill in all of the blanks.

If anything, most engaged citizens candidly thought that our new resident of the White House was simply inept or inefficient. That never did jibe with my suspicions which were predicated on signposts and associations from the organizations he was party to and his history. In fact, if you look at his performance predicated on some pre-existing agenda, it seemed to me that he was, if anything, uncompromising, absolutist, focused, unyielding and with virtually no peripheral vision.

During the first years of the Bush presidency, I became aware that the agenda of this administration, which was still a mystery to me, had little to do with the care and welfare of the people he was sworn to protect. In fact, it seemed to me, at least, that everything America stood for—from its Constitution to the precepts of the law—and the day to day operating rationale for this government coexisted in two separate, parallel universes.

Bush was unconcerned about the conventional issues of the day; instead, he was intent on his own agenda that seemed to be propelled by some kind of dark matter, an unknown substance that is known only because of its influence on other known matter but yet makes up more than 96% of the Universe. I chronicled in the first several years more than 400 different forms of legislation, policy, and action that seemed incompatible with what the rest of us thought of as priorities with many of them violating Constitutional law or side-stepping what we may have considered to government for the benefit of the people..

It was known that Bush was an oil man through and through.
And while that may have explained much of his behavior, it did not explain it all. It was also known that Bush had a cowboy “Don’t Tread On Me,” mentality and an absolutely unswerving commitment to what he intuited. He was never a ‘deep study’ or a contemplative man; conversely, once he had formulated a thought he was quick to delegate its implementation to others.

Clearly, few of us activists at the time had any understanding of the president and his inner-circle’s intentions or motivations at the time. We tended to write it off as inefficiency, a lack of focus and a failure to grasp the issues of the day. It was none of these things of course that motivated the behavior and actions of this White House.

And our first clue may have been the nonchalance and inattention that were evident in the outcomes after Katrina in New Orleans. Never before had any American president failed to shore up a city as Bush did after extending promise after promise and waiting until the weight of public opinion forced him to take some kind of positive action.

We should have known at that time what we were facing, especially when Bangladesh, the poorest nation on Earth volunteered to help out the richest country in the world, a country that couldn’t afford to bail out a city devastated by a natural phenomenon.




In trying to assess this nebulous “dark matter “ that seemed to define this government, we continued to probe to ask “why” were some of government’s actions approved, executed and implemented. And the larger question became “Why we’re we willing to jettison a system of government that had lasted two hundred years to build, and, at the same time, risk alienating the rest of the world?” What was our operating premise? Why were there all of these inconsistencies between the “compassion” and the deed? What did America stand for in the age of Bush?

These were questions that deserved answers and the media wasn’t providing them. In fact, that had reversed their former role of truth teller and subordinated it to becoming a lever for the Executive to influence the reader in a kind of inversion of the media’s perceived role in way too many situations. Did discovering this truth make us conspiracy theorists? .

Even in the government of Nixon, there was always a part of government that recognized its obligation to the public good, and, at the very least, a rationale for service; not so with the Bush II government. And Nixon never controlled the media as Bush managed to do by using “access” and the FCC, and licensing as “hammers” to keep the media in line..

There had to be a reason for what was happening that seemed so at odds with what we might of suspected of a new president considering the challenges we faced at the time.. And the reason seemed short-term special interests; but this alone didn’t seem to explain it all. I would have to go fishing in another pond for answers.


Moreover, it was also clear that this government did have an agenda, an agenda in fact that resulted in a flood of new legislation. There seemed to be no coherent core to this government aside from self-aggrandisement and perpetuation of its aggressive posture. I looked to the legislation to see if I could find traces that linked back to some kind of ideology, something that was invisible, yet powerful enough to have its own agenda.

What emerged were the following observations:

That legislation at first seemed to be unique and discrete, unconnected to a larger scheme other than control springing out of a right wing orientation. It seemed to be ; that is, until you began to think of it as part of a cohesive plan with strands to preexisting philosophies and ideologies that seemed to have less to do with a democracy than a despotic form of government. What we were beginning to as “policy” seem to emanate from a type of government that condoned aspects of totalitarianism, economic imperialism, corporatism and untrammeled unilateralism that eschewed or ignored those documents that formed the foundation of democratic belief.

If I was on the right track for diagnosing this “dark matter,” I was truly wading in over my head. And was discovering these things painting me as a conspiracy theorist; if so, I had only scratched the surface.

However, none of this could be expressed with certitude but as inferred or implied based on the nature of the legislation that evolved from the Executive power base, grown stronger and more convinced of its mandate than the popular vote would have suggested to any rational being.

Without the benefit of an insider’s perspective, what I conjectured was educated speculation. Again, I was stuck trying to find out who’s cohesive plan was it? And what end did it serve? The answers to these questions gained in importance because they would be helpful in defining a government who’s actions seemed to indicate that democracy’s best days were behind it and that there was a subtle movement to morph democracy into something else, a kind of corporatist elitest, unilateralist form of government reflecting the will of one person rather than the body politic.


I started doing some research but never seemed to be able to get beyond the Neo-con’s focus of exporting American beliefs and methods by force, if necessary. I was like Kafka’s protagonist trying to reach the castle but only finding myself getting further away from my goal with every step.

It seemed to me that the Neo-cons intent was not as stated to export America and democracy as they would have liked to have us believe, but, to, in fact, benefit from economic imperialism under the guise of exporting democracy. Certain wise Arab minds seemed to see America’s new stance as a kind of religiously-motivated Crusade to rid the world of terrorism, where terrorism seemed to be a kind of code word for Islam . No wonder the Islamists were worried. Others, with a democratic bent, saw in the ostensible endorsement of fundamentalism and literal interpretations of the bible along with acceptance of the End of Days scenarios as being literal, as clear indications that this government had veered seriously away from the heart and spirit of the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

"This is my weapon; this is my gun...."

Supreme Court Justice, Scalia, proves he is the moron I always thought he was.

Too bad he’s from Queens.

His appointment was a dark day for what I hold dear.

Well, at least, the Mario (MC) comes from Queens, too.

Anyway, have you ever seen such a big to do about being able to shoot your neighbor…or being able to carry a hand weapon that can blow your friend away?

La Pierre was actually foaming at the mouth.

I have never seen this gun crazy nut so ecstatic.

I guess with good reason.

He’s going to have the NRA’s wet dream: Everyone in America waving a fire arm.

Doesn’t it make your little heart go pitter patter?

Next, we’ll need a holiday to celebrate. National Shoot Something Day.

It’s amazing that grown men can act like children with a new toy; only this is a toy that kills and maims.

Most people who have been in War hate any associations with War.

And the one’s who cling to their weapons, are probably the one’s needing therapy.

One has to question whether we as a people really need to bear handguns.

That was okay when we needed a militia and there were only flintlocks available, but now they have 9 mms that can fire an entire clip within seconds.

Look at what happened to that poor citizen in New York who was shot at by mistake by police officers over 51 times and he didn’t even have a weapon.

What’s more, all this seeming exultation over a weapon of death makes you think.

Have you ever seen anyone so excited about a new book? A book that could tell you how to live a good life, help your neighbor, improve the world?

No, of course not.

Reading is down, and one suspects that it holds an inverse relationship with hand gun ownership.

Chances are if you use a gun, you don't read the book that tells you how to use it with restraint.

Why tell a real man anything? .

That should show you where we’re coming from.

We all think how wonderful Americans are.

And then you hear that Americans cannot live without their weapons.

And then as if to flesh that idea out, a recent poll pointed out that we, as a people, approve of torture.

Yes, true. 48% of Americans in the latest poll outright approved of torture. (The other sympathizers simply wouldn’t admit it.)

I’ve seen more care and compassion in some of the poorest places on Earth.

In the Domincan Republic where those who’s homes were flattened by hurricanes and tornadoes helped others they thought in worse shape. They didn’t have any guns, they didn’t have anything; yet they did what they could to help others…

In China, families routinely helped one another and I found that to be true all over Asia…..

In Korea, where we saw one family take in another because the father had been imprisoned for staying out after curfew. And they raised their eight kids for six months….no questions asked!

One of my best friends in Korea, a high ranking government official, showed humanity in every instance even though he had very little to give and I learned more from him about kindness and compassion than I ever learned from any weapons totting freak over here..

And on and on.

Only in America will people steal from a homeless man.

Only in America will our government throw somebody on the scrap heap because they can’t afford to pay their medical bills; or turn them out of their homes….

Only in America will our government deny benefits to a Veteran.

So enjoy your victory, wave your guns around and remember to keep your safety on.




Les Aaron

Taking Back America One Step at a Time




Some might ask why can’t we inherit a better world where people

Can enjoy a better life?



Take a page from Obama: We are the problem; we are the solution.



But what can one person do?



Here’s an example that may help solve the Global Warming problem and it was started by a small group of us who believed that although nobody seemed to care, that we could make a difference.





Tonight, I was invited to a small reception of Bluewater Wind.



We were told that each of us there contributed to BlueWater Wind’s success that produced a signed contract sealed and delivered yesterday..



Three years ago, we suspected that we may be blowing in the wind. But that wasn’t reason not to take on the big guys.



And that we did.



It all began when our utility told us that they were going to have add capacity to accommodate the increase usage of energy in the State.



Their solution: Double the coal usage.





A few of us who had been active in environmental organizations realized that already our rivers were becoming polluted from the effluents emitted from the chimneys and the air had more than its share of heavy metals and other toxins; not to mention the fact that doubling the coal usage would increase CO2 emissions and Global Warming.



This did not sound like a solution.



Some of us had remembered that a professor at the local university had posted a paper and some research about the effects of continued carbon emissions on the environment and trotted out the professor.



We looked over his papers which also included computer simulations of what would happen if global warming increased.



And it was shocking.



In fifty years, the land would shrink by about fifteen percent due to a rise in ocean levels; in fifty years, there would be virtually nothing left of the State.



The people had to find out about this….





Yet, the politicians and the utility were happy with the choice of coal and people seem to accept whatever was endorsed by the in place power structure which was also supported by the government and its officials.



But, we reasoned, this couldn’t go on.



The fish would die and people’s health issues would kill the Golden Goose in this state considered a natural wonder.



What could we do?



A small group of us contacted the professor.



We agreed to write papers and editorials.



One of my colleagues used her organization to serve the ends of spreading the word as to the dangers of enhancing our coal burning would result in.



We got together and started to plan how we could move in another direction.



One of the bidders for an alternative energy program using clean energy was Bluewater Wind, an independently owned subcontractor that was planning to use European wind energy technology as an alternative solution.



We didn’t have the money to buck the coal lobby in our state and they were willing to spend millions to support their choice..



Nevertheless, we arranged to hold forums at the local churches to which we invited the professor and several of his students and also obtained a movie on energy savings that could be generated through prudent management. consumption.



We wrote press releases and sent out email invitations.



In the beginning, it was very slow.



But eventually people started to come out.



They were reading our letters and our editorials.



At the same time, we told members of both houses how we felt as well as our County Board.



We were ignored for the most part; but, finally, we got a couple of members of the House of Representatives to consider a clean air/water bill that we had proposed.



The Utility and the Public Service Commission were not very helpful.



And told us that the cost would be prohibitive.



But what they did not honestly factor in was the prospect of an increase in the cost of coal as well. (In the last year, coal cost has increased more than 80%).



After nearly three years of struggle, we finally convinced the Lt. Governor and others in both houses that the people were willing to support clean air/water.



This did not happen overnight and not without a struggle.



But tonight, the whole thing came full circle.



Bluewater Wind received a signed contract from the major utility for between 12 and 14 megawatts of energy to be controlled by alternative clean wind energy generated 12 miles off shore.



This will be the first installation of off-shore wind energy.



We hope to be able to sell excess energy to New Jersey and Maryland.



And the company has promised to make this their regional base creating both jobs and outreach.



This was wonderful news for what seemed just three years ago virtually impossible.



We started out fighting a company that spent fourteen million dollars to defeat us, a rabble of amateurs trying to fend off the beast of commercialism with no money and no power base..



And we won.



I send you this as an incentive to prove to you that one person can change the world.



Become empowered. Do it in your own State.



And we shall take back America.









The Armchair Curmudgeon

Les Aaron The Ubiquitous Flying Blue Blog

A little baggage included with your vote

The Washington Post on Sunday proffered an editorial that should have every thinking Democrat scared to death.

What they were writing about was McCain’s likely choices that he, himself, has floated around.

And just two of them would be enough to rethink my actions….

One set of appointments would involve two of McCain’s old buddies.

One of them, Dick Armitage, would be a likely choice for Secretary of Defense according to this pundit. He was deputy Secretary of State under Colin Powell and he, himself, was having issues with the conduct of the Iraq War.
That choice isn’t too bad; it’s the second choice that could send me back to therapy.

The second choice might be reason to rethink any lingering thoughts that some may have about voting for McCain.

It is rumored in the editorial section of the Washington Post that a good bet for Secretary of State would be one-time democrat, Joe Lieberman, the hawk on Iraq.

With Joe Lieberman, with his outsized ego, it may be hard to reel him in from the prospect of branding Iran as having WMD or stepping up the tempo in the Middle East.

It would be déjà vu to go over this same territory again, but, also, and some seem to forget, potentially a death blow when one considers that Iran has been lining up with China and Russia. Need we remind anyone that Russia still has more than 10,000 missiles in its inventory.

World Wars have started over less.

And with Russia’s nuclear arsenal that could be retargeted in a matter of minutes, voting a hawk into a situation calling for the finesse of a diplomat’s touch, seems like a vote for collective suicide. For anyone with grandchildren, a vote for McCain has to be regarded as foolhardy and short-sighted in the extreme.

Say “no” to Joe Lieberman as Secretary of State. Vote your good sense.

Vote Obama.

Les Aaron

Caution:
If you believe in
government’s ability to protect the people, or that
that is even their first priority,
don’t read this message.




A Slide into Irrelevance

I can’t be sure when it first happened, but I suspect it was when I was seeing strange things happening in the Islamic Section of Brooklyn and over dinner at Middle Eastern restaurants, but I knew something was cooking…and it wasn’t my kabobs….

It began with payback for Rabbi Kahane’s death at the hands of an assassin that resulted in one of my favorite restaurants, a Tunisian place on Atlantic avenue, being blown up in daylight that kind of led me to believe that the FBI wasn’t paying attention.

Subsequently, it was the follow up to the 1993 explosion at the WTC that convinced me that the FBI didn’t get it.

This was confirmed later when we learned that none of the pages of text in the file drawers acquired by the FBI on their raid of the Muslim terrorists who set off the first explosion were ever read.

And if that wasn’t beyond plausibility and immediate grounds for dismissal what was?

The reason given: no one spoke the dialects of the Middle East….Farsi and the like.

Let me play that back one more time.

In a world where the Middle East have repeatedly threatened the West and attacked some of our fortresses including the Marines barracks in Lebannon, the FBI, our principal anti-terrorist group, cannot read Farsi or Pashtun.

Therefore, for years, the FBI kept tons of files that had not read.

Now, let me say that we spend billions of dollars of regular and black budgets to keep these organizations going.

Why didn’t they address the need to have people who spoke the language on staff?

It’s way too late for post mortems but I thought that these actions, or lack of them, was symptomatic of the way they did business; not the exception; much the same way that Katrina exemplified the way Washington took care of business, not the exception.

Unfortunately, we learned that those files contained the blueprints for future actions on the WTC.

Later on, John ONeill’s own experience with his overlords at the FBI further reconfirmed to me the Ole’ Boy nature of our premier investigative unit.

In case, you don’t know the background.

When the Cole was hit and it was clear that the followers of bin Laden were involved, ONeill volunteered to return to the Middle East.

You see, he had lead the investigation of the attack on the Embassies and he knew where the bodies were buried.

However, the US Ambassador and then Louie Freeh, the FBI Director conspired to keep ONeill out of Yemen and the rest was history. He was deemed a “show boat” and not a “team player” that ruled him out.

In one thing or another it was clear that the FBI’s incompetence was overpowering.

They installed a hundred million dollar computer system. It didn’t work.

Their agents were connected with organized crime in Boston and on and on.

The final blow was that they did not act on the fact that the known terrorists were living in LA and that Saudis were training at various airports to learn how to fly; not to land.

John ONeill warned everyone and nobody listened.

Why?

At the time, Aaron Berg had asked me to become his Vice President. He was starting up a new publication on politics called “The Democracy Chronicle.”

What we learned from a high placed source at the CIA was that Louie Freeh’s agents were preoccupied with other things.

What things?

Clinton. They were trying to get the goods on Clinton and assigned more than 200 of their best agents on that task while, at the same time, Philippine Security tried to tell us that there were plans in the computer of the first bomber at the WTC stating that they were planning to take down the WTC by flying passenger planes into it.

We were too busy to listen.

And on and on.

The joint committee then formed to follow up after 911 comprised of the former Governor of New Jersey and a former democratic senator seemed to get very little cooperation from the White House.

And some subjects were treated as virtually taboo.

Why did it take so long to convene a panel that would help to pinpoint blame for the worst attack on America in history?

The Pearl Harbor investigation started immediately and was over before we could agree to convene the first investigation.

And why did Bush try to get Henry Kissinger to head it up?

That was too much of an outrage.

So, today, we limp forward trusting none of the answers that came our way as a result of a crippled panel, a panel thwarted in its attempts to get testimony from the White House.

The idea of putting the various data intelligence agencies together is like trying to suggest that if you put a bunch of bad apples together, you will get something better out of it.

You are lucky to get applesauce.

And I think this has already been proven.

The point is that the FBI’s rationale for its own existence is that it has saved America from terrorist attacks that we don’t know about.

Really?

If that were the case, don’t you think that Bush would be touting them? Let’s get serious. Has Bush ever passed up a photo op?

The truth is that nobody knows nothing about anti-terrorism in these organizations and they should be held accountable for all of their past failures…not to mention the deaths of all the innocents at the WTC.

The other day, in the Washington Post, there was an article about the failures of intelligence and this chronology came to mind as I read the article.

I don’t know what the answer is but I do know that a group that was formed to get rid of booze smugglers in the thirties and run with an iron hand by J. Edgar Hoover is probably not what we want to deal with the challenges of today.

And that’s the point.

If we were attacked today, we would be any better at averting the challenge than we were seven years ago?


The Armchair Curmudgeon
Les Aaron

“Those Who Can’t Get Over It…”



This weekend, I went to see our old friends from the company Rose retired from.



These are a group of people that we not only worked with but have become dear friends who we see socially and for whom we would do anything.



Anyway, we seldom talk politics but this weekend was the exception.



One of the gals in the group has a new boyfriend and his views, which he didn't mind expressing,are extreme to the rest of us, a balanced group of both democrats and republicans.



He slams Americans because he believes Islam hates us and would destroy us if possible. He also believed that Obama is a Muslim.

Him we could ignore.



But then his girl friend, one of the inner circle said that she was a Hillary supporter and she would sooner vote for McCain than Obama.



To me, I was shocked and I wondered how many women out there felt the same way.



It is hard to integrate that great leap of thought if you are well balanced and unbiased and can handle the truth.



The facts were simple: Obama won fair and square because Hillary didn’t know how to handle the caucuses. And in those states that Hillary won, many of us were left wondering what won’t Hillary say or do to win.



I was a Hillary supporter but I backed away knowing that I could never support anyone who’s vision seemed to be blurred by self interest. Why would I not believe that she could interpret everything though a distorted lens?



In any event, what galls and infuriates me is that McCain is the polar opposite of Obama and Obama and Hillary were virtually identical on most issues.



That leads me to believe that my friend is not thinking clearly or totally biased something that is very troublesome to me who stood by her side during her despair when her first husband died and through other personal travails. We will work with her to help her see the light. We will not give up on her.



This won’t ruin our relationship but it does make me wonder how many are suffering similar delusions. And could the democrats face loss and ruin because not enough Americans are willing to lay their prejudices aside?



Les Aaron

Pakistan and the Truth!
If you follow K Street and the conservative think tanks, it is hard not to come away with the impression that Bush still defines the world through his own myopic lens. This is the lens that attempts to bend light to reflect a very different reality.

For the most part, we acknowledge that the smoke and mirrors fabricated by those great K Street conjurers does an excellent job of shielding the media from having to look to deeply into their own motivations.

Take the Middle East.

We hear great news about the Surge from time to time with an occasional road side bomb tossed in but, mostly, the news is Pollyannaish and defracted by commentary to appear as if we are on the verge of some great victory..

But prey a little deeper and it becomes clear that these sleight of hand image makers are concentrating on those few good spots in Iraq that seem to be out of sync with what is happening in the rest of the Middle East.

Let me cite an example.

In Afghanistan, it is hardly a secret that the Tailiban have regrouped and moved out of North West Pakistan and have retaken villages and communities in Southeastern Afghanistan. Moreover, bin Laden’s forces and the Tailiban are working together with other incipient terrorist organizations to retake vital parts of the country for their own. Their undying threat: To wipe out the foreigner from Afghanistan. And since we were distracted by an unnecessary war in an unnecessary place, they have strengthened their hand and gained more importantly the leverage needed to fight back against the government successfully.

All of this is either played down or ignored one might suspect by edict.

This was partially etched in stone the other day with a major suicide bombing that killed and wounded civilians and NATO forces. There was very little talk about it but it brought to the fore one of the leading Tailiban leaders who was thought to have been dead or wounded. Clearly, he is not.

Surprisingly, there was virtually no coverage.

Secondly, at about the same time, we see that our ally, Pakistan, may not be the ally we had hoped for despite our pumping billions of dollars into their economy to keep it afloat. Many suspect it wound up in the hands of the corrupt military that at least part of it was used to pay off the militants in the northwest. If so, it was one of our worst investments.

But what might be of even greater concern is the fact that while the Pakistani who developed their nuclear weaponry has been surrounded and we were told, isolated, it has been discovered that aides of his in Europe have been peddling information on nuclear weapons to pseudo-terrorists around the world. Also, that he, himself, might be freed in the coming weeks as an accommodation to all those nativists who see him as a national hero!

This is very unsettling.

As it turns out, Pakistan has traditionally played both sides against the middle.

And, increasingly, we are seen as the middle.

It is not good news for either us or the rest of the world.

Yet, the media obediently stays away from the truth like the good little obsequious creatures that they are.

It is a very sad time for the truth.

And without the truth, we are nowhere.




The Armchair Curmudgeon

Les Aaron

.

A Rubber Stamp for the Snoops!

What’s going on?

At this point, I’m missing something.

It seems to me that when push comes to shove, what’s the big deal about Congress voting to keep the Constitution on the back-burner again?

To me, it seems like a vote for the communications companies and the president; not the people. What does that do for my rights?

And to see so many democrats falling into line is more than a little troublesome.

The president’s argument is that in order to catch the bad guys, we need to know what they are saying to each other.

Wow! Brain science not.

What is unsaid that this doesn’t involve a Court order.

In short, it’s blanket authority to the president and his NSA snoops and FBI to find out who’s talking to who.

And why should they have that right?

Is that the only way we can catch terrorists?

To me, this seems to condone the continued violation of my privacy and the privacy of others.

Obviously, this continues to suggest that the only way we can catch “terrorists” is by snooping on everyone because as near as I can tell, lot’s of telephone calls are lumped together with the so-called potentially suspicious ones. ( All calls going overseas as near as I can tell are considered suspect!)….. That means innocent people’s calls are tracked the same way as so-called potential terrorists. And nobody’s been able to prove otherwise, especially after a telephone consultant explained how the system tapped into regular phone lines and diverted them through the government’s snooping equipment.

Why then would a Congress who knows the president’s rationale is a crock, would rubber stamp its continuation.

Unless there’s something else here that defies scrutiny, I am wits end to figure out why the guys I elected are saying this kind of behavior is “okay.”

It’s not okay for me.

Maybe because I’m a stuffed shirt who believes in the Constitution.

Maybe because our ultimate sleuths, the FBI, had all the information they needed before the WTC from conventional means and still did not operate on it that I have such little faith in this broken system.

I would rather see our primary law enforcement system broken up and replaced by people who think and communicate; that would do us more good than all of this phony malarkey that Bush tells us we need to save America!

And maybe because I haven’t heard of a single terrorist we”ve caught because of the millions and millions of phone calls we’ve snooped on, I think the whole Mickey Mouse system sucks..

It’s one thing being the collegial type in Congress; it’s quite another to condone running rough shod over our principles.

Let’s return to the rule of law and the Constitution.

The Armchair Curmudgeon

Les Aaron



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Good News/Bad News….


In The amazing adventures of the Man Without a Brain, it seems that in his parting gesture, an attempt to travel the world and say good-bye to all his friends, GWB’s chronicles have been included in the Pew World Project—a project to assess the world’s attitudes.


And that’s where the fun begins.

You see, because the results of the survey has shown instead of barricades being put up at every corner and famous people hiding their silver upon arrival of the American motorcade, the fact is that the reaction has been better than anyone suspected.

How can that be?

To understand the infinite complexity of what this all means one has only to turn to the ultimate Codex, the puzzle that unlocks what the Pew Study really means.


Here’s the nitty gritty, a study that will probably be preserved for future generations….well, at least to chuckle at.

Are you ready?

The study undertaken by the Pew Global Attitudes project has revealed that Europe’s impression of the US has rebounded over the last year. Well, at least somewhat.

If that seems hard to figure in the light of Surges, bad economic numbers for the world, Global Warming and the direction that most see the country going in, don’t shake your head.

Ordinarily, this might seem like a reason for the president to add bounce to his already self-important strut or to smile about his entirely myopic view of the world.

But it’s not.


Before one takes this too far, and extends the credit to Mr. Bush & Company, what we discover from the survey is that it seems that the brighter outlook is due less to GWB than the fact that he is viewed as getting ready to leave office soon. Please God. The optimism come’s from the perceived prospects for the presumed new leader, Obama, in the term ahead.

I secondary survey should perhaps focus on how come the Europeans seem to know so much more than we do. What do they listen to?

The fact of the matter is that the current view is that their assessment of GWB has changed little over the intervening years since his election. He was viewed as an oaf in charge then, and in the ensuing years, no one was disappointed. Pew doesn’t choose name-calling; that’s reserved for the pundits of the Pew who don’t mind calling a spade a spade.


The improvement in the poll results has to do with “more confidence in Obama to do the right thing” than the republican candidate, George McCain, who is seen as more of the same…..

While the survey goes on to point out that the hard economies of many countries over the past year, with the exceptions of China, India and Australia where 82% of those surveyed see the current economic information as good.

Conversely, in the US, 70% express pessimism that includes a prognosis of the economy but extends beyond it to embrace to our continual success in achieving one foreign policy disaster after another.

More to the point, In 11 out of 10 countries surveyed, concerns about Global Warming is on the rise. (Guess who they blame?)

When asked which country is hurting the environment most, majorities or pluralities point to the US—something that GWB simply blows it off in a way reminiscent of the protagonist in Taxi Driver: “Are you talking to me?”
(Sorry, the last phrase was a little ad lib.)

The survey of 24, 717 is the seventh study of global attitudes undertaken by the Pew Research Center.

The Armchair Curmudgeon

Les Aaron

"Want to Buy Some Sand?"



I cannot wait til I can say,



“Suck it up, Mr. Oil Guys.”



And that time is getting close…



First a little dose of economics: It’s been proven that whenever a resource becomes too rare or too exclusive the market reacts and replaces it.



This is fundamental.



And we are getting close with oil.



Clearly, the Saudis with all of their oil revenues and our US leaders were simply too greedy to get the message…or believe it. Or even do anything about moderating its price.



Therefore, it’s becoming too dear, too exclusive!...



And something has to change.



It is always self-interest that trumps longer term economic survival….



What did the oil merchants care whether old folks had to decide between driving their car and eating….



But here’s the lesson, guys on whatever end of the equation you’re on, producer , processor or marketer.



You’ve taken advantage of us long enough.



Time to rethink oil at 140 dollars a barrel.







What am I referring to?



The death knell for the oil industry.



You knew as sure as night followed day that it was about to happen, you just didn’t know when.



Well, you greedy short term thinkers may have helped turn it into a reality.



Yes, it’s started with not much more than a whimper but if you’re paying attention, you will realize its significance.



The Honda folks have started it all and it will not end with them.



They have come out with a car that runs on hydrogen.



Of course, the trick all along has been to reduce battery size and cost.



And the Japanese said that they have done it.



Not only that, they say they can commercialize their battery for mass production.



Now, that was just a sidebar in the paper the other day.



But guaranteed, it is the first step in depleting oil’s power of life and death over the rest of us.



Why?



Because it is the automobile that is the principal user of oil products.



Take the profits out of the equation, and lo and behold, Saudi Arabia is just another boondock.



And they can forget about building ski slopes in the desert and paying 500 dollars an ounce for perfume to be used as embalming fluid.



And guess what?



It won’t end there.



The flood gates have been opened.



And don’t be surprised if the Toyota people aren’t right behind.



While the American market refused to consider the realities of insane oil pricing or the needs of the marketplace, the Japanese did not.



These guys see the future and they know it’s not oil.



Thanks to them, the senior citizen may not be forced to choose between food and fuel….



Because of them, a lot more people will wind up surviving as against expectations….



And while our president luxuriated in those quick profits and keeping his oil friends happy, we’re pleased to say that he and his ilk will be gone by January of next year...and a new generation will take over!....



And as we say an extended good bye to oil, we can now begin to focus on our real options for the next hundred years: wind and sun….



I am pleased to let you great panjandrums and self-inflated egoists know that your days are happily coming to an end and the world of people is about to begin….



I’ve been dying to say that for the last ten years.



The Armchair Curmudgeon



Les Aaron

The Care and Feeding of the Enemy.

Two questions: How do you make a McCain republican?

Answer: You hide behind a rock and ask them three questions:

“What is your name?”, “What is your party affiliation?” And “What is your issue?”

And if he replies “I dunno” run out from behind the rock and hit him in the head with a soft brick. .

Question Two:

If you were a McCain republican, what would be the absolutely best news you could have right now?

That’s easy:

To learn that the Democrats are scrambling to see who can be nastiest .

That seems to reflect the truth at this point in time.

Democrats are attacking each other and Republicans are loving it to death.

If the democrats really wanted to, they could set a new high for hubris.

Half the democrats elected a candidate; and the other half don’t want him. You guess who….

Point in fact, McCain can literally sit on his butt and rave on since the democrats are likely to do all the work of self-destruction themselves.

We are talented that way.

The man who has no following might actually win in this climate of default.

Let me take a step back, it’s not that he has no following; it’s just that his following is shrinking in total brain cells; so that is always misleading.

We’re not totaling IQ’s here but just counting those who don’t have enough sense to figure anything out. Still, there’s a large chunk of followers who will follow Bush right off the cliff..

Even better than 2004 when self-professed values of the right seemed to carry the day and there was no need to talk about all the failures of the Bush team.

As long as this mood is hanging over our heads, the republicans need to do nothing to explain why the War was not won despite the expenditure of a trillion dollars, why bin Laden appears stronger than ever….why there are one million plus mortgage holders facing the loss of their homes…..why people cannot afford to commute to work…..why jobs are fleeing our shores….why our schools are crumbling and so much more…

To our friend who says, “duh! I don’t know” welcome to the McCain camp and remember your brain dead vote counts just like a real vote…

The way things are going, McCain may waltz himself into the White House without having to do much more than stick to his story of another hundred years in Iraq and that he doesn’t know a damn thing about the economy….

Now, a vote for the cast of the Living Dead….




The Armchair Curmudgeon,
Les Aaron

Battling Dead Horses!....



We’ve won, the primaries at least.



Shouldn’t we be celebrating.



Instead, we are still at each other’s throats.



What worries me is that there seem to be as many different types of democrats as there are democrats.



And that is frightening.



Democrats seem to be grouping in camps; not unlike all of the nationalistic segments we saw with the Rainbow Coalition.



But this is different.



Here we’re seeing groups set up to reflect special prejudices and biases….



Some are threatening not to vote for Obama because he’s an elitest; he’s black; he’s got a crazy pastor (never mind, that he left the church a month ago!), that he doesn’t wear an American flag pin, you name it. Almost any reason will do to reinforce one’s prejudices….



Others, especially women, are up in arms about the fact that Hillary didn’t win and that the entire world treated her unfairly; never mind how she treated others. But when you are confronted with disappointed zealots who’ve been carrying their baggage for as long as anyone can imagine, one suspects that there are reasons why objectivity may not appeal to them.



What’s especially troubling is that dems are so busy blaming each other for what is going wrong, or has gone wrong in the Primary, they don’t realize that we are playing into the hands of the Republican party that stands to gain by doing nothing, promising nothing to help the people.



It would indeed be a tragedy if this scenario plays out and that a scenario might play out that was totally unexpected just six months ago when collegiality seemed to rule the day and all was sweetness and light. At first, we thought that these two could find a way to transform a republican world of selfishness, dishonesty and ego-centricity into one of hope and purpose..



Boy, where we wrong.



Goodness and light has morphed into I’d like to tear your eyes out..



McCain must be drooling into his pablum with the continuing hostilities that plague the democrats. What better news could he hear?



The sad part, in the midst of all this, the issues are suffering the most.



With five months, more or less, left before we cast our votes, the issues have taken back seat to feverish dialogues debating who said this, who did what, why a woman is best-suited to run the country.



Wake up, America!



The Primaries are over. Whether you like it or not, we have a candidate.



And it would be nice if the party came together in some kind of cohesive movement before the election.



Sadly, the job to be done is monumental at the very least.

Obama, not only has to address the fact that few really know him or what he stands for, he also has to focus on the principal issues that define our society and our place in the world including all of the tangential issues that describe what we want to be and how we get there, he needs to provide answers to the following challenges….



The schools are in a shambles.



40 million people are without healthcare.



We are rapidly becoming a two tier society



Most people can’t afford the commute to work



Over 1 million homes are in foreclosure



Jobs are fleeing our shores



And we have simply ignored the challenges of Global Warming



And that’s without even mentioning Iraq



Instead, we are focusing on mundane trivialities. What did Obama’s wife say?; What’s going to happen to Hillary’s career.





The economy is not being addressed; nor are the solutions for the War of Choice that plagues us all but especially the 1% of the population who are actually doing the suffering and the bleeding.



Bush and his cronies, after destroying the environment, ruining the budget, neglecting the environment, stealing left and right to push through their Iraqi objectives will more than likely go free and be able to take that high level college advisory job or be a consultant to Arab nations for tons of bucks and justice will not be served—a lesson not lost on young impressionistic minds. What’s more, they are likely to come out of this revitalized and mesmerized by democrat’s stupidity.



You see, crime does pay, is the mantra will all know by heart.



In a country that makes capitalism and money the measure of who is better or even best, this can not go down well among those who have committed to justice and fair play.



In the meantime, the rest of us struggle to get through this Election in one piece with our values intact and some semblance of rationality—not easy to do with the strong feelings evidenced in the field.



It is time, however, to put all of the pettiness and biases aside for the sake of the country.



And the time is running short.



It’s up to the wisest among us to pave the way if we hope for victory this November.



The Armchair Curmudgeon

Les Aaron







The Ubiquitous Flying Blue Blog

Justice Takes A Back Seat Again!

Hey, for all those politicians who wrap themselves in the flag, here’s something to think about:

The Army has gotten rid of over 40,000 troops since 2001.

Why?

They claim it’s due to pre-existing conditions or misconduct.

That’s government-speak for let’s dump the problems on society.

The fact is that these are troops who have exposed to road side mines, seen their friends killed in front of their eyes and other scenarios too horrible to repeat..

Most try to deny their feelings but find themselves coming down with all kinds of symptoms like sudden flashes, blinding headaches, bad nightmares, temper tantrums.

The military physicians see them and usually prescribe some pills….

But when that doesn’t work, their CO calls them cowards and uses other indignities.
And when they go to their Army physician again, they ask him/her to sign a “release” which automatically releases them from the service as they are sent home.

Only, they are returned to the States, tossed out of the Army they love and forced to pay back their bonuses.

They lose their benefits; they lose their pay; and they are denied the care they need.

This is the way we have treated 40,000 plus “heroes” who have given all they could to serve their country.

Nice work, folks!

To make things worse, they are said to have pre-existing conditions (in some cases, the military has stumbled over itself trying to explain how soldiers can be in the service for twelve years and pass each psychological test and then suffer from a pre-existing condition or misconduct).

The fact is that this is a mechanism for saving tons of money—estimated at 8 billion dollars throughout the Military.

A point of fact that these GI’s are suffering from PTSD and the government is denying it to save the Army from having to pay the cost of putting our young people in harm’s way.

It is short-term thinking to think that this problem will go away by itself.

It won’t.

It will come back to haunt us in many ways. From an increased incidence of crime to increased demands on the VA to provide essential services.

And in the end, it will mean higher taxes for all.

And that doesn’t even begin to consider the human costs.

The injured GI who returns home to a wife and family that no longer understands him. A GI who cannot adjust to society and takes his own life. A former Vet and mother who can’t seem to find contentment with her loved ones. All of these are the byproduct of a government that won’t fulfill its obligation to those who willingly forfeited their quality of life in service for their country.

It is the saddest of commentaries and unbefitting a great nation like America.

And it is a black mark against us all for ignoring the problem….

The Armchair Curmudgeon,

Les Aaron

A Return to Constitutional Law and
Other Miracles....


Hey, if you've had your fill of the Courts, today is a good day. And it's a day that the Courts have taken a major step in the right direction.



They wisely ruled that you can’t detain people in our Cuban facility without bringing charges against them.



Simple. But a right denied is like a right not possessed..



In other words, Habeas Corpus is to be extended to those Prisoners of War withering away in our prison system against whom no charges have been brought.



This victory for Civil Rights will mean that all detained prisoners of War, held without access to Habeas Corpus in the past, can now appeal to have their case heard at the Federal level.



It is a victory for Civil Rights and a slam at the president who seemed to think he had the right to detain prisoners without placing charges against them.



The bottom line: Unless the Government is prepared to charge the accused, they should be free to return to society.



Sometimes, even justice wins one!



May it be the first of many Court decisions against the arbitrary decisions of the man who thinks he resides above the law and the return of justice to these tired shores.



From the Armchair Curmudgeon,



Les Aaron

The Power of One Society

Katrina the rule; not the exception?


What’s their beef?

It seems that the Koreans are up in arms about their agreement with the US.

About Military bases?

No, nothing quite so prosaic—after all, they’ve enjoyed mostly good relations with the US since the 1950’s. The real crux of the problem is something that most of the rest of us take for granted: The quality of the beef that we send them.

It seems that the Korean people are worried about an incident of Mad Cow Disease that occurred in 2003. And the protestors complain that little has been done to lift the standard to assure customers for their beef, that it is beyond reproach. In fact, they charge that the Department of Agriculture’s inspection standards are unequal to the task and lax at best, boosting concerns that diseased beef could be shipped to the Korean people without their knowledge.

The rest of us should agree. The Agriculture Department until recently, in fact, allowed cows that could not stand, to be slaughtered. This is beyond the pale.


At present, our tests are one for ninety cattle slaughtered and the test results indicate a very low level for the presence of Mad Cow disease.

As a result, many countries have lowered their standards to accommodate American imported beef and it has been the cause of rising friction between the people and their government..

But while the government’s have been willing to accept Western beef, the people have not.

In point of fact, doubts about the quality of western beef have triggered a firestorm of controversy that has spilled over into the streets of Seoul, endangering our relationship as never before...

It seems that fifty years of friendship between America and its Korean allies is to go out the window because the Korean people think we may be shipping them poisoned beef.

On the wings of a “new pragmatism,” newly elected president, Lee Myung-bak had made building a political and economic alliance with the West his top priority.

And now it may be all out the window.

In fact, just yesterday, the Korean president suggested that he might consider dissolving his government.

More than 100,000 people gathered in the streets of Seoul last night to underscore the seriousness of their concerns.

Who would have thought that our relationship could turn into well, let’s say, hamburger over something so pedestrian when we are face to face with an aggressive nuclear power just over the border.

In effect, American power has been circumvented, in some respects, by our insensitivity to the needs of our allies for reaffirmation that the meat they receive from us is free of disease.

Not too much to ask.

And although this may seem trivial and minor to many, the stakes are exceptionally high for both ourselves and South Korea who by its geography plays a pivotal role in the world in keeping the peace with its edgy and war-like neighbor to the north.

It is too bad that more often than not, our Secretary of State and the rest of the White House crew seem too self-involved to put out fires before they become conflagrations. This is just another instance that Katrina was not the exception but the rule.

And while the temptation is to make light of the people’s concerns, the fact is that if the Koreans reject us, in the longer term, this may be one more ally who has turned against us for our aloofness and contempt.


Les Aaron

How many friends will 1 Trillion dollars buy you?

This is the question we might want to consider.

After spending nearly that much trying to end WMD in Iraq or bringing Democracy to a war-torn land, take your choice, we discover that it hasn’t worked.

The Iraqis still want us out!

This was their comment after learning that America intends to build some sixty hardened sites in Iraq and base troops there virtually forever. (Sound like John McCain’s mantra?)

Some high placed Iraqi government officials that we helped get into office, even suggest that they might be better off without us.

And if one considers that Pee Wee’s bold adventure has not lowered the price of gasoline—and has in fact had quite the opposite effect—you might consider that the affected do have a very legitimate argument.

Consider that the water is not yet flowing regularly; that electricity is intermittent, and that the streets are not cleaned regularly and that the neighborhoods are not safe to walk in, an honest appraisal might suggest that all of this money could have been better spent.

This shows with great clarity that not only have we botched everything we’ve attempted, we’ve also lost any remaining good will on the part of the Iraqis.

To put it mildly, our one trillion dollars has brought us nothing but hatred and contempt.

It seems that the only one’s who have really benefited are the government subcontractors—the friends assigned without sealed bids—and the ammo makers.

They are living high on the hog.

In view of the fact that our own infrastructure is crumbling, that our schools are inadequate, that homes are being foreclosed on as we speak and that jobs have fled our shores, our trillion dollar plus budget could have done us some good.

But, you know, talk like that will make you seem a traitor.

And I haven’t even as yet begun to show my despair over 4,000 of our best boys and girls and the lives that have been changed dramatically with nearly 100,000 wounded. (Don’t believe their estimates!)….

We can go on for another six months or so with the madmen at the top calling the shots…
Or we can open our minds and think about how to end this reign of insanity. Even if it means marching on the White House, the Capitol, and the Supreme Court with maybe a few of us spending the night in jail. It wouldn’t kill us and it would sure allow us to hold our heads up in front of the grandchildren..

On the other hand, we can remain passive and docile and blame it someone else.

What we need is more Dennis Kucinich’s.

Let me remind you, we will not have many more opportunities to be heard before a new government takes over.

Let’s hope it will save us from another War with another country to save the West before these two madmen leave office..

The Armchair Curmudgeon

Les Aaron

The Real Axis of Evil?

The Oil companies are coming off more and more like the villains in this run up to the Election.

Yet, despite their record profits, they still want to grasp every cent and it is clear that there is no charity in the souls of the CEO’s who want more and more….

Added to this violation of everything we hold decent, the fact of the matter is that the Republicans under McCain want to give them a record Tax break in his first year, a break that for Exxon alone would be 1 billion dollars.

For what?

For being nice guys? Charitable custodians of the public’s resources?
What?

The fact of the matter is that over this business cycle, the top oil companies have made a windfall profit of nearly one half trillion dollars.

The democrats have tried to make them accountable with a law that would tax their record-breaking profits.

It was defeated today by Republicans.

Why?

Because they claim it would have just the opposite effect.

More voodoo economics from the republicans who love giving more to some of their biggest contributors.

Who said one hand doesn’t wash the other?

Yet, this time, the voters are paying attention.

And there’s a very good chance we’ll see republicans holding big war chests and no votes.

Such largess and the republicans willingness to stand behind even bigger tax breaks for the oil companies—in the light of the difficulties being experienced by those on fixed incomes or who occupy the lowest rungs on the economic ladder, has to come off looking like a level of hubris that is unimaginable.

Clearly, the Robber Barons have never gone away; just reappeared in a different guise.

And let us remember that this government and oil are in bed with each other; a fact not lost on most intelligent people..

How can the oil companies possibly continue to snub the public? And try to get us to believe that it is in our benefit to spend $4.00 plus per gallon at the pump?

It should come as no shock that Oil company executives need to see the wizard for a heart transplant; but more than likely, it won’t happen.


If you look at what’s happened with jobs, with mortgages and now the cost of fuel and you are deemed of average intelligence and rational, you have to see that a majority of the population faces growing desperation.

As before, the republicans don’t want to see it as they continue to load up their pockets.

It seems to me that all of the elements are in place for the people to wake up one day and say “I’m not taking it anymore.”

And who could blame them.

I think Adams and Franklin, if they were alive, would egg them on to Revolution…..

Les Aaron

The Blind Leading the Blind

Where Corporatism and Marketing Myopia Have Gotten Us.

In several articles there was agreement on one thing, if you are not a “hottie,” life is over.

This was even discerned at the pre-teen level, where the most hip among the genre are already rating each other as to whether they are hot enough.

This was a mood unfortunately contributed to by the new crew of people running things in Hollywood. I suspect at some point, they won’t consider anyone for an acting part, unless they are a cartoon. But that is a bit off and dependent on people becoming more machines than human.

The truth is that the current “hottie” trend is not that far apart.

No longer does your tenuous celebrity have anything to do with training, talent, and expertise.
It’s now only are your buttocks firm and your ‘abs’ ribbed.
But changing Hollywood trends by themselves are not cause for concern; or are they?

Unfortunately, they are. Because this tomfoolery on the part of Hollywood has infected the rest of us who worship at the throne of “Hottidom,” if there is such a word, the penultimate expression of one’s “hottie” rating—the only rating that counts for anything in today’s brand economy.

If you are not granted hottie status, your life may just be over and this goes for sub-teens way up to adults who still work overtime to keep those abs firm and the clothing size at 8 and below to the chagrin of people of previous generations who have decided it is better to die off than have to put up with such unmitigated nonsense..

The danger is that desire to improve one’s admiral qualities like a firm butt and ribbed ‘abs’ has created a kind of keen competition and virtual zealotry resulting in unhealthy obsessiveness with dieting, wizard health tricks, and plastic surgery. Unfortunately, such obsessive also triggers bolemia and under diseases that seem to evolve from people’s lack of confidence and self respect in a world that only recognizes beauty…

Clearly, this suggests a slavish life with transitory rewards and obsessiveness that can result in bad health, self medication and neurosis of the worst kind.

The trouble is that instead of stemming this false god of self-love, parents tend to give in or raise their hands in confusion while their progeny must impossibly try to keep apace on a race building on such fatuous thoughts as ribbed abs and tight butts in order to rank high on some goofball’s personal pantheon….

It is a sick, sick world we inhabit.

Les Aaron
The Armchair Curmudgeon

The Dangers to A Democracy of an Unwavering Man who Hears God’s Word.

Surprising there’s been so little discussion of this topic.

Is Bush going to get his way?

Is he using American support to twist arms at our number one ally?

These are the questions that suggest themselves after there were at least two leaks by military command in Israel that managed to be reported.

Consider, just last week, a high level Israeli military aide said that war with Iran was inevitable.

Two weeks before that an article appeared in the Jerusalem Post apparently from a high placed military aide said virtually the same thing.

This followed Bush’s trip to Israel by less than ten days.

Does anyone remember when a highly placed Israeli let anything slip to a newsman?

I don’t. And I would be surprised if anyone else remembers such a gaff. It just doesn’t happen.

The Israelis are notorious for not letting anything “slip out.”

The one man who did talk about Israeli weaponry is still in jail.

Therefore, this advisory came out after Bush’s visit for a very specific reason.

Those of us who have made a study of Bush know that he is passionate about only one thing: Getting his own way come Hell or high water.


And that our ally, Israel, is dependent on American aid.

What if Bush threatened Israel with cancellation of its aid if it didn’t’ do what Bush wanted?

Is that a possibility? Is that a reality?

We think that’s a very real possibility.

And immensely problematic.

Remember, too, he has gotten support from a majority of Congress who had approved his non-binding letter to condemn members of the Iranian elite forces in anticipation for going to War. What other purpose could such a document have?

We have seen that pattern in Bush repeated over and over again.

And from insider’s reports on Bush, he believes that a hawk, a military leader who leads in War tends to be favorably viewed by history. Was Iraq not enough; does the historical record need more padding?

God save us!

He has threatened Iran repeatedly.

Will Israel then become the stalking horse that makes it possible for America to come to Israel’s aid? Will Israel become the vehicle for another war—a war with a country four or five times larger than an Iraq that we cannot manage…..

It won’t be the first excuse used to go to War….

But again it will be the same rationale: Weapons of Mass Destruction.

It is importune that we forget to examine the character and intent of George W. Bush. He is determined not to leave quietly but with his wishes fulfilled.

And his primary one, as he has said over and over again, loud and clear, is that in so many words that we need to teach Iran a lesson.

Here’s one person who believes that Israel is being set up to do our dirty work to satisfy this president’s ego.

And that GWB has no intention of leaving office without fulfilling his promise.

It behooves us who have been blessed with resources and strength of mind that we demand reporting about Bush’s wish to teach Iran a lesson and that we let Congress know what we believe….


Les Aaron
The Armchair Curmudgeon

The Right Words for the Right Times….

It remains to be seen whether actions will ultimately speak louder than words.

Nevertheless, Hillary took that first critical step.

She moved forward to heal the rift between the two warring segments of the democratic party….

And it was a bell ringer.

A speech that will go down in history as the day the world began to change for democrats.

And her ringing words did not disappoint.


Not only did she concede to the nominee of the party, which until now was something not high on her to-do list, she also helped ameliorate the wounds that have been festering since the mid-primary season.

It seems that everyone is anxious to put the mean-spirited vicissitudes behind us and move forward with alacrity.

From her six minute speech that expressed in strong terms her broad-based support for the first Afro-American man to win his party’s nomination, it is clear that Hillary intends to support Obama’s bid with every fiber of her body.

And that will be observed closely by the pundits.

If actions follow words, as we expect, her speech will go a long way in healing the hurt exacerbated in the last week when Hillary was introduced after the last campaign as the “Next president of the United States,” and her failure to recognize that Obama had achieved the record number of delegates to cinch his party’s nomination.

Hillary in her concession speech today reminded her followers that this race was about more than either she or Obama but the good of the nation.

And that was a good note to put on it.

Putting memorable words into that kind of historical framework will help those who felt that she had dealt the party a damaging blow with her attacks and her attempts to make Obama appear weak to those voters he will need to achieve a win in November.

But if nothing else, Hillary has made a great start in changing perceptions.

And those of us who consider ourselves party loyalists cannot hope for more.

From where we stand, the party has taken the first and most critical steps in coming together.

Les Aaron

Our Work Cut Out!


…

As democrats savor their win, the republicans have been getting their message across and raising money.

Democrats should look at the money raised by our opponents as a barometer of what we have to face in the weeks and months ahead to the election.

In May, the republicans raised 45 million dollars.

That’s a lot of bullion, troopers.

But what does it mean.

It means to me one of three things:

That the republican followers are so put off with the prospect of a democratic win, that they are digging deep.
And it is the issues that determine their level of giving.

I mean what republican insider worth his salt is willing to give up generous tax cuts? Or other economic benefits?

The second scenario, as I see it, is that a large percentage of givers to republican causes cannot even begin to contemplate a liberal, progressive agenda with a black at its head and all of the baggage that represents to those who are genetically incapable of changing their views….

Or it means some combination of the above.

We are not deluded into believing that transformation is going to come easy.

Jimmy Carter learned that.

And Obama is relatively new to the wheeling and dealing that goes on behind closed doors.

There are some in the subset mentioned above who will never vote for a person of color no matter what.

What do they represent of the population? 10%? 20%?

We don’t know because those who participate in the polls will never tell you what really motivates them.

There are those, too, who will never not believe that Obama isn’t a Muslim no matter what you say or do!

Obama doesn’t have much choice in the color of his skin; but what he can and must do is get out there. Meet the rank and file and educate them as to what he’s about.

Admittedly, he can run backwards and forwards and float upside down, to some people he will not change a damned thing.

Like a new brush sweeping clean, it is not all bad news.

And its up to Obama how he taps into these resources.

They are the ‘cross-over’ voters who’ve about had it with republicans and their empty promises….

There are Independents who straddle the fence and will go with anyone who strikes the right chords….

And there are the young and uncommitted who never even considered anything political before.

They will make up the difference.

But we must be cognizant of the fact that this is not going to be any walk in the park.

McCain is raising money.

So we know what he is saying or doing is working for at least his target markets.

We must not however commit the sin of over-confidence.

Remember, we have shot ourselves in the foot before.

In the meantime, we must do all that we can do to change perceptions, to convince the public at large that a transformation in politics is needed to rescue the dying patient, an America that seems to have forgotten what it’s all about..

How well we do this will determine whether democracy makes a comeback in a world that is very weary of the past and very leery of trying something new especially in the kind of world where nuclear weapons are only moments away from launch…..


Les Aaron

Cutting your nose….

Hillary fans are still breathing fire!

They blame Obama for everything that went wrong in her campaign.

They blame the media for unwarranted attacks.

And they blame Obama supporters for not treating Hillary reverentially.

I think every candidate should be treated with the respect they show others….

But what is most irksome is that they are harping on one theme:

If Obama doesn’t make Hillary Vice President,
They will embargo the election or vote for McCain.

Do they realize what they are saying?

Maybe they need a few weeks to come back to earth after the high emotions of the Primary.

Would they really want to elect a man into office who would continue the policies of the last eight years? Could they even afford that luxury? After all, the only thing worse than a do-nothing president, is a president who does all the wrong things—things that imperil the nation, that jeopardize our standing in the world; that violate our ethical and moral foundation.

Is that what they want? Really?

Could we possibly afford another president who is so ego-driven, so disconnected from the real world and so determined to have his way despite the facts?

I mean it seems to me that this is a case of cutting your nose to spite your face.

I don’t care whether you loved Hillary or hated Obama, why would anyone with a micron of common sense vote in someone did nothing to help anyone but his friends—those who exacerbated all of the wrong things…. The friends who gave us all the costly new weapons we didn’t need, who caused our pharmaceutical prices to soar, who helped create the conditions that have led to out-of-sight fuel prices—prices that have been devastating for those on fixed incomes or had their jobs shipped to China. Remember NAFTA?

Can we afford to have another president who thought that the mortgage crisis—which improper regulation precipitated in the first place—was going to work out okay?
A mortgage crisis that has left more than one million homes on the foreclosure market and ruined total communities? I don’t think so..

Can we afford to have someone in office who thinks Iraq’s situation is getting better.
And in one hundred years, will be perking along! Come on, get serious! Nobody in their right mind wants a continuation of the status quo knowing that Iraq has a pro-Shiite government in place that will beat the hell out of the Sunni minority once we get out of the picture. This is after an expenditure of more than one trillion dollars? Dollars that could have been used to rebuild crumbling infrastructure in this country, hire more teachers, build more schools, improve our health care for all Americans….

Do you really want to continue such policies?

Can we afford to have in place the kind of government that thinks that diplomacy means dropping bombs without notice. This cabal in Washington, today, is above talking with other countries; you either play the game the way we want, or you’re history, brother.

This leaves us to examine the structure of government we have today. We have a Secretary of State who believes that talking with your enemy is a mistake.

A Vice President who runs his own secretive show as a fourth branch of government and thinks it’s okay. A Vice President who thinks it’s okay to get even even when it means exposing our precious overseas assets, meaning that those assets and their contacts may face death or torture?

We have a FDA chief that believes it’s okay to import products that are tainted or poisoned.

We have a Secretary of the Interior who believes that it’s okay to destroy the pristine areas and allow drilling and strip mining…

We have an OSHA secretary who believes in putting off “Clean Air” and “Clean Water” regs for another ten years….while millions more come down with cancer…

We have an Attorney General who believes that waterboarding is not torture….

A National Security Chief at Homeland Security who believes in frisking old nuns but doesn’t want to single out dark skinned men who mumble about death to all of the heathens…

We have such a great Homeland Defense that there were only 14 jets assigned to air defense on 9/11….despite the fact that Al Qaeda followers had attempted to hijack airliners through-out Southeast Asia.

And on and on.

This is the worst Cabinet in history—even if you right off Brownie for doing such an outstanding job in New Orleans…

And this is the kind of government you want to see perpetuated?

Because that is what is going to happen if you make true your threat. You will be rubber-stamping the status quo.

During the reign of Bush, we learned new terms like preemption which flouted previous accords and allows us to go to war when we please with whom we please without notice—a comforting thought!

With America and Russia holding nearly forty thousand nuclear weapons in their arsenal, is this the way to peace?

We have jettisoned habeas corpus, violated our posse comitatus agreements, tossed away privacy rights guaranteed under the Constitution.

Is this what you want?

I think if there is any hope for Hillary voters, is that they come back down to earth and start thinking rationally.

Yes, a democrat has won the primary; now, if we want to really transform the world, we have to work our backsides off to change the culture of a Washington that seems to have lost its moorings….

And without the Hillary supporters, it may not happen.

Is this something that anyone can live with?

I don’t think so.


Les Aaron

D Day: A Look Past and Present



Tomorrow marks the anniversary of D Day.

On that day, we knew we were doing the right thing: We were advancing on an enemy who was trying to wipe out human beings and take over the world. We were advancing the cause of Democracy.

We had cause.

Can we say that now?

Without crossing our fingers or hiding a smirk?


What is the cause?

No, trumped up charges and a visceral dislike of the kind of government Saddam ran didn’t qualify. They were insufficient reasons for going to War.

For sacrificing our best and brightest.

And failing to meet our responsibilities here at home.

So, was the Crusading concept of attempting to bring Christianity,…..whoops, I’m sorry! I meant Democracy to the Middle East.

Whatever the motives, they were false.

And we, the people, were sold a bill of goods!

It’s hard to avoid that assessment especially now, with McClellan’s revealing book of what really was going on in the White House, a book that makes a clean sweep of our tendencies to give the president, and his cadre, the benefit of the doubt.

They deserve no consideration from us.

They violated our trust.

And then challenged us to confront them.

We never did.

And we may never live that down.


The truth is that we were set up by the propaganda machine to believe the flood of lies that flowed out of the White House in order to justify a repugnant course of action that had no basis in fact.

Yes, folks, our leaders lied to us.

On this anniversary of our winning the world back for democracy, we should take stock.


As a result of all of that money spent and all of those lies, what have we accomplished?

The president of Iraq, our self-appointed dummy on a stick is already doing what Bush accused Obama of doing, capitulating. He is going to Iran hat in hand.

Why not?

Isn’t he a Shiite?

Aren’t’ the Iranians also Shiites?

And while Bush raves and rants about Democrats, didn’t Bush set this all up.

If we hadn’t knocked Saddam out of the box, Iran would be held back from its interference with the rest of the world.

But that is ancient history by now.

So, where are we?

We are in worse shape in Afghanistan.

The followers of bin Laden have regrouped in Pakistan….that is after handing the Pakistanis over 3 billion dollars in foreign aid.

Nor should we forget that Pakistan is one step from revolution, itself—with its fifty nuclear weapons.

And the followers of Al Qaeda have turned up in cells all over the world.

It seems that we should not have taken our eye off the ball.

In the meantime, we are still talking war with Iran. Never mind that our army that is stretched to the breaking point.

And that 1% of the population is doing all the giving and bleeding.

January 20th cannot come too soon.

And I wouldl be willing to escort this understudy to a Court Jester back to where he came at my own expense.

Yes, it is time for transformative politics…..or at the least policies that make sense.

And while we’re at it, let’s not forget that we have a pretty good document ourselves called the Constitution that we seem to have forgotten over the last eight years.

Good riddance, Mr. Bush.

You owe me for eight years of lost hope!


Les Aaron

Rebuilding Hope

There's a lot of stuff going on that doesn't seem to make the wire services, that require digging through lots of sources and some tracking down.

Among them is the fact that Hillary's speech in the bunker of Baruch the other day--where Blackberries don't work--seemed to give
her a reason to ignore what happened in the real world when Obama crossed the delegate threshold.

Hillary, in her back and forth--changing her mind as the mood fits--never bothered to acknowledge Obama's win.

Definitely bad form and intentionally rude beyond words..

More offensive was the fact that she chose not to concede as she had indicated she would do when Obama reached the magic numbers.

What was not revealed?

This did not go over well--especially among her peers.

Eight of them were called by those closest to Hillary and advised to do something about Hillary's inability to leave the podium or recognize the reality that the primaries were over! .

They were asked to call her and tell her to concede.

They did.

Another group of twenty three Congressmen called her and told her to concede or else.

And Nancy Pelosi and Reed also informed her that she had til Friday to finish the theatrics and concede to the winner.

This barrage by her peers must have caused her to see the hand-writing on the wall.

She had no options. She had to concede. Even if she was pressured to do so.


If she were hoping to nail the VP spot, she had a funny way of going about it.

She had ticked off everyone in the process, including the one person that those tactics would not work on, Obama, himself.

Moreover, in utter disregard for tradition or good manners, she was making demands on the “winners.” Does this woman have no couth?


All in all, while this was supposed to be Obama's night, to many--myself included--it seemed like everyone was kissing Hillary's ring.

It was consummate bad taste but very much in keeping with the low class, gutter politics that characterized the primary--especially since
Hillary's loss in South Carolina.

I couldn’t believe how bad the entire enterprise was getting. Therefore, over the weekend, I made it a point to get Ed Klein's book on Hillary in which he wrote about the real Hillary long before the Primary.

Everything he said was in keeping with the Hillary we were to discover during the campaign: A tone deafness, a willingness to take the low road for advantage and a need to win at any cost.

I'm sorry I hadn't read it before..

I never would have voted for her.

But now, the Party elders had come together and ended this long swan song that seems to have gone on forever.

And Hillary has agreed to play by the rules.

I know a lot of the MSNBC commentators and panelists indulged in a long sigh of relief last night.

For haven't they been blamed for everything that went wrong in Hillary's campaign.

In none of this, it is interesting to note, has Hillary or her fans taken responsibility or said they are sorry for their own behavior or actions.

It's one thing not to see the truth because it is convenient to do so, it is quite another to believe that swill.

In any event, most of us are happy it is over.

We may not have liked what emerged, but it was finally over.

We are happy that Congress and the Party has asserted itself; and that the leaders of the Party have done what is necessary to end the Primary now before the Convention.

The hard part for both sides of the Hillary argument is to find a way to come together in the best interests of the country and to show a united front against Bush III.

Realistically, I believe we will vote together but not come together. The hurt for many is too deep; too divisive.

The facts are, however, that we have five months before the Election. And we must find a way to make things work. We must change the government and this is our only chance.

Those Hillary fans who said that they would vote for McCain must realize that that would be a case of cutting your nose to spite your face.

The polls are already showing a change.

And as Obama said, once the people realize where each candidate stands on the issues, the democrats will win.

The big question: Will it ever devolve to that point? Will the republicans and others be able to get over the fact that Obama didn't wear a flag pin, that he had a wayward preacher, that his wife said something they interpreted as unAmerican, or that Obama himself has a funny name and may not even be Christian? Whatever that means.

More often than not, those are the real hurdles; otherwise, democrats would have never left office.

After eight years of the Bush cabal, I think most of us need some kind of healing and/or therapy.

The hope is that we will come together and sweep this cancer on the body politic off the screen so that we may return to all that America has stood for these last two hundred years.

I know that I for one do not take this election for granted and realize that we will have to work to overcome all of the obstacles that lie ahead.

In spite of all of what we face, we certainly live in remarkable times and I am hopeful that Obama will live up to his promise and that we will enjoy transformative times and see the restoration of hope in our lifetime.

Les Aaron.