The us syndrome

As i wing my way over to Stockholm, I think of the syndrome associated with that beautiful city. If you’ve ever been there, I’m sure you can appreciate the willingness to be kidnapped and never go home again...

But i digress...I’m writing to discuss the us syndrome: my own name for the dangerously arrogant, two faced syndrome spiraling us further and further into political, diplomatic and social mayhem.
We’re the nosy bully on the playground. We wanna know what everyone is doing when they’re not forced to play with us or by our rules. The WikiLeaks incident exposed many unsightly personality flaws in uncle sam but more than that, it had the embarassing side effect of shedding light on the real workings and goings-on of our entire government.
It’s not just about the fact that Clinton is jonesing for some foreign diplomats DNA. It’s not just about the fact that we’re shit scared that Berlusconi and Putin will take over the world in one scandalous but fashionable swoop. It’s not even about us badmouthing the governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan, buying momentary loyalty in the Middle East as pressure and tension mounts against Iran.
No, none of these are really the issue here. It’s the classic detective story - if you have nothing to hide kid, why don’t you come downtown with me? Well, we have a FUCK LOAD to hide! In fact, there’s nothing true that we don’t want hidden. From money to mammograms, from military to melting ice caps, what we hear via conventional media, is horse shit. What we hear in speeches given, see in articles written is by-in-large total fabrication. It is our binding hypocrisy. It is our addictive, pathological tendency to be dishonest with ourselves, the country and the world.
So, who’s to blame for the huge disconnect between politicians and the truth?
Unfortunately, the story isn’t as simple as just blaming the corporations, which you know I love to do. However, it’s a two way street. It’s a two party system. While there’s no doubt that any hope for straight, unadalterated honesty is greatly side-swiped by corporate lobbying and the monetary gains associated with “playing ball,” you gotta be willing to sell your soul, and you have to be willing to stay in the pit, fighting amongst yourselves while the world crumbles around you. Corporations recently logged their most profitable year EVER while the Atlas’ of the country continue to hold up more than their share with little compensation. The reforms that were supposed to teach wall street a lesson have slipped into oblivion along with the other legislation that would do one dick stick worth of good for the crippled economy. Meanwhile, you have folks like Darrell Issa, new head of the congressional oversight committee claiming Obama to be “one of the most corrupt presidents in modern times” and vowing to subpoena anything that so much as looks like it could go against neocon ideals.
So, where does that leave us? The comforting news: not much different than before. The non-sugar coated news: that’s a shitty place to be. It’s a bit of a cluster fuck, catch 22 in reality. See, the ideals I mention above are no more steadfast than the loyalty bought with corporate earnings. For example, as I got felt up today, AND radiated like a frozen dinner, I came to think about why. This time it wasn’t George Bush raping my rights...it was Obama. Fuck. And this time, it wasn’t the Democrats complaining about this atrocious invasion of privacy, it was the Republicans, while the Democrats upheld their side of the aisle. Wait...what? I thought I could at least count on some ideals...nope. Republicans and Democrats alike will hold true (pun intended) to their side even if their side goes against their supposed holy grails of ideologies. It’s a see-saw ; whatever works for the moment is what they uphold. Such is the ping pong hipocrisy of a two party system. There’s no room for a grey area. Even now, as Democrats rally against the President for further prolonging the life of the abhorrent wealthy tax breaks, it’s because it looks good politically. Obama is becoming less and less popular so Democrats check their emergency notes and distance themselves from a “Republican in practice” president, in the hopes that when the next elections come around, they can stand on the podium and say they upheld the Democratic ideals even when their commander-in-chief faltered. I’ll take bets at how many will actually use almost those exact words...
There it is. The US syndrome goes deep into our moral fiber, bleeding it dry of any honest and genuine threads and replacing them with corrupt, for sale signs drenched in the blood, sweat and tears of their own constituents...too dramatic? Well, I think our current status is a little too dramatic. It reads like a really bad crime novel that takes too many twists and turns, and ultimately ends in an unrealistic, drawn out pool of blood and overacting. Oh, I wish this was another FOX fabrication. But oh no, it’s all too real. Ask the parents who buried their children draped in American flags, as if that somehow deadens the pain. Ask the people who get thrown out of their houses because they believed too well in the American dream. Ask the corporate bosses using our money to go on million dollar vacations...well, don’t ask them, they’re comfortable resting on your shoulders but don’t wanna hear you complain about it. So, are we gonna complain? Julian Assange gave you a reason, Bush gave you a reason, Enron, Halliburton, Obama, AIG, Fannie and Freddie Mac, Bank of America, Citi Bank, IMF, World Bank, the Fed, BP, Exxon, GM, Wall Street, Democrats, Republicans...how many more times will we watch our rights get raped before we step in? As the law of our beautiful country says, if you see a crime committed and you do nothing, you are a party to it...you and me...are criminals.

Big business drills

Let me start with the mostly good news first: The House approved a bill this past Friday heightening safety standards for offshore drilling, imposing new fees on oil and gas production and removing the federal $75 million cap on economic damages to be paid by oil companies after major spills, increasing it to $300 million. It would also create new "conservation" fees on oil and natural gas extracted from land or water controlled by the federal government. Another quasi-plus: companies with significant workplace safety or environmental violations over the past 7 years would be banned from new offshore drilling permits. As usual, there was the left/right banter about killing jobs, big government, save the whales, no drilling, yada yada yada. The bill now moves on to the Senate where they'll probably sit on it till it's nice and thinned out and ready to do jack squat...pardon my cynicism. The bill is a move in the right direction, although I wonder how many more catastrophes it will take before we say to ourselves, "you know what, maybe we should just leave that the fuck alone?" History repeats itself - especially if you do the dumb shit over and over again.

On to the other news: The Senate (previously mentioned as 1/3 of our government that does fuck all for us) has blocked the Disclose Act, an act that would require corporate political advertisers to reveal their funding sources. Now, some on the right suggest that it's not just about that - it's a ploy to gain votes in November by putting more restrictions on corporate activity than on unions. Ummmm...ok.
A corporation is by definition an entity whose sole responsibility is to make money - the bottom line. Unions are by definition there to protect the rights of the worker. Now, I admit there is a gray area where unions can be assholes and corporations can be menches but overall, let's be honest here. I'd rather kick a corporation in the nuts than hang a union out to dry. But that's just me.
Furthermore, this bill wouldn't even bar corporations from making contributions, it would only require that they own up to it. Only the naive will say that our government isn't for sale, but at least we could take a first step and know who the hell is buying. But, of course, since we're not naive, we also realize that the who's who in the guilded chairs aren't gonna let any "first steps" be taken that might put their bottom line in jeopardy. I mean, what are they supposed to do, govern? Please...

Health care summit...or bottom?

The Health Care summit was held yesterday in the Garden Room at Blair House in Washington DC. The summit discussions were based around four themes: controlling costs, insurance reforms, reducing the deficit and expanding coverage.

Now, the reason for my catty subject line is simple: are we just talking about this or is this an actual precursor to serious action?

From the research I've done on yesterdays meeting, I can't really say. I can tell you that the partisan hectoring is still alive and well. And I can tell you that Obama does seem to be at least trying to bring left and right a little bit closer to the reality of America's middle ground.

"My hope had been there might be enough areas of overlap to realistically think about moving forward without a situation in which everyone just goes to their respective corners and this ends up being a political fight," Obama said.

Unfortunately, there was a lot of going into their respective corners, particularly from the Republicans. Many on the right suggest that the bill just get scrapped and that we start over. The only trouble is that there are many other issues that need a place on the senate and house floors. Republicans know this. If this doesn't go through, we won't see another try for a long time, leaving the Health Care issues abandoned and still broken.

"There is a reason we voted no," Eric Cantor (R) - Virginia, said to Obama. "It does have to do with the philosophical differences you pointed out. It also has to do with our fear that Washington can define what are essential health benefits."
So, Representative Cantor, it's better to have private investors in the top 1% decide what are essential health benefits? Ideally speaking (now this may not be the case), but ideally speaking, our representatives are chosen by us to make choices, not to throw that responsibility onto a private company. Again, as I've said before, the government is there to GOVERN, not to hand it off to folks like Proctor and Gamble and say, "Hey, you figure it out. Oh, and while you're at it, there's a lovely place in the Hamptons I've been looking at."

George Miller, (D) - California, brought some personal flare to the proceedings, confessing that he had two artificial hips, arthritis and a kidney stone. In other words, he'd be dead in the water in this insurance market pool, having pre-existing health issues.

Tom Harkin (D) - Iowa, made a plea to not segregate health care on the basis of one's health status. He also made the point to not try and reform health care incrementally. Simply nitpicking one health issue at a time will lead to sky-rocketing premiums, as states have seen in the past, for example the 90s in states like New Hampshire and Massachusets. He said that the whole system needs to be changed at once, otherwise it will never change.

Also on the table were the possibilities of reconciliation and filibustering. Of course, Republicans, in particular Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky warned Democrats of consequences if reconciliation were to be used.

So, what does this all add up to? You tell me. Does it look or sound like we're getting anywhere? It looks to me like Democrats are making a case and Republicans are just shooting it down on the sheer principle that it's from the left.
The way I see it? Here you go.
The US is the most unhealthy industrialized country in the world. Our health care system is based off of the thinking that the sicker you are, the more money pharmaceutical companies make, so keep popping those pills, buddy!
And those pharmaceutical companies have their lobbyists filling politicans' pockets with the lovely money we spend on their poison...mmm, what a tangled web we weave.

So, what to do? I believe Rockefeller says it best:

"This is a rapacious industry that does what it wants, unknown to the people of America except on an individual basis," Democratic senator, Jay Rockefeller said.

Exactly. "Unknown to the people of America..." That's the biggest problem of all. Bigger than the right and left, bigger than the he-said, she-saids of Washington politics. If the people don't know what's going on, don't care, there is no pressure on Washington to get anything done. It's our job, not theirs to make sure we get what we need.