Let’s think for a minute about Chen Guancheng. Here’s a blind kid from out in the boonies in ShanDong province who goes to a high school for the blind, and then to university where he studies acupuncture and massage and audits law classes; and then he makes a career of attacking the government that’s provided his education. Not saying he isn’t a heck of a guy; but, if this wasn’t an election year, what are the chances more than 25 people would give a rat’s ass about him? Especially 25 neo-con Republicans?

Junior Seau. I’ve been a Chargers fan since 1970, and enjoyed watching Junior out there at the Murph. He was no Billy Ray, but he was inspirational on and off the field, and a heck of a guy. Having said that, he got a free ride to USC and made a crap load of money playing a violent kids’ game brilliantly. His subsequent depression that likely drove him to suicide was probably related to repetitive brain trauma despite continual improvements in helmet design. There’s a class-action suit pending now against the industry that fed him and enshrined him in the Hall of Fame. As a working under-grad and grad student at SDSU, I had some serious issues with the degree to which I  was subsidizing the varsity sports programs; and, later in life, I’ve had issues with the extent to which I was subsidizing professional sports franchises. This whole narrative makes me sick.

On Tuesday, North Carolina will go to the polls to vote on Amendment One to formally ban that which is already banned under state law: same-sex marriage. Amendment One actually bans just about any arrangement other than marriage, too, which is going to be a problem, but my issue is with the marriage thing. I haven’t been able to avoid ads about Amendment One and all of the other campaigns working out there, and I still haven’t heard a single non-theological argument against same-sex marriage. Not one. Occasionally a self-avowed conservative Christian will make a non-theological argument about something, but never about same-sex marriage. With apologies to any of my  readers who are content in marriages, marriage is unconstitutionally bound to religion; it needs to go.

Mind you I’m not a fan of the distortions and manipulations by the other candidates down there, but at least they spoke as (lying) adults to adults.

I don’t know how many of you don’t get Bill Moyer on your local PBS station – we don’t – but he had Jonathan Haidt on to talk about how our political parties have become so polarized and why we can’t communicate with one another. I really want to thank Marilyn for forwarding this to me. After watching this, I wished that I’d heard of Manichaeism before I was ready to sign up for Medicare. To say that I am not well-versed in the humanities and social sciences would be a huge under-statement.

This is the link to the segment. It’s 47 minutes, but I found it to be illuminating, and I learned stuff, too. If you read my stuff, I’m certain that you’ll get something from this, too.

The fourth paragraph of the Executive Summary reads: “The Citizens Intervention campaign will include the development of a grassroots Citizens Lobby based in Washington DC, promoting lobbying activities online and at the district-level.” Really? What the heck is “a grassroots Citizens Lobby,” and why would I put it on K Street? K Street lobbyists are a major part of the problem, and they have no part in the solution. I want my representatives to listen to me; not to anyone’s lobbyists.

The next paragraph identifies three primary legislative goals. Well, neither Party is going to lift a finger to reform campaign laws to limit fund raising from special interests, and money talks. Therefore, neither Party is going to seriously reform banking and Wall Street oversight laws; nor will they seriously transform the tax code. These folks are already on the hook and the hooks are deeply set.

Farther down, they list two steps on the “path to restoring democracy.” I’ve just said why I don’t give the first step much credence UNLESS we first and effectively take the second step. We need to change the existing culture and take personal responsibility for who we allow to represent us. Sifting through the misinformation from both Parties is a challenge, but clearly we can no longer depend on them.

We accept that neither Exxon nor BP will clean up the oil business, and that neither GM nor Ford will transform the auto industry, but we want to work with the Democratic and Republican Parties to transform politics? Really? Seems like a waste of time. It’s said that no man can serve two masters, and Party hacks are boring anyway.

We need to work on pushing for open primary elections. We need to support local candidates whose first allegiance is to their constituents, and to promote those who maintain that commitment throughout their tenure. Bernie Sanders is ideal, but I can live with Ron Paul or Heath Shuler or maybe even Joe Lieberman. (Besides, only Heath Shuler actually represents me… and I wasn’t serious about Joe Lieberman.)

We can be doing Occupy Wall Street demonstrations ten years from now, or we can start working the problem. If I’m going to invest my seventh decade in political activism, I’d rather we accomplish something.

I think the sniping that the group or groups are unfocused are overblown. Environmentalists have been just saying “no” for years now, and who doesn’t love environmentalists. There will come a time – sooner rather than later I think – when they’ll have to put up or shut up, but I see nothing wrong with letting the pot simmer a little bit longer.

One idea I’ve had for awhile is that we need to not tax corporate earnings, and I have a couple of reasons for that. The biggest reason is that taxing corporate earnings is intellectually dishonest. Despite what the Supreme Court says, corporations aren’t human beings; they have a fiduciary duty to maximize share value to stockholders. When you tax corporate earnings the corporate managers simply adjust their prices to include expected taxes, and the consumers pay the tax.  Consumers always pay the taxes.  I think I’m probably missing something here, and I’d like for someone to tell me what that is.

The other thing is that having corporations pay taxes reinforces their argument for a seat at the table with politicians. This is America, and in America paying taxes means you have a right to representation (unless you’re an undocumented immigrant, but that’s another issue).

I am a little disappointed that I haven’t heard anything yet about developing alternative candidates for even local political offices. If there is an expectation that the status quo will be changed by either the Democratic or Republican Parties, then I believe a lot of people are wasting their time out there.  If the Democratic and the Republican Parties are not in fact corporations, they do a very good imitation; and neither gives a rat’s ass for anyone who can’t write a seven-digit contribution. We need some well-intentioned independents at all levels of government to deny either Party a majority.

Before moving here, I had been to Western North Carolina twice to see the fall colors and had missed it both times. Now I live here, and, as I drove the Great Smoky Mountain Expressway, I could see hints of red and yellow in what had been a palette of mostly greens only days earlier. It occurred to me that I had fallen into the habit of interpreting the world from my hillside vantage in Asheville, and the things that I love about the mountains had gotten away from me a little bit.

When I was over in Eastern North Carolina for Hurricane Irene, I remember thinking that I missed my mountains. Hiking the Smokemont Loop on the 15th – even that two-mile uphill section that had me sucking wind – got me back in touch with the feel of what drew me here; but yesterday reminded me of the sense of what drew me here. Last week I was seeing and breathing the trees, but yesterday I was seeing the forest and the mountains.

Anyway, that freshened perspective started a cascade of appreciation for my situation. I had the opportunity to leave the cubicle, to move here, to hike these trails, and to do the volunteer work that I do; and so many people are trapped in their lives. I take no pride in this because my choices have been almost entirely selfish. I was blessed to have been born American, to have never borne the risk of losing a loved one to war, famine, or pestilence. I enlisted to avoid the draft (Bear with me; it made sense then.) and re-enlisted mostly to avoid having to re-integrate into 1969 America. I freely acknowledge that my choices haven’t always been good (Can I get an “Amen?”); but they all brought me to this place at this time, and this is a good place for me at this time.

It occurs to me that, after coming here, I have fallen back into mindless habits; going through the motions of daily life usually without engagement. I’ve begun taking most things for granted again. I’ve gotten away from my practice. I need to honor this opportunity.

Mazel tov, Millie!

I’ve had this feeling of a disconnect for awhile now. When jobs are too plentiful the markets are down. When jobs are too scarce markets are up.  Wall Street and I are looking at the same thing from two completely different perspectives and reaching opposite conclusions. Of course, now that corporations are not only people, but people who can clandestinely pour a crapload of money over their favorite politicians, their conclusions count for more than those of mere voters.

My “favorite” aphorism from Wall Street is that the continuing recession is largely our fault because we (consumers) aren’t spending more. Many of us have no  job and assistance is being cut left and right and debt is a huge issue, but we’re supposed to spend our way out of the recession. Seriously, are you kidding me? And now you want more vig for loaning the government the money to buy your cheaply (not inexpensively) made crap?

I am concerned for the republic, and for the world my grandson will grow up in.

P.S. I said earlier that the aim of the neo-conservative/neo-fascist movement was to erase everything after the Coolidge Administration. It was, of course, Coolidge who said in 1925 that “the chief business of the American people is Business.” He was  wrong then, and they are wrong now.

I am mindful, for instance, that we had a balanced budget as recently as FY 2001. (Yes, those budgets were passed by a Republican-controlled Congress.) It was after that when “The Decider” decided to run his GWOT off-budget and lower taxes for the wealthy, etc. Then it was okay, but since January, 2009, we must play by the numbers?

Ironies abound when one considers “defense” spending. Conservatives and Liberals seem to agree that, although there is enormous waste in the system, no one wants a weapons system being developed in their district trimmed or a base in their district closed. That may explain why overseas bases are often mentioned as being extraneous.

By the way, has anyone else noticed that we haven’t won a war since Pres. Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947? We got a Defense Department, a Joint Chiefs of Staff, a United States Air Force, a Central Intelligence Agency and a National Security Council and have been stepping in crap ever since. I digress.

Wars, of course, need to be fought, which brings up the question of funding those. If we enact a Balanced Budget Amendment and an unplanned war breaks out (or becomes expedient), how is that going to work? We probably couldn’t legally sell War Bonds.

This morning I read this post at Reuters about the last time we eliminated the National Debt. I don’t think we could get away with dispossessing Native Americans again, but selling our National Parks could bring in some cash. (Not enough, obviously.)