Two Kinds of People

On my walk today, I was thinking there are two kinds of people in this world.  Those who look up at the tree branches and marvel at the bright yellow flowers dancing among the leaves.

And those who only look down and grouse about the mess the petals make when they drop to ground.

 I guess there's also a third category:  People whose hearts soar at the sight of beauty and who don't mind bending their backs to clean up the mess when the blossoms wither and fall.

Dear ACLU: What were you thinking?

I am extremely disappointed to hear that the ACLU is supporting the disastrous Supreme Court decision in the Citizens United case.  While I have always supported and applauded your efforts on behalf of free speech for all people, even those I find abhorrent, this is not the same thing and I cannot support your position in this case.  Money is not speech, corporations are not natural people.  The practical effect of this law will be the utter destruction of true democracy in America.  I do not believe this was your purpose in supporting this. 

This is not a liberal issue.  It's a matter of fairness and equality.  Money is the great un-equalizer.  To allow unlimited amounts of cash to flow throws the balance of power to entities that have no morals and no boundaries.  (more than it already is)  

I do not have the resources to buy commercials on television stations or ads in newspapers.  Does that mean my vote should be worth less?  The interests of the individual person are in direct opposition to the interests of huge corporations.  I hope you will reconsider your position and work to counteract this harmful, shameful ruling, either through legislation or by changing the constitution to give "personhood" only to natural persons.

Thanks for listening.

All That Populist Anger

The anger exploding all over this country isn't populism.  It's hate and fear masquerading as democracy. 

David Brooks's column in the New York Times today disputes this and calls the anti-Obama protests a populist movement.  David's right that there's always been struggle between the haves and the have nots in America.  But he's wrong when he says it's a conflict between "educated urban elites" against those hard working townie people.  The protesters have good reason to be upset but they're channeling their righteous anger in the wrong direction.  There is a huge problem in this country but it wasn't caused by President Obama.

It wasn't Barack Obama who fused the powers of Wall Street and the rich corporations with our government.  That happened a long, long time ago.  It got worse when Reagan called government the problem not the solution and then proceeded to weaken the unions, destroy social welfare programs and cut taxes for the rich.  And got even worse when Clinton and Bush deregulated Wall Street and gave even more tax cuts to the rich.

This is about rich people sucking the life out of poor people.  It's about insurance companies letting people die to make a profit.  It's about Wall Street investors making huge bonuses by playing Russian roulette with our economy.  It's about deregulation and globalization and free market conservatives sending our jobs overseas.  Being rude to the duly elected president of the United States and denying he's a citizen and dressing him as a witch doctor in a protest poster has nothing to do with populism.  It's racism.

These sycophants, like Brooks, and the screaming, scheming blowhards, like Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, Glenn Beck and Fox News, who are egging those people on, don't speak for ordinary, hardworking people.  They represent the very corporations and money interests destroying the middle class and turning America into a third world nation.

If this is a populist movement, I guess, this time, I'd rather not be one of the people.