Is when the leader of the Free World, and the latest Nobel Peace Prize winner is planning on sending another 30,000 innocent men and women to slaughter untold thousands of other innocent men and women in an unwinnable invasion of a sovereign country, Afghanistan.
Is when said Nobel Peace Prize winner refuses to ban land mines and thus becomes the only nation in the world in that exalted position (reminder – these mines killed and maimed over 5,000 innocent men, women and children last year).
Is when Goldman Sachs, with tax payer bailout money, has set aside 16.7 billion dollars for executive bonuses and only pays 1% in corporate taxes.
Is when nearly a million American homeowners have their homes foreclosed on in the the 3rd quarter of 2009.
Is when 10 US states are on the verge of bankruptcy: California, Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island.
Is when federal budget deficit is now over 12 trillion dollars.
Is when 47.4 million US citizens live in poverty and 3 million citizens, and climbing, are homeless.
Is when 50% of US children need food stamps to eat. To eat!
Is when, in 2008, 46.3 million US citizens were without health care. It is much worse today. There are 45,000 preventable deaths from lack of health care every year and of these 17,000 are children. Children. Not to mention uncountable health care bankruptcies. All meaningful amendments to Health Care Reform, of course, have been stripped by the lobby driven Senate, and this weak diluted bill will only come into effect in 2013 anyway, post-apocalypse.
Is when demand for guns and ammunition in the states has reached an all time high and the 200 companies in this business can’t keep up with the demand for bullets.
An appalling list of failures. I'm sure you could list a hundred more. And this is the country that boasts of its civilised values and democratic freedoms. The degree of self-delusion is staggering.
ReplyDeleteMore and more Brits are opposed to the Afghan war, to the extent that their opposition is demoralising the troops themselves. Excellent.
Yes Nick, self-delusion it is. And why are so many arming themselves? I sympathize greatly with the American people, mostly innocent victims of this catastrophic takeover of their country by the mighty theocorporatocracy.
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Ah, but its a truly great nation, you know, and 'The Land of Opportunity'? Who am I kidding? Anyone can make it good in America - if they don't mind stabbing everyone else in the back. Most just fall by the wayside.
ReplyDeleteIf by 'anyone' you mean that 1% who are sitting on top of the greatest pile of wealth EVER, you are correct, my friend.
ReplyDeleteAnd are only 1% if us awake enough to see this?
Are 99% fast asleep?
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Sobering list, WWW!
ReplyDeleteCannot argue, except perhaps for the slight blame you attach to President Obama. He inherited this pile of s..t. He's doing his level best to sort out the terrible job the last administration did, but he can only do so much immediately.
I trust his judgment re what he is doing about Afghanistan. That's all I can say. It seems wrong to me, of course, but I'm ignorant of all the circumstances. It's not a simple situation.
Perhaps I'm naive, but when I see good man (which I'm confident Obama is), doing his best in a sh...y situation, I try to support him, and trust.
I think T, the hopeless enmeshment of corporate and religio-America with the government of the US is being exposed as never before. Who is really calling the tunes?
ReplyDeleteI think it obvious.
I personally have no faith in Mr.Obama. The time for hope and change came and went in the time since he was elected. He is more of the same old, same old while the world as we know it, goes to hell. He is the only holdout on destructive landmines!
And just look at where he has decided the remaining few dollars are going!
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PS I am strongly reminded of another very attractive politican who spoke oratorically with much the same promise prior to election and then afterwards proceeded with his own form of wreckage - i.e. Tony Blair.
Just an observation: The job of armies is to kill people.Armies are not composed of innocents.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the USA is verging on becoming ungovernable. If so we in Canada should be worried.
All world empires collapse either from forces within or forces without e.g. Assyria, Babylon, Rome,Byzantium,British Empire, Soviet Union.
Hi GFB:
ReplyDeleteWhen I consider the youth being used as cannon-fodder I view them as innocent pawns in the military industrial complex, most have no other work opportunities (employment being through the roof) but to sign up for a regular pay cheque.
That is my feeling on the USA, I am troubled by its instability with no firm plan in place for correction.
Just more squandering of its little resources on unwinnable and illegal invasions of sovereign countries.
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