Capitalism on Crack

How Ya' Gonna Keep 'em Down on the Farm?

2011-12-31T00:10:00.000-05:00

It's politics as usual this week in Iowa, the hog farm capital of America. They're not actually farms, which bring to mind fresh air and vast green acres. They're factory farms, where animals endure confinement, abject horror and cruelty prior to execution for the greater gluttony of Fast Food Nation. I don't want to eat anything that has been tortured in the name of the almighty dollar. To have never seen the sunshine, except maybe in the transport truck on the way to the slaughterhouse, is beyond cruel to any sentient being.

So, Iowa, and the image of it, is the perfect place for a Republican, or, for that matter, a Democratic political caucus. Politicians contemplating a lucrative career feeding at the public trough, stand toe to toe, up to their eyeballs in their own bullshit. There's the usual amount of patriotic flag waving, pro-small business blather, "now I lay me down to sleep and pray the lord my soul to keep" faith declarations, tears, family values, strong national defense, border fences, and of course, what, me regulate? It's all there to disguise the real issue: how do the Washington hand-on-heart whores stay in the rack with their Masters of the Universe from Wall St. and Amerikan Korporate LLC., for mutual fun and profit at the expense of the rest of us.

It stinks in Iowa, and it isn't just the hog excrement cesspools, pollution nightmares cleverly hidden along the interstates, next to the "dark satanic mills that manufacture hell on earth" for the hog populations. The stink starts in business schools, or law schools, winds up on Wall St., wafts on down through Korporate Amerika LLC., to Washington, and then fans out across the fruited plains. It's the stink of ill-gotten gains, and the pennies per pound mentality, the offspring of the Wall St.-Washington - Korporate alliance. For hard working, patriotic, law abiding citizens, it's hard to believe, unless you realize that the fundamental wealth shift that has been going on for the last 30 years was no accident. And, to keep the ball rolling, in 2012 you and I have to choose yet another establishment candidate to promulgate this breathtakingly lucrative-for-a-few working structure.

And who better to "represent" in Iowa than NJ's own porcine Chief Executive, Chris Christie? The bully Gov is promising a "Jersey style" return if Iowans they don't support Mitt Romney, the billionaire job killing servant of the status quo, and the Book of Mormon.

History is funny if only for the irony.We've gone from a nation founded by those with a vision of "citizen-legislators" to a nation divided along the lines of political myths. Myths and symbolism used to disguise the "heads they win, tails we lose," con game run by entrenched careerist politicians in cahoots with powerful monied interests for big time, ill gotten gains. Capitalism is dead, having choked on the bags of money for influence being passed around behind closed doors.

Citizens need to unite, somehow, to force Congress to enact term limits and completely divorce money from the political and legislative process. Don't cast your vote for another Republican or Democratic establishment candidate. Vote for a change candidate outside the ropes of the 24 hour cable news cycle. Even if your vote is wasted this time, and the next, at some point the momentum will shift to where the real voice of concerned citizens, the one not cleverly managed in focus groups, will begin to matter once again.

The Relentless Scraping of the Bottom

2011-08-21T20:34:00.001-04:00

The New Age Fiscal Integritists are much like persons living on their own who run out of peanut butter for the first time. Used to being dependent on mommy, too lazy to fend for themselves, or to leave the comfort of their own sanctuaries, they keep scraping the bottom of the jar for more and more.

NAFI's think the way King John did, back in the real, actual Medieval Times. Keep up the pressure on the peasants, take every last dime they earn, and leave the rich barons alone to their estates. Keep scraping the backs of the common riff-raff until they bleed coin.

NAFI's don't have the sand to touch the real, actual causes of our nation's demise. Bloated, redundant defense budgets, three wars, foreign occupations and aid, a corrupted, subsidized health care system, excessive public sector and government worker benefits, corporate socialism. Better to bleed it out of the bottom end.

The newest and cruelest joke of the NAFI's is NJ Gov. Chris Christie's attempt to speed the euthanizing process in animal shelters. Now that, my friend, going low. Twisting the language of a bill designed to minimize the suffering of aged and unhealthy animals, the Fat Man has struck upon a scheme to save big coin on the backs of the extremely unfortunate...and you really can't get more unfortunate than being a shelter animal anywhere, anytime, any place.

The legal spin put on the original proposal results in a situation whereby lost family pets may be put down immediately, where, according to one expert, "There’s no benchmark — there’s no requirements — there’s no veterinary oversight."

But this is win-win thinking for Chubsy-Ubsy and his corporate sycophants. They remove costs by scraping the bottom, and reward corporations who make euthanasia drugs. I wonder which company got the biggest euthanasia drug shelter contract in New Jersey ? Probably the one which contributed the most to you know who. That's how it works.

Perhaps, in the name of humanity and fiscal integrity, we the people should start pushing to have politicians who have overstayed their welcome for personal gain euthanized. That'll give 'em enough religion, perhaps, to invoke term limits upon themselves, as long as they get to keep their life time benefits.

Debt Ceiling Blues

2011-07-19T21:42:00.000-04:00

Everybody's ass is in an uproar over the US debt ceiling situation. If Congress does not soon approve an increase, the US Treasury will be unable to make all its payments due, or borrow additional money. I think we've seen this type of government in action before.

How'd we get here? That's easy, the government routinely spends more than it takes in. It's like a typical US citizen; hell-bent on reckless spending; but, with a credit card limit set to infinity, making only the minimum monthly payments.

Why hasn't anything been done about it? The main reason is the complete lack of character among those in the U.S. government, on both sides of the aisle. All these nimrods want to be re-elected.
It's a great career with easy hours, excellent benefits, and fat pensions. There is also an interconnected network to Big Business, for jobs, travel, and paid speaking engagements. Congress won't do anything to piss off any special interest groups with significant voting power, or those with a juicy campaign contribution history or potential.

What can be done to reduce the deficit? Introduce term limits in Congress immediately. Then, introduce campaign finance reform to institute "public funding only" for elected federal offices. No more multi-million dollar campaigns to buy an election. Each candidate gets $10,000, 3 mandatory debates on public television, and a box of pencils with their name on it. Go forth, and multiply.

Once the corrupting influence of money is removed, the only individuals interested in running for election should be those who truly want to serve their country. Maybe at that point, an intelligent conversation can begin about fiscal integrity, government responsibility, and deficit reduction. Congressional careerists will argue that there is no substitute for experience. I would point out that even with all the experience, little gets done, other than to advance the agenda of the careerists on both sides of the aisle.

We have Democrats who will forever spend to create more redundant, ineffective government run programs, in order to purchase votes from special interest groups. We have Republicans newly cloaked as the fiscally responsible; which is akin to having the 3 Stooges as campaign spokespersons for the "stay in school" program. Republicans pose as fiscally conservative when there is a either a liberal, or a black man in the White House. Note: the debt ceiling has been raised 10 times since the year 2000.

Well, you ask, won't other countries stop loaning us money if we don't get our house in order? No, that is not the case. Other countries loan us money because they are either impressed by, or scared shitless of, our nuclear arsenal, which can destroy the planet a million times over in a half hour. The full faith and credit of the US Government is backed by our potential for unprecedented lethality.

Won't financial ratings agencies like Moody's and Standard & Poor's downgrade the US government's credit rating, if something isn't done soon? They could try, and it really won't mean much. Consider the source. These ratings companies put their stamp of approval (safe & low risk) on the complicated derivative debt instruments that imploded, causing the Great Financial Crisis of 2008. You can guess what their value judgement on safe and low risk is worth. That rating is bought and sold like a cheap whore; and I say that with all due respect to any whore who actually has to work for a living.

What can be done to bring the US fiscal crisis to a responsible solution? Citizens, take responsibility and get your own houses in order. Live within your means. And never, evvvvvvvvv-er vote for a Congressional incumbent, at least until term limits are enacted. Federal, state and local governments must transform themselves, and do the same; while establishing justice, ensuring domestic tranquility, providing for the common defense, and promoting the general welfare.

Preserve, Protect and Defend

2011-04-16T19:44:00.001-04:00

The US Constitution charges government with protection of its citizens. We the people do pay for that protection, much like Don Vito Corleone's 'friends and family' did in the fictional "Godfather," by author Mario Puzo. Taxes are like protection money, or at least should be, considering their scope.

Don Vito Corleone did an effective job protecting friends and family, despite utilizing highly unusual methods. The US Government, on the other hand, has let us down on more than one occasion.

With the 10th anniversary of 9/11 coming up, it is hard to believe that Bin Laden, Al Zawahiri and their Fundamentalist Islama-maniacs are still runnin' wild. The black-hole US defense budget alone exceeds a gazillion dollars a years. With our advanced technology, we can apparently peer up the ass of a camel, from 2,500 miles away. Yet, we can't seem to locate this Dynamic Duo of 7th Century Islama-mania Fundamentalism? While we search, rest assured the Dynamic Duo have been putting their time to good use, no doubt studying nuclear science.

On the home front, the 3rd anniversary of the Great Financial Meltdown is approaching. The bursting bubble of 'creative' mortgage backed securities produced a New Great Depression across the US. Yet none of the financial terrorists responsible for the Greatest Money Fiasco in US history have been prosecuted; nor, it seems, are any likely to be. These Wall Street boys used to claim that they made money the John Houseman Smith-Barney 'old fashioned' way. Now, it seems they get their bonus bucks directly from Uncle Sam's Federal Reserve, and ultimately, from the citizens of Main Street, USA.

We the people pay our Uncle Sam for protection from bad guys: fanatical terrorists, foreign, domestic, religious and financial. But lately, Uncle Sam just rewards the bad guys for behaving like bad guys, as if we need them, in some sick, sentimental way. Religions get tax-exempt status for pushing mind control, superstition, fear, 'god's laws,' misogyny, and pedophilia. Financiers operate a shadow financial system, and get a stay out of jail free card, because, apparently, they are the Creators, the Producers, the Innovators, the very Engine of The Great Satan's Economic System.

Since the imposition of Reaganomics, the hard working citizenry of Main Street USA has slowly but surely devolved into slaves. Slaves beholden to the 1% of the population controlling an unsustainable amount of wealth in this country. Slaves whose "Masters of the Universe" direct the government through the blatant purchase of influence. Slaves to be crucified unless we wise up to the scam and demand from government the protection for which we pay so dearly.

Smarter than the Average Bear

2010-12-10T21:11:00.002-05:00

...but not by much. This week, New Jersey Governor Chris "Krispy-Kremes" Christie has unleashed elements of the D.E.P., N.R.A., and the New Jersey Chapter of the Bungalow Bill Society on an urgent mission to reduce the state's black bear population.

Citing scientific evidence as justification for what has become a massive bear slaughter, the Fat Man is also after the votes of property owners agitated by the bear presence. Unwilling, or unable to follow non-lethal methods of bear control, property owners and their brothers-in-arms, the Great White Hunting Societies of New Jersey, are just the guys (and gals) to eradicate the menacing black bear. (Fact: most black bears will stay away from people unless lured by food, and some hunters stir up fear as an excuse for hunts.)

Christie, denying any national political aspirations, campaigned across the country during this fall's mid-term elections, becoming a new darling of the right wing media. As expected, he's preaching fiscal responsibility, and, eviscerating the state's education budget, by $821 million.

Yet, since assuming office, his administration has cost the state $671 million. The first $400 million was lost when it was revealed that a simple mistake on an application cost New Jersey a huge federal education grant. After several flips, Christie fired his education commissioner. When Chubsy-Ubsy cancelled the "Tunnel to Nowhere;" (with "Nowhere" being Manhattan), the state lost another $271 million, owed to the feds for work already completed on the project. If there is one place on earth that isn't "nowhere," it is Manhattan. Expensive lessons learned, in tea-bag finance for a fiscal Rascal.

The results of this scintillating mixture of politics meets "science?" Madness and blood lust across the Joisey Sopranos countryside. Monkey-see, monkey-do. Trophy hunting. Manly men. Mouthy women. Warehouses of baloney. Bad data. Corrupted government. Latest body count, excluding ("aimless" camo-clad heroes), is 497 bears and counting. Evidence shows that hunting does not solve bear conflicts. What a crime. Shame on you, Norman.

It'd be better for everyone, and sadly, for the black bears, if he had sent this mob of camo-clad heroes to march on Trenton, or Washington, where real, nasty predators lurk. According to experts,

"Hunting is no more effective at reducing bear-human conflicts than shooting into a crowded room might be at reducing crime."

Light bulb Joisey moment:

"Ey yo' f*ckin' hey! How about next f*ckin' year, they f*ckin' hunt the f*ckin' cast of the Jersey f*ckin' Shore? In New Jersey, that'd be a "cultural f*ckin' achievement" -

And, speaking of science, the character who portrayed Norman "Chubsy Ubsy" in the Little Rascals series died young, and tragically, due to an enlarged heart, the results of a lifetime of sloth and obesity. This year, at a "Weight of the Nation" conference, obesity's societal costs was explained in gruesome detail:

""Obesity is the driver of the many chronic conditions -- heart disease, diabetes, cancer -- that generate the exorbitant costs that are crushing our health-care system." How much is the cost? $147 billion a year nationally."

I almost f*ckin' forgot - Have another f*ckin' donut, Fat Man!" Whoopee!

Nicotine Nation, Cheech and Chong

2010-11-04T22:35:00.001-04:00

After Tuesday's election, we now have a President, and a Speaker of the House who smoke cigarettes. Two of the three heartbeats closest to the most powerful position on earth are nicotine stoners. This, despite scientific evidence that cigarette smoke carries over 4000 chemicals, 43 known cancer-causing compounds, and 400 other toxins. It's a proud day for Big Tobacco! It's like having our very own Cheech and Chong, as the leaders of Nicotine Nation.

The President no doubt exceeded his modest, (stated for public consumption) intake of nicotine on election night. Obama is said to not be a "regular" smoker; as in never in front of the kids, but we'll never really know. It's all made up for spin purposes, anyway.

It is Rep. John Boehner, soon to be Speaker of the House of Representatives, who goes the extra nicotine mile. Mr. Speaker indulges in a 2 pack a day habit of unfiltered Camels. At 7 minutes per cigarette, that's 4.66 hours per day he's lit up, instead of working on behalf of his constituents. Multiply that by the 20 years this career politician has been in Congress, and the amount of wasted time starts to approach the figure for the National Debt.

20 years x 365 days x 40 cigarettes x 7 minutes per butt = 2, 044,000 minutes, or 34,066 hours, or 1892 days spent smoking, allowing for 6 hours per night in the sack. Put another way, the Speaker Dude spends 25% of his waking time smoking. Then again, he's a career politician. Nice work if you can get it.

Boehner recently said:

“I believe (cough-cough) that the health care bill that was enacted (hack hack) by the current Congress will kill jobs in America, (wheeeeeeeeeeeze) ruin the best health care system in the world and bankrupt our country. That means that we have to do everything we can (hack hack) to try to repeal this bill, and replace it with common-sense reforms that will (cough cough) bring down the cost of health insurance.”

Earlier in the same day, Mr. Boehner called the health care law a “monstrosity,” and hocked a green-black loogey on the Capital steps for emphasis.

So, when "Cheech" Boehner calls Congress to order, instead of the usual greetings and salutations he'll probably say, "Boys, smoke 'em if ya' got 'em."

And then, Speaker Cheech, and President Chong, two nicotine stoners, will have at it over Health Care Reform. Ironic. Two guys willfully demonstrating the extent of their personal liberties by sucking in over 4000 chemicals, and then trying to set national policy. Imagine if we had a couple of real stoners in charge.

What Boehner really means is, "you can pay for me now, or you can pay for me later. In other words, the deleterious effects of smoking will do him in at some point. Fortunately for him, a new medical study shows that even if you're dumb enough to actually smoke cigarettes, a timely cat scan may extend your life so that you can keep smoking, and not do any more damage to Big Tobacco profitability. So, paying for cat scans for smokers to early detect their lung cancers is a good way to expend money on medical care, don't you think? It's sort of trickle down phlegm. Big Tobacco gets theirs, Big Medicine gets theirs, and Cheech and Chong can still have their freedoms, including smoking.

Liberals, if these folks are trying to commit slow suicide, we have to prevent it, right? Conservatives, is it not their American right to smoke and commit slow suicide, aka, liberty from the status quo? Then, is it not also their right to have access to the "best medical system in the world?" A system committed to saving their dumb asses through expensive measures which would be completely unnecessary if they just did not smoke in the first place.

Sounds of Silence as the mental trapdoor slams shut.

That is some convoluted reasoning, as twisted up as one of Boehner's smoke damaged lung sacs.

The One Percent Problem

2010-11-02T17:18:00.003-04:00

To most people, beliefs qualify as truth, and that is the end of it. Beliefs may be considered positions, or just "things heard," a monkey see, monkey do sort of thing. However, truth is more interesting than belief, and, as the old saying goes, "truth is stranger than fiction."

On Election Day, it won't matter to most of us that what comes from both sides of the political landscape is little more than self-serving propaganda. We'll vote our beliefs, and perpetuate what has become a steadily more frightening proposition, the status quo. Truth, however, can be found in human nature, our language and history.

This country was founded by revolutionaries, of word and deed. They risked life and limb to debunk the myth that divine providence had bestowed upon some the right to rule absolutely and perpetually, over all others. Americans overthrew the monarchy, which existed to preserve itself and its privileges at the expenses of others.Yet, in 1775, none of these Founders could have foreseen the effects on democracy, equality and individual liberty of either the Industrial Revolution, or the gradual transformation of the role of the Banking Industry.

Over time, these two phenomena have combined to effectively concentrate obscene wealth and power in too small a segment, or about one percent, of the population. These 1% are our economic royalty; the New Monarchy, ruling absolutely and perpetually over all others. This concentration of wealth, power and control has resulted in reduced opportunities for the remainder of the population, and left many to founder, without jobs, credit, stable homes or adequate means to their constitutional rights; loosely speaking, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

All branches of government, from both political parties, have accepted the need to make policy at the directive of the New Monarchy, or risk losing their positions. Government then goes about making or postponing decisions which perpetuate the status quo. Once envisioned long ago as the voice of the citizenry, at least the literate ones, government has become steadily engaged in the business of electioneering, not governing for the good of the country. Electioneering, financed in large part by the New Monarchy. Electioneering, which spreads the false idea that what is good for the one percent is good for the rest of the population. Electioneering which blames the plight of Everyman on a Bogeyman, and not on the policies which perpetuate the New Monarchy. Everyman Joe Six-Pack laps it up, and becomes convinced that it is the guy below him on the economic continuim, and not the New Monarchy, that is holding him back.

A sorry situation, indeed. Democracy for all held captive in a rigged bizarro world version of Capitalism, where the bad guys always get away clean, and the taxpayers have to eat shit. Income inequality, reduced opportunity, liberty threatened at the hands of the New Monarchy and their paid political operatives.

Change you can believe in? Well, you can vote early, (and vote often), to slowly, gradually return the government to the people, while removing it from the economic royalists and their governing and lobbying stooges. Try voting out any and all incumbents in every election cycle, until those in power institute term limits for all, and disconnect money completely from the political process. Only then will the New Monarchy lose their stranglehold on power. And then, perhaps, the remaining 99% can enjoy government of the people, by the people and for the people.

The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill

2010-10-17T09:35:00.005-04:00

Judging by the gunshots in the woods behind our home early this morning, it's hunting season! I guess the idea of the clean kill has vanished, the single shot replaced by staccato bursts that sound more like a Sopranos episode. Ooops!

Fast Food Nation, awash in an excess of bad food, stoned on the side effects of prescription meds taken to offset consumption of same, still needs to get its jollies baiting and maiming defenseless animals. Now, new technology has emerged to educate Bill and his ilk to a completely foreign concept, ethical hunting.

It's complicated, but it may reduce the number of wounded and maimed creatures left to rot by the orange and camo clad studs and studettes who can't shoot straight. Will Bill and Billette pay attention? Doubtful, unless it's presented as reality tv, the newest opiate, dumbed down for the masses.

Then again, ethical anything will find few takers in this brave new world. Speaking of a lack of ethical anything, don't miss Sarah Palin shooting wolves from helicopters in her new TLC reality series, coming to a corporate sponsored nonsense channel near you!

The Great Mosque Pit

2010-08-18T08:22:00.032-04:00

Now that every greasy politician and talk show hack from coast to coast has weighed in on the Great Ground Zero Mosque Debate, it's time to look at the roles of religion and democracy from a different perspective.

Our Republic suffers from the sickness of overly zealous, hyper-sensitive religious influences. Evangelical preachers, priests, mullahs, rabbis, imams, popes, etc., bash each other, like those in a mosh pit at a thrash metal concert. They so engage while proclaiming tolerance; all, "wanting to get along." Overly zealous, too, since selling god and religion to the frightened, tradition bound "servants of the status quo" otherwise known as the general population, is like shooting fish in a barrel.

Religion and democracy do not go hand in glove, since, essentially, religion is a form of totalitarianism. Democracy and totalitarianism are at opposite ends of the spectrum. Religion tells you what, and how to think. The Republic, and its laws must come first, not its religious institutions. Occupation of the moral high ground does not require a religious tent.

The founding principle of freedom of religion was established 235 years ago, when myth and superstition trumped scientific fact to a huge degree. People other than polygamist Mormons and Jerry Lee Lewises routinely married their 13 year old cousins back then; although animal sacrifice was pretty much over. One could argue another point, however, and that is that the factory farming and slaughterhouses of today are much worse than the ancient religious ritual of animal sacrifice; and do represent actual hell on earth

Fervent believers will argue that religion is based on belief, and it surely is. Belief in some absolute explanation for the unknown provides a nice cover for myth, superstition, fear, violence, death, mind control and self-talk from which religion is constituted.

Two centuries later, the founding principle of freedom of religion needs to be augmented. To function effectively, the Republic for which we stand, also requires freedom from religion. As demonstrated by this ludicrous debate over a religious cultural center, religion serves only to divide the country, and worse, the world.

And, the Republic needs money, fast. Terminating the tax exempt, non-profit status of all religions would surely give those same religions real religion. Since they sell a product, God, the product and the means of production, aka., houses of worship, should be taxed at the going rate. Hallelujah, I see the light and it is the end of government deficits! Praise XXXXX (fill in the blanks with your religious icon of choice)

Women should be appalled at the influence of religion in a democracy. Religion has always gotten away with misogyny, it being endemic to what religion is, a males-only club.

So, we the people are free to indulge in spirituality to whatever degree brings us comfort. We are free to believe in whatever we want. But, we should not make such a big goddamn deal about it. Life, and death are about the unknown, and uncertainty. We need to deal with that.

We need clear heads for our country to function. Clear heads on people doing the right thing, the first time out. We certainly have enough people who knowingly do the wrong thing, like forgetting to install a working blow out preventer on an oil rig. We surely have too many who choose the wrong action, like gaming the financial system, who then wind up in a house of worship, begging forgiveness for their sins.

Ultimately, should there be a mosque at Ground Zero? No, and while you're at it, remove all the other local Ground Zero houses of worship to a central location, maybe up near the Bronx Zoo. The animals won't take offense; unless provoked.

BP's Gulf of Mexicoil

2010-07-24T09:43:00.006-04:00

This week, BP and its partners did the hurt dance in front of a suitably outraged Senate subcommittee. It warms my heart when Big, Bad Government tears into the same industries which purchase influence with perks and contributions, even if it is only for show. It's reality television at its finest.

In a "BP" (beyond pathetic) kind of way, none of the partners involved claimed responsibility for the disaster. As every card carrying capitalist knows, it's cost inefficient for an industry that has contributed mightily to politicians to have to come hat in hand to Congress, begging forgiveness for their sins.

Lessons learned? Never, ever turn off the safety alarms when you're banging Mother Nature long and hard from behind.

As is usually the case in a disaster, once the human, environmental and economic carnage takes hold, collateral damages emerge. In this case, man's best friend gets the shit end of the stick, once again. People in the disaster zone are dumping their pets off in droves at local shelters, as many can no longer afford to feed them. And, of course, there are the usual miscreants who take advantage of situations like these to get rid of pets they never should have had in the first place.

A creative solution to this disaster? Have Big Bad Government step in and force BP and all it partners to become corporate sponsors of the body of water formerly know as the Gulf of Mexico. To keep up the "drill baby, drill," BP and partners agree to pay all clean up costs without limit; down to the last small business destroyed, down to the last job lost, down to the last pet left in a shelter. That should give the Big Oil MBA's, attorneys and accountants involved a real f*cking migraine.

In return, Big, Bad Government renames that body of water, BP's Gulf of Mexicoil. If the country of Mexico has an issue with this, threaten them with a troop surge, led by General McChrystal. He'll give 'em all what for.

The Whole Year Inn

2010-06-15T08:49:00.034-04:00

In his Oscar winning movie role, "Leaving Las Vegas," Nicholas Cage portrays a man making bad choices. He will not stop drinking himself to death. This, despite having an angelic hooker from the Vegas strip, (portrayed by Elizabeth Shue) ready to do his bidding in an effort to save him. I'd take the hooker, but that's just me. Give me the worlds' oldest profession over the sheer inelegance of excessive alcohol consumption, anytime.

At one point, Cage checks into a cheap, sleazy motel named, "The Whole Year Inn." Hallucinating from too much alcohol, he drifts and sees instead, "The Hole You're In."

Welcome, America to The Whole Year Inn. As a nation, we've experienced unimaginable events, as if from some alcoholic's frightening hallucinations. On 9/11, thousands were murdered as Lower Manhattan's Twin Towers, symbols of economic supremacy, were destroyed, leaving a gigantic hole. Soon after, jobs started disappearing, seemingly down a bottomless hole. Next, the money was gone down a hole dug by unethical miners of speculation and greed, in the largest financial meltdown on record. Now, oil spews from a hole at the bottom of the ocean, destroying lives, wildlife and fouling a national treasure. Remarkably, that breach is state of the art. Much of this is due to our own bad decisions about lifestyles powered by non-renewable sources of energy and raw materials.

How did we get here? It may look like political stupidity from both sides of the aisle, and to some extent it is, but it's about feeding our national need for natural resources, wherever they may be located, around the globe.

Corporations like to exploit natural resources for fun and profit. To get their way, corporations lobby our corrupt, yet pompous government officials. It's much easier and less expensive than a free market solution. Government, ever vigilant about self-preservation, responds to corporate funded lobbying. A budget follows to pay for the means to gain control over the natural resources the corporations need. Ultimately, the average citizen, aka, Joe Six Pack, pays for it all, in taxes, or prices of goods and services.

What does it take to gain control over natural resources on a global scale? Financing a huge military, well beyond what is required by the Constitution, which is to provide for the national defense. How is that justified to the hypnotized masses? We're told that possession or occupation of the countries with the resources is in our national security interests, except they leave out the part about the resources being there. Serious, scary villains emerge in far off places, so the ends justify the means.

We're also led to believe that we are "exporting democracy," to the great unwashed masses. In reality, we're opening bigger markets with cheaper labor for corporations.
You can't export democracy, it has to be developed from within a country. Tribalism reigns supreme in much of the unsettled world, and the tribes want security, not democracy.

Funding such a vast effort leads to fiscal deficits, so the government has to borrow, huge. Our biggest creditor is China, with whom we are in a deadly game for control of the same finite global natural resources. Frightening. Leg up, or reg up, China.

Think not? Think again: there's petroleum. and mineral deposits in them thar' hills!

Corporations are wasting money lobbying and pandering to our own government officials. Better to by pass these scum, and go right to the source. Plow the money saved lobbying into research, development, and anything resembling innovation.

The global guys in possession of what corporations want (resources, markets, cheap labor)are as dirty as the worst we have in Washington, and can be had, for the right price.

But this guy? I don't think he can be had, at any price. Then again, "if you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao, you ain't gonna make it with anyone anyhow..."

At the rate we're going, as a nation, I think the chorus, "you know it's gonna be...alright, is not the way it's going to turn out.

Who Shot J.R. Ewing?, or, the Great Sadness of Being Human

2010-06-01T08:40:00.041-04:00

The infamous CBS television arch villain, J.R. Ewing, and his ABC tv counterpart, Blake Carrington, schooled Americans back in the Reaganomic 80's on the power of high times and borrowed money. What spewed forth from the imagination of the couch potatoes tuned into this garbage was a landscape of the obscene. Gigantic, ostentatious homes, condos and strip malls purchased with other people's money, courtesy of a burgeoning, unscrupulous financial sector bent on making money from nothing. The sprawl and all ran on non-renewable energy that would one day be paid for with American blood. OPEC and Big Oil's excesses were muted by the ubiquitous presence of the Exxon Tiger, scion of the same Madison Avenue mindset that brought you the dietary benefits of Frosted Flakes, courtesy of another Tiger named Tony. Imagine, using the image of a tiger, one of nature's most majestic creatures, to sell sugary cereal.

Sacrifice in the USA has gone from doing what was required as a society to defeat the likes of Hitler and Hirohito into settling for a smaller projection room, a less grand foyer to heat or cool, or a six cylinder SUV instead of the 450 horsepower, V-8 version. Factor in the cheap and easy availability of junk food, designer medications and the real-time wonders of 500 channel cable tv, and what do you have?

We're spectators at our own train wreck. We're watching real-time political pornography as corporations purchase favors from, and jump into bed with our elected and appointed officials to fuck over the republic for fun, power and profit. And, it doesn't matter the party in power, except to note that Democrats seem to lean toward the heterosexual version of the fuck over.

Enraged citizens on all sides call for more government, less government, no government, etc. Our corrupted government has demonstrated that it is not very good at anything, from national defense to corporate regulation to fiscal management of social services necessary for society to function. Corporations seem more focused on self-serving image management and cost cutting in the name of profits, as opposed to desperately needed innovation, research and development.

Citizens, seemingly powerless, squeezed between a rock and a hard place, ultimately possess part of the solution, in their actions and behavior.

In all this media blah, blah blah about victimology and blame, amongst all the flag waving "I'm a patriot and you're not" types, the first thing each and every citizen in this country could do to demonstrate support for our soldiers and the people of the gulf region is to start conserving energy.

Americans like to claim that they are part of the greatest nation on earth, like a professional wrestler taunting an opponent. Well, if we are, its time to man up and sacrifice, for all the dead, wounded, maimed soldiers, and for all the oil-slimed animals now dead, wounded and maimed by our selfish appetites for the Blake Carrington lifestyle. We can all do with less heat and less cool. We can all learn to drive smart, and use less gas. We can all lose the hypnotized glaze over and avoid the drive thrus, now everywhere from banks to pharmacies, and walk inside for our triple latte or super sized whatever. We can let our precious, precocious kids take the school bus. We can support a nationwide ban on golf carts. We can buy a sailboat instead of a power boat. Here's a touch of irony: "YES WE CAN."

Can we? Is there still a "we" left in the USA, as in "we the people?" Not really. We have left wing, right wing, liberal, conservative, independent, dependent, illegal, tribal, tea bag, coffee, and mostly the great I, me, mine. Not much "we".

This is war. The foreign sources supplying our energy think of us as infidels, imperialists, or occupiers. Our domestic sources have proven their ability to foul the bounty of our nation's natural beauty in the effort to supply our excessive lifestyles.

Energy conservation is the immediate need, the real sacrifice this country needs now and has needed since 1973, before it slides further down the tubes and becomes the equivalent of a third world illiterate nuclear oligarchy. The morality of it is obvious, and that is why you won't hear too much about it from our elected or appointed officials, from either side of the aisle. They're busy, traveling to a joy junket with J.R., on Ewing Oil's corporate jet.

Be Careful Who, What and Where You Drill...

2010-05-04T07:56:00.017-04:00

While you're screaming "drill baby, drill," you better not have a defective mechanism. You might not get the Big Oil money shot at the right place and time, and the results could be disasterous. And, it's smart to use protection, so you don't really make a mess of things. Yes, Virginia, it is MBA-dumb to build a 560 million dollar oil rig, and then not spring for the additional 500 thousand for the safety device. And it's even better if you get your blessing from the U.S. Minerals Management Services. That's capitalism on crack.

Hey dittoheads, it's Obama's Katrina...and the rig didn't explode, it was blown up by enviro-nazis! Holy Smokes!

It would have been smart, effective government, for Obama to have cancelled the self-congratulatory White House Correspondents Dinner, considering the scope of this disaster in an already beleagured Gulf Region. The Big Government response to more free marketplace mayhem was shockingly, although not surprisingly, delayed. Again, no one is responsible for anything.

Politicians are like comedians. They sometimes demonstrate an impeccable sense of timing, revealing the irony in a situation. However, for politicans it's for what they don't say. Since April 20th, there are no more greasy, smarmy, disingenuous politicians screaming, "Drill, baby, drill...".

And, when Big Government finally woke up and got involved in the face of an ecological disaster of huge proportions, there were no "conservative principled" blowhards criticizing yet another government-to-the-rescue scenario for a corporation literally in over its head, albeit one that is well-insured. When Big Insurance gets done paying what they have to, (at least according to the fine print), we'll all see our insurance rates increase to cover their losses.

The same "Conservative Victory in 2010 group" as well as their "Blue Dog" counterparts, were also mute on what another big, well connected corporation's actions will do to the livelihoods of thousands of small businesses. Where's Joe the Plumber when you need him?

I guess BIG GOVERNMENT intervention is fine, when the free marketplace can't seem to handle the situation. What would Ronald Reagan do...? (consult an astrologer) What will Sarah Palin say? (nothing that ain't scripted) Will Obama change his tune? (not as long as he continues to serve corporations first, citizens last).WILL ANYONE HAVE THE INTESTINAL FORTITUDE TO ACTUALLY TELL THE TRUTH: "CONSERVE, AMERICA, YOU USE TOO MUCH OF EVERYTHING."

I know of 545 prospects who should be impressed into service as Gulf Region Clean-Up volunteers, immediately. Send this bunch right away, to start washing oil off the affected wildlife, and out of the sensitive environmental areas that are the start of the food chain for this region. Properly directed, perhaps by a small business leader, instead of a corporate ceo titan, something may actually get done in a timely manner.

A Tough Week for the the Status Quo

2010-03-24T11:35:00.033-04:00

Love it or hate it, long overdue health care reform finally got through our do-nothing public servants in Congress. The campaign of distortion continues, and has to, as it's brought to you by the guardians and benefactors of the status quo, and their well-heeled sponsors.

Why is that those who rail at Big Government are perfectly satisfied with government which spends 600 billion a year to defend the country, yet can't stop 19 hijackers with box cutters from killing three thousand citizens in one bloody day? Shouldn't the states now making legal claims as to the constitutionality of health care reform lose the protection of the Reagan-Bush 41/43 "nuk-u-lar" shield, brought to you by Big Government? You know, the one that slashed taxes for the rich over the last decade, while spending like a drunken Yale legacy on two wars.

Health care is first and foremost, a personal responsibility. You need to take good care of yourself, as the government and the medical, pharmaceutical and health insurance industry aren't up to the task. This thread of prevention was hardly mentioned, by either side, as the opposing parties and their special interest campaign contributors sparred for position, all in the name of political gain, as opposed to doing the right thing for the country. In a vastly corrupted capitalist system, where the term "pre-existing condition" is used to deny vital care, access to adequate health care for all citizens is an economic necessity. The MBA bean counters at the insurance companies who invented that term are the real death panels.

Politicians will go on guarding their turf and avoiding speaking truths. It's become their job. For example, an obese individual might do well to eat less, and exercise more. We are taught, however that it is politically incorrect to stigmatize the obese person's right to gluttony. Unfortunately, gluttony has a huge impact on driving health care costs to society, as do drinking alcohol, smoking, dancing in mosh pits, or getting caught by your wife sexting your f*ck buddies.

Another Tough Week for the World's Number 1

2010-03-19T08:53:00.018-04:00

Pornstar Joslyn James' racy "text messages from Tiger" have blown Tiger's recent shots at image management into a hazard.

Prior to the release of the texts, Wood's recent public relations stunts had achieved mixed results. The Tiger PR Machine hired former Bush 43 press secretary and WMD schill Ari Fleischer as its newest spinmeister. Next, Team Woods attempted to co-opt the Masters Tourney at Augusta National, by announcing his return to golf at that tournament.

The irony of Tiger, personal life in tatters due to his sexual antics, running into the arms of the good ol' boys from Georgia's Augusta National Golf Club, which waited forty years to allow a black golfer to compete at the Masters, and which only admitted its first black member in 1991, is not easy to miss.

The PGA Tour was beside itself at the prospect of Tiger giving a boost to its sagging ratings. A sport where losing is more common than winning missed the guy who had most of the world believing he was an invincible Spartan. CBS Sports was ecstatic. What else do pasty white guys have to talk about, other than athletic prowess they don't have?

Golf merchandisers, smelling blood, busted out all over with Nike promos, as it appeared that the world's #1 serial philanderer had played out of trouble and back into the short grass.

Add to all this Tiger's appearance this Wednesday on South Park's season premier, entitled "Sexual Healing." Redemption? Maybe not..

Tiger the Brand needs a lift. Imagine, Tiger, texting with with a porn star while negotiating with Big Investors. Can Ari Fleischer, who helped sell the country on the Iraq war, convince hypnotized fans and potential sponsors that sex addiction actually exists?

Tiger, in therapy, wants to be seen as being afflicted by a terrible, mysterious disease, and not simply as an over-indulged obscenely rich guy who simply will not display restraint, or say no, except when it comes to signing autographs.

A Very Tough Week (for the Bachelor) in Review

2010-03-04T15:51:00.016-05:00

I'm impressed by the cultural obsession with the ABC reality series, "The Bachelor." People actually buy the premise, and were stunned, apparently, by this year's selection of a women with the name of an Austrian city. It's beyond comprehension. Why? Because predetermined outcomes are the realm of sports entertainment, aka., professional wrestling. Unfortunately, too much money is at stake for network television to give us a reality series based on reality, which, like truth, and history, is stranger than fiction.

Many people who fret over the Bachelor wouldn't be caught dead watching professional wrestling. Too low-brow for them, it's all fake, they'd say. I say the Bachelor is beyond low rent, and needs some reality to get me to suspend my disbelief and actually watch.

Mainly, we need better bachelors. In fact, the best kind of reality bachelors are wanna-be bachelors with stroke, and there are plenty of those, so this becomes a no-brainer. I'd like to nominate five guys who simply can't keep it in their pants as "Bachelors to Be," for next season. If just one of them gets the nod, I'll order some prescription Candanian Xanax and watch, while encouraging others to do so.

Here's my Murderers Row:

1. Tiger Woods - while technically not a bachelor yet, if his wife ever comes to her senses, he will be. He certainly behaves like one, despite his carefully cultivated image as the "Chosen One."

2. John Edwards - who better to talk young nubiles out of their panties than a smarmy, smooth talking personal injury lawyer? He actually has two families going at present, but attrition and friendly contributors could pave the way for his big breakthrough.

3. OJ Simpson - Some of those nasally sounding gals on the show can become terribly annoying. OJ knows how to discreetly correct a woman who strays from the "Man's Man" formula of how a woman should behave. Plus, he's a real bachelor, not camera-shy, has had tons of TV exposure, and is well connected in Hollywood.

4. Gov. Mark Sanford - soon to be one the most available bachelors on the planet, Sanford exudes confidence and virility. His empty "soul-mate" blather is sure to go over well with the bubble-headed bleached blondes looking to strike it rich with a man of integrity, power and influence.

5. David Letterman - who better to give the Bachelor credibility than the CBS 20 million dollar serial philanderer? Imagine the distress, as young beauties intent on emerging triumphant in this warped version of the process of natural selection are forced to endure Letterman, and the equally annoying Paul Schaefer, playing nothing but Barry(s) White and Manilow covers?

It's elementary, my dear Jake Pavelka. If you want people to watch, keep it real. I will confess at this point that the preceding has been entirely satirical, and that I will never, ever watch this program unless someone puts a gun to my head, and even then, I might ask for a blindfold.

Celebrate Good Times, Come On!

2010-01-24T08:12:00.013-05:00

Well-heeled US Corporations will be eager to hire Kool & the Gang tribute bands for their upcoming corporate functions. The good times have finally arrived. The US Supreme Court has just unleashed hell onto a jaded populace, and into an already jaundiced, completely corrupted political process.

Corporations will be celebrating the Supreme Court's decision to grant a major victory for big oil, over-leveraged Wall Street banks, health insurance companies, the pharmaceutical industry, Agribusiness, bankrupt automobile manufacturers, defense contractors, and the other powerful interests that marshal their power every day, in our besieged capital, Washington, DC.

Imagine, corporations now have the right to freedom of speech, and if our elected officials don't kow-tow to their needs, they'll spend the necessary amounts to achieve an ass-streamlining for said official(s), in the way of "change you can buy, and believe in."

Citizens, revel in the agony that without congressional term limits, the voices of everyday working Americans who can't afford to purchase congressional influence, will be effectively silenced, forever.

Worse, your money will soon run out with the next election cycle, scheduled for 2010. As corporations buy in, we'll see $4 a gallon gas, 25% + credit card rates, more unhealthy, chemically enhanced food "products," drugs you don't need which cure emotional or imaginary, but not real diseases, outrageous bank fees hidden in fine print, toxic mortgage products, expensive, mystifying, uneconomical health insurance, and gas guzzling cars, loved by our oil producing masters, which just scream, "energy efficient!" If you love ammonia in your hamburgers, with lite beer and prilosec to wash it all down, you're all set for the new corporate millennium, on steroids.

The Supreme Court says that corporations are just like you and me, and have rights, just like individual citizens do under the Constitution. However, by my read, "the primary distinguishing feature of a corporation is the so-called limited liability of the officers, directors, and shareholders (the "principals") of the company." And, "if a corporation breaches an obligation or causes injury to a third party, only the corporation and not the principals are legally responsible." {Business Law, 101.} So how does an entity formed for profit and legal protection of its principals under state law become entitled to federal freedom of speech protection heretofore reserved under the Constitution for ordinary citizens?

It's amazing that you can be so f*cking ignorant, and still become a Supreme Court Justice. These razor sharp minds are appointed and anointed by...politicians, freed from the inconvenient burden of term limits, running for re-election constantly on a 24 hour cable news cycle, fed by boring, mono-tonal, overpaid celebrity news readers like CNN's "Wolfman" Blitzer.
That's a Catch-22, for us ordinary citizens. (def.:"a paradox in rules, regulations, procedures, or situations in which one has knowledge of being or becoming a victim but has no control over it occurring")

When Citizen Kane was on his deathbed, his last utterance was the cryptic "rosebud." Like Kane, recently deceased Senator Kennedy's last should have been "term limits," for he was its bloated poster boy. There's too many in congress like him, and now, the money will flow freely into the deepest, darkest corners, as the rats and cockroaches living and working there scurry from exposure to the light.

The Ballad of Tiger and Phil

2009-12-01T13:16:00.041-05:00

If you've had a real bad week, at least you're not in the same boat as Tiger Woods. Tiger's had a real bad week, and it was all his own fault.

...but first, some history. In 1969, the Beatles released a song entitled, "the Ballad of John and Yoko." The song described the intense public scrutiny faced by famous musical icons. Today, the hook from that song is relevant to a famous sports icon, a Tiger caught by a Tale.

Sports writers love to heap praise and adulation on Tiger Woods, with equal amounts of scorn and disdain reserved for Phil Mickelson. Tiger is Superman, and Phil is Everyman. It's Tiger the God versus Lefty, the mere mortal.

Take the Golf Channel, which owes its very existence to Tiger Woods. Without Tiger, there'd be fewer jobs for their bland, politically correct commentators. These "Tiger sycophants" swoon over his every move. None would dare utter a comment critical of his play or on-course behavior, for fear of retaliation by Tiger's Marketing Machine. Instead, the Golf Channel likes to run what is called "Tiger Week," every year. There's no "Lefty Week," mind you, just highlights of Phil's near misses in majors, ad nauseum.

To make matters worse, Tiger's caddy, an oafish boor from down under, actually trash talks Phil in public, and feels entitled to do so because of his sub celebrity status as a lackey to a golfing God. Tiger sends a subtle message, never actually rebuking his caddy, reinforcing his own fake image as a golfing deity not to be trifled with by the mere matter of sportsmanship.

Well, Phil may have blown a major or two or three, but when it comes to his wife and family, he deserves the Grand Slam. When Phil wins, he makes sure to hug his girls and kiss his wife. When his wife became ill, he left the Tour, in the midst of an outstanding run. Lefty gets it right the first time.

Tiger, on the other hand, has shown himself to be an overindulged, pampered, obscenely wealthy dirt bag, saying one thing and doing another, and being indignant about his right to do so. A sneak, a cheat, a bird dog with a manufactured, disingenuous, squeaky clean image of perfection, designed to sell stuff to kids, hackers and duffers. He even does charity, except when he's under the microscope, or "injured in a minor car crash." If he wasn't an obscenely overpaid advertising schill for some of the biggest corporations on Earth, he'd be entitled to the privacy he now feels justified in claiming for his own. If we, the buying public, are to believe his sponsors' claims about their products, then we have to believe him when he says, "I am Tiger Woods..."

Lessons can be learned from this. For kids, hackers, and duffers, it's buyer beware.

It's obvious that Tiger is no student of history, which teaches us that the cover-up is often worse than the deed, although in this case, some of the deedettes are spectacular! Monty, I'll take door #2! The hook from the Beatles song says, "... the way things are going, "they're gonna crucify me..." - and it's going to get very, very expensive for our hero.

Tiger's ridiculous on-course behavior has long been overlooked and kept from the public eye by the networks and sponsors, for fear of retribution in some form or other from Tiger. He's a cussing, club throwing terror, on the course. Now, it's his off course antics that will become the stuff of legend.

Who's the dummy now, you might ask? Better yet, Phil, a mere mortal, hits it longer, and drives it straighter. The Happiest Man in the World today? Jack Nicklaus.

A Rising Tide Lifts All Corporate Yachts

2009-09-03T11:56:00.005-04:00

In spite of what we're being told by the newest version of the best and brightest, the U.S. economy continues to sputter and stall.

Worse, we've lost over 5,000 soldiers in two wars lasting longer than any since the French-Indian War... War drums are beating loudly, as Corporate America fans the flames of conflict through their congressional stooges, to keep the profits rolling in.

Does anybody in their right mind think that we have enough troops to nation-build in I-Rack and Afghanistan, two of the worst places on earth, places defined by one common characteristic, tribalism? A majority of the world wants to be allowed to continue to live that way. That's what makes the US different, we don't. I say, live, and let live.

Here's a fast solution: bring the troops home, and station them in airports, and other points of entry to the Fatherland. It's safer for them, and safer for the country. Maybe we'll be in position to actually stop the next 911, instead of blowharding about how safe we've been since the last one, The one the government and all its redundant security missed, despite your generous contributions of tax dollars, for superior technology, 600 dollar toilet seats, and Congressional junkets to nowhere.

Corporate America just can't help itself, and probably won't let that happen.

"Being There" with Ben the Bernake

2009-08-21T10:53:00.017-04:00

WASHINGTON, DC — In an interview with CNN's own Larry King, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke declared Friday that the U.S. economy is on the verge of a long-awaited recovery after enduring a brutal recession and the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

Economic activity in both the U.S. and around the world appears to be "leveling out," and "the prospects for a return to growth in the near term appear good," Bernanke said.

The more upbeat assessment was consistent with the Fed's observations earlier this month as it took a small step toward pulling back some emergency programs to revive the economy.

The complete interview follows:

KING: Do you realize that more people will be watching you tonight, than all those who have seen theater plays in the last forty years?

BERNAKE: Why?

KING: Ben, do you think that we can stimulate growth through temporary incentives?

BERNAKE: [Long uncomfortable pause] As long as the roots are not severed, all is well. And all will be well in the garden.

KING: In the garden.

BERNAKE: Yes. In the garden, growth has it seasons. First comes spring and summer, but then we have fall and winter. And then we get spring and summer again.

KING: Spring and summer.

BERNAKE: Yes.

KING: Then fall and winter.

BERNAKE: Yes.

KING: I think what you are saying is that we welcome the inevitable seasons of nature, but we're upset by the seasons of our economy.

BERNAKE: Yes! There will be growth in the spring!

KING: Hmm!

BERNAKE: Hmm!

KING: Hm. Well, I must admit that is one of the most refreshing and optimistic statements I've heard in a very, very long time. I admire your good, solid sense. That's precisely what we lack on Capitol Hill. You know, I've never met anyone like you in Washington before!

BERNAKE: Yes, I've been here all my life.

KING: I have been wondering if you would consider writing a book, something about your political philosophy, what do you say?

BERNAKE: I can't write.

KING: Of course not, who can nowadays? Listen, I have trouble writing a postcard to my children. Look, we can get you a six figure advance, I'll provide you with the very best ghost-writer, proof-readers...

BERNAKE: I can't read.

KING: Of course you can't! No one has the time! We, glance at things, we watch television...

BERNAKE: I like to watch TV.

KING: Oh, oh, oh sure you do. No one reads! Well, that concludes our interview. Thanks to Ben the Bernake for his insights into the Great Recession. Goodnight, America - tomorrow we interview Britney Spears in a bikini! ***********************************************************

Note that the cause of the crisis, which could be summed up in the phrase, "an unsupervised capitalist system buying governmental influence in order to privatize profits while socializing losses," was not mentioned, by either the interviewer or the interviewee.

You had to "be there." Just like the movie, we're in good hands. NOT!

Freak Worship/What Would Reagan Do?

2009-07-07T12:23:00.008-04:00

A freak, "is one that is markedly unusual or abnormal, as a person or animal having a physical oddity and appearing in a circus sideshow," also a (slang)" a sexual deviate," or, "a person who uses an illicit drug." (from Webster's New World Dictionary)

By that standard, Michael Jackson became a freak. He died reportedly a half a billion dollars in debt. with his own amusement park, tainted by allegations of drug abuse and pedophile behavior. He was once on top of the world, a talent known as the "King of Pop," who could sing, dance and sell records. Unfortunately, like his similarly talented and deceased ex-father-in-law, Elvis, (aka, just "The King,") he, too forgot about being creative. He preferred having his appetites sated and his body sedated. In other words, he just couldn't say "no" to himself.

In the photo above, Jackson, for all his sartorial splendor, looks like a banana republic dictator putting on a show for money in Washington. That event, from 1984, was staged by the G.O.P. for a purpose and taken seriously. The King of Pop would help the Great Communicator fight the good fight in the war on drugs. Didn't "Tricky Dick"Nixon once attempt to enlist a sky-high Elvis in a similar manner? Could the since-deified Reagan and his wife's astrologers neither foresee the future, nor learn from the past?

Republicans, when strategizing, often ask, "what would Ronald Reagan do?" In this case, it's a good thing the Bush team, when in power, didn't try emulating Reagan by enlisting the King of Pop as a warrior in the war on terror. I'm sure Islamic fundamentalist fanatics are even now writhing on the floor in sheer apoplexy at the sight of so many infidels weeping for the demise of the King of Pop, as reported by celebrity central, CNN.

To those living on the edge of survival, or in hot pursuit of a religious war, freak worship isn't an option. To many others, in lands of relative plenty, awash in excess, fed by the media, hypnotized by the reflective glitz of 24 hour a day infotainment and the possibility of their own 15 minutes of fame, the King of Pop is a hero.

Freak worship, now state of the art. People weep for an obscenely wealthy, very troubled guy who purportedly bleached his skin, and had his face carved more times than a holiday goose. Yes, he was kind to animals, a saving grace. But save your grief and pity for those who hung around the King of Pop. The sycophants who had sucked him dry, leaving him emaciated physically, socially, morally, and financially, who now have to earn a living on the bones of what's left. Like the Great Communicator to the GOP, the golden freakin' goose is no more...and being buried in a golden casket to boot.