Constitutional Problems

I like the U.S. Constitution but there are some parts of it that don't work anymore. The electoral college, for instance, which only allowed the worst two term president in our history to get elected. Then there's the two year term for the House of Representatives, which doesn't allow for long term planning. Another provision that has to go is the Second Amendment. The original intent, as most scholars would point out, was to allow for a colonial militia, not a blanket ability to own weapons. The need for state militias has been made obsolete by the permanenst army, the border patrol and the National Guard, which serves most of the remaining functions.

In today's hyper-polarized political problems like these can no longer be addressed or solved. The entire political process has been hijacked by well financed, media savvy interest groups who pervert the political process for their own interests.

Another Piece of the Puzzle

Another culprit has emerged in the curious plot to declare that corporations are "persons" who have a "right" to free speech in the form of making unlimited political donations. Lewis Powell, a Nixon appointee who served on the US Supreme Court from from 1972 to 1987. His wrote the opinion in the matter First National Bank v. Bellotti that monetary donations were protected speedch. Powell was a corporate hack, who among other things worked as a representative for the tobacco industry. In 1971 he also wrote the Powell Memorandum to the US chamber of commerce, in which he declared that corporate interests should be more aggressive in influencing the political system. It is fair to say that "corporate personhood" is not a constitutional principal but a ruse for corporate interests to impose their agenda on everybody else.

A Moving Wall of Sludge

The recent scandal over the manipulation of the LIBOR (London interbank offered rate) keeps getting bigger. At first it was manipulation committed by Barclay's Bank. But now it seems that many other banks were involved; Bank of America, Citibank, Credit Suisse, and Deutsche Bank and several others were mixed up in it. It seems that the entire global financial system may be crooked. Surprise, surprise? It's no longer a case of a few "bad apples" it's the entire crop that's rotten.

Cut the Crap Already

Leave it to the Democrats to rescue defeat from the jaws of victory. You'd think that the Supreme Court upholding the affordable health care act would be a cause for celebration. Instead the President is maintaining that the mandate is "not a tax" while Congressional Demos act like they want to put it all behind them.

Why? Because the Demos are so convinced by medial consultants and whatever that the law remains unpopular. The law remains unpopular largely because the Demos have not put much effort into defending it. Of course its human nature to be more receptive to lies that are easily grasped than to complicated truths. But the Demos need to make more of an effort to win, if they actually want to win.

Where Do We From Here

The Supreme Court has upheld the Obama administration's health care reform act, for the most part. A question still hangs over the individual mandate. The majority ruled that Congress cannot impose a mandate as such, but it can do it in the form of a tax.

The logical conclusion would be to push for a single payer system financed by a taz but American politics have ceased to be logical a long time ago. What we really need is to throw the Repubs out of Congress, so we can get a shot of fixing the system.

Another Right-Wing Faker Exposed

Neil Munro, the Daily Caller reporter who heckled President Obama accusing him of "favoring" foreign workers, is actually an Irish citizen. Faith Begorra! These people are so arrogant they think they can pull stunts like these.

Munor's point is they right wing lie that high unemployment is caused by illegal immigration. Unemployment is actually caused by policies of the corporate interests who basically own the GOP. All this hysteria about illegal immigration is just a smoke screen.

The Summer of Burnt Mesquite

The wildfires continue to burn throughout the Rocky Mountains. The Little Bear fire continues to burn north of Ruidoso New Mexico. More than 10,000 acres have been burned so far. The smoke can be smelled in El Paso about 140 miles to the southwest.

These wildfires of course are caused by drought. It's odd but we've been having all kind of weird weather events since the drought of 1988. You'd think that Hurricane Katrina in 2005 would have settled the matter once and for all. Oddly enough some people still say that they don't "believe" in global warming.

Global warming is as much a fact as the world being round and revolving around the sun. Is is possible that the deniers have been lobotomized by Fox and the other corporate media? If we wait until the coastlines are under 10 feet of water, it's going to be too late.