No More Hunger in USA

Now a literal fact, hunger has ended in the USA because the government has determined, these people simply experience “low food security”, Elizabeth Williamson writes in the Washington Post or the pithier NYT ”unnamed writer” or as G. Orwell anticipated in 1948 the inevitable UNBELLYFEEL.

Down in the street the wind flapped the torn poster to and fro, and the word INGSOC fitfully appeared and vanished. Ingsoc. The sacred principles of Ingsoc. Newspeak, doublethink, the mutability of the past. – 1984 George Orwell.  More Orwell.

Democracy – A New Form of Government

Election fever has given Congress to the Democrats. The unyielding Republican facade is caving in. Now my favorite form of government, democracy, starts up again. With the Internet, sites and blogs have two months to recommend or potray what Peolosi can enact.  My hopes:

Number One. The new powers will restore civil discourse. The world is big, with many points of views on issues, not the Republican way – my party-line or the highway.

Number Two. The new party restore observations of reality. The web is good at crosslinking to the truth, but a government must encourage and support direct observation and reporting.

Number Three. Serious wrongdoings must be uncovered. In Iraq and at home. In the name of the people who paid billions, a serious investigation of the war logistics companies and their political ties must take place, even if it goes up to the chief himself, Dick Cheney. As Paul Krugman pointed out last week in the NYT, Bechtle is cutting and running because they have “spent” their no-bid billions and have no reason to stay if the kitty is dry. The current structural problem dividing military operations from commercial military service needs irrevocably clear legislation.

Number Four. The power and method to declare war must be clear. War is between nations. Policing is between a government and groups (like the Mafia, like the Bin Laden cell).

I am thinking about what a democracy can be with the Internet. Moreon that later. But a deep premise of how a healthy national view meets a world view begins with how we actually see the world, first reported in WJL’s “A Nation of Sheep“.

Beyond Bodacious

War news and the actual events behind it are gruesome, but the TV Chyron underlining it all makes me wonder who is in the control room? Here the picture of the killed Husseins is the backdrop for the dancing Chyron that reads “Beyonce hates being called bodacious.” You can’t read between the lines because there is only one. What the control room airs is indecipherable. The feeders are the newsmakers, not the news itself, even they are bored. The broadcast control room allows the Sadam hanging verdict to influence elections. The suppression of James Baker’s critical reports on Iraq do not influence elections – hardly Chyron-provoking material. What is pictured large on channel 1 and writ large on channel 2 are the two ring circus of Mad magazine-like collision and distraction.

The Elephant in the Room

Letter to the editor, submitted by my woman friend to the NYT, accepted and edited, full transcipt below responding to The Elephant in the RoomI, too, have hidden from political discussions over the last few years because of the resulting emotional confrontations. Not long ago, you could reasonably debate political issues like the economy, social programs, education, even war. Now, we live in this you’re-either-with-us-or-against-us new order. The divider, who calls himself a uniter, and a corrupt Republican-led congress have stayed the course in derailing the US on so many fronts that the political issues have been elevated to truly moral issues. Support for abuse of prisoners, erosion of citizen’s rights and privacy, loss of the checks and balances in our government through the use of signing statements, voting fraud, bald-faced lying that can be proven by use of “the Google” – the list goes on and on. The offenses are so massive that that it looks like anyone who supports this administration is either immoral or just plain ignorant. My outrage causes me to be quiet lest I lose civility in social situations.

Overcoming Our National Fear

The force of national fear is in the air, but what is the moral response to American victimization? To paraphrase Arianna Huffington:

A great leader is there to inspire fearlessness in a nation. Look at FDR. He said in his first innaugural, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” This is incredibly profound. With these words, he helped Americans in every walk of life who feared the future of the Great Depression and the horrific years of the Second World War. With his words, we got through it.

This is the opposite of what this administration, what this president has done. They have decided instead, to spread the disease of fear. And with fear, to divide us, to make us afraid, to cause us to doubt ourselves when we need to question adminstration actions. There message is - be very afraid – because the administration has the answers, trust us because you don’t know. If you begin to disagree, then their chosen press agents step in to say “shut up, turn off the mic” and instill fear against you for being un-American.

Democrats, when you are intimidated and hear “you want to cut and run”. You say, “Our military has achieved victory in Iraq, why do you not want this to end?” 

John Kerry – Control of the Press 2004 Revisited

Tom Tomorrow of yesterday (10.19.04), cartoons how the Republican schedule of controlled releases to the press erased John Kerry. Click on copyrighted pic above or go to the source .

Adding to this post, Thomas Friedman (11.03.06) writes hopefully how the same Kerry trick should be obvious for voters in next week’s election.  The Rove-RNC game plan now boils down to, “Remember that lie we told you? It’s true.”

Acting like Number One

BILL MAHER 10/27/06

And finally, New Rule: America must stop bragging that it’s the greatest country on earth and start acting like it. Now, I know — I know this is uncomfortable for the faith-over-facts crowd, but the greatness of a country can, to a large degree, be measured. Here are some numbers: Infant mortality rate, America ranks 48th in the world; overall health, 72nd; freedom of the press, 44; literacy, 55th.