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Goodnight Meier. Goodnight Frank.

Welcome to the marketplace. The corporate marketplace. Maybe I'll own them with my social security.

SBC deserves some recognition here, too. The only Bell left comes back to rule the market again.

But now the rat needs to sit back down on the Social Security issue. For all the feces flying at us from the White House, it gets more difficult for the Loyal Opposition to shield us from the will of the Insane Ruler. Whilst the Congress gathers support for keeping the working system, the Insane Ruler and his machine keep churning out their radical agenda like there's no tomorrow.

Make sure your Congressional Representative knows that we want the Social Security issue laid to rest. Personally, that's an issue all reasonable people can agree can wait four years. The system has no point of failure. A small tuneup will keep it purring for generations to come, just as it was intended.

The collapse of the 'free market' gave us the need for the system. If your family has never relied on the system in an fashion whatsoever, then you are part of the problem, so stay out of it and keep your grubby fingers off my Social Security. No one will be better off, ever, under any of the changes Bush proposes.

Social Security's equity has been loaned to the government, which we are monetarily liable for. There are not two ways around that debt. Maybe conservatives need to realize that we cannot pay for all of their dreams of war and corporate welfare. Curtailing the frivolous spending of the Bush Administration is the only way out of this problem.

For those of us who listen to NPR, it is no secret that the taxpayers already underwrite the pensions of global titans. Many of these titans have lately collapsed as complete frauds. Now the pension insurance fund is facing the very real prospect of collapsing. This will leave us another cleanup bill on the order of the savings and loans bailout of the 1980's.

That is the precise reason that, as proven for over sixty years, the government can handle the job of managing the social security system. Our government might not be perfect, but social security works properly for those who need it. We employ actuaries to keep an eye on things and propose adjustments that will ensure the long term stability of the fund. A task of such magnitude cannot be trusted to the Insane Ruler and his Legion of Doom.

Safety net theory does not work if you remove the safety net. Depression theory works well when there is no safety net. Facing the consequences of the market collapse, FDR made some radical changes to our government which have resulted in a high ratio of prosperous decades for our Nation.

Less than a quarter century from now, we will mark the centennial of the market crash. If we cannot remember a lesson that big for one hundred years, how do we ever expect to survive the next 25?

Our two hundred and thirty year old Nation has evolved in fits and starts over the years. What began as a loosely knit set of thirteen colonies is now 50 great states. And a powerhouse with global impact.

In our rise to global significance, the safety net has guarded the marketplace with unerring regularity. Social Security adds a significant chunk of activity to our economy and performs a dignified service for our society. The private market cannot perform the same service.

The private market has one purpose: capitalization. If we start giving our retirement accounts to the private market, there is no guarantee the market will not capitalize 100% of our accounts. And then poor elderly Republicans will understand why George W was not such a good idea.

AIM and the Indigenous Opinion

MSNBC - Embattled Colorado professor cleared to speak

One of my loyal readers suggested Ward Churchill as a topic to look into. I found this recent article from the kind folks at GE who bring good things to life and good things to war. This article does give me something to speak to.

Did anyone read all the way to the end of the article? Right at the end they give you the most important fact: Churchill is an AIM activist.

The media fervor over this issue has grown out of control. When read in context, the whole Eichmans comparison seems in keeping with his style. He exaggerates to make his point. Why create such an uproar and bring attention to him?

Behind ever story about righteous indignation lies a Republican. Lying for political purposes. What's the goal this time? Perhaps to make speaking your mind illegal. Especially when it's unpopular.

Ward Churchill has a legitimate beef with our government. With Iraq and Social Security and the deficit and declining wages and Hollywood hijinks maybe we've forgotten that America genocidally conquered the New World in order to fulfill our Manifest Destiny. We still keep North America's indigeneous population on "reservations." AIM and Churchill have every right to be critical of everything our government does.

Ward Churchill has developed a valid theory about Corporate America, as experienced and studied from the perspective of a victim of the whole system. Shaking a flag draped fist at him is not the answer. Making him a celebrity has only made a mountain out of a molehill.

He has his First Amendment rights. That is the end of the story. Unless this is the beginning of the end of free thought.

Howard Dean and the Democrats

I think that the time has come where folks need to let go of the scream and really take a look at Dr. Dean. If the worst thing you can find on him is that he's got a scary scream, then I think we're looking at a top-notch candidate.

Dean connects with people. He has the energy and the drive to do the job and see that it gets done. Load him up with a full tank of values like life, liberty and the putsuit of happiness. Let him loose on America. He'll talk the bolts out of your Ford truck.

They need a fighting chance in the next election cycle. If they get up off their asses and do something, they might be able to earn it. Boxer has the right idea, grilling Rice and creating a stir. Obstructionism is the word. Stop pouting and fight back. Right now they need to protect us from this latest pile crapped on us by the Oval Office. Budget. Medicare. War costs. Farm subsidies. Social Security. Judicial nominees. Blech!

The clock is ticking on the mid-term election and the Bush bomb. The Democrats need someone who wants to be a hero. That's Dean. Forgive him for the scream. Time has passed since the Iowa caucus. He has shown growth from that difficult, humbling lesson. It's not funny anymore. We haven't heard any blood curdling screams outta him lately, so I think it's safe to think he got it all out the first time.

He has shown a dedication to the values of the Founders. He believes in States' and individual rights. Howard Dean was one of us who knew all along the WMD ruse. That's good enough for me.

Bush: Talking Out of His Butt, Again

Bush: Budget proposal to spur jobs, prosperity

Yea though I walk through the valley of death
I see fear and anxiety
and Bush pushing us into financial ruin
convincing people of coming prosperity

trying to provoke another war
moving money into death
out of peace
away from us
into the hands of the corporation

auctioning public goods to the lowest bidder
vomiting oil across the landscape
planting tumors in Mother Earth
a disdain for creation
and the everlasting

even the truly righteous now have fear
in the valley of death

A little prose to free my mind from the firm grip of dissonance. Bush has been successfully baffling us with bullshit, as there is no way he will ever rise to the challenge of dazzling us with brilliance.

I figure this to be a healthy exercise towards my goal of finding my stride on my MMV 100,000 word journey.

This should not be our valley
georgie porgie has brought us here
and he's got evil things on his mind
and legions of demons at his side

the weak refuse to stand up
their defeat yet hurts
like a wound from yesterday
languishing in congressional self pity
no defense for the wave of destruction

word to the wise:
get yourself moving
your sackcloth and ashes
will not win you any favor
with anyone

find your center, your mission, your vision and your values
and cram them right back down their throats
choking them with their toxic morality
once again trapping it in the pit of their stomachs
where it will eat them away from the inside
no longer unleashed
no longer free to devour us

Remember the fates of Job and Jonah
And Judas, too

I like to thump the Bible over Bible thumping heads. I also want to see some life in the Democrats. So, I'll thump them, too. And you, too, if you ask for it. Howard Dean could possibly be the right leader for now. There's a time to sow and a time to reap. The Democrats have some sowing to do, while Bush does his grim reaping. Dean values good governance. And so do we.

Rat's Ass of the Week

Romeo In The News

This week's rat's ass goes out to Coach Romeo Crennel. I give a rat's ass about Romeo.

Coach has been with our Patriots for a number of years. Our franchise has been blessed with victory these past few years due in large part to his contribution to the team.

Romeo's character and talents deserve everyone's attention. Read up on him. He has been overlooked as a potential head coach for any number of other teams. This has been a blessing for us and perhaps a point of personal frustration for him. Until now.

Cleveland made the best choice of it's resurrected existence. Romeo has a clean canvass with which to work. As a native Buckeye with a real soft spot for the lowly Browns (until they meet up with the Patriots), I hope for Cleveland's future. And hate the Ravens.

The Perpetual Outside

After two months off, I have too much to write about. Not much clear thinking going on, because one thing leads to the next and so on. At the end, I've convinced everyone of everything. But nothing in between is clear enough to sit down and hack out into cyber-space.

For a happy thought, which might be the reason I'm motivated to write now, rather than just checking out the usual suspects and moving over to the television and then to bed. I saw the counter go up a couple of ticks. I hope you two come back again soon.

I don't know how you found me. I've sat DIW for nine weeks. I can't even find my page on Google. I did some bulletin board promotion during the campaign, and got a number of hits and even some return business, I think. But to see two new hits, that was encouraging. Encouraging enough to think I can go another 50,000 words. Or 100,000.

It's a New Year, so who knows? I have some other ideas I want to work with as book topics. The work I did last year could have filled one or two of them. The New Year has inspired me to have some resolve. And discipline. And, of course, fun.

I feel the need to be serious, too. I did some reading of the Reverend Doctor's sermons recently. His message rang true to my soul. A resonant ohm filled with truth, strength and, most importantly, revolutionary inspiration in a peaceful future.

I defy anyone to listen to Dr. King and dispute his message. When God appears in the sky, if you cannot recognize Dr. King and his ministry, then you don't have much chance at recognizing Jesus. King's Christ teaches peace and strength and enduring community and right action.

"A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies."
--Martin Luther King, Jr., April 4, 1967 at Riverside church in New York City

I read this again today and found the source of my mental stuttering. Moral values are worse today than they were then. Rove's value revolution is regressive. The right wing's morality conveniently side-steps ethics. Bush's agenda does not count on the value revolution, a backlash of equal and opposite force to his hatred and fear.

"A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth."

Corpulent America eviscerates our communities. The Bush buddies push the ownership society, the society owned by corporations. When they are finished, we will all be slaves to their excess. We are already well on our way there.

"A true revolution of values will lay hand on the world order and say of war, 'This way of settling differences is not just.'"

True that.

How can there be a choice for us? I do not believe there is any choice. Our society is at stake. The values of death, hate and fear have won a big round. But we cannot let it go. As a democratic republic, we have the opportunity to undo this great mistake, at least in some part, less than two years from now.

Less than two years from now, though, Bush can do much damage. Now is not the time for us to make it easy for them to continue to do their damage.

I would like to think that political pressure cannot overwhelm what is proper. More than ever before, we need to look for ways to counter the pressure, to push back. I hope the Democrats help out, but I want to think we can overcome both of them with populist stances and real community values.

The Rat's Ass is one of the things I contribute to our value revolution. For the values of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.