The Hand He Was Dealt

Thomas Friedman had an article the other day in the N.Y.Times equating Obama to Tiger Wood’s lost swing as a president that’s fallen flat; while there are those who believe that to be great, Obama has to “figure it out”.  But they actually miss the point of what’s been going on.  His presidency might not have lived up to our expectations, but then again, perhaps it wasn’t entirely his doing.  I believe he figured it out long ago.  For one with such shared lofty goals and capabilities at the beginning of his term, it’s hard to argue that all of a sudden he abandoned those goals.  So what happened?  There’s a reason; and considering the hand Obama has been dealt with, I think he’s done as well as can be expected under the circumstances.

Now what hand is that? It was no secret from early on that it was the intention of the opposing party that their game plan would be to assure that he was a “one term president”.  We’ve heard that many times. So, how does one make such a bold claim if not with the intention of backing it up?  How can a minority party succeed?  Easy; and we’ve seen their capability in action but most refuse to acknowledge it.

The Grand bargain referred to during the debt reduction negotiations could have happened years ago under any president.  But not, now, with a Democratic president.  Politics have changed.  He knew this, that’s why he’s not forthcoming with proposals that he knows will get shot down by those desirous of not aiding his presidency.  Ideologues now control enough in the Republican Party that they cannot control their tea party faction; one that would be willing to shut down the government. Look what happened with the healthcare legislation—before the Tea Party!  Is that the country we grew up in?  That’s the kind of country the Ron Pauls and Eric Cantors want; something from the 1900’s?  A few ideologues can control the fate of the rest, right or wrong?  You may not like the new dynamic, but you can’t blame the president for that.  You can’t blame him for the wars, the banking failures, the deficit, the unemployment that came with the financial crisis, the decaying infrastructure that was inherited and the time and energy spent trying to stabilize a situation while dealing with an obstreperous congress that wanted nothing more than his failure as a president; regardless of the consequences for the country!  So you want to blame him because he hasn’t figured out how to override a recalcitrant congress’s constitutional ability to filibuster proof a requirement that he get 60 votes instead of the usual 51; and how to change tea party fanatics into rational, responsible, elected officials?  That’s his fault?  You want to blame the black man for more of the country’s woes?  Or would it have happened to any Democratic president? So is it the recalcitrance black, democratic, or both?

People are just looking at the results and for blame—not the reasons for the lack of results or even what he was able to eek out in spite of the negativity by the opposition.  There’s one thing to understand from the outset.  We are dealing with a faction of fanatics willing to put ideology before country and spin the fear by not following their failed policies.  That’s unpatriotic.  The question was pointed to the candidates at their pre Iowa “debate”; if there were expense side savings of 10 to 1 vs raising revenues, would it be accepted?  The answer was no.  Is this an opposing party willing to compromise?  But when you have a congress that ordinarily works on “majority rules”, there is obviously an implied understanding there has to be compromise; not compromise an impossible 60/40!  And when there is a compromise, it’s not satisfying rational positions.

Personally, I really don’t care who gets credit for workable solutions to difficult problems.  But politics of late have become unsatisfying because of the guerilla tactics used by a splinter faction with an extreme ideological agenda.  They’re even difficult for the Republican Party to manage and it falls under their umbrella.  Yet, it is this faction that is out of touch with America and what it stands for; one more interested in putting god in government before solving problems.  I don’t believe most stand for 1900 style politics or believe that handling 2011 worldly issues can be addressed with 2500 year old dogma.   But the President can become bold with his agenda for the coming election year and demand to see who is for the country and who is against by proposing a jobs bill referendum.  If he doesn’t, then you can blame him.

                                      No Flies !            

Gambit Time for the President

It’s been leaked out that the president is going to propose jobs legislation when he returns from vacation.  I think at this point in his presidency, it’s time to play chess---to win.

Until now he’s had to deal with a recalcitrant opposition party that will stop at nothing short but insuring that his presidency is for one term.  They’ve stated so.  And they’ve done that by insisting that votes in the senate require an almost impossible filibuster proof 60 votes (in case you never realized it).  That treatment was almost never invoked against other presidents.  Unfortunately, it’s become politics before country; and the compromises in legislation end up lousy, unsatisfying deals.  That’s where most don’t get it. 

It was one thing to consider the likes of Mitch McConnell to proclaim Obama’s a one term president as a boastful statement in the beginning of his term.  Little did most realize that they were serious enough to actually institute whatever game plan necessary to assure that claim; even if it meant country second.  I believe Obama recognized this after the Healthcare debacle; that, in lieu of a simple majority, even though having 58 Democrats, it wouldn’t be enough to pass the legislation without two republicans; 60!; and everything else since, except for those things he was forced to capitulate lest he get nothing done or worse yet, under threat of shutting down the government.

So now he knows their game.  But the whiners who pine for a forceful president who can only work with what he’s dealt with don’t want to see it the way it is.  For those saying all the compromises have been his failure to lead really don’t understand what’s been going on, or the game of chess.  When you know your opponent has a strong defense, you don’t waste your pieces trying to tear it down.  Offering numerous proposals based on the composition of the congress would surely have met with repeated failure; repeated bad press.  That’s why the president denies the Republicans their veto and refuses to play their game.  

But now it’s prime time for the president to dominate all the conversations, this coming year, with a forceful, comprehensive jobs proposal.  Challenge the congress to turn it down and go for broke.  We can now truly test the mettle of the man.  Either recalcitrants deal with it and create jobs or they’ll vote it down for specious reasons.  This is the gambit, the gamble, he must take.  The risk of this rejection will enable the president to expose, once again (they said it in their last TV “debate” when they took the pledge to turn down 10:1 savings for expenditures), the true colors of the ideologically fanatical, Republicans/Tea Party.  See what platform the candidates run on and their votes on the legislation for needed jobs.  If there’s no success on a jobs bill, the voters will then have a clear choice in November to give the president the mandate to get the proposal thru.  The only way out of our ideologically, moribunded, do-nothing congress (except to see Obama’s a one term president) is for the voters to come to their senses and see the congress is more interested in ideological politics or the wealthy.  Forcing our kids to have to deal with the increased debt, if at all, is better than dealing with parents in the poorhouse unable to pay for healthcare or dwindling the kids’ inheritance on early forced retirement.

It’s really a no brainer for the electorate at this point.  Their choice is obvious.  If they want more of the same for the next four years and maintain the stalemated count and a divided congress; they’ll certainly accommodate the ideologues by illustrating either they don’t understand or are easily swayed by demagogy.  So there’s little to lose and it would be a bold move on the president’s part to precipitate a challenge to the Republicans. It’s a move known in chess as a gambit; sacrificing something for gain.  Sacrifice the time to expose the obstructionists to gain an ultimate mandate to create jobs and put this country back on track to greatness and world leadership.  He should insist all those who don’t want the status quo and the country to continue to stagnate to take their own pledge; the pledge that they will pass a jobs bill irrespective that it might temporarily increase the debt; but understanding it will do greater good for the country as a whole in the long run.  Some believe in faith that simply praying to a god will solve problems; I have faith that developing a jobs program that addresses our timeless decaying infrastructure, that addresses the retooling of our workforce, that puts people back to work will increase demand for goods and services, and with that, tax revenues will increase; thereby paying down the debt, and we can start the needed growth in the economy that will mend our wounds.  We can do this ourselves---we don’t need a Rick Perry’s/Tea Party deity’s intervention.

Do we have to wait for another war the likes of WWII which was the stimulus that brought this country out of the last worst recession?

By the way, in case some of you don’t know what infrastructure is; it’s the bridges, roads, tunnels, airports, broadband for computers, trains, the stuff that this country relies on to keep it modern enough to handle population increases and usage, and enables our people to compete on a global scale with other countries who have better infrastructure.  So next time you’re in the car, on the train, walking, look at the condition of our infrastructure.  Do you see paint peeling, rusted structures on their way to failure? Do you see concrete or bricks flaking off creating an appearance of deterioration?  Worse yet, do you see brown, rusted lines in the concrete?  That’s the reinforcing that’s supposed to be covered and protected by the concrete that gives the concrete its added strength.  If you see that condition, it means it’s just a matter of time before you read or hear about that structure failing.  Infrastructure needs maintenance and repair if not downright replacement because of obsolescence.  And nature’s attack on infrastructure does not care about whether the host country has economic problems or not; ever see Greek or Roman ruins; how about decaying buildings in older inner cities?

If congress is going to do nothing meaningful in the next year anyway, the President has the pulpit to set and pound the agenda to make a jobs bill top priority.  Dominate the conversation; force it to be an election issue if a deal can’t be worked out sooner. He may have accomplished a considerable amount in the way of social programs, but he would truly set his mark as one of the great ones like FDR if he could put his stamp on a jobs bill and run for it like Truman against an obstreperous congress.  But it takes boldness.  It takes balls for the country---not for the politics. It should be a “back to the future” jobs bill enabling our country to compete on a global basis.  

Offer to repatriate those trillions of offshore corporate dollars that may never see our shores again unless we make it enticing enough.  Use those funds to develop an infrastructure bank declaring amnesty for some portion if not all and use those funds for funding the repair, maintenance, and construction of bridges, highways, broadband, alternative energy, reeducation (retooling) of our workforce; anything that creates jobs and moves our country forward in a competitive nature and restores our once admired standing with the rest of the world. This is a jobs bill; nothing else to talk about.  Not even cutting taxes or expenses; that’s another conversation.  Be glad we don’t talk about raising taxes.  Repatriate those dollars with the condition that they are used for funding with a low rate of interest.  Quasi guarantee them or not with U.S. backing in some way.  Get creative.  Regardless, there’s plenty of private money around to invest in America the way war bonds were used to finance WWII.  Then we’ll see who’s patriotic or just mercenary living off the sweat of this country’s labor and isn’t smart enough to give back to those who enabled the rest to do better.  Forget the debt and the deficit.  They’re being dealt with separately by the super commission.  This is an opportunity and a turning point in America’s future.  Make the success or failure of voting for this “back to the future” bill, a referendum.  Take back America from the manipulation by the selfish.

                                                      No Flies !            

Barcelona

This is one fascinating city.  Russell Watson’s song, of the same name, captures the spirit.  Although my experience speaks from a short visit, getting the quick tour was enough to see this city has a certain vibrancy that others don’t.  Every corner turned revealed a fountain, a park, an architecturally unique building, street artists, performers, sculptures and more.  Tapas!; convenient hop-on-hop-off- busses, palm trees, beach, the Mediterranean, Gaudi Park, and food markets; Columbus, Picasso, Las Rambles, to name a few; eyeballs on buildings, all compounded by a somewhat irregular street pattern and undulating terrain only added to the experience.  Now mix in a multitude of cultures, great food and wine, and a friendly population, can only create an atmosphere of stimulation at every move.  Not to say I was there long enough to encounter typical city problems, but the relative cleanliness and pride exhibited in conjunction with all the other goodies, certainly separates this city from many others.  Oddly enough, having visited Seville, another gem of its own, I can understand Barcelona’s quest for maintaining their individuality from the rest of Spain.  It truly creates a conundrum. 

But one outstanding exhibition of whimsically absurd construction is La Segrada Familia, by architect, Antoni Gaudi. Along with Barcelona’s other architecturally notable undertakings, Segrada will be one of those churches ranking on the all time great lists.  I believe right up there, not for the significance of its history vis a vis Notre Dame or the likes of the Basilica in Rome, or Milan, or Seville; but for the sheer opulence enabled by the materials and methods available at its time of construction (presumably they are not pilfering materials as they did with the construction of the Basilica).  Whereas previous structures may have taken 100’s of years, materials and technology hardly changed at the pace as in the time period between the construction of the Eifel tower before 1900 to erecting a 150 story story tower in Dubai in 2010.  It is this technological feature that is enabling the construction of Gaudi's Disney like structure. 

The Segrada Familia was started before the turn of the 20^th century.  To this date for various reasons, it has still not reached its goal of completion; although it is currently on path to be completed sometime around 2025.  But there is something afoot I don’t believe existed when the other churches were constructed.

Segrada is the beneficiary of a business plan.  Whereas in the past, the construction funds were usually provided by wealthy individuals and or the church and state; thru clever marketing here, the public, encompassing all religions, is paying for this homage to fantasy.  But this model is not unique.  A Creationist museum and Noah’s ark museum in Kentucky are not dissimilar.  Whereas typically passing the church plate might render funds available for the needy, the revenues extracted from the visitors to these “museums” are available to repay bondholders/investors, provide a return on investment, and hopefully provide additional funds for additional investments or projects of this nature.  Mind you, business ventures of this sort yield little for the secular sect; save for the advancement of religious folly.  They have turned religion into business---and they get tax breaks to boot. 

But La Segrada Familia goes one step further to another level.  Because of its so called uniqueness of design---by sheer grandiosity alone, while it has attained substantial completion to operate as a working church, it is being marketed as the equivalent of an incomplete Rembrandt, Picasso or Michelangelo. Visitors go in droves to see the masterpiece. It is unique in the scheme of things as other churches go in their exaltation; but they’re still selling the same schlock, just a different package.  At some 2.5 million visitors a year, which translates into some $50 million/year, tourism alone is enough to provide adequate funds to finish.  Just calculate the funds available till completion.

I had my own dilemma.  I was greatly conflicted as to whether to support the church, by paying the entrance fee, or could I rationalize my prostration or submission?  Other churches are free or require a fee, presumably for maintenance as opposed to reimbursement for construction, which has long since been completed.  But based on attendance and entrance fees---I expect there’s more than enough to see Segrada’s completion.  My dilemma was how do I support this?  My rationale; although a newspaper reporter may not directly support the team he reports on, his attendance nevertheless is required.  So I’m past that, convincing or not. 

If they knew the establishment of the church is all based on myth and stories, then why spend millions?  And if they don’t know, isn’t it time to find out and make investments that benefit all of humanity via different methods?  Homeless, hungry, health research, for a few; why continue the erection of these Towers of Babel when the same funds could, rightly, as Jesus intended, serve humanity?  (Of course Barcelona’s not going to kill a golden goose and my tongue is stuck in my cheek).

Regardless, Barcelona shouldn’t be missed for the opportunity it provides to see other cultures and history.  It puts our own ego in perspective.  It let's us know there are others in the world with similar makeups, but different ways of approaching issues that confront us all.

                                                 No Flies !            

Returning to Europe

Revisiting the influence of the church (organized religion) over the centuries, and its established religious dogma and tenets, only served to overwhelm one’s senses.  The imprint of this institution has lasted thousands of years, killed and tortured millions, consumed natural and manmade resources, diverted human needs, enriched their coffers, all at the expense of those who either overtly refused to conform or simply because they were from different cultures; and all the above under the auspices of some misdirected concepts or stories.  Mindboggling that these stories can be glorified and romanticized as a form of coercion to enlist its followers are still surviving.  Isn’t it time to say enough; time to reclaim who or get to experience who we are without relinquishing control to a cult; “You’re either with us or against us mentality”?  Ian Buruma says in Taming the Gods, that Europe has essentially separated from the church.  After seeing all the topless women on the beaches I can believe him. Europe may live with the vestiges of religion; but where does America get off with our conservative evangelicalism and the desire to return to a cave man mentality to be our salvation?  Like a Texas Gov. and Presidential candidate, Rick Perry says; “pray for rain”.  C'mon!

The opulence, the grandiosity, the narcissism of the church is beyond human comprehension.  It can only be appreciated when understanding that the influence in this country has only been a matter of some 500 years when it has been thousands of years in the making for the rest of the world.  Ignoring the mind control consequences for a moment, just the economic and resources impact, alone, of constructing these churches, is a significant impact on humanity.  These structures sometimes took 100’s of years to erect, consuming human resources and concentration----and for what?  We know today the economic impact of the construction of a hydroelectric dam or a bridge contributes as an investment to a society.  Not only are they engines of economic growth and stimulation, they are investments in continued productivity and function.  On simple terms, a bridge enables transportation from one point to another in a more expedient fashion.  A dam contributes power.  The construction of these churches didn’t happen overnight.  The resources used were at the expense of those conquered.  And what was their contribution to society other than a current, at the time, economic stimulus; the vehicle for perpetuating the cult?  They didn’t happen overnight.  There aren’t just a few.  It wasn’t and still isn’t a passing whim.   

The construction of the evangelist’s “Saddleback” type churches may provide jobs during construction; just the way Kentuckey’s Creationist and Noah’s arks Museum are projects.  And yes, as ongoing entities they do provide jobs the same way Disney does.  But nobody advances Mickey Mouse as reality.  Therefore, what do they contribute when they’re finished?  What benefits do Egypt’s Pyramids produce today except those attributable to tourism?  On the other hand, what does the Hoover Dam contribute or a modernized airport, highway system, hi speed rail, all the bridges, office buildings, malls vs. all the churches and temples? At least the others benefit the greater society as a whole as opposed to advancing the precepts of a few.  A bridge is secular, a church is not.

Tourism is a byproduct of such projects today, but are there better uses of our resources and investment dollars?  Are we building tomorrow’s useless tourist attractions, today?  Pyramids are monuments of times and past beliefs.  What will they say when the Creationist museums and museums to Noah’s arks are reviewed for contributions in our so called age of austerity because our priorities became scrambled?  What were we thinking or who or what was in the driver’s seat of our decision makers when it’s reviewed as to whether, broadband, high speed trains and dams make more sense or metal detectors, walls around cities, missile defense systems, bible museums, cutting education and social programs or healthcare are prudent policies and to the greater benefit of whom?

It IS important to visit other countries and cultures to compare our lifestyles and cultures first hand rather than the spin we hear on a daily basis from the Foxes and other “managed” news sources.  It IS important to see how others are dealing or addressing problems that confront us all---like energy conservation.

It is remarkable to see wind turbines and their graceful contribution to solving alternatives to dirty fossil fuels.  It’s awesome to see the solar panels and particularly the solar collectors outside Seville.  These are symbols of man’s ingenuity and creativity and willingness to tackle the issues---not simply have faith that they are problems that will solve themselves like a Rick Perry’s appeal for some deity’s intervention.

Whereas a China will declare a national interest and a war against their failures and address their problems albeit with constraining authority; a true democracy with its endless debates is not simply about objective debates when special interests cloud the objective judgments with ideology.  So which is truly the better system?

Socialism as a word has been demonized because of its application and association to failed policies of the past.  But as the world changes and dichotomies emerge between haves and have nots, it becomes obvious that the wild west of unregulated capitalism does not work for the benefit of those who cannot participate because the system has become too concrete in both extremes. There is a hybrid of the two that works better. But the opportunities of one vs. the other is not equal; not after the effects of the system have been gamed by those with the opportunity.  Those without remain perpetually disadvantaged when the tools for success favor one over the other.

Funny, but while on vacation I had the fortune of stumbling on a couple of interesting books.  One was Folklore Myths and Legends of Britain.  Amazing how religions have evolved over the centuries due to the ignorance and fear of man.  For thousands of years man has worshiped gods and demons and the natural elements as being wonders possessing special powers that couldn’t be explained.  Many of those religions whether pagan influences or more established religions were usually hybrids of earlier ideas with new religions of conquered peoples.  And because man has been migrating for thousands of years across the globe, the current predominant surviving religions are really a combination of thousands of years of folklore, myths and legends that have survived in spite of scientific evidence to the contrary.  Fascinating stuff when one takes the time to delve a little deeper into our reasons for why and how we operate as a species.

This is the tip of an iceberg that I have become involved in and is leading to a book.  Man’s inhumanity towards man based on myths, folklore and legends.  Yet in spite of modern scientific information to the contrary, these behaviors still exist and are perpetuated because of ignorance to the facts.  Visiting Europe helps to put things into perspective as to who we are as Americans and what are our roots.  It also sheds light on how other parts of the world address common issues that confront us all.  But it’s almost like meeting the long lost and forgotten Uncle.  When we do, it becomes much clearer as to why we behave the way we do.

More to come on the grandest church currently being erected; but being paid for by tourists.

                        No Flies !