"What's it all about? Where is this all headed?"

Hey, fuck if I know. Why you askin'? Because you want answers, right? The key is knowing which questions to ask. Right now, as I write this, the world economy is on the brink once again, the for the second time in under five years. Why? Because we won't change, we refuse to, we're creatures of habit. The yammerers will go on about how we need to "get back on the gold standard and eliminate the income tax," which was all disproved and thrown on the shitpile of human history, gone, over, done. I could say I believe in unicorns, but that gets as many laughs from people with a real education. Good luck on the last one in these here U-nited States.

Does that faze the terminally ignorant and insane? Of course not, and now you know why wars occur, and some very big ones are coming. "There will be wars, and rumors of wars," was perhaps the easiest prediction ever made, human beings are an incredibly stupid species, yes we are. You irrational dummies are really the death of everything, you reactionary fools on the right.

I've been talking about a collapse on this page for the last six years and have seen one coming for far longer. 2008 nearly did the job, or rather, we nearly did it on ourselves letting criminals in DC and on Wall Street to run amok with their thirty year crime wave. Finally, this shit is coming to a head: we either reform our financial and campaign systems, radically scale-back our military, and reinvest in our workforce, or forget, show's over. As horrible as I imagine things are going to get, this is fair, this is just. We should pay for our apathy, our ignorance, and our tendency to fuck everything we touch up. No touching, no more. 

South America saw the writing on the wall decades ago and has succeeded in cutting away our influence in the region, which is good, democracy and empire cannot coexist. Neither can democracy and vast, unchecked wealth and influence, power. In less than one generation, America will become a shadow of its former self, and if you think you have, you really haven't, you ain't seen nothing yet. We will become a true pariah state that no one in their right mind will do business with without major conditions. The scales are really going to fall from the eyes of Americans once they realize that all this "freedom" was only the power to buy stupid, plastic crap they never needed so some asshole can get rich and to then take the money to dismantle democratic traditions and institutions, that's where we're at, the final stages of capitalism.

Are we too far gone? I believe so. This doesn't mean there aren't things that can be done to save what's worth saving, but collapse appears to be the only way left out of what's becoming a very ugly, scary place to live. We currently incarcerate more people than Russia, China, and all the other worst human rights offender nations on this earth combined, and we enslave them in what's called "privatized prison labor." The war on terror has eroded so many rights I've lost track, maybe even the surveillance state has too, let's hope so. 

Where is the outrage? It's where knowledge would have been in the minds of an ocean of profoundly ignorant Americans, waiting to be informed and  activated. Now you know why the Republicans and Democrats are defunding education (who wants to read anyway?). Ignorant people are easily controlled. But enough about the right, Libertarians, and irrational Obama supporters who refuse to criticize him for what is wrong.with his shredding of the Constitution in the war on terror.

For similar reasons, we're going to collapse as the former Soviet Union did a little over two decades ago. It's overdue without reform. What happens in the aftermath is determined by what we do now, and then. It had better be logical, natural, disciplined, united, and constructive. The alternative is everyone killing each other. When the rich have kicked away the social contract, this becomes not only possible, it can become inevitable. Without a sense of a whole, connected polity--a society--there is no point, and all will be lost. All the luxuries many enjoy, perhaps even the ability to feed oneself adequately, the right to vote, to be safe in one's person, to be able to travel without restrictions, to be able to assemble with others for political expression--all this can vanish in the blink of an eye in the current atmosphere. 

Will some get richer from a collapse? I don't think so, this is going to be more fundamental a collapse than that, what could have occurred had there been no FDR or New Deal, and that's where we're at right now. Yes: even the rich are going to lose their asses on this one. It will at least be worth it for that one. Everyone with a patch of dirt might consider taking up gardening since that could be all that's going on in the US soon.

President Obama so far

Washington D.C.--What can I write other than, "So far, so good"? Rather than stupidly cow-tow to a disgraced Republican minority, the President is moving forward rapidly towards fixing some of the mess left by them and not worrying himself with the petty obstructionism that they're known for. Welcome back to minority status, and get used to it.

That the GOP has no vision that's going to help the average American is now understood by the majority. What do they have against the Democratic version of the stimulus bill? It's not what you're being told: $125 billion for our schools, a tripling of the education budget, more insurance coverage for the unemployed, and even some new moves towards progressive taxation not seen since before Ronald Reagan.

That this is an end of Reaganism is now assured, and today, the new President has signed no less than three executive orders protecting and supporting the right of Americans to organize unions in the workplace. That would never have happened under Clinton, Bush I & II, or even Jimmy Carter. For over a generation the Democratic Party had lost its way and suffered from an identity crisis. Perhaps that time is over, but it's still a wait-and-see. But for now, the Democrats are doing what they haven't in ages, namely acting as though they actually won.

This writer is sitting-back and allowing the new President to make his best attempts, to let him succeed or to fail. Nobody should want him to fail, but the GOP is still intent on self-destruction--we should oblige them in this and also step-back and allow them to do so. The first hundred days of any administration are crucial, and he deserves every chance to fix the mess created by rampant deregulation under the Republican Party. Why are they acting so boldly?

One answer is that they have the Justice Department back again. Time to use it to enforce the laws of the land again, which means prosecutions of Bush II administration members who have clearly broken the law. First on the list would be former Vice President Richard Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and former AG Alberto Gonzales for authorizing torture, and that's just for starters.

Nader Campaign Newsletter, Sept. 14, 2008

September 14, 2008 www.votenader.org www.officialnaderstore.com

Dear Nader/Gonzalez Supporter, We need your help to promote the Nader/Gonzalez Campaign's "Open the Debates" Tour! Since 1988, the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) has sponsored every presidential debate. Since its inception, the CPD has always been headed by two former chairs of the Democratic and Republican parties. In 1987, the League of Women Voters refused to sponsor any more presidential debates, "because the demands of the two campaign organizations would perpetrate a fraud on the American voter." The Nader/Gonzalez Campaign is on a mission to open these debates for third party candidates, and bring back democracy to American Voters! If you cannot make it to these rallies, please help us spread the word by forwarding these events: September 17th, 3pm "Rally" New Orleans, LA Tulane University, Freeman Auditorium # 205, Woldenberg Art Center 6823 St. Charles Ave. (Take Willow to Newcomb Place) Suggested Contribution: $10/ $5 students More Info: (414) 755-0585 or events@votenader.org September 17th, 7:30pm "Rally" Baton Rouge, LA LSU School of Music, Coral Room #115 Baton Rouge, LA 70803 Suggested Contribution: $10/$5 students More Info: (414) 755-0585 or events@votenader.org September 18th, 1pm "Rally" Tulsa, OK Oklahoma State University, North Hall Auditorium 700 North Greenwood Ave. Tulsa, OK 74106 Suggested Contribution: $10/$5 students More Info: (630) 947-5708 or events@votenader.org September 18th, 6:30pm "Rally" Fayetteville, AR University of Arkansas, Kimpel Hall #102 280 Ozark St. Fayetteville, AR 72701 Suggested Contribution: $10/$5 students More Info: (631) 208- 4687 or events@votenader.org September 19th, 6:30pm "Rally" Louisville, KY University of Louisville, Swain Student Activities Center, Suite W310 Louisville, KY 40292 Suggested Contribution: $10/$5 students (312) 208-4687 or events@votenader.org

KARL ROVE ANNOUNCES HIS DECISION TO RESIGN

Washington D.C.--You can still be subpoenaed. Your kid is at college. You can still be pardoned, but the president had better save it for last.

You're a traitor, guilty of more crimes than Aaron Burr, or even Benedict Arnold--at least there was a smidgen of validity to their motives. We all know you're going to be running the RNC's campaign strategy for the 2008 elections. This is why we must watch your every move making your life extremely transparent.

The threat of prison will always be over your shoulder, it's coming...or is it? You'll never know, will you? Not until Federal Marshals come for you. Then, it'll be too late. It's funny how you Republicans use the same lame excuse when it's obvious you're about to be felled: "I need to spend time with my family."

Sure. You've been so attentive already. At least Joseph Goebbels had the common courtesy to kill himself.