Happy friggin’ new year

I’d like to say “Happy New Year,” but it’s not looking very good for so many people. “Hope and change” seems to have dissolved into despair and more of the same.

I’ve developed a pretty thick skin, politically speaking, over the years. Idealistic in my youth, as the youth tends to be, I thought our generation (I’m 55) could turn things around. When politician after politician dashed my hopes, I decided it was the system, and things would never change until fundamental changes were made there.

I still believe that. Most of all, we must somehow, as a nation, get the big money out of politics. It is corrupting everything, especially Congress, as the recent health care fiasco so obviously shows. (When over 70% of the nation says it wants a robust public option, for example, you’d think it’d be a slam dunk. But no, the insurance companies that pile on the cash for Lieberman and his ilk get their way, yet again!)

I allowed myself to believe Barack Obama was really going to be different. After all, he wasn’t part of the privileged class, like so many of our presidents have been. He worked hard to make something of himself, then eschewed high-paying lawyer jobs to work for the downtrodden on the streets of Chicago. Surely, I thought, this man could not be so easily corrupted.

But there’s something about holding high office, apparently. Now, he does the bidding of his generals and wages war, as is the American custom. He sits on the sidelines and twiddles his thumbs as the very issue that got him elected gets debated in Congress, seemingly oblivious to the fact that botching it would piss off the majority of people who voted for him. He didn’t even defend the things he campaigned for, like the public option.

He and the super-majority of Democrats we elected compromise before the debate even starts, then compromise some more. Any real bargainer knows you start with something way beyond what you expect to get (in this example, Single Payer), giving you a bargaining tool, in order to end up with something acceptable (like a robust public option). You don’t start with what you really want. Not when you’re negotiating with such a powerful force as Big Money, which is, in the final analysis, the actual opponent.

So, surprise, surprise, we end up with something Big Money (and Big Insurance) is very happy with, but which helps the public very little, if at all. And now we’re set to do it all over again, with bank “reform.” Yeah, right! I can save everyone a lot of time: just ask the banks what they want. They’ll get it anyway.

As I see it, every group fighting for change on any issue ought to all come together and fight for campaign reform. Because until we get the big money out of politics, we’ll keep witnessing the same charade, over and over again.

So, happy friggin’ new year.

Change We Just Can't Believe In: HR 875 Could Make Organic Farming Illegal

According to reports coming out from food activists, HR 875, the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 would criminalize organic farming and the backyard gardener.

They say that Big Ag corporations like Monsanto, Cargill, ADM, Sodexo and Tyson are pushing HR 875, which would effectively create a food police department within the Department of Health and Human Services, to be called the “Food Safety Administration.”

This bill is currently sitting in committee, and knowing how Congress does its business, most representatives will probably not bother to even read it, depending instead on what lobbyists from their largest campaign donors have to say. This is what passes for “representative democracy” these days.

According to cryptogon.com:

What this will do is force anyone who produces food of any kind, and then transports it to a different location for sale, to register with a new federal agency called the “Food Safety Administration.” Even growers who sell just fruit and/or vegetables at farmers markets would not only have to register, but they would be subject inspections by federal agents of their property and all records related to food production. The frequency of these inspections will be determined by the whim of the Food Safety Administration. Mandatory “safety” records would have to be kept. Anyone who fails to register and comply with all of this nonsense could be facing a fine of up to $1,000,000 per violation.

Activists are urging citizens to contact their representatives at 202-224-3121 and ask them to oppose HR 875 and the Senate bill, S 425.

I guess this is what happens when Obama, trying to appear “centrist,” appoints people like Tom “I Fly with Monsanto” Vilsack to Secretary of Agriculture, instead of looking for people with alternative points of view.

We now have TWO ways to make sure George Bush is held accountable

It's obvious that Congress is way too busy to deal with a president who tries to rewrite their laws when he signs them, ignores the Constitution, starts illegal wars, trashes the environment and plummets the country into recession. Impeachment remains "off the table."

We've known for a long time it would take something more insidious -- a stained dress -- to get Congress' attention. But now there is hope for another way: if G.W. used steroids, THEN Congress might act! Anyone have any leads?

Hell, give 'em all immunity, into forever - why not?

The Democratic takeover of Congress appears to be ready once again to flex its muscles, this time to give in to Bush's demands for immunity to the telecommunication industry for their acquiescence to Bush demands to help him spy on Americans.

Hey, why not? The Dems gave blanket immunity to the administration itself when House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi said early on that "impeachment is off the table." Sure, let 'em slide, after all, they only trashed the Constitution, invaded a country under false pretenses, broke every treaty they could, blithely threw out Habeus Corpus and started torturing people like it was fun and games at a carnival dunking tank.

They're also letting the entire banking industry and the Wall Street hacks who profited off the sub prime loans off the hook, because, hey, it's only destroying our economy and sending us into possibly the worst recession in decades -- or worse. Let's just throw a little money at some people and say, "sorry." That should take care of it!

The pattern seems to be to not make anyone responsible for anything, at least if they might contribute to your party's political campaigns somewhere down the line.

So, while our fearless leaders are in such a giving mood, why not just give blanket immunity to all corporations who give or may give campaign donations, into infinity, for any potential wrong-doing? And of course, we must extend this blanket immunity to politicians, because without it, they just can't do their jobs! (Which is to do the bidding of said corporations.)

This way, there is no need for any more of these painful "debates" in Congress, where our "representatives" must wring their hands and verbalize concern for the people being crushed under the weight of a government gone mad. And then we can get back to the happy talk of "prosperity" and the economic tide "lifting all boats." Yeah!