Tannishblog

I’m about three steps shy of giving up on America. Honestly. The political divide in this once-great (or so I was told ) nation rivals the Grand Canyon. It may be only a matter of time before the War on Terrorism is fought on Main Street, USA. What today is slander, rudeness and dehumanizing marginalization,  tomorrow will be violence.

I’m bored with complaining about BushCo’s Blood-for Oil/ Oil-for Profit Energy Policy. I’m sick of the heavy-handed tactics and mean-spirited mentality of conservative supporters. I’m disillusioned by the Democratic Majority (sic) that will not follow words with matching deeds.

Our so-called "two-party system" is broken. For an average human in these Divided States, we go to the polls (if we’re allowed near them) and vote between The Party of Corporate Greed and Warfare, or The Party of Wistful Words without Concrete Results. Both parties are guilty of robbing the cookie jar. Both parties are more interested in self-preservation than public service. Both parties ride the see-saw of carefully crafted public opinion secretly hoping the grafted gold in their pockets doesn’t weight them down too much, so as to stay above the other.

American politics are corrupt, and everyone knows this. The Bush administration has raised the bar of corruption and instituted unprecedented power grabs in order to maintain this higher level. Most American accept this as well. For the rest, therapy is an option…

End result? A negative feedback loop. People don’t bother to vote because they no longer believe in the power of a single vote, no longer believe in the sanctity of the electoral process. So less people vote, further undermining the broken system by abdicating to a shrinking minority of voters who use the system for personal or corporate gain. the government, therefore, goes to the highest bidder. In Twenty-first Century America, the highest bidder is the energy bloc.

R. I. P. "of the people, by the people, for the people."

The US and Russia are sparring again. Tensions rise at Vladimir Putin comments on America’s recent refocus on ballistic weapons.

Putin said Russia’s testing of new intercontinental and cruise missiles earlier this week was "aimed at maintaining the balance of forces in the world." "Our partners are filling Eastern Europe with new weapons," he told reporters in Moscow in a joint news conference with Greek President Carolos Papoulias. "What are we supposed to do? We cannot just observe all this. In our opinion, it is nothing different from ‘diktat,’ nothing different from imperialism." Washington is currently discussing deployment of parts of the system with Poland and the Czech Republic.

He’s right. America’s current incarnation, as exemplified by our cowboy/ yahoo/ redneck administration, is an Imperialistic beast. Our rediscovered bombplex mentality is only another manifestation of "bring ‘em on!" At some point, the braggadocio must be challenged, the bluff called. Somebody is going to step up to put the bully down. The grand theatre of foreign relations can be reduced to playground politics.

The White house denies the claim of a new cold war. Dominatrix Rice shoots back:

Rice, for her part, took aim Thursday at Russia’s record on human rights and democracy under Putin.

Rice said the United States wants a strong Russia as a partner, but Russia needs to adhere to democratic norms, such as allowing an independent judiciary, a free press and free and fair elections.

"Democratic institutions and an open society are not a source of weakness," Rice said after accepting an award for promoting better relations between the United States and Germany. "Nor is freedom of speech and freedom of the press just a nuisance that the state can attack at will."

Wait! We’re criticizing their human rights record? After Gitmo, shouldn’t we just shut up about that? And did you notice her rhetoric was as empty as a Rovian promise? Nothing was said about ballistics…

But what would you expect them her say? A huge portion of Gross Domestic Product is entwined in the military-industrial sector. Shareholder view - and of their lobbyists - a new cold war would be great for business.And in modern America that’s all the justification needed.How many of those shareholders work in Washington today?

Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, North Korea and Russia have all been recipients of America’s arrogant hubris. Whose next, China?

This must stop.