Refuting McClatchy's Story On How Bush Helped End Homelessness

In today's issue of McClatchy News Online, where their motto of 'Truth To Power' appears just below their tag line, is a story entitled 'Bush administration has housed many homeless'. After reading the title and laughing out loud, I assumed that the article would be one that actually condemned the Bush policies of the past eight years of slashing the budgets for the poor and the homeless with every swipe of his line item pen.

But lo and behold, in a blatant attempt by the right wing news service to make it appear as though Bush has been some sort of liberally idealed President this past decade of hardship, the article claims that this monster in the Oval Office has been the one with the best idea for ending homelessness in America. Written in reference to one minor program called Housing First, the article gives Bush the credit for implementing the plan, which is a blatant lie. The program was started in Toronto, Canada by a coalition called The National Alliance To End Homelessness.

It was this entity that brainstormed the program and received help from the Canadian government to implement it. So wildly successful that it was picked up by cities around the United States, all Bush did was to allow for the diverting of funds for some programs that help the poor and deliver it to Housing First. Housing First now operates nation wide, doing the best they can with an ever growing homeless population.

But to hear McClatchy News tell the story, one would think that, holy crap, homelessness has been ended in our country. Using gibberish figures, they claim that the homeless numbers have fallen from 176,000 to under 124,000 under Bush's watch. They claim this number by saying it's culled from the best available data, which is another blatant lie. Try almost 4 MILLION homeless people in America Mr. Hearst Corporation, and you'll be getting a lot closer to the truth. And that number represents an increase of 30% during the Bush years, not any decrease.

Further on into the article, McClatchy News once again spouts off figures in an attempt to show how generous Bush has been towards the poor and the homeless. Telling how the authorization for Medicaid allotments have risen by almost double what they were when Bush took office, the article tries to give the impression that more and more people who need help are getting it, but that's another blatant lie. The real reason that costs for programs such as Medicaid and Food Stamps have risen so drastically under the Bush Administration was because the Republicans outright privatized the programs while the entire nation was asleep after 9/11.

Oh yes. That's right. Where Medicaid used to be a program wherein the recipient would receive a card, go to their doctor, and the doctor would bill Medicaid, you know, a direct to the provider service, now, recipients are forced to choose an insurance company HMO that runs the Medicaid program in a given area. The HMO charges the government exorbitant fees for their services as a middle man, and the government, in order to lessen the impact of those fees, gives bonuses to the HMO's for money saved. So the HMO then places higher and higher 'deductibles' on office visits, prescriptions, tests, everything, on the recipient in order to discourage them from going to the doctor at all. So while many in the country decry the 'free' medical care being received by the poor, they have absolutely no clue that the poor aren't actually getting the care they need, but the insurance companies are fattening their bank accounts at taxpayer expense. Good job there Bushie. You paid back your fat cat friends well with that ripoff scheme.

They did the same thing with Food Stamps. JPMorgan now runs the Food Stamp program. Oh? You didn't know that? Food Stamps are not even food stamps any more. What they are now is what's called an Electronic Benefit Transfer card, or EBT. It used to be that when a recipient went to the store and bought food, the store would receive an extra seven cents on the dollar for accepting the food stamps. There was the hassle of collecting all those stamps, correctly tabulating them, sending them in for redemption, and waiting thirty days for a check. But with the EBT card, all that hassle was supposed to disappear, but the stores would still get that little extra for accepting the food benefit transfer. That is until Bush gave the program to the banks who demanded a 25 cent per dollar return on top of the store's 7 cents. And so, in order to cut costs, the amount of benefits available to recipients was cut. The fat cats get paid off once again, the poor get the shaft. On 15 separate occasions, the Republicans have refused and filibustered any vote to raise the allotment for the poor. The most recent example was the bailout for Wall Street package. Pork of all kinds was tied to that bill, but yet the Republicans threatened to scuttle the entire thing if the Democrats didn't remove a ten dollar a month increase in Food Stamp benefits for the poor.

In trying to make Bush seem the hero and not the villain, McClatchy ignores the slashing of billions of dollars for Section 8 vouchers by Bush. The number of available yearly vouchers nationwide for the poor to fight over is now all the way down to 30,000. That's a decrease from 250,000 and is said by no less than 6 national organizations for the homeless to be a contributing factor in the rise of the numbers of veterans on the street. They also leave out the fact that Bush refused to fund the Bring America Home Act, which would have provided municipalities with funding for more shelters, funding for more soup kitchens, funding for medical facilities for the poor, and would have stopped cities from making homelessness a crime.

Incredibly, in this toilet paper excuse for a 'news' story, McClatchy attempts to shift the burden for America's homeless problem on the Democrats. Claiming that every time the organizations that serve the poor come knocking with their hand out, it's the Republican Party that steps up and that the Democrats will begrudgingly give a little during the snowy months, McClatchy again tries to make it appear as though the Bush years have been a boon to the poor of America. The only item missing from this fraudulent excuse for journalism was a picture of Bush in long flowing hair, white linens, and a halo circling his godlike head.

No. Nice try McClatchy. We all know that your organization has always been a front for the Republican Party, but this is just too much. I doubt that even Fox Noise would throw this garbage and vomit into people's faces and expect them to eat it. The truth is that since Republicans have controlled Congress during the Clinton years, they have forced through cut after cut after cut for the most vulnerable, not out of some sense of civic responsibility, but because of an evil desire to reroute those dollars to their corporate friends. When Bush stole the election, well, God Damn, the party was really on then as we have all been witness to. Just one month's worth of money that is being shoveled into the bottomless pit that is the Iraq War would end homelessness forever in America.

Take a look at a couple of facts, then go figure out if McClatchy is full of shoot.

Fact one: Compared to 1978, the U.S. government is now spending nearly 65 percent less on developing and maintaining affordable housing for poor people. ($83 billion was appropriated in 1978, while only $29 billion was allocated in 2005.)

Fact two: Compared to 1978, the U.S. government now spends $84 billion more on subsidies for home ownership programs. (It spent $38 billion in 1978 on these subsidies for middle-class and affluent homeowners versus $122 billion in 2005.)

Fact three: In 2004, 61 percent of all federal housing subsidies went to households earning over $54,787 per year, while only 20 percent of those subsidies went to households earning less than $18,465 annually. The 2004 federal poverty threshold for a household of four with two minor children was $19,157.

The fact is, the Bush Administration has been worse than Reagan when it comes to cuts made to programs designed to help the poor, the homeless, and especially the homeless veterans. Anything else being said to try to save the legacy of an evil monster is propaganda, pure and simple.

Corporate Welfare Forces The Poor To Starve

Over one trillion dollars is being pumped directly into the coffers of some of America's most fiscally irresponsible companies at the very same moment that the politicians who so blithely give away our money are denying an increase in food stamp allotments to the poorest of the poor in our country.

Claiming that the United States could not afford to give the poverty stricken more food purchasing power due to budget shortfalls, recent Congressional votes ran along Party lines, with Republicans threatening to filibuster the very bailout bill that would hand over to the bankers and lawyers of Wall Street the wealth of the entire nation, unless the Democrats removed an earmark to the bill that would have given a measly ten dollars per month to struggling families.

A March, 31st, 2008 article in the New York Times warns of the rising number of families with the sole provider being put out of work, being forced to turn to the food stamp and welfare programs of their respective states, only to discover the shocking truth that the system is designed to cause misery and not relief any more, thanks to the likes of the Republicans in Congress since 1994.

When Newt Gingrich and his corrupt cohorts wrestled control of the House and the Senate, one of their first actions was to enact laws that cut maximum benefit levels, and ordered a freeze in the standard deduction. Instituted in 1996, the frozen benefit levels and reduced standard deduction levels have caused such a lowering of available food purchasing power among America's poor that the Fiscal Policy Institute, an ultra conservative group, has decried the frozen benefit levels as actually hurting the economy. Twelve years of lowered benefits, and eight years of job losses has eroded the American dream into a long forgotten shadow of a whisper.

Yet another conservative group, the Center On Budget and Policy Priorities, has put forth reports showing the impact on the cuts in cash assistance, food stamp benefit allotments, and the reduction in medical care being provided due to the massive giveaway to the insurance industry in the form of privatizing Medicaid.

One of the very first sounds you'll hear from the far right is a bleating whine about government not being in the business of helping the poor and that they shouldn't be receiving benefits of any kind. But the very same heartless losers will actually sit and justify the redistribution of wealth to banks and mortgage brokers, who then take our money and go off laughing in our face on half a million dollar vacations. The whiners and begrudgers don't even know the basic fundamental fact of economics. That is, if the poor had more benefits, there would be more money flowing through the economy, more jobs would be created, thereby lowering the need for those benefits naturally, and yes, it would help spread the wealth around to taxpayers, not corporations.

With the Presidential candidates from both sides of the aisle calling for another 'vote buy' stimulus package, once again, before the bill is even put to paper, or any details worked out, the Democrats once more attempt to push for a hike in food stamp levels, pointing out the alarming rise in food prices, and the lowered ability of poor and even middle class families to feed their children due to even faster rising costs of fuel, but once more into the fray come the neo-cons, demanding no increase whatsoever for people they label as a drain on the system. Why anyone would consider hungry children a drain on anything is beyond all reason and should reveal to everyone once and for all just who the Republican Party represents. The rich and the corporate interests.

What is to be done? The answer, according to every single advocate for the poor, and across the board at conservative think tanks, is to lift the standard deduction freeze, and raise the cap on food stamp benefits. To push aside those who stand in the way of economic recovery for all, and who would allow their fellow citizens to go hungry while they gorge themselves at the Congressional cafeteria for free. Only the best for those who make it to the pinnacles of power, but a let them eat cake attitude towards the multitudes who scramble for the falling crumbs.

Other think tanks decry the cuts in funding that have been implemented at vocational rehabilitation centers for those who have lost jobs. It used to be that one could go to these places and get training for another job that paid a comparable wage. No longer. Due to more Republican budget cuts, the name of the game at these mills is to place a worker in virtually any job available, in most cases, a minimum wage, no benefits, dead end, no hope for the future job, that forces the person onto the welfare rolls any way.

It's time for this evil to end. The time has come to push aside those who have foisted misery and suffering on their fellow Americans in order to cater to the whims and desires of rich corporate fat cats. It is time to restore our nation to a place of compassionate helping hands, and do away with the mentality that says it's ok to swat away those who reach out for help. No nation's soul can survive very long under a cloud of death and treasure for the few. Congress would do well to note their suffering citizens and react accordingly. For should they not understand the growing anger and desperation that is beginning to grip this country, they may well find themselves with a conflagration on their hands that makes the Boston Tea Party look like a fireside chat. End the corporate welfare, and help starving Americans. End the corporate welfare, and bring a dying nation back to life by giving help to those who can in turn breath life back into the economy. The alternative is becoming intolerable and the consequences unthinkable.

Using 9/11 To Rip Off The Public

Just 18 miles north of Boston, Massachusetts, sits tiny Peabody, a small town sitting on the intersection of I-95 and Route 128. Not much happens in Peabody, as the police at headquarters on Allen Lane will attest to. At this time of year, the most heinous crimes are speeding tickets being given out like Halloween candy to the thousands of tourists who flock to New England in order to view the fall foliage.

But something new will be occurring in Peabody come September 11th of next year due to the vigorous efforts of the Police Department's Union. All Peabody police officers will be given the opportunity to take the day off, or to work it and receive holiday pay. That's right. Even though not recognized as either a state or federal holiday, the cops in Peabody will be treated to an extra one any way.

Only the second city in the entire nation to do this for their cops, it would seem to be only natural for the reader to believe that New York is the other city. But you'd be wrong, as it's actually another New England town called Derry, New Hampshire. Derry, about 20 miles southeast of Manchester, New Hampshire, is even smaller than Peabody, but they too get to enjoy an extra day of fun and laughs at taxpayer expense on a day when the rest of us stop to remember the victims of the largest catastrophe of our time.

Even as the families of some of the World Trade Center victims in New York expressed outrage that cops in areas not even affected by the disasters are being given special perks at a time when state budgets are strained to the breaking point and services are being slashed everywhere, police unions in nearby towns see the move as a great idea. Medford, Massachusetts police officer Harry MacGilvray, who is also the head of that town's police association, says that he thinks it's a great idea and one that should be adopted by other Massachusetts towns and cities.

The brother of one of the victims, who was contacted by the media says" “I’m really shocked, They’re just taking advantage of a tragic event for their own gain, and I don’t appreciate it.” Other families expressed outrage, with several calling and mailing the city of Peabody, but the union pretty much had the city over a barrel. In addition to the holiday perk, the city also had to agree to use only paid off duty cops at road construction sites as well as give in to a 13 per cent pay hike.

Somehow, this stinks to high heaven. The nation is going through a financial meltdown, and citizens everywhere are being forced to tighten their belts and close their wallets. Prices are spiraling out of control, rents are shooting upwards, the housing market has tanked, and the costs of heating your home are going to make last year seem like a walk in the park. But yet, despite all of this, the cops in New England believe they deserve a perk not shared by anyone else in the country, including the very cops who were on the scene when the towers came down.

The cops who lost their brothers and the families of the firefighters who lie beneath the rubble of the crumbling towers do not seek to exploit a day of national mourning for personal gain. The soldiers killed at the Pentagon certainly have loved ones who could use an extra day off of work every year, but yet, there is no law giving relief to the very people who should be receiving it.

How then, do these who were not even there on the day that evil struck and slaughtered thousands feel they deserve special treatment? How dare they besmirch the memories of the fallen and the wounded survivors who will go through the rest of their lives with psychic scars or others with death sentence breathing problems. granted, a few of the cops from these two towns showed up after the fact to try to help in the cleanup, but that little bit of service does not in any way grant license to a lifetime of reward. And what of the city officials who caved in to this outrageous demand at a time when they are thinking of cutting services for schoolchildren? At the very least, should they not be forced to visit ground zero, be forced to witness the real cops and firefighters who were there that day, and be forced to listen to the horror stories of the departments who should be receiving that extra perk, but ask for nothing?

If the cops in Peabody, Massachusetts and Derry, New Hampshire had any honor, and aren't just trying to rip off the taxpayers on the backs of dead heroes, they would turn down the day off and extra pay, or take the pay and donate the money to the upkeep of the 9/11 Memorials. Because memories of a life changing event are one thing. But the exploitation of those events for personal gain are cynical stains upon the still open wounds of an entire nation. Shame on the cops of these two towns for their blatant extortion of their respective cities, and for the wasteful use of taxpayer money in order for them to have another summer barbecue.

The Second American Civil War

No one can say just who fired the first shot, just as no one will ever be able to discern just what moment became the catalyst for the conflagration that has torn a once great nation asunder. Many in the newly formed Democratic Union of Free States claim the bitterness and hatred emanating from the candidacy and campaign of John S. McCain and his running mate, an unqualified Governor of a state that seceded from the Union immediately after hostilities began, Sarah Palin were the cause of their supporters taking license to go and kill anyone who disagreed with them. Almost all of the Northeastern states, as well as several upper Mid-Western state plus Virginia make up the Democratic Union of Free States, a powerful coalition to whom the Second Confederacy must turn to for financial assistance in order to survive.

Former states such as Arizona, Nevada, Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Utah have been absorbed or granted entry into the Republic of California, a nation that has taken up isolationism as it's mantra, and who, full of food and other of life's necessities, refuse to bargain or trade at all with their former colleagues to the east or south.

Oklahoma, Kansas, and New Mexico were seized by the newly reformed Republic of Texas, whose Governor Jeb Bush threatens the Free States of Nebraska, North and South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado with nuclear holocaust unless they submit to becoming a part of Texas. It would be comical were it not a Bush nut job in charge of the launch codes. The only thing stopping Texas from making good on their threat is the combined might of the newly formed separate nations providing an umbrella of mutually assured destruction should the Texans attempt to invade the breadbasket of the continent.

Virtually all of the Ohio Valley states joined the D.U.F.S. for both financial and cultural reasons, with the great industrial capacities of the northern states meshing quite nicely with the agricultural centers in the upper Mid-West.

Hawaii was seized by Japan when the first missiles were fired, as well as Guam, the Marshall Islands, and American Somoa. Puerto Rico declared it's complete independence from the former U.S., aligning itself with Cuba and by proxy, Russia.

Entire cities lie in ruins, New York, Boston and Washington D.C. being battlegrounds used by not only invading forces from the southern areas, but wracked by internal fighting as well. There is no evidence as to who lobbed a nuke at Atlanta, but the Confederacy's plans to use that city as it's Capital were scrapped in favor of Savannah. Likewise, Austin, shattered beyond recognition due to a constant barrage of artillery and air strafings, caused the Republic's Capital to be moved to Dallas. Philadelphia is the recognized center for the North, although remnants of the old federal government continue to insist that D.C. is the rightful base for government.

The bitter divide and hatred felt by all of the participants in the fighting, and even by those who could do little more than watch, is thick enough to cut with a butter knife. Tensions run high along borders of the new nations, with sporadic gunfire heard all along the frontiers due to itchy trigger fingers.

Funny though, even as the economies of the entire world collapsed due to this second American civil war, it has been the communities of Europe that have provided the relief for the former united country. All save Texas have accepted this aid, even the Confederacy, because to not partake in the largess would have spelled certain doom. Ordinary Texans regularly sneak across the mine laden borders to escape the oppression and brutal tactics being employed to suppress all dissent, but those who are caught are water boarded, tortured and hung. Condemned by the United Nations as a rogue state, the Texas government claims they could care less what the world thinks. It's where most Republican politicians escaped to when the fighting they had been begging for broke out. And aslo the only nation on the continent that has not outlawed corporations.

President McCain of the Texas Republic has not been seen for several months, leading to speculation as to his health. His number two, Comrade Lieberman, has been speaking on McCain's behalf. With the departure of now Premier Palin of the Nation of Alaska, Lieberman immediately moved to shore up his own grip on power. Alaskans, angry at the war caused by McCain and Palin's whipping their supporters into violent frenzies during the 2008 Presidential election, claim they do not recognize the authority of either Palin, the self proclaimed Premier, nor the power behind the throne, Todd Palin. The nation seems to have fallen back on it's former frontier mentality, with everyone doing anything they please.

Gasoline prices have started to reach the ceiling at 24 dollars per gallon in the southern parts of the country. Northern cities only reached about 10 bucks due to the help of the Canadians. Food consists mainly of stale bread, corn on the cob, oily fish from polluted waters, and the occasional pack of dried beans and potatoes. Milk has started to become pasteurized once more in some areas, and it's rumored that the Montanans are beginning to process real meat again, but it could be many months yet till we know the extent of their capacity. Fears abound that the knowledge of food production could spark yet another war.

There's no telephone or television service, the only communication devices the small hand held radios distributed by the European Union and Canada. People are seen huddling around a single radio, desperate for news from other parts of the broken nation, but alas, with the frequency jammers employed by some out of spite, information is sporadic and decidedly propagandized.

People have started to try to rebuild what they can, attempting to get stores and services back up and running. Many areas have electricity once again, meaning that cities with subways can ferry people around to different work areas. Buildings that were destroyed during the fighting are being rebuilt, although many office buildings are still being used as housing by those fearful to return to outlying areas. Cities have become refuges of sorts, the comfort of safety in numbers being on people's minds.

It is believed that the Northern Union decided to stop fighting the Confederate States after the slaughter that occurred at Midland, Georgia. 200,000 casualties from both sides was just too much to bear for either country, and the destruction of Ft. Benning, with it's accompanying brutality to prisoners of war took the fight out of everyone. Although the Confederacy blames the North for the nuking of Atlanta, there is evidence that suggests it was actually the Alaskans, under the orders of the Palin family, that launched the warhead. Roundly condemned for the cowardly act, scholars also believe that it was the firing of a nuclear missile that brought the fighting across the continent to a standstill. Looking on the bright side, they say that nuke may have saved millions of lives.

No one is quite sure where things will go from here. There does not seem to be any desire for the competing nations to rejoin into one entity any time soon. The Northerners and their allies in the Mid-West claim no possible talks will be negotiated without the handing over of the criminals McCain, Lieberman, and Palin. The Texans, with their usual aloofness, claim they don't know the whereabouts of any of the principles, even though Lieberman gave a speech in El Paso two days ago. And, claim the Northerners, with Texas' close ties to Alaska, they could easily convince the lawless country to hand Palin over. California has outlawed political parties altogether, opting instead for a fully independent candidate process, funded entirely by the states within their Republic. They have expressed interest in talks, but don't seem to be in any hurry, what with their abundance of food and energy.

And so, no one really knows if there will ever be a nation called the United States again. The second American civil war tore asunder what two hundred plus years worth of sweat, blood and tears built. It was such a little thing really, something that could have been avoided had those with keener intellects demanded a halt to the hate and the call for violence by the now outlawed Republican Party. In trying to win an election where it was clear the electorate no longer wished to follow them, they made up lies about their fellow countrymen and told their dwindling amount of followers that it was alright to use any means they felt like to sow fear and distrust. Until that fear led to murder, and that murder led to reprisals, and those reprisals led to every nut job in the country grabbing guns and firing at anything that moved.

Time warping back to October of 2008, one can clearly see that all of it could have been avoided had those in charge but arrested those calling for violence, calling their fellow countrymen traitors when they themselves were the seditionists, and had they not tried to play with people's fears and people's prejudices in order to retain a grasp on power they had been abusing since taking office. Such progress could have been made, but for the timidity of the mainstream media, who allowed the charlatans to spew their message across of the airwaves of a worried America, and not call them on the air what they were. Liars. The very same liars who led the nation down the path of financial ruin, divided the country, and helped to destroy the dreams of the entire world.

No Grave Could Be Deep Enough

Evil shows itself to all of us in different forms and in varying degrees of intensity. Each of us has been touched at some point by the palpable presence of darkness, some of us plunged into proximity with what can be seen only as the works of entities bent on destruction, while others escape with mere shadows darting from the corners of their eyes.

Other events though, are sometimes so heinous and abhorrent that they can only be classified as beyond the pale, so dark and so evil that the perpetrators themselves must be spawned by hell itself.

I'm speaking of course about the killers and abusers of children, those special degenerates for whom no grave can be deep enough to bury the memory of the deeds they have done. In recent weeks there seems to have been an unusual spate of murders, snuffings of little lives and abuses of those whose only crime was to cry out for love and affection. Here's a few of the most recent tales of the death of innocence. You decide whether they are the actions born of desperation, or just cold, calculated evil itself.

In Chattanooga Tennessee, a man brought his stepson to the emergency room at Memorial North Park Hospital, claiming he had fallen off of a picnic table while the family was on a day trip to the park. The child's injuries were so severe that he died a short time later. Further investigation revealed "multiple blunt force traumas" to the boy's body, including a fractured skull, ruptured spleen, broken ribs, and several other broken bones and abrasions. Accused of homicide, the man just had his case bound over to the Hamilton County grand jury.

A 14 year old girl has just been rescued and released from her bondage in Seattle Washington. She was brought to the United States by Afghan immigrants, who most likely bought her from her impoverished parents back in Afghanistan. Forced to work as a slave, the girl did the laundry, cooked the meals, minded the other household children, and oh yeah, was forced to have sex with the men of the house. Enslaved since 2006, it was only after neighbors recently realized what was happening at the home where the girl was being held that they helped her escape to safety and the immigrants who held her have all been arrested.

In the Bronx, New York homeless shelter where a homeless single father resided with his 8 month old son, neighbors and shelter staff became concerned after the father asked for an ambulance to be called for his infant. Bruising was evident on the baby, but the father insisted the child had fallen down. The baby died on the way to the hospital and police arrested the father after he made statements about punching his son in the stomach. Apparently, the father and son were not unknown to New York City's child protective services unit, as the baby had been to the hospital before with a broken arm. By all accounts, the man was seen to be a good father, but yet, that doesn't change the fact that he is now charged with manslaughter. A side note here would be that between 2004 to 2007, 38 children have died at New York's homeless shelters.

Tennessee once again, this time Memphis. It seems that there have been 12 children killed by one or both parents this year alone. In one instance, an 18 year old man furiously punched his girlfriend's 13 month old in the chest twice. She died on the way to the hospital as the man said while being arrested " She wouldn't stop crying." In another, a two month old died of a fractured skull after her father repeatedly punched her in the head. And particularly disgusting was the case of a two year old girl whose father has been charged with child murder after beating his daughter to death while attempting to potty train her. Authorities say there may have been sexual abuse occurring.

A psychopath in Tuscon, Arizona won't be seeing the light of day for a long time, maybe never, after pleading guilty to child porn charges. It seems the man and his wife liked to film little children engaging in sexual acts, and place the videos on the internet. When police raided their home, they also found 150 dogs that were being bred for dog fighting, $100,000, and 60 firearms, including automatic weapons. Just your typical American household I guess.

Here's the point. These despicable people should be buried deep inside the walls of some prison, or if found guilty and executed, buried in a grave so deep that future archaeologists will never find them. But could all of this have been avoided in the first place?

There has been much ridicule made of Nebraska's new child safe haven law. The law that allows for children of any age to be brought to area hospitals and left by parents who feel they are incapable of caring for them properly. Or parents who feel they may endanger their kids in some way. There was even coverage by the right wing media of a 'protest' against the law in Lincoln, the capitol city of Nebraska, but what the cameras didn't show was the fact that there were exactly 5, count them, 5 'protesters'.

The vast majority of the people in Nebraska are just fine with the law. If it will save one child's life, the scorn and ridicule are well worth it. Would it not seem to others then, that maybe their states should be re-examining their child safe haven laws to expand them? Or does the safety of children not really count to anyone other than those who actually work to pass and retain progressive laws such as Nebraska's? It seems as though the voices that are loudly braying about the idiocy of Nebraska's safe haven laws are the very same voices that are mysteriously silent when asked what their solution is. Child Protective Services in all 50 states are overwhelmed and can not respond to many cases. If people had a way to relinquish their children to safety, would that not free up case workers to respond to the cases of child abuse where the parents are in denial?

Think about this when you vote come November also. Which candidate would be more open to helping children and not fat cats? Which Senate and House candidates would pass a national safe haven law for children? Which State candidates? If the children of America are our future, then we must safeguard that national treasure as surely as we safeguard our money, our homes, or any other tangible valuable. Let the children cry, let the children suffer, and eventually, you can sit and watch America die.

To Submit Meekly Or To Exercise Your Rights

Submission to authority has been drummed into the heads of every person on the planet. Virtually universal in demanding compliance, governments lay down a set of laws to be followed by the populace, albeit, in most cases, to maintain some semblance of order.

In times past, the People of the United States had no real way of understanding the abuses of power that were perpetrated upon them, and so unwittingly contributed to ever growing intrusions of government into their lives. Ignorance being bliss, the People accepted the status of being little more than producing cattle, while those in charge of government and industry plotted the destruction of our Constitution and our way of life.

A side note here if you'll indulge, would be to openly state that the recent economic collapse did not just 'happen', but was an orchestrated event planned over the space of several years. One of the most cunning ways to erode a populations standard of living is to cause an economic emergency, that forces them to accept less pay for their labor, and feel lucky to be able to have work available at all. Why Americans are not marching on the White House and the criminal Treasury Department causes consternation in protesters of yesterday, who claim this generation to be the most weak willed in our history.

When trying times have beset our nation in times past, there was never any hesitation in the minds of the civil minded to take to the streets in protest. No hesitation to shut down by strike corporate entities or indeed the entire country when misdeeds by either corporate or government entity were detected. So terrifying in it's implication, civil disobedience by the public has caused a massive effort to be undertaken to relieve Americans of the notion that they are free to exercise their Constitutional right to petition for redress. The common wisdom prevailing now in the new country forged by the right wing fascists dictates that should you even try to disobey or make waves, you will be tased, you will be beaten, you will be taking a trip to jail and the courthouse.

We have all been witness to the anti war protesters being tased and arrested in recent years. We have been silent witnesses to the rise of free speech holding cells, the designated, away from the public view in many cases, ares where you are allowed to protest. The areas where civic minded Americans go to make their displeasure known, only to be photographed, identified, infiltrated by police entities, and placed in a data base of 'terrorists'.

Even those who wish to strike and protest against their employers have been arrested in recent years. One case that made the news this year were the 39 employees of Disneyland that were protesting the low wages and lack of medical insurance that Disney provided. Dressed as Disney characters, the police swooped in with batons swinging. You do not protest against corporations in this new America.

The elections have also shown that you are not allowed to hold protests against the government, with police in St. Paul raiding the staging areas of groups planning to march, and arresting rally leaders pre-emtively. Arresting people before they have even done anything at all would smack of thought crimes, and those arrested are most likely the first thought criminals in the history of this country. Used by the likes of Stalin and Hitler, the methods once abhorred and anathema to everything this nation stood for, are now becoming common place, and seen as just the way things are by too many of our people.

Questions linger in the minds of many Americans as to the validity of a government run amok, a government no longer of the People, by the People, nor for the People, but those questions can not be publicly voiced, lest one be automatically labeled a 'malcontent', a 'terrorist sympathizer', or somehow 'Unamerican'. It is this lie that has been shoved down the throats of the People for so long that now allows a Supreme Court Justice to declare that executing an innocent man is just dandy, because the people demand retribution for a heinous crime. The long held tenet of ten guilty men going free rather than executing one innocent man has been reversed by this extremist Court, and so, very soon, America will be witness to the murder of Troy Davis by their government.

The time has come for Americans to reject these new notions of absolute power by a government that feeds war machines and corporate criminals. Our society must understand that those who practice civil disobedience are protecting the rights of all of us, and can not be jailed or tased or beaten at the whim of the also run amok police. Instead, Americans must join in the protests, if not physically, then on the internet through emails, or by telephone. Flooding an email box or jamming a phone line is another quite effective way to show displeasure, and in and of itself, can be a form of civil disobedience.

One thing the People had better realize and realize it quickly, is that the day is fast approaching wherein there will be zero tolerance for protest or civil disobedience, a time when Americans will be forced to sit meekly by while an outgoing administration blatantly robs the Treasury of the People, giving all of the money to their corporate friends. Oh. That just happened didn't it? Where is the outcry? Is everyone too cowed by the threat of violence by the government should they march on the Capitol of OUR nation? It would seem that way.

Those who protest are true patriots, although to the far right extremists they are to be feared. They fear them because they represent a tearing down of fascism, a long held dream of Corporate America, and a dream they are watching die in front of their faces. Protesters are a threat to the very foundation of the old Cold Warriors' way of life, a life of war, death, killing, and ripping off taxpayer dollars.

So, go out and protest something you don't agree with. Fire off an email to someone right now, just to let them know you're are of what they are up to. Pick up the phone and give someone an earful about the status quo and demand change. And when you hear of non violent protesters being tased, or beaten, or arrested, howl as loudly as your voice can carry. Scream the primal screams of a wounded animal. The sounds of your anger will carry to their intended recipients, and they will tremble with fear of their own. Fear of an aroused and awakened populace and the fear that there is a multitude that is aware of their actions. Do not be cowed by the government, nor their corporate masters. Remember, despite what the far right claims, America is our nation, corporations are NOT people, and we have the right to protest any damned thing we like.

Do it now. Don't put it off until tomorrow. Whatever it is that's bothering you, whether it's a candidate for office, one that's in office, a law you disagree with, an action taken by the government, or just a parking ticket you disagree with, do something about it. Don't allow this country to fall into the old Soviet style standard of living by silent acquiescence, and watch quietly as more restrictive laws are passed on your rights as an American. Let them put us ALL, 300 million of us, on the stupid 'watch lists'. Won't it be funny to watch the airlines go out of business because no one is allowed to fly? And just think, no more fear of being strip searched in order to board a flight! It's up to us to stop this madness, so get moving and let's roll....................

An Open Letter To Bill And Hillary Clinton

Dear Mr. President and Senator Clinton,

Clearly you know of the negative attacks on Barak Obama by John McCain and Sarah Palin. Attacks that are the sleaziest and slimiest of their kind since the days of the criminal Huey Long of Louisiana. The desperation that emanates from the McCain campaign is palpable, and they have begun to resort to tactics that any one with any respect for the United States would shy away from. Inciting crowds to violence, they hope to distract the people from the dangerous times facing our nation, and the fact that they are already attempting to commit voter fraud in several states.

But the one thing that could clinch this election and push Obama so far ahead of the Republican camp is sorely missing. That is the voices of Bill and Hillary Clinton leading the charge against this disgusting last minute vileness unbecoming of any U.S. politician, let alone a Senator and a Governor of a state. Were the voice of a President, much beloved by the people of this country to this day, to make a major statement concerning the conduct of the campaign of John McCain, it might just force Senator McCain to talk about the issues, and leave the attacks alone.

If Senator Clinton were to tackle the problem of Sarah Palin's uncountable lies, well, who better to attack this little puppy than the real pit bull of the Senate? There could be no cries from any side of sexism at that type of counter attack now could there?

Both of you have served your country, and we are all sure that Mrs. Clinton has the tenacity to make another run for the White House in 2016. And of course , she will win. But in order for that atmosphere to even be available come that time in our future, the nation needs to loudly hear your voices now, lest the Republicans that have led us down the road to ruin be allowed to steal yet another election, and force us to follow them down the path of destruction.

Those of us who back a new direction for the country have waited breathlessly for both of your voices to rally undecided voters to our cause. But yet, there has been a disconcerting silence from the two people in this country who could easily attack the McCain/Palin ticket on two fronts at the same time, and do so loudly enough that people will listen.

President Clinton could be pointing out the Clinton Presidency, and the gains that were made, the budget surpluses, the sunnier skies, and the hope that was felt by all. Senator Clinton could actually challenge Sarah Palin on the issue of experience, and an attack by her could not be so easily dismissed.

Although it can be argued that you have given speeches backing Barak Obama and Joe Biden, the attention given to them was weak at best and had virtually no impact. Remembering back to 1991, when President Clinton campaigned in the so called Republican stronghold states, there was more than a couple of those states that turned blue that year. The nation needs that same campaigner to do it once again, because this time, the stakes are so much higher.

Mr. and Mrs. Clinton, our nation is in peril. Not some abstract possible threat that may or may not occur. The threat is here, it is happening, and it threatens the very foundation of our great country. To have the power and authority to command the attention of those of us who are still undecided by using the oratory gifts that both of you possess and not use that power to minimize the attention being heaped upon the Mccain campaign by the mainstream media would be an act of selfishness, and no one believes either of you to be that. Much respected both within the Democratic Party and without, a major attack on the McCain campaign by both of you could be the final nail in the coffin of the vicious, spinning out of control campaign of John McCain.

It would help greatly were one or both of you to appear at a campaign event of either Senator Obama or Senator Biden. It would show the voters who voted for Mrs. Clinton during the primaries that we are one Party, and not a divided house. There is too much at stake here for hurt feelings or future political posturing to get in the way of stopping an even bigger disaster from being foisted upon us all. The disaster of a Palin/McCain administration that would completely decimate the very nature of the United States, cause untold misery for millions of Americans, and hatred of our country the world over.

Help us stop this monstrously vast right wing conspiracy once and for all Mr. and Mrs. Clinton. Stand side by side with the Democratic candidates and use your major voices to stamp out the fies being lit by the filthy rhetoric of an out of control right wing who would and will go to any lengths, including violence, to try to steal this election. Both of you have been victims of that right wing playbook. Don't sit by the sidelines and allow the rest of us to be continued victims of the furtherance of the Bush years, and the vast neo-con fascist agenda. In the end, we, the American people, know you will do the right thing. And the right thing here is a loud rebuke of the tactics of the campaign of Sarah Palin and John McCain.