"Who Benefits?" Is Not An Ideology.

We start on facebook (of course), where I posted, "Letting the arsonists try and put out their own fire is a dumb plan, even for the American voting public. But at least with shared power the Republicans railing against "guv'ment" in general will be shooting at their own feet, too. Shame on grownups in the GOP for entertaining the idiocy of "mama grizzlies" and letting other nutcases into power. Now we'll see if they can tame 'em, too..."

My facebook friend and sparring partner Matthew responded, "sometimes Dave...I cant tell if you are too much into your ideology, hyperbole, or have no clue. lol. said with love."

Okay. Here's my reply, and I hope you'll indulge me...


Of course, Matt. Taken that way too. And be honest. You did not laugh out loud. You should have said LQTM, laughing quietly to myself... but hey, we were on the subject of hyperbole...

Listen, man. I don't have an ideology. I think for myself. I am a member of no party and the only wing I like is the chicken wing, and it better be hot as hell, with bleu cheese on the side, and celery - old school, upstate new york style.

I have until now come down on the side of the worker, as opposed to the person who inherits the company from his daddy. To me this is common sense. Protect the worker and not his bosses' bosses' bosses' boss - not because of ideology, but because his way of life needs protection and his CEO does not. It would be foolish to minister to the CEO's interests. He's doing just fine and always will.

There is no society of organisms in nature wherein the weak exploit the strong. None. It is always the other way around. The middle class didn't get lost somewhere on a road trip. It has been systematically poisoned and destroyed. Who benefited? Answer that, and you have the answer to the big questions.

As far as having a clue... Our nation is in deep trouble, our infrastructure crumbling, our middle class evaporating... but it's the very best of times for some, and they are laughing at both of us. That's a clue. You should take it, too. Said with love, Boyo.

Want to know what happened to your country? Look at who is prospering, and there you will find what happened to your country. There are winners and there are losers. Once upon a time, the American people reasoned that "winner take all" may not be the best approach to creating a stable nation... for this reason, it is no surprise that the "golden age" of America coincided with the heyday of the labor movement, and tax rates far higher for the wealthy than anything the "Commie" Obama harbors in his wildest dreams.

My "ideology" is: we should call things what they are. The American worker is toast. When will our country be healthy again? When the middle class is gaining back the ground they lost. Then, and only then.

And using "who benefits?" to find the source of the problem is not just for your country - it applies to any country, in any era. When systems of great inequality and suffering prevail, look to where the money goes - and there's your culprit. Count up the millions of foreclosed homes, and look at the Wall Street bonuses coming out higher than ever this year. Look who got richer when the economy tanked.

The deregulation folks. The GOP. Wall Street.

Frankly, I don't see hyperbole or ideology or cluelessness in any of this. But LOL?... ... puh-lease!

One More Time, With Feeling... Ed and I Go At It Again.

Another exchange from facebook, brought here and presented by the GTL for your dining and dancing pleasure:

On Friday morning, September 10, 2010, Ed posted a link on his facebook page, stating: "I am flying the American flag in a moment of remembrance for 9/11."

A commendable sentiment, but with a Jingoistic edge, I thought. I responded, "Fly a flag for all the nations that lost souls on that day, not just ours." Ed responded with a rather sarcastic and puzzling post, "Not sure what other countries were attacked by terrorists on that day, but they should be honored as well."

Here's my reply:

Once again Ed? Nowhere do I say any other countries were attacked on 9/11. Please stop doing this. The straw man routine is crude and disingenuous, not to mention tiresome. My goal in these debates is to try to convince you to consider my opinions and ideas sincerely. To compare and contrast our philosophies and ideas in an effort to arrive at a reasonable set of solutions to real problems -- not to get zingers in and play at innuendo. I realize you are an adept and cunning arguer - but you needn't use a battering ram when a doorbell will suffice.

You're "not sure what other countries were attacked?" Really? You mean you actually think other countries "might" have been attacked on 9/11, you just forgot? Either you're confused, intentionally condescending, or employing a rhetorical flourish intended to mock my statement. I respect your intellect and know you know better. I am being sincere and would rather not be mocked, especially as you are a person who seeks to live by the doctrine of loving one's enemies, and believing that God loves all people, not just Americans.

When Americans are killed in terrorist attacks overseas, we fly U.S. flags at those sites. What is wrong with honoring the dead of other countries on this sad day, in addition to our own? The capitol of the world was attacked. There's enough grief to go around. Plenty of room for everyone.

New Yorkers are America's welcoming committee. If we are to assert our country's glorious exceptionalism in the arena of nations, we should at least be as hospitable to guests (and foreign cultures) as Islam instructs all Muslims to be in theirs.

People from everywhere, Muslims too, were killed on 9/11 -- not by Islam -- but by 19 crazed terrorists. The world as a whole is a colder, harsher place because of their depraved murderousness, and the misguided belief in the superiority of their own religion that fueled it.

Remembering the Dead, and the Living.

I grew up going to the Brooklyn Heights Promenade on weekends with my father, watching the twin towers rise slowly, one floor at a time over lower Manhattan, from the most beautiful and iconic vantage point on Earth. In hot or cold weather, under cloudy, sunny, or rainy skies, at dusk when the bright window-eyed skyscrapers flecked the river with gold, or on a chilly morning like today's in a bright, brisk wind. These images are framed in my mind as indelibly as the sight of my own hand, now, in front of my face.

Today I want to mourn the loss of these buildings and the thousands who died within them, alongside everyone who lost something - or everything - on that sad day nine years ago. But saddest of all, I want to mourn the loss of the American spirit of tolerance and civic pride, our love of humanity, our belief in the saving strength of our unique form of government, and our embrace of the people of the world who came to New York - and still come - looking for a decent waking life and a better dream for the future.

Today that dream is receding beneath the crushing ugliness of our new post-9/11 culture, the fearfulness that shuts our eyes, minds, and hearts, the re-emergence of the lynch mob as the quintessential group expression of freedom, and the utter failure of the moneyed media to back us away from the abyss and ask us to listen for the quiet voices, the better angels of our nature.

Please remember with me that Muslims also died in those attacks, and that Americans come in all shapes, sizes, cultures and customs. Please remember with me that we are all children of one earth, of one universe, and for those of religious faith, of one God.

I want us to be clean again, purged of hate and fear. I want more than anything for this to be a day to remember love, to feel love, to forgive, and to ask forgiveness.