That part of the movie where Spencer Tracy and his old friend Frederick March do battle in the courtroom, the former the cynical, shopworn progressive thinker the latter a cliche spouting literal bible believer.

Both fought long and hard battles on the same side until god came into the picture and segregated these two rhetorical warriors into warring camps. One believing with all his heart, one doubting with all his mind.

One still maintains his wits the other lost in nostalgia, letting the past dictate his present. To bad for him the here and now was changing and so within the blink of an eye, one old warrior fell victim to life.

It was sad, heart wrenching to listen as the onward christian soldier sputtered, lost in the strictures of Leviticus and met his fate while no one really noticed except his doting wife.

I see McCain, the one time happy warrior, still grasping for attention, relevance, really, trying to fit the new world into his cold world structure. Too many loose ends now, too many enemies lurking everywhere. The old warrior trying desperately to fit them all into the strict confines of the ultimate grudge match; USA vs. USSR.

He has his followers, old men, always old men, gloaming onto his hero veneer in order to have one more day in the sun. But that sun set long ago. They focus on the Evil now that the Empire has gone. You can see it as he tried to stand tall and rigid, threatening Russia just like St. Ronald the Thespian in the olden times. But his bluster, like Frederick March reciting the biblical linage while no one listened, went for naught.

But now Barack, comfortable enough in his own political skin to take on a sage, faces head on a more complicated landscape. Everything is changing, morphing into a Brave New World. And just like Arthur had Merlin or Frodo had Gandolph, Obama now has Biden, the wizened veteran who will be there to assist in times of trouble, times of doubt. It's a perfect fit, epic in scope, drenched in the reality of myth. The Idealist and the Sage. An unbeatable combination for the trying times ahead.

First, she is the one who has to blast McCain for being so strongly anti-choice that there is no doubt left in anyone's mind as to his intentions when it comes to pushing the anti-choice agenda.

Second, along those same line, HRC is the perfect voice to make it absolutely clear to her wavering followers that voting for McCain would put back the women's movement by at least a generation as McCain would surely send to the Senate conservative judicial nominees from the District to the Supreme Court. She doesn't have to say it in those words but she must attack McCain on his potential Judicial Nominees.

Third, she needs to rally all her disgruntled supporters to Obama by saying this was an historic moment in American History. A woman and an African-American battling for the nomination. The Democratic Party is, for now and for the future, the champion of all Americans.

Fourth, HRC should then list all the other ways that McCain would greatly harm the future of our children by gutting environmental regulation, pushing war as the only tool in McCain's foreign policy and that labor, women, non-union workers would all suffer if McCain takes the oath of office.

She should proudly talk about her own race to start with, thank her supporters and then hit the points I mentioned above. HRC is a good democrat. I voted for her in Ohio because I felt she had earned my vote. I am 100% behind Obama now and I know that HRC will make it perfectly clear she is 100% behind Obama as well...

 
But these preachers live outside the tax laws, get huge allowances for living expenses and pay little to no expense out of pocket. I was shocked when I was on the board of my church and discovered that a minister for a 500 or so congregation was given a compensation package of, when all tolled, about $175k. And most of it was tax free. It's a sham WOW...

And then they give cover to people who act ruthlessly in the market place by allowing them to tithe their way into the heart of god. If RW is different, then I stand corrected. But to me, most of these entrepreneurial preachers are living and enjoying the abundant life without contributing all that much to the greater good through taxes.

This has obviously been their plan from the beginning. They want to gut regulations and get the government out of the market place. No watch Dog organizations, no assistance to those who need it, no college aid, no farm bills, nothing except military spending.

That's what they want and they will continue to play on the gullibility of the media and the people who have grown to hate government because of the GOP Media Blitz against the government. For some reason people still believe that the GOP is a fiscally prudent political party. Nothing could be further from the truth.

is just plain wrong.

Why should someone, who by the luck, or curse, if you will, of location lives in an area that has some kind of church in charge of delivering his service or tends to his particular needs? Let say that service will not be delivered to our hero unless he listens to a sermon from say someone akin to Franklin Graham. Is that now to be the American way?

The question is this: Why should anyone be forced to endure a sermon in order to receive a service that is suppose to be available to all?

Here is a fine example. There was this teacher at a Catholic school who was fired because she dared disobey this particular diocesan rule stating that single women should not have carnal knowledge outside of marriage. She was fired because it came to the attention of Bishop, through rumors, that she dared have sex outside of marriage. Now in a world where the church gets no direct funding from the government, that should be no problem. The woman choose to work there so she should abide by the rules. However, the church was heavily funded through faith based initiatives. She brought suit against the church claiming she should not have to abide by the rules of the church since the government trumps a local church.

To all of those who are quick to dismiss Obama's hint at Faith Based Initiative, what say you to that? And how do you think the Robert's court would rule under these stated circumstances?

Remember, most charities and all churches are, to a varying degree, already funded by the federal government through tax write offs of the donors and the fact they are aloud to operate free from taxation. It goes deeper than that. At the state and local level, there is also full property tax relief.

So we already have faith based initiatives throughout the land. If they want funding for a program, let them raise it from private donors who will be enticed to give because of the tax incentives all ready in place. But don't mandate that a church be responsible for delivery of basic social needs. An individual in this country still has a right to expect something from his or her government with no strings from heaven attached.

What Bush has put in place should be dismantled ASAP.

Obama is wrong at even hinting at letting this religious camel's nose back under the secular tent.

The independent trucker, one of the last of the romantic figures left in America, is about to go under for the third time. Rising fuel costs that he (or she) can't pass on are rapidly forcing the independent freight haulers to park the rig.

In a way, the truck lived on American Greed and cheap oil, the elixir that made us all feel as if we could get anything we wanted at anytime at an affordable price.

But now, with the price of gas skyrocketing, the lonesome train whistle may be calling us back to the days when trains were king.

And with airlines soon to abandon smaller markets because they can't afford to fly anything that isn't chock full of customers, passenger trains will quickly fill the void.

I see freight being carried into cities by train and then trucked around in soon to be developed electric short haul trucks. People will stop heading for greener pastures and abandon the exurbs. Farm land will be reclaimed from far flung developments. Cities will once again be the centers of life that they once were.

The market will work it's magic.

Okay, okay, clap my hands and tinkerbell will wake from the dead.

I just have to look at the bright side once and awhile. All this gloom and doom about peak oil, energy crisis and impending food shortages is making me weary.

But I do think this will all shake out for the good. It's unfortunate that our country has allowed our leaders to become one with the economic power of oil and we did nothing, nothing to prepare for this day that anyone who was around for the first Earth Day knew was coming. We have pain coming, large doses, but I think in the end, we shall prevail. It won't be the same consumer oriented society we have come to loath and love, but it will be a better one for our children and our childrens children.

It's the corruption of the news and information we depend on by the corporate media that is dragging us toward oblivion.

Yesterday, on CNBC of all places, I listened to a couple of "investors" talking about where does the responsibility to the shareholders end and the responsibility to the public, to the planet, really, begin.

Indeed where is that magic line?

We have been told for years, by that same corporate media that politics is basically so corrupt that, as Louie the Immigrant Hater likes to say, there isn't any difference between the Democrats and Republicans. It's interesting that this usually only comes out when Democrats are in power. This is done. I believe, to make us think that no one in Washington has our best interests in mind while serving the public in DC. This feeling that there is no difference between the party's leaves most voters little choice but to vote their own pedestrian interests; gays, guns and Armageddon.

And then we hear, from that same corporate media, that corruption and conniving are essentially business as usual in real life while lulling us into indifference by bombarding us with visions of idealistic reformers and crime fighters on the network shows.

The question this leads to is simple; Where does the responsibility to the greater good trump the desire to maximize profits at any cost? When do those costs finally get so onerous to the society that we cry out enough is enough. Well we saw first hand that no matter how much we yell, how many people take to the streets, the bastard gatekeepers, Wolfy, Louie et al, dismiss the people's voice and in turn, depend on the very corrupt folks they rail against to set the news agenda. In the run up to the war in Iraq, no dissent was covered, no alternative was offered, no comfort was given.

This bit of news about the corporate media going after Kerry because he didn't support further FCC deregulation should be a major canary in a coal mine moment. But how are we to know unless those we have trusted with giving us the news have a different agenda. The FCC is the place to start this reform.

So again, where does the responsibility of the corporation to it's shareholders end and the debt they owe to a society that allows them to make money basically unfettered begin?

I know this is long and rambling, but I feel deeply about this issue.

What we can do is proclaim as loudly as possible to all our friends and relatives that there is indeed a difference between the democrats and republicans. I know a lot of folks here on DU think differently, especially since we took back the house and senate, but really, you have to realize that there is indeed a difference. And it is stark. The republicans will always come down on the side of deregulation to appease their corporate masters. The Democrats will, at the very least, take into consideration the needs of the public which go beyond those of the people populating the board rooms of America. At their very best, the democrats will do what they think is right for the common people. It's why the republicans absolutely despise the Trial Attorneys of America. They are a huge threat to the well being of corporate masters.

That whole Mickey D's coffee law suit a couple of years ago brings the whole corporate outlook of the media to light. I bet you didn't know that Mickey D's was sued hundreds of times over the scalding coffee but paid off the law suits before they went to trial in order to keep the coffee at the high temperature. From Leno to Limbaugh, every media person pointed to that law suit as the reason to slap restrains on the rights of individuals to seek redress from the corporations. Think about it, if the public turns against the Trial Attorneys, who will we have to fight the good fight for the common people. The media was obviously threatened by John Edwards, a successful trail attorney. Why else would they point out his lavish lifestyle while agreeing to photograph the Bush compound as if it was an aw shucks ramshackle old place. I can't remember when there were pictures of the Bush mansion. So Bush, the greedy corporate bastard is viewed in a good light while Edwards, the guy who took corporate America to task for harming citizens, is viewed as an elitist.

America: no country for sane men.

60 years, is that all this money, all this national treasure has been literally spent to keep the flow of resources, mainly oil, and money churning around the globe.

It's all about commerce, nothing more and nothing less. And not even American commerce.

If we had spent half the money we have wasted on oversea adventures since 1975 when OPEC really exploded on the scene, we could all be living almost pollution free and in an energy efficient way.

And it's been both sides of the aisle, although the democrats at least tried to increase mandated mileage on autos. (Hell even Nixon signed the EPA into law.) But when Ronnie and his side kick big Bush took office, every advance we made in the 60's and 70's was rolled back and almost every protection law was stripped of what little teeth they may have once had. And it always came back to the swinging Dick, the swagger of the uber capitalist macho man behind a desk willing to go toe to toe with the bad guys as long as the toe in harms way was in no way related or connected to their private lives.

It's curious that throughout the Clinton years, the price of oil was very low. It didn't start spiking up until the 2000 election started to come into focus. I really think the price of oil may have been kept low throughout the 90's on purpose in order to lull the people into a false sense of endless cheap energy. To keep pressure off of Clinton to do anything concerning the environment or energy conservation, oil flowed for seven full years. It's kind of like Joseph telling the Pharaoh what his dream of seven fat cows was all about, only we never did anything about the seven sickly cows that came after. Jeez, doesn't anyone read the Bible in Washington?

But reality soon set in. The price of oil spiked and we went to war almost as soon as Bush's right hand came down after the oath. The cost of a barrel of oil crept up and up and up and no one in the media, no one, makes the connection between the oil barons, a loose term at best, sitting in the White House and eating dinner over at Blair Manson and the price of energy.

How much longer will the American people let government, our government, act as the private army for economic interests that have little or no bearing on the daily lives of you and me?

Can Obama fix it? Is Hillary ready to take on the American Energy Complex? Is McCain.. Oh yea, right, he wants us smack in the middle of Iraq for as long as it takes. We really need to break the stranglehold the money changers have on our economy. You know the guys who change our money into theirs as fast as possible. The real Foreign Policy issue at hand is Energy independence and affordable renewable energy.

We should always remember, every dollar we waste on protecting oil could have been spent developing alternative fuels and environmental friendly modes of transportation.

to me, nothing more than speculation run rampant.

The investment class, those people parked in front of a computer thinking themselves this centuries J. P. Getty in waiting, are following the money, just as they did in the 1990's euphoric dot.com market mania.

Since these are the people searching high and low for the return of that ever elusive capitalistic climax; the next double digit return, they will follow the "tips" whenever and wherever they occur.

So what happens?

The people who are essentially the gate keepers, the brokerage house that are now, it seems, operating under de facto protection from the Bernake Fed, are always releasing predictions of where Crude Oil and Natural Gas and other commodities prices will be in the future. By setting what are really targets for the market to hit, the brokerage house send the speculating investors into a frenzy to get in the market before the opportunity burns off.

The same thing happened in the 90's with stock and the early 2000's with real estate.

And these markets, the commodity markets, aren't nearly as regulated as other more traditional investment areas.

They would have us believe that the forces of capitalism are at play, that people are just now becoming aware of "peak" oil. That what is happening is just capitalism setting the real price for a commodity.

And the oil companies are remaining mum. Why not. The longer they remain silent the more likely it is that the US government, facing irate consumers when gas hits $5.00 and beyond, will succumb to the oil giants wishes, drilling in protected wilderness areas and heavy subsidization of building or refitting refineries.

This isn't the invisible hand that Adam Smith talked about when he was defining economic and human behavior back in his Wealth of Nations tome. No this is manipulative speculation disguised as purely market forces at work.

Fool me once, shame on you.

Fool me twice, shame on me.

When I watch Obama inspire the kind of reaction he does with the youngsters, I am bitter because the political figures of my age, outside of RFK and MLK, hardly inspired hope for a better future.

Some would say the Bill Clinton inspired us but what he inspired was his chance at the presidency. Granted, it was much better than what he is historically sandwich between, but as far as drastically changing the country, looking and planning for a better future, it was incremental tinkering that I remember.

Sure Clintons Economic team lead by Rubin inspired wild investment schemes and people from main street to wall street were caught up in what can only be called a capitalistic climax. But in the end, all that accomplished was short term and nothing of great substance was created for the future. Money just moved around and around and around.

And now that we are almost at Victorian Age income inequality, Obama is the person that I believe can inspire people to do something about it. He has his finger on the future. I feel it out there. I believe he is the only one who can tap into that special place in all of us that dares to think beyond ourselves.


What I am bitter about is that my generation, the Boomer's, seemed to be focused far too much on personal growth and not enough of our country's growth. Sure there are exceptions to the rule, but for the most part, it has always been about what can you do for me. Nothing much changed.

But I see the hope in Obama.

Sure, he may prove to be a disappointment. He may even end up ostracizing a generation of true believers.

But in the end, this November, I see, for the first time since RFK, a real chance for America to become what Reagan waxed about but did everything in his power to denigrate, a shinning city on the hill that beckons to new generations to be all that we were meant to be.

We really are lucky to be living in this country. The next generation has to step-up and truly fulfill the future that Adams and Jefferson and the rest of the founding fathers and mothers envisioned.

you and I, to rally behind his call that we need more oil refineries. That a lack of new refineries, he implied, is the real problem causing oil to spike up up and away. We, meaning again, you and I, have not been on the ball, have failed the oil companies by not building more refineries for them.

This from a man who is on an absolute privatization jag so complete that he has more privateers in Iraq than American Boys and Girls who signed up for a pittance, when compared to the privateers that is.

So let me get this straight. We, as in "us", need to build more refineries.

But let's look at this whole thing for a moment. President Numb Nuts wants us, I believe, to foot the bill to build new refineries so that the oil companies can avoid all those pesky up front costs. Shit for Brains also wants us to relax those awful environmental regulations surrounding the whole oil refining business. Build us some oil refineries and damn with the environmental consequences. Hell we're all gonna die when the earth bursts into flame anyway so what's with wrong with making some money before it all goes to hell in a and basket.

I got an idea. Why don't they set up one of them big ol' refineries right there in Crawford TexASS. Yo know, Texas Tea, so to speak.

Anyway, the oil companies built too many refineries back in the 60's and 70's so that they were producing way to much oil-based products. They all got together, them seven sisters, and decided that they would wait a little while before they brought anymore refineries on line. Well, demand did catch up with the whole process and now if "our" refineries ain't hummin' along at 90-95% capacity, the price of oil goes up.

Yea, you get the picture.

But now the would be oil baron siting in the Oval Office thinks it would be a swell idea if "we", again meaning you and I. built some refineries for the oil companies so that we could solve the energy crisis.

Call me crazy, call me kookier, but I don't want no part of that nonsense.

Oh yea, that crazy Reverend is on the tube again. Do what you want. I'm gonna watch him act all bat shit crazy for a while.

Ain't America just the funnest and the god damn greatest little ol' country in the world.

really benefits.

In my mind, I see only one outcome; an increase in profits for the major oil companies.

Does anyone truly believe that the economists crunching numbers for the Seven Sisters have not already figured out exactly how much of that much ballyhooed gas tax relief they can siphon off into corporate profit?

Here's what I mean.

We are now paying roughly 17 cents per gallon in taxes each time we fuel up our vehicles. That 17 cent cut will be in place for a bout a week or two until the steady ratcheting of the price per gallon commences. This will wipe out any tax relief McCain wants to put in place and negate the slight economic impact that this tax cut should bring. Worse than that, when the tax relief expires, the oil companies will just merrily tack that seventeen cents back onto the already escalating cost at the pump.

The bottom line is this; less money to fix our nations infrastructure, more profits for the oil companies and a populist media hit for Straight shooting John McCain.

Cynical?

You bet I am.

When I was running for state senate here in Ohio back in 1996, I was a regular at Union Halls all across Northeastern Ohio...

I needed there support and came out 100% for Union Rights...

My dad was in the Union...

He worked his but off and because of that Union, he was able to afford to get a toe hold on the American Dream...

I knew how important the Organized Labor was to the Middle Class...

That was the Glory days of Organized Labor, my dad's day, before RR demonized Unions and put a very large segment of the middle class on the defensive...

By the time 1996 rolled around the Unions had lost much of their power for organizing. Consequently many workers who were lucky to still be in a Union Workplace were forced to hunkered down just to preserve their own job. Forget about someone elses job..

They felt safe in their jobs but also knew very well that the threat was out there in the form of jobs migrating overseas, across the border or down South to non Union Shops in so called right to work states...

When I was campaigning, at almost every Union Hall, at least one member would come up to me and say "I ain't voting for you because your gonna take my guns..."

There were also people who told me they couldn't vote for me because I was Pro-Choice...

This was so frustrating since I knew, and they did too, that Ohio was hemorrhaging jobs...

And yet they put those two issue over the main issue that they should have been concerned with and that was protecting the viability of the working men and women in our state...

They were willing to overlook what was crumbling down all around them by focusing on Guns and Religion...

Finally I became so exacerbated that I lashed out at one gun owners comment by telling him I would work hard to keep Ohio's workers from losing more economic ground that that was my number one issue. I said I don't understand why your gun is more important than your job...

He smirked and then said to me...

If I lose my job I can still hunt for my food...

You really can't argue with people like that...



My opponent went out right before the election and blasted gay marriage...

He was ahead of his time...

Curiously, I finally caught on about how to deal somewhat with the Abortion Issue...

Since I was pro-Choice, the Catholics occasionally wouldn't let me in to campaign at a Bingo Game or a Church Carnival...

Finally I asked one of the priest why are you so supportive of this guy (my opponent) and he said because he support a pro-life agenda....

I replied to him that he had been in office for over 16 years and not once had he done anything but blather about advancing the pro-life movement...

I said Father, maybe he is just gaming you and not really doing anything to advance your cause...

He looked at me and then decided to let me in to campaign...

I know how you feel...

I prepared for four years to run for the State Senate, worked the ward leaders, the precinct people, the executive committee members, attended hundreds of civic and party functions, represented the party in the local media time and time again...

And then, everyone ran to the new guy...

It took me a while to get over that, almost three years before I was able to let it go...

I know what you are going through...

Granted not even close to the same scale, but I know how heartbroken you must be in private...

It was my dream to serve in the State Senate, it was your dream to be the president of the United States...

Waiting, thinking you were doing the right thing, taking all the necessary steps...

And then having it all pulled out from under you...

It's a devastating time for you, Sen. Clinton, and, to compound it all, excruciatingly long...

I know you don't want to give up...

I know your people don't want you to give up...

There is still a fight, primaries to win, delegates to convince...

But Sen. Clinton, baring a miracle, you are not going to get the nomination...

Take the summer off, recharge your batteries and travel around the country for Obama and Senate and House candidates...

Set your sights on being the Senate Majority Leader...

It ain't the president, but it can be a powerful position if the person wielding the gavel wants it to be...

You can set the legislative agenda for the administration...

Tell me you can't whip those Gop'ers if your mind isn't on running for president...

Sen Clinton, look to where you can do the most good...

Sen. Clinton, I voted for you in Ohio...

I wanted Edwards at the start...

But after he dropped out, I felt as if I owed you that vote even though I knew, as you must have, that the tide was turning...

It's not your fault that Obama has captured lightning in a bottle...

You can't hate him for going after what he wants...

And don't blame the public, they are fickle...

And don't blame the political people because you know as I know that they can be two faced bastards who would throw their mothers overboard if they thought it would get them what they wanted...

No, place the blame where it truly lies...

History dictates that it is time for a charismatic young man to once again lead the party, to lead the country out of the morass we find ourselves in...

Sen. Clinton, I always admired you and I always will...

But please, step aside...

Let history takes it's course...

their true value to society...

What bothered me the most about the fall of Spitzer was all the gloating on CNBC as the money lovers rubbed their hands with glee now that their old Nemesis had taken a tumble from his carefully crafted stance of morality...

These money grubbers don't know anything about morality or justice or the rule of law...

It's all about grabbing as much cash as they can while alive...

The rules are not made for people like them...

And then to top it all off, the US Federal Reserve Bank injects another $200 billion into the monetary system to rescue those who worship only mammon...

"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You can't serve both God and Mammon..." Matthew 6:19-21,24

And yet these pillars of our society, these captains of industry mock morality, sneer at justice and laugh when a week man succumbs to avarice and greed...

And tonight, they go home to their Nero like palaces and talk about how the people should pull themselves up by their bootstraps while putting in a call to their friend and co-conspirator sitting in the White House and demand the government do something about the very mess they created from greed...

Elliot Spitzer deserves all that happens to him as his pride brought him to the Abyss, hubris corrupted his mind and pushed him over the edge...

Tonight, I once again weep for America...