GaryNMaine Blog

This is a fictional account of their meeting:

As Karl walked to his car, he finally remembered why he wanted to talk with that guy Perry from the Democrat party. Frankly, he seemed more unscrupulous than himself, which Karl didn’t think was possible. Karl thought he would have a much brighter future as a Republican. Besides, he has a soft place in his heart for scoundrels.

(arrival at Perry’s congressional office)

Karl: Good to see you again, Congressman.

Rick: Karl, I don’t think we’ve ever met, but I do know who you are.

(Karl reads this comment by Rick as a sign that Rick holds Karl in pretty high esteem. Not a sure thing, but Karl is pretty pleased with the way the conversion is going. Karl sees himself as a highly intuitive guy and does, I would have to concur, have a gift!)

Karl: I’m sorry. I thought we had met. I do recollect seeing you do a speech at the Houston Rotary Club and, if you don’t mind me saying, I was quite impressed with you. Let me be frank, would you be interested in joining the Republican Party?

Rick: I beg your pardon. No, I believe I am happier right where I am. You have a lot of nerve, Karl. I think you had better go.

(Karl understands that Rick’s manly Texas honor would require him to resist, but it was all a feint)

Karl: I’m sorry, Congressman, if I offended you. The reason I even brought this possibility up with you was that I thought our political views were in line. Forgive me. I can see that I was mistaken.

Rick: Alright, alright, Karl. Please, sit down.

(Rick was pleased to have such an important man in his office, and did want to shoot the breeze with Karl. But, Karl already knew that.)

Rick: I’m sorry for flying off the handle like I did.

(Rick would have been wise to stop right there, but he continued.)

(unfortunate failure to at least slow down and pause, something similar to what that AK women does)
Rick: Rakes often fly off the handle
you know
I stepped on the tines of a rake and the damn thing knocked me silly. My makeup people had a hell of a time covering that red welt across my forehead up.

(Karl noted that the ice had been broken between himself and the congressman. Damn, that was so easy. Is this guy for real? No one could be that dumb, Karl thought. Karl slowly moved to a very comfortable looking leather chair where he might be able to talk candidly with the congressman, as that was his plan.

It is not yet clear whether George W Bush is planning to cross the Atlantic to flog us his memoirs, but if I were his PR people I would urge caution. As book tours go, this one would be an absolute corker. It is not just that every European capital would be brought to a standstill, as book-signings turned into anti-war riots. The real trouble — from the Bush point of view — is that he might never see Texas again.

If you would like to read this rather well written piece, the above excerpt is linked to that Daily Telegraph article of November 20, 2010. You might also want to read Andrew Sullivan’s very short piece entitled “The Mayor Of London On George W. Bush, War Criminal” in The Atlantic. I appreciate Mr. Sullivan’s attempt to bring conservative America back to sanity. I hope he is successful (and other moderate Republicans might want to join in) as his cause is worthy. Mr. Sullivan summed it up by stating:

It’s good to be reminded of real conservative values, which include abhorrence of torture and a dedication to the rule of law. By those standards, George W. Bush is not now a conservative, merely a thug, twisting the law to engage in something utterly alien to Anglo-American ideals. And a smug thug at that. Watching his interview on Hannity – yes, I managed to get through most of it – I was reminded of this man’s utter shallowness and moral unseriousness. Glib doesn’t begin to describe his solipsistic denial of his own barbarism.

Lastly, I will offer up a good legal option from Jonathan Turley, scholar of constitutional law, George Washington University, School of Law.

I would hope that every American knows how historically significant this is? America has never had a man who occupied the White House vilified as much as George W. Bush has been vilified. Nowhere in American history has any American President done anything that would raise the ire of world populations against this country as much as what George W. Bush did. Never!

Once upon a time, we use to try and convict war criminals in America. Those leaders of foreign nations that would dare cross a very well defined line in the sand regarding torture, or any other war crime, would not get any quarter in America. Indeed, after World War II, the war that made America the mighty power that it is today, we tried and convicted Japanese soldiers and military leaders² for doing exactly what George W. Bush ordered our people to do to those legally, or illegally³, held by the United States in connection to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

I know that we have all heard this stuff before, and that most American conservatives have already left this blog figuring that it is just another screed by some leftist moonbat, but they would be wrong in assuming this to be the case. Simply put, my politics are not based on ideology, but on facts, figures and rational solutions to problems. Politics in and of itself is a very base game that some play to win elections. Policy does not come into play for these people, unfortunately. Those who play the game of “politics” simply for politics’ sake are driving this country right into the ground. Are you listening Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senator Jim DeMint?

As Americans, we are between a rock and a hard place. Do we forget many decades of history and the fact that most real Americans despise war crime and let George W. Bush and his political facilitators off the hook on this one? What would it say about us?

What does it say about us? Well, psychologically, it says that we are still grieving the loss of our innocence due to the attack on September 11, 2001. Anger and fear in the aftermath of such an attack is understandable. What is not understandable, after that despicable attack by al Qaeda, was how the Bush Administration could mislead the American people into the worst possible course of action that a country can embark upon. The Bush Administration made the error of warring with Afghanistan and not completing the mission and then getting out as quickly as we went in, and starting another war with Iraq who had no connection with the September 11, 2001 attack, giving a false set of arguments to bolster up the country for such a war. The world is still reeling from this international turn of events where the United States went from a trusted partner in the world community to one of the most reviled.

It is insane for us to think that there won’t be international consequences for our behavior on this matter. America might be suffering the long-term effects of Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) going right up into the Oval Office, the House, the Senate, local and state governments. The paranoia is palpable in America these days and this condition is not at all a healthy state of being for a person, or a country.

There is also an element in this country that would see America’s future being brighter if we take a much more brutal stance to countries of the world that defy us. America has never operated this way internationally as those bright enough to grasp the situation would be able to cite many times in history where a country took this attitude and paid the ultimate price for their arrogance. Germany and Japan once thought themselves in the position to thuggishly dominate their neighbors, and we all understand what happened to them.

A country that has this attitude might start by simply mistreating a country in some way (unfair trade agreements, embargoes, sanctions, attacks on a nation’s sovereignty, a hashed up set of falsehoods), and then they would start a propaganda campaign against said country to build national support for harsh action against them. This game has historically been played over and over again. The results might initially work without too much in the way of international repercussions but, eventually, world reaction would be set against this country, or countries. Indeed, the picture that one could paint would not be a pleasant one.

So, what can America do to clean up this mess that may only get messier the longer we wait to act? Why is it that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and President Barack Obama think that the lesser of two evils is to let the Bush Administration off the hook on the war crimes of which some of them are so clearly guilty?

What would happen if President Barack Obama were to instruct Attorney General Eric Holder to proceed on an investigation of the Bush Administration’s war crimes?

If such an announcement were to be made by the President, you could bet that Fox News would be spinning this into an all out attack on conservative America, which could lead to civil unrest, insurrection or, even as a worst-case scenario, civil war. Would the conservative American leadership play this all the way out guaranteeing that the worst-case scenario actually happens? I would think so. They would have to take the position that if they were to “Throw Bush et al. under the bus” the Republican Party as a winning political entity might very well lose favor and thus may never again work their way into the ruling class.

That being the case, and knowing how utterly political those in the conservative leadership are, one would have to come to the conclusion that they would indeed push it all the way even if it means the destruction of the American political system.

So, that seems like a very unsavory position to put the country in, and would be something that President Obama and his staff would have to take into account. But, what of the alternative–to allow the Bush Administration off the hook on this one?

The countries that do well are the ones that:

1) do not get involved in foreign intrigues;
2) trade in a fair way with other countries;
3) only use their military as a defensive tool;
4) treat their citizenry with a great deal of respect; and,
5) do not treat the world like their own private playground where everything is theirs and the humans who object can easily and ruthlessly be brushed aside.

For a long time I thought that those who hold right-wing leadership positions used fear and hate to move the masses in their direction because these leaders had an abundance of fear and hate themselves. They do, in a way. But the movers and shakers on the right see the world as an absolutely negative place, but few of these movers and shakers actually feel the fear and hate personally. Right-wing thinkers see danger at every crossroads. And, that the only way to navigate through these dangerous intersections is to drive the biggest vehicle on the road and just blindly barrel their way through these intersections.

Just think how ignorant that would be in the real world. That is why we have stop signs to give the drivers of all the vehicles an opportunity to look both directions before proceeding through the intersection safely.

Yet, right wingers want to deregulate the world. No more stop signs? No. They just want to deregulate those areas where they see regulation as an impediment to their goals. You and me? We will still have to obey the seat-belt rules, the stop signs, the drug laws, the laws that have been set down to control our behavior.

The real motivation that steers the right-wing leadership to move their followers toward right-wing thinking is that there is great wealth to be had if you have a big enough club to make those who stand in your way step aside. But, folks, this is not great wealth that you will ever see; unless,

1) you are one of the movers and shakers,
2) you are at the top of the peaking order at one of the corporations who provide “things” for the masses who still have jobs,
3) you are a yacht builder,
4) you design and build lavish homes, or
5) you sell goods that only the most ardent right winger would appreciate (high-ticket guns, gold-encrusted bibles, fast and expensive transportation devices).

Right-wing lackeys will have to settle for much, much less than they even have in these hard times.

The problem with this motivation is that it won’t last. But, this works out fine for those who think short-term (as in the extent of their own lifetimes). For those who truly want to leave the world a better place for their kids and grandkids, this motivation would rank lower, but not out of the question. You see, if one fears poverty and deprivation, then even their children and grandkids (my spellchecker does not like “grandkids” so I decided to use it again) (but, it likes the word “spellchecker,” what’s up with that?) wouldn’t deter them from working towards building wealth over the torn and shattered bodies of those unwilling to bend their direction.

Now, this might sound like I abhor wealth. On the contrary. Wealth is good, but wealth should come with a number of rules. Mankind has had such rules in the past, and they are much easier to follow when times are good. I would have to say that Americans would be happier if these rules were adhered to even when times are not so good. I am sure I needn’t spell the rules out here. Everyone knows the rules, they seem of late, however, to be hard to follow. Even people of faith seem to be having trouble remembering the rules.

America seems to be heading down the road to the right. Why did this happen? Several reasons:

The Decline of American Prestige and Power

After World War II, America had a preeminent position in world affairs, and America willingly took up the mantle and ran with it. Sure, with atomic weapons hitting the stage when it did, with the help of America I might add (but, it was inevitable that someone would have had them by now anyway), someone had to carry the big stick to make sure that atomic weapons were not used to destroy the Earth.

America was it.

Since then, many things have happened and everything was working out fine (except for the Cold War, the usual powerful crazies around the world, and some exceedingly bad decisionmaking) until now. What has changed?

When the rest of the world looks at America they see a beacon of hope, a land of great wealth and opportunity, a safe and free citizenry, a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. But, America, has been having a difficult time living up to these myths of late.

The right wingers of America have a solution to this problem. Rather than finding ways to rebuild on this image of a democratic government who cares for its people and makes opportunity a mainstay of American rights to its citizenry, they would prefer that we just rob and blunder to keep the wealth rolling America’s direction. They figure that a feared America is stronger than a somewhat weaker, but loved, America. They are wrong.

This would not be a long-term solution to their problems. Inevitably, America would end up a pariah in the world community. Sure, America might be able to temporarily gain back some of its power and the wealthy might be able to get a bit wealthier, but America would never regain its prestige. What it would gain, however, is more terrorism, uneasy relations with other world players, travel bans for Americans throughout the world, trade deficits (because no one wants to trade with America anymore) which would lead to domestic poverty and social strife, and eventually the demise of the America we have all hoped would lead the world to better places.

Americans Have Grown Accustomed to the Best

Americans have had a delicious time over the past few decades and Americans are not keen on giving that way of life up. I would say that life might have been better for Americans if they had not been quite so comfortable, had been more charitable when dealing with other countries of the world, and had tried harder to live up to the mythical image that the world has hoped would lead them to a better, safer life merely by having a powerful, benevolent country such as America in the world. Most people of the world, I am sure, would be happy with much, much less than what the American people use to lavish upon themselves.*

In order for the right wingers to make good on their view of how to make their America strong again, they need ready and willing citizens to cast votes (against their better judgment if, in fact, they have good judgment which is often in doubt) to elect right-wing thinkers into elective office. How do they achieve that?

First, they could never move the direction they want to move America if America were economically healthy, and the citizenry of the country were happy and content. As a general rule most Americans, in good times, do not ascribe to right-winger thinking.

Right-wing thinking thrives when things are bad. Not just in America–everywhere. Paranoia is part of everyone’s lives and is much more prevalent when times are tough. Yes, everyone is paranoid to varying degrees. The world is a bad, bad place and we need to be ruthless. Not so.

If Americans want to pursue this line of thinking (that America can be great again by being the world’s biggest bully), then trouble will be their only friend as they head down the road to ruin.

Top Dog

Being the world’s strongest and most powerful country means that all eyes are on you. Your every move is amplified over and over again. Everything you do, as a country, is inspected and dissected with the utmost scrutiny until nothing is left to ponder.

America does bad things = America is a malignant cancer and must be eradicated.
America does not help the needy of the world = America is greedy and living lavishly while the whole world starves.
America steals the wealth of other nations = America is greedy when world resources are dwindling (they want all the marbles).
America pollutes the seas and dirties the skies = America is destroying the planet and must be stopped.

(Molly needs petting)

. . .

Yes, I know the right-wing thinkers look at the rest of the world and loudly proclaim that they don’t give a hoot what the rest of the world thinks but, to their detriment, it does matter–it matters greatly.

We need to slip back neatly into world society as an equal player. Can we? Not by following the right-wing thinkers. America is a great country, has been blessed with a diverse society who can do great things when motivated to do so. Right-wing thinkers do not see a bright and sunny future. They see the world as something to be exploited now before it is too late. They want all the marbles so they can hold them in their hands and say, “you see, I got them all,” as the world crashes all around them.

Needless to say, the world would be a much safer and happier place for most if right-wing thinkers were not allowed near the wheels of power. Sure, right-wing thinkers would not be so happy, but those who hold such negative views of the world wouldn’t be happy until they had it all, and even then happiness would still be doubtful.