"Oh, big conniver, nothing but a jiver, done got hip to your jive,
Slippin' and a slidin', peepin' and a hidin', won't be your fool no more."
~~Little Richard

"The time is always right to do what is right"~~ Martin Luther King, Jr

by Cody Lyon-Opinion

In truth, as the Labor Department data shows, big as it is, the private sector of the entire United States only added 41,000 new jobs to payrolls this past May. That leaves the unemployment rate essentially unchanged at 9.7%, a slight drop from 9.9% in April.

Change is the process by which the future invades our lives~~Alvin Toffler, "Future Shock"

Each time it appears that Republicans can't get any nastier, any more bereft of morality, they wrap themselves in the flag, grab their guns and Bibles, and manage once again to hit the bottom of the ethical barrel. A good example is Ben Smith's recent startling revelation in Politico.com, which exposed the dirty tricks Republican National Committee (RNC) operatives were planning to play, not only on Democrats in the upcoming elections -- but on their own donors. Smith writes...

After the recent Supreme Court ruling that gave corporations "personhood" status, I was pleased to see President Obama publicly call them out on it.  This is the Obama I voted for. 

Sadly, this Obama has been conspicuously absent since being sworn in as President.  It's time for "this" Obama to stand up at last for the people who put him in the White House in the first place, the folks on "Main Street," rather than those on "Wall Street." 

I know you need your sleep now,
I know your life's been hard.
But many men are falling,
where you promised to stand guard.
~~Leonard Cohen

My friend Bernie says he's suffering from Afghanistan information exhaustion. "During all those months that Obama was dragging his feet about escalating the war in Afghanistan, did you ever get the impression," he asked, "that foxes were in the hen house, chickens were squawking and running around crazily, wolves were tearing the foxes to pieces, and farmers were shooting wildly into the coop with no regard for the innocent?"

I stared at him, mouth agape, my mind trying to shore up all that activity. "Well ... I --"

"And that's just the generals -- David Petraeus and Stanley McChrystal -- and their boss, or cohort, defense secretary Robert Gates. They were everywhere -- everywhere!" Bernie said, rolling his eyes. "And still are. Turn on the TV, pick up a newspaper, open a magazine, check out Congress, look under a rock -- peek behind a tree -- and there they are. They're a three-man brigade -- "we're going in, we're coming out -- we're winning, we're losing. Or maybe not. We won't know for 15 years...20 years...or until it's over --"

I've spent a good part of the last week re-reading Neil Sheehan's book, A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam. Partly, this is just happenstance; I found a nicely annotated hardback copy in a local used book store. But it's also because I wanted to look again at the 1962-64 period of the Vietnam War to see how much it resembles our current situation in Afghanistan. I don't have good news to report.

Obama promised lower taxes.  Have you received them?

The H1N1 vaccine is being spread around the nation, free of charge, in limited doses. If the internet is any indicator, people have decided to freak out about it.

There was a good mixture of seriousness and humor in the President Obama on "Letterman" video I dug up this morning. Last night Obama went to visit his old friend David Letterman.

Obama appeared on "The Late Show with David Letterman" several times during his campaign, and I am glad to see that he doesn't consider himself above Letterman's show now that he's been elected.

Changing society, changing rules

Things are changing in society. Secured loans are more common, workplaces are more casual and relaxed, people use the Internet to communicate more and they realize that some traditions hinder progress instead of helping. I think President Obama's appearance on "Letterman" shows that he is in touch with this new generation.

It's a generation that is more focused on results than on process. Other presidents before Obama, I think, thought it inappropriate or unfitting of their position to go on a late night talk show. However, the Obama on Letterman video shows he is more concerned with getting his message out and communicating with Americans on their terms rather than focusing on "proper" process.

One of the most controversial parts of President Obama's healthcare proposals is the public option.  It's also badly needed. Nonetheless, the insurance industry and conservatives and even Blue Dogs in Congress are fighting it tooth and nail.

America is broken. Even if we pull through the current economic crisis, recovery won't last absent an overhaul of our primary institutions.

• One out of ten Americans is now unemployed and the recovery is expected to be jobless.
  
• Fifty million Americans have no health insurance; two million, no home.
  
• Two million Americans are in jail.
  
• Our public schools have fallen behind those of most developed nations.
  
• Higher education is priced out of reach of the middle class.
  
• Our infrastructure is in an advanced state of disrepair.
  
• We rank first in greenhouse gas emissions.
  
• Immigration, once our pride, is now our shame.
  
• We're living on credit and leaving the debt to our children.
  

America is broken. Even if we pull through the current economic crisis, recovery won't last absent an overhaul of our primary institutions.

• One out of ten Americans is now unemployed and the recovery is expected to be jobless.
  
• Fifty million Americans have no health insurance; two million, no home.
  
• Two million Americans are in jail.
  
• Our public schools have fallen behind those of most developed nations.
  
• Higher education is priced out of reach of the middle class.
  
• Our infrastructure is in an advanced state of disrepair.
  
• We rank first in greenhouse gas emissions.
  
• Immigration, once our pride, is now our shame.
  
• We're living on credit and leaving the debt to our children.
  

Original Source at: Bernie Madoff Sentencing and War Criminals Who Stand Free

Sure, Bernie Madoff has been sentenced to the maximum of 150 years in jail. It's a life sentence, I get it.

Sure, the presiding judge said he "needed to send a message to potential imitators and to victims who demanded harsh punishment."

But Bernie Madoff did not act alone in his titanic Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors of $50 billion. Where are the others? The prosecution has failed to make the connections, and Madoff certainly wasn't going to squeal. As you can see from the photo, he's a man of dignity and principle. While some victims of the scam may find occasional relief from unsecured loans for quick cash, the vast majority will wonder why money man can work the system to such an extent that justice is (ultimately) perverted.

In an opinion piece in today's Washington Post Ruth Marcus poses the question:

"Should Bush administration officials be put on trial for crimes such as authorizing torture?"

The answer to that question is a simple and unequivocal "not yes, but, Hell yes, absolutely, yer darn tootin'."

Bear in mind that I live in a flyover state where many have limited tolerance for carefully parsed, nuanced or constipated prose, preferring instead to "throw it out on the lawn and see if any dogs come up and pee on it."

Ms Marcus says, less pithily and with a bit more ambiguity, that she is:

"just relieved to have this crowd heading out of office and its policies -- on torture, on indefinite detention, on warrantless wiretapping, on overweening executive power -- soon to be inoperative."

I share her delight in the departure of this gang of criminals but I fear that if they do not leave Washington in handcuffs and leg irons aboard a Federal prison bus that the chances of rendering the "policies" stated above "inoperative" are approximately ... zero.