Maybe the headline shoud read, 'US Debts Hurting Average Working-Class Americans'

The US is flat assed broke - maybe since we are borrowing from China to give a tiny amount of money as a "rebate" to the people, we could borrow more from China to pay our UN bills.

Part of the Right Wing Republican, Neocon, and Bush Administration agendae has been and is to weaken and ultimately destroy the United Nations. We owe the United States scads of back and current monies now to maintain its viability. So what else is new?

The U.S. at this reading has run up more debt than it ever has had and owes the Federal Reserve, controlled by major private banking systems, and many other countries who have given us loans, an astronomical amount of money with interest accruing everyday ... What we owe is not backed up by much anymore, including the American Dream.

Our country has been gutted of manufacturing jobs, our labor unions have been gutted of membership and power, the mortgage crisis and the plunge in house and property values are all pointers toward not a recession, but a Depression.

The mega-corporations have gone international. They get tax breaks or have set up headquarters in places where they pay no taxes.

The very-rich, private sector are cleaning up all over the place, including those richest among our citizens being awarded the biggest tax breaks. Mr. Bush and primarily other Republicans insist these tax breaks for the rich should be made permanent.

If the ordinary person, including myself, managed our household budgets this way, we'd all be on skid row.

With the corruption, the eye-blinking to the corruption, the Impeachment-is-off-the-table statement as soon as Democrat Nancy Pelosi took office as House Speaker, it is very hard to know who among those who lead us and represent us are on the side of the people, on the side of honor and integrity, on the side of our Constitution, on the side of our Nation itself, on the side of an effective and fair United Nations.

Assessing what has transpired in these last several years, I see it all as our nation governed by a majority cluster, no matter what party, as the most unintelligent, most ignorant, most corrupt, most cowardly, most vicious, most shallow, self-serving, most immoral and unethical bunch of people that we have had the misfortune to "know" as the leadership representing The People, the Citizens of the United States.

Yes, there are brave and intelligent and moral exceptions, but the media directed by the power and profit-seeking ilk that now governs us are ignored away or forbidden, by corporate network fiat, to speak and sometimes even, with all-too-familiar precedent, are in danger of their very lives if they gain substantial support from The People without the media coverage and canned hoopla.

Mr. Bush likes to use his comic-book terms of THE GOOD GUYS and THE BAD GUYS. It seems we are, in fact, now in juvenile times, regressed to a worst-case adolescent level of confusion, foolish, misguided, and impulsive thinking and acting, obsessive secrecy, and incredible selfishness and self-centeredness.

Gone is a Nation governed or inspired by men of vision and true stature. In past years, none of our leaders have been perfect men or women, but instead of consistently talking of revenge and brutality and condoning such things as torture, their respective heart-and-soul vocabulary gave wing to ideas of global peace and ending conflict; truly helping, not swindling, poorer nations; solving the problems of poverty, hunger, disease and misery, not just in this nation, but globally. These men, and the few elected or appointed women of the leadership, also adhered to the Constitution. Occasionally their respective wrists got slapped by a Court system, that still had honor, when they pushed the Constitutional envelope too far.

The exemplary conduct of those charged with handling the impeachment articles against Richard Nixon in the Watergate hearings, I personally mark as the last, greatest moment of this Nation. "It's working," I kept repeating as I watched and listened. "Our Constitution is working."

Now our Constitutional government is a shambles, a playground for the Corporatists and the very, very rich at the expense of The People of this country. And The People of the nations whose resources are coveted find themselves the victims of lies and invasion under the guise of being "liberated." Our military and economic policies have become disgustingly transparent: cheating or killing, maiming, terrorizing or destroying as many People of those nations as are necessary to secure and corporately privatize oil or rain-forest trees or land or various valuable minerals or land for and methods of food production,... and even water.

My, God. When does it end? ... until more people are dead than alive? until the earth's bio systems sputter and choke and die, until millions more species become extinct?

The United Nations was a bright dream after World War II. Peace instead of war, basic Human Rights,recognized and implemented in all nations, emergency assistance of food and medicine, equitably and justly admonishing or sanctioning those nations which had violated other nations' rights or were engaged in activities destructive to other nations or the world, and most important the United Nations was both a concept and a place where nations brought their grievances, their needs, their dreams to be respectfuly discussed and peaceful solutions sought and implemented.

Now the United Nations is just another corrupted casualty, but this time in the process of being destroyed by the leadership of a Nation where the dream of it was originally born, ... a nation who once symbolized hope, freedom and peace for the world, but now has become a dangerous, comic-book caricature of itself.

Cee Miracles: A lovely post you made... though I do take issue with some of your points.

"With the corruption, the eye-blinking to the corruption, the Impeachment-is-off-the-table statement as soon as Democrat Nancy Pelosi took office as House Speaker, it is very hard to know who among those who lead us and represent us are on the side of the people, on the side of honor and integrity, on the side of our Constitution, on the side of our Nation itself, on the side of an effective and fair United Nations."

The answer to that is NONE OF THEM DO. There is not one single person in government who truly cares and works for the people. Each and every one of them has been tainted by corporate money and lobbyists.

"Gone is a Nation governed or inspired by men of vision and true stature... their respective heart-and-soul vocabulary gave wing to ideas of global peace and ending conflict; truly helping, not swindling, poorer nations; solving the problems of poverty, hunger, disease and misery, not just in this nation, but globally."

Hmmm... The US has never taken any of the above issues seriously. If they had, there wouldn't be any of those problems anymore. If the US seriously wanted to wipe out global hunger, they could by spending 1/2 their military budget on food. If the US was truly the great country most of you believe it to be, a lot of the world's problem simply wouldn't exist anymore.

"a nation who once symbolized hope, freedom and peace for the world, but now has become a dangerous, comic-book caricature of itself."

That was ALWAYS an illusion my friend. The country was founded on genocide and has thirsted for blood ever since. I can't think of any time in the past 100 or so years that the US has symbolized Peace.

This friggin' war and the dick heads who support it have robbed my grandchildren of their future. I worked hard all my life since I was sixteen years old. I served my country from 1963 - 1968. I have always lived modestly and within my means. I paid my taxes and never complained (well, not a lot). Now that my life is nearly over, I have nothing to leave my grandchildren. I had hoped that the government, which I supported for over 50 years, might leave them a little. What a fool I was. This government has ALWAYS been at the disposal of the corporate bastards of this country. I truly feel that by the time enough people come out of their capitalistic coma to effect any change, it will be too late. Batten down the hatches. Thar's a frightful storm a-brewin' out thar. Argghhh.

Debt is how the wealthy rule the poor. Bu$h the inferior has continued the policies of Reagan to enslave the citizens by debt. We should have medical care and education like all the developed countries of the world.

Bush doesn't try to hide the fact that every "Bill" in congress (or anything else), that will help people is too expensive. But there is no limit on spending for military equipment to KILL people.

elmysterio March 3rd, 2008 4:18 pm

"Cee Miracles: A lovely post you made… though I do take issue with some of your points."

I accede to all of your points, with a few exceptions of moments, both actual and visionary, when the better nature of human beings who happened to be in leadership roles predominated.

I am fully aware of the history of the United States and the hypocrisies that riddle the vaunted notions of equality and freedom and justice for all and the images of a peace-loving, generous and fair people.

Whether Native Americans, various ethnic, religious, racial, particular socio-economic and gender-based groups, they all have suffered policies that have led to extermination to degradation to villification to impoverishment to unequal and unfair treatment under the law. I think that covers the waterfront.

Yet there have been those best moments, those best realizations and visions that moved us as a nation in small increments toward our own internalized dreams of what our nation could be and what the world itself could be if we cooperated, if we truly pursued peace and the well-being of all.

In my life-time the early Wendall Wilkie and his One-World vision; FDR fretting because one-third of our own population had not yet benefited from the work programs and other social service programs he initiated during The Depression; Truman risking all "because it [was] right" to racially integrate the U.S. military services and to provide equal measure for returning white and black soldiers; General George C. Marshall as Secretary of State going against precedent to help former enemies, now the conquered, to rebuild their own homelands and be provided with the various goods and services they needed for sustenance as they recovered and rebuilt in their war-torn lands; Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy, voices of warning and reason, inspiration and global vision regarding international law and the end of hunger, disease, abject poverty; the courageous Senators William Fulbright and George McGovern, and the Man of God and Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King, and even President Lyndon Johnson with his dream of The Great Society with his programs for the poor and disenfranchised implemented, whose documentaries of that time, attesting to the hallelujah moments of people, given some help, finding their voices, their power, their wisdom and their smarts, and producing; a Bobby Kennedy, burnt through from his brother's assassination, emerging with insights and national and global connection to people everywhere; even President Richard Nixon signing into law measures to protect the environment ... Just moments from imperfect leaders, one or two of them ranking below the best, but for an instant ... there was a brief lifting of the dark veil and one could glimpse the brighter future for all people and for the earth.

I don't fool myself on all the rest and certainly about what is happening now.

But there are so many good people everywhere; good people doing their best to realize, to implement all kinds of dreams and visions toward a better world. They know the odds. But one keeps going, and one keeps hope for better days.

Today we have NOW. Tomorrow becomes today and we have NOW.

It is important to do something NOW, even if it is a small, positive thing ... a moment that makes things better or will make things better for someone or something.

peace -

If the UN wants to progress it will have to wean itself off the unreliable, regressive US and find progressive funding sources. A good idea would be to cultivate an alter-economy which gets things done with less money exchange.

Gotta love Bu$h's policies. His policies not only affect the American citizens, but he also affects the world. No wonder why we are hated by other countries.

UN peacekeeping is effective and efficient — and far cheaper than acting unilaterally," said CGS's Paul. "Working through institutions like the UN allows us to share the burden of meeting global challenges."

This is a interesting idea. I wonder is Dubya ever thought of this.

Thank you Cee Miracles for so cogently presenting the facts and thank you el mysterio for pointing out the glimmers of hope we have received over the years. Like Sea Weed, I am filled with anger over the world I am leaving to my grand children....but I just keep doing those little things I can for our country and our world.

Praise be to the peacemakers.