TIME TO PUT ON THE BRAKES

Misanthropic Boomer

I was watching portions of MSNBC’s coverage of the G-20 Summit in Buenos Aires when the camera panned over to the meeting of two of the world’s most infamous murderers; Vladimir Putin, who has had his adversaries assassinated both in Russia’s prisons and, very boldly in other sovereign nations; and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman Al Saud (MBS), the murderer of U.S. resident, journalist Jamal Khashoggi,. MBS has also had his own relatives assassinated in order to become first in the line of succession to the King. The two murderous monsters greeted each other more warmly than is their normal wont. As they clasped hands and smiled knowingly at one another I could see in their eyes a common bond of dictatorial fellowship; birds of a feather (vultures…if you think this is hyperbole, look at Putin’s eyes). The first thing that came to mind was that they were grinning because they shared the strings of a common puppet; sadly for America, one Donald J. Trump, President of these United States. President Trump (there was a time when I refused to say President with his name, but he and Congress have allowed the degradation of the office to the point of meaninglessness) is the facilitator in chief for the two, and other dictatorial leaders , such as Xi Jinping, China’s President for Life (a euphemism for dictator).  Trump has done their bidding at every turn; siding with the two murderous ones against his own Intelligence Organizations, i.e., NSA, CIA, FBI, et al. As for his relations with Jinping, he has instigated his “trade War” implementing tariffs that are not hurting China nearly as much as they are the American people.

It is obvious not only from watching MBS and Putin lovingly greet one another, but from Trump’s indefensible actions that these men believe they are going to carve up the world with each to have his share to rule. At this point in time it would seem that they not only have the upper hand, but they have an ally who will do whatever it takes to feather his own nest: Trump. It would seem there is nothing they need to be afraid to do because the only power on earth that can do anything to stop them is being held hostage by the misogynistic nationalist threat currently occupies the oval office. Trump has given in to them at every turn, always citing the economic benefit to the U.S. (he of course means himself) of allowing them to bring down their jackboots on people with whom they have a grudge, or a desire to have what they posses.

Trump not only turns a blind eye to their murderous endeavors, but also to their manipulations of nationalistic maneuvers; MBS vicious inhumane war with Yemen, and Putin’s ever more aggressive moves against the Ukraine.  Trump doesn’t really need to assist Jinping  in the same way since he already has his tremendously large kingdom intact. However what Trump is doing for Jinping is allowing him to blatantly manipulate American companies that choose to do business with China, by not stepping up the rhetoric or actions on the violations of intellectual property rights that China so blatantly steals. Nor does he assist U.S. companies trying to get a fair deal with the Chinese. In addition he is helping not only China, but corporate America with his inane tariff wars. He is hurting our allies and killing manufacturing jobs in the U.S. which now often go overseas to China, or south to Mexico; witness the latest round of auto plant closings. He is also killing the American family farmer.

Eighty-seven plus percent of all food grown and distributed in the United States is produced by family farms. It is one of the last industries not dominated by huge multinational conglomerates. However, if Trump and his allies in Congress have their way that will all change in a very short period of time. 

Family farms are forced to operate by taking out tremendously large loans each year against their incoming crops. When the crops are sold in the marketplace the farmers repay the loans and prepare for the following season and more and renewed loans. They must operate this way because they cannot amass enough cash to carry them through more than one growing and distribution season. Trump’s tariffs are killing the family farms exports which they rely upon to acquire the money to pay off the yearly loans. The tariffs are going to cause many of them to file for bankruptcy, which will make it harder to get the loans they need to continue operations. It will be a boon for the multinationals that have the cash and will take the farms for pennies on the dollar. In the meantime the farmers are raising domestic prices in the attempt to stave off the oncoming disaster. This results in significantly higher prices at the supermarket. Just compare the weekly grocery bill from the last year President Barack Obama was in office to what it is now; approximately twenty-five to thirty percent higher.

It is past the time for America to wake up. This is not what the Founding Fathers envisioned when they declared independence from foreign control; what we have now in essence is a modicum of foreign control. Our nation has not always followed the ideals set forth by our antecedents; freedom, equality, dignity, and opportunity, but the tools are available. We can still make it work. The American Dream was just a dream for most because of the divisions propagated by the few. It doesn’t have to be that way. We must not let Trump, Putin, MBS, Jinping, et al have their way with the world. It doesn’t have to be a feudal division between the haves and have nots. It is time for the American people to rise up and fulfill their destiny. Revolution is not a bad thing, and if we are to more than just survive, if our posterity is to thrive, revolution is a must.

We must rise as one and force Congress to deal with Trump and his thieving cohorts. Impeachment is out of the question; that would merely replace the grifter in chief with a weak willed spineless sycophant, one Michael Pence. No, what we need to do is to force Congress to do the job for which they were assembled…to prevent the President from doing harm to the nation. The current Women’s and minority uprisings are a good start, but not enough. We must flood the Chambers of Congress with emails (bring down their servers), letters (give them no room in their offices), telephone calls (tie up their lines of communication) and go to the streets and protest…tell them exactly what we want. There can be no more “others” no more men, women, black, white, brown, gay, straight, Jew, Catholic, Protestant…there can only be Americans. Americans united under one banner, our flag, representing total equality, dignity, opportunity and freedom. No longer can we allow the Mitch McConnell tell us what can and cannot come to the floor for a vote. No longer can we allow Democrats or Republicans to waste our time and money with investigative vendettas; and no longer can we allow Congress to steal from us, take that which we have worked so very hard for.

“United we stand, and divided we fall.” It sounds so very simple, but we have let a rigged system keep us divided. That must stop. I implore you, look at your neighbor and see yourself. We all want the same thing, to get a fair chance and to be happy. And this can be achieved. There is no good reason that one percent of the people control ninety percent of the wealth. As long as it stays that way we will all be at one another’s throats to get the scraps that are left. We must define “enough.” More is not a viable definition; more eventually runs out. Wake up; don’t succumb to fear and hatred. Think about this, fear, hatred, and persecution have never once in history helped anyone but the historic few; the one percenters…don’t hate them either, but make certain that they know inevitable change must come. If it doesn’t we will ultimately destroy one another and we, like so many before us will become extinct.