Railroaded Unions (The New Afghanistan Fiasco)

Stop that Train
I wanna get on

Famously, and incorrectly, it was claimed at least Mussolini made the trains run on time.  Much like his ideological descendent Trump this was a bit of fascist propaganda and the truth was Il Duce lackey's told him things to keep him placated.

The United States House of Representatives voted today 290-137 to avert a December 9th railway strike and impose the compromise contract previously brokered by President Biden's  emergency board led by Labor Secretary Marty Walsh President Administration between the Unions and Railroads. 

Railroads and workers in America are an outlier in modern American labor.  It was no accident, the vicious Ayn Rand choose a railway as the business her female protagonist owns.  Rand pined for the days of the rapacious billionaire, the consolidation of businesses and the power they had over workers was untrammeled and resulted in brutal Wage Slavery until those evil government bureaucrats interfered with their "anti-trust" laws.  In my Gen-X history classes wedged between the end of the Civil War and the glory of the World Wars was the small section on the glided age of Robber Barrons and the terrible working conditions from children in mines to garment workers and railmen, including stories of linemen, signal maintainers, and engineers getting their arms cut off or mangled by trains and being unceremoniously fired by the Railways.  Murderous working conditions and lack of retirement benefits pushed the FDR administration to pass multiple pieces of legislation separate from the Social Security system in the 1930's.  The Railroad Retirement Board is an independent agency of the Executive Branch of the US Government.

The current situation seems unbelievably ridiculous and a throw back to 19th century working conditions. Currently, railroad workers have no paid sick days and are reportedly terminated if they take a single leave of absence.

But, the CBS news story I highlighted earlier choose to end their story with this quote, "The 'most labor-friendly president in history' has proven that he and the Democratic Party are not the friends of labor they have touted themselves to be," Conductor Gabe Christenson said.  And numerous media pieces seem to focus on President Biden's role in requesting Congress intervene in a shocking attack on Unions and the working man and his role in averting an earlier confrontation by forcing a compromise contract which 4 of the 12 Railroad Unions rejected.

What I could see happening is a repeat of the End of Afghanistan, where the media works overtime to try and pin blame on President Biden.  And then repeatedly calling the Afghanistan pullout a disaster, fiasco, or failure.  Fortunately or sadly, I don't think this will happen because Americans don't really care about railroads or union contracts.  But, it does highlight how Democratic Administrations are often placed in untenable situations by years of neglect and subversion of the Federal Government by Republicans.

Because that is how Republicans operate at the Federal Level.  The GQP has run on a platform of Government doesn't work since at least Ronnie Raygun and when they get into office they undermine the government to proclaim the were right about government not working all along.  So, Democratic Presidents and Congresses find themselves in the thankless task of keeping the trains running by forcing the workers to accept a contract.

But, while Republicans seemingly aren't willing to be seen as halting the trains, the anti-American Republican Party is damn sure against giving workers more sick leave.  Because after the first vote to impose the contract, Speaker Nancy Pelosi held a second vote to provide more sick leave for railroad workers and 207 (out of 213) House Republicans voted no.

Republicans feel confident this vote against workers won't get the media coverage as the Corporate Media tries to push the Biden Hates Unions and working class people narrative.

ISIS is the unholy muslim lovechild of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush

A recent picture meme going around Facebook showed an image of Ronnie Raygun with the block letters

"If I was President ISIS would be called WASWAS"

And thus we have another hilarious incident of conservative ignorance.

Of course, this is active stupidity on the part of Conservatives because when faced with Muslim Terror Attacks in Lebanon, Ronald Reagan disarmed the Marine Corps Gate Guards and let hundreds of US Service Members and Diplomatic Employees get blown apart in two seperate Truck Bomb Attacks which used the same tactics.

After Ronald Reagan cut-and-run in the face of danger, he gave birth to Al Qaeda. Today's ISIS is the current incarnation of Reagan's explicit creation of Al Qaeda grown, nutured and trained by the George W. Bush and his Iraqi Adventure.

But, you can't expect Conservatives to know this history. Sarah Palin and other right-wing luminaries are paid to tell Conservatives that these Muslim Extremists were created ex nihlo. But, the rise of 20th Century Muslim Terrorism lays directly at the feet of the United States and the two worst Presidents to ever besmirch the White House; Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.

Post World War 2, the House of Saud was given a 40 year free reign to spread Wahabism throughout the Muslim World, when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan many young Saudis Wahabist fanatics deployed to Afghanistan to kill godless Soviet Soldiers.

Of course, the Soviet Union was already on it's last legs, but the guerilla warfare of the Mujaheddin, armed with U.S. made Stinger missles and trained by the CIA and U. S. Special Forces helped hasten their demise. But, after their victory, Reagan's Muslim Extremists would not quietly slip back into their Madrassas. Thus, once the USSR sulked out of Afghanistan they went back to their texts but, kept their Kalishnakovs oiled and ready.

At the same time, Reagan's Muslim Fanatics were killing commies, Donald Rumsefled had been dispatched to provide aid to Saddam Hussein and his very secular Iraqi Regime to combat the Ayatollah and his Iranian Extremists. Of course, the Ayatollah and the Fanatics in Iran had come into existence in 1979 because the United States had overthrown the Iranian Government and placed the Shah into Power in 1953. The Shah was a brutal dictator but, much like Saddam Hussein in the 1980's he was our Dictator.

So, a million people died during the Iran-Iraq War but, Saddam Hussein felt he paid his dues to the United States, was now our newest Middle East Dictator,and was free to reclaim the Iraqi Province of Kuwait, which the British had created in 1919 as a port for British Petroleum.

The Saudis didn't like having Secular Saddam Hussein running around with his big military so they invited the United States into Saudi Arabia for protection and the lapdog of the House of Saud George H.W. Bush happily obliged. The House of Bush is a vassal client to the House of Saud and accepted the U.S. would be a Suzerain of Saudi Arabia long ago.

Unfortunately, the presence of American Armed Forces in the Islamic Holy Land angered Osama Bin Laden and his CIA -backed, Reagan-created Muslim Extremists. So, they focused their new Jihad on the United States.

Meanwhile, GHW Bush launched Desert Storm, based on lies, which routed Saddam's Army because it was a Paper Tiger despite all the US Propaganda about it being the World's 4th Largest Military. But, Saddam remained in power as Dick Cheney and Don Rumsfeld encouraged the Shite Marsh Arabs to rise up and do the work of overthrowing Saddam.

The Marsh Arabs rise and are crushed by Saddam's Forces who realise U.S. A-10's aren't demolishing their tank columns. Saddam Hussein spends the next 10 years slowly erasing the Marshes and eliminating the Shite Arabs.

Meanwhile, Osama Bin Laden strikes at US interests across the Globe while Muslim Fanatics continue to train in Saudi created and Saudi petro-dollar funded religious schools. These later Muslim Extremists move into Afghanistan and create an Islamic State.

George W. Bush lost the 2000 Presidential Election but, was made President anyway. W, is expected to be a Calvin Coolidge like figure, dutifully helping Business gain power at the expense of the working class in the United States, while pretending to be a Compassion Conservative.

Now, George W. Bush wasn't interested in doing Presidential work, but in the regalia of being President, so he ignores the August 6th memo warnings about the Reagan-created Muslim Fanatics and their Plan to Strike in America.

And thus the United States is attacked on 9/11 (15 of the 19 hijackers are Saudi) while blithering idiots Rudy Giuliani and W(orst President in History) do nothing.

After the attacks, despite vowing to bring the evil-doers to Justice (a vow he never fulfilled), George W. Bush allows Osama Bin Laden to escape from Tora Bora in 2001 when Dick Cheney orders the SEAL mission canceled, and spends the next 2 years lying about Saddam Hussein, because W's liege lord the King of Saudi Arabia demands the United States attack Iraq.

So, based on "smoking gun, mushroom cloud" sized lies and a fabricated  connection between Saddam and Osama Bin Laden , W(orst President Ever) begins Operation Iraqi Liberation (OIL).

The Iraqi War is declared won by Republicans and Conservatives many times over during Bush's Presidency from Mission Accomplished on May 1, 2003 to Victory in Iraq Day Nov. 22, 2008 this despite a constant flow of U.S. killed and wounded and the hundreds of thousands of murdered Iraqis.

And throughout the Massive Failure, Bush smirks and jokes about missing WMDs, while US Troops are killed and hundreds of thousands are wounded; physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually and morally.

But, what does the Iraqi War succeed at spectacularly? The creation of a new generation of battle -hardened Muslim Extremists. Because, while Saddam was in power in Iraq the fanatics did not have a base of Operations but now thanks to the complete destabilizing of the region ISIS fanatics have training, experience, weaponry and recruits aplenty.

So, that's ISIS, the unholy love child of Ronald Reagan and W(orst President Ever) and if conservatives want to the United States to re-invade and fight them? Well, there are local recruiting offices throughout the country.

America has a long history of Mistreating Veterans

NeoCon Frank Gaffney: "It is regrettable that they had to die, but I believe they did have to die... I'm still delighted that we did what we did."

Sure, under the George W(orst President Ever) Bush Administration Republicans repeatedly lied and claimed they cared about Veterans when the truth was the Republican Party was trying to get as many Veterans kill themselves as possible while Bush and Cheney used Veterans and active duty military members as props in their re-election campaign.

Throughout his mis-administration W(orst President Ever) repeatedly cut the budget to the VA and eliminated benefits and medical care for Veterans.

Because the only Veteran Conservatives love is a dead Veteran. Then Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity or any number of chicken hawk professional commentators can stick their perverted inhuman right-wing ideology onto the lips of the dead Veterans, as they did with Pat Tillman.

And when it turns out Pat Tillam was anti-war, was against every part of W(orst President Ever) decisions and regularly read Noam Chomsky. Right-Wing Garbage Ann Coutler can simply say, "I don't believe it." Chicken Hawk Hannity gleefully concurs, "I don't believe it either."

In 2005 the Pentagon's then undersecretary for personnel and readiness, David S. Chu outlined what the Republicans found disagreeable. Veterans benefits are hurtful to national defense,

"The amounts have gotten to the point where they are hurtful. They are taking away from the nation's ability to defend itself."

So, the Republican Party under the direct leadership of Bush and Cheney began undercutting funds for Veterans.

In 2007, the Mainstream Media could no longer cover for the Criminal Bush and Cheney Regime when it revealed soldiers wounded in Afghanistan and Iraq,"fallen heroes," were being warehoused in Building 18, a rat- and roach-infested satellite of the Army's Walter Reed Medical Center. 

In 2008 when CBS News revealed the Department of Veterans Affairs and Doctor Ira Katz the VA's head of Mental Health deliberately withheld critical information about the true suicide risk among veterans.

Additionally, in 2008 NPR reported Army officials pressured the Department of Veterans Affairs to stop helping wounded Veterans with their paperwork so Veterans wouldn't get their proper disability rating or benefits.

But, none of this absolves President Obama. I expect despicable evil from Republicans I expect better from President Obama. 

The problem is America has a long and cherished history of casting aside the Veteran after the War is over.

After the Revolutionary War, Veterans found themselves at the mercy of corrupt Capitalists, who like the Hedge Fund thieves of today, swindled them out of the land grants and the promissory notes allocated specifically for Veterans. Perhaps 2000-3000 Revolutionary Veterans received a Pension.

Post Civil War homeless Union Veterans were in such abundance that in 1868 NY Governor Reuben E. Fenton claimed they "numbered in the thousands". It wasn't until the Dependent Pension Act of 1890, pushed for by Widows, Children and Veterans of the Grand Army of the Republic that every Union Veteran was eligible for a Pension. Southern States had been providing Pensions, despite terrible economic hardships, for wounded Confederate Soldiers from at least the 1880's since traitors weren't eligible for Federal Pensions. 

According to Maris Vinovskis,

As a percentage of the federal budget, expenditures for Civil War veterans greatly exceeded those for veterans today (1989) which consume less than 3 percent of that budget. In 1893 veterans' benefits to former Union soldiers or their dependents constituted more than 40 percent of the overall federal budget.

In 1932 the Bonus Army, Veterans of World War I, peaceably assembled to petition the US Government for a redress of grievances but Republican President Herbert Hoover first sent the Washington Police and when they failed dispatched General Douglas MacArthur and his aide-de-camp Dwight Eisenhower along with George S. Patton and 6 battle tanks to forcibly disband the Veterans.

Much like Occupy the Bonus Army was attacked, driven out of their camp sites and had their tents and possessions burned.

Herbert Hoover's policies created the First Republican Depression, in a similar way that W's policies have created the Second  Republican Depression.

While the World War 2 Veteran, received praise, understanding and was cherished for his knowledge and experiences, especially in the creation of the GI Bill many WWII vets still fell through the cracks in society. Of the survivors from the Iwo Jima Flag Raising, USMC hero Ira Hayes drank himself to death in 1955. As a Pima Native American, Hayes also faced the bigotry of his era.

But, Rene Gagnon another of the 3 Flag raising survivors died in 1979 at only 54 years old an alcoholic as well. Broken, bitter and nearing the end of his life, Gagnon reportedly said, 

"When someone who doesn't know me is introduced to me, they say 'That was you in The Photograph?' What the hell are you doing working here? If I were you, I'd have a good job and lots of money.'"

It took a Veteran the stature of Audie Murphy speaking out about his post-traumatic struggles, previously known as Battle Fatigue or Shell-shock, for society at large to take note.

Nowadays, Hollywood can trot out any number of cliched movies with the homeless veteran cast aside by society or the self-medicating Veteran drinking a case of beer a night or the adrenaline junkie Veteran pushing the envelope to reenact the rush of combat, but these stereo-typed cliches exist because those Veterans exist.

Now in the Phony GWoT era, Veterans were a large portion of the Ranks of Occupy, because if one group can see how the American Capitalist system chews up and spits out people, it is Veterans.

Yes, I understand Republicans have been playing fuck-fuck games with Veterans, cutting VA benefits and casting Veterans adrift without proper care and services. But, they've been this doing for years.

The main issue concerning Veterans is Money. Whose going to pay for the wounded Veteran? Or provide the food and shelter so a psychologically scared Vet slowly re-acclimate into society?

Because the Republican Party sure the hell isn't.

Trent Franksly Uppity Arrogance

Arrogance and Ignorance go hand in hand ~ Metallica, Holier Than Thou

So, in a week which saw Republican Jim Bunning tell poor people to fuck off and die and Republican Steve King embraced Domestic Terrorist Joe Stack, Republican Trent Franks choose to top off Black History Month by declaring, "far more of the African American community is being devastated by the policies of today than were being devastated by the policies of slavery."

Now, is it that these 3 are indicative of the 21st Republican Party or are these 3 racist flabby, pasty white, old, out-of-touch millionaires merely disconnected from society?

Well, it's one in the same. The Republican Party has thrown all in on the Racist Class Warfare because they feel no compunction at having the indelible watermark of Kleptocratic Dominance stamped upon them.

As to Franks and abortion, during a discussion I had with my friends Queen of the Harpies and Ran, Queenie mentioned that prior to modern techniques for safe abortions, people compensated for pregnancies with child abandonment (foundlings) and infanticide, often through exposure. Think of the gang of pickpockets in Oliver Twist and Rome's mythical founders Romulus and Remus.

Today Americans, who don't read, view child abandonment as a terrible crime because they aren't used to shortages of food and the threat of slow starvation for an entire family and automatically assume their 2+ children will prosper and grow to adulthood. But throughout most recorded history children who couldn't be cared for mostly due to a paucity of resources were often abandoned.

But, such historical context is impossible for an uppity ignorant Republican like Trent Franks. Franks views himself as a member of the Master Class, better than the lowly middle class and poor and far more advanced than those in the black community for whom he is so contemptuous. So, from his perch as a rich slave holder Franks knows what's best for his children.

I nearly forgot my own personal views. Abortion should be as Bill Clinton phrased it "safe, legal and rare". There can be no debate when the life of the mother is in danger or when the child is untenable but no woman should feel constrained by the legal system. But, abortion wouldn't be as big an issue if the Republicans weren't bipolar about sex education. They want less (or no) abortions yet they don't want realistic sex education taught to teenagers. It's almost as if the Republicans had two minds but that's impossible since Republicans and their followers have no minds let alone hearts...

The Two Truths Theory

The Enemies of Reason have a certain blind look. ~The Duelists (1977) directed by Ridley Scott adapted from the short story by Joseph Conrad.

The 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin approaches and those who seek to roll back knowledge to the Dark Ages are busily at work trying to litigate mythology into the teaching of Biology, Geology, Anthropology, Paleontology, Astronomy, Medicine and Education. Namely, science is false because it disagrees with holy revelation.

But, I do have a memo from the 12th century to the Creationists out there: Science and Religion are not incompatible.

At least so say the Medieval Scholastics. Those men when faced with reality and the newly rediscovered works of the Ancient Greeks understood revelation could not account for the observable world and, in order to reconcile their myths with reality, crafted several philosophical edifices to buttress their beliefs.

The most famous was the attempt by Thomas Aquinas to reconcile the "truth" of revelation with empirical observable fact by using reason to prove the existence of god. However, Aquinas is disingenuous because what he was attempting to do was shoe horn Aristotle and evidence from the real world into the corset of Catholicism. He already knows the "truth". His appeals to reason are to reach an already revealed conclusion.

More impressive than Aquinas were the Averroists, after the muslim Ibn Rushd, who created the the Dual Truth Theory of Reason and revelation. There is one truth shown by the observable world and another through holy revelation and the human mind is not capable of merging the two, due to it's inherent limitations. Of course, the muslin fanatics had him condemned for placing reason on par with faith and as a result the engine of scientific advancement passed from islam unto the West.

And there in lies the interesting parallel. For the modern creationists are attempting to accomplish the same work the Berbers of the 13th century. Destroy the upstart philosophers and return the holy word to prominence.

If, Darwin, Wallace and those who've built modern science upon their theories, disagree with the bible? Then, the theories are incorrect and need be burned.

The Worst Crime (the Shoe Thing)

Every Nation-State makes the removal of the Government the Worst Crime. Even being charged meant imprisonment, conviction meant a slow tortured death. The brutal case of Damiens in 1757 being one of the best recorded. In the United States, even threatening the life of the President (or those in the Succession) can lead to a fine and a maximum imprisonment of 5 years.

This is good, a civil society can not abide having people going around issuing or proclaiming death threats to anyone.

But... But, removing a nation's Government and killing it's citizens is exactly what happens during war. Individuals under the direction of Tipsy Canoe accomplished the removal and deaths of members of the Iraqi government, including the "elected leader". Along the way, innocent individuals were killed.

Usually the venerable Just War Theory is raised, but with Iraq a strange heresy was created by Dick Cheney when he morphed the Just War Theory into his 1% Doctrine - supposedly if there is a 1% chance of a threat facing the United States, military action is called for - which according to Ron Suskind became the foundation for invasion of Iraq.

So the Smoking Gun/Mushroom Cloud Raison d'etre was invoked. And Iraq was invaded sans War being declared.

Why is the overthrow of a government, not to mention the deaths of tens of thousands of innocent people, acceptable when a government claims it is, but unacceptable for the individual?

But, to answer my own rhetorical question, Governments, including the vaunted US one, grant themselves an exclusive Monopoly on the Use of Force. Allowing themselves the ability to circumvent laws at their whim. Occasionally this backfires and the pawns of that government rise up, but the US has little fear of that because it has evolved the greatest System of Controlling it's citizens seen in the history of the world.

The idea the State should be the sole arbiter and controller of force is very old but was given a political-philosophical coating by Thomas Hobbes in Levithan. Hobbes describes the creation of the Sovereign to whom and from whom all rights and powers derive. Bush, Cheney clearly hold to the Hobbesian view of the Sovereign. According to Hobbes, once placed in power the Sovereign can do no wrong and can commit no crime, nor can he commit an injustice. His actions can not injure his subjects because what is good for the Sovereign is good for the people.

This is evidenced by Bob Woodward's assertion Bush told him, "I'm the commander – see, I don't need to explain – I do not need to explain why I say things. That's the interesting thing about being the president. Maybe somebody needs to explain to me why they say something, but I don't feel like I owe anybody an explanation." ~ Bush at War

So, who cares how many American subjects died when they did have to die? Who cares if the subjects don't like the Iraq Occupation? So what if Al Qaeda wasn't in Iraq until the US invaded? Who cares about Illegal Wiretapping? Who cares about Signing Statements? So what if we do Torture? So what if the Sovereign lies? These actions are taken in defense of the Leviathan and as such the actions of the Sovereign are by axiom not illegal.

But, of course, real world actions have real world consequences. And while Ole Tipsy Canoe may believe his lies and is on a whirlwind tour to claim he kept America safe, including saving the largest "skyscaper" in Los Angeles. So, while excepting that whole 9/11 thing and the Amerithrax attacks others, especially those in the ravaged country of Iraq, seem to have a dimmer view, hence the Shoe-Throwing Attack. And Bush's clear ignorance is on display when he states, "I don't know what the guy's cause is..."

The bigger problem than Bush is the mess he leaves us with. Tipsy Canoe has allowed The United States to inherit the role of the Latter Roman Republic in Mesopotamia. Ahmed Chalabi used the US the way the Satraps and Deposed Princes of the fragmented Seleucid Empire called upon the military might of Rome to gain the throne. Of course, after civil war and repeated invasions by the Armenians and Parthians and Ptolemaic Egypt, Rome eventually took direct control of the Middle East. The results of the Roman entanglement in the Middle East (the creation of christianity and the unfortunate rise of islam) are the building blocks for the problems still facing the world today.

Despite all his crying Bush's actions have really only managed to "keep us safe" from prosperity, worldwide respect, and medical advances. But as the Sovereign, he views himself as absolved or rightly above and beyond punishment for crimes, which if perpetrated by an individual, would result in a sentence far worse than having two shoes thrown at them.