Perpetual War 10-25-2017

25, October 2017                          Perpetual War

The Pentagon budget for fiscal 2017-18 is a whopping $640 billion consuming 55% of discretionary government spending.

Our lawmakers are loath to oppose funding the war machine lest they be accused of being weak on terrorism. We have troops spread across the globe in more than 182 countries.

With an appalling record of overthrowing democratically elected governments around the world (Iran 1953, Guatemala, 1954, Congo, 1960, Dominican Republic . .) the CIA continues to be a destabilizing force around the world with 38,000 currently engaged in secret missions - with no accountability. Trillions of dollars and thousands of lives have been lost. The US continues to sell weapons to many rogue states guilty of appalling human rights abuses such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia and many of the Gulf States. Tens of thousands of innocent civilians have perished in these perpetual wars fueling intense resentment against Americans serving a rich recruitment for its enemies. We must reject the false belief that we have a divine right to possess WMD’s. After all we are the only nation guilty of unleashing these terrifying weapons in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We should bring back the draft so ALL Americans have a stake in Pentagon’s perpetual wars. We need to replace our “Shock and Awe” with robust diplomacy.

To compound global instability, Islam is wreaking havoc around the world, its terrorism rooted in its scriptures, to “kill all infidels”. Few Islamic scholars voice their opposition to this jihad rhetoric.

OxyContin 10-19-2017

19, October 2017                                OxyContin

Who Profits from the Opioid Crisis? An in-depth investigation by Esquire Magazine reveals the ultra-secretive Sackler family, owners of the company that invented OxyContin, downplayed the risks to generate huge profits. More than 200,000 people have died from prescription drugs since OxyContin was released in 1996. The ultra-secret Sackler Family is making billions from OxyContin.

Compounding the crisis, Congress undermined efforts to restrict the flow of pain pills that have led to tens of thousands of deaths. The Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis has said, “America is enduring a death toll equal to September 11th every three weeks.

The drug industry lobbied heavily to win passage of a bill that weakens the DEA’s ability to control opioids, contributing $1.5 million to its 23 congressional co-sponsors virtually gutting the Controlled Substances Act.

The Sackler family, like so many other oligarchs, gained social acceptance, becoming huge art collectors. 

They gained a foothold in the medical advertising business aggressively marketing antibiotics, followed by Valium and later, the blockbuster OxyContin. This gave the Sacklers the largest fortune in pharmaceutical history. Unknown to most doctors and pharmacies, OxyContin is basically morphine without the “terminal illness” stigma.

The three largest distributors are Cardinal Health, McKesson and AmerisourceBergen. They control probably 85 or 90 percent and are literally sending people to their early graves. Pain clinics have become ubiquitous much like neighborhood pharmacies. The new professionals are drug dealers in lab coats.

Opioid Crisis 10-19-2017

19, October 2017                            Opioid Crisis

A 60 Minutes-Washington Post investigation exposed the unholy alliance between Congress and lobbyists to weaken the DEA’s ability to fight opioid abuse. 

Sadly, many former DEA officials succumb to the siren song of easy money by quitting the agency and joining lobbying forms that use their expertise to render the DEA virtually impotent in their efforts to curb opioid use.

A federal whistleblower is demanding why Congress passed a bill by unanimous consent, with no objections, to limit the DEA’s power to fight opioid abuse. 

The new law makes it much easier for drug distributors to ship pain pills from manufacturers to distributors to local stores facilitated by rogue pharmacies and doctors.

Tom Marino of Pennsylvania and Marcha Blackburn of Tennessee sponsored the bill as quid pro quo for donations they received from big pharma unconcerned they were condemning thousands of Americans to an early death.

The Iran Deal 10-18-2017

18, October 2017                  The Iran Deal

Following his failed promises to repeal and replace the ACA, revise the tax plan, build his “beautiful” wall, Trump took aim at scuttling the Iran deal.

Ignoring the statements of his cabinet, who stated that Iran was in full compliance and unable to comprehend the complexities of the deal, Trump punted its fate to Congress.

Perhaps Trump is unaware of our dark history with Iran, beginning with the overthrow of the democratically elected government in 1953 with the covert coup by the CIA and the British agency, MI6, which resulted in the theft of Iraq’s oil and the establishment of British Petroleum. The government was replaced by the US puppet, the Shah of Iran, who unleashed his secret police, the Savak, who rounded up and tortured tens of thousands of Iranians.

During the Iraq- Iran war, the CIA covertly provided massive shipments of arms including chemical weapons, to our former Iraqi ally, Saddam Hussein.

If the nuclear deal falters the US and Israel will be the losers. The US will remain isolated; there will be no appetite for further sanctions because most Western countries have already begun trading with Iran and establishing embassies. US companies will be excluded from such trading privileges. Iran will likely accelerate its nuclear bomb making capabilities and intensify their hostility towards Israel. They still recall Israel’s role in assassinating many of their nuclear scientists.  If you're a supporter of the deal, contact your congressional representative before it’s too late.

YEMEN 10-16-2017

16, October 2017                                YEMEN

The incoherent and unpredictable president continues to advance his business interests with thuggish regimes around the world. His latest infatuation is with King Saud of Saudi Arabia who has launched merciless, genocidal attacks, on its impoverished neighbor, Yemen.

The U.S.-backed, Saudi-led war and naval blockade in Yemen has created a huge cholera epidemic that has become the largest and fastest-spreading outbreak of the disease in modern world history. The World Health Organization estimates there will be a million cases of cholera in Yemen by the end of the year affecting at least 600,000 children. Our tax dollars are creating a famine of biblical proportions.

No longer can we make the false claim that we are a force for good. Weapon sales always  seem to  triumph concerns for human rights -  unless the American people wake up and take action.

Sen. Chris Murphy stated “there is an American imprint on every civilian life lost in Yemen. The Houthi rebel army poses no existential threat to the United States.  The United States Congress has not debated a war authorization giving the president the power to conduct this operation in Yemen.”

I urge readers to call the White House Comment line (202-456-1111) and demand an immediate halt to weapons sales to Saudi Arabia and bombing attacks on Yemen.

Please tweet - #POTUS HALT WEAPONS SALES TO SAUDI ARABIA DEMAND THEY LIFT EMBARGO & BOMBING OF YEMENESE CIVILIANS.

Voter suppression 10-9-2017

9, October 2017                          Voter suppression

While much of the media is focused on Russia’s hacking of the 2016 election, voter suppression has largely gone unnoticed.

Rev Barber is spearheading efforts to heighten people’s awareness of Voter suppression and offers the following statistics.

There were fewer than 868 voting sites in 2016 for black, brown and poor communities.22 states passed voter suppression laws since 2010. These are states which make up 50% of the House of Representatives. Without voter suppression the 2016 results would likely be radically different. 

1,562 days has elapsed since the Supreme Court decision gutting Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act McConnell and Ryan have filibustered efforts to reinstate the Voting Rights Act.

Trump won in Wisconsin by a mere 30,000 votes. 250,000 votes were suppressed in this state and in North Carolina 150 fewer sites offered early voting.

Districts are gerrymandered to render poor, Hispanic and black voters largely irrelevant.

Gerrymandering in North Carolina, voter suppression and denying same-day registration, early voting are prime examples of systemic voter suppression.

Trump nominated Tom Farr, a lawyer in Northern Carolina who responsible for voter suppression, to a coveted federal position.

58 % of black voters reside in 34 states that now have serious voter suppression laws. 

Puerto Rico 10-3-2017

3, October 2017                           Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico was hit with a devastating double whammy. Hurricane Maria and a president asleep at the wheel who reacted with anger and meanness at having his golf game disturbed by the “mayday calls” from the San Juan mayor. Trump tweeted with racially inflected insults accusing the islanders of being lazy and “wanting everything to be done for them rather than helping themselves.”

After visiting the island, retired Army Lieutenant General Honoré, who led the military response to Hurricane Katrina, estimated that about 7 critical days had been squandered by the sluggish Trump administration. It took 8 days to suspend the archaic Jones Act - a relic of World War 1. An exasperated Honore’ said: “We’ve got to get rid of that dumb-ass Jones Act that benefits shipping tycoons in New York and Miami, while driving up costs for Puerto Ricans.” He thought the devastation was so horrendous, that perhaps the best course of action would be to move the children off the island to the mainland. Smarting under the withering criticism of his lackadaisical response, Trump reached down into his rich lexicon heaping praise for his “amazing and wonderful response.”

Buoyed by his self-importance, determined to be a swaggering “John Wayne” or “make my day” Clint Eastwood he instructed Rexx Tillerson to halt his peaceful overtures with North Korea accelerating the demise of our Goldilocks planet. 

Mass Shooting 10-3-2017

3, October 2017                                Mass Shooting

Mr. President, like most Americans I am sure you are traumatized by the mass shooting in Las Vegas. The killer, Stephen Paddock, took advantage of lax gun laws in assembling his arsenal. I am sure you will agree that military-style weapons used by Paddock, that can fire 10 shots every second, have no business in civilian hands. They have no legitimate self-defense or hunting use but have been used exclusively for mass shootings.

You have responded brilliantly to aggrieved white voters and are in a position to use this capital to break the chokehold of the NRA, a unique “China-Nixon” moment.  As the most popular president in US history, I ask you to challenge the validity of the Second Amendment "A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a Free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." Really? Do we really need militias in 2017 to resist the actions of a tyrannical government? The answer is surely a resounding NO! The U.S. Constitution was crafted in 1787 to reflect the prevailing frontier conditions at the birth of our nation when people had a strong need to protect their families and livestock. We have well-established law enforcement agencies so there is no need for militias!  President Trump, please assemble a team of brilliant legal minds, seize the “Australia” moment, and toss the Second Amendment into the dustbin of history.

The Swamp 10-2-2017

2, October 2017                                The Swamp

Congratulations Mr. Trump! You have commenced draining the swamp with HH Secretary, Tom Price.

Perhaps you are not aware that your inner circle, Jared Kushner, Ivanka and chief economic advisor, Gary Cohn, have been using private email servers to conduct official business. Please instruct your sycophant, AG Sessions, to initiate legal proceedings to “lock up the mistreats.”

Another member of your staff, EPA czar Scott Pruitt, used a private plane and military jet for trips over the summer.

Finally, Interior Secretary, Ryan Zinke took $12,000 charter flight home in an oil executive’s plane near his home in Montana and took private plane to a

trip to the Virgin Islands.

Mr. Trump, you are eminently qualified to clean the swamp because you have spent years perfecting the art of stiffing contractors in your failed businesses and securing business loans from shady Russian oligarchs.