A Brief History of Dishonest Government
by Coast Watcher
by Coast Watcher
America
has an honesty problem featured in its
relationship between elected politicians and the ordinary people they
purport to represent. The people generally do not trust
elected officials. In many cases they don’t even believe they’re
intelligent. “Selfish” is the adjective most often used to describe politicians' attitude, and the percentage of those who believe politicians are honest is in
the single digits.
The
modern distrust of government stems from the 1960s when Presidents Lyndon B.
Johnson and later Richard Nixon embroiled the United States in the
Vietnam War. Most of the population opposed the country’s
involvement. Protests against the war erupted, one
of the most violent of which was during the Democratic Convention in
Chicago in 1968. Such was the level of opposition the government
resorted to the draft to feed the military's killing machine.
The measure led to people tearing up their draft cards or
fleeing abroad, some never to return. The courts even upheld these actions as they were held to be an expression of
free speech.
Following brutal attacks by police and the National
Guard on protesters exercising their right to free speech at Kent State and Jackson State, Americans
further distrusted their government's motives. All the drama and
outrage over the war obscured Johnson’s efforts to continue with implementing FDR’s New Deal to
benefit ordinary citizens.
Watergate changed American politics forever. Americans were left
feeling betrayed, especially by the Republican Party. The scandal led
many Americans to question their leaders and think more critically
about the presidency in general. Nixon’s Vice President, Gerald Ford, took his
place in the White House and promptly pardoned Nixon, adding fuel to
the fire. It appeared highly-placed politicians
could carry out any illegal act they pleased and get away with it.
(Remember Trump’s boast during the 2016 campaign that he could walk down to Fifth Avenue in
New York City, shoot anyone he pleased, and not be convicted? The more things change...)
During
1977 to 1981, America battled stagflation.
Stagflation is a concatenation of rising prices and inflation
combined with the decline of job availability—something the modern
world may well see happen again thanks to the COVID-19 crisis. The
price of a cup of coffee nearly tripled and the price of a burger
doubled in those four years. Gas prices steadily rose making it impossible for some to afford fueling their vehicles while others lined up in long queues at the gas station. President Jimmy Carter tried
and failed to grapple with this situation, the result of
previous administrations’ ineptitude or sheer corruption, and as a
result he served only one term.
Reagan in his inaugural address famously said of America’s then-troubled economy, “In this
present crisis, government is not the solution to our problems;
government is the problem.” His words found a favorable reception
in the American public, since the perception of government being
inherently corrupt had taken hold. Alas, Reagan’s
administration turned out to be spectacularly corrupt from the
get-go, and following his inauguration Reagan announced that Iran
had agreed to release the remaining American hostages captured in the
Tehran Embassy several months before. The timing of Iran’s decision
led to suspicions that the Reagan campaign had made a secret deal to
prevent the Carter administration from unveiling a so-called “October
surprise”—the release of the hostages before
election day.
Reagan's policy known as “Reaganomics” led to tax cuts for the rich and
Big Business. He also increased
military spending to
$1.5 trillion over a five-year period in an effort to outpace the
Soviet Union, “the evil empire.” The military-industrial complex maintains this
advantage to this day. In another echo of modern
times, in 1983 Reagan set up the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI),
a plan to develop space-based weapons to protect America from attacks
by Soviet nuclear missiles. Trump’s much-trumpeted “Space Force”
is nothing new. Reagan's “Star Wars” missile defense boondoggle came first.
To
fund these policies there were
reductions in social programs and measures passed to deregulate business. Reagan’s
policies led to budget deficits that could never be reconciled, yet
Reagan dubbed single
mothers “welfare queens,” implying they were to blame for the
drain on public funds. Reagan used this slur to cover his cuts in so-called discretionary spending on social welfare programs such as
education, Food Stamps, low income housing, school lunches for poor
children, Medicaid, and Aid to Families with Dependent Children
(AFDC).
Obama’s
presidency promised hope, but ultimately delivered so
little. His Affordable Care Act helped a number of poor Americans who
would not otherwise be able to afford healthcare, yet it didn’t go
far enough and outlaw private health insurers and institute a single payer system. Obama allowed the Republicans to insert harmful clauses
into the bill, such as fines for those who wouldn’t buy health
insurance, rendering the act toxic.
And let’s not forget that his
Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, used her time in office to
feather her nest. She oversaw the downfall of Muamar
Quaddafi, the Haitian government’s cave-in over its proposed
increase to their minimum wage so that American corporations could continue paying slave wages, and the deportation of thousands of
vulnerable Central American immigrants to their home countries
where many faced abuse and death.
So
we come, at last, to Trump. This is the man who makes the corrupt
administrations of the past look like choir boys by comparison. This
is the man who makes money out of shares in a pharmaceutical company
by promoting a drug as a cure for COVID-19 that is useless for the
purpose at best, harmful at worst. This is the man who sells copies
of the Presidential Seal in his various properties, which is
illegal. This is a man who breaks the law time and again, yet he gets
away with it. His followers yell “That was
cool! Do another!” He praises them, calling them “fine people” even when they launch armed
invasions of the Michigan State House in an effort to force a
reopening of businesses during the COVID-19 crisis.
All
the while the so-called Democratic Party makes every effort to muzzle
and contain the efforts of Senator Bernie Sanders and his followers, instead
of choosing Sanders as the nominee. They know full well that he’d
gut their party and cleanse it of the corrupting Clinton
influence. Their anointed nominee is Joe Biden, a man who never met a
war he didn’t like; who drew-up the Patriot Act, a dangerous law
that abrades civil liberties; and whose record of sexual assault is still relevant to this day.
Dishonesty in government is nothing new. It’s as old as the concept of
government itself. It remains to be seen if the American public will
respond to the age old goads to revolution which we see in
this COVID-19 world—dramatically increased unemployment, increasing
crime born of desperation, restricted supplies of necessities, and a
feeling that the government, the so-called representatives of the
people, really don’t give a sh*t about the ordinary person.
Perhaps
it really is time to build those guillotines and sharpen those
pitchforks... Why should dishonesty be rewarded? Dishonest governments should be afraid of their people, not the other way around.
Related articles:
Related articles:
BIO: Coast Watcher has been observing various world governments for years, wondering when we'll see a glimpse of honesty in any of them. This current pandemic is not the time to give up hope--it's the time to expose all dishonest leadership for what it is and sweep it into the dustbin of history. Pitchforks will work much better than brooms, too.
https://youtu.be/aWl7kQZHZE0
***
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*** Friday morning -- the same day Jim Bakker attacked us on-air again -- Pat Robertson's 700 Club aired a misleading hit piece against Faithful America.
According to the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), "Faithful America does not have anywhere near the grassroots support it claims." The piece says we're "just another half-fake, left-wing nest of operatives" "using faith as a cover to silence conservatives."
CBN's goal was obviously to dismiss social-justice Christians like us as just "a few thousand grumpy left-wingers." To listen to the narrator ominously describe our campaign victories, you'd think we couldn't possibly be Christian (we are) or could never actually have 160,000 grassroots members like you (we do).
Please join us in wearing these attacks as a badge of "grumpy" honor! Our campaigns are clearly getting to Robertson and Bakker -- and they're afraid. The religious right needs its supporters to believe you don't exist, or their entire Christian-nationalist narrative would come crashing down. If ever there was a time to keep things up, this is it.
Sign our open letter: #SorryPat! We exist, and we're not going anywhere!
After you sign, please be sure to share so that we can get the hashtag #SorryPat trending, and spread the message to reporters and voters everywhere that being Christian doesn't have to mean supporting Donald Trump or the religious right.
Thank you for everything you do to love your neighbor and reclaim the Gospel from the religious right.
In peace,
Rev. Nathan and the Faithful America team
***
From JVP (Jewish Voice for Peace) Action:If you’re like me you can’t think of a single reason why children should be in prison. PERIOD. To stop the spread of COVID-19 and prevent unnecessary tragedy, governments worldwide need to release prisoners—but Israel’s armed forces are arresting and detaining even more Palestinian children. 194 Palestinian children were detained in Israeli prisons at the end of March, an increase of 6% from January. Over 60 percent of these children are being held pre-trial, not even serving sentences.
Israel is the ONLY country that systematically detains children in a military court system, and these children – some as young as 12 – are frequently abused and tortured. It is heartbreaking that Palestinian parents must face this reality.
So during a global pandemic, where social distancing is impossible in jails, you would think that Israeli prison officials would AT THE VERY LEAST free those being held without charge and the most vulnerable: the elderly, the ill, the CHILDREN. Instead, they’re making the crisis worse.
Take action here.
Can you pitch in to help us keep campaigning for Palestinian rights?
Each day under COVID-19, we see acts of humanity – and the opposite. Israeli officials land on the side of the extremely inhumane with their choice to continue arresting children and putting them at risk of contracting and spreading the virus through their jails.
Among the first cases of documented coronavirus was 19 year-old Nour Eddin Sarsour, who was held for two weeks in Ofer Prison and exposed to COVID-19 by a guard.
We’re teaming up with Defense for Children International Palestine (DCIP) as part of the No Way to Treat a Child campaign to raise the alarm about child prisoners and call for their release. Israel won’t take action unless we can bring real pressure to make them.
Will you take 20 seconds and sign our petition? Together we can bring about the change we need to happen. So many things need our attention right now, but I know that, like me, you are not forgetting Palestine and the need to keep working for justice, dignity and equality for all in the region.
Thank you for all you do.
Granate Kim
Communications Director
***
From Public Citizen:
I want to talk about one especially heartbreaking way the coronavirus can ambush families.
The crisis is obviously causing unprecedented financial hardship for millions of Americans — indeed, for our entire economy. This can affect us even if nobody we know gets sick.
Then there are the tens of thousands of families who lose a loved one to the disease.
Many families simply don’t have the money to cover the basic cost of burying someone they’ve lost to the pandemic.
This is tragedy on top of tragedy.
And the federal government could be helping.
There is already a program run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help struggling families with burial costs when disaster strikes.
But Donald Trump has so far refused to authorize FEMA to release that funding for victims of this national emergency.
By simply signing a piece of paper, Donald Trump could help families whose livelihoods and loved ones have been lost to the coronavirus.
Tell Donald Trump:
Immediately authorize FEMA to help American families with burial expenses for loved ones lost to the coronavirus.
Add your name now.
Thanks for taking action.
Stay safe.
- Robert Weissman, President of Public Citizen
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