Part 3: Why Gay Marriage and The Confederate Flag Are Meaningless Relative To The Lobbyist Behind The Curtain

Over the past two days we have been discussing a theme that goes as follows: “Why Gay Marriage and The Confederate Flag Are Meaningless Issues Relative To The Lobbyist Behind the Curtain.” The purpose of the two posts was to do a reality check in that even though the issues of gay marriage and the Confederate flag are hot and “trending” this week, they are minor nits on a fly’s butt compared to the two other issues we discussed in those blog posts:

1. Monday we discussed the writings of Gary Hart, a former liberal U.S. Senator and Presidential candidate, and his insightful and correct conclusions that we are being overrun by the most corrupt political class of all time and the lobbyists that drive their corruptness.
2. Yesterday, we discussed the fact that when the whole economy and financial viability of the U.S. collapses due to political class overspending and fiscal insanity, whether or not one has a new type of marriage license or a flag will be totally insignificant in the economic downfall of the country.

Unfortunately, people have pointed out these are not the only two major issues that most of America is ignoring or ignorant off, that other issues are being ignored by the mainstream media in the frenzy to cover what again we consider minor issues in the big scheme of the world and the future of the country. Thus, rather than cutting this theme short, we find it necessary to devote another two days to two other big issues that are threatening this country and our democracy as most of the country frets about a marriage license and a piece of cloth:

• Today we will review a set of critical and dangerous issues/crises that are getting no media play at all.
• Tomorrow we will reivew an outstanding peice of journalism from the www.vox.com website, an article that paints a picture and probability of World War III, starting in the Baltic states, that is terrifying.

But before we do that, I am going to run the explanatory paragraphs we used the past two days to set up the reason why we find “Why Gay Marriage and The Confederate Flag Are Meaningless Issues Relative To The Lobbyist Behind the Curtain.”

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Later this week we will post our monthly series of political class insanity posts. Every month we gather and discussed the latest insanity, ineptness, wasteful spending, and corruption of the American political class. Unfortunately for us, over the years we have been doing this feature, every month we have needed more and more time just to cover one month’s worth of insanity.

Before we do that for July’s insanity, let’s look at some bigger picture issues that dwarf the wasteful spending, idiotic programs and laws, stupid quotes, and overall inept performance of the American class. Yes, it is important to point out how wasteful spending goes on in Washington, how government and political class programs never efficiently or effectively implement their goals, how stupid our politicians often sound when they open their mouths.

But the two topics we will discuss yesterday and today dwarf these issues. In fact, the top two social and political issues being hotly debated this these days are also nits relative to the two overarching issues we will be discussing today and tomorrow. It really does not matter what you think about gay marriage and the Supreme Court’s recent decision on it. It really does not matter what you think about the Confederate flag and what it stands for. 

Talking about them in the context of the bigger issues is a total waste of time since both issues pale in comparison to the two bigger issues. The gay and lesbian community consists of less than 5% of the nation’s population. Confederate flag supporters are probably comparable in numbers, small minorities in the country. 

But unless we address the major issue of political corruption in Washington (yesterday’s topic) and the unrelenting build up of the national debt (today’s issue) and the wasteful spending that goes with it, then who can get married and who can fly a flag of their choice will become totally, totally irrelevant in our near future since these two bigger issues affect EVERY American, not just a small minority of them.

Yesterday’s post is based on the writings of liberal former Senator and Presidential candidate Gary Hart. He is the author of 21 books and the following quotes come from his recent book, “The Republic Of Conscience.” While I have pulled out only a subset of quotes from his book that was discussed in a recent Time magazine article, I encourage everyone to go to that online Time article at:

http://time.com/3937860/gary-hart-america-corruption/

Mr. Hart eloquently and precisely points out how our democratic processes have been thoroughly corrupted by the American political class and the media, lobbyists, and organized political entities that feast on those processes and American tax dollars and freedoms. We have discussed this corruption of the democratic processes before,both in this blog and our book, “Love My Country, Loathe My Government.”

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Let’s look at some issues that are much more important and will affect many, many more Americans than gay marriage and a flag:

1. ISIS, the wealthiest terrorist group ever to exist, is still controlling wide swaths of the Middle East and has threatened to attack the U.S. homeland on July 4th. Don’t think they have the capability? Keep in mind that the U.S. Federal government just had a truck hijacked in Mexico that contained over 11,000 U.S. valid travel visas. Put it all together: corrupt Mexican police officials and wealthy drug cartels, rich terrorists, and before you know it we have 11,000 valid U.S. travel visas in the hands of some very violent people who really do not care about gay marriage or the Confederate flag, only about death and destruction within our borders.

2. The Taliban launched a daring attack on the Afghan parliament in the capital of Kabul while its parliament was in session. If the Taliban is making such daring attacks while the U.S. and other nations’ troops are still inside the country, what will they do when the American military presence is severely cut back? If the capital city is not secure and safe from Taliban attacks today, then nowhere else in Afghanistan is safe. 

Thus, as soon as the U.S. pulls its last soldier from the country at some point in the future, the current Afghan government will likely collapse almost immediately, the Taliban will seize power, and the United States’ fourteen year presence in Afghanistan will have been futile. Making the loss of thousands of American lives and the spending of hundreds of billions of dollars, the majority of which was spent during the Obama administration, a total and disgraceful waste.

3. The Pentagon released its new “Law of War Manual.” In it there is a chilling finding, as reported by Anti-Media: 

“One change in terminology directly targets journalists, stating, ‘in general, journalists are civilians. However, journalists may be members of the armed forces […] or unprivileged belligerents.’Apparently, reporters have joined the ranks of al-Qaeda in this new “unprivileged belligerent” designation, which replaces the Bush-era term, ‘unlawful combatants.’ What future repercussions this categorization could bring are left to the imagination…”

In other words, the U.S. armed forces are now justified in killing journalists in a combat zone, apparently based on their interpretation of the situation. For a country that supposedly cherishes freedom, a free press, and the First Amendment, this Federal government/military action has slippery slope all over it. Certainly should be putting a chill in honest journalists and their desire to print the truth but who may now be viewed as enemy combatants for their honest reporting.

4. On June 23, 2015 Wikileaks released more NSA documents that implicate the agency in spying on France, specifically current and former French presidents and members of the French cabinet. According to the documents: “The top secret documents derive from directly targeted NSA surveillance of the communications of French Presidents Holande, Sarkozy, and Chirac, as well as French cabinet ministers and the French Ambassador to the United States.” This brings to 35 foreign countries and their dignitaries that the U.S. Federal government has spied on. So much for a valid foreign policy when you tick off those same allies by spying on them. Or as the new old saying goes under the Obama administration’s failed foreign policies: “Our enemies no longer fear us and our friends no longer trust us.” Tough to trust anyone who spies on you.

5. Speaking of failed foreign policies, Russia is now making noise in the Baltic countries on its western border after invading and occupying large areas in the Ukraine. Given that these Baltic states are members of NATO and are theoretically guaranteed full NATO military assistance if they are attacked by say, Russia, what happens if Russia actually does attacks a country like Estonia? Will NATO counter attack and open the possibility of full fledged war with a nuclear armed Russia or do nothing, which will expose NATO as an empty shell of a defense treaty and thereby render it obsolete? Neither of these two options is good which means something should have been done earlier to make sure these were not the only two options. (Much more detailed discussion tomorrow on this harrowing possibility).

6. And finally, scientists recently came across high levels of Helium 3 in oil rig pipes in southern California. Without going into the details and the science, the bottom line appears to be high concern that Helium 3 is leaking into the underwater oil fields from deep inside the earth’s crust, a new phenomenon, indicating that southern California could be on the verge of a massive earthquake, rendering gay marriage and the Confederate flag meaningless in that state.

Thus, rather than paying so much attention, passion, and venom on gay marriage and the Confederate flag, maybe some of our focus and energies should be focused eklsewhere. Like, on sealing our borders and protecting our citizens from visa-armed ISIS terrorists, making sure that the expense in blood and treasure in Afghanistan is not wasted, protecting the First Amendment from our military who can now legally target journalists for termination, stop spying on our allies, find a way to accommodate the Russian problem without going to the brink of nuclear war over a country that no one could find on a map, and think about putting together an earthquake recovery plan. Time to move onto to other issues that have far more ramifications for far more Americans.

One last post tomorrow on this theme of moving beyond the currently hyped minor issues of the day as we discuss the situation with Russia that no one in the American public is aware of all talking about but one that renders gay marriage and the flag totally insignificant.

Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at:

www.loathemygovernment.com

It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.

Please visit the following sites for freedom:

Term Limits Now: http://www.howmuchworsecoulditget.com
http://www.reason.com
http://www.cato.org
http://www.bankruptingamerica.org
http://www.conventionofstates.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w

Japan's Nuclear Plant Employees: Profile In Courage and Sacrifice, The American Political Class: Not So Much

On December 1, 2010, I wrote a post entitled: "Jill Costello: Profile In Courage and Leadership, The American Political Class: Not So Much." This has turned out to be the third most viewed posting in this entire blog. It profiled Jill Costello, a University of California college student and a member of that university's women's crew team. Unfortunately, Ms. Costello was diagnosed with cancer and died within a relatively short time after she received her diagnosis. However, in that short time the positive impact she had on her friends, family, teammates and others, from a courage and leadership perspective, was unbelievable in so many ways. The details of this outstanding person's character are included in the December 1, 2010 post or can be read about in detail in a Sports Illustrated article by Chris Ballard.

In that December post, after much soul searching, I compared Ms. Costellos' courage and leadership to the total lack of leadership and courage that seems to be constantly displayed by our political class. They hide behind their staffs and press releases, they take no chances that might impact a few voters during their next election campaign, and their behavior is so many ways is juvenile and non-productive, compared to what Ms. Costello did during her lifetime under very trying circumstances.

Today's post is inspired by a group of humans who, like Jill Costello, are displaying incredible courage, leadership, and sacrifice. These people have been named the "Nuclear Samurai." They are some of the workers of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan that was badly damaged by the earthquake and resultant tsunami. These people are gallantly working inside the badly damaged plant to try and bring the situation under control and save Japan and the world from what could be a catastrophic nuclear disaster if the nuclear power plant gets out of their control.

The following facts and observations about them are from the an article in a recent issue of The Week magazine:

• These workers sleep and eat inside the plant every day while in their protective suits, surviving on two meals a day of crackers and vegetable juice.
• They are working on 12 hour shifts to keep the nuclear material covered and cool while also trying to pump out radioactive water.
• They are working in the vicinity of broken nuclear reactors that are emitting radiation that is 100,000 times higher than normal radiation exposure.
• Nineteen of these wonderful workers have already been exposed to 100 millisieverts of radiation since the disaster several weeks ago. For comparison, in the United States, no nuclear power plant worker can be exposed to more than 50 millisieverts in a YEAR.
• More than 500 of these men have been circulating in and out of the installation and are the last hope from keeping a larger nuclear disaster from happening.
• Last week, two workers stood in a pool of radioactive water for two hours that ended up burning their skin through their protective suits.
• Fiona McIntosh of the London Sunday Mirror said: "I've never witnessed heroism like this."
• Joan Smith of the London Independent said: "Heroism is an overused word but it's on full display in Fukushima. The sacrifice of the nuclear samurai is a powerful rebuttal of the notion that human beings are motivated by nothing but self-interest."
• Andy Soltis of the New York Post said the reality, of which these heroes must be only too aware, is that many of them will "likely die from lethal doses of radiation."

Unbelievable courage and heroism, no doubt about it. I hesitate, much like I did when I wrote about Jill Costello, to write about these fine human beings and our political class in the same post. However, with no disrespect intended for these nuclear samurai, their positive behavior stands in stark contrast to what we are still seeing in Washington, D.C. and the amateurish budget talks and the kindergarten trash talking that is accompanying them.

The United States government has been around for well over two hundred years and this political class still cannot put together a decent, or an indecent, government budget, more than six months after the fiscal year began. For as much admiration I have when I  say "unbelievable" when referring to the Japanese workers, I have just as much disdain for the political class relative to the budget process:

1. The nuclear plant workers are willing to risk their lives for the better good while our political class won't even risk one courageous stand for a decent budget, lest it tick off a few voters.
2. The Japanese workers are called heroes while our political class would never be mistaken for heroes in any sense whatsoever, their approval ratings continue to be an embarrassment.
3. The courage, sacrifice and leadership of these workers is unmatched when it comes to doing the right thing as compared to our political class when doing the right thing, in their minds, is preserving their seat in office regardless of what damage it does to the country.

The prime example of this last point is another failed chance at leadership of President Obama. With the country teetering on the brink of a government shutdown, a shutdown that will impact the lives on just about every American, the President decided to leave Washington for Pennsylvania and New York within hours of a government shutdown to campaign for the Presidency in 2012.

Talk about a lack of leadership, his political career is more important than buckling down and leading the country to a final annual budget and staving off a lot of heartache, pain, and inconvenience of every American. I cannot see any of these 500 nuclear samurai taking off for a selfish, personal goal, they are sacrificing for the good of the country and the safety of their fellow citizens, not leaving the scene of the crisis like the President did this week and has done so many times in the past.

To the American political class in Washington, your lack of courage, sacrifice, and leadership, along with your juvenile behavior, is a disgrace and continues to be an embarrassment of monumental proportions. To the 500 workers at the Fukushim Daiichi plant, thank you and God bless you.



Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at http://www.loathemygovernment.com/. It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.


Please visit the following sites for freedom:

http://www.cato.org/
http://www.robertringer.com
http://realpolichick.blogspot.com
http://www.flipcongress2010.com/
http://www.reason.com/
http://www.repealamendmen.com