No Bread? Let Them Eat...Nothing

It appears that unemployment benefits are going to run out for some two million Americans within about a month, courtesy of Republicans. This is in addition to the so-called 99’ers previously shut out. Republicans say we just can’t afford these unemployment benefits, a claim that might have some credibility were it not for the fact that at the same time they want to extend tax cuts for the filthy rich at a cost of 700 billion dollars. I would think that in any sane society this would be regarded for what it is, hypocritical greed peppered with an unconscionable lack of empathy. Alas, American society at the moment cannot be characterized as sane. The idea that American multi-millionaires and billionaires either need or deserve further tax breaks is an idea so basically insane it should not even be discussed.

But not only is it apparently being discussed, there is some reason to believe that President Obama and the Democrats are actually willing to compromise in some way. This is even more insane. I confess I cannot understand what any of these people are thinking. On the Republican side, what do they think they will accomplish by refusing to extend benefits? Certainly they can’t reasonably expect these people, thrown to the wolves, to vote Republican? I detect in this a belief that voters are increasingly just not going to matter, that elections will be under control as they seem to have increasingly been in the past few years. Aside from their votes, what do Republicans think is going to happen to all these people, unemployed, with little or no food, no benefits, no homes, no hope for the future? Is the U.S. going to revert back to a kind of feudalism, with a few Lords on top with all the wealth and the overwhelming mass of humanity reduced to serfdom? It does seem we are on our way to that previous condition. Republicans seem to be doing everything they can to bring about such a society.

What about the Democrats? And what about Obama? Are they truly so spineless as to defer to Republican wishes even before they have to do so? Why should they compromise on tax cuts for the wealth when they have the American public on their side and could simply force the issue? Obama in particular seems unable to grasp the basic fact that Republicans are not going to compromise with him on anything. Obama is not going to be allowed to have any success if Republicans can keep it from happening. President Obama has always seemed to me to be an unusually intelligent and thoughtful person, why cannot he understand this basic fact? Is it perhaps that he really isn’t up to the job? I totally reject the view that his behavior has anything to do with his race, but it may well have to do with his personality and his desire to always compromise if possible. On the other hand, it may be that he is basically just another politician that will tend to go with the power, and we all know where the power resides these days.

Fortunately, much of it doesn’t seem to be connected very closely to John McCain. DADT is well on the way to being history, but of course not if McCain could have his way. His way seems to be pretty simple, if Obama wants it, McCain doesn’t want it. He was in favor of abolishing DADT, now he’s against doing away with it, he said he would wait for the military to take a position and agree to that, they have now spoken, but he still hasn’t given up in his opposition. He wanted a study, it’s now complete, but now he wants another study of the study. I personally believe McCain has become increasingly senile in the past couple of years, but if that is not the case, his positions can only be seen as denying Obama any success at all. This is not very patriotic, but, then, neither was his witless choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate. I think it is sad but true that McCain, once regarded as a kind of super patriot, has such little respect for his country he is willing to risk it for his own petty goals.

Someone just asked me what he might invest in for the future, like, say, 20 years from now. The only thing that sprang readily to mind was Funeral Homes. I guess I had better give more thought to this question. I know that many people are terribly concerned about the birthrates that seem to be dropping badly over most of the world, some of them so low as to make recovery virtually impossible. Obviously this is a problem, but I think the basic problem is more interesting, why are birthrates declining so precipitously? Feminism, birth control, and working mothers might be part of the problem in the U.S., but can that be true in much of the rest of the world? I wonder.

DUST OF SNOW

The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree
Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued.

Robert Frost