View From The Left Coast

Every now and again I run into a news story about a poll that makes me wonder if I’m living on another planet, or if my countrymen are.

The most recent example is yet another poll that purports to show that one in three Americans believe Saddam Hussein was personally responsible for the attack on the World Trade Center six years ago. Thirty three percent. Over 40 percent believe that Iraq played some role, or helped Al Qaeda. Four people out of every ten. One political scientist quoted in the news story suggested “The Bush administration has been extremely clever in suggesting connections without being explicit.” They don’t even claim that there’s a connection, but each time Bush says “9-11” he also says “Saddam.” Each time he says “Iraq,” he says “Al Qaeda.” And as our old pal Hitler used to say, if you repeat a lie often enough, it becomes truth.

It’s probably been said before this is a nation of sheep, and you don’t have to look much further than our taste in television and tabloids to realize how true this is. We do what we’re told, then we’re congratulated being so clever. They tell us to smoke, we smoke. They tell us to buy Viagra and SUVs, and we do that. They tell us—no, they hint to us-- that the US invaded Iraq because Saddam Hussein personally crashed airplanes into the World Trade Center, and we believe. Or 40 percent of us do. And because the average American has seen jets crashing into the World Trade Center 1500 times, that’s the most compelling, frightening image in our heads. The only image.

I’ve come to the conclusion that a third of Americans would follow Adolf Hitler if he had been born in the US (or if he had starred in “Terminator” movies), a third would oppose him because of his ridiculous mustache, and the rest would sway back and forth like the hula dancer on your dash board.

And that’s just the white people.

Our seemingly Democratic representatives refuse to impeach Bush and Cheney because they say it would divide us. Divide us? If half the population are dogs and the other half are cats, what’s to divide? If the dogs of earth don’t agree with the cats of a planet that circles Alpha Centauri, there are a few light years in between, and it would be extremely difficult to plop yourself in between and reconcile them. It’s not even a question of one group thinking Rush is right or another that Amy Goodman is right. . .we’re talking separate realities here. It’s not just Christ vs. Mohamed, it’s photosynthesis vs flesh-eating therapods.

With all these competing realities, how can one hope to get a consensus? We all need to watch more television, and start obeying it, like the 40 percent do.

Posted by Walt Frazer at 03:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Along with my PG&E bill I recently received notice of a wonderful new opportunity to atone for my sins of energy consumption and at the same time support those who overcharge me for using it.

Under their new “ClimateSmart” [tm] program, I can “balance out the greenhouse gas emissions associated with [my] energy use by investing in environmental projects in California that absorb or reduce greenhouse gases.” I donate money to PG&E and they spend it on things they say are environmental projects that will neutralize the effects od my profligate lighting, heating and computer use. The fine green print at the bottom of the page says: “The Climate Smart program is funded by PG&E customers in accordance with a decision by the California Public Utilities Commission. To make participating customers climate neutral, PG&E may enter into greenhouse gas emission reduction contracts where the reductions occur over time into the future.”

This reminds me a lot of the moves a few years ago by the for-profit St. Joseph Health system to ask the public for donations for a new heart center. The new heart center would then charge donors and non-donors alike fees for medical services. It would be like the owners of property asking for donations to put up a theater where they could charge you to watch movies. This is a whole new way of creating investor capital. You say, "Just give it to me."

Meanwhile, Rob Arkley asks for donations to his free, for-profit newspaper designed to put the Time-Standard out of business for opposing his wife's political ambitions. It's perfectly legal. It's capitalism, and it's what made this country great.

The same rationale is used with the new “Universal Health Care” schemes being floated by those in elected office working for the insurance industry. The problem is that the people selling insurance and medical care charge too much for people to afford it, so many are without coverage. Eventually that means they don't get medical care, and they die. The solution? Make insurance mandatory for everybody. Just like they did when car insurance rates got so high people were starting to go without. If you make it mandatory, rather than letting the market regulate prices (or, God forbid, legislate price controls) you guarantee higher profits for the insurance companies, and since they can pay more, more money goes to the health care providers. They in turn give more to our elected officials, and everybody is happy.

Well, almost everybody. The people who count, anyway.

The important thing is that the polloi will THINK that those in charge are doing something about the problem, while making damn sure nothing IS done that will interfere with their profitability, their 12 to 40 million a year.

It's the American Way.

Posted by Walt Frazer at 03:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The recent scene between Rob Arkley and Larry Glass should really take no one by surprise. I’ve been hearing for years stories about Arkley throwing his considerable financial weight around, but also I’ve heard screaming fits of rage, and cold, calculated revenge. Assuming for the moment the allegations Glass has made are true, the indication would be that Arkley has anger management problems, and should seek professional help. It’s also not surprising that there’s been an effort to portray the affair as a political dustup between a hateful liberal and a sober, responsible conservative, and to portray the victim of Arkley’s attack as a whiner and a doper. That’s the way folks like Arkley play: it’s called spin control.

Time and again over recent years I’ve heard stories of the “good deeds” Arkley has done which either involve his taking control of an organization to which he’s making a donation as a precondition, or taking on a project for the sole purpose of driving an enemy out of business. From what I’ve seen and heard, this is not a man who is into disinterested philanthropy. There’s always a quid pro quo.

One can argue that that’s business. You promote your interests over those of your competitors. But two things about this situation make this different: First, the claims that assaults and threats on elected officials should be overlooked because of all the good things Arkley has done for the community, and second, the idea of driving people out of business not because they are competitors in business, but as retribution for the fact they opposed him. That’s not business, that’s not free market, and it’s not democracy. It’s terrorism.

Nor is this an isolated case. There are Arkleys all over the country. There are even liberal ones. They can be found wherever there are large accumulations of money and a paucity of morality and true civic-mindedness. Now that our values reflect money as the reason for living, it should surprise no one that people like OJ Simpson, the various felonious stars and atheletes, and especially our “leaders”, use their money to control everything in our lives, including our hopes and dreams.

Ultimately, since Arkley will never run for office, those of us who disapprove of his methods can vote with our wallets: I’ll never attend an event at the Arkley Center for the Arts, but I will make a point of buying more CDs than I need from Larry Glass. I will try to avoid other Arkley holdings and will never enter Home Depot, but will buy from Pierson’s. Similarly, this is being written for the Times Standard, not for Arkley’s Reporter. Will that make a difference? Probably not. But if I get sent to Guantanamo for advocating impeachment or if I receive threatening phone calls for dissing Mr. Arkley, at least I will be able to say invoked my rights as a free citizen and an American.

Posted by Walt Frazer at 02:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)