It's 1968 all over again

I found a blog recently, by accident, railing about how bad and stupid and mistaken and apparently just wrong the "Occupy" movement is and my first thought was "it's 1968 all over again." Back then, I was a teenager and I had come to the conclusion that the Vietnam War was wrong. Monumentally wrong. And I said so. Other friends at the time thought it important to go along with the official line of the administration. Then there were the Conservatives, Republicans and Right Wing of the country that was also for fighting and supporting that war. Later, when Robert McNamara, then-President Nixon's Secretary of Defense told us the truth, that it was all a lie and he cried on TV about it, well, it was too late but at least we were all vindicated, those of us who were against the war. Now, it's the same thing all over again. The students and young people are out in the streets, protesting. They're protesting Wall Street's ripoff of us, the American people. They're protesting the stranglehold corporations have on the country. And there are the same, mostly older, Conservative, Republican and Right-wing folks, thinking the kids are just hippies and druggies and unemployed low-lifes, looking for "Uncle Sugar" to give them something. Well, as I said, they were mistaken then and they sure as hell are mistaken now. And it just makes me mad. It's very disheartening, at least.

Thank you, George W. Bush

From the news today:

Bush declines Obama's ground zero invite

– Tue May 3

WASHINGTON – A spokesman for George W. Bush says the former president has declined an invitation from President Barack Obama to attend an observance at New York's ground zero.

Obama plans to visit the site of the destroyed World Trade Center towers Thursday in the aftermath of a Navy SEALs raid that killed Osama bin Laden. The al-Qaida attack, which killed about 3,000 people, occurred in the early months of Bush's presidency in 2001.

The spokesman, David Sherzer, says the former president appreciated the offer to attend but has chosen to remain out of the spotlight during his post-presidency.

As I said, above, I, for one, am most appreciative and grateful that he is staying "out of the spotlight" at this and any and all times.

Did you read, years ago, as I did, during President Bush's presidency when he was in New York City at the UN, making a speech and he crossed paths with former President Bill Clinton and he was quoted as saying to an aide--paraphrased--that you wouldn't see him around after his presidency?  Remember that?  I sure do.  I'll never forget it.

True to form, now-former President Bush knew himself very well.  He knew that, once out of office, he wasn't about to do any "heavy-lifting."  

He didn't do any of it during his presidency, heaven knows--we wouldn't have attacked Iraq if he had, among many other things.  He surely isn't about to start doing any of it now.

What he lacked in judgement during his presidency, he seems to have gained now, now that he is out of office.

And for all that I am very, very grateful.

Good on you, Mr. ElBaradei

From the news today:

ElBaradei suggests war crimes probe of Bush team     

By CHARLES J. HANLEY, AP Special Correspondent

NEW YORK – Former chief U.N. nuclear inspector Mohamed ElBaradei suggests in a new memoir that Bush administration officials should face international criminal investigation for the "shame of a needless war" in Iraq.

Freer to speak now than he was as an international civil servant, the Nobel-winning Egyptian accuses U.S. leaders of "grotesque distortion" in the run-up to the 2003 Iraq invasion, when then-President George W. Bush and his lieutenants claimed Iraq possessed doomsday weapons despite contrary evidence collected by ElBaradei's and other arms inspectors inside the country.

The Iraq war taught him that "deliberate deception was not limited to small countries ruled by ruthless dictators," ElBaradei writes in "The Age of Deception," being published Tuesday by Henry Holt and Company.

And I'll tell you, I'm all for this investigation--an impartial one--not for retribution or vengeance or any other reason but that this way, hopefully, we would make certain that history doesn't repeat.

As Mr. ElBaradei states:  "Do we, as a community of nations, have the wisdom and courage to take the corrective measures needed, to ensure that such a tragedy will never happen again?"

That said, an investigation will never happen, sadly, as no one has the "guts" or chutzpah or fortitude, whatever you want to call it, to even begin it, let alone see it through.  The American people aren't calling for it and don't have the will for it.  In spite of how illegal attacking Iraq was and is both nationally, internally, here in the US and the fact that it's quite against international law, George W. Bush and Co. will get away with this travesty and travesty of justice.  

They will have told many lies, broken laws, been responsible for thousands of needless deaths and hundreds of thousands of wounded people and gotten away with it all, scott-free.

Links:  http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_elbaradei_memoir
http://us.macmillan.com/theageofdeception
http://www.amazon.com/Age-Deception-Nuclear-Diplomacy-Treacherous/dp/0805093508

Big or small, government should work

Did you miss the latest Ponzi scheme catch?

Ever heard of Tom Petters?

Here we go again.

This clown ran a $3.65 billion dollar Ponzi scheme out of Minnesota that bilked thousands of people out of their money.

One more in a long line up of Ponzi schemes.

First--and biggest--was Bernie Madoff.

Then there was R. Allen Stanford and now this guy.

In the 2000's, it seems the government virtually shut down and didn't investigate anyone who was--or was supposed to be--taking money for investments. Bernie Madoff, in the most aggregious example, didn't have an investor's license. Ever.

It needs to be asked: Where were the government regulators when these men were taking in all this money?

We need our government to work for us.

Sure, we want less government and smaller government and the requisite lower taxes but for the agencies that exist, we want and need them to do the jobs they were designed and created for.

In this case, where was the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)? What the hell were they doing these last 9 years?

There should be hell to pay for them for all that has happened.

Links: http://www.reuters.com/article/fundsFundsNews/idUSN024978920091202
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Petters
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/03/business/03stanford.html?_r=1