Session Slideshow – Handout – Enrichment Slideshow
Third Saturday Seminar 2008-2009
“Living in Interesting Times”
Have we created a Messiah or Monster
Curt Gibby
3nd Meeting
Saturday, 15 November 2008
9:30am to 12:00 noon
Room B-102 (Our normal location, really), Lone Star College – Montgomery
3200 College Park Drive – Conroe, TX – 77384 – 936.273.7000
November 2nd, 2010 is the next National “Take out the Trash Day”
Remind your family, friends and your elected representatives.
Remember Newt Gingrich’s contract for America (or as some said Contract on America?) . Even though we will have a new president on January 20th, We the People will not be out of the woods. One, we are in financial chaos, and secondly, the provisions of the Constitution are no longer important to those who find themselves in authority or their coteries. In spite of all the wonderful promises and predictions made by the President-elect Barack Obama, the quality our representation in the Congress of the US becomes increasingly important.
Barack Obama and his inner circle have produced hundreds of proposals to solve all the country’s problems as they see them. Most of their positions are well crafted-from a political sense. That is, they seem to address all the issues and many of the sub-issues, but the devils are in the details that are aren’t included. Our Congress is going to have their hands full if the new administration drops the whole load on them at once. They will certainly have to improve their reading skills. I suggest that many of the details will be either onerous to the average freedom loving, independent American or impossible to fund. So then it becomes a matter of acceptability and priority. I’ve heard many of Obama’s promises and if things go normally, few if any of those promises will or can be carried out. To do that still takes two things, funding and the approval of the United States Congress. In the next few years we Americans are going to be totally occupied just trying to keep our heads above water in the aftermath of the economic, domestic and foreign policy “tsunamis” that the Republican administration has visited on us.
This will meet anybody’s definition of Interesting Times, in the full Chinese meaning of the phrase (actually it’s a curse.).
In addition when you look at the demographics of the vote, you will see that not everybody may be happy with the outcome. The internet is still spreading strange rumors. One tried to convince us that he wouldn’t be given a security clearance. Since he now gets the same briefing as the President, I guess he’s cleared that hurdle.
It used to be that a job in government was an opportunity to serve. It is now all about the acquisition of power and the accomplishment of personal ideological agendas which should have no place in the government that exists to serve 300 million people.
If you check the Constitution, the president has a job. He is the chief executive. He is not our ruler. He is the guy that we elect to carry out the dictates of the people as relayed by our representatives in Congress. (It’s not to pick fights. Although the incumbent should have been able to track down and bring bin Laden to justice.) The fact that our Congress has abdicated their responsibility and unconstitutionally given the president the powers of approaching that of dictator.
It looks like we will have a lot of new faces in Congress, but that doesn’t give us reason to let our guard down. The present culture of Congress is toxic to the public interest and it needs to be get back to what was intended by the Constitution. With enough new faces and an engaged electorate (We the people) they will eventually get the word (over a number of election cycles.) (Yes, there is the specter of a president and congressional majority of the same party. That makes it even more import that We the People stay vigilant.)
I do (mis)place a lot of expectation in the media, mainstream and otherwise in finally realizing that they actually have an obligation to people to call Democratic or Republican shenanigans to the publics’ attentions. Not just with fueling our fear and disgust but with providing accurate, logical, information to establish the basis for intelligent discourse and action.
And the most critical element is “We the people.” If we just sit on our hands like we have during the last two terms, the world will lose a superpower.
Some things to think about. During the campaign, you could not slide a credit card between the “positions.” of the candidates On some very critical issues. Then please check at least the first link, about the Obama/Biden plan to fix the US and the World and we’ll talk about it.
1. Suprising, we as a nation were apparently perceived by the candidates to be under elevated threat from “terrorists” from all ovder the world. Obama, surprisingly has spoken of the need for increased internal security. In a speech at the University of Colorado on 2 July 08 he said, “We cannot continue to rely on our military to achieve the national security objectives taht we’ve set. We’ve got to have a civlian national secuirty forces that’s just a powerfull, just as strong and just as well-funded” Admittedly, that could be open to a lot of intpretaion but potentially it could change the entire character of life ijn America.
2. Both candidates, as senators jumped on the bandwagon to port $800 plus billion dollars to the financial industry without a plan or a promise that it will do any good. The Congress responded to a blackmail note for Mr Paulson demanding the money before Congrss recessed for the election, but gave no guarrantee for the life of the hostage. (See the link below: ” $50 billion of bailout …”)
See the link ” TIMELINES OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION …” below to visit the parameters that led to the great depression and the recovery.”
3. Support for Israel (and Palestine)
4. Amnesty for Illegal Aliens (they call it immigration reform)
5. The need to put more troops into Afghanistan without removing them from Iraq (It’s magic). See the Frontline Episode linked below to see how close Pakistan (50 nucs) is coming to be a Taliban dominated state. Isn’t it interesting that General Petraeus now indicates an interest in “talking” to the “good” Taliban. (That’s tricky business but if we are good at it as we should be, we can make it work …)
5. Keeping Nuclear weapons out of the hands of countries not closely aligned with us. (See the Frontline Episode, “A War Briefing” linked below.)
For those who like to read ahead: (If it’s in blue you can click it.)
1. Barack Obama and Joe Biden The Change We Need – Policy Issues (link removed)
2. Bill Moyers Interviews Andrew J. Bacevich , August 15th, 2008
As campaign ads urge voters to consider who will be a better “Commander in Chief,” Andrew J. Bacevich Т Professor of International Relations at Boston
University, retired Army colonel, and West Point graduate Т joins Bill Moyers on the JOURNAL to encourage viewers to take a step back and connect the dots between U.S. foreign policy, consumerism, politics, and militarism.Bacevich begins his new book, THE LIMITS OF POWER: THE END OF AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM,
with an epigraph taken from the Bible: “Put thine house in order.” Bacevich
3a. Fed won’t give info on nearly $2 trillion in loans
Then part 2…
3b. Fed Defies Transparency Aim in Refusal to Disclose (Update2)
4. $50 billion of bailout going to employee bonuses (link removed)
5. The unfinished war in Afghanistan, The pending failure of Pakistan: Frontline: A War Briefing
6. Timelines of the Great Depression : The decade of the 20s to Oct 24th, 1929
Individual worker productivity rises an astonishing 43 percent from 1919 to 1929. But the rewards are being funneled to the top: the number of people reporting half-million dollar incomes grows from 156 to 1,489 between 1920 and 1929, a phenomenal rise compared to other decades. But that is still less than 1 percent of all income-earners.
7. Office of the Secretary of State, 2008 Texas General Election, Election Night Returns Unofficial (link removed)
8. Grandfather Economic Report series (link removed)
Current Events:
Well the the Election is done! And the World has panicked itself in a financial Armageddon. We are now in the process of watching the “New Capitalist” mantra of “Privatization of Profit and Socialization of Loss” Apparently the latest puzzler is that who got 2 trillion dollars of loans from the Fed, and why won’t the fed talk about it? (3 a & b)? Why is my local school district going to have to pay 20 percent higher interest rates for the bonds they are getting ready to issue? And why are they going to have to distributed them through more channels than have had to in the past? Isn’t that why why our numskull Congress voted them $700 billion dollars; to fix the credit crisis?
We’ll talk about it more on Saturday! In the meantime, please, “DON’T (be) PANIC(ked)”
Presidential Campaign Finance: Federal Election Commission
These are some of my perennially favorite links:
Project Vote Smart find out how your elected officials voted and how to contact them by e-mail
Center for Responsive Politics Find out who’s paying your politician.
This is the 3nd meeting of the Third Saturday Seminar for the 2008-2009 season. We run from September to June.
About The Third Saturday Seminar:
Started in January 2000, We are about personal empowerment through demystification. Our subject matter is broad but it always tries to be about understanding ourselves and others better; and, having fun.
The Third Saturday Seminar is sponsored by the Academy of Lifelong Learning (ALL) Program at Lone Star Montgomery College. http://montgomery.lonestar.edu/25959/
There is no fee for ALL members to attend TSS. You can find the ALL Schedule at: http://montgomery.lonestar.edu/142962.pdf
Course Information – Meets mostly on Third Saturdays
The registration number is Lone Star CollegeСMontgomery
82127 CCALL 3980032 M7119 Sa 9/20 С 12/13 9:30am С noon B102 , Our December meeting is the 13th (because of Christmnas break and will be in A-102.
For information about Lone Star College Montgomery : http://montgomery.lonestar.edu/
Maps:
http://montgomery.lonestar.edu/14972/
http://montgomery.lonestar.edu/14970/
http://map-it.woodstock.edu/map_pdf/B_floor_1.pdf
As usual, if anything in this notice doesn’t work or make sense (It is midnight somewhere), please let me know so I can warn the others. If the spelling and syntax seems more fractured than usual, chalk it up to the fact I am (still) breaking in a new laptop computer (or, perhaps it’s the other way around.) Down with Vista!! Bill Gates is a nebbish!
Hope to see you Saturday.
Best regards,
Curt Gibby
Spring, TX
http://www.northstarinst.org/tss/