WALL STREET:

THE ONLY STREET IN AMERICA WHERE ENDS MEET
Citizens Face Enormous Financial Woes

(Sept. 22, New York. New York) A “bubble” collapsed. A “bailout” is needed. Sounds like a nightmare if you happen to be in a hot air balloon. Unfortunately 95% of Americans live in a world where bubbles and bailouts do not begin to describe the stresses and strains of daily life. Wages have remained stagnant as longer work hours are expected, groceries such as milk, bread and cereals have increased over 300% in the past 12 months. Gasoline? Four dollars a gallon is the norm; when it drops to $3.89 per gallon folks weep with joy.

Meanwhile, the world the majority of Americans reside in is as far removed from Wall Street and the intricacies of economics, banking, monetary policy and all the other myriad arcania that comprise our economy. While we watched a war drag on for the last six years, those few men who actually run the country, not the government, but actually the country itself have recklessly sold our nation to foreign entities that would like nothing better than to call in our debt. Our credit society spans from the woman with a Discover card to some of the largest banks, brokerages and lending institutions in the world.

Fannie and Freddie. Who actually knew who they were, what they do and how beholden a huge number of folks paying mortgages are to them. They are quasi-governmental agencies that play an advanced highly advanced, high stakes version of the old 42nd Street shell game.

Ironically, almost unbelievably, one of the men most responsible for our collapsing economy is John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate. In 1999 McCain and his top economic advisor, former texas senator and ET look-a-like, helped craft the legislation that ushered in the era of deregulation. Essentially, this allowed Wall Street and all that term connotes to do as they please without oversight, government regulations or accountability. The American public were merely the dupes and dopes who threw their hard earned money down on the hustlers foul-up table on the old 42nd Street - “The Dirty Deuce”, as it was known back in the day.

Now the hustlers where $4000 suits, live in Connecticut or helicopter in from South Hampton and engage in games where they not only make the rules, they can and do change them as they see fit. The economy, our American economy to these greedy, heartless bastards born with silver spoons sticking out of their asses and trust funds waiting for them to grow up, is all about them: it is all about their own personal wealth. But, we, in part, let them do it to us.

We have become so accustomed to the scum bag politicians at every level that we are numb to their bullshit, and, sadly apathetic. Apathy has destroyed nations if not civilizations. The brilliant men who wrote our Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights and The Constitution knew the hazards, the inherent perils of a disinterested, uninformed, apathetic populace. James Madison, one of the great minds at the birth of this Nation said “Since the general civilization of mankind, I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of freedoms of the people by gradual and silent encroachment of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.” You know what he was saying. he was not alone.

Centuries later, George Orwell, the famous author who visualized a country run by “Big Brother” said of apathy, “The ordinary man is passive. Within a narrow circle, home life, and perhaps the trade unions or local politics, he feels himself master of his fate. But otherwise he simply lies down and lets things happen to him.” And just to add some truly historical perspective to the perils a society can fall victim to was said centuries ago, in Ancient Greece by Plato, “The penalty good men pay for indifference to public affairs, is to be ruled by evil men.” And Lord knows we are about to start paying penalties we never imagined. We have been totally, collectively “indifferent to public affairs”. Jobs went overseas and we said,”How did that happen.” Industrial, manufacturing, machinary plants closed, pensioned vaporized and we asked, “ What the hell happened?”. NAFTA, GATT, free trade agreements, and all the other host of international organizations that rule the planet have been permitted to do as they pleased because we hadn’t the time to read the news, watch the news, pay attention to the issues. Nope, we have become so apathetic that we have permitted George W. Bush to sacrifice our national treasure in lives, limbs, blood and money for a war contrived by he and his evil cronies. We have allowed his boss Dick Cheney to rewrite the Constitution, erode civil liberties, instruct Boy George to negate the will of our hapless, negligent Congress by signing “executive statements” or some such that literally invalidate any part of the law or legislation they didn’t like.

The election 42 days from now may not even be front page news. The most profound economic calamity America has seen since the Great Depression of 1929 may well pale in comparison to what has a distinct possibility of happening. If the American economy tanks, the global economy follows. Remember the “Asian Contagion?” Several years ago the booming, juggernaut that was the economic engine of the Asian Rim, The Golden Rim, from Taipei to Singapore, Tokyo, Hong Kong and their economically soaring neighbors suddenly came to a grinding halt. Thankfully, it was contained. This time around the failure of one economy while begin an unstoppable domino affect that will reverberate and rattle around the planet.

Now John McCain, after 26 years in Congress, after voting for every piece of legislation favorable to big corporations and “Wall Street”, at age 72, has seen the light and is now a populist reformer. Maybe we all better aquaria a taste for Aunt Sarah’s Elk Stew...they will serve that shit on the soup lines that will form across the country if this recession, teetering on depression becomes reality.

Barak Obama has better be able to use his Harvard trained intellect to act quickly,thoughtfully and with some restraint if he finds himself and Joe Biden looking at each other from matching plush chairs in the Oval Office. There will be no honeymoon for whoever inherits this world turned upside down in a mere 7 plus years by the worst president our nation has ever seen, George W. Bush. Former Texas Governor Ann Richards used to refer to “W” as “shrub.” America would probably be in far better shape had we had an actual shrub, even a tumble weed in the White House instead of the messianic imbecile, his Zionist zealot neo-cons and running the whole manipulated mess, Prick Cheney.

This election will actually be more of a selection. We must decide between two diametrically opposed ideologies, philosophies, policies and personalities. If we fail in our duty to select thoughtfully, we’d better stock up on elk stew. wolf steaks and polar bear loins.

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