Prop Sarah

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There are few today that would argue with the fact that Britain is bankrupt. The bankers are undoubtedly to blame for that, but in truth UK was bankrupt before the infamous credit crunch. Years of pillaging by a previous governments have left the next generation with a mountain of debt to bear.

When I first arrived on the fair shores of England it soon became evident to me that the country was living far beyond its means. Now I'm certainly no clairvoyant but it didn't take rocket science. Debt was dead easy to get. I was inundated with credit card offers, many who were earning well below my level were taking two holidays a year, new cars, home improvements; it was obscene. Now the chickens have come home to roost.

Five years ago I made the statement that Britain was in danger of becoming the next third world country. Needless to say it was not very well received. However the truth does not cease to be the truth simply because it's unpalatable.

Now I have had the dubious honour of having lived in a country with a thriving economy that was systematically wrecked until it became one of the poorest nations in the world. There is an established blue print that most of Africa has followed on the road from prosperous to treacherous, and I can see the same slow but certain degradation in UK.

The first thing newly independent African nations do, almost without exception is to build a huge sports stadium as a statement to the world of their new found independence. I look at the millions being poured into the 2012 Olympics and wonder whether the same mindset is driving the decision-making process. I have nothing against the Olympics, and I wish our athletes well, but after the event we will be left with under utilised high maintenance facilities that will drain the public coffers for decades to come. This at a time when long-established sports facilities country-wide are being forced to close due to lack of Government funding. These facilities serve the wider community, not only helping to fight the national scourge of obesity, but keeping kids off the streets who would otherwise be up to mischief.

The second milestone on the road to third world status is corruption. Human greed kicks in. We need only look at our esteemed politicians and the ongoing expense scandal to confirm we are well into this phase. They have put UK Plc. into administration. How previous prime ministers who have presided over the destruction of a nation can tour the world getting paid huge fees for imparting the self-same formula to other leaders is beyond me. Why would anyone want to listen to them?

Then there are of course the bankers; another bunch of scoundrels who have seriously endangered the continued existence of UK Plc. with their reckless incompetence by playing with our money and getting paid six figure bonuses for their efforts. Last night I watched some bank chairman smilingly admitting that bankers are paid far too much, that most are really quite mediocre, yet the powers that be shrug their shoulders.

We're now entering the third phase. After corruption comes the collapse of public services, notably health. Now I haven't been following the ins and outs of the new NHS reforms, but it appears evident that it's a huge gamble; too much too quick with too little planning. Time will tell how it pans out. However with or without the reforms we still have super bugs and high hospital mortality.

The fourth phase is high inflation. Inflation is now on the rise; 3.7% and rising, driven up by the high price of essential commodities like oil and food.

The fifth phase, currency devaluation, follows hot on the heels of inflation. The euro is currently under severe threat and Europe wants Britain to use the pound to prop it up. The US dollar as a world currency is under threat.

Finally comes rampant unemployment. Unemployment, especially amongst the youth is now 20%. Where to from here? This leads to a disenchanted electorate and change inevitably follows. At this point in Africa leaders abandon democracy and turn into dictatorships as the only method by which they can retain power.

In UK I guess it will be the stiff upper lip.

Til next time

Steve

What Palin Knows and the Gop Hopes You Forget

After a week of jingoistic ranting by the Republican Party, the balloons have popped and the show lights are dim. Speaker after speaker roused the delegates in St. Paul against a backdrop of patriotic imagery burning brightly on a giant screen. One such image stuck in my mind as a metaphor for all that has gone wrong over the last 8 years.

Congressman Lindsay Graham (R-SC) made a staunch declaration that America was winning the war on Iraq. Taken by itself, Graham's assertion is not surprising given the GOP's history of weaving dung into Egyptian cotton - then selling it as silk. While Graham was declaring mission accomplished, a photograph showed headstones at Arlington National Cemetery - a truly tragic juxtaposition.

Other images from the GOP Convention are less tragic, but no less disturbing.

The most disturbing image of all was that of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin claiming her Party's nomination as vice president. In a speech devoid of substance and long on folksy and dubious claims of her reform expertise, Gov. Palin did prove she could read from a teleprompter. This is no small feat given how she was thrust upon the national stage as a last minute replacement. Reports have surfaced that John McCain had his heart set on Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) but chose Palin after a single meeting.

Will Palin's speech, riddled as it was with half truths and some outright lies, be the basis of honest media scrutiny and assessment? Or will legitimate questions be lost in the haze of cotton candy fluff spun by the GOP? Beyond Gov. Palin's camera presence and GOP stagecraft lays the minefield of questions about her ideology and her knowledge of the world.

For the foreseeable future, Gov. Palin is safe in the cocoon that is Camp McCain, safely sequestered in a cone of indoctrination. Gov. Palin will hear a constant drone of policy facts and figures, accompanied by a heaping helping of quaint phrasing and plenty of the same revisionist history that punctuated the convention. Not until her handlers have deemed her ready, will Gov. Palin be allowed to face the news media - alone.

In the aftermath of all the bellicose rhetoric and national chauvinism, the corporate news media has been left in state of disorder and confusion. Torn between their responsibilities as journalists and fawning over the newest Republican shooting star, few substantive questions are being asked - or answered.

Ironically, the same McCain-friendly media on which the Maverick Mythology was built has now been declared the enemy by Camp McCain. Uber lobbyist and Camp McCain commandant Rick Davis has declared that the campaign will tightly control media access to Palin.

So just what does Gov. Palin know - and not know - about history and the current state of world affairs? There is no end to the list of issues, claims and inconsistencies to cover when it comes to vetting this vice presidential nominee. Will the titans of American journalism have the chance - or the guts - to ask the right questions and insist on getting the answers?

By her own admission, Gov. Palin knows little about Iraq. During an interview in March 2007, Gov. Palin was asked about the troop surge in Iraq. Her answer was stunning given that the war on Iraq has been dragging on for almost 6 years. Treating this tragic chapter in U.S. history like the World Series, Palin admitted that she had "been focused on state government" and "haven't focused on the war in Iraq".

Suddenly, in St. Paul, she knows about Iraq. With all of the "me first, country second fervor they could muster, Palin and the GOP have shamelessly exploited her son's upcoming deployment to Iraq. While I respect her son's decision to serve, I find it abhorrent that Gov. Palin chose to use the occasion as a political stage prop. Worse yet, having a son in the Iraq Theater of operations does not demonstrate a knowledge of the lies that were told in order to wage the war.

Nor does that fact alone prove that she understands the tragic consequences the war has wrought on the brave Americans who lay dead and wounded. Surely Gov. Palin has an opinion on the millions of Iraqis who been displaced or left homeless, not to mention the many thousands killed, injured and maimed.

In a complete refutation of the GOP's platform plank on climate change, Palin has played fast and lose with the facts. Like the Prince of the Dark Ages, Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK), Palin is oblivious to the crushing weight of scientific evidence and consensus. Like Inhofe, Palin denies human activity as a cause of global warming saying "a changing environment will affect Alaska more than any other state, because of our location. I'm not one though who would attribute it to being man-made."

Religious extremists have welcomed Palin into the fold for her position on creationism. Again denying science, Gov. Palin advocates the teaching of creationism as an alternative to evolution, couching her position in the fog of educational balance. On reproductive rights, Palin again panders to the Religious Right by asserting that women have the right to give birth, even if the father is the rapist who got them pregnant.

While Palin and the GOP have touted reform and fiscal responsibility as a central theme, her record as a self-described reformer and conservative is murky.

As a gubernatorial candidate, Palin actively supported the now-infamous Ketchikan "Bridge to Nowhere". As governor, Palin took credit for killing the project. In fact, the project died for lack of funding since Palin had redirected 80% of the allotted $398 million to other projects. Will the news media ask her why she opposed the bridge but kept the money anyway?

I hope that Gov. Palin will have to answer for why she reportedly left her hometown of Wasilla, Alaska nearly $20 million in debt. Surely the question of how she left 7,000 people with a per capita debt of $2,600 is relevant to her qualifications as a self-described fiscal conservative. Why did she feel it necessary to hire a lobbying firm in order to squeeze more earmarks out of Washington?

The list of questions is long and time is short. The future of legitimate journalism - and the country - hangs on the answers.

Copyright Michael O'Brien All Rights Reserved

About the Author

Michael OBrien is a writer for many popular websites. He ghost writes under Mitch Endick and Otaffy. Michael also writes opinion and commentary for the InterActivist magazine and several weblogs. He resides in Southeastern Ohio. Mikes blog at Progess Ohio.

Sarah Palins PR prop?

Do you find it disturbing that Sarah Palin is using her baby with Downs Syndrome as a PR prop? She doesn't even hold him in a traditional manner as any mother would, she flings him over her arm for all to see and wags him about the country to rallies like he is a Political prop. Poor little thing is being exploited my his own mother for Political popularity. I also have a son who is challenged and imagined Sarah Palin would be an advocate for special children. With her admonishment of the word 'retarded' when it was used by a Dem. referring to foolish adults, yet her Republican pals have used it repeatedly referring to Mentally Challenged children, and it's OK. Was I mistaken?

She does no such thing. Further, when exactly did you hear a Republican use them term "retarded" in a derogatory manner?

BTW, is there an actual question lurking in your rant?

Guernsey May Lower Age of Gay Consent
Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency, may lower the age of consent for gay men from 18 to 16, the age for straight people.

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