Blaine Young Blasts Democracy at Naturalization Ceremony

There is no universally agreed upon definition of democracy, but most Americans intuitively understand what is meant by the word. Freedom, fairness, equality, popular sovereignty are some of the things that come immediately to mind when someone uses the term.
Several years ago, at a voter registration training session, Congressman Roscoe Bartlett told those of us assembled that democracy is nothing but 'mob rule'.
This past Saturday, President of the Frederick Board of County Commissioners Blaine Young spoke at the swearing in ceremony of America's newest citizens. In his prepared remarks, Young roared from the dais, 'thank god we do not live in a democracy', that we live in, not a democracy but a republic. He went on to explain that he does not want to be dictated to by 'the majority'.
What is going on here?
I'm old enough to remember being told that the United States is the greatest country in the world precisely because of our 'democracy'. Over the 235 years of this 'republic' there has been significant struggle for democratic rights. Women and minorities have marched, petitioned, bled, fought, and died for the right to have their views and desires recognized. A country founded on the principle that only wealthy, white, male, land owners could have a voice in the governing of the republic has moved slowly toward a democracy. The history of the violence and vehement opposition against this movement over that time is terrible to recall.
To be sure, there is much that is wrong with our 'republic' and our 'democracy'. Our electoral system is based on an anti-democratic plurality voting system of 'winner-take-all'. It is worse than a 'tyranny of the majority' in that representatives are often elected with a less than majority of the vote, making it a 'minority rule' system in many cases. The wealthy, both as individuals as well as through their giant, unaccountable corporations, finance candidates and political campaigns, control the media, the political discussion and debate, and the election process itself. Once elected, representatives very often appear to represent that tiny minority of wealth that financed them rather than the people who elected them.

We must take care to not allow this discussion to take place as the Right defines it. We must make it clear: this is NOT an issue of republic vs democracy.
More and more people opt out of the electoral process, voting districts become larger, and those who vote for losing candidates feel their views are not represented. This is not a problem caused by democracy but a crisis of us losing what little democracy we have.
As is so often the case, the Right takes a simple-minded approach to defining critical issues. Slogans like 'we live in a republic not a democracy' attempt to equate two different things; like asking someone if they walk to work or bring their lunch. The Right also implies by that simple statement that all our problems will be solved if we just abandon democracy. It may be tempting to embrace simplistic and vague platitudes as solutions, but in the end, it solves nothing.
The real solution to what is wrong with American politics is not this vague appeal to restore a republic (that does not need restoring), but realistic changes that bring more, real democracy to our representative form of government.
First, public financing of political campaigns is essential. The privileged elite, and the corporations they control cannot be permitted to determine the nature of the debate or the outcome of our elections.
All restrictions on the formation and participation of 'alternative' political parties must be removed. We cannot have democracy, that is a free sharing of ideas and policies when some of those ideas are deemed less valid than others. The notion that all Americans must conform to the ideology of the establishment political dogma is an absurdity that must not only be challenged, but done away with forever.
Finally, we must have an electoral system that treats all parties democratically, that is fairly and equally. Every voter's voice must be heard and every voter's choice must be respected.
That is what democracy is. And there is nothing wrong with it.

Job Creation Myth

Once again local media tout the 'job creation' benefits of attracting businesses, both large and small, into the community at the expense of encouraging local entrepreneurs to start small, local, community-sustaining businesses. The relocation of these testing labs, we are told will bring 70 jobs to Frederick County. Well, I'm not from Missouri, but 'show me'. Show me the want ads in the local paper, the job postings at the Workforce Center, any proof that jobs are being 'created'. The truth is, there will be precious few if any jobs 'created', but rest assured Frederick have have 70 new families to provide services for or 70 more cars commuting from where ever to Frederick. Either way, a cost to the county in dollars but more importantly, a cost of a significant additional negative impact in the community's quality of life. It's time local government and it's media come clean and tell the truth to the people of the community. Every time you read 'xxx jobs will be created', ask: How many jobs will actually be created, how many more commuters, the cost for each, the increases in the maintenance costs and the further stressing of an already stressed infrastructure. I hate that word infrastructure. We're not talking only roads and sewer pipes here, but air, soil, and water; the things on which all life depends. It's said: there's no need to speak truth to power; Power already knows the truth. The necessary thing to do is to speak truth to the People. Local government (pretenders to power) will not tell the people the truth. Find it for yourself.

Time Is On Their Side

Jim Van Der Pol, in a recent column laid out the situation rather starkly, completely, and correctly. The Right Wing, in the employ of the financial, corporate, and military elite are on track to kill any hope of democracy breaking out in this country, or anywhere else in the world for that matter. He makes the point, clear enough already to all who care to look, that jobs, not just good jobs but most jobs, are leaving this country and are not coming back. The unemployment rate will remain high until population growth declines and the baby-boomers at long last pass away. As he says, there are bigger markets and faster growing affluence in China and India; that's where the money has been going since the 1980's when Reagan, claiming 'government is the problem', started the mass transfer of wealth upward and the privileged elite trickled down on the rest of us.

The only thing the Right Wing believes government should do of course, is wage war. Social spending, so-called 'entitlements' are a drain on the transfer of wealth from working people (who don't deserve it) to the elites and must be stopped. There is no concern however about spending on the military contractors.

There's a good reason for this of course. Currently there is no other military in the world that can be trusted to do the bidding of the ruling class unquestioningly and with such brutality. But of course that could all change in a instant. China, the only other nation in the world capable of challenging the enormous spending on war of the United States could become that force. Of course, they would have to be conditioned to support the aims of the ruling class first and that hasn't happened. Yet.

Once the United States is no longer needed to wage immoral wars to steal other nations' natural resources and enrich the ruling class, there will be no need for a United States at all.

No People Here

There is a creature let loosed upon the world; a fearsome monster, some would say that some other men call Human. It has been given many strange, alien-sounding names: Exxon, Walmart, and General Electric, to name just a few, although none of them has ever been born. We are told they have free speech, although they have no mouths and cannot talk. We're told their money is their voice, yet they have no hands in order to write checks or count out coins. They can marry, yet they have no gender; they cannot reproduce the way natural humans do, and yet, they are said to breed. They do not think nor do they breathe. Like their God, they cannot eat an ice cream cone or laugh. Yet, Human they are said to be. I say it is a fearsome monster not because, unlike you and me, they can live forever. They are fearsome because of the awesome power they possess by virtue of the fact that they are not alive. Like the disembodied brains on the planet Triskelion, in an early Star Trek episode, these "Providers" appear to control events for their own profit and amusement; manipulating people, creating products, and poisoning the environment. We seem to be powerless before them; they are all-seeing (cameras everywhere), all-knowing (experts at their beck-and-call), and omnipotent (armies of lawyers). Now, they are the most powerful Humans on the planet. Back before these creatures were fully human, we real Humans put limits and requirements on what people could create. We also taxed the profits that people made from these creatures. But no more.

Today the creature called General Electric had $14 billion in profits but paid no taxes. It got a $1.9 billion refund.

The creature called ExxonMobil paid no taxes. It got a $156 million refund.

The creature known as Bank of America, made $4.4 billion in profit but paid no taxes and received a $1.9 billion refund. You might recall, this creature was given a great deal of money directly by the American People in 2010 in order to keep it alive.

The creature called Chevron made $10 billion in profit. It also paid no taxes and got a refund of $19 million.

The creature called Citigroup made $4 billion in profit. And, yup, you're getting it: PAID NO TAXES.

It's funny, of course. Many like to ridicule those who say that chipmunks have awareness or that trees are alive. They are called Pagans, nature-lovers, fools, or worse ('environmentalists'!). What do you call someone who believes that a piece of paper is not only alive but that it can talk, think, and act on its own? A stock holder! It is more than past the time that we The People cram regulations down the throats of these Frankenstein Monsters and make the stock holders bow, scrape, and do our bidding for a change.

And, oh yeah, make them pay their taxes like the rest of us!

Time To Get On A New Path

So, is this another "blonde moment" for the all-Republican Frederick Board of County Commissioners? Or is it just business-friendly-as-usual nonsense from people who want to completely destroy the rural legacy of Frederick County?
(OK, so for all you natural blondes, I apologize for the insensitivity)
Now, not surprisingly, they want to give tax breaks to wealthy business owners to entice them move to Frederick and hire local workers. Once again, the Corporatist economic system operates on the idiotic assumption that in order to get wealthy people to do the right thing, you have to give them money, BUT, in order to get the same response from working people, you have to take money away from them!
Once again, Establishment lackeys of the Corporatist state are selling you the big lie about how the economy needs to work; we have to lure ("woo", as Young puts it) giant corporations into the county with the one promise no rich person can resist: NO TAXES.
"...this will help us compete with other counties for jobs." that Neanderthal C. Paul Smith intoned. Is that how the Corporatist economy works, it pits one group, one county against another in a dog-eat-dog battle? Is that so, when we "woo" Google headquarters to Frederick we can thumb our collective nose at Loudoun County?
Nyaa - Nyaa. We beat you! Frederick rules! Take that, PG County! How pathetic!
Frederick's unemployment rate is bad, 6.7% according to the article, but not the worst in the state. When you consider that the civilization Formicidae has a 0% unemployment rate (and there are a lot more ants than even people), our economic system could stand some improvement.
But enough bashing closed-ideology, non-thinking elected Representatives; they try.

We all understand the rationale for attracting large businesses and corporations to the area, and it's not about putting that 6.7% back to work; it's about GROWTH. And PROFITS. As Noam Chomsky observed recently, the wealthy corporate owners and their lackeys NEVER use the term. In fact, as Chomsky pointed out: the way they pronounce P-R-O-F-I-T-S is ‘jobs’.

We all understand, or at least should, that the best way to create meaningful, long-term, sustainable employment is by creating local businesses, not by bringing in immigrant corporations from outside the state. These businesses bring most of their employees with them, clog our highways as their workers seek out lower cost housing 30 to 60 miles away; they overcrowd our schools, tax our infrastructure, and drive even greater sprawl. And PROFITS.
What Frederick should be doing, of course is using that carrot to foster small, local businesses.

Here's a prescription for real economic vitality and stability:

• Frederick city and county should confiscate all commercial properties vacant for longer than 6 months and make them available to small, local businesses and entrepreneurs at reasonable rent.
• The money that was to be given to corporations should instead be used to seed micro-lending institutions in each municipality. Citizen volunteer boards in each locale then help local entrepreneurs start their small businesses as well as assist existing local businesses to expand and remain prosperous by making that money available to them at low or (preferably) no-interest loans.
• The county should redirect their vast array of departments, commissions, and individuals to focus on local business development and the needs of each community, rather than this one-size-fits-all approach to economic activity. We should not engage in a competition for big businesses that create a vacuum and community crisis when they decide to pack up and move to greener havens.
• Local communities should have the ability to develop business incubators that meet their own, unique community needs; these incubators must have the flexibility to provide support to all looking to start a business in the community.
• With then end of cheap oil, and scarce resources becoming ever scarcer, communities must have the tools necessary to maintain stable, vibrant economic activity without growth.

It's clear from his title what Tobin's job will be for the county; give the wealthiest individuals in the world more while taking from the rest of us. And it's not just money we're talking about here; it's our health, our environment, our community - what's left of it.

The time has come for fundamental change. NO...real fundamental change. We must stop the Corporatist mindset of bigger...more...growth... and start thinking small, as in Local, Community, Stability, and Vitality.

The old way is at long last, a dead horse that we can no longer afford to beat. It has been shown to have never delivered on its promises. It's time to travel a new path, a path that those, like the current Board of County Commissioners, trapped in 19th Century thinking, can not even find, let alone lead us on.

The Road for the Masses

The bi-partisan effort to get the mess called the Intercounty Connector (ICC) approved and built is now complete. This highway was built over the objections of common sense, environmentalists, and others who see the cost to build this boondoggle as a massive waste of money. The highway is officially open. This is a toll road, designed and built to accommodate high income and other well-off individuals so they can burn oil and pollute the environment without having to share the road with low-income riff-raff. The first few days were free to use, and about 36,000 travelers used the road the first day. On subsequent free days, an average of about 30,000 cars used the road. On the first day tolls were assessed, 8,500 commuters saw fit to use it. That's a 76% drop in use in one day! They don't tell you what the toll is but if you don't have EZ-Pass, you're billed the going toll PLUS a $3 'service charge'.
This is indeed a road designed for the masses of workers.
That's why I was amazed to see the editorial in the Frederick News Post (Long & Lonely Road, Feb. 27). In it, the editors state, "...it could be years before we know whether the impact on commuters is worth the $2.56 billion cost to build (it)..."
How incredible! We have to wait YEARS to know whether or not we wasted $3 billion?
Is that what passes for conservative, fiscal responsibility these days? I would be laughing if it weren't so damn serious.
There is nothing Conservative whatsoever about spending $3 billion on the chance that traffic congestion will diminish. The approximately .35 per mile toll is nothing less than a tax on people who commute; a tax that actual working people can ill-afford.
We all understand, I think, that expenditures for new or 'improved' roads are only further subsidies to wealthy and well-connected land speculators and their crony developers. There has never been a road built in any city in the United States over the last 55 years that has reduced traffic. In fact, studies show that for every mile of new road built, there is an increase of 2 miles driven.
As someone once observed: Building roads to relieve traffic congestion is like loosening your belt to cure obesity.
Our local newspaper does its readers a disservice by blurring facts. They further the popular myth that more is progress and that progress is good. And if it turns out not to be good, then we're told that it's just 'inevitable', so get over it.
It's time we got over the foolishness that growth is good, that it's 'grow or die' and that, somehow, spending billions is good for the economy.
Conservatives are very frugal when it comes to doing what government is supposed to do: serve the people, yet their largess knows no bounds when it comes to feeding the wealthy, corporate hogs.
The time has come to put some truth to the nonsense of growth and the lie that transferring wealth from working people to the rich is 'progress'. If that's what 'business' is all about then we need to make sure that Maryland is NEVER 'Open for Business'.

What law? NO law

Amendment 1 - Freedom of Religion, Press, Expression. Ratified 12/15/1791.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

That's the first amendment to the Constitution, ratified in 1791,
What part of 'NO law' is so hard to understand? Now, there is nothing socially redeeming about the people who call themselves The Westboro Baptist Church. Their beliefs and actions are odious and a disgrace; they give form to the fact that some of us are less evolved than others. But people (as opposed to corporations) cannot be silenced in a civilized society. We see that today, starkly in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Wisconsin, Palestine and a thousand other places. So, the sociopaths of Westboro likewise cannot be silenced or even punished for their speech.
Sight of this is often lost in the schizophrenia that is the American legal and social system. So many limits are imposed on our ability to freely speak; not on 'private' property, not too close, not to vehemently, not too offensively, not too often, not without a permit, not without paying cash and posting bond, not here, not now. Limits to express oneself are limits on liberty, our ability to rule ourselves, our - the people's sovereignty.
For a statement so clear - Congress shall make NO law...
we've strayed so very far.

Freedom Now

The actions of Governor Knothead in Wisconsin cannot go unchallenged. The Frederick Green Party completely supports the workers there and around the world who have risen up in anger and in unison against their oppressors. The planned and coordinated assault by the American Fascists on the working people of the United States and the world is reprehensible, predatory, and completely predictable. These characters do not represent the decent, thinking, majority of people in the United States or the world.

It's time to let Wisconsin, the United States, and the world know that we will not tolerate their relentless assault on our work, our environment, or our lives.

The time has come to let the malefactors of great wealth to know that we will no longer tolerate their brutality. Liberty has come at long last to our Nation, our Cause, and our lives.

The end of tyranny draws to a close. The bloody cloak awaits those who continue to exploit.

Freedom is our destiny