Joe Again?

Joe Again?

 

Already the oldest president, Biden would be 86 before the end of a second term, nearly a decade older than Ronald Reagan was when he left the White House in 1989. Trump is 76.

In his video, Biden warned that “Maga extremists” – Trump’s slogan is “Make America Great Again” – were working to strip away “bedrock freedoms”.

-      Joe Biden formally announces 2024 White House run, The Guardian

 

By Gregg Wall (4-29 -2023)

 

Low wattage Joe is back.  

 

Pitching the same fear and loathing that he pitched in 2020.   Heh, when you have nothing to run on, no real achievement - after controlling the House, Senate, and White House for two years – you gotta run on something, so why not big bad Trump.   Yes, America needs protection from far-right GOP extremism, but who’s going to protect the nation from far-right Dem extremism?  You know, the failed Clintonista neolib/neocon set, not to be confused with the failed Trump neolib/neocon set.  And mystery of mysteries, why is Trump still roaming free among us?  Why indeed?

 

Left completely unanalyzed by the American MSM is how the two parties are virtually indistinguishable on the economy, foreign policy, endless war, corporate welfare, big oil & gas supremacy, a rigged system of government, cronyism, abject corruption, the tax code, a billionaire welfare state, endless Wall St. bailouts, and both parties’ highly malignant anti-democratic activities. 

 

What?  Don’t believe me?  The Dems achieved nothing: not gun control, no hike in the minimum wage, no child tax credit or childcare, tuition free college – not a chance, paid family and medical leave – nope, affordable housing no, Medicare for All option … are you kidding me, no long-term home healthcare, no cannabis legalization, no abortion codification.  

 

It’s as if the GOP were in power and Trump won in 2020.

 

Sorry America, BBB was all a pack of lies.  Even student debt relief looks like it will be buried, after the youth vote saved the Dems in 2022.  The oligarchy that owns both political parties is thoroughly united in screwing the American worker & students.  Although billionaires and multinationals love their socialism, for themselves… they can’t abide any government programs that might give the American people and labor a leg up and a possible edge.  And so, entirely predictable, BBB was smothered in its crib.  We now have the autopsy; we have the smoking gun.  Someone at the DNC held baby BBB down, while another Demo monster clapped their hand over BBB's mouth.  

Those bastards!

 

It just another nail in the coffin of American democracy, as the country gears up for the fight of two ancient dinosaurs nobody wants to see nominated (together, perhaps, the two most corrupt men in American politics).  Of course, neither party runs on economics, foreign policy, and taxes anymore… instead, the Dems and GOP run on culture wars.  With the GOP growing more and more extreme so as to feed their base plenty of red meat.  All in the hopes that the party faithful won’t notice the massive transfer of wealth, from their pockets and the government’s pockets into the vaults of a predatory kleptocracy.  The Dems all too happy to play the same – divide & conquer – game, as the GOP.  Both parties responsible for little or no social mobility and catastrophic inequality; both parties responsible for a bankrupt nation and a libertarian industrial policy that proves just how debauched & depraved America’s elite have become.  These people are grotesque, hideous freaks, that lust for blood and profits. 

 

The complicit MSM, owned by the same oligarchy that owns both political parties, conveniently, calls none of this out. 

 

And so, America will suffer the bizarre optics of great-grandpa Joe hiding out in the White House basement, dodging interviews & media, babbling incoherently when he does speak, making a few progressive promises (knowing full well, they’ll never pass the congress), like it was the year 2020 all over again. 

 

No primary debates, a rigged primary process, no meaningful discussions on the need for real structural economic & political reform…. Just endless culture wars, gaslighting, and lies.  The only certainty, now: death, taxes, soaring national debt, morally bankrupt US leadership, a superpower in terminal decline, and an assembly line of child murders (sponsored by the NRA and their lackeys in the U.S. congress). 

 

It’s the American way.  

 

Copyright JM Hamilton Publishing 2023

Alberta

Alberta

 

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, four days after announcing she won’t answer questions on her ethics investigation, says she will limit questions on all other topics.

Smith told reporters in Calgary Friday that she will only allow reporters to ask a single question at news conferences and not allow them the traditional followup query.

 

Asked why, she replied, “It’s an election, that’s why.

-       Alberta Premier Smith, with election looming, announces new limits on media questions, Global News

 

Pawlowski’s charges from the January 2022 Coutts blockade include mischief for inciting people to block public property at the border crossing. He was also charged under the Alberta Critical Infrastructure Defence Act with wilfully damaging or destroying essential infrastructure.

The admission that Smith was unaware of her inability to grant amnesty as Premier was also a red flag for the U of A political scientist.

“I think the fact that the Premier discloses her ignorance about how the Constitution works suggests that she wasn’t really well-prepared to run for Premier when she did.”

In the phone conversation with Pawlowski, Smith admitted that she couldn’t put undue pressure on the justice ministry and Crown prosecutors for fear of repeating the same mistake Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made with Jody Wilson-Raybould.

-    Alberta’s Premier says she asked about COVID-19 charges ‘almost weekly’, Global News

 

By Gregg Wall (April 15, 2023)

If you live long enough, you get to see it all. 

It’s why I pray for long life… I want to see it all.  And if you want proof there is a Goddess above, come visit me.  I should have been dead nine lives ago.  

My latest observation is the oligarchy is global, and like the eternal sea, the oligarchy’s politics is global.  My latest wisdom is the tricks being played upon Americans are the same tricks being played upon French citizens, by one very nasty banker.  And to drive that point further, examine Canadian Texas, Alberta.  Where a libertarian Premier, who was never elected, appears to be imploding and sliding off the rails right before our very eyes (due to corruption & stupid libertarian tricks). 

If history rhymes, then global politics, inexplicably & presently, often operates off the same playbook.  Just as Macron threatens the retirement age in France, the Republicans in the U.S. threaten Social Security; and just as a Texas governor suggests he’s about to free a convicted murderer, a White Supremacist, the Alberta Premier has been caught on tape, working with a right-wing extremist, to intervene against an independent judiciary and provide amnesty. 

The fun in Alberta doesn’t stop there, however.  Because Premier Smith and her predecessor, Jason Kenney, have done about everything imaginable to tear down Medicare for All, and replace it with, get this, American style – for-profit – health care.  I know, insane right?  Except there’s method to the madness, it’s the privatization scheme we see throughout the West. Where wealthy donors hook up with the government and privatize any and all services provided.  There’s just one problem, the alleged savings from privatization never materialize (the only thing that does materialize from privatization is diminished customer service, the gutting of labor, obscene profits for a privileged few, and the grossly overworked employees that get to keep their jobs for paltry wages). 

But wait, there’s more.  Just as public services are often looted and robbed to pay for tax cuts & welfare for the rich, Alberta’s Premier has decided that Big Oil & Gas should receive $20 billion in subsidies for oil & gas well cleanup & remediation.  Of course, these same companies… no few in number are swimming in profits, from manipulated oil & gas markets… are already on the hook for cleanup.  Talk about entitlement.  This industry receives every benefit imaginable, including, but not limited to, billions thrown at them by the Federal government.  Canadians, on the other hand, have to put up with price gouging at the pumps, paying presently 37% more, nationally, versus the price per liter on the eve of the pandemic, January 2020. 

But wait because the tricks don’t end there.  For the ultimate kick in the ribs, we have to visit the Alberta scheme where utility bills were cut back, but it was only a mirage.  That’s right, the unpaid portion of utility bills isn’t cancelled, but will eventually come due.  It’s sort of a layaway plan for heating and lighting.  Except there’s no package to look forward to, only a nasty bill.  Some Albertans, as reported by City News, have been slammed with $800 and $1500 utility bills.  And what did the conservatives do, they trotted out rebate checks covering a fraction of the bills due.  This all comes at a time when Albertans, indeed Canadians, are being crushed by food monopolies and higher fuel bills (which is particularly galling when we consider that Alberta is the oil & gas Mecca of Canada).  Meanwhile, utilities are scoring record profits.  And if you count on conservatives for anything, they won’t intervene or put a stop to corporate, monopoly, and utility donors gouging Alberta consumers.  Nor put a stop to these same entities’ hold on labor’s throat.

I could go on and on…. with the wheels falling off the Alberta Conservative party (UCP), the Premier has decided to shut down, or significantly limit, Q&A at press conferences for fear of compounding the party’s slide into the abyss?  Because she’s considering lawsuits and legal action, for defamation.  French President Macron hightailed it out of France, as the riots erupted; Premier Smith shuts down the press and press scrutiny, citing its election season.  Different moves, but pretty much the same result: a grotesquely indifferent and out of touch neoliberal leadership.  And is it any different in the United States, where the corporately owned MSM gives the two repugnant parties a pass; where the U.S. MSM allows endless culture wars, instead of insisting upon substantive debate & discussion on domestic and foreign policies, skyrocketing national debt, another banker bailout, and America’s oligarchy problem? 

The parallels and similarities, throughout the West, are alarming.

 

 

Fortunately, Alberta doesn’t do center-left politics, and the quintessential American choice of the lesser of two great, neoliberal evils.  But thankfully, we have a truly progressive party called the New Democratic Party (NDP). 

And the NDP, to date, has run an outstanding campaign on bread-and-butter issues that are hitting home, after Albertans have been run through the wringer by conservatives, libertarianism, monopolies, and utilities.   

The NDP has been hitting it out of the park (or driving the puck past the goalie?) by promising to preserve Medicare for All, negotiate with doctors & nurses to retain them, committing to tackle the cost of higher education, and promising to diversify & revive the economy.   Under Rachel Notley, the NDP comes off as a professional, well oiled machine.  Compared to Premier’s Smith’s litany of self-inflicted errors and crony government, the NDP seems like a breath of fresh air. 

Poor Premier Smith appears afraid to talk, her views are so antithetical to what most Albertans believe; Poor Premier Smith has increasingly found herself pivoting to NDP positions, particularly on health care.

Seems that most Albertans are not ready for a fling with bankrupting, American medical care, but notice the Premier hasn’t disavowed or disowned, from what I’ve read, privatized medical care.

At the end of the day, perhaps the biggest change a NDP government would bring is a return to greater ethics and transparency.  After UCP’s cronyism, libertarianism, opaque nature, radical right direction, and a brand new code of silence (or omerta?) … a step in the correct direction. 

Could Western governments, especially the United States, use a New Democratic Party?  Are we done with a failed libertarianism and global oligarchy that merely transfers wages and wealth to themselves?

Absolutely.

Copyright JM Hamilton Publishing 2023

 

Billionaire Madness

 

Billionaire Madness 

 

It must be stopped.  

 

You and all your school-parent groups about the country, and stamp out this frightful assassin of youth, labor, and the middle class.  You can do it by bringing about compulsory education on the subject of libertarians in general and billionaires in particular.  

 

That is the purpose of this meeting ladies and gentlemen, to lay the foundation for a nationwide campaign by you to demand by law such compulsory education, because it is only through enlightenment that the scourge of billionaires, libertarianism, and monopolies can be wiped out. 

- Borrowing from Reefer Madness

 

By Gregg Wall (4-2-2023)

 

Know your billionaire.  

 

These greedy, grasping psychopaths are complete narcissists and will do anything to further their personal wealth at the expense of society.  While the billionaire loves to tout ideas, like capitalism, the free market, and private enterprise, these greed addicts are generally hooked up with the state; and therefore, are socialists in their truest form.  From the state, the billionaire receives a captured regulatory state, debt & often free money (from central banksters), endless war (which is a never-ending source of fraud), monopoly, and license to manipulate markets and stocks for their personal gain, their personal gratification.  

 

For nothing pleases the billionaire’s addiction like the accumulation of obscene wealth.  From this wealth, they buyoff judges, politicians, regulators, the state to ensure that their control over the economy and U.S. government are absolute.  Consumers and labor are but mere objects & tools to the billionaire, to actualize profits and gain (at the expense of families, children, and a cohesive & functioning society).  

 

Despite the fact that the billionaire derives so much of their wealth from the state, the billionaire owned & operated mainstream media is engaged in a relentless propaganda campaign against societal aid for the less fortunate, for families, and children.  The ultimate goal:  To keep Americans so desperate, fearful, and impoverished that U.S. labor is often forced to work in Gig jobs, for slave wages, enduring long hours with no benefits, and resulting – all too often – in personal debt and indentured servitude. 

 

These megalomaniacs… these billionaires… via right-wing, fascist politicians have launched an endless war against the Constitution, education, knowledge, and learning.  For the billionaire knows that their failed libertarian ideology, their monopolies with hegemonic control over labor and price, and their diabolical aim to control every facet of society, are entirely inimical to human existence, freedom, liberty, and planetary survival.

 

The billionaire is so insidious that they are destroying the Earth for profit and gain.  From the state, public land… America’s birthright and heritage...  are leased, looted, purchased, and stolen from Native Americans and the U.S. government.  In turn, commodities harvested from the land are not used to build up the United States, but are exported overseas for profit maximization and for an elite oligarchy' exclusive benefit.

 

Because their hold over wages and wealth is so great, so concentrated, by refusing to pay taxes, the national debt grows and grows.  This national debt, in turn, forces central banks, like the Federal Reserve, to print debt and money.  The resulting suppressed interest rates, allows debt and money supply to grossly inflate assets held by the wealthy and within markets, in an out-of-control speculative frenzy.  Making the billionaire wealthier still.  The easy money also fuels bank fees, cartel, consolidation, M&A, monopoly.  And the ultimate backstop, taxpayer funded bailouts for Too Big to Fail institutions.  The cycle repeats, again and again, into a doom loop of avarice and inequality. 

 

Know your billionaire.  Their ideas, their libertarian ideology, their pagan worship of material gain & money are a threat to the economy, innovation, jobs, and opportunity.  They are the economic royalists of our time, mere despots in corporate towers.  

 

And the end result, the very diminishment of the democratic government Americans hold dear… reduced to endemic corruption and a corporate & military dictatorship with the façade of a crumbling political duopoly. 

 

Borrowing liberally from POTUS Eisenhower: We have been compelled to create a permanent billionaire/military welfare state of vast proportions.  In the councils of government, we must guard – and fight - against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the billionaire industrial complex. 

 

The reality of the disastrous rise in misplaced power already exists and will persist.  We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes.  

 

Only an alert, educated, and knowledgeable citizenry can defeat the billionaire menace, as well as, the lies, narratives, and omissions fabricated, and spun, by the corporately owned and controlled mainstream media (in the furtherance of the oligarchy’s commercial and military goals) … so that democracy, freedom, and liberty from billionaire & libertarian tyranny may prosper once again. 

 

Copyright JM Hamilton Publishing 2023