Hypocrisy Nation

Hypocrisy Nation 

President Biden chimed in Saturday: “Everybody knows of the rules going in. Whether they should remain the rules is a different issue, but the rules are the rules. ... I was really proud of the way she responded.”

 

Under WADA’s policies, substances are placed on the prohibited list if they meet two of three conditions: They have the potential or proven ability to enhance performance, they have the potential to cause harm to an athlete, or their use is considered against the spirit of sport.

 

-       The doping rules that cost Sha’Carri Richardson have a debated, political history

By JM Hamilton (7-10-2021)

 

The suspension of Sha’Carri Richardson – a world class American athlete - from the pending Tokyo Olympic games - really burned some nerve endings for this writer.

 

For me the story is personal, for reasons I will not share this week, but on an entirely different level: the story speaks to the rank hypocrisy we see every day in the United States, from our courts, our Congress, our government… right into the boardrooms and C-suites, which are loaded with murderers.  We see it globally as well, with billionaires, oligarchy, and Saudi princes. 

 

At a time that the nation finds it worthy to persecute a star athlete for taking a relatively benign, but federally banned substance, it’s simply amazing that America turns a blind eye to the rank hypocrisy surrounding the criminal elite. 

 

What rank hypocrisy are you writing about JM? 

 

Well, I’m so very glad you asked. 

 

This week, fifteen states’ attorneys general signed on to a deal that would allow the Sacklers, owners of the infamous Perdue Pharma, to basically walk away from murdering hundreds of thousands of Americans with their billions safely left in their possession.  The Sacklers designed synthetic heroin, pushed it on doctors and the public as a less addictive pain killer alternative, and, also, made money on the rebound, by selling drugs to wean addicts off Purdue Pharma’s addictive opioid products.  International drug dealers have a new patron saint, named Sackler. 

 

The American West has been ablaze, as has Western Canada, thanks to the climate crisis and Big Oil & Gas.  Exxon, et al., of course, knew of the hell that they were unleashing upon the earth, for decades, and covered it up.  As a result of the global heat wave & climate change, hundreds will die, and thousands already have.  Moreover, neighborhoods surrounding oil refineries and operations have long been known as cancer communities, with significantly higher rates of preventable disease & illness.  More recently, an Exxon lobbyist was recorded as admitting that, to present a cleaner image, Exxon supported a carbon tax because – the US congress is so entirely corrupt & owned – that a carbon tax would never become law. 

 

Donald Rumsfeld, the architect of endless war, died recently.  The flames of hell are dancing merrily.  Mr. Rumsfeld played a considerable role, during the Bush Administration, in destroying the sovereign nations of Iraq and Afghanistan. The WMD and Al Qaeda claims, used to justify invading Iraq, of course, were all great works of fiction.  The Iraqi nation was destroyed, tens of thousands of civilians were killed; and conveniently enough, Big Oil & Gas as well as military defense contractor stocks soared.  And Rumsfeld’s epitaph, if there was any justice in this world, would read: Mass Murderer. 

 

And speaking of Big Oil, seems to be a theme, the Saudi Prince, who ordered Washington Post journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, killed… well, it turns out that members of his hit squad were trained by the United States.  

 

But these are trifling things: Saudi princes getting away with murdering journalists; C-suites and boardrooms selling drugs and highly addictive synthetic heroin; Big Oil and Gas destroying the planet; a Wall Street that tells Americans they can’t divest of these criminal enterprises; and an entirely corrupt, and complicit, US congress that sits on their hands and obstructs positive change. 

 

After all, the US has far more important things to do, like persecuting a world class athlete, who just happens to be black.  Not unlike the persecution of blacks throughout American history, via: slavery, indentured servitude (see sharecropper); Jim Crow; systemic racism embedded in the US economy; the criminalization of cannabis usage; the resulting ‘law & order’ politics; the GOP’s racist Southern Strategy; and lest we forget, mass incarceration (a profit center for the private prison industrial complex and a boon for American lawyers).   

 

Isn’t it all so very special, malignantly evil, wrong, and … quintessentially, American?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So what to do about Ms. Richardson?  The FT reported, yesterday, that the Biden Administration has taken a personal interest, and plans on discussing the circumstances surrounding Ms. Richardson’s ban from the pending games with the World Anti-Doping Agency (yet another, opaque supranational body, directly and indirectly controlled by commercial interests and sponsors?)

 

But let’s cut to the chase, shall we?  What really should be done?  Not necessarily in this order: but perhaps the US Olympic Committee, and its subsidiary, the US Anti-Doping Agency, should get down on bended knee and beg Ms. Richardson to appear in the Tokyo Olympics. These organizations should also provide a written statement to the effect that it was wrong to make Ms. Richardson apologize for her cannabis usage, and the matter is now considered closed, except to make sure it never happens again. The US Senate should, immediately, vote, and pass into law, cannabis legalization. 

 

And above all, whether the IOC or the World Anti-Doping Agency are on board or not, Ms. Richardson should appear in these Tokyo Olympic games and compete.  Ms. Richardson – in Tokyo - should be presented for whom and what she truly is: An undisputed American champion.  Such a move is, likely, a political and commercial winner as well. 

 

This would be a tremendous start in the United States’ rehabilitation, and a pivot away from the nation’s, and its elite’s, recidivism concerning endless hypocrisy. 

 

Copyright JM Hamilton Publishing 2021

A dictatorship of a moneyed elite…

A dictatorship of a moneyed elite… 

 

People of color are disproportionately employed in the service industries hardest hit by the pandemic, according to an analysis of employment data by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, and unemployment rates reflect that: In February, 12.3% of Black workers in Texas were unemployed, compared to 9.3% of Hispanic workers and only 5.1% of white workers. In February 2020, the unemployment rates for each group were 4.7%, 4.7% and 2.5%, respectively.

-      Greater disparities to emerge in Texas as unemployment benefits, protections against evictions and utility shutoffs end, Texas Tribune

By JM Hamilton (6-26-2021)

 

Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure deal this week was yet another reminder of how this administration has already given up on America’s working class and thrown them over the side of the country’s leaky – and condemned – ship of state, in favor of pandering to a right-wing GOP.  The irony is the GOP could care less about working with this President, and Mitch McConnell has stated that he wants to see Biden fail. All this, when the Dems control both houses of Congress, and yet, refuse to exercise their power and authority already six months into the Biden administration. 

 

The bipartisan infrastructure proposal, announced with great fanfare on Friday, is a dog.  The proposal, as of yet - not even written up, is a fraction of what Biden proposed and contains little or no Green New Deal elements.  Instead, Biden indicated that Dems would take a two-track approach and work on a more progressive infrastructure bill, simultaneously.  It’s classic Washington, that is to say, completely backwards, corrupt, and incompetent. And of course, the two infrastructure bills will take months to pass if they ever pass at all. 

 

Already the two sides, Dems & GOP, are bickering, after Biden said he’d veto the bipartisan bill, if he could not pass the more progressive Dem bill, simultaneously … only to backtrack on Saturday (today) and indicate that he wouldn’t veto the bipartisan bill, after all. Confused?  No worries, you’re in good company.  The Ivy League brain trust, in Washington, has no clue as to what they are doing either. 

 

When the final history of American democracy is written, it will reflect that Obama walked a deranged lunatic into the White House, and that Biden will undoubtedly do the same, as he fails to meet his obligations and promises to American labor, independents, and the working class. 

 

Washington occupies a bubble and does everything in its power to crush labor, and disenfranchised Americans, by ignoring the public’s request for wildly popular: Green New Deal, Medicare for All, Living Wage, and Infrastructure programs. The public also wants to see the exceptionally wealthy pay for these programs; but so far, the bipartisan deal calls for America’s old infrastructure to be sold off to the wealthy at fire-sale prices (undoubtedly so that they can extract rents from the American public) … just like they do in poor countries. 

 

That’s right America, we are just another corrupt banana republic, another kleptocracy, that is being busted out – a la Soprano – for America’s rapacious billionaire class. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All of this, of course, is happening while unemployment benefits, rent moratoriums, and utility breaks are rapidly coming to an end, at a time when the US economy is anything but fully recovered, and tens of millions of workers are unemployed, underemployed, given up looking for work, and are subjected to wage slavery.   See minorities and women in particular, Biden’s base, who the President does not appear to give a damn about. Meanwhile, the plague is resurgent throughout Southern GOP states, and Trump’s and Biden’s one time stimulus checks have long ago run out for America’s bottom half.

 

How do the two parties get away with it? Simple, both parties serve the same billionaire/multinational masters.  They know the political pendulum swings back and forth, and the public has nowhere to run but to the failed two-party system.  Biden’s primary strategy appears to be to burn up the legislative clock, pretend to be working on his agenda & campaign promises (which are already DOA), and pander to his wealthy donors (basically, ensuring a rigged US economy and Washington remain untouched from change and reform). 

 

How do I know that Biden’s agenda is dead, that he has no intention of fulfilling his campaign promises…watch the Federal Reserve, who indicates they are getting ready to taper because they are satisfied with the progress of the American economy. That is, if the FED was still concerned about the economy, or thought they’d need to finance yet more crisis programs or New Deal legislation, there’d be little or no discussion about tapering ultra-accommodative monetary policy. 

 

 

But I digress, the problem for Biden, the Dems, and Americans is, the GOP is playing for keeps, and the coup they started on January 6^th is still very much alive and in motion.  We see this with massive voter suppression efforts, and the installation of Trump lackeys in key state positions … positions that will certify, or not, future elections.  Moreover, the Dems haven’t lifted a finger to bring GOP coup leaders, in Congress, to trial (nor the GOP’s donors). 

 

What many Americans fail to realize is none of this has to be this way.  There are western governments that actually work and function on behalf of their citizen.  There are democratic governments that are effective and get things done expeditiously.  In Canada, the Trudeau government has been highly effective in taking care of its citizens with progressive policies, like a UBI.  And this same government has already vaccinated greater than 75% of the population, with first time vaccine doses.  The NY Times reports America’s comparable number is less than 55%.  Do I agree with everything the Liberal government does… absolutely not.  But because the Liberals, partnered with the NDP, are so effective, and generally, do the right thing on behalf of Canada’s citizens… this humble American, blessed with dual Canadian citizenship, just has to marvel at the Canadian government’s success (vis a vis, the never-ending corruption and failure that is the American government). 

 

Who benefits from the malaise surrounding the US government, who encourages the partisanship and the atomization of the American electorate, who ensures that culture wars/social conflicts are never resolved (and wages remain stagnant) … so that Americans don’t have a moment to look up and see who is really destroying theirs and their children’s futures?   Well, that’s the billionaire and donor class, who know that if they can keep America divided, its citizens are less likely to notice that as the national debt soars, the billionaires and multi-millionaires are growing richer, and richer, and richer (and more numerous).   

 

And public largesse, by the trillions, is being laundered through America’s debt and stock markets, as the national debt soars ever higher: #BustOut. 

 

It’s the ultimate transfer of wealth from the many into the hands of a few.  It’s probably already too late to reform, America is already run by a dictatorship… A dictatorship of a moneyed elite.  Given the path the Biden administration is traveling down, Americans soon may not even have the illusion - or pretense - of a two-party system. 

 

Copyright JM Hamilton Publishing 2021

 

 

America is Back?

America is Back?  

 

“At every point along the way, we are going to make it clear that the United States is back and the democracies of the world are standing together to tackle the toughest challenges and issues that matter most to our future,” Biden said.

-       Biden’s message as he lands in Europe: America's back, Politico

 

By JM Hamilton (6-12-2021)

 

Oh, thank god… America is back… per POTUS Biden, while on G7 holiday in Europe. And there is little doubt that, for Europe at least, the Sugar Daddy and Chief is back.   Just ask French President Macron. 

 

But while America maybe back in Europe, not unlike Santa, spreading free defense spending & good cheer…  America is considerably less back in, well, America. 

 

In the United States, Biden’s campaign promises have stalled out in the assisted living facility, known as the US Senate, thanks to right-wing Dem senators, Manchin and Sinema.  And, of course, some blame certainly rests with the senate majority leader, Schumer, who can’t keep his caucus in line long enough to see Biden’s mandate through into law.  How convenient… the second the nation must pass bills and legislation to help the United States’ failing infrastructure, the American people suffering through a pandemic & wage slavery, pass a Green New Deal, or tax increases upon robber barons… and magically, the congress grinds to a halt.   

 

It appears that the congress’ corporate sponsors - and K-Street - aren’t accepting of the campaign promises Biden was elected, by the majority of voters, to enact. 

 

It is incompetence hour, and all of this seems vaguely familiar, like the newly elected Obama administration wasting precious time, burning up the legislative clock, on the ACA (aka Obamacare, aka corporate welfare for the healthcare industry). 

 

Examples of the Biden Administration's failure are everywhere, despite controlling not one, but both houses of Congress.  

 

Can you imagine what it’s going to be like after the midterms? 

 

Of course, nothing quite spells out failure like the recent bipartisan bill to spend $250 billion on corporate welfare.  Wow.  The two parties are at war, but the second there’s an opportunity for corporate pork, or taxpayer dollars being wasted on the billionaire welfare state, then the two parties come together for a group orgy and roll around in the corruption and fraud.   

 

The Senate is going to thwart China’s hegemonic ambitions with 250 billion dollars in a - no strings - corporate giveaway, on top of the trillion spent annually on US defense spending. (China spends about a fifth of the money the US does on military spending.)  Of course, not a word on breaking up – or holding accountable - the US defense cartel of companies (i.e. MIC), that are well known for cost overruns and products that don’t work.  The centerpiece of the bill includes billions and billions to bribe American computer chip manufacturing back onto US shores, and back into building chips.  Apparently, bad things happen, not only when America’s corporate aristocracy offshores labor & the US economy to China, but also, when globalism and neoliberalism offshore critical computer chips to a totalitarian regime… or a small island – Taiwan – that the aforementioned communists lay claim to. 

 

There’s even $10 billion is welfare for one of the richest men in the world, Jeffrey Bezos.  

 

Now, we are truly saved.  Yeh, bipartisanship!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are roughly six months into the Biden administration and all America got was this stupid G7 T-shirt, that the president will bring back from Euroland holiday, and the $1.9 trillion stimulus package.  The stimulus was chock full of one-time goodies (some of the aid was repealed by White Supremacy party governors to compel workers to return to the slave wage economy, the pandemic economy), but with limited shelf life and zero long term structural reforms. 

 

Exactly, how the oligarchy likes it. 

 

Bipartisanship is nothing short of insane.  Here’s a party, the GOP, that is fully dedicated to the POTUS’ ruin, that has a long history of obstruction, that shut down President Obama, and yet, there’s Biden insisting upon bipartisanship… that, like the filibuster, is nothing less than a ticket to failure & the GOP’s agenda, perpetuation of a White Supremacy/Monopoly economy status quo.  

 

And yet, establishment Dems are insisting, killing precious time: Let’s get together with the political party that is coup-coup for fascism and Donald Trump.   The same party that a few short weeks ago rejected an investigation into its involvement into the January 6^th attack on the capitol, and continues to wage war against America, and democracy, by passing voter suppression laws in GOP held states. 

When the GOP senate voted against the January 6^th commission, they, preemptively, took the fifth amendment.

At the end of the day, the Dems are, allegedly, the responsible party in the room, or so we thought.  The party Americans elected to straighten up the disaster left by Trump and the GOP.  

 

What do you do when the parents are enabling the GOP & ongoing insurrection?  Fire the duopoly? 

 

Yup.  Mr. Macron is correct… America is back all right, but for how long?

 

Copyright JM Hamilton Publishing 2021