Apportioning blame. Listen to my gravamen wherein I indict post-industrial austerity polices as the cause of the May 12 Amtrak Northeast Regional train derailment. But instead our media will blame the tragedy solely, solely on engineer error and negligence. He was driving the train too fast. That’s it. Nothing to see here. Move on.
Infrastructure. We look like a third world country. Our airports and rail stations look like a retro film. We can do better. Involve the Fed. Nationalize it. The problem with the Federal Reserve is that they see their role historically as saving failed banks – especially “zombie banks,’” bankrupt entities that just sit there busted and collapsed. They absorb government and Fed resources. They don’t provide investment, create jobs. Nada. To be competitive, to be conversant with a 21st century transportation platform, infrastructure investment is critical.
A farrago of nonsense. Behold the American exceptionalism meme, front and center. A Jerry Bruckheimer Production, if I’ve ever seen one. (And he’s been consulted in the past, as you well know. remember the Jessica Lynch saga?) Well, when it comes to the official narrative of dispatching UBL, it appears there’s another turd in the proverbial narrative punchbowl.
What exactly do you not want to know you’re eating?
We know nothing! Nothing! We don’t ask or question or care. We’re busy. We have our boxing matches and royal births. We have a tissue-thin latticework of policy, ideology and what may pass for history. Our politics are titular and superficial at best. We don’t think, question and will never stray into any field that could in any wise be construed as conspiratorial. Heavens no! We have been duped into thinking that the left/right paradigm exists, that it means something, they represents substance.
Ah, yes, Bernie to the rescue. Well, not so fast, kids. I’m not sure exactly what Bernie is talking about or wants to do. But he’s lovable and whacky and oh-so socialist. But if you look carefully, he has nothing to offer in terms of plans. Platitudes, lofty phrases and well, plenty of nothing. But so many people, I humbly submit, love the gruff, disheveled, wonky leftie with the funny speech pattern — otherwise known as Brooklyn.
We yearn for a locus of control. My politics and worldview have changed drastically over the years specifically in stages and increments. Changed, transformed, transmogrified and evolved. And there ain’t a label around that can explain them or it. I commend this podcast to you and dedicate it to the spirit of critical thinking and a return to the Enlightenment. And it may prove disconcerting to you that I endorse no candidate nor do I believe there’s anyone remotely able to handle the struggle and challenges that this country faces.
Unity. Rival street gangs, including the Bloods and Crips, put their differences aside to “take out” Baltimore cops. Breathtaking.
Gee, what are the folks so upset about? Beats me. I’m doing OK. What’s the big deal? As reported by the UK Independent the Sandtown neighborhood of west Baltimore suffers (a) nearly 52% unemployment, (b) a life expectancy (69 years) 10 years shorter than the US average, (c) a median household income less than half the US average and (d) the nation’s fifth-highest rate of violent crime.
The source of the cancer. The tensions stem from a multiplicity of sources, some of which is certainly the police, the prison industrial complex, policing for profit, mass incarceration, the militarization of cops and the like. Yes, Freddie Gray may have precipitated the initial involvement and interaction, but there’s more at stake. The media have been horrid in their approach. CNN shows particular tone deafness when it comes to causation factors.
