Robert Owens
Protect the Pander Bear
By
Jul 23, 2008 - 10:22:34 AM

Have you ever wished a species would become extinct?  I know in today’s politically correct world, one might get sent away for re-education for merely muttering these words to yourself, but I must admit I have.  I long for the day the Great Pander Bear is added to the Endangered Species List, and I plan to dance on the last one’s grave when I hear they have joined the Dodo Bird and the American Melting Pot in the land of “Once Was and Never More.”
 
We’re in a political campaign growing like an insect exposed to radiation in an old Japanese movie.  Or like proffers in Chesterfield County.  Political junkies stagger around mumbling, “Are we done yet?” only to wake up for another day of “Is it over?” going to bed knowing they haven’t really started yet.  A campaign degenerated from candidates pretending to address issues into a campaign between endless wars for peace or endless surrender for security which we all fear will blossom into another campaign on 1/21/09.

Senator Obama, outflanked Senator Clinton on the left by espousing the causes of Move-On.org and the ACLU in the primaries, now turns to the Right.  In a recent interview, Mr. Obama, after castigating George II for cutting taxes, said he’s now thinking about cutting corporate taxes.  Among other dramatic shifts to the Right, the anti-NAFTA protectionist says free trade might not be so bad and acting as if we all misunderstood his previous statements that he would negotiate with Iran without any preconditions. What he really meant was he wouldn’t negotiate with Iran without preconditions.

Not to be outdone in the race to see “How can we fool them today,” Senator McCain, who has said the media is his base, who captured the nomination through the votes of Democrats and Independents, also began to turn Right, changing his long-standing opposition to offshore drilling into advocacy for offshore drilling.  Without a smile, he also came out against the windfall profits tax he had previously supported.

Truman had a sign on his desk, “The Buck Stops Here.”  The whole life of one former President “Who did NOT have sex with THAT woman” says, “What buck? I didn’t see any buck?” the presidential equivalent of Bart Simpson’s “I didn’t do it!.  Nobody saw me do it!  You can’t prove I did it!”  Bush turned a sound buck into “Broke Buck Mountain?”  The next dysfunctional resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue may have the rest of the world saying, “I’d rather have a Euro.”

People ask me, “Why would our leaders want to see America hobbled?  What would they gain if we fell into the poverty engulfing the third world?  Wouldn’t they be right there with us?”  Go to any third world country and you’ll see the rich and powerful behind their walls and gated communities live fine while everyone else sits in the dirt eating leaves.  America avoided this by developing a massive middle class.  It’s this middle class that is under assault with stagnant wages, rising prices, and disappearing jobs.  How’s this being accomplished?  It’s riding like a flea on a rat.  It is the animosity of divisiveness encouraged by the only people who are winning through America’s split between red and blue, rich and poor, us and them.  Who are they?  Well, if it isn’t us, I guess it’s them.

Others ask, “How can these people sleep at night?”  Railing all day against corporate sleezeballs using predatory tactics, forcing people to buy homes they can’t afford at rates no one would believe, while at the same time getting sweetheart deals for themselves.  When the camera comes on, they pontificate, “Just because I was told I was getting VIP treatment, how was I supposed to know I was getting a special deal?”  Millionaire servants more interested in feathering their own nests than in taking care of the people’s business. Maybe it’s time we asked ourselves, “Are the foxes are guarding the henhouse?”

How can these servants in their private jets and limos look into the camera day after day and spin one yarn after another?  I guess when you’re paid to pander, it’s easy to believe that pandering pays.


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