Category: American Affairs

A LAMENTATION FROM THE TOP

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

Beautiful ideals were painted for our boys who were sent out to die. This was the “war to end wars.” This was the “war to make the world safe for democracy.” No one told them that dollars and cents were the real reason. No one mentioned to them, as they marched away, that their going and their dying would mean huge war profits. No one told these American soldiers that they might be shot down by bullets made by their own brothers here. No one told them that the ships on which they were going to cross might be torpedoed by submarines built with United State patents. They were just told it was to be a “glorious adventure.”

Maj. Gen. Smedley Darlington Butler, USMC
— from War Is a Racket

ARE THE VISIGOTHS AND HUNS OVERRUNNING KANSAS?

~ Jnana Hodson ~ 2 Comments

The news coming out of Kansas is truly disturbing. Things were bad enough when historian Thomas Frank asked, What’s the Matter With Kansas? (Subtitled, “How conservatives won the heart of America.”) But now it’s looking out and out suicidal.

It’s what happens when ultra-right-wingers take over the governorship and legislature and begin dismantling the government. Make that, all signs of civilization. How bad can it get? When the legislature cuts down the judiciary?

This is tyranny running toward dictatorship. And the bold economic “plan” is piling up record debts for the state – and others who just might come to the rescue will wind up with the “tax-increase” label. Well, it’s looking hopeless unless the corporations in the state force a change in direction, as business leaders are urging. (At least they know the value of investing for a future.)

My suggestion? Go ahead, if you want, be truly conservative. Give it back to the Indians. And move to your own reservation.

TRANSPLANTED

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

As I said at the time …

Did I ever mention that if you examine the headstones in many cemeteries in Montgomery County, Ohio, where I’m from, the names are identical to those in a typical Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, graveyard? Turns out half of my dad’s ancestry is Pennsylvania Dutch who continued in western Ohio from the early 1800s.

World War I, of course, obliterated any awareness of that German connection. But we weren’t alone. Not just the first wave, who arrived before the Revolutionary War in their desire for religious freedom, either. The more urban wave of the mid-1800s, with all of its high culture, also vanished from public awareness.

These are histories that need to be restored. They helped build America, urban and rural, and they were a sizable part of the population.

RECOGNIZING THE EMOTIONAL DIMENSION OF A POLITICAL MESSAGE

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

One of the things I’m seeing the Bernie Sanders camp get right is a recognition of the importance of short messages that appeal to the emotions. I’m seeing a lot of memes (those online posters many of us like to reblog) to that effect, and I suspect many of them are created and distributed by his supporters rather than his staff.

I’ve previously posted my lament that liberal candidates in this country typically sound like they’re giving a lecture – reading everything but the footnotes – rather than speaking passionately from the heart. Great analysis but it’s hard to reconcile that with your feelings when you’re trying to balance the family checkbook. The right-wing, in contrast, well, just listen to Donald Trump riding roughshod over reality. Which would you rather hear in a locker room or a bar? And which are you more likely to remember and repeat? Well, maybe not Trump unless he was performing live mic comedy. Seriously!

Hillary Clinton has her reasons for sticking close to her “talking points,” and I do respect her for that. But the short takes are backfiring for her, as Bernie’s backers are demonstrating.

Just look at how he’s countering the “socialist” label. The graphic of a Social Security card says simply, “Got one of these? You’re a card-carrying socialist.” Bingo! Eight words. And unless you’re in the One Percent, it’s obviously important to your future. What can the so-called conservatives point as their accomplishments? Nothing so dramatic, for sure.