Franklin's Focus 6/12/10



(This is a fast note. I'm currently buried in last minute proofing,
etc., of the MS for the third edition of my book on rational self
counseling. It should be rolling off the press sometime next week.)

I've been trying to keep an eye on the politicking and primaries. I
have to agree with an article by Patrick Martin that big money and
absolutely nutty candidates are hallmarks of the current politicking.
It's depressing. Amerika's politicking has steadily gone down hill.
The coming elections look to be a horror story.

I excerpted a section from Martin's article which does a summary of
how madness and money are dominating primary elections. The conclusion
one comes to while reading his comments is that the title for his
article is overly kind. Calling some of these candidates 'crackpots'
doesn't do it. That word suggests eccentricity.

It is simply too kind. As I see it, some of the candidates have
serious mental problems. Pathological paranoia, just to give one
example, seems to be common among some of the new candidates on the
right. Let's call a paranoid a 'paranoid'. Columnists and talking
heads are being way too kind. These mental cases represent a danger to
this country. The more crazy people we install in Congress and the
White House, the more this country gravitates toward extremely
dangerous pathways.

Hitler and Mussolini, both of whom were nuts, did not rise to power
all by themselves. They attracted entire cadres of crazies. The
greater the number of crazies in Congress and the White House, the
greater is the danger for this country. We seem to have been going
steadily downhill in the choices of candidates and the lunatics
ultimately being installed in all three branches of government.

Given the immense military power of this country, whom we elect has
deep significance. Those who control the Amerikan military machine
could plunge this planet into ruin. Not only that, they may also
trigger ruin among the oceans, forests, and fields by favoring insane
policies of exploitation.

The Daily Show is the only 'news show' on TV that occasionally
elucidates the growing madness in this country.

Today's Quotation

'You have a nuclear capability that inflicts more damage on the
opposition than it can inflict upon you. That's the way you can have a
winner.'

Vice President George H. Bush, 1983

That's 27 years ago. Since then, the erosion of sanity in our
government, military, and the economy has been relentlessly careening
downward. What Bush, Sr., said was clearly the babbling of a mad man.
When are Americans going to recognize pathological mindsets when they
hear their voices? Could it be there is something wrong with education
in Amerika? Is the Birch Society correct with its warnings that the
fluoridation of our water is causing mass madness?

Naw. I think it might be something they feed cattle, pigs, and chickens

Warmest regards,
Richard

==================================================

12 June 2010 wsws

Billionaires and crackpots: US primaries select right-wing candidates
for November election

by Patrick Martin

[This is merely an excerpt from Martin's piece. The entire piece can
be found at:

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/jun2010/prim-j12.shtml ]

In Nevada, the Republican primary decided on the candidate who will
challenge incumbent Senator Harry Reid, the Senate Majority leader,
who is trailing badly in the polls, in large measure because the state
has one of the highest unemployment rates and the highest foreclosure
rate in the country.
The two main contenders were the state Republican Party chairman, Sue
Lowden, and a former state representative backed by the ultra-right
Tea Party groups, Sharron Angle, who won with nearly 40 percent of the
vote, compared to Lowden’s 26 percent. The enormous publicity given
the contest did not translate into a significant increase in voter
participation. Only 175,000 cast ballots in the Republican primary,
compared to 140,000 in a 2006 primary where incumbent Republican
Senator John Ensign ran without significant opposition.
The general election contest will pit Reid, who has a bankroll of $9.1
million from big business and the union bureaucracy, vs. Angle, who
has $138,000 in cash and $170,000 in debt, as well as a political
record of stupefying idiocy.
The Republican Party organization opposed her because of her ties to
the Scientology cult, her support for privatization of Social Security
and Medicare and the abolition of the federal Departments of Education
and Energy and the Environmental Protection Administration. Angle’s
response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill was to advocate
“deregulation” of the oil industry.
Angle is also a supporter of the “Oath Keepers,” a right-wing
organization whose membership is limited to police and other law
enforcement officials who are sworn to rise up against a prospective
United Nations invasion or takeover of the country. She has called for
US withdrawal from the UN, branding the organization as a prospective
“one world government.”
She has denounced global warming as a “hoax” while publicly supporting
the storage of nuclear waste at Nevada’s Yucca Flats, on the grounds
that the unpopular measure will “create jobs.” So bizarre are her
positions that Angle has refused all media interviews and closed down
her campaign web site after questions arose.

End