History in the making…
Well, they’re off and running in Georgia! Early voting began yesterday – a Saturday after a holiday. The GOP in Georgia had tried to limit voting by making a rule that primary and general elections couldn’t include Saturday voting if the Saturday fell after a holiday. I don’t know what the two have to do with each other, but that’s what they did. What they did NOT do during their re-write, was to include “run-off” elections. Initially, Brad Raffensperger, the Secretary of State in Georgia and the loyal Republican who nevertheless stood up to the Dumbass when he begged for Georgia to just make up 11,700 votes, said they could do Saturday voting (based on the wording of the law) then back-peddled and said, no, no voting on that Saturday based on – you know, reasons…

Warnock sued and the Georgia Supreme Court said Saturday voting could go forward since the GOP hadn’t included run-offs in their limitation rule. So, the voting started yesterday and will proceed until December 6. Control of the Senate is already settled but this election could increase the size of the Democratic majority a bit and make their jobs a little easier.

From what I read, the campaigns are off to rather aggressive starts, each side pointing fingers at their opponents. Warnock points to policy positions he has taken while serving in the Senate. Walker talks vampires. Warnock points out that Walker lies about everything. Walker lies about it. Warnock acknowledges Walker’s athletic prowess as NFL running back, kick-boxer, and Olympic bobsledder but also points out that very little bobsledding takes place in Congress and reminds voters that Walker knows nothing of policy. Warnock runs ads that show nothing but trump endorsing Walker. BOTH sides have trotted out ex-wives of the candidates. Warnock’s estranged wife (the divorce is in process) claims Warnock once ran over her foot, presumably with a car (the article doesn’t say). The cops couldn’t find any evidence to support the charge. Walker’s ex claims Walker threatened her with violence, a claim supported by Walker’s own book. Warnock seems a well-spoken, thoughtful candidate. Walker has said – and this is an actual quote – “this erection is for the people.” Come to think of it, in view of Walker’s many children born out of wedlock and those he managed to get aborted, that may be one of the few honest comments Walker has made…

In summary, Warnock seems a man in command of the issues facing Georgia and this once-great nation and Walker is excellent at carrying an oblong ball a few yards. Are Georgia voters really having a tough time choosing the best person for the job? Not a great look, Georgia. Not good at all…

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History not mentioned…
I recently stumbled upon this song on Facebook, of all places. It’s called ‘Rich People’ by Carsie Blanton. (Click here. It’s worth the listen and only two minutes, thirty-eight seconds long.) She does an excellent job of summarizing the assault by the wealthy that started the class war in the 1980’s that have wrought so much damage in this once-great nation and where we are today. The ONE little nit I have to pick is that she repeats a piece of misinformation that is common knowledge in this once-great nation – but not entirely accurate. She sings, “Back in 1979, the western world was in decline…” It wasn’t.

I know, there were economic challenges in the 1970’s. It was portrayed, heavily, as the end – and failure – of Keynesian economics. It was not a “failure” and should not have been the end but the rich people used it to introduce and promote the completely fraudulent “Supply Side Economics” that became better known as “trickle-down” or “voo-doo” economics. (The “voo-doo” term was coined by Bush 41, Reagan’s eventual VP because he knew it was all a smoke-and-mirrors sham.) Listen, as I indicated, this has become common knowledge with just about everybody signing on – including some very respected economics folks – and repeating that story ever since, so everything that follows is my own personal belief and you should keep that in mind while you read it. You see, I don’t believe Keynes failed. I think the problem was much simpler and – given time – would have straightened itself out. Here’s what I think happened…

In order to explain this, I have to digress a bit but I shall endeavor to keep it short. Do you know what started the civil war in Syria? Climate change. In this case, a major drought took hold over most of the southern part of the country where much of the farming took place. So, the farmers, needing money to feed their families, went to the cities seeking gainful employment. But the cities weren’t ready for such an influx. There WAS no gainful employment for them. This left countless people standing around with nothing to do. THAT created feelings of failure in the increasingly desperate farmers which, in turn, led to anger. The anger boiled over and – BLAM-O! – civil war. Okay, got it? Too many workers, not enough jobs equals economic pain, crime, and often violence. Just hold that thought as I get back to my point…

As we all know, the United States of America is a blood-thirsty, warlike nation. Throughout our history, we’ve engaged in every war we could at first on the principle of ‘Manifest Destiny’ and later, just because it enriched the very military/industrial complex Eisenhower had tried to warn us about. (It still does!) Each time rich people sent American troops off to die in some war, jobs were left undone. So, the women left their “proper” place – in the home – and did the jobs. When the soldiers eventually came home, the women went back to their “domestic bliss” and left the out-of-the-home jobs for the men. It was a nice little balance, so long as you weren’t the one doing the actual combat and dying – and the rich are NEVER the people who fight.

But in 1960’s, various social movements had taken place (scaring the holy bejesus out of conservatives) and among them was the women’s movement. SOME of that movement was facilitated by the women doing the work outside the home while the men fought and died in the rainforest. But in 1975, to the dismay of the military/industrial complex, the war in Vietnam ended, slowing profits considerably. All of the fighting men who had been shipped off to die but didn’t…came home again. But by now, women had come to enjoy the idea of having a little jingle in their pockets. They REALLY liked the idea that they had some control over their own lives, having a little money of their own. They made the unheard-of decision to KEEP the jobs they had been doing, leaving the returning soldiers with no jobs.

This left large groups of people standing around with nothing to do. Before long, the economy was feeling the heat of too many workers and not enough work. (See? That’s the Syria tie-in…) It takes awhile for an economy – any economy – to catch up to such conditions and the interim is usually quite painful. The rich people, though, just saw an opportunity. They started the story that Keynes had finally failed and they had to do something different. They brought in an actor to sell their story – Ronald Reagan – and people bought it. Thus began the assault on this once-great nation that has created the country we suffer today. Where once we had plenty (though not well or equally distributed) now we are a nation of shortages, outages, suffering, and dismay. You know, unless you’re wealthy. Then everything is great.

Mine is a simple, straightforward hypothesis that fits all the facts but it’s not told by the American media because, today, the American media is owned by the people who profit from the falsehoods. The successful cousin of Keynesian thinking has come to be known in the world as ‘Democratic Socialism’ and works very well for the largest number of people. But it contains the word ‘Socialism’ which scares the bejesus out of conservatives and is easy to demonize – especially in this once-great nation of gullible fools. So, FDR called it ‘The New Deal’ instead and most people liked the New Deal because it worked. Rich people hated it because it limited their ability to fleece the populace at will.

I’ll tell you this: If we don’t get back to New Deal economics – and do it soon – I suspect Syria is the model we risk copying…and THAT ain’t gonna be good at all…