They Can’t Win . . . If We are Not Afraid

Monday, October 27, 2008

In 1991, there was a movie starring Albert Brooks and Meryl Streep titled, Defending Your Life. It was a little two-star movie with a four-star theme.

Daniel Miller, played by Albert Brooks, dies in a car accident sent to Judgment City, a waiting area for the recently deceased of the United States. He, like everyone else is put on trial for "being afraid." Day after day goes by in a court room setting where he is made to watch himself controlled by fear, lacking courage, and making bad decisions as a result. In Judgment City, he meets and falls in love with Julia (Meryl Streep), a woman who lived a seemingly perfect life of courage and generosity, especially compared to his.

His fear caused him to lead a meaningless life. He is sentenced to be recycled back to earth to live another life time to see if, this time, he can overcome fear. Julia, having overcome fear, gets to move on.

That is where we are today. We, as a nation, are on trial to see if this year we will continue to let our fear control us. For the past eight years—who knows, maybe longer than that—we have been controlled by a government kept in power by keeping us afraid.
Our fears have caused us to make some very bad decisions—indefensible decisions. The War in Iraq, the election and re-election of Bush, the PATRIOT Act, domestic spying, refusing to talk to our enemies . . . you can probably add a few of your own.

For better or worse, fear is powerful and as basic to human survival as air and water.
There is a part of your brain, the stem, that exists solely for survival called the "reptilian" brain. This is the original part of the brain. As we evolved, our brains evolved, and other parts were added, for example, the limbic system which deals with emotions and the cerebellum which is the thinking part. This stem of the brain is securely protected by the rest of the brain. When all other parts of the brain are non-functional, this part will still be working, ensuring survival.

When our limbic system experiences the emotion of fear, the reptilian brain goes into action and the rest of the brain pretty much shuts down. While in the emotional state of fear, we have two choices and everything we do will be based on one of those choices: fight or flight. The body goes into survival mode. Everything becomes black or white, yes or no, good or evil, live or die.
In this fear state, human beings do not have the ability to think of alternative solutions, to behave rationally—only run or fight.

Our current government keeps us in a constant state of fear—Code Orange, take your shoes off at the airport, "real America." Now John McCain has only that one trick left in the bag—FEAR. We need to vote for McCain because Obama is (in hockey terms) just too doggone scary, doggonit!

What we need to fear is the erratic, questionable judgment of McCain and his hand-picked successor. We need only to look at the Republican rats deserting the SS McCain, their resumes flooding the mail rooms of the Fortune 500. They know there will be no jobs for them in the West Wing. They fear.

At the end of the Movie, Brook's Dan Miller character, seeing he would lose Julia forever, was able to overcome his fear, risked his own existence, and was released from the eternal cycle of fear-loss-rebirth-only-to-fear-again.

Let's be Dan this year. Let's find the courage to fight the fear, to overcome our reptilian origins and act like rational human beings. Let's imagine a world where there are alternatives, where it is not black and white, good and evil. Let's find the courage to find real solutions, not just make the best of a bad situation.

Let's vote hope—not fear.

The most famous "fear" quotation comes from Franklin D Roosevelt's inaugural address in 1933. We often repeat the sound bite, but we rarely hear it in context. And it is the context that is relevant to our time:

"This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days."

Think about that . . .Leadership in critical days.

On November 4Th, I am giving my reptilian brain the day off.

My cerebral cortex will be casting my vote.

This column was originally posted on airitoutwithgeorge.com

The Politics of Poker and the Poker of Politics

Monday, October 20, 2008

At the final presidential debate, a new American icon emerged—Joe the Plumber. Contrary to popular myth, Barack Obama did not knock on John McCain's new poster boy's front door while canvassing in Joe Wurzelbacher's Toledo, Ohio neighborhood. The "plumber" tracked Obama down and confronted him in front of the cameras. Asking Obama if he believed in the American dream.

It made for good television. It made for good sloganeering. It made no sense.

Wurzelbacher presented himself as a plumber who was on the verge of buying the two-man plumbing company where he works. He falsely indicated that he was an undecided voter who was genuinely curious about how Obama's and McCain's tax plans would affect his entrepreneurial endeavor. He was less than truthful.

Joe is not a plumber. He is an unlicensed contractor who works for a two man company. His partner, too, is unlicensed. He makes about $40,000 a year and has not the money, the means, or even the beginning of a plan to buy Newell Plumbing & Heating from his partner, Al Newell.

He was bluffing.

And Joe, like many—too many—Republican voters, is a really bad poker player.
There is a poker strategy—if it can be called a strategy—known as "betting on the come." What that means is, a player does not bet with the hand he has, but bets on the hand he thinks he might get. It is drawing to the inside straight, a low-percentage play, and a proven way to lose almost all the time.

Poker players like Joe usually leave the table broke.

Joe is using his paycheck to bet on the come. It is clear that he will benefit under Obama's tax plan and will not under McCain's. But Joe, and all-too-many working class Republicans, thinks he might be wealthy some day. So he bets (sorry, votes) one the come. He votes to have tax policies already in place that will benefit his long shot, improbable, ill-conceived plan.

At his age, in this economy, with his skills and preparation, making over $250,000 a year is not likely to happen. It may, but probably won't. Just like drawing to an inside straight, you can do it. But there are only four cards in the deck that can get it done and they are likely already in the hands of other players.

It is not just Joe Wurzelbacher; Working class Republicans have a history and tradition of irrational voting. They consistently vote against their own, best self interest. Rural Americans vote to support big-business interests, middle class Republicans who will never inherit anything sizable support repeal of the "Death Tax" that shifts a greater tax burden onto themselves.

Poker is an interesting game. For most players, the more they play, the better they get. They learn from other players, learn to read the table and see if the hand they have is likely to have a chance at winning. If a hand cannot be potentially improved, they fold and wait for the next hand.

In politics, just like in poker, there is always a next hand. The cards are being dealt this November 4Th. In this hand, Barack Obama is the card that will give Joe Wurzelbacher, and all other working Americans, the best chance of winning.

This column was originally posted on airitoutwithgeorge.com

Ronald Reagan has Left the Building

Monday, October 13, 2008


After a successful career as Governor of California, Ronald Reagan, the former movie star, was a political star. Not quite bright enough to outshine the incumbent Gerald Ford for the 1976 Republican presidential nomination in 1976, Reagan later eclipsed all competition in 1980.
Soon after talking office in 1981, the movie star/political star went supernova. Reagan was the brightest object in the political sky.

In ancient times, when science was non-existent and myth and superstition ruled the human mind, such a supernova would be seen as an object of awe and mystery. The ancients would have worshiped it as a god. Much the same thing happened to Reagan.

Politicians and devotees sought to bask in the light of Reagan's supernova star. They evoked his name, repeated his words, and studied his teachings. Reagan took on mythic proportions. He ceased to be human. In fact, if Reagan the man were to run against Reagan the myth, he would not stand a chance. He would lose in a landslide.

In 1994, diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, he retreated to his Bel Air home-much like the Greek gods of Olympus—we knew he was there, but we could not reach him. But just knowing that he was there his star, though dimmed, continued to warm and reassure his devoted followers. In that same year, his false prophet, Newt Gingrich—full of Reagan power, authority, and sanctimony—engineered control of Congress.

Later, a completely unprepared and unqualified Nero-like George W. Bush rode the Reagan wave to the White House. Bush's propaganda minister, Karl Rove, predicted a permanent Republican majority in American government. The Cult of Reagan was at its height, in full control of all branches of government: functionally, politically, and ideologically. And the United States of America is in crisis as a result.


Twenty-eight years later, Reagan's star has vanished. His supernova is now a black hole collapsed upon itself by its own weight and sucking in from around it the remnants of a Republican party in complete disarray—and the last remnants of his tattered legacy.

A few pathetic attempts to resurrect his power have been seen lately. Last week at the second debate, John McCain claimed Reagan as his personal hero—but only after he had already given that honor to Teddy Roosevelt. A week before, at the vice presidential debate, Sarah Palin's coaches gave her some Reagan scripture to quote in her closing comments. Curiously, it was from a speech that Governor Reagan gave in opposition to Medicare. So unaware of content and context are Palin's Republican handlers that they gave her lines to recite that were first spoken in an attempt to deny health care to old people.

The so-called Reagan Democrats, now awake and aware that Republican/Reagan ideology does not benefit them (and never really did) are returning to the Democrats. The party is over—the Republican Party that is. Democrats woke up and they are angry at being misled for a generation. The celebrity of Reagan no longer holds power over the American political firmament.

When Elvis Presley would give a concert, his devoted fans demanded encore after encore. They were hoping to hang on to the moment, to be in his presence a bit longer. Similarly, Reagan fans used to cheer at the mere mention of the name, Reagan. When Elvis was finally exhausted and had nothing left to give, his staff would make an announcement intended to send the adoring crowd home. It is now time to borrow that line from Elvis and send the Republican Party home:

Ronald Reagan has left the building.








This column was originally posted on airitoutwithgeorge.com

Obama’s New-New Deal

Monday, October 6, 2008

It's pretty clear how we got into this financial mess. The regulations placed upon the financial sector after The Great Depression were whittled-away over the past 16 years. This took on an accelerated pace over the past eight years.

We also know how we got out of it last time. President Franklin D. Roosevelt instituted The New Deal, a series of programs between 1933 and 1938 with the goal of giving work to the unemployed, reforming business and financial practices, and helping the economy recover from The Great Depression.

The "First New Deal" of 1933 was aimed at short-term recovery. Roosevelt implemented banking reform laws, emergency relief programs, work relief programs, agricultural programs, and industrial reform. There was a "Second New Deal" in 1935–1936 that included labor union support, the WPA relief program, the Social Security Act, and programs to aid farmers.
So here we are, almost 80 years later. Much of what Roosevelt did to restore our prosperity has been undone. And we now have the greatest disparity of wealth in the United States since the time just before The Great Depression. Greed and a largely-unregulated financial sector have returned us to 1929.

The Financial Bailout Bill—now renamed the Rescue Package—is just as necessary in shoring up the US economy today as was Roosevelt's support of the banking industry in the First New Deal. Barack Obama not only voted for it, but has spoken extensively in New Deal terms since last February when he spoke at a GE Assembly Plant in Jamesville Wisconsin: "For our economy, our safety, and our workers, we have to rebuild America," said Obama. "This investment will multiply into almost half a trillion dollars of infrastructure spending and generate nearly two million new jobs—many of them in the construction industry that's been hit hard by the housing crisis."

That sounds a lot like Roosevelt's New Deal to me.

Obama also calls for creating five million new jobs by strategically investing $150 billion over the next ten years to catalyze private efforts to build a clean energy future. He hopes to put 1 million Plug-In Hybrid cars that can get up to 150 miles per gallon on the road by 2015. He calls for these cars to be built here in America by Americans. And his plan to ensure 10 percent of our electricity comes from renewable sources by 2012, and 25 percent by 2025 will create more high-paying jobs for American workers.

Some criticize this as Socialism. They said the same about Roosevelt. So what? What is so wrong about a little socialism?

According to the Future of Freedom Foundation, any government-owned, -funded, or -subsidized operation is considered to be a socialist program. For example, publicly owned airports, sports arenas or government-funded universities would be considered socialist operations by that definition. And we have plenty of those.

What we need in the months and years ahead is to look back to what has worked and what has not. We need a cool-headed, thoughtful, scholarly approach to solving a problem brought on by decades of greed and anti-intellectualism.

I look forward to the next four years under Obama's leadership. I anticipate a rebirth of this nation as an engine of innovation, and science, and prosperity. And I look forward to reading the details of Obama's New-New Deal.

This column was originally posted on airitoutwithgeorge.com