This will not take 11 hours

Thursday was a day that was wasted.  Not by me; I worked that day.  No, it was wasted by many in the alternative media and the conservative/military apparatus in thinking perhaps faintly that some form of political victory would occur on their end.  I of course speak of Sen. and Sec. of State Hillary Clinton being questioned by 7 or 8 House Republicans and about 6 Democrats on the issue of the 9/11/2012 inside job that was the proposed beginning of a hostage rescue mission that was completely altered by the rape and assassination of four people involved with diplomatic and military matters in Libya.  This included United States Ambassador Chris Stevens.

In short, Sec. of State Clinton had no role in what had taken place in Libya, starting the year before with the complete overthrow of Libyan life signified by the assassination of Col. Muamar Gaddhafi. Matters of these foreign policy miscalculations should be placed on a number of other hands, not that of Sen. Clinton nor the Department of State.  Indeed, the State Department was what was keeping the US in good standing with the world until 3 years ago.  Yet, not one congress member on the Benghazi Libya committee managed to discuss the fault that lied with these groups or people:

Pres. Barack Obama
The Department of Defense
Certain figures in the Senate and House at the time, including then Sen. John Kerry I am sad to say.
CIA
Ambassador Stevens; a hard pill to swallow, yet it would have been best to consider asking for greater security before going into a war zone.  Irrelevant at the time, yet now a problem.
The US House of Representatives in their votes to cut funding for security measures.
Mitt Romney: I think  this was initially  a Neocon inside job and still believe certain factions carried out these provocations as was made obvious with their politicization of the assault.
The makers and financiers of a badly made trailer for a badly made movie done by a presumed Coptic Christian.
The individuals in Libya whom later were recruited to organize their terror-for-hire activities under the banner Islamic State.
Libyan leadership in the post-Gaddhafi era; this extends to a number of post Arab Spring governments.

I could name others, yet do not have the time.  In what came forth yesterday, only One congress member, Washington Democrat Adam Smith, mentioned any of the above as needing to be blamed; specifically mentioning Gen. David Patreaus.  As well, Sec. of State Clinton did imply the lack of in initial planning for security measures by Ambassador Stevens.  The rest of time, as it has been for a long while now, the blame has been shifted to Hilary Clinton.  Well, blaming her for the faults of others is a waste of time, paper, money and lives.  This will only help Sen. Clinton in her run for the Presidency: a good deal of Republican leaders and insiders have even mentioned the absurdity of this committee and its inane focus on Sec. of State Clinton, and if not her then Sidney Blumenthal.

What did 11 hours of a hearing and statements accomplish?  Not One Motherfucking Thing!  Excuse my language, yet nothing new was told, and no minds were changed.  I can tell you, at least one or two of the Republicans on that committee are looking at either facing a primary challenge or an outright re-election defeat.  Rep. Peter Roskam, Rep. Trey Gowdy and Rep. Martha Roby come to mind.  As well, I think now would be a fair time for Rep. Elijah Cummings to join Rep. Tammy Duckworth in leaving the House to run for the Senate.  The Senate Foreign Relations Committee, mind you, did not go this far and this wastefully with their hearings with Sec.of State Clinton two years ago.  In any matter, I think Rep. Cummings would be a darn good Senator, as would Rep. Duckworth should either of them get elected or much less run,

And yet, you know what was not even talked about once?  Just why we have been in Libya, Syria and the surrounding countries in the first place.  And just why our foreign policy these past 14 years has been mainly problematic; a continuation of American hegemony that finds no place in a changing and educated world where the US is, correctly, not the leader of all matters.

Interestingly, the last couple of days and nights I have been watching a series of interviews with the recently passed Ali Treki from 25 years ago regarding many of the same issues facing the world and the at the time failed Reagan and H.W. Bush policies.  I present these here for your consideration and ask you to find the time to watch and listen.

By the way, the interviewer, former SUNY professor Harold Channer, is still involved with interviewing important people on New York public access television.  Do have a look at Mr. Channer's YouTube page for some rather interesting interviews over the years.  A lot more informative than what you may have seen yesterday.  And if you managed to watch all 11 hours: you just wasted a day in your life you will never get back.  Same with those who were there.

HRC for 2016: Because at the least, our dream will become WRH's nightmare (I will say why soon),

Robert

PS.  This is too funny to not include as a postscript.  Too funny, and yet too sad.

PPS.  My thoughts on the Steven Spielberg film Bridge of Spies, the Guillermo Del Toro film Crimson Peak and the Danny Boyle film Steve Jobs are forthcoming.

An explanation for now

I do have a lot to tell regarding my ideas of a Joe Biden Presidential campaign, a Jim Webb run for the Presidency as an Independent, the growing new neo-conservative movement propping up, my thoughts on the Steven Spielberg new gem Bridge Of Spies, my definition of a Social Justice Warrior, and my plans for eventual video production.  However, I have been sidetracked by the New York Mets in the process of heading to the World Series; right now dashing fans of Back To The Future the hopes of a 2015 Cubs World Series win.  And this is coming from someone far more interested in Football, Soccer and individual sports.  Should the Mets go all the way, I think we may have a clear winner for Postseason MVP.

To note, while my family and I have been Yankee fans; we are more prone to being fans of a region when that region is still in the postseason running; especially New York.  So, no bitterness here.  And with that, hopefully this is not speaking too soon:

Let's Go Mets!

Robert

We blew it!

The title refers to one of the iconic lines in movie history, when Captain America (Peter Fonda) disagrees with Billy (Dennis Hopper) on their success of their cross country trek in Easy Rider.  A little afterwards, both main characters are killed by a ragtag group of ignorant rednecks.  In retrospect, it may not have been the best idea to have the two leads make their money off of drugs and getting in on a wild mind trip.  These sorts of ambiguities are not shown in most movies.  Indeed, the rare times these ambiguities are shown involve the drug war.  We can go on a long discussion regarding the drug war and its abject failure; that will be for another time.

For now, our focus is the drug war's effect on law enforcement and public policy.  Two weeks ago, the newest film from Denis Villeneuve, Sicario, was released.  It marks Villeneuve's second collaboration with Academy Award nominated Roger Deakins, and involves a great screenplay from newcomer Taylor Sheridan.  As well, Thad Luckinbill (J.T. Hellstrom on The Young and the Restless) was one of the producers of this movie, along with his twin brother Trent, as part of their new Black Label Media company.  By all accounts, this is a great movie; in fact one of the best films of this year, along with some of the best acting people like Emily Blunt and Benicio Del Toro have shown in quite some time.  Like many of these sorts of fictional works, Sicario tells us a heck of a lot more about our failed drug policies than what we can usually expect from our leaders.  Rarely if ever will you see a political figure declare the "War On Drugs" to have failed and been bad policy from the word go.  Because to do that would reveal greater truths that would cause the public great outrage.

By this point, I am going to expose some important plot points this movie explores; although going in you should know that Denis Villeneuve does not go for happy endings. Just about every film of Villeneuve's involve moral ambiguity.  Sicario brings this to the forefront in the last hour or so. While not going into full detail, what seems like a clear cut operation to curtail the finances of Mexican drug lords turns into a continuation of US Government policy in effectively running the drug trade.  It is evident when Victor Garber's character pretty much sanctions these extrajudicial means of obtaining a drug cartel's finances; it is more pronounced when Emily Blunt's character gets into a one-night stand with a corrupt Texas cop played by Jon Bernthal that is found to be a bag man for the cartel's leaders.  And it is most obviously evident when twice in Sicario Benecio Del Toro's character is mentioned by his code name Medellin.

If you are not familiar with the word and meaning of Medellin, or if you only remember it as Vincent Chase's first movie he directed yet was panned (see Entourage), the Medellin drug cartel in Colombia was during the late 1970's through early 1990's the most profitable drug running operation known to man.  And while it was Pablo Escobar that ruled society with sort of an iron fist before he was gunned down in 1993; the financial whirlwind was benefited most by (gasp!) the United States Government.  This is pretty much explained after the second time we hear Del Toro's character mentioned as Medellin after Alejandro (Del Toro) pretty much seeks out his wife and daughter's killer alone.

It is that second time when Kate (Blunt) hears the phrase; leading to her punching Josh Brolin's character, a CIA task force leader, in the face.  Afterwards, Brolin's character states that the US Government needs to resurrect the Medellin cartel in order to curb the turf wars in Mexico.  And it is due to, as Matt (Brolin) states "20 million people snorting and smoking this stuff"; this stuff being cocaine, of course.  And yes, Alejandro does get to murder the drug cartel leader and his family while having dinner.  And it is implied that Kate leaves the agency after signing papers legislating the legality of the drug operations.  All the same, nothing is truly ended.  The side story of a father and cop from Juarez doing supply routes in order to get some extra money just to get by ends in that cop being killed by Alejandro.  The last scene shows his wife and son attending a soccer game the son is playing; you can hear gunfire as the game goes on.  Indeed, that reminded me of how for many in thee countries the way out is through sports, association football in particular.  Even so, there is no guarantee one will get out alive through sports.  The year after Pablo Escobar was killed; Andres Escobar (no relation) was gunned down by a rival cartel after accidentally causing Team Colombia to use their quarterfinal round in the 1994 World Cup: the infamous own goal game.

It is quite amazing yet sad that a great deal of policies and funding for programs and other matters pertaining to the United States is continually done through the proliferation of illegal drugs.  I know the easiest thing to do would be to have everyone stop taking this shit; yet it is this same shit that finances these extrajudicial operations the United States Government does without consequence.  I firmly believe a movie can tell people a greater truth than what we may witness in our real life news reports.  For me, this is the second film in as many years that exposes our country's double standards at least regarding drug usage and proliferation.  Last year Kill The Messenger, one of the better movies of 2014, did not get as much public attention as it should have; apparently the truth is still a bitter pill to swallow among moviegoers at large.  Fortunately, Sicario is still playing at theaters near you; and you can also eventually see it on demand or on Blu-Ray; same goes with Kill The Messenger.  Do go see this movie.  I will have more to say regarding the drug war culture soon enough.

Talk to you shortly,

Robert

Unintentional Inaction

Well, as we are all aware, there was this past Thursday a shooting at a Community College 150 miles north of Portland, Oregon.  And yes, what you thought were the protocols for a mass shooting were enacted upon again.  And oh yes, the story does not add up entirely.  The only difference now is the US East Coast is in a two-tiered storm system consisting of a Nor 'Easter and Hurricane Jaquin.  Thus, there are other matters on the minds of most people on the Atlantic seaboard.  By the way, Hurricane Jaquin may not hit us, but it is best to be safe and prepared.

The point of this essay though is regarding what occurred this Friday afternoon.  At about 3:30, President Barack Obama held a press conference stating that Secretary of Education Arne Duncan had resigned and will be succeeded by John King.  Afterwards, Pres. Obama continued on with complaining about matters that do affect us all; including but not limited to the need to abolish the sale and manufacturing of guns.  Sadly, this press conference ticked me off, as Pres. Obama's conferences have recently been ticking me off .  This is for two reasons.  First, Pres. Obama's press conference came at the same time that Sec. Of State Hillary Clinton was making a speech in Florida.  Now I would think most news media outside of C-SPAN would show this speech instead of a meandering press conference.  Alas, this is what we have come to expect from a main stream (lame stream?) media that is in the tank for ABC (Anyone But Clinton).  Equal blame goes to Pres. Obama for usurping the only worthy successor, provided he does not run for a third term.

What was really problematic for me was Barack Obama had more or less threw his hands in the air and asked for the Republican Party to pretty much do what Obama supposedly cannot do.  This has been a fallback for 7 years, and is not by any means emblematic of a President.  Look, a President can and must do whatever is deemed in the best interest of Americans regardless of opposition.  It is abhorrent to me that Barack Obama, the President, does not simply enact laws and bills by decree. 

What is that you say?  A President acing as if he is a king?  Well yes.  Every four years, the United States gets involved in electing a President; and in each campaign, the candidate uses his/her platform for public speaking and ideas to mention what will be enacted once the election is over on Election Night.  You will notice that the candidate does not use the term "we", referring to the Legislative and Judicial Branches working in tandem with the Executive branch along with other implied branches and estates.  What you do notice is the candidate uses the word that might just be the most important word in the English Language.  That word is I.  We see this even currently in this long campaign for 2016. 

And yet, what happens to some Presidents upon election?  They seem to forget that a plurality of the eligible voters in the United States elected a king to rule their lives, and subsequently they put the onus on leadership to their opponents.  Pres. Obama has continually done this for the past 7 years; thus showing a complete lack of leadership.  His statements of "I" later become statements of "We", and far later become statements of "They". 

Now why is that?  I have come to the knowledge over the years that Barack Obama has always wanted to be a celebrity President; all the perks and benefits yet none of the work.  We saw this outright during his 2012 re-election when he made a number of chat show appearances of no importance, alongside benefit dinners of little regard.  While those distractions wee ongoing; international diplomatic tragedies like the military assaults in Benghazi, Libya on September 11, 2012 were taking place.  Typical of Obama's lack of leadership  in critical issues during that time, blame was put on others besides the President himself. 

And now we are seeing this again; we should soon expect Pres. Obama to later paraphrase Mel Brooks in Spaceballs when he says "I can't make decisions here. I'm the President!"  I doubt that I have seen any other President in my lifetime feel as if he is this powerless, from either political party.  And yes, that does include Pres. George W. Bush, who brought forth disastrous proposals and actually enacted upon these proposals.  I firmly believe on this issue of gun violence and the need to end the likelihood of another Chris Mercer Harper coming into mental problems, Pres. Obama could be ending these events by effectively using his powers and do the following:

Abolish the usage of guns and gun manufacturing.
Allot for mandatory psychological profiling on all persons.
Criminalize gun owners for intent to kill family and others; this is important because when a person owns a gun, it is usually to bring a permanent end to a family squabble. 
Curtail the powers and responsibilities of other branches of Government, if not abolish them outright. 
Alter the US Constitution.

Any President has it in his/her powers to do such matters.  In the whole history of the United States, I can only think of just 1 President who effectively made a successful imperial leadership.  That would be President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and this was only possible due to being President the last 13 years of his life.  And yet, the US needed FDR from 1932-1945 to allot for these ideals to be put into place.  In contrast, President Barack Obama has been effectively punting the ball as a first option.   

You wonder why many voters are flocking to other candidates that will provide simple-minded solutions, in addition to ruling as if they were a king/queen.  Perhaps one could say this is Obama going through the motions in only having one year left of his Presidency.  That may be true; yet Pres. Obama has not indicated an endorsement of a candidate.  Thus, I fully expect Barack Obama to run for a third term; an idea which while sadly ending the Democratic nomination race, will ensure a re-election defeat.  Should Obama go through with this, then he should do what he was elected to do and, you know, actually Lead.  I have already given a number of suggestions in this essay.  Pres. Obama should act upon them. 

Well, those are my opinions on this matter.  Incidentally, 2015 marks the 20 year anniversary of one of my favorite movies, the Rob Reiner film The American President.  For 15 years now, we have seen Presidents allowing their voters to drink the sand.  Well, perhaps it is time to think differently. 

I am not the President, nor am I running for President,

Robert