This is an updated and modified version of the paper I wrote on September 7th, 2008, right after the Republican Convention. This version is being written October 6th, close to a week after the vice-president's debate between Palin and Biden, similarly with the Wall Street stock market crash and the government 'bailout' which I believe was on Friday October 3rd, the day after the vice-president's debate, and then on the Friday also Palin accused Obama of 'hanging out with terrorists' which was developed further on the weekend by both Palin and McCain.
I will make my editorial comments here primarily on the state of the Republican Party after the debate, and relative to their resorting to 'trash-talking' tactics in order to try to undermine and sabotage The Democratic Party, and the polls that say that Obama and The Democratic Party are likely going to win the presidetial election in early November, and head to the White House early next year.
-- dgb, October 6th-7th, 2008.
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The impetus for this paper -- and what will likely become a series of papers -- came out of my Sept. 6th, 2008 preface to my 1979 Honors Thesis in psychology called -- 'Evaluation and Health'.
Here is the particular paragraph of my preface yesterday that stimulated what is about to develop here (Sept. 7th, 2008):
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In particular, Evaluation and Health provides a good introductory study of General Semantics through these two classic General Semantic books: Korzybski, Science and Sanity, 1933; and H.I. Hayakawa, Language in Thought and Action, 1949, updated and republished about 6 times).
The General Semantics of Korzybski and Hayakawa provide the main philosophical grounding for DGB Epistemology and much of what would, or what has, developed into DGB Dialectic Philosophy as a whole. Wrote Hayakawa, regarding his classic introductory book to General Semantics:
"The original version of this book, Language in Action, published in 1941, was in many respects a response to the dangers of propaganda, especially as exemplified in Adolf Hitler's success in persuading millions to share his maniacal and destructive views. It was the writer's conviction then, as it remains now, that everyone needs to have a habitually critical attitude towards language — his own as well as that of others — both for the sake of his personal well-being and for his adequate functioning as a citizen. Hitler is gone, but if the majority of our fellow-citizens are more susceptible to the slogans of fear and race hatred than to those of peaceful accommodation and mutual respect among human beings, our political liberties remain at the mercy of any eloquent and unscrupulous demagogue."
See my article on the American Politics blogsite called, Faceoff: DGB Philosophy vs. The American Republican Party (Parts 1 and 2).
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Faceoff: DGB Philosophy vs. The American Republican Party (Part 2)
Madonna may have been strongly criticized for her visual political connections between Nazism and The Republican Party but sometimes I too can start to see some scary parallels between Republican right-wing extremism, nationalism, and patriotism on the one hand -- and the same type of German right wing extremism, Nationalism and Patriotism that led Hitler, Germany, and half the world off the deep end, and into destruction and self-destruction, in World War 11.
We all have to be very careful how we use the word 'nationalism' and 'patriotism' because these words can be used pathologically such as in the Hitler regime -- and in the McCarthy era -- to negatively stereotype anyone who doesn't look the same as us and/or anyone who doesn't believe the same as us -- or anyone who doesn't believe the same as the American Republican Party (even though there are strong differeces in the Republican Party itself such as between those who take a 'pro-life' vs. 'pro-choice' stance for or against abortion (the 'pro-choicers' tend to be 'muzzled'); and those of whom are 'mild', 'medium', or 'hardcore' right-wingers.) I'm a mild to medium right-winger myself but I don't support where this 'new and improved', McCain-Palin ticket is going...Nor where they are now...
Once a word is negatively stereotyped -- like 'communist' or 'socialist' or 'left wing' or 'terrorist' or 'insurgent' -- then anyone so labelled in a context/environment of fear and paranoia -- can become the subject of a civil and/or political witch hunt including degradation, humiliation, condemnation, punishment, imprisonment, torture, execution...
I see this morning -- Sunday Oct. 5th, 2008 -- that Sarah the Barracuda was 'doing her thing' again last night, pushing the fear button in the American people. Now, according to Palin -- even though this is old, old news with only an ounce of truth attached to it -- 'Obama has been hanging around with terrorists'. Is there no limit to this woman's lack of political integrity?
Ms. Palin says that 'her gloves are off'...Why? Because her ticket to stardom -- McCain and The Republican Party -- is fading fast away from her? Going down with the Wall Street stock market? Or is it her 'Republican advisors and speech coaches' pressing her to be more of 'Sarah the Barracuda' in order to reverse McCain's deep, dark slide into the abyss of yesterday's news?
Sarah Palin says that she is the new 'maverick' in town. But there is nothing new here. This is old-time 'dirty Republican politics'. When you're losing -- and your poll percentage is dropping -- hit below the belt. Sarah the Barracuda. There's nothing new about you. You are old-time Republican politics - thinly disguised behind a pretty face, a pretty smile, a wink, a 'folksy pre-canned repertoire', and a 'rope-a-dope' approach to answering hard questions.
Like...'What do you read?' I see you picked up a copy of The New York Times the other day. Wow, that is a significant development! What shall we call this? Fast evolution? Or trying to compensate for one of last week's biggest gaffes?
Unfortunately, this type of negative stereotyping and discrimination -- read: Palin associating Obama with 'terrorists' -- represents and reflects newer renditions of a number of sad chapters in American history -- slavery, The Civil War, the Ku Klux Clan, McCarthyism, all different forms of 'Nazism in an American bottle' -- but we as both individual and collective members of the human race -- and what is meant to be a 'civilian' -- must be extremely careful that we don't go back in history and repeat ourselves. This type of phenomena is based on a combination of ignorance, fear, anxiety, paranoia often masked under such American ideals as: 'freedom, God, and country', 'democracy', 'Nationalism' and 'Patriotism'.
In times of war -- or fear of war -- political divisionism can easily explode into more and more spiralling negative stereotypes, discrimination, hatred -- and violence.
It is easy to be 'nationalistic', 'patriotic', proud of America, proud of your son or daughter 'going off to war, to fight on a distant shore' (see Bob Dylan, Balland of John Brown)-- to fight for 'God, freedom, democracy, and The American Way...', and 'wanting to get the bad guys' who allegedly don't believe in these values. The 'bad guys' -- some of whom really are bad, and some of whom may not be so bad (kind of like in America too where 'good' against 'evil' is just as prevalent a theme as anywhere else in the world) -- anyways, the 'bad guy' who's face we cannot see -- unless it is Saadam Hussein or Bin Laden -- may not believe in democracy and The American Way -- but generally, they too, believe themselves to be fighting for a meaningful cause, fighting for 'God, country, freedom, and their particular way of life, which just like our way of life, has its good and bad facets, it's good and bad moments...
The point here is, that The Republican Party -- old and new -- will use negative sterotyping to their utmost advantage to 'villainize the enemy' and to portray the Democratic Party as either 'weak' and/or 'hanging out with the enemy'. Governor Palin's statement about Obama Saturday night were simply another 're-bottled Republican brand of McCarthyism and even Nazi-style negative propaganda'.
Now, Senator McCain, I may not be a name that you recognize. I am likely an essay without a face. You may not -- indeed, probably will not -- even read this essay. It is the arrogant, Republican way of ignoring -- and not changing -- the worst of what the Republican Party is. Trumpeting war is not The American Dream. Unethical Capitalism is not The American Dream. Giving multi-million dollar dividends and bailouts and 'severances' to the CEOs and other executives of banking and mortgaging companies that stole from the American people is not The American Dream.
There is only one presidential candidate in this race who is coming anywhere close to The American Dream -- and that is not you.
When I think of Jefferson, and Franklin, and Lincoln, and Tom Paine, and Diderot, and Adam Smith -- yes, even Adam Smith or for that matter, more recently, Ayn Rand -- I do not think of The Republican Party, and I do not think of you.
Senator McCain, when I think of the ultimate three books on Capitalism -- 'The Wealth of Nations' (Adam Smith), 'Atlas Shrugged' (Ayn Rand), and 'The Fountainhead' (Ayn Rand) -- I do not think of The Republican Party, and I do not think of you.
The three books that I just mentioned -- they were books with a vision, an Ethical, Capitalist vision. They were books about The American Dream.
What happened on Wall Street was Capitalist Piracy. It was Capitalist Fraud. It was Narcissistic, Unethical Capitalism at its worst. It was the evil anti-thesis of The American Dream.
Now, regarding the the 700 billion dollar bailout from The Senate and from The House of Representatives -- I may not have been clear a day or so ago. But I am certainly clear now. That was a brutal -- outrageous -- mistake.
Senator McCain. President George Bush. You want to talk about 'no regulation'. No regulation means no regulation.
What am I getting at here? Am I talking out of both sides of my mouth at the same time because, as a 'Dialectic-Democratic-Win-Win-Capitalist-Idealist', I do certainly believe in 'goverment ethical regulations over Wall Street, over banking companies, over mortgage companies, and over oil companies -- indeed, over any company.
However, in this case, in the middle of the 'Highest Stakes Real Life Wall Street Monopoply Game that anyone could want to, or not want to, play', the American Government, the old and the new Republican Party, and the Democratic Party too for that matter -- all flipflopped.
I think that most of the American people had it right. I think Lou Dobbs had it right. Don't bail out The Pirates on Wall Street.
No regulations. No bailouts. No multi-million dollar corporate dividends. No multi-million dollar CEO and top executive severance packages. Why not just let the robbers rob the bank? This would be laugable if it was not so sickening. Somewhere, in whatever prison he is in, Conrad Black is shaking his head in disbelief. This has to be the 'Mother of all Rigtheous-Republican-Capitalist Hypocrisies.'
How do you spell 'hypocrisy'? I spell it 'R-E-P-U-B-L-I-C-A-N'.
There is not an Adam Smith or an Ayn Rand amongst you.
Somewhere in the race for the rich of the richest to still get even richer -- on Wall Street, in The Senate, and in The White House -- everyone -- and at this moment I include everyone -- lost touch with the words 'ethics' and 'integrity'.
Now, that in my view, is what Adam Smith and Ayn Rand -- and their respective views of Capitalism -- were all about. That in my opinion -- as much as anything else -- health, happiness, property, prosperity is what the American Dream is all about. Capitalist ethics and integrity. Not steal from your neighbor or your employee or your employer or your customer -- in order to get rich, and when you're rich -- still, even richer.
In this case, I believe in biblical justice -- an 'eye for an eye'; a 'bankruptcy for a bankruptcy'. Let the Pirates on Wall Street -- the worst of the worst when it comes to 'Unethcial-Narcissistic-Steal-From-The-Exploited-Capitalism' -- know how deeply it feels and hurts in both the pocketbook and the bank account to go bankrupt. I'm sure they have millions of dollars syphoned away in some foreign bank account anyone. But Lord have mercy! Don't make them any rich for the pain and grief they have caused the American people. Put them in jail! Don't give them more money!
Let biblical justice prevail. Don't bail them out. Don't let them escape with multi-million dollar bonuses and severance packages. What kind of justice is this? It truly is looking more and more like the inmates are ruling the asylum. The crooks are ruling America. As if we needed any more proof.
Let the American -- and world -- 'free markets' 'correct themselves'. The Republicans say that they always will. Here's more Republican irony and hypocrisy. The Republican Party doesn't want to have anything to do with 'universal health care' -- it's too expensive they say. It's 'socialist'. Government should stay right away from 'government subsidized health care and medicine'. But government -- particularly, Republican government -- doesn't have any problem subsidizing billions of dollars -- 700 of them to be exact -- to Wall Street, and worse, to the Wall Street Pirates. Figure that one out. I guess we know (as if we didn't before) who makes the largest financial contributions to their political party. Or maybe that should be 'parties'.
Unbelievable!
And as for you, Governor Sarah Palin, your Republican cronies may think you are doing a good job representing the values and the ideals of The Republican Party. That you are an 'anti-lobbyist'. Let me choke on that one. That you are 'full of fire and brimstone' -- and the way of the future for The Republican Party, not a part of those Bush-led, exiting into the past, 'Good Old Boys'.
I personally don't buy it. I don't think you know anything about The American Dream -- at least not the same American Dream that I am idealizing. I haven't seen any ethics or integrity in your character. I haven't seen or felt any depth of feeling or passion in your speeches. I've heard and felt Biden's passion, idealism, and vision. I've heard and felt Obama's passion, idealism, and vision.
Obama's and Biden's speeches -- I can connect to The American Dream complete with Ethics and Integrity. Theirs is an American Dream -- for everyone; not just the rich and powerful.
Yours, Ms. Palin, I can't connect to either the middle class or to 'The American Dream For All'. The idealism in your speeches slipped away on Wall Street.
Your speeches, Ms. Palin, have become all too predictable: 1. 'low taxes' (even as the American national debt explodes into the trillions; still, the old and new Republican Party -- for all of McCain's 'control spending' speeches -- keeps behaving like a teenager with a 'no-limit' credit card), 2. 'drill baby, drill'; 3. 'no regulations on Wall Street' -- this Republican refrain has become eerily silent these days; and 4. demean Obama; or associate him with 'terrorists'; Or 'un-American types'.
That is so, so old-guard Republicanism -- it makes you, Ms. Palin -- just another pawn in the Republican game of political chess.
Here's a question for you all: How many Republican speech coaches does it take to make Ms. Sarah Palin sound 'folksy', and 'un-Washington', and 'just like ye all'?
Sarah Palin, you might have passed the 'vice president's debate with 'decent marks'. (To me you were shaky as once again, you couldn't answer a direct question.)
But those Katie interviews were real, real shaky. Shaky enough that I can't think of any American in their right mind who would want to let you loose in the vice-president's office, let alone entertain the possibility that you could be president.
When I think of the American Dream, I think of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. I read it the other day for the first time in many, many years -- I can't remember the last time I read it, probably in some high school history class -- and I started to cry:
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The Gettysburg Address
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
November 19, 1863
On June 1, 1865, Senator Charles Sumner commented on what is now considered the most famous speech by President Abraham Lincoln. In his eulogy on the slain president, he called it a "monumental act." He said Lincoln was mistaken that "the world will little note, nor long remember what we say here." Rather, the Bostonian remarked, "The world noted at once what he said, and will never cease to remember it. The battle itself was less important than the speech."
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
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Source: Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, edited by Roy P. Basler. The text above is from the so-called "Bliss Copy," one of several versions which Lincoln wrote, and believed to be the final version. For additional versions, you may search The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln through the courtesy of the Abraham Lincoln Association.
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That -- to me -- is what The American Dream is about -- not Palin talking about Obama 'hanging around with terrorists and/or un-Americans'.
Give me a break. That's Republican garbage -- the type of trash-talk that comes out of a politician's mouth -- or, in this case, two of them -- when he or she is losing significantly and has to make up some fast ground a month before an election.
We will talk about Obama's relationship with William Ayers tomorrow or shortly there afterwards.
-- dgb, October 6th, 2008.
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