These periodic ramblings are written, produced and directed by Ronald Dale Karr, University of Massachusetts Lowell. Obviously, the opinions expressed here are my own, not those of the University.
Slick Willy demonstrates his remarkable political power. Can the man do nothing wrong? He cheats, he lies, he excuses--and the public loves him! Hit me again, they cry! As my father used to say, the people get the government they deserve. ZIPPERGATE has somehow made Clinton more popular than ever. The public WOULD buy a used car from this man--even a bridge! What do people expect in their Presidents? As we have said before, not very much.
Lord Acton noted. "Absolute power corrupts absolutely." As the U.S. moves toward absolute power, now the only remaining superpower on the world's stage, Acton's dictum is being carried out with a vengeance. CORRUPTION has seeped into every nook and cranny of our lives. Politicians are bought and sold by the corporate interests. The morality of the stock market is our only creed: as Bob Dylan once sang, "Money doesn't talk--it swears." Anything that expands corporate power is enthusiastically endorsed by the media, which of course functions as not only the cheering section of the ruling class but also one of their most profitable investments. And as for PERSONAL MORALITY--what was once known as "integrity"--as Bill Clinton said, that's a personal matter, and hence of no concern to society! And the voters agree!
of America's defense establishment, now that all the other nations have dropped out of the arms race. SOMETHING has to justify the outrageous defense budget. In many ways, however, the U.S. is the world's leading terrorist state. Far more Iraqi civilians died as a result of the Gulf War than all of the civilians killed by Irish terrorists over the last 30 years. Anytime CRUISE MISSILES are lobbed at urban targets civilian casualties are bound to be high. It's like using a sledge hammer to kill flies in a china shop. DESPITE THE MEDIA'S PARROTING OF PENTAGON PROPAGANDA the fact remains that cruise missile's "pin-point accuracy" is highly exaggerated. Anyone who works with computers the way I do must be skeptical of these claims. Technology is NOT reliable (just yesterday the Air Traffic Control computers in Boston crashed, leaving controllers to direct airplanes with handwritten notes!). CRUISE MISSILES were developed to deliver small nuclear warheads and as such originally needed an accuracy of only about a quarter of a mile. Although improved, most still miss their target, sometimes by a wide margin. Otherwise, why were 70 MISSILES need against just TWO TARGETS?
History shows that empires eventually crumble, brought down as much by their own greed, corruption, inequities, and overextension as much by external foes. For America THE STOCK MARKET is the immediate threat. Everything is pinned on its perpetual expansion. The problem is that the market has completely lost touch with reality, which is that wealth is being concentrated into fewer and fewer hands amid a wild orgy of greed. While the American upper middle class prospers, the rest of the world slips deeper and deeper into poverty, as corporations drive wages and costs ever lower, downsizing, outsourcing, and consolidating. American voters, convinced by the media that their own problems stem from welfare bums, black criminals, drug addicts, high taxes, and terrorists, don't blame corporate capitalism. They might once the market crashes. OUR ECONOMY is so delicately balanced that something simple as a rise in gas prices--now at record lows--may bring it down.
before the 2000 election AL GORE remains the only serious candidate. The only thing that might bar a smooth transition to CLINTON II is the economy. ALL BETS might be off if the inevitable economic crunch--or even collapse--comes before then. But so far, it looks like Gore.
Ronald Dale Karr
Ronald_Karr@uml.edu
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