In April of this year, 29 men were killed in an explosion in a Massey mine in West Virginia. Massey, it turns out, has had a disgraceful record of continuous, consistent safety violations and, in addition, has had a record of financing and electing a Supreme Court judge in West Virginia to protect that corporation against attempted enforcement of a $50 million fine because of earlier safety violations. But the corporate veil is not easy to penetrate and it will be a long time before anybody knows.

 Last month as well, 11 roughnecks on an oilrig in the Gulf of Mexico were killed in that methane explosion. Millions of gallons of oil have since come gushing into the sea threatening the livelihood of thousands of Louisianans, tourism, the survival of shell fish, wetlands species, wildlife, ducks and birds. Did British Petroleum, or Haliburton, or Transocean, the three giant corporations involved, make a callous, or negligent decision when they drilled that well and failed to install the backup systems that would have prevented the blowout? In all probability they did.  

It generally happens in world history that change comes to rural areas later than it comes to cities and that, no matter where you are on the planet, rural areas are more conservative politically, which is saying the same thing, really, since conservative means to want to hold on to what was good in the past, or not to change too much. Whether you are talking about rural Pakistan, or rural Russia, or rural Wyoming, the people who live--and are separated from each other by fields and forests --are likely to hold tight to traditional values and be suspicious of change.

 That could be good, of course, but the bad side is that rural areas are also more likely to resist the mingling of races that comes with commerce and cities, or the rise of women's rights, or mixture of social classes, or experimentation with education and health care, or, in fact any other form of government intervention to assist those who are in trouble.  

This article was previously published on OpEdNews (May 21, 2008)).

What a stupendous, what an incomprehensible machine is man! Who can endure toil, famine, stripes, imprisonment & death itself in vindication of his own liberty, and the next moment ... inflict on his fellow men a bondage, one hour of which is fraught with more misery than ages of that which he rose in rebellion to oppose.   --Thomas Jefferson

Mr. Hannity: The new appeasers claim that UN (United Nations) authorization is needed for war. (pp. 139-140)

In my previous diary, I intimated that we Americans should channel our dissatisfaction with our corrupt politicians into grassroots organizations and movements, and suggested the possibility that if we can "Save Darfur", we should be able to save our own country. Now in order to prevent disappointment, we should avoid getting our hopes up too high for the immediate recovery of democracy in the US. Washington, DC has been the prime target of corporate fire for many years, so we should not expect to rebuild it in a day--or in a couple of years. What we need to do is start with small, simple choices and build up momentum gradually.

Thomas Jefferson and Al Gore. Both spokesmen for truth, both statesmen of exemplary principle. But are we truly heeding their words?

My hope that we have not labored in vain, and that our experiment will still prove that men can be governed by reason." --Thomas Jefferson to George Mason, 1791. ME 8:124

"I have so much confidence in the good sense of man, and his qualifications for self-government, that I am never afraid of the issue where reason is left free to exert her force." --Thomas Jefferson to Comte Diodati, 1789. Papers 15:326

I originally wrote this two weeks before I read Al Gore's The Assault On Reason. I am posting it again after reading his book because these words mean even more to me, even though he has stated that impeachment is not an option now. I really don't know if he truly believes that in his heart, but I do know that since reading his book I am even more convinced that impeachment is indeed the only way to regain what we have allowed to be taken from us, and that it too is not a political but a moral issue.

For a number of years now, respected pundits have lauded the American two-party political system as an excellent balance between the dictatorship of a one-party system and the instability of a multiparty system. Yet the two-party system has caused our country great harm. The Republican and Democratic parties have divided the American people over fundamental moral values, they have failed to rectify longstanding national problems, and their existence chiefly benefits special interest groups, politicians, and mega-corporate executives. Most unfortunately of all, however, the two-party setup does not represent the people of the United States.

Patriots for Al Gore, a PAC dedicated to supporting the endeavors of the Honorable Al Gore, writes this press release to announce our pleasure at the release of Mr. Gore's new book, The Assault on Reason.

If people are that complacent and apathetic to allow the Constitutional abuses this regime committed, and if the people are that content or afraid to truly take on the challenges that lie before us, why should a good man like Al Gore have to take it upon his shoulders? Why is it always HIS duty and not ours?

The Assault on Reason, by the Honorable Al Gore is to be released by Penguin Press on May 22 which is in about three weeks. It is reported to be about the difficulty politics has with making decisions based on facts and reason, and using this current regime as the prime example of corruption, fear mongering, and the assault on reason that seeks to bind the soul in perpetual servitude to those interests that represent the antithesis of all our Constitution stands for.

I took it upon myself to write this because I respect Al Gore immensely, and because I also respect President Franklin Roosevelt who has always been one of my true political and personal heroes. I wished to note some similarities between them in discussing Mr. Gore's life, and for me this was truly a labor of love that I thoroughly enjoyed writing from my heart. So in celebration of Mr. Gore's birthday which is today I wished to post it again.

"Revolution is the Solution"

Joel Hirschhorn interviewed by Jason Miller

For several days I had been bedeviled by the recurring memory of a jingle from an out-dated television commercial. My recollection of the product they were promoting lay tantalizingly close to the edge of my consciousness, but remained stubbornly out of my reach.

So my "mind's ear" was left listening to, "It's time for a new beginning..." ad nauseam with no tangible context. (If I had had that, I would at least have known which company to despise for etching such an inane little tune into my brain).

I am very happy to see Al Gore pursuing this avenue in speaking his mind on these issues now being out of the political beltway that I don't believe ever truly appreciated his prescience and intelligence on these matters. It has certainly given him the chance to be a great advocate for the people and for Democracy to truthfully speak his mind on issues of great importance to the life of our Democracy without worrying about what "handlers" will say, which also extends to the truth of An Inconvenient Truth.

Democracy Enhanced
Our nascent American democracy has a long way to go before it approaches the ideal toward which most citizens appeal.  Large groups of people are yet unrepresented, excessive power accrues to too few, and the ideal is more of an illusion than a reality.  How can we present to the world this illusion and expect all others to strive for it while our own political system is so apparently dysfunctional?