CHAPTER NINETEEN. ALL POLITICS IS INTERNATIONAL

Written by: Rick Staggenborg, MD on Aug 1, 2009 9:41 AM PDT

We are all familiar with the concept “think globally and act locally,” but how often do we stop and think of how are actions actually affect the world at large? Most of us tend to think of ourselves as insignificant in the grand scheme of things. This attitude is so prevalent that increasingly, Americans have given up voting in national elections. Others vote only to choose between the lesser of two “evils,” recognizing that the legislative process has become so corrupted by corporate influence that either party will serve the interest of the corporate Puppetmasters before considering those of the people. 

There are few among us who are well informed enough to distinguish between those politicians who want to do all they can to make America a stronger and more just nation from those who only seek to use the power of office to benefit themselves, their corporate benefactors and the wealthy aristocracy from which most of them arose. It is important that we embolden them to cast off the chains of the international corporate terrorists who want to treat them as their Puppets so that the United States can become the powerful force for freedom, justice and democracy that it was meant to be.

At the same time, we must remember that Presidential elections are different. Remembering Lincoln, we have time and again chosen as our Commander in Chief men who have risen from modest backgrounds to a position to grasp at the brass ring, the bully pulpit from which their words inspire action by Congress and the people to better our nation. From Nixon on, we have more often than not elected men of relatively humble origins, always looking for another Lincoln. The latest such man came also from the Illinois, the “Land of Lincoln.” Those of us who chose him over a military man of elitist origins hoped that this was a good omen.

What has gone wrong with the Obama Presidency? Why has a constitutional scholar been so slow to address the numerous Constitutional violations and crimes against the American people? It is if Lincoln had attempted Reconstruction before the Civil War had begun. It simply defies logic, until you recognize that he has continued to be trapped in the dance of the Meat Puppets. While he may have a keen sense of rhythm, that is not enough when the tempo of the tune is so fast and the dischord changes so complex. Bush too had a fine sense of rhythm, as shown by his impromptu jig on the White House portico while waiting to meet with newly humbled Republican Presidential hopeful John McCain in 2008. Although he can do a mean two-step, he danced to a different tune than a true patriot.

Although Obama has not been in Washington long enough to be mired as deeply as some in its swampy morass, he was forced to make a Faustian bargain with banking and financial interests (largely the same thing in this era of deregulation) in order to achieve the power to do the most good. 

Had he ignored their interests and listened to the lonely voice of reason in the person of Representative DeFazio and the few others who argued against making the unqualified financial industry bailout, America would have been well on the way to restoring modern democracy to the place of its birth, and Goldman-Sachs and Citicorp would not have posted record profits, stolen from the American taxpayer to be given to them as a reward for their role in deliberately causing the crisis.

Our President has an opportunity to atone for this and subsequent mistakes. His Attorney General has begun to investigate war crimes of the Bush administration but for some reason seems constrained from taking action. He must begin to aggressively pursue the  prosecution and conviction of Karl Rove. the man most responsible for the politicization of the White House and the Justice Department. 

In prosecuting those guilty for making a political prisoner of Don Siegelman, former Governor of Alabama, Holder can begin to assert the power of the People over those of the international corporate terrorists that have effectively bought our government to use as their personal plaything. 

By setting this example, the American people  can begin to challenge the absolute authority of the corporatocracy by taking on the craven Medical insurance industry, which reaps billions by not providing service but denying health care to those who actually need it. We do not need them and they are the only roadblock to real reform, which can only come through the adoption of a single payer health care delivery system. Health care is the most important human right being denied to tens of millions of Americans and billions in the world at large.

Will Obama have the wisdom and courage of Lincoln? If he does not see that the counter-Revolutionaries have already seized control of Washington and declare an all-out Civil War, then the sacrifices of the American Revolutionaries, the victims of the Civil War and all other wars will have died in vain, along with the dream of American democracy. 

Until the people rise up and demand a restoration of democracy in America, we cannot become leaders in the search for answers to the various threats to human survival, but will remain leaders in their creation. It is time to take to the streets, like the demonstrators risking their lives for freedom in Iran, and cry out for freedom. The larger world outside of America has joined them in solidarity, and will rejoice when Americans rise up and demand liberty and justice for all in the cradle of modern democracy.

When Americans tear down the barriers which divide us and the country has resumed its destined role as a leader, it can begin to encourage other nations to tear down the barriers between themselves and recognize their interdependence in the struggle for survival. 

Together, the nations of the world can and must work together as free and sovereign peoples to end the wars and the savage economic warfare which breeds them. If we forget the lessons of history, we are doomed to continue to sacrifice our freedom and our children to the evil actions of those who would lead us into eternal damnation. If we learn to act always in enlightened self interest, we can march confidently back to the future.

The fate of the world is in our hands. Simply by doing everything in our power to act for the good of all, you will have become Soldiers for Peace. The first battle has begun. It is the fight for justice on behalf of those who are denied the basic right of access to health care, a problem plaguing increasing numbers of working Americans and those unemployed not by choice bur by the actions of the corporate Puppetmasters. 

Will we love all those who have suffered at the hands of men we have allowed to assume power in an increasingly fascistic system? Can we overcome our fear and hatred long enough to understand why some would resort to terror to force the world to pay attention to the sufferings of their Peoples that our selfishness  has caused?  No revolution can succeed unless the aggressors are forgiven once they are bowed and repentant. We must endeavor to find compassion even for those who have committed atrocities because in the end all of us share our measure of responsibility for not fighting hard enough and with as many as possible for the good of all and the survival of human civilization itself.

If we can find a way to feel love for all citizens of the planet as we would want to be loved ourselves, we will know that God is on our side in this last battle for freedom. We must try to love or at least try to understand the aggressors even as we fight to defeat them, and their sick dreams of Empire. We must abandon the artificial distinctions between us and come together as at no previous time in history, before there is no one left to carry on the fight on behalf of the defenseless children we are sworn to protect. We must act now or we will all suffer the consequences, and our children will never forgive us.

In the immortal words of John Lennon:




Imagine there's no heaven.
It's easy if you try.
No hell below us,
above us only sky.
Imagine all the people
living for today...


Imagine there's no countries.
It isn't hard to do.
Nothing to kill or die for
and religion too.
Imagine all the people
living life in peace...


You may say I'm a dreamer,
but I'm not the only one.
I hope someday you'll join us
and the world will be as one.


Imagine no possessions.
I wonder if you can.
No need for greed or hunger,
a brotherhood of man.
Imagine all the people
sharing all the world...


You may say I'm a dreamer,
but I'm not the only one.
I hope someday you'll join us
and the world will live as one.




Rick Staggenborg, MD


Loon Lake, OR