As you might imagine, being poor means a life of sacrifices, frustrations, depression, and constant struggle. So what is it about Republican office holders that cause them to go out of their way to make poor people’s lives even harder?
GOP governors, congress critters, and other officials perniciously insist that access to food stamps and other public assistance must be as burdensome and humiliating as possible. The latest example comes from the two Republican members of the Federal Communications Commission, which intends to expand a public subsidy called “Lifeline,” extending broadband internet service to all poor households.
Universal access to the web is touted as essential to America’s educational advancement and global competitiveness. Also, some 70 percent of teachers now assign homework requiring every student to do online searches. So our national interest and simple fairness say everyone should be able to connect. Yet – even though Lifeline was started in 1985 by the Republican saint, Ronald Reagan – the two FCC Republicans voted “no” on extending his sensible idea.
Luckily, they were outvoted, but they then demanded a requirement that poor families must publicly reveal that they are poor. The two Scrooges are subjecting these families to a daunting and humiliating bureaucratic process, which will prevent many kids from getting the internet access that everyone needs for education success.
Come on – the “subsidy” they’re wailing about is a mere $9.25 a month. Compare that to the billions of dollars of fraud in the Pentagon budget, which Republicans approve without questioning! What is this sour, dark smudge on the souls of GOP officials that leads them to demean poor people, preventing them and our society from reaching our fullest potential? It’s stupid... and it’s shameful.
“F.C.C. Votes to Move Forward With a Plan to Subsidize Broadband for the Poor,” The New York Times, June 19, 2015.

What moved marriage equality from taboo to justice?

Until 2010, CBS television’s daytime lineup included a long-running soap opera titled: “As the World Turns.” But times change, and now a real-life human drama of profound importance has debuted in America, titled: “As the Generations Turn.”
It’s the inspiring story of our society’s continuing struggle to evolve toward equality, dignity, and mutual respect – as well as love – for all. The moment came on June 26, when Justice Anthony Kennedy proclaimed from the ornate chamber of the Supreme Court: “The right to marry is a fundamental right inherent in the liberty of the person, and under the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment couples of the same sex may not be deprived of that right and that liberty.”
Kennedy and four other justices voted to make this higher level of inclusiveness the law of the land, but they are not the ones who produced this landmark. Indeed, while the Court’s ruling debuts a new day, it is the culmination of generations of painful struggle by brave gay and lesbian activists and advocates. And in particular, it is the product of a defiant and determined LGBT movement for equality that arose from the brutal police riot at the Stonewall Club in New York in 1969.
This democratic evolution from rank inequality literally came out of America’s closet, rising through only a few neighborhoods at first, but then entering the consciousness of today’s youth. Rejecting the shibboleths, ignorance, fears, and bigotry that has previously permitted such intolerable discrimination, young people have, in a remarkably short time, created a generational shift in the nation’s consciousness.
The true Supremes are the people themselves, and it’s their awakening enlightenment that has transformed marriage equality from yesterday’s taboo to today’s affirmation of simple justice.

US General salutes a military “hero”

Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of staff, has a particular military hero he wants to honor.
Well sure – who doesn’t admire Gen. George Washington? Or maybe Dempsey’s favorite is from the Civil War or World War II. Or here’s a twist: Maybe it’s Gen. Buck Turgidson from the “Dr. Strangelove” movie!
But no, Dempsey’s choice is even more twisted: King Abdullah Bin Abdul-Aziz of Saudi Arabia. Abdullah, who headed the royal Saud family and became the ruling Saudi monach in 2005, died in January at age 90. Having served as US military advisor to the King’s national guard, Dempsey now lauds the royal gabillionaire for being “a man of remarkable character and courage.” Thus, Dempsey has launched a scholarly essay contest for students at our National Defense University, calling it a “fitting tribute to the [monarch’s] leadership.”
Leadership? To what end? The King’s militaristic, autocratic, theocratic regime was revoltingly repressive – especially against women and dissidents. I wonder, for example, if Dempsey’s contest will welcome essays about King Abdullah’s gross human rights abuses, including vicious lashings of religious and political dissidents and weekly public beheadings to punish even such minor “criminals” as drug users?
Then there’s King Abudullah’s allocation of billions of dollars from the family’s oil monopoly. This money is still funding the global spread of Wahhabism, the Kingdom’s extremist, violent perversion of Islam that has helped spawn Al Qaeda and the barbaric Islamic State, both of which are at war with America.
Dempsey’s choice for hero worship just proves that generals should not be in the essay business – and they damn sure shouldn’t be propagandizing students with the notion that autocratic monarchs are worthy models of character and leadership.
“Dempsey Sponsors Essay Competition to Honor Saudi King,” US Department of Defense, January 26, 2015.
Comix Nation, The Nation, March 2/9, 2015.
“House of Saud, Wahhabi clerics’ pact behind abuses,” Austin American Statesman, January 25, 2015.
“Pre-9/11 Ties Haunt Saudis as New Accusations Surface,” www.nytimes.com, February 4 2015.
“Saudis’ king gone, but his dynasty remains,” Austin American Statesman, January 27, 2015.
“Egged on by the Hawks of Doom, Obama sinks America into a misguided war with the Islamic State,” www.hightowerlowdown.org, November 2014.