“Bye-Bye Nice Guy!”

                           Alice Cooper & Peter Cavanaugh Backstage IMA — Flint 1973 Those Buds Were Them

Only 14% of American voters voiced approval for the 113th Congress in polling averages just prior to our November 4th election. This came as no surprise since the 113th enjoys the dubious distinction of being the least productive two-year legislative session in modern times. Then 96.4% of incumbents were triumphantly re-elected. In the immortal words of Star Trek’s Mr. Spock — “This is highly illogical!”

The “new” 114th Congress starting in January will be the same as its predecessor– just a bit more Republican — except a tipping point was reached in the Senate. The GOP will now lead both chambers, really hitting the brakes with new reactionary and obstructive chairpersons in place and in charge. Since fewer than one out of five citizens voted in support of this vacuous victory, any claim that the 114th represents the “will of the American people” is delusional and pretentious.

But it’s also embarrassingly clear that the Democratic Party was disappointingly ineffective at generating meaningful support from the younger “Millennial” (18-33) age group, performed poorly at sustaining earlier minority momentum such as that witnessed in 2012 and, most importantly, failed miserably at adequately responding with an energized, confident counter attack against hundreds of millions of Obama Hate dollars dramatically in evidence, flooding the airwaves and our collective consciousness with relentless efficiency from coast to coast.

In lacking the intestinal fortitude and testicular courage to firmly stand behind their elected national leader with dedicated conviction, the Democratic Party hierarchy blew it big this time. Republicans were brilliantly successful in hanging Barack HUSSEIN Obama out to dry. Now they pay the price. Although Ronald Regan and four other Republican Presidents used executive authority to act on immigration issues, President Obama’s decision to finally deliver meaningful, promised resolution in many important areas of legitimate concern has exploded with predictable outrage on the right and powerful ovations on the left.

I am delighted our Commander-in-Chief is moving with such resolute determination in the face of deeply entrenched opposition hardly loyal to him in the past. Despite repeated efforts at collegiality, conciliation and cooperation from the day Barack Obama assumed office in January of 2009, our soon to be Senate Majority leader, Mitch McConnell, has been dedicated to the President’s destruction with more than ample documentation of same easily accessible. All of this was again echoed only weeks ago in our most recent election cycle with billionaire backing. Think of that.

It’s weird. My main disappointment to date with the President is that he hasn’t done in his first six years what everyone on the far right boisterously claims he HAS done. He’s been much more a conscientious “community leader” than “king”, “dictator”, “tyrant” or “demagogue” to our decided disadvantage.

Why did President Obama leave highly promising “Single Payer” mechanics out of earliest discussions leading to The Affordable Care Act?

Why did the President approve the ill-fated, failed 20,000-troop Afghanistan “surge” in late 2009?

Why have deportations of undocumented immigrants soared under his watch with border fencing, security patrols and technical surveillance substantially increased?

Because all along — he’s been trying to get along.

Alas, it’s time for Alice. “I used to be such a sweet, sweet thing –‘til they got a hold of me. I’d open doors for little old ladies. I helped the blind to see. But I’ve got no friends ‘cause they read the papers. Now I’m feeling mean.” Alice Cooper — ”No More Mister Nicer Guy.” (1973)

Here it comes, Mitch.

No more Mr. Nice Guy!

“Frozen”

Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, Sven and Olaf aside – icy times are straight ahead.

Since Barack Obama’s election in 2008, the U.S. stock market has almost TRIPLED in value — the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbing from 6,443 on March 6, 2009 to 17,568 on November 7, 2014. Unemployment has dropped from 10% in October of 2009 to 5.8% today. The federal deficit has declined from 9.8% of Gross Domestic Product in the 2008/2009 fiscal year to 2.8% at the end of September 2014 – a figure smaller than its average over the past 40 years of 3.1%.

All of this took place after our collective national treasury was drained by trillions of dollars lost in unnecessary warfare and our world suffered a near total collapse of the global economy – both the catastrophic consequence of sadly misguided, horribly managed, ill-fated Republican rule under the woefully misbegotten, however well-intended presidency of George W. Bush.

In a mind bending, stomach churning, tragic illustration of the age-old axiom that no good deeds go unpunished, less than 20% of the American people bent to the will of big money politics on Election Day ’14 and rewarded horrendous abrogation with historic elevation.

That’s all it took. Not even 1 out of 5. Do the math.

Crushingly conservative, polarized, deeply divisive forces will now control the 114th Congress starting in January with Republican domination of the House and Senate enjoying numerical dominance by the largest margin since the early 1940’s.

Here’s what’s going to happen these next two years. Nothing.

Founding Father Patrick Henry’s prophetic words gravely pronounced at the conclusion of his final public speech in March of 1799 have never rung truer. United we stand, but divided we fall. We are not united.

Disunity carried the day on November 4th, locking us into two more years of temporarily irreversible political paralysis. Abraham Lincoln’s government “of the people, by the people, for the people” threatens to be further gutted by renewed attempts at reactionary reduction. A President sworn to defend our Constitution against all enemies — foreign and domestic — will hopefully hold such measures in check.

Checkmate. Not stalemate.

Even the most novice chess player knows checkmating one’s opponent normally wins the game. But there will be no winners here.

The Journal of the American Medical Association recently published a report stating that child poverty in America is at its highest point in 20 years, putting millions of children at increased risk of injuries, infant mortality and premature death. 25% of children don’t have enough food to eat and 7 million have no health insurance. For far too many, the land of the free has become home of the hungry.

According to the Rupert Murdock owned Wall Street Journal, the gap between the richest and poorest Americans has widened even more.

The top 3% of our population now own more than twice as much as the bottom 90% combined – 54.4% to 24.7%. And the top 1% actually own 37% of everything with the other 99% stuck with what’s left. There’s no other country in the developed world with such a degree of economic disparity. Think about that.

Forbes magazine reports today’s Chief Executive Officer earns 331 times as much as the average worker and 774 times as much as a minimum wage employee putting in a full 40 hour week without benefits.

But we can always count on Walt Disney for hope and inspiration.

As real life imitates art, a fearless Princess is coming to our rescue.

Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts is right.

“The game is rigged and the Republicans rigged it.”

Senator Warren is not talking about Republican voters. Her reference
Is toward unelected leadership at the very top of an all but invisible power pyramid representing an unparalleled concentration of wealth and influence –aimed at getting lots more of everything they can for themselves while leaving much, much less for everyone else.

I’m in the “everyone else” bunch.

And believe the moment has come for the ultra rich to find a conscience and abandon their bought and paid for stranglehold on American politics.

Time to – “Let it go.”