Sleepless nights

Another sleepless night worrying that this white supremacist president of ours will forever poison race relations in the US? Not to worry; race relations in this country have always been toxic, and politicians have always used fear and hatred to win elections.

Worried that the working class will end up losing everything, as our nation's richest people become kings and queens? That's been happening for 40 years, as corporations have taken control of almost every aspect of our government. The millions that businesses and the very rich give to politicians used to be called bribery. Thanks to recent Supreme Court decisions, such gifts are now considered freedom of speech.

We see that all the reforms that most working people really want are routinely rejected, like taxing the rich, universal healthcare, free college tuition, an end to wars in the Middle East, and holding Israel accountable for the occupation of Palestine. There is no real money behind any of these ideas, so even though most people favor them, they have no chance of being considered, even in the Democratic Platform.

The only reason to worry about Trump is that he represents the culmination of neoliberalism, the destruction of the common good by the huge corporations that rule us. Whether our next president is this dangerously unhinged demagogue, or a sleepy corporate shill, they will both serve the same plutocracy.

Yet change is happening in the streets, be it for LGBTQ, African American, or women's rights. The pressure for change always comes from below.

Fred Nagel

Blue coated minions

 Just one more reminder of how inadequate our system is: "Much of the Protective Gear FEMA Sent Nursing Homes is Just Useless." This NY Times article would be high comedy if it appeared in a publication like The Onion. But the lunacy of our broken society eliminates any possibility of satire.

With just four percent of the population, the world's richest country now accounts for 23% of the world's COVID deaths. Non existent planning, cronyism, attacks on public health scientists, and pure ignorance at the top has made us number one in the killing of our own citizens. 

Neoliberalism isn't just a Trump problem. The concept of a minimalist government has been with us since the Reagan Era. The idea of there even being a "public good" seems incomprehensible to our governmental leaders, awash in corporate money and toasted by their armies of corporate lobbyists. 

We can't have things that every other developed country has implemented long ago, like a public health system, and free college education, daycare facilities, and nursing homes. The big lobby groups like the weapons makers, pharmaceuticals, oil companies, and insurance firms are so good at sucking up our money that there is simply nothing left. And the people who own these behemoth business are riding a wave of wealth that is simply beyond our comprehension. 

There is another wave, and this one is in the streets. We demand an end to racism, exploitation and the rule of the very rich with their blue coated minions. 

Fred Nagel

To the Editor

Greasing the Skids

Today, July 21st, Democrat Delgado and 324 other congress misrepresentatives voted against a pathetic 10% cut in the already bloated military budget.

Can someone explain to me the difference between a democrat like Delgado and a republican? I’m looking real hard but they look very much the same to me. 93 democrats voted for the cut. In them I can see some difference, slight in most of them, but visible.

But when I look closer at the Delgado dems, they actually look worse to me than the republicans. At least one knows exactly where most republicans stand, they’re very direct in their fascist leanings but democrats like Delgado, besides being just as damaging as the republicans also have the additional factor of being deceptive. Comfortable so-called progressive liberals, I have noticed over the years, take comfort from the fantasy that dems are just a little better and that their privileges might be slightly more protected.

Actually the democrats are worse. They grease the skids that the country is riding the hand-basket to hell on.

I’m really open to changing my views if someone can indeed show me some real positive difference. Start with Delgado.

Tarak Kauff

for the Daily Freeman