OPINION: Wake up America, there's a fleecing going on

By RUSS DeVERNIERO

In the paper there were some interesting letters to the editor. Thank You to Kenneth Green for his insightful words on Peace. As a Marine, and a Vietnam Veteran who saw lots of combat, I am in total agreement with him. I think that I have earned the right to question the reasoning behind our involvement in that war. Besides making people like the Rockefellers and others rich, by selling arms to North Vietnam and seeing the same politics and reasoning still in place now in Iraq and Afghanistan, I have to wonder what this is really all about. When a Medal of Honor winner speaks out against our arms companies selling classified arms and equipment to our enemies and pseudo-allies you have to start asking some questions. Or, at least you should. 

A wise man once said “A house divided cannot stand.” Well folks, that is exactly what is happening in our Government right now. We are in the midst of a major collapse and a great many Americans could care less. The politicians have managed to create a huge chasm that they are too stupid to correct. They do not care what happens to us, it is all about greed, and how much money they can accumulate before the hammer falls.

Before the Revolutionary War a Scottish gentleman wrote about the rise and fall of Democracy. He said the cycle is as follows; “From bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to great courage; from great courage to liberty; from Liberty to abundance; from abundance to selfishness; from selfishness to apathy; from apathy to dependence; from dependence back to bondage.” Seems pretty clear to me. 

Right here in North Idaho we have politicians who have exploited and stolen natural resources for their own profit and gain. They refused to pay their fair share of taxes and face federal prosecution and still can get elected. What does it take to get people to wake up?

We have others who are wholly owned by corporations and cannot go to the bathroom without getting permission. These are people who are writing the law so their sponsors can profit and the public be damned. At one time, the Republican Party used to have some credibility. Now, they are a bunch of paid stooges for corporate America. Their sole purpose now is to protect the investments of their rich and powerful supporters at the expense of the common laborers.

In a speech by Mr. Lincoln, he stated “...It is the effect to place ‘Capital’ on an equal footing with, if not above, ‘Labor’, in the structure of government. It is assumed that labor is available only in connection with capital; that nobody labors unless somebody else, owning Capital, somehow by the use of it, induces him to labor...” Lincoln goes on to say, “Now, there is no such relation between capital and labor as assumed, nor is there any such thing as a free man being fixed for life in the condition of a hired laborer. Both these assumptions are false, and all inferences from them are groundless. Lincoln continues with, “...Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration…”

 I find it interesting that “Capital,” which is Corporate America if you have not figured that out, would have the people that work for them be reduced to slavery basically so that they, the executives, can reap more and more profits. Why do you think financial institutions are collapsing and falling by the wayside? Why is the government bailing out the corporations and ignoring the financially strapped public? It is the Corporations that dictate to Congress what laws to pass, who to support, what is worthy of considerations and what needs to be exploited, like our natural resources, land, parks and other things. The oil companies rule. Congressmen and Senators, who have been good little boys and girls and have done what they were told, get to go and work for the big boys as lobbyist when they get out of office so that they can keep the others in line and get the new kids on the block signed up.

WE NEED TO GET RID OF THIS SITUATION! We need to fire everyone in the Senate and Congress and possibly the President, and start over with a new set of rules. We need to clear the playing field and start with new teams and better management policies. Eliminate the lobbyists, and sever the influence that is currently in place. We are a sinking ship, and the current crew, including the Captain, keeps running us into the iceberg. Wake up America and for God’s sake get a clue! This is a call to action … we cannot wait any longer. We are currently in a state of Apathy and moving very fast into a state of total dependency.

What you see in the Federal Government is equally represented right here in our local government. It is pervasive throughout our entire political system. Freedom is NOT free. You have to earn it and if you let someone tell you what you deserve, you will get just that. For those of you who have never read the Constitution or the Bill of Rights, get off your lazy butts and open a book. We have people giving up their lives right now to keep this country free and a Democracy. We are selling our souls to the highest bidders because we are too lazy to fix our own problems and get us back on track. Even people who sell lemonade on a street corner understand basic economics. Why for Heaven’s sake can’t the people who run our country figure that out? I just don’t get it. 

It is time for the “People” of America to demand that our Representatives actually represent “Us” and not their own special interests. And, when they don’t represent us, then they are recalled and removed from office so that we can get someone in who does the job for US. Big Government is not the answer. We are spending Billions of Dollars on things that have absolutely no connection to the United States. We support more third world countries then anyone else in the entire world. It might be a good idea to spend that money at home, creating new jobs, and rebuilding our own infrastructure. We could employ thousands of people who really want to work by creating and supporting a new Job Corps. There are many ways and things that could be done to improve our own homeland, from grinding up old tires to create better roadways, to using plasma generators to create electricity by consuming garbage. How about we not build one more strategic bomber at the cost of a Billion dollars and instead, use it to improve our schools and education system?

We are now out of Iraq. It only cost us more than 4,000 dead and over 30,000 wounded and maimed. We need to really ask ourselves if it was worth that sort of price. We, the United States, do not need to enforce our way of thinking on the rest of the world. One, they do not appreciate it. Two, we do not have the right to make everyone else like us. That is something which the world went to war for in 1939. Hopefully, we will realize that soon and keep our noses out of these other countries that have the right to live their own lifestyle even if it is something we don’t understand or agree with. There are things in this world that we cannot change we do not have the capacity to understand and we do not have the right to interfere. Let the Middle East live the way they have lived for thousands of years. We could have used all the money and manpower we have wasted and lost there to fix some of our own problems. 

It is time for all of us to pay attention to what our Government is really up to. Only we, the people, can be responsible for what our elected officials are doing. It is our responsibility to keep them under control and quit sticking our heads in the sand so that we don’t see what is going on. IT IS TIME TO WAKE UP AMERICA! 

Russ DeVerniero is a Coeur d’Alene resident.