Angry Tea Partier Blames Liberals, recycles discredited lies

This is a "letter to the editor" of the Rochester MN Post-Bulletin newspaper. It was written by a tea partier who is bitter at the shellacking her beloved party received at the ballot box. My response to this bitter woman is below the link.

Liberal voters have ruined our nation

Dear Mrs. Friemann,
Reading your letter to the editor on 11/9/2012, I was disappointed to see just how much you've latched on to partisan spin. The election is over, thankfully. It's time to get off the partisan train and move on as a country.

In your first paragraph, you chastise 'liberals' for the 'blame game', yet in the very next paragraph you recycle the tired spin of the religious right's version of the blame game. Hypocrisy much?

Blaming 'liberals' for the ills of this country is just silly. Liberals didn't cause the economic collapse of 2007, nor did we cause the recession. Both parties had a role to play in the actions that led to the collapse. The fact is that President Bush promoted policies that encouraged, protected, and turned a blind eye to the shenanigans that led to the disastrous collapse. President Bush had an opportunity to scotch the serpent in the egg before the whole thing exploded. The fact that he didn't clearly demonstrates that his laissez-faire worldview blinded him to the dangers building in the housing market. Those dangers were clear to the 'lame stream media' as early as March, 2004.

You complain about the high number of people on food stamps. Why is it so horrifying to you that people who cannot find work should need to eat? Forgive me for the historical inaccuracy, but you sound like Marie Antionette's solution to peasants having no bead: "Let them eat cake". They aren't on food stamps because they're lazy. They're on food stamps because they have no other choice.

As for your complaints about being an ATM card, let me clarify something. I am a small business owner and my domestic partner (soon to be husband) is a physician. As such, we don't benefit from the loopholes or tax breaks that tycoons and venture capitalists get. We also don't benefit from the tax cuts which (rightfully) benefit middle income Americans. In fact, in 2011 on top of our already high taxes, we had to pay income tax of $3000 extra on the health insurance benefits my partner's employer provided for me. That happened because we couldn't get married. So, forgive me if I find your ATM complaint laughable. I don't complain about taxes because I like to have roads, schools, and national defense. I also like to know that my fellow Americans aren't starving to death when the economy slumps. I know there is waste to be eliminated, but partisan bickering makes such progress impossible. While we're on the subject of taxes, Gov. Romney says that low capital gains tax is because of double taxation of corporate earnings. Take a look at the numbers, my dear. Most of the 'double taxed' corporations are pass through entities. As such, they pay zero taxes. This is a tax hoax played on the American people far too long.

Until this summer, we lived in Rochester. I love Minnesota. I love the people, the culture, and niceness, and the beauty of the state. We decided not to 'settle down' in Rochester because we knew of this place where we would be free from discrimination and afforded equality under the law and dignity as individuals and as a loving couple. That place is Washington State. As of this morning, I am fully an equal citizen of my new home state. Question 74 passed, which means that the gay marriage law has been approved by voters. What you see as a catastrophe, I see as something different: democracy.

In closing, I would like to address the 'depression' you believe the country is headed toward. There certainly is depression on the horizon, but it isn't economic. The depression we have to worry about is the negativity of vile partisanship causing depression and division among the American people who used to be united. Let's stop this negativity and move on as a nation. If you don't like the president, that's ok. But his success is tied to the whole country's success. Let's root for our team, and come together to find bipartisan solutions to the massive problems that face our country. We've overcome far worse things, and we've always come out stronger. Let's renew that determined American spirit that was wounded through this nasty election. If we don't come together, your economic depression concerns will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

- Frank Frost

My Conspiracy Theory - China Funding America's Crusade Against Science

I'm normally not one to dream up or even consider conspiracy theories. I usually find them a complete waste of time. However...

I recently read William Shirer's "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich". Mr. Shirer was an American journalist who reported on WWII. He was actually in Berlin during the rise of the Nazi regime. He also gained access to the Nazi regime documents seized by Allied Forces when Germany fell.

In this book, I found one thing particularly worrying: The Nazi records (from their foreign office) showed that the Nazi regime had paid Jacob Thorkelson, an American Republican congressman from Montana, a large sum of money to bring "isolationist delegates" to the Republican National Convention. The idea was to get as many isolationist nominees on the Republican ticket as possible. If elected, these congressmen would make it impossible for the United States to enter the war. I should also mention that opposition to the proposed "Lend-Lease Act" began around the same time.

The documents also showed that Rep. Thorkelson was also paid a very large sum of money to have an advertisement placed in American newspapers arguing to "Keep America Out of the War". This is corroborated by the fact that an ad did appear in the New York Times on June 25, 1940.

After reading this, I got thinking about modern social movements which are homegrown, but could be easily co-opted by multinational corporations or foreign governments to undermine this country.

Here are a few examples I have considered:

1. Anti-Science Movement
2. Anti-Evolution Movement
3. Young Earth Creationists
4. Climate Change Deniers
5. Political Gridlockers
6. Anti-Public-School Movement

I have no evidence that any of these groups being influenced by a foreign government. I am simply saying that these homegrown, yet fringe, groups have somehow managed to gain a strong following despite their unpopularity among moderate, educated, well informed Americans. Keeping in mind what happened with the isolationists before WWII, a serious question must be asked: Who would stand to gain if these homegrown groups are being exploited?

Here are my thoughts:

Anti-Science, Anti-Evolution, Young Earth Creationists
If there were to be foreign exploitation of these movements, it would certainly be aimed at undermining the strong advantage the United States has in research, science, and technology. The main driver behind this is the perception among adherents that evolution is a conspiracy against god, and a lie perpetrated by either liberals or the devil himself. If these fringe groups could be exploited to vilify science, and undermine the teaching of concrete scientific principles, it would lead to a significant drop in the number of scientists produced by the already underfunded American education system.
Who benefits? Our only real rival in the science, research, and technology area is China. Russia is to be considered, but mainly as a second rank rival. This possible 'investment' would pay a triple dividend to the investor. First, it would undermine American technological superiority. Second, the investor nation would then gain a military technology advantage against the United States and all other possible rivals. Third, it would be in a position to sell superior technologies to allies of its choosing.

Climate Change Deniers
I think there are two drivers behind this movement. The first is the belief that a messiah will soon arrive, and this world will come to an end. This obviously leads to a shortsighted, short term view of our relationship to the environment. Afterall, the holy book specifically says that these resources are for mankind's use. The thought process is, Jesus is coming soon. Who cares about pollution or sustainability? Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we'll have the rapture! The second is our shortsighted drive for profit. I'm not saying that profit is bad. I'm saying that it's bad when coupled with a disregard for the consequences of pollution, deforestation, habitat destruction, and wildlife extinction to the long term health of our planet. It is also interesting to note that Chinese manufacturers have made a hefty profit by selling low cost solar panels and wind turbines to Americans who aren't shortsighted. Our antagonism to the idea of climate change has led to antagonism and lack of support of American companies that supply solar panels and wind turbines. It's even gone as far as criticizing President Obama for a single renewable energy investment that went bad, despite the fact that many of the other renewable energy investments were very successful. The failure rate of these investments has been 1.4%. That's far better than Wall Street ever does.
Who benefits? The existing energy industry is the main beneficiary. They benefit by not having to compete against extremely cheap renewable energy. Consider this fact: If you spend $5000 on solar panels, it might take you 10 years to recover that money in energy savings. But all the while, your reliance on the existing energy industry is significantly reduced, if not eliminated. After the ten year "investment recovery period", the energy you receive is essentially free. The energy industry really doesn't want state, county, municipal governments or public transit authorities investing in renewable energy because it hits their profits. It also gives them less 'price control' power over the governmental buyers.

Political Gridlockers
By gridlockers, I mean members of Congress who obstruct all progress on anything that might minutely benefit the opposing party or the president. Democracy is always a messy, chaotic process. It's a bit like herding cats. But, in the end it is effective because of a concept that has become a four-letter word in Washington D.C.: compromise. In a country as large and diverse as ours, compromise is the only way to get anything done. No one gets exactly what they want, but everyone gets something. It's how democracy works. That concept is not lost on the gridlockers. They fully understand how it's supposed to work. It seems as if their mission is to ensure that it doesn't work.
Who benefits? The main benefactors are government contractors who benefit from the taxpayer and Chinese loan funded gravy train. They don't want that gravy train to stop, or even slow down.

Anti-Public School Movement
At the surface, charter schools and vouchers seem like a fair idea. With charter schools, school tax revenues are diverted to private schools who claim they can do better. The idea is that private schools don't have unionized workers or expensive bureaucracies, so they should be able to provide more teachers, smaller class sizes, and better education results than their public counterparts. With vouchers, parents get a voucher to pay their child's tuition at a private school of their choosing. The problem with both of these systems is that they deprive already underfunded public schools of funding, diverting those funds to private schools that almost exclusively benefit wealthy families. The charter school idea has an additional problem of having unelected school boards, and often being exempt from many state education laws. When a public school is converted to a charter, the new school does not guarantee enrollment of all children in the area served by the former public school. Add on top of that the fact that even the 'non-profit' charter schools turn massive profits, you have much more waste than public school bureaucracies and unionized teachers. Many people see the voucher and charter movement to be another way of re-segregating schools. While some white students would be left at unfunded urban public schools, it would disproportionately effect minority students.
Who Benefits? I'm not going to point the finger at China, although they would benefit competitively from the downfall of American public schools. I think the blame lies squarely with the conservative 'starve the beast' mentality, and the conservative hatred of anything unionized and / or government run. There is also a mantra that is constantly chanted among conservatives that government should be downsized and outsourced to private firms. Let's not forget about the overcrowding, human rights violations, and judicial corruption that has marred the privatization of prisons. By outsourcing education and making it a commodity, we run the risk of having our children stuck in a system of greed, abuse, and corruption. At least with public schools, the school boards are elected and accountable to voters. With charter and voucher schools, the state treasury is opened to looting from private firms, and voters have zero control or input into the system. They can only vote with their feet. But if the entire system is corrupted and greedy, there may not be a choice.

So, that's my conspiracy theory. It may be out there, but these things seem quite feasible. I wonder if many other people ponder these things when they formulate opinions about charter schools and voucher programs...