Coloradopols.com blog reports that at Noon CO's Secretary of State reports the following:

*Party/ Ballots Returned Thus Far/ Total Active Voters/ Percent Returned
Democrats: 310,671/ 817,458/ 38%
Republicans: 358,953/ 855,667/ 42%

FYI local knowledge: 46 Counties are mail in ballot only and 18 have both mail in and polling places. Out of the 18 only two is on the CO Front Range known as the urban corridor (basically Pueblo to Ft. Collins straddling Interstate 25), El Paso County and Weld County representing 18% of the Front Range population that comprises 86% of CO's entire population.

UPDATE: El Paso County which is the 4th largest Democratic voting and Top Republican voting county has significantly lower turnouts, Dems 21.5% and GOP 23.9% as of Noon. Take out El Paso County for the Dems and the turnout is approaching 40% for the rest of the state. Significance is that the voter turnout is stronger in Denver Metro where the candidates are local personalities and hotter races.
 

Colorado Pols blog reported that as of late Friday afternoon the Secretary of State has recorded 245,377 votes cast (269,646 for GOP) This equates to a 30% turnout for the Democrats and 32% for the Republicans. Previous highs for the Dems was in 2004 contested Senate race between Salazar & Miles where 237,140). GOP record was also in 2004 when 335,431).

I think the turnout will eventually top 300,000 Tuesday as more mail in ballots will either be received or turned in Monday and then those who traditionally vote in the polls on Tuesday. Ironically the large amount of Mail-in balloting is a result of the Obama  2008 Campaign that encouraged committed regular voting Dems to become permanent mail in registrants now eclipsing 40% of the 817,000 registered Dems and closing in on similar percentages of the state's GOP. (In fact the lowest percentage of mail in registrants are the state's unaffiliated voters who cannot vote in this primary.)

Analysis thought: This cannot be good for either the Democratic incumbent (Michael Bennet) or the regular party (non-Tea Party backed) Republican candidates where in the recent past turnouts were in the low twenty percents. Secondly, the close turnout numbers demonstrate that at least in Colorado the national narrative that Democrats are less enthusiastic or motivated than the GOP is not substantiated.

With roughly 30% of the Dem electorate not being knowledgeable of the Thursday's New York Times piece it shows that it will not have a big impact on the race except for the undecided's or voters who will go to the polls, my estimate to be just above 50,000. Many politicos in the state think the race is within 4% with the majority thinking that Romanoff will pull the upset as his campaign closed hard in July and already had a strong grass roots organization populated by many Democratic Party local activists.

At the El Paso County Central Committee Meeting yesterday the Bennet supporters were strangely silent and not enthusiastic in the least.

Essentially Romanoff has erased a 17point deficit over the last couple months in a poll conducted by Survey USA for the Denver Post.

"Romanoff and Bennet are about even -- 48 percent to 45 percent, respectively -- in the poll of 536 Democrats who have voted or are likely to vote in the Aug. 10 primary. The question has a margin of error of 4.3 percentage points.

The results show a surge for the former state House speaker since June, when he was 17 points behind, and are likely a reflection of a well-organized and passionate ground game, analysts say. Romanoff recently sold his house and cashed in savings to loan his campaign $325,000.

Romanoff's movement is "dramatic," according to pollster Jay Leve of Survey USA, the firm that conducted the poll."

This after a deluge of media ads by Bennet, robo calls by Obama and heavy out of state endorsements by many in the Dem establishment.

This also on the heals of a expose by a small Denver suburban newspaper , (Cherry Creek News), that brought to light Bennet's involvement of a classic corporate private equity raid of Regal Theaters where Bennet's billionaire investor employer received $1.4B in dividends and Bennet personally received $11.4M in compensation from a bankrupt reorganization process.

 Voting is already underway through mail in ballots and tomorrow early voting commences as the primary approaches on Aug 10th at the polls. 

Insurgent Democratic senatorial candidate Andrew Romanoff won the preference poll at the Colorado State Assembly 60.4% over appointed Democratic incumbent senatorial candidate Michael Bennet who received 39.6%. That should be the big headline as another non-establishment candidate beat the party's guy by more than 20% in a 2010 election. But what really is the significance?

First some background Colorado remains one of those 14 caucus-assembly states that the Obama campaign used effectively to beat Hillary Clinton in 2008, although in state and local elections it is actually a hybrid caucus-primary process in that it uses the caucus process to cull the pack so-to-speak while still using a primary as the final party nominating process (outside electing delegates to the presidential national conventions). Complicated enough? Yesterday on Saturday, May 22nd, the state held both major party's State Assembly (other word for state convention) comprised pf delegates elected from 64 county conventions held in April from delegates originally chosen from precinct caucuses. I was one of those delegates as I am a Democratic Party state and county party official of minor consequence.

Democrats elected roughly 5100 delegates and alternates apportioned to the counties based on the relative voting party strengths from the previous highest level of statewide elections, which I hail from the red area of El Paso County (Colorado Springs) where ironically we rank 4th largest in the state. Going into the State Assembly Romanoff held a 57.3% to 42.5% advantage over Bennet in pledged delegates. Remember delegates are pledged but by Democratic rule must vote their own conscience (meaning they can and will change their voting preference). Furthermore there are no proxies where a delegate who fails to appear is replaced by an alternate if they are available. Historically in oft-presidential election years there is a 50% absentee rate for delegates and alternates elected at county conventions.

Yesterday it was announced that 3642 delegates were credentialed (this included seated alternates) out of 5100 or 71.41% and a better than normal turnout. There was only one contested race, the U.S. Senate race where the other offices from Governor on down were merely ceremonial nominations preceded by campaign speeches.

There are two caveats to a contested assembly nominating process; one a candidate must receive a minimum of 30% (known as threshold) preference poll from the body to get on the primary ballot without submitting nominating petitions from each of the seven Congressional Districts, and two, a minimum of 10% preference poll to get on the even if they had nominating petitions. Also a bit of history, in 2004 when now Interior Secretary Ken Salazar was seeking the nomination the State Assembly suddenly flipped its vote when then State Attorney General Salazar was upset by insurgent educator Mike Miles who gave an Obama-like speech. Miles eventually lost in the primary to the establishment candidate.

Therefore the entire focus of the festivities was all about the Senate race. I have personally met both candidates numerous times going back to last year when Michael Bennet started running for election soon after being appointed by Governor Ritter in February 2009. Even back then party leaders often inquired privately why Ritter chose then Denver School Superintendent who previously was Mayor Hickenlooper's, Chief of Staff to the Senate seat. Ritter has always remained mum to them (and even to me when I once inquired at a small meeting) except that he has said he always like Michael. When Pat Waak the State Party's Chairperson (now elected to her 3rd successive term) inquired the same back in February 2009 by also bringing up the fact that Bennet did not know Colorado politics, Ritter is said to have replied, "he can learn".

More ironically in December this year Governor Ritter declared he was now suddenly not seeking re-election and as it has turned out Denver's Mayor Hickenlooper stepped forward and was nominated yesterday as the Democratic candidate. During the time preceding the Senate appointment former Colorado Legislative Speaker of the House, Andrew Romanoff was proposed by many party leaders as the obvious choice since he was out of office due to the state's term limit statute. Andrew was the first Democratic Party Speaker in 30 years and was considered by both the national and state party as the nation's best legislator and super star on the rise, but alas Ritter passed him over for some still unknown stated reason and possibly did Andrew a favor in this anti-establishment election year.

Anyway not unlike Sestak the Obama Administration and National Party leaders strongly suggested Andrew not seek the Senate seat in 2010 and get some international or DC experience. Romanoff balked and as the many in the party began to draft him he launched his insurgent, under-funded grass roots campaign. From the start Bennet's campaign suddenly pivoted, suddenly he got Healthcare Reform urgent and started moving very populist after originally preaching moderation and even Blue Dog Democratic conservatism. In March the caucus came and Romanoff pulled what was considered a mild upset winning 52% of the caucus raw vote to Bennet's 45%. Bennet tried to spin the loss on the fact that he was actually the novice outsider and lacked the grass roots organization that Romanoff had suddenly built in less than two months with less than $500,000. Bennet is said to have raised over $2.7M, most from out of state contributors and much from corporate special interests---now a campaign issue since Romanoff will not take any PAC money.

Now in El Paso County, the media market that the Obama campaign visited the most nationally during the 2008 presidential election, (McCain's camp visited it three times where previously in 120 years no presidential campaign visit ever happened), originally voted 43% for Romanoff, a decided CO Front Range county outlier then. I was elected as a Romanoff delegate to our county assembly but then a surprise in April, where the tables turned and Romanoff won 53% flipping some Bennet votes and capturing most of the undecided's. Unspoken was also the fact that a larger number of Bennet delegates failed to show at the county where we elected 186 delegates to their 134 (Bennet's camp couldn't even fill all their allotted delegate slots let alone any alternates, while Romanoff's campaign even selected 36 alternates).

Overall in the 64 counties Romanoff carried 57% of the delegates even despite Bennet's $1M statewide media campaign was launched in late March. This expensive media campaign has moved the overall recognition and moved the polls from 42% to 46% and pushing down Romanoff's percentages 3 points to 31%. At least for me, a party participate I would have expected a move well above 50% with that kind of marketing exposure. All this came to a head Saturday where 3642 delegates (and seated alternates) came to the northern Denver suburb of Broomfield on the first warm beautiful Saturday this spring and be political.

Just before the big speeches one of our county's Romanoff organizers told me that 138 (out of 186) El Paso County Romanoff delegates and alternates were credentialed while 77 (out of 134) Bennet delegates were seated. Or 74% of the Romanoff delegates appeared to make their voices heard while 57% of the Bennet supporters made the trip. I found this interesting since the investment was a minimum of a 1 1/2 hour drive from Colorado Springs where a delegate had to arrive by 9 AM. Many of course stayed over night at either a friends/family home or at a hotel.

Romanoff who went first went five minutes over with his speech and demonstration which was traditionally raucous and entirely Democratic Party-like. Both presented video biographies but as unbiased and politically critical as I could be Romanoff's with as little money he had produced a far more compelling piece, almost to the same level as Obama's National Convention production that was displayed in Denver's Mile High Stadium. Romanoff does not have Obama's public speaking ability but he still can move a crowd. His message touched on current Democratic Party themes but then produced the important point, a call to arms, a cause to celebrity, a reason--- he pointed out that he was not bought and sold by the corporate special interests tearing down this nation and our ability to govern and challenging our own party. His message was red meat to this assembled politicos of course, but he went on to state that the only way to change Washington, change America, change the status quo was for a brave politician to refuse corporate special interest money and win, that was the message that Washington would hear loud and clear. Naturally the cheers were unrestrained.

Bennet's presentation followed. It too tried a populist theme and approach, but his video production was choppy, its message disjointed and even the audio work was almost amatuerish where some possessed echos others too loud or distorted. Michael does possess a compelling biography, a good family man where like Romanoff has grandparents who were recent European immigrants but in the end his message is that the current establishment is solving and will solve the problems of the nation. His cheers were there but more orchestrated and not unlike Romanoff, does not compare to Obama in public speaking but even my wife, a more casual observer said it seemed more like a concession speech than a rally.

Then the votes where all of us tear off a portion of our credentials necklaced over our necks and cast a PAPER BALLOT! The results of course were 2156 for Romanoff (60.4%) to 1413 (39.6%) with 73 delegates not voting. Essentially Romanoff gained another 3% on Bennet, despite the media buy over the last two months, despite the PPP poll stating that Bennet had gained with Democratic voters despite the party leaders including the president supporting the incumbent. From the caucus of 52% to the county assemblies to 57% and now to the state moving the vote to 60% regular Democratic voters, participates, activists and officials are supporting Romanoff in a 3 to 2 margin.

Naturally the establishment is not buying this and is counting on a turnaround in the primary the same process where both Sestak of PA and Halter of Arkansas came back from 20 points down in a matter of weeks to either upset of force a runnoff primary against a Democratic incumbent. Colorado's primary is August 10th, smack at the end of the Colorado summer (we return to school in mid-August), where most voters are still camping, biking, fishing and just plain being uninterested in politics. This is why primary turnout ranges from 10% to no more than 22%. So when Bennet states that only the party activists vote in the caucus-assembly process they are the same persons who vote overwhelmingly in the primaries.

Romanoff organizers tell me he is naturally saving every penny he has raised or will raise for the final four weeks after July 4th for a media blitz to counter Bennet's huge cache. Romanoff has the message, he has the credibility, he has grass roots support and he has political high ground. I think that unless something happens that doesn't fundamentally change the game, Romanoff will emerge as CO's Democratic nominee and another endorsed incumbent will fall by the way side. That is democracy.  

 

 

  

 

Michael Lewis's recent book, "The Big Short" was quite enlightening and unmasked what the news and media could not explain, the Subprime market and the financial crisis in a nutshell, and it was not that complex or complicated---it was merely a scheme to bilk and financially rape, pillage and plunder America's middle and poor working class.

There should be no mercy for all those involved---criminally and civil proceedings, no mercy.

What essentially Lewis revealed was how a small number of youthful, non financial degreed, non Ivy School pedigree small time investors remote to Wall Street, came to know that inherent to the entire subprime market was that it was going to collapse and that these small time hedge fund investors did was simply bet short against the bonds (or virtual bonds), the stocks of the investment banks, investment funds, mortgage companies and even the ratings services that the entire scheme was going to collapse.

In short, they figured this out because the underlying loans being made would never be rated as anything AAA, let alone even reasonable to a Chicago Oufit street loan shark soldier, and that these mortgages were going to go belly up as soon as the teaser rate period ended and the properties either went flat or devalued. Their analysis came from varying directions, either unearthing the worst of the worst bond portfolios with even incomplete or abbreviated fiscal data, or by unmasking the criminal and unethical characters of those running the Investment Bank funds or by simply knowing the prevalent incompetence of the investment firms buying the bonds.

But what became apparent was the systemic rejection to the contraian view of these investors, even to the top management of these firms---because so much virtual money was being booked and taken home. Until the bust came, but this bust became worse due to the multiplier effect of reselling these bonds when they were shorted or warehoused and then resold again and again. That is like crooked bookies counterfit tickets to an event and resell it many times over. Actually my son described it like how Star Wars created the Clones, but instead of a real robotic clone shooting laser darts, these later clones were merely a hallogram image of the original, where these hallogram images were sold as the actual clone without going through the chore of actually manufacturing a real clone.

But Lewis did more than simply describe the fraud and criminal deception conducted as Investment Banking activities. He cut to the chase as the real problem, America's financial industry capitalism structure where these Wall Street firms have become inherently unaccountable for their actions---meaning no moral hazard to their activities. He points out that since the Investment Banking companies are now publicly traded, the actual risks transfer to the nameless and unaccountable shareholders instead of the management and traders who make the actual risk. This problem has grown the investment banking industry to take risks on their assets that are structurally unsound---26:1 to 36:1, this is leverage.

This leverage does not create one job outside of Wall Street for it fosters simply a betting parlour. They don't loan money to long term interests of small business or anything that is real. They are simply parasites eating at our nation. In this parasitic system comes the preditorial parasite, the executive management completely consumed by greed and instant reward, where an environment exists without real regulation or oversight. There is no NO in the system.

 

Because it changes political course of at least a generation! Since Reagan and possibly before America "believed" it could solve its social problems through its "business class" (as RNC Chair called it today)....its friggin business class (?)---Yes, the same social mechanisms expressed in the movie "Wall Street" or as Gordan Greco maintained; "greed is good".

The healthcare or essentially health insurance reform expressed in this moderate social reform act called HR 4872 is a fundamental deviation from the last thirty years of governing philosophy. It is the same philosophy that was based on the reform in student loan administration where the government learned that it was not more efficient or cheaper to use banks as the administrator for the money they were dispensing and guaranteeing (collecting) in student loans. Or the same philosophy that some state governments have learned that private tollways were not more efficient or cheaper than maintaining their own roads. Of the same philosophy that allowed the US military to use contractors to do what the military traditionally did, including feed itself. Profit or greed in social government programs is more expensive and only rewards the figgin "BUSINESS CLASS".

Yes the stupid Michael Steele, the idiot talking mouthpiece admitted this is about CLASS, and the business class (corporatism or new nobility) or what not has failed, again, and again and again and again....drunk with mythology and rhetoric it is a failed philosophy because greed is never good. It must be regulated like fire, controlled, respected and kept in check. Yes the effects of greed in a capitalist setting where there is a purpose of private enterprise where some choose one product or service over another for their own purposes, might have beneficial effects---short term for both the chooser and provider---but not in social services of the whole.

This is what is so difficult for even Democratic members have ascribed to this notion of the business class and greed is good. It is not. Get over it. Move on. Pass the bill for America.

As TR Reid said in his fundamental enlightening book, "Healing in America" healthcare is a national moral question, not a financial question but a moral one where essentially how can you reconcile the idea that people, Americans are dying because of the lack of healthcare? Well if it is a business class question, that class does not ascribe to morality in the pursuit of profit---why---greed is immoral.  

It took my semi-political brother who resides on the other side of the partisan fence to enlighten me on what killed Coakley, it was not her vacation over the holidays, (although she and her staff had to be blind to the trend lines in December see Pollster.com's graph for the trend line), it was the release of the Sen, Nelson Nebraska deal that sealed her fate.

Actually it was the exposure of the lack of principles pertaining to the Democratic Party's Senators in the process that emerged the flawed Senate Bill. The Senate leadership, or lack of one starting with Reid and then Durban, followed by Baucus Nelson, Landrieu and Lincoln's self interest demonstrating total cynicism and lack of character to the task at hand. The Nebraska deal sealed the fate.

Here is a hint to the Democratic Party to which I am a lowly state party leader, get principled, get disciplined and be ready to fight to actually change America.

Healthcare represents that change but only part of it. What is the change that is needed, where has America gone against its nature---history tells us if you simply want to look. Change has only happened a few times....let us say it began with the Am Revolution but then after that came the US Constitution when the first government of supreme states' confederation proved unworkable for a nation. Okay then in our nation there was the Federalist movement followed by the Jeffersonian Democracy...thus in twenty years we had fundamental shifts in governance three times, twice within the same constitutional framework. Then it took another twenty years until Jacksonian took place. Thirty years until the Union and Constitution was really challenged with the Civil War, where the nation abolished slavery---now that was change. 

Then it was not until FDR and his New Deal when change took place, real change...roughly almost 70 years, now again almost 80  years since the New Deal we there is change in the air. What is that change....we'll my guess is that it is more than merely healthcare, that effort is like the Missouri Compromise, trying to keep the dysfunctional and flawed system of Corporate Artificial Citizenhood in place. Let us face it, the only interests that oppose healthcare reform, healthcare for all are corporatists'. Those who believe a bank account is more important than a person.

When you reduce the idea of legal personhood stems from the tort right to contract, meaning the corporate right to contract with natural and other legal persons...But a corporation is nothing but a bank account, where a Board of Directors has fiduciary responsibility to protect and expand according to the charter of its "temporary shareholders" who are only interested in the life of the corporation as an investment opportunity. The legal person here does not breathe, have a heart beat or  seek healthcare.

It is the corporate system that is now inherently at the dysfunctional point in our nation, our union. In the the 1780's it was the dysfunction of a lack of a Federal System, in 1800 there was too much Federalism, in the 1820's the banking system was screwed up, and 1850's showed that a slave society could not reside in the modern world of a free nation. In the 1930's hands off government could not function in a modern industrial nation and in the 2000 the rule of corporatism has proven itself to be dysfunctional.

Back to Coakley and the Dem's, be principled, stay with the ordinary citizen and not with corporate citizens. 

Fine, so the caucus has 59 votes, so what, it never had 60 with him anyway.  Send a discipline message to the entire Senate---get some huervos Reid and Dem leadership and send him packing.

After 2010 reassign his office to the lowly of all facilities....cut his budget, remove his chairmanship, move him to the lowest of committees.

Let him go to a corner office of the insurance industry...

What people simply don't realize is that Social Security and even Medicare is not completely universal. Regarding Social Security the Big Railroad Retirement Pensions did not participate and neither did many others like the Post Office, some State (public and state teacher trusts) employees like Colorado's PERA or Wisconsin's WEA.

If some states for whatever reason politically or what not do not want to participate in what is unquestionably a better financial formula to manage healthcare (or as Obermann puts it "stave off death") than by all means let them try. Like a number of states that underfund and underappreciate public and collegiate education, there will be state societies that will gravitate to the bottom of the social-economic ladder while other states more progressive will gravitate near the top.

Putting together a research report as to why Colorado's major metro areas experienced greater job loss than other cities even though Colorado didn't have major auto or manufacturing business it became clear that the state still didn't have the depth or breath of a wide variety of industry sectors like Boston & Dallas (comparable Denver), Madison & Austin (two cities comparable to Colorado Springs) that not only included new tech firms, but also a deeper commitments to education, engineering, healthcare and finance.

If it takes the form of "choice" to trojan horse what is fundementally necessary for this nation to move forward where 2/3's of the states "Opt-In" with possibly 80% of the populace than so be it. Eventually state legislatures become very practical and rational when faced with the prospects of not being able to pay for things.

 

First who are they? Well they are the invisible, dubious members of the former vast 'Right-Wing Conspiracy', that Hillary once mentioned who had placed her loved one, Bill in their sites or sights. The authoritarians are not ones who are at all comfortable with modern democracy, as in things like "elections have consequences" or actual civil rights and all that. Meaning they just don't really have a genuine or authentic allegience to stuff like the Constitution or the "rule of law".

John Dean wrote a book recently titled: "Conservatives Without Conscience" but that is a big mis-identification, true conservatives are not authoritarians, in fact real conservatives like Ron Paul actually holds in his pinky finger more belief in personal freedoms than Dick Cheney and George W Bush put together with their wives and children put together. True conservatives Richard Lugar or Olympia Snowe or even the new Democratic Senator and GOP renegade Arlen Spector believe in gradual change or maintaining the current institutions but authoritarians only believe in maintaining their own institution of absolute power.

John Perry, the decade long NewsMax columnist and former editor published a real warning today calling for a civilized (or sanitized) military coup de etat for the sake of "saving America" from the unconstitutional but duly majority elected government of Barack Obama and his Democratic Party majority. Really, a bloodless insurrection, one where the military breaks all military law and code through some elite officer corps and overtakes the democracy to save what----the authoritarian rule of the "them".

This public bomblast comes on the heals of a published survey that called for the assassination of the President. Just behind a US Congressman saying Obama is the enemy of humanity, after the throws of the August teabagging and astro turf generated "town hall" insurrection. What gives?

What gives is the authoritarians are coming. Riled and emotionally cued up by those who lost power last November authoritarians are the last vestiges or remnants of a 'left behind" white America who are totally intolerant of diversity and difference. They believe because of birthright and status they are entitled to some past America, where they had social status and privilage, but worse that others not of the "right thinking' should be punished or banished from their America. They are the "Palinites", the followers of 'Joe the Plumber", the white evagelical politicos of James Dobson and company, the extremists against abortion and believe that Medicare is not socialism but the public option is fascist-communism.

But behind that veil of ignorant, uneducated, bitter activists is the real perpetrators, those receiving the rewards and benefits of power---BIG CORPORATE AMERICA and the Caymen Islands, Bermuda, and what not. Obama must be a threat to them because he is really a populist, a dangerous power that might also be cutting into the elite in the US Military and the Intelligence conglomerates. Political Science teaches that authoritarian fascism is bred and born when an right-wing reactionary government is partnered with a highly monopolistic big business community and the military. I will add that it also takes a second degree of partnering with the domestic and foreign intelligence community and the mass media.

NewMax is part of that world, partnered with FOX News Corp and the franchises known as Limbaugh, Beck, O'Reilly, Hannity and the right wing radio talk. Don't underestimate the influence of mainstream media that has been taken over and contaminated by its Big Business parent companies, but what is not working is the effect of propaganda. I think this the Internet and blogosphere is to blame as more and more people are simply gaining their information from decentralized sources than from one news pool.

But yet I am concerned. Would an elite rightwing based officer corps stage a coup? Conceivably yes, there is NorthComm right here in Colorado Springs, CO. There is the means of communication and coordination. Would those in Congress sit idly by and allow the Congress to be dissolved? Would the Supreme Court and sitting justices there in the Appeals Circuits allow the government to be dismantled? Would the states allow this happen? Ultimately would the citizenry allow it to happen?

Dr. George Mosse the now deceased scholar on European Fascism who in his youth actually escaped Hitler when he was installed as the Supreme Leader of modern Germany in 1932 told me personally that someday there might be fools to try. America is as big as Russia when Napoleon and Hitler invaded it and in both cases the depth and expanse of attempting to control such a diverse huge nation collapses on its own weight.

But this is no ordinary threat exposed by Perry or the many others who are now hanging over the edge of the envelope of insurrection and treason. Ironically Grassley and Ensign both exposed the fear of the authoritarians yesterday as they debated the public option on health care when they said they feared it would prove too popular (and effective)---meaning it would cost BIG CORPORATE AMERICA money---forever. When a G-20 Summit leader asked Obama how it was he was being compared to Hitler for advocating healthcare reform it was inferred how nuts really are America corporate and right wing lunatics?

And yet this modern day Shakespeare play that has many Acts left to be narrated, the question is whether it ends like "Richard III" or "Julius Caesar". My guess is that Richard might be in order as the conspirators are exposed and Obama leads America against the odds of corporate authoritarians in a defining battle where all their knights are vanguished in the mud. But I am an idealist.  

Remember when you actually believed in Santa Claus? Or remember your first true love? How about the myth that actually being a loyal, on time employee who tried his or her best insured your employment? These of course are but a few myths in your life that you probably held but soon came to terms with, often after becoming angry or incensed even psychotic, depressed, hostile or even somewhat violent.

Tuesday evening I had the opportunity to go and witness a Republican Congressional Town Hall Meeting in the den of the far right-wing, even I dare say, the radical Libertarian bastion of the nation, Woodland Park, CO, which is up a mountain pass from Colorado Springs, CO. I dare say this was a place quite "friendly" to all forms of right-wingism and political conservatism---even authoritarianism. Congressman Lamborn, one of the most [un]respected GOP Representatives even among his own peers was hosting the affair. Naturally the attendance broke all forms of safety and fire codes, but alas it is a Republican stronghold and who is going to enforce codes when a bashing session in order.

I did witness all forms of anti-government anger, Obama vilification even name-calling as in Nazi or Marxist or both. Many exclaimed all forms of the Constitution as they interpreted it as being trampled. More in tune was a proliferation and validation of the myths the Republicans and conservatives continue to express in opposition to this reform effort. One humorous moment of admission came when a person admitted:

<blockquote>"they were being bused in, prepared by their "handlers" as to what questions and comments to make, but it was unnecessary in a gathering of like minded people as here."</blockquote>

But their anger, confusion, fear and resentment was real, no different than the wrath Lorena Bobbit had when she learned of her John's infidelity. Except in this case the anger is not so much about facing reality that a relationship has come to an end but that their mythology of what constitutes America is being openly challenged---politically and they are angry about it. It is this sublime to witness. They see America in some mythology, as what there idea  reality is, a form of ----- "truthiness". Corbet the sarcastic genius has captured what constitutes this large fringe conservative psychology:

<blockquote>They 'believe', therefore they know, in their gut, that these things they hold must be true, regardless of those pesky facts and contradictions, namely things like empirical analysis, or reality outcomes, for what they feel in their gut, all the myths and fears is 'Truth--iness'. Confronted with 'cognitive dissonance', something that goes over their heads recognized only liberal intellectuals since they can't pronounce it anyway, they are not bound by any cognitive or dissonance and deny there is a psychological contradiction between believing their in their gut when their mind says you might be wrong.</blockquote>

What is dangerous and wholly irresponsible is that Lamborn, our Congressman, is not only cow-towing to this collective but wrong-headed emotion, but he is actively feeding it. It is a veiled or unconscious path towards nihilism where any form of modern social organization and government is the object of their desired destruction of it. This of course is not about good policy or finding a means to solve an overwhelming social and economic problem, it is about feeding the flames to recapture their lost  power, for the sake of having power and using to continue their own mythical worldviews.

Walking out of the energy-charged gathering one Bible-toting extremist greeted the attendees exalting: "[G]od's work has been performed here." Where as I passed close by I whispered just loud enough for her to hear, "actually, '"Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.', would be a more apropos quotation." The stunned look that came across her face was precious, where suddenly there came the anger of some realization that I was actually a silent liberal walking right beside and was qouting the Bible. It left her momentarily speechless still holding her Bible high in the air.

That night watching the Rachel Maddow Show I got more validation for what I had seen in person. Many Republicans actually believe in the myths including "death panels", publicly financed abortions, government takeover of health coverage, et cetera, while Democrats and Independents don't. (Thanks to Daily Kos hiring Research 2000 to do some of that research).

These same Republicans admit to getting their information from Fox News and conservative 'talk radio' while Independents and Democrats are getting their information from other sources. Propagating the myths versus critically thinking that is what is going on here. That is why what Barney Frank said about talking to a "dining table" was so on the mark.

Ironically, the characterizations of Nazism is what is so maddening and yet it is such an example of "projection". What actually created and maintained Nazi Germany, as well as Fascist Italy and the Imperial Japan was their collective beliefs in national mythologies. It is the same thing that propelled Serbia in the 1990's, to genocide. Serbia was reclaiming its former ancient self of Greater Serbian Empire. Germany was living the myth of a "superior race", the pure Aryans, while Italy was rebuilding its former self, the Roman Empire. In Japan they felt that the Emperor was infallible and Japanese were superior all myths of course, but so powerful it brought death and destruction to all that touched it or had to repel it.

But these angry right-wingers declare that it is Obama is Hitler reincarnate. That is projection and they are as dangerous as Lorena Bobbit or my brother in the 2nd grade who punched the daylights out of the 3rd grader who told him there was no Santa Claus. Myth busting in politics is not entertainment on the Discovery Channel, unfortunately it is a blood sport.

The problem is not so much with these lost political souls who "... do not know what they are doing", it is with their leaders who do. Make no mistake, lying and feeding the myth monster is not a good American---period, it is akin to being a traitor. Burn down the house and then what, that is not protecting the Constitution, that is self-serving a political end that is nothing but a deep abyss.

So to those who are outside the myth believers, understand they are not reachable, no different than if you run into an adult who still believes in the "Great Pumpkin", which probably includes Michelle Bachmann. But to all the rest, keep them all accountable and have some courage.

Today the BLS released more bad news informing the public that 437,000 more American families faced uncertain and possibly disastrous economic conditions summing up that 7,200,000 million families in total have experience a similar fate since the Christmas season in 2007. This is not just a recession, it is not a correction or a result of financial manipulation it is a fundamental change or shutter in the global and American economy. Of all people I should know, I  have been a recruitment and hiring professional for almost 26 years, oh that is the same figure that the BLS is using when it says our unemployment is the highest in a quarter of a century.

But beyond the TV attempts of economic cheerleading the economic new is far more foreboding if you are really looking at the data: Air, trucking, and rail shipping is down 20% year-over-year., global trade is down about 30% in all major exporting countries if or when the recession or this depression is ending you will see some uptick somewhere in trade and shipping. In reality we are probably in relative terms what 1930 was and still we have 1931, 1932 and 1933 to go through. Get it.

The thing is the Great Depression was a complete While this change will entail a great deal of pain and a reduced standard of living for a large number of people, by the time the Crisis subsides, society will have pretty much remade itself in ways

Yesterday the Senate Banking Committee, with Democratic Senators joining a unified Republican base, killed a provision to allow bankruptcy judges re-negotiate home mortgages to stave off foreclosures. Yesterday Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois made an interesting a little reported charge on the Ed Shultz Show (MSNBC) stated:

"[Facing] 8 million mortgage foreclosures in America, that means 1 out of every 6 home mortgages will go into foreclosure, and that is not my estimate that is Moody's,..., sitting down and negotiating for months to find a reasonable way for people to keep their homes, to renegotiate the mortgage or have a bankruptcy judge make one last attempt----THE BANKS HAVE WALKED AWAY FROM THE TABLE, only CitiGroup is willing to work with us."

Ed Shultz quoting Durbin from another radio interview: "So after taking billions (if not trillions) of tax payer dollars, the banks are now so obstinate to refuse to negotiate and then qouted Durbin saying "THE BANKS OWN THE SENATE". 

Shultz repeating the question: "Do you believe the BANKS OWN THE SENATE?"

Durbin: "It is an uphill battle right now, and I cannot get 60 votes in the Senate."

Shultz: "So the lobbying power is that strong?"

Durbin: "It is hard to believe that they bring us this crisis, the crisis that has brought us this recession [err DEPRESSION], when they receive billions of dollars of taxpayer money, for mistakes they have made, billions of dollars, that they refuse to sit down and work out a reasonable compromise....the next thing we are moving on is credit cards..."

Now you have that, then you have the failed Chrysler negotiations where Obama stated that a few [Wall Street] creditors [again] walked away from the table and refused to participate.

Here is the deal folks. Wall Street pirates have created an illusion that they are essential to capitalism, that they are capitalism and they must be served WITHOUT hair cuts, compromises or changes. This of course is unsustainable and irresponsible, as well as, how mobsters, gangsters, and pirates would react with total obstantance and arrogance. In short it is class a developing class war. Just look how the Somali pirates reacted when they were cornered, they still thought they had leverage. Of course they aren't that stupid as the pirates on the Strait of Hormuz so they want out of the TARP money so they can't be fired or take pay cuts. Fire them---fire them all.

We as a society need to take them out---period. We don't serve Wall Street, no differently than towns folk and farmers served the ranch barons in the old West. Wall Street needs to be taken down into small pieces, reorganized to serve society, most of us have some pension, 401k or other investment---we own it. Unveil the illusion, pull back the curtain and force government to bring this to an end.

The opinions and cries to stop the investigation before we actually know anything are already singing like a chorus. The presumed effect are being postulated that this will only destroy America and distract it from the real life issues in front of us----namely not going broke, getting green, saving the planet and saving us from the threats emulating from Gunga Din.

Yet for those of you who are close to or over 50 years old the cries to forgive and forget as eerily similar to those that cried out attempting to stem the tide of Watergate. Those Nixon officials were being prosecuted for political advice, for policy, or supporting the president et cetera. Then we learned after a grueling Sam Erwin that indeed it was all about politics----usurping all the presidents men and all the laws for the sake of power. If I recall we looked for the smoking gun where the president went over the line and attempted to cover up a covert political action group willing to use any means possible to expand and hold political power absence to the rule of law. In fact they sought to manipulate the law.

But that was all domestic law. Now we have both domestic and international law. Finishing Phillipe Sands book "Torture Team" and now overlaying his discoveries with the recent press clippings of timetables and released memos the picture is becoming clear. Torture was in, torture was not only sanctioned but demanded. Torture became policy but to make it "legal" it had to be defined. And yet now we learn that even before the OLC created their contorted and contested interpretations to suit the desired policy torture and rendition was already in full swing.

Few are actually why? The obvious is that we wanted, no demanded information about being hit in a second wave from the fear and paranoia of our leaders. Remember the run on plastic and duck tape? Remember how we had to have a month's supply of food, water and medicince?  I do. But torture is not nor has it ever been about getting honest information from its subjects, it is about getting a forced confession---propaganda.

Why would we want propaganda in late 2001 or through 2002? Oh let me recall that in the summer of 2002 suddenly our leaders sights were not on Gunga Din anymore but in the Fertile Crescent----Iraq. Could it be that they wanted forced confessions to justify the idea that Iraq was actually the state that perpetrated 9/11?  Of course for Michael Ledeen personally told me that even if there was no upcoming mushroom cloud over the skyline of NYC that Saddam was an attractive target in a sea of targets. Yes...torture...forced confessions...propaganda....political aims....political power a direct line?

Let me take the direct line backwards....Rove, Cheney, Rumsfeld all part of the Nixionan Age....political power, unitary power....absolute power. Their trouble now is that we cannot pardon crimes against humanity. International Law is slow, unweilding and eventually forces the rogue country to come to terms and give up their criminals. Either we do it or they do it. Oh sure we are the only nation with extradiction on these crimes....FOR NOW....but being rogue is like an island, very lonely.

So now we are learning about timelines, justifications and lawlessnes. When we eventually learn about the real motives this will be over.....except for the few defenders.

I am in the final chapters of reading Phillippe Sands book, "Torture Team" which lays out in fairly simple stark evidential fashion that it was the Bush Leadership that brought about, fostered and desired torture to be used at Gitmo, Abu Ghraib and places unknown and operated by the CIA. The evidence that he has already gathered is quite convincing where these masters of the bureaucratic darkside manipulated every government check and balance to authorize torture as a means of interrogation.

These memos released today only lay more evidence to those already gathered. Torture was well defined and understood before Bush, Cheney & Rumsfeld who are the biggest fish. The next level the underbosses so to speak; Feith, Haynes, Addington, Yoo, Bybee, Gonzales, Dell'Orto, Wolfowitz, and Cambone were the politco henchmen who worked their legal and bureaucractic magic to this done for the biggest fish. They found the mechanics, General's Dunleavy and Miller, willing soldiers along with secondary mechanics like the gulliable Col Beaver to actually show cover. Underneath this cover is a whole world of blind commited soldiers be they in special ops or the dark side of our civilian claudestine forces who carried out this stuff.

Ironically or not so, Sands states that they never got anything from their torture....nothing except Cheney's illusions or dreams.

This is my take Obama Administration. I think you will be faced with the inevitable. The Congress will have to do its dirty work and investigate not unlike Watergate. This will not be pleasant for many because what was done was Un-American and it will to many abroad that we were criminal in this regards. Once enough evidence is gained the Congress will have to call the bigger and bigger fish....do not offer any immunity. Then refer it to the Justice Department where Obama will not have any choice because simultaneously the World will be seeking retribution.

We will have to be big enough to prosecute our own for war crimes and crimes against humanity including torture---regardless of the intent to protect us from perceived evil that was and could be done to us. It will be a long dark chapter for much more will come out yet unknown. There will be those supporters regardless but so what.

So Obama stop talking and Congress get on with what you need to do. Call those who did this under oath and get it on record.