Dancing on the Cliff in the Dark

Well, here we are, off and galloping into the year 2013.

America peeked over the dreaded and mostly fictional Fiscal Cliff, and of course came back again with a stop-gap solution that assures the two corporate parties will battle again in a few weeks time over the national Debt Ceiling, a fairly new shibboleth since the debt ceiling has been routinely raised without a peep of protest in previous administrations. Republicans will use the debt ceiling ruse to frighten the gullible and gin up momentum for cutting “entitlement” programs like Social Security and Medicare – or any other program that doesn’t serve the wealthy.

America’s millionaire politicians insist that elderly people must work longer before receiving their benefits: make geezers toil until they’re 80 or until they keel over in the parking lot at Wal-Mart. Little thought is given to where oldsters are going to find jobs to work at for an additional five to ten years. As far as I know, employers are not clamoring for elderly workers as much as they’d like to rid themselves of them in exchange for younger, cheaper alternatives.

And while we’re snipping away at the tattered safety net, let’s put an end to hip or knee replacements for anyone on the public dime; canes and walkers are more cost effective.

The deal is pretty clear: austerity is the only way out of our fiscal wilderness. We must cut, slash, burn, and above all, make the poor pony up so the rich don’t have to. On the fruited and blessed plain of America, the wealthy are exalted, praised, and coddled like baby lambs. Under no circumstances must we burden the rich or upset them, because if we do, our best, brightest and most deserving will not invest their wealth, and if they don’t invest, our economy cannot grow, and if the economy doesn’t grow -- the horror, the horror, the horror.

Have you seen the recent feel-good PR blitz from AIG, the worldwide insurance giant that only four years ago was on the brink of ruin? An infusion of taxpayer bailout funds saved AIG and other financial institutions intimately connected with it from the bad bets and slippery business practices that had become standard operating procedure. American taxpayers had no say in the decision to bailout AIG; we were just told it was necessary to save capitalism from itself.

OK, the truth is, nobody in Washington D.C. had the stones to come out and criticize capitalism.

Anyway, if you believe the PR, AIG has clawed its way back to fiscal solvency and paid back, with interest, every dime dumped on its loading dock by US Government representatives. So you see, far from being an egregious display of corporate welfare, the bailout was a solid investment for the American taxpayer.

And, lo and behold, miracle of miracles, AIG is again doing what it does best – rebuilding hurricane ravaged communities – while wrapped in the American flag and with “Born in the USA” blaring in the background.

I think I’m going to heave all over my laptop. First BP restored the Gulf of Mexico and now AIG is saving Hurricane Sandy victims.

Holy shit! Three cheers for corporate America! Is there anything these marvelous people cannot do?

Our corporate masters only take a backseat to our military heroes, now on display in the film Zero Dark Thirty. I have no desire to see this film and here’s why: the so-called Greatest Manhunt in History required more than a decade, two invasions, thousands of dead, wounded or displaced, and billions of taxpayer dollars. Yes, our brave warriors with their ultra-effective weapons found and murdered Osama bin Laden, but the War on Terror continues as if bin Laden were still alive; the creeping and creepy American police state continues; bin Laden may be dead and rotting at the bottom of the sea, but his ghost is with us, and as a result, we remain less free, equally fearful and more in the dark.