October 1998, Volume 6 Nr. 2, Issue 62

And, Here's...

Let’s get to the point. America is awash with Monica and Bill. There has been so much attention paid to this affair that it becomes difficult to remember a time when it was not in the news. Think of all the air time — the broadcasts on radio and special reports on TV, the seemingly non-stop dedicated 24-hour slimeball coverage of some networks. The same folks that want to protect your kids by limiting their constitutional rights of access to material on the Internet are thrusting, yes thrusting, that very same salacious material they guard the young against into their faces.

The neo-moralist pompous purveyors of pornography use clever arguments to justify their placing every little detail of the president’s sordid private affair into our everyday consciousness. These are the same arguments used to criticize the proponents of free and unfettered access to the Internet. They can’t have it both ways.

Not only are they pompous, they are arrogant, rabid and fascist. And yes, they are mostly members of the Republican Party, that association of "family values" individuals who as in the case of their House leader, Newt Gingrich, has had three wives and in the case of the head of the judiciary committee, Senator Henry Hyde, has admitted to a tryst of his own.

This is the very same Senator Henry Hyde that has the dubious distinction of overseeing the impeachment proceedings against President Clinton. Then there is Helen Chenoweth, Congresswoman from Idaho. Chenoweth has been rabid, blasting Clinton for an affair such as she herself has committed. Oh! But, that was all in the distant past and this is now.

The right wing of the Republican party tries to portray its actions as fair. Of course, fairness is not the issue. The issue comes down to, as Michael Moore puts it, that the right has never accepted the election results of 1996. The Right’s attacks and legal proceedings are an attempt to overturn the results of a democratic election. Moore calls it a Coup D’Etat. There is a tendency, however, for such obsession to backfire. November 3, election day, may yet bring many surprises.

Revenge

This entire unsavory episode of prosecutorial extremity and overkill is a consequence of a where-were-you throwback of a few decades ago. Recall if you will that there were many young lawyers and activists working and volunteering with groups that were dedicated to getting that scoundrel Richard Nixon out of office. (Now, there’s a man who brought honor, glory and respect to the Oval Office.) So, where were Bill and Hillary back then? Working on the process to impeach Nixon that’s where.

The Republicans have never forgotten this. Bill’s troubles, though brought about mainly by his own actions, are exacerbated ad infinitum by the whining members of the not so Grand Old Party. To this very day, the GOP still cannot believe nor has it come to terms with the fact that one of their own was forced to resign. They see Bill and Hillary as perpetual symbols of defeat and humiliation. This White House pair are daily reminders staring in their faces and convoluting their gut that they lost a BIG one back then in the days when the current president wasn’t inhaling.

The GOP and their power elite have always seen Nixon’s resignation and departure as being orchestrated by the very same lefty, pinko, commie nudies, unpatriotic, flag-burning, godless, hippie, druggies like Bill, Hillary and their comrades. These folks are still fighting the Cold War and World War II though their tactics are in lock step with their former enemies.

People Know Better

In the 1996 presidential election, that icon of sacrifice, a man made in the World War II image of what it means to be great, Senator Robert Dole, was defeated by that known philanderer and pot smoker Bill Clinton. Not again! First, Nixon, then Bush and then Dole. When will it ever cease?

What is it that the people know? I believe what they do know is beyond Ken Starr’s comprehension. Starr is obsessed by his puritanical past and the blindness of his moralistic creed. The Ken Starr consortium cannot understand why people simply are not interested in impeaching a president who enjoys smoking slightly modified cigars.

The answer is so simple that only those who are crazed with revenge and those who have fallen into a depression over Clinton’s successes cannot see through the obscurity of their genuine hatred. Contrary to the teachings in A Course in Miracles, these folks would rather prove themselves right above all else and they are taking the rest of us along with them for the ride.

The American people see their own frailty, contradiction, humanity and shortcomings through this presidency. Bill Clinton is a reflection upon ourselves as a nation. He is not a reflection of that which is wrong with us, but, rather a reflection of our own projection and rush to judgment of others. Clinton is the mirror through which we see our sublimated responses to our own misdeeds and denial.

People are beginning to realize that compassion and forgiveness in their own lives is what allows them to wake up day-after-day and continue life’s journey without developing the hostility that shortens our lives and makes us miserable. But, there are many miserable people in Washington these days and misery seeks company.

People are beginning to sense that the Christian values the Right espouses begins with the self. Ah yes. Let us bring out the stones and vote for Bill’s impeachment by casting them. Let’s do that right on the House floor. Who will vote "Aye!" first and chuck one? Will it be Newt Gingrich, Dan Burton, Henry Hyde, Helen Chenoweth? Each have had their own problems with keeping their zipper up and their skirt down.

More formidably, people are drawing conclusions which suggest that the self-professed moral matadors and the pompous purveyors of pornography are one and the same. And, they are trying to destroy this presidency for a grudge that has been eating away at their innards for twenty-five years. I believe this group of vastly self-overgrieved hypocrites will soon self-destruct. That is already beginning to happen with the people’s backlash against them. There are five weeks to the election. Much self-destruction can take place in that time.

The Right’s grudge against those who came of political age during the sixties has become a cancer of the mind and spirit. It has metastasized to major institutions such as the media. Keep in mind that any description of the major media as liberal is a lie.

On Friday, September 25, 1998, the CNN Interactive Quick Votes homepage asked the question, "On Which Show Should Monica Lewinsky Make Her Debut?" Why is it that the people are seldom offered the opportunity to respond to the important questions? One might be, "Which do you think was more immoral?" Bill Clinton’s private sexual life and his lying about it or as Michael Moore asks in his piece, "Coup D’Etat, Phase Two" written in A Message from Michael Moore:

• From the Oval Office, Eisenhower approved the FBI's campaign to harass Martin Luther King.

• From his Oval Office chair, Kennedy ordered Castro's assassination.

• Johnson approved lying to Congress about the North Vietnamese attacking one of our boats in the Gulf of Tonkin (which led the Senate the next day to approve the beginning of the Vietnam War) from the Oval Office.

• Nixon approved a cover up of two burglaries from the Oval Office and ordered the Christmas bombing of 1972 which killed a half-million southeast Asians.
• Ford pardoned Nixon from the Oval Office

• From the Oval Office, Reagan ordered American mercenaries to Nicaragua to kill 10,000 innocent civilians.

• Bush, in order to restore the dictator to his throne in Kuwait, ordered young Americans to go fight and die in the Gulf War -- right from the Oval Office.

I can think of many questions that CNN could have asked instead. For starters: Do you approve of the unilateral US sanctions imposed on a nation’s people which bring severe hardship and even death to the people just because we disagree with their government?

Is it immoral that the richest and most powerful nation on Earth, often called the last remaining superpower, has more of its people now without health coverage than at any other time during the past ten years — a time when the so-called economic boom was taking place? What is connection between those who profited and those who lost? The New York Times, reported on Saturday, September 26, 1998 in an article entitled, "Lack of Health Insurance Affects 16% of Americans that,

Despite the booming economy, the number of people without health insurance rose sharply last year, to 43.4 million, and the proportion of Americans lacking coverage reached the highest level in a decade, 16.1 percent, the Census Bureau reported Friday.

Does The New York Times figure include the 2,500,000 people in prison where at least some health care exists. This figure incidentally is the second highest per capita incarceration rate in the world. We jockey for the number one spot with Russia.

Freedoms

Freedom can be defined in many different ways. It can be defined as security knowing that when one’s children go to school, they will be safe. Or, knowing that in one’s old age one will not be required to choose between medicine, food or rent.

Another definition of liberty is an extension of mobility in the job force. That is, a worker should be free enough to switch jobs and pursue new careers without healthcare or retirement pension penalty. Yet, that freedom is one that we do not readily have in the United States. While some might argue, I suggest the following case.

A few hours ago, I returned from a grocery run to Rutland, Vermont. Living in rural Vermont that jaunt is 50 miles round trip. Our adolescent son, Dylan, who has fought medical battles all is life and who has been stable for the past few years, was home alone. When I returned, I made a small lunch for him. Somewhere toward the tail end of eating his sandwich, Dylan developed a rapid and oscillating movement of his head toward the right. I went over to him and guided him as he dropped like a rock to the floor. In a panic I called 911 and then realized that he was breathing and he was snoring. I believed him to have had a seizure which was soon confirmed by the rescue squad and neurologist.

The point that I am making is that I am one of the fortunate ones who has almost adequate health care insurance coverage for our family. That coverage, however, keeps me hostage to my job. I know that if I change employment or lose it, or if I pursue my other passionate interests, that I could not afford nor would I necessarily be able to get coverage for our son. What’s worse is that once he is on his own, he may never be able to obtain health insurance coverage nor have the means by which to adequately afford it. You would think that a nation that calls itself a "super" power would make this and the taking care of our wise elders at least as important as sex in the White House. You would think that it would dedicate months of moment-to-moment coverage of this important people welfare issue.

Losing It

US Democracy is going the way of Frank Sinatra and Gene Autry. They sounded good and looked slick but are now nowhere to be found except on audio recordings and celluloid. National Public Radio (NPR) reported on October 4, 1998, that 40% of Americans cannot name the vice president. Over 60% of the people cannot name their senators. Less than 1% of all US citizens have ever made a political contribution. Such statistics suggest that we are losing our democracy. This is frightening.

One weekend on my way home from Bernie Sanders campaign headquarters in Rutland, I stopped and knocked on a number of doors asking whether I could place a "Re-Elect Bernie" sign on the lawn. "Oh. I don’t vote!" was the response. What’s worse than the non-involvement of the people is that the elected officials for the most part like and want it this way. There is very little threat that the Republicans in Congress will get thrown out if the electorate turns out in small numbers for the November election. The majority of politicians actually count on the apathy of the public in order to maintain the status quo. I suggest that we take Michael Moore’s lead and while we hold our noses on election day, November 3, 1998, we vote for every democrat on the ballot. That way, instead of our getting the continued drumming of, "And, here’s Monica!", the Right gets a big surprise.

I present the following alliterated poem. It is irreverent, but candidly concerned with the conditions currently construed by the media and the topic of this issue.

Monica’s Moniker

© 1998 Jozef Hand-Boniakowski

Monica’s moniker, Mona, moans of monkey matters, matters most made mighty outside the Oval Office in Starr-filled non-ovulating oracles of prosecutorial prejudice.

Bill’s bill bellows below the pile of gifts returned raising the libido of those who’ve had enough of this sordid event, yet who daily dial and dine on the dung of the done deed demanding darn more matter made manifest by the maddened media.

Shh! What’s that sound? Everybody look what’s going down. A tiny voice in the background banging to be heard.

Amidst Pepsi poop and Nike spikes of child labor, Disney doses us with Third World pajamas and Pumba mumbo jumbo.

Amidst the Wall Street brawl and FOX’s jock’s, CNN’s corrupted corporate crap, comes a lone quiet voice: "The United States unilaterally in self-defense fought terrorism today by launching seventy-two cruise missiles into suspected VX nerve gas production sights."

Suddenly, Sudan saddened by the sacking of suspected sites of sarin production produces proof of poor positioning of our improperly placed projectiles of pyrotechnics.

It seems we’ve hit a pharmaceutical factory.
Fancy that!

LOUDER!

Monica Tripps over Dick Morris’ cat or pussy — choose whatever term you will.

Will, Bill — I’ve heard him called many things but never that.

Erskin Bowles a good game and it’s right back to the Monica show.

Would you believe the global capitalist economy is falling apart and all the media wants to know is the details of presidential fellatio in the Pennsylvania Avenue pallacio.

Hail. Heil, to the Chief. The commander-in-chief, the chief in command of two-million-dollar phalluses flown to show that his Southern manhood still shots straight, even though a squirt landed in Pakistan by mistake.

Oops! Pardon the stain — that devil with a blue dress…blue dress…blue dress on…made me do it.

It appears that both partners private peccadillos have professional paradigms parading as pure possession of prowess though both claim not to inhale.

Dan Rather — rather be raving about rousing rafts of raw arousal than expose the truth of almost a million dead Iraqi children as a consequence of sacred sanctified sanctions sacrificing silenced sources of their next generation.

"Oh! Beautiful. For spacious skies. For amber waves of graves."

Grave? What’s grave?

Thirty-five million hungry children in America? NO!

Two-and-half million people in prison?

NO!

Forty-three percent without health insurance?

NO!

Millions malnourished?

NO!

Grave is what’s dug up on the private lives and parts of people perusing pleasure pleasantly passing party pastimes past the posted premises in the people’s pit of power.

Knock! Knock!

Whores there?

It’s the whore of Wall Street wallowing wildly while workers weather worried wondering whether we’ll wind up having enough to eat.

Whore lost Russia?

Not I says the IMF.

Not I says the investor.

Not I says Bill. I was too busy in the hallway.

Here. Here. Let’s get back to the important stuff — the stuff which I didn’t…isn’t…important enough to impeach me.

I’m counting on it!

Quotes

There are various ways of keeping truth out of sight.

• Thomas Jefferson

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.

• Abraham Lincoln

If absolute power corrupts absolutely, does absolute powerlessness make you pure?

• Harry Shearer

There is absolutely no criterion for truth. For reason, senses, ideas, or whatever else may exist are all deceptive.

• Carneades (c.214-129 BCE)

Good sense is the most fairly distributed thing in the world, for everyone thinks himself so well supplied with it that even those who are hardest to satisfy in every other way do not usually desire more of it than they already have.

• René Descartes

When the passions become masters, they are vices.

• Blaise Pascal

The two sexes mutually corrupt and improve each other.

• Mary Wollstonecraft

Bibliography

CNN Interactive. 
[http://poll.cnn.com/ poll?33671] 
Accessed, 26-September-98.

Moore, Michael. A Message from Michael Moore. "Coup D’Etat, Phase Two." 
[http://www.dogeatdogfilms.com/message.html] 
Accessed, 26-September-98.

The New York Times. Internet. [http://www.nytimes.com/] Saturday, September 26, 1998 update at 3:33 PM New York Time.

© 1998 Jozef Hand-Boniakowski