Perspectives

I’ve been thinking about how various groups fit into the world, what our ranking is by size. This started a few weeks ago when I was writing about religions, and found that for all the attention paid to Judaism, there are only 15.4 million Jews in the world. Looked at another way, more than twice as many people live in Tokyo Japan than are Jewish. Yet we consider it a “major world religion”. This may become my new measuring stick, the Jewish population, or JP. America has a population of 22 JP.

Oh my God he’s playing with numbers again.

I heard on the news that in the first three weeks, 475,000 people had signed up for Obamacare (This does not mean that they purchased healthcare, just that they signed on). Less than half a million. Less than the population of Fresno, CA, or 0.03 JP. At this rate, two million (0.12 JP) people will be signed up by 1 January. The other three hundred eleven million Americans will be facing tax penalties.

I had no idea that the system was so unstable. It is alleged that the administration didn’t either. I’m not sure if I believe that, but there are plenty of management types out there who are incapable of saying “I’m sorry, we cannot possibly accomplish that”. When we switched to an Oracle system from mainframe at Imagistics, with only a few thousand users, it took a year to prepare and two months to work out the kinks. Could no one in the administration comprehend the scale, the number of systems being integrated and the number of users, this project represented?

When the system crashed soon after going live, how could anyone reasonably blame it on volume? Exactly how much traffic did they expect for a system with three hundred twelve million users? Did it not occur to them that on a daily basis, ten percent (2.2 JP) of those users would require access?

It is only recently the blame has been shifted from traffic volume to software, and now the software designers are blaming the White House for last minute changes. They apparently were not aware that you would have to register with all your data before you could compare prices. Obviously they had never purchased insurance of any kind for themselves. How ironic, the very people Obamacare was supposed to help…

But this wasn’t just a traffic problem. The software itself is useless. All of the data collected thus far is corrupted. If you happen to be one of those residents of Fresno CA who managed to sign up, the options you have been offered are based on corrupted data, so should you choose to purchase a healthcare plan, you may find that you don’t qualify for it. When will you find this out? When the doctor’s bill is rejected, and you’re responsible for it.

Not to be overly cynical, but which part do you suspect will work? How about the part that fines you for not having health care? There is a natural mistrust of anyone who handles your money, but the IRS has certainly earned their mistrust. A few years back there was a change in the tax code, and a large number of people were calling the IRS helpline for assistance. The information they gave out was incorrect. Not only that, but they refused to take responsibility, because it is the taxpayer’s responsibility to correctly file their tax forms. Add to that the recent scandal in which the IRS was targeting conservatives. First they apologized, then they denied having done it, then the director stated the employees did not know the regulations. I know I have trust issues, but this is ridiculous.

The White House has just offered a solution, allowing a six week extension (15 February 2014). This should only leave three hundred ten million Americans (20 JP) facing a tax penalty. Perhaps this is the solution to the deficit. All those people that we hear are not paying taxes will now be fined by the IRS anyway.

The only way for a system this large to work properly, is to erase all current data, rewrite the software, and test with a reasonable sample, let’s say 0.12 JP, or roughly the number of federal employees. After the bugs are worked out (there are always bugs), then roll it out to the general public. Of course this may mean that the program isn’t implemented during our children’s’ lifetimes, but this would be the right way to do it.

Oppression

If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. (James Madison, in letter to Henry Lee June 25, 1824.)

Any arguments?

Following 9/11, the Bush administration passed the Patriot Act. Or, as I call it, “The Federal Witch Hunt”. In order to remind you just how corny things were back then, the USA PATRIOT act is an acronym, “Uniting (and) Strengthening America (by) Providing Appropriate Tools Required (to) Intercept (and) Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001″. How many of you knew that?

Besides having one of the stupidest names since Gerald Ford’s “Whip Inflation Now” campaign, even in the days just following an attack on our soil in which nearly three thousand Americans died the act was recognized as oppressive. Well outside our concept of liberty, but just inside our desire for revenge, the act was designed to expire, but was approved again in 2006 with the same “sunset” provisions.

There are a few things that prevent George W. Bush from being a “Great” president, this is one of them. Two hundred and forty years previously, Benjamin Franklin had said “Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”. When something like, oh, let’s say indefinite detention, is wrong, it remains wrong regardless of the circumstances. I am not a follower of Catholicism, but I was taken by Pope Paul VI’s comment on changing the churches view to “keep up with the times” when he said the laws of the church are eternal, they do not change with the styles of the day. Then he went ahead and let Catholics eat meat on Fridays, so what did he know?

President Obama was elected because a large number of people believed that he would reverse the oppression that they blamed on the Republican party. Such has not been the case. Not only did he fail to repeal the act, he extended three key provisions. I agree that “Roving wiretaps” are common sense. If you can tap my phone, it’s me, not my phone, that you’re after. The other two are a little more disturbing, as they are doorways to abuse. Expanded abilities to search business records, and the ability to conduct surveillance on individuals not tied to any terrorist activities is asking for trouble. The most recent “victim” of this “lone wolf” provision is Cameron D’Ambrosio, an eighteen year old high school student, who is being held for making terroristic threats. Various reports indicate that he is being held without bail, or with a one million dollar bond (pretty much the same thing), for publishing violent rap lyrics on Face Book.

A couple of other things have been in the news lately. The Internal Revenue Service, one of the more frightening branches of the government from the perspective of the average American, acknowledged that they had targeted certain groups based on their names. Those names were anything containing “Freedom”, “People’s”, or “Tea Party”. They may have been within their regulations, they’re not sure.

The Department of Justice seized the phone records of Associated Press reporters for “an unspecified criminal investigation”, and had the reporters at Fox News under surveillance.

The handling of the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi has been criticized, more for the cover-up, changing stories and out right lies than the actual failure to rescue an embassy under attack. (Nixon’s impeachment was for the cover up, not the actual break-in at the Watergate)

The Attorney General’s comments on the legality of a drone strike, targeting an American Citizen on American soil, were just a little more chilling, following the execution of Americans overseas, one of whom was a sixteen year old (whose execution was justified because he “would have grown up to be a terrorist”).

Various government organizations, including the National Weather Service, purchased huge amounts of ammunition, and the Department of Homeland Security put out a bid for “Personal Defense Weapons” that mirror in description what they were trying to outlaw as “Assault Weapons”.

Add to all this reports that Obama is dismissing Senior Military Officers who will not fire on American citizens, and you might be a little cautious about criticizing the administration. That of course, is the point. Oppression doesn’t require violence, just the fear of violence. If you think that the reporter taking your story is being watched, you might choose not to talk. If you think that by just making an offhand remark you could end up in Guantanamo Bay, you might choose not to make that remark. If you think that publicly opposing the government could result in the deaths of you and your children while you sit at the dinner table, you might choose to keep your opinions to yourself. Suddenly, there is no opposition, everyone agrees. Big Brother is Good.

Have a few stories in the news about the police shooting people who they were only questioning, and everyone will profess to love Big Brother. Heck, why not just repeal the 22nd Amendment?

I once had a supervisor whose management style was “you can do whatever you want until someone makes you stop”. I believe he works within the Obama administration now.

Cults

There seems to be a rise in cults lately. Let me reword that. There seems to be a very large cult insidiously taking foot today.

My introduction to the concept of cults was the Manson Family, in 1969. I was living outside Los Angeles, and the murder of Sharon Tate was in the news, then it became the “Tate/LaBianca Murders” and eventually we all got to know Charles Manson. Before that, the only time I’d heard the word “cult” was in reference to the Catholic Church (more on that another day).

It was a time of young people looking for guidance, and charismatic opportunists began having a field day. Weak minds and popular drugs made recruitment relatively easy, and soon every parent of a  young person who had run away to find themselves was able to blame the problem on cults. Sometimes that was accurate, more often it was just that running away was much more fun than mowing the lawn.

The next big cult story was the Children of God. As young people literally disappeared from the face of the Earth into this cult, families fought back with “Deprogramming“, in which the loved one was kidnapped from the cult, and subjected to treatment not too dissimilar from the techniques used in “A Clockwork Orange“. Deprogramming became troublesome, in that the cure was more than likely worse than the “affliction” in most cases. Bringing someone back into the fold by force is an ethical challenge, and some people thought it might be a cure for what they felt was “deviant” behavior of any sort. Deprogramming was attempted on homosexuals and others who were considered “abnormal”.

In the seventies, other cults began forming and/or growing. Marshall Applewhite started “Heaven’s Gate“, ending with the suicides of the remaining thirty seven members in 1997. The Rev. Sun Myung Moon’s “Unification Church” which is still going strong. Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh brought his ninety three Rolls Royces to Oregon and began a commune, culminating with the first bio-terrorist attack in the United States (not counting blankets given to native Americans). My worst memory  is of “The People’s Temple“, as I happened to be working as a security guard, by myself, with only a radio and a gas heater as I listened to the reports unfold from Guyana.

Cults are not always religious in nature, but there are of course core beliefs, and because they are believed fanatically, the concept of cults in general being religious groups became common. This is in some ways unfortunate. The word “cult” has become pejorative, so there is a negative association with religion in general whenever a cult hits the news. Additionally, whenever a new cult is noticed, it takes on religious terms.

Coronations are rarely as majestic, and he’s just being nominated. Today we have the Cult of Obama. I have no idea how this happened, except that, as in the seventies, there were a large number of people who were unhappy with their lives in 2008. Hitler blamed the Jews, Obama blamed the Republicans. Do not believe that I “Hate” Obama. I am not an extremist, and actually, I admire his brilliance as a politician. I also admire Timothy McVeigh, and no, I make no parallel.

I was pro Obama in the early months of 2008. I believed that a black man could lead this country away from racial stereotypes. I knew that there would be people forced to face their own prejudices, and I saw this as a good thing. I bought his line about transparency. By late Spring I could sense that something was wrong. His supporters were fanatical, which always sets off alarms for me. As questions arose about his background, rather than address the questions honestly and openly he would act as if he was above being questioned. His supporters ridiculed rather than responded. The level of hatred expressed by his supporters was genuinely frightening. More than a few friendships ended, open discussion was not to be. Cracks could be seen, but even suggesting the possibility of Obama being less than perfect resulted in being shouted down, and slandered with accusations of being part of any number of extremist groups. Any detraction of Obama is responded to with “Racist”, “You must have heard that on Faux News”, or anything other than a thoughtful response to the issue.

By 2010, I thought we were on the road to recovery. Some of Obama’s most vocal supporters were recognizing that he had not measured up to his promises. The radical left began to turn against him, as his actions showed a man who was just a little to the right of the opponent he had beaten in the election. Some of my friends came back, and we laughed about it. As we approached 2012, it seemed that the “line” had moved, but was deeper than ever. The new mindset was variations on “What does it matter?”. In many ways, they were right. He had been elected and filled the position of President of the United States for four years, his lack of actual credentials was no longer important. It seemed altogether possible that he would not be reelected. But, as I mentioned, he is a brilliant politician. That is to say, by targeting specific precincts he was able to turn a popular vote margin of three percent into a much larger electoral victory. The result, as seen in the Bush v. Gore election, was a polarizing effect, laid upon an already polarized nation.

Carrying forward his “What does it matter” rhetoric isn’t working quite as well, but as there is little rational discussion, it doesn’t matter. The scandals grow, the cracks spread, and the cult grows more defensive. One of the many recent scandals involved the Internal Revenue Service, which, although a part of the government and thus his responsibility, he could easily distance himself from. Instead, after the IRS publicly apologizes for misconduct, Obama says in a press conference “If this happened”. Yes Mr. President, it happened, the IRS has already apologized, too late to deny.

Four years ago, Barack Obama could read the telephone book from a teleprompter, and thirty million American voters would hear whatever panacea they sought. That is changing. But there is nothing more dangerous than a wounded animal, even when that animal is already a lame duck. Cult members don’t usually just wake up one day and say “Oops! I was wrong, sorry”, and I don’t expect to see it now. It is a time for grace. The words “I told you so” can be sympathetic and consoling if the phrase begins with “I’m sorry”.

I am hopeful, that since only fifty seven percent of eligible voters make it to the polls, and only fifty one percent of those people voted for Obama, we will not see a huge swing to the right in the next election. In many ways we can thank Barack Obama for breaking the left/right barrier down. I would like to see, but am not holding my breath, a reasonable, honest discussion. I would like to see, not the programs, but the government Obama promised. Regardless of who implements it.