One of my favorite economics commentators likes to talk about how Americans are turning into "debt slaves." Surely there is documentation for this suggestion. And it is brought up here as partial if not total explanation for the strange January 6 riots at the U.S. capitol.
I mean, when news began breaking that day, were you not taken aback by it all? You all knew down deep there was no widespread voter fraud. Most likely the election was the cleanest ever. We have clean elections because there is so much scrutiny. Maybe we should look at the 1960 Kennedy vs. Nixon race in order to feel suspicious.
So what was up last January when we got the surreal sight of a mass of outright rioters surrounding our U.S. capitol, then advancing like an army? Rioters managed to breach the place to an extent. More surreal is how Mike Pence in the aftermath would keep showing fealty to the kingpin guy, despite the kingpin guy's maniacal supporters calling for Pence's hanging.
So what's up with all the absurd stuff? It might relate to the "debt slaves" observation offered by Gregory Mannarino. Back in February, I first became aware of the connection. Then recently, when looking further into the background of Ashli Babbitt, my senses were aroused again.
What has become of us, as we have allowed debt and risk to encircle us so much, to devour us in the end possibly. We see an opportunity for political revolution, as outlandish as it seems from any sober analysis. But hey! What an opportunity to feel important, to rise above our pedestrian life with its risks and downfalls. You could feel like a crusader, at the tip of the sword for something possibly history-making.
Well for sure it made history. No one can erase that. But it was a total stain on our sacred United States of America.
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| What hath God wrought? |
What has come over so many of us? A covid variant that affects the brain? If so, we have many sufferers in Stevens County here in Minnesota. The MAGA adherents who attend the many "conservative" churches. Would you all please get off this "conservative" kick?
If this country really starts coming apart, as seems increasingly possible, it won't be because of sins of Democrats or even the Republicans. All politicians will be culpable, as they have been complicit in allowing the Federal Reserve to cheapen our money. Consequences may be already coming home to roost. The stock market has been allowed to race along on a "sugar high."
I heard a radio show host over the weekend glibly and self-assuredly talk about how stocks have gone up about 15 percent over the last year. When everything ground to a halt due to the pandemic? Well fine, you can celebrate the stock market "highs" if you wish. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain? The Federal Reserve chairman?
I realized the radio show host actually represented a financial services company, and this company appeared to be sponsor of the whole show. So, bathe in your 15 percent gains, you all, while we face the prospect of maybe paying $30 for a loaf of bread at the grocery store.
Ashli Babbitt. She was shot dead by cops on January 6 at the capitol. Seemed like a nice if overzealous woman, veteran of the U.S. Air Force. What was her problem? Her problem was not the Democrats, or Joe Biden, or the voting systems. This was her problem: In 2017 she took out a costly short-term business loan. In effect, it meant her pool business would have to pay an interest rate that she later calculated in court filings to be 169 percent. The lender soon sued her.
Were the capitol rioters seeking an escape from the dehumanizing effects of such financial travail? To feel empowered in a perverse and dangerous way? We must look for answers.
I have written some poetry based on the January 6 riots. I have previously written song lyrics and posted them on my companion blog (Aug. 14). I would not have the song recorded and presented to the public, because I suggest in the lyrics that Donald Trump was responsible for Babbitt's death. I'm concerned that some MAGA crazies might come after me, and for sure we have more than a few such people in Stevens County.
I'll leave the lyrics on a blog post, pretty low-profile. The poem you see below, I wrote completely independent of the song. There is no duplication. I invite you to read and reflect please.
"January 6 Lament"
by Brian Williams
A place where cherry blossoms
Adorn the public space
Is where we should be solemn
And not be moved by hate
The USA has meaning
From back when it began
We should not be careening
As if we're built on sand
So why should we be hearing
The call to "hang Mike Pence"
We should have been more leery
Of those devoid of sense
The new year was just dawning
A placid winter scene
We all should have been yawning
And followed our routine
But MAGA stoked the fire
Of riot and revolt
The denizens conspired
To give us all a jolt
We thought we might be dreaming
With manufactured fears
There just was no believing
A travesty so weird
But there it was before us
A crowd that wanted blood
An insurrection chorus
That moved as if a flood
The fury of the moment
Had settled in their eyes
They could not see the omen
That it was not their prize
Behind it all a grifter
Just pulling all the strings
He had his fans atwitter
To blow up everything
The siren song of Fox News
Had wafted far and wide
And Newsmax had its own views
Dispensing fear and lies
We had been teased on TV
And let it all take wing
Like football players kneeling
As if that was a thing
So many came to foment
A riot in its name
The image of one woman
Just lingers like a flame
Her name was Ashli Babbitt
So loyal to the cause
She saw her chance and grabbed it
There was no time to pause
She came from California
Traversed the USA
To show her love of MAGA
She would not be delayed
She had been in the Air Force
A patriotic stance
But something caused a new course
A QAnon romance
So Ashli had a vision
She shared with all her folks
Of going on a mission
To nullify the votes
A window had been broken
The chance to move was there
The president had spoken
He urged them all to dare
And though he said be peaceful
It would not rule the day
On top of all the evil
It was just CYA
A sea of discontented
Now why were they so mad?
Their feelings were cemented
Behind a single man
The signs were all around them
That Trump was not their friend
They could not seem to fathom
He's just about himself
So Ashli was a victim
A cop just had to act
A cop just had to act
Her family rued her mission
She should have just stayed back
We feel for Ashli Babbitt
Her soul resides in peace
Could she not understand it
The cesspool of deceit?
An epilogue is needed
Of justice breaking through
To see a man defeated
Who showed us he's a fool
The words of Sinclair Lewis
Are prescient more and more
Of how we can be clueless
With Fascists at the door
He said if you believe it
That "It can't happen here"
Then he would surely promise
The danger is quite near
So now we weigh the future
Just knocking on our door
And let us all just nurture
The virtue at our core
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