A historic date in history....

It was 25 years ago today the Hammer and Sickle flag of the USSR was lowered for the last time over the Kremlin in Moscow.  On that day the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was officially dissolved.  A political movement that began with a bang, literally, 70+ years earlier ended with just a whimper.

I just finished listening to a fascinating 6-part podcast series (Dan Carlin's Hardcore History / Blueprint for Armageddon) about The Great War, aka World War I, and how it changed the course of history from June 1914 to this very day.  As it pertains to Russia, the short version:

Unable to withstand the hardships and hunger of everyday life in war-weary Russia, by 1917 the people seized control and, after a series of revolutionary consolidations, the USSR was born.  By the 1980's the old Communist revolutionary zeal was long gone, and their system, which was slowly withering away, was as rotten as the Czar's was back in its dying days.

Russia to this day seems to have a never-ending inferiority complex.  They SO want to be a respected world power, but they simply have never quite been able to pull it off.  You can only rule by intimidation for so long, and by the late 1980's they were losing their iron grip.  Unable to afford an arms race with the West, with a population begging, then demanding a better life, and with nations on their periphery they had effectively controlled since the end of WWII now beginning to stand up to them, the hopelessly exhausted USSR finally lost power.  

Their last (nominal) Communist leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, after desperately trying a series of life-saving institutional reforms, finally accepted the inevitable and officially dissolved the Soviet Union on December 26, 1991.

Most reading this probably haven't given the passing of the USSR much thought since that historic day 25 years ago.  But at least one person, one Vladimir Putin, probably hasn't let a day pass since that event 25 years ago without thinking about it.  And he isn't smiling.

S

History really DOES repeat itself

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

That has been true many times throughout history, the rise of a small group of radical, hate-filled nut cases in 1930's Germany being one of the more prominent recent examples.  Good people sat back, sure that "someone" would step forward and put the embryonic National Socialists (Nazis) in their place.  "Someone" never did and the loud-mouthed Nazis bullied their way into power.

The Tea Party is the Nazi movement of our era.  Just think about the similarites:  Thirty or so Republican congressional bullies led by Rafael "Ted" Cruz (R, TX) and urged on by a core of hate-filled strongly opinionated citizens have stiffled responsible dissent from within their own party, their Storm Troopers threatening to crush anyone who dares cross them in the next election primary.  

They have launched hostilities against their neighbors, and I predict unless a revolt is started soon they will lead their party to ruin, just as Hitler led his country to ruin.

But good news!....a coup d'eta may quietly be underway as I write this.  A growing chorus of thinking congressional Republicans as well as Republican state legislators and state party chairmen are becoming more vocal, speaking up for sanity.  House Speaker John Boner is now saying he will not allow a default on our nation's debt payments.  (Default has been one of the Tea Party's major Weapons of Mass Destruction.)

Two responsible parties working together are good for our country.  (IMO three would be better.)  Are we witnessing the formation of a backbone in Mr. Boner?  If you have a Republican congressman or Senator, I strongly suggest you correspond with them and urge them to show some courage, too.

Our generation's tipping point is right here, right now.

S

The Tea Party Unmasked

I can't believe the bald-faced lies I hear coming out of the mouths of these Tea Party brown shirts (Nazi reference).  Just as Adolf Hitler, with a straight face no less, said his invasion of Poland in 1939 was in self defense after a series of German-staged "incidents", Rafael Cruz & Co. are saying they are shutting down the government in order to de-fund Obamacare and "make a down-payment on fiscal discipline and reform".

Well gag a maggot!  Let's just call 'em what they really are:  Class Warfare Storm Troopers.

If they're so hell-bent on cutting spending, why didn't they just jump on the Simpson / Bowles bandwagon? 

[Simpson / Bowles was a true bi-partisan committee....technically the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform....appointed in 2010 to "achieve fiscal sustainability over the long run".  Its recommendations were severe yet fair to all, meaning everyone took a serious haircut.  Rich, poor, entitlements, homeowners, business subsidies, labor unions, The 1%....everyone would have to give up something.]

The Tea Party couldn't run from it fast enough!  

"What?  No subsidies for Big Oil, Big Banks, Big Ag, no tax loopholes, no special deductions, tax increases, a hit on capital gains?  BLASPHEMY!"

Truth is, The Tea Party wants to cut spending for everyone except their own.

In fairness, the ultra-left wants to protect their labor union buddies, welfarians, minorities, entitlements, etc, while cutting everything near and dear to the wealthy.  (There can't be a Class War with just one combatant.)

But back to the problem at hand:  there are soundbites all over TV showing Tea Party candidates campaigning in the last election promising to "shut down the government".  They said it out loud, and there is video to prove it.  There is absolutely no way in hell they can honestly say this current mess is the fault of the Democrats.  They picked their fight and got their wish.

And when the economy stumbles, when / if our nation's credit takes another downgrade, when / if we default on paying our bills, when / if interest rates rise, those soundbites are going to come back to haunt them.  

Americans always love to pin blame on someone when things go bad, and the Tea Party will be a sitting duck....it's their mess.  And then maybe....just maybe....rational Democrats and Republicans can get back to work on The People's Business.

Show some spine, Republicans, and give the Tea Party hijackers the boot.  I only pray Rafael "Ted" Cruz' 15 minutes of fame is about over.  Let him go stand in the corner with the ghost of Joseph McCarthy.

S