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Friday, April 29, 2016

Op-Ed By Harry S. Truman

30 days after President John F. Kennedy was shot, former President Harry S. Truman wrote an Op-Ed article for the Washington Post.
I want you to read this.  I want you to keep in mind the context of who wrote this; when he wrote it; and then consider why HE would write this THEN.
I am including the full text of the article as well as a digital image of the majority of the article as it appeared in that periodical for a limited time before it was removed from future prints.  Enjoy.







The Washington PostDecember 22, 1963 - page A11
Harry Truman Writes:
Limit CIA Role
To Intelligence
By Harry S TrumanCopyright, 1963, by Harry S Truman

    INDEPENDENCE, MO., Dec. 21 — I think it has become necessary to take another look at the purpose and operations of our Central Intelligence Agency—CIA. At least, I would like to submit here the original reason why I thought it necessary to organize this Agency during my Administration, what I expected it to do and how it was to operate as an arm of the President.
    I think it is fairly obvious that by and large a President's performance in office is as effective as the information he has and the information he gets. That is to say, that assuming the President himself possesses a knowledge of our history, a sensitive understanding of our institutions, and an insight into the needs and aspirations of the people, he needs to have available to him the most accurate and up-to-the-minute information on what is going on everywhere in the world, and particularly of the trends and developments in all the danger spots in the contest between East and West. This is an immense task and requires a special kind of an intelligence facility.
    Of course, every President has available to him all the information gathered by the many intelligence agencies already in existence. The Departments of State, Defense, Commerce, Interior and others are constantly engaged in extensive information gathering and have done excellent work.
    But their collective information reached the President all too frequently in conflicting conclusions. At times, the intelligence reports tended to be slanted to conform to established positions of a given department. This becomes confusing and what's worse, such intelligence is of little use to a President in reaching the right decisions.
    Therefore, I decided to set up a special organization charged with the collection of all intelligence reports from every available source, and to have those reports reach me as President without department "treatment" or interpretations.
    I wanted and needed the information in its "natural raw" state and in as comprehensive a volume as it was practical for me to make full use of it. But the most important thing about this move was to guard against the chance of intelligence being used to influence or to lead the President into unwise decisions—and I thought it was necessary that the President do his own thinking and evaluating.
    Since the responsibility for decision making was his—then he had to be sure that no information is kept from him for whatever reason at the discretion of any one department or agency, or that unpleasant facts be kept from him. There are always those who would want to shield a President from bad news or misjudgments to spare him from being "upset."
    For some time I have been disturbed by the way CIA has been diverted from its original assignment. It has become an operational and at times a policy-making arm of the Government. This has led to trouble and may have compounded our difficulties in several explosive areas.
    I never had any thought that when I set up the CIA that it would be injected into peacetime cloak and dagger operations. Some of the complications and embarrassment I think we have experienced are in part attributable to the fact that this quiet intelligence arm of the President has been so removed from its intended role that it is being interpreted as a symbol of sinister and mysterious foreign intrigue—and a subject for cold war enemy propaganda.
    With all the nonsense put out by Communist propaganda about "Yankee imperialism," "exploitive capitalism," "war-mongering," "monopolists," in their name-calling assault on the West, the last thing we needed was for the CIA to be seized upon as something akin to a subverting influence in the affairs of other people.
    I well knew the first temporary director of the CIA, Adm. Souers, and the later permanent directors of the CIA, Gen. Hoyt Vandenberg and Allen Dulles. These were men of the highest character, patriotism and integrity—and I assume this is true of all those who continue in charge.
    But there are now some searching questions that need to be answered. I, therefore, would like to see the CIA be restored to its original assignment as the intelligence arm of the President, and that whatever else it can properly perform in that special field—and that its operational duties be terminated or properly used elsewhere.
    We have grown up as a nation, respected for our free institutions and for our ability to maintain a free and open society. There is something about the way the CIA has been functioning that is casting a shadow over our historic position and I feel that we need to correct it.

Thursday, April 28, 2016

Dwight D. EisenHower

I recently watched a documentary on Dwight D. EisenHower.  As a Millennial I found myself fairly uninformed about the man and so thought it would be appropriate to spend some time trying to get a grasp for him.  
I do not believe that everything he did was good.  I believe that he had chosen to let those who ran the CIA be his marionettists.  I believe this single choice brought an evil into America unsurpassed by anything done previous to his administration since the establishment of the Federal Reserve.
I believe his choice to allow the CIA to engage in subversive wars was terribly wrong for American Foreign policy and has created much of the foreign policy issues that America has had to deal with ever since.  
I believe that he empowered some of the most wicked men to ever have governing influence over American politics.  This includes but is not limited to Richard Nixon and the Bush Family.
He turned his back on his good friend and mentor in order to score some political points.
Although at times useful, I believe that his subversive style of governing -through his hidden hand policies- was a wicked thing.
I think his executive orders were often inappropriate -as they usually are whenever they are employed.
I do not know, but fear that he might have played the part of an adulterer while leading the allied forces in Europe.  I believe that Providence was extremely kind to him.  

Yet in spite of all that, I am quite amazed at the good that he strove to cling to in his life.  
He was adept at down playing his own ego in order to soothe the ego's of both Patton and Montgomery.  
He seemed to desperately want to avoid war and sued for peace whenever possible.  His administration was marked by prosperity and his refusal to send American Soldiers to war.  Sensing no business in our being there- upon assuming the office of President, he immediately took action to put an end to the Korean War and get American Soldiers home.  
When faced with the option of throwing some subordinates under the bus (a la Reagan style with the Iran-Contra affair) he instead chose to take responsibility for the spying of Gary Powers over the USSR.  This choice ended his administration on a low note; but he knew that would be the case and chose to do it anyway, despite having the option -given to him by Nikita Khrushchev- to cast the blame elsewhere.  To him his personal integrity was worth more than the name given to him by historians.
He chose to stand up for what were the then hallmark American Principles of charity and pacifism.  Even though having been a soldier and earned his living in that profession he instead spoke up about the absurdity in costs incurred to build a single Destroyer when the same amount of money could build 5 hospitals, schools or shelters!  
He stood up against the war-mongering democrats (funny how things flip-flop back and forth isn't it) who cried for a build up in armaments -largely in their effort to pacify the Military Industrial Complex.  
Despite being members of the same party he chose to stand up against the absurd communist-witch hunts led by Senator Joseph McCarthy.
All in all, in comparison to many of the politicians that I have seen in my life, I have to say: I like Ike.

Here are a few quotes from him that I found worthy of some thought. 

-A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.
-I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity.
-Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.
-In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.
-Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil and you're a thousand miles from the corn field.
-May we never confuse honest dissent with disloyal subversion.
-We must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex.
-History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.
-If you want total security, go to prison. There you're fed, clothed, given medical care and so on. The only thing lacking... is freedom.
-Don't join the book burners. Do not think you are going to conceal thoughts by concealing evidence that they ever existed.

Saturday, April 16, 2016

Utah: A Flourishing Oligarchy

One of the things that get me riled up is when I see a process set up that takes power that was originally in the hands of the people and transfers it into the hands of the wealthy and powerful. Yesterday, a part in that process was ruled constitutional in the State of Utah.
Maybe I'm a sucker, but I always would like to believe that Utah with it's majority LDS population, (and the corollary effect that such a population seems to have in making those who are not LDS, more faithful in their own chosen religions) should have an additional tempering effect against elements that corrode the power of the people.  This because on top of being American's, with specific rights guaranteed to us by the constitution, Latter-Day Saints have it codified in scripture that God has given them the Constitution, through wise men, that He raised up for that purpose. (see D&C 101:80)
Yet on Friday, April 15th, that erosion; that corruption of the power intended for the people is exactly what got held up as being constitutional by a District Judge (Read the KSL article here) instead of the rights of the people.
Heretofore, Utah has always had a lively, functional caucus system.  If you don't know much about the caucus system, here is a general breakdown:
-Every county in the State of Utah, is broken down into a number of smaller areas, called precincts.  (The area of your precinct is generally going to be your neighborhood.)
-Each registered political party will, once every other year, hold caucus meetings in those varying precincts (as long as someone from that political party actually exists within that precinct.)
-Those caucus meetings are participated by only those who live within the precinct.
-From among those who attend any of those caucus meetings, leaders and representatives (of that local area precinct) will be nominated and elected.
-Generally there will be positions of President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, County Delegates and State Delegates.
-The first 4 positions fulfill a function of committing time and assistance to the Party and its representatives in that local area.
-The remaining 2 positions fulfill the function of being informed on and then carrying the voice of that precinct (into either the county delegate meeting or the state delegate meeting) regarding those people whom that precinct would like to elect.
-In those respective two delegate meetings, (county and state) men and women who would like to be nominated for public office will be heard, nominated and elected by the delegates, to represent the party in the general election.
-If one of those nominees gathers 60% or more of the delegate votes in their corresponding county or state positions, then they become the candidate for that party, in the general election for the respective office in which they have been nominated.
-If a candidate fails to gather 60% but is able to gather 40%, then their name is put on a primary against the other candidates who were also able to attain the 40%.
-If none of the candidates are able to gather the 40% then all go onto a primary election.
I submit that this process -although not perfect- is hard to beat, in the effect of establishing the will of those who are willing to take the time to educate themselves and perform their civic duty to the benefit of themselves, their communities, their counties, their state and their country; as a force in and of itself.

An alternative has been opened up, however.  That alternative is by way of a bill, that when as a initiative was titled, Count My Vote.  This bill has allowed politicians to circumvent the caucus system by gathering a large number of people, who are registered members of the party in which they belong, to sign a petition to put them on a primary ticket.
I submit that those who passed this bill (read: incumbent politicians already existing in office) did so in order to retain power in their hands and out of the hands of the people and especially to keep the elections away from those who would like to run for office, but who may not have the same financial means as the incumbent.
Let me explain how this works for the incumbent:
-The number of necessary signatures is placed at a high number (2% of the number of registered VOTERS [Not party members] in the respective voting district.  So for example in a district with 50,000 registered voters, a candidate would need to gather 1000 signatures of people who are registered members of their respective political party.)
-The incumbent can use their tax-payer-based salary to pay a company to gather the necessary signatures for them.
-This includes paying even more money to the party to find out the contact information of the registered party members inside the voting district.
-Anyone who can't afford to pay for these services, must go house-by-house seeking out registered members and petitioning them to sign.  (The difficulty of this really gets exacerbated in rural districts: of which 90% of Utah's area is composed.)
-All who gather the signatures are then automatically placed on a ticket in a primary party election; thus circumventing the will of any who participated in the political caucuses.

Now I want you to ask yourself: what do you personally do in the voting booth, when you are presented names of people with whom you are generally unfamiliar?  What do you think most people do in that voting booth situation?
If you are like most people, you will vote for the person with whom you feel 'most' familiar.  Now an old trick of the political trade, is that the voters don't REALLY need to be familiar with you.  They just need to have the idea that they are familiar with you.  This trick isn't only applied in the political realm.
For those who currently live, have lived or perhaps have even traveled through Utah, will be familiar with the name Larry H. Miller.  Larry H. Miller was the president of the LHM group.  That corporate amalgamation included companies across several industries.  It created an advertising scheme that was employed, wherein those who were subjected to the scheme would be shown a picture of an smiling, balding man with his arms folded.  Then they would be told that this picture was Larry H. Miller, and 'You KNOW this guy.'
This scheme was used to reinforce to the public that if you know the name of someone and a picture of what he looked like, then he (and vicariously the corporation of which he was president) would be worthy of your financial trust in a variety of ways.
The same idea follows in all of those signs that you see posted everywhere with a politicians name on it, billboard signs, TV and radio advertisements, etc., etc.  All of these are advertising schemes used to convey the idea that because you are seeing someones name, a picture of them and possibly even hearing their voice in a purported sincere tone, that you are now familiar with them and thus they are worthy of your political trust.
All of these schemes are employed because the fact of the matter is, that most people are not able to or perhaps do not want to care about anything beyond what they absolutely HAVE to: food, love, sleep and definitely entertainment.  The fact of the matter is that politicians, especially local politicians get very little scrutiny about the accountability of the ideas that drive them.  Rather than try to educate an uncaring mass of people about what they (the candidate) believes is important, it is far more easy to pay to have their name plastered everywhere in front of their neighbors and fellow countrymen and rely on the fact that when in the voting booth, most people lack a real familiarity with any of the candidates and therefore are going to vote for the name that they have they have seen the most.  This means that the person who pays the most amount of money -to put their name in front of the public- wins the election.

This is why those who were already in office wanted the signature gathering option guaranteed to them.  Because they know they will only have to rely on the power their money brings their name in a voting booth with a majority of people who will not take the time to educate themselves in a primary election.
With the signature gathering option, they know that they don't have to really be held accountable to the people who care to make themselves knowledgeable about the various political issues and candidates.  Those who will spend their precious time in caucuses and delegate meetings hearing the candidates and the issues being discussed.
They know that with it, all they have to do is have money (or at least be willing to sell themselves to someone else who does have money.)  Have money to pay someone else to gather signatures for them.  Have money to pay for an absurd amount of advertising.  Have money to shove their 'free' trinkets, buttons, shirts, pens, signs and fake handshakes in front of enough peoples faces: and they will win.
(I put 'free' in quotation, because their salaries -from which they are paying for everything- is coming from the taxes they collect from us.  Therefore it is, WE who are paying for all of this crap that appropriately ends up filling landfills.
Or perhaps if they can get some lobby interest to pay then they can pay even more money than the next guy.  But then it all comes down to those who are willing to sell themselves for filthy lucre, will be the only ones in office.)

If as citizens of Utah, we allow this bill to stand, I believe we are assisting in establishing Utah as a de facto Oligarchy.  The Count My Vote bill, on a generality will not assist any outsider.  If you are a Democrat -or a member of any other political party- (I'm looking at you Libertarians and Constitutional Party members) then understand your ability (or one from your party) to gather 2% of the registered voters (who are also members of your party) in your voting district is greatly diminished if not extremely unrealistic.  Therefore this bill does not help you.
It does not help anyone with good ideas who may desire to fulfill their civic duty, but find themselves unable to compete on a financial level of those who are the super wealthy among us.  Simply put, the only ones who this bill helps are those who see themselves as possessing a right within an oligarchy!  Is it any wonder why those who sponsored this initiative include names like Mike Leavitt and Gail Miller (the wife of the guy that employed the advertising scheme referred to above.)
If you care about politics in Utah at all, then please let your State Representatives know that you are not willing to support such a dishonest and disenfranchising system.
I ask those of you who read this to please either respond in the comments with a statement to the contrary or at least pass this around.  The political environment in Utah needs to change.
















Saturday, April 9, 2016

Commentary on: The Secret Origins of the American Tea Party

In the 1960's the anti-war movement was originally membered by mothers and fathers who didn't want their sons going to war. The Military Industrial Complex, had no interest in having their golden war shot down; and so they infiltrated the anti-war movement with 'hippies' and communist backed-ideologues who were willing to shout louder and act more bizarre in order to grab headlines. This had the effect of forcing out the early protesters who wanted nothing to do with being affiliated with hippies and commies.

To say the Tea-Party was some Golem creation of the Koch brothers, denies the fact that the Average American has long been trampled on and robbed. The obvious fact is that neither political party is really interested in helping the Average American as they are in robbing them. At first this looting was wearily tolerated because, no one wanted to throw a baby out with some dirty bathwater.

However, the tipping of the economic scale -that was a result from all of this robbery- occurred in 2007-2008, and by 2009 the average American needed something to let up. Some Americans bought into Obama's bullshit message of 'change' and the other half realized that they had been left out in the cold by the late winter of 2008 on into Spring 2009.

I firmly believe that the Koch brothers and other billionaires saw this as an opportunity and seized to control and drive all of this hatred into their own interests. I believe that those who were motivated by the ideology that became labeled as 'The Tea Party' got suckered into this crap the same way that the anti-war protesters got overtaken by activist shills.

But unfortunately I believe that this piece by Jeff Nesbit denies the truth behind the anti-tax movement and instead continues the pantomimed drama between the left and the right. Read for yourself, and let me know your thoughts: http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/the-secret-origins-of-the-tea-party/ar-BBrrqQx?li=BBnba9J