Next Supreme Court Justice?

The New York Times has an interesting article about Michigan's Governor, Jennifer Granholm as a potential Supreme Court Justice.

Having lived in Michigan until 2007, I watched her negotiate one of the most difficult governorships in the land - what with Michigan's severe economic crisis (in part, created by her predecessor, Republican Governor John Engler), failing state-wide infrastructure, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his shenanigans, a deeply conservative Republican majority in house and senate energized by a strange coalition of Detroit's Roman Catholics and their anti-choice positions on everything and super-wealthy Dutch Protestants on the west side of the state.

She has negotiated one land mine after another with style, spunk and vision. She's been an extraordinary governor in the worst of times, maintaining her balance, her humor and her determination to guide Michigan through it's greatest test. She's been able to build coalitions, win the respect of opponents and gain the confidence of the voter. Does this qualify her to be a Justice?

While it's hard to say clearly what kind of Judge she'd be, Governor Granholm is worthy of consideration.

Republicans Commit Social Suicide

I am stunned ... amazed ... flabbergasted ... as the Repubs show their true colors - a petulant ideology willing to let millions of Americans fall into the pit of a depression while still touting their foolish mantra of tax cuts.

TAX CUTS DON'T WORK! They do not create jobs, they depress the economy, deplete government coffers, encourage Wall Street to go for short-term profits and give an artificial sense of well-being.

Do any of the Repubs get that?

Beginning with Reagan, and his silly economic policies - low taxes and borrowing, we lived high-on-the-hog for a long time, but roosters come home to roost, and they're crowing now with a vengeance.

Are the Repubs capable of thought?

Not likely.

They are in the grip of ideology - a mindset that filters the world for them - it's not about people; it's never been about people, but about their skewed principles which are essentially fascist - using the government to feather the nests of the powerful.

The growing power of Wall Street has to be curtailed (we need another Teddy Roosevelt's move against  the robber-barrons), and we all need to recover a sense of mutual accountability through taxation.

Our infrastructure is falling apart, and if that isn't a matter of national security, I don't know what is.

As the former Repub governor of Michigan, John Engler) did so well - he lowered taxes and allowed the roads to go to hell, and just about everything else, leaving Jennifer Granholm with a mess essentially unsolvable.

The low-tax mantra is suicide for a great nation well on its way to third-rate status - a debtor nation living off the greed and good will of China, Japan and the Saudis.

The pathetic behavior of America's board rooms, the excess of greed, the "let them eat cake" mentality of the self-appointed "royalty" reveals the moral abyss of American capitalism.

Grounded in the prophetic voice of the Old Testament, John the Baptist and Jesus, the pretensions of Rome and its Jerusalem allies (the temple establishment) are painfully obvious. We have been heading down a dark road for a long time, cheered on by the likes Alan Greenspan (who has rightly admitted the flawed nature of his ideology).

The super-wealthy and their political lapdogs are fascists - let's not pull any punches on this. Fascism is the heart and soul of super-wealth.

Without a clear and convincing moral sense, it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a person of wealth to enter the kingdom of heaven (God's realm on earth - "thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

Is there hope?

Who knows?

God says to Israel, "everyone is brought low—
      do not forgive them!" ~ Isaiah 2:9

Jack Lessenberry, a Michigan journalist, wrote recently of the grim Michigan economy (click HERE), and had this to say about the auto executives in Washington:

The automakers arrived to beg for a bailout. Pasty and blank-faced, looking alike and lacking a clue, they flew in on their corporate jets. That's something like renting a top hat and tails and showing up at Cass Corridor mission and asking for Thanksgiving dinner.

They looked like jackasses, in short. They tried hard to add to the perception: Alan Mulally, the hired gun Ford brought in from Boeing, said his $21 million a year was about right. (Lee Iacocca asked for a salary of $1 a year when Chrysler was seeking a bailout.) None of them was willing to give up the corporate jets. And Rick Wagoner said changing the leadership of these companies wasn't necessary.

I heard Jack speak some years ago when Jennifer Granholm was elected governor at the end of 2002 - he said something like this: Granholm will inherit an economic mess that is not likely to be solved with any easy solutions.

Jack has always been able to put his finger on the essential nature of an issue, and I remember so clearly the sense that our economic mess, not only for Michigan, but for the nation, was going to take in some mighty dark places.

Jack's words have become painfully true for Michigan, for the United States, and because of us, for much of the world.

The Reagan House of Cards has come tumbling down.