Early Wednesday morning, 4 January. Just listened to comments by Mitt Romney following the Iowa Caucuses. Mitt is using what I am certain is the Republicans' 2012 theme: "America is off track! We need to get this country back on track!"
And ya' know what??? MITT IS RIGHT -- THIS NATION IS OFF-TRACK, WAY OFF TRACK.
Early morning rant follows below the squiggle.
Back in the day, when worker productivity increased, when workers worked more efficiently and produced better products, and when the company's profits increased as a result, everyone benefited -- wages and bonuses went up, benefits improved, workers were promoted.
Today, worker productivity is at one of the highest points ever. American industrial output is the best in the world.
And the profits for all this work are going to the one percent at the top -- the CEO's, the stockholders, the board members -- while workers' wages and benefits are stagnant or slipping backward.
YES, AMERICA IS OFF TRACK.
Back in the day, teachers and police officers and firefighters and postal workers and library workers and sanitation workers were looked upon as hard-working, middle-class folks who worked for the rest of us to make our communities better places.
Today, thanks to three decades of the rightwing lie machine, teachers, firefighters, police officers are -- the enemy!!!! Bloated, fat, overpaid, under-worked "government employees" feeding at the public trough.
YES, AMERICA IS OFF TRACK.
There was a time when preachers preached from the Sermon on the Mount -- "Blessed are the peacemakers -- blessed are the meek -- blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness."
There was a time when preachers demanded that "Justice roll down like a might river and righteousness like a never-ending stream!"
Today, the preachers tell us we need to throw out judges who rule on the side of justice, we need to deny people who love and care for each other the right to marry, we should deny women access to medical care -- all the while those same preachers flit around in private jets, wearing tailor-made suits, owning half a dozen mansions.
YES, AMERICA IS OFF TRACK.
There was a time when the right to vote was sacred. There was a time when government and political parties did everything they could to make it easier and more convenient for everyone eligible to vote.
Today, in over 31 states, one of our political parties is rushing ahead to enact laws that will keep 5 million eligible people from voting. Oh, I know, they claim they are doing this to prevent "voter fraud" -- when in the past three decades, the US Dept of Justice has prosecuted than 100 cases of voter fraud out of hundreds of millions of votes cast.
In this country today, people are being denied the vote because of a lie -- a lie that was carefully constructed and skillfully spread.
YES, AMERICA IS OFF TRACK.
There was a time in America when the banker helped the local business owner with lines of credit, when the banker helped the farmer with crop and equipment loans, when the banker helped a young couple own their home.
Today - - well, you know.
YES, AMERICA IS OFF TRACK.
Mitt Romney and the Republicans are right -- AMERICA REALLY IS OFF-TRACK -- and electing them is NOT the way to get back on track. Thanks, Mitt, for pointing out the obvious.