From: Anthony Saidy [mailto:saidych...@sbcglobal.net]
Sent: Tuesday, February 14, 2012 11:28 PM
To the below I would add Truman's part in launching the Cold War, which
might not have occurred if FDR had not dumped Henry Wallace as VP.
Sent: Tue, February 14, 2012 5:02:48 PM
Subject: HARRY & BESS
Forgiving Truman for his unconscionable use of the atom bomb of two Japanese
cities has always left me unable to deal with any good qualities he may have
had.
That said the following demonstrates an unrecognizable aspect in our
political attitudes of today.
-Cindy Asner
On Feb 14, 2012, at 9:51 AM, Michael Fish wrote:
HARRY & BESS
Harry Truman was a different kind of President. He probably made as many, or
more, important decisions regarding our nation's history as any of the other
42 Presidents preceding him. However, a measure of his greatness may rest on
what he did after he left the White House.
The only asset he had when he died was the house he lived in, which was in
Independence Missouri . His wife had inherited the house from her mother and
father and other than their years in the White House, they lived their
entire lives there.
When he retired from office in 1952, his income was a U.S. Army pension
reported to have been $13,507.72 a year. Congress, noting that he was paying
for his stamps and personally licking them, granted him an 'allowance' and,
later, a retroactive pension of $25,000 per year.
After President Eisenhower was inaugurated, Harry and Bess drove home to
Missouri by themselves. There was no Secret Service following them.
When offered corporate positions at large salaries, he declined, stating,
"You don't want me. You want the office of the President, and that doesn't
belong to me. It belongs to the American people and it's not for sale.."
Even later, on May 6, 1971, when Congress was preparing to award him the
Medal of Honor on his 87th birthday, he refused to accept it, writing, "I
don't consider that I have done anything which should be the reason for any
award, Congressional or otherwise."
As president he paid for all of his own travel expenses and food.
Modern politicians have found a new level of success in cashing in on the
Presidency, resulting in untold wealth. Today, many in Congress also have
found a way to become quite wealthy while enjoying the fruits of their
offices. Political offices are now for sale.
Good old Harry Truman was correct when he observed, "My choices in life were
either to be a piano player in a whorehouse or a politician. And to tell the
truth, there's hardly any difference!
I say dig him up and clone him!!
* * *
<http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/02/14-4>
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/02/14-4
Money Throws Democracy Overboard
by Bill Moyers <http://www.commondreams.org/author/bill-moyers> and Michael
Winship <http://www.commondreams.org/michael-winship>
Common Dreams: February 14, 2012
Watching what's happening to our democracy is like watching the cruise ship
Costa Concordia founder and sink slowly into the sea off the coast of Italy,
as the passengers, shorn of life vests, scramble for safety as best they
can, while the captain trips and falls conveniently into a waiting life
boat.
We are drowning here, with gaping holes torn into the hull of the ship of
state from charges detonated by the owners and manipulators of capital.
Their wealth has become a demonic force in politics. Nothing can stop them.
Not the law, which has been written to accommodate them. Not scrutiny --
they have no shame. Not a decent respect for the welfare of others -- the
people without means, their safety net shredded, left helpless before events
beyond their control.
The obstacles facing the millennial generation didn't just happen. Take an
economy skewed to the top, low wages and missing jobs, predatory interest
rates on college loans: these are politically engineered consequences of
government of, by, and for the one percent. So, too, is our tax code the
product of money and politics, influence and favoritism, lobbyists and the
laws they draft for rented politicians to enact.
Here's what we're up against. Read it and weep: "America's Plutocrats Play
the Political Ponies." That's a headline in "Too Much," an Internet
publication from the Institute for Policy Studies that describes itself as
"an online weekly on excess and inequality."
Yes, the results are in and our elections have replaced horse racing as the
sport of kings. Only these kings aren't your everyday poobahs and
potentates. These kings are multi-billionaire, corporate moguls who by the
divine right, not of God, but the United States Supreme Court and its
Citizens United decision, are now buying politicians like so much pricey
horseflesh. All that money pouring into super PACs, much of it from secret
sources: merely an investment, should their horse pay off in November, in
the best government money can buy.
They're shelling out fortunes' worth of contributions. Look at just a few of
them: Mitt Romney's hedge fund pals Robert Mercer, John Paulson, Julian
Robertson and Paul Singer - each of whom has ponied up a million or more for
the super PAC called "Restore Our Future" -- as in, "Give us back the go-go
days, when predators ruled Wall Street like it was Jurassic Park."
Then there's casino boss Sheldon Adelson and his wife Miriam, fiercely
pro-Israel and anti-President Obama's Mideast policy. Initially, they placed
their bets on Newt Gingrich, who says on his first day in office he'd move
the American Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, a decision that would thrill
the Adelsons but infuriate Palestinians and the rest of the Muslim world.
Together, the Adelsons have contributed ten million to Newt's "Winning Our
Future" super PAC.
Cowboy billionaire Foster Friess, a born-again Christian who made his
fortune herding mutual funds instead of cattle, has been bankrolling the
"Red White and Blue Fund" super PAC of Rick Santorum, with whom he shares a
social right-wing agenda. Dark horse Ron Paul has relied on the kindness of
PayPal founder Peter Thiel, a like-minded libertarian in favor of the
smallest government possible, who gave $900,000 to Paul's "Endorse Liberty"
super PAC. Hollywood's Jeffrey Katzenberg has so far emptied his wallet to
the tune of a cool two million for the pro-Obama super PAC, "Priorities USA
Action."
President Obama -- who kept his distance from Priorities USA Action and used
to call the money unleashed by Citizens United a "threat to democracy" --
has declared if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. He urges his wealthy
supporters to please go ahead and back the super PAC. "Our campaign has to
face the reality of the law as it stands," his campaign manager Jim Messina
said. To do otherwise, he added, would be to "unilaterally disarm" in the
face of all those Republican super PAC millions. So much for Obama's stand
on campaign finance reform - everybody else is doing it, he seems to say, so
why don't you show me the money, too?
When all is said and done, this race for the White House may cost more than
two billion dollars. What's getting trampled into dust are the voices of
people who aren't rich, not to mention what's left of our democracy. As
Democratic pollster Peter Hart told The New Yorker magazine's Jane Mayer,
"It's become a situation where the contest is how much you can destroy the
system, rather than how much you can make it work. It makes no difference if
you have a 'D' or an 'R' after your name. There's no sense that this is
about democracy, and after the election you have to work together, and knit
the country together."
These gargantuan super PAC contributions are not an end in themselves. They
are the means to gain control of government - and the nation state -- for a
reason. The French writer and economist Frederic Bastiat said it plainly:
"When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men living in society,
they create for themselves, in the course of time, a legal system that
authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it." That's what the super
PACs are bidding on. For the rest of us, the ship may already have sailed.
<http://www.commondreams.org/author/bill-moyers> Bill Moyers
Journalist Bill Moyers is the host of the new show Moyers
<http://www.billmoyers.com/> & Company, a weekly series of smart talk and
new ideas aimed at helping viewers make sense of our tumultuous times
through the insight of America's strongest thinkers.. His previous shows on
PBS included NOW with Bill Moyers and Bill Moyers Journal. Over the past
three decades he has become an icon of American journalism and is the author
of many books, including Bill Moyers Journal: The Conversation Continues
<http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1595586245?ie=UTF8&tag=commondreams-20&lin
kCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=1595586245> , Moyers on Democracy
<http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002SB8OCU?ie=UTF8&tag=commondreams-20&lin
kCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B002SB8OCU> , and Bill Moyers: On Faith
<http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003Z88IO4?ie=UTF8&tag=commondreams-20&lin
kCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B003Z88IO4> & Reason. He was one of the
organizers of the Peace Corps, a special assistant for Lyndon B. Johnson, a
publisher of Newsday, senior correspondent for CBS News and a producer of
many groundbreaking series on public television. He is the winner of more
than 30 Emmys, nine Peabodys, three George Polk awards and is the author of
three best-selling books.
more Bill Moyers <http://www.commondreams.org/author/bill-moyers>
<http://www.commondreams.org/michael-winship> Michael Winship
Michael Winship, senior writing fellow at Demos and president of the Writers
Guild of America, East, is senior writer of the new public television series
Moyers & Company, premiering in January 2012. Go to www.billmoyers.com
<http://www.billmoyers.com/>
more Michael <http://www.commondreams.org/michael-winship> Winship
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