Louisiana Voice

It was just six years ago that Donald Trump declared that America “WILL NEVER BE A SOCIALIST COUNTRY.”

He was apparently correct. Oligarchy is about as far removed from socialism as you can get.

So, no, we’re definitely not headed toward socialism. Unless you count social security, Medicare, organized labor, worker benefits like health care, minimum wage, vacation and overtime pay.

We’re definitely not socialist if you toss out fire and police departments, group insurance, public streets and highways, incentive checks from the government, public education and those pesky homeowners associations where you pay a monthly fee to keep your subdivision attractive and enforce conformity of mailboxes, fences, etc.

No, we’re definitely a society built on capitalism. How else would explain the constant fluctuation in the cost of gasoline? And eggs? Bread? You name it, the cost has exploded and it’s all thanks to that wonderful system of free-market capitalism where corporate greed is the order of the day.

Trickle-down economics? Hype. A myth. When taxes are cut for the super-rich and for corporations, it is the stockholders who profit, not the workers. Those breaks have never filtered down to those who actually create wealth for their bosses. How else would you account for the ever-widening disparity in the income of the 1 percent and the rest of us?

Where else but in a capitalist society could you find landlords and realtors INCREASING RENT by more than 130 percent in the wake of a disaster such as the fires that hit Los Angeles? Where else would you find price gouging on eggs, bread, milk, steak, clothing, gasoline, etc?

Remember the name Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, Getty, J.P. Morgan, Andrew Carnegie?

They were the shakers and movers of the so-called “Gilded Age” of America and they pretty much had their way. It was a gilded age for them, to be sure, but for the rest of America, you had child labor, unsafe meat, no minimum wage, no vacation, no medical benefits, no unions. For the rest of America it pretty much a miserable time

Now, some say we are in a second “Gilded Age,” and they might be correct.

You know the names of Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Miriam Adelson, Vivek Ramaswamy, et al, but did you ever really stop to ask yourself what must they want in their unholy alliance with Trump? Didja?

Do you for one nano-second really believe that Musk and Ramaswamy are thinking about the best interests of this country with their Department of Government Efficiency? The efficiency will be for the new robber barons of the new Gilded Age. And you ain’t invited to the party.

Why do you think these guys and not Joe the Plumber will be sitting FRONT AND CENTER at Trump’s inauguration on Monday?

For the answer to that, just sit back and watch their bank accounts swell even more and their stocks increase in value. No matter what Bezos and Musk try to convince us otherwise with Space X and Blue Origin, it’s not rocket science.

If you were paying attention yesterday, you may have noticed a distinct parallel in messages to the American people separated by 64 years almost to the day.

It was on Jan. 17, 1961 that President Dwight Eisenhower, in his FAREWELL ADDRESS  to the American people, warned that “we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions.”

Ike, who as a distinguished Army general himself, led the Allies to victory over Nazi Germany, went on to say, “We must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex.”

Eisenhower’s speech, as noted in the video clip above, received little attention at the time and there were those who felt that the warning had been slipped into his address by some speechwriter with an agenda. Not so. It was a warning that came from the president’s heart.

Obviously, his words of caution went unheeded as we have seen more and more of our taxpayer dollars funneled into outrageous military spending.

Yesterday, another president on his way out the door gave his own farewell speech that again, went largely unnoticed by anyone other than political junkies. Joe Biden, at 82, is 11 years older than Eisenhower when the military-industrial complex message was delivered. And though Biden’s expressed concern was of a different perceived threat, the words were eerily similar.

Biden used his final OVAL OFFICE ADDRESS to warn of “a dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few ultra wealthy people.”

He went on to say, “Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power, and influence, that literally threatens our entire democracy. Our basic rights and freedoms. And a fair shot for everyone to get ahead.”

Instead of the military-industrial complex, Biden said he sees as a greater threat a “tech-industrial complex.”

And like Ike’s words of caution, Biden’s heads-up is very likely to be equally ignored by a citizenry more concerned about whether Notre Dame can beat Texas or who is the odds-on favorite to win the Super Bowl or which bachelor the Bachelorette will choose.

There are differences between the two men to be sure. Eisenhower never held political office until he ran for president in 1952. Biden spent half-a-century in politics. Ike was a Republican at a time the differences between political parties wasn’t so stark.

Biden is a Democrat at a time when neither party will concede an inch to the other, creating gridlock at the very time that this country most needs its leaders to come together to address problems like homelessness, mental illness, economy, and a multitude of other issues.

Now, as Biden prepares to hand the keys to the White House over to Donald Trump, we’re witnessing a disturbing takeover of the government of the United States by monied interests who are likely to use their positions as a springboard to greater power and riches – at the expense of democracy.

Anyone who actually believes that Elon Musk or Vivek Ramaswamy is the least bit interested in reducing government waste or that he cares one whit for the welfare of working Americans is delusional.

All one has to do is look at what happened to the FEDERAL DEBT the last time Trump held the highest office (hint: it increased by $3 trillion despite his campaign promises to wipe out the federal deficit).

Does anyone think Mark Zuckerberg’s decision to terminate Meta’s fact-checking just as the world’s most prolific liar takes office was a coincidence?

The decisions by the Washington Post and Los Angeles Times not to endorse either presidential candidate was unprecedented as was ABC’s rollover in settling Trump’s libel lawsuit against the network, a lawsuit ABC likely would’ve won had the network dug in its heels.

I’ve got this uneasy feeling that all the noise we’re hearing about libraries, deportations, tariffs, Greenland, Panama, Canada, vaccine mandates and crime is just that – noise.

I have always subscribed to the theory that to know what politician’s intent is, don’t listen to what he says, listen to what he does not say – and watch what he does.

Biden’s fears of rule by an oligarchy are well-founded and we’d be wise to pay attention.

Musk, Ramaswamy, Bezos, et al have not taken their eyes off the enrichment ball.

Neither should we.

On Saturday, I wrote about a member of the Livingston Parish Council invoking the term “radical left” in the ongoing debate over the First Amendment. According to ERIN SANDEFUR, those who dare defend the Livingston Parish Library are members of that so-called “radical left.”

But in the spirit of fairness, it’s only proper that we pay proper homage to the “Logical Right.” (It would be perfect alliteration to say “logical left” and “radical right,” and there are certainly those who would express it that way).

The “logical right” is currently weighing in on the devastating fires out in Los Angeles, and not in a sympathetic way, I might add.

Donald Felon Trump, for example, wrote on his Truth Social site, “The fires are still raging in L.A. The incompetent pols have no idea how to put them out.”

Would that be in contrast to the stellar manner in which you responded to the Covid pandemic, Mr. Frump?

What would you suggest Mr. “only I can fix it”? You may toss rolls of paper towels to hurricane victims in Puerto Rico, but try that right now in Los Angeles and they’d most likely only provide more fuel for the fires.

The felon/president-elect loves to sit back on his fat ass and point fingers of blame at everyone but himself, a trait that is fast becoming the trademark of the entire “logical right,” as we shall see in a bit.

The not-so-funny thing is that he’s been wrong on every ACCUSATION he’s made. That’s. Every. Single. One.

But the “logical right” isn’t satisfied with letting Mr. Blowjangles carry the water alone. There’s just too much political hay to be harvested here. And one thing they’re great at is piling on.

Take U.S. Rep. WARREN DAVIDSON for example. The Ohio congressman suggested on Faux Network Friday that federal disaster relief should be withheld from California unless the state reforms its forestry management practices.

You have to wonder what his position was on federal aid to East Palestine, Ohio, after those 53 train cars loaded with toxic chemicals derailed there on Feb. 2, 2023, resulting in considerable environmental damage.

Here’s how better forestry management practices can be accomplished, Congressman: make it rain. Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene, the Mouth of the South, has already gone on record as proclaiming that some vague “they” is capable of CONTROLLING THE WEATHER, so you’d think “they” would be sure to allow more liquid sunshine there since the last significant rainfall of 0.13 inch last May 5. But again, to be fair, MTG was talking about hurricanes in the southern states when she said that so, let’s just keep things in perspective here.

And of course, Rep. Davidson would probably want to withhold hurricane relies from all those vulnerable Southern states until they do something about weather management.

Maybe they should consult MTG about that.

But then again, maybe not. All those Southern states are red states, making them members of the “logical right.” We can’t be punishing them now, can we? Let’s direct all our wrath, criticism and armchair quarterbacking to blue states.

The Livingston Parish Library controversy continues to fester, thanks to the influence of outsiders who apparently consider the local folks too dense to grasp an issue as basic as the First Amendment and so feel they must do our thinking for us.

And apparently, there are certain Livingston Parish leaders who willingly and eagerly drink that Kool-Aid, even to the point of attacking a good and decent person like Amanda Jones whose one sin was to speak up against censorship and book banning.

All that aside, the Livingston Parish Council, in a 5-4 vote on Thursday removed every member of the parish library board, though two of the members were promptly reappointed.

The latest brouhaha arose after the now former library board gutted the parish library BUDGET, cutting or reducing several key programs, even down to slicing funds for building maintenance.

One of the most puzzling comments to come out of Thursday’s three-hour meeting was uttered by council member Erin Sandefur who said with a straight face, “In no way was the budget cut to defund or harm the library in any way.”

Funny she should say that when the original library board shakeup did not occur until one Michael Lundsford of Lafayette and his organization, Citizens for a New Louisiana, stuck their noses into the machinations of the local library and deemed all things inappropriate.

That would seem to indicate that there is an element of leadership that doesn’t lead at all, but merely parrots the platitudes and banalities of others so often that we get an echo chamber of “witch hunts,” “fake news,” “stop the steal,” “drain the swamp” and of course, “MAGA.”

Show me just one of the catch-phrases being bandied around that wasn’t first spoon-fed to the masses.

But Sandefur went a step farther, saying, “There’s been propaganda and untruth stated in public that is the radical left way…”

Wait. What? Radical left?

Lady, let me give you a quick history lesson about the “radical left.”

The “radical left,” as you call it, pulled this country out of an awful depression after a Republican president put us there in the first place.

The “radical left” is responsible for the 40-hour work week.

The “radical left” is responsible for paid vacation for workers.

The “radical left,” largely through the efforts of organized labor, is responsible for your having medical and retirement benefits.

The “radical left” is responsible for our being able to count on Social Security and Medicare in our golden years.

The “radical left” is responsible for the implementation of workplace safety regulations.

The “radical left” is responsible for worker’s compensation to help you survive if you’re injured on the job.

The “radical left” is responsible for the inspection of food to ensure you won’t be serving spoiled or diseased meat to your family.

And Ms. Sandefur, if you remember nothing else, remember this: the “radical left” is responsible for women’s suffrage, which gave women the right to vote which in turn led directly to your being able to seek and win the seat on the Livingston Parish Council which you now hold.

So, what can we thank the “right” for?

Basically, we can thank the “right” for continuing to lavish tax breaks on the corporations and the very rich individuals so that the middle class can bear the burden of taxation and so that we can continue to complain about “welfare queens.”

We can thank the “right” for elimination of the Fairness Doctrine, which opened the doors to idiots like Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson.

We can thank the “right” for wave after wave of deregulation which led directly to the 2008 collapse of several major Wall Street banks, subprime mortgages, predatory lending, etc.

We can thank the “right” for the ever-increasing income disparity between the very wealthy and those who actually produce that wealth, the workers.

Worst of all, we will most probably one day be able to thank the “right” for the complete erosion of rights and benefits that will be systematically yanked from our grasp, leaving a “right” ruling oligarchy.

And, if we study our history, perhaps one day we’ll look back and ask, “Did all this really start over a library?”

(Full disclosure: To put my rant into proper perspective, it might be useful to know that I spent more than 40 years as a Republican, voting for such candidates as Goldwater, Nixon, Reagan, Ford and the first Bush. It was a governor named Jindal and a clown named Limbaugh who pushed me away from the “radical right.”)