When Hell Freezes Over...

As members of our staff travel around the country, we often get into discussions, with friends and strangers alike, that more often than not involve politics.

These discussions are sometimes effective to help educate, inform, and change the minds of people, including us. Much of the time, though, we realize that these discussions are simply words, people venting to one another, looking for some kind of answers to questions that make all of us - left, right, and center - shake our heads in collective frustration.

Putting words into majority-supported, positive political action isn't something Americans have been well-known for, over the last few decades. Our U.S. Congress - both House and Senate - has become the poster child for this kind of failure of conviction, with actions like the reaffirmation of the official U.S. motto by the House on Wednesday.

The legislatures in many statehouses across the country aren't much better.

This lack of action - almost everywhere - is one reason we were so excited to see what happened in Oakland on Wednesday, with the first general strike anywhere in the country in 65 years.

Most of our readers, and our entire staff, have never really experienced a general strike, so we understand that some of you may be a bit concerned about what is involved in a general strike.

In short, a general strike shuts down almost everything, in a predominantly peaceful way. Businesses, activity at ports, bus service, and most other economic activity shuts down, due to workers not showing up or even just walking away for a day. In short, a general strike is what happens when a significant majority of people follow the example of the character Howard Beale, in the legendary film Network, when he says, "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!"

Contrary to the propaganda from some on the right, the general strike in Oakland has thus far been very effective in what they've been attempting to do - stop the flow of normal activities for a time.

We agree with others who've made the important point that the general strike in Oakland isn't about the recent police brutality or even the Occupy Oakland movement and its disputes with the city. The general strike in Oakland is about the same thing the Occupy movement has been about, both in the U.S. and abroad - that REAL actions need to be taken by those in positions of power, and that those politicians need to take responsibility.

With that in mind, it's also important to remember that in a system of government like ours, in the U.S., it's WE who have the power, - and the responsibility. We can take responsibility for things that are hard choices, like President Obama has done this week with the economy and with the final decision on whether the Keystone pipeline will even be allowed to go through. Or we can deny, obfuscate, and generally make excuses, like Herman Cain about allegations against him and his campaign, or Rick Perry, with his recent odd speech in New Hampshire.

With respect to the inequalities that lay at the heart of the Occupy movement's concerns, like it or not, Americans will soon have a choice. They can follow the president's lead and be responsible, pushing their politicians to clean up the system, and raise the real collection of tax dollars from those who have been wealthy enough so far to skate out on paying their fair share.

Or we can cry, whine, accuse others, and attempt to avoid the responsibility of accepting the reality that - as a country - we're simply not collecting the taxes we need to operate our government effectively.

For those people who've said, in the past, that the rich in America will have to pay their fair share only when hell freezes over?

Let's just say we don't think it's only the weather in Nebraska that's getting colder.

Standing Up To The Blockheads

For over a month and a half now, as the Occupy movement has grown from a small group of people protesting near Wall Street to protests across the country and around the globe, there's been a certain segment of the population that has looked down on the protesters and derisively asked , "What do those people think they're doing?" Many in the media have already answered that question, more than once - including us - yet the anti-Occupiers continue to insist that the Occupy movement produce some kind of definable change as proof that the movement is more than the disgusting caricature painted by those who enjoy the status quo.

With great pride, Occupiers, and those that stand with them, now have some tangible proof that our union around the subject of inequality can indeed make a difference.

Late Monday, more than a month after Bank of America announced plans to charge customers new fees - for the customers to use their own money - Bank of America backed down, along with virtually every other major bank. While some senior banking officials have denied on record that the Occupy movement directly influenced their decision, they've admitted that the movement has been at least partially responsible for the banks retreat.

It hasn't been just the marches and the protests at bank branches around the country that changed that minds of those responsible at the banks.

Efforts like Move Your Money, GetMoneyOut.com [which our webmaster has been part of], and New Bottom Line - an effort to help cities and local governments move their money away from the big banks - all have some responsibility for putting the banks and Wall Street on notice.

The unified efforts of these different and diverse groups of Americans seems to have given those politicians who support them, especially the President and those in the Democratic Party, a boost of courage to begin standing up to do what the American people have been clamoring for.

Democratic House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer and 182 other House Democrats, including both liberals and Blue Dogs, are demanding the removal of major government policy changes that John Boehner and the Republicans are trying to slip into smaller spending bills that must pass later this month.

Democrats in the U.S. Senate aren't sitting down anymore either. New Mexico Senator Tom Udall officially proposed a constitutional amendment on Tuesday to reverse two highly controversial Supreme Court decisions -  1976's Buckley v. Valeo, which said campaign money is a form of speech, and the nearly universally hated 2010 Citizens United decision, which has opened the floodgates to virtually unlimited campaign spending.

President Obama has also been emboldened, as he's pushed forward on his "We Can't Wait" initiatives to help homeowners with their mortgages, help returning veterans find jobs, help college graduates weighed down by debt, and help the ill and elderly get the medicines they need.

All this, and still most Republicans in D.C. refuse to do anything to help the American people that might also help the President or Democrats.

This willfully ignorant "head in a box" attitude has disgusted even fellow Republicans. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, a prominent Republican in President Obama's Cabinet, openly admitted that his party no longer wants to do anything to help the American people - because they're myopically focused on their sole aim of beating President Obama.

We're not saying all these changes stem solely from the Occupy movement, because they don't - at least, not directly.

That said, no one can ignore that the wheels of progress seem to be turning slightly faster again, since people everywhere have been coming together, uniting with the Occupy movement and against the inequality that's been the focus of the movement.

To those people who still seem to have their head locked in a box, refusing to acknowledge the power of the people, our advice is simple:

Quit being a block head.

Welcome And Unwelcome Guests

We apologize in advance if we're a bit distracted this week. We're excited that our friend and Paul's fellow cartoonist, Gustavo Rodriguez, is going to be our guest for a few days.

As the current staff cartoonist for El Nuevo Herald, the Spanish-language version of The Miami Herald, and as a naturalized American citizen, who emigrated from Cuba, Gustavo has had more than his fair share of dealing with bureaucracy and strange government rules under both so-called capitalism and so-called socialism. We're sure Mr. Rodriguez will be willing to discuss many of those differences with the journalism and other students he'll meet at Peru State College this week. You can even join him at the recital hall tonight at 7, local time, or in the Student Center, Wednesday morning, starting at 11.

The likelihood is that many of the individuals Gustavo addresses will listen intently, and some may even learn to think about a few subjects in a different way.

We're not so confident that the members of Nebraska's Unicameral will follow the lead of those young college students.

Today marks the beginning of the special session for that body of lawmakers, and they have only one topic to consider: the Keystone XL pipeline.

As we've mentioned previously and extensively, even allowing the existence of a new Keystone pipeline over the Ogallala Aquifer endangers the water supply for the entire middle section of the United States - where large portions of the world's food are grown.

Not surprisingly, TransCanada, the massive oil company desperate to build this pipeline, hired lawyers - not scientists or pipeline engineers - to release a statement on Monday to attempt to tie the hands of the Nebraska Legislature, and limit the scope and vision of the task that lies before them.

Like our welcome guest, Gustavo, and the students at Peru State, we hope our suggestions here to members of the Nebraska Legislature will help widen that scope back to where it should be.
In short, we're aware the pipeline is likely to ultimately go through Nebraska, regardless of what its opponents do or say.

That doesn't mean TransCanada should be able to bully and push the citizens of Nebraska around, in a similar way to the unwelcome and unethical influence exerted by Wall Street banks on the American political landscape.

The Nebraska Legislature MUST seriously consider not only its legal obligation to its own citizens, but also the fact that, should the pipeline leak oil or other contaminants into the aquifer, virtually every other state in the central portion of the country may sue Nebraska for destroying their water supplies as well.

Furthermore, while there are already Federal standards for safety along the pipeline, Nebraska currently has almost no significant binding legislation regarding the cleanup of a natural disaster, like a massive oil spill.

Finally, one of Nebraska's extended neighbors has already dealt with the bullies of Big Oil over a similar nature - and won. Nebraska's senators and governor should warmly welcome advice from Montana's Governor Brian Schweitzer and Montana's legislators, on the problems they experienced - and how they could have handled their own pipeline re-routing challenge better.

There are ways in life to make some interactions with even unwelcome guests more successful.

Many times, those methods for success can be learned from the guests we'd rather interact with.