Needs and Wants
As I listen to rebroadcast after rebroadcast of Ted Cruz’s bellicose rantings, I cannot help but reflect on his apparent vision of America. As champion of the far, far right, he seems to echo the feudal ideal so characteristic of true tyrants from time immemorial. He, Prince Ted and his knights in rusty, rancid smelling armor will tell people exactly what it is they really need! The foolish peasants are apparently totally incapable of themselves relating or describing what it is they actually need! (Not a bad thing for certain overzealous ultra liberals to think about as well.) At the same time, Mr. Cruz would not hesitate to ask people like the “generous” Koch Brothers exactly what it is they want!
A few years ago, on Chris Matthews’ Hardball, the conservative Pat Buchanan inadvertently quoted one of my articles sent to him, matter of factly admitting that politicians ought to be concerned with what people need, not what they want. In fact, perhaps you may have noticed that no matter how far apart two sides may be, they usually seem to respect each other’s legitimate needs enough to start a dialogue-no matter if they reach a compromise or not. When the same two sides bring up what they want, neither side usually seems capable of respecting the other enough to avoid an argument.
Cruz, the very definition of a “sycophant,” managed to rile the conservative and gentlemanly John McCain by maligning a truly great American, Bob Dole. Cruz, talking like a vacuous adolescent, simply showed the purposeful ignorance (as opposed to actual stupidity) so prominent among far right wing extremists. Dole proudly ran a clean presidential campaign based on real issues. Knowing that he had little chance for victory, nonetheless, he did himself and his party proud, clearing the way for those in his party far less qualified than he to be elected later. As a senator, he was equally responsible, with his political rival, Bill Clinton, for the country’s great economic resurgence. Meanwhile, Cruz and his greedy cohorts are busy exploiting all phases of American life for illicit personal profit.
After wasting trillions of dollars, embezzled from the Social Security Trust Fund to callously finance Iran’s attempted rise to nuclear superpower status, (the only real result of the contrived war with Iraq), Cruz and his henchman are currently working tirelessly to destroy the U.S. Post Office, the Public Schools and what they term “Entitlements.” Their goal is to exploit these entities by privatization, pocketing as much profit as possible from an unsuspecting public. In fact, some of the largest chunks of “welfare” don’t go to the poor, but to Cruz’s benefactors.
The attack on food stamps, for instance, represents a cruel irony. Most of us ignore the fact that virtually every penny that Homeowners Insurance executives spend on food is equivalent to Super Food Stamps! Their salaries are virtually 100% subsidized by welfare in the form of “declared emergencies,” constantly reducing or eliminating their companies’ debts. Each homeowner pays double, once for inflated insurance premiums and again in taxes to cover the insurance company's inevitable shortfalls and their undeserved profits.
In short, Cruz and his accomplices are determined to brainwash a largely unsuspecting public and to convince them that what Ted Cruz and the Koch Brothers want is what the public really needs! Personally, I can’t tell you exactly what it is that people need, but I can assure you that they’ll be lucky to have their underwear left when Ted and his buddies are finished with them!
Allen Finkelstein, (O’Finky) 3/7/14