Monday, March 19, 2018

1919 Return of the Dustbowl


In Oklahoma where the wind comes sweeping down the plain, there’s a new dustbowl that came sweeping in with it.

Some say it’s Kansas sneezing. And there’s plenty of evidence that’s true.  But no direct proof.  Except they each have adopted trickle down economics, spending cuts, service cuts and the burning of certain law books.

For those born tomorrow, the dustbowl of the 1930s was the work of foul weather.  The corn might once have gotten as high as an elephant’s eye, but the sand in the air made it impossible to see.

It took years and the best of the new deal to normalize Oklahoma.  And these days it’s a different kind of dust.  Yes, you can drive your surrey with the fringe on top and you won’t go dust blind.  But if you live there, you might go dirt poor.

This is the dust of the Republicans’ Great Experiment.  Make a utopia that Larry Kudlow could live in happily. Low taxes, light or absent regulations. And the architects of this paradise began to have their way with the rest of the gullible citizenry almost 18 years ago.  A slow moving dust storm.

Cut funding for everything and raise a population of “gals” and guys who “cain’t say no” lest they starve.

The water, the air, the median income: all on the low end. Trickle down nirvana?  Well, not exactly.  Even recent grads of the worst teachers’ colleges are saying “I’ll work temp in Chicago pizza joint before I take a full time job in Oklahoma City.”

It looks like that legislative-executive-judicial coalition is starting to fall apart. Some legislators are so treasonous to The Cause that they’re ready to (shudder) raise taxes to improve the schools, health care and other things we expect responsible government to oversee and sometimes pay for.

And the thing is… Oklahoma may be one of the ten poorest states, but it’s not at the absolute bottom. Yet. Mississippi retains that honor. But the gap is closing as median income falls in every state.

TODAY’S QUOTE:
“Some men rob you with a six gun. Others rob you with a fountain pen.” -- Woody Guthrie, Oklahoma native and balladeer-journalist of the dustbowl years.

SHRAPNEL:
--There is absolutely no evidence that the US meddled in Putin’s reelection to a six year term.  If he serves the full six years, he’ll have been in office or otherwise in charge for almost 25 years. Counting from the formation of the Soviet Union, no one has served longer… except Stalin.

--Former Deputy FBI director Andrew McCabe, fired by Great Weasels in the Justice Department 26 hours before he became eligible to collect his full pension has been offered a job by several members of congress to make up the hours.   Even if he doesn’t accept, he’ll likely get the last laugh.  There’ll be paid-for speeches, “consultancies,” and talking head money from any of several cable networks.

I’m Wes Richards. My opinions are my own but you’re welcome to them. ®
Please address comments to wesrichards@gmail.com
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© WJR 2018


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