Have you ever acknowledged that there was something you didn’t know? Fortunately, it’s a problem I need seldom confront.

I have a pet peeve. I constantly see politicians and others pontificate on issues as though they actually know what they are talking about.

Given the certitude with which they deliver their dicta, one would think they are the ultimate gurus. They need to be laughed off the stage. Absent that, they need to be asked questions.

One might think I would be pleased with the local political situation. After all, Bart Gordon, the leader of the Blue Dogs, decided not to run for reelection. Oh, how I wish I could take credit for his decision.

The result of his departure is somewhat of a wash.

Diane Black, our local state senator is the odds-on favorite to take the empty seat. Our district is apparently not blessed with intelligent people willing to run for public office. More’s the pity.

There may be more but I have only seen two of her campaign ads for the general election. Let me describe them.

In the first she appears with one of her grandchildren; I would guess a girl of, perhaps, 5 years of age. Using her grandchild in pursuit of her political ambitions, she speaks of how terrible it is that the child owes a debt of x number of dollars. Parenthetically, while several politicians are using this ploy, it seems each has their own figure.

Believe it or not, she is personally going to change that. She will eliminate the debt by giving the richest 2 percent of our population a tax break that will only add a trillion or two to the national debt. Another way she intends to reduce her granddaughter’s burden is by repealing “ObamaCare.” Just ignore, as does she, that healthcare reform is a necessary part of salvaging our budget mess.

Diane’s other ad shows her in what appears to be a hospital setting. She says that, as a nurse, she understands healthcare.

I worked for Delta Air Lines for several years. I worked on the ticket counter in Atlanta. I audited the caterer and planned the meals for the 258 daily flights out of Atlanta. I ended my years there a an assembler language programmer on the IBM 360 mainframe computers. Although I have a pilot’s license with instrument and multi-engine ratings that I haven’t used for over 30 years, I never came close to qualifying on a 747. Whatever familiarity I may have had with the airline industry would not likely induce you to board a jumbo jet with me at the controls. At least I hope not.

Am I in any way an expert on the airline industry, even were my experience current? No. I may have some insight into a couple of limited aspects but certainly not enough for someone to allow me to completely restructure the system. Hello, Diane. Calling Nurse Diane.

Her expertise with regards to the deficit, the economy, the healthcare system and any number of other issues is on a par with Christine O’Donnell’s  mastery of Constitutional Law.

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know some of the questions these wannabes need to be asked. You can always refresh your memory. At a minimum, simply challenge them. Ask them what background, education or experience they have in the subject. Don’t forget, being a nurse is not competency to redesign the system.

Ask them for specifics. Here you need to be careful. Read their web site first. Most of them will have canned answers, talking points. Hold their feet to the fire. Make “uh” the most frequent word coming out of their mouth.

Catch them on contradictions. The big corporate money is fighting “the government takeover of health care.” At the same time, the same big corporate donors are funding attacks claiming the candidates they don’t like are jeopardizing Medicare. It is amazing how easy it is to make these bozos look ridiculous.

If a candidate in your area promises to repeal the healthcare reform as Diane does, ask them to provide the names of the House members and Senators who will make up the 2/3rds of each house needed to override Obama’s veto.

Go to one of the many meet the candidate town meetings and ask a question. Ask it with sincerity; not as a smart alec. Ask it as though you really want an answer. It will throw them off message. Plant a seed of doubt.

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Despite what some may think, I was not around for the Dred Scott decision. That aside, I had comforted myself that the Supremes could not make a worse ruling than the one that gave us Bush the lesser.

I was wrong, horribly so.

We are now the only developed country in the world that allows corporations to legally spend unlimited amounts to control the government. Aren’t we special?

Stay with me a couple of minutes. You will see how stupid and/or corrupt at least five of the Justices really are.

How did we get here and what needs to be done? It is simple but the ramifications cannot be overstated.

First we are dealing with a bunch of hypocrites. The radicals of the Court loudly proclaim that they believe in following the intent of the Founding Fathers. They also maintain that the courts should not legislate, nor usurp the legislative role. Yeah, sure.

No Supreme Court has come close to the activism of the present Court. They have overturned more legislation, by far, than any Court of which I am aware. That tendency alone was sufficient to make all predictions on the latest travesty easy. Commentators from the entire spectrum got it right. This ruling was no surprise.

How about their claimed devotion to what they term ‘strict construction?’ That is also a gross mischaracterization. What was the Founding Fathers’ opinion of corporations? It may not be common knowledge but is far from a secret to any scholar or amateur enthusiast of our founders.

With the exception of Alexander Hamilton, all of the founders hated and/or mistrusted and/or feared corporations and the threat they represented to the nation to which they had given birth. This at a time when corporations were relatively rare and weak compared to the present. Back then one must prove a societal need, a benefit to the public, in order to obtain a charter.

Corporations are not mentioned in either the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution. The last time I checked, the wording was still “We the people . . .” Corporations had only the latitude to function as was delineated in its charter. Where did this idiotic concept of corporations having a legal personality originate? Not from the Supreme Court. It came from an essentially parenthetical couple of sentences by one Justice.

The year was 1886. The case was Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Company. The doctrine of corporate personhood was included by Justice Morrison Remick Waite before the beginning of arguments. He stated, “The court does not wish to hear argument on the question whether the provision in the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which forbids a State to deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws, applies to these corporations. We are all of opinion that it does.”

So, two sentences by a single, junior Justice changed the Constitution, laws and the dictionary definition without argument, without discussion, without any attempt at rationality. It subsequently became the very foundation of corporate law.

Let’s look at this. It doesn’t require looking too deeply. It doesn’t require a degree in Constitutional Law. It does require more intelligence than five of the present Justices. It requires common sense. It requires an absence of devotion to the plutocracy, a jettisoning of ridiculous ideologies. Here we go.

Everyone acknowledges that a corporation is property. It, and/or its shares, not only can be owned, by its very nature it must be owned. If it is a person, it enjoys the constitutional prohibition of slavery. You are not permitted, under any circumstances to hold a person as property. Ask your wife.

A corporation speaks with one voice. Although the textbooks tell you that the shareholders control it, or that the directors control it on behalf of the shareholders, the reality is that management rules. Management’s priorities are rarely the same as the stockholders. Stockholders also are further removed from participation by mutual funds, hedge funds and similar devices. Does anyone believe that corporate lobbying efforts are always (sometimes) consonant with the interests or opinions of shareholders?

While many other legal and logical arguments reach the same, or supportive, conclusions, no serious arguments have been proposed that contradict those arguments. We have no need to pursue any further the irrationality of claims for corporate personhood. Let’s proceed to the ramifications.

The last presidential campaign was easily the most expensive in history. The estimates I saw last year were well over $1 billion but less than two. I haven’t seen your checkbook but to me that is significant change. Actually, I consider that amount obscene. It distorts and corrupts. There is no upside for anyone who values their right to vote.

Now let’s look at real money. The major Wall Street casinos have announced record, or near record, profits. These profits are after record amounts being set aside for bonuses. Have you paid attention? These bonuses total about $150 billion.

If Wall Street decided to redirect only half of that amount to campaign finance, we would never have to watch another non-political commercial in an election year (every other year) again. Although that might seem initially to be an attractive side-benefit, all you have to remember is how quickly campaign advertising begins to pall.

While we know better, politicians owned by special interests insist that they are not swayed by lobbyists’ bribes. Given the amounts now available to them, they likely will not even bother to address such questions. The $150 billion cited above represents only that available from the major institutional players of one corrupt industry. Factor in the insurance industry, PhRMA, agribusiness, energy and a host of others wanting laws that benefit them, to our detriment.

There would not even have been the sham of the healthcare debate with its foreordained outcome. The drug pushers could sell morphine as a toothing medication for infants again, as Bayer did before it became famous for its aspirin. The Department of Agriculture could eliminate all of those pesky areas and become a foundation to channel taxpayers dollars directly to ConAgra, ADM, et al. Exxon and its peers would not have to waste another nickel cleaning up after themselves. There no longer would be a need to debate global warming, or spending any funds on research. Government could really be streamlined.

How much have you ever donated to a political campaign? Look on the bright side. Now there is no need to.

I believe that there has never been a law or ruling which so drastically changes and damages our system.

Many people get upset about the power of the government. Permit me to reminisce. Back in the late 1960s or early 1970s there was a little flap at Delta Air Lines, where I was working. You need to understand that at that time aircraft mechanics were treated like royalty. They were the princes of the industry and highly prized by the airlines.

One of these princes let his sideburns grow to the level of the bottom of his ears. No, they were not mutton-chop sideburns. Though wild hairstyles could be seen everywhere across the country, his could not be considered wild by any definition. He was fired.

Except when I was in military service, I would never expect the government to be so intrusive, so controlling of the minutiae of people’s lives. Corporations are not bound to respect any of your rights, beyond the prohibition of discrimination. The government is constrained by the Constitution. With the Founding Fathers, I have always feared corporations far more than I feared the government – until now.

All is not lost. The Court struck down campaign finance laws, not corporate laws or regulations. The Congress unquestionably has the authority to control corporate behavior through changes in corporate law. It could be done by regulation. You and I are, as people, are not controlled by laws in this area so it cannot be claimed that corporations are being discriminated against or denied that to which people are entitled.

I would ask that you notify me the next time you see a bunch of corporations exercising their right of freedom of assembly or, perhaps, their freedom of religion. I would love to attend a baptismal ceremony for one of these ‘guys.’

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I saw thousands of sheep on my recent trip to the Highlands of Scotland. Most were just grazing on the hillsides. A few were being herded, by border collies, men or both.

If I had more time I would have stopped and asked them if they really wanted to be herded to the slaughterhouse. They, of course, didn’t get to pick their leaders.

I had thought we were different. I thought we picked our leader November last. Apparently I was mistaken.

President Obama is an accomplished academic. He is an accomplished speaker. He has many attributes but he is not a leader. He may see himself as such, or he may not but he is not.

He knew how to select an outstanding team of campaigners. He does not know how to select a team of governing advisers. He relied on the conventional wisdom in picking a staff and cabinet. Conventional wisdom is what is responsible for our current predicament on a broad range of issues.

He selected Rahm Emanuel to lead his political efforts. Rahm is a right-of-center DINO. He might be acceptable if he were given specific direction, rather than being given his head. Given the latitude to operate as he sees fit, it is becoming more and more apparent that he has taken this administration to a point barely distinguishable from the previous one.

During this administration’s tenure there have been over 500 visits to the White House by the powers-that-be of the health industry. His staff is rife with people from that industry. So, we have not gotten the promised healthcare reform. And, we will not get it. The bills being considered by the Congress are best described as health insurance reform; reform that significantly enriches that industry.

The health industry, aside from perhaps 59% of the physicians, have no interest in your health, only your money. Where is the reform? Where is the relief from increased costs in the most expensive system ever devised? Where is the longer life expectancy, the lower infant mortality, the next miracle drug when Viagra’s patent expires?

Even more than the case with healthcare the President has cast his lot with the thieves who created our economic difficultlies. He has given free rein to those who have impoverished us while feathering their own nests. Who leads his economic team? Larry Summers, the fired President of Harvard who ignored warnings and cost that university’s endowment $1.8 billion. And that was not even the reason for which he was fired.

How about killing our kids? Sending 30,000 more targets to Afghanistan will not provide a “win.” The costs of Iraq and Afghanistan would have more than paid for real healthcare reform. Money spent on unnecessary wars enrich the military-industrial complex and impoverish the nation.

Out of about five million votes in the recent Afghani election 1.3 million had to be thrown out. It would not be unreasonable to think that even more votes were of questionable provenance. To protect, defend and depend upon such a discredited group of warlords and drug dealers seems less than advisable. The people of that benighted conglomeration of fiefdoms see us as invaders and occupiers. Will they respond by spreading palm leaves in the path of an additional 30,000 foreign invaders, bedecking the 30,000 additional occupiers with leis?

Has any active military field commander ever wanted fewer troops? Has any military commander ever admitted they could not win? Has any military commander ever declared that there was nothing to win? No, but let’s abdicate leadership and let the professionals convince us they can destroy the Viet Cong Taliban if only they had another twelve million men, 403 more years and no interference from our elected leaders.

I just saw the headline: Karl Rove On Obama Plan: ‘Stand Up And Applaud.’ At least some people are pleased with Obama’s leadership.

The polls say that the economy is the number one issue for the country. With more than 15 million unemployed, it is no surprise that jobs constitute the primary concern of most people. So, what have these titans of Wall Street designed for us? Well, there was the stimulus package. So far, $100 billion of that $787 billion has been spent. Oh, they also handed out $90 billion in tax refunds. Leaderless incompetence – the Daily Double.

I was one of those that had hope. I voted for change. Silly me.

When we, as a country, are headed in the wrong direction, we don’t magically come to some unanimous conclusion as to which way to turn to avoid disaster. We have to depend on a leader to show us the way. But what happens when the leader quits (are there any Sarah fans out there to explain this to us)? What happens when the ones who led us (sold us) down the road are richly rewarded for their avarice and hubris and kept in those same positions? Would you believe that they failed to experience a teachable moment? Would you believe they continued down the path that had proven so rewarding to them?

People put themselves forward for the presidency for various reasons. Some do it simply out of ambition. Others have some agenda to promote. Some because they thought daddy was entitled to a second term. No one wants to be president because they think it is easy. Few who seek the office are really qualified. The position requires several attributes. The primary one should be leadership, particularly in troubled times.

Maybe leaders are born, not made. I hope that is not necessarily the case. But, ironically, hope is all we have.

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We have before us the potential of America. We should not expect its full realization but we hope to see a substantial step forward.

Before going any further, I must congratulate Senator John McCain for his concession speech. The campaign was not something of which to be proud but that speech went a long way to repairing my impression of him. That speech truly was gracious and generous. I am convinced that it was also heartfelt.

Mr. Obama was not my first choice but I have come to appreciate his temperament, his curiosity, his empathy, the absence of cant and the remarkable efficiency and organization of his campaign. Those are traits and strengths that can prove valuable in his efforts to deal with the worst prospects of any incumbent since FDR. I continue to harbor some disagreements in his stated policies but will hope for the best. I’ll take what I can get.

I consider myself merely a sceptic, not a full-blown cynic. Last night, watching the election returns, I experienced a feeling I had not thought possible for me. My late wife was Korean. Although it was not to the extent experienced by Blacks, I did find out what it was like to be discriminated against. Even more, I knew what it was like to feel the hurt caused to my wife and children by discrimination.

Last night I fully understood and appreciated Michele Obama’s comment that she finally felt a pride in America. I understand that the Obamas felt that not in a strictly personal sense. They impress me as having a hope and vision for America based on more than just their own good fortune.

To expect people who have experienced discrimination and, more than that, to feel the effects on so many less fortunate than themselves to not have some reservations in their perception of our society is unrealistic. Only jingoists and superficial patriots refuse to admit to the hope for something better than what we have experienced over a lifetime.

I wish to thank President-elect Obama and this country for the special pride I felt last night. I know that there will be disappointments in the future but I cherish that experience and hope that some of it will last for longer than we probably deserve. I regret that my late wife did not live to see it. Given that, I think I can better appreciate Mr. Obama’s loss of his grandmother so closely before his realization of last night’s results.

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