By Barry Hastings

The President should declare the critically poor condition of our power and transportation (land, sea [water], air) infrastructures constitutes a national emergency of immense magnitude, and declare so. He should issue presidential orders calling for immediate action to get our national lifelines — pipelines, highways, safe air travel, and the cultures of their various infrastructures, whipped into modern times.

This is not a good time to spend our energies fighting off the future (as Republicans spend most time doing). Our object should be, in all things, to get a step (jump) on tomorrow. Republicans however, seem to be more interested in selling off our National Forests and park lands. Doing so, while not likely to happen (tho stranger things have), has now been proposed in a non-binding GOP budget resolution in the U.S. Senate. The measure was written by Alaska GOP Senator Lisa Murkowski (good old “Murky”).

There is a real, serious problem with transporting highly gaseous shale oil in railroad tank cars. Even the double-hulled models we were told would answer the problem, failed the critical test just recently in West Virginia. Are we just gonna’ sit back, sigh, “Those who live by carbon, die by carbon.”

Those tanks killed nearly 50 people, and gutted most of a small Canadian town a year, maybe two, ago. For that matter, the track and rails underlying them is nothing much to write home about. Some years back, I recall, a news ripple about a “derailment a day” on Amtrak alone. Wonder what’s happening these days?

‘The worst roads in America’ are probably going to continue deteriorating. The mood among the masses seems to be (as I so hoped it would) to send the State Legislature back to Lansing with a clear indication of what we expect. They must do the work we elected them to manage. We expect costs to be shared equitably across the state’s population, business, and industry. We do not want to increase sales taxes. Get to work, you (cowardly) rascals!

GOP campaign tactics are already getting into (too familiar) mode. The old “swift-boat” twits (slandered McCain in the 2000 GOP primaries, and Kerry in 2004 Presidential race) are back. They’re hard at work to stop the Clinton juggernaut now consisting of solid support from some 75% of Democrats. Predictably, GOP pundits are trying to beat her to death with innuendo, using congressional committees and sub-committees, and a steady flow of leaked, nasty-looking, but unrelated, immaterial material.

Their object, of course, is to distract/dismay Democrats (particularly Hillary), prevent her presenting a case for the GOP willfully endangering national security through sequestration – particularly in defense – and about continuing decline among working class, working poor, and the impoverished. One in four Michigan kids is hungry right now.

Something must be done to restore some quality of life, some hope, for ‘regular’ people. As Sir Alistair Hardy observed way back in the 1970s, “Hope is the only incentive for sustained change.” He might have added, “and national mental health.” The quality of American life, right now, may be justly deduced by quality of the political noise out of D.C. since before Obama was sworn into office. That is, “No cooperation! None! We’ll work only to make him a one-term president.”

The temporarily suspended sequestration of military funding is set to start again in October, and you can look for a big fight among Republicans between those who support ‘national security/ and opponents who want to cut more military expenditure, and reduce current defense spending. This huge war game we’re in, with critical recent successful advances in anti-missile and anti-satellite technology by China, Russian military threats against Europe from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean, lead me to believe this is no time to disarm or dissemble. Rather time to review, revise, adjust, correct, plan, prepare for what looks to me like difficult, dangerous, lengthy years of war and world instability ahead.

Like I’ve said before, there’s no feeling quite like needing the military, and having none (or little). The (silly) nation received the lesson in 1812, I860, 1917, 1940ish), 1950, always forgot. But to deliberately stop, or delay, defense expenditures while facing most dangerous world conditions in recorded history, is just plain criminal. (At least it’s a title Republicans are comfortable and familiar with.)

I’m hopeful we’ll be able to work a deal with Iran. I see a very good chance of Iran becoming a nuclear target very shortly if they don’t agree and comply. You know the religious nuts there hate us and modern times. But I don’t think Israel will hesitate to nuke their Fordo enrichment facility if development continues there. Neither has the U.S. ruled out such an attack.

These cops seem to be little brighter than some of the ‘stupid criminal” cuts and clips we see occasionally. Right when the nation’s every eye is turned to police mal or mis conduct, they just keep smashing faces into floors, kicking exhausted beaten prisoners in the balls, breaking necks and windpipes, shooting a bit too eagerly. I have a feeling it’s about to be brought to a stop by federal action, the courts, angry citizens. Some, I think, angry enough to start stalking.

Pretty crappy atmosphere in which to spend my golden years.”