Archive for category News and Politics

The True Heroes Of Natural And Man Made Disasters: Teachers, Nurses, Paramedics, Police Officers, Firefighters!

Posted by Ronald in News and Politics on May 21, 2013

Again, with the Oklahoma and Boston Marathon tragedies, as so many others, it is PUBLIC servants–teachers, nurses, paramedics, police officers, firefighters–who are the true heroes, doing beyond the call of duty to rescue and save lives!

But yet, these public servants are constantly pilloried and condemned, if they demand a living wage and decent benefits, as appreciation for their services, while people in the world of business make outrageous salaries and perks on Wall Street, and think that they deserve what they get, despite having messed up the economy, causing the Great Recession of 2008, as they have in every recession since the Great Depression!

We are told to worship Jamie Dimon of JP Morgan Chase, and other bank CEO’s who, by all justification, should be in prison for their actions!

We allow the Koch Brothers and the Walmart heirs to run rampant without any consideration of how they exploit their work force, and these are just examples, not the only ones.

We have Apple and Walmart and Target and numerous other companies which exploit foreign workers, and do not give a damn about safety or a decent living wage for these poor women and men who died in the disaster recently in Bangladesh!

It is time to hold these corporate leaders and companies accountable, and stop complaining about public servants who deserve respect and dignity and better pay for their sacrifices and dedication to the people they serve!

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Joplin, Missouri; SuperStorm Sandy; Moore, Oklahoma: Reason To Pay More Taxes To Help Our Fellow Citizens!

Posted by Ronald in News and Politics on May 21, 2013

America has gone through one natural disaster after another, more so in recent years, at greater cost of life and property.

The climate change deniers say it is par for the course, that nothing unusual is occurring, and that global warming is not the issue.

But even worse is that the same people in government who deny any concept of climate change and the need to react to it, also are the same people who, when a natural disaster occurs, fight against federal disaster aid, as in SuperStorm Sandy.

And if they, grudgingly, give up and say that disaster aid should be offered, they want the least aid possible, and only if there are budget cuts elsewhere to cover for the disaster aid.

So we have the two Oklahoma Senators–two of the absolute worst members of the US Senate at any time in our history—who represent one of the poorest states, but also a state of the oil industry, who take a hard hearted view on disaster aid, and budget cuts to compensate for such disaster aid!

James Inhofe and Tom Coburn have no problem in being “skin flints” on disaster aid, but if such is to be given, then hurt the poor, the sick, the unemployed, rather than make corporations pay fair taxes, make the wealthy pay more taxes, make all of us understand that when natural disaster hits, it is not just the people in the area of the disaster who suffer, but instead we all suffer!

It is the responsibility of all of us to help our fellow citizens, with the corporations and the wealthy being expected to pay more, but all of us need to pay more, and understand the Christian view that we are all our “brother’s keeper”!

What has happened to common decency, common dignity, and common humanity?

What has so sickened the body politic that all that matters is selfishness, greed, and lack of concern for our fellow citizens?

Is this the America that we want to live in? Is this the America that our Founding Fathers believed in when they created the Constitution? Is this the America that people have fought and died for in our wars? Is this the America we want to bequeath to our children and our children’s children?

This is a time to think about values and what really matters, rather than just money and things and possessions, and not caring about people we do not know!

It is a time to come together and strike back at these vicious right wing, narrow minded people who only care about themselves, and no one else!

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Crises In The US Military: Sexual Violence, Suicide, And Poor Veterans Care

Posted by Ronald in News and Politics on May 20, 2013

The US military, said to be the best in the world, is reeling from three crises:

Widespread sexual violence, with the vast majority of victims being female, but also not a small number of males

The growing suicide rate among active military, as well as retired military, on the average of one nearly every 40-50 minutes around the clock.

Massive backlog in taking care of veterans benefits through the Department of Veterans Affairs.

These crises threaten the ability of the military to recruit people, and to give needed assistance to those already in the military, as well as those who have left the military and have physical and emotional needs that are not being met, from their experiences in the military.

Psychological depression has caused an alarming rate of suicides, and sometimes, other members of the family are victimized as well.

We have always been ready to send troops overseas, without a care for what that does to the troops, mostly young males and some females, who have no clue as to what they will face when in combat zones.

But we are never ready to meet their needs when they face crises while in the military, or when they separate from military duty.

This reality is unconscionable, and action must be taken to deal with these massive crises that undermine our ability to face the challenges of the world in the 21st century!

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Bill And Hillary Clinton Revisited: The 1990s And Now!

Posted by Ronald in News and Politics on May 19, 2013

Throughout the 1990s, Bill and Hillary Clinton were put through the constant torment of accusation, investigation, rumors, character assassination, and, ultimately, the stain of impeachment by a Republican party and a conservative movement led by party officials who were corrupt themselves, including in their personal life, but setting out to destroy President Clinton and any hope of his wife having a political future!

But Bill Clinton survived the impeachment, left office very popular, and he and his wife, an accomplished leader as US Senator from New York and Secretary of State, remain highly popular among the American people, with every indication, at this point, that if Hillary chooses to run for President in 2016, that she would leave other Democrats, as well as the Republican opposition, in the dust!

This is, ultimately, why there is the attack going on right now by the right wing to build up the so called “scandals”, that are not a scandal, but a political ploy to weaken President Barack Obama, so he cannot achieve any of his goals in his second term, but also to destroy Hillary Clinton’s prospects for the White House!

Face the facts: Hillary Clinton does not have a perfect record in public office, any more than Bill Clinton or Barack Obama, or anyone else! But to believe that her shortcomings, any more than theirs, is enough to make the mediocrity of Republican leadership or Presidential candidates able to overcome her and return the White House to Republican hands in 2016 is to live in a state of delusion and fantasy! As in the 1990s, the Clintons may be under attack, but they will triumph, ultimately in public opinion, as much as will President Barack Obama, in the face of the lunatics who wish to impeach him and remove him from office, with the odds of removal even lower than Bill Clinton faced in 1998-1999!

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Republican Presidents And Political Scandals–The Five Greatest Scandals, Unmatched By ANY Democratic Presidential Administration!

Posted by Ronald in News and Politics on May 18, 2013

As we witness the accusations of “scandal” in the Obama Administration, it is easy to forget that in historical terms, it is Republican Presidents who have presided over the most significant and numerous scandals.

Any objective historian would know that the five top scandalous Presidential administrations are all Republican Presidents!

In chronological order, they are:

Ulysses S. Grant—1869-1877–best known for the Credit Mobilier Scandal.
Warren G. Harding—1921-1923,–best known for the Teapot Dome Scandal.
Richard Nixon–1969-1974–best known for the Watergate Scandal.
Ronald Reagan–1981-1989–best known for the Iran-Contra Scandal.
George W. Bush–2001-2009–best known for the Scooter Libby Scandal.

Realize there are MULTIPLE scandals under each of these Republican Presidents, and by analysis, the “scandals” under Democratic Presidents pale by comparison, although no claim is made here that Democratic Presidential administrations are “holier than thou”!

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Comparing Apples With Oranges: Obama Versus Republican Abuses Of Power Under Nixon, Reagan, Bush II

Posted by Ronald in News and Politics on May 18, 2013

The Republican Party and conservatives are having a field day on the supposed Obama scandals over the Benghazi, Libya terror attack that killed the ambassador and three others; over the improper investigation of right wing groups by the Internal Revenue Service; and the investigation of Associated Press journalists on the basis of a national security investigation.

We are being told that Barack Obama is another Richard Nixon, when it is more appropriate to say that Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush are examples of another Richard Nixon, to a much greater level!

Nixon was involved in the promotion of break ins; internal revenue service investigations of political opponents, including Ted Kennedy; had an “enemies list”; had his aides do “dirty tricks”; blocked investigations by the Congress and the FBI. He undermined the Presidency in massive ways, and abused power in ways that have harmed the image of the Presidency ever since.

Ronald Reagan may have had a more pleasant persona, but he authorized illegal activities against Nicaragua, backed arms sales to Iran, feigned ignorance of Iran Contra, and promoted secrecy and suspicion of his opponents.

George W. Bush promoted deception and lies to get American into Iraq; engaged in the exposure of a CIA agent who opposed what he was doing; gave his Vice President Dick Cheney unprecedented power to abuse his position; had the IRS investigate liberal groups; engaged in lies and deception not seen seen Richard Nixon.

Barack Obama is NOT engaged in corruption of any kind, but his enemies are pursuing him as if he was the abuser that Nixon, Reagan and Bush II were, but it is all theater, and just like the pursuit of Bill Clinton for his personal behavior, it will fail, and the GOP will suffer as a result!

The sad part of this hot pursuit of Obama is that even liberal media are jumping on the bandwagon of attack, and they should be ashamed of themselves, as they demonstrate no knowledge of history, and are just pursuing a story to build up circulation and readership and make money, a sad moment for the media, when they allow the right wing propaganda to control them!

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Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee Has Become A Total Lunatic By Predicting That Barack Obama Will Not Finish Second Presidential Term!

Posted by Ronald in News and Politics on May 17, 2013

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee was one of many Republicans who sought the Presidency in 2008, and while not winning the nomination, he came across as a strong conservative with somewhat reasonable views, seen as in the mainstream of the party for that election year. He even came across as likeable and pleasant in personality.

However, once Huckabee gained a radio talk show and an hour on the weekend on Fox News Channel, he went berserk, the best term that can be applied to a man who moved to the “hard” right and has emerged as a delusional and whacky man in his statements, making him a lunatic to any reasonable, rational human being!

And now, Huckabee has declared that the Benghazi, Libya tragedy makes it likely that Barack Obama will be impeached, and be unable to finish his second term as President!

Think about just how loony that statement is! Could Obama be impeached by the Republican controlled House of Representatives? YES, for certain, similar to the 105th Congress under Speaker Newt Gingrich which impeached Bill Clinton on December 19, 1998!

But Clinton ended up, even with a Republican controlled Senate, having votes to remove him from office on two impeachment counts, with a 50-50 tie and a 55-45 vote to remove, making it 17 and 12 votes short of removal from office by a two thirds vote!

And now, the Senate is Democratic 55-45, and even if a Senate trial came in 2015 or 2016, with a possible Republican controlled Senate, there would still be no more than, say, 53-54 Republican Senators, and where would the GOP gain anywhere from 13 Senators then to 22 Senators this year or next to convict and remove Obama from the Presidency?

Huckabee is a true lunatic, therefore, and even if it were to happen, all it would do is give Vice President Joe Biden the Presidency, and an edge for the Presidential Election of 2016, which no one should think would lead to his likely defeat as a sitting President. So what would be gained by the GOP removing a term limited President?:

The answer is, simply, race hatred, pure and simple! There is NO justification to impeach and remove Obama, anymore than there was for Bill Clinton, and just as with Clinton, an impeachment would besmirch Obama in history, but he would still survive in office, and leave more popular as a result, just as with Clinton, who has become a “rock star” in his post Presidency!

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Barack Obama Becoming Another Bill Clinton On The Economy: Higher Taxes On Wealthy, Better Economy!

Posted by Ronald in News and Politics on May 16, 2013

Barack Obama has fought for higher taxes on the wealthy, and brought them about in 2013, as Bill Clinton did in 1993.

Under Bill Clinton, we had the greatest period of economic prosperity in American history, the rich paid more, and the country did not tank!

Now under Barack Obama, the deficit in government spending is rapidly declining, and the stock market is at an all time high, both occurring as we see higher taxes on the wealthy once again!

The Republicans complain bitterly once again, and again, they are wrong, and economic expansion is occurring, even with the GOP attempts to block it, and instead, draw attention to what they call “scandals”, which, by comparison with scandals and controversies under George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan, pale by comparison!

The result of the GOP political “dirty tricks” is that they will NOT harm Barack Obama’s historical accomplishments, or Hillary Clinton’s chances for the White House, which depend only on her desire to run. If she runs, she is the 45th President of the United States on January 20, 2017!

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Urgent That Barack Obama Take Leadership In Investigation Of Alleged Scandals In His Presidency!

Posted by Ronald in News and Politics on May 15, 2013

President Barack Obama has been President for more than four years, and is in the crucial first year of his second and last term in the White House.

The time for applause over his second term victory is over, and he must face the facts that his administration is in crisis, caused by his own lack of outfront leadership over what goes on during his watch in the Oval Office!

The Benghazi matter is being politicized, but more needs to be revealed about that tragedy, and no coverup is going to work, although it seems clear there is no “smoking gun” on that issue.

The confusion over the IRS checking out conservative and Tea Party groups is reprehensible, and it must be made clear who was involved, people appointed by the President, or civil service bureaucrats who have gone way beyond their authority, and abused their positions. Heads must roll, and if it is the bureaucracy, then the whole agency must be cleaned up of those who have broken the law, and prosecutions must follow quickly!

The Associated Press matter, if related to national security matters, must also be revealed in total, as media should never be interfered with by the Justice Department, and a full investigation must be pursued, with Attorney General Eric Holder properly recusing himself in this matter.

The point is, that despite Republicans gleefully jumping on these controversies, it is yet possible that nothing that Obama could have done would have been able to prevent these controversies, but he MUST be proactive, not laid back and withdrawn, which has too often been his mode of operation in his first term.

Obama is in danger of ending up like other second term Presidencies, in the midst of scandals which undermine their legacy, no matter how good those legacies might be.

Progressives do not want Obama to end up in the troubled historical legacy of such predecessors as:

Ulysses S. Grant–Credit Mobilier Scandals
Harry Truman–several minor scandals
Dwight D. Eisenhower—Sherman Adams Scandal
Richard Nixon–Watergate Scandal
Ronald Reagan–Iran Contra Scandal
Bill Clinton–Monica Lewinksy–Paul Jones Scandals
George W. Bush—Scooter Libby Scandal

The only way to avoid this fate is PROMPT, ASSERTIVE, PROACTIVE leadership by our 44th President, who has done so much good, and should not allow his enemies to destroy him by a policy of passivity, and leading from behind!

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Is The Obama Presidency Running On Empty Gas Tank?

Posted by Ronald in News and Politics on May 14, 2013

Four months into the second term of the Obama Presidency, it seems as if the administration has stalled.

Gun control legislation of any kind has failed to succeed.

Immigration reform is stalled, despite the efforts of Democratic and Republican Senators, including Marco Rubio of Florida.

The effects of sequestration are having a deleterious effect.

There are kinks in the ObamaCare planning for 2014.

There are questions about the improper use of the Internal Revenue Service toward conservative groups.

The Justice Department has intervened to subpoena records of the Associated Press, having to deal with, they say, national security.

The more one looks at the gathering storm, the more it looks as if the Obama Presidency may not have any more victories, and may face a lot of grief, some of it self induced!

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