Day: August 28, 2010

The Love-Hate Affair With The Federal Government: Alaska As An Example Of Contradictions!

The fact that Joe Miller, the Sarah Palin backed challenger to Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski, leads by about 1,700 votes as the absentee and mail votes are being counted, is a stunning development to many political observers!

This surprising development comes just a short couple of weeks after the tragic death of former Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, who served almost 40 years, and became famous for the “earmarks” and “pork” he could bring back to Alaska!

There was deep mourning for Stevens, and Lisa Murkowski had his backing, and she and her father, Frank Murkowski, who was a long term Senator before she replaced him, have also been acknowledged for gaining political favors, to such an extent that Alaska received more economic support from the federal government than any other state over the past few decades, as compared to taxes paid to the government!

Alaska benefited from both Stevens and the two Murkowskis in office, but Joe Miller campaigned AGAINST federal largesse, as if it was an evil, and Sarah Palln, after promtoting it as a short term Governor of the state, suddenly has switched sides, even though she well knows that her state has gained greatly from past funding coming out of the hides of other states, which did not gain such an advantage as Stevens and the Murkowskis were able to accomplish!

What an hypocrisy by both Palin and Miller, and does Miller really believe that if he is elected to the Senate, and does not pursue “earmarks” and “pork”, that he will be reelected in 2016?

The demagoguery of Sarah Palin and Joe Miller is obvious, and it makes one wonder how Alaskans think! Does lack of sunlight cause a deadening of the brain and common sense? 🙁

The Glenn Beck “Restoring Honor” Rally In Washington, DC: A “New” Glenn Beck?

Fox News Channel and radio talk show host Glenn Beck, who has been on a rampage to divide America through his right wing extremist rhetoric, including his accusations of racism against President Obama, his stirring up of emotions over “illegal immigration” and the Muslim faith, and his distortion of American history and American leadership, held a rally today at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, on the 47th anniversary of the Civil Rights March and the “I Have A Dream” speech of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The rally was organized to “restore honor”, to promote respect and honor for America’s military, and to promote the importance of God in everyone’s life! It included a niece of Dr. King, and St. Louis Cardinal star Albert Pujols and his manager, Tony LaRussa, as well as former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin!

The rally lasted a little more than three hours, and on the surface, seemed to do no harm, and had no obvious political intention, and the crowd, estimated at maybe up to a few hundred thousand, was orderly and avoided political signs or ugly manifestations as at less organized and attended “Tea Party” rallies in the past! It also included speakers and an audience of all races and nationalities, a refreshing sight!

What stood out though was the fact that no political leaders of Congress, no talk show hosts, no people of any prominence, other than the few mentioned above, showed up and were evident in the crowd!

It also stood out that Beck himself, while loving all the attention he was gaining, the praise that was visited on him by other speakers, and the reality that he is likely to gain financially from this through sale of more books and more listeners and viewers of his talk shows, actually sounded and seemed quite different than what we have heard in the past couple of years from him!

Beck seemed to be going out of his way to reconstitute himself as a changed man, a man who wants to promote unity and patriotism, a total change from what he has been doing, creating division and hate in his wake!

The wonderment is whether this is a true conversion, and an admission of his sins, or just a facade, and skeptics will await how he conducts himself in the weeks and months to follow to see if he is genuine, or the phony many people think he is!

We will keep track and see whether the “leopard” can change its spots! Don’t bet on it! 🙁