Day: September 1, 2011

The Month Of August: A Crisis Month In History For The American Presidency!

Now that we have seen the month of August slip into history, it is worthwhile to look back and notice how significant the month is in Presidential history, how it is often a crisis month!

Examples include:

August 24, 1814–Great Britain invaded and burned the nation’s capitol, Washington, DC during the War of 1812, sending President James Madison and Congress fleeing to nearby Baltimore. This was the only invasion of American territory until Pearl Harbor in 1941.

August 4, 1914–World War I began in full swing, as all of the major European powers had finally declared war a week after the initial declaration. This alarmed President Woodrow Wilson issued a declaration that the United States would remain “neutral in thought, as well as action”, a statement which could not be upheld as the war progressed into a long term stalemate, leading to US entrance in 1917.

August 6 and 9, 1945–Newly inaugurated President Harry Truman, in office less than four months after the sudden death of Franklin D. Roosevelt, unleashes the atomic bomb over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, leading to the end of World War II.

August 13, 1961–The Soviet Union begins the construction of the Berlin Wall, separating East Berlin from West Berlin, during the first year of the administration of President John F. Kennedy. It will remain a symbol of oppression until its destruction in November 1989.

August 4, 1964–The Tonkin Gulf Incident is reported during the administration of President Lyndon B. Johnson, a supposed attack on US Navy ships in the Gulf of Tonkin by North Vietnamese patrol boats. This led to Johnson’s request of a resolution allowing the use of force to react to the reported aggression, and was the first step in the escalation of the war in Vietnam to a full scale conflict.

August 9, 1974–President Richard Nixon resigned from office, the first President to take such action, due to the “smoking gun” tape that showed his involvement in a coverup of the Watergate scandal. President Gerald Ford succeeded him in office, and later pardoned Nixon from prosecution, allowing Nixon to evade punishment, including being removed from office in an impeachment trial had he stayed in office.

August 2, 1990–Iraq, under Saddam Hussein, invaded its oil rich neighbor, Kuwait, alarming Saudi Arabia and other Arab and oil nations, and led to US involvement, in unison with a United Nations coalition, to force Iraq out of Kuwait, but also putting US troops for the first time in the Middle East, and inciting Muslims who became involved in terrorism through participation with Al Qaeda under the leadership of Osama Bin Laden,

August 2011–President Barack Obama faced the crisis of the Debt Ceiling, which led to a lowering of the credit rating of the United States by Standard and Poor’s and a stock market crisis. Additionally, the Atlantic Coast Earthquake and Hurricane Irene became major crises, along with the final steps toward the removal of Moammar Gaddafi from power in Libya after a five month effort by the US, with backing of NATO allies, the United Nations, and the Arab League.

So there has to be a sign of relief that the ugly month of August has again passed into history!

Rick Perry, The Democrat: The Ultimate Phoniness, Exploiting For His Own Ambition!

The author has never really understood how adults, who should have their political and philosophical views settled by the mid to late 20s at the latest, can suddenly have an “epiphany” in their 30s, 40s, 50s and beyond and change their views 180 degrees!

This has happened to many former Democrats who will claim that the party “left them”, an easy but ridiculous excuse, since if one believes the basic values of the Democratic Party, then to switch to the Republican Party is purely opportunism, cynicism, naked ambition, and willingness to exploit people’s fears and insecurities!

So enter Texas Governor Rick Perry, a former Democrat, who was Texas state director of the Al Gore Presidential campaign in 1988!

And enter Rick Perry, who in 1993, wrote an extremely supportive letter to First Lady Hillary Clinton, supporting, with great enthusiasm, the Clinton Health Care Plan, which failed of passage in 1994!

And enter Rick Perry, who now cannot have a decent word for ANY federal social safety net program, including Medicare and Social Security, and has proposed Texas secede from the Union! He has also condemned the whole 20th century series of social and economic reforms, and wants the 16th Amendment, the Federal income tax, to be repealed!

Does Rick Perry have any principles? If you believe that, the author will offer up a bridge that he is willing to sell to you–the old joke about the Brooklyn Bridge!

The Irony Of Global Warming: Melting Of Ice Caps Promotes Oil Drilling, Worsening The Crisis!

Many ignorant people will dispute that global warming, or climate change, is occurring on the earth, but 98 percent of reputable scientists know that such a situation is rapidly developing, and weather evidence is growing which alarms anyone who wants to notice and accept reality!

The irony of the whole situation is that the rapidly melting ice caps in the Arctic are allowing oil companies to make deals, as now with the Russian government, to allow vastly increased exploration for oil drilling, which can make tremendous profits for those oil companies, such as Exxon-Mobil and British Petroleum, with the Russian government not concerning itself with environmental damage, but rather with economic advantages for the wealthy executives and government leaders who will profit from the oil deals!

So the ability for easier and further oil drilling by the reality of global warming is the ultimate irony–that we are seeing the worsening of the crisis with leadership putting their “heads in the sand” and worshipping wealth over health and safety of future generations,. who will suffer from the damage done in the name of capitalism over human needs!

So what else is new?

Dispute Between Chris Christie And Eric Cantor On Disaster Relief: The Splintering Of Republican Unity!

After the disastrous flooding damage that has been visited on New Jersey and Vermont, in particular, after Hurricane Irene, a dispute has developed between New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, one of the “darlings” of the Tea Party Movement and conservative Republicans, and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia.

Cantor has been saying that budget cuts to match disaster relief funds must be negotiated before aid can be dispensed, a stand that led the usually blustery Christie to make clear that such a stand was unacceptable, while people in his state waited for weeks or months for aid to recover from the hurricane.

On this, of course, Christie is absolutely right, and already it seems that Cantor may be bending, as it is MORALLY corrupt to take such a stand in a time of trouble!

The splintering of Republican unity has begun, as even the Tea Party Governors, having to deal with reality on the ground, are not going to be able, politically, to take the harsh stand that Congressional House Republicans are taking, sitting on their “thrones”, pontificating on the virtues of cutting spending in the face of terrible human suffering!

This dispute and split is great for the Democratic Party and President Barack Obama, as it will help to portray the GOP as the party of the elite rich, which only cares about the welfare of the wealthy among us, so let’s give a salute to Chris Christie for speaking up for his beleaguered citizens, and hope, at the same time, that Eric Cantor and his ilk, including Paul Ryan, take their “lumps” over this outrageous stand against quick hurricane relief!