Day: January 10, 2012

The New Hampshire Primary: A Victory For COMPARATIVE Moderation!

Ronald Leave a comment

The New Hampshire Primary results make clear that the majority of Republican voters, at least in New Hampshire, are comparative moderates, as when one adds the percentage of votes of winner Mitt Romney (37%) to that of third place finisher Jon Huntsman (17%), it makes for a total of 54%. Notice that the author says COMPARATIVE moderates, as Romney and Huntsman are perceived as less right wing than all the other candidates in the race.

Also, the vote shows that right wing conservatives did very poorly, with Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum, both battling for fourth place, almost even at 10% each, and Rick Perry totally collapsing with 1%, making their total 21 %.

The remaining total is that of second place finisher Ron Paul, who received nearly one out of four votes, with 24%. Still not seen as able to raise money or compete in many states, and in the race to promote libertarianism and a noninterventionist foreign policy, Paul certainly has attracted many college students and others who wish we could go back a century in our economic and foreign policy, but such thoughts are for naught, as that will not happen!

This result gives Romney a great edge for the GOP Presidential nomination, but IF Jon Huntsman can utilize his billionaire father for tens of millions of dollars, he has the capability of challenging Romney in South Carolina, Florida, and beyond.

The only hope for real right wing conservatives is to get two of the three competing for the conservative vote to withdraw, which Rick Perry might do. Whether Newt Gingrich or Rick Santorum will be able to come to the conclusion to withdraw to help the other is something far less likely to occur!

Bill Clinton Pardons vs. Mike Huckabee And Haley Barbour Pardons: Double Standard!

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When Bill Clinton left the Presidency in 2001, he was embroiled in controversy over giving pardons to over two hundred individuals for drug offenses and white collar crimes, meaning financial violations. The turmoil went on for weeks, with Fox News Channel and conservative talk show hosts widely condemning his actions, and claiming he had committed insufferable harm.

But when Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee left office in 2007, he pardoned people who had committed heinous murders. And now, outgoing Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, supposedly a very bright and talented politician who had considered the Presidency, and had refused to pardon two African American sisters of a minor crime, but released them on condition that one sister would give a kidney donation to the other, which occurred after they were released, an ethical quandary medically. has gone beyond the pale completely!

Now, Barbour has given pardons to four people convicted of murder who had been allowed as inmates to work at the Governor’s mansion, along with at least 25 other people convicted of murder, manslaughter or homicide, a stunning development hard to explain.

And under the law, neither Huckabee back in 2007 nor Barbour today needs to do any explaining of the pardons, certainly far more heinous than any of the pardons Bill Clinton did in 2001!

This is another example of the double standard that exists, which allows Republicans a “free pass”, while Democrats are under constant attack by conservatives in radio and on Fox News Channel!

Amazing How Republicans Are Attacking The “Religion” Of Capitalism, And Yet Claim Barack Obama Is A “Socialist”!

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It is actually quite hilarious how many Republicans, led by Newt Gingrich, are attacking Mitt Romney over his career with Bain Capital, and yet have enriched themselves in similar ways through Wall Street and other capitalistic interests without any shame, and at the same time, have no concern about the sufferings of the middle class and the poor, as a result of the Wall Street bank collapse of 2008-2009!

While attacking Barack Obama as a “Socialist”, the Republicans have been willing to support government aid to the corporations and the banks, a different form of “Socialism”, which benefits the wealthy and powerful at the expense of the middle class and the poor!

Without realizing it, the Republicans are presenting to us the evils of capitalism, and the dire need for MORE reform and regulation, which is actually “Progressivism”, as in the early 20th century, but is being labeled by them as “Socialism”!

But the same charges were leveled against “Progressives” in the early 20th century, and against the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt, a time when the government, instead of setting out to destroy capitalism at the peak of the Great Depression, instead SAVED capitalism from those who truly wanted to destroy it!

What Barack Obama is trying to do is also NOT revolutionary! It is the same purpose as FDR had, to save capitalism from its own shortcomings and weaknesses, by increasing government regulation and intervention in the public interest.

So the internal GOP debate over capitalism and its excesses can have the purpose of bringing about what needs to be done, a recognition that Barack Obama is NOT a revolutionary, but in the best progressive tradition of Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton!

The Disintegration Of Mitt Romney, With Assistance Of Newt Gingrich! Barack Obama’s Gain!

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The assault on Mitt Romney by Newt Gingrich, regarding Bain Capital, and its purpose of taking over companies, firing workers, making obscene profits in the name of evil, greedy capitalism, is leading to what will be seen as the rapid disintegration of the chances of the former Massachusetts Governor to win the White House.

Romney may still be the GOP Presidential nominee, but it is clear that he has been severely wounded by the expose on Bain Capital, with the assistance of Gingrich, who wants revenge for the concerted attack on his candidacy by Romney supporters in Iowa. The Democrats and Barack Obama had planned to use this against Romney later on, but Gingrich is making it easier for them!

But it is not only the expose by Gingrich and the media that is harming Romney. It is also his own arrogance and lack of compassion for the middle class, as when he said earlier in the campaign that corporations are people, and yesterday said he likes the idea of firing people who don’t meet his standards of performance!

The point is that Mitt Romney was born wealthy, and has the arrogance of wealth, even more so because he did not have to work his way to wealth. He looks down on average people, comes across as plastic, seems uncomfortable among people not of his own class, and has an aloof, elitist attitude toward news media, which he avoided until it was obvious that he was faced with some severe opposition within his own party from people who feel he is a phony conservative, is insincere, has no principles, and has trouble working with others unless those other people realize that he is in charge.

To imagine that Romney would work well with his own party in control of Congress in a Romney administration is to believe in the tooth fairy! He would not restore confidence or faith in the Presidency; would be aloof and distant to the news media; would be unable to bring about bipartisanship and unity; and would be unconcerned about the needy, the poor, the disadvantaged, and even the middle class, of which he has no personal knowledge or understanding!