Month: September 2009

Diane Sawyer Becomes The Second Evening News Female Anchor

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The somewhat surprising news that Charlie Gibson will retire at the end of 2009 as the anchor of ABC Evening News after only three years brings us our second female anchor, Diane Sawyer. She and Katy Couric of CBS Evening News will compete with the leader in evening news, Brian Williams of NBC Nightly News.

Diane Sawyer has had an exceptional career with ABC News, and has managed to interview many of the most important newsworthy personalities of the past couple of decades. She deserves the opportunity to anchor, and should do just fine in ratings, probably competing with Brian Williams, just as Good Morning America has done very well with her and Robin Roberts as co anchors.

The interesting possible scenario is who will replace Diane on GMA, and it would seem to me it would be Chris Cuomo, the younger son of former NY Governor Mario Cuomo. And it seems to me that assuming Chris does a good job on GMA, he could very likely be the anchor replacement for Diane Sawyer when in a few years, she is likely to leave.

And that leaves the possible situation of Chris Cuomo as evening news anchor in the future, and possibly, his brother, Andrew Cuomo as possible Governor of New York, and maybe pursuing the Presidency in 2016, an event his brother would possibly be reporting either on GMA or on the Evening News.

What an interesting scenario long term! 🙂

Retirement Initiatives Of President Barack Obama Are Great Step!

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One of the biggest problems most Americans face is the crisis presented by failure to prepare for retirement, something that is too often ignored until it is too late, forcing people to continue to work beyond the age they would like to retire from full time work.

President Obama has now taken major administrative moves to assist Americans in pursuing what all must do: plan for retirement.

Among the actions taken are: Employees will be automatically signed up for employer sponsored 401K retirement plans unless they ask not to be so enrolled. Also, tax refunds will now be a possible source of retirement savings for taxpayers. Also, unused vacation time and overtime would be allowed to be contributed to a retirement plan. Finally, an easy to read retirement guide when changing jobs would be offered to all workers by the U S government to educate Americans in planning for retirement.

There is certainly no reason for anyone to criticize the government for trying to encourage attention to retirement planning, as it is a true disaster if someone reaches retirement age and expects to live just on Social Security, which was never meant to be a sole source of retirement income.

President Obama: Please Listen To Vice President Biden On Afghanistan!

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In the midst of all the controversy over health care and other Obama Administration initiatives, the background struggle is going on over plans to increase substantially the number of US troops in Afghanistan, in a war which is starting to cause greater American casualties at a time when many NATO nations are planning withdrawal of their forces.

Vice President Joe Biden, an acknowledged expert on foreign policy, and formerly, for many years, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman, has privately been spreading the word that Afghanistan is a war that will be going on for years with almost no chance of real success, and one that will eventually be fought primarily alone. Biden sees this as another Vietnam, which cost the country a lot of treasure in men and money, and divided the nation in a way that had not been seen since the Civil War. The cost is astronomical, at a point when the debt issue is a gigantic one, and we are being told that millions of Americans cannot be considered to be protected on health care.

Of course, it is obvious that the opposition Republicans will claim that Obama has “lost” Afghanistan, as they, sixty years ago, charged that President Truman “lost” China. Both charges are of course ridiculous, but if we want to discuss who has “lost” Afghanistan after eight long years of combat, it is George W. Bush, who took his “eye off the ball” from the beginning of the intervention in the Fall of 2001 by his obsession with Saddam Hussein, and the decision to wage a major, disastrous war in Iraq.

Some people complain that Joe Biden talks too much, which he does at times, but on this issue, foreign policy, I call upon President Obama to LISTEN to the man who better understands international affairs than any military man.

Instead of committing blood and treasure for an interminable period of many years, let’s follow George Will’s view that it is time to get out, and use intelligence and aerial bombing, rather than sacrifice the young men and women of the nation in an impossible, hellish country that NO ONE has been able, historically, to take over and control. And let’s also build up our intelligence capability and homeland security instead!

Glenn Beck: Lunatic, And The New McCarthyism!

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It is very hard to watch or listen to the likes of Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, Michael Savage, Michele Malkin, Laura Ingraham, Ann Coulter, and especially Rush Limbaugh.

But lately, they are all surpassed by Glenn Beck on Fox News Channel. Watching him makes you feel that he is mentally deteriorating before our eyes. More than ever, he has become a lunatic and an evolving Joseph McCarthy equivalent, loosely using the terms Fascism, Nazism, Socialism, Communism, Liberalism, and yes, Progressivism! 🙂

This moron obviously has no conception of the differences among these “isms”, and the audience who listens to and believes him cannot be rated as any brighter than him.

He now is saying the Rockefeller family is part of this great Fascist-Communist-Socialist–Progressive etc conspiracy, and spends time on his show claiming there are symbols of all these ideologies all over Rockefeller Plaza in New York City.

What can one say? This man is a total lunatic, but he is also starting to label those he disagrees with as being another Hitler, Mussolini, Castro, etc. And of course, Barack Obama is a “racist”, according to Beck, who fails to look in the mirror and see the “real” racist!

Can this man really believe this propaganda he spews forth on his show? If he does, then he is truly certifiable. If he does not, which is certainly more likely, then he is the new demagogue–the new Joseph McCarthy.

That means he can do real damage to the reputation of innocent people, as McCarthy did, and can inspire fear and paranoia among many followers, as McCarthy did.

That means he can divide the American people in an ugly, despicable way, dangerous to the stability of the nation in the present and the future, and that means ultimately, that Glenn Beck is dangerous.

Many sponsors have broken with his show, realizing the damage he has done and the danger he represents. Yes, we all believe in freedom of speech, but seriously, he represents a “clear and present danger”, and should be removed from the air as a menace to our country. Let him rant and rave in his bathroom, not over the nation’s airwaves! 🙁

Mitt Romney Versus Tim Pawlenty

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The debate over Barack Obama’s education speech has already led to what can be described as a split between two potential GOP candidates for the Presidential nomination in 2012.

Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota has taken the low road, claiming that the idea of a Presidential address emphasizing setting of goals, staying in school, and promoting responsibility among children, is disruptive, uninvited, and should not be forced on the nation’s children. Huh? How is it disruptive, Governor Pawlenty? Why do you think such advice from an authority figure such as the President of the United States is uninvited, and is forcing anything on the nation’s students? Why is it one gets the feeling that you are Tim Pawlenty speaking through the brain and mouth of Congresswoman Michele Bachmann? Are you so afraid of her and her loony followers that you can be so irresponsible, particularly in the light of Presidents Ronald Reagan, George HW Bush and George W Bush having similar contacts with students? Do you really think that all parents are doing their job adequately, and that therefore if the President speaks on the subject of education, that he is being harmful? Shame on you, Governor Pawlenty!

Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts, on the other hand, is speaking responsibly at this time on this subject. His reaction, so far, has been to say that it is appropriate that the President encourage the nation’s students to be responsible and finish school. He does say that the President should not get into policy plans or politics, but it is clear that the President NEVER had the intention to do so in the first place. So Romney says the responsible thing, but saves his flank by just warning the President to avoid doing what he never intended to do!

So early on in the Presidential race, again, Mitt Romney looks a whole lot better than his opponents, including Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee, and now, Tim Pawlenty! I congratulate you, Mitt Romney! Keep up the responsible image that you now have! We need more GOP leaders to speak as you have!

Responsible Conservatives And Republicans: Stand Up Against Paranoia And For The Truth!

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Is setting goals and staying in school and promoting responsibility part of a socialist-communist-liberal conspiracy of the Obama Administration?

Is Barack Obama involved in mind control, trying to brain wash the nation’s children, attempting to recruit an army of children to take away parental rights, and promote indoctrination of students so as to make them Democrats, rather than Republicans?

Is it the intent of our government to promote elitist views and pollute the minds of the next generation?

Is Barack Obama to be seen as the equivalent of Saddam Hussein, or Fidel Castro, or Kim Jong Il?

These are the kinds of crazy, lunatic ideas that are being promoted by the right wing whackos, and it makes one realize that the biggest enemy of our nation’s school children is right wing, conspiratorial talk show hosts and websites that manage to recruit parents who are in many cases, by their promotion of hate and prejudice and ignorance, victimizing their own offspring, so that they will grow up with inability to think critically, analyze information, and face the realities of the modern world.

It is time to find responsible conservatives and Republicans to repudiate this insanity about the Barack Obama education speech coming up next Tuesday.

In their hearts, the intelligent and responsible conservatives and Republicans KNOW that the fear and accusations being promoted by irresponsible elements is just paranoia, and needs to be repudiated in the way that William F. Buckley, Jr, publisher of the National Review, the premier conservative publication of the 1950s and 1960s, rejected the crazy, conspiratorial theories of the John Birch Society.

So, I call on the National Review, the Weekly Standard, Human Events, and other conservative journals of opinion to speak up forcefully, and for Republican leadership, including Senator Mitch McConnell, Congressman John Boehner, Congressman Eric Cantor, and Republican National Chairman Michael Steele to denounce this outrageous attack on a cause worth fighting for: setting educational goals, staying in school, and being responsible.

If these publications and leaders remain silent or join in the conspiratorial argument, then the American people, the intelligent part of them at least, needs to reject them as a responsible alternative for the American future. It is time to stop this disgraceful onslaught at a time when we, as a nation, desperately need to unite to resolve our economic and social ills!

Michele Bachmann, Sarah Palin, And The Presidency

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Michele Bachmann, the Republican Congresswoman from Minnesota, who has managed to come across as a whacko over and over again since she was first elected to Congress a few years ago, has now made clear what her ultimate intentions are.

She sees a conspiracy against outspoken women, such as herself and Sarah Palin, to prevent them from becoming President of the United States!

It is all a conspiracy against a woman who is a Republican, as the media want to see a liberal Democratic woman be first to become President, according to Ms. Bachmann.

So in other words, she has a persecution complex, because the media have the nerve and gall to report the insane things that she and Sarah Palin say, and that is all part of a conspiracy to prevent them from seeking the White House.

Could it be that she and Sarah Palin, both of them, have delusions of grandeur to consider themselves QUALIFIED by their statements and actions and record in office, to have the credentials to offer themselves to the voters?

But I must say, PLEASE, Michele and Sarah, OFFER yourselves to your party to run for President! Really, we don’t want to stop you or frustrate you in your ambition! The country WANTS to see you offer yourselves to the nation, so we can spread the word about both of your qualifications for office.

Don’t let media attacks stop you! Go ahead, announce your candidacies sooner, rather than later! We are waiting with baited breath for your announcements of candidacy. And maybe you could run together, after fighting over who shall be Number One and who shall be Number Two! That should be a rip roaring fight to witness! 🙂 LOL

Town Hall Madness And Mean Spiritedness: The Death of Civility?

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With Congress returning, the month of August Town Halls recedes into the past, and thank goodness for that, as it was NOT a great moment in American democracy.

The first thought would be: How can one say that, as we are hearing the “voice of the people” speaking to their representatives in the Congress?

I wish that was the case, but instead so often we have heard the lunatics, the extremists, the whackos, and those encouraged by the health insurance industry, and right wingers to disrupt, to scream and shout, to promote an image of madness and mean spiritedness, rather than have intelligent discussion. It is hard not to be embarrassed by the horrible display of outrageous behavior by men and women who either have no regard for others or just have an agenda to prevent any health care reform due to ulterior motives.

Two recent examples just add to the bad taste that the town halls left us in the past month.

One involved a large part of a town hall audience in New Jersey booing and jeering as a disabled, handicapped woman recounted her battle to pay her health care and the danger of losing her home, as a result. Watching a man comment that this woman had more rights than he did, and the overall lack of sympathy of the audience, made me weep symbolically for my country. Why have we witnessed such madness and mean spiritedness, and lost a sense of caring about those less fortunate among us?

The second town hall in Virginia, held by Senator Mark Warner, witnessed a citizen declare that President Obama was unpatriotic, to which Warner responded by defending the President, and saying that it was improper to label the leader of the nation with such a description. Warner said that would be wrong to say, as much about President Bush or any other President, as about Obama. The reaction of a large portion of the crowd was to boo and jeer Senator Warner, who still held his ground, and is to be praised for his courage.

We are living in a time when there is lack of civility growing all around us, and it presents us with a crisis that must be dealt with. Are we, in a time of economic crisis and insecurity, to turn Americans against other Americans, to lose respect for our government leadership, and to lose any concern about those among us who are less fortunate in whatever form? Are we to give in to the haters, the dividers, those who have no limits to exploit hard times, and promote a “jungle” atmosphere of “dog eat dog”?

Are we losing, as a nation, our dignity, our decency, and our human compassion? IF we are, we are in much deeper trouble than anyone yet realizes! 🙁

Lamar Alexander And Health Care Legislation

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Republican Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee is one of the more distinguished member of the Republican caucus in the Senate.

He has had an impressive career, including being Governor of his state, Secretary of Education under the first President Bush, President of the University of Tennessee, faculty member of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, and Presidential candidate in 1996 and 2000. He has been a Senator since being elected in the year 2002.

I have always had respect for Senator Alexander, and thought when he sought the Presidency twice that the nation could be far worse off with many other GOP candidates than Alexander.

That is why I am so disgusted with Alexander by his recent statement in opposition to health care legislation, in which he says that if it is passed by the Democrats without GOP support, then there will be a “minor revolution”.

Senator Alexander, what are you doing, encouraging bloodshed and violence because your party members, including yourself, refuse to cooperate on a bipartisan bill on health care? Your background and career make it hard to understand WHY you would issue such a statement.

I think you need to reconsider your outrageous assertion, and retract it promptly. I doubt that will happen, but it SHOULD!

Barack Obama And Health Care Speech To Congress

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President Obama has announced his plans to deliver a health care speech before a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, September 9.

This is an excellent and necessary move, as so much propaganda and lies have been promoted by conservatives, Republicans and the health care insurance industry, all of them determined to defeat any substantial health care reform. These special interests have been willing to do anything to promote myths, fear, and trepidation, and encourage raucous Town Hall meetings.

The President must explain explicitly what he wants in the health care bill, why it is so important to the future of the nation, and challenge and destroy every last piece of propaganda, lies and myths that have been spread without shame across the country.

Health care reform is absolutely essential, as it has been discussed since Harry Truman’s time, and was first generally proposed by Theodore Roosevelt during his 1912 Progressive Party campaign for President. Isn’t a century since TR, and 64 years since Truman, enough time to take action finally on this crucial issue?