Month: January 2010

The Irony Of The Upcoming Anniversary Of Barack Obama’s Inauguration

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It is extremely ironic that as we arrive on Wednesday at the first anniversary of Barack Obama’s inauguration as President, that we face the strong possibility of the loss of Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat to a Republican tomorrow evening!

Martha Coakley, the Massachusetts Attorney General, well liked in her state and seen as a solid figure in her state government role, faces the strong likelihood that, because of an extremely lackluster campaign by her, and a very vigorous, active campaign by Scott Brown, the state senator who is her Republican opponent, that the GOP will win that race and be able to halt health care reform in its tracks by having 41 Republicans senators, all committed to a filibuster of any legislation on the subject.

It would be a great tragedy if that happened, and it is hoped that enough Democrats and independents will show their commitment to Barack Obama, who still has a 60 percent popular support level in the most recent Massachusetts polls, and vote for Martha Coakley, who is likely to be an outstanding Senator if only she can get past her lackluster campaign, and go to the Senate to continue Ted Kennedy’s work!

This is one case where we must have our fingers crossed and wait with baited breath for the momentous results tomorrow evening!

Anniversary Of Cuban Embargo And Diplomatic Non Recognition: Time For Change!

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On this day in 1961, 49 years ago, President Dwight D. Eisenhower broke off diplomatic relations with Cuba’s government, and began a trade embargo designed to bring Fidel Castro’s government down.

Through eleven Presidents now, from Eisenhower at the end of his term in office to the early stages of the Obama Administration, this embargo and diplomatic non recognition has continued, and the end result is that NOTHING has been achieved!

Now it is Fidel’s brother, Raul Castro, who runs the government, and Cuba’s willingness to allow American planes to use the airspace over Cuba to help bring relief supplies to Haiti after last week’s disastrous earthquake should be an opening to the idea of finally restoring diplomatic relations and ending the embargo, which has harmed the population but had no effect on bringing down the now 51 year regime of the Castros.

There have been earlier signs of a possible thaw between Cuba and the United States under President Obama, and it is hoped that realism will set in and the President will take action soon on this matter!

If we can deal with other “evil” governments around the world, then we can deal with the Castro government in Cuba!

Sarah Palin’s Debut As Political Pundit On Fox News Channel

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Former Alaska Governor and former Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin this week made her debut as a political pundit on Fox News Channel, and it was truly an embarrassment big time! 🙁

Bill O’Reilly, Glenn Beck, and Sean Hannity gushed all over her, showering her with praise as she sat there and said nothing of substance.

When she was asked about the criticisms by Steve Schmidt, a McCain operative, that she did know anything about any issue, such as why there is a North Korea and South Korea, her answer was to say that the American people did not care about such petty issues, which means she was saying correctly that many of the American people, much more than should be, had no clue on that or other issues. But does that make her ignorance acceptable for a potential President? To just dismiss it so easily shows what the problem is with Sarah Palin. She is totally oblivious on everything!

To say in the interview with Katie Couric that she reads “all” the newspapers and magazines and fail to name any is not acceptable. To answer when asked on Fox News Channel who her favorite “Founding Father” was, that it was “all of them” is also not acceptable, as she fails to indicate any knowledge of the topic.

It was easy for Sarah Palin to sit there as all three talk show hosts on Fox heaped praise on her, and made it easy for her. And when asked how she felt about being there with Bill O’Reilly, her answer was that she felt she was fortunate to be on the same set with “the big man on campus”! What a ridiculous and embarrassing performance, to say the least! 🙁

As many have pointed out, the more that Palin is criticized, the more it seems that her base raves about her. That may be so, but if it translates into “Know Nothings” electing her President, then the nation is in dire danger, as Ignorance and Narrow Mindedness will have taken over the Presidency, making George W. Bush seem intellectual!

Kudos To Dr. Sanjay Gupta Of CNN For His Courage And Dedication To Duty!

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Dr. Sanjay Gupta, the Medical Correspondent for CNN, should be hailed and celebrated for his courage and dedication to duty in the Haitian Earthquake disaster.

UN doctors were told to leave because of security problems, leaving their patients, many of them just gone through surgery, absolutely without anyone to take care of them, except for Dr. Gupta, who was reporting the situation, and decided, with threat to himself certainly possible, to stay and tend to all of the patients overnight, going without sleep, but refusing to abandon the people who, without him, would have been left totally alone.

Dr. Gupta truly followed the Hippocratic Oath, while those UN doctors failed to meet their responsibilities, no matter what they were told to do. One should NEVER leave patients untended, but these men and women were unwilling to sacrifice possible danger to do their duty, while Dr. Gupta took his chances, but demonstrated just how much of a great professional and human being he is!

Wonderful To See Former Presidents Clinton And George W. Bush Working Together On Haitian Relief!

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In a moment of human tragedy at the greatest level, it is wonderful to see former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush cooperating, working together with President Obama to promote a Haitian relief agenda.

The Haitian earthquake may be one of the ten greatest natural tragedies in the history of the world, and this is the time for all of us to implement efforts to alleviate human suffering and rebuild Haiti’s society and infrastructure, despite its imposing challenge.

This is not the time for mean spiritedness as expressed by the so called Christian evangelist Pat Robertson, or political exploitation as expressed by the right wing talk show hosts, such as Rush Limbaugh seeing what Obama is doing as political, to make himself look better than George W. Bush after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005.

It would be very nice to see the right wingers in Congress–such as James Inhofe and Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and James DeMint of South Carolina–and also former Vice President Dick Cheney–who spend their time dividing America, devoting time and effort on dealing with the Haitian relief effort, but predictably they remain silent!

Campaign Finance Laws In Limbo Awaiting Supreme Court Decision

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A momentous decision is about to be made by the US Supreme Court soon, regarding whether campaign finance laws that restrict spending by corporations and unions should be loosened, which would allow much more negative advertising in political campaigns, including the upcoming midterm congressional elections in November 2010.

Supporters of loosening campaign finance laws argue that it is a question of freedom of speech. The opposite view is that such a change would encourage undue influence in a negative way by powerful groups which have unlimited funds that could distort the truth and promote manipulation of voters by very negative campaign commercials and advertising.

It is clear to me that we should not want more corporate and union influence which would undermine political campaigns which are already too negative, tending to turn off voters from participating and making them feel that the power of money matters more than them.

Hopefully, the Supreme Court will not be a partner in the undermining of American democracy, and will prevent the distortion of our system by wealthy special interests. This is not an issue of freedom of speech, but rather of the right of the American people to avoid demagogic methods used by pressure groups which care very little about anything other than their own special interests!

Pat Robertson Rears His Ugly Head: The Haitian Earthquake

Ronald 3 Comments

Lately, I had been thinking about what happened to Pat Robertson, who has been out of the news recently. It was a relief that he had not spouted his hypocritical brand of evangelical Christianity that promotes hate and prejudice instead of the true Christian spirit.

But lo and behold, Pat has just spoken up on the tragedy of the Haitian Earthquake, possibly the worst earthquake of modern times in the Western Hemisphere, and the latest natural disaster to hit the poor country of Haiti, coming on top of four hurricanes in 2008.

Robertson’s poison was to say that the Haitians two hundred years ago had made a pact with the devil by fighting against French control of their country, with many adopting Voodoo in opposition to French Christianity.

Robertson needs to be silenced, as he is promoting hate and racism, nothing new for him, but despicable in the midst of such a great national crisis. But then, one must remember that it was the same Pat Robertson who, after September 11, blamed the event on gays, feminists, environmentalists and liberals.

That other notorious evangelical Christian leader, Jerry Falwell, has been taken from us by his God,with no loss to mankind. Let’s hope that Pat Robertson soon will be silenced by a loving God who realizes how Pat has distorted the message of true Christianity: to be thy brother’s keeper and promote love and tolerance, not hate and prejudice and division! 🙁

A Few Republicans Being Fair Minded On Harry Reid Controversy

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It is good to see at least a few Republicans being fair minded about the Harry Reid controversy, refusing to call for his resignation as Senate Majority Leader.

Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, and fellow Nevadan John Ensign all are calling for their party to lay off the topic, as it is not their place to tell the Democrats or Nevada what to do.

The same cannot be said for Republican National Chairman Michael Steele and Texas Senator John Cornyn, who are ridiculously comparing what Reid said to what Trent Lott said about Strom Thurmond in 2002. As stated in an earlier entry, to compare the two situations is totally ridiculous!

But also, President George W. Bush did not back Lott in 2002, and helped assist his resignation, while Barack Obama has fully backed Reid and called for an end to the attention to the comments the Majority Leader made.

As Obama said, Reid has his heart and record in the right place, having a consistently strong civil rights record in his years in the Senate, while Trent Lott was just the opposite in so many ways.

So as Obama said, it is time to move on and focus on health care, the energy issue, and the economy–issues important to the American people.

New Powers For Environmental Protection Agency Proposed

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The Obama Administration last week proposed new, increased powers for the Environmental Protection Agency, designed to promote public health by forcing a stricter control of smog producing pollutants.

The controls would put new costs on local governments and industry, creating much tougher standards than the Bush Administration had proposed in 2007, which had been criticized by environmental advocates and state governments.

It is estimated that the benefits to human health would be greater in economic terms than the cost to corporations, oil companies and utilities. Heart and lung disease deaths would be cut substantially, as would cases of bronchitis, asthma, and nonfatal heart attacks.

Of course, industry is unhappy, but this is the only way to start improving our environment’s air quality long term. Fines and loss of federal highway financing would be the methods to impose compliance. This is a great move that will be fully adopted after a period of two months, and go into effect between 2014-2031.

The Real Sarah Palin: Clueless, Ignorant Mediocrity!

Ronald 1 Comment

We have heard so much about Sarah Palin, the former Governor of Alaska and GOP Vice Presidential nominee in 2008, but the more we learn, the more we realize how fortunate we are that John McCain lost the 2008 election. We also can see that anyone who thinks this woman is qualified to run for President is just like her: a clueless, ignorant mediocrity, and I am trying to be a gentleman! 🙂

On Sixty Minutes, McCain Aide Steve Schmidt informed Anderson Cooper that Palin did not understand why there was a North and South Korea; thought Saddam Hussein had attacked the United States on September 11; had trouble with Joe Biden’s name, calling him O’Biden, so was told in the Vice Presidential debate to call him “Joe”; and that she promoted untruths and came across as inaccurate much too often.  Also, she stated to Schmidt that her nomination was part of “God’s plan”!

How anyone can take her seriously, or even spend money and stand in line to buy her book, in which she blames everyone for her own shortcomings and refuses to take responsibility for anything about the campaign, is absolutely amazing!