Month: February 2011

The “Dark Horse” To Watch For The GOP Presidential Nomination: Jon Huntsman Of Utah

Ronald Leave a comment

As the Republican Presidential race is about to begin, former Utah Governor and US Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman is the man to watch, the so called “dark horse” in the multi candidate race.

Huntsman accepted the offer of President Barack Obama to be the Ambassador to China in 2009, and has filled that post very well for the past almost two years. Skilled in Mandarin Chinese and considered an expert on Asian affairs generally, Huntsman is a brilliant, talented man, only 50 years old, and very photogenic and charismatic to boot!

His decision to resign his post in China, plus his purchase of a home in Washington, DC, give broad hints that he is going to seek the Presidential nomination, and he so hinted over a month ago in an interview in Newsweek Magazine.

What are his negatives? Well, he is a Mormon like Mitt Romney, which will upset many evangelical Christians who consider the Church of Latter Day Saints a cult religion, and not really Christian.

Also, by agreeing to work for President Obama, it makes him somewhat suspect in GOP circles, and Obama even joked last month that he thought Huntsman would really please Republican leaders, leading to Obama’s cute way of chuckling! 🙂

Also, Huntsman is definitely a moderate centrist, unwilling to take the strong right wing stands of other Republicans, and not willing to cave in to Tea Party activists.

In a poll of Mormons in Utah, it is clear that they favor fellow Mormon Mitt Romney, who seems much more dedicated to his faith than is Huntsman. Also, as Governor of Utah, Huntsman took socially moderate positions on abortion, illegal immigration, and civil unions for gays and lesbians, which would antagonize most orthodox Mormons.

But his socially moderate views, his brilliance and intelligence and service in China, his good looks and charisma, and his mainstream Republicanism generally, could actually set him apart in the race, and if the GOP wishes to have a real shot at defeating President Obama, Huntsman would probably be their best bet, even more than Mitt Romney who has always been seen as trying to cater to the right wing even though his record shows he is actually in the center, or was, as Governor of Massachusetts, including a health care plan strikingly similar to that of President Obama!

So if the GOP wants a real shot at winning, they would be wise to turn to Huntsman, rather than to cater to the right wing Christian conservatives and Tea Party activists!

So stay tuned as we see whether the GOP is ready to commit suicide and go for a KNOW NOTHING such as Sarah Palin or Michele Bachmann, or a FLAME THROWER such as Newt Gingrich, or a bland boring candidate such as Tim Pawlenty, or a Baptist preacher big spender as Governor such as Mike Huckabee, or a “phony” conservative such as Mitt Romney!

Children Of Republican Leaders And Gay Rights! Setting The Trend Of the Future!

Ronald Leave a comment

The surprising news to many, and the shocking news to others, is that one of the twin daughters of President George W. Bush, Barbara Bush, has come out for gay marriage rights and has allowed herself to be part of a taped endorsement campaign for such rights in New York!

This development comes on the heels of Megan McCain, daughter of 2008 Presidential candidate and Senator John McCain of Arizona, also endorsing gay rights and marriage.

Additionally, the lesbian daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, Mary Cheney, has also been a major figure in promoting the concept of gay marriage.

So a former President, a former Vice President, and a Presidential nominee have children who have come out for gay rights in the midst of right wing conservative Christian groups bitterly opposing any such concept, and boycotting the upcoming Conservative Political Action Conference because a gay group has been invited to participate!

Realize also that former First Ladies Nancy Reagan and Barbara Bush came out for abortion rights after their husbands left the Presidency, and that Laura Bush has already supported her daughter Barbara, before the fact, in an interview recently that included discussion of gay marriage and gay rights.

The fact that the family members of these top Republican leaders come out for the civil rights of women and gays makes one wonder if their husbands and fathers simply mouthed what they had to say to keep political backing when they were running for the Presidency, and the belief is that assumption is totally correct!

Every poll shows younger Americans have no problem with gay rights and gay marriage, and therefore, the Republican right wing is fighting a rear guard action that will, in the long run, isolate them, just as their vehement opposition to illegal immigrants gaining eventual rights of citizenship has alienated most Latinos and Hispanics from the party.

If the GOP allows the extreme right wing and Christian Right to control their destiny, they will see themselves disintegrate as a respectable and competitive political party for the long run of the American future!

Stop vilifying Latinos and Hispanics, and stop demonizing gays, or else you will be part of the dust bin of history! And keep religion out of government, where it belongs, as all that occurs when religion is allowed to control government decisions is the promotion of hate and intolerance, which ironically, Jesus Christ would not have approved were he here to observe what so called “devout” Christians claim are his teachings, a total distortion of his message of peace, love, and tolerance of others!

A Revelation: The Founding Fathers Supported National Health Care For The Merchant Marine Sailors In 1798!

Ronald Leave a comment

The claim by Tea Party activists and Republicans and conservatives that the Constitution does not allow national health care has been shown to be incorrect by the revelation that in 1798, the Founding Fathers passed legislation through Congress, signed by President John Adams, that provided for mandatory health care coverage on merchant marine sailors, paid for by a one percent tax on their incomes, in order to protect their health from illness and injuries, and therefore providing enough of a work force for the all important activity of foreign commerce!

Federal maritime hospitals were built in all the major American ports to provide medical services, and they were financed by the mandatory health care tax on the sailors!

Eventually, the service was expanded to cover commerce and ships on the Mississippi River and the Ohio River. Over time, it became the Public Health Service, which is still in existence today!

What the US government did in the 1790s is the method used by all European democratic governments today to insure that all citizens have health care, including the mandated taxes for their own good, to insure health care, rather than wait for an emergency and then deny health care to millions, or do it expensively at the cost of all taxpayers in emergency rooms!

So it turns out that the Founding Fathers were indeed “socialists” in the sense they mandated that people in the merchant marine had to take responsibility for their own health care and contribute to the cost through mandated taxes!

The author wishes to acknowledge that this tidbit of information came to him through the discovery on line of this revelation by his son, David Feinman, a true “chip off the old block” in so many ways! 🙂 Thanks, Dave! 🙂

The Obama Health Care Legislation Under Attack! It Could Stand Or Fall On Justice Anthony Kennedy’s Decision! :(

Ronald Leave a comment

The Obama Health Care legislation has come under severe attack from federal district court judges in Virginia and now Florida, with the Florida judge declaring the entire act unconstitutional! 🙁

26 states have petitioned the courts to undermine the legislation, and the purpose seems to be to destroy the entire law, even the parts that any sane person would support, such as keeping children on to age 26, ending a lifetime ban on coverage over a set amount, allowing a company to drop coverage once someone becomes sick, and preventing coverage for the millions of people with pre-existing conditions!

To think that a piece of legislation could be negated by a body of unelected, unaccountable judges, instead of an elected body of legislators is, to say the least, very disconcerting! 🙁

It is now obvious that the legislation will come up for review by the Supreme Court during the election campaign of 2012. And it is assumed that Justices Scalia, Alito, Thomas and Chief Justice Roberts will vote against it, and that Justices Ginsberg, Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan will support it, leaving Justice Kennedy with the swing vote, as is often the case.

Years ago, conservatives complained that the Supreme Court is really the Kennedy Court, as his vote decided most cases by a 5-4 vote, and there was anger when Kennedy went with the liberals on the court on several cases, including Lawrence V. Texas, the gay rights case in 2003.

However, in recent years, Kennedy has more often joined the conservative side than the liberal side, so indeed the future of the health care law may hang on what he, a singular human being, determines is constitutional! 🙁

Celebration! :) Frank Buckles, Only Living Veteran Of World War One Celebrates His 110th Birthday! :)

Ronald Leave a comment

A miracle is being celebrated today, as Frank Buckles, the only living American veteran of World War I, which ended 93 years ago, becomes 110 years old! 🙂

Joining the American military by lying about his age of 16, Buckles has survived longer than any veteran of the war, and likely longer than any veteran of any American war in our entire history!

Buckles is still lucid, although he uses a wheelchair, and he testified last year before Congress of the need for a World War I Memorial on the level of those for World War II, Korea and Vietnam.

It has already been arranged that Buckles will be buried eventually in Arlington National Cemetery, and that special military presence by the British and French will be part of his funeral, which is sure to be a national event covered by the news media in depth!

On this day, Buckles is to be saluted for his birthday and his longevity, as the only link we have to the First World War, which began 97 years ago with the hope that it would make the world a better place, which, unfortunately, it has not, as no war makes the world a better place, but rather just deals with the immediate crisis that endangers world peace!