Month: March 2012

Rick Santorum Bashes New York City And Los Angeles, And By Implication, Boston! What It Says About Him!

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Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, challenging Mitt Romney for the Republican Presidential nomination, has now gone on the attack against New York City and Los Angeles, and by implication, Boston, since Massachusetts is the state in which Mitt Romney was governor,

This reminds us of Barry Goldwater in 1964, suggesting that the Atlantic Coast of North America be cut off and sent out to sea.

It also reminds us of Sarah Palin in 2008, who criticized the coastlines of America, and claimed the “real America” was in the heartland.

The problem is that one can attack those three cities, and the states that they are part of, but there is no way to claim that the heartland of the nation matches the significance and influence of New York City, Los Angeles, and Boston, in the present, or historically!

These are the cultural, financial, business, intellectual and educational centers of America.

These cities have among the best universities in the world, and their states easily have had a greater impact on America than all of the heartland states combined, both past and present.

People can have proud regional biases, but the reality is that these three cities and states are the center of American progress and accomplishments, and that will not change.

So to condemn these cities and states is pure stupidity and ignorance, and proves that Rick Santorum, like Sarah Palin and Barry Goldwater, is not qualified for the Presidency, since he does not recognize the reality of the influence and significance of these coastline cities and states! And to pit a portion of the nation against other areas is also demagogic and despicable to the core!

Mississippi And Alabama Continue Their Bad Reputation From The 1960s

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Mississippi and Alabama vote tomorrow in the Republican Presidential primaries, and as we focus on the two states with the worst reputation possible fifty years ago, one has to wonder has anything changed?

The answer is NO, although now the majority of citizens of those two states vote Republican, rather than for the Democratic Party.

But all that happened is that the whites of those states switched, based on the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 under President Lyndon B. Johnson, from the Democrats to the Republicans, as the Republicans gave up their Reconstruction image of being pro African American rights, and therefore, inherited the segregationists of the 1960s.

Sure, African American involvement in the politics of those two Deep South states has multiplied, but still those states are dominated by the old racism and segregationist mentality of the 1960s! They remain among the poorest states of the union, both black and white citizens.

Now, those states are working to make it harder for minorities to vote, leading to court cases. Also, discrimination against immigrants of Hispanic ancestry is in full swing, particularly so in Alabama.

And a majority in a poll believe that Barack Obama is a Muslim, while at the same time, NOT believing in evolution, but instead the Bible creationist theory. So they do not believe in science, but believe in a Lord who discriminates based on race and nationality!

What can one say except throw their hands up in frustration and exasperation at the ignorance and narrow mindedness of these two states, whose reputation remains in the bottom ten of our 50 states, and very close to the bottom, if not the bottom!

Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe: The Ultimate Environmental Enemy, Based On The Bible!

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Republican Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma is the greatest critic of the environmental movement in America, bar none.

A leading global warming-climate change denier, Inhofe has just come out with a new book in which he refers to the Bible as his proof that there is no climate change or global warming crisis, because God is in charge, and would not do any such harm.

Completely ignoring the role of science, Inhofe has made it his mission in the US Senate to do everything he can to prevent any government action on environmental issues, and his impact has helped to undermine any attempts to cooperate with other nations on the issue, or to allow our government to plan strategy on the issue.

In the future, when environmental change does occur, we will look back on Inhofe as an ostrich with his head in the sand, but since he will have passed from the scene, he will not feel the effects of climate change and global warming, but will be blamed for having helped to prevent effective action on the issue.

For that, he will be condemned in history!

Hillary Clinton At Women In The World Summit: Women Must Not Let Men Control Their Destiny!

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Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave a passionate address at the Women In The World Summit in New York City this weekend, an event hosted by Newsweek and the Daily Beast.

Prominent, as well as not so prominent, women attended, including former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, actresses Angelina Jolie and Meryl Streep, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Barbara and Jenna Bush, Chelsea Clinton, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, and many foreign women who are fighting for women’s rights all over the world.

Hillary Clinton was highly critical of the idea that men all over the world seem to feel that they have a right to control what women do with their bodies, how they dress, what they advocate, and their ambitions to accomplish their goals for themselves and other women.

This was a sharp rejoinder to evangelical Christian and Catholic leadership, and conservative and Republican leadership in Congress, the state legislatures, and on talk radio and Fox News Channel, who have worked to push women’s rights in reverse with recent statements and actions.

These attempts at curbing women’s rights are doomed to failure, as women en masse will react against attempts to return women in America to the concept of women a century ago, and even as recently as the past 50 years.

A key goal is winning more seats in Congress, so as to have a greater impact on legislation and the agenda of the future!

The Vice Presidential Competition: Who Makes Sense For The GOP

Ronald 1 Comment

Assuming that Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts Governor, is going to be the Republican Presidential nominee, the speculation about who might be his Vice Presidential running mate has begun.

Were Rick Santorum, the former Pennsylvania Senator, somehow able to pull out a miracle and become the nominee, the list would change, with some of the speculative candidates being eliminated, and others not now mentioned being added to the list.

The present list, as reported by NATIONAL JOURNAL is long, but with certain candidates ranked in order of likelihood of being the nominee.

The list is fascinating, but in the opinion of the author, flawed, with the assumption that Romney wants to have a real chance to win, and many of the choices are just too controversial even for him, in the mind of this author.

So we begin with Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell and Florida Senator Marco Rubio, both attractive looking candidates from battleground states, but both highly flawed by recent events, as reported by this author just a short period of time ago. These were the top two on this list provided by NATIONAL JOURNAL.

Their active movement against women and reproductive control of their bodies is a major negative, which did not exist in the same way just a few short weeks ago. Nominating anyone closely associated with this attack on women’s rights would NOT help Mitt Romney to win this crucial voting group!

But third place finisher, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, while applauded by many conservatives, is simply too headstrong and bossy to be anyone’s Vice Presidential nominee, and has a tendency to blow up and say things that are both arrogant and nasty, and would harm the Romney candidacy for President.

Ohio Senator Rob Portman, number four on the list, is far less controversial than McDonnell, Rubio, and Christie. Not as well known as the first three, Portman is a solid conservative who one can feel supplements Romney in a competent way, with his only negative being that he was the Budget Director under George W. Bush, as the budget went awry in the past decade. But, as much as that seems to be a negative, Portman still is far better as a nominee than the previous three combined. One does not want to forget that a nominee from Ohio, being the most crucial state for a Republican Presidential candidate, makes Portman even more important. Remember that EVERY GOP Presidential winner since Abraham Lincoln, the first, has won Ohio.

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal is fifth on the list, followed by Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin. Jindal has become less exciting and impressive as time has gone on, with his main advantage, sadly, is that he is an Indian American, darker skinned than any other Republican, including Hispanic and Latinos possibilities, and might fool people into thinking that he is African American, but if that is the reason to select him, it only highlights the race problem the GOP faces. His home state is not important enough to be a consideration, as it will go Republican anyway, although if the people of one of the poorest states used their head, they would not vote Republican!

Ryan, on the other hand, is very good looking and well spoken, and as head of the House Budget Committee, he would seem a good match, and his home state of Wisconsin is seen as in play. But his plan to change Medicare as we know it, and his overall controversial budget plan, makes him not as good a choice as Rob Portman. Having said that, except for Portman, he seems a better fit of the top group of six possible nominees, ahead of McDonnell, Rubio, Christie, and Jindal.

Of the so called plausible alternatives, former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, the next choice, would be an excellent candidate, even though he withdrew early from the Presidential race. A strong supporter of Romney, and a front runner for John McCain’s running mate in 2008, Pawlenty is not dynamic or exciting, but a competent choice with far less controversy than most.

The rest of the list is uninspiring: Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, Washington Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers, South Dakota Senator John Thune, New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez, Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval, and Puerto Rico Governor Luis Fortuno..

The mention of Rodgers, Martinez, Sandoval, and Fortuno really brings raised eyes, as simply pandering to women and Hispanics and Latinos, as they remind us too much of picking Sarah Palin for being a woman more than any true qualifying factor.

Only Thune brings any excitement, as he is handsome, dynamic, and comes from the Senate, but his state adds nothing to the electoral base of Romney.

In summary, it seems to the author that the best choices for Romney to consider for Vice President as reputable, qualified, competent, less controversial, and qualified to be President in case of an emergency (not to be ignored), would be Rob Portman, Paul Ryan, Tim Pawlenty, and John Thune.

NONE match Vice President Joe Biden as a competent, qualified person to be next in line to be President of the United States!

Republican Congresswomen: More Conservative Than Republican Congressmen!

Ronald 4 Comments

It might be shocking to discover that Republican women in the House of Representatives come out statistically more right wing than Republican men in the House, on average.

A National Journal study shows that Republican women in the 111th Congress were a more conservative bloc than the men, and the most ever in modern Congressional history!

The most conservative women, among the top 50 most conservative include Jean Schmidt of Ohio, who just lost her seat in the Ohio primary; Michele Bachmann, who lost out in her quest for the GOP Presidential nomination; Mary Fallin of Oklahoma; Virginia Foxx of North Carolina; Sue Myrick of North Carolina; Lynn Jenkins of Kansas; and Kay Granger of Texas.

Overall, the Republican women voted more conservatively tnan 80 percent of the entire House of Representatives.

One other female representative also continues to be right up there in pride of being very conservative–Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee–who has had the ranking overall in recent years of being the most right wing, although dethroned by Jean Schmidt in 2010.

It is shocking to see how these and other GOP women stand by as women’s rights are being challenged and restricted. It is as if they are not women at all, but aliens from outer space!

Republicans And Women: Going Backwards From 1920 To Now

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With the massive assault on women’s rights being waged by Republicans in the Congress and in the Republican state governorships and legislatures and on conservative talk radio, one would think that the Republican Party has always been this way.

But actually, just the opposite is true!

It was a Republican and a woman, Congresswoman Jeanette Rankin of Montana, who sponsored the woman suffrage amendment, which became the 19th Amendment to the Constitution in 1920.

It was a vast majority of Republicans in Congress who promoted the proposed Equal Rights Amendment , along with the vast majority of Democrats, when it passed in 1972 and went to the states.

It was President Richard Nixon who gave his strong endorsement to the ERA after its passage in 1972.

It was President Gerald Ford who campaigned for the ERA when he became President in 1974.

It was First Lady Betty Ford who not only campaigned for the ERA, but also supported other feminist causes and the reproductive rights of women, despite conservative criticism.

When one particularly looks at the contributions of Gerald and Betty Ford to the advancement of women’s rights, there has to be nostalgia for the “Good Old Days”!

But ironically, supposedly, as time passes, things get better, right?

But in the case of women’s rights and the Republican Party, the situation is the reverse: the past is far more advanced than the present.

But Republicans will pay the price this fall, when millions of self respecting women will march to the polls, ignore even their “religious” and “good Christian” husbands who want to keep them subservient, and will vote out the Republicans who are taking away the rights of women, and vote in more women and more men who believe in true equality of the genders!

Mitt Romney Does Not Work Well With Others: Forecast Of An Isolated Presidency If He Wins

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Mitt Romney, the front runner in the Republican Presidential nomination race, has already revealed himself to be very stiff, formal, and aloof from the problems of ordinary Americans.

Now we are learning that he is much the same in dealing with other politicians.

Romney acts as if he is the Chief Executive Officer of a corporation, who isolates himself in his plush offices, makes policy with just a few aides, and then expects that everyone will follow his lead and avoid challenges at group meetings, where he expects to announce his decisions on policy, and everyone joins in unison in support of the initiatives he has promoted. He does not like criticism or alternative ideas, as he has great confidence in his own ability and intellect.

This was Mitt Romney as a corporate leader, and it is the prescription for disaster if he is President of the United States.

One might ask how one can conclude that this is so. The answer is that we have learned that this was his approach in his one term as Massachusetts Governor from 2003-2007!

Having to deal with a Democratic state legislature which was 85 percent against him, one would think he would realize that he had to deal with the opposition by getting to know members of the legislature, and conducting lots of meetings trying to bridge the gap in a bipartisan way, but that was not Romney’s style at all.

Interviews with Massachusetts politicians who served under Governor Romney reveal a man who avoided contact with them; never learned the faces or views of most of them; avoided socializing with legislators; came across as emotionally remote; overused the veto pen to no effect, but set a record of 844 vetoes, the most in Massachusetts history; worked as an outsider from the beginning to the end of his governorship; openly criticized legislative leaders that he needed to work with and in the process turned them away from any cooperation efforts with him; acted as a control freak in wanting every action of the legislature to go through the governor’s office; and failed to give recognition to those legislators present at public events (a policy that Barack Obama is a master of).

It is clear that Mitt Romney may be a corporate leader of great talents and skills, but that is NOT going to get things done with the US Congress, whether his own party controls, or particularly if the opposition party has control, which is probably quite likely, or a split Congress, which would create a nightmare scenario far worse than the one Barack Obama faces now with the 112th Congress.

Face the facts, Mitt Romney can only relate to wealthy people of corporate mentality, to his family, and to the Mormon Church. With the kind of obscene wealth he has, he can go on enjoying his life, but we need a more hands on President of the United States to deal with the rest of us folks, and we already have one named Barack Obama!

In other words, Mitt Romney is no Franklin D. Roosevelt, no Lyndon B. Johnson, and no Ronald Reagan! He is more like Herbert Hoover or Calvin Coolidge, and we know where that ended up!

The Immolation Of Marco Rubio And Bob McDonnell For Vice President!

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Two so called “front runners” for the Vice Presidential nomination on the Republican ticket with Mitt Romney have proceeded to immolate themselves in the past two weeks.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio became the co-sponsor of the Blunt Amendment, which would have allowed any employer on ethical or religious grounds to refuse to cover any medical procedure that he did not agree with on a health insurance plan. It was defeated by the Democratic majority, joined by outgoing Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine, who saw this legislation as the “last straw”, and decided to retire from the Senate in frustration at the total stalemate and gridlock that the Senate has become. By Rubio being so active in promotion of this outrageous amendment, it effectively kills him off as a potential GOP running mate, unless Mitt Romney proves to be totally crazy!

Meanwhile, Governor Bob McDonnell of Virginia finally backed off on proposed legislation in his state that would have required any woman who wanted to undergo an abortion to have an invasive ultrasound vaginal probe exam, with the bill changed only to take away the invasive aspect of the legislation. This crazy idea makes Virginia look as if it is back in the Dark Ages, and destroys any semblance of McDonnell being a good running mate for Romney, unless again Romney goes totally insane!

It could be that both Rubio and McDonnell perceive that Romney cannot win the election, and that therefore, they would not want to associate themselves with his campaign, but if that is really believed, it gives both of them much more credit for their intelligence and foresight than they deserve!

If Only Rick Santorum Was A Progressive! What Good He Could Have Done To Advance Unity And Reform!

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As one observes the Presidential campaIgn of 2012, and watches the Republican candidates, it is hard not to like Rick Santorum on a personal level.

The man comes across as personable, genuine, sincere, warm, friendly, interested in people, passionate in his own beliefs, and able to resonate with the average blue collar, non college educated American, which is, after all, a majority of the American people!

But his message is the problem, with his right wing, prejudiced, biased, judgmental view, dominated by his overtly moralistic and religious views of all issues being black and white, not grey!

His name is now headed in a Google search by a nasty sexual description given to him by Dan Savage, a gay activist, due to Santorum’s hateful attitude toward the LGBT community, and his obsession with sex generally in his public utterances and statements.

It is tragic that Rick Santorum, with his obvious gift of connection to his audiences, did not utilize his talents for the advancement of unity and understanding of differences, rather than promoting a massive divide in America, and working to make America a theocracy, which is precisely what the Founding Fathers did NOT wish to promote.

If he had been the opposite of what he is and has become, Rick Santorum might well have been a progressive and a future occupant of the White House, promoting an expansion of the New Deal and Great Society! Oh well!