Month: July 2012

Mitt Romney And “Day One” Promises: A Total Sham!

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Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney is the phoniest major party candidate in modern American history, constantly changing his viewpoints and ideas, and expecting us to accept it as part of the nature of “politics”.

But any person who has any common sense or brains knows that Mitt Romney cannot be trusted, or that he believes in ANYTHING, and is not one percent genuine, his biggest problem that will prevent him from being elected President in November.

It is infuriating that he constantly uses the term “Day One” as he pledges action and change from the policies of the Barack Obama Administration!

It seems like every day he is pledging what he will do on “Day One”!

The problem is that he is totally disingenuous, as NOTHING can be done automatically on “Day One”, as it takes legislative action, and bureaucratic movement to change ANY policy, domestic or foreign!

Our government is complex enough that it will take a long time to change policies or programs, as we are NOT a dictatorship where a “President” Romney can issue orders as if he is a tyrant, and even dictators have to deal with bureaucracy and human foibles, and NOTHING gets done instantly, overnight!

It is annoying to hear Romney say that, and it is time that he stop the bull, and admit that policy changes will require much effort by many people over a long period of time, lasting at least a year.

The way Romney speaks, one thinks we should call his program “The First Day”, which according to his propaganda would surpass the “First Hundred Days” of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933 at the height of the Great Depression.

It is a totally asinine and loony concept, and it is time to drop it and talk reality, but is Mitt Romney capable of that? One wonders!

Interview with WWRL (New York) Morning Show with Mark Riley

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This morning, I woke up bright and early on the 4th of July to discuss the American Presidency, the Tea Party, and more with Mark Riley of WWRL in New York. Click on the link below to listen to my interview.

Interview with WWRL (New York) Morning Show with Mark Riley

The Fourth Of July, American “Exceptionalism”, And “The Newsroom” Rant Of Will McAvoy!

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The new HBO series, “The Newsroom”, is a brilliant series, with its main star being actor Jeff Daniels, who portrays an anchorman gone amuck, named Will McAvoy.

The first few minutes of the first episode of this wonderful series is priceless for what it says, and shows the genius of producer Aaron Sorkin, who also was responsible for the “West Wing” series on the Presidency in the past decade.

Will McAvoy is disgusted, in the opening scene, at the “bull” going on during a panel discussion about American “exceptionalism”, and goes berserk in his response, what could best be called a rant!

Frustrated by the constant shouting match between left and right that has existed for what seems like forever, at this college presentation of views he participates in, he goes ballistic!

Saying America is NOT the greatest country in the world, Will McAvoy tells conservatives that we are not the only country in the world with freedom, with 180 having freedom out of 207 nations!

Also, he says that proof that America is NOT the greatest nation includes the facts that we are:

7th in literacy
27th in math
22nd in science
49th in life expectancy
178th in infant mortality
3rd in median household income
4th in labor force
4th in exports

McAvoy goes on to say further that we lead the world in only three categories:

Number of incarcerated citizens per capita
Number of adults who believe angels are real
Expenditures on defense, more than the next 26 nations combined, 25 whom are friends and allies

McAvoy goes on to say that we used to stand up for what was right, including:

Fighting wars for moral reasons
Passing and striking down laws for moral reasons
Waging wars on poverty, not poor people
Sacrificing and caring about our neighbors
Willingness to pay taxes, rather than evading them
Never bragging how great we were,. better than the rest of the world
Creating great technological advancements
Exploring the universe
Curing diseases
Cultivating the world’s greatest artists and the world’s greatest economy
Aspiring to intelligence, instead of belittling it
Being a well informed country, led by great men who were revered

If ONLY we had politicians like Will McAvoy, but there are very few, with one coming to mind, and not even a Democrat or Republican, but instead a SOCIALIST, oh my god!

And that is Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who says it as it is!

This is something to reflect upon on Independence Day, the 236th Anniversary!

Remembering the Bicentennial in 1976 under President Gerald Ford, we were much more optimistic back then, but now with the present Republican Party tooting our horns how great we are, but doing everything to set us back to the 19th century Gilded Age, we have a lot of work to do, including ranting like Will McAvoy, and espousing in more realistic terms, like Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont!

Illinois Congressman Joe Walsh: The Most Vile Republican In The House Of Representatives!

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Illinois Congressman Joe Walsh has been the most vile member of the House, the most outrageous low life of all Tea Party Republicans!

This is a man who owes back child support to his divorced wife and children!

This is a man who has attacked Barack Obama in the most vile manner consistently in the past two years!

This is a man who has constantly screamed at and insulted constituents at meetings in his district, when they criticize his record in office!

This is the man now ridiculing his Democratic opponent, Tammy Duckworth, who lost both legs and use of one arm in an explosion in Iraq. He complains that she talks about her sacrifice, and that her war service and loss of limbs does not justify her campaign for Congress!

This has led to a firestorm of protest from veterans, Republican and Democrat, across the nation, outraged at what he is doing.

So it seems as if this man, a piece of crap, who never served in the military, will see a massive campaign against him nationwide, and he richly deserves to be kicked out of Congress, and immediately imprisoned if he does not pay all back child support instantly!

Mitt Romney As Compared to Barry Goldwater And George McGovern And Walter Mondale

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Mitt Romney is infamous for constant change in his positions on every issue imaginable, making people unable to trust him.

In the past half century, we have had three losing Presidential candidates, all of whom lost by landslides, but even so, kept their dignity as men of principle, who did not change their views to fit the changing mood of the country, and therefore, even in losing badly, can been seen as men who truly believed what they advocated.

These are Republican Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona, who lost to President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964; Democratic Senator George McGovern of South Dakota, who lost to President Richard Nixon in 1972; and Senator and former Vice President Walter Mondale of Minnesota, who lost to President Ronald Reagan in 1984.

All three men are regarded more highly because they stuck to their principle, but when Mitt Romney loses to President Barack Obama in 2012, he will NOT be regarded highly as a man of principle, as he has NO PRINCIPLES, except his own advancement!

The Coming “Time Bomb” For Mitt Romney

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Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney has avoided explaining his time in office as Governor of Massachusetts, and the poor economic record of that term from 2003-2007.

Mitt Romney has avoided explaining his record of “outsourcing” and “offshoring” during his 25 years at Bain Capital.

But now two more “bombshells” are about to hit him squarely in the eyes, and one wonders if he can avoid commenting on them, as he has on other sensitive matters.

One is his offshore accounts, his investments in the Cayman Islands, the Bahamas, and Switzerland, therefore avoiding income taxes in America.

The other is the fact that he delayed his income tax returns for six months, but will have to file by October, and it is certain that again he will demonstrate a very low level of taxes, and a high level of income from his investments.

His refusal to comment on these various matters will harm him greatly, but then IF he tries to explain, he will probably contradict himself and hurt himself more as a “Flip Flopper” and a “Lie Master”!

149th Anniversary Of Battle Of Gettysburg: States Rights Battle Won Then Being Revisited Again!

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On this day in 1863, the Union army defeated the Confederate army at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and prevented any further Confederate advancement into the Northern states of America, the decisive battle of the Civil War.

It was the turning point of the Civil War, and having visited the battle site, and heard stories of ghosts that still linger today, and recognizing the tremendous losses of both sides in the three day battle that was topsy turvey until the third day of the battle, one is humbled by the fact that it decided the issue of states rights, even though the war went on for nearly two more years.

It is ironic that the Republican Party under Abraham Lincoln fought against states rights, but now the Republican Party is more Southern than anything else, and has revived the issue of states rights in fury over the Affordable Care Act being declared constitutional by the Supreme Court last week.

So Southern governors, including Rick Scott, Bobby Jindal, Rick Perry, and Bob McDonnell, and joined by northern Republican governors, including Scott Walker, Rick Snyder, Paul LePage and others, are declaring “war” on setting up programs to deal with the oncoming “ObamaCare” in 2014, and in Congress, Republican leaders are making their campaign on repeal of “ObamaCare”, even though the chances of that are nearly zero.

So the GOP is fighting the Civil War all over again on another battlefield, against their own history, and they are doomed to lose yet once again!

And get this, Mitt Romney, the Republican Presidential nominee, is trying to veer away from “ObamaCare” as the major issue, causing a split within a party that has no love lost for him!

Good luck, Republicans, but you will face an historic defeat in November, while Abraham Lincoln weeps in heaven at what you have done to the party that fought states rights!

48th Anniversary Of Landmark Civil Rights Act Of 1964: Transformative Event

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Today, July 2, is the 48th Anniversary of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, passed within seven months of Lyndon B. Johnson becoming President, a truly miraculous event, considering the strong and vehement opposition by Southern Democrats and many conservative Republicans.

The Civil Rights Act ended discrimination in all public accommodations, and promoted integration in education and the work force, and was a step toward the Voting Rights Act of 1965, ending all discrimination in voting in the South, and dramatically changing the South forever.

Of course, the South, which had been heavily Democratic switched to support of the Republican Party, much of which saw an opportunity to exploit the racial issue, as they have continued to do ever since, mostly in a veiled, but obvious way, including their constant racism regarding President Barack Obama. And it is Republican Governors who are trying to take away voting rights in time for the election, and in so doing, are violating the Voting Rights Act of 1965, leading to lawsuits by Attorney General Eric Holder, which helped to cause his being cited for contempt of Congress last week, a purely vindictive political act!

While there are indeed many whites in America who would wish for the “good old days” before the Civil Rights Act, everyone realizes the changes back then are permanent, like it or not!

The same is happening with the transformative event of the Obama Presidency, the Affordable Care Act, also called “ObamaCare”!

The Republicans are pledging to fight “tooth and nail” to repeal the law, but it will not happen, and they will have to get used to it, like it or not!

LBJ is best remembered for Civil Rights and Medicare, also bitterly opposed by Republicans and conservatives, and Barack Obama will be best remembered for the Affordable Care Act, and the elimination of Osama Bin Laden, another issue that the GOP avoids giving Obama much credit.

The Republicans fight the future, but the Democrats BRING the future, and on this day, just a few after Obama’s signature achievement on health care, let us salute LBJ for the Civil Rights Act accomplishment!

1937: “Four Horsemen Of The Apocalpse! 2012: “Three Horsemen Of The Apocalypse” On The Supreme Court!

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In 1937, at the height of the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt, four members of the United States Supreme Court resisted any part of the programs to deal with the Great Depression, and came to be known derisively as the “Four Men Of The Apocalpyse!.

These four Justices, seen as overly right wing conservatives were:

Willis Van Devanter (1911-1937)
James McReynolds (1914-1941)
Pierce Butler (1922-1938)
George Sutherland (1923-1939)

Today, 75 years later, it is clear that three Supreme Court Justices are united in their opposition to the agenda and programs of Barack Obama, as he tries to deal with many of the same economic problems that we had in the Great Depression.

These men are:

Antonin Scalia (1986-)
Clarence Thomas (1991-)
Samuel Alito (2006-)

It would seem appropriate to call them the “Three Horsemen of the Apocalypse”!

In 1937, we had two moderate centrists on the Court, Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes and Associate Justice Owen Roberts, while today we have somewhat equivalent conditions with Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy!

Hopefully, Barack Obama will have much of the same fortune that FDR had, the ability in the second term to replace, in FDR’s case, three of the four “Horsemen of the Apocalypse” with replacement appointments with a more open minded, progressive attitude, which had a dramatic effect on the future of the nation!

Despite Health Care Ruling, Supreme Court Is Still Out Of Control, And Presidential Election Will Decide If It Regains Confidence Of The American People!

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The Supreme Court came through by the barest of margins on the issue of “ObamaCare” last week, but when one looks at the Court’s radical swing to the right in so many other ways, it is clear that the future reputation of the Court and the long term future of the nation requires the victory of Barack Obama for a second term as President.

By confirming their Citizens United decision again in a case involving Montana state law, and by actions against labor unions and their rights in another case, and in the solidity most of the time of the Republican appointees in rejecting past precedent and tradition, the Court has gained an image of being extremist and confrontational, and lost American public opinion and respect, which is dangerous for our democracy.

Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and George W. Bush effectively moved the Court away from the political center to the extreme right, and we are suffering the effects of this extremist rightward tilt.

We cannot afford to base the future on Anthony Kennedy SOMETIMES going with the liberal side of the Court, or Chief Justice John Roberts seemingly being concerned about the reputation of the Court. Neither is reliable to keep the Court in the political center, and protect the rights of the powerless.

The only answer is to insure that when the older members of the Supreme Court retire or die while in service on the Court, that we replace them with Justices who have a vision of the country more in line with the reality of the 21st century than the 19th century Gilded Age!

With Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Antonin Scalia, and Anthony Kennedy to be over 80 before the next Presidential term ends, the likelihood is that whoever is President in the next four years will have a transformative effect on the Supreme Court and constitutional law.

The thought of Mitt Romney making those choices is truly terrifying, and will make the Court a right wing extremist influence into the 2040s, totally unacceptable!

Barack Obama will be able to make the Court shift more into the mainstream, preserving the brilliant times of the Warren Court in the 1950s and 1960s, when America advanced constitutionally in so many ways!