Month: August 2012

Interesting Comparison Between 2012 And 1936!

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The summer of 2012 has turned out to be, already, the hottest on record in America, since records were kept in 1895, and drought is widespread. And our unemployment level at 8.3 percent is the highest in a Presidential election year since 1936, when it was much higher at the end of the first term of Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Great Depression.

It also turns out that 1936 was, until now, the worst summer for hot temperatures, and for drought as well, but is now second, at least in temperatures, with the drought level comparison still in process.

The only common theme left to witness is whether Barack Obama will win a second term, as FDR did, and how wide a margin he will have, hard to predict, but it is worth pointing out that FDR won the biggest landslide in American history until that time, winning all but two states!

Turning Point May Have Been Reached In New CNN/ORC Poll For Barack Obama!

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The latest CNN/ORC (Opinion Research Corporation) Poll indicates a “tipping point” may have been reached in the Presidential Election of 2012 for President Barack Obama.

Obama has had trouble reaching the threshold of 50 percent, a majority, but now possesses a 7 point lead, 52-45, over his GOP rival, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney in the national poll.

Additionally, Obama has an 11 point lead over Romney among Independents; a 9 point lead over Romney among women; and a six point lead over Romney among men!

Additionally, Romney’s unfavorability rating is up, an alarming development; and by six points, voters would prefer Democrats over Republicans for control of both houses of Congress!

It is still 89 days to the election, but the situation is certainly looking better, with many conservatives and Republicans alienated from Mitt Romney, as the weeks go by!

Latest Poll Averages Show Obama Ahead Of Romney In Eleven Of Twelve Battleground States!

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Barack Obama may be only slightly ahead of Mitt Romney nationally in the average of various polls–47.3 percent to 44.7 percent, but when one looks at twelve battleground or swing states, he is ahead of Romney in all but North Carolina, where he trails Romney by 48.5 to 46.5, two percentage points.

Obama is ahead by almost 6 points in Ohio; by 2.5 points in Virginia; by 3 points in Florida; by 6.5 points in Pennsylvania; by almost 4 points in Iowa; by 5.5 points in Nevada; by 5 points in Wisconsin; by 7 points in New Mexico; by 6.5 points in Michigan; and by almost 3 points in New Hampshire. In Colorado, the margin is only two tenths of one point for Obama over Romney, nearly an even split.

So Obama is ahead in 10 of the 12 states listed, all of which he won in 2008, nearly even in Colorado, and only behind in North Carolina!

Not bad considering the blistering attacks and lies and deception that have been going on for three and a half years as President, greater than any President since the last one who was called every name in the book, and yet won a landslide victory in 1936 in the midst of the Great Depression, with unemployment levels still much higher than they are in 2012.

The author is referring here to Franklin D. Roosevelt!

Hardball, Knuckleball Political Campaigning: Part Of The American Tradition!

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Right or wrong, hardball and knuckleball political campaigning is part of the American tradition, and is nothing new in 2012.

We can go back to the origins of political parties in the 1790s, with the Federalists and Democratic Republicans at each other’s throats, beginning with John Adams and Thomas Jefferson nasty toward each other in 1796 and 1800.

Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams, and Jackson against Henry Clay, is another example widely reminiscent of hardball, knuckleball campaigning.

Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas went at each other, and after the Civil War, the Republicans looked at the Democrats as “traitors”!

When the progressives became prominent, conservatives went on the counterattack and have not stopped, under Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and now Barack Obama.

The no holds barred attack by the right wing, including McCarthyism in the 1950s and again now with Michele Bachmann and others, is finally getting a full measure of counterattack by the Democrats and liberals and progressives, as they have come to realize that being a civil campaigner does not work, and only emboldens the opposition.

Sadly, many people are turned off to this attack and counterattack, but it is not going to go away, and for anyone to decide not to vote because of this is the height of irresponsibility, as even with disgust with both sides and their tactics, it still does matter who wins and who controls power!

To sit on the sidelines is a horrible mistake at at time when the future is so uncertain, and requires all citizens to participate!

The Anti Gay Boy Scouts Of America Apparently Has A Child Molestation Problem From Its “Straight” Boy Scout Masters!

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The Boy Scouts of America loves to talk about it being an organization connected to Christianity, although not only Christian boys are allowed in the organization, as for instance, the author, who is Jewish, was a Boy Scout.

But believing in “Christian values”, the Boy Scouts bans any gay boys or scoutmasters that are known to be gay, and this has led to at least one Eagle Scout, now years away from being a Scout, and straight sexually, to return his Eagle Scout medals, in protest against the discrimination and prejudice being practiced by the Boy Scouts of America.

But in the midst of all this ‘principled” stand by the Boy Scouts of America against gays, it turns out there are many instances of so called “straight” Boy Scout masters who are indeed molesting boys in their charge!

Hmmmm! What an example of hypocrisy, but not all that different than the case of the Catholic Church, evangelical Christian groups, and others who profess religiosity, and do not practice what they preach!

Conservative Outrage Against Mitt Romney Over Reaction To Barack Obama Campaign Ad On Health Care An Indication Of The Nightmare Facing Romney If He, Somehow, Wins The Presidency!

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A campaign ad by a group loyal to Barack Obama, describing the death of a woman who lost her health care under Bain Capital’s takeover and closing of a company her husband had worked for, is causing a literal nightmare for Mitt Romney.

An aide to Romney made the statement today that IF that woman had been in Massachusetts, she might not have died, because she would have had health care!

It is not clear if the aide flubbed in making that statement, or was authorized to do so by Mitt Romney, but it has caused a firestorm of conservative protest today!

Romney has been trying to deny that what was good for Massachusetts is good for the nation on health care, and has campaigned on getting rid of ObamaCare. Now this comment by his aide seems to suggest otherwise!

Rush Limbaugh sputtered when he heard of the comment by the Romney aide. Sean Hannity was angry, and Ann Coulter, a guest on his show was livid, and said why should conservatives campaign for Romney anymore, since he is as unreliable as John McCain was in 2008. Erick Erickson, a leading conservative blogger, also displayed anger and exasperation.

The reaction of these ideologues, in just a few hours after the statement by the Romney aide, is clearly a demonstration of what will happen regularly if Mitt Romney, somehow, wins the Presidency!

Romney will NOT have a day of rest or peace as President from his own party, much of it way to the far right of him!

Were Romney to win, he would be better off with a Democratic Congress, who he could use as a whipping boy when he runs for a second term, but at the same time, he could actually get something done, as he did with an 85 percent Democratic state legislature when he was Massachusetts Governor.

Mitt Romney is probably, secretly, hoping the Tea Party Movement and the far right evangelical Christian influence would just go away, but it will not, and that means a nightmare of massive proportions awaits him if he is elected President on November 6!

General David Petraeus As Vice President? Why Would He Do It?

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Rumors are flying that four star General David Petraeus, presently head of the Central Intelligence Agency, and formerly engaged in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and seen as a national hero, might agree to resign his position in government to run as Mitt Romney’s Vice Presidential running mate.

Certainly, if Petraeus did so, it would electrify Mitt Romney’s candidacy, and give him a real shot at winning the White House over President Barack Obama.

But although Petraeus is registered Republican, it is hard to imagine him giving up his responsible position in the government for the Vice Presidency.

Yes, Petraeus could be an active Vice President, and would certainly add stature to Romney in the area of foreign policy, national security, and defense, in which Romney has no background at all.

But despite that, Petraeus, having worked with Barack Obama very closely, and with the understanding that the two men have high regard and respect for each other, it is inconceivable that Petraeus would agree to run against the man, who, technically, has been his boss.

And the question of who would replace Petraeus, with his depth of knowledge and expertise, is also one to consider, and to imagine Petraeus really doing this, considering it is still a long shot that Romney would win the Presidency, is hard to conceptualize.

We will know in less than a week what Romney is doing, but again consider the likelihood of Paul Ryan or Kelly Ayotte as more likely, with Rob Portman or Tim Pawlenty as safer choices and alternatives!

Interesting Comparison: The Great Depression, The Great Recession, And Bad Weather Patterns For Years

Ronald 2 Comments

During the Great Depression of the 1930s, America witnessed horrific weather, particularly drought, but also extremely hot and cold weather and natural disasters such as tornadoes and floods, in a way not witnessed as commonly earlier in time in American history.

And now, while in the midst of the Great Recession and its aftermath, we have witnessed new evidence of drought, records set for hot weather, plus tornadoes, floods, fires, and other natural disasters.

It makes one wonder why the connection between difficult economic times has been magnified by bad weather, but the author has no answer to this, just pointing it out!

Mitt Romney And The Three Words Beginning With “M”: Off Limits!

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Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, the Republican Presidential nominee, has problems with three words beginning with the letter M!

He does not wish to talk about his years as Massachusetts Governor, when he was a moderate Republican.

He does not like to talk at all about his Mormon faith, and is just as secretive about it as the Mormon Church is toward investigation and analysis of itself.

And he certainly has no desire to talk about his money, being far less transparent than his own dad was in 1968, when he was running for the GOP Presidential nomination.

This is not the kind of person we want governing us, when he refuses to be accountable about his past in any form!

Barack Obama And “RomneyHood”!

Ronald 5 Comments

President Obama has come up with a new term for his opponent, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, the Republican nominee for President.

Referring to Robin Hood as the man who stole from the rich to give to the poor, Obama called what Romney represents as “RomneyHood”, in that he wishes to steal from the poor and middle classes to give to the rich, as if they need more tax cuts than they have already received under the Bush tax cuts of the past decade.

Mitt Romney is trying to overcome his wealthy, uncaring image, so he went shopping yesterday for a few items near his mansion in New Hampshire, and looked totally ridiculous, preposterous, and phony, which is nothing new for him.

It is clear that he cannot even shop and seem like a normal human being, and is totally non-communicative with the media in the process of acting stiff and formal, even when shopping.

This man is an aristocrat who cannot relate to average people and never will, and calling what he wishes to do as “RomneyHood” is, therefore, totally appropriate!