Month: September 2012

Indications That Senior Citizens And Veterans Are Switching To Support Of Barack Obama

Recent polls indicate that two groups thought to be more likely to have majority support for Mitt Romney are instead switching to support of President Obama for the Presidential election in five weeks.

These are senior citizens and veterans, both of whom were seen as being considered part of the “47 percent” comments by Romney at a Boca Raton mansion last May, disparaging those who do not pay federal income taxes, although they pay lots of other taxes.

Usually, it has been thought that senior citizens were more likely to vote Republican, but the fear about changes in Medicare, represented by the plans of Vice Presidential nominee Paul Ryan, is steering older retired people to vote Democratic, even though the statements of Romney and Ryan are that only people under 55 and not yet on Medicare would be affected by the proposed voucher system. There is a growing feeling that one cannot trust Romney and Ryan on such an important issue.

Veterans often vote Republican, but the Obama record on veterans’ issues is drawing many former military people, as well as serving troops, to support of the Commander in Chief. And the fact that Romney evaded the Vietnam War draft as a Mormon missionary in the late 1960s, and that none of his sons have served in the military, work against veteran support of Romney.

This election could be path breaking in many ways, as far as majority voter support among groups thought to be more likely to vote Republican, but now seen as likely to support Barack Obama. It will be fascinating to see what transpires!

John Kerry Preparing Barack Obama For Debate As Mitt Romney “Stand In”: Dress Rehearsal For Becoming Secretary Of State!

Massachusetts Senator John Kerry is acting as a “stand in” for Mitt Romney in the Barack Obama preparations for the Presidential debates, beginning on Wednesday of this week.

Kerry knows Romney very well, as Romney served as Governor of Massachusetts, and Kerry has come to understand him very well as a result, including all of his shortcomings, so is a perfect “stand in” to prepare Obama for what Romney might do and say in the upcoming Presidential debates.

It is extremely ironic that Kerry was often accused of being a “flip flopper” during his own Presidential run in 2004, and was also described as being stiff, awkward, and aloof, just as Romney is perceived, except to a far greater extent in the case of Romney!

Kerry helping Obama can be seen as a dress rehearsal for his becoming Secretary of State in a second Obama Administration, once Hillary Clinton retires early next year. With his exceptional leadership of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and his 28 years service in the Senate, Kerry is an outstanding front runner for leadership in the State Department for the future!

Special Commemorative Issue Of Newsweek On “The 10 Best American Presidents” (Of The 20th Century And 21st Century)!

Newsweek Magazine this week came out with a special commemorative issue, dealing with the American Presidency since Theodore Roosevelt. It is well worth investigating and purchasing by all political junkies and Presidential followers!

Since the issue only deals with “modern” Presidents, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson and James K. Polk, usually rated the best Presidents before 1900 in that order, are not discussed.

Instead, there is a look at the 19 Presidents from Theodore Roosevelt to Barack Obama, and it is certain that most Republicans and conservatives will have “problems’ with the discussion and ranking that Newsweek provides!

The rankings of the top ten by historians are as follows:

Franklin D. Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Lyndon B. Johnson
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Woodrow Wilson
Harry Truman
Bill Clinton
John F. Kennedy
Ronald Reagan
Barack Obama

Note that seven of the top ten are Democrats, and only three Republicans are listed! And only Eisenhower and Reagan would not be considered “liberal” or “progressive” Presidents!

There is plenty of room for debate by all scholars, and most ratings of the modern Presidents would not put Johnson, Eisenhower, Wilson and Clinton so high; and Truman, Kennedy and Reagan so low, and even having Obama in the top ten!

But notice that one does not see “conservative” Presidents Harding, Coolidge and Hoover mentioned, and only Jimmy Carter and George H. W. Bush are even picked in the “public’ poll, from the other nine Presidents who served since 1900, eliminating Johnson and Wilson altogether!

The “public” list of the top ten is as follows:

Ronald Reagan
Bill Clinton
Franklin D. Roosevelt
John F. Kennedy
Barack Obama
Harry Truman
Theodore Roosevelt
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Jimmy Carter
George H. W. Bush

The knowledge base and expertise of the “public” is obviously far less than the experts, as the ranking is very different!

The “public” poll, disagreeing in many ways with the historical experts, still shows that “conservative” Presidents other than Reagan do not make the list—not only Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover, but also Taft, Nixon, Ford, and the second Bush! And the case could be made that Eisenhower and the first Bush were not really “conservative”!

First Ladies are also surveyed, and specific elections are discussed, and David Frum, a conservative, gives thumbs up to a Democrat, Harry Truman, while Sean Wilentz, a liberal, gives justice to a Republican, George H. W. Bush.

This issue is great food for thought!

The Parallel Universe Of Republicans And Conservatives On America’s Presidents Since Theodore Roosevelt

The modern Republican Party and the conservative movement are working in tandem to distort American history, particularly regarding our Presidents from Theodore Roosevelt to Barack Obama, and in the process, are promoting the Big Lie technique, that if you repeat a falsehood enough times, people who are gullible and poorly informed and educated, will come to believe it!

So let’s survey the thoughts of these “mind control” advocates on our Presidents in the past century. Realize that what is said below is myth and propaganda, not to be believed and accepted as factual, which it MOST certainly is NOT!

Theodore Roosevelt was a so called Republican, but he created a monster, the beginning of a powerful, assertive Presidency. He interfered in labor negotiations in the coal industry; started interference in business through lawsuits and federal regulatory laws; and started the modern environmental movement, and in so doing created the nightmare of land being taken away from economic development and private ownership. He also utilized the word “progressive”, the beginning of modern socialism and communism in America! (Really whacko viewpoint of TR)!

William Howard Taft, often called a conservative, was no such thing, as he advocated the direct election of US Senators (17th Amendment), the hated “progressive” federal income tax (16th Amendment), and promoted anti trust laws suits on a greater scale than TR, and also more effective regulation of the railroads! (Not conservative enough for today’s Republicans)!

Woodrow Wilson was a further expander of progressivism, with the hated Federal Reserve Banking system, the Clayton Anti Trust Act, and the Federal Trade Commission; along with labor regulation on the national level for the first time. He also created “Big Government” bureaucracies during the First World War! (An overly one sided view of Wilson)!

Warren G. Harding has been criticized unfairly, as he was the President who worked to limit federal government, and has, therefore, been mistreated by historians, to be the worst President of the century, an unfair assessment. (Of course, in reality, totally false)!

Calvin Coolidge was the “best” President of the century, as he worked to continue Harding’s lessening of Presidential power, and prosperity reached its peak under him, and he has been unfairly blamed for the Great Depression, which began months after he left the White House. (Also totally false in reality)!

Herbert Hoover abandoned conservatism, raised taxes, moved toward deficit spending, and was the forerunner of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. His policies made things worse for Americans, and ushered in similar policies by FDR! (A distortion of the truth, in reality)!

Franklin D. Roosevelt was a Socialist, a Marxist, a Communist, a Fascist, and a Nazi all at the same time, creating an all powerful Presidency , making the Great Depression much worse and longer, creating programs and policies called the New Deal, which were the undermining of America, and remains part of our existence today, but which conservatives and Republicans are determined to eliminate in the future! He also promoted the expansion of the Soviet Union by his corrupt deals in World War II! (A great distortion of the truth by conservative haters)!

Harry Truman continued and expanded the New Deal with his Fair Deal, and refused to fight Communism adequately in the Korean War! He also interfered with states rights by his decision to promote civil rights in the military and in Washington, DC, and also promoted labor rights against the attempt of Republicans to undermine labor unions. (A distortion of the truth again)!

Dwight D. Eisenhower became part of the great Progressive “conspiracy” by accepting the New Deal, expanding federal government intervention, and having the “nerve” to intervene in the civil rights crusade on the side of “extremists”, and undermining the South and its tradition, still held a century after the Civil War, in states rights! ( A view not taken seriously by any reputable expert on Ike)!

John F. Kennedy worked to expand the welfare state set up by FDR, Truman and Eisenhower, and further intervened in the South on the civil rights issue, using the National Guard as Eisenhower had done. Kennedy refused to confront the Soviet Union adequately, instead negotiating an agreement with the enemy, rather than start a nuclear war! (Part of the great distortion of JFK by conservative critics)!

Lyndon B. Johnson further expanded the New Deal with his Great Society, making Socialism, Marxism, Communism, and Fascism advance further, and taking away freedom by civil rights legislation, the war on poverty, and the “terrible” Medicare and Medicaid programs, two more welfare programs, similar to FDR’s Social Security. He also failed to win the war in Vietnam, caving in to the Communist enemy! (Part of the bitter attack on LBJ by the far Right)!

Richard Nixon made deals with the hated Soviet Union and People’s Republic of China, and failed to win the war in Vietnam, which could have been won. He also became a traitor by promoting “progressive” programs such as Affirmative Action, the Environmental Protection Agency, Consumer Product Safety Commission, Occupational Safety and Healthy Administration, and the greatest advocate for the environment among American Presidents since Teddy Roosevelt! (Forget his real faults with Watergate, as these are more important, according to conservative critics)!

Gerald Ford was too moderate and accommodating, and his wife Betty Ford, was a radical feminist as First Lady! Ford stopped the advancement of conservatism by defeating Ronald Reagan for the Presidential nomination in 1976, and had Nelson Rockefeller, the hated “liberal” as his Vice President!(Oh, and Ford was too centrist, and for social moderation)!

Jimmy Carter was a terrible President with no redeeming values,and is “rightfully”attacked on a regular basis by Republicans and conservatives. He undermined the nation’s foreign and domestic policies! He had no worthwhile accomplishments at all! (A total distortion of reality!)

Ronald Reagan was a “great” President, with no shortcomings or faults, and we need a President of his insights and courage in the future. Those who claim Reagan was other than perfect are to be ignored! (A total interference with reality and truth!)

George H. W. Bush was a moderate who compromised with Democrats, raised taxes which undermined the country, and failed to overcome Iraq’s leader in the Persian Gulf War, because he worked with the United Nations on the war effort! (An unfair assessment, trivializing him)!

Bill Clinton had many faults and shortcomings, but despite his being impeached, and the vicious attacks on him, now is the time to talk about how much better he was than Barack Obama, because he made some deals with Republicans, after first resisting them in the battle over shutting down the government in 1995. (An amazing rewriting of history, unbelievable)!

George W. Bush cannot be blamed for September 11 and the War on Terror, but he was too willing to bust the budget, and his spending was too much out of control. (An attempt to write Bush out of blame for much of what America has to deal with today)!

But, of course, the fact that we are in an economy which is the worst since the Great Depression is not due to Bush or Republicans or conservative philosophy, but because we have in office now a black guy named Barack Obama, who was actually born in Kenya, and is a Socialist, Communist, Marxist, Fascist and Nazi, and is the greatest threat to American freedom since—well—-TR, Wilson, FDR, Truman, JFK, LBJ, Carter and to some extent, Clinton—-and all those Republicans Presidents who actually were “progressives” in some way—Taft, Hoover, Eisenhower, Nixon, Ford, and both Bushes!

If only we could eliminate all these Presidents except Harding Coolidge, and Reagan–this nation would be in fantastic shape! Right?

This is the deluded, nutty beliefs of many Republicans and conservatives–a great conspiracy by both Democratic and Republican Presidents against freedom and liberty and the best interests of the American people!

This is the “Know Nothingism”, the ignorance, the stupidity that intelligent people must fight against!

As Rick Santorum, the former Republican Senator from Pennsylvania, and Presidential candidate, said recently—the smart, the intelligent people will not support the Republican Party–and FOR GOOD REASON!

Mitt Romney Declares “War” On PBS, NPR, NEH, NEA, And Amtrak

Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney has declared “war” on knowledge and learning, by his statements that he will, if elected President, move to eliminate funding for PBS, National Public Radio, the National Endowment For The Humanities, and the National Endowment For The Arts.

He also would eliminate Amtrak, a transportation system that benefits the “hated” Northeast part of the country, the most educated part of the nation!

All of this together would save a pittance, just a total of $2 billion, a “drop in the bucket”, with a multiple trillion dollar budget annually, while at the same time wishing to give massive tax cuts to the wealthy, even though that has not created new jobs, as conservatives have said would be the result!

So, Romney is promoting “Know Nothingism”, a war on knowledge and learning, attacking the arts, history, public media, and even public access to a decent transportation system in the crowded Northeast corridor.

It is a mean spirited, ideological attack on what Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon, Presidents of different parties, did to promote programs and ideas seen as advancing America to more than just serving the elite classes among us!

But education and knowledge and the Northeast corridor are seen as evil, and this shows just how far Mitt Romney has moved to the far Right, that he is willing to eliminate programs that no earlier Republican President, including Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, dared to work to end!

The “compassionate” conservatism of George W. Bush and earlier Republican Presidents is gone, and ignorance and narrow mindedness are in!

Republican Party Fraud In Voter Registration In Florida: Time To Hold Rick Scott And Other State Republican Leaders Accountable!

The Republican Party has been earnestly working to prevent “voter fraud” in all of the states governed by Republican Governors and legislatures, claiming it is widespread.

In actual fact, the only voter fraud going on is by Republicans in many states, trying to prevent senior citizens, college students, African Americans, Latinos and Hispanics, and poor people from their guaranteed right to vote under the Voting Rights Act of 1965!

Fortunately, in most cases, state courts have prevented many of these pieces of legislation, interfering with the right to vote, from moving forward.

But Florida has been one of the worst of all states, cutting down the number of early voting days to only eight, and not including the Sunday before the election, when many black voters go to church and then go to vote, and now cannot do so! Thirty states have already started voting, but Floridians are being denied that until late October.

Florida Governor Rick Scott, who should be in prison for Medicare and Medicaid fraud, has been incessantly working to make voting impossible for many, and yet, it now turns out that a Republican consulting firm has been involved in promoting voter fraud in Palm Beach County and nine other counties in the Sunshine State!

This consulting firm is only registering those voters who say they are Republican! Also, dead people are being registered; fake signatures that look alike for many applications are being submitted; fake addresses, birth dates, and Social Security numbers have been put on the forms; and Democratic registrations have been voided!

A criminal prosecution is being pursued, but this horrible situation demonstrates that the Republican Party in Florida and elsewhere has no limits in their aim to deny people the right to vote, and yet themselves be engaged in what they claim is the reason for restrictive voter registration laws!

The governors of these Republican states, plus the state Secretaries of State responsible for voter registration on the state level, and the Attorneys Generals who “wink” at this illegal activity, need to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law!

Maybe this could be the way to get Rick Scott out of office and in prison, where he belongs! He is a disgrace to his party and to the state of Florida!

Only through voter fraud and voter suppression, and allowing billionaires to spend inordinate amounts of money, can the Republican Party have a chance to win!

It is time to give the right wing extremists the sound defeat they deserve for the Presidency, and both houses of Congress, and in the states having local and state wide elections!

Patrick Murphy, Tammy Duckworth, Jim Graves, Wayne Powell, Rob Zerban, Christie Vilsack—Congressional Candidates Challenging Six Targeted Republicans In House Of Representatives!

The Democratic Party not only hopes to keep Barack Obama in the Presidency, but also to elect a House of Representatives majority in November, and keep control of the US Senate.

Six Republicans are particularly being targeted for defeat in the House of Representatives, and were they all to be “retired”, the nation would be far better off!

So we have Patrick Murphy of Florida, challenging Allen West, who has called the Democrats Communists and Socialists and attacked Debbie Wasserman Schultz as not worthy of being treated as a lady!

So we have Joe Walsh of Illinois, challenged by Tammy Duckworth, an Iraq War veteran who lost both legs and one arm, and yet, Walsh thinks she does not deserve respect for her heroism; and he is also a bad parent, as he owes back child support payments over $125,000 to his former wife; and also constantly insults constituents at his public gatherings.

So we have Jim Graves challenging Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, who ran for President in 2012, and has been a total terror as a Tea Party activist, calling Democrats “UnAmerican” in their loyalty, and is constantly coming across as nutty and loony in all her public utterances in the past six years in Congress. She is now seen as in serious trouble, and Graves seems to have a good chance to defeat her and remove her from public life!

So we have Wayne Powell challenging House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in his Virginia district, and the opportunity to retire Cantor, who has worked to undermine Speaker John Boehner and has cooperated with the Tea Party Movement, and shown he has no principles other than his own ambitions, makes him an excellent target! His arrogance is a good reason to remove him from Congress,and end his chances of moving higher in House leadership!

So we have Rob Zerban, challenging Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney’s Vice Presidential running mate, and head of the House Budget Committee, in his Wisconsin district. The chance to defeat Ryan twice is just too good to pass up!

And we have Christie Vilsack, wife of the former Iowa Governor Tom VIlsack, who is now Secretary of Agriculture under President Obama, who is challenging long time Congressman Steve King, who has been one of the wackiest, craziest members of the Republican Congressional majority, serving for ten years in the House, and being one of the leaders of the Tea Party Movement over the past few years.

It would be a great day for sanity and reason if all, or some of these leading Republicans in the House of Representatives were kicked out of Congress! Giving campaign contributions to Murphy, Duckworth, Graves, Powell, Zerban, and Vilsack would be an excellent investment!

Delusional Derangement Syndrome: A New Conspiracy Theory Being Formulated When Barack Obama Wins A Second Term!

Republicans, and conservative talk radio and Fox News Channel, have developed a Delusional Derangement Syndrome—a new conspiracy theory to make a second term of Barack Obama in the Presidency illegitimate.

The “conspiracy” is that the public opinion polls are in the “pocket” of Barack Obama, are being paid off by him to disillusion Mitt Romney voters, so that they do not vote, and therefore, set up the reelection of Barack Obama to a second term in the Presidency. But the shortcoming in this conspiracy theory is that hate motivates those who want Obama to lose, and it will not stop them from voting!

So Obama had no right to be President the first time because he was born in Kenya, and manipulated the people through a conspiracy that elected him by a ten million vote margin, and now he is solidifying his power by manipulating the people to think he cannot lose!

It is obvious that the forces opposed to Obama seriously need medication and psychiatric and psychological counseling, as their hate of the first African American President is so intense that they must conjure up conspiracy theories to explain how he is winning the backing of the American people. Could it just be that Obama understands and cares about the American people, and has been working night and day for four years to do his best to clean up the mess the Republicans created? According to these people, of course not, but they are illegitimate in their crazy thoughts!

The fact that Mitt Romney has shown his true colors, and how he does not give a damn about anyone but the rich, is not considered to be a reason for Obama winning.

The fact that the Republicans are out to destroy Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security is not considered to be a reason for Obama winning.

The fact that the Republicans are working against the interests of women, Latinos and Hispanics, African Americans, labor, environmentalists, senior citizens college students, gays and lesbians, and poor children is not considered to be a reason for Barack Obama winning.

The fact that conservatives are ready to take us into more wars; that they refuse to consider the need for tax increases on the wealthy; that they are very willing to allow religious influence in public policy making; and that they are supportive of preventing any job creation or economic growth in order to defeat Barack Obama, is not seen as reasons for Barack Obama winning.

Conservatives and Republicans, including talk show hosts and Fox News Channel, live in their own parallel universe, but they exude their total hatred and disgust with 99 percent of the American people!

That is why they are going to lose the Presidency and control of Congress in six weeks, because they DESERVE to lose, and to be forced to reorganize, get rid of the loonies and crazies of the Tea Party Movement, or else become part of the dustbin of history, and be replaced by a reasonable, mainstream alternative that the nation can be proud of!

Please, Joe Scarborough! Stop Telling Us How Great A Family Man Mitt Romney Is! Totally Irrelevant!

This author watches MORNING JOE each morning during the week, and finds the three hour show really outstanding.

BUT Joe Scarborough, the former Florida Republican Congressman, who has made this show a success with Mika Brzezinski and the others that contribute to it, has made clear that he can only give faint praise to Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney.

Scarborough makes clear that Mitt Romney is a terrible politician who manages to hurt himself on a regular basis with his utterances.

BUT Scarborough constantly says that Mitt Romney is a wonderful husband and father, a great family man!

So, who cares? That is NOT a qualification to be President of the United States!

And how good a family man is Romney, really, when he has absolutely no concern for any family but his own and some close friends?

Mitt Romney is selfish, greedy, obsessed with money, constantly lies, is untrustworthy on his word, and looks down on people who are poor or middle class!

This is a “family man”?

Give me a break, and Joe, PLEASE stop telling us how great a “family man” Romney is, as it makes you, Joe Scarborough, look totally ridiculous!

The Shame And Embarrassment Of Missouri: What Has Happened To The “Show Me” State?

Missouri is smack in the middle of the United States, and is the ultimate swing state, having successfully gone with the winner of the Presidency in every election since 1900, except for 1956 (picking Adlai Stevenson over Dwight D. Eisenhower) and 2008 (picking John McCain over Barack Obama).

However, both times the final result was not known for days, and the victory was only by about 4,000 votes statewide.

Missouri is also the state historically of the following statesmen:

President Harry Truman (1945-1953), who had served in the Senate from 1935-1945 (Democrat)
Senator Thomas Hart Benton (1821-1851) (Democrat)
Senator Carl Schurz (1869-1875) (Republican)
Senator Stuart Symington (1953-1977) (Democrat)
Senator John Danforth (1977-1995) (Republican)
Senator Thomas Eagleton (1969-1987) (Democrat)

But now, Missouri is represented by Senator Roy Blunt, who used to be one of the top Republicans in the House of Representatives, and has become connected to the Blunt Amendment proposal, allowing any employer to prevent medical services based on religious grounds to any employee, a measure defeated by the Democratic majority in the US Senate. This is seen as anti women, interfering with their right to have birth control as part of medical plans.

And now, Congressman Todd Akin, controversial for his comment about “legitimate” rape, but refusing to withdraw as the GOP nominee for the Senate seat of Senator Claire McCaskill, is putting Missouri into the strange position of possibly having both Senators on record as against the rights of women to control their own reproductive lives, and trying to prevent abortion if a victim of rape or incest, or her life itself is threatened, an extremely right wing position.

The Republican Party and Mitt Romney had backed away from support of Akin, but now that he is remaining in the race for the Senate, the question is whether the Republican Party will change its mind and end up supporting Akin’s candidacy financially.

This McCaskill-Akin race could well be the decisive one that determines whether the Democrats keep control of the US Senate, or if the Republicans gain control.

It would seem that McCaskill should win, not only because of the controversy raised by Akin, but because she has done a good job in her one term in the Senate.

But Missouri is an odd state, with strong evangelical roots, and it would be a major shame and embarrassment for the state were they to end up having two right wing Senators at the same time.

The state would lose all respect of political observers who see moderation as the way to get things done in the Senate, and it would be a major step backwards for women’s rights!

So everyone should contribute to this pivotal race, as the key one which could determine the political future in so many ways!

And it is up to Missouri voters to show they are indeed the “Show Me” state, and will not tolerate having an extreme right winger in the Senate, joining Senator Roy Blunt!