Month: May 2013

The Heritage Foundation, Jason Richwine, And Racist Report On Hispanics And Latinos!

Jason Richwine wrote a doctoral dissertation at Harvard University, accepted despite its racist, bigoted assertions about Hispanics and Latinos, and somehow, received a Ph. D. from the number one university in the nation!

Harvard should be ashamed of itself, for granting the doctorate for such a piece of garbage, and the professors on that committee have lost all credibility, no matter what else they are known for and have published, and this coming from an individual, myself, who had to please a distinguished committee of three professors, before gaining the honored degree 38 years ago, and then, publishing a revised edition with Johns Hopkins University Press six years later!

The Heritage Foundation is a despicable right wing organization, and just looking at who its leader is, former Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina, already is telling, as he is one of the absolute worst Senators in the history of that legislative body, and is the heir, in many ways, to John C. Calhoun and Strom Thurmond!

So now it is Hispanics and Latinos who are “inferior” and have “low IQs”, instead of past groups said to be so, including Native Americans, African Americans, Irish Americans, Italian Americans, Polish Americans, Jewish Americans, Japanese Americans, Chinese Americans and every other group one can imagine!

The fact that it is poverty and deprivation and discrimination, that make it difficult to succeed in the short run are now being used to make broad judgments on an ethnic group, ironically the fastest growing group in American society!

Jason Richwine is a disgrace, and should have his doctoral degree revoked, and it is good to see that he resigned from the Heritage Foundation, but he will probably go to some other right wing organization, or end up on talk radio, and be defended by the likes of Michelle Malkin, a Japanese American, who became originally noticed for her defense of the internment of Japanese Americans in World War II!

The right wing knows no limits, and no insult is enough, beginning with our first African American President, and fighting against the tide of the American future, by attacking Hispanics and Latinos, who are smart enough to realize that the conservative movement and the Republican “Neanderthals” have no concern about their status and future!

So let the right wing continue to advocate its poison, and the response of Hispanics and Latinos will be overwhelmingly what it was in 2012, 70 percent and more for the Democrats and the progressive future, which wishes to advance the “American Dream”, rather than deny it to new generations by racist hatred!

Talk Of Obama Impeachment Over Benghazi Tragedy: Republican Insanity!

The Republican Party and the conservative movement have been out to get President Barack Obama from the day he took office, just as they were with President Bill Clinton.

The right wing was able to impeach Bill Clinton over his sexual affair with Monica Lewinsky, but was unable to remove him from office, even with a majority Republican Senate in 1999.

Now, the tragedy of the death of the ambassador and three support staff in Benghazi, Libya, is being conjured up to be a scandal on the level of Watergate under Richard Nixon, Iran Contra under Ronald Reagan, and the sex scandal under Clinton.

And Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, now a right wing talk show host gone mad, are suggesting that impeachment of Barack Obama is possible, a totally lunatic concept!

NOTHING about Benghazi is worthy of impeachment, and it would simply be another “lynch mob” as occurred with Bill Clinton, making a mockery of the impeachment provision of the Constitution, by utilizing it for the third time in 40 years, when only the Richard Nixon case was worthy of impeachment!

It would undermine the ability of the government to deal with the many domestic and foreign policy issues this nation faces, and be a waste of time and money, as even with an impeachment, which would stain the reputation of Obama permanently, as it did with Clinton, the reality is that NO WAY would a two thirds vote of the Senate be possible to remove the President from office, any more than it was with Bill Clinton!

It is an exercise in futility, unjustified, and clearly is just a political ploy that would reverberate on the Republican Party and the conservative movement, leading to just more political confrontation, and cause disgust among the American people!

Same Sex Marriage Advanced In Year Since Joe Biden Made It A Front Page Issue

It has been a year since Vice President Joe Biden publicly endorsed same sex marriage, followed three days later by a similar endorsement by President Barack Obama.

We are on the cusp of Minnesota becoming the 12th state to allow same sex marriage, with the states adopting it, including::

Massachusetts
Connecticut
Vermont
Maine
New Hampshire
Rhode Island
New York
Maryland
Delaware
Iowa
Washington

Following Minnesota, the following nine states are likely to adopt same sex marriage between now and the end of 2014:

Illinois
New Jersey
Hawaii
Michigan
Oregon
Colorado
New Mexico
Nevada
California

That will mean that 21 states with 45 percent of the nation’s population will have adopted same sex marriage as part of their law.

The only groups that oppose same sex marriage by a majority are:

Less educated Whites
Over 65 years of age
Republicans
Evangelical Protestants
Tea Party Movement

The South and the Great Plains, heavily Republican, are united against same sex marriage, while the New England and Mid Atlantic states, some of the Midwest, and the Pacific Coast, predominantly Democratic, are for it!

Census Bureau Report On Presidential Election Turnout Bad News For Republican Future

The Republican Party is in deep trouble for the long term future, as Census Bureau figures show a decline in percentage of whites who voted, while African Americans surpassed the percentage of whites voting.

In the Midwest and Southeastern US, the black vote grew dramatically, which is why Republicans are still determined to do whatever they can to prevent the black vote by whatever method they can conjure up. 66.2 percent of black voters participated, compared to 64.1 percent of the white voters participating.

Voter turnout declined overall to 62 percent from 64 percent, and it is clear that younger voters have declined in percentage, from 48 percent to 41 percent.

Women had 64 percent participating, compared to men at 60 percent, with white turnout declining n 39 states among both men and women.

The groups that demonstrated least participation include single people, unemployed, renters, and those with only high school or some college education. a worrisome sign for the future, with the economy’s improvement the only way these groups might increase participation.

If the Democrats can keep the same groups and percentages backing them in 2016 as occurred in 2012, the Republican party will rapidly decline as a contender for the White House, and first signs are that Hillary Clinton will be likely to keep the coalition going and,, possibly, improve on it!

The 2016 Presidential Campaign Has Begun: The Massive Assault On Hillary Clinton

For anyone who wonders when the Presidential Election campaign of 2016 will begin, it is now clear that it has begun this month, May 2013, with the Republican Party unwilling to change its image, policies or beliefs, and setting out to destroy the candidate who is favored by 65 percent of the American people, former First Lady, US Senator, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton!

Hillary Clinton is accustomed to massive assaults on her character, her ethics, her public record, as she became the most attacked First Lady in American History, with possibly the exception of Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of Franklin D. Roosevelt, who like Hillary Clinton, represented a fundamental set of principles and values that terrified conservatives and Republicans in the 1930s, and again in the 1990s.

So Hillary Clinton, a very tough lady, must decide if she is willing to take the heat, venom, poison, and utter contempt that she will have visited on her over the next three and a half years. Her husband was vilified from DAY ONE, and yet managed to produce a record far superior to earlier or later Bush Presidencies.

Hillary Clinton, if she decides ultimately to run for the White House, will have to deal, also, with the reality that when and if she becomes President, she will not have a restful day, but that is par for the course, as it was for Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and now Barack Obama.

But as long as the American people continue to see her as the first woman President, who see her as a visionary who will fight the good fight against the Right Wing hate machine on Capitol Hill, on Talk Radio, and on Fox News Channel, as well as powerful pressure groups that work against the interests of the masses of the American people, she will triumph and make the Republicans like it, and if they do not, she will have the personality to condemn them openly, and not be as “nice” as Obama has been, to his own detriment!

The Republican Party: The Party Of “Family Values” And A Multitude Of Sex Scandals!

The Republican Party broadcasts its belief in “family values’ constantly, and the most religious people in this nation tend to vote for that party on a regular basis!

The author is not trying to claim that Democrats are not capable of engaging in sex scandals, but they do not use the hypocrisy of claiming to be the party of “family values”, and the number of Republicans who have engaged in sex scandals is much longer than that of Democrats!

A selected list of Republicans involved in sex scandals includes:

Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina, just elected back to his House seat
Senator David Vitter of Louisiana, who has been reelected by his state despite his scandal
Senator John Ensign of Nevada
Senator Larry Craig of Idaho
Senator Bob Packwood of Oregon
Congressman Henry Hyde of Illinois
Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich of Georgia
Congressman Bob Livingston of Louisiana
Mayor Rudy Guiliani of New York City
Congressman Mark Foley of Florida
Presidential Candidate Herman Cain of Georgia

Instead of promoting “family values”, including concern about the lives of the elderly, the young, the poor, women, and the disabled, the GOP does the “religious” thing, while lining their own pockets with the money of lobbyists, who work against the interests of the American people, and promote the rich becoming more wealthy, and presiding over the poverty and deprivation of many of their constituents who, stupidly, vote for them!

South Carolina Becomes The Worst, Most Embarrassing State In America!

South Carolina, and particularly, its more “advanced” area, Charleston, had a chance to prove that they have moved beyond the Civil War, and they have failed miserably tonight!

In bringing back the political life of disgraced former Governor Mark Sanford, putting him back in the Congressional seat he held in the 1990s, they have proved that South Carolina is the worst, most embarrassing state in America in the year 2013!

Certainly, South Carolina has had competition from states, including Texas, Georgia, Alabama, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Arizona, but a state which could elect such individuals as Governor Nikki Haley, Senator Lindsey Graham, Congressman Joe Wilson, and former Congressman Tim Scott, appointed to replace an equally horrible Senator, Jim DeMint, wins the competition hands down! Now Mark Sanford has been added to the mix!

Meanwhile, the state remains way behind the national average economically and socially, but no worry, as the voters throughout South Carolina seem willing to stick in their Civil War mold, and support the Tea Party Movement, which wishes to bring South Carolina back to the “glory days” of Strom Thurmond, and even further back, John C. Calhoun!

The NRA And “The War Of Northern Aggression”

The new President of the National Rifle Association, an Alabaman named James Porter, has used the term “the War of Northern Aggression”, to describe the Civil War.

Here we are 150 years after the war that saved the Union, and we have such garbage coming out of the mouth of the leader of a group that seems ready to incite a new civil war, promoting the view that somehow, owning lots of firearms, is going to protect one against an evil federal government.

This is anarchy, this is radicalism to the extreme, and the threats against government leaders and institutions continues to grow, an alarming scenario.

There is no limit to the vicious attacks on Barack Obama and his administration, and images of a bloodied Obama, and portraying him as the devil, are enough to make one wonder about the stability of civil order!

Mark Sanford Vs. Elizabeth Colbert Busch: The Race To Watch On Ability To Overcome A Sex Scandal!

Former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, the center of a lurid sex scandal, is trying to restart his career by going back to the Congressional seat in Charleston which he held before he became Governor.

Once having Presidential ambitions, which fell by the wayside once he was involved with an Argentine beauty, and disappeared for days without explanation, Sanford now faces the challenge of the candidacy of Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch, the sister of Stephen Colbert, the comedian on Comedy Channel, who is one of the best political comedians in America, along with Jon Stewart of the same channel.

The race is very close, but if Sanford wins, his political career would be revived, and if he loses, he is done with politics, and would go back to his former real estate career.

Can a disgraced politician survive a sex scandal? Well, Senator David Vitter of Louisiana has done so, but that is an exception.

Of course, former President Bill Clinton did so, although not running for office again.

Former New York Congressman Anthony Weiner is considering running for Mayor of New York City, which will be another test of ability to come back from a sex scandal.

Realize that in almost all cases, a sex scandal destroys the career of a politician for good, so the Sanford and, possibly, Weiner cases will be very telling to see if the voters are willing to forgive, if not forget, their transgressions.

We shall see regarding Sanford tomorrow night, and Weiner making a decision to run in the next month before the deadline to file for the New York Mayoralty!

If Hillary Clinton Runs, Will ANY Democrat Challenge Her For The Nomination?

Based on public opinion polls and general perceptions that are out there, Hillary Clinton is a shoo-in for the Democratic Presidential nomination in 2016, if she chooses to want it and run for it.

The hints are that she will run, and polls indicate more than 60 percent want her as the nominee, and only Vice President Joe Biden is in double digits with 12-13 percent, and Andrew Cuomo the only other person to really have even a few percent.

IF she does not run, there is an open season, with Joe Biden having the advantage, but certainly not a “slam dunk” against Cuomo, Martin O’Malley, Deval Patrick, and several possible women candidates, including Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Amy Klobuchar.

It seems clear that Hillary Clinton, who even this author thought would not run, IS likely to run, and seemingly, be “crowned” the nominee, although there are skeptics who point out that she seemed in the same position in 2006-2008, and lost to a newcomer named Barack Obama.

But now , with extra experience as Secretary of State, it seems as if she is “unstoppable” if she chooses to make the run.

And the GOP is already starting to attack her, because they know it will be extremely difficult for ANY GOP nominee to stop her, as she could lose some of the states that Barack Obama won, and still win the election. The odds of Texas going to her, along with Georgia and Arizona, and the return of North Carolina to the Democratic column, seems possible, with growing Hispanic and Latino population and voting participants, and the likelihood that a higher percentage of women would vote for her, along with African Americans and young people, that how could any Republican nominee be able to come up with 270 electoral votes?