John Kerry

Falsehoods At GOP Debate Abound! So What Else Is New?

Ronald 3 Comments

The Republican Presidential debate last night at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California abounded with falsehoods!

Rick Perry claimed that there is a crisis at the border with Mexico, and Michele Bachmann seconded that idea, but that is NOT the case! In fact, records of the federal government agencies show that crime is far lower in cities close to Mexico than they are in the rest of the country’s cities. The cities that have low crime rates include El Paso and Austin, Texas; Phoenix, Arizona; and San Diego, California. But it is part of the plan of the GOP to exploit the illegal immigration issue, and instill fear in the American people!

Michele Bachmann said, regarding immigration, that we need to make citizenship difficult as it was in the 1950s and early 1960s, when literacy in English was required; knowledge of American history and politics was mandated; taxes had to be paid on time and accurately; a criminal record would eliminate the chance for citizenship; and having a communicable disease was also ground for refusal of citizenship. The problem with what Bachmann cited is that these are the SAME requirement now, as they were then!

Mitt Romney claimed to create more jobs in four years in Massachusetts than Barack Obama has in two and a half years! Wow, what a whopper that was, as he only created 48,000 jobs, while Obama has created or saved at least TWO million jobs over the past 30 months!

Herman Cain called for a 9-9-9 tax structure, which means 9 percent income tax rate 9 percent corporate tax rate, and 9 percent national sales tax, claiming that would raise enough money and be totally fair to everyone! Really, what a whopper, as a national sales tax would hurt the poor and the middle class much more because they spend almost all of their income on things, while wealthy people save a lot of their income. And Cain wants no estate tax and no capital gains tax, which means more distortion of national income in favor of the rich!

Ron Paul shocked many by openly criticizing Ronald Reagan on much that he did, and calling for cutbacks on federal regulation and enforcement in areas that almost everyone recognizes need federal involvement, including education, health, natural disasters, and corporate practices!

Only Jon Huntsman avoided any inaccuracies or ridiculous statements, seeming very statesmanlike, reasonable, and sensible. Despite this, just about everyone in the news media seem to be ignoring him, seeing him as not a major factor in the race.

This is folly, as John Kerry and John McCain proved in 2004 and 2008 that making judgments in September, and going by fluctuating public opinion polls, is a major mistake.

Some observers are saying that if Huntsman fails to gain in the next polls over the weekend, that he will be dropped from future debates, although he is scheduled for the CNN debate next Monday. It would be ironic if the Fox News Channel debate a week later saw editorializing by that channel, and led to Huntsman being eliminated from that debate. But if that happened, the answer would be: What else is new?

The Lack Of Reliability of September Third Year Presidential Polls: Wesley Clark And Rudy Guiliani!

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The tendency to believe presidential election polls in the fall of the third year of a Presidential term comes back, as we enter September, with Rick Perry having a growing lead over Mitt Romney for the Republican Presidential nomination.

In 2004, former Army General Wesley Clark was leading polls for the Democratic nomination, and former Vermont Governor Howard Dean was seen as the favorite by the end of the year, but Senator John Kerry won the nomination.

In 2008, former NYC Mayor Rudy Guiliani led in September for the Republican nomination, with Senator Fred Thompson of Tennessee in second place, but Senator John McCain was the nominee.

So it is not yet smart to assume that Perry or Romney have the Republican nomination for 2012 guaranteed!

With both John Kerry and John McCain being “dark horses” at this point in 2004 and 2008, keep your attention on former Utah Governor and Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman as the “dark horse” of the race, with excellent credentials and centrist tendencies, but extremely low poll ratings.

If Huntsman emerges, it will be a John, but with a different spelling as Jon, who will have been the surprise of the Presidential campaign for the third straight election!

But also realize that both John Kerry and John McCain lost their races to George W. Bush and Barack Obama, and the odds of Huntsman to become President, while better on paper than any other Republican candidate, have to be seen as a long shot!

A Clarification On Obama, The Libyan Civil War Intervention, And The War Powers Act

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A few days ago, the author wrote in criticism of a group of Republican conservatives who were making an issue of the fact that 60 days has passed since the Libyan intervention, and that a resolution was needed to continue the intervention, under the War Powers Act of 1973.

The author incorrectly stated that no such resolution was required, but made the point that the Congress could, but never had, demanded the withdrawal of troops within a 60-90 day period, and never, realistically, would.

Upon further investigation, it turns out that it is not just a group of extremely conservative Republicans who are making an issue of this matter, but instead a bipartisan group that is pushing for a resolution next week in the Senate to continue support of the intervention.

And it turns out that yesterday, President Obama called for such a resolution to continue support, which is assured, despite criticism of some Republicans and Democrats on both sides of the political spectrum.

The group pushing a resolution includes Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, John McCain of Arizona, Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, John Kerry of Massachusetts, Carl Levin of Michigan, and Diane Feinstein of California.

It turns out that Bill Clinton failed to get a resolution within 60 days when he intervened in Kosovo in 1999, with the intervention lasting 78 days, but with specific funding for it approved early on by Congress. In Obama’s case with Libya, no such specific funding has been authorized, and the mission has cost about $750 million already, and has angered forces on the left and the right, including intellectuals and constitutional law professors who contend that the War Powers Act has been further damaged by Obama’s failure to call for action sooner than yesterday.

The author hopes that the resolution will pass, so as to legitimize the intervention, and although the War Powers Act remains considered a “paper tiger” by many observers, it would be best NOT to have it declared totally ineffective, as the issue is not just Obama, but the balance of power between the executive branch and the legislative branch when it comes to war powers!

Obama Action On Bin Laden Proof John Kerry Was Right In 2004 Campaign Stand On War On Terror

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In 2004, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, the Democratic Presidential nominee, was trashed by the Bush Administration and Vice President Dick Cheney for his assertion that defeating terrorism was based on law enforcement, rather than constant military intervention!

Kerry said intelligence gathering and law enforcement, in cooperation with other nations, was the way to fight terrorism, rather than create military clashes with other civilizations.

Kerry also said that we should look at terrorism as a nuisance, not as a constant threat to everyone on a daily basis. If we militarize the struggle against terrorism, we will be involved in endless military confrontations, he declared! Instead, we should work to improve relations with the Islamic world!

Instead, we have spent four trillion dollars and lost 49,000 men, dead and wounded combined, in fighting an endless war against terrorism, which cannot be won by military strategy alone, as shown by the failures in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The last decade did not have to be a decade of war, causing our tremendous national debt. We did not need to overreact as we did, and this will always be the condemnation that the Bush Administration deserves!

We live in a world now more unsafe than it was on September 12, 2001, and if we had had President Al Gore or President John Kerry, that would not have been the result, and we would not have to be considering destroying Medicare and Medicaid, and denying children educational needs, and damaging the environment, and the denial of civil liberties that was brought about by the Patriot Act hysteria right after September 11!

So although losing the Presidency, we owe gratitude to Senator John Kerry for his vision and wisdom, not appreciated by his countrymen in 2004!

Orly Taitz, Jerome Corsi, World Net Daily: The Big Lie Technique Of Adolf Hitler Revived!

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Orlty Taitz is one of the originators of the “Birther” conspiracy about Barack Obama being born outside the United States, and she has lost cases in court and been fined for her lies and deceit.

Jerome Corsi is a so called professor who has published books promoting lies and conspiracy theories, and is about to publish a new book perpetuating the “Birther” myth to gullible readers!

World Net Daily is a scandal oriented “RAG”, which promotes sensationalism and lies, and has done so about Bill and Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, and now Barack Obama, and has a wide readership despite its accusations that have no basis!

We live in a nation that promotes freedom of speech and freedom of the press, but these characters need to be called out by the mainstream media, and exposed for the phonies and manipulators of truth that they are!

They have all adopted the “Big Lie” technique, so effectively utilized by Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany, which promoted the idea that the more one lies and deceives, the more people will believe it, so never let go, and fight against the truth, and exploit people’s prejudices and biases, all in the process of drawing attention to yourself and making profit in the process!

There should be no doubt left in mainstream media other than to expose and condemn Orly Taitz, Jerome Corsi, and World Net Daily, and all other propaganda that sets out to poison the political fabric of America and destroy any chance for unity and purpose in dealing with the many domestic and foreign policy problems this nation faces in 2011!

The Politics Of The Libyan Civil War Intervention

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With the US involvement in the Libyan Civil War, along with that of France, Great Britain, Spain, Italy, Canada, Denmark, and Norway, and with the backing of the Arab League, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and the United Nations, and lack of use of their Security Council veto by Russia and China, we are seeing a political split developing in our nation.

We have learned that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, after earlier doubts, was finally convinced by UN Ambassador Susan Rice.

We have also learned that Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen had great doubts on the intervention, but of course were loyal team members once the decision was made for involvement.

Also, Senator John McCain of Arizona and Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, of different political persuasions and the last two losing Presidential candidates in 2008 and 2004 both felt that intervention was essential.

Independent Senator Joe Lieberman and Republican Senator Lindsey Graham also have strongly backed the military action, but Republican Senator Richard Lugar, the ranking member ofr the Kerry led Foreign Relations Committee, has expressed great upset at the intervention, and Speaker of the House John Boehner has made it clear that the President needed to consult Congress before taking action, which he basically failed to do, leading to a controversy over the War Powers Act of 1973, which mandates an explanation by the President within 48 hours, and the ability of Congress in theory to demand withdrawal after the military action, IF they can gain a majority vote in both houses of Congress, which has never happened, and is unlikely ever to happen!

The lack of consultation so far has angered Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich so much that he has brought up the concept of impeachment of the President, which certainly is not going to happen, but shows the turmoil developing because of the US now being committed to THREE wars at once, all in Muslim nations!

The danger is that Obama might, by what he has decided to do, to intervene to stop mass murder in Libya, could end up in a protracted war that could cost the nation many billions of dollars at a time when we are in economic crisis and cutting domestic budgets in states and nationally.

Additionally, it could cause Obama to have a Democratic opponent in the Presidential primaries of 2012, who assuredly he could defeat, but the attacks that would occur against him would weaken him, and make him more subjected to the likelihood of defeat in the Presidential Election of 2012 by the Republican nominee for that office!

This has happened three times in the past 35 years, in 1976 to Gerald Ford, in 1980 to Jimmy Carter, and in 1992 to George H W Bush.

It is clear that the Libyan Civil War intervention complicates the economic and political scene in America, and creates potentially new defense, foreign policy, and national security issues for the short run and the long run!

Religion And The American Presidency: No Religious Test!

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The United States has come a long way in the past fifty years, electing our first Catholic President, John F. Kennedy; witnessing our first Greek Orthodox Presidential nominee, Michael Dukakis; having a second Catholic nominee for President, John Kerry; nominating three other Catholics for Vice President–Edmund Muskie, Sargent Shriver, and Geraldine Ferraro; electing the first Greek Othodox Vice President, Spiro Agnew; electing the first Catholc Vice President, Joe Biden; and nominating the first Jewish Vice Presidential nominee, Joe Lieberman.

So therefore, it is time to see evangelical Christians stop declaring their opposition to the nomination and possible election of a Mormon President!

The Republican Party has the real opportunity to nominate a possibly winning candidate in 2012, and has the blessing of two excellent, well qualified nominees, arguably the two best candidates in the field.

One, Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts, was the runner up to John McCain in the 2008 Presidential nomination battle, and has proved to have great business experience, and strong leadership in his term as Governor of Massachusetts. He has already, in 2008, tried to overcome the religious issue with a speech making clear that, like John F. Kennedy stated about his religion, he would be a President who happened to be Mormon, not a Mormon President!

Former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, who is resigning as Ambassador to China, has excellent credentials in foreign policy and had a successful time as the Governor of the Mormon state, and showed open mindedness, and is seen by many observers as an exceptional person who could be a great candidate, and his Mormon faith should not be a factor in his running for President.

It is time for evangelicals and others to stop using religion as a reason to deny someone who is talented and capable the opportunity to run for President!

Sure, both Romney and Huntsman have their shortcomings, but in so many ways, they are the best candidates available, and religion should not be a consideration in the upcoming Presidential race!

Tragic Loss Of Elizabeth Edwards: A Gracious Lady! :(

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The death of Elizabeth Edwards, the estranged wife of former North Carolina Senator John Edwards, who sought the Presidency in 2004 and 2008, is a tragic loss to the nation! 🙁

She died of cancer, which she fought for six years, and while suffering the humiliation and upset of her husband cheating on her, and fathering a child with another woman.

Elizabeth Edwards was a brilliant lawyer, a tremendous advocate for her husband as he sought the Presidency and ran for Vice President with John Kerry in 2004, and a woman who was a tremendous mother, but also an advocate for the powerless in society!

She could have been a political candidate in her own right, and she will be remembered as one of the most appealing wives of a political candidate that we have seen in our lifetime!

May she rest in peace, and be remembered as a woman of renown and accomplishment, who her children will remember as a loving parent!

Service In The Military And American Presidential Politics!

Ronald 1 Comment

For much of American history, service in the military has been a plus for political leaders who sought the Presidency of the United States.

About two thirds of all American Presidents engaged in military service, and some were major figures in wartime, including George Washington, Andrew Jackson, William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor, Ulysses S. Grant, and Dwight D. Eisenhower.

It has been rare to have a Presidential campaign, where neither of the candidates had served in the military, and the last time that happened was 1944, when Governor Thomas Dewey opposed President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

As recently as 2004 and 2008, the losing Presidential candidate had served in Vietnam (John Kerry and John McCain), and was admired for their war records, even though it did not help them to win.

But now for 2012, it is likely that for the first time since 1944, that neither candidate will have served in the military, as all of the major candidates for the GOP nomination, as well as President Barack Obama, have not spent time in the military.

Only Congressman Ron Paul and Governor Rick Perry, both of Texas, have ever served in the military, and neither is seen as likely to be the Republican nominee for the White House!

So with fewer people serving in the military than ever before, and with the military draft gone since 1973, it may very well be likely that from now on, the Presidential race will be lacking in influence of people who have served their country in the military!

Democratic Party Strategy Against The Republican Party: Finally Playing Hardball! :)

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The Democratic National Committee has finally decided to play “Hardball” against the opposition Republicans, something they have been lacking in for many years, going back to the time of Walter Mondale, Michael Dukakis, Al Gore, and John Kerry!

The Republicans have never had any problems with setting out to destroy the opposition, showing no ethics in their attacks on Democratic opponents at every level up to the Presidency! Now the DNC has decided to make clear to voters that there is a direct connection between the Tea Party Movement fringe and the GOP, so much so that at many rallies, the Republicans stand by as Tea Party extremists use racist, anti semitic language, and promote hate and division as they seek to repeal much of the Constitution and set back progress!

The message of the DNC will be that the GOP is linked to these anti government fanatics, and are outside the mainstream with candidates such as Rand Paul and Sharron Angle, along with other Tea Party favorites around the nation who have captured the local control of the Republican Party!

Tea Party extremists have called for the end of Medicare, repeal of the Obama Health Care legislation, privatizing of Social Security, extension of the Bush tax cuts to the wealthy, repealing the 17th Amendment and the 16th Amendment, modification of the 14th Amendment to take away birthright citizenship, abolition of the Department of Education and the Department of Energy, and the destruction of the Environmental Protection Agency! 🙁

It is hilarious that the chairman of the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, Senator John Cornyn of Texas, is now asserting that the Democrats are promoting the “politics of fear”!

The Republican Party has long been the party of fear, a master of using scare tactics going back many years, including the years of Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s! Who are they to use that term against the Democrats, when the GOP is the master of distortion of the truth, lies, deception, and character assassination! 🙁

The Republicans have done everything in recent months to show the American people that they are willing to do and say anything, no matter how divisive and manipulative it is, to regain power and do the bidding of the corporations and the wealthy! 🙁

Under the circumstances, the Democrats have no choice but to respond in kind, as regrettable as that is! It would be preferable to have an honest, sincere debate of differences, but the playing field does not allow that! So, as the old saying goes, “what is good for the goose, is good for the gander!”