Mexico

Barack Obama And Mitt Romney Have Similarities In Many Ways!

Ronald 2 Comments

It is certainly odd, but it is reality that Barack Obama and Mitt Romney have many things in common.

Among them are the following:

Both were born to families that had polygamy in their family history–Obama’s father being a Muslim, and Romney coming from Mormon background.

Both have graduate degrees from Harvard University–Obama with a law degree, and Romney with a law and a business degree.

Both Obama and Romney served in their prominent position for only four years–Obama in the US Senate from Illinois, and Romney as Governor of Massachusetts.

Both Obama and Romney are very bright and knowledgeable, but people find both of them are somewhat aloof and difficult to know on a personal level.

Both Obama and Romney have wives who are very popular, more than they are, and their wives are major assets to their careers and candidacy.

Both Obama and Romney saw health care as a primary issue, with Romney promoting a program in many ways adopted by Obama nationally, although now Romney repudiates his health care program in Massachusetts as a model for a national plan, and endorses the end of the Obama Health Care legislation.

In their careers, both were more liberal than most members of their parties, but both became more moderate in office as time went by.

Both have an element of shyness, and are considered analytical introverts, as compared., say, to Bill Clinton or George W. Bush. In this way, they are more like Jimmy Carter or Richard Nixon.

Both are suspicious of the news media, but then most politicians are that way!

Both love Star Trek, which shows an interest in science fiction and imagination.

Both Obama and Romney have had their religious heritage from their fathers (Muslim and Mormon respectively) seen as suspect, particularly with the fact that their fathers were born in foreign countries (Obama, Kenya and Romney, Mexico).

Both Obama and Romney had strong mothers, not uncommon, and in fact, very common among recent Presidents (including Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush).

Both Obama and Romney lost an earlier race of significance, Obama for the House of Representatives in 2000, and Romney for the US Senate in 1994.

Both Obama and Romney set a new standard for the Presidency, with Obama being the first African American President, and Romney potentially the first Mormon President.

Both Obama and Romney are excellent family men, with not a hint of personal scandal in either one’s background.

Both Obama and Romney would have to be considered among the most intellectual politicians and Presidential candidates we have ever had in US history.

There is no question that debates coming up in September and October will be fascinating to watch and analyze!

The Cinco De Mayo Holiday, And Recognition Of Role Of Mexican Americans In American Politics

Ronald 1 Comment

Today is the 150th anniversary of a Mexican uprising against a French army taking over Mexico during the rule of Emperor Napoleon III in France. Although the Mexican people did not overthrow French influence and control until five years later, this is seen as a celebratory Mexican national holiday.

This celebration of Mexico’s history should remind us that Mexican Americans are part of the largest minority group in America, with over ten percent of the nation being from Mexican heritage, and almost two thirds of all Hispanics-Latinos being of Mexican heritage, and all Hispanics and Latinos being 16 percent of the nation, more than the 12.5 percent of the country which is African American.

Mexican Americans who vote have always voted overwhelmingly Democratic, although about 40 percent did vote for George W. Bush when he was Governor of Texas in the 1990s, and in his two terms as President.

The growth in the Mexican population, and the fact that they are very young as a group, makes them prime factors in the future of American politics, as with the growth of Mexican American population, states that have been Republicans and anti immigrant in their politics are starting to move toward a situation where the Republicans will lose those states over time.

With over 60 percent of Mexican Americans already residing in California and Texas, California is already lost to Republicans in the Presidential race, and it is believed that Texas will turn Democratic in the next decade.

The same is likely in Arizona, the ground zero of nativism toward Latinos, and it is already so in Nevada, Colorado and New Mexico,

Additionally, the Hispanic and Latino population is affecting the politics of Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia, as well as Florida, with much of the transition being because of Mexican Americans.

So while there is a lot of anger about an estimated 7 million illegal immigrants from Mexico, the actual Mexican American population which is legal is growing and coming of age, and will have a dramatic effect on the future of Congress and the Presidency over the coming decade, including having a great influence on the upcoming election in November.

The Greatest Danger Of All: Right Wing “Patriot” Groups Which Are Encouraged By Republican And Conservative Anti Obama Propaganda

Ronald Leave a comment

The Southern Poverty Law Center does an annual report on the status of hate groups on the right, which represent a dire threat to American freedom and liberty.

In 2008, there were 149 groups, increasing in 2009 to 512, increasing again in 2010 to 824, and jumping to 1,274 in 2011. That is 755 percent growth in three years!

These “Patriot” groups emerged during the 1990s with the rise of domestic terrorism, including the attack in Oklahoma City in 1995. But the economic collapse of 2008, along with the growing minority groups in America, and the election of Barack Obama, further accelerated this right wing surge.

While we must be concerned about terrorism from abroad, in many respects our domestic terrorist threat is far greater, and these are not Arabs or Middle Easterners, but rather traditional white Americans who promote conspiracy theories about government taking away private guns, and planning concentration camps formed by FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency!

Militia groups also believe that Mexico is going to take back the American Southwest, and that the government will be unable to stop them on this matter, as crazy as that sounds!

With many Republicans and conservatives still spreading rumors and gossip about Barack Obama being from Kenya, and being a secret Muslim, they are actually abetting the instability of our nation in political, economic and social terms. Their recklessness is mind boggling!

American Foreign Policy Challenge: The Top Ten Nations

Ronald Leave a comment

We live in an uncertain and dangerous world, two decades after the end of the Cold War, and the downfall of the Soviet Union.

Not only is there the threat of international terrorism, whether state sponsored, or outside the state system, but the challenges that various nations present to us are also imposing.

By areas of the world, without ranking, these would be considered the top ten nations that present a challenge to us for the long term.

Europe
The Russian Federation, with its authoritarian leader, Vladamir Putin.

Middle East

Egypt, with its revolution faltering, and the largest nation in population in the Arab world.
Iran, with its sponsorship of international terrorism in the Palestinian territories, and its development of nuclear power.
Israel, with its problems dealing with the Palestinians and terrorism, and alarmed by Iranian influence growing in the Middle East.

Asia

China, with its growing impact on the world economy, and one out of every four people in the world within its borders.
North Korea, with its maniacal leader Kim Jong Il, and his move to develop nuclear weapons that endanger the security of South Korea and Japan.
Pakistan, with its radical Islamic groups, and a deteriorating relationship with the United States, and dangerous because of its possession of nuclear weapons.
India, with the second largest population in the world, and concerned about the threat of its nuclear rival, Pakistan.

Latin America

Mexico, with its growing drug gangs, presenting an imminent threat to the United States border states, and its government unable to cope with promoting law and order within its national boundaries.
Venezuela, with its maniacal leader, Hugo Chavez, and his anti American foreign policy, and friendship with Fidel Castro

In these difficult times, we need a person who understands the world, and again, ONLY Jon Huntsman can truly challenge President Barack Obama and his strong diplomacy under the leadership and advice of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton!

The Herman Cain Phenomenon And Public Opinion Polls: A Parallel Universe!

Ronald 1 Comment

Herman Cain has had one hell of a week, and yet, unlike Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry, he goes up in public opinion polls, while Mitt Romney stays stagnant in his numbers, still only about one out of four Republicans supporting him.

Herman Cain does not know China has had nuclear weapons since 1964.

Herman Cain does not seem to care that his 9-9-9 plan would raise taxes on 84 percent of the people, while lowering taxes on the wealthy.

Herman Cain suggests that we build a fence between Mexico and the United States which is electrified, and also wants a moat with alligators in it to stop illegal immigrants.

Herman Cain says he is against abortion completely, but wants the woman to have the choice on ending pregnancies.

Herman Cain does not know anything about foreign policy, and makes fun of the name of an important ally in the Near East in the war in Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, saying he does not know who its leader is and does not care.

Herman Cain believes that it is alright to sexually harass women in the workplace and that no one should be disturbed by this.

Herman Cain has made so many other inane statements and shown a tremendous lack of interest in details on public issues, and seems more interested in selling his book and improving his chances to make money on motivational speeches.

Through all this, apparently, many Republicans either do not believe the sexual harassment charges or think they are no big deal, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, so Cain’s ratings have improved.

It does not matter to these Republicans that Herman Cain has no knowledge or experience in government, and they seem to be willing to “wing” it and let an incompetent, stupid man become the leader of the free world, whose best credentials is that he headed a pizza corporation!

The ability of Republicans and many Americans to live in a “bubble”, in their own version of the “parallel universe” is mind boggling!

Will the American people at large be moronic enough to put into office a businessman who is no Wendell Willkie or Ross Perot, both men having had an intelligent, accomplished career before running for President?

And remember, neither Willkie nor Perot WON, and if Herman Cain somehow becomes our next President, God save the United States and the world!

Herman Cain: Reality Check As He Faces Attacks On The Right, The Center, And The Left

Ronald 1 Comment

Herman Cain says he is not the “Flavor of the Week” or “Flavor of the Month”, but he most assuredly is such!

After being on Meet the Press on Sunday and speaking in Tennessee, where he is on a book tour, Cain has major problems and is being attack on the Right, the Center, and the Left!

Cain has not raised much money, has no real campaign staff, and spends time promoting his newly published book in a state that does not vote until Super Tuesday on March 6, long after the early caucuses and primaries. This, in itself, is the weirdest way to campaign for President!

But getting beyond that, the Right, the Center and the Left are displaying anger with and at him. Why, specifically?

On the Right, Herman Cain seems unwilling to support a constitutional amendment against gay marriage, which it is clear would never pass in any case. But by leaving it to states, as he advocates, he has made enemies, particularly among social conservatives who like Michele Bachmann or Rick Santorum.

Secondly, Cain has demonstrated that he is a novice on foreign policy, claiming to admire Henry Kissinger and John Bolton, which is, as critics say, like admiring both Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a totally preposterous concept. And Cain actually said he saw Clarence Thomas as a model, enough to undermine his legitimacy to be President! It shows he is not ready for “prime time”, and has no clue on international affairs, another thing which upsets conservatives as well as progressives. His ideas on Afghanistan show no depth or knowledge of that war, which has been going on for a decade!

Third, Cain talks about sales taxes on “new goods’, and none on “used goods”! What in the world does that mean, and is it not true that if fewer “new goods” are purchased which would be likely if they are subjected to a sales tax, then the economy will suffer and never recover? And since food and clothing would be taxed, is Cain proposing used clothing only, and how can food be “used”? His 9-9-9 economic plan would hurt the poor and the middle class, and benefit the wealthy, and is an outrageous attack that could be called the true “class warfare”!

And then the Left is furious at Cain’s suggestion that abortion not be allowed for rape or incest, as that is “rare” according to him, and “life of the mother” would be left up to the family. What does all that gobbledygook mean anyway?

And then to suggest an electrified fence along the US-Mexican border is impractical and also horrifying, the concept of inflicting harm on refugees and possibly killing them, and using troops to shoot and kill if necessary to stop refugees! That would be a massive violation of human rights, and would America want to have that image in the world, that it is ready to shoot and kill, or execute by electric shock any refugee, who while doing something technically illegal, is just trying to make a better life in America and escape from poverty?

Herman Cain is a preposterous candidate, and the attacks by his opponents in the Republican Presidential race are likely to escalate in Tuesday’s Presidential debate scheduled in Nevada, and sponsored by CNN. This man, with no political experience at all, is indeed not only the “Flavor of the Week or Month”, but the biggest joke of the loony GOP campaign to find a legitimate candidate for President!

Republicans Start To Deal With Foreign Policy Finally! First Mitt Romney And Later Jon Huntsman!

Ronald Leave a comment

The Republican Party has been busy trashing President Barack Obama and economic problems in America, but has failed to address the world scene and our foreign and defense policy.

Barack Obama has done a masterful job in many ways on the international scene, often seen as his strong point, particularly with dealing with international terrorism, including Al Qaeda and the Taliban. Many problems, of course, remain, including North Korea, Iran, China and the Middle East crisis. He has also had a masterful Secretary of State in Hillary Clinton!

But the question arises: Do the Republican candidates have any vision of how to deal with the outside world, considering that only former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman has had any real expertise, as former Ambassador to Singapore and China?

Well, now, Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts has announced in a speech at The Citadel in South Carolina, what is defined as a “muscular” foreign policy!

Romney calls for:

1. Increased Naval shipbuilding.
2. Strengthening alliances with Great Britain, Israel and Mexico
3. Keeping aircraft carrier groups in the Persian Gulf and the Eastern Mediterranean as a deterrent against Iran
4. Spending more on national missile defense
5. Renewed emphasis on diplomacy and foreign aid to the Middle East
6. Increased diplomacy and trade with Latin America
7. Figuring out how to deal with Afghanistan beyond 2014
8. Devising a national cyber security strategy

Romney calls for a “new American Century”, with aggressive and hawkish foreign policy reminiscent of Ronald Reagan and the two Presidents Bush. This is in contradiction of the Tea Party Movement followers, and the libertarian, isolationist view of Congressman Ron Paul, an opponent in the Republican Presidential contest and his son, Senator Rand Paul, as well as liberal Democrats who want to avoid military conflicts overseas, which Romney seems clear to be unwilling to avoid if it is seen as necessary to assert American power.

Romney’s doubt about working through the United Nations will also turn many off from his strong foreign policy and defense policy statements, and of course, the question will be how the costs of this new, bold foreign policy will be managed in the present budget mess we are facing as a nation!

Next week, Jon Huntsman will enunciate his views, as foreign policy goes from the back burner to the front burner of American politics, as indeed it needs to do. But the question is can Romney or Huntsman convince the American people that Barack Obama has not, overall, been successful in areas of defense and foreign policy?

One thinks that will be difficult to convince the nation over the next year!

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 Conservative Majority Supreme Court And Texas Governor Rick Perry Message To American Tourists Overseas, Particularly In Mexico: Travel At Your Own Risk!

Ronald Leave a comment

Last night, a Mexican national who had committed a heinous murder in Texas was executed, which in itself is nothing unusual, and no one is mourning the individual involved.

But what is to be mourned is the fact that the Supreme Court and Texas Governor Rick Perry have just made safety for American tourists overseas, particularly in Mexico, far less certain.

One might ask: how is that so? The answer is that the International Court of Justice in the Hague had ruled in 2004 that at least 50 Mexican citizens on death row in the United States had been denied their rights under the Vienna Convention, which requires that foreign citizens be informed of their right to assistance from the consular officials of their nation in their legal defense.

Nothing had been done by Congress regarding this, and Rick Perry refused to listen to the appeal of President Obama to delay the execution, allow action by Congress, and prevent the danger that American citizens in Mexico could similarly be treated as Texas was dealing with this inmate.

It is troubling that for political reasons, the conservative majority of the Court and the Texas Governor took action that interfered with the foreign policy authority of the Presidency.

And the biggest loser could be American citizens, who now must expect retribution, and the actions of the Supreme Court and Rick Perry, for political gain, make the warning clear: You are on your own if you get into any kind of legal trouble in Mexico, and maybe, anywhere, in theory.

The Ignorance Crisis In America: Belief In Conspiracy Theories Runs Amuck, Danger Sign For America’s Future!

Ronald 6 Comments

America is in deep trouble for the future in so many ways, but it is likely that the greatest crisis the country faces is the Ignorance Crisis, in which Conspiracy Theories run amuck!

It is shocking how many people, and we mean adults over the age of 18 but working its way up to include even the elderly, display such ignorance and lack of a sense of reality, that they truly believe in conspiracy theories, accepting false evidence as factually true. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, but millions of citizens seem to be unwilling to face reality and accept factual details, choosing to believe what they want to believe, no matter how crazy or loony it is!

Among the Conspiracy theories widely believed are the following:

1. President Franklin D. Roosevelt engineered the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, crippling our naval fleet, in order to get us into World War II!

2. Aliens landed in Roswell, New Mexico, in July 1947, and our Defense Department has covered it up ever since, keeping the aliens under lock and key!

3. The assassination of John F. Kennedy was engineered by elements within the government, and involved multiple gunmen who made Lee Harvey Oswald the patsy!

4. American astronauts did not land on the moon in July 1969, but were instead part of a great coverup by the news media and government officials, and they actually were landing in the deserts of Arizona!

5. George W. Bush and Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld engineered the attacks of September 11 on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center, in order to increase Presidential power and put us into a world wide war against Islamic civilization!

6. Barack Obama was born in an Islamic country, either Kenya or Indonesia, not the United States, and there was a great conspiracy to plant a birth announcement in Hawaii newspapers in 1961, so as to allow us to elect him the first black President, and allow him to promote Sharia law and Socialism in America fifty years later!

7. In a more generalized way, the Masonic Order has been involved in a conspiracy to control the government and economy of the United States from George Washington to the present!

8. The Federal Reserve Banking System, created under Woodrow Wilson in 1913, is part of a great conspiracy by powerful capitalists and bankers, many of them foreigners, to control and manipulate the American economy, so as to exploit the average American citizen, and enrich the international conspiracy against America’s interests!

9. There is a great conspiracy by people from Latin America, particularly Mexico, to take over the American nation, and dilute it with the “inferior” racial stock that Hispanics and Latinos represent!

10. The United States is threatened by “old Europe”, the “inferior” nations and laws of nations such as Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy and other countries all over Europe, who are trying to undermine our laws and traditions! Also, all international organizations, including NATO and the United Nations, are working to undermine American “exceptionalism” and values!

When one examines all of these conspiracy theories and how many Americans truly believe them, despite lack of evidence and facts, one must mourn for the long term future of this great nation, which has allowed the development of an inferior education system and poor family values to undermine what was once a great nation, but is now in great danger and under great threat of collapse over the next few generations!

All good, educated, sensible people want our nation back to what it once was, and mourn the serious mental illness we are now suffering through!