Rachel Maddow

Police Officers, Fire Fighters, And The “Divorce” From The Republican Party

Ronald Leave a comment

The Republican Party is involved in a nasty “divorce” proceeding from two groups that have been for a long time proud to be Republicans–police officers and firefighters, with the unions for both occupations regularly endorsing GOP candidates for President, Governor, Senator and other political offices. This “marriage” has been a good deal for the Republican Party, but no longer, thanks to GOP Governors across the country!

Other than the military, what other occupations are more respected as there to protect all of us in America than the police officers and firefighters, who like soldiers at war, sacrifice themselves daily and face dangers most of us have never experienced!

John Kasich, Governor of Ohio, who recently ridiculed a police officer for having the gall to stop him and give him a ticket for reckless driving, has now signed legislation taking away collective bargaining from these loyal unions. A referendum to repeal this legislation is proceeding, and police and fire unions across the nation are actively working to overcome the despicable actions of the Ohio Republican Party, and also to work work against all the other GOP governors who are mistreating those who are there for us every day, loyal to their communities!

Even Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin was smart enough to leave police and fire unions out of his legislation to to take away collective bargaining rights from teachers, nurses, and other public servants, because of his awareness of their endorsement of his candidacy last year. But many police and fire fighters marched and demonstrated at the state capitol in Madison to show their support for those public workers under attack, and made clear their opposition to such actions by the Republicans in the Wisconsin state legislature.

Chris Christie in New Jersey, Paul LePage in Maine, Rick Snyder in Michigan, and now Rick Scott in Florida have also declared war on police and fire fighters, and so this will become a major factor in the Presidential Election of 2012 and in Congressional races and state races next year.

As Rachel Maddow of MSNBC said tonight, this issue could insure that Barack Obama is elected to a second term as President, and that the Democrats could make major gains in the states and in Congress, as a result of the stupid, inane actions by Republican politicians, who will now pay a heavy price politically!

But remember, also, that the Republican Party has ALWAYS been anti labor since the era after Theodore Roosevelt one hundred years ago, and sponsored the anti labor union law, the Taft Hartley Act of 1947, which led to a half century of GOP minority status in Congress until 1994!

The Republican Party is a leopard that has never, and never will, change its spots! Once a enemy of working people, ALWAYS an enemy of working people!

When will working people finally understand and stop voting Republican?

Can The Ideological Divide In America Be Overcome To Avoid Incitement Of More Violence? Highly Doubtful! :(

Ronald 3 Comments

The attempted assassination of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, and the murder and wounding of twenty other victims in Tucson, Arizona, should be a wake up call for the country at large, and the political leaders and media personalities in particular, but don’t bet on it! 🙁

The right wing is trying to deflect blame for the use of incendiary language, and trying to compare it to left wing criticisms that may ridicule and mock the opposition.

But it is the specific use of language of the right that is at issue, not the concept of criticism itself!

There can be a healthy, vigorous debate over ideas without promoting rhetoric that calls for revolution, asking citizens to be armed and dangerous, calling for direct action against a tyrannical government, and putting online a map with cross hairs targeting particular congressional district representatives.

There is absolutely no excuse for the rhetoric employed by Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and others on the right.

To compare it to the rhetoric of Ed Schultz, Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow, and Lawrence O’Donnell on MSNBC requires a mentality that makes one wonder about the moral virtues of the listeners. These talk show hosts have never called for any of the above concepts that the right wing is infamous for.

The sad truth is that any possibility of change is remote, and tragically, we are on the road to greater bloodshed and violence on others, including the horrible thought of danger to our national leaders in the executive branch! 🙁

How can we tolerate this, and how can we even think of anyone backing any of these characters in public office, or supporting the continuation of talk show hosts who are only concerned about enriching themselves, and don’t give any concern about public safety or what is good for the national interest? 🙁

The answer is if violence escalates, lawsuits will have to be instituted against right wing talk radio hosts as having contributed to and incited the bloodshed, forcing them off the air and impoverishing them, to shut them up!

Again, speech matters, and if one shouts “fire in a crowded theater”, they should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, whether they are ordinary citizens, political leaders, or media personalities!

The Conflict Over Barack Obama At MSNBC! :(

Ronald Leave a comment

MSNBC is seen as the “liberal” and “progressive” cable channel, the rival of “conservative” and “Republican” Fox News Channel.

But these are not happy days at MSNBC, with a big split developing among the evening talk show hosts, regarding Barack Obama’s tax compromise with the Republican Party!

Chris Matthews fully backs Obama’s compromise as necessary and unavoidable under the circumstances, and makes it clear that there is no real alternative to Obama for progressives!

Lawrence O’Donnell also has concluded much the same thing, so therefore, two of the five talk show hosts stand together in support of Barack Obama!

But Ed Schultz, Keith Olbermann, and Rachel Maddow are all highly critical of Obama for “caving in” to the Republicans, and demonstrating weakness and a lack of “spine”!

The angry base of progressives and liberals, however, really have no place to go, as there are no strong alternative candidates, although Russ Feingold has been suggested, and today, Howard Dean, a “blast from the past”, has also been mentioned!

The prospects of either of these gentleman or any other, more obscure, candidate stopping Obama dead in his tracks, and keeping the Democratic Party united for the Presidential campaign, is close to zero!

Again, it is not pleasant that this tax deal had to be agreed to, but there is simply no real alternative than to “bite the bullet”, and plan for a major fight on the part of Obama to change the direction of the nation in the Presidential election campaign of 2012!

The fight against the GOP agenda is not over by any means! It is just beginning, and it would be helpful if the three MSNBC hosts understood that, and came back to support of Barack Obama!

Time For Obama Voters Of 2008 To Recognize Need To Vote In 2010!

Ronald 1 Comment

Every indication is that opponents of Barack Obama, including Republicans and conservatives and Tea Party Movement activists, and many independents, are enthused and motivated to vote, in order to paralyze the President’s agenda, and also to attempt a repeal of much of what he has been able to accomplish domestically, despite the Great Recession we are experiencing! 🙁

The lack of motivation, and the high level of apathy among Democrats and progressives, is threatening any possibility of further achievements in the next two years, including dealing with the economic suffering of millions of Americans! 🙁

Many are unhappy that the Great Recession is still very serious, and many are disillusioned that much of what they hoped would happen, has not occurred!

Many wanted a stronger health care law, and a more severe control of Wall Street! Many wanted to see quicker action on gay rights and many other social issues! Many wanted Barack Obama to be much more to the left than he has been!

BUT, if these Democrats and progressives “sit on their hands” and refuse to give financial support and vote for the party in the midterm elections, the result will be a greater blow to what these activists want!

This is not an ideal world, and while many on the left might wish Obama had done more of his agenda, they need to understand that everything that has been accomplished could be negated if the right wing wins the election, leading to total stalemate and gridlock between a potential GOP Congress and a Democratic President over the next two years! 🙁

What the author has just asserted was also echoed by Vice President Joe Biden last evening in an interview on the Rachel Maddow show on MSNBC!

A Fantastic Idea: A Public Debate Between Conservative And Progressive Talk Show Hosts For Charity!

Ronald 1 Comment

A movement is developing online on Facebook to promote a public affairs debate for charity, to be provided to families of war veterans, between leading conservative talk show hosts and leading progressive talk show hosts, and it should be definitely encouraged!

The debate would pit Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, and Glenn Beck from Fox News Channel versus Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow of MSNBC and Jon Stewart of Comedy Channel, with Stephen Colbert of Comedy Channel as the moderator.

This would be a great opportunity for a serious debate on political issues, and would put all six talk shows hosts’ “feet to the fire” to prove that their viewpoints are legitimate on the many political controversies dividing this nation!

The question that arises is whether all of these talk show hosts would be amenable to such a challenging debate. This could be the “debate of the century” in the sense that since none are running for public office, it could be a very productive discussion that would be educational to the millions of Americans that would, hopefully, watch and listen to the debate!

I call on all of these talk show hosts to accept the challenge, and to show the public the abilities and talents they possess, and let the people decide for themselves who is to be believed and trusted!

The Hypocrisy On Health Care Of Republicans: Totally Embarrassing!

Ronald 1 Comment

Rachel Maddow on MSNBC has just revealed the total hypocrisy and lack of embarrassment of two GOP Senators and a Senate candidate on the issue of Health Care Reform.

Senator John McCain of Arizona, who has four times in the past twenty years voted to cut Medicare spending, and spoke up on the need for Medicare and Medicaid reform during his 2008 Presidential campaign, now is trying to stop health care reform by working to guarantee that there are no future cuts in the Medicare program, just the opposite of everything he has always stood for!

Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah, who last September said he agreed with 80 percent of the Obama health care plan, now says he does not agree with any part of it, that it is all “junk” even though the administration has included a number of GOP suggestions in the revised health care bill, and in theory, he should, by his own earlier statements, agree with more than 80 percent of it now!

And GOP Senate candidate Sue Lowden, running for the nomination to oppose Senator Harry Reid in Nevada, put out a campaign commercial that opposed federal government intervention in health care, as that would threaten Medicare! The problem, of course, is that Medicare IS FEDERAL GOVERNMENT! Does Lowden think the Nevada population is that stupid, and could it be that all three Republicans mentioned have a problem with being honest and truthful?

The Republican party continues to embarrass not only itself, but its history under Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Eisenhower and even Ronald Reagan. This party is proving to be bankrupt of any ideas or vision, and it is hard to imagine the American people being bamboozled by their propaganda and lies! If that does indeed happen, it is more because of fear and ignorance than anything else, and would be a sad commentary on the future of the country! 🙁

The C Street Center: Politics And Religion Mixed In Corrupt Manner!

Ronald Leave a comment

Rachel Maddow on MSNBC has been exposing over the past few months the tale of the C Street Center in Washington, DC. Other news organizations have also been examining this strange combination of politics and religion in what is clearly a corrupt manner! 🙁

Now a group of ministers have lodged a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service about this so called center on Capitol Hill that offers inexpensive lodging and meals for conservative Christians who serve in the Congress, but yet claims to be a church with the entitlement of tax exempt status.

The town house Center is an affiliate of a secretive international Christian network called the “Fellowship” or “Family”.

Among the activities of this group are to cultivate ties with political leaders, military figures, and business people, but they also gave advice and counsel to leaders in Uganda who have been pushing for punishment and death for gays in that country via the passage of legislation outlawing homosexuality.

This group also sponsors the National Prayer Breakfast held in the nation’s capital and many state capitals every February, so obviously this “Fellowship” or “Family” wields great clout.

But some of its membership in the center, mostly conservative Republicans, have become involved in scandalous love affairs, including former Congressman and present Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina, Senator John Ensign of Nevada, and former Mississippi Congressman Charles Pickering.

There is a general tone of corruption and manipulation about the C Street Center and the group which sponsors it and has tax exempt status, and it is essential to have the IRS fully investigate it, and for a congressional probe as well, if only the Congress has the courage to look at a case tying together politics and religion in an unethical manner!