Saturday, August 18, 2012

Can 140 Characters Explain A Good Leader?

Explanation of Sound-Bite Mentality: These days if an issue cannot be explained away in 140 characters or less it goes unnoticed by most of America.  Their collective eyes glaze over and their brains go into hibernation mode.
But the problem in our complex world is that nearly every issue takes far more than 140 characters to explain!
Politicians know this all too well and pay marketing firms millions of dollars to condense issues into palatable lengths that basically say nothing except the other guy stinks.
And if a politician decides to change his or her view at some point in the future many of them already have an argument in place to put forth that explains their new feelings, also in quick, hit and run terms.
Explanation of Flip Flop Mentality: Changing ones views on a regular basis to fit the audience in front of whom you are speaking merely for personal or political gain.
This should not be confused with the 'changing his or her views' line above as the person who flip flops generally HAS no real views on the issue and is just pandering.
A politician who uses flip-flops to gain votes should be known as a hypocrite.  This person should lose votes since they cannot be trusted to remain true to whatever current position they claim to espouse.
Explanation of a True and Good Leader: One who listens to all sides; all 140 character points and determines the best course of action BUT knows that should that course prove to be wrong CHANGE!
Now for an explanation of this last explanation.
We had a leader in America who lived and ruled by the phrase "Stay the course."
Sadly that course proved to be wrong and did so with brutal and deadly consequences.  But fearing the label of flip-flopper this man refused to alter his directives and thus condemned many of our youths to death.
And that refusal to react to fact caused more harm to the country and the world economically than he or his friends will admit to this day.
Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geitner, speaking about the housing and mortgage crisis told Congress 5 years ago that we cannot allow 'Principle Reduction" as the harm to the banking industry would outweigh the help to home owners.
Last week he changed his view and actually said that we must embrace Principle Reduction.
He is being attacked for changing his views.  The attacks say he is doing so because this is an election year, but then again when is it not an election year?
I wish he would have explained away his previous views better but whether or not Mr. Geitner proves out to be a good leader or a flip-flopper remains to be seen.
One thing is clear, when you change your mind in government you had better be prepared for an onslaught of attack dogs.
Rather than merely coming out and saying the opposite of what you said years ago I believe most Americans would embrace your revelation, right or wrong if it were preceded with an explanation of how and why you arrived at your new position.
There is an entire subculture that will embrace the 'born again' 'rehabilitated' 'I've seen the light' individual.
Perhaps a future leader  who has erred will be allowed to state:
"I truly believed that yada yada yada was the right course of action.  I regret that after seeing it implemented it has not proved out as planned.  However my team and I never stopped monitoring and reviewing all aspects and results of yada and now offer the following fix to perfect the plan.  Give it a chance and we know you will be pleased with the results!"
I understand that in America this person's opponents will jump on the admission for personal gain and use it in their marketing attacks.  The leader may in fact lose his next election as a result but will be able to retire knowing he did the right thing, he was a wise leader.
There is a phrase that comes to mind that many of my generation and younger may know: "The good of the many outweighs the good of the few, or the one."
If we as a nation did not allow or embrace change then my home would boast a two horse garage!
Who among us has not changed our mind on something, anything?
Did we not feel that our first choice was a good one only to realize later that it was not?
Did we then stubbornly 'stay the course' just to prove ourselves macho? (Or whatever the female equivalent of macho would be for any ladies reading this.)
I believe no one in their right mind would continue down a path to doom if they realize it in time.  And hopefully given all the facts our leaders would not continue to lead our country down that doomed path either.
So my explanation now becomes a definition - And it actually fits in 140 characters!
A good leader is one who can admit a wrong, a mistake, an error in judgement AND CORRECT IT! A good leader does not blindly stay the course!

Friday, August 17, 2012

Don't Miss Les Mis!

I am going away from my usual type of post and instead posting a link to a brilliant musical parody that only intellectuals will understand.
I know what you're thinking, that's not fair to all the right wing nut jobs out there but let's face it, they are total morons anyway and will never understand how the real world works so why bother with them anymore?
They truly believe Republicans give a rat's ass about them.  They are so deluded and beyond help that the less humans think about them the better off we'll be.
This is fun and entertainment for the educated and cultured Americans, in other words DEMOCRATS!
Hopefully we can get  Independent thinking voters to enjoy this incredibly well done production and start thinking for themselves as well.
And we should all think about how all the problems in America over the last 4 years are a result of Republican greed and blockage of anything to do with governance.
The Republican leadership fulfilled their promise of not allowing anything to get done while President Obama was in office.
If we as honest, fair, intelligent human beings allow this bad behavior to be rewarded by voting for EVEN ONE Republican then shame on us!
So turn on the sound, sit back and enjoy this wonderful parody of one of the greatest Broadway shows ever, Les Mis.
Oh, and REMEMBER IN NOVEMBER!!!

Saturday, August 11, 2012

SEPARATED AT BIRTH?

With his selection of Paul Ryan wealthy Mitt has solidified his Conservative stance as a man who wants to continue to make the poor poorer while helping his friends at the top get and keep more wealth!
And it is interesting to note that both political parties are pleased with the choice.
The Republicans like Ryan for his fiscally conservative budget that will effectively turn the middle class and poor into an ATM machine for the wealthy while ensuring a future of ease for the 1% at the top.
The Democrats are happy with the choice because it makes the above tactic clear and they hope they have enough time to educate the electorate to this fact.
But what of the masses who don't read or care to read or don't know how to read but still vote?
These are the people left behind and out of the political picture.
What of them?
The Republicans are hoping they will see their candidates as reminders of the past; a simpler time when they were happy; a time when the family gathered around the television set without a care in the world and laughed at old shows; shows that made them happy!
So let me introduce to you the Republican ticket for the 2012 Presidential election:
Paul Ryan Munster
Mitt Munster




CLICK THE NAMES BELOW EACH PHOTO FOR THEIR STAGE IDENTITIES
REMEMBER IN NOVEMBER!


IT'S FINALLY ON!

We finally have clarity!
We can finally compare the two ideologies.
The 2012 Presidential race can finally be placed into a neat box from which all interested parties may pick their desired new leader.
And inside that box the two could not be further apart on just about every issue but one -The other guy is wrong for America.
AND IN SAYING THAT THEY WOULD BOTH BE RIGHT!
That's because there happens to be TWO Americas.
There's the America populated by over 300 million mostly hard working citizens who try to play by the rules every day of their lives in order to make a living for themselves and their families while navigating the obstacle course of health care coverage and decreased services available to them as their tax dollars are wasted on the military and tax breaks for the wealthy.
And there's the America comprised of around 3 million souls also known as the 1% who don't give a thought about anyone else but themselves and how they can continue to game every system on their way to the top of the Forbes 500 list so that they may mingle among the wealthiest creatures on the face of the Earth while stepping on the necks of the little people along the way.
Perhaps the above is an oversimplified explanation of our two current major political camps but I can say it without fear of successful contradiction that most of those vying for leadership fit there quite well.
We have the current President who overcame incredible obstacles on his way to the White House and continues to hear detractors belittle him and point fingers in his face while generally disrespecting the office itself.  Mr Obama has tried to get many social issues passed into law through a Congress that only wants to see HIM gone.
He has attempted to enact programs formerly espoused by the Republicans only to see filibuster after filibuster by the same people who championed those programs in the first place.
We have a working class Vice President with a lifetime of governmental service under his belt whose son is currently serving as the Attorney General of Delaware.
Together the current administration has put forth and seen enacted into law a somewhat watered down but good start health care act originally enacted in Massachusetts and known as Romney-care.
And we have seen this new law belittled at every turn by the original architect, Mitt Romney and his entire party as awful!
Instead of trying to make it better and help the vast number of Americans who could benefit from it's implementation the Republicans have attempted to overturn it no less than 39 times in the House of Representatives.  They have done this instead of governing or trying to help get us jobs or help the economy or anything that might make America a better place in which to live merely because their one STATED objective is to get rid of President Obama.
Do they want him out because he is bad?
Not really!
They want him out so they can be in!
Simple!
The Republican team is comprised of a wealthy businessman who keeps as much of his money in offshore banks as possible and his running mate who wants to place into law a budget that will help the wealthy gain new heights on that ladder up the Forbes list while grinding the poor and middle class into dust!
I have personally come up against many wealthy bosses in my years as a middle class worker and have heard the variations of the phony insincere, "It hurts me too" line.
One such little yet wealthy person had the nerve to say to me that everyone in the company was taking a 10% cut in order to keep the place open.
The problem was, as I pointed out to this small minded greedy evil creature that his 10% cut brought his pay down from $300,000 per year to $270,000 per year and would hardly be noticed.  But the vast majority of workers in the company were making between $30K and $40K and to them ANY cut could be disastrous, especially in New York.
He actually feigned being hurt by my comment and almost managed to turn away before a smug smile crept over his face.
This is the type of phony politician that is up against the Democratic team this year.
There are more registered Democrats in American than there are Republicans.
We must make sure enough of us are not disenfranchised by the evil schemes being perpetrated across America in so-called 'swing States' to take away our votes so that we can put an end to the terror of the right wing for at least a little time.
That is until the next election cycle which sadly starts Wednesday November 7.
Let's help the American majority, the 99% bring the country back to greatness!
REMEMBER IN NOVEMBER!