DON'T BE FOOLED - PART II

Right or wrong, voters feel the economy is not good.

The Biden 'anti-inflation bill' that now has every Democrat on board, will help all of us greatly and lower inflation.

It will even help the dumbest of the dumb in the country. (In fact, it will probably help them more than us humans!)

THEREFORE, NOT ONE REPUGNANT REPUB WILL VOTE FOR IT!

mcconnell is pissed that he got played by Biden & Manchin and will pay them back by demanding his GOP not support ANYTHING we the people want or need, so as to NOT give the Dems a "win"!

Don't think he'll do it? He already used this un-American tactic against President Obama, and even stole seats on the (formerly) Supreme Court!

But fixed or not, the economy is the GOP's one issue for November, and they will all run on it!

Gas prices will probably be lower than when Bush was in the White House, but will Fox mention it on air?

Seriously?

And they will hide the fact that their party aided and abetted seditious actions by their president!

They will deflect from their nationwide push to turn America into Gilead and blame any perceived problem on Biden.

They would rather lay waste to the country than help Americans!

They showed that by trying to block the veteran's health bill.

They show it by taking away women's rights.

They showed it by having Viktor Orban, Dictator of Hungary, speak prominently at their CPAC meeting.

(For the fun of it, and your own edification, 'Google' a list of speakers at this year's CPAC meeting in, where else, Texas. It's nauseating!)

They show it by embracing the "Big Lie" and the evil liar who started it!

They show it in every action they take.

But we can show them that we are mad as hell, and we are not going to take it anymore by waking up to reality.

We must vote them out of existence, or they will legislate us out!

VOTE DEM

AMERICA IS DEPENDING ON YOU!

NAME THAT CRIMINAL

As head of the nation’s justice department he has departed from every legal norm to protect his lord and master from any hint of prosecution even though in his heart he knows the creature is guilty as hell. 

For a creature who spent his entire life with his head up dt's ass, rotting in jail would seem to be a lateral move for this albino toadywho is getting ready for a lifetimeof picking up the soap!

This man has used and abused his power to block any and all legislation that would help average citizens live healthy fulfilling lives even to the point of ignoring his own political party on legislation against the easy access to gun massacre killing machines. 

Sitting in his spider-like lair hidden from the sun and fresh air this ‘oxy’ moron and putridly rotund creature spins his web of lies on conservative talk radio egging on the uneducated to commit violence against righteous hard working Americans who see through his agenda. 

Airing his dangerous views daily on one particular television station this thing speaks mainly to the White House giving his talking points to be spewed at Hitleresque youth rallies thus making him almost as powerful as a president. 

This disgusting oily foreigner uses his obscene undeserved wealth to further corrupt the greedy dt family into looking the other way while he commits crimes against humanity. He is a regular ‘cut up’ when it comes to freedom of the press and journalists. 

Travelling the World running a shadow State Department this criminal has been making deals to benefit himself and dt. The bonehead claims he works Pro Bono while this Nosefratu look alike is sucking the blood out of Democracy. 

Whether hiding in the shadows of mommy’s apron strings or firmly up the rear of his boss this smiling hypocrite claims to be more religious than Jesus. 

Not able to get his way and start a nuclear war anywhere this mustachioed moronic miscreant hopes to make millions off a book deal that reveals what the world already knows about the idiot in the White House.

As long as you are upper class
Commit any crime, get a pass
But talk of his treason
Will give him a reason
To drive his bus over your ass!

Republicans Must Not Hold America Hostage Any Longer

According to the Stockholm Syndrome if one is held hostage by an evil person or group long enough the person may start to exhibit protective tendencies of one's captors.  In fact after a while a strange sort of irrational love may even develop.
Once set free the hostage must seek or be afforded psychiatric help to return to a normal productive life.
For the past 6 years America has been held hostage by the Republican Party and too many voters are exhibiting the same mental defect described above.  They are answering polls showing how much they would vote for the same Republican party that blocked any and all progress in America all the while blaming President Obama.
And just like a kidnapper who brainwashes a child into believing his real parents deserted him and do not love him anymore they have convinced their base that the President is not only at fault but not even an America citizen or worse!!
Polls show that Congress has a favor-ability rating less than that of gonorrhea or root canals so why would any sane, rational human being listen to them let alone vote for them again.
Perhaps the answer lies in the question itself and the words sane and rational.
Is it possible that the majority of the Republican base is so consumed with hatred and sublimated racism that they are willing to believe anything bad said about the President to the point of voting against their own best interests?
The answer to that is a resounding yes!
We have seen this happen over and over again and even read about it in a now famous (or should be famous) book by Thomas Frank.
In Florida, that wonderful State that gave us the hanging chads, Kat Harris and appointed a President that did not win the majority of votes we are now witness to a Governor with a terribly low approval rating leading in the polls due to $26 million worth of negative ads about his far better and more deserving opponent.
Generally when a candidate ONLY runs negative ads it's because he has nothing positive to say about himself. That could not be more true than in this race between a generally hated awful Governor Rick Scott and his 'for the people' foe Charlie Crist.
Neither man is a saint but then they are both politicians.
However when push comes to shove Mr. Scott is awful and deserves to be shown the door as soon as possible!
And speaking of awful, in Kentucky it is quite possible that another member of the hostage takers may hold his seat in Congress even though he has said publicly and in private that his entire agenda is to hurt the President and keep America down.
He will stop us from doing anything for at least the next two years and affirmed his affections for the anti-social Koch brothers and their bribe money with a treatise of love and promises to help them increase their massive fortune! (If you can sit through the recording of his promises to the Koch billionaires click the link above.)
He aims to block any regulations aimed at reining in business at the expense of the environment and human lives!
And this creature is leading in the polls?
As for the President's foreign policy is it so terrible to think about all the consequences of bombing other countries and starting or entering a war before actually doing so?  Haven't we been there done that already?  And aren't we and the World still paying for the rash ill-advised behavior of the previous war mongering administration?
Who died and made the United States the sheriff at the O K Coral?
If the President can make his case to World leaders and have them join us thus spreading the responsibilities as well as the costs are we not all better off?  Do we wish to send our young men and women into another far off battleground?
We have already been through two World Wars.  If the World cannot come together to squash small factions hell bent on global destruction in the name of some absurd religious belief then shall never have World peace.
Think of what a united Planet Earth could accomplish if testosterone driven machismo, personal greed and religious zealotry could be relegated to an embarrassing footnote in the annals of history.
It may be naive to think this could happen but at least I am not giving in and falling for my abductors!

We Disagree - Agreed? Now Move On!

If we cannot agree that we will all disagree on at least as many issues as we agree upon then may we agree that we are all fooling ourselves?

Agreed?

We will never have only one national opinion on any one issue.

For example, I commute to and from work on public transportation every day.

I sit (hopefully) on generally late, somewhat dirty and unfortunately unreliable Long Island Railroad trains upon which I catch a few extra and heartily needed minutes of restless sleep.

But I have worked with people who insist on sitting in traffic driving to and from work every day.

Aside from the fact that hopefully those people do not catch 40 winks while on the road they are creating and breathing in pollution while adding to our nation’s dependence upon and usage thereof foreign oil. (I am assuming they do not use electric vehicles as the ones of whom I speak do not.)

But I am smart enough to know that I can not change their ways when it comes to this particular behavior so I will not try.

I also realize that their choice, as dumb and expensive as it is does not affect my life, at least not in a day to day way and not in the near future.

I do not believe the issue between driving to work vs. commuting should be a campaign issue and luckily it is not.

But different personal choices have become campaign issues. These choices are more invasive than open heart surgery in that they affect our lives every day and will continue to do so for the rest of our lives!

I am speaking about religion and its pervasive effect on our entire political system.

Recently a deluded self-serving so-called pastor named Jeffress, not surprisingly from Texas claimed that Willard Mitt Romney is not a Christian since he is a Mormon and Mormonism is a cult.

Hey pastor, so is Christianity!

So is Judaism!

And by definition so is every religion that ever was, is, or will be practiced on this Earth!

When a “man of God” claims that another “man of God” is a member of a cult he is truly invoking the kettle/pot analogy and making himself out to be a small minded inconsequential moron. (That’s moron, without the second M.)

Clearly there is no way to dissuade someone from their belief as long as that person is at peace and comfortable with it, nor should we try as long as it does not affect others.
However when belief in that cult becomes part and parcel of their ideas on how to rule over others we must be wary of electing them to any position of power.

Think of Ayatollahs or Mullahs.
It's really not a complex issue but when someone gets a God complex they become dangerous. (Unless of course they do so while actually walking on water and then, uh well sorry about that and by the way when may I expect that pony we spoke of?)

Naturally the whole separating religion from government idea is not solely mine nor is it new. It was the general thought of General George Washington of First President of these United States fame!

In several statements made by that prominent figure and founding father of our founding days Mr. Washington decried the use of religion as a process that stagnated progress.

When people who are allowed to speak to a crowd or on television spout ideologies as though they were the key foundation for electing a President their statements should come with loud disclaimers or be stopped by a 5 second delay and relegated to Fox Non-News channels only.

For years we have been languishing with a stagnant economy continued by a do-nothing Republican led agenda whose only stated job is to remove President Obama from their sight!

Rather than addressing issues such as:

High unemployment;

Wealthy people who pay little or no tax;

Corporations that sit on obscene amounts of cash refusing to invest in the country that made them wealthy;

The same corporations trading American jobs to workers overseas;
The ruination of our once great infrastructure and;

The calculated murder of the middle class that used to be the envy of the entire world

The Republican majority in the House continues to call anything brought forth by the President as, “Dead on arrival!”

Instead of looking for ways out of our terrible mess, brought on by a Republican President and his cronies they are content to change the subject and allow debates over who has the better religion and who follows the teachings of that Jewish guy from the year one!
Truth is if we look at the actions rather than the words most Republicans choose to ignore the phrase WWJD.

So listen closely and you may hear the sound of our founding fathers spinning mightily in their graves!

Americans may not be able to agree on much these days but one thing is clear and without dispute; Republicans have not done one thing to create jobs since they took over the majority in the House of Representatives by claiming they had a jobs plan and that it would be Job Number One for them.

We must remove that man
before he helps the little
people and makes my master
pay another penny in taxes.

The only job plan they have pursued was the one laid forth by that large jowled Senator from Kentucky, Mitchell McConnell who only wants to get rid of Obama. And toward that end he would not mind seeing America go down the toilet.

And no matter what side of any argument you find yourself on that last statement is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but!

Reality DC

It's ironic that many pundits have been dropping hints that our country was heading into a disaster similar to what recently happened in Greece.  The analogy is hard to miss but their timing is a bit off.  They should be comparing us not to the Greece of today but rather to the days of Aeschylus and the Greek Tragedies.

Next year's commentators on Fox News

This week one of the financial ratings agencies decided to chime in on what the rest of the world has been watching for years, America's dysfunctional political theater.  It is reality TV at its best, or rather worst.
With so-called Reality TV the viewer should understand that much of what they are seeing is absurdly phony.  The situations are contrived at best and staged at worst.
People who spend more time watching reality shows than living reality lives are missing out on life!
But this is not about them, this is about our elected officials and their counterproductive childish behavior.
When Standard & Poors lowered America's rating from AAA to AA+ it was the first time in the history of ratings that our country was not considered at the top of the financial ladder.
I will let those more well versed in all the ramifications of a lowered financial rating for America discuss what happens now.  I am more interested in the cause and the continued derisive tone that preceded it.
In order to know when it's hot you must also know what cold is.  Without an opposite against which to measure definitions are useless.  If the temperature was always 95 degrees day and night then that would be normal!  We wouldn't even comment on it or have thermometers to tell us it was in fact 95 degrees!
Using that simple bit of logic let's describe the Washington DC of today.
Is it working well?
Seriously??
How does it compare to governments of our past?
Seriously???
Does our future look bright with wonderful possibilities for our children?
The answer to this last question is incredibly subjective as the 2% of Americans at the top of the food chain will say yes, our children will have it great!
But for the rest of us not so much.
They say that politics is the 'art of the possible.'  But I ask how is it possible that our leaders care so little about those of us here on the ground?

Mr. Dickinson knew how
to keep the Riff Raff out!

Well that question is also simple - We voted them in and allowed them to continue the policies that harm us.
I have often used a line from the Broadway play "1776" to describe the mentality of our current electorate and their propensity of voting for people who will hurt them the most.
The words are attributed to Mr. Dickinson, a delegate to the first Constitutional Congress in Philadelphia in the 1770s. In the play he says, "Don't forget that most men with nothing would rather protect the possibility of becoming rich rather than face the reality of being poor."
Unfortunately it still fits and now more than ever I wish the voters would face THE REAL TRUE reality.
Because it is this mentality that is being played on by the representatives of the wealthiest 2% in America and their corporate allies.
Why else would one side of the aisle in Congress demand that we not remove oil subsidies from companies who are making more money than any other company has ever made in the history of the world?  And this at the same time they are demanding we lower benefits to the poor, the elderly, minorities, real housewives of every city and the vast but slowly vanishing middle class!
The answer stares us all in the face every day and every night - The groups being hurt do not have a voice in our current Reality DC theater.  And too many of the members of those groups continue to dream about joining the 2% at the top.

McConnell,
Cheney & Boehner?

Our founding fathers, even Mr. Dickinson would be appalled at the actions of Congress over the last few years.  They were civilized in their dissent and argued for what they believed to be the best course for the most people of America.
The Continental Congress did not have anyone telling another member to "F--k Yourself" (Vice President Cheney) or stand at the podium of Congress and in front of the TV cameras while Congress was in session and shout "Hell no you can't" (John Boehner) because the President had the audacity to try and make our lives better.  (Okay, forget the camera part for the Continental Congress.)
And who can forget Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell stating that his one job until 2012 will not be to help the American people live better lives but rather to get rid of President Obama.  His quote, "The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one term president."
Lowering our nation's horrendous unemployment number or fixing our failing infrastructure does not even appear on the radar screens of this elected official as long as Mr. Obama inhabits the Oval Office!

At least these guys
were entertaining!

And he said this before Mr. Obama had done anything as President other than becoming the first Black man to inhabit the White House!
No elected official had ever been quoted using the same vow against any previous President but then we've only had 44 of them so far.
If this is reality I cannot blame people for wanting fairy tales.  Sadly the ones we are getting are Grimm.


So when S&P dropped America from the ranks of the most trustworthy they were not actually rating our ability to pay back any debt.  We can still print money as needed.
What they were doing was what Nielsen has been doing for years, rating a show.

And this reality show ain't no comedy!

Vicious vs. Precious

One of the most frustrating things in life is the feeling of helplessness.  For example when we know something bad is about to happen but we are unable to effect a change.

It is akin to watching an impending car accident with no way to warn the drivers.

Or how about hearing someone tell a lie and knowing that they themselves realize they are lying!

This one is particularly irksome when nobody ever seems willing to point out their lie.

It is this last example that is frustrating Americans or at least middle class Americans when it comes to our political leaders these days.

Many of these talking heads use sound bites to convey a message that they probably do not believe themselves.  They do so for political expediency.  They know the message will stick.

A few years back a candidate for the office of President used a ridiculous ad on television that showed his opponent riding an ever turning ‘sailboard’ (similar to the one shown here) to describe the man as a “flip-flopper.”  He claimed that the guy said one thing one time and then changed his mind to say something else later.

The odd thing is the message worked and the lying candidate was able to squeak into office, with the help of a few other oddities but that’s for another time.

But the ‘flip-flop’ charge is absurd.

Sans flight suit W claims victory!

Suppose the President is following a policy that he or she realizes at a later date is wrong?  For example say the President starts a war for a reason that turns out to be an out and out lie.  Would we want that leader to ‘stay the course’ or would we expect him to take a step back and change direction?

I certainly hope it would be the latter choice lest many lives be lost unnecessarily.

Flip-flopping goes with the territory of being human.  Information helps us make decisions and wrong information clouds our judgment.

But the fact that telling lies and saying what we think the listener wants to hear gets us elected to office means that lying is not only here to stay but is an integral part of the process.

Wouldn’t it be refreshing to have a truthful politician?

The odds of that happening are about the same as me winning the Kentucky Derby - without a horse to ride – barefoot – in the rain – at night - blindfolded.

So we are stuck listening to a never ending procession of inane reasons why the economy is the other guys fault.

And that brings me to the current pressing argument about taxes.

For years the Republican Party has been helping the wealthiest people of the country find loopholes in the tax structure as well as pushing for even more tax breaks with every session of Congress.

The argument is a simple one, in more than one way; “The wealthy create jobs and hire people so they must have tax breaks to give them more money with which to do so.”

That and ‘I’ll respect you in the morning’ are probably two of the biggest lies you will ever hear in your lifetime. (For men the latter is probably the biggest lie.)

We are stuck in a vicious cycle that has the wealthy moving farther into the financial stratosphere while the poor and middle class head toward poverty.

But there is still a chance to turn that vicious cycle into a precious one.

America needs this to happen.

We must take the bull by the horns (not the tail) and face the problem.

Here is a fantasy involving a high ranking member of the Republican Party, for ease of use I choose John Boehner talking questions at a news conference after being given a shot of sodium pentothal:

Reporter: Sir, do you feel that the Bush tax cuts should be continued for all Americans?

Boehner: Absolutely.

R: Really?  For every American? Even those making over a million dollars a year?

A rare photo of Boehner
without his signature
orange glow.

B: Of course. (He takes out a card from his pocket and reads.) The wealthy people in this country create jobs and if we keep stealing money from them they won’t have enough left to hire anyone. And the uncertainty of the Obama tax law is killing their incentive. And without knowing how much they will have to pay for the constitutionally illegal Obamacare health insurance policies how can they hire new workers?  The last election gave us a mandate and the people spoke and we heard them and we want to help them.  It is the policies of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid that are stagnating this great nation and the Barney Franks who are trying to turn our wonderful wealthy citizens into demons. They should be lauded as great people who will turn this country around and make it the greatest nation in the world once again and that’s why…

R: EXCUSE ME SIR? Are you okay?

B: What?  Huh?  Of course I am.  What do you mean?  Why do you ask?

R: Well your eyes seemed to glaze over there for a bit and your speech started to slow near the end of your rant.

B: (Confused and sweating profusely) I’m fine.

R: Glad to hear that.  So now I’d like to get back to the issue at hand.  And if you wouldn’t mind I’d like you to answer with just a yes or a no.  Do you think you can handle that?

B: I suppose, I mean yes.

R: First I ask that you put away the cliff notes.

(B places the folded card back in his pocket.  At this point the drug has finally taken hold and the Congressman’s voice becomes monotone.)

R: Thank you.  I’m going to put forth two scenarios. I want you to state which one works better, okay?

B: Yes.

R: First one: We keep the Bush tax cuts going for all, allowing the wealthiest people to continue to keep nearly all their money as they have been doing for the last ten years.  We then hope they will start to spend some on hiring new workers who in turn will use some of their new salary to buy the products that the wealthy business owners produce even though to date they have not done so nor show signs of wanting to do so as yet.  Okay, that’s the first one.  Can you remember that while I tell you the second one?

B: Yes.

R: Instead of giving the wealthy a continued gift we continue the tax cuts only for the lower or middle class worker. In other words people with incomes of say $250K to $300K per year or less.

Going back to the pre-Bush tax rate on the wealthy, an undisputed time of national prosperity, will afford the government enough money to start fixing the nation’s infrastructure, something the Republicans used to feel was important.

The people hired to fill the newly created jobs will suddenly have an income and extra money to spend.

The spending spurs businesses to produce more and in effect allows them to make more profits, hiring more workers to cover the new orders.

The cycle continues as all involved are now making more money and as a result paying more in taxes which in turn will go toward the government’s bottom line.

This then would aid in lowering the National Debt.  And a lower deficit is another supposed pet project of the Republicans.

So in the long run which scenario do you think would work better for the country and every citizen as a whole?

B: The second one.

R: Thank you sir, that’s all.

A loud roar of elation comes from the room as the reporters joyously leave to celebrate an unexpected productive press conference.

Angry McConnell about to
plant one on Boehner.

John Boehner is greeted by Mitch McConnell who promptly punches him squarely in the nose while the rest of the Republican Party members present at their Waterloo yell and shout that he has really screwed things up.

Multi-national corporations go into closed door meetings to decide how to spin the fiasco.

Fox News who understandably switched to a repeat of “The Best of NASCAR” during the press conference gets ready to report that they have evidence of an imposter being planted in a John Boehner costume.

Andrew Breitbart, at the behest of Roger Ailes, is already working on a fake documentary showing the above to be true.

And somewhere an adviser is translating all that just happened into one-syllable words for Sarah Palin.

Let He Who Is Without Sin...

Charlie Rangel must pay for his indiscretions and the audacity of thinking he was above the law!
But his sin, that for which he is being ostracized by Congress is as natural in that august body as breathing.
And yet he is standing trial so to speak and he faces tremendous personal loss should he be found guilty by a jury of his peers.  And peers they be in far more ways than one might think.
According to public record documents and as reported by Michael Sherer of the website Times.com Mr. Rangel is one in a crowd!
That crowd includes politicos from both sides of the aisle.  And the practices that have somehow suddenly become awful travesties of justice have been practiced by both sides of that aisle, including by one of the standard bearers of the Republican Party at the moment, one Mitch McConnell!
If these supposedly religious men and women who are always spouting off about family values and 'right and wrong' issues wish to clean out the stables then they must use a very large and all-inclusive broom.
If these doctors of the law wish to cure Congress of all that ails it then I must say, "Physician heal thyself."
Finally and in simple language that even the hypocrites of Congress can understand, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone!"
Now cut the crap and work on the economy - Together!!!