Are We There Yet? Romney-Obama Election 2012

Well, it's another election night eve for me, and lord knows I've been through a lot of them. 41 consecutive years of casting votes for somebody since I turned 21, back in 1971.

The year after I turned 21, I worked on the campaign that successfully gave 18 year olds the vote, when I was already legal, as we used to say. Seems it's my life karma to be early or late, never in perfect step. In other words I have always had to bring my own music and make up my own dance as I went along, while time and circumstance did it's own thing. But that's another story. I digress.

Thinking about what we are about to do again, which is to give the reins of government back to Barack Hussein Obama for another four years, makes me happy, sad and nostalgic all at the same time. On this night, this election eve, the climax of a never ending campaign that started on inauguration day 2009, I'm feeling like what Fannie Lou Hamer said, “I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired.” This time around, it was too much. Too much information. Too much lying. Too much pontificating and equivocating. My head hurts.

I've been watching elections since before they were televised in color. I've been voting since before somebody dreamed up HDTV.

General Eisenhower is the first president in my memory. I was born during Truman, but not until just before his election. John Kennedy was the first president I loved. It wounded me deeply when he died. Never met Lynchin Bains Johnson. That's what we called him. He signed the Civil Rights Bills into Law, but that didn't endear him to me. Not then.

Rumor had it that he was nuts. We had a crazy man in the White House, who may have had our beloved JFK killed. However, nobody really knows or will ever know who hired the gunmen on the grassy knoll down in Dallas that day.

Nixon was the first president with whom I shook hands, both he and his wife. Didn't vote for him. Wasn't quite old enough to vote against him. Do know I didn't like his bigotry. Smacked of the same ole shit being dished out by the likes of George Wallace and Bull Connor, except this man occupied the White House.

I was still naive enough back in the day to believe that if a man could rise to the level of President, he certainly couldn't also be a bigot or a racist, not really. Silly me.

Gerald Ford, the man who took over for Tricky Dick Nixon was a decent man. I was a working reporter by the time he came into office and I was humbled by the fact that he knew me on sight and called me “jo.” President Carter was another decent man who has been totally disrespected and wrongfully forgotten.

I interviewed Ronald Reagan four times, starting in 1976 at the Republican convention and could never get past the fact that I was talking to an actor, somebody who was playing a part in a B movie. The conversations were great, but I never bought the good guy act. His voodoo economics initiated the downfall of the American Middle Class and the decline of Unions as well as worker's rights.

Daddy Bush, Bill Clinton and Junior Bush were merely days at work...more fun with Clinton, less so with George the elder and George the younger. The younger Bush especially was like hitching a ride across the ocean on a boat named Titanic with no Leonardo DiCaprio to save my ass.

And then comes Barack Obama.

I was not a supporter in the beginning. I didn't believe a Black man could be elected in America. I dreamed of the possibility, but expected to be dead by the time it actually happened. I believed the racists were too strong to let it happen. I still believe they will turn out tomorrow in an attempt to keep him from a second term.

And I still fear for his life. Because in this country, it's a truth that what white men can't control, they kill. They kill when their status quo is threatened, and Barack Obama is the walking, talking example of threat to the complacency of the masters of the universe.

Obama is one of the few people who can move me to tears. I cried when he won in 2008. I cried at his Inauguration. I cried when I heard him speak last night.

But Last night at the UC arena, I also heard within his speech echoes of the last speech of Dr. Martin Luther King, and it bothered me.

“I have been to the mountaintop....”

Those uncomfortable echoes are resting heavily on me tonight, as I write this now.

In the meantime....I will happily vote tomorrow to move this country forward, and wait for what I hope will be a joyous night. History to be made, and a happy ending to be written. A celebration of the 44^th President of the United States of America, Barack Hussein Obama.

To be continued......................................

Buying the White House

That is the only option left to Republicans. Put down cold, hard cash and buy the bitch. And they are on track to do just that, what with Willard Mitt Romney out fund raising Barack Hussein Obama for the past two months.

The latest stats show that Romney raised more than 100-million dollars last month compared to the President's 70-million or so.

The republicans can't win it on their record of no jobs, no jobs, no ,jobs, no abortions-lock up vaginas, so they are simply going to buy the real estate to keep the rabble from living in proximity to them.

It's their last trick, so to speak, short of all out gun blazing revolution which they do threaten on a regular basis these days. We the people have begun to see through their lies.

I mean look at record; the last Republican to balance the budget was Richard Nixon.

The last Republican to preside over a surplus was Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Ronald Reagan promised to balance the budget and eliminate the deficit in his first two years in office...then it was four years...then it was eight years..promises, promises.

Reagan also raised taxes 17 times during his administration, not that the GOP will acknowledge that info given their deluded attempts to run a country on no money.

Trickle down Economics has been the law of the land since Reagan lived at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and except for when Bill Clinton called a halt to the bullshit and really did balance the budget and eliminate the deficit, the country has been in the red-with the exception of rich people. Everybody else has been screwed.

Then comes 2000. Gore wins, but the Supreme Court gives the election to Dubya, the result of all those hanging chads down in Broward County Florida.

Bush promptly ate up the surplus, started two illegal wars, and gave his frat buddies massive tax cuts, and senior citizens a massive drug plan that wasn't paid for either. All of it still unfunded to this day. Voila! America is in deep doo-doo, leaving Barack Obama ass deep in alligators.

The middle class is being strangled to where it is almost small enough to be drowned in the bathtub.

Romney has been trying to beat Obama or any Democrat for that matter for the past 10 years.

He knows that if he admits that his economic plan is just Bush-lite warmed over left overs, nobody will vote him. So he stumbled across his course of action during the primaries.

He will simply do what the rich do-buy whatever it is they want, and they want the White House.

Remember the GOP electorate really doesn't like Mittens either. They really, really, really want someone else to be their nominee and when the flavor of the month popped up to challenge him in the primaries, Romney would bury them in cash and negative advertising.

This is his plan to handle Obama, too.

Romney is the alpha dog when it comes to making money. We all know that. How else do you put 100-million dollars in an IRA bank account that was never designed to hold that much money in the first place.

You really got to know what you're doing. Given Romney's reported worth. He damn sure does know what he is doing money-wise.

But just because he makes money, does not mean that he will make a good president regardless of what his Mormon god has prophesied.

Since we can't outspend them...we are gonna have to out vote them. We already out number them. However it remains to be seen if enough people have been freed from the matrix in order to make a difference.

So what cha gonna do....swallow the blue pill and go back to sleep or take the red pill and wake up in the real world?

Well?

Newt Gingrich, Anointed in SC, Jesus Mary and Joseph!

With all the flair and petulance of a three year old, Newt Gingrich has won the South Carolina Primary by a very wide margin over the anointed one, otherwise known as Mitt Romney. Ricky the pope Santorum finished a distant third while the hobbit, Ron Paul, came in fourth, visibly demonstrating his short legged disadvantage.

So what does this mean? Well, I see shades of 1976 in this one. 1976 was the last time that the GOP had a real fight for the nomination. It was also the first time that I covered a convention as a working on air news reporter. It was held in Kansas City and Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford came in with a 50-50 split, or thereabouts in delegates.

I was personally appalled by what I saw and heard coming out of the delegates' mouths and rightly guessed that Ford would be the nominee, because I naively believed that “right” would prevail (there were still real live conservatives in charge of the GOP at the time, and I do like real conservatives instead of this fake christian variety now). It did, sorta. What really happened was a deal apparently being cut with the Mississippi Delegation. Pre convention, the delegation was supposed to be solidly in Reagan's corner, however when boss Haley Barbour stepped to the mic, he threw his delegation to Ford much to the consternation of most of his delegation.

Despite the Mississippi vote, Nixon's Southern strategy was working back then, and obviously from the vote last night, is still working today. However it was circumvented or short circuited by the powers that be in the GOP. The final result, Ford wins the nomination, but loses the presidency to Jimmy Carter.

It remains to be seen if the GOP elite will force feed Mitt Romney to their constituents, in the same manner in which they force fed them Gerald Ford. Romney's been running since the 90's and still nobody who claims to be republican likes him, or wants him to represent them. If the GOP elite is smart, they will make the base happy and come with somebody like Newt. But Newt has burned every bridge he's crossed on both sides of the aisle. Final result-democrats win again. The question is...will they win big or bigger.

Ricky and Ron have the lifespan of a snowball in hell, or maybe an ice ball in hell. They are both going to Florida, but probably not much further. Which brings us back to Newt, he of the self proclaimed towering intellect powered by prepubescent temperament unbecoming a man with so much white hair on his head.

Gingrich is playing his sideshow for the voters with no memory of his past. They seem to care only for the stuff coming out of his mouth, true or not. Most of his stuff is not truth based in the slightest of senses. Kinda reminds ya of that cool breeze that unexpectedly blew in from Wasilla, Alaska, a few years ago. The only difference between the two is their gender..one female...one male...both legends in their own mind.

To quote Kathleen Parker, “Newt Gingrich is an angry little attack muffin.” He attacks anyone and everyone who doesn't think the same as he, or want to live inside the fantasy in which he cloaks himself.

After all, it was just a couple of weeks ago, in Iowa, where his petulance and mental instability was on full display after he loss to Romney. Romney lost too, but we didn't know it until the recount this past week.

Regardless, Newt was pissed and he showed it, and he's been taking it out on anyone and everyone since that night.

Like the good liberal that I am, I am going to pop some popcorn, lay in a couple of bottles of my favorite wine and watch it all play out for as long as it takes. And I really hope it takes all the way to July for the GOP to settle on a candidate.

And since I'm in a predicting mood...I'm gonna tell you who it is they are going to choose to represent them...

His name is TOAST.

C-ya in November!

Obama-Boehner Smackdown The Thrilla Outside Wasilla

Talks have once again broken down with Boehner walking away from the table and the deal. This time around President Obama was visibly pissed off. You could see it on his face and hear it in his tone. He has summoned the parties to the White House for a rare Saturday session.

As we wait and watch helplessly from the hinterlands...Here are some things to consider:

TRUTH-America is in an unsustainable deficit situation coupled with massive unemployment.

TRUTH-The present deficit/economic situation has never been seen before in the history of the USA.

TRUTH-President Obama inherited this mess. He made it worse by not increasing revenues allowing the Bush tax cuts to go forward, unchallenged. He has allowed himself to be caught inside a dangerous game of "good cop-bad cop" being played by Cantor and Boehner. The people are suffering.

TRUTH-Obama has moved so far  right of center that his policies resemble those of Richard Nixon, rather than any Democrat living or dead. There will be no compromise, only capitulation on the part of the Democrats.

TRUTH-Repeated White House cave-ins are not compromise nor bipartisan behavior.

TRUTH-The past election was not a mandate for teabag policy changes. It was an election that most voters sat out, thinking the problems of the past, were past....or a waste of time from the point of view of so called progressives who remain in the midst of a gigantic temper tantrum because they didn't get their way as quickly as they think they should...

TRUTH-John Boehner is protecting his own ass rather than representing the American people. Teabaggers have made it plain to Boehner that he will lose the Speaker of the House position if he compromises and strikes a deal with the White House.  What happened to "taking one for the team?"

TRUTH-Teabaggers have the power to force Boehner out of office...they have the power to reshape America into it's own bizarro view, but only if we the people allow it to happen as we did during the past election. The teabaggers aren't just playing politics...they are playing crazy politics and they are willing to destroy America in order to get their way...

TRUTH-Ronald Reagan raised the debt ceiling 17 times during his tenure in the White House, but you'd never know it listening to conservative republicans. Dubya raised it 7 times during the last administration.

TRUTH-Giving rich people tax cuts does not  generate jobs. Never has...never will. Statistics have shown over and over that the rich people hide and save their money, while the poor and middle class spend their money, putting it back into the economy.  Trickle down economics is a myth....pure and simple voodoo..or doo-doo...take your pick...

TRUTH-You can't have full economic recovery without increasing the revenue base. Reagan raised taxes, Nixon raised taxes, Daddy Bush raised taxes...Got to be done...Dubya sent the country into a spiral by cutting taxes and spending our resources on two illegal wars actions and a big pharma deal that gave a bunch of money to his corporate cronies...leaving us holding an empty bag...

TRUTH-When asked how to jumpstart the economy a few years ago, Dubya said "everyone go buy something."  That's a paraphrase, but the gist of how the economy really works. Cutting everybody but the rich cats a $10,000 check would go a long way in re starting the recovery.

TRUTH-Think a non-regulated totally free enterprise capitalistic system works?...take a look at South America...several countries tried it for a while, before the people voted socialism back in. The totally free enterprise system made five or six people rich and completely ground down everybody else...the same thing is going on here in America, albeit, at a slower pace.

TRUTH-Obama has said he is willing to cut a big deal, even if it means he loses the next election. He's got the American people bent over...wondering if his latest deal comes with or without vaseline. There has been no reciprocation on the part of the teabaggers.

TRUTH-At no time have the congressional teabaggers offered to share the pain of the American people...they still have their health care...they still have their salaries...they still have their merit raises...they still have their retirement....

TRUTH-teabag recalcitrance on Capital Hill is also tanking the states...will the governors speak up? If the USA credit line is lowered....so is  the credit line for the states....The states are caught between a rock and a hard place...

TRUTH-In an effort to get this deal, there will be no tax increases or closures of tax loopholes...but you can bet there will be lots and lots of cuts to programs that matter.....The Republican party....the GOP is dead....snuffed out by teabags...

So when do  we start this revolution?

The Republicanization of Barack Obama

Last night's State of the Union speech was long on symbolism, civility, gravitas, and kumbya moments, as pointed out repeatedly by the mainstream media. However, it was also very, very short on substance and detail. In fact, after the speech, I found my self in the uncomfortable situation of agreeing with the twit from Delaware, Christine O'Donnell, who was selected by Good Morning America to sit next to Donna Brazile and to dissect the session, presenting opposing GOP and Democratic viewpoints.

To put O'Donnell in so called "expert" position on a political panel gives witness to just how far the media has fallen in common sense and credibility. The Christine O'Donnells of the world are nothing more than media created comic relief inserted into what should be real and informative discussions about the state of our world. Yet, here she was in pundit position next to democratic operative Brazile who attempted to make the most of a lousy situation. O'Donnell is a direct slap in the face to women such as Brazile who have worked hard for their credibility and respect only to have it shredded in the space of a 4 minute television interview by Bozo the Clown's daughter.

So, I was somewhat surprised to hear O'Donnell say that President Obama took all of his talking points from the Tea Party. I agree absolutely. Obama did last night what the GOP has been doing for the past couple of decades-talking a lot of stuff, but not presenting any solutions on how to get it done.

I would have loved to hear Obama present a plan for putting people back to work, like something along the lines of a WPA project to rebuild our infrastructure. We need bullet trains, but do you honestly think the GOP is going to fund such a project when the man in the White House actually said he was willing to look at cuts to medicare, medicaid and social security funding? Sure, he said he would not support privatization of social security, nor would he allow any cuts to affect those who are retired or stand on the brink of retirement now. After that, he invited cuts to the health care law, leading me to wonder what all the fuss was about two years ago, if he's not willing to fight for his masterpiece, now that it is actually on the books.

I wanted to hear Obama demand cuts in the military budget. It is not enough to bring home the troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. Military bases need to close. Antiquated weapons systems need to be eliminated. Pretending to fight spending by threatening to veto any bill with earmarks is an insult to the intelligence of the American people. Mideastern dictatorships that America has been propping up for years need to be allowed to fall as they are doing now. He stressed the need to improve education as states like Ohio dismantle and refuse the educational funding that he put into place just one year ago. New Ohio GOP governor Kasich has killed the rail system program, is threatening to stop all education programs, all the while giving his assistants big raises and bragging about it as they come into office.

The State of the Union address, as presented last night, could have been delivered by a republican, like John Boehner and except for the multi syllable words, no one would have known that it was crafted by the democrat in the oval office. It left me wondering if Obama has farmed out his speech writing to someone with Rand Paul tendencies. O'Donnell didn't disappoint, because after making the teabagger comparison, she then fell back into her usual shtick of Obama bashing without really understanding the words coming out of her mouth. Her points on the program obviously written by someone else with a better understanding of politics in general. She actually referred to notes during what should have been an impromptu session.

I have long been bothered by what I see as the "republican" tendencies of America's first black president. His total embrace of all things Bush began the day he took office. Others have compared him to the great communicator, as Ronald Reagan was called. Those comparisons continued last night. One pundit even said the speech echoed all things Reagan in tone and tenor, and sadly, I could not disagree.

The general lack of respect for Obama, with the Reagan comparisons continues albeit in a more civil manner. In other words, he doesn't have a thought in his head, that a white man didn't have first. But that's another post. I disgress.

This past Sunday, on CBS Sunday Morning, Ben Stein said based on what America has seen from its first Black man in the White House, maybe he should switch parties and run in 2012 as a Republican. I couldn't agree more. Doesn't mean I won't vote for him. Just means I would like him to come out of his political closet and be who he really seems to be.

Palin, The Popes and The Patriot Act

Been reading all the rationales, defenses and support for Lady Sarah and her nearly 8 minute video on the recent events in Tucson. Didn't intend to write anything myself because my thoughts on what she said were purely negative and it takes soooo much energy to answer negativity with more negativity. There is already enough of that out there.

However today, I read columnist Stanley Fish, who among other things compared Palin to a Frank Capra story, specifically, Mr Smith Goes to Washington. Fish obviously did a lot of work on the column, as have most who have weighed in on this issue. To me, however, all are missing the point. Fish's column is here.

The 8 minute video by Palin was simply a bad audition tape put together by a wannabe broadcast journalist who has found that huffing politics is a better high that can last for years, if you work it right. She looked uncomfortable in the staged setting. Even her clothing didn't seem to fit right. She was playing the part of a presidential candidate or at least what in her mind was a presidential looking person.. And then, there was that thing she does with her mouth when she finishes a sentence.

Those ticks can make or break you on camera. Instead of taking her cues from Reagan, who was very photogenic, she should have taken one or two from Nixon, who refused to wear make up during his debates with the luminous JFK. That one thing cause Nixon to look bad on camera and probably, more than anything else, lost him the election in 1960. Palin should practice in front of a mirror while she is studying up on policy. It is not only what you say..it is how you look when you say it.

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Doesn't there seem to be a rush on to make a saint out of the late Pope John Paul II? His miracle was reportedly curing a French nun of Parkinson’s disease. Well, what about the 2000 or so children who were abused during his reign as Pope? What kind of miracles did he work for them? The evidence is getting stronger every day that he actively took part in the three decade long coverup which was overseen by the current Pope Benedict.

Santo subito? I think not....

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The Patriot Act is coming up for renewal once again. This nefarious piece of legislation, which was passed before the ash and dust settled on the World Trade Center, takes away many, many freedoms that we citizens take for granted. Under the Patriot Act, the government can come into your home without a warrant...they can gain access to your phone records, your emails, or your medical records...just to name a few things....without ever having to show that you are suspect of crime. They don't have to ask for them either.

And...there is an on going “gag order” meaning that anyone involved cannot tell you that you are under suspicion, either.

Everything we, write, say or do is now under surveillance by the government, if this act stays on the books. This act means I can be arrested and jailed for what I am writing now.

A simple call or email message to your congressman will help. Big brother really is watching...

Combating Crazy-Quotes from the Right

Do you really, really want these people to govern over you?.....Vote November 2nd

“It's easy to kick somebody when they're down. George W. Bush has dealt with more difficult issues than any president since Franklin Roosevelt. And I've told my colleagues it's time that we go stand up for the president. “-John Boehner

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“Make no mistake, a 'yes' vote on the Democrats' health care bill is a vote for taxpayer-funded abortions. “-John Boehner

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“When we give a subsidy, the benefits to the public ought to exceed the benefits to the company. When it doesn't, that's our definition of corporate welfare. “-John Kasich

Okay...so you understand the problem...paying lipservice is simply not enough, though

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''If you don't hold us accountable, we'll do some real bad things in Washington, D.C.''-John Ensign had affair with his wife of best friend and chief of staff..

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''My grandmother was not a highly educated woman, but she told me as a small child to quit feeding stray animals. You know why? Because they breed. You're facilitating the problem if you give an animal or a person ample food supply. They will reproduce, especially ones that don't think too much further than that. And so what you've got to do is you've got to curtail that type of behavior. They don't know any better.'' -Lt Gov of South Carolina Andre Bauer.(closeted gay man who votes anti gay)

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''They were doing what they thought was right for their country.''-Ohio GOP Candidate, Rich Iott who likes dressing up as a Nazi in order to bond with his kid. Iott is a Boehner protege.

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''Do you know, where does this phrase 'separation of church and state' come from? It was not in Jefferson's letter to the Danbury Baptists. ... The exact phrase 'separation of Church and State' came out of Adolph Hitler's mouth, that's where it comes from. So the next time your liberal friends talk about the separation of Church and State ask them why they're Nazis.''- Tea Party/GOP Candidate Glen Urquhart from Delaware...

Didn't Jefferson live before Adolf...so maybe Adolf stole it from him, ya think?

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'''Refudiate,' 'misunderestimate,' 'wee-wee'd up.' English is a living language. Shakespeare liked to coin new words too. Got to celebrate it!''- Written by whoever puts the words into Sarah Palin's mouth

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''We had no domestic attacks under Bush; we've had one under Obama.'' -Rudy Guiliani...wasn't he mayor of New York on 9/11, while Bush was president?

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“I am not worried about the deficit. It is big enough to take care of itself.'' Ronald Reagan

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“I'm not a witch.....I'm you.”-Chrissy the Pooh, Candidate for Senate from Delaware

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''The feminist agenda is not about equal rights for women. It is about a socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians.''-Pat Robertson....

Wonder what he thinks about all of Sarah's new feminists/Momma Grizzlies vying for office...

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''[Obama] wouldn't have been voted president if he weren't black. Somebody asked me over the weekend why does somebody earn a lot of money have a lot of money, because she's black. It was Oprah. No, it can't be. Yes, it is. There's a lot of guilt out there, show we're not racists, we'll make this person wealthy and big and famous and so forth.... If Obama weren't black he'd be a tour guide in Honolulu or he'd be teaching Saul Alinsky constitutional law or lecturing on it in Chicago.''-Rush Limbaugh

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''So that's what we want is a secure and sovereign nation and, you know, I don't know that all of you are Latino. Some of you look a little more Asian to me. I don't know that. What we know, what we know about ourselves is that we are a melting pot in this country. My grandchildren are evidence of that. I'm evidence of that. I've been called the first Asian legislator in our Nevada State Assembly.''-Sharron Angle

Should we really mess with her mind and tell her that all life began in Africa in the first place?

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''African-American is a bogus, PC, made-up term. I mean, that's not a race. Your ancestry is from Africa and now you live in America.'' -Glen Beck

Somebody better tell him that Caucasian not a race either....all made up terms for bigots to differentiate among peoples of the human race..the only legitimate race.

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''Obama should be executed.''-Wisconsin GOP Chairman Reince Priebus

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''I had surgery and I can't lift luggage. That's why I hired him.''-Reverend George Rekkers, co-founder of the Family Research Council

To explain why he was vacationing with a buff young gay man he rented on Rentboy.com

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''I hope that's not where we're going, but you know if this Congress keeps going the way it is, people are really looking toward those Second Amendment remedies and saying my goodness what can we do to turn this country around? I'll tell you the first thing we need to do is take Harry Reid out.''-Sharron Angle

Friday Rap

Richard Bruce (Dick) Cheney, c'mon down!

Been wondering where America's self appointed Energy Czar is these past few days. He's been curiously quiet these days. I mean he's been all over Obama for health care and for being soft on terrorism, or for refusing to waterboard people, or for threatening to shut down Guantanamo or for being too hard on corporate America and Wall Street, or for threatening to raise taxes on the fortunate 5% who control the world.

Heck, Cheney even went on record about starting yet another war, this one with Iran and Mac-mood I'm-a-dina-jacket...all because he could....

Everytime President O makes a move he's had to trip over a Cheney, because if Dick hasn't said something himself, he's sent his rouged up attack daughters in his place to keep the boy in the White House in his.

Doesn't matter what it is, if President O is trying to do it, then Darth Dick and his pit bull progeny were against it, and saying so, loudly for everyone to hear, over and over during the 24/7 news cycle.

Except for this drill baby drill thingey...Dick hasn't said a word, publicly in days. He did quietly send his favorite PR flack to shepard BP through the crisis. But, he's sitting on his hands, which is kind of funny considering he wrote the energy policy for the country that's got us jacked up in the first place.

You remember...Dickie called all his energy/oil buddies into his office and locked the door and told them not to take notes, 14 days after Dubya got sworn in. This nameless group of energy bigwigs set down the hands off policy that has Obama hog tied as we speak....

The warmonger VP who routinely hid out in his bunker during times of crisis...like Vietnam and 9/11.... got righteously ticked off that we the people, or some of us anyway, called him into question for his arrogant power grab.

You know, I'd be willing to bet that if you looked at that oil rig, what's the name...Event Horizon, or something like that...that Cheney's name is etched on the side of one of the blasted out beams rusting at the bottom of the ocean, right now.

But then again, why should the big Dick be talking? The oil spill isn't hurting him or his pocket book. Cheney gets paid regardless....His money doesn't come from fishing boats and tourism...

Who cares if a few clean up guys get sick repairing the damage done by the big Dick's cronies. Isn't that what the poor are here for.... to cleanup the messes made by Cheney and his chums?

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Alas...poor Yoric....

In the meantime, the media is hyperventilating over the wall to wall cool exhibited by President O in times of crisis. He's not jumping up and down. He's not cussing people out and the fake news pundits in varying shades of skin color are wondering “what's wrong?” Why isn't the President emoting more?

Why isn't the President more empathetic.....like Ronald Reagan, for instance?

C'mon now! 42 other presidents to choose from as an example and they want Obama to act like the only trained actor in the bunch..... Reagan, despite being a B list actor, was a professional. If he can't emote and empathize, then no one can.

However, I suspect what all these insta-pundits really want to see is for Obama to morph into Prissy in Gone With the Wind.....”Miz Scarlett... Miz Scarlett...ma'am....I don't know nothin' bout cappin' no oil wells!..hep me...hep me!”

Okay that last part is from Blazing Saddles' Sheriff Bart, playing Prissy..

Honestly....who's he gonna call? Brownie...Dubya...Turdblossom.... the Old Skool Oompa Loompa Boehner....Miz Mitch.....Horndog Vitter.....Lil Bobby Jindal....or that half baked Alaskan snowbunny?

Please...Maybe capping an oil well is right up Joe the Plumber's alley....ya think? Nah!.

They want Obama to forget himself, cross over to the dark side and fulfill the prophecy.... SOCIALIZE THE GOVERNMENT in one fell swoop....take over the BP corporation...send in the military....nuke the oil well and America into oblivion...bring on the End Days....why wait for Jesus to come back, Obama can do it....give him enough rope...and well you know.....

This is what they want....But then there are some in hell who want ice water, too....

And as he's proven time and time again since he's been in office....Obama's ice is in his glass and in his veins...just like George.....Gervin....not Bush....

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Ending on a positive note......

Ronald Barack Obama Reagan

The nay saying is in full voice this morning, lambasting President Obama for signing an anti nuke treaty with the Soviet Union. Solo singers led by drag queen extraordinaire Rudy Guiliani, with back up provided by welfare queen Michele Bachmann and the Sacajawea wannabe Sarah Palin, are screaming bloody murder today that Obama is soft and is making America less safe.

First off, Obama didn't really do anything except change the wording on an old treaty. If anything at all, he made the wording less bellicose, which may one day, down the road lead to real changes in attitude and arsenal strength. But right now, it's basically window dressing in preparation for the future.

Second, Congress must ratify any treaties for them to take affect. Care to wager a guess as to whether or not Obama can get 67 Senators to go along with the plan, especially since he needs the party of No to reach that number?

Third, the problem with invoking dead presidents like Ronald Reagan as an argument to bolster your fake argument is that his words can come back to haunt you.

Ronald Reagan talked openly about ridding the world of nukes. He was not a hawk when it came to nuclear bombs and massive arsenals of destruction. He talked about it. He wrote about it and he even worked toward it on many levels. Ronald Reagan hated nukes, and it is very safe to say, that he would disagree with the ladies Palin, Bachmann and Guiliani. He continued to perform as the leader of the strongest country in the world, however he never equivocated about his desire to ban nukes.

[F]or the eight years I was president," he wrote in his memoirs, "I never let my dream of a nuclear-free world fade from my mind."-Ronald Reagan.

In 1983 there was a made for TV movie called THE DAY AFTER. Reagan watched it along with the rest of America. It was an amazing movie, the pictures of which still exist in the minds of those who saw it. In his diary Reagan wrote that the movie left him “greatly depressed, “ and changed his mind on prevailing nuclear policy. Like Obama, Reagan was surrounded by war hawks and bomb them to hell wing nuts like Grover Norquist, Newt Gingrich and Jack Abramoff, to name a few. The movie was even shown on Russian television and later Reagan said it affected the Russians in a similar fashion. Even Henry Kissinger lined up against nukes, back in the day.

Considering the number of bombs and weapons that Russia and America already have stockpiled, this little treaty isn't even going to dent the pile, which makes the right's protestations against it, utterly senseless.

For those not old enough to remember, here is just five minutes of THE DAY AFTER. You can find the rest of the movie on Youtube, or better yet rent it and watch.

Got Change for a Reagan?

Somehow “got change for a Reagan” just doesn't flow. It doesn't feel right coming off the tongue. No rhyme, no rhythm, no lyricism. Not like “all about the Benjamins.” Say that and everybody knows you're talking about a $100 bill. Ask for change for a Reagan and you get that WTF you talkin' about look coming back.

Staunch conservatives in the Republican party have all but canonized Ronald Reagan since he left office. The furor has increased dramatically since he died. They've named highways after him. They've changed the names of airports to remember him. We've got all kinds of Ronald Reagan parks, recreational facilities and government buildings.

These conservatives say Reagan was one of the greatest presidents ever. Well, not exactly. I will give him a good grade as head cheerleader, during a time when America needed a cheerleader. However, his policies are directly responsible for what is plaguing the country now. Great presidents make change for the better, not bring change that almost destroys the nation, initiating the debt that is going to kill us as a country.

Reagan did not end the Cold War, nor did he bring about the downfall of Communism in the old USSR. Those events happened while he was president, but he didn't have anything to do with it. He tried to mount an economic blockade of Russia and succeeded in launching the biggest arms race in history.

One night during the State of the Union Speech, he dreamed up the Star Wars Defense System. It didn't exist and right after the speech, the generals were laughing about it. I was there, a working reporter. However, by the next day, they were on board with what Reagan had said. They've been trying to create it ever since. The most expensive weapons system ever, totally and completely useless.

Reagan said a lot of nasty things about social services and programs. He cut some of them. He cut some taxes. However, during his tenure social spending actually increased and taxes only decreased by about a percent or so. In other words, government grew under the man from California. He promised to balance the budget and to eliminate the deficit. He campaigned on that in 1980. But four years later the deficit doubled under his watch and wasn't eliminated until Clinton took care of it.

He busted the Unions, fired the air traffic controllers, and got the deregulation ball rolling to the point that it has rolled over us today, nearly flattening America. Reagan also left us with this other war, the war on drugs, and we all know how well that one is going these days.

And then there is that little thing called Iran/Contra. I'm not going to rehash it. You can read about it here. But honestly, for his part in Iran/Contra, Reagan should have been removed from office and jailed right along with Ollie North, and John McCain's buddy, the general in Arizona whose name escapes me at this moment. Reagan flat out lied about the crimes as well as what he knew and when he knew it. His crimes were infinitely more serious than a blow job in the oval office. Yet he skated without a scratch.

They don't call him the Teflon President for nothing.

Honestly, I don't give a damn who's on my money as long as it still spends and buys me what I want. However, Reagan is not a role model nor was he principled in performing his duties as President. The guy who is now on the $50, Ulysses S. Grant gets short shrift by historians. But he wasn't as bad or as ineffective as they would have you believe.

Grant, beside winning the Civil War, also fought for Black people on a number of fronts. That's the main reason why white America never took him seriously. Don't get very far in America by standing up for Black folks. I like him right up there next to Lincoln. In fact, I am in favor of keeping him right where he is on the money.

Besides, if you want to change the face on money, then maybe old Ben Franklin should be retired, because he was a straight up sex perv. There were even dead bodies, ten of them, found in his house in England. He never spent a day in jail either. Good ole Ben, maybe historians should tell the real story about him, too.

Still Picking on Hillary

Birther rejects working obscure rule to unseat Clinton as Secretary of State

There's apparently a new movement out there folks, and it's called the Eligibility Movement. This Eligibility Movement is an off shoot of the looney tunes Birther Movement led by the crazy Russian Expat by way of Israel, Orly Taitz.

Birthers, as you know spend their time trying to get President Obama thrown out of the White House because they say he is not a citizen of the United States and should never have been elected in the first place.

Despite heavy backing from the GOP Obama boycotters in Congress, they are considered little more than a joke among most “real Americans.”

So, I'm guessing all that pent up energy has to go somewhere, so some long time foreign service officer has decided to focus on another target, and that happens to be Hillary Clinton.

You can read the full article here.

David C Rodearmel, has brought suit in federal court claiming that Hillary's appointment is unconstitutional, because she was a Senator in Congress first. And nutty as this may sound, he is standing on a kernel of truth. Granted, his kernel of truth is about as solid as a one legged man playing a fiddle while walking on a tightrope, but it is there, none the less.

In fact, Presidents going back to Richard Nixon have had to quietly guard themselves against the “Emoluments Clause,” which basically prevents members of Congress from taking a federal job, if Congress increased the salary for that job while they held congressional office. It came about as a way to combat corruption in government. Okay.

The salary for Secretary of State went up in 2008 and Hillary was still in the Senate at that time. But Obama did what all Presidents since Richard Nixon have done....he invoked the “Saxbe fix.” This maneuver is named after Ohio Republican Bill Saxbe, who Nixon appointed Attorney General during the Watergate scandal.

The way it's done is the President who wants to appoint a congressman asks Congress to repeal the pay raises for the position in question, so that the salary is the same as it was BEFORE, the nominee was elected to office. As I said, Nixon thought it up and every President since that time has used it to solve the problem.

Well, as we've seen in the past couple of years, what's good for GOP presidents is not good for Obama. Some how when he does it, its illegal and unconstitutional.

Hell, just getting born was illegal for Obama, if you pay attention to these clowns.

Rodearmel says he is just doing his duty and protecting the Constitution, the fact that he gave money to the Swift Boaters has absolutely nothing to do with his present intentions. Judicial Watch, a NeoCon group that regularly brings suits against both Clintons is also board with this action.

It should also be noted that Hillary is his boss, he's still employed at the State Department. A federal court has already tossed his suit telling him he lacked standing to bring it in the first place. When a judge tells you, you lack standing, it's like saying “no harm, no foul, play ball.”

In other words, Dork, can't be too bad, you're still working for the lady.

The bad news for Hillary is that when these frivolous cases are tossed they now go directly to the United States Supreme Court, thanks to yet another GOP “fix” buried in the federal court system.

I have long said that the real damage done these past 30 years by the GOP has been at the federal level. The courts have been quietly gerrymandered away from objectivity in favor of subjectivity for business and the rich and powerful.

Witness, the recent SupCo ruling which will allow business to buy elections. Think the 2000 hijacking of the presidential election was bad.....well, just wait...things are about to get much worse...

The problem with this going to the Supreme Court is Justice Steven Breyer. Breyer, who was appointed by Bill Clinton and usually sides with the liberal justices, has already written an opinion on the Emoluments Clause.

He did this while still a law professor many years ago. But it still reflects his thinking on this rule of law. In letters to Senator Robert Byrd, Breyer said the Saxbe fix was unconstitutional and therein lies the conservative hope.

Since Breyer is now on the Supreme Court, they hope he will favor their side, if and when it ever comes to a vote.

Franklin Delano Obama

Mr. President should stop channeling Abraham Lincoln and start giving us a little FDR

Various administration spokespersons keep trying to convince us that the recession is over...that the country has turned the corner.

However, I don't buy it and neither does anyone else for that matter, especially since unemployment continues to climb. The official number is just under 10% out of work.

In addition there has been an under count going on since the days of Ronald Reagan when he announced that the government was no longer going to count those he termed unemployable or chronically unemployed. That move by Reagan immediately cut the official unemployment figure in half, from 8% down to 4%, and made him look good in the eyes of the majority.

It was a quick way to hide the real story of minority unemployment or white refusal at the time to hire Blacks, specifically, Black men. Unemployment for Black men, then as now, hovers around 30-40%, putting the onus of breadwinner permanently onto the backs of Black women. That was 30 years ago and continues today.

So the real unemployment figure today is more like 25% of the population.

Today, recession fueled layoffs and furloughs have resulted in Black women being let go, losing the gains that they've made in the workforce. For us it's always been last hired and first fired. A cycle that we as a people still can't seem to break.

With nobody working it means nobody is paying bills, paying taxes, or buying goods to keep this consumer driven economy functioning.

That's why we need a stimulus for working people. It was a mistake to give it to Wall Street and the automakers. GM should have been allowed to fail. Wall Street, well, they are hoarding the money, refusing to use it to stimulate the economy. However, they are still stimulating themselves with massive bonuses.

This recession might have been over had the government just given every American about $30,000 to spend as they see fit. Talk about a stimulus! It wouldn't have cost as much as TARP either.

In lieu of money....we need jobs....right now....not next year...

States are failing....Cities are verging on bankruptcy....

Yes, America is deeply in debt..but at this point the government needs to spend a lot more money in order to put people back to work quickly.

On roads.....on highways....on bridges....on schools....on infrastructure.....on bullet trains and light rail....on alternative energy projects....

There is an old saying.....”study long....you study wrong”

Obama needs to stop studying, make a decision, and then get it done.

Sunday Morning Tidbits

It’s Super Bowl Sunday, so not much else is going on in my brain this day. I’m a Bears fan who plans on attending a Colts party this afternoon, should be interesting.

I predict: Bears 24-17 over Peyton Manning’s Colts...and I like the Colts, actually. Just not today.

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Did you know that 87% of respondents to an MSNBC poll say Dubya should be impeached? More than 418,856 people responded to the poll.

As I’ve said before, ITMFA!

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Poor Mary Cheney. She’s written an article defending her right to have a baby with wife Heather and she wants us to leave her alone, because her baby is not a political tool for either the right or the left in this country.

Mary can’t help it...she is the neocons’ version of Paris Hilton......Mary and Paris have a lot in common...They apparently think their blondness, their richness, their whiteness, their name allows them to do anything they want without criticism, repudiation, or justification.

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Did you know that Congress passed a bill in 2005 mandating that everyone have a national driver’s license by 2008? It’s called REAL ID and is supposed to combat terrorism and keep illegals from faking identification in order to stay in this country. After 2008 all state motor vehicles departments will be linked, so information can be called up anywhere. In 2008, if you don’t have a REAL ID, you won’t be able to board a plane or open a bank account...It’s the law folks....unless Congress acts...

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Global Warming....”we has seen the enemy and it is us”....according to a report issued this past week by some expert scientists.

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Hillary wants to nationalize Exxon Oil’s record breaking profits from last year....Love me some Hillary, but that’s a bit too socialistic for me....Despite the inequities of capitalism...I’m still
more afraid of big government/ big brother in my life....

Now...can we get back to this war thing? When is Congress going to pull the plug on this? There is precedent for it, why all the foot dragging?

Even Ronald Reagan changed his mind and did a military about face...remember Lebanon?

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Daylight savings time comes three weeks early this year....on March 11th...It will end one week later on November 1st......Congress made it so, a couple of years ago....supposed to save us money on gas, light bulbs, since we will be outside in the daylight, and give the kids more time to collect candy on Halloween.....

Critics (where were they when this thing was just proposed legislation) liken this to a mini Y2K. All kinds of computers and schedules may be interrupted and confused by the new law. Check your computer....you may have to manually set yours to daylight savings time this year, depending on how old your ‘puter is.

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Why is anyone paying attention to Joe Biden? His bid for the presidency was dead on arrival when he declared. Does anyone outside his state or us political junkies even know who this dude is...or cares what he says?

Please!