Friday, November 9, 2012

Why did the Republican Party take a Shellacking?


Why did the republicans lose so dramatically on November 6, 2012?

Despite the obscene amounts of money that poured into republican campaigns, the republicans failed to take control of the United States Senate, as it guaranteed it would, and the Party lost its bid for the White House.

“He [Mitt Romney] was shell-shocked,” reported a senior staffer of the Romney campaign after the news networks called Ohio for Obama.  Karl Rove was demanding that Fox News rescind its call.

That “shell-shocked” comment speaks volumes as to why the republicans “took a shellacking,” which was first coined by the president following the 2010 mid-term election results.

We are now seeing Karl Rove, Grover Norquist and their marionettes trip over themselves to manufacture excuses that explain why November 6th was a “Shock and Awe” to the whole party, including its leadership and its entire constituency.  In addition to the excuse machine operating under nuclear power, Rove and Norquist are throwing the losing candidates under the bus and pointing the finger of blame on them.  Some people are curious, did these guys do any due-diligence and vetting of the candidates they poured hundreds of millions of dollars into before the election?

We were hearing for months that the polls were inaccurate - skewed with a far left lean.  Let’s examine the credentials of the people who were alleging that the polls were skewed toward the left.  Rush Limbaugh [attended] showed up for two semesters and one summer at Southeast Missouri State University.  According to his mother, “he flunked everything.”   Limbaugh has a long history of substance abuse.   Some people would question wisdom before taking counsel on anything beyond a date and time report from such an individual.

What exactly are Mr. Limbaugh’s credentials to interpret polling results?  Polling is a sophisticated science based upon data and mathematical algorithms.  Nate Silver, the founder of FiveThirtyEight.com, called every election with stunning accuracy.  Mr. Silver understands arithmetic.

“The polls are skewed” campaign rhetoric was parroted by virtually every right-wing talk show host - none of whom have any credible credentials for making such conclusive statements.  It’s much the same as Meat Loaf commenting on how to fix a struggling economy, as though the few brain cells remaining in his reptilian mind have even a scintilla of understanding of macroeconomics.

The propaganda from right-wing media will remain on Google for decades.  The right-wing media literally had its audience, and the candidates believing beyond any shadow of any doubt that the republicans would win all of the elections by a landslide.  Just Google: “how many seats did the republicans gain in 2012.”

The incentives of Karl Rove and Grover Norquist to report that the polls inaccurately favored a democratic victory were obvious - they wanted to continue taking money from their wealthy donors.  Let’s not forget that although Karl Rove and Grover Norquist purport to serve their wealthy constituents, that facade is really just window dressing to continue filling the donations based trough from which they feed themselves.  If that were not correct, then Messrs. Rove and Norquist should be willing to provide refunds.  It will be interesting to see if the wealthy republican donors can be duped again.

The conclusions that the republicans seem to have difficulty comprehending and accepting are that they were dead wrong.  If that were not the case, then the results would be 180 degrees opposite and Mitch McConnell and Mitt Romney would be measuring for drapes for their new offices.

The fundamental reason the republican candidates, media and constituents were wrong was because of the phenomenally successful propaganda campaign facilitated by Karl Rove and Grover Norquist.  If the wealthy donors thought they were buying a propaganda campaign, they should send these gentlemen large bonus checks.  It was the most effective propaganda operation and con-job in the history of the World.

It is difficult to say who were on the “inside” of the propaganda campaign.  Were John Boehner and Mitch McConnell on the inside, or were they also just victims of the modern-day version of Jim Jones Kool-Aid?  There is certainly no denying that whoever was drinking the Norquist and Rove Kool-Aid committed suicide.

So what now for the Republican Party?

The current post-election agenda of denial is not going to solve any of the Republican Party’s problems.  In fact, I am quite sure that the far left Democrats would like nothing more than to see the Republicans continue down this denial and blame path, which is akin to a death march.

The Republican Party is currently beholden to Grover Norquist and Karl Rove for money, and to the likes of Tony Perkins, Franklin Graham and Pat Robertson because they control enormous flocks of voters who parrot anything they are told and vote in strict and blind obedience to these evangelists.  Despite the IRS Regulations that prohibit tax-exempt religious organizations from lobbying and participating in the political process, the politicians who receive the benefit place these people and organizations above the law.

The Republican Party glorifies a platform fundamentally comprised of social wedge issues that have nothing to do with managing a nation, but everything to do with generating emotion, much of which is based upon fear.  Countries are not governed by emotion, and that is becoming abundantly clear to the American public.

The Republican Party needs to distance itself from all of the above.  Yes, it needs to reinvent itself.

Women, youth, and minorities phenomenally rejected the Republican Party.  It only captured the angry white man, but even that is showing a declining allegiance.  The angry white man is declining both from attrition, but also because we are a better informed and socially connected society.  Racism and bigotry is being replaced with a populous that simply sees people as people, and believe that all people should be free to live their own life.

Today’s America does not want the government poking around in our bedrooms or our women’s bodies, and it is growing tired of the War on Drugs industrial complex that serves only to support the prison industrial complex.  The people spoke very loud and clear on November 6th.

Now Republicans, you can say that abandoning your entire extreme right-wing support group would cause you to lose elections.  I sympathize with your concern about losing elections.  May I suggest that you make a cursory review of the results you witnessed this past Tuesday?  If you continue to do the same thing, you are going to get the same results, and you will eventually face extinction.

Yes Republicans, you can reinvent your Party, and I hope you do.  Yes, it will take time and you will forfeit a couple of election cycles.  But, once you are truly reinvented, you will be a force to be reckoned with, and that is what will serve our democracy.

Republicans, you need to revisit the policies of some of the real models like Dwight Eisenhower, Barry Goldwater, Gerald Ford, Colin Powell, Bob Dole, Nelson Rockefeller and pre-tea party John McCain.

Republicans, wake up.  Karl Rove, Grover Norquist, Tony Perkins, Franklin Graham and Pat Robertson are doing you no favors.

As Governor Romney stated, it’s time for real change


Please read the plan to fix our nation by clicking the link below, and sign the petition from the link at the bottom of the article.

http://dave-koch.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-morning-after-nineteen-point-plan.html

Thursday, November 8, 2012

A Dangerously Polarized Nation

We have become a Dangerously Polarized Nation.

Until the day after the election, I did not realize how dangerously polarized our country has become.  The polarization has gone well beyond rhetoric.  

People are making death threats and threatening other acts of violence against others simply because of their party affiliation.  



Even people who were once thought to have some semblance of a mind and intellectual prowess have shocked the civilized world.  For example, among his many delusional statements during this election cycle, Donald Trump called for a seemingly violent revolution immediately after the news networks called the election for President Obama.  Mr. Trump called for a revolution because the very democratic process that is the foundation of our democracy did not elect his chosen candidate.  We’ve even heard fast-food chicken peddlers inject their extremism ideology into the election, albeit at their own peril.

I personally have acquaintances of 15 or 20 years who have decidedly become hostile toward me because of party affiliation and ideology.  We have not had this level and volume of violent discussion during any time that I can cite in my four decades of following the political process.

My observations suggest the following explanation for the current and explosive division we are seeing in our nation.

You are your mind and your mind is you.  Your mind is what has been programmed into your brain.  You are what you think, and what you think is your core essence. 

Your brain is an organic computer that is not dissimilar to a PC computer.  Like a PC computer, your brain is the hardware.   Your mind is the operating system and software programs that are installed and running on that computer. 

At birth, our mind is pre-programmed or hardwired to perform basic life sustaining functions.  It regulates body temperature, controls heart rate, breathing, digestion, vision, hearing, touch, etc.  Beyond these basic functions, a new mind it is simply a blank hard drive or sponge eager to be programmed with software.

If a newborn were completely isolated from any societal structure or people, their computer would not evolve much beyond its reptilian level essential functions.  Some would argue that it would develop some of the higher advanced functions such as making and using tools, or an individual might become an idiot savant, which really is what a PC computer is without software.  I would not disagree.

Our software is installed on our brain from birth by parents, siblings, teachers, counselors, ministers, television, radio, friends, acquaintances, groups we interact with, peer groups and to a large extent, by the culture in which we are raised and live.  Much of the software installed on brain, which software collectively forms our mind is done so without us making a conscious and deliberate decision as to its benefit or detriment.

It is interesting that many people are more cognizant of what software and programs they install, and allow to be installed, on their PC computers than those programs they allow to be installed on the computer between their ears.  To quote Cher Sarkisian [Cher Bono], “People are more concerned with what they put in their car than what they put in their body.”  My point is similar.

Most people unconsciously permit unregulated programming of their mind via an open and unrestricted port, but they are very conscious and deliberate about what software they install on their PC computer. 

Most people who utilize their PC computer as a necessary tool have antivirus, firewall, spyware detection, directory washing, and various other software programs installed to insure that the computer operates at its optimum performance.  They do not allow the installation of any software that could cause the system to produce undesirable results, or that diminish its functionality or operating capacity.

Who we are, and what differentiates us from other people is the software that has been installed on our minds.  There are no other physical differences from one normal brain to another.  It is all about software.

When a dysfunctional program is installed on our PC computer, it produces dysfunctional results.  Garbage in -- Garbage out.  The mind is not dissimilar.  Thoughtful people filter and regulate what they allow into their mind (firewall and virus protection) by scrutinizing what they read and watch on television, with whom they interact, the cultures to which they belong, and how they spend their leisure time.  It is critical for a healthy mind to scrutinize what we allow to enter into our minds, or an individual could face the dilemma of garbage in - garbage out.

It is only over the past few decades that we have witnessed a sharp increase in juvenile crime.  What has changed in the programming of kids’ minds that correlates to this phenomenal change?  Could violence based video games have some influence?  Some experts argue that these violence-based games desensitize the mind to what would otherwise be a horrifying experience of committing a violent act against another person or animal.

Extreme examples include the Columbine Massacre, the Aurora, Colorado movie theater shootings, the Gabrielle Giffords shootings and many, many more.  Not only were such incidents almost unheard of a few decades ago, these kind of incidents are becoming more frequent. 

Our civilized culture has existed in the United States for 236 years. Yet, it is only since the advent of violent video games that we are seeing such a dramatic and nefarious aberration in juvenile behavior.  This is not a discussion that I care to have hijacked with opinion regarding the Tony Perkins’ claims that there has been a decline in Bible reading or Christian fundamentalism.  We are a nation of diversity, including religious diversity.  That is not the central focus of this discussion, or the polarization in our nation.

Our nation has become polarized because of software and programming people are allowing to be installed on their mind.  This is occurring on the right and on the left.

The spokesperson(s) for the far right include such individuals as Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Bill O’Reilly and Ann Coulter.  Those employed in the broadcast industry are fundamentally earning their living by supporting the agendas of Rupert Murdoch, and other wealthy media moguls.  On the left we have Keith Olbermann, Ed Shultz, Rachel Maddow, etc.  Both of these right and left media organizations are in business to make money via attracting an audience who will watch their toothpaste and soap commercials.  It’s a business, and we are simply the commodity that they sell to their advertisers.

The programming that comes from these “news” agencies is well coordinated and intended to shape the thinking if its audience.  Indeed, it is not at all uncommon to witness someone simply parrot the unverified statements of a Rush Limbaugh.  Even more dangerous, the coordinated programming of its constituency includes the creation of a variety of “buttons” that these media pundits can push to get a predictable reaction.  The anger button was pushed by all of the right leaning pundits, and it clearly worked because they have successfully installed the desired software on the minds of their audience.

Irrespective of which of these media anthologies you are inclined to rely upon for your information, if you are emphatic about your ideology, you are arguably spending too much time getting bias and spun information from one of these media influences.  A deliberate examination of your software and the source of your programming might be prudent.

An example of someone who is obviously emphatic about her ideology can be listened to at this link.

http://youtu.be/wLoqti0lzAw

Changing dysfunctional software on a PC computer is simple -- you delete it.  We however were not born with the delete key.  Changing software in the mind is more problematic and requires a good deal more effort than a few keystrokes. Experiences cannot be deleted.  They can however be diluted through a conscious diet of monitored mental stimulus in moderation.

There is no reason that We the People of this nation should not be able to have open and constructive discussions without one side pounding its fist and screaming real loud.  We all need to take a hard look at our bias, and who is benefiting from programming that bias into our minds.  We need to carefully measure and moderate input from obviously bias sources and get our information from news organizations and journalists that simply report the news.  There still are some Walter Cronkite’s among us, and with some digging, there is unbiased information available.

We all need to be the adults.  The people who need adult supervision from us are some our elected leaders.  They are the people who are creating the tension in our country, and it really is time that they put away their crayons and get to work.

The party that is currently in deep trouble of extinction is the Republican Party.  The Republican Party is in trouble because of its leadership. 

Immediately after President Obama was elected in the 2008 election, Mitch McConnell stated that the top priority of the Republican Party was to deny the President a second term.  The top priority of the United States Senate should have been the peoples business, but Senator McConnell only wanted to serve his own interests in hopes of capturing his dream - the Senate Majority Leader’s seat.

The Senator’s statement:  http://youtu.be/W-A09a_gHJc

Senator McConnell pursued an agenda of obstruction, misinformation and patent lies in an attempt to discredit the President, but a substantial majority of the American People were aware of the facts and voted accordingly.  The United States of America was held hostage in hopes that one man could achieve his dream position as the Senate Majority Leader.  We were simply his pawns.

If the Republican’s ever want to have a party that can win elections, its first priority is necessarily to elect a new minority leader in the Senate and let Mr. McConnell finish out his term.  Wake up Republicans, Mitch McConnell is doing you no favors. 

The Party’s second priority is to revisit your platform and focus on the genuine constitutional obligations that the politicians have toward governmental operations.  Eradicate the entire wedge driving social issues that are promoted by all of the Tony Perkins of the country, which belong in the home and the church - but not in our government.  Get the Republican Party our of our bedrooms and out of women’s vaginas.

Please read the article at the link below, and if you are inclined, sign the petition that is linked from the bottom of that article.

http://dave-koch.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-morning-after-nineteen-point-plan.html

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

The morning after. A nineteen-point plan for progress.

The morning after.  A nineteen-point plan for progress.


Dear Messrs. Boehner and McConnell:

Fours years ago, you [Mr. McConnell] stated that the primary focus of the Republican Party is to deny President Obama a second term. 

Mr. McConnell, those statements were not just indelicate, as you had been advised, they were an admission that you would lead our United States Senate in a direction that was diametrically opposed to your obligations and commitments under your oath of office.  Both of you gentlemen have abused the powers of your office with reckless disregard for the interests of the American People.

We are no longer a Nation dominated by angry white racist bigoted men who control an electorate of easily frightened and manipulated religious extremists.  We are a brown nation that is tolerant and accepting of all people, as was envisioned by the drafters of our United States Constitution and clearly expressed in the 14th Amendment thereof.

You two have been among the primary architects of a nefarious plan, and you have led an agenda of intentional and deliberate deception, misinformation and obstructionism that has further damaged our economy and our nation.

You knowingly and with malice refused to participate in any positive measures that would rehabilitate the economic catastrophe that you directly participated in creating during the George W. Bush administration.

You facilitated your twisted and perverted agendas through a campaign of fear mongering, and then blatantly lying to a constituency of people who simply do not have the time to investigate the veracity of your statements. 

You facilitated a campaign, which suggested that the President did nothing to repair the economic mess that you participated in creating.  You are clearly aware, and now the entire electorate will be made aware of your patently fallacious claims.

On November 6, 2012, you gentlemen were sent a very strong message that this is not a white America, and that your allegiances to Grover Norquist, Karl Rove, Sheldon Adelson, the Koch Brothers, and the likes of Tony Perkins, Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck are intolerable to the American electorate - a constituency that you apparently do not even know.  Gentlemen, this is the 21st - not the 19th Century.

Although it is certainly conceivable that Governor Rick Scott dreamt up his repugnant voter suppression agendas on his own, Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted simply does not possess the intellectual prowess to have implemented the criminal activities we saw come from his office on his own.  Your enterprise had great influence, and that shall come out.

You gentlemen have made yourselves marionettes for Grover Norquist and Karl Rove, and their very big money contributors.  On November 6, 2012 you learned that the American electorate is far more powerful than your entire supporter network combined.

Although you gentlemen had hoped to annihilate our democratic process and replace it with an agenda of appointment to office by the privileged, our democracy survived your vicious attack on November 6, 2012.

November 6, 2012 reaffirmed that we are a Nation of the people, by the people and for the people. We the People still have the power to vote, and our votes are not for sale.

Gentlemen, in case you were unaware, you are now on notice that We the People are your bosses.  You can consider this your employee warning report.  We will now be supervising you and the company you keep, and whether or not your behavior improves toward facilitating the interests of the United States of America.  November 6, 2012 was your employee evaluation.  Consider yourselves on electoral probation.

Be aware that you will be closely monitored and supervised by roughly 60,432,728 registered voters, all of whom will participate in your next re-election campaign, with many of them visiting your district during your bid for re-election.  Should you fail to follow the explicit instructions being provided to you by your bosses, you may be subject to impeachment and removal from office by an action facilitated by the aforementioned sixty million voters, thereby forfeiting your retirement pension and health benefits, as well as other sanctions that may present themselves.


Your job assignment moving forward includes the following nineteen (19) specific objectives.

1. You will be cooperative in passing and implementing legislation that is in our nation’s best interest, which is proposed by the elected leader of our Nation, President Barack Obama.

2. You will initiate and support investigations, which include, but are not limited to the following.  You will be forthright in cooperating with all legitimate efforts to expose unethical or criminal activities by Grover Norquist, Karl Rove, Sheldon Alelson, Governor Rick Scott and Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted.

3. We the People have elected Barack Obama to select the next Supreme Court Justices, which unless you can provide indisputable evidence supporting a denial, we expect you to approve expeditiously.

4. You will pass legislation that rescinds the ruling handed down by the United States Supreme Court in the Citizens United versus the Federal Election Commission.

5.  You will support Wall Street reform as reasonably proposed by the leader We the People have re-elected, President Barack Obama.

6. You will support a progressive tax code that increases taxes on those with incomes over $250,000 per year, and you will not increase taxes on anyone with an income less than $250,000 per year.

7. You will support a reformed energy policy that weans our nation off of foreign oil.

8. You will support an environmental policy that facilitates a reduction in greenhouse gases and helps to cool a warming planet.

9. You will support a reformed education policy that makes educational opportunity available to all citizens.

10. You will support making health care available to all citizens that is substantially similar to the health care available to Members of Congress, or alternatively you will forfeit your own health care.

11. You will support the strenuous enforcement of all current laws and IRS regulations that prohibit political expression or participation by all tax-exempt religious organizations, and you will suspend the tax-exempt status retroactively for any religious organization(s) that have violated any such provisions.

12. You will suspend the lobbyist licensure of Grover Norquist and Karl Rove, and all of their staff and subordinates pending the outcome of a full investigation into their activities by the United States Department of Justice.

14. You will publicly disclose the facts that the current debt and deficit facing our nation was created as a result of the reckless disregard of economic regulation, and the starting of two unnecessary wars during the George W. Bush administration, all of which the two of you sanctioned.

14. You will constructively cooperate with the President and participate in the creation and passing of legislation that provides economic stimulus that creates good paying jobs in the United States.

15. You will pass legislation that penalizes corporations that send American jobs out of our country, and that awards companies that create jobs, or repatriates jobs to the United States.

16. You will pass legislation that severely sanctions any Member of the United States House of Representatives or Senate for facilitating or participating in a frivolous action or investigation.  Said sanctions shall pierce any immunity of office and shall inure to the individual personally.

17. You shall initiate an investigation into whether or not any seated justice of the United States Supreme Court, or family member has received any monetary or economic benefit, either directly or indirectly, that could be considered any conflict of interest with their duties of office.

18. You will initiate and pass legislation that ensures that the Federal elections Commission is and remains a non-partisan department of government, and provides the Federal Election Commission all powers over all elections, including the power to supersede any decisions made by any other federal or state government official, and the Commission shall have all authority to enforce its powers, including the power to arrest and detain.

19. You will pass legislation as necessary during the lame duck session to increase the Nation’s debt ceiling without condition.

You will support these and other reasonable initiatives toward facilitating the best interests of our nation, or we will find someone who will.

Get to work gentlemen.  Quantifiable progress is expected on all of these points by December 31, 2012.  Your performance shall be scrutinized and evaluated on a continuing basis until further notice.

Sincerely, 

We the People


Please sign the petition at the link below.
 

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/915/723/494/messrs-boehner-and-mcconnell-job-assignments/
 


.

Monday, November 5, 2012

ELECTION EVE - November 5, 2012. What’s next?

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ELECTION EVE - November 5, 2012.  What’s next?

Tomorrow night I’m ordering not one, but two, large, double cheese deep dish, stuffed crust vegi Pizza Hut pan pizzas and an eight pack of diet soda since I’m watching my weight.  ;-)  It’s going to be a long night, but for many, it is also going to be a celebration watching the election results come in that show a clear victory for President Obama.

I am personally going to savor watching the dreams of Sheldon Adelson shattered as the investigation into his corrupt criminal enterprise intensifies with no hope of staving off the DOJ, and not even the glimmer of a chance of a presidential pardon, as he had hoped to purchase with his $100 million contribution to Mitt Romney.

Yes, for those who are unaware, one of the largest contributors to the Romney campaign is Sheldon Adelson who will likely be charged, tried and convicted on a variety of money laundering, racketeering, corrupt and criminal activities.  Adelson did not donate one hundred million dollars to Romney out of benevolence or love of country.  He made that investment because he is scared to death of spending the rest of his life in prison, which is quite likely what he will face under a continued Obama Justice Department that is dedicated to the pursuit of justice.  -- Behind every great fortune there is a crime - BALZAC - This quote appears in the first pages of Book 1 of The Godfather.

Tomorrow night will restore our faith that our elections cannot be bought even with the hundreds of millions poured into our political campaigns by Adelson, Bill and David Koch, and all of the Grover Norquist and Karl Rove cronies who expect to profit from their enormous financial contributions.  Indeed, it will be good for the country, in fact the world, to see Norquist and Rove lose credibility even within their perverted circles of influence.

This has been an exhausting election cycle for those people who have remained genuinely informed, through sources other than the Rupert Murdoch tools that regurgitate his propaganda so he can pander to his supporters.  Murdoch has been key to taking a phenomenally tortured ideology and repackaging it to look like the Republican Party.  This is not the Republican Party of leaders such as Dwight Eisenhower, Gerald Ford, Colin Powell, Bob Dole and Nelson Rockefeller.

What we see being masqueraded as the Republican Party simply is not.  This Imposter Party is basically the very wealthy and greedy who have hijacked the Republican Party, and then recruited a variety of social agenda misfits to scare the electorate to the polls.

The cast of characters include the right-wing Christian extremists, the likes of Mike Huckabee and Tony Perkins to help corral the flock and promote the platform through a campaign of fantasy based fear, which is fundamentally designed to ingrain the doctrine that thou shalt believe everything we say, and thou shalt question nothing, or thou will be cast into the eternal pit of fire and brimstone where there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

The architects of this Imposter Party then appeals to the uninformed and ignorant demographic by adding a dash of bigotry, racism and hate into the mix courtesy of Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter, exacerbated with the celebrity endorsements of none other then Ted Nugent and Meat Loaf, which really has to make a statement to anyone who has any cognitive ability.  Top it all off with awarding the bid to be the Imposter Party’s publicist to Rupert Murdoch, and they have all of the fundamental ingredients to manipulate the easily frightened low information voter.

In an attempt to provide some kind of credibility for the few followers who have some semblance of a mind, there are a few celebrity individuals who are perceptively credible, because at one time they were.   A cursory examination of some of these endorsements would reveal that the only real difference between Jack Welch and Donald Trump is that one of them is a billiard ball with fur.  Beyond that, both of these characters strain credibility to the point that rational people simply dismiss them as senile, angry, racist, bigoted grumpy old white men.

With regard to the religious influences, many people argue that the tax-exempt status for all religious organizations that in any way violate the policies regarding political participation should be expelled retroactive.  I am among those who believe the IRS regulations should be strenuously enforced.

The accelerated wealth-building agenda we have witnessed is very recent, and was phenomenally exacerbated during the Bush 43 administration.  As a small example, the mega-super yachts that are being built and bought today did not even exist pre-Bush 43 because there was no market that could afford them.  The primary goal of the hijacked Republican Party is simple - increase profits from the military, drug war, and prison industrial complexes, privatize profits and socialize loses.  Success was achieved during September 2008.

Grover Norquist made it crystal clear that his wealthy contributors do not want a real president.

"All we have to do is replace Obama. ...  We are not auditioning for fearless leader. We don't need a president to tell us in what direction to go. We know what direction to go. We want the Ryan budget. ... We just need a president to sign this stuff. We don't need someone to think it up or design it. The leadership now for the modern conservative movement for the next 20 years will be coming out of the House and the Senate. [...]

Pick a Republican with enough working digits to handle a pen to become president of the United States. This is a change for Republicans: the House and Senate doing the work with the president signing bills. His job is to be captain of the team, to sign the legislation that has already been prepared."
- Grover Norquist

See the video here:  http://youtu.be/6wYYX0mZsQA

What calls itself the Republican Party today would be happy electing a potted plant to the office of President.  The Party clearly found their hollow and plastic malleable man in Mitt Romney.

The Party that is masquerading as the Republican Party is the epitome of hypocrisy.  Let’s examine the policies that this alleged party purports to advance, like promoting democracy and nation building.

Iraq held its first free election, which had a fair representation of all groups on January 30, 2005.  The Iraq elections were as politically iconic for George W. Bush as was the "Mission Accomplished" speech aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, which was second only to the President's arrival on the carrier in full military flight gear.

The photo-op of Iraq’s elections were substantially important to Bush in support of the administrations' nation building and spreading democracy agendas, which were a second term opening promise of Bush (circa, January 2005).  More importantly, Iraq’s elections purportedly confirmed Bush’s successful implementation of a democracy, and therefore his newest justification for the war in Iraq.  This was George W’s third tortured attempt at arriving at a rationalization for invading a sovereign nation, and many believe it strained the administration’s credibility even further.

We all remember the iconic photos of the Iraqi people with purple dye on their fingers, and what appeared to be a well-organized and efficient process of voting.

Following the elections, President Bush was quoted: "resounding success" and "the world is hearing the voice of freedom" [from the Middle East.]  "By participating in free elections, the Iraqi people have firmly rejected the anti- democratic ideology of the terrorists…"

If we would have seen the kind of voter suppression in Iraq that we are currently seeing nationwide, and particularly in The States of Ohio and Florida, George W. and all of his republican NeoCon’s would have blown a gasket, and there is a good likelihood that we would have witnessed a “Shock and Awe” that would have made the invasion of Iraq look like a couple of kids playing with firecrackers and sparklers.

It appears that we need to do some nation building here at home, and we clearly need to take a hard look at promoting democracy in the United States of America.

So what’s next?

An Obama victory is obvious on this election eve.  Is the Democratic Party perfect?  Hardly!  Reform is necessary if our derailed democracy is to be preserved.  We will never see real change with a tea party or independent party platform that simply promotes another self-serving agenda by violating some provisions of the Constitution to support a tortured interpretation of other provisions.  Running these independent candidates that garner a few percent of the vote is clearly an exercise in futility.  It might make us feel good to cast a protest vote, but it achieves absolutely no solutions.

Clearly, if a person wants to travel from point A to point B, they must first identify where point A is, and how they arrived at point A.

How did our nation arrive at a point where money and corruption has permeated our political process to its very core?

We are a nation of laws, which are fundamentally based upon a magical document called the United States Constitution.  These laws are made by our legislature, but checked for constitutionality by our judiciary.

Our executive and legislative branches of government have fallen under great criticism.  However, our judicial branch seems to feel that it is immune to public scrutiny.  It isn’t immune because the constitution gives the people the power of impeachment and removal from office.

State Supreme Court and U.S. Supreme Court Justices can hold their offices during “good behavior.”  If the barometer to measure good behavior is the same for seated justices as it is for all United States citizens, then we can make a determination as to whether the current Supreme Court Justices have exercised good behavior.  This would clearly be a reasonable comparative since our nation supports the doctrine that no one is above the law.

The influence of corporate money is pretty blatant with regard to  state Supreme Court races.  It takes a little more investigative prowess to find how the U.S. Supreme Court justices have been influenced by the very wealthy.  Nevertheless, it is occurring, and the evidence does exist.

In the case of Citizens United v. The Federal Election Commission, counsel for Citizens United argued in relevant part that corporations should be able to contribute unlimited amounts of money to the political process because corporations are people and have equal rights under the First Amendment.  The rational is that media organizations, which are corporations, have the First Amendment protected ability to give unlimited opinion and have unlimited influence during the political process.  Some would suggest that this argument is a red herring.  If a corporation wanted to compete with a media organization and its influence, it could start or buy a media organization, as have individuals like Oprah Winfrey, Ted Turner, William Randolph Hearst and Rupert Murdoch.  It would cost less than what has been spent in a single election cycle.

Why was Citizens United decided along straight party lines, as was the Bush v. Gore case during the 2000 election?

Anyone who is paying attention must wonder how many different constitutions are used by the U.S. Supreme Court Justices.  It is interesting that some justices can constitutionally make an agonized interpretation of the First Amendment to award rights to corporations that are the same as the First Amendment rights for people, yet on the other hand, these same Justices do not believe that real people of differing orientation have the same rights under the Fourteenth Amendment as those people who fall within these Justices personal and political theology and ideology.

Once again, it’s along straight party lines.

A Reform Party is clearly necessary if we are to preserve our democracy.  Every branch of government has been corrupted with money, and the judicial branch is simply acting as a facilitator for the politics of the legislative and executive branches, both on the national and state levels.

If point B is a rehabilitated political system resulting in a government of the people, by the people and for the people, we must first recognize that point A is a corrupted judiciary.  Revolutionary changes here will repair a wounded nation.

Friday, November 2, 2012

The 2012 Campaign for Voter Supression


Iraq held its first free election, which had a fair representation of all groups on January 30, 2005.  The Iraq elections were as politically iconic for George W. Bush as was the "Mission Accomplished" speech aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, which was second only to the President's arrival on the carrier in full military flight gear.

The photo-op of Iraq’s elections were substantially important to the Bush administration in support of the administrations' "nation building" and "spreading democracy" agendas, which were a second term opening promise of Bush (circa January 2005).  More importantly, Iraq’s elections purportedly confirmed Bush’s successful implementation of a democracy, and therefore his newest justification for the war in Iraq.  This was W’s third tortured attempt at arriving at a rationalization for invading a sovereign nation, and many believe it strained the administration’s credibility even further.

We all remember the iconic photos of the Iraqi people with purple dye on their fingers, and what appeared to be a well-organized and efficient process of voting.

Following the elections, President Bush was quoted: "resounding success" and "the world is hearing the voice of freedom" [from the Middle East.]  "By participating in free elections, the Iraqi people have firmly rejected the anti- democratic ideology of the terrorists…"

If we would have seen the kind of voter suppression in Iraq that we are currently seeing in The State of Florida, George W. and all of his republican NeoCon’s would have blown a gasket, and there is a good chance we would have witnessed a “Shock and Awe” that would have made the invasion of Iraq look like a couple of kids playing with firecrackers.

It appears that we need to do some nation building here at home, and we clearly need to take a hard look at promoting democracy in the United States of America.

Nation building and promoting true democracy in America is not going to happen with our current two-party system.  Both are bought and paid for by any variety of special interest groups.

Perhaps the time has come, in this generation, to heed the counsel of Thomas Jefferson.

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Chick-Fil-A is the Anita Bryant of the 21st Century

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Chick-Fil-A posted the link at the bottom of this posting to Facebook on September 20, 2012 at approximately 5:30 PM.  It will not allow comments from anyone it considers its opposition, even on Facebook.  It is a Press Release by Chick-Fil-A, once again trying to back peddle its abhorrent bigoted behavior.  Dan Cathy, Chick-Fil-A's CEO, was wallowing in satisfaction when the company got one day's worth of business from all of the easily manipulated and frightened, right-wing, homophobic, Galactically Ignorant, low information knuckle draggers.

Chick-Fil-A's fifteen minutes of fame has resulted in corporate suicide second only to Anita Bryant’s career.  The organization is obviously facing some serious consequences, which its CEO never even considered when he attempted to capitalize upon hate and bigotry to increase revenues.  Considering consequences is the very essence of a CEO's job.  Look up Anita Bryant on Wikipedia to learn of her self-destruction resulting from her homophobic crusade.  Dan Cathy and Chick-Fil-A are on the exact same path.

Dan Cathy is desperately trying to kiss and make up with the LGBT community.  Why?  Well, based upon my business experience, I can guarantee that all of the banks affiliated with Chick-Fil-A are very paranoid about lending money either to Chick-Fil-A, to anyone looking at buying and financing a franchise, or anyone who currently owns and operates a franchise.  In fact, I would bet that lending for new franchise sales has completely evaporated right now.

You can also be sure that all of the insurance underwriters for Chick-Fil-A and its franchisee's got a real pucker from the dumbass stunt pulled by its CEO. 

Chubb generally underwrites Employee Practices Insurance.  I would not be surprised if Chick-Fil-A lost a good portion of its insurance coverage.  Dan Cathy's stunt opened Chick-Fil-A up to some very ugly employee and franchise lawsuits.  He basically made Chick-Fil-A a plaintiff attorney's wet-dream.

Anyone looking at buying a franchise is receiving stern advice from their attorneys, insurance carrier, and from their banks to by a Dairy Queen, Taco Bell, or McDonalds - ANYTHING but a Chick-Fil-A.  Aside from that, who would want to pour their life savings into a franchise that is financially and contractually beholden to a loose cannon cowboy?

Banks do not like taking risks that cannot be calculated within the guidelines of customary business operation risks, and for those unforeseen risks, the bank wants to see insurance.  Insurance companies do not want to write insurance for someone who is waiving a banner, "Please sue me."  Finally, you can't buy insurance for having a CEO who is an ass nozzle. 

I suspect that Chick-Fil-A lost a great deal more business than it gained from its one-day escapade of catering to the all of the aforementioned right-wing, homophobic, low information knuckle draggers.  However, what is far more impacted is its business model, and how it has tainted itself with its lenders, insurance underwriters, franchisees, prospective franchisees, vendors and everyone who has actually evolved beyond the 17th Century. 

I was in my early twenties while Anita Bryant self-destructed.  Anita Bryant is still the best thing that ever happened to the LGBT community - indeed Anita Bryant was the catalyst that created the organized LGBT community.

Dan Cathy and Chick-Fil-A consciously decided to viciously attack innocent people on the basis of what we now see is a totally phony theology.  If Mr. Cathy were really devoted to his theology, he wouldn't be trying to backpedal.  Mr. Cathy's theology is practiced only for the convenience of the moment or the situation.  Cathy’s theology is a total veneer that he is willing to abandon because his business is in very serious trouble, as it certainly should be.

Some people would suggest that the LGBT community accept Mr. Cathy's disingenuous olive branch and forgive him.  I personally say use him and Chick-Fil-A as the sacrificial goat to show the rest of the country that there are consequences with what amounts to corporate sponsorship of hate and bigotry.  Mr. Cathy made himself and his organization the sacrificial goat - not the LGBT community.

I believe that this is the biggest opportunity to advance equality since Anita Bryant.  Just because Chick-fil-A is floating a balloon that it won't give donations (that anyone can find) to anti gay organizations doesn't suddenly cure Dan Cathy of his numerous malfunctions, including being a repugnant bigot.  My personal vote would be to continue the boycott until Dan Cathy is in Chapter 7 and Chick-Fil-A is in Chapter 11.

http://www.chick-fil-a.com/Pressroom/Press-Releases#?release=who-we-are

Saturday, September 8, 2012

The GOP leads its Flock off the Cliff

I find it almost amusing, but actually sad how the GOP has convinced its flock of sheep to believe that they are certified economists, and that they actually understand the erroneous information that they are being fed, which they dutifully regurgitate with zero comprehension of macro-economics, and without the slightest concern for accuracy.  The vast majority of these people couldn’t read a balance sheet.

It is curious to me that the people who put the country in its current mess believe that they are qualified to critique the administration that is successfully cleaning up that mess.  The battle cry of the GOP seems to be; “We left him a total mess. He hasn’t cleaned it up fast enough, so fire him and put us back in.”

Let’s take a closer look at just how deep was that mess made by George W. Bush during his eight-year reckless, cowboy administration. 

Among the most putrid piles of pure unadulterated manure is the GOP’s completely fabricated statement that George W. Bush kept us safe.  Really?  Historical records and documents clearly establish that Bush had substantial warning of an imminent terrorist attack during the spring and summer of 2001, including;

“Bin Ladin Determined To Strike in US” was the President's Daily Brief prepared by the Central Intelligence Agency and given to U.S. President George W. Bush on August 6, 2001. The brief warned of terrorism threats from Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda 36 days before the September 11, 2001 attacks...

Bush did nothing.  Then came September 11, 2001 and some 3,000 people were killed on U.S. soil.  As far as keeping us safe, Bush is the worse president in the history of the country.  President Bush had clear warning of an imminent threat and he dropped the ball - period.

Bush started two unnecessary wars, and he completely gave up on the primary military focus and objective post 9/11, stating; “I really just don’t spend that much time on [bin Laden]…”  “I don't know where he is, nor do I…” (really care?) …but catches himself in mid-sentence. 

President Obama took the initiative to make capturing or killing the number one enemy of the United States a priority.  Osama bim Laden was killed by U.S. Special Forces under Order of President Obama on May 2, 2011.

Bush launched a full-scale war in Afghanistan on October 7, 2001, despite the clear evidence that it could not be won.  There were plenty of very qualified world advisors who told Bush that invading Afghanistan was a poor choice, given that the Soviet Union’s war in Afghanistan lasted nine years and resulted in the Soviets withdrawing without gain of any kind. 

The economic cost to the United States for the Afghanistan war has been crushing.  All of this debt and deficit that is being blamed on President Obama is in part because of the wars started by Bush’s poor judgment.

Another part of the country’s mounting debt and deficit dilemma was the Bush administration’s push for deregulation of the banking system, which allowed the banking institutions to act with reckless disregard since it could privatize its profits, but socialize its losses - world-record losses. 

Many GOP’ers mention that the Democrats controlled one or both houses of Congress (circa 2007 - 2010) as a lame effort to suggest that the Democrats were somehow complicit.  However, a cursory examination of fact reveals that the stripping of the regulations, including Glass–Steagall was the result of the proven corruption by Tom DeLay and Jack Abramoff, et al.   Please, enlighten me and cite one thing that the Democratic Congress did or did not do during the 110th and 111th Congress as the GOP suggests that made its Democratic members complicit to the recession of 2008 - 2009.

Circling back, then Bush started another war by invading a sovereign nation (Iraq) and thereby changing geopolitics forever - a very expensive change to U.S. relations worldwide. 

As we all know now from credible historical documents, the rational for invading Iraq was a poorly contrived package of patent lies to the United States Congress and the citizens of the United States.  

The Iraq war was another episode of the cowboy recklessness from Bush that created the current economic mess in the United States.  When very credible people pointed out the Bush administration lies, the Bush administration responded with “outing” a CIA operative and thereby placing hundreds of lives in danger. 

The outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson was the core of the case against Scooter Libby - the “fall-guy” for Bush and Cheney.   Libby was convicted in U.S. District Court on March 6, 2007.

Today, there are even GOP’ers who think the Libby case is just manufactured propaganda to help democrats, which suggests that the judiciary was conspiring to help Obama during 2007.   It should be noted that District Judge Reggie Walton who presided over the Libby case was an appointee of George W. Bush.  If anyone wants to believe in conspiracy theories, maybe we can turn down the lights and whisper about Area 51, the Roswell UFO Incident and the Kennedy assassination.

George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, et al are wanted in numerous countries for war crimes, including such peace loving nations as Switzerland.  

Indeed, George Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and their legal advisers Alberto Gonzales, David Addington, William Haynes, Jay Bybee and John Yoo were convicted in absentia of War Crimes on May 11, 2012 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 

George Bush is in fact a war criminal, which is why you see very little of him and his gang, and you do not see him leaving the United States.  If I have any criticism of President Obama, it is this.  The United States is harboring convicted war criminals.

Ever notice that every time the Republicans get the country neck-deep in shit, it's the Democrats who dig us out?   This scenario has become pervasive - a real pattern. 

Herbert Hoover (Republican) gave us the Great Depression - Franklin D. Roosevelt (Democrat) dug us out.  Dwight D. Eisenhower (and Richard Nixon) (Republicans) gave us the Vietnam Conflict.  Richard Nixon finally decided to end it by folding up his tent and going home - in shame.  North Vietnam took over the south after the American troops left putting an end to the Vietnam Conflict.  So in this case, it was a republican that started the problem, and a republican that ended it by making it worse.  The Vietnam Conflict caused roughly 58,000 American fatalities and over 300,000 wounded, and only since the Obama Administration have these Vets started to receive the benefits they deserve. 

The Vietnam Conflict certainly did support that “Military Industrial Complex” that was first coined by none other than the president who started the conflict - president Eisenhower, in his farewell speech that he delivered in an attempt to veneer over this little blemish for want of his legacy. 

George H.W. Bush (Republican) gave us a deepening recession - Bill Clinton (Democrat) dug us out, and created a budget surplus. 

George W. Bush (Republican) was within a month of giving us the Greatest Depression in World history - Barrack Obama (Democrat) saved us and is digging us out.  If George W. Bush had been in office for a few more months, the United States would be unrecognizable as an economy. 

It takes time and a lot of resources to stop a mountain in free-fall.  President Obama stopped the slide and reversed its course.

The GOP does not have a coherent solution to anything.  I’m a businessman and just saying, “we need to reduce spending” is only effective if you include a well developed plan - or I guess in the case of the GOP, maybe a dash of magic…

The GOP does not have a qualified presidential candidate.  If money is the barometer to measure success, then I’m successful too.  The difference between Mr. Romney and me however, is that I was taught that a man’s success is measured not by what he accumulates from all of his toil, but rather, by what he becomes through the process.  Mitt Romney was taught that money is everything and the ends justify the means.  Romney’s father told him to become wealthy and then run for president.  The methods used to become wealthy were not important.  Money is probably the worse barometer to measure success.  I have known a lot of very wealthy ignorant people during my life.

How Romney made his money is central to his character.

Romney and Bain Capital bought or otherwise gained control of companies, which Romney and Bain then forced to borrow money from banks, which was used to pay extraordinary amounts to Bain. 

This kind of activity really reeks of boarder-line bank fraud.  If Romney and Bain had only done it once, there might be a defense.  However, this was a pattern of activity whereby Romney controlled companies that were under his control and functionally acted as a money laundering operation to knowingly “borrow” money with the intent of never paying it back. 

Indeed, Bain Capital was functioning as a money laundering operation every time it controlled a company that borrowed money, and proximate to the time it was borrowed Bain siphoned the money into its own pockets.  This pattern of activity arguably borders on violating some of the bankruptcy laws as well. 

Whether or not Bain and Romney successfully threaded the needle through the loopholes of what is legal and illegal leaves some open questions.  However, from an ethical standpoint, many people believe that this kind of business practice strains credibility.

Although Romney publicly claims to believe in the theology of the Mormon Church, such a belief is diametrically opposed to Mr. Romney’s business activities.   Raiding the life pensions of thousands of individual people for his own personal financial gain, and leaving those people destitute would clearly be grounds for an individual under the Mormon faith to be cast into Hell.  Certainly Mr. Romney, if he was truly a believer would not have practiced such repugnant disregard for other people if he believed in the faith.  His stated belief does not square with his record, and one might be left with the clear suspicion that Mr. Romney is arguably an Atheist.

I will say that the GOP has done a magnificent job of corralling the right-wing, galactically ignorant, low information knuckle draggers who make their decisions based upon those wedge issues that have absolutely nothing to do with governance. 

The GOP machine feeds these undereducated individuals some completely erroneous and unverified talking points, feeds the fear of the flock over some utterly irreverent fear issue and sends them off into the pasture.  What none of them realize is that the policies proposed by the Romney - Ryan ticket will functionally cut the throats of the sheep that are following them today.  And that my friend is the epitome of galactically ignorant.

The party that put the country in this mess is hardly qualified to make any critique of the party that is cleaning up their mess.