Day: July 14, 2010

Should There Be A Giant Mosque Near Ground Zero? NO! :(

Ronald 2 Comments

A major controversy developing in New York City is whether a giant mosque should be constructed a short distance from Ground Zero, where the Trade Center Twin Towers once stood!

There is discussion of replacing an historic building, going back to the 19th century, to make way for this Islamic house of worship. But is this site the proper one? The answer is NO! 🙁

This is not, and should not, be seen as anti Islamic, although it will be seen as such by many Muslims in America and elsewhere. There is no issue that mosques can be built, as much as churches and synagogues anywhere in America. But NOT at an historic site that includes the ashes of many who died on September 11!

This is too sensitive a matter, and the feelings of New Yorkers and Americans must be the prime consideration in this matter. The Landmark Preservation Commission must rule in favor of making the present building protected from demolition!

It is not the point of promoting Islamic phobia, which must be worked against. But this is a sacred location, and must be left as hallowed ground, as a memory of those nearly 3,000 people of all nationalities and religions who died there because of the dastardly deed done by 19 Islamic terrorists!

Build mosques in other locations, as happens all the time, but NOT at or near Ground Zero! This is sacrosanct territory, and must remain as a memorial to remind future generations of the greatest tragedy ever to hit US territory on the mainland of our nation!

Obama And Democratic Discontent With Press Secretary Robert Gibbs!

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President Obama’s Press Secretary, Robert Gibbs, has created a firestorm among Congressional Democrats by his assertion that it is possible that the Democrats could lose control of the House of Representatives in the midterm election! The Senate would be much more difficult to lose since the GOP would need ten seats gain, a tall order! Having said that, however, never in the past has one house switched control without the other doing the same!

Gibbs’ statement rings true, but it puts the Democrats on the defensive, and it makes some of them wonder if maybe, in some weird fashion, the President might prefer a GOP House so he can use them as a “whipping boy” when he comes up for reelection in 2012!

The argument, historically, could be that three Presidents in their first term, after seeing their party lose control of Congress, was able to use that fact politically to benefit his own reelection, as it made a convenient enemy to attack in the campaign that followed!

This refers to Harry Truman in 1948, after the Republicans gained control of Congress in 1946; Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956, after the Democrats took over Congress in 1954; and Bill Clinton in 1996, after the Republicans seized control of Congress in 1994!

In an odd way, it might, actually, be easier for Obama if such were to happen, but to believe that he or his press secretary was trying to set up such a scenario, is ridiculous on its face!

The Extreme Right Gone Berserk: The Tea Party And Michele Bachmann! :(

Ronald 1 Comment

The extreme right wing in America is going totally berserk in their hatred of President Barack Obama! 🙁

In Northern Iowa, the local Tea Party Movement put up a billboard, which has now been removed, which depicts President Obama as a “Democratic Socialist”, in between Adolf Hitler as a “National Socialist” and Vladimir Lenin as a “Marxist Socialist”! The implication is that Obama has pursued the same policies as the Nazi and Soviet leaders! Of course, this shows total ignorance of what Nazism and Communism were all about! 🙁

Also, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, long a wingnut, has lost two staff members on her office and committee staffs, after her assertion that Barack Obama is trying to “enslave” the American people! These staff people felt they were no longer able to work for a woman who is so divisive and reckless in her statements! The race between Bachmann and Tarryl Clark for the congressional seat is showing a growing narrowing of Bachmann’s lead, making it a real horse race!

These whacko statements and depictions of the President are, of course, covered under the First Amendment, but it is about time that Republican leaders and talk show hosts on radio and Fox News Channel deplore and condemn such irresponsible and reckless statements and actions!

But based on everything we have seen in the past 18 months, don’t count on that! 🙁

Public Opinion Polls And President Obama: What Do They Forecast For 2012?

Ronald 1 Comment

As the midterm elections come upon us, there is contradictory evidence on the popularity of President Obama!

The Washington Post-ABC News poll reports that only 43 percent approve of the job President Obama is doing. Nearly 60 percent do not trust him to have solutions to the problems the nation faces!

But the President is not running for reelection this year, so the question is this: Even if Obama is slipping in popularity, does that truly mean that the country is ready to kick his party out of control of the Congress, and put in a party that has had no ideas or agenda, except to oppose the President in difficult economic times?

The CNN Poll of Polls, a combination of the aforementioned Washington Post-ABC News poll, the CBS poll, and the Gallup poll shows a bit better situation for Obama, with 47 percent in favor and 46 percent against his leadership!

So is this contradictory evidence, which still makes clear that Obama has slipped at least somewhat in popularity, mean he is in trouble for reelection?

The odds are NO, as he is at a higher level of popularity with 47 percent, as compared to Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan, at the same point of their first terms (both 42 percent)! And guess what? Both went on to reelection by substantial margins!

At the same point, George H. W. Bush was at 60 percent, and lost reelection! His son, George W. Bush, was the highest with 76 percent, less than a year after September 11, and won reelection handily!

The odds are still heavy that Obama will win reelection, but he may lose control of Congress as Harry Truman did in 1946, Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1954, and Bill Clinton in 1994 in their first terms; and as Woodrow Wilson, Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush lost control in the midpoint of their second term in the White House in 1918, 1986 and 2006!