Day: August 3, 2010

The Continuing Insanity Of War In Iraq And Afghanistan! Enough Sacrifice Of Our Courageous Military!

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President Obama has proclaimed that our involvement in Iraq is ending, and that only 50,000 troops will remain in Iraq after the end of August. Also, the remaining troops will be out by the end of 2011, except for those to provide security for our embassy.

Meanwhile, the Iraqi government is in basic paralysis, and the idea that violence has ended and the country is stable seems a mirage!

Meanwhile, Obama has escalated our war in Afghanistan, and the number of casualties of our troops has reached an all time high, with no prospect of success anytime soon, if ever!

We have lost more than 5,000 men and women in the two nations, and close to 40,000 wounded, many severely! Many soldiers have served multiple tours, averaging at four to six, but one having TEN tours of duty over the past nine years!

Meanwhile, suicides have escalated, with 160 in the year ending September 30, 2009, and 32 suicides this past June, an all time record!

Physical and psychological wounds have been horrific, and the response to our veterans’ needs has been wanting, to say the least!

Afghanistan and Iraq have become the longest wars in US history, but neither war can be said to have been won or even being winnable in the future! This is not fighting Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Imperial Japan, or even the Soviet Union of old!

These two wars have been conducted in a horrific manner by both the Bush and Obama Administrations, and trillions of dollars have been squandered, with 99 percent of Americans not suffering at all from the wars, in the sense of being taxed for them. or even really paying attention and caring about the valor of our soldiers! The concept of shared sacrifice we had in World War II is lacking in this era!

Instead of wasting billions on war every month, we need to bring the troops home immediately and deal with the domestic crises in our nation, the worst since the 1930s! Rebuild our infrastructure, secure our borders, and spend necessary defense money on espionage and technology needed to fight terrorism!

We must not sacrifice our young men and women any longer! The time for withdrawal is NOW! 🙁

The Lunacy Of Campaign Spending: The California Gubernatorial Race

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Personal campaign spending has become a true scandal more than ever this year, and there seems to be no limit on it, with the California Governorship race particularly insane! 🙁

Meg Whitman, the GOP candidate and former EBAY Chief Executive, a billionaire, has spent nearly $100 million in her campaign against Democrat Jerry Brown, the former Governor from 1975-1983, with $91 million of the funds her own money!

Brown, meanwhile, has spent only $450,000, although with donated services, it reaches about three quarters of a million dollars! He has raised $2.6 million for the future campaign!

When one realizes that Brown has been outspent and out fund raised by about 33 times, it is amazing that Brown leads the race in polls by a few points, but it is also a great step to see that wealthy billionaires and multimillionaires do not automatically come out ahead after reckless spending!

The same situation relates to Hewlett Packard multimillionaire Carly Fiorina, running against California Senator Barbara Boxer; Florida gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott, a health executive multimillionaire running against Attorney General Bill McCollum; and Florida Senate candidate Jeff Greene, a stock market billionaire, running against Congressman Kendrick Meek–all of whom are spending obscene amounts of personal fortune, but without any certainty of success!

The best scenario would be for Whitman, Fiorina, and Scott (all Republicans); and Greene (a Democrat) to spend a good part of their fortunes and lose! But even if that does happen, they will still be obscenely wealthy, arrogant and cocky, as they consider themselves a privileged class who are only interested in their own aggrandizement! 🙁

A Horrifying Scenario: Presidential Nominee Sarah Palin! :(

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Chris Matthews on MSNBC today described a possible horrifying scenario in 2012: Presidential nominee Sarah Palin! 🙁

Matthews’ reasoning was that Sarah Palin has a positive image among 76 percent of Republicans, and as the only woman likely to run for President, and with views that place her on the “hard” right of all men who might run, that she would have a decent chance to do well in early primaries and caucuses in 2012! 🙁

The argument is that Palin could win the Iowa caucuses because of the strong evangelical influence in that state! While the theory is that Mitt Romney, as a ‘favorite son” New Englander in the Boston TV market, would win the New Hampshire primary, it would be dismissed as insignificant!

Then, the theory is that Palin would go to South Carolina, a strong evangelical Christian state, and would win over Romney, who is a Mormon (not considered Christian by many evangelicals)!

Then, she would go to Michigan, the home of Romney’s father, who was a potential Presidential candidate in the 1960s, and where Mitt Romney grew up, and in a multi candidate race, in a state with high unemployment and a terrible economy, would pull out a fraction of the vote large enough to be seen as the winner!

If all this happened, the argument of Matthews is that Palin would have “momentum” to win the GOP nomination! 🙁

This scenario is a nightmare, but to believe it would actually happen in a time of disillusionment and bad economic times, is seen as an extremist action of Tea Party Movement types, which could present the country with the most extreme GOP candidate since Barry Goldwater in 1964!

And actually, Barry Goldwater, being intelligent and knowledgeable, and ultimately a social liberal in future years, and a libertarian of substance as compared to Rand Paul, would be preferable to a woman who has no substance, no knowledge, and is truly an example of a KNOW NOTHING mediocrity rising to the top! 🙁

Of course, even if Sarah Palin were to win the GOP nomination, is there any scenario that can imagine her defeating President Barack Obama?

ONLY if one believes that the nation is ready to go down the drain completely, and elect the most incompetent, idiotic candidate that would ever have been selected by a major political party in the history of the United States!

If that happens, the nation is truly doomed in a complex world that requires a person of brilliance and insight, which Sarah Palin has inability to be! And if that were to happen, it would condemn John McCain forever in history for having given us this woman as a legitimate candidate for national authority! 🙁

Fox Propaganda Channel: Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee!

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Fox News Channel claims to be a “news” channel, but what other “news” channel has THREE potential Presidential candidates on its payroll, giving them the ability to spread their propaganda and be given “softballs” by so called “journalists”, such as Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, and Glenn Beck? 🙁

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia, and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee all have tremendous exposure with “friendly” questioning!

Will they be able to keep their positions if they announce for President? How could they, without being accused of conflict of interest, accepting payment, and claiming to be news analysts?

One would think that even to suggest such an arrangement would be totally preposterous, but as it turns out, Nevada Senate candidate Sharron Angle said on camera in an interview with Carl Cameron that she wanted to have Fox allow her to know what questions were to be asked, to be able to promote raising of funds for her campaign, and to be a friendly interviewer! 🙁

Cameron, one of the very few real “journalists” on Fox, looked incredulous at the suggestions of Angle! It only made her look more crazy and loony than she has ever been before, but it made one wonder about the status, present and future, of the three potential Republican Presidential candidates !

It all just adds up to Fox being more and more a joke of a so called “news channel”, and therefore, justifiably, to be called “Fox Propaganda Channel”!

The Right Wing Attack On The Constitution! Proposals To Destroy The 16th, 17th, And 14th Amendments! :(

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Conservatives and Republicans keep on claiming that liberals and progressives are destroying the Constitution, but in actual fact, it is the right wing that is setting out to distort and eviscerate the Constitution by eliminating constitutional amendments that they do not support!

There has been an attack in recent years on the 16th Amendment, the so called “progressive” federal income tax amendment of 1913, which if it was really enforced properly, would be taxing the rich much more than they have been, due to all kinds of loopholes and favored treatment of the elite throughout our history! But now, many right wingers want to wipe out the 16th Amendment altogether, and have a national value added tax or sales tax instead, which would victimize the middle and lower classes more than they are now, in favor of the elite evading taxes further! 🙁

Some right wingers have also proposed a wipe out of the 17th Amendment of 1913, which provided for direct popular election of the United States Senate! The argument is that the state legislatures should resume selection of the Senate, so as to wipe out popular participation (which is code language for preventing all those “undesirable” liberals and minorities playing a role in the selection of the upper chamber, which is already highly unrepresentative because of Senate rules, but would be more so if returned to the corrupt system that prevailed until 1913)! Is there anything more undemocratic than this desire to take away the power of the vote from the people? 🙁

Now, there are proposals by Republican Senators to reconsider the 14th Amendment, so as to prevent children born in the US of visitors and immigrants who are not citizens, from becoming citizens at birth as was clearly stated in that amendment upon passage in Congress in 1866, and ratified by 1868! Instead of America being the “land of opportunity and hope”, they want to separate children from citizenship by the circumstances of their birth! 🙁

The point to be made about all three of the above amendments is that this is basically all just political propaganda, as an amendment change or new amendment would require a two thirds vote of both houses of Congress, and passage by majority vote in both houses of the state legislature in three fourths, or 38 of the 50 states!

So the odds of any of this happening is near zero, but it is a great way to divide America and win elections!

To even imagine that we would ever have a nation where two thirds of both houses of Congress and a majority vote in both houses of the state legislatures in three fourths of the states would occur to bring about these changes is a literal nightmare scenario! 🙁

If that were to happen in reality, then America would be seen as having lost its way and the purpose of its existence–as the last best hope for oppressed people and average, everyday Americans who just want a fair shake!

More Speculation About A Joe Biden-Hillary Clinton Switch!

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Sally Quinn of the Washington Post recently came up with the suggestion of Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton switching positions for the Presidential Election of 2012!

Now, former Virginia Governor Douglas Wilder has made the same suggestion in an article on the Politico website!

His argument is similar to Sally Quinn’s view: that President Obama is going to need the support of Hillary Clinton fans to win in 2012, and that Joe Biden cannot help him win the next election!

The argument is that Hillary is able to win the white working class vote, both male and female, and that is Obama’s major Achilles Heel! Hillary would bring out more committed and emotional support, and would be seen as the heir apparent in 2016!

Meanwhile, Biden could have the position he always seemed to want–to be Secretary of State, since he has always been particularly involved in and fascinated by foreign policy, and was long time Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee!

The question is how both Hillary and Joe feel about this concept, as well as President Obama’s view! It is clear that Obama is close to Biden, and sees him as an integral part of his administration!

But at the same time, Hillary Clinton has been a very active and committed Secretary of State, and very loyal to her former rival!

So this question will obviously be bandied about a lot in the next six to twelve months, and the question will arise whether the switch would occur with the election, with both Hillary and Joe as “lame ducks’ until January 20, 2013, or whether the 25th Amendment would be utilized for the first time since 1974 to make the switch BEFORE the election!

Was this the purpose of the 25th Amendment, to change the Vice Presidency holder for the upcoming election, or only when there was a vacancy due to death, bad health, impeachment, or resignation for corruption reasons of the Vice President or the President?

That is the key issue involved here, and it will certainly be discussed and debated until the situation is clear as to what President Obama, Vice President Biden, and Secretary of State Clinton decide is best for the three of them and for the nation!

Gallup Survey On “Red” And “Blue” States: Coastlines Vs Interior

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A new Gallup survey demonstrates the chasm that exists in this country in 2010!

The red (Republican) states are in the South, Midwest and some of the West–areas with far less diversity, much more conservative, much lower education levels, much poorer in social services, and much more religious!

The most red states are Wyoming, Mississippi, Utah, and South Dakota! 22 states are red, including all states west of the Mississippi River, except Colorado, New Mexico, and Nevada in the Mountain West, and the Pacific Coast states of California, Oregon, and Washington! But Montana and North Dakota could potentially turn blue! All Southern states are red, except for Virginia, Florida and North Carolina, with the latter two on the level of potential turn to red! This also applies to Ohio and Indiana, blue but potential to turn red! Additionally, the border states of West Virginia, Kentucky and Missouri are red, but with Missouri on the level of potential turn to blue!

28 states are blue (Democratic), all the Atlantic Coast states down through Virginia, plus North Carolina and Florida which could turn red; the Midwest states of Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois and Iowa, plus Ohio and Indiana which could turn red; plus the six states west of the Mississippi mentioned earlier, and Hawaii!

Alaska, by the way, is red, but overall one could say that 19 states are definitely red with three others potentially turning blue; 24 states are definitely blue, with four others potentially turning red!

So only seven states are potential turnovers–Ohio, Indiana, North Carolina and Florida from blue to red, and Missouri, Montana and North Dakota from red to blue!

It is clear that the population centers and the major urban states are heavily blue, while the rural heartland is heavily red! This is a cultural, as well as sectional, struggle going on as to the future of the country, and the split in this nation seems wider than at any time since the Civil War!

This is worrisome for a nation becoming less Caucasian as the years go by! How will the country react to the growing diversity of the nation, and the emerging political power of minorities over time, particularly the Latino and Hispanic population, which is already larger than the African American portion of the population?

One can conclude that in American society and politics, there never is now, and never will be in the future, a dull moment! 🙂