Month: September 2011

The Fox News Channel-Google Republican Debate: More Of The Same!

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The third Republican debate in two weeks in Orlando, Florida, witnessed no surprises, as Rick Perry and Mitt Romney remained the clear front runners, but it seemed to the author that Romney may have made some headway and gained on Perry, as a result of Romney’s strong responses to various Perry challenges, and Perry’s seeming inability to look directly at Romney while speaking!

The race still seems to be primarily between those two men, but again Jon Huntsman gave some strong answers, and his sudden surge in New Hampshire to third place in percentage of poll support behind Romney and Perry makes him someone worth watching. It was clear to the author of this blog that Huntsman is, in many ways, the most interesting candidate in the race, someone to watch!

The only other candidate who came across strongly was Newt Gingrich, who is obviously very smart and knowledgeable. If that were all that could be said about Gingrich, he would be in good stead, but his own shortcomings and ethical and moral lapses weaken him as a candidate, while making one realize that in pure intellect, he is at the top of the list!

Rick Santorum came across as worse just by his stated desire to reverse “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”, adding to his “gay” problem which has dogged him all along, and led to his name becoming a synonym for a sex act, all due to his own fault and total obsession with homosexuality.

Michele Bachmann was more on the offensive against Perry, the person who has most weakened her since he entered the race over a month ago, but did not seem to gain at all in her quest to be taken seriously again. And her suggestion that Americans should not have to pay taxes, keep all their money, was totally ridiculous!

Ron Paul came across as what he is, a libertarian, but despite polls, cannot be seen as having a real shot at the nomination of a party which dislikes much of what he believes in.

Herman Cain gained sympathy over the revelation that he had survived for five years since having stage 4 colon and liver cancer, but quite frankly, made one wonder about the wisdom of a person running for President with such a medical past. The miracle of five years survival is wonderful, but makes one worry whether he would survive long enough to serve a full presidential term.

Former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, first time in the presidential debate, offered humor with some answers, but his strict libertarianism, competing with Ron Paul, came across as more whacky than even Paul, and is a minor figure in the race, good for libertarians, but enough to convince anyone that libertarianism is not where America should be heading!

So again, in conclusion, Romney gained, Perry may have lost some traction, and Huntsman seemed stronger and someone not to be disregarded.

No one made an impression that would make one want to say goodbye to Barack Obama in the White House!

Ohio (John Boehner) And Kentucky (Mitch McConnell): Ground Zero Of Fight For Infrastructure Projects To Fight Poverty And Joblessness

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The Republican leaders of Congress come from states that border each other–Ohio (Speaker of the House John Boehner) and Kentucky (Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell).

Both states have lots of poverty, particularly Kentucky, and lots of joblessness, and lots of infrastructure projects that need to be funded!

President Obama was in Cincinnati (southern Ohio near Kentucky) today, emphasizing the need for the rebuilding of the Brent Spence bridge which connects Cincinnati to northern Kentucky, as an example of what the American Jobs Act would do to create jobs and improve infrastructure of the nation.

Of course, both Boehner and McConnell are very irritated that Obama is pushing this issue into their faces, but this is the precisely proper thing to do, as it is despicable that both GOP leaders have done NOTHING to promote jobs to help their OWN constituents, let alone others around the nation!

This is a strategy that is a winning strategy for the Democrats, and the more that it is protested by the Republicans, the more it should be utilized!

America And The Death Penalty: In The Company Of Iran, North Korea, China, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Syria!

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American use of capital punishment puts this nation into company with other nations that are generally looked upon as disgraceful and anti democratic, including Iran, North Korea, China, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and Syria.

In Europe, only one nation allows capital punishment–Belarus!

In Latin America, only Cuba allows capital punishment!

No democracy, except Japan in limited circumstances, allows executions.

This nation is allied with brutal dictatorships in allowing execution, most of it occurring in Southern states that historically have deprived people of their rights and taken their lives, while at the same time promoting “religious values”, a total hypocrisy!

America should be, and in many corners, is indeed in mourning, not just for Troy Davis, but for the many cases of injustice that we know have led to the deaths of innocent people, because of the mad blood lust for “law and order”, even if it victimizes mostly poor people, both white and minority!

The use of the death penalty in a nation that claims to have morals and ethics is a sign of how sick this nation is, and the thought that George W. Bush and Rick Perry could brag about the number of inmates killed in Texas is enough to make one want to vomit! Some achievement, rather than educating people and providing them with health care, so they can have long, enriched lives!

The Troy Davis Case: Capital Punishment On Trial, And The Supreme Court Disgraces Itself!

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The decision of the US Supreme Court to allow the execution of Troy Davis by the state of Georgia tonight is a legal travesty, and makes the Supreme Court look more than ever what it is rapidly becoming–a total disgrace!

It is shocking to the author that the decision of the Court was unanimous! How could it be that Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan could sit by and allow themselves to be bullied by Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito, and that Chief Justice John Roberts and Anthony Kennedy could not see the virtue of allowing a lie detector test; would not consider that a number of prison wardens called for clemency because of doubts about the evidence, none of which was physical and with no gun found; would not take into account that seven out of nine witnesses in the trial recanted; would not listen to five jurors in the case who said they regret their decision to convict and give the death penalty; and would not listen to a witness who said one of the other witnesses confessed that he had been the murderer of the police officer in Savannah, Georgia, in 1989!

This execution puts capital punishment on trial, and it is barbaric that a country that prides itself on democratic virtues and values allows the death penalty when there is evidence so often that innocent people are being executed, many of them minorities in Southern states that have always been “excellent” in utilizing the death penalty against the racial minority that they exploited in slavery and segregation! This is an enhanced way to utilize racism and justify it!

One would like to believe that the “Old South” has passed into history, but actually it has NOT in any sense! Not only do Southern states use the death penalty very often, but also they seem to revel in the fact that seven of the “Old South” states–all but Virginia, Florida, Georgia and Texas–joined with border states Kentucky and West Virginia, to be nine of the ten poorest states, according to the US Census of 2010!

The “Old South” is great at executing people, and keeping them ignorant and in poverty, and by no coincidence, they tend to be RED states, those that tend to vote Republican!

Is this something the GOP should be proud of? And is it conscionable that Republican candidates tend to ignore poverty, never mentioning the disgrace of it in 21st century America, and this including millions of poor whites, as well as minorities?

This is a sad moment for America, but hopefully, it will start up the fight to end capital punishment as against American democracy, making us look terrible in the viewpoint of our friends, European countries, that do not allow the death penalty, and do just fine without it!

Barack Obama’s War On Terror: Reason Why, No Matter What The Economy, He Will Win Reelection In 2012!

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Barack Obama decided early on in his administration that he was NOT going to use the term “War On Terror”!

But forget what it is called: Barack Obama has waged a very effective “War On Terror”, has shown he is tough and decisive, has demonstrated aggressiveness in military matters, and has protected the homeland more effectively than George W. Bush and Dick Cheney before him!

His military and intelligence people have hunted down and eliminated dozens, if not more, terrorist leaders of Al Qaeda and the Taliban, and related groups. Of course, the most famous is Osama Bin Laden!

He has utilized drones effectively, and made arrangements for new drone locations to go after terrorists in Somalia and Yemen.

He has given private warnings, now becoming public, to Pakistan and Afghanistan about connections to terrorists.

He has made Iran aware that we will not tolerate their connections with Hamas and Hezbollah in the Palestinian territories and Lebanon, and while we are trying to withdraw our involvement with ground troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, we are not abandoning the fight against terrorist elements.

Barack Obama is often called too nice, lacking in aggressiveness in dealing with Republicans, but even that is starting to change as he pursues an economic plan to promote fairness in taxation, and stop victimizing the middle class in favor of the rich!

He cannot quickly create jobs, but he is showing his intent for the long term, and while he is doing this, he has made perfectly clear his aggressiveness and single mindedness to protect us from terrorism and root it out wherever it exists!

This is a long battle that may never fully end, but the waging of the War on Terror worldwide is the ultimate reason why, no matter what the economy, he will win reelection in 2012! The Republican Party will be helpless on this issue, unable to criticize Obama, and they will lose the election and seats in Congress, and possibly control, because of that reality!

The Myth About Barack Obama, The Wealthy, And Taxes

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The average American, if asked, would certainly say that George W. Bush is remembered for major tax cuts. After all, the term “Bush Tax Cuts” is a word in the political vocabulary often used.

So if one was told that actually Barack Obama cut taxes more, the reaction would be disbelief. But that is true, which even conservatives and Republicans try to hide from the American public!

Between the tax cuts in 2009 and 2010, over $900 billion in tax cuts will have been enacted in Obama’s term, almost double what Bush brought about in his first term by signing tax legislation!

Beyond the dollar amount, and accounting for inflation to raise the numbers for Bush, there is also the issue of WHO received the bulk of the tax cuts!

85 percent of the tax cuts under Obama are to the bottom 80 percent, while more than half of the Bush tax cuts went to the richest 20 percent!

And, finally, the Obama tax cuts are TEMPORARY, as compared to Bush, where it was meant to be PERMANENT, which is what has led to the economic disaster we now face!

With the growing responsibilities and problems this nation face, we all have to chip in and pay for the present and the future, rather than glorify greed and selfishness on the part of the wealthy!

And it is not as if the wealthy have not paid higher levels of taxes in the past, and it did no harm, as they still remained wealthy! The propaganda regarding this, how harmful it is to tax the wealthy, claiming they work so hard and are being penalized, is unjust when compared to how hard the average person works, and yet he is expected to contribute higher levels of taxation percentage wise than the rich. It is the great myth believed by millions of people who should know better!

Great Moment In Advancement Of Human Rights: The End Of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”!

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Today, exactly two thirds through the term of President Barack Obama, marks the end of a discriminatory policy that not only hurts its victims, but also our national security!

Today, America joins many European nations and Israel in ending discrimination against gays and lesbians who wish to serve their country in the military, with their specialized skills and talents, to defend the homeland.

“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”, adopted under President Bill Clinton, because he did not have the guts to do what President Harry Truman did regarding integration of African Americans in the military, simply declaring the end of discrimination by an executive order of the President, is FINALLY over!

But 13,000 people lost their military career, all due to prejudice and bias, despite the clear evidence that other nations had no issue arise that undermined their military forces.

Now people do not need to hide their private lives,or lie to others about who they love, and that is one of the greatest advancements of human rights in a long time, so this is a day to applaud and celebrate!

No matter what happens to Barack Obama in next year’s election, he will always be remembered as the President under whom discrimination ended, and human rights were advanced!

The Ongoing Civil War In The Republican Party: Similar To 1964 Goldwater-Rockefeller Race?

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A recent CNN poll demonstrates the chasm that exists in the Republican Party, as the 2012 Presidential campaign comes on the scene more every day.

The demographics, ideology, and temperament of the two warring groups creates a real problem for their future. By 51-49, the majority do NOT support the Tea Party Movement, and can be seen as “Establishment” Republicans.

The Tea Party Republicans are older, more educated, and more male, while the Establishment Republicans are more likely female, less educated, younger, and less likely to be evangelical Christians.

The Tea Party Republicans are more angry about how things are working out in the country. And they are more concerned about the deficit; more likely not to believe science in regards to global warming and evolution; more likely to believe in the abolition of the Department of Education; more skeptical about abortion and gay marriage; more critical of the Federal Reserve Board; and more likely to think social security needs to be changed.

The Establishment Republicans want a candidate who can defeat President Obama, and less concerned about purity in principles.

Realistically, the Tea Party Republicans favor Rick Perry or Michele Bachmann, although some like Rick Santorum, Ron Paul or Herman Cain.

The Establishment Republicans strongly support Mitt Romney, or possibly Jon Huntsman, as legitimate candidates

So the present Perry-Romney frontrunner battle in many ways represents a similar battle to that of Barry Goldwater and Nelson Rockefeller in 1964!

The Obama Tax Plan: “Class Warfare”, Or Fairness And Simple Math?

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President Obama has just proposed a deficit reduction plan that would return tax rates for the wealthy back to what they were in the 1990s under Bill Clinton, before George W. Bush gave that elite class a tremendous tax cut, leading to the tremendous deficits we now experience, a major contributing factor to the Great Recession!

Why should the wealthy pay a lower tax rate than the average person? Why should they feel an entitlement to such tax cuts permanently, rather than take on the responsibility to appreciate their success and do their part to contribute to the economic welfare of the nation? Why should they be “privileged characters” who can evade taxes through loopholes and gimmicks?

As Obama said this morning, it is an issue of fairness and simple math!

If anything, the fact that the wealthy have evaded taxes and paid a lower percentage for the past ten years is the true “class warfare”, against the MIDDLE CLASS, which has been decimated by that tax policy!

All polls show the VAST majority of the American people want higher taxes on the wealthy, so Obama is proposing something that is both proper and MORAL at the same time!

Let the Republicans fight it, and Obama will have a great issue against them in the Congressional and Presidential races of 2012. It reminds us of Franklin D. Roosevelt using that issue in the 1930s and winning a landslide second term in 1936!

So let 2012 be like 1936, when unemployment was still very high, but FDR went on to a smashing victory, because the people KNEW he cared about them, and that the Republicans cared only about the wealthy!

What is new about that 75 years after 1936? NOTHING HAS CHANGED!

Death Of One Of Last “Liberal” Republican Senators: Charles Percy Of Illinois

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The era of “liberal” Republican senators, who were loyal to the party but crossed the aisle to work with Democrats, and had moderate views on most issues, is just about over, as the death of Charles Percy, who served three terms in the Senate from 1967-1985, was announced over the weekend.

Percy died at age 91 of Alzheimers Disease, which he had suffered for the past two years, according to family sources.

Percy, often seen as a possible Presidential candidate, might have run for the nomination in 1976, if President Gerald Ford had decided not to seek election, after replacing President Richard Nixon as a result of the Watergate scandal.

Percy served alongside other Liberal Republicans, including Jacob Javits, Clifford Case, Charles Mathias, and Mark Hatfield, all of whom passed away before him.

Percy served as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee under President Ronald Reagan, and spoke openly against President Richard Nixon in the time of Watergate.

He was not afraid to fight for his principles, and was highly respected by his colleagues.

His death reminds us of just how extreme his party has become, and one can only wish for a return to moderation some day by his party, when they regain their senses!