Day: April 17, 2012

Rocker Ted Nugent, Mitt Romney, And Threats Against Barack Obama

Ronald 3 Comments

Ted Nugent is a long time singer and musician, defined as a hard rocker and hevy metal musician, performing since age 10 in 1958.

Nugent has been a great influence on others in the hard rock and heavy metal music business, and has become well known for his conservative views on politics and public affairs over his long career.

Nugent is certainly entitled to have his views and to express them, but as with any public figure, and really any person, there is such a thing as going too far, if one threatens anyone, and particularly a public figure, and most significantly the President of the United States, whoever he happens to be.

In other words, there is the concept of “clear and present danger’, which allows government to prosecute anyone who threatens the breakdown of law and order, the promotion of bloodshed and violence and anarchy by one’s use of language.

Ted Nugent has reached that level of objectionable and dangerous language, and is being investigated, appropriately, by the Secret Service.

What did Nugent say?

At the National Rifle Association conference this past weekend in St. Louis, Missouri, Nugent said that if Barack Obama is reelected, he (Nugent) will either be dead or in prison. He spoke to a group of mostly young men, riling them up, by talking about decapitating Barack Obama and calling him a piece of excrement. He also bitterly criticized Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and Attorney General Eric Holder, and used threatening language against them.

One could sense that Nugent was provoking these gun enthusiasts with feverish language against the Commander in Chief, and could certainly have the effect of making some young man, similar to John Hinckley, Arthur Bremer, or Lee Harvey Oswald, be motivated by the comments of this famous rock star to attempt to bring harm against President Obama, or actually assassinate him, which would be a horrible tragedy beyond belief.

Mitt Romney has been endorsed by Ted Nugent, but he needs to make a clear statement of condemnation of Nugent, and repudiate his endorsement, as who would seriously wish to have the backing of an unstable public figure who, despite his right to criticize, shows a total lack of respect for the office of President, if not the individual in that office.

But don’t bet on Romney taking a principled stand, as he has failed to do that constantly during his political career.

The Likeability Factor: Obama 56, Romney 27!

Ronald Leave a comment

A new poll shows that on the issue of Likeability, Barack Obama scores 56 percent to Mitt Romney’s 27 percent!

Realize what this means: Romney has the lowest likeabiity rating in modern Presidential election history!

This is not a laughing matter, and the more one sees Mitt Romney, the more one tends to dislike him.

The author used to think that Mitt Romney was the best of the group running for President, except for former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, and he seemed moderate enough to be barely acceptable, if he were to win. This is what the author used to write on this blog, but NO MORE!

The man is insufferable, obnoxious, elitist, snobbish, arrogant, phony, unpleasant, uncaring, distrustful, unprincipled, and has a sense of entitlement. Are those enough adjectives?

Notice that the top leaders of the party are now, grudgingly, coming around to endorse him, but they do not sound thrilled or excited about Mitt Romney. He does not inspire loyalty, commitment, or emotion in any Republican, all of whom, by their wording and body language, show they are resigned that Romney will be the nominee, and simply see him as the only alternative to get Barack Obama out of the Presidency.

The reality is though that Barack Obama is NOT going to be leaving the White House until January 20, 2017, as the American people do not LIKE Mitt Romney, and nothing he can do, after all of the verbal flubs he has made in the past year, will be able to resuscitate his candidacy, which enthuses NO ONE!

51st Anniversary Of Bay Of Pigs Fiasco: Time To Open Up To Cuba

Ronald 2 Comments

Today marks the 51st anniversary of the Bay of Pigs fiasco under President John F. Kennedy, the failure to overthrow Fidel Castro and Communism in Cuba.

Often thought to be possibly the worst action of the Kennedy Presidency, it simply emboldened Fidel Castro, and it led to the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962, leading to the most dangerous moment in the Cold War between America and the Soviet Union.

Had it not been for cooler heads on both sides, including President Kennedy’s brother, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, the world as we knew it might have come to an end in a disastrous nuclear war.

In the years since, negotiations went on with the Soviet Union until its downfall in December 1991, and relations with China, the largest Communist power, ensued, and despite many problems and issues between China and the US, we are now marking 40 years of contact with that nation.

But our involvement with Fidel Castro, and now his brother Raul Castro, has been very minimal, and an embargo on trade has failed to overwhelm Cuba, even after the Soviet Union collapsed.

Instead, for political reasons, the influence of Cuban Americans in the Republican Party, and particularly in Florida, has led to the refusal to deal with Castro, which all other nations do, and has made us look ridiculous.

Dealing with an evil government which denies human rights to its citizens is not a good thing, but yet we deal with many governments diplomatically, who do just that, deny basic human rights to its people.

If we were to deal only with governments that guarantee equality and human rights, we would be isolated from contact with much of the world, as sadly, much of the membership of the United Nations is governed by abhorrent leadership.

The point is that Cuba will sometime soon see a change of government, as with Fidel Castro reaching 86 this summer, and Raul Castro in his early 80s, we could have a dramatic effect on the future of that island nation if we began diplomatic ties and stopped the ridiculous, ineffective embargo that has gone on now for more than half a century.

It is time that we decided that we are not going to allow the Cuban American community of South Florida, which is indeed becoming more diverse, in any case, simply by the changing attitudes of the younger generation, to dominate the issue of the future of Cuban relations.

And as part of that, we need to have people willing to stand up to the dominant, older, right wing forces in the Cuban community, who are not interested in democracy in Cuba’s future, but only in establishing a right wing government that favors the wealthy who were forced out of Cuba in 1959-1960, and want to influence the future of that nation through their family connections, but have poisoned politics in Florida and the nation by their intransigence on the Cuba issue all these years.

And therefore, it is time for the Miami Marlins to stop pandering to those in the community who have called for the firing of manager Oscar Guillen because he had the “nerve” to speak his mind about Fidel Castro. IF we do not promote freedom of speech, how are we any different than what has gone on in Cuba for the past half century? And although the author thinks Fidel Castro is reprehensible, that does not mean that Oscar Guillen’s job should be based on denial of his right to his personal views, whether you and I agree with such views!

Hopefully, in a second term, Barack Obama will be able to move forward on the issue of opening up to Cuba, as a plan for the future of our relations with that island nation, soon to change simply on the basis of time passing and leadership leaving the scene!

Modesty And Humility: Not Traits Of Mitt Romney, As Compared To Wealthy Presidents!

Ronald 3 Comments

Mitt Romney was born with a “silver spoon” in his mouth to a father who was a success story in the auto industry.

Mitt Romney had the opportunity to attend Harvard for a law degree and a business degree.

Mitt Romney was able to use personal contacts, through his wealthy family, to multiply the wealth of the Romney family.

Mitt Romney grew up with an attitude of entitlement, that he was ordained to lead because of his family connections and business contacts.

Mitt Romney is not the first modern President to have similar advantages.

Theodore Roosevelt had these advantages. So did Franklin D. Roosevelt,. John F. Kennedy, George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush.

But none of the above wore their wealth quite like Mitt Romney!

All of them engaged in politics more than Mitt Romney, who took the route of the least government service and experience, a minimum four years as Massachusetts Governor.

All of the other wealthy Presidents at birth had their own character flaws and shortcomings as we all do.

But none of them were cocky and arrogant, at least in public, quite like Mitt Romney is!

And none of their wives quite acted as Ann Romney is displaying, also an attitude of entitlement and arrogance!

It is one thing to be wealthy. It is another thing to boast about it, to emphasize it, to be cocky and arrogant, and act as if one is entitled!

What Mitt Romney and Anne Romney lack is a sense of modesty and humility!

The other Presidents tried very hard to make the American people forget their personal wealth and status, although, of course, it was there for all to see!

But Mitt and Anne Romney exude wealth, and make it out to be a virtue they wish to publicize.

And no one really likes a wealthy person who acts this way. It is not a nice character trait to brag or to boast.

Rather, it is nice when one goes out of his or her way to divert attention to one’s wealth, and to show concern for average Americans who are not so fortunate.

So Theodore Roosevelt showed concern with labor rights.

So Franklin D. Roosevelt showed concern about the poor during the Great Depression.

So John F. Kennedy planned a War on Poverty, and concern about racial discrimination.

So George H. W. Bush showed concern about the problems of the disabled and handicapped.

So George W. Bush showed concern about health care prescription costs for senior citizens.

How has Mitt Romney displayed concern for those less fortunate than himself?

The answer is that he has NOT displayed concern for anyone less fortunate, wanting to see the auto industry collapse, as just the tip of the iceberg as to his lack of care about how ordinary people are affected in their daily lives. He has displayed lack of concern about labor rights, the plight of the poor, discrimination against Hispanics and Latinos, and the cutting of Medicaid for the disabled and elderly.

This man has no “heart”, and while one who is cynical might argue that the other wealthy Presidents were just putting on a facade of concern, the old saying goes: Action speaks louder than words!