College Students

Sad Independence Day: Reality Of Assault On Rights Of Women, Gays, Immigrants, African Americans, And Those Less Fortunate

Ronald 5 Comments

As we celebrate the 237th Independence Day, and appreciate what ir represents, there is an unprecedented attack going on in many states and among Republican members of Congress to take away the hard earned rights of various groups of vulnerable Americans, and to deny the freedom and liberty that the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights represents!

Women’s right to their reproductive lives and their fundamental health are being assaulted by Republican state legislatures and Governors in a rapid, non transparent way, and shutting off opposition in states including Texas, Ohio, North Carolina at present, and in other states in the recent past, including Virginia, North Dakota, Arkansas and Kansas!

The attempt to deny equality of rights and privileges to gay Americans is in full swing in many of the “Red” or Republican states, and the level of hate against these groups by political and religious spokesmen is unprecedented!

The fight against dealing with the presence of immigrants who would have to meet strict standards to move toward citizenship, and with increased border security and building of a wall between Mexico and the United States, is in full swing, including assault on the courageous Republicans trying to resolve this issue in a fair and just manner, including Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, who has been subjected to extremist Tea Party types who have declared war on him.

The move of many Southern states toward creating new barriers for people to vote, with the aim to cut the vote of minorities, the elderly, the disabled and college students, is in full swing forward since the Supreme Court ruled that there was no more racism or discrimination in voting in those states, when it is clear what the motivation of those states really is! The states of Virginia, South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas and Texas are already, rapidly, working toward new restrictions, free to do so, in their minds, because of what the Republican Supreme Court majority did last week!

And, of course, 23 states, at least, are refusing to expand Medicaid for those less fortunate, who have no health care coverage as things stand, except in emergency situations in emergency rooms, at a much more costly fee, and not necessarily available to all!

So the battle for freedom, human and civil rights, justice, and equality continues, even as we can celebrate the great experiment of the United States, seen as a paragon around the world, but still needing a lot of work to bring about the “more perfect Union”!

Proud Day Of Civil Rights 49 Years Ago, And Now Backtracking On Lyndon B. Johnson!

Ronald 4 Comments

49 years ago today, President Lyndon B. Johnson had his proudest moment in office, signing the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and then following up with the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Finally, the tragedy of the years after 1877, the end of Reconstruction, was being rectified, 88 and 89 years after African Americans in the South were abandoned by the Republican Party in preference to an alliance with big business and industry committed to economic aggrandizement, and political insensitivity to not only African Americans, immigrants, women, children and even native born men that made up the industrial labor force, exploited until the Progressive Era started to rectify the worst evils of industrial capitalism!

And now, a half century later after Lyndon B. Johnson, it is the Republicans on the Supreme Court who are allowing unbridled capitalism to be seen as “people”, and in the process corrupting the system again, including victimizing all of the groups above, and negating the protection of minorities, the poor, elderly and college students in the states that had a long history of discrimination in voting rights, and now will have open access to do it once again, as if the civil rights era never occurred!

The Supreme Court majority is attempting to negate the Warren and Burger Courts in the great progress they made toward social justice and legal equality for oppressed groups, and this is a tragedy that will continue to emerge until and when Democratic Presidents can select more members of the Court to replace aging Justices, including Antonin Scalia and Anthony Kennedy.

But sadly, the impact of Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, the legacy of the two Bush Presidencies, is likely to continue for the long haul, and set back the nation on so many issues over the years to come!

The Hopelessness Of The GOP In The 2016 Presidential Election Is Clear Cut!

Ronald 15 Comments

Republicans and conservatives live in illusion and fantasy, and their horrible Congressional performance—working against women’s rights, college students, minorities, the middle class, the poor, young people, the elderly, gays and lesbians, the environment, labor—will insure that they will never become the majority in a Presidential election for the long haul!

One would think that after having lost the popular vote for President five of the past six Presidential elections, that they would have realized the wrong of their ways, but instead, they are doubling down, appealing to the Religious Right, the Neoconservatives, the Social Conservatives, and to the top two percent, as if that is a winning strategy. Somehow, they think the dwindling white older population will sustain them in the long term, and in that belief, they are truly delusional!

If they had any common sense or brains, they would realize that the Democrats have won 18 states and the District of Columbia over the past six national elections since 1992, and a total electoral vote of 242 electoral votes, and NONE of these states are likely to be lost in the future to the right wing GOP! So the “Blue” states are:

Maine
Vermont
Massachusetts
Connecticut
Rhode Island
New York
New Jersey
Pennsylvania
Delaware
Maryland
District Of Columbia
Illinois
Michigan
Wisconsin
Minnesota
Washington
Oregon
California
Hawaii

Plus, three other states voted Democratic five of the six national elections, a total of 15 electoral votes, bringing the total up to 257, 13 short of the 270 needed to win the White House, including:

New Hampshire (except in 2000)
New Mexico (except in 2004)
Iowa (except in 2004)

So the GOP, if it does not radically change its tune and quickly, will NOT win the Presidency any time in the next few generations, with the growing Hispanic-Latino vote, and the dying off of the white conservative senior citizens who wish to prevent the future, and are failing at that long term, in Virginia, Florida, North Carolina, Colorado, Nevada, Ohio, and in the near future in Texas, Georgia, Arizona and Montana! The “Red” States are dwindling rapidly!

Bobby Jindal Tells Republicans To Stop Being “Stupid” Party! But Is That Possible?

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Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has declared that the Republican Party has to stop acting “stupid”, and must stop backing no increase in taxes on the wealthy, and insulting the intelligence of voters by crazy statements and viewpoints.

This all sounds very good in theory, but is what Jindal suggests really possible?

The answer is NO, as the following evidence demonstrates:

1, The Republican Party insulted their own history by having loony, nutty, whacky candidates in the race for the Presidency, including Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry, Herman Cain, and Rick Santorum. And Santorum made it clear that the Republican Party would never get the backing of intelligent, educated, smart people, which is absolutely the case right now

2. The Republicans settled on Mitt Romney, who looked reasonable in 2011, but in order to win the nomination of his party, totally transformed himself into a mean, nasty, hard hearted candidate who was willing to lie, to deceive, to change his views daily, deny his whole political heritage, and came across ultimately as totally insincere and untrustworthy. Many people found Mitt Romney obnoxious, feeling privileged and entitled, extremely phony to the core, and just wanting the campaign to end so that they no longer had to see his face and hear his voice!

3. Mitt Romney proceeded to pick an absolutely horrible Vice Presidential running mate, Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan, who came across as totally ideological, and alienated senior citizens and others with his call for privatizing Medicare and Social Security, and his extreme right wing agenda to cut the budget ruthlessly, without ever raising any taxes on the wealthy, who have had a ten year break from reasonable taxation, because of the Bush tax cuts. Ryan helped Romney to lose the “battleground” states, and his appointment showed poor judgment by Romney.

4. The Republican Party declared “war” on women, Hispanics and Latinos, young people wanting to get an education, senior citizens concerned about Social Security and Medicare, the disabled concerned about Medicaid, those who cared about the environment and consumer rights, those who support labor rights, African Americans who saw racism in the GOP message, and many others who were totally turned off to the party message.

5. The conservative media are like poison to the Republican Party, as are the social conservatives who want to interfere with people’s private lives based on promoting theocracy in America, and the Grover Norquist promotion of never, under any circumstances, raising taxes—all of this makes the Republican Party totally toxic to most voters. And of course, the decision to repudiate science in favor of religion shows how backward the party has become.

6. To believe that the Republican Party will change under these circumstances is to be naive, and any change would seem to be phony and just looking for votes, not a sincere reform or conversion.

The Most Crucial Day In the Presidential Election Of 2012!

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Tonight’s debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, is a most crucial day in this election cycle, as it could be the decisive day in deciding who is our next President!

With many public opinion polls showing a Romney “bump” as a result of the first debate two weeks ago, Barack Obama MUST put on a much better performance, and be declared a clear winner!

He must be more assertive and aggressive, without appearing to be arrogant.

He must show that Mitt Romney is deceptive, untrustworthy, and is inconsistent in his views, and how a Romney victory would transform America in ways that many people seem not to be thinking about.

Obama must make it clear of what the dangers are to women, Hispanics and Latinos, African Americans, labor, college students, senior citizens, the environment, and other groups that would suffer under a Romney Presidency.

Obama must explain how the Supreme Court and lower federal courts would be transformed for another generation, setting back the progress of the past 50 years.

Obama must warn America against bold military adventures similar to what happened in Iraq, and how the war there and in Afghanistan have bankrupted the nation.

Obama must show confidence, courage, leadership, and emphasize that things are getting better, and will continue in a second Obama term.

Ultimately, Obama must look the questioners at the debate in the eyes, and at us on television, and tell us that he has our back in planning a bright future, and that we should have his back!

Good luck tonight, Mr. President!

Republican Party Fraud In Voter Registration In Florida: Time To Hold Rick Scott And Other State Republican Leaders Accountable!

Ronald 3 Comments

The Republican Party has been earnestly working to prevent “voter fraud” in all of the states governed by Republican Governors and legislatures, claiming it is widespread.

In actual fact, the only voter fraud going on is by Republicans in many states, trying to prevent senior citizens, college students, African Americans, Latinos and Hispanics, and poor people from their guaranteed right to vote under the Voting Rights Act of 1965!

Fortunately, in most cases, state courts have prevented many of these pieces of legislation, interfering with the right to vote, from moving forward.

But Florida has been one of the worst of all states, cutting down the number of early voting days to only eight, and not including the Sunday before the election, when many black voters go to church and then go to vote, and now cannot do so! Thirty states have already started voting, but Floridians are being denied that until late October.

Florida Governor Rick Scott, who should be in prison for Medicare and Medicaid fraud, has been incessantly working to make voting impossible for many, and yet, it now turns out that a Republican consulting firm has been involved in promoting voter fraud in Palm Beach County and nine other counties in the Sunshine State!

This consulting firm is only registering those voters who say they are Republican! Also, dead people are being registered; fake signatures that look alike for many applications are being submitted; fake addresses, birth dates, and Social Security numbers have been put on the forms; and Democratic registrations have been voided!

A criminal prosecution is being pursued, but this horrible situation demonstrates that the Republican Party in Florida and elsewhere has no limits in their aim to deny people the right to vote, and yet themselves be engaged in what they claim is the reason for restrictive voter registration laws!

The governors of these Republican states, plus the state Secretaries of State responsible for voter registration on the state level, and the Attorneys Generals who “wink” at this illegal activity, need to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law!

Maybe this could be the way to get Rick Scott out of office and in prison, where he belongs! He is a disgrace to his party and to the state of Florida!

Only through voter fraud and voter suppression, and allowing billionaires to spend inordinate amounts of money, can the Republican Party have a chance to win!

It is time to give the right wing extremists the sound defeat they deserve for the Presidency, and both houses of Congress, and in the states having local and state wide elections!

Delusional Derangement Syndrome: A New Conspiracy Theory Being Formulated When Barack Obama Wins A Second Term!

Ronald 6 Comments

Republicans, and conservative talk radio and Fox News Channel, have developed a Delusional Derangement Syndrome—a new conspiracy theory to make a second term of Barack Obama in the Presidency illegitimate.

The “conspiracy” is that the public opinion polls are in the “pocket” of Barack Obama, are being paid off by him to disillusion Mitt Romney voters, so that they do not vote, and therefore, set up the reelection of Barack Obama to a second term in the Presidency. But the shortcoming in this conspiracy theory is that hate motivates those who want Obama to lose, and it will not stop them from voting!

So Obama had no right to be President the first time because he was born in Kenya, and manipulated the people through a conspiracy that elected him by a ten million vote margin, and now he is solidifying his power by manipulating the people to think he cannot lose!

It is obvious that the forces opposed to Obama seriously need medication and psychiatric and psychological counseling, as their hate of the first African American President is so intense that they must conjure up conspiracy theories to explain how he is winning the backing of the American people. Could it just be that Obama understands and cares about the American people, and has been working night and day for four years to do his best to clean up the mess the Republicans created? According to these people, of course not, but they are illegitimate in their crazy thoughts!

The fact that Mitt Romney has shown his true colors, and how he does not give a damn about anyone but the rich, is not considered to be a reason for Obama winning.

The fact that the Republicans are out to destroy Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security is not considered to be a reason for Obama winning.

The fact that the Republicans are working against the interests of women, Latinos and Hispanics, African Americans, labor, environmentalists, senior citizens college students, gays and lesbians, and poor children is not considered to be a reason for Barack Obama winning.

The fact that conservatives are ready to take us into more wars; that they refuse to consider the need for tax increases on the wealthy; that they are very willing to allow religious influence in public policy making; and that they are supportive of preventing any job creation or economic growth in order to defeat Barack Obama, is not seen as reasons for Barack Obama winning.

Conservatives and Republicans, including talk show hosts and Fox News Channel, live in their own parallel universe, but they exude their total hatred and disgust with 99 percent of the American people!

That is why they are going to lose the Presidency and control of Congress in six weeks, because they DESERVE to lose, and to be forced to reorganize, get rid of the loonies and crazies of the Tea Party Movement, or else become part of the dustbin of history, and be replaced by a reasonable, mainstream alternative that the nation can be proud of!

The Nerve And Gall Of Mitt Romney: Against The Principles Of The Declaration Of Independence!

Ronald 1 Comment

It has been a few days since Mitt Romney’s comments at a Boca Raton mansion leaked out, and the more one thinks about it, it makes one simmer and boil with rage!

Here is a man, and all of the wealthy “prima donnas” who gave $50,000 campaign contributions to hear him speak and answer questions, and what does Mitt Romney say?

That 47 percent of the population feels they are “entitled to food, housing and health care and whatever.”

The Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson, declared that there were certain basic natural rights of man–including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness!

So EVERY person in America, supposedly the most advanced nation in the world and a democracy, should be entitled to:

Food
Clothing
Shelter
Health Care
Some Joy and Contentment in their lives on a daily basis, and particularly when older

With all of the 47 percent paying some kind of taxes, and many of them being senior citizens, who have contributed to Social Security and Medicare all of their working lives; and many being veterans who have fought for their country; and with single mothers contributing children who will later be taxpayers; and with college students being educated to contribute taxes with their employment in the future—with all these realities—NO POLITICIAN and NO PARTY should tell the American people that they are not entitled to food, clothing, shelter, health care, and the ability to have some joy and contentment in their lives, at all times, but particularly when older!

The answer is for the American people to repudiate Romney and his Republican party, and stop allowing wealthy people to divide us by bringing up issues of race, religion, ethnicity, and sexual orientation to divide us—and also—keep religion out of government, and promote separation of church and state!

This is supposed to be a government OF, BY, and FOR the people, so let’s get to work!

The Despicable Arrogance Of Mitt Romney And His Wealthy Boca Raton Supporters!

Ronald 2 Comments

Let this author start off by pointing out that he lives in Boca Raton, Florida, in the same zip code as the wealthy Republicans who live in gated communities, but lives in a “normal” middle class home without gates to keep out others!

He is personally embarrassed by the obscene gaudiness and arrogant attitude of multimillionaires who live in gated communities, and think they are better than the rest of us!

These are the people who mistreat the workers in supermarkets, drug stores, and all other local businesses, because, somehow they think their wealth makes them “entitled” to treat others not as fortunate as them, in an insulting, rude, demanding manner!

It is people like this who could sit in the home of a “privileged character” who could demand $50,000 campaign contribution from each participant, the average income of a family of four in America, and twice what many families earn in annual income!

They could sit there and listen to Mitt Romney say he did not care about 47 percent of the population, and the nerve of that 47 percent to think they were “entitled” to food, housing, and health care, and not one spoke up in opposition! Remember that the “47 percent” include veterans, senior citizens, single mothers and children, college students, minorities, and disabled people!

How low and disgraceful could any human being go in not giving a damn about their fellow human beings, and only be interested in the constant acquisition of wealth at the expense of others losing their jobs, their health care, and their homes!

How can these wealthy people look in the mirror each day and not feel that this is not the message of Jesus or Moses, to look down on fellow human beings, and just go ahead and exploit others for material gain without any conscience?

What has happened to America that wealthy people like these in Boca Raton, Florida, have so little concern about others, and can back a candidate who exudes selfishness, greed, and materialism in the most ugly fashion?

These wealthy people who met at a Boca Raton mansion should be ashamed of themselves, and if they claim, as many probably do, to be “religious”, they should meet the judgment of their deity in the afterlife with a strong punishment for their misbehavior on earth!

They have forgotten that the way one treats the “little people” in life, the ones who earn low income but do service for all of us in different ways, is the best judgment of one’s character, and on that test, all these Boca Raton millionaires fail miserably!

Victories For Right To Vote Mounting In Republican Controlled States That Tried To Limit Voting

Ronald 1 Comment

After a year or more of attempts to limit the right to vote for senior citizens, college students, minorities, and the poor, the forces battling for the right to vote are winning victories, due to court action by the federal government, and decisions of federal judges in favor of the whole basis of democracy—voting!

Florida, Texas, and Ohio are among the states where the tide has turned, and Pennsylvania is awaiting a six member state Supreme Court decision that is thought to be ready to throw out the limits on voting set up by the Republican legislature and governor, with the three Republican members of the Court showing skepticism about the limit on voting rights.

This trend makes the likelihood of Barack Obama winning all of the above states, except Texas, more realistic, and it is a stain on the GOP that the party that expanded the right to vote to include African Americans in 1870, and supported civil rights at its founding, now has become the image of the Southern Democrats of the 1870s to the 1960s, who took away the right to vote and promoted Jim Crow segregation!

This is a time for mourning for the Republican Party of the past, which was principled and on the side of voting rights, and now has been captured by extreme right wing elements that are against basic democracy, what people in all nations around the world fight and die for—the right to express their view of who should govern them!