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Momentous Day As Supreme Court Chooses To Pass Judgment On Gay Marriage!

Ronald Leave a comment

Today has been a very momentous day, as the United States Supreme Court has chosen to accept two cases on gay marriage, one involving the constitutionality of the Defense Of Marriage Act of 1996, and the other the validity of the passage of Proposition 8 in California, banning gay marriage.

This could be the blockbuster case of the present term, when it is decided in late June of 2013, after oral arguments in March.

This matter brings to mind the Loving V Virginia case of 1967, when the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the right of interracial couples to be able to marry, a very controversial and divisive case in the age of the Civil Rights Movement.

It should be pointed out that many Southerners and Christian religious leaders opposed interracial marriage bitterly, but once it was settled by the Supreme Court, the issue was moot.

The same opposition, heavily Southern and religiously based, is now vehemently against gay marriage, but the tides of history are going against a continuation of discrimination.

If gay marriage is accepted by the Court, after already being legal in nine states, no religious group would be required to marry a gay couple, but they could be married civilly by a judge or county clerk, or hire someone who is legally qualified to marry couples.

The belief is strong that the Court will rule at least 5-4, if not 6-3, for gay marriage rights, with the four Democratic appointments to the Court—Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan—voting for the majority, along with Justice Anthony Kennedy, and possibly Chief Justice John Roberts.

Kennedy is the key vote, but since he supported the right of gays to privacy in the Lawrence V. Texas case in 2003, and was, indeed, the decisive fifth vote, it is believed he will take a step further in support of this major step forward.

Roberts is an unknown quantity, but after his surprising vote for ObamaCare in June, it is believed he might join the majority on this significant case.

So now, ten years later, it looks likely that the Court will have evolved further, and the right of anyone to marry who they love will be guaranteed as a basic civil right.

This is basic social justice, and a majority in public opinion polls, and particularly the younger generation, support gay marriage.

No one is saying that there cannot be people who oppose gay marriage, but society does not have the right to use their prejudices and religious views to deny basic human rights to others!

“47 Percenter” Mitt Romney Gains “47 Percent” Of Final Presidential Vote, From The True “Moochers”: The Ultimate Irony!

Ronald Leave a comment

Mitt Romney lost the Presidency for many reasons too numerous to list here, but ultimately, his “47 percent” comment, denigrating nearly half of the nation as “moochers”, did him in.

So now, the ultimate irony: Mitt Romney ended up winning 47.49 percent of the total national vote for President! So the “47 percent” candidate won “47 percent”–so appropriate!

And get this, he won the “Moocher Vote”, defined differently than he portrayed it!

After all, he won a majority of the wealthy, who “mooch” off all of us through corporate “welfare” and Bush tax cuts!

And he won a majority of the senior citizens, many of whom are better off than everyone else through America, but of course became so because of Democratic programs and laws, not Republican laws, which have never benefited the older part of our society. It is Social Security and Medicare, Democratic designed programs, which have made senior citizens as prosperous as many of them are!

And Romney won the “red” states of the South and Great Plains and Mountain West, which are, in most cases, the poorest states, who continue to get “handouts” in the form of shifting of tax benefits from the more prosperous, “blue”, Democratic states in the Northeast and New England, the upper Midwest, and the Pacific Coast states.

So, the TRUE “moochers”, the “47 percent”, voted for the “47 percenter”, Mitt Romney!

The Christian Right Loses Its Power And Influence In 2012 Elections

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The Christian Right, known in the past as the Moral Majority and the Christian Coalition, was a very powerful force from the late 1970s until 2012, having an impact on the election of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, and effectively hijacking the Republican Party, effectively promoting their biased agenda.

But now they have suffered a major defeat in 2012, and the influence over the party is waning. The Republican Party is well aware that if they allow the Christian Right to continue to wage war against women, immigrants, and gays, then they will disappear as an effective political opposition to the Democratic Party.

The majority of American women do NOT want anyone controlling their reproductive lives, and telling them that rape is not a reason for abortion.

The majority of immigrants, whether legal or undocumented, do not want minority groups to be profiled, have to fear the police, be told to leave the country with their children who are born in America, and have religious leaders display hate and prejudice toward them.

The vast majority of gays and lesbians, and their straight allies, want discrimination based on sexual orientation to be ended, and to have the same legal rights to basic civil rights, including the right to marry.

So those Christian pastors who preach hate, including those who rail against Barack Obama and wish him harm, are only undermining the legitimacy of their being ministers of Jesus Christ, who would, most certainly, be advocating the totally opposite view of all of these groups, and promoting love and tolerance, rather than hate!

It is a good thing that the Christian Right is declining in its influence, as the South and Great Plains decline in significance in population terms, and as older white males in particular, who refuse to understand the need for change and moving forward, grow older, and will soon pass on, as a bad memory of the ugliness of extremist religious values!

Separation of church and state needs to be reaffirmed! Theocracy is against what the Founding Fathers advocated!

The Right Wing Talk Show Hosts On Radio And Cable Are Destroying The Republican Party And Dividing The Nation For Their Own Wealth!

Ronald 2 Comments

Right Wing Talk Radio and Fox News Channel are the biggest scam existing in America, making suckers out of their listening and watching public, and destroying the Republican Party for the future!

While they make millions upon millions of dollars to talk propaganda, hate and division, they are destroying the Republican Party brand by their prejudiced branding of women, Hispanics and Latinos, African Americans, Gays and Lesbians, Muslims, the labor movement, environmentalists, the mainstream media, colleges and universities, Hollywood, and those who are anti war.

The Republican Party is losing the future, by failing to realize that the population is changing rapidly toward a browner and more tolerant society in so many ways, and just appealing to older, white males who live in the Great Plains and the South and the Mountain West where population is much smaller, and who profess to be “religious” while promoting discrimination and prejudice in the name of Jesus, and are gun advocates who want to prevent the future that is coming, which is destructive. This is a suicidal tendency, that will, if it continues, guarantee that the Republican Party will constantly lose elections to the Democratic Party, and become a fossil, as the Whig Party became in the 1850s in America.

So the following wealthy talk show hosts are enriching themselves against the American future, and privately, are laughing at the “Suckers” who follow them as if they are Gods, and who these hosts could not give a damn about, as all they are, really, are used car salesmen!

Here is the infamous list, who need to be smacked down, by loss of audiences, and loss of book sales, and brought down to earth that we are tired of their demagoguery!

Rush Limbaugh
Michael Savage
Sean Hannity
Bill O’Reilly
Michael Reagan
Ann Coulter
Michelle Malkin
Glenn Beck
Laura Ingraham
G Gordon Liddy
Mark Levin

There are also other lesser known talk show hosts who would not understand a serious idea, or ever know a real fact, who are poisoning people, who do not realize it!

The Parallel Universe Of Republicans And Conservatives On America’s Presidents Since Theodore Roosevelt

Ronald 2 Comments

The modern Republican Party and the conservative movement are working in tandem to distort American history, particularly regarding our Presidents from Theodore Roosevelt to Barack Obama, and in the process, are promoting the Big Lie technique, that if you repeat a falsehood enough times, people who are gullible and poorly informed and educated, will come to believe it!

So let’s survey the thoughts of these “mind control” advocates on our Presidents in the past century. Realize that what is said below is myth and propaganda, not to be believed and accepted as factual, which it MOST certainly is NOT!

Theodore Roosevelt was a so called Republican, but he created a monster, the beginning of a powerful, assertive Presidency. He interfered in labor negotiations in the coal industry; started interference in business through lawsuits and federal regulatory laws; and started the modern environmental movement, and in so doing created the nightmare of land being taken away from economic development and private ownership. He also utilized the word “progressive”, the beginning of modern socialism and communism in America! (Really whacko viewpoint of TR)!

William Howard Taft, often called a conservative, was no such thing, as he advocated the direct election of US Senators (17th Amendment), the hated “progressive” federal income tax (16th Amendment), and promoted anti trust laws suits on a greater scale than TR, and also more effective regulation of the railroads! (Not conservative enough for today’s Republicans)!

Woodrow Wilson was a further expander of progressivism, with the hated Federal Reserve Banking system, the Clayton Anti Trust Act, and the Federal Trade Commission; along with labor regulation on the national level for the first time. He also created “Big Government” bureaucracies during the First World War! (An overly one sided view of Wilson)!

Warren G. Harding has been criticized unfairly, as he was the President who worked to limit federal government, and has, therefore, been mistreated by historians, to be the worst President of the century, an unfair assessment. (Of course, in reality, totally false)!

Calvin Coolidge was the “best” President of the century, as he worked to continue Harding’s lessening of Presidential power, and prosperity reached its peak under him, and he has been unfairly blamed for the Great Depression, which began months after he left the White House. (Also totally false in reality)!

Herbert Hoover abandoned conservatism, raised taxes, moved toward deficit spending, and was the forerunner of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. His policies made things worse for Americans, and ushered in similar policies by FDR! (A distortion of the truth, in reality)!

Franklin D. Roosevelt was a Socialist, a Marxist, a Communist, a Fascist, and a Nazi all at the same time, creating an all powerful Presidency , making the Great Depression much worse and longer, creating programs and policies called the New Deal, which were the undermining of America, and remains part of our existence today, but which conservatives and Republicans are determined to eliminate in the future! He also promoted the expansion of the Soviet Union by his corrupt deals in World War II! (A great distortion of the truth by conservative haters)!

Harry Truman continued and expanded the New Deal with his Fair Deal, and refused to fight Communism adequately in the Korean War! He also interfered with states rights by his decision to promote civil rights in the military and in Washington, DC, and also promoted labor rights against the attempt of Republicans to undermine labor unions. (A distortion of the truth again)!

Dwight D. Eisenhower became part of the great Progressive “conspiracy” by accepting the New Deal, expanding federal government intervention, and having the “nerve” to intervene in the civil rights crusade on the side of “extremists”, and undermining the South and its tradition, still held a century after the Civil War, in states rights! ( A view not taken seriously by any reputable expert on Ike)!

John F. Kennedy worked to expand the welfare state set up by FDR, Truman and Eisenhower, and further intervened in the South on the civil rights issue, using the National Guard as Eisenhower had done. Kennedy refused to confront the Soviet Union adequately, instead negotiating an agreement with the enemy, rather than start a nuclear war! (Part of the great distortion of JFK by conservative critics)!

Lyndon B. Johnson further expanded the New Deal with his Great Society, making Socialism, Marxism, Communism, and Fascism advance further, and taking away freedom by civil rights legislation, the war on poverty, and the “terrible” Medicare and Medicaid programs, two more welfare programs, similar to FDR’s Social Security. He also failed to win the war in Vietnam, caving in to the Communist enemy! (Part of the bitter attack on LBJ by the far Right)!

Richard Nixon made deals with the hated Soviet Union and People’s Republic of China, and failed to win the war in Vietnam, which could have been won. He also became a traitor by promoting “progressive” programs such as Affirmative Action, the Environmental Protection Agency, Consumer Product Safety Commission, Occupational Safety and Healthy Administration, and the greatest advocate for the environment among American Presidents since Teddy Roosevelt! (Forget his real faults with Watergate, as these are more important, according to conservative critics)!

Gerald Ford was too moderate and accommodating, and his wife Betty Ford, was a radical feminist as First Lady! Ford stopped the advancement of conservatism by defeating Ronald Reagan for the Presidential nomination in 1976, and had Nelson Rockefeller, the hated “liberal” as his Vice President!(Oh, and Ford was too centrist, and for social moderation)!

Jimmy Carter was a terrible President with no redeeming values,and is “rightfully”attacked on a regular basis by Republicans and conservatives. He undermined the nation’s foreign and domestic policies! He had no worthwhile accomplishments at all! (A total distortion of reality!)

Ronald Reagan was a “great” President, with no shortcomings or faults, and we need a President of his insights and courage in the future. Those who claim Reagan was other than perfect are to be ignored! (A total interference with reality and truth!)

George H. W. Bush was a moderate who compromised with Democrats, raised taxes which undermined the country, and failed to overcome Iraq’s leader in the Persian Gulf War, because he worked with the United Nations on the war effort! (An unfair assessment, trivializing him)!

Bill Clinton had many faults and shortcomings, but despite his being impeached, and the vicious attacks on him, now is the time to talk about how much better he was than Barack Obama, because he made some deals with Republicans, after first resisting them in the battle over shutting down the government in 1995. (An amazing rewriting of history, unbelievable)!

George W. Bush cannot be blamed for September 11 and the War on Terror, but he was too willing to bust the budget, and his spending was too much out of control. (An attempt to write Bush out of blame for much of what America has to deal with today)!

But, of course, the fact that we are in an economy which is the worst since the Great Depression is not due to Bush or Republicans or conservative philosophy, but because we have in office now a black guy named Barack Obama, who was actually born in Kenya, and is a Socialist, Communist, Marxist, Fascist and Nazi, and is the greatest threat to American freedom since—well—-TR, Wilson, FDR, Truman, JFK, LBJ, Carter and to some extent, Clinton—-and all those Republicans Presidents who actually were “progressives” in some way—Taft, Hoover, Eisenhower, Nixon, Ford, and both Bushes!

If only we could eliminate all these Presidents except Harding Coolidge, and Reagan–this nation would be in fantastic shape! Right?

This is the deluded, nutty beliefs of many Republicans and conservatives–a great conspiracy by both Democratic and Republican Presidents against freedom and liberty and the best interests of the American people!

This is the “Know Nothingism”, the ignorance, the stupidity that intelligent people must fight against!

As Rick Santorum, the former Republican Senator from Pennsylvania, and Presidential candidate, said recently—the smart, the intelligent people will not support the Republican Party–and FOR GOOD REASON!

The Drought, The Farm Belt, And The Republican Party

Ronald 2 Comments

Just as has happened often in the past, farmers and ranchers in the South, The Midwest, and the Great Plains are experiencing hard times, with the present drought causing a crisis of massive proportions on a level not seen since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

But has the Congress, with the Republican Party in control of the House of Representatives, shown willingness to deal with that crisis?

The answer is NO, because of the battle over the food stamp program, which Congressman Paul Ryan, now the Republican Vice Presidential nominee, wishes to cut over the next ten years, sparking a battle with Democrats in the Senate, as well as the House. Remember that Ryan is the head of the House Budget Committee, and has developed the Ryan budget, which passed the House with all but ten GOP votes, but not one Democratic vote, and was rejected by the Senate, controlled by Democrats.

Many farmers and ranchers are becoming totally disgusted with the deadlock and stalemate in Washington, DC, and that means potential trouble for some Republican office holders in the House, and could lead to some Democratic gains, as the only alternative for disgruntled people in the farm economy, totally exasperated at the lack of action!

Pockets Of Opposition To Barack Obama In Democratic Presidential Primaries: What Does It Mean?

Ronald 2 Comments

Barack Obama may be popular among most Democrats, and is ahead in many polls nationally against Mitt Romney, but there certainly are areas where he is extremely unpopular, a lot of it based on his race, but also on cultural issues affected by religious beliefs, including gay marriage, abortion rights, and the role of women, and also based on backing of gun rights in the hinterland of the nation, with fear that Obama is out to take away one’s guns.

So we saw Oklahoma and West Virginia strongly against him earlier, and last night, we witnessed Arkansas and Kentucky also having strong opposition against him.

However, this must all be seen in perspective, as the lowest percentage Obama has received is the 57 percent in Oklahoma. Obama gained 58 percent in Arkansas and Kentucky and 59 percent in West Virginia.

If anyone running for any office gains between 57% and 59% of the vote, that is considered a landslide by any measure. The fact that the next lowest percentage was 76 percent in Louisiana, 79 percent in North Carolina, and 80 percent in Alabama tells us Obama has nothing to be worried about.

With only seven states yet to vote in Presidential primaries, the likelihood of any of those states voting lower percentages than these seven states mentioned above is extremely low.

So, yes, Barack Obama is opposed in portions of the country, primarily the South and Appalachia, but that is not a measurement of his overall popularity nationwide!

Gay Marriage And The Split Of Age Groups: The Future Is Bright!

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An interesting statistic about gay marriage and different age groups presents itself, based on research, and is a sign that gay marriage will have a rosy future over time.

If one polls people who are senior citizens, over 65, one finds that gay marriage is opposed in every state of the Union.

But when one looks at voters under the age of 30, only 12 states would ban gay marriage!

So as time passes, and the older generation leaves us, gay marriage will become much more accepted, and one day, about 30 years from now, many will wonder what the big commotion was about, and there will be embarrassment that there was such a fight over human rights!

But then, it is embarrassing to look back at the 1950s and 1960s, and the incessant struggle over civil rights for African Americans in the South!

Interestingly, it is in the South that we have the most vehement opposition to gay marriage and gay rights, so what does that tell us?

As time passes, nothing changes in much of the “Old South”, the rural South, whether it is Democratic, as it was in the past, or Republican today!

While Gone In DC, The Republican Presidential Race Ended!

Ronald 4 Comments

While the author was gone on vacation in Washington, DC, the Republican race finally came to an end.

Now, some of you might say that Ron Paul is still in the race, but let’s be serious: Mitt Romney is the GOP Presidential nominee, with both Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum having stopped campaigning.

This does not mean that Mitt Romney has an easy road to the nomination, as he still needs several hundred delegates, and has not received the endorsement of either Gingrich or Santorum.

Newt Gingrich left the race primarily for economic issues, and Rick Santorum left due to the illness of his youngest daughter, Bella, and his realization that he might very well lose the Pennsylvania Primary two weeks from now.

By both leaving the race, they remain eligible for consideration in 2016, if Romney does not win the White House, even though one would have to say that for either to believe in their hearts that they have a real chance to be President in the future is purely delusional!

But Mitt Romney now has to face the reality, that in seeking the GOP nomination and selling his soul to the right wing of his party, he has lost credibility completely among middle of the road Americans, and yet is not trusted by the right wing or the evangelical Christians who look on his Mormon faith as a cult.

So Romney cannot be sure that evangelicals and conservatives will actually vote for him in November, and therefore, could lose some of the South and Midwest.

But he also trails terribly behind Barack Obama with women, Hispanics and Latinos, and Independents, and it will be hard to recoup.

And in polls, Romney is not well liked or trusted, and comes across as distant, aloof, and not able to relate to us.

And with Tax Day coming at the end of this week, the Democrats will do their best to remind us that Romney has not released his tax returns, except for the year 2010, while providing John McCain with 23 years of returns when he was considered a possible running mate by McCain in 2008. Why not release all of these tax returns?

The answer is that it is clear that Romney has something to hide, including the reports that he has loads of his $250 million fortune in the Cayman Islands and in Swiss banks!

That makes Romney look very unpatriotic, and unwilling to do his fair share to help the nation, seeing paying higher taxes due to his good fortune, as something that a rich person should feel for the blessing that he was able to accomplish his wealth, and owes it to the country to help its future, rather than just go by the legal limitation of the minimum he needs to pay, due to accounting tricks!

Romney is now said to be “mischievous and naughty” by his wife Anne, often acting like one of their sons, but that does not ring true, and even if so, it does not make up for his unwillingness to understand the plight of the average American, and his stiffness and aloofness and reserve around people he cannot easily relate to.

Americans like to feel that they like their President, and Romney is, unfortunately, simply not a warm and pleasant personality.

That, above all, is his ultimate doom, as it was for Thomas E. Dewey in 1948, who Romney looks more like by the day–an intelligent, qualified person who simply could not relate to the American people he wished to govern.

And get this: both Dewey and Romney grew up in Michigan! Dewey’s campaign against Harry Truman in 1948 went from a landslide lead to a total collapse, against a President who gave the Republican Party “hell”. In the case of Romney, he is way behind with little prospect of recovery, but also running against an incumbent President who is copying the Truman method of giving the Republicans “hell”!

Republicans, Women And Hispanics: Antagonism Self Induced And Irretrievable!

Ronald Leave a comment

The Republican Party has been suicidal in this Presidential campaign, and likely nominee Mitt Romney, as well as Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul, have all effectively killed off the chances of the party wooing large percentages of two key voting groups–women and Hispanics.

Joe Scarborough, former Florida Congressman and host of Morning Joe on MSNBC has warned the party of the self induced damage they are doing, but the party leadership and candidates have been tone deaf to it.

And now a new series of polls show Mitt Romney way down in percentage with both women and Hispanics, and with seven months to go, no one, realistically, can see how the former Massachusetts Governor is going to turn the tide in his favor.

Trying to appeal to the right wing has harmed Romney in the nation, while not convincing the right wing to like him.

In the South and Midwest, in more rural and evangelical Christian areas, Romney has been unable to win, or promote loyalty for his candidacy. It is still doubtful that large numbers of these voters will come out for Romney in the Fall campaign.

So the story goes that he must pick a very conservative running mate for the Vice Presidency to appeal to these right wingers, but if so, it will only guarantee that Romney will lose the middle, the center of the population–including women, Hispanics, and also the all important Independents.

Without women, Hispanics, and Independents, how is Romney going to win the all important “swing states” in the South, the Midwest, and the Mountain States, as well as New Hampshire?

The answer is that the election is effectively over, as Romney cannot appeal to the “swing states” adequately, and cannot count on strong right wing support either.

What it comes down to is that Romney, by being a person who one cannot trust as to his views and beliefs, has effectively alienated the middle, while not being trusted even now by the right wing of his party.

And if, by some miracle, Romney won, he would see his dark hair turn grey quickly, as he would have no natural constituency to support him!

The Democrats would fight to weaken him, and the Republicans would feel no loyalty, and would work to move him to the extreme right, making it impossible to get anything done!

If one thinks Barack Obama has had troubles getting things done, imagine a President Romney trying to get things done, whether with Democratic or Republican control of the Congress!