Ted Kennedy

Salute To Ted Kennedy: There Must Be Celebration In Heaven Right Now!

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At this moment of great excitement and pride at what President Barack Obama and the Democrats have accomplished, it is appropriate to stop and pay tribute to the late Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, who fought the good fight for health care for decades, and lived long enough to see progress being made on the road to the present legislation.

While Ted Kennedy would have wished for better legislation, the Affordable Health Care Act is still a great triumph, with the possibility of improvements over time.

But there are so many aspects of this legislation that will benefit millions of Americans, and finally have America catch up with the rest of the “civilized world”, in promoting decent, available health care for all Americans over time!

The battle to keep what has been accomplished cannot be complete until the right wing Tea Party Movement and fellow Republicans who are nasty, mean spirited, and heartless beyond belief, are removed from the ability to promote chaos and anarchy, as the Republican House has been doing now for 18 months, making them the worst Congress in American history!

Some might point out that rich people have no concern about those not wealthy. That is certainly true of some, but Ted Kennedy was rich, and he CARED about those less fortunate.

Ted Kennedy and Mitt Romney both came from Massachusetts, but they are polar opposites on caring about average Americans, while both being rich!

One wonders why Mitt Romney has so little concern about average Americans, while Ted Kennedy really cared!

Could it be their political philosophy separates them, the vast difference between the “WE” attitude of Democrats and the “ME” attitude of Republicans?

In any case, there must be a celebration in heaven going on right now, with Ted Kennedy having a great time, proud of his nation, his political party, his President, and even Chief Justice John Roberts and the four Democratic appointments to the Supreme Court!

The Catholic Church, Georgetown University, And Commencement Speaker Kathleen Sebelius

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A controversy has arisen over the selection of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius as commencement speaker at the prestigious Catholic institution of higher learning, Georgetown University.

Sebelius, who is Catholic, has come out for abortion rights and the health care mandate, which calls for contraception coverage even for religiously based institutions, which challenges the hierarchy of the Catholic Church in America.

The local Church bishops were outraged at her selection, and demanded that the University rescind their invitation, which was promptly rejected by the University leadership, who decided to go ahead with the commencement arrangements.

This is not the first time that Catholic hierarchy has interfered, as they objected when Notre Dame University invited President Obama to give the commencement address three years ago, and Boston College has ignored protests in inviting the widow of Senator Ted Kennedy to its commencement this year.

It is good to see major Catholic universities, such as the above examples, ignore dictates and censorship, and instead promote discussion, debate, and alternative ideas to the rigid views of the Catholic hierarchy, who insist on uniformity, while they cannot control the behavior of their own church leadership, and have been shown to be practicing hypocrisy in their teachings, when compared to their inability to control immoral behavior!

If a Catholic university allows itself to be dictated to in this manner, it loses respect as an institution of higher learning which should be open to diverse views and attitudes, so let us all applaud Georgetown, Notre Dame and Boston College for their open mindedness and tolerance, something not noticed in the Catholic Church’s teachings!

Mitt Romney And The National Rifle Association Convention: Total Hypocrisy!

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Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, seemingly secure in being the GOP Presidential nominee, gave a speech at the National Rifle Association convention in St. Louis, Missouri today, utilizing his wife Ann to mention how much they both admire all mothers, part of their hypocritical response to Hillary Rosen, a Democratic strategist and CNN contributor, who said that Ann Romney had never worked a day in her life.

Losing the woman’s vote by a vast margin at present, the two are exploiting that comment by Rosen in a despicable manner, but even worse was the pandering of Mitt Romney to the NRA, a group which has been lukewarm to him.

Why should not the NRA be skeptical of Mitt Romney? Because when he ran for Senator against Ted Kennedy in 1994, and as Governor of Massachusetts from 2003-2007, Mitt Romney emphasized gun control and criticized the NRA.

This is another example of the total hypocrisy and phoniness of Mitt Romney, and does anyone really believe him? If so, such persons are extremely naive!

And of course, after the Trayvon Martin murder in Florida, Romney should have condemned the “Stand Your Ground” laws backed by the NRA, and in effect in 25 states, but Romney has no interest in anything but winning the White House, no matter how much he comes across as disingenuous!

So Mitt Romney is really Pinocchio, as he continues to lie and deceive, and his nose is getting longer and longer!

Mitt Romney May Have Lost The Election Because Of One Comment Added To Others

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Mitt Romney may very well have lost the Presidential Election of 2012 in one fell swoop, by his stupid, uncaring, but revealing statement that he is not concerned about the “very poor” as they have a “safety net”! However, he has also made a slew of statements similar to this one, which demonstrate that he is outside the loop in the sense of understanding “average” people.

This has led to attacks by conservatives, upset that their true feelings are being expressed about poor people, and by the mainstream media nationally. It is hard to imagine that ANYONE close to Mitt Romney is not rolling his or her eyes over his failure to connect, and understand that not everyone has the fortune he has, or has children who together have a $100 million trust fund and NEVER have to work a day in their lives, as they know what complete security is. It is these five sons and Mitt and his wife Ann who have a true “safety net” not available to 99 percent of us.

Do we need a filthy rich person to care about the middle class and the poor? Yes, if his name is Franklin D. Roosevelt or Ted Kennedy or the numerous other rich people who never looked at the poor or the middle class with the disdain that Mitt Romney and Rush Limbaugh and all of the myriad RICH conservatives and Republicans have toward us, the 99 percent!

This is not an issue of the “very poor”, as it would not take much for any of us in the so called “middle class” to have a streak of bad luck and end up in that group. It is ALL OF US, the middle class and the poor, who have to unite together and defeat the unconcerned, selfish, greedy one percent who have much too much as it is, and could not care for a minute what happens to the 99 percent as long as they keep on acquiring wealth and power!

It is time to recognize that Barack Obama offers the kind of record and sympathies that make him the right person to be elected, and to be able, hopefully, to bring REAL extensive reform against the aristocracy in a second term of office!

Mitt Romney: A Wealthy Person Without Work For Long Time!

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We hear so much talk about how IF a person is out of work for more than one to two years, that he or she loses their work skills, their talents, their expertise, by the long layoff from getting up daily and going to work.

Well, if that is the case, and many companies have made clear that they will NOT hire anyone who is unemployed for more than a short time, then Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts Governor, should be disqualified, as he has not “worked” in six years, and much of his life, he has lived off his wealth WITHOUT contributing to public service.

One might say: “Hey, rich people often do not work, as they make money on their investments”! Well, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, George H. W. Bush, Nelson Rockefeller, Jay Rockefeller, Ted Kennedy, and even George Romney, among other very rich people, all WORKED their entire lifetime, some of it in private enterprise, but much of it in public life and service!

Mitt Romney, on the other hand, never produced any products in his corporate experience; and only served one term as Governor of Massachusetts, choosing not to run; and had a brief involvement with the Salt Lake City Olympics. He did not choose to run for re-election in Massachusetts, because he was looking to create as “mimimum” a public service as he could do, and be able to run for President.

This man does not know what the work ethic is, and has lived a privileged life with very minimal commitment to public service, and no commitment to creating new jobs, but rather simply to enrich his own pockets!

Romney sees the Presidency as something he is “entitled to”, because his much harder working dad was unable to reach that pinnacle. He has no plans or agenda other than his own aggrandizement, both in ego and in wealth.

Being a good family man is no big virtue either, as Barack Obama easily fits that image.

So, Mitt Romney, a wealthy person who has not worked most of his life, and not recently, is not “entitled” to become our 45th President. That will come to someone else in January 2017, when Barack Obama leaves the Presidency after two terms in the Oval Office!

Mitt Romney The 3,140th Wealthiest Person In America: Does He Understand Average Americans?

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Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney turns out to be the 3,140th wealthiest person in America, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Unlike his dad, former Michigan Governor George Romney, who was born poor, Mitt Romney was born into a family of great wealth, and never had to struggle for anything.

His public postures have shown that he does not understand what it is to be poor or middle class, and he seems awkward when dealing with ordinary citizens, and very uptight about his wealth.

Face the facts: Just about all American politicians have wealth, whether gained in one’s lifetime or inherited. It is NOT an issue of how much wealth one has, but his or her attitude toward the 99 plus percent who are not as fortunate as he or she is!

Franklin D. Roosevelt and Senator Ted Kennedy were very rich people, as examples, but they truly CARED about the average American, and pursued goals and legislation to make life better for the common man and woman.

On the other hand, MOST Republicans who are wealthy, including Mitt Romney but not exclusively him, do not give a damn about average Americans and pursue goals and legislation to protect their own privileged class, without any regard for the plight of the poor and the middle class.

This is the ultimate test of CHARACTER and MORALS, and Mitt Romney, no matter how religious he is, no matter how good a family man he is, no matter how pleasant a person he may seem to be, is NOT interested in helping anyone other than his own aristocratic class, and therefore, does not deserve to be elected our President in 2012!

The Democrats And The US Senate: Major Challenge For 2012

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The Democrats face a major problem in 2012 regarding their control of the United States Senate.

With only 53 seats, including those of Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and Bernie Sanders of Vermont; with 23 seats to be defended as compared to 10 for the Republicans; and with seven Democratic incumbents retiring, it will be a massive challenge to avoid losing the Senate, and also to avoid a major GOP landslide leading to their dominance over the Senate for the long term future.

Along with Senator Lieberman, the following Senators are retiring: Daniel Akaka of Hawaii, Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, Kent Conrad of North Dakota, Herb Kohl of Wisconsin, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, and Jim Webb of Virginia.

Only two Republican Senators are retiring: Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas and Jon Kyl of Arizona.

The other 24 seats are being defended by incumbents–8 Republicans, 15 Democrats, and Independent Bernie Sanders.

Some of the seats for the Democrats are considered “safe”, but among those worrisome are: Bill Nelson of Florida, Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Jon Tester of Montana, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Maria Cantwell of Washington, and Joe Manchin of West Virginia.

The Republicans in trouble include: Richard Lugar of Indiana, Scott Brown of Massachusetts, Olympia Snowe of Maine, Dean Heller of Nevada, and Orrin Hatch of Utah. Ironically, it is the Tea Party Movement which threatens the nomination for another term of Lugar, Snowe, and Hatch, who otherwise would probably be cinches for reelection, but if they lost the primaries in their states, the seats could go Democratic. Brown has a tough competitor in Elizabeth Warren in an extremely heavy Democratic state, which sees many “insulted” that a Republican, admittedly moderate, took over Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat. Heller in Nevada has the tough Congresswoman Shelley Berkley, who represents much of Las Vegas, the bulk of the population of the state, opposing him in a difficult battle.

While a major victory by either candidate for President could turn the tide for other Senate seats, it is extremely unlikely that the Republican nominee could win by enough of a landslide to take away more Democratic seats, but an Obama landslide, not out of the realm of possibility, could have a dramatic effect on the final Senate totals.

The point is that IF the Republicans won all seven Democratic seats in danger and kept all their seats, they would have 54 members of the Senate to 45 Democrats and one Independent (Sanders).

On the other hand, IF the Democrats kept all their seats and won the five contested GOP seats, the Democrats would have 58 seats including Sanders, and the Republicans would have 42 seats.

So the swing of seats from 53-47 Democratic could be as much as 58-42 Democratic or 54–46 Republican. So the range could be 12 seats, and remember that this third of the Senate would remain there for six years, so whichever party gains seats could be dominant for the long term.

Of course, in theory, every seat defended could be victorious, but also the odds that all seven retired seats for the Democrats would go Democratic is very problematical. So in actuality, IF all seven Democratic seats went to the Republicans, it could be a true disaster as then at a maximum, there could be a division of 61-39 Republican in the Senate.

On the other hand, if the five contested GOP seats went Democratic plus the two retiree seats, and everything else worked out for the Democrats, highly unlikely, then they could have a 60-40 Democratic Senate!

So therefore, the swing could be seven maximum for the Democrats from what they have now, while the GOP could gain fourteen maximum.

In either case, there would be such dominance that it would affect the Senate for many elections to come, no matter what happens in 2014 and 2016, and affect the agenda of the next President in a positive or negative way!

Today Is A Shared Death Date Of Two Courageous Presidents, Often Criticized In Office Endlessly!

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Today, December 26, is a shared death date of two courageous Presidents, often criticized in office endlessly.

These two Presidents were Harry Truman who died in 1972, and Gerald Ford, who died in 2006.

Harry Truman was incessantly attacked on all sides, by Republicans who thought he would be easy to defeat in 1948, and were surprised by his upset victory over Thomas E. Dewey; and who later bitterly attacked his strategy on the Korean War. But also, liberal Democrats were disappointed in him, seeing him as a poor replacement for Franklin D. Roosevelt, who he succeeded in 1945. So he faced the opposition of former Vice President Henry A. Wallace and the Progressive Party of 1948. But he also faced the opposition of Southern Democrats, led by Governor Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, who ran for President in 1948 as a “Dixiecrat” on the States Rights Party line, because of Truman’s brave stand ending segregation in Washington, DC, and in the armed forces, by executive order.

Truman had twenty years in retirement, and grew in stature as the years went by.

Gerald Ford, not even elected Vice President, ended up succeeding Richard Nixon, when he resigned due to the Watergate scandal in 1974.

Ford gained criticism because of the pardon of Nixon one month later, and because of the economic recession that had already begun, and was the worst economic downturn since 1939.

Ford also had to battle for the GOP nomination against conservatives who backed former Governor Ronald Reagan, who nearly defeated Ford in the Republican National Convention of 1976, and this forced Ford to drop Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, and replace him with Kansas Senator Bob Dole. He came close to the defeat of Democratic nominee Governor Jimmy Carter, losing in Ohio and Hawaii by very small margins, enough to have defeated Carter if only he had gained a few thousand votes.

Ford came to be regarded with respect and admiration, even by Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, who in 1999 said he had been wrong to attack Ford for the Nixon pardon 25 years earlier.

Ford lived on for 29 years after the Presidency, and is looked at kindly now, much like Truman.

These were two men who had in common that they came across to average Americans as being “one of us”! May they rest in peace!

The Negatives Of Mitt Romney Growing, Making His Nomination For President Less Likely Scenario!

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Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has long been thought to be the frontrunner for the Republican Presidential nomination, but as we get closer to the Iowa Caucuses and New Hampshire primary, about a month from now, his problems and challenges are growing rapidly!

Romney is now seen as very vulnerable in many different ways, including:

1. Romney may be respected, but is not loved, as Time Magazine reports this week.

2. Romney, being a Mormon, a subject he tries to avoid discussing, is becoming a growing issue to many evangelical Christians and other Protestant religious groups, who feel that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is a cult, and not Christian, but instead a phony religion.

3. Romney, being extremely wealthy (estimated $250 million minimum) comes across as part of the elite, the one percent, as one of “them” against the rest of us, and with his comments advocating the destruction of the auto industry in Michigan and elsewhere, his support of accelerating home foreclosures, and his bad joke about being “unemployed” , that image is hard to overcome.

4. Romney, being from the Northeast, and specifically Massachusetts, a Democratic state, is unappealing to a party which gets its major support from the South, Midwest and Mountain West.

5. Romney has an image of being a moderate, in fact to some as liberal, due to his support of a state health care plan in Massachusetts, which became a model for Barack Obama’s push for health care reform, and Romney cannot escape that image and advocacy no matter how hard he tries.

6. Having moved from liberal to moderate viewpoints when first running against Senator Ted Kennedy unsuccessfully in 1994, and then successfully for Governor in 2002, and now claiming to be a conservative who has completely transformed himself and his views, he comes across as a massive “flip flopper”, possibly one of the greatest such cases in American history, and therefore, is seen as not genuine, not honest, not believable, not reliable that he will keep the views he now professes.

7. Romney comes across as arrogant, haughty, not liking to be challenged, snobby, and seemingly believing he is “entitled” to be the next Repubiican nominee as the so called “next in waiting” runner up candidate in the past, just like John McCain in 2008 and Bob Dole in 1996.

So Mitt Romney is in deep trouble, and many are starting to think he may not be the GOP nominee for President in 2012!

Two Hopes For The Future Of Politics: Elizabeth Warren And Ilya Sheyman

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Many Americans are turned off to politics, and have the growing feeling that it makes no difference who you put in office, as they will be beholden to the “special interests”, rather than the citizenry who elects them.

And yet, there is growing hope that some people running for public office in 2012 actually cannot be controlled or owned by lobbyists and special interests, and two of them are: Elizabeth Warren, running for the Massachusetts Senate seat of Scott Brown, who replaced Ted Kennedy in a special election at the beginning of 2010, but who is one of the most “owned” candidates by the big corporations; and an unknown Illinois Congressional candidate in the Tenth District north of Chicago, Ilya Sheyman, attempting to oust a Tea Party Republican freshman named Robert Dold.

Warren is famous for having promoted the passage of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, one of the major accomplishments of the Obama Presidency. However, the Republicans made it clear that they would oppose her appointment as its head, so Warren turned around and decided to challenge Brown for his Senate seat, and this will be one of the premier stories of 2012, as she inspires many progressives who have hopes for change from the old system that has dominated Washington, DC for so long.

Just as inspiring is the story of 25 year old Soviet Jewish immigrant Ilya Sheyman, who migrated with his parents at age 4 from the Soviet Union. Appearing on UP-WITH CHRIS HAYES on MSNBC this morning, we learned of his motivation to promote the progressive movement, after experience as a community organizer in Waukegan, Illinois; service in the office of Senator Barack Obama; and national Mobilization Director at MoveOn.org.

Warren and Sheyman are both very impressive in their sincerity and commitment at a time when cynicism reigns supreme, so all who care about the future should work to elect Warren and Sheyman and like minded reformers!