The Passage of Times

The more with which time passes, the more one sees how some things always stay the same.

This is something unrealized by youth… I certainly couldn’t see it, though many elderly tried to project their insight into me.. I simply lacked enough background to understand.

But seeing the return of things you fought to vanquish and were once successful, as well as expanding ones knowledge-base across many cultures, times, and distances, one tends to see a larger pattern in effect that probably is conducive to our survival…

Here is how it relates to conservatives and liberals, democracy and our ultimate survival…. .

No matter who you are, when you are, or where you are, if you are comfortable in your position, you tend to lean towards conservatism… Why wouldn’t you?  It’s what enabled you to get and keep what you have… On the other hand, when you have nothing but dreams listed as your assets, you’ll insist on change, or newness, or something better than what you have.. Why shouldn’t you?  Who would want to stay in the same decrepit conditions one finds themselves when they don’t have to?

And so democracy is simply a mechanism that allows for the ebb and flow of fortunes to change policy so parity is maintained for the most part…

When a majority of people are doing better than those who are not, then keeping what is working now is best for that society as a whole.  On the other hand if it it not working, then changing ones course is better for that society.  That makes so much sense, does it not?

So being a liberal in a time of economic well being is, how should we say politely, being “very forward thinking”?… Likewise being a conservative in a time of turmoil, could be rather dangerous, being so outnumbered so… you better hope you are “well liked”….

It is rare that events outside the human experience impact us on a large scale. Most of what affects us drastically (wars, Depressions, power grabs) usually comes from mankind’s own doing:… acts where we consciously chose to go a certain route, and more or less, damned all the torpedoes that got in the way.

Today we are in a bru-ha-ha of our own making…. Most of it directly came from our choosing to go towards giving the top 1% all of our money and keeping less for ourselves… It was a conscious decision on our parts.  We elected enough Republicans to allow them to do what they told us they would do.  It was no secret. We made a bad decision.

The experiment failed.  They kept all the money and none trickled down, at least here within our borders… Our wealth actually built up China, which is great for them, but that hasn’t helped us much.

When one finds out one is losing something important, one hangs onto it harder… Which means someone has to try harder to take it away, right?… This gives insight into the harshness and lack of decorum in politics today… The ugliness we see today in Conservatives, and the hard clenching tenacity we see in Liberals, we’ve seen before in this country.  We had it in the 1820’s between the old guard wealth of the Eastern Seaboard, and the wide individualistic wealth newly available across our national heartland.  We saw it in the 1850’s as slavery hit the hot button and both sides became bitterly entrenched as support for slavery evaporated into a cauldron of gunpowder.  It only took one spark.  We saw it in the 1890’s as the capitalists grabbed up more and more companies, crushed workers rights, and the workers in cities became less and less empowered. Finally Republican Progressivism broke out of the chokehold. Then WWI flipped the scales back to big business and an investment boom followed by a Great Depression again created the necessary environment for another total sweep of old for new.  That “new” lasted 60 years until it succumbed to having been so successful so that so many numbers who had previously benefited from liberal policies switched allegiances to keep their assets to themselves… And that leads to today, where our individualistic efforts to improve ourselves simply were not enough to balance ourselves comfortably against wealth and power and we are again looking at more government interaction…

So rawness and candor have always been part of politics.  Always will be. Some things never change. (Some of us love it, btw.)

So what is happening today is that the post Republican Depression economy has made mockery out of those “traditional” Republican values and the only thing they have to hold on to power right now, is their appeal to the prejudiced.  Against this direct solicitation, Progressives continue to offer a new vision of hope to millennials, or the return to the old vision of what actually worked well for 60 years to those still alive who actually lived it.

The conservatives count the votes and know their time is numbered.  Population trends have pointed this out for many years. Which readily explains why they focus on ways and methods to limit large numbers of those voting, and have vacated all plans to appeal to new members… No surprise here.

In this election conservative policy has been reduced to stem complete annihilation of their party… For whereas they have failed over the past 16 years, Progressives have succeed across that same time. By going hog-wild on bigotry, they are using the only tactic with which they know how to keep some members in their party from flipping…

Bigotry is a “thing” unfortunately… And right now…. it is the only “thing” Republicans have to garner one single vote this November…  Unless of course, it is ….. “wild hair”…

 

ATTN: Bonini, Reigle, La Mar Gunn, Lawson, Pettyjohn, Hocker, Hudson, Smyk, Lopez, Miro, Ramone, Short, Grey, Dukes, and Collins! Your Candidate Is A Racist and So Is Your Party! You Still With Them? IF SO, Don’t Expect To Stay With Us, You Racist!!!!! Get The Hell Outta’ Here !!!

 

My original plan for this article was to focus on our agenda to help small businesses and entrepreneurs.

This week I’d planned to propose new steps to cut red tape and taxes, and make it easier for small businesses to get the credit they need to grow and hire.

Because I believe that in America, if you can dream it, you should be able to build it.

I’ll be talking a lot more about our economic plans in the days and weeks ahead.

But today, I want to address something I hear from Americans all over our country.

Everywhere I go, people tell me how concerned they are by the divisive rhetoric coming from my opponent in this election.

It’s like nothing we’ve heard before from a nominee for President of the United States.

From the start, Donald Trump has built his campaign on prejudice and paranoia.

He’s taking hate groups mainstream and helping a radical fringe take over one of America’s two major political parties.

His disregard for the values that make our country great is profoundly dangerous.

In just the past week, under the guise of “outreach” to African Americans, Trump has stood up in front of largely white audiences and described black communities in insulting and ignorant terms:

“Poverty. Rejection. Horrible education. No housing. No homes. No ownership.

Crime at levels nobody has seen… Right now, you walk down the street, you get shot.”

Those are his words.

Donald Trump misses so much.

He doesn’t see the success of black leaders in every field…

The vibrancy of black-owned businesses…Or the strength of the black church… He doesn’t see the excellence of historically black colleges and universities or the pride of black parents watching their children thrive…And he certainly doesn’t have any solutions to take on the reality of systemic racism and create more equity and opportunity in communities of color.

It takes a lot of nerve to ask people he’s ignored and mistreated for decades, “What do you have to lose?” The answer is everything!

Trump’s lack of knowledge or experience or solutions would be bad enough.

But what he’s doing here is more sinister.

Trump is reinforcing harmful stereotypes and offering a dog whistle to his most hateful supporters.

It’s a disturbing preview of what kind of President he’d be.

This is what I want to make clear today:

A man with a long history of racial discrimination, who traffics in dark conspiracy theories drawn from the pages of supermarket tabloids and the far reaches of the internet, should never run our government or command our military.

If he doesn’t respect all Americans, how can he serve all Americans?

Now, I know some people still want to give Trump the benefit of the doubt.

They hope that he will eventually reinvent himself – that there’s a kinder, gentler, more responsible Donald Trump waiting in the wings somewhere.

After all, it’s hard to believe anyone – let alone a nominee for President of the United States – could really believe all the things he says.

But the hard truth is, there’s no other Donald Trump. This is it.

Maya Angelou once said: “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.”

Well, throughout his career and this campaign, Donald Trump has shown us exactly who he is. We should believe him.

When Trump was getting his start in business, he was sued by the Justice Department for refusing to rent apartments to black and Latino tenants.

Their applications would be marked with a “C” – “C” for “colored” – and then rejected.

Three years later, the Justice Department took Trump back to court because he hadn’t changed.

The pattern continued through the decades.

State regulators fined one of Trump’s casinos for repeatedly removing black dealers from the floor. No wonder the turn-over rate for his minority employees was way above average.

And let’s not forget Trump first gained political prominence leading the charge for the so-called “Birthers.”

He promoted the racist lie that President Obama isn’t really an American citizen – part of a sustained effort to delegitimize America’s first black President.

In 2015, Trump launched his own campaign for President with another racist lie. He described Mexican immigrants as rapists and criminals.

And he accused the Mexican government of actively sending them across the border. None of that is true.

Oh, and by the way, Mexico’s not paying for his wall either.

If it ever gets built, you can be sure that American taxpayers will be stuck with the bill.

Since then, there’s been a steady stream of bigotry.

We all remember when Trump said a distinguished federal judge born in Indiana couldn’t be trusted to do his job because, quote, “He’s a Mexican.”

Think about that.

The man who today is the standard bearer of the Republican Party said a federal judge was incapable of doing his job solely because of his heritage.

Even the Republican Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, described that as “the textbook definition of a racist comment.”

To this day, he’s never apologized to Judge Curiel.

But for Trump, that’s just par for the course.

This is someone who retweets white supremacists online, like the user who goes by the name “white-genocide-TM.” Trump took this fringe bigot with a few dozen followers and spread his message to 11 million people.

His campaign famously posted an anti-Semitic image – a Star of David imposed over a sea of dollar bills – that first appeared on a white supremacist website.

The Trump campaign also selected a prominent white nationalist leader as a delegate in California. They only dropped him under pressure.

When asked in a nationally televised interview whether he would disavow the support of David Duke, a former leader of the Ku Klux Klan, Trump wouldn’t do it. Only later, again under mounting pressure, did he backtrack.

And when Trump was asked about anti-Semitic slurs and death threats coming from his supporters, he refused to condemn them.

Through it all, he has continued pushing discredited conspiracy theories with racist undertones.

Trump said thousands of American Muslims in New Jersey cheered the 9/11 attacks. They didn’t.

He suggested that Ted Cruz’s father was involved in the Kennedy assassination. Perhaps in Trump’s mind, because he was a Cuban immigrant, he must have had something to do with it. Of course there’s absolutely no evidence of that.

Just recently, Trump claimed President Obama founded ISIS. And then he repeated that nonsense over and over.

His latest paranoid fever dream is about my health. All I can say is, Donald, dream on.

This is what happens when you treat the National Enquirer like Gospel.

It’s what happens when you listen to the radio host Alex Jones, who claims that 9/11 and the Oklahoma City bombings were inside jobs. He said the victims of the Sandy Hook massacre were child actors and no one was actually killed there.

Trump didn’t challenge those lies. He went on Jones’ show and said: “Your reputation is amazing. I will not let you down.”

This man wants to be President of the United States.

I’ve stood by President Obama’s side as he made the toughest decisions a Commander-in-Chief ever has to make.

In times of crisis, our country depends on steady leadership… clear thinking… and calm judgment… because one wrong move can mean the difference between life and death.

The last thing we need in the Situation Room is a loose cannon who can’t tell the difference between fact and fiction, and who buys so easily into racially-tinged rumors.

Someone detached from reality should never be in charge of making decisions that are as real as they come.

It’s another reason why Donald Trump is simply temperamentally unfit to be President of the United States.

Now, some people will say that his bluster and bigotry is just over-heated campaign rhetoric – an outrageous person saying outrageous things for attention.

But look at the policies Trump has proposed. They would put prejudice into practice.

And don’t be distracted by his latest attempts to muddy the waters.

He may have some new people putting new words in his mouth… but we know where he stands.

He would form a deportation force to round up millions of immigrants and kick them out of the country.

He’d abolish the bedrock constitutional principle that says if you’re born in the United States, you’re an American citizen. He says that children born in America to undocumented parents are, quote, “anchor babies” and should be deported.

Millions of them.

And he’d ban Muslims around the world – 1.5 billion men, women, and children –from entering our country just because of their religion.

Think about that for a minute. How would it actually work? People landing in U.S. airports would line up to get their passports stamped, just like they do now.

But in Trump’s America, when they step up to the counter, the immigration officer would ask every single person, “What is your religion?”

And then what?

What if someone says, “I’m a Christian,” but the agent doesn’t believe them.

Do they have to prove it? How would they do that?

Ever since the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock, America has distinguished itself as a haven for people fleeing religious persecution.

Under Donald Trump, America would distinguish itself as the only country in the world to impose a religious test at the border.

Come to think of it, there actually may be one place that does that. It’s the so-called Islamic State. The territory ISIS controls. It would be a cruel irony if America followed its lead.

Don’t worry, some will say, as President, Trump will be surrounded by smart advisors who will rein in his worst impulses.

So when a tweet gets under his skin and he wants to retaliate with a cruise missile, maybe cooler heads will be there to convince him not to.

Maybe.

But look at who he’s put in charge of his campaign.

Trump likes to say he only hires the “best people.” But he’s had to fire so many campaign managers it’s like an episode of the Apprentice.

The latest shake-up was designed to – quote – “Let Trump be Trump.” To do that, he hired Stephen Bannon, the head of a right-wing website called Breitbart.com, as campaign CEO.

To give you a flavor of his work, here are a few headlines they’ve published:

“Birth Control Makes Women Unattractive and Crazy.”

“Would You Rather Your Child Had Feminism or Cancer?”

“Gabby Giffords: The Gun Control Movement’s Human Shield”

“Hoist It High And Proud: The Confederate Flag Proclaims A Glorious Heritage.”

That one came shortly after the Charleston massacre, when Democrats and Republicans alike were doing everything they could to heal racial divides. Breitbart tried to enflame them further.

Just imagine – Donald Trump reading that and thinking: “this is what I need more of in my campaign.”

Bannon has nasty things to say about pretty much everyone.

This spring, he railed against Paul Ryan for, quote “rubbing his social-justice Catholicism in my nose every second.”

No wonder he’s gone to work for Trump – the only Presidential candidate ever to get into a public feud with the Pope.

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups, Breitbart embraces “ideas on the extremist fringe of the conservative right. Racist ideas.

Race-baiting ideas. Anti-Muslim and anti-Immigrant ideas –– all key tenets making up an emerging racist ideology known as the ‘Alt-Right.’”

Alt-Right is short for “Alternative Right.”

The Wall Street Journal describes it as a loosely organized movement, mostly online, that “rejects mainstream conservatism, promotes nationalism and views immigration and multiculturalism as threats to white identity.”

The de facto merger between Breitbart and the Trump Campaign represents a landmark achievement for the “Alt-Right.” A fringe element has effectively taken over the Republican Party.

This is part of a broader story — the rising tide of hardline, right-wing nationalism around the world.

Just yesterday, one of Britain’s most prominent right-wing leaders,Nigel Farage, who stoked anti-immigrant sentiments to win the referendum on leaving the European Union, campaigned with Donald Trump in Mississippi.

Farage has called for a ban on the children of legal immigrants from public schools and health services, has said women are quote “worth less” than men, and supports scrapping laws that prevent employers from discriminating based on race — that’s who Trump wants by his side.

The godfather of this global brand of extreme nationalism is Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In fact, Farage has appeared regularly on Russian propaganda programs.

Now he’s standing on the same stage as the Republican nominee.

Trump himself heaps praise on Putin and embrace pro-Russian policies.

He talks casually of abandoning our NATO allies, recognizing Russia’s annexation of Crimea, and of giving the Kremlin a free hand in Eastern Europe more generally.

American presidents from Truman to Reagan have rejected the kind of approach Trump is taking on Russia.

We should, too.

All of this adds up to something we’ve never seen before.

Of course there’s always been a paranoid fringe in our politics, steeped in racial resentment. But it’s never had the nominee of a major party stoking it, encouraging it, and giving it a national megaphone. Until now.

On David Duke’s radio show the other day, the mood was jubilant.

“We appear to have taken over the Republican Party,” one white supremacist said.

Duke laughed. There’s still more work to do, he said.

No one should have any illusions about what’s really going on here. The names may have changed… Racists now call themselves “racialists.” White supremacists now call themselves “white nationalists.” The paranoid fringe now calls itself “alt-right.” But the hate burns just as bright.

And now Trump is trying to rebrand himself as well. Don’t be fooled.

There’s an old Mexican proverb that says “Tell me with whom you walk, and I will tell you who you are.”

We know who Trump is. A few words on a teleprompter won’t change that.

He says he wants to “make America great again,” but his real message remains “Make America hate again.”

This isn’t just about one election. It’s about who we are as a nation.

It’s about the kind of example we want to set for our children and grandchildren.

Next time you watch Donald Trump rant on television, think about all the kids listening across our country. They hear a lot more than we think.

Parents and teachers are already worried about what they’re calling the “Trump Effect.”

Bullying and harassment are on the rise in our schools, especially targeting students of color, Muslims, and immigrants.

At a recent high school basketball game in Indiana, white students held up Trump signs and taunted Latino players on the opposing team with chants of “Build the wall!” and “Speak English.”

After a similar incident in Iowa, one frustrated school principal said, “They see it in a presidential campaign and now it’s OK for everyone to say this.”

We wouldn’t tolerate that kind of behavior in our own homes. How can we stand for it from a candidate for president?

This is a moment of reckoning for every Republican dismayed that the Party of Lincoln has become the Party of Trump. It’s a moment of reckoning for all of us who love our country and believe that America is better than this.

Twenty years ago, when Bob Dole accepted the Republican nomination, he pointed to the exits and told any racists in the Party to get out.

The week after 9/11, George W. Bush went to a mosque and declared for everyone to hear that Muslims “love America just as much as I do.”

In 2008, John McCain told his own supporters they were wrong about the man he was trying to defeat. Senator McCain made sure they knew – Barack Obama is an American citizen and “a decent person.”

We need that kind of leadership again.

Every day, more Americans are standing up and saying “enough is enough” – including a lot of Republicans. I’m honored to have their support.

And I promise you this: with your help, I will be a President for Democrats, Republicans, and Independents. For those who vote for me and those who don’t.

For all Americans.

Because I believe we are stronger together.

It’s a vision for the future rooted in our values and reflected in a rising generation of young people who are the most open, diverse, and connected we’ve ever seen.

Just look at our fabulous Olympic team.

Like Ibtihaj Muhammad, an African-American Muslim from New Jersey who won the bronze medal in fencing with grace and skill. Would she even have a place in Donald Trump’s America?

When I was growing up, Simone Manuel wouldn’t have been allowed to swim in the same public pool as Katie Ledecky. Now they’re winning Olympic medals as teammates.

So let’s keep moving forward together.

Let’s stand up against prejudice and paranoia.

Let’s prove once again, that America is great because is America is good.

Thank you, and may God bless the United States.

Republican Party 2016

One of the best quotes I got from Tuesday’s Primary (Super Tuesday), was that the Republican Party is finally showing some unity.

It is uniting under Donald Trump.  Not that the Republican power elite wants it too, but the reality is that in state after state, individual voters are doing what the elite of their party cannot do… unify the party behind one man….

The Republican voter is voting exactly what he wants… Face it. The average Republicans wants Mexico to build a wall,. they want all Muslims banned, and they want to be perfectly comfortable with their prejudices, even though they didn’t know that was what they wanted, until “the Donald” put it out there. But it IS out there, and THAT, is what they want…

The GOP is unifying behind it.and getting stronger party primary turnout than it’s had in years….No one is really surprised except those at the top of the Republican Party who’ve been in denial all these years over what their party really was…

Others of us have been saying that all along….

🙂

 

For Whom Did They Die?

We hail our fallen heroes.  Hopefully many of you stirred some dull roots with spring rain today:…  memories, both a blessing and a curse.

But for whom did they die?

Did they die for….

Top 5 Contributors, 2009 – 2014,       Campaign Cmte and Leadership PAC      Contributor      Total Indivs PACs
AstraZeneca PLC                                                                     $71,550                                               $36,550               $35,000
JPMorgan Chase & Co                                                          $58,200                                              $33,200               $25,000
Ashland Inc                                                                                $55,420                                              $25,700               $29,720
Blue Cross/Blue Shield                                                      $46,000                                                  $6,000               $40,000
Bank of America                                                                     $40,440                                                 $3,940               $36,500

Those were Tom Carper’s top 5 contibutors……

Or did they die for….

Top 5 Contributors, 2009 – 2014,        Campaign Cmte and Leadership PAC     Contributor           Total Indivs PACs

Young, Conaway et al                                                        $121,300                                            $121,300                     $0
Skadden, Arps et al                                                              $92,600                                             $87,600                       $5,000
Grant & Eisenhofer                                                              $70,049                                              $70,049                       $0
Comcast Corp                                                                         $69,200                                            $44,200                       $25,000
Morris, Nichols et al                                                            $57,550                                              $57,550                        $0

Those were Chris Coons’ top 5 contributors……

Or did they die for…....

Top 5 Contributors, 2013 – 2014,       Campaign Cmte and Leadership PAC     Contributor           Total Indivs PACs

Investment Co Institute                                                $12,500                                                 $8,140                            $2,500
Skadden, Arps et al                                                            $10,640                                                 $8,140                            $2,500
National Multi Housing Council                                $10,500                                                 $0                                     $10,500
Bank of America                                                                  $10,250                                                 $750                                 $9,500
AstraZeneca PLC                                                                 $10,198                                                 $250                                 $9,948

 

These are John Carney’s top contributors……

Our state relative to nationally, is actually on the good end of campaign contribution spectrum.  Nothing here, is really out of line. You should see some in other states…

But let us isolate by industry…..

For John Carney…. 

Top 5 Industries, 2013 – 2014,       Campaign Cmte and Leadership PAC       Industry Total           Indivs PACs
Insurance                                                       $96,520                                                                   $2,820                     $93,700
Securities & Investment                          $93,000                                                                  $1,500                     $91,500
Lawyers/Law Firms                                  $59,110                                                                   $45,610                     $13,500
Commercial Banks                                    $49,000                                                                  $1,250                       $47,750
Finance/Credit Companies                    $43,250                                                                  $5,250                      $38,000

For Chris Coons…….

Top 5 Industries, 2009 – 2014,      Campaign Cmt                                                Industry Total             Indivs PACs
Lawyers/Law Firms                                  $1,495,387                                                    $1,341,519                    $153,868
Leadership PACs                                        $512,900                                                           $0                              $512,900
Lobbyists                                                       $345,302                                                       $325,472                        $19,830
Securities & Investment                        $296,800                                                       $235,300                      $61,500
TV/Movies/Music                                     $228,157                                                          $163,800                       $64,357

For Tom Carper……..

Top 5 Industries, 2009 – 2014,       Campaign Cmte                                            Industry Total               Indivs PACs
Insurance                                                     $371,710                                                          $94,470                         $277,240
Securities & Investment                        $320,340                                                      $125,840                       $194,500
Lawyers/Law Firms                                  $294,382                                                       $170,761                        $123,621
Lobbyists                                                        $214,262                                                     $207,042                            $7,220
Pharmaceuticals/Health Products      $207,710                                                      $50,300                         $157,410

And now, in what I believe is the first time ever…. here is the combination giving you an idea of who influences our 3 man delegation…  Compiled by adding together all three’s industry totals listed above and then ranking them top down…..

 

Lawyers/Law Firms   ……………..    $1,848,879

Securities & Investment …………….   $710,140

Insurance…..,,,,,,,,,……………. , ……   $668,257

Leadership PACs ………………………. $675,400

Lobbyists  ………………………………,…$568,779

Pharmaceuticals/Health Products $486,108

Commercial Banks  …………………….$435,240

TV/Movies/Music……………………….$292,067

Finance/Credit Companies………….$208,865

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And that is who owns our delegation….  Just seeing the visual makes it clear why some of the anti-people votes cast by this delegation, … are ever cast at all….   No, contrary to how we exclaim… They are not insane.  They are practical….

It will get worse with McCutcheon passed…

Already the amount of dark money as shown by tallies done by the Center for Responsive Politics show that nondisclosing groups have already reported spending more than three times as much as they had at this point in the 2012 elections — a presidential cycle when higher spending would be expected.”

Did you get that?  The unprecedented spending done in 2012, a contested presidential year, as of now been tripled over the same point of time back in 2012…….. . And it is both sides. In the past dark money was 80% Conservative, 20% Liberal.  Today (2014), it is 60% Conservative; 40% Liberal…   Spending by liberal nondisclosing groups is more than four times higher than it was at this point in 2012, while their conservative counterparts have tripled their previous spending level……

Which means, no tv watching this summer… and social media will become a real turn-off….  Both mean that most of America will tune out this election…  Thank you, Supreme Court…..   What were you smoking?

And if most of America tunes out this election,   it again begs the moral and serious question…. for whom did they die?  Certainly not us.

 

 

 

 

Is This Really The America YOU Want?

It is rare in politics when you can see clarity over where a person or party wants to go.. Our former congressman Mike Castle was very good at talking out of both sides of his mouth… I once heard him extol all the benefits of dismantling public schools, and was getting really angry over his direction, and swearing to myself that he had to be unseated by any means possible, even a Tea Party candidate, and then, almost in the same breath, he said:  “one the other hand….” and begin running down my list of why public schools had to be saved… and I could feel myself cheering for each one…  “yes, he gets it..”

It was my eye opener to politics in the real world.  Prior I had the naive assumption one pitched causes to one’s constituents and ran on whether they wanted to go or not go in that direction… For example in Newark, if you want to breathe toxic elements you vote for this candidate, and if you want something more eco-friendly to go into the Star campus, you vote for their opponent.  Real politics doesn’t work that way.  In real politics both candiates play both sides and dodge being pinned to any side whatsoever… aka Chris Coons, John Carney, and Tom Carper… for examples….

So it is refreshing when clarity sneaks in through a back door… Like X ray glasses.  When you see the skeleton upon which all the now invisible flesh is hanging….you surmise the flesh form would kind of be draped across the skeletal frame you currently see in your vision.   If the skeleton was crouched, about ready to pounce, you should know to run, even thought you had no idea what animal’s skin and fur and facial features,  If the skeleton was ambling slowly to you, head to the ground, like a horse, apparently grazing, you would know it probably was safe to relax and check it out more closely….

The skeleton of the Republican party is its money. Without big money it couldn’t survive.  It certainly doesn’t represent real human being’s interests.  It represents a very radical minorities interest and without huge sums of money, it would by now long have been eliminated….  Like impoverished flesh draped across a skeleton, it’s shape IS its skeletal structure, which in this case is… HUGE money.

Don’t know if anyone else is familiar with literature surrounding pimps and hoes. Unfortunately my knowledge mostly comes from one ancient Tom Clancy novel..  In that relationship, psychological control was established by isolating a subject down to one single lifeline which the pimp controls.  Everything must go through him/her, otherwise you perish.  This enables the handler to get his subject to behave as he wishes, often in ways the subject would never have done on their own.   Crazy things happen in this way.

That is the best analogy as to how a creep like David Koch, can make Republicans everywhere do crazy, almost suicidal things. Shutting down the government and getting absolutely nothing in return… Remember that?  No?  Don’t worry, it got quickly pushed off the screen by the Obamacare rollout.  Remember the success of Obamacare?  Probably not;  That was yesterday pushed off the air by Issa and the IRS Tax Controversy, which last year was determined to not be any of a controversy at all… The contention now, is that taking the fifth is not taking the firth if one makes a statement when taking the fifth…  Yes! Of course it is bizarre.  Would anyone be talking about it if it wasn’t bizarre?  And that is the point.  Push success off the table, and put something, anything on to scream about… Did anyone hear about Benghazi?  Despite that nothing un-American happened, despite a very rational explanation by the CIA that satisfies all inquisitiveness over how it played out … there is under this almost perfect Republican President, nothing else to put on the table…. So. Benghazi it is…

Usually craziness like this would be dropped.  How many utterances by a Tourette syndrome sufferer currently  make the nightly national news?   Probably quite a bit,…  if they were as wealthy and as willing to spend as is David Koch….

The point of this embellishment, is to show that the current irrational behavior of the Republican Party, if understood by the relationship of pimp to hoe, is actually very rational.  Just like an abused child has to use their brain to navigate around their irrational and sick, diseased abuser, so do Republican operatives have to do irrational things to stay alive and in office….

So putting on one’s X ray glasses and looking at the Republican Party, one sees nothing but the skeletal frame of David Koch….. Studying what is David Koch, will point us to what the Republican Party is going to do, when we elect them in 2014…..  It is pretty much determined that without any type of uprising, they WILL win both houses of Congress in 2014…. So what will that be like?

Study the frame of David Koch…. By luck, we were handed a copy of  what David Koch stood on 34 years ago…. ..He was vice president of the Libertarian Party, and he published a testament to all he believes…. As you know, even though George HW Bush was silent after accepting Reagan’s VP offer, prior  to that he coined the term “Voodoo Economics” which even after all this time, he still believes he was right today.  And so do we.  The point, is that whenever one is campaigning for oneself… one tends to be very honest.  It is only after one loses or after one wins, that one begins talking outside of both sides of one’s mouth…   Therefore if we could only find somewhere, what David Koch was running on and stood for in that campaign, we would know  exactly what the Republican Party will do if both houses get owned by it  in 2014….

Guess what?  We do.  Thanks to Bernie Sanders who brought it back up to the surface…. If this is what you believe in, then by all means, vote Republican… But if this really scares you.  even if you currently resided in a safe district, you can’t just sit still.  IF you sit still like always.  then expect this……

We , the Koch- funded Republican Party of 2014 do attest to the following….

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“We urge the repeal of federal campaign finance laws, and the immediate abolition of the despotic Federal Election Commission.”

“We favor the abolition of Medicare and Medicaid programs.”

“We oppose any compulsory insurance or tax-supported plan to provide health services, including those which finance abortion services.”

“We also favor the deregulation of the medical insurance industry.”

“We favor the repeal of the fraudulent, virtually bankrupt, and increasingly oppressive Social Security system. Pending that repeal, participation in Social Security should be made voluntary.”

“We propose the abolition of the governmental Postal Service. The present system, in addition to being inefficient, encourages governmental surveillance of private correspondence.  Pending abolition, we call for an end to the monopoly system and for allowing free competition in all aspects of postal service.”

“We oppose all personal and corporate income taxation, including capital gains taxes.”

“We support the eventual repeal of all taxation.”

“As an interim measure, all criminal and civil sanctions against tax evasion should be terminated immediately.”

“We support repeal of all law which impede the ability of any person to find employment, such as minimum wage laws.”

“We advocate the complete separation of education and State.  Government schools lead to the indoctrination of children and interfere with the free choice of individuals.Government ownership, operation, regulation, and subsidy of schools and colleges should be ended.”

“We condemn compulsory education laws … and we call for the immediate repeal of such laws.”

“We support the repeal of all taxes on the income or property of private schools, whether profit or non-profit.”

“We support the abolition of the Environmental Protection Agency.”

“We support abolition of the Department of Energy.”

“We call for the dissolution of all government agencies concerned with transportation, including the Department of Transportation.”

“We demand the return of America’s railroad system to private ownership. We call for the privatization of the public roads and national highway system.”

“We specifically oppose laws requiring an individual to buy or use so-called “self-protection” equipment such as safety belts, air bags, or crash helmets.”

“We advocate the abolition of the Federal Aviation Administration.”

“We advocate the abolition of the Food and Drug Administration.”

“We support an end to all subsidies for child-bearing built into our present laws, including all welfare plans and the provision of tax-supported services for children.”

“We oppose all government welfare, relief projects, and ‘aid to the poor’ programs. All these government programs are privacy-invading, paternalistic, demeaning, and inefficient. The proper source of help for such persons is the voluntary efforts of private groups and individuals.”

“We call for the privatization of the inland waterways, and of the distribution system that brings water to industry, agriculture and households.”

“We call for the repeal of the Occupational Safety and Health Act.”

“We call for the abolition of the Consumer Product Safety Commission.”

“We support the repeal of all state usury laws.”

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Sound familiar?  Of course it does…. As goes the pimp, so goes the hoe….

To Die? ‘Tis A Consummation To Be Wished…

Courtesy of Kaiser Foundation

Should you live or die from an accident or life threatening illness? Depends apparently on where you live… If you live in the Blue, you survive. If you live in the Orange, goodbye… Simple, clear, concise.

Served to you courtesy of ALEC and the Republican Party of the United States of America

Park This One As Rumor; Then Worry Fully

Just heard that discussion was flying around Moody’s after the Fitch announcement today, over whether their rating should be in the “B” range or “C” range if the default occurs.

One train of thought was that with the alternative universe Republicans currently live in, where thinking that  we can weather the default of the debt ceiling as well as the government shutdown indefinitely or until at least Obama puts in his resignation papers,  dropping  the USA’s rating only a point or two, would not be an accurate portrayal of the risk.

These rating organizations have a reputation to keep.  Were they to make the bonds drop only from A+++ to an A++, or down to an A+, it would give credence to the viewpoints of the alternative universe’s thinking that “gee, that wasn’t so bad” and prolong the crises.

If the US Government can’t decide to open itself up, and can’t decide to pay the obligations to which it has already committed, then it is no better than Somalia, or Chad, or the Central African Republic They can’t open due to war and insurrection; we can’t open because of immature legislators.  The result is the same;  they aren’t governing, and that is a bad risk. Except we have a lot more money than Somalia, Chad, and the Central African Republic, which will depreciate faster than the Titanic hit bottom once it finally slipped under.

And that is the other side of the argument.  That considering the outcome of default, and effect of the lowering of the rating, that perhaps modifying the amount of the drop might be prudent.  Drop the bond ratings to the level of Portugal or Bulgaria, keep it in the “B” range, instead of the Somalian range where it belongs.

Then the other side counters back… But if we do that, the Tea Party will say, “see, they were lying, default is not as bad as they said…” 

Most likely they will err on the side of caution.  Drop it into the “B” range….  Save the “C” range for another day…. 

That at least, was the rumor told to me as being the current mood at Moody’s…  As everyone knows, the “official” word could be a whole different level entirely.

 

The New Republican Chair

Oh! Those Republicans And Their Empty Chairs!

Photo Courtesy of RNC

John Sigler steps down and the race is on for the new Delaware Republican Chair. Most have dropped out but two: An officially declared candidate, and one unofficial one.

At stake is the future of Delaware’s GOP.

Those two are Charlie Copeland and Jeff Cragg.. To most readers, this would be considered a battle between losers, sort of like a Sunday fall afternoon football game to determine which team will lose to get the first NFL draft pick in spring. But I would like to inform you, that is not true.

It is a battle between good and evil. At stake is the future of the Republican Party.

When one speaks of the future, one can look at one thing. Getting votes. For that is what the Republican Party is bad at. The other things, money, organization, fervor, dedicated partisans, blocs of ad time, connections to the “right” people, they have plenty of.

The thing they ardently lack, is people who will even want to vote for them.

The biggest deflection away from the Delaware GOP occurred between 2004 and 2008. During that time, one person, speaker of the Republican House, controlled the entire republican agenda. As you may have guessed, that is the present candidate Charlie Copeland.

The other candidate recently lost a statewide election to an incumbant governor.   If anyone knows what it takes to get a good Republican candidate elected to a statewide office, it is him.  He’s been there.  He’s tried.

The odds are on that Copeland will probably take it for all the wrong reasons.   One, he works on the principal that if you support Copeland he’ll support you.  With him as the future chairman, every Republican will be watching their backs to swivel in the last second. to dodge the stick of the knife.  One must remember all the past double crosses attached to the Copeland name.  There were many times when promises went unfulfilled.

Some who think back, may remember better times when Copeland was the principle mover of the Republican caucus.  They envision him again returning their party to glory.  They remember  the press releases, the interviews,  the photo ops; they look to no longer having their party appear the loser that it is.  They forget how it got that way.

It got that way because the Republican Party fell in love with itself.  Better to masturbate than go out and get votes it thought.  They talked of how great they were, and ignored the problems real people were having.  They talked of doubling down, being resolutely determined, and smashing down all who stood in their way, when it was real genuine hurting people, who found themselves standing where the Republican Party wanted to go.  Take more money from the middle class, get rid of more unions which are only there to make sure people were treated fairly, cut more services needed by everyday people so the rich could get richer.

Instead of results, Copeland gave us blame.  First blame the Democrats, then as the election results went sour, blame Bill Lee, blame Tim Ross, blame everyone but the real culprit.

Now let’s look at Jeff Cragg.  When no one wanted to run, Jeff said,… “If Republican Party goes into the “General” with a blank spot for governor, our party is finished. ”  When Copeland said, “Who me?  Run for Governor?  And lose to Markell?  Are you effin crazy?”   Jeff  did just that,. for the good of the party; it is still intact.  Whereas Copeland made a decision based on personal ambition, Jeff took the opposite tack.  Jeff came to the aid of his party suffering a stunning defeat, because it needed him.

Copeland ran the party in better times.  But that party was shattered, broken in part because all the personal connections built up over lifetimes, were split, shunned, double-crossed, and poked fun of, leaving very few pieces standing; so few pieces still upright they couldn’t save Mike Castle….  Jeff put pieces together and ran.

The question before the Republican Party is this.  Of the two who can get more people to vote Republican… A builder?   Or a Tearer-Down?

Who makes the better preacher?  The one who can convert more sinners into saints?  Or which of these two has a better shot of success?  A person responsible for the previous collapse, or a person experienced in building something out of nothing?..

We all have a gut and mine says the latter:  the person who built something out of nothing.  Not the rich son who squandered his Father’s wealth.

All the money in the world won’t help Delawarean Republicans one bit, if no one wants to cast their vote because of what your party stands  for……

Republican Study Calls All Hispanics Stupid, Disgusting Oaf’s!

That study caused the leading Republican Hispanic in charge of the Florida’s outreach to Spanish speaking American citizens, to switch parties.  He is now a Democrat.  And he was in charge of convincing Hispanics to vote Republican!!!…

What caused the shift?  A Republican study that specifically was aimed at the redneck hillbillies inside the Republican Party, but wound up hitting mainstream.  The undeniable truth is it this what the Republican Party really does think about what it calls behind closed doors, it’s dirty little problem….

“No one knows whether Hispanics will ever reach IQ parity with whites, but the prediction that new Hispanic immigrants will have low-IQ children and grandchildren is difficult to argue against.”  

So says the Republican Party of the United States of America.

Proving once again… that this party is nothing but the harshest racists..(Just watch Rick Jensen try to defend it by saying “he” is not a racist.)  Truth is… he isn’t.  He’s actually a great guy.. But the party he supports (though he does not represent) is undeniably racist…

A fact so driven home that the single most important Republican in charge of Florida’s Hispanics, NOT ONLY FELT COMPELLED TO RESIGN… BUT FELT IT NECESSARY TO ACTUALLY SWITCH PARTIES PUBLICLY….

Is every Republican a racist?  No.  But every racist is a Republican and the Republican Party of the United States of America is beholden to do whatever those racists want!   ABSOLUTELY!!!

Every Hispanic Republican out of self respect, NEEDS RIGHT NOW TO CHANGE THEIR PARTY.... There can be no such thing as a Hispanic Republican from now on.  Just Spanish speaking Uncle Toms… who should appropriately hitherto be called…. La Malinches

Where’s All The Outrage!!!

” Benghazi.Benghazi.Benghazi.Benghazi.Benghazi.”

OH SHUT UP YOU STUPID OLD FARTS!

Since  the rampage at Connecticut,  less than five months later — this list includes 137 accidental shootings, 57 of which were fatal. These children and teens were accidentally shot by themselves, by parents, siblings, relatives, friends, neighbors, and caregivers. In other words, these shootings were not by strangers. Many of the guns used in these shootings were obtained by family members for personal protection.

Isn’t that far more important? 137 accidental shootings because we can’t responsibly handle weapons of mass destruction?

137/ 57 fatal Guns in the US are the log in our eye. Meanwhile we try to take splinters out of the eyes of others!

And we’re wasting yet another day of Congress to rehash what the last 17 hearings on the same topic have dug up? One that killed just 4 Americans in a terrorist ambush, something of which we have no control over? And we want to get down to the bottom of who is to blame? But 137 actual shootings occur, and these same people drink champagne and eat caviar while whooping and rejoicing that background checks got defeated?

We have got to rid ourselves of these outdated farting Republicans, either one way or another….. Maybe give them some Beano. For heavens sake, let’s get our nation’s priorities in order.