The Debates

Again it has been a while since I have posted anything. Not because there isn’t anything to talk about but because I’ve been too lazy to write. Watching the Republican debates and the race for the Republican nomination has given me enough motivation.

I knew this round would be good once Donald Trump made it to the top of the polls. This is all being driven by the Tea Party followers. I’m loving it. The Tea Party is the extreme Right-Wing part of the Republican Party. Consisting of the extreme religious fundamentalist and the money backed capitalist people like the Koch brothers. The Tea Party people have been sold a bill of goods that pretend to be supporting the best interest of the country but in reality they are destroying it.

This current core of the Republican Party is driven by fear. They are afraid of the loss of power they once had and desperately fighting to retain it. They can’t accept the fact that this country is changing. The demographics are not what they used to be. It is becoming a majority minority or non-white country and that scares the hell out of them. They are fighting to retain that fading glory that once had them in that top seat of power. Power that really was just an illusion.

This country was built on the idea of a system of free market capitalism. Over the years corporations any been allowed to grow and gain power. They have used that power to remove the restraints that kept them in check. The truth is there is no more “free market” in this country. The rules of the free market have been all but eliminated by removing government regulations/regulators. Without government regulators there can be no free market. It would be like playing ANY sport without referees. The referees are there to enforce the rules of the game. The players or in this case the businesses are there to win. Most of the businesses will do whatever it takes to win while others will always play by the rules. Some of these businesses have gotten so big that they are paying people in Congress to change the rules to help their company. That’s just a fancy way of saying cheating. There once was a time that if a company got too big the government would break it up to keep it in check but those days are gone. I’ll give you one example of how broken the system is. Pharmaceutical companies are allowed to pay generic medication makers NOT to make a generic brand of their medication so they can keep their prices high. The game is rigged and the tables have been tilted to favor the very rich and very powerful people and companies in this country.

These rich people/companies have been allowed to grow by creating fear in the minds of the people at the bottom. Telling them they should be afraid of the immigrants and minorities because they are coming to take their jobs. Telling them they should hate immigrants and minorities because they don’t want to work and they only want to live off of the government. How can it be both? Another good one is, the religious right is against abortion and also against child care assistance. They call themselves pro-life but they are in favor of the death penalty. I could go on and on but I won’t.

Now the Republican Party has created this mess for themselves by bringing the Tea Party into their tent and they have grown too big for them to control. They are pushing their own agenda by way of Trump, Carson, and Fiofina. Those three are the current front runners and all three are running campaigns that are void of facts. They can do this because that is what the Republican Party has become. A Party that is void of facts. I’ll give you a couple of examples. First, Planned Parenthood. It has been proven that the videos being used to attack Planned Parenthood were edited to portray the organization in a negative light and are not accurate. Never the less, Republicans continue to quote and site those videos as the source of their information. The second one is Benghazi. There have been more than 10 Republican investigations looking into the death of 4 Americans and the role Hillary Clinton played. Every one of those investigations have come to the same conclusion and found “no fault” on the part of Secretary Clinton but Republicans continue to say that she did something wrong. This is what the Republican Party has become.

This is not something I am happy about. It is entertaining to watch on the debate stage but it is bad for the country. We need the Republican Party. We don’t need the country going only to the left just as we don’t need the country only going to the right. Republicans have created Frankenstein’s monster and it is tearing them apart and taking the rest of us along with them.

The front runners are running on nothing. Their platforms are built on absolutely no substance. When I listen to them in interviews and in the debates I hear nothing. They just repeat things that have been proven to be false as if it is fact. They are saying things that feed into the fears of the Republican base. The base that is the Tea Party is eating and drinking it all up with gusto.

The monster they created is beating us to death while the creators of the monster are picking our pockets and robbing us blind. We just need to get the people to understand that their fear and anger is misplaced. If we can do that then maybe we can move us all in the right direction.

The TPP

It has been a while since I’ve posted anything on here. Not that there hasn’t been anything to write about because that would be a lie. The biggest reason is because I get to vent on Facebook and I lost part of my motivation. After talking to Herb this morning I decided to go on and post my thoughts about the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP).  

Currently President Obama is asking Congress to give him Fast Track authority over TTP in an effort to get this trade agreement in place. I’ve been watching the TPP for a couple of years now. When I first heard of it I didn’t believe it had a chance of being passed. I never thought President Obama would even be onboard supporting it. Sadly I am wrong. The President is fully supporting this bad deal.

Fast Track approval would give each person in Congress less than 90 seconds to make their case for or against the trade package. It would also allow it to pass with a simple majority vote. Republicans complain about Obama being on a power grab and now they are willing to give him even more power. One of the biggest problems I have with it is the fact that the few people that have read the deal are not allowed to talk about what is in it. Why all the secrecy? If it is such a good thing we all should be allowed to see it. As with most things, leaks happen. What has been leaked is that corporations will have MAJOR power over government from federal down to local. It has happened in other countries and is moving here. Corporations would have the power to sue ANY government for damages due to laws being passed restricting their profits. Local governments would no longer have the right to protect its citizens from harmful products if it restricts the profits of the corporation. I believe that is a bad deal for this country.

For many, many reasons I’m not going into why I believe President Obama is pushing this INSANE trade deal. The people that I talk to freely about government actions and the amount of money flowing into election and all things politics will understand why. The Multinational Corporations have all but taken over the government and I had hopes that President Obama would stand up to them. Sadly I may have been wrong. What little faith I have left in him is fading.  

I’m posting a short video that I found that explains what I believe is happening with the TPP and why I am against it. I hope you enjoyed reading this and that you gained some useful information. I will try to post more. I really only had one cheerleader for what I posted on my blog even though we didn’t agree half the time because he was a Republican. His name was Bruce Scher and he passed away a couple of years ago. It was great having someone that didn’t let politics get in the way of our friendship. I found out the hard way just how rare that is. I still miss him. I’ll try to post more and thank you Herb for the nudge in writing this.

Exclusive: Newly Discovered 1964 MLK Speech on Civil Rights, Segregation

Exclusive: Newly Discovered 1964 MLK Speech on Civil Rights, Segregation

Bowe Bergdahl

I had planned to write about Sgt. Bergdahl sooner but I just couldn’t seem to get around to it. You no doubt have seen this story on television or heard about it on the radio. Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was captured in Afghanistan in June 2009 by the Taliban-aligned Haqqani network. There is some dispute about the details under which he left the Army base and later became a P.O.W. On 31 May 2014 he was released from confinement by his captors in a prisoner exchange.  

In any other time in history this would have been a good thing. The thing is at no other time in history has Barack Obama been President. The Republican Party is determined to bring him down at all costs. It doesn’t matter what it does to the country in the process. I don’t think that every person in the Republican Party is a racist but the fact that the President is black brings out the racist and they are firmly implanted in the GOP. I truly believe it sickens them every time they see President Obama and know that he is the President of the United States of America. It got under their skin so much that they formed the Tea Party. For the most part they will not admit they are racist but it doesn’t take a genius to see it. 

Days and weeks before Sgt. Bergdahl was released Republicans were saying that we shouldn’t forget about Bowe. Saying we need to do all we can do to bring him home. Once he was released they were told that this too they had to disagree with. Prior to this happening I didn’t think the GOP could stoop so low as to disparage the release of an American P.O.W., but I was wrong. They would have him rot in captivity rather than Obama secure his release. The argument they are pretending to have is Obama should not have traded "high value” detainees for him. The GOP would rather have detainees than an American. We all know that is not true but it IS the way they were told to react. When some members of the GOP first heard about Bowe being released they posted positive things on Facebook, Twitter and their political websites. The next day they were all removed.  

I was asked if I was going to post anything about this story. I could have done it the same day I heard about it. I knew my thoughts on him would not change. I was very familiar with his story. Without a doubt I believe he should have been released. I am very happy that President Obama made the deal. I think we all know that there was no way in hell Congress would have ever Okayed the exchange. Only because the President wanted it. I understand the complaint about him not giving them the option but given their track record I don’t think I would have waited either. We all know that had he asked they would have said no. Then if anything had happened to Bowe they would have said “he is supposed to be our leader and he is not leading” or something to that affect. There is no pleasing these people so I’m happy Obama just did the right thing. I don’t believe the thing about it being an emergency and I wish he had just told the truth.

This was a long way of saying Obama did the right thing. If we were going to follow International law we were going to have to release those guys anyway because the war is ending. By law when the war ends we have to let the prisoners go. I know the GOP likes to call them terrorist but that is misleading because we are at war with these “terrorist”. Since we are going to let them go we may as well be sure we get our guy back.

I also understand that the GOP and smear machine is calling Sgt. Bergdahl a deserter because of the way he left the Army base. They are also saying that several soldiers were killed while they were out looking for him. Other things are also being said about him that I’m not even going to bother listing because it doesn’t matter. Bowe is an American citizen and innocent UNTIL proven guilty. The Republican Party being the party that likes to wave the Constitution around should try holding it still so they can read it. Even IF he did what they said he did then I would still say we should bring him home to stand trial. Like I said, we were going to have to release those guys anyway. There is NO circumstance under which we should EVER leave an U.S. Soldier behind during war time. NEVER. I don’t care what he is accused of doing. Even if there is video proof that he killed an American soldier then was captured by the enemy. We bring him home. We deal with him. We don’t leave him. EVER.

                                                                       ADDITION

A friend of mine suggested that I should add this to what I had written. I was not familiar with this website. So thank you Lee.

If you would like to see some good ole Right-Wing hypocrisy click here.

Bundy vs. The Feds

Recently there was a stand-off between the Cliven Bundy family with support from Right Wing Militia members vs. the Federal Government. According to reports Mr. Bundy has been grazing his 500 head of cattle on Government land for over 20 years without paying grazing fees.

 

From what I have read, Mr. Bundy says he was paying the fees but stopped in the early 90s because the Government wasn’t assisting in the upkeep of their part of the land. He said the fees he was paying was to go for the salaries of the Forrest Rangers and the maintenance of the Government part of the land. Mr. Bundy said the Government wasn’t maintaining the property and therefore he was no longer paying the fees. 

After Mr. Bundy stopped paying the Government took him to court to collect what was owed. As I understand it, he was sued 3 times and he lost every time and was told he owed $1.2 million. Mr. Bundy ignored the ruling and continued to allow his cattle to graze on Federal land without paying the fees.

The Government rounded up his cattle while they were on Federal land and the Bundy family along with members of Right Wing Militia all armed with side arms and rifles went to get his cattle back. That is when a heated confrontation began. 

Naturally since this involves the Federal Government where Democrats are in charge Fox (NOT) News must take the side of the opposition. The location is Nevada and is the state of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Fox (NOT) News is helping to float a made up story about Senator Reid wanting to push the Bundy family off their land so he can build a solar farm with the Chinese. Even though the story has been proven to be false Fox continues to push it. 

The confrontation got heated and the Bundy group seemed to be ready to die. They were recorded saying they were going to put women up front so that the Government could be filmed killing them.

Not wanting to kill a bunch of crazy people, the Feds backed down and released the cattle. The Bundy group claimed victory and Fox (NOT) News was sad. Fox wanted to see shoot out so they could blame Sen. Reid and President Obama. 

NOW, Mr. Bundy says he is refusing to pay the fees because he doesn’t recognize the Federal Government as owners of the land he uses. He says the land belongs to the State of Nevada and therefore he should not have to pay the $1.35 per head each month grazing fee to the Federal Government.

 

This has gotten to be longer than I wanted so let me end saying this. Mr. Bundy is another Right Wing freeloader. If the land he is using belonged to the state of Nevada he would be paying over $15 a head in grazing fees and would owe close to $20 million instead of $1.2 million to the Feds. This guy doesn’t want to pay anything. He wants it all for free.

http://www.nass.usda.gov/Charts_and_Maps/Grazing_Fees/gf_hm.asp

Fox (NOT) News is promoting this wealthy rancher that is freeloading off of the Federal Government, who is basically refusing to pay his taxes, and making him out to be some sort of patriotic hero. Then that same fake news station is calling the poor people that collect any assistance from the government, a drain on the system and not worthy news coverage. 

Tell me where I am wrong.

 

 

Former Governor Indicted

Today the former Governor of Virginia, Robert McDonnell and his wife Maureen were indicted by the Federal Government. The indictment could have come while he was still in office but his lawyers somehow convinced the prosecutors to wait until he finished his term. Why should they do this guy a huge favor by allowing him to finish his term? If he had been a Democrat it would be a scandal to put it off.

The 43 page indictment will have you shaking your head. If the things claimed are true then he and his wife should go to jail for a long time. They are accused of 14 counts of fraud, conspiracy and obstructing a federal investigation.

In a nut shell as I understand it, this is what happened. Jonnie Williams, a business man in Virginia gave the Governor and his wife lots and lots of money and gifts in exchange for promoting his company and assisting with obtaining research grants. The list of things received from Mr. Williams are unreal. The Governor said Mr. Williams was his friend and saw nothing wrong with the gifts. This is the list from page 42 of the indictment;

 
The sum of not less than $140,805.46;

Black Rebecca Minkoff shoes;

Black Louis Vuitton shoes;

White Louis Vuitton shoes;

Cream Louis Vuitton purse;

Cream Louis Vuitton wallet;

Silver Rolex Watch engraved with "71s1 Governor of Virginia";

Yellow Peter Som dress;

Blue Armani jacket and two matching dresses;

Two Gold Oscar de la Renta dresses;

Black Louis Vuitton rain coat;

Gold Oscar de le Renta sweater;

One pair of Amelia Rose earrings;

One Gear sweatshirt;

Two pairs of Foot Joy golf shoes;

One button-down Ralph Lauren shirt;

One white Peter Millar golf shirt;

One baby blue striped Peter Millar golf shirt;

One royal blue Peter Millar golf shirt;

One aqua Fairway Greene Tech golf shirt;

One white striped Ralph Lauren golf shirt;

One Ping University of Virginia golf bag;

One Ping Kinloch golf bag;

One Sun Mountain Notre Dame golf bag;

Two sets of golf clubs;

One Heather Mackenzie water color and frame;

Two iPhones; and

30 boxes of Anatabloc®.

 

The Governor insists he has done nothing wrong. He says he has given it all back and he never broke the law and he also apologized. My question is why did he give it back and why is he sorry? If he did nothing wrong then why did he apologize. How can an apology be sincere if he can’t understand what he did wrong?  

I am sick and tired of powerful people getting caught doing something wrong and they say “I’m sorry” and give some of it back then go on about their business. When poor people get caught they go to jail.  

If you have some time read the indictment. This is what happens when you think you are above the law and drunk on power. He needs to sober up in a prison cell for 20 years.

The Government Shutdown

On October 1^st the Republicans shut down the U.S. Government. That is not a good thing but the Republicans, some of them, are as happy as they can be. From what I have seen, there is no limit to what they will do to bring down or to hurt the Presidency of Barack Obama. There is no way to tell if it is because he is a Democrat or if it is because he is black.

What I do know is because Republicans are not getting their way they are upset and have shut down the Government. They are acting like spoiled children. There are a group of Republicans from the Tea Party that want to defund the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Obamacare was passed, signed into law and upheld by the Supreme Court. Despite all of that, Republicans want to kill it. They shut down the Government because President Obama will not let them have their way. They are saying it is Obama’s fault that everything is closed when they are the ones that shut the doors. They say one thing then do another.

Rep. Randy Neugebauer, a Republican from Texas, was asked by Chad Hasty on a radio show on 1 October. “How long are you prepared to leave the Government shutdown?” He said “as long as it takes, Chad, because this is an important issue.” It was his actions that closed the Government. It was his and the Tea Party’s unwillingness to accept defeat on Obamacare that closed the Government. They act as if they can’t understand that they can’t win everything.

Rep. Neugebauer then on 3 October went and got in the face of a Park Ranger, insulting her for doing her job and using her for publicity. He should ashamed of himself for what he did to this woman, who was simply doing her job. She was basically carrying out the orders that he issued and he insulted her for doing it. I was happy to see the one guy that tried to stand up for her.

 

 

 

This shutdown is costing the American people a lot of money. According to The New York Times, the shutdown is costing us around $300 million a day. That’s money the Republicans and the Tea Party always say we don’t have. They say all the time that we can’t afford to spend money on Education and other social programs. Then they turn around and waste money like this.

This is what happens when we have Tea Party Republicans in Government. They were campaigning on shutting the Government down. They get in office and shut it down then blame President Obama and the Democrats for closing it.  These people do care about the American people or the Government. They want to cripple the Government and destroy President Obama. I believe they are so blinded by their hatred for President Obama that nothing else matters to them.  They are forcing us to go where we have never been before.

They are refusing to raise the Debt Ceiling of around $16.7 Trillion which has a deadline of 17 October. If this deadline is not met it could send the country in default and that has NEVER been done. No one really knows what will happen when or if the U.S. Government defaults on its debts. This will be unchartered territory if the country is FORCED to default. Republicans are saying they are willing to send the country over the default cliff unless the President agrees to make changes to Obamacare. The question now is will President Obama stand up to them?

No one else will say it but I will. The Tea Party is a Terrorist Organization and should be treated as such. Ted Cruz and Randy Neugebauer, along with other Tea Party members, are by definition terrorist and inside the Government. They should be treated like enemy combatants attempting to bring down the U.S. Government.

They are doing this because President Obama had the nerve to help the poor and sick people that could not get insurance. They like to hold up copies of the Constitution but they refuse to READ IT. They like to call themselves Christians but they refuse to act like it. They should try reading the bible. The bible says we should help the poor and the sick. It says we are judged by our actions.

 

James 2:14   Dear brothers, what's the use of saying that you have faith and are Christians if you aren't proving it by helping others? Will that kind of faith save anyone? James 2:15 If you have a friend who is in need of food and clothing, James 2:16 and you say to him, "Well, good-bye and God bless you; stay warm and eat hearty," and then don't give him clothes or food, what good does that do?  James 2:17 So you see, it isn't enough just to have faith. You must also do good to prove that you have it. Faith that doesn't show itself by good works is no faith at all--it is dead and useless.  James 2:18  But someone may well argue, "You say the way to God is by faith alone, plus nothing; well, I say that good works are important too, for without good works you can't prove whether you have faith or not; but anyone can see that I have faith by the way I act."  James 2:19 Are there still some among you who hold that "only believing" is enough? Believing in one God? Well, remember that the demons believe this too--so strongly that they tremble in terror!  James 2:20 Fool! When will you ever learn that "believing" is useless without doing what God wants you to? Faith that does not result in good deeds is not real faith.

 

There is nothing about the actions of the Tea Party Republicans that match “my” understanding of the bible.

These Tea Party Republicans are not Patriots, as they like to call themselves, they are TERRORIST. They need to understand that the Affordable Care act (Obamacare)……… IS………. THE……. LAW.

Attacking Syria

Let me start this one off by saying, I disagree with President Obama 100% about the use of military force in Syria. I’m not going to support him just because I voted for him. He is on my team but he is wrong on this one. When I think he is wrong I have no problem saying so. If I didn’t I would be doing what I say Republicans did when President Bush was in office.

I have to wonder what is it about the White House that make Presidents want to kill people. When President Obama was a Senator he was against President Bush using military force in the Middle East. Now he is doing the EXACT SAME THING. He would argue that there is a difference but there is none. It was WRONG when Bush did it and it is WRONG for Obama to do it.  

What would make the man that won the Nobel Peace Prize want to go to war? Why would he do the same thing that President Bush did? Since this blog is all about what I think, I will tell you. I believe the Military Industrial Complex (MIC) and those that supply them has some SERIOUS INFLUENCE over the White House. That is the only thing that makes sense to me. 

Think about what has happened. This war has been going on for a while with over 100,000 people killed with conventional weapons and there was no call for military intervention by President Obama. Not until Chemical Weapons were used, where just over 400 were killed, that Military intervention was called for. For me personally that doesn’t make sense. What does make sense is that MIC doesn’t approve of Chemical Weapons use because there is no profit in it for them. Anyone can mix up chemicals. Okay, not anyone, but anyone with knowledge of chemistry and the right ingredients. MIC wants them to use conventional weapons because they profit off of every round that is fired, bullets, rockets, grenades all conventional weapons they profit off them. When Assad started killing and cutting into their profits they had to bring in their enforcer, The United States of America.  

Our Government is already training the rebels and now they are asking to strike. The President says that the world is on his side. The thing is the U.N. is not on his side. The rest of world, except France, is not offering money or troops. The President says we as a civilized society decided long ago that Chemical Weapons could not be used and we cannot allow it to go unchecked. He said if we do nothing then Assad or someone else will do it again. His argument doesn’t hold water because the rules the President is talking about have been broken many, many times by us and our friends. We used Chemical Weapons in Vietnam and aided Saddam using them against Iran. Torture and indefinite detention is also against international law but that didn’t stop us.  Maybe those rules only apply to other countries. 

President Obama says we are not going to war but will be using targeted strikes. I would bet the people on the other end of those targeted strikes say it feels like war. This feels the same as the lead up to Bush’s wars. A whole lot of saying, we have proof and very little proof being shown. 

Poll after poll says that the American people as a whole want nothing to do with another war. The thing is it doesn’t matter what the American people want. The only thing that matters is what MIC wants and I believe they are putting lots and lots of pressure on the White House. The only way to combat them is to let our voices be heard and put our own pressure on the White House. I want to support the President but I need proof that Assad was behind this. I’m not going to just take his word. Also if he wants to take us into another war or whatever Washington wants to call this one, how are they going to pay for it? The credit card is about maxed out.

Where's The Outrage

Let me start this off by saying, like most of the people on the left, I believe that Ted Cruz is a U.S. citizen. I have not heard anyone on the left speaking out in opposition to the legitimacy of his citizenship. The few people that I have heard say anything about it are saying the same type of things like I am about to say. Where is the OUTRAGE from those on the right?

When President Obama was first elected, the Tea Party Republicans were almost foaming at the mouth about his birth certificate. They were saying “He was not born in this country, he was born in Kenya.” They said he was not a citizen because he was not born in this country. They argued that even though his mother was a citizen he was not because he was not born here. They demanded to see President Obama’s birth certificate because it would PROVE that he was not born here. Once the President posted his birth certificate online they said that wasn’t the right form. They wanted to see the long form version not the short one. After he posted the long form version they then said it was a fake. Fox (NOT) News even had experts on showing how the documents could have been forged. There were so many of them and they were so loud that they were given a nick name, The Birthers.

It is funny how things come back to bite you in the ass. The Birthers would pretend to be upset when anyone said that the REAL reason they were against President Obama was because of his race. They would accuse the left of race baiting. Now they have one of their own gearing up to run for President in 2016, Senator Ted Cruz. Senator Cruz is an outspoken Tea Party favorite who was born in Calgary, Canada. He also produced his short form birth certificate but there was no OUTRAGE. Like President Obama Senator Cruz’s father was foreign born. Unlike President Obama, Senator Cruz really WAS born in another country as stated on his short form birth certificate.

If it was not about race then where is the OUTRAGE from the Birthers. The number 1 problem they pretended to have with President Obama was that he was not born in America (even though he really was). Senator Cruz is unable to pass the bar the Tea Party set for President Obama but they support him anyway. If it was not about race then why not hold Senator Cruz to the same standard they held President Obama to. I’ll give you one guess. They kept saying they were not racist but the rest of America knew the truth. If it was not about race then what was it about? They don’t want to be called racist but they act like racist. If it was not about race then why was the guy born in America (Hawaii) considered foreign and the guy born in another country (Canada) considered American.

Where is the OUTRAGE from the Tea Party and the Birthers? You don’t hear it because Senator Cruz looks like them. It was never about anything other than race. I know people that tried to defend the Tea Party and Birthers, saying that it wasn’t about race and that Obama should just show his birth certificate and school records and get it over with. I wrote a blog post called “Obama’s Papers” where I said he should not show anything. I’m not going to put anyone one the spot but I wonder if those people that defended the Birthers before still think it was not about race. I wonder if they still think the Birthers are not racist. They should just fly the confederate flag and be proud of who they are. Stop trying to hiding who you are. We can clearly see you.

Syria

Yesterday President Obama said that Syria had crossed the Red Line by using Chemical Weapons on his people. Now the Pro-War people are crawling out of their caves to pound the war drums. They are all saying the same thing “we need to supply arms to the GOOD rebels and set up a No-Fly Zone.” This is expected to cost up around $50 million per day but that is not something they talk about and when they do you hear “You can’t put a price on saving human lives.” That sounds strange coming from them because the ONLY THING healthcare does is saves human lives and those same people are against Obama Care.

When Obama Care was discussed they said it cost too much, we are broke, we just don’t have the money, people need to take personal responsibility and we shouldn’t force anyone to buy insurance. Now these same people have no problem spending more money getting us into another war. They don’t even say we should make cuts somewhere like they do with everything else, they are just saying to do it. These people have no problems with people dying, as long as they make money off of it. Their problem is someone else profiting from war. There is a civil war going on in Syria and these guys want to make money off of it. There is no way to know which side to support and ANYONE that says otherwise, remind them of Saddam Hussein.  

There is always money on the right to kill while pretending they wanted to save. When you ask those same people to save lives by not killing then they say we don’t have money for that. That sounds funny coming from the party that likes to be called pro-life, HA.  

This is their platform for this country, cut taxes, cut food stamps, cut education, cut Medicare, cut the Federal Workforce and fight more wars. These folks are going to destroy this country if we let them. They are us fear to herd us into the war zone. If they really want to fight a war, let THEM go and we’ll leave a light on for them. We need to save energy so use a 5 watt bulb.

Block this, Bitches

Yesterday President Obama picked UN Ambassador Susan Rice to succeed Tom Donilon as his National Security Adviser. I’m sure you remember Susan Rice from November when she went on the Sunday Morning Talk Shows and repeated the talking points she was given on the Benghazi attack. That was nothing new. That was something almost everyone in Washington does. Rather than going after the person or people that issued the talking points the Republican Party went after Susan Rice.

These guys can’t seem to get over the election. It is as if getting beat by a black man hurt their soul. They just can’t get past the color of his skin. The HATE that the Republicans have for President Obama is much stronger than the love they pretend to have for this country. You see them on TV and you can tell by the expressions on their faces that they are angry about almost everything President Obama does.

The Republicans knew Susan Rice had done nothing wrong when she did what she was told after the Benghazi attack. They wanted to stop her rise in the political world and to hurt The President. They know Susan Rice did what she was told to do and that was her job. She said some things that were not true but it was early in the investigation. There were lots of things the Republicans said that were not true after 9/11 and leading up to the Bush wars. You know what they are and don’t need me to list them again.

I’m happy President Obama picked Susan Rice for this position. With this selection The President is saying to the Republicans “Block this, Bitches.”

  

I Was Wrong

A few days ago someone said to me that “you are never wrong.” I thought that was a very stupid thing to say because in this very blog I have said before that I was wrong. Then I wondered if maybe they just didn’t want to admit that they had made a mistake and that was their cop out. Then I decided I would put that baby to bed once and for all.  

I want to be on record again saying “I was wrong.” Other than my wife, I don’t know anyone that is always right. It doesn’t make me less of a man to admit that I was wrong on something. I have known people like that and I never want to be one of them.

 

If you read my blog you will know that I am just writing about what I think. I write my opinions about world events and things that happen to me. So just to prove a point I’m gonna talk about some things I was wrong about. A while back I said gay people should be allowed to have civil unions and not be allowed to serve openly in the military. Now I don’t think that way. I WAS WRONG. Gay people should be given every right straight people are given. At the time I didn’t think it through and look at it from the gay person’s point of view. Because I am not gay, it is not easy for me to see their side of the situation. That is not an excuse, just the reason why I believe I missed it. It doesn’t change the fact that I WAS WRONG.

 

If you go back and read about the elections you will see that I said Hillary Clinton would beat Obama in the democratic primaries. I WAS WRONG. There is no doubt about that one. I didn’t think Obama could beat Clinton at the time. I’m happy to say I WAS WRONG about that one.

Once I was writing about the Iraq war and the numbers I posted were wrong. Someone pointed it out and I corrected it. I WAS WRONG and should have done a better job of fact checking but it was my fault. 

My point is I don’t live in a fantasy world. I live in the real world where, with the exception of my wife, no one is always right. Most of the things I write about I research before I post it but I’m still human and sometimes I get it wrong. I make mistakes and I am not ashamed to admit it. I’m not done writing and I know I’m gonna get more things wrong.

Ten Years Later

Ten years ago President George W. Bush and his administration told us that we had to invade Iraq because Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. They used the aftermath of 9/11 to convince us that Saddam was going to use those weapons against America. The Bush Administration used the words “mushroom cloud” and “WMDs” at every opportunity. They said “we must fight them over there so we don’t have to fight them over here.” Those were their talking points and they repeated them endlessly. The problem was none of it was true and they knew it. It was all ONE BIG DECEPTION.

 

The Bush Administration and the Republican Party used our patriotism against us. If you didn’t support their actions then you were being unpatriotic. You were not supporting the troops. You were not an American. The media didn’t do their jobs investigating the claims that were being made by the Bush Administration. They let us down and as a result over 4,000 U.S. troops have been killed, over 32,000 injured and estimated 108,000 Iraqi civilians killed. There is also an estimated 15 million displaced Iraqi people. This is the same party that is OUTRAGED because 4 Americans were killed in Benghazi. This war has cost America more than 3 trillion dollars. Money the Bush Administration said would come from Iraqi oil. They said the war would only take about 18 months but it lasted 9 years and some Republicans wanted it to continue.

The Bush Administration lied us into an unjust war. They knowingly presented false information to Congress (a felony) to get them to authorize his use of military force. Just a side note, Congress impeached President Clinton for lying about a blowjob. There are people from the Bush Administration on record saying Bush and Cheney only wanted information to link Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. They didn’t want any information that would contradict what they wanted. They told the FBI and the CIA to find the connection. They wanted this war and nothing was going to stop them.  There are even unclassified records from November 2001 that states that the Bush Administration had plans to invade Iraq. They planned to justify starting the war by disputing WMD inspections. They doctored the evidence they were given and took us to war. Things that were possible were presented as fact.

 

When we talk about things the Bush Administration did wrong I would be remiss if I didn’t mention torture. It is against international law to torture someone and that was something this country used to agree with. Now I’m not so sure. We cannot be a nation of laws and then turn our backs on those same laws when times get bad. Imagine what the world would be like if everyone did that. Every day is a bad day for someone. Laws exist for a reason and should be followed, always.

President Bush and most of his Administration are criminals. The same goes for President Reagan with Iran Contra and his intervention in delaying the Iran hostages release under President Carter. The same goes for President Nixon with his intervention in extending the Vietnam War under LBJ. These guys are criminals and should be viewed as such. The people that support Republicans and their criminal actions later cry foul on Benghazi. Give me a break. They care NOTHING about human life. The only thing they care about is MONEY and POWER.

It’s been ten years and there is still time to do the right thing and prosecute Bush and his administration before they rewrite history. Well that’s my opinion on ten years later.

Dodged A Bullet

If you voted for Mitt Romney let me tell you now, stop reading, this is not for you. I’m not happy with President O’bama but I voted for him. I am so not happy with his drone strikes and his Patriot Act on steroids approach to National Security. That being said let me tell you, we really dodged a bullet with Mitt Romney. This man could have been President if he had gotten 5 million more votes.

Had this guy not posted this video Romney may have won. I know for me it was a big help because this told me a lot about Romney. The things he said in this video made my stomach turn. This video told me that he doesn’t care about people at all. The only thing that matters to Romney is making money. I don’t fault him for liking money because I like money too. I like it a lot but I will not do anything to get it. He doesn’t care about others. He is not the first to do this so it is nothing new. Then they go out and do or create some charity to make it look as if they have a heart. For me the true indicator of the type of person you are is the way you treat others.

I don’t know if Romney ever purchased that company but just the fact that he seemed to be okay with the way the women were treated in that factory told me all I need to know. If he would be okay with it over there then he would be okay with it here. Unless he said those women are less human than American women.

If you haven’t seen the entire video you may want to look it up on YouTube. This is just a short clip. It was taken from a $50,000 a plate fund raiser dinner. This video is why I say we dodged a bullet by not electing Mr. Romney. Enjoy and as always feel free to comment.

False Outrage

Let me start this one by saying I usually don’t use the names of people that I know in the things that I write. I don’t want them getting pissed at me for one and the other part is that I think it would just be wrong. I talk bad about Republicans in my writings but I almost always say that I am speaking in general. Some of my friends are Republicans. Some of them are middle of the road Republicans and a few are far right wing. I also have one closeted Republican friend and he knows who he is and I don't need to out him. A couple of my Republican friends take the things that I write to heart and I wish that they didn’t. I wish they could take it in stride the way I do when they talk about Democrats. It’s not personal. I always love getting feedback on what I write, either by comments at the bottom of the posting, or email, or phone calls, but not by text. There was one Republican friend I could always count on to respond by email to everything I wrote within about an hour. He never took any of it personal but he was also a middle of the road Republican.

His name was Bruce Scher and he passed away on 5 Dec 2012 at the age of 56. When I started to write this there was so much I was gonna say about Bruce but you know words, at least none that I know of, wouldn’t do him justice. So I’ll just say I miss him and I wish you all could have known him, R.I.P. dude.

 

Okay on with the post for today. There is so much going on right now in government that it is hard to start. I’m still upset about Republicans pretending to be outraged about the death of four Americans in Benghazi and demanding someone be held accountable. Saying an email was sent that should have been a cause for more attention and extra security. In hindsight I agree there should have been more security. The thing is if this was a terrorist attack like they are saying it was, then it would have been planned a long time ago. If they had beefed up security then the terrorist would have done the same or called off the attack. My point is that when we are in another country we will never be 100% safe. My problem with far right wing Republicans is that they stood by silent when more than 3000 Americans died in 9/11 when they were in charge. There was no outrage towards George W. Bush and that was a terrorist attack. There was a memo that the CIA sent to the White House saying Osama was determined to attack the U.S. and Bush ignored it. There was no outrage for those 3000 people in New York. Maybe American life has less value under Republican control and 3000 dead doesn’t mean as much. Now that a Democrat is in the White House and 4 Americans die in a terrorist attack in another country then there is OUTRAGE. It’s bullshit flowing out the mouth of every Republican that said nothing when Bush did worse.

Not only did Bush do worse but they then lied us into two wars and 1000s of soldiers lost their lives not to mention the tens of thousands injured. Starting us out in Afghanistan going after the people responsible for 9/11 then doing a head fake and poof, we are in Iraq because of WMDs. Knowing all along there was none and when they were called out on it they said, well he used to have some. The Bush administration should been charged with war crimes. If Obama had done the same thing they would have impeached him and he would be behind bars. Look at how they reacted to 4 Americans dying in another country and he started NO wars. They are OUTRAGED, OUTRAGED I tell you. No they are full of it.

It pisses me of because as a black man there are times that I feel that I am held to a different standard than white men. I try to tell myself that it has nothing to do with the color of my skin but then I keep seeing stuff that says otherwise. The stuff Obama is going through, a lot of it is because he is a Democrat (that’s what I tell myself), but most of it is because he is black (that’s what I believe). There is a group of white people in this country, let’s call them The Tea Party, that it hurts to their core to see a black man sitting in The Oval Office. The good part is that there is an even larger group of white people that doesn’t give a damn what color the President’s skin is. That gives me more hope than I could ever begin to share with you.

This is much longer than I had planned and because my mom reads it I cleaned it up, A LOT. I only ask one thing of you. If you go after someone, before you do, change the color of their skin and their party. If your passion is still the same then proceed and do as you will. That’s what I do.

Electoral Change

I thought about writing about this a couple of weeks ago when I first heard about it. Republicans are at it again. They see they can’t win by getting people to vote for them because they have the wrong message. They can’t suppress the minority vote, it just made more of us get out and vote. So now they are trying to change the Electoral Vote allocation in some of the swing states that are currently under Republican control. If you haven’t heard about it Virginia, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and I think Florida. All of these are states that President O’bama won but if they change the vote allocation to the way Republicans would want then Romney would have been President today even though President O’bama got almost 5 million more votes. They want to change from winner take all for the state, to winner of the congressional district. Republicans tried to slip this by the voters but a few people noticed and it finally got picked up by the main stream media. Virginia was all set for the Governor to sign it into law after sneaking it through while one of their members was at the President’s Inauguration. I believe he would have signed it into law if the media had not found out about it. Michigan is getting ready to do the same thing and if history is an indicator, they will pass it. Michigan doesn’t care what the people think. They ignored a court order to stop using the emergency order because they didn’t have the numbers but they continued. Michigan lawmakers don’t care what anyone says or thinks they just do it. I believe they may be the test case for the Republican Party. If Michigan passes this into law without too much coverage and fuss from the media then the other states will try to follow. Keep an eye out for Rep. Pete Lund in Michigan. He is the guy that says he will introduce the bill and try to get it passed. He says it will make the elections more reflective of what the people really want. Another way to say it is that the urban vote has too much say in the elections and this is the only way they can stop them.

The problem for the Republican Party is their base also known as The Tea Party. When the Tea party first came out in opposition to President O’bama they made a lot of noise and Fox (Not) News hitched their wagon to them. This was before they found out how toxic and batshit crazy they would be. Republicans are stuck with them now that they have been given a name and a voice. The Tea Party is the reason Republicans have had to move so far to the right during their Primary Elections. They have moved them so far to the right that they cannot move back to the center in time for the General Elections. The group they once had on their shoulders cheering them on is now choking the party to death.

Republicans today are saying the President is trying to kill the Republican Party. They should finish that statement with “we don’t need his help.” They are doing all they can to end it on their own. They are driving women and the elderly out. They got rid of black people a long time ago. Now it looks like they want most minorities out. I don’t think they can make it with just white dudes but it looks like they are gonna give it a try. I don’t want them to die off because I think we need more than one party but if they go someone else will come along and take their place. These guys are learning that you can’t keep screwing people and just saying “it’s not me” and think people will continue to believe you. Some of us will vote against you.

Now that Republicans are being seen as who they really are and they are unable to change their message, because of the Tea Party, they want to change the rules. If they are allowed to get away with this it will just be the beginning.

A Good Cause

I didn't think of this until someone suggested it to me a few minutes ago. This is not the normal stuff I put on my blog but this is for a good cause.

There is a young lady that works with my wife that recently got divorced. Shortly after her divorce her father died. She is the type of person that puts on the strong face but you can see that inside she is hurting. I know there is nothing that we can do to take the pain away. It just has to run it's course. What we can do is to try to bring her a little joy. If we can win this for her the winner gets a photo session with their dog. I know it is not much but we think she would really like it a lot.

That is where you come in. Some of you have already voted. I called you or contacted you thru Facebook. I asked you to share the picture on Facebook and ask your friend to LIKE the picture too. The numbers did go up but not enough. I believe a lot of people clicked "Like" under the picture on Facebook without clicking on the actual picture. That doesn't count. In order for the vote to "count" you must click on the picture and open it up. Once the picture is open then you click "like" under the picture and my wife gets credit for your vote.

I want to thank some of you that shared the photo on Facebook and asked your friends to "Like" it. People like Lee, Herb, Diana, Christy (CT), Tracee, Shantonie, Kevin and Al. I know I left some people out and I'm sorry but I'm kinda rushed right now.

I'm asking everyone to check to see if they have voted by clicking on this link. If your vote has not been counted picture should have "unlike" under it. If your vote has not been counted the picture should have "like" under it. I'm not sure if you have to have a Facebook account to vote. Just click on the link under the picture of my dog. His name is Duce and no you can't have him :-)

Please forward my blog to as many of your friends as you can and ask them to vote. This post is not political for a change. This is something that is not red or blue. Thanks for reading all of this and please help us help her.

Please click right here on Facebook link for Duce to "Like" his photo. We need your vote.

Jordan Davis

I’m not seeing much about Jordan Davis on the news. I heard about him on Monday and was shocked. A 17 year old black kid was gunned down by a 45 year old white man in the parking lot of a convenience store. This is what happens when people walk around with guns. At some point one of these gun nuts are going to approach someone else with a gun. When that happens there will be a shoot-out and innocent people may be hurt. I’m saying all of this as a gun owner. My wife and I went out about a month ago and got guns because these folks are getting too bold.

 

I don’t know if this was a hate crime. I see nothing to indicate that it was. What I do believe is that the lives of “Black Men” are of lesser value to many people walking the street. The legal system will not punish you as hard if the person you kill is a Black Man. Maybe I see this through different glasses than the rest of you, I don’t know. It bothers me that this guy could even formulate the idea that his actions were okay. Then to drive off and go back to his hotel room as if he had done nothing wrong. They were just Black Kids that I shot at. No big deal. His lawyer even said that “there were four black men in the car” as if that was some type of qualifier.

I’m not going to go on and on about this one. I will just post this video and you can see for yourself. This “Stand Your Ground” bullshit needs to end.

As always your comments are welcomed.

Election Day

Tomorrow is Election Day and I will be glued to the television to see the results. I would like to believe that I’m not the only one but I hear some people say that they don’t care. There is nothing I can do about that. All I can do is to cast the one vote that I have. I don’t cast it for myself but for everyone. Hopefully even those voting for Romney are doing it for the same reason.

I voted for O’bama because I feel like he will do a better job for all of us. I don’t think he wants our service members fighting wars. Obama believes that the people wearing the uniform of this country are not just numbers but their lives have value. Obama believes that women are the best ones to decide what to do with their bodies. If a woman is pregnant it should be her CHOICE to take it to term. IF she cannot afford to take her pregnancy to term and that is the ONLY reason for wanting to terminate it there is help for her IF she wants to keep her baby. She will not be FORCED to give birth and then be on her own. She should be paid the same as a man for doing the same job. If a same sex couple wants to form a union, call it marriage or civil union, either way they should have the same rights as me and my wife. If a person or family member gets sick it should not cost them everything that they own. No one in this country should have to file for bankruptcy because of illness or injury. Insurance companies should not be allowed to turn someone away because they are too sick after years of taking their money. I don’t believe that tax breaks for the rich will do anything to help the rest of us. Top down does not work. It will never make a company hire more people. Companies hire more people because they have to. When more people buy their products they have to make more and that means they have to make more and they means more people will be hired. That is the ONLY way companies will hire more people. That is why I voted for Obama.

I’m sure the people voting for Romney have their reasons and I would love to hear the reasons. Every issue I stated Romney has been on both sides of the fence both for and against them. I have no idea who the real Mitt Romney is. I’m not talking from what someone told me but from what I heard him say. I heard him say one thing one day then do a full 180 in less than 24 hours. I just have no idea what he would do as President. Also why is Romney hiding his tax returns? Why hasn't he or Mr. Ryan done any interviews in over a month? They do speeches but will not answer questions.

If you read my blog you know that I’m not a blind Obama follower. I complain about President Obama sometimes. He does things that I don’t agree with and mostly it is because he is not going far enough. I once had someone imply that I am an Obama supporter just because he is black. I tried to argue with but quickly gave up mostly because of his ignorance. I realized that I could not fix stupid so why was I even trying. I try very hard to be an informed voter. I try not to vote against one person but for someone. I voted FOR President Obama NOT against Governor Romney.

The last thing I want to say is that I don’t see ANY leadership in Romney. With all of the voter suppression efforts going on this year by some of those in the Republican Party Mr. Romney has not said one word. That is not what I would call leadership. When one of the people on the right called a woman a slut, Romney didn’t call it wrong he only said HE would not have used that word. That is not what I call leadership.

 

This has gotten too long so let me end by saying this. You only have one vote to cast so do your homework and cast it wisely.

Bullets vs Ballots

This isn’t anything new for me to talk about. Maybe I should leave it alone but for some reason I cannot. I really don’t like to continue to complain about the Republican Party because the Democratic Party does stupid things too but I guess when you mess with people’s rights it bothers me more than most other things. As you know Republicans are trying to make it harder for lots of American citizens to cast their votes this November. They say it is because of the possibility of voter fraud. Since the year 2000 there have been 2068 alleged cases of voter fraud. During that time there have been more than 600 million votes cast in presidential election not to mention state and local elections then we would get into the billions. This (2068) is a very small amount and from that only 10 were in-person voter fraud. So how can Republican push through these Voter I.D. Laws to combat this non-existent problem? You know the answer. They want to suppress the vote. They want to decrease the number of people voting for President Obama and it is working.

 

If you are among the people that feel it is okay to require people to show I.D. to combat the problem of In-Person Voter Fraud then I wonder why? I say that because voting is a right, just like speech and bearing arms. Should we really make it harder to vote because of the actions of 10 people since the year 2000? Over 9,000 people are killed every year with guns but we are not making it harder to buy guns. Over 70,000 people are injured with guns each year and some would say we have made it easier to get guns. You can do the math. Does this make sense to you? When it comes to guns the Republicans say even though lots of people are killed we have the ‘right’ to keep and bear arms and that right should not be infringed upon. Why do they not use the same logic when it comes to voting? Maybe because this effort affects mostly the poor, the elderly and students and as a party those are three groups that the Republican Party doesn’t care about.  

I know all Republicans don’t feel this way. I will say that all of my Republican friends that I have talked to about Voter I.D. think it is a good idea. I even know some that say they are Democrats and they are okay with Voter I.D... I don’t know ANY Republicans that want stricter gun laws.  

To bring this to a close, it is Rights vs. Rights and only one of them can quickly cost you your life.  One of them has a big money lobbying firm behind it and the other is being used to try to get Mitt Romney into the White House.