What is Wrong With You?

What is wrong with you?  Really, what is wrong?

How can you constantly fall for the same ploys?

Government is too big, incompetent, and bad.  But you collect your Medicare benefits, and Social Security checks with no complaint, buy your excessive prescriptions, to treat what mostly are obesity related ills.  Eat like pigs, and condemn poor children who need food stamps.

Tell racist stupid jokes, to friends who have mixed race backgrounds, and wonder why they hate you?

Make believe that global warming is not real, while Hurricane Sandy, grown to a monster by the ingredients of a warming planet, drown your grandchildren.

Make believe that drill baby drill will provide enough gas, blame the President for high prices, while driving your RV to your comfortable Elks parking lot, at 6 miles to a gallon.  Using the money you are saving on prescription drugs, thanks to the Affordable Care Act (that you hate) to buy that gas.

Hating the President, because you call him a "socialist" but really because he his black, while you coddle your  half black grandchild.

Choosing to vote for a man who has never told the American people the truth, who changes his position at every campaign stop, who actually made his fortune crippling the American economy, by outsourcing the job you lost.

Voting down tax increase for schools.  Being so stupid, you buy the crap that tax replacements, for former crazy tax cuts, are actually tax increases.

Living about two days in the past.  Refusing to even look at what George W. Bush did to this country.

Then, when schools have to close, say you "don't give a shit since I don't have kids in school anymore", and actually believe it.

Be a veteran, but vote against veteran's benefits for new vets, and call them parasites.

And finally, fly the flag everyday, and night, rain and shine, proclaim that you support the troops, while you refuse to pay for the two wars that we have been in the past ten years.

What is wrong with you?

War on Women is Not Exactly Finished

Mitt Romney was very adroit in calming women's concerns in the first Presidential Debate.  Contrary to the Republican Party's radical platform,  that outlaws abortion in ALL cases; that calls for the outlawing of abortion throughout the land, that seeks to reduce health care to women dramatically women were lulled into a false sense of security by the Bain salesman.

Romney said he was against Abortion except in cases of rape or incest,  that he was almost disinterested in overturning Roe vs Wade, and took a "trust me, I'm actually a moderate" point of view.

And apparently it worked.  Along with his assurances that he had "reached across the aisle" in Massachusetts (he vetoed almost 1000 bills), which was a flat out lie, women and many others took a deep breath, and decided that his promises on the economy (also lies), were enough to gain their vote.

So the polls swung.  Suddenly what looked like a run away for Obama became very close.  Women particularly, gave Romney the benefit of the doubt mainly because the economy has not rebounded enough.

Of course, this happened while the unemployment rate dropped, housing starts improved, and the public's  confidence in the economy rose.

But the "war on women" that Democrats had so loudly proclaimed;  that message began to fizzle.

Even the Claude Aiken truth speak, when he said that a  legitimate rape should not deserve an abortion, began to fade.

Then the nut case from Indiana spoke.  Again, he spoke exactly what the Republican platform and the vast majority of Tea Party members, and Christian Conservatives believe, that rape and incest should NOT be a mitigating factor in a woman getting an abortion in the Republican world of government reproductive control.

The Indiana Senator candidate basically said that God promoted keeping a rape induced baby.  So, he was for government forbidding abortions even in cases of rape (legitimate or not).

And Romney, flushed out again, through a spokesman,  "denounced" the statement, while running an ad in Indiana promoting the candidate's election.

Once again, it is "now you see it, now you don't".  Where does this guy really stand?

I will give you  a clue.  He is being supported by millions from hard right wing plutocrats, who hide behind "Citizens United" to give billions anonymously, against democrats from Senate to local school boards.

If anyone thinks for one minute, that Romney as President will stand up to these fat cats, they are living in dream land.


And, if any woman believes for one minute that Romney will stand up against right wing conservative Christians anti-abortion radicals, they are living in dream land.

Look, women of America, the Republican Party has a platform that is anti-women, anti-choice and anti-freedom.  You can accept the snake oil for what it is, a huge con, to get your vote, then take control over your body because "God wills it".

And who, my fellow Christian friends,  can claim they really know what God intends or thinks?  Who in the heck do they think they are?

The War on Women is not Finished.  Don't be fooled.  If Romney wins, things will change dramatically, especially for women!

I Really Wonder

I really wonder about my fellow citizens.  We are locked in one of the most important elections in the nation's history and don't seem to get it.

In many states voter ID laws are being either overturned, or stayed until after the election.  Voter fraud is happening all right, by those who are yelling fraud the loudest; Republicans.   The latest was a Republican elections official who was caught throwing democratic registration away!   Real American Patriotism there, cheat to win?!

Voters are still "undecided" after billions of dollars of persuasion, three debates and endless speeches.

The Republican candidate for President makes a comment that Syria needs Iran as its pathway to the sea, completely ignoring geography.  No Americans noticed because most Americans know nothing about geography.

In California, an initiative to provide revenue to a deficit ridden budget, which could save education, is in real trouble.  This will mean huge mid-year cuts, but many voters still hold to the folly that "the state has more money".

Governor Romney blithely promises to cut taxes by 20%, raise defense spending by a like amount, AND balance the budget...and most Americans seem to be believing him!

The same old snake oil, "voodoo economics" is being peddled in California and in the nation.  And if you believe recent polls, Americans are buying it.

This is just five years after the economy melted down; after the worst loss of wealth by the middle class EVER!  We all suffered the realization that Wall Street money manipulators have defrauded people out of billions.

And, one of  their own, Mitt Romney Bain Capital manipulator,  is running for President and may win.

There was a classic movie, that was made in the Great Depression.  It was the first mass movie produced in color.  It was called the "Wizard of Oz".

The natives of Oz, were following a wizard, who was no wizard at all, but a fraud; but they followed him anyway; blindly.  He sold himself as a wizard who could cure all ills while doing nothing of the sort, and people still believed him.  They believed  him blindly.

I really wonder if Americans can ever shake themselves and wake up to the fraud of the Republican Tea Party who caused the deficit with two wars, homeland security and Medicare benefits, that were not paid for, and passed a huge tax cut; pivoted and blamed the next President for the damage; and are getting away with it.

That is the part that makes me really wonder if Americans have a clue.

Money money money

As the Presidential race tightens, and Congressional Races lean toward the Republicans, we begin to ask why?  Why did one relatively poor debate performance swing the race (at least in the polls) so radically to Romney?

Why is Warren now losing to Brown.  How in the world can one explain the mess in Missouri.

It is money dear friends.   Citizens United is having its intended effect.

It is not easy to "follow the money", but it still can be done.

The Presidential race is mostly even, though Romney is pouring millions into battleground states.  The number of donors on the Republican side is small compared to the Democratic side.

That is because most donors for the Democrats are like me, five bucks here, five bucks there.

On the Republican side is is $100,000 here and $100,000 there.

After awhile that is real money.  And real influence.

Elections can be bought.  Enough money pours out so much propaganda, plus Fox News and 90% of talk radio being owned by conservatives, that the progressive side does not have a chance.

Most people do not read, or study history very much.  Most are too busy trying to scratch out a living to do much research...they depend on the T.V. and radio for their information.

And that media is saturated by the far right.

So, propaganda is winning; it usually does.

Read Germany 1932 to 1945 if you want to see what results.

We are doomed.

FDR

This weekend I watched a long documentary on Franklin D. Roosevelt.  I was struck by how the language and issues were so similar, between the Republicans of the time, and Roosevelt.

For the first time in American history, the Federal Government got directly involved in the economy under Roosevelt.  In a every sense, the foundation of our modern post-industrial capitalism was created by Roosevelt and his experimentation filled New Deal.

For most of American history, charity for the poor was considered an area for private and church donations.  The Great Depression changed that, no amount of charity could deal with 50% unemployment.

People were afraid, they were hungry, and free market capitalism seemed to be totally inadequate to deal with the suffering.

Roosevelt changed all that.  He kick-started the federal government into massive spending programs in an attempt to ease the suffering of millions, and to insure that the boom and bust cycle of capitalism could be regulated.

This, of course, started the great debate we are still in today.  Conservatives, most rich ones, of the thirties literally grew to hate Roosevelt as a "traitor to his class", as the President broadened the New Deal to massively aid the "have nots".

And it worked.  The Depression may not have been cured by the New Deal, but its effects were greatly mitigated.

As it turned out, the Great Depression was a world wide phenomenon, and it took WWII to shake the world out of it; at the cost of over 50 million dead.

The boom and bust cycles of capitalism were greatly tamed by the New Deal.  In the 2000s, George W. Bush, greatly de-regulated Wall Street and the financial markets, and plunged the nation into a financial crisis nearly as bad as the Great Depression.

What we see now, is a massive, I hope last ditch, effort by rich conservatives, to once again roll back New Deal regulations of the economy; in a self interest attempt to fix the game and drive their wealth even higher.

The rich have got richer in the last 30 years, the gap between haves and have-nots has exploded.

Meanwhile, thanks to Fox News and conservative propaganda, many members of the middle class are actually on the rich conservatives side, caught up in a false ideological argument, that actually is a cynical rich man's con to fool them into giving their blind support.

It is almost sickening to listen to them.  They puppet the rich conservative talking points, that have been fed them for hours by Fox and Rush, not aware that NONE of these talking points help them at all.

In a real sense they are like pretend rich men, acting like they are standing for economic liberty, while the rich continues to push them farther down into poverty.

It has got so bad, that many members of the middle class, are actually falling in line with attacks on Medicare and Social Security, when most of them are, or will be, dependent for their future health and welfare on those New Deal (and Great Society) programs.

In short, they decry the very programs that will keep them well as seniors, and pay their bills.

FDR changed the nation forever, and forever the rich have hated him.  Today, the visceral hatred of President Obama is reminiscent of that same loathing.

The amazing thing, is the wealth, especially the super rich, have benefitted massively under the New Deal (that saved their capitalistic and unfair system).  The rich are richer today than ever before compared to everyone else.

So, today the battle is between the New Deal, that succeeded, and everyday provides security and assistance to millions, and the rich, who literally want it all;  and the 47% , as Romney famously said, do not matter.

The debate cannot be lost this time around, just as it could not be lost the last time.  The future of this country depends on it.