Republicans Prepare to Lose 3rd Straight Presidential Election

You gotta love the Republicans as they head to Iowa. Each and everyone is stumbling over the other to get as far right as possible. Whether it is Scott Walker wanting to eliminate the 14^th amendment or Ted Cruz introducing a bill named for the woman killed in San Francisco that attack the Latino community and characterize them as criminals and miscreants, or maybe you like the idea that Donald Trump will send 11 million undocumented Latinos “home” even children who are legally Americans. The kicker is that they are courting the Latino vote which this election cycle could amount to 28 million while trashing them. This is the way to win a Presidency.

This is not the only front that these self-styled Republicans are going after Americans that they hope will vote for them. Women are their next problem. They have drummed up a phony attack on Planned Parenthood. Let me disclose that my wife and I donate monthly to Planned Parenthood. So in a country that boasts the best healthcare system in the world why is the following happening:

Each year, about one million infants around the world die on the same day they’re born. That figure includes about 11,300 U.S. babies — the highest first-day infant mortality rate of any other country in the industrialized world, according to a new report from Save the Children (Tara Culp-Ressler, Think Progress).

Now these Republican men and woman want to defund an organization dedicated to all women’s health issues, and to correct their false statements this organization does not use any taxpayer monies for abortions that they perform. More than this, they want to eliminate or severely cutback cancer screenings and other vital preventative medical procedure from working poor and low income women in American. With 55% of the women voting for President Obama, there could be a statically significant up tic for the Democrats in 2016. Nice work Republicans

You would think that Republican plates would be full with everything that they want to take away from average, hardworking Americans, but they are not through. For them, to be a true American you must give up your healthcare unless it is employer sponsored and offered as a benefit. The rest of you who have received healthcare because of the Affordable Healthcare Act need to suck it up and get a job that provides such luxuries, but wait there is more to it. They want to destroy unions so that even those medical benefits can be denied because it might negatively impact the bottom line.

Maybe Republicans see their election predicated on invading Iran and that these other issues are merely irksome ancillary problems as Mr. Trump has so bluntly asserted. These Republican stooges seem to believe that sacrificing American men and women for oil and under the pretense of stopping a nuclear Iran is the best foreign policy plan. Diplomacy be damned. We need to be able to unprovoked invade a second country because they are Muslim Infidels with sweet crude that we so desperately want to pump into our cars, trucks, and SUVs.

These ignorant sycophants have only begun their Don Quixotesque quest for the Presidency tilting at windmills while setting themselves up for their third presidential loss in a row and the 5^th in the last 7 elections. Keep acting with impunity you Republican court-jesters as it will lead to an impotency so great that all the Viagra and Cialis in the world cannot save you from yourselves.

The Radicalization of the Political Process

The highlights of the RedState meeting after the first Republican debate concerned everything they are going to take away from Americans. What a bunch of nutjobs.  Mike Huckabee will make sure that healthcare is taken away from the poor as he proposes personhood for the unborn. Which means that a living adult that carrying a fetus will have fewer rights than the fetus gestating in the uterus.

You got to love these guys and one gal who want to be president of America of 1923. I call them the Calvin Coolidge clones. This may not be a far analogy for poor Calvin, but he presided over an anachronistic time that made sure to segregate society between the haves and have nots, the whites from all people of color (unless they were a maid or some other form of servant), and kept unions at bay so that wages could be kept low and profits high.

When you are able to appeal to the lowest common denominator by yelling and repeating some outrageous lie, get to work and get it done like Ted Cruz did when he shouted to the heavens that “…President Obama was ‘funding radical Islamic terrorism’.” That sort of Intellectual dishonesty will bring the house to its knees in praise of your brave stance.

What does all this radicalization of the political process do? Nothing good. It sets up dynamics that perpetuate the inflexibility and intolerance that is sweeping through the country at all levels of the political arena. It ain’t going away anytime soon. In fact the Republicans will double down on their hate rhetoric as long as they see it as a means to an end. Look at Ferguson where white armed militia decided to show up to put the black people in their place.

So for the next 16 months, the American people will be entertained with outrageous and divisive statements as a means for these Republican candidates to try and distinguish themselves from the herd, and after the nomination, they will try to publicly walk them back while privately staying true to their feigned policy positions. I call this the Mitt Romney Effect.

Watching these clowns bend over backwards to please their puppets masters and money machines is sickening and disgusting. There is no single person vying for the Republican nomination that is their own man or woman. All they do is pander with their hand out for the next greenback.

You may say, “Wait a minute, what about that Trump character?” You’re right; his hand ain’t out begging for a handout because it’s trapped deep in his own pocket pulling out his own nickels and dimes to say fuck you to those other billionaires who hide behind closed door a feared of the public finding out who they are and the agenda that they are pressing on their puppets. More than the money the Donald pretends to be Mister Honesty and General No It All who will with a wave of his hand solve all of America’s problems.

As the old saying goes, “Money talks and Bullshit walks,” is completely wrong in this Republican nominating process. It is Bullshit that talks and brings in wheelbarrows of money, and the more desperate the candidate the greater the amount of Bullshit that emanates from his or her pie hole leaving any normal American shaking their heads in disbelief.

It is the Money and Bullshit that is radicalizing the Republican field as they watch their chances to win the presidency again evaporate before their eyes because of they need to gratify their base at all costs and ignore the rest of America. Radicalized politicians won’t win because they are shackled to their cause and not the needs of the American people, which is a shame because we once had two parties that presented competing but competent ideas to help America. We are left with but one…

America: Home of the Right-Wing Nut Jobs Ready to Kill

It is dumbfounding to think of all the crackers that live and breathe the same air as me. I spent 15 of my first 18 years living in Alabama or Texas during the 60’s and 70’s. It is these same people that want to take our country back in time much like our jihadist friends in the Middle East. Whitey as I like to call these crackers are ignorant and too often homicidal. Check out the latest attack in Louisiana.

These dumbass jackalopes make fools of themselves whenever they are interviewed or seen in public with their Confederate Flags and automatic weapons strapped to their chests and back as they stroll through Walmart. It makes the average citizen like me disgusted with this infantile behavior.

Unlike other places in the world where war has broken out and thrown society into chaos. We Americans go about our business as if nothing is happening. We find other issues to focus as we kill over ten times the number of innocent American citizens than any other industrialized, first world country.

I am not talking about a shooting here and a shooting there. I am talking about mass shootings that no other industrialized country experiences. Since the Newtown massacre of babies, America has experienced approximately 75 mass shootings, which means that at least four persons were killed in each incident.

Who were the majority of the killers in these shootings? White men! These cranks seem to taking out their frustration of their own poor choices on the rest of society. They have decided that they are God and can take others’ lives. This chills me to the bone because anyone can be the target of their ire and frustration be it a family member, co-worker, boss or random innocent people who happen to be in their purview.

Too many of these attacks are created by the hate stirred up on right-wing radio and the internet. Our first Amendment allows these purveyors of hatred to fill the airways with their loathing for the present and future. And, helps these nut jobs to focus their misguided hate and anger on the innocent too often but not exclusively brought on by those that wave the confederate flag.

I want to thank our confederate flag waving brethren who use this symbol to advertise their fear of progress, their ignorance, and their hatred of freedom for anyone but themselves. Their intolerance for any kind of dissonance is astounding. The only way they can deal with the world is on their myopic terms and anything or anyone who sees it differently is Anti-American and must be put in their place.

Their heroes are people like Rush Limbaugh or Alex Jones or Glen Beck whose bigoted world view leaves no room for the majority of Americans. If these men had their way, we would have the vagina police and the bedroom police to make sure that they or their cohorts could control the minutest details of American life. For the ignorant, we call this behavior FASCISM.

So, all you dumbass crackers out there who listen to all this garbage on the radio and computers, and believe that the black helicopters are coming for your guns and give your freedoms to (fill in the minority of your choice) better get your bunkers built because the rest of society is moving forward as you run to a past that never existed except in your fantasies.

White men made this the greatest nation on God’s green earth!

There is nothing that right-wing conservative Christians like to preach more than the idea that too many Americans rely on government assistance for things like food, housing, medicine and heat; they see these people as freeloaders that are ruining this the greatest country on God's green earth. They feel that you must do for yourself, and be independent to be a true American, furthermore, they are threatened by the idea that a woman or a homosexual or an immigrant or another ethnic or religious minority would make America their home.

Beyond those ideas, what they refuse to see is how the wealthy rob the taxpayer for their own greed and self-interest. This thievery has created a ruling class that are parasites much in the same way that Jesus saw when he threw out the money changers and profiteers from the synagogues. Moreover, there is no one to defend the economically marginalized as they have no PACs or SUPER-PACs to represent their interests.

The problems for America go beyond the financial robbery of our country by the wealthy; it is the intellectual and spiritual larceny that is at the heart of what ails America. The use of television, radio and the internet to poison minds on a daily basis is abhorrent to a healthy society, yet it is this type programming that makes money for the rich and powerful at the expense of all Americans. These professed right-wing, Christian hatemongers spout their venomous rants 24 hours a day to a willing and angry citizenry that is searching for a way to lash out at those they see as being less than them so that they can justify their lot in life.

From the lips of these religious fanatics we can thank God that America knows exactly how Jesus would feel about President Obama and the rest of the Democratic party as well as the progressives that support scoundrels who want to have background checks on gun purchases, make sure that more Americans can get medical coverage, and put hot food into the bellies of children who through no fault of their own are hungry too often.

These conservatives want to harken back to the past when we were a country of radicals like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Jefferson Davis who decided that war was the only way to create the America that could evolve in the country we are today in which all Americans can expect be treated with respect and dignity.

A country in which fairness is celebrated in marriage equality; a country in which evenhandedness is rejoiced in equal pay no matter your gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation; a country in which politics is by and for the people such as the Koch Brothers, Bank of America and Apple to name a few lesser known individuals trying to make a living for their families.

I did go in the wrong direction when I used the word evolved when talking about our right-wing Christian brethren. They in no way will admit to evolving or anything of the sort. For these people, evolve is a four letter word on par with progressive or liberal. And, never shall any of those words cross their lips except in contempt for the ideas that they represent.

I can see why evolution or equality or fairness is so frightening to these right-wing Christians: dread. They dread losing their ability to control their world by putting others beneath them; whether, it is based on gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or immigration status they are losing control of their environment as others step up demanding their place at the table.

This idea of insisting and expecting everyone in our society to be treated the same no matter their belief system, gender, ethnicity, or immigration status is utterly absurd and contrary to the moral fiber that runs through any good, right-wing, God loving Christian.

They know that you must earn your spot in heaven and only the righteous will be allowed into such a divine place; therefore, all you illegals, atheists, Jews, racist/sexual pejoratives, and women need to remember that it was white men that made this the greatest nation on God’s green earth and your behavior needs to reflect that fact.

Tea Party Corporate Shills

It’s time for the working Americans to stand up and fight for what is right: a living wage. It is time for shareholders to take a backseat to those that toil; down with these vampires that effortlessly reap the benefits of backbreaking work. It is revolting to see that the pendulum has swung so far to the right that too many worker rights, which were won in the fifties and sixties are being lost, and today’s workers are being attacked for wanting job security, health benefits and a livelihood that keeps pace with inflation. 

Tea Party Corporate Shills lead the charge against American workers pushing the following obscene ideas: keep the working class in fear for their job, and make sure they are struggling financially, so they are thankful for what little is thrown their way. If you are a working stiff, make way for the big dog or you’ll be run over by one of these self-righteous, evangelical, libertarian goons who are out only for themselves at the cost of everything that makes America great.

What is so grotesque and repulsive is the fact that right-wing, conservatives aka Tea Party Thugs use radio and television shills to act as if they have no rights in this country while they deny economic equitability to working Americans. When it comes to satisfying their baser needs and desires (excessive profits at the expense of their employees), they act like henny penny and cry that the sky is falling because they don’t get everything that they want, and pretend that their profits are being whittled away by the competition all the while stealing from their employees and lining their corporate pockets. As they are doing this, these same crooks take their corporate holding off-shore so that they don’t have to pay taxes to help with the maintenance of the concrete and virtual infrastructure of our country.

If that is not bad enough, these conservative, media collaborators spread outrageous lies about the lack of religious freedom and the moral decay of America, furthermore, these same “morally superior” Christian broadcasters push the idea of a new crusade and demand America put more boots on the ground in the Middle East to destroy the infidels. Moreover, these same people believe that their religious superiority gives them the right to exploit their fellow Americans for their own personal financial gain in the name of their god all the while praising that lying, drug addict Rush Limbaugh for his misogynist rants.

If you’re crying wolf on the radio, publishing books reminiscing about the good old days, and running televisions networks dedicated to the dispersal of half-truths and complete lies how are your freedoms being curtailed? Those suppositions are merely subterfuge so that these con-artists can profit from using misinformation to prop up their fiefdoms and falsehoods to the American working men and women. The most irritating aspect of these alligator tears is that it is all about control and domination, and sad to say too many hard working Americans are buying what these Tea Party Conspirators are selling.

This need for unfettered power is based on the idea that these people believe they know what is best for America, and that the rest of us need to shut the hell up, bend to their will, and when that happens, then, America will return to its true course. Read the book The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power by Jeff Sharlet to clearly understand the inner workings and politics behind these conservative Tea Party evangelists.

Until Americans wake up to the perversions that these Tea Party liars are perpetuating, there is no way to stop this landslide of greed and cronyism.  We are witnessing the resurgence of the ugly side of capitalism, and I am sorry to say that there is no Teddy Roosevelt to take on the corporatists that are funding the political hijinks that we call Congress, moreover, the only grievance they will redress are those brought to them by the money changers.

Corporate Greed: An American Tradition

It is extraordinary to see that our country is moving in the least promising direction it has moved in the past one hundred years.  We are now headed back to the point where the corporate abuses that led to the rise of trade unions will lead to their demise.  Through our congressional leadership, corporations are able to black mail the American worker to give up hard fought benefits through their ability to gain concessions based on the idea that we will no longer be able to compete in the world market.

Moreover, this corporate gambit is based on the concept that to save individual jobs the American worker must sacrifice so that the shareholders gain on a quarterly basis.  Look at the case of a Mercer Island woman in Washington State who not only lost her computer position to outsourcing, but was required to travel to India and train her replacements, so that she could earn a paycheck as long as possible.  Think about that: she was coerced to make herself replaceable so that she could keep working a few more weeks before she was forced to go on unemployment.  Once she had completed her task, she was now the property of the U.S. government, and the company that she once worked for has washed their hands of her.

There is nothing new about this idea.  It is as old as private enterprise; however, in this age of global malaise and America bashing, it is ironic to see that the most proficient bashers live right here at home. Our corporations instead of lowering their profit margins and looking at the long haul have become more and more short-sided as CEO’s and CFO’s look for ways of boosting their personal wealth because their life expectancy at the top of the corporate pyramid remains limited. Is this the way that life should be run for the millions of Americans who rely on corporate honesty?

Of course not, but that is the way the world spins, so it is time for the American workers to fight for themselves and attack the power structures that are more concerned with corporate parties then corporate dental plans.  Money talks, and now that the Supreme Court has spoken; companies are persons, so said companies if they have the funds will not only be able to blackmail their workers, they will be able buy any legislation they want as they act as individual agents looking for new government entitlements. 

That is not the only way today’s corporations stiff America. If fleecing American workers is not enough, these self-styled oligarchs feel as if paying taxes is just too burdensome, and they are seeking relief, so that their shareholders can earn more revenues. Why should they be in the business of helping anyone other than themselves? They are able to use their new status as a person to leverage political advantage in the form of large unchecked donations, which acts as sort of a wink of the eye quid pro quo.

These huge corporations are vampires that are sucking the life blood out of America for their own personal gain. But, as we know, these are people whose greed is so unquenchable that they will lie, cheat and steal all the while blaming government for the economic collapse of the American middle class while the NASDAQ, Dow Jones and the S&P 500 reach heights never before imaged.

You have to hand it to people like the Koch brothers and Burger King and Apple and Microsoft for finding a way not to pay their fair share of taxes so that a greater burden is placed on small businesses, as well as the working and middle class. You are a tremendous example of what America is all about: CORPORATE GREED.

The tax burden is so overwhelming to large American corporations that our politicians have made sure to eliminate the possibility that these special people be required to pay taxes and help pay for the infrastructure that they so desperately need to run their businesses. Or, help pay for the police that protect their businesses. Or, help pay for the educational institutions that create the workers that will make their businesses profitable.

The Me Generation of the late ‘60’s and early 70’s has come home to roost. You billionaires who are willing to outsource thousands of jobs, spend hundreds of millions of dollars to rig political contests or on pet projects, but refuse to participate in the upkeep of our democratic principles and way of life: shame on you.

White Authoritarian Bigotry

When does stealing cigars mean you get murdered? When does smoking pot mean you get murdered? Only when you are an unarmed black teenager. I wasn’t there when Michael Brown was shot and killed, but when I see the right-wing hit machine on full auto attack mode, I know that there is a big problem, whether, it is Jim Pinkerton’s disgusting attempt to blame Michael Brown for his death or Bill O’Reilly’s need to lecture black America on how they need to behave.

We have set off a new wave of white authoritarian requisite desire to justify their behavior against people of color. White America has not come to terms with the lingering effects of discrimination. This can be seen through right-wing talking heads attacking any and everyone that does not look or act the way that they feel people should act, just listen to Bill O’Reilly or Sean Hannity or Glenn Beck when they go off on some lecture about how Black America needs to conduct themselves, and these sermons also includes thinly veiled racial attacks on the President of the United States.

It comes as no surprise that Michael Brown’s character is being dragged through the mud in the days and weeks following his murder. This is the typical response of the right-wing hit machine. They want to make sure that Black America understands their place in society, while trumpeting the moral superiority of White America, therefore, the unstated idea is that White America is under siege and must do any and everything in its power to protect its economic, social and political positions. They pretend that equality exists because a Black American was voted for two terms as president.

What they refuse to tell you is that these same right-wingers who feign color blindness have done everything in their power to discredit President Obama through personal and political attacks on anything action that he has taken as president be it healthcare reform to equal pay for women to protecting all Americans (not just white men) against discrimination even when the Supreme Court does its best job to keep inequity alive. Just today, Mitch McConnell said that if the Republicans take control of the Senate, he has vowed to hold the president and the American people hostage if he does not get his way on legislation. This is another example of the right-wing’s need to control and dominate all conversations.

It doesn’t stop there; the right-wing hit machine has helped to promote and incite the astronomical growth of the white hate groups in America. These groups are not only against people of color, but they are against federal, state and local government agencies that will not cow-tow to their every whim. When a white man (Clive Bundy) breaks the law, these vigilantes are armed and ready to fight the federal government. When a young black man is murdered by an officer of the government, they are nowhere to be found. How would the story have changed if a young white man had been gunned down?

More than likely, the right-wing hit machine would be all over the government concerning overreach and the militarization of the police. They would be screaming for an investigation into the shooting and demanding the arrest of the offending officer. Because it was a black man, in their eyes, the officer is being victimized and unfairly ostracized for carrying out his job. These behaviors demonstrate the incredible racial divide that is America today.

We have not evolved in a way in which racial discrimination has been eliminated. White America pretends that this problem no longer exists, however, the murder of Michael Brown demonstrates how deeply divided we are as a country and how little progress has been made in shoring up racial inequality since Martin Luther King’s death.

The root of America’s racial distrust transcends Michael Brown’s murder, and as a country, we need to acknowledge that work needs to be done when it comes to racial and gender discrimination. Moreover, as a society, we must rise above the right-wing hit machine that only wants to focus on things like black on black murder and black incarceration to justify their discriminatory positions. This hidden bigotry is a disease that is slowly eating away at the fabric of America, and leaving too many Americans on the outside of justice looking in.

Shameless Right-Wing Talk Radio Warmongers

The unequivocal nature of right-wing radio and bombastic talking heads like Ben Shapiro, Michael Medved and Laura Ingraham is devastating to the fabric of America in the same way the slavers of the south were to our union over a hundred years ago. These pompous blow-hards are pitting American against American, and their words and actions are shameless and destructive to the values that they pretend to embody.

What they like to hide behind is the bible and the Christianesque teachings that they pick and choose to illustrate the certainty of their positions so long as it matches their end goals, moreover, these Christianesque radicals act as if Islam is the only religion of hate and destruction. I guess they never sang the song Onward Christian Soldiers during a Sunday service.

What is most disgusting about these religiousesque fanatics on the radio is they feel as if their righteousness is all that is necessary to condemn men, women and children to their deaths because Islamic terrorists use these innocents as shields. They blame all but themselves as they sit back in their studios and watch the murder and obliteration of the blameless, all the while using biblical passages and xenophobic language to assuage their guilt, yet leaving blood on their hands.

Where is the humanity in all of this? It is nowhere to be found; there is no compassion in their words only calls for military action, and these men and women that demand such provocative interventions are morally bankrupt, phony prophets. Their obsession with using violence to answer all inflammatory acts is a sign of a declining empire. An empire that has lost is sense of perspective and direction due to their lack of concern for humanity.

I am saddened beyond belief each and every time I hear these men and women say things like, “God bless America; the greatest country on God’s green earth.” This statement says that any decision that is made here in America is morally superior to the rest of the world, moreover, these words go beyond provincialism because they act as bellicose, provocative stances on the many conflicts facing America and the world today.

 What is more grotesque in these local and national right-wing, Christianesque radio shows is that they see themselves as the truth and the light. That is a position which is solely left to Jesus if you believe such things, and it takes an incredible amount of hubris to position yourself thusly. Their hate of all others that refuse to think their way borders on the pathological in that these disembodied voices are assembling the next religious war.

In this day and age, it is so easy to be a pundit and talk about what America should do on the world stage. These right-wing talkers are ready to send more young men and women to their deaths without a second thought. They know in their hearts that our religious righteousness will prevail over all that do not see the world as they do, and that the murder and obliteration of any society not aligned with their religious belief system is morally justified no matter the cost in human lives.

This shameless Christianesque warmongering leads us all the way back to 1095 AD and Pope Urban II who led the first of many crusades against Islam which we are still perpetuating a millennia later. We have learned nothing if not that power comes from imposing our will through the use of armed conflict, furthermore, it is these right-wing pundits (who have nothing to lose) who shout for more violence as my son sits in the wings ready to do battle for their greed and intolerance.

What betrays the totality of their ignorance as right-wing radio pundits is their lack of understanding when it comes to our military withdraw from Iraq.  It is astounding in so much as these right-wingers have no idea the complex issues that led to the withdraw of American troops from Iraq. One significant issue was the fact that the Iraqi government would not protect our soldiers from prosecution for murder and other crimes if we stayed. So we left. They did not want us there. The Iraqi power structure that had been held in check by Saddam Hussein was after revenge and control and with America there, they would never be able to gain the power they so desired.

Today’s right-wing pundits only want to regain the imaginary power and control that they lost with the election of President Obama to a second term. They will say or do anything to hurt his presidency, so long as it puts them back into power in a way that they feel they are entitled. It matters not if they tell the truth or care what is in the best interest of the American people here or abroad. Like the Iraqi government, these pundits are after power for the sake of power, no matter the cost, so buyer beware.

Republican War Machine

Daily political drama debases everyday experiences and has lead us into being a country of political whiners and sycophants. This trivialization of life has created such wanton cynicism that we as a society are nonplused when a child is murdered needlessly, or worse when thousands of innocents are murdered in the name of war, and they are not seen as the victims, but merely as collateral damage and dehumanized by the combatants and the voyeurs. Our Republican politicians perpetuate these problems with their war on America in words and deeds.

As I watch the world turn and witness the blatant lies, misinformation and propaganda being spewed by the Republican war machine, I am disgusted by their tactics. Whether it is Liz Cheney on FOX News refusing to acknowledge that we tortured detainees in Cuba or in one of our other secret prisons, or Louie Gohmert lying about the invasion of south Texas by Al Qaeda.

More to the point, the Republican leader in the Senate in all of this drama is Ted Cruz the darling of the Tea Party. He and his cronies are attacking the heart of America by denying insurance to Americans; he was so successful and persuasive in his assault against the Affordable Care Act that millions of low income Americans will not be able to get insurance as many states refused to enact Medicare expansion. Got to love those Texans who keep voting for his hatred that keeps going on and on like the energizer bunny. Ted makes America proud with his misogynistic and xenophobic speeches and votes.

Let us not forget the Speaker of the House John Boehner and his idea of leadership for America. His leadership has centered around one issue: healthcare. He has led the least productive congressional session in the history of our great republic. The most telling thing about Speaker Boehner is his latest attack on insurance for Americans in that he feels it is necessary to sue President Obama for using executive authority in regards to the Affordable Care Act. This action will cost taxpayers millions of dollars. What is more interesting is the byproduct of this action in that it will add to the deficit, which Republicans say they are against.

All those guys are fun and exciting to have in positions of power, but there is more to the idea of negation in our political realm.  Senator Mitch McConnell made sure that American corporations that ship jobs overseas will not be penalized and can abuse the tax code with prejudice as they put more Americans out of work. Mitch, thank you for looking out for hard working Americans and putting their needs above the needs of unpatriotic businesses. I almost forgot; corporations are people, so Mitch and his gang like radio talk show host Michael Medved really are looking out for America.

All of this self-serving debasing of America has taken its toll on the average citizen by helping them to disengage from political and social discourse in any meaningful way. We have become so inundated with images of destruction, words of distrust that only the few are seen and heard in the echo chamber we call Washington DC. It is a sad fact that too many Americans have become immune to the misery that makes up to large a part of our society, and the politicians market their wares to a smaller and smaller number of constituents.

As this happens, society is left with a hollow and dysfunctional government that serves only those that oblige the politicians, which leaves infrastructure to disintegrate, people to die and cynicism to run rampant. A change needs to take place so that America can become what it should be: a place where freedom and ideas are paramount and the weakest are given a hand up not left in a gutter to fend for themselves.  It is time to end the Republican War on America.

The House of Republicans

There comes a time when you either laugh or cry at the insanity, which we call the House of Republicans. For the past 6 years, the Republicans in the House have been screaming that the ACA, aka Obamacare, must be repealed and replaced or the sky will fall. They are now threatening to sue the President over the employer mandate as a means of stealing healthcare from millions of Americans. True to their word these House Republicans do nothing to make life better for average Americans except act like Henny Penny and squeal about the end of civilization as we know it.

That last statement is not completely true. The House of Republicans has taken many votes and held elaborate committee meetings trying to prove one scandal after another to show the American people how despicable the Democrats are and in particular the current President. The IRS is in trouble for looking at Republican organizations that are claiming tax exemption while playing partisan politics, oh the audacity to question the ethical standards of the House of Republicans.

In particular our friend, Ted Cruz has taken his lies to a new level in that he blames the Democrats for all the obstruction that is taking place in the House of Republicans, which is to say that the Democrats won’t do whatever the Republicans desire in the House of Republicans. It is a shame that Democrats want to think for themselves, and will not knuckle under the bullying tactics of the House of Republicans be it on the mall or the airways or in print.

Of course in the House of Republicans, if you don’t vote to take away insurance from the American people, then, you are obstructing congress. If you don’t want to give tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans and corporations, then, you are obstruction congress. If you want to end the hostilities in Gaza, then, you are not only obstructing congress, but you are aiding Hamas and an anti-Semite. You sad little libertine, you need to be taught proper decorum and deference to the House of Republican’s moral superiority.

Really, what all this means is that if you think of yourself and don’t listen to Rush Limbaugh or watch Sean Hannity, then, you are an obstructionist that is out to destroy all that is good about America. It gets better than this for progressives when you listen to Mark Levin who wants to destroy all who oppose his way of thinking. The irony for me with all these House or Republican ideologues is that they represent the book burning fascists that they claim the progressives embody. It is only ironic in that they are unable to understand how they exemplify that ideology. Sad but true.

In their world view, all liberals are extremists and all they want to do is create a dictatorship, but more to the point the Democrats have a king in the making in Washington DC because he uses planes, helicopters and cars to travel around the country and the world. Why do they always confuse the idea of a Monarchy with a Dictatorship?  I find their missed up metaphors so confusing. Anyway, you have to remember that no Republican President has ever used any of these modern gadgets during their Presidencies, or traveled on vacations or played golf or any of the other things that President Obama has done while living in the White House.

Let’s compare Presidential vacation days. President Bush took over 350 vacation days while in office; President Obama has taken just under 100 days, which means that President Obama must take a little over 250 vacation days in the next 2 years to tie President Bush. Interesting, so, on a yearly basis, President Bush averaged approximately 44 vacation days a year or about 6 weeks. On the other hand, President Obama has taken on average 17 vacation days a year or 2 weeks. Who seems to have been on the job more? It is easy to see if you live in the House of Republicans: President Bush.

As you can see, in The House of Republicans both inside and outside of Washington, history has a strange way of fading away like the fact that President Ronald Reagan in 1982 presided over the largest tax increase in American history, but that fact seems to have been eliminated from the House of Republican History books, or the fact that he used executive orders to circumvent congress. No, he was carrying out the will of the people with those signing orders not acting as a Monarch/Dictator above the law. Only a Democratic President could be acting so recklessly.

If I recall, Ronald Reagan ordered the funding of a secret war in Nicaragua. That little adventure was not against the law and it in no way circumvented the congress. I forget that as a Republican you are allowed to act as a Monarch/Dictator and make your own rules or lie to the American people.

A few years back I remember a president that lied to congress, lied to America and lied to the world about weapons of mass destruction. Those lies have wounded or killed 50,000 Americans. Why wasn’t that President brought up on Articles of Impeachment for lying. Of course, he was a card carrying member of the House of Republicans so he was immune from any such prosecution.

The House of Republicans has a very different set of rules and judgments for likeminded people who carry out immoral actions. They are given honors and held up as examples of how a statesman operates in the modern world: roar loudly and carry a big stick to bludgeon anyone that would dare to question your moral authority. So, we progressives are in for more of the same when it comes to actions against President Obama be it from the House of Republicans or their cronies in the media. Their persecution of President Obama only serves to cover up their unpatriotic deference to their base and not to America as a whole.

Where Are Our Visionaries?

We are no longer a people of action destined for great things. We are a people of talkers destined to talk about some incident until no one can hear it or cares to hear it. And, when we take action, a faction of American politicians and pundits do everything in their power to derail and demonize any program or idea that does not fit into their limited scope no matter how positively it will impact the country as a whole be it healthcare or food programs or highway and bridge repair or NASA.

As a nation that one time set its sights on the moon and beyond that built the largest transportation infrastructure the world has ever seen, we have become rather pedestrian in our present visions. We still build the deadliest weapons ever imagined, but we no longer seem to have the ability to see the big picture as far as society stands. Politicians are unable and unwilling to take risks to propel us forward.

We are trapped in a twenty-four hour news cycle. We can only see the small and petty. We do not trust each other and can longer no come together to better society and more forward.  There is no way for people from differing ideologies to step up and compromise. It is this my way or the highway philosophy that signals the decline of a once great country, which brought together divergent opinions to drive the ideals and ideas of America forward. It is a sad and disheartening time to be an American.

As a country and a society we are at a crossroads. We are at a place that where politicians in so called leadership positions want to jettison many of the beliefs that the government is here for the benefit of society. I realize that in 1980 Ronald Reagan signaled the beginning of the end in terms of the benefits of modern government as far as creating a safety net to protect all Americans no matter their situation. Today, there are far too many politicians that want to punish Americans that they deem as being unproductive and a drain on society while giving away more and more of the American Dream to corporate America.

This is nothing new as societies go throughout history. The powerful always use their influence and position to protect and enhance their interests on the backs of the weakest in society, and when the government sides with the wealthiest, then, we as a society have to decide if we really want to go this way and penalize the lowest on the economic scale.

Starting in the 20^th century the American experiment became an idea that wealth could be spread through more of society under the guidance of the government. American capitalism was never purely a libertarian ideal. Throughout American history the government has stepped in and regulated commerce and behavior. Sometimes to the benefit of the wealthiest and sometimes to the benefit of the poorest. There has always been volatility between the classes, which is why governmental interventions are used to stabilize economic tensions. In the last 6 years, we the people just made 10 billion dollars from GM by giving them a loan to prevent bankruptcy. This is not the first time the government has stepped in to help business.

So we have to ask ourselves the question, “Is government the problem or the solution?” This is a critical moment in history where we are faced with important decisions that will determine the trajectory of our society for a generation. The battle over government intervention will get uglier before it gets better. The distrust and anger is palpable. But, as Americans, we must take on this problem.

Healthcare is the first and foremost issue for Americans today. The lies and misrepresentation of the new system are flying across the air waves. It is these extreme views that are helping to eat away at the fabric of our society. And, it is the average American that will be hurt by all these attacks and misrepresentations.

It is disgusting that politicians and pundits alike are lying through their teeth and want to refuse to help their fellow citizens. The majority of these talking heads have never missed a meal or been denied medical coverage in their lives. They are unable or unwilling to empathize with others who are hurting and not being served by the capitalistic system in its present configuration.

In their world, there is no room for hungry children, there is no room for the uninsured and sick in our country. It is time for those in power to get off their high horse and see what it is like at the bottom rung of the ladder. All Americans need to look beyond our on individual needs and think about the needs of society.  This idea is not communism or socialism.  It is humanitarianism. We will send food and supplies half world away but we will not feed or cloth or immunize an American child in need.

In the future, where will the visionaries come? Who will work for the greater good of society whether it is to develop the next extraordinary space mission or take care of the sick, hungry and tired? Have those words emblazoned on the Statue of Liberty become fiction?

Disposable Society

Living in a disposable society enables us to recreate ourselves whenever we feel the need or desire to escape, moreover, it is a concept that has developed under the mass media’s radar screen due to any number of modern factors, short attention spans not withstanding.  Some of these factors developed through technology such as society’s greater mobility through the use of the car, train, or airplane.  Add that to our modern workforce’s ability to move from job to job and company to company, thus, modern culture possesses the necessary wanderlust to satisfy the craving of any disposable soul, moreover, this plays into corporate shareholder hands and makes it easier to dissolve entire manufacturing divisions for short term profitability or outsource well paying jobs to third world countries.  This is not the only place that disposability rears its ugly head.

Twelve-step groups have sprung up like mushrooms in a cow pasture, and create another venue in which people are able to recreate themselves through the disposal of their past and the creation of their new present or future.  It is in cyberspace that people are truly able to live as they desire and pretend that their frailties and oddities no longer exist or that they are that man or woman which has haunted them throughout their sordid and miserable lives.  Sexual and corporate predators find this venue tremendously valuable in an endless pursuit of their disturbingly deviant behaviors.

This aforementioned idea of the disposable society is contrary to the usual drama we call the fast food generation or throw away generation.  Under this classification, people who were unable to digest the profound and logical instruction of their middle and high school teachers are slated for the waste heap of society.  Those of us who were able to dispose of our past and recreate our present scream past these heaps of humanity as they beg from exit ramps, corners or along downtown streets.  Maybe they are hidden among the railroad tracks as they travel in packs in a parallel universe that offers the same brisk service as any Mickey D drive through window or high speed internet connection.  As long as they stalk the shadow world, the rest of us feel safe and ready to dispose of our ugliness and replace it with a shiny new persona via the latest blog, search engine, or chat room.

It is the politicians, pundits and executives that travel in and out of the corporate culture that leave the stable, unstable and the breathing, breathless.  These are the true stars of society whose private personas live entirely separate from their public personalities.  They are the ones that commit heinous crimes that shock the world not due to the nature of their crimes, but do to the fact that their crimes are so out of character from the phony behaviors displayed during their public schemes in which they claim the pain they feel as they lay-off a huge percentage of their work force.  This way these white men are no longer forced to follow society’s rules that left them feeling trapped and impotent.

Their craving for power and authority can only be satisfied once they have satiated their need for depravity and domination that accelerates with each new encounter.  In the world of psychiatric mumbo-jumbo, these ideas are all too simplistic, and we are forced to search for the hidden meaning in all they do.  We are required to find how their delicate psyches were damaged, thus, leading to their depravity and destruction of any humanity they deem as weak or vulnerable. 

Corporate socio-pathology has reached new heights of absurdity when the needs of the few drive the operations of mammoth, international conglomerates to attack and destroy the welfare of their employees for the immediate gratification that ultimately may destroy their corporate infrastructure.  Profits are necessary and a healthy result of astute reaction and anticipation to competition within the marketplace, but this new focus on the disposability of workers, e.g., Boeing outsourcing of jobs in its latest attack on wages of blue collar workers is criminal behavior on the same level as the BTK killer.  Moreover, its impact is far deeper and the long term repercussions travel well beyond the closed production lines and workers’ families and become engrained into our civilization’s socio-psycho-pathology that expect the worst from an employer. 

At this juncture, it is requisite that as a society we reflect on the sociological and corporate changes that are attacking the foundations of democracy, e.g., the political and corporate embrace of the concept of disposability.  The fact that verbal intolerance is on the rise and the powerful are using it to attack those they see as weak because of their espousing diversity of thought and action, smacks of fascism.  These neo-conservative elitists’ use of exclusionary tactics recall the brutal and reactionary racism that has destroyed many 20^th Century Governments, and they are the heart of these attacks as they say “no” to anything but their own demented and delusional perspectives of America as prescribed by national and international corporations.

The idea of the disposability of the middle class needs to be eliminated.  The middle class needs to push back against these neo-conservative charlatans to expose their phony machinations as fraudulent and harmful to the long term health of society.  For all the ways that we have become a disposable society such as training someone in India so the position can be outsourced to add profitability, the government needs to step in as it did with the meat packing industry in the early 20^th century, and punish the lords of profitability that are willing to sacrifice American families for stockholders.