Those that read my words usually feel one of two ways, agreement or revulsion. My question to you is how much time elapses before you have made a judgment: One minute, half hour or an hour. A nanosecond is the more likely answer. We already have formed a mindset and in many ways have lost all objectivity.
How for instance can everything one political party espouses be completely correct and the other so wrong? For many it is impossible to understand how the other party derived their opinion. I would like to add that it is one thing to disagree, which is a respectful position. It is another to condemn those who would advocate a different viewpoint.
How did we go from being civil to one another to calling each other traitors, mentally ill, or just suggesting that those of whom we disagree should commit suicide? My guess is that we have all too some extent been played… taken advantage of by those who control our information. Does anyone really think that we could survive as a country if there was not an opposing view? Without dialog how can improvement occur?
Here is a hypothetical to ponder: Suppose you are the captain of a ship running in dense fog, your rudder is broken, and you do not trust the compass. Meanwhile if everyone on board is telling you what a great job you are doing, is it true that you’re doing a great job? Would you not want someone to have a voice that says, “Hey we’re turning in circles?”
With a loss of objectivity, that person is no longer available. You see, in a society that always vilifies that opposition you may find yourself going nowhere. Transformative learning involves being able to examine all facets of an issue, not just those of which you agree.
I was doing what I do best, surfing for some facts for an article I was assisting another author with. I ran across this video that gave me pause. It was a simple statement, “Robert Gallo: The Man That Created AIDS” Hey, I was game. I live in America where the government has no end in sight on how many criminal offenses it can commit against its people.
That was one fascinating video and it certainly did feed into my desire of distrust for a country that is still filled with so much hate towards ethnic groups. I did what I do best. I went trolling for information. The first step was to read a fewbio’s regarding who Robert Gallo was, of course I knew damn well I would not be getting my hands on any contracts of him working with the government in bio-chemical warfare. But I did take particular note that he had worked with some of the same important factors that would be vital to curing AIDS before AIDS would need a cure.
The next step was to look up the origin of AIDS. That turned out to be very interesting.
The hepatitis B vaccine was not considered by this esteemed gathering. Suspiciously neglected, this vaccine was produced in chimpanzees during pilot testing conducted in New York City, among gay men, and Central African villagers between 1972 and 1974. This was precisely timed for the emergence of AIDS in these exact, demographically distinct, communities by the late 1970s. The fact that this fact was neglected proves shoddy science or gross negligence at best.
Importantly, among the most respected of all HIV/AIDS origin theorists, the U.S. Government’s chief DNA sequence analyst at the Los Alamos Laboratory in Dr. Gerald Myers, reported with his colleagues that the origin of HIV could not have begun with “cut hunters” or other single isolated cross species transmissions (called “zoonosis”). He reported that genetic sequencing studies provesome “punctuated origin of AIDS event” took place during the mid-1970s giving rise, virtually simultaneously, to at least ten different HIV “clades” (or genetic subtypes) associated with ten different distinguishable AIDS epidemics in Africa alone. The most likely cause of this widespread bizarrezoonosis was some man-made (i.e., iatrogenic) event involving chimpanzees.
Now some might wonder why would a government do that to its people? One need only look at the era the offense took place and who was in control of government, Nixon. There is no need to validate the contempt that Black Americans were held in during that time, much less the total intolerance of the gay lifestyle. It cannot and should not be above our intellects to surmise that during that time period that a consorted effort would be mounted to eliminate two viable groups of dissidents (Black Americans and Gay Americans) to purify the country.If that statement was too mind blowing, just think about Bush and his administration.
But like most things, once you let the genie out of the lamp there is just no controlling what that genie will do, such is the story with AIDS. If it is man made then we need not look too far to discover which government would be so diabolical.
I was recently confronted with an ugly attitude in someone that I ‘thought’ was a friend. The remarks made to me, I found greatly offensive. There was no hesitation in me to point out the obvious misconceptions in his remarks.
White privilege contains a whole host of unexamined advantages that come your way because you’re born with white skin. This also has to do with the way others perceive you, access to resources within your community, the way you’re treated by authorities…not to mention represented in the media. There are immediate advantages afforded you due to you being born white. Just out of curiosity, how many of you were able to CHOOSE the color of your skin, into which family or nation you were born? I don’t know about any of you…but it had nothing to do with me at all.
Have you ever gone to the Drug Store to purchase band-aids? They are “flesh” color…BUT whose flesh color? When I was with my friend Carla, who happens to be African American…they certainly were not her “flesh” color. Truthfully, they weren’t even my “flesh” color. I’m white even for a white woman…and they simply don’t come that light.
There is a “noise ordinance” here. I have no idea if it’s like that in other areas of the country. Someone can actually be ticketed for being in their vehicle and playing their music “too loudly”. Whose making the ‘judgment’ of what is and what isn’t “too loud”??
When I drive, I like to turn it up! I may be a generation older than most of you reading this…but hey…I like my music not only loud enough to ‘hear’…but I like to ‘feel’ the vibration of it, too. I have never been arrested…but guess what?Here locally a young man (African American) did get arrested.
For years, I’ve heard people say, “My relatives never owned slaves. I’m innocent”. Innocence, literally, means, “Not knowing”. They don’t see that if they sit back and do nothing, they are part of the problem. Here’s a for instance: If Linda Smith is hurt by racism…then I would benefit from racism. Thus being said…racism connects us!
Perhaps, I’m over simplifying things. The thing that irritates me to no end is the fact that largely, people of color are suspected of desiring some kind of unearned advantage…yet, the white person (usually) accuses them of playing the “race card”. Yet, here’s another example and is my own personal observation…if a perceived wrong is committed against one of our African American citizens…and they question if this was due to race. It’s automatically assumed they are using the “race card”. On the other hand, if a white person questions a perceived wrong, you’re never accused of playing “the race card”…because you are white.
There are 101 other particulars I could mention, but this is enough for now. I trust that as the title of this post suggests you “Check Your Attitude”. Simply put, you are either part of the problem or part of the solution. Sorry folks, but on this issue there is no middle ground.
President Elect Obama’s campaign slogan is “CHANGE”. How about letting that “change” begin with you? Is it ever too late to do the right thing?
For the most part I have not weighted in on the real issue regarding Governor Blagojevich (“Blago”) selecting Roland Burris to fill President Obama’s senate seat, except to note that Burris would be a media target and had a some what inflated ego. Unfortunately, I had the unpleasant experience of seeing Burris hold an interview where he implied that if the democrats did not allow him to fill the senate seat it would give “the appearance” of racism being the objective for barring him. Oh… Really? Why?
That particular suggestion by Burris went way beyond the pale. Granted, for Blago the appointment of Burris has all kinds of wonderful legal defense moves should the time come and Blago is prosecuted; but, for Burris, that statement is divisive at best and totally unacceptable. Way before Blago picked Burris the democrats had, as a collective party, made it known that anyone Blago picked would be unacceptable, and I don’t recall any democratic leader tacking on the words “especially if that person is a Black American.”
At the press conference, Blagojevich brought more trouble, including the issue of race, to an already florid scandal. He announced that he was appointing a successor, former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris, to Barack Obama’s vacated U.S. Senate seat — a move that will continue to roil the political waters in Illinois and ensure a continuing distraction for the President-elect. By naming Burris, the governor blatantly ignored warnings by Senate majority leader Harry Reid that any Blagojevich appointee would not be seated by the Senate.
In fact, before Burris’s selection, the media was in agreement. Now it seems they have decided to follow the path of a racist conspiracy. Of course the whole affair has caused me to reexamine Burris. The fact that he would travel down that particular path for his appointment seems to be some what underhanded. The implied message is that if Burris is not seated he will start a race riot of some sort.
Considering the uncertain times we are going through it is totally unacceptable for any politician to play the race card, that is inclusive of Chip Saltsman. To further Burris’s cause he is now accusing Harry Reid of being the target of propagating racism. Sorry, but that’s just so wrong. The fact that David Gregory, of Meet the Press, thought it necessary to force Reid to defend him self against such accusations only showed how shallow Gregory is as a reporter. That race was not a factor before Burris was selected seems to be a forgotten truth in the world of the TV media. Like starving wolves, some of the public is feeding off of this nonsense with a frenzy.
I can only say that it is with the greatest of pleasure that I do not live in Chicago and would find myself stuck with an ego filled, race baiting politician such as Burris. He is not some one I would desire to represent me or my people.
So the casualties in the Obama administration has begun. Bill Richardson withdrew his name for the position of the Commerce Secretary, due to a federal investigation. The investigation is trying to determine whether a firm, CDR Financial Products, a California firm, was awarded lucrative contract from Richardson’s state due to the firms’ contributions of $110,000 to three political committees Richardson formed.
As such, Richardson had no choice but to bow out of the position for Commerce Secretary. If — that’s a big if — Richardson was asked to, more or less, vacate from the position by the Obama administration, I applaud their effort for making the move swiftly. There is more than enough political scandal going on with the Governor of Illinois, Blagojevich, regarding President Obama’s senate seat — which is currently being marketed in the media as a big enough distraction for the new administration. Eliminating any further distractions would be the best choice for this new administration.
Now, what if Richardson had won the democratic nomination for president? What if he had became president? It is encouraging that President Obama did not let this one sleep until the senate hearings. What a mess that would have been. There is great hope that President Obama will continue to weed out any other nominee that could cause a perception of corruption.
Unfortunately for Richardson, there is just too many crisis on the American plate for this new administration to be fighting right now. Hence, Richardson battle of corruption or non-corruption will have to be dealt with off the presidential playground, so speak. It goes without saying that there is no logical reason for the Obama administration to start off as badly as the Bush administration back in 2001.
I’m sure the wing nut tribe is experiencing fits of ecstasy over the matter, with the unrealistic viewpoint that only democrats are corrupt. They tend to forget their own corrupt politicians. Of course such investigations does leave one to wonder where the hell the feds where when Bush and Cheney were stumping all over the constitution right into the mud; much less, where were they regarding Cheney’s involvement in Halliburton.
I digress, what’s needed is a little reality. Corruption is not isolated to party affiliation. Of course everyone’s innocent until proved to be guilty. Although being proved guilty has never stopped some of our politician for running for seats. Nor is it a new concept to the American political scene.
President Obama issued the following statement regarding the matter.
It is with deep regret that I accept Governor Bill Richardson’s decision to withdraw his name for nomination as the next Secretary of Commerce.Governor Richardson is an outstanding public servant and would have brought to the job of Commerce Secretary and our economic team great insights accumulated through an extraordinary career in federal and state office. It is a measure of his willingness to put the nation first that he has removed himself as a candidate for the Cabinet in order to avoid any delay in filling this important economic post at this critical time. Although we must move quickly to fill the void left by Governor Richardson’s decision, I look forward to his future service to our country and in my administration.
This post is a paraphrase of something I had recently read. It was the most rational, well thought out viewpoint on religion & politics I had ever heard. It is my desire that after you read this you, too, will come away with a more logical understanding.
Attempting to mix religion with politics is the wrong way to serve God and the people. First because religion is a discipline of faith that has nothing to do with the material needs of a city and country, and politics is a science concerned with the objective reality of a people and not with their spiritual beliefs.
For some Christians this may sound like a good idea, but for the beneficiaries of this political ruse, it is nothing other than good business, something that does not necessarily favor the Christians.
Voting according to this religious orientation has cost the country more than three trillion dollars in an endless war in Iraq, the deaths of more then four thousand American soldiers (about 1000 more than died in Sept 11), and the almost complete collapse of its economy. It has cost Iraq tens of thousands of lives and the destruction of the country and its future.
Historically, one of the causes of the Arab nations’ misfortunes is precisely the mixing of politics and Islam. They have tried to run their countries with the teachings of Mohammad, at times administering their faith with political interest, which degenerates into an eventual plundering of the public purse, and in other instances administering their political interests using the Islamic faith, which has led to fanaticism and backwardness.
Americans should understand that a politician is not elected as president in order to lead a church or to impart doctrines of faith. A politician is elected in order to govern, and governing means managing the administrative apparatus of the State to meet the material needs of its citizens, while the spiritual leaders of the country are purely religious leaders. Those who are good Christians are not necessarily good at governing, and those who govern well are not necessarily good Christians.
I hope that the USA will not fall into the same trap as some of the Arab nations.
It appears that all the bickering back and forth has done exactly what it’s intended to accomplish…create chaos, suspicion and mistrust within our own camp. As long as people are caught up with trying to “one up each other”…nothing will change.Nobody can drive forward while looking in the rear view mirror.
Before I dwell into my story let me first state that I do not allow any political party to influence my thoughts. Especially opinions that I feel are important to me and directly affect me personally. I try to use common sense when approaching all issues. Let me stated also that I am in agreement with the position that both Fox News and the Republican Party has towards gun control. Even though I am in agreement with them that doesn’t mean I believe in their every stance and/or position. In fact, in most cases I find both Fox News and the Republican Party are both full of crap and are in bed together way too much.
There is a serious need to have a critical discussion regarding gun ownership in the US. Just because I might agree with the statement a certain media or a political party might make doesn’t mean that I am wrong or the issue is receiving fair treatment. In my opinion, the media is portraying the issue of gun control lopsided and one dimensional. Taking arms away can only move this nation closer to a dictatorship. The picture the media paints is one that generally relays the message that there are no American citizens competent enough to use a gun (the exception being in the Military or working in law enforcement). Yes there are tragedies that do involve guns and children. I also agree that it shouldn’t be happening. Any death by any means, accidental or on purpose, is a tragedy. However, I would like to expose the other side of this issue for a healthy discourse for the reason why having the right to bare arms is necessary.
There is much debate going on in regard to the second amendment, as well as the interpretation of that amendment. A little common sense and facts are needed to cut to the chase. There are many of unheard laws that people who own guns must abide by. Unfortunately, the laws for gun ownership by far out number the stories the media produces on gun violence. Most of those whom I have personally come into contact with that own guns own them for one or more of the reasons listed below.
personal protection
shoot as a hobby
hunting
advocate of the second amendment rights
First off we must accept an undeniable fact that guns are not going away any time soon. Even if guns were banned or the government made owning guns illegal, guns will not be going away. Secondly, there will always be unnecessary deaths due to misuse and fools using them in foolish manners. Compiling more regulation on the lawful use of fire arms is not always the answer.
Today there are gun controls in place that ban convicted felons to use or own a gun. In fact there are regulations that ban people convicted of certain misdemeanors from owning guns. More regulations are in place to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally unstable. There are many places now that ban any weapons on their property. You have to be at least 18 years old to own a gun. To get a concealed carry permit (in Ohio for example), one must go through a week long class on personal protection and fire arms safety, including training at a shooting range. Then you must complete a detailed application for the sheriff for approval.
To show how regulations really don’t work, to this date there is no state in America that allows for a person to own fully automatic weapons, but are they used to commit crimes? Indeed they are. For example one must remember the bank robbery in Holloywood several years ago and fully automatic weapons were used in the commission of that crime. Statistics show that there are millions of people owning fully automatic weapons in America.
The untold story of the failure for controlling the criminal and misuse of guns is evident in the lack of courts to prosecute such cases. Way too often gun violations are dropped over the preference to prosecute drug convictions. The failed war on drugs often takes precedence over crimes committed with guns. Sentencing is disproportionately heavier for drug charges than for gun violence. That is happening on a wide scale and has had no media coverage.
So would tighter gun controls be affective? Statistics are against that idea. Cities in America, such as Chicago and others have an out right ban on semi-automatic and hand guns. But in reality, crimes committed with guns have spiraled. Making it harder for the citizens of America to own guns will discourage gun ownership and leave the guns in the hands of only law enforcement and criminals. In effect should that become the case, law abiding citizens will become either a subject or a victim. God help us if the government, law enforcement and criminals become the only ones allowed to carry guns. If it were not for certain groups who stood up against the evil in this country and carried guns even illegally, we might be in worse shape. It brings to mind the Black Panther organization in the 60’s and 70’s. I am most glad that they had a hand in fighting the evil of racism against the government and against groups such as the KKK of that day. The truth is that hate is still alive. It is perpetrated by various local governments and many of the citizens.
I would ask that the readers of this article use a little common sense when it comes to approaching the important issues regarding gun regulations and gun ownership. Slanted and opinionated reporting by the mainstream media is running rampant on this particular topic. Common sense should dictate that gun control is necessary, but banning guns would be unconstitutional. In my reading of President Obama positions regarding gun ownership he supports it and, thankfully, is not for more regulation.
Gun control is a method that is being used to impose the prevention of widespread civil unrest that is currently erupting in America over the whole issue. People on both sides of the gun control issue know that is what is really going on. Both sides are in denial. You have the enraged gun owning group waiting and yet determined to hold on to their guns and are forced to deny gun control, because to deny it is to ignore that owning a gun might become a criminal act. Then the group that is trying to confiscate the guns to immobilize potential revolt, deny it because talking about the issue both would reveal their agenda and might lead to an articulate clarification that could become a motivating rallying point that would draw substantial new members to the prerevolutionary condition.
The condition of angry dissatisfaction and political unrest is such that the government can no longer allow people to own guns while it continues to impose the reasons for that dissatisfaction.
Gun control is dangerous for a number of serious reasons. The imposition of gun control in America would be a dangerous acceptance of the irrational arguments demanding its imposition, further creating a society where reality is displaced by irrationality and hysteria. That’s an unwise idea.
Gun control is dangerous for the same reasons gun control advocates say it is necessary. As a statistical fact, in the last 35 years America has become a land filled with violence and madness. As a further statistical fact, by far the predominant amount of that violence is not committed with guns. The absolute prohibition of guns would not eliminate the violence, but would only render victims incapable of defense.
Perhaps most importantly, gun control is used:
To hide an existent condition of madness in America;
To hide a condition of imposed pervasive madness in America;
To repress the consequences of imposing an agenda of increased pervasive madness in America, while simultaneously prohibiting all reactive options except acquiescent compliant desperation and conformity.
The gun problem in America is not a problem with guns, but with madness and disrespect for other people.
The gun ownership issue should be removed from the political arena as the abortion issue also should. There is no debate. The government of a so called free society has no rights in disarming law abiding citizens. Just as it has no right to dictate with laws what a woman can do with her body when it comes to the right to have an abortion.
written by: chamay0 and ggita56: for “The Last Post of Sanity”
Some organizations have no shame what so ever. This is not a joke or made up story. I posted about the coal industry spilling 5.2 millions tons of coal in TN and the effects such spillage would cause and I got a reply from the damn Coal Industry in Australia. See it here since I approved it just to show I’m not crazy.
They are pushing how clean coal will help us. That point is still debatable since currently we have no clean coal. But the audacity to attach that message to a post about an environmental disaster? What the hell were they thinking? This is like when AIG contacted me about a post they didn’t appreciate.
Who the hell is working in these people’s marketing/IT departments? Do they shoot up their drugs, smoke them or just snort them? Crazy has a name and it’s now known as big business.
This is my first post on this site. I was invited by the web hosts to be a contributing author. To simply say “Thank You” for their trust is an understatement of vast proportions. It’s an honor to be part of such a relevant site.
The post below is something I’d written several months ago. However, the content is timeless. It also allows the reader a glimpse from behind my eyes. Your feedback is most welcome.
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The photo above is an accurate depiction of the way I view my heart…broken and pieces of it scattered within the nations I was privileged to work. I look around myself and see so much selfishness. It’s all about “me, me, me”. What happened to caring about those that are less fortunate? Each time upon returning to the USA…it was, literally, like landing on a different planet. Then there is the severe lack of necessities for many of our own citizens. Yet, those “that have”…seemingly care nothing about “those that have not”. What’s wrong with this picture?
The waste of so many natural resources was the biggest disappointment. There are still days when I go into a fruit market, and break down in tears. I know whole groups of people that have never even seen an orange or a lemon. The swollen tummies due to malnutrition of those I saw in so many places… flash before my eyes…and I wonder if those shopping around me are even aware of what is taking place beyond their own borders.
The times I stand in front of the huge fountain not far from my home is gorgeous…and a sight to behold. Yet, it is a reminder of all the places I have been where people do not even have clean drinking water. I have seen disease ravage whole villages due to the lack of clean water.
Then there are those of our own nation that cannot even afford to get the medical help they need…while the rich captains of industry make billions of dollars of profit in 90 days. What’s wrong with this picture?
Our own nation is suffering due to many natural disasters. The state I reside is one of the states that were hit hard with the flooding. The governor called for the National Guard to help. Well…guess what? The number of National Guard that was needed was NOT available. They are in Iraq & Afghanistan. What’s wrong with this picture?
Why are so many victims of Hurricane Katrina still suffering? Where is the media coverage for this ongoing tragedy? Do we just forget about them since they are not in the news every day? What’s wrong with this picture?
Our citizens cannot get affordable medications. We were told not to go over the border into Canada to purchase these medications, as they may not be safe. Yet, China produces large quantities of medications that have created havoc in the lives of many…, as there were huge recalls. What’s wrong with this picture?
Why are so many of our jobs being outsourced? Why are these companies given tax breaks? Many that I know had pets that died due to contaminated pet food from China. I also know children that had gotten ill due to the lead contained within the toys that were manufactured in China. Did you know that parts of our US Passports are now being outsourced? What’s wrong with this picture?
The greed in the lending institutions appears to be the worst of all…as so many are losing the very roof over their heads. I cannot close this article without letting you know of what I have observed in numerous “churches”. Many cannot afford to feed their families. Many “churches” have food pantries.
However, some of these “churches” will not give the necessary food until the individual or family first sits through one of their services and commits to begin attending their church. This is not “giving” at all…its bribery! This example was not about only one “church”…but several in this area.
You may not need help today…but none of us knows what tomorrow holds. None of us had a say into which nation we were born, and none of us had a say into which family we were born. You could just as well have been born in Sudan, Zimbabwe, Nepal, etc., etc., etc.I could, literally, give many other examples, yet, I’m sure you get my point.
Whether you believe it or not…it makes no difference to the FACT that “We are our brothers keeper”
Wake up America! We are a really violent nation. Every Christmas I read these stories where children are given guns as some weird rite of passage. Well, there is no frontier anymore and we don’t need the wild west in the cities. How many Columbines and other needless deaths must there be before we have laws to protect people from children with guns and to protect children from having guns?
This Christmas it happened again. in Chandler, Oklahoma an 11 year old boy in the Fifth Grade, Michael, who had already been given a .22 caliber Rifle last year, was given a .22 pistol as a Christmas present. Michael was playing with it with a friend when the gun went off and a bullet hit him in the forehead.
The local paper quoted a neighbor as saying, “It is kind of a rite of passage growing up in the country to have a gun. I had my first gun when I was 9 or 10.”
Michael and his friend were playing with the gun went it went off. This is a personal tragedy for the parents that could easily have been avoided, but had Michael lived who knows how his life could have benefited society. Newspaper and TV accounts talk about what a great kid he was, now no one will ever know.
In a 1998 Associated Press article, 19 years ago, the US had the highest rate of gun deaths among the 36 richest nations. That amounted to 14.24 per 100,000 people in 1994. “If you have a country saturated with guns – available to people when they are intoxicated, angry or depressed – it’s not unusual guns will be used more often,” said Rebecca Peters, a Johns Hopkins University fellow specializing in gun violence. “This has to be treated as a public health emergency.”
If you look at the Centers for Disease Control website for the years 1999 – 2005, deaths from guns per 100,000 from newborns through 85+ years of age is a shocking 80,603. If you lower the age to newborn to age 18, it is 9,256. 1 death is too many. Those numbers are obscene in a civilized society.
After Columbine, mothers banded together for million mom marches on Washington for tighter gun control laws. In advocating against gun control, not a an, but gun control for gun-related deaths involving children, Fox News made fun of the effort since it had essentially dwindled to nothing by 2001. By all means, let’s demean an effort to avoid another Columbine. Good job, as usual, Fox News.
Why assault weapons are sold is beyond me. Surely those weapons are not necessary for hunting?
If you look at the news, there are numerous stories about the “skyrocketing” number of people purchasing guns, requesting concealed weapon permits and purchasing assault weapons. I hope that the Obama Administration brings some sanity to this issue. Gun control is not a ban. We should be setting an example instead of setting the “Pulp Fiction” example where men dressed as Santas gun down whole families and leave 10 children without parents and others shoot people in movie theaters because they talk.
As a nation we are obsessed with guns and it is killing us.
Republican Party officials say they will try in January to pass a resolution accusing President George Bush and congressional Republican leaders of embracing socialist policies
Isn’t this just special. The RNC wants to adopt a resolution declaring that President Bush and congressional republican leaders do not represent their ideology. Of course they see this as the equivalent of a slap in the face. Realistically, it is no more than an ineffectual slap on the wrist.
In what would amount to a slap in the face to a sitting Republican president and the party’s Senate and House leaders, national GOP officials, including the vice chairman of the Republican National Committee, are sponsoring a resolution opposing the resort to “socialist” means to save capitalism. [Read the full post here]
Needless to say, this is one of the sorriest attempt to try an establish a failed ideology — small government, free market and small taxes — as a viable strategy. This will only further the cause that the GOP is in complete disarray and lack any form of true leadership. This particular outcry would have had more weight if there had been any previous outcries against known failures such as the Iraq war, the mess of Katrina or the economic meltdown. At those times the new town criers were obviously a sleep and saw no reason to draft up any resolutions to disassociate themselves from the (now) lame duck President.
The new resolution is more like a pity party then a real effort towards chastising the offending party. More to the point, this does not change the fact that the RNC does not have a message that can be inclusive of all American people. This is just another distraction. Although the drafting and issuing of the resolution will make the RNC feel like they are taking steps to correcting their internal problems it will not serve as a magic bullet for drawing people to their party.
“Jim Bopp is the author of the no-bailout resolution because he wants to articulate our core principles now, not every four years when we have a presidential election,” said Mr. Yue, an Oregon member of the Committee. “This is based on the thinking that articulating political philosophy is equally important as applying it consistently.”
“Failing to do so, we have today’s identity crisis, which resulted in our losses in 2006 and 2008,” Mr. Yue said. “The bailout is a good example … In my view, if we are not going to address this, we will see more losses in 2010.”
Talk about living in a bubble? It is shaming to say that our politicians could be wasting time proposing such nonsense for the beneift of ‘articulating our core principles’ and ‘identity crisis‘ as part of solving the RNC’s problems. Can someone please go and remind them that while they are dabbling in self awareness our economy is tanking. No one cares whether or not the RNC finds their zen.
“We have enough co-sponsors to take this to the RNC floor” at the party’s Jan. 28-31 annual winter meeting in Washington. “I will take it to the Resolutions Committee, but I intend to press this issue to the floor for decision.”
This is my favorite part. While they are busy giving themselves balm — for their temper tantrum? — over the next 30 days for all the bad things that has happened to them, they will enact this resolution after Bush leaves office. What, might I ask, is the real point? Can’t they do like the rest of the psychotics in the world and just hire a shrink?
On looking back over the reign of Bush we mustn’t forget the protest that took place during his inauguration.How ironic is it that while the religious right was basking in the glory of his victory the rest of America was protesting?It is without a doubt that Bush was not the people’s selection and most felt he was no more than a thief; him and the GOP.
My how the truth must hurt now?Bush was unacceptable for the bulk of the American people back then and he is still just as unacceptable.There is no hiding the fact that 3 out of 4 Americans can not wait until he’s finally out of the White House.It must be small and cold comfort that only 23% of billions of people find that Bush did a wonderful job as president.
After 8 years of Bush’s blatant naked aggression against Iraq – a war crime – the end result is that he has not only bankrupted the US, he and his cohorts have brought the entire world to the brink of economic ruin.The near destruction of America by an arrogant ruler brings to mind Rome.
If you can believe the words of a religious bigot, Pat Robertson, then you will think he spoke words of wisdom when he said:
“As the most dominant empire since Roman times, America has helped to bring great wealth and prosperity to the world.”
Yet, it must be noted, ironically, that Robertson left out the most important detail regarding Rome when he compared America to Rome’s dominance and prosperity:Rome fell.
Ironically, Rome fell for the same reasons that the good old USA might ultimately fall. Rome had despoiled their land, waged war upon both the small farmer and the laborer, outsourced its industry, devalued their currency and subverted their products from labor.Sounds familiar?Lest we forget Bush has always considered himself to be an emperor/dictator.
It seems Bush has already pulled out his fiddle and even now can be heard playing on the mountain tops as America burns from the weight of the GOPs failed ideology that lead directly to an economic collapse.
America is indulging in the same wasteful practice as Rome under the leadership of the GOP.The fact that our deficit is the highest in the world only goes to show that the GOP economics has made America less productive and very much close to complete bankruptcy.This is not just a Bush problem.This is a GOP problem.The idiom of their ideology which they represent with the constant mantra of less government and more fiscal responsibility is also inclusive of less oversight of our industries – banking, auto, coal, etc., less building of productivity as a country via labor, and the systematic outsourcing of jobs under the guise of free market.
As recently as 2006, many blogs, newspapers and electronic media were reporting a ‘global economic boom’. Bands might well have played ‘The Charleston’ or ‘Varsity Drag‘, the newsreel soundtrack to heady days of fast bucks and faster women, rowdy days in which the belief that anyone could get rich was encouraged by the GOP. What was in it for them? Votes! The GOP was living in a past best remembered for the Stutz Bearcat and Racoon Coats soon to be followed by “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?”
The Republican Great Depression began in 1929, not 1932, and it was the direct result of 9 years of unrelenting trickle-down economics delivered under three Republican Presidents (Harding, Coolidge and Hoover) and their treasury Secretary, the anti-tax, anti-regulation corporate titan, Andrew Mellon. — Yeah, Right: “This Economy Is Strong and Other Tall Tales
The recovery from the depression took a war (World War II) in order to restore people back to work.During that period, fair and progressive taxation took place.Unfortunately, the GOP stepped in and with their usual ideology the rich were taxed less and less and productivity fell.Hence, disparities in income distributions occurred.As such the rich got richer and the middle class shrunk.
Not since Ronald Reagan have our national deficit grown so completely out of whack.Reagan was by far one of the worst fiscally responsible presidents.Our budget ballooned, there was no trickle down effect, productivity declined, unemployment rose, and job growth declined.Under Bush’s control of the government such is the case again.
To constantly play the game that the Democrats were also perpetrators of the GOPs’ crime, though fashionable, is totally false.That no lessons have been learned by the GOP is evident unto itself.We had Enron, WorldCom, Arthur Anderson, Countrywide, even a depression to help us learn from our mistakes but nothing stop the GOP machine of less government and less regulation.
It’s as if everyone in the GOP was reading the same handbook on how to destroy our country in 8 years or less.There was a pervasive belief that every bubble would last forever. Never mind the fact that we’ve seen quite a few bubbles burst.
All Democratic Presidents have presided over greater economic growth and job creation than any Republican President since World War II (all emphasis is ours).
When Bush Jr took office, job creation was worst under a Republican, Bush Sr, at 0.6% per year and best under a Democrat, Johnson, at 3.8% per year.
Economic growth under President Carter was far greater than under Reagan or Bush Sr. In fact, economic growth in general was greater under Johnson, Kennedy, Carter, and Clinton than under Reagan or Bush. [Democrats always outperform a failed party: the GOP!]
The job creation rate under Clinton was 2.4% significantly higher than Ronald Reagan’s 2.1% per year.
The “top performing Presidents” by this standard, in order from best down, were Johnson, Carter, Clinton, and Kennedy. The “worst” (in descending order) were Nixon, Reagan, Bush.
Half of jobs created under Reagan were in the public sector–some 2 million jobs added to the Federal Bureaucracy. (Hadn’t he promised to reduce that bureaucracy?)
Reagan, though promising to reduce government and spending, tripled the national debt and left huge deficits to his successor. (Bush Jr’s record will be even worse.)
By contrast, most of the jobs created on Clinton’s watch were in the private sector.
Put another way: All Democratic Presidents beats Republican Presidents since World War II.
(Source: the Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, CBO, and BEA)
This current economic problems is not a Bush problem, it is a GOP problem as well. The GOPs’ ideology has proven that it is unworkable, flawed and unable to substain a growing nation. As such, this current economic crisis is not only owed by Bush but by the entire GOP.As Bush is currently on a mission to repair his tattered legacy, it would be wise for the GOP to join him in that endeavor. The current state of affairs is not just Bush’s legacy but belongs equally to the GOP and their failed ideology.
Story by Chamay0 — Chamay0 Bias Opinion, Tom — The Internet Post, and Guest Blogger: Mike Davis
Well we’ve known all this time that the rhetoric Bush used to lead up to the Iraq war were lies. There is also Cheney, who we all knew, was the real orchestrator of the Iraq war. But that knowledge pales in the face of the disinformation given by mainstream media; which has confused and grayed the truth on all fronts. The media has made it harder for both those who wanted to believe in this administration and those that knew the administration was lying.
Thankfully, there is Cheney, who in his complete arrogance believes he is justified in everything he has done. Where the media has fell a sleep in performing their job, good old monster Cheney has made sure we were set straight.
Let’s take a moment to reflect on some of the information the media failed to report at least truthfully:
The information given out over the media to scare us and help start the war was knowingly false as the following article proves and highlights how the media has been consistently a sleep in regards to the Iraq war. In deed, the media continues to be a sleep in regard to Bush and his lack of governing during our current economic crisis.
A new congressional report is belatedly confirming what many have long known: that the White House and in particular then White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales, lied to Congress in 2004 when he told them the Bush administration was not repeatedly warned by the CIA not to make the claim that Saddam had tried to buy uranium ore from Niger.
What is astonishing about this report, which documents that the CIA at least four times tried to prevent Bush and other top officials from presenting that lie to Congress and the American public in the run-up to the Iraq invasion, is not that it documents what has long been known, but that Congress and the corporate media are still pretending that the claim itself was an acceptable justification for launching a war.
(Sic)
Consider that what was being asserted was that Iraq had attempted (not even succeeded!) to buy 400 tons of uranium ore. This claim was used by President Bush, in his Jan. 20, 2003 State of the Union address, to argue that Iraq had a nuclear weapons program. But in the case of a country that does not have a nuclear weapon, a program is years away, perhaps a decade or more away, from the reality of having a usable weapon.
Yet Bush was claiming that there was an imminent threat to America posed by Saddam Hussein’s yellowcake purchase effort, and that an invasion had to be launched almost immediately. He used the term imminent because that is the legal requirement in the UN Charter, to which the US is a signatory and which is based upon the Nuremberg Charter established at the end of the Second World War. It states that no nation may invade another nation unless that nation poses an imminent threat to the would-be invader. [Read the full story here]
Cheney’s involvement in the war was also played down by the media, as well as his dealing with Halliburton. Amazingly, Cheney’s dealings were either misreported, scale back or not reported. To say dealings with Halliburton, by our current administration, should have been considered a conflict of interest is an understatement.
Vice President Dick Cheney arrives at George Washington University Hospital on Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2008, in Washington. Cheney’s fortunes really ballooned in the heat of the Iraq conflict in 2004 when his 433,333 Halliburton options soared in value from $US241,498 to more than $US8 million in 2005. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)Cheney had been chairman and CEO of the oil services and construction giant Halliburton from 1995 to August 2000 when he signed up with George W Bush’s election campaign. Halliburton stands to benefit every time an oil pipeline is blown up in Iraq or a meal is handed out to the troops, and Cheney still has stock options in the company. [Read the full story here]
Yet the media found no such problem of not reporting Cheney’s duplicity. It is public knowledge that prior to becoming the VP, Dick Cheney was the CEO of Halliburton. It took Sen. Leahy for Cheney to let us know how he really feels. He told Leahy to go f__k his self .
Cheney, who as president of the Senate was present for the picture day, turned to Leahy and scolded the senator over his recent criticism of the vice president for Halliburton’s alleged war profiteering.
Cheney is the former CEO of Halliburton, and Democrats have suggested that while serving in the Bush administration he helped win lucrative contracts for his former firm, including a no-bid contract to rebuild Iraq. [Read the full story here]
There are those that say Cheney’s gives all his proceeds from Halliburton to charity.Please note such claims by Cheney’s defenders really defies common sense and logic. It is public knowledge that corruption has been pervasive with Halliburton contracts. Yet, the media, time and time again, failed to make any connections to Cheney, irregardless of his substantive financial gains.
A former colleague of the US Vice-President, Dick Cheney, has pleaded guilty to funnelling millions of dollars in bribes to win lucrative contracts in Nigeria for Halliburton, during the period in the Nineties when Mr Cheney ran the giant oil and gas services company.
Albert Stanley, who was appointed by Mr Cheney as chief executive of Halliburton’s subsidiary KBR, admitted using a north London lawyer to channel payments to Nigerian officials as part of a bribery scheme that landed some $6bn of work in the country over a decade. [Read the full story here]
Valerie Plame’s outing was done on purpose by the Bush administration to get back at her husband Joe Wilson for telling the truth about the yellowcake story from Niger.
Vice President Dick Cheney, according to a still-highly confidential FBI report, admitted to federal investigators that he rewrote talking points for the press in July 2003 that made it much more likely that the role of then-covert CIA-officer Valerie Plame in sending her husband on a CIA-sponsored mission to Africa would come to light.
Cheney conceded during his interview with federal investigators that in drawing attention to Plame’s role in arranging her husband’s Africa trip reporters might also unmask her role as CIA officer.
Cheney denied to the investigators, however, that he had done anything on purpose that would lead to the outing of Plame as a covert CIA operative. But the investigators came away from their interview with Cheney believing that he had not given them a plausible explanation as to how he could focus attention on Plame’s role in arranging her husband’s trip without her CIA status also possibly publicly exposed.
(sic)
Cheney revised the talking points on July 8, 2003– the very same day that his then-chief of staff, I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby, met with New York Times reporter Judith Miller and told Miller that Plame was a CIA officer and that Plame had also played a central role in sending her husband on his CIA sponsored trip to the African nation of Niger. [Read the full story here]
So now that we have the admissions on record, when will mainstream media start telling us the truth?
If Christ were here now there is one thing he would not be – a Christian. ~ Mark Twain
One of the easiest and simplest tactics for the republican party to employ when all else fails is to play the blame game.They play this game with an excellent degree of deliverance, skill and acumen. The game is played even in the face of the complete collapse of the GOP’s ideology.
Of course such game playing undermines and lessen the correcting of failed policy which was created by deluded ideology. The game playing also affords the offenders with the capability of existing in a bubble which further distance them from reality.
Contrary to the beliefs of the anti-social and right wing propaganda, “sub-prime” loans were not just designed to help only minorities and poor people get their first homes. Nor can the bursting of the home mortgage loan bubble be laid at the feet of aiding minorities in getting homes through Fannie and Freddie.
The first thing to understand is what a sub-prime loan is: A type of loan that is offered at a rate above prime to individuals who do not qualify for prime rate loans. Quite often, subprime borrowers are often turned away from traditional lenders because of their low credit ratings or other factors that suggest that they have a reasonable chance of defaulting on the debt repayment. The housing bubble bursting is directly caused by a practice that was loosely regulated and lawlessness that allowed predators to be bred. There was no transparency, rules or ethnics being employed by any of the parties involved.
There are plenty of culprits, like lenders who peddled easy credit, consumers who took on mortgages they could not afford and Wall Street chieftains who loaded up on mortgage-backed securities without regard to the risk.
But the story of how we got here is partly one of Mr. Bush’s own making, according to a review of his tenure that included interviews with dozens of current and former administration officials.
The sub-prime loans benefited home-improvement contractors as well. It gave them a way to sell their home inventories at super inflated prices.Sub-prime loans were especially rampant in states like California, Nevada and Florida.
Predatory loans sometimes involve a conspiracy between loan agents and unscrupulous home-improvement contractors, as well as appraisers who inflate the value of a house so that families will borrow more than the houses are really worth.
Predatory mortgages often include last-minute, hidden second mortgages. Using bait-and-switch tactics, predatory lenders tout low interest rates in ads targeting the elderly and residents of low-income, working-class, and minority neighborhoods, without explaining the actual interest rates or that adjustable-rate mortgages mean that the rates will increase.
Borrowers are enticed with deals that require them to pay little or nothing down. The unscrupulous lenders approve borrowers for loans even if they’ve recently been bankrupt or don’t have sufficient income to keep up the payments. These lenders don’t document an applicant’s ability to pay back a loan. They often just accept the borrower’s word about his income and expenses.
The scam worked more efficiently through the support of the Federal chairman, Alan Greenspan, the President, Bush, Fox News and any other idiot financial reporter on TV that was selling the support of the loans, that were being handed out like free popcorn, as an excellent deal.
The loans were structured very simply.The receiver of the loan needed very little money to put down on the their new home or, in some cases, received the down payment from the government.
Concerned that down payments were a barrier, Mr. Bush persuaded Congress to spend up to $200 million a year to help first-time buyers with down payments and closing costs.
The president also leaned on mortgage brokers and lenders to devise their own innovations. “Corporate America,” he said, “has a responsibility to work to make America a compassionate place.”
And corporate America, eyeing a lucrative market, delivered in ways Mr. Bush might not have expected, with a proliferation of too-good-to-be-true teaser rates and interest-only loans that were sold to investors in a loosely regulated environment.
Loan payments were initially set at a low rate which stayed stable for a few years.There you had home owners making low payments for very expensive property.The bursting of the bubble was when the demand for the higher interest rate kicked in (adjustable-rate mortgage, ARMs). In some cases the increase of ARMs was as high as 30% for some home owners. The simply fact that sub-prime loans were loosely regulated aided the total collapses of mortgages that could no longer be afforded by people’s who’s income stayed stangnant and saw no growth even as the ARMs kept rising.
He [Bush] pushed hard to expand homeownership, especially among minorities, an initiative that dovetailed with his ambition to expand the Republican tent — and with the business interests of some of his biggest donors. But his housing policies and hands-off approach to regulation encouraged lax lending standards.
In the beginning this was seen as a win for all parties involved.The new home owner got a home, the home builders got paid lavish premiums for their inventory, real estate companies and loan brokers got rich from the sales, Wall Street banks that packaged and repackaged the scam loans sold them throughout the world and made hundreds of billions of dollars.Even president Bush (the psychopath) benefited from the illusion that the economy through home ownership was good and that belief gave him the luxury to believe that he could afford his illegal war with Iraq without even raising taxes. Sub-prime loans did not begin with President Bush’s administration:
… by the early 1980s, the lending industry used its political clout to push back against government regulation. In 1980, Congress adopted the Depository Institutions Deregulatory and Monetary Control Act, which eliminated interest-rate caps and made sub-prime lending more feasible for lenders. The S&Ls balked at constraints on their ability to compete with conventional banks engaged in commercial lending. They got Congress — Democrats and Republicans alike — to change the rules, allowing S&Ls to begin a decade-long orgy of real estate speculation, mismanagement, and fraud. The poster child for this era was Charles Keating, who used his political connections and donations to turn a small Arizona S&L into a major real estate speculator, snaring five Senators (the so-called “Keating Five,” including John McCain) into his web of corruption.
but Bush was certainly a sleep at the wheel when it came to overseeing the banking industry since it played into his ideology of freemarket and less government regulation, which as we all know is the republican way.
As for Mr. Bush’s banking regulators, they once brandished a chain saw over a 9,000-page pile of regulations as they promised to ease burdens on the industry. When states tried to use consumer protection laws to crack down on predatory lending, the comptroller of the currency blocked the effort, asserting that states had no authority over national banks.
The administration won that fight at the Supreme Court. But Roy Cooper, North Carolina’s attorney general, said, “They took 50 sheriffs off the beat at a time when lending was becoming the Wild West.”
Now the chickens have come home to roost.On the surface very little sympathy should be afforded to those home buyers that were willing to buy homes that far exceed there normal yearly incomes.Yet, those people were victims of a scam that was being systematically employed throughout our country.
The hardest hit are the innocent borrowers of sub-prime loans. Many of them are working- and middle-class families who fell victim to the country’s economic squeeze, a hardship not of their own doing but a symptom of the Bush years. They faced layoffs, stagnant wages, and rising costs of home heating, gasoline, utilities, food, and child care. For those without health insurance, one serious medical problem wiped out their savings. At a time when soaring housing prices were out of whack with the rest of the economy, sub-prime loans were the only way they could purchase a home. But when they could no longer keep up their mortgage payments, they had no safety net. They began skipping their monthly mortgage payments, especially after the adjustable-rate mortgages kicked in with higher interest rates, as high as a 30 percent spike for some borrowers.
The ironic part is that this was the exact same type of scam that Bush Sr. ran in the 1980s via the Savings and Loans real estate fraud bubble.Bush Sr. used that scam to pay for the Contra war (no telling how many billions he and his fellow crooks siphoned off on the side).It is something to also note that both father and Son used the same Federal Chairman, Alan Greenspan who in effect was in charge of banking.
The problems occurred in the Savings and Loan industry as they relate to theft because the industry was deregulated under the Reagan/Bush administration and restrictions were eased on the industry so much that abuse and misuse of funds became easy, rampant, and went unchecked.
There are several ways in which the Bush family plays into the Savings and Loan scandal, which involves not only many members of the Bush family but also many other politicians that are still in office and still part of the Bush Jr. administration today. Jeb Bush, George Bush Sr., and his son Neil Bush have all been implicated in the Savings and Loan Scandal, which cost American tax payers over $1.4 TRILLION dollars
I was doing what I do best, surfing for some facts for an article I was assisting another author with. I ran across this video that gave me pause. It was a simple statement, “Robert Gallo: The Man That Created AIDS” Hey, I was game. I live in America where the government has no end in sight on how many criminal offenses it can commit against its people.
This post is a paraphrase of something I had recently read. It was the most rational, well thought out viewpoint on religion & politics I had ever heard. It is my desire that after you read this you, too, will come away with a more logical understanding.
My how the truth must hurt now?
Story by Chamay0 — Chamay0 Bias Opinion, Tom — The Internet Post, and Guest Blogger: Mike Davis
If Christ were here now there is one thing he would not be – a Christian. ~ Mark Twain
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The Last Post of Sanity 