Mittens and He Who Should Be Neutered

Why is Buddy Roemer excluded from the GOP debates? It's not that I don't like Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, and Ron Paul, it's that I have nothing but contempt for Mittens, he who should be neutered, and Santorum (who's name doesn't really mean what Google says it means) and ... Ron Paul is a white supremacist. Or he may not be, but he's their boy.

Gingrich cheats on wife 1, Jackie, with Other Woman 1, Marianne, who becomes Wife 2. Then cheats on Wife 2, Marianne, with Young Intern / Other Woman 2, Callista, who becomes Wife 3. This last while blasting Clinton for having a relationship with an intern. What Hypocrisy! What Arrogance! I mean "The Gingrich Wives" - sounds like the title of a film - a porn film.

Romney may be 'Wall Street.' But Gingrich is a lobbyist for Wall Street. Oh, I forgot- Gingrich is an historian.

Why don't I like Romney? He's not Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, Bill Gates, Tom Watson, Henry Ford, Bill Hewlett, Dave Packard, Walt Disney: They created stuff. Romney looked for companies to raid.

Romney on Obama: "He had no jobs plan." But he saved all the union jobs at GM and Chrysler. "He never even managed a corner store; he was a community organizer (helping poor people). Romney didn't create jobs; he created poor people.

Mittens, Newter, Santorum, and Ron Paul will solve poverty by eliminating food stamps, Medicare. They will save poor people by allowing them to die.

So the problem with the Republican Party is that it has become the party of the lunatic fringe. Why is Buddy Roemer exlcuded from the GOP debates?

Romney: “Obama apologizes for America.” How, Mitt? By killing bin Laden? By going after Quadafi? Romney should apologize for driving for 12 hours with his dog strapped to the roof of his car.

 

John McCain was called a "Maverick" because he actually worked with Democrats.

Occupy Wall Stret

Q  What did the lawyer say to the cop?
A   Please take your motorcycle off my leg.

Q  What did the cop say to the lawyer?
A   Whack.
      You're lucky you're not in Tien Ahn Mien Square
      Whack Whack
      Or Damascus, Riyad, or Tehran
      Whack Whack Whack Whack.

Bankster: Why are you here? Don't you understand what we do?
Demonstrator: Yes I understand what you do - that's precisely why I'm here.

Republican field narrows in the 2012 Race to Lose to Obama

The loss of Mike Huckabee and Donald Trump leaves Republicans Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, Michelle Bachmann, Chris Christie, Herman Cain, and Ron Paul in the race to lose to Obama. On the Democratic side, Russ Feingold has indicated that he will challenge President Obama. Dennis Kuchinich is also said to be contemplating a run for the White House. Martha Coakley, who recently lost her bid to represent Massachusetts in the United States Senate, is also planning on registering as a candidate. She is not, however, planning on running an actual campaign.

The Democrats are planning Primary Debates in the historic Fraunces Tavern, in New York City, and the Green Dragon Tavern, in Boston, Mass. These are symbolic: a victorious General George Washingon said farewell to his troops, at Fraunces Tavern, and was inaugurated a block or two north, on the balcony of Federal Hall, on the Corner of Wall and Broad Streets, in 1789. (click). John Adams, Sam Adams, Paul Revere, and other Sons of Liberty ate, drank, and planned the Revolution at the Green Dragon. Before, after, or during their debates, someone, somewhere will say, "A black man, a Jew and a Pollack walk into a bar. The bartender asks 'What'll ya have?' The African American says 'Oval Office, straight up.' The bartender replies 'It's on the rocks.' The Jew and the Pollack say 'We'll have what he's having.' The bartender says, 'I can only serve one every four years, and he has dibs.' "

In a move that may disappoint social Conservatives, Mike Huckabee, Republican Governor turned Fox News commentator / entertainer announced that he is not running against President Obama in 2012. "I lost to McCain in 2008, I don't want to lose to Obama in 2012. Maybe I'll run in 2016. I should be able to beat Biden. And I'm making $2 Million at Fox. Why give that up?" Like most of the Republicans, he spends most of his time pandering to the far right and groveling to would-be kingmakers. But when he is candid and honest; he's refreshing and almost charismatic. Like Pres. Reagan, who raised taxes 11 times over the course of his Presidency, Huckabee, as Arkansas' Governor, raised taxes to pay for schools. He also referred to the "Club of Growth" as the "Club of Greed." Conservative kingmaker Grover Norquist seeks to apply to the United States the "Starve the Beast" tactic, a variation of the "Feed it till it Bursts" tactic Reagan applied to the Soviet Union. This has resulted in a terrible loss of infrastructure in the United States as our roads are full of potholes, bridges are crumbling, schools are declining and as the Europeans, and Chinese are pulling ahead in manufacturing, solar power, wind power, and railroads.
Donald "The Donald" Trump, the real estate mogul from New York City, in a move that was sure to disappoint comedians, also bowed out of the race. Despite giving more support to Democrats than Republicans while George Bush was President and Republicans had a majority in both the House and the Senate, Trump was talking about running as a Republican and was proud of his major accomplishments: inheriting a fortune, going bankrupt once or twice, marrying three models, divorcing two, firing people on television, hiring people to write trivial books about Donald Trump, and demanding that President Obama ask Hawaiian authorities to release his birth certificate. As profoundly important as these accomplishments may be, "The Donald" appears to believe that he was trumped by the President's recent accomplishment - authorizing the successful "Capture or Kill" mission against Osama bin Laden, which resulted in bin Laden's death and the capture of a treasure trove of information, albeit with the loss of one American helicopter. Trump will return to what he does best, firing people and boasting.

Disappointing both her supporters and the comedians, Sarah Palin has been strangely quiet. This is particularly upsetting to Tina Fey and the writers and producers of Saturday Night Live. Palin's last known public statement, that former President Bush deserves credit for the mission President Obama authorized that killed bin Laden, can only be described as a "gift" to comedians and "baffling" to rational people.

That leaves Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, Michelle Bachmann, Chris Christie, Herman Cain, and Ron Paul.
Newt Gingrich, the 69 year old former Congressman, college professor, and intellectual, who married and divorced as often as Trump, but who did not marry models, is eminently qualified to work with John Boehner and Paul Ryan as they work to end Medicare, privatize Social Security, and dismantle the government. Gingrich is committed to, as Seth Meyers put it, "stop using my tax dollars to take care of me." As the force behind the 1994 "Contract On America," Gingrich is credited with shutting down the U. S. government, and helping Bill Clinton's 1996 re-election. Maybe Gingrich's real goal is to help Obama win re-election and thereby pave the way for a Republican to lose a challenge to Joe Biden in 2016. Gingrich, who began his campaign with a Twitter note and a Youtube video, wants to hook up with young people. Depending on the age of the young people he hooks up with, Gingrich could be looking at charges of statutory rape, or just being creepy.

However, by describing the Paul Ryan budget as “Radical” and “Right wing social engineering” Gingrich, while telling the truth, may have shot his campaign in the foot. (click). What the Republican and Tea Party rank and file seem to have just found out, is that the people funding the GOP and the Tea Party LIKE Radical right wing social engineering.
Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, looks to this self-styled pundit as the putative Republican front-runner in the campaign to lose the election of 2012. While Romney opposed the Cape Wind offshore wind farm that will generate electricity without pollution, he can honestly be credited with passing the Massachusetts Health Care Plan, also known as Obama-Care 1.0. (click). Voters, however, will have to ask themselves "why elect a moderately liberal Republican like Romney when they can elect a moderately liberal Democrat like Obama.
Tim Hosni Pawlenty is an American of Polish and German, not middle-eastern origin. While he can count on the support of Hosni Mubarek, and Republicans of middle eastern-origin, he probably cannot count on the support of Democrats or independents of middle-eastern origin.
Michelle Bachmann, stepping in to fill the void left by Sarah Palin, aspires to be the next hot middle aged babe on the Republican ticket. It really doesn't matter what she says, as long as she smiles appropriately. This is terrific news for Saturday Night Live. Sources tell us that Kristen Weig is rehearsing echoing platitudes, staring into space and looking away from the camera.

Disappointing Republicans, Democrats, Independents, and Progressives in New Jersey, Chris Christie is steadfast and adamant that he is not running, yet. "I wish he'd run," said a gay, Vegan, tree-hugging community organizer, on the condition of anonymity, "it would limit the damage he'd do here in Jersey."
Herman Cain, the Pizza Guy, one of about 1.1 million African Americans in the 55 million strong Republican Party, said, "Hey, I know I don't have a snowball's chance in hell of beating Obama. And I don't know if I want to. He's doing a good job, and all those black kids look up to him. But can you imagine how many pizzas I'm gonna sell with this? Do you have any idea of the Return On Investment of this 'candidacy'? Man, it's huge. Huge! And I'm talking to Murdoch about my own reality show. We'll call it 'Pizza Man' or 'President? or Pizza Man?' or Pizza Man President! I'll get Eddie Murphy to play me."
Ron Paul, the uncompromising libertarian physician turned Congressman, who's medical practice was devoted to Medicare patients, wants to legalize all drugs, including marijuana, cocaine, LSD and heroin, and eliminate all government programs, including education, research, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, NASA, NOAA, the ATF, the IRS, the CIA, the NSA, the FBI, and the Defense Department. "Fergit the 1950's, we need to return to the 1850's," he said. When it was pointed out that the US in 1850 had about 23 million people, and about 3.2 million were slaves, the wiley Texan said "Yep, so, what's yer point? I mean, we're all slaves to our hearts and our debts."

-

Copyright © 2011. Larry “XB Cold Fingers” Furman. This is a work of satire. Any resemblance to the facts is tragic, or hilarious. I report. Or I make it up. You decide.

Bin Laden. 2 Bullets. No Photos.

By XB Cold Fingers.

New York, May 5, 2011. President Obama decided that the U. S. will not release photos of bin Laden. "However," the President said, "we will release the Death Certificate, and the Long Form Death Certificate."

Donald Trump could not be reached for comment.

"We'll get the photos," said Julian Assange, of Wikileaks, "even if we need to use 'Photoshop.'"

"Conspiracy theorists," Assange continued, "are free to use 'Photoshop' to create their own photos. Other conspiracy theorists are free to use audio and video editing systems to create fake recorded messages from Osama 'proving' that bin Laden is still alive. Wilileaks will pay for any legitimate looking 'proof.' "

The Pakistan government has joined Wikileaks and is preparing a Request for Proposal for the best "proof" that the May 1, 2011 commando raid by US Navy Seals was either:

A) In Afganistan, 35 miles from Kabul, not in Pakistan, 35 miles from Islamabad and down the road from the Pakistani military academy,
B) Carried out by Pakistani authorities against Indian terrorists living in Pakistan,
C) Carried out by Israeli agents against Hamas and in Gaza,
D) Carried out by Hamas and Hezbollah against Zionists living in Pakistan,
E) Carried out by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society against Japanese whalers, or
F) All of the above.

Budget conscious Representative Paul Ryan complained about the cost of the mission. "Bin Laden," he said, "was shot twice. Did we need to use two rounds? Wasn't that twice the ammunition needed? Wasn't that a 50% waste of resources? And we lost a helicopter. Does the President know how much those cost? Why wasn't this job outsourced to the lowest bidder in China or India?"

Speaking from the campaign trail, the cost-conscious isolationist libertarian doctor Representative Ron Paul said "Eight years ago Pres. Bush said 'Mission Accomplished.' What did Obama hope to prove?"

Minnesota Rep. Michelle Bachmann, who hopes to be the first Republican Cougar running for President, echoed Rep. Paul, adding "In 2005 Pres. Bush shuttered the CIA's hunt for Bin Laden and shifted efforts to Iraq, and he got Saddam. What does Obama hope to accomplish?"


Sarah Palin, the community organizer who quit her job as Governor of Alaska to focus on her "work" as a microblogger on Twitter and Facebook, said "How's that hopey changey thing working out for you?"

Charles Koch, the billionaire who 'secretly' funds the Tea Party, and foots much of the bill for Palin's $1.0 million a year in appearance fees and wardrobe upgrades said "Obama had to say 'Yea' or 'Nay.' What did he actually do?"

In their statemens Ron Paul, Michelle Bachmann, and Sarah Palin made reference to the observation that Obama presents America and the world with an optimistic agenda, one of hope. And Koch, while his radical political agenda is at odds with that of the President, did credit Obama with the decision to send the Navy Seals on this mission.

Saudi Prince Alaweed bin Talel, a major stockholder of News Corp, the parent of Fox News, the Wall St. Journal, and the New York Post commented privately, saying "Osama bin Laden may have made some mistakes, he may have been was a wayward son of the kingdom, but he was a subject of the House of Saud who was brutally murdered by the Americans. The King will not forget this slight."

Pakistan's former President Pervez Musharraf, who resigned his position in 2008 after allegations of corruption, and who, as a young man, studied in the military academy in Abbottabad a few blocks from bin Laden's palatial hideout said "Pakistani intelligence was either duplicitous or incompetent, probably incompetent." Musharraf should know - he was President of Pakistan when bin Laden moved in to the Abbattabad hideout.

Former President George W. Bush, speaking to Former Defense Secretary Donald "The Other Donald" Rumsfeld, Former Vice President Dick Cheney, Former National Security Advisor Condaleeza Rice, and former advisor Karl Rove said "I told you we should have gotten him. But you didn't listen to me. And I was 'the Decider.' " Rice said "you decided to agree with what we told you, that the Mission was Accomplished." Rove said "I was your brains, remember?" Rumsfeld said "the outcome has proven to be one of those things that was known to be unknowable." Cheney, in an undisclosed location, could not be reached for comment. He is believed to be looking for a lawyer to shoot.

* Copyright (c) 2011, XB ColdFingers. This is a work of satire. The only facts known to the author are:
A) On May 1, 2011, Osama bin Laden was killed, shot twice by American Navy Seals on a covert capture or kill mission.
B) The  mission was authorized by President Obama.
C) A helicopter was lost in the mission.
D) In 2005, the CIA turned its attention away from bin Laden.‬
E) The bit on Musharraf, while funny, is not an exaggeration.
F) The bit on Koch, while not funny, is not an exaggeration.

Wisconsin, Egypt – It's the Economy, Stupid

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is trying to stimulate the economy by eliminating corporate income taxes and regulations on businesses and cutting taxes on wealthy people. These kinds of activities do stimulate GDP. Here's how.

Wealthy people, like Lindsay Lohan, Brittney Spears, Mel Gibson, and Charlie Sheen have people, including paparazzi and media people following them around. That costs money. They do things in a spectacular way, and when they do stupid things in a spectacular way they have lawyers get them out of trouble. Economists call this “multipliers.” The lawyers, paparazzi and media folks need to eat, sleep, rent hotel rooms, etc. And they don't camp out and chow down on toast, water, and dried fruits and nuts. Celebrities often require high powered consultants from the sex and pharmaceuticals industries. When they trigger rapid increases in the entropy of hotel rooms, by “trashing” them, carpenters, electricians, decorators, architects and others need be hired to restore the room – all this costs money, and stimulates GDP.

When regulations are lax or eliminated businesses regulate themselves. This stimulates GDP. Consider the recent GDP stimulus of Wall Street, when those npw-legendary credit default swaps raised real estate values (until they crashed). Similarly, when industries are releived of the burden of environmental regulations, they create products which increase GDP and pollution which is not counted in GDP. When the pollution is cleaned up, at taxpayer expense, the GDP again increases. We see this dramatically in Tennessee, at the site of the Kingston Steam Plant. When a flood released 1.2 billion gallons of toxic coal ash sludge from the coal-fired power plant, December, 22, 2008, the cleanup costs were added to the bills of the people who buy power from the TVA.

Note that there are people who think about ecological economcis understand the costs of cleaning up pollution, and other things they call economic bads, should not be considered a component of the health of an economy. They favor the use of indices like the Genuine Progress Indicator, GPI.

However, in words Alan Greenspan might use, “with a syncopatedly integrated interperiodic boom-bust bubble-pop series of microeconomic events pursuant to macroeconomic cyclical patterns we will sustain high employment with simultaneous episodic high unemployment, causing elevated productivity and de-elevated wages, giving many people virtually sufficient purchasing power to buy most of the necessities they need to live productively, work their entire lives, create terrific negative net worth, also known as debt, and give their children some of the education they will need, unless or until they get sick or incapacitated."

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is trying to make Wisconsin business friendly by eliminating corporate income taxes. What he could do is use the power of Eminent Domain to take over a few mansions and then give them to Lohan, Spears, Gibson, and Sheen. Those four, by themselves, could stimulate the economy, especially in a small state like Wisconsin. Imagine what they could accomplish working, or playing, together. The synergies would be terrific. Walker could recreate Madison as "The Hamptons North West" or "Hollywood North East" - he could pay the Post Office for special zip codes, for example, 90210-A and 11937-B. Their lifestyle would stimulate the economy in a significantly more dramatic, and probably less unsustainable manner than cutting taxes for Koch Industries and rich folks and their hangers on who would jet off to Paris, the Riveria, or the real Hamptons and stimulate the economy in those places.

The Governor is probably legally required to balance the budget. Should he do this by raising taxes or cutting spending and cutting taxes and regulations on corporations and wealthy people? If he cuts taxes and regulations, and those corporations pollute more than would if the taxes and regulations were in place, then the citizens will have to pay the costs of cleaning up the mess. As described above in the description of the Tennessee coal ash flood, this stimulates GDP.

Walker seems to want to eliminate health and other benefits from government jobs, except for police (and no doubt the Office of the Governor) in order to balance the budget and continue to allow him to cut taxes. This will shrink the GDP. Greenspan might refer to this as “Negative Growth.”

Roosevelt and Keynes proved that government spending stimulates the economy. Walker should be raising taxes to cover spending. Cutting wages and benefits stimulates employees to leave. The long term impacts of destroying your education system are on display in West Virginia and Mississippi.

On the other hand, maybe Gov. Walker and the Koch brothers are right. If there are no jobs for the young people of Wisconsin it may be better to keep them uneducated. If they get educated they might get uppity, they might demand "Rights." As the Taliban in Afganistan knows, if you want to keep people in line, it is easier if they have no education. Former President Hosni Mubarek found this out in Egypt. The revolution in Egypt was led by young educated young people who don't have jobs. The people in China have jobs and are not revolting - they're too busy working 7 days per week and trying to save some money. An educated citizenry revolts. If you don't want your citizens to revolt, keep them stupid.

Links:
On Egypt:
Freidman, NYTimes, Postcard from Cairo, 1, Postcard from Cairo, 2
Pharoah without a Mummy
On Wisconsin:
Klein, at Washington Post
Talking Points Memo

The Invention of the Necktie

London, England, circa 1776. And English "Lord" with a rebellious son in New York - Brooklyn as a matter of fact (or fiction - the accounts vary) was troubled. Torn between loyalty to his son and fealty to his king.

So torn as he was between fealty and loyalty - his son may have been a signatory to the Declaration of Independence - this Lord, who shall remain nameless, retreated into madness. He began to wear gowns in his wife's closet. This, by the way is the origin of the phrases "out of the closet" and "closet Queen," which was originally "Lady of the closet."

He recovered from his madness and chose loyalty to his son over fealty to his king and was compelled to leave London in haste.

He also understood that kilts were one thing, and more out of place in New York than in London, and ladies gowns on men quite another. The “New World” may have been radical in its approach to the rights of (white) men, it was not in its approach to the roles of men, or their dress.

So he took a knife and cut off two inches of the lower hem of the favorite four of his wife's gowns - two of which had his crest in a swirling teardrop of bold green and yellow - he was the Earl of Paisley. He tied one around his neck in what has become known as the Windsor knot, and left England.

Upon arrival he reunited with his son, a young Captain in Washington's command. He was able to counsel Washington on British strategies until captured by Cornwallis, and hanged by his tie - which thus became a symbol, like coffee, of American Independence.

A true story. Or truly a story.

Brittney, LiLo, Snookie, Ann, Sarah, and W.

Brittney Spears, like Lindsay Lohan, really cares about America, and humanity, particularly young women, young girls - their fan bases. Like Nicole "Snookie" Polozzi their "antics" are a carefully thought out existential drama designed to show girls and young women, their mothers, fathers and brothers, especially those in lower socio-economic strata - all of us - that wealth doesn't buy happiness, that no matter how much money you have, you still have to wrestle with intoxicants, people who don't want to share, men who treat you as sex objects . . . . How else do you explain Brittney's famous act of performance art in emerging from a cab in a short skirt hiked up to her waist, with her panties carefully concealed?

Like other visionary women, they are misunderstood. Ann Coulter - at first glance you would think she personally hates Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, and Meghan McCain. However, if you look beneath the surface you might find a coke-whore who secretly wants to have Bill's baby, McCain's baby, or Hillary's baby, but knowing this is impossible, masks her tragedy in addiction, anger, and best selling rants and diatribes.

Or Sarah Palin. The former Governor who earned $13 Million in speaking fees may be the barely educated former governor of a state who's population is about the same as Monmouth County, New Jersey, or Bensonhurst, Sheepshead Bay, and Coney Island, Brooklyn. She may be the former mayor of a town with a population about the size of an apartment building in the Bronx or on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. But she challenges our assumptions about what it means to be coherent. She recently said "those protesters in Egypt, I don't know if they are telling the truth." While I realize she said that while walking AND chewing gum, what are the protesters saying? They seem to be saying "We want Mubarek out of office." But that phrase is so wrought with ambiguity - do they want to take him out for drinks? (Well, not the Moslem Brotherhood). How about a nice lunch of roasted lamb with rice and tea? Maybe they want him out of his office so they can paint it? Regardless, she challenges our assumption that the office of the President of the United States should be held by someone who can think deeply, and make decisions based on rational assessment of the facts and scientifically observable data. After all, W held it for 8 years, 8 long years during which we lurched from one catastrophic decision to the next as if passengers in a bus driven by a nearsighted drunk on magic mushrooms. How hard can it be?

Obama and Palin - the Best of Both Worlds

Obama and Palin - the Best of Both Worlds

Washington, DC, April 1, 2011. The White House announced that President Barack Obama has appointed former Governor Sarah Palin as "Liaison to the Conservative Community." The White House also appointed professor and "former" radical Bill Ayers "Liaison to Socialists, Progressives, and Other Kooks."

Bill McKibben was briefly considered for the job of "Sustainability Tzar" however Tim Geithner, Larry Sommers, Steven Chu and Ken Salazar persuaded the President that "we don't need a Sustainability Tzar, we need more growth of GDP and unregulated derivatives, and more consumption of fossil fuels coupled with Rube-Goldbergian carbon sequestration technologies, to be invented soon, and nuclear fusion, which is only 50 years away, maybe less."

Quoting Alan Greenspan, they said, "with a syncopatedly integrated interperiodic boom-bust bubble-pop series of macroeconomic cyclical events we will sustain high employment with simultaneous episodic high unemployment, causing elevated productivity and de-elevated wages, giving many people almost enough purchasing power to buy most of the necessities they need to live productively, work their entire lives, creating terrific debt, and give their children all the education they will need, unless they get sick." Obama took two aspirin and sent them away, calling for Palin and George W. Bush, saying, "bring me some real Amaricans I can understand."

Ayers could not be reached for comment. However, we were able to locate him using radio signals from his cell-phone. He is on a hunting trip with Mike Huckabee and Dick Cheney, and is expected to resurface re-educated and working with the Tea Party Movement.

Palin, however, said, "I'm a former 'Weather Girl,' so I can work with a 'Weather Man.' However, I'm not sure I can take the job because 'liaison' is a French word and I make more money egging on, I mean 'speaking to' the Tea Party activists."

Bill O'Reilly, Glenn Beck, and Rush Limbaugh, on Fox News and other conservative oriented comedy broadcasting called it "a trick," missing the point that it was "a joke."

Single Prayer Health Care - I Pray, but I Don't Get It

Medicare works well for my octogenarian father. My insurance premium is large enough - $1200 per month - for a new BMW and a new Mercedes. And I can't see the doctors I'd like to see.

My insurance is great as long as I don't get sick.

Then I'd face bankruptcy. What good is it? And One out of Six Americans has no health insurance and therefore very limited access to health care. This is appalling. It's the population of California, NJ and New York City. It's roughly the population of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland - the entire mid-Atlantic and New England states. It's 47 Million People!

Please call your Senator and your Representative in the House. Tell them to support a DFA Green Orca who runs on a campaign to deliver single payer health care and 100% clean energy in 10 years.

Will it be easy? No. But - When John Kennedy urged us to accept the goal "before the decade is out, of sending a man to the moon and returning him safely" he said it would be hard and expensive. Yet we did it.

When the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said "I have a dream today. I have a dream that one day my children will be judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character" he didn't say it would be easy. He didn't say it would happen overnight. And he spoke those words about 45 years ago, about 100 years after Lincoln freed both slaves and the slaveholders of the bondage and oppression of slavery. And while last November a sufficient plurality judged Obama and McCain by the content or their character and not the color of their skin, we're not out of the woods yet. (How else do you explain people like CNN's Lou Dobbs? If his questioning Obama's birth is not racism I'll eat a whaleburger.)

We didn't know where Apollo would lead - other than to the moon and back. We didn't know it would lead to the Internet and tons of cool high tech. Unlike the Apollo program we know these twin goals - single payer and 100% clean energy - will have tremendous economic and national security benefits.

We can't afford the status quo. As Gore said, "we are borrowing Billions from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf and burn it in ways that destroy the planet. Every bit of that has got to change." Coal, by the way, is dirtier than oil. It may be abundent, but it's abundently dirty

Let's turn those Blue Dogs into Dog Meat. And the Dog Meat Republicanista ...

Think about it - rotweiller and pit bull versus orca? No contest. Orca wins.

The Republicans - The Party of No

It started with Nancy Reagan who said: "Just say no to drugs."

The Republicans just say No to everything.

• No Support for the Unemployed.
• No Help if you're Facing Foreclosure.
• No Health Insurance for 45 to 50 Million Americans - about one in six.
• No Vision for The Future.
• No Understanding of Science.
• If you're a lobbyist, peddling influence and campaign contributions, "No, I'm not busy, come in."
• And if you're on Wall Street, No way you're responsible for your actions. You're too big to fail. The Government will bail you out. It's the American Way!

The Party of No!

The President v The Supreme Court

The Supreme Court is supposed to be above politics. The President is not. The Executive, Legislative, and Judiciary braches of the United States Government are supposed to check and balance each other. Refer to the Constitution for details (here).

In his State of the Union address, President Obama criticized the Supreme Court and asked Congress for a law that will reverse the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v Federal Election Commission. Obama didn't criticize the Supreme Court in a classroom, on partisan political ground, or in a closed session with Democrats. He criticized the Court in a non-partisan forum, in a televised joint session of Congress, in front of 6 members of the Supreme Court.

The way we can judge the substance of Obama's criticism is to look at the matter, "Citizens United versus Federal Election Commission, the decision, the majority opinion and the minority opinion. (Supreme Court Wiki here , SEC Analysis here, Independent analysis: here.) The Court, in a 5 to 4 decision that appears to be along ideological lines (Alito, Kennedy, Roberts, Scalia, & Thomas, v Breyer, Ginsburg, Sotomayor & Stephens) in Obama's words "reversed a century of law to open the floodgates for special interests — including foreign corporations — to spend without limit in our elections." Obama went on to say, "I don’t think American elections should be bankrolled by America’s most powerful interests, or worse, by foreign entities. They should be decided by the American people, and that’s why I’m urging Democrats and Republicans to pass a bill that helps to right this wrong."

I am not a lawyer, but I think the Supreme Court said “Corporations have the right to free speech, even if they make political advertising that is not factual.”

We will see what happens next.

Will the House and Senate enact legislation that reverses the Supreme Court decision or curtails the right to free and misleading speech by corporations?
Will this legislation be challenged in Court?
Will the Court that hears the challege agree with the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v Federal Election Commission or support the new law?

Meet the Senator and his Daughters

Massachusetts Senator-Elect Scott Brown, flanked by his daughters, Ayla and Arianna.

"Just in case anyone who's watching throughout the country, yes they're both available," Brown shouted.

As the crowd started to hoot - and a look of extreme annoyance crossed the face of daughter Arianna, and his wife Gail let out a mortified gasp - the future senator did his best to reel in his comment.

"No, no. No. Only kidding, only kidding. Only kidding, only kidding," he said. "Arianna... Arianna's, definitely not available."

"But Ayla is," he added.

Brown, the Senator-Elect and former Cosmo Boy, was also voted "Senator most likely to go 'hiking' on the Appalachian Trail."

Sarah Palin is looking to Brown to be her running mate in 2012.

This may be what happens when you legalize marijuana.

It proves that the once-blue state of New Jersey is not the only place where voters exercise bad judgment.

The election also proves that Dumb-ocrats fail to understand that in order to make policy, you have to be good at politics. Or just sexy.

Obama v Bush - Cheney, Happy New Era

In response to the Christmas Day attempted terror attack, President Obama's actions and former Vice President Cheney's comments highlight the difference between the two administrations: The Obama Administration investigates first. On 12/29/9 President Obama said it was a systemic failure (Christian Science Monitor). On 1/3/10 he said the attack was planned in Yemen (NY Times).

The Bush / Cheney Administration shoots first, ask questions later. In response to the Christmas Day attempted terrorist "incident" the former VP attacked the President and the Administration, but oddly enough did not condemn the attack itself (Politico)

I think Obama should send Cheney to Guantanamo as a special investigator. I don't think he should be sent to Kabul, Baghdad, Gaza, or S. Lebanon - those areas are too volatile, and besides, he already knows all the answers. That's the difference. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, etc believed they knew all the answers, and the answer to every question was either coal, oil, or war. Obama and his team know that these are complex developing systems.

In all seriousness, at first glance Cheney doesn't appear to know what he's talking about. Obama is not talking about closing Guantanamo and setting the incarcerated suspected terrorists free, he is talking about closing Guantanamo and putting the suspects in jail until they are tried in a court of law. (Politico).

Cheney bears an uncanny resemblance to the character of Senator Bob Rumson, played by Richard Dreyfuss, in "The American President," (IMDB)

the 1995 film by Rob Reiner (IMDB) starring Michael Douglas as President Andrew Shepherd, Annette Benning, as Sydney Ellen Wade, an environmentalist lobbiest, Dreyfuss, Martin Sheen, Michael J. Fox, etc. In a terrific monologue at the end of the film, President Shepherd says (YouTube)

"Being President of this country is entirely about character.

"For the record: yes, I am a card-carrying member of the ACLU. ... This is an organization whose sole purpose is to defend the Bill of Rights, so it naturally begs the question: Why would a Senator, his party's most powerful spokesman and a candidate for President, choose to reject upholding the Constitution?...

"You want free speech? Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who's standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours. You want to claim this land as the land of the free? Then the symbol of your country can't just be a flag; the symbol also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest. Show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms. Then, you can stand up and sing about the "land of the free".

"I've known Bob Rumson for years, and I've been operating under the assumption that the reason Bob devotes so much time and energy to shouting at the rain was that he simply didn't get it. Well, I was wrong. Bob's problem isn't that he doesn't get it. Bob's problem is that he can't sell it! We have serious problems to solve, and we need serious people to solve them. And whatever your particular problem is, I promise you, Bob Rumson is not the least bit interested in solving it. He is interested in two things and two things only:

• Making you afraid of it and
• Telling you who's to blame for it.

"That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you win elections.

"You gather a group of middle-aged, middle-class, middle-income voters who remember with longing an easier time, and you talk to them about family and American values and character. And wave an old photo of the President's girlfriend and you scream about patriotism and you tell them, she's to blame for their lot in life, and you go on television and you call her a whore."

Corzine v Christie

Gov. Jon Corzine supports families like mine and citizens like me, Bush's former Prosecutor Chris Christie supports the Insurance Companies, which act like families like Don Vito Corleone's. As President Obama, Vice President Biden, and former-President Clinton highlighted last week, those differences could not be more clear:

Corzine: Expanding Health Insurance Jon Corzine expanded health coverage for over 100,000 more kids and signed legislation to require insurance companies to cover autism screenings.	Christie Sides With Insurers Chris Christie would give insurance companies free rein to drop coverage for critical procedures like mammograms and autism screenings and would give them $100 million in tax breaks.
Corzine is Protecting Paid Family Leave Jon Corzine is one of a handful of governors to pass paid family leave that lets people care for newborn babies or sick relatives while still getting paid.	Christie Isn't Standing with NJ Families Chris Christie opposes paid family leave, and would allow hospitals to discharge new mothers less than 24 hours after they've given birth.
Corzine Defends The Right To Choose Jon Corzine strongly supports a woman’s right to choose.	Christie is Anti-Choice Chris Christie supports a constitutional amendment to ban abortion.
Corzine Has Provided Historic Tax Relief Jon Corzine has provided more property tax relief than any other Governor in New Jersey history.	Christie's $2 Billion In New Taxes Chris Christie said he would side with right wing governors and reject $5 billion in federal stimulus funds, including money for education, which would lead to a direct $2 billion increase in property taxes.
Corzine Supports Responsible Gun Laws Jon Corzine fought for a one handgun per month law.	Christie Is Backed By The Gun Lobby Chris Christie is backed by the gun lobby and even opposes banning guns that fire bullets to pierce a cop’s bulletproof vest.
Corzine Has Made Education A Priority Although he cut state spending, Jon Corzine increased funding for New Jersey schools by $1.8 billion and expanded pre-K education.	Christie Thinks It's "Babysitting" Chris Christie calls early childhood education "babysitting" and his rejection of federal stimulus funds would have undercut the real progress we've made in educating our kids.
Corzine Stands With President Obama Jon Corzine is endorsed by President Barack Obama, and is in step with our President's vision for our country. Together, they will work to lead our state and our country out of this global recession.	Christie Stands With President Bush Chris Christie would side with other right-wing governors to obstruct Barack Obama's agenda and would have rejected federal stimulus funds, driving up our property taxes by over $2 billion.

Corruption in Politics

There are corrupt politicians in both parties.

When a corrupt Democrat abuses power a lot of people benefit, and a few people Really benefit. When a corrupt Republican abuses power, A few people really benefit, and a select few REALLY REALLY benefit.

Consider Clinton and Bush. The worst thing Clinton did was he didn't pass a single payer / Medicare law and create a universal health care system. The worst thing he is known for is “hooking up” with a young woman to whom he was not married. The worst things Bush did were destroy the economy, invade Iraq, mire us in Afghanistan, ram the Patriot Act thru Congress, ignore the FISA law on wiretaps, suspend habeus corpus, outsource the military to his friends, botch the emergency response to Katrina and Rita – those things are so much worse than an inappropriate relationship between consenting adults, even tho one had significant power over the other.

One difference is scale. Clinton's affair with Lewinsky should have been a private matter; it should not be a public matter. It did not, or should not have effected policy. Every one of Bush's failings is a policy failure that profoundly diminshed the strength, health and well-being of the United States and many citizens.

Love them or hate them, they is The President

Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush. Love them or hate them, they were The President, as Obama is today.

Tannersville, Pennsylvania is a small town of a few hundred people, the heart of "Real" America, and I was in the home of some real Americans.

• Carol, a beautiful young college student and athlete,
• Daniel, her father, a former athlete, originally from Moscow, USSR,
• Elizabeth, her mother, a physician, originally from Brooklyn, New York.

They are real salt of the earth Americans. Daniel had trouble getting established in the U. S. until he retrained as a therapist. Elizabeth's biggest challenge was figuring out what to do. She didn't want to be a teacher, like her mother. She studied accounting, like her father, then she went to medical school, like her brother. She really wants to write children's books.

I was at a funeral for Francine, Carol's grandmother, Daniel's mother-in-law, and Elizabeth's mom.

Alice, another friend of the family, was there with her husband Bob, a former Navy "swab," currently a Merchant Marine. Bob loves the sea. He sailed all over the world. He hates President Clinton. So does Alice. I'm not sure who hates him more, but the hate is palpable. I didn't ask how they feel about Obama.

President Clinton has been out of office for close to 9 years, but it looks to me like the nature of the Presidential gig is such that people either love them or hate them, forever. President Reagan left office almost 21 years ago, and people still either love him or hate him. (Personally, I don't regard him as a good President, but no longer regard him as "the worst in my lifetime." It's not that he looks better, but that the bar got lower.) Ditto for Nixon, who was elected in '68, inaugurated in '69, and who resigned in in disgrace in August, '74.

Obama is finding out about the love-hate nature of the gig. A South Carolinian named Joe Wilson seems likely to fall into the "hate him forever" category. In Eastern Pennsylvania, you are probably more likely to find people who hate Clinton than love him, but love or hate, you expect Americans to know when he was elected, inaugurated, and President.

And that's what I'm writing about. What is really strange is that Bob and Alice swear that Bill Clinton was President during "Operation Desert Storm" and when Bob was discharged from the Navy in 1991. We all know that Clinton was elected in November, 1992, and inaugurated in January, 1993, and serverd until George W. Bush was inaugurated in January, '01. George H. W. Bush, being elected in '88, inaugurated in '89, and serving until Clinton was inaugurated in '93, was President throughout 1991.

GHW Bush is famous for two things:

1. "Operation Desert Storm" and
2. Raising Taxes to pay for infrastructure.

It seems that Bob and Alice don't know when Clinton was President, who was President during "Desert Storm," when Bob was discharged, or who who was President at that time.

I don't know Bob and Alice well and frankly, I don't want to get to know them. I tried to explain to them, calmly, that Clinton was elected in '92 and inaugurated in "93. These are non-controversial historical facts. Whether you love and hate Clinton, whether you argue over whether he was a good or bad President, the dates of his election, Inauguration, and transfer of power are non-controversial. You won't find Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly or one of those other right-wing pundit/comic/entertainers arguing over when Clinton was elected or inaugurated. It's like arguing over whether the color of the sky or the location of the Empire State Building or the Golden Gate Bridge.

I rarely step back from a discussion. But I refused to engage Alice and Bob. I am not interested in a shouting match with people who display a basic incapacity to understand the color of the sky or the location of a bridge. As Kenny Rogers once said, we have to "know when to hold em, and know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away, and know when to run." This was a time to walk away, slowly. I don't know if they were out of aces; they might have had four of them, and they might have been all clubs; they sure were not playing with a full deck.

Has FOX News Gone Too Far?

• 6/30/09 Glenn Beck agrees with a guest who urged bin Laden to attack U.S. with nuclear weapons.
• 7/25/09 Neil Cavuto and a guest say health care reform will impose universal euthanasia like "Soylent Green."
• 7/28/09 Glenn Beck says "The President has exposed himself as a guy ... who has a deep-seated hatred for white people ... or the white culture... This man is a racist."
• 8/6/09 Glenn Beck "jokes" about giving Speaker Pelosi a glass of wine with poison.
  Has FOX News gone too far?

I'm an American and a patriot.

Whether or not you voted for, agree with, or like Barack Obama or Nancy Pelosi, he is the President and she is the Speaker of the House. Calling for her murder, spreading lies and propaganda about proposed health care policy to scare people, and calling for nuclear terrorist attack on this country are unacceptable. These statements are akin to shouting "fire" in a crowded theater. Fox's FCC licenses should be revoked. The network should be thrown off the air. Beck, Cavuto, their guests, producers, writers, and the Fox "News" executives responsible for these shows should be sent to Guantanamo, tried for advocating and inciting terrorism, and if guilty, punished to the full extent of the law. Ditto for Rush Limbaugh, his writers, producers, and those responsible for his "hate media."

Tell FOX News advertisers to cancel their ads

Here's a list of Fox News Advertisers / Enablers, (as of 8/31/09)
Accu-Chek / Roche
BuyWaterJet.com
CancerCenter.com
Carbonite.com
Cash4Gold.com
Cooney & Conway
Dannon.com
DiscoverEasyWater.com
EmpireToday.com
EncoreDental.com
ExploreHumana.com
GoToMeeting.com
Johnson Law Group / Contact Us
LearCapital.com
LibertyMedical.com
Merit Financial
NecklineSlimmer.com
OxiClean
Pearle Vision
PulaskiLawFirm.com
Rosland Capital
ServPro.com
SmartBalance
TDAmeritrade
The Villages
VeteranMeso.com
Video Professor
ZeroWater.com

Michael Brown Consulting on Disaster Planning

This is not satire. Former FEMA Director Michael "Heck of a Job, Brownie" Brown joins Cold Creek Solutions, as a Disaster and Contingency Planning Consultant.

This is from a press release I was e-mailed:

Former FEMA Director Michael Brown Joins Cold Creek Solutions, Offers Consulting Practice for Disaster Recovery

CENTENNIAL, CO - While leading federal relief efforts for 160 presidential declared disasters in his roles at FEMA and Homeland Security, Michael Brown heard one cringe-worthy phrase repeated again and again.

"People always say, 'I never thought it would happen to me,'" said Brown. "I would maintain that anyone who has a business, or a family, needs to recognize that disasters happen and disrupt life. Businesses especially need to plan for the worst."

"Michael Brown intimately understands planning and how plans need to be adaptable and changeable," said Paul Schwappach, principal of Cold Creek Solutions, a technology planning firm focusing on data management. "With Michael's experience and his unique view into what possibly could go wrong when looking at a plan, we can truly help clients be prepared for the unexpected."

It goes on (and on and on). It's actually pretty funny.

Brown, the former undersecretary of Homeland Security, was one of the longest-serving directors of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He led federal relief efforts for disasters including the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in 2001, the Columbia Space Shuttle Disaster and California wildfire season in 2003, and the unprecedented 2004-2005 hurricane seasons. Brown also directed the nation's response to numerous foreign disasters and terrorist attacks.

Brown and Cold Creek will work to provide clients disaster recovery and business continuity solutions rooted in a perspective that can't be found elsewhere.

There's even more ....

Maybe he learned something, but Michael Brown is just about the last person I would want advising me on disaster contingency planning. At the risk of being accused of shamelessly hawking my own intellectual property - you can hear my thoughts on We Had The Will, We Found The Way, at cdbaby.com. The song asks:

How the hell did we go from Lincoln, FDR, and John Kennedy to Bush and Cheney?
How did we go from the New Deal to Iraq and Katrina?