Tuesday, April 14, 2015
ELIZABETH WARREN IS NOT RUNNING BUT...
Although Elizabeth Warren isn't running for President??? she is having a lot to say about what the next Prez should look like. She believes that Washington works well for the lobbyists and their benefactors but not for middle America. She would like to lower the interest rates on student loans and shore up Social Security, and she's still not saying NO to running, rather, she still wants to see who is getting in the race. I have posted on Elizabeth Warren's Progressive credentials before but there will be a need for those liberal followers out there who are not currently voting to get off their duffs in 2016 for her to win. Nate Silver has said Hillary is a sure bet for the nomination but that was then and who knows what's around the corner.
KANSAS DUPLICATES ARIZONA STUPID GUN LAWS
First Kansas Republican Gov. Sam Brownback gutted the state's education system with almost "$45 million in funding for public schools and higher education in his state by March." Now he has just signed a bill into law that "allows Kansas residents over the age of 21 to carry concealed weapons without any permit or training requirements." Do you realize what that means? If I have no criminal record, I can go buy a gun in Kansas that cannot be traced, and walk around the streets with it in my pocket, without the slightest idea of how to use it. In Iowa I could do it if I'm blind. In Arizona I could take it into a bar. ALL LEGAL. Is anyone ever going to realize just how farcical these laws are?
Monday, April 13, 2015
JOHN MCCAIN SECONDED BY LINDSEY GRAHAM UNDERMINES U.S. GOVERNMENT
John McCain and his bootlicker Lindsey Graham have
been on a crusade to wreck just about anything Pres. Obama wants to do. The
famous flip flopper on immigration is now siding
with Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei on the Iran nuclear deal and
effectively calling John Kerry a liar in what he presented as a prospective
deal. Lindsey Graham says "Go John, Go John." McCain said, “I
think you’re going to find out that they had never agreed to the things that
John Kerry claimed that they had.” It's time for John McCain to go home to
Phoenix and play with his wife's empty beer bottles. As far as Lindsey Graham
is concerned, I guess he'll have to call John for direction.
RAND PAUL BLACKBALLED FROM 2015 NRA CONVENTION
APPARENTLY NOT. Poor baby was not invited to Wacky Wayne LaPierre's party at his National Rifle Assn. affair last weekend held in Nashville. Rand Paul and his staff claim it is due to his ties to the National Association for Gun Rights. I don't know which organization is worse. Others were left out like Lindsey Graham and Mike Huckabee but after some sucking up to the NRA, they were invited. It is pathetic when a U.S. Senator and former Governor have to kiss WW's ass to get an invite to his movable feast. However, Paul's snub is not because he isn't a firm believer in the 2nd Amendment. He is. But the gun control advocates have recently announced to new approach to their goals. Where Republican Governors and state legislatures control many states, thus, loose gun laws, the new efforts are aimed at state ballot measures. Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is bankrolling the movement. Watch for a ballot in your state.
DOES HILLARY CLINTON HAVE TO BE MORE PROGRESSIVE FOR 2016?
Hillary Clinton says, well, maybe just that much. Whether or not she decides to move further left, that bunch of loafing Progressives out there who have not been voting had better step up to the plate in 2016 and bring home the White House to Democrats again. Aljazeera America has chastised this voting group for its propensity for staying away from the polls if it doesn't get the exact candidate it wants. This is about as immature as it gets when you consider the results of losing this vote. We now have a Republican-controlled Congress. If you people in this category can look at the shenanigans of a John Boehner and Mitch Mitchell and not start getting in line for the 2016 voting polls right now I guess you never will. Don't know whether it's laziness, or whether it rained that day, maybe you were hungover or some other stupid excuse. How is it that the GOP can rally its people to turn out, conservative to moderate, but Progressives just stay home. If you can't understand what you're doing to this country, you have failed as a liberal.
Sunday, April 12, 2015
HILLARY CLINTON DECIDES AND TOP POLLSTER SAYS SHE'S IN
Nate Silver, founder of the website 538 Politics, has taken his place among the political analysts of today due to his methods in computer modeling and the aggregation of polling results. His results stem from the fact that with all the crunching of numbers including demographics, he has a feel for the political scene. So with Hillary Clinton's announcement today that she is running for President, Silver believes she is "likely to win the nomination." She has 27 Democratic Senators endorsing her campaign, far more than any party nominee back to Ronald Reagan. He seals it with the fact these endorsements are coming from the left, center and right of the Democratic caucus. Solid support. Factors for the general election: (1 Obama's popularity when he exits, it is average now: (2 The economy, it's good for now; (3 "The Electoral College And The 'Emerging Democratic Majority,'” and the demographic trends that favor the party. If you're passionate about 2016 I suggest you start following 538 Politics now.
TED CRUZ 2ND AMENDMENT FUNDAMENTALS STEEPED IN OBSOLETE IDEOLOGY
The 2nd Amendment is a divisive part of the U.S. Constitution that should either be modified drastically or repealed. The National Rifle Assn. is in the last day of its 2015 convention in Nashville, TN, and their 70,000 members are there for just the opposite reason; to preserve its sanctity. At least in their eyes. Ted Cruz is trying to help but, as usual, he put his foot in his mouth again. For years opponents of the ritualistic interpretation of the 2nd Amendment by gun nuts have argued, this is not what those guys meant on that day, December 15, 1791. That was then. This is now. Things have changed. Wake up and enjoy modern times. But Cruz elected to dredge up former Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story who did support the 2nd with the enthusiasm of someone proud of his country at a time when vigilance was needed. But that was sometime between 1811 and 1845, hardly a contemporary view of our needs of today. And therein lies the problem of the gun rights movement. Their view of the 2nd Amendment is antiquated and until that changes the shootings and killings will continue.
Saturday, April 11, 2015
NRA RUNNING SCARED OF HILLARY CLINTON
An unnerved National Rifle Assn. opened its 2015 convention in Nashville, TN, yesterday and what was on the agenda? Hillary Clinton bashing by wacky Wayne LaPierre with a generous sprinkling of digs by the GOP Presidential candidates present. The 70,000 attendees, mostly conservative, white, and male, listened to the maniac of munitions rant on why these poor souls in the audience should buy more guns and convince their congressional representative that there should be absolutely no more gun laws that curb guns like assault weapons. Gov. Sam Brownback of Kansas probably received a standing ovation based on his recent law that relinquishes guns to a warm body. I don't know if Hillary has it in her to fight for more reasonable gun laws but I know Elizabeth Warren does.
Friday, April 10, 2015
NRA BEGINS BELCHING THEIR BULLSHIT TODAY
INDIANAPOLIS 2014: It was this anti-gun demonstration that marred the spewing of gun propaganda by the National Rifle Assn. head, Wacky Wayne LaPierre in its last convention in Indianapolis in 2014. WW and his flock embark on the 2015 version today in Nashville, TN, and are connecting with country music. First of all, I don't like country music but most of all I detest the NRA. In an obvious pro-gun piece in the Nashville Business Journal, the writer makes an interesting comment that the mostly male attendees were primarily target shooters. If this is the case the attendees won't include the gun nuts I regularly hear from in this blog with comments like, " WHO YOU GOING TO CALL WHEN THE SCUMS COME FOR YOU AND YOUR LIFE IS ON THE LINE..." No, I imagine the folks in Nashville this weekend are more like the 75% level headed members of the NRA that believe there should be universal background checks. My double-digit gun nuts probably couldn't afford the trip anyway.
Unfortunately Wacky Wayne LaPierre will pay no attention to this huge majority of membership and continue to espouse unreasonable gun rights for more guns everywhere for people who aren't trained to use them.
AN INFORMED VOTER DOES NOT VOTE REPUBLICAN
Because there is no opposition from Progressives, like...voting.
Thursday, April 9, 2015
ARIZONA-WHERE STUPID LAWS ARE BORN
APRIL 2014-PHOENIX, ARIZONA: A demented state legislature has just passed a new bill that would ban the passing of any future legislation banning plastic bags. Slate says it is in the bidding for worst state of the week, a place Arizona has enjoyed repeatedly in the past, especially when Jan Brewer was governor. State Sen. Nancy Barto proposed the bill that now waits for Gov. Ducey to sign. Barto is the fruitcake that recently pushed through another piece of mind-boggling legislation making it a law for Arizona doctors to tell women getting an abortion that it is reversible. The medical community says this is not only impossible but could be dangerous.
The meeting of the Arizona legislature reminds me of that movie from 1948, The Snake Pit, covering a woman's life during her stay in a mental institution.
The meeting of the Arizona legislature reminds me of that movie from 1948, The Snake Pit, covering a woman's life during her stay in a mental institution.
AN ANGRY GUN NUT COULD LIVE NEXT DOOR TO YOU
There are around 300 million guns in the U.S. That's 90 per 100 residents, which comes out to 2.4 per household. You'd think we were preparing for a war. What is even more shocking is that 4.8 million of those households, approximately 5%, have someone living in them who is pissed off at the world and they have a gun or guns. They aren't all gun nuts and you can read the definition of this bonehead here. When you boil it down to figures like this it makes the statement, 'There are too many guns in America' believable. Even wacky Wayne LaPierre should be able to understand hard facts like this. But he doesn't. This weekend, WW will be in Nashville at the NRA convention telling all his gun nut minions that no matter what, they have to run out now and buy more guns.
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
STARTLING FACTS THAT SHOULD SHAME PROGRESSIVES
The Pew Research Center has found that 39% of Americans consider themselves Independent voters, having left the two major parties in frustration. I am one of them. But the balance is aligned as follows: Democrats 32%; Republicans 23%. But around 90% of Independents do lean either left or right. Of these leaners 48% are Democrats, 39% are Republicans. Among the registered voters of this group, 48% are Democratic, 43% Republican. So how have we lost so many elections to the GOP recently? Because you Progressives are sitting on your butts and not voting.
BELIEVE IT OR NOT-ARIZONA A PROGRESSIVE STATE?
George W.P. Hunt, the first governor of Arizona, tried to get the state off to a good start. He was an arch Progressive and David Berman is attempting to capture his avant-garde politics in his book, "George Hunt: Arizona's Crusading Seven-Term Governor." If Hunt were alive today, Berman thinks he would be impressed with development but would scream over the political situation. Yes, it's hard today to look at or listen to any Republican politician in Arizona without howling over their absurd ideas and antics. Hunt believed, "...government can make life a little fairer for more people." "...believed in supporting public education." "Much of his views are grounded in his hatred of poverty. He saw class bias..."
In fact, he was for everything the current Gov. Doug Ducey is against.
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
LIBERALS NEED TO WAKE UP AND DO THE RIGHT THING-3
Alterman asks, "Why do such smart guys say such stupid things?" He traces the answer back to the source of power in this country. The Koch Bros. who plan to spend $900 million on the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson who gave $150 million to the GOP in 2012. Rupert Murdoch with his networks and newspapers spreads malicious rumors like Barack Obama is a secret Muslim and undocumented alien who hates white people. Eric Alterman says in his The Nation article that conservatives don't even bother to offer ideas rather, "...they’re making calculated attempts to undermine our democracy, exploiting and manipulating a public that has decreasing resources for the kind of reliable information that would lead to a pragmatic 'liberal' response."
If this doesn't piss you Progressives off, nothing will, and if not we will go through 2016 just like past elections skipping the vote.
ARIZONA-WHERE STUPID LAWS ARE BORN
First, Gov. Doug Ducey proposed cutting Arizona education budgets to fund private prisons. Then Dr. Gov. Ducey declares his medical credentials in the passage of Senate Bill 1318, termed "voodoo" medicine, "ordering that henceforth doctors must tell women that drug-induced abortions might be reversible." Not possible scientifically and the first state in the nation to do this reports Laurie Roberts in the AZ Republic. He's joined by Arizona radical, Cathi Herrod, of the Center for Arizona Policy, another home-grown bunch of fanatics. A couple of doctors here in the state who are experts in the field of abortions say it's not only bad but it could be dangerous.
If you hang around long enough I'll have more of these gems for you. Thought we had rid the state of crackpots like former governor Jan Brewer but apparently Ducey has picked up the mantle.
Monday, April 6, 2015
NOTHING HAS CHANGED SINCE THE THE LATE 1800s
It is amazing that someone with the intellect of Mark Twain could make a statement like this using one of my favorite words for many politicians, especially Republicans. In the late 1800s, when the writer would have likely said this, Republicans were in control of the U.S. Congress. I bring this up since President Obama will soon be asking Congress to cooperate in the outcome of the Iran nuclear talks. Will they forget their stupid ideology and at least negotiate or follow Mark Twain's supposition?
TEA PARTY ACHIEVES PERPETUAL FUNDRAISING
And give your money to the Tea Party
I have a theory about the Tea Party. The people who write the emails that deliver the regular editions of the TP newsletter are professional copywriters from the junk mail industry. Nothing wrong with that except their fundraising is in perpetual motion and mirrors a situation I used to abhor when I worked in junk mail as a data broker. The philanthropic organizations would thrive over their command of little old ladies out there who might be eating pet food but still gave their $2.00 to the organization of their choice. I had one guy tell me that some of these donors would give their last dollar to his cause and may go without any food at all. Someone commented to me recently that the TPers really didn't know they were being used. In TP email after email there is the term, "We desperately need you." Sounds to me like their greed already has you.
I have a theory about the Tea Party. The people who write the emails that deliver the regular editions of the TP newsletter are professional copywriters from the junk mail industry. Nothing wrong with that except their fundraising is in perpetual motion and mirrors a situation I used to abhor when I worked in junk mail as a data broker. The philanthropic organizations would thrive over their command of little old ladies out there who might be eating pet food but still gave their $2.00 to the organization of their choice. I had one guy tell me that some of these donors would give their last dollar to his cause and may go without any food at all. Someone commented to me recently that the TPers really didn't know they were being used. In TP email after email there is the term, "We desperately need you." Sounds to me like their greed already has you.
Friday, April 3, 2015
LIBERALS NEED TO WAKE UP AND DO THE RIGHT THING-CONTINUED
In his book, The Liberal Imagination, Lionel Trilling carped that there were “no conservative or reactionary ideas in general circulation.” Then along came right-wing intellectuals like Milton Friedman, James Q. Wilson, Alan Bloom and Gertrude Himmelfarb that liberals had to contend with for a while. But not for long. Anything representing intellectualism by the GOP went down the tubes with the advent of Karl Rove and the George W. Bush administration. It was basically replaced with "HATE." Something that has served Republicans well with the inauguration of Barack Obama for President. In The Nation, Trilling points out that today no intellectual equals exist with George Will saying, "that rape victims enjoy their 'privileges,' that Ebola can be spread through the air, and that global warming is a hoax." Trilling adds that, "Conservative 'wise man' Bill Kristol has achieved this status by proving himself, time and again, to be the worst predictor in the history of the punditocracy."
With this ammunition, Progressives can be passionate over keeping the White House in 2016 as well as retaking Congress.
More later.
SHOULD YOU ALLOW YOUR CHILD IN A HOME WITH GUNS?
A woman recently wrote a gossip columnist that the mother of one of her son's friends refused to let her child come to their house because there were guns there. The first mom quickly contacted the other mom to explain how perfectly secure the guns were in her house to alleviate the concern. It may have satisfied the distressed mom but it wouldn't satisfy me. Here's why. According to the Gun Violence Archive, 666 children age 17 and under have died or been injured by gun violence since the start of 2015. New Yorkers against Gun Violence reports that 2,694 children die from gun violence every year. Healthday News says gunshot wounds send around 20 kids to the hospital every day in the U.S. Our subject mom may very well be locking up her guns but someone isn't.
Thursday, April 2, 2015
KOCH BROTHERS ALLIES/BIG DONORS POUT OVER THEIR IMAGE
The Koch Brothers and their minions of moneybags are taking heat, so supporters, like USA Today, are trying to clean up their image by saying things like, "The American Dream is simply too far out of reach for far too many people." Now who the hell do they think made it unreachable? The administration of George W. Bush squandered this "Dream" started with Bill Clinton during his presidency, saying as late as June of 2014, the middle class is the key to ending poverty. Keep the middle class healthy and it will pull up the country. All the Koch Brothers and their followers are interested in is to build wealth in the upper 1% of incomes and to hell with the rest.
LIBERALS NEED TO WAKE UP AND DO THE RIGHT THING
In a recent article in The Nation, Eric Alterman is putting out a "Wake Up Call for Us Liberals." He starts by citing the dinner Barack Obama had with arch conservatives like George Will, William Kristol and others. It was a misplaced confidence the newly elected President had that the extreme right could temper its ideologies and work with the left. No such luck. Alterman explains why defining the differences in beliefs: "The primary difference between liberalism and conservatism, at least in theory, is that the latter is an ideology and the former isn’t." He continues with an observation from Lionel Trilling, ” Liberalism is a large tendency rather than a concise body of doctrine.” In other words, the Progressive is free to be...progressive. The conservative is narrowly limited by its ideologies. Our political dysfunction has several sources but one of the most important is allowing, "...conservatives to define the terms of debate at a time when conservatives have lost all sense of moral, intellectual and especially practical responsibility."
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
IS HILLARY CLINTON PROGRESSIVE ENOUGH FOR 2016?
The Hill blog has uncovered several emails that find considerable unrest among Progressives over Hillary Clinton's 2016 bid. These are influential voices that represent left-leaning liberals that feel they are not being heard. Activists, strategists and journalists, The Hill says the group includes prominent Democrats, Sierra Club officials, journalists who work for The Huffington Post and The Nation magazine, senior union representatives, leaders at the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and the president of NARAL. The frustration says she is, "too much of a hawk, too cozy with Wall Street, hasn’t spoken out enough on climate change, and will be subject to personal questions and criticisms, members of the group stated in the emails." The piece says she has ducked issues like the Keystone Pipeline and I would add to that gun control. When you look at Elizabeth Warren on all these issues, the Progressives find agreement.
PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE TED CRUZ'S POLITICAL PLATFORM
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
TED CRUZ LIKE BARRY GOLDWATER...NOT
You can imagine my astonishment when an Arizona newspaper journalist compared Ted Cruz with Barry Goldwater. Now I am a strict left side Progressive but I have tons of respect for Goldwater's style of politics, as well as the man himself. I was even there for his book signing of "Conscience of a Conservative" in Phoenix. And then I read on, it has to do with Goldwater's "crash and burn" presidential bid in 1964. Don't think the writer was portending exactly the same for Cruz but the likeness fits for me. A huge exception with Ted Cruz is Goldwater's hostility toward the religious right. There's more but in the context of this article, the whole thing sounds farcical.
FANATICISM IS INHERENT IN REPUBLICAN GENES
In his blog Robert Reich said, "The Only Way Left to Beat Republican Fanatics: Call Their Bluff and Go Over the Cliff." That was in 2012 when John Boehner couldn't convince the very right House Republicans to raise taxes even on millionaires. He added, "...that fits the fanatic's strategy exactly." In 2013, when Sen. (now Presidential candidate) Ted Cruz was instrumental in literally shutting down the government, one of his fellow Republican Senators in a meeting among several more Senators, including Cruz, said, “It was very evident to everyone in the room that Cruz doesn’t have a strategy – he never had a strategy, and could never answer a question about what the end-game was.” Yet the man still wants to be president.
Monday, March 30, 2015
WHY ARE PROGRESSIVES NON-VOTERS?
A 2007 Study found that non-voters are more economically liberal, preferring Barack over Mitt Romney 59% to 24%. Marginal voters, those affected by weather or election timing, are liberal. Among the 34 million registered to vote in 2010 midterms, 63.1% were Democrats. Liberals do benefit from high voter turnout, which can also be volatile. So, from this should we assume that liberals are lazy couch potatoes afraid of the rain who vote only when they see a crowd collecting at the polls?
MURDER IS MURDER-ABORTION IS...?
a
In Exodus, the Bible does say that
if you do harm to a woman's baby, “then you shall pay life for life." On
the other hand, 70% of the U.S. favors abortions, with many feeling that
women's rights today are threatened by ideological extremists in the U.S.
Senate. Pro-choice
reports that "42% of women who obtain an abortion live below
the poverty line. Twenty-seven percent are more than 100% below the poverty
line." What about cases of rape, incest or the mother's health? It's reported
that the latter three account for just 5% of abortions. But if 95% are purely
for birth control...???
Friday, March 27, 2015
NRA USES HIGHER LEARNING TO SELL DEATH
If the NRA and its wacky leader, Wayne LaPierre, have anything to do with it, your kids will be packing heat in the college of their choice. The NRA is currently shoving legislation through in 16 states for this purpose, allowing guns to be carried on campuses. All this while college presidents, students and police chiefs oppose such legislation.
GOV MIKE PENCE SIGNS LAW AGAINST LGBT
Actor George Takei, who is gay, warns Gov. Mike Pence after signing Indiana law that will allow merchants in that state to deny service to the LGBT community. At the same time the NCAA shows concern over the legislation it feels could affect the men's basketball Final Four being played next week. There is also worry it will have an effect on Indiana tourism. As did Arizona for its law on immigration, Indiana deserves whatever it gets.
Thursday, March 26, 2015
CAN ELIZABETH WARREN WIN?
It seems there are a lot of people clamoring for Elizabeth Warren to run, including the Boston Globe. But is she as electable as Hillary Clinton? You decide: Warren supports Israel and sanctions for Iran. Says terrorism is U.S. #1 responsibility. On abortion she is pro-choice. Warren supports passage of DREAM ACT and comprehensive immigration reform. She supports ban on assault rifles and long magazines, as well as universal background checks, including gun show purchases. Warren supports Obamacare and same sex marriage. That should get you started with more information here. |
GLENN BECK AND KARL ROVE BUMP DUMBHEADS
According to the Tea Party newsletter, Glenn Beck retorted, "“You guys [apparently KR conservatives] have the spine of a worm, the ethics of whores, and the integrity of pirates. My apologies,” he added, “to worms, whores and pirates.” I don't think any Progressive could have said it better.
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
A CASE FOR BANNING GUNS ALTOGETHER
Sorry, but the ghastly illustration is necessary to demonstrate that there are almost twice as many firearms suicides per year than homicides; 20,000 to 11,000. Here's my point, "The presence of a firearm in the home increases the likelihood of suicide by 300%, while the likelihood is even greater if the firearm is loaded and unlocked," according to Yale School of Medicine researcher, Kimberly Younkers. If we persist in refusing to do anything about our mental health problem in this country, and we continue to lose 55 people per day to suicides because they can't get the help they need and turn to their gun as a last resort, maybe the only answer is to ban guns. Think about it! |
WHERE ARE THE PROGRESSIVES?
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
EARTH NEEDS HELP FROM THIS LUNATIC!
FACE UP - RACISM IS REAL
Monday, March 23, 2015
DEFINITION OF A GUN NUT
NEW YORK GUN SHOP VIDEO PROMOTES GUN CONTROL
People came in to buy a gun and left disgusted with gun violence.
Friday, November 21, 2014
GOP "PARTY OF STUPID" BY ONE OF ITS OWN
I knew Richard (never call him Dick) Viguerie years ago when I was in the junk mail business. He was a simple broker of mailing lists consisting of conservative donors to various causes over the years. One of his employees told me once that Viguerie had exclaimed early-on that he had found a political hotbed of data that would someday help sway history. He was right. Using his names to fight what he considered the mainstream media then, Republicans were able to reach individuals that supported conservative causes and win elections. In my early days of junk mail, fund raising, as it was called then, was looked on as a step child and Viguerie was just another philanthropic data broker trying to make a living.
Richard began to put all those right-wing mailing lists together in a database that grew gradually in the beginning and then, once the GOP discovered the gold mine that Viguerie was creating, got on the band wagon while at the same time making the man very rich. Viguerie was one of the earliest in junk mail to discover just how valuable personal data could be in targeting the right household. Things like age, income, job description, where you lived as only a few. By using several of these selection factors, you could determine how much a person would give, when was the best time to reach them and how many times you could come back asking for more money.
But now he is taking on the mainstream Republican Party similar to how the Tea Party has reacted to House Speaker John Boehner and his gang of misfits. He claims their Presidential strategy is "insanity" and calls the GOP "the Party of Stupid." Rave on Richard and take the Grand Old Party down with you in 2016. Hey, 2014 was not a win for Republicans, rather a vote for change when no other choice was available. And Mr. Viguerie, who do you think Fox News supports, liberals? No matter that a majority of what they spew out is without fact, they are a huge voice in the media world. Did you forget them?
The conservative guru whines over Jim Lehrer's handling of the 2012 Presidential debates as if Mitt Romney would have been a debating challenger for Barack Obama under any circumstances. Viguerie has a new book out I will not help promote, thus, this new found publicity. It is noteworthy that a big promoter of the book is Jenny Beth Martin, co-founder and president of Tea Party Patriots. Now that does it for me and the millions of progressive thinking Americans who want this kind of political garbage placed in the landfill. With a brief spurt of fame Richard (not Dick) Viguerie will go back to fund raising obscurity.
Richard began to put all those right-wing mailing lists together in a database that grew gradually in the beginning and then, once the GOP discovered the gold mine that Viguerie was creating, got on the band wagon while at the same time making the man very rich. Viguerie was one of the earliest in junk mail to discover just how valuable personal data could be in targeting the right household. Things like age, income, job description, where you lived as only a few. By using several of these selection factors, you could determine how much a person would give, when was the best time to reach them and how many times you could come back asking for more money.
But now he is taking on the mainstream Republican Party similar to how the Tea Party has reacted to House Speaker John Boehner and his gang of misfits. He claims their Presidential strategy is "insanity" and calls the GOP "the Party of Stupid." Rave on Richard and take the Grand Old Party down with you in 2016. Hey, 2014 was not a win for Republicans, rather a vote for change when no other choice was available. And Mr. Viguerie, who do you think Fox News supports, liberals? No matter that a majority of what they spew out is without fact, they are a huge voice in the media world. Did you forget them?
The conservative guru whines over Jim Lehrer's handling of the 2012 Presidential debates as if Mitt Romney would have been a debating challenger for Barack Obama under any circumstances. Viguerie has a new book out I will not help promote, thus, this new found publicity. It is noteworthy that a big promoter of the book is Jenny Beth Martin, co-founder and president of Tea Party Patriots. Now that does it for me and the millions of progressive thinking Americans who want this kind of political garbage placed in the landfill. With a brief spurt of fame Richard (not Dick) Viguerie will go back to fund raising obscurity.
GUN CONTROL BUILT INTO 2ND AMENDMENT
Adam Winkler is a Constitutional Law Professor at U.C.L.A. and author of the book "Gunfight." He is an expert on the legality of gun rights and I have corresponded with him regularly on this subject. I asked him two questions recently: 1) Is there any constitutional law validity in the premise that based on the many revisions of the 1st Amendment, that the same could apply to the 2nd Amendment? I refer you to Barry Lyga's "Second Amendment Loopholes." 2) Do you see any loopholes in the 2nd Amendment that people like the Brady Organization or CSGV, or the individual American could pursue legally? His answer was not a direct response to the questions but more pointed to the issue of gun control.
First, he says he "wouldn't call them loopholes, but the Second Amendment does include space for legitimate gun control." I used the term "loophole" for its obvious meaning, "a means of escape or evasion; a means or opportunity of evading a rule, law, etc." However, Adam's answers are much more directed at the need for gun control. He continues: "There's some reference to gun owners being 'well regulated' in the text itself. Well, it's government that does the regulating. And we know that the founders who wrote the Second Amendment supported gun regulation, including gun bans, gun registration, and safe storage laws." Two direct hits on gun rights so should we call it quits here? No way!
Adam Winkler confirms the legal possibility of gun control with, “More importantly, the scope of the right as it has been shaped over the course of American history permits government significant leeway to regulate the right so long as the right is not nullified or destroyed.”
Seems to me like prohibiting assault rifles, requiring universal background checks and limiting open and concealed carry to only those with a specific need does not nullify or destroy the right of an individual to have a weapon in his or her home for protection as the Supreme Court recently ruled.
With these hard facts and a Constitutional Law Professor like Adam Winkler to back them up, why haven't the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence gone to court?
First, he says he "wouldn't call them loopholes, but the Second Amendment does include space for legitimate gun control." I used the term "loophole" for its obvious meaning, "a means of escape or evasion; a means or opportunity of evading a rule, law, etc." However, Adam's answers are much more directed at the need for gun control. He continues: "There's some reference to gun owners being 'well regulated' in the text itself. Well, it's government that does the regulating. And we know that the founders who wrote the Second Amendment supported gun regulation, including gun bans, gun registration, and safe storage laws." Two direct hits on gun rights so should we call it quits here? No way!
Adam Winkler confirms the legal possibility of gun control with, “More importantly, the scope of the right as it has been shaped over the course of American history permits government significant leeway to regulate the right so long as the right is not nullified or destroyed.”
Seems to me like prohibiting assault rifles, requiring universal background checks and limiting open and concealed carry to only those with a specific need does not nullify or destroy the right of an individual to have a weapon in his or her home for protection as the Supreme Court recently ruled.
With these hard facts and a Constitutional Law Professor like Adam Winkler to back them up, why haven't the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence gone to court?
Wednesday, November 5, 2014
DID YOU VOTE?
Did you vote? Because if you didn't and you are a Democrat, you sure helped cause one hell of a mess! But then, 2016 is just around the corner.
Tuesday, November 4, 2014
VOTE TODAY
If you are of a mind, go to the polls and vote DEMOCRAT! if you aren't of a mind, at least go to the polls and vote!
Monday, November 3, 2014
DEMOCRATS CAN WIN TOMORROW AND HERE'S HOW
YOU HAVE TO VOTE. That's right, you have to get off your duffs and go to the polls tomorrow and vote. That is if you haven't already sent a mail-in ballot. I am a pessimist when it comes to Congress doing the right thing for the country, but whatever happens, the U.S. will be in much better hands with a Democratic Senate. Some surprises in the House would be nice to help put John Boehner in his place. It is beyond me how an American public can make its decisions on who to vote for with all the negative advertising backed by dark money. Of course the more sophisticated voters can see beyond this trash but most of us need some hard facts to decide and we're not getting them. Rome didn't fall in a day but I'll bet there are several similarities here in its decline.
IOWA ALERT - STOP JONI ERNST!!!
DON'T elect Joni Ernst |
Get out and VOTE tomorrow!
Sunday, November 2, 2014
JOE BIDEN COULD SAVE OBAMA'S LAST TWO YEARS
V.P. Joe Biden |
VOTE NOVEMBER 4!
HOW DEMOCRATS WILL WIN BIG ON NOVEMBER 4
Michael Tomansky in the Daily Beast says, "How Can Dems Be Losing to These Idiots?" in an article that expresses amazement that, "They are running against a party that is as intellectually dishonest and bankrupt and just plain old willfully stupid as a political party can possibly be, and they have developed no language for communicating that to voters." I have said it repeatedly in this blog, citing the Tea Party as the leaders of this revolution of idiocy. Tomansky points out the fact of how few ideas the GOP has to make the country better like nothing on the economy, on immigration or healthcare. For months their only campaign was to get rid of Obamacare, until they realized it wasn't working. Even then, a brainless Tea Party didn't give up on the issue.
Why haven't the Democrats gotten this across to voters? My thoughts are that they have been reluctant to come out of the shadows of a party and its electorate that are bulldozed constantly by the Republican fear, hate and negativity onslaught against a President who is different. Play that any way you'd like. From Mitch McConnell's statement he wanted to make Obama a one-term president to John Boehner's support of a Tea Party that outwardly hates Obama. Look back in history and it's tough to find this kind of bitterness toward any other President. Now, the election is only two days away and it's too late to get the ball rolling.
EXCEPT, if the progressives admit just how lax they have been about the whole situation and come out on November 4, in a crush of voting power that not only retains the Senate but takes back, or at least cuts the majority of the House to manageable numbers.
VOTE ON NOVEMBER 4!
Why haven't the Democrats gotten this across to voters? My thoughts are that they have been reluctant to come out of the shadows of a party and its electorate that are bulldozed constantly by the Republican fear, hate and negativity onslaught against a President who is different. Play that any way you'd like. From Mitch McConnell's statement he wanted to make Obama a one-term president to John Boehner's support of a Tea Party that outwardly hates Obama. Look back in history and it's tough to find this kind of bitterness toward any other President. Now, the election is only two days away and it's too late to get the ball rolling.
EXCEPT, if the progressives admit just how lax they have been about the whole situation and come out on November 4, in a crush of voting power that not only retains the Senate but takes back, or at least cuts the majority of the House to manageable numbers.
VOTE ON NOVEMBER 4!
Saturday, November 1, 2014
LGBT STRIKE GOLD WITH TIM COOK
Apple CEO Tim Cook |
Nate Silver in FiveThirtyEight says if the Dems win all the states they're supposed to, and lose four seats in Alaska, Louisiana, Montana and West Virginia, plus picking up Georgia, they would maintain a 51 to 49 seat majority. Should it end up 50/50, there is V.P. Biden for a tie-breaker. Some long shots perhaps but it all comes down to whether a sluggish group of progressives decides to buck past trends and out vote Republicans.
ONE MORE EXAMPLE OF TEA PARTY DECEIT
The Tea Party email headline said, "BREAKING
NEWS! Obama May Have Been
Elected With Illegal Votes…" Further, "Blockbuster study backs claim illegal ballots behind Obama’s 2008 victory." All typical TP bullshit! It concerns a study from Cooperative Congressional Election Study (CCES) that evaluates non-citizens that vote, which, of course, is illegal. The inference from the Teapublicans is that Obama would not have won the 2008 election without the votes of this group. The study says nothing of the sort but does point out just how close some congressional elections might be with these illegals voting. The total in question based on 11 million illegal immigrants in U.S. is 700,000 (6.4%), and even if all had voted for John McCain would not have swung the election to his favor.
Read Jim Geraghty in The Campaign Spot and you'll see how blatant the Tea Party can be with outright lies.
Read Jim Geraghty in The Campaign Spot and you'll see how blatant the Tea Party can be with outright lies.
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