Month: January 2011

2010 Presidential Scorecard

As of noon today, Pres. Obama will begin his 3rd year of his presidency and as usual I will give my score card of his accomplishments as president……

Foreign Policy…..75…..C+

Domestic policy…..85…..B

Bipartisanship…..75…..C+

Leadership…..75…..C+

Keeping Promises…..70…..C

His overall score as president is 75 or a C+….this is higher than originally calculated because of his successes in the Lame Duck session of Congress….In my opinion, so far he is only slightly above average as far as a president goes……these next two years will determine if he will be known for more than being the first Afro-American president…..

Do Women Have Rights?

Of course they do if one is a thinking person….but then NOT everyone is such a person…….

It is Women’s History month and all the hoopla that goes with it….we will see all sorts of programming that targets women and their contributions of the American society….this is a good thing for women are the core to the values that we are told are our desires….family, home and life in general…….

Remember the days when women had to protest to get the right to vote?  Or the days of the women’s movement…the protests, the marches, the speeches, etc…..?  Yes, women have come a long way baby (damn commercial that stays with you) but to some they have come too far and overstepped their place in society…..

Bet you think I am blowing smoke up your ass…right about now……you should really get out more…..there are people, people in high places,  that feel that women are NOT protected by the Constitution…..yes…I said NOT!

It seems that one of our Supreme Court justices has an opinion on this subject…..one Scalia…….

In 1868, when the 39th Congress was debating and ultimately proposing the 14th Amendment, I don’t think anybody would have thought that equal protection applied to sex discrimination, or certainly not to sexual orientation. So does that mean that we’ve gone off in error by applying the 14th Amendment to both?Yes, yes. Sorry, to tell you that. … But, you know, if indeed the current society has come to different views, that’s fine. You do not need the Constitution to reflect the wishes of the current society. Certainly the Constitution does not require discrimination on the basis of sex. The only issue is whether it prohibits it. It doesn’t. Nobody ever thought that that’s what it meant. Nobody ever voted for that. If the current society wants to outlaw discrimination by sex, hey we have things called legislatures, and they enact things called laws. You don’t need a constitution to keep things up-to-date. All you need is a legislature and a ballot box. You don’t like the death penalty anymore, that’s fine. You want a right to abortion? There’s nothing in the Constitution about that. But that doesn’t mean you cannot prohibit it. Persuade your fellow citizens it’s a good idea and pass a law. That’s what democracy is all about. It’s not about nine superannuated judges who have been there too long, imposing these demands on society.

Or hear it for yourself…….

youtube.com/watch?v=M-86gg… via @youtube

I realize that we all have an opinion…right or wrong (if you agree with this dude then you are wrong)….but is this anything for a person serving on SCOTUS to go around mouthing off about?  I mean what happened to the neutrality of the courts?

Put That Brat To Work!

We have newly elected members of Congress and some have real strange ideas…..some are capable of rational thought and then there are those like the birthers and the tenthers…….speaking of tenthers…….

Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) posted a lecture on his YouTube channel where he explains in great detail his views on the Constitution. As part of the lecture, which is essentially a lengthy defense of his radical tenther interpretation of the Constitution, Lee claims that federal child labor laws are unconstitutional: (watch the video……)!!!
Congress decided it wanted to prohibit [child labor], so it passed a law—no more child labor. The Supreme Court heard a challenge to that and the Supreme Court decided a case in 1918 called Hammer v. Dagenhardt. In that case, the Supreme Court acknowledged something very interesting — that, as reprehensible as child labor is, and as much as it ought to be abandoned — that’s something that has to be done by state legislators, not by Members of Congress. […]

This may sound harsh, but it was designed to be that way. It was designed to be a little bit harsh. Not because we like harshness for the sake of harshness, but because we like a clean division of power, so that everybody understands whose job it is to regulate what.

So let us repeal those darn pesky child labor laws and put all our people back to work!  (sarcasm)

2011 Anal-Ocity #3

A new year and a new batch of self-absorbed a/holes serving the public…..and Alabama has a new governor and a new look at religion……

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley told a church crowd just moments into his new administration that those who have not accepted Jesus as their saviour are not his brothers and sisters, shocking some critics who questioned whether he can be fair to non-Christians.

“Anybody here today who has not accepted Jesus Christ as their saviour, I’m telling you, you’re not my brother and you’re not my sister, and I want to be your brother,” Bentley said Monday, his inauguration day, according to The Birmingham News.

Since I live in the South…..I can say that this is a popular stand on religion…..bet some of the other religions that voted for this dickhead are really proud of themselves at this point…….

Do They Have A Good Idea?

College of Political Knowledge

Subject:  International Politics/Political Theory

I realize that many people here in the US are watching or even give a darn about the occurrences in Northern Africa, Tunisia to be exact….I mean we are all dealing with the most recent form of violence in the US…the shootings and violence in Tucson….but we need to be paying attention…..there are somethings that are similar and watch how others handle their societal problems…..I am NOT saying that we should ignore the disaster in Arizona, but rather we should be able to do more than focus on one thing…..I usually try to post on international situations on Wednesdays, because there is more to the world than what happens in the US….but today the two will intersect…….

Okay back to Tunisia……Tunisia has been wracked by angry demonstrations, with citizens — angry with the government’s performance — protesting high unemployment, alleged corruption, rising prices, and a limitations on rights.  And because of these things Tunisia is wracked with violent protests……

He (Ben Ali, the president)  has decided to form a committee to probe the violence and a second committee to look into complaints of bribery, corruption and officials’ mistakes, TV reported.

Ben Ali also called on the country’s two houses of parliament to meet in an emergency session and implement presidential decrees to help raise employment, create more resources to improve peoples’ living and push for more investments.

Geez!  And all it took was the people standing up and demanding, yes violently, that something be done…something that benefits the average person and NOT the wealthy of the country, which has become wealthier under the Ali administration, some say because of rampant corruption…

Maybe the people in the US should take a page out of this playbook…..not the violence…..repeat NOT the violence….but maybe they should start demonstrating for jobs, fair wages, adequate health care and a break from the massive favoritism shown to corporation, especially since they are NOT creating anything but wealth for themselves and their friends in Washington….

It is beyond the time for Americans to return to the days of civil disobedience……since the political system is NOT working for ALL Americans…..it is time to make the system work and work better than it has in 30 years……my friends…time to return to the streets!  We have waited long enough for the politicos to do the right thing and apparently they are incapable of such….then we need to take things into our own hands and MAKE IT HAPPEN!

Addendum:  Since I wrote this piece more about the situation has come to light….from a piece written in the Christian Science Monitor……..

Tunisia’s President Ben Ali, a dictator whose continued reign become untenable for the rest of the Tunisian elite in the face of massive public protests, has just resigned. Al Jazeera is reporting that Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi has taken power as interim president.The Tunis airport has been closed due to the coup d’état/people power revolution/peaceful transfer of power/whatever it is that just happened. I’m guessing that if all this is well-received by the crowds on the streets in Tunis (which seems a safe bet) that the airport will soon reopen, at least in a limited way. The new government will be eager to show it’s addressing popular demands, that a military dictatorship to replace the Ben Ali dictatorship is not on the cards.

The voice of the people has been heard and action taken……give you any ideas?

OMG! It Is Health Reform (Again)

Today is the big day!  The compensated spokesmen come back to work,  the US Congress returned to doing what they do best (a questionable statement)…..they will begin to govern….(pause here for raucous laughter)……

They will attack the recently signed health reform bill and they will call it “The repeal of the job killing health reform act”…..only they will change the word killing to destroying, in memory of the Tucson shooting…..since many have opinions both pro and con, I thought I would give my reader a list of those receiving cash that support the repeal act……

Rep. Addison Wilson [R, SC-2] $232,281
Rep. Michele Bachmann [R, MN-6] $211,467
Rep. Eric Cantor [R, VA-7] $183,042
Rep. Tom Graves [R, GA-9] $155,718
Rep. William Owens [D, NY-23] $147,817
Rep. Patrick Tiberi [R, OH-12] $144,670
Rep. John Boehner [R, OH-8] $138,645
Rep. Allen West [R, FL-22] $130,366
Rep. Edward Royce [R, CA-40] $117,000
Rep. Paul Broun [R, GA-10] $114,117
Sen. Patrick Toomey [R, PA] $1,054,073
Sen. Scott Brown [R, MA] $970,538
Sen. Harry Reid [D, NV] $600,821
Sen. Marco Rubio [R, FL] $517,974
Sen. Robert Portman [R, OH] $494,233
Sen. John Thune [R, SD] $338,943
Sen. Charles Schumer [D, NY] $318,500
Sen. Jim DeMint [R, SC] $312,458
Sen. Richard Burr [R, NC] $293,531
Sen. Roy Blunt [R, MO] $280,701
Now the cool thing about all this is that the Senate Majority leader for the Dems is on the list as well as a prominent Dem leader, Schumer….. I would expect to see all those Repubs on the list……but two prominent members of the Dem. Congress……my….my…… 

You know there should be an addition to the suits Congress wears…..it should be a ceremonial sash with patches of their sponors…..you know the guys that pay them money to act in their behalf….and for the health care bill these corporations would be displayed on the sashes of our representatives…….

This way we would ALL know who is paying the slobs in Washington…….

A side note here…..with all the bitching and whining about the health reform law….there is something that the GOP does not want to become knowledge……

As House Republicans prepare for a Wednesday vote to repeal the new health care law, a new Associated Press-GfK poll finds just 25% favor complete repeal.

Among Republicans, support for repeal has also dropped sharply, from 61% after the elections to 49% now.

Americans could really care less….so why spend the time on something that is a complete waste?

I realize that some will think me redundant when I keep poking a hole into the thinking and promises of the politicos, but The American voter is like that idiot child that did not learn that the stove was hot….we have to keep pounding it into their head until they realize the absurdity…..

BTW…..GOP where are the jobs?

Education: Our Bright Future

Today the boys and gals are back to work, all 3 days a week, that is, Washington will be a buzz of health reform, cap and trade, investigations and, you guessed it…..education.

The smug egocentric media is all a tither with a week or two a year pushing the pros of the education system…their biggy is the “charter school” experiment that is having some good results…..however, the truth is that it is a lottery and we are betting on the roll of a white bingo ball…sounds like an excellent plan for our children’s future…..wouldn’t you say?

The first humorous thing is the the media types that are so gung-ho send their children to private schools and none of the stuff they are championed concerns them…..they spend time telling us the good things that the country is doing and the practices that we should continue….once again, the problem is …..we have this moments every year and every year our educational system gets worse….but this year with this Congress everything will be better…..(pause here for raucous laughter)……..

The president will do his part…….

President Obama is ready to turn education reform into the new priority for his administration and will outline his goals during the State of the Union address. “But trouble signs are already emerging,” reports the Associated Press. There has been lots of talk in Washington lately about how education might offer the White House the best chance for bipartisan legislation, but a number of issues could end up derailing the efforts. Democrats want a full overhaul of No Child Left Behind and insist it has to be done this year, before the 2012 campaign takes over the political agenda. Republicans, on the other hand, favor an incremental approach and insist they will not approve any new spending.  “I like the piecemeal approach,” said Rep. Duncan Hunter, a Republican from California. “If you do it in bite-size pieces, you can tell what needs to be tweaked as you go.”

Once again the education in this country will be NOT as important as it should be…..and just as usual our children will pay the price of a DO NOTHING government……

What Is The American Dream?

College of Political Knowledge

Subject:  American Society

I have spent a lot of time trying to people, readers in this case, to think about what they believe when it comes to politics and theory…..I begin the new year continuing my pursuit of making people stop and think about their political beliefs……are those beliefs what you think they are?

How many times have you heard the term “American Dream”?  Or that he/she is living the American dream?  And how many times have you asked….what the hell is the American Dream?  Does anyone truly have an answer?

Once it was to have a family that consisted of 2.3 kids…….or that you own a ranch style home with a 2 car garage and a patio….but is that really an American dream?  Or could it be that you spend lots more than you actually have?  How about a good retirement at an age where you could actually enjoy your declining years?  Maybe that your children will have a better life than you had?  What is the dream we all talk about?

Maybe we should dream about winning the Lotto….or having a billion dollars and our way with the little people around us…….or is the dream elusive?  A mirage always just out of reach and when we finally get to it…it is nothing but the same life we have now?

Or is it just a slogan thought up by some weepy politician to make it appear that he/she cares more than they really do?  Is it really something that we all aspire to at some point in our lives?

The American dream is subjective, at best…….but there is one thing for sure….. it IS a dream……a pipe dream!  And few actually arrive at their dream (as it is described by most) and the ones that are lucky enough to arrive become whores to greed and envy……some us are better off not ever realizing that American Dream….

So, the question still remains….just what the Hell is the American Dream?  And how does one define something so elusive?

Any thoughts?

Scott To Capt. Kirk

Aye captain we have a anti-matter imbalance……..the engines can’t take much more!  Remember those words from just about every Star Trek episode?

As you may already know, I try to find something other than politics to post on Sundays….sometimes it has been something sexual or scientific….so without further ado……

For decades we have been trying to make and capture anti-matter particles called positrons….first in Switzerland and then in West Virginia…..both places have massive colliders , I think that they are called “cyclotronic” or something similar…..anyway all that cash spent to build these things and there may have been a simpler answer all along…….

BBC News – Antimatter caught streaming from thunderstorms on Earth http://t.co/Ko4MY6b

Is it possible that we may have spent all the money for nothing?

Barbour Does It Again

As my regulars know, I live in the cultural wasteland known as Mississippi and from time to time I do a post about my state usually it is something stupid or arrogant or just plain crazy…..and our out going governor, Haley Barbour, is a constant source of posts….and once again…he does NOT disappoint!

Our dear governor has his eyes on the prize in 2012….he would like to run for the nomination of the GOP to run against Obama….he is a brilliant political strategist and a lobbyist and a governor…all the props he needs to qualify for the nomination….the problem is he has to walk back a couple of non-intended (his term) racist remarks…like…..

The governor apologized last month for saying in a magazine interview that the civil rights era was not “that bad,”

And this was Not his first digression….but since he really wants the nomination he has pushed for the Civil Rights museum in the state’s capital of Jackson……

Barbour urged the state’s legislature during an annual address to build the $50 million museum in a state that became notorious during the 1950s and 1960s for violent enforcement of racial segregation and opposition to civil and voting rights.”I urge you to move this museum forward as an appropriate way to do justice to the Civil Rights Movement and to stand as a monument of remembrance and reconciliation,” Barbour said in the speech late on Tuesday.

“The civil rights struggle is an important part of our history, and millions of people are interested in learning more about it. People from around the world would flock to see the museum and learn about the movement,” he said.

What a lovely sentiment!  The problem is this proposal has failed in the state legislature for the last 5+ years…..every year this comes up and every year the governor has been silent on the establishment of the museum….but now that he needs to sure up his position…it is a great idea…..

In a state that is cutting services like a drunken sailor……he thinks it is a great idea to spend $50 million that the state does not have…….but he has said that he wants private donations to build it……..we will see…..it probably will NOT be built….but at least he now has that on his resume that he was in favor of its construction……actually, he probably cares little more than his own political ambitions……