Day: January 10, 2014

It’s A Polarized World

I wish there were other things to go on about these days….but all we have is Christie and personally, don’t give a crap what he does….and then we have Gates’ book and his ‘damning’ of the prez and Clinton….again….yawn!  So I will divert my attention to a subject that the media loves to point out almost hourly…………

Yep, the media likes to keep harping on the fact that the country is becoming more and more polarized…..that we cannot agree on much beyond the day of the week…they see the country as broken as the government in DC…..it’s the polarization that is keeping this country down.

I will agree with them, the media, that the government is in sad shape….but as far as the country goes….I just don’t see it.

About now many people are thinking…..”has the old professor lots what little mind he has left?”

Let me explain……on my site I have several people that do not quite agree with me on a whole array of subjects and their sites seem to be so full of hate….but when I visit their site or they mine we seem to have a civil conversation and in some cases find that we have the same beliefs on some subjects.  We talk without the usual insult slinging and find we are on the same side on a few issues….and to me that is a good starting point…as long as we can get past the traditional love/hate paradigm.

After I started this post that I intended to store as draft I found an article that is pretty much along the lines I am talking about…….

Conventional wisdom has it that America is more polarized in terms of politics and culture than at any point in history. “Not so fast,” writes Nick Gillespie at Time. It may seem that way because of the talking heads on cable news and the fringe politicians who love to make headlines, but a closer look at the views of actual Americans tells a different story. He ticks off a list of issues such as pot legalization, attitudes toward homosexuality, and abortion (only 20% think it should be legal in all circumstances, which is pretty much unchanged over decades) and finds a majority of Americans in sync on them. Of course, gray areas and rooms for disagreement exist in those and other issues. “But with so many pressing problems confronting Washington, acknowledging that more unites us than divides us might be a smart way to create a future that doesn’t revolve hermeneutic readings of the theological implications of reality TV stars or actively ignoring what large majorities of Americans actually believe,” writes Gillespie. Click to read his full column.

Americans, if they can get past the ideological mud slinging, will find that many of us have the same doubts and desires for the direction of the country……granted we may not want to approach the solutions exactly the same but agreeing is a great place to start in finding those elusive solutions to the complex problems.

Please, do not let the media, both right and left, crap on the idea of Americans agreeing to work together for the country.

Oil Self-Sufficiency?

I remember back in the 2008 presidential circus…one of the big deals was what we shall call the ‘drill baby drill’ movement…..and all the accusations that a Dem would make it impossible for the country to reach any self-sufficiency in oil……first, the country has nothing to do with it….oil companies control that…….I heard all sorts of condemnation for programs offered up by the Dems…….and after the election these condemnations did not cease…Palin, McCain, do-dah and strataflop still hung in there with the ‘drill baby drill’ slogan and dog whistle for the uninformed.

We were bombarded by all the resistance to any regulations coming out of the Obama admin…..these programs would kill any chance for America to become self-sufficient.  There is still a whisper of all this crap still in the right wing media…..not as pronounced as it once was….but there nonetheless…..

Yesterday there was an announcement by an oil company that got very little coverage….everyone was way too busy following Christie around waiting for a sound bite……but I will pass on what I read……this was disclosed on The Hill…….

Exxon Mobil’s CEO Rex Tillerson says the U.S. will be energy self-sufficient by 2020, CNBC reports.

“I think it is realistic that the U.S. could be energy self-sufficient by the end of this decade,” Tillerson told CNBC on Thursday.

“We’re already the world’s largest natural gas producer [and] last year, crude oil production surpassed levels not seen since the 1980s,” he added.

In November, the International Energy Agency predicted that the U.S. would surpass Saudi Arabia as the world’s top oil producer by 2016.

And in October, U.S. crude oil production exceeded imports for the first time in nearly 20 years, the Energy Information Administration reported.

Of course this does not mean that gas prices will go down…no matter what the dillweeds tell you……

Okay sports fans….may we put all the drill baby drill bullshit to sleep now?

Populism By Any Other Name

College of Political Knowledge

Subject:  Political Theory

Oh boy, a new year and new crap to report!

There seems to be a ground swell (at last according to the MSM) on a little known and less understood political theory of POPULISM.

The term is batted around like there is no tomorrow….but what is it?  Is it creeping socialism?  Or maybe a trip down a road we would not like?  Just what is this new form of political thought?

Let me do the work for you…..please give your Google finger a rest….I am sure that it is overworked because it is easier than reading……

Populism is a political philosophy which focuses on standing up for the rights and positions of the common people as opposed to the elite and the government. Several political movements around the world have promoted populist ideals. When used to describe political rhetoric, an individual or a political party, the term often carries pejorative connotations, and “populism” has become a loaded word to many people.

For the Common Man

The key ideal behind populism is that the common man should have a chance in society and an active role in government. Populist movements generally divide society into “the people” and “the elite,” with individuals who have limited power being considered the people and individuals who have clout being among the elite. The elite typically are wealthy and often use their wealth to influence the political system while accruing more wealth. Populists typically feel that the government protects the interests of the elite, not the needs of the common people, and they want that to change.

In Support of Democracy

People who espouse populism generally support democratic systems and believe that democracy is the best way for the people to play a role in the government. Although they promote the welfare of the common man, populists tend to shy away from socialism and extreme liberalism. Politicians from various political parties or viewpoints can be involved in populism, and politicians might accuse each other of pandering or playing to populism in an attempt to get support and votes.

For the Greatest Good

These sorts of political movements are designed to encourage governments and society in general to work to provide the greatest good to the greatest number of people. This might be achieved through policies and pieces of legislation that support ordinary people. Populist movements, however, often reject policy suggestions such as living-wage mandates, public assistance and government-sponsored healthcare, even though these policies are often designed to help the members of the public who are most in need.

Negative Uses

Some people are fond of using the terms “populist” and “populism” in descriptions of public outcry over political events. People might be said to be “erupting in populist rage” when they lodge complaints about flagrant abuses of power among the elite or when there is backlash against a government pushing through legislation that does little to benefit the lower and middle classes. In this sense, these terms might be pejorative in nature and are often used to suggest that the public is too ignorant or short-sighted to understand what is really taking place.

There you have a concise and yet simple definition that anyone can grasp….well just about anyone.

It seems that populism does not conform to traditional Right/Left paradigm……the Tea Party is said to be a populist movement…..meaning that it is suppose to be all about the rights and the need of the people.  People like Rand Paul have been labeled a “populist” and even Ted Cruz is being seen as such.  It appears that the extreme Right of the GOP is being seen as “populists”.

And then there is the Left version of populism….aka the Occupy Movement….it is all about the need for democracy, true democracy and the work of the common people against the Wall Street elites that are doing as they please without any constraints.  On the Left people like Eliz. Warren and Bernie Sanders are called “populists”…..I guess we could say it is the extreme Left of the Dem. Party.

All eyes have been locked on Hillary Clinton in relation to the 2016 Democratic nomination. However, could 2016 be similar to 2008 when an up-and-coming candidate to Clinton’s left beat her out of the top spot? Supporters of progressive-minded politicians like Elizabeth Warren, Senator from Massachusetts, certainly think so. Report from the Washington Post: For […]

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George Wallace was a populist……..the Black Panther Party was a populist movement…..and even Mao’s Cultural Revolution can be seen as populist movements….my point is that to call something a populist movement is just BS……basically, to me, it is nothing more than an anti-intellectual movement that depends on slogans and half ass science as its roots….it is party politics with a new name to avoid being type cast……