Tag: Political Message

Is America Dying?

Since the election we have had some dire predictions about the direction of our country.

Needless to say that there are a few folks who are not pleased with the direction the US is traveling…..there is much that is not right….but will it kill the nation of democracy?

Behind the vulgarity and racism of Trump’s America, a different vision of what it means to be an ‘American’ is rising.

This is a good essay that, if read, will make people ask questions about what the Hell is going on in our country.

In a characteristically timely and insightful essay for The New York Times, Pankaj Mishra has recently mapped out the tortuous passage of the United States from exceptionalism to what he now sees as a turn towards nihilism. He rightly identifies that “extravagant promises by ruling elites, and their unexamined assumptions, are at least partly to blame for this moral breakdown in the world’s most powerful country”.

Mishra shrewdly narrows in on the moment when the eminent American public intellectual “Walter Lippmann worried that the promise of private wealth creation was a weak moral basis for a national community. For many mid-century thinkers, nihilism, a catastrophic breakdown of faith in national ideology and institutions that had occurred in Europe, was also a possibility in America”.

Source: Is America dying or is it being born again? | Politics | Al Jazeera

What will happen in the end?

Thoughts?

Comey If You Will

All the news you will NEVER use!

Comey is gone but will he be forgotten?

Some are saying that this situation is a perilous moment in our democratic nation…..and others think Comey got what he deserved…..

Is President Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey a dangerous moment for American democracy, a justified and long-overdue move, or something in the middle? Like much about the Trump administration, it depends on whom you listen to. Opinions are sharply divided on the surprise firing and the reasons for it, though both sides tend to agree that Comey handled the Hillary Clinton email investigation very poorly. A roundup of opinions:

  • This is a “perilous moment” for the US, according to the New York Times editorial board, which says that while Comey certainly bungled the Clinton investigation, it’s clear that Trump fired him for other reasons. “The president of the United States, who is no more above the law than any other citizen, has now decisively crippled the FBI’s ability to carry out an investigation of him and his associates,” the board warns.
  • Comey had to go because he “made law enforcement decisions that probably influenced the outcome of the presidential election, a terrible precedent for our democracy,” writes John Yoo at Fox News, praising Trump for making a “tough call” and urging Democrats to support the move.
  • “What Trump is doing here is not simply unpredictable. It is potentially very dangerous,” writes Chris Cillizza at CNN. “Removing the person charged with overseeing an investigation into a foreign country attempting to influence US elections by hurting one candidate (Clinton) and helping another (Trump) sends a chilling message up and down the federal bureaucracy—not to mention the populace.”
  • The Wall Street Journal editorial board says Comey deserved to be fired and the agency deserves a fresh start. “A new FBI director who looks at the Russia evidence with fresh eyes and without the political baggage of the last year will have a better chance of being credible to the American people,” they write.
  • At the New Republic, Brian Beutler calls this a “moment of truth” for US democracy. If this is not a “calamitously ham-fisted attempt to obstruct the Russia-Trump investigation,” he writes, there needs to be a special prosecutor appointed to handle the Russia probe and Trump needs to nominate a nonpartisan replacement for Comey.
  • Ruth Marcus at the Washington Post is no Comey fan—she says she would probably have fired him herself, given the chance—but she finds Trump’s timing and rationale very fishy. “Trump’s priority is, first and always, Trump,” she writes. “Which raises the question: Knowing, as he must have, that firing Comey would set off a firestorm, why did he calculate that this move was in his self-interest?”

Personally I think he should have been fired….but back in November 2016 not now….it is a bit suspect to fire him via email (a cowards way of doing it)….but now that he is gone who will trump pick to take his place….will he do the right thing or will he pick someone who spends some on their knees worshiping him?

Who will it be?

James Comey is out as director of the FBI—but who’s in? Comey’s deputy, Andrew McCabe, has become acting director and is a potential candidate to fill the post permanently, reports CNN. But he’s not the only one. John Pistole, the FBI’s deputy director under former President George W. Bush and TSA administrator under former President Obama, is a possibility, as is Ray Kelly, who served as NYPD commissioner for 13 years before joining Bill Clinton’s administration, CNN reports. Fox News names Trey Gowdy, the former chairman of the Select Committee on Benghazi, as another possibility. Rudy Giuliani or Chris Christie could also get the promotion, though the choice of either would be heavily criticized.

Republicans and Democrats have suggested Comey’s replacement be a credible individual with a background in law enforcement. Democrats add the person should have no political or professional link to Trump; both Giuliani and Christie backed Trump during his campaign and have remained close to him. We won’t be long in suspense: A White House official tells the New York Times that Trump plans to fill the post by the end of the week. He offered no clue to his feelings in a tweet Wednesday, but said Comey’s replacement “will do a far better job, bringing back the spirit and prestige of the FBI,” per the Hill. The appointment needs just 51 votes to pass the Senate. (Many are calling Comey’s firing “Nixonian.”)

Rudy?  Seriously?  Just what we need to dole out justice a political ideologue….

That aside….what are the chances of a “special prosecutor”?

Amid the uproar following James Comey’s surprise firing, many have called for a special prosecutor to take up the probe into Russian interference with the 2016 US presidential election—but those people are going to be disappointed. A new investigation would “only serve to impede the current work being done,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on the Senate floor Wednesday, per Politico. As FBI director, Comey was heading up the bureau’s investigation into the matter (as well as whether President Trump’s campaign team was involved), but the Senate Intelligence Committee is also running its own investigation, and McConnell said “too much is at stake” in that investigation to appoint special counsel, Time reports.

Did anyone really believe that the cowards in the GOP would put country before party?

NO such luck!

These toads will play politics as the country burns…..at least Nero gave the public some music…..

America: I Do Not Like Where This Is Going

The newest political football is the refugees and all related items…..there is some statements that smack with historical context and yet supporters will not see the un-American activities and games being played.  The refugees are the latest complex issue to be turned into a politicized mess to gain support from the mentally slow.

Personally, I do not like what is going on in this country…..Trump has gone a bit far…in my book……

Donald Trump went on MSNBC Monday to discuss issues related to the Paris terror attacks and ISIS, and he had some controversial ideas about steps he might take as president. “Well, I would hate to do it but it’s something you’re going to have to strongly consider,” Trump said when asked whether he would consider a plan similar to France’s interior minister’s promise to shut down “mosques where hate is preached,” CNN reports. Trump continued, “Some of the ideas and some of the absolute hatred is coming from these areas … The hatred is incredible. It’s embedded. The hatred is beyond belief. The hatred is greater than anybody understands.”

Trump had started out by discussing New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s decision to put a stop to a covert NYPD program that had previously carried out surveillance on Muslim communities. “You’re going to have to watch and study the mosques, because a lot of talk is going on at the mosques,” Trump said. “Under the old regime we had tremendous surveillance going on in and around the mosques of New York City.”

But wait there is more……..

Donald Trump voiced support Thursday evening for creating a mandatory database to track Muslims in the US—the latest in an escalating series of responses following the deadly attacks in Paris. “I would certainly implement that. Absolutely,” Trump said between campaign events in Newton, Iowa, according to video posted on MSNBC.com. He said Muslims would be signed up at “different places,” adding: “It’s all about management.” Asked whether registering would be mandatory, Trump responded: “They have to be.”

What’s next from these twats?  Maybe a suggestion to make Muslims wear a large yellow crescent moon and star patch?  (that sounds oddly familiar)….

Sounds all you Righties…all that sounds a bit unconstitutional to me…..but then when have you guys ever let the Constitution get in the way of a good fear?

I know this will not matter to those that have their minds made up and are thanking Jesus for the vote …..but just in case….the GOP God Ronnie Reagan has something to say……

Just in case there is any doubt, President Obama has explicit statutory authorization to accept foreign refugees into the United States. Under the Refugee Act of 1980, the president may admit refugees who face “persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion” into the United States, and the president’s power to do so is particularly robust if they determine that an “unforeseen emergency refugee situation” such as the Syrian refugee crisis exists.

This power to admit refugees fits within the scheme of “broad discretion exercised by immigration officials” that the Supreme Court recognized in its most recent major immigration case, Arizona v. United States. Indeed, in describing the executive branch’s broad authority to make discretionary calls regarding immigration matters, Arizona seemed to explicitly contemplate the circumstances that face President Obama today. The United States may wish to allow a foreign national to remain within its borders, the Court explained, because the individual’s home nation “may be mired in civil war, complicit in political persecution, or enduring conditions that create a real risk that the alien or his family will be harmed upon return.”

And then we have the out right lies about other Americans…..and the biggest liar is that twat Trump……..

Donald Trump is insisting he saw something on 9/11 that most Americans have apparently developed amnesia about. On Saturday, he told a rally in Alabama that he had “watched in Jersey City, New Jersey, where thousands and thousands of people were cheering” as the World Trade Center came down, the Guardian reports. The New York Times reports that he doubled down on the comments about cheering in “areas with large Arab populations” on ABC’s This Week on Sunday, even after George Stephanopoulos told him that police have said there was no such cheering. “It did happen, I saw it,” Trump said. “It was on television. I saw it,” he continued, adding that while “it might be not politically correct for you to talk about it,” it was “well covered at the time.” More:

  • Trump’s remarks were widely condemned as simply untrue by both parties, NJ.com reports. “Clearly, Trump has memory issues or willfully distorts the truth, either of which should be concerning for the Republican Party,” said Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, a possible Democratic candidate for governor.
  • “I think if it had happened, I would remember it,” said NJ Gov. Chris Christie, per the Times.
  • “It did not happen. He didn’t see it. But who’s there to challenge him on that?” wondered NBC’s Tom Brokaw, calling Trump’s statements “flat-out lies.”
  • The Washington Post gives Trump’s claim four Pinocchios on a scale that does not go up to five, finding that while there were rumors of isolated celebrations in New Jersey, they were not covered on TV and no video or other proof exists. The police commissioner of Paterson, which has the state’s largest Muslim population, says the community was extremely helpful and law-abiding after the attacks. “There were no flags burning, no one was dancing,” he says, using what the Post calls a “barnyard epithet” to describe Trump’s claims.
  • In the ABC interview, Trump also refused to rule out a mandatory database to track US Muslims and promised to bring back waterboarding, the Times reports.
  • On Sunday, Trump tweeted what the Huffington Post calls a “chart of racist and wildly inaccurate crime statistics” that appears to be aimed at “perpetuating racist myths about black people and crime.” The numbers in the chart bear no relation to the FBI’s crime statistics, and the source is listed as the “Crime Statistics Bureau of San Francisco” which does not exist.

(Newser)

The Right wing talkers are doing a fine job of alienated American citizens…..look at over the weekend in Irvine, California armed protesters showed up at a mosque and threatened attending religious services….that is NOT what Americans do to fellow Americans…..this is MORONIC!

You dipshits realize you are doing what the bad guys want?  They want alienated minority that makes for good recruiting…..and YOU are aiding in that effort.

You people are MORONS!  Your kneejerk reactions are playing into the hands of those you are afraid of…..ever thought about thinking your little ideas through before acting?

Remember….Remember…..The 5th Of November

DISCLAIMER:  I am in NO way advocating any violence or violent act….all am doing is just…. saying……also this post was written before the tragic shooting of Rep. Gabby Giffords……

The year is 1605, a gang of conspirators are planning the ultimate political statement…..the “Big Bang” theory….if you will……

Remember, remember, the 5th of November
The Gunpowder Treason and plot;
I see of no reason why Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes,
‘Twas his intent.
To blow up the King and the Parliament.
Three score barrels of powder below.
Poor old England to overthrow.

And now the history lesson that you all so deserve……..the most notable of the conspirators mentioned is one Guy Fawkes…..

Guy Fawkes is the most famous among the conspirators who took part in 1605’s “Gunpowder Plot,” a failed attempt to blow up King James I of England and the Houses of Parliament. Fawkes and his partners were Roman Catholics who decided desperate measures were required to replace the king, a Protestant. The plot was hatched in the spring of 1604 by Robert Catesby, and eventually came down to a plan to blow up the parliament on 5 November 1605, the date of an official opening attended by members of both houses as well as the king. Fawkes and a dozen others took part in the plot, with Fawkes designated as the one in charge of the explosives. (During the 1590s he served in the Spanish army in the Netherlands, and it is thought he had experience with munitions.) Fawkes and his cohorts stashed 36 barrels — nearly two tons — of gunpowder in a rented cellar beneath the House of Lords. A search of the cellar the night of 4 November found the explosives and Fawkes, and he was arrested and tortured; within a few days the other conspirators were either killed or captured. On 31 January he was executed, after being tried and convicted of treason. Because the plot was foiled, 5 November was designated a holiday, but over time the holiday has also become a celebration of Fawkes’s revolutionary intent.Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/guy-fawkes#ixzz19dqCeDhy

I would bet that you, the reader, is asking just what I am going on about and why….am I right?

Over the centuries it has been shown that the people are unwilling to change the way things are being done in politics and for that reason I believe the Fawkes was not too wrong in his thinking….

Since the people are truly unwilling to do anything about the corrupt and ineffectual nature of their politicians maybe some form of direct action is needed….and I would say that Fawkes’s approach would be considered as just that….a direct action.

Years ago in my more radical days….I saw that the people were content with the lousy job that politicians are capable of and I said then that maybe we should call a joint session of Congress….gas all the reps and senators and then send a letter back to their state’s and districts say….they are all dead….start over!

Since politicians are NOT afraid of the will of the people…..Maybe then we would find some people willing to work for the country….knowing what would possibly happen if they didn’t…..we could move forward and cease the endless array of political games……

Just A Thought!  Just thinking out loud!

The Sanctity Of 9/11

Remember the day the country stood still?

The day some radical zealots flew planes into buildings in the name of God ….the day of infamy, if you will, to quote another person from history…..from that day forward, 9/11,  it has become some sort of sacred event, as it should be….when Americans woke up and realized that nothing is safe in today’s world….

The day when 3000+ died and thousands more were injured in one way or another….we, as Americans have used this day as a day of mourning and remembrance…..we have had proposals to make it a national holiday…..we have said that the ground is sacred and a religious structure should NOT be constructed near-by, as a courtesy to the families of those killed……some have tried to turn this into a sacred event….not my place to judge yes or no……

But as the years go by it becomes more and more out of the minds of Americans…..with the exception of politicians that want to use the event as a fund raiser or a campaign slogan…….we have several politics making political appearances on the day of mourning….not for the mourning but rather for personal gain…

I think that if this is truly a sacred day of mourning, then anyone who uses it for personal gain is an un-American lout and they should be called out on the uncaring manipulation of the day for their own gain….I do not care which one of the lousy parties it is…..this should be a crime!  What message does this send to the people of the country?  Does it mean that the further away from the act the less important it is?

This should be a CRIME!

What Is Rush’s Role?

Does conservative talk show host, Rush Limbaugh have a part in the future of the GOP?  Or is he just a windbag that likes hearing the sound of his own voice?  Just what is his role in this comedy special?

Limbaugh in recent days has made no efforts to step out of the spotlight. He had a banner headline across the top of his Web site that read: “Hilarious: Democrat Party Launches Yet Another Anti-Rush Web site” and linked to the site.

And on Wednesday, Limbaugh challenged Obama to a verbal showdown, calling on him to visit his talk show for an “intelligent, open discussion” on issues like health care and taxes.

Limbaugh also accused the White House of orchestrating an attack on him, telling his listeners that the Obama team is demonizing the radio host since President George W. Bush left office.

There’s a reason White House aides have dubbed conservative radio ranter Rush Limbaugh the new face of the GOP – polls showed he’s a big, fat target of opportunity.

Only a tiny fraction of voters younger than 40 – 11% – have a positive view of the talk king, a survey James Carville and other Democratic advisers to President Obama took last fall found.

That – combined with Limbaugh’s more recent wish to see Obama “fail” – was all the White House needed to launch its coordinated campaign this week to cast Limbaugh as the hydra-headed leader of the temporarily headless GOP.

Desperately Seeking A Message

In the beginning there was the message of experience, then it was the maverick, then it was national security and then the economy tanked, and then it was the Ayers thing and now it is socialism and maybe back to experience depending if they can spin the Biden comment.

The McCain campaign is flailing around desperately seeking a message that will have some weight with the voter.  Kinda looks like they are throwing crap at a wall to see what sticks.  If that is the case, one should ask what is the real message of the McCain camp?  Does he truly believe any of the crap slung around by his surrogates?  Does he have a message?  If so, just what is the message?

I do not want to continuously pick on the McCain campaign, but as a political analyst, there is just too much to over look.  McCain’s speeches reminds me of Aristotle, when he said in The Republic, “The ship’s captain is locked up, navigator is ignored and the crew only has ears for the foolish words of their leader who just promises them what they all want to hear”.  (that is from memory the words may have been a bit different, but the thought is there)  In that Aristotle is talking about democracy, but it sure sounds like the McCain camp to me.

With two weeks left, if McCain has any illusions of winning, he must go back to being that loveable little maverick that won him the nomination.  Playing Grumpy, ain’t working.

Please Make Her (Palin) Stop!

In the latest clip, which is already being viewed on video-sharing site YouTube, Ms Couric asks: “When it comes to establishing your world view, I was curious, what newspapers and magazines did you regularly read before you were tapped for this to stay informed and to understand the world?”

Mrs Palin replies: “I’ve read most of them, again with a great appreciation for the press, for the media.”

Ms Couric: What, specifically?

Mrs Palin: “Um, all of them, any of them that have been in front of me all these years.”

Ms Couric: “Can you name a few?”

Mrs Palin: I have a vast variety of sources where we get our news, too. Alaska isn’t a foreign country, where it’s kind of suggested, ‘wow, how could you keep in touch with what the rest of Washington, D.C., may be thinking when you live up there in Alaska?’ Believe me, Alaska is like a microcosm of America.”

Her faltering performance came in the latest installment of her cringe worthy interview with CBS News presenter Katie Couric. Last week she was seen rambling in response to Ms Couric’s questions about the threat posed by Russia.

Presidential candidate John McCain has been forced to step in and defend Mrs Palin, insisting she is ready for the White House and claiming she is underestimated.

Many keep saying let Palin be Plain, but when she is asked fairly simple questions she screws them up horribly.  Just make her stop!  Everytime she opens her mouth she sticks a size (whatever it is) in it.  Please do not let her ad-lib.

Is McCain Playing Political Theater?

Of course he is–that is his style–when his message loses its luster, he moves on to something else–the substance is weak and pathetic.

John McCain’s decision to suspend his campaign and return to Washington was little more than stagecraft, a political stunt to garner photo opportunities and to distract voters from his sinking campaign, congressional leaders suggested this evening, Sept. 25th.

From the time he announced his decision to suspend his campaign in New York, McCain stayed the night in the Big Apple in order to conduct a few interviews with friendly media, according to various media sources. So much for a national emergency requiring immediate action, some commentators suggested.

In fact, McCain arrived in Washington just as the first announcements of a deal between Congress and the White House were being made, somewhere close to 24 hours after McCain’s declaration of the emergency.
Aside from failing to abide by his own announcement of suspension, McCain appears to have done very little while on Capitol Hill. Congressional Democrats seem to feel that John McCain’s role in the bailout negotiations has been a hindrance. Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), who chairs the Senate Banking Committee, told CBS news that he thinks the late afternoon White House summit “was more of a political stunt for McCain.” Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told reporters that at the meaning with the president, McCain had little to say and when he did speak he “said nothing substantive.
While a deal between Congress and the White House on the bailout plan appeared to be struck in the early afternoon, political insiders are now suggesting that McCain’s late arrival delayed the deal in order for him to float an alternative plan that offered nothing of substance except more tax breaks for corporations and less independent regulatory oversight. McCain’s alternative plan suggested little deviance from George W. Bush’s usual economic policies.

Once again McCain is just a continuation of the present policies.  He learned nothing from the S&L meltdown back in the day.