Intelligent Political Discourse in America - R.I.P.

I have to wonder, has some members of the Republican Congressional Delegation been taking some really bad drugs lately? Nutty right-wing conspiracy theories seem to me to be at an all time high. Some of the ideas being tossed about on the Internet make the whole business about President Obama's birth certificate look rational by comparison (and no, I believe that one is pretty insane too). Now we have Congressmen picking up the conspiracies and telling their constituents via town hall meetings and appearances on right-wing talk radio, that the Democrat's health care reform proposal will cause the government to talk to the elderly about how they want to die; and that the plan will end in the government putting seniors to death. Then the talk radio loonies throw about comparisons to Hitler and Mao (Godwin's Law anyone?).

Is this the way American political dialog should be conducted? I think not. If these Republicans could come up with a viable plan of their own, they could talk about that. But no, they would rather continue to purvey fear upon our senior citizens, and everyone else too. What is sad is that so many buy it. I never thought I would see this country on such a downward slide so as to reach this low point in political discourse.

Rachel Maddow on MSNBC has examples in the clip below.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Bill Maher on President Obama

Bill Maher made some critical commentary on President Obama on his HBO show, Real Time with Bill Maher. As much as I wish I could disagree, I do not. President Obama has a rare chance to bring real reform to health care, and instead he is leaving the crooked insurance companies as part of the solution. He has the chance to reform the fraud in the banking industry, but it has become business as usual for the banking giants. The spending of tax dollars to incentivize people to trade in their gas guzzling old cars for new, more efficient models, and reinvigorate demand for new automobiles has no provision to limit the program to American-made vehicles.

I agree with Maher that this is NOT what I voted for. I have been willing to give the President the chance to get things going before being overly critical. The ridiculous right is doing a great job of that. However, there is no guarantee that his party will retain its strong majority in the Congress after the elections next year. As the old adage goes, "it's time to make hay while the sun shines". NOW is the time to enact the key components of the platform he ran on. Forget bipartisanship. As Maher points out, maybe Obama needs to get a little of Bush's attitude...my way or no way.

Mr. President, don't forget what you promised...change we can believe in. We put you in office to effect that change. If you prove to just be another overpromising and underdelivering politician, you had better enjoy your job, as you could be a one-term president. You have the goodwill of most of the country. You have proven to be the hardest working man to get the job in a long time. But working hard isn't enough. You have to remember why you are there.

Unlike loudmouth Rush Limbaugh, I and most people want to see you succeed. It's time to quit compromising away your platform, when you don't have to. Perhaps instead of getting some Bush attitude, you should channel Larry the Cable Guy and just "Git 'Er Done!"

Politics and Technology

Regular readers of this blog know I am a big fan of the free Linux operating system, and open source software in general. One of the best Linux distributions out there is the Linux Mint project. It is based on the excellent Ubuntu Linux, but includes some of the niceties, such as multimedia codecs, right from the "get go".

Therefore, I was dismayed to read at Extreme Tech that one of the Mint developers, Clement Lefebvre, made a highly political post regarding the Israeli / Palestinian conflict. In it, he asked those who support the Israeli government to not use Linux Mint, nor contribute to the project. Initially, the post was made on the official Linux Mint blog, but has since been moved to Lefebvre's personal blog.

This is unfortunate, because whatever one's position on geopolitics, Linux has always been developed in the spirit of open, non-political cooperation. Also, Lefebvre is not the only developer, and should never have made such a statement.

Still, Mint is a great distro. I hope this episode doesn't cause it to fall by the wayside. Clement, you are out of line on this, and should retract the tying of Mint to your political views. You are certainly entitled to them, but despite your statements to the contrary, you did bond Mint and your politics with your statement about who should not use the product. Open source is open to all. You have erred, and erred greatly. Hopefully, you will retract this misguided statement, apologize, and put it behind you.

Sauce for the Goose?

Remember all the wailing and crying from the GOP about giving President Bush's judicial nominees "an up or down vote"? Well, wouldn't you know it. A group of conservative luminaries are asking the Republican Senators to filibuster President Obama's nomination of Judge Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. What a bunch of hypocrites! The shoe is on the other foot now, and it doesn't feel so good to them!

G. Gordon Lunatic

Convicted Watergate criminal G. Gordon Liddy, who somehow got himself a radio talk show, has clearly revealed his hatred and disdain for females. This piece of garbage made the following comment on his radio show in regards to President Obama's nominee for the Supreme Court, Judge Sotomayor:

"Let’s hope that the key conferences aren’t when she’s menstruating or something, or just before she’s going to menstruate," Liddy said. "That would really be bad. Lord knows what we would get then."

So women are not capable of rational decision making, according to this felon, all because of their natural cycles. What a misogynist!

This is just more of what I have written about before...the fact that there is nothing too bizarre and off-limits for the right in their pathetic attempts to regain power. If someone wishes to discuss the pros and cons of a nominee, they should do that by talking about substantive issues. But this is basically an attack on all women based on their gender, and should be repudiated by those in the GOP. So far, all I have heard is dead silence. Do we have to wonder what the uproar would have been if a Democrat had made this comment about Sarah Palin?

Thank goodness that dinosaurs like Liddy are a dying species. We can only hope for their eventual fall into extinction.

To read more and hear the excerpt from Liddy's radio show, CLICK HERE. Thanks to John Walkenbach's J-Walk Blog, where I first saw this story.

Jesse Gets It!

Former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura doesn't take crap from anybody. Here is a YouTube video of a clip where he takes on the mindless talking heads of Fox & Friends. True patriots do not condone our country torturing people. It is anti-American and puts us at risk. Governor Ventura get it. Fox does not.

Sovereignty, Secession, and the Nutty Right Wing

Many right-wingers rightfully ridiculed some celebrities on the left who threatened to move out of the United States if George W. Bush was elected President in 2000. But now, many righty politicians are doing things that are even more bizarre. Upset with the Democratic administration's policies, these nutty politicians are threatening to take their ball and go home. Last month, Texas Governor Rick Perry threw support behind HCR 50, a resolution in the Texas House of Representatives that asserts the state's sovereignty. (He also uses the oft-used, but false analogy of how to boil a frog).



Now, last Wednesday, the Oklahoma Senate has passed HCR 1028, a similar resolution to the one in Texas. How the Senate passes a resolution of the House seems odd to me. In any case, the verbiage of the resolution states that the Sooner State is "claiming sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over certain powers; serving notice to the federal government to cease and desist certain mandates; providing that certain federal legislation be prohibited or repealed; and directing distribution.”

The resolution, also passed the Oklahoma House 73-22 on May 4th. It does not require a signature from the Governor.

Kurt Hochenauer, creator of the political blog Okie Funk: Notes From The Outback, has a good analysis on his site. He correctly notes that if Oklahoma were to secede from the United States, it would lead to military confrontation, widespread poverty, and a mass exodus from the state. I would add that if Oklahoma wants to leave the US, it had better make doggone sure that Texas goes with it, otherwise it will be a landlocked nation surrounded by the U.S.

Hochenauer also has posted an audio clip from Montel Williams' radio program where he interviews Charles Key, the Oklahoma City Republican Representative who introduced the resolution in the House. Williams calls Key on the fact that Oklahoma pays $19-Billion in federal taxes, but receives $28 billion in federal funding per year. So Oklahoma, good luck with that.

I don't think that either state will actually secede over this, any more than Alec Baldwin left the US over the Bush presidency. But it does demonstrate the lack of rational thinking within the minds of some elected officials in red-state America.

The Curmudgeonly Old Party

Will somebody please buy the Republican Party a Garmin? Seriously, the GOP has lost its way. After eight years of the Bush presidency, the USA is known for torture (uh...I mean "enhanced interrogation techniques"), warrantless domestic spying, and holding prisoners without charges. Rational Americans are appalled that these things are even open to debate. The misguided policies of the Republicans have lead to a major implosion that has left their party in major disarray.

Senator John McCain's daughter Meghan, made a good point in a joint interview with her dad on Phoenix's KTAR, when she said, “I just wish that moderates like myself — more moderate Republicans and more socially liberal Republicans — weren’t looked at as, ‘Get rid of the dirty moderates. Get rid of them.”

Then there is former GOP US Senator, Bob Barr, who told CNN that the the GOP is in deep trouble and lacks "any coherent philosophy, vision or leadership.” Barr's comments are followed by those of former Republican Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, who called several members of the Republican National Committee "a small bunch of egomaniacs who need to be coddled by the party chairman".

Finally, we have a move by some leading Republicans to attempt a makeover of the party's image. Perhaps this is a project for the TV show Extreme Makeover. It is an awesome undertaking, no doubt! The GOP's "Big Tent" has become a small pup tent occupied by a bunch of angry old white men and fundamentalist loonies; or as I like to call them...the Irrelevant Right.

The Republicans may be down, but I wouldn't count them out. Still, as long as they are the party of obstructionism, torture, and general curmudgeonliness, they will have a hard time rebooting their damaged image. In the meantime, it's time for President Obama and a Democratic Congress to get things done that are long overdue...starting with universal healthcare for all Americans.

President Obama Put Humanity Before Dogma

Rejecting the politicization of science, President Obama today fulfilled a campaign promise to overturn the Bush era's ban of federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. The previous president had forbidden such funding on new stem cell lines based upon the ridiculous religious belief that places the rights of a clump of cells in a petrie dish ahead of the lives of people suffering from a variety of diseases. Embryonic stem cells are capable of forming any type of cell in the body, and such research holds great promise to find cures for a wide spectrum of ailments from spinal cord damage to Parkinson's Disease to Alzheimers. Religion and politics have been the enemy of scientific progress since before the church's misguided persecution of Galileo and Copernicus, and it remains to to this day. We have lost eight precious years. Thankfully, the new President has cast aside the Bush-era restrictions.

CLICK HERE for more.

They Still Don't Get It!

The Republican Party still doesn't get it. A group of GOP governors are making a big deal about rejecting the stimulus money for their states; money with which they could fund extended unemployment benefits for their citizens who are out of work. One such blowhard is the 36-year-old governor of Louisiana, Piyush "Bobby" Jindal. He has been highly visible lately, as the GOP handlers get him groomed to run for the Presidency. Jindal appeared on NBC's Meet the Press last weekend, and is slated to give the GOP response to the President's address to a joint session of Congress tonight.

That's fine, however Jindal knows that his rejection of the federal funds will not stand with both houses of the Louisiana legislature in Democratic hands. It is pure and simple, grandstanding for political purposes. Despite Senator John McCain's campaign of "Country First", the GOP still values political power over the welfare of their people. I heard on the radio today that Louisiana loses 480 jobs a day; yet the governor of that state thinks it is fine to reject funds to provide unemployment benefits to those people in his state who have lost their jobs in this god-awful economy.

Eight years of the GOP running a government bent on giving tax breaks to the wealthy and deregulating the corporations, has driven us to the point of total economic collapse. Even after that, the party of Lincoln has become the instrument of corporate control of the government. This is totally sickening.

President Obama is not perfect, and will definitely not get everything right. However, he is the hardest working man I have ever seen take on the office of the Presdent. He didn't miss a beat from election day on. Meanwhile the GOP plays hard ball politics, despite the Presidents strident efforts at bipartisanship. I say "screw 'em". Obama has tried and has seen nothing but obstructionist partisanship. Someone needs to tell the Republicans we voted for change. We tried it your way and you have nearly destroyed the nation. It's time to get on board or shut up!

Glenn Beck's Nine Principles

Talk show host, Glenn Beck, has laid out nine principles on his web site that he is using to rally his conservative base of listeners. He is saying if you believe in at least seven of the nine, "you are not alone". For the sake of discussion, I will list these principles, and then give my take on each. They are as follows:

The Nine Principles

1. America is good.

2. I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life.

3. I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.

4. The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government.

5. If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.

6. I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results.

7. I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.

8. It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion.

9. The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me.

So let's break these down, one by one.

1. America is good.

This statement is meaningless. America, as in The United States of America, is not a unified thing, but rather a collective of people of many types. Some are primarily "good", some are quite evil. Within any one individual, there are qualities that are both good, and not-so-good. The nature of America as a whole is a reflection of its constituent citizenry. While I believe that we probably have high ideals as a nation, I am not sure that you could use the adjective "good" in relation to any group of disparate people.

2. I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life.

While this statement is true of many people, it is not true of all. If a person's religion gives them a reason to treat their fellow human beings with respect and kindness, that is fine. However, history has shown us that religious fervor tends to drive men to acts of great evil, warfare, and killing in the name of their god. People create gods that love what they love, and hate what they hate. In other words, our gods are created in our image. I would imagine Osama bin Laden would agree with principle #2.

3. I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.

I can agree with this one, given the qualifier of understanding the benefits of tact and diplomacy; and that an honest character allows for tact and sparing of the feelings of others.

4. The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government.

I am not sure what Beck means by "sacred" as an adjective for family. I would agree that family is extremely important to most of us. I believe most of us would sacrifice greatly, perhaps even our own existence, for the benefit of our loved ones. Still, what is meant by "ultimate authority"? In personal matters, the individual should be their own authority in personal affairs. However, as part of a society, we also are not completely autonomous. None of us can individually overrule the laws of the society in which we live. I can see it now..."Honest officer, I say the speed limit is 90 miles per hour here, and I am the ultimate authority". Surely this is not what Beck means here, particularly given the next principle.

5. If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.

So although this seemingly is in contradiction to principle #4, Beck lists it here. I largely agree with this one, although we have seen political leaders of both parties act as if they are not subject to the laws they are empowered with creating and enforcing. Blind justice is an ideal, but in many cases not a reality, as there is a separate justice for those of wealth and power who can afford the best legal representation and tactics unavailable to the poor in our society.

6. I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results.

I agree, but it doesn't mean that we don't have responsibilities to the less fortunate.

7. I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.

This is related to #6. I strongly disagree with the direction Beck is taking here. The government levying taxes and then using some of those funds to provide for the less fortunate in our society is not forcing anyone to be "charitable"; rather it is a legitimate role of government. Even the most successful and wealthy people didn't make it without being part of a society that provided their opportunities. Given that, those with greater means have some responsibility back to the society that afforded them the chance to achieve their success. This should not be a nation of every man for himself, where the successful can say, "I've got mine. Too bad for you."

8. It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion.

I agree strongly with this one, despite the fact that the Bush Administration and its supporters were singing a different tune for the last eight years. Dissent is patriotic, and free speech a protected right.

9. The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me.

The government works for all of us collectively. It doesn't mean any one individual is in a position of authority over the government. In our democratic republic, we can elect our leaders, so in that sense I agree. However, I disagree with Beck, in that we all answer to government. They can levy taxes, pass laws to regulate our behavior, and even seize our assets by following due process.

So those are my thoughts on Beck's principles. I'd like to hear from you on this. Feel free to send me your comments.

Change We CAN Believe In

Until his final hours in office, George W. Bush couldn't think of a single mistake he made in office. That shouldn't have been a hard task. But today, after a rough day with his nominees' tax issues, President Barack Obama said, "I screwed up". Wow! A man willing to admit his mistakes and take responsibility for them. This is the kind of ethical change we needed in Washington!

From an MSNBC story HERE:

“Today was an embarrassment for us,” Obama said. He said he was “angry,” “disappointed” and “frustrated with myself” over the Daschle episode.

But the president claimed credit for appointing hundreds of “top notch” executive branch officials who have no tax problems.

The president continued:

Obama added, “I’ve got to own up to my mistake. Ultimately, it’s important for this administration to send a message that there aren’t two sets of rules, one for prominent people and one for ordinary folks who have to pay their taxes.”

Some of President Obama's detractors have accused his supporters of idealizing him into some kind of "messiah". Yet here we see an honest, ethical man with the ability to admit to his mistakes. That is something we haven't seen in the White House since perhaps Jimmy Carter or Gerald Ford.

Have They Killed The Goose?

A fable attributed to Aesop, from the Sixth Century B.C.E. tells the story of a couple who had a goose that laid golden eggs. They decided to kill the goose to get all the eggs inside it out at once, rather than waiting for it to lay them, only to find no eggs inside the goose. Oh, if only the greedy captains of American industry had heeded the wisdom of this ancient Greek story teller.

First it was investment banks and bad mortgages. Now we find the so-called "Big Three Automakers" on the verge of collapse. Though decades of poor management, taking multiple givebacks by the United Autoworkers Union, building cars that were sub par, and shipping American jobs to foreign nations, these companies find themselves in serious trouble, and could be the the thing that tips us into a major financial depression.

The inept, greedy CEOs of General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford flew in their mulitimillion-dollar private jets to sit in front of our representatives in Congress with their hands out, asking we, the American people, to give them money we don't have, from the public coffers. We find ourselves in a quandry. If these companies collapse, who will build our tanks and other military vehicles? Toyota?

I don't believe we can afford to let these companies collapse, only because of the economic tsunami that would ensue. However, any aid should be predicated upon ousting these inept management teams, requiring the return of jobs to the United States, and a clear plan to bring these companies back to profitability and repay the American taxpayer.

It seems that the entire house of cards is falling apart rapidly. I not only fear for our long term future, but for our short term survival as well. I have never felt this pessimistic about the future of this nation and its people. Many people pointed to the sudden collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989 as evidence of the flaws of the Communist economic system. I find it entirely feasible that we could see a similar collapse of the capitalist system of the U.S., and very rapidly also. This consumer-driven economy cannot forever sustain itself if people don't have jobs.

These clueless executives are more interested in getting free government money to sustain their own lavish lifestyles while changing nothing; rather than creating fundamental change in the way business is done in this country. Mr. Obama, I fear you have been dealt the biggest mess of any incoming president since Franklin Roosevelt, and perhaps since Abraham Lincoln. America is sending you to The White House to effect change. We have never needed it more.

Oklahoma, WTF?

I have written about some of the things I saw last week in Oklahoma. Now, I must say there are many things to like about The Sooner State, but their politics isn't one of them. Following the recent election, I was looking at state by state maps of how the counties went either for Obama or McCain. One thing became readily apparent; Oklahoma is the only state out of the fifty that did not have one single county that had a majority vote for Mr. Obama. Not one. Every county went red.

Now I can think of a number of reasons for this. The Oklahoma education system outside of the excellent OU and OSU is not the best. People tend to be less educated than the U.S. as a whole. Its two metropolitan areas, Oklahoma City and Tulsa, are not among the largest in the country. This is a state that also re-elected James Inhofe to the Senate. Yes, the same Inhofe who questions whether or not Mr. Obama loves America; the same James Inhofe who thinks global warming is a scam perpetrated by The Weather Channel. This is the state where young student, Brandy Blackbear, was expelled for allegedly placing a curse on a teacher that put him in the hospital.

So now we clearly see that Oklahoma once again reinforces the stereotype that it is a backwards-thinking state. When America overwhelmingly went for historic change, Oklahomans decided to stick with the GOP. In browsing the web about this phenomenon, I also found that former Oklahoma governor David Walters wrote about this on his blog in an entry titled, What's The Matter With Oklahoma?

As a native Oklahoman, I would love to see the state of my birth become more progressive. However, I fear the culture of ignorance makes such a change unlikely for the near term. Okies are, for the most part, good, hard working, and honest folks, who have endured a lot of hardship. However the combination of lack of opportunities, inadequate public education, and the ever present influence of fundamentalist Christianity holds them in an intellectual death grip.

Barack Obama in 2004

While watching the 2004 Democratic National Convention, I first saw a young state senator from Illinois, who was running for the United States Senate. He was selected to give the keynote address to the convention, and did a masterful job. While I never expected it to happen quite this fast, immediately after the address, I told the lovely spouse, "I think we just heard from the first black President of the United States." Sure enough, here we are just a bit over four years later, and Barack Obama is President-Elect of the United States. So let's take a look back at that speech from four years ago. Click below to see the future President's first major national address.

It's Over!

In victory, President-Elect Obama gave an inclusive and forward looking speech. In defeat, Senator McCain looked like the John McCain of old that most of us admired and missed during the campaign. If THIS John McCain had not disappeared during the campaign, and had he not chosen a bimbo for his running mate, he may have fared better. But ultimately, those were just add-ons. The economy and voter discontent where Republican rule has led us, are likely the reason for the landslide win by Obama.

Whether or not you voted for him, it's time for all of us to wish him the best, because if our President does well, our nation does well. I hope that as we see the new President in action, those who vilified him will give way to the realization that their fears and concerns were unfounded. This great country needs a reboot with fresh leadership. We have overwhelmingly voted for that change. Mr. Obama inherits a nation with an economy in extreme duress and two wars in progress. He has a big job ahead, and I am hopeful he will provide the new direction we need.

Finally!

Tomorrow is election day in the United States, and all of the disgusting, lying, mudslinging ads come to an end...for a while. It's about time!

Gettin' all Mavericky One Last Time

I won't miss the smarmy and lying attack ads after Tuesday, but I surely will miss all the great stuff on Saturday Night Live this political season. It has arguably been the best political season on SNL since Chevy Chase portrayed a bumbling Gerald Ford. Here is last night's appearance by John McCain and Tina Fey, portraying John McCain and Sarah Palin.

It Has To Stop

I have thought for a long time that there are nutcases out there who would cause harm to Senator Obama if they could, for reasons ranging from rabid racism to pure hatred. Yet I have not spoken about it for not wanting to even entertain such ideas. Yet today, the BATF broke up a plot by some neoNazi skinheads from Tennessee to murder 88 black Americans, 14 of them by beheading, then topping off their murder spree by taking the life of Senator Barack Obama. There were also previous plots that have been foiled, such as one to kill the Democratic Presidential nominee during the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

While it is true that these sick and twisted excuses of human beings don't require any encouragement, the rhetoric from the GOP is not helpful. Calling your political opponent a socialist, saying he "Pals around with terrorists", and other vitriolic nonsense only feeds the fires of hate. It is time that such hate mongering to stop in American politics. Now. If something horrific were to happen, I would hold people who spew such garbage for potential political gain partially responsible. When your crowds shout "Kill Him" and "Terrorist" about your opponent, something evil has taken hold in the nation.

And it isn't just extremists. Look at the video below to see the inane comments by the crowd going to a McCain-Palin rally. Unbelievable. It has to stop.

Quick Hits on a Friday Morning

Well, it's been another busy, busy week, hence the lack of postings. More to come this weekend, but let's take note of a few things.

Wall Street Roller Coaster

Unbelievable insanity continues in the economy, as the DJIA drops over 400 points in the opening minutes this morning. As always, it will be the people who just work hard every day will pay the price in decimated retirement and job losses. This is bad news for the Republican ideals of "I got mine, too bad for you", as people who have jobs and health insurance suddenly find themselves with neither. Maybe the greed will finally give way to real compassion and the realization that we are all interconnected, and that freedom from want is truly an American...and yes, a human, ideal.

Wasting Political Donations

Did you give donations to the Republicans? If so, are you angry that over $150,000 of your funds went into new outfits for Caribou Barbie? Governor Palin claims to be a typical hockey mom. How many hockey moms can drop that kind of cash at Neiman Marcus and Saks? I suspect real hockey moms are starting to abandon even shopping at Kohls and Mervyns, and heading to the Goodwill Store in today's economy. I guess it takes some mighty fancy lipstick to dress up a pit bull!

If you want to play along, you can dress up Governor Palin by CLICKING HERE.

Good News on the Horizon for MS Patients

British scientists at Cambridge University have found that alemtuzumab, a drug used to treat leukemia, can not only stop the effects of Multiple Sclerosis, but actually can reverse the damage caused by this horrible disease. Further testing must take place, but this is potentially great news for people who suffer daily with MS. CLICK HERE for more on this story.