Thursday, September 27, 2012
Thank You, Occupy
I don’t know what the ultimate fate of the Occupy movement
will be, but it can already take credit for one achievement that is having a
profound effect on this presidential election. During its short but fateful
“fifteen minutes of fame,” Occupy was able to bring into the national
discussion the obscene disparities in wealth and opportunity between the 99%
and the 1%. The numbers continue to pop
up in news stories across the political spectrum, and continue to elicit debate
around the gross inequality that exists between the tiny percentage of the rich
“haves” and the rest of us.
The timing and impact of the 1 vs. 99 paradigm couldn’t have
been more important. Why? Because right at this point in history we have a
presidential candidate in Mitt Romney who represents everything wrong and
repulsive with the wealthy elite in America, and he is on public display for
everyone to see. The arrogance, hubris, greed, sense of entitlement, and total
lack of empathy is laid bare for voters on a daily basis. Mitt only needs to
open his mouth to expose his elitist, pompous attitude. Behind the fifties TV
dad good looks is a vile Gollum-like creature with no soul who’s only desire is
making and keeping his precious wealth.
So thank you Occupy.
Were it not for you, voters would have had a much more difficult time seeing
the real Mitt Romney and what he actually stands for, which is more for the 1%
and less for the 99%.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Monday, September 17, 2012
Crazy Talk
This
presidential campaign cycle has already established itself as noteworthy for
exposing the insanely extremist, racist, ill-informed attitudes now prevalent
within the Republican Party. Although code words are still used in abundance as
they were in the past (welfare=blacks, elites=liberals, values= white Christian
values), today’s Republicans are not too shy (or sensible enough) to hide their
true beliefs under a bushel basket.
Here
is a collection of just a few of the more notable and notorious quotes from
Republicans during our current race for the White House. And it ain’t over yet,
folks.
"We
will never have the media on our side, ever, in this country. We will never
have the elite, smart people on our side."
Rick
Santorum
"From
what I understand from doctors, that's really rare (pregnancy caused by rape). If it's a legitimate
rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.
Rep.
Todd Akin (R-Mo.)
Knowledge-Based
Education - We oppose the teaching of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS)
(values clarification), critical thinking skills and similar programs that are
simply a relabeling of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) (mastery learning) which
focus on behavior modification and have the purpose of challenging the
student's fixed beliefs and undermining parental authority."
From
the Texas Republican 2012 platform
"Corporations
are people, my friend…of course they are.”
Mitt
Romney
“I’m
not concerned about the very poor, we have a safety net there, if we need to
repair, I’ll fix it. I’m not concerned about the very rich, they’re doing just
fine. I’m concerned about the very heart of
America,
the 90-95 percent of Americans who are struggling, and I’ll continue to take
that message across the country.”
Mitt
Romney
“Juarez
(Mexico) is reported to be the most dangerous city in America.”
Rick
Perry
“Let
Detroit go bankrupt.”
Mitt
Romney
“Don’t
try to stop the foreclosure process. Let it run its course and hit the
bottom.”
Mitt
Romney
“Planned
Parenthood, we’re going to get rid of that.”
Mitt
Romney
“I
don’t care what the unemployment rate’s going to be. Doesn’t matter to me. My
campaign doesn’t hinge on unemployment rates and growth rates.”
Rick
Santorum
“I
don’t care what fact check says. The President’s apologizing for the American
position. That’s the apology tour.”
Rep.
Peter King (R-NY)
“The idea that a congressman
would be tainted by accepting money from private industry or private sources is
essentially a socialist argument.”
Newt Gingrich
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
New revelations about the 9/11 attacks
On this anniversary of 9/11, there is an article in today’s New York Times revealing new evidence
that the Bush Administration was warned on numerous occasions prior to 9/11
that terrorists were planning a major assault on American soil. The Bush people
only turned over one briefing from the CIA discussing an imminent attack to the
9/11 Commission — the infamous “Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.” memo —
but the author of the Times article
has seen a number of other classified terrorist warnings issued by intelligence
sources, some with a sense of urgency that is alarming.
Many 9/11 conspiracy theories are ridiculous in their
intricacy and absurd levels of involvement, but I am one who does not believe
the 9/11 Commission did a thorough or credible job of getting at the truth
behind the horrible events that happened in Manhattan 11 years ago today, and
the Times article bears this view out.
While there may not have been an active government conspiracy behind the plane
attacks, we are now learning that the Bush Administration was not being
truthful about the level or number of warnings issued prior to the events of
that day. That’s not tinfoil hat Illuminati ravings, but the cold hard truth.
There are only two conclusions to be drawn from this new
information. The first, and the most likely, is that the level of incompetence
in the Bush Administration was even higher than we imagined. The author of the
article attempts to analyze what might have been going through the minds of
officials who were privy to the briefings and did nothing, but the lack of
action to the dire warnings of the CIA is emblematic of an Administration
shackled by ideological blinders, cronyism and a world-view at odds with
reality (remember hurricane Katrina).
The second conclusion is definitely more cynical, but not
out of the realm of possibility. Based on what we know of Bush and company’s
pathological hatred of Saddam Hussein, it is possible that there were members
of the Administration who were looking for an excuse to invade Iraq, and understood
that a terrorist attack could provide just the right cover story. Perhaps the
inaction of the Bushies was not incompetence, but a calculated strategy for
propelling us into war with the despised dictator.
We may never know exactly what happened in the run up to the
9/11 tragedy, but today’s Times
article makes it clear to me that there is still more to learn about that
fateful day.
Wednesday, September 05, 2012
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