The Democratic Party: Fighting For More of the Same

For all of the articles about the turmoil in the Republican Party over Trump’s successes in the primaries so far, I am much more concerned about what’s going on in the Democratic Party between Clinton and Sanders. The Party (the DNC, celebrity Democrats, the Whitehouse, the media, etc.) has already put the crown on Clinton’s head and is working overtime to make sure it stays there. From shady shenanigans at polling places to national headlines blaring Clinton’s inevitable victory to the Democratic National Committee’s unabashed support for Hillary, the Dem establishment is doing everything it can to make Bernie Sanders go away.

I find this all very troubling. Sanders truly represents what the Democratic Party should be about, but our leaders have been brainwashed over the years by Republicans into believing that only centrist, “realistic” (tough on crime, militaristic, fiscally conservative) Democrats can win elections. Sanders is already proving them wrong, and that’s making them very uncomfortable.

Since Ronald Reagan won the presidency 36 years ago, the Democratic Party has shifted to the right, believing wrongly that if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. Yes, we’ve won four Presidential elections since then, but look at the state of our nation. George Bush took this country down a dark and dangerous road after 9/11, and instead of trying to clean up the mess as he said he would, Obama has embraced it. Ever since he’s been on the national stage, Obama has talked like a liberal, but acted like a centrist Republican. Sanders is the only candidate who sounds and acts like a Democrat.

The Democratic establishment should be 100 percent behind Sanders, instead they are repeating the strategy that Bill Clinton and Obama used to win their elections: talk like a liberal until elected, then play it down the middle.  Hillary is the establishment choice, the “safe” choice, the choice that Wall Street and K Street can live with. With its actions this election cycle, the Democratic Party continues to willingly disenfranchises not only the left wing of the party, but other Democrats who simply want real change instead of Clinton II, with the attitude of, “Where else you gonna go?” The two major political parties have way too much say about who sits in the White House and it will take a major public upheaval to break their stranglehold.

Jeb Bush's America

Republicans Intent on Destroying America to Save It

Members of America’s Republican party must be suffering from some kind of mass psychosis, a party-wide mental breakdown that has negatively affected their already questionable ability to think beyond simply remembering to breath and eat. New Hampshire Republicans who went to the polls yesterday gave Donald Trump a large primary victory with nearly twice as many votes as the second place candidate, John  “Extreme-long-shot” Kasich.

What could be going on in those pointy little wingnut heads? Some possibilities:

- Republicans simply don’t care what Trump says. He’s big, loud and never apologies, and he makes liberals lose their minds. He’s perfect Presidential material.

- While few Republicans would openly admit this, many would be fine with a dictator like Trump. He looks, acts and talks like a third-world despot, and apparently that’s a turn on for a lot of conservatives. Also, Trump shows open disdain for the Constitution, a document many conservatives would love to torch and replace with the Bible.

- Republicans would rather destroy America than leave it in the hands of liberals. Some evangelical Christians believe we are living in the End Times, when true believers will be whisked up to heaven, and the rest of us will remain earth bound, re-enacting the The Purge. What better President to have in office than Trump who, through the sheer power of his stupidity and arrogance, could single-handedly bring about the end of the world.

Whatever the reasons, Republicans seem intent on destroying democracy in America and replacing it with something else resembling a dictatorship. A vote for Trump is clearly a vote against the America created by our founding fathers.

Yes, Ted Cruz is That Bad

This is without question the most surreal, Twilight Zonish election cycle that I’ve ever witnessed, and I’ve survived 10 different administrations during my lifetime. We have a Democratic socialist versus a moderate, establishment Dem, and a cast reunion of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” on the Republican side. Of all the outrageous lies and accusations that have been spewed by Trump, et. al., perhaps the most telling moment of the campaign so far for me was an unscripted moment between Ted Cruz and one of his daughters.

No one likes Ted Cruz with the exception of a small sliver of neurologically underdeveloped white evangelical Christians, who wouldn’t care if he sacrificed a goat onstage and drank its blood as long as his speeches are peppered with the appropriate code words that all translate into “We privileged white Christians are under attack and we must fight back. I will lead our holy army.”

The Cruz problem that the rest of us have is that he’s a smarmy, self-righteous liar who will do and say anything to win the Republican nomination. Come on, you say, can he really be that bad? I respond confidently with, “Yes, he can.”

Witness one Rafael Edward “Ted” Cruz, a Republican Presidential candidate and family man with two daughters. The video was supposed to be a tender, “behind-the-scenes” clip of Cruz demonstrating his “warmth” by hugging his oldest daughter, but then reality struck. As Cruz approaches his daughter Caroline, she begins flicking her finger at him in an awkward, “Don’t come any closer” gesture. But father Cruz, not wanting to let the potential aw-inspiring ad spot be wasted, pushes toward the girl, smiling insanely, and then grabbing her as if she is throwing an uncontrollable temper tantrum. Caroline pushes against him with her hands until he finally lets her down, his phony smile disappearing as she runs away from him.

Wow. The members of your own family treat you like a creepy stranger. The problem for Ted is that the longer the election cycle, the more you get to know him and the less you like him. In recent interviews, even his college roommates and acquaintances dissed him for being an arrogant, religious ass.

All of the Republican candidates have their unique problems that should disqualify them from holding any elected office, let alone the Presidency, but as we see and hear more and more of Ted Cruz the man, it is becoming apparent he may in fact, be the worst of the lot. And that, friends, is pretty damn bad.

Random “After-the-Iowa-caucus” thoughts:

Very happy to see that Bernie Sanders did as well as he did against Hillary in Iowa. It’s especially gratifying to watch someone fight against the Goliath Democratic election machine backing Hillary and pull out a David-like win (with a virtual tie).  Historically, Iowa hasn’t been a good barometer for who will actually win the nomination, but it seems to me that if Bernie can generate the kind of enthusiasm and involvement he had in Iowa, he can do that in other states as well.

Cruz, Rubio and Trump come out on top on the Republican ticket, in that order.  Alternate media is having a field day with Trump’s loss to Cruz, but again, what happens in Iowa is not a reliable predictor of who will eventually win the nomination. Trump is still very much in the race, but we can relish his “loser” status for a bit.

Speaking of the despicable Ted Cruz, just today he sent out a mailer to his supporters that is so far over the op it’s not even visible by the human eye. Claiming America is “under assault” from Islamic fanatics, it has an image of the Lincoln Memorial with old Abe dressed up like an ISIS terrorist strapped with an AK47, scarf-covered face and large hunting knife in one hand. The fear mongering here is off the charts, with absolutely no facts to support his wild assertions. The copy is all sixth-grade bluster about killing the terrorists and restoring America’s greatness. Trump is a narcissistic blowhard, but Cruz is something even more evil and diabolical. His religious values are medieval and he seems to take them very seriously, and you know if he were elected President he would do everything in his power to turn America into a theocracy.  With Trump we’d at least get some entertainment value watching Richie Rich convert the White House into a casino.

Do Those Who Endorse Hillary Realize How Broken America Is?

It’s disappointing, but not entirely surprising, to read that people and organizations you respect are endorsing Hillary Clinton for President, like Al Franken, Paul Krugman, LGBT Group, Human Rights Campaign and even Barack Obama. Krugman, Obama and others are arguing that real change (which Obama promised, but failed to deliver) requires strategic, incremental steps, and won’t be accomplished by someone as radical as Bernie Sanders. In other words, Hillary is the safe, establishment Democrat who won’t upset the oligarchs who actually run America.

There is a sense of hopelessness in all of this. Establishment Democrats seem to be throwing in the towel and admitting that we have a broken system that is beyond repair, and Hillary won’t rock the boat by trying. Everyone is afraid of Sanders except a huge chunk of the American people, who are trying to make change happen before our streets ignite in protests, and perhaps violence, over our unresponsive, undemocratic government. 

While the establishment Democrats endorse one of their own to take the helm of our sinking ship America, Republicans continue their assault on democracy. Senator Mitch “Yurtle the Turtle” McConnell introduced a resolution for the authorization of military force that gives the President more unilateral power to wage war across the globe, essentially cutting Congress out of the process and giving the President the powers of a dictator. Democratic Senator Chris Murphy calls it “…a total rewrite of the War Powers Clause in the U.S. Constitution.” 

The radical right in this country does not believe in democracy, and, with its numbers quickly dwindling, it is using what power it has left to bring about their preferred form of government, a fascist dictatorship. They have already succeeded in creating an oligarchy, but that’s not enough. If they ever get another one of their own in the White House, they want him to have Putin-like powers to force their deluded ideology onto the American people and crush dissent quickly and violently. Sounds like a Trump rally, doesn’t it?

As President, Hillary Clinton will not stand up to the oligarchs because she is one of them. Her husband did their bidding in the 1990s and she will continue to do it as President. The Democratic Hillary endorsers are the true political cynics of the day, weak-need enablers who, for a variety of reasons (none of them good), feel it is preferred to “work within the system” instead of fighting it. The problem with this is that the system is far beyond the point of a few tweaks here and there to set things right. Washington has become a façade like an Old West movie set, a cover for the dark forces to work behind for their own agenda, and Bernie Sanders is the only candidate willing to take on these puppet masters. It’s a Quixotic effort to be sure, but to do nothing, or elect someone President who will do nothing,  is not an option.

A Song Commemorating the Bundy Siege

Mamas, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Morons

(To the tune of…well, you know)

Morons ain't easy to love and they're harder to hold.

They’re heads are all empty and hearts that are icy cold.

Holding a gun they like to play tough

But anger is all they know

Most don’t understand him, and don’t care to try

They just want him to go

Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be morons.
Don't let 'em hear Rush or listen to country songs.
And don’t let them vote for Trump.
Mamas don't let your babies grow up to be morons.
'Cos they'll never be right and just want to fight.
For every idea that is wrong

Morons like smoky old back rooms and facts they make up

FOX bloviators and gas-guzzling pick up trucks.

They love the word freedom but clearly don’t know what it means
or how a democracy works

His thoughts are a jumble of clichés and myths

Let’s face it he’s clearly a jerk.

Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be morons.

Don't let 'em hear Rush or listen to country songs.
And don’t let them vote for Trump.
Mamas don't let your babies grow up to be morons.
'Cos they'll never be right and just want to fight.
For every idea that is wrong.

The Big Picture of the American Economy, and It's Not Pretty

Since 1978, the cost of:*

College tuition has increased by 1,120%

Medical care has increased by 601%

Food has increased by 244%

Shelter has gone up by 380%

Meanwhile, the pay of:

A typical worker rose by just 10%

Minimum wage workers fell by 5.5%

The average CEO increased by 937%

*Sources: EPI, Bloomberg, US Labor Department

Palin and Trump: The Real Life Dumb and Dumber

If you haven’t seen Sarah Palin’s speech endorsing Donald Trump for President, you are missing out on an unforgettable moment in political theater.  Sporting a tinsel covered shawl, Alaska’s favorite deranged daughter delivered a word salad of unhinged attacks on Obama, the “lamestream media” and, somewhere in the cacophony of sounds, endorsed Donald Trump for President.

Like the head cheerleader at a high school pep rally, Palin became more animated and her voice grew louder as she blathered on in her attempt to rally the mindless around her favorite billionaire and garner a job in the Trump administration should, God help us all, that become a reality. As for the Donald, he stood uncomfortably at her side, arms dangling helplessly, with a tense grin that screamed, “Please shoot me now.”

With a combined IQ in double digits and the vocabulary of a fourth grader, Palin and Trump represent the absolute worst America has to offer, and they truly deserve each other. Palin may have a drinking problem, as some have suggested, but it’s her thinking problem that is the biggest threat to America’s future.

Obama, Sanders and the Shadow Government

I just watched an interesting interview of NSA whistleblower Russ Tice. His name is not well known, but he was one of the very first whistleblowers to reveal that the NSA was illegally spying on everyone, including politicians, media outlets and private citizens. He brought this to the public’s attention back in 2005, but was literally ignored by everyone because he had no verification of his allegations. It was only after Snowden’s documented revelations about the NSA that Tice’s claims were substantiated.

Now one of the most interesting parts of the interview was when Tice said that the NSA had been tracking and watching Barack Obama since as far back as 2004, before he took office as a senator from Illinois. He had given a powerful speech at the Democratic National Convention, and this was apparently the incident that caught the eye of the NSA.

To me, this information is a very important piece of the puzzle that is Barack Obama. Why has so little been done to rein in the illegal and unconstitutional activities of the American Surveillance State? Why have the President and Congress failed to take any meaningful measures to assure our privacy, but have instead defended the NSA and CIA at every opportunity? Why did Obama campaign so passionately about change, but then leave in place almost every security measure Bush and Cheney created?

To me, the answer becomes more and more apparent. Our spy agencies know everything there is to know about Obama, his administration and members of Congress. You pick a fight with the spy masters at your peril, because if you do, you might find your past indiscretions suddenly becoming media headlines if you’re lucky, and if you’re not, you may end up having an unfortunate car or plane accident.

There is a shadow government in America, and it is run by unelected officials at the highest levels of the security, military and industrial complex. They set policies and priorities and they tell Congress and the President what to do. I have been hard on Obama over the years, but I also understand that there have probably been many things that he wanted to do, but was prevented from doing them by his secret overlords. 

The criminal Bush family and Dick Cheney helped create this nightmare scenario, and now it controls everyone who comes into contact with it. My greatest fear right now is for Bernie Sanders. He is the one candidate that is actually a threat to the shadow government, and I worry because I am certain they will never let him enter the White House. It will all go away if he loses the primary to Hillary, but should he win the Democratic nomination, the Eye of Sauron will quickly be focused on him and every effort will be made to stop him from becoming President.

Obama’s State of the Union Address: Inspiring Words Distract Us From the Ugly Reality

Last night Obama gave his final State of the Union Address. As usual, his words were inspiring, hopeful and eloquent but, as one Salon headline read this morning: “The depressing lesson of Obama’s final State of the Union Address: Everything’s still broken.”

It’s always been hard to dislike Obama. He’s smart, articulate and has a good sense of humor, and he has had some successes as President that were very hard fought against the Congressional Confederacy of Dunces. But for me, it’s as much about all of the things that Obama didn’t do as it is about his victories. The nightmarish legacy of George Bush lived on in the Obama years, even though Obama was elected on a promise to change direction.

War continues to engulf the Middle East and Eastern Europe, and we still play a major role in these conflicts. Although there are fewer boots on the ground in the region than during Bush’s tenure, we continue to stir the pot of violence with drone strikes, bombings and “advisors” pursuing American interests. As insane as it seems, we managed to pull Russia into the fray and we all teeter on the razor’s edge of a world war. This is hardly the peace and prosperity we hoped for from Obama.

The monster that Bush and Cheney built, the American Surveillance State, is alive and well on Obama’s watch. Seven years later we still live under the unconstitutional Patriot Act, and the CIA, NSA and all of the other spy shops are humming along nicely with Obama’s blessings. Not only did Obama fail to reign in Big Brother, he chose to focus his attention on prosecuting whistleblowers instead of the illegal activities of his surveillance agencies.

As for the economy yes, it has improved somewhat under Obama, but the larger economic picture in America today is very far from bright. Consider a few statistics:

• Most Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. At this point, 62 percent of all Americans have less than $1,000 in their savings accounts, and 21 percent of Americans do not have any savings at all.
• It’s estimated that 43 percent of all American households spend more money than they make each month.
• The Pew Research Center found that median wealth for middle class households dropped by an astounding 28 percent between 2001 and 2013.
• According to the Social Security Administration, 51 percent of all American workers make less than $30,000 a year.
• The U.S. ranks only 19^th in the world when it comes to median wealth per adult.
• For each of the past six years, more businesses have closed in the United States than have opened. Prior to 2008, this had never happened before in all of U.S. history.
• In 2007, about one in every eight children in America was on food stamps. Today, the number is one of every five.
• The top 0.1 percent of all American families have about as much wealth as the bottom 90 percent of all American families combined.

 There are many more depressing economic statistics that could be added to this list, but the trend is clear — while some aspects of the economy have improved since the Bush years, we are stagnating or losing ground in many very important areas and the American economy is far from healthy. No one says Obama is totally to blame for this situation, but he has failed to even attempt to take the bold steps necessary to address income inequality, tax reform and the criminal activities of Wall Street and America’s largest banks.

I predict history will be kind to Obama and his legacy. Compared to Bush, he seems like the ideal Commander in Chief, but when you look past the man and his rhetoric, you see a President leaving behind a country that has devolved from a democracy to a full-fledged oligarchy where “the people” are growing poorer by the day and have almost no say in how the country is run. With Obama’s departure, the Deep State is more powerful than ever, and our first African American President has unfortunately been merely another puppet to amuse and distract a pliable populace.

Angry White Men with Guns Issue Their Demands

After several days occupying the administrative building at the Burns, Oregon Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Ammon Bundy and his band of patriots have written down their demands and given them to the press. That’s Going Too Far! has obtained a copy and presents it here unedited.

Dear American Patriots,

Dear white Christian Americans, you have suffered long enough. Under the stifling rule of King Obama the Kenyon, you have watched your freedoms crumble and felt the yoke of slavery placed around your neck. The government wants your guns, your land and your freedom to be an idiot forcibly taken from you. I can’t live like this and neither can you. It’s time to man up to the American Gestapo and shoot our way to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We will end our protest when, and only when, the following demands are met.

1.     Barack Obama needs to resign the presidency immediately and assume the roll of White House doorman. An amendment must be attached to the Constitution making it illegal for anyone to run for President who 1) has a foreign sounding name, 2) is of the female persuasion, 3) was born above the Mason/Dixon line, 4) has an IQ over 100.

2.     All federal land must be distributed to white ranchers living adjacent to said land. We’d give it back to the injuns if we thought they’d do something useful with it, but they’ll just pitch tee pees and dance around in their underwear.

3.     Gun ownership in America must be MANDATORY. More guns in the hands of patriots like us will make this country a safer place to live, and if you can’t see the logic of that, I’ll blow your fucking head off because you’re too stupid to live.

4.     Abolish all state and federal income taxes. Lost revenue will be replaced by a sales tax on certain items including BMWs, skinny leg jeans, foreign cheeses and wines, books, Birkenstocks, jazz and classical CDs, sparkling water and anything else that liberal traitors buy.

5.     The following organizations are to be closed down and criminalized by the government: Planned Parenthood, PBS, ACLU, Black Panthers, the Democratic Party, MSNBC, mosques, coffee shops, anything with the name “boutique” in it, yoga places and the internet.

6.     The following individuals are to be rounded up and imprisoned for their traitorous behavior: Michael Moore, Bernie Sanders, Jane Fonda, Steven Colbert, John Stewart, Al Franken, Bill and Hillary Clinton, and everyone who lives in San Francisco, Portland and Hollywood,

God Bless America!

Trump Says He Would Eat a Live Baby to Keep America Safe

Last night’s Republican debate produced some of the most heated moments of the 2016 Presidential race to date. The debate among the Republican frontrunners had the candidates in a verbal sparing match after a moderator asked the question: “What would you do to keep America safe from terrorism.” Former neurosurgeon Ben Carson answered first.

“At this very moment, I have a team of engineers working on what I call “TerrorScan,” a walk-through scanning device much like the ones used at airports, except this machine will detect terrorists. As President, I will make sure that every Muslim who comes to our shores will have to pass through the “TerrorScan.”

Ted Cruz spoke next.

“That’s a ridiculous idea, Ben. As your next President, l will only allow Muslims into America if they denounce Islam and convert to Christianity. Islam is a religion that breeds violence, totally unlike Christianity, which is a religion of peace. I will create a Christianity test all Muslims will need to take and pass in order to enter this country.”

Carly Fiorina responded.

“I will deny entry to any Muslim. If you haven’t seen the video of terrorists beheading nuns and wiping their rear ends with pages from the Bible, I urge you to watch it. It is horrifying and I don’t want those things to go on in my America. No more Muslims.”

But the loudest roar of approval from the audience came after Donald Trump’s unusually brief statement.

“How would I keep America safe from terrorists? I tell you, I would do anything to keep this country safe. This is serious business. If you came up to me and said, “Donald, the only thing that will keep America safe is if you eat a baby alive, then I would do it. I make that promise to you here and now. I would do it.”

After the debate, some pundits worried that Trump might lose the “mother vote,” but Trump’s campaign clarified his comment, saying that Donald would only eat an orphan baby.

Looney Tunes Tuesday: Your Daily News (with a cat thrown in)

The news on most days is generally a soul-numbing compendium of human violence, ignorance and hubris, but today’s stories seem particularly otherworldly. Here are snapshots of a few of this morning’s most entertaining stories.

The Woodland, NC Planning Commission banned a solar farm for fear it would suck up the sun’s energy and harm nearby vegetation.

Responding to a vague 911 call about a suspicious person in an Atlanta, Georgia neighborhood, cops broke into the wrong home, shot the homeowner’s dog, the homeowner and a fellow cop.

Donald Trump says EPA water regulations prevent him from washing his hair properly.

A Grand Rapids man took his rifle to a convenience store to kill a Muslim. He forced the dark-skinned cashier to the back room and put the rifle barrel in the man’s mouth, saying “I shot people like you overseas in the Middle East.” Problem was, the convenience store clerk was Indian and not a Muslim. He fought off the rifleman, but sustained a gunshot to his cheek.

The hottest product in China right now is bottled fresh air from Canada. In a related story, a Japanese company is selling a fabric spray that contains the scent of a cat’s forehead.

Speaking of Japan, in recent days 14 mysterious boats have washed up on Japanese shores containing two dozen headless and badly decomposed bodies. Many think the dead are from North Korea.

And in the “to nobody’s surprise” section, recently revealed documents show that the United States has been turning a blind eye to Shi’ite militias in Iraq who have been torturing and murdering Sunni jihadists for over 10 years, adding greatly to the instability of the region.

The Corporate Media And Their Biased Coverage of Bernie Sanders

Fingers can point in many directions to explain the relatively rapid descent of America into a political morass where an egomaniacal fascist like Donald Trump can be considered a serious candidate for the Presidency — income inequality, the death of the Middle Class, Wall Street greed, the rise of the surveillance state, constant war — but at the top of my list is the corporate media.

President Eisenhower’s warning about the rise of the “military/industrial complex” is heavily cited as a forecast that unfortunately came true, but there arose a third force that Ike did not see at the time that now forms a triumvirate of nightmarish influence over this country, the corporate media.

Owned by a handful of extremely wealthy elitists, the corporate media is the one percent’s propaganda tool used to keep Americans distracted, uninformed and good little consumers. A most recent example of this is the skewed coverage of the candidates running for President by the major news outlets.

According to the Tyndall Report, which tracks stories on the network news programs, between January 1, 2015 and the end of November, ABC “World News Tonight” devoted 81 minutes of coverage to Donald Trump and less than one minute to Bernie Sanders. The report found that all of the major news programs were guilty of Trump overkill with a total of 234 total network minutes for the Donald compared to just 10 minutes of reporting on Sanders. That’s over almost a year period.

There are two reasons for this obvious bias on the part of the mainstream corporate media. First there’s entertainment value. Trump is outrageous, monstrous and a born entertainer. He shocks every time he opens his mouth and that makes for great entertainment (under the guise of news) that viewers eat up, whether their Republicans or Democrats. Sanders, on the other hand, is seen as a crotchety old man and too much of a scold. Boooring.

But there’s a stealthier effort going on here as well. Of all the candidates running for President, none of them represent as big a threat to the elites as Sanders. For all of his insane statements, Trump is one of them, and Sanders is definitely not. Sanders and his Democratic Socialist agenda represent a threat to the status quo, the deep state the ruling elite, and because of this, they want him on television, and exposed to the public, as little as possible.

Just like Time magazine’s failure to make Sanders “Person of the Year” despite his win in the popularity poll, the corporate press will do everything in its power to keep the progressive Democrat in the wings, while giving the howling fascist demagogue Trump center stage.

Short Scary Story - The Boy in the Mirror

You're son is a budding psychopath who claims he's being controlled by a boy in his bedroom mirror. Is it just his twisted imagination or something more? Find out at That's Going Too Far!

Should We Allow America To Destroy Itself in Order To Save It?

Ralph Nader has been saying it for decades: The two-party system in America is a lose/lose game, with both parties prostrating themselves to the moneyed gods of Wall Street and K Street while the American people sink deeper into a listless sleep to avoid dealing with the ugly reality of a dying democracy.

A recent article in Salon grapples with the issue that Nader and others have raised, which is, at its core, that we may need to let America hit rock bottom before a large swath of citizens will wake up to the reality that conservative ideology in general, and the Republican Party in particular, offer nothing that will help this country become a healthy democracy again.

The title of the Salon article is, “Just Let the Republicans Win: Maybe Things Have to Get Really Bad for America to Wake Up.” The author discusses the pros and cons of not voting for Hillary if she receives the nomination from the Democrats, and I think many of the arguments are on the money. If we progressives keep acquiescing to the establishment Democrats, we will keep getting candidates like Bill Clinton, Kerry, Obama and now Hillary, luke warm liberals who, once they’re in office, rush to the ideological center to keep the one percent happy.

Roosevelt’s New Deal may not have seen the light of day if not for the Great Depression. We as a country might need to fall hard again to remind ourselves that America is supposed to have a government of, for and by the people, not the billionaires or corporations or the military/industrial/media complex.

Like the Salon article’s author, I have yet to decide what I’ll do if Hillary wins the Democratic nomination. The one option not discussed in the essay is a massive write in campaign for Sanders. Either way, 2016 could be the election when progressives say enough is enough, and let this country have the President it deserves.

Unveiling the Cheney Bust: U.S. Honors an International Criminal

On Friday, the House of Representatives unveiled a marble bust of Dick Cheney in the Emancipation Hall of the U.S. Capital. Instead of putting Cheney and the rest of the Bush administration in jail for crimes against humanity, he is honored with a statue and lauded by those attending the ceremony (including Vice President Joe Biden) for his illusionary service to his country.

To mark this display of unbelievable hubris, I offer this new definition of American Exceptionalism: If you are exceptionally rich and powerful, you can get away with anything.

More Facts to Shut Up Your Ignorant Uncle Al This Holiday Season

In a recent poll of historians, 61% agreed that George W. Bush was the worst President the United States has ever had. So as you try to enjoy your eggnog at the Christmas family gathering, but a drunk Uncle Al starts yapping about how bad a President Obama is, use your phone to pull up this handy chart, and tell Uncle Al to shut his pie hole. You're welcome.

Hate America? Vote Republican.

Where do we as a society draw the line between far right wing ideology and mental illness? How have we gotten to the point in the United States where we will have a presidential election featuring one candidate who straddles that grey line, who makes Elmer Fudd look like a Mensa member, and who, if elected President, will almost certainly drag our country into the depths of despair?

Think about a President who would condone the actions of the American terrorist who killed three people at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado. Think about a President who doesn’t believe in man-made global warning and who’ll do nothing to reduce our toxic emissions, and may even push to increase them. Think about a President who doesn’t accept the separation of church and state, and actively pushes an agenda to make America a Christian theocracy. Think about a President who prefers war to diplomacy and sees violent intervention as a strategy of first choice. And finally, think about a President who does not understand or care about our Constitution, and who will think nothing of violating it in the pursuit of creating an ultra-conservative/fascist government.

Our system of governance in America is broken. Next November, we will likely have a choice between a Wall Street-endorsed establishment Democrat and a borderline mental case. This is what we’ve come to, and to all of the liberals and progressives who are in denial, who are certain Cruz or Carson or Trump could never win the White House, all I can say is wake the fuck up. Our elections are rigged and have nothing to do with the will of the people. If the one percent and the Deep State want a Republican to win, a Republican will win.

Although I’m not Harold Camping predicting the end of the world, I think America is at a crossroads. Should any one of the Republican candidates prove victorious next November, it will herald the end of the United States as most of us know it. Our country already has serious problems that need to be addressed, from income inequality to campaign finance reform to a crumbling infrastructure, and the only thing I can say for certain is that if a Republican is elected President, all of those issues and more will only get worse.