The downfall of the Republican Party

The Republican Party has become the chameleon party. A party that is most concerned with pushing the extreme in order to get elected.

The Republican party, over the last few decades, has changed their colors so many times that those holding office under the party name have no idea where to stand from day to day.

When the tea party made their takeover of the Republican Party with their calls for smaller government, the party thought they had to fall in line. The problems lie in the fact that no Republican has ever created a smaller government. They just don’t know how, so they have been stumbling like a drunk who is off balance.

The Republican view is one in which the government needs to have stricter control of the public, as is evident in many laws being fostered in the halls of Washington these days. The right wrongly states that the laws they are creating will lessen the role of government, but will need a larger government to enforce the new laws.

What they evidently mean by smaller is for corporations to have a freer hand, without repercussions, in workplace safely and pollution violations. Rules have been made for car manufacturers on fuel efficiency and for manufacturers to build better systems to handle the pollution going into our water systems.

The people who once made up the Republican Party ..... those who were the moderates ..... have been appalled by the forceful takeover by the extreme and radical neo-conservatives. They have either turned to the Democratic Party or the Independents.

The Republicans thought that by joining forces they could create a larger force. However, they didn’t foresee that the Tea Party would create a divide, turning away many that refused to allow or accept the direction the party has taken.

The party has become a bunch of marionettes whose strings are being pulled by corporate lobbyists and even the Tea Party. Even though they refuse to open their eyes to the fact that they are being played as lackeys, and that they have been since the first day they took corporate money.

Corporations are now demanding a return on their investment. To them it was all an insurance policy to give them a bigger return on their profits ..... purely and simply GREED. Like PT Barnum said, "there is a sucker born every minute," and we see the proof of that in the Tea Party Republicans.

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Is the Occupy Wall Street a force that corporations can't buy?

In 2009, the government was talking about opening an investigation into the dealings of Halliburton corp. Dealings taking place with the Iran Government in the development of nuclear enrichment. It was suddenly dropped and all talks just vanished.

Recently there was information linking the Koch Brothers to deals with Iran and just as suddenly those disappeared.

My question is how much is ones soul worth? What is the going price for those who make the laws that they are willing to sell out ones country? Should we ignore the signs that corporations are being allowed to set themselves above the laws of this country? All that influences a corporation is the profit margin. They have no feelings, no conscience, and no loyalty to other than the God of profit.

To a corporation there is no conflict of interest when it comes to business or profit. If a corporation had a mother would it be willing to sell her for profit or to pimp her out to the highest bidder?

In 2010 we had a new political force come on the scene they called themselves the Tea Party claiming to be a grassroots party, but it was soon learned they had prostituted themselves to corporate money from the Koch brothers (Astroturf).

They quickly showed their stripes after gaining control of many seats in state and federal government, but their ignorance was soon displayed and rejected by the majority of Americans.

As quickly as they rose, their downfall took place. They then tried to grab on to the shirt tails of a real grassroots effort, the Occupy Wall Street movement, thinking they could regain power. Their masters the corporations, however, wouldn’t allow them to abandon ship.

The corporations were the focus of the OWS movement and corporations couldn’t allow them to go over to the other side. The corporations had at first tried to ignore the OWS but as they grew they changed tactics. They funneled huge amounts of money into city coffers in order to buy the favor of city fathers against the thugs that were the OWS movement.

That led to the cities using excessive force against peaceful protestors, and that had resulted in many being severely injured. Now, in the city of Seattle, the police have taken the first life .....allegedly that of an unborn child.

How much was the life of that child worth? To the corporations who will portray it as the mothers fault, it means nothing. To the officers, it was that they were just following orders. You see, corporations cannot be held liable for their actions. They can kill and maim without any concern or accountability.

How long can religious freedom survive here?

How long can religious freedom survive here? We are seeing the evangelist movement demanding that the government be set on their view of the bible and insisting that it was the wish of the founding fathers.

If they are allowed to have their way all other religions will be banned or outlawed and only the Christian religion practiced. How long will we tolerate this in a nation that was founded with the separation of church and state woven into the very fabric of the nation.

Where would it lead if they get their way? Will everyone be required to pay the church a tax? ....or officially belong to one in order to get the opportunity to cast a vote, hold office or own property? To be forced to attend services every Sunday or be ostracized from the community?

You may say it can never happen, but that was how things were when each state had their own religion. That was before a few enlightened men, some even members and pastors, saw that church and government were a wrong mix .

In 1877, New Hampshire was the last state to revoke the section stating "House of Representatives. Article 14. Amended 1877 deleting requirement that representatives be Protestants. Senate. Article 29. Amended l877 deleting requirements that senators be Protestant."

The latest figures show the majority of Americans (60% to 76%) identify themselves as Christians. Despite this seemingly high level of religiosity, only 9% of Americans in a 2008 poll said religion was the most important thing in their life, compared with 45% who said family was paramount in their life and 17% who said money and their career were paramount.

Where does that leave the rest of American society? Will they be outcasts?...... second class citizens to the evangelists? Will all other Christians be welcomed or shunned?

I feel that our forefathers had the right idea ....... to allow the freedom to choose how you worship, and to put no restrictions on it. Welcome other forms and beliefs. After all, this was a new nation with new ideas so why not let the people decide for themselves whether to pray or not? Let's try to honor their concept of religious freedom and to worship or not in the manner you see fit.

The evangelists feel that their beliefs should be forced on others, and they wish to dictate to others that they follow their teachings. They believe they should be able to tell women how to treat their bodies, and if one might have put their life in danger in childbirth they should die in order to preserve the unborn child.

This is nothing like what I was taught to believe true Christians feel. Does one condemn someone who lives another lifestyle to death or punish one for exercising a given right?

They seem to feel that they should have the authority to say if a woman has the right to birth control. Does any human have the right to dictate to another how to live one's life as long as they are not committing a crime? To create a crime where it once was accepted, simply on religious grounds, is unacceptable.

While I am not a deeply religious person, I would never think of denying a person his or her right to worship as he/she likes. I have known people of many different beliefs .... from Christian, to Muslim non-believers to Wiccan. I respect their beliefs, and find that under it all they are humans with the same desires, concerns and feelings as you and I. They just view things differently than I do.

Ask yourself if you are ready to accept an extreme religious view or do you accept that Americans have the right to choose?

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The American dreamers

GOOOOD MORNING AMERICA:

While you have been asleep during the last 30 years you had a nightmare …… but guess what? It wasn’t really a nightmare after all.

Corporations really have been busy infiltrating the world in an attempt to control it and profit from the "lower class people" - the 99%. Now that you’re awake are you going to tolerate it?

Consider this the first day of the rest of your life. From this point on, life will never again be dull. What is at stake will affect every single one of the 99% and our descendants for perhaps, like forever.

What is at stake is the dreams you, and pretty much all of us, have to be able leave our children and grandchildren a better place in which to live. If man isn’t able to dream life has no meaning.

It was dreams that built this nation. It was dreams that spawned advancements in technology and art. Dreams have been the staple of the middle class, and it has been the middle class and those dreams that built this nation.

Even those mega corporations were at one time a simple dream by someone who was part of the middle class. After decades those dreams have become greed, and once greed worms its way into society it takes root and becomes a cancer.

We are a nation of dreamers and we believe that we can do things and build things. As a team there is nothing we can’t accomplish. After all our ancestors carved a new world out of this land with little more than determination and desire. We have put a man on the surface of the moon and taken pictures of distance planets. We have ventured deep under the oceans and ice packs and we have flown faster than the speed of sound. Mans dreams have no bounds as long as we have the freedom to dream.

Today a few have decided that the middle class has no place beside the wealthy and are better if kept under tight control. They are determined to dash the dreams of the middle class and subjugate them to a world with no dreams or hope.

How soon they have forgotten that they may have started in the middle class themselves and that with their dreams they had the ability to forge ahead. Now they seem bent on denying others that same opportunity.

One can only hope that the day will come that their fortunes hit a snag and they find themselves back among the middle class. It happened before when greed overtook compassion, and it can easily happen again.

A nation in danger

What we are seeing is the reawakening of the concept of liberty and freedom. It has been struggling to re-emerge after decades of repression and being taken for granted. People had been lulled into a false sense of security and thus disregarded the warning signs.

During that time forces undermined them and worked their insidious way into the very foundation of our government. They have led the misinformed with deceit in order to betray the principles of liberty.

James Madison foresaw the danger when, in the federalist papers, he noted the problem of a majority in a sense oppressing itself by passing laws that were only as temporary as the passions and fashions that make them seem desirable.

He wrote of the dangers of "mutable government" in Federalist Paper 62, and a small part of what he said was, "It will be of little avail to the people that laws are made by men of their own choice ... if they be repealed or revised before they are promulgated, or undergo such incessant changes that no man, who knows what the law is today, can guess what it will be tomorrow. Law is defined to be a rule of action; but how can that be a rule which is little known, and less fixed."

He also said, (Federalist Paper 63) "an institution may be sometimes necessary as a defense to the people against their own temporary errors and delusions.... ...there are particular moments in public affairs when the people, stimulated by some irregular passion or some illicit advantage, or misled by the artful misrepresentations of interested men, may call for measures which they themselves will afterwards be the most ready to lament and condemn. In these critical moments, how salutary will be the interference of some temperate and respectable body of citizens, in order to check the misguided career and to suspend the blow meditated by the people against themselves, until reason, justice, and truth can regain their authority over the public mind?"

By not recognizing the danger of an unbalanced government we also endangered the values put in place long ago.

We have only ourselves to blame because we failed in our duty to uphold those values .... values entrusted to our care by those who preceded us. We neglected our role in the defense of our nation to safeguard it from those who seek to destroy it, even from within. But hopefully we can regain and strengthen our resolve to negate the danger while allowing equal rights for all citizens.

We have seen religious leaders in this country advocating the death of their fellow citizens, all the while claiming religious freedom and free speech, simply because they don’t agree with their lifestyle. These same men are openly endorsing political candidates and those candidates are not speaking out against it. By doing this they are reinforcing this train of thought and giving it legitimacy.

The people of this nation must remain very vigilant, even against those in charge of governing. Maybe these people must be watched even more so because they are charged with representing all the people…. the majority and the minority ..... and especially those most vulnerable ... the young, the old and the sick and the weak.

We must also discourage the advocacy of death against other citizens of this nation and speak out to let them know that their beliefs are not welcomed or tolerated in this society….. a society of freedom and liberty.

The Religious right is dragging this country back to the the 16th century.

Once there was a nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

The people struggled to uphold these values for centuries, and many young men and women gave their lives in defense of that nation. Then a change slowly emerged. The people no longer seem to care. An uprising of extreme religious beliefs began. The nation that was once a haven of religious freedom was pushed toward domination by one religion. All other beliefs were not accepted, and those who believed in them were demonized.

The extremists felt they were justified, for they had a holy book they said gave them the right to force their views on others. They had been given the power by God. Government gave them the right as well, in the last election the nation had held. They were confident that the majority supported them and that gave them the right.

The nation had been one that was based on the separation of church and state. It was set up that way by its founders. Prior to that the church had control over the people. They set what church one could attend and forced them to worship there.

The new nation wanted to give its citizens the freedom to worship as they pleased. Each state had its particular religion, expect for a few like Delaware, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and guess what? Georgia. The churches required the citizens of each state to pay taxes to the church.

If you were not part of the state's religion you could not hold office or vote in an election.

Massachusetts - Official Religion: Congregational Church Original Charter Date: Mar. 4, 1629

Like many who arrived on these shores in the 17th century, the Puritans of Massachusetts Bay came to America seeking religious freedom. The freedom they sought, however, was for themselves and not for others. The Puritans felt called by God to establish 'new Israel,' a holy commonwealth based on a covenant between God and themselves as the people of God.

Though there were separate areas of authority for church and state in Puritan Massachusetts, all laws of the community were to be grounded in God's law and all citizens were expected to uphold the divine covenant.

Very early in the Massachusetts experiment, dissenters arose to challenge the Puritan vision of a holy society. The first dissenter, Roger Williams (c.1603-1683), was himself a Puritan minister, but with a very different vision of God's plan for human society.

Williams argued that God had not given divine sanction to the Puritan colony. In his view, the civil authorities of Massachusetts had no authority to involve themselves in matters of faith. The true church, according to Williams, was a voluntary association of God's elect.

Any state involvement in the worship or God, therefore, was contrary to the divine will and inevitably led to the defilement of the church.

Banished from Massachusetts in 1635, Roger Williams founded Rhode Island, the first colony with no established church and the first society in America to grant liberty of conscience to everyone.
Some states realized that religion had no place in government.
North Carolina - Official Religion: Anglican/Church of England
"Article XIX. That all men have a natural and unalienable right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences.

Article XXXI. That no clergyman, or preacher of the gospel, of any denomination, shall be capable of being a member of either the Senate, House of Commons, or Council of State, while he continues in the exercise of pastoral function."

You can see more about the religion of each colony here: http://undergod.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=69

Today there is a call that people must recognize that this nation was founded on the Christian religion, even though by 1877 none of the original colonies had an official religion and it remains like that today.

Many citizens are asking why the nation, one that was hailed as a melting pot and based on freedom and liberty, has to become one ruled by only one religion ..... much like those that are so hated by some that profess the gospel … and exist even now in the Middle East. Would they become what they so fear and hate and despise?

The first shot in a new revolution.

Tuesday November 8th, 2011, a shot was fired that was heard nationwide. The shot was fired by voters exercising their democratic right to have a voice in the government. The shot was louder than all the money pouring into Republican coffers from corporate neo-conservatives.

This was just a small victory in a scrimmage. The main battle still awaits us. We must not relax or take our eyes off the goal. Those on the other side will be discouraged by the results, but they will attempt a counter-offensive.

Led by corrupt puppet masters ….. fostered by lies and fear-mongering and funded by stacks of corporate money. they will make an effort to strike fear into the hearts and minds of other Americans. They have used the fear card to their advantage in the past, so they will pull it out again.

Or perhaps they will use a front group with an innocent-sounding name to try to deceive the public and gain supporters ....... groups like “Americans For Prosperity.” They know Americans desire prosperity above all, and they use that to mislead people into thinking that by siding with them they will share how they came into their riches, or perhaps might feel generous.

Wake up people. Don’t be fools. They are not in this to help you, but to use you to create more money and power for them. The prosperity they are referring to is their own.

I have been involved in researching front groups for some time, and what I always find is that there is a false bottom. One that hides their true agenda. Most times it hides the desire for more profit or is established to garner support and lessen pressure on an industry or corporation.

It is used to deceive the unsuspecting because they know that if the truth was known they would have no support. Corporations have only one goal, and that is to generate profit. After all, that is their propose.

They don’t have any feelings .... no remorse, no empathy, no compassion. They are incapable of feeling. Feelings are reserved for humans.

The Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling was a real slap in the face to liberty. In that ruling they gave an non-living entity ...... one created not by a natural process but conceived under law ….. a Frankenstein creation .... a voice.

They twisted every law of nature to create a monster made up of parts from different humans (the CEO's, CFO's, Board of Directors and shareholders). They then let it loose on the citizens of this nation.

Rick Perry's ties to paramilitary groups.

Home spun paramilitary groups (Militias) are becoming bolder as they see support from tea party members and tea party elected officials.

The question is do we want armed groups parading in town streets much like we see in third world countries? Do we need war lords independent of any laws but their own? To declare war on neighboring groups, turning the nation into warring clans battling for domination?

These groups openly profess the overthrow of any form of government, refuse to pay taxes, and vow to only follow laws they endorse.

Now these radical groups are obtaining a voice in government via the tea party fanatics and who knows? ........ they may even be funded by the likes of extreme billionaires.

Far too many people see the tea party as a harmless group of Americans who only want to repair government, but in reality they are backed and supported by the most illogical and dangerous members of government and business.

One of the Republican presidential candidates has contacted these groups and helped to pass legislation they had been proposing ...... even after the said groups had committed numerous felonies and treason against the federal and state governments.

Governor Rick Perry has been flip flopping on the idea of secession. Well, when he was still for it, before he made his run for President, he garnered the support of a very radical and dangerous militia group ....... the Republic of Texas militia.

This militia, which has a long history of terrorism, including plots to assassinate a Republican governor (who later became President), a sitting Democratic President, and attempted attacks on a US Army base and federal building, and even attempted to acquire missiles and biological weapons http://www.addictinginfo.org/2011/11/07/rick-perry%E2%80%99s-ties-to-a-terrorist-militia/.

Can a man be trusted who has shown such a lack of respect for the form of government he is now wanting to be the leader of? Can the people depend on him to uphold his oath of office?

I, for one, wouldn’t trust him. Nor do I trust those who, while campaigning, don’t disclose entirely what they propose until after they are sworn in.

Wisconsin's total recall!

In a few days a new recall battle in Wisconsin will begin. The time will be short, but the fight will be intense. The collectors have only 60 days to get the signatures that are required but, if the last recall effort was any example, there will be a lot of determination.

I am sure the Republicans are feeling like they are under a bit of pressure. Why else would they attempt to block the recalls or put as many roadblocks as possible in the way?

Walker, as a new Governor, is lacking in popularity. His numbers have plummeted as he seems to have focused on aiding corporations and done nothing to actually help the people of this state.

Walker’s stance of non-negotiation with the majority of the voters may have caused his downfall. When a governor has to take funding efforts out of state it really has to hurt his image and self confidence.

Still the question will be can money buy him the recall? Or will people see past the lies and corruption of corporation buyoffs this time?

The people engaged in this fight know they are going against the odds. They know that money speaks very loudly over and over, but have the voters awakened now and learned to desire a real balance in the governance of our state?

The Tea Party has had a taste of power and are not willing to relinquish that, nor are the corporations who have bought and paid for those they put into office.

I see the possibility of violence as tensions are at an all time high and, with the new cowboy attitude after the conceal and carry law was passed, we most certainly will have some tense moments. I would like to stress caution for those who take to the streets in the coming months.

We should know by the first of January whether this recall will be successful. There have been mixed signals as to the amount of support that's out there. The people doing the recalls have had experience and success in the past, so we will see if the people will speak louder than the corporate money this time.

Disrespecting the Veterans

Being a Nam vet, I remember returning home vividly. We were told not to wear our uniforms while traveling because many in the public weren’t supportive of us. So we returned home under the cloud of dishonor. We had done our duty for the nation, but we were expected to slink home with our heads down.

There was no hail the returning heroes......only a silent welcome back. Once home we weren’t told what to expect or what benefits we had coming. We were just home and had to deal with it.

PTSD still wasn’t given any credibility and unless you were prepared to fight an uphill battle you were never going to get anything. Agent Orange couldn’t be cause for concern. It was, after all, "harmless to human"s. I know many Vets from that era who are STILL waiting to get treatment for problems linked to Agent Orange.

Veterans are easy to overlook once they are not on active duty any more. They are no longer a part of the solution, but are now considered part of the problem. They have become a liability. Shame on them for outliving they’re usefulness. A dead Vet is less expensive than a live one.

Today we have been in a war, well two wars, for the last ten years ...... with talk of engaging in yet another. Our military members fighting overseas have been on the front lines serving extended tours for several years. Many have suffered traumatic wounds, not only to their bodies but to their minds also.

The answer from Washington is that we must cut benefits. This is supported by people who have never served in the military, let alone in combat.

If we were to believe those in Washington, we would believe that returning Veterans should "suck it up" and not be a burden to the nation.

They understand so little of the stress of not knowing if you will live to see tomorrow and of witnessing the carnage of twisted bodies and torn limbs.

How dare they judge unless they have been there? What if they make a war and no one shows up?

Damn those in Washington.

I am sick of those who choose not to serve their country.....especially those who complain about the benefits and the cost of caring for those who did serve.

When I see the likes of Michele Bachmann, Eric Cantor and many other non-service members of government taking a platform to cut all benefits earned by those who put their lives aside to defend those back home it makes me want to take them out back and whale the tar out of them.

The cowards who didn’t have the backbone to stand and defend the citizens of this nation now have the gull to bitch about those who return from combat. Truth is those wimps would not have been able to get their education without service members keeping this nation free.

They owe everything to the men and women who took up the fight on foreign soils to protect their sorry asses. Instead, they are used and used up, only to return to an ungrateful nation not willing to work on providing jobs for them or for a safe place for them and their families.

The corporate whores are not concerned about the lives they ruined by sending these people off to fight, leaving jobs and their families for years, to further the profit lines of the defense industry.

Now these service people are returning to no opportunity to provide for their families and to a bleak future ahead ...... one where those holding office are more concerned about the next election outcome and about protecting the profits of their rich benefactors than about the welfare of the citizens of this nation. If politicians refuse to represent their constituents they are not doing their elected jobs and need to be replaced.

We must reform the base of governance of this nation by tossing out every elected official and starting over. We should jail any banker that bought this country to the brink of economic collapse and prevent corporations from having undue influence on the lawmaking process.

If we don’t do these things we will lose our freedom and liberty. Our children and grandchildren will not know that their fathers, mothers, grandfathers and grandmothers gave up their lives to defend those freedoms and liberties.

Who is next in the line up?

A new chapter in the history of the “rise and fall” of the Republican Party. The remarkable thing is, that instead of decades, this time it has only taken two years.

They will have a return because people in this country tend to forget. I give it, oh, maybe two years again.

We can only hope this time that the connection to the Tea Party will have been forgotten. The Tea Party had tossed it's hat into the ring with some questionable candidates for a very short-lived run ........ or should it be referred to a sprint?

As of today we have seen none of the frontrunners as being long distance athletes. We had Michele Bachmann, who came out of the gate in Iowa as the Tea Party favorite. That lasted for a few months until her half truths and outright flubbing of American history took their toll. She was soon shown to be outclassed by even a public high school student. After that, her numbers sunk lower than the Titanic.

Enter Rick Perry, hell bent on a crusade from the State of Texas. He shot out of the gate and kept barreling along until he took the stage and showed that even with big money backing him he was just a tiny firecracker in the big world of public debates.

It was soon obvious that he had been shooting blanks in the big boy’s world. He gambled that the public wasn’t upset about the Republican attempt to discard the Social Security program, and bet his campaign on it. The mainstream folk didn’t buy it. So he tried the birther and flat tax issues, but those were like trying to dribble a lead basketball.

Now we have Herman Cain polling well in a mine field where, in the last week, he has managed to step on every mine. His connections to the Koch brothers were revealed, which put the spotlight on some questionable campaigning schemes. Then behold! Oh my goodness ......a sex scandal which he couldn’t remember. Oh wait, he did, but it was nothing ...... or was it?

Did these people really think they could come to a presidential campaign and not take some hits and digs? The presidential race is a no holds barred contest with the entire country looking on and demanding to know everything.