Where do we stand in order to keep the ship upright?

In today’s political scene the people have a rough time of maintaining an even keel. Those on the religious right are running to the far side of the ship, screaming about bad moral decisions and how we are corrupting the fabric of the nation.

Along with them we have the corporatists demanding that the nation be formed in their free market idealism which is based solely on their view of major profits and no regulation. We might have a chance if this country had only one type of citizen who all believed the same way and worshiped the same way. However we were never meant to be that way. Even among families there are differences of opinion, so how can we ever find common ground?

The founders knew that a consensus of the people could never take place. In their wisdom they tried to work around that by setting up a system that could rely on the use of compromise .... one that could benefit all the people instead of just a select few.

This compromise has worked well for many years, and no-one got it entirely their way. If there was a time it became unbalanced there were ways to allow the people to regain that balance.

When the slaves in this nation were given freedom they had to struggle in order to have equal rights ...... and that struggle continues today. Women were the next to battle for the same rights as men. Workers gave their blood to have fair treatment from the oppression of business owners. One must also never forget the Native Americans, who perhaps gave up even more from the time of the creation of this nation.

The men and women of the working class battled and gave their life’s blood to forge this nation. Once again we face a battle. The middle class has once again found itself trying to keep a balance. The workers, the women, minorities and people of different religions are currently in a fight for their lives and well being.

The other side seem to have the upper hand, but the citizens are not ready to sit up and beg for what is theirs. Their rights were given to them in the Constitution, so they have taken a stand for those rights and are growing stronger every day.

A call to war?

On Thursday, Judge George Daniels of Manhattan signed a default judgment finding Iran, the Taliban and AL-Qaeda liable in the 2001 terrorist attacks.

The ruling came in a $100 billion lawsuit brought by family members of victims of the events. Really? Why was there no mention of the Saudi link? We would like to see his evidence. When all investigations after the attacks found no proof where did he get his?

If he were to bend over, I think we may have the answer. Dick Cheney and the military complex/corporations have, for years, been trying to fabricate something to allow them a reason to get back into the oil fields of Iran. This, like the WMD in Iraq, may give them the opportunity. Add some prefabricated lies and stir in large doses of hate with a healthy pinch of fear and blame and we have the recipe for a continuing war.

Who would benefit from another war? Certainly not those of us who are forced to send our husbands, wives, or children to shed their blood in the sands of a far off land. Those who stand to profit largely from the sale of the weapons of war or from the rape of the resources of the country we invade are more than eager for others to sacrifice blood for their profit.

People like former VP Cheney who, since the overthrow of the Shah, and the removal of his company from the rich oil lands of Iran have not thought of anything other than a way back. He had taken the rejection there as personal and it fueled his obsession for payback in Iran.

The Iranian government, like any government, is corrupt, as governments have been proven to be worldwide. Corruption is the one thing is guaranteed to trickle down. Where corruption goes greed is sure to follow.

Now we have what could be used as a rally to war by this judge over 10 years from when it happened. Those who have the money and power feel no loyalty to the nation. They see themselves as citizens of the world living in their secluded gated communities.

With their own private army, far and above the average man, the burden of war is carried by its citizens......never by those of power, money, or influence. They are unable to feel compassion because they have never faced to same hardships or the life and death situations that have been forced on so many people.

The value of money

With the Citizen United ruling we have witnessed the proclamation that money is speech. That ruling has opened the floodgates to allow corporations an opportunity to attempt to drown out the speech of the average citizen. In a country that had, for 200 years, worked at becoming a nation that allowed every person an equal voice it is appalling.

But we may be seeing that money, even though some see it as a symbol of greatness, may be losing its effect on many. During the recall election this spring in Wisconsin, and the vote this fall in Ohio, we saw that in some cases money didn’t influence as many voters as they hoped.

Since that time the citizens of the state of Wisconsin have launched a recall drive on their Governor, with a massive outpouring of angst against the sitting Governor. All this despite the Governor funneling huge amounts of money on ads to counter the recalls, or perhaps because of it, in less than a month they are nearly at their goal.

The Governor and his out of state supporters have funneled over 5 million dollars into his effort, while the other side has less than half a million in their coffers. Still, his hold seems to be slipping away.

Could it be that the people are starting to see his ads for just what they are ..... a payoff from corporate interests? Can this be a sign that the people of Wisconsin have decided that their lives don’t have a price tag?

The occupy movement has opened the eyes of many in this country to the corruption that people of wealth and power have been using to protect their selfish interests.

This could be the start of a whole new era of US governance ....... one of more involvement of the people and less from outside forces. One in which the people will take a active role in the leading of this nation and not just follow blindly.

We may be witnessing an entire new chapter in the history of the United States of America ...... the second revolution against corporate rule. The power OF the people and power TO the people!

When is green not green?

It is not easy to be green if you’re the focus of political criticism. Just ask poor Kermit the frog. He has been labeled as red in the courts of Republican opinion.

Will we see him bought before congress to be investigated and maybe forced to show his commie card? Will he be blacklisted from ever working in Hollywood again? The political arena has taken a plunge in the deep end of the pool wearing cement footwear.

Consider the state of the economy and the plight of many citizens. The fools elected to fix the problems are more concerned about stick puppets than actually working on correcting the problems that got us here.

After viewing some of the far-fetched laws being introduced by some of the freshman state Congressman I am not shocked. There was the one to allow hunting with a spear or hunting using a silencer on your gun. Is this really more important than helping families find employment? What could be the reasoning behind this?

The silencer is only necessary if you’re trying to hide the fact you’re attempting to shoot someone or something. The spear thing? .... well, maybe if we let the Bubba types hunt that way for bears we could thin out the gene pool some.

Could it be they have no answers to the problems faced by millions or is it they don’t care? Wouldn’t it make things so much easier for the public if at the debates they were hooked up to lie detectors with a huge needle behind them showing whether they were telling the truth or not? Or how about they get a shock every time they tell a lie….. Oh wait we won’t have anyone willing to run for office.

Perhaps we need a simple test for those running for office like asking "have you ever put your socks on the wrong feet?" Do you put a sock, sock, shoe, shoe, or sock, shoe, sock, shoe? When is green not green, but red?

Walker.... the governor that keeps on taking.

Again we see Scott Walker acting like a drowning man grasping at anything to keep afloat. This is how the Tea Party and the Republicans seem to respond when they find that the public has rejected their push for outrageous reforms.

Would any reasonable man condone violence by the citizens if he were the Governor? Mr. Walker has not taken a stance against the actions of his supporters, and by not doing so he has signaled his perceived support.

The latest issue to make the rounds is that he wants all signatures that are not legible to be rejected on those grounds only. The GAB is apparently not doing a good enough job for the Republicans in preventing recalls so now, after four years, they feel it is necessary to change or remove the GAB so recalls can be stopped.

Now that there is a challenge to the voter ID issue that it may not go into effect until after the current recall they are panicked. It seems to be standard operating procedure for Republicans to change the rules in mid-stream. They had pressed for the redistricting to take effect for the current round of recalls to benefit their party. When that didn’t work they had to find other ways to tip the balance in their favor.

The Republicans have become a party of haste and damage control. The damage is done by their ignorance. They leap off the cliff before they realize it is further down than they thought. They are like toddlers. They need someone to hold their hands or they would dart out in traffic.

They also give no thought to the fact that the laws they propose will be able to be used against them in the future when they are not in the majority. They preach of smaller government but do just the opposite.

They are now frantic to stack the deck in their favor one has to wonder why. Is it that they have displeased their masters and are fearful the piggy bank may dry up? Now that the majority of people in the state have shown their disdain through recall petitions why have the Tea Party/Republicans not taken notice?

This is your chance VOTE!

When I was in grade school, I remember the Eisenhower and Stephenson campaign. I couldn’t have been but maybe in the 1st grade. It frightened me.

I heard Mr. Stephenson claiming that if Eisenhower was elected President we would be attacked. To a child who was young after the World War era and in the midst of the Korean conflict, it had a profound effect on me. We had nuclear attack drills once a month, and although I am not sure how my classmates felt, I perceived that I saw fear even on the faces of the adults.

Those early years formed my belief that voting was of utmost importance in the formation of this nation, and was necessary in order to ensure that everyone had the opportunity to have freedom and liberty.

I clearly remember the 1959 election. I stayed up until the TV stations went off the air (yes, they were only on a certain number of hours each day) to see the coverage. Yes. I was a Republican, and continued to be a Republican even during my time in the military.

I received a fax from Congressman Tom Reynolds asking if I would accept an appointment to the National Republican Congressional Committee and serve on the Business Advisory Council representing my state. I accepted, even though I was in the middle of starting a Corporation.

It was during those 3 years that I saw a new membership of the party that was very frightening - the Neo-Conservatives. This bunch was so far from the principles of the party I had supported that I felt I could no longer be a part of it.

My concern was justified after the 2010 election cycle, and the Citizens United ruling, when the keys of governance were turned over to corporate powers and the ill-informed.

I saw a once proud party reduced to a party of ridicule ..... not only in this country, but worldwide. I am not the only Republican to hold that view. There are many besides me that have said enough is enough.

We are referred to as RINOs (Republicans in Name Only). Since we are using acronyms, we can be described more accurately as RERO's (Republicans Enforcing Reality Only), and we will REPO our party from the hijackers.

In the meantime, we will work to bring the nation back into balance. Regaining that balance must come from the people using their power and voting. We must never allow this hijacking of our government to occur again. We need to have compromise ........ not just the will of the few forced on the many.

United together we must stand!

Let's be honest here. Whether we are Christian, Muslim, Liberal, Conservative, or Independent we all desire the same things ...... freedom, liberty, being able to provide for our families and to give our children a good life.

These are a parents' goals and purposes in life and that is as it should be. We must remember that no matter where we stand we need to protect those in our care and give them the best chances to prosper.

Let’s admit it. The majority of US citizens are middle class, and dream as you might, most will die as middle class. It is, therefore, up to you and I to ensure that the life of the middle class is made as stable for future generations as possible.

Denying your neighbor simply because he or she doesn’t support your views is ripping the very fabric of this country. It has divided what was the strongest force in this country and rendered it powerless to stop the takeover by corporations. Takeover is their agenda.

The middle class, as long as one side mistrusts the other, is weak and defenseless. Corporations know this and are using it against the people. People can have their differences, but we have to recognize who the real enemy is. Let's stop this foolish bickering and come together for the sake of generations of future Americans, our children, so we can preserve the freedom and liberty that has so hard fought over the centuries.

We must be able to find that common ground where we are not just liberals, conservatives, Christian, Muslim or Atheist, but where we are Americans first and foremost. We have to make a stand, united as one people, for the good of every American citizen.

The middle class is the very fiber of this nation and the backbone that has allowed us to stand straight and tall over the centuries. Remember ..... it was the sweat and blood of the middle class that built and held this nation together. It was the strong callused hands and bent backs that toiled to build this nation and caused it to prosper.

The corporations did nothing but provide the middle class with the tools to create that end. Corporations, without the support of the middle class, are nothing but empty shells. They have no power and no strength without the middle class doing the work for them and buying the products they produce.

The attack on the working class.

Somewhere over the last few decades the working class of Americans has become the enemy of the state. In the eyes of the Tea Party they are people to be kept in place and under the thumb of the upper class. They are considered undereducated and unruly ..... people to look at with disdain .......to be used for the advancement and profit of the wealthy.

It is easy to see where the wealthy got that view. One had only to observe how easy it was for them to sway some of the Tea Party to join them .... and get them to blindly follow ..... even though what they are doing is going to hurt them also.

The working class seems to be an easy target. After all, they lack the money and the power to be much of a threat to the wealthy ........ or at least that is what the wealthy thought. The middle class population has lost their voice. Even though they have huge numbers, they are fearful because the wealthy have shown them they must kneel and worship them or they won’t allow them the right to exist.

This scenario has changed for a large majority of Americans ..... those who are struggling with unemployment and being underpaid. One aspect the wealthy overlooked was that when a person has nothing left to lose the hold you once had on them is gone.

They used the Republicans and the Tea Party to con people into thinking it is the wealthy that create jobs. The only thing the wealthy create is a vacuum as they suck the money from the working class.

The people have decided enough is enough and started the Occupy movement. In a few short months it has built not only in this country but in other parts of the world. This has the wealthy terrified and some have given it another thought and taken refuge on the occupy side. They realize that once the tipping point has been reached they may need some insurance so they don’t go down like many will.

Whether they will be spared only time will tell, but the anger isn’t just limited to the corporations and is growing toward those who pull the strings in government. Those people are viewed as puppets and both sides are being seen as corrupted ........ a cancer that has to be removed before it devours freedom and liberty.

To those who belittle our troops.

I just read a article from Thomas Walker, a “lecturer in the intensive English and orientation program” at Iowa State University about how the troops stationed in the Middle East, namely Afghanistan, are creating terrorists.

I wonder about his age, because he sounds like those who protested the War in Vietnam. They would condemn those of us who were serving to the point we couldn’t even wear our uniforms in public.

It didn’t seem to occur to them that we were not the ones who declared the war or the ones who had chosen to be there.

Walker is disturbed because people are sending care packages to the deployed troops. Why? The only reason you can say the things you do without fear of retribution is because those you decry as terrorist-makers are actually protecting your cowardly butt.

During the Vietnam conflict, care packages from the civilian world were few and far between unless they were from your family.

I know the Viet Nam war was a real sore spot in American history. The troops were less than popular, as one could tell by the reception we received when returning home.

I will be honest. I was hurt by the welcome received by the troops coming home from Operation Desert Storm. That was recognition no Vietnam veteran ever got.

I got over it. I am no longer bitter, but I AM disgusted by the lack of respect the men and women who are serving our country now are receiving. Once again in this country, complaints come from a few who have never had to endure battle or even serve in the military.

You may have a bone to pick about the reason we are in places like Afghanistan and Iraq in the first place, but to point your finger and blame the men and women of the armed forces shows how low you are.

You should be joining forces against corporate profit as the corporations surely are to blame for the wars in today's society. By blaming our service personnel you are spitting on the grave of every soldier who has ever given his life for this country.

Focus your anger at the ones who are profiting and gaining riches ..... not on those who are serving .... and not on their families, who must endure the stress of waiting for word that their father, mother, son, or daughter is safe.

I pledge......

When I was in school all those long years ago we said the Pledge of Allegiance. "I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands: one Nation, under God, indivisible, With Liberty and Justice for all."

We were told this pledge showed our loyalty to the flag and to our country. Today we have abandoned much of that. There seems to be more allegiance given to the almighty dollar.

The republic is talked about, but now it's about how they want to strip its powers and render it a neutered and powerless from. Indivisible? We have become divided between the "haves" and "have nots". A country that is no longer willing to compromise on something so simple as whether it is a Christmas or Holiday Tree.

The last has become a joke…. only liberty for the ones we choose that fit our likeness and justice for only those we feel deserve it. Liberty and Justice for all? Not any longer. Let's disrespect even those who have served this nation if they don’t follow our beliefs.

People seem to forget that liberty and justice was meant for all ..... not the few .... and liberty and justice has a price which many have paid with their lives. In today’s world, however, many seem to have taken the sacrifice of those before and tossed it into the gutter to be replaced by greed and the desire to force the will of the few on the many.

We see corporations using their hold over the masses to force them to be compliant with their wishes. They know that under today’s economic hard times they have the upper hand by forcing workers to become slaves, and they are exercising that power.

This agenda has forced the showdown by the Occupy Wall Street movement ..... one that has dwarfed so many before it and has angered Wall Street.

The religious stiff necks fresh from Sunday Bible thumping get their undies in a bunch if unbelievers refuse to fall in line. This is how they see the world to be and it must be that way or we are going to Hell.

Can a nation so torn from within stand and flourish?

The Tea party going out with the tide?

The Tea Party swept onto the political scene with the announcement of Sarah Palin as the Republican Vice Presidential candidate.

They roared into power in the 2010 mid-term elections, taking control of many states and the Congress. Taking no time to test the waters, they drove in head first. Those waters proved to be cold and very shallow. Within six months after taking office they were seeing heavy resistance to their agenda. They had over-extended their popularity and, in many cases, their welcome.

The people had seen though their exterior and were able to see things Americans couldn’t accept ...... things like their inability to work with the people for compromise (their way or no way) .... their willingness to cut all safety nets (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, unemployment benefits) ..... their total hatred of the middle class, and their willingness to deny other citizens their equal right to live as they chose.

In a republic founded on liberty and freedom this concept wasn’t looked on favorably, and was soon rejected. After many attempts to ram though legislation and after being shot down by the voters, they still kept the same tactics and goals. This type of behavior shows a complete lack of social skills and maturity ...... something one would expect from a child, and certainly not from a group of adults.

Perhaps one of the biggest reasons for their loss of popularity was that it was discovered just who was funding them …. the corporate brothers and Birchers, the Koch’s. People soon realized that corporations had led to the economic collapse of the nation ..... hell, the world. It was a given that their agenda was doomed.

Then there were the links to a group known as the Posse Comitatus, a radical group based on extreme violence toward the government ...... to the point where they had killed two federal marshals and devised plots to bomb federal office buildings. I am sure that not all those in the Tea Party would support these domestic terrorists, but their objectives and goals are very similar.

Even many of the original founders of the Tea Party have expressed their disappointment in how the movement has gone, and admit it wasn’t how they envisioned it. As with any movement, one must be careful that it isn’t hijacked and corrupted by those with the desire to force their beliefs and agendas on every American.

Grover Norquist ....a God in his own eyes.

Grover Norquist .... the little man who sees himself as Napoleon .... the man whose only claim to fame is his tax pledge, which was signed by the majority of Republicans. Norquist says the pledge is to the voters, but he is the one who holds the power, not the voters. If it were the voters, it would be clear that they wish taxes to be raised, as a poll in July showed, by over 60%.

It has become clear that Norquist has an over-inflated ego and that his pledge has nothing to do with the majority of voters. People have started to view those people who take these pledges as not displaying real leadership abilities, and offer them as an example of a simple follower.
Instead of pledging their allegiance to the nation, they have given it to Norquist. This demonstrates poor leadership that needs to be addressed by, and rejected by, the voters. They can’t serve two masters, which means they are either serving the people or Norquist.

Recently some of those who took the pledge have had regrets as they realize doing so could spell an end to their careers .... one way other another, through the people's wrath or Norquist's.

They have been frantic to find a loophole, and it appears one man may have found one. Senator Pat Toomey says that if the Bush tax cuts are allowed to expire, the taxes would be higher. If they were to raise them by 39.6 % it won’t be an tax increase.

However President Obama has said he won’t extend the cuts without dropping the ones for the upper income group. Norquist has stated he feels that both houses and possibly the Presidency will be in Republican hands by then.

I have to remind Norquist that unless the Republicans intend to seize control of the government this isn’t likely to happen, simply because the public is fed up with the antics of the Tea Party. They are on their way out. This means his pledges are not going to be worth the paper they are written on. He may find a use for them, but I warn him paper cuts in that area could be very painful.