The Bully Pulpit

The bully pulpit is a term that is used to describe how the power of one's position can have influence in the outcome for your own ideas and beliefs. Usually it is uttered when describing the advantages of a President, who can summon the media any time and use the power of the office to get coverage, attention and public support. In the last few days, however, the Bully Pulpit has taken on another meaning, one that is being defined by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie who is regrettably, my Governor. Mr. Christie is a bully and thus when using the bully pulpit, he is doing just that....bullying. This governor is known for being a bully. He shouts down reporters and calls them idiots to intimidate them for asking questions he does not like. He shouts down a teacher for asking a question that might be symbolic of a teacher union position. He has described his directness as honesty and bipartisanship and working together, but it is not that at all. This is a man who indeed wants to have his way, all the time. He shouts, he abuses and he lies as is evident to anyone with some common sense. This shrewd and manipulative man, a lawyer by profession, knows the ins and outs of the legal process, but despite his attempt to rise above the scandal, once a bully always a bully. Today his bully pulpit is all about mocking, criticizing and pummeling his former friend Mr. Wildstein in an effort to discount his comments. [Mr. Wildstein is no great shakes. He comes from the Christie camp so I have no sympathy for him.] The bully is at it again. Governor, your days as a national figure are over. You are a bully. Bullies always lose eventually. Americans do not like a bully. Where are you Americans for reason and truth?

A Plan For Smaller Government

Here is my plan for smaller government, something that will drive our economy continuously forward, insure cheaper health care costs, improve the environment, expand the use of alternative fuels, raise incomes and drive job growth. Reduce the House of Representatives by half. Fire 217 members of the House and restructure the districts to be reflective of the 63 percent that support a minimum wage increase or the 58 percent that want immigration reform, or the 83 percent that want background checks for gun purchases or the 68 percent that want a smaller US footprint in the Middle East. By firing 217 members of the House,(half), that account for approximately 55,000 million dollars of taxpayer dollars per year, we could pay for 3,000 minimum wage jobs at the publicly supported 10 dollars an hour. What a great payback. Gerrymandered districts in republican territory have accounted for an obsession with doing all that is bad for our nation. And, my Republican friends, I am paying for my jobs by getting rid of yours. There's your offset.

2013...A Year to Forget

I have been away from the blogosphere for a while, dealing with personal things. And who misses me anyway? I like to write, however, and feel like posting at the end of this miserable year, 2013. I am sure just as there have been many hit with sadness and tragedy, as always there are those hit with great fortune and luck. This is the normal cycle of life, but for me it is a year to happily say goodbye to. My mom left this world at the age of 90 and I miss her terribly but I know she is in a better place. It was a tough year and I pray every day that she is resting in peace. Despite the personal difficulties, it was also a year where my Government let me down. We saw a ridiculous shutdown caused by House Republicans. We saw a witch hunt against the President on all sorts of issues that only now are crystal clear of their intentions, again caused by the House Republicans. We saw a Speaker, an historic failure, preside over the least productive House in history, only to waste our time in an effort to repeal a law, like it or not, that is here to stay. We saw the word compromise become the next curse word. We saw a tea party wing of one party in one branch of Congress demonize all Obama, lie to our faces, scare us into further ignorance and actively try and hurt our country all in the name of hate. We saw an abuse of the filibuster costing us jobs, progress on guns and the lack of movement on Presidential appointments just to stick it to the President. We saw the House drop the ball on Immigration reform, ignoring the progress made in the Senate. We watched gerrymandering become the biggest political tragedy of our time. We heard lies, campaigns of deception by those in and out of government. We watched a deliberate effort to keep the law of the land from being successful and hoping for the denial of health care to millions. We watched the gap between the rich and poor widen while House Republicans and filibustering Senate Republicans forced those in most need, to get the least help from their government through sequester. It was a year of failure. Even the recent anemic budget compromise isn't worth the efforts made in the last hour. The goals of this President, if you remain objective, remain the right goals for our country. Fairness, health care as a right, minimum wage increases,, responsible immigration reform, national gun policies that work, infrastructure jobs programs and bipartisanship in action, not in word only. I only hope We the People send a message, that failures like those of Speaker Boehner and his minions, failures of 2013 and hurtful policies of the extreme, are no longer acceptable. Rest in peace mom. Let 2014 be better.

Obama's List

What does President Obama want: -he wants a healthier America where health insurance is a right, not a privilege. -he wants America to be free of violent entanglements in other Middle East nations. -he wants an America where business opportunities exist here and not abroad. -he wants tax incentives for small businesses to be able to compete with improving nations throughout the world. -he wants an infrastructure that is top rate, with bridges that aren't crumbling. -he wants to cut the deficit, in fact he has. -he wants a banking system that is fair and doesn't take advantage of a vulnerable public. -he wants the threat of terror reduced beyond the already incredible successes. -he wants investments in community colleges. -he wants low interest loan money available for college bound young men and women. -he wants a public education system that can compete with the nations of the world through incentives for good performing schools and investments in teachers and teacher training. -he wants internet availability in every classroom. -he wants ideas for improving our nation no matter who or where they come from. -he wants gay Americans to have the same rights as all other Americans. -he wants women to have the right to make judgments on their own reproductive choices. -he wants an America that is great for generations to come What do his enemies want? None of the above. Where are you Americans for reason and truth?

A Bad Deal for America

16 days and 24 billion dollars later, the Government will resume its operations and the public debts will be paid. The deal struck by Congress last night, signed immediately by the President is just another example of a government that is stuck in reverse. The gears of our nation remain broken, with only some oil and grease lubricating its failing parts without a new engine being put to work. A 90-120 day combined reprieve is nothing more than a band aid on a tumor. Looking at the deal, you can see it is not different from what we should have had in place two weeks ago. It continues to be insufficient to address for once and for all the dysfunction of this failing system. There are no winners, only losers and anyone in government who gloats or rationalizes this compromise as a success, is truly living in a reality TV show. There is no end in sight to this debacle and we will be right back at it again once these imbeciles realize they resolved nothing. Where are you Americans for reason and truth?

A work of fiction.....a teacher's lament

I teach Civics....more specifically, Advanced Placement Government and Politics to High School students. I teach them how to pass a test with the hope that some of the information will resonate with them throughout their lives. Today, I will teach them that the Constitution is a work of fiction. Yes, fiction. They will be tested in May on how a bill becomes a law. The test will want them to answer that it takes a majority of each house of Congress plus a President's signature. They will be tested on which branch of government is responsible for releasing money to spend on Government functions and priorities. The test will want them to say Congress, the legislative branch of government. Unfortunately, today, these answers are not accurate, thus making the Constitution a work of fiction. Today it takes a majority of the majority party in the House when it opposes the President, for a bill to become law. Today, it takes 60 Senators to get a vote on a bill. Today it takes all 100 Senators to agree to expedite legislative action. I defy anyone to find these procedures in the Constitution. You won't be able to. Our government is not honoring the terms of its most precious document, thus making it a work of fiction. Where are you Americans for reason and truth?

Utter Stupidity

Our Founding Fathers had differences that would make today's disagreements seem mild. Some believed in the ownership of human beings as property. Some believed in a strong central government while others believed in genuine libertarianism, not like the fraudulent spectacle of a Ted Cruz. The document that they ultimately wrote, the Constitution is known as a Bundle of Compromises by men who did have two things in common, a love of the nation and its principles and they had intellect. They were learned men, men of distinction, men of the classics, men of philosophy and men of the best education offered at the time. They were statesmen, scholars, lawyers, property owners, elected officials, politicians and yes, pretty wealthy and distinguished. They doubted the ability of the common man to make the kinds of decisions required of our leaders and could not conceive of Twitter, the Internet or Facebook. Most important, they weren't stupid. Today is different. Some of our leaders are stupid, and more damaging is that these loud mouth destroyers and haters mock intellect. They poke fun at the well traveled, at the cultured, at the reading of a book or the understanding of science and math. This group has been holding the nation hostage because those with the power to doom them to irrelevancy are too weak kneed and inept to confront them. They allow them to lie to our citizens, preach fear and show ignorance on the issues in ways that have caused this crisis and doomed our nation to a future of mediocrity. The polls have been devastating for these people and their party but even so, as of this post, the nation's Republican leaders still cower over the tea party, denying any sense of reality, wisdom and care for our nation while they ponder their Koch funded primary opponent at the next election. Their safe gerrymandered districts promote this intransigency and stupidity, but the nation continues to suffer. There is hope as always that at the last minute some deal will be struck, but the President is right...we cannot do this every few months. A six week deal is a preposterous attempt at Republican face saving and whereas I believe future budget negotiations are important, the nation's credibility is more so. The Speaker's ineptitude has been catastrophic and we all suffer because of Utter Stupidity. Where are you Americans for Reason and Truth?

We Fixed the Gliche

One of my favorite all time movies is "Office Space". I can recite the dialogue and never stop laughing and now, more than ever, one needs to laugh because of the sad and depressing spectacle unfolding due to the sheer ineptitude and bullying of the House Republicans. No matter how many attempts they make at passing the blame or attacking Democrats as culpable for the problems as a way to deny the truth, intelligent citizens see the writing on the wall. The fault lies with Ted Cruz, his puppet the Speaker, 35 lunatic fringe representatives and the rest of the Republican caucus, so afraid to be primaried, that they have sold their souls and their hearts to the devils Koch. One of the great lines in the movie was "We fixed the gliche", reference to Milton's pay no longer being processed. Lumbergh, the general manager, is John Boehner, too weak to confront Milton and hoping it will just work itself out. Not that simple. So, instead of owning some responsibility, these nitwits blame Obamacare. Obamacare, the great Kenyan socialist plot to destroy America....take away our freedom....blah blah blah. Once people realize what the Affordable Health Care Act will do for their lives and for the long term success of our country, they will love it and the Republicans know it. So after a few days of startup gliches, all they are talking about are these terrible gliches, destroying our lives, awful program...blah blah blah. How many of us have logged into our banks to check a balance only to get the message "weekend maintenance on the site. Please try again later". We all have, we deal with it, we recognize that technology has its moments and thus, we wait. We don't leave the bank. We don't stop tweeting when the system is overloaded with tweets. We try again. We don't trade in our Apple products when the Apple store website goes down. We recognize that any website, any search and any new program will have these hiccups. The only real gliche, is the stupidity of these Republican haters who have gotten us into some mess. This is the only gliche that really needs fixing, the real technical difficulties. Where are you Americans for reason and truth?

Deliberate Pain

If a person were innocently walking down the street and you threw a rock deliberately at their head and hit him/her, you would be inflicting deliberate pain on the individual. The House Republicans are doing just this. Throwing rocks at heads of innocent Americans. A law to make us healthier was passed by Congress and signed into law. It has not yet been fully implemented. It is the law of the land. Instead of allowing it to take hold as it should, a small group of tea party fanatics will shut down the government, hurt seniors, Federal workers, close parks, delay checks and negatively impact a slowly recovering economy just so that they can hurt Barack Obama. These sick monsters deserve nothing but the worst. They represent the darkest part of the human experience. I do not wish them well. They deserve rocks thrown at them. Where are you Americans for reason and truth?

Third World USA

Third world nations generally do not accept the will of the people. They tend to have corrupt governments and leaders who line their own pockets while raping the citizens of their rights and privileges. Third world nations rig elections and defile the opposition. The United States of America is no third world nation. Oh, really? We have passed a signature healthcare bill not even yet implemented but the corrupt amongst us wish to kill it before it takes hold. We have had a President elected to two consecutive terms with citizens choosing to support his agenda, which includes health care while the corrupt amongst us wish to deny him legitimacy. We have attempts to kill the rights of voters by denying them an opportunity to do so under the falseness of fraud allegations. No we are not a third world nation. Or??????? Where are you Americans for reason and truth?

He's No Mr. Smith

Jimmy Stewart played Senator Smith in a great Hollywood production about the little guy, in "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington". It is a great movie and one that has stood the test of time. His filibuster in the film made all the little guys stand up with pride at the courage of one man, with a desire to rid the Government of corruption and good old boy hardball politics. In the present, the bloviating idiot, self serving, do nothing junior Senator from Texas knows no bounds. He is indecent, ridiculously rude, insulting and uses McCarthyite tactics to get in the news. Whereas the shameful lot of Americans too stupid to see him for what he is may support him, he is no Mr. Smith. Senator Ted Cruz is a curse on this nation. He is a man with no moral compass, no compassion for truth and not worthy of the position he holds. As he gets the cameras to focus on him today, and the headlines tomorrow, his attempt to distort, dissuade and discourage people from learning the truth about our Government will succeed amongst the ignorant, but not amongst decent people in our land. You are an ass, Senator and your passing fame will fade into the ash heep of history. Where are you Americans for reason and truth?

I'm Back Baby

Took the Summer off to refresh and retool and now I am compelled to blog some more. I continue to be offended and embarrassed by the ineptitude of my government. We are allowing mistruths and distortions to rule the day. We are actually taking lies and spreading misinformation in an effort to create a new normal that is not part of any Constitutional reality. In fact, if our Government was a reality TV show its ratings would be sky high. One thing is crystal clear, hate and disrespect of this President by his enemies has exceeded any prior attempts at weakening a President. You and I know why this is, but that is a social issue for a future blog post. To allow hatred, not founded in accurate policy differences, to actually hurt the nation, has become the rule of the day and hiding behind gerrymandered districts with citizens encouraged to be ignorant with perpetual fear mongering by its do nothing, power hungry representatives, has so injured our system that I see little hope for immediate change. There was a time when split government worked...compromise was respected...and differences were worked out. Today, however, the circus mentality by elected carnival barkers has co opted our once sacred ability to govern ourselves. What is clear, is that this nation was not founded by threats to the system, but protections of it. James Madison would not support a Congress threatening to neglect its constitutional responsibility to the paying of our nation's debts. None of the founders would have. So to those out there spinning inaccuracies and re interpretations not based in any common sense, of our constitutional processes, you are about to hurt the very people you claim you wish to help. All hope is not lost. There will be an election in 2014. Since fractured government doesn't work anymore, at least with President Obama's opponents who view compromise as a curse, we can have the issue resolved with one party rule. Then we can show the world that when we have a two term President, voted by more than 50 percent of the vote twice, it really does mean something. Where are you Americans for reason and truth?

Gone Fishing

GONE FISHING BACK IN AUGUST

Rand's Rants

Rand Paul's name comes up a lot these days. The junior Senator from Kentucky is a libertarian, who rails against Government for its intrusion into our lives (except when he supports government regulating a woman's body or a gay person's marriage rights). The fact that this man's name comes up as a future Presidential candidate should fuel our fear but that is for election politics which will be here soon enough. What Senator Paul, who loves to cite Constitutional scripture fails to admit, is that in a Republic, we elect people to serve us. We have three distinct branches of government with separate powers and checks and balances on each other. The surveillance issue is not fraught with Government intrusion, it follows Constitutional requirements. The President executed it, informed Congress who approved it, and the courts issued the warrants. All three branches of government collaborated as they are supposed to. Now, you can disagree with the reach of their decisions on this matter, but you cannot claim Constitutional foul. In fact the founding fathers may actually be seeing their work in action as it was supposed to occur...with all its warts. When Senator Paul stops supporting corporations and donors who don't think twice about violating our privacy every minute of every day, then perhaps he can claim a degree of credibility. For now, he remains in the ash heap of stupidity, hypocrisy and self aggrandisement.

What about Governing?

The Republican party will stop at nothing to embarrass and defile President Obama. The resounding victory this past November notwithstanding, is a fantasy in the eyes of political hacks with no goal except to destroy the opposition. If we assume the absolute worst about each of the three recent embarrassments to the President, what we can say is poor management of each situation or the absence of a pit bull within the Executive branch to manage these issues. However, the House Republicans, unable to govern, unwilling to defend our national interests and totally without a cohesive strategy for the nation, has decided to double down on its hatred toward the President. As such, no governance, no policies, and no help. Where are you Americans for reason and truth?

Still Steamed

Still cranky over their devistating loss to Obama, the Republican party is basking in the glow of the Obama missteps as he starts his second term. Now I do not mean to diminish the importance of finding out the truth on any issue within our government, but proportion is certainly absent. We fought and died over fake weapons of mass destruction and then proceeded to forget about the whole scandal. I suppose the hatred toward this President, partly of his own making, is understandable, but while the attempts to distract us away from our affection toward the President are in play,this gives the Republicans another excuse not to do what is right for our country. You won't hear much, at least for a while, about the important agenda items that have been laid before us while the power of oversight, led by some bad people, takes hold. We the People are again being held hostage by an overreaching and hateful group of politicians who care more about blood sport than they do about our country. When the dust settles, and most in the know already know this, there will be no inappropriate actions tied to our President and talk of impeachment will die down. This will be after the 2014 elections as Obama enters his lame duck period. Too bad. By the way, the deficit is at the lowest point in 5 years. Any news about that? Where are you Americans for reason and truth?

I Beg you...forget the polls... We just don't care.

How many times have we heard in the last two months that polls indicate a 90% support of sensible background checks before gun purchases? How many times have we seen polls over the last year that strongly suggest a support for a path to citizenship? How many times have we heard the President refer to America's support for these two sensible approaches? LOTS....too many to count. The bottom line, however, is that these two issues are just not on the top of peoples' minds, no matter how they answer the poll questions. People are concerned with other things...jobs, the future of their children, AND, what is happening to me TODAY. We are creatures of habit and creatures in need of immediate gratification. We just don't see guns and immigration as issues that affect our daily lives. We are sad and angered after a tragedy, but we go on with our lives, answer poll questions as sensible citizens and then act as selfish ones. Our Congress, for all the criticism we give it, really does understand Americans. They get the fact that we forget, that we care about other things and know that they can weather the temporary storms of polling data, keep their phones off the hook, take a few pot shots at a town hall meeting, and then vote against what's right and take the NRA's money. They care not about what is right, they care about how much they can take. Where are you Americans for reason and truth?

Fly Fly Away

My posts have become more infrequent, not because I have given up, but because my anger and frustration mounts every day as I watch the Legislative branch of Government become more and more ineffective each session. They are now on another undeserved vacation and they certainly took care of their commercial flights before they left. They took some shots at the President, blaming him for the long lines at the airports and left cuts in tact for Head Start and other very worthy programs. The Congress, not able to do its job two years ago to pass legislation that balances cuts and revenues, passed Sequestration. It was intended to be avoided but these incompetents couldn't. On three occasions I heard the FAA chairman make a speech warning us about airport delays and furloughs, but the amnesiac Republican party railed about the surprise and lack of warning. Then it hit them. We are going on vacation, how will we get home on time. Magically, they found the money and the air traveling public is saved while the children who rely are important services are not. Way to go 113th. If possible, you are worse than your predecessor Congress....oh, and thanks for those background checks. Where are you Americans for reason and truth?

A System in Disrepair

The Constitution of the United States is totally clear and unambiguous. For a bill to become a law, it takes a majority of both houses of Congress coupled with a President's signature. That's it. No debate. Modern day politics however have changed the essence of this reality. Senate rules permit them to declare certain bills subject to a filibuster proof vote. Today, by a 54 to 46 majority, the bill to expand background checks passed. This was consistent with the 85 percent of us who supported this. The 60 vote threshold, simply a Senate rule that has evolved not from Constitutional requirement but rather from political obesity, has again given the NRA a victory. A simple background check expansion failed. I would be upset if it wasn't for the reality that Speaker Boehner and his ignorant minions would have stalled it anyway. The Senate gave this idiot an easy out. Again this nation failed to honor the wishes of the people. If these Red state Democrats think they saved their jobs, they are wrong. These despicable, weak at the knees politicians may have just garnered support from their overly conservative populations, but Alaska and North Dakota barely hit the percentage meter in terms of population. The nation will respond. In its own way and its own time. Gun control will prevail, Red states will become blue, and the NRA will one day die. I hope sooner than later, but today is merely a temporary continuation of insanity. Where are you Americans for reason and truth?

NRA Wins Again

Forget the fact that the House hasn't even taken up a gun bill yet and that it will probably not look like the Senate bill. Forget the fact that the House is driven more by its extremist base than is the Senate. Forget the fact the the watered down bill that these Senators are gloating over is nowhere near what is needed to control violence. Forget it all. Remember this......the NRA will win again. It will get a bill that allows dangerous and uncontrolled weapons on the streets of this country. We will see school shootings, theatre shootings and factory shootings again. We will continue to have 40 gun related deaths a day, and move ahead as the most ignorant citizenry in the world of Democracies not even understanding our own Bill of Rights. Thanks for nothing. Until we vote out of office the gerrymandered Republicans who seemingly will serve for life, gun control is only a dream. Where are you Americans for reason and truth?