Honestly, I fully realize I’m just a 6th grade school teacher and this “blog” is simply my place in cyberspace to vent my frustrations with the “powers that be,” but I have to say that over the few years I’ve been doing this, the republicans have been getting so far “out there” that I’m wondering what’s going through the mind of ANYONE who would vote for them.  And, I’m including the so-called “1%” in this, because ultimately their economic health depends on the economic health of the nation as a whole.  Some of the comments I’m hearing from republicans lately make me wonder how any of them could possibly be commanding a national stage in the first place.  There are some popularly quoted “quips” like Romney’s “Corporations are people my friend” (how could he be remotely considered as our commander in chief?), to Herman Cain’s “Blame yourself” when referring to people who’ve lost their jobs or their homes, to Rick Perry’s inability to remember his own “talking points,” to now “the Newt” commenting that the Palestinians have never had a homeland (that should speed up a middle east peace accord? – and, by the way, Newt – over the years – has made enough buffoonish comments that are certainly on tape – that the republicans can’t possibly be considering nominating him, can they????) and Mayor Bloomberg of New York suggesting one half of all teachers should be fired and the “good ones” should have double the class size so our students will get a better education! OH MY GOSH!!!

The ignorance of these people never stops amazing me.  And, yet our “liberal media” continues to “run them by us” in debate after debate so we can choose which one of them deserves to be the spokesperson for the corporate cabal that is trying to surreptitiously undermine  and – at the same time – take over our government.  They are close, oh so close – yet, this group of buffoons is all they can come up with in their attempt to complete what Karl Rove calls the “permanent republican majority.”  I continue to wonder why they’re relying on Newt, or Mitt, or Rick, or ???? (I still think they’re going to pick Jeb) to be the”front person.”  The best I can come up with is there are two possible requirements – one of which must be met for someone to “lead” the republicans.  They have to be either totally STUPID or they have to be MORALLY BANKRUPT and willing to stand in front of “whomever” and lie through their teeth.  And, the sad reality is that they are going to have the FULL FORCE of those corporations Mitt Romney pointed out are “people” funding their campaigns.

While, on the surface it seems ridiculous that anyone of these people could win a national election, “upon further review”…….Let me give you a quick example of what to expect.  (This example is so outrageous that it cost me $20 – the minute I saw the add I HAD to send $20 [I know $20 doesn’t seem like much, but to me, well….] to the campaign of Elizabeth Warren in Massachusetts – and I live in Washington state)  Karl Rove – the ultimate plaything of the corporatocracy which is attempting the coup de tat on America’s middle class, that is they are the one’s supplying him with BILLIONS to spend in an attempt to complete the “gaining control of congress” part of their scheme – recently published an add in Massachusetts where Warren is leading in the polls over Scott Brown for the US Senate (Teddy Kennedy’s old seat).  Warren has been at the forefront of the anti-Wall Street movement for years and was directly responsible for creating the consumer financial protection agency that the republicans in congress are refusing to staff because it will oversee the unsavory banking practices of the predatory lenders who are paying MILLIONS into the campaign coffers of the same republican senators who are blocking President Obama’s attempt to get this agency “off the ground.”  After the republicans made it clear they would not confirm Warren for leadership in this new agency, she decided to run for the Senate where she could continue her attempts at reforming our banking system and Wall Street in general.

I’m sure you can guess where this is going, but just in case I’ll get to the point.  Rove’s TV add would have the unsuspecting (OK Lars Larsen, here I go again) low information voter thinking that Warren was a strong supporter of Wall Street and that she was directly involved in and responsible for the financial collapse of our economy in 2008 (you know, when Rove was working for GW Bush et al) and that the TARP bailout was something she came up with (Rove was blaming Warren for EVERYTHING he and his boss was responsible for – along with Cheney/Paulsen/Rumsfeld/and the others – as if to say it was so bad it would disqualify her from office! – what he doesn’t say, of course, is that his purpose is to put the very people who ACTUALLY did cause the crisis back in POWER!) .  The first time I saw the add it just confirmed in my mind there is NOTHING these thugs won’t say or do in order to gain the stranglehold on POWER they’ve been scheming for since BEFORE the days of Ronald Reagan – although he’s the one who showed them how to turn the tide against the New Deal they all hate so passionately (it was reported that Rove bought over half a MILLION dollars of air time for this add – and, of course the TV networks just take the money with NO fact checking – UNBELIEVABLE!).  This is the best example yet I’ve seen of how republicans use the “Big Lie Theory” of Joseph Goebbels – chief of propaganda for Adolf Hitler during WW II – in order to actually convince people to believe the OPPOSITE of what is actually true.  If you read this and live in Massachusetts, as far as I’m concerned, you have an obligation to start talking to people about what’s going on in your state.  If the people of Massachusetts are anything like the good people of Wisconsin, the backlash from CRAP like this will GUARANTEE one more republican senator “bites the dust.”

Aside from the UNLIMITED amounts of money the republicans will have at their disposal (and most of it anonymous) you have to consider the other ANTICS they have become famous for when considering the gravity of the situation.  Remember, the only way George W Bush (a comparable buffoon to Rick Perry) won the presidency was through the CHEATING of his brother Jeb and his cronies during the 2000 election.  Al Gore won that election but was “defeated” by our right wing Supreme Court – as I’m writing this it’s hard for me to imagine that the rest of us at the time even accepted the validity of this decision.  And, things for MOST Americans (and many others around the world) have been going abruptly downhill since Bush was appointed president by the court.  Think that was an isolated case of rigged voting?  My mind is continually reminded of the South Carolina primary of 2010 when a Black man who didn’t even have the money to pay for the nomination fee for the US Senate democratic primary and, who didn’t campaign, won the primary from a known statewide democrat who had at least some chance to win the general election.  What am I suggesting?  The electronic voting machines used in many precincts in America are ALL the product of companies owned by members of  the republican “donor class” and they are easily HACKED.  That’s been proved over and over again.  (There’s even ample evidence to suggest that Bush “stole” the 2004 election as well with rigged voting machines and crony voter suppression antics in Ohio)  Additionally, republican voter suppression schemes are in “high gear.”  I’ve heard estimates they intend to block at least 5 MILLION (potential democratic) voters in 2012 from casting ballots!

I’m pointing this out to encourage anyone who’s been disappointed in Barrack Obama (that includes me) to make sure they plan not only to vote for him in 2012, but to encourage as many others of the “99%” to vote – and, to emphasize the importance of voting OUT republicans!  Now, I’ll be the first in line if we want to complain about democrats, but first things first here.  I’ve written many posts expressing my disappointment with President Obama, but I can tell you that I will WILLINGLY vote for him in 2012 and I’m going to campaign for him again.  There was a time when I wasn’t so sure of that, but as I’ve watched the republicans since Obama took office and continued to read books which expose the true inner workings of our government and especially the republican party, I could give a plethora of reasons why Obama’s reelection is the MOST important election of my lifetime!  Furthermore, it’s time for “we the people” to mobilize the start of PURGING congress of ALL REPUBLICANS – unless somehow some of them would stand up and REJECT the direction their party’s taken in the previous 30 years or so.   I’m starting to see signs of republicans who’ve been in positions of leadership in the past beginning to speak out (of course, they are then subject to intense ridicule from the republican “leaders”- which all I should have to say includes the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly, John Boehner, etc. etc.) but NOT ONE of them that’s presently holding public office, at least that I’m aware of, has the guts to speak out against the vile rhetoric and the middle class BASHING ways they’ve adopted as their policy.

For those of you who turn immediately to blaming democrats when your republicans fall under attack, there’s a sizable list of democratic congress people who I believe deserve to be replaced as well.  And, honestly, as a lifetime independent I wouldn’t care which party a leader was from if the republicans didn’t have the sheep herd mentality that they all vote together as a block – and the UNTHINKABLE to me is their open declaration that their FIRST priority is the defeat of President Obama – while our nation is in the midst of a terrible economic downturn.  I’ll say it again, I don’t see how anyone could vote to support ANYONE who would espouse that position.  Think about it.  What would be the motivation of someone who would WANT our president to fail?  How could they come to that position from BEFORE the day he took the oath of office (I actually heard that come from the mouth of Rush Limbaugh and republican members of congress before Obama was officially the president)?

Today while I was driving around I heard a portion of a News Conference President Obama held in which he was focusing attention on the recent battle over the reduction in Social Security taxes for the middle class workers in America.  As with EVERYTHING the republicans are blocking Obama’s attempt to extend the tax cut (he wants those making in excess of $1,000,000 per year to get a tax increase to pay for it) which clearly shows the “gap” between republicans and democrats.  That’s what the president wanted to discuss at the news conference and presumably what he was expecting to talk about.  Yet, what was the FIRST question asked by our “liberal media?”  It went something like “How do you respond to republican claims that you are being ‘passive’ (that’s my paraphrased word, because I can’t remember the exact word the “reporter” used) in foreign policy regarding the middle east?”  Obama’s seemingly terse reply brought encouragement to my mind, “Ask Osama bin Laden or the 22 Al Qaeda leaders who’ve been eliminated how passive we’ve been!” (Do you remember George W Bush’s famous quote about bin Laden – the supposed reason we were STUCK in two wars for 10 years or so? “I don’t know where he is, I don’t really spend that much time thinking about him.” – that should say it all about republicans and foreign policy)

I didn’t get the wording exact, but that’s how the republicans operate – I’m sure without knowing who asked the question, it was a republican “plant” at the news conference and the design of the question was to manipulate people’s impression of Obama almost subconsciously (with the added bonus of trying to deflect the actual reality that republicans – Bush/Cheney et al  acted EXACTLY like what the questioner was talking about) – through the use of leading questions.  What it made me think of is how weak their position is going to be when it comes to the actual campaign that is on the horizon.  One thing I’m beginning to really realize about Obama is that he’s much more the brilliant strategic politician than most people acknowledge.  I can see him backing whoever the republicans come up with for a candidate into innumerable “corners.”  I REALLY can’t imagine the American people are stupid enough or FORGETFUL enough to allow ANY republican ANY “standing” at all when the foreign policy issues come up in debates.  The contrast between Obama and GW Bush – when it is focused into debates or TV adds or whatever, will be STARK.  Yes, Rove (and others) will be busy with their “Swift boating” – trying to lie their way past their own records of incompetency – but, do you really think they want to have a discussion about bin Laden?  Do you think they want to re-hash the Iraq issue?  Do you honestly believe they want the truth about Afghanistan to become public knowledge?  Do you think they want a discussion about how America’s corporate enterprises have managed to avoid taxes by moving overseas – yet still have unabated access to America’s consumers (you know, the old “cake and eat it too” syndrome)?

These people (the republicans) are totally counting on FINISHING the DESTRUCTION of America’s economy and having the American people be so stupid as to put the blame on Obama so that they can get another BUFFOON into the White House and continue the corporate pillaging of America’s middle class.  Accomplishing this and gaining total control of congress will be the finishing touches on their “permanent republican majority.”  I’m reading the sequel to “Confessions of an Economic Hit Man” by John Perkins and it has finally dawned on me that America’s corporations are now doing to AMERICA what they’ve been doing to the rest of the world for the last half a century.  They’re purposely attempting to BANKRUPT this nation with the ultimate prize being their stealing as much of America’s resources as they can before “we the people” wise up to their scheme.  And, many of the corporate “heads” are already “stationed” in other places around the world so that they can avoid the backlash whenever it happens (and, it’s GOING to happen – hopefully, the Wisconsinites have ignited it and the “occupiers”are the next step – I really hope the backlash is non-violent)

As encouragement for you, if you’re reading this and don’t want people like Karl Rove or Rush Limbaugh or the Koch Brothers or insert a republican name (I could go on and on) deciding your future, to actively participate in the process of REMOVING REPUBLICANS from office let me remind you that – I mentioned above that 2012 is the most important election in my lifetime – the next president will likely appoint two more Supreme Court justices and if the republicans get two more on the court who are similar to Roberts and Alito (I remind you of “Citizens United” – if you don’t know the significance of that yet – FIND OUT!)  and as young as them (it’s a lifetime appointment) our children and grandchildren are screwed! I could go on and on about my disappointment with the democratic party over the past 5 years.  However, as I stated above – FIRST THINGS FIRST.  I’m convinced that until “we the people” recognize what the republican party has done (and is doing) to America this nation will continue it’s downward spiral.  There are people all over the world waiting for America’s public to wake up and get their heads out of their A##@*.

It’s true that under President Obama illegal wiretapping has presumably continued (the promised “fixing” of the FISA legislation never happened), torture is still happening (Google “Bradley Manning”), the troops came out of Iraq in 36 months (exactly on Bush’s timetable) not the promised 16 and I guarantee you there’s still a strong (and expensive) American presence in Iraq, Afghanistan has been escalated (for what – who knows? Presumably to appease America’s Generals), the so-called “Bush Tax Cuts” were extended, and we (liberals) have had to endure a president and congress tripping over themselves as they time and again try to appease these dastardly republicans who are willing to destroy the nation in order to defeat them (the republicans clearly understand that America’s voters HATE politicians who appear to be “weak” better than the democrats).

President Obama’s rhetoric is ramping up again in a way to encourage people like me, but then the reality strikes as Manning is FINALLY brought into court – after almost TWO YEARS of unthinkable inhumane treatment because he had the courage to allegedly attempt to expose the TRUTH about America’s foreign policy – and I have to admit that “MY” president is allowing similar atrocities as the last one.  The more I learn about the foreign policy of the country I love, the more disgusted I get.  The corporate “bosses” have a stranglehold on our politicians (I believe of BOTH parties) and the peaceful way to solve that problem is through the ballot box.   There is a way the “99%” could solve the problem:  First, vote out ALL republicans in 2012 and then purge our congress of corporate democrats in 2014! (Yes, that means voting for Obama is imperative) This will not be easy or quick.  Those behind this right wing assault on our nation (Koch Bros., Cheney, Bush, Haliburton, Blackwater, GE, Goldman Sachs, BP, Limbaugh, and I could go on and on) have an unlimited supply of cash, they’ve got control of the “liberal media,” and – as mentioned above – have a Supreme Court which is “on board.”  Plus, also as mentioned above, the republicans will say ANYTHING in order to get elected – they TOTALLY believe the end justifies the means!  The backlash in Wisconsin and the “Occupy” movements are hopefully just the beginning of America’s great working class rising up and setting the ultimate example for the rest of the world:  A peaceful rejection of authoritarian rule through the ballot box.