I’ve written here and pointed out to as many people as who will listen to me how Mitt Romney represents ALL that is wrong with America, and yet – it appears he’s going to be running for President of the United States with an enormous MONEY BELT thanks to “Citizens United,” a voter suppression drive focused on two or three key states, and a national media that is too timid to actually do the work to “discover” the Romney “offshore empire.”  This is a man who would be president, yet is unwilling to invest in the country he longs to “run.”  Well, all that being said, Romney – to very few people’s surprise – chose a running mate who might “one up” him on ALL that is wrong with this great nation.  Not only is Paul Ryan a right wing, “tea party” type republican member of the most unpopular Congress (maybe) in America’s history (approval rating approaching single digits – right down there with Dick Cheney), but he’s apparently the “poster child” for the members of Congress who manage to become MULTI MILLIONAIRES while “taking care of” the “people’s business.”  The last report I heard was that Ryan’s most recent reporting in regards to his “net worth” put it somewhere approaching the TEN MILLION dollar territory.  Now, ask yourself, how does a US Congress person with a salary of something around $200 THOUSAND per year, get to the $10 MILLION mark in just 13 years?  The numbers really don’t add up – and, to all my right wing friends out there who’ve been railing against congressional “leaders” who’ve become millionaires while in office – I fully expect you to do the normal republican “thing” – like you’ve done with Romney – and “look the other way” now that Ryan’s been proposed for the national “ticket.”

This would be a bad joke, if it wasn’t so serious.  Now, I can’t imagine that the Romney/Ryan “ticket” can win in November – but, as I realistically look at how much MONEY is being funneled through our “liberal media” by Romney and his “Super PAC’s” I don’t think for a minute that anyone except those small time “players” on the internet, etc. will actually vet these two money grubbers – Romney and Ryan.  Romney’s got the Swiss Bank accounts (generally used to launder money – or avoid taxes), he’s got the corporate subsidiaries in the Cayman Islands and  Bermuda’s which are also “tax havens” for the rich who don’t want to “pay their fair share” – you know, the “I’ve got mine, screw you” crowd, and who knows what else.  Romney’s got a record of raising money when he was at Bain Capital from sources that evidently anyone running for President would not want the general public to know about.  As his wife was quoted as saying “you people have seen all the tax returns you’re going to see.”  Will we have to wait until AFTER the election to find out what he’s hiding?

Then there’s Ryan with the apparent “cashing in” on inside information while serving on the banking committees in Congress – the most egregious example was selling his banking stocks just a couple days prior to the announcement of the TARP bailout (which he, by the way, vigorously defended and voted for – again, this will be another example of the “tea partiers” selective “hate” regarding those who voted for the bailouts – with Ryan it will be OK because he says he’s a conservative) after secret meetings with Hank Paulsen and other Treasury officials.  Forgive me Lars Larsen for saying this – but Romney/Ryan TOTALLY support my “low information voter” claims that I’ve been making since the days of George W Bush.  Their actions stand almost 180 degrees from their rhetoric and the traditional values of the republican party.  They’re thieves, not politicians!  Yet, they’re not Obama, so republicans will support them!

And, just a little aside here – one other reason I believe they even have a chance is due to the Obama administration’s lack of will to hold these “upper crust” people (not just Romney/Ryan) accountable for their greedy, selfish, un-American  personal policies.  I’ve written ad nauseum about my disappointment in President Obama’s “looking forward instead of back” stance regarding Bush/Cheney and their illegal activity while draining this nation of it’s greatest resources for eight miserable years.  That turned more people than I believe many understand TOTALLY away from politics.  Additionally, I’m not aware of a single “financier” (like Romney) who’s been sent to jail for the abominable behaviors on Wall Street that led to the so-called TARP bailout of the nation’s “too big to fail” banks – behavior which is continuing as I type.  (for example, the architect of the “bailout,” Hank Paulsen, stepped in just in time to save his former company [have you ever wondered what kind of financial interest he had in doing this? – I have many times] Goldman Sachs – who were prime instigators of all the “derivatives” and “swaps”and all the other creative mechanisms designed to make them EXTREMELY rich without producing ANYTHING and with not the slightest regard to all the “fallout” when their schemes went awry)  This lack of action on Obama’s part, I believe, is potentially his biggest obstacle going into the 2012 election.  Statistics I’ve seen show that a HUGE number of “unlikely voters” favor Obama – it’s just that his response to the republican “NO” machine has turned people off.  There are many like me who feel that when the leaders of the nation can feel comfort as they violate our laws we are in SERIOUS trouble.  The “tea party” took over the House of Representatives because LIBERALS stayed home in 2010 – it was predictable – I hope they come to their senses prior to this coming November because, despite the shortcomings of Obama, this republican “machine” is something that should be worth getting off the couch to vote against.  That’s right, I’m suggesting that if you read this and you’re disappointed in President Obama VOTE AGAINST THE REPUBLICANS!

I’ve been an independent voter my entire voting life (over 45 years) and I REFUSE to vote for another republican until that party is purged of people like Karl Rove, Newt Gingrich, the Koch Brothers, Sheldon Adelson, Rush Limbaugh,  Mitch McConnell, Sean Hannity, John Boehner, Grover Norquist, and of course Romney/Ryan as their leaders.  Romney/Ryan are simply the mouthpieces of the moneyed interests who are spending the BILLION or so dollars to defeat President Obama – and, it doesn’t take a brain scientist to figure out there’s a “cost” to accepting all that corporate money.  But, lest I ask you to reread the beginning of this post, Romney/Ryan are part of the culture which is represented by the offshore accounts and subsidiaries in places outside the U.S.  What’s interesting to me is listening to voters complain about all the jobs being exported and then saying they’re going to vote for job exporters!  It’s comparable to the “tea party” haters who were so violently opposed to attempts to provide “universal healthcare” – because it was “socialist medicine” and then saying “don’t touch my medicare.”  And, now many of those same people apparently are planning to vote for two people (Romney/Ryan) who are dead set on “touching” their medicare.  All of this is so ridiculous that it only supports my contention that America is being run by “low information voters.”  (there are some estimates that the average intelligence of America’s voting public is 6th grade – I hope that’s wrong as I’m a sixth grade teacher and, at the minimum, I teach my students to get their information from AT LEAST two sources).

Begrudgingly, I have to give the republicans credit.  They’ve become experts at marketing and using their expertise along with a TOTAL willingness to LIE – plus they have a stranglehold on the medial outlets in America – this gives them a HUGE advantage in manipulating the voting public.  They leave no stones unturned – again, you have to give them credit – they’ve managed to get control of the Supreme Court, they’ve got the aforementioned voter suppression efforts going that by all the estimates I’ve seen should prevent upwards of 5 MILLION democrats from voting this year, PLUS they’ve got ownership in the corporations which provide the electronic voting machines that are used in WAY TOO MANY precincts across America and can be easily HACKED in a way that can swing an election illegally with no “paper trail.”  The republican creed and the Mormon creed go hand in hand – “The end justifies the means.”  Lying is OK, cheating is OK, if it gets you the desired result.  Republicans are attacking women, African Americans, Latinos, unions, public workers – well over half of America’s population, yet with all the lying and cheating they’ve got a reasonable chance to win.  The way that will happen, if it does, will be all the voters who would otherwise vote for Obama STAYING HOME on election day.  I truly hope I’m wrong on this one because, the consequences of Romney winning in November will be disastrous for America’s middle class  and finish the job of destroying the “New Deal” that was put into “high gear” in 1980 with the election of Ronald Reagan.  Worst yet, it will put a right wing stranglehold on the Supreme Court which will last for a generation – making it even harder to overcome the corporate/government partnership in the years to come!

I’m having a hard time motivating myself to write because it’s so hard for me to watch – and believe – what’s actually going on in this nation (USA) I love.  I’ve been voting since the late 1960’s and I clearly remember my Mother and Father debating over President Eisenhower (my Dad) vs Adlai Stevenson (my Mom) in the 1950’s.  Over the course of the many books I’ve read since I got so upset with GW Bush and his flagrant invasion of Iraq  that I felt I needed to “reeducate” myself, I’ve discovered that I would be in my father’s “camp” and probably could be called and “Eisenhower republican.”  However, that would – today – and does, put me in the “flaming liberal” category.  In fact, if you read the earlier posts in this “blog” my frustrations with our president Barrack Obama has been that, to me, he’s been too cozy with republicans and their ideas – evidently failing to understand their number one credo – “If Obama’s for it – we’re against it” – PERIOD!  The part that brings my frustration home to me is that the republicans could do no better than Mitt Romney – and, now all the “Romney haters” (like Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Rush Limbaugh, etc., etc.) are falling in line because they HATE Obama more.  What America is going to have to face after this election – no matter how it turns out – is the severity of the population who believe (strongly) the “White House” is ONLY for “white people.”  Mitt Romney should be the “poster child” for ALL that is wrong with America – not just the racism – and, yet – by most polls – he has a chance to win the presidency.

Romney has a republican establishment that has fallen totally in line with his candidacy and they are clearly willing to throw “EVERYTHING but the kitchen sink” at the electorate in order to win in November.  There are the deep pocketed “Super PAC” funders – Sheldon Adleson, David and Charles Koch (they’ve promised to spend upwards of $400 million on this election), Donald Trump, the DeVoss family, the Coors family, the Walmart family, etc. – and these Super PAC’s will spend over a BILLION dollars to unseat Obama (what do you think their motivation is?  Really, the stock market has doubled in his term in office, corporations are hoarding record amounts of cash, Wall Street continues to get away with GAMBLING America’s wealth on “creative” financial “bets” with little to no push back from the Justice Department – really, there must be an explanation why they HATE him so).  Additionally, republicans have been conspiring to suppress the vote for several years now and their efforts are “coming to a head” as we approach November.  In fact, one republican congressman in Pennsylvania BRAGGED that the voter suppression law which got passed there should be enough to help Romney carry the state.  What the hell is going on in America? that this kind of stuff is being allowed to happen right before our eyes.  The whole world looks to us to be an example of government of “we the people” and the republicans are attempting to make a mockery of that thought.

Back to Romney – and I could go on and on about this guy.  Honestly, I’ve never seen a politician who comes close to him in regards to a willingness to say whatever the group in front of him wants to hear.  I remember when he was the republican champion of Planned Parenthood (when he was campaigning in Massachusetts) – supporting “A Woman’s right to choose” and other issues that, I believe got him close to a 100% rating by them.  He is now trying to get that rating down to ZERO with a reversal of VIRTUALLY ALL of his important positions (in fact, I’ve come to the conclusion that Romney has NO POSITIONS when it comes to public policy).  The level of his lying during this year’s campaign (including the republican primaries) has pushed the bar, as I’ve seen it, for all the politicians I’ve witnessed in my lifetime. (Did you know that Mormonism justifies lying if it gets you the desired results – that is “the end justifies the means” so, in Romney’s eyes, I’m sure this lying is “all good” – you know, “I approve this message”)  Romney has taken this part of his religion to heart – FOR SURE.  Then there’s the issue that won’t go away – Romney’s taxes.  I for one believe the reason he won’t release his tax returns is because there is potentially incriminating evidence there should they be scrutinized in detail by the democratic “hit squads.”  I’m not just talking about the embarrassment he’d like to avoid regarding all the foreign accounts that, at the bare minimum, would show someone who’s using every legal maneuver to avoid ALL the taxes he can.  My understanding is there’s accounts in Swiss Banks, Bermuda, The Bahamas, and the Cayman Islands.  I’m not going to go into detail here, but every book I’ve read that talks about these tax havens points out how this is where the wealthy of America “stash” their “cash” in order to avoid paying taxes on it.  Many of the “schemes” are “legal” but many prove to be “shot down” by the IRS when detected.  Do you get the feeling Romney is REALLY HIDING SOMETHING?

Of course he is – in fact, I believe that if he is forced to publicize returns prior to the republican convention he could jeopardize his standing in the nominating process.  I hope the democrats keep up the pressure for him to disclose his returns.  If there’s nothing to hide – then this campaign can get onto other issues that are more important to every day Americans.  I believe republican insiders are going to increase the pressure for Romney to do this – because, in my view, he will be unelectable if he continues to refuse.  At first, I was thinking the returns would just be embarrassing for Romney, but I’ve now come to the conclusion there’s a lot more to them – including more details about how Romney got so rich and who suffered because of his actions at Bain Capital.  I have even heard reports that suggest Bain received Capital from some REALLY shady sources that Romney is probably also trying to HIDE.  Romney is CLEARLY part of the so-called 1% and he stands for everything that will make things even better for them – at the expense of “you people” as Romney’s wife refers to us “commoners.”  You know what – I’m perfectly OK with him having all his money (assuming it was gained legally), but I don’t want a president who represents the interests of what people like me might refer to as “you people” – the “other” you people – those who control almost 50% of America’s wealth as it is (we’re talking about a few thousand people here) and who have been benefiting from our “trickle down” economy since the 1980’s.  The curious thing then is why do a large portion of the 99% apparently feel that “Romney’s the man.”

I will pull no punches here – let’s start with racism.  I can’t even bring myself to listen to Limbaugh anymore – but, I’ve done it enough to understand that his racist attitude is very deep.  Did you watch any of the “tea party” rallies during the 2010 election?  It was like racists crawling out from under their rocks all over America.  John McCain even got away with calling Obama “That one” during one of the presidential debates in 2008 – it’s just the topic on one wants to talk about – but, it’s VERY REAL!  A Black president was just more than the “RIGHT WING” could stomach – and, I have to tell you, many of these people are “blue dog democrats.”  Then there’s the so-called “liberal media.”  That’s a good one – as the “right wing” was taking a stranglehold on America’s media conglomerates they made sure that they brainwashed America’s unsuspecting “subjects” into believing their media outlets were “liberal.”  Of course there’s the Fox “news”  which is “fair and balanced.”  This all makes me sick to my stomach as I’m writing  because the reality is the “right wing” is very good at what they are planning to pull off and, if “we the people” don’t get excited about stopping them the USA is going to have the “permanent republican majority” that will give people like Karl Rove, the Koch Brothers, and the rest of the right wing a “wet dream” that could last for years.  If Romney somehow manages to win in November just the reality of him adding one or two more right wing Supreme Court Justices will have a serious impact on my children AND grandchildren – these are lifetime appointments and there will be little to nothing “we the people” will be able to do to reverse this.  Just consider the effect Citizen’s United is having on the process – it unfortunately took democrats three years to realize how devastating that decision would have on our electoral process (again, I believe we’re talking about a ONE BILLION dollar advantage for the GOP in the upcoming election – they are not only going to spend whatever it takes to get the “White House” but they’re going after Congress as well).   You’re talking about a Court which appointed GW Bush and passed Citizens United with the makeup it now has – what do you think will be the result with a couple more right wing Justices? – that will give the court SEVEN “conservative” justices!

Should the republicans manage the trifecta –  the “White House,” the House, and the Senate – in November, those of us who call ourselves “progressives” or “liberals” will be in the same “boat” we’ve been in for the past few years, and that’s depending on democrats to reverse this trend toward a total corporate/government partnership (yes, that’s the definition of fascism).  Unfortunately, 2006 is still clear in my mind.  The Democrats were voted into office to end the “war” in Iraq – and we ended up with the “surge” (we lost another 2000 troops AFTER the democrats regained control of congress).  The democrats didn’t even have the courage to CONSIDER impeachment of GW Bush and Dick Cheney for their war crimes and other assorted “misdemeanors.”  Once Obama took over the “White House” democrats continued to allow the republicans to control the agenda through the OBSCENE overuse of the filibuster rule in the senate and Obama’s pandering for republican votes.  My point here is that I don’t have a lot of confidence that the democrats will have what it takes to confront the abuses that are likely to occur in a “Romney” administration.  The other thing I’m sure of:  after totally ABUSING the filibuster rule – if the republicans regain control of the senate they will CHANGE THE RULES so that the democrats will be unable to block their agenda.

There’s an old saying – “be careful what you wish for” – and, I believe it applies in “spades” to the republicans nominating Mitt Romney as their “leader.”  Republicans have unleashed unprecedented attacks on this democratic president and the one who preceded him (Bill Clinton) when, in fact – based on the statistics I’ve seen, they have enjoyed unbelievable growth in their wealth under these two presidents.  That gets me back to my questioning why they are so adamant about wanting to defeat President Obama (remember, according to Mitch McConnell and others – it’s been their NUMBER ONE GOAL!): The stock market’s doubled since Obama took office, General Motors and Chrysler are thriving (do you remember Romney suggesting they NOT be “bailed out?”), Osama bin Laden is DEAD (I suppose republicans have found a way to give Bush credit for this – you know, the president who so famously said: I don’t know where he is, I just don’t spend that much time on it). the economy has produced OVER 4 MILLION jobs despite the republican intransigence, the Iraq “war” is over (although, I didn’t like how Obama did it – the fact is – HE DID IT – republicans wanted to keep our troop presence there indefinitely as in Korea) Do “We the People” really want to relive republican rule – in a more extreme form – in the aftermath of Bush/Cheney?  PPPLLLLLeeeeeeeaase!

I do not doubt that republicans understand what a poor choice Romney is – but, I believe they’ve become so consumed with gaining unbelievable control of our system – control our founders attempted to make almost impossible – that it matters little to them who’s representing the party in the “White House.”  In fact, Romney’s penchant for saying what his audience wants to hear, I’m beginning to think, makes him an ideal candidate for those who are pulling the “strings’ behind the scene (ie the Kochs, Adleson, etc.).  All they need is someone who will “toe the company line,” say what he’s told to say,  and sign the documents they are planning to put on his desk from congress.  That leads me to my final thought of the evening – I continue to believe the best course anyone who lives in America can take if they do not want the so-called “permanent republican majority” is to revisit in their minds what the Bush/Cheney administration did to this nation – and, then just realize the “forces” behind them have actually “doubled down” because of our president from “Kenya.”  The only reasonable course I can see is to VOTE AGAINST every republican that shows up on your ballot until that party is purged of these right wing “whackos” who have managed to take over America’s “Grand Ole Party.”  There’s a lot of work to be done in “pushing” the democrats back in the “other direction,” but the first order of business, in my view, is to turn today’s republican party into a “bad memory.”  Really, what has become of the Eisenhower republicans????