I’m feeling as if this election (2016) for President is the most important one in my voting lifetime (since 1968) and, therefore, I’m trying to “keep up” with the process as it unfolds. From the beginning (and, if you’ve been on this site, it will come as no surprise) I’ve been pointing out that there’s not ONE Republican candidate that I even consider as someone who SHOULD have a place on the stage. Yet, there’s still close to TEN of them claiming they want to “make America great again,” or they want to “take our country back,” (I’m guessing you understand the “code” of that message) or any number of cliche’s that have any meaning, from a practical standpoint, whatsoever. Of course, from a policy standpoint, you have Donald Trump claiming he’s going to “build a wall on our southern border AND Mexico’s going to pay for it,” or “No Muslims will enter the U.S. until ‘we figure this out,'” or we’re going to “register all Muslims,” or, because occasionally foreign policy “pops up,” you’ve got Ted Cruz saying, “I will carpet bomb Syria until the sand is glowing bright red.” (or something along those lines) I listened to Marco Rubio the other day (of course blaming President Obama for EVERYTHING) and he came across as such a “slimy” disingenuous person that my stomach had a similar reaction to when I try to listen to Rush Limbaugh.

Then, today, I heard an excerpt from a speech given by Ted Cruz, who “won” the Iowa caucuses, where he BLAMED the Flint Michigan water crisis (along with the Hurricane Katrina DISASTER) on “generations of liberal democratic government” – or something very similar to that. Of course, he failed to mention GW Bush in his reference to Hurricane Katrina – and, of course, republican governor Jindal (honestly, to me that one had so many “Pinocchio’s” that it was off the charts) and, in Flint Michigan evidently Cruz doesn’t understand that Governor Snyder (another of the right wing “Tea Party” Republicans elected with the help of the now infamous “Koch Brothers”) in Michigan has managed to create a mini fascist state where he can send in his “cronies” and override the elected officials ANYWHERE in Michigan where it’s determined, evidently by him, that there’s an economic crisis – which is EXACTLY what happened in Flint a few years back. And, of course, Cruz failed to mention it’s the Snyder “cronies” who decided to save a little money by switching the source of Flint’s water CAUSING the present CRISIS (in an effort to “save money”). This is not even disputable! Of course, Cruz (and the rest of them) is/are so busy blaming democrats for EVERYTHING that they don’t have time, apparently, to actually figure out the TRUTH. (Here’s where I might blame democrats: How is governor Snyder able to get away with this?)

But, it’s not this collection of DANGEROUS candidates – who, in any other era in my lifetime, NONE of them would be considered viable (well, Jeb Bush might have been prior to people being introduced to his brother – apparently, even republicans have had enough of the Bush clan!) that is bothering me so much as this all plays out. The real rub for me, as I continue to observe this process, is the state of deterioration of the “4th estate” in America. The Fox “brainwashing” has become so severe that it has permeated well beyond the audiences who’ve “bought into” the “fair and balanced” baloney. When I can stomach watching (or listening) to “news” I keep telling myself that MSNBC is supposed to be the “counter effect” of the Fox propaganda “machine.” From the days of Keith Olberman I thought, while there’s obviously bias, at least it’s “tilted” a bit to the left. Of course, Olberman was FIRED shortly after (I believe it was) Comcast (that) usurped NBC and since then the “tilt” on that source of “news” has started leaning back toward the “right.” With the exception of Rachel Maddow (most of the time), and to a certain degree Chris Hayes and Laurence O’Donnell, the voices on MSNBC seem more concerned with “ratings” than anything resembling “investigative reporting.”

For weeks I couldn’t turn on that channel without a constant barrage of Trump this, Trump that, Trump Trump Trump. Why? well evidently because Trump was a great source of ratings. Now, it appears that Mr. Trump is soon to get his “what for” and they (MSNBC) will apparently find another right wing “wing nut” to promote – and I MEAN THAT – they appear to be promoting these people – I think because they’re more concerned with viewership than “telling it like it is.” (For example, I have to find information about the blatant LIES coming from the republican presidential wannabees elsewhere – you would think that if MSNBC is truly “leaning left” they would be set on exposing at least some of the LIES. I’ve listened to Chuck Todd, Chris Matthews, and others interviewing republicans and FAILING to even question comments that are absurd or border on the absurd. I guess we’ve gotten to the point in America where it’s just an accepted part of the process that politicians LIE and we simply allow it. Seriously, think about that!

For example, the other day I (had to force myself to) listen(ed) to Chris Matthews commenting, in a manner that seemed complimentary, that Donald Trump had “struck a chord” with a significant number of Americans! To me, if he’s doing the job of an actual “reporter,” he should be HAMMERING the point that Trump’s comments, over and over, confirm that Trump is a racist, misogynist, and (among other things) almost a pathological LIAR. Additionally, he should be pointing out that this “significant number of Americans” amounts to maybe something in the range of 8 – 10 percent (which, if you’ve been paying attention, that’s a pretty conservative number of the Americans who’ve shown their racist tendencies since the inauguration of our first Black President – and, when they all say “we’re going to ‘take our country back'” are you starting to understand the “code?”). So, I guess what I’m saying is that I consider the (apparent) FACT that MSNBC is falling all over itself trying to be “fair and balanced” at the expense of TELLING IT LIKE IT IS alarming! How can I best say this? We don’t need no more Fox “news’s” guarding the “hen house” – ie – the information “highway” in America. MSNBC is giving “credibility” to these republican wack jobs who, with the help of the republican Congress, want to return America to the days of the “robber barons.” Evidently, when they say, “we’re going to take our country back” (aside from the racial code) they mean this literally – like to the 19th century!?

I keep wondering if the “pundits” or “reporters” or whatever their titles – of the people on the stage of MSNBC (and, the other “news” outlets on the 24/7 Cable “empires”) read books, or do any research whatever. Sometimes I think they’re actually watching Fox! For example, I’d like to know how many of these candidates are receiving money from the above mentioned “Koch Brothers.” For the second time, I’m reading “Sons of Wichita,” a book about the Koch family beginning with the patriarch Fred Koch and then about his four sons – Charles and David being the two commonly referred to as “The Koch Brothers.” I don’t understand why people like Matthews, Todd, and even Maddow aren’t HAMMERING it into the American public that Fred Koch (and, afterward his son Charles joined in) was one of the FOUNDERS of the JOHN BIRCH SOCIETY. If you don’t know about them I would suggest you do a little research on your own. But let me give you a short summary. The group (to me a cult) was founded during the McCarthy era of anti-communism hysteria and was in the forefront of that movement. Additionally, the “Birchers” were well known White Supremacists and anti-government advocates who were on the fringe in the 60’s, but are at the heart of the “Tea Party” and the right wing republicans today. I guess you could say (unfortunately) that “we’ve come a long way, baby.”

For whatever reason, our “4th Estate” has been timid in calling out the racism that “exploded” in America (obviously, it was “simmering” under the “surface”) upon the election of Barack Obama to be our 44th President. The name calling from “everyday Americans” has only been encouraged by the “code words” being spewed out by our “leaders” – mostly, but not entirely, on the republican “side of the isle,” and enabled by a “liberal media” willing to “look the other way.” Trump, Cruz, Rubio, Bush, and “fill in the blank” of the republicans have been pandering to the racists in America to the point where some people (me probably included) feel that this is their “base.” Evidently, they feel they can’t win without encouraging this issue which is, in my opinion, at the heart of the divisiveness in America. I’m guessing this is the only way republicans feel they can get middle class Americans (who their platform is designed to “SCREW”) to vote for them. I mean, I heard Rubio the other day (I could only stomach about one or two minutes of listening to him) say – I know, if you’ve been around a while this won’t surprise you – “I’m going to cut taxes and balance the budget.” (And, of course, he’s going to “take our country back” just like all the others)

Well, if you’re like me and fortunate enough to have a decent income and you’re thinking he might be talking about “me” (I believe I’ll be paying around $15,000 in federal taxes this year) think again. He’s not talking about a “middle class” tax cut – he’s talking about eliminating the inheritance tax, reducing capital gains taxes (for people who make their income collecting dividends or selling stocks), and reducing the tax rate on the upper 1% of Americans (those making in excess of around $250,000 – many in the hundreds of MILLIONS) – that is, on the people who are corrupting our political process. Those people can’t get enough and politicians like Rubio can’t get enough (of their money). The bottom line is that, just as when Reagan first proposed this STUPID idea in 1980, it’s a STUPID idea now. If you look at recent American history – say, dating back to 1968 when I started voting, EVERY TIME a republican wins the White House the DEFICIT shoots UP! Every republican candidate CLAIMS he/she can “reduce taxes and balance the budget,” and EVERY time a Democrat wins the White House the Republicans do everything they can to OBSTRUCT the democratic philosophy and then COMPLAIN about the DEFICIT and how the “spend, spend, spend” democrats gave it to us. (all the while as the “liberal media” turns a blind eye to the truth) This scenario happens OVER and OVER and our “investigative reporters” don’t seem to want to educate us Americans to this FACT! Even MSNBC (supposedly “liberal”) rarely if EVER (I can’t remember them pointing this out) talks about how ABSURD this scenario is. (And, by the way, I’m not complaining about how much I pay in taxes – in fact, I’m thankful I’m able to do it. I’m in favor of actually BALANCING the budget and repaying the national debt – which we could EASILY do)

My point here is that if the so-called “liberal media” in America continues to give this blind eye to what is going on in today’s political arena, we’re all going to LOSE! Every one of these present day republican candidates would fit right in with the JOHN BIRCH SOCIETY of the 1950’s and 1960’s. (I’m sure it still exists to this day, evidently in a much more surreptitious manner than when I was young – and, people like Fred Koch were publishing anti-communist pamphlets by the millions) Believe it or not, the John Birch Society accused (republican) President Dwight Eisenhower – the general who orchestrated the allied victory in World War II and then became president in 1952 as being a “communist sympathizer.” If people like Matthews, Todd, Maddow, and the others who have a place in front of the cameras that are SUPPOSED to provide “we the people” with information would read books like “Sons of Wichita,” “The Family,” “The Shock Doctrine,” “Blackwater,” “Who Stole the American Dream,” and others with actual information that exposes the motivation behind the right wing push to control the government so many of them profess to hate “We the people” would have a much better chance for knowledgeably electing a more representative government. These republicans wouldn’t even be under consideration!

One reason people like the “Koch Brothers” hate our government is because it is a representative democracy. The John Birch Society along with those behind “The Family” (Fred Koch, Robert Welch, Doug Coe, and others in the covert part of this right wing “revolution” – to steal a phrase from Bernie Sanders) have openly expressed disdain for democracy and admiration for fascism. And, that is what lies on the horizon if our “4th estate” allows, somehow, one of these right wing “clowns” (to use a part of a phrase bandied about at the beginning of the process) to gain the White House. Republicans already control the Supreme Court, both houses of Congress, and too many state legislatures (just look at what is happening in Michigan if you think I’m nuts). If they gain the White House in 2016 “all bets are off.” There will no longer be a check on the damage they can do. To a lessor degree this is what happened in 2000 when we got Bush/Cheney et al. Look at the damage they were able to do in 8 short years. I believe if “we the people” are STUPID enough (using the words of Donald Trump himself) to allow this to happen again, the damage will be much greater.

And, I’ll leave off with this: To all you WHITE “baby boomers” in my generation who’ve been reaping the benefits of what our fathers and grandfathers FOUGHT for in the 1930’s, 1940’s, and 1950’s who are lining up behind these “Tea Party” candidates who are willing to destroy the gains made during the “New Deal” and “Great Society” that we’ve benefited from ALL our lives: SHAME ON YOU! Eisenhower made sure we had a strong infrastructure as a foundation for a thriving economy. Are we going to allow it to crumble for our children and grandchildren? Things like Social Security, Medicare, Unemployment insurance, work place safety regulations, Environmental protection (Nixon signed the law creating the EPA), Food Safety, Water safety, Voting rights, Civil Rights all happened because of “liberal” activists and I could go on and on with more. We’ve ALL benefited from this – the Kochs and their benefactors (Who’ve benefited the MOST) want to tear it all down. In fact, they’ve already succeeded in the beginning of the process. And, I feel I can say this with certainty, if the republicans succeed in 2016 (with their “permanent republican ‘majority'”) outlets like MSNBC will have their share of the blame ALONG with “we the people.” Seriously, are we going to allow this to happen?

I keep getting reminded (in my head): “Those who ignore history are destined to repeat it.” Bush/Cheney (and those who supported their military extravagance) ignored the history of Viet Nam. We got Iraq. (I responded to a politician who was soliciting money from me by referencing Dick Cheney as a man “who never saw a war he didn’t like” and I responded by pointing out he was wrong. Dick Cheney apparently didn’t like Viet Nam – based on his refusal to serve in it – he only likes to shoot ducks [and his “friends”]) Americans ignored the history of Ronald Reagan in electing Bush/Cheney (ie – cut taxes and balance the budget) and now, with the help of our “4th estate” it appears we’re on the verge of possibly doing this again. Does America have such a short memory that we can’t remember what Bush/Cheney did to our nation? My prayer is that people who have the “stage” – ie Matthews, Todd, Maddow, O’Donnell, Hayes on MSNBC – and others – would focus on actually educating “we the people” about the real motivation of the candidates. Dig beneath their “stump speeches” because, as pointed out above, we’ve evidently got to the stage where the LYING is acceptable. (the information is available – in books and elsewhere!)

(If you’re thinking, “What about the Democrats?” I’m with you – give them the same treatment – it’s just that as things are presently constituted, they are less dangerous than the republicans – personally, I’m sick of the endless wars and that the country I love has people who condone TORTURE and believe that we are entitled to control the world because we have the strongest military in history ie “turn the sand in Syria into a glowing red” – Do people like Cruz, Trump, and the others even wonder how their words are construed internationally? Or do the people who vote for them?)