Republicans are like the itch that just won’t quit.  Really, I need some benedryll!  This “go round’s” puppets are Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, but those pulling the strings are the same thugs that forced the miserable years of the Bush/Cheney administration on the unsuspecting American public.  And, I say that with special emphasis on the Cheney part!  (In so many ways, GW Bush reminds me of Mitt Romney)  The big question for the upcoming election in my mind is that are we, the American voting public, as stupid as the republicans believe we are.  I mean, I think they should be embarrassed to put out two candidates with the issues of Romney and Ryan.  But, evidently, the Citizens United Supreme Court decision (and their control of the court – remember Bush v Gore 2000) allows them to feel as if the candidate is unimportant.  Those behind the scenes (such as Karl Rove, the Chamber of Commerce, the Koch’s, etc.) must believe their MOUNTAINS of money will be the deciding force in the upcoming election.

Here’s another way to look at this.  We’ve got two virtual KNOW NOTHINGS in the field of foreign policy now running around the country making stupid statements regarding President Obama, exactly at a time when the nation needs to show solidarity behind our president and those representing this country abroad, and seemingly trying to make matters worse.  The “Democracy” these republicans were so vociferous in supporting as they unseated Saddam Hussein and destabilized the middle east (and world for that matter) in their quest for more oil profits is showing its growing pains in the surrounding nations and, as with every other incident that has happened in the world since 2009 (except the positive ones) Romney, Ryan, and the rest of the republican party is BLAMING President Obama for all that goes awry!  Now, if you just take one moment to think about how absurd that is, then another moment to think about what that does to the U.S.’s image in the world (can you imagine how those in other places are wondering how people like Romney/Ryan/Boehner/McConnell etc. could possibly be “leaders” of the leader of the “free world?”), and then look back at the previous 3+ years and honestly consider the number of times the republicans have BLOCKED any progressive legislation from having a chance – you should be able to get the picture here.

Nothing the republicans do has anything to do with what’s best for the United States of America.  It’s ALL ABOUT what’s best for their “focus group” (the so-called 1%) AND regaining POWER.  It’s been less than 4 years since the republicans led the Wall Street elite’s plundering of our economy to the tune of several TRILLION dollars – and, they now expect “we the people” to put them back in charge by proposing the same OLD recipe for their GREED.  More tax breaks for millionaires and BILLIONAIRES – and, this time they’ll fix the tax code so that us “little people” can have more fairness (figure out what losing your mortgage deduction will do to your “bottom line”).  It’s just that Romney/Ryan are adding the caveat that they are pawns of the neocons behind the “Project for a New American Century”- ie, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Dick Armey, Richard Perle, and a host of other right wing war mongers – virtually none of which actually ever wore a uniform in the military service to the United States.  The “talking points” coming from Romney/Ryan are like a bad dream from a broken record.  We’ve heard them all before – whether it’s about plundering our tax base for American’s wealthy (in their estimation it’s allowing the rich to “keep their” money) or liberating some unfortunate country which hates Israel and – this is important – has HUGE reserves of oil.  Romney/Ryan’s “cross-hairs:”  Iran!  These people are nuts – AND – they’re bound and determined to PROVE they can overcome all the obstacles our founders put into the constitution to prevent FACTIONS such as theirs from EVER gaining a STRANGLEHOLD on our government.  George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and the others were trying to save us from these neocons over 200 years ago.  Lets just hope and pray the original constitution’s intent holds up!

Romney’s recent “gaffe” – actually, for once telling the truth – where he commented on the now famous 47% of Americans who are evidently freeloaders living off the government dole – really tells it all.  It should, in reality, GUARANTEE that this man is UNFIT to lead America, but with all their Citizens United might – I have no doubt the republicans and Romney will march on with their arrogant lies aimed at suffocating the 47% (and the rest of the so-called 99%) with the right wing power grab which has been in the works since the days of Ronald Reagan.  I tried to watch the first presidential debate, but just as when I try to take in Fox “news,” or listen to the likes of Rush Limbaugh or Lars Larsen, I quickly get sick to my stomach hearing all the lies (republican “talking points” – right out of the Goebbels Nazi propaganda “playbook” – don’t believe me?  Just listen to several of the “talkers” on the same day – you’ll hear the same message with the same words coming out of their mouths – ie the big lie theory)  with no apparent mechanism (well, except for those of us who check out things on the “Internets” – one site, I think it was the Daily Kos, listed something like 27 lies coming from Romney’s mouth in 38 minutes of the debate) to rebut them.  I’ve always had a lot of respect for Jim Lehrer, and maybe how he moderated that debate was what he should have done, but in the parts I watched Mitt Romney was acting like a bully and Lehrer seemed defenseless.  I was able to IMMEDIATELY see holes in what he was saying and he was violating his “time” (I’m sure Obama probably did the same at other points in the debate) but, that’s not what caused me to almost “gag.”  For a man who’s been “promising” to “repeal Obamacare” as the first thing he does upon becoming president (I’m not sure he can even do that without the consent of congress) his defense of “his plan” which was implemented in Massachusetts while he was governor seemed to me a total contradiction (of course, that’s what Romney’s becoming famous for – all the contradictions – some people say there’s not an issue of which he hasn’t claimed to be on both sides)

To me, it’s just the height of arrogance that a man like Romney would be running for this office in the first place.  A recent report I read listed his “holdings” in the Cayman Islands at 137 different business investments.  You don’t have to do much research to figure out why any American would locate their business or their investments in places like the Caymans – and, keep in mind Romney’s got Swiss bank accounts and business investments located in Bermuda as well – and, probably elsewhere.  The MAIN reason businesses locate in these places is to avoid regulation and TAXES.  Now, I’m not suggesting any of what Romney’s doing is illegal (although I’ve read several books suggesting that the “rules” are “pushed” in almost all of these “setups” and the IRS just doesn’t have enough manpower to adequately police it – not to mention that many of the holders of these accounts are large donors to that great congress of ours which has been virtually bought and paid for by the 1% of which most of the rest of us are getting REALLY tired) – what I am suggesting is that it’s hard for me to understand why any working class American would vote for someone who doesn’t believe in this nation enough to invest their money right here at home!  I “get” how all this works, I just don’t “get” how “we the people” would want someone like Romney – a direct representative of the very people who almost destroyed our economy in 2008 to “run” this country – it makes NO SENSE at all to me.

I read the biography of Steve Jobs and I’ve had the pleasure of hosting teachers from China in a student exchange program over the past few years (both myself and my wife are school teachers).  The teachers come from one of the cities hosting the factory (I believe it’s called Fox Com) where Apple makes their iPhones and iPads.   Recently I read where Apple is hoarding something approaching 100 BILLION dollars over seas – unwilling to return this money to the United States until they can do so without paying taxes.  I’m pointing this out because I believe Apple’s mentality and Romney’s are quite similar.  And, to me, it’s totally outrageous.  Apple is ABUSING the Chinese workers (some of the stories are horrific) and making HUGE profits by assembling their products with what almost amounts to slave labor and then shipping their products to the United States and selling them.  The Chinese teachers and students were purchasing Apple products here because the products are cheaper here than in the very town where they are assembled!  After all this – and Apple has made obscene profits – they still want to avoid taxes on the money that should be reinvested in America (actually, they should have to treat their workers better in China first and foremost AND be willing to pay American taxes to support the country which allowed for their success in the first place).  I’m sure if we had the “TRUTH” about Romney’s Cayman Islands business accounts we would see some parallels – albeit a bit smaller – to Apple’s arrogant greed.  Again, not illegal – but, why would “we the people” want our leaders coming from this mindset?

I will end this by saying that I believe the very things that turn my stomach about Mitt Romney are what makes him valuable to the puppeteers of the republican party.  He will say whatever he’s told to say.  He will give any audience what they want to hear.  Last year I heard a quote from a leading republican insider, I believe it was Grover Norquist, when addressing republican donors concerned about what at the time was a dreadful group of candidates for the republican nomination for president, and he said “All we need is someone to sign the legislation we get through congress.”  Of course, the plan is to have control of both houses of congress, the White House, and the courts. (the secret part of the plan is that the so-called “liberal media” is controlled by right wing corporations – so, they’ve already got the “4th estate,”  they’ll NEVER tell us that)  That plan appears to be unraveling, but even in my state (Washington) – considered a “liberal” state, the Koch brothers recently “funneled in” over $4 MILLION in an attempt to get a “Scott Walker clone” into the governorship of the state of Washington.  Will it work?  Well, in our state, that’s a lot of money and it will allow the republicans to buy up most of the available advertisement time on the TV’s.  Nationally, people like Karl Rove, the Chamber of Commerce, and Dick Armey (with “Freedom Works”) are expected to spend upwards of a BILLION dollars on stealth advertising designed to get republicans elected by any means possible.  We’ve seen the repeated LYING by both Romney and Ryan at the top (OK, most will concede that the lying is bipartisan – it’s just that I’ve never seen it as blatant as with these republicans) and I don’t expect anything different from those down the “food chain.”  It really is time for “we the people” to put an end to this version of the republican party.  The way to do that is at the ballot box in November! Failure to do so could lead to a disaster which can best be described as a revisiting of the 1920’s!

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????

I’m going to attempt to share some recent thoughts without trying to sound arrogant or conceited.  However, I’m constantly amazed at how it seems America’s leaders are seemingly always at least one step behind the “eight ball” on issues which seem obvious to us “little people.”  For example, the recent political dialogue (especially coming from the “progressive” side) is dominated by conversation regarding “Citizens United.”  The reality is that Citizens United was a Supreme Court decision of over three years ago.  President Obama referred to it in his initial state of the union address.  I can still visualize Sam Alito shaking his head as if to say “no way” when Obama pointed out that the decision opened the floodgates to foreign money (unlimited foreign money) affecting the outcomes of our future elections.  What I couldn’t understand, at the time, was the lack of response from the rest of the democratic party who should have realized right then what this decision meant for them.   We saw the initial wave of this in 2010 with the defeat of the democratic house by the so-called “tea party” radicals who have specialized in putting up a road block to EVERY attempt by the Obama administration to reverse the effects of the Bush/Cheney cabal that virtually destroyed our economy, our military, and our standing in the world.  I (with, as I’ve explained many times on this site, the help of Thom Hartman) was writing about what Citizens United meant long before it was mentioned by Obama.  The democrats are finally in full tilt repeal mode now that they are understanding the reality that decision thrust onto the American political scene.  It may be too late.  That’s why I’m thinking in terms of this post as American politics 101 – and, hoping it doesn’t sound too arrogant.

The reality of Citizens United – which too me has been apparent since the “get go” – is that it’s definitely made Karl Rove’s (and Grover Norquist’s,  the late Paul Weyrich’s, the Coors family, the Scaife’s, the Koch’s, and the rest of the republican insiders) “permanent republican ‘majority'” a possibility.  It’s one reason I have been so frustrated with President Obama, because I felt he wasn’t recognizing the reality of the WAR the republicans are FIGHTING.  I’ve been mentioning (over and over) how the republicans already have control of the Supreme Court (and, for all intensive purposes the lower courts as well) and they’re planning on Citizens United giving them the boost to get both houses of Congress and the White House in the 2012 election.  What will be different this time from 2000 when Bush/Cheney where installed (by this right wing Supreme Court) is that the 1996 Telecommunications Act has had over 15 years to “mature” and now our “liberal media” is controlled by a small number of right wing corporations.  Not only do these media conglomerates benefit financially from republican control of our government – ie tax policy, etc. – but, Citizens United offers opportunities for cashing in on political advertising that, to them, is like a MAJOR dream come true.  The political divisiveness and “free market” mentality that is being crammed down our collective throats will lead to a bonanza of advertising revenue for these media conglomerates which will completely trump their obligation to be the “fourth estate” which our founders were counting on to keep government from straying from the will of the people.  The frustrations those on the “left” are feeling will have little to no effect on the media’s desire to continue cashing in on this “Citizens United” bonanza.  (it’s all about corporate profits, isn’t is?)

There seems to be NO checks on what the “Super PAC’s” can say in their advertisements and, unfortunately, we do live in a society that is dominated by “low information voters” – there I go again Lars (you’ll have to visit my archives to understand that comment) – and, the right wing political propagandists understand how to message these voters much better than the so-called liberals.  (Just for the record, after reading “Eisenhower in War and Peace” I’ve come to realize that I’m an Eisenhower republican – which, in today’s world, makes me a flaming liberal)  The republican brain trusts are using the methods originally devised by Joseph Goebbels – the head of Nazi propaganda during the second World War – which Goebbels called “The big lie theory.”  The theory goes like this – if you repeat a lie over and over enough times, people will then come to believe it’s true.  This is the foundation of the “republican talking points.”  It’s the “mantra” of Fox “news.”  If you don’t believe me, on the same day tune in to several different political broadcasts where you find “conservative” commentators.  I’ll guarantee you that they’re all using the exact same code words and the exact same message (yes, democrats have tried to copy this strategy, but they are woefully unable to compete in the arena of bold faced lies).  It’s almost as if these people are programmed from some central computer center.  What this should make clear to you is that there’s a covert cabal of people driving the “conservative” message and the “messengers” are simply people who will say anything for the right price.  What’s good for America has nothing to do with their message – it’s all about gaining a stranglehold on power and making sure us “little people” stay in our places.  This cabal, in my view, is made up of mainly the heads of large conglomerates who are making obscene profits at the expense of the American consumers and taxpayers – and, their specialty is convincing working class people to vote against what is their own best self interests.

The point here that is becoming clearer to me and making me more concerned with the direction this is all headed is that the power of the media is potentially suffocating any “backlash” that might be aimed at reversing the plan of the Roves, the Norquists, the Koch brothers (they’re a big part of the “payers”), Rush Limbaugh and the other paid mouthpieces for the “right wing,” along with politicians like Mitch McConnell and John Boehner who demonstrate absolutely no personal integrity.  And, I have to add here that I believe the intensity of their “movement” was driven up exponentially when a Black man entered the “White House.”  President Obama doesn’t  like to (and can’t) talk about this – but, his presidency has ignited the latent racists in America who were evidently OK with an occasional mayor or senator being elected – or for Blacks to entertain “Whites” as sports heroes; but, being president? – that was just too much for them – and, there’s more Americans out there who can’t vote for Obama simply because of the color of his skin than just about anyone wants to talk about.  Too me, it’s obvious.  I really can’t remember another time in my lifetime or my readings about American history when the opposing party was so outrageous as to publicly say their NUMBER ONE GOAL was to insure our president fails – with little to no blow-back from the media.  This is what led me to understand the depth of the opposition to our Black president.  Not only the corporate driven republican party, but the corporate driven media wants a “white man” in the “White House.”

And, who did they come up with?  Mitt Romney – are you kidding me?  Yet, they are so opposed to Obama that MANY “conservatives” will hold their noses and vote for maybe the most two faced, spineless politician to hit the national scene in my lifetime.  Having Romney as a candidate confirms, in my eyes, that the republicans believe they can purchase this election no matter who is running at the top of their ticket.  All they need is someone who’s willing to sign the laws they legislate and say the things they expect said – and, Romney is perfect for that role – he’s the best at telling people what they want to hear that I’ve seen yet.  He’s a Mormon elder, yet acts as a republican puppet!  As a (left wing) Christian myself, I can’t tell you how many people I know who think Romney is a member of a cult and who have said they can’t stand him, yet they’re going to vote for him because they’ve been convinced America’s “first priority” is defeating President Obama (yes, unfortunately they get their “news” on Fox).  Whether this “tact” continues the downward trend of our once great nation is irrelevant to them – and, I honestly don’t think they’ve thought past what it would mean to have another republican in charge – they’ve just been convinced that Obama is the problem (the other day, one of them actually told me “Obama caused the housing crisis”).  Most are republicans who still don’t understand the damage that was done by Bush/Cheney during the 2000-2008 term they held the White House.  Many believe Obama is not an American, many blame him for the deficits, and I could go on.  They watch Fox “news” and they believe what they see and hear when they watch it.  What is unnerving about this is that if somehow Romney wins in November the other broadcast outlets are likely to move closer to the Fox model instead of away from it (they are all multinational corporations).  The only way to reverse this trend is to DEFEAT republicans – which is what I’ve been espousing since the first day Obama took office (in fact, since before that).  For the sake of our children and grandchildren (this comment is meant for those “baby boomers” like me) this “defeating republicans” MUST begin with Mitt Romney.  The “right wing” direction of the Supreme Court MUST be changed!

That gets me to the “what can we do about it” part of this post.  And, of course, that last sentence would be aimed at anyone who shares my concern that this is a WAR for the heart and soul of America.  The ramifications of a republican victory in November could change the course of American history for a generation or more.  Regaining power in the face of Citizens United ALONG WITH a “liberal media” that is controlled by the RIGHT WING will be EXTREMELY difficult.  The best chance to “regain power” (remember, it’s the congress which passes the laws, spends the money, etc. – the president can only propose legislation) is to take back the congress.  I hope you can see there are two parts to this equation.  Romney MUST be defeated, but without a progressive congress President Obama is like the lion in the Wizard of Oz – “fighting with one hand tied behind his back.”  The Koch’s, the Scaife’s, the Coors family, and the other corporate forces are the same people who drove us into the depression of the 1930’s.  And, they’ve been fighting the “New Deal” since the first day FDR was elected in 1932.  They won’t go away.  They have unlimited amounts of money (remember, David and Charles Koch are worth more than $50 BILLION and their conglomerate, Koch Industries, generates over $100 BILLION of revenue EACH YEAR!), they have a history of supporting racist organizations (ie John Birch Society), they’ve been fighting unions since the thirties (yes, it all started with their parents – this “me” philosophy is family tradition in too many wealthy American families), they oppose public education, and ironically much of their income is the result of the very government they seem to hate.  Keep in mind, corporate profits have been prolific during this “Great Recession” (which is the result of Bush/Cheney economic warfare on America’s middle class), but apparently that isn’t enough.  Reports are that America’s corporations are, as I’m writing this, hoarding TRILLIONS in cash – with little to no incentive to let it “trickle down” back into our economy.  Clearly, there’s more to this than the money, which is why it’s imperative for those on the “left” to mobilize everyone they can to make sure these “republicans” don’t succeed in November (and beyond).

I can’t think of a single reason why any American who believes this is a “we” society should consider voting for a republican.  In fact, and I’ve always considered myself an independent voter – I’ve voted for many republicans over the years, I believe “we the people” need to make it clear to EVERYONE that this republican agenda of, as Scott Walker of Wisconsin was quoted, divide and conquer is REJECTED and republicans will be REJECTED until that agenda is REPUDIATED.  And, it must be repudiated by the leaders of the republican party and people like the Kochs and others who base their philosophy in racism MUST be marginalized – as they were until the 1980’s when the election of Ronald Reagan brought them out from under the rocks where they were hiding since the Great Depression.

Seriously, why would the so-called 99% want to revisit the Depression?  It makes no sense to me.  So, “we the people” have to forgive President Obama for his blunders as he attempted to bridge the gap between the right and left after he was elected.  He, and his advisers, failed to recognize the seriousness of the republican “divide and conquer” strategy.  I believe many on the left felt that the defeat of Bush/Cheney meant these republicans would “go away.”  It was obvious to me (and many others) that the republicans would be coming back stronger than ever – especially once Citizens United became law.  This is the very reason I was so frustrated that Obama BLOCKED all investigations into the Bush/Cheney illegal activity.

Now the democrats are scrambling to fight off being marginalized themselves and I believe President Obama finally “gets it” based on the “ferocity” of his attack adds on Mitt Romney.  For the rest of us who don’t want a corporate takeover of our government (that’s fascism) we’d better talk to as many people as possible between now and November and make sure they vote for democrats – in EVERY election.  (remember, republicans believe they’ve got voter suppression laws in place to prevent over 5 MILLION voters from voting – in strategic “swing” states – their plan is thorough and they will win without an all out effort by us “little people”)  Vote for NO republicans!  This is a WAR for the heart and soul of this nation, and if the republicans can get Mitt Romney elected (the man has “flip flopped” on EVERY issue and he is the poster child for the very people – Wall Street financiers – who created the financial crisis of 2007-2008 – he’s actually proposing even LOWER taxes for the wealthiest among us – to me, Romney as the republican candidate is the height of republican arrogance) they will have proved that they CAN get anyone elected with their corporate CASH and they will have a stranglehold on our government for the foreseeable future!

The more I read, the more I realize this right wing “cabal” that is threatening the very foundation America was built upon, is no recent phenomenon.  Of course, when reading about FDR, the Great Depression, and the New Deal, you can’t help but be exposed to the greedy, mean spirited, right wing corporate “leaders” who fought long and hard to prevent unions from collectively bargaining working conditions and wages, they fought to prevent the government from taking action to put Americans to work during the New Deal and beyond, they did everything they could to prevent equality for women, blacks, etc., they’ve tried to – for many years – undermine public education, and I could go on.  The re-emergence of this group – I guess you could equate the modern version with the so-called robber barons of the early 20th century – has turned me from being an independent voter to an ANTI republican voter – because, there is nary a whimper coming from the leadership of the republican party to all the hate mongering, the divisiveness, and the greed that seems to be at the forefront of republican policy as we proceed in the second decade of the 21st century.  It’s almost as if they want to take us back to the second decade of the 20th century.

Presently, I’m reading Jean Edward Smith’s biography of Dwight D Eisenhower “In War and Peace” and it is a great reminder to me that in my youth there were many republicans who people like me – generational “middle class” – could admire and support.  In fact, the more I read about Eisenhower, the more I appreciate what a decisive, brilliant president he was.  And, as I’m being reminded as I read this book, Eisenhower faced the same right wing thugs in his day – in his own republican party – as President Obama is facing today (with today’s republican party).  In fact, it was Eisenhower’s insistence on standing on principle that led him to form a coalition with the democrats, led by Lyndon Johnson in the Senate, that placed him in rarefied air as far as American presidents are concerned.  Just two of his accomplishments which were made without the support of many in his own party (mainly the right wing obstructionists) and which have been paying immeasurable benefits to all Americans ever since were the construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway and the Interstate Highway System across America.

Eisenhower laid the “seeds” that “sprouted” into the Civil Rights movement in the 60’s and he had the courage to stand firm against the anti communists headed by Joseph McCarthy.  The American middle class has been benefiting from Eisenhower’s courage ever since, and now we find ourselves almost being overwhelmed by the same people he managed to marginalize.  The reality seems to be that these right wing extremists JUST WONT GO AWAY!  And, they are very smart and over the years they’ve discovered how to manipulate public opinion to the point where they are now expert at this and, compared to the democrats, it’s like “men against boys.”  A good example of what I’m talking about is how the people behind this movement fully understand what the framers of the constitution intended and they’ve figured out how to “get around” their (the framer’s) intentions.  Take as an example the Supreme Court.  I’ve always considered the court to be an honorable place for people who might have “conservative” or “liberal” leanings, but ultimately they have the best interests or the general public in mind as they have interpreted the constitution over the years.  Not many people understood what was accomplished by the “right” when they got John Roberts and Sam Alito confirmed to the court.  That led the way to “Citizens United”- a boondoggle of a decision I’ve been writing about since the day it came down (I have to give credit to Thom Hartman – he was the only member of the media who understood the significance of this decision before it happened – and, sadly, ALL of his predictions are coming true).  In Mitt Romney’s famous words the court, in “Citizens United,”  determined that “corporations are people, my friend.”  (those were Romney’s exact words)  The decision stated that money is “free speech.”  Essentially, there are no limits on how much money a corporation may spend to influence the outcome of an election.  OUCHEE!!!!!

We’ve now had one complete election cycle (the 2010 midterms) and half another (the 2012 national election cycle) to see the effect of “Citizens United” on the very foundation on which our government was based.  It’s not hard to understand why republicans will not vote to challenge this decision and why democrats are FINALLY scurrying around trying to figure out how to counteract it.  The money is POURING in to those who would advocate for the large monied interests in America and beyond.  Yes, I said beyond – it’s beyond my imagination how anyone could fail to see that foreign interests how have a HUGE say in who is going to govern in this country that I love.  To me, it’s stupid to fail to see this as most large corporations in America are what you’d have to call “multinational” corporations.  They have HUGE interests overseas AND they have many shareholders from overseas and, in some cases, even though they’re “American corporations” they are OWNED by people from overseas.  Hopefully, you get my point.  And, even if that wasn’t the reality, to me it’s just as bad to be under the control of people like Charles and David Koch, Sheldon Adleson,  and other multi billionaires who have the ability to “invest” hundreds of MILLIONS into the election – overtly – in order to get the policy decisions they desire.

Let’s just briefly look at what that might mean.  Charles and David Koch are worth collectively something north of $50 BILLION and they run a corporate conglomerate that has a revenue stream above $100 BILLION annually.  Additionally, they come from the farthest reaches of the right wing.  Their father was a founding member of the John Birch Society – a group that I had hoped had gone away after all the Civil Rights battles of the 60’s.  However, having a black president seems to have a lot of people coming out from under their hiding places in a way this country hasn’t seen for a long long time – if ever.  The John Birch Society was among a group that accused Eisenhower of being a “communist sympathizer.”  They were overt racists and were opposed to every good measure that became part of American society as a result of the New Deal of FDR and the administrations which followed – all, reaffirming the value and importance of a strong middle class.  They were able to come out from under their rocks once Ronald Reagan won the “White House” and they’ve been building momentum ever since for the so-called “permanent republican majority.”  They figured out the way to do this is to get a stranglehold on one party in our two party system, figure out how to gain power, and then DESTROY the system!

So far, it’s been hard to keep up with these people because it’s been easy to think they are still in the “margins.”  However, in my view, they’re one election away from possibly having the American public “where the hair’s short” for a generation.  If they are able to turn the money advantage into a return to the “White House” (I put that in quotes because I’m sure you can understand that, to them, it’s a literal term – and having President Obama living there is almost more than they can handle) and more control of congress, it’s going to be hard to get them out.  They will then control ALL three branches of government (the framer’s wanted to make this virtually impossible – but they didn’t envision political hacks like Roberts, Alito, and Scalia who are unashamed republicans who are willing to “fall in line” as the saying goes) plus, what most people fail to realize, they have control of the “liberal media.”  In fact, that Americans mostly believe we have a liberal media is a testament to the propaganda ability of this group that is behind the scenes orchestrating Romney’s campaign, the “tea party,” and the information “we the people” are privy to.

To me, the most significant reason to vote for President Obama in November is the Supreme Court.  These are appointments for life, and the “Citizens United” decision made it clear as a blue sky that more political right wing hacks on that court means a tougher battle in restoring the middle class as the driving force in this nation.  Scott Walker put the strategy well that republicans are using to pull this “heist” of our nation’s government off:  he was quoted as saying “divide and conquer”  in Wisconsin would allow his right wing agenda to trump those who favor worker’s rights, etc.  I still remember in 2008 how Obama was vilified for pointing out how republicans were using “wedge issues” to get middle class people to vote against their own self interests.  I see it all the time as a Christian who regularly attends church services.  The republicans have convinced America’s conservative Christian community that they’re the “pro life” party and they’ve used the abortion issue for years to cause people to vote for politicians who they should despise.  I’m not interested in getting into that discussion here, only to point out that the republicans, far more than the democrats, are willing to say anything that gets them into power – the end justifies the means.  And, they walk in “lockstep” which, to me, is the clearest sign that the party has degenerated to the point where they’re all simply mouthpieces (paid mouthpieces) for this invisible cabal that I feel is so close to achieving their goal of having  and iron tight grip on America’s political system and government.

Why is the Supreme Court so important?  Well, just the other day they decided that a law in Montana (which had been law for somewhere around 100 years) which forbid corporations from participating in their local and state elections  was unconstitutional.  The court evidently was saying that “Citizens United” is the law of the land and no state may challenge it.  The most interesting part of this decision to me is the FACT that the members of the court have had almost four years to see the effect “Citizens United” is having on our electoral process and they decided to take it one step further.  Evidently, the members of the court are buying into the idea of a corporate/government partnership.  I’ve written several times about how this is fundamental definition of fascism.  I’ve been writing since Obama’s election that we’re in a WAR for the heart and soul of America and the only defense “we the people” have at this time to fight back is the democratic party and President Obama.  I believe the gravity of the situation is FINALLY setting in with America’s “progressive” leaders – I just hope it’s not too late.  “Citizens United” has given the people who’ve been railing against the New Deal since the first day FDR was elected a “light at the end of the tunnel.”  The first step in reversing “Citizens United” is refusing to vote for another republican until that decision has been overturned. If Mitt Romney is somehow elected president (remember, with all the money and the voter suppression which is going on as I write this, it’s a distinct possibility) the Supreme Court will anti working class for at least a generation!  Despite all the wishy washy statements we’ve heard over the years, seemingly in conflict with himself, one thing is clear about Romney:  He’ll do whatever he’s told to do by this “invisible” cabal.

Recently a couple court trials reminded me of why I’m so disenchanted with my government.  Yes, I’m definitely going to vote for President Obama in November, but it will be mostly a vote against the republicans and Mitt Romney.  There are some clear reasons why I believe “The change we can believe in” isn’t quite here yet.  The first case I want to mention is the recent trial of John Edwards that ended in a not guilty verdict on one of the six counts he was charged with and a mistrial on the other five.  To be honest, it wouldn’t surprise me if the Obama Justice Department went after a new trial, but that would just further make the point I’m trying to get across with this post.  As a person who would have supported Edwards, I too was shocked and appalled that he would carry on the affair and still think he might win the Democratic nomination for president or, short of that, get the call for vice president.  In my mind, Edwards deserves the disgrace he’s brought upon himself.  But, to have our Justice Department – in their evidently curious way – include him in their choice of selective prosecutions – well, it’s just as shocking to me.  To be right up front here, I expected an entirely different approach from the Justice Department once Obama took office.  That was one of the main reasons I voted for him.  He’s a constitutional lawyer and I expected him to restore the Justice Department to it’s rightful place as a “beacon” of our nation’s integrity.  When people question the fairness of our legal system, the entire nation is at peril.

The other case that has really bothered me is the trial of Roger Clemons, former ace baseball pitcher (whom, by the way, I was never a fan), for lying in front of congress as to whether or not he took steroids when playing baseball.  My original thought: of course he took steroids – during the period in question steroid use in baseball was rampant.  So, let’s just assume that Clemons lied.  My response:  Is that worth the time of a reported 100 Justice Department lawyers to prove it in a court of law?  Are you kidding me?  Here’s the real rub with this, because I agree you shouldn’t lie anywhere, let alone after you’ve taken an oath to tell the truth and your sitting before a committee of our national congress.  This, again, is an ugly case of selective prosecution.  Clemons is a BASEBALL player, Alberto Gonzales was the Attorney General of the United States and I watched him lie through his teeth REPEATEDLY in front of Congress regarding the political purging of State Attorney Generals by the Bush administration with nary a whimper from our Justice Department.  Why did Gonzales get a “free pass?”  And, there’s plenty more reasons to wonder why our governing legal entity chose Edwards and Clemons to make their stand.

Let’s start with George W Bush, himself.  Evidently, he learned from his father how to violate America’s laws (that he swore to uphold) without accountability.  Honestly, based on what I’ve seen in my lifetime, there must be an unwritten rule among people who assume the role of president to leave “well enough alone.”  I’ve watched President Ford pardon President Nixon (who I now believe was a victim of the right wing of his own party), I watched Ronald Reagan CLEARLY violate laws in the Iran/Contra “affair” and not have to do anything more than say “I can’t remember,” I watched George HW Bush violate laws in the same scandal as Reagan with no accountability – he’s got questions that should be answered that go back to the days of JFK, and then there was GW Bush and Dick Cheney who BOTH on national TV admitted to authorizing TORTURE – waterboarding –  (among other crimes) and, again, not the slightest amount of accountability.  Now all these cases were pre-Obama except for Bush/Cheney and I expected nothing less than detailed investigations of what went on during their “reign.”  However, Barrack Obama was not in office for long before he declared we were going to “look forward instead of back.”  What that evidently meant was there would be no investigations or, where warranted, prosecutions of the Bush administration – much to my dismay (and to the dismay and disgust of millions of Americans and people around the world that want to believe the United States really does believe in the protection of basic human rights – and a legal system which applies EQUALLY to all).  I’ve stated more than once on this site, if you took Obama’s position (looking forward and not back) to all crimes – well, there would be no more prosecutions.  YOU HAVE TO LOOK BACK to hold people accountable for their behavior!  Evidently with Edwards and Clemons (and, make no mistake – with you and me) “looking back” is OK – just not with Bush/Cheney and America’s “elite” class.

I repeatedly pointed out on this blog what the result would be of the above choices of President Obama.  For some reason, he must have thought (or been advised) that investigating the Bush/Cheney administration would be too much of a distraction and would cause a “backlash” of some degree interfering with his planned agenda.  Looking back, it should be easy to see the folly of that kind of thinking.  First of all, the republicans NEVER had any intention of allowing Obama’s agenda to get through congress.  The “backlash” was already “etched in stone.”  (In fact, I’ve said the only way he could have mitigated the “backlash” would have been through the investigations which would have exposed the “real” republicans)  All they (republicans) needed was 41 votes in the Senate – which they had right from day one.  And, for those who think Obama had at one point the 60 votes he needed, they weren’t being realistic about who Joe Lieberman or Ben Nelson or Blanche Lincoln really are.  (Once Teddy Kennedy died, that all became a moot point anyway) The time to go after the REAL republican agenda was the first day President Obama took office.  What we’re seeing now is that President Obama is finding himself in the position of having to do now what he should have done then.  The problem with that is it’s too late to hold Bush/Cheney accountable for the torture, the violations of FISA, the outing of a covert CIA agent, the TARP bailouts, the lying America into the Iraq fiasco, the blunderous policy in Afghanistan, the purging of the Justice department (where new hires had to take the equivalent of a GOP loyalty oath), the deregulation of our financial system, the Housing crisis, and I could go on and on.  What Obama accomplished by “looking forward instead of back” was allowing the republican spin machine to convince a significant portion of America’s voting public that he actually created this MESS – and for the perpetrators to “get away with their crimes!”

It didn’t help the president when he selected Rahm Emmanuel as his chief of staff – the consummate Washington “insider” – and then filled his “inner circle” with Wall Street cronies like Tim Geithner, Larry Summers, and as Attorney General Eric Holder.  For me, Holder has turned out to be the ultimate disappointment.  This particular post obviously is aimed at him along with the president.  I have often wondered what was the real motivation behind their timidity toward republican accountability.  Were they thinking that by being “nice” the republicans would return the “favor” and cooperate legislatively?  Is that what led to the constant “caving” as Obama sought “bipartisanship?”  I have to say that if that was the thinking, they are more naive than me (and, I’m right up their in the “clueless” category).  I predicted within a couple months (the posts are still on the site if you want to check) of Obama’s inauguration that he was risking being a “one term” president by taking this course of action.  Unfortunately, one of my other predictions has already come through, and that was the 2010 disaster at the polls for the democrats.  The American people just don’t want presidents who are indecisive – even if it’s just in appearance.  The progressives didn’t vote for republicans or tea partiers in 2010, it’s just that many didn’t vote at all.  I voted (I always vote :o), but it was easy to predict what was going to happen.  I just don’t understand why President Obama and his advisers couldn’t see this coming.

Now, I have to say that President Obama has proven himself anything but indecisive in many instances – ie  saving the auto industry in America (and, make no mistake about this – his 2012 opponent and the rest of the republican party was willing to throw GM, Chrysler, and what would have been Ford “UNDER THE BUS” in 2009 – that was a bailout that worked and was necessary to save MILLIONS of American blue collar [and white collar] jobs – and, it was orchestrated solely by the Obama administration) –  the decision to FINALLY get Osama bin Laden took more courage than the republicans showed for the 7 years following 9/11 that Bush/Cheney ruled – think of the outcry if the raid that killed bin Laden had failed – that was a decisive decision! (I’m predicting republicans won’t want to talk about this – remember, when Bush/Cheney were in office the famous Bush quote “I don’t know where he is, I really don’t spend that much time on him” regarding the perpetrator of 9/11 said it all to me.  9/11 gave Bush/Cheney and their supporters from the “Project for a New American Century” the reason to invade Iraq and push our defense spending [these people are mostly executives from the defense oriented industries] into the stratosphere)  I believe the president has come to “grips” with this “perception problem” and lately  has been attempting to “reconnect” with his “base” (people like me) with some very populist rhetoric.  The problem he has for 2012 (which I’ve also predicted) is that many of his original supporters don’t trust his rhetoric anymore.

What I’m trying to point out here is how misguided some of the decisions of the Obama administration have been and how they have done nothing positive for Obama or America, but how they are threatening at this point to allow republicans to regain control of our government – and, with the help of Citizens United – this time it could be a stranglehold.  I have to say that those behind the scenes who are controlling the republican agenda are having a clear struggle finding their mouthpieces – GW Bush had difficulty putting a complete sentence together most of the time and I’m not sure if Mitt Romney might not be a step down in that regard.  I can only hope that should Romney prevail in November (the thought makes my stomach queezy) that his incompetence as a political thinker and his clear lack of leadership ability will be so obvious that it will derail the “next” attempt of Karl Rove and people like Grover Norquist to impose their “permanent republican majority” on America.  I’m worried that Citizens United could allow enough money into our political process to actually destroy the foundation of our republic according to the “whims” of America’s corporate elite.  (remember, they count their money in the BILLIONS and they still want MORE)

The problem progressives have with a situation that should be a walkover (ie  1% vs 99%) – is the amount of money that’s going to come down in 2012 (we’re already seeing signs of this – Scott Walker was able to spend close to $100 MILLION to defend himself against the recent recall – think about that, $100 MILLION for a $200 THOUSAND/year job).  How much do you think the so-called Super PACs will spend to defeat Obama?  And, remember; there is virtually NO accountability for these PACs.  We’ll never know who’s infusing the money and there is no requirement for truth to be any part of their message.  I don’t expect Eric Holder to step in and attempt to insure there is NO foreign money involved, that NONE of the PACs are affiliated with a candidate (let’s face it, Obama will have his own “Super PAC”), and that people follow the intent (whatever that is) of the law.  Holder is continuing the Bush/Cheney/Gonzales tradition that the Justice Department is there to hold us “little people” accountable.  (I’ve often wondered, who in our government did Roger Clemons piss off? Why did they choose him? Why is lying about steroids worse than authorizing multiple tortures – some resulting in death? or outing a covert CIA agent? or sending troops to war based on lies?)  Clearly, the Obama/Holder tie to Wall Street has been a detriment to President Obama’s administration politically (it’s turned off massive numbers of “progressives”) and it hasn’t resulted in much positive from Wall Street itself in return – the reports are that Wall Street is SOLIDLY backing (financially) Romney.  Mr. President, do you see what “nice” is getting you?

Here’s where I stand.  Despite my disappointment with President Obama in many ways, as I’ve had to do for the 40+ years I’ve been voting, I’m picking the better of two imperfect options – and, Barrack Obama is such a HUGE upgrade from Mitt Romney that my inner self is telling me the American people are, despite my discussion of “low information voters,” not STUPID enough to go back to the “republican way” four short years after what they did to this nation.  Honestly, if that happens, I think I will go into a state of depression.  It was all I could do to stomach 8 long years of GW Bush, knowing that him and his cronies were ROBBING the American taxpayers of TRILLIONS of dollars that could go to education, infrastructure, good will to the many hungry people around the globe, and a list of things that is too long for this post.  The entire world was upbeat when Obama took office, and it’s like the air has been slowly leaving the balloon since those first erroneous decisions.  And, for some reason, presidents can’t admit mistakes – evidently we’ve convinced ourselves that OUR presidents MUST be perfect – but, based on the recent rhetoric of Obama, I believe his mistakes have finally set in.  I believe he’s FINALLY realizing this political battle is a WAR for the heart and soul of America.  Are we a nation whose strength emanates from the bottom? Or, are we going to continue the fantasy of “Trickle Down” imposed upon us 30+ years ago by Mr. Reagan (who, by the way, would be a liberal by today’s republican standards)?  Mitt Romney is proposing TRILLIONS in additional tax cuts for him and his buddies at the top – are “we the people” stupid enough to say “yes?”  (remember, not only is the health of our economy at stake in 2012, but if we get a couple more Supreme Court justices like John Roberts and Sam Alito, the damage of Obama’s missteps could last for more than a generation!)

The bottom line:  People like me, who consider themselves liberal (progressive) – honestly, it was only about 20 years ago that I would have called myself a “moderate conservative” – had better become active in trying to help President Obama get reelected – plus get a majority in the House and a larger majority in the Senate – or the future for our children and grandchildren will take a huge move in the wrong direction.  I’m sending what little money I have to people like Elizabeth Warren in Massachusetts, Allan Grayson in Florida,  and, in my case, the democratic candidate for governor in my state (Washington).  The republican opponent is a Scott Walker clone – and, the reality is there seems to be no shortage of candidates willing to do the bidding of the Kochs and people like them – “we the people” had better get educated so at the very least we know what we’re voting for (or against).  The Walker types are coming at us in droves and there is a national “plan” the right wing of the republican party has to pull off this “takeover” of our government right down to the state levels – state by state.

I’ll end by saying, as a teacher, EVERY person I work with has a college degree (most have Masters degrees), and based on my informal polling, the number of people who don’t even know what Citizens United is makes me very nervous.  Many of the teachers in my school are watching Fox “news” and believing it’s really news.  To me that is really scary!

I haven’t been writing much lately, I believe I’ve reached a point of being so turned off by what’s happening in “my” country that I’m tired of feeling like a complainer.  Yet, the more I read, the more I realize that every little voice in the wilderness out there trying to get the republican party and people like Karl Rove, Grover Norquist, David and Charles Koch, John Boehner, Mitch McConnell, and I could go on, silenced the better.  And, it’s not that I want the republican party to be a “thing of the past,” it’s that I want what the republican party has morphed into in the past 30 plus years to be a “thing of the past.”  I realize that the “wing” of the republican party which is calling the shots these days has been out there for a long, long time.  What is demoralizing to me is that these people, the above mentioned, who along with people like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and others who are willing to be the “mouthpiece” for this right wing takeover of our government (for money) were a “fringe” element of our society in my youth.  People representing their point of view had been pretty much marginalized following the “Great Depression” of the 30’s.  Apparently, there are enough Americans willing to relive history to bring this greedy, mean spirited, racist element of our society back toward the “mainstream” of thinking.

Now, I’ve been saying since well before Barrack Obama won the 2008 election, that the issue of racism was rearing its ugly head in America once again.  While this became readily apparent once Obama had won the election, I could see it in the primary process on the democratic side – the issue wasn’t significant enough in democratic circles to prevent Obama’s nomination, and the election was a great victory for all Americans (including myself) who thought they’d never live long enough to see a person of color in the “White House.”  What wasn’t apparent, at least to me, was the intensity of the backlash coming from those who sincerely believe “White House” to be a literal term (and this feeling isn’t unique to the republican party, unfortunately).  It didn’t take long for the republican party – and their paid shills like Limbaugh, Hannity, Michael Savage, Lars Larsen, etc. – to unabashedly claim that their number one goal was for President Obama to fail (and, they’re doing everything they can to insure that he does).  This has been an “open secret” since the first day Obama took the oath of office.  Certainly, an untenable position for any other president in my lifetime.  Even with George W Bush, a president who did fail – one who nearly destroyed America’s standing in the world, who nearly led the destruction of America’s economy, who damaged America’s military for who knows how many years to come, a president who was overtly leading an assault on the very government he swore an oath to protect – despite my severe disagreement with him, I didn’t want him to fail.  I sincerely wanted Bush to succeed – as did most Americans who were “with him” when he ordered the retaliation in Afghanistan for the 9-11 assault on this nation.  I didn’t know anyone who blamed Bush/Cheney et al of being “asleep at the switch” after 9/11 (even though we discovered they were) – American’s pulled together expecting a focused retaliation against the perpetrators – not, a war of choice in Iraq.

What didn’t happen when President Obama took office was a united nation trying to “fix” the ills that Obama “inherited” from the Bush/Cheney cartel – ills which went beyond the aforementioned “fiasco’s,” but included a middle class which was reeling from the effects of the housing crisis and an economy which was shedding close to one million jobs per month.  Instead of lining up behind Obama in an attempt to “stop the bleeding” our president was forced to face these problems with one party (in our two party system) opposing EVERY initiative simply on the basis that if Obama was for it, they were going to be against it.  The republicans adopted the same strategy Newt Gingrich used about 20 years before this crisis when he was planning the republican takeover of the US House of Representatives in the early 90’s.  If they could cause the government to be ineffective in the face of the present crisis they were counting on the American people blaming President Obama (of course, with a lot of help from them and their “mouthpieces” who sincerely believe “the end justifies the means” and were/are willing to say anything to sway public opinion in their direction) – this all despite  the “root” of almost all our present day problems resting in decisions imposed on the American people by this right wing cabal – Bush/Cheney et al. (Seriously, republicans in 2012 are still calling for MORE tax cuts for the wealthy in America!  When is enough going to be enough???)

One of the few people who have ever responded to this “blog” was Lars Larsen (2nd string right wing radio “talker;” now, how did he find it?) who accused me of being a “democrat elitist” for referring to America’s low information voters.  Well, the republican party depends on “low information voters.”  For example, the number of republican voters who still believe Obama was born in Kenya is staggering to me (something in the neighborhood of 30 or more percent).  This shows how republicans and their shills will take any issue they can find and “run with it” if there is a result which furthers their NUMBER ONE goal, which is that President Obama fails.  The truth matters not to them or that if our president fails, our nation fails with him.  It’s further evidence of their lack of faith in the American public.  As opposed to allowing Obama to initiate his own policies and letting the American people (who overwhelmingly elected him) decide at the polls if they have been successful, the republicans have chosen to prevent Obama from passing legislation designed to address the – in some cases – desperate needs of “we” the American people.  The damage done to this nation which began in the 80’s under Reagan and has been growing since is enormous – the other thing republicans seem to hate, almost as much as they hate Obama, is the New Deal – and, for the leaders of the movement (the Kochs, Norquist, Rove, etc.) this is like a “kill two birds with one stone” moment.  The question which will be answered come November is whether the American public really is as stupid as the republicans are counting on?

We are going to be assaulted with an unbelievable amount of negative, blasphemous, disingenuous,  dishonest political advertising in the next 6 months that will turn many people away from their TV’s, radios, and who knows what else.  For example, in the republican PRIMARIES there were some BILLIONAIRES more than willing to dump MILLIONS into negative adds as Romney, Santorum, and Gingrich blasted each other.  If I remember right a “Las Vegas Mogul” put $10 MILLION dollars into a “Super PAC” intended to help Gingrich; that in its own right made a mockery of the Citizens United Supreme Court decision.  Don’t you have to wonder if John Roberts and Samuel Alito are really that naive or were they intending to enable their BILLIONAIRE friends to have a HUGE impact on the future of America’s democracy when they “saddled” the American people with this disastrous “legislation from the bench?”  (Have you thought about where much of this money could be coming from?  Do you like the idea that foreign shareholders/corporatists among America’s corporate elite could be influencing our presidential elections?)  It was reported last week that a member of the Ricketts family (Thomas Ricketts) who partially owns the Chicago Cubs baseball team and founded TD Ameritrade offered to spend $10 MILLION to “Swift Boat” President Obama by rehashing the Jeremiah Wright saga of the 2008 election.  Of course, republican mouthpieces are scrambling to come to Ricketts’ defense and blame the New York Times (which published the story “outing” Ricketts’ Super PAC’s “plan”) for attacking wealthy “conservatives” who might abuse the intent of Citizens United, thereby intimidating others from doing so (if only that were true).  These people really do think “we the people” are stupid.  The appropriate response to Ricketts’ plan to spend $10 MILLION to influence the next election through the so-called “independent” Super PAC, in my view, would be for anyone who has accounts with TD Ameritrade to move them.

The other day I read an interesting Op Ed in the NY Times written by Frank Bruni mentioning the effect the money of these wealthy Americans who are willing to spend MILLIONS to finance the so-called Super PAC’s such as the aforementioned one funded by Ricketts are having on our political process.  In the course of his article he somewhat compared a recent commercial that came out from the Obama campaign regarding Mitt Romney’s connection to Bain  Capital with the negative attacks emanating from the Super PAC’s.  I’m not sure where Bruni’s coming from, but that was where I had to disagree with him (I totally agreed with his view as to how the Super PAC’s are going to pollute – my take – the coming election).  I’m OK with whatever the candidates want to say about each other.  That allows me to make a somewhat informed decision prior to voting.  If Obama makes an incorrect claim about Romney and Bain, I believe Romney can easily defend himself through his own adds (can’t you just see him putting out adds telling the voters how Bain buying and then closing down businesses after pillaging their assets was good for America? or created jobs?) or subsequently through the debates the two should have in the fall.  I’ve already listened to many references from Romney regarding Obama that were far less than flattering.  The difference from their give and take is that we know where the information is coming from, we know the “bent” of both candidates, and we know what each is trying to accomplish.  With the Super PAC’s we have no idea where the money is coming from – it’s like stealth attacks on the very foundation of our political process.  Honestly, if I was in President Obama’s shoes, I’d use the words of Romney’s republican opponents to describe his tenure with Bain.  If I remember right it was Rick Perry who called Romney a “Vulture Capitalist.”  Gingrich and Santorum weren’t as complimentary.  As I stated back then, despite how much the “right wing” of the party hates Romney, they hate Obama more and they’ll “fall in line behind a man that has proven OVER and OVER to be willing to say whatever “works” for that particular moment in time.  There’s no doubt that Romney and the republicans will come after Obama with “no shame,” and it’s funny to listen to them when the “stuff” comes flying back in their faces.  I’m guessing we’re going to see a lot of democratic adds highlighting Romney speeches which will fully cover both sides of many issues (cause he’s been on both sides many times!).

The American political process has a long history of candidates bludgeoning each other and it’s up to the American public to decide who is the best candidate for the office.  However, the republicans have been pushing the “envelope” since the days of Lee Atwater and they’ve  become experts at manipulating the media and political “dirty tricks.”  The incoming assault from all the Super PAC’s (Yes, I know that Obama will have something along these lines too – one thing I’ll give him credit for is that he’s apparently going to “fight back”) should allow the American public to see another part of the “success” of the Bush/Cheney cabal.  Most people who think like me consider GW Bush one of the worst presidents EVER.  However, those who think like Ricketts and the other wealthy Americans who are willing to spend multi-millions to defeat President Obama will ultimately consider him a success – unless the American public comes to their senses and begins the process of “cleansing” our nation of these right wing autocrats in the next election.  Bush did a great job of undermining our government and our middle class.   The reality is that the disparity between rich and poor in America has grown almost exponentially in the past 30 + years, with the divide accelerating exponentially under GW.  America’s health is down, but the top 1%’s wealth is WAY UP!  That’s what these people (republicans) care about.  That’s the reality, and the longer “we the people” allow them to control the political process in this nation, the harder it will be to get rid of them.

The first thing on my mind as I start this latest “rant” is that almost every time I start pointing out what the republican party of “the 21st century” is “up to” and I’m talking to a republican, they respond with something like “But, the democrats…..” – well, let me first make clear that nothing I say regarding the republicans should be interpreted as a ringing endorsement of the democrats.  In fact, I was going to write (several weeks ago) about some of my frustrations with the democrats in general and President Obama in particular (being careful to point out that I will still vote for Obama due to the FACT I’ll NEVER vote for another republican until they purge their party of this right wing cabal that is intending to undermine the very values this nation was created on – all the while claiming to be part of the “tea party”) but, in watching (from afar – I’ve managed to avoid directly watching ANY of the republican presidential hopefuls so-called “debates”) the republicans fight it out over who will challenge President Obama in the 2012 election, I keep asking myself the famous question “How LOW can they go?”  Apparently, the republicans have filtered out their “Not Mitt” candidates down to Rick Santorum (seriously, you’ve got to be kidding me – my first thought about him is that it won’t take anyone much time on Google to find a PLETHORA of reasons why putting him into the White House would be national suicide) and, so now we have a combination of Romney and Santorum trying to bludgeon each other while, at the same time, trying to accuse our sitting president as being “elite,” or better yet, the other day Santorum accused President Obama of being a “snob” for wanting all kids to “go to college.”

I’ve been pointing out for several years now, and the democrats are hardly listening (surprise, surprise –  even though I am one of those “elitist” school teachers the republicans are “after”), that this is a WAR for the heart and soul of America.  I believe the democrats are finally getting the hint that “Citizens United,” is at the heart of the war against unions, the war against women, and the war against – you name it – anyone who might benefit from the”traditional” view of government that I grew up with – which included a wide acceptance of the value of the “New Deal” and the United States as a “we” society.  This “acceptance of the value of the New Deal” all changed in the 1970’s and began to affect the “mainstream” in the 1980’s with the election of the first of their “fringe” candidates, Ronald Reagan, the birth of the “college republicans” (ie, Karl Rove, Grover Norquist, Jack Abramoff, and many others) plus the beginnings of the emergence of Charles and David Koch.  Of course, the “right wing” agenda of the republican party has pushed the “norm” so far to the right since Reagan’s election that “socialists” like Barrack Obama are more conservative in many ways than “liberals” like Richard Nixon.  I even heard one of the republican “talking heads” the other day as I was driving around refer to George W Bush as a “liberal.”  I’d think this stuff was all laughable if the reality of the POWER of the right wing CABAL that is lurking behind the headlines was not so great.  This power is centered in the heads of major multinational corporations and the right wing politicians, pundits, and talking heads who are more than willing to do their bidding for the right price.  I’ve heard several of the “leaders” (people such as Rove, Paul Weyerich, and  Norquist) admit that the “end justifies the means” when being questioned about the out and out lying that has become routine for the republicans.  (OK, I “get” that most politicians are liars, but these guys take it to an unimaginable level)  The ONLY thing that matters is gaining (and holding) POWER.

And, watch all the “Mitt haters” in the republican party (including the infamous Rush Limbaugh and all his minions stashed on local radios stations around the nation like Lars Larsen – locally to me – who are willing to sell out the average people of America for money – plus the O’Reilly’s, the Hannity’s, etc. – these people are at the heart of the propaganda campaign) fall in line as it becomes more evident they will be “stuck” with him as their nominee.  (I have to admit here that as long as two years ago I started predicting Jeb Bush would be thrown at us as the “alternative” at a deadlocked convention, but that appears to be more than a long shot at this point – I guess he’s their “man” for 2016 – actually, I started writing this a few weeks ago – since that time, Santorum has dropped out, so it looks like Mitt v Barrack in November)  As Grover Norquist recently said, all the republicans need is someone who is willing to sign the bills put forth from a republican congress (via ALEC click here if you are unaware of who “ALEC” is).  I guarantee you that a large portion of the BILLIONS the corporate heads will infuse into this upcoming election will be aimed at the races for congress.  The republican “donor class” will do everything they can to wrestle control of the senate from the democrats and maintain their stranglehold on the House.  Really, it’s a testament to the short term memory issues of the American public that republicans could win control of the House in 2010;  so, that should put democrats on “edge” going into 2012 because there’s going to be a MASSIVE amount of  SECRET money spent to make Karl Rove’s dream of a “permanent republican majority” a reality.  Can you imagine how difficult it will be to reverse the effects of the Bush fiasco if this happens?

Despite the FACT that President Obama has been constantly trying to placate republicans since the day he was elected, he will never be viewed as anything but, as John McCain put it (with virtually no blow-back) during the 2008 debates, “that one.”  I understand why the President himself can’t get into the issue of “race” because he’s the Jackie Robinson of politics.  And, despite the other areas where I’m disappointed in his performance, he’s been remarkably stout in withstanding all the subliminal racial hatred the republican party has been spewing since the day he won the election.  (Well, actually it started well before the day he won the election)  It’s the “pundits” from the “left,” like Randi Rhodes, Thom Hartman, Ed Schultz – people who have national audiences who’ve been a bit remiss, in my view, about “telling it like it is.”  The Southern Poverty Law Center, a non-profit dedicated to providing support to victims of hate crimes and educating our children about “tolerance” closely monitors “hate groups.”  Most of the hate groups are white supremacist in nature and they have grown exponentially since Obama’s election.  I point this out because I’m convinced there’s a significant portion of America who will vote against President Obama because of the color of his skin – and, the republican party is catering to these people.  They’re trying to figure out how to get the vote’s of the racist segment of our population, the right wing fundamental Christians (I’m a Christian, and this part of their strategy bugs me the most), and the so-called 1% (who have the unlimited resources and who control the airwaves of our supposedly “liberal media”).  Add to that a “war on women,” a “war on working people,” a “war on poor people,” a “war on civil rights,” and I have to wonder how the republicans are going to pull off getting most Americans to vote for their agenda?

The only possible answer to that question is by controlling our “liberal media” with all their money.  Can you imagine how the networks are licking their chops thinking of all the revenue coming their way because of “Citizens United?”  Have you noticed the BP adds telling us how great the Gulf is now?  Have you noticed the adds from other conglomerates that aren’t really selling anything?  Have you ever wondered why they would spend the money to advertise to us commoners?  Well, here’s the short answer.  The money they’re spending guarantees that the media outlets will NOT do anything to stop that revenue stream.  Kind of like the federal government becoming dependent on tax revenue’s from smokers, so they pretend they’re trying to get people to stop smoking while allowing the tobacco companies to continue making their massive profits at the expense of the health of millions of Americans.  There’s presently a push underway to get advertisers to abandon Rush Limbaugh, for example, due to some misogynistic remarks he made but I can guarantee you there are plenty of “monied” interests who want his message to continue on the airwaves – and, it will.  Take for example, the aforementioned Koch brothers.  I work in an environment of college educated people and very few of them have the slightest idea who the Kochs are.  Their exposure in Wisconsin has somewhat brought them more to the “surface,” but if you’re not paying attention, for example, you’d think David Koch was this kind hearted philanthropist who’s giving MILLIONS (he is) to museums, hospitals, etc. – mainly in his home town of New York city.  What people don’t know is where the hundreds of millions in “donations” from Koch industries are going in the political realm.  The Kochs rule a conglomerate that is centered on oil, but has “fingers” in many other directions – and, their estimated yearly revenue stream falls somewhere north of 100 BILLION dollars – that’s yearly!

The Kochs are behind the so-called “Tea Party” movement – you know, the anti corporate “movement” that’s sponsored by corporate conglomerates and does the corporate conglomerate’s “bidding” in congress.  The Kochs are the sons of one of the original members of the John Birch Society – a right wing, racist group that I thought was pretty much a thing of the past years ago – and, their libertarian views are almost off the right edge of the “charts.”  Despite their attempts to paint President Obama as a “Socialist,” the truth is their father made his original fortune advancing the cause of Joseph Stalin in Russia in the 30’s and 40’s (I guess, maybe that’s why Obama would appear to be a “Socialist” to them).  I have no doubt they are key figures in the “Family,” the right wing group I’ve written about previously (read: “The Family” by Jeff Sharlett – really, a MUST read) who are connected to the philosophy of Hitler, Stalin, and other dictators around the globe in a strange way that’s manifested in some kind of suggestion that Jesus was an authoritarian figure.  It’s all bizarre and scary as the Kochs try to accomplish their goals “under the radar.”  Recently there have been articles published “exposing” the Koch brothers (you can read the New Yorker article by clicking here) and a film by that name, “Koch Brothers Exposed.” (click here for a link to a trailer of the film)

The bottom line here is that there REALLY is a WAR going on for the heart and soul of America.  People like the Kochs, the Roves,  the Norquists, the Romneys, etc. wish to continue the assault on the “New Deal,” they want unions to be a thing of the past, they want the money going into things like public education, social security, medicare, and many other parts of the “commons” to be “funneled” into their hands via “privatization.”  If it sounds (appears) that the “people at the top” can’t get enough, well I would totally concur with that.  Greed is a powerful force and it has destroyed many other nations besides the United States.  My hope is that the people (yes, the so-called 99%) of America will come to their senses and stop this incredible power grab that’s been ongoing since the mid 1970’s.  The sad reality is that America’s working class has been voting for over thirty years to allow corporate self interests to supersede their own self interests.  It makes NO sense!  The Koch brothers and their “ilk” have figured out how to divide working people so that they are fighting each other over ridiculous issues that have nothing to do with governing.  In the process they’ve been STEALING TRILLIONS from the American taxpayer for years and it’s become such a BAD HABIT that they are willing to say or do anything to keep their revenue stream coming.  (If you read the Koch brothers exposed piece in the New Yorker, you might be as amazed as me about the level of corporate mischief – ie polluting – they’ve been able to get away with over the years with nothing more than a “slap on the wrist” from the government – and, you will better understand why they are so involved in the fight against environmentalists, regulation, and tax fairness)  Those of us opposed to this corporate takeover of America have only President Obama and the democrats to rely on to stop this assault on our nation.  Many, such as myself, thought that’s what we voted in in 2008, only to discover in 2009 a barrage of potential unacceptable compromises (mostly attempted and not made), more catering to Wall Street, more influence from lobbyists than ever, and more “backroom” dealing in Washington.  This time, we need to re-elect President Obama, but we also need to be clear that our expectations are not compromise with people like the Koch brothers.  They’ve pushed the agenda in Washington so far to the “right” that we need to push back – at least until we’ve put the focus on the health of America’s “middle class,” and we’ve removed the overwhelming influence of MONEY on our political system.  The democrats need to understand we’re not voting for them because they’re democrats – we expect a PROGRESSIVE agenda and we expect them to FIGHT for the working people of this great nation – the very people who’ve made it so great!  If the democrats can’t recognize this is a WAR for the heart and soul of our nation, then America is in deep trouble!  It won’t be WON by compromising with those on the “right.”

I voted for President Obama and recently I wrote about how I believe reelecting Obama is one of the most important elections (actually, the most important I suppose) in my lifetime.  Every time I think of the issues I have with the president the republican candidates for office flash in front of my eyes and I’m back to that life long adage I believe America’s voters have been stuck with and that’s the better of two bad options.  Now, I wouldn’t want to, for a minute, suggest that Obama is a bad person – although as I write things such as what’s going through my mind tonight – I’m convinced he’s way too close to the corporate thieves I’m hoping will be exposed and rooted out of power during my lifetime (which is getting shorter – especially in terms of upcoming presidential elections).  Presidents like FDR and Abraham Lincoln proved that presidents can be more than figure heads who further the interests of the “invisible” forces that are always lurking around Washington D.C.  And, the amount of money these forces are “throwing around” these days is obscene, from my view.

Because I’m now realizing the cleansing of Washington DC of all the money and corporate power brokers is going to take a long time (at least another 5 years) – I honestly thought “the change I could believe in” that I voted for in 2008 would be more assertive in changing the corporate dominance in our nation’s capital.  My biggest concern regarding a potential republican “win” in 2012 is the Supreme Court.  A couple more judges like Roberts and Alito and my children and grandchildren are then stuck with a court that supports unlimited corporate intrusion on the election process – just for starters.  When you look at the rights and privileges the American public have lost since 9/11 you can see how many philosophers in the past have pointed out how it’s easier to lose your rights than to regain them.  There’s been a constant “seeping” of the New Deal, as if there’s a crack in the “dike” – which I always assumed would be protected as sacrosanct by the democrats – and it appears to me that if all of the shenanigans the republicans are in “high gear” “pulling” right now become reality, those of us who profess to be “progressive” (liberal) will be in “circle the wagons” mode for the foreseeable future.

Honestly, except for in my most mundane moments, the thought that someone like a Mitt Romney, or a Newt Gingrich, or a Rick Santorum, or another Bush, or ANY republican could become president again after the eight years of agony suffered during the GW Bush years seems like an impossible bad dream to me.  Yet, when I look at the reality of the situation, I realize there is an “invisible” force which has been building “steam” for many years and I really question whether or not the democrats have what it takes to stop it.  The amount of money that is going to flow into the next election is going to be staggering.  I don’t think many people can even imagine how much is going to be spent on NEGATIVE advertising just yet.  I’m presently reading “Winner-Take-All Politics” by Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson (highly recommended to anyone who wants to better understand why the divide between the “haves” and the “have not’s” has been growing since the mid seventies) and their book gives a sobering look at how much money the top “1%” (which is going to be the object of populist attack in the 2012 election) have to invest in order to keep the political process working to their advantage.  In fact, republicans are close to grabbing a true stranglehold on our “democracy” which will be hard to “wrest” back should they prevail next November.

Make no mistake, as you snicker at the ridiculous statements coming out of the mouths of one republican candidate for president after another,  they (republicans) have a long term “plan” in place that is close to “fruition.”  They’ve got control of the media (yes, that’s the “liberal media” they complain about so often – on channels like CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox, CNN, and others owned by right wing corporate conglomerates)  The Citizens United decision demonstrated in a very sick way how much control this invisible right wing cabal that’s behind the present day republicans has on the Supreme Court.  None of us should have been surprised after watching in horror as the Court chose our 43rd President despite his overwhelming defeat at the polls!  As I’ve said many times on this site, the republicans are all about power and they TOTALLY believe the end justifies the means.  They are trying to get control of congress back by OBSTRUCTING every move President Obama makes, and apparently (if he’s figured it out yet) it took the President almost three years to understand their true motives.  Finally, the republicans managed (with the help of Citizens United) to put 16 extremely right wing governors in place in 2010 – some of them in key “battle ground” states – and they’ve got a VOTER SUPPRESSION scheme that’s presently (as I’m writing this something like 300 days until the next election) in high swing.  The estimates I’ve heard are that they are shooting to block upwards of 5 to 6 MILLION Americans from voting in 2012 – and, yes you get three guesses and the first two don’t count as to which party you believe MOST of these disenfranchised voters would come from.  If they succeed in this tactic, that alone should be enough to swing the election in their favor.  If they succeed, I believe I will be lucky to live long enough to see their destruction overturned (I’m in my mid 60’s).

And, have you ever wondered why our Congress continues to vote in legislation which is not supported by the majority of the people?  For example, something approaching 75% of Americans supported a “true public option” in the so-called “Obamacare” debate yet it never had a chance.  75% or more of Americans want programs like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, unemployment insurance, public school funding, police, fire, roads, infrastructure fully funded, but what we get is the result of negotiations between prostituted politicians and their clients – members of the K Street lobbying businesses.  And, while my biggest complaint (for several reasons) is against republicans, there are many democrats who feed at the trough of these lobbyists and make it virtually impossible for true progressive legislation to get out of congress.  However, for those of us who don’ t like what we’re seeing, there must be a “plan” of our own in place to have any chance for success.  I believe this plan HAS to begin with attempting to vote OUT OF OFFICE every REPUBLICAN possible in 2012 and making sure President Obama wins a second term in 2012.  Once that happens, “progressives” immediately need to refocus on cleansing the democratic party of the corporatists who are doing the bidding of large corporate interests at the expense of “we the people” who make up the middle class of America.

In the above referenced “Winner-Take-All Politics” the statistics regarding what I call the “trickle up” theory that’s been suffocating America’s economy since the days of Ronald Reagan are shocking.  The increase in net income at the top of America’s economic structure has been exponentially improving over the previous 35 years or so while the net income at the middle and bottom is staying stagnant at best – with a problematic increase in numbers of those in the lower tiers  of the economic “ladder.”  That is, many who have been in the middle class are now finding themselves at or near the poverty levels of our nation’s economy while the “rich” continue to thrive in unimaginable (to someone like me) ways.  The greed of the people at the top (and I have to add here, it’s obviously not all of “those at the top” who are immersed in greed – just enough of them to fund the republicans who are willing to carry on their agenda)  and the willingness of so many members of the United States Congress to be their surrogates is discouraging to me and, based on the way I was raised, this is un-American.  What is even more discouraging to me, as I read so many books in order to understand what’ s REALLY going on with my government, is the role the democrats are playing in all of this – which is why I consider many of them a secondary target of the populist wrath which is building across America.

Finally, with voters, I believe the issues I’m raising would be “bipartisan” if people knew what the truth about our “tiered” economy was.  The republican primaries are a great example of this.  There is NOT ONE candidate who I believe will be “palatable” to the American public (which is why I’ve been predicting for almost two years now that the republicans will ultimately reject all the primary candidates and find a way to thrust Jeb Bush on the rest of us – and, by doing it at a deadlocked convention, they’ll come out of the convention with an enormous amount of energy that totally forgets the foopahs of his older brother) but the primary “debates” give a good view into the hierarchy of preferences of the republican voters.  For example, almost ALL polling shows that Mitt Romney has the best chance at defeating President Obama (which poll after poll tells us is the NUMBER ONE priority of republicans – more important than the success or failure of our nation.  In fact, it appears to me they would gladly choose failure if that’s what it takes to defeat him – and, they’re trying to facilitate that – but, I digress) yet it appears Romney will be rejected by the republican primary voters.  Just the other day in South Carolina Newt Gingrich – of all people (the man has enough “baggage” to fill a cargo plane) – defeated Romney with the help of Citizens United (wickedly negative adds financed through corporate “big wigs”) and the voter’s distaste for someone who is solidly part of the 1% that the Occupy movement has targeted.

Now, I haven’t watched a single republican debate and I only know who’s “won” each of the primaries based on the reporting I’ve heard (although, evidently Romney didn’t win Iowa’s caucuses as previously reported).  That being said, it seems obvious that once the topic of Romney’s tax returns became a serious issue, the man started to crumble in his boots.  Obviously, there are some good reasons (to him) why he doesn’t want his tax returns made public.  OK, now as a sixth grade school teacher, I’m always trying to teach my students how to make inferences – so, I’m going to practice what I preach – with a little help from the aforementioned “Winner Take all Politics” – I think Romney’s tax return will turn off enough voters to preclude him from winning the nomination.   I saw an article (didn’t read it) suggesting Romney has a substantial amount of investments “housed” in the Cayman Islands, for the purpose of taking advantage of Tom Delay’s creation of a corporate tax haven.  Do you think even republican voters will be angry at a candidate who is willfully “jobbing” the system – while they’re paying their “fair share?”  I mean, who are the “tea partiers” angry with???

Of course, the alternative appears to be the poster child of HYPOCRISY, Newt Gingrich.  You know, the guy who was “carrying on”  while leading the impeachment of Bill Clinton for “carrying on.”  (Evidently Gingrich was jealous because Clinton apparently had the “open marriage” he desired)  Of course, I’m pretty sure the republican “establishment” is quivering at the thought of all those commercials showing Newt railing against Fanny and Freddy while he was taking MILLIONS in “consulting” fees from them.  But, what the republican “base” apparently likes most about Gingrich is his acumen at the code words of the racist minority in America.  He fully understands there’s a sizable “block” of voters in this nation who haven’t recovered yet from the FACT that people of color are going to be the leaders of the future.  And, he’s playing to them when almost the first words out of his mouth after “winning” in South Carolina is calling President Obama “the food stamp president.”  I’ll let you make the connection because it’s not my purpose here to educate you on the ongoing issue of racism in America, but let me suffice it to say – the idea of Newt Gingrich as the presidential nominee brings to the surface ALL that is wrong with the republican party.  I can only hope that America’s voters are smart enough to see that candidates like Romney and Gingrich are the MAIN reasons ALL republicans should be voted out of office! (I continue to believe those on the “inside” will never let them “win” the nomination and there’s another candidate which will be “sprung” on America at the convention – probably a “reluctant” Jeb Bush!)

As I stated above, I believe the reelection of Obama is of paramount importance to the next twenty years of America’s future.  If you read this and agree, I challenge you to take part in the election – be active.  Presently, I’m focusing my support on the recall of Wisconsin’s governor Scott Walker.  I believe that is “ground zero” in the movement to stop this conservative onslaught to our way of life.  I will soon write another piece which will chronicle (at least that’s how it’s evolving in my mind right now – I’m just finishing reading “The Torture Memos” – Oh my gosh, should be required reading) why I have reservations about Obama and why I believe the democrats are “next.”  I don’t believe we can just “clean house” in one fell swoop, but if the people mobilize in sufficient numbers and get beyond the propaganda of Fox “news” and the other parts of the media which depend on the corporatocracy we the people can eliminate the republican obstructionism and give a sufficient message to democrats that they either get out of the “trough” of the corporate moneyed interests or they’re next.  To me, that’s why the election cycle of 2012 is the most important election of my lifetime! I’m hoping the populism of the “tea party” looks childish compared to the evolution of the “Occupy” movement.

Over the years I’ve been writing in this “blog” I’ve read many many books about the inner workings of the United States government, mostly over the past 30 years (although I love to read about US history in general), and the more I read the more I realize how corrupted our government has become by the selfish interests of the corporate elite in America who are buying favors in Washington DC.  I knew it was farcical when the governor of Michigan (I think), one of the new breed of right wing governors who are going after collective bargaining rights of workers  state by state, called teachers members of “America’s elite.” (I’m a teacher)  And, I’ve been fully aware of the republican party’s “buy in” of Joseph Goebbels’ “big lie theory,” and the propaganda war they’ve been waging – I just didn’t know, until it’s been sinking in recently, how ingrained this propaganda has been during my lifetime and how difficult it’s going to be to overcome the damage.  I’m reading the sequel to “Confessions of an Economic Hit Man” by John Perkins, I just finished “Vulture’s Picnic” by Greg Palast, I’ve read “The Wrecking Crew” by Thomas Franks, “The Shock Doctrine” by Naomi Klein, “The Family” by Jeff Sharlett, and “The Family of Secrets” by (I can’t remember the author’s name – it’s on my Nook), and many more books that ALL give the same picture.

There is a conspiracy of true “elitists” in America who are essentially “calling the shots.”  They are the “power brokers” at the head of what was once America’s corporate empire (imagine them referring to me as “elite”), but has evolved into a multinational corporate empire.  They have gained control of the inner workings of America’s government to the point where the “game” is so heavily tilted toward the “rich” that it’s just a matter of time, in my opinion, until “we the people” revolt.  In fact, that revolt appears to me to be in its initial stages as I’m writing this.  What should be a “wake up” to most Americans is that many people in the “rest of the world” are much more aware of the injustices of these corporations than America’s own public (because of the propaganda, which really seems to me at the brainwashing stage).  The thoughts that have struck me the most vividly in my recent readings are that, despite my continued DISDAIN for republicans (and justified, I might add), the evidence suggests that democrats have played a HUGE part in the deterioration of America’s middle class (and the middle class in untold numbers of nations around the world).

Many on the democratic “side of the isle” in American politics (including me on occasion) refer back to the administration of Bill Clinton as a success because during his eight years in office the American budget was turned from a HUGE deficit into a SIGNIFICANT surplus – with many (including me) expecting that surplus to be used to reduce the national debt.  Of course, that was not to be – but, is also a story for another day – what most democrats refuse to discuss are some of the decisions made during the Clinton presidency which have proven to be “game changers” in the “corporatocracy’s” assault on the middle class.  The best analogy I can think of is football – when the offensive line clears a hole “you could drive a truck through” – which is what the Clinton administration did for this corporate cabal which is attempting to control EVERYTHING!

What most people would refer to, should this subject come up, would be NAFTA and GATT – the “free trade” agreements which have subsequently been blamed for the departure of much of America’s manufacturing base to countries where labor can be found for next to nothing.  Workers in inhumane conditions working endless hours for pennies on the dollar compared to American workers and in an environment where there are no benefits to be paid by the corporations to the workers.  In fact, the only benefits involved seem to be the ones the corporations receive from the locations where they move their factories along with their ability to avoid the American tax code.  (Many of these corporate executives are the same people who are complaining about America’s national debt problem!)  As I see it, this is a very significant issue which has decimated many in America’s middle class by taking jobs they’ve held for years and essentially moving them outside our borders in an attempt to increase “shareholder value” AND corporate executive salaries and bonuses.  These trade agreements have played a large role in the now apparently accepted mentality that shareholders are more important than workers and that there is no such thing as excessive compensation for corporate executives.

That’s the most obvious of the, what I call, “foopahs” of the Clinton administration.  But, there’s a couple others that I believe might play an even larger role in the corporate takeover of America’s political process.  First was the Telecommunications Act of 1996.  At the time of this bill there were many thousands of small, medium, and large broadcast media outlets in America, with a somewhat thriving print media was well.  Now, I realize that the internet has had a profound effect on the print media, but the bottom line for me is that America’s newspapers were considered by the founders of our nation as the “Fourth Estate.”  That meant the fourth branch of government, the “connection” to the people which was supposed to keep us “informed” as to what is going on in the halls of Congress, the White House, and the court system.  Well, the newspapers have been dropping like flies since that date AND they have seen a contraction of ownership with the ability of people like Rupert Murdoch to gain a huge market share by buying up the competition.  I’m not a fan of the Wall Street Journal (I’ve subscribed to it occasionally over the years), but when I saw that Murdoch had been allowed to purchase it I could do no more than shake my head in disbelief.  What is this country coming to?  The man has proven himself to be a partisan through his political donations and through his other media outlets (especially “Fox news” which should be titled “GOP news”) and, I was convinced that the government would not allow one person to control so much of our media – yet, it was approved with nary a whimper.  I believe that over 90% of America’s media outlets are controlled by less than 10 corporations who are all led by republicans – hence our “liberal media” – this is the foundation of the great propaganda “machine” they’ve created.  And, trying to reverse this trend is like asking the fox to watch over the hen house – not an appealing proposition!

Yes, there’s another “foopah”  that I don’t think gets the amount of attention it should – mainly because the republicans are TOTALLY pleased by the results (they were actually very supportive of this one – and, I’m sure the others as well – so much for bipartisanship) and, I’m guessing, that the democrats would prefer to allow people to believe this was ALL the fault of republicans – and, that’s the repeal of the Glass Steagall Act.  If you’re not aware of what “Glass Steagall” is, it’s the name associated with a bill passed during the thirties under FDR (Glass and Steagall were the co sponsors of the bill) which essentially prevented the banks from becoming “too big to fail.”  That is, banks that were taking money from depositors (which was guaranteed against loss by the federal government) were not allowed to combine with Wall Street investment banks and they were also not allowed to combine with Insurance companies.  Three of the PRIME instigators of this “repeal” were Robert Rubin (then Clinton’s Treasury Secretary), Larry Summers (a Goldman Sachs big-shot and Clinton economic adviser and later Barack Obama’s chief economic adviser), and Timothy Geithner (another Goldman protegee, then assistant Treasury Secretary under Clinton, and now Treasury Secretary under Obama). It was Obama’s choice of Summers and Geithner that was one of my first “red flags” as I realized President Obama was not going to be the “change agent” I had understood him to be during his election.

It’s true these three worked in coordination with republican senator Phil Gramm to get this through, but the end result is probably not something democrats will be “crowing” about anytime soon.  You see, democrats (and, despite my “independent status” myself included) like to point out all the conflicts of interest that have devastating after effects on the general public and are done by republicans.  However, the repeal of Glass Steagall allowed Citigroup to become a HUGE conglomerate of insurance companies, banks, and investment houses (to give just one example) and one of the leading causes of the 2008 national economic collapse along with a chief recipient of the HATED TARP bailout orchestrated by Hank Paulsen (another Goldman Sachs protegee and CEO).  The sad reality is that Rubin, Summers, and Geithner went from the Clinton administration to key Wall Street positions and helped to create the aforementioned collapse.  Rubin is, to me, one of the worst examples of what’s wrong with our government and it’s ties to the corporatocracy.  He went from his position as Treasury Secretary (Glass Steagall was repealed in the final year of Clinton’s presidency)  to chairman of Citigroup with an ultimate payoff in the HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS of dollars! (Rubin, Summers, Geithner, Paulsen ALL have a common “thread” which is Goldman Sachs!)

This should be evidence enough to cause people who are planning to support democrats in 2012 (including me) pause to think about how to go about this.  But there’s more – which only helps me to understand how deep this corporate infiltration of our government has gone (and, I encourage you to read any of the books I listed above if you haven’t already done so – there’s some “eye popping” information in them).  And, the really sad part for me – because I so enthusiastically endorsed Obama in 2008 and so much want him to SUCCEED – is there’s a plethora of evidence that President Obama’s administration is going along with much of the “coolaid” that I would certainly expect him to oppose.  (I’m only going to give a couple examples, but I believe Palast’s “Vulture’s Picnic” should be required reading for all American adults of voting age)

I’d start with the connections to Wall Street (Summers and Geithner among others) but let’s take a look at “big oil.”  Do you remember the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico a couple of years ago?  The so-called Deepwater Horizon oil spill?  If you want to get to the “truth” as to what happened there and the “truth” about BP – read Palast’s book mentioned above.  What’s significant to me is that a common thread among all these books is the willingness – in fact eagerness – of the big oil companies, with BP being possibly the worst offender – to essentially rape societies of their natural resources in such an arrogant way that I believe history will look upon them as the perpetrators of evil.  I don’t have space to go into the details, but when President Obama “negotiated” the apparent $20 BILLION dollar fund from BP to pay off the Gulf Coast people damaged by their negligent (probably criminal) behavior in the Gulf he chose Kenneth Feinberg as the administrater.  This man came with a “track record” of being “pro BP” in this case – based on his previous work – again, read “Vulture’s Picnic” if you want the details.  Palast estimates that Feinberg will minimize, by BILLIONS, the amount of money BP ultimately pays for destroying the Gulf of Mexico and essentially murdering 11 of their employees.  He will make it as difficult as possible for people who claim damages to collect and will use their desperation against them in the negotiating process to reduce BP’s exposure to their claims.  Just as many are wondering why no one has gone to jail for the Wall Street fiasco and the crimes of the Bush administration, well you can add the Deepwater Horizon oil spill to that list.

There’s another indication of Obama’s connection to the large corporate interests in his willingness to approve Nuclear Power plants despite ALL the evidence about their safety issues.  Palast uncovered some interesting evidence that you’ll find nowhere else about the power plants that teetered on the verge of meltdown in Japan following the earthquake there and Obama’s administration has approved government loan guarantees in the tens of BILLIONS for a couple plants in the South that could receive funding NO OTHER way because the “real” financial market wouldn’t touch a nuclear power plant with “a ten foot pole.”  As with many of the projects the U.S. has been funding over the previous 30 plus years, both in this country and around the world, the real purpose of the money is to pad the pockets of America’s largest corporations (many of which are now owned by foreigners to different levels).   Keep in mind one of Obama’s chief economic advisers is the CEO of GE, a major “player” in the construction of nuclear power facilities.

Republicans continue to “bash” Obama for “tearing down” our military, while we continue to spend hundreds of BILLIONS on defense related projects that are essentially useless.  That is the one manufacturing sector we have kept in this nation – defense spending.  The reality is that defense related spending has increased at the usual rate under President Obama.  President Eisenhower’s warnings about the military industrial complex have come true – and that seems to be an area where there’s bipartisan agreement – spending this nation’s wealth on the military while the roads, bridges, schools, etc. are crumbling and people are suffering from a HUGE jobs crisis.

I’m trying to stay “upbeat” and I’m planning on supporting and voting for President Obama (can you actually believe the alternative?) – and, voting against EVERY republican I have the opportunity to do so – but for the long term, I’m going to support movements like the recall Scott Walker movement in Wisconsin (that’s presently where what little money I have is going), candidates like Elizabeth Warren in Massachusetts,  Alan Grayson in Florida, and Dennis Kucinich in Ohio.  Progressive activists that “tell it like it is.”  I’m too old and broken down to physically join the “Occupy” movement, but I can tell you, from what I’ve heard from their leaders, I’m all in with their movement as well – I hope it springs forth with “vigor” (in the words of Teddy Kennedy) next spring (no pun intended :o).

The real truth is that I continue to hope that members of the democratic party would “snap out of it,” gain some backbone – and, put up a REAL fight for the “change we can believe in.”  I honestly think President Obama was thinking that if we could “go back” to the way it was under Clinton, people would be happy.  I believe the one thing that the populist movement on the “left” agrees with the grassroots “tea baggers” is that we don’t want to go back to “the way it was.”  Well, let me restate that this way; I think we want our leaders to go back to the way it was supposed to be.  Now, there’s plenty of room for disagreement over what that means, but I’m convinced what it doesn’t mean is lobbyists controlling Washington, backroom deals controlling Congress, AND the “Big Lie theory.”  I think there’s millions more Americans besides me who are sick of all the LYING!  America’s “leaders” have been lying so long, they believe their own lies as soon as the words come out of their mouths. It’s time for America’s people to demonstrate to the rest of the world how to reclaim a government gone awry PEACEFULLY.  If President Obama and the democratic party are smart, they’ll join with the people they supposedly represent in order to speed up this process!