The news came out today that Joe Sestak, the senatorial candidate in Pennsylvania, was offered an advisory board job or some such appointment from Bill Clinton, speaking for the Obama administration, if Sestak wouldn't run against incumbent Republican-turned-Democrat Arlen Specter.
O.K., much can be determined from that one piece of information.
1). That Sestak didn't sell out for a presidential favor. I think that speaks well of Sestak, who had to run against Specter and all those Clinton/Obama jerks within the Democratic Party.
2). If President Obama wants to buddy-up to Bill Clinton and use Clinton advisers and continue to milquetost the Democratic Party into the same centrist nothingness that Bill Clinton offered during his presidency, why in the hell didn't Obama just let Hillary Clinton win the election? I thought we got rid of the Clintons once and that it was largely because of them, as well, that we ended up with the disaster of the Bush years.
3). If Obama doesn't start standing on his own and being the candidate that he promised to be, and dump the Clintons and their cronies, then I am done as a progressive in supporting Obama. I will then spend my time, my words of support, and any money that a Democratic Party is always seeking from me for a good, progressive, third party. I left the Democratic Party because of Bill Clinton and went to Nader and the Green Party. When Obama sounded like he was progressive, I returned. That was apparently a mistake.
Progressives need to find a good party that supports real progressive action. The Democratic Party is quagmired by fools of the past and apparently shills of the present. Progressives, let's go elsewhere.
It's early and we have time to find a real progressive candidate for 2012. There just has to be someone who believes in progressive stands and wants to provide real progressive change.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
News at 10...
This just in...
An American got a job today and it was so amazing and rare that Hallmark Hall of Fame is going to turn the poignant story into a TV movie. Viewers will also need hankies for more tear-jerking commercials about people who send and receive cards.
The Gulf of Mexico has been renamed the Gulf of Oil, as British Petroleum's non-stop oil leak at the bottom of the ocean continues to gush and pollute a huge amount of ocean, wetlands, and beaches. A regular American said, "I'm no rocket scientist, but it doesn't make sense to drill off-shore if you aren't able to stop a possible leak." A rocket scientist said, "I'm a rocket scientist and the whole idea is goofy."
That's some range about how much oil is gushing into the Gulf of Oil, formerly called the Gulf of Mexico. The range goes from 5,000 gallons per day by BP's estimates to 40,000 and up to as much as 90,000 gallons per day by independent experts' estimates. Therefore, if you ever need a low estimate on anything, please contact BP because they apparently are good at low estimates. Not so good at stopping an oil leak in the ocean, but very good at low estimates.
The Republicans, President Obama, and Sarah "Drill, Baby, Drill" Palin, all who supported off-shore oil drilling, do not know any rocket scientists.
According to a Fox News report, Elena Kagan (Supreme Court nominee) and Janet Napolitano (Homeland Security director) are twins and were mysteriously separated at birth.
It's been determined through a Sage Street poll that the most fun names to say are Betsy Ann Bowser of PBS, Rafsanjani (sorry, we don't know his first name) of Iran, Wolf Blitzer of CNN, Cloris Leachman, and anyone named Rufus. The name that is most fun to change is "Big News" Brzezinski (the first name is actually Zbigniew).
At the age of 88, actress Betty White recently hosted Saturday Night Live. She also has been asked to host the Academy Awards, run for governor of California, and join the U.S. pole vault team for the next Summer Olympics.
An Australian filmmaker is doing a documentary about virginity auctions. Not yet to appear on eBay or as a reality TV show, virginity auctions apparently are where virgins auction themselves to the highest bidder. Some virgins--or so they say they are--reportedly are getting paid $20,000 each and one young person said in a newspaper story that it was a way to pay for her college tuition. Said one old and bitter college grad, "I had to bag groceries at a supermarket and pump gas at a gas station to earn money for college." It would be true that most people remember a time when virginity was absolutely worthless.
Arizona recently passed a law requiring suspicious people to carry around papers that identify them as Americans. The state is also considering a law requiring suspicious people to carry around papers that prove they aren't obese, papers that show they can drive golf carts, and papers that indicate their virginity status. For suspicious people who are found to be totally innocent by Arizona law officers, be sure to visit the Grand Canyon as the State Tourism Board says it is beautiful at this time of year.
Rand Paul recently won as a Tea Party Republican-Libertarian candidate in Kentucky. He was quoted as saying that he believed government should stay out of the affairs of private business owners, even if those owners wanted to decline services to and discriminate against different groups of Americans. In response, a growing number of Kentucky businesses are now wanting to discriminate against Tea Party Republican-Libertarians.
An American got a job today and it was so amazing and rare that Hallmark Hall of Fame is going to turn the poignant story into a TV movie. Viewers will also need hankies for more tear-jerking commercials about people who send and receive cards.
The Gulf of Mexico has been renamed the Gulf of Oil, as British Petroleum's non-stop oil leak at the bottom of the ocean continues to gush and pollute a huge amount of ocean, wetlands, and beaches. A regular American said, "I'm no rocket scientist, but it doesn't make sense to drill off-shore if you aren't able to stop a possible leak." A rocket scientist said, "I'm a rocket scientist and the whole idea is goofy."
That's some range about how much oil is gushing into the Gulf of Oil, formerly called the Gulf of Mexico. The range goes from 5,000 gallons per day by BP's estimates to 40,000 and up to as much as 90,000 gallons per day by independent experts' estimates. Therefore, if you ever need a low estimate on anything, please contact BP because they apparently are good at low estimates. Not so good at stopping an oil leak in the ocean, but very good at low estimates.
The Republicans, President Obama, and Sarah "Drill, Baby, Drill" Palin, all who supported off-shore oil drilling, do not know any rocket scientists.
According to a Fox News report, Elena Kagan (Supreme Court nominee) and Janet Napolitano (Homeland Security director) are twins and were mysteriously separated at birth.
It's been determined through a Sage Street poll that the most fun names to say are Betsy Ann Bowser of PBS, Rafsanjani (sorry, we don't know his first name) of Iran, Wolf Blitzer of CNN, Cloris Leachman, and anyone named Rufus. The name that is most fun to change is "Big News" Brzezinski (the first name is actually Zbigniew).
At the age of 88, actress Betty White recently hosted Saturday Night Live. She also has been asked to host the Academy Awards, run for governor of California, and join the U.S. pole vault team for the next Summer Olympics.
An Australian filmmaker is doing a documentary about virginity auctions. Not yet to appear on eBay or as a reality TV show, virginity auctions apparently are where virgins auction themselves to the highest bidder. Some virgins--or so they say they are--reportedly are getting paid $20,000 each and one young person said in a newspaper story that it was a way to pay for her college tuition. Said one old and bitter college grad, "I had to bag groceries at a supermarket and pump gas at a gas station to earn money for college." It would be true that most people remember a time when virginity was absolutely worthless.
Arizona recently passed a law requiring suspicious people to carry around papers that identify them as Americans. The state is also considering a law requiring suspicious people to carry around papers that prove they aren't obese, papers that show they can drive golf carts, and papers that indicate their virginity status. For suspicious people who are found to be totally innocent by Arizona law officers, be sure to visit the Grand Canyon as the State Tourism Board says it is beautiful at this time of year.
Rand Paul recently won as a Tea Party Republican-Libertarian candidate in Kentucky. He was quoted as saying that he believed government should stay out of the affairs of private business owners, even if those owners wanted to decline services to and discriminate against different groups of Americans. In response, a growing number of Kentucky businesses are now wanting to discriminate against Tea Party Republican-Libertarians.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Lessons to be learned from the primary elections...
Here are some lessons hopefully learned from the primary elections on Tuesday for all of those whose influence was rejected.
- In Pennsylvania, progressive Democrat Joe Sestak defeated former Republican and new centrist Democrat Arlen Specter. The lesson is for President Obama and his awful centrist advisers and for Democratic Pa. Gov. Ed Rendell and fellow party bosses everywhere (and throw in the national TV media too): The Democratic voters don't need a political movement, like the Tea Party, to know how to reject the do-nothing lackies and incumbents in the center. They know why they want to vote for progressives on the left, like Sestak, who have ideas and want change like the voters want. Obama was one of those progressive candidates at one time, but he's sat around in the Oval Office listening to the crap of Clinton advisers too long. It has stunted his growth. Recommendation for Obama: The title of the Beatles song: "Get Back." And dump some advisers. Recommendation for Rendell: Retire, like Specter.
- In Arkansas, Democratic centrist Blanche Lincoln got the most votes but not enough vote to keep her from a run-off election with progressive candidate Bill Halter. In that way, Halter won, and will probably win the run-off election. The lesson is for the Clintons and the political establishment everywhere: Progressives generate energy among voters. Centrists are rejected.
- In Kentucky, the Democratic candidate Jack Conway won on the Democratic primary side with many more votes than Rand Paul, the winner on the Republican primary side. But the Paul vote should provide for some lessons, as the Republican establishment candidate who lost to Paul was the candidate supported by Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell. The lesson is for Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who is under the false notion that voters want Republicans to replace Democrats. No, it looks like voters want people of change to replace people of the establishment or incumbents who are stuck in the middle-nothing, dilution-pollution land of politics. Rand represented the libertarian vote, and was a so-called Tea Party candidate. But many of his foreign affairs views from the Libertarian perspective are rather progressive, such as wanting an end to the two wars and drug decriminalization. Paul will lose, though, because his domestic ideas are way too conservative. The Democratic candidate will win and let's hope he knows better than treading down the center when it comes to issues. Recommendation for McConnell: Retire. And the faster, the better.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Information Station...
Here are some random news and trivia items...
- There are 1.5 million children who are homeless in America. That means one out of every 50 children is homeless. (CBS News)
- An average of 14 deaths per day happens at U.S. workplaces. (ABC's Nightline)
- The most common form of litter: cigarette butts. And they contain some toxins. (NBC)
- In 2008, the last year of the Bush presidency, the Bush administration denied 47,000 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. In 2009, the first year of the Obama presidency, the Obama administration denied 70,000 FOIA requests. (Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC)
- "When cheaters prosper, it drives honesty out of the market." --William K. Black, author of "The Best Way to Rob a Bank Is to Own One." On the Bill Moyers Journal show, Black talked about the alleged fraud of Goldman Sachs investment bank. He said, "If you don't regulate, you create a 'criminogenic' environment for fraud." (PBS)
- Singer Lena Horne died in May 2010. She was the first African-American entertainer to have a Hollywood contract in movies. Her most famous song was "Stormy Weather." Her scenes in movies where cut out of the movies when they were shown in the South in the 1940s and 1950s. She left a USO tour during WWII in protest after she saw that black soldiers were seated at the rear, even behind the German POWs. (CNN)
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
If I were grading President Obama...
With the end of the school year, students recently received their grades. If President Barack Obama were my student, I'd give him a "C" for average, for having the opportunity to carve out a magnificent progressive legacy and then choosing to dilute it instead, for going to the do-no-change center too often, for being Clintonesque, for mythically thinking consensus-building works when you are dealing with people so far to the right that your neck is likely to twist to an angle reminiscent of the demon-possessed daughter in the movie "The Exorcist."
Here's how my grading system is based:
1). Obama is the first African-American president. An "A" for that and the excitement that the American electorate can choose someone other than a white, old, rich guy.
2). Obama campaigns as a progressive liberal. An "A" for that. More excitement. Maybe the old status quo can change, after all. But wait. Obama fills his Cabinet with Clinton people and heads to the political center. An "F" for: Been there, done that, no real progress.
3). And the issues...Two wars. Though Obama inherited two wars, he still has pretty much the same lousy generals who apparently can't win them. The wars have become the longest in American history. WWII was shorter. Generals after WWII sure have been poor. What's wrong with the military leadership training? Democrats have to realize that some of us progressives have never voted for a war president ever and don't intend to in 2012. Thus, it is paramount that Obama end the costly wars, rather than increase troop deployment and lengthen the list of the American war dead. An "F" for ongoing wars.
4). Health care reform. Wow, Obama had the chance to do something amazing here, but caved in on the public option possibility. It is good that more people are covered by health insurance, though the insurance companies are still pretty much in charge of costs and profits. An "A" if there'd been a public option plan. The "C" here stands for caving for convenience.
5). Guantanamo Bay prison. Still not closed and that's gone beyond his first-year promise. An "F" there.
6). Worldwide view of America. Definitely this one is a bright part of the Obama presidency and the replacement of Bush. Much improvement. An "A" for change the world can believe in.
7). End to discriminatory practices. One that comes to mind is the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that is discriminatory toward gay soldiers. So, how does the first racial minority president--the second minority president if we count FDR in terms of his wheelchair disability--do in tackling discrimination toward others? Not so good. Here again, Obama is leaving it up to the generals. Yes, those same incompetents who can't win wars. The Obama administration wants to wait for the generals. Or maybe it's waiting for Godot. A "D" for good talk, just no action.
8). Supreme Court selection. A high mark for Obama's selection of Sonia Sotomayer. As the first Hispanic member of the Court, another legacy moment was attained. An "A" for that. For his second selection of Elena Kagan, the jury is still out. Obama missed his chance to select a solidly liberal justice. He still has a majority in the Senate, so why didn't he go for it? That old mythical dilution quality of "consensus-building" and "go to the center" makes for more "C" words with average intentions. Why didn't he choose a liberal African-American man or woman to offset the conservative Clarence Thomas? Why didn't he choose a Protestant, so the Court wouldn't be, for the first time in its history, without a Protestant justice? No Protestant is counter to diversity. And, yes, religion does matter, because it represents thought and stance. With Kagan, that would mean the Court consists of six Catholics and three Jews. That's not representative of the nation.
9). Off-Shore Oil-Drilling. Oh, wow! Here's where Obama could have stayed with his environmentalist base on higher ground and oil-free water, but chose again to retreat to the center. The oil leak by British Petroleum in the Gulf of Mexico is gushing disastrously at, so far, 3.5 million gallons of oil and no end in sight. Hey, I am not a rocket scientist, but I kind of think that if there's no solution for plugging up an oil leak in the middle of an ocean, then it's probably not a good idea to drill there in the first place. The Obama administration says it is considering a reversal in its support of off-shore oil-drilling. Really? So, pelicans might mean more than campaign donations, after all. And when will the administration decide? A "C" for can't stop loving oil. (An "F" for my lack of faith now that the administration will do the right thing on this issue.)
10). Wind energy development. The Obama administration does seem progressive on advancing alternative energy development. A "B" there, maybe a "C," because Obama also endorsed nuclear energy, which could be worse than oil-leaky catastrophic.
11). Obama probably had no choice when it came to bailing-out Wall Street after the greedy non-regulation of the Clinton and Bush years. The question is: Are the banking regulations back in place to prevent the problem from happening again? An "I" for incomplete on this grade.
12). Jobs. Probably the most important of the long-term issues on this list. The stimulus money has helped, but Obama has been too timid in job-creation ideas. FDR had a legacy of lifting people out of unemployment and economic despair. I don't think Obama has that legacy yet. Guess that means a "C" for average again.
So, what's the grade for President Obama, a year and a half into his presidency? My averaging may be off, but "C" seems like it makes sense to date. Definitely, the shine of the prospects of finally getting a liberal president who knows how to achieve progressive goals has faded.
How does Obama improve his grade? Well, he needs to stay with the views of the people (the progressives) who took him to the White House in the first place. The center is not a wise suppport mechanism for enthusiasm at the voting booth.
Here's how my grading system is based:
1). Obama is the first African-American president. An "A" for that and the excitement that the American electorate can choose someone other than a white, old, rich guy.
2). Obama campaigns as a progressive liberal. An "A" for that. More excitement. Maybe the old status quo can change, after all. But wait. Obama fills his Cabinet with Clinton people and heads to the political center. An "F" for: Been there, done that, no real progress.
3). And the issues...Two wars. Though Obama inherited two wars, he still has pretty much the same lousy generals who apparently can't win them. The wars have become the longest in American history. WWII was shorter. Generals after WWII sure have been poor. What's wrong with the military leadership training? Democrats have to realize that some of us progressives have never voted for a war president ever and don't intend to in 2012. Thus, it is paramount that Obama end the costly wars, rather than increase troop deployment and lengthen the list of the American war dead. An "F" for ongoing wars.
4). Health care reform. Wow, Obama had the chance to do something amazing here, but caved in on the public option possibility. It is good that more people are covered by health insurance, though the insurance companies are still pretty much in charge of costs and profits. An "A" if there'd been a public option plan. The "C" here stands for caving for convenience.
5). Guantanamo Bay prison. Still not closed and that's gone beyond his first-year promise. An "F" there.
6). Worldwide view of America. Definitely this one is a bright part of the Obama presidency and the replacement of Bush. Much improvement. An "A" for change the world can believe in.
7). End to discriminatory practices. One that comes to mind is the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that is discriminatory toward gay soldiers. So, how does the first racial minority president--the second minority president if we count FDR in terms of his wheelchair disability--do in tackling discrimination toward others? Not so good. Here again, Obama is leaving it up to the generals. Yes, those same incompetents who can't win wars. The Obama administration wants to wait for the generals. Or maybe it's waiting for Godot. A "D" for good talk, just no action.
8). Supreme Court selection. A high mark for Obama's selection of Sonia Sotomayer. As the first Hispanic member of the Court, another legacy moment was attained. An "A" for that. For his second selection of Elena Kagan, the jury is still out. Obama missed his chance to select a solidly liberal justice. He still has a majority in the Senate, so why didn't he go for it? That old mythical dilution quality of "consensus-building" and "go to the center" makes for more "C" words with average intentions. Why didn't he choose a liberal African-American man or woman to offset the conservative Clarence Thomas? Why didn't he choose a Protestant, so the Court wouldn't be, for the first time in its history, without a Protestant justice? No Protestant is counter to diversity. And, yes, religion does matter, because it represents thought and stance. With Kagan, that would mean the Court consists of six Catholics and three Jews. That's not representative of the nation.
9). Off-Shore Oil-Drilling. Oh, wow! Here's where Obama could have stayed with his environmentalist base on higher ground and oil-free water, but chose again to retreat to the center. The oil leak by British Petroleum in the Gulf of Mexico is gushing disastrously at, so far, 3.5 million gallons of oil and no end in sight. Hey, I am not a rocket scientist, but I kind of think that if there's no solution for plugging up an oil leak in the middle of an ocean, then it's probably not a good idea to drill there in the first place. The Obama administration says it is considering a reversal in its support of off-shore oil-drilling. Really? So, pelicans might mean more than campaign donations, after all. And when will the administration decide? A "C" for can't stop loving oil. (An "F" for my lack of faith now that the administration will do the right thing on this issue.)
10). Wind energy development. The Obama administration does seem progressive on advancing alternative energy development. A "B" there, maybe a "C," because Obama also endorsed nuclear energy, which could be worse than oil-leaky catastrophic.
11). Obama probably had no choice when it came to bailing-out Wall Street after the greedy non-regulation of the Clinton and Bush years. The question is: Are the banking regulations back in place to prevent the problem from happening again? An "I" for incomplete on this grade.
12). Jobs. Probably the most important of the long-term issues on this list. The stimulus money has helped, but Obama has been too timid in job-creation ideas. FDR had a legacy of lifting people out of unemployment and economic despair. I don't think Obama has that legacy yet. Guess that means a "C" for average again.
So, what's the grade for President Obama, a year and a half into his presidency? My averaging may be off, but "C" seems like it makes sense to date. Definitely, the shine of the prospects of finally getting a liberal president who knows how to achieve progressive goals has faded.
How does Obama improve his grade? Well, he needs to stay with the views of the people (the progressives) who took him to the White House in the first place. The center is not a wise suppport mechanism for enthusiasm at the voting booth.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Leave American rights alone...
Oh, good grief! Politicians should leave the Miranda ruling and its legal requirements alone.
I heard Wolf Blitzer on CNN saying that Miranda occurred before the threat of terrorism. I guess he meant the terrorism from the Middle East of recent decades.
But there's always been some form of terroristic activity going on in America. One of the oldest terrorist groups is the Ku Klux Klan. When did presidents and politicians ever talk about taking away citizenship of the KKK members, let alone reducing their legal rights as defendants? I don't remember hearing that. And how about all the other hate groups in the nation? I don't like them at all, but prosecution of their crimes certainly can be successful without eliminating legal rights.
Once again, the nation is forced into a frenzy of fear by a bunch of goofy politicians. Leave American rights alone! We can still keep the high ground and defeat terrorists and criminals if we have good quality law enforcement.
Here are two concrete ways to reduce the threat of terrorism: 1). Solve the dispute between Israel and Palestine. 2). Stop wasting time, money, and lives on wars.
I heard Wolf Blitzer on CNN saying that Miranda occurred before the threat of terrorism. I guess he meant the terrorism from the Middle East of recent decades.
But there's always been some form of terroristic activity going on in America. One of the oldest terrorist groups is the Ku Klux Klan. When did presidents and politicians ever talk about taking away citizenship of the KKK members, let alone reducing their legal rights as defendants? I don't remember hearing that. And how about all the other hate groups in the nation? I don't like them at all, but prosecution of their crimes certainly can be successful without eliminating legal rights.
Once again, the nation is forced into a frenzy of fear by a bunch of goofy politicians. Leave American rights alone! We can still keep the high ground and defeat terrorists and criminals if we have good quality law enforcement.
Here are two concrete ways to reduce the threat of terrorism: 1). Solve the dispute between Israel and Palestine. 2). Stop wasting time, money, and lives on wars.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
