Political campaign for President and lack of "civility." UPDATE Feb. 18

Many in the media have said that the 2012 Presidential election campaign was shaping up to be a clash between the 99% and the 1% or Class warfare. While that surely seems to resonate with many of us who write Blogs, I would offer a more sinister look into the 2012 campaign. It looks to me like it is a reenactment of the Civil War. I would suggest to you that the plain hatred for this President and the insistence that he be a "one term President" is racially motivated and the reason why Newt Gingrich won South Carolina and why Mitt Romney won New Hampshire. To me if you peel back this onion, the presidential race seems to be about reliving the "Civil War" in the political arena. Look at the arguments on both sides of the issues. If you frame them through the prism of "Civil Rights", you can easily make the leap to that argument. That is why the "Birther" conspiracy took hold for so long. Being "civil" means being courteous or polite. And the sad truth is that there is nothing "Civil" about this election campaign season.

It is going to get much worse I fear, before this election campaign is over. Notice the language of Newt when he talks about President Obama being the "Food Stamp" president. Yes, there are many on Food Stamps today, but not just minorities are getting them. Mostly white Americans receive them today. But the racial undertones are there and the dog whistle call to the far Right gets the applause lines from the far Right. For one brief moment yesterday the Congress was able to put this war behind them and join in a tribute to Rep. Gabby Giffords of Arizona in her struggle to survive a gunshot wound to the head last year. She has given up her Congressional seat so she can focus on her rehabilitation. That's smart. A small glimpse of sanity in an otherwise anger filled political season.

UPDATE Feb. 18th
Last night on the show Real Time with Bill Maher, Bill closed his New Rules segment commenting on the disrespect of President Obama, in an affront to the first Black President that seems to be based on racism. I totally agree with his views and want to say here I really valued his persistent reference to how this President has been disrespected from the very beginning of his Presidency, unlike the treatment of any other President in history. Thanks Bill!

Ever wonder why we promote the weirdest, zaniest candidates for President? The answer!

As we end 2011 and begin 2012, an election year for our President, have you ever wondered how this country ever elected someone like President George W. Bush or looked to Michelle Bachman, Herman Cain, Rick Perry or Newt Gingrich to be President. Have you ever wondered what's wrong with voters that they could be that stupid, or "tupid" as one of my best friends jokingly says? Well I found the answer to those questions right here. Play this video and you'll never wonder again why we pick who we pick for President and answer a whole bunch of questions about who we are as a people. Besides you will laugh too!


Now you know! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours and let's all pray for a smarter electorate as well. For those who don't know what the word "electorate" means, you might consider staying home this Presidential election. Only kidding! :)

The Birthers will be excluded from the real Presidential hopefuls soon! UPDATE

Much has been made about the latest assertions of Donald Trump and his pushing the "birther" claims that President Obama was not born in the US. He has risen to the top of the Republican Presidential hopefuls with these assertions as it has played well to a minority, a loud minority, within the Republican Party. In my view, the 'birther claim is code for we never will recognize any black man as our President. But soon this "birther" gauntlet will be abandoned by the extreme Republicans in favor of more moderate ones within the party.

You see right now it is a litmus test to show if you are conservative enough. Soon it will revert in the other direction, as a test to separate out the extreme candidates from the more serious Republicans, and it will happen in the blink of an eye. Several respectable candidates have stood up and renounced there idea that the President wasn't born here, like Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty. Mayor Bloomberg did this week. These are the adults out there. People will be reminded by the media of their position on this issue as time carries on and those who sided with the birther thinking will be left out of the running. That will include Donald Trump, Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, Mike Pence and Michele Bachmann. You just watch!

UPDATE: Wednesday, April 27th
Well today President Obama through his complete Birth Certificate on the web dashing the Carnival Barker, Donald Trump, under the bus in as classy a way as our President has behaved since his Presidency. For his part, Trump claimed how great he was that he was able to force the issue on President Obama to finally present his birth certificate, but he said he had to see it first and go over it carefully before he was willing to proclaim it valid. What nonsense by Trump. He is a fool and a racist. I would never watch his TV show and I hope you give it up too!

Where did the vitriol start and who started it? UPDATE

On this day of remembrance of all those who lost their lives unnecessarily in the attack on our nation at the World Trade Center, I gave thought to that time and how we were as a people. After the attack we came together as a nation, even though before 9/11 we were divided politically by the election of George W. Bush by the Supreme Court decision over Al Gore. It was a bitter pill for Democrats and some Independents to swallow and it lasted right up to 9/11. But then everything changed. We were all saddened by the loss of life and angry that we were attacked by terrorists. But there was now our President on the pile of debris from the fallen Towers telling the world we are going to get through this because we are Americans and we are a strong people and that we would find the people who did this and bring them to justice. It was a solemn moment in our history and we were all united as Americans right after that, maybe for the first time for many Americans, but I had seen it before. When President John Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, TX, we were together then too. The best of the American spirit was shown then too and the outpouring of sadness we all felt and a tribute to the loss of our President and the fact we all knew then the world had changed for us. There were no Republicans and Democrats then. We were all Americans and we were a strong people and that we would find the people who did this and bring them to justice.

Here we are on the Anniversary of 9/11, a very solemn day, and what's on many American's hearts today. I'll tell you, it's idiocy about whether a pastor in Florida will burn the Holy Book of Muslims or not. And, whether the Imam in NY will move his plans for building a Community center, which will contain a mosque, 2 blocks away from the site of the Twin Towers. The Republicans have been connecting the two separate issues even though the Pastor in Fl had not. But then, he finally got there message that there is a connection as Palin, Boehner, and Gingrich have been trying to connect those dots for the weak minded among us for the past week. It's a disgrace. First there is no comparison. Burning anyone's Holy Book is weak minded and not something a so called minister of God would do. But again, he had not connected these dots until these Republican leaders pointed it out to him.

Where do these nut jobs come from? They come from the shadows, where evil lurks all the time but is usually in check when there is balance of spirit and mind between people. But that spirit has been missing for a while now. I was trying to think when did it all change recently? I figured it out. It was when John McCain picked Sarah Palin, as his Vice Presidential candidate. She was not ready for prime time, or any time in my view, but here we are with her leading the whack jobs of the fringe of the Republican party and getting support from the other whack jobs of Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck and driving our country into madness. And the fools who listen to them get hyped up and do their bidding and think in the shadows about "coming out". And every once in a while one comes out ie. the Pastor in Florida.

But this vitriol started during the campaign for President and by the selection of Sarah Palin, by John McCain. John McCain, the same leader who said "Country first!" and has abandoned about everything he has stood for over his career as a Senator. The same John McCain who said he was a maverick and now said he wasn't a maverick. Make up your mind please, John. Now it was the perfect storm because opposing John McCain was Barack Obama. That helped bring out the racists among us. But you see Barack Obama, in my humble opinion, has done nothing to fuel this divisiveness. He was born from a white mother and a black father. So what? What's the big deal. Get over it and join the 21st Century. Most kids have. Many don't see color distinction, as their older parents do.

I am afraid we have lost that special moment when we were all together as Americans. But when I think about the meaning to me of 9/11, I wish we could go back to that moment in our hearts and stop this divisiveness. It is killing our country now. How you can help? Change your mindset. If you are still embracing the notion that our country is special and what it means to be an American. then you should think that if someone owns a piece of property and wants to develop it and build anything they want they should be allowed to as long as it follows local ordinances and laws. They have a right to build the Community Center and include a mosque in it if they so choose. We should be pleased we live in a country where we can express our religious freedoms in whatever way we want to as long as it doesn't do physical harm to others. By the way, people have been praying in the existing mosque there since 2009, just to set the record straight.

As for the whack job Pastor in Fl., it is a very difficult situation for sure. In this 24/7 news cycle with Social Networks bringing pictures and videos all around the world. One could make the case that he is endangering others and it is illegal, just like yelling Fire in a crowded theater. The world won't end if he does this and some may die too as General Petraeus has warned. But that will be on the Pastors head before God as well as those Republicans who have not condemned the possible act, Palin, Boehner and Gingrich. May God have mercy on their souls.

UPDATE: 10:20am PST

I don't know what has happened by the Florida Pastor has decided that God has spoken to him and that he will not burn any Holy Books now or ever. Hallelujah! He has seen the light. One must be grateful for little steps of progress when they come. Amen! Now if the political leaders of Palin, Boehner and Gingrich can see the light, maybe this will be a memorable 9/11 where something good comes out of it.

Who's responsible for the Banking mess today?

The answer to that is the Republican Congress that was under the helm of Newt Gingrich and Senator Phil Graham and the passing of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act in 1999 which removed a lot of safeguards and regulations into a single Act called the Glass-Steagall Act. These were put into place after the 1929 Stock Market crash. This Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act was approved by the Republican led Congress in 1999 and signed into law and supported by then President Bill Clinton. Seems like a simple action would be to repeal Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and reinstitute "new regulations" on Banking. Hmmm, isn't this what Barack Obama recommended as a solution? McCain says "let the free markets work their will." By the way, John McCain has, as one of his top economic advisors, former Senator Phil Graham, the architect of this mess.

On another topic somewhat related, Senator Hillary Clinton and President Clinton, released their tax returns yesterday from the years 1999-2006. It turns out they have earned $109 Million dollars in that period, and paid $33 Million in taxes. The financially poor Clintons don't seem so poor any longer do they. Hmmmm, I wonder who paid for Bill Clinton to give those expensive speeches? Do you think some Banking groups? It's payoff time, big time!

Why Senator Chuck Hagel's news conference was a non-event

It seems obvious to me that when Senator Hagel had planned this conference for the media, both Newt Gingrich and Fred Thompson hadn't announced their possible bid for the Republican nomination for President in 2008. Yesterday Senator Hagel's brother was on TV implying the Senator will have an announcement and will run for President. But I think Senator Hagel is having second thoughts. He could see that his battle to end the war in Iraq and bring home the troops might be more important than his running for the Presidency. There is no way to read Senator Hagel's mind on this, but because he is a straight shooter, one day he will tell us why he did not announce he was running at the news conference yesterday. He is a real patriot in the finest meaning of the word.