It's Gerrymander Time

 The Census numbers are in and it's time to assign new Congressional districts. 

I hope we can all agree that allowing the political parties to draw those district lines is insane and the root of political corruption.

The party that has the majority in a States legislator gets the say in what the new district lines will be. They will draw those lines to the benefit of their party. In Texas the Republicans get to draw those district lines. In California the Democrats get to draw those lines. So how many States are controlled by Republicans and how many States are controlled by Democrats will tell you who has the advantage. 

BOTH parties will draw their lines to their party's benefit. Both parties do it. 

So it depends on who the electorate has elected to their State House. That seems fair, but again, it's insane to allow the political parties to draw those district lines. 

Winning elections have consequences and the party with the majority has the power. There have been all sorts of ideas to change this process, but that means changing the law and no politician is about to give up their advantage. 

Government by Joe Manchin

 Due to the Democrats being out of touch with the American people the best they could do was a split government. They celebrated Biden's win like he was the savior of American politics. Truth is anyone who could not beat the traitor Trump would have been the biggest political loser in 200 years. Biden's coattails were just enough to get a split in the Senate, not enough to ensure legislative victories. 

Obama had his Blue Dog Democrats, yet, he still got legislation (like the ACA) passed. He lost majority in the mid terms and with Republicans vowing obstructionism, that was the last shot at true liberal government. He couldn't even stop the Republicans from denying him his Supreme Court nominee. 

The split in Congress is even thinner now, which is sad because now any legislative progress will be due to only one man, Joe Manchin, a Democrat.  It shows how weak the Democrats are that one of their own is going to derail their most important legislation. 

Manchin is telling Democratic Congressional leaders right now what the bill will include and what it will not. It's not the first time one Senator has had so much influence over a piece of legislation,  but it is one of the few times a member of the party in power has had its agenda stopped by one of its own party members. 

Political pundits are predicting a Republican win for the mid terms. Not because Republicans have a superior political philosophy, strategy, or policies, but because Democrats are to weak to get Americans to vote for their policies.  Democrats should take the advice Mrs. Clinton gave a few weeks ago on one of the Sunday news shows, but apparently Democrats are more interested in demonizing Trump as Hitler and Republicans as Nazis to try and understand how they could actually win the mid term elections. So majority will go back to the Republicans. 

Anyone who thinks Trump cannot win the presidency again does not understand why 10's of millions of voters vote for him. You can cry all you want about the Democratic candidate getting more popular votes, while Trump wins the Electoral College and becomes president. 

One of the ideas that will lose the election for the Democrats is de-funding the police.  For a violent country of over 300 million this is one of the dumbest political ideas to come along in a century. President Biden has denounced the idea repeatedly, but the party is still embracing it. The American people are not for it, and they will not vote for candidates supporting it. 

Do you still think Biden can get Republicans to vote for his liberal policies? 

In the meantime, get ready for government by one person, Joe Manchin. 

 

Update:

All mourning long the Democrats have been going in front of the cameras blasting Joe Manchin.  These Democrats really know how to shoot themselves in the foot.  So he won't vote for this bill, but don't they think they will need his vote for other bills in 2022? McConnell has been trying to get Manchin to change parties for a long time. If Democrats piss him off he might just change sides. Which means Republicans will become the majority party without even winning an election.

Crime

 FACTS: Blacks make up 13% of US population yet in 2019 according to the latest FBI crime stats this 13% committed 51.2% of the murders, 52.7% of robbery, and 36.4% of violent crimes. Of whites murdered 15.5% were killed by blacks, blacks murdered by whites 8%. In 2019, nine (9) unarmed black people were killed by cops. 

According to the National Victimization Survey, whites are the overwhelming target of interracial violence. Between 2012 and 2015, blacks committed 85.5 percent of all black-white interracial violent victimization's (excluding interracial homicide, which is also disproportionately black-on-white). That works out to 540,360 felonious assaults on whites. Whites committed 14.4 percent of all interracial violent victimization or 91,470 felonious assaults on blacks.

Is this all the fault of an lying, unjust system, or were these people guilty of their crimes? Are the police just going after blacks? Are there thousands of whites being allowed to go free of felonies?

I have no doubt blacks are being unjustly treated by the system, but not to the degree that accounts for the above statics (facts). Crime has been worse in the past, but there is no doubt crime is up right now. 

Ave Maria

 

 

Holiday Music

                                             Bing Crosby singing Do You Hear What I Hear

QUIZ

 

Citizens Arrest !

 

Carlin on Religion

 

Is Trump a fascist? 8 experts weigh in.

Call him a kleptocrat, an oligarch, a xenophobe, a racist, even an authoritarian. But he doesn’t quite fit the definition of a fascist.

By Dylan Matthewsdylan@vox.com

  

Is Donald Trump a fascist?

That question emerged in various forms pretty early in his 2016 presidential campaign, which began with a speech railing against Mexican immigrants, and gained steam after he called for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States” in December 2015, as a response to the San Bernardino terrorist attack.

At that point, the Muslim ban proposal, I contacted five fascism experts and asked them if Trump qualified. They all said no. Every one of them stated that to be a fascist, one must support the revolutionary, usually violent overthrow of the entire government/Constitution, and reject democracy entirely. In 2015, none were comfortable saying Trump went that far. He was too individualist for the inherently collectivist philosophy of fascism, and not sufficiently committed to the belief that violence is good for its own sake, as a vital cleansing force.

Roger Griffin, the author of The Nature of Fascism and a professor of history at Oxford Brookes University, summed it up well: “You can be a total xenophobic racist male chauvinist bastard and still not be a fascist.”

Five years have now passed, and the fascism questions have only grown more frequent. Trump has had time to implement quite anti-immigrant and anti-Black policies, and refused to denounce his most extreme and violent supporters, from the neo-Nazis and white nationalists in Charlottesville to the Proud Boys group. And every week, I receive dozens of emails from readers wondering if I stand by my conclusion in 2015, that Trump is simply a bigot with an authoritarian streak, not a fascist.

So I reached out to the experts I talked to back then. Four of the five replied, and I also got in touch with a few more scholars who have researched fascism to get a broader view.

The responses were, again, unanimous, albeit tinged with much greater concern about Trump’s authoritarian and violent tendencies. No one thinks Trump is a fascist leader, full stop. Jason Stanley, a Yale philosopher and author of How Fascism Works, came closest to that conclusion, saying that “you could call legitimately call Trumpism a fascist social and political movement” and that Trump is “using fascist political tactics,” but that Trump isn’t necessarily leading a fascist government.

But most experts did not even go that far, and some expressed concern that describing Trump as a fascist undermines the term and leads to a misanalysis of our current political situation. “If Trump was a fascist and we were in a situation akin to Germany in 1932 or Italy in 1921, certain kinds of actions would be justified,” Sheri Berman, a professor of political science at Barnard College, says. “But we are not and they are not.”

To be clear, “not fascist” is a very, very low bar for Trump to clear. The concerns that lead people to ask the question “Is Trump a fascist?” are real. Trump really is trying to discredit the coming presidential election. He really has hired officials with ties to white nationalist groups. He really did promise to ban all Muslims from the US (and implemented new rules toward that goal), said that a Mexican American judge is unfit to preside over cases involving him, called Mexican immigrants “rapists,” empathized with neo-Nazis after Charlottesville, and falsely claimed Muslim Americans celebrated the 9/11 attacks — among many, many transgressions.

But things could always get worse. There really are leaders who suspend elections, dissolve legislatures, throw large numbers of citizens into camps without trial or appeal, who turn their nations into one-party states oriented around a cult of national rebirth. The fascist leaders of the past, the University of Texas’s Jason Brownlee notes, “not only pursued right-wing policies, they also built-up mass-mobilizing parties and paramilitary organizations with the goal of sweeping aside alternative movements and establishing single-party dictatorship.”

That hasn’t happened here — but it could. It came terrifyingly close to happening in Greece, where the explicitly neo-Nazi Golden Dawn became the third-largest political party in the mid-2010s. And if and when it does happen in America, we need to have the right terms and tools to confront it.

Robert Paxton, Mellon professor emeritus of social sciences, Columbia University

I stand by what I have already written about Trump and fascism, but there is one change: I am struck now with Trump’s growing willingness to employ physical violence.

Before, Trump was already willing to tolerate some roughing-up of hecklers at rallies, and his encouragement of the “lock her up!” refrain was clearly transgressive (in America we are supposed to wait for the decision of a jury of citizens before locking someone up). But now, after Charlottesville, we have the Proud Boys and the aggression against the governor of Michigan. So Trump gets closer to having his own SA [the Nazi paramilitary group], a sobering thought as the election approaches.

But there is still no state management of the economy here (as there was to a degree in Nazi Germany and fascist Italy). Trump is content to aid business by reducing government protections of the environment and of workers … and his economic policy is mainly just to let businessmen do what they want, So I still think terms like “oligarchy” and “plutocracy” work for Trump, with the added thought that he is close to crossing the line with his toleration of violence.

Matthew Feldman, director, Centre for Analysis of the Radical Right

Although my position has not changed on Trump — less fascist than kleptocrat, more egoist than radical-right ideologue — that does little to mitigate the danger.

Four months ago, I warned that Trump was descending into naked authoritarianism. Low-information commentators seek to reassure rather than dig deeply, telling readers to look on the bright side. That the US is an exceptional country.

It is not.

Democratic regression and political polarization are not unique to the US. Having more guns than people is. So are militias, usually formed of lower- and middle-class white Americans harboring anti-government sentiments. The threat posed by these anti-government extremists — though not necessarily terrorists — was thrown into relief when at least 13 members of Michigan’s Wolverine Militia were arrested for planning to kidnap, “judge,” and potentially execute for treason the state’s governor, Gretchen Whitmer.

The term “fascist” regarding Trump continues to mislead rather than inform. But that cannot inure us to what Alexander Reid Ross has called the “fascist creep.”

Stanley Payne, Jaume Vicens Vives and Hilldale professor emeritus of history, the University of Wisconsin Madison

This inquiry made a little sense four years ago, when Trump was still an unknown quantity, but now he has a record. Well — that’s pretty thin gruel. Nothing much to work with here. The Democrats won the first election under Trump [the 2018 midterms], and I’m not aware of anything negative happening. Straining at gnats doesn’t really get us anywhere. Mostly these are just silly public remarks. Hitler’s place in history is not based on his remarks, nor for any temporary detention cages. Please do not trivialize. That indicates absence of an argument.

Roger Griffin, emeritus professor in modern history, Oxford Brookes University

His relationship to democracy, I would really insist, is the key to answering whether he’s a fascist or not. Even in four years of incoherent and inconsistent tweets, he’s never actually done a Putin and tried to make himself a permanent president, let alone suggest any coherent plan for overthrowing the constitutional system. And I don’t even think that’s in his mind. He is an exploiter, he’s a freeloader. He’s a wheeler and dealer. And that is not the same as an ideologue.

So he’s absolutely not a fascist. He does not pose a challenge to constitutional democracy. He certainly poses a great challenge to liberalism and liberal democracy. And I think real favor will be served by journalists who, instead of seeing liberal democracy as a single entity, see it as a binomial. Democracy can exist without liberalism.

If I was doing this as a bottom line in some debate, I’d say that Trump is not a fascist, but what he is quite consistently is an illiberal democrat. He is a democrat to the extent that he’s used democratic processes to be where he is, which he doesn’t radically challenge. He obviously plays fast and loose, like any wheeler dealer, with things like the Supreme Court, who he gets in, etc. He doesn’t care about the rules, but the core system he doesn’t want to change, because he’s somebody who’s profited by that system.

Basically, I think it matters whether we call Trump fascist or not fascist, not academically or intellectually, but because it’s a red herring — it actually diverts attention from where we should be doing the critique. If all our intellectual energies are, like Don Quixote, jousting with windmills and fascism, instead of actually jousting with the real enemies of democracy, and using our energies to avert the climate crisis, which is going to engulf us all, if we’re not careful, then we’re wasting our time.

By not calling him fascist, and concentrating on the way he perverts democracy, we see Trump in a different context. We don’t see him as Hitler or Mussolini. We see him in a different rogues’ gallery. And the rogues’ gallery is made up of a whole load of dictators throughout history, including Putin and Erdogan and Orbán and Assad today, who have abused constitutionalism and democracy to rationalize their abuse of power and their crimes against humanity.

Sheri Berman, professor of political science, Barnard College, Columbia University

On Trump and fascism, unlike what has become an almost majority view, I do not like applying that term to Trump or to what is going on in this country.

Partially this is for historical and intellectual reasons — just like we shouldn’t call every horrible example of ethnic violence or even ethnic cleansing “genocide” (or say that it is another Holocaust), so I think we should be careful with comparing Trump to Hitler. Genocide means something: It is an attempt to wipe out an entire people, using the full force of the modern state. Similarly, national socialism or, more broadly, fascism was a totalitarian ideology and political regime that wanted to do away not only with liberalism and democracy but to revolutionize society, economy, and politics. That’s not the same as any old dictatorship, even a nasty one, and that is not where we are today.

That said, just as ethnically based violence or ethnic cleansing shares some characteristics with genocide/the Holocaust, so too does Trump bear similarities to other strongmen, a category in which fascists like Hitler and Mussolini belong, as do Orbán, Erdogan, Putin, and their ilk. That Trump maintains his support by engaging in explicitly divisive appeals designed to pit groups against each other — particularly but not exclusively ethnic groups — also, of course, bears some similarity to what fascists did.

And, of course, Trump is undermining various norms and institutions of democracy. But this doesn’t make him a fascist, which means much more than these things. Indeed, I almost think calling Trump “fascist” gives him too much “credit” — he isn’t strategic enough, ideological enough, or ambitious enough. And as bad as things are today, we are still not in 1930s Germany.

But alongside these historical and intellectual reasons, I also don’t like applying the term fascist to Trump for practical reasons. If Trump was a fascist and we were in a situation akin to Germany in 1932 or Italy in 1921, certain kinds of actions would be justified. But we are not, and they are not. And that remains important to stress, even though that does not mean downplaying the real threat Trump and the version of the Republican Party that is backing him represents to our country.

I think Trump often engages in what the political science literature refers to as “ethnic outbidding.” Even more fitting, in my view, is the term “negative integration” — a strategy of unifying a coalition by whipping up fear/hatred of purported enemies. Bismarck was the classic practitioner of the negative integration strategy.

As for Trump overall, I would still prefer referring to him as an illiberal populist or right-wing populist. He has a lot in common with the right-wing populists roaming around Europe today.

Ruth Ben-Ghiat, professor of Italian and history, New York University

Trump certainly uses fascist tactics, from holding rallies to refresh the leader-follower bond to creating a “tribe” (MAGA hats, rituals like chanting “lock them up,” etc.) to unleashing a volume of propaganda without precedent by an American president. Yet the political cultures that form him and his close supporters are not fascist, but reflect a broader authoritarian history. Paul Manafort and Roger Stone worked for [Congolese dictator] Mobutu Sese Seko and [Philippine President] Ferdinand Marcos before Trump, and Manafort also worked for Putin. They worked on Marcos’s 1986 election that was widely denounced as fraudulent.

Trump’s role models include leaders like Erdogan and Putin who are not exactly fascists, but something more: authoritarians, or strongman rulers who also use virility as a tool of domination.

I also favor authoritarian over fascist as a description for Trump because the former captures how autocratic power works today. In the 21st century, fascist takeovers have been replaced by rulers who come to power through elections and then, over time, extinguish freedom.

Jason Brownlee, professor of government, the University of Texas at Austin

Of course Trump’s detractors are free to use whatever terms and epithets they like.

I would not say the traditional idea of fascism fits Donald Trump in 2020 any more than it did before he took office. When historians and political scientists do a full accounting of his actions and statements as president, I do not think fascism will figure prominently in their analyses. The prototypical fascist leaders — Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler, [Austrian Chancellor] Engelbert Dollfuss — not only pursued right-wing policies, they also built-up mass-mobilizing parties and paramilitary organizations with the goal of sweeping aside alternative movements and establishing single-party dictatorship. I would tend to describe Trump’s brand of politics differently, and I would place him in different company.

Trump is a celebrity-turned-right-wing politician. He acts as a consummate demagogue, fabulist, and ultranationalist, and he appears to have a strong inclination for nepotism and kleptocracy. His efforts to use the presidency to finance his lifestyle and enrich his family resemble the schemes of former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos. In addition to profiting from his time in office, Trump, like Marcos, has challenged constraints on executive authority without investing resources into a sustainable political organization.

In other respects, Trump’s style of politics recalls portions of the career of former Serbian President Slobodan Milošević. Like Milošević, Trump has promoted a very hierarchical, ethnically based ultranationalist vision that endorses violence against out-groups but without building up a single party the way interwar fascists did.

Jason Stanley, Jacob Urowsky professor of philosophy, Yale University

When I think about fascism, I think about it as applied to different things. There’s a fascist regime. We do not have a fascist regime. Then there’s the question of, “Is Trumpism a fascist social and political movement?” I think you could call legitimately call Trumpism a fascist social and political movement — which is not to say that Trump is a fascist. Trumpism involves a cult of the leader, and Trump embodies that. I certainly think he’s using fascist political tactics. I think there’s no question about that. He is calling for national restoration in the face of humiliations brought on by immigrants, liberals, liberal minorities, and leftists. He’s certainly playing the fascist playbook.

My definition is of fascist politics, not of a fascist regime. I think most of the other [fascism scholars] are just talking about something else. They’re talking about regimes. Toni Morrison in 1995 said the United States has long favored fascist solutions to national problems. Toni Morrison is talking about “fascist solutions.” She’s not talking about fascist regimes. She’s saying the United States has long favored fascist solutions in a democratic state, which I completely agree with: targeting minorities, mass incarceration, colonialism, seizing indigenous land. All these things are things that impacted Hitler. My work is based in the United States — it’s based in the movements that affected European fascism: the KKK, Jim Crow, the anti-miscegenation law, slavery, Indigenous genocide, the 1924 Immigration Act and similar US immigration laws that Hitler lauds in Mein Kampf.

If you’re only worried about fascist regimes, you’re never going to catch fascist social and political movements. The goal is to catch fascist social and political movements, and fascist ideology, before it becomes a regime.

Say It Ain't So Joe

 All politicians lie.

So it's no surprise, or news when bloggers describe the lies politicians tell. It's no earth shattering revelation to prove a politician lied. It's no super "gotcha" point, or higher intellectual point to explain a politician's lie. The Republicans don't have an exclusive on political lies. 

A little common sense can help one see through the lies. 

We have 100 years of experience and proof that vaccines eliminate diseases with very little side effects. 

Immigration (legal or otherwise) is not destroying America. Just look at the time just before and after the turn of the 20th century when millions came to America. That added population actually made America stronger. 

Climate change is destroying lives and property right now before our eyes and soon it will change the shape of our continent. 

We need to start paying for our spending. A 23 trillion dollar debt is proof of that. Biden wants to raise taxes to pay for his spending, but his tax hikes won't cover his spending, so the debt continues to mount. 

Legislators can get nothing done for the American people because they are to busy attacking and calling each other names. I guess they think it's more important to call someone a "Hitler" than pass meaningful law. 

So what do we have? We have a government that is slow, corrupt, and gets little done for the American people and even worse we have a huge minority of our citizens who don't think our government should do anything at all. 

So pat yourselves on the back while your hate and fighting destroy America and win a place in history for destroying the best system the Earth has ever seen. We knew it could not last forever, but to destroy it ourselves without fighting to preserve it, is insane.

9/11 - Bush Was Responsible For The Murders

 If president Biden was responsible for the 13 dead by a terrorist bomb, then Bush was responsible for the 3,000 murdered by a terrorist bombing of the Twin Towers; not to mention the thousands dead by the wars Bush started in Iraq and Afghanistan. Bush failed to safeguard, or protect the American people as is his Constitutional duty.  Bush lied about Iraq having atomic weapons and used that lie to invade Iraq.

Bush was never asked to resign because terrorists bombed the Twin Towers, yet, the right wants Biden to resign because terrorists set off a bomb in Afghanistan and the right claims Biden is responsible for those deaths. Equal treatment of a president is fair. Bush is responsible for thousands of murders committed by terrorists on American troops. 

Bush should have been impeached, but instead he was held up as some kind of hero by the militant, blood thirsty conservatives. Who now claim Biden is responsible for deaths committed by terrorists. 

You conservatives cannot have it both ways. Bush is one of the biggest murders to ever be president in the modern era.

If You Are Old Enough - Enjoy

 

Jack Benny and Gracho Marks

 

Prince Treats

 

 

10 Hours of Fireworks

 

The Nicholas Brothers

 

Bing Crosby Sings Galway Bay

 

                                           Filmed and recorded in Ireland in 1966.

This Is What I Call Playing A Piano

 

Americans Are Wrong Sometimes

We were wrong not to outlaw slavery in the original Constitution. We were wrong to keep women as second class citizens for 150 years. We were wrong on so many issues of individual rights and freedoms.

We still try and progress today. It's a slow process, not of law, but of people's beliefs. The law can say it's wrong to discriminate, but that doesn't protect people from being discriminated against, it just allows for justice to be sought.

Those who say the Constitution must be read and applied as the founding fathers originally intended, must be pro slavery, anti-women, and believe we should not, or cannot progress and mature as a country, over the centuries.

The harm done to those minorities while we wait for "the majority" of Americans to embrace inclusion, is outrageous.

It is a lesson we must learn again and again. Japanese were interned during WW II. Nearly every ethnic group to come to America was at one time discriminated against. Like a rite of passage, or a frat house initiation, it always gets ugly.

The enemy, as usual, is within us.

It is not the Muslim who seeks to be a good American while keeping their faith and culture (as all immigrants have done for centuries) but the fear. An irrational fear enhanced be the forces who seek political power. That is evil.

Most disturbing, are my fellow countrymen who would discard the Constitution in favor of their own hate and prejudices.

Demanding Equality and Justice

Demanding Equality and Justice

Martin Luther King said,
"A riot is the language of the unheard."

President Kennedy said,
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."

Riots always get ugly and people die.That has been proven over and over again all over the world. Riots and violence are not the best way to achieve change, but sometimes the only, or last attempt to get change.

Riots do not always signify good change; as in Russia, when riots forced the Czar out of power, murdered him and his family, and installed a new government. I'm sure they were convinced they were fighting for a better life and eliminating an oppressive government rule. But what if the overthrow of the Czar had never happened? Would the monarchy of Russia had evolved into a parliamentary system as much of the rest of Europe finally did?

How long should people wait for change, before forcing change? How long did the American colonies wait to force King George out of America?

Black Africans who were kidnapped and forced into slavery only got a change when their white masters fought and died (600,000 deaths in the Civil War) over slavery. One wonders why those slaves didn't just get together and revolt against their white slave masters using violence and murder. 

 
In America, riots have usually meant fighting for rights and better treatment from those in power. Whether fighting for better working conditions from oppressive employers, or fighting for civil rights from an oppressive government, the people will force change when other more civil methods of negotiations fail.

Unfortunately, it seems change in America includes people taking to the streets and demanding change, even in the face of death. One might think that should not be necessary with a democratic governmental system, but those seeking a better life and rights were not included in legal rights like voting, so they had no civil voice. Imagine all the suffering while waiting for the majority to include minorities as their equals in law.

The fight never ends. Women fought for the right to vote, yet, 100 years later still have to fight for equal pay and other inequities. After centuries of slavery blacks were given freedom, yet, we know they were discriminated against for another 150 years and the discrimination still goes on. And blacks still have to re-fight for rights won decades ago, like voting rights.

A little empathy from Americans would be nice, but lacking that, Americans still have to answer why some people are less deserving of equality than others, especially given our legal, guiding, founding documents. The law allows to seek justice, but can't stop an injustice being committed against people. It seems every right has to be fought for; gays have the right to marry now, but in most States can still be legally fired from a job for just being gay.

If we wonder why people get violent, we have to put ourselves in their position, and ask how long would we put up with that kind of discriminatory treatment? If blacks can be killed just for being black, it's easy to understand why they are forced to use violence to protect themselves. Just as our white forefathers used violence against King George when the King hung us for not bowing to his oppressive laws, which were not nearly as oppressive as the laws (slavery) we had against blacks at the time.

For all you peace nicks out there, history is not on your side. A brutal truth about humans. Gandhi and MLK are great leaders and idols to follow, but we know violence was the response by their oppressors. If the Black Panthers had their way, would the outcome have been better? NO, probably worse, but violence and death was part of the movement anyways.

Cash Is King

 Cash is what greases the wheels of a capitalistic economy. That cash must be shared by everyone in the society for financial growth and stability. 

Put cash in Americans pockets and they will spend it. That will create the growth we need to get back to financial strength. 

Government has plenty of Socialistic tendencies that give money back to the people (social security, welfare benefits, medical benefits, etc., etc..) And more is needed during this time of the pandemic. It's corporations who need more Socialistic tendencies towards its workers (profit and benefit increases). 

They can well afford it and claims to the contrary are false. One multi-million dollar salary paid to one of their executives could pay for a pay raise to their whole work force. In order to spur financial growth even the lowest paid worker needs a pay raise. 

The greatest growth period in American history happened when we paid taxes three times higher than we pay now.  At that time only one worker in a household was needed to not only pay the bills, but have a nice lifestyle. That's because people had disposable income and they spent it spurring economic growth. 

Capitalists have a responsibility to the community they do business in and that responsibility goes beyond their stock holders and must include their workers. We have killed off our unions, but if we ignore our workers, our national economy suffers. Prices may go up, but it's all relevant. Everyone can afford the higher prices, if their pay raises are high enough. Twenty five cents an hour won't cut it. 

Walmart (one the nations largest employers) pay their work force so poorly, that they qualify for Federal and State benefits. Why should tax payers subsidize Walmart's workforce? Especially when Walmart is posting outrageous profits. 

Put cash in Americans pockets and there will be a boom in our economy, but everybody must be included in getting more cash.

Calm The Fuck Down

 This country needs to calm the fuck down. We can't seem to calm down the partisanship, so lets just back off politics for a while. MSNBC and FOX continue to ramp up their viewers to their particular viewpoints and continue to beg the 24/7 attention. Lets stop reacting to every little non-important political incident in the country. Let the politicians do their job, if possible. Let it start with what the politicians can agree on, which is very little, but enough to get started with each other. 

We need to kill off this virus, get people vaccinated, and get everyone back to work. Can everyone agree on that? Maybe, after we get used to negotiating with each other we can tackle more partisan issues. 

But the evil still lurks. He's working full time to divide the country. He will be speaking at the CPAK convention next Sunday. Accept the fact that this criminal will be in our national politics until he dies. Lets not give him the attention he seeks. 

Just because FOX admitted Trump lost the election (at the last possible moment) doesn't mean they aren't working hard to fill America full of their lies. Maybe a real investigation into January 6th and the red necks involved will allow America to believe less of their bullshit. 

It amazes me that if you stick a camera in someone's face they are willing to spew the most hate filled garbage, knowing it will be broadcast nationwide. That includes MSNBC who are not happy because the country won't accept Trump as the new Hitler. And FOX is busy condemning Biden for things he hasn't even done yet and probably won't.  

Cruz not being in State when an ice storm hit doesn't deserve 4 days of front page news. Biden doing what he is doing should not be news, he has been saying for 2 years now he would do those things. 

What will be the next thing we make a big deal of, that the Sun rose this mourning? They really know how to push your buttons and you really know how to jump.

Just calm the fuck down.

The Times They Are A Changing

 

 

                                                              Bob Dylan - 1964

President's Day

 I don't honor all presidents the same. 

Trump is not the same as Lincoln. 

Bush was not the same as Washington. 

Clinton was not the same as FDR. 

Nixon was not the same as Eisenhower.

Reagan was not the same as Jefferson.

Even presidents need to earn honor. It should not just be given to them just because they were president. On this day I choose to honor the presidents who deserve honor, which is not all presidents.

Profiles in Courage

 "Profiles in Courage" (by JFK) was one of the first books I ever read. I understood the big words and comprehended the big ideas. I was a very early reader and exposed to the World at an early age. My parents gave me the book. They saw my early interest through my behavior at home. 

My parents had nine kids and they had an early mourning ritual that I copied. Everyday they would get up early, make coffee, and read the paper. It was funny how they would switch newspaper sections, without saying a word, and continue reading and drinking their coffee. I remember it vividly.

I was a nerdy kid. I got up before my parents, got myself dressed, got a glass of milk and grabbed the newspaper from the front door. I would put the newspaper on the coffee table just as my parents came out of their bedroom. Dad sat down and grabbed the front page section. Mom made the coffee. Mom served Dad coffee and both sat and read the paper. I was allowed to sit with them as long as I was quiet. I didn't have to be told to be quiet, I just understood that. Dad would throw me the comics and we all had quiet reading time before the other kids got up. When they were done reading the paper, Mom would go to the kitchen and start making breakfast for eleven. Dad would hit the shower and dress for the day. That was my time. I got to read the rest of the paper before Mom started waking up the rest of the house. 

I took an interest in the front page news. I didn't always understand the deep meanings, but I knew what was going on in the World and was getting to know the leaders of the World. I know my interest in history and current events came from those early days reading the newspaper with my parents. I was six years old then. Eisenhower was president. The space race was just getting underway. We had no manned vehicles, yet, but I was obsessed with all things space. 

"Profiles in Courage" taught me a lot about politics, the men in politics, the power of politics, and why politicians made the decisions they did. What was bravery in politics and what was fear in the face of political power. It also taught me no matter how many times we make the same mistake, we continue to make those same mistakes. Iraq was just as big a folly as Vietnam was and neither was as good a reason to send our young men to die as WW II. Scandals are just as common as they were 50 years ago. All politicians lie to grab power. Demagogues are not rare in politics. War is a beast that needs to be fed. 

Trump was not a surprise to me, just another sad event of history. I've given up on thinking the people will get smarter as they go through these episodes. Impeachment II is no different, we will soon move on to the next outrageous moment and still have Trump in our national politics. 

FDR was involved in some scurrilous events, but he pulled us through the depression and saved the world from fascism.  Ike was a grumpy old warrior, but he did create the International Highway system and oversaw the greatest growth period in American history (with taxes three times higher than we pay today). JFK slept with women, but he did push us to the Moon and all the technology we learned from that project. LBJ lied about Vietnam, but he did pass great legislation. One difference is, we no longer tackle great projects that truly progress the country for the good of all the people. If you think the Keystone pipeline is the greatest thing America has going for it, well, welcome to mediocre America. We are going to the Moon! Wait, we did that over 50 years ago. We did accomplish a 30 trillion dollar debt and a country at each others throats. 

If Biden can have a great two years, we may hold off Republicans regaining majority. But the deck is stacked against Joe for the next two years, so I really don't see some great change that will make things greatly different. It will take a lot more courage as a society than we have shown in the last 40 years to make a great change. After that, the chances that I will be around to see the future, is small. I don't believe in God, and if I did I would be convinced that God created this pandemic to cull the heard. 

Optimism is fleeting. Obama's first two years is proof of that. If you are more optimistic than me, good luck to you. The best thing you can do is fight to make sure Democrats keep majority after the midterms. Don't be looking for messiahs, or miracles, they don't exist. Just keeping the country from sinking lower will be a hard enough task.

It's Winter !

 It's 7 AM and it's 15 below zero. By 4 PM it's supposed to be 25 below zero. The wind is howling and there are wind chill warnings out for 60 below zero. By midnight it will be 35 below zero. Worst of all, this kind of weather is suppose to last at least 5 days. 

The news stations will be out showing how a bucket of water thrown in the air will freeze before it hits the ground. Wherever you live, you will probably hear about our temperatures on your weather forecast. 

This is normal weather for us this time of year. In fact, we have all been saying what a mild Winter it has been until now. 

I wonder if the virus dies at 30 below zero?

We knew this was coming. It had been forecast for days. I went grocery shopping yesterday to stock up. It was 5 below zero then and it just kept falling. I will catch up on old movies, cook hardy foods like chili, watch the Super Bowl, take hot showers, listen to good music, play on the computer, hope the power won't go out, and hibernate inside. 

Hope your team wins. As an old guy, I'm rooting for the old guy.

History and Heroes

 Historians will write about January 6th. Most will wait until more facts are known about how it all started and who the bad actors were. They will also write about the good actors. There are always many good actors in an incident like January 6th, but story tellers usually pick out one good actor and make him the hero. 

I hope 50 years from now they will write about officer Sicknick. He was most certainly a hero, among many others. He should stick out because he died. He put his life on the line to protect the Capitol and the elected Representatives inside. 

My definition of a hero is a person willing to die protecting others. That means police, firemen, and soldiers. That also includes our front line health workers fighting this pandemic. I do not consider musicians, athletes, and other cultural icons heroes. 

It will be interesting to hear the whole story of January 6th, but we already know officer Sicknick was a hero.

UNITY ?

 Given the Decades of Republican obstructionism it's hard to imagine the Republicans are serious about unity in government. I won't go through the past of Republican nasty tactics that have hurt the American people. If you don't know by now then you just don't care. 

Recently the Republican minority leader McConnell came out and denounced A Republican house member calling her statements "loony tunes."  She is more than crazy, she is dangerous crazy. He also praised Rep. Chaney for her strong convictions. 

I wouldn't trust McConnell for a minute. I can't forget the anti-constitutional actions he has taken over the years as Republican leader, and many were before Trump was president. His obstructionist stance is VERY clear. 

At this moment Republicans still sit as chairman of all committees. McConnell refuses to enter into a power sharing agreement with Leader Schumer, even after the new 50/50 Senate has been sworn in. If Democrats don't sit as chairmen of government committees, they can get nothing done. This is McConnell's idea of unity. 

I don't know the Senate rules well enough to know what alternatives Democrats have. Maybe one of you can enlighten me.

Meanwhile, the president has called Republicans in to hear their viewpoints, not that he will submit to their demands. And rightfully so since what they want is in the minority of what Americans want and NEED. The president has offered the olive branch and Republicans have responded with insincere oratory. 

McConnell doesn't look like a wolf in sheep's clothing, but he is.

Democrats and the president need to put Republicans in their place, in the minority, where they belong. Especially after what their president and their party have done to this country.  

IF Republicans show a little concern for the needs of the American people maybe they can be listened to, but they haven't shown ANY concern for the American people for decades. 

To sum it up. Screw the lying Republicans. 

Biden's Plan

 Over the 1ast 48 hours President Biden has laid out his plan for Corvid relief and financial stability. The liberal blogs are still busy trying to decide what to do about Trump. They are not ready to move on to getting Biden's plans passed. 

Biden has not, yet mentioned killing the filibuster, but I think it should be part of his plan. There is a lot of bad and good that might come from killing the filibuster, but Republicans have been obstructing for decades. It's time to simply override their obstructing and pass legislation that will move the country forward.

Most legislation still needs a 2/3rds vote to pass. Some matters can pass with a simple majority; and don't expect any Republicans to cross over to help pass Democratic legislation. Republicans have already said they won't vote for a $1400 checks, to stop evictions, or for a $15.00 minimum wage, etc.,etc..... The grim reaper of Republicanism is alive and well even though Trump is gone. 

So lets get behind Biden and his plans. Let Trump go to the ash pile of history. Plenty of States are charging Trump and if we are lucky he will end up in jail, which is more than the Congress can do to him.

So Trump Is Gone - Or Is He?

 Reading the liberal blogs you would never know Trump is no longer president. They will carry their hate for a long time, probably forever. So what's next for Trump by the liberals? Impeachment!

McConnell said today, he will delay the trial for Trump. Delaying even longer the start of Biden's policies. Mitch playing his political games again, to his benefit. It takes 2/3'rds of the Senate to convict, so the Democrats new tie majority will not get Trump convicted.  

Don't think the Republicans will just do the right thing. They never have, and they don't care what Americans think about their position. Why should they? If the past is any gauge, Republicans know the American people will not hold them responsible, in fact, Americans will forget what they did by the time the next election comes around. 

Meantime, this revenge by the liberals is holding back progress for the country., not just because of impeachment, but for all the other charges the  Democrats want to file against Trump.

Group Think

 Group Think is a very dangerous communication tactic. There is way to much group think in our society today. It fosters misinformation and can lead to riots, violence, and murder. Mob mentality is a form of group think. 

Whatever happened to the independent thinking American? Can you think for yourself, or do you need someone else's opinion to tell you what to think? Do you get your thinking from MSNBC, FOX, or some other broadcast to lead you to your opinions and decisions? Do you just agree with friends and family without thinking about how you see an issue? Are you afraid to speak differently around those who all agree on an issue?

 Free speech is more than a right it is an obligation to yourself to be honest with yourself and others without fear of being rejected. It does take courage to voice your opinion when you know everyone else disagrees with you. 

Just a small example: During the last midterm elections there was a fever among the liberals (which I usually align myself with) of voting a straight Democratic ticket; no exceptions allowed. I announced that I would not be voting for the Democrat running in my district because he had 23 criminal convictions on his record. The backlash from these liberals was fierce and fast. I was called names. I was banned from blogs. I was called sick and mentally ill. This negative Group Think reaction was predictable. No one had the courage to say in front of their liberal group that it seemed like a rational decision on my part, for fear they might be the next target of their attacks. 

Group Think is a big part of our current political partisanship which has led to violence. It's amazing how fast mob mentality can take over and scary what a mob is capable of doing. 

So start thinking for yourself. Forget the blogs you read. Forget what the idiot in the boob tube is preaching at you. Think about it. What might you be willing to do just to go along with the crowd?

 Here's a song that will remind you:

 

                                                                     Let Me Be

The Balance - Moody Blues

And he thought of those he angered
For he was not a violent man
And he thought of those he hurt
For he was not a cruel man
And he thought of those he frightened
For he was not an evil man
And he understood, he understood himself
Upon this he saw that when he was of anger or knew hurt or felt fear
It was because he was not understanding
And he learned compassion
And with his eye of compassion
He saw his enemies like unto himself
And he learned love
Then he was answered

The Democrats New Year

Reading the liberal blogs tells me now that Trump is gone everything will be just fine. 

Good luck with that fantasy.