Election Day 2012

Just some random thoughts on election day.
‘This is the most important election of our lifetime’. That’s what everyone is saying, and it may be true. I have heard that in every election of my adult life, from the Nixon-Humphrey election in 1968 forward. As I said, it may be true and may have been true during all of those election cycles, for better or worse.
The very first memory I have of a presidential election was in 1952, when I was 5 years old. I remember the adults talking about it, and then electing Dwight D. Eisenhower.
In 1960 I was 13 years old and remember the Kennedy-Nixon election. I was actually interested in politics at that age. It was an exciting time.
As the years progressed, I realized that no one person or party has all the answers. Every individual has to follow his own lights when voting on important issues.
My granddaughter Mary Celeste is ready for election day, wearing her respectable Republican dress. I’m sure her dad loves it.

It is also important to keep in mind that we are not voting for the president today, we are voting for the people who will elect the president. The concept of the Electoral College is very confusing to a lot of people. My Facebook friend Lance Ward posted this video that offers a good explanation of the reasons for it. The commentator is a Romney supporter, but he leaves the partisan side of it out of this video and offers a really good explanation of why we have an Electoral College. It is worth watching.

Elections are not victories, but opportunities

In order to put last night's elections in perspective, let's look at some history.
In 1946 large Republican majorities were sent to both houses of Congress in the off-year elections, ending the long-time Democratic dominance.
In 1948 the Democrats won a 93-seat majority in the House and a 12-seat edge in the Senate.

Against all the predictions, Harry Truman, who had assumed the reigns of the presidency when FDR died, was elected over Thomas Dewey of New York.  That is when the Chicago Tribune came out with its most embarassing headline ever.

In 1952, with the election of Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Republicans again took over both houses of Congress, though by closer margins.

In 1954, topsy-turvy again. The Democrats picked up 19 seats in the House and Sam Rayburn took over as speaker. In the Senate they gained just 2 seats, but enough to give them a majority. Lyndon B. Johnson became Majority Leader.
In 1960, the Democrats still were still in both houses. John F. Kennedy was elected President and Lyndon B. Johnson Vice-President.
By 1964, President Kennedy had been assassinated and LBJ was President. The Democrats still retained both houses of congress.
In 1968 Richard Nixon was elected, but the Democrats still controlled congress.
In 1974 Gerald Ford assumed the presidency on the resignation of Richard Nixon.
In 1976 Jimmy Carter defeated Ford.
In 1980 Ronald Reagan was elected President, and the Republicans gained control of the Senate, while the Democrats retained control of the House.
In 1986, during Reagan’s 2nd term, the Democrats once again gained control of the Senate and retained their control of the House.
In 1988 George H. W. Bush was elected to the presidency, but the Democrats still held control of congress.
In 1992 the Democrats once again won the White House, and once again held both houses of Congress.
In 1994, campaigning on Newt Gingrich’s Contract for America, the Republicans gained 54 seats and took over the House of Representatives for the first time in 40 years. They also re-took the Senate.
In 2000 George W. Bush was elected and the Republicans held on to both houses of congress.
Bush was re-elected in 2004 and retained and again the Republicans held on to both houses.
In 2006 the House went Democratic and Nancy Pelosi became Speaker. The Senate was technically a tie, but Bernie Sanders and Joe Liebermann decided to caucus with the Democrats, giving Democrats a majority.
In 2008 Barack Obama was elected President and the Democrats gained seats in both houses of congress to give them a solid majority.
And now, it’s 2010. The Republicans have taken back the House of Representatives, and the Democrats retained the Senate.
A Democrat is still president.
It is a victory of sorts, but not the major ‘revolution’ that is being touted by some.
It is an opportunity. True victory does not come from the election, but from what is done in the years after the election.
Both parties now have a 2 year window in which to show their stuff and to convince the people that they are the ones to vote for in 2012.

Politico: Landrieu scolds Flanagans

Sen. Mary Landrieu said Wednesday that the U.S. attorney in Louisiana “most certainly should be” disappointed in his son, who was arrested this week for allegedly attempting to tamper with the phones in the Democrat’s New Orleans office.
Robert Flanagan, the 24-year-old son of William Flanagan, the acting U.S. attorney for the Western District of Louisiana, and three other men were charged with entering federal property under false pretenses for the purpose of committing a felony when they attempted to access Landrieu’s 10th floor office by posing as telephone repairmen.
“This isn’t a child – this is 24-year-old, I’m sure his parents are terribly disappointed, they most certainly should be,” Landrieu told POLITICO, adding that it was “very disconcerting” that Flanagan’s father is a top federal official in her state.
Read the entire story from Politico here.

Side Note: Information has come out that Joseph Basel, another co-conspirator, also was the campaign manager for Minnesota Sen. Bill Ingebrigtsen, R-Alexandria, three years ago. Ingebrigtsen said he's talked to Basel only a few times since then and was "baffled" by his former aide's arrest.

No, the founders weren't conservatives

Rambling Thoughts:
I was doing my early morning blog reading and in my daily visit to Below the Beltway, a libertarian blog, found this older video of neocon Mark Levin trashing Ron Paul. I’m sure you’re aware of Levin, he’s the guy that Sean Hannity calls “The Great One”.
Levin, in an angry response to a caller who dared to challenge him, pointed out that “the framers were not libertarians, they were conservative.”
What?
I hate to burst that bubble, but the founders of our country and the framers of the Constitution were not conservatives. They were revolutionaries. They were, in fact, radical revolutionaries who took up arms against the ruling class and the conservatives who supported that ruling class. The founders of our nation were products of the age of enlightenment, true liberal thinkers with a vision.
Unfortunately, in our day we have people who label themselves conservative and have no idea what it is that they are trying to conserve, and people who label themselves liberal who have no idea of the true meaning of the word.
Thomas Jefferson said that “Every generation needs a new revolution.”
In our day, the new ‘Tea Party’ movement seeks to fit that mold. I’m afraid that by its nature it is doomed to failure.
Perhaps the Tabaggers should remember that the tea that was thrown overboard into Boston Harbor didn’t belong to the people who dumped it. They stole it. They stole the cargo of three ships belonging to private companies and threw it into the harbor. To throw the politically incorrect meter into a tilt, they also dressed as American Indians when they did it.
Sometimes boldness is called for. As Barry Goldwater said in his acceptance speech in 1963, “I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.”
Why didn’t Barack Obama suffer from shock and awe from the 1.5 million Tea Party marchers in Washington earlier this month? Probably because of the 1.5 million, you would have been hard-pressed to find 100 who voted for him. The march was impressive, but ineffective in achieving its goals.
One recurring theme was the call to stem the tide of socialism, something that they have become keenly aware of since the election of Barack Obama. That's fine, but socialism isn't a new thing. I hope you are all aware that Social Security, Medicare and the Bush Medicare prescription plan are all socialist inventions. If you are ready to lobby for the termination of these, and other, socialist programs I will gladly give you a forum.
I have received criticism in some quarters for having a supportive attitude toward the Tea Party movement. That criticism was directed at me because the Tea Partiers are seen to be largely a republican cheering squad. There is some truth to this, despite their protestations to the contrary. Look at some of the speakers at the larger events and it is quite obvious.
Even with that being the case, I support it. I believe that all protest is good; perhaps that is a remnant of my 60’s upbringing. The true test of the movement will be continued action when we again have a Republican government, and not just protest when we have a Democratic one.
I’ve twisted off onto a different subject, so let’s get back to the original one. The founding fathers were a group of revolutionaries who would, today, be eavesdropped upon and arrested under the provisions of the unpatriotic ‘Patriot Act’. They were not people who would be welcomed in any respectable Washington gathering today.
Keep this in mind when you label yourself – and when you attempt to label others.

White House did not vet 'green jobs Czar' Van Jones

Birthers: If the (tinfoil) hat fits, wear it

I haven’t been called a socialist or a liberal Democrat in about a week, and I must be missing it, because I cannot let this one go any longer.

What is the deal with the birth certificate controversy? It has actually become a sort of movement, and people seem happy to carry the label ‘birther’.

Examine the facts.

World Net Daily is generating a lot of money in product sales and in donations, so it is easy to understand their continued demand that a ‘long form’ birth certificate be produced.

World Net Daily originally ran stories that the birth certificate posted on the website was a forgery, but later withdrew that claim.

• “A separate WND investigation into Obama's certification of live birth utilizing forgery experts also found the document to be authentic. The investigation also revealed methods used by some of the bloggers to determine the document was fake involved forgeries, in that a few bloggers added text and images to the certificate scan that weren't originally there.”

DOH spokeswoman Janice Okubo said about the birth certificate posted by the Obama campaign last fall “is considered a birth certificate from the state of Hawaii."

The governor of Hawaii has been accused of ‘sealing’ Obama’s birth records. The governor, who by the way is a Republican who campaigned for John McCain, did not interfere in the matter at all. State law in Hawaii requires that the records are confidential. Louisiana has the same requirement.

• “State law (Hawai‘i Revised Statutes §338-18) prohibits the release of a certified birth certificate to persons who do not have a tangible interest in the vital record," DOH Director Dr. Chiyome Fukino said.

Fukino said that no state official, including Gov. Linda Lingle, ever instructed that Obama's certificate be handled differently from any other.

Fukino said she and the registrar of vital statistics, Alvin Onaka, have personally verified that the health department holds Obama's original birth certificate.

• "Therefore, I as Director of Health for the State of Hawai‘i, along with the Registrar of Vital Statistics who has statutory authority to oversee and maintain these type of vital records, have personally seen and verified that the Hawai‘i State Department of Health has Sen. Obama’s original birth certificate on record in accordance with state policies and procedures,"

Think about it. The Director of Health and the Registrar of Vital Statistics, the people who are in charge of maintaining these records, certified that they have seen the original and are certifying that Obama was born in Honolulu.

I had a conversation with someone last week who ‘had his doubts.’ I outlined the above facts and his reply was “there are still too many unanswered questions . . “. When I asked what questions he was referring to, he simply trailed off into some comments about ‘he may have traveled on a British Passport and he won’t release his college records because they might show that he was registered as a foreign student . . “.

Some people just won’t give up.

Perhaps they would be better served if they turned their attention to the healthcare debate, the stimulus, and a national debt that is out of control.

Even Anne Coulter thinks it's wrong:

President Obama backing away from his stupid statement

My bad. I should have said his 'stupid' statement. I'm referring, of course, to his primetime remark about the 'stupid' arrest of Harvard Professor Gates at his home.
The president took the podium at the daily press briefing to say that he had spoken to Sgt. Crowley, the officer who arrested Professor Gates. He went on to say that Crowley and Gates are both decent men, but that blacks are sensitive about such things, and maybe they could all sit down for a beer, blah blah blah.
Bet he wishes he had kept his mouth shut about this one.

Think we're still free?

Tired of hearing the same old rhetoric from the Democrats and Republicans in Washington? "The Republicans are Fascists!"
"The Democrats are Socialists!"
Yep, I'm tired of it too. The problem, however, is that due to the actions of the very people in our government who are throwing these charges across the aisle at one another, the problem is - it's all true. Both sides are correct, and they caused it.
"...The Fascist State organizes the nation, but leaves a sufficient margin of liberty to the individual; the latter is deprived of all useless and possibly harmful freedom, but retains what is essential; the deciding power in this question cannot be the individual, but the State alone.... " Benito Mussolini
Think we’re not there yet? For starters, look at the government’s intervention into the private market place. Trillions of dollars in taxpayer bailouts (not government bailouts, the government has no money) give the government control over operations of all the major banks and many corporations.
The main evidence of economic fascism is that private property and business ownership are permitted, but are in reality controlled by government through a business-government "partnership." Needless to say, the government is the senior partner in this enterprise.
You still think we’re not there? Of course, the central government has to maintain order and suppress dissent, otherwise the ‘bailout’ won’t work.
". . . It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.” Josef Goebbels



Still think we're not there, that this is an isolated case? Plan to send us a postcard from your summer vacation this year.
How about one of these? The TSA is using these same exact scanners now for our "security". These images are from Reuters, supplied by the maker of the machines.
On the left is a female and on the right (obviously) a male, both fully clothed but 'stripped' by the government scanners available at airports.

This is what we have allowed to happen in our country, all in the name of national and economic security. Benjamin Franklin once said that if we give up our liberty for security, we deserve neither. Soon, we will have neither.

"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings."
Julius Caesar (I, ii, 140-141)

Barack Obama: 44th President of the United States

The Official Poster

Video from wesawthat You Tube channel

A goodbye kiss from Iraq

Thanks to We Saw That

Welcome to the Socialist USA

How the Socialist Swedes cured a banking crisis in 1992
A banking system in crisis after the collapse of a housing bubble. An economy hemorrhaging jobs. A market-oriented government struggling to stem the panic. Sound familiar?
It does to Sweden. The country was so far in the hole in 1992 — after years of imprudent regulation, short-sighted economic policy and the end of its property boom — that its banking system was, for all practical purposes, insolvent.
Sweden did not just bail out its financial institutions by having the government take over the bad debts. It extracted pounds of flesh from bank shareholders before writing checks. Banks had to write down losses and issue warrants to the government.
That strategy held banks responsible and turned the government into an owner. When distressed assets were sold, the profits flowed to taxpayers, and the government was able to recoup more money later by selling its shares in the companies as well.
“If I go into a bank,” said Bo Lundgren, who was Sweden’s deputy minister of finance at the time, “I’d rather get equity so that there is some upside for the taxpayer.”
The New York Times

The American Socialist Cure
President Bush today announced a $250 billion plan by the government to directly buy shares in the nation's leading banks, saying the drastic steps were "not intended to take over the free market but to preserve it." (Say what????)
Nine major banks will participate initially including all of the country's largest institutions, he announced, in a move that sent stocks soaring on Wall Street.
Some of the nation's largest banks had to be pressured to participate by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, who wanted healthy institutions that did not necessarily need capital from the government to go first as a way of removing any stigma that might be associated with banks getting bailouts. "We regret having to take these actions," Paulson said. "Today's actions are not what we ever wanted to do — but today's actions are what we must do to restore confidence to our financial system."
Call it what you will, it is partial nationalism of the country's largest banks.
Boy, I’ll bet the conservatives won’t put up with this for a minute! But wait, these ARE the conservatives. If this is what conservatives do, then those nasty liberals must be absolutely giddy.
Socialist Sweden only spent 4% of its GDP for its socialist cure. The Socialist US proposes to spend upward of 5%.
Nationalizing the banks was suggested to FDR after he took office in the great depression, but FDR had no intention of taking such a radical step. Instead, he declared a "national bank holiday," closing all banks, purportedly in order to give inspectors time to review their solvency. FDR declared that only those banks in sound financial health, those which had passed inspection, would be allowed to reopen.
Say that again . .
FDR declared that only those banks in sound financial health, those which had passed inspection, would be allowed to reopen.
We have precedent for the problem and precedent for the solution. We are not following it because that would cause inconvenience for people and could possibly cost the major parties to lose whatever small shred of credibility they retain.

No Deal!

67% of Republicans & 40% of Democrats say NO!

Bailout "compromise" reached

House Republicans balked at the $700 billion giveaway, insisting that the government not do the bailout, but that Wall Street itself come up with the money and that Treasury Secretary Paulson's powers be restrained.
The government wanted the taxpayers to foot the entire bill and for Paulson to have broad powers to implement the bailout.
Due to the hard work of the house conservatives, a compromise was reached. The taxpayers will foot the $700 billion dollar bailout and Paulson will have broad powers.

From The Washington Post:
Congressional leaders and the Bush administration this morning said they had struck an accord to insert the government deeply into the nation's financial markets, agreeing to spend up to $700 billion to relieve Wall Street of troubled assets backed by faltering home mortgages.
House and Senate negotiators from both parties emerged with Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. at 12:30 a.m. from a marathon session in the Capitol to announce that they had reached a tentative agreement on a proposal to give Paulson broad authority to organize one of the biggest government interventions in the private sector since the Great Depression.