The Vast Right Wing Conspiracy

America's idealism began to fade during the Reagan administration after being severely damaged during the Nixon years. Reagan secretly traded weapons for hostages in Iran, while giving chemical weapons to Iraq, also without any authority except his own and done in complete secrecy.

America's idealism was replaced with American duplicity. Exceptional America became an illusion in the 1980s . The CIA under Reagan created Al Qaeda, funding and training them to fight Russia in Afghanistan. Putin remembers remembers this, so his hatred of the US is deep. He will pursue an agenda that  hurts the West as long as he is in a position to do so.

America's idealism became naivete when GWBush and Dick Cheney lied America into a war of imperialism based on known lies and doctored foreign intelligence reports.

Under Reagan America went from the world’s biggest creditor nation to the world’s biggest debtor nation. Tax cuts were implemented and the deficit deliberately allowed to balloon so that downsizing our government would be required to balance the budget. (Once taxes are cut, it is very difficult to reestablish prior tax rates.)

America fell from first place in educated population to 17th, upward mobility virtually ended and the wealth divide between the haves and the rest of us became the largest in the world.

America or a great part of it ceased to care about the least among its population. Decades of policy revision since Reagan had the effect of making the very rich much more wealthy at the expense of the poor and middle class. Psychological warfare against the poor and middle class succeeded in isolating them. A parade of right wing propaganda on social issues was manufactured to distract and divide the uneducated poor.

Because public education is largely funded through property taxes, educational resources for the poor diminished while the far better resourced and funded schools in wealthy areas insured that the divide between the privileged and the poor continued to grow. Not satisfied with this oppression, the privileged are now deliberately undermining public education, planning to replace it with a system of corporate private schools, offering “vouchers” to the poor. Vouchers will then be cut over time to reduce the resources available to the poor.

In the same way, “vouchers’ are being promoted as a replacement for social security and medicare, again giving the privileged a tool to further steal from the poor and middle class over time.

Globalization of commerce at the urging of multinational corporations has enabled them to move skilled and unskilled work from countries with unions and a strong middle class to counties with large populations of poor and desperate people. Recessions are created in wealthy countries, forcing wage and benefit cuts and creating a pool of poor and desperate people in the advanced nations.

These things did not just "happen." All of them have been policy goals of the Right Wing for decades.

I'm tired of paying for welfare queens

I'm tired of paying the salary of Supreme Court Justices who have a vested interest in the success of corporations. I'm tired of paying for the health care of Walmart and other big box and fast food workers because they won't pay their employees a living wage or provide insurance. I'm tired of paying the oil industry $22 million a day. I am tired of highly profitable companies getting tax breaks and abatements, loopholes, and overseas tax shelters. And I am Really tired of hearing all our financial problems being blamed on people who are struggling to make it through one more day.

West Virginia

When babies died many years ago, and perhaps today, despite the best efforts of the parents, doctors often attributed it to "failure to thrive." Sometimes our aging parents die the same way, refusing their meds and believing highly trained healthcare providers don't know what's best. Watching my home state of West Virginia from afar, I get the eerie feeling that political entities can do the same thing. Sane people can be so outnumbered by the impaired that death from "failure to thrive" is always imminent.

Maryland

I love my adopted state of Maryland. It is tolerant, progressive, and has many natural and geographic advantages. And it has the Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the world and a real treasure. It has many beautiful rural areas, yet is a very densely populated state. It’s population is larger than Oregon, Colorado, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Alabama, South Carolina, Iowa, Arkansas, Kansas, Nebraska and others. It also has a larger population than Denmark, Finland, Slovakia, Norway, Lebanon, Ireland, New Zealand, Uruguay, Mongolia, and many others. When people see it on a map it looks like a small state. It has a big heart, and it is an economic powerhouse. Just wanted to get this out there.

The Importance of Stability

 

 

If one truly believes in the benefits of capitalism, then above all else the government needs to be mindful of providing a stable environment for business and individual initiative to thrive. The GOP knows this, and that is why it has been on a destabilization campaign ever since the black democrat was elected President. It is a right wing conspiracy so vast and so obvious that no one, especially not those in the media, makes note of it.

Irony

Do Rubio, Jindal, Ryan or any of the wet behind the ears conservatives see the irony? All said that their moms or grandmoms depend on Social Scurity and Medicare. At least two of  these politicians depended on these programs as a child or as a student. All swear they would do nothing to harm these programs (and then suggests voucherizing Medicare so the government won't have to worry about future cost increases).

But look at the history, boys. Conservatives opposed all of these programs tooth and nail. The New Deal, the New Frontier, the Great Society - they hated them all and have spent the last 70 years trying to dismantle them. So here's the irony - these politicians or someone in their families - depends or depended on these programs to survive with dignity, to go to school, or to eat. These politicians love and support these programs (they say). So excuse me, why are you a conservative, why have you aligned yourself with the party that voted against these programs and has spent the last 70 years trying to undermine them?

Guns

Dear Senators Cardin and Mikulski, and Representative Sarbanes:

I am enough of a realist to understand that guns will never be banned in this country. But gun ownership should come with powerful responsibilities.

It's time for gun owners and the NRA to cooperate with the rest of us and take steps to hold gun owners accountable, to properly screen and train gun owners, and to pay for the damage their gun ownership costs society. Our country incurs billions of dollars in damage, death and destruction each year due to guns. We need to hold the gun owners responsible for those costs. And it's well past time to make sure that only responsible people own guns.

The idea that anyone should be able to go out and get a gun and then use it without proper training is insane. Everyone who wants to own a gun should be required to take classes not only on its use, but also on what it can do to the human body, the decision making process for using a weapon, and police instruction on deadly force protocol.

Prospective gun owners, or current owners, should also be required to submit a clearance screening session signed by a licensed psychologist.

Gun owners should also be required to have a liability insurance policy to cover its misuse, either by the legal owner or by someone who steals or borrows it. They should be held accountable for everything that gun does under its registered ownership. In the current instance of the Newtown Tragedy, The gun-collecting mother should have had a liability policy that would cover the losses incurred by the school district, costs to local police jurisdictions, and the costs, including funerals, these parents are experiencing, plus at least a million dollars for each victim's family for pain and suffering.

It's time to end the talk about doing something. Just do something. And don't worry about whether it's constitutional. Let the Supreme Court decide that issue later.

Jake Spencer

Edward Good:

MY GENERATION:

I was born in 1946 and I am a Baby Boomer. We were the Hippies, rock and roll and we will change the world. We listen to JFK and joined the Peace Corps, we saw man walk on the Moon the world was ours to make better.

"My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."
John F. Kennedy

"Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals"
Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total; of all those acts will be written the history of this generation."
Robert Kennedy

John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert Kennedy all died so we would have a better country and now we see a extremest Republican Party wanting to end all hard earned victories that made America the envy of the World.

I call this my generation and I wrote this Quote of the Day about it:

My generation, where are we taking this country?

My parents generation was called the "Greatest":

They gave us so many things:
**They fought to give us unions: --- 40 hour work week --- Benefits --- Vacations --- Safety at the work place and many, many other wonderful things that improve the quality of our worker’s and family’s lives.
**They gave us women's rights that gave women the right to vote.
**They ended children being exploited in the work force.
**They gave us a education system better than any in the world.
**They fought a war that kept the world free.
**They gave us Social Security.
**They gave us Medicare and many safety nets.
**They gave us Civil Rights.
**They gave us the science and technology to go to the moon.
**They gave us technology for the Internet and Freedom to express ourselves.
**They gave us laws to protect the air and the water.

My Generation will be called "The Greediest Generation" The Baby Boomers.

We have a party called the Republicans that is run by people from My Generation,
I call them the Party of Scrooge:

**They want to control women at every level from jobs to contraception
**They want to destroy the unions.
**They want to suppress as many voters and they can.
**They want to end child labor laws and again exploit children.
**They want to end the Public Education System.
**They want to start a WAR in IRAN after they started a illegal war in IRAQ
**They want to Privatize Social Security
**They want to destroy Medicare and all the Safety Nets.
**They want to roll back Civil Rights.
**They want to end real Science and use right wing ideology
**They want to end the freedom of the Internet.
**They want to end the EPA and protection of the Air and water.

Please help me in 2012 and save my Generation from themselves by Voting Democratic.

Many times I have heard that there is no difference in the parties to this I came up with this Quote:

"When we encounter those that say there is no difference in the Parties, one simply puts that nothing that the Democrats support hurts or tries to control people, everything that the GOP supports hurts or tries to control people"
Jeff Carlson.

Turnabout fair play?

Consider for a moment that the Republican strategy of voting as a block against everything the President proposed, and filibustering all of his nominees, succeeds for them. A fed up electorate votes Romney into office just to end the deadlock. Because this was a successful strategy, what would prevent the Democrats from pursuing the same strategy? Logically, in this case, they should.

Would the Democrats then be criticized more than the Republicans have been for the same strategy? What is fair in love of country vs. the war of politics? If this were a just world, the GOP would loose the presidency, the congress, and a good number of senate seats for putting party ahead of country. But the press have not framed the situation in such a way that the American people fully understand the betrayal of office the Republicans have undertaken. Once the Democrats pursued the same strategy, it would suddenly become clear to all that what the Republicans had done was not only despicable, but also a breaking of their oath of office.

I suspect in this case, however, that the Democrats would be more heavily criticized if for no other reason than it was the second time around for this strategy.

This is all theoretical, of course, because I don't believe the Democrats would be unethical enough to pursue the same strategy. And that, I am sure, is what the Republicans are counting on.

Dunking Stool Next?

Didn't the MD Supreme Court rule a few years ago that we (Gays) were not entitled to court relief because we were "not without political power," and therefore should seek relief in the legislature?

I don't recall the Court saying anything about a referendum too? What's next, the dunking stool?

> Washington Post: "But Maryland voters could get the final say: Opponents are widely expected to launch a petition drive that could put the issue on the November ballot."

Ten Favorite Albums

1. Beethoven Symphony No 9: Herbert Von Karajan, Berlin Philharmonic 1976-77, Deutsche Grammophon. The definitive recording. Each movement is a masterpiece. After 20 years I still cry at the finale. “Music is the voice of God.” LVB
2. Paul Simon, Concert in the Park, 1991. Dazzling. A musical turning-point for the world. “…Losing love is like a window in your heart. Everybody sees you’re blown apart. Everybody sees the wind blow.”
3. Judy [Garland] at Carnegie Hall, 1961. Simply the greatest performance ever recorded. Mort Lindsey’s orchestration is unbelievable.
4. The Beatles, Rubber Soul, 1965. Norwegian Wood, Think for Yourself, The Word, Girl, I’m Looking Through You, Michelle, Run for Your Life.
5. The Beatles, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1967. She’s Leaving Home, Within You Without You, When I’m Sixty-Four, Lovely Rita, A Day in the Life.
6. The Rolling Stones, Flowers, 1967. Lady Jane, Out of Time, Let’s Spend the Night Together, Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadow?
7. Muse, The Resistance. Uprising, Undisclosed Desires, Unnatural Selection, I Belong to You/Mon Coeur s’ouvre a ta voix, Exogenesis Symphony Parts 1-3.
8. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Will the Circle Be Unbroken, 1972. Doc Watson, Mother Maybelle Carter, Jimmy Martin, Earl Scruggs, Roy Acuff, Merle Travis. Greatest Bluegrass Album ever recorded.
9. Greenday, American Idiot. Jesus of Suburbia, Holiday/Boulevard of Broken Dreams, Give me Novacaine/She’s a Rebel, Whatshername.
10. Otis Reading, The Very Best of Otis Reading, 2002. These Arms of Mine, Pain in my Heart, Mr. Pitiful, I’ve Been Loving You too Long, Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song), Try a Little Tenderness, (Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay, I’ve Got Dreams to Remember.

Cat Drama

Sam the regular cat met Chase the rescue cat last night. I have kept them separate since Sunday just to allow Chase a chance to get somewhat oriented, and Sam to calm down. He was really upset at first. (Ears back, crouching, hissing - even though he couldn't see the new cat.) So they met yesterday, me with some water to throw and a towel in case I needed to intervene, but all went well. I watched them watch each other for about 45 minutes. Ears were perked, and non-threatening postures were assumed, so I left to give them time. They stared at each other for about two hours, then I took Sam away and closed the door to give Chase some quiet time. Hopeful that a truce can develop over time, if not a friendship.

Shopping for Medical Care

I tried to shop for a new crown. Met Life would leave me with a huge gap payment (also, they disagreed with the dentist over required procedures). Try it yourself. No dentists post their rates and if you call them, no one in the office can help. Even the dentist says he/she must look at the tooth before estimating, and that will exclude complications. Shop for medical care: the worst idea since shopping for electricity. http://nyti.ms/gnoTCA

Who Needs Convenience?

You know that universal single payer health care is wrong, because what you really want to do after working 9 hours on the loading dock is to come home and search for a doctor who accepts your coverage from Joe's Insurance and Screen Door Company, whom your employer so wisely selected.

On being telephone adverse

The telephone is rude. I hate making calls and I struggle during phone conversations. I hate that I can't see the reactions of the other person. At work, I will not pick up the phone if I have a customer in front of me. That customer has gone to the trouble of getting into their car and driving to the mall. They have made an effort. The caller is still sitting on her butt at home, and nine times out of ten she has a completely uninformed, stupid question. I hate that I have to be polite to such people. "Do you have any brown Rockports?" Yes, several. What model? "I don't know. It's brown and has laces." Ok, that narrows it down to about five. "Could you check and see if you have those in size 10?" All of them? "Yes." Fantasy answer: You stupid selfish lazy bitch. I have other customers who are now waiting for me, and you want me to spend 15 minutes as your personal shopper? Go fuck yourself. Click.

The Affirmations of Humanism: A Statement of Principles

• We are committed to the application of reason and science to the understanding of the universe and to the solving of human problems.
• We deplore efforts to denigrate human intelligence, to seek to explain the world in supernatural terms, and to look outside nature for salvation.
• We believe that scientific discovery and technology can contribute to the betterment of human life.
• We believe in an open and pluralistic society and that democracy is the best guarantee of protecting human rights from authoritarian elites and repressive majorities.
• We are committed to the principle of the separation of church and state.
• We cultivate the arts of negotiation and compromise as a means of resolving differences and achieving mutual understanding.
• We are concerned with securing justice and fairness in society and with eliminating discrimination and intolerance.
• We believe in supporting the disadvantaged and the handicapped so that they will be able to help themselves.
• We attempt to transcend divisive parochial loyalties based on race, religion, gender, nationality, creed, class, sexual orientation, or ethnicity, and strive to work together for the common good of humanity.
• We want to protect and enhance the earth, to preserve it for future generations, and to avoid inflicting needless suffering on other species.
• We believe in enjoying life here and now and in developing our creative talents to their fullest.
• We believe in the cultivation of moral excellence.
• We respect the right to privacy. Mature adults should be allowed to fulfill their aspirations, to express their sexual preferences, to exercise reproductive freedom, to have access to comprehensive and informed health-care, and to die with dignity.
• We believe in the common moral decencies: altruism, integrity, honesty, truthfulness, responsibility. Humanist ethics is amenable to critical, rational guidance. There are normative standards that we discover together. Moral principles are tested by their consequences.
• We are deeply concerned with the moral education of our children. We want to nourish reason and compassion.
• We are engaged by the arts no less than by the sciences.
• We are citizens of the universe and are excited by discoveries still to be made in the cosmos.
• We are skeptical of untested claims to knowledge, and we are open to novel ideas and seek new departures in our thinking.
• We affirm humanism as a realistic alternative to theologies of despair and ideologies of violence and as a source of rich personal significance and genuine satisfaction in the service to others.
• We believe in optimism rather than pessimism, hope rather than despair, learning in the place of dogma, truth instead of ignorance, joy rather than guilt or sin, tolerance in the place of fear, love instead of hatred, compassion over selfishness, beauty instead of ugliness, and reason rather than blind faith or irrationality.
• We believe in the fullest realization of the best and noblest that we are capable of as human beings.

Libertarians, Tea Baggers, Conservatives take note:

Corporate greed does not police itself for the common good. Arrogant corporate leaders think nothing of taking risks with the lives of the people who work for them to squeeze an extra dime of profit from a coal mine or an oil rig. They think nothing of risking the extermination of marine life in the Gulf of Mexico and the livelihoods of the millions of families who live and work there. There is no "invisible hand" leading these companies to work for the common good. Greed is not good. And the only way these greedy corporations and executives can be prevented from destroying everyone and everything in their path to profit is regulation by the government of the people, by the people and for the people of the United States.