Three Hours of Sanity ! Thanks!!

Thank you Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert ... A special thanks to thousands of people who gave their time and expenses to show up and become a breath of fresh air, a burst of sunlight showcasing America's resilience and support for each other... Agree wholeheartedly, these are "hard times and not the end time."

This rally was just what I needed after a summer of listening to the Right scream and yell at nauseam about their Government and their President. I cringed when I saw some of the signs they carried. Could these people really be my fellow citizens?  I feared that I was the one out of step with the country. I started to get depressed.  When I turned on this rally I sat glued to the T.V. set. These people were actually like me. They were not angry and had smiles on their faces. I was not alone!  I know times are tough and people are stressed. People though must try to solve problems with some compromise and not retreat into an ideology. I blame Rush for starting all of this we are right and they are wrong.  There are points to be made on both sides of any issue. I know that there are still mean and hateful people out there but my hopes are raised a little by the people I saw yesterday. Peace Out !

I remember

I am not happy with the Obama Presidency.  I really expected more. I knew that the Republicans and big business were on the march and after eight years of Bush were turning the country to the kind of place they wanted to rule. With the election of Obama I hoped that he would fight hard for the middle and working class Americans. I was wrong. He seems stymied by all of the attacks of the Right. He seems incapable of fighting dirty against all the attacks.  What to do?  I really do not know but one thing is for sure. Then,then,then,I remember:



I remember the party that blocked health care for our nation's 9-11 first responders
I remember which party was in power during every single banking crisis since 1900.
I remember which party was in power during 17 of the 23 recessions since 1900, and 9 of the last 10 since 1950
I remember which party brought us the Wall Street bailout
I remember which party defended tax breaks for corporations that moved their operations and your jobs overseas.
I remember which party started a needless trillion dollar war in Iraq
I remember the party that took a record budget surplus, and turned it into a record budget deficit
I remember the party which dismantled the government agencies that protect our food supply.
I remember the party that has worked tirelessly to destroy Social Security, Medicare, public education, civil rights, and equal pay for women.

I remember which party cannot hear the screams of the people, but can hear the whispers of big business

I remember when the Americam dream of a good job and a home were in reach for all Americans.
I remember a time when reason ruled and people watched real news programs that told them the truth.
I remember when we all had HOPE.

Glen Beck & FOX are tools of the Wealthy. (and they know it)

I'm sorry but Beck and FOX news are trying to destroy any foundation or organization that either promotes social justice or tries to represent people who have no vioce.  They use unscrupulous facts and reporting to make these groups look unamerican.  The groups that are standing in the way of the wealthy and their crusade to take over this country are in trouble. Just look at what they did to Acorn.  Acorn has never recovered and the media will not cover this story because they are tied to and owned by the wealthy corporations.  The middle class is in real trouble in this country.  The Right is trying to dismantle all the progress Progressives have worked so hard for. Sad but the Wealthy have been using FOX and the Tea Party to do all of their dirty work for them.  OPEN your eyes America because it may already be too late! This master slave relationship between the wealthy and Tea Party members is sad to watch. I have discussions with some of these people and they have no idea what is going on or what they represent the interests of their masters (WEALTHY) and not their own.  I worry that past a certain point we will not be able to save the working class in this country. As an individual there is not much I can do except to support Progressive groups and candidates and break all personal friendships I have with these morons. Hence the sign on my house." NO RIGHT-WING REPUBLICANS OR TEABAGGERS ALLOWED "

My point of View.

Bill O'Reilly caused a stir on the View when he stated that Muslims  attacked us on 9/11 and that is why 70% of Americans do not want a cultural center close to The Twin Towers site.
 70% of  people thought american should stop protesting during civil rights in the 60s.
Over half the country wanted Americans to stop protest during Vietnam War.
Over half the country believed all anyone who knew someone who was Communist should go to jail.
Over half the country was against Emancipation Proclamation.
Over half of the country was for Bush's Iraq War and believed Saddam had WMD.
Basically over half of the country aren't too bright.

The Religion of those who attacked us on 9/11 should not be pointed to all the time. The fact that they were members of Al-Queda is what is important. The soildiers that killed innocent people in Afganistan and kept their body parts are Christians. Is this how we want the world to identify them?  Evil people do evil things no matter what theit religion is.  It is wrong for Bill to say that we were attacked by Muslims. This only stokes fear and hatred. He knows better. The Muslims he disparages are Americans too and don't deserve to be treated in such a manner.  This whole Islamic Center is not an issue and should be left alone.

The need for Machine Guns!!!

Why do Homophobia and the need for machine guns seem to always go together? Please remember that large sections of Article 1 of The Constitution had to be changed as society grew over the years. When the second Amendment was written I am sure our founding fathers did not envision Machine Guns. That being said no average American wants to take anyones guns away. A little regulation would be nice. Times,society,morals and needs change. That is why the Constitution was written so it could changed and adapted . Nobody has done anything to try to take away anyone's gun rights. If anything gun owners have more rights than ever now that you can bring weapons into national parks, and in some states you can go to a bar with a loaded gun. Personally I won't worry because I don't own a gun and I don't go to bars.

Deaths at Mentor High School

" Most scientists researching this question are seeing their research pointing to at least a biological if not genetic origin of sexual orientation. This evidence is increasingly showing that sexual orientation, whether gay, straight, or bisexual, is probably set very early on--if not in the womb or at conception. In other words, sexual orientation is inborn".

After a lifelong observation of my fellow man,I believe this statement to be true. I would like to tell my readers about two of my observations. When I was born 1in 1947 my parents best friends.at that time,had a son too. This boy was named Richard. I remember seeing pictures of us when we were young playing together. I even remember walking to school together. My parents moved to the other side of town and our friendship ended.

I met him years later in High School. He had blond hair and seemed kind of girly to me. He attracted a lot of attention,so being the coward I was at that age, I stayed away from him. His life was a living hell. Even though he dated girls his classmates made fun of him. He even got married and had his own son.

20 years later I met his sister at a function and asked her how Richard was. She told me he was Gay. I told her that I knew and I had always knew. She seemed surprised . When I look back on my life,I remember a lot of men I thought might be gay who in fact were. I ask my Christian friends ,"do you really believe that homosexuality is a lifestyle choice? I don't.

I just read an article that stated that four students at Mentor High School in Ohio have killed themselves over the last four years because their sexual orientation made their life hell. I ask myself where do young teens get this hatred of gays from. They do not get it frim the media because they treat Homosexuality fairly for the most part. Christian churches and Conservatives on the other hand call people evil or bad if they have these feelings and act on them. I wish our Religious leaders would try to practice what they preach or at least shut their big fat mouths on this issue because they are making it worse. Our Children are killing themselves! Leave them alone. Worry about the true sinners in your churches. They are full of them.

To loan or not to loan!

“OK the banks needed a bail out to stay in business because so many people could not afford their loan payments. I get it so far. What did the banks do with this money because they still expect to take the homes of people who can't afford them. Why can't they change the terms of these loans and keep people in them. Where did all of that bail out money go? Help me here because this sounds stupid to me. Give people loans on what the house is really worth and everyone comes out ahead. Why can't our government protect it's citizens when they make sure to protect our crapy bankers?”

I know that banks give money to buy influence over our politicians  but the TARP (given by Bush and Congress) is a lot of money for nothing in return.  Why didn't the Government take over these homes in exchange for the bail out money and put people back in their homes at fair payment rates. At least the tax payers would have a chance to get some or our money back.  To easy right!  The Gov. thought it was better to give the Banks our tax money with no guidelines on how to spend it. That's just great!!!!  Stupid is as stupid does.

Bad President, bad staff and bad policy

The great communicator as he was called often gets credit for being one of our better Presidents. The Right have named buildings,schools,air ports, and even bridges after him. Some have suggested his head be placed on Mt. Rushmore. Lets take a quick look at his record.

As an executive for both California and the United States Ronald Reagan ,a Conservative, greatly expanded the role of Government.As governor, he over-saw the largest tax increase in Californian 90% This by the man who was for small government. He used this phrase all the time,"Government can't fix the problem because Government is the problem. Here is a small list of his so called accomplishments.

　

President Reagan ignored the health crisis caused by AIDS.

SDI. Reagan spent billions on the boondoggle of
an "anti-missile shield". Which, incidentally, violated
the ABM treaty, in addition to wasting a lot of money.

Budget deficits grow from about $20B in the late 70s
to about $150B in the mid 80s. Reagan more than tripled
the national debt.

Reagan told Surgeon General C. Everett Koop to produce
a report detailing the long-term physical and emotional trauma a woman
suffered as a result of having an abortion. Koop, an abortion
foe, but a good scientist, discovered that, in fact, a woman
did not suffer long-term physical or emotional trauma as a result
of having an abortion. Reagan suppressed the report.

　

Reagan provided Saddam Hussein with chemical weapons.

Reagan's tax restructuring (massive cuts in 1981, followed
by tax increases in 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, and 1987)

He also was very sly when he pretended to be for workers,but
transferred the tax burden from corporations and the wealthy to
the middle class and, especially, the working class poor.

When a Marine barracks was blown up by terrorists in Lebanon, Reagan
responded...by pulling American forces out of Lebanon and invading the
small Caribbean island of Grenada.

Reagan's attorney general was Ed Meese, who was investigated
by three different special prosecutors for involvement in three
different scandals. Over 100 Reagan appointees were convicted
of crimes committed while in office.

Like I said, he appointed bad people and pursued bad policies.

I guess I am not a fan and this is only one side of his Presidency but I believe he did a lot of damage that we are still suffering from today.

　

　

　

America the Beautiful (NOT)

O beautiful for spacious skies,For amber waves of grain,For purple mountain majesties Above the fruited plain!America! America!God shed his grace on thee And crown thy good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea!

And yet you cannot provide your most treasured resource, your citizens, with affordable good health care.It says a lot when a country can invade an innocent country kill hundreds of thousands of their civilians and thousands of it's own soldiers for no reason at all and at a cost of over a trillion dollars and would not spend that money to employ its people and care for it's sick.

Industrialized nations all over Europe are in a recession just like America. The big difference between them and us is that they went into debt to take care of the health and well being of their citizens. We went into debt because of tax cuts and unnecessary wars.

50% of our health care costs are wasted keeping a decrepid and evil system that takes your health care and turns it into a for profit business. It is not, and why Americans would support a system run by corporations whose sole aim is making a profit ,not improving your health is beyond me.

This is not a political issue but a common sense one. Wake up before it is too late and take control of your health care away from these evil evil people. These evil people even take your money and lobby for their own protection while raising your insurance costs. WHY!!!

I can never side with any conservative or Republican on an issue that is going to affect the health of my children and grandchildren in the future. To all my friends that do not agree with me and cannot see the facts I say "Up yours"! This issue is so important to me that you are not welcome in my house.

Remember the Alamo!

I do I was even stationed there in 1966.  I visited it a time or two.  I studied it in school and watched three movies about this part of American History.  But like most history the truth is usually shrouded in myths and half truths.

The Alamo was a battle to protect Slavery. Yes!  as horrifying as it sounds it is true.Texas was still part of Mexico after its War of Independence from Spain. But the land attracted so many American settlers, that they soon outnumbered the Mexicans. Incredibly, that was just fine with the Mexican government. In fact, many Texans wanted Texas to become a Mexican state.

But trouble started brewing in 1829, when slavery was banned throughout Mexico. This angered settlers who moved to Texas specifically to establish Southern-style, slave-powered plantations. Texas was briefly given an exemption, but in 1835, General Santa Anna revoked it.

This angered many Texans and they started to resist and break free from Mexico.  One wonders how many of the uneducated men who died there knew all of the facts.

Texas became a free mation a year latter and slavery lasted until the Civil War. Those are the facts  just the facts.

Corporations post record profits

Republican contempt for working-class Americans is obvious. As a result of republican economic policies, millions are out of work and struggling to survive on unemployment benefits . McConnell and Boehner call these Americans lazy, spoiled deadbeats. Unlike home, auto, health, and life insurance, with unemployment insurance, there are no lobbyists, corporate parasites or Wall Street speculators involved, which eliminates any opportunity for republicans to receive kickbacks. Urged on by huge special interest payoffs, Boehner and McConnell—under the guise of reducing big government and erasing their deficit—are pushing to privatize Medicare, a move that would produce 80 million new customers and $8.6 trillion in new revenue for healthcare insurers ; republicans are also pushing to privatize Social Security, which would create $22.4 trillion in new investment capital for Wall Street. Republicans plan to erase their deficit by eliminating Medicare and Social Security. From 2001 to 2008, an era of record debt, Boehner and McConnell led the charge to give $1.4 trillion in tax cuts to the wealthy in the form of borrowed money from China, and now they want to erase their deficit on the backs of working-class Americans. Boehner and McConnell want to borrow more money and grow the deficit so the Bush Tax cuts can be extended for the wealthy—insanity!

　

We are at a crossroad in America where the middle class working man needs to stand up for the future of their children. Corporations are reaping more profits than ever before. Companies like Wallmart refuse to follow the law and let their employees form unions. They have gone so far to actually close stores that are close to having a positive vote in favor of having a union. Ask many worker and they will tell you that they are scared to ask for their rights under the law because Wallmart will blackball them. Is this alright in America?

　

We need to band together as workers,like our fathers did, and stand up for the rights of our fellow workers. I for one will not vote for any politician that is not for health care reform,repealing tax cuts for the wealthy, and against any protection for the working man.

　

Remember, any wealthy man worth his salt does not pay their fair share of taxes. They use so many tax write offs and loopholes that I can't even start to list them here. If you won't stand up for yourself then stand up for your children.

Islamic Center

“This should be built because Muslim Americans have a right to practice their religion anywhere they want too. I fear though that just like in the islamic religion,there is a group of Christians who do not practice what they preach. I worry that fanatics in both religions will not allow peace between those followers who want peace..Along with the help of the media,the evil that is in both Religions will cause trouble during this building process.   I fear that when completed this building and its occupants will be in constant danger. I used to hold out hope ,for my fellow man, that people would see through those that would try to manipulate them.  I have given up that hope.  If there is a Devil,he must be smiling today because he's winning the hearts and minds of people who think they are doing good. To the followers of Islam I say "sorry but move it for your own safety and the safety of your families."

Deregulation and Reagan

President Reagan had an idea about how the world should run. He deregulated Big Business. That is, he removed the restrictions put in place that kept companies from cheating. He removed, primarily economic oversight. He said that it was unAmerican that in this capitalist society that such oversight, such restrictions should exist. To him, these concepts flew in the face of that  idea we like to call freedom. He wanted Big Business to have the freedom to do what it will and believed that in doing so, said companies would check themselves. They would check themselves because it was in their best economic interest to do so.
I remember when you would receive 5% interest from banks when you had a savings account. If byou borrowed money the bank would charge you 8% interest on loans. Banks made their profit out of that 3% difference.  Deregulation changed all od that. 

Deregulation was started under Reagan,continued by Clinton,and completed by Bush.  President Obama is trying to place new regulation on the Banks and Wall Street.  If he fails I fear for the survival of the middle class.  It is in the self interest of the wealthy to stop him.  They can not use the facts so they are trying to confuse the issue by manipulating the Tea Party agenda.  The wealthy are pouring a lot of cash into the Tea Party in an effort to get you,the voter,to lookm the other way.  We must not let them succeed.

And that's all I got to say about that!!!