Blog of Irreverence

Republicans! If You're In It to Win It - GTFO of the Bedroom!

2011-07-21T15:20:00.000-07:00

I love Rudy Giuliani.

To me Rudy will always be da Man. In my humble opinion he is the reason NYC is what it is today and not the cesspool haven of crime I remember from my youth. Yeah, he was tough; he pissed a lot of people off, but when is the last time you heard someone say they were “afraid” to go to NYC? Now, it is a shining beacon for the world to enjoy and indeed they do. Of course, Mikey Bloomberg has made the place completely unavailable for normal people to live there – but – that’s another entire blog post.

Back to Rudy.

When I saw the headline last week about Rudy advising the Republican Party to drop the Gay Marriage issue I was completely psyched, and not just because it’s something that drives me nuts personally, but because people tend to listen to Rudy. I thought: “Awesome. Maybe now at least one of the tired old philosophies that 90% of R’s don’t agree with anyway, will be taken off the table.” Then I read the freakin’ article.

Rudy disappoints with his stance on Gay Marriage. It’s not enough to just say it should be taken off the table for discussion and that the topic should be left up to the individual states. R’s have to drop it all together. The Democratic Platform is SO ludicrous on its own; they don’t need this kind of ammunition to bandy about and bash the R’s into oblivion election after election. Imagine the votes that could be picked up if only this one plank was left off the platform. Drop the antiquated stance on abortion and the R’s could rock both the White House and Congress with ease.

It’s not like it would be hard to do either. I honestly don’t know a Republican in my circle of political friends who subscribes to the points of views the Demo-rats accuse us of. So why hang on to this age-old horseshit? I realize the answer lies in campaign funding from far right organizations, but think about how dropping the argument would bring in other revenue streams. Hell, that’s part and parcel of being a Republican right there – forward momentum towards success. Change it up – make money from other sources.

The Democrats use this issue to muddy the waters. They have to. Their philosophy is so desperately flawed they must demonize us on attributes other than our basic philosophy. Who can argue with personal freedom, individual’s rights, justice and the belief that nobody should be taxed differently than anyone else? When did prosperity take a back seat to “just getting along and letting the Government (taxpayers) pick up the slack”?

The opposition to Gay Marriage goes against our strong belief in individual’s rights. It’s counterintuitive to our main belief system. As Republicans we want Government to stay the hell out of our life as much as possible. How do we justify that with statements and campaign promises about keeping marriage only between a man and a woman…and legislating it? Moral superiority? We certainly already hold the monopoly on that over Democrats just with our love of this Nation and enforcing the ideals the founding fathers set forth for it. So, why are we mucking around in it? It baffles the mind to be honest.

If you’re a Republican and you come out supporting gay marriage there is no need to worry about the Liberal label. No one is going to accuse you of being a socialist, supporter of entitlements, a progressive taxation fan, or a champion of minimum wage. In fact, when boiled down to the basics, amongst people who use more than a 1/10^th of a percent of their brain power, you would actually be seen as more genuine in your support of the Republican Party. Our party is about empowering the people – all the people. We can’t nurture that ideal if we keep trying to tell people who they should invite into their bedrooms or who they can spend their lives with.

I guess beginning with dropping the issue as a political strategy move is a start – but it’s a weak one. Weak is one thing Republicans are not. We leave that to the other party.

Winning in 2012 is essential to keeping our country from tumbling over the precipice to ruin Lord Falderal has led us to. No mistakes can be made. Republicans need only look to the basic platform in order to win. This administration is going to take itself out with their sophomoric missteps and blind leading the blind initiatives. But, let’s not take any chances. Drop the gay marriage issue and believe in it; don’t do it because Rudy said to.

Lord Falderal Ruins Another Wonderful Institution

2011-05-01T17:14:00.000-07:00

Worst President Ever

I look forward to the White House Correspondent’s dinner coverage every year with anticipation and glee no matter who is President. It’s the one time during the year I can honestly say I’m capable of tossing aside my political vehemence and just enjoy a little fun. Actually, that is what the whole deal is supposed to be about. Historically, it’s been a kind of Presidential roast with even the President being involved in self-deprecating humor about himself and his job performance since the prior year’s dinner. It’s a time for making fun of poor poll numbers, accentuating verbal flubs, ragging on the VP and other top advisors and taking some shots at reporters. It’s not a campaign stop, never has been and never should be.

I have been following the WHC since the Reagan years and can’t think of a time I didn’t enjoy the President’s portion where typically they lambaste themselves fairly well. Reagan was the master of that dinner year after year. Even Clinton’s WCH participation never disappointed during his tenure in office. Almost nothing was as much fun as W’s 2006 speech though. That one is classic! Check it out here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wq7sRkg_2Ss

Well, I guess my feelings this year show how truly disgusted I am with this non-President as the arrogant douche bag did what he does so well – be arrogant.

Instead of going along with history and making himself his own target, Falderal instead chose to go after those he has been too weak to speak out against in real time. He used this lighthearted event to take some pointed and sometimes very un-funny shots at his adversaries. I know the comments I’m going to get on this: sour grapes because of the whole Republican thing. But, if you really sit and think about it and what the event is all about you’ll start to understand why this President sucks so bad on a larger scale. In essence – he has no clue whether navigating through international crises, domestic disasters or realizing he is being thrown an opportunity to atone for his foibles.

What he and his advisors did was take this opportunity to hit back at detractors and wrongly thought it would score some points with the public. It’s a mistake that could cost him dearly. While it may have endeared him to a sympathetic media who has been dying to hear some retaliation towards Donald Trump et al; it makes him look all the more wimpy and opportunistic to the voters by taking an event where he could have poked fun at himself and appear humble, but instead made it a campaign speech. The voters are not stupid (except the ones who may vote for him again) and would not have taken some well-placed jokes at his own expense as admission of a job poorly done. What it would have done is shown he is capable of self-realization and could make fun of his legion of mistakes and perhaps move on. That kind of thing can go a long way in repairing the damage he has done with his disillusioned base.

This was not the time to start campaigning. This was a time to have a little fun and show some mettle. The Trump stuff was funny, let’s face it, and I think it should have stayed. But, going after Bachman and Pawlenty just showed he was using this as a platform for revenge; a revenge he doesn’t have the balls to initiate in a regular news cycle or in an appropriate forum. I mean, he’s on TV all the time, why not take his time with Oprah to cry about his possible opponents, why screw up what is a revered traditional event loved by people from every political persuasion imaginable. And all he did was piss off Trump even more. Falderal better hope there isn’t anything in his skeleton collection Trump can get a grip on.

The Lion King video was absurd. If ever there was evidence of my aforementioned assertion that this was merely an extension of Falderal’s immense ego, the presentation of that video clip was it. Of course, it was a cartoon – that kind of makes sense.

I’ve never tried to hide the fact I can’t stand the guy, and now that he’s ruined yet another of our great institutions in this country, I really can’t wait to see this ponce tossed out on his ass and push Carter out of the coveted worst President in History title.

The Problem With Sarah

2010-12-23T08:45:00.000-08:00

I like Sarah Palin.

I can hear all the boos and hisses roaring through cyber space as both my Republican and Democrat friends are reading that line. But, it’s true and I don’t mind admitting it. Would I vote for her? Not today, maybe not in 2012. Do I think she would be a good candidate? Sure. Why not? Anything is better than the current occupant of 1600.

That “why not”, has become a fun phrase for me this Holiday Season on the precipice of what will surely be an announcement in the next couple of months. Mostly because I am not clear on the polarizing effect this woman has on people. I don’t see the reason there is so much hate directed towards her by both R’s and D’s. So, I have been asking everyone I can: “why not?” Frankly, I’m getting the answers I expected.

This week in New York City I posed the question to some of my favorite people. Folks I consider bastions of intelligence and fair mindedness. Except when it comes to Sarah.

This is how one conversation went, with the most vehement of Sarah haters in the group. I am leaving the person’s name out on purpose because I don’t want to embarrass them. Let’s call the person SPH.

Me: Tell me the real reasons why you don’t like Sarah Palin?

SPH: Because she’s so stupid.

Me: Really? Palin’s stupid? Did you make $30 million last year?

SPH: Stupid people are capable of making money too you know.

Me: Do you really think she is stupid? Tell the truth?

SPH: Ok, no, she’s not stupid but she has set women back 40 years?

Me: How?

SPH: Oh come on.

Me: Seriously, how? How has she set back women? I am assuming you mean equality wise.

SPH: It’s so obvious.

Me: OK. Then why am I missing it?

SPH: Mama Grizzlies?

Me: What about them? What’s the problem with being a strong woman? What is the problem with protecting your family, being loyal to your family? You’re a feminist, why can’t a woman embrace these things? Does every woman have to be Gertrude Stein?

SPH: Nothing is wrong with those things. That’s where she should stay, at home protecting and being loyal to her family. She has no experience.

Me: City council member, Mayor, Governor, Candidate for Vice President. Responsible for cutting the Gubernatorial budget by 80% in Alaska, bringing awareness to Alaska, teaching the State businesses that they need to form an economy not dependant on Federal spending. That’s just a short list and you call someone like this inexperienced? Have you met our current President? He has never done any of that and certainly isn’t doing any of it now. So, let me ask again, do you honestly believe Palin to not have any experience? Oh, and also, are these things a stupid person is capable of accomplishing?

Silence.

Me: Come on? I’m listening. I want to know, why is Sarah Palin in your lexicon of hate?

SPH: She pisses me off.

Me: Why?

SPH: She’s a whiner. Always bitching about the media and how they portray her. Thinking they are out to get her.

Me: They’re not? Of course, they are out to get her and you’re swallowing it right up. For the amount of time Palin is out there pitching, the only thing the media ever focused on is piddly little mistakes everyone makes. Trust me, under the same microscope everyone would look like an idiot. They have absolutely targeted Palin.

SPH: See? She even has you believing it.

Me: Because it’s true! Sometimes things are what they are. They hate Palin, just like you do and for what reason? That’s what I am trying to figure out. I think Bush haters are kind of ridiculous too, but at least he had a record they could rightly or wrongly, draw upon. Sarah’s record is pretty damn impressive. Sarah’s dealt with a media induced smear campaign since day 1.

Well, I still haven’t figured it out. I had that very same conversation with different derivatives and no solid reasons were given.

I know what the problems with Sarah are on the political level. What I don’t get is the deeply personal issues people have with her.

I, for one see no reason why she wouldn’t make a good candidate. I don’t think she is stupid. I think she builds on her experience everyday and she learns something from all of her projects. Palin knows how to bring awareness. Her curb appeal is obvious to me. Whether or not she has the real substance behind it is what is bothersome. I think she has the basis to be a great leader. She’s cheap, understands the plight of the American family, realizes that an economy cannot rely on Federal spending to move it along, and knows how to protect those she loves. That is an American leader. Not some Johnny come lately jackass community organizer elected President merely because his predecessor conjured enough hatred amongst the American public that any change was considered acceptable. Talk about lowered expectations.

Sarah’s problem is what I refer to as the polarization of the Coasts. I’ve said it before and am sure I will say it throughout my life as I don’t see it changing. The East and West Coast doctor the spin in politics and they hate Sarah. The coasts lead the charge in any Presidential election and the middle of the country tends to just follow along. The Coasts love to intellectualize everything.

I love intellectualization. It’s fun. If I had the opportunity, I would do nothing but sit around all day and intellectualize everything in my life. I would live inside my own head and have great fun thinking about things like; what would happen if instead of teaching my son right from wrong, left from right, etc., I just sat here and observed the wonder of him trying to figure it all out on his own. What would happen? What if I didn’t go outside chop some wood and started a fire, or turned up the thermostat to keep warm. What would freezing be like? Would I be better intellectually for the experience? I mean I know from what others have taught me that my son would end up a ravaged dolt, we would die from exposure and so on and so forth. But, do I really know it? Maybe I should just sit here and think and let life go on about me.

Well, that’s a cheap example but it’s pretty much what the Coasts like to do. They seem to tarry to the sort of people who would rather sit around enjoying their own oblivion lost in thought rather than actually doing something about anything at all. And, anyone who speaks in plain and simple truths are just plain stupid. Sarah fits in that category to these people.

These people would rather hear a bunch of platitudes laid out in eloquent well-parsed oratory than hear the actual root of problems and their subsequent solutions. They would rather be sold a bill of goods aimed at making them feel better despite the fact that bill of goods will never be delivered.

Yeah, I cringe when I listen to some of her speeches too. Her style leaves me a little limp, but the foundation is there. She knows what a gallon of milk costs. She knows the value of a dollar, how to protect that value and how to communicate with the masses more than the intelligentsia. What the hell is wrong with that?

Oh, and did I mention, I think she’s hot?

Trifecta 11/2/2010

2010-11-06T11:08:00.000-07:00

Wow. What a week.

Republicans prevail as expected, Nancy Pelosi flips all over the place and that scumbag Olberman gets the boot. Not bad. But, there are serious caveats to watch for and lessons to be taken from Tuesday’s historic victory.

First, let’s think about the Republican win and what it means for the next two years. There were certainly hopes that Lord Falderal would get the message and finally work with the R’s to try and get something productive through the legislature. Productive meaning, passing bills and laws that don’t bankrupt the Nation, or upset our Capitalist model.

Well, after Falderal’s speech and the Republican reaction to it, it’s clear that just ain’t going to happen. Why? For one thing, as should have been expected, Falderal did not feel one ounce of chastening for the lambasting his party received. Unlike Clinton when faced with the same dilemma in ’94, Falderal did not show any grace or leadership, and just flat out admit the message was received and he would play ball. He did say he is ultimately responsible. Big friggin’ deal. What does he think we are Kindergarteners? He gets zero points for making that assertion. Of course, Falderal is correct, he will indeed be judged in 2012.

So where does that leave things?

The only sad possibility now is that Congress basically does nothing for the next two years and the R’s focus on taking back the White House and aiming for a super-majority in the House and the Senate. The reality is, that will be the only way to break gridlock. I know it sucks and I would rather see people play well together in the sandbox and actually accomplish something. But, the poisoning in the well goes too deep and the whole thing needs to be dug out and replaced.

My prediction is Boehner will put up the Healthcare Bill for repeal as fast as possible. Falderal will veto and then the Republican Party will have the ammunition needed to take the White House and turn more blue seats red. The argument will be that the only way for repeal to go through and any action taken on future bills will be to take even more D positions. If things stay the same with the economy or only look slightly better that will be an easy sell.

Also, Nancy Pelosi has been cackling away about running for Minority Leadership. Could the R’s be given a bigger gift? In my opinion, she is one of the main reasons Tuesday went so well for the R’s. If she stays on…well…2012 is in the bag.

Probably the most important thing to come out of the election for the R’s is the addition of some great candidates for 2012. There is really good talent out there now and the R’s no longer have to worry about Palin, who really is an albatross that will have to be dealt with at some point. Even better is that the lineup going into 2016 is looking pretty great as well. Pawlenty, Rubio, and a slew of other possibilities will give voters some serious talent to ponder. The tired old guard will of course put their names into the ring, but now there will actually be some very serious young, diverse and brilliant contenders to take out Falderal.

The Tea Party Movement had an amazing showing on Tuesday although the lesson there is to pick some better candidates next time because the loss of Delaware, Utah and Alaska was completely avoidable. The GOP, Democrats and the country as a whole better start taking the Tea Party seriously. I am not a tea partier but I have spent the year defending them and I am gleeful they showed those smug fuck Democrats what they could do. I lost what respect I had for the D’s this year as I watched them demonize their fellow countrymen as incoherent racists. It was a truly disgusting display and showed the true colors of the party of hypocrisy. The downtrodden and hurting are apparently only legitimate if they belong to the D’s. Foul, just plain foul.

Finally, watching the fall of Olberman has got to be one of the most fabulous feelings ever. Unfortunately, it only amounts to a pissing match between the d-bag and his boss and lacks real substance, but what the hell; I’ll take what I can get. The truth is I enjoy watching that kind of demise as it showcases another hypocrisy, that of Liberals constantly hounding Fox about being political whilst defending the mainstream media as bastions of legitimacy and fact-finding. Uh huh.

I hope I never feel the need to say this again, but this year the Democrats really disgusted me on so many levels; something which has never happened to this extent before and what I have to say to the Democrats is this:

Fuck y’all. You just got schooled.

Pay Attention East Haven: Vote for Linda Monaco

2010-10-06T08:02:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: With the election of a new Governor, Mike Lawlor has been appointed to something or other and there is a special election being held February 22, 2011

Yes, this is another East Haven, CT post.

It may seem I have been strangely obsessed with East Haven this year given the amount of space dedicated to blog posts regarding the shenanigans going on in the small Connecticut town. There is a reason however, and that reason is I believe East Haven to be a great metaphor for the United States as whole, as far as abuse of power by the Government goes. I am not going to re-hash those shenanigans; you can read about them here:

http://blogofirreverence.blogspot.com/2010/04/good-police-chief-bad-mayor.html

http://blogofirreverence.blogspot.com/2010/05/and-then-there-were-three-arrested-that.html

East Haven is the perfect example of why voters need to toss out the offal that creeps throughout the halls of our Capitals, both at the Federal and State levels. Like the United States, East Haven is wildly patriotic, proud, and has one of the strongest senses of community you will ever find.

East Haven is a town of real, hard working, family oriented people who have been hit hard by the crumbling of the economy and the tyranny of its local government. Like the rest of the country, the problem stems from the stagnant pool of politicians the town is burdened with. Like the US of A, East Haven needs a change.

For the last 22 years, Representative Michael Lawlor (D) has represented the town at the state level for the 99^th Connecticut General Assembly District. Lawlor is kind of East Haven’s prodigal son. He’s been through the system so to speak; attended the town’s public schools, was awarded a law degree, became a prosecutor, and all the other boring regimental stuff you do when trying to become a career politician. There is nothing wrong with that, and I honestly don’t have a lot of bad things to say about Mike.

The problem with Mike is he’s played out like a bad banjo string. He has been indoctrinated to go along with whatever whim the Connecticut legislative Democrats conger up. Lawlor has become a de facto part of the problem by not formulating original and productive ideas predicated on the wants and needs of his constituents. Instead he votes along with a body of career politicians, so fat, happy and stupid, it’s embarrassing.

The Connecticut legislature hasn’t had a significant turnover in so many decades it is astounding to think about. The reasons could be varied and I personally have no idea which ones are valid, but my theory is voter apathy, the result of which has been ridiculously high taxes, an ever-increasing amount of brain drain, and the exodus of much needed jobs. The state has been blessed with a great Governor whom could have been even greater if she had a reasonably intelligent group of legislators to deal with.

This year, East Haven has a fabulous candidate challenging Lawlor, a candidate who has a very good chance of winning and would be a major boon to East Haven.

Linda Monaco is the real deal.

Born from good hardworking Pittsburgh stock, Linda’s route to politics was not a straight line like Lawlor’s. Linda didn’t wake up one day during her formative years and say; hey, I think I want to be a politician, so I’ll map out my life path to make sure I get there. No, Linda’s route was more circuitous, and along the way she picked up the kind of experience, education, and values that make the now elusive American Dream seem possible again.

Linda has run the gamut of a true American life. She’s worked hard, been a single Mom, realized the achievement of higher education later in life could only benefit her family, and has an attitude and personality not often seen in modern politics. In other words, she’s likable and not in a “she’s better than the alternative kind of way”. You can’t help but be taken by her verve and energy. There is no syrupy, sickeningly sweet political lubricant with Linda. The intrinsic feeling you get is that she is for real and can be trusted. That is what Government needs today. Real people who have been through the trials and tribulations of real life.

She is not a party hack either, and that is one of the things I like most about Linda. (As should be abundantly clear, I have been majorly disappointed with the choices the CT GOP has made this year.See: http://blogofirreverence.blogspot.com/2010/05/connecticut-gop-needs-enema.html) It doesn’t matter what political party you are registered as, if you believe in capitalism, small government and liberty, you can feel good about a vote for Linda.

What we have in this country and the State of Connecticut and the Town of East Haven, is a crew of political Methusalahs who need to be taken out because as we all know, they won’t just bow out gracefully. Linda Monaco would be a good start towards achieving that goal.

What the United States and East Haven needs now is jobs, jobs and more jobs. Linda Monaco understands that and more importantly…she gets it. As a small business owner who has had to tighten her own reigns while at the same time making life easier for her clients by creating a sliding scale payment system, she not only knows how to create income, she knows how to help other people create it as well. This is the kind of simplicity that will save this country, the understanding of supply and demand and not living beyond our means while also helping out our own by buying their goods and services and keeping it within our own community families.

Linda is whom we need in Government. What we don’t need is a bunch of Mike Lawlors whose idea of job creation is to go along with his myopic brethren creating Government growth. It will be a long, long time before you see me write this line again about anyone seeking public office:

It would be an honor for East Haven to be represented by someone like Linda Monaco and not the other way around.

The cavalry is coming in November and if you live in East Haven, CT, be a part of change for the good. Vote for Linda Monaco.

Check out Linda’s website:

http://www.lindamonacopeoplefirst.com/

Party of Hypocrisy

2010-09-16T08:10:00.000-07:00

I have always believed the Democratic Party to be perpetually fueled by hypocrisy on so many different levels. However, there is one area in which I find their hypocrisy to be particularly appalling; how they deal with dissenting views. Not only do they tend to be the Party of the impolite, they love to use insult and slander as their tools, certainly more often than Republicans do. Some of my D friends like to say it is because of their great passion and commitment to the Party.

This may be, but oftentimes when I find myself in debate with said D friends, they pack up their marbles and stomp off claiming there is no arguing with a “Republican” because somehow we lack the intellect to debate effectively. Personally, when someone storms off I consider that a win!

Democrats claim to be the protectors of the downtrodden as well as everyman. Even to their own people they are condescending. They talk down to their constituents like they are some kind of saviors. “Don’t worry if you can’t make it on your own, we’ll protect you from those evil business people and Republicans by taking their wealth and distributing it to you.” Instead of boosting their people up, Democrats almost seem to revel in tearing them down so they can “take care of them”. It’s almost like they need that in order to show their indispensability to American Society.

Democrats urge their followers to rail against the machine. The problem is the machine is them! They perpetuate a self-defeating prophecy in order to flex their muscle and expand the growth of Government and keep their people on cradle to grave Government assistance.

Democrats create the state of fear they are always blaming the Republicans for by making their own countrymen fear…their countrymen! They scream on high about how Republicans in Government are victimizing the very people they work for when in fact, what they are doing is trying to create a situation where everyone has the ability to reach their personal best. How? By keeping Government out of their lives as much as possible.

Free speech and civil liberties are the sabers Democrats like to rattle and claim to protect. Well, isn’t it odd when a movement like the Tea Party comes around they are instantly demonized by the Democrats as racist, anti-intellectual rednecks? These are the disenfranchised and victimized, the very people the Democrats claim to protect. I guess though it makes sense, if they are obscene enough to drag their own people down I guess it would be all the more easier to do it to “outsiders”.

Panic is what has created the great hatred towards the Tea Party Movement. The Democrats know they screwed up royally with this caricature of a President and now they have no idea what to do. They are in huge trouble and their message has gone completely haywire.

The Democrats should take a lesson out of the Tea Party’s message and realize that the so called victimized come in many shapes, sizes, and philosophies. They won’t though, they will continue with their hatred and mixed messages until another faux messiah comes along and dupes their easily duped sheep into a false sense of entitlement.

How Does Rosa DeLauro Stay in Office? Simple. By Doing Nothing.

2010-08-06T08:36:00.000-07:00

Not Really DeLauro

How do you stay in office in New Haven, CT? Do nothing.

Well, that is an oversimplification but to make the argument, I refer to Connecticut Congressperson Rosa DeLauro who represents the 3^rd District covering New Haven as well as the surrounding towns.

For the better part of two decades, I have been asked on numerous occasions: “When will Rosa DeLauro finally get voted out of office?” My standard answer is always: “They will cart her carcass from the steps of the Capitol in a pine box.”

What is her secret to longevity? She does nothing.

In a city like New Haven political staying power requires you to do as little as possible. There are a lot of examples, the Mayor being one of them, but no one has the epic do nothing staying power of DeLauro.

DeLauro does have to do the required perfunctory work at election time, but it’s minimal at best. Made even easier because she uses a time tested pattern that has never failed and won’t anytime too soon.

My first personal experience with DeLauro was at some parade a decade ago where I was on the dais with her and then State Senator Bill Aniskovich as well as some other political mucky-mucks. Before and after the parade I witnessed her approach every octogenarian she could line up in the sites of her beady eyes, grab their right hands with her right hand, put her left hand on their wrist, get down low to their ear and whisper: “Don’t worry. I won’t let those awful Republicans take away your Social Security.” I should have counted how many people she did this with, but suffice it to say it was a lot.

I didn’t know her very well at that time and Senator Aniskovish whispered to me that this is how she got elected and hasn’t changed her mantra in every election since her first in 1991. Ah, ha.

So what has DeLauro done since getting elected on the anti-Republican pro-Social Security chant since 1991? She sponsored and co-sponsored close to 200 resolutions and 4 were passed. Quite a record. They appear below. Have a look and be amazed at their largesse and the amount of work that must have gone into them.

H.Res. 823: Expressing deep condolences to the families, friends, and colleagues of those killed and injured in the attack on the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) office in Islamabad, Pakistan, on October 5, 2009, and support for the WFP's mission to bring emergency food aid to the most vulnerable people of Pakistan and around the world.

H.Res. 1240: Supporting the goals and ideals of Global Youth Service Day.

H.Res. 353: Supporting the goals and ideals of Global Youth Service Days.

H.Res. 787: Expressing support for designation of October 13, 2009, as National Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day.

Some earth shattering stuff there, huh? Looks like there is more for Pakistan than New Haven doesn’t it?

The citizens of the 3^rd District are really being represented well from DeLauro’s presence in those chambers. (Please note sarcasm) And, present she is. To her credit DeLauro has only missed 139 roll call votes out of 12,447. That’s roughly 1%. Not bad.

Consider this though, at a pay rate closing in on 200K, benefits to beat the band, and all the curb appeal in her hometown that comes along with a Congressional office; wouldn’t YOU show up to work, too? Especially, if you could just stay in the background and not do anything? Sure, they drag her out on occasion to make a speech here or there; she gave a nomination speech at the Democratic Convention for Bill Clinton before his second election. And, man did she suck. It was painful to watch. She has all the exuberance of a toad that’s been run over by a Peterbilt.

But, DeLauro doesn’t have to be a good speaker. In fact, she doesn’t have to be a good anything.

What DeLauro has is her name and a very brilliant husband who is a nationally revered political strategist. If ever there were an argument for branding in politics, this would be it. DeLauro comes from a long lineage of Italian-Americans in New Haven with connections all over the place. Her husband, Stan Greenberg, has capitalized on this and built a brand that is seriously hard to beat.

The people voting DeLauro in year after year are the same demographic every single time. Old Italian loyalists and hard line Democrats who are lined up well in advance of Election Day by DeLauro and her minions, per her husband’s time tested plan.

No Senior Center or nursing home in the 3^rd District is safe from DeLauro and her Republican hating rhetoric. She loves to use fear as the impetus for getting these folks to grease up the spokes on their wheel chairs and risk the trip out in a DeLauro sponsored bus to place that vote. And, of course, if they are too frail and hopefully a little loose in the brains department, DeLauro and her staff will sign them up for an absentee ballot. I couldn’t find numbers on how many absentee votes DeLauro typically gets, but I would feel comfortable speculating it’s a lot.

Her other major constituency, the Democrat hard liners, aren’t going to give up a sure thing. These folks don’t care that she has very little power, ambition, or brains, all they care about is keeping the seat away from Republicans and the ability to name drop and maybe get a few tix to the White House, or a recommendation for little Johnny or Susie to Yale. For DeLauro that is just great, because there is some major league dough rolling through the estates of the 3^rd District and again, she has to do very little to bring it in.

Actually DeLauro!

That money is enough to keep her mug out in front of the party loyalists who may not know her, but just need to know who to vote for. You know, the sheep of the Democratic Party. And, let’s face it; it’s a mug you wouldn’t soon forget. She even has a signature affect…her scarves. Another brilliant touch most likely generated by her husband.

She also works hard to stay away from controversy. The only two scandalous events an opponent could use against her are small potatoes.

In 2008, DeLauro first endorsed epic thief and ne’er-do-well Senator Chris Dodd for President very quietly. Then when it started to come out that he had used the banking system as his own piggy bank, she quickly endorsed Lord Falderal at a huge event at her home. Big deal, who cares? So, she associates with scumbags; every politician does. Also in 2008, she and her husband came under minor fire for allowing Rahm Emanuel to hang upside down at their residence in DC for free. Whoa, prepare the stockade!

Hey, you can’t argue with success. But, it’s a damn shame the 3^rd District is represented by such a lame duck. There have been some fine candidates from both the Republicans and the Green Party over the years. However, neither party has gotten significantly behind their endorsed candidates. Why? Because they recognize the Greenberg/DeLauro strategy and feel like their time and effort is better spent in other races. In other words, they have basically given up.

One might ask why would they do that? Answer: because she does nothing. She leads absolutely nothing. She really isn’t a risk because she is just going to go along with her Congressional brethrens’ plans and claim them as her own to her constituents. And, it’s hard to fight her on any other basis. She stays away from scandal and doesn’t fight for anything significant, she just nods her head and goes along for the ride.

The opposition looks at her as a non-entity. The philosophy goes like this: if the R’s are in power, their agenda will be satisfied by the majority, if the D’s are in power, well, then we lose anyway.

It’s a foul cycle.

What it would take to beat DeLauro is someone who could energize a younger voting base and get them involved in the political process. Unfortunately, we all know how hard that is. Most political operatives would argue that all you need is money to beat her. That is not necessarily true. What needs to be done is to impassion the electorate by making them understand how ineffectual she really is.

One problem has always been that her husband (I am assuming it’s him) will only allow limited and selective debates with her opponents. The reason: she can’t defend her job and is indeed a lousy public speaker. They aren’t going to risk having her look bad when faced with substantive questions. No matter how many times candidates in the past have tried to insist on debates, she always wears this false air of importance around her that she is too busy to debate. Ridiculous.

So, my prediction is that unless a real firecracker of a candidate comes along, DeLauro will remain a fixture until the majority of her constituency dies off, or she does herself. Until then, the 3^rd District can depend on very little coming from the Feds thanks to DeLauro and the sheep that vote her in.

Power to the People

2010-07-27T11:06:00.000-07:00

This election season Connecticut has the perfect opportunity to start the tedious process of taking back their Government, both at the State and Federal level.

August 10th is the primary date in which Republicans can make their voice heard. This is a unique situation where in two very important races the choice is between two people who can buy their way into public office, and two tried and true public servants.

In an era where “throw the bums out” is a recurring mantra, and Congress is sure to be turned upside down, it is easy to make the decision to vote in outsiders. I mean, after all, the battle cry is to rid Government of the fat, happy, and stupid people currently running things. However, it is prudent to consider some of the talent already in place.

There are still good public servants out there. They may not be as flashy as what I refer to as “Sociopathic Politicians”, but they have the public’s interest in mind unlike their competition.

Unfortunately, like the general public, the Grand Old Party in Connecticut is not immune to flashy candidates with big bucks. This year the Connecticut Republican Party opted to go along with the flow of public discontent and endorsed two relative outsiders to politics and public service. In my opinion this was a haphazard and amateurish maneuver.

For the office of Governor of the great State of Connecticut, the GOP endorsed Tom Foley, a former Ambassador to Ireland and holder of a dubious position created by President George W. Bush whereby Foley was supposed to “help the Iraqi state economy get back on track”. This despite Foley’s comparatively dismal performance in managing his own companies and lack of candor in fessing up to the committee that appointed him as to the content of his criminal record. A criminal record, which includes charges of violence against women, as well as, the general public.

http://articles.courant.com/2010-06-25/news/hc-thomas-foley-michael-fedele-0625_1_mr-foley-thomas-foley-arrest-records

Passed over as a GOP endorsed candidate was their own Michael Fedele, current Lieutenant Governor, successful business and family man, and a proven public servant. Fedele also lacks the proverbial skeletons that haunt the closets of Foley. In other words, a man of character, sense of duty, and non-flashy kind of guy.

Fedele could be any one of us. First generation immigrant, who made good, decided to give back, and has had an exemplary run in State Government. What he doesn’t have is Foley’s dough and that is what the Republicans believe will win this election.

Which is why the GOP also endorsed Linda McMahon over Rob Simmons in the Connecticut Senate Race for Chris Dodd’s seat. While a monkey would be better than Chris Dodd, this person doesn’t even rate a monkey’s position on the evolutionary chart.

McMahon is the former CEO of the WWF. Up until two years ago she has advocated general violence, violence against women, pornography, and capitalizing on the general depravity of human nature in order to amass many millions of dollars. But, as it so often goes with Type A personalities who have made well in the business world, it is now time to for Linda McMahon to gain the acceptance of the general public as a whole, by putting on her Polly Anna routine and running for office. A routine that cost many millions of dollars to fabricate, and which has positioned McMahon as a businessperson and Washington outsider. Well, as much as someone who has given countless bucks to lobbyists can be an outsider.

This is what the GOP has chosen over Rob Simmons, a lifelong public servant who not only has an impeccable record in serving his constituents, but a personal one as well. Like Fedele, Simmons hasn’t a nasty instance in his past. Also like Fedele, he doesn’t have the means to tap the kind of money McMahon can. McMahon has dedicated $15 million just to flesh out information on her competition and has said she will allocate as much as $30 million towards this campaign.

Don’t get me wrong, Simmons can raise money, but when you are up against an unending fount such as McMahon’s, it’s hard to compete. Which is sad, and is why it is far time to show where the power really lies.

The power is in your vote, not Foley or McMahon’s pocketbooks. You can be the bastion of common sense the State and country so desperately need.

The public needs to give the GOP a good solid kick to the shins and wake them up. A vote for Foley, or McMahon is doing nothing for you or the public, all it does is give these two clowns another notch in their ego belt.

Go out on August 10^th and send a message. Vote for Fedele and Simmons. Then we can get on to the real business of booting Dickie Blumenthal and Ned Lamont or Dan Malloy into the political hinterlands.

http://fedele2010.com/

http://www.joinrobsimmons.com/

Tom Foley: Sociopathic Politician?

2010-07-19T08:37:00.000-07:00

In my mind there are two types of politicians. The ones cut out to be public servants and the ones who enjoy the spotlight and act from a pseudo political pulpit enjoying the recognition whilst staying safely away from getting their hands dirty.

The former are usually thrust into politics at the behest of people who have been impressed with the future candidates verve, intelligence, and ability to lead. This normally occurs after a successful career that showed real tenants of leadership. Unfortunately, few politicians of this genre exist in government today.

The second type of politician is your basic sociopath of which we have in abundance in this country. (Just check out the White House, Congress, & the Senate)

The sociopathic candidate does whatever they can to get into office typically without actually knowing what the job really entails, because the job doesn’t matter. What matters to these whack-jobs is to feel accepted by a large number of people (usually duped by their glib charm) who by their votes give the candidate the feeling of self worth they so desperately clamor to attain.

To me, the perfect politician and public servant has done their time in a job or business that has flourished due to their leadership abilities and not just because they had a blank check from Daddy and Mommy. A person who has worked their way up through the primordial slime and are now able to give back to the public.

This year Connecticut has provided a perfect example of both types of politicians in a couple of races. The most prominent of which is the Connecticut Gubernatorial.

Connecticut is fortunate to have enjoyed the reign of M. Jodi Rell, in my book, the gold standard of public servant. Jodi is the type of person who never forgets who she just talked to 30 seconds ago whether they are a janitor or possible big campaign contributor. And, if the conversation called for some kind of action, you can bet she will get it done and tell you about it either with a card or a phone call.

Jodi got her job when she was Lieutenant Governor and Former Governor John G. Rowland got carted off to the pokey after a colossal witch-hunt, which really didn’t turn up anything significant. However, Jodi was faced with a mess of a public relations nightmare to deal with and had to regain the State’s trust, which she did so well, she got elected in her own right for a second full term. Unfortunately, for Connecticut, she is not running again.

Enter about a dozen candidates for Governor as would be expected, especially in this political climate of throw the bums out.

After some card shuffling and soul searching by potential candidates the deck has shaken out to two top runners for the Republican ticket, (I think there are actually 3 or 4 candidates from the R side, but these are the only two I care about) who will face off in a primary in August.

Mike Fedele is the current Lieutenant Governor of the State of Connecticut under Jodi Rell and he is of the good variety of politician I spoke of earlier. I would vote for him on the sole fact that Jodi picked him as her running mate. Her endorsement is enough for me, but I am biased, I know Jodi and I personally know how great she is.

For those who don’t know her and would require a more comprehensive bio of Fedele, here is a quick run down. Fedele is a first generation immigrant who is self made, spent time in the CT legislature and has never been a spot light seeking kind of guy. He is a family man who happened to adjust very well to public service and has done a top quality job wherever he goes. He is unburdened by any skeletons in his closet and has chosen, admirably, to run his campaign with public funds.

His opponent? Egads, if ever there was the perfect example of the sociopathic variety of politician this dude is it. I believe this to be one of those guys who probably talks to himself in the car, shower, hyperbolic chamber, whatever, just to enjoy his own rhetoric. (He is also probably the type most often found at 2am in a dark corner, naked in the fetal position, sucking his thumb, while shaking and crying.)

Tom Foley is one of those pieces of junk you can watch on TV, hear on the radio, see in the paper or a brochure and feel like you need to not just take a shower, but douse yourself with gasoline like a Buddhist Monk, in order to forever rid yourself of the ridiculous tripe that comes out of his mouth.

Foley has some impressive achievements under his belt; he has bankrupted a company, smacked his wife around, spent time in jail (let’s be fair though only a night) and is an impressive storyteller. The man is an amazing master of hyperbole and is able to manipulate the truth like a Kennedy or a Clinton. (Read that: liar)

His time spent in politics and Government consists of being Ambassador to Ireland, which allows him the title of diplomat, and some ambiguous gig in Iraq that has lead to great (albeit embellished) stories about his war service. I imagine he and Dickie Blumenthal must have great convos at Veteran cocktail parties.

Check here for fun info on Dickie. http://blogofirreverence.blogspot.com/2010/05/gi-dickie.html

Ambassador to Ireland? I’d like to be rich enough to buy that job too! Foley’s job in Iraq was some hare-brained thing where he was tasked by Bush to help develop plans for State owned businesses to re-establish and strengthen their economy. Uh…yeah…

Then there are his legal wranglings. When it came to light Foley may have had an er, uh, disagreement with his ex-wife that involved the local gendarmerie, he came forward and said he would allow full disclosure of the case to the public. Likewise, some vehicular malfeasance in which he “rammed” another vehicle completely freaking out the occupants, and resulting in an attempted assault charge.

Now, watch the shiny ball people… He never really fessed up the details and there were apparently some efforts to expunge the records or otherwise “lose the files” so to speak.

This is kind of a fun factoid. In 2002, Governor John Rowland appointed Foley as co-chair of some special committee on divorce and custody. Foley’s ex-wife wrote a letter against the appointment. That insolent cow! How dare she, you know, after the guy beat her and everything!

Now check THIS out. As I mentioned, Fedele has chosen to use public funding for his campaign. This disallows any special interest groups or any one contributor the ability to donate boatloads of money with the idea there may be some favors to repay. THAT my friends, is a sign of integrity.

Foley has challenged the Constitutionality of Connecticut’s Campaign Finance Rules not once, but three times all the way to the Supreme Court in an effort to keep Fedele from collecting the money he is entitled to in order to campaign for the primary. Luckily, this hat trick failed miserably. He has lost (thankfully) all three times. The guy isn’t even elected yet and he is spending tons of taxpayer money on frivolous lawsuits!

These are the forensics of the sociopathic politician. Someone who buys their way into political posts without the burden of having to serve at any quantifiable capacity, a person who uses their purchased, not earned, political capitol to satisfy their own need to be recognized. It is actually pretty sad, not just for Tom, but for the public as well.

So, I beg you CT GOPers to please vote for Fedele in the Primary on August 10^th. I would much rather be writing posts on those other two sociopathic politicians Ned Lamont and Dan Malloy.

Revolution? Yes We Can!

2010-07-14T08:06:00.000-07:00

This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their Constitutional right of amending it or their revolutionary right to dismember it or overthrow it.

--Abraham Lincoln

Not a huge fan of using quotes usually. I think it’s kind of hacky. If you are going to write something and can’t illustrate the point effectively yourself; don’t write at all! (Some of you just said…well then stop typing!)

Once in a while however, a good quote can really knock your thinking from one of myopic indoctrination to one of clarity.

Americans have become so influenced by the deluge of information and misinformation thrown down at us like so much offal over the last 150 years, that we have lost sight of who we are and how this country is supposed to work. The bulk of Americans no longer see themselves as We the People, but as Us the Powerless.

Think about it hard. The last time you got screwed by Bank of America, or the DMV or Wal-Mart, etc; what did you do? You probably screamed like hell up to a certain level of management and then gave up regardless of how truly pissed you were; chalking up whatever egregious indignation you suffered to the inability to fight such a behemoth of an organization. Of course, it’s true that for one individual it is virtually impossible to “fight City Hall” as it were.

But with a coalition, Americans can “fight City Hall”, or Bank of America, or Wal-Mart or whomever. That’s how our country was built. We are not powerless unless we make ourselves powerless and that is exactly what we have done.

This is why when I hear someone scoff at the idea of revolution my blood boils over.

Talk of revolution usually elicits two responses:

1. Abject revulsion; as the word Revolution to most liberals has become synonymous to drunken, inbred ramblings of racist redneck hicks propagated by a love of hell raising and hatred for authority in general. Liberals believe that anyone who even thinks of revolution to be clearly devoid of any semblance of intellect whatsoever. Revolutionists are in effect, dangerous ignorant extremists to most Liberals.
2. To conservatives and moderates, the idea seems fantastic, but impossible to achieve given the size and ingrained infrastructure of our current Government. The prospect just seems so damn daunting.

To the first group, my response would be: you are the truly ignorant amongst us.

Are you implying that Patrick Henry, Samuel Adams, George Washington, Ben Franklin et al, were extremist dolts? Is it because you have become so fat and happy given the liberties these revolutionists fought for that you couldn’t possibly fathom any other mode of operation? Are we now to be a country that merely opines rather than takes action towards the betterment of their own people’s destinies? Or, shall we allow the Government to do that for us?

Liberals are not patriots. Oh, not by a long shot. They have no problem taking and taking and bitching about how little they receive for doing nothing and how stupid everyone else is. They offer solutions in which they have no intention of helping to achieve. Their raison d’être is perpetuating cradle to grave government reliance.

These are the same people who have labeled the Tea Party folks an ignorant mob of predominantly white-faced miscreants looking to shore up their 2nd Amendment rights. Clear and utter bullshit. Tea Partiers are not the problem, they are doing what they can to showcase a growing viewpoint: American Government as we know it does not work!

To Conservatives and Moderates: I would beg look back to the beginning when Britain’s Goliath-like grip was broken by a rag tag, ill equipped group of patriots who were short on resources but long on belief in the power of regular people and the desire for a good quality of life unencumbered by Government. This should be the very inspiration we need to begin a real change, not the crap Lord Falderal sold the nation last year. The first American Revolution was a seemingly impossible undertaking: fighting the formidable British Empire. But they did it and so can we. Any nay saying on the subject is bilge.

The difference between now and Revolutionary times is there were real leaders then. Now, we have nothing but trained rhetoric specialists and lawyers with aspirations and personal agendas. Any idiot with a team of newly minted college English majors sporting laptops and a teleprompter can get into office regardless of their experience in real life.

There was also a more pure distribution of information; no Internet, or biased media poisoning the minds of voters into thinking things are not what they really are and that the citizenry are in essence controlled by the Government and not vice versa. Sure, there were fewer people to get the word out to, but at least the voting public could be confident that information looked something like the Truth.

Today, the well has been poisoned. I know very intelligent people who take the word of CNN, MSNBC and even FOX as gospel and vote accordingly. Mindless. There is no initiative to seek the real truth since it is just easier to take the word of whoever the flavor of the week media correspondent is and go with that.

Seldom will you find me agreeing with Sarah Palin, but she is right on point with the media. Amazing things can be done through editing and camera angles as well as selective choices of dialog to use in any media package be it audio or video. They have the power to make an idiot look like a genius and a genius look like an idiot. Ask John Stewart, that’s how he makes a living. We have become a sound bite society and we use these clever edits to choose our so-called leaders.

We have let this system run on autopilot for way too long and are paying the piper for it now. The United States Government and Capitalism as a whole is a rudderless ship careening towards the reefs of destruction. The near miss of Lord Falderal’s hapless healthcare reform is the perfect example. Despite an overwhelming amount of people who were against it, it would have passed both Houses because our leaders have no clue what their constituents really want. And, for those of you who see some sort of conspiracy by the right wing that claim Falderal is tinkering with Socialism; here’s a clue, he is and it is no conspiracy.

This collective legislative scum could care less about the people they represent. They care only about their own careers and their places in history.

Thankfully the people of Massachusetts spoke, sending a shot across the bow of rank and file legislators all over the Nation. Now the House healthcare plans will have to be scrapped and retooled. The message is clear; the people are angry and will not be pushed around any longer.

Massachusetts was indeed a game changer, and it should be used as an example of what can be accomplished when people get together, express how they are feeling and turn those feelings into action. If the aforementioned topics in addition to the Massachusetts election don’t get you fired up, how about this: the Supreme Court's latest ruling on Campaign Finance? It not only lets the foxes into the henhouse, it also filets and breads the chickens.

It’s time to find real leaders regardless of what party they come from; strong leaders that can speak directly to the people at their own levels. We haven’t had a real leader since Teddy Roosevelt was President. In short, we need a real revolution. Not the kind where we forcefully take over the government, but the kind with a long-term strategy devised to dump this President and the entire legislature. We the people must take over the government and get back to where we came from.

It is also important to realize that revolution is not about throwing out the party in control and replacing it with the other party. It’s about rethinking the whole structure. It’s about replacing the morons who are running things from the Executive Branch down. They no longer represent real people; they represent party hacks and special interest groups. If Massachusetts didn’t illustrate that point, I don’t know what else would.

Can we do it in the next three years? Yes, we can; only this time for real.

The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.
--Thomas Jefferson

Upside Down Flag? Appropriate for the Times?

2010-07-10T12:03:00.000-07:00

Is the United States really in enough distress to fly the flag upside down?

Dr. Thomas Byrd an eye doctor from Downriver, MI chose to fly his flag upside down in front of his offices over the July 4^th weekend. As you can imagine the act caused a bit of a furor. Most people interpreted upside down Old Glory as a sign of disrespect to veterans, our current serving military personnel, and anyone else who loves this country.

The thing is Dr. Byrd did not flip the flag to express some kind of anti-American sentiment, quite the contrary. Dr. Byrd himself is a veteran and is aware that in accordance with the United States Flag Code, the inversion of the flag is a signal of distress. The flag in the upside down position is supposed to indicate that American citizens are in extreme danger to life and property. Dr. Byrd believes this is the case of the country at this time and wanted to draw some attention to his concerns. He believes that awareness is what we need in this time of peril.

I couldn’t agree more and although it may be extreme, I think we should have a movement to get everyone who believes the country is going the way of Rome to fly their flags upside down until we take a 90 degree turn to the positive. It would be like the yellow ribbons or any of a number of the symbolic movements we have had in this country when trying to show solidarity.

We need to show these pig-fucking Government shills that it is still the people running this game and that the people are pissed.

It is time for everyone who voted for all of these jackasses (not just the one in the White House) to come together and reach a common ground. Ok, I got carried away there, we’ll never reach a common ground, but anything is better than this.

We need to act like this Presidency is the equivalent to 9/11 in that we need to come together as a country then throw the bums out and start over. This country needs an enema and it is the people who should deliver it. November is not going to be enough. We need to keep the momentum going. Obama is toast in 2012; that is a forgone conclusion, so it is now time to decide what we want in a leader as a country and get to work.

This little trick with the flag is just a symbol, but a lot of movements start with a symbol. It’s something to bring people together, no different than a slogan, like, oh I don’t know, Hope and Change, maybe?

Everyone is hurting and everyday there is more and more dissent. It is no longer productive. The dissent is not productive and the Government is not productive and something has to break. The American people need to rely on themselves and get cracking with some real candidates who have the country’s best interests in mind. Unlikely candidates. People who never even considered running for public office now need to step up to the plate.

I have argued with my Mother, a devout Lord Falderal supporter, that she could do a better job than this President. She thinks I am nuts and just gets pissed when I bring it up. But, you know what? She could. Just like millions of other Americans, she knows how to run a budget, she knows how to protect her family, she knows how to care for her loved ones and those less fortunate than herself. Mom knows what works and what doesn’t. She doesn’t have any airs; she is selfless and puts the needs of others in front of her own. As much as I love Mom, she is not unique, there are plenty of people just like her all over this country.

We don’t need anymore lawyers who do nothing but interpret and interpret laws until no one remembers what the hell they were for in the first place. We need people who act. We need to take chances again, be pioneers. It’s a whole new world and we are quickly going the way of Rome. This country has become so dependant on the Government that we have gotten fat, soft, and apathetic. And, what happens when you become fat, soft, and apathetic? You get fucked. And, THAT is what your Government is doing to you right now.

Cheers, Dr. Byrd.

Missed Opportunity: The Gulf

2010-07-08T08:16:00.000-07:00

Just imagine if Lord Falderal had actually taken the reigns on the Gulf Disaster.

All that hyperbole during the election of creating jobs and becoming a new age de facto FDR, all that Hope and Change crap that the Obama-zombies bought hook, line and sinker could all be legitimized if only our feckless President had done his job and taken control.

Here we are still losing hundreds of thousands of jobs every week, yet we have an extraordinary opportunity to create thousands of jobs down in the Gulf. Yes, it’s jobs created out of tragedy, but its jobs all the same. The BP oil spill has been called the largest environmental disaster to ever come along in this country. Well, if I remember correctly, true capitalists can take the worst situations and create something great out of them. Think both World Wars and 9/11 for starters. Problem is our President is a complete idiot and apparently doesn’t recognize both the obvious pragmatic as well as political solutions to the problem.

Let’s think about the economics for a minute.

Last I checked there was still some of that outrageous stimulus money kicking around. (Which apparently we aren’t allowed to use to extend unemployment benefits.) Wouldn’t the remainder of that dough be best used trying to save all we possibly can of our Gulf ecosystem as well as salvage the remnants of the lives of the people effected by this horrific circumstance?

We are not talking about a one hit deal here either. Pouring money into the Gulf situation just makes good sound economic sense. It’s so obvious I can’t believe I just typed that line. Could there possibly be anyone out there who wouldn’t rather see their tax dollars going into saving our own countrymen’s livelihoods, our environment, and help give a kick start to the National economy as a whole, than pouring it into ridiculous social programs that have no long term positive effects? That supremely stupid Obamacare Legislation is a good example. Talk about many billions gone to waste when they finally realize they can’t administrate that abortion.

This is a national emergency, has been since day 1, and Lord Falderal has done everything in his power not to deal with it. This moron and his cadre of amateurs in knee pants haven’t got the memo that the election is over and it is time to GOVERN. Talk is cheap Falderal, and even your talk isn’t saving your ass now.

He wants to be FDR? Here was the perfect opportunity. Unlike a lot of the uselessness that went along with FDR’s job creation programs, Falderal was in the unique position of being able to create legitimate jobs for the actual good. You know, real, needed stuff that could have made him a hero. Hell, if he had jumped on this from the start, a second term would have been a non-issue.

Falderal didn’t even respond when the Ragin’ Cagin’ James Carville bitched him out. Talk about a clear queue to take some action. When a guy like Carville says to jump to and you are a Democrat, well sir, jump to! Nope. Nothing.

That’s not fair though. Falderal has worked hard on the Gulf situation in between vacations, meeting with rock stars, and tossing the Israeli/Palestinian situation back into the dark ages. He has worked very hard placing blame and throwing stones. He has done the best he possibly could to make BP the ultimate evil empire, which is fine, but let’s do that later on after we fix the problem, eh?

There are fisherman, trades people, divers, and all manner of working folk being destroyed by this catastrophe. Why isn’t the government seeking the use of their specific knowledge of the area, their equipment, and their passion to help with the problem. How hard would that be? Assign tasks, pay per diems and I assure you this thing would disappear a lot faster than it ultimately will. Instead, our government sits around mentally masturbating every angle (mostly from a political stand point) instead of taking action. It’s despicable.

The psychological effect of tasking those worst hit and paying them for their contribution is huge as well. It brings everyone together and there is nothing this country can’t do when brought together. Think 9/11. Did you ever think New Yorkers could be cuddly before that date?

What really, really, REALLY kills me is that even if Falderal wanted to continue playing politics instead of actually dealing with the situation, he could have and still would have been a hero. All he had to do was say “we’re sending as many people down to the Gulf as needed, we will hire private contractors and work day and night until the leak is stopped and clean up is finished.” But, no. His way of dealing with it was to immediately declare there would be justice. BP would pay.

Well, BP didn’t bomb a building or take out an airplane or plant a dirty bomb in a subway. BP was drilling for oil to satisfy OUR greedy demands. Justice can wait. Falderal’s “just plug the damn hole” statement shows how out of touch he really was right from the start.

It’s sickening, disheartening, and just adds to the insults this President has brought this country.

But, you know, he isn’t worried because somehow this is George Bush’s fault anyway!

Check this out:

Falderal's Oil Slicked Waterloo

2010-06-24T07:30:00.000-07:00

In 2008, the euphoria of the Obama campaign resembled the excitement one feels while being taken up into a cresting wave. That sucking down towards the ocean bottom and adrenaline inducing vertical pull, as you are uplifted to the precipice is in my mind a great metaphor for those who supported the anointed one from Chicago. Phrases like the title of Obama’s book; The Audacity of Hope, and campaign trifles like Hope and Change had a cross generational effect not seen in many, many years. They got caught up into his wave.

The problem with the excitement of being pulled up into a wave whether it is real or metaphorical, is the inevitable crash down into the sand, rock, and rubble that can leave one beaten and battered and questioning whether becoming one with the wave was really worth it. For those caught up into it accidentally, or out of some sort of desire to be part of the crowd, the fall is not quite as poignant as it is for those who came into it full steam with all faculties working.

I have waited long enough to comment on everything oil slick. But, I really wanted time to see what was happening before espousing on this ludicrous situation.

First of all, let me state I am someone who would love to get off the grid and live a total energy independent lifestyle. But, let’s face it; that ain’t happening anytime too soon and like everyone else I must look at the energy situation with some common sense. We are going to be dependent on oil for a long time to come, especially if our retarded Government keeps delaying funding research and capital investment in clean energy infrastructure. Or using whatever is already there like nuclear energy for instance. They would rather fund failed and failing social programs instead of investing in the economy of the future.

The BP Deepwater Horizon Disaster pains everyone. The mistakes, PR problems and lack of leadership all over the board could be postulated on and analyzed until the end of time, and probably will be. But, there are some very common sense issues at stake here that go beyond the technological issues of plugging the leak.

As usual, the finger pointing has taken precedence over the actual solving of the problem. I have been waiting for Lord Falderal to blame the Bush Administration, since…well…hell…why not?

We are all to blame.

I drive a car, most likely you, dear reader drive a car or operate machinery that requires crude. We love our electric lights, conveniences, etc. We consume, consume, consume and expect companies like BP to provide the supply for our demand. Rightfully, so. The last time I checked (although it is waning) we are a capitalistic society and operate on the principles of supply and demand.

BP is a company beholden to stockholders looking to make a profit. In so doing they provide not only our insatiable desire for oil, but also a good living for many thousands of people in the Gulf area, just like ExxonMobil, Chevron, or any of the other companies we take our oil business to.

Like any other business, they are going to look for ways to save money and provide larger profits and dividends for their investors. I realize this is a concept the guy posing as President in the White House doesn’t quite grasp, but nonetheless, it is what it is.

BP fucked up hard. They cut the wrong corners. On a moral level it is indefensible, but on a business level it is a decision based on historical precedent. They calculated (incorrectly) the variables associated with the possibility of a huge event and decided their course of action in developing safety measures and the appropriate responses would be designed to save a little money. It ain’t right, but you can see how it could happen.

Now they are the demons. BP’s response has been lackluster, they have tossed out PR screw up after PR screw up and the nation wants their collective heads on a stick.

I believe they are doing what any company would do and this is what we have to deal with. So we deal with it. We do the best we can. We don’t have a choice. But, we need some leadership on our end and that is where we are truly screwed because we don’t have it.

Lord Falderal has behaved far worse than BP has in my opinion. I believe the die has been cast for good ol’ Falderal and this is indeed his Waterloo. There has been no leadership from the very beginning. All he has done is threaten and cajole BP with absolutely no constructive plan whatsoever. If I were Tony Hayward or any other executive at BP, I would have told Falderal to pound sand when they forced BP to set up the $20 billion Escrow account under threat of legal ramifications. I would write off the White House, Congress, and the Senate and say; You know what? Deal with this your own damn selves.

It is Falderal’s job to protect the American people and our environment, not to play sophomoric power games. Given his chance to step up to the plate and show some leadership potential he has failed miserably. On Day 1, there should have been made available the full force of the stateside military, Army Corps of Engineers, Coast Guard and every private contractor we could find regardless of who caused the spill and where the blame fell. I mean, wtf?

There are so many examples of Falderal’s lack of leadership and petty little power plays. Governor Jindal asks for help with sand burms…nothing. Why? Because it is coming from Jindal and we can’t let him overshadow Fadleral and actually come up with a feasible solution. It took him far longer to make a visit to the Gulf than it did Bush to tour the wreckage from Katrina. We won’t accept foreign help because it may violate the Jone’s Act, even though the countries willing to help have more expertise and success in cleaning up oil spills than we do. It goes on and on and on. But, again it doesn’t matter; just fix the goddamn situation already.

As usual, the media is absolutely no help in all of this. Their emotion stirring controversies that may or may not actually be valid only make the overall problem worse. I don’t give a rat’s ass that Tony Hayward was racing yachts while Obama was playing golf during the crisis. I REALLY don’t need to be looking at the oil plume 24/7. This is a tragedy. It’s like watching your Mom get hit by a train over and over again.

Speaking of tragedy. What about the people who died in the disaster? There has been scant coverage of their lives and the families they left behind. They are just as heroic as the victims of 9/11, so how about some respect?

There is no good to come out of this at any level. The only possible glimmer of something shiny and pink may be that people will start thinking about losing the crude addiction more seriously. And, we may finally be able to consider Falderal a pathetic one termer, but even that is hollow in light of this awful situation.

The wave is crashing into shore and it is covered in the death of an ecosystem and the ruining of countless lives.

Connecticut GOP Needs an Enema

2010-05-23T08:46:00.000-07:00

It should be blatantly obvious I support Rob Simmons in his Senate campaign to replace epic thief Chris Dodd in Connecticut. I’ve stated pretty strongly I think, my opinion on his opponents.

Sadly, the Connecticut GOP in a move both embarrassing to real Republicans and insulting to someone like Simmons who has given his entire career to public service, voted to get behind WWE former CEO Linda McMahon as their Senate candidate. On the surface, I can claim to be completely shocked and appalled by this horrific misstep, but I understand how it happened.

McMahon has the dough, plain and simple. She is a shiny new penny and Rob is the tried and true gold standard. Unfortunately, shallow people fall for the wiles of a shiny new penny almost every time. It is wrong and it’s disgusting when applied to politics, but it is fairly predictable. And, although there is a plethora of things I would like to say about the delegates that get sent to these conventions and allowed to vote, I am going to keep my mouth shut and just rant on other topics.

I say it was predictable because after all it was McMahon’s $16 million bucks of research money which turned the spotlight on Dickie Blumenthal’s (the Democratic challenger), lies about being a Vietnam Veteran when he wasn’t. That was a pretty serious blow to Blumenthal’s campaign and whilst Republicans should be grateful for it, it is no reason to get behind someone who is even more despicable than Blumenthal.

Blumenthal is a sneaky little weasel that has been able to keep his shenanigans from being uncovered by the liberal press. He is a master at staying under the radar screen as far as his actions go. However, he is also brilliant at staying in the spotlight by attending ceremonies and innocuous events. That’s a politician not a public servant. Held to his actual record, Dickie would look pretty evil, ineffective and an amazing waster of taxpayer dollars.

McMahon, well, her character is displayed right out in the open with no filter whatsoever, and she is arrogant enough to believe people will toss aside the image she portrayed as the CEO of a violent, deviant sex promoting and vulgar company in favor of a more caring obsequious Senator-type visage. Those millions are obviously serving her well in this image makeover she has been crafting over the last 18 or so months. She has been able to dazzle the Republican delegates and intends on doing the same for Connecticut voters.

Where the GOP really F’ed up is in buying into the money over message principle. Yes, money does win elections. However, tactically speaking, when you have a candidate with both the ability to raise a considerable amount of money from his potential constituents and has the right message and ability to deliver on that message, then you have a real winner. McMahon may have the personal dough to throw at this thing, but she lacks the integrity, knowledge and ability to empathize with real people.

As the man says: you can’t fix stupid and although this is a blaring injustice on the part of the Connecticut GOP, there is hope.

Simmons has spent virtually nothing getting his message out and the result is he only lost to this scumbag by just over 100 delegate votes. That’s impressive and should serve as a harbinger of how Simmons does business. It also means that he has a campaign fund large enough to merit a primary. That is good for Connecticut voters. I am willing to bet Rob’s message will sink in more with real voters over the types of political hacks that vote in conventions. (Oops, I let my opinion slip there. I will do a post on delegates sometime in the future.)

Primaries kind of suck. They cost a lot of money and cause hard feelings within their respective parties. Time and time again, allies who could be productive in congress with each other working on real issues, become enemies and the whole Democratic process becomes more screwed up. In this case though a primary is warranted as I and many others believe the duped delegates do not represent what real voters want in a candidate.

Simmons will have to pull out all the stops in fighting McMahon in a primary, but he can do it. His people are going to have to put together the right kind of message delivery in terms of serious content mixed with a little mud slinging. What Simmons has in his favor is the fact the mud is for real when it comes to McMahon and not just a bunch of low blows thrown out there to garner support.

I urge all Connecticut Republicans tired of the systematic belittling of our wishes by this Government to go out and vote for Rob and toss this piece of garbage, attention seeking jackass out of the political ring and back into the gutter where she belongs. That way we can start working on punting Dickie Blumenthal into retirement and save us all a lot of dough.

G.I. Dickie

2010-05-18T09:39:00.000-07:00

Here’s a tip: If you are going to run in a Senate race and one of your opponents is a decorated War Veteran, don’t falsely claim you served in the same War, you know, unless you really did.

Back in my home state Connecticut; the race is really cooking for Master Thief Chris Dodd’s soon to be vacant Senate seat. I love this race because the comedic value is gigantic. Two of the candidates are amusing as hell.

We have a horrendous purveyor of sex, violence, and all manner of depravity in Linda McMahon, a Republican and part owner of the WWE. Then there is Attorney General Dick Blumenthal, a Democrat who has a penchant for suing and bullying small businesspeople because he doesn’t have enough game to stand out on the National playing field, and has darkened the doorway of the Attorney General’s office since Christ was a Corporal in the foot guard.

Fortunately, in Connecticut there is an anomaly to political races all over the country; a candidate people can actually get behind with confidence. Republican Rob Simmons. From all the words I have committed to Simmons you would think I was working on the campaign, or was just otherwise kissing his ass. Well, I am not a campaign worker and I have no need to brown nose the man, it is just so rare that a real public servant throws their hat in the ring.

Seldom do I get to showcase a solid and committed candidate. I know in these times it isn’t en vogue to get behind a successful, older white male, considered to be part of the “establishment”. But, there are a few good ones left and Rob is one of them.

I said it before and I will state it one more time, it is almost insulting that Simmons has to suffer battling two such candidates for a seat he is so obviously more qualified to have.

However, this post is not about Simmons qualifications, you can read about that here: http://blogofirreverence.blogspot.com/search?q=simmons&updated-max=2010-02-09T20%3A25%3A00-08%3A00&max-results=20

What I want to talk about is Dick Blumenthal falsely claiming, or at least having alluded to serving in Vietnam. The New York Times recently published an article explaining what Dick Blumenthal’s time spent as a Marine really looked like in opposition to what he says at ceremonies and campaign stops.

Par example. Here is a quote from a 2008 address to Veterans and Senior Citizens in Norwalk, CT:

“We have learned something important since the days that I served in Vietnam. And you exemplify it. Whatever we think about the war, whatever we call it — Afghanistan or Iraq — we owe our military men and women unconditional support.”

The Times claims the truth is Dickie did everything he could to avoid Vietnam and he did, successfully. Dickie received five deferments, so he could attend Harvard, which on its face isn’t really a big deal, a lot of soldiers did the same thing. However, when it looked like the last deferment might not happen, Dickie worked hard to land himself a far less dangerous gig with the Marine Reserve. You know what those guys do? Arrange perilous local activities and events like organizing Toys for Tots campaigns.

Here is the Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/18/nyregion/18blumenthal.html

Dickie is pretty disgusting at baseline in the way he manipulates and uses ambiguity in his speeches in order to speak out of two sides of his face. He would like you to think he is Joe Lieberman-esque only without Joe’s ability to give frank, honest assessments that may not be popular with his constituents. Dickie wants to make everyone happy even though he has no intention of doing that in actual practice. He will smile at you while twisting the knife up under your rib cage. Oh wait, he’s not trained to do that, but I bet he can wrap up a toy GI Joe nice and pretty.

Using ambiguity or flat out mis-truths when speaking of time served in the Military is particularly disgusting. I don’t care if as a politician you play fast and loose with facts when it comes to shoring up your platform, that’s SOP and people will either see it for what it really is, or not. But, when you claim to have served this country overseas in the line of fire when you haven’t, well, that is particularly despicable and steals away a little piece of valor from all those who have given their lives, limbs, or sanity to make sure we all deservingly or not, get to enjoy the lives we do.

We reap what we sow in this life and I am glad that FINALLY someone has exposed Dickie for what he really is; a brilliant user of language as power, media savvy about his image and more importantly a dishonest, egotistical, hypocrite whose time in public office should have run out years ago.

Ironically, it was not the NYT that came up with the research, which led to their article. Big surprise, it’s not like they would ever have said anything negative about Dickie on their own. It was Linda McMahon’s crack research team that provided the leads for the NYT to run with. Her campaign likes to brag that they have $16 million to toss at tactical research avenues in order to discredit her opponents. I see this as good for Simmons as he has nothing to hide or run from. For Blumenthal, all I can do is laugh. McMahon’s money is exactly what was needed to expose him for what he really is.

As I finish up this post, it is T-minus 9 minutes until Dickie gets on TV and explains himself. This should be good. Expect an update.

Rob, I hope you sent a nice Thank You note to Linda. She just may be the best thing your campaign has seen yet!

UPDATE:

And, this is his reply:

http://www.wtnh.com/dpp/news/connecticut/blumenthal-admits-he-misspoke-about-vietnam-era-service

Lame.

Well, you can't defend the indefensible. There was a great moment during the news conference during the introduction where the presenter referred to an event for veterans where Dickie stood in the rain giving a speech for 4-5 minutes. This was supposed to show Dickie's true commitment to his country and Veterans and diffuse the issue at hand. Damn, that's good stuff right there!

And, Then There Were Three, Arrested That Is

2010-05-16T10:39:00.000-07:00

I always prefer writing on the larger political issues that affect us all, yet the most disturbing, ludicrous, and wildly entertaining stories seem to always occur at the local levels.

Remember the story about the Mayor, the Police Chief, and the Kidney? You can find it here: http://blogofirreverence.blogspot.com/2010/04/good-police-chief-bad-mayor.html Well, there’s an interesting side story that gives some insight into the type of person the Mayor featured in the article is, and whom she surrounds herself with.

It seems the Mayor of East Haven, CT, the only Mayor in the State of Connecticut to ever be arrested by her own Police Chief (oh, by the way her Assistant was arrested with her) and consequently took a very vague opportunity in which to put said Chief on leave, has been the impetus for the perfect trifecta of political arrests. Her Assistant Director of Administration and Management has been arrested for criminal weapons possession, theft of a firearm, and fourth degree larceny in the neighboring town of Branford.

Ralph Mauro the arrestee appears to have a penchant for illegal sub machine guns and stolen shotguns as well. As I often like to say; no innocent man buys an illegal gun. Or, in this case, steals one! Of course, one must remember until he goes to court these are only "allegations".

I am all about 2^nd Amendment rights and even though I am not a member of the NRA, I have no problem with those who are. That is as long as their weapons are legal and…uh…not stolen. This person is obviously an idiot at baseline, but let me tell you about what one of his responsibilities as the Mayor’s political shill are.

In the position of Assistant Director of Administration and Management, Ralph Mauro is responsible for such things as controlling the purse strings for the Police Department. How about that? Interesting, huh?

Ten years ago this guy was fired by previous Mayor Joe Maturo, also mentioned in the above referenced blog post, for stealing Town time, carrying a gun, (surprise, surprise) and eavesdropping on his co-workers at the City Hall Finance Department. He’s considered a real grade A scumbag by anyone’s standards and is the perfect example of who not to have in a public position of power.

For some further perspective into the case of Lenny Gallo, the Police Chief who was put on leave by the Mayor after a preliminary, actually BEFORE a preliminary report of a Justice Department investigation into the East Haven Police; consider this, Mauro denied the Chief money for training and personnel. What was in the Justice Department’s preliminary report; the recommendation for more training and personnel. Something every police department in America could use but doesn’t have the funding for. This report could have been sent to any department in the United States and would have been accurate.

Here is a copy of the report:

http://media2.wtnh.com/_local/documents/DOJ.pdf

My point in this case is my outrage that someone such as this, hired by an idiot Mayor has the power to deny a real public servant the funding needed to protect his town and its residents, and then is orchestral by association in the suspension of said public servant who has committed no crime or has causality for which to be reprimanded. That's a complete outrage.

So, to reiterate we have a Mayor, her Assistant Erica Berg, (some say her lover, but I won’t comment on that) and some gangster wannabe in a dangerous position of power, all arrested within one year. Yet, we have a well-respected Police Chief whose only desire is to do his job and protect his Town, sitting at home on administrative leave. Nice. Real, nice.

Normally, I bristle at the idea of litigating what should essentially be a personnel and Human Resources issue, but in this case, I hope Lenny sues the pantsuit off of East Haven and gets a huge chunk of change because he deserves it. And, quite frankly, the Town deserves the hit for electing this piece of garbage Mayor in the first place.

Incidentally, the Mayor has be unavailable for comment on the Mauro situation and no action has been taken on the part of the Town to keep this miscreant away from Town Hall. In fact, Mauro showed up for work the next day. The Town's lame excuse was that the arrest is a personal issue and not job related and they wanted to see how the situation played out. Really? So, you couldn't give Lenny the same courtesy and wait for the full Justice Department Report before taking action? Apparently, in East Haven it's OK to be a thief and carry around guns illegally, but if you are an honest Police Chief with a legal gun by the way, you get stripped of your badge, weapon, and car and get sent packing. Seems fair. in the alternate evil universe! As the kids say, WTF and OMG!

These kinds of witch-hunts are what really get in the way of the progress of not just Towns, but the country as a whole. Egos, agendas, corruption; all bad business.

By the way, as I was placing pictures onto this post, I felt like I was creating a new Rogue's Gallery. Nice work East Haven!

Go Arizona! Wake Up On Immigration

2010-04-28T11:31:00.000-07:00

"Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free." – Emma Lazarus

Yeah, that’s right. That’s the essence of these United States. This is the ideal we stand for and on which this country was founded.

But, lo have we veered from that ideal in the last hundred or so years, to the point where it takes the huevos of one Governor to implement a law that not only embraces racial profiling, but gives local law enforcement powers they should never have.

However, what Arizona Governor Jan Brewer has done by signing the State’s controversial new immigration law is send a very clear message to everyone, including our dysfunctional President and Congress, that the issue has gone too far and we need real change. This response may be extreme, but it is needed in order to extend the immigration debate to the point where real action is taken.

Washington Democrats and Republicans have been pussy footing around immigration for years. Neither party wants to sufficiently piss off their diverse voter bases to the point where they jump ship to the other party. What has happened is that Brewer captaining her State through a devastating hit to their economy, did what the Federal Government refused to do: act.

It’s hard unless you live in the Southwest to get a real feel for how badly things have gone. Here in San Diego, everyday I look at the local news and see how truly problematic illegal immigration is. California is toast financially and a good deal of the reason is the taxes spent on dealing with illegal aliens. Arizona faces the same problems.

I give Governor Brewer credit. It took some guts to follow through with this law especially given she is in a really ugly primary battle and could jeopardize her political career with this move. That is a good public servant right there. This country needs more people like her serving in the Government.

The real problem is; it’s a crappy law all around and it is going to cause all sorts of major problems administrating. I’m not sure it will save any taxpayer money when it is all said and done.

The more important thing the law has done is get people talking again, and talking for real, not just expressing vapid opinions and fostering the kind of hatemongering that goes along with the immigration issue. It has people acting constructively.

The problems go deep with immigration. It’s the flaws in a lot of our systems that causes these huge chasms between how we should act and how we do act towards immigration.

It’s a matter of attitudes that will dictate how we eventually fix our immigration system. We as a country have to first go back to our roots and realize; we want immigrants. The United States needs legal immigrants. These are folks just like our ancestors looking to find a better way, and we hold the key. It is hard to even conceive what the idea of freedom means to these people because we live it everyday and unfortunately take it for granted. The majority of people coming into this country aren’t looking for a free ride and we have a duty to help them achieve the very best they can. This country needs productive people so we can continue to evolve.

What is needed are stronger and stricter front-end processing rules and laws. This country needs to spend the resources at the beginning of the process and not the end, through after the fact enforcement. Too much time and money is spent trying to keep people out, and throwing people out, that the idea of prevention has been lost. If we have comprehensive screening processes that help immigrants and don’t scare them, then we would see the problem disappear over time.

Don’t get me wrong, I mean tough rules on the front end. But, they should be compassionate as well. We need to keep National Security in mind whilst considering who is allowed in and who we reject, but not to the point where good people are scared into scheming their way past our borders and living like outlaws in and amongst us; that’s not what this country is about, we are a welcoming country.

Liberals love to call Conservatives hate mongers when we get tough on immigration laws. They view us as racist. My opinion is that is because it is the easiest way out for Liberals to just brand us in such a manner and not look any deeper than that.

True Conservatives look at illegal immigration for what it is: a drain on our system and resources. It is one thing when our tax dollars go to aid legal citizens of this country; it is quite another when we are basically funding criminals to live amongst us. That does not mean we are not welcoming to legal immigrants. It’s folly to think we want to keep people out entirely. Yes, there are some that do and unfortunately we have to suffer them.

I said before, we need immigrants. I didn’t just state it as some kind of feel good rhetoric directed at underscoring the opening quote; I said it because we need them on a global level in order for our country to progress. The largest area we need immigrants for is the workforce, especially since this moron of a President keeps pushing his quasi-Socialist agenda.

As the United States advances, our workforce matures. The access to better education means Americans are unwilling to task at some of the more menial jobs needed to build as a capitalistic society. Tasks immigrants are happy to work at and are skilled at as well. I know some people will read this as some sort of elitist justification, but it’s not. It’s the truth. For some reason, a good portion of the working people in the United States feel some jobs are just way too beneath them to dignify. Well, someone needs to do them!

The issues are huge and cumbersome, but what Arizona has done is get people thinking again. It takes that kind of measure to spark a real movement. It is just too bad it is not the right measure.

Wrestling Government: Simmons vs. McMahon

2010-04-20T11:47:00.000-07:00

I am a great lover of money.

Money is fabulous. Good cold hard cash gives the ability not only to survive, but also to thrive. In a way this country’s raison d’etre is currency and there is really nothing wrong with that. I am actually very lenient when it comes to the means with which money is accumulated with the exception of stealing. However, when it comes to an individuals’ ambition to be a public servant, I believe money should never be a factor, especially when it comes to campaigns.

Left up to me all facets of Government would follow the edict of a 10^th Century Monastic Priory; with the legislature as the priory monks, the President as the Bishop and the People as Pope. All levels of Government would operate from bare bones offices with little or no comforts and the sole purpose of serving the people. They would eat horse-bread softened with weak ale, and spend every waking moment of their term working. Their campaigns would be financed evenly through a very sparse fund made up of taxes. The system would be heavily enforced by the public and the second any legislator, or the President, were observed partaking in anything other than what is rationed, they would unceremoniously be dismissed back into private life.

This way anyone fool enough to run for office would do so with only the best of intentions; that is to serve and not be self-serving. We could avoid those egomaniacal people who feel they should somehow be able to buy their way into government, so they can feel loved, or because it is just the “next thing to do” on their life agenda. We could also avoid the sons and daughters of millionaires who devoid of any need to do anything, decide to run for public office because “they want to make a difference”. Yes, only those with a religious like zeal to serve would run for office.

Ok, my fantasies aside, this is what I really want to talk about. A few months ago I wrote a post about the Senate Race in Connecticut, and the feud between Republican candidates Rob Simmons and Linda McMahon. See it here:

http://blogofirreverence.blogspot.com/2010/02/rob-simmons-vs-linda-mcmahon-smackdown.html

Linda McMahon is the perfect example of pure narcissistic foulness to be found in recent political history (with the exception of Lord Falderal, he’s the gold standard), while Rob Simmons is the perfect example of the aforementioned public servant.

McMahon is rich, seriously rich, and she doesn’t even try to hide the fact she is using her dough to try and buy her way into the Senate. Which is not incongruous to her character. This is a person who has made her fortune through morally reprehensible means. McMahon and her husband Vince are the owners of the WWE. That alone should give some perspective to the situation.

In other words, she has become rich by advocating violence, sexual depravity, drug use, and myriad other deplorable business undertakings the likes of which could make Larry Flynt blush.

Now McMahon is using that dough to change her persona into that of the ultimate Polly Anna, eschewing values, female empowerment, and appearing to be as boring as Barbara Boxer, or Nancy Pelosi. The question is will all that money be able to erase McMahon’s involvement in such antics as; kicking her husband in the nads in a wrestling ring after he cheated on her with a female wrestler (all scripted), allowing and in fact, supporting scenes in the ring simulating necrophilia, or one of my favs, defending wrestlers employed by the WWE who took part in such austere film renderings as: Girls Chloroform Girls, Tied, Gagged & Frightened, and who could forget, Dirty Soled Dolls.

She has also used her position to obstruct justice (she was never formerly charged of this, it is my opinion) by alerting a Doctor who prescribed steroids to her wrestlers of an impending Federal Investigation against him. This allegedly allowed said doctor to break company with certain pieces of evidence, which would have shed a poor light on McMahon, her husband and their company. The doctor was sentenced to time in a Federal prison and although McMahon’s husband was also brought up on charges he was not convicted. Here is a fun read:

http://www.theday.com/article/20100409/NWS12/100409727/1017

As part of her Polly Anna disguise, McMahon has claimed she is a DC outsider and is wildly against special interest groups. This despite the fact the WWE spent a cool million + bucks lobbying both houses as well as various Federal Agencies. Well, I guess in relative terms she is an outsider, a mil won’t buy you much at the Federal level these days. But, it does prove she is a huge liar; as does a vetting form she filled out for Governor M. Jodi Rell when she was being considered as an appointee to the Connecticut State Board of Education in 2009. Out of 29 questions, she answered five to the negative, when proving out found she may have had a lapse in memory. You can check it out here:

http://articles.courant.com/2010-04-04/news/hc-mcmahon-questionnaire-0404.artapr04_1_linda-mcmahon-answers-wrestling

To be fair, I did say in the beginning of this post I have no problem with a little leniency towards how the money is made. After all if there is a demand, I say go ahead and supply. Truth to be told, I would enjoy McMahon’s company say, at a bar, or cocktail party, or maybe an illegal cock fight, but not ever and I mean ever, would I want to see such a person in Government.

In Connecticut, everywhere you look Linda McMahon has an ad. She is trying to win the campaign based on market saturation. That’s dangerous. She realizes the only way she can possibly win is by a complete image overhaul and money tends to be pretty effective in achieving that end. Of course, it is an image overhaul, not a character overhaul. Nothing can change her character. She will always be someone who stood behind violence, drug abuse, and morally reprehensible behavior.

What voters need to do is take the initiative and look at the character of the person running and not the purse they are operating from. A guy like Rob Simmons isn’t in it for the money, the need to be admired, or some other sinister desire. He’s a guy who has done nothing but serve the public his entire career. Through his Military service, time spent in the CIA and Congress, plus his other achievements; Simmons has proven the people are what motivate his actions. THAT is a public servant. I am not sure what the hell Linda McMahon is.

I must admit she has given me a newfound respect for Jesse Ventura!

Good Police Chief, Bad Mayor

2010-04-19T10:13:00.000-07:00

Nestled between New Haven, CT to its West, and Branford, CT to the East is a town called East Haven. It’s a unique kind of place. It’s not a destination point you will see in any travel magazine, nor is it particularly famous for anything outside of the immediate area.

The town has characteristics reminiscent of both its book end neighbors. New Haven has graced the place with its urban influences on the West side and Branford; a beautiful coastal suburb with lots of money, history, and tourist attractions give East Haven an interesting confluence of culture and population towards it’s West. It even has a beach area; think Jersey Shore only a little poorer.

What East Haven lacks in sights, culture, and history it makes up for in the proud people who live there. The town has become a caricature of Italian American stereotypes due to its once largely Italian American population, a demographic that has been changing over the last 20 or so years. Unlike most of the towns around it, East Haven has been slow to gentrify and proudly so.

The citizens seem to almost relish in the guido and mob jokes set upon them by morning DJ’s even to the point where there is a traditional song parody called Christmas time in East Haven played during the Holidays. Check it out, it’s funny as hell and gives you a great perspective on the place.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCd1HHLVY5g

I said it has been slow to gentrify, but for a while it had been attracting a wealthier crowd during the late 1990’s on up until a couple years ago. People interested in locating deeper into New England either from New York or what is known as the “gold coast” of Connecticut saw East Haven as a more economically feasible place to land than the wealthier towns to the East.

This was thanks to a Mayor who was the perfect embodiment of the essence of the Town itself. Joe Maturo was a former firefighting, master electrician, working class guy who served the town for six terms. He was wildly popular and worked tirelessly to get his town as much attention as he could. It was easy for him because he had no problem getting the attention of people with his easy charm and ability to do exactly what his constituents wanted him to.

When Joe was elected, he put together a crack team of Town officials committed to the same goal he had; making East Haven a place people wanted to come to while maintaining it’s proud heritage. He was a force.

Enter Lenny Gallo, veteran police officer retired from the New Haven Police Department. Lenny became Joe’s Police Chief. Lenny is old school for sure and in East Haven, CT that is the only kind of cop to have.

Joe and Lenny became almost legendary. They worked their asses off and they played their asses off too. They were as popular out on the town as they were in the town. Even when they socialized they were talking about initiatives and how great the town was and what they were going to do next and so on and so on. They lived and breathed East Haven. The dedication was like none I have ever seen.

The amazing thing was; beyond the cursory need to belong to a party, Joe really didn’t play politics much. Of course, he played it a little; everyone in Government has to, but not to the point of any real scandal. Like any successful politician Joe had friends on both sides of the aisle.

Why am I talking about some guido town in Connecticut from my comfy home in San Diego? I’ll tell you why.

21 votes booted Joe out of the Mayor’s office in 2007. 21 votes. Hardly a mandate, although you would think it was by the way the winner of those 21 votes acted. The victor, a nobody, known as April Capone Almon is a truly despicable human being who upon winning the Mayor’s office by such a slim margin declared Joe to have been a demon sent from Hell, and the people who worked for him his minions. She made no secret that she would disband the “old boy’s club” that Joe had allegedly formed including Lenny Gallo. Of course she would be an expert on such things given her experience as a part time disc jockey and salesperson at Verizon, the extent of her life experience. Sounds like a President I know!

Fast-forward a year into her term.

One fine day at the beach aforementioned, one of Lenny’s officers was ticketing cars to be towed away that were parked illegally. It is important to note this officer is a Republican; the Mayor is a Democrat. The Mayor happened to be in the area (hopefully not in a swimsuit) and took issue with the officer having the cars towed. She got on the phone with the police dispatcher and asked to speak with Lenny. Lenny wasn’t available so she basically lost it using language any sailor would be proud of, (or me for that matter) and demanded that the cop call off the tow trucks stating she was the Mayor and her power superseded the Chief’s. Can you say “power trip”?

Well, the Mayor got arrested for that little incident and the true war began. She alleged the Chief arrested her based on purely political motivation since the officer was a Republican and this happened to take place during an election year. I honestly don’t know what party affiliation Lenny is. The police and prosecutor who issued the warrant maintained the Mayor was arrested because she broke the law by interfering with an officer. To the right is her mug shot. Purdy isn’t she?

Here is the dispatch audio tape. Great Stuff!

http://www.wtnh.com/dpp/news/new_haven_cty/news_wtnh_easthaven_exclusive_mayor_recording_200909032252_rev1

The charges were eventually dropped but you can imagine the outcry on both sides and she did win her re-election. What a fiasco. The woman is so clearly into aggrandizing herself it is unbelievable. Her speeches and media manner are so transparent it is painful to watch. Seeing her makes you want to shower, but then listening to her, or reading her quotes makes you want to pull your skin off altogether.

Hell-bent on revenge, Capone Almon took advantage of an incident that happened on the Chief’s watch where his officers were accused of racial profiling. The Department of Justice was brought in due to a complaint lodged by the folks alleging the profiling. Capone Almon was more than happy to oblige an investigation into Lenny’s department.

Any small town police department investigated by the DOJ is going to suffer some scalding critiques. There is just not enough money in the budget of any town in this country to have a perfectly systematic police department. Ok, maybe that is a generalization. In some towns where there are new agey renaissance chiefs, more effort may be put into sensitivity training, but East Haven ain’t one of them.

East Haven’s police department is run just fine and the town is not subject to anymore or less crime than a town of equal size and demographics. In other words, Lenny does the kind of job you would expect from a 40-year police veteran and he is perfect for East Haven. The Mayor however, is not.

Consider this; the DOJ sends the Mayor a preliminary report stating very predictable deficiencies in the department. In fact, it could have been a form letter sent to just about any department in the United States. Read it here:

http://media2.wtnh.com/_local/documents/DOJ.pdf

Upon reading the preliminary report, this dirt bag Mayor puts Lenny on paid administrative leave, the first disciplinary action in his career. Police Chiefs are protected by State Statute and cannot be fired or suspended without cause. There was no causality stated in this report; there is no cause to discipline Lenny. However, the Mayor and her equally stupid Town Attorney decided this was the best course of action. Any guesses as to how much this is going to cost East Haven taxpayers to litigate?

On the very same day, there is a story in the paper about the Mayor donating one of her kidneys to someone she doesn’t even really know from Facebook. Aw, isn’t that sweet? Want to know when she started chatting with this dude? Right after the incident at the beach. Interesting. That is probably one of the most twisted publicity stunts I have ever heard of. It seems farfetched, but not for this person.

The bottom line is; it is a sad state of affairs when a person is so insecure she has to run for office to get acceptance and then recklessly drag down people who actually care about what they do. I wish Lenny all the luck in the world. And, to that thing that calls herself the Mayor; karma is coming to get you.

And, here is a little tip Mayor; if you want to be in the public spotlight so much, spend less time on Facebook and more time with a stylist.

Super Power: Obama's Burden

2010-04-15T09:52:00.000-07:00

"It is a vital national security interest of the United States to reduce these conflicts because whether we like it or not, we remain a dominant military superpower, and when conflicts break out, one way or another we get pulled into them," - Obama, Nuclear Summit - April 14, 2010

I finally have my answer.

For over a year now I have been pondering Lord Falderal’s foreign policy strategy; just dying to know what could possibly be on his mind. All this bowing and other associated weak gesture nonsense that he does with world leaders of questionable repute is enough to baffle even the most liberal of minds.

It has been so terribly hard to quantify the cuddling of dictators like Chavez and the sweet nothings whispered into the ear of Sarkozy (ohlala), whilst giving our strong allies like Netanyahu of Israel the proverbial ass shaft, and not in a good way. Oh and of course there is my favorite; the gifting to the Queen of England an iPod. The Queen had already purchased one in 2005 at the suggestion of her grandson Andrew. Wait, wait, there’s another favorite of mine; the bequest of 25 DVD’s of American Classic Movies to Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Classy. Of course, the DVD’s could not even be played on European DVD players, but hey, what the hell. Apparently, their isn't anyone on his staff who could have clued him into these little details.

For all this time I thought it was just because Falderal was a little behind on protocol and hadn’t re-read any Sylvia Porter books lately. I mean after all, it’s not like he had a lot of experience in the International Political theatre. His tenure as part time Senator certainly didn’t lend to a ton of meetings with foreign Heads of State and his only actual job as a community organizer with ACORN couldn’t have put him in the company of many respectable sorts.

As it turns out, it wasn’t his lack of social graces and protocol at all. His end goal was to reduce the embarrassment of the United States from being a super power. Now it makes sense. Why else would he sleep with the enemy and push away our allies?

Falderal is not fond of the burden the United States has as a major world power. I am wondering if he had read the job description of President before he became a candidate; I am thinking...no.

Falderal has given me a great deal of material in which to express my disgust with his performance. However, this is a new low. I have increased my feelings of strong dislike for him to abject revulsion.

Falderal seems to care not that such statements hurt tens of millions of people not just in real time, but in history as well. All those men and women who died in combat, spent their lives in labs, sacrificed their lifestyles, and yes, represented us in Government for lo these past 234 years are made to look like they worked for nothing.

Security is everything and Falderal seems to not understand that. He is too busy pushing agendas that do nothing more than bankrupt this country not just economically, but respectably in the eyes of our foreign counterparts.

Should we want more conflicts? Of course not. But, we are a Super Power and we are a compassionate Super Power. Our forces are forces of good, not evil. We help the helpless while maintaining our own levels of security on American soil so we can continue to live the American Dream. The American Dream our own President is trying so hard to dissemble.

More powerful than our armaments are the words of our leaders. The old pen is mightier than the sword adage is so true. What are our enemies to think when the supposed Leader of the Free World makes such deplorable statements?

Let’s think about it. Think about any competitive situation where you have information about your competitor that you can use to your advantage. Are you going to do it? Of course. What if the leader of your team doesn’t believe in your team? Would you go to the other side to defeat him, or your team? Maybe, and maybe not. But, it’s those maybes we must worry about. Make no mistake, our enemies are taking note, and so are disenfranchised Americans.

We are at a time where the perfect example of why we need to be a Super Power should be blatantly obvious. Ironically, our strength is what keeps the peace. If the enemy thinks we are weak, there will be violence. And, we are walking that line right now thanks to our extremely inexperienced and extremely weak President.

I wish we could impeach based on patriotism, because were that the case, this jackass would be history so fast, Joe Biden’s comb over would spin.

Check this out. This just in from the Huckabee Show on Fox. Normally, I hate Hollywood types postulating on politics, but this is awesome.

Fox in the Hen House

2010-04-14T09:33:00.000-07:00

My whole thing with the economic collapse is disappointment more than suffering. I believe in you get what you deserve and quite frankly, we deserved this recession.

I thought when Bush got elected we as capitalists could finally find our stride. You know, be unencumbered by Government and really let lose. Well, we certainly did and what did we prove? We proved given the keys to the candy store our greedy little mitts would steal everything off the shelves and then the shelves as well.

We screwed up large, and now we are paying for it with a Socialist moron of a President surrounded by an advisory group that makes the crew of F-Troop look like the advisory council for Mensa. The biggest idiot in this group is of course Geithner. Can you believe Falderal sent him to deal with the Chinese? I bet the holders of our biggest debt were laughing their asses off at that one. However, that’s a post of a different color.

The answer to Wall Street’s blatant disregard for doing the right thing should have been heavy regulation and a thinning of the herd from bankruptcies (of the banks) and mergers. No, our eminently stupid Government beginning under Bush and getting even more fucked up under Falderal decided TARP was a better answer.

On their face, TARP and all the various corollaries to it was the absolute most ridiculous government program to come along until Healthcare Reform. We the taxpayers bailed out the guys who made us go broke. We rewarded the scumbag bankers for taking advantage of American taxpayers. And, it was Geithner who orchestrated the entire process and continues to do so.

As President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, it was he who designed and implemented the Bailout of 2008. It is he who has dominion over the $700 billion being used to further bail out the big banks.

Why is he so into helping out the banks instead of punishing them?

Simple. The Falderal administration has been heavily supported by the banking community since Falderal announced his Presidential candidacy for the very simple reason that they knew his pack of morons could be manipulated into bailing them out instead of forcing costly regulation and possibly the collapse of the banking industry as it was known.

They knew they could sell voters on Falderal by seeming as if they were against heavy regulation unlike Democrats of the past. They branded themselves as a new kind of Democratic Party. A party that would be a friend to business, not a hindrance. Well, they are certainly friends to this particular business sector!

Falderal et al raised over a million bucks from Goldman Sachs and their employees in 2008, not to mention the other support they were able to whip up through customers and business associates. That’s more than any candidate had raised from one business entity since the McCain Feingold legislation went into effect. They owed banking and they owed it big.

One might reasonably assume TARP and the associated bailouts would have been enough to satisfy their banking buddies and special interest groups that went along with them. But, no. Falderal, Geithner and the Goldman alumni of; Rahm Emanuel, Larry Summers, and Mark Patterson who are now all a part of the administration, have decided to further protect their banking pals from future financial foibles.

Geithner through master thief Chris Dodd has orchestrated a 50 billion dollar emergency funding bill known as the Dodd Bill, to further help out the banks in times of crisis. They are calling it an Emergency Fund. Guess who is in charge of deciding when a bank is in trouble and what to fund them? That’s right, Geithner. Pretty convenient, huh?

So this all begs two questions, first: where is the incentive for banks to clean up their practices, and second, whose side is Falderal on anyway? The former is easy to answer; clearly Falderal could care less about the American taxpayer. The first is almost as easy; there is no incentive for banks to clean up, fly straight and provide a long-term solution to our economic crisis. They can keep playing fast and loose with their policies; taking advantage of their now desperate customers once again while furthering our demise in favor of their own profits, and the Government is facilitating it all for them. Nice, real nice Falderal.

Although it is Geithner masterminding these certain to fail policies, the buck stops with Falderal, which he is apparently very fond of saying. Let’s look at one of Falderal’s brilliant economic programs; short sells.

Falderal has been fond of offering short sell opportunities for people in over their heads with mortgages. Short sells are a fast track to foreclosures and are good for nobody. They do not help at all in solving the problem. Some would argue Short Sells are good because real estate investors can buy cheap properties and offer them for rent. Yeah, that’s great for investors and I am never against that, but the big picture here is what we need to be concerned with. It’s also great for banks and real estate types because it allows for all sorts of ancillary fees. Hmm, more property owned by fewer people; much of it by the government through the banks. What does that sound like? Oops, did I actually write that out loud?

The idea should be to keep people in their houses. What Falderal is saying is: “let’s further skull fuck the American Dream by booting people out of their homes; the homes whose mortgages were sold to them by predatory lenders, the people we like to protect, and cure the short term financial woes of the homeowner”. That is extremely faulty and dangerous policy.

What a smart president would do is force the banks to reduce the principle down to a manageable number so people can stay in their homes. The short term hit to banks, which really isn’t a hit at all, is softened by the fact that they have taken a non-performing asset and turned it into a performing one.

The bigger success in such a program would be the psychological aspect. When people feel like they are working towards something, they are more enthusiastic about everything in their life. This makes for good workers, which makes for a good economy. Offering short sell opportunities is not only an economic fool’s errand, it is also demoralizing.

Yeah, this is what happens when you elect a former community organizer for the largest thieving government funded shyster organization in America, whose only experience in Government is as a part time Senator. It’s pretty simple math when you get down to it.

2012 can’t come fast enough!

Politician vs. Public Servant

2010-04-08T11:19:00.000-07:00

The biggest problem in government today is career politicians. I know, that statement is so obvious it borders on the ridiculous, but sometimes we need to hear it in very simple terms to realize how screwed up something is. Being masters of the obvious is not something we Americans do well. We overanalyze and think far too much and way too often lose sight of what the core problems are.

If you have been reading this blog then you know I have a serious distaste for Government. Again, maybe too obviously, my disdain stems from the idiots running Government. These morons have no idea what the term “public servant” means. They believe that just by virtue of the fact they have somehow received the label “politician” that they are automatically qualified to run for any office their pea brains take a fancy to.

There is a perfect example of this happening right now in Connecticut.

Susan Bysiewicz is this repulsive creature that has darkened the office of Secretary of State for three excruciatingly long terms after having been a State Representative. Susan is a serial candidate in that in every election she seems to want to become something else. In the last two Gubernatorial Elections, the Creature announced her candidacy and then withdrew. Both times.

Her latest quest is for Attorney General, as the current Attorney General is running for Senate. This is of course after she originally announced running for Governor and once again backed out.

The Creature is a lawyer by trade but spent little time practicing law and absolutely no time in the courtroom. In Connecticut, as would be prudent, the rules are that an Attorney General must have at least 10 years of private law experience under their belts, or horrendous tweed skirt in this case.

Susie as is her custom, believes she is above the rules and is trying to claim her time spent as Secretary of the State should be considered an appropriate substitute for private practice experience. Dick Blumenthal our current Attorney General would not rule on that question (because he is a little pussy when it comes to people in his own party) and referred the case to the Connecticut Superior Court (great use of our resources) and the Creature has stated that should she lose, she will sue again claiming the rules to be unconstitutional. Really? I mean, really Susie?

She also used a software program purchased by the State of Connecticut and used to gather information on voters for official business, as her own personal database for campaign fishing. Nice, huh?

This is a fun read:

http://connpolitics.tv/index.php/2010/04/07/bysiewicz-transcript-released

This repulsive, beady-eyed little weasel will do anything to advance her career. For some reason, which I cannot even on my most objective days figure out, this idiot has fans! I don’t know if maybe she just has a large extended family, or if by some weird cosmic twist, the Secretary of State actually has some power to offer special interest groups in exchange for support. She is certainly not popular because she has achieved anything besides a reputation for wanting to run for anything that happens to come along on any given day.

The Creature is a perfect example of the difference between the mindset of a politician vs. the mindset of a public servant. She couldn’t care less about being qualified to be the Attorney General and is willing to question the constitution and cause a major ruckus just to get on the ballot. A ruckus that will cost taxpayers hundreds, and hundreds of thousands of dollars.

A politician is in it for himself or herself, they don’t really care about the people or the greater good. They have some kind of psychological defect that makes them crave attention, or the need to line their pockets because they can’t make it in real life.

A public servant is someone who wants to help. From my own experience I got involved in politics to govern, not to be a politician. In fact, I got out because of the lack of Governing that actually goes on. I felt I had been lucky in life and wanted to pass on what little knowledge I had to help the greater good. In retrospect, apparently those were the wrong reasons!

To separate the politicians from the honest to goodness public servants, you must listen to their language.

Recently, that weirdo Elliott Spitzer has been popping up all over the media saying he wouldn’t mind getting back into “politics”. He didn’t say “Government”, he said “politics” and while waxing philosophical about his situation with an interviewer he made the statement: “I love politics” and that he “is in agony over not being where he would like to be”.

The Whoremaster goes on to say that although he isn’t actively running for anything that the Comptroller of New York is an underutilized government office and he may like to use it to “force corporate reform in ways the legal system and regulation cannot”. He would do it by using the billions the government holds in public pension funds to power his way into a voice of force against business. Yay, that’s just what we need.

The point here again; he hasn’t mentioned anything about wanting to help the people of New York, all he wants is a chance to wield power again. He needs that fix. It’s politics not government.

Read about it here:

http://money.cnn.com/2010/04/07/news/eliot_spitzer.fortune/index.htm

Lord Falderal through Obamacare has given us the biggest example of politician vs. public servant. The public didn’t want Healthcare Reform but he jammed it down our throat anyway. The public wants job creation. He has yet to work on that and instead has just wandered on his merry way forcing his own personal agenda items. And, out of the three people mentioned here in this post, he has the LEAST amount of experience for the job he has been elected to do!

Until we start electing people who understand what it is to be a public servant and realize politics is just the vehicle to get there, this country is going to continue down the slippery slope to ruin.

Drill This Falderal!

2010-04-02T11:12:00.000-07:00

As if there weren’t already enough reasons for me to bitch about Lord Falderal.

Believe it or not, there was one thing I was excited about when Falderal was elected. Well, actually two things, I have already gone on ad nauseum about our country being evolved enough to elect an African American, but I was also pretty psyched about the possibility of a “green industrialization”.

Falderal went on and on and on about creating 5 million jobs for the green movement by 2010, and how he was going to fund the creation of green business infrastructure for wind, solar, and other cool alternative energy resources. He regaled his supporters with visions of a green government fleet and lots of bucks for battery development for electric cars and grants for businesses that start switching over to green practices and all kinds of great stuff. None of this has even begun to happen. Once again big fail.

In fact, the ever ebullient and bald-faced liar couldn’t even just fail at not going green; he had to throw it the face of environmentalists and green businesspeople everywhere by opening up drilling off the shores of the United States, a practice that has been banned for over 20 years, mainly for the environmental impact it would have.

It has been said that Lord Falderal did this in some sort of twisted effort to help gain a bit of Republican support. He is being hailed by Obama zombies as making this decision in order to create jobs, decrease our dependence on foreign oil, and as aforementioned gain some cachet with the R’s. Bullshit.

What Falderal is doing is paying back his oil friendly Democrat friends for voting on the abomination known as healthcare, and that is all he is doing. He has made the decision to wave the middle finger at all green thinking people, his supporters and people like me who know the paradigm shift in economies is going green. That overblown ego of his has gotten in the way of being productive and he is struggling between his inexperience and his megalomaniacal desire to show he is in charge by all means necessary. Falderal doesn’t give a Pelosi’s ass about his green supporters.

Will he gain cachet with Republicans over this stunt? A little bit. But, the thing that most people don’t seem to realize is the green issue isn’t an R or D thing; it’s an everyone thing. It transcends politics. Republicans care about the earth as much as anyone else. To say otherwise is just as stupid as a statement like: Republicans are all rich, or Republicans are all racist.

The best environmentalist President we had was Teddy Roosevelt, a devout Republican.

Going green is something everyone can get behind. We know it will help the environment, we know it is morally the right thing to do, and guess what? We can make a ton of money doing it!! Green could be the solution to our economic woes and this jackass and his cadre of third grade advisors are completely missing the boat!

The one thing I find completely ironic is the Democrats who are supporting Falderal on this (and I mean voters not Congress), presumably Bush haters, are going to make Bush exponentially richer by opening up drilling sites.

There is an argument that what Falderal is doing is pragmatic. That we need to have a mixture of green alternatives and petroleum based energy in order to survive. Maybe, so. But as much as we complain about being OPEC’s bitch and relying on foreign oil, wouldn’t it be better to try and gain some ground in the green arena? I mean; as a country we are already close to last in line when it comes to everything green.

The pragmatic argument is subterfuge intended to draw away from the idea that Falderal is keeping his promises to Democratic lawmakers who risk being tossed by their special interest oil buddies. That’s all it is and it is truly pathetic. If a George Bush 1 and 2, or a Ronald Reagan, or Gerald Ford, or Richard Nixon, etc., pulled this kind of maneuver, I am pretty sure the country, as a whole could understand it. But, a liberal Democrat who campaigned so ardently for green change supposedly looking to gain the favor of Republicans? A little extreme wouldn’t you say?

Whatever it is, it stinks. It is a further black mark on our President and also on our country. It doesn’t show any forward motion, all it does is provide evidence of more of the same when it comes to being environmentally responsible.

By the way, that moron Al Gore is full of more shit than he is of himself, but regardless we should be responsible and as easy on the Earth as we can be.

Check this out:

http://cpaf.repoweramerica.org/page/s/tellobama

I also publish a “green” e-zine at: www.greenlifepeople.com

Anger, Ego & Healthcare Reform

2010-03-30T09:59:00.000-07:00

I have waited to comment on the atrocity that is Healthcare Reform as I found myself so angry as to risk an unintelligible tirade, the literary version of firing a bullet at some idiot Congressman’s field office. I have found putting a little distance between myself, and Lord Falderal’s signing off on the largest publicly funded ego trip since Roosevelt and the New Deal, to be very therapeutic.

What has ensued in the last week since this abortion of legislation was vacuumed out of the womb of Congress is both deeply troubling as well as encouraging. By encouraging I mean the outrage shown by the overwhelmingly large majority of voters against Healthcare Reform lends well to potentially “throwing the bums out” in the midterms this November.

The troubling part is two fold. First, the thing is law. Law, which will never be administrated correctly because the numbers just do not work. Basically, we have yet another useless and hopelessly flawed piece of legislation that will make welfare look like Microsoft in comparison.

The second more troubling issue is the insidious reversion to violence that has occurred in some factions of the Tea Party. This kind of behavior is not a good thing for Conservatives as a whole. This is the kind of crap that makes the less educated Liberals dive onto the “right wing nut job” bandwagon, screwing it up for those of us who stick to and abide by the more basic facets of the Conservative Republican platform.

Republicans now have a very tenuous line to walk heading up to the mid terms and need to flesh out any extremism in order to attract back into the fold, the Independents that were (hopefully) temporarily dazzled by Lord Falderal’s incredible pile of hyperbole and empty rhetoric. That particular brand of voter is not going to take well to the threats and violent actions of a few angry people who just can’t take it anymore.

That said. What the hell did Lord Falderal and his pack of zombies expect when they passed this piece of crap? Of course people were going to go crazy. No one wanted the flippin’ thing to begin with. The whole “mad as hell and we aren’t going to take it anymore” response is alive and well here in the good ol’ US of A. All the signs were there. Rallies, protests, the fact that only 17% of the whole country wanted Healthcare Reform in first place, should have given someone a clue. And, honestly I have to say if faced with some of these people (Congress) in person, I am not so sure I could keep from popping them in the nose!

Anger is a valid human emotion. The extremism we have seen in the last two weeks is inexcusable for sure. However, the origin of it is pretty easy to understand. For people who love this country and pay attention to what is going on, getting angry is their only resort to being heard. This legislation has cancelled our Representative Republic status and that in turn has pissed of a whole bunch of folk. The jackasses we elected into office are not doing their jobs and the common man has no real way to express himself or herself, except to vote or resort to more extreme tactics.

The recent activity with militias should come as no surprise. It is the oldest form of rebellion in our Nation’s history. Forming militias is basically built into the DNA of the US. That doesn’t make arming ourselves against our own government a good solution to the country’s problems. The thing about human beings is we still resort to the primordial slime when our backs are up against the wall. We still have war; we still kill and maim each other like some kind of highly functioning Serengeti predator.

What needs to happen is for Conservatives to tone down the violent rebellion rhetoric and have an honest to goodness uprising by coming together and voting this Congress and eventually this President into oblivion. That is the right kind of rebellion. Let’s face it, as Conservatives we have the ammunition needed to do it we just have to stay focused.

Lord Falderal has indeed broached Socialism with the Healthcare Reform Bill.

One of my favorite sayings that I use all the time is “sometimes things just are what they are”. And, this is what it is. I am so fucking tired of listening to Liberals defending Falderal’s actions by saying that Fire, Police, Education and Infrastructure Services are Socialist by their very nature. That is just blatantly wrong.

Fire, Police, Education, Infrastructure creation and maintenance are NOT Socialist programs. There is no redistribution of wealth, they do not create goods, not everyone uses them in their lifetime and we have all agreed as a Republic to pay for them. Some would say that we shouldn’t be forced to pay for things we don’t use. That may be true but we made the decision as one to do it. Yeah, taxes suck, but for these types of services it just makes sense. Unlike Healthcare Reform, we were somewhat well represented when the decision to turn those services over to the Government were made. This is wickedly different than what the Healthcare Reform Bill shoves down our throats.

With Healthcare there IS a redistribution of wealth in that person A’s insurance premiums will be used to offset person B’s health insurance. We are forced under penalty of fine, to pay for everyone else’s healthcare situation. The key here is that EVERYONE is mandated to have health insurance. The means of production, exchange, and distribution of goods and services are all owned by the community with Healthcare Reform. That is Socialism.

And so here we are stuck with a useless law that will never gain any traction, beset on us by an equally useless President whose enormous ego prevented him from working on the issues the public cared about most just so he could experiment with a Socialist agenda and make some kind of show for those who stayed loyal to him. Now more than ever, this President’s power needs to be usurped not by violence, but by a carefully crafted and orchestrated rebellion at the voting booths.

Patrick Kennedy, Nuts? Or, Right on Target?

2010-03-15T08:33:00.000-07:00

I don’t know Pat Kennedy, the Democratic Congressman from Rhode Island and as regular readers of this blog probably realize, I was no fan of his Dad.

I do know his brother Ted Jr., however and he is one of my favorite people. I only wish he would run for office someday. We would all be lucky to have him. For those who don’t know him personally all you have to do is watch the footage of the eulogy he gave at Ted Sr’s funeral and you will know him. He is as genuine as the speech he gave. Unfortunately, Ted, Jr. lacks the one thing requisite of all successful politicians; he’s never had an ethical bypass. Therefore, we may never see him chase public office.

Patrick unlike Ted Jr., has inherited a lot of the curse of the Kennedy clan; he likes his booze, (although a currently recovering alcoholic) he also likes his women, and Paddy boy is no stranger to pile of white powder and a rolled up C-note, possibly neatly perched on the mid section of a high class prostitute.

That said, regardless of my disdain for the Lion of the Senate, I have to give his kids the benefit of the doubt based on my experience with other members of the family. Even Patrick deserves a little break given what he grew up with. I know, I know, filthy rich and famous he has no excuse, but think of the psycho crap that went on around him.

If you have seen the footage of Pat’s tirade in Chambers last week, you like me, may think the lad is all kinds of crazy and perhaps there was a little Chivas left over at the Hyannis Compound and Pat may have had a few tosses on his way to DC that morning. Here is the vid in case you missed it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_szCWi4Sr8

The main part of the video we are worried about here, is Kennedy’s admonition of the press in covering the war in Afghanistan, it happens right at the end of the video. Forget his crazy notions about how the war is being fought and blah, blah, blah. That is another blog post entirely.

Congressman Kennedy’s assertion that the coverage of the Afghanistan War is abysmal is right on target. He brings up the example of Massa and how there is 24/7 coverage of that fiasco, whilst barely anything of substance on the War. Kennedy asserts Congress like the masses that elected them, are only interested in salacious topics that really have no consequence at all except for political ammunition.

Does anyone really care about Massa, or any of these people engaging in what are acts of human foible? Well, we assume these people are human and subject to the same weirdness in compulsions as the rest of us. For some reason, we hold these people to a higher standard that on its face, just doesn’t exist. I mean we have seen the ultimate in scandal; blowjobs in the White House and semen stained Gap dresses and yet we got over it. These indiscretions are so unimportant in the overall scheme of things.

Meanwhile, we have young people dying across the world trying to ensure we can continue to live in the lifestyles we have become accustomed to, albeit in the last year at seriously diminished levels. Coverage of what is happening in Afghanistan has disappeared into the background.

Think about this for a second, when is the last time you really heard anything about Afghanistan? The State of the Union, maybe? Before that it was probably back in September when Lord Falderal stonewalled the world on how he intended to proceed with troop levels and pull out dates. Other than that, there is rarely a headline of any significance anywhere. Even Fox News who took to the airwaves and blasted Kennedy with claims they cover the War extensively are full of it. Fox may cover it more than the other media outlets, but just by a smidge. What they do cover one has to question the reasoning behind it.

The situation Lord Falderal has created in Afghanistan is rancid. His solution to send in more troops with the goal of pulling them out by July of 2011 is ludicrous at best. The truth is if we pull out without demolishing al Qaeda first, they will take over and become stronger in Afghanistan. Lord Falderal’s strategic thinking with the military is like his thinking with the economy; he doesn’t use the math the rest of us do. In Falderal’s world 1+1=3 somehow, and he will explain how it works. Unfortunately, too many people will believe him!

The reason we don’t hear about the War in Afghanistan in the press is that it is still not Falderal’s War, it’s still Bush’s War. Back when it really was Bush’s War we heard about it incessantly. Nary a day went by when not all of the national and international media had something to say about the way things were being handled.

For some reason the press has been reluctant to cede over the command of the War to Falderal, in the press anyway. It should be very obvious why this phenomenon is occurring. Unlike most of the voting public who are going through buyer’s remorse with Falderal, the media apparently doesn’t want to let go. They would prefer not to label Afghanistan as Falderal’s War. It just doesn’t fit into their ideology and they fear being the ones to call anything he does a failure. They are still holding onto Health Care for fuck’s sake!

So, as crazy as Patrick Kennedy may be, his passion is appreciated and he is ultimately right. This country needs to get back to the basics that matter: protection of our way of life, decent foreign relations, and a sound infrastructure. We have none of that and when the press decides not to cover the issues that relate to those things, as a Republic we tend to forget.

Biden in the Middle East? Where's That 3 Year Vacation When You Need it, Joe?

2010-03-08T09:16:00.000-08:00

If you are a formerly popular President who has become somewhat unpopular and need to deal with one of the World’s largest issues, but risk looking even worse than you already do, what is the answer? Well, obviously to send the worst qualified and least ambitious of all politicians to deal with it in your stead.

Lord Falderal has dispatched Gaffemeister Biden to the Middle East to “try to boost Middle East Prospects”. What? Are you kidding me? Guess you should have kept your mouth shut Joe when you said the Vice President doesn’t do anything. You’re screwed now buddy!

Stupid is as stupid does and Falderal has outdone himself this time.

Can anyone honestly imagine Gaffemeister Biden matching wits with someone like Netanyahu who is supremely pissed at the US for ignoring the madman currently in charge of Iran. The fact Ahmadinejad has been screaming on high that 9/11 was a “big fabrication” should give some clue to just how dangerous this dude is and having Gaffemeister Biden involved with anything even remotely close to dealing with such a man is a fool’s errand indeed.

Iran has not been immune to the growing International sentiment that the US has been weakened by the election of Falderal. If anyone thinks that for one minute Iran isn’t developing all kinds of nasty weapons to wreak havoc in the Middle East, they’re crazy. Sanctions and diplomacy are not going to mean spit to development of Tehran’s nuclear program and guys like Netanyahu know it. And, trust me Iran’s nuclear program isn’t going to have anything to do with clean energy!

Israel is well aware of the dangers of Iran and with the United States pussyfooting around whether we would support or allow a strike by Israel, we are not gaining the allies we need to have. Israel was already worried about Falderal’s coddling of the Muslims a long time ago and sending Biden to do his work for him is not going to have a good effect.

Falderal’s policies here at home are bad enough, but his disasters on the International scene are about to become even worse.

I think this gives good insight to the character and substance of Falderal. His administration is sucking bilge water right now and he can’t afford any more heat brought down on him. So, he chooses one of the most poignant and charged International issues to muck up in order to try and save some face. It shows just how out of his league he truly is.

It has been said that Biden’s main job in this visit is to tell Israel not to bomb Iran and to instill in the Israeli people a feeling of confidence that Falderal will ensure their security, but that the US will continue it’s rally for peace. Really? How? How will sending an idiot instill confidence? And, how are the Israeli people supposed to feel secure when the US will not support Israel protecting itself.

The real message Falderal is sending Israel is that he sees Israel as a second-class citizen in the International theatre. He is in essence insulting Israel by sending Biden as his message carrier.

Israel already has a tenuous relationship with Falderal as evidenced by the aforementioned Muslim problem. You may remember that Falderal has made well-publicized visits to Egypt, Saudi Arabia (where he bowed to the King!), and in late March will visit Indonesia. I guess Israel only rates a Biden visit. Falderal also has called for a complete Jewish settlement freeze, which really hurt US-Israeli relations. He has backed off on it a bit, but the damage has been done.

I am not saying Israel should bomb Iran, it would greatly destabilize what is already an unstable situation, but we need to show Israel real support and act more as an partner than some kind of overbearing parent. The United States needs to slow its downward roll towards being a second rate power, but that will never happen if the President keeps lobbing insults at our allies.

The worst part is; Israel isn’t even asking for complete backing of military action yet. What they want now is hard sanctions against Iran. Falderal won’t even give them that. Falderal is worried about sanctions destabilizing the Iranian economy. So? Isn’t that the point? Hit them where it hurts and get them to turn their thinking around. It’s better than a military action.

Sending Gaffemeister Biden is an insult plain and clear, he will not be taken seriously by real leaders. This is a guy who once said in reference to his Vice Presidential qualifications; “I am the most experienced since anybody”. I don’t remember Vice President Anybody, but alrighty then… Biden also gave this quote to a New York Times reporter, “I know as much, or more than Cheney.” Say what you will about Cheney, but I am pretty sure he’s just a tad smarter than Biden!

I do have to admit I would love to be a fly on the wall for this little caper. I imagine the comedy to be endless if not really, really sad.

A member of Falderal’s cabinet once said they wished Falderal could send Biden on a three-year vacation; I bet Joe wishes he would too.

UPDATE:

Well, Gaffemeister Biden's trip was as predicted a colossal joke. With Israeli headlines such as: "Embarassment", and a cavalcade of snubs and Biden'isms, we once again proved ourselves as a great nation in rapid decline. Nice work Lorad Falderal. How about sending Biden on that vacation now and sparing us further embarrassment.

The Obama Religion

2010-03-03T11:47:00.000-08:00

Man, I am pissed off about our so-called President, and I know it shows. I’ve lost at least one Facebook friend that I know of because of it and there may be others. And, a good portion of my regular retinue of friends and family feel I am unduly obsessed with hating on Lord Falderal.

Yes, I am obsessed and I need to tell everyone why.

The last year has been a real struggle trying to figure out what it is about this guy that has gotten to my core. There have been politicians at all levels that I have recoiled from and cursed to the bowels of Hell many, many times in my life, but this feeling is epic. I can’t get it out of my mind. At first, I thought maybe I have finally snapped and having too much time on my hands to reflect on his continued syllabus of foibles am internalizing more than in the past.

Then I found a way to help me understand it.

Religion and faith.

I am not a religious guy by any stretch of the imagination. I am a Congregationalist, just for show. I got married once and had to join the Church I wanted the ceremony to take place in. It wasn’t hard as it was my hometown Church I had been involved with all my life, I just had never joined.

I do have a spiritual leader but only by happenstance. I didn’t seek him out he just came into my life. His life experience has been hard and time tested, which is why I call him my spiritual leader. I trust in him not really as a man of the cloth, but as a man in full. This person and I speak rarely; usually when someone in the family is being married or buried, but that doesn’t matter, the advice and knowledge I have gotten from him over the years is more than helpful. My point is that I get religion on its face. I completely understand why people are so ardent about it.

It wasn’t always that way though. Basically, I grew up thinking the Catholic Church was the real root of all evil and shunned learning about any of its tenants and teachings. My only exposure was the occasional wedding or funeral where I would count on someone to tell me when to kneel, sit, say the Lord’s Prayer, tip the Usher, or whatever.

Then I got the case of a lifetime.

I am the former owner of a Private Detective agency. In my career, I was fortunate to get some truly outrageous cases that I was nowhere near qualified to handle, but I took them, did my best and the results were usually good.

One day I was called upon by a New England Archdiocese (name & cases withheld for what should be obvious reasons) to help investigate a few wayward Priests. I was shocked they wanted my firm, and to this day have no idea who referred us.

Fortunately, there weren’t any child/priest situations (had there been I would have solved each one with my Glock, a dark alley, and no witnesses), they were cases involving Priests who couldn’t keep their quills out of the Congregation’s inkwell. In fact, not only were they sleeping with the wives of the faithful, they were bilking them for all they were worth as well as the Archdiocese itself.

At first I treated the client as I would any other. I approached the cases with the same set of rules as always. The job of a PI is to get the truth, not to tell the client what they want to hear or manufacture situations that never occurred. They were paying me a ton of money, way too obscene to impart here, and I was committed to doing the best I could and expected my staff to do the same. That thinking was a mistake.

I had the cream of the crop on my staff; former military guys, ex-cops, computer experts, extremely tough and smart people. They also all happened to be religious with the majority consisting of practicing Catholics.

Very quickly I learned just how important religion is. I had PI’s I thought could handle anything refuse to work on these cases because they could not deal with the idea of modern day Charlatan priests. They just didn’t want to know. I had one guy crack during surveillance, this gigantic, former Marine broke down after witnessing a Priest follow his paramour into her car port, remove his collar and partake in a little afternoon delight. This was after she bought him a new high def flat screen for his quarters at the rectory. He told me the abuse of power was too much to handle and his faith was being torn out from under him right before his eyes.

I thought he was nuts, until I looked into his eyes and saw the pain.

That is the pain I am feeling right now for our country, and even more so for my friends. I value my friends and family more than anything on this Earth. You can take my money, my possessions, anything but my friends and family. I have more respect for them than I do myself, and most of them are diametrically opposed to my political views. It is the memories created by these people that are the essence of my life.

And, they were duped. They were duped by a modern day Charlatan that doesn’t wear a collar, but flits about the world with a TelePrompTer and an arsenal of unobtainable hopes and dreams to sell. That sell job has shaken the faith of many of my friends who believed the crap Lord Falderal was slinging and is still slinging.

Like a bad Priest, he manipulated, took captive and raped the very intellect and goodness that allowed these people to believe his outrageous claims. The powerful and dangerous rhetoric was so well placed, and so well orchestrated it superseded any semblance of common sense to these folks. It created a religious zeal. I have never blamed the people who voted for Falderal; I get why they did it, I blame him and the people behind his assent.

I can honestly say most of my Obama supporting friends regret their choice. There are the few holding out for what would have to be a miracle to change this guy’s fortunes, but I believe it is out of stubbornness, or just unabashed hatred of Republicans and the former Bush administration.

My religion is the United States of America, where at one time anyone could be anything they wanted. Hope wasn’t just a buzzword; it was a way of life. Where the industry of regular people made up the majesty of the country. Our greatness was once predicated on our own individual efforts to make the country work. Now, it is a shambles because of the arrogance and lies of this person making a mockery of the Office of President.

This is why I am angry. It is not Falderal’s job to dictate, it is his job to serve us. It is not his job to push through legislation the country doesn’t want so he can preserve his legacy in the History books. It is not his job to traipse around the globe apologizing for our past actions; it is his job to represent his country with the pride and love of a true American. It is not Falderal’s job to be experimenting with Socialism and acting as a de facto dictator. It is his job to be bipartisan and play well with others in both parties and give the people what they want, not what he wants.

And, although this may seem petty, I believe it provides a good metaphor for how Falderal envisions himself. Falderal is a guest at the White House and like a guest at any home he should treat it with respect and a modicum of decorum. Seeing press shots of him with his feet up on the desk given to Rutherford Hayes by Queen Victoria makes my blood boil, likewise his habit of not wearing his jacket in the Oval. I know I seem like a tight ass here, but these are the kinds of things that cheapen the Office of President.

This is not about partisanship. I wish so badly that it was. I would have been more than happy to be arguing with my friends and family over age-old differences between R’s and D’s for the next four years rather than trying to make them see we are facing the demise of what was once a great country. We can no longer intellectualize politics and government like we used to. Now we are in real danger and have to do something about it.

If even the most liberal of liberals in the Continental Congress knew what this country was going through, they would be spinning in their graves.

My faith in this Government is completely shaken, but not my faith in the people of this nation.

Health Summit: Fail. Huge.

2010-02-27T11:17:00.000-08:00

I hate meetings.

In business I resisted having meetings until they became absolutely necessary and even then, I employed a meeting Czar whose job was to keep everyone including myself on point, wasting as little time as possible. To me, meetings were always a colossal waste of resources and allowed for much too much tomfoolery with myself being the biggest provocateur. Any time spent in our conference room was time spent away from accomplishing tasks. I always felt the most efficient dissemination of important information was by memo, e-mail, and phone.

I am an immediate kind of guy; problem arises, solve it right now, end of story, and end of problem. Of course that may seem over simplistic and obviously if your business does anything other than put lemonade into plastic cups at the entrance to your driveway, then meetings here and there are required. But, they should be limited to strategy meetings held sparingly. My opinion, of course.

In two years as a government official, I believe I must have wasted at least one or two lifetimes in meetings listening to blow hard wannabes, party hacks and people with basically no lives, mentally masturbating the most ridiculous notions and topics known to mankind. Does anyone really have to go to a public meeting and waste two to three hours of their time listening to a bunch of taxpayer paid lawyers and professional gadflies tell them how their 36” curb cut fits into the fiscal plan of the town, state and country, and how it will effect the wetlands 10 miles downstream from their 900 square foot house? And, then having the earth shattering curb cut the purpose of which was to accommodate your 100-year-old uncle Jebediah’s wheelchair, denied and sent through some board of appeals process the end of which will most likely coincide nicely with Uncle J’s death? Ridiculous.

Summit is a fancy word for meeting. A fancier way of saying; let’s waste some really big time and money. Lord Falderal’s summit meeting met that goal in spades.

This train wreck was billed weeks in advance as a “gesture” on Falderal’s part to bring together Republicans and Democrats to reach a more common ground on the failed Healthcare Reform bills. It was in direct response to Scott Brown’s victory and warning shot that shattered the bow of the Democratic supermajority. Falderal insisted there could be a bipartisan solution to the Healthcare Reform debacle if they just got into a room and hashed it all out. It also gave him the opportunity to save a little face in living up to earlier promises to televise open meetings for all to see. No more closed door meetings.

Nice idea. Big fail though, since as usual the extremely slow learning person posing as President was once again mired in his own world of egotism and arrogance to listen to what the Republicans were saying.

It was no secret Republicans were looking to Falderal to scrap all previous Healthcare Reform bills and start all over again, a prudent idea to say the least. Falderal’s response was to present a watered down version of the original Senate version. Huge mistake.

Falderal missed a gigantic opportunity to show some actual leadership and admit he the House, and Senate may have been wrong, and get to work on a plan that works for everyone. That would have gone very far in garnering Falderal some much needed credibility.

Instead Falderal used the opportunity to scold and whip Republicans for putting him in this position. If he really didn’t want to hear what Republicans had to say, why have a summit at all? He basically talked down, disparaged, and cajoled every Republican in the room, most of whom had their facts straight while Falderal did not.

Check this clip out: (yes, it is a Fox clip but it was the only place I could find it)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ad-fqqjFhI

Chief News Analyst at NPR Daniel Shorr is a fav of mine. I don’t care what side he leans to, after 60 years of reporting and too many awards to mention, I have large respect for him. However, for once I find myself disagreeing with part of his assessment of the summit. He believes like most, the summit was just for show. But, Shorr also said he thought Falderal bought himself a few weeks of credibility by showing he could keep command of such a summit. I think the complete opposite. Falderal showed no leadership whatsoever. He acted like a spoiled brat and made absolutely no attempt to even hide the fact he had no intention of listening to the Republican’s side of the story in the first place.

Falderal has said he is glad to have the American people see exactly what his plan entails and exactly how the Republicans feel about it and that the summit made that possible. His strategy was clear, he wanted to appear the good guy looking to help everyone out while the R’s are the bad guy and would prefer everyone who is uninsured to perish and decrease the world’s population (I love Dickens references). However, I think this strategy will prove to have backfired in the upcoming elections.

Here is how Congressman Rogers of Michigan explains the crux of the Healthcare Reform debate. This is not from the summit but a lot of the same content came through at the summit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=G44NCvNDLfc

This summit did nothing to help the situation except give Falderal a platform on which to publicly state he will shove Healthcare Reform down all our throats through Reconciliation. It was a PR stunt intended to show he has strength over the Republicans and will exercise it by not allowing the R’s to filibuster. As I said, he is a VERY slow learner.

What Falderal did was ensure two things; his allies will get booted from office in November and there will be billions and billions wasted trying to facilitate his Healthcare Reform only to have it scrapped when the new Congress is seated next year. It’s not like the writing isn’t on the wall. Americans are ready to throw "the bums out" and they are going to. Polls from every respectable polling organization show a large percentage of Americans are ready to clean the House, Senate and White House.

I guess we can just add this to the growing list of epic fails for this President. Glad he is working so hard on the economy.

Introducing Connecticut Senate Candidate Richard Blumenthal

2010-02-21T14:24:00.000-08:00

This is the first of a series of posts on Connecticut Attorney General turned Senate Candidate, Richard Blumenthal.

Ah, the case of Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal (D), or as I refer to him, “Dickie”. I have studied the dance of Dickie for years and years, wondering exactly where he would land after wearing out the AG’s lair. He is by far the smarmiest of political figures in the great State of Connecticut.

For those of you unaware of Dickie and his dastardly doings as Attorney General of Connecticut, let me scribe a little tome that is both entertaining and disgusting all at the same time. Dickie’s story is possibly one of the best political tales in modern American politics.

Dickie is an amazing politician, but not an amazing public servant. He has served (I use that term loosely) the State of Connecticut as its Attorney General since 1991, gaining such popularity as to be considered by most people in the political know, a gubernatorial candidate in the last four Governor’s races, although he never did commit to running in any of them. Popularity is not the only thing he has had all these years, he also has the chops needed to stay relevant.

Dickie is the perfect example of consummate career politician. He’s a Harvard Law grad, big surprise I know, and has some pretty good legal tutelage under his belt including a stint as law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun. He was voted into every office he ran for at a very young age, eventually rising up from State’s Attorney to State Representative to his present position. Now, the good Attorney General is gunning for the Senate seat being vacated by long term Senator and master thief, Chris Dodd.

His latest maneuver is a magnificent illustration of just how Dickie plays the political game so successfully. In an effort to look “independent” of the currently unpopular Falderal (Obama) Administration, Dickie has squawked about distancing himself from the President during his Senatorial campaign. This is interesting given he received a congratulatory phone call from Falderal and Gaffemeister Biden about five minutes after announcing his run, which he was quick to bandy about to every news agency willing to listen, very proud of his Presidential approval apparently, at least at the time.

This latest development is sure to piss off the Falderal Administration given their relief at Dodd’s retirement announcement. Dodd was facing a very tough run indeed; given his past scandals were beginning to catch up to him. Falderal et al, cannot afford to lose any more seats in the Houses than already projected in the mid terms. Certainly they must see Dickie as a safer bet than Dodd, however being frozen out by the darling of the Connecticut Democratic Party doesn’t bode well for them, it could bode well for Dickie, though.

This “independent” strategy is something Dickie has always found useful in order to promote his own political agenda. See, Dickie gave up caring about such small things as constituents’ years ago. He knows how to use the power of popularity, and if you happen to be a politician within his particular orbit experiencing popularity challenges when Dickie is trying to achieve something, consider yourself persona non grata until you clean up your house; even if you happen to be the President of the United States!

There is always a little bit of a wink, wink with Dickie when it comes to members of his own party. He’ll look you in the eye while stabbing you in the back with wild abandon, yet even the ones being stabbed seem to forgive him. Dickie is on the ultimate of power trips and he masterfully navigates his way through by clinging to what has been a good run, lacking any semblance of scandal in his career. Well, none that has made the news anyway.

AG Dickie is the master of making minutiae seem big. He can blow up a headline like no one’s business, and it is oft said amongst Connecticut politicos that the most dangerous place to find yourself is between Dickie and a TV camera! Especially, if the topic at hand has hit a hot button somewhere.

(This example is obviously an exaggeration, but the meat of it is actually a fair illustration of Attorney General Blumenthal’s modus operandi.)

Example: A puppy has been hit by a GM car in Podunk, CT. Expect to see a dark Crown Vic with CT Plate #3 prowling around somewhere in the vicinity whilst Dickie holds the bleeding carcass in his arms vexing not only the driver of the car and the owner of the dog, but GM for designing a car with engineering flaws disallowing unencumbered views of wayward Chihuahuas underneath the bumper line. And, he will sue everyone involved. The cases will never make it to court because all Dickie wants is the headline. What happens after that, means nothing while the risk of losing a case in court and looking bad is not an option. Settling is what Dickie wants because he can do it by using fear.

Dickie is famous for using the might of the AG’s office to smack down his targets in favor of making himself look like the savior of the State’s taxpayers. And, it is a heavy sword he carries. No businessperson wants a beef with the State and their formidable resources.

The AG’s office has claimed hauling in many millions of dollars in settlements for the State of Connecticut during the reign of Dickie however questionable it is as to how that money made its way into the State’s coffers and how much taxpayer dough it took to realize those settlements. I can’t prove this because the available numbers are nebulous at best, but I would be willing to bet the taxpayers are getting a pretty good screwing when all is said and done.

There is one very telling example of Dickie’s work, which has garnered some serious media attention lately and proves that at the very least the AG may cost the State an $18 million jury award sometime in the future.

Here is the whole story: http://www.rep-am.com/news/local/464453.txt

The short story is; a small computer company who had contracts to deliver Dell computers to Connecticut State Agencies was accused of selling inferior units. Dickie stepped in and launched an investigation in which the owners were given the whole of four, that’s 4, days to comply with an court order to account for the specifications of thousands of computers sold over many years. That’s like tying your hands behind your back and being told to build an Ark in four days. When the company couldn’t comply, their owner was arrested and charged with larceny. Then Dickie sued the company for $1.75 million, three times what he figured the actual amount due to the State could have been… if proven.

The computer company, as aforementioned not a big business, fortunately had the wherewithal to countersue the State of Connecticut and were awarded $18.3 million by the jury, who stated many different reasons for why they reached that verdict including the conclusion that Dickie overstepped his bounds. The company surely won’t see the whole 18 mil, but they will get something, indeed the company should get something as they lost dearly over the years it took to dredge through this case. A smart State Attorney General would settle this thing and go fishing for some other innocent sucker. Not Dickie. Nope, Dickie has avowed vengeance and will spend many more hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of taxpayer money appealing the verdict. Because of course, Dickie cannot be made to look bad!

I like to use Dickie’s hair as a metaphor for his career. Yeah, it’s mean but hey, you want a friend in politics? Get a dog.

Dickie has some extreme follicular challenges. There is a base of hair on which to work with, but it ain’t much. I am certain however, that when let down, at least one portion of it must hit the floor at some point. Through some miracle of modern science he is able to coax the remaining veteran hairs into a magnificent piece of sculpture that gives the appearance of covering almost all of his Harvard educated dome. It has to take some real aplomb to achieve such majesty. From the front it is a facade of something almost normal in the hair lifecycle of the average man, if not a bit heavy on the axle grease. But, from behind, well, that is where the real beauty is. The rear view of Dickie’s head strongly resembles the stern of a classic Christ Craft day cruiser with the perfectly shellacked swooping lines coming back from the ears and colliding into a marvelous dovetail. The stuff is even Mahogany colored!

Yes, the more I think about it, the more ol’ Dickie’s career resembles that mop of amazing hair. Even though there is not much to work with, the appearance of a solid base never truly realized, is able to carry through and lift up to amazing heights of perceived achievement. Just watch out when the wind starts blowing.

Is Lord Falderal (Obama) Muslim?

2010-02-14T09:19:00.000-08:00

If there was ever any doubt the Falderal Administration is soft on terror, all one has to do is look at Lord Falderal’s latest move. The same day Gaffemeister Biden laid into Dick Cheney’s assessment of our security as weak, the AP announced the appointment of Rashad Hussain, a White House attorney, as special envoy to the OIC, or Organization of the Islamic Conference.

Before I get too far into this, let it be known, I believe in peace; however I realize the human race has been unable to take the necessary evolutionary steps out of the primordial slime needed to abolish war. Therefore, our Government leaders must act accordingly when there are actual, or perceived enemies gunning for us in order to assure the safety of US citizens.

To say that all Muslims are bad is of course absolutely ridiculous. I have Muslim friends and you have Muslim friends most likely. This is not about them. This is about extremists who loathe the United States with a hatred so bad as to never be mitigated by the cursory efforts of someone like special envoy Rashad Hussain, just another in Falderal’s cadre of inexperienced fools.

One thing to remember is none of this is actually about religion. This is about hate. I am not a religious guy. When queried about my religious status I always say I am a member of the Church of the Poisoned mind. That said, I begrudge absolutely no one his or her religious beliefs and that is as it should be in a free nation. You want to practice Islam in America? Go for it. Just don’t blow up any of my friends or family while you’re at it.

Many people believe that Islam is not a legitimate religion and serves only to cause chaos, and that killing is a major part of their philosophy. I don’t really believe that, but what I do know is many millions have been killed in the name of plenty of other religions including Christianity. When people are killed in the name of religion, it ups the ante, and our President needs to show a strong front against those affecting such motives.

Lord Falderal has time and again proven his inability to show the United States in a strong light to any country, and certainly this latest maneuver isn’t going to help matters. This isn’t like bowing to the Saudi King, or being pushed around by China on our debt, we owe them that money after all. No, this is far more serious.

We as a country legitimize the Islamic extremists by appointing Hussain. The United States sends the message that somehow we are partially to blame for the attacks against us. Tell me, does any US citizen feel we are to blame for attacks against our country? I hope not.

I believe a dialog with Islam would be good, if and only if, we were ever to start hearing condemnation of terrorist attacks from important Islamic leaders. Thus far we are yet to get that. What we do hear after a terrorist attack or attempted attack, are cursory condemnations by low level Islamic clerics and diplomats from the various countries sporting a heavy Muslim population. I question whether these are genuine in their sincerity, or not.

We need to hear serious Imam contrition before we start any real peace talks, or allocate any of our resources to Muslim countries.

Apparently, Falderal doesn’t feel that way. He would like to give them the keys to the storehouse. Here is a small list of what Falderal is proposing to “help” Muslims with:

A partnership with Muslims on education, economic development, global health, science, and technology.

Of course, Falderal has promised the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan & Iraq by August. (good luck with that)

Lord Falderal has also stated he will bring Israel & Palestine to the table to “jump start” peace talks. (can you say: narcissism)

And, get this; he wants to have a summit of Muslims from around the world to discuss entrepreneurship! (because our economy is working so well under him)

That is a pretty ambitious list, which should come as no surprise given his campaign promises yet to be kept.

All of this leads me to cogitate on another problem with this new appointment and all the effort and resources Falderal is putting towards fostering our feel good relationship with Islam. Has he taken a look around him? If ever there was a time for at least a modicum of ethnocentricity, this is it!

Partnerships in education, economic development, global health, technology and science for Muslims? A summit in entrepreneurship? How about some of that for Americans! How about taking some of that tax money and funneling it towards our own plight. How about this, how about be a freaking leader to your own people!

I realize the United States enjoys a certain satisfaction in thinking we are better than everyone else and forcing our capitalistic model on everyone, but we need to force that thinking on ourselves right now. This country is in serious trouble and coddling our enemies is not making things any easier.

I do not necessarily share the opinion that Falderal is a Muslim himself, I do believe because of his background there is more sensitivity towards Islam. But, who can know what is really inside the head of a person? One thing is for certain, these kinds of moves coupled with the fact he doesn’t attend a regular Church, are certainly giving the people who believe Falderal to be a Muslim more ammunition and credibility.

What we need in this country right now is a guarantee of safety from our enemies, and an economic plan that works. Without those two things, health care reform and all the other various pipedreams of Congress aren’t going to mean jack shit.

White House: The New Carnegie Hall?

2010-02-10T09:16:00.000-08:00

I love culture and art. But, man am I going to piss off my artist friends with this blog!

Music has been behind any project I have ever done creatively that was worth anything more than a trip to the circular file. In my mind, I can document any and all important eras and events in my life through the songs or artists I was listening to at the time. I put a very high value on music and it is an integral part of the memories that make up my life.

If I were President, you could bet your Great Aunt Betty’s sweet bippy that any chance I got, my musical heroes would be entertaining my “Leader of the Free World” fat ass right there in the East Room. Ian Anderson would be prancing around with his flute like my own personal Krishna, or Kokopelli, (although he’s a bit long in the tooth, that whole standing on one leg playing the flute thing may not work anymore) I would have Sting doing an acoustic set with Mary J. Blige, and L.L. Cool J would be telling me about my mom telling me to knock someone out. All of the best scientists would be replicating Johnny Cash’s DNA so I could hear “Tennessee Horse” one more time, and Soundgarden would be doing “Spoonman” with the White House’s best silver. Now, that’s what I’m talking about!

Lord Falderal has been doing a pretty good job hosting some decent jam sessions since he got into the White House and far be it from me to begrudge him that, or the basketball court for that matter. (Although I would replace that with biggest freakin wet bar made of ice you have ever seen.) All Presidents bring in their favorite musicians at one time or another during their terms. I wonder if JFK had Maurice Chevalier perform? Have to look that one up!

Recently, Falderal hosted a night of protest music from the Civil Rights movement in the East Room, and man, I would have loved to been there. Smokey Robinson, Seal, Bob Dylan and a host of others were there doing live versions of some of the best music ever written. Morgan Freeman, who quipped he wished he could sing, delivered some of the most powerful lyrics and quotes to come out of the civil rights era. I would have loved to hear that. Hell, I would even sit through one of Falderal’s laborious TelePrompTer fed rhetoric sessions to just to get Freeman’s voice belting out words of inspiration from people much smarter than I, or Falderal.

This was a good thing, especially during Black History month. The message was very important and I give Falderal credit for arranging such a night. It’s admirable he is expressing and using his own ascension to showcase what has been a hard and well-fought fight by people of color. I like that Falderal is drawing attention to the success of civil rights leaders and not backing away from it. I felt he downplayed the authenticity of the civil rights movement during his seemingly endless campaign in favor of appeasing his political handlers who obviously told him to softball those issues.

There is only one positive thing that came out of the Falderal election in my opinion; the American public has finally evolved enough to elect a person of color to the most powerful position on Earth. I’m proud of that. These days that’s the only thing I am proud of when it comes to the American Presidency. I remember being both incredibly psyched and completely devastated on election night. The fact this country elected a black man President was an overwhelming feeling. The fact they elected the wrong black man made me want to pull my teeth out one by one. It also made me pissed as hell at George Bush, but that is a blog for another time.

The problem with Falderal exercising his executive privilege to bring artists to perform for him at the White House is the situation has become out of control. There is to be a White House concert series broadcast on NPR called “In Performance at the White House”, and it is actually getting a lot of press.

My issue here is this; is this the right time to be spending taxpayer money on a concert series at the White House? Is this the right message? I’m for federal funding of arts projects even in bad times, but does anyone realize what the cost is to put on one of these White House soirees? Once in a while, fine. Keep in mind, we pay for EVERYTHING associated with these performances and with a 4 trillion dollar deficit, that means my great-great grandchildren will be getting FICA withdrawals for Jennifer Hudson’s Town Car service from Reagan to the West Entrance.

The White House as Carnegie Hall? Nah, not a good idea. If we were living fat and happy I wouldn’t have much of a problem with it, but we’re not.

This is not a huge issue, but it is a common sense one. If I have a $200.00 paycheck and I need it for food, rent, diapers, whatever, but there is an Oingo Boingo show I really need to see for $199.99, what am I going to do? In this scenario I am not 18, but my current age of 40, so the answer should be clear. This is a wild example since Oingo Boingo would be lucky to get $9.99 per ticket, but I think the point is well illustrated.

I am not even going to get into the message it sends to those already dying to blow our butts to Kingdom Come. That’s a horse of an entirely different color.

Right idea, right message, wrong time.

Rob Simmons vs Linda McMahon Smackdown!

2010-02-09T20:25:00.000-08:00

The Real Linda McMahon

Well, I guess if you live long enough you really will see everything.

Political theatre is always entertaining until it becomes disturbing and perverse. I love my home state of Connecticut because it is small enough that I have been fortunate to meet most of our State government officials and political operatives over the years, thus enabling me to make personal determinations of who has the best interests of the state at heart and who is really just gunning for their own piece of posterity. I also get to know who the real hypocrites are.

I was gratified beyond belief the day Chris Dodd announced he was hanging up his Senator suit and sliding into private life. His is a career that would make any corrupt politician blush. If ever there were an argument for term limits, Dodd should be the seminal example. I was further gratified to learn that Rob Simmons a former Congressman, military man, CIA employee and Republican was willing to throw his name in as a candidate for Dodd’s seat.

Rob Simmons

Rob is a guy with the right amount of political polish, life experience and a clear understanding of what voters expect of their elected officials. Despite having lived and worked in Washington, Simmons is not a DC insider, which became obvious when he was voted out of office in favor of a political shill, who only won after being coddled and supported by Dodd and other useless Connecticut Democrats who have darkened the halls of Congress for seemingly eons.

I had two very small dealings with Simmons, which he wouldn’t even remember I am sure, but they struck me. I called his office for help on a business matter and even though I was outside of his congressional district, Simmons instructed his staff to jump on my issue and run with it. I called him because the representative in my district, one of the people who supported Rob’s Congressional opponent, never answered my repeated correspondence. Even though Simmons had no idea who I was and regardless of the fact I lived outside of his voting arena, he helped me out.

My second encounter with Simmons occurred at the State Capitol after he was voted out of office and our Governor Jodi Rell appointed him as the very first Business Advocate for Connecticut, a job he dove into and performed extremely well. I was impressed by his willingness to listen to any and all businesspeople with their varying problems while delivering honest, frank and sometimes brutal answers to their queries.

What really impressed me was that at the announcement of his appointment, Simmons had yet to be assigned an office, or even a telephone. Hell, they hadn’t even given him business cards yet. So, what did Simmons do? He handed out his own personal cards with his personal cell phone number written on the back to everyone and anyone who had an issue to discuss. That’s pretty damn cool. Rob’s particular brand of experience coupled with the ability to effectively communicate is rare.

As would be expected just about every yahoo wannabe senator has crawled out of the political muck to try and grab the much coveted seat being left by Dodd this year, especially Republicans. The smell of blood is in the air and anyone with the slightest red tint is ready to pounce.

One of those people ready to pounce is Linda McMahon, CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment. Yes, you read that right, the CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment.

Now, we shouldn’t pass judgment here just based on the fact the company McMahon runs happens to be a joke to most of us. After all, regardless of their end product, the WWE is wildly successful and we should give the devil his or her due. McMahon is obviously a capable businessperson but that doesn’t make her a good potential public servant.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, as much as I love political theatre and this situation really could be entertaining; there is a twisted and troubling aspect to this affair.

Linda McMahon popped out a series of beautiful glossy mailers, all depicting smiling attractive women in different positive lights as a very obvious and determined attempt to court the female vote. Admirable. Well, under normal circumstances, but not so much in this instance.

McMahon’s company thrives and ultimately exists on violence and in particular violence involving women. Whilst she may be correct in the idea that women fake fighting women and men fake fighting women may be titillating to a certain demographic, this philosophy really doesn’t lend to the idea of empowering female voters. Not to mention the message it sends to women in general, especially young women. How does she qualify this bizarre dichotomy? How does she justify wanting to represent the people of Connecticut in one of the most austere offices of our Federal government, while supporting the ideal that violence against women by men is morally acceptable?

To be fair, yeah, it is all fake and one does have to make a living somehow, but really this is not the platform from which to launch a career in the Senate. This is a person who by her everyday actions supports the degradation of women for profit. Women on WWE programs are routinely referred to as hos, bitches, sluts, what have you and are portrayed in the very worst possible light. Imagine your daughter emanating this piece of garbage?

Voting this person into office would be like voting in a President whose only job experience was working for an organization that pushed using taxpayer money for housing deals for pimps and pros-t-i-t-u-t….whoops…

Anyway, the idea that a guy like Rob Simmons has to suffer a pre-primary, or possible actual primary campaign against someone of this caliber makes my teeth hurt. I hope this obstacle goes away for Rob so I can start commenting on the pathetic lot that awaits him on the Democratic side! They are not quite as colorful as Linda McMahon, but they do make for good fodder!

Check out this video to get an idea of what Linda McMahon and her company profit from.

Shelby; Way to Make the Democrats Cry, Dude!

2010-02-08T09:30:00.001-08:00

I am getting a real kick out of the hold Senator Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) has placed on Lord Falderal’s nominations for a lot of reasons. While it is true that I love political theatre in any form, I particularly love it when it is entirely misconstrued, misunderstood and mis-communicated by the press.

There is a mechanism in the Senate that allows Senators to put holds on Presidential nominations especially in the case of a perceived intense preference by the President to a particular nominee. The mechanism actually allows a single Senator to put holds on as many nominations as he/she feels necessary. Holds happen all the time, usually one at a time. Senator Shelby has decided to invoke his right to hold up all 70 of Lord Falderal’s pending nominations.

Most of these nominations are, well, nominal to say the least. Very few are actually important and the President does have a remedy to the situation. He can actually temporarily appoint his nominees and have them formally take their jobs at a later date.

Senator Shelby is being cast as the poster child for Republican obstructionism by the Falderal administration for making this bold and unprecedented move. Headlines in the Washington Post like; America Taken Hostage, Day 1, have been the norm for just over a week now. What the Falderal Administration and Senate Democrats are insinuating is that Shelby’s hold is bad for America because it has put a stop to any forward motion for any legislation in the pipeline for the last year, including health care reform.

Shelby’s motivation for placing the holds is he wants earmark spending for his State fast tracked. The Democrats are calling foul as this maneuver represents pork barrel spending in their eyes. Well, they would know, wouldn’t they? They are trying desperately to use their own philosophy on pork as a weapon against Shelby and the Republicans by saying that R’s have been consistently against earmarks since Christ was a Corporal in the Footguard, and therefore should back down on these holds.

True enough.

However, let’s consider a few things here.

First, what are the earmarks Shelby is looking for? The good Senator is looking for dough that would go directly to funding our country’s defense. The FBI is seeking to build a lab for improvised explosive device testing in Alabama, the state Shelby represents. Something Team Falderal has spent the last year trying to kill.

The other pet project of Shelby’s is a little stickier. There is a $40 billion dollar contract to build air-to-air refueling tankers at a Northrup facility in Mobile. The company has threatened to bail out on Alabama unless the Air Force makes some changes to a draft request for proposals. One would assume, a change that would benefit Northrup in the bidding process.

Both of these programs are good for the country and are job intensive, meaning unlike most of Falderal and Senate Democratic programs, there will be job creation, a lot of it.

What Shelby is doing is his job, representing the State he was elected in and the people who elected him by looking out for their best interests. He is taking action, something Senate Democrats certainly know nothing about.

One of the responses taken by Falderal and the D’s is an investigation into Shelby’s campaign contributions. Well, lo and behold, the defense contractors mentioned above were major contributors. Is that somehow surprising? Are we 14 years old here? Of course, his contributions were heavy on the contractor side. Where is the big story?

What the Democrats are really whining about is their power and platform being pulled out from under them. Perhaps they should reconsider their own actions in the past year and apply them to the Shelby situation.

We wouldn’t be in this mess had Falderal kept to his word and fostered an environment of bi-partisanship after taking the train to the White House. Instead what he fostered was an air of power that due to the super majority in the Houses made him and his partners in the axis of evil, Pelosi and Reid, feel as though they could do anything they wanted. The problem with this is they read the public wrong and forced upon their constituents’ legislation they never wanted as evidenced by the whole Scott Brown situation.

Falderal’s attempt to garner Republican partnership after the State of the Union was too little too late. Had Falderal listened to what the other side had to say throughout the year, perhaps he and us, the American people, wouldn’t be in such trouble.

Shelby isn’t holding the country hostage at all. What he may actually be doing is saving us from this dysfunctional Government that can’t get out of it’s own way. Maybe forcing the shut down of the Senate is a good thing, or at least crippling it until the mid terms so we can get some new blood.

It’s time for the Falderal Administration and the bags of dung they drug along with them into the Houses to wake up and start playing ball. If Falderal was smart, he’d fire everyone on his staff and start over with qualified professionals from both sides of the aisle. But he’s not, as was clearly indicated at the State of the Union. So, we will have to wait until next year when guaranteed come Hell or high water, there will be new faces sitting in those chambers. Let’s just hope they are not as dumb as this batch.

Don't Dismiss the Tea Party Movement

2010-02-05T11:43:00.000-08:00

I am not a member of the Tea Party, but I’m not a hater either. In fact, I am extremely gratified as an American and political junkie for their existence.

Like most people, I am no fan of hypocrisy; something we have in abundance in this country when it comes to politics and Government. The big problem with political opinions in the United States is they are so polarized, and that polarization is what effects the negative opinions people have towards the Tea Party movement. That polarization of political ideologies is what fuels the hypocrisy in political opinion.

That’s one crazy paragraph up there so let me explain.

Most political opinions, at least the ones thrust at us by the main stream media, come from either the East Coast or the West Coast, where people tend to think they are more sophisticated than the average voter from any other region of the country. I feel qualified to say this having grown up in Connecticut, attending University in New Haven and having spent some time in small town and state politics.

The mentality in New England and New York is that of being the intelligentsia capitol of the world, the power brokers of the universe. Yes, I am generalizing and I am doing it with confidence and wild abandon. We are a snooty bunch us New Englanders and we know everything. We have money, most of it old money passed down from idiot heir to idiot heir and we possess the luxury of being able to mentally masturbate every single political notion out there, with the incorrect view that we can experiment with these notions to appease our intellectual curiosities. Forget there are other people living in this country without our advantages, it is us that matter. That is why New England can afford such liberalism when it comes to their political opinions and philosophies.

Now that I live in San Diego, I see the very same thing only more clearly than I ever did before. Because of course, when I lived back East I didn’t give a flying you know what about the West Coast, their opinion on politics meant nothing to me. But, the West Coast fosters a different kind of liberalism, in my opinion, an even more disgraceful form. The West Coast is all Unicorns and Rainbows. The political power base in California is fueled by guilt and glamour.

Most of the money and power out here comes from Hollywood with a few exceptions of East Coasters who have moved west for various reasons, and of course there are the millionaire software geeks. The money and success fueling the politics on the West Coast doesn’t come from the same ilk as the East Coast, no not by a long shot. This philosophy is fueled by people who either feel guilty about having so much when others are so desperate, or the need to be recognized as actually mattering on the political front. They want to feel like they have more substance than they actually do. And, they have the money (new money) and the infrastructure to do so. Mainly, what they are looking for is access to major politicians.

Lord Falderal benefited greatly from this in last year’s election. Hollywood helped deliver him the White House and all he had to do was stack the White House guest list with serious star power upon taking office.

Both coasts’ philosophies reek of idealism and not realism. They do not live in the real world but somehow think they are qualified to comment on it. The information they choose to process comes from a faulty mainstream media, which they themselves basically control. It is this incestuous micro chasm that has absolutely nothing to do with real life on which major decisions are made.

The healthcare debacle really is a great example of this as is the failed stimulus program. The benefactors of both those abortions of legislation certainly weren’t going to be regular people.

The useless bunch of offal occupying the White House and the Houses learned a big lesson when Scott Brown was elected. The message to Congress being; you are not doing what we elected you to do. You must listen to the people in order to keep your jobs. Even in the most liberal of all states, people are fed up with not being heard. Real people.

Scott Brown is the new Rosa Parks for the American people. He is a symbol stating that the politicians we elected to represent our interests will not be allowed to push the American people to the back of the legislative bus. (Let’s just hope he lives up to the hype!)

These self appointed masters of politics on both coasts call themselves American Patriots. They feel their perceived political superiority is license to pounce on groups like the Tea Party folks, using such negative slurs as un-intelligent, rednecks, extremists, nut-jobs, and oh-my-god…Republicans even. They disparage the very name Tea Party, apparently not understanding the symbolism.

The Tea Party movement is something this country has sorely needed. It is a refuge for the disenfranchised from many different political bents. And, it showcases for everyone to see that in between the coasts, there is a huge area inhabited by people who also care about their country. Real people, living their lives through what was once the American Dream and having seen that dream bastardized, are now pissed and doing something about it.

The Tea Party is made up of a diverse array of people from all walks of life but sharing one thing in kind; they all love their country. The core values and platform of the movement are admirable; fiscal responsibility, constitutionally limited government, and free markets. If I remember my history correctly, it was those same ideals the founding fathers launched this country.

Pay attention to the Tea Party movement.

Talk About No Clue, Obama & Small Business

2010-02-03T11:02:00.000-08:00

With the painfully obvious need to try and shine up his image, Lord Falderal takes a trip up to Nashua, NH and tells small business how he is going to save them from the disastrous situation he has created by proposing a new and improved disastrous situation. As usual, the proposed solutions have nothing at all to do with what small business is actually concerned with and include a whole new set of flawed equations.

What Falderal told small business owners is that he will lobby Congress to free up $30 billion to loan out to banks sporting assets under $10 billion dollars with the proviso through a slew of incentives, the money be funneled to small business owners in the form of easily obtained low interest commercial notes. Kind of like what Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac did for homeowners before they tanked.

Yippee.

That would be great except for two things:

1. Small business does not currently give a rat’s ass about favorable interest rates, or financing in general. According to the National Federation of Independent Business it ranks a lowly second to last in favor of more immediate needs, you know, like staying in business in the first place! Something this faltering economy of Falderal’s is not making easy. Going into further debt at any interest rate is not something responsible business owners, the cornerstone of American business, are interested in. But, of course, Falderal or any other Democrat for that matter, couldn’t possibly relate to that notion.

2.
The second and more telling problem (since we know Falderal can’t understand basic business models) is where the $30 billion is to come from. Falderal intends on using money paid back from Wall Street bankers who took TARP funds. Remember, a lot of those guys were forced to take the dough against their wishes. Current estimates say that TARP will have ended up costing taxpayers close to $115 billion when the chips finally fall. I say double that since those are government estimates and they use the “new Falderal math” in their calculations.

Let’s think about this for a minute.

Taxpayers give $700 billion in TARP money to what essentially are the bad guys. The program fails miserably but we regain an estimated $585 million, a loss of $115 million. (Man, even my financial guy did better than that last year!) Then we take $30 billion of that repaid money bringing our immediate loss to $145 million and loan it out to some more scum bag banks in the hope that they will do the right thing. Unlikely. For the most part Falderal is taking a failed program and reinvigorating it although on a smaller scale, with the same tax dollars, your tax dollars. Does this make sense?

Meanwhile, to ensure Wall Street actually does pay us back, Falderal would like to institute a Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee (FCRF). Isn’t this fun all these acronyms? Falderal is really good at them. This is a fee, or basically a fine imposed on all the institutions that took TARP, including those who didn’t want to in the first place.

Here’s the $30 billion dollar question.

Just who or whom, does Falderal think is going to pick up the tab on those FCRF fees? Us, that’s who, because in a capitalist society, when costs increase to the merchant they also increase to the consumer, or at least that is what I learned in business school. And, that just ain’t good for anybody!

Make no bones about it, those FCRF fees (the ones we are going to pay for) are not intended to help cover the costs of TARP, they are a slush fund for the Falderal Administration’s gigantic new spending spree.

The Federal Government is about to become the largest in the history of the United States. The White House states there will be 2.15 million workers in the Federal Government by the time Falderal’s budget passes.

We are completely screwed.

Until Lord Falderal takes a basic course in math and civics (to learn what the word Capitalism means), he would do well to stay away from taking meetings with actual business people and consider carting his Teleprompter to garden club outings. Or, maybe just keep touring the country campaigning with that same recycled bullshit he used for the State of the Union and give up attempting to be an actual President. He is a much more convincing campaigner and that might work a lot better for us.

Mayor Nick Valentine, My Kind of Leader!

2010-02-01T11:02:00.000-08:00

Let me preface this blog by saying that in no way do I support the idea of trying the accused 9/11 terrorist scumbags in a Civilian Court.

This has to be far and away one of Lord Falderal’s more stupid notions. Justice should be delivered through the military courts as the attack on the twin towers was an Act of War, not civilian mass murder. The argument should end there.

However, it looks like there may be no escape from holding the terror trials in civil court unless Congress can be effective in cutting the funding for such a travesty. The only question is in what city will the trials take place.

New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg has made it clear the trials are not welcome in Manhattan given the cost of security, hype and potential danger to the citizens of the Big Apple. He estimated the cost of security alone to be upwards of $200 million. Great use of our tax dough, huh? Providing security for terrorists. Lovely.

As one would imagine there aren’t a lot of Mayors jumping up and down to host the trials in their cities. To the average thinking American it would seem a foolhardy enterprise to actively seek such a thing.

Enter Nick Valentine, part-time Mayor of Newburgh, NY.

Newburgh, NY is one of those charming Hudson River Valley towns forgotten by time and society. It is rich with history not forgotten, but neglected as so many historical Hudson River towns are. There is no real industry left in the town and it has suffered the effects for quite a few decades. This is a polite way to say that in essence the place is very poor and run down.

Most people from the Northeast know Newburgh only as a highway sign they see on their way either west to Pennsylvania, or East to New England. The town’s main landmark which isn’t really in the town at all, is the I-84 Newburgh-Beacon Bridge, a formidable span which on a clear day allows you a slight view of Manhattan 60 miles to the South.

One thing Newburgh has is a shiny new state-of-the-art courthouse that is super secure, and being only 60 miles from Manhattan, convenient to any and all players in say, a terror trial! Newburgh also falls into the jurisdictional requirements of a civilian murder trial. Add in a close proximity to West Point and a Federal Prison a mere 27 miles away and you have a great recipe for a terror trial venue!

Hizzoner Valentine knows this better than anyone and has taken his case to bring the trials to Newburgh public; hitting as many news shows and media outlets as he can.

This is a real leader and visionary.

Now, I have no idea how the Mayor really feels about the core subject; whether or not the trials should take place in Civilian Court or not, but I do know one thing, he is definitely looking out for his town and that is admirable. Valentine did say at first he wasn’t very keen to the idea of the trials being held in Newburgh, but upon reflection changed his mind. To me, the Mayor is taking advantage of a shitty situation in order to give Newburgh an economic jump-start.

Nick Valentine is a businessman in addition to being the part-time Mayor. He owns a tailoring business right across the street from the courthouse and understands the nuances of simple economics. That is something most government officials lack, in addition to morality and ethics. Most politicians get ethical bypasses at birth!

Newburgh would benefit greatly financially from the terror trials through a wide variety of income streams. There is the obvious onslaught of media types who will bunk down for as long as the trials take, pumping their dollars directly into the local economy, there is the Federal money that will go into ramping up security and then there is the International attention that could spike tourism both during and after the trials.

Are there risks? Of course there are, the very same ones that would apply to Manhattan as the trial venue. Terrorist attacks could ensue, violence from protestors and any of the other sundry items that lay the foundation of the argument for not having these trials in civil forums could occur. But, one would hope these are calculated risks and will be mitigated by the security funding.

No doubt the good Mayor has taken these risks into account and as a small businessman realized the reward in the long term is well worth the risk. Anything worth doing always involves some kind of risk.

I haven’t the foggiest clue whether Mayor Valentine is a Republican or Democrat, and I don’t care. I do know that Mayor Nick Valentine is a breath of fresh air in this climate of bad government. He is doing the right thing for the people who voted him in by trying to draw attention to their plight. Even if they don’t get the trials, which they probably won’t given the inability of the Falderal Administration to give in to common sense, at least he hung it out there for everyone to see.

Surely, there are lots of folks who think this Mayor is crazy including some of his constituents, but those are people who fail to take in the big picture and they are part of the problem not the solution.

Good Luck Mayor Valentine, and citizens of Newburgh.

Bipartisanship? Bit Late Falderal, Ain't It?

2010-01-29T16:54:00.000-08:00

Hmm.

Lord Falderal takes a meeting with the Republicans and begs for more cooperation and bipartisanship immediately after the worst State of the Union address in recent history, and immediately following an ass whipping of the extreme sort in the bluest state in the Country.

Normally, I would be all for this attempt at solidarity between the Legislative and Executive branch and would keep my big fat mouth shut. However, since it speaks so clearly to what I have been pointing out since Falderal took office, specifically his inexperience, I must opine openly.

Bipartisanship would have been fantastic immediately following inauguration day. But, despite his howling on high about being open to everybody’s opinion on what direction the country should head in, Falderal developed amnesia of the worst sort and any semblance of bipartisanship went the way of the Bush Administration; out to pasture, probably on some ranch in Texas, on January 21, 2009.

That was a shining example of Falderal’s inexperience.

Apparently, at Harvard, during the 48 hours he spent in the Senate, and all his time spent at ACORN, Falderal didn’t learn that despite having a majority in both houses, it does one well to play nicely with others. Because you never know when something like, oh I don’t know, the death of a senior senator may occur right when your popularity goes into the toilet and the country ain’t so hot on your goods any longer.

Learning the kind of lesson Falderal is learning now is valuable stuff to say the least. The thing is most politicians learn it long before running for President. On the job training when you are the President is never good for the country, especially when the lesson is so basic; play well with others in an effort to do your best for the American people. It’s called a team effort Lord Falderal.

Seeking out bipartisanship now borders on the ludicrous. That is; as long as the Republicans aren’t stupid enough to cave into this ill-advised ploy to regain any relevance he possibly can. Had the Republicans been smart, which would have been a serious leap of faith, they would have insisted in yesterdays little get together, that Falderal lop off the dangly bits of Pelosi and Reid (wonder who’s are bigger) and demand that any legislation, health care or otherwise, include more than just one line from the Republican side of the aisle from here on out.

That is what they would have done had they been smart.

Predictably, they weren’t. Yesterday’s meeting was a complete waste of time, which was billed in the press as “a step in the right direction”. If you believe that I have a bridge…blah blah blah.

All Falderal and the R’s did was widen the chasm between them which is great for Republican elections this Fall (not a bad thing). But, it still doesn’t bode well for the American people in the interim.

As fun as it is to treat politics as a game, like yours truly, the consequences of what I and every other yahoo out there loves to comment about are dire in the real world. These two parties of arrogant, entitled and clueless criminals have no intention of helping out anyone on the ground. That’s the real tragedy.

Sure there are all sorts of fun things to point out about yesterdays summit of the sailors of the Ship of Fools: Falderal finally kowtows and what do his brethren think of such contrition, Republicans get a chance to school Falderal, all sorts of contentious questions and answers to be strung out to the n’th degree and so on and so forth.

But herein lie the problem. In a meeting in which both parties accused the other of providing only dangerous rhetoric and no solutions, we are left with just another rhetoric session! We now have rhetoric meetings regarding rhetoric!! I wonder what it cost us to cart all these idiots to that meeting?

So, where are the American people left? In the same downward spiral as before the State of the Union speech. Falderal merely hit rewind and summoned up the ghosts of his 2008 campaign and then faked a moment of contrition.

Falderal actually said that he would rather be a good one term President than a mediocre two term President. I want to know for whom he would like to be a good one term President. I am pretty sure it is not for us, but for him.

Facebook Page & Ning!

2010-01-29T10:00:00.001-08:00

Go to our newly minted Facebook page and become a fan to experience all my drivel all day long!

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Nancy Pelosi Must Die! (politically)

2010-01-28T08:11:00.001-08:00

Are you kidding me? No, seriously are you FUCKING kidding me?

Hours before heading into the Chambers to catch the American public up on just how Falderal et al were able to screw the country up more in one year than any President in history (wait a minute, I guess that is something), that complete and utter douche bag, the gentle lady from California Nancy Pelosi, suggested adding defense cuts into the State of the Union! As the kids would say, WTF and OMG!

I seriously didn’t think she could get any more supremely stupid, but I guess if you live long enough…as the saying goes. Here is a quote from the see you next Tuesday Senator to Poltico.com in response to Falderal’s fairness in his proposed cuts:

“Well, I think that if there is going to be a spending freeze, it should be across the board," she said. "That is to say, we all want a strong national defense, and we want to fund it in an appropriate way," she said. "But we're not here to protect defense contractors. ... And the fact is, if we have to cut spending, we should subject every dollar to that same scrutiny."

As you can see, Pelosi is not just anti-defense, but apparently anti-business as well.

Here is something to think about Nancy; how about we stop sending you to places like, oh say, Copenhagen, with your cavalcade of three Military jets to the tune of $1,000,000, so you can do, what is it you do again? Oh that’s right, nothing. How much would we save there? Those three jets surely could have been doing something more productive than hauling your useless, entitled arse all over the globe.

The thing really striking me here is the lack of solidarity with Lord Falderal. Why would she risk her relationship with him when clearly Falderal is attempting to at least partially change policy to what Americans actually want; jobs creation? Last time I checked, military spending creates jobs, and by the way, helps protect our collective asses from International miscreants.

I have always known that despite their pack mentality and inability to think on their own, Democrats will eventually all eat their own young. This is especially true when two things occur: their arrogance outgrows their usefulness as a public servant, or they become senile. Clearly, both are the case here. Oh I forgot the other, they also tend to demonize their brethren even more than Republicans during Primary season.

The message this kind of thing sends is so rotten on so many levels it’s mind-boggling. I am sure the troops overseas and here on the promised land are so gratified to hear that one of the most powerful legislators in the Nation is actively looking to hang them out to dry while they are out there risking their lives to protect the American way of life.

To the American people, in the wake of all the recent and growing security threats, a ridiculous comment like that is not exactly reassuring at a time when we need reassurance. The one thing we have going for us right now is a fantastic, dedicated and effective military and this douche bag is willing to screw that all up out of “fairness” to other programs? This is in fairness to all those Democratic programs that run so efficiently, right?

I’ve said it before and I realize I am completely biased in this thinking, but all I care about is a strong national defense. Otherwise, I would like the Government to keep their dirty, gnarly, paws out of my personal and commercial life.

Lord Falderal, even if he wanted to suddenly do the right thing and actually Govern the way the people who elected him would like, will continue to be plagued by his own posse. People like Pelosi can really screw things up for him and they seem to be ready to do so. I am not sure if it is because they smell the blood from all his failures and are seeking some kind of way out for themselves, or if it is just ingrained in their political strategic infrastructure, but whatever it is; Falderal needs a new crew and de-clawing Pelosi would be a good start.

Pelosi is vile pure and simple and offers absolutely nothing to this Legislature and the country as a whole. She outlived whatever small bit of usefulness she may have had eons ago and needs to disappear from the political theatre as fast as possible.

She needs a new wardrobe too. She looks like Talbots puked on her.

YES!

2010-01-19T19:01:00.000-08:00

THIS is a MANDATE!

Godspeed Scott Brown!!