GOP’S STOCK DROPPING DAILY!

THE MOUTH THAT ROARS: AS DICK CHENEY KEEPS FIDDLING, THE GOP BURNS!

SO JUST WHAT IS the Republican Party’s end game?

To the average Liberal — as well as moderate and even Blue Dog — Democract, the answer would appear obvious: complete extinction!

The dedicated GOP Conservative, however, who currently occupies perhaps 99 percent of that party, would most likely argue the steady decline of the Grand Old Party for the more than two years is just part of a historical political trend. He/she will tell you with complete confidence (denial), the GOP will again emerge on top as it has in the past under similar circumstances.

While this sounds like a logical argument, I believe it is quite shortsighted on a number of fronts.

First off, in my 56 years, I have never seen the GOP lose anywhere near this much ground. It’s last accent from purgatory, in 1994, occurred while Centrist Democrat Bill Clinton still occupied the White House. Thus, their power was just as limited by the same presidential veto pen Congressional Democrats experienced during the final two years of the Bush Administration.

Conversely, the Party of FDR, JFK and LBJ now dominate both the Executive and Legislative Branches of government and are on the threshold of obtaining a filibuster-proof 60 votes in the Senate this summer when Al Frankin is expected to finally emerge as #60 from the quagmire of Minnesota legal red tape which has prevented him from filling the lone vacant seat he rightfully earned by virtue of his November victory over incumbent Republican Norm Coleman.

But 60 Democratic Senators will not cut always cut it, as the Blue Dogs will clearly dissent from party on certain matters.

Yet, the Party of Obstruction on the other side of the aisle has both angered and frightened so many former members, only 21 percent of all registered voters are willing to identify with it. I expect that number to drop to 13 percent — precisely the same figure as Dick Cheney’s approval rating upon his departure last January — by the 2010 elections.

Speaking of which, the former vice president has become the Democrats most effective marketing tool as of late. Unable to keep his trap shut, his omnipresence in the media only serves to remind the electorate why it laid its trust in the Party of Barack Obama last November!

The gut feeling here is that the Democrats will be able to run at least more moderate candidates against the Blue Dogs in their respective primaries next year. In addition, if my instincts serve me, don’t be surprised if the Dems pick up an additional 7 seats from incumbent Republicans as well!

Adding insult to injury, I get the feeling the GOP’s two remaining moderates — Maine Senate siblings Olympia  Snow and Susan Collins — will fellow Arlen Specter to the other side of the aisle by next summer.

What exactly does that spell for the future of bullet-ridden GOP?

I have little doubt the massive Conservative majority will have it’s way, “purifying” itself and becoming the “Christian Conservative Party.” In fact, it might not be a bad idea for them to officially change their name right now, laying their cards out for the American public face up — perhaps for the first time since the death of Abe Lincoln!

This would be the second name change for the political party that began as the “Whigs.” But it would clearly spell out their values and objectives in a new millenium where they would be interpreted just as archaic as slavery became by the turn of the 19th Century!

PTSD VETS CHEATED BY PENTAGON!

WHILE MEMORIALIZING THEIR CASUALTIES, THE PENTAGON HAS KNOWINGLY RIPPED OFF PTSD VICTIMS OF THEIR BENEFITS!

MSNBC VIDEO. PLEASE VIEW!

IT WAS FOUR YEARS AGO when I met the first of many returning Iraqi War veterans at a VA Medical Center. The 21-year old had recently been discharged with all the tell-tale signs of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

The former GI was extremely bitter and resentful with the Army’s bizarre decision to diagnose his illness as “Adjustment Disorder” rather than PTSD.

Simultaneously, the VA disability filing and evaluation process began to surpass two years, significantly longer than the 90-day procedure when I was discharged from the Navy in 1973 with an disorder later to become known as PTSD.

This was just the first testimony I received of what has become another federal scandal with its roots firmly planted during the Bush Administration.

Adjustment Disorder is the Army’s way of avoiding disability payments to those truly deserving by blaming the serviceman’s traumatic experience overseas on personality disorders existing prior to enlistment.

But wait! Don’t the Armed Forces give a whole battery of psychological exams to all recruits before accepting them?

They sure do and have done so for the longest time.

A personality disorder is something an undergraduate psych student would be capable of diagnosing. So how does the Pentagon explain this massive number of combat vets escaping detection by fully-credentialed mental health professionals who administered those tests?

Actually there is a simple explanation, especially when the previous administration and its relationship with the all-mighty dollar always seemed to trump humanity!

Although there was no actual diagnosis on the books for my disability 36 years ago, the VA was far less concerned at that time with a medical label than a patient’s symptoms and personal discomfort level.
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What folly this is! “W” left office virtually three months ago and this country is still stinging from the Bushing we took on all fronts.

Can you remember how many times Bush and Cheney publicly avowed their support for our troops in Iraq? But behind the scenes they were simultaneously looking for the means – any means –to pay the debt on that war. Their determination: decrease veteran benefits.

Despite the multitude of differences that have long existed between Congressional Republicans and Democrats, they do both possess a passionate desire to eliminate wasteful government spending. But even with this concept, the parties are far apart on their respective perceptions of what constitutes “wasteful.”

For the GOP, it is any “entitlement” program that enables the disadvantaged to get back on their feet and into the mainstream of life. This includes Social Security, Medicare, college federal grants and loans, vocational rehab for those who grew up in rat-infested ghettos and weren’t privy to those services earlier.

Sadly, the Republicans hit list also includes the United States Veterans Administration — our nation’s primary health care organ for former servicemen. For nearly 80 years, the VA has been the mainstay for an array of veteran benefits.

The Democrats, in contrast, equate wasteful spending to non-bid government contracts (Dick Cheney conveniently arranged these for all his old cronies in the Military Industrial Complex),  massive tax breaks and loopholes for the top five percent of affluent Americans and their multi-billion Dollar corporations, stockpiled nuclear weapons, outdated military equipment and do-nothing government oversight departments that allow the private sector run wild.

Regardless how the Bush White House and hyperbolic news agencies like the FOX New Channel have attempted to put a positive spin on the war in Iraq, Americans have watched in disbelief the shabby treatment experienced by those who volunteered to serve us over there. In addition to the defected, inept equipment military personnel received for the first few years of the war, more than 4,200 of them have been killed and 10,000 additional injured. The death toll for Iraqis has surpassed 1.3 million.

And it has cost us a whooping 10 million dollars monthly for the past six years.

During this time, only the final veteran spending bill was supported by the Bush Administration and his GOP allies on Capitol Hill. Yes, even former Mighty Squid, himself — John McCain — repeatedly voted against veteran funding.

This has been such a dismal embarrassment for any man or woman who has ever worn the uniform of our Armed Forces. Even our European friends could smell the stench all the way on the other side of the Atlantic after each vote.

Given the prohibitive cost of combat itself, I can’t see how any decent man would try to save a few dollars treating the disabilities of those who participated in America’s least-justified war.

No doubt, President Obama is doing everything possible to completely reverse direction from the Bush years. And without a single complaint, he has taken on a far-oversized plate from day one.

And I’m sure this calamity has already been added to his agenda – which more resembles the passenger list of a 747 – and he will take corrective action.

But again, like so many others, I can’t understand how we all allowed this to go on for so long. It is perhaps the worst “dirty” bomb America ever built.

GOP’s Boehner Plays Like A Broken Record!

COLD AS ICE: HOUSE MINORITY LEADER JOHN BOEHNER

OBSTRUCTIONIST-EXTRAORDINAIRE JOHN BOEHNER is doing everything humanly possible to personally undermine any economic recovery this nation and its anxiety-ridden people are looking to the Obama Administration to facilitate.

The House minority leader – a thorn in the side of political stability on Capitol Hill – has been the clearly-defined catalyst behind the public’s perception of the Republicans as the “Party of No,” as he continues to lead his conservative troops in a unified stand against virtually every fiscal initiative to come out of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Boehner — who bears an uncanny resemblance in both appearance and personality to the warden from the “The Shawshank Redemption” — could very well be the coldest, most distant and dispassionate politician this side of former GOP Vice Presidents Dick Cheney and Spiro Agnew.

His nauseating daily sound bites depicting Obama spending measures as a one-way ticket to financial Hell disingenuously paints a picture of his party as the more fiscally responsible.

This is completely absurd, given how the Bush Administration, with the full support of a Republican-dominated Congress for the first six years, managed to convert a budget surplus inherited from the Clinton White House into the largest deficit in modern history before the new president took office.

Boehner’s amnesia of political histroy also includes the huge spending programs of the Conservative Republican Reagan Administration throughout the ’80s.

The Ohio congressman insults the collective American intelligence with his attempts to convince us every problem currently facing this country — from the economic crisis to the devaluation of our education system — is the president’s fault.

While a strong bipartisan effort ensued on the Hill this past week to battle the AIG scandal – the first sign of any significant cooperation across the aisle since 9/11 — Boehner was once more running his mouth, faulting the new administration, especially Treasury Secretary Timothy Geitner, for the insurance giant’s contractual indiscretion with its executives.

Boehner was well aware that Geitner has been operating with a skeleton staff from day one. He has also around long enough to realize this is not unusual for a new Cabinet member who has been on the job for less than 45 days.

What the House majority leader refuses to own up to is that the agreement signed with AIG in the first place occurred during the latter part of the Bush years. Yet he remains steadfast in accusing the president and Geitner of “missing the boat.”

Then again, how many boats can one board at the same time? The list of inherited calamities this administration has already been attempting to rectify is as long as a line for a new Robert Di Nero movie!

Even political scientists and media analysts generally reserve  major judgment on a new administration until at least after its first 100 days, and generally longer. But from the moment Obama was inaugurated, Boehner began ripping apart every move he’s made.

The Ohio Republican couldn’t possibly have already forgotten the major beating his party took lat November — mainly due to its inept, antiquated conservative policies – you know, the ones which in less than eight years turned our economy upside down, while destroying our credibility worldwide.

He has been relentless articulating how his party could again gain ground with the American electorate by moving – yet — even further to the right, a deluded contention of the first order. His sense of reality is microscopic at best!

Boehner fails not only to recognize his party no longer has any power in the House whatsoever, but could only be two seats away from complete extinction in the Senate after the 2010 election (actually one after laid-bakc Minnesota finally certifies Democrat Al Franken as its new junior senator.

Denial – a state of mind traditionally used in psychological terms –is defined as an individual’s subconscious unwillingness to accept and deal with a painful reality about themselves or their life. Yet somehow, the stoned-faced GOP leader has made this dysfunction part of the political lexicon as well, and in record time.

Although considered “the ego’s shock absorber” by mental health professionals, denial always has a way of eventually backfiring, ultimately compounding an already bad situation exponentially. And this is exactly what we are seeing right now with Boehner and his followers.

By refusing to recognize the devastating effects his party’s ideological flaws has had on the nation – not to mention the GOP itself – the “distinguished gentleman” from Ohio is slowly leading his maimed party into oblivion.

Obama, Liberals and Nationalism: Oh My!

NATIONALISTIC CONCEPTS ARE VERY MUCH RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ECONOMIC GROWTH OF MANY EUROPEAN NATIONS IN RECENT DECADES

WHEN former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan warned last week that major banks — at the rate they are spiraling downward — ultimately might have to be nationalized, he didn’t realize the term would set off the type of alarm that hasn’t been heard since the Communist witch hunt of the McCarthy era!

Nationalism, or government owned, is synonymous with Socialism. This is why the mere thought of that “forbidden” concept brought even the most obscure conservative talking heads across the nation out of hiding to denounce this notion passionately. And, needless to say, they used every media outlet available.

‘The government has no right to be in the banking business,’ was the jest of they collectively preached. ‘Everyone knows the private sector can do a much better job.’

Oh really?

Where have these geniuses been for the past several months? Hasn’t it been the private sector — mostly through the greed, deception and an utter lack of integrity of their multi-millionaire CEO’s — which led the major banking empire down the fast track to extinction?

Yet, one mention of Nationalism tends to unjustifiably terrify much of our society, which acts as if its time to go back into those old fallout shelters built in the 1950s as protection against  a possible Soviet nuclear attack!

Interestingly, nothing has ever been more effectively employed by Conservatives than fear to control Americans’ collective mindset. Sadly, this completely disingenuous tactic is facilitated through propaganda campaigns.

Former President Dwight Eisenhower laid the groundwork for both the Korean and Vietnam Wars with his “Domino theory.” His philosophy was simple, although quite short-sighted: By allowing a Communist takeover of any turbulent nation on the other side of the globe, the entire region would fall to the Marxists.

In just three years in Korea, the American death toll reached just below 37,000. Fighting a losing battle in Vietnam for over a decade, more than 58,000 died.

In recent years, the Bush Administration used a fear campaign after 9/11 to remind us why we needed to continue fighting an enormously ludicrous war in Iraq. You might remember, he even linked Saddam Hussein to al-Qaeda and “The war on terrorism.” The sad truth was that there were no terrorists in Iraq until we intervened.

Even last fall, John McCain used deception and propaganda in a futile attempt to scare the electorate away from Barack Obama.

“Guess who is the biggest Liberal in the Senate,” the Republican candidate exclaimed during one of the debates. “This one,” as he pointed to Obama. It was as if he was calling his opponent a Communist conspirator.”

The Republican Party has tried to minimize government for decades, claiming it crams the space of the private sector with “unnecessary regulations.” But ever since Ronald Reagan lifted many of those regulations in 1981, Corporate America has led us by the hand into financial ruin.

There is a reason for government, and a rock-solid one at that. It’s the same logic used for having larger police departments.

Left to their own devices — or should I say egos and greed — the lords of Big Business tend to become addicted to power, prestige and money — with emphasis on the later!

Let’s face it, there is a huge necessity for government oversight because these unscrupulous animals simply can’t be trusted.

And please allow me to make an important distinction: The Nationalism we’re addressing here is not the Communism of Lenin’s Soviet Union, Mao Tse Tung’s China, Castro’s Cuba or even Ho Chi Min’s Vietnam. In reality, those regimes didn’t even constitute anything close to authentic socialized governments in the first place. All of them, without exception, employed very few basic socialistic principles in conjunction with Totalitarian political systems.

Karl Marx, the father of Socialism, intended for his economic philosophy to allow people to live in true freedom, emancipated from unnecessary economic anxiety and political oppression.

Many European countries have successfully blended Nationalism with free market principles to create Social Democracies. And it has worked far more effectively than our system over the past 30 years.

For one thing, you will never see a homeless, starving individual there, nor will you see a citizen — any citizen — without health insurance.

In other words, no human being suffers without the absolute essentials of life, while the opportunity to make a great deal of money still exists as well, but under heavy regulation.

In reality, Nationalism has been going on in the United States since the 1930s in one form or another. Some examples:

- Social Security

- Public Works programs, which put many victims of the Great Depression back to work

- Medicare

- Medicaid

- The Veterans Administration, which has provided an untold number of vets with quality health care, a college or trade-school education and disability benefits when service related.

- Federal grants for a variety of useful purposes, including higher education and vital research — specifically in medicine.

- Food Stamps for the impoverished

- Programs from the “Great Society” — which was a catalyst for the great success many minorities have enjoyed in both the public and private sectors.

- Affirmative Action, which evened out the playing field for people of color, and women.

Yet, none of these programs were instituted with the forbidden label of “Nationalism or Socialism.” But they have all worked quite competently — that is, until the GOP started hacking away at the funds appropriated to them since the Reagan years.

And now, it has been suggested by Greenspan — one of the foremost experts of our time on the banking industry  — that the government might have to buy and run some of the most troubled banks in order to keep them buoyant.

What is so aweful about that?

In fact, a few banks recently have already asked Uncle Sam to buy shares in their failing financial institutions –  in effect — offering the federal government part ownership.

As the stock market continues to plummet each week, reaching a 30-year low on Monday, it is imperative for the government to step in.

We are dealing with a horrifying viscous fiscal cycle, as stockholders continue to sell off their shares to avoid even further loses. Someone has to pick up the slack, and Washington seems to be the best and most pragmatic candidate.

This is also why national (or universal, which sounds less socialistic) health insurance is a necessity. We can no longer go on allowing our citizens — especially children — to go without the proper treatment for their ailments, especially those that are life threatening. In private medicine, treatment is just another commody sold only to those who can afford it.

So it’s time for the American public — especially the GOP — to wise up and become edified about the true nature of Nationalism, rather than the myths passed down for 91 years!

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Below is a text of Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto.  If you haven’t actually received a fomal education about Nationalism, you might want to read it in it’s entirety before continuing to make false interpretations about this delicate subject!

http://www.anu.edu.au/polsci/marx/classics/manifesto.html

Obama’s Trust In Conservative Repbulicans Betrayed

NEOCONS ON CAPITOL HILL UNSUCCESSFULLY TRIED TO STIFLE THE PRESIDENT’S ECONOMIC RECOVERY PACKAGE!

BARACK OBAMA was forced to pull another proverbial rabbit out of his hat this week, opting to again use the same sure-fire strategy that put him in the White House last month.

After extending a political olive branch to GOP Conservatives, who were maimed last November, he was betrayed by the minority party.

Rebuking unrelenting criticism of his economic stimulus and recovery plan from Conservative Republicans, the president took to the road once more, making stops in Elkhart, Indiana and Ft. Meyers, Florida to insure these two especially economically-strapped communities his plan would bring them relief. He also held his first prime-time nationally-televised press conference.

The president attended town-hall style meetings in both places, fielding questions from the participants, while asking for their support to prevent any further delay of his plan. Ironically, the president lost badly in both places last November.

Although a Liberal, the president showed a willingness to govern from the center in order to bring peace to Capitol Hill for the first time in 16 years.

True to his word, his cabinet choices included three Republicans, an unprecedented number in a Democratic administration. While in office for the past three weeks, he’s reached out to GOP leaders in key meetings at the White House.

And in a display of good faith, he traveled last week to Capitol Hill, huddling with House and Senate Republicans in separate meetings, hoping to solicit their support for the stimulus package.

Presidents generally don’t meet with opposition party leaders on their turf. Normally, they come to the White House. But he wanted show them respect in the classiest way.

However, GOP House leaders, true to form, called a meeting of its members an hour before his scheduled arrival, instructing them to vote against the legislation. Yet, not a single word was said to him to about the preceding party caucus, leaving the president optimistic of bipartisan support.

The bill did ultimately pass in the House, but only because the Democrats own a resounding majority — courtesy of the American voters, who were fed up with perennial GOP values that favored Corporate America and the affluent at the expense of the middle-class and the impoverished. Yet, not one single Republican voted in favor of it.

Then when the legislation reached the Senate later in the week, Republican leaders grandstanded against it, referring to the legislation as ‘just another liberal tax-and-spend plan.’ The GOP had used this talking point with great success for 28 years, but the voters finally saw it for what it was worth last November: political sewage.

The party’s leaders rushed in front of cameras outside the Capitol and in the studios of the three major cable news outlets all week, offering bizarre commentary of how they could have done job better at half of price.

And how would they accomplish that? By cutting the better portion of the money designed for necessary programs to help America’s most hard hit by the recession, creating an estimated three million jobs and long-term fiscal stability.

The GOP also wanted to slice any programs in the bill that would have aided the nation’s impoverished and children. But as always, the Republicans proposed further tax relief — especially to Corporate America, the author of this recession.

With 58 seats in the Senate, the Democrats were two short of the required 60 to avoid a Republican filibuster that would have killed the legislation and intensify an already volatile economy as well as the worst unemployment crisis in 26 years.

This is when a bipartisan group of five moderate Senators banded together behind closed doors and crafted a fair and decent compromise package.

Democrats Joe Lieberman (CT) and Bill Nelson (NE), as well as Republicans Arlen Specter (PA) and Susan Collins and Olimpia Snow — both from Maine – worked relentlessly through the entire weekend, much to the chagrin of GOP leaders.

With help from the three moderate Republicans, the $833 billion substitute legislation finally passed, 61-37.

But Senate Republicans refused to cut their losses, accusing their colleagues across the aisle of failing to satisfy Obama’s desire for bipartisan passage.

The House and Senate versions of the plan differed somewhat, and a final $789 billion final measure was hammered out by a Conference Committee a few hours ago.

The legislation will now go back to both houses for a final vote – which should again pass. The president will most likely sign it next week.

Essentially, the president’s bigest mistake was his willingness to work with the  Conservatives in the first place. He never imagined they would play Russian Roulette with lives of so many Americans, utilizing this vital legislation to trash his party.

The president should have learned a lesson from the campaign last fall, knowing these neocons are completely unscrupulous and not capable of compromise.

He should have remembered their futile attempt to discredit him as a candidate with bizarre lies and hyperbole. But we can feel confident White House Chief of Staff  Rahm Emanuel will never allow him to forget that again.

For the GOP, this was no more than political theater of the worst proportions. By opposing the stimulus package, the party launched an overly premature campaign to recapture both houses in 2010, similar to the one former House Speaker Newt Gingrich ran so brilliantly in 1994 – two years after Bill Clinton was elected.

But what they might have done instead is cut their own throats. Barrack Obama is a president who is clearly loved, respected and trusted by the vast majority of Americans, according to all major polls.

The voters, I believe, can now only perceive the Conservatives as the obstructionists they are and have been for a long time.

As long as the trio of moderate Republicans is willing to work with the president and their Democratic colleagues, he will have no need to deal with the Conservatives again, many of which will lose their seats in two years anyway!

FREE AT LAST!

GOOD RIDDENS! George W. Bush leaves Washington for the last time as this nation’s commander in chief .

THIS IS A TIME OF ELATION and hope for a resounding majority of Americans. It is also the beginning of what will inevitably become America’s greatest comeback .

Today will be remembered for Barack Obama’s inauguration as the 44th president of the United States, in front of a record-breaking crowd.

But it will also go down in history as the electorate’s signing of America’s second Declaration of Independence.

Our first emancipation was declared 232 years ago from the rule of Britain’s King George III. Today, we gained our freedom from yet another George – the one who incompetently and corruptly occupied the White House for the last eight years and left office with a overwhelming reputation as this country’s worst president ever.

It was on this date in 2001 that Bush’s predecessor, Bill Clinton, left the nation with its first budget surplus in three decades, record rates of new jobs created and — relatively speaking — friendly relations with most of our global neighbors.

Conversely, the Bush Administration legacy includes the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, astronomical unemployment figures and two wars — one which has been entirely unjustified from the start and has cost this nation in excess of $10 billion monthly for almost seven years, as well as 4,000 American casualties.

Our preemptive strike on Iraq almost six years ago, as well as our continued presence there, has also lost us the respect of most of our treasured allies, while intensifying dissension with perennial detractors.

The Bush White House’s legitimization of torture during its interrogations of Islamic prisoners in Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay, a clearly-defined violation of the Geneva Convention,  was America’s first in recorded history. The administration’s actions also constituted war crimes, which Bush and several of his subordinates could be called in front of the International Court in the Haige to explain.

The use of domestic spying without FISA Court warrants arrogantly breached the U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment’s prohibition of illegal search and seizures. Racial profiling of U.S. citizens of  Muslim decent following 9/11 defied another long-held American precept. These transgressions could very well be investigated and subsequently prosecuted by the new president’s justice officials.

Not only is this day one of redemption for the U.S, but has given rise to a global celebration as well — one that offers major change and hope – not to mention the reversal of heinous Bush policies.

No longer will the world have to put up with Bush’s ignorance, arrogance and self righteousness. They have seen the last of his “Either you’re with us or you’re against us” mentality!”

No longer will our president be the butt of jokes among world leaders and their respective citizenry — not to mention the media worldwide.

No longer will the nation collectively experience that prolonged feeling of depression that swooped over it like a stagnant storm cloud, one which felt as if would remain forever.

No longer will the affluent and Corporate America be given a free pass to treat its  middle-class workers as second-class citizens, continually giving them the royal shaft as these greedy bastards record exorbitant profits.

No longer will the country’s neediest — the impoverished, disabled, elderly and our veterans — be taken out like the trash and dumped.

This is why history will record today as America’s  second Declaration of Independence. It so clearly evokes the final words of the late Dr. Martin Luther King’s 1963 “I have a dream” speech:

“Free at last. Free at last. God almighty, (we’re) free at last!”

Attrocities Of New Millennium Frighteningly Similar To Those Of The 20th Century!

Elie Wiesal (standing) survived Nazi persecution in several concentration camps.

“……….How will (the 20^th Century) be remembered in the new millennium? Surely it will be judged, and judged severely, in both moral and metaphysical terms. These failures have cast a dark shadow over humanity: two World Wars, countless civil wars, the sensless chain of assassinations – Gandhi, the Kennedys, Martin Luther King, Sadat, Rabin – bloodbaths in Cambodia and Nigeria, India and Pakistan, Ireland and Rwanda, Eritrea and Ethiopia, Sarajevo and Kosovo; the inhumanity in the gulag and the tragedy of Hiroshima. And, on a different level, of course, Auschwitz and Treblinka. So much violence; so much indifference……”

- Elie Wiesel

THE ABOVE EXCERPT from a speech given by Wiesel is extremely significant in that we have seen more of the same horrors described above during the first eight years of the 21st Century. Let’s face it: nothing has changed, and this is quite scary!

As Iran inches closer to a Nuclear weapon, so do terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah, whose attacks on Israel have been bankrolled by Tehran. To be concerned the Iranians would someday sell the WMD’s to Islamic radicals is in no way out of the realm of reality.

These theological criminals’ misinterpretation of the Koran leaves them entirely fearless of death and believing a suicidal attack on innocent people in the West (”The great Satin”) would result in a one-way ticket to “Heaven.”

Meanwhile, several countries in Africa have experienced as much genocide as Hitler and Stalin facilitated during WWII. And now we have observed the second coming of pirates across the Atlantic Ocean who kidnap innocent people, demanding ransom for their safe returns.

While we advance by quantum leaps technologically, there seems to be a frightening spiritual decline. It is important to note spirituality and organized religion are anything but synonymous; Quite the contrary in fact!

As the Religious Right continues to ignore the U.S. Constitution, constantly attempting to impose their values on others and this country as a whole, Muslim extremists basically do the same in the Middle East — albeit in a far more violent fashion.

This is all far too reminiscent of the Inquisition and Crusades centuries ago.

Sadly, until this week, torture had become a part of the U.S response to enemy aggression since 9/11. Until the new millennium began, this vile practice was limited to severely-misguided rogue nations.

Even American citizens, themselves, had been subject to unlawful domestic spying and ethnic profiling under the FORMER, deceptive Bush Administration.

No doubt, new President Barack Obama has made his mission to not only rectify the Bush destructive actions, but to put as much as a dent as he can in bringing harmony to the Word. But that won’t change the multitude of global atrocities taking place daily overnight.

An old mentor of mine once said wars are never actually won; Rather, one side is temporarily stifled by another — only to wait for the opportunity for vengeance. History has shown us more than enough evidence to support this contention.

Realistically,  hatred and violence as well as intolerance have never produced long-lasting positive outcomes.

Only committed diplomacy and bilateral compromise has ever resolved any of the world’s problems. Such was the case in 1978 when then President Jimmy Carter negotiated the Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel.  As a result, the former two perennial enemies finally found a lasting peace, both making major concessions to ensure it.

Subsequent peace agreements were consummated  between Tel Aviv and both Saudi Arabia and Jordan in 1981 and 1994, respectively.

_______________

Elie Wiesel is a Nobel Peace Prize recipient. For more than six decades, the Jewish writer, professor, political activist and Holocaust survivor, has dedicated himself to world peace and justice.

Medical Marijuana Must Be Legalized — Now!

THE FEDS REMAIN IN DENIAL ABOUT CANNABIS’S MEDICINAL VALUE, CHOOSING INSTEAD TO CLING TO MYTHS PERPETUATED OVER SIX DECADES AGO!

NEXT TO PROHIBITION — which the government obviously learned little from — perhaps the most bizarre law on the books in the U.S. deals with the criminalization of marijuana, which has been predicated on complete falsehoods for the past 72 years.

Just a little history: In 1936, the Treasury Department created the Federal Bureau of Narcotics under the leadership of Harry J. Anslinger. The new bureau chief initially had no problem with cannabis consumption, which had been going on for over five millenniums.

Then a group of religious fanatics,  similar to those who inspired Prohibition, ran a propaganda campaign about the herb which finally got to him.

Anslinger eventually convinced Congress to pass the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, which required the purchase tax stamps in order to legally possess the herb.

But in order to get the stamp, a user had establish possession of it,  which led to their arrests for not having the stamp. It was one of the most imbecilic Catch 22s of all time.

In order to convince Congress and the public of  marijuana’s ‘horrors,’ the bureau launched a propaganda campaign with a few movies entirely underscored by hyperbole. The most ludicrous, yet effective, Reefer Madness (1936), depicted pot-smoking college students as a bunch of drunken speed freaks. If you never had the chance to see  it, it could be viewed for free at

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6696582420128930236.

After the liberal Earl Warren Supreme Court overturned the absurd law 40 years later, then President Richard Nixon enacted a new bill prohibiting possession of cannabis in any quantity within 36 months as a component of the more comprehensive Controlled Substance Act of 1970.

Generally speaking, it is extremely difficult to change the belief system of narrow-minded individuals, which the federal and state governments have historically had more of its fair share of.

A few states have decriminalized possession of small quantities of marijuana, while 12 have legalized it for medical use. But the rest refuse to even look at recent medical findings, and the federal government could still prosecute you if the states won’t.

This occurred earlier this year in Los Angeles where the DEA busted several medical marijuana stores , despite those outlets were completely legal and sanctioned by the State of California. The agency has even gone as far as to threaten doctors who prescribe it with prosecution and removal of their licenses.

“Marijuana has been a medicine for 5,000 years,” says Dr. Donald I. Abrams “That’s a lot longer than it hasn’t been a medicine.”

Abrams,  an oncologist and director of clinical research programs at the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at the UCSF School of Medicine in San Francisco, is one of a handful of top-flight doctors in the country researching medical marijuana.

“The war on drugs is really a war on patients,” he asserts.

What is truly bothersome is the federal government’s sanction of alcohol and tobacco consumption, and it has  made a mint on the these two deadly substances with exorbitant taxes. Yet, it refuses to even look at the data that establishes pot as far less toxic.

To paraphrase political comedian and satirist Bill Maher, ‘There are nearly a half-million tobacco-related deaths each year and approximately 100,000 fatalities caused by alcohol consumption. But we have yet to see one person smoke a joint and drop dead.’

If there’s one lesson we should have learned from Prohibition, it’s that morality cannot be legislated! When alcohol was banned, the result was devastating: organized crime took over the trade, the product had far more toxic components in the bootlegged version, and underground speakeasys spread like the flu.

The result of the cannabis laws has proven to be quite similar, as millions have been busted and imprisoned since 1970. Consequently, several more prisons have been built to handle the exponentially larger inmate population.

This has led the states and federal government to spend an exorbitant amount of money, which could have been used for legitimate necessities: our infrastructure, an increase in police, more comprehensive health care — not to mention improved education for our kids — which has absolutely gone down the toilet for the last few decades.

If legalized, marijuana — most notably for medical purposes — could be controlled by the government, who can regulate the product and price while increasing revenue through taxes. In any event, the consumer would be paying far less than he/she current does at black market prices for a safer product.

So its easy to see that the natural herb’s criminalization has proven to be a total failure. It’s high time (no pun intended) for the government to realize this.

GOP MAKEOVER OFF TO BAD START!

This Can’t Possibly Be The Republicans’ Idea Of How To Attract Black Voters!

FOR CHIP SALTSMAN – who recently sent a  2007 parody song called “Barack the Magic Negro,” sung to the tune of “Puff the Magic Dragon,” to Republican National Committee leaders during Christmas –   to defend his bizarre behavior is absolutely mind boggling!

How could someone with so much political expertise and savvy even try to pull off something so suicidal for his party, especially now?

I can’t even fathom how he actually believed RNC members would find that imbecilic, racially-charged spoof of the classic Peter, Paul & Mary folk hit entertaining.

Saltsman is one of a multitude of candidates seeking the RNC chairmanship, which the committee is expected to name soon. No doubt, this clearly wasn’t the most intelligent strategy to secure the job.

This is a time when the GOP is desperately looking for ways to attract Blacks and young voters in future elections. It was only two months ago when the American electorate — highly fueled by the vote of those two demographic groups — evicted the Republicans from the White House while strongly diminishing their numbers in Congress.

Saltsman, a senior adviser to former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, as well as the unsuccessful manager of Mike Huckabee’s failed presidential campaign, left his party with a strike-one count in its quest for broader support outside the Bible-thumping Deep South and Plain States. How he could have thought this asinine stunt would gain his party brownie points with African-Americans or even favor with independents and moderates is beyond comprehension!

Believe me, it’s not my intention to psychoanalyze this human bastion of retrograde conservatism. That would almost certainly take a team of psychiatrists from Geneva.

Just the name of the song – “Barack the Magic Negro” – is so completely indicative of a mindset that has become increasing unpopular over the last 40 years. Just when was the last time you heard African-Americans referred to as ‘Negroes’? Certainly, those born since 1968 haven’t. And that encompasses two voting generations.

Unfortunately, Saltsman’s actions clearly still reflect a portion of the GOP’s thinking — particularly its right wing, although the party itself would never admit it.

Yet, the Republicans as a whole have shown little compassion or concern for the Black population in this country since the Lincoln Administration.

They have forever favored spending cuts and even the total elimination of federal programs that were designed specifically to help minorities earn a fair piece of the proverbial American pie, especially in the realm of education and vocational training. And how have these rotten souls preferred to spend those funds: on tax breaks for the wealthy and their greedy corporations.

The GOP wants to reinvent itself as a more tolerant, ‘Big-Tent’ party — at least on the surface. This is why many of its leaders quickly and publicly condemned Saltsman, including former House Speaker Newt Gingrich – who could very conceivably be the party’s nomination for president in 2012.

South Carolina Republican Party Chairman Katon Dawson, another candidate for the RNC’s top spot, has even gone as far as to resign – begrudgingly I’m sure – from his exclusively white country club. Frankly, I didn’t even realize such clubs still existed in 21st Century America, even in the South?

One stark reality is the lack of success the GOP’s proposed face lift will have for at least a half-century. The damage already done has far too much depth and won’t be forgotten for quite a long time!

The vast majority of African-Americans in this country clearly don’t believe  Republicans are even capable of such a transformation – especially given their track record since the Reconstruction.

The antics of the GOP won’t play any better with the younger generation of voters, who have grown up in a society where biracial relationships and marriages have become commonplace. It is obvious these kids are far more liberal than any preceding generation since the highly-successful counter-culture youth of the late ’60s and early ’70s.

Unless the Grand Old Party — which has only shown itself to be old — puts a lid on loose cannons like Saltsman,  not only will it fail at any comeback attempt, but likely could fall into extinction!

Defiant Governor Drops Bombshell

ONE THING CAN BE SAID FOR IL GOV. ROD BLAGOJEVICH: HE DOES HAVE GUTS OF STEEL!

NO ONE WILL EVER ACCUSE Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich of buckling under pressure. No matter how you feel about him, you have to give the man his due.

He offered proof positive again today announcing to a national televised audience his appointment of former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris to replace President-elect Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate.

I have to admit I feel quite ambivalent about the governor’s current legal and political issues. While I’m sure his ploy to sell the president-elect’s Senate seat is a clearly-defined ethics violation, I don’t honestly believe he has committed a crime. And I am not ready to convict him quite yet, not at least until I can completely examine all the facts, as well as the case law as it pertains to his actions.

So just what are the facts?

Well, for one thing, they haven’t even been presented yet in their entirety to a trial judge and jury. Like you, all I know is what U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald has disclosed to the media.

I have no idea what the governor’s defense is, which his attorneys smartly won’t reveal until the government takes their client to trial, following a full disclosure of its entire case to them beforehand. That hasn’t happened yet.

So in truth, we don’t know all the facts — only a portion of them.

With respect to case law, the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution provides Blagojevich with the same presumption of innocence until guilt is proven that you and I are entitled to.

Therefore, I have to honor the man’s constitutional rights and wait until, and if, his case goes to court.

The wire-tap tapes released to the press by Fitzgerald clearly establishes Blagojevich sought money and future favors  in exchange for Obama’s seat. But I don’t believe this, on its face, violates federal law.

What the tapes do not establish is the governor following up on his rhetoric and actually committing the act, which would no doubt be illegal.

Let me offer an analogy:  When a drug dealer offers to make a sale to an undercover cop, he hasn’t yet committed a crime and cannot be arrested. It’s only when  he actually exchanges the dope for cash that the officer can slap the cuffs on him.

Another good comparison is when a married person attempts to hire a hit man to off their spouse but ends up with an undercover homicide detective instead. Before the detective could legally arrest that person, he has to ask them, “Are you sure you really want to go through with this?” In fact, many ask twice. If the person changes their mind and no money has been exchanged, charges cannot be filed.

Therefore as current governor of the great state of Illinois, Blagojevich – until convicted or extricated from office by the Illinois legislature — has every legal right to carry out the responsibilities of his office. This includes the Senate seat appointment.

“The people of Illinois are entitled to have two United States senators represent them in Washington, D.C. As governor, I am required to make this appointment. If I don’t make this appointment, then the people of Illinois will be deprived of their appropriate voice and vote in the United States Senate,” Blagojevich said at today’s press conference.

And he’s 100 percent on the money as far as I’m concerned. Not only are Illinois citizens entitled to two senators when the new Congress convenes in less than a week, but the Senate Democrats deserve to be fully staffed as well when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid commences the new Senate.

In all fairness, I believe the governor made a very intelligent choice in the notably rational and political squeaky-clean Burris, who apparently has all the makings of the perfect successor to Obama.

“Very, very low key,” said Don Rose, a former Democratic political consultant in Chicago, describing Mr. Burris, 71, to the New York Times. He’s just not a terribly exciting figure. But there’s never been a breath of scandal about him.”

Democratic Senators can threaten to block Burris from taking being seated all they want, but that would be unconstitutional.

I sincerely doubt there is a federal judge in this country, at any level, who would side against the currently sitting governor. And the Eighth Amendment leaves absolutely no room for partisan judicial interpretation.

To do so, would violate the oath that judge took to “uphold, protect and defend the constitution” — subjecting him/her to possible impeachment and subsequent removal from the bench.

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On January 15, 2008, Roland Burris was admitted into the U.S. Senate with the blessings of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durban, Illinois’ senior senator — filling Barack Obama’s vacated seat.