When Sally Field received her second Academy Award for Best Actress, she said, “You like me, right now, you like me!”
The rest of the world wants to like the United States. It was difficult for many people around the world to like the country that was led by George W. Bush. He refused to adopt the Kyoto Protocols. He refused to negotiate with Iran or North Korea. He used the 9/11 attack as an excuse to invade Iraq, which was not responsible for that attack. Americans ridiculed France for refusing to join the unjust invasion of Iraq. In 2004, Americans even re-elected Bush. Bush's bad economic policies caused a recession in the United States, and the bad American economy harmed other economies around the world.
But, in 2008, the Americans elected Barack Obama as their new president. This proved to the rest of the world that Americans had awakened to the mistakes of Bush, and they had overcome the old racial prejudices.
Barack Obama displayed his wisdom and good judgment to Germany and France in 2008. Obama's speech in Berlin attracted an audience of 200,000 people. As the new President, Obama offered reconciliation to Iranian TV. He also gave a great speech in Egypt. The world was seeing the end of Bush's cowboy manners, and a return to a more enlightened foreign policy.
On this basis, the Nobel committee awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize to Barack Obama. Although Obama has not yet achieved great success in international relations, the committee—and the world—have great expectations for him.
Conservative organizations have been organizing their followers to attend and disrupt the town hall meetings that Congressional members have been holding in their districts. A list of instructions has been written, giving protesters a set of helpful hints on disrupting the speaker and preventing the speaker from giving his message to the audience.
In the past, many protesters have held meetings at which the protesters gave speeches that presented their own messages. In the past, some protesters attended their opponents' speeches and held up protest signs to indicate their disagreement. But this new technique is intended to PREVENT the opponent from giving his message. Instead of providing an additional, alternative viewpoint, this technique is intended to stop the discussion and silence the opposition.
People who have organized other protests have learned that it is difficult to recruit large numbers of people to join protests. Only highly motivated people join political protests. Why are large numbers of people so highly motivated to join a protest movement against health insurance reform?
I think that part of the motivation is that corporations with vested interest in the status quo, such as insurance companies and pharmaceutical corporations, have spent millions of dollars to advertise opposing arguments to the public; and they have also paid millions of dollars in campaign contributions to politicians.
But I think that part of the opposition to health insurance reform is actually just anti-Obama hatred. Senator DeMint said that the health insurance issue could be Obama's Waterloo.
Conservatives have always disliked liberals; but in 2009, the conservatives have been especially angry.
Who are these new protesters? I have seen these protests in Arkansas, Florida, Missouri, Pennsylvania, and Texas. In the news videos, most of the protesters are middle-aged, and some are elderly.
All of them are white.
I believe that the this new, higher level of conservative anger is largely fueled by white racism. These conservatives would be unhappy with any Democratic president, but they are particularly angry and unwilling to accept the legitimacy of Barack Obama's presidency because Obama is half African-American. These protesters are actually the people who are unhappy about the outcome of the Civil War.
There is a famous comment that “Politics is show business for ugly people.” While politicians are not physically less attractive than the average middle-aged person, they do not usually have movie-star good looks.
Notable exceptions have been John Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Sarah Palin. Reagan and Schwarzenegger have, indeed, been movie stars!
And Sarah Palin's beauty-contest good looks and charm have been great assets for her political career. During her farewell speech on July 26, 2009, I noticed her arm-waving gestures behind the speaker's podium; and that reminded me of another politician whose political career soared after taking lessons from a drama coach.
Sarah Palin has a bachelor's degree in Communications and early experience as a TV sportscaster. She will now host a radio show, but that is not the best medium for her. Sarah Palin is so pretty that she will be much more effective on TV. I doubt that MSNBC would hire her, but I would think that Fox News would love to have her!
Can Sarah Palin return to elected office? It is possible. She is only 45 years old, so she could still be a candidate for office during the next 20 years. She is extremely conservative, so she could be elected to the House of Representatives, U.S. Senate, or Governor of Alaska. If she ran for President or Vice President, she could possibly win the Republican nomination. Palin has proven to be great as a Republican fund-raiser. However, she has so little support among Democratic voters and independents that she would probably lose a general election. Many Democrats are hoping that Sarah Palin will be the Republican presidential candidate in 2012, because she will be easy to beat!
When Barack Obama became President of the United States, the Republican Party decided to become the Party of “No.”
When President Obama appointed Sonia Sotomayer to become the next Supreme Court justice, the Party of No decided to vote “No” on that appointment.
Today, in the confirmation hearing, Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona grilled Judge Sotomayer about the “wise Latina” phrase that Sotomayer had used in speeches that she had given to law students.
Judge Sotomayer was a District Court Judge for 6 years, and she has been an Appeals Court Judge for almost 11 years. She has ruled in thousands of cases and written hundreds of opinions, but Senator Kyl is not asking about her judicial activity. That would require a lot of homework, and Kyl might not find anything in her judicial activity that Kyl can use against her.
As a member of the Party of No, Senator Kyl has already decided to vote “No” on Sotomayor's nomination. Now, he is searching for a reasonable excuse for his “No” vote.
Some news anchors have speculated about the number of senators that will vote in favor of Sotomayor's nomination. Is that really of any importance? We already know that 40 senators belong to the Party of No, so we cannot really expect many of them to vote for Sotomayor. Perhaps the most interesting results will be those of the Republican senators who are up for reelection in 2010: Shelby (AL), Murkowski (AK), McCain (AZ), Martinez (FL), Isakson (GA), Crapo (ID), Grassley (IA), Brownback (KS), Bond (MO), Gregg (NH), Burr (NC), Voinovich (OH), Coburn (OK), DeMint (SC), Thune (SD), and Bennett (UT). I know that Martinez has already announced that he will not be running for reelection, and Gregg has said that he might not run for reelection.
In order to be a Republican, follow these rules:
Advocate tax cuts—especially for high-income people and corporations, and especially for capital gains income.
Praise Jesus, and say that everything you do is in the name of Christianity.
In foreign affairs, say that every other country should yield to the will of the United States.
Threaten to use American military power to force other counties to comply with American policies.
Oppose abortion.
Advocate domestic policies that help American corporations make higher profits.
Oppose domestic policies that help labor unions.
Oppose domestic policies that force corporations to reduce their air or water pollution.
Oppose affirmative action laws.
Never admit that the theory of evolution is correct—or, at least, that it applies to humans. Insist that the schools teach Creationism or Intelligent Design.
Advocate using public education funds to subsidize parochial, private, and charter schools.
Advocate tax laws that encourage American corporations to offshore their work to foreign countries, where employee salaries are lower.
Oppose any health care program that would compete with health insurance corporations.
Oppose any restriction on the sale or ownership of firearms.
If any Democratic politician commits marital infidelity, demand that he resign from office.
If you are caught committing marital infidelity, say that God has asked you to remain in office.
Label any government-run enterprise “socialism”--except for the U.S. Postal Service, police department, fire department, water department, highway department, street department, public library, and public schools.
Watch Fox News. As a Republican, you probably already believe that white people are better than colored people; that Christianity is better than Islam, Judaism, or atheism; and that taxation is unfair. When you see the people on Fox News repeat these beliefs, that will give you the excuse that you have been seeking in order to justify your beliefs.
If the current President is a Republican:
Encourage every citizen to support the President.
Say that Congress should give the President all of the power that he needs.
If the President's budget uses misleading accounting methods to camouflage the actual deficit, don't say anything.
If the current President is a Democrat:
Say that the President is a dictator.
Say that the federal government is too powerful, and more power should be transferred to the states.
Say that the President's budget is too wasteful.
The United States of America needs a new national anthem. “The Star Spangled Banner” is a patriotic poem, written about the Battle of Baltimore during the War of 1812, and designated our national anthem in 1931. However, it is impractical.
“The Star Spangled Banner” contains notes that are too difficult for most people to sing. A national anthem should be easy to sing.
“The Star Spangled Banner” contains several awkward phrases that are difficult for many people to remember. How many times have you attended a sporting event, and listened as a singer--hired to sing the national anthem before the game began--forgot the correct song lyrics?
We need a national anthem that is not only easy to sing, but a song that contains lyrics that are easy to remember. It should be easy to sing along with the national anthem!
The United States has a population of 300 million people, including many talented songwriters. I propose that we have a national songwriting contest to help us choose a new national anthem. I think that this would be much more important than “American Idol.”
News Correspondent: I'm here in Afghanistan, where American troops have just captured a group of Taliban terrorists.
[A group of handcuffed men walk past the camera. They are all in their 20's, with long hair, full beards, and Afghan clothes—except for one man. That man is middle-aged, clean-shaved, with short, gray hair, and a business suit and tie.]
News Correspondent: Wait a minute—one of these men is different!
[The news correspondent walks up to the middle-aged man and points the microphone at him.]
News Correspondent: Excuse me, sir. Are you the leader of this Taliban terrorist group?
Sessions: No, I'm not a terrorist. I'm a Republican congressman from Texas.
News Correspondent: Why are you here with the Taliban?
Sessions: I'm on a fact-finding mission.
News Correspondent: What kind of facts are you getting?
Sessions: Insurgency techniques. Insurgency is a mindset and an attitude that we're going to have to search for and find ways to get our message out. Systematically understanding how to disrupt and change a person's entire processes.
News Correspondent: What is your message?
Sessions: LIVE, FROM NEW YORK—IT'S SATURDAY NIGHT !!!
Moderator Michael Steele sits in the chair on the right, facing Governor Bobby Jindal, who sits in the chair on the left. The two men lean forward.
Steele: And now, Governor, it's down to our final question! Here is the situation:
Banks are losing billions of dollars because homeowners are unable to make their mortgage payments.
The Big 3 automakers are losing billions of dollars, partly because they have to pay enormous amounts of health insurance premiums for their employees and their retirees.
The country is paying billions of dollars to foreign countries for crude oil.
And the question is, “How should we solve these problems?”
Here are your choices:
A) Refinance mortgages at lower interest rates.
B) Initiate a universal, national health care system.
C) Subsidize research into alternative fuel sources, mass transit systems, and infrastructure improvements.
D) Cut taxes.
And what is your answer, Governor? A, B, C, or D?
Would you like to phone a friend?
Jindal: I don't need to call anyone. The answer is easy. It's D--Cut taxes!!!
DING DING DING DING
Steele: THAT'S RIGHT!! D ---- CUT TAXES !!!!
Congratulations, Governor! You are our big winner! You get to give the Republican Party's response to the presidential address to Congress!!!!!!!
And what now, Governor?
Jindal: I'M GOING TO DISNEY WORLD !!!!!
These are some possible methods:
Eliminate any tax benefits that companies get for employing workers overseas.
Establish a universal national health care system that is government-supported, not employer-supported. Many other countries already do this; and therefore, United States companies are at a competitive disadvantage.
Insist on a fair exchange rate between our currency and foreign currencies—particularly the Chinese yuan.
Insist that tariffs and other trade restrictions between the United States and its trading partners be fair and reciprocal.
Insist that our trading partners respect all United States patents and copyrights.
Tom Daschle removed his name from consideration to be Obama's Secretary of HHS because Daschle had an income tax problem. After leaving the Senate a few years ago, Daschle went to work for a lobbing company; and his company provided him with a huge salary and a limousine, complete with a driver. We have learned that—until recently--Daschle had not paid any income tax on the value of that limousine service.
How did this happen? Every year, the lobbying firm that employed Daschle should have mailed two copies of Daschle's W-2 form: one copy to Daschle and one copy to the IRS. That W-2 form should have included Daschle's wages and the dollar value of Daschle's limousine service.
If Daschle's W-2 had included the dollar value of that limousine service, then the IRS would have known about it for each of those years, and I find it difficult to believe that the IRS would not have called Daschle in for an audit a few years ago.
Therefore, it appears that Daschle's lobbying firm had not reported the dollar value of Daschle's limousine service. It was not a cash payment, so Daschle would not have any paper trail of his fringe benefit.
Blame the lobbying firm for Daschle's tax problem. They provided Tom Daschle with a valuable fringe benefit; but by not reporting that benefit, they made that limo service an “under-the-table” payment.
Dear Mr. Bush:
Congratulations!
You are the new winner of a 7-day, 6-night, all-expenses-paid vacation at our fabulous new resort in wonderful
NUREMBERG, GERMANY!
When you arrive at the airport, you will be greeted by our welcoming team, who will present you with our traditional, old-world gift basket and then whisk you off to your new accommodations!
Your rooms are waiting, so hurry over!
Who will succeed Gates as Obama's next Secretary of Defense? I suggest former Senator Gary Hart. Hart served two terms as a Senator from Colorado, and he was a supporter of Barack Obama during the 2008 primary campaign.
Gary Hart served on the National Commission on Terrorism under the Clinton administration, and he is an Advisory Board member for the Partnership for a Secure America.
He has written Under the Eagle's Wing: A National Security Strategy of the United States for 2009, The Shield and the Cloak: The Security of the Commons, and The Fourth Power: A New Grand Strategy for the United States In the 21st Century.
Gary Hart is a liberal Democrat with a great interest in our national defense, and he has studied the topic enough to become an expert in the subject. I think that he would be an excellent Secretary of Defense.
The original Constitution prescribes that the members of the United States Senate would be chosen by their state legislatures. That was changed by the 17th Amendment, which specifies that the members of the Senate are now elected by the people.
The 17th Amendment also gives these rules for filling vacancies:
When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.
Thus, the recent Senate vacancies that were created in Illinois, Delaware, New York, and Colorado can be filled by temporary appointments made by the governors of those states; but the state legislatures have the power to order special elections to fill those vacancies for the remainder of the terms.
There was great controversy over the Illinois governor's appointment to fill the vacant seat there, and there is also a great discussion over the Senate vacancy in New York. The state legislatures in each state should have the courage to fulfill their Constitutional responsibility to schedule special elections that will fill their Senate vacancy with a permanent replacement!
Some observers have complained that—while Obama had promised change--he has instead nominated a cabinet that includes several former members of Bill Clinton's administration. The observers say that this is not change.
However, Obama's new cabinet will be a stark change from the Bush cabinet, under which we have suffered for the past eight years!
The years of the Clinton administration were good years. The Clinton administration got the federal government working very well. Our economy was booming, unemployment was low, and the environment was well tended. The Clinton administration recommended that the United States ratify the Kyoto Protocols.
Several former members of the Clinton administration campaigned for Obama in 2008, and Obama has now nominated a few of these former Clinton advisors to the incoming Obama cabinet. While the Carter administration has been criticized as a group of outsiders who lacked Washington experience, Obama has gathered a group of advisors that have a good track record in Washington, primarily from the Clinton administration.
The Obama cabinet is not an exact copy of the Clinton cabinet. Some former Clinton advisors made the cut, while others did not. Obama has demonstrated great wisdom in choosing the best-qualified advisors that are available, and their background in the Clinton administration should not be held against them.
Bill Richardson has decided to remove himself from Obama's cabinet nomination and remain in his current job as Governor of New Mexico. In some respects, this is good for Bill Richardson, because the Secretary of Commerce was not really his ideal job.
Bill Daley served as Bill Clinton's Secretary of Commerce from 1997 to 2000, and he was a supporter of Barack Obama during the 2008 primary campaign. He is currently a member of the Obama-Biden Transition Project. Perhaps Bill Daley could return to his former Cabinet position as Obama's Secretary of Commerce.
When a vacancy occurs on the Supreme Court, Obama could nominate Hillary Clinton to become Chief Justice and then nominate Bill Richardson to replace her as Secretary of State. Bill Richardson would certainly prefer serving as Secretary of State over Secretary of Commerce.
The Big 3 automakers are asking Congress for a loan to help them survive this bad economic period. We cannot allow this major American manufacturing industry to go out of business, but how can the federal government help it survive?
The bank bailout of 2008 was intended to enable banks to free up their credit policies; but—while the banks were happy to take the billions of dollars from the federal government—they have been reluctant to extend new credit. It appears that Wall Street has conned us, and Congress should insist that the banks participate in the extension of credit to credit-worthy consumers. This will enable more people to buy new cars.
The bill that would loan $14 billion to the Detroit automakers has been stopped in the Senate by Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, and Richard Shelby of Alabama. Those states are the homes to automobile assembly plants of foreign automakers, and the employees of those foreign automakers are not represented by the United Auto Workers union. The Republican opponents in the Senate want the UAW to agree to lower salaries and benefits.
The Detroit automakers are also suffering from some bad decisions that have been made by their corporate leadership. The automakers act like they have forgotten the oil embargoes of the 1970's, and they do not care about the problem of global warming. No bailout of the Detroit automakers will be successful unless their current leadership is replaced with more intelligent decision-makers.
Detroit automakers have known that they can earn larger profits from selling gas-guzzling SUV's than they can earn from selling small, economy cars. Therefore, the automakers have been heavily advertising the SUV. The Detroit automakers have fought against every attempt by ecologists to force an increase in the average fuel efficiency of their vehicles. In particular, different MPG requirements were established for trucks than for passenger cars; so the mini-van, SUV, and pickup truck were allowed to get fewer miles per gallon than the passenger car.
In order to combat global warming and to reduce American vulnerability to economic extortion by OPEC countries, the Big 3 must be required to build more fuel-efficient vehicles, and/or use alternative fuels for their vehicles.
Hydrogen fuel cells are a great hope for the future, but they are currently still too expensive for the mass market.
Plug-in hybrids are also promising, but they still have a limited distance range. The 2010 Chevrolet Volt might be good, but it still might be too expensive for the mass market. Perhaps by 2010 or 2011, this might be a good option.
Compressed natural gas is also promising, but the number of available CNG fuel stations is very limited.
E85 fuel--which is 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline--has been very successful in Brazil, where almost every new car has a flex-fuel engine that can use E85 fuel. E85 fuel stations are becoming increasingly available here in the United States. While the Detroit automakers have built thousands of flex-fuel automobiles for other countries such as Brazil, they have not made very many flex-fuel autos available here in the United States.
Flex-fuel autos use already-existing technology, so we do not need to wait for further research. In the Midwest, E85 fuel stations are already plentiful. There is something of a chicken-or-the-egg situation here. If the Big 3 would equip all of their new vehicles with flex-fuel engines, then E85 fuel stations would become plentiful nationwide.
What is required to convert a gasoline-powered engine into a flex-fuel engine? The basic requirement is a fuel line that can withstand ethanol without corrosion. E85 fuel has a higher octane rating than 87-octane unleaded gasoline, so it can be burned in standard automobile engines. Unfortunately, E85 contains less energy per gallon than gasoline; so E85 produces 15% to 25% fewer miles per gallon than gasoline in the same engine.
However, E85 costs less per gallon than gasoline, and E85 produces less air pollution per gallon than gasoline. The ethanol is produced here in the United States. Currently, it is produced from corn; but Brazil has demonstrated that ethanol can be produced from sugar cane. Currently, the United States heavily subsidizes the price of sugar; but if that price subsidy were reduced, ethanol could be produced economically from sugar cane. Current research is trying to generate ethanol from switchgrass or from wood shavings, so that might be economically possible in the future.
Currently, flex-fuel engines have their timing set at the factory to burn gasoline; but if the owner decided to use E85 fuel exclusively, he could have the timing adjusted for E85. An engine set in that way would get almost as many miles per gallon on E85 as it could get on gasoline.
But if the United States would enact a long-overdue, tax-supported, national health care system, then that health care burden would be lifted from the Big 3 automakers! The people would benefit, and the Big 3 would benefit—even without any federal bailout!
A national health care system in the United States would help every large corporation reduce its employee costs, and that would reduce the need for American companies to move their operations offshore. Industry would remain here in the United States, and employment would increase!
Today, the Democratic and Republican leaders in the House of Representatives brought their bipartisan bailout bill to a vote. Both party leaders had asked their members to vote for the bill, and they expected it to pass.
While a majority of the Democrats in the House voted in favor of the bailout bill, the House Republicans voted AGAINST the bill by a 2-1 majority. The Republicans voting "No" cited the partisan tone of Nancy Pelosi's speech this morning as their reason to vote against the bill.
Those House Republicans are acting like 12-year-old children!!! They need to grow up!!!
And where was John McCain, the 26-year veteran of the House and Senate? McCain had grandstanded last week, staging a photo op between Bush, Obama, and McCain. Even today, McCain was claiming that McCain had acted to promote the bill.
And what did McCain's party do? Two-thirds of the House Republicans voted "No." What kind of leader is John McCain, if his own party will not follow him?
Subject: Quick Poll on Palin Qualifications PBS has an online poll posted asking if Sarah Palin is qualified. Apparently, the Republicans knew about this in advance and are flooding the voting with YES votes. The poll will be reported on PBS and picked up by mainstream media. It can influence undecided voters in swing states.
Please do two things -- takes 20 seconds. 1) Click on link and vote yourself. Here's the link:
http://www.pbs.org/now/polls/poll-435.html
2) Then send this to every single Obama-Biden voter you know, and urge them to vote and pass it on. The last thing we need is PBS saying that their viewers think that Sarah Palin is qualified. Lawrence M. Gartner, M.D., FAAP Professor Emeritus Departments of Pediatrics and OB/GYN The University of Chicago 28398 Alamar Road Valley Center, CA 92082-6452
The Alaskan Independence Party wants Alaskans to vote on seceding from the United States.
On September 2, 2008, the Associated Press reported that the Alaska Division of Elections said that Todd Palin, the husband of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, had registered as a member of the Alaskan Independence Party in 1995 and 2000; he no longer is registered as a member of the party, having registered as "undeclared" since 2002.
Sarah Palin was never a member of the Alaska Independence Party, according to a statement released by AIP chairman Lynnette Clark on September 3, 2008. Sarah Palin registered as a Republican in 1982, and she never changed that registration. She did visit the 2000 AIP convention and addressed AIP conventions in 2006 and 2008. Governor Sarah Palin sent them this video to play at their 2008 convention:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwvPNXYrIyI
