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.”
It sure would help.
I regret that I did not get more acquainted with this wonderful website that is obviously so useful.
I did donate lots more than $25.00. It just wasn't online for all the Obama-nation to see. I also made many calls to voters during the election campaign, but through my county's democratic party.
My mate and I also drove other voters to the polls, who would otherwise not have been able to vote.
We displayed our Obama yard sign proudly as well.
Daily, I worked online mailing to my address book of political activists doing mythbusters and correcting misinformation about Obama to get the truth out so that voters were not turned off by the massive untruths spread by republicans and other non-fans of Obama.
I celebrated the best birthday of my life of 50 something years on January 21st because it was Obama's first full day in the office of the President of the United States of America. (It still sounds delightful, doesn't it!)
I would like to recommend a blog to those who like to delve into ferreting out TRUTH. It is called Dreddblog. He has uncovered lots of very interesting and damaging truths about the business activities of AIG globally that will set your hair on fire. It is complex stuff, but the truth must be revealed. Take a look! See what you think for yourself. If it doesn't suit you, oh well. But if you like to read about the "bad guys" being exposed and out in the open some of their doings that will probably be revealed as criminal, then you will want to know what's there.
http://blogdredd.blogspot.com/
May God bless Obama and may God bless America, at least the good people, that is! We have some rats to exterminate, though, to be sure.
Excited to serve the TRUTH and Pres. Obama in any small way that I can.
Sincerely,
Christie Mills
Bedford(DFW), Texas
Hello fellow voters,
Call your insurance agent and change your policy form AIG to another carrier (Probably better to pick a respectable mutual insurance company, ex.. Guardian, Mass Mutual, Northwestern Mutual, New York Life). AIG is not going to apologize or correct their misuse of our tax dollars, unless we lower their amount of the policies in force dollars. So, if you are really upset change your policy, I don't care if its life, long-term care, short and long term disability, auto, or health insurance. Just hit them where it works and let’s ask the President to put a special tax on AIG and or request for all our money back. Let’s make an example out of AIG, to set a standard for all other financial and non-financial firms.
Please people lets use common sense when changing your policy, make sure you apply, get the underwriters acceptance, and the in-force policy with the final policy letter, then cancel your AIG policy. This process should take 20 to 30 days.
A disgruntle taxpayer.
By now everyone is feeling the effects of the economic situation at some level so I would like to pose a question to all of you. If you or your spouse were to lose your job how could you immediately reduce spending and how much could you save? what are the greatest expenses (Medical, Food, Insurance, Credit Card Debt, Communication to include home, cell, cable and internet, Energy, etc.) for your family? Like me, do you really know how much you are spending and what that spending is for?
It didn't take me but a few minutes to realize that my wife and I probably spend far more money than we should on communications such as cable, internet, cell, home phone and monitored security. I can tell you that if one of us lost our job that many of these items would be either greatly reduced or eliminated entirely.
We eat out more than we should even though we have reduced that expense greatly. Still, the price of groceries have really increased and even eating at home has become very expensive.
We have three cars that are all financed with full coverage insurance that cost more than our house. If push came to shove I would try to sell at least some of them and drop my insurance coverage to just liability.
Luckily, we are fairly healthy but I realize that many American's health is such that simply paying for monthly medications is pushing them to the brink of financial collapse. As we get older I understand that this cost will increase especially if we don't do something to reduce our weight and increase our fitness levels.
Thank goodness no one in our family drinks or smokes. I am certain that the cost of alcahol and tobacco greatly affects the budget for many Americans and that's just the cost of the product. Facts prove that these same people who drink and smoke will incur greater medical cost. The cost of this bad habit is just too high.
So, I guess my real question is what would you eliminate in your life if push came to shove and are there specific industries that stand to be affected by a common decision to reduce when family members lose their jobs?
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 !!!!!
http://www.tcbtc.wordpress.com
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!
Although we are almost there, Barack is just hours away from becoming our 44th President, I thought today about the darkest moment of the campaign for me, the beginning of September after the Republican convention when, for the first time all summer, McCain took a lead in the polls.
Candidates usually get a bump in the polls after their parties convention, but this seemed different because 1. Sarah Palin seemed to be causing a surge in McCain's popularity, and 2. a devastating new poll from the Pew Research Center suggested that Barack was lagging behind in the polls because of a lack of support from white Democrats. This Pew Research Institute is a respected and non-partisan organization, so the polling data they released seemed to be irrefutable.
I remember being very angry. How could Democrats do this to our candidate, and to our country? One of our local pastors, the great Freddy D. Haynes, addressed the issue of the poll and told us to not lose hope. Barack still could win and no matter what, God loves you regardless of color, never let anyone make you feel you are inferior because of your race.
Just days after this, as if by design, our economy sank into a deep recession, the stock market crashed, and John McCain and Sarah Palin showed how clueless and disorganized their campaign, and their minds were. Barack showed the world his wisdom, and his steady hand, ready to guide us through the new reality of a country crippled by economic disaster brought about by Bush and the Republican Congress. With each debate Obama grew in stature and not only took the lead from his opponent, but each week and each poll from then until November 4th Obama increased the gap and seized control of 11 out of 12 battleground states.
Now we are waiting for a day of joy and wonder. The inauguration of a man of justice, wisdom, and hope. We have overcome so much to reach this point, and I am thankful we made it through that dark valley in September.
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.
