The Anniversary of Hitler's 20th Cenutry Rise to Power and the Explosive 21st

It is the 80^th anniversary of Hitler’s rise to power in 1933 Germany.  There has been no other historical cataclysmic event which has shaped my politics and reflects who I am more than the history and the title of William L. Shirer’s seminal book on the subject “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.”

As a rather leftist student during the anti-war upheavals of the late 1960’s in America, I was forever trying to decipher the political spectrum and where I lay on it.  To the left extreme was, of course, Communists and to the right extreme were National Socialists or NAZIS.  

It is almost comical, if it were not so tragic, that the politics in our day in this country so often confuse the two extremes as if calling one a National Socialist places one nearer to the Communist left than the Nazi right.  It is a curious phenomenon, indeed, because the two extremes in reality detest each other and have been and continue to be mortal enemies.  It would, I think, have been better to have simply given the appellation of “Nationalist” Party to the extremist right rather then hiding it in opaqueness of the acronym for Nazi or the National Socialist Workers Party as if Nazis could be for the sharing of wealth or care about the well-being of workers or anyone else, for that matter, except themselves. 

To the contrary, the extremist right or Nazis were a party favored by the major industrialists of the day like I.G. Farben, the maker of Zyklon B gas used for extermination of the millions, mostly Jews but other “undesirables” as well, in the gas chambers of camps like Auschwitz.  It was the party of nationalism in the extreme holding that only those of German ethnic background had the right to power or even the right to live because of the pseudo-scientific German Aryan inherent superiority over other races.  Communists, on the other hand, at least philosophically, were a more inclusive movement and tried to lasso, at least in theory, all those who felt excluded by the rightist corporate capitalist state. 

The confusion about what is left and what is right in this country is alarming when one observes many on the American Right sporting the president’s picture with the insulting mustache of the little corporal, Adolph Hitler, and drawing on it the infamous swastika symbolic of the NAZI movement which does not even remotely characterize the centrist politics of America’s first black president.  It is almost laughable if it were not so inanely stupid and idiotically false because Nazis or National Socialists on the right considered the black man like the Jew as Untermenschen – translated sub-human. How could Barack Obama be called a Nazi National Socialist?  Who knows?  Does anything make rational and intellectual sense on the right wing extremist Tea Republican Party of the USA?  Answer: NO

You can be sure Republicans, especially with the Tea Party albatross around their necks, support all that is nationalist, cruel, exclusive, unscientific and inhumane as their brothers-in-stupidity, the German National Socialists, did when they tried to "scientifically" rationalize the superiority of the Aryan race.  The Nazi Party was a NATIVIST party aligned with big corporate industrialists which duped the masses by running the trains on time, expanding the military to Everest heights and making Germans feel so much better about themselves as they marched in goosestep to the beat of mass slaughter.

Today is the anniversary of the world’s most methodical killing machine of those humans thought inferior to the Aryan.  It tried not only to keep them out but lock them up, humiliate and finally rid their land expelling the so called "other" by any means necessary.  

How many on the extremist right in this country with the assistance of their 300 million guns and if they had political power to do that would to African Americans, Hispanics, gays, Muslims, Asians and all others they deem inferior to themselves as the true Americans – the white, English-speaking Anglo-Saxon American nativists they think they are?

THANKFULLY, a large part of our nation DOES understand the president was not, is NOT, nor ever could be a Nazi and surely is also not, from the extreme left, a Communist as he did NOT nationalize the means of production nor certainly the banks which he bailed out to avert a national economic collapse.

Republicans of the extremist right should look to Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar Act I, Scene ii, as they try to insultingly name call and assign blame for all things gone wrong to a president who is blameless:

The fault dear Brutus is NOT in the stars but in ourselves.

Thoughts to ponder surrounding the 80^th anniversary of the world’s most explosively destructive events of the 20^th century and the ones that exist in our own country in the explosive 21st century as well!

WHY IT IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER TO ELECT US MASS. REP. ED MARKEY TO THE US SENATE.  HE IS THE ONLY DEMOCRAT FOR THIS OFFICE WHO GETS A 100% EVALUATION FROM THIS PROGRESSIVE FOR THIS SENATE SEAT.  NO ONE ELSE IS ACCEPTABLE.  WORK HARD FOR ED WHO HAS ALWAYS WORKED HARD FOR THE 99%.  HE DESERVES OUR UNDIVIDED SUPPORT!

Here we go again! Scott Brown Leaning Towards Senate Run In Special Election: Report

Here we go again.  I post the article here and below. What can one do?  The ONLY thing one can do is fight.  Scott Brown lost to Elizabeth Warren for reasons among them were that Brown , a Republican, of course, is bought by the banks.  He voted with Republicans 70% of the time to prove it.  Brown is NOT about most of you.  He is about the top 2%.  It's the same tune and he is marching to the same beat.  If you want to see just how he voted Google his voting record for the last term he lost.

He is not about the economically disadvantaged, he is SURELY not about women, he is not about equality of marriage, and he is against all the issues that are part of  the Democratic Party's base.  Do NOT be fooled by this pretty centerfold face or what he MAY say to show he can be "bipartisan." In his heart he is not so and he will change with the wind the moment it is feasible.   Do NOT give him a second chance. 

DO THE MORAL THING AND CAST YOUR SUPPORT FOR ED MARKEY, A TRUE PROGRESSIVE AND THE ONLY PROVEN VALUES-DRIVEN DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR THE SENATE.  WHILE YOU ARE AT IT TELL YOUR FRIENDS TO SUPPORT FOR HIM AS WELL.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/29/scott-brown-senate_n_2578008.html

The New Nova -- A Letter to PBS

I noticed several broadcasts of PBS sport the Koch Brothers, right wing humongous contributors to all things Republican extreme, as sponsors to selected shows.  I wrote PBS a letter of protest and suggest if you care enough about the objectivity of PBS you do the same. I wrote:

I always have LOVED PBS.  I watched the episode on Drones and noticed one of the sponsors of PBS now is the Koch Brothers.  That compromises the objectivity of your broadcast.  I noticed too there was no mention of the horrific killing of so many innocent families by the "collateral damage" of drone attacks but rather the program concentrated solely on the technological wonder of the remote killing devices.

I have held off contributing to WGBH and will when and IF the right wing extremist group(s) are NOT part of your sponsorship.  Sad that it has come to this when the bastion of intellectual thought, creativity and a questioning of belief systems which WAS WGBH is compromised significantly by the contributions it takes from right wing groups ESPECIALLY the Koch Brothers.  They have turned rancid the political debate in our country, polarized and corrupted the nation with the pollutive effects of gargantuan money into politics.  Now PBS, a station I relied on for objective information, holds hostage what once was the good name in educational television.

My contribution probably does not mean much to PBS but you can be sure I will spread the word of this ugly morph of a station that was once excellence in journalism and now is not.  What a shame. 

My Blog Note: YET AGAIN ANOTHER REASON TO RELEGATE THE EXTREMIST REPUBLICAN PARTY TO THE DUST BIN OF HISTORY AND WORK HARD TO ELECT DEMOCRATS THROUGHOUT THE LAND.

If You Think I am Kidding as to the Republicans' Nefarious Election Ploy, I'm not!

I paste below an article written in the Daily Beast, a progressive forum, entitled "Republicans' Nefarious Election Ploy" by John Avlon.  As I have written about twice before, this is, if perfected,  one of the greatest threats yet to the republic.  EVERYONE who loves fairness, ethics and democracy should be against this naked power grab Republicans are plotting in swing states to, by devious means, change the electoral college to ensure a Republican win in all presidential elections.  If that should ever happen be assured that Republicans will be gunning for your Social Security, Medicare and much much more.  Make your voices heard by voicing your protest whether to swing state legislatures, to state, local and national newspapers, to attorneys who understand the Constitutional issues of one man one vote including the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and to the ACLU to ask for their support.  Howeveryou can fight this do so INCLUDING urging others to vote Democratic in every election so this WILL backfire on Republicans as their attempts at voter suppression did in the 2012 presidential handing Republicans a decided defeat they did NOT expect.  They thought voters would stay home.  They didn't.  Republicans did not know what hit them!  Good.  

Hit them again and again until they finally realize they are a defeated party which cannot win on their merits with backward, low information, science denying insane in other words, just plain STUPID ideology.  In the end if the electorate votes Democrat it won't matter if they gerrymander all the districts in the country.  They will still lose!  This MUST be fought both by the electorate and in the state and federal courts everywhere it is attempted.  It is obvious they are trying to negate minority votes, the votes of women, the young, the disabled and all those who traditionally vote Democrat. If you value your life, your children's lives and all who come after us you will NOT be duped by Republican dirty tricks.  

WHY WE MUST ELECT DEMOCRATS LOCAL, STATE LEGISLATURES, GOVERNORSHIPS, AND NATIONALLY.  IT IS MORE IMPORTANT NOW THAN EVER BEFORE!

 

FORWARD!

Republicans' Nefarious Election Ploy

by John Avlon Jan 26, 2013 10:47 PM EST

Legislation in Virginia could set precedent for a change in electoral rules that would have handed the election to Mitt Romney. John Avlon on the outrageous scheme.

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Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell arrives to deliver his State Of the Commonwealth Address, Jan. 9, 2013. (Tracy A. Woodward/The Washington Post, via Getty)

Something's rotten in Virginia.

Conservatives in the Old Dominion state legislature are quietly plotting what could amount to an electoral coup d’etat: pushing forward a bill that would have delivered the majority of the state’s electoral votes to Mitt Romney, days after erasing a Democratic state senate district in a surprise mid-session redistricting.

In the wake of their decisive 2012 election defeat, Republicans aren’t digging the demographic changes making once safe states like Virginia go for Obama the last two presidential elections. Their response, as Michael Tomasky detailed yesterday, is to try and change the rules to allow electoral votes to be split up by congressional districts, compounding their advantage created by the rigged system of redistricting. In many of the states – Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Ohio – this is at the level of legislative discussion rather than action.

But in Virginia, facing a gubernatorial election this year, Republicans have gone much further than talk – they’ve put forward an actual bill for a vote. Their goal is to shift power back to conservative rural districts, splitting electoral votes by congressional districts and then allocating the two extra votes set aside for senate seats to be awarded not by popular vote but by who won the highest number of congressional districts. Slate’s Dave Weigel, who was early to this story, calculated that if the proposed legislation were applied to the last presidential election, Mitt would have carried 9 electoral votes and Obama just 4, despite winning the state by 150,000 votes. If it were enacted in all the proposed swing states, President Romney would be in office today despite President Obama winning the popular vote by more than 5 million.

This is an inversion of the basic principle of democracy: that elections are won by the candidate who gets the most votes.

To add insult to the intended injury, Virginia humorist and political blogger Paul Bibeau pointed out that the bill would have the effect of making Obama voters count as three-fifths of a person. God, or someone, has a sense of historic humor. Maybe some of the more evangelical members can take the hint – this is not a good or decent idea when seen with any sense of perspective.

Virginia Republicans have been on a ruthless tear in the past few weeks. On Inauguration Day, when Democratic State Senator Henry L. Marsh III was attending the festivities in Washington, Republicans pushed through a surprise redistricting bill that passed along party lines – 20 to 19. Marsh’s district would be carved up to create another African-American-dominated district in the vicinity of Richmond while essentially erasing a Democratic-controlled district in rural western Virginia currently held by former gubernatorial nominee Creigh Deeds.

The bill was proposed and pushed through with such speed that Republican Governor Bob McDonnell said he was taken by surprise but would reserve judgment on whether he would actually veto the bill. After outcry over the electoral scheme, his office said the governor opposed the larger change, a position aped by the current AG and GOP gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli – a telling head fake toward the center by one of the most extreme candidates in recent memory. If he actually becomes governor this fall, I’m willing to bet he’ll change his mind right quick.

Even if you don’t live in the Old Dominion state, this electoral drama matters – big time, because your vote could be invalidated with the White House at stake. Among other things, the naked power grab exposes the essential hypocrisy of the high-minded rhetoric that surrounded Republican voter fraud laws in the run up to 2012 election – it was always, as critics said and Pennsylvania House Majority Leader Mike Turzai admitted, about nothing more than trying to win elections for their particular political team. There is no principle behind hyper-partisan politics.

But perhaps most importantly, this slumbering scandal in Virginia is a reminder that election reform really matters: change the rules and you change the game.

There’s a tendency for eyes to glaze over when the phrase “redistricting reform” comes up in conversation.  But the Tea Party wave of 2010 was well-timed from the perspective of Republicans who now realize that they are on the wrong side of demographic shifts.  By putting conservatives in control of many state legislatures, the GOP was perfectly positioned to oversee the rigged system of redistricting that happens every ten years, after the census taken at the start of the decade.  As Democrats sometimes did in the past, they drew the maximum number of safe Republican seats.  In the South, this meant largely re-segregating politics – isolating Democrats to urban districts represented by African-American legislators while leaving Republicans to divvy up the rest of the state.   

This rigged system of redistricting is precisely why Republicans were able to keep control of the House of Representatives despite losing the congressional popular vote nationwide by 1.4 million votes.  Take a look at John Boehner’s home state of Ohio as a case in point.  President Obama won the state by a 4% margin – 166,214 votes in the final tally – but Republicans won 12 of 16 congressional seats.  If the electoral vote splitting scheme were enacted in the Buckeye State, Obama would have lost the electoral vote despite winning the state.  This is an outrage.  

I’m an advocate of election reform and think the electoral college has probably outlived its usefulness.  But this particular “reform” – built squarely on the rigged system of redistricting – would only create further separation between the popular vote and who is elected president.   

It is also telling that conservatives opposed just such a reform in 2004, when Colorado had a ballot initiative that would have put forward proportional allocation of electoral votes.  As ThinkProgress recently culled from the archives, then-Colorado Governor Bill Owens penned an USA OpEd calling it a “transparently partisan movement” while a conservative group organized to call itself “Coloradans Against a Really Stupid Idea.” 

Situational ethics are rampant in hyper-partisan politics, but this proposal is a perversion of political reform – transparently cynical and self-interested.  It is the mark of a desperate party trying to rig the election results to stay in power for as long as it can.  If Republicans want to remain competitive in swing states, they should work harder to reach out beyond their conservative populist base.  These sordid proposals are nothing more than a scam and a scheme with the American people as the intended mark and the White House as the glittering prize.  

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ANOTHER ELECTORAL COLLEGE OUTRAGE--THIS WILL NOT HAPPEN

Huffington Post carried an article  entitled Scott Walker" Electoral Vote Proportional Allocation An 'Interesting' Idea"

I post the article here or below for your review.   Scott Walker union busting Republican governor of Wisconsin (a blue state ordinarily) thinks it's "interesting."  Well I do NOT think it is interesting .  I think it is sickening.  THIS IS NOT INTERESTING IT IS AN OUTRAGE NOW AS IT WILL BE IN ANY OTHER YEAR AND IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.   We as progressives and others of a fair minded electorate are not lying in wait twiddling our thumbs while Republicans yet again run roughshod over us.  All the money in the world will NOT buy this disgusting attempt to gain power at the expense of ethics and fair play. Moreover, it can be argued that this naked grab of power is wholly unconstitutional under the one man one vote prior Supreme Court Decisions not to mention the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

The article is saying that Republicans will rig the Electoral College by hiding changes in various bills coming out of a number of Republican controlled state houses despite the fact that Governor McConnell of Virginia says it will not happen there.  One can NEVER EVER believe ANYTHING Republicans say.  If one does not pay attention Republicans will by any means necessary steal elections out from under us but THIS TIME we ARE paying attention!

Wisconsin Governor Walker forgets that signatures for his removal can begin again and I do believe THIS TIME it would work.  He would be removed if he dares try this.  Some, even more than a few, Republicans as well on ethical principles would say no to this disgusting grab of power.  Further, Republicans lost seats in the last attempt of the Democrats to regain their legislative seats in Wisconsin after the Republicans eradication of unions move.  He does NOT now have the majority he would need to pass such dastardly election rigs.  Who knows what will happen in another four years legislatively but Democrats should make HUGE efforts to unseat Republicans most especially in swing states and the Democratic State and National Committees should be dedicated to it.   AND FURTHER KNOW THAT THEY WANT TO HIDE THIS IN VARIOUS BILLS PASSED IN STATE LEGISLATURES!

DEMOCRATS, Independents and others wedded to fair play WILL mount a HUGE challenge including through the courts by any means necessary. IF ANYTHING like this is attempted I have little doubt this would spark HUGE HUGE HUMONGOUS outrage. How many elections do these Republican mendacious slugs want to steal?   IT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN as it would spark an EXPLOSIVE reaction against it.  Why? Because it simply is not fair. End of story!

Send this to whomever you want especially to attorneys who would fight this tooth and nail. Scream it from here to eternity to stop this egregious outrage from happening.  This time we are aware and this time Republicans will NOT win by nefarious means!

WHY WE NEED TO ELECT DEMOCRATS IN STATE LEGISLATURES AS WELL AS TO NATIONAL OFFICE.  IT IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER BEFORE!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/26/scott-walker-electoral-vote_n_2558362.html

ONE MAN ONE VOTE -- REPUBLICAN ATTEMPTS AT STEALING THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE

I would not be bombarding the immediate planet if this issue were not a threat to good government, Democrats, progressives and ALL people of sound ethical principles everywhere.  We ALL should want fair elections but now we are wise to the Republican Party theft of not one but probably two elections in the past, their present day attempts at voter suppression in 2012, electoral gerrymandering districts and in the future their goal is a repeat PERMANENT performance dismembering Democrats everywhere for all time through the electoral college. I sent the following:

I am enclosing the letter I sent to Representative Nina Turner of Ohio.  She was a most forceful ally for the voter suppression tactics of no ethics Republicans.  Now we face yet another even worse more threatening challenge of electoral college rigging that I think can be fought in the Federal courts on a One Man One Vote basis.  The Democratic Party SHOULD provide help as well.  Here is my letter with Wiki One Man One Vote info pasted within it.  

We need EVERYONE'S help  -- yours, the ACLU, the media, MSNBC our advocates and voters everywhere who were with us want clean fair elections who have the knowledge and power to fight this Republican Party of endless money to steal elections in perpetuity.

Dear Rep. Turner: I thought you were one of the MOST EFFECTIVE and positive voices especially on MSNBC for the ugly voter suppression tactics of the Republican Party of no ethics during this ever-so-difficult 2012 election. You were fantastic!  

Now we face yet another huge challenge that may be more difficult to fix I do not know. I know you know what is at stake. I am calling on you to yet again be the most vociferous voice to argue emphatically for the negation of the electoral college vote fix by Republicans throughout the nation. 

If these mendacious and plotting Republicans are not stopped they could in all the swing states, Ohio, being one of them, steal especially the presidential election in perpetuity. This is a naked power grab by Republicans who could if it is perfected especially in swing states but really in every state, even though Dems would win the popular vote, they would lose every time the presidential vote to Republicans. 

I need not tell you this is the most important and dastardly challenge by Republicans we as Democrats. progressives and others of sound character face. We need a STRONG articulate voice to help the electorate NOT succumb to this evil Republican force and hope MSNBC will have you on yet again to convey a positive force for stopping this potential threat to ALL progressives Democrats and others everywhere. 

Republicans have the money and our people are tired I know BUT the giant must be aroused and I can think of no better voice than yours to shout this from the rafters and work to prevent this disgusting occurrence from happening. I enclose the Wiki site which talks about ONE MAN ONE VOTE challenges in other times. I hope it can apply to our challenge now and HOPE you will be there for us once again. Here is the link on Wiki as to the history of One Man One Vote--attention to the History section and the Warren Court Section is advised. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_man,_one_vote ;

I hope we will see you on MSNBC as we did during the election. You were just great!

Hillary Clinton Testimony Benghazi -- RAND PAUL'S SCURRILOUS ATTACK!

Hillary Clinton was FANTASTIC testifying about Benghazi knowing so much and getting details specific. It is IRONIC that these hypocrite Republicans think that she was remiss for not reading one of millions of memos and emails that come her way AND that they think Benghazi was "second only to 9/11" ARE YOU KIDDING ME? While it is tragic when any American loses his or her life look at the LIES the Republican party put forth and many others swallowed because a Republican president wanted to take this country to war killing THOUSANDS, killing many innocents, creating a million refugees and destabilizing an entire region.

NO, Republicans of limited intellect, as bad as Benghazi was it was a splinter compared to the tree of 9/11 and the subsequent invasions based on lies of TWO countries and did NOT give one whit as to the many egregious and extraconstitional behaviors Republicans have levied.

One cannot POSSIBLY protect absolutely securely ALL of our tentacles in foreign lands. Ambassador Stevens KNEW the risk. It is an impossibility to protect everywhere American embassies exist and FURTHER an impossibility if Congress does NOT allot the money to do so. Again Republican held House rejected the funding request of a Democratic administration.
SHAME ON RAND PAUL FOR POLITICAL GRANDSTANDING and INSULTING Secretary Clinton. NO Mr. Paul you will NEVER be president and NEVER have the opportunity to fire someone like you said you would to Hillary Clinton. "IF I were president" he said "I would fire you"-- YOU LITTLE RUNT YOU WILL NOT EVER be president and have the chance to fire anybody!

EVERY DAY IT IS CLEARER AND CLEARER WHY WE MUST TURN THE HOUSE BLUE, KEEP THE SENATE, THE PRESIDENCY AND GET BACK STATE HOUSES DEMOCRATS LOST IN THE 2010 DEBACLE!

Chris Matthews/Rachel, et al: Republicans Will Have To 'Rig The Elections' To Win (VIDEO)

I insert the video above here and below as Rachel and Chris Matthews and others talk about the evil attempt by Republicans to steal future presidential elections by electorally rigging the vote.  This is EXACTLY what I have been emailing about.  The Republican soon-to-be-attempted RIGGING elections is SO sickening and SO unjust if not illegal EVERYONE no matter your politics should STOP it from happening as we stopped the voter suppression in the last election.  Republicans since they hold most state legislatures in swing states want to district the electoral college so that it will not be a winner take all system which won the election fair and square constitutionally for the president.   The president won the the popular vote too as Democrats likely will in succeeding presidential elections.  But if Republicans hold majorities in  local legislatures in swing states they can try to change the electoral college law to rig it for them.  This vile attempt would, most likely, NOT pass muster in the courts but if allowed to happen will let Republicans steal more elections.

Republicans want to carve their state up into already gerrymandered districts so that electoral votes will go to them even though the popular state vote too would be won by Democrats.  This is SICKENING. Republicans will stop at nothing to steal the vote.  Whatever anyone can do, whether it's writing your reps,  or calling them or smoke signaling or EVEN calling the opposition or emailing the opposition like Speaker Boehner DO it or even contact Republicans in state legislatures in swing states to voice your opposition.  It is a Google search away for their number and emails.  I have emailed opposition offices numbers of times and even called once or twice. 

If you know attorneys both on the federal level AND state level who can be onto this as they were successfully onto it in the voter suppression attempts in the last election call them.  We MUST if necessary take this Republican attempt at presidential election theft to court.  

NOW yet again the Republican mind's ability to think up the most unfair and dastardly attempts to again steal an election will be tried.  They ultimately want to stuff their reactionary backward agenda INCLUDING their wars on women and most especially their suppression of minorities down our throats.  They will even take us to war with Iran!  They are especially, too, coming for your Social Security and Medicare. DO NOT LET THEM DO IT.  ACT NOW BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE.  THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE FOR PROGRESSIVES AND REALLY ALL AMERICANS OF OUR TIME. It literally means life or death.

Remember, Republicans stole the presidency in 2000 and their polices got THOUSANDS of dead in illegal trumped up Bush wars, an economy that sunk to the depths of the sea, and we got 9/11 which may not have happened under a Gore presidency.  Worse, in 2004 Republicans probably stole Ohio keeping Kerry from victory. And YET AGAIN they will do whatever method possible to steal future elections.

In sum, BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY STOP THIS FROM HAPPENING!  I paste the video below (ignore the commercial in the first few seconds but stay on to listen to the short discussion).  Feel free to send this to all you know.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/22/chris-matthews-republicans-rig-elections_n_2525987.html?utm_hp_ref=politics&ir=Politics

Three Highlights

Why I am proud to be an American. My three inaugural highlights:  

The president's second inaugural address here or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Utprup8QzY8

Kelly Clarkson singing: "My Country Tis of Thee" here or  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abTyLNIc7r4

Robert Blanco's Poem "One Today" here or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mDrk8AC4G4 

Poetry

This is one of the most gorgeous poems you will ever read, unique in beauty even to the masters of poetry. I urge you to listen to it here or below. It is a work of art, a beautiful experience, coming from a beautiful gay Latino man named Richard Blanco read at the president's second inaugural, yesterday, January 21, 2013.

It is a magnificent poem reflective of the Obama I, for the first time, heard on the political scene in 2004. This poem, hopefully, will be remembered by him AND all of us throughout our lives as it speaks not only to us but to all mankind.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mDrk8AC4G4

A Moment in Time

Because it is late and because my day was infused with inaugural emotion I will say but a few words then think more carefully as to how to encapsulate my thoughts about the second and last inauguration to the presidency of our first person of color.

I am in love with this moment. I want to freeze it in memory's album to keep it alive. I thought the inauguration of our president, the ceremonies and his glorious second inaugural address were the best I have ever seen in the many inaugural festivities and speeches I have witnessed throughout my life.

It is the first day in a long time that I feel I am not at war with the fundamentals of my nation which, it seemed to me, had morphed into something I did not recognize. But my president, at least for this moment in time, has made me proud of my country once again. Tonight for the first time in a long time I am at peace with the outcome of the day and with the progression of possibilities for the causes I have held so dear for so long a time.

Today, I am thrilled and tomorrow I am not worrying about despair but look forward to the hope the president inspired in me from the beginning of his journey.

Thank you, Mr. President, for allowing me the privilege of seeing that which I never thought I would and for loving you now more than I ever did before!

The president and the Democratic Party are starting a group utilizing our electoral organizations to advance his progressive ideals. We must join that as we would a campaign, donating and supporting this when we can to advance the progressive agenda. It will try to elect Democrats and promote progressive policies. Stay tuned for emails and web sites you can go to for more information. Our job is not done, the tasks remain and we have now the President to help us do it. We MUST not falter and we cannot fail!


ON TO 2014 TO TAKE BACK THE HOUSE AND KEEP THE SENATE!

To Tell the Truth

I just listened to CNN giving statistics as to how many think the president is not doing a good job economically and how many think the national division is worse. The results of those statistics were weak for the president.

I thought CNN did not do justice to the statistics they reported. It is at this time I have trouble turning the other cheek and loving those who spew interpositional and obstructionist hatred at the president. 

What CNN SHOULD have reported is a Republican Party who will NOT show up for the dance even when the president invites them, whose ugly insulting animus is in rare form and whose moral compass and love of country first has been eradicated.

To the extent that this country is divided, and I think it is, the fault lay NOT with Barack Obama who thought he would be dealing with and tried to create a unified nation but with Republican charlatans -- hateful and extreme -- dedicated to making him, by their own admission, a one term president. 

If Republicans had admitted they lost multiple elections and did not try to subvert the president at EVERY turn we would most probably be significantly out of the Great Recession. BUT the president was handed a can of worms in both policy and the people who made policy in the previous Republican administration. The Republican Party is now SO racist and SO extreme they cannot bear to call the president correct even when it is blatantly obvious that he is.

MENTION THAT, CNN and tell the truth!!

WHY THERE IS NOTHING MORE IMPERATIVE THEN BOOTING REPUBLICANS OUT OF THE HOUSE IN 2014, INCREASING DEMOCRATIC LEAD IN THE SENATE AND OF COURSE IN 2016 RETAINING A DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENT -- YES, I WANT IT ALL SO WE CAN GET SOMETHING DONE WITHOUT PULLING TEETH AND THEREBY SAVE A NATION!

National Day of Service Honoring MLK - Thoughts on the Second Inauguration of Barack Obama

Every day that I awaken I thank God or fate that Barack Obama won not only one but two presidencies.  I will be, for the eternity of my life, amazed and grateful that this is so.

 

This doubting Thomas still prays every day that our president is kept safe especially now with the Newtown gun issue prompting massive amounts of gun sales and virulent opposition to any form of gun control.  Imagine, 300 million guns exist in this nation; one for nearly every American who calls this land home.

 

Despite all of it I truly believe that most, at least a majority in this nation, are basically good as Anne Frank, even through her Nazi terror, believed about mankind in her age.  How can we believe less?  The services performed during this National Day of Service, I think, prove that.  There are countless more who are not visible doing as much as they can do to improve the lives of many.

 

One additional gift we can give to the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, who sacrificed his life for all of us, is to show support to the nation's first African American  president and counter the forces of hate aligned against him every day in order to thwart him at every turn.  

 

Never give up, never falter and never fail so that those who are still oppressed in this nation can sing along too and believe in the forever famous words of the beloved Dr. King in his 1963 March on Washington "I Have a Dream" speech:

 

... we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

 

                Free at last! Free at last!

                Thank God Almighty, we are free at last

 

Be true to his memory by doing good and in the words of the Christian teacher, as difficult as those words may be to follow, and no matter what your belief is:

 

...  love your enemies and bless the ones who curse you, and do what is beautiful to the ones who hate you ... 

 

These are my watch words as I too try to calm my own anger and think that those spewers of hate and division aligned against our president truly know not what they do.

 

Happy MLK day and inauguration day to all.

 

Best,

Natalie Rosen

 

By Any Means Necessary -- Republican Subversion of the Electoral Process

Below my opinion here I attach the Daily Kos, a progressive blog, which even more precisely explains what party politics is occurring. In short, I aver one of the most important ways Republicans try to steal elections is by gerrymandering districts to ensure that they obtain control of  the House even though Democrats have tallied up more of the popular votes for the House. Districts, however, are drawn every ten years by the state legislatures. What Republicans, who are in control of many state legislatures, have done, of course, is unfair and even unethical but since when did the Republican Party ever care about fairness?  As usual, elections matter EVEN STATE ELECTIONS as the state legislatures draw districts to their own advantage and hence the gridlock in Washington especially if the presidency is controlled by Democrats which we NEVER want to relinquish.

What is worse, the NO ETHICS Republican Party is trying to subvert where they can state-by-state the electoral process and divide the Electoral College up into districts so that it does not become a winner take all presidential electoral system as it has historically been.  Ohio may have gone to Romney if Ohio had that system.  Now Republican controlled state legislative assemblies and governors are attempting to try to pass legislation do it.

Republicans see their handwriting on the wall.  They are a losing party not only in message BUT in demographics and they know it.  So they will try to do what they can now to ensure they snatch power by any means necessary.

Republicans are ONLY as good as the voters who are willing to vote for them. The Democratic Party and other progressives MUST try to reverse this naked grab for power by explaining Republican sleazy tactics and persuading, by cogent argument, why the Republican Party is NOT about most voters.  

Rachel Maddow had a very IMPORTANT segment on how Republican boa constrictors are trying to subvert the electoral national presidential process by doing the same thing as they did through gerrymandering congressional districts.  They are trying to create a system whereby the Electoral College is divided up and split into districts. They think Romney COULD have won Ohio and other states this way and could have, therefore, won the presidency.

If they have to go through these kinds of machinations to win then obviously the Republican Party is a DYING party that needs to jump through hoops and turn into a pretzel no matter how unethical that pretzel is to win.  WE MUST FIGHT THEM EVERY SINGLE STEP OF THE WAY BY ANY OF OUR MEANS NECESSARY EVEN THROUGH THE COURTS IF NEED BE FOR DEMOCRATS AND PROGRESSIVES TO WIN!

Daily Kos Elections Morning Digest

Leading Off:

Redistricting: Since the election, lots of Democrats have pointed to the discrepancy between the nationwide House popular vote (won by Dems) and the GOP's continued control of the House majority, to which the GOP response has been mostly "Hmmrmrmf ... hey, look over there!" But in the last few weeks, something seems to have changed: namely, Republicans now seem to be loudly embracing the fact that, yes, gerrymandering saved their majority in 2012—and they're proud of it. Part of this trend stems from a recent memo from the Republican State Leadership Committee (their counterpart to the DLCC) and its REDMAP program, emphasizing the role of their 2010 legislative victories in preserving their House majority in 2012.

And on Thursday, at the House GOP's annual retreat, NRCC chair Greg Walden adopted that same line, saying "Redistricting was a blessing for us." That's also reflected in a new NRCC memo that claims that the number of competitive seats is smaller under the new round of districting, and that there are now 190 "strong Republican seats." (There's no cited discussion what constitutes a "strong Republican seat," though my back-of-the-envelope math suggests it might be districts that are around 45 percent Obama or less.)