Deconstructing Nat

I have spoken to very savvy politicos. Here is what I think now after many discussions and hand wringing from yesterday's Iowa vote:

My problem is I listen to too much of the noise not the signal. An extremist Republican cannot win. Discount the Republican primary votes and look ahead to the general. Sanders will not win and it will be Hillary who if it is Cruz or Trump or even Rubio once those jerks become clear in terms of what they support Hillary will take it more easily than thought before. Count NOT the primary votes but count the ELECTORAL votes. She will take CA and all of the far west, some of the middle states like Michigan and/or Ohio and of course the Northeast like NY and she will take in the larger election Mass, CT, R.I. of course and more even VA and maybe even North Carolina once persons of color and Hispanics vote which they will heavily for her because the Republicon Party is NOT about the minority vote!

So as I deconstruct from yesterday I WILL try to help make phone calls for Hillary and all who read this should too. There is too much at stake!

Alice in Wonderland--Iowa

The media: Why on this earth is Rubio, who so far came in third, acting like he won and why is the media reporting it as if he won? Cruz who came in first seems to be tepid in his reaction and as to Trump the media are putting out statements like "Trump goes down" when he did NOT go down he came in second so far and New Hampshire if one believes the gd polls has him ahead by a lot.

Clinton/Sanders they still have in a "dead heat" when in fact she is ahead by delegates albeit not many but she is ahead nonetheless. She declared a win early so she would have egg on her face if she did not squeeze out a win; it would look like a Truman/Dewey moment where a newspaper declared a win for Dewey when, in fact, Truman won the presidency. The media is saying Sanders all but won by being so close. As of now she is ahead, probably won and he came in second. It should be period end of story but the media hypes it to keep us hyped to sell their commercials instead of reporting just the facts ma'am.

We live in a national Alice in Wonderland world where up is down and down is up because the media says it is.

Alice in Wonderland: "Oh no no, I was just wondering if you could help me find my way.

Cheshire Cat: Well that depends on where you want to get to.

"Cheshire Cat: Who are you?
Alice Kingsley: I'm Alice.
Cheshire Cat: *The* Alice?
Alice Kingsley: There is some dispute about that.

Things are getting curiouser and curiouser, cried Alice!

And for me too!
"Cheshire Cat: Who are you?
Alice Kingsley: I'm Alice.
Cheshire Cat: *The* Alice?
Alice Kingsley: There's some dispute about that."

And for me too!

IF YOU LISTENED TO THE CHARLATAN RUBIO YOU WILL HEAR WHY A DEMOCRAT MUST WIN.  THERE IS NO OTHER OPTION UNLESS YOU WANT ALL THAT OBAMA ACHIEVED TURNED TO DUST!  GET OUT THE DEMOCRATIC VOTE!

The Big Short -- Greatest Fraud Ever Told -- A Review

There is so much politically economic -- basically everything -- from foreign policy to economic banking and trade policy that has raped the little guy and this film addresses one of the greatest economic frauds in the nation's history that is at the heart of much of the nation’s woes. The Great Recession of 2007 had the potential to revisit the Great Depression on steroids. The film explained some of the complex minutiae of it defining the mortgage backed securities fraud that was at the epicenter of it and explaining some things like CDS (Credit Default Swaps), CDOs (Collateralized Debt Obligations), sub-prime loans and worthless mortgage backed securities through persons who knew the collapse would happen years before it actually did.

This gargantuan complex fraud had the attendant potential to collapse not only the US economy but the world economy and even end the capitalist system as we know it. Yes, we were that close until the US government, funded by you and me, bailed out the too-big-to-fail banks that created the fraud and allowed their CEO's to collect bonuses to boot. They put the 99% in a sink hole leaving us to drown in the muck they created as they sped away in their yachts toting their money bags in hand. Their profits tricked down to nowhere but themselves.

The film was not boring, it was precise and tried to explain the complexity of what happened and how trillions of bucks were lost, millions of jobs were lost and millions more homes were lost relegating many to live on the street at the mercy of what the immoral predatory banksters had perpetrated.

It was and still, in part, is an unhappy time, a catastrophic time and no one from the Wall Street that perpetrated the greatest fraud has been jailed ... yet. Instead they were rewarded, collected their bonuses and knew that if the system collapsed again the government would come to their rescue and bail them out saving their banks moral hazard be damned.

Every sector of our nation, I believe, bears the DNA of this gargantuan fraud. Wall Street knew Congress, which most understand is bought by Wall Street, would never let it fail and so it continues albeit with some changes dressed somewhat differently but still keeps the 1% fat cats happy knowing that Congress will be there to provide the safety net should the nation stand on the catastrophic precipice they create again. The Glass-Stegall Act of 1933 having been repealed in 1999 makes unregulated Wall Street economic anarchy a recipe for disaster yet again.

The film is blood pressure raising but understanding what occurred is a must if we are to fix that which is so broken in our nation and by doing so never allow this to happen again. It can, I believe, be done but will NOT be done by electing the very same persons of the same political stripes that perpetrated the greatest fraud ever told.

The Debate off the top

The Republicon candidates without Trump seemed more relaxed so much so that the "debate" was utterly boring and I fell asleep. It was simply bad.

Trump was his usual entertaining self but clearly NOT even close to presidential. Just what was that military charity from which he received 5 million?  Is it registered?  Answer: NO.  It's ridiculous.

How anyone on this planet can even THINK about voting Repuglicon unless they are part of the 1% I will never know. To entrust the most powerful nuclear powered nation in the world to any of the Republicon JERKS is sheer insanity.

How anyone can be taken in after the Bush economic trauma of 2007 not to mention his war on a nation that did nothing to us killing thousands of US servicemen and women who believed his lies while blowing up the Middle East in the process is beyond me. Democrats are not perfect but they are thousands of times better than the DISLOYAL opposition!

HOW MANY TIMES CAN ONE SAY GET OUT THE DEMOCRATIC VOTE IF YOU WANT A NATION LEFT?

The U.S. Intervention in Libya Was Such a Smashing Success That a Sequel Is Coming

https://theintercept.com/2016/01/27/the-u-s-intervention-in-libya-was-such-a-smashing-success-that-a-sequel-is-coming/

The Stuff of Life

A beloved friend from childhood posted a picture of her family today to say a few words in memorial of her beloved father-in-law. The family picture was brimming in the numbers of relations within it and it was a picture, I think, of the love she holds for all of them. It gave me pause for thought and I wrote her the following:

It [the picture] is the stuff of life from which we are made. From generation to generation it grows and the essence of that life is held within the magic of each of the billions of cells within us. It is truly miraculous as is the entirety of evolutionary creation that begat us all. Man is the only mammal that can contemplate this miracle.

No matter the difficulties one faces it is the blessing that we get to view this snapshot of life for the short time we do. It is why we need to appreciate this gift for every sunrise we get to see and every day we get to experience. It is a picture of a wonderful family and a reflection of all of life itself!

Do Not Send Us Bottles of Water. Instead, Join Us in a Revolt --PLEASE READ

By Michael Moore

Many of you have contacted me wanting to know how you can help the people of Flint with the two-year long tragedy of drinking water contaminated by the radical decisions made by the Governor of Michigan. The offer is much appreciated by those who are suffering through this and who have not drank a glass of unpoisoned water since April of 2014.

Unfortunately, the honest answer to your offer of help is, sadly, you can't.
You can't help.

The reason you can't help is that you cannot reverse the irreversible brain damage that has been inflicted upon every single child in Flint. The damage is permanent. There is no medicine you can send, no doctor or scientist who has any way to undo the harm done to thousands of babies, toddlers and children (not to mention their parents). They are ruined for life, and someone needs to tell you the truth about that. They will, forever, suffer from various neurological impediments, their IQs will be lowered by at least 20 points, they will not do as well in school and, by the time they reach adolescence, they will exhibit various behavioral problems that will land a number of them in trouble, and some of them in jail.

That is what we know about the history of lead poisoning when you inflict it upon a child. It is a life sentence. In Flint, they've already ingested it for these two years, and the toll has already been taken on their developing brains. No check you write, no truckloads of Fiji Water or Poland Spring, will bring their innocence or their health back to normal.

It's done. And it was done knowingly, enacted by a political decision from a governor and a political party charged by the majority of Michigan's citizens who elected them to cut taxes for the rich, take over majority-black cities by replacing the elected mayors and city councils, cut costs, cut services, cut more taxes for the rich, increase taxes on retired teachers and public employees and, ultimately, try to decimate their one line of defense against all this, this thing we used to call a union.

The amount of generosity since the national media finally started to cover this story has been tremendous. Pearl Jam sent 100,000 bottles of water. The next day the Detroit Lions showed up with a truck and 100,000 bottles of water. Yesterday, Puff Daddy and Mark Wahlberg donated 1,000,000 bottles of water!

Unbelievably amazing. They acknowledged it's a very short-term fix, and that it is.
Flint has 102,000 residents, each in need of an average of 50 gallons of water a day for cooking, bathing, washing clothes, doing the dishes, and drinking (I'm not counting toilet flushes, watering plants or washing the car). But 100,000 bottles of water is enough for just one bottle per person -- in other words, just enough to cover brushing one's teeth for one day.

You would have to send 200 bottles a day, per person, to cover what the average American (we are Americans in Flint) needs each day. That's 102,000 citizens times 200 bottles of water - which equals 20.4 million 16oz. bottles of water per day, every day, for the next year or two until this problem is fixed (oh, and we'll need to find a landfill in Flint big enough for all those hundreds of millions of plastic water bottles, thus degrading the local environment even further). Anybody want to pony up for that? Because THAT is the reality.

This is a catastrophe of unimaginable proportions. There is not a terrorist organization on Earth that has yet to figure out how to poison 100,000 people every day for two years -- and get away with it. That took a governor who subscribes to an American political ideology hell-bent on widening the income inequality gap and conducting various versions of voter and electoral suppression against people of color and the poor. It was those actions that led Michigan's Republican governor to try out his economic and racial experiment in Flint (and please don't tell me this has nothing to do with race or class); he has removed the mayors of a number of black cities.

This, and the water crisis in Flint, never would have been visited upon the residents of Bloomfield Hills or Grosse Pointe -- and everyone here knows that. We have now seen the ultimate disastrous consequences of late-20th century, neo-conservative, trickle down public policy. That word "trickle," a water-based metaphor, was used to justify this economic theory -- well, it's no longer a metaphor, is it? Because now we're talking about how actual water has been used to institute these twisted economic beliefs in destroying the lives of the black and the poor in Flint, Michigan.

So, do you still want to help? Really help? Because what we need in Flint - and across the country - right now, tonight, is a nonviolent army of people who are willing to stand up for this nation, and go to bat for the forgotten of Flint.

Here's what you and I need to do:

1. Demand the removal and arrest of Rick Snyder, the Governor of Michigan.
When the police have an "active shooter" situation in a building, they must first stop the shooter before they can bring aid to the victims. The perp who allowed the poisoning to continue once he knew something was wrong -- and his minions who cooked the evidence so the public and the feds wouldn't find out -- must be removed from office ASAP. Whether it's via resignation, recall or prosecution, this must happen now because he is still refusing to take the aggressive and immediate action needed. His office, as recently as this past Thursday, was claiming the EPA had no legal authority to tell him what to do. You know the EPA -- that federal agency every Republican politician wants eliminated? Governor Snyder is not going to obey the law. He has covered up the crime, and I submit he has committed an act of voluntary or involuntary manslaughter. Last month I posted a meme of me holding a pair of handcuffs with the hashtag

#ArrestGovSnyder:

It went viral, so I posted a petition (link) to U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch asking her to arrest the governor -- and asking President Obama to send help to Flint immediately. As each day brought a new revelation of the Governor's corruption or incompetence, and with Rachel Maddow on a nightly tear, the momentum built. MoveOn.org and Democracy For America joined me in circulating our petition. We are now on our way to having a half-million signatures! Then Bernie Sanders became the first candidate to call for the Governor's removal. That same day, President Obama issued his first emergency order for Flint. The next night, Hillary Clinton fiercely called out the racist actions of the Governor.

You want to help? Sign the petition -- and get everyone you know to sign it. Now. Another half-million signatures could become the tipping point we need. All eyes are on Flint.

2. Make the State of Michigan pay for the disaster that the State of Michigan created.

The governor wants the president to declare Flint a federal disaster zone and have him send federal money to fix the problem. Not so fast. All relief aid for Flint currently coming from the federal government to Michigan is going through the Governor's office to disburse. That is literally paying the fox to fix the chicken coop he destroyed.

As a Michigan resident and voter, I think that the people who elected Governor Snyder must show some of that personal responsibility they're always lecturing about to the poor. The majority of my fellow Michiganders wanted this kind of government (they elected him twice), so now they should have to pay for it. This year the state treasury posted nearly a $600 million surplus. There is also another $600 million in the state's "rainy day fund." That's $1.2 billion -- just about what Flint's congressman, Dan Kildee, estimates it will cost to replace the water infrastructure and care for the thousands of poisoned children throughout their growing years.

And before there is any talk of federal tax dollars being used (and, yes, they will be needed), the state legislature must remove the billion-dollars' worth of tax cuts the Snyder administration gave the wealthy when he took office. That will go a long way to helping not just Flint but Michigan's other destitute cities and school districts.

3. The federal government must then be placed in charge.


The state government cannot be trusted to get this right. So, instead of declaring a federal disaster zone, President Obama must declare the same version of martial law that Governor Snyder declared over the cities of Flint and Detroit. He must step in and appoint a federal emergency manager in the state capitol to direct the resources of both the state and federal government in saving Flint.

This means immediately sending in FEMA in full force. It means sending in the CDC to determine the true extent of not just the lead poisoning in the water, but also the latest outbreak that has been discovered in Flint -- a tenfold increase in the number of Flint people who've contracted Legionnaires Disease. There have now been 87 cases since the switch to the Flint River water, and ten people have died. The local hospital has also noted sharp increases in a half-dozen other toxins found in people's bodies.

We need the CDC. The EPA must take over the testing of the water, and the Army Corps of Engineers must be sent in to begin replacing the underground pipes. Like the levees in New Orleans, this will be a massive undertaking. If it is turned over to for-profit businesses, it will take a decade and cost billions. This needs to happen right now and Obama must be in charge.

4. Evacuate any and all Flint residents who want to leave now.

They've suffered long enough and, until the water is truly safe, no one should have to stay there who doesn't want to. The state and FEMA should move people into nearby white townships that are still hooked up to Lake Huron water.

5. For those who choose to stay in Flint, FEMA must create a temporary water system in each home.

One idea that has been suggested is to deliver two 55-gallon drums to every home in Flint. Each day water trucks will arrive to fill them with fresh clean glacial water from Lake Huron. The drums will have taps attached to them. People can't be expected to carry jugs of water from buildings that are miles away.

In the end, we will need to create a new economy and bring new employment to this town that created the middle class, that elected the first black mayor, and that believed in and created the American Dream. They deserved more than to be poisoned by their own Governor -- a Governor who thought that, because the people in the town were politically weak, he could get away with this unnoticed and without a fight. He figured wrong.

A crime against humanity has been committed against the people of Flint, making them refugees in their own homes. Tell me honestly: if you were living in Flint right now, and you learned that your children had been drinking lead-filled water for two years, and then you discovered that the Governor knew this and the state lied about it -- tell me, just how fast would your head be spinning? With your children now poisoned, and with the poisoning continuing... is the word "nonviolence" dominating your thoughts right now? Are you absolutely, stunningly amazed how peaceful the people in Flint have remained? Are you curious how much longer that can last? I hope it does.

If you want to help Flint, sign the petition, demand that the federal government take action, and then get involved yourself, wherever you live, so that this doesn't happen to you -- and so that the people we elect know they can no longer break the law as they rule by fiat or indifference. We deserve much better than this.


For a better world,
Michael Moore

REMINDER

Reminder: MSNBC Rachel Maddow -- Flint, Michigan town hall at 9:00 p.m. tonight, Wed., January 27 Flint, Michigan American Disaster: water crisis in Flint. 
 
Maddow is hosting a special televised town hall meeting from Flint on Wednesday featuring Flint Mayor Karen Weaver, U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow from Michigan, some medical experts and Flint residents. It will air at 9 p.m. EST, during the typical time slot for her show.

The Face of Our Nation

The right wing extremist nationalists that were involved in the Bundy occupation in Oregon are not the martyrs holier than thou freedom-loving believers they clam to be. They are violent gun loving gun toting white nationalists whose fanatical anti-government beliefs make them a threat to our nation as was a Timothy McVeigh. They are killers and we DO have a federal government. The federal government is not the enemy because there are channels one can work through to perfect change.

Further, there are lands that are so beautiful, filled with threatened wildlife necessary to our ecosystem which should be off limits to private ownership or commercial development that would eradicate all life in it. The Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, the Grand Tetons, Cape Cod National Seashore and Yosemite are but a few examples of federally protected land. These right wing extremists cannot be allowed to usurp these priceless natural creations that should be federally protected and controlled.

Without a strong federal government we are 50 states of national anarchy left to do as each one wishes ruining not only land but tromping on the true civil rights of those who deserve it. Moreover, there are times when FDR-type leadership is needed to ensure a strong federal government step in when human beings and the institutions they create step out of control and if so a strong preemptive federal government must restore a fair and just peace that should be the face of our nation.

Vy Higginsen's musical mission--magnificent

"Since 2007, 60 Minutes has followed a Harlem theater producer as she preserves a special part of American culture: African American music"

This is a magnificent story about "Alive and Kickin" group of older persons of color teaching the young black gospel and other music in addition to relating their life stories which are heart rending and give inspiration to those who suffer greatly but find it's never too late to resurrect one's life. Included a gentleman who was imprisoned for 40 years but returned to live another day. It is inspirational. The idea is to pass this gift on from generation to generation. I link it below.















http://www.cbsnews.com/news/vy-higginsens-musical-mission-60-minutes/

Epic Media Fail: How And Why Trump Trumped The Press

Doris Kearns Goodwin, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian of the press, politics and presidents, explains a journalism fiasco linked below.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-press_us_56a552fee4b076aadcc6fefc

A dictionary derivative

Names often have meaning outside of a personal appellation that is they are, many times, derived from something else.  It is no less true, I think, for Mr. Trump's name. In fact, I think the meaning of its possible derivative could not capture his personal essence any better:




HOW MUCH DO YOU WANT TO SAVE A NATION AND SAVE A NATION FROM THE ECONOMIC RUIN CONSERVATIVES WOULD LOVE TO CREATE FOR YOU WHILE THEY STEAL YOUR WEALTH, TAKE YOUR CIVIL LIBERTIES AWAY, ERADICATE YOUR HARD FOUGHT FOR VOTE, STEAL RIGHTS WOMEN SHOULD HAVE AND DECISIONS ABOUT HEALTH THEY SHOULD MAKE FOR THEMSELVES?  HOW MUCH DO YOU WANT THIS NATION TO BE OFF A FOOTING OF ETERNAL MIDDLE EAST WAR?  HOW MUCH DO YOU WANT THIS NATION NOT CATAPULTED INTO A NUCLEAR CONFLAGRATION WITH RUSSIA, NORTH KOREA OR WITH OTHER NATIONS LIKE IRAN OR PAKISTAN THAT HAVE NUCLEAR CAPACITY AND FOR WHOM WE ARE NOT HIGH ON THEIR HIT PARADE LIST?  HOW MUCH DO YOU WANT HUMAN BEINGS TO HAVE THE ABILITY TO MARRY WHOM THEY CHOOSE? HOW MUCH DO YOU VALUE THE EARTH NOT BEING CLIMATE CHANGE DESTROYED WITH US IN IT?  IF YOU DO NOT WANT REPUBLICANS TO REVERSE HUNDREDS OF YEARS OF WORK TO MAKE A MORE PERFECT AND PROGRESSIVE NATION OF INCLUSION THEN GET OUT THE DEMOCRATIC VOTE EVERYWHERE AND MOST ESPECIALLY FOR THE PRESIDENCY.  CRUZ AND/OR TRUMP IS UNTHINKABLE AND ENDS THIS NATION AS WE HAVE KNOWN IT PUTTING US IN AN ALDOUS HUXLEY BRAVE NEW WORLD.

Trumping Trump and Cruz Control

I once downloaded a book to my Kindle entitled "Idiot America: How Stupidity Became a Virtue in the Land of the Free" written by Charles Pierce. He begins with a poem by Chris Whitley

"Where can a heretic,
Where can a heretic,
Where can a heretic call home?"

Huffington Post reported "Donald Trump reportedly suggested he could shoot someone in a crowded area and still keep voters, speaking at a rally in Iowa Saturday."

If one has listened assiduously to Donald Trump, the probable Republican nominee for president, one has heard his racist blather against Hispanics, immigrants of all stripes, Muslims, Asians and, yes, incredulously enough, even mocked a handicapped man who dared to be critical of the Donald.  That will teach him.  One hears laughter from Trump's audience because having a joint disease handicap is oh so funny.  One wonders if Donald Trump would think it so funny if his beloved daughter Ivanka or Donald Trump, Jr. suffered from it.

What have we become if our most strident ally, England, in Parliament debated putting a stop on Trump entering their country should he become president because of the explosiveness of his racist comments and the social upheaval it could engender.

The Duck Dynasty bearded and mangy patriarch, Phil Robertson, supports Ted Cruz and says:

“My qualifications for president of the United States are rather narrow: Is he or she godly, does he or she love us, can he or she do the job, and finally would they kill a duck and put him in a pot and make him a good duck gumbo?” the reality TV star says in the video. “I’ve looked at the candidates. Ted Cruz is my man. He fits the bill.”

In case one has not heard of Duck Dynasty I paste this photo below of its patriarch for your visual enjoyment to shudder at the prospect of someone with his values supporting Ted Cruz for the highest office in the land and perhaps, the most powerful in the world:

Yes, this is who supports one of the leading Republican candidates for the presidency, Ted Cruz. 

If that were not enough Ted Cruz gleefully and willingly took the podium along with Republicans Bobbi Jindal and Mike Huckabee aside Pastor Kevin Swanson who according to "Right Wing Watch" during his remarks Swanson reiterated his view that both the Old and New Testament require the death penalty for the crime of homosexuality, as well as his position that any Christian who attends a gay wedding can only do so in order to hold up a sign informing the couple that they ought to be put to death. 

He further states according to "Right Wing Watch" "There are families, we're talking Christian families, pastors' families, elders' families from good, godly churches," whose sons are rebelling, hanging out with homosexuals and getting married and the parents are invited. What would you do if that was the case? Here is what I would do: sackcloth and ashes at the entrance to the church and I'd sit in cow manure and I'd spread it all over my body. That is what I would do and I'm not kidding, I'm not laughing."

"I'm grieving, I'm mourning, I'm pointing out the problem," Swanson screamed as he went off about people trying to "carve happy faces on the sores" of a society that is utterly "messed up."

- See more at: http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/if-kevin-swansons-son-got-gay-married-id-sit-cow-manure-and-id-spread-it-all-over-my-body#sthash.gMVwLgnE.dpuf

 I'm grieving, I'm mourning, I'm pointing out the problem," Swanson screamed as he went off about people trying to "carve happy faces on the sores" of a society that is utterly "messed up."  I embed a video link of the mind numbing sermon -- if one can stand to listen to it -- and hear the hysterical words spoken by a supporter of Republican politics on the extremist but now mainstream end.

https://youtu.be/5pLobWHDdVw

Since The mainstream Republican Party is now trying to come to terms with the fact that its base is so utterly stupid (to use Trump's term) that it questions nothing about the many falsehoods Trump speaks, does not question the danger to our national security his words will engender and surely loves the Medieval Republican marriage of church and state.

Do not wax quizzical of the nativist racist nature of the Republican Party.  It has been there all along throughout the cultural history of our nation as the book at the top of the opinion states.  It simply found a very loud, crude billionaire to trumpet its cacophonous sound.

So where can a heretic call home?  The heretic can, sadly enough, find a home in the Republican Party. Trumping Trump and controlling Cruz means it is up to the intelligent other half of our nation to do what the racist, ignorant and stupid half cannot -- question everything and ensure the one who inhabits our most cherished national home -- the White House -- stands for humility, humanity and, most importantly, reason. 

Sarah Palin's Son Track Arrested on Domestic Violence Charges on Eve of Trump Endorsement

Well GOLLLLLYEEE as Gomer Pyle would have said. Who'd have thunk it? Surprise, surprise, surprise -- NOT!

by Erin Calabrese

Less than 24 hours before she endorsed Donald Trump, Sarah Palin's son was arrested on domestic violence charges, police in Wasilla, Alaska, said Tuesday.

Track Palin, the former governor and vice president candidate's 26-year-old son, was arrested and charged with interfering with the report of a domestic violence, possession of a firearm while intoxicated and assault on his girlfriend, which are all misdemeanors, police said.

Track Palin in 2008. Justin Sullivan / Getty Images, file

Around 10 p.m. Monday local time (2 a.m. Tuesday ET) a police officer responded to a 911 call at the Palin household in Wasilla. The officer wrote that when he met Track Palin in the driveway he was "uncooperative, belligerent and evasive with my initial line of questioning," court documents show.

Track and his girlfriend of one year had been arguing about her contact with an ex-boyfriend most of the day, even during a dinner at his sister's house, before returning to the house where he lives with his parents, according to the court documents.

The girlfriend, who NBC News is not naming because she is a victim of alleged domestic abuse, told a police officer at the scene that Track approached her and, "struck her on the left side of her head near her eye with a closed fist," sending her to the ground, where she curled up into a fetal position, the documents show.

Track then allegedly kicked his girlfriend in the right knee, and threw her phone across the driveway, the girlfriend told police. She then ran to retrieve her phone and ran back inside the Palin home, where she was met by Track — and his AR-15 rifle, according to the court documents.

Track allegedly cocked the weapon and menaced the girlfriend by asking, "Do you think I'm a p-ssy?" and "Do you think I won't do it?" documents said.

The girlfriend, not sure if Track "would shoot himself," ran outside and around the house — losing sight of Track — and ran to hide under a bed, documents said.

Track Palin was arraigned in Palmer District Court and was released after posting $1500 bail later Tuesday. The courts didn't immediately have a lawyer on record for him.

Things are getting curiouser and curiouser

“Curiouser and curiouser!” Cried Alice (she was so much surprised, that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English).” Sarah Palin has just endorsed Donald Trump!

― Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass minus the Sarah Palin comment. That is mine!

Politics can be SO SO much fun. What would Jon Stewart do with this?

Moving Day

As much as we are told over and over and over again that the 62 richest people on earth now hold as much wealth as the poorest 3.5 billion (see link below); as much as statistics bear it out, as much as truth is reported there is a huge portion of this nation who still does understand. One could shower them with facts but they watch and listen to right wing extremist radio, right wing cable news and believe the lies they are told.
 
I have tried as hard as possible through four elections to write and work for a just economic and social system by electing those from the only Party which is remotely for the middle class, the poor and minorities – the Democratic Party – but the electorate never fails to disappoint and gives our Democratic president a mean, rude, uncompromising and extreme Republican Congress that vowed from the beginning of the president’s administration to foil him at every turn.

A large part of the electorate does not get it. The Republican Party is not about the poor or the middle class and, in fact, is not about most of them. The Republican Party is about the top 1% wealthiest and cares only about itself, its hegemony and maintaining, albeit increasing, its power.

The president, our Democratic president, has done many good things – lifting the nation from the Great Recession, ushering in the Lilly Ledbetter law stating that the 180-day statute of limitations for filing an equal-pay lawsuit regarding pay discrimination resets with each new paycheck; supported equality of marriage; repealed the discriminatory military policy Don’t Ask Don’t Tell; recommended two women for the United States Supreme Court, created a new policy calling for deferred action for certain undocumented young people who came to the U.S. as children known as DACA; he caught bin Laden and many other hierarchical terrorists not the least of whom is among ISIS but the opposition crucifies this president beyond reason nonetheless. He could issue an order declaring a sunny day to be sunny and the opposition would say it was a cloudy day and not support him.

All of us who consider ourselves decent, just and egalitarian human beings urge persons of color, Hispanics and others of minority status to get out to vote. Learn who is on your side. It is NOT the Republican Party. The nation does better when we all do better. The Democratic Party is not a perfect Party but it is better than the malevolent disloyal opposition.

Vote and get others whose interests we share to vote for Democrats. If Trump or Cruz moves into the oval office Hispanics and other minorities should get ready to pack and move out of the nation.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/global-wealth-inequality_56991defe4b0ce4964242e09

Documentary Recommendation

If you want to understand the financial and economic policy of the Fed, the federal government and your place in it as to why the collapse of 2007 happened the documentary you can find on Netflix called "Money for Nothing" does a great job of explaining in an easy-to-understand way why economic conditions are as they are.  The stock market plunge in present time and China's importance in it should make this mandatory viewing for those who want a secure financial system.  We still do not have one. 
 
Riveting documentary especially to those of us who are not economic wizards and for those who are it will I am sure reinforce much of what you know or maybe reverse your thought.

The Speed of Light: American Journalism at its worst

My Comment: This is our national malady -- a media that accepts hook, line and sinker anything the government and/or Pentagon has to say about US military events.  (Reported by Glen Greenwald in indented form and linked below.)  Most American media reported they were told that the US ship had "mechanical problems."  Face it the ship for whatever reason (maybe even a spying mission as all who boarded our ship were not military. We do not know) slid into Iranian waters.

If an Iranian ship meandered into US waters off the New York coast how quickly do you think the American Navy and god knows how many military others would it take for our navy to intercept an Iranian ship?: Answer: The Speed of light!  Glenn Greenwald states:

News broke last night, hours before President Obama's State of the Union address, that two U.S. Navy ships "in the Persian Gulf" were "seized" by Iran, and the 10 sailors on board were "arrested." The Iranian government quickly said, and even the U.S. government itself seemed to acknowledge, that these ships had entered Iranian waters without permission, and were thus inside Iranian territory when detained. CNN's Barbara Starr, as she always does, immediately went on the air with Wolf Blitzer to read what U.S. officials told her to say: "We are told that right now, what the U.S. thinks may have happened, is that one of these small boats experienced a mechanical problem " perhaps beginning to drift. " It was at that point, the theory goes right now, that they drifted into Iranian territorial waters."

Despite all of this, most U.S. news accounts last night quickly skimmed over -- or outright ignored -- the rather critical fact that the U.S. ships had "drifted into" Iranian waters. Instead, all sorts of TV news personalities and U.S. establishment figures puffed out their chest and instantly donned their Tough Warrior pose to proclaim that this was an act of aggression -- virtually an act of war: not by the U.S., but by Iran. They had taken our sailors "hostage," showing yet again how menacing and untrustworthy they are. Completely typical was this instant analysis from former Clinton and Bush Middle East negotiator Aaron David Miller, now at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

The truly imbecilic Joe Scarborough of MSNBC turned himself into an instant self-parody of a pseudo-tough guy compensating for all sorts of inadequacies: Hey Iran, you have exactly 300 days left to push a US president around. Enjoy it while you can. After that, there will be hell to pay. -- Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC)January 12, 2016

Hey Iran, you have exactly 300 days left to push a US president around. Enjoy it while you can. After that, there will be hell to pay. -- Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) January 12, 2016

But, as usual, the most alarmist, jingoistic coverage came from the always-war-hungry CNN. For hours, the network emphasized in the most alarmist of tones that the sailors had been picked up by the Revolutionary Guard, which, in the words of Starr, is "one of the most aggressive elements of the military and national security apparatus in that country." CNN host Erin Burnett intoned at the top of her prime-time show: "Next, breaking news: American sailors seized by Iran. The revolutionary guard arresting 10 American sailors in the Persian Gulf."

Go to The Intercept to read the rest of this article.

MY CONCLUSION: A WAR WITH IRAN BASED ON LIES IS WHAT THE NATION WOULD HAVE GOTTEN WITH A REPUBLICAN SHOOT FIRST ASK QUESTIONS LATER PRESIDENT.  THIS POST IS THE VERY REASON WHY A REPUBLICAN MUST NEVER ENTER THE OVAL OFFICE AND EVEN MORE REASON ALL OF THEM SHOULD BE VOTED OUT OF CONGRESS AND STATE GOVERNMENT!

End of SOU Speech

The end of President's State of the Union speech is a quote from Martin Luther King:

"Optimistic that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word."

Amen!
NOW WORK TO ELECT AND RETAIN A DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENT AND A CONGRESS WITH WHOM SHE/HE CAN WORK!

Explosion Near Pakistan Polio Eradication Center Kills At Least 15

IDIOTIC, MORONIC, INSANE, RIDICULOUS, MALEVOLENT, EVIL MOVE (Link below.) This is with whom we are dealing!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/pakistan-bombing-polio-center_56960779e4b09dbb4bad485e