Déjà vu all over again in Florida; voter civil rights in the crosshairs

The voter rights suppression attempt by the corrupt Florida Republican Governor Rick Scott MUST be remedied post haste by Attorney General Eric Holder. He must do so as President Kennedy through his Attorney General Robert Kennedy did in July, 1963 by sending Deputy Attorney General Nicolas Katzenbach demanding he do so to enforce desegregation imperatives. Kennedy employed federal marshals and the Alabama National Guard which, by the threat of physical force, demanded Wallace step aside and not block black students from attending school. Stopping the impudent and insolent Rick Scott is as important as THAT except now it is about voter suppression -- illegal and unconstitutional in our time.

I believe the federal government and the Justice Department have the ability to prosecute and DEMAND the malevolent, impudent and insolent Scott stop his voter suppression tactics. Nicholas Katzenbach issued an order for the racist Governor Wallace to step aside at the University of Alabama to allow black students to attend or troops would FORCE him to do so. Wallace stepped aside. Wallace did not like it, of course. TOUGH that he did not like it.

Scott is trying clearly to undermine the Democratic vote by suppressing the minority vote. Attorney General DO NOT LET HIM. DEMAND he cease and desist or if he does not he faces arrest for violation of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and obstructing justice.

Rick Scott's actions are an affront to our nation, to our Constitution, to democracy itself and cannot continue. If Scott continues his threatening tactics arrest that insulting, scurrilous, bloviating, malodorous excuse for humanity and force him to comply. It is déjà vu all over again and cannot stand!

Truth or Consequences -- Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's Half Truth and Lies

Factcheck.org is, as I see it, the best public policy center for assessing the truth of, as Al Franken said in the title of his book, the lies and the lying liars that tell them.  I am pasting Factcheck.org's assessment of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's fiscal claims.  It is as follows:

In his ad, Walker says in the three years before he took office, “Wisconsin lost 150,000 jobs” but that now, “employer confidence is up” and “since the start of the year, Wisconsin has added thousands of new jobs.”

It’s true that Wisconsin lost nearly 150,000 jobs in the three years before he took office. More precisely, Wisconsin lost 145,000 between January 2008 and December 2010, the month before Walker took office. The entire country was reeling from the recession, and the percentage of jobs lost in Wisconsin mirrored the percentage of jobs lost nationally (both losing a little more than 5 percent).

Now, for the second part of Walker’s claim, that “since the start of the year, Wisconsin has added thousands of new jobs.” Do you see what he’s done there? Walker has skipped entirely over 2011, his first year in office, and instead referenced job statistics for the first two months of 2012. Even so, the ad was barely true when it came out, and less so today after some unfavorable data for March. Between January and February, Wisconsin added 10,100 jobs. But then the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that Wisconsin lost 4,500 jobs in March. So now, there’s been a net gain of 5,600 jobs in 2012.

But if you look at the jobs picture since Walker took office, Wisconsin has lost a net 14,200 jobs. In fact, Wisconsin has lagged behind the rest of the country in the recovery. While Wisconsin has lost jobs during Walker’s time in office, the country as a whole saw jobs increase by 1.8 percent.

Needless to say, Wisconsin is not on track for Walker to keep his campaign promise to bring the state 250,000 new jobs by 2015.

As the Greater Wisconsin Political Fund correctly pointed out in a , in 2011 recent ad, “Wisconsin lost more jobs than any other state. Dead last.” That fact was also featured in an ad from the Barrett campaign. From January 2011 to January 2012, Wisconsin lost a net 12,700 jobs. According to a review by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal, that was the worst performance among all 50 states.

Walker: “We wiped out a $3.6 billion deficit without raising taxes.”

Walker’s claim that “we wiped out a $3.6 billion deficit without raising taxes” is also dubious. The state Constitution requires a balanced budget. And it’s true that Walker offered a balanced budget using the cash accounting method. However, using Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) accrual accounting methods, there is a $3 billion deficit in each of the next two years. We won’t bore you with the differences in accounting methods. It’s perfectly legitimate for Walker to cite the cash accounting figure in his ad, but that may confuse some folks who may remember that Walker cited figures using an accrual accounting method when he argued for cuts in state health programs, because that made future deficits look worse.

Next, did Walker balance the budget without raising taxes? Walker did not propose any general tax increases, and he implemented several corporate tax reductions. But his claim that he didn’t raise taxes is not entirely true. The nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau labeled two tax credit reductions as tax increases. One measure reduced the earned income tax credit for people with two or more children, a change projected to net the state an added $56.2 million over two years. Another reduced the homestead tax credit, bringing the state $13.6 million over two years. Walker argued those were spending cuts, not tax increases. But suffice to say, those who got those credits before, and don’t now, probably consider them to be tax increases. Walker also raised tens of millions of dollars by increasing a number of fees.

The moral of this story is beware of Republicans toting "facts" as often their "facts" are not the truth and their untruths, indeed, have consequences in extremis for our nation.

Al Gore has it correct -- OUR NATION HAS BEEN HACKED!

Read and heed. Vice-President Al Gore says it all much better than I ever could. Even if you do not agree with my political/philosophical point of view I urge you to listen. Purely, simply and I think objectively VP Gore states the reason why Romney and all Republicans if elected will ultimately kill this nation as we knew it. It is a GREAT interview by Spitzer of Current TV (FIOS Channel 192) and one which should make everyone pause for thought and leap into action against this diabolical takeover by the millionaire/billionaire 1%. It is here or below.

http://current.com/shows/viewpoint/videos/al-gore-takes-on-scott-walker-romneys-health-care-record-voter-suppression-and-citizens-united/

An Existential Perp Walk

I keep reviewing the Walker/Barrett fiasco of last evening's Wisconsin recall and Barrett loss. What went wrong? I keep telling myself not to worry as ultimately the country will see that Republican politics is not about most of them and almost always means things like Great Recession economic downturns. I keep saying to myself the status Republican quo will not stand and like 2008, the majority of the country feeling the sting of Republican politics and its attendant side cars of lies and fraud will put the Republican Party in electoral bankruptcy where it truly belongs. When Republicans rule they miserably fail because their philosophic base thinking Republicans are for them find out they surely are not and drown in Republican decision-making which puts billions in the hands of the very few but which cares nothing for most of the others who put them in office. Often, it takes Democrats to rescue the nation.

I begin to feel positive again until I remember the gargantuan money machine that the Republican Supreme Court majority put into play. Could one obscure decision, Citizen's United, have had such deleterious affects? The answer is a resounding yes. It is that coupled with an electorate which, in many cases does not understand things political, does not know the difference between the political left and the political right, forgets history longer than one week and will succumb to the Republican Party's paid-for-in-cash immoral propaganda which makes a few very very rich but certainly does nothing for the rest of the country which is not. Quoting another blogger who says:

Obviously, the politics of this country is moving towards the extremist ideology where some people would rather continue to defund social rights programs that it took years to create and establish while allowing the rich to not do their part. Politics is one thing, but where this country is headed seems clearly in the hands of misguided voters who believe in 30 second political sound bites that ultimately, don't have their best interests at heart. The voters in Wisconsin will reap what they sowed and so will this country if its voters continue this walk down into madness thinking it [Republican politics] will fix our ills. This event helps to validate my view that when I retire, this is not the place to be as people here have become more divided, selfish, corrupt, and greed stricken while we still debate the merits of viable health care and give tax breaks to the rich and corporate welfare to the war machine and certain big businesses. Although born and raised here, I love this country but not what it has become, especially the priorities of its people and definitely not exactly my ideal place to consider retirement.

Whenever I contemplate remedial policy for Republican toxicity I am stopped by a synapse that echoes Citizen United. Unless or until that rancid and destructive decision is either overturned OR, in the interim, the Democratic Party finds a way to compete with gargantuan big corporate oligarchic money running through the life blood of this nation and ultimately costing lives from its disease then truly there is, existentially, no way out.

The investigation of Scott Walker and that of his cronies’ nefarious possibly criminal activity should continue. In the interim the Democratic Party MUST find a way to compete with the opposition's money-smothering bought elections so that the existential perp walk path this country is on can be transferred to the very selfish, mean, Republican conservative base where it belongs.

Want to kill Medicare and Social Security vote for Scott Brown -- NOT

Is killing Social Security and Medicare for you?  No? If you want to see WHY you should NOT EVER EVER consider voting for Scott Brown click here or below and it will give you some excellent reasons why you should NOT consider EVER voting for him and why Elizabeth Warren is our ONLY Class A candidate for whom we should vote.


http://bluemassgroup.com/2012/05/scott-brown-the-truth-will-out/

CEASE and DESIST -- Arrest Rick Scott and his Secretary of State

There is NO question that the Dept. of Justice under Eric Holder CANNOT let the unconstitutional and possibly criminal actions of a Rick Scott and his Secretary of State stand.  They would love nothing else but to illegally and unconstitutionally purge hundreds of thousands of potentially Democratic voters from the voting registration list in Florida. 

They have thrown dirt in our Justice Department's face and by extension have kicked mud in the face of our president by refusing to obey the Justice Department's letter to stop their rancid actions.  Eric Holder and the civil rights division of the Department of Justice, MUST show spine as Nicholas Katzenbach exemplified during the Kennedy years when he stood in front of the racist Wallace and told him in no uncertain terms he WOULD face arrest if he did not step aside, comply with the law and let black students attend the University of Alabama. Atty Gen. Holder probably would not be in the position he holds if it were not for the brave civil rights protest, life and death struggle waged in the 1960's to create a fair and level playing field for minorities. 

Scott and his henchmen's actions are not far removed from Alabama's racist Governor George Wallace as Scott and his Secretary of State are systematically denying minorities, seniors, the disabled and even military men of their right to vote. It is all in an effort to defeat the president and it is why the attorney general's staff MUST go to Florida, tell those who are implementing these unconstitutional edicts of voter purge and suppression to CEASE AND DESIST or face arrest.

Perhaps the fear of prison would be enough to STOP what is the most egregious assault of voting rights since before the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Make clear that WE can be as strong as our opposition.  Show Rick Scott and his cronies up for the cowards and corrupt sinister men they are.

Prosac Will NOT Work

The word depression conjures up a variety of mostly negative definitions. It can be defined as a depression in the ground which your car must avoid or new shock absorbers will need installing; it can be a tropical depression which sometimes brings hurricanes; it can be an emotional depression which sometimes brings suicide OR in the case of this opinion, depression spelled with a big "D", can bring economic catastrophe which may usher in all the previously mentioned definitions of depression.

An economic depression with austerity as its remedy can create holes in the roads from lack of infrastructure repair, and climate change emanating from a do nothing government controlled by tooth fairy believers who think praying it away will work just as effectively as alternative energy.  Republicans will usher in more staunch believers in the oil barons who dupe the gullible to lasso their billions. It can bring job loss, home foreclosures, and people thrown out onto the street with no health insurance who become sick, massively depressed and suicidal. Who could blame them? The consequences of yet another economic Depression are dire and as I define it we may be catapulting ourselves into not only another national Depression but into a global THIRD.

To review: 1929 most of us know was the first Great Depression; Dr. Paul Krugman, the academic economic genius, terms 2008 – the so called Great Recession -- a Depression in his new book entitled "End this Depression Now" and, yet again, if we are to believe a hysterical and corporate money-soaked media which wants you to buy their advertisements, a THIRD Depression looms. This time the media may be correct.

Funny or not so funny this occurs just in time for the American electorate to vote charlatans, immoral austerity cranks and uncaring know nothings into Congress and ensure a victory for their puppet one percenter Willard Mitt Romney. He will take a victory walk directly into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and effectively make this dire situation worse. He will make a colossal amount of bucks for himself (as if $250,000,000 of his estimated wealth is not enough) and, for his crony present-day robber barons of Wall Street. The wealthiest 1% will, in celebratory TV series Glee-like form, do a line, disco or chorus dance when he arrives.

The argument of the know nothing right is that more government austerity and regulatory anarchy is needed. Eliminate government spending, let the market have its way and voila Depression cured. I think NOT. I am not an economist as most who know me understand my hysteria over anything math. However, Dr. Krugman explains here and below for those who want to read his expertise why for a country as opposed to an individual austerity remedial effects for debt are different and why the consequences of austerity could be so calamitous. It WILL bring global and national economic collapse.

The THIRD Great Depression looms. The Republican austerity agenda eliminating social safety nets when desperately needed most will NEVER make this Depression disappear ... EVER and no amount of Prosac for this Depression will help. Read and heed Dr. Paul Krugman. He is always right!

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/01/opinion/krugman-the-austerity-agenda.html?src=ISMR_AP_LO_MST_FB

Republican Evil and Nefarious Tactics

This is what these Republican swine will do (scroll below)  They will stop at nothing.  I know many of you are probably getting inundated with requests.  This Walker election is number 2 in importance to show that  Republican quicksand of money does NOT always get results.  They think it will so the Koch Brothers and their Rove consorts are stealing or at least trying to steal elections and are using many tactics of voter suppression as well. 

George Carlin said you do not matter, you do NOT count and they the 1% WILL take it all.  But you must allow it for their twisted democracy ridding schemes to work.  If you do NOT support this poisonous toxic malevolence in our politics they will not gain power.  So the famous quote is again correct.  The only way tyranny succeeds is for good men to do nothing.

Think about contributing to this important election and getting involved in Democratic politics so that racism and money do NOT rule the day.

Sent: Wed, May 30, 2012 11:44 am
Subject: phones crashing

BREAKING: A conservative group supporting Scott Walker has shut down Democratic candidate Tom Barrett’s phone system.

They’re using a phone number connected to Tom Barrett’s campaign headquarters in their latest attack. The calls flooded the campaign, crashing their phone system.

It’s a new low, with under a week until the election. I can’t believe they’ve stooped to this.

After all his attacks on workers and women, now his campaign is shutting down his challenger’s phones? This is what Walker's supporters will do to win. Anything. It’s wrong. Wisconsin deserves better.

We need your contribution immediately to fight back against these disgusting tactics. We’re helping the on-the-ground effort to get out the vote next Tuesday -- and to make sure everyone knows we won’t stand by while Walker tries to steal the election. But we need your support now to win.

Will you help the DGA oust Walker and return to a Wisconsin free of these dirty tricks by giving $3 or more right now?

Backed by the Koch Brothers’ billions, there are no lies Walker won’t tell. Nothing he won’t try. No one he won’t attack.

Let’s not miss a chance to send him packing and protect our Democratic values.

There’s no place for him and his attacks in our politics. Click here to help do what it takes to defeat Walker.

Thanks,

Mark Giangreco
Deputy Communications Director
Democratic Governors Association

 

George Carlin the Great!

I know I keep touting The American Dream Utube of George Carlin. It is however, truly great and I found its completed version.

George Carlin was a genius and a man of prescient predictive powers. However, for some his language may contain too much profanity. If so, of course, do not watch or listen. But if you want to see and hear the most perfect description of our time made by a man before his death a few years ago . I was shocked, and still am, by his death and miss this force for the 99% who goes unmatched even to this day and expresses my sentiments exactly.

He was RIGHT on the money if you will forgive the pun.

It is here or below.

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/1044358/

Vatican Treachery and it's NOT the Butler

Vatican treachery and corruption click here for the story for Vaticanleaks or below.

How about concentrating on the positions of power like the Pope himself and his merry "men" for punishment and NOT the butler, et al who are the leakers. Good for the leakers. They are brave and right. Those who are right always pay the price for their expose of power while the guilty go free. 

How anyone on planet earth could belong to this church much less send their children to an utterly corrupt and polluted institution, rich beyond belief while its so called flock starve, is beyond me! Just what Jesus would have wanted right? NOT!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/25/vatican-tracks-down-docum_0_n_1545425.html

Buying into BS -- KFStone Weekly

One would do well to click on the link: "Buying Into BS" or to the link at the bottom. This was sent to me by The KFStone Weekly. I thought this one particularly informative and absolutely 100% correct as my posts usually are! 

This week's op-ed, Buying Into BS, asks why many sins, errors and political missteps of the Bush years seem, at least retrospectively, to have gone largely uncriticized, while virtually everything about Barack Obama -- his person, his politics and his policies -- are under constant and minute critical scrutiny? Could it be because of his race? Or might it be due to something else? A look at how facts stack up against BS on one issue -- federal spending and the deficit -- might provide an insight.

Be good to yourself,

K. F. S.

The K.F. Stone Weekly

Kurt's Website

Bada Bing or as HP says Bada Bain

Here is a fair explanation from Huffington Post in a very entertaining way of exactly what Bain Capital, Mitt Romney's firm does. James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano in the HBO series The Sopranos and Ray Liotta as Henry Hill in the film Good Fellas, entertainment about the Mafia, parallel the reality of the quite legal Bain Capital with the illegal activities of the Mafia. The Mafia and Bain Capital are eerily similar in their approach albeit Bain is less violent at least physically. Click here or below to enjoy the video and a most entertaining explanation of Mitt Romney's profession as a vulture capitalist at Bain which he touts as his greatest ability as a business leader qualifying him to take a stroll for at least a four year occupancy of the Oval Office. Then read the explanation below it.

It may be humorous to listen and watch this video but CHILLING to think that a Willard Mitt Romney could in reality be at the helm of the most powerful nation on earth. I pray (yes I do) every day this never happens. All of us MUST ensure it does not.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/24/bain-capital-tony-soprano_n_1542249.html

The American Nightmare

A New York Times headline today says "Facebook I.P.O. (initial public offering of stock) Raises Regulatory Concerns" linked here and below.  It is a metaphor and an example of the times in which we live and what is so desperately wrong with an anarchistic unregulated Wall Street.

My father (a survivor of the 29 crash) always told me when I asked him why he had not invested in stocks that the stock market was NOT for the little guy. It was for those, he said, who had, at that time, millions and who could afford to take risk.  As I grew older and part of the working masses it became a market for most of us, a fad and a dupe, as we took risk through our respective workplaces so we could ensure we would have a retirement safety net over and above our measly, by today's standards, Social Security. We believed those "experts" who said this was a good thing and we believed them when they said the successful market at that time had proven in Ayn Randian fashion that the market rules and that it can only go up.  As someone in an old Sherlock Holmes "B" mystery movie with the excellent actor Basil Rathbone said: "We've been had, Watson.  We've been properly had" and we, the American masses have. 

My father had an uncanny way for being exactly right on many things economic and historical. Most know what has happened yet again as the mantra screams in rhythmic decibel-like cymbals clanging in our ears, we are living through the Greatest Recession since the Great Depression.  The market was not then and is not now made for the little guy, Main Street, workers' state pension funds, teachers, and all those who had NO understanding of their own investments and trusted brokers who may or may not have been on their side. Most have no idea of the insider trading scoop, the lightening fast computer technology and algorithms available only to those on Wall Street making the market uber complex . The little guy unless he/she is very smart, has an MIT degree and works on Wall Street, will not and could never understand it all.  Those little guys who were duped by media driven drivel to invest in Facebook stand to lose their shirt. They do not know what the insiders knew about this Wall Street IPO Facebook and how could they?  Worse, Morgan Stanley may have been guilty of knowing about Facebook's losses, telling only a few and not revealing it to the masses.  How could the average guy know?  He could not. This may be a violation of SEC rules but please do not hold your breath turning blue waiting for indictments of the big boys and getting only ad infinitum meaningless hearings until the furor dies down and the American public's very short memory remembers nothing, perhaps, waiting for Mitt Romney the king of the foxes to get them out of the economic ditch.  He won't. He and his cronies will eat you for lunch.

The stock market for the masses is a con game, defined by the American Heritage Dictionary as "a swindle in which you cheat at gambling or persuade a person to buy worthless property." It has stolen surreptitiously from us as Republicans who represent its millionaires and billionaires even now want to turn your Social Security, which USED to be placed in a locked box, over to Wall Street. Gaahead vote Republican and lose whatever you have left.  You or your children will, in time lose it all.

George Carlin the sage comic I loved so much and quote often presciently said the game is rigged and it's NOT rigged for most of you. The American Dream, he said, IS a dream because you have to be asleep to believe it. Be careful to whom you entrust your life's future. As the old commercial said applicable in our time "The life you save may truly be your own."

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/05/22/facebook-i-p-o-raises-regulatory-concerns/?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120523

Quelle Suprise

In case some may not be familiar with Corey Booker, the mayor of Newark, a comment. He is a man I have long eyed for higher office. His credentials are impeccable. His educational background reads like a Who’s Who in the some of the most prestigious universities in the world. He graduated from Yale Law School receiving a JD, Oxford University receiving an MA, Stanford University where he received a BA and yet another MA. He has been an attorney and now the Mayor of Newark, an ardent Democrat and a fervent supporter of the president.

He had, as I saw it, political stardom enmeshed in his DNA. Seeing his possible trajectory, I even contributed to his mayoralty campaign. Secretly, of course, I was hoping he would run and if, the fates of fortune prevailed, would ultimately become the nation’s second African American president. I allowed my political fantasy to soar because I thought he was that good. He had the background, the charisma, the ability, the verbal fluidity to make political grandiosity possible at least I hoped he would.

And then the unthinkable happened. As Democratic politicos too-often-for-me do, he imploded. Whether through assassination, accidents, or self-inflicted wounds of too-big-NOT-to-fail mouths the shooting star fades or kills itself depriving our nation of a force for good. Now, regretfully, add Corey Booker to that illustrious list felled by his own egregious misspeak on Meet the Press. He contradicted not only the president’s seminal opposition to Mitt Romney but the substance for which the Democratic Party stands in our era. What WAS he thinking when he said he was, indeed, “nauseated” by the negative ad campaign Democrats are waging against Bain Capital, Romney’s sole qualification, Romney says, for him to take a victory walk into the oval office. Booker says he was tired of sensational indicting of venture capitalists like Bain. Oh really, Mr. Mayor?

I was so incensed by Booker’s treacherous remarks that I called Mayor Booker’s office and left a few choice words on his machine. Why would a man of his intellect, loyalty to the president and having his own political aspirations commit political suicide on one of the most popular and prestigious political Sunday news programs, Meet the Press?

I believe from what I have read it really had less to do with the president and everything to do with promoting himself for higher office and thereby needing the big boys of Wall Street, venture capitalists including Bain Capital as well, to bankroll his effort. Ho hum so what else is new? Sadly, and to Middle America's detriment, Politicos need huge bucks to run for office.

Money the so called "mother's milk of politics" is front and center again. Has this not been so especially since campaigns rely more and more on expensive media – particularly television -- to sell their wares? Money has been tied to political candidacy for a very long time but, of course, since the Supreme Court’s egregious-to-our-nation Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission decision it has created a swamp as big as the Amazon Rain Forest teeming with gobs of polluted money and crocodiles of secrecy guarding its nests.

Corey Booker’s misspeak blew up explosive in his face and it should have. Booker did not realize that his comments would land on him like a ton of bricks as they should. The politicos try to hide, as best they can, their ties to Wall Street big money. No matter what party, when a politico, especially a prominent one, exposes the malignancy of corporate cash in his blood stream, we the people of the middle class are stunned. Post Citizens United we should not be. Booker is allegedly bought by the very venture capital firm that the opposition Republicans are using and touting as their raison de' guerre and entrance into the oval office. Quelle surprise on both counts!

Interesting Interview: Inside the Actors Studio Interview by James Lipton of the Mad Men Cast

I do not know how many watch the AMC fabulous series “Mad Men” and love it as I do.  Last evening Bravo broadcast an interview of its main cast taken by James Lipton on Inside the Actors Studio.  It was incredible.  If you get Bravo I suggest you search for it on your cable station and may be able to watch it or you can try to see if its online simply by Googling Bravo and then looking for Inside the Actors Studio interview of Mad Men.  I posted the following opinion of the Interview that may be of interest:

 

I am a faithful-without-fail viewer of "Mad Men" since the beginning of the series. I have been watching television for a very long time and remember the late 50’s and early 60’s well. I became immersed in the subject matter of Mad Men because I lived it.  The direction is brilliant, the story line is brilliant, and the actors are brilliant so as you can see I have a bias.  I never want the show to end and yet I know it must. 

 

It speaks to me on so many different levels. I could spend months with each character discussing the essence of her/his role.  This segment of Inside the Actors Studio with James Lipton interviewing each main character of Mad Men was RIVETING.  It was so riveting that I refuse to erase the tape until I make sure ALL my relatives and friends who love this show see it.

 

What absolutely wonderful questions James Lipton posed to all of them.  Each one has his/her own personal depth of story that brought them to such exquisite performances of this show.

 

I cannot say whom I loved the best because they were ALL unique, articulately fascinating, but, like so many others, I am immersed in Jon Hamm's character, Don Draper.  I think I am immersed even more now since I saw this Inside the Actors Studio segment because I identify with Jon Hamm's own personal history.  I too had a very ill parent for decades and on many levels I can identify with Jon. The family interaction was sometimes difficult, sad, hurtful and very impacting so I understand those tragedies that brought him to his role.  I cannot say I am glad he had to go through a difficult and often sad childhood but if it helped him craft the Don Draper role then I can say thank you to him for allowing that part to emerge within the character and for his revelations during the interview which allowed me not to feel alone. 

 

ALL others in the cast fall into the superb category.  I love them all for what they bring to each role.  I love the story because I relate to it and I love the characters because they bring a window into an era to which some in this country would want unhappily to return but which closed most of its windows so no one could see in.  It also makes me realize that some vestiges of that opaque era have not left us.  We as a nation are split right down the middle; one part yearning to return to those days and another grateful that the social revolution of the late 60’s occurred.  I personally fall into that latter category. 

 

Special kudos go to 11-year-old Kiernan Shipka who plays Sally.  She would make any parent feel blessed that they produced such an intelligent, mature and significantly creative person who lights up a room with her smile and enthusiasm.  I hope we will see more roles she attempts and often!

Justice is NOT Blind -- Seeing the Light

According to McClatchy News “Blind Chinese legal activist Chen Guangcheng, whose daring escape to the American embassy in Beijing last month sparked a diplomatic crisis, left China for the for the United States Saturday afternoon.”  It appears his family was taken to Bejing Airport and will HOPEFULLY join him.

This is a big diplomatic success for the Obama administration IF Chen and his family arrive safely. It is proof of how capable our president, his team including and most especially Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are on the complexities of diplomatic negotiation. They are BRILLIANT! I am happy for Chen and hope his family reunites with him unharmed. 

 

Kudos to Chen for his incredibly bravery and improbable escape, the story of which is here and linked below. Big kudos go to the administration as well.  Many have forgotten the two women the Obama diplomatic team extricated safely from N. Korea with Pres. Clinton and VP Gore's irreplaceable help.  These are GREAT feats of diplomacy requiring the greatest skill and expertise.  Clearly, the administration knows what it is doing and how to get things done. 

 

On the domestic economic front as well it knows what it needs to do if the disloyal Republican opposition would STEP OUT OF THE WAY.  They, of course, will not step out of the way until they bring the country to its knees and rid themselves of this president even if it means dismembering the nation.

He is our first black American president in our nation's history but, sadly, that history has been steeped in the politics of interposition, nullification and Civil War.  It is a history where some cannot and WILL NOT, even today, remove the albatross of hatred from around our collective necks.  They are blind to the prison they have constructed for the incarcerated whole.  Let this administration do what it needs to recover from the Greatest Recession since the Great Depression so that it can heel its wounds as it has historically has done.  The American electorate needs to turn the House blue again so the president and the Congress can effectively govern.

Big congratulations are in order to Chen Guangcheng, to our diplomatic team and, oh yes, to China for doing a difficult and just thing. Hopefully, Chen Guangchen's family will join him as well.  Justice, at least in part, it seems has seen the light of day one more time!

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/28/world/asia/chen-guangcheng-blind-lawyer-escapes-house-arrest-china.html?src=intrp

 

Do Not Bet on the Bully

Mitt Romney’s apology for his leadership in the bullying episode of his classmate John Lauber at the prestigious Cranbrook School in 1965 Michigan because of Mr. Lauber’s egregious sin of effeminacy is hard to swallow.  It is quite hard to think that Willard Mitt Romney was not bold-face lying when he professed not to remember the incident that five other witnesses had no trouble recalling.  Mr. Lauber later told one of the witnesses how horrible that incident was and that he had never forgotten it.  It is too bad that Mr. Lauber is not alive to corroborate it further.   The Washington Post, however, vetted its sources well enough for me.  I believe Mitt Romney remembered it vividly but lied about it as he so easily lies on other issues.

We know the "Leave it to Beaver" world of Romney’s youth was a myth. The story behind the 1950's and early sixties as I experienced it was one of ebullience ONLY IF one was white, Anglo Saxon, good looking, rich and male. Mitt Romney was surely all of those.  If one was African American, a woman, disabled or a homosexual then we know what the reality of that time was. Suicide was not uncommon.  It was a brutal era for those who did not meet the brutal criteria for acceptance into that special prestigious club of which Romney was a member in good standing.  Certainly there were plenty who did not possess the rigid qualities to gain admittance.

It has taken decades and hundreds of Oprah-like media shows for millions to admit to either their own frailties or their own different-from-the-norm self which was a threat to all those who bullied them but more of a threat to the very person who experienced it and was terrified of that walk home alone at night.

We have come a long way since 1965 but not long enough that the Phoebe Princes and Matthew Shepards either took their own lives or had them taken because of the bullies of our time. It is just another reason among many that the empty suit and unsympathetic self of Mitt Romney should NEVER come near the Oval Office and why I pray every day that he does NOT!

Elizabeth Warren -- A Price Above Rubies

I had the distinct pleasure of meeting Elizabeth Warren today when she made an appearance at a small diner in Natick, MA.  She was simply delightful as I knew she would be.  I made sure to shake her hand and tell her I am the one plastered all over the blogs telling people Elizabeth Warren is a price above rubies.

For those who may or may not be familiar with the Old Testament phrase it is used differently in various editions.  The American Standard version translates Proverbs 31 as "A worthy woman who can find? For her price is far above rubies."  I prefer this version of that phrase because I believe it defines the essence of Elizabeth Warren's character.  She is a woman worthy to be called senator and is, indeed, a price above rubies.  I was thrilled to meet the woman whom I hope will defeat the incumbent Scott Brown, less capable by miles than she.

Good luck, Elizabeth, I will say a couple of Baruchas (Hebrew for prayers) for you.  In these threatening times Massachusetts and the nation need a fighter for Main Street, the middle and the working class.  We need vociferous opposition to Wall Street and its volcanic fraud.  She possesses these fighting-back the bullies of Wall Street qualities in triplicate.

Spread the word that Massachusetts and the nation cannot afford the Republicans in office any longer to finish the ruination they began. Make sure if one is a resident of Massachusetts or even if one is not tell your friends to vote for Elizabeth Warren for Senate in November.  I know she will make you glad you did!

The Vote from Sea to Shining Sea

I do not think I can express myself strongly or even clearly enough to tell all of us who will be on the front lines in November how important it will be to get the vote out for the president.  Romney is not John McCain, tired and out of touch. He is, I think, more charismatic than McCain and more able to convert strong decibels into electoral results.   Romney is smart even IF he is a bully and I think he was and is.  A man that is smart but has NO scruples is dangerous.  Etch-A-Sketch was the perfect metaphor for this empty suit Romney who will say anything and do anything to get people of little questioning intellect often racist-in-the-extreme to vote for for him. 

This is the most important election of my life and I have seen a few elections.  It is so on many levels some of which are self-evident. Romney today spoke at Liberty "University" -- an uncredited school of academic nincompoops who would love nothing more than to merge Christian religious belief with the state PRECISELY what our Founders NEVER wanted.  He took that opportunity to gay bash again affirming state's rights to kill a civil right for one minority an action only a bully could take.  Funny in 1994 when he ran for the Senate in Massachusetts against Kennedy some gay rights activists seem to remember pink flyers Romney's campaign passed out in the Boston gay pride parade saying that "he would be a better and a stronger advocate than Ted Kennedy."  A Supreme Court most especially containing even one single more conservative justice like Alito, Roberts or Thomas could kill our weak democracy and its weak economy in an instant.  These are serious times needing a serious commitment to our Democratic ideals and to our democracy which has been eroded in so many states.

I am hoping ALL of us will stand with the president, who has taken great risks in his presidency for us even if some of us may have a policy disagreement or two with him.  It does NOT matter now.  It will take us being united from Maine to Hawaii from sea to shining sea to work tirelessly and feverishly for the democratic and Democratic country we know it has the potential to be.

Obama, the banks, the 2 BILLION JP Morgan BUCK loss and the imminent 2nd collapse

This Huffington Post Peter Goodman article entitled "Jamie Dimon Derivatives Fiasco Highlights Obama Failure" explains it all here

The Goodman article is a bulls eye and what I said in so many of my opinions earlier.  BUT and it is a BIG BUT Romney would be worse times 1000 and the Supreme. Ct. would be rightwingnut to the enth degree.  The Citizens United flood gates would stay wide open and then some.  The  Republicans have bought power in every nook and cranny of this nation.  They have bought your government and taken over everything -- state, local and of course federal big time with their BIG bucks.  They are ruling in monarchy style in Michigan with Republican managers disposing of Democratic towns replacing them with a Republican manager(s) by a Republican governor, state legislatures and even the courts.  They are doing this all over the country and not just in Michigan.  Corrupt Republican Walker of Wisconsin said exactly that.  He wants to "divide and conquer" and he has by getting rid of middle class government and union jobs -- its on tape listen to it here.  Democracy is gone bought out by billionaires with whom the little guy could not compete.

This wonderfully written article by Goodman is linked above and below.  It is well worth reading and right on point.  I have NO mind for math and that is an understatement.  But, not to pat myself on the back which I think I will, I believe I was 100% right about the economy and what the president did wrong. HOWEVER and it is a big HOWEVER, I still value the good things the president HAS done and they are many.  If he does not get re-elected the bad will be played out in stereo by the uber corporatist bully Romney.  If Romney is elected you can thank the fact that this country is so racist salivating to ditch the black guy for the white and will elect a man, white Romney, who is NOT about most of you, certainly not about me and step on their own toes to do it.  All of it is being played out right now with the 2 billion buck loss by JP Morgan Chase and CEO Jamie Dimon, a man that has NO soul and does not want one.  This article by Goodman says it all in Matt Taibbi fashion. 

George Carlin said it all too as I have posted in earlier opinions.  His political comedy is stinging truth in "The American Dream."  It's salty language so beware if that offends you but it is the most prescient piece this genius Carlin ever said and he said it in 2009. He is gone now but his words live on. It is amazing and it is posted again here to refresh your memory!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-s-goodman/jamie-dimon-derivatives-f_b_1509631.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acLW1vFO-2Q

Scott Walker overheard

This is what Scott Walker of Wisconsin is about advocating for Republicans to take YOUR job.  It is not ONLY Wisconsin.  It is all over the US and could come to your own state IF we are not vigilant.  And it applies to seniors, the disabled and those who depend on state services to help us live life.  If you see someone take the Ride -- that is state help, if you go to college through Mass. Rehab that is state help, if you cannot eat or cannot afford medical care the state will help you.  Walker's road map is to take that ALL away, pocket the money and the 1% live like kings and other Republicans emulate him. 


Scroll down and see how you can help!  If you can please donate to Barrett who is running in the recall of Scott Walker.  I know it's not your state but truly we are all in this together.  Let's act like the family we should be and do NOT let this barbarian run rough shod over middle and working class rights those rights someday may truly be your own!

Click here to see the taped private conversation or below.

https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/tom-barrett-honest-government?refcode=0511tbe2

The Cerebral Advantage

Man has a cerebral advantage from all other species. It is obviously what keeps us at the top of the food and evolutionary chain. The polar bear can survive in weather that would kill us in one minute. All the other species can do things that would kill a man instantly. BUT man has this brain; this incredible brain that thinks the most complex thoughts, creates the most complex engineering feats, sews the most beautiful clothes and makes coats to keep him warm. That IS our advantage. The OTHER advantage is that man also has and needs the help of the group to survive. If I have a medical issue I NEED someone else to help -- a doctor who has tremendous expertise I do not have.

One of, in my opinion, the most IMPORTANT characteristics of the human species (some have it more than others) is our ability for empathy; our ability to walk in the other guy's shoes, to cry, to help others EVEN WHEN we put our own life at risk. Few other species do this OR if they do it is the exception.

Therefore, it saves the group when we take care of each other; when we empathize and when we avoid the utter devastation of war. If we think three days of interrupted electricity is not acceptable then what would we god forbid do if electricity were the exception and not the rule. We live in a delicate balance where war truthfully helps no one. War kills and if we are not careful it will kill man and his complex society once and for all leaving the earth to regroup, heal itself and start over!

This IS Mitt Romney--spread the word

The following story linked below in the Washington Post about Romney's younger years is TROUBLING to say the least.  He was in modern parlance a BULLY!

Mitt Romney’s prep school classmates recall pranks, but also troubling incidents link here

yet another reason to vote for the president.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/mitt-romneys-prep-school-classmates-recall-pranks-but-also-troubling-incidents/2012/05/10/gIQA3WOKFU_story.html

Because its the RIGHT thing to do!

As I sit here typing I heard the skewed media focus on those who may not vote now for the president because of the gay marriage support.  They are not concentrating on those in his base and others who may have not voted before because of one thing or another but are now motivated TO vote for him now.  At least I HOPE it has. A civil right should NOT be put to a vote.  How many would have voted against black people or even interracial marriage in 1964 if their civil rights were put up to a vote?


If any of you, any one of you had any reservations whatsoever you need to bag them, say a profound thank you to the president who is now risking his presidency for those of us to whom marriage issue means a lot.  That is HEROIC!  In view of that I don't care how you do it but you MUST MUST help get out the vote for the president. 


You must convince all those who had any doubt that this president is for us.  He has, in my opinion, done the best he could in other areas as well.  The gay marriage issue elevates him to incredible heights and WE MUST support him.  Moreover, the 99% should not have any doubts whatsoever that Romney would be deadly for them and for the country as well.  Gay issue aside it is economic stability which is the driver of elections and on that issue Obama too has had to work with poisonous opposition.  It is amazing the economy has done as well as it has given the wreckage the Republicans left him with.


PLEASE GET THE VOTE OUT FOR THE PRESIDENT.  LOOK TO WHAT HE HAS DONE WHICH IS LEGION FOR THE PEOPLE AND KNOW YOU ARE DOING A GREAT THING FOR OUR COUNTRY.  HE WILL IF ELECTED AGAIN AND IF THE CONGRESS TURNS BLUE GO DOWN AMONG THE GREATS.  I AM CONVINCED OF THAT.  PLEASE, OF COURSE, VOTE FOR HIM AND CONVINCE AS MANY OTHERS AS YOU CAN TO VOTE FOR HIM TOO!

Gayly Forward -- THE BASE IS BACK!

THANK YOU, Mr. President. From the moment he ran through tremendous opposition and controversy to now directly after one of the most hate-infused constitutional changes in the North Carolina vote sowing discrimination into their state constitution, I say Mr. President thank you so very much. I ask the gay community and ALL those who are friends, parents and co-workers of LGBT persons to come out en masse and support the president in November.

He has shown time and again whether it's in the area of foreign policy or now supporting a huge number in his constituency and base the steel that Joe Biden said the president has in his spine. Thank you again, Mr. President, you are saving lives. I think the arc of the moral universe bends toward justice today and, in pertinent part to your election as the first black president, there are many who are even prouder to be Americans today.

Not voting is NOT an option

Yesterday's election results tell a bone chilling story. If gay groups, unions, students, young people, Democrats, Independents for rational thought and god knows how many other groups for progressive change, do NOT come out STRONGLY in any way possible whether it's marches, joining the 99% group,  contributions, in the media or any other format one can think of to organize, then we deserve the fate we will get. We will get a nation that is in character as it was in 1898 except the technological control these rancid reactionary fascist-like groups will have will be stunning.

Power harnessed by the Tea Bag and other Republicans could cost the president his office and it ultimately could cost lives.  Make no mistake about if you belong to any of the above mentioned groups the life risked whether its through no health care, no job, no home, no education and little representation in both state and federal congresses and a Republican presidency, the life cost may be yours!

We cannot, We MUST NOT retreat but we must -- to use a Palin phrase (sorry) -- RELOAD!

Please consider--PLEASE read

I know times are hard, they are hard for so many including yours truly.  STILL the election in Wisconsin to recall its Republican Governor Scott Walker is vitally important to us all.  He has ruined Wisconsin by driving up unemployment to Tower of Babel heights. Walker and so many other Republican politicos in our nation have fired thousands of firemen, police, teachers and other public employees so necessary for a functioning nation and he will do more destructive things if he is not defeated.  Many other Republican governors have ruined their states too taking tyrannical control of towns especially towns that vote Democratic.  These Republicans are an assault on our democratic way of life.


Millions of signatures were collected from all strata of Wisconsin voters to call Walker back.  The recall vote will be taken June 5 so there is little time to spare.  If you are politically savvy at all you know this has HUGE ramifications for those of us who call ourselves progressive, Democratic, Independent and many others who know the Republican Party is toxic for our nation.  It will send shock waves across the nation if Walker is defeated.

We ALL have a vested interest in seeing Walker recalled.  I ask IF YOU CAN PLEASE make a contribution through the sites below as I have felt compelled to do.  It does not have to be much at all.  It can be as little or as much as you can afford.


If Walker is recalled by electing the Democratic candidate Barrett it will send a chilling message to Republicans that reverberates for ALL of us.  Republicans are doing things not seen since post Reconstruction.  They are using all means illegal and legal to cut the vote of the poor the disabled, the sick, and the elderly through voter suppression techniques and voter ID laws.  The money Walker has raised from outside groups is STAGGERING.  We can beat them at their ugly game because we have the REAL force -- PEOPLE POWER. 


Please consider no matter how small (or large) making a donation to this worthy cause! Recall Walker NOW, ask me how by scrolling below or merely Google Tom Barrett Wisconsin Recall.


Best,
Nat

-----Original Message-----
From: Mike Tate, Recall Walker HQ
To: Natalie Rosen
Sent: Wed, May 9, 2012 12:16 am
Subject: FWD: 28 days to defeat Walker

Natalie --

I wanted to pass along this message from our next governor, Tom Barrett.

After months of historic division, job loss, criminal corruption and partisan power grabs at the hands of Scott Walker, Tom Barrett will offer Wisconsin a new start at healing our great state and beginning the long job of repairing the devastation wrought by 17 months of irresponsible rule.

Please help Tom bring a new start to Wisconsin by making a $12 donation right now so we can defeat Scott Walker on June 5.

In solidarity,

Mike Tate, Chair

Democratic Party of Wisconsin

---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: Tom Barrett

Date: Tue, May 8, 2012 at 10:15 PM

Subject: 28 days to defeat Walker

To: Mike Tate

Mike --

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Tonight, I am humbled by and grateful for the support of Wisconsinites across our great state.

Since we began our campaign, I've traveled all across Wisconsin -- never once leaving our state -- to listen to the people.

What I've heard from Wisconsinites is that they want an end to the political turmoil caused by Scott Walker, and they want their needs placed first.

With you standing with me, that's what I plan to do. In the next 28 days, I'll work overtime fighting for the interests of Wisconsinites, but to do so, I need your urgent help right now to kick-start our neighbor-to-neighbor program.

Can I count on you to make a $12 donation right now so we can defeat Scott Walker on June 5?

Defeating Scott Walker and his entrenched, out-of-state special interest allies will not be an easy task. Right now our campaign is up 47% to 46% in the polls, but we know that Walker and the Koch brothers are ready to unload everything in their right-wing arsenal in a desperate attempt to bring us down.

Scott Walker's failed agenda has led to unprecedented political turmoil and a sputtering Wisconsin economy that leads the entire nation in job loss.

But while we've been campaigning across Wisconsin, Walker has been flying all over the country raising a record $25 million from right-wing billionaires and lobbyists who want their interests placed ahead of working people in our state.

Big money isn't going to win this fight. You are.

To win on June 5, we will need everyone who participated in this improbable, people-powered movement to band together and work double time talking to their friends, family and neighbors about the choice in this historic election.

With your contribution of $12 right now, you'll help us defeat Scott Walker and his corporate cash with an unparalleled neighbor-to-neighbor program of people talking to people in their front lawns, in their kitchens, and in their living rooms about the future of our state.

It's time to put Wisconsin first so we can focus on jobs, on education, and on restoring our tradition of open, honest government.

In the last 15 months, you've proved that winning this fight for working people is possible, and I can't wait to see what you'll do in the next 28 days to lead us to victory.

Thank you,

Tom Barrett

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Authorized and Paid for by The Democratic Party of Wisconsin. Michael J. Tate, Chair We don't want to send you email that you don't want: unsubscribe from this list.

Bomber in Plot on U.S. Airliner Is Said to Be a Double Agent

My Comment in relation to  NYT article and post are here

If this proves to be true, the ever so capable president Obama adds another feather to his cap. I cannot think of one other president Democrat or certainly Republican who has been so foreign policy effective and right on the mark. From taking out of the Somali pirates, retrieval of two innocent women from N. Korea, to the killing of Alawaki, and the mother of all terrorists bin Laden I trust the president with my life and can EASILY vote for him another term. This is how foreign policy is conducted when you have BRILLIANCE at the helm.

On the economy too CLEARLY it is improving naturally not fast enough for the McDonald's generation American public. IF we had not had such a cruel, mean, and often racist Republican controlled House our economy would be in even better recovery. If not for one of the worst conservative five on the Supreme Court to possibly strike down the president's necessary and crown achievement health care the president's election would be assured. Defeat of any these things, however, will not matter because defeat will be hung around conservatives' necks.

My Point: The president is a STAR and the Republican party of old white men and some white women cannot admit this is so. But it does not matter what they admit. The US knows when it has elected a sterling example of leadership.

Good luck, Mr. President, this white woman's Jewish heart and my prayers are with you. My bet is on YOU to prevail!

Foreign Affair -- Mitt Romney's Waterloo

I send the following quote from Huffington Post to our friends and allies who desperately want the re-election of the president.  This is, I believe, one of Romney’s most damning indictments and in my mind HIS Waterloo. HP said as follows:

 At a town hall-style meeting Monday in Cleveland, the GOP presidential candidate got this pointed question about his investments: In this age of tough foreign competition, could Romney explain the "over $1.5 million in foreign tax credits" he received since 2000?

"I'm not familiar with that," Romney told the man who asked. The crowd booed. "I didn't think I paid any foreign income taxes, but I'll be happy to take a look at it."

In fact, Romney and his wife, Ann, paid more than $1.2 million in foreign taxes on so-called passive investments from 2000 through 2010, and paid about $800,000 in taxes on general income to unspecified countries. That's according to the couple's own tax returns.

Their foreign tax bills entitled them to more than $1.5 million in tax credits in the United States since 2000, thanks to Internal Revenue Service rules that prevent businesses and investors from being doubly taxed on money they earn abroad.

This tax avoidance scheme is yet another in the hundred perhaps thousands of ways corporations and the mega rich, with their sophisticated tax attorneys, snake around paying their fair share to our government and then tax the middle class here to pay for their avoidance over there.  This issue, I believe, should be the most important attack against this valueless empty suit, Romney and his Republican Party.  The flip-flopper-in-chief times 10, is worse than any other candidate by far through his own economic slither to avoid paying taxes in our country. 

Receiving a tax credit in our country and paying taxes to foreign countries is without a doubt revolting.   If these know nothing Republicans want to talk about treason insulting the president (including Romney’s assent to it by his silence) then they should look to Romney, a presidential candidate, giving money to foreign countries but depriving the US, the country he SAYS he loves, of its rightful share.  It is an abomination!  He did not have to set up his investments that way.  It would not have made him significantly poorer but would have helped OUR country in its effort to emerge from the GREATEST RECESSION/DEPRESSION EVER, CREATED BY MOSTLY REPUBLICANS.   The fact that he CAN do this and Romney, et al would never change it, is testament as to just how skewed the tax system is to the ultra rich.   Republicans have a vested interest to keep it that way while we the 99% go without jobs, without health care and some day, if the Ryan bill Romney loves so much becomes the law of the land, with deep cuts to social safety net programs like Medicare, Medicaid and even ultimately Social Security.

The Democratic Party and many others who want the president re-elected should get the message out, take advantage of savvy liaisons they may have with the press and crush Romney’s candidacy for the presidency in pertinent part because of the taxes he paid or more precisely DID NOT pay to our country!