Brace Yourself For The Return Of South Carolina's Notoriously Awful Politics -- Hold onto your hats

[Sam Stein Article linked below my comment]

Surprise, since the king of dirty tricksters, Republican Lee Atwater, became the dirty trickster supreme lord and master on high, Republicons, including but not limited to the famous or infamous Karl Rove from team W. Bush, these immoral hacks have helped Republicons en mass get elected to high office because the anti-human message they carried were fillet mignon to many of the voracious Republicon hungry masses. In short, they did not care if the lies they spread against Democrats and Republicons alike, were, in fact, lies the Republicons of the electorate loved the cruel message of the Party and their mantra: get elected any way possible are the rules of the game.

Lee Atwater died of brain cancer but it is said before his death he asked God for the remission of his sins. So, in Republicon land you may sin, have a come to Jesus moment, and all is forgiven.

Democrats are not excepted from mendacious tactics of electoral immorality but Republicons, as I see it, take it to a new high. So as the article by Sam Stein below states or as Betty Davis stated in her famous film "All About Eve" "Hold on to your hats it's going to be a bumpy ride!"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/south-carolina-primary-dirty-politics-ted-cruz_us_56bd027de4b08ffac1248215

GET OUT THE DEMOCRATIC VOTE AND VOTE FOR A DEMOCRAT WHO CAN WIN!

Trump Terrifying -- By Ezra Klein

On Monday, Donald Trump held a rally in Manchester, New Hampshire, where he merrily repeated a woman in the crowd who called Ted Cruz a pussy. Twenty-four hours later Donald Trump won the New Hampshire primary in a landslide.

I'm not here to clutch my pearls over Trump's vulgarity; what was telling, rather, was the immaturity of the moment, the glee Trump took in his "she-said-it-I-didn't" game. The media, which has grown used to covering Trump as a sideshow, delighted in the moment along with him — it was funny, and it meant clicks, takes, traffic. But it was more than that. It was the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for president showing off the demagogue's instinct for amplifying the angriest voice in the mob.

It is undeniably enjoyable watching Trump. He's red-faced, discursive, funny, angry, strange, unpredictable, and real. He speaks without filter and tweets with reckless abandon. The Donald Trump phenomenon is a riotous union of candidate ego and voter id. America's most skilled political entertainer is putting on the greatest show we've ever seen.

It's so fun to watch that it's easy to lose sight of how terrifying it really is.

Trump is the most dangerous major candidate for president in memory. He pairs terrible ideas with an alarming temperament; he's a racist, a sexist, and a demagogue, but he's also a narcissist, a bully, and a dilettante. He lies so constantly and so fluently that it's hard to know if he even realizes he's lying. He delights in schoolyard taunts and luxuriates in backlash.

Trump is in serious contention to win the Republican presidential nomination. His triumph in a general election is unlikely but it is far from impossible. He's not a joke and he's not a clown. He's a man who could soon be making decisions of war and peace, who would decide which regulations are enforced and which are lifted, who would be responsible for nominating Supreme Court Justices and representing America in the community of nations. This is not political entertainment. This is politics.

Trump's path to power has been unnerving. His business is licensing out his own name as a symbol of opulence. He has endured bankruptcies and scandal by bragging his way out of them. He rose to prominence in the Republican Party as a leader of the birther movement. He climbed to the top of the polls in this election by calling Mexicans rapists and killers. He defended a poor debate performance by accusing Megyn Kelly of being on her period. He responded to rival Ted Cruz's surge by calling for a travel ban on Muslims. When two of his supporters attacked a homeless man and said they did it because "Donald Trump was right, all these illegals need to be deported," he brushed off complaints that he's inspiring violence by saying his supporters are "very passionate."

Behind Trump's success is an unerring instinct for harnessing anger, resentment, and fear. His view of the economy is entirely zero-sum — for Americans to win, others must lose. "We're going to make America great again," he said in his New Hampshire victory speech, "but we're going to do it the old fashioned way. We're going to beat China, Japan, beat Mexico at trade. We're going to beat all of these countries that are taking so much of our money away from us on a daily basis. It's not going to happen anymore."

Trump answers America's rage with more rage. As the journalist Molly Ball observed, "All the other candidates say 'Americans are angry, and I understand.' Trump says, 'I’M angry.'" Trump doesn't offer solutions so much as he offers villains. His message isn't so much that he'll help you as he'll hurt them.

Trump's other gift — the one that gets less attention, but is perhaps more important — is his complete lack of shame. It's easy to underestimate how important shame is in American politics. But shame is our most powerful restraint on politicians who would find success through demagoguery. Most people feel shame when they're exposed as liars, when they're seen as uninformed, when their behavior is thought cruel, when respected figures in their party condemn their actions, when experts dismiss their proposals, when they are mocked and booed and protested.

Trump doesn't. He has the reality television star's ability to operate entirely without shame, and that permits him to operate entirely without restraint. It is the single scariest facet of his personality. It is the one that allows him to go where others won't, to say what others can't, to do what others wouldn't.

Trump lives by the reality-television trope that he's not here to make friends. But the reason reality-television villains always say they're not there to make friends is because it sets them apart, makes them unpredictable and fun to watch. "I'm not here to make friends" is another way of saying "I'm not bound by the social conventions of normal people." The rest of us are here to make friends, and it makes us boring, gentle, kind.

This, more than his ideology, is why Trump genuinely scares me. There are places where I think Trump's instincts are an improvement on the Republican field. He seems more dovish than neoconservatives like Marco Rubio, and less dismissive of the social safety net than libertarians like Rand Paul. But those candidates are checked by institutions and incentives that hold no sway over Trump; his temperament is so immature, his narcissism so clear, his political base so unique, his reactions so strange, that I honestly have no idea what he would do — or what he wouldn't do.

When MSNBC's Joe Scarborough asked Trump about his affection for Vladimir Putin, who "kills journalists, political opponents and invades countries," Trump replied, "He's running his country, and at least he's a leader, unlike what we have in this country." Later, he clarified that he doesn't actually condone killing journalists, but, he warned the crowd, "I do hate them."

It's a lie that if you put a frog into a pot of water and slowly turn up the heat the frog will simply boil, but it's a fact that if you put the American political system in a room with Trump for long enough we slowly lose track of how noxious he is, or we at least run out of ways to keep repeating it.

But tonight is a night to repeat it. There is something scary in Donald Trump. We should fear his rise.

I WON'T GO THERE

A Trump win would be disastrous for this nation not only dividing it domestically but having devastating effects internationally especially in the Arab world.  This nation is NOT the only powerful "exceptional" nation in the world -- far from it.  Other nations will not give one poop as to what a President Trump bombastically screams especially in the Middle East -- perpetual and eternal war will be reality. 

Adding to the horror of it Europe has far right wing nationalists parties which have been on the fringe post WWII but are gaining traction with Middle East refugees fleeing in droves to it and with a US Trump win the nationalist right wing will gain more credence there.  If WWII is an example of just how death wielding Europe CAN be if wingnut extremists take power then in the 21st century, if that happens, I cringe at the possibility.

This time the world is a nuclear powered one with not only Europe having nukes but Pakistan, Israel and, if the Iran deal is foiled, Iran will have them too.  Add to that North Korea and the insane Kim Jong Un, who is a force that could become out of control, salivating at exploding a nuclear bomb especially on the US Pacific shore.  THAT spells doom. 

Reality check: Total votes cast:  Democrats - 227,543; Republican Trump, Kasich and Cruz -- 164,646; Republican top five 221,606. Democrats with persons of color and the Hispanic vote have the distinct majority. 

Meanwhile, climate change is real and our planet is melting add to that a Fukishima, Chernobyl, Three Mile Island and if god forbid these nuclear powered nations decide to push the buttons ..... well, I won't go there.

Preliminary Thoughts -- the NH primary

A Republican CANNOT be allowed within 10 feet of the oval office and maybe not even that close. A nationalist extremist right wing demagogue Trump will kill this nation with us in it.  He is divisive in the extreme.  That is a given.

I am on board with anyone who has a "D" after his/her name!! In truth I love both of our smart very smart candidates Bernie and Hillary. Bernie waged an amazing campaign and deserves our profound congratulations.

The American people will speak and I will listen and support a humane president, a Democrat, who will walk into the oval again!

Bernie waged an amazing campaign.  His win in NH I took for granted.  If he keeps up the pace around the nation, he will add one more supporter to his list .... ME!

Stupid Marco Roboto

I feel a bit bad about entitling the email "Stupid Marco Roboto" as it does sound a bit childish BUT when the egregious statements of an inexperienced no no show from the Senate, Marco Rubio, is running for the presidency and, perish the thought, may even be in contention, though I doubt it, I must resort to childish epithets. Rubio's repetitive talking points he states over and over again about the Obama presidency are inane ... no a better word ... they are STUPID.  We LIKE what the president did and thought he was very serious!

The facts he says we do not take seriously we DO take seriously and we like them.  Who does not like not being kicked off health care for a preexisting condition?  Who does not like 15 million Americans who did not have health care now do have it?   Who does not like extending marriage to everyone discriminating against no one?  Who does not like the regulation of Wall Street by Dodd Frank after the Great Recession perpetrated by mostly Republicons nearly collapsed the economy?  Who does not like a stimulus reducing unemployment to under 5%.

He asks who thinks Barack Obama was not serious I have to respond who thought he wasn't?  Rubio, you are NOT running against Barack Obama, though I wish that were possible. 

Marco Rubio, you are a light weight.  Please, do not celebrate NOT coming in first like you celebrated in Iowa coming in third.  You look stupid!

GET OUT THE VOTE FOR A DEMOCRAT WHO CAN WIN.  WE KNOW HILLARY CLINTON CAN WIN.  GET OUT THE VOTE FOR HER!

GO SEE IT AND FORWARD--LETTER FROM MICHAEL MOORE

On the most important week of Michael Moore's life, the introduction on various media of his new (and many say BEST) film, he contracted pneumonia and ended up in the ICU.  He's home recuperating and had to cancel all his appearances.  Here is the letter to me and to all on his list of friends/fans.  Since I am still mourning the loss of George Carlin, Carl Sagan and Howard Zinn, I ask you to do for me as he asks in the letter below.
 
MY NEW LETTER: "Sidelined by a visit to the ICU, I could use your help" - Please read & Share! http://michaelmoore.com/WhereToInvadeNextArmy/

Friends,

Thank you to all who have written to me about my stay this past week in the intensive care unit. Unfortunately, as you may have heard, I came down with pneumonia. Truth be told, it was pretty serious, and other complications arose. But then, five days later, I was still alive — thanks to a combination of Directors Guild insurance, two I-V drips of alleged legal drugs, and a hospital TV that only got FOX News. I was released on my own recognizance, which I tried to explain may not be the best idea. I am now at home resting and binging on the Real Housewives of The Walking Dead. All my appearances this week and last week supporting the release of my brand new movie, “Where To Invade Next” (Conan, Bill Maher, Charlie Rose, NPR, etc.), plus a special primary eve screening tonight in New Hampshire, were and are cancelled.

Needless to say, I’m pretty devastated. This film means a lot to me. To be sidelined – I can’t fly, I can’t travel, I can’t leave the house – in this, the most important week before it comes out… well, you can imagine what I’m going through. Trying to get back to just breathing is enough of a burden. To think that my film may now not reach the audience I made it for, let’s just say that doesn’t help the healing process.

Many of you have asked if there’s anything you can do to help me. I have thought about it – and, yes, actually, there is something you could do to help me.

I need you to be part of a quickly cobbled-together “army” of grassroots “ambassadors” who can do the work I was going to do this week to let people know abut the movie and convince as many as possible to go see it. I realize you haven’t seen “Where To Invade Next”, so I’m asking you to do this based upon my past work and your hope that I’ve made a compelling film that might affect change in this country, that will inspire people to think about things in a different way. I believe that’s exactly what I’ve done, and many who’ve seen it agree (LINK). I also believe this movie can have a huge impact on the elections this year. It’s won a bunch of film festival prizes, it’s made the Oscars shortlist, and some have called it my best film ever. Possibly, just possibly.

But forget all that. Here’s what I will tell you: You are going to be seriously f***ed up by this film. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever done. It will truly make your head spin for two hours while you “laugh AND cry — in the same exact moment,” as an audience member said to the cameras on the way out of the movie’s premiere.

Last week, laying in the hospital, I watched one Presidential candidate attack the candidate from Vermont for his ideas being “unrealistic,” “pie in the sky,” and “ideas that sound good on paper, but aren’t going to happen.” The truth is, all these great “ideas” – free universal health care, free university, free day care, taxing and policing hedge fund millionaires – have already happened in nearly every other industrialized country in the world! And I have the evidence – and the film — to prove it! Throughout “Where To Invade Next”, I invade a whole bunch of nefarious countries, from Slovenia to Germany to France to Norway, and pry loose from them the tools they’ve been using to make their countries happy, shiny places. My goal: to show millions of Americans what these countries have been hiding from us so we can catch up and be #1 again! Remember “WE’RE #1!!”? Don’t you miss being #1 and waving those big foam #1 fingers at patriotic rallies? In my invasions, I don’t use any weapons, and no one gets droned. I show how to actually make all universities free (and great); how to give all workers five to eight weeks PAID vacation (which increases productivity and betters the economy); how simple and easy it is to give mothers (or fathers) up to a year of PAID maternity leave (which in turn benefits the company overall); how in the societies where woman have achieved true equality and power, everything just seems to get better for everyone; how to reduce the crime rate by ending the war on drugs and having a humane prison system (our recidivism rate is as high as 80%; theirs is 20%); how the economy bounces back faster and is safer when bankers are put in prison; how students in countries without standardized tests and needless homework perform better than our students (and that countries which have more arts and music in their schools do better in math and science)… and on and on and on. By the end of the movie, you’ll want to go live in one of those countries. But instead, I’ll show you how we can make all of that happen right here in the USA, right now.

So, what do you think? Can you be a virtual ambassador for “Where To Invade Next”? I know you can’t go on “Good Morning America” for me, but there are a few easy things you could do right now from your computer or mobile device.

Here’s how you can help “Where To Invade Next:” 

First, go see it! Text some friends right now and say, “hey, let’s go see this Friday night!” Commit now to go to a theater that’s playing it this coming weekend. It’s opening in every major and mini-major city in the country. If you live in a place the size of Binghamton, NY, or Grand Rapids, MI, then they’re going to be playing “Where To Invade Next.” The final list of theaters will be out later tomorrow, but here’s a partial one for now (LINK).

Right now, you can TWEET the following: “.@MMFlint’s 1st film in 6 years is coming out and he needs our help with #WhereToInvadeNext! Read & RT! http://michaelmoore.com/WhereToInvadeNextArmy/“

Right now, you can FACEBOOK the following: “Michael Moore’s 1st film in 6 years is coming out and he needs our help with #WhereToInvadeNext! Read & Share! http://michaelmoore.com/WhereToInvadeNextArmy/“

At the bottom of this letter is the hi-res version of the film’s poster! Feel free to send it around, post it on your social media, download it and print up some flyers, or use it graphically any way that you want.
 
Send the trailer to everyone on your contact list: (https://youtube.com/watch?v=r4JJvfrkH3M)

Over the next few days I’ll send you other things you can do, like organizing screening parties for this weekend, sending me photos from your theater that I can post, and sharing with your friends exclusive clips from the film which I’ll send you.

If a few thousand of you suddenly became champions and ambassadors for “Where To Invade Next”, then maybe we can pull this off. I certainly would be forever in your debt. Thanks for being there for me.

All my best,
Michael

P.S. – Please forward this letter to everyone! Or share it on Facebook. Here’s the hi-res poster:

5 Myths (And One Big Truth) About Hillary's 2002 Iraq War Vote

Hillary will get my vote because  she is the MOST qualified for the job bar none. The others and, yes, including Sanders, are minor league compared to her and the Republicons are in a league of their own -- called the STUPID league!  See article below.

Jeffrey Marburg-Goodman.

Although Hillary Clinton has many advantages in the current Presidential campaign (advantages of policy, programs, and, yes, personality) surely her greatest strength vis-à-vis her principal primary opponent is in the area of foreign and global policy--including matters of war and peace, global development and economics, our war against terrorism, and even climate change and preserving the environment. This writer believes that the success of the next President in dealing with these issues will define her or his legacy; indeed the survival of the human race may well turn on how these issues are handled over the next eight years.

In the face of Secretary Clinton's undisputed strength in these areas, when Bernie Sanders is asked how his experience measures up to hers in the "Commander In Chief" category, he invariably comes up with a single Talking Point.

Unfortunately that Talking Point, presented in Bernie's shallow vernacular, simply isn't true. It usually goes something like this:

The key foreign policy vote in modern American history was the 2002 vote as to whether we should go into Iraq. I made the decision not to go to war. Hillary Clinton on the other hand, voted for the war...

Like many simplistic and "sound bite" arguments of the modern era, and of Sanders in particular, the argument that Hillary Clinton supported the war George W. Bush prosecuted in Iraq is nonsense. This falsehood can be broken down into five sub-myths.

Myth #1: The 2002 Congressional Resolution authorizing the use of military force against Iraq, on which Hillary Clinton and a large majority of U.S. Senators voted yes, gave George W. Bush "carte blanche" to pursue war against Saddam Hussein.

False! In fact exactly the opposite is true: While that Resolution did indeed authorize President Bush, under strict requirements of the 1973 War Powers Act, to use force, Section 3(b) of the Act also required that sanctions or diplomacy be fully employed before force was used, i.e. force was to be used only as "necessary and appropriate in order to defend the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq," and to do so only upon the President certifying to Congress that "diplomatic or other peaceful means" would be insufficient to defang Saddam.

Despite those legal conditions, the following year we were at war--and millions of us were astonished that the Bush Administration, running roughshod over Congress's requirements, hadn't given more time for U.N. inspectors to complete their job of searching for weapons of mass destruction.

Myth #2: By voting for the 2002 Congressional Resolution which authorized (but was also designed to limit) George Bush's power to wage war in Iraq, Hillary Clinton cannot be considered a "progressive" Democrat.

False! On October 11, 2002, Clinton joined a strong majority of Democrats, including liberal and left-center Democrats like Tom Harkin, John Kerry, and Joe Biden, in voting in favor of the Resolution authorizing the use of military force against Iraq. Later on, Clinton came to deeply regret giving President Bush the benefit of the doubt on the Resolution, and she has plainly admitted her mistake. Yet it is a "mistake" which many other senators of conscience made with her; if Clinton bears any blame for the resulting war, it is because she placed too much reliance on legislation that was actually designed to check a president's war-making ability but instead inadvertently gave that president cover to run roughshod over the interests of both Congress and the public at large.

Myth #3: At the time of her vote, Clinton was very supportive of going to war in order to remove Saddam Hussein from power.

False! While Clinton quickly turned against the war, another piece of "lost history" is the deep concern she expressed at the very time of her vote in the fall of 2002. Given the Resolution's several prerequisites to waging war, Clinton's vote was for a Resolution that was also supposed to restrain the President's ability to wage war, and her 2002 floor speech leading up to consideration of the Resolution made this clear:

My vote is not a vote for any new doctrine of preemption or for unilateralism or for the arrogance of American power or purpose, all of which carry grave dangers for our Nation, the rule of international law, and the peace and security of people throughout the world.

These words presaged the doctrine of "smart power" Clinton later espoused as Secretary of State. Her vision is neither interventionist on the one hand nor hesitant and supine on the other, but rather something in between: a belief that the United States is the indispensable leader--in a troubled world where such leadership matters--but a belief still grounded in reality, the limits of American power and, perhaps most significantly, the importance of collaboration with like-minded actors who can be found in every corner of the globe. Meanwhile, as Clinton has said many times, then as now, armed intervention is only to be used as a last resort.

Myth #4: At the time of the 2002 vote, the "architecture" of George Bush's Presidency was well understood, including a philosophy and history of carrying out pre-emptive wars.

False! In 2002, Clinton palpably feared a precipitous rush to war, but was willing to trust a leader who at the time was only in the second year of his presidency, having just suffered the most calamitous attack on the homeland since Pearl Harbor--and, notably, whose only international venture up until then was a widely applauded campaign to overthrow the Taliban in Al Qaida's sanctuary of Afghanistan. While it was already well known that Bush had neocon advisers like Cheney and Paul Wolfowitz, the true extent of their influence had not yet been manifested. (Colin Powell was also an important adviser and George W. was, after all, George H.W. Bush's son.)

Myth #5. Hillary Clinton's vote belies support for an "Imperial Presidency" that brooks no dissent, and disrespects Congress and other partners, foreign or domestic.

False! To the contrary, one of the reasons Hillary Clinton is so well qualified to be president is because she deeply respects the rule of law and, in particular, appropriate Congressional prerogatives and the Constitutional principle of checks and balances. (Indeed, this is precisely why she voted the way she did on the 2002 Iraq Resolution.) In this vein, she is also uniquely capable of reaching across the aisle to forge common-sense solutions, a "progressive who delivers results," as she says.

One big truth: Hillary Clinton possesses another, singular, quality: she has the capacity to learn from the hard lessons that our Iraq adventure taught us, including from the misplaced trust she and others conferred on an Administration that brought so much grief to this country. She has said as much in her memoir, Hard Choices:

As much as I might have wanted to, I could never change my vote on Iraq. But I could try to help us learn the right lessons from that war and apply them to Afghanistan and other challenges where we had fundamental security interests. I was determined to do exactly that when facing future hard choices, with more experience, wisdom, skepticism, and humility.

It is clear that Hillary Clinton is a candidate for president who has learned from the lessons of history, and is capable of applying them to the future; in fact this quality is a critical ingredient of great leadership.

The Republicon debate??? Startling incompetency

The Republican "debate" last evening was the MOST RIDICULOUSLY incompetent debate ever held from the moment that candidates did NOT turn up their hearing aids and come to the podium when announced. It was embarrassing and was the most unprofessionally controlled debate I have ever seen.  The candidates were seen by the national audience behind the scenes not knowing what to do when introduced with some candidates skipping over others and Carson and Trump who were just standing there behind the curtain not knowing their name was called. There were empty podiums.  It was embarrassing for ABC and the National Review moderating. A first year Emerson student could have done a better job. I could have done a better job.

It was simply AWFUL and if you did not see it wait until you hear the candidates STUPIDITIES and the all important Superbowl predictions. Rubio, if this is a fair contest, should be the LOSER. He lost it when Christie attacked him and he looked like a deer in the headlights answering with the stock answers he always uses.  He answered another question with a non-sequitur.  Early dementia anyone or simply nervous?  Hand that man a glass of water!

The Republican candidates are all startling incompetent.  The "debates" are content thin.  Hell they are content non-existent.  If the country picks anyone of these incompetent fools president this nation is in DEEP trouble!  The Democrats in their debate look like Ph.D.'s.  The Republicans look like they never receive a high school diploma!

I AM NOT GOING TO END WITH A DIATRIBE ABOUT GETTING OUT THE DEMOCRATIC VOTE.  IT IS OBVIOUS IF YOU WATCHED THE REPUBLICAN SO CALLED DEBATE!

A Dickensian Name—“Madoff” an enigmatic tragedy

If the great master, Charles Dickens, were alive I do not think even he could ascribe an appellation to a person that would fittingly characterize the very essence of the anti-hero as does the name Madoff.  Yes, Bernie Madoff, the man who single handedly pulled off the greatest Ponzi scheme in history and fraudulently MADE OFF with so many innocents’ money which he laundered to the tune of 65 Billion, yes, with a “B” bucks. 

Richard Dreyfuss and Blythe Danner pulled off, I think, one of the greatest acting efforts of their careers.  Their portrayals of a man and his wife were picture perfect.  I urge you if you have not seen “Madoff” look it up on the ABC web site or search your cable network to see if it will be broadcast again.  Understatedly, it is a docudrama fit for our time.

I kept wishing there were a film group dedicated to the analysis of this portrayal of Madoff because there are so many topics of human nature including greed, narcissism and the intrinsic sickness of anarchistic capitalism gone wild that are worthy of discussion.  Moreover, there are other films such as Woody Allen’s “Crimes and Misdemeanors,” “Match Point,” The Coen Brothers “A Serious Man” “Wall Street” and yes, even Holocaust films that speak to the moral lengths and extremes a person can and will go to serve his own ends or conversely to protect others even at his own expense.

The story of “Madoff” is so complex that I decided to choose three topics that I think speak to not only his life but to all of our lives albeit to our nation’s life as well.

 

PSYCHOLOGY

The immediate question posed by Madoff’s wife, Ruth, who was allegedly ignorant of his deeds, is why.  Why and how could a man wearing a better angels of his nature mask in reality be quite the opposite?  He was. I believe, motivated to commit this heinous theft because it was, in reality, who he was or more accurately how he felt.  Combine his childhood where he witnessed the humiliation of his ne’er-do-well father and his bankruptcy that made young Madoff vow he would never experience that humiliation again with his feelings of inferiority at not being admitted to the best Ivy League schools as those elite with whom he shared the playground of his life that acted as the “On” switch for his narcissism with its attendant massive inferiorities.  They were the catalyst for his moral turpitude including the betrayal of all who loved him.  The sum of Madoff was that he, in essence, did not love himself.

 

ECONOMIC

 

If it were not for the Great Recession of 2007 the fall of Bernie Madoff probably never would have happened.  He ran, for thirty years, a Ponzi scheme that capitalized on his good name as chairman of the NASDQ.  He ran his legitimate business on the 19^th floor and the Ponzi scheme where few were admitted from the 17^th. 

 

As defined by Wiki: "A Ponzi scheme is a special kind of fraud. It is based on a fake investment to which one schemer (or group of schemers) gets other people to give money.

 

In Ponzi schemes, the schemer basically says, "I found a great way to make money fast. The more you give me, the more I can invest in that cause, and the more I can earn for us all." But a Ponzi scheme doesn't actually "earn money."  Instead, all of the scheme's money comes from the investors.

 

Once a Ponzi scheme gets too many investors, the system will always crash. This is because the investors all expect more money than they invested, and they will get impatient.

 

These schemes always stop one of three ways:

1.     The schemer runs away with the money they got. This is what schemers try to do.

2.     The schemer runs out of money; they will be unable to promise money back right away. This is called liquidity, and makes investors panic and demand their money back, often all at once.

3.     Authorities find out about the scheme and stop it."

 

Madoff fell victim to number 2 because the US stock market, economy and big banks fell and his investors wanted their money.  When he could not pay out billions he fell.

 

Madoff said one truism: His Ponzi scheme took 60 billion while the US banksters took the government and the world for TRILLIONS!  In other words, Wall Street, one big Ponzi scheme, dripping in sub-prime bad loans, pension frauds, credit default swaps and ratings fraud got away with it, got bailed out and, worse, the CEO's received bonuses.  Yet Madoff was the only man who is jailed for his scheme and probably would have avoided his legal nightmare if so many were not calling in their investments due to the frightening investment milieu of the 2007 Great Recession.  Caveat emptor (let the buyer beware), doncha know.

 

RELIGION AND MORALITY

 

"Oh what a tangled web we weave, when at first we practice to deceive" -- Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night.”

 

When Madoff’s brother visits his rabbi asking him questions about sin – little sins and big ones – we assume he at least questions something of what his brother has done and his implication in it and, perhaps, feels guilt. 

 

What do the major religions teach us?  Rabbi Hillel when asked to sum up Judaism said:  “What is hateful to you, do not do unto others. That is the whole Torah, the rest is commentary.”  Christianity teaches “Do unto others as you would have others do unto to you.”  Do not bear false witness is the Ninth Commandment. 

Michael Douglas, though, in “Wall Street” says “Greed is good” but is it if it allows one to run rough shod over others ruining them to aggrandize oneself?

 

In an IDBM summary of Woody Allen’s “Crimes and Misdemeanors” “Judah Rosenthal played by Martin Landau is an ophthalmologist and a pillar of the community who has a big problem: his mistress Dolores Paley has told him that he is to leave his wife and marry her - as he had promised to do - or she will tell everyone of their affair. When he intercepts a letter Dolores has written to his wife Miriam, he is frantic. He confesses all to his shady brother Jack who assures him that he has friends who can take care of her (kill her) and he does.”  Judah is besieged with guilt but time mutes it.  Why should time mute such an immoral act?

 

Bernie Madoff, as he steps into his new home, a jail cell, thinks of his wife only insofar as she will miss him.  He says nothing about missing her.  He even bathes in the adoration of his cell mates who, he says with pride, ask his opinion on stocks.  He loses his two sons one to cancer and one, Mark, to suicide unable to continue with life as a Madoff despite his innocence.  Does Bernie feel guilt for that?  Does Bernie feel guilt for bilking charities out of millions?  Worst of all he defrauded the symbol of the Holocaust itself and a nearly sacred figure to Jews, Holocaust survivor, Elie Wiesel, the paragon of morality. 

 

“Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?” And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground.” Genesis 4:8.  The banality of evil writes the great Hanna Arendt about the ordinariness of those who perpetrated the “final solution” killing six million innocent human beings.  How can an act so monstrous be banal – that is ordinary?  Madoff was an ordinary man who committed monstrously unordinary acts ruining not only those who entrusted their fortune to him but his family who was dragged into the sewer with him. 

 

A question most apropos for our time – Bernie Madoff, in Dickensian form, made off with fortunes that were not his to take, ruined lives he had no right to ruin and stole the futures of those he had no right to steal.  The story of "Madoff" is an enigmatic tragedy so complex that it speaks to not only his life but to all of our lives albeit to our nation's life as well. It should give us pause to ask is this the nation we truly want to be.  Or is there another way where, as Martin Luther King said, "... justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream."

Madeleine Albright Slams Sanders on Foreign Policy While Supporting Clinton

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/madeleine-albright-slams-sanders-foreign-policy-while-supporting-clinton-n512781

Lead Test Results Confirm Worst Fears for Flint Family--please read

Yet another sin (scroll below) from an immoral rancid Republican Governor Synder of Michigan who needs to wear an orange suit in jail for committing mayhem on mostly poor persons of color in Flint, Michigan while that rotten BEAST distributed clean water to his staff because he knew about the lead poison. He should be sentenced too to drink the lead laden water, take a bath and then then drown in it.  This is what one gets when one elects Republicans. They lure you in with their lies and patriotic bull but they are NOT patriots they are racist murderers!

THIS IS HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO GET THESE CORRUPT REPUBLICANS OUT OF OFFICE.  GET OUT THE VOTE FOR DEMOCRATS WHO CAN WIN EVERYWHERE.  TO SEE WHY READ THE STORY BELOW.

Flint Water Crisis

by Hannah Rappleye, Adam Rivera and Tracy Connor

Dana Brock, 3, and his mother, Denettra Brown. Hannah Rappleye

Deep down, the Brown family knew the water that had flowed through the pipes in their home in Flint, Michigan — the water that 3-year-old Dana had been drinking for months before anyone was warned — probably contained toxic lead.

This week, they got test results that confirmed their fears.

Water Defense, the anti-fracking and safe-water activist group headed by actor Mark Ruffalo, collected samples from Oscar and Elizabeth Brown's home last weekend and brought them to an independent lab in Cincinnati for analysis. 

 

Lead pipes in Flint, Michigan not being removed, children being tested 0:35

 

The results, which the group shared with NBC News, show that the water coming out of the kitchen faucet, where a filter was installed after state officials finally confirmed the lead crisis this fall, didn't contain any of the heavy metal.

But a sample of the water from the bathtub, which is unfiltered, contained 16 parts per billion, higher than the threshold of 15 ppb that federal regulators say is the point at which a water system must take action to protect public health. 

 

"I'm over it. I really just want to leave," said Denettra Brown, who is Oscar and Elizabeth's great-granddaughter and lives in the house with her son, Dana, who is suffering from unexplained health problems.

"I'm tired of crying, I'm tired of my head hurting, I'm over it...Something needs to be done."

READ: 'Nobody Cares': Flint Family Says Lead Pipes Must Go

The amount of lead in the tub water exceeded the federal limit even though the city is no longer using the water from the Flint River that corroded pipes and leached lead into the system.

Flint switched back to using water from Detroit in October, and has been adding phosphates to its water since Dec. 9 to build up a protective layer in the decayed pipes and seal in any lead, but it's unclear how long it will take for that to be fully effective.

In the meantime, some pipes are depositing more lead in the water than the filters are rated to handle, officials have said. Pregnant women and children are being told to only drink bottled water unless their home has been tested and declared safe.

The results from Water Defense's tests in the Brown house don't tell the family how much lead might have been in the water at the peak of the crisis — before the switch away from river water and before the phosphates were added.

"If we're finding concerning and dangerous levels now, God knows what the lead levels really were before," said Scott Smith, chief technology officer for Water Defense, who collected the samples from the Brown home. "And all of that lead is in human bodies."

Dana began having health problems more than a year ago: seizures, which can be a symptom of lead-poisoning, and rotting teeth, another possible sign. Despite two hospitalizations and an MRI, doctors were unable to diagnose him.

Elizabeth and Oscar Brown and their granddaughter Denettra and great-grandson Dana live in a Flint house with a lead service line and fear the 3-year-old has been poisoned.

His mother wants Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, whose early warnings about elevated lead tests in children were initially brushed off by government officials, to test Dana for lead poisoning. But since it's been weeks since he consumed any lead-tainted water, those results might not tell the family how badly he was exposed or whether his medical issues are related.

Denettra Brown said she doesn't want to bathe Dana in the water, even though health officials say that's safe and that there is no proven link to reports of rashes.

Mostly, she feels trapped in Flint, where 40 percent of families live below the poverty line. Money is coming into the city for bottled water, filters, testing and health care, but Brown says what would really help her is relocation assistance.

"I can't afford to leave and get a car and insurance," she said. "It's like I'm just stuck here in this mess. I have no choice but to stay."

A Letter to Jeb Bush

Dear Governor Bush:  Since Huff Post posted your email I decided since my proclivities for this modus operandi of technology I love to use I would apprise you of my thoughts.

I will not be mendacious and tell you I am an ardent Republican.  I am not although my father was and even supported your dad with enthusiasm.  We had loving although ardent political disputes as I, after college, ended up on the decidedly left side of the political spectrum.  I am an ardent life-long Democrat who above all loves justice and fair play most especially for the poor, the disabled and the dispossessed. 

You, I will admit, of all the Bushes are the most palatable, seemingly kind and cerebrally adept to me.  I hope you will take what I say in the spirit in which it is given as an explanation for your poor showing in your Republican Party primaries. Your Party has traveled a long road since the Party of Lincoln.  I aver most in your Party, if they lived at that historically turbulent time, would not have supported emancipation of the slave but would have been approving of Justice Taney's unjust Dred Scott opinion.

In modern times it is, I believe, impossible for you to be separated from your Brother George.  You are bound to him like twins in utero are bound to each other. 

In my opinion his presidency was, perhaps, one of the worst in history.  Time will tell how historians judge him but you cannot, I believe, run away from his historical malignancy and history's probable indictment of him.  Certain elements make this so. 

In short, your brother was warned of 9/11 in his PDB and did nothing.  Moreover, he was not intellectually gifted enough to challenge those in his administration that drove a nation to invade another based on a WMD lie because that nation, Iraq, had done nothing to us.  His preemptive strike illegally toppled a government and by so doing destabilized a tinder box Middle East.  There was as you must know no Al Qaeda or ISIS in Iraq but there surely is now.  He gave those in the Middle East a reason to revolt.  In addition, he had bin Laden trapped at Tora Bora and the order from on high was to stand down.  No one knew why.  Perhaps, it was the justification he needed to pursue a war that has killed thousands, wounded thousands more and sent a million Iraqis into exile.  Again, the US may have won the battle by unseating Hussein but clearly lost the war.

Add to this, the utter mismanagement of an immoral war, the 2007 collapse of the economy proving as if we needed more proof that trickle down economics, taxing the middle class and absolving the rich of paying their fair share does not work.  Nothing trickles down but much trickles up to those who surely do not need it.  The national debt Republicans say they care about so much expanded by trillions on your brother's watch.

The mismanagement of the catastrophic storm Katrina by "heck of a job Brownie," a trainer of Arabian horses but an incompetent and unqualified manager of FEMA, put the icing on the legacy of the Bush administration's historical cake.

You, in my opinion, the better Bush, are imprisoned by your brother's inept leadership killing hundreds of thousands who did not need to die.  No matter how much you love him policies matter.  It is too bad because of all the sorry malignant Republican candidates for the presidency you are probably the most qualified to seek the nation's highest office.

Respectfully,

BRILLIANCE: A quick review of the debate

I saw the last part of the debate between Sanders and Clinton. I thought Sec. Clinton was strong, answered the questions and looked like a woman in charge. Even Sanders had to concede that she has the foreign policy experience needed for the presidency.

At the end of the debate I thought she was strong, forceful and knowledgeable times 10. Bottom line: I support Hillary because I cannot waste my precious time working for someone like Bernie who cannot win. I admire him, however, because he has brought to the discussion and to the Republicans who care only for the 1% richest, this ever-so-necessary issue of our dramatic inequality of wealth. Republicans are for regression of the progression the nation has made. They want to take us back to a time of a usurpation and now maintenance of wealth and the power it brings for only the richest 1%.

Hillary, though, is a savvy progressive, CAN win and will. She is brilliant, strong and has incomparable experience in almost every sector of government. The question one should ask about her is what hasn't this accomplished woman done? Answer: She has done it all and she WILL happily get my vote!

Pass this along to anyone you choose and most especially for Tuesday's NH primary those who know voters in New Hampshire.

Dumping on Trump -- Just the Facts Ma'am

Surprise: I am NOT a Trump supporter but I surely have to agree with him on the media/political spin as to who won the Iowa primary and that is all it is -- spin. In FACT (remember facts?) Trump finished second. Second is second. It is NOT third and it's NOT a loss. 2 or 9% would have been a loss but Trump did not get that, he got second a much higher percentage and RUBIO, a man of NO facts, got THIRD even though he was acting like he had just won the presidency. He did NOT win the presidency and Rubio did NOT win first, nor second. He won THIRD.

Rubio stole the true president's presidential acceptance speech -- "They said it never could be done ... " Paraphrasing the Democrat Lloyd Bensen during the 1988 VP debate against the rather unintelligent English spelling error prone know nothing, Republican Dan Quayle: Marco, I know Barack Obama's thoughtful loquacious gifts and you are NOT Barack Obama. Why if Trump did, in fact, better than Rubio is the press touting a loss for Trump and a win for Rubio? It is nonsensical.

There is a concerted effort by the establishment walking hand in hand with the press to take down Trump and push Rubio. A Rubio presidency is not going to happen. He will NOT be president. If I were Republican, and I am most DEFINITELY NOT, Trump would be my choice as there is no other Repuglican extremist who is beholden to no one using their own money least of all Marco Rubio funded by the billionaire Sheldon Adelson because he likes Rubio's position on Israel. I thought Rubio's first allegiance was to America. Dare I say Trump is the self-funding Sanders of the right wing extremist Republican Party in that he knows how Washington is bought by big money because once he was one of the buyers.

In this instance ONLY I think Trump is correct and the media is being UNFAIR to say the least. FACT: In Iowa Cruz took first, Trump took second and Rubio took third -- and that's a fact. Live with it, Rubio.

Rubio needs more than phony smiles, phony patriotic clap trap that means nothing and looking like a 12 year old. By the way my grandfather did what Rubio said his father did in Rubio's faux presidential acceptance speech. He came up from nothing. How many Democrats is that true of as well? Answer: Millions. FACTS: check them out.

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!