Tag Archives: Rush Limbaugh

Point of View Columns

Romney-Ryan – You Lie!

The key take away from the smoldering stench of the recently deceased Republican convention is that the Romney-Ryan team believes that there are enough people who hate the Kenyan, Muslim anti-Christ currently occupying the White House that they are willing to believe any and every lie that can be told about President Obama. That can be the only logical explanation for adopted a scorched earth policy when it comes to telling the truth about just about everything.

Mercifully Hurricane Isaac shortened the Teapublican Klown Karnival otherwise fact checkers would have been beaten into exhausted submission. When compiling a list of outright, baseless lies, one can start anywhere, so why not with the Pious Paul Ryan who seems to be giving Saint Santorum a run for his money when it comes to retiring the title for sanctimonious self-righteousness.

Paul Ryan, in doleful and lugubrious tones, criticized the Obama Administration auto industry bailout by pointing out that it did not save all the automobile manufacturing plants in the United States. And then he told this sad tale of how the GM plant in Jaynesville, in his home state of Wisconsin had to close because of the ineffectiveness of this feckless bailout program.

There is just one problem with this tearjerker of a story. The referenced GM plant closed in 2008, BEFORE BARACK OBAMA BECAME PRESIDENT. And just in case you thought that Mr. Ryan was an impaired graduate of one of the top party schools in America (Miami of Ohio), it was Congressman Ryan who sent a letter to the Jaynesville workers advising them of the plant closing.

Not to be outdone, Mitt Romney has repeatedly criticized Barack Obama for not having signed a single trade agreement during his administration as president. There is just one problem with this insightful critique. BARACK OBAMA HAS SIGNED THREE TRADE AGREEMENTS DURING HIS TENURE AS PRESIDENT.

The Romney-Ryan team has tried to fan the flames of social discord in this country by opposing same sex marriage and further contending that President Obama seeks to impose same sex marriage laws on all Americans. There is just one problem with this piece of despicable rabble rousing. BARACK OBAMA, WHILE ENDORSING SAME SEX MARRIAGE, HAS SUPPORTED LETTING STATES PLAY THE HISTORICAL ROLE OF SETTING MARRIAGE RULES – THE REPUBLICANS SUPPORT A CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT THAT WILL TAKE THAT ROLE AWAY FROM THE STATES.

In one of the more embarrassing public spectacles seen on national television since the last time Donald Trump said anything, Clint Eastwood shambled and rambled through his dialogue with an empty chair named Obama, claiming that he did not keep his promise to close the terrorist prison camp at Guantanamo Bay. This bit of zany analysis was endorsed by Mitt Romney who thought that Eastwood was “great”. Just one thing – GUANTANAMO BAY HAS NOT BEEN CLOSED BECAUSE OF THE OPPOSITION OF DEMOCRATIC AND REPUBLICAN MEMBERS OF CONGRESS WHEN IT’S CLOSING WAS PROPOSED BY PRESIDENT OBAMA.

The list of lies is endless and shameless. There is the purported “theft” of $786 billion from Medicare that actually represents savings that will ensue from the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare that used to be known as Romneycare. We have been told that the credit rating of the United States was lowered because of the Obama Administration policies when the rating agencies clearly stated that the rating was lowered because of the irresponsible actions of the Republican-led Congress in nearly causing a default by the federal government.

Perhaps the biggest lie of all was Mitt Romney claiming in Tampa that he wanted Barack Obama to succeed. This is most interesting, since no one has recorded a single utterance from Mr. Romney when Rush Limbaugh infamously stated that he wanted newly-inaugurated Barack Obama to fail or when Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell darkly muttered that the number one goal of Republicans in Congress was to insure that Barack Obama was a one term president. AND MITT ROMNEY HAS CONVENIENTLY “DISREMEMBERED” THAT PAUL RYAN WAS PART OF A GROUP OF REPUBLICANS WHO MET ON THE NIGHT OF BARACK OBAMA’S ADMINISTRATION TO PLOT AND PLAN HIS DEFEAT IN 2012.

Respect for the truth has not been a part of the Teapublican way of doing things. Respect for President Obama is absolutely non-existent. And, in a very real way, it is sad that in perpetrating bald-face lie after transparent lie, Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan and their Teapublican cohorts have no respect for the American people…….and, by the way, what about those tax returns Mr. Romney?

Standard
Point of View Columns

The Post Racial Fairy Tale

The election of Barack Obama as president in 2008 was a global feel good moment. Americans savored the notion of a young, energetic and brilliant new president. The sickness of war and the souring economy had this country yearning for the change that Obama promised. And the world looked on with wonder that a nation with a history that has been stained with the impossible atrocities of racism since its birth could elect a black man to lead it. It was at that moment that the narrative of the post racial fairy tale began to be told – and sold.

White Americans held up the election of Barack Obama as proof that America had “moved on” and that race was no longer a factor in political discourse. Even black Americans got caught up in the moment as President Obama’s inauguration was touted as the fulfillment of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s dream – even though towards the end of his life Dr. King’s rhetoric was decidedly anti-establishment.

To paraphrase Shakespeare, upon Barack Obama taking office, his opponents could let slip the racist dogs of war all the while claiming that the president was “fair game”. Rush Limbaugh bellowed that he wanted President Obama to “fail” while Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell muttered hours after the oath of office was administered that his only goal was to insure that Barack Obama would be a one term president. Although such post-inaugural invective was unprecedented we were assured that there was nothing racial going on…just “fair game”.

And then, like mushrooms popping up in the slime of the forest, the Tea Party appeared. And so did effigies of Barack Obama being burned. And so did posters of Barack Obama depicted as a deranged black Joker and a witch doctor (complete with a bone through his nose). Republicans, Tea Party zealots and Teapublicans assured us that there was nothing racial going on….just “fair game”.

History can be a trickster. We can remember where we were on 9/11 but we forget that the Teapublican Party apparatus dedicated itself to complete and unalterable opposition to the Affordable Health Care Act proposed by President Obama, even though it would address the urgent health care needs of over 40 million Americans and the ongoing health care needs of over 300 million Americans. They opposed the Act even though its key elements were taken from the health care initiative proposed by the everlasting conservative (and Republican) Hoover Institute. Once again, we were assured that we were now living in a post racial America and the entire furor was just politics as usual.

President Obama was called a liar while giving an address to the United States Congress (by a United States Congressman!!!!) and we were told that in post racial America it was politics as usual. Sarah Palin winked at supporters who shouted “Kill him” referring to President Obama and we were told that it was just part of the post racial political scrum.

Throughout his presidency Barack Obama has been subject to the shameful “birther” attacks. Unprecedented in American presidential history, idiots from Rush Limbaugh to Donald Trump has sucked up news time and air space questioning the authenticity of President Obama’s citizenship. Once again, we were assured that there was nothing racist going on, just legitimate inquiry, or “fair game”.

Finally, and hopefully not too late, the cover of the racists and the bigots and the prejudiced miscreants has been blown. Over a dozen states have instituted laws that, while touted as being written to address non-existent voter fraud, are intended to suppress voter turnout among black Americans.

This is a throwback to the days of the Klan which had as its twin guiding lights the preservation of the sanctity of white women and the prevention of blacks from attaining any political power. Voter suppression was the key weapon of Klan because it recognized that voting black Americans were dangerous.

In this allegedly post-racial America, voter suppression has replaced Willie Horton ads and hysterical calls to action. In 2000 the Republican Party literally stole the presidential election and ushered in the Bush-Cheney flirtation with national and global disaster. As has been written before, rather than try to steal another election in November, the Teapublicans have decided to steal the election in August.

Mitt Romney goes to England and takes his foot out of his mouth long enough to sputter some inane comments about Anglo Saxon heritage and how the first black president of the United States doesn’t appreciate that heritage. One of Mr. Romney’s surrogates suggests that the first black president of the United States needs to learn how to be an American.

There is nothing post racial about all of this. If it quacks like a duck it is a duck. And this duck is a racist duck.

Standard
Point of View Columns

Weekend Edition – July 20, 2012

It’s Friday and while you were sleeping twelve people were killed in a movie theater in Colorado. The NRA says that people kill people not guns. Tell that to the families of the victims. Meanwhile Rush Limbaugh continues to wallow in his personal sewer of hate and stupidity, now claiming that President Obama hates America. And finally, Mitt Romney’s wife Ann claims that the American people know all that they need to know about her family’s finances. And how, exactly, would she know?

Guns, Guns and More Guns

Last night someone in Colorado went nuts in a movie theater with an assault rifle and then a dozen people were dead. The news reports of this incidence refer to a “senseless killing”, presumably to distinguish this crime from more sensible killing.

The carnage in this country caused by guns is so massive that it seems that a killer has to get to a double digit body count to even make it into the news. An eighteen year old young man was shot and killed on a street corner near my residence in Manhattan and it didn’t even make the local papers. It makes you wonder how many shootings and killings are basically invisible.

The National Rifle Association has the United States Congress in a stranglehold, forcing it to adhere to its warped interpretation of the second amendment to the Constitution. The resulting bloodshed and slaughter is appalling and endless.

Unless and until the NRA is forced into the cave of irrelevance that it deserves we can be assured of gun smoke mixed with our news.

The Sewage that is Limbaugh

It was just a few short months ago that Rush Limbaugh sank to new depths in his personal sewer of hate and stupidity when he went on a deranged rant in degrading a young woman who testified before Congress, speaking in favor of including contraception in the array of healthcare services that should be provided to the public. Most sane Americans hoped against hope that, as several sponsors withdrew their support of the show on which this fatuous idiot blathers, we might be witnessing the end of Rush Limbaugh.

No such luck. This past week Limbaugh proved that it is almost impossible to lose money by serving up heaping, stinking piles of bad taste. In his latest attack on President Obama he assembles a set of “facts” that “prove” that Barack Obama hates America. He refers to the president’s father being a communist (this would be the father that Barack Obama never knew) and his mother being a leftist (whatever that means). He refers to the president’s training in the Ivy League, in Rush World a hotbed of leftwing extremism (although he might want to ask George W. Bush, Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia and John Roberts about that). He also mentions Barack Obama’s residing in Chicago; again in Rush World a virtual sanctuary for extremists (although the operatives of the Daley political machine that ruled Chicago for almost four decades might beg to differ).

Joe McCarthy, the idiot communist hunter of the fifties was always drunk and was almost always wrong. Rush Limbaugh is a recovering addict (prescription medications) and one might ascribe his mental state as being addled by past abuse. Whatever the case, he outdoes Joe McCarthy in that he manages to be wrong all of the time.

Lessons from the Romneys

It has been said that rich people are just different from you and me. And it is true. The very wealthy exist in a world of so much privilege and luxury that their sense of entitlement knows no bounds.

Take Ann Romney, for example. The wife of the presumptive Teapublican presidential candidate, when asked about the furor surrounding the millions of Romney dollars hidden abroad and the concealed tax returns replied that “the American people know everything that they need to know about our finances”.

While it is probably true that more Americans care about the Kardashians than Mitt Romney’s finances, Americans should care. It is important to know how a presidential candidate makes his/her money, it is important to know how that candidate has managed to pay/avoid taxes and it is certainly important to know why a candidate for president of the United States seems to think that it is fitting to stash a true fortune in Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Switzerland and who knows where else.

It is not surprising that Ann Romney is as out of touch as her husband. They make a perfect couple.

Have a great weekend!

Standard
Point of View Columns

Weekend Edition – March 9, 2010

Andrew Breitbart died last week at the age of 43. It has been written that one should not speak ill of the dead, but those who cherish decency will not be mourning his passing – as for the Teapublicans, their eulogies of Breitbart tells us who they really are. Meanwhile, as this country struggles to reconfigure its educational system so that Americans can remain competitive in the global marketplace, the G.O.Tea Party seems to savor the prospect of dismantling the entire educational infrastructure. Meanwhile, shouldn’t Rush Limbaugh, who is spouting off from the permanent rhetorical sewer in which he resides should be a total embarrassment to the Teapublicans? Maybe, maybe not.

Andrew Breitbart – R.I.P.

Andrew Breitbart died and as the eulogies from the right wing of the right wing poured forth one would think that someone else had died. Characterizing Andrew Breitbart as some brave, intrepid journalist who was relentless in his search for the truth is like praising Donald Duck for his eloquence.

Andrew Breitbart was a bully and an unabashed liar who seemed to take great pleasure in publishing mistruths so that he could view the collateral damage from his lair in California. This unindicted blogger tried to ruin the life of Shirley Sherrod, a courageous civil rights heroine who was engaged in true public service at the U.S. Department of Agriculture until she was slimed by Breitbart.

The Sherrod incident alone should disqualify him for praise, but Teapublicans like Sarah Palin (there’s that name again!) have tried to make Breitbart into some kind of hero. Sarah and the rest of her Tea Partiers are simply shameless and shameful.

Dumb and Dumber?

Depending on the study to which you may refer, the United States world ranking in academic achievement ranks in the mid-20’s. Two decades ago the U.S. was in the top ten. Three decades ago the U.S. was in the top 5.

Faced with this enormous educational crisis the Obama Administration has been working through Department of Education and with the various states to come up with strategies to improve this deplorable state of affairs. Progress has been slow but there would seem to be no choice but to continue to search for solutions.

That would make sense to most rational human beings but not to the leadership of the G.O.Tea Party. All four of the remaining presidential candidates have vowed to dismantle the Department of Education if elected. Saint Santorum has gone so far as to state on the record that he believes that public education is “a relic of the industrial revolution” and that American children should be educated at home whenever possible.

The Teapublican position on this issue would be laughable if it were not so poisonous and toxic. This approach is similar to suggesting that the best way to put out a house fire is to cut off all the water.

Even an idiot could see the foolishness of a strategy. Perhaps the Teapublicans will be better off when some real idiots take charge.

Let Rush be Rush!

Rush Limbaugh is like some broken sewer that can’t be fixed. As a result the filth and sewage spills out recklessly damaging everything that it touches.

His latest disgusting foray had him calling women who advocate contraception “sluts” and “prostitutes”. Even President Obama had to lend his voice of support by calling one of the victims of Rush’s felonious sliming. But the G.O.Tea Party was tepid in its criticism (certainly not condemnation) of Limbaugh and their presidential candidates looked like aging contortionists as they tried to distance themselves from this buffoon…but not too much so as to incur the Wrath of Rush.

I can only hope that Rush Limbaugh stays on the air as he continues to give a voice to the deepest and most wretched aspects of the G.O.Tea Party persona so that we know it for what it really is.

Have a great weekend!

Standard
Point of View Columns

Coincidence of Coincidence

President Obama’s most recent State of the Union address was an exercise in the normal and the paranormal. Normal in that since George Washington, every American president has addressed Congress at the beginning of the year to proclaim recent accomplishments and to articulate a vision for the future.

The paranormal aspect refers to the absolutely concrete nature of the opposition to President Obama. The opposition to this president and his very existence in the White House seems to transcend his policies and leads one to wonder what is the source and reason for this bitter disposition.

We all recollect that in January of 2009, within days of Barack Obama’s inauguration, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell declared his intention to make him a “one term president”. In that same timeframe, the fatuous and foul-mouthed radio fool Rush Limbaugh expressed his fervent wish that Barack Obama would “fail” as president clearly not caring that if the President of the United States “fails” the American people suffer.

It should be noted that these implacable statements of opposition were issued, along with many others, prior to President Obama doing anything more controversial than choosing a Cabinet and making his inaugural speech. He had just been elected with one of the largest pluralities in recent history. He really hadn’t had a chance to antagonize or disappoint anyone. Yet the opposition came to life fully matured and steeped in venom and disdain.

When Barack Obama was elected in November of 2008 this country’s economy was in free fall thanks to the profligate policies of the Bush Administration. These policies included two murderous wars that were financed with debt (the first time this had ever occurred in American history) as well as turning a blind eye to the misdeeds of the financial community.

By the time he was president, Barack Obama was faced with an economy that was now hurtling to a bottom that never appeared. Working with the TARP tools provided by Congress and the Bush Administration the free fall finally stopped and three years later we are actually seeing real growth in the economy. For this the Teapublicans call Barack Obama a “failed president”.

Soon after his inauguration General Motors and the entire American automobile industry teetered on the brink of virtual extinction. The country that gave birth to the automobile industry was about to witness its death within its own borders.
And that would have been the outcome but for the policies of the Obama Administration which rescued G.M. and Chrysler and provided Ford Motor Company with a healthy environment in which it could compete. Today General Motors is again the world’s largest automobile company and millions of American jobs and American families have been saved. For this the G.O.Tea Party calls Barack Obama a “failed president”.

During his entire presidency President Obama has been subject to unrelenting and incessant questions regarding his citizenship. These questions were never raised when he was admitted to the bar in the State of Illinois or when he was elected State Senator or United States Senator.

No other president or serious presidential candidate has ever been subject to this bizarre scrutiny even though several famous Republican candidates were actually born outside of the United States – Barry Goldwater, George Romney and John McCain all immediately come to mind.

The hunt for the proof that Barack Obama shouldn’t be president – that somehow the laws of the United States and of nature have been offended continues to this very day. As you read this column a court in the state of Georgia is demanding that President Obama appear personally to present his birth certificate otherwise he will not be on the ballot in November. This follows a similar attempt in Alabama within the past few weeks.

These threads of illogic, idiocy and extreme partisanship form a pattern that is familiar in the tapestry of American history. Can it really be a coincidence that the first black President of the United States is also the first president to be subject to these bizarre inquiries regarding his citizenship. Is it possible that a president who saved millions of jobs in a vital American industry could be a “failed” president?

How is it possible that the president who directed the elimination of Osama bin Laden and ended American military presence in Iraq be denied any credit or consideration? And how is it that the first American president to bring about fundamental change in the healthcare system in over a half a century is the target of such hate and vitriol?

The Teapublican Clown Cavalcade of Candidates has been united on one point – that Barack Obama should be replaced as president. Fair enough – that is the job of the opposition party. But the rationale for why he should be replaced is devoid of logic and purpose except for one thing – and it is that one thing that is the unfortunate elephant in the room.

Standard
Point of View Columns

Weekend Edition – November 25, 2011

Last weekend First Lady Michelle Obama appeared at a NASCAR rally and was booed. Sadly, the rudeness is not a surprise. But who is it on the White House staff that thought that having Mrs. Barack Obama go to a NASCAR rally was a good idea? Meanwhile Newt Gingrich has surged to the lead in the G.O.Tea Party presidential polls. Could Barack Obama be that lucky? Finally, the G.O.Tea Party zealots in the Congress passed a bill overturning an Obama Administration initiative to have whole grain foods and vegetables in federal school lunch programs. A simple of example of how stupid can turn to dangerous.

Hail to the First Lady?

Last week First Lady Michelle Obama and Jill Biden, the wife of Vice President Joe Biden attended a NASCAR rally. They were roundly booed in a display of rudeness that was shocking even in the United States of Stupid. Mrs. Obama and Mrs. Biden were there to promote support of American troops that are returning to the United States from the seemingly endless wars that this country is waging.

The booing should have been expected, however. If there is anyone on the White House staff who believes that a NASCAR rally is a suitable venue for Mrs. Barack Obama has been working in a soundproof cable-free bubble for the past three years.
The only thing that would elicit a positive response from the NASCAR denizens would be an announcement by Michelle Obama would be an announcement that President Obama had resigned.

Meanwhile, Rush Limbaugh rushed into the frenzy contending that Michelle Obama should have stayed in Washington instead of going anywhere for any purposed. He went on to say that the First Lady of the United States was “uppity” in presuming to make appearances around the country.

We know by now that Rush Limbaugh is a racist, drug-addled, stupid lout who should thank his lucky Jesus that by some quirk of fate he has been able to make millions spewing hate and ignorance. But does he have to prove it every day?

Newt on Deck

This week we learned that Newt Gingrich has surged to the lead in the G.O.Tea Party presidential polls. Presumable this is because Michele
Bachmann has turned out to be certifiably crazy, Rodeo Rick Perry is a caricature of Rodeo Rick Perry and Herman Cain’s self-inflicted wounds are beyond healing.
It is a testament to the sour taste that Mitt Romney leaves in the mouths of the zealots who occupy the right wing of the right wing in the G.O.Tea Party that damaged goods like Newt Gingrich could be given serious consideration as a presidential candidate.

There may have been other successful presidential candidates who married their high school teacher and then divorced them as they were recovering from cancer surgery. However their names escape me at this time.

There may have been other successful presidential candidates who have engaged this kind of over the top fear mongering – “Barack Obama is a greater danger to this country than fascism during World War II”. However, their names did not come up in my research for this column.

I would have to think that Team Obama would welcome a Gingrich candidacy. Of course, it is useful to remember to be careful what one wishes for.

Bon Appétit

During the 2010 election campaigns, the Tea Party faithful promised real change when their candidates arrived in Washington. Now we have found out what they meant.
Change has meant absolute, wooden-headed obstruction to any and every piece of legislation that does not precisely conform to Tea Party orthodoxy. Change has meant that this country has teetered on the brink of fiscal default and disarray, a potential disaster that the G.O.Tea Party has crazily embraced.

Change has also meant rolling back the Obama Administration initiative that calls for healthier federally funded school lunches. More whole grains, more vegetables and other subversive elements have now been eliminated by the G.O.Tea Party zealots in the House of Representatives.

By the way, pizza and tomato paste as a vegetable are o.k. in the world inhabited by the right wing of the right wing.

Have a great weekend!

Standard
Point of View Columns

Weekend Edition – October 21, 2011

The death of Muammar Qaddafi was bloody and brutal. Somewhere in presidential palaces in Yemen and Syria and Zimbabwe getaway plans are being plotted. And somewhere members of the G.O.Tea Party are trying to find a way to make the obviously successful strategy pursued by President Obama seem like a mistake. Meanwhile, Rush Limbaugh proved once again that you can be stupid and be on the radio at the same time. And it seems that, with his 9-9-9 mumbo jumbo tax plan, Herman Cain may have proved that Michele Bachmann can be right even when the moon isn’t blue.

Was Obama Right After All?

The gory death of Muammar Qaddafi was a lesson to the leaders of nations that seek to impose their will on their people with a sense of entitlement that they seem to believe is divinely inspired. One year ago the notion of Colonel Qaddafi being dragged through the streets of his hometown and slain with a bullet through the head would have been the stuff of fiction. Now it is on CNN.

Leaders in countries like Zimbabwe and Yemen and Syria and elsewhere have seen the decline and fall of their fellow leaders for life. There are some important lessons to be learned. The quick learners will find a way to go to London or Geneva for “health reasons” (which will be true). The slow learners will join the ranks of Qaddafi, Mubarak and Ceausescu and all the others who couldn’t read the writing on the wall.

Meanwhile, the G.O.Tea Party must be searching high and low to figure out how to make President Obama’s successful Libyan strategy look like a mistake. By being smart and leading with his brains instead of his chin he was able to avoid American casualties or turning a genuine Libyan revolution into yet another American misadventure.

And, speaking of misadventures, President Obama announced today that all U.S. troops will leave Iraq by the end of 2011. Seeing this country finally extricate itself from this neo-con-inspired morass will do little for the families of all of the dead American troops or for the millions of Iraqis who are struggling to rebuild shattered lives in their shattered country.

We can be sure that the G.O.Tea Party zealots will find some rationale for criticizing Barack Obama for ending this modern American nightmare. I guess that on the Planet G.O.Tea saving American lives and money as well as repairing the prestige of this country is wrong if it is done by anyone named Obama.

Radio Head

Just when you think that Rush Limbaugh can’t get any more stupid, he sets the bar lower.

This past week President Obama dispatched 100 Special Forces troops to Uganda to assist that country in combating the Lord’s Resistance Army. The LRA, which has been around for over a decade, is a particularly wretched and squalid thug horde which has specialized in torture, rape, murder and gratuitous pillaging through central Africa. Any effort to eliminate the LRA scourge from the lives of the people of Uganda, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and elsewhere should be greeted with approval.

However, Rush Limbaugh, seizing upon the word “Lord” in the title of the LRA assumed that it was some kind of gathering of Christian soldiers waging holy war against murderous Muslims. Limbaugh would be funny if he weren’t so stupid. What isn’t funny is that there are millions of Americans who will actually believe what he says.

The Devil is in the Details

During one of the recent Republican presidential debates – seemingly produced by Comedy Central – Michele Bachmann, commenting on Herman Cain’s “9-9-9” tax “plan” opined that if 9-9-9 was turned upside down it would be 6-6-6 which is, of course, the sign of the Devil. It was a fair to middling laugh line except many observers thought that Ms. Bachmann was serious.

It turns out she was right – and the moon wasn’t blue. Upon further analysis it turns out that the pizza baron’s tax plan, if implemented would raise the taxes on a mind boggling 84% of Americans. Not surprisingly for a Koch brother’s sock puppet, Mr. Cain’s plan would reduce taxes for 26% of the highest earning Americans. A truly devilish outcome that would only increase the structural inequities that already exist.

Mr. Cain asked Americans to “do the math”. The math has been done and it doesn’t look good for him.

Have a great weekend!

Standard
Point of View Columns

No One Said It Was Going To Be Easy

Barack Obama began his presidency seemingly riding on a tidal wave of hope for change. One could almost perceive an aura of infinite possibility accompanying him. After he took the oath of office, President Obama was greeted with a virtually unprecedented barrage of obstruction, his every step mined with ardent wishes for his failure – the country be damned. The kamikaze role of the right wing of the right wing will be recorded by history as one of the lowest moments of the Republic.

As soon as Barack Obama became president Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell proclaimed that the goal of the Republican Party was to make sure that President Obama only served for one term. Rush Limbaugh, fresh from eluding criminal drug charges, infamously brayed that he wanted Barack Obama “to fail”. This was being said as the economy of the United States wavered on the brink of catastrophe – yet the “failure” of Barack Obama was more important than the future of this country.

These and other incendiary remarks lit wildfires of looniness and lunacy across the country, culminating in a Koch Brothers-bankrolled pseudo grass roots movement known as the Tea Party, and better known as the G.O.Tea Party. The grand strategy of the G.O.Tea Party has been to hobble, cripple and hamstring the Obama presidency, even at the expense of further pain and misery being suffered by the American people.

It is within this context that I read the reviews of “Confidence Men: Wall Street, Washington and The Education of A President” by Ron Suskind. Mr. Suskind, who is a Pulitzer Prize winning author, has studiously researched the inner workings of the Obama White House, especially when the tsunami that hit Wall Street was at its peak. And Mr. Suskind does not paint a pretty picture.

“Confidence Men” makes the case that the economic team that was assembled by President Obama was not the right team and that, in any event, was dysfunctional. We learn that, as Secretary of the Treasury, Timothy Geithner essentially ignored a directive from President Obama to assess the advisability of reorganizing Citibank because he didn’t think it was a good idea. Larry Summers, then Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors denigrates President Obama’s skills and acumen, comparing him unfavorably to Bill Clinton.

More telling is that, faced with the most dangerous economic crisis in the history of the United States, there was no overarching philosophical goal. The strategies employed were reactions to the events of the time, but the philosophical goal seems to have been missing.

This is an interesting observation because there has been much greater clarity from this administration when it comes to health care and foreign policy, for example. There was a goal to establish a healthcare infrastructure that would cover all Americans and the recently passed legislation is certainly moving the country in that direction, perhaps inexorably.

In the area of foreign affairs, the Obama Administration has clearly embraced the goal of establish a more collaborative and less combative foreign policy. Thankfully this country has moved away from unilateral days of Bush-Cheney to a multi-lateral process that preserves American security as well as restoring this country’s battered image abroad.

I think that is why “Confidence Men” is all the more troubling because it is not only the Obama Administration that didn’t have a philosophical goal at a crucial time, the Democratic Party and the progressive community seemed to come up short. The Republican, and now G.O.Tea Party goals, simplistic as they may be, are clear and can be summed up as the 3 M’s – Minimum taxation, Minimal regulation, Maximum profit. It may be that the progressive stance is too nuanced for the hand-to-hand combat that characterizes these days and times.

My final thoughts on “Confidence Men” are that I keep waiting to learn about the absolute Obama loyalists in the rooms where the decision makers decide. Where are the men and women who have his back? Where is his right hand man/woman who demands loyalty and support of the president?

I am once more reminded of the old saying – sometimes it seems like Barack Obama is in a chair fight and everyone has a chair but him. If he ran his campaign the way he has been running his presidency this column would be about President John McCain and Vice President Sarah Palin.

The Obama campaign was historic. The Obama campaign was also coldly efficient, calculating and focused – at all times. It is time to unsheathe those weapons again – and not a moment too soon.

Standard
Point of View Columns

Keep Your Eyes on the Prize

The irony would be delicious if it wasn’t so foul.

It is generally acknowledged that the economic crisis in which we currently live was precipitated by a major collapse of the housing market along with the mortgage-backed bond instruments that supported the fake bubble that eventually burst. It is also generally acknowledged that these bond instruments could only have been sold with the cooperation and blessing of the major ratings agencies that turned a blind eye to defects that are painfully obvious now – and should have been obvious three years ago.

So it is ironic that two of these complicit ratings agencies, Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s have announced that downgrading the credit standing of the United States may occur if the debt ceiling/budget deficit debate is not resolved soon. These agencies abandoned any semblance of objectivity as they granted bogus ratings to bonds sold by soon to be bailed out investment banks while they raked in Midas-like fees.

For these agencies to now step up and add more stress to an already contentious debate for nothing less than the financial soul of America is outrageous. Moody’s and S&P are relying on the historic amnesia of the American public. We are supposed to forget that the crisis about which they are opining was in no small part due to their transgressions and malfeasance – how their reputations can be above reproach is one of the great fan dance mysteries of our time.

Meanwhile, there is a financial crisis of tsunami-like proportions looming. Somehow the G.O.Tea Party has created an Alice in Wonderland logic that goes something like this: the federal budget should be balanced at all times (there are boatloads of economists who would debate this “fact”), the budget should be balanced now (although the deficit was created over the last 12 years, somehow it can be erased in one year), the budget should be balanced by reducing spending (many economists will argue that targeted government spending does indeed create jobs and stimulate the economy) and taxes can nevernevernever be increased (taxes for upper income Americans have been drastically reduced during the past dozen years).

The intransigence and stubbornness and stupidity of the G.O.Tea Party are compounded by the politics of the moment. Since January 20, 2009, Republicans have declared as their sole mission insuring that Barack Obama is a one term president. In modern history there has never been such unyielding and irresponsible opposition to every single proposal or initiative of a president. The future of the country takes second (or third) place to making sure that President Obama “fails”, as Rush Limbaugh so delicately put it.

And so we have a political party on a permanent crusade against the president. This would be the same political party that has jettisoned common sense and basic economics into the dumbosphere and built an economic strategy on this tattered logic. The notion that the federal government must have a deficit of zero is based on the analogy that the government of the United States of America should operate like a business.

Except the government of the United States of America is not a business, its mission is to promote and preserve the general welfare (so says the same Constitution of the United States which is so often quoted by the G.O.Tea Party zealots).

Government is not supposed to turn a profit in the manner of a private corporation. The “profit” that the government is supposed to show is in the improved lives of its citizens as well as safeguarded the future. The G.O.Tea Party is looking to establish a caretaker government that will be minimalist in its approach to the needs of the people.

Taking care of people is the antithesis of the G.O.Tea Party.
So in a G.O.Tea Dada world where no sense makes sense, it makes sense to cut taxes and reduce or eliminate human services spending wherever possible because government is not supposed to take care of people. In this mean and flinty world, the strong may not survive, but the rich will prosper. And in the logic of the G.O.Tea party, that is the same thing.

During the next two weeks we can hope that the American public can take time out from worrying about Casey Anthony’s new job or Jennifer Lopez’ next husband and keep their eye on the ball. The G.O.Tea Party rhetoric that glorifies a balanced budget masks the hidden agenda of visiting misery and hopelessness upon too many Americans for too long.

Nothing less than the soul of the country is at stake. Let’s hope that we can all wake up.

Standard
Point of View Columns

Weekend Edition – March 25, 2011

The weekend begins with impending radiation doom in Japan and more questions about the U.S. military intervention in Libya and where this will lead. President Obama has a lot of explaining to do in the coming week.

Meanwhile Rush Limbaugh continues to insure his first ballot entry into the “Idiots Hall of Fame” even with Charlie Sheen and Chris Brown giving him vigorous competition. Also, a new photography book chronicling the decline of Detroit offers lessons for all.

Once again, you are invited to visit the “Be My Guest” feature of Point of View to read a column by Professor Pamela Newkirk regarding her absolutely fascinating book “Between the Lines – The Power of African American Letters”. You will be doing yourself a great favor by taking the time to read it.

So Limbaugh Thinks Obama is a “Sissy”?

The week was marked by yet another childish smear of President Obama by that perpetual child, Rush Limbaugh. It seems that Limbaugh feels that President Obama is less manly because he didn’t move more quickly to rain death and destruction upon the military assets of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi (and the unfortunate civilians who happen to get in the way).

On the Planet Limbaugh you should shoot first and ask questions later, if at all. Which is exactly why this country is already mired in two seeming endless wars and exactly why serious contemplation of the consequences of military action is needed – now more than ever.

We have already had a Sarah Free February and now a Donald Free March. Perhaps it is time for a Rush Free 2011?

Requiem for Detroit?

The 2010 census report tells us that the population of Detroit is now 713,777. In 1950, when Detroit was the fourth largest city in the United States, its population was 1,850,000. But the numbers do not tell the whole story.

The evisceration of a major metropolis is marked by more than urban flight and urban blight. In a moving book of photographs entitled “The Ruins of Detroit” – http://www.marchandmeffre.com/detroit/index.html – Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre have compiled a searing montage of what the death of a city looks like.

There are lessons to be learned in the Detroit tragedy including the enduring possibility of renaissance and renewal. It is clear that Detroit Mayor Dave Bing and his administration have not surrendered to the facts as they are and are instead trying to implement a plan of what can be in the new Detroit.

The prospect of renaissance and renewal in Detroit inspires residents of challenged cities across this nation.

There are also the lessons of what happens when corporate aspirations for profit eclipse notions of community and nation. Detroit is not suffering from a natural disaster like the hurricane in New Orleans or the earthquake in Port Au Prince.

The industrial/corporate complex of Detroit, dominated by the automobile industry, miscalculated and misunderstood the changes in their chosen field. They profited mightily from the labor and support of the people of Detroit and now the people of Detroit are paying dearly for these mistakes.

And now, while American automobile companies and their financiers are enjoying record profits, the people of Detroit sort through the rubble in search of renaissance and renewal.

Indeed there are lessons to be learned in Detroit.

Bad Boys Unite!

Charlie Sheen is careening through the Twittersphere and the blogosphere as the world waits for his brain to actually evaporate. He is getting ready to do a national tour including Radio City Music Hall in New York City as one of the venues for his marathon meltdown. Charlie Sheen may go down in history as the best argument against drug abuse ever.

Then Chris Brown throws a Chrissyfit and trashes an ABC dressing room because he didn’t like being asked about his felony conviction involving his brutal assault on his former girlfriend Rihanna.

The fact that he was so angry that he tore off his shirt and stormed out of the studio shirtless is a particularly curious act and indicates that maybe he is in need of a post-graduate anger management class or two.

Of course, if his celebrity had not earned him probation instead of a jail sentence he would probably be a regular resident of the bridal suite at the Los Angeles County Jail – in which case going around shirtless would have been his normal attire.

Where is Dennis Rodman when we need him?

Have a great weekend!

Standard