Where Do They Get These People?

       I get a publication via email called Unfiltered Patriot. It's an ultra-conservative publication. My reason for glancing at it is to see what these extremists are up to. Today there was an article that asked a question about race relations. It claimed that 50 percent of Americans say race relations are getting worse. Somehow that wound up telling us how terrible Obama is.
       As you must know many, many conservatives think Obama is the worst president, the worst human to ever have lived. These folks are the ultra-right, ultra conservative haters of anything and everything they disagree with. If anyone has the temerity to think differently, they are to be hated as well. They consider themselves to be the true Americans. As if only hate is truly Americanism.
       My answer to the question 'are race relations worse' is that race relations never got good enough to get worse. Race relations just went underground. That's a sad commentary for America. Its completely opposite of what the founding fathers tried to bring to this continent. Its like having these unfiltered patriots calling liberals all socialists just like the Soviet Union (Russia) while acting like Fascists. Neither term is anywhere near accurate. Liberals and even Conservatives are just trying to make things better for the average person while the unfiltered patriots are neither patriots nor unfiltered. They just hate.
       It's funny how those who are the least patriotic attribute patriotism to themselves the most. Take this Ammon Bundy and his crew of semi-terrorists as examples. They claim that this federal site in south-east Oregon as now belonging to the people and they are the people the land belongs to. They claim they have claim to this property because people were here first. But they also claim that Native Americans lost their right to the land to the government and therefore can't get it back. You don't suppose Ammon and his Dad, Cliven, are confused do you? Naa, just filled with hate.

The 2016 Presidential Auction.

       Did you know that the presidential campaign has been in full swing for more than three years now? Since the SCOTUS decision in the citizens united case, so called 'dark money' has grown to overwhelming amounts of unaccountable funding of campaign literature spanning everything from complete truth to total abject lies and everything (and I do mean everything) in between. How this affects the outcome of the campaign is anybody's guess.
       But we may be in for a whole new peak at what money can buy. Past New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg is considering jumping into the fray as an Independent prepared to spend up to a billion dollars on his own money on the campaign. Take that Trump. Actually, Trump couldn't come up with quite that much in only ten months. That's because his wealth is tied up in real estate. You can't liquidate that quickly without losing your shirt. And I don't think that's on his short list to fill his bucket list.
       Still, it would create a three way "Presidential Auction" and no, that's not a misprint or slip of the tongue. With all that Citizens united money and two billionaires in the final days of the campaign,  it's going to look very much like an auction. Think of it this way. "I'll bid $200 million on TV ads." "Well I'll bid $220 million." "I'll see your 220 and raise it thirty." Now wait a minute that sounds more like a poker game, doesn't it? But of course, it's still got to have that voting day. They'll still call it election day, but it'll actually be auction day.
       Now you may wonder why anyone would think that big money in a campaign would hurt anyone. After all, that dark money is just helping to get information to the voters, right? Well, that might be right except for a couple of problems. First the information getting 'out' to the voters is mostly not the truth, and secondly nobody spends that much on 'dark money' without expecting something in return. Now there're two reasons not to allow 'dark money'.

Investment And Wall Street Poker.

       There's a move afoot in Congress to deregulate Corporate America. In the U.S. Senate, there are sponsors for such legislation from both parties and even an independent. They're trying to get even more sponsors and because this is an election year, the urge to please big banks and Wall Street with this kind of deregulation is almost overpowering for politicians salivating over the thought of corporate campaign support.
       But if anyone just takes the time to stop and ask themselves why we so recently experienced the Great Recession, I can tell you it's because deregulation allowed Wall Street and those big banks to basically gamble with other peoples money with no safeguards to protect the average citizen. So if you lost money on your IRA or any retirement plan you were invested in during that recession, you can lay the blame squarely on those banks and Wall Street investment agencies. Not the small fry, but the mega-agencies.
       With almost no protection for you or me, they used our investments to sit down at the investment poker table and gamble with no fear of personal loss. When they won, they made bundles and when they lost, they made bundles, but you lost big time. They lied, cheated and did anything they felt like to make tons on money for themselves and did it with your money.
       Then when things went bad, the government realized it had been a mistake to deregulate the banks and investment agencies. But by then too many politicians were in the pockets of those bad players. At least they were able to push through the Dodd-Frank regulations. Weak but better than nothing. Now these folks in Congress are trying to get even what little protection we have, struck down. Now if you don't believe me, you can always ask one of these politicians or a Wall Streeter or investment councilor. They'll tell you they can be trusted to take care of you. And they will. Just like last time.

Ahh, The Easy Life.

       Why is it that we need to be hard hearted on coal? Well, aside from the fact that coal is the worst polluter of all energy sources, there really isn't any reason, well except that not only is it a bad pollutant, but the extraction process leaves the "coal fields" damaged for generations and often pollutes our streams and rivers. Oh and did I mention it's the worst polluter of all?
       Now everyone admits we can't just stop using coal overnight. We're going to have to ease our way into a cleaner, safer energy future. And therein lies the problem. Ya see, as soon as we admit that fact, the coal world smiles, sits back and keeps on with business as usual. Congress really doesn't want to shut down the subsidies it gives to the coal industry and they don't want to admit the need to subsidize renewable energy.
       Here's the reasons for not wanting to change anything. First off, change of any kind is hard work, and second, the coal industry supports a lot of politicians, a lot more than renewable energy. But there's a third reason too, the politicians would have to admit that there's a real and grave reason to stop polluting our planet. I know that sounds dumb, but understand these folks have been steadfastly accusing science of lying about global warming being caused by humans.  They said it not to be anti-science  in and of itself, but because of all the jobs it would cost and the harm that would do to the economy. They didn't consider all the jobs it would create. And did I mention all the politicians the coal industry supports?
       So while we have to phase renewables in, we do have to, and at the same time, phase out fossil fuels usage. For starters we need to price fossil fuels at the actual costs of those fossil fuels. That includes the cleanup of  the pollution and waste they cause and not just the labor of extraction. For the folks in Congress, it would be a lot easier to just leave things as they are. So is that why we pay them? To leave things as they are?

Open Carry In The Restroom.

       Do ya ever wonder and worry about "open carry?" I have some concerns about open carry. Did you know that more and more states are beginning to allow open carry in places like churches and bars? I don't know about you, but a church is a place of peace and forgiveness and the like. Guns seem out of place there. And then there's the bar thing. Nobody should think guns and alcohol are a good mix. Especially where there's that "stand your ground" rule.
       I just don't understand why some people think it's important to have an open carry law. Hey, I have a right to go to the bathroom, but I also know that doing so in public is poor judgment. It seems to me that owning a gun and even carrying a gun concealed is one thing, but to openly show off your rights are another example of poor judgment.
       Look, many people are uncomfortable when they see some bumpkin walking around with open carry firearms. What they don't see, isn't so worrisome. Same as with potty breaks. I'm pretty sure its all about  showing off ones masculinity. Even for women I suppose. Isn't it odd that police can open carry and that's okay because they're supposed to be armed, but some loose cannon walking around with a gun in a holster or shoulder strap makes you give him or her a second thought. Is this just a nut or will the next thing be a shootout or robbery?
       I'll bet even police aren't wildly in favor of going back to the shoot-em-up wild west. Not every cowboy and cowgirl should be packing heat. In fact if they're actually packing for protection, does it make good sense to be challenging some bad guy who wants to kill people? Wouldn't the bad guy want to shoot the open-carrier first?
      

It's A Travesty!

       Gosh, you don't suppose President Obama is getting serious about the environment do you? I mean, look, he's gone and put a freeze on coal mining leases on federal lands. Combine that with some of his other dastardly deeds related to slowing global warming and you have to ask yourself if he actually believes any of that silly climate change stuff, right?
       Look, I admit there's pollution going on in some cities, but hey, that's their problem, let them stop all the taxi driving and buses and subways and have you seen all the trucks in cities? No wonder there's smog in them thar cities. If those folks want to breathe clear, fresh air, let em move to the country, just not our country, right?
       Here's the thing, God made cities and countryside and if he made smog and pollution, who are we to complain. On the other hand, God did not make solar panels or wind turbines, and who wants to have to look at these unsightly eye polluters anyway. And I've heard that they cause people to go blind and not only that but they cause people to become sterile and that's a fact.
       Ya know, it's just like Obummer to do something dumb and anti-American like this. Did you know he's against guns too. That's right. He wants to take all your guns away from you so his hometown African Muslim brothers and sisters can take over our country and introduce Sharia law and torture all of us good Christians. He's all for world domination and denomination.
       I know a man, in fact he's a cousin of mine and he has heard some of the President's closest advisors state that every citizen of our God Bless America will be required to wear facemasks and no more shorts in the summer either. I tell ya, it's time for us to elect a God Bless American like Ted Cruz or Donald Trump if we want to make God Bless America great again.  

What Coulda Been.

       Speaker of the House Paul Ryan states that "next year, with a Republican in the White House, Obamacare will be repealed." Good news for Republicans, but not such good news for more than 17 million people who now have healthcare because of the Affordable Care act. The odd part is that many of those who now are insured for the first time are Republicans.
       So the question is, what happens to all those folks when they get sick, and we all do, at some time during our lives? Well the answer you hear is that the Republicans in Congress will create a better, cheaper, more encompassing, easier to use option. Folks it's called snake oil. Or maybe it's called smoke and mirrors.
       What I'm trying to say is that if you just got healthcare over the last several years, you ain't gonna have any coverage at all if a Republican is elected President. Either that or they'll pretend to get rid of Obamacare, but keep the Affordable Care act.
       Look, we all know there needs to be changes and improvements made to the Affordable Care act. But instead of working to improve the health care program, the Republican Congress voted to repeal it over 50 times. 50 times! That's just plain nonsense. They've wasted their time and our money. What really needs to happen is to have a sit-down with doctors, hospitals, insurance companies and some Congressmen, and maybe even a few advocates for patients to resolve the problems, but if a Republican is elected, that won't happen. Smile, be happy.

Talk About Real Power.

       I saw a cartoon this morning in the National Memo that I thought was right on target. It was a series of sketches of two men dressed in middle eastern garb. Each sketch was captioned with who hates whom in the middle east. Sunnis hate Shiites, Turks hate Kurds, Palestinians hate Israelis and on and on. In the end one points out the cause of all the tensions in the middle east, wait for it, Failure of American Leadership.
       I couldn't have been more surprised. American leadership is why all these people dislike each other? I mean I knew America was influential, and that we're the only real super power left on earth, but to be able to cause such strife? This is really good news for America. We may never have to go to war again. We can bring home all the troops.
       Ya see what this means is that whenever we feel threatened or whenever any of our Allies are threatened, our leadership can just get our enemies mad at each other. Problem solved. So now we have a choice to make. We can either go for world domination or world peace. Of course world peace is somewhat harder to pull off, I mean hey, we can't even get Republicans and Democrats to sit down and come to agreement on things. In fact Conservatives and Liberals act a lot like middle eastern factions. They just haven't come to armed conflict yet.
       And that problem is why we're not likely to be able to either dominate the world or bring peace to the world. Because our two political parties would never be able to come to any agreement on which way to go. Talk about lost opportunities. Just look at our presidential election campaign this year. You've got 250 Republicans vying for their nomination, okay maybe not quite that many, but more than enough, and 3 Democrats, and yet with all those candidates nobody has actually talked about what Americans really need and want from the next president. Everybody keeps claiming that's what they want to talk about, but then they don't.

Just Who Does Own It?

       What is all this business with the Bundy family? Now Cliven's two sons have taken over the headquarters/visitor center of a minor wildlife refuge in southeastern Oregon. Cliven Bundy is the guy who didn't want to pay the grazing fees for his cattle to be on Federal lands. So he staged a sit-in/takeover/standoff with federal agents who had been ordered by the courts to confiscate his cattle in lieu of payments.
       Now his two sons have taken over the headquarters/visitor center of a small wildlife refuge in southeastern Oregon, claiming to be doing it for a rancher and his son who set fire to some of those federal lands. By the way, that rancher and son have disavowed any connection to the Bundies or their actions.
       What bothers me, and should bother you is that that rangeland Cliven wanted to use for free and that visitor center actually belong to me. And you. Now I don't know about you, but I want to be paid for the use of that rangeland and I want the visitor center open in case I decide to visit there.
       Who gave these Bundies permission to do what they've done in the first place? Their claim, basically, is that these properties belong to the people and they are people. But then so am I and so are you. Don't we count? Don't we get have a say in their takeover attempts? I don't remember any vote to give them special rights.
       Ya know, if the Bundies are within their rights, then I suppose I would be within my rights to take over occupancy of some federal building and land too. If that's the case, then I choose the White House and surrounding land. Now I might not have the right to turn around and sell it, but it would make me the defacto leader of the free world. Not too bad for a retiree.