Showing posts with label GOP. Show all posts
Showing posts with label GOP. Show all posts

Monday, April 18, 2016

Broken Ankle, Life & Stuff - but Juan is wrong

It's not my ankle, thank goodness, but my MIL's - and I do have sympathy for her, but being a human being and at least somewhat selfish, I am glad it isn't mine. That, Visual Basic, hockey and baseball have been the distractions the past several days. I'm back, though, and happy to be so.

Despite the distractions, I did not miss much on the political front. It's too fascinating not to watch, and sitting around a hospital room for several hours each of the past few days has been a good opportunity.

I caught the series of attempts at explanation of election theft and corruption from the GOP / RNC all weekend. "It's da rules!" And, this morning on CNN, there was a question by a talking head that made me snort in derision and get very annoyed with the respondent. There's also the Juan Williams nonsense that just about dislocated my jaw when it dropped.

Regarding the GOP / RNC - the party is still shrugging its collective shoulders and saying, "So? We're corrupt. We know it and now you know it, so what are you going to do about it? Now give us your money, we need it so we can fund this system we've got going."

I'm surprised, given the frequency of those shrugs, that they don't have bigger pains in their collective neck than they do.

What's striking is that this is the only time in my life I can think of when open bribery is perfectly okay. You can't bribe a cop, you'll go to jail. You can't bribe a judge, you'll go to prison. But you can bribe a politician - or at least a political operative. That's perfectly okay. It's all out in the open and no one, except the electorate who are having their voices stripped from the process, seems to care.

What I haven't yet heard, aside from "but they're the rules", is why the GOP / RNC holds that it's perfectly okay to buy votes. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge - here's a bag full of expensive goodies - you'll vote for me now, right? They haven't even given a glance toward what's honorable and that just serves to make my disgust with them that much deeper.

My snort of derision and deep feeling of annoyance came from the fact that one of Trump's representatives missed a golden opportunity. Now, to be fair, I don't actually know whether he is 'official' or not, but he was asked a question I would have leapt all over. It had to do with the buying of delegates:

"Why doesn't Trump play by the same (corrupt / dishonorable / semi-criminal) set of rules Cruz is playing by?"

What he didn't say but should have is: "Because Mr. Trump has ethics and character. He hasn't gotten where he is by cheating and bribery, and he's not going to start now. If Mr. Cruz chooses to buy votes and politicians, that's his prerogative, but it's underhanded and dishonors our democratic election process."

It is very annoying that that was not the answer given. Instead it was pure blather that really offered nothing substantive. Frankly, a fresh dog dropping would have more substance than the half-answer given. In fact, that half answer was so unmemorable I don't remember it. I just remember annoyance that this talker didn't have the brains to forcefully and unequivocally state that if Ted Cruz chooses to be a sleaze, let him, but we are not going to lower ourselves into that cesspit.

This has been all over the place this weekend, ever since Trump started pointing out how corrupt and undemocratic this election system is. Reince Priebus (for whom I actually feel a little tiny bit sorry since he's the one holding the crap-filled bag) has been out there shrugging madly. "These are the rules." As if rules aren't there to be broken and as if rules that are bad cannot be changed.

What Priebus totally ignored, and what I'm sure he doesn't want us to see because this might be a wave of the party future, is this (excerpted from the Denver Post article of August 25, 2015, bold typeface added for emphasis):


Colorado will not vote for a Republican candidate for president at its 2016 caucus after party leaders approved a little-noticed shift that may diminish the state's clout in the most open nomination contest in the modern era.

The GOP executive committee has voted to cancel the traditional presidential preference poll after the national party changed its rules to require a state's delegates to support the candidate who wins the caucus vote.

State Republican Party Chairman Steve House said the party's 24-member executive committee made the unanimous decision Friday — six members were absent — to skip the preference poll.

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_28700919/colorado-republicans-cancel-2016-presidential-caucus-vote

So there it is: 18 people in the state of Colorado decided the primary election for all of the nearly 1,000,000 registered Republican voters. Yeah - there's democracy in action for you - not rigged, not unethical or dishonorable.

Whatever. What's come clear to me is that the GOP / RNC doesn't want people to actually participate in the election process - it's too bothersome. They just want our money - thus the fundraising letters and so on.

Well, they're not getting mine. Whether you choose to pony up for a corrupt process is up to you, but I value the representation of my labor too much to throw it into a pit toilet.

Regarding Juan Williams - he's an idiot. I knew he was long ago, but now he's proved it. He's got a new book out and yesterday he was asked, "If the Founders came back today, what would they think?"

He responded, "They'd be thrilled!"

Uh... No. They'd be doubled over heaving up their guts at what's gone on.

Central Banking - There's an excellent article on the "Constitutionality" of the Central Bank (aka Federal Reserve), here:

http://www.harvard-jlpp.com/33-2/465.pdf

Bottom line, though, is that while Alexander Hamilton supported the idea of a central bank, many of the Founders did not.

Enumerated Powers - There were three distinct types of power given to the Federal Government. Not three hundred or three thousand, just three. And the Founders were explicit in how the division was to fall: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." So if it was not given to the United States by the Constitution it was a State's Right, or a People's Right.


Alexander Hamilton wrote in Federalist 32 (of the Federalist Papers):
This exclusive delegation, or rather this alienation, of State sovereignty, would only exist in three cases: [i] where the Constitution in express terms granted an exclusive authority to the Union; [ii] where it granted in one instance an authority to the Union, and in another prohibited the States from exercising the like authority; and [iii] where it granted an authority to the Union, to which a similar authority in the States would be absolutely and totally contradictory and repugnant.
So, no. I don't believe that if the Founders came back today they would be at all thrilled with how things are.

Government has shoved down our collective throats Obamacare.

Government has instituted a tax system not called out in the Constitution.

Government has created a fourth and separate branch of government in the form of the Central Bank / Federal Reserve that is not subject to the will of the People. This is a "bank" not subject to government control, audit, disclosure or intervention - it stands apart from and superior to the Legislative and Judicial branches.

Government funds abortion - and doesn't bat an eye over the fact that the organization on the front line of that effort harvests baby parts.

We have a socialist running for president who wants to take my wealth (non-existent though it is) and pass it off to someone else in pure Marxist fashion - from each according to their ability to each according to their need. It's still not defined who has ability, aside from being able to get your butt out the door and hold a job, versus who has need.

Since I have a house that's falling apart, and car that's twelve years old and can just barely make ends meet, I'd say I have need, but the fact that I have an income is red meat to those who don't.

So no. I do not believe for one instant that the Founders coming back today would be thrilled. Horrified, yes. Disgusted, yes. Dismayed, yes. Not thrilled. And then there's all that's going on in this so-called electoral process where the People's voice doesn't count for squat.

Now - we're all caught up. I hope you had a wonderful weekend and a better week coming up.

Best~
Philippa

Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories

Thursday, April 14, 2016

Reince - Be Honest for a Change, Wouldja?

Okay - I'm confounded, I'll admit it. After all, I'm 'just' a voter. Sitting here, in my kitchen as I write this, it looks like Reince Priebus and his puppet masters are just making things up as they go. This day it's this, the next day it's that - all in an effort to suppress the will of the American voter.

I'm registered with the party of my choice, have been for years. Now I'm holding my nose until June 8th, fighting the waves of nausea brought on by that party's dishonesty and malfeasance. I'm hoping that the nausea won't rise to levels that will overwhelm me - June seems a long way off.

When June 7th comes I'll go out and vote. Which means standing in line and taking time out of my day and life just as tens of millions of others have done this year. Even though I have other things to do, things I need to do and want to do, I'll take however long it takes to go vote, because I think it's important.

On June 8th I will go down to my local post office, and I will pick up a new voter registration card, and I will leave the party of which I have been a (formerly) proud member for nearly forty years. I will re-register as an Independent. I will not sully my soul by staying in the pig sty of Republican politics for one instant longer than it takes for me to vote for Donald Trump in this primary.

But given recent events - what happened in Colorado, the buying and selling of delegate votes in Louisiana and Arkansas and other states - I'm not sure it is important any more.

Across America, millions of people have put their lives on hold for hours at a time - some for five or six hours or longer - to go caucus or stand in line to vote. They voted. The majority to date have said they want Donald Trump to be the next president. In the Republican race, he has won more contests than any other candidate. He's got about two million more votes than Ted Cruz, but all of that might not count.

Ted Cruz is out buying - yes, folks, buying - delegates. And I do not give one little tiny rip that he says he's not, that it's all by the rules.

Call it whatever you want to call it, but buying is when you give someone something in exchange for something else. You give the supermarket your money in exchange for your groceries. That is buying.

In this case, Cruz is buying delegates by promising them things or giving them things. He is shopping through the election aisles for delegates - all sitting on their shelves and waiting for him to make an offer - $1.39 for this, $5.59 for that - and when he gets to the checkout (Convention), he will pay for them.

Delegates should not be commodities easily bought and sold by the highest, sleaziest bidder - they should be required to represent the voices of the people who sent them to Cleveland - and not on just the first ballot. Bound delegates should remain bound for at least two ballots to give the process a chance to work as the candidates buy, sell and trade the souls of those people who are there, allegedly, to represent the voters who got them there.

And I do not give the least little rip if it's a swag bag loaded with expensive gifts (legal) or political favor (not legal). It is precisely the same thing because in the final analysis, it is an exchange: For this I will give you that.

I just wish to Heaven that Reince Priebus would find his spine long enough to shush his puppet masters and then be honest.

Go ahead, Reince, tell all of those tens of millions of people who voted for Trump in Iowa and New Hampshire and all the other states that it was just a show, that their time, their energy, their passion doesn't count for anything.

Instead of wasting our time, our passion, our energy and attention listening to the people who are in front of us as candidates, just tell us flat out so there is no misunderstanding, that there is no point in us even paying attention to this circus. Then we can turn off our television sets, ignore the political ads, and just stop paying even lip service to this. We can go back to living our lives, walking the treadmill of futility all so we can get nowhere.

We can go back to being the hopeless lab rats the RNC and GOP see us as. Sitting in our cages of economic despair, just waiting for the next tax to fall on our shoulders, the next corporation to close its doors, our hope for ourselves and our children and grandchildren to turn to desert dust as we are put out of work while employers move overseas.

Who gives a good goddamn if American citizens live or thrive?

The GOP doesn't. Their actions make it clear they don't.

The RNC doesn't - they are conniving and colluding with other people not even in this race, hiding behind closed doors, working hard to thwart the will of the Americans who have gone out to vote, who have made it clear that we, the People called out in the Bill of Rights and Constitution, want Donald Trump as president.

The Washington Elites don't. Of course they don't because a non-politician, someone who cannot be bought and sold, manipulated and controlled is going to upset their apple cart.

You know what, though? I. Don't. Care. I don't care what they don't want.

From the preamble to the Bill of Rights all through the Constitution, We the People have the power to rule our lives.

This is, as it has been from the outset, a government of, by and for The People - and if the RNC, the GOP Establishment and the Elites don't get it, they shouldn't be surprised if this bloodless revolution they are seeing in the voting booth becomes something else. They will have brought it on themselves.

So, c'mon, Reince - just take that deep breath. Tell us none of this matters, that it doesn't count for anything.

Or get the Hell out of our way. Stop trying to manipulate us and our government - follow the will of the People and tell the delegates that they are not for sale. That they have been entrusted by the voters and are obligated to us.

Now - put up or shut up, 'k?

Philippa

Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Fascism is Alive & Well in the GOP

Robert Zubrin is the individual who wrote a resolution that "prevented" any of the Colorado delegates from voting for Donald Trump in the recent cluster event in Colorado Springs. Spewage like his makes me want to throw-up.

This is not American because it is the encouragement of the suppression of free speech, free thought and free association. American Thinker allowing his steaming waste to sit on its site is a matter of free speech, but it disgusts me. However, it is free speech so I will not rail against them, but it is disappointing and I don't know that I'll be going back there. If you want to find what this pile of manure contains you can - I've given you the pointers, but I will not provide the link - it's too foul to waste space on it here.

When one individual stands in front of another individual or a group, and dictates how that individual or group shall conduct themselves, that is fascism. They are taking away the free choice - the liberty - of the individual or group being confronted.

If I could think of a more condemning word, anything stronger that's fit for print, I'd use it. This man exemplifies the worst of human character by setting himself above the liberty he claims to embrace in his post.

Actions speak much louder than words and the fact that he can say what he did, write what he did, shouts what he thinks, that squelching freedom of thought or action in others is perfectly all right.

Now shame on those others, the people who went along with this individual's "resolution". Obviously they are incapable of thinking for themselves, for standing up and saying, no matter how they as an individual feel, that deciding what is right for everyone irrespective of personal view or opinion is wrong.

They are less than sheep - they are brainless, spineless and unthinking parasites, not caring that by signing onto such a resolution - particularly given the broader circumstances surrounding it - that this is not a democratic effort. This is, pure and simple, dictatorship.

These people were under zero obligation to follow this man's "resolution". Rather, the Colorado GOP had an obligation to tell him where to get off because as soon as they didn't, they joined him in creating an un-democratic construct.

If the people of Colorado think they are well-served by their Republican party and this kind of control, God help them. It is crystal clear to me that in Colorado Democracy has died and fascism has taken its place.

The fact that the Republican National Committee hasn't stood up to demand that this person stand down is telling of the rank corruption permeating the entire organization. Just more proof that the Establishment's greatest fear is that if no one showed up to vote on election day their corrupt power structure would be fully revealed in all its rotten glory.

What they don't get is that Donald Trump is not only successful, he is decent. Or perhaps that's their problem with him.

I watched the CNN Town Hall with Trump and his family last night. I was already in his corner but that man and his family impressed me.

Children are a reflection of their parents, perhaps even the best, most accurate reflection when you get down to it. They absorb what they see and experience from the time of their birth through all their formative years.

If a child is made to believe that everything is theirs, they'll be selfish.

If they think that no one else matters, they'll be uncaring.

If they think they will always win, they will never learn how to lose.

If they are never taught courtesy and respect, why should they show those attributes?

If they are taught that, because they are rich they are better than others, we end up with kids like that idiot in Texas who was let off of serious jail time because he was never taught the value of human life. He claimed 'affluenza' and got away with it.

Watching and listening to Trump's children last night I was humbled to see what a great family he has raised. Poised, respectful, thoughtful, articulate - everything any parent could wish their children to be, as a reflection of their upbringing. Those individuals told me more about Donald Trump and his character than any interview with the man, could.

If he, a decent, hard-working, intelligent man with a clear focus on what this country needs to improve not only the quality of life for its citizens, but its standing in the world isn't qualified, I don't know who is. Certainly none of the other candidates are, because none have the world vision Trump has shown.

He said we're on precarious footing - another financial bubble that will be catastrophic when it bursts. First, he was ridiculed - that was last week. This week, a number of those laughing stopped long enough to examine what he said, and they've admitted he's right.

Art Laffer is not a Trump fan, but he was on Fox Business last night and he agreed - we are in a situation where, when (not if, but when) this bubble bursts, the financial collapse of 2007 / 2008 will look like a child's tea party. A number of other prominent economists have been muttering into their armpits, 'dammit - he's right'.

They don't like it - they don't like telling average Americans things like that because it makes them nervous.

When average people get nervous they shy away from risky investments and look for more stable places to park their money. Unfortunately, that financial movement would bring out the burst faster than it would happen otherwise, so they encourage Joe and Jo Sixpack to keep their money where it is - even though those people will, when the bubble does burst, as it will, lose far more than they would if they moved it now.

But, it seems that the Establishment - because of Trump's vision and understanding of the real world and what it all means - want anyone but Trump. So they'll settle for someone they can manipulate - a Cruz or a Clinton.

It's disgusting and the fact that we have individuals shutting down free speech, free through and free association - and the Establishment in the form of the Republican National Committee and GOP are allowing this to happen - stinks to high Heaven. 

Philippa

Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

The GOP Sleaze Factor

For the past couple of days there has been a lot of discussion crossing the airwaves about the Colorado Republican non-primary, and it is not complimentary. Both the state and the national GOP have infuriated millions of the people who make up their base. And many of those infuriated voters don't even live in the State of Colorado. I live in California and I am furious over this disgusting play.

As soon as the primary season is past, just as soon as I have the chance to vote Trump in the primary here in California, I will reject the GOP and re-register as an Independent. I suspect millions of other people will do the same, and it is all because of the GOP's own malfeasance and pure-d sliminess.

I'm sure this was not something the RNC / GOP Establishment wanted to happen but they have brought it on themselves by their own tone-deaf arrogance. They have insulted every single Republican voter this election season and I will not willingly affiliate myself with a political party so disconnected from its base.
 
Worse, instead of listening and trying to figure out that they're pissing me and others like me off, they keep shoving their collective head farther up their alimentary canal. All in an effort to not hear what the people of this country are screaming:

We do not want Paul Ryan.

We do not want some other party hack flown in at the last minute and shoved down our throats against our will.

The majority who have spoken so far in their state primaries do not want Ted Cruz. If they did, he would be ahead in the delegate count instead of trailing by more than 200 and a lot farther back if he wasn't such a wheeler-dealer. Which is fine to a point, but buying people who's own characters are highly questionable if a swag bag is all it takes, is disgusting.

What the GOP / RNC wanted was for things behind the scenes to hum along quietly, without anyone paying attention. Kind of like:


So what is all this excitement about Colorado? In case you haven't been listening to the bombast and whining, it's because about a million people in the state of Colorado were cut out of this election. They had their voices silenced by a decision made by their party "representatives".

According to the Colorado Secretary of State records available online, as of April 1st this year, there are more than 957,000 active registered Republicans and more than 1,016,000 Independent voters registered. These are the two voting blocs most likely to vote for Donald Trump. But Colorado canceled it's Republican primary election for this presidential cycle last August.

This isn't just any election cycle. This is the election cycle during which America is choosing its next president for the next four or eight years. And what does the Colorado GOP do? Why, it completely cut its electorate out of the process by not holding a primary.

Instead, the party apparatchiks held district conventions to select representatives to attend a state delegation selection party. In the end, just 6,000 Coloradans attended that. Of those, each who wants to go to the next level had just a matter of seconds to sell themselves to the other attendees for one of thirty-seven delegate slots.

So from a potential field of nearly two million voters, six thousand people got to pick thirty-seven to represent them at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland this July. Now I'm sorry, but to me, a mere tenth of one percentile for whom I didn't even get to vote is not representational.

Worse still is that the Colorado GOP is clearly biased. They set this up specifically so a non-traditional candidate couldn't possibly win their delegates. Now Cruz, being the Washington insider that he is, and probably with a wink and a nod from Colorado party officials, learned of this set-up beforehand, and was able to make hay with it.

This is not America. This is not how our democratic republic is supposed to work. It is one person, one vote and when a political party cuts its base out of an election, that is wrong.

Last night I was watching a program on Fox Business Network and there was a segment in which someone said something profound:

'Take away my vote, the last thing that makes us equal.'

Think about that for a second. That says it all. The one place in life where Americans are perfectly equal is in the voting booth. In the voting booth there is no race, no color, no religion, no economics, no nothing. It is the most level of playing fields - and what the Colorado GOP did was to take that away.

When the dust settled, the Colorado GOP Tweeted:

This Tweet, "We did it. #NeverTrump" was quickly taken down - but they did Tweet it, and it is disgusting as a representation of democracy.

What about all of the people who didn't realize that the primary had been canceled?

Granted, this was decided last August and there were newspaper articles leading up to it, but what recourse did Joe or Josephine Sixpack-Republican voter have if they disagreed with this change?

It was a backroom deal done by the party officials and, from what I've been able to find, they didn't include the electorate in the decision. They just did it. Silencing Joe and Jo Sixpack, cutting them off and shutting them out in the cold.

What about all of the people in Colorado who wanted to speak for themselves, to choose and cast a vote for a particular candidate? Nope. Sorry - you're not allowed.

What about all of the people who wanted to participate in the process, but couldn't because of health or economic reasons? The party's party was held in Colorado Springs - what if you couldn't get from home to there because you didn't have a car, or couldn't afford the bus ticket? Sorry. Too bad, so sad.

What the Republican party did in Colorado was completely shut out the electorate. They decided who was not going to be their candidate long before their turn came up to vote. The people of Colorado who might support Donald Trump or John Kasich got royally screwed by their own political party.

Now isn't that nice?

And what's going to happen with me is I'll keep doing what I do now. When the Slime Master appears on my television screen, I change channels. #NeverCruz.

Come June 8th, I will change my party affiliation - for good.

Best~
Philippa

Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories

Thursday, March 17, 2016

The Fray is Getting a Bit Crowded

After Trump's victories on Tuesday the liberal media and their major stockholders seem to be having major heart palpitations. This morning there was a meeting of The Donors who are most affected. Allegedly, this isn't just a friendly get-together. According to a number of people in the know it's to discuss ways they might be able to 'steal' this election from the GOP front runners.

For Cruz, I don't care. For Trump, I do.

Because the right-leaning insiders who control the GOP don't believe Trump's heart and political views are in the 'right place' according to their standards, they are on the verge of creating a wave of blow-back the likes of which haven't been seen in this country since at least the 1960's. And, what they don't understand, is that it is NOT Donald Trump's fault or doing.

It is solely and strictly because of the nonsense and machinations emanating from the Washington Beltway - which is at the exact epicenter for this whole election year of dissent.

What they have either forgotten or are choosing to ignore because they don't like it, any American citizen has the right and privilege to run for President. The Constitution does not stipulate that you must wheel and deal your way into office, or sell your soul to the highest bidders. Under the Founding documents, The Donald has just as much right to run for office and be elected as anyone else - be it Ted Cruz or Marco Rubio or one of the Bush family.

Curly Haugland, the RNC's National Committee's Rules Chairman announced on CNBC yesterday that 'the party will decide who the GOP nominee will be'. He said, flat-out, the RNC Donor Class is going decide who's going to run under the Republican banner after the convention - and the voters can all just go to hell.

That's a jaw-dropper to me and to a lot of other people who have a bigger platform for spreading the news. Already the question has been asked, 'if the party chooses, why bother with primaries?' I think we can agree that's a pretty damned good question. His response? 'That's a very good question.'

Bottom line, based on what my pea-brain is deciphering from all the chatter about this and the brokered convention is that:

In the primaries, candidates win delegates. Some states apportion them to each delegate based on what percent of the vote that delegate won in that state's caucus or election. Other states are 'winner-take-all'. These delegates are 'bound' to that candidate through to the party convention.

If the candidate quits the race, the delegates are released and can either be 'given' to another candidate through endorsement or other wheeling-and-dealing (what we all love about Washington politics, right?).

If a candidate suspends his campaign - as Rubio has done - he still holds onto those delegates and can use them for leverage come a brokered convention.

At the convention they count up the delegates. If one of the candidates has a clear victory with 1,237 delegates won through the primary process, it's over and done. Yippee, we have a candidate and everyone rallies around, pulling out the hatchets buried and knives thrown in the lead-up.

If no candidate has that magic number, then there's horsetrading that takes place. And this is where it could blow up in the face of the GOP / RNC owners. Those owners being the donors and not you and me.

Let's say Donald gets there with 1,157 delegates. He's close - really close - and millions more people have voted for him than have voted against him but what happens?

Well, he's not the clear winner despite millions of voters marking his name however it's done in their polling place. So, they have a ballot - an election within an election. The bound delegates vote for their guy - like him or not - and no one gets the clear majority again - unless someone steps forward with enough delegates and pledges those delegates to the person they want to see win and become the candidate.

It's convoluted as hell and, as with all things associated with the Constitution, is pretty damned brilliant. It's called the Electoral College and it's a tried and true tradition, even though I think it's really going to pinch hard come this summer. The Founders put it in place to keep a simple majority from taking over this country and running it as they see fit, no matter what the other 49% of the population want.

That's how Bush II "won" the still-disputed-in-some-circles 2000 election. The Electoral College looked at him and at Al Gore, decided Bush II was the lesser of two evils and gave him the nod. Which led to Gore famously throwing a tantrum through the courts and his acolytes swearing to this day that the election was 'stolen'.

Well, this year it might just be the Republicans turn to see it happen to them. The difference is, and it is a HUGE difference, is that it is not a party-to-party theft. It would be a theft within the party which will drive me and I suspect millions of other people away from the party for good and all.

Me? If they pull a stunt like that, I will go out the day after the results of the convention are known and I will re-register as an Independent. I will no longer proudly call myself a Republican because the load of straws is really heavy this year. One more and...

I suspect it is and will be the same for a lot of other people, too.

No matter. The GOP will no longer exist as it's been.

The controllers will be outed. The futility of participation will be shown, loud and clear, and the last vestige of decency, fairness and honesty will implode with a resounding kaboom.

Through their obstinacy and demand that the American voters who support Trump fall in line, they will sure as hell guarantee a win for Hilliary Clinton - along with Obie-One's successful nomination  of a wild-liberal Supreme Court Justice.

I am sure that is a deal that is already under discussion along the lines of 'if you keep Loretta Lynch from indicting me, I'll let you call the SCOTUS nomination before you leave office'. Why not? Whoever he chooses will probably be palatable to her. It's a win-win for them and, as I said the other day in relation to this, will guarantee that the face of America will change forever - and not for the better.

Our borders will be gone. Our sovereignty will be gone. All of those illegals here already will gain citizenship and the American economy will devolve to a third-world state within a matter of years.

That is what is at stake in this election and I, for one, do not want to see the Donors do this to our country but I will not participate in another exercise in futility if they put up someone like Ted Cruz or Marco or Bush or anyone else who I know cannot stand, fight and win against Hilliary and the rest of the world. Instead, I will carefully and legibly write Donald Trump's name on my ballot and pray that the vast majority of other Americans will do the same.


Now - I wish you a lovely day.

Best~
Philippa

Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories

Saturday, August 8, 2015

Fox News = Fair & Balanced? Uhhh, no.

Okay - I used to be a Fox News junkie. A year or so ago and before, it was my solid go-to for news and world events. Then things changed, as they do.

I had less time to watch, the commentators became more... whatever they already were.

Megan Kelly = drama queen
Bill O'Reilly = know-it-all blow hard (I live with one so I know 'em when I see 'em)
Brit Hume = RNC sycophant / disciple or whatever synonym you care to apply
Sean Hannity = well-intended, weak-kneed choir boy with a solid Catholic bent

Susan Estrich is impossible to listen to. Her voice makes nails on a blackboard sound downright melodic (I'm sorry - maybe it's my hearing, but that's how it sounds to me).

Anne Coulter - the personification of a shrill, well-informed BITCH (all caps - done deliberately). She cannot moderate her tone yet keep her opinions flowing in something that faintly resembles reasoned thinking. She must and does come across as much like a shrew or fishwife as she can manage. As a thinker, she is borderline brilliant. As a commentator, she is a complete shrew / harpy / fishwife - you pick your adjective, but I think you get the theme.

At this point, I'm right at my husband's side when it comes to Fox News. When my MIL wants to watch it, her favorite go-to for the talking heads and empty suits, I leave the room.

The debate the other night is the entire thing in a nutshell.

Chris Wallace, the self-appointed arbiter of what makes a good conservative (even though he's a party-line apparatchik of the first order), went after Donald Trump.

So did Megan Kelly. Snarky is the nicest thing I can find to say about her performance.

Bret Baier was the only one on that stage, or in the Fox News spin room, who showed even a modicum of 'fair and balanced' - Fox's much Trumped tag line.

Okay - they don't like Donald Trump. Personally, I don't either. He is another pumped-up blow hard - just like Bill O'Reilly with a major difference.

Trump is so self-evidently an egoist (selfish, self-centered, arrogant, etc.) that it doesn't make any difference. He's not an egoist who tries to hide his egoism. He's honest about it, embraces it.

His ego does not allow the man to prevaricate about his opinions. Love it or not, there's something to respect right there. He speaks his mind - says what he means, means what he says.  As he declared to Megan Kelly the other night when her panties were all twisted up because The Donald is mean to and an ass around women, 'if you don't like it, too bad because I don't care'. Good! Because neither do I.

I do not need another incompetent touchie-feelie moron sitting in the oval office. Ladies and gents, we need a MAN. Someone with the stones and guts to go toe-to-toe with those who wish to do us and our people harm.

How many crucial contracts or deals has Obama negotiated? One. Just one and he gave everything to the other side.

In exchange for handing Iran the keys to their own nuclear arsenal - which will, inevitably, be used against Europe and the United States, we got zero. 0.00000000000 = ZIP, zilch, zed, nada.

Our hostages? Still held hostage. Thanks Mr. President! Couldn't even bargain them out of Iranian jails.

Israel? I give them, ohhh, maybe two years. Why do you think Iran sent one of its senior political members to Russia this week? Could it be to negotiate for rocket technology so they can put one of their nuclear weapons on top of it to launch it in the direction of Israel? Mm?

Then, once Israel is turned to cinder, who do you suppose will be next?

Ever hear of Armageddon, the end of the world, end of everything foretold in the Bible?

Guess what! It's a real, honest to goodness place - smack dab in Israel. It's now called Meggido, but it's a real place (Google it if you don't believe me) and, if Iran launches a nuke at Israel, that might well be the place where World War III - the Annihilation of Civilization begins.

What do you think the result would have been if Donald Trump or one of his delegates was sitting across the table from the Iranians during those negotiations? Do you think that hard-nosed man would have walked away with nothing to show for the effort?

In our house we call John Kerry 'Herman Munster'. First, for the physical resemblance:


But also for the vacancy between the ears. Just Google: "kerry admits iran deal failure" and you will get a plethora of articles calling it a hoax and worse. And he was the chief negotiator for God's sake!

So Donald Trump couldn't do better? With all of his years of experience in negotiations he couldn't do any better than Kerry and Obama?

Give me a break.

Our hostages would be free and those voids called 'inspection requirements' would be filled. Do you realize that to inspect Iran's nuclear facilities, based on the deal cut by Obama & Co., we have to not only provide 24-hours prior notice - meaning Iran has 24-hours to clean things up and hide what they don't want the inspectors to find - we have to go through a series of other steps beforehand? That means the flag of Upcoming Inspection soars up the flagpole a week or more before the 24-hour notice period, so there's even more time.

Great job, Obie One! And here's what Israel children have to look forward to because of our knowledgeable leadership:


Well, just resurrect and export Bert the Turtle with his built-in air raid shelter.


O'Reilly says he's out to help 'the folks' but I don't buy it. He isn't able or willing to step out from behind the desk and speak his mind - without apology.

As Trump said the other night, America spends far too much time on 'political correctness'. As Ben Carson pointed out, because of 'political correctness' we spend far more time fighting non-existent race wars pumped up by segments on both sides, than we do trying to fix what's broke.

There has been a firestorm because The Donald wouldn't toe the Republican Party Line at the start of the debate.

The people on the stage were asked something like, 'No matter who gets nominated, will you pledge to support them (even if you think they're just as incompetent and weenie-like as the present incumbent of the oval office)?' Trump was the only one who refused to make such a pledge.

Why? Not because of what Fox News is trumpeting. It's probably because underneath all that bluff and bluster the man has at least a minor streak of ethics left. If he had made that promise and if Jeb Bush were to get the nomination - the third Bush in a row of lily livers - Trump would have publicly committed to support him.

After what Bush I and Bush II did to us - 'read my lips' and the still on-going devastation of printing money we don't have so we can spend money we don't really have so we can fix the recession - I don't think we need Bush III to seal the deal for the U.S.

Obama may be incompetent and dangerous to the point of maniacal, but he did not single-handedly get us into the economic mess we're still in. He made it worse, there's no question, but he was not the cause. We had twenty years of cause before he showed up.

Bush I's reneging on his 'read my lips' promise and other weak-kneed policies led us into Kuwait in the first Gulf war. Hussein thought we were weak, because that's what he saw in Bush. Bush's advisers shoved him in the right direction, thank God, but left to himself he would have wrung his hands, wet his pants and generally behaved like George McFly.



Clinton's policies led to the technology bubble in the NASDAQ bursting in 1998. That threw us into recession. Congress repealed Glass Steagall, which was instituted to solve the Great Depression and make sure financial speculation didn't reach the same levels at some future date. Clinton approved it.

Glass-Steagall was what kept us from economic devastation for nearly seventy years. Then Congress, in its infinite stupidity, repealed it. Seven years later the housing speculation bubble bursts and... here we all are, eight years later.

Wikipedia.org Glass-Steagall_Legislation

Then we got Obie One. Our sports loving, golf playing, multi-trillion dollar spending lazy-ass incompetent president.

Do I like Donald Trump? No. I don't, but for our next president I think we could do one hell of a lot worse.

Now, I suggest you do some reading and research - in more than one place and from more than one point of view. There's a lot here.

Read up on the Great Depression and what led to it - financial speculation, just like the tech bubble of the late 1990's and the housing bubble of the mid-2000's.

Read up on Glass-Steagall, what it meant, what it did and why it was effective.

Do a little research into the candidates on both sides.

Bernie Sanders talks like a kindly ol' socialist, but check his voting record. Look into him a bit. The left might not like the fact that his voting record is quite (very) pro-gun. He didn't support the Brady Act. He didn't support legislation that would allow the Sandy Hook families to sue the gun manufacturer (although why the manufacturer has any liability is beyond me).

For the liberal-socialist base, though, they'll adore him. He is another profligate tax-and-spender. He's sponsoring a bill, now, that opens voter registration up to everyone who gets a driver's license - American citizen or not, which means that any illegal from anywhere can influence our nation's government. Personally, I have a problem with that. Personally, I have a problem with the idea that suing a manufacturer because someone uses a product and causes harm to others is okay. But that's red meat for another post.

We all know Hilliary. Rose Law Firm, Vince Foster, lying, being charged with (and acquitted of) perjury (although I do believe the evidence was there, just ill-prepared and poorly presented). All the rest of it.  BTW - anyone seen her lately, doing the grocery shopping for her and Bill? How about at the cleaners, the gas station standing by the pump watching the gauge, or doing any of the other things those people whom she's so in touch with do on a daily basis?

Oh, and while you're checking things out - read up on Benghazi. Refresh your memory and then ask yourself: Would an ego-maniac like Donald Trump take such a thing lying down, or would his massive ego step in and force us to actually try to do something?

After all, the US military maintains rescue forces all around the world, specifically to save people caught in situations like Benghazi. Obama was too busy crapping his pants to send them - as they are trained to be sent - so instead of, perhaps, saving a few Americans, all were lost. Whatever happened to the credo: leave none behind? Hmm. Perhaps some more reading is in order.

Best~
Philippa

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