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Tag Archives: As I see It

Is It Possible


Is it possible, could we as people become color, race and religious blind? How important are the divisions that separate us? American being a microcosm of the world should be an example of how a diverse group should work together. We have always had the capability to be the example beyond our other problems of financial, political and manufacturing malfeasance. In spite of the past 200 plus years of learning to be a world power, we still have a way to go. We should have no place in our mainstream for political misdeeds, tacit bigotry and financial cheats. It is odd that other countries have figured out how to educate their citizens without a mountain of  debt, provided healthcare that works for all without debt. It appears that proper taxing of the citizens and correct use of the taxes is the key. We currently have several  (too many) aspirants to be a candidate for the Presidency, each brings his own baggage yet we are fascinated by their speeches and ranting’s. When the speeches and debates are over we really need to understand what the President can actually do and keeping in mind that there is still the issue (no mistake, issue is the correct word) of Congress. Our Congress has become no more than a group of people who have begun to see themselves as better than the people who placed them in office (repeatedly). With that thought in mind, isn’t it time to decide that our Congress is our real problem and not the President (no matter who it is). None of us would trust anyone who would lie to our faces and then pretend to help yet we have 535 people who have raised that activity to an art form. These seat fillers have avoided action on healthcare so that it fails the people it is designed to help, our 535 could have acted in a statesmanlike manner and made changes that would be even more beneficial to us all however politics took over and we all lost. Now it is election season and  time for the politricks to begin along with the blatant lies about everything and done in our names.

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What We Hear


 
 

Buzzwords, sound bites and catch phrases are not facts. The current political debates are popularity contests disguised as real information. These aspirants use what they can to excite , arouse and enthuse us with what they believe we want to hear. The reality is , when whoever gets the job is actually sitting in the Oval office the promises, sound bites, buzz words, etc. no longer apply. The reality of the job kicks in like an overdose of caffeine. It will take the first four years to understand the job and act on things that were already in the works. There will be no repealing, revoking or deleting because they will have to be the CIC with military activities occurring in other countries, UN members that need attention aside from their immediate family’s needs. He or she will need to hit the ground running since time stops for no one nor does the country’s business. The question is who do we rally want or who do we really need? There are no perfect candidates but we need to dismiss  the debates as  so much fluff or as we would a schoolyard scuffle between second graders. Our job as voters is to determine beyond the debates and oratory of the campaign who feel will do the job if we do not perform this exercise we will not have fulfilled our duty as voters and we can only blame our selves if we end up less than the best we can get. There is no such thing as “no matter who I vote for nothing will change”. This is why Illinois has the Governor they currently have and why we have the Congress we have. Remember Congress will be in place after the Presidential elections so who will we blame then?- Ourselves if we become complacent and place our trust in Politrickers.

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Billions


Why is it that billions can be spent on campaigning but none is spent for infrastructure. It is understood that these billions are provided by external sources yet the roads and bridges still need funding. While the politicians argue and jostle for position, the legislation to fund the government for an extended time is  going undone. Suppose these statesman wannabes actually tried to be? The modern political climate is pretty much bought and sold by big money donors whose agenda does not include anything good for the voters of America no matter what they say in the media. In my opinion  anyone , voters, elected officials or even external sources who does not see the always present “handwriting on the wall” is either blind or they do not care that we as a country could have a serious problem. The current political and business climate harkens back to the time of the railroad and steel magnates who helped build this country but some totally disrespected their workers and kept them in virtual poverty and at the so called “lower rungs of society”. It is important to remember that this is not as much a racial issue as a class one. When the clouds roll by and the sky is clear one can readily see that most of us who are not millionaires have been pushed into the same leaky boat no matter what our religion, race or ethnicity is. This is class warfare on a grand scale with a sprinkling of Racism and religious outrage thrown in to muddy the waters. It is unfortunate that some of the folks who are in this boat have allowed their biases  to blind them to the greater problem which is the electorate and Billionaire rulers.

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Getting Real


No matter what your political preferences are, no matter what you believe and no matter which news you elect to believe one thing is sure we are all being played by the media and our elected officials. Between the media and the elected talking heads we have been drowning in lies and innuendo. The money spent in running election campaigns is too high to fathom for many of us but we still follow the progress without a squeak! Is it possible that we (the voters) could put an end to this madness? Answer is yes. First forget about political parties, religious beliefs and  ethnicities, these are all  items that the manipulators use to keep us from uniting for a better government.  There will never be perfection in government as we are as  a nation are too diverse to make laws that will be perfect for all of us but we can certainly strive to elect people who understand our diversity and can make the effort to create the laws that work the best for all of us. The last time we as a country unconditionally united was after 911 (even with the down side of the “WMD” nonsense)  and before that it was WWII. That unity quickly dissolved when there was no national focus. As stated in the preamble of the Constitution and Bill of Rights:  “We the people of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
There will always be challenges to what the Constitution is and that is a good thing as it allows for clarification as related to the modern America. The key to our continued progress is to remove the grip of our elected officials who have served too long and  long ago stopped representing us in spite of their constant and convenient use of “the American people” in their speeches. The only existing term limits lies in the hands of the voters, there will never be a law to that effect. If one looks at the many laws around the country that affect us all you will recognize the need for informed voters. In some areas the states have effectively made moves that disenfranchised  voters, eliminated workman’s compensation that effectively pushed families into poverty. We the people means we the voters and that requires us to be well informed and not under informed by “faux news”, single-minded pundits or shiny objects.

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Asked And Answered


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The Planned parenthood sting video has been disproven yet the Federal legislators are still whipping the same dead horse.  What does it take for our “elected officials” to start paying attention to facts rather than political talking points that elicit “knee jerk” reactions from the public.  Looking at the facts shows that none (zero) of the Federal  fund go towards abortions, a majority of the funding is committed to Women’s health. We as voters have been subjected to half truths, innuendo and often outright lies so we would elect or re-elect representatives. Isn’t it time to remove the ” TV entertainment” style  of campaigning from our elections? We already have enough political theater with our 535 seat fillers in Washington and many states so let’s get down to real business and make our  elected officials accountable. These office holders have  made subterfuge and advertising type messages an art form while we  (the voters) wait for the other shoe to drop. It highly probable that this form of governing will continue until we (voters) look behind the curtain of election speeches, talking points and barnstorming tactics to see that we have our representatives colluding to do us no good on any level according to the wishes of their big money backers.

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Illinois Issues


Attention Illinois residents, in case you had not noticed the state is still in a downhill spiral. We have a new governor but have we made any progress? We listened to all of the pre election hype and made a decision based on the poor performance of the former governor not on the person who was ultimately elected. At this time our state is being shut down piecemeal , this incremental closing or reduction of services and departments will have a long term effect beyond this governor even if he remains in office a another term. To run a state like a business is a good talking point but does not necessarily translate into correct real time actions. Can we do anything about it? Yes we can (remember that), we are the voters and we control who is elected and apparently too many of us have forgotten that. Do we know all that we need to know to vote correctly or from a position of knowledge ? The answer is no primarily because we tend to get distracted by sound bites and shiny objects. A campaign button, coffee mug or catch phrase is not a good reason to vote for anyone. The key to good government is good elected officials and the key to good elected officials is good information on the candidates. We will never know all that we need to know but if we keep in mind the old adage: “If it walks like a duck, etc.” . Voting is probably the hardest choice we have to make due to the modern media coverage which slams us with political ads 24-7 with no real content. It is our choice to vote for anyone we want but we need to make those choices based on correct information and not campaign ads. Just remember taxes is how the state runs “our” business and provides services to us all. Unfortunately for too many years our legislators have failed to modernize the tax system so it functions as it should. The state legislators have been afraid to talk about (now desperately needed) tax increases for all of us . Pension funds have been borrowed against and now cannot be repaid as required. As our financial hole grows deeper our government stalemate grows more rigid. This leaves us ALL in a soft sided hole that is slowly caving in on us.

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Research


It is absolutely amazing how little research is done on information presented by people who are seeking the nomination for the Presidency. For Instance Planned Parenthood: taking this issue on based on altered video and audio along with misinformation on how the Government funding is used. These people will seek to defund programs that they know little to nothing about. We still have voters who are chewing on the old disproven bone that the current President is a Muslim! If they aspire to be the leader of the  world icon of freedom, then their focus needs to be on the big picture instead of the theatrics of politics. It is easy to pot shot, cherry pick and otherwise ignore facts however making choices based on true facts takes more work. Using real intelligence from reliable sources is what keeps us safe not speculative ideas from people who enlist or solicit information from unilateral  non mainstream sources. It clear to me that in this electronic age fewer people know the truth since fewer people bother to investigate news and the sources. These are the people who believe that anything on the internet is true regardless of the source. Truth begins with a basic understanding of the subject and subsequent personal investigation from other sources to back it up and again not speculative information.
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The Question


Why is it that so many folks attack, tweet and otherwise vilify Fox News? If you do not agree with them why waste time viewing them? The best way to deal with “Faux” news is to not look at them. It is common knowledge that the media “giant” is not a valid presenter of real news and an ardent purveyor of  “check out stand “style information. This station has long been an outlet that values misinformation above real journalism. Look at its luminaries ”

Bill O’Reilly-History teacher out to sell books at any cost

Glenn Beck- Ultra Conservative newsman who was a darling of the Republican party until he wasn’t

Elizabeth Hasselback- Semi knowledgeable presenter- error prone-

Ann Coulter- Racist incarnate , has one aim sell book that denigrate whoever it takes to sell a book and play to the insecurities,  racial hatred of certain segments of the population (who if they knew her would hate her).

We as hopefully rational people need to proceed cautiously in our support of incorrect and misapplied  information, while your personal beliefs are your own, they should be supported by truth rather than speculation and again misapplied information. It is entirely possible that failing to look at all sides of an issue will result in a poor judgment in electing our representatives. Anyone can present information that you like but not many present what you don’t like.

Congressional Fault


With the recent spate of Racially based crimes on buildings and individuals it is not hard to connect the dots. Our Congress since the election of Barack Obama has tacitly condoned (renewed) Racism. The vitriol over most programs presented by the President have met more opposition than possibly any of his predecessors. What we have is big money powering the anti’s coupled with the innate racism of some members of Congress. While it is not necessarily quantifiable, it is feasible to imagine that some members of Congress while advocating for their districts have seeded their “home” speeches with racial epithets that serve to invigorate the supposed or perceived Racial differences in America. While are we giving so much attention to “old flags”  the Oligarchs are pushing to enslave us all as they have enslaved our government ( Congress). Be aware that our Congress contrary to popular belief is not as independent as they would have us believe, they have all benefitted from the largesse offered from the Oligarchical coffers. Our political system is all about who can spend the most money while many voters are in dire need of healthcare, jobs and basic living standards all of which was promised by the people we elected to Congress to make this happen. The amount of funding provided by the oligarchs apparently is too tempting to ignore but comes with a price – “their Souls” . We have issues that should be clear to all Americans since this is the only country we have and it is just over 200 plus years in existence wouldn’t you think we should be more caring about it and our fellow Americans of all races (since these assorted Races are what make up America). From the beginning when the first landers on the shores of what is now the United States, they began to push the Real Americans (Natives) around and became upset when they fought back. From that point on it became open season on non whites (who had already been here for Eons), then there was the import of slaves , stolen from their home country because the New Americans wanted cheap (free) labor. It is small wonder that Americans as a whole have less respect around the world and that has translated into disrespect for our current President and his initiatives (which if he were White would be less of an issue). Our current and past Congress have all been at fault due to their short-sighted thinking and allowing “white Privilege ” to make a joke out of our Democracy. We have people who are aspiring to run for the Presidency who are advocating another round-up of “illegals” to provide jobs for Americans yet not many Americans want to do the jobs that these immigrants do which is why “Americans” hire them. Our Congress is more of a hindrance to better government than any of the left or right wing groups in combination. We voters (every  multi-ethnic one of us) should pay careful attention to who we elect as bombastic speeches do not make a competent legislators. Indolence in our voting will be our downfall as history has shown in the past.

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Someday


At some point hopefully in the near future we will observe the phenomena of responsible people running for office. At this time we have 17 +   candidates attempting to get the nod  for a run at being President of the U.S.  We are in the doldrums of politics, we have candidates running for office who spend millions to win while trashing the other folks, government and hiding their own flaws. It is easy to pot shot the status quo but the status quo will never change until these runners own up to their own frailties. The lowest income, minorities and underprivileged are the targets of these people but to listen to them they are friends of the people. It has been proven that a well informed person can make informed decisions but these bozo’s have spent millions on spin doctors who control the media for the benefit of their bosses. Politics has never been a clean business but in recent years it has become an absolute mud hole of innuendo and misrepresentation. The onus is on the voters to  remain above the dirt and understand who they are really putting in office. Someday  we may have people of integrity vying for office, someone we can really trust (as far as politicians can be trusted) . Someday we may be able to see through the smoke and mirrors, ignore the rhetoric that is considered truth but is only thinly veiled lies that serve only the speakers of the lie and their handlers. Someday we may have the solidarity we had in 1941 and lost in the 50’s, recovered somewhat in the late 60’s but started to back pedal in the late 70’s and on until now. Someday the radicals on both sides will be swept out by the real Americans who understand that we either stand together or fall separately. Someday.

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