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Tag Archives: As I see It

Tough SEll?


 

   
   
   
 
 
We currently have political candidates for the Presidency uttering extreme and radical comments that often have no context in reality. These jump on, jump off the bandwagon of their parties candidates should be looked at very carefully. Their lies and basic suspect information has caused great harm to innocent people. In Texas the state legislature has created laws restricting Planned Parenthood from operating based on misinformation from the religious zealots who have rewritten the bible to suit their own beliefs (sounds like the Islamic State). Now in Colorado (a crazed gunman) shot up a Planned Parenthood clinic while muttering about baby parts being sold (this is possibly from speeches from Carly Liarina) . This man is a legal
firearms owner(?) who has a history of strangeness when he lived in Carolina yet he still had legally owned firearms which enabled him to shoot people in a clinic, killing a law enforcement officer and  patients while wounding other citizens and law enforcement officers. More gun laws will not do the job but more investigation into buyers (and sometimes owners) might. So here we are with our own home-grown extremists creating horrific situations in America and our aspiring candidates carrying the torch for them. If we as a country want to stop these types of events we need to elect people who “get it”. No one is perfect but an elected official needs to be more like a judge and that is to evaluate ALL of the information (evidence) and make a decision based on that information however unlike judges these are politicians whose focus is get elected and probably create more chaos while doing nothing of benefit to any of us.

 

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Chicago?? Toddling town!


Mayor Rahm Emanuel has relieved the top policeman of his duties and his job. This come 14 months after an officer shot a civilian 16 times and at least 14 times after the civilian was on the ground. From the top, Mr. Emanuel took over the position of mayor of Chicago and immediately alienated most of the residents, thereafter he barely won a second term. It is regrettable that too many political people do not do their homework when running for office. There is no way to know everything that is required but it is possible to look at the long simmering issues and on going long term problems and attempt to  make a plan to resolve them. As usual that did not happen, what did happen is that the rich handlers and more affluent held sway while the neediest and less affluent got squat! schools were closed in the neediest areas, services were lessened but the Mayor espoused a record of doing good work. Well my opinion is Bu****it! I now pronounce Rahm Emanuel to be less effective than Rahmen Noodles.

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Not Just Our Business Now


I would like to start this post by stating that “Democracy is relative to the region it exists in”

We have been too involved on the middle east for too long. This all began after and during WWII, once the war was over the assortment of players in the area returned to their normal ( for them) routines. These routines while not so great to us was what they were used to. We as country attempted to insert “our” democracy into a region that functioned as well as it could after a devastating war. The ruling powers were all for “democracy” in theory in order to continue receiving aid from the U.S. and other major powers. These “leaders” then regressed to their pre war attitudes and again began restrict and place a foot on the necks of the people. Our part was to ignore the situation and continue to import cheap oil, bolstering the  dictatorial leaders by those actions. Our actions led up to “911” because we supported these dictators  by accepting their managing of their countries no matter the effects on the people. After several failed  incursions “for the wrong reasons”  we have now been held up to criticism  for not doing enough. There are speeches and discussions from all sides regarding the U.S lack of force in the Middle and near East yet no one wants to spend the money or send forces to those areas. It is easy to second guess the President, especially since some Congressional members will use any means to discredit or assign blame primarily to gain seats in the Congress so they can have control. Their Control is what got us in this mess so what is that makes them think having control will fix anything? What should have happened and didn’t is the Congress should have been working with the White House instead of being the “dog in the manger” to the detriment of us all, The entire United States of America! Our Business is the repairing of America and not trying to look good to the world, this is the job of the UN which should be taking the lead on these issues and isn’t. We pay dearly to the funding of the UN and other sources so there needs to be pressure from Congress on the UN and not the President and less talk from outsiders whose interests do not include 99% of Americans. We have now had to send more military to assist in the middle East because Russia is attempting a power play to aid their allies, along with Iran and Saudi Arabia. This created a messy web of “mini wars”. The assorted religious and ethnic groups are fighting it out among themselves and at the same time against others so no one knows or recognizes the real enemy. Once The U.S. puts boots on the ground ( I mean thousands of troops) we are in another war we cannot win. It is impossible to determine who the real enemy is since , to use a derogatory phrase “they all look alike”, the differences are ethnic and religious but there are no visible signs of who is who. This creates a situation where the wrong people are being bombed and displaced. This creates a refugee situation for the region and much of Europe and other parts of the mid east in which no one can still sort out who is who. This is not to say the refugees  should not receive refuge but their own countries once stabilized may not offer them a place to return to if the original problems are not resolved. This leaves us with a quandary: what or who should be on deck to repatriate them in a positive way? It certainly appears that the assortment of military ( formal or informal) can only offer limited assistance, so the onus falls (as I see it) is on the more prosperous countries in the region, it should be their job to help the least of them which in turn will help the whole of them. America is looked to as a leader in this but we should not be required to lead the charge only to find that we are cut off without support (UN!). Our current aspiring politicians are spouting about what we should do just to get people fired up and to get votes and not thinking about the long range effect. A proper way for us to assist is limited military (regardless of what Russia does) and as much financial and material aid as we need to provide.

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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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