New Year's Party Chit-chat Dilemma

I've been invited to a pre-New Year's Eve party on Sunday evening, an annual ritual with several of our acquaintances. They are all college grads and believe that they are fairly politically astute. Conversation always turns to politics which arouses me from my food-fireplace-induced stupor. As this group is left-leaning in their political posturing, save one lonely soul, discussion will center around the '08 election and which Democrat will be best. My wife and I are also invited to another party a few weeks later with the not-so subtle title, "Election '08 Get-together."

No doubt tomorrow evening one in the crowd will ask the same question that I have been asked by this group for the past several years: What's the name of your blog? They never remember and/or they couldn't care less, which is fine, as long as they are getting the information that they need. Information not only on who's who, but on what the GOP has been doing to suppress the vote of urban black voters. I have posted stories on that issue and receive few comments.

Surely most folks at the gathering on Sunday will expect an easy Democratic win, believing that the nation is fed up with Republicans. Yet they need to be reminded of their naiveté in both 2000 and 2004 when the GOP political machine maneuvered behind the scenes to skew the votes for the Republicans. Blind hope is easily trumped by determined scoundrels.

Microdot, a co-author of this blog, posted a comment yesterday that struck me. He said, "...but to be informed is the best defense against the usual gang of scoundrels next attempt to exploit this for their own terrorist fear mongering ends!"

Although he had directed this comment to the Bhutto assassination, it surely is relevant to any political situation, towards any group of thugs and deviants.

I will challenge the party-goers to wake up from their Pollyanna-like dreams and spread the word to all of their friends and acquaintances to be alert to the dirty election-day tricks that are already in place not only here in Ohio but across the nation. "to be informed is the best defense against the usual gang of scoundrels!"

Bush/Cheney Face Arrest in Vermont

George Bush has visited 49 states, and with this latest push to arrest Cheney and him on war crimes charges, it looks like Vermont will remain the only un-Bush state. Oh, to be so lucky!

A group in Brattleboro Vermont is petitioning to put an item on a town meeting agenda in March that would make Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney subject to arrest and indictment if they visit the southeastern Vermont community.

"This petition is as radical as the Declaration of Independence, and it draws on that tradition in claiming a universal jurisdiction when governments fail to do what they're supposed to do," said Kurt Daims, 54, a retired machinist leading the drive.

I would hope that the World Court in The Hague would be sending some lawyers to this town to help write the war crimes indictment. After all, they have been doing a fine job of that with other miscreants and scoundrel leaders for some time.

Were Karl Rove still advising Bush, I am certain that he would have planned an unannounced, midnight stop at the airport just to stick it to the insurgents in Vermont. The coward. But we already know that.

Good Immigarant/Bad Immigrant?

I just read that Tom Tancredo, our most rabid anti immigrationist and most specifically the loudest anti illegal Mexican voice has just endorsed Mitt Romney.
Mitt Romney, in his across the board, trying to be everything to every Republican has done his part to pander to the illegal Mexican immigration hysteria being milked for votes.
Here's some very interesting history......
Mitt Romneys father, George, who went on to become the two term Republican governor of Michigan in the 1960's was born in Mexico and was an illegal immigrant to boot!
George was born in Chihuahua, Mexico in 1907, the son of Gaskell Romney and Anna Amelia Pratt. The Romneys had lived in Mexico since 1884, when Miles Park Romney moved the family there from Utah.
Miles Romney was a Morman polygamist who realized that as Utah approached State Hood, the United States Government would not tolerate thte Mormon Polygamist communities there. The 1882 Edmunds Act stripped polygamists of their rights of US citizenship, denying them the riught to vote, serve on juries or hold office.
Like today's immigration raids, polygamists were hunted down and arrested. They were asked to leave the country or risk jail.
Miles chose to renounce his US Citizenship and move to Mexico with his multiple wives and children. At that time, many Mormons were leaving the American territory to establish Mormon colonies near the border. The Mexican government also had laws declaring polygamy illegal and the Mormon polygamists were coming into Mexico in direct violation of Mexican immigrattion law.
Utah became a state in 1895 and as part of it's conditions for Statehood, it passed a state constitution forbidding polygamy.
The Romneys stayed in Mexico and there are still descendants of the original line living there. Gaskell and Anna Romney left in 1912 , at the hieght of the Mexican Revolution, when the rebels menanced the Mormon settlements. Their Relative, Junius Romney was able to negotiate a safe passage for many of the Mormons who wanted to leave, including Gaskell, Anna and their infant son, George.
They entered the United States illegally as citizens of nebulous status of Mexico with no formalities or border searches and ended up settling in New Mexico.
For an illegal Mexican immigrant, George did pretty well for himself. He rose up through the hierarchy at GM and entered politics and became a very successful governor of Michigan and led the state through some it's most traumatic years.
Perhaps the family history gave George some of the personal tools and morality that guided him through the dark days of the Detroit Race Riots. He embraced the principle of Dr. Martin Luther King and as his last political gesture, opposed Richard Nixon for the Republican Presidential nomination in 1968, publically breaking with the Party to oppose the Vietnam War.
Perhaps it's more than just Tom Tancredo who needs to be reminded of the Romney family history.

Huckabee's Vigilance on Pakistani Illegals

Thank god we have another born-again Christian fighting to save America from those damned illegal immigrants trying to sneak across our borders. Rev. Huckabee ought to get one of those tin 'Medal of Freedom' awards that George Bush likes to hand out to 'folks fight'n for freedom.'

Singlehandedly yesterday, Rev. Huckabee identified +600 Pakistani illegals who had snuck into America- the 2nd highest number of illegals next to you-know-who! No doubt his sleuthful vigilance will carry him forward in Iowa to an even greater victory margin.

Rest safely tonight, my fellow Americans, with Rev. Huckabee at the helm of our nation we will be even more safe that we have been with that other born-again Christian fellow who has been guiding out ship of state so well for the past 7 years.

Lakota Sioux Declare Independence From US

The Lakota Sioux nation is well represented in Nebraska where I live. On December 18, it served notice to the US, asserting itself as a sovereign nation. They will issue their own passports and drivers license and there will be no income tax for those who renounce their US citizenship. Lakota land spans 5 states (NE, SD, ND, WY, MT).

The Lakota Sioux claim that none of the treaties have been fulfilled with the US. And they continue to fare poorly because of current policies. They believe that it’s time for them to self govern.

To check out the area of the Lakota Sioux, click here. It is amazingly massive.

"None of the treaties have been fulfiled.' Imagine that. Looks like they want to be on the government dole!!

Here's what I'd say to these ungrateful people: if you don't like our country, go back to where you came from!

2007: How Science Came Full Circle

LiveScience.com has a fascinating article on some of the major science discoveries of 2007. It is a great review of how scientists are helping us live better and saving the earth.

America's Love-Affair With Dastardly Dictators

We really ought to have a dictator of our own because, apparently, we love them [to death]. Our dictator d'jour is Pakistan's General Musharraf. The Bush Administration has funded this dictator to the tune of $5 billion. How much is in his Swiss bank account?

Why do we love dictators? Do we secretly have a love-affair with strong men? Do we subliminally long for a king? Our history seems to prove it. Look at the list of dictators that the U.S. Government has funded to prop-up their power-hold on the people of their nations:

Pervez Musharraf
Saddam Hussein
Shah of Iran
Augusto Pinochet
Suharto
Anastasio Somoza
Stroessner
Hugo Banzer
Saud family
Noriega
Papa Doc, Baby Doc
Trujillo
Fulgencio Batista
Armas
Fuentes
Montt

...to name the most obvious.

Why would a nation, the world's first democracy, a nation that fought a bitter war to gain its independence from a ruthless monarch, prop-up other sordid scoundrels around the world? For those of us who have paid atention in our history classes, we know. Which is precicely the problem for America: their history classes were most often a boring babble of dates and names which posed few challenges to the intellect. A nation of history-illiterates is the prize of scoundrels and other ignoble leaders.

Pakistan's ex-PM Benazir Bhutto Assassinated

Pakistan's ex-PM Benazir Bhutto is killed in a presumed suicide attack, a spokesman for her party says. Former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has died after a suicide bombing that killed at last 14 of her supporters, former Pakistan government spokesman Tariq Azim Khan and Pakistan's primary television networks said. Bhutto was shot in the aftermath of the bomb attack.

What does this mean for Mushariff? Wha does it mean for the United States and its relationship with him and his country? Should we have been paying more attention to Pakistan than Iran? So many questions...

Ron Paul: "People are starving for the truth!"

Ron Paul said it on MSNBC this morning as part of his answer on why he is running for president. His statement is crystal clear and obviously true, but the timeless question still stands: what is truth? Clearly we will not find truth flowing from the tongue of a politician nor from most elected officials. There are few in Congress who stand before the citizens and tell the truth.

Which, of course, leaves the citizens of this republic uninformed and lied-to. Where is he truth? The media has proved itself untrustworthy, especially in the run-up to the Bush War. Radio talking heads present well-spun and pre-digested information to the listener. Blogmeisters wear their own colored glasses. Internet sites are often skewed. What's left? Word of mouth?

Yes, Mr. Paul, 'people are starving for the truth!' Do you provide it? Who does? What's a citizen to do?

It's the Time of Year for Those "Top 10 of 2007"

I generally gag at the list of nonsense that people collect and rank, yet the American public seems tobe transfixed by Top 10 lists. What if we created our own list this year? We have 5 more days left in 2007, clearly enough time to come up with our own list. Let's give it a go.

How about the Top 10 Actions that Most Damaged our Republic in the Year 2007? Let's see if we can collectively come up with 10. If we get more, we'll have a vote on the most severe. If you don't mind, I'll start off:

Top 10 Actions that Most Damaged our Republic in 2007

The destruction of the CIA torture tapes.

Peace Zealot Sticks Her Neck Out Once Again

No doubt when she returns home from work, Sally Keller's answering machine will be filled with the usual vile and filth that she has become used to. They love to call and vent their anger, especially as she is a woman. Yet she continues expressing her opinion in quite the open forum of a letter to the editor in The Blade.

The same people call me when I have a letter published. The odd thing is that the callers are so skewed in their thinking that they negate their own 'logic' with each ugly word that flows from their mouth. The callers generally like the trumped-up propagandized sentence, "We're bringing freedom to them!" They also enjoy the classic, "Freedom is not free!" Sadly, they have drunk deeply the propaganda fed to them by Rove and Cheney.

Unaffected by their ideals, they deny the writer these very freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution. Of course, that document is getting rather tattered these days by this administration. Nonetheless, they carry on with their righteous pronouncements interspersed with a dozen or so expletives. Often they end with, "Why don't you go back to [ ] and leave America to real Americans."

One caller who vomited in my voice mail forgot to do *67 before his exploitive-filled rant, so I called him back. Shocked by my return call, and quite unprepared for a challenge, he hung up on me. The coward. I called back, but he took the receiver off the hook for the next hour.

Odd stuff; odd people. Anyway, here's Sally Keller's latest exercise of her First Amendment right:

Not surprising tapes of torture destroyed

I do not understand why Democrats in Congress are acting so surprised about the destruction of videotapes of Americans using torture.

This has been the most vile and corrupt administration in my 50 years, and the Democrats have rolled over and played dead since Sept. 11, giving this President unprecedented power. They continue to fund a war that is gouging the taxpayers and lining the pockets of the war profiteers.
Every American knows that torture is being carried out and 70 percent want an end to the Iraq war, a war that the leading Democratic presidential candidates refuse to address, and that two out of three voted for.

I am not in the least bit surprised that evidence of torture has been destroyed, and I am fed up with having my intelligence insulted, not only by President Bush but also by the people I have voted for to represent me in Congress.

Sally J. Keller
Sabra Road

An Ode to Living in the Great Lakes in Wintertime

"Mother! Mother!" cried the little boy as he ran to the kitchen, stocking cap still on his head. "Mother, I saw the sun, I did, I saw the sun and my shadow!" he said.

It burst out from behind the clouds and shined down on my face."
"OK, son," the mother kindly said, " I'll look out the window and look for myself, to see if that's the case."

"Oh, son, I can't see it now, but I'm sure you'll see it again. Go back outside and play, but come in if it starts to rain."

Redeem Your Book Gift Certificate: American Gospel

Should you receive a gift certificate to a book store this Christmas, you might want to consider this new book from Newsweek editor Jon Meacham, American Gospel. Considering the religous war now raging in the GOP, a bit of solid historical fact might be important when debating with a right-winger.

Here is a review of the book from Publishers Weekly:

Historian and Newsweek editor Meacham's third book examines over 200 years of American history in its quest to prove the idea of religious tolerance, along with the separation of church and state, is "perhaps the most brilliant American success." Meacham's principal focus is on the founding fathers, and his insights into the religious leanings of Jefferson, Franklin, Adams and Co. present a new way of considering the government they created. So it is that the religious right's attempts to reshape the Constitution and Declaration of Independence into advocating a state religion of Christianity are at odds with the spirit of religious freedom ("Our minds and hearts, as Jefferson wrote, are free to believe everything or nothing at all-and it is our duty to protect and perpetuate this sacred culture of freedom"). Meacham also argues for the presence of a public religion, as exemplified by the national motto, "In God We Trust," and other religious statements that can be found on currency, in governmental papers and in politicians' speeches. Subsequent chapters consider a wartime FDR and a Reagan who grew increasingly enamored of Armageddon. All are well-written, but none reach the immediacy and vigor of the chapters on the nation's birth. Two extensive appendices reprint early government documents and each president's inaugural bible verses. Meacham's remarkable grasp of the intricacies and achievements of a nascent nation is well worth the cover price, though his consideration of Reagan feels like that of an apologist.

Hoover and Cheney?

I'll wager that Dick Cheney idolized J. Edgar Hoover. That Cheney thought Hoover knew how to deal with those 'un-Americans' who litter our landscape. "Lock 'em up!" That's how you deal with dissent!

No doubt-Cheney, no doubt, already worked out a plan similar to that unveiled today of J. Edgar Hoover to round up and detain 12,000 'dangerous Americans.' According to a newly declassified intelligence document, Hoover sent the plan to the White House on July 7, 1950. In it, Hoover asked President Truman to essentially sign off on mass arrests of individuals around the country -- about 97 percent of whom were U.S. citizens, the FBI director said.

Who would doubt that Dick Cheney has already suggested that plan, perhaps as far back as 2002? Surely, anyone who has not drunk the Kool-Aid wouldn't put it past this devious bastard.

Look at this Cheney-connection: "All of the names on the list had been compiled by the FBI over a period of 2 to 3 years and included individuals that the Bureau believed were potentially dangerous to national security. Hoover's plan was to arrest roughly 12,000 suspects and lock them up in military prisons like the one at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba."

Cheney's fingerprints are all over this one. And, for those whose Kool-Aid has not completely exited their system: "Hoover, seeking to achieve such status, asked President Truman to declare the mass arrests necessary to "protect the country against treason, espionage and sabotage."

'Dangerous to national security.' To 'protect the country against treason, espionage and sabotage.' Words that flow easily and often from the tongue of Dick Cheney.