Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Zika And Our Stagnant Congress

About Zika

It has been 204 days and counting since President Obama's request for emergency Zika funding.  And what has our stagnant Congress been doing about it?  Absolutely nothing but partisan in-fighting.

For Shame!

As of Sep 7th, the CDC reported 43 locally-acquired cases of the Zika virus (in Florida) and over 2900 travel-associated cases.

In an NBC story yesterday, Florida officials say they have diagnosed 70 people with the Zika Virus. And in a report earlier this month, the World Health Organization reported that the Zika Virus has spread to 70 countries.

And just what is our stagnant Congress doing about it?  Blaming each other for not passing the Zika Funding bill.  Republicans have attached "riders" to the Zika Funding bill, which itself is attached to a military spending bill.  Republicans want to stop admitting Syrian refugees.  They want to block funding again for Planned Parenthood.  And they want Confederate flags to fly at Veterans' cemeteries!

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!

The World Health Organization, the Center for Disease Control,  and everyone and their mother are crying out for help.

    They are in desperate  need for
           a bridge over troubled water...

And babies are being born with catastrophic birth defects...

                 Swing Low, Sweet Chariot...

And what is our Congress still doing 204 days later?  Stagnating...

Those who represent the dignity of their country in the eyes of other nations  will be particularly sensible to every prospect of public danger, or of dishonorable stagnation in public affairs.
                                    James Madison
                                   The Federalist No. 58

We need a Do-Something Congress!

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Questions Raised
The Health and Stamina
Our Presidential Candidates

NBC News

>ABC News

The Hill

"Smile! You're on Smartphone Camera!"  Yes.  Hillary Clinton has pneumonia.  Her doctor prescribed penicillin and recommended rest.  But Hillary pushed on and almost passed out leaving the 9/11 ceremony.  But she'll be okay in a week or two.

Dallas Morning News

Here's a few words about Hillary Clinton's stamina.  She traveled 956,733 miles to and from 112 countries as Secretary of State.  She was almost "The Million Mile Woman!"


How About Donald Trump's Health?

The Huffington Post

The Atlantic

Vanity Fair

As for Trump's stamina, unconfirmed rumors have it that his doctor wrote him a prescription while talking him down on the phone for five to fifty-five minutes:


"Take two Viagra and call me in the morning."

Monday, September 12, 2016

America And Its Moral Compass

My wife and I were watching the season finale of the TNT blockbuster series The Last Ship last night.  And in the last few minutes of the episode, the lead character in the show, Captain Tom Chandler, lamented, "America has lost its moral compass."

And my wife Linda said, "Ain't that the truth!"

She is correct.  To me, moral compass is that personal attribute that tells us what is right and what is wrong, and which guides our conduct in the right direction.

America is less than two months away from electing the next President of the United States of America.  And America has truly lost its moral compass.

Almost half of America is seriously considering electing a candidate who can only be described as being morally bankrupt. He is a bully who belittles war heroes, women, other politicians, and the handicapped.  Who said that blacks have nothing to lose if they vote for him.  Who wants to build a wall to keep Mexicans out.  Who will deport all illegal immigrants.  Who will forbid Muslims from entering the United States.  I wonder if he will dismantle the Statue of Liberty if he is elected President of the United States of America? Will it still be "The United States of America?"

Donald Trump is a Presidential candidate who brags about his business success, yet who has declared bankruptcy eleven times.  A Presidential candidate who has been involved in 4,056 lawsuits to date.  Who hired people to complete jobs, and then only paid them what he thought the jobs were worth–if he paid them at all.  A Presidential candidate who refuses to release his tax returns.  A Presidential candidate who calls his opponent's charity foundation corrupt, but whose own charity foundation is questionable and in the news.  A Presidential candidate who praises Putin and who knows more about ISIS than the generals do.  Is Putin his adviser?

Donald Trump is a Presidential candidate whose own campaign manager described him as unpresidential.  Yet this very same campaign manager wants to guide Donald Trump to the Presidency of the United States of America?

Almost half of America believes that Donald Trump will help make America great again?  America has truly lost her moral compass.

America needs to take a look at what the other candidate, Hillary Clinton, has done right!  It already knows what she has reportedly done wrong.  With a 67 percent untrustworthy rating, she must have done plenty wrong!  Yes.  Crooked Hillary Clinton is no saint.  But countless investigations have not proven that she is a sinner either.

America needs to compare what Hillary Clinton has done right for America to what Donald Trump has done right for America... What has Donald Trump actually done right for America?

And then America needs to compare what Hillary Clinton can do for America to what Donald Trump can do for America.

Only then can America regain its moral compass, look deep into its soul, and then vote for who will be right for America.

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

How Citizens United
Will Help
Make America Great Again

Make America Great Again!

"Wait a minute!  That's Donald Trump's line," you say!

That's right.  But  Donald Trump has hired David Bossie,  President of Citizens United, to be Deputy Campaign Manager of his Presidential Campaign.  And Mr. Bossie wants to help "Make America Great Again" by finally destroying Hillary Clinton.

David Bossie has been going after Hillary Clinton ever since he was fired as chief investigator for Newt Gingrich's House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in 1999.  Bossie lost his job for doctoring transcripts in an attempt to implicate Hillary Clinton in wrongdoing.

Surprisingly–or maybe–"not so surprisingly," David Bossie received the Ronald Reagan Award from the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in 1999.

In 2008, David Bossie and Citizens United sought to test the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law by creating and advertising Hillary:  The Movie, a right wing tour of the Clinton scandals.  But the Federal Election Commission restricted Citizens United from advertising the movie as per the McCain-Feingold Act.   Citizens United appealed, saying their right to free speech was threatened.

When the Citizens United case went to a lower court in 2008, the court sided with the FEC, saying that the film was effectively a 90-minute campaign ad "susceptible of no other interpretation than to inform the electorate that Senator Clinton is unfit for office, that the United States would be a dangerous place in a President Hillary Clinton world, and that viewers should vote against her."

But Bossie and Citzens United persevered, and in 2010, in the landmark case,  Citizens United v Federal Election Commission, the Supreme Court upended the McCain-Feingold Act.   In a 5-4 decision, the Court ruled that "freedom of speech prohibited the government from restricting independent political expenditures by a nonprofit corporation."

The turning point of the case, addressed in a Washington Post article was a theoretical argument: what the government would do if Hillary: The Movie was a book instead.  When the counsel for the government said that the government would bar Hillary: the Book as well, the Supreme Court ruled on the side of the First Amendment rights of the nonprofit corporation, Citizens United.  And, thanks to Citizens United, that's how corporations attained the "First Amendment" rights of citizens.

There are those, myself included, who believe that the mission statement of Citizens United is an anomaly:

Dedicated to restoring our government to citizens' control.

In actuality, with the utter lack of campaign finance restrictions, the mission statement of Citizens United is:

Dedicated to giving control of our government to corporations.

If Trump, Bossie, and the other Right-Wing elements have their way, destroy Hillary, and elect Trump, John Q. Citizen will not be the one who benefits from a Trump Dynasty.  It will be the corporations again.

If, however, America elects Hillary Clinton, Citizens United, the court case, will be revisited.  Campaign finance laws will be reenacted.  And our government, a government of the people, will be restored to citizens' control again.

That would truly help:  Make America Great Again!