OK folks, I'm still trying to process this.  The Koch Bros. find Hillary Clinton to be preferable to any of the Republican candidates, yet there are still totally dysfunctional morons out there who are preaching that "if you don't vote Democrat, you'll get a Republican in the White House."  Think about the tortured logic those people had to use to come to such a brilliant conclusion.  They had to use a great deal of rationalization to protect themselves from life's realities.  

Their reasoning or lack thereof, is analogous to a person who loves a particular brand of cereal.  The flavor of it is superb and is set off by wonderful freeze-dried fruit that enhances it and is the signature taste of the eating experience.  The cereal's brand name paints an accurate picture of the delight that awaits the happy consumer and all is well.  Suddenly, the manufacturer decides that fruit is too expensive and in a cost cutting measure, replaces it with freeze-dried excrement which it calls dingleberries.”  The hapless person looks at the box and wonders why the fruit he or she  loves so much was replaced by something called dingleberries?  The soon to be victim is reassured by the familiar brand name on the package and takes it home along with the other groceries.  He or she gets it home, pours it into a bowl, adds milk, notices a strong odor, now realizes what dingleberries are and swears never to buy it again.

The moral of this story is that a political party that is devoid of its original ideals becomes a brand name that at best, stands for nothing, but at worst stands for nothing but evil. If the Democratic Party nominates a standard bearer like Hillary Clinton who apparently has the Koch Bros. Seal of approval, it has replaced its wonderful freeze dried fruit, people like FDR and LBJ and yes, the possibility of electing Bernie Sanders, with dingleberries. Believe me, if it happens, I won't be sampling that odor!

If you're a Democrat, you've heard a constant stream of speeches from Democratic electeds decrying income inequality.  Since most Democratic electeds supported and signed and still support and sign "free" trade agreements that help corporations offshore high paying manufacturing jobs, we must assume that all of their income inequality clap trap is just empty rhetoric.  I must also assume that you are not serious about fixing income inequality because you are tickled, gratified and fulfilled by merely getting Democrats in name only reelected!  The reason for my assumption is that way back  in 2012, I circulated a petition demanding that our electeds stop signing job killing "free" trade agreements and rescind the existing ones that people like Bill Clinton foisted on us.  Your response was so poor (62 people who cared) that I closed the petition out in disgust!

Today, a gentleman decided to tweet out my closed petition which gave me hope that at least one person cared enough about his country to bring it to everyone's attention.  All it takes is one person of courage to get things started so I have decided to re-open the petition.  If you don't sign my petition this time around, a petition that will help fix many of America's problems, I don't want to hear any whining about income inequality!

Sign My Petition!

Did you ever notice that GOP politicians seem to repeatedly try to undermine or even repeal every Democratic initiative?  It appears that they have long memories because their attacks on laws that were enacted for the good of society as a whole not only go after Social Security but even, in the case of some of their electeds, after child labor laws.  That would make their party symbol appropriate because they seem to never forget about and endlessly resent any law that was written to help John and Jane Q. if that law was crafted and passed by Democratic electeds.

FDR, JFK and LBJ era Democratic electeds have passed countless bills into laws that have become solid and essential parts of the American way of life.  Believe me, Republican electeds resent each and every one of them! So many laws, so much GOP resentment! How does the GOP keep track of them all?  Let me give you my theory.

Hidden is a secret vault in an inner sanctum is a GOP Grudge Checklist.   Every time a Democratic bill is passed into law, a Republican scribe enters that law into the pages of their Grudge Checklist.  That checklist goes back into the vault and becomes a GOP time capsule that will emerge some time in the future at a point in time when we, the people take those laws for granted, become complacent and indifferent.  At that time, each law becomes an IOU to their wealthy backers that the GOP fulfills with repeated repeal or privatization attempts.  If their one percenter backers can't make a buck from privatizing a social program, they want the program eliminated so there is more money in the budget to give them tax breaks and subsidies a.k.a. corporate welfare.

As I said earlier, the Republican Party symbol of an elephant is appropriate because their electeds have long memories that mark every Democratic social initiative for repeal or profiteering in the future.  Conversely, the Democratic symbol of the donkey is appropriate because they have short memories and forget how hard is was for the true Democrats of the past, like FDR and LBJ to get their programs passed and are willing to throw all of it away for short term political gain.  If you are uncomfortable with that situation, get out, get involved and let your electeds know that you will not stand for politics as usual.

Can someone answer these questions? 

When a politician takes the oath of office and when he or she signs an agreement with ALEC, are they now involved in "A Conflict of Interest?"  They, in my understanding are defending and upholding the Constitution of the United States of America, not corporate American interests.  

When politicians vote to cut benefits for veterans and Food Stamps for low income people and then vote not to raise taxes on the 1%, CONFLICT OF INTEREST? 

When politicians close the government and furlough federal employees and civil employees and yet keep their gym membership, expense accounts and salaries, is that CONFLICT OF INTEREST and Not in the Best Interest of the People of the United States?

When Did Special Interest Groups become the politicians' constituents and NOT even live in their respective areas?  Most in my opinion are lobbyists who work for corporations that HAVE agendas they want pushed forward. 

Just indulge me for one more question that has me totally confused. When did the corporations and groups like ALEC get elected to Dictate the Laws of Our Land?


Anybody???

These are just my opinions and concerns.  Do they ring a bell for anybody else to question what is really gong on and not just sit idle?  Just remember one thing, 2014 is right around the corner and we can exercise our right to vote.  Oh and one more thing, remember how they also stick in pork barrels when they write laws.   Who do they really benefit?


Ciao for now.

Pork barrel Webster's Dictionary definition:
Government projects that benefit people in a particular part of the country and that are done in order to help the political careers of elected officials

Now that the conventions are behind us with party “D” having had their usual lovefest and party “R” having had their usual hatefest, we have to get down to the business of getting our candidates elected.  This process causes angst for many of us on the progressive Democratic side of the fence who feel that our issues weren't properly addressed over the past few years by those who promised “Hope and Change.”  Likewise, many people on the Republican side of the fence are starting to get the sinking feeling that their party has gone totally over the top.  I totally agree with that!

I can certainly understand why any Republican voter would be thinking about jumping ship and voting Democratic.  I can also understand why some Democratic voters feel that they were let down by politicians who talked a great game in 2008, but didn't fight hard enough for issues that are vital to the survival of working people, the poor and the retired.  While I'm pretty sure that those Democrats who feel let down are not going to vote for Willard Romney, some are still talking about either not voting or voting for a third party candidate that doesn't have a chance of winning.  That kind of protest vote may be emotionally satisfying, but it is self defeating.  Our system is rigged so that it only allows you to successfully elect candidates from one of the two major parties, the evil one or the lesser of two evils, voting for anything else goes to one of the two parties by default.

I can't tell you what to do or how to vote but here's what I'm doing: I'm voting for Barack Obama and for every Democratic candidate on the ballot.  I'm going to try to convince you, my neighbors, my closest friends and my family to do the same.  I'm going to ask you to do duplicate my actions and get the word out.  With any luck, we'll be able to secure a Democratic majority in both houses, giving President Obama a clear path to getting laws passed that more closely match his original campaign promises of 2008.  This time around, I would like to see a lot more FDR and a lot less Ronald Reagan.

With a Democratic majority in place, there can be no excuses for legislation that protects corporate interests at the expense of we, the people.  Any such legislation will be a painfully obvious violation of our trust and hopefully, will result in a massive third party movement that will include almost every voter and become the next winning party and the ruling political party in America for years to come.

Believe it or not, years of watching television have conditioned most Americans to think of and classify everything in terms of brands.  This branding process doesn't stop with boxes of laundry detergent or cans of cola, we even classify politicians and political parties by the identifying characteristics programmed into our heads from watching years of campaign advertising.  What comes to mind when you visualize the two political parties and their candidates?  The GOP wants you to think that it and its candidates stand for mom, the flag and apple pie.  The Democrats want you to think that they are the party of working people and the poor.

The stereotypical classifications of Democratic politicians as being the saviors of working people and the poor and Republican politicians as being patriots are deceptive at best, dangerous to democracy at worst.  Those popular perceptions are borne out of years of political ads and carefully controlled public relations campaigns.  The reality and track records of both parties should tell most Americans that nothing is further from the truth.  Both parties are just assuming their traditional identities and playing to their target audiences:  In the case of the Democrats, that would be working people, the retired and the poor.  In the case of the Republicans, that would be the rich and the Archie Bunker variety of working people.

In the mind of their target voters, each of the two parties represents the previously mentioned characteristics; the Republicans represent patriotism, the Democrats fight for working people.  Much in the same way that a certain brand of cola and a certain lemon-lime soda have their own specific taste profiles, voters expect each of the two brands, Republican and Democratic to stand for their implied values.  When the Republicans rant about patriotism, but support “free” market policies that enable outsourcing jobs overseas, a decidedly unpatriotic act, it dilutes the Republican brand in the minds of their target working class voters.  Similarly, when Democrats “compromise” with the Republicans on cuts to Social Security and Medicare and support job killing “free” trade agreements, it dilutes the Democratic brand in the minds of their target working class voters.

The subliminal message that political brand dilution delivers to prospective voters is that neither party delivers on their promises.  That kind of message leads to passionless voters who feel that they are voting for the lesser of two evils and feel that once again, the system ripped them off.  We have reached the point where one more disappointment might be the straw that broke the camel's back and be the tipping point that triggers a majority third party movement!  The only thing that will prevent that from happening is for Democratic politicians to be authentic Democrats and truly support the working people who faithfully supported them.  That would entail curbing job offshoring by restoring trade tariffs on imports to pre-Reagan levels, supporting pro-union legislation, fighting for Social Security and Medicare and remembering that the Democratic party is the party of FDR, not Herbert Hoover!  One more thing, will Democratic electeds please stop making comments that venerate Ronald Reagan?

I want you to try this one one on for size.  Since Mitt Romney and Barack Obama are embroiled in a seemingly endless political ad battle about outsourcing jobs overseas and both seem to agree that outsourcing hurts the American middle class, we have the rare opportunity to get both candidates and their political parties to put their money where their mouth is by having a truly bipartisan effort to end job offshoing.  Instead of both candidates and by extension, both parties accusing each other of promoting job outsourcing, let's see the electeds of both parties take immediate concrete steps to curb job offshoring.  I want to see President Obama propose trade tariffs on imports to bring manufacturing and jobs back to the USA.  I want to see Congress and the Senate write legislation to bring those tariffs to life.  I want to see President Obama sign that legislation.

Rest assured, trade tariffs will bring jobs back to the USA in droves because no corporation wants to lose the American people as customers.  Foreign corporations will even open factories here to avoid the tariffs only this time they will be paying decent wages because they will be competing with American owned corps. for workers.  We will have jobs, jobs, jobs and the American dream will return.

What's that?  Do I hear murmuring from Republican and Democratic politicians that tariffs won't work because we live in a "global" economy?  Well in that case, just keep signing those "free" trade agreements that gave away our jobs in the first place and we will assume that those political ads are just empty campaign rhetoric.  We will then elect the customary lesser of two evils and use the next four years to grow an all powerful third party that really listens to working Americans!

Did you ever write a letter or an article and realize that you just scratched the surface on the subject?  Here is a quickie discourse that will tie all of the information of my previous posting together.  What if the “two” party system was created to control a nation's populace?  Please understand that the theory that I am going to present to you is purely hypothetical. - - OR IS IT?

Just imagine that you are corporate and banking wannabe oligarchs.  You make massive campaign contributions to and do other things to curry favor with BOTH political parties of a nation's “two” party system.  Obviously, after making that investment in the future of BOTH parties and their politicians, you expect a decent return on your “investment.”  You want that return to come in the form of little things like: 

• Getting rid of or muzzling those pesky unions.
  
• Getting your owned electeds to keep tariffs on imports low to enable job offshoring,
  
• Bailing out banks and Stock Market firms while not prosecuting them for their past transgressions.
  
• Pursuing wars to help military contractors.
  
• Using “terrorists” as an excuse to continue the wars and curtail many constitutional rights.
  
• Using “austerity” to offset bank bailouts and tax breaks for the rich and corporations.  
  
• Privatizing many government functions to help your corporate benefactors.
  
• Keeping healthcare in the private sector, even if it means that some people will go without it.
  

While one party will publicly object to most of the items on the list, they will “compromise” with the side that's championing those items.  There are an endless number of ramifications to this scenario. 

The key thing to remember is that this kind of “two” party system, which is really a virtual one party system, is the ideal way for corporate and banking oligarchs to take control of a country.  The corporate and banking masters of the universe find it to be preferable to a one party system because it give the illusion of democracy, while it divides and conquers the citizenry.  If voters are given the “opportunity” to pick one corporate and bank backed candidate from one corporate and bank owned party, even the most thick-skulled voter would realize that he or she has been had.  The “two” party deception serves the corporate/banking oligarchy well, by having two corporate and bank backed parties that play one group of voters against the other group of voters in a double version of good cop/bad cop.
I hope that this food for thought hasn't given you indigestion.

As you know, I am more than just a casual observer of the political scene.  In fact, I have spent most of my life watching the comings and goings of our two party system.  As such, I don't claim that I am the most qualified to make some keen observations, just that I've seen a lot of things, for a lot of years and kept my eyes and mind wide open. 

Over those years, each political party seemed to have its own unique identity: 

• The Republicans being the pro-business party that, when things got rough, wrapped itself in the flag. 
  
• The Democrats being the pro-labor party that the Republicans were always trying to label by innuendo as being pro-communist.  
  

As voters who are basically forced by circumstances to choose a candidate from one of those two parties, you should be aware that, due to a trend that has taken place over the past several years, things aren't as they seem.  After the cold war ended, the word communist lost its power to scare and the Republicans had to look for new boogymen to go after.  They thought they found it when they replaced the word communism with socialism, hoping it sounded vaguely like communism, but with no cold war going on, that didn't work. 

The current GOP/corporate strategy seems to be to attack every Democratic initiative individually, using the same scare tactics they used during the cold war when they painted themselves as the patriotic bulwark against communism.  They did their dirty work by reducing every Democratic initiative to a derisive slogan and elevating every GOP protected species and sacred cow to a glorifying slogan, healthcare legislation = Obamacare, job offshoring corporations = job creators.  If you think that this tactic makes the Republicans seem like they are the only bad guys, read on.

The Democrats forgot who really put them in office when President Obama, with the huge momentum of a solid victory that was a repudiation of Bush and Republican policies, threw away that bully pulpit by stating at the outset that he's “everybody’s President.”  Well “everybody” didn't elect him, we did!  When he spent the next three years trying to “compromise” with the GOP, he was “compromising” our futures and our families.  That “compromise” lowered the bar in negotiating with the Republicans and allowed them to set the agenda!  If you think that the whole thing looked like a fixed boxing match, you could be right.  

If you take away nothing else from this, I want you to realize that the extreme posturing of the GOP electeds  made the apathetic indifference to their REAL constituency of the Democratic electeds look benign by comparison.  All of that reminds me of a boxing match where the champion is “asked” to throw the fight by an unnamed “benefactor.”  Corporate backers?  Wealthy backers?  Who knows?  The evidence is circumstantial.

We now find ourselves smack in the middle of an election year.  We are being held hostage by the “lesser of two evils” meme that's been spewed out, ad nauseam, by numerous O-pologists!  Until unions and other groups step up to the plate and sponsor their own candidates who are NOT part of the rigged duopoly that is basically corporate America's surrogate in government, we are doomed to living with and by the dictates of America's real rulers, corporations and the rich!