Wednesday, August 28, 2013

The Middle East is a no-win situation for us.


Try and follow this for a moment.

We are going to bomb Assad in Syria. He is fighting the Islamic Brotherhood.  The Islamic Brotherhood is against the regime in Egypt. We support the regime in Egypt, even after the unlawful coupe by the army. Hamas (whom we opposed in Palestine by withdrawing support after a fair and open election) is siding with the Islamic Brotherhood, except in Syria where it sides with Assad.  Al Qaeda, whom we have chased and fought all over the Middle East is at war with the regime in Damascus, but if we bomb the regime in Damascus we will be aiding Al Qaeda. The Gulf States support the Islamic Brotherhood, and are generally against the embattled Assad but refused to take up arms against him; however Turkey is against the Islamic Brotherhood but is also against Assad. Turkey is a strategic ally of the U.S.

And so it goes.  It is more convoluted than a plate of spaghetti. And you want us to get involved with a civil war that is none of our business.  None. We have nothing whatsoever to gain from this action. In fact, we lose at every turn.

It is time for America to quit trying to police the world. Yes there are bad people in it that do terrible things, but we have all manner of needs at home that require our focus and our funds all for our future.  We gain nothing by expending lives, dollars and time in this conflict and chasing every dark shadow that moves overseas.

These are big people with guns and rockets and hatred. Let them take themselves out. It is not for us to save them. We can’t. Our track record proves it. Take for example Libya. We aided in the downfall of Libya’s’ strongman and what did it get us?  A massacre in Benghazi.

Our only true ally in the Middle East is Israel. If we attack Syria, we jeopardize Israel and her very, very fragile peace. ( some oil folks will say, wait…Saudi Arabia is an ally.  If you think they are, count the number of Saudi’s on the planes involved in 9-11 and tell me how devout the sandmen are to us. The oil-rich empire only cares for itself.

This is the time to put arms down and stay out of the fight.  It is not our fight. Let’s not make it our continued mistake in this war-torn region of the world.


Thursday, August 22, 2013

Ted should get his shot

Let me begin by saying I do not support Ted Cruz.  In fact I am against almost everything he stands for. that being said, I do believe, after reading the U.S. Constitution, that he has the legal right to run for the office of President.

Democrats should avoid doing the "birther" movement like the stupid GOP and Tea Partiers did against Obama. It will only backfire in their faces.

Let Ted run.

He will ruin his own chances and America will see what a fraud Texas has once again sent to Washington to represent us. I would love nothing more than a national shoot out between Perry and Cruz.  The comedians will have a field day and maybe American can see once and for all how stupid this extreme wing of the GOP has become.

Thursday, August 15, 2013

When the votes stop counting

I am not a huge fan of the Islamic fundamentalist movement. Far from it. But in Egypt, I have to give them their dew. They were robbed. Their elected officials were deposed.

Democracy suffered a huge blow. Here's why.

A legally elected government was overthrown by the military because they didn’t like the way the president of Egypt was running things. Tough. I didn’t like George Bush, but we don’t over throw the government. Same is true for the right-wing nuts in America and their hatred toward Obama. But in Egypt, the army moved in and established "order."

What the army really did was to take the vote out of the hands of the people. Your ballot does not count. Only our bullets count.

That kind of thinking is not good for democratic rule.  Even if you hate the Islamic movement that was ruling Egypt, you have to give them their due because they were fairly elected by the majority of the people.

It is the dirty side of democracy. Sometimes the bad guys win.  And you have to work through it. In Egypt right now, is a good picture of what happens when radicals from the political extremes are allowed to rule a country. Ciaos.

Look at Egypt good, America. This is what happens when you let a vocal minority like the Tea Party obtain such huge power in your government.

Do we want this in our streets? I think not. We want order and control.

Friday, August 2, 2013

A Peek Inside the GOP Tent


I have written several pieces on abortions over the years. There are times and places when an abortion is necessary and the Pro-Life side doesn’t recognize this. Listen to the claims of their ultimate goal as reported in today’s New York Times:  “Ms. Schmit-Albin (head of Pro life group) and other abortion opponents readily admit that a 20-week ban is a step toward their ultimate goal. 

“Our mission is to restore legal protection to unborn life from the moment of conception,” she said. “This is a marathon.” There it is. All or nothing. They want to control every second of the pre-natal life. Good luck women. These fanatics are out for your rights.

This all or nothing attitude shows the politicalizing of issues that the far right has chosen to take for our country. It is why Washington is at an impasse on almost every subject that comes along.  From healthcare to voters’ rights. And state legislatures are just as bad.

There comes a time when reason must prevail, but as long as ideological demagogues are allowed to ruin roughshod over their parties, then this type of corrosive behavior is going to take place. The new entrant into the race of Texas AG, Ken Paxton told a crowd in Plano yesterday that he wanted to send a message to Obama that “Texans would govern Texas.”  What Paxton was really saying is he wants white, upper-middle-class Texans who are to the right on the political spectrum to govern Texas. Why else would he and other GOP leaders be so against a court-ordered redistricting of the lines they drew?  And why would they stand to eliminate thousands of citizens from the voting lists? Because it will help them govern Texas their way.

The GOP can’t stand to watch history unfolding. They are losing power and losing the control of government (and society for that matter.) So they will try anything to claw their way back into power. They will stoop to any measure to cling to the last bits of holdings they can. 

But times are changing. The population is changing. The mostly white, suburban, upper middle class GOP is becoming a minority and fast. And as a minority, if they felt they were being infringed on they would go yelling and screaming to the Federal Government for protection. (That’s the same Federal Government they are trying to dismantle even as we speak.) That you can take to the bank.

But like so much of what they stand for, today’s GOP is run by hypocrites. They say one thing, but mean something entirely else.

They will tell you “we want abortions stopped at 20-weeks (even though the science they quote is faulty). But what they are really saying is we want it outlawed all together. (And, by the way, we don’t want to take care of the children that come into this world unwanted and in poverty either. That’s not our problem.”

That’s your GOP.

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Tired of Ted


Why does Senator Ted Cruz of Texas want to destroy the Affordable Health Care Act when all indications show that it is working and lowering the overall costs of medical attention in the United States, while at the same time making our health care infrastructure available to more and more people?

Why would a man who exposes to be such a fine Christian want to withhold heath care from children, expectant mothers, the poor the homeless and those without jobs? Why would he want to allow pre-existing conditions to disqualify a person from receiving medical insurance?

The reason is that Ted Cruz is all about politics. He doesn’t care for anyone else but Ted Cruz.  He is the perfect window dressing for the Tea Party movement.  Me, me, mine, mine.  Leave mine alone.

Ted Cruz is trying to make a national name for himself. Instead, he is making a mockery of the Texas electorate who sent him to Washington in the first place.  In a recent poll Americans were asked (without the name Obamacare being associated with it) if they supported health insurance for all people and universal coverage.  Over 80% (that’s 8 in 10 for those of you who went to DISD) favored that statement.  When told that was Obamacare the number dropped below 70%, but was still a majority of the polled.

Obama has been a divisive President thanks to the Republican PR machine.  But one thing is for sure, his Affordable Health Care Act makes sense for our country. If you hear a politician in Washington speak out against it, ask them how they like their own insurance.  Theirs is almost exactly the model for Obamacare.

Canadian-born Ted Cruz is a hypocrite. And not just on this subject, but on many things he stands for…or against. It is time this big mouth be sent home.