Utopia?

A letter writer submitted a letter stating that our current president wants us to share in a Utopia, which is an imaginary place is considered to be perfect or ideal. The writer never referenced a link, so the readers have to take his word that it came from the teachings of Karl Marx or a French novelist I doubt anyone is familiar with. It fits the right-wing perception that President Obama is a Kenyan, Muslim, socialist dictator who's leading us off the cliff.

The writer submitted a cut and paste to describe a form of socialism, but I rather doubt that he understands the different forms of socialism that we're acquainted with today. Economic socialism is where goods and services are produced for their use-value rather than profit. It's the exact opposite of capitalism we enjoy in the United States of America.

A poster complimented the letter writer and blamed the 69 million people who voted for the inexperienced Barack Obama, as if the seasoned Senator John McCain and Sarah Palin would've had us on the road to recovery right now. He seemed to have forgotten that we had a experienced president and vice president who got us into this mess. An hour in civics’ class can do a lot to familiarize people on how our government works. Laws are made in Congress, not at the executive branch. Do these people really think that we are exchanging our free-market economic system for a socialist one? They can't be serious. I understand using a little hyperbole now and then, but it's time to deal with reality.

I really enjoy the HBO series "Newsroom" because it provides me a way of dealing with the fringe element. The show comes up with questions people should ask those who espouse the letter writer views. Last week’s episode had the network vying for a political debate with the Republican candidates. They invited the Republican representative to see a mock interview of the candidates. The main character asked one of the cast members playing a GOP candidate to name three freedoms that he had personally lost since President Obama was elected. The person playing the candidates immediately said"ObamaCare." The moderator then asked him if he was still seeing the same doctor, the candidate said yes and subsequently couldn't name three freedoms he had lost since President Obama was elected. The moderator was about to ask  the chacter playing Michelle Bachmann what God sounded like because she had stated many times that God spoke to her, but the Republican debate spokesman stormed off the set and refused to give the network the right to host the debate. The political candidates have to agree on the moderator, format, and network before they debate. The big losers are the American people because we allow the politicians to use the debates as a venue for their talking points. They don't even have to answer the question; remember Sarah Palin switched subjects in the 2008 debate.

If our media was more like the fictitious one, “Newsroom" we wouldn't be parroting the talking points of our favorite politician. The GOP chairman, Reince Priebus, was asked about Medicare the other day, and he immediately said that the Senate has not passed a budget for 1200 days. It was as if he had to blurt that out whether it had anything to do with the question he was being asked about. I wish a pundit would tell them that the GOP House of Representatives would automatically reject a senate budget, so it's a fruitless exercise of fruity, even though the senate is constitutionally bound to produce one.

A lot of people like to say that the fringe elements from both parties are taking over the discourse of our politics, but I will disagree until someone shows me the equal amount of Democrats saying stupid things. I agree that both sides use talking points and sometimes exaggerate the facts, but I still don't think it's equal for both sides. I'd be more than happy to see the evidence of such.

Come on GOP..You can do better than this

I have a sneaky suspicion that if respected republicans like Jeb Bush, Governor Daniels, former Governor Jon Huntsman, Governor Christie and Mitt Romney were competing for president right now; the childish behavior that we saw in last night's debate would not have happened. For Governor Perry to get in Mitt Romney's face over a 2007 incident where Mitt was suspected of hiring illegal immigrants to do his landscaping was uncalled for. Governor Perry’s feathers were obviously ruffled last night, and he showed a side of himself that he did not want to reveal this early in the campaign. All presidents have a bad temper, but they only show it when the stakes are much higher. Mitt Romney fought off his attacks, but he was too condescending. I thought Rick Santorum used forceful language, yet maintained control by telling Romney that he did not have the credentials to lead the fight in repealing the Health Care law. He was relentless, but he did not stand there bickering with his opponent.

I saw some polls this morning where Herman Cain is either tied or leading in important states like South Carolina and Florida. Herman Cain has a great human interest story of battling cancer and winning, but he has no business running for president. I can't say for certain, but  I believe that initially, he just wanted to sell his books and improve his chances of winning a television contract. The man doesn't have a policy staff and it shows. When David Gregory of Meet the Press, asked him if he supported the neo conservative view on war; he didn't know the definition of the word neo conservative. It's obvious that he doesn't know the intricate details of his 9-9-9 plan, so he defends it by saying, “read the plan" and then shouts out the link to his website. He doesn't understand why some Hispanics find his plan for an electrified fence, offensive. He said his plan for 20 foot high fence, with barbed wire on top; electrified, and a sign written in Spanish and in English saying, “this fence will kill you" is the very basis of his immigration plan. He might say  it was a joke, but the same plan is outlined in his book. What he and most of the GOP doesn't understand is that, yes, most Hispanics are against illegal immigration, but they don't want fellow human beings to be killed in their efforts to come into this country. It's not a joke and most want a comprehensive immigration plan put in place, instead of piecemeal demagoguery. When all the candidates were asked why a Latino should vote for a republican, most of the republican answers were vague, except for Rick Santorum's inclusion of the family aspect. They did not discuss the economic inequality, disparity in unemployment, or any  other distinctive issues that had that did not relate to money. A question of the Latino might've been in order.

The republican candidates all share the same conservative view of very little government and almost no taxes, but their foreign policy views are what set them apart. Ron Paul keeps them honest because he knows that " we don't negotiate with terrorist" is just a slogan because we have negotiated with terrorist, and we will continue to do so, but it's still something we do with reluctance. The pundits have wondered when these far right republican candidates would make Mitt Romney drift in that direction. I think that happened last night when the discussion on foreign aid came up. Mitt Romney said, “we should let China dole out the foreign aid" and he got applause for it. China would love that because it would give them, the upper hand in countries that are vital to us. Mitt Romney knows that, because he's more of a compromiser than his cohorts; that's the reason he can't get above 25%. The conservative base does not trust him because in 1994, Mitt was to the left of Ted Kennedy in his Massachusetts senate bid.

I still think it's going to be between Rick Perry and Mitt Romney because despite all the fumbles, Rick Perry $17 million is enough to keep him in this race, but, unless he starts focusing on issues that matter, he might be as well flush that $17 million down the toilet. He will finally put out a jobs plan, but it won't be out until Friday, but in all reality it's just going to be another energy plan with the emphasis on “drill baby drill," no regulations, and cutting taxes. President Obama will have a field day with Rick Perry, if he doesn't work on his weaknesses; like debating and foreign policy. You have to know more than not funding the U.N. and standing by Israel.It may sound harsh but I still think if someone is going to run for president;you should come prepared. You don't get credit for submitting a plan,no more than you did when you turned in your homework.

That's it for now, because tomorrow afternoon I will be heading back for the rosary (Catholic wake)Thursday night and the Mass ( church service) Friday morning, but I'm glad my brother-in- law and sister are in better outward spirits for now, because I know the coming days will not be easy for them. Healing takes a long time, so I won't pretend to know what losing a son or daughter means to a parent. I know it would devastate me because I don't think any parent wants to outlive their children.

I can't wait for the GOP debates

The republican presidential debate should be interesting if the present group of candidates and possible candidates are still standing. I could burn my partisan hat and still not come up with a republican candidate who stands a chance to beat President Obama.

For openers, strictly for entertainment sake; I would like to see the first round be a one -on -one debate between Representative Michelle Bachmann against Donald Trump... The Tea Party queen vs. the casino king. They both love the limelight and neither knows how to run a country; I mean Donald Trump bankrupted a casino that has a 95% house odds on its side. Michelle Bachmann thinks the founding fathers freed the slaves. They better have a single microphone, welded to the floor, because I can see both of them wrestling for that precious piece of equipment, as if their words will have an impact....The GOP could have some preliminaries such as the battle of the flip- floppers' between Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney, the battle of the dull, sleepers( I mean that literally) between Mitch Daniels and Tim Pawlenty, but first; there has to be a runoff between Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum for Christian right, pro life, ex Fox News contributors title to advance to meet the winners of the bat crazy, flip flopper and the dullest of the dull. The halftime entertainment will be provided by Fred Karger and Herman Cain...Fred Karger is a retired California political consultant and the first openly gay Republican ever to run for president as well as the first GOP candidate to declare officially that he is running for the 2012 race...Herman Cain is an American newspaper columnist, businessman, political activist, and radio talk-show host from Georgia. He is best known as the former chairman and CEO of Godfather's Pizza. He is a former deputy chairman (1992–94) and chairman (1995–96) of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. Cain's newspaper column is distributed by North Star Writers Group. He currently lives in the Atlanta suburbs. I thought Herman Cain had the credentials to be a pretty formidable candidate, but then he started talking and said "The role of Muslims in America is not to convert the rest of us to the Muslim religion. That I resent. And so I push back and reject them trying to convert the rest of us. And based upon the little knowledge that I have of the Muslim religion, you know. They have an objective to convert all infidels or kill them." He reminds me of Alan Keyes but he has a better work resume.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Cain

There are always the old stand-ins like Ron Paul and Gov. Hayley Barbour but they don’t stand much of a chance but I did hear a rumor that Rand Paul will consider if his dad drops out.Now that would add a lot of possibilities to the circus match-ups.

Chris Matthews said that the same old  five white men, that actually run Republican Party will probably call for a meeting sometime in the fall, to beg,bribe,or demand  a way to get Governor Chris Christie, Jeb Bush or Representative Paul Ryan to be the official candidate, because, even if they lose; at least the GOP will go down with some credibility.