Damn ignorant sheeple

We have been sentenced to two years of cruelty and hard labor. There will be no escaping the results. We wake up to a different world this morning, one not of our making – not the half of this country who cares about the 99%, the workers, the downtrodden. We like to say, “Those Texans deserve what they get when they vote for Ted Cruz,” or “Those Minnesotans deserve what they get when they elect Michele Bachmann,” and so forth. 

 

But the 2014 Midterms have come and gone, and I can tell you right now, having woke up to Scott Walker as governor of Wisconsin, Sam Brownback retaining his governorship of Kansas, Rick Scott still in charge in Florida, Kay Hagan losing to an asshat in North Carolina, and practically every last Democrat in Alabama – except those from heavily black counties – tossed out of the legislature due to the heavy gerrymandering, I don’t feel I deserve what I got.

This is a reverse Christmas, one where they come and take all your gifts away from you. The simple fact is that the Republicans conned America. They did so with corporate money, with the money of the wealthy who love their tax cuts, with the complicity of the mainstream media (for example, MSNBC’s Chuck Todd claiming – lying – during last night’s coverage that both parties had equal amounts of money to spend).

Republicans won this election by non-stop lying – with the help of FOX ‘news’– for the past six years, using fear to overpower reason and logic, to disregard facts and obscure them with doubt.

There are a few bright spots. That perpetual carpetbagger, Scott Brown, was sent packing, again, by Jeanne Shaheen, but he will almost certainly resurface in another state, and run for office there. It appears that Mark Warner held on by the skin of his teeth, Gary Peters won in Michigan, and David Ige won the governorship in Hawaii, but there is not much to be happy about this morning. There is simply no getting around the fact that today, November 5, 2014, the world is a lesser place, a bleaker place, a more hopeless place, than it was last night. 

This looks as bleak to me as when the George Dubya cabal ran the country.

We had hoped for a Democratic wave – or at least holding the Senate. Instead, Reuters is calling last night a “rout.” David Axelrod is calling it a “Republican wave.” But it is the kind of wave that ruins lives instead of one you surf for fun. It can only be destructive with victories by the likes of Joni Ernst in Iowa, Rick Scott in Florida, and Pat Roberts and Sam Brownback in Kansas. 

You might remember that Pat Roberts is the guy who said if we go left, we go National Socialism (never mind that National Socialism is a right wing ideology), and that Sam Brownback drove the Kansas economy into the dust and wants to do the same thing nationally. And the Palinesque Joni Ernst…well, with her hard-core Tea Party line, she will no doubt soon enough give Iowans reason to rue dodging their polling places on Tuesday.

So no, half of us did not get what we deserved. 

You have to remember the great efforts Republicans went to suppress the vote, both by legal and by extra-legal means (intimidation). These days, you can’t even count on your vote registering for the Democrat you voted for – because the machines are rigged – or that your vote is being counted at all. That is how corrupt the GOP has become. Either voters in this country are incredibly stupid or the voting machines were rigged. I think machines were rigged. And many of us understood that these midterms represented a vote for or against Barack Obama, though he was not technically running. Some Democratic candidates cowardly distanced themselves from Obama, and my personal thought on that is that these people have earned their reward in defeat. 

While I take no satisfaction in their right-wing babbling, I did get a laugh at Reuters’ headline this morning: Tough road ahead for Obama after Republicans seize Senate. Are they saying he had an easy road before? Six years of endless obstruction, nullification, and racist attacks, and only now the road gets hard? Where has Reuters been hiding all this time? There is no ignoring the fact, however, that as Reuters says, last night was a “sharp rebuke” to President Obama…and a vastly undeserved one.

In the end, those who did not vote – and on the left there were many – failed not only themselves but the rest of us. The millennials who failed to vote surrendered their hopes for prosperous careers; the elderly their comfortable retirement, and the working class their jobs, healthcare, and possibly, any hope of putting food on the table for their family.

Some Americans opted for economic ruination. Others had it thrust upon them. We have been sentenced to two years of cruelty and hard labor. There will be no escaping the results. Our salvation will be in 2016 with Hillary. Apparently, the liberal and progressive electorate only care enough to get out and vote during presidential elections. 

We will have to tighten our belts until then, America, because these rightwing nuts will steal from the poor to give to the rich. And Obama will likely cave in to the Republicans for the sake of "compromise" just as he did in his first term. I really wish he would stiffen his spine and become the Veto King.

I take heart from Alison Lundergan Grimes’ defiant speech – one can hardly call it a concession – her heart-felt rallying cry for tomorrow – a promise to be made good on. Going forward, remember this, and take heart, and don’t forget the cowards on MSNBC who called her ungracious.  I, for one, like Grimes, am not in a forgiving or a forgetting mood, and although I do not intend to grin, I will bear it. 

We all will bear what the damn ignorant sheeple have rained upon us – deserved or not.

Edited from: The Likes of Mitch McConnell and Joni Ernst Leave America a Bleaker Place This Morning

By Hrafnkell Haraldsson

Is Obama running for something in my state?

There has been one particularly enlightening thing I have learned from the constant television advertisements leading into next week's primary election: 

Apparently, Barack Obama is running for something in my state.

He surely must be, because virtually every TV ad I've seen depicts the candidate as being eager to fight all the evils that Obama has heaped upon us, from the Affordable Care Act to gun control to expansion in the Southeastern Conference.

Remember the saying about the "perfect country song"?  It had to contain the words Mama, pick-ups, trains, prison, getting drunk.  How about a perfect Republican ad in the South?  It must contain the words Obama, guns, Obama, Bible, Obama, Jeeeeesus, Obama, prayer, Obama, cut taxes, Obama, illegals, Obama. Half the time, you don't even know what office the candidate is seeking. Whatever it is, inevitably his or her impact in “the war against Obama” would be like adding one more needle to the haystack - can't find it.

You have to give the campaign experts credit, though. They know the southern marketplace. They know they are reaching an audience – elephant in the room here – where some people fear or resent a powerful black man. They know fact-checking in TV ads is not a requirement; it's only an option.

I know you have seen the commercials. They are one-size-fits-all:

It opens with the candidate wearing his shirt sleeves rolled up, earnestly nodding among a group of citizens prominently including blacks, Asians, and women. Then there is a quick scene where he earnestly smiles as he shakes hands with a farmer (white); and another scene where he earnestly listens to a woman (white) outside a grocery store or sitting on a park bench.

The narrator comes on, voice sounding like a smooth operator:

"Dave Goodhair is a great American and a great (person from any southern state). He'll stand up against Obamacare. He'll fight to save (our state) from the left-wing Obama-Pelosi-Clinton conspiracy that threatens our very way of life.  Dave Goodhair will keep Obama from breaking into your homes and stealing your guns. He will stop Obama from banning Waffle Houses from serving grits. Dave Goodhair will fight Obama to assure (our state) doesn't fall victim to Pelosi-led Washington insiders who want to raise taxes on live bait and baseball caps."

There are quick cuts to an American flag. Then, a three-second screen shot of a newspaper page where the words "Obama" and "evil" are highlighted, even if they come from separate stories.

Then there is the assurance that "Dave Goodhair will create jobs," not elaborating that those jobs will be for employment on his staff for the daughter of his biggest contributor and his ex-con brother.

Then cut back to the candidate with his family, who apparently got a group discount on dimples:

"Dave Goodhair. American. Dave Goodhair, Christian. Dave Goodhair, lieutenant, high school ROTC. Dave Goodhair, family man."

Finally, the graphics that inform us of the office being sought:

"Elect Dave Goodhair. Comptroller, State Department Of Orange Highway Cones. Paid for by a political pact run by Dave Goodhair's rich father-in-law."

Even one of my great right-wing friends told me the other day: "If you're running for Lt. Governor or the Public Service Commission (PSC), I really don't care that you plan to 'stand up to Obama.'  I don't care that you know how to hold or shoot a gun. Tell me what you are going to do to benefit the people of our state. Otherwise, your mail flier is going straight into the recycling bin."

If there is one thing more annoying than the TV ads, it's the robo-calls and polls. I got this one the other day: "If you were voting for the state school board, for which candidate would you vote?"

I don't know – maybe the one in favor of less testing and more just plain teaching in our schools?

That reminded me of the old joke. A man visiting Harvard asks a student, "Where's the library at?" The student stiffly replied, "At Harvard, we don't end a sentence in a preposition." To which the visitor said, "OK, where's the library at, jerk?"

Now, excuse me. Another Dave Goodhair election ad is on TV. Where's my remote control at?







Edited from an article by Mark McCarter on AL.com 

The ACA is here to stay

Republicans are so stunned by the news that total ACA enrollment has reached 17.8 million that they seem to have decided to forget all about Obamacare. Most Republicans no longer mention the word “Obamacare”. Instead, in their hope to distract their base from noticing that they were unable to dismantle Obamacare, they are changing the subject to Benghazi. 

The biggest enrollment number is 8,019,863, which is the total number people enrolled in private Marketplace plans through state-based and federal exchange. Insurers say the percentage of people who have activated their coverage by paying their first premium is 80 to 90 percent – and experts believe it will rise when new policyholders hit their first payment deadline.

In the meantime, the numbers via an HHS press release:

“Importantly, 2.2 million (28 percent) of those who selected a Marketplace plan were young adults ages 18 to 34 — a number that grows to 2.7 million when counting ages 0 to 34, the report found. The report also shows, for the first time, the race and ethnicity of the 69 percent of enrollees in the Federally-facilitated Marketplaces who voluntarily reported this information.

“HHS also announced today that more than 4.8 million additional individuals enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP through the end of March 2014, compared to enrollment before the Marketplace opened last October. 

“More than eight million Americans signed up through the Marketplace, exceeding expectations and demonstrating brisk demand for quality, affordable coverage,” said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. “In addition, over 4.8 million more people have been covered by states through Medicaid and CHIP programs, around 3 million more Americans under 26 are covered under their parents’ plans, and recent estimates show that an additional 5 million people have purchased coverage outside of the Marketplace in Affordable Care Act-compliant plans. Together we are ensuring that health coverage is more accessible than ever before, which is important for families, for businesses and for the nation’s health and well being.” 

The states with the largest numbers of people selecting plans through the exchanges during the six-month open enrollment period included California (1.4 million), Florida (983,800), Texas (733,800), New York (370,500), North Carolina (357,600), Pennsylvania (318,100) and Georgia (316,500). California and New York run their own exchanges. The other five use the federal marketplace. According to the HHS report, the majority of ACA enrollees are white (62.3%) and female (54%). Thirty-four percent of those who enrolled are under age 35, and 28% are age 18-34. 

If we exempt the additional 5 million people who have purchased private ACA-compatible coverage directly from health insurance companies (outside of the Marketplace), the total number of people who now have ACA coverage that likely would not have insurance without the ACA is 12.8 million. That number is for this year – just wait until next year, and the next.  The CBO has said that they believe that by 2016 we will be looking at 25 million to 30 million people enrolled in health plans through the American Healthcare Act (Obamacare).

Republicans have reacted to this news by changing the subject to Benghazi. They have to gin up a scandal to beat the Democrats in 2014 and 2016 since they cannot win an election on policy. These days, Speaker Boehner only wants to talk about the Benghazi emails:

“Someone needs to answer why this administration hid these documents – and tell the American people what else is being concealed. The House used its subpoena power to obtain documents, including emails, last year, but these emails didn’t show up until now, after a court ordered their release to an outside watchdog group. This defiance of the House’s subpoena power is the most flagrant example yet of the administration’s contempt for the American people’s right to know the truth about what happened when four Americans died in a fiery terrorist attack. If the White House will not explain it, Secretary Kerry should come to the Capitol to explain why he defied an official congressional subpoena. And the White House needs to understand that this investigation will not end until the entire truth is revealed and justice and accountability are served.” 

There have already been several investigations that have proven there was no wrong doing other than Republicans cutting the budget by millions for the security of embassies. I think we should go back and investigate the 9 embassy attacks that happened under the Bush administration. Better yet, let's investigate why the Bush administration led us into the Iraq War – and why the warnings leading up to the attack on the World Trade Center were ignored.

It is not just John Boehner and the Republican Party; from Fox News to Rush Limbaugh, no one is talking about the ACA (Obamacare) anymore. And since they cannot allow their base to realize that they have failed to destroy Obamacare, they must gin up another bogus scandal as a distraction.  

The ACA is now and forever entrenched into society. We have won the battle. 30 million people have won.

This goes against everything Jesus taught us

Between the end of World War II and the early 1980s, America was on its way to becoming closer to an egalitarian society than at any time in its history. All that ended with the election of B-movie actor Ronald Reagan in 1980. His election was the beginning of America’s march away from egalitarianism and on a path toward oligarchy. Thirty-three years after this “acting” president did his damage to this nation, the race toward an oligarch government is reaching fruition due to Republicans’ success at convincing the ignorant masses that giving up their possessions so that the rich “job creators” can have huge tax cuts. The poor masses have been told that this will start them on the path to prosperity.

Yeah, right. If you believe this Republican lie, then let me sell you a bridge. 

Crucial to Reagan’s diabolical trickle down economic theory was the so-called “moral majority” Christian movement whose support continues to enable the Republican transfer of wealth from the poor and middle class to the richest Americans. It is doubtful that what Americans regard as Christians, either then or today, have any knowledge of Jesus Christ’s teachings regarding the rich having no chance of entering the kingdom of heaven, or that he instructed the rich to sell all their possessions and give the proceeds to the poor. If today’s so-called “followers of Christ” had paid attention in Sunday School or read a few verses in three of the Christian bible’s “Gospel Accounts,” so-called Christians would reject Republicans if for no other reason than their preferential treatment of the very people Christ said had about as much hope of getting into Heaven as a camel passing through the eye of the needle.

It is now standard conservative policy for Republicans to condemn Americans as greedy and envious for the mortal sin of expecting to keep what little they have, and over the past five years particularly expect Americans to worship and pay tribute to the rich by giving up basic necessities of life so that the rich may get another tax cut. Jesus never instructed his disciples, and there is nothing in the Gospels, reverence toward the rich or kissing the ground they walk on. Yet, Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association thinks that is what Jesus wanted and counsels Americans receiving government services to “kiss the ground beneath the feet of the one percent.”

Yes, he really did say that!

Fischer, as director of Issues Analysis for the extremist Christian American Family Association (AFA), said that people who use welfare and other government services needed to “kiss the ground beneath the richest 1 percent of Americans.” Fischer also said Americans who paid into Social Security retirement and Medicare throughout their working lives had no right to collect, or expect to collect, on their benefits when they retire. According to this so-called “follower of Christ,” Americans are laboring under a “myth” that they had a right to collect on their so-called “earned government benefits” which he calls “entitlements.”  He says that your social security and Medicare are socialism even though you pay for it.

Fischer scolded the poor and middle class and explained that “rather than the poor, the low income, and the middle class being resentful of these rich people, they should be kissing the ground on which they walk! They ought to be given ticker-tape parades once a week in all of our major cities to thank them for funding welfare for everybody.” However, Fischer’s blasphemy against Jesus Christ’s teachings did not stop with demanding that the 99% fall down and prostate themselves before the rich. He also railed against the government and “the involuntary transfer of wealth through taxation” he asserted “makes us a socialist country. This is Marxism on display.” In 2012, another Christian extremist, mega-church preacher Rick Warren said via Twitter that “HALF of America pays NO taxes. Zero, so they’re happy for tax rates to be raised on the other half that DOES pay taxes.” 

Jesus likely wept when he heard this.

According to Fischer who adheres to Republican conservatism as if it were a religion, President Obama is guilty of using the Internal Revenue service to “go after the 1 percent.” This is a claim Republicans believe, proven by their defending income inequality and protecting the rich from any tax reform. Fischer and Warren can bemoan and label taxation whatever their bastardized Christianity informs them, but Jesus commanded his followers to “render unto Caesar what is Caesars,” and their Christian bible says “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. Whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.” Even a half-wit bible-thumper from the bible belt can comprehend those simple directions. They also understand that Jesus commanded the rich to sell all their possession and give to the poor; instructions that are contrary to current conservative Christian ideology that demands the rich be held up as idols.

The state of the “conservative” movement, and increasingly the Christian conservative movement, has become a religious testament to oligarchy – and to the philosophy that the masses exist to serve the rich. They expect the poor to give up what little they have so that the rich can have more. Republicans have become so blatantly pro-one-percent that despite their weeping and gnashing of teeth over “crushing deficits” for the past five years, they have the temerity to blatantly and without apology pass an unfunded $310 billion tax cut for the rich and corporations, increasing the deficit they claim is an affront to “our children and grandchildren’s economic future.”

Like the so-called Christian right, Republicans are not even hiding their idolatry of the rich and hatred of the poor and middle class. They claim the lower classes are greedy and envious for objecting to conservatives taking everything from them to further enrich the already wealthy. 

Americans seem to be making oligarchy their new religion. One day refusing to kneel down and worship the rich will be a crime.

Edited from: Right Wing Christians Tell The Poor To Kiss The Ground Beneath The Feet Of the 1%, by Rmuse; http://www.politicususa.com/2014/05/03/wing-christians-poor-kiss-ground-beneath-feet-1.html