Quixotic Tales

Today I read, “Taliban Holds Onto Afghan City Despite U.S. Airstrikes” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/us-airstrike-kunduz-afghanistan_560a3cd5e4b0af3706ddc1c2

So personally, I conclude that the Taliban are Afghanistan’s problem; they can fight it or live under it and that is what Afghanistan is all about.

America had no purpose in invading the sovereign State of Afghanistan, carpet bombing and killing hundreds of thousands of innocent Afghan men, women, and children none of whom had anything to do with 9/11 or the Saudi Arabian terrorist bin Laden and there were no military targets; bin Laden was neither Taliban nor Afghan he was simply hiding in a remote part of war torn Afghanistan where there was no government.

America and the World will never know why W. Bush invaded Afghanistan, but it unfortunately looks like President W. Bush felt it necessary to take the opportunity that 9/11 provided to make himself look heroic so that the American People would have to supported him, despite his having most American voters voting against him in 2000, and voting for Gore instead; and so W. Bush chose to attack a weak Third World Nation that America could defeat in a week, he would be hailed as a great war hero, and the People would have to accept him as a legitimate President that he wasn’t.

If anyone can find a better reason for the invasion of Afghanistan, I’m ready to listen.

Unfortunately, his plan worked all except defeating a weak Third World Nation in a week.

America could not win in Afghanistan because we had nothing there to fight for. America had no reason to invade Afghanistan, so what did they have to win?

President Obama should pull entirely out of Afghanistan and let the Afghans face the future on their own.

Afghans have absolutely no reason to like America or want Americans to be in Afghanistan. Invading Afghanistan was a huge American disaster, worse than 9/11; Americans are just too chauvinistic and refuse to accept it.

This is not a conspiracy theory, it is not opinion, and it is history except for “why America invaded Afghanistan”? So who else can explain it; then there is the question of the Invasion of Iraq?

Today I read of Michelle Obama on the late night talk show with Steven Colbert: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/michelle-obama-stephen-colbert-late-show_560a7bdae4b0af3706ddc3ee

PRESIDENT OBAMA AND FAMILY

So, I am made aware again, and it makes me so sad for my beloved nation, what sacrifices a person and their family makes when they run for public office and win. So all Americans should take time out, take note, and listen to the Michelle Obama joke that is not really funny; Michelle will thank God when her husband is no longer President of the United States of America, she will then again be able to open her window when she wants, and once again feel of sweet fresh air. It’s poetic, historic, and accurate.

When I take a look at the utter lack of human qualities of the herd of Republican candidates that I could never vote for, and wonder why I have no choice of a quality human being for my President of the United States, I weep for America; and those who think very different from me, cannot approve of the Republican candidates either. Republican candidates who believe in our democratic Republic are justifiably scared.

Personally, I am tired of being called a Democrat; I cannot conscientiously support all Democratic candidate running for office, and if given the choice in the last two elections, opponents being the same, and Barack Obama was the Republican candidate, I would have voted Obama both times, as I did. Very few Americans are willing to suffer the consequences of being elected President of the United States.

This is America’s greatest problem; America has become ‘the land of hate, threats, lies, wars, mass killings, and blazing guns’, where no one in their right mind seem to want to be President except liars and thugs.

Putting myself in Bernie Sanders’ shoes, my worse fear in life would be not getting elected President of the United States of America, or getting elected President of America!

The America of today is not the America that I wanted to leave for my children.

In the news today, I read, “SCALISE MAKES RUN FOR KKK HOUSE LEADER – MONTHS AFTER WHITE SUPREMACY SCANDAL”: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/steve-scalise-majority-leader_

It entered my mind the that the KKK Republican Whip, Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana who has the support of the KKK Grand Wizard Duke, would make a run for the Speaker’s, job; I predicted it. Americans you have to face the facts, and the history; do you really want the Ku Klux Klan running the House of Representatives?

If Scalise is elected, either non-White Supremacist Republicans in the House will either join the Democratic caucus or the United States is in another civil war again over racism.

Gun stores should do a great business.

All this time the mainstream Corporate American news media has kept the People dumbed-down. You missed the warnings folks.

If I were Boehner I would become an expatriate in Paris. I would join him if I could afford it.

Today I read that three Supreme Courts Justices did not attend Pope Francis’ speech to Congress and that fascinated me: “Did Supreme Court Justices boycott Pope Francis?”, http://news.yahoo.com/did-supreme-court-justices-boycott-pope-francis-134028059.html

U.S. SUPREME COURT, 2015

Interesting to me is the fact that the 3 U.S. Supreme Court Justices that did not show at the Pope’s speech to Congress, are all Catholic; and, what does that mean? No excuse was given and of course, in my warped mind, I wondered if they had a previous engagement for lunch with a ‘Corporate CEO’?

Personally, I have long been interested in the religion of the U.S. Supreme Court Justices; and particularly the fact that they are primarily Catholic, especially considering how some Catholic Bishops have most often been very partisan in Presidential elections (usually in favor of Republicans, which to me is ‘not in the best interests’ of the poor, or the persecuted, or Jesus).

So, I find it of interest that the news media and the People, never consider religion when discussing the U.S. Supreme Court.

Most Americans are totally unaware of the religion of the Supreme Court Justices; you would think it was a national secret!

As a perennial student of the Supreme Court, I believe that religion is extremely important in a democracy because of the sometimes overwhelming power of religious thought.

In the case of Christianity, I personally, think that Jesus Christ was a ‘liberal progressive Democrat’, but extremist radical Christians are just the opposite, bordering on fascism. That is kind of shocking to me, but think about it?

The Republican Party has changed over the years; today’s Republicans have opposed legislation for the benefit of all of the American People, they have suppressed voters, they have opposed all cooperative programs for the “general welfare of the People”, they have waged wars of aggression for the benefit of Corporate America and their foreign investments, and they have admitted to violating International Law and tortured prisoners of war.

Being a Republican isn’t what it used to be!

The Republican Party ideology today can best be described as, a political philosophy, movement, or regime that exalts nation and often race and stands for a centralized autocratic often militaristic government.

The Webster Dictionary definition of fascism is: “A political philosophy, movement, or regime that exalts nation and often race and stands for a centralized autocratic often militaristic government”.

Yesterday, an evident coup took place in the Republican Party and extremist Republicans have ousted the Speaker of the House of Representatives and a new Republican regime will be forthcoming, which reminded me of a haunting poem, entitled, “First they came”:

“First they came …” is a famous statement and provocative poem written by Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) about the cowardice of German intellectuals following the Nazis’ rise to power and the subsequent purging of their chosen targets, group after group. It deals with themes of persecution, guilt and responsibility.

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came_…

Republicans, be careful what you wish for!

Today I received a statement by House Speaker John Boehner that more or less represents the thinking of today’s Republicans and who resigns from his position as Republican Party Speaker of the House on October 30th; Speaker Boehner resigns over conflicting issues within the Republican Party. The big question is, who and what will profit from the Speaker’s resignation.

SPEAKER JOHN BOEHNER

When confronted with Republican ideology, I try to listen and read this with intelligent and scientific consideration, and my reaction is always the same; I have a logical, learned disagreement. Actually, I have absolutely no hatred for Republicans and have family and friends that I love dearly who are Republicans, though I do wonder why?

So, I don’t hate Republicans, though, “I wouldn’t want my daughter to marry one”! But each person has to make his or her own decisions and find contentment in life or suffer consequences and conscience.

My own reaction is based on my 85 years of life, and I consider my life a tremendous success, despite the fact I have always been considered “poor” in terms of dollars and cents, for various reasons.

My happiest moments in life were not the least bit expensive and my “American Dream” has never been to have unlimited wealth; I’ve been rather successful in not being committed to envy and not coveting anything of my neighbors, or Republicans.

Contentment for me has always been cheap; some interpret this to mean that I lack incentive. However, it is more probable, my being brought up in the Great Depression; my family never craved wealth or expensive material things then because hardly anyone had them and the wealthy always appeared to be much less happy than we were, and worry more than we did.

We of the less wealthy population, certainly did not lack initiative or creativeness, we had to work harder to survive and find contentment than if we had been fully employed, it was just that we realized “we have nowhere else to go, this is all we have”.

Granted, my own wonderful experiences in life, were not entirely of my own doing; I was lucky.

Basically, I had family and friends who loved me, and for me success is having someone love you. Anthropologist Margaret Mead said so simply yet eloquently, “One of the oldest human needs is having someone to wonder where you are when you don’t come home at night.” That quote is my mantra for two of the most important aspects of life for me, love and contentment.

As for my apparent lack of interest in what money can buy for others, I also rely on a quote of Margaret Mead, “We have nowhere else to go… this is all we have”; this is simply a truism and I just accept it as the most integral aspect of life, and a necessity.

What all of this philosophy of my own life is leading up to, is the reason that I just can’t agree with today’s Republican Party ideology; this was not always so. As I was growing up, Republicans and Democrats wanted the same things for America and the People and the only difference was how our United States of America could provide it.

But today, Republicans have adopted a different and in my estimation false concept of why people even have governments. In school, I was taught that the sole purpose of government was to “provide for the People collectively, those thing the People cannot provide for their self as individuals”.

And I always was fully aware that nothing in life is free, and I never objected to paying taxes for that reason. And tax money is actually the Government’s money; it does not belong to any other individuals.

Taxes are simply the cost for each person living in a society that is dedicated to providing for the People collectively, those things they cannot effectively provide for their self, as individuals. This is the ‘only’ purpose of government.

As the preamble to the U.S. Constitution reads, “We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure the domestic Tranquility, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” This pretty well defines the purpose of American government.

Then in Article I, Section 8, the Congress spells out what Congress (our government) can and should do:
“lay and collect taxes”
“regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States”
“borrow money”
“establish Post Offices and post Roads”
“Declare War”
“raise and support Armies, but no Appropriations of Money to that Use shall be for a longer term than two years” (an interesting condition for funding the military)
“To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the forgoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution . . .”

Republicans can call it socialism or whatever they like, but it is in accordance with the U.S. Constitution.

Therefore, the fault I find with the Republican ideology is that Republicans seem to think the Constitution limits what Congress can do, and I see the Constitution making Congress responsible for doing whatever the needs of the People are.

Statement by House Speaker John Boehner
WASHINGTON, DC – House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) today issued the following statement:

“My mission every day is to fight for a smaller, less costly, and more accountable government. Over the last five years, our majority has advanced conservative reforms that will help our children and their children. I am proud of what we have accomplished.”

(I believe our Constitutional forefathers established the fact that the government should be as large as is necessary, to provide for the collective needs of the American People; I see no way that severely limiting government is helping my children or their children.)

(The Republican Party opposes Social Security, Medicare, and universal medical insurance; I believe those things are my government meeting their responsibility to the People.)

(The Republican Party would eliminate and privatize the Post Office, eliminate and privatize public schools, and totally eliminate labor unions and I believe all those are a necessity of the People and a responsibility of my government to provide and protect, and/or in the case of Labor Unions, a Right of the people to unite and incorporate with others with similar individual needs and issues, just as corporations do when they unite with the National Chamber of Commerce.)

“The first job of any Speaker is to protect this institution that we all love. It was my plan to only serve as Speaker until the end of last year, but I stayed on to provide continuity to the Republican Conference and the House. It is my view, however, that prolonged leadership turmoil would do irreparable damage to the institution. To that end, I will resign the Speakership and my seat in Congress on October 30.”

(Personally, I deeply respect any American who is willing to make the sacrifices necessary to serve as a public servant, as the House Speaker Boehner has, in this day and age of apparent “hatred” of government for doing what the government is supposed to do.)

(Government leadership’s purpose is to provide for the People, and leadership doing irreparable damage to the institution of Constitutional American Government, cannot be and should not be tolerated. Though I am not privy to the reasons for the Speaker’s decision, I respect any decision the Speaker makes in his capacity, and hope and pray it is the best decision for the United States of America as we will all, soon see.)

“Today, my heart is full with gratitude for my family, my colleagues, and the people of Ohio’s Eighth District. God bless this great country that has given me – the son of a bar owner from Cincinnati – the chance to serve.”

(I too am grateful for any blessings extended to the Speaker and his family; government service itself, is not always personally, necessarily rewarding to public servants, and God bless those “Profiles in Courage” who make the sacrifice to serve. Personally, I most often respectfully disagreed with the Speaker on issues; but, I respect his Constitutional Right to disagree, and I can respect the will of the majority.)

For me, the Republican Party of today, is against everything that the American government is supposed to be doing; and the only thing that the Republican Party of today wants, are wars of aggression for the benefit of American businesses and their foreign investments.

This is not the “Grand old Party” of Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, and Earl Warren, who are all heroes of mine. As a consequence, I have seldom found a Republican candidate that I can with a clear conscience support and vote to elect.

Since in America, our Presidential Elections of necessity, limits our choice to only two viable political parties, most Americans including myself, are not allowed the privilege of being a devoted member of one party or the other, but limited for the most part to voting for the lesser of two evils; that is a pity.

Personally most recently, I have felt obligated to vote for Democratic candidates because of my expressed dissatisfaction with the merits of the Republican Party; and I like to think that if the party affiliation were reversed and under the same circumstances, I would not have changed my vote for my candidate of choice. Therefore, I am not a solid and true political party member.

Whatever! Though I disagreed very much with Speaker Boehner, I respect the sacrifices he had to make to serve, and respect him for it.

An understanding of today’s political philosophy is an absolute must, for American voters; the future of the American People and the future of their children are at stake, in the 2016 elections. The stakes are high!

Liz Warren tells it like it is and confesses that she is in the fight to win for the American working Middle Class and Poor that is currently being reduced to poverty, and that she is not running for President, because she cannot win that fight by running for President even if she wins; running for president, is to lose Liz’s battle, because as a Presidential candidate, Sen. Warren would have to bargain with the enemy and compromise her principles to get sufficient campaign contributions to actually win the election. And then as President she would owe favors and, she would be just as impotent as President Obama currently is, because of the radical reactionary plutocratic Republican Congress obstruction.

NON-PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFUL, LIZ WARREN

So, Bernie Sanders is trying to run for the Presidency without giving up his principles with regard to opponents, for campaign contributions with strings attached, in order to win the Presidency without financial backing from the wealthy; and Hillary Clinton, is trying to run for the Presidency and say that a middle ground and compromising some principles is a necessity to win and if you don’t compromise and lose, you lose everything. Hillary and Bernie are adhering to ‘business as usual’ politics, but each of a different political philosophy. Both have merit.

So Warren hasn’t endorsed a candidate, she is leaving that decision up to the voters and candidates; personally, Warren maintains that running for President is simply detrimental to her winning the battle of eliminating, the inequitable income problem in the American economy, which is destroying the working Middle Class and creating a 21st Century Feudal System, of only two classes, the American wealthy elite and American peasants.

Further, the Republican Party of today, has been taken over by the extremist wealthy elite and represent the 1% of the American People, with the wealth to buy candidates, buy favors, buy elections, and become the ruling class in a 21st Century American Feudal System. The Republican Party has many candidates, and all of the same kind and of the same mind.

So this is what Elizabeth Warren and the 2016 elections are all about!

The English word “no” is seen as an absolute negative; but “no” is positive if a mother is told there is “no” crap in the baby’s diaper. She could have been told the baby’s diaper is clean, but it appears to me that Americans have simply assassinated the English Language.

Today, it appears to be impossible for one generation to even communicate with the next or the last generation, using words.

I’m especially concerned about my grandchildren and great grandchildren, what they know, and how they intend to survive? I can’t converse with them, I just sit there, adore them, and wonder how they will survive. My grandkids are simply exceedingly intelligent, lovable nerds, and I don’t understand a word they are saying.

So, I have concluded that all they know about is Batman and Science fiction; and, they know absolutely everything there is to know, about Batman! But if they just happened to step in bat doo-doo, they would not know how to clean it off of their shoes.

That is the ‘poop’ on the ‘American’ English language and the generation gap today. Holy crap!

(From the Diary of the Forlorn Curmudgeon)

Is a Doctor of Medicine a noble practice of healing the sick or the highest paid professional witch-doctors in the United States of America?

AMERICAN BRAIN SURGEON AND CANDIDATE FOR THE PRESIDENCY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

The only noble stories of the medical profession that I can recall reading in the news since Obamacare, is the medical profession’s opposition to Obamacare in an effort to deny me medical care, and Scott Roeder’s Christian terrorist attack and assassination of Dr. Tiller.

Despite my great respect for my personal physicians, when I think of the medical profession as a political movement, I think witch doctors, apart and separate from my own beloved medical caretakers.

So “doctors” take on a dual relationship for me, of love and fear! I trust my own beloved doctor with my precious life and the American Medical Association scares the ever living crap out of me with their political voodoo and war dances against humanity.

I desperately want to love my doctor for his or her great compassion expressed for me and I want to rid the world of those medical industry political professionals who would deprive my children and loved ones of medical care if it is regulated by my own government for our own health and well-being.

Then Doctor Ben Carson the brain surgeon, a Republican who would be President, comes along and he wants me to believe that science is the work of the Devil, and I now have to question the sanity of the healers in our Society.

This world is a ridiculous place for humanity to have to live, or is it only in the United States of America.

Today I read about the Republican brain surgeon, Dr. Ben Carson who is running for the Presidency of the United States of America, and saying a Muslim should not be President; but, he now changed his mind and said a Muslim could be President, if he quit being a Muslim; http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ben-carson-muslim-comments_56010752e4b00310edf865e9

It did appear to me that if a Muslim quit being a Muslim to become president, he or she would not be a Muslim President; but I wonder what in the name of God that the People did in countries where all the People are Muslim?

This is America in the 21st Century, and can anyone tell me why in the name of God, Dr. Ben Carson is not incarcerated on a ‘Funny Farm’ somewhere instead of running for the President of the United States and doing brain surgery in his spare time? Holy cow!

Wait a minute! I could ask the same question of the whole covey of Republican Candidates for the Presidency!

The only American candidate that makes any sense, is ‘poor ole Bernie Sanders’; and, all he keeps telling the People, is that the United States is far behind the times and America should be doing what all the rest of the civilized Western World has been doing for their People, for years, that the Republicans keep saying “is Communism” instead of “providing for the General Welfare” of Americans, based on our Constitution’s Preamble!

Republicans think, anything that doesn’t bleed the people for corporate profits and cheat on their income tax, is “Communist”; and these jackasses have almost a billion Dollars ($900 million) of Koch brothers’ blood money, to keep 99% of the American people living in poverty.

I’m thinking what in the name of God, are the other people in the world thinking about People like me, who live in America; if I call myself Canadian, will others in the world possibly consider me sane?

Holy crap! Stop the World, I Want To Get Off!

And, God forgive the nitwit Republicans, for they “know not what they do”!