Showing posts with label Democracy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Democracy. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Trump & Clinton Continue Blatant Lies - But They're Really Not Good At It

And The Lies Keep Coming From

 Trump and Clinton

By John A. Smith Founder/Editor August 2, 2016,

Trump Should Have Stayed OFF Sunday Shows 

Trump, Campaign, Try To Spin His Hateful, Racist Attacks On Khan Family

     On Thursday at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, site of the Democratic National Convention Khizr Khan, with his wife, Ghazala, by his side, made a speech. The Khan's lost their son, Humayun Khan in Iraq when he walked toward a suicide bomber and told the soldiers with him to get back. He saved his fellow soldiers but died when the bomber detonated his bomb. Humayun was posthumously awarded The Bronze Star and a Purple Heart. 

     In Khan's speech he said "you have sacrificed nothing, and no one." George Stephanopoulos on ABC News/This Week with George Stephanopoulos, asked Donald Trump, Republican Nominee for President of the United States about that statement and Trump responded "well that sounds so, who wrote that, did Hillary's scriptwriter's write that." This Sunday on NBC News/Meet the Press with Chuck Todd Khizr Khan said "the stewardship of this country needs to be in the hands of a person with moral compass, who can relate, who has some empathy with the citizen's he wishes to lead, this candidate (Trump) is void of both. On Saturday The Trump For President Campaign responded "Captain Humayun Khan was a hero to our country... the real problem here are the radical Islamic terrorists who killed him." 

     Republicans are also denouncing Trump with House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY.) condemning his Islamophobic attacks on the Muslim war hero’s family without mentioning his name, but falling short of withdrawing their support as reported in the Huffington Post. Read More: GOP Leaders Don’t Ditch Trump Even After Condemning His Attacks On Muslim War Hero’s Family




Trump Flaunts His Ignorance On Foreign Policy Again - His "Negotiation Skills" Aren't What They Were Trumped Up To Be Either

     For the author of "The Art of the Deal" and self-proclaimed "best negotiator ever" Trump and his "best people" pretty much let everything slide when forming the 2016 GOP Platform except for one thing, the part of the platform that encourages giving lethal weapons to the Ukraine to help ward off aggression from Russia. The Washington Post reports "Republican delegates at last week’s national security committee platform meeting in Cleveland were surprised when the Trump campaign orchestrated a set of events to make sure that the GOP would not pledge to give Ukraine the weapons it has been asking for from the United States." Read More: Trump campaign guts GOP’s anti-Russia stance on Ukraine . Where Trump wanted to soften the platform on same-sex-marriage and support for business decisions to deny certain services to same-sex couples Politico reports " While the party platform now bends toward Trump in some areas, other traditional planks of party orthodoxy remain firmly in place. Religious conservatives — without specifically swiping at Trump — rejected efforts by social moderates to soften the party’s stance against same-sex marriage. The Platform Committee on Monday afternoon added language defining marriage as the union between one man and one woman. And the platform also features language that embraces social conservative positions such as opposition to adoption by same-sex couples and support for business decisions to deny certain services to same-sex couples." Read More: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/donald-trump-republican-platform-225394#ixzz4G5UZ3vBM  His "best negotiation skills of anyone in the world" aren't showing here. Neither is his ability to "hire the best people," "the most knowledgeable people," "the best," for representing him in negotiations or for running his campaign for that matter.

Trump Loves Putin - danzcolorplus6543

Does Trump Have A Relationship With Putin?

      In 2013, 2014, and 2015, Donald Trump said he did have a relationship with Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin who is a Russian politician, and is the current President of the Russian Federation. Further into his interview with George Stephanopoulos on ABC/This Week... Trump claimed "I have no relationship with Vladimir Putin" right after which Stephanopoulos played clips  of Trump on MSNBC November 13, 2013 where the interviewer asked Trump "Do you have a relationship with Vladimir Putin, a conversational relationship, or anything where you feel you have sway over his government?" Trump responds "I do have a relationship and I can tell you he's very interested in what we're doing here, he's probably very interested in what you and I are saying and I'm sure he's going to see it in some form, but I do have a relationship with him." Following that clip Stephanopoulos asked "if you don't have a relationship with him they why did you say you did in 2013, 2014, and 2015?" Trump's response was "no I...what do you call a relationship? He says nice things about me, I have no relationship with Putin, I don't think I ever met him, I never met him, I don't think I ever met him (George interjects "you would remember if you met him wouldn't you?) Trump responded "yea, I think so." Another clip was played from May 27, 2014 where Trump gave a speech at the National Press Club and said "I was in Russia recently, I was in Moscow and I spoke indirectly, and directly, with President Putin and he could not have been nicer." Cut back to yesterday's interview on ABC/This Week where Stephanopoulos asked Trump directly "you never spoke to him on the phone" and Trump responds "I have never spoken to him on the phone." It went on and on with more clips and more direct contradictions and lies. Joe Scarborough on Morning Joe/MSNBC yesterday show that on November 23 2015 Donald Trump was quoted as saying "I have the world's greatest memory. It's one thing everyone agrees on." And on November 26, 2015 he (Trump) said "Despite having one of the all-time great memories..." Well it seems that if he did then it is failing miserably now. Finally, George Stephanopoulos asked "Why did you soften the GOP platform on Ukraine?" Trump: "ah, I wasn't involved, honestly, I wasn't involved, yea, I was not involved, I like to, ahhh I'd have to take a look at that, but I was not involved." George: "Do you know what they did? Trump: "They softened it, I heard, but I was not involved." George: "they took away the part of the platform calling for the provision of lethal weapons for Ukraine to defend themselves, why is that a good idea?" Trump: "look, I have my own ideas, he's not going into Ukraine, just so you understand, he's not going to go into Ukraine, you can mark it down, you can put it down, you can take it anyway you want." George Stephanopoulos: "He's already there isn't he?" Donald Trump: "Well he's there in a certain way but I'm not there, you have Obama there, frankly that whole part of the world is a mess under Obama with all the strength your talking about and all of the power of NATO, in the meantime he's going where he takes Crimea, he's sort of..." George: "but you said you might recognize that" Trump: "I'm going to take a look at that, but you know what the people of Crimea, from what I heard, would rather be with Russia, and you have to look at that also." Putin took Crimea by force! What and Who is telling him anything!!! 

How Could Anyone Who Reads This, Or Witnessed Donald Trump's Statements Yesterday Alone, Think That He Wouldn't Be a Possibly Fatal Error For This Country?

Let's Talk About The Candidate From The Other Party In Our "Two-Party" System of Democracy (or what's left of it) 


Photo from www.youtube.com

Hillary Clinton Reverts Back To Original Lies On Sunday Shows - Yes, AFTER They Were Totally Discredited By F.B.I.

     Hillary Clinton, Democratic Nominee for President of the United States says F.B.I. Director called her "Truthful" on e-mails. On Fox News Sunday on March 10, 2015 Clinton said "I did NOT e-mail any, um, classified material on my e-mail, there is no classified material." On July 25, 2015 also on Fox News Sunday "I am confident that I never sent nor received any information that was classified at the time...," August 18, 2015 "I had ah, not sent ah, classified material nor received anything marked classified." Yesterday on Fox News Sunday, Chris Wallace said to Clinton, on her first interview since the convention "After a long investigation F.B.I. Director James Comey said none of those things that you told the American public were true."  Clinton responded {first with the trademark fake smile} "Chris, that's not what I heard Director Comey say {then using 2nd signature trademark when she's answering questions she praises the question and/or the person asking the question} I thank you for giving me the opportunity to, ah, in my view, clarify, Director Comey said my answers were truthful and what I said is consistent with what I have told the American people, that there were decisions discussed and made to classify retroactively certain of the e-mails." Chris Wallace followed up with "But in a Congressional hearing on July 7th Director Comey directly contradicted what you had told the public." At that point he showed a clip from that hearing where Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) asked F.B.I. Director Comey "Secretary Clinton said there was nothing marked classified on her e-mails either sent or received, was that true?" Director Comey said "that's not true." Rep. Gowdy continued "Secretary Clinton said that I did not e-mail any classified material to anyone on my e-mail, there is no classified material, is that true?" Director Comey responded by saying "There was classified material on her e-mail." Chris Wallace then said "Not only did he contradict what you said, he also said in that hearing that you were extremely careless and negligent." Clinton: "Well Chris, I looked at the whole transcript of everything that was said and what I believe, number one, I made a mistake, not using two different e-mail addresses, I have said that, and I repeat it again today. It's not anything I would ever do again. I take classification seriously, I relied on, and had every reason to rely on the judgements of the professionals with whom I worked." Joe Scarborough played this same clip on Morning Joe/MSNBC and at this point they cut from Clinton saying what is above and show Joe laughing and he says "Oh my God, she just blamed people, professionals, that she forced to communicate with her through an unsecured e-mail! 

Hillary Almost Immediately "Promoted" Debbie Wasserman-Schultz When Leaked E-mails Proved The DNC Conspired Against The Sanders Campaign


     How does anyone see Hillary hiring, "Promoting," DWS as "Honorary Chairperson" of her campaign not being first, the biggest slap in the face to Bernie Sanders and his supporters; and secondly, rewarding a co-conspirator for doing the dirty work? Really?! Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL) did conspire to hurt the Sanders campaign. She, and the DNC, may have more problems.

     Salon, in an article, 10 reasons why #DemExit is serious: Getting rid of Debbie Wasserman Schultz is not enough on July 29, 2016 reported "Shortly after Bernie Sanders publicly endorsed Hillary Clinton a new hashtag trended on Twitter: #DemExit.  The hashtag offered Sanders supporters a chance to vent their frustrations with the Democratic Party and with the sense that their candidate had been pressured into an endorsement.  Rather than reach out to these disaffected voters, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) ignored them."

     Hillary Clinton has not only been caught lying to the American people on way to many occasions, but as of this past Sunday she has proved that she plans to go on doing the same thing. The fact that she knows she's lying, she knows that people know she's lying, and is arrogant enough to not care says it all.

What Are People Supposed To Do? 

     There is a third party choice. Green Party Presumptive Nominee for President of the United States, Dr. Jill Stein. Before you close this screen I ask you to read on just a little further. Not many people believe a third party candidate has a snowballs chance in hell in winning the office of the POTUS ninety-nine days from now. I'M WITH YOU! I don't believe Donald Trump has a snowballs chance in hell of winning the 2016 election for President of the United States either. I do believe a strong message needs to be sent to both the Democratic and Republican parties that Americans will fight to stop the media from "blocking" 3rd party candidates from getting any coverage. DecisionData.org  2016 Presidential Media Blackouts: Not Just Conspiracy , The Blaze Sanders Campaign Decries ‘Bernie Blackout’ on Corporate Network News  and {although reported by Breitbart - whom I don't usually use as a source but this is a straightforward story} Anonymous Launches Campaign to Oppose Media Blackout of Green Candidate recently published article bringing light to this fact. Call it firing a shot over the bow.


Poll 7/30/16 - 7/31/16 76.47% say they would consider voting for a 3rd party candidate

The next thing people say is "you will draw people away from Hillary and Donald Trump will win, and that's too scary." Well, here's my thoughts on that. If Hillary Clinton can be so arrogant as to totally disrespect Bernie supporters and Bernie himself, what makes you think that she is going to follow-up on ("90% of what Bernie wanted in the platform got into the platform") getting those issues that are important to Bernie Sanders and his supporters that were put into the platform implemented? She went along to get him to endorse her and hopefully draw his supporters over to her. When she saw it wasn't going that way she basically said SCREW YOU ALL when she promoted DWS whom conspired against Bernie. People who didn't like Hillary already and found her "untrustworthy" as 70% of all Americans do are supporting Trump because he says what they want to hear and/or are racist to the bone. I wonder how many Trump supporters actually think he would do the job as President? Although the results of a poll I conducted (results above) had only 17 participants, of those who voted 76.47% said they would consider voting for a third party candidate. The poll remains open. Take the one question poll now.


Send A Message That We Will NOT Be Disrespected and Be Cheated Out Of Our Democracy By The Current Two-Party Corrupt System - Trump Will Not Win the Election, Period

     Here are  some of the comments I get people whenever I ask if someone they would consider voting for a third-party candidate:

1) "I would but I'm afraid to because I don't want Trump to win." Response: Trump will NOT win this election, not even the Republicans want that. Their party has been hijacked by him. Even though this presidential election is the most important in decades due to the fact that anywhere from two to five U.S. Supreme Court Justices will be appointed I do not fear Trump winning. Today on Morning Joe/MSNBC Joe Scarborough said he had talked to someone very close to Trump and that friend said that Trump believes his best outcome to be beat by a half a percentage point so he Could say "the election was stolen" for the rest of his life. This falls right in with what I've believed for some time. Trump would NOT take on the duties of POTUS, he's having fun because he's a mega-narcissist and getting tremendous attention on the campaign. See"Donald Trump Does NOT Want To Be President - He Will Never Take On The Duties of the POTUS" below.


2) "A third-party candidate doesn't have a snowballs chance in hell of winning." Response: No, they don't. But if we send a message that we won't stand for a rigged two party system, AND fight injustices like the media block out of 3rd party candidates, AND that we're done putting up with the current, corrupt, disrespectful, politicians that don't represent us, but represent 1%er's and large corporations, by a noticeable percentage of voters voting for a 3rd party candidate, we CAN CHANGE FUTURE ELECTIONS! The "movement" will be moving forward and growing as the message of "we WILL vote for 3rd party candidates" is acknowledged. 

3) "Although I like a lot of what is in Dr. Jill Stein's platform, there are things I disagree with." Response: You're not going to find a candidate running that is for all the positions that you are for, in ANY party. You certainly aren't going to find everything you want in what Trump and Clinton are saying and what they will actually do. Again how can you vote for someone like Trump who yesterday said "she has no right to criticize my campaign, she couldn't even beat Bernie." George Stephanopoulos had to remind him that "she DID beat Bernie," and Trump said "barely." Really?!

4) "What can we really do to get the "movement" or "revolution" to gain traction? Response: We can get behind groups, organizations, activists, that support 3rd party candidates and help their chances for future elections i.e. Anonymous Launches Campaign to Oppose Media Blackout of Green Candidate
   
5)  "We only have 98 days left before the election, what can we really get done?" Response: We can do a lot. We can get a percentage of the vote to make the two current parties see that we ARE ready to vote for 3rd parties. We can support, and work towards, getting obstacles for 3rd party candidates removed, so that in a future election a 3rd party candidate will actually have a chance to win!

What 3rd Party Candidate Should We Look At If We Were For Bernie Sanders?

     Take a look at Dr. Jill Stein, Green Party Presumptive Nominee for President of the United States. Dr. Jill Stein is on the ballot in 47 states at this point.
    
     Jill Ellen Stein (born May 14, 1950) is an American physician, activist, and politician. She is currently the Green Party's presumptive nominee for President of the United States in the 2016 election.[1][2][3] Stein was the nominee of the Green Party for President of the United States in 2012,[4][5][6] and was twice a candidate for Governor of Massachusetts—in 2002 and 2010.[7][8][9]
She received 469,501 votes in 2012 (0.36% of the total votes),[10] more than any other female general election candidate.[11] On June 22, 2015, during an appearance on Democracy Now!, Stein formally announced she would seek the Green Party's 2016 presidential nomination.[12]   Read More: From Wikipedia

What Platform is Jill Stein Running on?

     It's called "Our Power To The People Plan." You'll see that the Green Party and Jill Stein want the same things that Bernie Sanders and his supporters want. See the entire platform here .


You've Told Us That The 1%er's Who Own The Media "Block Out" 3rd Party Candidates, Has Jill Stein Gotten Any Media Coverage?

     Yes. A Google search for "Media coverage for Jill Stein" brings up much coverage that is favorable to her and can be increased with pressure on media outlets from the people. An example would be "Jill Stein campaign deserves media coverage" by Green Bay Press Gazette. Here's an except: " Jill Stein is on the ballot for Wisconsin and her campaign is working to get on the ballot in all 50 states to give dissatisfied voters another choice in November. In a democratic society, the media should take seriously their responsibility to inform voters about their choices on the ballot. I look forward to the Green Bay Press-Gazette running balanced coverage of Jill Stein as the election approaches."  There is much more to read available on the search results page.

Donald Trump Does NOT Want To Be President - He Will Never Take On The Duties of the POTUS

     A couple months after Donald Trump declared he was running for President, someone interviewing him showed him pictures of former President George W. Bush and of President Barack Obama, they were portrayed wearing garb of the country they were visiting (separate events) and Trump was asked if he would go to other countries and wear their traditional garb. Trump's response was a very quick "NO! no, I would have someone else do that." Donald Trump Jr. was sent to vet Governor John Kasich (R-OH) as a potential running mate for Trump. He asked Governor Kasich what he thought about being the most "powerful Vice President in the history of America." Kasich responded "how would that be?" Donald replied "you would be in charge of ALL domestic and foreign policy." Kasich said "but that's everything, what would President Trump be doing?" Donald Jr. replied "making America great again." This morning on Morning Joe/MSNBC Joe Scarborough said "I'm having a conversation with someone, again, very close to Trump, he told me "Trump doesn't want to lose, but also doesn't want to really win and have to govern, his best case scenario would be to lose by a half of percentage point and be able to say the election was stolen from him for the rest of his life." "This person knows him extraordinarily well" said Joe Scarborough. Given the fact that this reporter is still flabbergasted that so many people say they support and want Trump to be President, I don't believe they will all actually vote for him, and even less think he will actually fulfill the duties and rigorous schedule of a POTUS. Yesterday on the campaign trail Trump told the crowd "I'm afraid the election is going to be stolen ... It takes guts to do this... I could be having a very nice life right now, I don't have to be with "you people" ranting and raving, right, I could be having a very nice life."

     Yesterday Warren Buffet, CEO, Berkshire Hathaway, and one of the richest men in the world, if not the richest, said "We've both done very well (Trump and himself) during this period and our families haven't sacrificed anything and Donald Trump and I haven't sacrificed anything. But how in the world can you stand up to a couple who have lost a son and talk about sacrificing because you have built a couple of buildings? I asked Donal Trump, have you no sense of decency sir?... "So he names the company after himself...for the next 10 years the company loses money every year, every single year, he takes out $44M in compensation during that period. In 1995 when he offered (Public Stock offering) this company, if a monkey had thrown a dart at the stock page the monkey on average would have made 150%." OH! SLAP! Did you hear it?

Hillary Clinton Will Not Work To Implement Those Issues Put Into The Democratic Platform By Bernie Sanders Influence

     HRC basically let Bernie know the deal they made for him to full throatily endorse her in exchange for some of his issues being put into the Democratic Platform wasn't going to be honored, on her part, by working for those issues, when she "promoted" Debbie Wasserman-Schultz to "Honorary Chairman" of her campaign. Yesterday on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace she reverted back to her old lies about her personal server and e-mails even though Chris Wallace showed her where F.B.I. Director Comey proved she was out right lying. She has the audacity to lie to the American people's face because she thinks we're that ignorant, or simply is so arrogant that she doesn't care, or both.
Check Out Jill Stein, Presumptive Nominee for the Green Party, for President of the United States - Get the Revolution Moving Forward By Fighting For Things That Are Holding 3rd Parties Back Like The Media Black-Out On 3rd Party Candidates - Vote For Jill Stein And Send A Message That We Will No Longer Take The Corruption, Disrespect, and Business As Usual, That Is The Current 2-Party System.



Jill Stein - Wikipedia   Jill Steins Platform   Jill Stein's Facebook Page   @DrJillStein on Twitter                                                             
Think You've Got It Locked , Hillary? Meet Jill Stein   jillsteinforamerica on Instagram

Thinking of voting for Jill Stein or Gary Johnson? Here are their policy positions




  1. References


  2. "Green Party candidate Jill Stein says Bernie Sanders should make a 3rd party run". June 1, 2016.

  3. Martin, Michel (July 24, 2016). "Green Party's Jill Stein Wants To Be 'Plan B' For Bernie Sanders Supporters". All Things Considered. Jill Stein interview. NPR. Retrieved July 26, 2016.

  4. Tau, ron (2016-07-01). "Jill Stein, the Green Party's Presumptive Presidential Nominee, Makes Inroads". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2016-07-25.

  5. "Mass. doctor Jill Stein wins Green Party's presidential nod". USA Today. Associated Press. July 14, 2012. Retrieved July 15, 2012.

  6. Levenson, Michael (October 24, 2011). "Jill Stein launches bid for Green Party presidential nomination". Boston Globe. Retrieved October 24, 2011.

  7. Reply by Jill Stein, to the GPUS Outreach and exploratory questionnaire for the 2012 GPUS presidential nomination GP.org

  8. O’Sullivan, Jim (January 7, 2010). "Stein to jump into gov race with Green-Rainbow bid". Boston Globe. Retrieved July 18, 2012.

  9. 2 more candidates jump into Mass. governor's race Boston Globe, February 4, 2010

  10. "Wayland's Jill Stein to launch campaign for governor". MetroWest Daily News. Boston. February 4, 2010. Retrieved September 6, 2012.

  11. 2012 Presidential General Election Results, Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections accessed November 19, 2012

  12. Rosenthal, Gregory (November 8, 2012). "Election Results and Analysis". Pacific Dreams New York Life. Retrieved September 18, 2013.

  13. "Exclusive: Green Party’s Jill Stein Announces She Is Running for President on Democracy Now!", Democracynow.org. June 22, 2015, Retrieved June 23, 2015.

 

Friday, July 29, 2016

Conventions Are Over - 104 Days to Vote - What The Hell Do We Do Now?

Day 3 and 4 - The DNC Convention,

 What Do We Do Now? 104 Days To Vote

2016 Democratic National Convention - Philadelphia, PA

Democratic National Convention - Days 3 

     After the gavel in on Day 3 Erica Smegielski was the first speaker. Erica’s mother Dawn was the principal of Sandy Hook Elementary and was killed while trying to protect her students.The full schedule of speakers can be found here from WTOP.com: Full schedule of speakers for Day 3 of the Democratic National Convention at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA The headliners were Vice President Joe Biden and President Barack Obama. Vice President Nominee Tim Kaine accepted the nomination for Vice President.

     So President Barack Obama delivered another speech as only a good orator could, Unfortunately he, and other speakers, in going with how we are a great country he sort of, let's say, stretched the truth a little bit. Here are some things fact-checkers found without having done their entire speeches as yet. Don't these people think that fact-checkers are going to check what they say?
  • President Barack Obama claimed that under his administration, “we finally began to wean ourselves off foreign oil,” but dependency on imported oil had begun to drop years before he took office.
  • The president repeated a frequent boast that the U.S. “doubled our production of clean energy” during his tenure. Monthly renewable energy production has gone up 40 percent.
  • Obama said deficits have “come down” under his administration. That’s true, but they are expected to rise again soon under his proposed budget.
  • Vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine falsely referred to economist Mark Zandi as “John McCain’s chief economic adviser during the ’08 race,” in touting an estimate of job loss under Donald Trump’s proposals. In fact, Zandi is a Democrat.
  • Rev. Jesse Jackson wrongly said “we have not lost a single job, a single month” since Obama became president, and he was also off in saying the U.S. trades “more with Mexico than we do with China.”
  • Former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta falsely claimed that Trump “says he gets his foreign policy experience from … running the Miss Universe pageant.” Trump didn’t say that was his foreign policy experience.
  • Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid claimed that the GOP ticket wanted to “gamble” Social Security “in the stock market.” But Trump’s campaign has called for making no changes to Social Security.
  • Kaine claimed that Trump said he “wants to abandon” our NATO allies. Trump has said that he doesn’t want the U.S. to leave NATO, but has suggested he would not automatically defend NATO allies that do not pay their share of defense costs.
     There was some good in that this convention actually had more viewers that the celebrity show candidate drew, hopefully that will mean more Democrats come out on November 8, 2016 and vote for every Senator and Congressman and woman running. In "the takeaways" by The New York Times America first — in the world. From The New York Times "Takeaways" of the DNC Convention    they said "The third night of Mrs. Clinton’s Democratic National Convention, heavy on national security themes, could have been titled “America First in the World.” Democrats celebrated the country’s diversity, with Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, the vice-presidential nominee, ladling on the Spanish. Prominent Democratic hawks, including Leon Panetta, a former C.I.A. director and secretary of defense, made the case for internationalism and multilateral engagement, harking back to the Cold War tradition." The Fix section of The Washington Post give you their Winners and losers from the third night of the Democratic convention . Overall, a good line-up of speakers; 

Democratic National Convention - Days 4

     The finale, Democratic Nominee for President of the United States Hillary Clinton accepted the nomination. By now I'm way too upset at Hillary. The straw that broke the camel's back was when she "promoted" the Former Chair of the DNC Debbie Wasserman-Schultz moments after she was forced to resign after hacked e-mails showed there was a concerted effort to hurt Senator Bernie Sander's campaign. She could stand up there and promise the moon and just how many of the 70% of Americans that consider her "untrustworthy" are going to believe a word she says. Well, when you look at how many supporters the narcissistic, misogynistic, hateful, racist, businessman/celebrity reality show host, Republican Nominee for President of the United States has, it's not easy to answer that question. "The Democratic nominee for United States president made a play for progressives, moderates, and Independents alike during her address in Philadelphia on Thursday night." Hillary Clinton Begins Building Her Coalition  David A. Graham, The Atlantic reported "While Clinton did not skip over the historic aspect of her nomination, she spent most of her hour-long speech emphasizing two, interlocking themes: the importance of community and togetherness, and the fundamental unfitness of the Republican nominee for office."

So Here We Are - Two Horrible Candidates With 104 Days Left

      I am really angry that the current political system has given us these two candidates to us to choose from for the President Of The United States (POTUS). They say we have a two party system. I had to look for options, I always looked for all my options when I was in business and had to make an important decision. So I looked for people that I can have an honest conversation with, to help me find what options I have.

What Are Our Options? Do We Have Any?

     I've been following and conversing with some people for a few years on Facebook. Many people I follow, to see what they post, are passionate about their beliefs, most are quite outgoing and have no trouble telling you what they think about anything they think is important to them. There are also a couple people that I share thoughts with as they do with me and I find them to be quite intelligent, passionate and stimulate my intellect and thought process. I find that they share accurate information (I do a lot of fact-checking and research) and express their thoughts without being disrespectful, hateful, or immoral. I don't know if they would want me to use their names in my blog so I'll just ask them, if they want, to please comment on this post and tell me, and my readers, Why, or Why Not, should people consider, with the two bad choices we have to vote for, for POTUS, or not consider, Jill Stein, Green Party Candidate for President of the United States? In fact, I invite all readers to comment on this question. 

     
     There are two people in particular that I speak to on Facebook that I eluded to above, I find to be very intelligent and speak truthful about facts and I respect their thoughts and opinions. As to the first one, I'll call him, Knowledgeable, Insightful, Respectful, Facebook Friend #1,  We disagree on some things and that is O.K. and is normal. He has lived through some history that I haven't (he's a tad older) and can site facts, and his prospective of what happened in some situations, movements, events, and eras.  He got involved by speaking up and voicing his educated opinion. He got involved because he cared enough about our country. He witnessed the Civil Rights movement first hand. He served in Vietnam and took the time during, and after, to find out as much as he could about what it was all about. He can tell you things you wouldn't read in any media. I've just decided while I was writing this post that I'm going to ask him, both actually, if they would consider being a contributing author to this blog. I'm sure any readers I have would enjoy their contributions. Anyway, today I was talking to Knowledgeable, Insightful, Respectful, Facebook Friend #1 about the "war on drugs" as it were, and he explained how opium was actually transported by Air America, a division of the CIA during the Vietnam war. My brother who served in Vietnam also had talked about them a number of times so I had heard of them before. They had silver helicopters and were indeed part of the CIA, and there wasn't a bunch more information available about them at that time. These facts are not disputed today. He can tell you, Knowledgeable, Insightful, Respectful, Facebook Friend #1,  the motivations behind the Iran/Contra dealings and much, much more. The "war on drugs" conversation that he linked "Air America" to went on. But I digress. The reason I bring him up is that we have been talking over the course of the past couple years and we find that we are both very angry at the choices we have for POTUS. I said that I really wish we had someone else to vote for, that I really dislike the candidates. I was pretty much giving in as far as saying I can't vote for Trump, I may have to vote for Hillary. I will point out what I like and dislike about Trump and Clinton in the next section, although I can tell you now that it will mostly be what I don't like. So I asked what his thoughts were on the election.

    Knowledgeable, Insightful, Respectful, Facebook Friend #1 made it clear that knowing me, and how active I am in politics, that I would not be content "voting for the lesser of two evils," and he was right. I think a lot of people use that and actually end up voting against someone, instead of for someone. He then said I should look at the Green Party candidate, so I did. I've been looking and researching for two days and I like what I see. I have hesitation that since no third party candidate is ever going to get anywhere near the $2B of free exposure that Trump has gotten, if ANY, that votes for a third party candidate would simply draw votes away from Hillary Clinton, therefore giving the worst candidate in the history of America, for President, a win. But he said if you're not willing to even look at the candidate and try, and vote for someone you despise, how are you going to feel. How will we ever get away from the crooked, lying, disrespectful, broken, system we have now? He hit a nerve. So I started looking at Jill Stein, Green Party Presumptive Nominee for President of the United States.

Who Is Jill Stein? Why Is She An Alternative To Clinton and Trump for President?

    
     Jill Ellen Stein (G-MA) (born May 14, 1950) is an American physician, activist, and politician. She is currently the Green Party's presumptive nominee for President of the United States in the 2016 election. Stein was the nominee of the Green Party for President of the United States in 2012, and was twice a candidate for Governor of Massachusetts—in 2002 and 2010. She received 469,501 votes in 2012 (0.36% of the total votes), more than any other female general election candidate.[11] On June 22, 2015, during an appearance on Democracy Now!, Stein formally announced she would seek the Green Party's 2016 presidential nomination. (From Wikileaks - Read More)

     She was born and raised in Highland Park, IL and lives  Stein is married to Richard Rohrer, who is also a physician. They live in Lexington, Massachusetts, and have two adult sons. In 1973, Stein graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University, where she studied psychology, sociology, and anthropology. She then attended Harvard Medical School and graduated in 1979. After graduating from Harvard Medical School, Stein practiced internal medicine for 25 years.

     Her platform is called "Our Power to the People Plan" includes Climate Action: Protecting Mother Earth and Humanity; Jobs as a Right, and Key Support for Labor;
End Poverty; Health Care as a Right, and much more. She has actual plans unlike one of the candidates running in the "two-party" system. (Read Jill Stein's Platform here) If you are a Bernie Sanders supporter there is a lot to like here.

     Some news has been coming out and Sanders supporters are taking notice:

     Seattle Times July 28, 2016: the said "On Monday, Sen. Bernie Sanders urged his supporters to vote for Hillary Clinton in a prime-time speech from the Democratic National Convention stage in Philadelphia. That same day, socialist Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant — who had backed Sanders — told a crowd at a rally across town to continue Sanders’ “political revolution,” not by following his lead, but by voting for Green Party candidate Jill Stein." Read More: Thinking of voting for Jill Stein or Gary Johnson? Here are their policy positions

     Politico June 19, 2016:  After an anxiety-inducing and divisive primary, Democrats are starting to breathe easier. Bernie Sanders, while not formally conceding to Hillary Clinton, has turned his fire on Donald Trump. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the darling of the left before Sanders, has effusively endorsed Clinton. So at last the presumptive nominee can hope to gather in all those unhappy Bernie voters and lead a united Democratic Party in the fall, right?
Not if Dr. Jill Stein has anything to say about it.
 
                 Jill Stein's Twitter Page 
                 

     O.K. I started writing this post to close out my thoughts on the Democratic National Convention. It took on a whole new direction as I came to find out that we have two candidates that for numerous reasons, will NOT  do the right thing if your in the 99%. We need to look elsewhere, and that is where this post started to be about the "Other" choice, Jill Stein.

Why Not Hillary Clinton? Think About It, Carefully

     I find many, many, things that displease me with her. She is a former board member of Monsanto, and other large corporations that I despise. She has been paid $225,000 per hour to speak at Goldman Sacs on a couple of occasions. She has close ties with many other Wall Street firms, and receives more donations from them then other candidates, that I'm comfortable with. I don't believe for a minute that she will push to get Glass-Steagal put back, or get Dodd-Frank implemented, which was actually passed July 15, 2010 more than 2200 days ago and still has not been fully implemented. It calls for those TBTF banks and institutions to be broken up. Glass-Steagal was regulations put in place after the great depression, removed by George W. Bush which allowed these banks and institutions to become TBTF. Instead of those 29 being broken up they are actually BIGGER today, and to beat all, there are now MORE than 29! When the financial crisis occurred in 2008 there were 29 banks and financial institutions that were Too Big To Fail (TBTF) and the taxpayers had to bail them out. Dodd-Frank was passed after those very institutions put large sums of money (that we helped them make) into blocking it. After it passed they have put even bigger amounts of money, and lobbyist have been successful in blocking it's implementation. H.R. 4173 (111th): Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act . Hillary Clinton was for the TPP but now says she's against it. She set up a personal server hidden in a closet across the country and said it was because she only wanted to use one device. It was proven beyond any doubt she used several devices. She traveled all over the world, where we have people and countries that don't like us, and have the capabilities to hack those devices, and she knowingly sent and received confidential information. WTF?! Just so she could hide her dealings with foreign nations to get money funneled into the Clinton Foundation. She acts dumb when asked why she would not only delete 30,000 e-mails but then have the hard drives professionally "wiped clean" before turning it over. Really?! And she didn't understand what she was doing? GIVE ME A BREAK! 

Donald Trump

     I find it mind boggling that so many Americans are so gullible as to believe a word of what this hateful, racist, narcissistic, ignorant (about everything a President would actually have to know and learn), misogynistic, bullshit artist has come out of his mouth. He displays his ignorance everyday and people still rally behind him. It sickens me that he says he will run this country likes his businesses. He has ripped off so many people that did business with him, and many people struggling to get by, that he had his con-artist's  at Trump University scam money from. He is a hateful, greedy, racist, narcissistic, misogynistic, reality TV host, that doesn't know the first thing of what it will take to run this country. His son, Donald Jr., interviewed Governor Kasich as part of the Vice-President vetting process. Donald Jr. asked Governor Kasich what he thought about being "the most Powerful Vice-President that ever lived?" Governor Kasich said "well, how would that be?" Donald Jr. said "because you will be in charge of all domestic and foreign policy." Governor Kasich said "well, that's everything, what would Donald Trump be doing?" Donald Jr. replied "making America great again." ARE YOU F*CKING KIDDING ME?!

     I'm done for now, I have to calm down. Please think about not voting for the lesser of two evils. Take a look at Jill Stein. Remember that our next President is going to pick probably at least 2 U.S Supreme Court Justices nominees and may as many as 4-5. Also remember that their are a lot of seats open in the House and Senate. We need to fire the obstructionists that have been holding this country hostage by not doing what they get paid for. They don't care, they know that they will get high salaries being lobbyists when they do finally get kicked out of office.

     Please respond with your comments, I welcome them.

 

Thursday, November 21, 2013

The System Isn't Broke, It's Fixed - By Greg Coleridge, Director of AFSC's Political and Economic Justice Program in Northeast Ohio


 The System Isn't Broke, It's Fixed - By Greg Coleridge, Director of AFSC's Political and Economic Justice Program in Northeast Ohio

Photo by oberlin.edu

"Urgently needed is a Constitutional Amendment declaring that human beings, not corporations, possess the inalienable constitutional rights and money is not equivalent to speech; therefore, political spending and contributions can be regulated. Only this can repair what remains of our democratic republic."

These words are from American Friends Service Committee - The System Isn't Broken, It's Fixed - B y Greg Coleridge with a link to the Coleridge article in Toledo Law Review - small file size.pdf

https://afsc.org/document/system-isnt-broken-its-fixed
Copyright:
AFSC
Created Date:
Jun 25, 2013

Thanks to Greg Coleridge, the American Fiends Service Committee, and the Toledo Law Review for truly great insight into the core of what we need to restore democracy.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

J.P. Morgan Chase $13B Settlement To Be Announced Today, But Regulation Has Not Been Restored an No Deterent Is In Place To Prevent IThem From Doing It Again

Too Big To Fail Corporations Are Actually Bigger Than When They Caused The Biggest Financial Collapse Since The Great Depression

Remember What They Caused

On October 22, 2013 I posted an article on this site summarizing the chain of events that caused the 2008-2009 financial disastrous collapse Will the $13B Settlement Deter Others? After Bear Stearns was bailed out, and it was determined that Lehman Bros. would be allowed to fail, barring further government bailouts, Fed Chairman Tim Geithner and others had the other shoe drop, AIG. It was realized that through deregulation that had been in place since 1922 that AIG was Too Big To Fail, fearing total worldwide financial collapse. They, AIG, JP Morgan, and others had wiped out Americans net worth through there 401k's and the housing debacle. The stock market went to 7900 (coincidentally the stock market went over 16,000 yesterday, doubling where it was after the collapse.) People not only lost their homes but with their 401k's being severely reduced, found 65 year old people and many others without their retirement savings and having to look for work.

 What was done to Prevent This From Happening Again?

Well, on July 1, 2010 H.R. 4173 (111th): Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was signed by President Obama. This was to restore the regulations set after the great depression. Here is  how well we're doing on implementing that law according to www.davispolk.com Dodd-Frank Progress Reports Monthly 

November 1, 2013 REPORT
  • In the past month, no rulemaking requirement deadlines passed, six rulemaking requirements were proposed and one rule was finalized to meet a rulemaking requirement.
  • As of November 1, 2013, a total of 280 Dodd-Frank rulemaking requirement deadlines have passed. Of these 280 passed deadlines, 170 (60.7%) have been missed and 110 (39.3%) have been met with finalized rules.
  • In addition, 162 (40.7%) of the 398 total required rulemakings have been finalized, while 115 (28.9%) rulemaking requirements have not yet been proposed  

The World's 29 Too Big To Fail Banks, JPMorgan At The Top

 The updated list of the world’s too big to fail banks is out today and JPMorgan Chase  along with HSBC are at the top.The Financial Stability Board amends the list each year after examining banks to decide which ones pose a threat to the global economy if they were  to fail. Forbes List of Banks Too Big To Fail The list of Too Big To Fail banks has grown and so has the banks themselves. They are actually bigger then when the financial crisis occurred. Their profits are growing, their bonuses have been back for awhile and the stock market has doubled since 2009. Middle class income and salaries are not growing and income equality is increasing.

Corporations Have Too Much Influence On Politicians

Since the Citizens United ruling by the Supreme Court things have only gotten worse. Things will not get any better unless there is a Constitutional Amendment to overturn Citizens United. This is not a partisan issue, it is not a Right/Left issue, it is not a Conservative/Liberal issue. Polling has long indicated support for an amendment. A 2010/2011 Peter Hart Poll found that 79% of all Americans, including 68% of Republicans, 82% of Independents, and 87% of Democrats support a Constitutional Amendment. An Opinion Research Corporation (ORC) poll found that overall 69% of Americans agreed that "new rules that let corporations, unions, and people give unlimited money to Super PACS will lead to corruption. Three out of four Republicans (74%) agreed with this statement. 71% of Republicans also agreed that "if a company spent $100,000 to help elect a member of Congress, it could successfully pressure him or her to change a vote on proposed legislation. A March 2012 poll conducted by ABC News/Washington Post showed that not only did two-thirds of Americans feel that Super PACS should be illegal, but 69% (two-thirds) of Tea Party supporters felt that Super PACS should be outlawed.

Nearly nine out of ten Americans (88%) say that big companies have too much power in Washington D.C. Super PACS, which became funnels for outside spending after an appeals court applied Citizens United, collectively spent more than $609 million dollars during the 2012 elections. Overall outside spending topped  $1.29 billion according to the Center for Responsive Politics "Outside Spending" April 22, 2013 "Outside Spending" by Center for Responsive Politics

Financial Reform is not at all where it should be 5 years after the worst financial collapse since the great depression. The banks have not only not been dismantled, but they have grown, the number of banks that are too big to fail has grown. WE MUST TAKE BACK THE POWER FROM THE CORPORATIONS! or face another, probably much worse, situation at the hands of the greedy and guilty people that caused the last crisis.

PLEASE use the links below to contact your Congressmen/women, and Senators RIGHT NOW, and OFTEN, and tell them that WE MUST PASS A CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO OVERTURN CITIZENS UNITED. Left in the hands of those who will NOT be going to jail but simply paying fines, is a bad place to be. I don't care how much the fine is (it's no where near what they stole from the people,) it will happen again rest assured. Perhaps the world economy will collapse next time. We can't let that happen, it's up to us to take action.

So, today they'll announce a $13B settlement will be paid, no one will go to jail, and the too big to fail banks will keep getting even bigger. Call or E-mail your Congressmen/women and Senators NOW!

Here is a sample e-mail, if you wish, you can copy and paste it into your representatives e-mail comments;
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Dear (ENTER YOUR Congressman, Congresswomen, or Senators NAME HERE)

I am writing you to tell you that I support a Constitutional Amendment to overturn the Citizens United ruling by the US Supreme Court. I believe, as does nearly nine out of ten Americans (88%) that big companies have too much power in Washington, D.C. With Super PACS spending $609 million during the 2012 election cycle and $1.29 billion from overall outside spending, I ask you to do whatever you need to do, to pass a Constitutional Amendment to overturn the Citizens United decision.

This is not a partisan issue, not a Republican/Democratic issue, nor a Conservative/Liberal issue. A 2010/2011 Peter Hart Poll found that 79% of all Americans including 68% of Republicans, 82% of Independents, and 87% of Democrats, support a Constitutional Amendment. An Opinion Research Corporation poll found that overall 69% of Americans agreed that "new rules that let corporations, unions, and people give unlimited money to Super PACS will lead to corruption. Three out of four Republicans (74%) agreed with this statement. 71% of Republicans also agreed that "if a company spent $100,000 to help elect a member of Congress, it could successfully pressure him or her to change a vote on proposed legislation. A March 2012 poll conducted by ABC News/Washington Post showed that not only did two-thirds of Americans feel that Super PACS should be illegal, but 69% (two-thirds) of Tea Party supporters felt that Super PACS should be outlawed.

I thank you for service and want you to know that I will track any legislation pertaining to this issue, and you, as my Representative, on GovTrack.us, Open Congress, Votesmart.org, or www.Senate.gov

Thanking you in advance for your anticipated cooperation, I am,

(YOUR NAME)
(YOUR ADDRESS)
(CITY, STATE, ZIP)
(E-MAIL, PHONE NUMBER)

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To find and/or contact YOUR Congressmen/women click here:
Click Here To Find and/or Contact YOUR Congressmen/women

To find and/or contact YOUR Congressmen/women click here:
Click Here To Find YOUR Senator


Wednesday, October 9, 2013

McCutcheon v FEC - UPDATE: A Summary of our Posts on this Issue and Updated News

Obama: Citizens United Helped Pave The Way For Shutdown


PLEASE CLICK ON THE LINK AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST TO SIGN THE PETITION TO THE SUPREME COURT JUSTICES 


In an article from Nation of Change on Friday www.nationofchange.org/obama-citizens-united-helped-pave-way-shutdown-1381414736 they say that Citizens United played a part in paving the way to the shutdown.

"In Tuesday’s press conference, President Obama got it right: The flood of big money into our elections has enabled more extreme politics to influence decision making—and that leads to impasses like the current government shutdown. The Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision is one big reason for our money-soaked elections."

 The article went on to say "On Tuesday, the Supreme Court heard a case that could tear away even that thin veil: McCutcheon v. the Federal Election Commission, a case brought by Shaun McCutcheon, a Republican donor from Alabama, seeking to abolish limits on the amount of money donated to candidates.
Under Citizens United, anyone—including giant corporations—can contribute as much as they want to so-called “independent” organizations, like Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS. If McCutcheon prevails, the same unlimited amounts of cash will flow directly to candidates and their political parties. It’s the last step toward shredding any form of restriction on election contributions."

But here’s the good news: By a wide margin, Americans don’t like this legalized form of political corruption, and they are taking action. Since the Citizens Uniteddecision, groups like Move to AmendPublic Citizen, and Free Speech for People have been at the forefront of campaigns to pass a constitutional amendment that would bring back our ability to regulate money in politics.

See our original post from October 2, 2013 right here on this blog: http://medic3569.blogspot.com/2013/10/sign-this-petition-to-tell-supreme.html

We asked you to sign a petition on October 9, 2013: http://medic3569.blogspot.com/2013/10/mccutcheon-v-fec.html Sign the petition if you don't want to see more corruption inn our politicians.

Here is the link to go to if you want to join us in signing the petition to the Supreme Court telling the Justices that we don't want even more corruption of our Congressmen/women and Senators by allowing UNLIMITED campaign contributions by individuals:



PLEASE CLICK ON THIS LINK TO SIGN THE PETITION TO THE SUPREME COURT JUSTICES:


https://www.change.org/petitions/the-supreme-court-of-the-united-states-of-america-reject-shaun-alabama-businessman-shaun-mccutcheon-s-challenges-to-the-aggregate-limit-on-campaign-contributions-that-an-individual-donor-can-make-in-a-single-election-case-to-be-heard-oct-8th