Politics in The 21st Century and The 2012 Race For The Whitehouse

Politics in the 21st Century and the 2012 Race For the Whitehouse
Table of Contents
1. 2010 U.S. Census, Republicans savor the population trends, as Democrats digest and despair. 2. Why the New Hampshire presidential primary will and must remain the nation's first. 3. U.S. Representative Michele Bachmann's presidential aspirations latest casualty of 'shot heard round the world'? Maybe. 4. Highly desirable (White) House for sale. Price tag: one billion, or more. Obama says, 'I'll take it!' 5. GOP desperate for a winning 2012 presidential candidate. But is it desperate enough for Donald Trump? 6. Ex-New Mexico governor Gary Johnson declares for president. Who dat, as GOP field grows some more. 7. The resignation of Congressman Anthony Weiner, June 16, 2011. Throwing away 'the dearest thing he owed as 'twere a careless trifle.' 8. Don't like American politics? They change as fast as the weather. Just ask U.S. Representative-elect Bob Turner the apple of the Big Apple's eye. 9. Keep your mitts off America. Why they're writing songs of love, but not for Mitt Romney. 10. 'The night that I told you, those little white lies.' Egregious Herman Cain, forgotten but not gone. 11. New biography of Mitt Romney claims to deliver 'The Real Romney'... but will anyone really care? 12. Indiana governor Mitch Daniels February 1, 2012 signs first right-to-work law in over 10 years... the key is that it's for a crucial state in the 'rust belt'. 13. 'Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion...'; the great truth assailed by the little man from Pennsylvania, former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum; John F. Kennedy's historic address on the matter revisited. 14. The lady from Maine laments and quits; the gentleman from Oklahoma says shoot 'em, and we revisit the savage beating -- on the Senate floor no less -- of Sen. Charles Sumner by Rep. Preston Brooks
2010 U.S. Census, Republicans savor the population trends, as Democrats digest and despair.
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant Imagine the scene on December 21, 2010 Officials of both major political parties waited impatiently as the minutes ticked far too slowly for Republicans and Democrats alike. They were awaiting the delivery of the pivotal report of the Census Bureau. Released every 10 years, this report contains crucial population information that determines just what percentage of federal funds for every project the states get... the number of representatives for each state in the federal House of Representatives... and the number of electoral votes each state casts for president. The stakes for politicians and their parties couldn't be higher, and one sensed the tension as they waited. There was palpable anxiety and sweaty palms in both party headquarters... for no one in the nation understood better than these Tadpoles and Tapers what was happening and what it would mean -- positive and negative -- for them. Within minutes of report arrival, these expert crystal ball readers had hard numbers to work with. The broad outlines of the game ahead began to emerge as these practiced number crunchers commenced work at the core of America's political establishment, work vital to every politician, little noticed or understood by the average (woefully uninformed) citizen. The game begins The Census Bureau's numbers, as stated above, determine how many seats each state is entitled to in the national House of Representatives. In the current report, two states are big winners and two states are big losers. Texas, now at the pinnacle of its steadily expanding power, gains 4 seats; Florida's sun- drenched growth also continues apace, now entitled to 2 more seats. On the flip side, both New York and Ohio lose two seats each. 6 states -- South Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and Washington state add 1 representative each. 8 states -- Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Michigan, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, and Louisiana, lose 1 representative each. The theory, the reality Once state politicians know the task (in Texas' case to add 4 seats), the game becomes acutely, unabashedly political, often ending in bare knuckle brawling. Remember, the stakes could not be higher. In theory, per order and guidance of the U.S. Supreme Court, districts are to be drawn up with equity and equality solely in mind. The word "fairness" is much employed. In reality, while giving judicious lip service to the justices directives, politicians immediately set to work with a will, determined to deliver the most seats (and benefits) to themselves while happily dishing their opponents. After all, to the victors belong the spoils, whatever the Supreme Court may think, (though this sentiment is never uttered publicly.) This is a great American game and tradition, with every politician involved saying one thing openly http://www.BizBuildersCommunity.com Copyright Tim Ricke - 2012 3 of 42
Politics in the 21st Century and the 2012 Race For the Whitehouse This is a great American game and tradition, with every politician involved saying one thing openly and quite another behind closed doors. To watch this is to understand how politicians really think and work. It is the best and most useful civics lesson of all. "All politics is local." This famous phrase was uttered by the late Representative Thomas O'Neill (D-Massachusetts), sometime Speaker of the House of Representatives. He knew whereof he spoke, and no where is this more true than in the matter of implementing the district changes necessitated by the U.S. census. Let's look at just one of the affected states, Massachusetts. Massachusetts, father of (more) presidential candidates and (occasional) presidents, will lose yet another seat. 100 years ago this Commonwealth had 16 House seats. As a result of this census, the number will drop to 9. Since all Congresspersons from this state are Democrats, this most likely means a permanent reduction of one in potential Democratic seats and a rise of 1 in potential Republican seats. This is of the utmost importance, because the census data make clear that the states losing seats are overwhelmingly Democratic... while the states gaining seats are comfortably Republican. Thus these changes, helped along by more GOP governors and state legislators from the massive Republican victory of November, 2010, move appreciably towards the Republican objective of a permanent, structurally based majority with nothing the Democrats can do about it. This is what the census numbers suggest and why Republicans are so jubilant as they read them. They see, with reason, a nation happily and permanently Republican, the only exceptions being those interregna brought about by GOP embarrassments, missteps and goofs... all of which are theirs from time to time. Viva Hispanics However, to (potentially) confound GOP exuberance and (potentially) save the Democrats' bacon there are the Hispanics, America's fastest-growing ethnic group. As all the political types know, these hold the key to American politics. Thus both parties are engaged in strenuous outreach to Hispanics, outreach which will inevitably be increased to match its importance and historic consequences. Here the Democrats currently lead but not overwhelmingly so. Republicans, already popular with Cuban-Americans, have every chance to improve their standing with other crucial Hispanic constituencies. And they will do so, in my humble opinion, by becoming the first major party to put an Hispanic on the ticket, as vice president. You read it here first. Viva! And what of once golden California, the dream of determined pioneers No report on the 2010 census would be complete without a few words, but only a few, on the once golden state of California. For the first time in decades, California gains no seat, thus indicating that the great days of growth are gone forever. The golden gate has shifted Florida and Texas way, and they are glad to seize the palm -- and crow. Perhaps it is fitting that the census report arrived in the midst of torrential, constant, unused to (much complained about) California rains, as if the very gods above wept for the end to a great American dream, obliterating its proverbial sunshine. And so the census has arrived. Let the (inevitable) games begin... with fervor,craft, masterful lies and dissemblings, hard work and deceit. It will all be most amusing, this set piece of American politics and democracy. I can't wait to see how this cookie crumbles.
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Copyright Tim Ricke - 2012
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Why the New Hampshire presidential primary will and must remain the nation's first.
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant They're at it again. Picking on the little guy. Telling you you don't deserve it... trying to take away your chief claim to fame and fortune. But this little guy is shrewd, he's been through all this before, and will, I predict and hope, remain the little guy we want to hold the very first presidential primary every four years. You are the State of New Hampshire... and I, for one, though from one of the big states with a lackluster primary, support you and salute you for the supremely smart ways you use to retain your crucial #1 primary position. Unlike the covetous folks from Florida, Michigan, even California who don't know you. I do; New Hampshire after all is only 30 minutes away from Cambridge, Massachusetts. I know just how tenacious, inventive, clever you are.... and just how much you value and love your place in America's political history. You are New Hampshire... and no one is going to take your beloved presidential primary away from you, though this year as always they are trying like the dickens to do just that. Some background The first New Hampshire presidential primary was held in 1916. On the Republican side a slate of unpledged delegates was elected. The reigning GOP establishment ordinarily did this when there was no sitting Republican president (like Calvin Coolidge in 1924); they could use these delegates to bargain. The first named person to win the New Hampshire primary was President Woodrow Wilson. He then went on win a second term. The primary didn't begin to take on its current significance until 1952. The Republicans had been out of power since 1932 and were desperate to get the White House back. Senator Robert Taft of Ohio ("Mr. Republican"), son of President William Howard Taft, was expected to net the nomination. But a group of Republicans, including twice defeated (1944, 1948) presidential candidate Thomas E. Dewey, were sure Taft was a loser. They wanted General Dwight David Eisenhower. Eisenhower was what America loves, a real bona fide hero, scandal free, a household name. "I like Ike," said the famous campaign button... and everybody else did too. So likeable, so electable, was Ike that both the Democrats and the Republicans went after him as their preferred presidential candidate. Having simplified its ballot access rules in 1949, New Hampshire was ready to make history in 1952. However, was Eisenhower a Democrat... or a Republican? No one, maybe even the General himself, knew.... President Truman, however, offered to forego another run in favor of Eisenhower if the Democrats could get him. The Republicans also wanted him. Eisenhower chose the GOP; Truman threw his hat in again though he had spirited competition in folksy Tennessee Senator Estes Kefauver. New Hampshire was poised to make history... and it did. First Kefauver beat Truman, thereby ending the President's political career, sending him back, http://www.BizBuildersCommunity.com Copyright Tim Ricke - 2012 5 of 42
Politics in the 21st Century and the 2012 Race For the Whitehouse First Kefauver beat Truman, thereby ending the President's political career, sending him back, embittered, to Independence, Missouri and his nagging mother- in-law, who still thought he hadn't been good enough for her dowdy daughter Bess. Then Ike pulverized Taft. New Hampshire woke up to the fact that it was Important, Very, Very Important. And they have never forgotten, making history over and over again; each time enraging other states... who don't like the power and glory of the pip-squeak. They say, envy and jealousy unpleasantly apparent, that New Hampshire is too small to have this honor.... its population insufficiently representative of America... its kind of personal politics outmoded in the age of mass media. New Hampshire's clipped, New England response? "Nuts" (The celebrated reply of U.S. General McAuliffe when asked in 1944 to surrender.) Here is their more complete response. On the matter of retail politics being outmoded, New Hampshire says that it provides an absolutely crucial service for both candidates and America. Candidates, they rightly say, need time to perfect their message and learn how to interact with people... and run a better campaign. They learn these skills in New Hampshire and from its citizens, who, remember, tutor the candidates every four years. Folks in New Hampshire pepper the candidates with every kind of query and remark; the better to know them, the better to educate them. Its citizens come to see and know the candidates well, weighing their merits and demerits, scrutinizing them up close and personal. Candidates who are not known before the New Hampshire primary are able to use foot power and meagre campaign budgets to gain adherents and become effective persuaders. They couldn't do this elsewhere, in other states; there the logistics work against this approach. New Hampshire, advocates of other, bigger states, aver is unrepresentative of America. This criticism roils its citizens. Have we not paid America's taxes? Have we not fought America's wars? Have the sons and, yes, the daughters, too, of our Granite State not died to maintain the nation? Have we not helped America by conscientiously scrutinizing each and every candidate helping to select the best of what this great country offers? Is all this not enough to keep the institution we have created, protected, built? No, these covetous, big states say, it is not enough... and never will be. You are small and weak, New Hampshire, we shall eat you and take the presidential primary you have fashioned, with all its emoluments and perquisites, the money, the fame, the storied place in our nation's legend. New Hampshire's ultimate weapon. For just such states and circumstances, New Hampshire has on its books a purposeful law. This strict law, universally popular and supported by every Granite State citizen of whatever party, mandates that the New Hampshire primary must and shall be held at least one week before ANY other state's presidential primary. In this law, the mouse has well and truly roared. This is why, about a year from today (or earlier if necessary to maintain its primacy) the good citizens of New Hampshire will trek through the snow and mud to exercise one of the chief rights of http://www.BizBuildersCommunity.com Copyright Tim Ricke - 2012 6 of 42
Politics in the 21st Century and the 2012 Race For the Whitehouse our democracy; to advance some, to rusticate others, with grave deliberation and forethought. It is New Hampshire's pride to do so... and they will do whatever is necessary to keep it, "Live Free or Die."
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U.S. Representative Michele Bachmann's presidential aspirations latest casualty of 'shot heard round the world'? Maybe.
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant U.S. Representative Michele Bachmann (R-Minnesota), had the uncomfortable experience March 12, 2011 of opening her mouth and inserting her own stiletto heel. Ouch! But this experience is almost a commonplace for the lady from Minnesota. She's rapidly becoming a national byword for gaffes, missteps, misinformation, and just plain old American stupidity. And yet the lady from Minnesota still thinks she has a shot at being president of the United States! Michele, whose grasp of history is (to put it charitably) non-existent has probably never looked up the derivation of the word "minnesota." It is from the Dakota Sioux who named the place "cloudy water". Michele's been drinking the stuff for a long time... maybe that explains the frequency and the goofiness of her gaffes. She ought to look into that water problem... those pinko one-world types have probably put fluoride in it. This time she made her faux pas de jour in New Hampshire, a place for which she's suddenly developed an acute tendresse. She hopes the yokels like her unique brand of one-liners, misstatements, tough talk, and silky tresses. It worked for the folks in Minnesota's sixth congressional district. Problem is, Michele's tongue moves faster than her historical knowledge and accuracy. Really and truly, I don't think that bothers Michele one bit. But it sure bothers the people she's misinforming. "Really," they say "she ought to know better..." This time she made another doozie. March 12, 2011 in Manchester, N.H., photogenic Michelle (whose luxurious locks are worth any number of political accuracies) butchered the facts about one of America's signature events: the "shot heard round the world," much venerated in these parts. "You're the state where the shot was heard round the world in Lexington and Concord," she told a group of conservative lawmakers and students at a Manchester, N.H. school. "And you put a marker in the ground and paid with the blood of your ancestors the very first price that had to be paid to make this the most magnificent nation that has ever arisen in the annals of man in 5,000 years of recorded history." Her Gaffiness' latest muff was reported March 12 on the RealClearPolitics website. Bachmann, according to the site, gave the wrong details once; then stated them wrongly again in the same speech. Michele doesn't dispute the facts as reported. Given the fact that Michele is a leader in the Tea Party movement, which takes its name from another signature episode in American history, Michele's latest flub is not insignificant. Her audience, hardened conservatives all, didn't bother to clue her into her mistake. After all, she looked cute when she fluffed her hair and tossed her head. The audience no doubt appreciated the herbal essence moment and wanted more of that, not her scalp -- yet. Facts? Who needs facts when you're a sound-bite machine? So frequent are Michele Bachmann's gaffes that there's actually a website entitled "The Ultimate Collection of Bad Michele Bachmann Quotes." She's so prolific in her faux pas that the owners of http://www.BizBuildersCommunity.com Copyright Tim Ricke - 2012 8 of 42
Politics in the 21st Century and the 2012 Race For the Whitehouse that site are exhausted keeping up with her non-stop "What me worry?" motor mouth. It is Michel's proud boast that she never allows mere facts to get in the way of what she's saying. She's quite simply above accuracy. It worked for Ronald Reagan; it's sure to work for her! On the subject of gay marriage, Michele sagely says, "(Gay marriage) is probably the biggest issue that will impact our state and nation in the last, at least, thirty years. I am not understating that." Here Michele manages to slaughter verb tenses, grammar and factual accuracy all at the same time. Bravissima! What matter pending national bankruptcy, our many wars, the nuclear question after the recent Japanese tsunami, emigration reform etc., etc., when we have a few gays who want to marry? Good for Michele, keeping America moral, one shot from the lip at a time. "I wish the American media would take a great look at the views of the people in Congress and find out: Are they pro-America or anti-America?" Michele's view of history (hold the facts) is highly colored by conspiracy theories, malfeasance of the highest order at the highest levels, and always those damnable liberals who are Determined to Bring America Down. She looks for these people under every bed, and if she happens to find they're gay, too, she wags a knowing finger at the miscreants, always making sure the omnipresent camera gets her best side while she's ranting. "I want the people in Minnesota armed and dangerous on this issue of the energy tax because we need to fight back." Michele's imagery is always violent, always predicated on the need to shoot early, shoot often. How she intends to shoot and keep her hair fluffed are not doubt amongst the many subjects in which her presidential campaign will in due course enlighten us. I can hardly wait to find out. There's more, much more: "But we also know that the very founders that wrote those documents worked tirelessly until slavery was no more in the United States." More of Michele's neo-history. We'd urge her to give it up, but she looks go good talking in front of the students she's misinforming, and conservatives don't care what their kids are taught... so long as they get to pray in school and condemns evolution. There's more... much, much more. But now it's time to see how Michele responds to the mere reporting of her words. Instead of simply saying that she doesn't know everything, takes responsibility for her missteps, and maybe even saying she plans to bone up on the subjects she mangles, Representative Michele Bachmann does what her Tea Party is so adept at doing: she comes out swinging; saying that she's the victim of a media double standard that wouldn't apply if she were a liberal Democrat. March 15, 2001 ABC News Radio quoted Bachmann as saying "We all know there's a double standard in the media... as we know all 3,400 members of the mainstream media are part of the Obama press contingent." Wow! She knocked that one out of the park. We can only admire Michele the more, the persecuted little lady from Minnesota. It's better than David against Goliath, because at least David had a few buddies. But Michele's only got her fabulous "do"... Come to think of it, that worked for Samson. As a Bible scholar of renown, Michele no doubt knows his prowess with the jawbone of an ass. It's certainly worked for her, too. Michele, keep up the good work. And don't even think of cutting your hair!
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Highly desirable (White) House for sale. Price tag: one billion, or more. Obama says, 'I'll take it!'
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant To absolutely no one's surprise President Obama officially kicked off his re-election bid April 4, 2011. The real story is not that he's running (since the day he was elected in the first place, he's been running for the second term whose function is to validate what he's done and his place in history). No, the story is on that most American of subjects: money, specifically the money it's going to take him to ensure his re-election. Yup, it's all about the money. In 2008, Obama set the spending record, $760 million for the primary and general elections. Obama, to the astonishment of many, was unstoppable in the fund raising department. Democrats were conflicted on the matter. For one thing, they wanted to win... and here was a man dedicated to raising the money to make them competitive and give them victory on a sterling silver platter. But that unnerved many Democrats at the same time, for such people have a knee jerk tendency to regulate campaign funds and limit them; Obama was always about victory, not limits. And victory, sweet victory, historic victory they got. Such victory papers over a lot of cracks. The president opens his campaign. Because this is 2011 and the world is wired President Obama launched his re-election campaign by e-mail. He said his campaign will be about "coordinating millions of one-on-one conversations between supporters across every single state, reconnecting old friends, inspiring new ones to join the cause, and readying ourselves for next year's fight." The man of soaring rhetoric commenced his campaign with business sobriety, without a memorable word. What did that mean? It meant, above all else, that Obama realizes he'll be the issue; that what people want is not rhetoric, not to run on hope. Been there, done that. What the people want now is demonstrated results and sensible, realistic talk about the next four years of the U.S.S. United States of America. Where does this captain want to take us.... and how does he intend to get us there? High blown rhetoric which was the centerpiece of the 2008 campaign will be used, of course, but carefully, sparingly. The country, after all, is still seething with rages... and Obama needs to be seen as a man of deeds, not words, however thrilling. His re-election message signifies his understanding that the "first black president" card is not going to cut it. The high flying speeches about opening doors, too, are old hat, beside the point. What America wants is a strong chief executive (white, brown or black) whose sole function is to tackle our grab-bag of problems and use the power of the presidency, which includes marshalling the people, to deliver results, results, results. Nothing less will satisfy the nation... and the president surely knows that even results, great results, will fail to satisfy many. That is the nature of our times. Obama knows better than anyone that keeping the White House as his house is going to take a breathtaking amount of money. And Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission came at just the right time for him to raise it, in the historic amounts needed to make his case. Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. http://www.BizBuildersCommunity.com Copyright Tim Ricke - 2012 10 of 42
Politics in the 21st Century and the 2012 Race For the Whitehouse On January 21, 2010 the United States Supreme Court made a decision of historic proportions. By the thinnest of margins, 5-4, the Court struck down a provision of the McCain-Feingold Act that prohibited all corporations, both for- profit and not-for-profit, and unions from broadcasting "electioneering communications". These were defined in McCain-Feingold as a broadcast, cable, or satellite communication that mentioned a candidate within 60 days of a general election or thirty days of a primary. The decision overruled Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce (1990) and partially overruled McConnell v. Federal Election Commission (2003). The Honorable the Justices of the Supreme Court had just made history, striking a hammer blow (albeit barely) on behalf of the First Amendment, which means, so the majority said, exactly what it says: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. Liberal outrage. Most every liberal in the land was enraged by this decision. Liberals, you see, specialize in telling folks like you and me, just what we can do, just when we can do it, just how we can do it. In this case, that means doing everything they can to limit your right to uninhibited election communications, including spending your money freely to influence these elections. Freedom means being able to squander your money on elections if you want to. Personally, I have never understood the thrill of throwing money away on presidential candidates. I'm of the firm opinion that spending the hundred or two I might donate to candidates, say, on dinner with winsome partner would be better spent. However, I am equally clear that people, by the Bill of Rights, should have the right to waste their money, be they private citizen, union, or corporation on the candidates they fancy. Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission reaffirmed that right, and strongly so. President Obama, chief beneficiary, the strongest attacker. The president is a past master in the art of having one's cake while eating it, too. This decision he said "gives the special interests and their lobbyists even more power in Washington -- while undermining the influence of average Americans who make small contributions to support their preferred candidates." Obama later elaborated in his weekly radio address saying, "this ruling strikes at our democracy itself," and "I can't think of anything more devastating to the public interest." Having stated, for the record, the standard liberal line... Obama set out to make the Court's ruling work for -- him. Every time he lamented the realities of politics and fund raising and predicted the end of democracy... he was busily raising money, unparalleled amounts of money from... private citizens, corporations, and unions. If a billion will do the trick, fine; if not, he'll up the ante. For you see, he is determined to prove, through his re-election that America made no mistake in electing him in the first place. Millions of American who voted for Obama have come to the conclusion they bought a pig in a poke; they've having second thoughts. But the president knows what money can buy. He'll raise whatever he needs so they'll buy -- him, secretly thanking Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission for the favor, while criticizing it every step of the way. The White House is worth it. http://www.BizBuildersCommunity.com Copyright Tim Ricke - 2012 11 of 42
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GOP desperate for a winning 2012 presidential candidate. But is it desperate enough for Donald Trump?
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant Donald Trump. The name conveys many things -- open mouth, insert silver foot. -- knows everything about everything and never hesitates to tell you. -- braggart -- billionaire -- bankruptcies galore -- women -- more women -- much younger women. And now President of the United States? He's signaling the nation he wants it, but there is not a single reputable authority in the land who believes he'll actually throw his oversized hat (for that oversized head) into the ring. Or that he'll ever get into the Oval Office, unless he's got a visitor ticket. Except, that is, my go-fer Aime Joseph. The other day Mr. Joseph (as we call him) let me know in no uncertain terms that Trump was his pick for president next year. Given the fact that he was rabid for Obama last time round, this is a monumental change of mind. What caused it? Mr.Joseph's reasons were these: -- Trump's demonstrated business acumen. -- His knowledge and exploitation of the media, giving him near universal name recognition. -- His money. -- His money... Get the picture? More GOP presidential candidates than ever... no clear-cut leader or even early favorite amongst them. It has long been a given of American politics that Republicans select presidential candidates they know well and who have generally already run for president before, even if they've lost. This description fits Richard Nixon (defeated 1960, elected 1968); Ronald Reagan (defeated 1968, elected 1980); Robert Dole (defeated for vice president on the Gerald Ford ticket 1976, then defeated for president 1992); John McCain defeated 2000, then defeated again 2008). The man who fits this mold for 2012 is former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, defeated by McCain 2008. But while he's the likeliest at this hour to become the next GOP nominee, the Grand http://www.BizBuildersCommunity.com Copyright Tim Ricke - 2012 13 of 42
Politics in the 21st Century and the 2012 Race For the Whitehouse Old Party is not yet ready to crown him.. or Sarah Palin either, who unlike Romney, actually got on the McCain ticket, only to go down to defeat with the man who chose her. Which leaves the Republicans with the largest field of presidential candidates since 1964. Here Trump sees his advantage... and with billions at the ready, he'd certainly be a strong candidate, right? Absolutely not. Take a look at these... 1) First, the little matter of presidential manner, seriousness, temperament and demeanor. We like our presidents to be.... well, presidential. And even a tyke in grammar school will give a reasonable definition of what that means. We want a president (man or woman) who without much stretch fits the truly gigantic shoes of George Washington and company. For openers Trump's favorite subject is Trump. In fact, he hardly knows another. And when attention turns to that subject, Trump is always ready with yet another egregious, bumptious, tasteless battery of arrogance and self-congratulation. America may have near universal name recognition of the man... but we also know Trump stands for a brand of noisome self-aggrandizement that permanently closes the door to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. 2) Complete lack of suitable experience for the presidency. Americans so liked the idea of our first black president that it swallowed Barrack Obama despite his thin resume with national affairs. Still, he was a sitting United States senator at the time of his nomination and election. Republicans have traditionally been sticklers for offering the nation men who had blue-ribbon resumes with plenty of valid experience. Trump offers absolutely none of that; not a single example of foreign policy experience and (except for specialized tax information) absolutely no experience with any important subject of national affairs. In addition, he has not one scintilla of experience with members of congress. Not a cream puff amongst them, they will soon show a putative President Trump that he needs more than bombast and one-liners to deal with them. 3) A lifetime of often silly, sophomoric, ill-considered very much on-the-record remarks. Trump is quotable alright... in spades. However, his remarks range from mean-spirited to vituperative; just plain stupid to wildly ludicrous. The media of the world love him. Voters won't. They know the importance of the American presidency; it's the most important office in the world and the nation won't tolerate an ignoramus in the job, for all that he's rich. 4) And while we're on the subject of the Trump billions, I reckon one very good reason The Donald won't run for the roses is his tax returns. He'll have to publish them of course; folks would rightly wonder at their contents if he didn't. But is Trump willing to bet that the nation and its tax-pressed citizens will overlook any even minor infraction that may surface? Being just the third billionaire to run for president (Nelson Rockefeller 1968 and Steve Forbes 2000), you can bet your bottom dollar each and every line of every document he is forced to release will be examined under a microscope... forcing Trump to defend the taxes he paid, the deductions he took... thereby pushing his campaign off message for days, weeks... or even stopping it altogether. 5) The women. Trump has gloried in his ability to pick up chicks, all but his first wife years younger than he is. He should open a museum called Trophy Wives inside one of his casinos. Inquiring minds want to know. http://www.BizBuildersCommunity.com Copyright Tim Ricke - 2012 14 of 42
Politics in the 21st Century and the 2012 Race For the Whitehouse The thing about collecting and discarding chicks (married or otherwise) is that the discarded ones wait a lifetime for sweet vengeance. Trump is a sitting duck. And God only knows how much of the iceberg of domestic catastrophes is known... just the tip? As for his platform, policies, beliefs, and recommendations for a Trump- lead renaissance? He's on an odyssey around America right now inciting kooks everywhere on the matter of President Obama's right to be president because of where or where he was not born. Yup, Trump's a "birther", despite the fact that the State of Hawaii long ago certified Obama's birth there. It's typical Trump has lead with an item that has no benefit for America but that ensures buckets of free media attention from shock jocks suckled on conspiracy theories. In short, it's petty, beside the point, trivial. In other words, perfect for Trump in these heady days when he looks at his unkempt locks in the mirror and sees a President Trump none of us looking hard can ever see at all for all that he's rich as Croesus.
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Ex-New Mexico governor Gary Johnson declares for president. Who dat, as GOP field grows some more.
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant I'm going to tell you right up front: I like Gary Johnson. He's an ultra-personable, plain-talking, gets-things-done kind of guy. But he's got a fever -- Potomac fever -- that's going to upend his life for the next year and more until the next Republican National Convention in 2012. You see, Johnson wants to be president of these United States... and so he's taken his near zero name recognition to Concord, New Hampshire where Thursday, April 21, 2011 he declared his candidacy. God help him... Gary Johnson's my kind of guy. Born January 1, 1953 in Minot, North Dakota (a good place to get out of), he ultimately moved to New Mexico and graduated from the University of New Mexico in 1975. We like that school in our family; my brother went there, too. Johnson and his family now live in Taos, one of the most beautiful places on earth. In 1976 he had one of those "aha" moments that changes lives. Having graduated he was looking around for something he could do that would enable him to use his undoubted entrepreneurial skills. He decided to create a little business that would do all the fix-ups and home repairs all home owners need but which most of us are all-thumbs at doing. Gary had all the right stuff for business success. He was personable, "can-do" oriented, the man who told you what he would do... and then did it! That unstoppable American formula for success... where a person with a good idea and the determination to succeed helps others and earns big. His first major break with his new firm -- Big J Enterprises -- was receiving a large contract from Intel's expansion in Rio Rancho which increased Big J's revenues to $38 million. Johnson was now a wealthy man, confronting one of the bedrock problems that all successful people must solve: how to find, train, motivate and keep good employees and do everything else you have to do to succeed. Always practical, Johnson went back to school, enrolling in a time management course. This helped him grow Big J into a big-time business with over 1000 employees. At that point, with all the money he and his family needed for life...he sold the business, so he could get started helping fix-up America, which had a host of home problems.... without the skills to solve them. Big J to the rescue... "People Before Politics". Johnson entered New Mexico politics for the first time in 1994. He approached the state Republican Party with the (to them) absurd idea he should run for governor, wresting the state's government from the entrenched Democratic establishment. They told him to take a hike and run for the state legislature, the most junior of positions. But Johnson had what you need for success: an idea he believed in, the money to support his belief.... and a slogan that was more than mere words: "People before Politics". It was just what New Mexico wanted to hear. Johnson became the giant-killer of New Mexico, defeating former Republican governor David Cargill in the Republican primary and incumbent Democratic governor Bruce King in the general election. New Mexico had itself a straight-talking man who said what he meant and meant what he said. It was a revelation to the home folks of Nuevo Mexico. Johnson, to everybody's surprise but his own, set about reshaping and reinventing New Mexico's government. He evaluated what the state was doing by asking two sensible, "get to the bottom of it" http://www.BizBuildersCommunity.com Copyright Tim Ricke - 2012 16 of 42
Politics in the 21st Century and the 2012 Race For the Whitehouse questions: what are we spending our money on... and what are we getting in return? Legislators from both parties and every bureaucrat in New Mexico did what they are good at doing, protecting themselves and their interests, sabotaging everything they could. They were, after all, the haves who took too much for the little they gave. Johnson was their worst nightmare. Mr. "Can Do" became Mr. "You Won't". He used his gubernatorial veto over and over again, vetoing more bills and appropriations than all other 49 U.S. governors combined. Yup, he meant what he said... And the people of New Mexico responded by re-electing him in 1998 with 55 percent of the vote. It was an astonishing bouquet from the people he was always honest to and fair; they realized he was about as good a governor as they could get. Politicians of the pandering ilk take notice. Johnson was retired because of a two-term limit. (Another indication of what a silly idea that is. Let the people decide when to retire their officials.) This gifted, personable guy, with a resume as long as your arm (for instance he left New Mexico with a huge surplus) was at loose ends... for a couple of minutes. Johnson's "Our America Initiative", Founded 2009. Forced out of the governor's chair, he responded by creating in 2009 the "Our America Initiative" , a nonprofit political advocacy committee that promotes common-sense business approaches to governing. Gary Johnson meant to do for the people of suffering, fed-up America what he had already done for the long-suffering people of New Mexico... ... which is why he found himself in chill and breezy Concord, New Hampshire on this April day. He brought with him what has always distinguished the man: practical common- sense gleaned from proven business and high-level governing experience. More than that, he offers the kind of "let's roll up our sleeves and solve this problem together" approach that is what people crave. Our problems, we know, are not insoluble so long as we work together. A man like Gary Johnson believes he's the guy best able to work with Americans this way and so, one problem tackled after another, create the nation we want. Frankly, this approach ought to play well in New Hampshire. The folks in the Granite State are pragmatic, "let's get it done together" folks. As Gary Johnson goes door to door doing the retail politics winning the primary requires, he'll find, I think, folks skeptical of course (they're that way up north) but friendly, curious, and increasingly receptive. In short, this bright-eyed New Mexico boy, with his unfeigned interest in the people of New Hampshire and America could be the dark horse the GOP has been looking and hoping for in a large field which has so far failed to impress and inspire. These New Hampshire folks take very seriously their task of scrutinizing each and every candidate, doing what every civic-minded American would do given the opportunity: to look carefully, ask thoughtfully, and come to their judgements independently. That is what they do and what their famous primary is for. I'll be surprised if he does not do well enough to take his message to other states. So, he decided to launch his campaign by achieving his first New Hampshire goal. That's why he left Concord following his announcement and went to climb Tuckerman Ravine, a large glacial bowl on 6,288-foot Mount Washington, the tallest mountain in the Northeast. Johnson's climbed Mount Everest; Tuckerman Ravine was a "piece of cake". He's hoping this is a good omen for the primary. It could happen. The people of New Hampshire, after all, like astonishing the rest of us. We shall just have to wait and see...
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The resignation of Congressman Anthony Weiner, June 16, 2011. Throwing away 'the dearest thing he owed as 'twere a careless trifle.'
By Dr. Jeffrey Lant The resignation of Congressman Anthony Weiner, June 16, 2011. Throwing away "the dearest thing he owed as 'twere a careless trifle." Shakespeare, who knew a thing or two about delivering the right conclusions to move audiences, would, no doubt about it, have been underwhelmed by every aspect of U.S. Representative Anthony Weiner's resignation yesterday. News junkies like me were informed that, at 2 p.m. Eastern time, the man who was the butt of a million off-color jokes for which he was completely responsible, would come before the people of the 9th New York district, and the world, and have his say before he went on his way. News junkies and history buffs all know such moments can produce riveting theatre; Shakespeare knew it too... and he, like us, would have hunkered down to await a signature American moment after which we could well and truly say (as Malcolm in "Macbeth") "Nothing in his life became him like the leaving it". But we were disappointed -- and irritated. Anthony Weiner let us down... and himself, too. Politicians know public life has many vicissitudes, that ups and downs are inevitably part of the picture. The question is not whether there will be bad days; there will be. The question is how you handle them so that you squeeze the utmost advantage even from the grimmest days. Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives 7 times, Anthony Weiner became well known to his colleagues as a characteristic New Yorker. For those who have never been to the Big Apple and don't know the genre, you're missing out on one of the world's most interesting political animals, for such people are feisty, opinionated, bare knuckle fighters who relish going mano a mano with their opponents. New York politics is a corrida, and aficionados watch every move with a severely jaundiced and critical eye. Anthony Weiner was one of the best... at just 46 a man to watch. Ole'! Planning for the end. From June 6, 2011, when the scandal broke, it became clearer with every passing day and one abashing revelation after another, that only a supremely gifted politician could survive a scandal that titillated the nation. Weiner is not that gifted. He mulled over his options day by day, and they diminished as members of his own Democratic party became ever more insistent that he get lost and, like old soldiers, just fade away. The sinless Pharisees lead by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi made America nauseous by prating on about Weiner's duty to beat it when it was clear this self-serving crew cared only about their own hides, imperiled by Weiner's train of indiscretions. You might have thought such folks, who had once lavished superlatives on Weiner, would have said some remarks indicating just how truly sorry they were their brother in Congress had erred so and was hurting. After all, Weiner had served his party and its members well until he started texting http://www.BizBuildersCommunity.com Copyright Tim Ricke - 2012 18 of 42
Politics in the 21st Century and the 2012 Race For the Whitehouse crotch shots. But politicians don't work that way. They are quick with compliments when such compliments cost them nothing but some of the hot air which they always have, and to spare. However, when their dear old colleague and friend stumbles and falls, they seize the moment to demonstrate the art form hypocrisy becomes in their practiced hands... They quickly look in the mirror to ensure that they are sinless and then seeing what they want to see, they cast the first stone... the second... the third... and every stone necessary to kill off and remove their once lauded friend and colleague. It's disgusting... it'd odious... it's the way they play politics the Washington way... hold your nose if you plan to venture closer to this noisome midden. In such a situation Anthony Weiner needed to move carefully and with some of the discretion so remarkably absent from his own, about to be abbreviated career. What did he want his end to accomplish, so that nothing so became it? He wanted that end to keep his options open and position him for whatever he wanted to do in the future. These options include, but are not limited to, recapturing his seat, running for another office, or just leaving in such a way that his political reputation and legacy were secure, seen as important, valuable, worthwhile. But did he get what he needed? Over the last few days reports surfaced that Anthony Weiner was frail, disoriented, at sea. No wonder. His smug, self-satisfied colleagues (their scandals not yet on the nation's lips) hit him with brickbat after brickbat. They wanted him to disappear, and as he refused to accede to their insistent wishes, they hurt him the more. That a mere mortal should wilt in such circumstances is hardly surprising... He bought some time for himself by getting a two-week leave of absence from his congressional duties, the better to seek counseling and assistance. There was at least the possibility in this that he would use the extra time to get a breather and study his options carefully... so that he could capture the silver lining from the thunder cloud he created for himself. Anthony Weiner blew his Broadway moment. I imagine but do not know that Anthony Weiner, like most U.S. politicians, is a student of American history. As such Weiner knew, or should have known, that what our countryman like is a fighter, someone who faces adversity with the full panoply of American virtues: energy, a never-say-die grit, a smile that won't quit and total focus on the American people and improvinig their lives. I say Weiner should have known all this but one celebrated New York politician didn't. This guy's name was Thomas E. Dewey. He was twice a candidate for president on the Republican ticket. The first time he got the nomination (1944) because of his grit and courage. Franklin Roosevelt, another New Yorker, beat him but not disgracefully so. The GOP kept the man's name on its dance card... and gave him another shot in 1948. But instead of running for president, Dewey (widely regarded as the certain winner) gave America bromides and homilies, not a decent idea or a single indication that he believed in anything aside from winning. Harry Truman knew America better than Dewey and knew Americans respected fighters, the fighters they were themselves. Weiner needed to go out fighting... but he didn't. He needed not just to thank his neighbors in the 9th district. He needed to remind them why they'd elected him 7 times... and, with some soaring rhetoric entirely absent from the proceedings, make them feel the issues important to him. That man is flesh and tempted is true... but a man may sin and http://www.BizBuildersCommunity.com Copyright Tim Ricke - 2012 19 of 42
Politics in the 21st Century and the 2012 Race For the Whitehouse sin again and still do the people's work and fight the people's battles. I wanted to see stuffing in Anthony Weiner... and I saw nothing but platitudes delivered before the inevitable flags. It just wasn't good enough... not for those neighbors, not for New York, not for America... and not to revive a once promising career whose last moments were interrupted by hecklers, one being a writer for Howard Stern. And so Anthony Weiner had his chance... and failed to turn lemons into lemonade. And when it became clear that he couldn't or wouldn't seize his moment and rise to the occasion... he became just another politician who could dish out the words all right... but who didn't have the right stuff, the stuff to rouse, motivate, enthuse and excite; the right stuff Americans know and admire because it is the best of us.
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Don't like American politics? They change as fast as the weather. Just ask U.S. Representative-elect Bob Turner the apple of the Big Apple's eye.
By Dr. Jeffrey Lant Author's program note. I wasn't going to write about politics today. I had everything all laid out for a laudatory article on an extraordinary woman and her important work with children. That, alas, will have to wait because of what a 70 year old Roman Catholic named Bob Turner accomplished on September 13, 2011, viz. he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in a special election to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of 7 term sextexting joyboy Anthony Weiner, who hereby earned fresh execrations and maladictions. If only the Honorable Anthony had texted less and loved his put- upon wife more... The hot news is that Turner did it in a district comprised of Queens and Brooklyn, New York. So?........ (and here's the stink bomb for the astonished, horrified Democrats)... He did it as a REPUBLICAN in a House district which has NEVER elected a Republican. (Drum roll.) So, who's the genius who gets the credit for this implausible, even unthinkable development? You know him as B. Obama, president of these United States, and this morning in the Casa Blanca he didn't eat his eggs, he wore them. Oh, my. So I'm sending El Presidente a copy of the most famous political song ever sung in NYC, "The Sidewalks of New York," lyrics and music by James W. Blake and Charles E. Lawlor. It was written in the 1890s but took off with the candidacy of "The Happy Warrier" Al Smith, Governor of the Empire State, candidate for the Democratic party nomination for president (1924), Roman Catholic, defeated Democratic party candidate (1928). Find it in any search engine; it's a grand old tune and is today being belted out for Mr. Bob Turner, retired media executive, a hero to ecstatic Republicans, "East Side, West Side, all around the town..." Don't even hum this ditty around the Oval Office today... Another referendum on our de-escalating chief executive officer. Bob Turner is a lucky man, and not merely because he was elected either. It was how he got elected. Nobody, absolutely nobody (possibly including Bob Turner) expected him to win. They just hoped he didn't embarrass himself and the party in a district where Democrats hold an overwhelming majority, 3 to 1, and where his competition, a member of the New York State Assembly, David Weprin, was an Orthodox Jew in a district at least 40 percent Jewish. Moreover Weprin's political family was well known and respected in the district. In the end, everything going for the Democrats -- and they had everything going for them (on paper) ---, wasn't enough to counteract the toxicity of the president. From Day 1, it was 100% about him, his policies, and his descending political prospects... In New York of all the stalwart places! So because it didn't much matter, Turner got the luxury of telling the truth as he understood it... the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. And feisty New Yorkers (who so often take underdogs to their hearts) liked what they heard from this unlikely hero who walked the pavements, knocked on doors, and talked to everyday people about their everyday concerns even though, out of earshot, these people thought he had a snowball's chance in Hell to be their next Congressman. But he just kept doing the necessary... and sharing his thoughts and common sense with his fellow countrymen, who bit by bit from the grass roots became the essential fuel for this unlikely event. http://www.BizBuildersCommunity.com Copyright Tim Ricke - 2012 21 of 42
Politics in the 21st Century and the 2012 Race For the Whitehouse Turner talked about the punk economy and asked folks if they were happy with what they knew, what they saw, what the president and Democrats generally were doing to improve things. He turned this election into a referendum about BO and his malodorous policies. Were they helping the folks of his prospective district? If so, they should vote for his opponent. But if they were not, they should give him a chance. Turner asked them, too, to give him the opportunity to go to Washington, D.C. pledged to bring business efficiency, business accountability, business standards to the notoriously chaotic and expensive management quagmire so notoriously mismanaged by Uncle Sam. Again, this message resonated with New Yorkers... who came to like Turner and his message... and the more they held their noses about BO, their former love, the better Turner looked. Hidden losers. An election is never just about the candidates; rather, it is about the legions of folks whose fortunes are to a greater or lesser extent connected to those candidates. Their stock and prospects go up or down depending on how the cat jumps. Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, now Minority Leader, Nancy Pelosi (D-California), gets a pie in the face -- again. Clearly she, although supposed to be au courant on the affairs of her minority members, missed this boat. Pelosi is already shop worn... a couple more bumbles like this one, and she can go to work for the chocolate company on whose addictive product she dotes... and will never be missed on Capitol Hill. In all fairness, her liberal distribution of free chocolates would be... Democratic New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is another hidden loser, but it probably won't hurt him much. He, too, was asleep at the switch and so missed the opportunity to provide necessary life support for Assemblyman Weprin. A governor of New York, any governor of New York, has a plethora of tools, resources, manpower, and, of course, money to be doled out liberally to forestall catastrophes like this one. Had he been more alert, Mr. Turner would never have succeeded. Cuomo should burn the midnight oil studying his mistake. You see he aims to be president in 2016 and cannot afford too many rookie mistakes and oversights. It's just not what we expect from such governors, or will tolerate. Hidden winners. Victory, it is said, has many fathers. If so, it's certainly true here, and the list of hidden winners is very interesting indeed, including as it does former New York City mayor Ed Koch who ditched his party to endorse Turner. Koch gave the usual reasons, that Turrner would be good for America, etc. But the truth is Koch, as much as anyone, was glad for the chance to show Obama what he thought of him, which wasn't much. New York Assemblyman Dov Hikind headed a list of well-known Orthodox Jews in this heavily Jewish district, usually reliable Democrats, who ditched their Jewish candidate Weprin and made Catholic Turner their man. Scratch the surface here and you'll find evidence of the complicated, labyrinthine, tortured vicissitudes that make New York politics so arcane, and interesting. One more not-so-hidden winner, Donald Trump. He backed Turner but probably just to get his name in the papers. If so, The Donald achieved his objective. Turner, a keeper. Prior to the election, the Assembly (controlled by Democrats) and the Senate (controlled by Republicans) had the hot potato of eliminating two congressional seats because of the census. They http://www.BizBuildersCommunity.com Copyright Tim Ricke - 2012 22 of 42
Politics in the 21st Century and the 2012 Race For the Whitehouse had pretty much decided to get rid of Weprin. But with Weprin's crushing loss, Republicans see a chance to redistrict in such a way that Turner is protected and re-elected. Stay tuned for the machinations around this event... which won't take place on the side walks of New York. It'll definitely be clandestine and behind-the-scenes and so reassure us things are back to normal.
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Keep your mitts off America. Why they're writing songs of love, but not for Mitt Romney.
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant Author's program note. 2012 ought to be a big Republican year, not least because President Obama is perceived by almost no one as the leader we need. A good man, yes; up to the job... no way. But Obama, with all his baggage, remains, in my humble opinion, the likely winner, unless (and it's a big "unless") unemployment goes up. However, most of my commenting colleagues think a very marginal drop is likely -- not an increase. I concur. Thus, I've selected the song "But not for me" (written by George Gershwin in 1930) to accompany this article. "They're writing songs of love"... but not for Mitt! Go to any search engine to find this much sung song. I like the Rod Stewart version best... Mitt, of course, won't like any version at all.... pity. It's a great number. Dismal With the state of the nation what it is, and what it threatens to remain -- dismal -- a guy like Mitt Romney ought to be riding the crest of a wave that'll deliver him in due course to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue with whoops of joy and the prayers of a great people. He's brighter than bright. A hard-working, dedicated policy wonk with a graduate student's dedication and ardor. So rich that even he doesn't have a clue how much money he's got. A picture-perfect family with smiles to die for. Yes, Mitt's got it all... except for judgement, integrity and honesty. And he's got only himself to blame for this glaring lapse, so big you could drive a coach and four comfortably through it, and which you can see for yourself any day you like. This is why der Mitt-ster is in trouble and why the hapless big wigs of the GOP want anyone, absolutely anyone, other than Mitt. And I understand why: as a tax- paying citizen of Massachusetts, I know how they feel. Like they want to puke, every time they think of this guy at the head of their next national ticket. Thus these diligent Solons of the Great Republic have been tripping over themselves to find a candidate, their actions ham-fisted, clumsy, but telling as they have scrounged up and praised such verifiable pygmies as Michelle Bachmann, who is next door to a moron; Rick Perry who wouldn't know how to spell his own name if a less challenged aide didn't hold up a cue card to remind him; Herman Cain who has never had trouble wooing les femmes, just profound difficulty remembering where and when... and keeping his wife of decades up to date. And now, wafted by the incense of New Hampshire's largest newspaper, the Manchester Union Leader, which never met a kooky idea it didn't like, is touting Newt Gringrich, a man who would denounce his own mother if it got him a look-see, much less the White House. Ask his many wives, mistresses, chicks and concubines and see for yourself. It'll all come out in the wash anyway. It would all be hysterically funny... except that we voters of America, denizens all of the Great Republic, are going to have to live with the results... and that's a revolting development if anything ever was. Why are all these people working so hard for Anyone But Mitt? http://www.BizBuildersCommunity.com Copyright Tim Ricke - 2012 24 of 42
Politics in the 21st Century and the 2012 Race For the Whitehouse "Veritas", Harvard's motto -- and Mitt's. Let's get one thing perfectly straight, everything that Mitt says, whenever he says it is always TRUTH, no matter that it is totally opposite to what he said on the subject five minutes ago. Mitt is to American politics what the Pope speaking ex cathedra infallible is to Rome, a man never wrong, with a license to reshuffle the truth that we lesser folks must adhere to. Mitt went to Harvard (all serious candidates always do)... and so "Veritas" (truth) is his motto. Luckily, he never has to worry finding it. It's what he utters all day, every day, no matter his subject, implausible, disingenuous or inaccurate. As you can imagine, this considerably simplifies his life and labors... and makes campaign fact-checkers superfluous; around Mitt they are simply unneeded. Governor Mitt of Massachusetts instituted a progressive health care program which was timely, needed, forward looking, a program that would have made any governor of any state proud. But Candidate Mitt has done everything but deny he was governor at the time to get out of accepting responsibility and credit for what ought to be his acme. Sometimes he's pro gay rights; sometimes he's not. Sometimes he'll cut a deal on illegal immigrants; sometimes he won't. Only one thing is constant: that whatever he says, to whomever he says it is the God's honest truth, cross his heart and hope to die. In the last few days Mitt has gotten himself in at least two middens which would surely trip up and soil any other candidate, lesser folk all. First the Boston Globe (which takes a proprietary interest in Mitt, having helped elevate him to his current celestial status) reported that in 2006 Governor Mitt's top aides purchased their computer hard drives just before his administration ended, and the usual Democratic hacks returned to the State House's corner office. Fully 11 of Mitt's minions ponied up for their drives, something never considered by previous excellencies, much less done. Now you and I could guess what was going on, couldn't we? After all, in the real world we inhabit, people put things, all sorts of things, on their computers they don't want the world and his brother to see. So we make sure those hard drives belong to us and nobody else. And so le tout Massachusetts came to the instant conclusion that those drives and their owners were up to no good. Purchase was the result... never mind that this was unprecedented... awfully suggestive... and maybe even illegal. But remember, Mitt is not merely potentate, he is Pope. And so, after waiting days to respond to reporters' queries on the matter, he released his encyclical, explaining all, disclaiming all. All was right, nothing wrong, why even wonder? Why wonder, too, about Mitt and company's next faux pas; the outright lie that was his very first ad against Obama. It shows a clip of the president saying, "If we keep talking about the economy, we're going to lose." Never mind that these words were Obama quoting John McCain, the GOP nominee Romney wanted to run with last time round. The ad was not just misleading... it was a blatant distortion... ... which Romney aide Eric Fehrnstrom, the most indiscrete and bumptious campaign counselor ever, confirmed, happy in this deception. "It's all deliberate," he exulted. In other words, St. Mitt knew it was a lie; authorized the lie, then told the world he was happy that he lied. Even the most cynical were appalled. And so the matter rests at this moment, as we await Mitt's next assault on truth, justice and the American way; his next distortion, deceit, disingenuity. For make no mistake, the next one is on the http://www.BizBuildersCommunity.com Copyright Tim Ricke - 2012 25 of 42
Politics in the 21st Century and the 2012 Race For the Whitehouse way, as Mitt plumbs the depths he expects to take him to the top. That's why you'll find me at all his campaign rallies selling air sickness bags, three for a buck. I'll clean up. ### Your response to this article is requested. What do you think? Let us know by posting your comments below.
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'The night that I told you, those little white lies.' Egregious Herman Cain, forgotten but not gone.
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant Author's program note. In 1930 pouty songstress Elsie Carlisle swept America with a very catchy dance number entitled "Little White Lies." It is a pip of a tune about the polished and painful lies lovers use to get what they want... and then, with deliberate intention, move on to inflict more pain... on whoever may be the object of their affection right then. The tune is beautiful; the underlying truth of its lyrics by Walter Donaldson is anything but... You'll find it in any search engine; it was recorded by many fine artists (including Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians who made perhaps the first recording). They all loved its sound and lyrics as much as I do, so perfect to accompany this article of prevarications, untruths, deceits and deliberate intention to hoodwink, manipulate and seduce a great nation, beguiled when... "The moon was all aglow But heaven was in your eyes The night that you told me Those little white lies." Unexpected UP, roller-coaster DOWN. Just a few days ago, a mere handful, Herman Cain looked like the unlikely savior of America, Inc.; the proverbial man on a white horse, galloping with speed, succor, savoir faire, and unmatched style to the rescue of the nation. It was heady stuff for the man and his supporters; a man who, only minutes before, had "also ran" written all over his body, now the GOP's hero. Cain was hailed as a man of uncommon sense, a man who believed in the eternal verities of God, country, and family; a man who knew what was what... and would tell it like it is. A man who would run the nation's business like he ran his private (pizza) business... without fear or favor to anyone, anywhere, anytime; just doing what was necessary when it was called for, civic sense and courage always his, and in abundance. Yes, he offered every possible topping, double pepperoni and, of course, the anchovies we love so. Oh, yes, it was heady stuff indeed. And ex-talk meister Cain, delivered his easy-to-believe-in-message as smooth as jello. It was glib, fast-paced, uplifting... with a punch line right out of "God Bless America", an "attaboy Herman" adulation on their lips and in their hearts. Herman was their boy... Herman could do it... we want Herman, we need Herman... Herman's needs. But Herman had needs, too, needs of the "cherchez la femme" variety. No Leporello chronicled Cain's deeds of amorous daring.... but, as Cain's stock -- and poll numbers -- rose, the media, always poised for mayhem, began to assume the role. And with the usual pure attentions of the Fourth Estate, they dug... sniffed... found the filthy pay dirt they were looking for.... exhumed... dug deeper... found more... it was just what reporters are meant to do.... and they did it with a will. War & Peace At one point in Tolstoy's unmatched novel, Pierre Bezuhoff, as part of his Masonic induction ceremony, is asked the nature of his besetting sin. In the lowest possible voice, eyes firmly fixed on the floor, he responds, "women". If Mr. Cain hasn't read this classic... he ought. It is honest, searing, enlightening, discomfiting and oh so apropos.
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Politics in the 21st Century and the 2012 Race For the Whitehouse Herman had other problems, too, other obstacles to overcome. For instance, the pith and substance of foreign policy eluded him from first to last; there were lacunas, too, in the topics that were roiling America -- immigration, defense, education, health care. These were salient topics Herman knew almost nothing about; but he was cheerfully blissful in the face of a mountain of ignorance. His idol Ronald Reagan started out equally untutored, and he had ended in the pantheon of the nation. Why shouldn't he do as well, or even better? A great secret he never dreamed would derail his express to the Casa Blanca. Like all of us Cain has a rich history of doing things he'd much rather not appear on Page 1 of the New York Times. And for the vast majority of us, they never will... whew! Our lies, while important to us and the people we have lied to, are (though it pains us to hear so) just too unimportant to interest anyone. And, when we think about them (as we all are sometimes forced to do) we are glad that things are thus. But life for presidential candidates is very different. If they have a propensity for burping or scratching themselves in unlikely places, they can be sure the august New York Times, given world enough and time, will make public note of these venial sins and inadequacies. And so it a measure of the distance Herman Cain traveled towards 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue that his media coverage grew and grew and grew... as the 24 hour information whirligig wanted data about Cain and went happily on a treasure hunt through the vicissitudes of his life, finding that which Herman never deemed important. It was salacious, smutty, deliciously off color... in the nature of a national dirty joke. And best of all... Cain stonewalled, telling anyone who would listen, that he was maligned, misunderstood, the object of a vendetta... and, anyway, his mother had loved him and he'd always made his bed, so what difference did it make? He denied he'd diddled the first woman who stepped forward with lurid accusations; he didn't even know woman 2; woman 3 was a known liar, whilst woman 4 was sadly mistaken. And while it is true he had given hugs, embraces and salubrious cash, why that was just ol' Herman being as magnanimous as he surely was. America's admiration for Cain plummeted as revelations grew... until at last woman 5, with her detailed, specific, tawdry and unanswerable affidavit stepped forward and we all knew it was The End, everyone but Herman, the unaccountable victim of the witch hunt that did him in. He was still Innocent. Still Pure. Still the Nicest Guy in America. And nothing, absolutely nothing, would change his story, despite 5 women having stepped forward, into the glare of piercing, uncomfortable notice and inconvenience, to say otherwise. And we believed the ladies... They were chicks of Herman Cain's life who had become Chicken Littles all, bringing down his candidacy, his credibility and the good will and sanguine hopes of the nation. Why had it happened? This had happened, as so many previous scandals, because candidates think the services they have done and might do for the nation as president, are far more important that whatever they have done before. Perhaps they are right... but they handle it all wrong; and here's the rub. ALL of us are imperfect; though some are more imperfect than others. Thus, they all should start their campaigns not by telling ad nauseam how good they will be, but how bad they have been. "Paint me warts and all," Oliver Cromwell, great Lord Protector of England, famously said. And he ruled, in all his human imperfections, a great nation at a difficult time. But Cain, whether because he was deluded, mendacious, cowardly, lacking in judgement, or any other reason, lied, lied, and lied again, whilst a nation famous for its common sense got more incredulous with every equivocation and sinuous twist and turn. http://www.BizBuildersCommunity.com Copyright Tim Ricke - 2012 28 of 42
Politics in the 21st Century and the 2012 Race For the Whitehouse And when the moment came (and late too) on December 3, 2011 when he should have withdrawn and at last told the truth, he waffled again, lied again, and merely "suspended" his campaign, instead of ending it in a torrent of truth, tears, and ignominy, the fatal cocktail his shocking distortions and deceits he had fermented. And thus he leaves his campaign, for this and any other there will never be, condemned to remembering his moment of glory, abbreviated, exciting, founded on falsehood and deception. "Who wouldn't believe those lips Who wouldn't believe those eyes... The Devil was in your heart But Heaven was in your eyes The night that you told me Those little white lies." ### Your response to this article is requested. What do you think? Let us know by posting your comments below.
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New biography of Mitt Romney claims to deliver 'The Real Romney'... but will anyone really care?
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant Last night, January 19, 2012, The Boston Globe, the biggest and most influential newspaper in New England, pulled out all the stops for two of their best and brightest reporters; Michael Kranish, deputy chief of the Washington bureau of The Boston Globe and Scott Helman, staff writer at The Boston Globe. The occasion was the release of their new biography of former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, the likely Republican presidential nominee. First, my compliments to The Boston Globe. The special reception before a panel on der Mittster was nicely done and gave us all the opportunity to meet the authors and chat with them. The helpers were all efficient, polite, unobtrusive. Perfect. It looked like a long evening until.... I sought out Michael Kranish first; he seemed like the senior member of the team and I try to get what I need for my article out of the way as soon as possible, so that I can sit back and enjoy the event. I told Kranish I had three brief questions for him. First, would Romney ever be president? His unpromising answer: "It's possible. It could happen." This was not the incisive, insightful comment I was looking for... and suggested the possibility of a very long evening in the making, one to be ditched as soon as I'd eaten more of their fine brie. Question 2: will Mormonism be an issue in the campaign? "In some places it could be," he answered. OMG! It was indeed going to be a very long evening. But I said I wanted to ask him three questions... and it wasn't over until it was over. I ventured my third query. "What was the most unexpected thing about Romney you discovered in your research"? Then the intriguing answer, "What happened at Stanford University" when he was a student there during the Vietnam War, the war that derailed his father's presidential campaign. Ok, this was something promising... at last. Of father brainwashed and campaign imploded. Mitt Romney (born 1947) had as his dad a human dynamo called George Romney, celebrated as the rescuer of American Motors (which gave me my push button Rambler in high school), governor of Michigan, member of the Nixon cabinet; a man who rightly thought he had a superb shot at being president of the Great Republic... until... ... he went to Vietnam, where he got star treatment and massive misinformation about how the war was going, how we'd win, how the people loved us, and enough manure to fertilize Connecticut. He came back to America feeling like a fool; then shot himself through the head when he claimed the military had "brainwashed" him. His presidential campaign ended the minute the words were out of his mouth. Nobody wanted as president a man who could be controlled by the military or anyone else. And so George Romney's career ended... providing his son with a lifetime of lessons about what not to do... including the vital necessity to avoid the media whenever possible. On his way back from Vietnam, Pere Romney stopped to visit Mitt at Stanford... where this devoted son got the opportunity to talk to his father about Life, War, God... of winning, losing, what's important and what isn't. It's the kind of conversation one has with a parent once in a lifetime... and Mitt took it all in and to heart. He would, he vowed, revenge what had happened to his father... being sure to derive all the proper lessons from this seminal event, including the absolute need in his life http://www.BizBuildersCommunity.com Copyright Tim Ricke - 2012 30 of 42
Politics in the 21st Century and the 2012 Race For the Whitehouse for God, the God of the Mormons... God. To understand Mitt Romney, you must appreciate the importance and influence of his Mormon faith. It has provided the sinews of his life while isolating him from other people; people who often disdained his religion, calling it a "cult" and worse. Mitt learned to be private, very private, about his religion...letting very few people into that side of himself. Privacy, particularly privacy about his faith, became an obsession... something that may have connected him with God... but most assuredly estranged him from his fellow men, the people he'd need if he was ever to run for president. Money. What further separated him from the run of mankind was money... he made awesome amounts of it, largely through what are called leveraged buy-outs. This is a practice whereby investors buy a company, with the intention of doing everything they can to make it as profitable as possible, as quickly as possible; so they can sell the whole or its parts, often for staggering return on investment. This almost always involves the firing of employees in an attempt to decrease expenses and increase efficiency. Here Mitt Romney was king; a paragon who knew the delights that come when making only millions in a day was "bad" compared to the brilliant days, and plenty of them, when you made tens, even hundreds of millions lickety-split. Such days did absolutely nothing to connect him with mere mortals... and presented a problem he has still not been able to solve. Every time he got richer, Mitt got more disconnected... and less electable. So, here we've got a candidate with a perfect marriage, 5 sons made by Disney, nary a scandal to be had... richer that God Himself... super bright... the hardest worker on the planet... but a loser for all that, because he just cannot connect with people and their everyday concerns to save his life. Thus as I roamed the thin crowd talking with people, who were very keen to be asked their opinion about Mitt and his prospects, the temperature never rose above "tepid." Yes, right smack dab in the middle of Boston, capital of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts that Mitt had reigned over as governor (2003-2007), he couldn't have thrown off less heat. And so, the people whom he needed so desperately to make him president evinced absolutely no excitement at all, much less any abiding glow. And you could see this puzzled authors Kranish and Helman because their unauthorized biography (without a single interview with Mitt), into which they had poured time, life and commitment could only go as far as its subject, and not an inch more. If he sailed into the White House, their book (which I made sure they both autographed) would have the legs most political books never do, but if the world was as lukewarm as the folks in their audience, their $30 book (praised though it was by the usual East Coast media suspects) was DOA... That's why they came back to this point several times: awkward and disconnected as Mitt was in public, he was in private something of a cut-up (of the wonk variety), a man who could tell a story, give a hug, engage... even (and this arrested my attention for sure) moon walk while singing tunes from the Grateful Dead, tunes like "There's Whiskey In The Jug", an odd favorite for a tea-totalling Mormon: "Mush-a ring dum-a do dum-a da Whack for my daddy-o. Whack for my daddy-o There's whiskey in the jar." But this, though it made me smile and nod my head in wonderment was not the highlight of the evening. That was the rapt attention and joy in Aime Joseph. You see Mr. Joseph is my driver, a Haitian by birth, obsessed with American politics, always quizzing me about political people and their measures. He dressed up for this event, and imbibed every word with the utmost focus and http://www.BizBuildersCommunity.com Copyright Tim Ricke - 2012 31 of 42
Politics in the 21st Century and the 2012 Race For the Whitehouse concentration. "We have nothing like this in Haiti," he said as I gave him the present of a lifetime, an autographed copy of the book. And when he saw me about to drop it, he grabbed it from my hand, the better to ensure it did not fall; chiding me for lack of care with this valuable artifact. And I saw so clearly what was the best part of all: the fact that this kind of forum, this kind of book, this kind of open dialogue and honest conversation still was foreign to most of the world... and the thing we should be most proud of, our gift to the world and our collective future. Now, go to any search engine and find "Whiskey in the jug," and imagine Mitt moon walking to it... If there's enough whiskey in the jug, that should be no problem. *** What do you think? We invite you to post your comments below.
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Indiana governor Mitch Daniels February 1, 2012 signs first right-to-work law in over 10 years... the key is that it's for a crucial state in the 'rust belt'.
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant Author's program note. When I was a little whippersnapper 60 years ago and more, my young father used to take me on his knee, his only very occasionally used guitar in hand and sing me a song that I hadn't thought of in all these years. It's the kind of childhood memory that comes at you when you're least expecting, bittersweet, tugging at your heart. Now I just cannot get it out of my mind... The song is the "Wabash Cannonball" originally written in 1882 as "The Great Rock Island Route", a happy-go-lucky number credited to one J.A. Roff. In 1904 William Kindt rewrote the lyrics, changing the name of the train to the "Wabash Cannonball". It's a pip of a tune with a chorus that makes you glad to be alive... "Now listen to the jingle, and the rumble, and the roar, As she dashes thro' the woodland, and speeds along the shore, See the mighty rushing engine, hear her merry bell ring out, As they speed along in safety, on the 'Wabash Cannonball'." ... named after the great American main street town of..... Wabash, Indiana, its claim to fame the fact that in 1880 it became the first electrically lighted city on Earth. It is the center of the center state of America, the state that has just tossed a stink bomb into the politics of the Great Republic with its brand-new right-to-work law. Get into the spirit of this article by going to any search engine, finding one of the many excellent versions; (I prefer the one by Johnny Cash).... then let 'er rip.... because you're riding the rails through the great American heartland, once so prosperous, the pride of the nation, now blighted in so many disheartening ways. Born in 1947. In the year of our Lord 1947, at least two significant things occurred: I was born... and the Congress of the Great Republic resoundingly overrode the adamant veto of President Harry S. Truman on a matter of resolute importance to unions. The result was the Taft-Hartley Act, a haymaker by the Republican Party that punched a gaping hole in the closed union shop, thereby providing the U.S. labor movement with an abiding grievance and red-meat for a million stump speeches and union halls. Here's what Taft-Hartley did to the prevailing National Labor Relations Act. NLRA dictated that all employees at unionized workplaces must be members of the union as a condition of employment. It turned employee coercion into union power... and as such became a critical component of what transformed the disorganized, scattered Democratic Party into the majority party that ruled the Great Republic under Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry Truman for 20 years, with still major influence today. The politics of the matter went like this: To wed the millions of laboring people to his governing coalition, Roosevelt cut a series of deals with union leaders, including giving them the right of introducing the closed shop, wherein every worker -- whatever their personal views and politics -was forced to join the union... and finance it with their dues. This gave the unions raw political power and Democrats a leg-up for local, state, and federal elections where this muscle delivered victory after victory. But it also created an outraged, seething menace from people who didn't like Roosevelt (and despised Truman)... patriots who vociferously http://www.BizBuildersCommunity.com Copyright Tim Ricke - 2012 33 of 42
Politics in the 21st Century and the 2012 Race For the Whitehouse demanded to know how such coercion, the stuff of Red revolution and godless Communism, could possibly be justified in the Land of Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln. One side said that employee coercion, fueling union power, brought good jobs and the realization of the American dream... the other demanded liberty and unfettered freedom of choice. Both arguments had valid points... which made the resulting battle bloody, bitter, protracted and internecine, a bona fide civil war... which Indiana has now re-opened, to the outrage of the unions... The matter was further complicated because of the unconcealed contempt the leaders of each side felt for their opponents, dictated by the unyielding, abiding, fathomless scorn and disdain of Senator Robert Taft (R-Ohio) (1889-1953) for President Truman. "To err is Truman," Mrs. Taft said... The words Senator Taft used are unprintable. No quarter asked for, no quarter given by anyone, war to the death. Taft-Hartley became the crucial weapon in that war. Taft-Hartley outlawed the closed shop. The union shop rule, which required all new employees to join the union after a minimum period of time, is also illegal. As such, it is illegal for any employer to force an employee to join a union. Section 14(b) of the Taft-Hartley Act goes further and authorizes individual states (but not local governments such as cities and counties) to outlaw union (as well as so-called agency) shops. Under the open shop rule, an employee cannot be compelled to join or pay the equivalent of dues to a union, nor can the employee be fired if he joins the union. In other words, the employee has the right to work, regardless of whether or not he is a member or financial contributor to such a union. 22 states ban "forced unionism"... 27 states and the District of Columbia do not. Proponents of right-to-work laws, based on freedom of association, went to work with a will signing up one state after another. The states they persuaded reads like the playbook of the Republican Party, including Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming. There the great roll call of right-to-work states stopped, until now... with the adhesion of Indiana. Why did Indiana act now... and why does it matter? The signature tune of the people they call Hoosiers is "Back Home Again In Indiana" (1917) ... and there's nothing more domestic, more American, more representative of the Great Republic, than these sane, decent, responsible folk. They are the very salt of the Earth, the bedrock of who we are and what we believe in. And these folks in recent years have watched as the land -- and lifestyle they love -- diminish, as one job after another ends, so many shipped overseas, all gone forever. And as the jobs left, their outrage and despair waxed. To sustain the people, to maintain the land, there must be jobs... and so the people demanded jobs... seeing the bloated unions no longer as job providers but as menaces to their revival and reconstruction. Their representatives (in the persons of the majority Republican Party in the legislature) heard this plea... and essentially said by their actions that Indiana, to compete again and prosper again, must be prepared to face economic facts, no matter how unpleasant. Thus, unions must give back, divest, rethink... instead of merely waving placards, opposing this, blocking that, fulminating, never solving. For the issue here is and always will be the welfare of the people, not merely the welfare of the unions. Thus the unions face the growing disbelief in towns like Wabash that they are not up to the job at hand, the job of making Indiana, a key industrial state, livable again. And so as the unions argue http://www.BizBuildersCommunity.com Copyright Tim Ricke - 2012 34 of 42
Politics in the 21st Century and the 2012 Race For the Whitehouse against their fate in Indiana, the "Wabash Cannonball" surges anew... to Ohio, Michigan, Illinois... an engine of change for a nation that needs it, the ghost of Senator Robert Taft riding in triumph. "Oh, the Eastern states are dandy, so the Western people say Chicago, Rock Island, St. Louis by the way To the lakes of Minnesota where the rippling waters fall No changes to be taken on the Wabash Cannonball." All aboard... ** We invite you to submit your comments below.
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'Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion...'; the great truth assailed by the little man from Pennsylvania, former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum; John F. Kennedy's historic address on the matter revisited.
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant Author's program note. Religious fervor, religious metaphors, religious language, religious dispute, religious assertiveness, religious iconography, religious music all pulsate through every aspect of the Great Republic, its life and affairs. And that is why the Founding Fathers as their first order of business and to establish the tone and substance for all that followed, wrote the First Amendment to the Constitution. In sparse, incisive, resolute, unequivocal language they rendered their bold and well considered opinion thus: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." These sentiments were the more necessary because of the very vibrancy of religion and all of its manifestations in the Great Republic... for every religion, (because of its adamant belief that its way to God is The way to God), is messianic, exclusive, intolerant, and so potentially divisive, disruptive, even dangerous. And no one knew this better than the great and thoughtful Founding Fathers who had as their matter of high and abiding significance the preservation of the many great things rendered by religion... whilst avoiding the imperial tendencies of all religions, to uplift themselves, even unto the seizure of the Great Republic, whilst denigrating the rest. The great problem set, these same Founding Fathers commenced their high business of solving it. For make no mistake about it, the objective of the Founding Fathers was not the crippling control and suppression of religion so much as it was creating an atmosphere and civic establishment in which religions -- all religions -- might flourish to the glory and benefit of the Great Republic they were crafting and meant to have. Thus I give you the occasional music for this article, and a better tune one could hardly have for this subject: "Give Me That Old-Time Religion." It's a traditional Gospel song dating from 1873. Charles David Tillman took this song, which may have originated as a black folk song, and by his publishing and enthusiasm for its adamant, uplifting message turned it into a staple of white congregations and so it has abided, a joyful manifestation of the Good News. To get it, go now to any search engine. You'll find many fine renditions of this song; I prefer the get-up-and-praise Him version belted out by Mahalia Jackson, Hallelujah... for if it was good enough for my father... good enough for my mother... then it's good enough for me! The background to the First Amendment. To a person, the men who constituted the Founding Fathers, were men knowledgeable about religion, its history, uses, practices, and tendencies. As a result, they were haunted, almost to a person, by the damages religion could deliver, as well as its comforts. And they knew, none better, that left to its own devices religion could chill individual inquiry rather than encourage it, could become the harsh means of fettering the human mind, not advancing it. And what they wanted, to the point of obsession, was a land of liberty, not a land where uniformity of view was the order of the day, and was enforced by priests, pastors, and pontiffs; different in their views, the same in their http://www.BizBuildersCommunity.com Copyright Tim Ricke - 2012 36 of 42
Politics in the 21st Century and the 2012 Race For the Whitehouse the day, and was enforced by priests, pastors, and pontiffs; different in their views, the same in their devices for achieving them; working each to control with bell, book, and candle. They, too, were aware that such a land, so unfettered in its thoughts, a paradise for every believer not just one, had never existed in the history of mankind where uniformity of outlook reigned as the desired objective. As a result the Founding Fathers, here as elsewhere, found themselves on the cutting-edge of this crucial matter of statecraft and belief.... and they gave the matter their utmost consideration... for no question exercised them more that what they could do to place the people of the new republic into a proper, sustained relationship with their common Creator. They selected a solution Erastian, latitudinarian, tolerant. Tolerance for all, hegemony and control for none. This became their guiding light , and they found vital sustenance for it amongst the works of Thomas Erastus, (1524-1583), a 16th century German physician and theologian. He held that the punishment of all offenses should be referred to the civil power and that holy communion was open to all. Thus should the church and its ministers be made subservient to the officials of the government, rather than these officials of the government made subservient to the church and its ministers. They looked, too, to the cool reason of John Locke (1632-1704), who advocated, first and foremost, a tolerance which had, perhaps, never been seen before... a latitudinarian whose profound thoughts once glimpsed became the abiding vision of all sensible people, and the basis for civil peace, not internecine strife. From such beginnings did the idea of religious tolerance grow, until at last it was written and proclaimed in the First Amendment, as the very essence of what we stood for as a Great Republic and who we wanted to be. Thus as the Founding Fathers surveyed it, they saw their work whole... and knew it to be a great resolution to a great problem, a great policy indeed for the Great Republic. .. and from the moment of its inception it has done its work... JFK, admirable in Houston. Then John Fitzgerald Kennedy ran for president... and many people worried that as a Roman Catholic he would sabotage this verity, pledging instead fealty to the Bishop of Rome, rather than the Great Republic. And so, he went to Houston where before the Greater Houston Ministerial Association he presented himself and his views. The date was September 12, 1960... and it was perhaps his most admirable day on Earth; for on this day he stated with vehemence and resolution these words: "I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute." And if, perhaps, he did not persuade all the reverend doctors present (for some were not to be persuaded) he did persuade the people of the Great Republic, who in their turn elected him...thus proving with their ballots the kind of inclusive, tolerant, pacific society they desired and affirmed. It is this society, this vision, the most profound ever imagined that one little man has challenged, in a way at once crude, graphic and alarming. "I don't believe in an America where the separation of church and state are absolute." Rick Santorum, (College of Saint Mary Magdalen, Warner, New Hampshire, October 2011 and reaffirmed thereafter). "The idea that the church can have no influence or no involvement in the operation of the state is absolutely antithetical to the objectives and visions of our country... to say that people of faith have no role in the public square? You bet that makes me want to throw up." http://www.BizBuildersCommunity.com Copyright Tim Ricke - 2012 37 of 42
Politics in the 21st Century and the 2012 Race For the Whitehouse This is the statement of a zealot, a demagogue, a radical... and thus a danger to the community, the comity, the country... and to the Great Republic itself. The firewall called Michigan held... but barely. The results are now counted in Michigan which Tuesday, February 28, 2012 held one of the most important presidential primaries ever, and by just the smallest of margins denied Santorum and his radical views, views that would roil the essential verities of the Great Republic and divide the people. Is this the end of the war then? Alas, no. For this battle, which sensible citizens thought was settled centuries ago by the expansive vision of the Founding Fathers, is under attack by incendiaries like Santorum who mean to light their way to the God they arrogantly suppose they know with autos-da-fe, a ghastly light unto eternity. That is why the rest of us must remain vigilant, for a right undefended is a right at risk... and this right has been too hard won to be threatened, much less eviscerated and destroyed, by a man like Santorum, for all that he fancies himself the agent of God and his Holy Will. ** What do you think? We invite your comments below.
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The lady from Maine laments and quits; the gentleman from Oklahoma says shoot 'em, and we revisit the savage beating -- on the Senate floor no less -- of Sen. Charles Sumner by Rep. Preston Brooks
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant Author's program note. There's a whole lot of lamenting going on in Washington, D.C. It goes like this: once upon a time the Congress of the Great Republic was a genteel place where ladies and gentlemen put on their white gloves and best manners, taking tea while cozily arranging America's affairs... thence home to a Dickens novel and well-earned slumber. The problem is that such a time never existed in the Congress of these factious United States. It's the merest myth... for all that the poor lads and lassies who represent us yearn for such a place, such a time, and such amiable, thoughtful, sympathetic colleagues on both sides of the aisle. And so, these folks give way to frequent tears and even more frequent sighs and vapors... with lamentations loud, frequent, poignant, heart-rending -- and silly. The most recent to give way to this "feel sorry for me" rubbish is the lady from Maine, senior Republican Senator Olympia Snowe. On February 28, 2012 the Honorable Olympia announced her inability to stomach the poisonous, internecine, downright nasty senatorial environment for another term. And so, lamenting, petulant, self-pitying, she said "basta!"... and started packing her valises with the accumulated treasures and heirlooms -- not to mention the pensions and emoluments -- of over 33 years in Congress. These will be substantial indeed. As for me, I cannot find a single tear for the lady, rather the reverse. She says she was armed for another campaign, had money aplenty to fight the good fight... but she clearly lacked the stomach for so much closeness to her feisty and outspoken Mainers. Senators are revered, coddled, kowtowed to in Washington, D.C. Back home amidst the problems and bleakness of Portland, they are asked, insistently too, just what have you done for us lately, Missie... and you'd better have a detailed answer at the ready. Demigods like Senator Olympia find such directness rude, and long for fragrant camomile in a fragile cup of Old Worcester while aides fan her with cooling air.... unlimited incense... and deference to every word and wish. Ms. Olympia says she's a Greek from Spartan stock... and while that might have been true 30 years ago in her elected salad days, it is most assuredly true no longer. She's gone Athenian, and now demands reverence, not the stark choice of returning with her shield -- or on it. And so she must retire... because she is no longer able to fight the good fight for Maine, for Mainers, and for the Great Republic which needs visionaries, fighters, not aging voluptuaries who crave comfort, not confrontation. Enter Congressman John Sullivan (R-Oklahoma). February 22, 2012 Representative Sullivan made a few red-blooded observations during one of his regular "town hall" meetings with constituents. The subject was how to get the Senate of the Great Republic to get serious, I mean really serious, about balancing the out-of-control federal budget. "I'd love to get them /the senators/ to vote for it. Boy, I'd love that, you know. But other than me going over there with a gun and pointing it to their head and maybe killing a couple of them, I don't feel they're going to listen unless they get beat." Cornered by the ever present Thought Police, Representative Sullivan, that able and forthright member for Tulsa, backed down. He didn't mean it....shouldn't have said it... certainly didn't http://www.BizBuildersCommunity.com Copyright Tim Ricke - 2012 39 of 42
Politics in the 21st Century and the 2012 Race For the Whitehouse member for Tulsa, backed down. He didn't mean it....shouldn't have said it... certainly didn't imagine... and would never, ever do... You get the picture. The Honorable John was tripping over himself, back pedaling to beat the band. But why? After all, he is far more what we actually want in our elected representatives, even while we say we prefer the Olympia model. No, we want our reps to represent us robustly, directly, rudely, shrewdly, without limits ... because unless they do that our share of the pie -- and the extra bucks we covet -will go to others more able to bring home the bacon than our shrinking violets... and that will never do. The great example of Representative Preston Brooks. In 1856, the great issue of the day was slavery. It was a question which overshadowed all others. It was intractable, divisive, perhaps insoluble... certainly unavoidable. And because moderates could not prevail in resolving the matter, it was left to the zealots on both sides to see what they could do, using whatever means they chose to use. And so on May 18, 1856 the Honorable Charles Sumner, the Senator from Massachusetts, arose to see what he could do to resolve the irresolvable... his vehicle being his great speech "The Crime Against Kansas" given to ensure that slavery did not encroach into the Kansas Territory and so augment the South and the slave owners he despised. It was a great speech in every way -- 50 single-spaced pages in length, a detailed analysis of the problem, the most brilliant, vituperative language; language meant to insult, to scald, to enrage, with a position that absolutely no one could misunderstand, whatever side they supported. Picture the scene. Not a cup of camomile to be seen. Great Sumner rises sustained by sanctimony, rectitude and rage; each word is sonorous, delivered with venom, designed to sting, outrage, rebuke, condemn, no quarter asked, none given. And so this man of Harvard, of Boston, of Massachusetts, this man of certainty, no doubt or hesitation rose to challenge the nation and to reshape the Great Republic. Every eye was on the man, a mere man no longer, but the agent of a stern, implacable God, God the Avenger, majestic, awe-inspiring, I Am that I Am. "Mr. President," he began, "You are now called to redress a great transgression." And every word that followed in that vast torrent of words beat home this point. There was no note of accommodation, no politics as usual, nothing less than total victory would do. In the course of this great philippic, which ultimately saw one million copies distributed, Senator Sumner attacked Senator Andrew Butler of South Carolina, not just the man or his ideas but his stroke-impaired physique. It was brutal, it was hurtful; it was insulting... and a few days later inspired the Senator's outraged nephew, South Carolina congressman Preston Brooks to enter the Senate Chamber and, with his gutta-percha cane with solid gold knob, beat Sumner insensate, even when Sumner was comatose, lying in his puddling blood. So did immoderate Sumner make his case...so did immoderate Brooks retaliate. And so was the Congress of the Great Republic shortly peopled by representatives carrying devices of every kind, guns, knives, and of course the gutta-percha sticks with gold knobs made fashionable -- or abhorrent -- by this incident which moved the Civil War appreciably closer. That is why, Senator Snowe, your decision to leave is a bad decision. The people of Maine need http://www.BizBuildersCommunity.com Copyright Tim Ricke - 2012 40 of 42
Politics in the 21st Century and the 2012 Race For the Whitehouse you.. the Congress needs you... the Great Republic still has great need of your services. No, it is not convenient for you; not least because you must present yourself again to your constituents, and, being Mainers, they will question you closely, for they are no respecters of persons and so may affront you. What of it? You have the Great Republic's work to do. And that is far more important and pressing than your own personal feelings or comfort. They count for nothing against what you can do, must do and cannot abandon now. Thus I give you this song, "John Brown's Body", a rousing tune which arose from the American camp meeting tradition in the early 19th century and, after many changes of words, became the marching tune for people who understood the implementation of Truth was a long, difficult, often dangerous process. Go now to any search engine and find the rendition you like... and bookmark it, for you will have need of it in the work ahead: "John Brown's body lies a-mouldering in the grave His soul's marching on." And so must you, too, Senator Olympia Snowe, for your work for the people is most assuredly not finished yet. Dedication: The author is pleased to dedicate this work to Joshua Aaron Sumner and Roshelle Elena Sumner, descendants of the magnificent Yankee who alerted the world to "The Crime Against Kansas," children of dear friend, Lance Sumner, fellow Internet argonaut.
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Resource
About The Author Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., where small and home-based businesses learn how to profit online. Attend Dr. Lant's live webcast TODAY and receive 50,000 free guaranteed visitors to the website of your choice! Dr. Lant is also the author of 18 best-selling business books. Republished with author's permission by Tim Ricke http://BizBuildersCommunity.com.
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Politics in the 21st Century and the 2012 Race For the Whitehouse

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