"Undecideds": Time to Decide

RNC hacks and the Romney/Ryan ticket salesmen would
have you forget eight years of Clinton (he signed the death knell
of Glass-Steagall) and eight years of Bush. How was Mr. Obama
ever going to undo SIXTEEN years of bad policy decisions?--In
FOUR years? --Particularly when those policies resulted in banks
gone wild, the Great Recession of 2007----, deficits, our military
dead, thousands in civilian "collateral damage" overseas and the
lack of necessary nation-wide infrastructure reconstruction?

President Obama is far from perfect. He should have taken on
healthcare reform after the economy improved; he should
NOT have had all his high level advisers be Chicagoans, especially
Chicagoans who were paid big bucks from Com Ed (Exelon).
Mr. O, though, is a lot closer to most Americans in that he had
no silver spoon waiting when he arrived, that he worked for
what he's gained, charm and ambition notwithstanding.

Tonight Mr. Romney attempts to win us over with a
demonstration of how mellow, rather than how hollow, he is.
Just remember the good 'ol boy who was easy to have a beer
with, Bush II. It takes far more than an easy manner and slogans
to effectively run a large country like ours--as Junior proved.

Hey,"undecideds", time to decide: do you want a leader you can
have a beer with, or someone with some competence and a
concern for the middle class?

The Un-American, "All About Me" Crowd

In this flag-waving, hand-over-heart political season, it would
be well to examine the patriotism of the six or seven largest
U.S. banks and their right-wing rich supporters. While I'm at it,
here's a list of the un-American, all about me crowd:

(1) The SEC: those staff members most closely tied to the NYC/DC
incestuous, revolving door corridor should have been relieved
of their posts, as they DID NOTHING to stem the practices
which led to the country's (and the world's) financial ruin,
beginning in 2007. Incompetence or intent? --Does it matter?
A few really should experience significant jail time.

(2) The Big Bank "Deciders": All of the big six or seven had/have
administrators who skirted laws, took hat in hand to ask/accept
big bailouts from the taxpayers, most of whom are NOT rich....
most of whom find it hard to get federal school loans, home loans,
etc., in a new era of tight credit, post 2008. Big Banks
unnecessarily hoarding cash, keeping the Great Recession of
2007---- going, now, that's un-American.

(3) Any Ayn Rand devotees serving in Congress: In her cant on
"individualism" vs. the evil "collectivism", class warfare becomes
more of a problem than is actually necessary. Is it required to pit
the individual against society, and/or the reverse? Are we one
nation, or not? Is it Socialism to have libraries, fire and police
departments, public schools? The right-wing Randian purists
would have us believe that an almost non-existent federal
government would somehow be productive and fair, letting the
lesser gifted without family or friends wind up on the streets,
as we saw happen in the 1930s, the 1980s and beyond.

(4) The "Fed": The Federal Reserve has some 'splainin' to do
as well. Paul Krugman is wrong to suggest more money be
printed without that increase being based on a proven
improvement in the economy, however.

I support a balance between the individual and society, because
that reflects the reality of humanity--we are inevitably part of
groups, and we are always individuals. Without such balance a
nation, any nation, is perverted and therefore unfair.

Memo to the rest of us: stop wrapping ourselves in the ol'
red, white and blue. Aside from the medical community, charities,
inventors and the front-line military, most of us have done
precious little to improve the nation's fortunes, and I'm not
merely meaning money here. But it's not too late to start.

Glad NOT to Be from Missouri....

--Chiefly because of U.S. House Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO). WHAT
were they THINKING, the voters who put this foolish fiasco into
office? The chief uproar, deservedly, stems from the anti-woman
comment, "...legitimate rape..." Most public accusations of rape by
women are justified, as few would want to go through such shame,
scandal and invasions of privacy that inevitably attend the
circus which follows an accusation and the bringing of charges.

But then Todd, "akin" to many other "dim bulbs", scored in the
negative zone when asserting that a woman's body (post rape)
would just naturally slough off any ensuing spawn. NO, TODD,
conception can indeed succeed, whether the female was willing
or not.

Take a look at it, T. A.'s constituents: your House Rep is anti-
woman AND woefully ignorant about human biology, much else
in science, very probably. (So glad I'm in Illinois, where we have
an equally egregious Congressman, Joel Walsh.)

I'm just "Akin" to throw the rascals out, WHEREVER
they may be from.

The Bluebeard of Bolingbrook

The Legend of Bluebeard, a European myth about a monster who
marries several women and kills them, has had many variations
over the centuries. Here in Illinois, in the Chicago suburb of
Bolingbrook, we have our own Bluebeard, a man who married
four times (WHAT were the last two THINKING?) whose third
wife died under suspicious circumstances; the fourth,
considerably younger, has disappeared.

The lamentable behavior of both the prosecution AND the defense
in this case merely makes my opinion only stronger: a spreading
contagion of incompetence is sweeping across the U.S. The
prosecution disobeys a stern injunction from the judge; the judge
appears to allow hearsay to be admitted; the defense daily tries
their case in the press, etc., ad infinitum, ad nauseam.

Where are Patrick Fitzgerald, Perry Mason, even Sherlock Holmes
when we need them?? (Why NOT list fictional characters, reality
entered the realm of former fantasy LONG ago....)

If this man makes it to a mistrial and double jeopardy obtains,
look for some fool of a woman to be number five, free to marry
the Bluebeard of Bolingbrook. If she comes to a bad end, who's
left to write the book?

Romney/Ryan: Readin', 'Ritin' and NO Arithmetic

--No heart to DO the math, either. With a straight face Paul Ryan
is all over the media, vowing to honor the promises previous
administrations have made to retirees, but all bets are off for
the under 55 age group. On CBS' "60 minutes" (o8/12/'12)
R & R sat together with matching "grid" patterned shirts
but there was no Rest or Recovery planned for the middle class,
AGAIN.

How can they care (seemingly) only about the "business"
community, yet forget to factor in the consumer, who has
driven this economy for decades? Fewer workers mean fewer
buyers of goods and services, a concept I learned in high school
back in the 1960s. Memo, Mitt: most U.S. adults are employEES
rather than employERS. The current catch 22, which has
businesses laying off or postponing expansion, could continue for
three to four more years, some economists estimate.

CNN has a handy little chart from the National Bureau of
Economic Research showing 21 recessions in the U.S. since
1904. Our national conversation about the economy is a
reductio ad absurdia, where only the the Great Depression
and the Great Recession (2007----) are ever discussed. This
obfuscation obscures reality, seriously altering any forthcoming
policy decisons, possibly disastrously. Numerous economic
swings can impact a middle class family more than once in a
lifetime, putting many out on the street, even if they "did all
the right things", finishing schooling, saving money, investing.

DC House and Senate Republicans COULD have broken this dreary,
dispiriting cycle by passing recent national infrastructure repair
proposals (roads, rails and bridges) which, of necessity, would
have employed many, increasing consumption, in turn
increasing confidence, allowing small and larger businesses
to hire on more workers, etc., ad infinitum, the positive ripple
effect extending worldwide.

But getting a Democrat and an African American out of the
White House was always the priority, according to Sen. Mitch
McConnell (R-KY)--just ask him. Working on long-standing
problems for everyone in the USA? THAT calculation is not
in Mr. McConnell's Math copybook.

No reasonable arithmetic available from R and R either.

Domestic Terror Steps Up: Where Is Safety?

The horror is stepping up lately, it seems. Twelve
senselessly, unjustly, lose their lives to domestic terror in
Colorado, to be followed by a loss of seven more only a month
later in Wisconsin. Are there patterns here?

(1) Since Columbine, most (if not all) of these killers have been
male students or soldiers. Very likely, the stress of these
environments' high expectations married to an inadequate
personal life spiked by a deep disappointment produces such
unspeakable tragedies.

(2) Aberrant, violent philosophies are held by those who feel
weak, insecure, threatened, isolated, and alienated. Scapegoating
others "out there" is easier than looking within.

But somebody better start looking within and without, or we
will justly deserve descriptions and comparisons to Mexico
and Columbia as another unsafe place to live, unless that ship has
also sailed.

Where is safety?