Susan B. Anthony Had It Right

Born February 15, 1820, died March 13, 1906) Susan Brownell Anthony spent her entire life fighting for  women. Her Quaker family gave her an education and equality with men unusual for a woman of her generation and she chose to use her educated  mind to fight for the rights of women everywhere 

Most specifically, she thought that women, as half the population, should have the same rights as as men  to vote for those who governed them-- and that women, as well as men should be able to run for political office, including President of the United States. From the founding of The Women's Party in 1848 on, she fought fiercely for the right of women to vote, but sadly died before the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution,  was passed in 1920.

Clearly, from the quote above,Susan B. Anthony  was also nobody's fool when it came to seeing through religious ideology driving politics.  Her quote rings as true today as it did a century ago.  She definitely got it right on that one.

ArchBishop Desmond Tutu on Bush, Blair and Iraq

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu in Capetown

Archbishop Desmond Tutu has never been one to shy away from speaking truth to power and he's done it again over this week-end.  In doing so, he's  proven once again that he is one of the few clerics on the planet who, in my not so humble opinion, would make Jesus proud.

Last week, Archbishop Tutu,a leading figure in the world-wide Anglican Communion, backed out of a seminar in Johannesburg because he refused to share the stage with  a war criminal named Tony Blair, whom the Archbishop believes should stand trial in the Hague for War Crimes, along with his buddy, George W. Bush. .  Yesterday, writing in the UK newspaper The Guardian,  he  explained  precisely why.

"On what grounds do we decide that Robert Mugabe should go the International Criminal Court, Tony Blair should join the international speakers' circuit, bin Laden should be assassinated, but Iraq should be invaded, not because it possesses weapons of mass destruction, as Mr Bush's chief supporter, Mr Blair, confessed last week, but in order to get rid of Saddam Hussein?"

he continues:

"The question is not whether Saddam Hussein was good or bad or how many of his people he massacred. The point is that Mr Bush and Mr Blair should not have allowed themselves to stoop to his immoral level.
If it is acceptable for leaders to take drastic action on the basis of a lie, without an acknowledgement or an apology when they are found out, what should we teach our children?"

Imagine that--a  Christian leader who actually speaks out in favor of the gospel message and who follows words with action.  Verily verily-- I think Jesus would be proud.  I know I am.

Republicans Democrats and The Hunger Games

Hunger Games in Tampa 

 

 As I watched the Republican Convention unfold in Tampa last week, I couldn't help thinking about " The Hunger Games."  The blockbuster book and movie seems to be playing out for real this week as billions are spent on a kind of fantasy contest  between Democrats and Republicans.  The  GOP is in the spotlight at the moment, but next week, in Charlotte, the Dems will be up at bat and will be spinning stories of their own.

But the conventions and the Presidential election really do parallel  the book, don't you agree? A bored audience all over the country watches the televised " games" and that  keeps their minds off of the real problem-- to wit: that a small group lives in luxury while the majority struggles.

As the Republican convention came to a climax last night with a tightly scripted acceptance speech by Mitt Romney, I watched the cheering multitudes in cowboy hats waving placards, the lights, the cameras, the glitz and glamor and thought " this is nuts."   Children are dying in Africa of simple diseases and famine.... in point of fact children are dying or at least going to bed hungry right here in the United States as we cheer on the candidates and participate in our own " Hunger Games"   Hail to the Pentagon.  Hail to the American Dream. As usual it is guns vs. butter and guns win.

Where is Katniss when you need her?

Thoughts on the Republican Convention

Tonight's speakers at the RNC--thank you DonkeyHotey on Flickr

It's day three of the Republican National Convention in Tampa.  I'm watching it on TV and channel surfing. I'm having trouble staying awake.  Except for a moment when the Ron Paul supporters woke up early on, all the delegates seem to be having the same problem.

The whole thing feels like " The Stepford Wives do Disneyland"  It is heavily scripted and the plotline is very simplistic.  It consists of Obama bashing and the obsessive repetition of  spun " facts" over and over again.  It's the old Karl Rove routine of " if you tell a lie long enough and often enough, people will accept it as truth"

 The leitmotif of the evening seems to be high dudgeon at President Obama for declaring that Americans did not build their own businesses.  Of course that is NOT what Obama said, but truth seems to be the first casualty of political conventions as well as of war. Obama observed that small business owners did not build the roads and bridges or light the streets or provide water.  He was referring to the necessary role of government in building and repairing infrastructure.

The major event of the evening will be Paul Ryan's acceptance speech which should at least wake up the crowd.  I won't last that long.  I am already totally numbed by the  platitudes of an Ohio businessman and an Iraq war vet. I've had it.  I'm going to bed.

Sarah Palin Calls for Democrats to Play Nice. Who Can Take Her Seriously? Not Jon Stewart

Sarah Palin  was at it again last week.  I guess she is suffering from media deprivation so she just had to say a few outrageous things to bring back the cameras. She's still playing the victim and still living in a distorted world where liberals wear the black hats and conservatives are good and holy.  Palin accuses evil liberals of telling lies and swears up and down she cannot think of one Republican who lies and distorts things the way liberals do. ( I guess she has never heard of Rush Limbaugh) but nevermind.

Jon Stewart got right on Sister Sarah's case.   In case you missed it, the video of the segment is below and it is a must see.... especially if you need a break from the anger and vitriol of the campaign clown show.

 Check it out for a laugh and an injection of sanity.  Sometimes I think The Daily Show is a better source of hard news than CNN and it certainly beats the pants off of FOX and MSNBC.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Thanks to Donkeyhotey on Flickr for the Sarah Palin caracature

Will The Real Paul Ryan Please Stand Up?

Who Is Paul Ryan, Anyway?

 

Paul Ryan has been in Congress for 14 years but has only recently come to prominence as the godfather of the controversial Ryan Budget. I got to wondering , just what was Congressman Paul Ryan (R) Wisconsin, doing for all those years  before he became a belt tightening budget guru, the darling of the Tea Party and Mitt Romney's running mate?

Most specifically, I started wondering what he was up to during the Bush Administration, when the deficit was created. (Remember that when Bush came into office there was a budget surplus which he proceeded to distribute in the form of $200. checks. Bush then started two wars and lowered taxes so there would be no money to pay for them)  Where was Ryan the fiscal conservative when all this was going on?

Turns out I'm not the only one wondering. Dylan Matthews has written a well researched, exhaustive post on Ezra Klein's blog over at the Washington Post  on  this very topic. Take a look. It's a real eye opener 

Of particular interest is what Dylan had to say about Paul Ryan's co-sponsorship of  the Social Security Personal Savings Guarantee and Prosperity Act of 2005, a proposal that even the Bush Administration considered too radical.

"The Social Security Administration concluded that the Ryan-Sununu plan would require huge increases in general budget revenue to make up the shortfall left in payroll tax revenue. Specifically, revenue would have to increase by 1.5 percent of GDP every year, an analysis by the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities found, or about $225 billion at current GDP. That’s a big honking tax hike. What’s more, under the plan, investments in the stock and bond markets would skyrocket such that by 2050, every single stock or bond in the United States would be owned by a Social Security account. This would mean that the portfolio managers at the Social Security Administration would more or less control the entire means of production in the United States."

  In spite of all that legislative activity, Ryan, according to the Huffington Post, has only managed to get two of his bills passed into law in almost 14 years in Congress.How about that for a stellar record?   One of these bills concerned renaming a local Wisconsin post office and the other involved an excise tax on arrows(as in archery, bows and arrows, hunting and all that) Really? 
The third thing I discovered about Paul Ryan by rooting around on the internet, is that his foreign policy experience, like that of his running mate, Mitt Romney,is remarkably thin. Check out this excellent piece by Abby Huntsman on this topic. The guy knows zero, zip, nada about anyplace outside the USA. Not cool, as Mitt demonstrated his own ineptitude in terms of foreign policy finesse quite dramatically on his recent trip abroad.  In fact, former Bush administration State Department official Christian Whiton had this to say on Paul Ryan's lack of foreign policy experience on Fox News this past Saturday.

“Paul Ryan has said relatively little about foreign affairs and when he has it generally is brought back to his portfolio as head of the finance committee, so he’ll talk about how it’s important for America to thrive economically, to not appear to be in decline…But unfortunately what we don’t have from either the top or bottom of this ticket is a clear message on how these people will see the world and react to world events when they get into the White House if they do.”

 

Three Strikes for Romney/Ryan and Three Cheers for Obama/Biden

 

That's three strikes as far as I'm concerned.  No wonder Paul Ryan is the darling of the Tea Party.  The more I think about it, the more I think this VP  pic was a gift to Obama.The more I find out about Paul Ryan and his legislative past, the more I know that I'm sticking with Obama/Biden in 2012, and I bet I'm not the only one--in fact I know I'm not.

H/T   Mediaite.com, Huffington Post, and @ExLobbyist on Twitter for all the info and help

Romney Moves to the Dark Side. Picks Paul Ryan As Running Mate

cartoon source

There were whispers and rumors about this all week long and now Mittens has officially left his moderate Republican roots behind in Massachusetts by choosing Paul Ryan as his Vice Presidential running mate. He's really gone over to the dark side of  "Trickle Down"  fairy dust budgets and the Tea Party Paranoia.

 Just in case you don't realize how big a leap this is for formerly moderate Mitt, let me refresh your recollection.  Romney is the guy who set up a single payer, government funded health care system in Massachusetts when he was governor there. He was pro-choice back then, and  took many moderate,centrist political positions.  Now, he's climbing into bed with one of the most conservative, right wing, members of Congress as a running mate.  Guess what you can expect if Mitt gets elected?  Does the name George W. Bush ring a bell?

Congressman Paul Ryan has represented the State of Wisconsin since 1999.  He is currently head of the House Budget Committee and one of Washington's most powerful, conservative policy makers.  You've perhaps heard of the " Ryan Budget"  of which he is the author?

  The Ryan Budget would turn Medicare from a public entitlement to a voucher system ( remember when Bush wanted to privatize social security and turn it over to Wall Street just before the bubble burst?) But I digress-- let's get back to the Ryan Budget.  It would shrink food stamps, gut Medicaid and turn it completely into state block grants, and basically eliminate most Federal spending on what is left of the safety net for ordinary folks At the same time, in order to " create jobs" the budget calls for lowering taxes on corporations and wealthy individuals-- the 1% to you and me.

Job Creation Vs. Taxes

 Trickle down theory says that the top 1% create jobs for the bottom 90%.  Real life evidence suggests the opposite is true-- the bottom 90% buy goods and services when they have money in their pockets.

By choosing Ryan, Mitt Romney has drawn a line in the sand.   The choice of Paul Ryan clearly states what a Romney Administration would be like for the 1% and for the rest of us.  Personally, I'm not up for seeing old folks eating out of garbage cans and children going to bed hungry.

That's not my America and I hope it's not yours. I'm voting for Obama