DIVIDED GOVERNMENT AND ACID COMPROMISE

If the pending tax deal is any indication of things to come and there is every reason to think that it is, the good old but battered USA is in for some more battering. Mind you, this is self inflicted damage. No foreign agents at work here. No, what we have here is a group of the very wealthiest people and corporations, Americans all, fronted by the republican party and fixed news, some of whom are American, who will do or say anything to make themselves even wealthier very wealthy people, the country, it's working men and women, real people with real families all, it's great middle class which is after all what made America the powerhouse that it is, as well as a beacon to all, be damned!

In the words of Representative Thaddeus G. McCotter, Republican of Michigan, spoken on the House floor today, “This bill will not end the suffering of the unemployed and economically anxious Americans, it will prolong it.” We know nothing of Rep. McCotter but in this instance at least you have to admire his honesty and his patriotism. He knows this is bad policy for the country and he is not afraid to say it and seemingly buck his own party.

We agree and as we have been known to in various venues, cite Winston Churchill's wisdom;

"Never give in! Never give in! Never, never, never. Never -- in anything great or small, large or petty -- never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense."

We submit that this tax bill meets neither of those tests. And as such, as Representative James P. McGovern, Democrat of Massachusetts, said on the floor of the House today “We must do better than this.”

We can, and as patriots, we must. Our country needs us.

Over the next two years there will be many opportunities for acid compromise that will present themselves. We can only hope that President Obama has studied the wisdom in Mr. Churchill words.

People are depending on it.

At every turn over the next two years, when it comes to convictions of honor and good sense, the President should refuse to compromise. He should force the republicans to vote against the interests of working and middle class Americans in favor of the wealthiest among us and he should point it out loudly on television every night and day. Let's see how long that plays in Peoria?

Wake up Mr President, people are depending upon you.

A CONFIDENCE GAME

Has anyone noticed that the last time Nassau County faced a financial crises of the magnitude that is currently staring us all in the face it was under Republican leadership?

Let's review. Nassau’s last fiscal meltdown came in 1999, after decades of unchecked spending and out of control patronage at the hands of a series of Republican county executives and supervisors, paid for with mounting debt and one-time revenues like desperation sales of county land at fire sale prices.

This led to a $200 million deficit and a credit rating barely above junk. It triggered a Democratic takeover of what had long been a Republican bastion. And it ended with a $100 million state bailout in 2000 and the creation of a watchdog agency, the Nassau Interim Finance Authority, to oversee the county’s fiscal practices.

Under pressure from that authority, Mr. Mangano’s Democratic predecessor, Thomas R. Suozzi, raised property taxes, shrank the county work force and reduced the county’s reliance on borrowing to pay for operating costs.

In an attempt to stabilize the county's revenue stream by establishing a recurring revenue source Mr. Suozzi instituted a 2.5 percent tax on home heating bills. As effective as it was unpopular, the tax was a necessary component of maintaining the county's fiscal health.
 
In the election for county executive that followed, Mr. Mangano and the Nassau Republican machine pounded away at the unpopular tax vowing to repeal it and restore confidence in county government.

As most of us know, there is no free lunch. If you campaign against a tax you either have to find a way to replace the revenue it generated or you need to cut spending to align with the reality of reduced resources.

Mr. Mangano and the Republicans in the county legislature got rid of the energy tax all right but never came up with the spending cuts or a way to replace the lost revenue. It is a pattern straight out of the Republican playbook of the last 40 years. The truth, as we have all witnessed first hand, is that when it comes to fiscal responsibility, Republicans talk a good game but the only time during the past 40 years that Nassau's finances have been under sound footing is the 8 year period of time when the county was under Democratic leadership.

Once again, reckless Republican fiscal policies have put Nassau County on the Brink of financial disaster and a take over of its finances by state watchdogs.

Is this what Mr. Mangano and the Republicans meant by restoring confidence in county government? Sounds more like a confidence game to me.

To the voters of Nassau County, how is voting Republican working out for you so far?

Oh c'mon, that's an easy one for anyone who is paying attention.

EAT UP AMERICA

* Republicans Block U.S. Health Aid for 9/11 Workers
* Republicans Block Repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell
* Republicans Block Extension of Benefits For The Unemployed
* Republicans Block Tax Cuts for 98% of Americans
* Republicans Block Food Safety Bill

As a matter of fact the only thing that Republicans will not block are tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% of Americans. Everything, they say, must wait for that, everything. Nothing is more important to them.

And this is only since November 2nd and they are not even in power yet, though you would not know it.

These are despicable people who leave a putrid taste in your mouth.

Eat up America because this is what you ordered a heaping helping of in November.

The question is how long until America gets sick to its stomach.

THE PARTY OF THE DARK AGES

We are a society that depends 100% upon science. We need to constantly strive to understand and harness science by investing in scientific research for the betterment of all mankind.

Even that left wing loony, the Pope, has finally recognized the validity of scientific wisdom in altering his stance on condom use.

With this in mind it is interesting to note that the republicans and the tea partiers pride themselves in the denial of science, preferring to be the party of the dark ages. They are either fools or snake oil salesmen.
 
No matter, it seems the American people have a soft spot for both.

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR

Americans wanted heaping portion of divided government and come January that is what they shall have.

The republican victory was fueled by the voter anger that has engulfed this country and made possible by white, male, non college educated, blue collar, everyday working class Americans. If I was among those who were not highly educated and saw the only kinds of jobs that I was suited for vanish, I would be angry too.

I suppose just that fact, that this group is not highly educated and therefore unable to filter out the distortions and outright lies told to them by the republicans and tea partiers and decipher the facts on the important issues that face them and the nation is what causes this group of hard working Americans to consistently vote against their own interests.

Seemingly, they vote based upon their emotions rather than with their heads and the republicans know just how to manipulate those emotions for their cynical purposes. When the republicans scream tax cuts, tax cuts these working class people believe that they are talking about tax cuts for them. The reality is that these people will never even sniff the tax cuts that the republicans have in mind for the wealthiest among us. The reality is that Barack Obama is the one who provided 98% of Americans with the tax cut he promised for middle and working class Americans and withheld one from only the top 2% among us as he also promised.

Just today I spoke with a self employed individual, who lives in California who over the course of the past 15 years has had two battles with cancer. I asked her what she thought of Health Care Reform. She complained about the rising cost of her health insurance which now costs her $1,500. a month and thought the President was to blame. When I explained to her that health insurance premiums have been rising at the rate of about 20% per year for at least the past 15 years she was still not sure what to make of it.

When I went on to explain to her that the new health care law was actually good for her in that it untethers her from her current carrier who she would never be able to leave under the old law because any new carrier would have excluded her preexisting conditions she did not quite get that either. To this minute I am not sure she understands what a benefit health care reform will be to her. The sad part is there are millions like her.

To be sure, these are complex issues that require some level of education to understand. I suppose that is why you hear so many republicans advocating for the abolishment of the department of education, or for the teaching of creationism in our schools, or why the public education systems in the southern states where the republican party is the strongest are so lacking. It is to their advantage to keep people from being educated. It grows their base of mostly uneducated white working class males. It is the reason they have been able to convince these very people to continuously vote against their own interests.

This in turn allows people like republican senate minority leader Mitch McConnell to vote against the interests of America. When asked today, the day after the mid term elections what his priorities for the country were, he said to ensure that Barack Obama was a one term president. The reporter was stunned and asked him but what about the problems facing the country, how would you address those? McConnell did not offer a position on those.

You see, the party of NO has no real solutions to the issues that face us. They are primarily concerned with maintaining or regaining power and not the common good. For two years, in the face of the worst economic crisis this country has faced since the great depression, the republicans have focused solely on how to regain power and not on the many pressing issues facing the country, the American people be damned.

The ignorant and the uneducated and the educated who care only for themselves and their own pockets eat it up.

To those who gorged themselves at the republican trough yesterday, be careful what you wish for because you are now going to get it.

bon appetit!

THIS SPEAKS FOR ITSELF

News12 Long Island aired the debate it sponsored between Francesca Carlow and Kemp Hannon today. Shortly after it was aired Ms. Carlow received the following unsolicited email which she was kind enough to forward to us:

"Ms. Francesca Carlow,

I watched you today on Channel 12 debating Senator Hannon. Although you were nervous, you made more sense and held him accountable for inaction in Albany. You're right, he has been in Albany all this time when the State suffered a meltdown and he did nothing. He listed all the things that needed to be done and yet he didn't address them when he could and now he wants to go back. Time for him to get a job.

Good luck on election day.

You have my vote (as a life long Conservative/Republican) and anyone else I can convince.
JG"
N. Massapequa, New York

Editor's note: In the interest of protecting the privacy of the person who wrote the email we have only posted the writer's initials.

KEMP HANNON ONE OF THE 11%

A recent poll indicated that only 11% of the people of the state of New York have a favorable view of Carl Paladino the republican candidate for governor. We applaud the good sense and basic decency of New Yorkers.

Apparently Mr. Hannon does not possess the same good sense. Judging from his failure to repudiate Mr. Paladino when given the opportunity in several public forums, and his agreement with Mr. Paladino on certain issues involving basic civil rights, we put Kemp Hannon squarely in the middle of that rather small minority who would bring our state back to the 19 century.

We find Mr Paladino's positions and Mr. Hannon's failure to publicly disavow them repugnant. Shame on you Mr. Hannon.

We ask that the 89% of you who abhor and are disgusted by Mr. Paladino and the positions he espouses vote for Francesca Carlow for State Senate on November 2nd.

After all, it only makes good sense.

ASK KEMP HANNON WHY HE IS SUPPORTING A CONVICTED FELON?

Kemp Hannon recently wrote a letter to a New York State Supreme Court Judge in support of a convicted fellon, who has strong ties to the republican party in the Town of Hempstead, that helped lead to a questionable plea bargain that exchanged a potential sentence of 9 to 20 years for a more managable one of 6 months.

You won't believe what this guy did. To read more about the story click here -> Career Criminal Brought To Justice

It must be nice to have friends in high places.

I would suggest that anyone interested in learning more about why Mr. Hannon would support a politically connected, convicted felon who committed despicable crimes, to call his office at 516-739-1700 or his Albany office at 518-455-2200 and ask him for an explanation.

It is time, at long last, for Mr. Hannon to go!

HANNON VOTED IN FAVOR OF GUN VIOLENCE

In the face of ever rising gun violence across Long Island particularly in the communities of Hempstead and Uniondale which comprise the heart of his district, Mr Hannon, as he has done for years, once again turned his back on his constituents when he voted NO on a law aimed directly at reducing gun violence.

The law would have enabled law enforcement to track ammunition by requiring gun makers to to equip semiautomatics sold in New York with firing pins that leave serial numbers on shells. The bill was favored by law enforcement throughout New York State.

Rather than vote to protect the children of his district and of New York, Mr Hannon instead chose to toe the republican party line and vote with the gun manufacturers. This because gunmakers said the law would make their instruments of death  more expensive by, oh, maybe, a few dollars. Well worth the price to catch a murderer. And the bill contained a provision that would drop the mandate if costs rose above $12 per weapon. Mr. Hannon how much is a life worth?

Mr. Hannon's vote was disgusting but is anyone really surprised?
 
Time after time over the course of his 34 years in office Mr. Hannon has voted with big business and against the interests of the people he allegedly represents.
 
Read the papers. Watch News 12. Every day there are more shootings here on Long Island.
 
It is time for someone who will vote for the people. It is time for someone who will actually take an interest in the issues that affect us here on the ground.
 
After 34 years, it is time for someone who cares, someone who actually gives a damn.
 
Year after year Mr. Hannon has shown that he is not that person.

Francesca Carlow is.

DOES KEMP HANNON THINK WE ARE STUPID?

In the face of yet another MTA fare hike, Kemp Hannon feigns outrage over the wasteful spending in Albany.

Does he think we are stupid?

After 34 years in Albany, the waste that Mr. Hannon decries did not just happen all of a sudden. It has been going on for years and years. While in Albany he has presided over unprecedented waste that has left us taxed to death and unable to provide for the basic needs of our state.

And what has he done about it?

Zippo...Nada...Zilch...Not a thing.

Can we afford Mr. Hannon any longer? Can we afford to send back the same guy year after year who created the problem in the first place and only talks a good game at election time?

The answer is no we can't. I know I am being taxed to death...how about you?

Francesca Carlow, on the other hand wants to bring a fresh approach to Albany. Rather than the same old politics of tax and spend and waste as practiced by Mr. Hannon for all these years, Ms. Carlow recognizes that we have a big problem and has been very vocal about it. She has called for a forensic audit of every state agency and authority to identify and cut the waste and fat that drains our resources and swells our tax bills.

On November 2nd, vote for Francesca Carlow and tell Mr. Hannon enough is enough. We can not afford any more of his wasteful spending and his never ending tax increases.

It is indeed time for a fresh new voice!

WE WANT TO BE CLEAR

While we have been keeping an eye on the events surrounding the race for NY SD 6 and of Francesca Carlow's candidacy, IF I Ruled The World is independent of any other point of view but our own. The thoughts and views that appear here are 100% our own and are not subject to any outside control.

We appreciate your continued support and interest.

THE COAT HANGER PARTY

Huff Po says a growing number of GOP candidates oppose abortion in cases of rape, incest.

There was nowhere else for them to go but up...to move further to the right by escalating their stance so as to cut through the din and attract attention by distancing themselves from the run of the mill republicans. They might as well be running on the coat hanger party line.

FRANCESCA CARLOW THE NEXT NEW YORK STATE SENATOR FROM THE 6TH DISTRICT

She is a real person, who does not owe anyone anything.

…if Carlow wins on November 2nd, the senate would have a new member beholden to neither party.   Source – Newsday 09/02/10

New York State Senator 6th District
(WITH 253 OF 253 PRECINCTS COUNTED 100%)

FRANCESCA CARLOW . . . . . . . . 5,603 71%
David L. MEJIAS . . . . . . . . . . . .. .  . . . . . 2,338     29%

VOTE IN THE DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY SEPTEMBER 14TH 2010

Ya Gotta Love This Lady. She Is The Real Deal.

To the people of the 6th district I say, if you will be my voice in the primary on Tuesday and again in November, I will be your voice in Albany. Together we can change the face of politics here in Nassau County, in Albany and beyond.

I am an independent Democrat, the people’s candidate.

My only goal is to improve the quality of life for the people and families in our district, on Long Island and in NY State.
 
Albany is broken, let's fix it!

FRANCESCA CARLOW

Francesca Carlow Endorsed by New York State Democratic Campaign Committee

The New York State Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has endorsed Francesca Carlow in her run for State Senate.

On Wednesday, in a statement on the steps of the New York State Supreme Court in Mineola, Francesca Carlow said;

"I am very pleased that the DSCC has embraced my vision for a better Long Island and for honest, responsive, representation in government.

Unlike my Republican opponent, I am not a career politician. As someone who has never run for office before, I began this race because I was tired of the dysfunction and waste in Albany. I think we all are.

Year after year, for 34 years, Kemp Hannon has been sent to Albany. Year after year, our taxes have skyrocketed while our business environment has eroded. Our children can no longer afford to stay on Long Island and raise their own families here.

It is time for a new approach. It is time to use our resources to attract new business and high paying jobs to Long Island. Doing so will broaden our tax base and help stem the rise in our property taxes.

I want to stress, that I am the people’s candidate. My only allegiance is to the people of Long Island. In all that I do, they will always be uppermost in my mind."

YOU CAN'T MAKE THIS STUFF UP

'Women For Mejias' Event Cancelled After Mejias Arrested For Stalking Ex-Girlfriend.

Mejias is charged with Menancing 2nd Degree, Stalking 3rd Degree and Reckless Endangerment 2nd Degree.

The Mejias campaign canceled the event yesterday, without explanation. Neither group says it has plans to reschedule.

No explanation needed but if you like toast, Dave's your guy.

ARE WE THE TALIBAN?

The answer of course is NO we are not. We don't plan terrorist attacks every time we don't agree with someone. The Taliban do. Their latest bombing in Pakistan took the lives of 53 and wounded another 100. The Taliban fear freedom and the ideas it spawns, so they sow fear. Do we?

We say we don't but do we?

In response to the bombing in Pakistan by Taliban extremists against Shiite minorities, The United States Embassy in Islamabad said, in part, in a statement “....attacks on minority communities are an attack on the foundation of democracy itself.”

If only we could live up to our own ideals.

A recent poll reveals that over all, 50 percent of those surveyed oppose building a planned Muslim community center two blocks north of the World Trade Center site, even though a majority believe that the developers have the right to do so. Thirty-five percent favor it.

Do we believe in the bedrock of our founding principles, freedom of religion and speech or don't we? Our founding fathers did because they knew that attacks on minority communities are an attack on the foundation of democracy itself.” It is the reason they came here.


We always need to be vigilant in our defense of that foundation.

DETAILS EMERGE ON MEJIAS ARREST

A handcuffed Dave Mejias emerges from the 2nd
pct. in Woodbury, NY after spending the night in jail.

As a new day came to light today so did additional details surrounding the arrest of former Nassau County Legislator Dave Mejias.

According to published accounts, it is alleged that Mr. Mejias stalked,        menaced and recklessly endangered an ex girlfriend and her male passenger, believed to be her new boyfriend, after she rebuffed his attempts to continue their relationship.

It is alleged that Mr Mejias tracked them in his car, followed them, often cutting them off and chasing them "through the streets into oncoming traffic"

At one point he exited his car and pulled on the door of his ex girlfriend but she was able to pull away. Still Mr. Mejias followed.

In his official statement to police the boyfriend said that "Throughout this whole ordeal, I was afraid that we would be run off the road".

The ex girlfriend told police "I am afraid of him and his vindictive nature."

Mejias, who stated he was innocent, was arraigned today and released on bail. His next court appearance is Sept. 16th.

In view of these allegations the feeling here and one that is rapidly growing throughout the 6th district, is that for the good of the Democratic party Mr Mejias should withdraw his candidacy for state senate. Doing so will allow the party to devote it's resources to current democratic frontrunner, Plainview businesswoman Francesca Carlow, someone who can actually win the upcoming election while allowing Mr. Mejias to devote his full time and energy to his defense and perhaps, counseling.

EX-NASSAU POL, DAVE MEJIAS ARRESTED

Dave Mejias's hopes of becoming a state senator dimmed on Wednesday evening when he was arrested by Nassau County Police. Nassau police said Mejias is in custody at the Woodbury-based Second Precinct where he will be detained overnight, in a case in which domestic abuse is alleged.

Mejias was arrested following an incident involving an ex-girlfriend at noon on Wednesday. Mejias was charged with Menancing 2nd Degree, Stalking 3rd Degree and Reckless Endangerment 2nd Degree, police said. He was arraigned today in First District Court, Hempstead.

Nassau County and state Democratic chairman Jay Jacobs declined to comment on the arrest, as did a spokesperson for Mejias.

A spokesman for Francesca Carlow, the leading democratic candidate for state senate in the 6th district, expressed concern for the victim and her family and confidence in our criminal justice system.

CONTINUING EDUCATION WITH PROFESSOR WILLIE SUTTON

When asked why he robbed banks, Willie Sutton, a prolific bank robber of the 1920s and 1930s, replied by saying, "because that's where the money is."

On Tuesday, US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced the latest states to win the Race to the Top competition — and a share of $3.4 billion in federal financing — he said they were chosen because they outlined the boldest plans for shaking up their public school systems.

But others noted another common denominator: geography. Of the dozen states that have won major grants to date in the two-part grant contest that is the Obama administration’s signature education initiative, 11 are east of the Mississippi and most hug the East Coast, including Florida and Georgia in the South and New York and Massachusetts in the North. Among the winners, Hawaii is the lone geographic exception.

Educators in many of the states that did not win, or did not even participate in the competition criticized the competition’s rules saying that they were tilted in favor of densely populated Eastern states. To these critics, Willie Sutton, were he still alive, would surely have responded, well that's where the students are.

Asked whether he was concerned that almost all of the winning states were Eastern, Mr. Duncan noted that Geography was irrelevant in the selection process.”

In fact, some rules governing other federal education money are stacked in favor of largely rural states. For example, most federal education money flows to states, using formulas that give rural ones more federal financing per student than their big urban counterparts.

Those disgruntled educators can take a lesson from old Willie. If you want to invest in education you have to invest where the students are. Isn't continuing education a wonderful thing?

REPUBLICANS AND RIGHT WING MEDIA TAKE ISSUE WITH THE U.S. CONSTITUTION AND THE PRESIDENTIAL OATH OF OFFICE AND POSSIBLY THE TOOTH FAIRY AND APPLE PIE AS WELL

THE REPUBLICAN RIGHT-WING COMES OUT AGAINST FREEDOM OF RELIGION

Republicans and right-wing media are attacking President Obama's statement that he "believe[s] that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country" and are entitled to build a mosque in Lower Manhattan.

Either they have not read the Constitution;

Amendment 1 - Freedom of Religion, Press, Expression. Ratified 12/15/1791.
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.

or the Presidential Oath;

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

in which the President swears to preserve, protect and defend the constitution, or they have and they don’t believe in either one.

Perhaps they should take the time to read the document that they so readily send our youth out to defend with their lives because if they have read it, their beliefs, while cloaked to seem patriotic could not be more unpatriotic and un-American. Shame on them!

"THEY CAME FIRST for the Communists,

and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.

THEN THEY CAME for the trade unionists,

and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.

THEN THEY CAME for the Jews,

and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.

THEN THEY CAME for me

and by that time no one was left to speak up."

WHAT ELSE HAVE YOU GOT BESIDES NO?

Republicans, the party of NO, once again said NO to the American People this week when they failed to agree on a small business aid package that could inject $300 billion into the economy. The reason? You guessed it: politics.

The small-business aid bill -- a central component of what President Obama has called "Recovery Summer" -- would create a $30 billion fund designed to increase lending to small businesses, in addition to providing $12 billion in small-business tax breaks over the next decade. The government says small banks could use the fund as capital to provide $300 billion in small business loans.

The republicans blocked this bill because the Democrats would not allow any amendments to be added to it. What did the republicans want to add to the bill? They wanted to add the only thing they know how to say yes to, a provision which would have made the Bush tax cuts, which benefit only the wealthiest Americans, permanent.

They want to take the country back to the days of unfunded, deficit exploding, tax cuts for the wealthiest 1% of Americans, saying that tax cuts are the answer to the nation's unemployment problems and economic woes. Are we in a time warp here? Does the country suffer from a case of collective amnesia? We tried that in the past administration and look where it has gotten us.

It is a failed theory, and today no less a champion of republican economics, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan said so.

"....the push by congressional Republicans to extend the Bush tax cuts without offsetting the costs elsewhere could end up being "disastrous" for the economy. Greenspan expressed his disagreement with the conservative argument that tax cuts essentially pay for themselves by generating revenue and productivity among recipients.

"They do not," said Greenspan.

The country was economically devastated by the last administration, it didn't just happen. Rather it was the direct result of failed republican economics.

Ever since he took office, this President has been trying to dig the country out of the hole the republicans left it in and at every turn the republicans have taken the opportunity to shovel more dirt into the hole so as to make it harder for the country to recover. Why? Politics. If things get better for the nation they will not improve for the republicans at the ballot box in the midterms, so instead, the republicans just say NO. They can dress it up any way they want and they can spin it this way and that, that are very good at that but the facts can not be hidden.

Blocking the small business aid bill is only the latest example of Republicans using procedural tactics to stymie President Barack Obama's midterm-election-year agenda. In the past week alone the republicans have said NO to help for the millions of Americans who as a result of republican economic policies find themselves among the long term unemployed, NO to helping small businesses and their access to capital, NO to aid for the heroes of 9/11. At each opportunity to do the right thing and help the country the republicans have said NO to the American people and yes to the failed, wrong headed, policies that brought us to the brink.

To the republicans, when it comes to providing the tools (be they unemployment benefits or a second round of economic stimulus) needed to help ordinary working American's climb out from under the economic rubble left by the previous administration, deficit spending is akin to devil worship but when the issue is tax cuts to benefit the wealthiest Americans, they have, based upon their words and deeds, no problem with it. The party of NO, you see, is also the hypocrisy party.

Memo to the party of NO: Tax cuts for the wealthiest 1% of Americans don't produce new jobs. This is not a just theory but thanks to you a proven fact.

The question the American people are asking the republicans is what else have you got besides NO?

AS MUCH AS THE REPUBLICANS DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT

The New York Times reported today that Wall Street has again begun hiring in anticipation of an economic recovery. The shift underscores the effectiveness of President Obama's leadership in beginning to right the country's economy and in putting America back to work.

While immense challenges still remain on the road to full employment, the remarkable recovery of the biggest banks and brokerage firms is surely a leading indicator that recovery is well under way.

While Republicans and even a few blue dog Democrats continue to resist the additional economic stimulus that President Obama has called for, it is clear that additional, targeted economic stimulus, at the expense of short term spikes in the national deficit, is the economic medicine that most reputable economists prescribe. Not doing so will only slow or even stall the recovery which, after all, would seem to be the goal of the Republican leadership, whose only concern seems to be the midterm elections rather than the well being of the nation.

At least they are consistent, the Republicans being the party of NO, have said no to everything that President Obama has proposed and now they have said no to economic recovery as well.

Come November, Americans should say NO to them.

THE WORST

The nation's 238 leading presidential scholars, who have been polled annually for the last 28 years have, upon consideration,  rated George W. Bush as the worst president in modern times and the fifth worst of all time.

President Barack Obama, who hasn't yet served a full term, rated 15th.

At least some people are paying attention.

HELP WE'VE FALLEN AND WE CAN'T GET UP

Rather than put forth effective solutions to the great challenges that face the country, republicans instead will fall all over themselves in their mad, cynical, rush to criticize President Obama for political gain. The funny part is, the only thing they ever manage to do is fall all over themselves.

How can anyone ever take this party seriously? The only way is if you are being intellectually dishonest in order to push a wrong headed right wing agenda. No wonder the republicans are a regional minority party.

Within the past few days both Karl Rove and Michael Steele have fallen all over themselves.

On Thursday, Karl Rove criticized President Obama for an "orgy of overspending."

The fact is when Bill Clinton turned over the keys to the White House to Rove's protege, George W. Bush, the U.S. government enjoyed a budget surplus. By the time that W. handed over the keys to Barack Obama, the federal budget deficit was more than a trillion dollars.

Can somebody please help Karl because he has fallen and he can't get up.

On the same day, republican party chairman Michael Steele claimed in a speech that the war in Afghanistan was "a war of Obama's choosing" and that "This is not something the United States has actively prosecuted or wanted to engage in." The only problem with these statements, as with most of what republicans say, is that they are factually inaccurate. The war, of course, was begun by President George W. Bush in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. These statements are also far out of line with the consensus view among republicans that the president is, for the most part, executing the right strategy to win the war in Afghanistan.

Can somebody please help Michael because he too has fallen and he can't get up.

How quickly, republicans forget. Americans won't.

SHAME SHAME SHAME

The message that the right wing wants you to buy is that the immense hole that the country still finds itself in, a year and a half after George W. Bush left office, is somehow the result of Barack Obama's policies.

No sale! As you can see from the previous post, the American people are not buying. How can they when thanks to Dubbya they have no money to buy anything?

Under the Obama administration's leadership the country is steadily digging its way out of the multifaceted, multi layered mess left by Dubbya.  After eight years of poorly thought out, misguided, for sale, wrongheaded policies, it is an effort that is going to take a great many years.

I guess the best we can say to Dubbya is....

WE WON'T GET FOOLED AGAIN

A new CNN poll shows that the American people aren't fooled by the Republican spin. Asked which party is "more responsible for the country's current economic problems," 41 percent faulted Republicans as opposed to just 28 percent who faulted Democrats.

THE PEOPLE WILL BE THE WINNERS

Francesca Carlow is well on her way to securing a place on the Democratic Party primary ballot to become the Democratic nominee for New York's 6th State Senate District. The primary will be held on September 14th, 2010

The response from the District to the news that Francesca has decided to run has been overwhelming and we are well on our way to building an unprecedented grassroots organization capable of overcoming those who would like nothing more than to continue the same old politics. Francesca would like to restore effective leadership to the 6th District by defeating the career politicians.

To the many who have signed petitions to put Francesca on the ballot, we thank you and appreciate your support. To those who have not yet had the opportunity, please look for our representatives who will be visiting your neighborhood soon.

On Primary day, September 14th, we urge you to please come out and vote in the Democratic Primary for Francesca Carlow and help us take our government back from the career politicians. It is The People who will be the winners.

A FRESH NEW VOICE

Francesca Carlow a fresh new voice for Long Island.

It is time for an independent, fresh voice for the people of the 6th Senatorial District, Long Island and New York State. It is time for a person of the people who has real issues to fight for rather than running because the boys in the back room thought it was his turn, again. It is time for a local business person, a strong community leader and organizer, a person who is not a professional politician to be given the chance to represent us. It is time for someone who has worked to improve our children's educational experiences, a person who is at the forefront of fighting for local business in our district and on Long Island a person who actually cares deeply about the issues that affect us here on the ground.

Send the professional politicians a message. It's time for a fresh new voice for Long Island and New York.

It's time for one of us.

It is time for Francesca Carlow!

WINDOW DRESSING

Sanctions are nice if you like window dressing but they won't get the job done.

Iran is on an undeterred course to build and maintain a nuclear arsenal and short of war, it seems there is little that the world as represented by the UN, the United States or Israel can do about it.

While China and Russia are onboard with this latest round of sanctions they have refused to allow them to rise to the level where they would affect the day to day economy of Iran. Add that to the fact that the Iranians as the New York Times has reported Web of Shell Companies Veils Trade by Iran’s Ships have been actively gaming the system so as to avoid the effects of sanctions already in place and the result is in a few short years Iran will become a nuclear power.

If the United States, Israel or anyone else is serious about preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear power, it is way past time for action. There are few good alternatives. A nuclear Iran will have many consequences for the region and the world but so will war. War will cost lives, be messy and will be unsupported by the majority of the world. There will be many resulting consequences, some intended and many of which will be unknown and unintended. It is not a decision to be taken lightly. War never is.

In this game of high stakes chess, those who would seek to stop Iran are on the clock. Short of war, the best the world can hope for is a draw. The question is can we live with that outcome?

WHERE WERE THEY?

The world is in an uproar today over the unfortunate deaths associated with Israel's enforcement of its security blockade of the port of Gaza.

This did not have to happen. Israel offered to transport all of the humanitarian aid material that was onboard the ships after they had an opportunity to inspect the cargo to determine that it did not consist of any weapons or material from which weapons could be made. Of course this offer was refused because the mere transport of humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza was not the object of this Turkish financed excursion. No, the object was to break the Israeli blockade. Knowing there was no chance of that, the Palestian activists who planned this operation would settle for international media attention. Sounds similar to the goal of every terrorist act. These people knew in advance that this would happen. They hoped for violence.

There were 6 ships, all knew of and were warned in advance by Israel that a blockade was in force. Five of the ships cooperated and diverted. One ship, forewarned, tried to run the blockade. It was an intentional act that threatened Israel's security. The ship was boarded by members of the IDF with the intention of diverting it without violence. The instant that members of the IDF boarded the ship, they were attacked en mass with clubs, metal pipes, metal chairs and more. At least one Israeli soldier was thrown overboard. It is no surprise that in the course of the IDF defending themselves against this attack people were killed and injured. It did not have to happen but for the actions of the Palestinians who initiated and invited violence.



So now the world is in an uproar. Well, where were they? Where were they when 6 million Jews were systematically being slaughtered without warning? They were deadly silent, very deadly. After crawling out of the horror and the death of the holocaust, the Jews of Israel and the world have always said, never again!

Gaza is controlled by Hamas. Hamas, an Iranian surrogate terrorist group, has fired thousands of rockets into Israel. None other than the holocaust denier in chief, The President of Iran, has stated that his goal, like that of Hamas, is to wipe out the State of Israel. The blockade is merely part of Israel's legitimate and rightful defense strategy to keep its enemies from arming, attacking them and achieving that goal.

Of course the logical extension of this policy is for Israel to stop Iran from possesing nuclear weapons. Iran's quest to become a nuclear state has continued unabated for some time now. In fact, The U.N. international nuclear inspectors declared Monday that Iran has now produced a stockpile of nuclear fuel that experts say would be enough, with further enrichment, to make two nuclear weapons.

In the long history of man, many regimes have tried to wipe out the Jews and each time no one has ever lifted a finger to come to their aid. Jews are nothing if they are not quick learners and they have learned that when it comes to defending Jews there is no one to count on but other Jews. For the past 60 years, never again has been the creed of the Jews of Israel. For them and for Jews everywhere it is literally a choice between life and death.

The United States under Presidents of both parties is long on record as stating that they will not allow Iran to become a nuclear state.

We shall see how it plays out.

STOP THE LEAK? STOP THE CRAP!

In an effort to make political hay in the wake of the top kill failure, Republicans and their house PR firm Fixed News have been trying to say that  BPs failure to stop the oil leak in the gulf is Barack Obama's failure and that The President is to blame. Well here's a challenge to all those who would seek to do so....an open invitation, if you will, to all of my Republican friends; If you know of anyone in this world who can stop this leak, which was facilitated by WCheney, produce him or her and stop the leak. Otherwise, stop the crap.

I am guessing that none of you, not a one, knows of such a person on this earth, huh?
 
Perhaps Republicans ought to have thought of that before they advocated for virtually unlimited and nominally regulated offshore drilling at depths of 5000 feet. Ah, but the hypocrisy party has never really believed in environmental protection have they? The hypocrisy party...the party of short term profit at the expense of everything and everyone around them.
 
So do us all a favor and stop the crap, OK?
 
We're damn tired of it!

THEY WERE AGAINST IT BEFORE THEY WERE FOR IT

Well here's another fine mess you've gotten us into W.

As toxic crude oil continues to spew into the gulf and into our previously pristine wetlands there are those who, for political reasons, seek to place the blame for this crime against nature at the feet of the President of The United States.

Of course, as we have previously documented in this space it was the previous administration that relaxed the safety standards for deep water coastal drilling Inspector General's Inquiry Faults Regulators (among those for other industries) as part of an overall mindset that government should lighten up on the regulation of private enterprise. After all, the reasoning went, the government never gets anything right and its regulations always delay and add to the cost of doing business.

So, how is that unregulated private sector thingy working out for you? Not so good huh? I suppose the only thing we can be thankful for in this disaster is that it does not involve a nuclear power plant.

The same people who have been reflexively calling for smaller government and lower taxes (on the part of the wealthy) to fund that government, are today screaming for the government to come in and take responsibility for what is almost surely the worst industrial incident the world has known to date.

The nerve of them! Those same people who today decry government as ineffective are the ones who made it so. They spend years dismantling the government and eviscerating it's oversight functions and then predictably, when business under the not so watchful eye of a Republican led government, cuts corners in the quest for short term profits and it leads to disaster they cry for the help of the federal government.

Well, me thinks thou doest protest too much. You can't spend years railing against government regulation of business and then selectively scream about government ineffectiveness when it suits your political purpose. You can't have it both ways. Either you believe that government has a legitimate roll in protecting it's people and our environment against the excesses of the private sector or you don't but you can't have it both ways.

Government, the Republicans were against it before they were for it.

WELCOME TO THE 17TH CENTURY

Rand Paul would like to welcome you all to the 17th century.

With each passing minute it becomes more apparent that this guy is dangerous!

If sanity prevails in Kentucky, which I'll admit is open to question, a Democrat will be elected to the US Senate come November.

After trying unsuccessfully to spin his opposition to the 1964 Civil Rights Act, Mr. Paul went on today to burnish his extremist credentials.

On Friday he called the Obama administration “un-American” for taking a tough stance with BP over the company’s handling of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Who should The President take a tough stand with, the fish?

It seems Mr Paul disagrees with The President's insistence that BP be held accountable — and pay — for the oil spill cleanup and damage.

“What I don’t like from the president’s administration is this sort of, ‘I’ll put my boot heel on the throat of BP,’ ” Mr. Paul said. “I think that sounds really un-American in his criticism of business. I’ve heard nothing from BP about not paying for the spill. And I think it’s part of this sort of blame-game society in the sense that it’s always got to be someone’s fault instead of the fact that sometimes accidents happen.”

His Democratic opponent, Jack Conway, the state attorney general, said on Friday: “Rand Paul apparently has a deeply held conviction that corporations should be allowed to do what they see fit without oversight or accountability.”

Also in the Friday “Good Morning America” interview, Mr. Paul extended his belief that too much blame was being laid at the feet of business, by alluding to the deaths of 29 workers at a Massey coal mine in West Virginia last month. “We had a mining accident that was very tragic,” he said. “Then we come in, and it’s always someone’s fault. Maybe sometimes accidents happen.”

In other words Mr. Paul's answer to the American people is shit happens, get over it. As we all know, neither accident just happened. Corners were cut and safety standards were watered down by the previous Republican administration in the name of short term corporate profits.

By Friday afternoon, Mr. Paul’s campaign had canceled his scheduled appearance on Sunday’s “Meet the Press” program. Apparently even Mr Paul's handlers think he is dangerous.
 
When it comes to going back to the 17th century the people of Kentucky need to loudly say...
 
Hell No, We Won't Go!

KENTUCKY...BACK IN THE HOOD?

After breaking a barrier that stood for 234 years by electing the first African American as President of the United Sates, something that many Americans never thought they would see in their lifetimes, America earned a newfound admiration throughout the world. At long last, it seemed, we over came. At long last, the promise
of America that all men are created equally and can achieve anything their abilities allowed had been fulfilled.

It was a long 234 years, filled with pain and striving and it could not have happened without a series of important incremental gains. The most important of which was the 1964 Civil Rights Act which for the first time codified Thomas Jefferson's promise into law thereby extending it to all Americans.

Indeed, things have changed dramatically since the days when men in hoods, supported by the wink of the law, could terrorize and murder those that they deemed unworthy. Invariably, such change brings out the most extreme among us, those who would seek to take the country back to its darkest days.

This brings us to the phenomena that is The Tea Party. After the greed and incompetence of the last administration led to the disintegration of 8 million jobs, people became angry and afraid. Can you blame them? But the question must be asked why is that anger directed at Barack Obama? It can not be because he is not doing a good job because clearly, he is doing quite well considering the rubble he was handed upon taking office. No, it has to be something else.

People who are angry and afraid and who are searching for answers are easily led and it seems that the worst among us, aided, abetted and whipped by Fox News have seized control of the tea partiers. What else would explain such misplaced anger?

Early on, Republicans, careening from their losses in the most recent national elections cynically latched onto the nascent Tea Party as a way to gain some traction in the national debate. I don't think that they bargained for what it has come to stand for.

On Thursday, The Tea Party's Rand Paul who not two days earlier won the Republican nomination in Kentucky to run for the U.S. Senate, suggested in a series of television and radio interviews, that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was too broad and should not apply to private businesses, such as but not limited to
lunchonettes. A postition so deeply held that he can not bring himself to utter the words that might cause us to think otherwise even though he tried.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The Republican establishment, led by the Senior Senator from the State of Kentucky, who also happens to be the Republican leader in the Senate perhaps recognizing the extreme direction of the Tea Party, even for them, had backed a more moderate, that is to say a mainstream conservative candidate. He lost and now Republicans are left to wonder if they will be able to put the genie back into the bottle or whether Rand Paul will be able to put Kentucky and the nation back in the hood?

EVERY SINGLE DAY

Every single day Barack Obama should attend a project or visit a business where new jobs are being created. Because for all the demands of the job perhaps the most demanding aspect is keeping it, as well as the congressional majorities that you rely on to move your agenda. The key to keeping both is never forgetting....IT'S THE ECONOMY STUPID!

People are scared and when people get scared they get angry. No matter that the previous president ran the country into the ground. No matter that 8 million people lost their jobs at the hands of the previous incompetent and corrupt administration.  IT'S THE ECONOMY STUPID!

The President needs to get out there and reassure the American people and show them that jobs are being created and that due to his policies things are getting better. He needs to have a series of fireside chats with the American people and he might as well do it out amongst them focusing on an issue that they are sure to be receptive to, their pocketbooks.

The President needs to do this consistently, every single day and he needs to do it loudly, utilizing all the advantages that the bully pulpit offers.

We count on you Mr. President to keep us safe from corporate water carrying, christian pandering, Republicans who drove this country into the ground and who have turned our politics into a culture war.

It's the economy Mr. President, don't be stupid.

LAURA BUSH COMES OUT....FINALLY

Laura Bush came out last night on Larry King.

She came out in favor of gay rights and a woman's right to choose. We welcome her to the fight and to what is right. Glad to have her.

Our question is, where was she when it counted? Where was she when as First Lady such a revelation might have actually made a difference? Her public silence on these issues while her husband used them as wedges to split the electorate and pander to the worst among us makes her coming out all the more frustrating.

Where was she while her husband was busy appointing ultra right wing justices who would like nothing better than to reverse Roe v. Wade?

Where was she while gays were being systematically denied their constitutional right to equal protection under the law?

While we welcome her to the fight we must at the same time hold her responsible for aiding and abetting the basest and most cynical elements of our society. Those who would deny others their rights simply because they are different. Those who would deny others their rights simply to win an election.

When asked about the difference between her position and that of her husband she responded "I understand his viewpoint, and he understands mine." It's too bad she did not let the rest of us in on the secret when it might have done some good.

Better late than never Laura. Welcome to the right side of the issues, the left.

REPUBLICANS - THE PARTY OF SPILL

News Item: Bush Lifts Offshore Drilling Ban

News Item: Bush Administration Relaxed Off Shore Oil Drilling Safety Standards

News Item: BP oil spill crisis far worse than Exxon Valdez incident

News Item: Huge Underwater Oil Plumes Found in Gulf of Mexico

News Item: Spill Is Now Estimated At One Million Gallons of Oil Per Day...47 Million Gallons and Counting

Live Spill Cam

News Item: Fox News Host Scoffs At Gulf Spill: 'Where Is The Oil?'

I guess Brit can't believe his own lying eyes.

News Item: As Six West Coast Senators Propose Banning Offshore Drilling, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham (S.C.) announces his support for continued - and additional - offshore oil drilling.

As oil continues to spew into the Gulf of Mexico at an unprecedented rate, and attempts to stop the flow fail, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) reaffirmed his support for continued - and additional - offshore oil drilling. In a press statement issued late last week, Senator Graham said, "I remain committed to safely expanding offshore drilling because I know oil will be part of our nation's energy plan for years to come."

Safely huh? As in when he supported Bush's weakening of safety standards for offshore oil drilling? Or perhaps it was when he supported Bush's choice of a longtime oil industry lobbyist to be the chief regulator of drilling safety.

Of course, as we are seeing now, it only takes one spill to severely damage our environment, perhaps irreparably. Visit this site to learn more about the scope of the disaster.

Speaking of for years to come:

News Item: Oil Spill Shuts Down 19 Percent of Gulf Fishing As much as 40 percent of America's commercial seafood is harvested from the Gulf of Mexico, and the oil spill is already hurting the industry.
News Item: Seafood testing could last years - The spill "will affect the Gulf, and possibly the entire North American region, for maybe years, if not decades," said Rowan Gould, acting director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. More pessimistic was Harry "Chu Chu" Cheramie, 59, a Louisiana trawler: "That's going to kill our fishing grounds forever."

Comparing the effects of the spill to Katrina, Randy Adams, 48, a construction worker from Grand Isle Louisiana said: "This is worse than a hurricane. We can leave from a hurricane. This we can't leave from."

So, who will pay the enormous costs in clean up and lost business associated with this disastorous spill? Well, if Republicans have their way, it won't be BP and their big oil brethren.

News Item: Republicans Block Democratic Efforts to Raise Oil Spill Liability Cap

Republicans for the second time blocked legislation that would increase oil companies' liability for oil spill damages, setting off criticism from Democrats seeking to make BP pay for the disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

News Item: Heavy Sludge Oozes into Marshes of Louisiana

News Item: Oil Spill's Economic Impact Spans Country

News Item: Gulf Oil Spill Heads For Florida Beaches & Florida Tourism Begins To Feel The Pain

Government by, for and of big business is not in the public interest. As I have said many times previously, pick an issue and the Republicans are on the wrong side of it as respects what is actually good for our country. The environment is no exception. Republican's have been voting against protecting the environment for at least the last 50 years.

When you take a few steps back and consider the entirety of the situation, Republicans have either facilitated, excused or denied the enormity of the spill.

Indeed they have well earned the title... THE PARTY OF SPILL.

And just when you thought it couldn't get any worse....

News Item: Researchers Ponder a Hurricane Hitting the Oil-Slicked Gulf of Mexico

You don't even want to imagine.

BUT THE PEOPLE ARE FOR IT

Well of course the people are for it.

For far too long the federal government has refused or been unable to effectively control our borders. Even in the face of a determined enemy in the form of organized terrorists and some nine years after the events of September 11th. It is shameful. A national disgrace. A national failure.

This failure or refusal has happened no matter what party has controlled The White House or the Congress. When you think about it, it is a failure with broad bipartisan support and culpability.

The Arizona immigration law that imperils our national unity is actually a cry for help which should be heeded by our federal government. It is time for the government to do what it takes to effectively control our borders, every inch of them. It is a matter of national security and it must be done.

In these perilous times, it is imperative that we know who enters our country, where they are and how long they are to be permitted to stay.

If you are here illegally you need to leave. If you are arrested for a crime your immigration status should be checked as a matter of course.

If you are going to work in this country you need to be able to prove that you are either a US Citizen or that you are here legally. Employers who hire people who are here illegally need to face both civil and criminal penalties.

At the very least, every person wishing to enter the country who is not a citizen should be required to provide a DNA Sample and wear a GPS bracelet encoded with their DNA profile. You can take it off when you leave. You don't like it? Don't come!

To do the job right, it will take money and lots of it. It is a big undertaking. I wonder how many of the people who are in favor of the Arizona Law would be willing to pay an additional tax to pay the cost of secure borders?

Our borders need to be secured and the message needs to be sent if you are here illegally, its time to leave.

The only problem is that it is not the State of Arizona that should be sending that message. No, that job needs to be handled by our national government on behalf of all Americans.

ONE NATION UNDIVIDED?

Arizona's recently enacted law requiring all people, be they American citizens or not, to carry identity papers lest they be jailed, gives rise to the question, are we indeed the UNITED States of America or are we on the road to another civil war? State fighting state, region fighting region?

Our union was formed around a federalist model that entrusted its common defense, among other things, to a national or federal government. In so doing, the founders reasoned, a unified country would be stronger and better able to defend itself than were we thirteen separate entities. The overall idea of course was that in unity there is strength. It was true then and it remains true today. When we stray from that model we are weaker as a nation, The founders were indeed wise.

Comparing the recently enacted Arizona immigration law to those of Nazi Germany and the beginning of the Holocaust, as well as to the internment and deportation of Japanese Americans during World War II, the Los Angels City Council voted today to prohibit all official city travel to Arizona and to prohibit the city from entering into any contract with companies in the state. How many more cities, towns, and states will follow is anybody's guess. Indeed, some already have.

When Arizona enacted its law, it chipped away at the unity that is the historic strength of our nation. Imagine if every state enacted a patchwork of laws on issues that are the purview of the federal government. Now imagine that various local and state governments from around the country, who disagreed with those laws, passed Los Angeles style retaliatory laws to express their disagreement. You can quickly see the corrosive effect that this would have upon the nation. It would only be a matter of time until our country would fall under the weight of so many conflicting laws and the subsequent inevitable hostilities and retaliations.

The founders of this nation were indeed wise. They devised a system of governance that has produced the longest standing, strongest democracy in history. The Arizona law is a threat to that system and thus to our nation as a whole.

IT'S OK TO CARRY GUNS INTO OUR AIRPORTS, REALLY?

How could any legislator, at any level, in any place in this country, who is presumably entrusted to maintain public saftey ever vote for a law making it legal to carry even a legally registered concealed weapon into an airport is beyond me.

If you read this and it is not beyond you as well, well then there is something wrong with you too:

May 5, 2010


Suspect’s Gun Proved Easy to Obtain

By MICHAEL WILSON and WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM - NY Times

The mammoth clock-to-wire-to-gasoline-to-propane car bomb that the authorities said Faisal Shahzad hoped would claim many lives in Times Square has been analyzed, diagrammed, prodded and pored over. But just before his arrest Mr. Shahzad had also been equipped with a less eccentric — and yet, more dependably lethal — weapon. And he owned it legally.

It is fearsome looking, a carbine hybrid of pistol and long gun with a mouthful of a name: the Kel-Tec Sub Rifle 2000. Mr. Shahzad bought it, new, in March for about $400. It was found in the car that he drove to Kennedy International Airport on Monday, loaded, with multiple extra clips.

Because it is classified as a rifle, it required no permit, as pistols do in Connecticut. But with its folding stock, hand grip, and appetite for pistol ammunition and not rifle ammunition, the Kelt-Tech was about as close as one could get to a pistol that is not technically one. The authorities have not disclosed, if they have learned, what Mr. Shahzad planned to do with that gun. But some law enforcement experts have surmised that he had it in case he was pulled over.

The Kel-Tec was briefly center stage on Wednesday as New York City Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly addressed U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs. He said that Mr. Shahzad bought the gun amid obtaining supplies for the bomb.

Mr. Shahzad — who the authorities have described as bent on taking American lives —made missteps while he was designing and building his weapon of mass destruction, including buying what looks to be the wrong kind of fertilizer. But all along he was in possession of a weapon that could have easily done extreme damage, one rapidly fired round at a time.

It was about two months ago when Mr. Shahzad walked into Valley Firearms in Shelton, Conn., which is situated on a downtown street between beside a tattoo parlor and beneath a karate studio, flying two American flags out front.

Inside were the urban parapets of the trade: metal prison bars behind the windows, glass cases securing the guns. He had not lived in Shelton for nine months, having had lost his home there to foreclosure while on a long trip to Pakistan. For the last month, he had lived 12 miles away, in an apartment in Bridgeport.

“The area’s largest used gun buyer,” as Valley Firearms boasts on its recording to callers to the store.

He made his choice of gun and produced his Connecticut driver’s license. He left for a two week waiting period, and returned March 15, plunking down about $400 not for a used gun, but for a brand new rifle, serial number E7L98, according to a law enforcement official. The gun is packaged in what resembles a pizza box.
The gun was manufactured by Kel-Tec CNC Industries, founded 19 years ago in Cocoa, Fla., which makes semi-automatic pistols, rifles and the Sub 2000, a combination of the two. The gun was designed by George Kellgren, perhaps best known for having designed early versions of the Tec-9 handgun that became a favorite of street criminals and was later banned.

The Kel-Tec gun is about two-and-a-half feet long, but for storage or carrying, the barrel can be folded back over the stock, cutting its length almost in half.

It weighs four pounds unloaded, and has front and rear sights for aiming and a grip like a pistol. The rifle is somewhat unique in that it fires pistol rounds — in this particular gun’s case, 9 millimeter rounds. It fires its rounds as quickly as one can pull the trigger; it is not a machine gun, but fast enough. The number of bullets it holds varies with the size of the magazine. Kel-Tec sells it with 10-round magazines.

It is, in effect, a low-powered rifle. Unlike some rifles, its bullets would not likely penetrate a police officer’s bulletproof vest, a law enforcement official said.

Why buy one?

“Why not just get a pistol if somebody wants a handgun round?” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment on the case. One theory: “It looks more intimidating than a pistol. It’s an intimidating-looking contraption. It’s black, it has some plastic and polymer — it has that military look, but all it really is is a really big handgun.”

Unlike the Tec-9, it is not frequently used by criminals, the official said.

The manufacturer said the long barrel increases accuracy and range. “The superior precision is also very useful against small or partially covered targets at shorter range,” Kel-Tec said on its web site. “The amount of training to master the SUB-2000 is only a fraction of that required for a handgun.”
A customer service representative who gave only his first name, Bill — company policy so that employees cannot be identified and threatened by someone who wants guns — said the Sub 2000 is good for hunting and target shooting and is typically sold with a 10-round magazine. The company sells 2,000 or 3,000 of them a year, he said.

“There are a number of police departments that use them as rifles, so they can use the same magazines as their sidearms,” he said. “Just keep things simple sometimes.”

Suggested retail price: $390.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, in his testimony on Wednesday before the senate committee, urged that suspects on terrorism watch lists be blocked from buying guns and explosives. “When gun dealers run background checks, should FBI agents have the authority to block sales of guns and explosives to those on the terror watch lists – and deemed to dangerous to fly?” the mayor asked. “I believe strongly that they should.”

Such a matter seems irrelevant in Mr. Shahzad’s case, as he was on no such list in March.

It is unclear whether, in the 50 days Mr. Shahzad was a registered gun owner, he ever once pulled the trigger.

Again I ask what is wrong with these people who would vote to allow even American citizens to carry concealed weapons into an airport or any other public place even if they have been legally obtained and registered?

One thing is for certain, something is wrong with them because it is just not right!

WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE?

News Item May 2010:

Lawmakers in Georgia have approved a bill that would allow gun owners to carry concealed weapons into parts of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and onto public transportation, into parks and recreational areas and into restaurants that serve alcohol.

USA Today reported the airport strongly opposes the bill, which would permit the carrying of firearms in areas not controlled by the federal government, such as terminals, drop off and pick up areas, baggage areas, and parking lots.

News Archive July 2002:

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- A gunman opened fire Thursday at Los Angeles International Airport while standing in line at the ticket counter of Israel's El Al Airlines, officials said, killing two and wounding four others before an airline security officer shot him dead.

Authorities identified the gunman as 41-year-old Hesham Mohamed Hadayet, who came to the United States from Egypt in 1992 and had been living in Irvine, California, for the last two years.

So the question needs to be asked, what is wrong with these people? In an age when we are at war with international terrorists bent on killing Americans and causing as much fear and mayhem as possible why are these people in favor of filling the airports with unscreened, armed individuals. Of those individuals, is law enforcement just supposed to guess as to their intentions when they enter the airport?

This would never happen in New York where hard earned experience and sanity informs our judgement on issues of public safety.

If I ruled the world the people who made this decision would never have been elected in the first place. If I ruled the world there would be less guns in the hands of people not more. If I ruled the world, people would not be permitted to carry concealed weapons anywhere, let alone in an airport. Nothing good can come of it.

What is wrong with these people? Oh I know, they're republicans.

OIL WATER & WIND

Isn't it ironic that on a day nine years in the making, when the nation's first offshore wind farm was approved off the coast of Cape Cod, the urgent need for it and other forms of clean, renewable energy is being driven home by events 1500 miles to the south where the Coast Guard announced today that they have discovered an additional 5000 foot deep leak at the site of the sunken rig in the Gulf of Mexico. They now estimate that 5000 barrels or about 210,000 gallons of oil are spewing into ocean every day. This is up from initial reports of 1000 barrels and 42,000 gallons of just a few days ago.

There are few effective options for dealing with the problem as the safeguards designed to seal any potential leak are not working. In the short term anyway, it seems that we are down to firing cannons to try and scare away the wildlife and setting the sea on fire. Perhaps the emptiest oil barrel of them all, Sarah Palin can explain to us again how safe drilling is.

Very soon, the world will be presented with horrific visions of dead or dying, oil covered fish and birds, on oil slicked beaches along the gulf coastline. Very soon surrealistic visions of flaming seas against a smokey horizon will be reality as the oil is set on fire in a desperate effort to minimize the amount that reaches the coast.

So far, it is estimated that the cost in damage and mitigation efforts has reached $1 billion and counting. The sure to be considerable cost to our environment is as yet unknown.

In the face of these ill winds comes word that there are still many people and organizations who for one reason or another vow to extend the nine year battle to stop the building of the wind farm.

The farm, by the way, will be able to supply about 75% of the energy needed on Cape Cod & Nantucket. The clean energy that will be produced will be tatamount to removing 175,000. cars a year from the road, a significant plus for our air.

Most of those opposed, (Ted Kennedy was among them) do so on the grounds that the wind turbines will be an eyesore on pristine waters. Maybe so, but one thing is certain, no matter what, the water itself will remain pristine and will always look much more appealing than the images we are about to see from the Gulf where clearly, oil and water do not mix.

DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN?

News Item: The Sunday Telegraph, a British newspaper, reports that Iran has signed a secret deal with Zimbabwe to mine its untapped uranium reserves. The agreement was secured last month, when a close aide to Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe visited Tehran.

According to the deal, Iran will supply Zimbabwe oil in exchange for access to potentially huge deposits of uranium ore - which can be converted into basic fuel for nuclear power, or could also be enriched to make nuclear arms.

Isn't this the reason that we attacked Iraq? It sounds eerily similar to me.

In 2003 Seymour Hersch wrote about the lead up to the war in The New Yorker magazine;

"According to two of those present at the briefing, which was highly classified and took place in the committee’s secure hearing room, Tenet declared, as he had done before, that a shipment of high-strength aluminum tubes that was intercepted on its way to Iraq had been meant for the construction of centrifuges that could be used to produce enriched uranium. The suitability of the tubes for that purpose had been disputed, but this time the argument that Iraq had a nuclear program under way was buttressed by a new and striking fact: the C.I.A. had recently received intelligence showing that, between 1999 and 2001, Iraq had attempted to buy five hundred tons of uranium oxide from Niger, one of the world’s largest producers. The uranium, known as “yellow cake,” can be used to make fuel for nuclear reactors; if processed differently, it can also be enriched to make weapons. Five tons can produce enough weapon-grade uranium for a bomb. (When the C.I.A. spokesman William Harlow was asked for comment, he denied that Tenet had briefed the senators on Niger.)".

This begs the question, what is different this time? Well for one thing, we now know that Iraq was only pretending to have nuclear weapons. In contrast, Iran makes no secret of its desire to become a nuclear state. They say that such technology will only be used for peaceful purposes but their consistent testing of missiles capable of carrying warheads with greater and greater range, their continued belligerence to the west and their stated desire to wipe Israel off the map makes that assertion hard to believe. In fact, it would be downright dangerous.

If this report is true, coupled with recent US and Israeli intelligence reports estimating that Iran will have the capability to build a bomb within 3 to 5 years, if not sooner, it is an ominous sign.

So the question is, when all else fails; sanctions, negotiations, threats etc., as I believe they will, will we be as willing to go to war with Iran over facts that we know to be true as we were to go to war with Iraq over assertions that, it turns out, we knew at the time were unreliable and probably untrue?

The time for talking is rapidly running out. It is only a matter of time.

CAPTAIN COURAGEOUS NO MORE

Perhaps you have noticed that I am not a big fan of the right and it baffles me how anyone ever could be and sleep at night but when one of its members steps up, does the right thing and tells the truth it should be acknowledged.

Watch Joe Scarborough as he steps up right here on the issue of Arizona's new immigration law.



Now I know he is not running for anything but contrast Scarborough's principled position to that of John McCain's whose flip flop on the issue makes him look like a freshly caught fish on the deck of a weekend charter.

In a recent interview with Bill O’Reilly on Fox News, McCain said: “The state of Arizona is acting and doing what it feels it needs to do in light of the fact that the federal government is not fulfilling its fundamental responsibility — to secure our borders.....it is a good tool”

Compare that to his previous positions wherein he had taken pride in bucking conservatives in his party who turned up the heat on him for his support for changes to immigration laws that would have provided a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants.

In 2004 he opposed an Arizona ballot measure to deny some public services to illegal immigrant and require proof of citizenship to vote. He said at the time "Things are terrible, and we’ve got to fix it,’’ he said at a debate then in his campaign for re-election to his Senate seat. “But we’re not going to fix it until we have comprehensive immigration reform.”

“When there’s a demand, there’s going to be a supply,’’ he added, “There are jobs that Americans will not do, so we have to make it possible for someone to come to this country to do a job that an American won’t do and then go back to the country from where they came.”


In 2006 he said "They tell me my poll rate has plummeted over this, but I’m a big boy, I can take it".

In 2007, "I think some of the rhetoric that many Hispanics hear about illegal immigration makes some of them believe that we are not in favor, or seek the support of Hispanic citizens in this country"

What ever happened to his courage? Over the years it has been beaten out of him in the ideological prison that is the republican party. Alas, they have accomplished what the North Vietnamese at their most brutal, never could.

DISGRACEFUL, DISGUSTING, IMMORAL, DESPICABLE & UNAMERICAN

News Item: "The Oklahoma Legislature voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to override vetoes of two highly restrictive abortion measures, one making it a law that women undergo an ultrasound and listen to a detailed description of the fetus before having an abortion.

Though other states have passed similar measures forcing women to have ultrasounds, Oklahoma’s law goes further, requiring a doctor or technician to set up the monitor where the woman can see it and describe the heart, limbs and organs of the fetus. No exceptions are made for rape and incest victims.

The second measure passed into law Tuesday protects doctors from malpractice suits if they decide not to inform the parents of a unborn baby that the fetus has birth defects. The intent of the bill is to prevent parents from later suing doctors who withhold information to try to influence them against having an abortion.

Gov. Brad Henry, a Democrat, vetoed both bills last week. The ultrasound law, he said, was flawed because it did not exempt rape and incest victims and was an unconstitutional intrusion into a woman’s privacy. He painted the other measure as immoral." NY Times 04/27/10 (Click on the title of this post to read the whole article)

After reading that, almost nothing else really needs to be said, does it? But just to spell it out, it is disgraceful, disgusting, immoral and un-American and the people who voted for this should be prosecuted and then publicly flogged. They are despicable!

Behold the work of republicans in concert with the religious right. The same republicans who preach "getting government off of our backs." Of course for them this need to limit government only applies when it comes to its getting in they way of their business pursuits. The rest; the guns, the military spending...support our troops, (as in sending them to war without body armour and properly armored vehicles) the "family values", the anti abortion, actually puts government on our backs and in our bedrooms and now in our doctors offices. For the republicans, it is an old game, pandering to the most extreme and narrow minded groups out there so as to split the electorate and secure the votes needed so that they can achieve political power and manage the government in a way that maximizes their profits. If in the process, they trample upon our rights and personal freedoms and those of our families well, that is just the cost of doing business. So much for family values.

These hypocrites are the first ones to be caught in scandal, caught in the very acts and lifestyles that they rail against as immoral. Well, they have been caught again because nothing could be more immoral than passing a law to torment women who want to exercise their constitutional rights to privacy by coming between her and her doctor. It is despicable. If such laws are constitutional then there truly is something wrong with our constitution.

This is America. I don't expect you to have to live by my values, why do you want to force me to live by yours? It is disgraceful, disgusting, immoral, despicable & un-American!