Tag Archives: Politics

Mitt Romney’s Video Troubles

By now, if you have been following politics at all, you’ve heard about the secretly recorded video of Mitt Romney at a fund raiser in Florida where he said things that he doesn’t say in public. There are those who insist that this is the real Mitt Romney, but we can’t know that. He was at a fundraiser with wealthy republican donors, so this could be Mitt Romney saying what he thinks his audience wants to hear. He does that a lot, but without the skill that Bill Clinton, the master, had for such performances. Continue reading →

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A Choice Election

I’ve heard from side of the political table that this particular election is stark choice election. I agree with that, there’s a clear and distinct difference between the two major parties and what they are offering up for the future of America.

Where this tend to go wrong is the idea I hear that when the choice is made it will reveal something about what the population wants and what they have rejected.

I contend that no losing side in the election will admit in any way that they might have lost because of their message.

Should Romney/Ryan win, the Democratic side will claim that it was because of Citizen United and the unlimited cash that flowed from the Koch Brothers, but not because American wanted the Republican Policies, never!

And If Obama/Biden win, then the Republicans will insist that it was because the Democrats ran a very dirty campaign, the media piled unfairly onto the conservatives, and it was close, voter fraud. Just like the Democrats they will never admit that the American populace wanted the Democratic policies.

So while this is a choice election, it won’t change one whit our cold civil war.

 

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Thoughts on Gun Control

The horrid events a few weeks ago in Aurora Co have revived discussions on gun control, both nationally and among family and friends. Since I have never been shy about sharing my opinions I see no reason to be a wall flower on this subject.
There are numerous and serious problems in trying to solve this problem by some implementation of gun control. First off the focus is all wrong way around, looking at the tool and not the user. In an unproduced screenplay I authored quite a few years ago I had a line that I think is applicable.
“You mortals always fear the wrong things. You fear the bomb but not the soul that would use it.” Continue reading →

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The ‘You Didn’t Build That’ moment

Here is a clip of the President’s speech in which he made the unforced error of saying ‘You didn’t build that,’ and grammarically the sentence reads to say you did not build your own business. However I accept that if you look at the speech before and after then sentence it seems the president had a brain cloud moment using the antecedent ‘that’ when he meant the antecedent ‘those.’
The text before the sentence in question is about infrastructure and support systems, the conclusion statement that follow immediately are about infrastucture and support, so I think it is perfectly reasonable and not spin to accept that he was referring to the roads and bridges.

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The Chick-fil-a Kerfuffle

So let me issue forth a few words on the Chick-fil-a situation that has exploded over the last few weeks.

Chick-fil-a is a privately held company that runs a chain of fast food chicken themed restaurants across the country.  The Cathy family that owns the business is well know for their social conservative stands, so it was really of little surprise when the President of Chick-Fil-a Dan Cathy announced his opposition to marriage equality. The Henson Company, founded by Jim Henson, who supplied Muppet toys for the Chick-fil-a equivalent of Happy Meals, announced that while not trying to break their contract with Chick-fil-a they stood with marriage equality and were donating the proceeds from their business arrangement to organizations that promoted sexuality equality.

So far all we have here are private companies and individuals exercising their first amendment rights.  (For the record I stand with the Henson Company, but for regular readers I suspect that this is hardly surprising.)

Supports on both side of the argument have announced plans to mobilize with their money by either refusing to do business with Chick-fil-a franchises or promising to do increased business at the stores. That is all well and good too. That is a perfectly valid form of expression that carries a powerful impact.

I have very serious problem with the two liberal mayors who have waded into the scrum, not as private citizen, but as representatives of government. The mayors ofBostonandChicagohave announced that they are seeking to prevent the expansion of the Chick-fil-a brand into their cities. They have announced that they will use the machinery of government to try to achieve the ends, and this is flatly wrong.

I have already stated that I stand with the proponents of marriage equality, but I must denounce the actions of these two mayors,

Think about what they have actually proposed. That the government should punish private individuals, in a direct and harmful manner, for expressing opinions that the is unpopular with these particular politicians. This is an abuse of their position as public servants.

I think that the position held by the Cathy family is wrong, hurtful, and are in general demeaning, but they have a right to those opinions. I believe in equality for all, that why I stand with marriage equality, but that also means I stand for all people to have their voices free from government intimidation. All supports of freedom should denounce these mayors, while supporting equality in all its forms.

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Political Thoughts from The Dark Knight Rises

So on Sunday morning a friend and I went to see the final film in director Christopher Nolan’s Batman saga. I came away impressed and ready to add the film to my collection. (Seriously had then been a blu-ray for sale in the lobby it would have come home with me.)

There has been a lot of talk recently about the politics of this movie. A great deal of it surrounding the homonym Bane and Bain, but really that is just the nattering of negligible minds. There are interesting political dimensions to the plot and story of The Dark Knight Rises, far beyond simple coincidence over names.

There are some light spoilers ahead, so if that bothers you, go see the movie then come back. Continue reading →

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I think it is going to be a nail bitter

Looking at data like this, I’m seriously thinking of taking the day after the election off from my day job. Because my typical election party may go well into the night like it did in 2000. (Now I have jinxed, but for whom?)

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Do not be alarmed

That sound you hear, like muffed popcorn cooking in the distance, is nothing more than conservative heads bursting as they learn that it was Roberts and not Kennedy that gave the court its 5-4 decision upholding the ACA.

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Food for thought

People wonder why I am skeptical of the GOP on financial issues, well, they should read this article by a former member of the Reagan team, it really lays out in simple terms just how massive of a lie it is that republicans are better with the money than the Democratic party.

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Why I can’t be a liberal

 

Often in the posts here on the blog you can see me attacking the G.O.P. and its insane stance on cultural issues and it hypocritical stances on fiscal issues. (If the GOP wins the White House, it is likely to retain the House of Representative and could take the Senate, in such a future plan on deficits in the federal budget as ‘not mattering’ once again.)

Some people interpret my criticisms of the GOP as a indicator that I must be a Liberal, and this is not the case.   Of course many people can only see black and white when it comes to American politics and real Americans are always found solely on their own side. That is not a view I share, reality is full color, not black and white, but here are a few examples of why I cannot be a liberal. Continue reading →

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