They'll Always Have Benghazi!

All right that fear mongering, neo-fascist named Trump may have successfully wooed the base Republicans, but all is not lost. In a dialogue far too prolix to be classified as anything other than annoying by innocent bystanders the traditional Republican witch hunters are telling the Republicans boarding the Trump plane that “we'll always have Benghazi!” Kind of chokes you up, doesn't it? It gags me. But forget the fact that it took the Republicans 11 hours of grilling Hillary Clinton to demonstrate that they really do not have the evidence needed to indict her. What they are now proudly presenting is a culmination of years hard work by Grand Inquisitors Issa and Goudy, who in the spirit of gainful partisanship gamely ignored the six independent investigations and all exculpatory evidence to create a prosecutorial brief disingenuously called the House Report On Benghazi. Surely in this massive 800 page pile of crap there must be some new information that is significant to the case the Grand inquisitors have been trying to make. Not really, “but we can still burn her at the stake” they say. Like Congressman Kevin McCarthy base Republicans are all for sham investigations designed to hurt Hillary Clinton's reputation! And there is nothing that tickles the G-spot of those base Republicans as much as the image of burning Hillary at the stake for being a witch!

You do not want to know what that image of burning Hillary does for the Donald. The only problem for him is that he wants much more. I can hear him now. "Bravo! Bravo! Well done, but what about Warren! I don't give a damn about Native Americans; destroy Pocahontas! Destroy her, I say! Never mind, I'll do it myself. And I'll do it so good! You won't believe how good I'll do it!"

So Proud To Be A Democrat

The averous and arrogance of the gun manufacturers has finally become too much to bear. Democratic politicians who once cowered in fear over the power of the gun lobby are now standing up. They are telling us in a dramatic fashion that moments of silence and prayers accomplish nothing, and they are issuing a call to action. In the Senate a filibuster by Democrats finally forced a vote on modest gun reform bills, including one that banned the sale of guns to anyone on the no-fly list. The Republican Party, which claims to be the best at protecting us from terrorists, voted almost unanimously to defeat all of those gun reform bills thereby permitting the gun manufacturers to continue arming the terrorists in this country! Arming your enemy, now isn't that a great idea?

In the House of Representatives there is no rule or procedure comparable to the filibuster, and the majority party is free to exert its will on the minority party without mercy. Needless to say that the Republican Party has been treating House Democrats as irrelevant since 2011. The frustration of being a part of the least productive and most destructive Congress since the Civil War combined with the Republican Party's amoral obedience to the gun lobby finally caused the Democrats to resort to desperate measures. Led by a civil rights hero, Congressman John Lewis, the Democrats held an unprecedented sit-in in the well of the House while demanding a vote on two gun reform bills. The first of those bills would ban the sale of guns to suspected terrorists on the no-fly list. The second bill would require universal background checks of gun purchasers. The Republicans adamantly oppose bringing those measures up for a vote before a national election because most Republicans have sold out to the gun lobby and they are afraid the latest massacres will make their constituents realize that the safety of our citizens and the deadly greed of the gun manufacturers are mutually exclusive!

The Democrats demanding a vote on those gun reform bills are defying the will of the majority party and are putting the Republicans in a very difficult political position. Furthermore, those Democrats have already broken several House rules by staging the sit-in, filming the sit-in, holding up signs and pictures of the victims of gun violence, and by shouting slogans even after Speaker Ryan called the house back into session after a recess. Those are classic civil disobedience tactics designed to create martyrs if the Republicans over-react and do something as stupid as trying to forcibly remove the protesters. So what is a rich gun lobby lackey to do? Speaker Ryan decided to try to defy the protesters by conducting some normal business.

So in an almost unbelievable display of political tone deafness the Republicans brought to the floor a measure that is the perfect example of Republican Congressmen representing money interests at the expense of their constituents. The Labor Department's Fiduciary Responsibility Rule protects investors from being deceived and cheated by investment firms and investment advisers. President Obama had vetoed a bill by the Republican controlled Congress that would have weakened the protection of pensioners, trusts, and other investors by removing the Fiduciary Responsibility rule, and Paul Ryan was now bringing up a bill to override that veto. Ryan might as well have held up a sign saying “we are morally and intellectually bankrupt but are doing quite well financially thanks to our rich friends.” Just look at what he and his party did all in one night. They demonstrated beyond doubt that they think the profits of the gun manufacturers are more important than lives and that they, the Republicans, think it should not be so difficult for investment firms and investment advisers to deceive and cheat unsuspecting investors!

I am really proud of the Democratic Senators standing up to the gun Lobby and the Democratic members of Congress holding the sit-in. I know the sit-in was not a rash decision. It sets a difficult precedent, but what is at stake here are lives. I hope this is part of the movement to rest control of our government from the grasp of the wealthy and return it to the people!

Senators For Arming Terrorists

Today the GOP, the NRA and the politicians shamelessly selling their souls to the arms manufacturers seem like something George Orwell might have cooked up in one of his darker moments. These despicable political harlots, these cowardly NRA lackeys are using a deliberate misinterpretation of the second amendment and a bogus appeal to the great Gawd of free enterprise to defend their votes permitting the sale of guns to people on the terrorist watch list and/or no fly list.  A very dark but accurate description of what they are trying sell us on is the idea that the profits of the gun manufacturers are more important than are our lives or our national security. What I find so amazing is that the Republicans who are permitting people on the terrorist watch list and /or no fly list to purchase military style assault weapons actually have the unmitigated gall to say that they are better at protecting this country from terrorist attacks than are the Democrats who have the courage to defy the NRA by voting for a ban on the sale of guns to people who are on the terrorist watch list and/or no fly list. I suppose those NRA Republicans also want us to believe that Benedict Arnold was the best person to defend West Point! Can we call what the NRA and its political mercenaries are doing treason for profit? Not that I would really do that; the question was just a twitch of pique, don't you know? Donald Trump has them all the time!

But seriously, is there really anyone out there who is actually stupid enough to believe that arming your enemy is a good idea? I am tempted to say Wayne Lapierre and the NRA are that stupid, but saying that would be misleading because they think it is profitable idea, ergo good for them; they don't give a damn about you or me. It is also profitable for the politicians who constantly sell out to the NRA. You know who those politicians are; they are the ones insulting your intelligence with absurd justifications for voting against any reasonable gun control measures. Twenty two of the Senators up for re-election this year accepted large contributions from the Nation Rifle Association and voted to permit people on the terrorist watch list or no fly list to buy guns, including military style assault weapons. It is not inaccurate or unfair to say that those Senators favor arming terrorists because that is what they are willfully permitting with their votes. The Senators up for re-election who favor arming the terrorists are as follows:

"Senators Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), John McCain (R-Ariz.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Lisa Murkow (R-Alaska), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), John Thune (R-S.D.), and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.)..."

To Dump Or Not To Dump Trump, that is the question

I am going to keep this very short. The dilemma Donald Trump poses for the Republican Party is worthy of a Shakespearian soliloquy. There is no good answer to the question of whether they should or should not dump Trump. The voters in the Republican primaries have spoken, farted, and given the Republican establishment the finger. Whether the base Republicans are smart enough to realize it or not nominating Donald Trump is suicidal. And as most of the pundits will tell you, attempted political suicide and/or defying the will of your voters are both capital offenses.

I am tempted to say that it is all over but the laughter. Unfortunately the trial does not begin until after the conventions, and any prosecutor who walks into a trial thinking he has the case won is making a huge mistake. There is a lot at risk in this trial, this election, and the least of those things is the fate of a party that has pandered so shamelessly to the fears and prejudices of its angry, gullible base. Besides, the fate of the Republican Party will be decided during the penalty phase, if the voters turn out and render a proper verdict!

Berning For All

They tried to ignore him, but Bernie Sanders kept going. They tried to dismiss him, but the crowds he drew and the states he won made that impossible. Now they are telling him to drop out of the race for the good of the party. But whose party is it? It is the party that has ignored its liberal base for far too long. It is the party that became too timid to stand up for so many of the things that made it great! It is no wonder that so many men who were or are blue collar workers feel betrayed by the system; their unions were busted, their real wages were greatly decreased, and many of the jobs they depended on were exported. Furthermore, many of them have lost their pensions! And the Democratic Party let this happen with barely a peep of protest coming only from liberals the establishment was ignoring. The success Bernie Sanders has achieved thus far, regardless of whether he is nominated, is changing that. 

I am sure future historians will call this the year or the election of discontent. On the rational side of the political spectrum Bernie Sanders has become the voice of the disaffected. I say the “rational side” of the political spectrum because Bernie advocates positive changes to deal with real problems. He is correct in saying that the alternatives to a liberal agenda are more of the same lame policies we have been following or Herr Trump, the neo-fascist fraudster who scapegoats racial and ethnic minorities and tells his followers that he will make America “great again” by kicking the crap out of the bad guys as only he can define “bad guys.”

The one thing Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump have in common is that they have both demonstrated that the discontent of such a large segment of our society makes the status quo unsustainable. The people who are bright enough to connect the dots are reacting to the devastation caused by trickle down economics and Republican obstruction by demanding real and substantial changes. This is reflected in the Pew Research Center polls indicating that the number of Democrats describing themselves as liberals has increased and that this change in ideology is particularly pronounced in the millions of younger voters who represent the future. Indeed it is the enthusiastic, one might even say militant support of Bernie Sanders by these self described liberals that has delivered such a powerful kick to the right butt cheek of the Democratic Party that even the establishment has been forced to turn farther to the left than it wanted to turn.

With all the well deserved media coverage of Hillary Clinton's masterful smack down of Donald Trump it is all too easy to ignore news of one of the most important changes Bernie Sanders has inspired. President Obama had expressed his willingness to decrease the benefits of Social Security by changing the way cost of living adjustments are calculated.  Now he is backing away from that position, and he is actually advocating an expansion of Social Security benefits. Similarly, Hillary Clinton who was giving non-committal statements about Social Security has reacted to Bernie Sander's direct challenge on the subject by tweeting “As always, I'll defend it, & I'll expand it.” These are big, important changes, as is Hillary Clinton's recently found opposition to TPP.

I think it is safe to say that Bernie Sander's political revolution has begun, and that is a good news for the majority of us. But there is a phenomenon we must bear in mind and guard against. In the early stages of most revolutions progressive moderates invariably try to address fears that the changes proposed by the revolutionaries are too radical or big, and in doing so the moderates institute ineffective reforms that anger everyone and make the rebels even more radical. That is why I am not real eager to see Bernie Sanders drop out of the race. Hillary Clinton will be the nominee, but I want Bernie to push her and the Democratic Party as far to the left as he can before he endorses her. I also want him and his followers to become gadflies that bite politicians at all levels of government and thereby make meaningful changes inevitable. This country needs the party of Franklin Roosevelt to act like the party of Franklin Roosevelt again.