Bob Cesca: The Republicans Lack the Seriousness to Govern
Hitting Nail On Head.... alternate title. This latest flimflammery of Mr. Cantor is simply amazing. They will soon be re-writing the nation's motto to say "In Money We Trust." Can anyone doubt the true Republican agenda now? The Constitution, the Bill of Rights, American Values, the strength and breadth of the melting pot... all cast aside for the preservation and creation of wealth. The Republicans are not serious about ANYTHING else.
More work to do...
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
More Hate from the Right
ThinkProgress » Ohio House Passes ‘Nation’s Most Restrictive’ Voter ID Law That Would Curb Rights Of Almost 900,000 Ohioans
Republicans hate folks who commit voter fraud. In Ohio and Texas they have passed new restrictive voter registration laws dedicated to stopping it. They hate it so much that they will deny almost a million citizens the opportunity to vote. They hate the seniors, the college students, the homeless, the disabled, and people of color that would be disenfranchised by legislation requiring new forms of identification for voter registration.
They hate the fact that most of these disenfranchised voters vote for candidates from the Democratic Party. They hate it so much that they use the shadowy spectre of "voter fraud" to deny the right to vote for millions of United States citizens. I think they also really hate the idea that there just aren't enough good conservative Republican voters to out-vote the Democrats. They hate the idea that they have to work so hard and so strenuously to win by such narrow margins.
According to the Brennan Center for Justice only 4 cases of voter fraud have been found out of more than 9 million votes cast. The problem doesn't exist. Republicans can't produce any evidence of voter fraud. There is none. Republicans BELIEVE that voter fraud is a big problem and then they say, "Prove that voter fraud does not occur."
I repeat, only 4 cases of voter fraud have been proven in over 9 million votes cast from 2002 to 2004. I think Republicans just hate that.
Republicans hate folks who commit voter fraud. In Ohio and Texas they have passed new restrictive voter registration laws dedicated to stopping it. They hate it so much that they will deny almost a million citizens the opportunity to vote. They hate the seniors, the college students, the homeless, the disabled, and people of color that would be disenfranchised by legislation requiring new forms of identification for voter registration.
They hate the fact that most of these disenfranchised voters vote for candidates from the Democratic Party. They hate it so much that they use the shadowy spectre of "voter fraud" to deny the right to vote for millions of United States citizens. I think they also really hate the idea that there just aren't enough good conservative Republican voters to out-vote the Democrats. They hate the idea that they have to work so hard and so strenuously to win by such narrow margins.
According to the Brennan Center for Justice only 4 cases of voter fraud have been found out of more than 9 million votes cast. The problem doesn't exist. Republicans can't produce any evidence of voter fraud. There is none. Republicans BELIEVE that voter fraud is a big problem and then they say, "Prove that voter fraud does not occur."
I repeat, only 4 cases of voter fraud have been proven in over 9 million votes cast from 2002 to 2004. I think Republicans just hate that.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Next Season on Survivor...
Have you heard about the next planned "Survivor" show?
Three businessmen and three businesswomen will be dropped in an elementary school classroom for 1 school year. Each business person will be provided with a copy of his/her school district's curriculum, and a class of 20-25 students.
Each class will have a minimum of five learning-disabled children, three with A.D.H.D., one gifted child, and two whospeak limited English. Three students will be labeled with severe behavior problems.
Each business person must complete lesson plans at least 3 days in advance, with annotations for curriculum objectives and modify, organize, or create their materials accordingly. They will be required to teach students, handle misconduct, implement technology, document attendance, write referrals, correct homework, make bulletin boards, compute grades, complete report cards, document benchmarks, communicate with parents, and arrange parent conferences. They must also stand in their doorway between class changes to monitor the hallways.
In addition, they will complete fire drills, tornado drills, and [Code Red] drills for shooting attacks each month.
They must attend workshops, faculty meetings, and attend curriculum development meetings. They must also tutor students who are behind and strive to get their 2 non-English speaking children proficient enough to take the SOLS tests. If they are sick or having a bad day they must not let it show.
Each day they must incorporate reading, writing, math, science, and social studies into the program. They must maintain discipline and provide an educationally stimulating environment to motivate students at all times. If all students do not wish to cooperate, work, or learn, the teacher will be held responsible.
The business people will have access to the public golf course only on the weekends, but with their new salary, they will not be able to afford it. There will be no access to vendors who want to take them out to lunch, and lunch will be limited to thirty minutes, which is not counted as part of their work day. The business people will be permitted to use a student restroom, as long as another survival candidate can supervise their class.
If the copier is operable, they may make copies of necessary materials before, or after, school. However, they cannot surpass their monthly limit of copies. The business people must continually advance their education, at their expense, and on their own time.
The winner of this Season of Survivor will be allowed to return to his/her job.
Pass this to your friends who think teaching is easy, and to the ones that know it is hard.
Three businessmen and three businesswomen will be dropped in an elementary school classroom for 1 school year. Each business person will be provided with a copy of his/her school district's curriculum, and a class of 20-25 students.
Each class will have a minimum of five learning-disabled children, three with A.D.H.D., one gifted child, and two whospeak limited English. Three students will be labeled with severe behavior problems.
Each business person must complete lesson plans at least 3 days in advance, with annotations for curriculum objectives and modify, organize, or create their materials accordingly. They will be required to teach students, handle misconduct, implement technology, document attendance, write referrals, correct homework, make bulletin boards, compute grades, complete report cards, document benchmarks, communicate with parents, and arrange parent conferences. They must also stand in their doorway between class changes to monitor the hallways.
In addition, they will complete fire drills, tornado drills, and [Code Red] drills for shooting attacks each month.
They must attend workshops, faculty meetings, and attend curriculum development meetings. They must also tutor students who are behind and strive to get their 2 non-English speaking children proficient enough to take the SOLS tests. If they are sick or having a bad day they must not let it show.
Each day they must incorporate reading, writing, math, science, and social studies into the program. They must maintain discipline and provide an educationally stimulating environment to motivate students at all times. If all students do not wish to cooperate, work, or learn, the teacher will be held responsible.
The business people will have access to the public golf course only on the weekends, but with their new salary, they will not be able to afford it. There will be no access to vendors who want to take them out to lunch, and lunch will be limited to thirty minutes, which is not counted as part of their work day. The business people will be permitted to use a student restroom, as long as another survival candidate can supervise their class.
If the copier is operable, they may make copies of necessary materials before, or after, school. However, they cannot surpass their monthly limit of copies. The business people must continually advance their education, at their expense, and on their own time.
The winner of this Season of Survivor will be allowed to return to his/her job.
Pass this to your friends who think teaching is easy, and to the ones that know it is hard.
We the People Get to Choose
My previous post was deemed too short or too long to be accepted in the DNR Forum. Seems that they've gone from 200 word letters to 150 word letters. I'm going for a focus piece of 672 words... once again... we'll see. Submitted March 10:
The recent events in states around the country, specifically Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Florida represent an aggressive and disingenuous campaign of ideological warfare against the citizens of these states. The Republican Party it seems, recognizes a brilliant strategy when Rahm Emmanuel comes up with one, “No crisis should go to waste.”
These newly elected Republican governors are brilliantly using the current financial crisis that is actually occurring in these states to fire broadside after broadside at hard-won workers rights protections and and to steal the wages, pensions, and benefits of the working poor and the middle class. The right is leaning hard, pulling us back to a time of corporate plutocracy, a new gilded age of power and rule by the overlords of corporate power.
When the rightists [op-ed DNR March 4, “Hate from the Left”] refer to "this country’s radical left," they are talking about the folks in Wisconsin who are protesting peacefully in the state capital there. They are talking about me, my friends in education, public employees, union members, in short, they are talking about the hard working, middle class citizens that are, finally waking up to the oppression of the overclass. The right is pushing hard right now under the cover of a financial crisis of their own making to implement a wish list of right wing ideology that has nothing to do with budgets and everything to do with the onslaught of autocracy and corporatism. In Ohio, the unions have been busted and Governor Kasich has stolen funding from public services and education while handing corporations in his state serious tax relief. No budget relief here.
Michigan will be raising taxes. A prudent move? Look closer. They will be taxing the seniors, the working class, and families with children. They are following the rightist playbook by handing corporations even more lucre from the pubic coffer. No budget relief here.
In Florida, Governor Scott has “solved” his budget crisis in part by cutting the funding of public education. His “solution” includes handing over this money, stolen from the public coffers, to corporations doing business in his state. Mr. Scott is still faced with a major shortfall in his budget. His comment? “Trust me.” Again, no budget relief here.
The right wing [op-ed DNR March 4] speaks with the assurance of privilege when they quote the "insane commentary" from the "kook left." These words could just as easily be turned around on the “kook right.” This strange and upside down bit of logic is but one example: "The left is enraged that taxpayers are finally fighting back against the Democrat-union axis of power..." The taxpayers are indeed enraged at the corporate tax dodgers who will benefit from their “bought and paid for” nation-wide strategy of Public Theft as they systematically go about smashing unions, killing public education, and railing against the prosperity of the middle class. The folks responsible for the fiscal crisis in Wisconsin and across the country are the ones sitting in the seats of power. Who still believes that the rightists, corporatists, and the Republican rulers of Florida, Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio are helpless victims of the "Democrat-union" juggernaut?
Finally this, "So too is political power that the entrenched special interests in this country have held for far too long." We the people get to choose which special interests hold our future. It could be those community organizations that serve the needs of the people, it could be the government organizations in which we all have a voice and where we all have the right to agree or disagree on what we need to do together as a nation; or it could be the Koch Brothers, the great Oil Companies, corporate sponsored astroturf organizations like Americans for Progress or FreedomWorks, or even that most special interest of all, the Murdoch media empire where none of us have a voice and only the desires of the wealthy are of concern.
We the people get to choose.
The recent events in states around the country, specifically Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Florida represent an aggressive and disingenuous campaign of ideological warfare against the citizens of these states. The Republican Party it seems, recognizes a brilliant strategy when Rahm Emmanuel comes up with one, “No crisis should go to waste.”
These newly elected Republican governors are brilliantly using the current financial crisis that is actually occurring in these states to fire broadside after broadside at hard-won workers rights protections and and to steal the wages, pensions, and benefits of the working poor and the middle class. The right is leaning hard, pulling us back to a time of corporate plutocracy, a new gilded age of power and rule by the overlords of corporate power.
When the rightists [op-ed DNR March 4, “Hate from the Left”] refer to "this country’s radical left," they are talking about the folks in Wisconsin who are protesting peacefully in the state capital there. They are talking about me, my friends in education, public employees, union members, in short, they are talking about the hard working, middle class citizens that are, finally waking up to the oppression of the overclass. The right is pushing hard right now under the cover of a financial crisis of their own making to implement a wish list of right wing ideology that has nothing to do with budgets and everything to do with the onslaught of autocracy and corporatism. In Ohio, the unions have been busted and Governor Kasich has stolen funding from public services and education while handing corporations in his state serious tax relief. No budget relief here.
Michigan will be raising taxes. A prudent move? Look closer. They will be taxing the seniors, the working class, and families with children. They are following the rightist playbook by handing corporations even more lucre from the pubic coffer. No budget relief here.
In Florida, Governor Scott has “solved” his budget crisis in part by cutting the funding of public education. His “solution” includes handing over this money, stolen from the public coffers, to corporations doing business in his state. Mr. Scott is still faced with a major shortfall in his budget. His comment? “Trust me.” Again, no budget relief here.
The right wing [op-ed DNR March 4] speaks with the assurance of privilege when they quote the "insane commentary" from the "kook left." These words could just as easily be turned around on the “kook right.” This strange and upside down bit of logic is but one example: "The left is enraged that taxpayers are finally fighting back against the Democrat-union axis of power..." The taxpayers are indeed enraged at the corporate tax dodgers who will benefit from their “bought and paid for” nation-wide strategy of Public Theft as they systematically go about smashing unions, killing public education, and railing against the prosperity of the middle class. The folks responsible for the fiscal crisis in Wisconsin and across the country are the ones sitting in the seats of power. Who still believes that the rightists, corporatists, and the Republican rulers of Florida, Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio are helpless victims of the "Democrat-union" juggernaut?
Finally this, "So too is political power that the entrenched special interests in this country have held for far too long." We the people get to choose which special interests hold our future. It could be those community organizations that serve the needs of the people, it could be the government organizations in which we all have a voice and where we all have the right to agree or disagree on what we need to do together as a nation; or it could be the Koch Brothers, the great Oil Companies, corporate sponsored astroturf organizations like Americans for Progress or FreedomWorks, or even that most special interest of all, the Murdoch media empire where none of us have a voice and only the desires of the wealthy are of concern.
We the people get to choose.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Comments on "Hate from the Left - Violent Rhetoric Continues"
The Daily News Record: Editorial Opinion
[This post was submitted as a Letter to the Editor on March 6. We'll see..]
Let's be clear. In his piece on March 4, when the editor refers to "this country’s radical left," he's talking about the folks in Wisconsin who are protesting peacefully in the state capital there. He's talking about me, my friends in education, public employees, union members, in short, he's talking about the hard working, middle class citizens that are, sadly for the editor and his ilk, finally waking up to the oppression of the overclass.
He speaks with the assurance of privilege when he quotes the "insane commentary" from the "kook left." These words could just as easily be turned around on himself. He makes a very curious argument with this strange and upside down bit of logic: "The left is enraged that taxpayers are finally fighting back against the Democrat-union axis of power..." That's laughable! The taxpayers ARE indeed enraged at the corporate tax dodgers who have very loudly and emphatically announced their nation-wide strategy of smashing unions, killing public education, and railing against the prosperity of the middle class. The whole point of the demonstrations is the realization that the folks responsible for the fiscal crisis in Wisconsin are the ones sitting in the seats of power. The "Democrat-union axis of power" has already been dealt body blow after body blow in a "war" that has been going on since 1979. What stupid person reading this piece still believes that the rightists are helpless victims of the "Democrat-union" juggernaut?
His comment, "we being the taxpayers who are struggling to get control of public spending..." is yet another bit of upside down logic. The whole point of controlling public spending is to keep taxes low so more money is available for the transfer of public wealth into corporate coffers. Mr. Walker did it in Wisconsin, Mr. McDonnell is doing it in Virginia as we speak. This policy of public theft is at the root of the rightist campaign for political power and wealth.
The editor is correct with this statement though: "Money, and a lot of it, is at stake." The choice we face as citizens is pretty simple. Do we hand over public wealth to private corporations or do we keep it for the work and needs of the people? Do we invest in better, smarter, more productive citizens or do we invest in better widgets? Do we invest in clean water and air or do we invest in dirty energy? Do we invest in children, families, workers, and citizens in need or do we invest in off-shore oil, factories in foreign countries, real estate holdings, or stock market derivatives?
Finally this, "So too is political power that the entrenched special interests in this country have held for far too long." This also presents us with a choice. We get to choose which special interests hold our future. It could be those community organizations that serve the needs of the people, it could be the government organizations in which we all have a voice and where we all have the right to agree or disagree on what we need to do together as a nation; or it could be Karl Rove and his minions, the Koch Brothers, the great Oil Companies, or even that most special interest of all, the Murdoch media empire where none of us have a voice and only the desires of the wealthy are of concern. The editor's choice is clear. He's following the money.
[This post was submitted as a Letter to the Editor on March 6. We'll see..]
Let's be clear. In his piece on March 4, when the editor refers to "this country’s radical left," he's talking about the folks in Wisconsin who are protesting peacefully in the state capital there. He's talking about me, my friends in education, public employees, union members, in short, he's talking about the hard working, middle class citizens that are, sadly for the editor and his ilk, finally waking up to the oppression of the overclass.
He speaks with the assurance of privilege when he quotes the "insane commentary" from the "kook left." These words could just as easily be turned around on himself. He makes a very curious argument with this strange and upside down bit of logic: "The left is enraged that taxpayers are finally fighting back against the Democrat-union axis of power..." That's laughable! The taxpayers ARE indeed enraged at the corporate tax dodgers who have very loudly and emphatically announced their nation-wide strategy of smashing unions, killing public education, and railing against the prosperity of the middle class. The whole point of the demonstrations is the realization that the folks responsible for the fiscal crisis in Wisconsin are the ones sitting in the seats of power. The "Democrat-union axis of power" has already been dealt body blow after body blow in a "war" that has been going on since 1979. What stupid person reading this piece still believes that the rightists are helpless victims of the "Democrat-union" juggernaut?
His comment, "we being the taxpayers who are struggling to get control of public spending..." is yet another bit of upside down logic. The whole point of controlling public spending is to keep taxes low so more money is available for the transfer of public wealth into corporate coffers. Mr. Walker did it in Wisconsin, Mr. McDonnell is doing it in Virginia as we speak. This policy of public theft is at the root of the rightist campaign for political power and wealth.
The editor is correct with this statement though: "Money, and a lot of it, is at stake." The choice we face as citizens is pretty simple. Do we hand over public wealth to private corporations or do we keep it for the work and needs of the people? Do we invest in better, smarter, more productive citizens or do we invest in better widgets? Do we invest in clean water and air or do we invest in dirty energy? Do we invest in children, families, workers, and citizens in need or do we invest in off-shore oil, factories in foreign countries, real estate holdings, or stock market derivatives?
Finally this, "So too is political power that the entrenched special interests in this country have held for far too long." This also presents us with a choice. We get to choose which special interests hold our future. It could be those community organizations that serve the needs of the people, it could be the government organizations in which we all have a voice and where we all have the right to agree or disagree on what we need to do together as a nation; or it could be Karl Rove and his minions, the Koch Brothers, the great Oil Companies, or even that most special interest of all, the Murdoch media empire where none of us have a voice and only the desires of the wealthy are of concern. The editor's choice is clear. He's following the money.
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