Friday, July 23, 2010

Tea in a Can. Where the Tea Party went wrong

Warning! If you are a right wing republican conservative you will hate this blog. If you are a left wing democrat liberal you will hate this blog. I don't care. This blog is for open minded people who don't toe the party line and can think for themselves.


Less government, less taxes. Sounds good, I don’t know anyone who wants. to pay more taxes and with the exception of some far left wing nuts. I think we can all agree we need less government. So the Tea Party should be the boat everyone should be jumping on, so why is it so vilified?

The Tea Party lost its course. Instead of being a group that everyone agrees with it became a lightning rod for every nut out there Instead of being inclusive, it became the place for only right wing conservatives to spout what they want. The Tea Party became the place for birthers, anti-abortion groups, militias and who those think they can spout hatred. It became the place where any politician, no matter how far right they are, is not enough. It went so off message that the original message was lost.
Here’s how can the Tea Party redeem itself.

Change the name. The name Tea Party does make sense with the original message. However it has become so toxic that any nut with an ax to grind calls himself a Tea Party member. The head of the Tea Party Express went so far with his racist rants the Federation of Tea Party’s kicked him out. The only problem is he refused to accept that. So we have a bunch of splinter groups calling themselves Tea Party. Change the name and let the Tea Party nuts fight it out. In the meantime we can go back to the message of less government, less taxes.

Stay on message. Guns and abortion are divisive issues. Let’s keep to the message and stop adding polarizing issues and losing support on as we go along.

Don’t give the nuts endorsements. Rand Paul has the support of the Tea Party. Rand Paul also wants to roll back portions of the Civil Rights Act. Not a good way to attract new members. Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi are two of the most hated politicians in America, Pelosi is going nowhere with her district in San Francisco. Reid on the other hand should be easy pickings. So who do they put up against him? Tea Party darling Sharron Angell. Angell makes Sarah Palin (more on her later) look like Shakespeare. Sharron Angell commenting on a 12 year old girl raped and impregnated by her father said the baby is “A gift from God”. She said her second amendment rights should give her the right to shoot Harry Reid (you can’t make this stuff up).And that's some of the tamer stuff she's said. So Nevada Republicans decide to cow tow to the Tea Party and put her against Reid.(BTW, she is so far over that the NRA actually endorsed Reid).

Congratulations Senator Reid, you’re about to get six more years

Don’t let divisive people be your spokesman. Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh. They are polarizing figures. Again, they went off message and took the party for their own agenda. They would rather talk about abortion, guns ,what Obama is doing wrong and self-promotion then what most people want them to talk about.

I don’t expect any of this to happen. The Tea Party will continue to move to the right until they self destruct. It has started happening already. When Palin endorsed a Tea Party member over a GOP congresswoman, the congresswoman quit the race, endorsed the democrat running against her and the democrat won. When Florida Governor Charlie Crist, running for the Senate made the mistake of shaking Obama’s hand, the Tea Party went nuts and found Marco Rubio with the idea of attracting the Hispanics in Florida. Crist quit the Republican party and decided to run as an independent, most Hispanics were put off by Rubio’s extremist views that Crist as an independent is actually leading in the polls against Rubio.

In the end it will be politics as usual. The Republicans and Democrats will continue voting along party lines and a chance that there could be a party that crosses both lines is blown.

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Wednesday, June 30, 2010

The Supreme Court was right, the NRA is wrong

Warning! If you are a right wing republican conservative you will hate this blog. If you are a left wing democrat liberal you will hate this blog. I don't care. This blog is for open minded people who don't toe the party line and can think for themselves.

While I think the Supreme Court held up the letter of the law with their ruling on the Chicago gun ban it is interesting that the conservatives who are so tied it up in state and city rights over federal law went to the federal government to overturn a city ordinance.

The NRA is another story The NRA in most are wrong and if gun owners would stop fearing that any law that remotely has to do with guns is going to take away their guns we wouldn’t have a lot of the fights we have.

Almost every city and state law association has called for the outlawing of cop killer bullets- bullets that can penetrate their Kevlar vests (hence the name cop-killer). The NRA says that is infringing on their rights.

Assault rifles are being shipped from the US to Mexico and in turn are endangering our citizens on the border. The law enforcement community wants to outlaw them. There is no reason why anyone needs a gun that can fire 600 rounds per minute. Trust me your rifle will take out a deer and your handgun will take out a burglar. You don’t need to make chop meat of them. The only people using assault rifles right now are the bad guys. We take the assault rifle off the street and they can’t get them.

There is a bill that would prevent people who are on the federal No-Fly list from being able to buy guns. The NRA says this is a violation of their rights since they haven’t been convicted of a crime, Huh??? Maybe there is a reason they are on the No-Fly list in which case I don’t want them having guns.

My main beef with the NRA is their arrogance, Wayne LaPierre the NRA honcho referred to Federal agents as jack-booted thugs. He also said "Twenty JBT's [jack-booted thugs] outside your house may be bullet proof but they're not fire proof." Former President George Bush quit the NRA (along with former President Ford), saying he was outraged that NRA officials had characterized federal agents as "thugs" who wear Nazi helmets. Bush wrote that he was upset that the NRA executive vice president, Wayne LaPierre, had defended his attack on federal agents "even in the wake of the Oklahoma City tragedy" where a former secret service agent who worked under Bush was killed.

The NRA should have muzzled LaPierre a long time ago. Anyone who spouts that sort of rhetoric is not someone I would want speaking on my behalf. It just makes the NRA look bad. And supporting something that can kill law enforcement officers makes them look worse.

 

Thursday, June 17, 2010

While we are at it, let’s invade Europe

Warning! If you are a right wing republican chances are you are going to hate this blog. If you are a left wing democrat chances are you are going to hate this blog. If you are an open minded person you may actually like this.

Okay, I haven’t written in awhile because like all of you I have been too angry for words when it comes to the Gulf oil disaster. It was going to take something for me to comment on it… wait a second did Obama just compare this to 9/11? No he didn’t , did he?

I guess it makes sense. Janet Napalitano said that they were going to call terrorist acts “Man Made Disasters”, I guess 9/11 and the Gulf both fall under that category, so I can see the comparisons of a bunch of animals blowing up innocent people for some so-called religious reasons and a greedy company blowing innocent people for profit.

Actually, the only thing they really have in common is that the government was unprepared for both. Allowing BP to write the report on the platforms safety and having Osama in our cross hairs and letting him go was the government dropping the ball. The reaction from the government was the same- we don’t know what to do next so let’s divert attention. War is a good diversion.

The way Bush dealt with 9/11 was to invade Afghanistan and when we couldn’t get Osama , invaded Iraq so he could get Hussein as a consolation prize.

I guess Obama will be invading England any day now.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Random bits

Warning! If you are a right wing republican chances are you are going to hate this blog. If you are a left wing democrat chances are you are going to hate this blog. If you are an open minded person you may actually like this.

I am not sure what annoys me more- the people who say “what part of illegal alien don’t you understand” or the ones who say “Arizona is acting like a Nazi country”.

The ban on doing business with Arizona is not going to hurt Arizona; it is going to hurt the people who rely on tourism for their livelihood. Besides, the Diamondbacks stink and the Cardinals have Hot Tub Matt Linehart as their starting quarterback so they are suffering enough as it is.

Bill Maher has become the Rush Limaugh of the Left. Any time either one of them talks I cringe.

Lewis Black may be the funniest man on the planet today. If you didn’t see his take on Glenn Beck go to
http://www.gotchamediablog.com/2010/05/daily-show-lewis-black-on-glenn-becks.html

Indiana Rep. Mark Souder -- an evangelical Christian who promoted abstinence education and was known for his outspoken views on religion was caught cheating on his wife.
These things write themselves. I got nothing I can add to that.

I never expected such a reaction to my blog on rock star’s who think only they can save the world. I didn’t even know that many people were reading it. I got people on the right and the left who liked it. I will try in the future to annoy as many people on the right as on the left

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Sorry Jack, you don't have the right to remain silent

Warning! If you are a right wing republican chances are you are going to hate this blog. If you are a left wing democrat chances are you are going to hate this blog. If you are an open minded person you may actually like this.

You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you. Do you understand these rights as they have been read to you?

We all know about Miranda rights. Any cop show you watched had this read at one time or another. There was a great TV show in the 80’s called Crime Story that took place in the early 1960’s staring Dennis Farina as Chicago cop Lt. Mike Torello. The tag line to the show was “Before you had the right to remain silent there was Mike Torello”.

The origin of the Miranda rights was in a1966 Supreme Court case “Miranda vs. Arizona”. Auturo Miranda, a convicted rapist and kidnapper claimed his rights had been violated during his interrogation. The Supreme Court sided with him (he was later retried and convicted) and so a convicted rapist has his name enshrined.
The only exception to Miranda is “an imminent threat to public safety”.

So why are these terrorists being Mirandized? They aren't an imminent threat? Shoe bomber Richard Reid( a Bush era terrorist and foreign citizen so the democrats don’t think I am ganging up on them), Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab the Christmas Bomber and now Faisal Shahzad the Times Square Bomber were all read their rights. Of the three only Shahzad was a citizen. What ties them in common is they were Mirandized.

Only stupidity on the behalf of these idiots( Reid couldn’t light a match, Abdulmutallab could but all he could manage was to set fire to was his underwear and managed to remove himself from the gene pool by burning his private parts off, and Shahzad who managed to jury rig a bomb but left it and it fizzled) saved us from a disaster.

We have an attorney general who refuses to use the word terrorist in regard to Shahzad and seems more concerned with protecting his rights than the rights of the citizens, a guy who wanted to put NY in danger by having Khalid Mohammed the terrorist mastermind tried in a civilian court. We have a Director of Homeland Security who said after the Christmas Bomber that “The system worked” and has been pretty silent about the Times Square Bomber (she is the one who wants the term terrorists acts changed to Man- Made Acts- I kid you not). And on the other fringe more insanity-sorry NRA but not allowing someone who is on the No-Fly list to buy guns is not taking your guns away- it is keeping them from would be terrorists.

Everyone’s political agenda is getting in the way of one thing- protecting US citizens from acts of terrorism. These guys should be labeled enemy combatants and treated as so. As to those who thinks doing this legitimizes them by not labeling them as common criminals- I can’t wait for the day we have one of these guys have a hung jury because one juror is afraid to convict him and then he goes out and commits another act of terrorism. Hopefully our government will wake up and realize the threat and treat these guys as the terrorists they are before another “Man Made Disaster” happens.

Friday, April 30, 2010

Republicans vs, The Tea Party

Warning- If you are a right wing republican chances are you are going to hate this blog. If you are a left wing democrat chances are you are going to hate this blog. If you are an open minded person you may actually like this.

Back to politics after last weeks foray into music.

Tom Coburn is a republican senator from Oklahoma. He has a 100% approval rating from one of the conservative think tanks. He is not afraid to use parliamentary procedures to block legislation. He is one of the fringe politicians I can’t stand be they republican or democrat.
I like this guy. One thing this guy has is balls. He was at a town hall meeting and a woman was practically crying. She had been watching Fox News and she heard that she could go to jail for not buying health insurance, Senator Coburn assured her that was not the case and that she “Should watch more than one news channel”. He then went on to say that while he is opposed to most of what she has done, he has a lot of respect for Nancy Pelosi.
Huh? A republican going against Fox News? And complimenting Nancy Pelosi? Was he smoking something he wants criminalized? No- he took a stand against the fear mongering that Fox News propagates. And he managed to gat Bill O’Reilly angry enough to take pot shots at the senator. Now normally O’Reilly is the voice of reason on Fox News (okay that is kind of easy when you’re on the same channel as Glen Beck) but now he was angry that the senator said something negative about Fox. How dare he??? Seems some republicans feel that they have to follow Fox News rather than the other way around. Coburn was saying enough already, I decide my own agenda, not you. Senator, we probably disagree on more than we agree but damn, I admire you stand.

Another republican, scratch that he is now an independent I have been following is Governor Charlie Crist of Florida. He is a die-hard conservative, was on the short list for McCain’s running mate in 2008 and was a good bet for 2012.The only problem was he man hugged Obama once and now he is painted as a member of the weathermen .So his Senate campaign is shattered because this other guy, a tea party regular moves up against him and forces him to run as an independent. Good going Charlie. You can be a conservative without bowing down to the tea party

He was the first person to come out for McCain in 2008. Considering the way McCain is acting I am pretty sure this guy is going to get a knife in the back from his good friend.
So basically we now have a conservative republican, a conservative independent and a moderate democrat running for senator in Florida. Why is it always Florida?

Thursday, April 22, 2010

And now so something completely different....

For those of you who read this blog (if there are any- I may be talking to myself) I am taking a break from my usual rants against politicians to rant against rock stars who think only they can save the world. And whose music is overrated and they haven’t been relevant in years.

In order they are:

1. Bono – “Hello I am Bono. I am so great I only need on name. I know Bishop Tutu. I can save the world because I am Bono and I know Bishop Tutu. I am Bono”. Thinks his music is relevant but never was.

2. Bruce Springsteen. You know that grimace he does when he sings? You know the one where he squints his eyes, grits his teeth and scrunches his face? He now looks like an old man trying to push out a tough one.

Hasn’t been relevant since Reagan thought “Born in the USA” was a song about patriotism. Unless you count “41 Bullets” where he insulted every member of the New York City Police Department. He was so popular after that he had to hire private security because the cops, even the ones who were fans refused to provide protection when he was in New York.

3. Sting- Bono lite. May have heard of Bishop Tutu. Thinks he is out to save the world. Hasn’t been relevant since 1978.

4. Bon Jovi- Never was relevant. I just added him because how this no talent has managed to survive all these years astounds me. Formula rock. “Living on a Prayer” could have been sung by Journey, Foreigner or any of those bands and would have sounded the same.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

More stupid democrats and stupid republicans

Warning- If you are a right wing republican chances are you are going to hate this blog. If you are a left wing democrat chances are you are going to hate this blog. If you are an open minded person you may actually like this.



Oh boy. The politicians make doing this too easy; it’s hard to decide who to talk about.

There’s Eric Massa, David Patterson and Harry Reid for the democrats.

There’s Sarah Palin, Bob McDonnell the governor or Virginia and Rep Jim Bunning for the republicans.

Palin- Way too easy to joke about her. Only thing is whenever she talks I think its Tina Fey doing a comedy bit.

Patterson- Yeah, the guy is stupid but he has stuck his foot in his mouth so many times I may need more than a paragraph. The guy’s approval rating is so low, he not only lost to Elliot Spitzer in a poll, he also lost to Ashley Dupree.

Massa- Sorry no jokes about a congressman who says, yeah I tickled and groped an aide but it was in a non-sexual way. Okay there are jokes a plenty.

Bunning- Pissed off about health care he kills a bill that would extend unemployment benefits. What a nice guy. Were you ever hit hard in the head with a ball when you were at bat?

Reid- Nancy Pelosis’ little lap dog. The only Senator in the United States who is pussy whipped by a Congresswoman. “Yes dear, whatever you say dear”.

McDonnell – I thought I actually might like this guy. He wasn’t a gung-ho in your face conservative fringe type. But then he has Confederate History Month and to top it off doesn’t mention slavery? Congrats, you joined the ranks of the fringe.

It’s hard to pick one uber-jerk from among these political pinheads. And the sad thing is I was able to pick six without giving it much thought. I am sure I have left out some who are stupider than this group (Okay maybe not stupider than Palin- congratulations Sarah on making Dan Quayle look like a Rhodes Scholar with the wisdom of Einstein).

And I promised not to make jokes about her. Sorry, it’s just way too easy.


Come on tell your friends about this blog. Hell tell your enemies.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Stupid Democrats and Stupid Republicans

Warning- If you are a right wing republican chances are you are going to hate this blog. If you are a left wing democrat chances are you are going to hate this blog. If you are an open minded person you may actually like this.

True story-

I was having some beers with a group of friends of mine. One of them is a die in the wool liberal democrat (he has a Che Guervera swatch-yeah, I'm talking about you). Another is a die in the wool republican who sends a group of us emails insulting Gore and then Obama (yeah- you).
The banter is going on and I decide to throw a question to them- Name a hot button issue that one side wants the government to intervene and the side supporting it wants the government to stay out.
Answers- one said abortion and the other said gun control (I honestly don't remember which said which, as I said we were drinking at the time).
Okay- so let me see if I have this clear.
Democrats want the government to stay out of abortion. But most want the government to add more gun control.
Republicans want the government to stay out of gun control. But want the government to outlaw abortion.
I guess it would be naive to say to NARAL that charging a guy with double murder when he kills a pregnant woman is not going to infringe on your abortions rights. Or to say to the NRA that outlawing cop killing bullets is not going to infringe on your right to bear arms. Because no one wants to walk the middle ground. It’s what I want, when I want it and it has to be now. It’s like dealing with spoiled children.
And people complain about gridlock.

This is the first in what I hope to be a weekly (or bi-weekly or semi weekly or whenever I feel like it) blog. I'll be posting notices when the new blog is up. If you are a facebook friend, tell your friends. Tell your neighbors. Tell whoever the hell will listen. If you like this blog, tell everyone you know. If you hate this blog definitely tell everyone you know.