When Republicans Killed With A Smile
 By David A. Franklin,  Jr.
                 
And it came to pass in those days when sufficient oxygen was not being supplied to the brain of the GOP front runner and as a result, the delusional Willard Mitt Romney began to claim credit as the architect of the American Automotive Industry bail out.  “I pushed the idea of a managed bankruptcy. Finally, when that was done, and help was given,
the companies got back on their feet. So I’ll take a lot of credit for the fact that this industry’s come back.”

He was addressing a group of auto parts maker in Cleveland, Ohio on May 7th, 2012.

Everything good that has happened to the economy recently, he wants to spin to take the credit. Who advises him? Are his advisers aware of the recordings of him flip-flopping on every issue major and minor? Or have his advisors fully embraced the “Etch a Sketch” persona?  Are they banking on the short term memory of some voters?  He and his campaign cause Pinocchio to blush, squirm and recoil with all their barefaced lies. 

Romney’s unmitigated gall and absolute arrogance are both dangerous and sad. Dangerous because he believes his own follies and sad because some voters, every election cycle, continually fall for this type of shenanigans. Their blind loyalty to the Republican Party leaves much to be desired. I question anybody’s sanity when they proudly proclaim that they are Republican especially in this current environment when  the actions and utterances of the ‘also ran’ GOP presidential hopefuls and Karl Rove and his super pack, and all the other Romney surrogates are so cringe-worthy! I’ve had the good fortune of meeting some. Their collective lack of awareness is beyond shocking. They live in the land of “Utopia” where ignorance is bliss. They are smoking some strong stuff because people all over the world know for a fact that this economic quagmire, was caused by them and their Wall Street Lords and Masters. Republicans consistently vote against any reform which is obviously beneficial to the countrythat would “promote the financial stability of the United States by improving accountability and transparency in the financial system”. A case in point is the current JPMorgan Chase $2billion trading loss. 
  
Have we considered why so much out-of-state funding is being poured into the Wisconsin election to recall Scott
Walker
? An unprecedented phenomenon -
 -   A Republican win will give the go-ahead to proliferate his “divide and conquer” strategy throughout the 29 states with Republican Governors
 -   To legitimize union busting
 -   To make theses states completely red and adopt the right to work posture
 
The other Scott– Scott Brown of Massachusetts he too is another star of the Republicans and of Wall Street.  Remember or if it is you did not already know, please be informed that: 
-   He delivered for Wall Street with his vote to eliminate from the Dodd-Frank bill the proposed $19 billion tax on banks which would contribute to regulatory overall. 
-  He peddled his vote in exchange for some significant concessions for Wall Street. 
-  Amplified contribution and support of Senator Brown from his Wall Street owners.  
-  Financial sector contribution to Scott Brown sky-rocketed by over 300% from 4% of his total 2010 campaign contributions to 13% in only the first quarter of 2011.  This aptly described by John McCarter, May 2, 2012, Daily Kos – “Scott Brown double dips on massive Wall Street campaign donations” as All of which makes regular guy Scott Brown (owner of six! houses) one very lucky, and well-financed, stooge.”

Why all this pouring of funding by these interests, the apparent threat to the financial industry’s status quo presented
by the industry’s primary nemesis, and Brown’s Democratic opponent Elizabeth Warren. Will Brown be able to disclose fundraising ties he might have to the JPMorgan Chase, Wall Street bank which is now under scrutiny? Rumor has it that
Massachusetts postal workers are contributing to Brown’s lead over Elizabeth Warren because they believe his promise to pump back $11 billion into their budget which was taken from them by Congress which prefunds their pre-retirement
health care fund. 
That is his smile while he lives high on the Wall Street hog!
 
And there is the third Scott - Rick Scott of the way down south state of Florida.  
- In 2011 he cut $1.3 billion from the education budget and in 2012 include $1 billion. As one describes this, it is like burning down someone’s house and replacing it with a wooden frame house and calling it progress. He is killing
with a smile 
-  Scott approves plans to fund a new university near Tampa (Florida Polytechnic) although Tampa is the home University of South Florida (USF) of one of largest university in the state whose budget is severely
cut in the same budget.  This new university is a stone’s throw away from USF. 
-  For this fiscal year, Florida will cut 4,000 state jobs and are already reducing funds for higher education and
healthcare.  Spending cuts are so severe that Palm Beach County Clerk/Comptroller said constituents might sue. 
 
Yet Rick Scott is boasting about his success in cutting state budget and has grown “completely comfortable” with his custom made boots to boot – no pun intended… custom built with his name, an alligator, the state flag and those of the United States, Spain and France.  He is killing with his smile.    

In the words of the illustrious George W. Bush:
 "There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on —shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again."

Are the American people seeing through  the Republican smiles?  I sincerely hope so.. if not, they will be killed.



 
  
 
By: David A. Franklin, Jr
 
“Disloyalty, betrayal, treachery to one’s country or its government”-that is what treason is made of. “Loyalty, devotion, allegiance, commitment” – this other side of the coin has been in questionable existence, in a political atmosphere which has been rife with acts, utterances and comments, which amount to at very least, disloyalty to this
country.

The forgoing is the opening comments of my blog post of August 25th, 2011 captioned "Politics of Destruction Version 2.0 .....Patriotism or Treason?"

In this article I questioned the intentions of the Republican House Representatives, the Republican Senators and the Republican Presidential hopefuls, the Paul Ryans and the Grover Norquists and other such beings of this world!..... By golly if it smells like treason, and looks like treason, IT IS TREASON!
 
In August 2011 I made some observations, since it was evident from Republican’s collective misbehavior, when they made it blatantly clear that they were hell-bent on making this President fail and by a (microscopically) close extension, they will bring the country to its knees. We have heard the saying “so as to rob one man of his job, they put
millions out of work”
and at the same time, give not one iota of care but for their selfish and wicked agenda.

If Mr. Robert Draper’s account is to be believed, then this is treason! Betrayal and disloyalty to the people who put their trust in them and elected them to carry out a job to take the country to prosperity – “one nation under God…” Their actions amount to nothing short of treachery to both the government and the country and one would wish that if they are found guilty they should be brought to justice and suffer the consequences fit for any traitor! This recent revelation by
Robert Draper in his book “Do Not Ask What Good We Do: Inside the U.S. House of Representatives http://www.huffingtonpost.com2012/04/25/robert-draper-anti-obama-campaign_n_1452899.html detailing what happened in that clandestine meeting convened on the very night of Barak Obama’s inauguration when the Republican“Who is Who” met to plan the demise of the new President and the country. This gives credence to the idiom “You never see smoke without fire”. 

The Fire: The meeting was the making of the fire: 
1. Kevin McCarthy’s (Calif.) charge to the Republicans present "We've gotta challenge them on every single bill and 
    challenge them on every single campaign." No thought of the country is evident in this statement.

2. Jon Kyl (Ariz.) added his fuel to the fire with his suggestion to go after incoming Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner on
    Social Security and Medicare taxes issues related to his tenure in the International Monetary Fund. Kyl wasted no   
    time and went into action with such disgraceful and indecent haste the very next day!

3. Eric Cantor with not an ounce of decency which continues to be displayed in the permanent smirk he wears, went   
    into action just eight days after the inauguration and orchestrated the first of the big “NOs” to the President’s plans, 
    this time against the economic stimulus plan. Of course, the Republican surreptitious strategy had trickled down to 
    the ‘also-rans’ in the party (Rick Perry, Michelle Bachmann, Newt Gingrich) and the other“etceteras”.

4. The National Republican Congressional Committee within two months went into full gear running ads attacking 
     Democrats they see as vulnerable. I identified these “vulnerable” Democrats in my April blog “Myth or Reality 
     Racism in 21st Century America” as those Blue Dog Democrats who worked alongside their Republican 
     counterparts against progress not having the intelligence to see they were working against themselves. Many of 
     whom (over 20) lost their seats in the 2010 mid-term election. They played right into the Republican trap. 

5. The plan – as stated by Mr. Draper’s book is to “Win the spear point of the House in 2010. Jab Obama relentlessly in 
     2011. Win the White House in 2012”.

The Smoke:The smoke has been burning the country’s eyes ever since and we can only now, since the publication of 
                     the Draper book see where it originated or the reason for it.
1. The debacle on the debt ceiling and the country’s credit rate down grade

2.
Not modifying the bankruptcy rules to avoid mortgage foreclosures

3.
Not regulating the subprime mortgage industry

4. “No” votes to stimulus packages for jobs, infrastructure and energy

5.
Boehner voted “No” to the DISCLOSURE Act, which would require corporations, unions and other groups to disclose 
    campaign activities and restrict campaign spending by foreign firms, large government contractors and companies 
    that get taxpayer bailouts. On this same issue of disclosure, Mitch McConnell in 2000 said transparency “is the best 
    antidote to corruption” and seven years later, John Boehner himself said “Sunlight is the best disinfectant”. They have 
    since seen the folly of their ways since corruption is the way to go to finance their campaign. They use nondisclosure 
    to their benefit

6.
Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham both co-authored the cap-and-trade bill but they have since had an 
    about face, using it as a weapon against the Democratic Party.

7.
Eleven Republicans along with Sen. John McCain and President Bush supported comprehensive immigration reform 
    but now they wind of convenience has again changed and they no longer wish to be identified with it.

8.
 They have played politics with the emergency unemployment benefits

9.
Individual Insurance Mandate was once favored by both parties. Republicans favored it over an employer mandate 
    and supported it to enforce personal responsibility. Now what they once supported, and enacted they have brought 
    up for a ruling by the Supreme Court.

10.
On Medicare spending curbs, McConnell and McCain lead some Republicans on proposing several solutions 
       including combined Medicare and Medicaid cuts of $1.3 trillion over 10 years but as the wind of convenience blew 
       in another direction they oppose the Democrats’ proposal of under $500 billion Medicare savings over the 
       next 10 years.

The country is half dead, suffering from smoke inhalation and needs resuscitation. It is not clear if either party will measure up to the task. On the one hand, the Republicans are only concerned about themselves getting into the White House, controlling both Houses (Congress and Senate), putting more money into the pockets of large corporations and the top 1%, and storing their rapacious gains in the Cayman Islands, Swiss and Irish Bank Accounts.

On the other hand, Mr. President, I beg you that when you are back in the White House please suspend the word “compromise” from your dictionary for obvious reasons. You are not working with normal human beings. And Democrats, I refer you to another of my blog posts of August 2011, “Message to Democrats... you are divided and you will not stand”. The philosophy“A house divided cannot stand” originated by Jesus Christ and adapted by Abraham Lincoln should be fresh in your minds since you saw it in action in 2010 mid-term.

One question that is haunting me...Why did it take Mr. Robert Draper until now to reveal this finding? Is it that his research spanned the past 3 some years before he could be absolutely certain of what he says or is his coming out with these “gems” timed to maximize personal gains of his published works?” Should it be the latter, which I hope it isn’t, would he be different from those who consider self above country?