As a Democrat, nothing feels better than to witness the exploding war between factions within the Republican Party. For the past 4 of 6 Presidential Elections, the GOP has had their butts handed to them handily by Democrats. Two for Bill Clinton, two for George W. Bush and two for President Obama.  We are all painfully aware that had it not been for the debacle of the  rancorous 2000 election that was resolved in the Supreme Court over a month after elections were closed the ratio would have been at very least 5 of 6 or who knows, 6 of 6!. 

Their failure to translate their message or forgive me… their failure at having a message period is irrefutable, overwhelming and convincing. The absence of a message that could be deemed sensible and not far over the edge of modern thinking, one that can translate into cohesive sensible alternatives are reasons for the obvious chaos within their ranks.  

One would think that with the shellacking that Republicans received from Obama-Biden in 2012, (such an easy and decisive defeat) they would want to do some introspection as a cohesive group and change their tune. But all that comes from the group is discord having the country and the world sticking their fingers in their ears from the sound coming from this group; a sound which is as intense and annoying as fingernails being scratched across a chalk board. It was an unthinkable defeat for the GOP ideology but they keep fooling themselves that winning the house is a mandate for them to continue with their foolery and irresponsible behavior. Despite the GOP house majority which is their second biggest House majority in 60 years we all know that school children in England know that they ‘won’ this by foul means.  They manipulated electoral areas, altering boundaries, in order to gain an unfair political advantage which is all this House majority adds up to - skullduggery. 

The word “moderate” is a dirty word within GOP politics today.  This is causing uproar within the closed minded and the small thinkers such as exhibited in the sad and absurd 2012 line-up of Republican presidential hopefuls. The varying factions (and there are many of these) continue to flex their individual and idiosyncratic muscles as they each want to be kings and king makers and power brokers within today’s Republican Party. 

1. There are the Traditionalist Conservatives who:
- Favor cultural traditions of old teaching methods to inculcate values and natural law. 
- They oppose feminism and show no love for what they say is “Big Government” while at the same time are in favor of ‘
  No Government’ for issues such as they pertain to big business.  But then again, they are overwhelmingly big 
  government with women’s issues and all else.
- Equal pay for women act is a ‘no no’ women should keep their places in the kitchen and at home where they belong – 
  where God intend them.
- No abortion even in the case of rape yet again because God ordained the rape and the escaladed voting restriction 
  which affects the very large/majority population of voters. 
- They fight the inevitable change of the status quo because they believe in pulling yourself up by the boot straps” while 
  those who have the heart to pull themselves are not provided with living wages to buy the boots with the straps.

2. Then there are the Fiscal Conservatives. These types believe in supply-side economics and claim to be hawkish on the Federal Deficit who were conspicuously absent during the Bush-Cheney Administration. They want to simply: 
- Privatize Social Security and are all for Free Trade also known as outsourcing American jobs
- They want to drastically reduce government spending by cutting social programs like Medicare/Medicare and Social 
  Services
- They want to totally eliminate regulations that guide varying industries in the Private Sector (Wall Street, Banking 
  Industry, Pharmaceutical Industry, etc.)


In this group are the infamous Grover Norquist, Jeb Bush (Florida), Mitch Daniels (Indiana), Mark Sanford (South Carolina), Senator Tom Coburn (Oklahoma), Steve Forbes (Forbes Magazine CEO) Congressman Paul Ryan (Wisconsin) and former HUD Secretary Jack Kemp

3. The Social Conservatives are the “one trick pony” element within the GOP who focus on wedge issues every 4 years. They strongly believe in the Merging of Church Doctrine in State Affairs. The Holy Bible and not the U.S. Constitution, is the constitution and should dictate how elected officials write Laws of the Land. Homosexuality is a sin and those who practice it are doomed to Hell. Curious to know that many of these noble folks who are the most vocal against homosexuality continue to be ‘outed’ and still there are some, who behind closed doors practice this lifestyle yet they are so adamantly against it
- Strictly Pro-Life including the cases of rape and incest. Pro-Death Penalty. Sounds contradicting but, that’s hard line religious dogma. It doesn’t make sense and contradictory.
- Vehemently against tax-payer funded Embryonic Stem Cell Research because they find it “ungodly”. They want religious clergy and Faith Based Organizations to run welfare programs not the Federal Government and they preach and run on a political platform of “Family Values”. 
- Anti-Affirmative Action, Anti-Immigration and Anti-Women’s Rights
- Opposes Gun Control of any kind and so believe that the United States was founded on Christian principles and should therefore outlaw any thinking that the diversity of peoples that make up the citizenry should bow to these Christian principles and abandon their thinking. 

3. The Paleo-Conservatives represent various publications and organizations acting as “think tanks”. They are traditionalists whose worldviews are socially and culturally conservative. They have a strong distrust of modern political ideologies and structures. Their beliefs include:
- Gun Rights and States’ Rights
- Strict adherence to the U.S. Constitution (Constitutionalists)
- Anti-Multiculturalism and economic nationalists (Protectionists/Isolationalists)
- Non-Interventionalists in times of War

4. The Neo-Conservatives main goal is to promote an interventionist foreign policy. They think it is America’s right to dominate the world through pre-emptive military action against designated enemy nations. Strongly Pro-Israel no matter what and are ready to unilaterally strike foreign soil “in the name of spreading & preserving democracy.”  They feel morally obligated to defend freedom according to the Father of Neo-Conservatism Dick Cheney. These types believe in War as a first and last resort. They are neck deep with promoting and benefitting from the Military Industrial Complex and flex American global dominance as the only Super Power remaining.

5. Moderates/ “Rockefeller Liberals” (aka R.I.N.O.: Republican In Name Only) are fiscally conservative and socially liberal for the most part. Only a handful of this dying breed is socially conservative and fiscally centrists. They also clash views with other factions within the Republican Party. They are for balancing the Federal Budget, Lower Taxes, for Free Trade, deregulation and Welfare Reform, pro-Same Sex Marriage and Pro-Gay Adoption, against Legal Access/Federal Funding of Abortion, Gun Control Laws, strict Environmental Regulations, Few restrictions on Legal Immigration, anti-Climate Change measures, they would like to abolish the death penalty, support “Sanctuary Cities” (relax on Illegal Immigration), and are for the Civil Rights Laws and Embryonic Stem Cell Research.

6. The Establishment Conservative group has the ability to galvanize all factions with one goal in mind---WINNING! They are well healed financially and have the backing of Big Business. There is name-recognition outside of the borders of politics and are known internationally. They possess all attributes of all the factions mentioned in this article. It galvanizes the base. They are the charismatic and/or well respected of the breed of Republicans. This group seeks to unite and members are not polarizing. They appeal to moderate and conservative Democrats alike. 

7. Libertarians are considered out of the main stream. This faction emphasizes open and unregulated Free Markets, minimal Social controls and non-interventionism in foreign policy. They oppose government social spending, regulation and taxes and favor unfettered free speech, oppose Gun Control of any type and are anti-Civil Rights, anti-IRS, they want to outsource infrastructure programs (take it out of the Government’s hands), reduce the National Debt and support the Fair Tax (or Flat Tax where everyone pays one rate). One of their pet wishes is to reduce military spending and they are highly critical of the Federal Reserve, are Anti-Women’s Movement, Anti-Gay and Anti-Immigrant isolationists. 

8. Tea Party: WHO THE HELL REALLY KNOWS WHO THESE ARE!!! But they and their fanaticism were gladly embraced in the 2010 elections by the “Win at Any Cost Republican Party” And by God this crazy radical group is costing the party big! They want to take back America. Take America back from what and/or from whom? Extreme right wing trolls on all issues imaginable. This group is mostly made up of W.A.S.P. who fail to accept that the status quo and demographics of America have changed. There now exists a “Minority Majority” but this faction does everything to upset that new status quo. 
- Anti-Progressive in all aspects and Ultra-Conservative (the further right wing is the better). Its Theo-Cons meet Fiscal Conservatism. No space for compromise on anything. It’s their way or the highway
- The group believes America should have a white majority always and refuse to accept that there is no longer a white majority. They are religious bigots, Anti-Multiculturalism, Anti-Immigrant, Anti-Minority, Anti-Gay, Anti-Civil Rights and Anti-Women’s Rights.

Their ultimate and only wish was to make Barack Obama “a one-term president” but they failed miserably.

The want to start a war with Iran and to be Pro-Israel no matter what not even exempting situations of human short comings. Their supporters/members are in part, “Armageddon-ists” born-again religious nuts and odd balls.
They act as spoilers for Establishment Republicans in primaries across America and suffer from classic “foot in mouth” disease where they say outlandish nonsense only to have the electorate turn against them. Mitch McConnell (Kentucky- US Senate Minority Leader) is one classic example, perched at a vantage point to create havoc for the country and to make a fool of himself and his party.

9. Rush Limbaugh and FOX News are the major group if not they form the biggest faction – they are the major influencer and enabler of the aforementioned eight of this tortuous group of people GOP. 

Diversity is good – at times…but the Republican party has nine or more diverse groups, each with its strong and firm beliefs; groups notoriously unwilling to see/accept that it is one party and a house divided among itself will not stand. There are at least ten battles in the GOP war which continue to be waged with each army, all ten battalions standing firm ground in their exclusivity and non compromising dogma. 

There is an implosion of gigantic proportion within the GOP so it is easy to predict with this unrelenting stand-their-ground of each faction, there is no chance of a Republican president in the White House in the near future. Good luck to them in retaining the House of Representatives or getting a solid majority in the U.S. Senate come 2014.

I really don’t mind especially if these crazy people are all the GOP has to offer. It is sad but to stop ourselves from sinking into total depression over this demise of a party I invite you to bring the popcorn and soda and join me watch the "War Games”

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COPY & PASTE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DccJgxK0kQs
Clip from "HARDBALL with CHRIS MATTHEWS" (MSNBC): "The Stupid Party" (14 mintues 20 seconds) 
Guests: Joy-Ann Reid & David Corn 

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It is as plain as daylight that Republicans are not sincere about any “pro-people” causes or bi-partisan effort they have latched on to since their defeat in the 2012 election. While some in the party continue to be their true self in opposing anything that would benefit the 98% of Americans and God forbid anything that benefit the other group of “them” such as undocumented immigrants, there are those who are walking a tight rope trying to pretend that they are reasonable and rational human beings. But of course they are playing characters in a circus and America is watching sometimes for comic relief but most times in nauseating disgust.

If we hit the memory recall button we would remember that:

• In 2010, then Senate Candidate Rubio came out in support of SB 1070 the Arizona’s “Papers Please Law" while not in favor of the Dream Act.  Notably, previous to that time he had expressed “concerns” that the bill would “unreasonably single out people who were here illegally” echoing what his mentor Jeb Bush said. He is no different than Republican lawmakers who worry about risking primary challenges and the rage of a section of the conservative base if they don’t toe the extremist and hate-mongering line. What we are witnessing now is Rubio Version 2.0.  The versions will continue to infinity.

• In 2011 Senator Rubio said he was opposed to the “Dream Act because it was a form of amnesty”. He further stated at the time that his family came to the United States legally and he believes that others should follow the law. This claim of how his family came to America is still in question especially since he had lied when he saw the opportunity to evoke sympathy with his claim that his parents fled Castro’s Cuba. This we will recall proved to be a lie since his parents first came to the United States in 1956, three years before the Cuban Revolution in 1956.

Let us give Senator Rubio the benefit of the doubt and let us accept that human beings evolve in their thinking and his hard-line on immigration has been genuinely softened. And let us also give him the point that Cubans cannot truly empathize with the hardships that the ‘real’ Latino population undergo. Rubio and his fellow countrymen benefit from the “Cuban Adjustment Act” of 1966 so he, et al benefitted and continue to benefit from being given a relatively easy shot at the American Dream. This is what many call the “Cuban Amnesty”.  This affords in the past and up to the present day Cubans to become Legal Permanent Residents after only one year after entering the country and this courtesy is extended also to those Cubans who cross the Mexican border illegally. There is no “Mexican Adjustment Act” no “Dominican Adjustment Act” nor any “Venezuelan Adjustment Act” and so on so. 

Where was the good Senator only months ago in 2012 when the Republican primary candidates and the candidate elect were self deporting, building electrified fence at the Mexican border and constructing a mote with alligators to keep out those who are trying to enter? Was the rising Republican star and 2016 Presidential hopeful Marco Rubio deaf or tongue tied? 

John Huntsman, the only honorable one in the 2012 group of Republican hopefuls, described Mitt Romney as a “well oiled weather vane” that turns to the direction that the wind of opportunity is blowing. Here comes another of the breed Senator Marco Rubio!

He, like the GOP establishment is playing the danger game; the danger of losing the support of hard-line “Anti-Immigration Reformers”, who think that these undocumented immigrants will take jobs that should go to citizens especially with the current unemployment reality. And lest we forget, Rubio and others running in 2014 are cognizant of the danger and risk of being challenged in primaries.

Then there are the neo-conservatives in the persons of Bill Kristol (son of Irving Kristol, godfather of Neo-conservatism), Paul Wolfowitz, Dick Cheney and the ‘totem pole climber’ Ann Coulter  who said “Rubio’s bill is nothing but amnesty…. a wolf in wolf’s clothing”.

Of course Rubio and his colleagues have considered and planned their escape route should they feel the wind is shifting directions and the bill is being dubbed amnesty.  This is almost a certainty since there are those in the party who are dead set against Comprehensive Immigration Reform.  This escape route is evidenced by his continued insistence that border security has to come first. Stop and consider ‘border security’. Who will decide that the border is fully secured? I haven’t heard an pragmatic and distinct method of determining this so am left to think that this condition will be dependent on the subjectivity and personal satisfaction of the Jan Brewers and Rick Perrys of this world!

We all have our ambitions and that we should; since it is by projecting our successes that we humans and by extension our countries and the world enjoy progressive and positive development. Rubio is being touted as a Republican “rising star” but other than riding on bandwagon after bandwagon making public utterances as the wind blows and dictates, he has not shown any level of inner strength and personal conviction that can propel him to sit in the heavens where rising stars end up and belong. 

Again, lest we forget in 2010, Rubio won only because the Senate race was split three ways between himself, Charlie Crist who ran as an independent having fallen from grace of conservatives because of his moderate views. Rubio was the favorite in the heyday of the ‘Tea Party’ and former Congressman Kendrick Meeks (D) took votes which would certainly otherwise have gone to Crist. 

The Daily Caller reported in an article January 30 that Rubio is attempting to sell his Miami home and will move his family to Washington, D.C. He is fighting a fight of his political life by putting himself in the forefront on this immigration reform issue which represents for him and his party a drastic shift which is driven primarily by the massacre of the 2012 election results. There is a rift within the party on this hot-button issue. We note that as is expected when Republicans fear they might run afoul of their masters Rubio went and pay homage to the mighty Rush Limbaugh whose diet is venom and whose only target is his ego and revenue inflow.

The circus continues and America is on the frontline watching - some cheering, some booing and others just watching and musing what they know will be the sure outcome – civil war within the GOP and a ripping and tearing between factions of the party. Bitter war between moderates, and the  right-wingers and the soon-to-be defunct, Tea Party. I would want to say “sit back, relax and enjoy” BUT there is nothing funny about persons not doing the job they are employed to do. Let the show continue, the employers (voters) will issue pink slips come 2014 and 2016 and I predict Rubio will be one such recipient.

And some food for thought.  With the cloud of uncertainty hanging over the Rubio family’s entrance into the United States is he a ‘natural born citizen”? Were his parents citizens when he was born in 1971? Can he satisfy the constitutional requirement to be POTUS as it is obvious is his ambition? His own lie about his family’s entrance into the country casts a shadow of doubt.

Oh dear, am I becoming a ‘Birther”? Heaven forbid.

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Hillary Clinton SCHOOLED OLD GOPers AND THE BACK-BENCHERS ALIKE. They foolishly thought that after a fall, concussion and hospital she would be fair game….but she can’t be stopped! She is simply the best!!!! 
By David A. Franklin, Jr.

Can the Republicans who are acting out this political “hackery” and bloodlust against Hillary Clinton not see themselves in the mirror? They are as transparent as the unicellular amoeba whose structure displays their ‘brain’ and their gut with food and fecal matter residing in the same cell and a basic light microscope can reveal their internal structure and organs.

There is a quote from my grandmother’s book of wisdom “It’s not the person who sh*ts on the side of the road who remembers it, but the one who steps in it”.  Republicans did the sh*tting and the rest of the country (and the world) stepped in it – the dead and wounded servicemen and women, their families, friends and well-wishers. So it seems that this adage is correct, Republican sh*tters do not remember the incidents of 9/11 and the lies that they perpetrated day after day, year after year fed to Americans and to the world. 

And they have the unmitigated gaul, the effrontery to be making a stink about Benghazi which is all about the information given by UN Ambassador Susan Rice who was presenting information given to her by CIA intelligence. In the hearing with Hillary Clinton Wednesday, one of the ‘old’ GOPers wondered if Ms. Rice could not have used her intelligence and think that the information passed to her were incorrect. 

1. Did Colin Powell at the United Nations who presented microscopic details of the existence of actual locations of  
    WMD in Iraq have the intelligence or did he like Ambassador Rice trust those whom it is expected can be trusted?

2. Have Senator John McCain, and those grilling on Benghazi, forget that Colin Powell was used by their party as  the 
    ‘voice of reason’ to feed the world with a mixture of lies and falsehoods that Saddam had Weapons of Mass 
    Destruction which we have long since come to know did not exist before the US-led invasion of Iraq? Four dead or 
    four thousand does not justify carelessness. Both numbers are serious but we who are intelligent and are truthful and 
    we who are not playing cheap politics know that the Republicans in the Benghazi hearing is nothing 
    but amateur theater. 

3. Can Republicans recall their own actions or is their lying nature pathological and innate and hence they cannot help 
    themselves?

4. Have they forgotten that their lies signed the death warrant of well over a million innocent Iraqi men, women and 
    children?

5. Do they accept responsibility or do they have the conscience to accept the blame for a war based on falsehoods and 
    the greed for money that caused the deaths of nearly 4,500 American men and women, untold maiming and 
    disruption of American lives that too often lead to suicide?

6. Did George W. Bush and his Administration officials use intelligence when they claimed that there existed a highly 
    secretive relationship between Saddam Hussein and Al-Qaeda from 1992 to 2003 and that this relationship might 
    mean a possible launch of terrorist attacks on the United States? 

7. Was it that they were  not intelligent or did they outright lie about what they put forward as compelling reasons to go 
    into Iraq which the world has long realized that it was for no other reason than to build the ever profitable Military 
    Industrial Complex to the benefit of themselves, friends and cohorts?

8. Have these old GOPers in the persons of John McCain, et al and the attention-seeking back-benchers such as 
    Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky) not have the intelligence and/or the mental capacity to 
    understand that although up to this point in history there is nothing to debunk consensus of intelligence experts that 
    the contacts between Iraq and Al-Qaeda did not lead to operational relationship?  

A total of 4,486 U.S. soldiers were killed in Iraq between 2003 and 2012  "Operation Iraqi Freedom | Iraq". iCasualties. 2010-05-28. Retrieved 2012-10-10 and all because of the lies perpetrated by the Bush Administration which includes President George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and the GOP members of Congress.  They, through their news organs and operatives, not excluding the infamous FOX News pumped out lie, after lie, after lie that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction so America has to invade.  

It is clear that the spectacle dubbed ‘the Benghazi hearing’ had less to do with policy and all to do with plain and downright cheap politics. It was so terrible that a Fox News military Analyst and right-wing pundit Lt. Col. Ralph Peters (ret.) could not but praise Hillary Clinton’s delivery of herself and the facts - “I came away with deeper respect for Hillary Clinton’s bureaucratic lawyerly brilliance,” Peters said. “I mean she was just tough and good and the Republicans looked like weenies”:

There were two targets in my opinion of this useless and senseless waste-of-time hearing which brought out nothing new or different from the talking points of the Republicans. Points that have been proven to be false and wrong:

             - In the first instance to get Ambassador Rice out of the play for 
               Secretary of State nomination so that John Kerry could vacate 
               the seat Republicans think they can regain through Scott 
               Brown. 

             - Second, it was used to try to discredit Hillary Clinton and 
                weaken any chance she might have to run for the presidency in 
                2016. But the world sees that they succeed in exposing to the 
                world that Hillary is ready to be President Clinton! It backfired 
                and only made them look the weaklings they all are.

Bring it on GOP---YOU PICKED THE WRONG GIRL!
 “With All Due Respect”
 Indeed, these were the choice words that resonated from Secretary Clinton to Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) when he asked why did she not make “a simple phone call” to the evacuees to find out, what he termed ‘the facts’ whereupon Madam Secretary of State rejoined: “With all due respect, the fact is we had four dead Americans!” ,“What difference does it make?”



The Clinton schooling of the rookie Senator Johnson continued: 
JOHNSON: "Madam Secretary, do you disagree that a simple phone call to those evacuees to determine what 
                  happened would have ascertained immediately there was no protest? That was a piece of information that 
                  could have been easily, easily obtained. within hours if not days."

CLINTON: "Senator, you know, when you’re in these positions, the last thing you want to do is interfere with any other 
                 process."

JOHNSON: "I realize that. I realize it’s a good excuse."

CLINTON: "No it’s a fact. [...]"

JOHNSON: "Again, we were mis-lead there was supposedly protests and something spraying out of that, assault 
                  spraying out of that. That was easily ascertained that was not the fact and the American people could 
                  have known that within days and didn’t know that."

And…..Here comes the gem:

CLINTON: "With all due respect, the fact is we had four dead Americans! Was it because of a protest or was it 
                 because of guys out for a walk one night decided to go kill some Americans?! What difference at 
                 this point does it make?! It is our job to figure out what happened and do everything we can to prevent it 
                 from ever happening again."

I couldn’t say it any better that the sampling of headlines displayed below:

“In Benghazi hearings, Hillary Storms Capitol Hill” – Dana Milbank Washington Post

“The Benghazi Show: Republicans Wanted To Grill Hillary Clinton On The Death Of Four Americans In Libya. They Blew It.” -  David Weigel The New York Times

“Hillary Clinton’s Benghazi Hearing Proves Women Can Handle Combat” - SUSAN MILLIGAN  US News

“Hillary Clinton Eats the Republican Party for Lunch at Benghazi Hearing” - Jason Easley PoliticusUSA.



Well done Madam Secretary, well done! 


And see you in 2016!!!

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All the predictions, fears, hopes and ‘hope-nots’ that the President would be faint-hearted in dealing with the plague of assault weaponry in schools, theaters, restaurants, shopping malls, homes and on the streets of America and gun killings in the country have been put to rest. Obama came out swinging.  

1. Criminal background checks for all gun sales
2. Reinstating the assault weapons ban
3. Restoring a 10-round limit on ammunition magazines
4. Eliminating armor-piercing bullets
5. Providing mental health services in schools
6. Allocating funds to hire more police officers 
7. Instituting a federal gun trafficking statute, among other policies. 
   This is indeed the biggest legislative effort in a (or any) generation. 

These recommendations require the approval of the “Say-no-to-everything President Obama puts forward even if it coincides with our thinking Congress” so the President has prescribed some supplements to this diet in the form of 23 executive actions that will be of immediate effect.

1. Increase Access To Background Check Data
    Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal agencies to make    
    relevant data available to the federal background check system.

2. Remove Legal Barriers On Background Checks
    Address unnecessary legal barriers, particularly relating to the Health 
    Insurance Portability and Accountability Act that may prevent states 
    from making information available to the background check system.


3. Incentivize Sharing Of Background Check Data
    Improve incentives for states to share information with the background 
    check system.


4. Review Criteria For Gun Ownership
    Direct the Attorney General to review categories of individuals prohibited 
    from having a gun to make sure dangerous people are not slipping 
    through the cracks.

5. Background Checks For Returning Seized Guns
    Propose rulemaking to give law enforcement the ability to run a full 
    background check on an individual before returning a seized gun.

6. More Guidance On Background Checks
    Publish a letter from ATF to federally licensed gun dealers providing 
    guidance on how to run background checks for private sellers.

7. Safe & Responsible Gun Ownership
    Launch a national safe and responsible gun ownership campaign.

8. Gun Lock & Safes
    Review safety standards for gun locks and gun safes (Consumer 
    Product Safety Commission

9. Improve Gun Tracking In Criminal Investigations
    Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal law enforcement to 
    trace guns recovered in criminal investigations.

10. Report On Lost & Stolen Guns
      Release a DOJ report analyzing information on lost and stolen guns 
      and make it widely available to law enforcement.

11. ATF Director
     Nominate a Director for Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms.

12. Training For Law Enforcement
      Provide law enforcement, first responders, and school officials with 
      proper training for active shooter situations

13. Maximize Enforcement Efforts On Gun Crime
      Maximize enforcement efforts to prevent gun violence and prosecute 
      gun crime.

14. Increase Research On Gun Violence
      Issue a Presidential Memorandum directing the Centers for Disease 
      Control to research the causes and prevention of gun violence.

15. Prioritize New Gun Technology
      Direct the Attorney General to issue a report on the availability and 
      most effective use of new gun safety technologies and challenge the 
      private sector to develop innovative technologies

16. Clarify Obamacare On Doctors & Guns
      Clarify that the Affordable Care Act does not prohibit doctors asking 
      their patients about guns in their homes.

17. Inform Doctors On Reporting Threats
      Release a letter to health care providers clarifying that no federal law 
      prohibits them from reporting threats of violence to law enforcement 
      authorities.

18. School Resource Officers
      Provide incentives for schools to hire school resource officers

19. Develop Emergency Response Plans
      Develop model emergency response plans for schools, houses of 
      worship and institutions of higher education.

20. Clarify Scope Of Medicaid's Mental Health Coverage
      Release a letter to state health officials clarifying the scope of mental 
      health services that Medicaid plans must cover.

21. Finalize ACA Regulations
      Finalize regulations clarifying essential health benefits and parity 
      requirements within ACA exchanges.

22. Address Mental Health Parity
     Commit to finalizing mental health parity regulations

23. Start Dialogue On Mental Health
      Launch a national dialogue led by Secretaries Sebelius and Duncan 
      on mental health.

UNITED STATES ANNUAL DEATHS BY THE GUN FAR OUT-NUMBER DEATHS IN WAR AND DEATHS  CAUSED BY TERRORISTS WORLDWIDE


Statistics are alarming. We are aware in our subconscious that the horrific impact of gun homicides but it is not until we are confronted with a condensed matrix that we can fully appreciate the magnitude. Every single life is important but lawmakers in Washington spend time (and so they should) talking about deaths in the ghastly Benghazi incident, about the total amount of deaths in Afghanistan over the life-time of the war.  However, are we to  believe that the war on human lives on US soil is too close under our noses for any real attention to be paid to this appalling situation?  

In 2010 the total deaths of Americans in Afghanistan war was 499 and while 13,186 people died in terrorist attacks worldwide, in that same year 31,672 people lost their lives in America owing to gun-related deaths! 
Since the beginning of 2013 one American lost his life in Afghanistan while as of January 15, 2013, total loss of lives in the days since the Newtown shooting, the American death count is 919.  

The answer to the question is that lawmakers and the media are the ones who determine what is important; they are the ones who call the tune and for reasons of personal economics, party economics, and ratings.  Self-interest is so rife, so endemic, it stinks to holy hell and at the  total disregard for the people who vote for them to take care of the people’s and the country’s interests.   The media uses those who continue to watch/view/listen the mostly garbage and toxic programming. The use them as pawns in their games that convert anchors, talk-show hosts, into multimillionaires while the rest of the country suffers in poverty, deprivation of privileges, legal and civil right.  
These parties have been so comfortable in their corner that they have long begun to take the American public for granted, so much so that although polls say one thing they dismiss these statistics, assured that polls are wrong or that the ‘docile, contented, ignorant’ people know no better and are unable to think for themselves.

One would think that the last election would be a wake-up call for these thinkers, but no… they are still in their slumber but the people will, and are continuing to speak.  There is nothing stronger than the voice of the people.  

THE OPPOSERS:
1. The NRA and the Gun Industry sought to eliminate the unit in the Centers for Disease Control that did research on   
    gun-related deaths and thus over the decades diminished the ability to access such information by cutting out their 
    funding.
"….. those pro-gun groups have stopped the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms from revealing data to the public….. Government research on gun related deaths has diminished over the years and become more difficult to access, ..has been deliberately engineered by the gun lobby.” Guns Kill more than Terrorism, Samuel Burke, CNN, January 13, 2013 

Wayne LaPierre, NRA Executive Director has said there are no shades of grey in the gun control debate. ‘You are either with us or against.’ . The NRA’s consistent and long standing position for at least two decade has been, ‘We will not compromise on any gun control legislation.’” And there are untold risks inherent for those who dare to disagree with the NRA.  Republicans and some Democrats toe the line so as to safeguard their butts irrespective of the consequences to the country. 

2. FOX News who we can always trust to be in the nastiest and most evil echelons of any issue related to the Obama Administration on Wednesday, January 16th gave viewers advice on how to obtain assault weapons after the New York ban on assault weapons.

3. States misusing tax-payers’ money in form of subsidies to manufactures of assault rifles - $19 million in tax breaks to kill our kids! States providing subsidies since 2003 are Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Oklahoma.

4. U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) Vows Gun Challenge... 

5. State Rep. Joe Carr (R –Tennessee) Proposes Bill Targeting Federal Agents... 

6. Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant and House Speaker Philip Gunn say they will block any federal measures limiting the right to bear and possess arms from being enforced in Mississippi 

7. Second Congressman Floats Impeachment: Congressman Randel join his colleague Steve Stockman from Texas saying if the President restricts gun rights he will eliminate funding for implementation, defunding the White House, and even filing articles of impeachment” against the President.

8. Wyoming Lawmaker: Make Assault Weapons Enforcement A Felony... State Rep. Kendell Kroeker a Republican state lawmaker in Wyoming has introduced legislation to prohibit enforcement of federal gun control measures

9. LONE-STAR LOON: Rep. Tries To Ban Gun Laws... State Rep. Steve Toth (R- The Woodlands) a newly elected Republican state legislator in Texas has proposed legislation making it illegal to enforce a federal gun ban in the state

10. LAWLESS SHERIFFS: We Won't Enforce Gun Laws... From Oregon to Mississippi, President Barack Obama's proposed ban on new assault weapons and large-capacity magazines struck a nerve among rural lawmen and lawmakers, many of whom vowed to ignore any restrictions – and even try to stop federal officials from enforcing gun policy in their jurisdictions.

11. NRA UNHINGED: Ad Targets Obama Children... The NRA’s “Stand and Fight Campaign” A video released by the National Rifle Association on Tuesday sharply criticizes President Obama for his skepticism about placing armed guards in schools, calling the president an "elitist hypocrite" for allowing the Secret Service to protect his daughters.
"Are the president's kids more important than yours?" the ad asks. "Then why is he skeptical about putting armed security in our schools when his kids are protected by armed guards at their school?"

The ad continues: "Mr. Obama demands the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes, but he is just another elitist hypocrite when it comes to a fair share of security."

12. 'Fight Of The Century':  NRA Warns Obama Gun Proposal Is 'Fight Of The Century' In Fundraising Push

These individuals, and the NRA continue to be tone deaf to the voice of majority of Americans who support some type of gun control as evidenced by the latest polls – background checks (82%), ban on assault-style weapons (55%), ban on high-capacity ammunition clips (54%). 
. 
In this war, the battles are being fueled by a Group Of Polarized beings - the GOP. These individuals make it their full-time occupation to develop and expand extremism, to stereotype, dehumanize and condemn those who they see as “not like them” in thinking and ideology.  They wage war against those who stand in their way of popularity, graft and corruption 

One has to give them an ‘A+’ for consistency but an ‘F’ for smarts for the lack of ability to see that this ploy is not working and it will never work.


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I have been watching and listening over the past weeks, the happenings in the House on the Hill in Washington, DC and although nothing has changed in the way business is being conducted I, on one of my rear occasions was discombobulated by the gamesmanship, the transparency of John Boehner playing the cards so as to hold on to his job, Eric Cantor being touted in a clandestine way as a possible replacement for the speakership, the fiscal cliff “Deal or No Deal”, protect the rich and screw the poor, take the deal and screw the country later with the debt ceiling. The list goes on and on and none of this gamesmanship - nothing, absolutely nothing seems to be focused on the wellbeing of the country’s economic destiny.

I am not sure if Boehner’s tears which were shed during his acceptance speech were tears of joy or tears of “what the hell did I get myself into?”  If we apply just a slight bit of logic to Boehner’s actions in the last two weeks of the lame-duck session we see he is incompetent, weak, wavering between doing what he thinks is right (right for his political survival) and doing what the many conflicting splinter-groups of his party want him to do… no! demand that he does. 

• The Tea Party

• Grover Norquist who demands that under no condition should taxes be raised notwithstanding the need for revenue.   
   Cut from entitlements, from those undeserving “takers” who served the country in wars created by him and his GOP 
   cohorts, cut from those who paid their social security so as to guarantee benefits after a long and hard working life, 
   …. 

• Eric Cantor, his nemesis of whom Boehner must be leery because he is holding the proverbial knife to his back, 
   positioned at the location of his lungs to let every bit of air out of him.

• Past-rascals and now lobbyists as in the person of Dennis Hastert who like Grover Norquist has delivered an edict by 
  which Republicans must live– the "Hastert Rule": dictating that “only legislation supported by a majority of the majority 
  party can be brought to the floor.” A “rule” designed to limit the ability of minority members to co-opt a few majority 
  members and pass legislation. Yes, Boehner had the gonads to have an up or down vote on the “Fiscal Cliff” deal.
  Hastert on Fox News Radio Thursday ranted "Here is the problem. Maybe you can do it once, maybe you can do it 
  twice, but when you start making deals when you have to get Democrats to pass the legislation, you are not in power 
  anymore". Yes!  To Dennis Hastert and the entire Republican Party, it is about power.  What about bi-partisanship a 
  word bantered about in that same GOP circle when it is convenient for them to criticize the President for not 
  cooperating, for not bowing to the Republicans bidding?

• Let us not forget those who crawl out of the woodwork, the John Sununus and the Lindsey Olin Grahams. Boehner is 
  forced to listen to Sununu, a man who had to resign his job in disgrace as George H. W. Bush’s Chief of Staff, having 
  misappropriating tax- payers’ money by abusing some of his privileges.  He for example, used military aircraft for long 
  personal trips, a White House limousine and driver for shorter personal trips, as he did for a trip in 1991 from 
  Washington DC to Manhattan to go to a stamp auction. Has the word ‘integrity’ been re-defined to allow and accept a 
  major player in the country’s administration such as the Speaker of the House to be ordered to take counsel from 
  bandits of all kinds?

• The “maverick” John McCain who is indeed a one-of-a-kind. America has never seen a human being like McCain who 
  once they thought stood for something and who they admired but now is ‘mavericking’ his way from one unreasonable 
  utterance to the next stupid and openly conniving, devious tactic.  And to what end, eludes me and countless others. 
  He tries to undermine and discredit the integrity of others in the Democratic Party while not being aware that he has 
  succeeded in submerging his own credibility into a septic pool. 

Boehner’s incompetence became observable, was illuminated when he was obviously overwhelmed by all the pressures of his once-in-a-lifetime decision to go against the “Hastert’s Rule” and called an up-or-down vote on the Fiscal Cliff negations which having being passed, breached also the Grover Norquist Covenant.  In one fell swoop he committed a sin against two of the GOP 'godheads’. His backbone disintegrated to jell and his brain decomposed into mush and so he pulled and rescheduled a vote on a Super Storm Sandy relief bill. This is a bill overdue for attention and for passing, a bill that even the most partisan Republican would have given some attention. Had he called an up-or-down vote, this one would have passed. But he buckled under the pressure of his incompetence.

America looks forward to watching the games play out in the arena on:
1. The Debt Ceiling 
2. Comprehensive Immigration Reform
3. The Economy and Jobs
4. Taxes – yes, Taxes
5. Entitlement Reform
6. Energy and Global Warming
7. Gun Control Laws
8. Education

One does not have to think hard. We can see the people who are calling the tunes to Boehner in these debates – Tea Party operatives, the racists and those who themselves are here as ‘proud Americans’ who can claim that pride only because their forebears immigrated from other lands, the Koch Brothers and lobbyists/interest groups, Norquist and Hastert et al, Wayne LePierre and the NRA.  The will continue to shout orders from every corner of Boehner’s ears.  Let us see how he handles himself as the ‘Puppeteered Dummy’.

Boehner’s single job as House ‘Puppeteered Dummy’ is to accede to the demands of a radical, no-compromise, extreme group, and to pretend to be making deals with Democrats while being forever cognizant of the fact that there must be “No Deal”.  

Let the games begin at the expense of this great Country. 

We pray the President will continue to bring good sense, wisdom, reason, judgment and understanding to the equation.  



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By David A. Franklin, Jr.

The spectacle of a press conference called and presented by the National Rifle Association (NRA) on national TV this morning fits perfectly in the lyrics of the calypso (soca) song “Too Many Guns”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3u4vDv_JIIU  .

“This one have a gun, that one have a gun
Man they gon (going) shoot each other for fun.”

The NRA welcomes back the ‘Wild Wild West” and the “meaningful contributions to help make sure this never happens again” they promised is to populate America with more weapons. Of specific note, I hope that viewers/listeners saw and heard the marketing strategy intertwined in Wayne LaPierre’s presentation. He pledged the NRA’s help to train suitable personnel to guard every school in America FOR FREE (the public relations investment) and also offers this service to the world (this is the money-making side of the project). The food-chain is as follows the NRA who feeds themselves and the gun manufacturers who both feed the Tea Party and the Republicans. 


I have never witnessed before, such degree of callousness, insensitive and vomit-worthy barefacedness in an individual. Added to which he up-front said, he will not field any questions but he invites the media to request his presence to speak in the coming weeks. I’ll be damned!!!  I detected the arrogance in his body language from his first sentence and I seriously thought of switching to a cooking show but decided to watch but for the need to listen to the opposing side of good sense. 

Wayne LaPierre the NRA’s chief lobbyist said "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun”. He blamed everyone and every organization – parents, video games, the media and God I suppose while the NRA is the paragon of perfection that advocates a gun in as many hands as possible.

Emergencies cannot wait for the 911 call to dispatch the ‘good guy’ but we should have a ‘good guy’ at every school.  In the most critical and disgusting tone he vilified those who classify the guns used in the Newtown massacre as assault weapons.  In his soliloquy (because that is what it was to him – a play and he alone is to speak to the audience with no interruption or question) and in his arrogant tone he asks why is the gun good to guard the President and not the kids. If there were an obvious outpouring of disgust for the President that was one qualified. 

Inherent in his utterance is that the right to protect yourself in your home is one not to be tampered with and I am sure most people and myself agree, but does one need a Glock 10mm and the military style Bushmaster AR-15 rifle (assault weapons) and thirty round magazines to protect yourself or to hunt?

On MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Friday morning, Tea Partier Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-Kansas) said it is Video Games and not guns that caused the Newtown Massacre. His body language and utterances were as repulsive as those of NRA’s LaPierre. He actually chuckled when he said “What has bothered me the most as a representative is how this has been politicized so quickly that somehow if we had changed one single law—that as I understand it, the State of Connecticut had laws against these things.” This man saw embedded in all this tragedy, something to chuckle about. He actually chuckled and with a smirk!

In addition, the Newtown victims have no legal recourse since an NRA backed law indemnifies gun manufactures from any and all lawsuits that could hold them liable for crimes committed with weapons they produce and sell.  This is at the courtesy of the controversial law passed in Congress some seven years ago - more accurately, a law written by the NRA and passed by their puppet politicians.

Earlier this week in my article I stated that I anxiously await the NRA’s press conference – and I will confess, I had foolishly thought they would provide a suggestion such as supporting banning the sale of assault weaponry to civilians but now I know my anxiety was misplaced. 

“Too many guns in this town,
Too many guns passing round!
Too many guns in this town,
Too many guns passing round!
Is every day you open de paper
All you read ‘bout is murder.
Man, this ting (thing) here is sad,
But de (the) whole damn world goin (going) mad!”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3u4vDv_JIIU 



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By: David A. Franklin, Jr.

The GOP has been noticeably silent on Gun Control in the wake of the horrific tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut where 20 little angels and six of their caretakers, mentors and confidants were brutally murdered. Not until Rick Perry, Texas Governor and Dennis Baxley a Florida GOP Lawmaker opened their mouths, and true to form we got the crap spewing.  

The new “back to school” list for teachers according to these two reads “Chalkboards, Pencils, Erasers and Guns” 

Not to be outdone – or underdone, FOX News staffers were instructed not to discuss gun control over the weekend.  It is alleged that an email to staff from David Clarke, Fox’s Executive Producer made that call. AND although I was not copied on the email I can say, the network’s action - or silence was an indication of Mr. Clarke’s instructions. I for one do not watch FOX News. As a rule, so as not to be counted in the network’s statistics as a viewer, I scroll up or down the channels CNN (40), HLN (41), MSNBC (42), CNBC (43) but religiously when I am to scroll to the next channel which is 44 FOX, I punch in 45 so as to skip and not be counted as a viewer.

On the weekend however, I deliberately on multiple occasions during day and night, punched in FOX and behold there was nothing being said about the Newtown, Connecticut massacre! The usual comfortable snuggery of gloating you come to expect on the faces of these newscasters and pundits was substituted for an “I don’t know exactly what to say next on the topics we are discussing which are really not the top-most subjects/concerns of the day”. I witnessed and noted this befuddled action of the FOX News persons even before I read Gabriel Sherman’s of the New York Magazine stating the reason for this tomfoolery- the muzzle was put on them. 

The other and most powerful arm of the GOP, the National Rifle Association (NRA), has been silent for the most part until four days after the incident. Even then, they say when the organization will be saying something. The action or non-action of the GOP and the Foxes of this world is playing out the “He who pays the piper calls the tune” paradigm. The NRA and its grand members such as the Koch brothers rule the Republican Party to such extent that they inhibit any spontaneous actions or utterances the party or its affiliates dare to contemplate. Republicans have to march lockstep to the drumbeat of those who pay them, their owners. 

The marriage of the NRA and the GOP is a dysfunctional one. This is a union that is the epitome of domestic abuse. Mind control, psychological abuse and a total “if you dare, speak before we (NRA) tell you to, or dare to have an opinion which is contrary to ours (Koch Brothers, et al)”

A sampling of the deep involvement of the NRA in the affairs of the Republican Party is as follows:

• NRA Board members Joe Allbaugh, Scott Bach, Bob Barr, Ronnie Barrett, Clel Baudler, Ken Blackwell, John Bolton, Chris Cox (Executive Director), Cam Edwards (NRA News Radio Host) all campaigned openly and abashedly for the Republican Party. They spoke and wrote against President Obama in the most acrid and vitriolic manner. 
   
• October 2011 NRA Board Member Allbaugh was appointed as senior advisor to the Rick Perry campaign. He served also as campaign manager for George W. Bush’s 2000 presidential campaign.

• Bob Barr in an October of 2012 op-ed for the Marietta Daily Journal endorsed Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan. In June 2012 op-ed for the Daily Caller he wrote scathing remarks against the Supreme Court’s decision on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

• John Bolton, Chairman of International Affairs Subcommittee, criticized President Obama’s foreign affairs performance in a speech at the NRA Convention in St. Louis, MO.

• To top it all, Chris Cox, NRA Executive Director in an October 2012 op-ed in the Daily Caller wrote: “Few elections in American history have mattered more to the future of our gun rights than the one that will take place just two weeks from today … Just one vote on the [Supreme] Court is all that stands between the America our Founding Fathers established, and the America [President] Barack Obama and his gun-ban allies envision. If Obama wins a second term, he could nominate up to three additional anti-Second Amendment judges in the same mold as his previous two [Supreme Court] nominees, Sonya Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. Obama’s new majority would then almost certainly erase the Second Amendment from the Bill of Rights … Barack Obama’s vision for America is a nation that most of us would hardly recognize, let alone want to live in. And if re-elected, Obama will have the chance to make his vision a reality … It’s time to take our country back. It’s time to defeat Barack Obama.”

Every NRA board member and former board members, to celebrity spokes-person Chuck Norris, to Oliver North, to Ted Nugent, Tom Selleck and Clint Eastwood have been vocal about their support to the Republican brand. It is therefore an open secret that the GOP is in the pocket of the NRA and that they dare not do anything but the NRA’s bidding. 

Rick Perry not only advocates arming teachers but admonishes the federal government from keeping control on directing gun control laws in his speech at a Tea Party event in Texas.  He wants to see states be the final authority on this. Perry puts forward as a model, the Harold Independent School District that became the first school district in the country to permit teachers and staff to carry concealed weapons. Permission to bear arms at school is given to a ‘select’ set approved by the school board.

Whereas I can see the logics of this, I share the unease that parents and educators alike on allowing guns on school grounds. Just this Sunday (two days after the Newtown shooting the American Federation of Teachers, a 1.5 million member strong organization, urged Governor Rick Snyder of Michigan to veto the pending ‘Gun-In-Schools Bill’ describing the Newtown shooting as a “chilling and heartbreaking reminder” that “firearms have absolutely no place in our schools”. America’s population is just under 350 million but there are over 310 million guns in the hands of gun owners almost one to each person counting babies!


Rick Perry, at the Tea Party’s Monday meeting, underscored his defiance to arm teachers said: "If you have been duly back-grounded and trained and you are a concealed handgun license-carrying individual, you should be able to carry your handgun anywhere in this state."

Kudos to the Michigan’s Governor, Rick Snyder, who exhibited a glimpse of good sense. He vetoed the ‘Guns-In-Schools’ bill. Snyder’s decision, in my opinion is unfortunately not driven by his deep personal belief nor did it exhibit his strength in going against the wishes of the Tea Party and the NRA but by the fact that he is up for re-election in 2014. Funny how when the sword is hanging over these politicians’ heads by the thread of rejection at the polls that they can make decisions that fall in the categories of rationality and reasonableness. Of course shrewdness and prudence are both motivated by re-election possibilities. 

The NRA decided to break its silence on Tuesday, four days after the incident; and they still postponed making any policy statement. They are trying to resolve the conflict of their hard-line, numbskull thinking on the free-for-all ownership of guns and their interpretation of the Second Amendment to mean ownership of guns and ammunition to your heart’s content and without the need for proper check. 

Now it is the Glock 10mm and the Bushmaster AR-15 rifle (assault weapons). Soon it will be the M-252 Motar.
 .
I am anxiously awaiting the NRA’s press conference on Friday (December 21st). In the meantime I will continue to hear what the brave or fool-hardy, attention-seeking Republicans such as Rick Snyder, Rick Perry and Dennis Baxley are saying and doing.

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GOP and BIG MONEY
GOP and THE TEA PARTY
GOP and KOCH BROTHERS
GOP and FOX NEWS/ROGER AILES
GOP and THE WARMONGERS (CHENEY,,MC CAIN, MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX)
GOP and KARL ROVE
GOP and RUSH LIMBAUGH
GOP and SPEAKER GINGRICH 
GOP and CHRISTIAN CONSERVATIVES
GOP and CATHOLIC CHURCH
GOP and ALEC
GOP and ………………….

By David A. Franklin, Jr.

   Has there been any one puppet in the history of “puppetdom” that has had so many puppeteers who pull its strings and all at the same time and in every different direction? That would make for an impossible and horrific show not only for the audience but certainly for the puppet. The puppet’s stings could not withstand the strain of the hauling and pulling and tugging and would burst sooner than later. The puppet would fall flat – lifeless and limp and even for an inanimate ‘creature’ would have tears in its eyes when it hits the ground. So be it with the GOP! 

For those of us who are consciously watching this devastation play out before our eyes every hour of every day, we are witnessing the disintegration, the rupture and the coming apart of this party. The party is exploding.

   A puppeteer is somebody who uses puppets and this is exactly what these varying interests who are pulling the GOP strings are doing. They are using the party or rather, the GOP is allowing itself to be used. And then again, does the party have an identity? Who are they but the bits and pieces of self aggrandizing extremists, dogmatists, racists and hypocrites? 

Among some of the  interests listed above, the players overlap but even with their similarities they are pulling the Grand Old Party in different directions. The same but different because there are so many and varied self- and selfish interests each group and each individual needs to satisfy.

It is the Good Book that says “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other.” Matthew 6:24. (New Living Translation© 2007). Whether one is coming from a biblical perspective or a secular one, the truism of this quote applies across the board in Christian or Muslim or Buddhist or Atheist societies or in the workplace or in government. If then the major problem obtains when there are only two masters what does it say in this case in point?  What can really happen when there are multiple masters with the one servant trying to love all of them and hating none? 
                                                                     To be devoted to all and despising none? Impossible! 

I am taken back to an article I penned in the early stages of the fiasco called the Republican Primaries when all hell broke loose and America was fed with a steady diet of crazy from these presidential hopefuls. The article “Patriotism or Treason?” started out by providing the dictionary definition of treason - “disloyalty or treachery to one’s country or its government.” And we must add to this definition,  “self interests at the expense of country and government.”

Starting with Senator Prescott Bush (R-Connecticut) treachery isn’t anything new to the GOP. 
“George Bush's grandfather, the late US senator Prescott Bush, was a director and shareholder of companies that profited from their involvement with the financial backers of Nazi Germany.

The Guardian has obtained confirmation from newly discovered files in the US National Archives that a firm of which Prescott Bush was a director was involved with the financial architects of Nazism.
His business dealings, which continued until his company's assets were seized in 1942 under the Trading with the Enemy Act, has led more than 60 years later to a civil action for damages being brought in Germany against the Bush family by two former slave laborers at Auschwitz and to a hum of pre-election controversy.
The debate over Prescott Bush's behavior has been bubbling under the surface for some time. There has been a steady internet chatter about the "Bush/Nazi" connection, much of it inaccurate and unfair. But the new documents, many of which were only declassified last year,(2003) show that even after America had entered the war and when there was already significant information about the Nazis' plans and policies, he worked for and profited from companies closely involved with the very German businesses that financed Hitler's rise to power. It has also been suggested that the money he made from these dealings helped to establish the Bush family fortune and set up its political dynasty.”

Published on Saturday, September 25, 2004 by the Guardian/UK 
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/sep/25/usa.secondworldwar/print
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0925-01.htm

 This would say then that Senator Bush literally bankrolled the Nazis and had financial dealings with Adolf Hitler behind closed doors during time of war. Yet, we elect his son, George Bush and nominated his less than intellectually stellar grandson, George W. Bush into office. Trade with the enemy in time of war then reward the family with the American Presidency…not once but twice!

-  Then there is the deified Ronald Reagan’s 1980 “October Surprise”.
“The October Surprise conspiracy theory refers to an alleged plot to influence the outcome of the 1980 United States presidential election between incumbent Jimmy Carter (D–GA) and opponent Ronald Reagan (R–CA).
One of the leading, national issues during that year was the release of 52 Americans being held hostage in Iran since November 4, 1979.[1] Reagan won the election. On the day of his inauguration, in fact, 20 min after he concluded his inaugural address, the Islamic Republic of Iran announced the release of the hostages. The timing gave rise to an allegation that representatives of Reagan's presidential campaign had conspired with Iran to delay the release until after the election to thwart President Carter from pulling off an "October surprise".
According to the allegation, the Reagan Administration rewarded Iran for its participation in the plot by supplying Iran with weapons via Israel and by unblocking Iranian government monetary assets in US banks.
……several individuals—most notably former Iranian President Abulhassan Banisadr former Naval intelligence officer and National Security Council member Gary Sick; and former Reagan/Bush campaign and White House staffer Barbara Honegger—have stood by the allegation”. Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_surprise_conspiracy_theory

- We saw in Wisconsin, financed by the Koch Brothers, GOP Puppeteers tried to suppress free speech and curtail the rights of the working class. They tried to kill due process and made every attempt to steam roll legislation that helped rapacious corporations, not the average blue collar worker. Wisconsinites stood tall and put them in their rightful place.
This puppet/puppeteer relationship continues in the outcome yesterday (December 11th) when Michigan’s Republican controlled House and Senate crammed through and passed an Anti-Union bill which was signed into law by the Governor. Need we ask? It is the GOP Puppeteering Machine at work with the stamp of the wishes of big business, of Koch Brothers et al. Self interest over the will of the people over the progress of state and country.  Treason!

- Voter suppression during 2012 election period
- Sheldon Adelson and his other mega rich cronies pumping billions of dollars to win the election and make the government theirs bought and paid for in full.
- The shady Sunshine State shenanigans pulled off by Rick Scott and mirrored throughout the Republican control state houses
- The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) together with global corporations, and state politicians every day rewrite state laws done behind closed doors and presented to the American public as the sole work of elected leaders. These are called “model bills” but are the actual bills passed and rammed through by state legislature, an action which now seems a norm and an everyday happening.

The last legitimate Republican president was Dwight D. Eisenhower. He ran on peace and did not surrender the reigns to big corporations. He was a moderate Republican who stood up to the Military Industrial Complex, ended the Korean War, lowered taxes for the Middle Class, protected FDR’s “New Deal” programs, built/fixed roads, schools, hospital, etc and was vocal in the cause for desegregation in the 1950s. His sound policies paved the way for his successor John F. Kennedy. 

Get Over It Republicans – Barack Obama is President!  Recognize that you ended your relationship with the truth and moderation and are now romantically involved with ‘Stinker’ (The Tea Party) and Stinker is the lover you should never have.

The Death of Republicans, the Tea Party and the Extremism In American Politics

By: David A. Franklin, Jr.

In the 2001 American romantic comedy film ‘Get Over It’ the girlfriend of a teenage boy ends their relationship and moves to another boy, Stinker. While there is nothing romantic or comedic about the drama being played out in Washington, Republicans need to get over President Obama’s win and get on with doing the country’s business. But no! I forgot they haven’t done any real business since George W. Bush through to the last four years when all they did was lie, cheat, deceive, con, defraud and dupe to get in the White House while earning for the House of Representative the worst rating in not so recent history.

‘Stinker’ (the Tea Party) and the Republicans have become severely unhinged and irrational. Thanks in a large part to the re-election of Barack Obama as President of the United States the other part is that they are intoxicated by hunger for power, and are haters and racists! Yes, I said it – racists. I will not expand on this incrimination of the GOP of obvious and glaring discrimination against the President. The sad part is that it is being played out in full view and the world watches and laughs at the country which indeed was and continues to think it is the beacon of good, common sense and elevated thinking.  As Stinker and his girlfriend (GOP) continue to froth at the mouth, they slip further into irrelevance at home and abroad, they take the country with them on this downward spiral while other world powers get into bed with concentrated thinking and sensible action to improve their economies and their world recognition and approval. 
America is making a dramatic comeback economically under the great leadership of the Obama-Biden Administration and they just cannot accept it.
 
The movie “Get Over It” was set in a high school to a post-high school background and by God this pair (GOP/Tea Party) is acting the part perfectly! The constant threat of a break up and of domestic violence by the Tea Party if the GOP should ever act outside of its desires, a perfect manifestation of adolescent behavior in their developmental transition from childhood to adulthood exhibiting a fight to gain cognitive, emotional and social maturation. 

The GOP turns the guns on to each other casting blame on individuals. Instead of looking at what they did wrong as a collective political movement, they rather blame others for their idiocy, their hate and their sheer incompetence. 

I am reminded of the Whig Party back in the 1800s that represented the main national opposition to the Democratic Party from the mid-1830s until the early 1850s. As it was then it is now with the Republican Party. 
But we must remember that the infighting and blame games of the 1800s Whig Party resulted in its division and finally its demise. The same pot pourri of multiple personalities that characterized the Whig Parry persist to date and are evident in the GOP – socially conservative, liberal in religious matters, moral reformists, evangelical revival influence considered as significantly important, exploitation of fears of northern abolitionist interference to arouse popular support then, as it is now with fear mongering that 47% will take over by sucking dry the country’s coffers and the voter suppression to eliminate minorities from exercising their right to vote. 

Again, it is significant that just as the Whigs were torn apart by sectional interests that brought about a quick end to the party, the same scenario is being played out in modern-day Republicans. A party that was formed in 1854 from the remnants of this disdain for fairness, and the explosion of infighting and division. But what can we say, the GOP was spawned by the Whigs and hence their DNA must be the same. 

In the 1800s they took a hard-line stance against changing times, thus ensuring that they became a footnote in American political history. Their twenty first century child, like them is fast becoming irrelevant and faces the scary future of obsolescence. A political movement whose claim to fame is catchy slogans and wedge issues that the majority cares nothing about in the bigger scheme of things. The Republican Party is heading in that direction slowly but surely. Who is to blame for this circular firing squad? Some say Karl Rove. Others say the Moral Majority and fringe social groups. Still others say Grover Norquist and Reince Prebuis. Still others say Billionaires/SUPER PACs who tried to buy the 2012 election. I agree that all the aforementioned are to take blame. But, the Republicans lost mainly because they are hell-bent on keeping the status quo. They fail to realize that America has changed demographically, socially, economically and structurally over a hundred year span. I feel that the main reason they lost so badly is because of the involvement of the Tea Party Movement. The Tea Party did not hijack them; they were invited in by the current crop of failures known as the GOP Leadership. 

They appeal to the marginal group in society who live off fear and ignorance and base their unfounded prejudices on negative stereotypes which are largely baseless and have been proven many times to be downright foolish and backward. The Tea Party movement cannot be taken seriously as they often tout candidates for office who are out of main stream rational thinkers. What Washington, D.C. needs is rationality and common sense! Those two words can never be uttered in the same sentence with Tea Party.  

The GOP’s continued stubbornness to be stupid can only serve in making Democrats the only viable option. This is to their detriment and dangerous in the long term for America since any party in power over a protracted period will become complacent with no credible challenge to their governance. Republicans are against the idea of internal change and actually exhibiting this through their actions. 
They attempted to be inclusive during the last campaign but, how can they claim to be inclusive overnight? They went extremely far right then so as to attract independents, they came to the center. But their extreme right views made them a mockery when they tried the centrist position. They paid a hard price as American voters put them over their knees and spanked them for their hypocrisy and for being such counterfeits. Mitt Romney,  Allen West, Todd Akin, Sarah Palin, Sharron Angle, Christine “I’m Not A Witch” O’Donnell and Richard Murdoch are just a handful of recognized names who were endorsed by the Tea Party. They are proven losers and, being affiliated with the Tea Party, the Republicans continue to sink further and further into the abyss of political nothingness. Good for them! 

Republicans refuse to learn that nothing can make this president lose his faculties as they have. Nothing moves him to stupidity – a condition that inflicts their members. Obama is forward-thinking and is always four to five steps ahead of them. By the time they think they have caught up, he has moved even further ahead. 
The epitome of crazy is doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different and favorable result. As a Democrat, I hope they continue with this absurd path. Having the Tea Party dictate who should be the GOP candidate is CRAZY! It is not hard to predict that Senators Lamar Alexander, Lindsey Graham, Saxby Chambliss and John McCain will be primaried by Tea Party backed candidates. They are all up for re-election in 2013.

The only reason that Republicans still have a majority in the House of Representatives is because they gerrymandered Congressional districts, so they could keep control. They masked their gerrymandering under the guise of redistricting because they knew full well that they would have been rejected by the electorate. Their days are numbered because they continue to hinder, block, do nothing and backstab America. We elect our leaders for them to compromise and to get things done. This current crop of politicians mostly Republicans, are not doing what they were elected to do. They bow to the demands of Grover Norquist, they concentrated on making Barack Obama a one-term president and we but not them, seem to recognize that that is a battle lost and at the expense of the progress of the great country we live in. They have failed miserably and it is time to move on.

There is a new dawn in America. Destiny is being fulfilled as we march forward in the 21st Century led by Barack Obama at the helm. Love it or hate it that is the reality.

Why does a dog wag its tail?  Because the dog is smarter than its tail. Therefore with the tail wagging the dog, does that mean the tail is now smarter than the dog or has the dog gone totally crazy?

I revisited some of my blog articles and went back in my archives to 2011 at which time I blogged for a different boss and I came up with some gems! The one that hits me most is one published in August 2011 titled: POLITICS OF RECONSTRUCTION: VOL. II 
NICE GUYS FINISH FIRST - WHY BARACK OBAMA WILL WIN RE-ELECTION IN 2012  Embedded in this article are some predictions which when I read them I have to control myself and not begin to believe in some prophetic gift I might have! But really fun and joke aside, anyone could and should have seen it coming….and I quote:

 “I boldly predict a Civil War between the two factions in the coming months leading up to the Republican National Convention in 2012”. August 2011

 What I failed to predict was that the ‘Civil War of the REPUBLICans’ will continue after the 2012 election is lost.

  “The Republicans have gone further to the dark side catering to the fringe Tea Party. The Tea Party is nothing more than a fringe movement fueled by the unfounded fears of people who refuse to accept that their time as being the majority is fast coming to a close. Instead of embracing the inevitable and be rational, they would rather take the course of destruction by any means necessary…”  

“Their followers’ hearts rule their heads and eventually Establishment Republicans will have a hell of a fight, verbally and maybe otherwise, if it continues to get out of hand.”

In the nine days since November 6th, we see this fight begin and escalating. Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, Fox News, et al are continuing on the same path refusing to accept that the election is over and the election is lost!   

Those in the party who suffer from episodes of ‘on-and-off decency’ are now pivoting back to decency brought on by the concussion caused by knock-out punch the electorate gave their party in the form of a convincing loss!  I predicted this would happen and I am not shy in saying ‘I told you so’ and I have no pity for them.  I believe in a two party system because the ruling party is as good as the opposition it gets.  The irony of this belief is that up until the past 4 years, this belief translated in my mind as positive; thinking that the opposition keeps the incumbent on their toes to ensure the people’s will is carried out and maintained.  It can be the opposite - the Republicans have since 2008 blocked everything that would benefit the American people. 

 The atmosphere is rife with ironies, now that there is the tug-o-WAR and a Civil WAR.  Where were these paragons of virtue?  The likes of Bobby Jindal, the Republican Governors, Joe Scarborough who are suddenly criticizing Mitt Romney?  Why have they now invoked the light of heaven to shine on them because of Romney’s sore-loser telephone call that came to light recently?  For those of us who were not fooled and to those who were not fooled but played the hypocrite, we all knew full well that Mitt Romney has not changed.  We are all aware that irrespective of what he said that he is a rich spoilt brat who knows nothing other than getting what he wants and looking down his nose on the disadvantaged of the society whose sole existence in his book is to be his workers - pawns for him and his cohorts to be used in their game of “who can make the most millions"?.  He said it in his famous 47% speech. Suddenly everyone is aghast and hyperventilating because of his most recent telephone call in which he uses the same theory and philosophy to describe the people who did not vote for him. “Had it not been for those Moochers, I would have won”… that is all the man was saying.  

Haley Barbour said it right. ‘GOP needs a 'proctology exam'

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=haley%20barbour%20saying&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&sqi=2&ved=0CDQQqQIwAQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpoliticalticker.blogs.cnn.com%2F2012%2F11%2F14%2Fbarbour-gop-needs-a-proctology-exam%2F&ei=IDqmUK2kFsLs2gXt2YDYBQ&usg=AFQjCNH1cazvctmGFTIswhp_N8qHa_

Before they get the exam, and for the examination to be effective, they need to take their heads out.

In another of my blog articles “Epic Republican Failure”03/01/2012 I wrote “And the Presidential candidates continue to fiddle while the Republican Party burns. Haven’t the Republican Party learnt from their 1964 electoral trouncing? Not unlike the current Tea Party wing, it saw the advent of the fringe rightwing movement coming into their own and they all but alienated moderates and independent voters”. 

The candidates were not the only ones who were fiddling while the Republican Party burned.  The entire group from Boehner to Cantor, from Mitch McConnell to Michelle Bachmann the fringe and the moderates were lost in their fantasy bubble.  They were blinded by the high they got from the exuberance of pathological hate ….and they salivated thinking hate can win elections because the American people are shallow minded and are Moochers who really do not understand.  

But the “GOP’s ‘REALITY CHECK’JUST BOUNCED!” – my article of 04/10/2012.  “In this 2012 hunting season for the White House they were really in a drunken stupor from drinking the corrupted tea served at the Tea Party and by imbibing the venom of the extreme right, all this intensified by the fact that they just plain refuse whether by design or ignorance to accept the facts – to acknowledge reality.”  

Mitt did say “If leaders are saying one thing and doing another, their leadership is badly damaged.”  In response to Mitt's utterance, I did say '"From your lips to the voters’ ears" and they heard all right.  

And I am not fooled or my position not softened to the dilemma of the Republican Party (which is self- inflicted) because it all boils down to integrity and at this moment I have yet to see this quality in any Republican (except for my new best friend Governor Chris Christie) who has put himself or herself out as the bastion of the party’s values – and there are many of these ‘defenders’ who espouse varied interpretations of what they say is the norm within their party.

We will see the ‘Civil War of the REPUBLICans’ continue through to the next general election cycle because each faction is stubborn and especially the far fringe haters who cannot change because hate and prejudice is in their DNA.  And for the next four years the target of their hate, President Barack Obama will be in their faces in their wake hours and in their nightmares.

Go ahead GOP ….  we will continue to watch you implode! And please remember their living-will reads “Do not resuscitate”