Cowboys and Aliens?

It's OFFICIAL. Hollywood has now made every possible type of Western movie. Perhaps ALL that's left is "Cowboys vs. the Tea Party".

True Grit DVD

The 19th Amendment?

IF this blogger hears another political pundit or radio talk show host mention the US Constitution without adding the line "AND the Bill of Rights", I'm going to start singing the theme song from the film Network.


The Bill of Rights were established as a checks and balances to protect an individual against government abuse and corruption.

In its original form, it was NOT a perfect document (see Article 1, Section 2, Paragraph 3 of the United States Constitution). Read More...

It's rather aggravating hearing political pundits ranting about the Founding Fathers Fantasy Island era in U.S. History. In 1789, Senators were appointed, blacks were only considered 3/5 human and a woman's place was barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen. The original BILL of RIGHTS gave our Constitution meaning and purpose. The roots of ALL real Democratic change and progress begins and ends with this document:

‎"A Bill of Rights is what the people are entitled to against every government, and what no just government should refuse, or rest on inference." ~ Thomas Jefferson

Suggested Reading:
Griswold v. Connecticut
Eisenstadt v. Baird

etc. etc. etc.

Tax Breaks for Job Creators?

Can you say "Kool-Aid"? Really? Who came up with this talking point? Some K Street lobbyist?

According to CelebrityNetWorth.com, on July 2, 2008, Rush Limbaugh signed an eight-year contract with Clear Channel Communications for $400 million. The conservative talk show host "broadcasts his show from a $26 million ocean front home in West Palm Beach, which has 7 bedrooms, 12 bathrooms and an elevator".

Between January and May 2009, Clear Channel Communications eliminated 2,440 positions (roughly a 12% drop from its December 2008 workforce).
Read More...

Still confused?
Here's what Seattle billionaire Nick Hanauer wrote in Bloomberg's op-eds section in November, "When businesspeople take credit for creating jobs, it is like squirrels taking credit for creating evolution. In fact, it’s the other way around." Read More...

At what point will the GOP wake up and finally retire its silly "job creator" talking point?

Every person who spends money is a job creator. Every person with money deposited in a savings account is an investor.

At the end of October 2011, one month after the start of #Occupy Wall Street Protests, the Congressional Budget Office published a detailed report on the distribution of household income between 1979 and 2007. The raw numbers are alarming. 

Can you name the first time in American history that the government cut revenue as it marched off to war? Once again, President Obama needs to stop calling his proposal to raise revenue to address the budget deficit the Buffet Rule. It needs to be called the After 9-11 Tax.

4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Howard Hollem

for the Office of War Information

Corpus Christi, Texas (August 1942)

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Tea Party, when will this country do its collective Patriotic Duty and pay for these ongoing wars? Speaking of which, how many millionaires and billionaires served in Iraq or Afghanistan? 1%?
Read More...

"I Pledge of Allegiance to Grover Norquist"?

In case you missed it, according to the latest Gallup, only 12% of Americans approve of the job U.S. Congress is doing. The 86% disapproval rating for the 112th Congress is the highest since Gallup started asking the question in 1974. Read More...

Public service is NOT about being a Republican or a Democrat. It's not about being a liberal or conservative. It's about doing the right things for the right reasons. It's about being a citizen. And believe it or not, the word Compromise is NOT one of George Carlin's original seven dirty words.

Understanding the latest political games being played out in Washington D.C. is not complicated. Power is crack. Money buys crack. Perhaps it's time for this country to take a serious look at enacting a 28th Amendment to the Constitution which overturns the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission case (perhaps the worst decision in America's judicial history since Dred Scott).

"94% of elections in America are won by the candidate with the most money. Is this how we want to pick our leaders?" ~ Buddy Roemer

...contrasting imagery...

Dirty Blue Jeans in Broken Window, Changsha, PRC (December 2008)
Photo by Peter Rimar

Election 2012?

Paul Revere, after updating his status on Facebook and Twitter, sat down and wrote the disco hits "Ring My Bell" & "Macho Man". When asked about his opinion regarding "The King", Mr. Revere said what made ELVIS a "Great American" is the fact "the dude" learned how to shoot beer cans off a fence BEFORE he joined the Army.

When he first set foot on the moon, George Washington is reported to have said, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

It's all about selling SOAP?

Last July, Sarah Palin's documentary The Undefeated opened to an empty theater in Orange County, California (Read More). While on the surface, the movie's box office failure was rather humorous, unfortunately, a majority of journalists missed the point on why the film was released in the first place. It's the same reason that Newt Gingrich, despite his low approval ratings in every national poll, is still campaigning for President.  
When this blogger lived and worked in the People's Republic of China, I discovered that cigarettes and alcohol were used to bribe local government officials. Indeed, the central government actually monitors the sell of expensive cigarettes to gauge the level of corruption in different cities. While the average price per pack was LESS than a dollar, several brands from Yunnan Province cost more than $110s a cartoon. 

Why? Well, cigarettes are a form of hard currency which cannot be individually traced by the government. Thus, local officials accept cartoons of cigarettes, as bribes, without drawing the attention of the central government. 

Economic crimes, such as tax fraud and corruption, routinely appear among the criminal dockets of those given the death penalty. Read More...

Intead of cigarettes, in the United States, special interest groups purchase books and DVDs (in bulk) to support candidates who support their specific agenda. Sarah Palin is a paid political commentator for Faux News. She earns more than six figures a year just giving speeches. As long as she remains a political celebrity, she'll continue selling SOAP. While I have the deepest respect for Senator John McCain, somebody spiked his Kool-Aid in 2008 when he picked Palin as his running mate.

Billionaire Sheldon Adelson Says He Might Give $100M To Newt Gingrich Or Other Republican?
Read More...

Photo of CCP Building Art, Guangzhou, PRC (August 2008).
Going Rogue: An American Life (Hardcover)

Political Quote of the Week?

"Well, I thought you'd be interested in knowing, that running for President of the United States is really one series of humiliations after another. But it's also an educational experience. I learned three things when I was running for President. First of all, I learned where John Wayne was born. That's very important. And then second, I learned the day that Elvis Presley was born. These are vital issues to our Republic. And third I learned, never forget the three things that you learn. Very important when you're running for President."
~ Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann
CPAC 2012 (February 9, 2012)

Dear Mr. & Mrs. Tea Party

From website The Tea Party.net:
"The U.S. Constitution was written by our founders to limit the powers of the federal government, instead, giving the power to the people and the States."

Just out of curiosity, do people actually believe this absurd bit of revisionist history? Seriously? Somebody should have stayed awake in that freshman U.S. History class. Instead of drinking beer and playing Frisbee in the park, a few minutes reading those boring textbooks might have actually educated folks on the so-called original intent of the Founding Fathers. The U.S. Constitution was written to create a federal system (with checks and balance between the branches of government) which could respond to the needs of one, unified nation:"...in order to form a more perfect union..."

Can you say the Articles of Confederation? 
That's right, the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights were written to FIX the economic and political mess created by the issue of states' rights. Why did George Washington have problems supplying his troops in Valley Forge? Hello? Knock, Knock. Is anybody home?

Indeed, if it wasn't for the whole states' rights debate, believe it or not, this country may not have needed a BLOODY Civil War to finally resolve the question of slavery. Don't believe me? On March 21, 1861, in Savannah, Georgia, Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens gave what's become known as the Cornerstone Speech:

"Our new Government is founded upon exactly the opposite ideas; its foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery, subordination to the superior race, is his natural and normal condition."

These are the actual words of one of the central figures in American politics at the start of the Civil War. Speaking of revisionist history, while he's NOT a darling of the Tea Party, no one talks the political psychobabble game better than Congressman Ron Paul:


And since we're on the subject, why was there a Civil Rights Movement in this country? Why were some Americans forced to sit in the back of the bus? Skin pigment? Can you say states' rights? During this dark period in American History, the political theme of States' Rights was code for the fight to protect and preserve over 100 years of institutionalized racial segregation:


In the aftermath of 9-11, Americans waved only one, unified flag. IF you're an active contributor to the Tea Party, here's a challenge: the next time you go shopping, buy Made in the USA. 

Observation: For everybody who thinks a majority of this country's university professors are left-wing socialists never sat thru a lecture of the History of the Constitution at Mayville State University in North Dakota.

Free At Last: A History of the Civil Rights Movement and Those Who Died in the Struggle (Paperback)

‎"It is a well know fact that reality has a liberal bias" ~ Stephen Colbert

Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann's call to ABOLISH the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) & allow corporates to police themselves is like firing every correction officer & placing the inmates in charge of guarding the prisons. READ MORE...

For a majority of Americans, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq (along with the follow up extended military occupations) were viewed through the abstract lens of our digitally connected, 24/7, talking head e-world. Some people learn about American foreign policy from reading a book or from watching CNN. I was lucky enough to get my first taste of our wonderful geopolitical world sitting inside a sandbagged CONEX (shipping storage container) at the Port of Mogadishu, Somalia. After 9-11, I took several taxpayer funded vacations to Kabul and Baghdad.

After more than 26 years in uniform, I retired and moved to the People's Republic of China. For six weeks (July & August 2008), I taught summer school in the city of Huadu. After just a few days, my wife and I started developing serious, painful skin rashes from the local water supply. After looking at the arms and legs of my students, it was visually evident that EVERYONE in the city had some degree of skin problems. Indeed, EVERY DAY, one or two students would cry from the rashes. Why?

Well, the Communist Party's version of the EPA has no real authority. Second, and perhaps more importantly, the world continues to ship its e-waste (along with its dirty industries) to China. Unknowingly, my wife and I had moved downstream from an e-waste generated ecological disaster.

Can you say "Love Canal"?

Thankfully, once we relocated to the city of Shenzhen, our skin problems quickly cleared up. So, when a candidate talks about "abolishing" the EPA, I question that individual's political motives. Are guys like the Koch Brothers pulling the candidate's strings? Anyhow, this blogger asks this simple question, "what kind of world do we want to leave our children's children?"
Biologic Pollution Mask

"A hypocrite is the kind of politician who would cut down a redwood tree, then mount the stump and make a speech for conservation."
~ Adlai Stevenson

...another perspective...

If you're a Ron Paul for President supporter, please stop reading this post. For this blogger, this Libertarian's continued misguided belief that corporations will somehow police themselves in a pure free market economy is Utopian lunacy.

If you're a Newt Gingrich for President supporter, PLEASE see a doctor. Poor students cleaning up rich kids urine and shit is a jobs plan? Having children competing with their parents for the handful of jobs in poor neighborhoods will somehow "morally" fix the country? WTF?

Here's an idea:
Army Private Paris Hilton.

YES, there are real reasons why this country was a world leader in creating and then enforcing Child Labor Laws. The current GOP Flavor of the Month REALLY needs another HISTORY lesson.
Read More...

Anyhow, please forgive this blogger for temporarily straying away from the original topic of this specific post.

In the People's Republic of China, while the Chinese government claims goose stepping adherence to its version of Communist ideology (socialism with Chinese characteristics), when it comes to actually enforcing the country's weak environmental laws, the free market reigns supreme. Beyond the token measures taken by the Central Government prior to the Beijing Olympics in 2008, when it comes to protecting the manufacturing engine which drives the country's economic growth, both Chinese and foreign-based corporations enjoy a free market with ZERO environmental accountability. Can you say limited government in its purest form? Can you say profits before people?

With that said, it appears the Chinese people themselves are beginning to question the government's laissez faire response to the country's rapidity developing environmental crisis.
Read More...

Blue Beijing Skies?

March 2008

Photo by Peter Rimar

Update: (01/30/12)
Seven detained over China river cadmium spill?
Read More...

Stimulated Numbers?

Compare: This FY (fiscal year), DoD will receive approximately $126 billion for sustaining military operations in Iraq & Afghanistan. How does this dollar amount compare to added domestic spending under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009?

Contrast: It included $53.6 billion in direct financial aid for local school districts to prevent massive layoffs & cutbacks, with the flexibility to use Stimulus Funds for school modernization and repairs (State Fiscal Stabilization Fund). Basically, it was the Federal Government's 50 State BAIL OUT in order to keep PUBLIC SCHOOLS across this country OPEN for business.
READ MORE...

In 2009, while GOP candidates hammered the Obama administration on the auto industry bail out, ZIP was said regarding the school district BAIL OUT. IF you're a school teacher or auto worker, ask yourself, "does the GOP really care about protecting my job?"
READ MORE...

Economics 101
Until Americans start voting with their wallets, it'll be almost impossible to create new manufacturing jobs in a tight global marketplace.

Toyota BUILT a billion dollar Tundra assembly plant in San Antonio, Texas because market research shows a large segment of the American truck buying public actually values where a product is manufactured.

Corporations like IBM, Microsoft, GE, Apple, GM, BP & Exxon-Mobil ONLY salute one flag: PROFITS!

It's time for Americans to start making informed decisions about the products they buy. IF consumers value products "Made in the USA", corporations like Target & Wal-Mart will respond to the economic benefits of stocking more home grown products. Small changes in individual buying habits will eventually send a loud dollars & cents message to the world's multi-national corporations.

Once again, IF American consumers don't value the country of origin of a product or service, why should a corporation? Free Market? What Free Market? Read More...

Photo of Portable Toilet by Peter Rimar, Baghdad, Iraq (March 2004).
A Year Without "Made in China":
One Family's True Life Adventure in the Global Economy (Paperback)

Duverger's Law?

I've always found it rather strange that a majority of Democrats & Republicans fail to understand the historical roots of each respective party. The Constitution DID NOT create America's two-party system. While I've witnessed firsthand the corruption & abuse of a one-party system (i.e. while living & working in the People's Republic of China), today's polarized political landscape has "Republicrats" displaying more goose stepping loyalty to "THE PARTY" then "OUR COUNTRY".

Former Congressman Weiner is still wondering how men like Thomas Jefferson & Benjamin Franklin would have survived an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer.
Alice in Wonderland Mad Hatter Hat with Hair

NASA's next Space Mission is to search for intelligent life on Capital Hill?

"To compromise is to make a deal where one person gives up part of his or her demand. In arguments, compromise is a concept of finding agreement through communication, through a mutual acceptance of terms—often involving variations from an original goal or desire." ~ Wikipedia

NASA: The Complete Illustrated History

Happy 125th B-Day Lady Liberty!

The New Colossus

by Emma Lazarus (1883)

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she

With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Enlightening the World:
The Creation of the Statue of Liberty (Hardcover)

Tea party group to Bachmann:
Quit the presidential race?

Back in July if this year, this blogger wrote:
"IF you want to sell books, land a job on FauX News, go Dancing with the Stars, earn six figures on the talk show circuit, use PAC money to finance a family BUS vacation & STAR in your own Reality TV show, RUN for President."

Evidently, I'm not the only one who reached the political opinion that the Bachmann campaign is about the candidate's own financial, self-promotion.

In a written statement issued by American Majority President Ned Ryun, he questioned the motives of Bachmann's continued run for the White House:

"In Bachmann's case, it is clear that the campaign has become less about reform and more about her personal effort to stay relevant and sell books; a harsh commentary, but true," Ryun wrote. "While other campaigns are diving into the substance, the supposed tea party candidate Bachmann is sticking to thin talking points and hanging on for dear life."
Read More...

Subliminal Message?

Dear Abby ~ I have this second cousin who drinks WAY too much TEA. He wears a FLAG, paints SILLY signs & screams at everyone in the family. What should I do? Signed ~ Mr. Coffee

#Occupy North Dakota

First Amendment to the United States Constitution



"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

“The Tea Party is very different. The Tea Party were individuals that were attempting to redress their grievances from the government that they elected. It’s not pitting one part of our country against another.”
~ House Majority Leader Eric Cantor

REALLY?

Bob, the man in the following video, attended a Tea Party Rally in Columbus, Ohio in 2010. He is 60 years old and was first diagnosed with Parkinsons 15 years ago. He has two masters degrees and a Ph.D. from Cornell. He taught at the University of Michigan and worked as a nuclear engineer:



“When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross.” ~ Sinclair Lewis



Note to Reader: Judging this blogger's political views based on this specific POST is like reading a single page in the middle of a book. For the record, I'm an Independent. I believe the two-party system no longer serves the interests of a vast majority of Americans. Indeed, in my view, a candidate's political affiliation and party should be left off an election ballot.

When your house is on FIRE, it's absurd to argue with your wife about how to rearrange the furniture?

IF the American consumer doesn't value the country of origin of a product or service, why should international corporations?
Until Americans start voting with their wallets, it'll be almost impossible to create new jobs in a tight global marketplace.

"We need conservative ideas to modernize the U.S. economy and reform American government. But what we have instead are policies that don't reform but just cut and starve government — a strategy that pays little attention to history or best practices from around the world and is based instead on a theory. It turns out that conservatives are the woolly-headed professors after all." ~ Fareed Zakaria 
Read More...

Definition of Political Hypocrisy [hi-pok-ruh-see]?

Tea Party Bus

Fargo, North Dakota

(August 20th, 2010)

A "Made in Canada" bus rolling down the highway on "Spanish Tires" so American Voters could sign it with "Made In China" markers, then departing Fargo to drink even more IMPORTED OIL definitely sent a powerful political message. A Hollywood script writer couldn't even make this stuff up.

Zippo "Made In USA" Pocket Lighter

Election 2012?

A political exercise in the Dog-Ma-Nomics of 'Stone Soup'?

Compare: As of March, 2010, seven years after the invasion, the United States had spent $44.6 billion rebuilding Iraq.
READ MORE...




Contrast: Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, better known as the Stimulus Bill, $40 billion was allocated to provide extended unemployment benefits through Dec. 31, 2009 (with an increase of $25 a week). While it did not directly create new jobs, this money prevented millions of Americans from becoming HOMELESS in a contracting employment market. NO Republicans in the House of Representative and only three Republican Senators voted in flavor of providing economic relief to struggling families.

“Generosity is giving more than you can and pride is taking less than you need.” ~ Kahlil Gibran

Stone Soup (Paperback)

Class Warfare against the Ruling Class?

On Faux News Sunday (September 18, 2011), Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI) spoke with Chris Wallace about President Obama's plan to reduce the budget deficit and fund the proposed American Jobs Act.

"Class warfare Chris may make for good politics but it makes for rotten economics. We don't need a system that divides people." ~ Rep. Paul Ryan

Considering the GOP has been waging a non-stop war against the right of workers to engage in collective bargaining, for this blogger, this Wisconsin Representative's comments framing the latest tax battle as class warfare sounded a bit like Rick Santorum lecturing Senator John McCain about the benefits of water boarding.

Who is Paul Ryan?

Representative Ryan is the quintessential, professional Beltway Baby.

How much money has he earned working in the public sector? Based on the Congressional Pay Table, since being elected to Congress in 1998 (at the age of 28), he has earned $2,078,100 (base salary). This figure does not include yearly travel expenses or the random $50 special interest group luncheon.

Prior to earning his own Congressional Franking Privileges, Ryan worked for Wisconsin Sen. Bob Kasten and Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback. 

From battling paper cuts as a Congressional mail room intern, to joining the staffs of two Senators, to eventually being elected to Congress himself, Representative Ryan has spent the majority of his adult life walking the corridors of Capital Hill (as well as collecting a government paycheck). So, when this Beltway Baby gives a supply side economics tax lecture about the Millionaire Club, please forgive this blogger for laughing.

Considering he's already banked over $2,000,000 as a public servant, taken advantage of 12 years of government sponsored health care, did not serve in Afghanistan or Iraq and has already qualified for the Congressional retirement package (not including Social Security), how on earth did this Washington Insider become the so-called Poster Child for the Tea Party Movement? 

All politicians sell SOAP. In the case of Representative Ryan, he is the SOAP. He is an actual product created by and for the Washington Beltway.

It's easy for a member of the GOP to go on Faux News. It's quite another to give an extended interview with someone like Rachael Maddox. As I've already written, there is no silver bullet for fixing this economy. Should the tax code be simplified? Yes. But with more than 12,000 lobbyists knocking on Congressional doors, I seriously doubt any reform package (which tackles tax loopholes and exemptions) will survive the Tsunami of special interest money.

Class Warfare? Please. The Koch Brothers have already spent more than $100,000,000 selling their Libertarian brand of corporate soap. Power is crack. Money buys crack. Tax reform without serious political reform still leaves a majority of Americans sitting on the sidelines. Confused? What political reforms? Read More...

REPOST: Can you name the first time in American history that the government cut taxes and decreased revenue as it marched off to war?

How many millionaires and billionaires served in Afghanistan or Iraq? How many of these same folks made money off these wars? Anyhow, the term Job Creators has a nicer ring to it than Campaign Contributors.



IF Ryan wants to talk about Class Warfare, bringing back compulsory military service (with a public service option for conscientious objectors) would be a great place to start the conversation.

During this latest debt ceiling debate, President Obama made a serious linguistic blunder. Instead of calling the expiration of Bush-era tax cuts - for the wealthiest Americans - the Buffett Rule, he should have named it the Two War Rule. In 2003, the Bush Administration projected the cost of military operations for Iraq between $50 billion to $60 billion dollars. Where was Ryan when the Congressional Budget Office was crunching those numbers for funding Dick's Halliburton War? Ryan voted for both wars and the Bush-era Tax cuts. 10 years & $1.3 trillion dollars later, this Congressman (now supported by the Tea Party) still refuses to pay the bills for Afghanistan & Iraq. Read Here & Here...

Sadly, even if the President had chosen a different package of words to sell his latest proposal, at the end of the day, Congressman Ryan would still have called it Class Warfare. And you know something, maybe he's right. Being born and raised inside the Washington Beltway gives a person a special interest perspective of this world.  

Photos by Peter Rimar
Total Lobbying: What Lobbyists Want (and How They Try to Get It) 
(See all Political Lobbying Books)