Yes, Michele -------

there is something new under the sun.........a jilted political candidate thirsting for being the nominee of the Tea Party Republican party and in her delusions, the next POTUS.

Sorry, Ms Bachmann, I can't seem to find a single tear to shed.

graysmoke

PAY UP!!!

The corporations and the one-percenters are destroying this country. If they don't pull their weight on the revenue side, we are doomed to third world status and that won't be long -- look where we rank now for national debt as a % of GDP. Only two other countries worse off, yet few Americans have any awareness of this and continue to believe we are immune economically. The farce cannot continue.

Corporations and one percenters need to realize they are killing the goose.

The phony claim of the TP type republicans and even most of those in the party, continue to believe that these entities create jobs. If that were the case, the the gift of the Bush tax cut would not have the results that we are now struggling with. Yet they are blind. Our economy depends on consuming and high employment with decent incomes is necessary.......When will the dawn come?

Or will it.....

graysmoke

THINE OWN ENEMY

Is this latest episode of idiocy over the payroll tax extension the bullet that the repugs have shot themselves in the foot with?

Seems that could be the case........BOOMerang J.B. !! and Mitch.

Happy Holiday in Hawaii, Mr President and family.......must feel good to no longer be a hostage of the freaks in the House of Representatives.


graysmoke

KNEE-CAPPER IN CHIEF

This is a no-brainer, of course it is Mitch McConnell, and his assistant is Boehner. This is what they have done for all the days of President Obama's first term.

Is this going to backfire on them in the 2012 elections? I sure hope so.


It is so blatant-- how can anyone miss the deleterious effect that obstructionism to this degree is anti-American and to me, a violation of their oath .......they are to be serving the general welfare of the country and not just their constituents........they are definitely not doing this - they deserve to be tarred and feathered.

graysmoke

POST DEBATE

DANGER!!

I watched the whole enchilada........not exactly easy since I don't have a positive position about any of them except Jon Huntsman......and I am particularly concerned for this country if Gingrich ever gets his hands on the Presidency.

Voters need to learn the truth about this man and here again is a link to the 1996 Frontline special that will enlighten you:

http://www.ovguide.com/movies_tv/frontline_the_long_march_of_newt_gingrich.htm

(Note : this is a 'cold' link, meaning you will need to copy/paste to your address bar.)

Talk to any republicans you know and get them to watch this, especially if they happen to be arrested enough in their political views to favor this dangerous candidate.

graysmoke

Amnesia

This seems to be a common affliction in the Republican party. The recent criticism by Dick Cheney, you know the Halliburton guy, about President Obama and the troop withdrawals from Iraq.

You can check it out, the SOFA was created during the Bush/Cheney rule........and it had the stipulation on withdrawal in it.

SOFA is the acronym for Statement of Forces Agreement pertaining to the Iraq mess.

graysmoke

EVERYTHING NEWTY

If you think this man is qualified to be president then you need to learn more about him and here is where:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/newt/

In my layman's view he is delusional, grandiose, hypersexual, and very possibly suffers from the same brain disorder his mother had. Bi-polar disorders have many manifestations. Other indicators are his narcissism, obsessiveness and money judgment, these are commonly shared behavioral problems among bi-polars.

Interesting that he has recently commented that he wants to teach a course on the brain. I wonder if he has ever had a professional psychiatric evaluation or for that matter any psychological counseling.

We do not need someone this unstable and mercurial in the highest office of the land and with fragile global considerations that are much more a component of the presidency now than in the past.

Let's hope voters are not bamboozled by this type of personality as sometimes happens.

Do you want to bet $10,000 that no journalist is going to touch this?

How about you Mr. Romney-- are you brave enough?


graysmoke

LOOKING AHEAD/2016

Here's my crystal ball view. Why not have the 2016 presidential race have Hillary and Chelsea as the candidates for president and vice president. We could accomplish so many "firsts" with that and it might just be a winning ticket.

Banish forever the patriarchal hold on the top political power positions.

The country is going to need to be kept out of the hands of the Repugs and this just might do it.

I hope I am around for this........

graysmoke

POLITICAL IMPOTENCE

Courtesy of Senator Mitch McConnell, Congress is no longer the representational arm of government - he defies his oath of office blatantly declaring his only goal is not representing the people of Kentucky but to prevent President Obama from a second term of office. Seems we need a recall mechanism that would eliminate a senator that so vociferously handcuffs representational bills from getting proper hearings and possible passage.

Here we are, coming to the end of a calendar year and in the midst of political warfare. The current effort is to deny extension of unemployment benefits -- the house side is carrying the water here too by sending up to the senate a version that is certain to fail. their tactics are repetitive, load it with contingencies they know the other party won't accept, this time it's the Keystone Pipeline.

This puts majority leader Senator Harry Reid in a box, facing handling another filibuster by the Republican members. And again we hear the threat of closing down the government. Empty words we know and why continue the charades? Sounds like another continuing resolution bandaid is on the table.

It is time to clean house, er, I mean Congress.

graysmoke

Callista Gingrich as First LADY?

That would be hard to swallow given her six year stint as Newt's mistress and that was during the time when Newt was castigating and trying to impeach Clinton for his sexual peccadilloes which stretches the fabric of hypocrisy totally out of shape.

There are other titles she has earned. Not to be enumerated here, just use your imagination.

She worked on the hill as a clerk in Congress when they were sharing the sheets. Now she is wedded to the corpulent man that is twenty-eight years her senior.

Doesn't the term " trophy wife" sort of surface here--up from the sewer?

And the couple are supposed to be thought of as "good" Catholics......well one must ask then what makes a "bad" one-- or maybe we already have clues to that given the peccadilloes of various members of the church accused and indicted for pedophilia actions. While the hierarchy just looked the other way, still does in many ways.

Where oh where is that value we used to see, INTEGRITY???


graysmoke

NOW SEVEN RING CIRCUS

And one suspender! No jokes yet about that........no more raising cane by Cain? :)

I have decided Gingrich is a balanced candidate. His personal garbage and his public garbage are equal........it is in the realm of unbelievable that even the far right can stomach this caricature of a politician, cum lobbyist mercenary.

Why oh why is the moderate and tolerable Mr. Huntsman so ignored by the media? And the party --- Oh I know the party is now a TEA Party controlled apparatus.........seems to me that they are in need of a new package......of tea bags, but Huntsman must fall in the category of loose leaf.

Then there is the stupefying news that Donald Trump will moderate, in Iowa, what passes for political debate ...........now that is one for the Ripley record.

Are we doomed?


graysmoke

ROUNDUP

Pledge of Allegiance

A large number of congressional members are obligated to uphold - not the pledge of allegiance to the flag - but a pledge of allegiance to Grover Norquist. They should be declared unfit for office. And apply an appropriate penalty, like flushing them down the sewer where they dabble.

RENEGADE

Featured today on Bob Schieffer's Face the Nation was Mr. Ron Paul. He is a full blown Libertarian and the more I hear from his mouth the more certain I am that his views are severely screwed. He is reputed to be leading the Iowa polls.

STUPOR COMMITTEE

Deadline is near and still the members of this committee are deadlocked. I will really be surprised if a compromise gets worked out-- so here come the automatic cuts in 2014- and plenty of time to use the lack of agreement in the political race in 2012.

LOYALTIES

The people in Congress that were sent there by the Tea Party and others that are aligned with their ideology, have an obsession with power and they should never be in politics. How can they be exiled? I wish I knew. I feel the country is at greater risk from these ideologues than from the economic crisis.


graysmoke

MEDIA MANIA

Oh so weary......of continued repetitive coverage of :

OWS

Republican debates

Sex Scandals

Even doses of C-Span relief aren't enough to erase this sense of obsession the media has with the subjects. I could add the global credit debacles there on the list too.

These are energy draining and usually do not offer anything new and many times inaccuracies get stuck like barnacles, and just as difficult to detach from proper attention to just the facts.

Time to use the off button more frequently, there is a good music channel featuring light classical that I use for an antidote.


graysmoke

Political Poverty

It beats me how Newt Gingrich can believe that he is still politically palatable........what sort of internal white wash cleans his history up to where he has any chance of success? Is the country that bereft of decent Republicans?

And now we have a weirdo clown running........Cain becomes more unconventional ad by ad.........when you must explain your video messaging to a mainstream reporter such as Bob Schieffer you know it must be missing the mark. The man seems to believe that he is a law unto himself. Now this morning there are allegations of previous behavior of a current epidemic in politics of sexual behavior parameters that aren't welcomed by the majority of Americans.

Please someone emphasize that John Huntsman is a much more deserving candidate than these two that are grabbing the media minutes.

Did I hear an echo of a primal scream.........where are the good guys?

REDACTIONS

I am getting the distinct feeling that the self-proclaimed Christians on the right in the Republican party have a massively redacted Bible...........Ron Paul for one, apparently never heard of the story of the Good Samaritan. And weren't there twelve disciples to spread the word, not expected to be accomplished by one individual, whereas Paul says everything is up to the individual.......same applies to the whole REPUG view of government.........what about the instructions to be your brother's keeper, and love another as you wish to be loved and treated...........or are all the rightsies going to mega churches where tirades are offered instead of sermons, a la Rev. Jefress that is so intolerant of Mormons, man I am much more fearful of the ten thousands listening to this gook than a good Mormon. Or the instruction to render unto Caesar, etc......Norquist apparently never heard of this.


graysmoke

PERRY'S BRAIN

Is there a search on in Texas? It seems something is lacking in Mr. Perry's head. He has a deficiency common to another Texas politician with the initials of GWB that resulted in an administration dependent on the VP and a conniver named Rove.

Here's a link to what Rick didn't tell you and probably because no one tutored him, about the flat tax realities:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/rick-perrys-flat-tax-plan-built-on-misleading-statistics/2011/10/25/gIQAmJysGM_blog.html?hpid=z1

Maybe those journalists that authored "Bush's Brain" can piggyback another book on this phenomenon.



graysmoke

McConnell's Miscalculation

The boomerang should strike Mitch right in the sourpuss's face.......he has used "NO" now for so long that it is sickening and I believe there will be a voter backlash where not a single independent will vote for a republican.

And I make the same prediction about representatives and other senators. The public is weary of the tactic ------ one must wonder, sort of reverse psychological reactions, if they fear "Obama Care" so much then it must be really really good and they don't want another program as successful as Social Security on the democrats side of the book.

Same with other blocked legislation such as the AJA.

I suggest McConnell learn to duck at Olympic speed.



graysmoke

PEDDLER POLITICIANS

Be careful or you might catch the current virus spread among the Republican groupies, called nominees. It is a ghost writer virus. It infects you with a craving to rake more bucks into your bucket and at the same time renders a strong massage for that largest of physical traits among the birds of a feather, an ego workover.

If they can't garner the nomination - never mind -- they sold a lot of bios. Of all people that I do not wish to read more about - these take the cake. Topping the bunch is Newt.........we are already overdosed with all these repetitive mis-labeled "debates" !!!

Beware the Bios.

graysmoke

BOOTS, BLOOD & BILLIONS

Leadership anyone?

Maybe the GOP reps and senators haven't seen any in their party for so long they fail to recognize it. Or another angle is that they do but have great fear of it getting President Obama a second terms. Take you pick. Boehner baying about not being kept informed signals how excessively whiny his party has become.......everyone that isn't a Pug is tired of the act. The Pugs definitely need a new script..

The current clutch of policy results, in eliminating the Libyan dictator, getting Osama Bin Laden and his crony, must be viewed as far more important actions than all the sick choices made during the Bush/Cheney era.

The GOP sadly is too embedded in their Tea Party nursing to acknowledge any positives that happen because of the Obama presidency and his decisions as Commander-in-Chief.

History will be revealing somewhere down the line.......look at the differences in costs - especially the blood and boots ---- the billions matter too, but unnecessarily using our treasure of life is the scale balance. Those lost in the Iraq folly belong right at the feet of B & C.


graysmoke

Monster in Midst of Senate

Read the editorial from this mornings NYT's -- too bad Mr. McConnell ever got to Congress, let alone the Senate, he needs to be jettisoned.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/11/opinion/chipping-away-at-gridlock-in-the-senates.html?_r=1&hp

How much longer are the Democrats going to tolerate the beast? He needs taken to the woodshed.'

graysmoke

THE LESSER

Now it is becoming clearer through the mud that any choice about whom to vote for as next POTUS is going to be the classical "which is the lesser of two evils". This is based on the information now being made public about the Solyndra suckering.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/solyndra-obama-and-rahm-emanuel-pushed-to-spotlight-energy-company/2011/10/07/gIQACDqSTL_story.html?hpid=z1

IMO Chu should shoo. And he should have much company in his exit.

graysmoke

FUMING !!!!!!!!!!

Several things have my dander up, up and up and so it is time to RANT!

Rant numero uno: Commentators that don't ask the appropriate question, example: yesterday John King, CNN went back to that old saw from Reagan "Are you better off than you were three years ago?"........

I would suggest a better question would be " What other candidate in the last election could/would have handled best the mess bequeathed by Bush/Cheney?" We aren't anywhere near a political situation comparable to the Reagan admin. Keep relevant please.

Rant numero dos:

Bernanke seems to be afraid to call a spade a depression, and he's the guy that knows.

Rant tres:

Overworking items that are no longer "NEWS" ---- a la the Christie subject.

Okay I have taken three deep breaths and feel better.


graysmoke

amazement

Imagine!! the first feature on Friday Sept 30 The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell had as its topic Christie and obesity........

Well is there something to that old adage ..."Shoot an arrow in the air -- it will land ......

graysmoke

OBESITY

Just elected ----

Governor Chris Christie -- Poster Boy for Obesity


graysmoke

SPELLING BEE

Solyndra.

?solyndra?
definition please.
Corporate theft.

oh.

S--W--I--N--D--L--E---solyndra.

---------------------------------------------------------------------



graysmoke

INTRODUCTIONS

Mr. Boehner, meet Mr. Buffet..........


(Laughter)


graysmoke

BEARS REPEATING.......

After watching as little as possible of the memorial broadcasts yesterday re 9/11's tenth anniversary -- it still strikes me as to how little time and investigation is spent on prevention of such events. And if we don't master prevention.......well, I'll let you finish that sentence.

We are still wrapped in the bureaucratic equivalent of duct tape.......the multiple intelligence agencies still play the territorial games instead of setting the goals of prevention and the musical chairs of changing leadership lends little hope that the various entities will evolve a superior way of functioning.

Let's hope the lesson doesn't come the hard way......again. I find that the most haunting aspect of the memorial rites.

graysmoke

A decade to ponder.....

My reminiscences of 9/11 result in quite a different scenario than what seems common according to the storm of media coverage we are currently having.

To me 9/11 was an intelligence failure --- not a security failure - and not the outcome of a superior plan by brilliant terrorists executed under highly flawed intelligence functioning within the bureaucracies meant to know about and abort such threats.

Our best security is to learn how to better operate bureaucracies -- much has been attempted to improve the fifteen or more government agencies involved in analysis and gathering of intelligence. Whether we have another attack will depend more or what success we have had doing so, than on some cockamanie intent of sick terrorists' minds to destroy imagined enemies.

However,it is scary to realize that the mother of all bureucracies, Homeland Security, has emerged and is soaking up dollars that could be better spent putting more shoes on the ground in intelligence and upgrading the connecting communications among the responsible agencies.

Therein lies an increased danger.

graysmoke

WE,THE PEOPLE........

Uh UH ----no AJA is going to change the Republican agenda of destroying Obama. And their constitutional imperative -of- for - and by - the corporations. They bought the country with the way elections are structured and until that is remedied we are never going to have a Congress that will work with a President that sees the Constitution as being the supreme order of our political powers.

McConnell and Boehner may talk out of one side of their mouths occasionally, but it is only window dressing.........the sole target for action is denying a second term to President Obama and for that reason alone, I hope he is re-elected.

The alternative is too horrible to consider.

graysmoke

More on DE-SPINNING

I am dedicated to furthering distribution of facts so here is another important link to statements during last night's Republican candidates debate that bears importance on knowing what is what:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/fact-checking-the-gop-debate-at-the-reagan-library/2011/09/07/gIQAFrz5AK_blog.html?hpid=z1

I happen to have relatives that swallow everything they hear and never question it, when I asked why -- the response was "oh I just don't have time to look all that stuff up" -- still they consider themselves informed voters (and I might say they also are dedicated Fox channel viewers) -- so you can see why we get some lulus in offices where they shouldn't be.

If I can interest one voter in being less gullible, then it is worth doing these posts.

graysmoke

Let's Get IT Straight

In the interest of fact and that most disregarded value "truth" -- be sure to read the column at this link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/08/us/politics/08check.html?_r=1&hp


graysmoke

ABDICATION

Dick Cheney should keep his big fat mouth shut instead of writing and trying to justify and rationalize the decisions he directed while in the GWB administration.

He can hibernate with his Halliburton hoard forever as far as I am concerned.

This nation will be suffering the results from that politicking skimming for decades and yet not a shred of responsibility felt by him.


graysmoke

Chris Hedges

Currently I am reading his latest book, Empire of Illusion and subtitled The End of Literacy and The Triumph of Spectacle.

I have been a fan of Hedges for some time and find this latest book absorbing but I am not sure I agee with him. To me most people are aware of the phoniness of what is presented as reality by the media and the coarsening of our culture is a veneer and not the actual heart of our country.

I had a difficult time dealing with the pornography section --- having little knowledge of how rampant that is and finding it highly shocking.

I am near the end and anxious to see what his final assessment is.......is there hope that we will survive the mega influences of all the power grabbers and the corporate oligarchy ---- are we doomed to decline ?

graysmoke

BUSHED FOREVER

The most massive problem is still the housing market distorted by the false carrot offered by Shrub and Greenspan, that every American could afford a home if interest rates were low enough.





It is going to take at least a decade to level off from this disaster. And meanwhile, I sure would appreciate it if A G kept his mouth shut and didn't accept appearance bookings with the media - where he can try to justify this debacle.





The current stock market turmoil goes right back to this program of "giving" (?) loans to those unable to afford them. The social price has been enormous from this major blunder.





The fact is, many citizens will be lucky if they can afford rental housing, and a huge segment is going to need publicly subsidized housing.

All of us are paying the piper courtesy of the administration that cooked up this phony prop to create the illusion that they were offering utopia.





So I hope the media lays off featuring those who want to lay the blame at Obama's feet. It belongs in the hands of Bush and Greenspan.


graysmoke

THE POT AND KETTLE

Who has any right?

Didn't the rating industry lose considerable credibility with the mortgage derivatives debacle. Hummmm. Now they expect investors to heed the downgrading of US debt? (another Hummmm)--yes, this definitely calls for that old proverb.

THERE OUGHTA BE A LAW!

Cruel and unusual punishment has just been successfully inflicted by the extremists, but then isn't that their specialty?

Over the week-end one could witness congressional drama that couldn't be nightmared up by the most creative playwright. And this is no fiction. We are talking super reality here.

Can we guess what the consequences might be? Krugman thinks he can:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/01/opinion/the-president-surrenders-on-debt-ceiling.html?_r=1&src=ISMR_HP_LO_MST_FB

I am going to take a fence sitting position here--rare for me........I am going to give President Obama the benefit of the doubt. I do not think the political hybrids, aka the Tea Party, will increase their representation in Congress, my hope being that there was so much media coverage that voters who are better informed will follow through on going to the polls in droves when elections for national offices are held.

So cheer up and be positive......maybe there will be a silver lining to the current cloud blackening the beltway ----

graysmoke

MUSICAL CHAIRS

Now for the week-end we move from Boehner the beast to McConnell the monster. Isn't he a doll? Doesn't want to play. So why not just send him home with his toys, you know the one named PHIL A. BUSTER...........he's so fond of it ....... has an obsession with it in fact.

So at a critical crisis time he wants to cuddle and coddle PHIL.

Is this rational adult behavior or should we call for a strait jacket crew to remove him from the action? Or should we say, inaction.

Meanwhile it is nail biting time for all the senior citizens dependent on having those Social Security payments deposited into their bank accounts so they can replenish their cupboards and medicine cabinets.

Just an inkling of why I think he deserves the "monster" designation -- many other reasons but for now lets just concentrate on what a calamity will result if he plays too close to the chest and the markets go haywire on August 3rd.

Aren't these hold outs guilty of aiding the terrorists? Seems to me I heard somewhere that Al Queda had a goal of destroying the USA's financial structure. Yet the conservative extremists insist they are the patriots.......?propaganda again?----one wonders, and wonders and wonders........well for at least three days, July 31, August 1, and August 2 -----has Congress just become another unreality show.........With corporate sponsorship no doubt?

Someone please stop the music and let us off this merry-go-round.


graysmoke

Morning Cuppa

Yesterday's collapse of the fairy tale of Boehner leadership makes one eager to sample the press reactions this morning so here I am online with the media gratefully supplied by C-Span resources and one of the best columns is no surprise as it is Paul Krugman's NY Times writeup here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/29/opinion/krugman-the-centrist-cop-out.html?hp

The aftermath of the myth busting events shows that opposition to the extremist positions that the crazies are welded to serves to strengthen their counterparts, a newtonian view of political power. So can we expect a short blip on the radar of history of those titled the TP'ers? Maybe not given the reluctance of the media to practice any semblance of true journalism and on point analysis. And given the inordinate influence of right wing radio forces here in an area of unenlightened America where misinformation is the blue plate special.

We need an army of Krugmans........alas one must wonder why so few? Is the long arm of corporatism responsible for the weak-kneed presentations called news or commentary, take your pick.

I will be interested in how the House uses this Friday session to try to glue the pieces back together and try to save face.

Boehner the beast has his work cut out for him, is he up to it? Small question easily answered by yesterday's events.

Oh my I bet he wishes he could take off for the golf course he favors down there at the Naples Fl Ritz Carlton.

graysmoke

boehner's boomerang

This is leadership? Hmmm. I thought all along that he was not going to get the crazies behind him. Despite his suggestion that they get in line, you-know-where.

Herding the politically insane takes practice, practice and more practice. Never let the inmates take charge of the asylum. Sharpen up your tools John boy and try to puncture the block wall that the renegades are surrounding themselves with--- oh - and try to be bipartisan all the while.......after all there may be a democrat maverick or two that stray into the compound once in a while.

And watch the market and see if you can recognize any changes that your failure might just have had a itsy bitsy influence in causing.

May I ask who is in line to replace you as speaker? Oh No......not someone named Allen West, please.

Nancy we miss you.


graysmoke