Friends who engage me in a discussion that turns political often fall prey to the misconception that I am some sort of right wing Republican. Perhaps I made some reference to a remark by Rush Limbaugh or mentioned a story seen on Fox News. I do listen to Rush periodically and I do prefer Fox News. Does this make me some sort of ideologue? What about when I'm reading Camille Paglia, the Huffington Post, the U.K. Daily Mail, or some information source decidedly more liberal ? If you really want "fair and balanced" and you don't trust the media, do it yourself. It has bothered me that ever since achieving a qualified age, in Georgia I must declare a party affiliation in order to vote in the primary. I can vote either way in the general election, but for primaries I must choose sides. I am not a Republican. I am not a Democrat. I am an American. My symbol is not "D" or "R", but "USA." I am not strictly a conservative, but fiscally conservative and socially a libertarian -- kind of like a liberal who hates Big Government. There are reasons I'm not a Democrat. Obamacare might even be the point of no return where I never support a "D" no matter how conservative the candidate. It isn't that we, the general public, want to "screw" the public sector unions of what they were promised in the past or deprive people of health care. The simple truth is that we don't have the money. We must elect politicians with enough backbone to admit that entitlement spending has destroyed our economy and the only way to fix it is to reduce spending. It's … [Read more...]
Birthers versus truthers
In my rarely humble opinion, birthers are a kind of conspiracy nut. They believe that Barack Obama became POTUS without actually being a natural-born citizen, a requirement for holding the office as stipulated by the U.S. Constitution. Surely Hillary Clinton would have discovered the truth and exposed Obama, assuming the slightest shred of evidence existed showing proof he's not a natural-born citizen. Even if she was only pretty sure. Democrats haven't been known to be sticklers for details before making reckless accusations. And Hillary really wanted to be president. Therefore, I disagree with Donald Trump. I think it's a waste of time and possibly a diversion to question Obama's citizenship. Let's concentrate on the damage he's doing as President. That ought to be plenty to keep the second coming of Jimmy Carter from re-election. If Republicans are worried they will be called racist, allow me to attempt to set the collective minds at ease. You're going to be called racists, bigots, homophobes, and any other vile term of character assassination by people who have none. Get over it. Championing the birther claim is a non starter, in my opinion. If Republicans really want to counter the racism claim in the next general election, they could draft a ticket of two excellent black conservative such as Allen West and Herman Cain. I don't care which has the top job: both are black, conservative, smart, and no B.S. kind of people. Either would make a better President than Obama. The Democrats have friends in the media helping them as much as … [Read more...]
The new racism
For too long, I've been cowed into submission. I've been afraid to speak my mind for fear of being called a racist. As a "white" male who's basically spent my entire life in the Deep South, it's more or less assumed I'm racist if I say anything that can possibly be construed as negative about a black person. If I oppose Barack Obama for re-election, I'll be called a racist. Will it matter if I support Lt. Colonel Allen West or Herman Cain instead? For the record, I would vote for either of them in a heartbeat. How can you not love West's straight talk? And Cain looks serious about running for president. If both men run, I'm really going to have a tough time making a decision. Over the years, it's been my experience to meet some of the nicest people I've known, and their skin color is considerably darker than mine. I used to go so far to refer to these friends as "black", but soon discovered that to many people, the term is politically incorrect. Too lazy and stubborn to say "African American", I often find myself in a quandary on how to describe my friends who naturally exhibit a darker hue. I've sort of gotten away from using any sort of descriptor. I've come to decide there is no "us" and "them". Black and white differentiation is largely irrelevant. We are the same species, no different physiologically. Our blood is interchangeable. During a transfusion, one doesn't get blood sorted by skin color but blood type. It really is time to move past this hangup about skin color. That's why several recent events involving public officials and … [Read more...]
My new hero
I don't know him personally. I've never met or spoken with Patrick Rodgers of Philadelphia, but he is my new hero. Online reports tell the story of Patrick's battle against his mortgage company, Wells Fargo. The bank demanded Mr. Rodgers purchase a homeowner's insurance policy with a replacement value of $1 million dollars on a home for which he paid $180,000. The resulting disagreement led Wells Fargo to issue "forced placement" insurance, adding about $500 per month to his mortgage payment. When Rodgers' letters to the bank were ignored, he sued under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act and won a default judgment against Wells Fargo for $1,000. The bank didn't pay, so Rodgers went to the Philadelphia sheriff's office for collection. Foreclosure proceedings are currently scheduled to conclude with a sheriff's sale of all contents of the Wells Fargo branch on N. Delaware Avenue on March 4th. Turnabout is indeed fair play. … [Read more...]
Gutter politics
I'm socially a little more liberal and fiscally rather conservative, which means I prefer to vote for candidates as opposed to blindly following a party affiliation. Since I don't live in the particular district in question, I've remained blissfully ignorant of this story...until now. I don't know any of the people involved. I didn't vote for Congressman Austin Scott or his opponent. So why do I even care? Because gutter politics threatens to drive qualified candidates away from seeking public office. For the record, Republican Scott defeated Democrat Jim Marshall last November in a race for a district that contains Macon. This despicable tactic of intimidation and character assassination has to stop. And to which tactics do I refer? Scott and his wife were granted a divorce in 2001. Their young son was caught in the middle of a custody fight. It is not unusual for people experiencing the trauma of separation and the dissolution of their marriage make accusations that aren't completely true and say things they don't really mean. Three years ago, a judge sealed the court records of their divorce. "Democrat activist" Amy Morton filed a lawsuit to have Scott's divorce records unsealed so she could dig for dirt on him to use in the campaign to get Marshall reelected. Now an elected Congressman, Scott and his ex-wife agreed to drop their opposition to the lawsuit and let Morton satisfy her prurient interests. The muckrakers have been busy digging through the records, but so far all they've managed to find are unsubstantiated claims that Scott … [Read more...]
