Make America Great Again?

I suppose you could say that if you were a woman, LGBTQ, POC, an immigrant, a Muslim or atheist, America wasn't already great.


We were founded on slave labor and genocide. Blacks were 3/5 of a man, and the natives were subhumans we could rape and steal from. We replaced slavery with incarceration. Our nation originally only let white property owning males to vote.


When was it great, Dan? I'd like to hear you tell us libtards when America was great. Also, I'd like to hear you tell us what other nation is great, since we apparently aren't.


It's a new America, alright. Alt-Left and Alt-Right combined to give us a new kind of nation. One that doesn't protect Human Rights for all, which was the original and singular purpose for our government to our Founding Fathers (and Mothers). One that has press for profit, medicine for profit, and government to protect Corporate Privilege.


On what planet is Trump just another Republican? Is he even a Republican? The last time I felt this bad about our nation was when Reagan was elected. I didn't get a lot of traction with my vision then, but fundamentally I've been proven right (it's not about being right, but for everyone to see). Reagan's intent was to destroy the middle class, to create an oligarchy. I said that no one would get a raise for thirty years and damn me I was right. Still, Reagan saw the need for sensible firearm regulation, he raised taxes when his ideology failed, treated immigrants as human beings, etc. GHWBush, GWBush, McCain, and Romney after him were solidly Republican but they knew where the levers were, and they all in their own way respected our Democracy. I could complain and moan and disagree, but they kept the nation going. Trump is something other than this, and I am livid at those on the Left and the Right who made him happen.

Did Trump win? He got fewer votes. Russians have tampered with state elections, and the patterns in all swing states that polled for Clinton are remarkably similar, showing a pattern that needs investigation. Alt-Left Dems didn't vote in '10 and '14, resulting in Gerrymandered districts in states that have a majority of registered Democrats going GOP year after year. When Dems didn't vote we lost control of Congress and the Voting Rights Act was gutted; each of the states that flipped from Obama to Trump was one where VRA protections were lost and voter suppression was strong (unnecessary Voter ID, thousands fewer polling places, etc.).

I thought Sec. Clinton would win. But BernieOrBust and JillNotHill was taking its toll. Much of the left was believing that there was an email scandal (there was not), that she was corrupt, a criminal, sick, etc., that she was simply a weak candidate (she wasn't, she was the most qualified ever and got more votes than any of her opponents, as well as more than any other presidential candidate but one), that the DNC stole it from Bernie (come on kids, Sen. Sanders told you clearly that that wasn't the case and that you needed to unequivocally support Sec. Clinton and vote for her). A few principled Republicans crossed to vote for Sec. Clinton, but far more Dems, mostly women...crossed over to vote Trump.

No, nobody's rioting, nobody's destroying. I admit there were a few tears, a few of mine early Wednesday when I realized that we had eaten our own. There are legitimate demonstrations, protected by our First Amendment, and I assume there will be more, and bigger ones down the road.

The attitude by the majority of Trumps support is this: I'm a white straight Christian male, and I've been left behind. How do I explain how childish this is? number one, they or their parents voted Reagan and they are SHOCKED  that they have less than their parents did? That was the plan, Dan. These guys have it better than 99% of people in the world and haven't traveled out of their red county to find this out. They have it better than the women around them, Stockholm Syndrome sufferers thinking that they won't suffer like other women will if they vote against women's interest. They argue that blacks, Latinos, religious minorities, etc. all have the same opportunity but I'm here to tell you as a privileged white male THEY DO NOT. None of us white males know what it's like to be scrutinized and followed in every single store we walk into, or to know that we have to be twice as good as the men in our office just to earn 65 cents on the dollar. The average Trump supporter is woefully self-unaware and willfully ignorant.

To root against President Elect Trump's success is to root against America's success. This thought sobers me a little. We're all part of Rick's little band on The Walking Dead staring down Negan's bat. We know our world has taken a dark turn, that America will never be the same, and that individual survival is the best we can hope for. In the one in a hundred chance he actually wrangles success from his failure-checkered past and turns a profit for working people, I will join every American in thanking him.

Trump promises to have a special session January 21, the day after his inauguration, to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care act. 21 Million Americans will have no health care, tens of thousands will die during 2017 simply because of that act. The trade war he will start with China will cause trillions of dollars in debt and an economic depression. The wall he wants to build will cost trillions in lost revenues, with or without Mexico paying for it (of course they won't). Deporting millions of Americans, many of whom grew up from babyhood and no no other country, many of whom served in our Armed Forces, will cost a trillion dollars. All the while, he will give massive tax cuts for the wealthy and his plan is to make people who work pay more to make up the difference.

Still believe Trump will Make America Great Again?

This is easy.

This is easy.

• In two years, elect a Democratic House and Senate, 36 Democratic Governors, 36 Democratic State Houses. In four years elect a Democratic president. 
• Rejoin the Paris accords after Miami and Venice wash away. 
• Renegotiate the Iran nuclear deal after they build a few bombs. 
• Bring back to life the tens of thousands who will die because we repealed PPACA. 
• Bring back our warships from the China coast. 
• Spend billions tearing down the KXL pipeline. 
• Give Dreamers a path to citizenship, at least if they weren't killed in the Mexican Drug Cartel War. 
• Release the three million incarcerated for smoking a joint after executive action ended medical and recreational marijuana. 
• Release the 50,000,000 women and 50,000,000 doctors jailed for having or performing an abortion. 
• Reinstate Dodd-Frank and Glass Steagall after the Bank of Trump defaults on all loans and takes your house, your car, and your savings. 
• Release ten million Muslims from their Mosque-turned-interment camp. 
• Put a statue up for Sec. Clinton in D.C. after they Jailed and Killed the Bitch. 

This is what non-voters, "Bernie would have won," JillNotHill etc. voted for.


Need I go on?





In other words, America is finished. Stick a fork in us.

Instead of Bashing a DEM Candidate, Show Facts about Trump

If Trump is such a success, why does everything he touches fail?

TRUMP AIRLINES - In October 1988, Donald Trump threw his wallet into the airline business by purchasing Eastern Air Shuttle, a service that for 27 years had run hourly flights between Boston, New York City and Washington, D.C. For roughly $365 million, Trump got a fleet of 17 Boeing 727s, landing facilities in each of the three cities and the right to paint his name on an airplane. But his gamble was a bust. A lack of increased interest from customers combined with high pre–Gulf War fuel prices meant the shuttle never turned a profit. The high debt forced Trump to default on his loans, and ownership of the company was turned over to creditors. The Trump Shuttle ceased to exist in 1992.

TRUMP CASINOS - Donald Trump's gambles don't always go as planned. Especially when that gamble is gambling itself. In February 2009, Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the third time in a row — an extremely rare feat in American business. The casino company, founded in the 1980s, runs the Taj Mahal, the Trump Plaza and the Trump Marina. Trump defended himself by distancing himself from the company, though he owned 28% of its stock. "Other than the fact that it has my name on it — which I'm not thrilled about — I have nothing to do with the company," he said. He resigned from Trump Entertainment soon after that third filing, but in August of that year he, and an affiliate of Beal Bank Nevada, agreed to buy the company for $100 million.

TRUMP MARRIAGES - Donald Trump's life in the bedroom has been messy at best. The real estate magnate married his first wife, Ivana, in 1977, but things got rocky after Trump's affair with actress Marla Maples surfaced in New York City tabloids. "You bitch, leave my husband alone!" Ivana told Maples on a ski trip in Aspen, Colo. Ivana's warning fell on deaf ears, and in 1992, Trump left her with a reported $25 million settlement and married his mistress one year later. His marriage to Maples was even shorter-lived, and the couple divorced in 1999. These days, Trump is married to Slovenian supermodel Melania Knauss.

TRUMP MORTGAGE - In April 2006, Trump announced that, after years in the real estate business, he was launching a mortgage company. He held a glitzy press conference at which his son Donald Jr. predicted that Trump Mortgage would soon be the nation's No. 1 home-loan lender. Trump told CNBC, "Who knows more about financing than me?" Apparently, plenty. Within a year and a half, Trump Mortgage had closed shop. The would-be lending powerhouse was done in by timing (the housing market cratered in 2007) and ironically enough, given Trump's Apprentice TV show, poor hiring. The executive Trump selected to run his loan company, E.J. Ridings, claimed to have been a top executive at a prestigious investment bank. In reality, Ridings' highest role on Wall Street was as a registered broker, a position he held for a mere six days.

TRUMP UNIVERSITY - They hoped to get rich off real estate, so they enrolled in Donald Trump’s University to learn the tricks of the trade, some of them maxing out their credit cards to pay tens of thousands of dollars for insider knowledge they believed could make them wealthy.

Do you remember Trump University? Probably not — founded in 2005, it didn’t really catch on. And one big reason it didn’t catch on is because it was a total scam, say former students in complaints that were filed to the Federal Trade Commission and were unearthed by a Freedom of Information Act recently requested by Gizmodo.

“I want my $35,000+ back. All I got was books that I could have gotten from the library that could guide me better then Trump’s class did." Another grievance describes a strategy reminiscent of Scientology. After paying $1,495 for a three-day seminar, which provided information freely available on Zillow, “attendees were told that unless they purchased additional products (software; individual coaching) they would not succeed,” the complaint states.

In 2013, the New York Attorney General’s office filed a $40 million lawsuit against the former reality star and current Republican presidential candidate for failing to impart the promised real estate education on 5,000 students and subjecting prospective students to high-pressure sales tactics. In April 2015, a judge ruled that Trump was indeed personally responsible and that the matter would go to trial. A class-action suit against Trump related to Trump University is also pending.

TRUMP VODKA - Trump vodka was introduced in 2006 to much fanfare. At the time, Trump predicted the T&T (Trump and Tonic) would become the most requested drink in America. On Larry King Live, he said he got into the vodka business to outdo his friends at Grey Goose. Ten years later, Grey Goose is still on top shelves throughout the country. As for Trump vodka? Yeah, we'd never heard of it either. The New York City blog Gothamist reported the vodka stopped production "because the company failed to meet the threshold requirements." In 2011, Trump's company filed an injunction to prevent an ISRAELI company from selling Trump vodka without his consent or authorization. Meaning the Donald stopped the only people in world who wanted to drink his vodka from doing so.

CHINA CONNECTION - "The problem with our country is we don't manufacture anything anymore," Donald Trump told Fox News recently. "The stuff that's been sent over from China," he complained, "falls apart after a year and a half. It's crap." That very same Donald Trump has his own line of clothing, and it's made in ... China. (OK, OK — not all of it. Salon, which reported this intriguing, head-scratching fact, notes that some of his apparel is from MEXICO and Bangladesh.)

BANKRUPTCIES - Donald Trump brags about how well his businesses have fared. Yet, no major U.S. company has filed for Chapter 11 more than Trump's casino empire in the last 30 years[*].

In 1990, the banking institutions that backed his real estate investments had to bail him out with a $65 million "rescue package" that contained new loans and credit. But it wasn't enough, and in 1991 the famous developer was nearly $4 billion in debt and his famous Taj Mahal casino had to file bankruptcy, [with another bankruptcy for Trump Castle Associates being filed in 1992*]. Trump's economic troubles continued through the '90s, while he was personally leveraged to nearly $1 billion. In 2004, Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts also filed for bankruptcy. In 2009, the same company (by then renamed Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc.) filed for bankruptcy again.

http://content.time.com/…/completel…/0,29569,2068227,00.html

http://time.com/…/40106…/trump-university-scam-donald-trump/

http://money.cnn.com/…/c…/donald-trump-bankruptcy/index.html

It kind of all starts in Public Schools

"Why do I have to learn Algebra?!" And you have people like Michelle Rhee convincing us to destroy our schools.

"Why do I have to practice the clarinet?!" And you have people like Weeknd and Bieber at the top of the charts.

"Why do I have to go to PE?!" And you have people calling our first lady Moochelle as she tries to get us to eat a vegetable.

It kind of all starts in Public Schools. Don't let billionaires convince you that privatization, for profit charters, and vouchers are good.

Who will be our Walter Cronkite?

When I was a kid, I grew up with the Vietnam War on the news, TV, Radio and newspapers. It was real life horror, and soon millions were in the streets protesting against this war.

I'm starting to feel the same way with the incessant daily gun massacres.

As the war in Vietnam ground to a stalemate, CBS reporter Walter Cronkite, trusted by America in ways we couldn't believe today, made a statement:

Mr. CRONKITE: (Reading) Tonight, back in more familiar surroundings in New York, we'd like to sum up our findings in Vietnam, an analysis that must be speculative, personal, subjective. Who won and who lost in the great Tet Offensive against the cities? I'm not sure. The Vietcong did not win by a knockout but neither did we.
Then, with as much restraint as I could, I turned to our own leaders whose idea of negotiation seemed frozen in memories of General McArthur's encounter with the Japanese aboard the Battleship Missouri.
We've been too often disappointed by the optimism of the American leaders...
(Soundbite of TV program, "CBS Evening News")
(Reading) Both in Vietnam and Washington to have faith any longer in the silver linings they find in the darkest clouds. For it seems now more certain than ever, that the bloody experience of Vietnam is to end in a stalemate. To say that we are closer to victory today is to believe in the face of the evidence, the optimists who have been wrong in the past.
To say that we are mired in stalemate seems the only realistic, if unsatisfactory conclusion. On the off chance that military and political analysts are right, in the next few months we must test the enemy's intentions, in case this is indeed his last big gasp before negotiations.
But it is increasingly clear to this reporter that the only rational way out then will be to negotiate, not as victors, but as an honorable people who lived up to their pledge to defend democracy, and did the best they could.
This is Walter Cronkite. Good night.

Our civil war about firearms is not in a stalemate, it's getting worse daily, and we're losing tens of thousand a year to it. The vast majority of us do not want to live our lives terrorized by the thought that the person next to us, whether in schools, theaters, parks, churches, military bases, hair salons, offices, supermarkets, malls, factories, trains...is armed and ready to do us harm.

Contact your elected officials today. Your city council, Mayor, state legislative representatives, Governor, Senators, Congressional Representatives and President. Let them know that We the People are under Siege, and that they need to do something.

Every firearm owner needs a license, with certified training and testing, renewed regularly. Those with a history of violence, violent felonies, and mental illness related to violence will be denied. Liability insurance for each owner, multiplied by the number of weapons.

Every firearm needs a title and ID, so we can trace every firearm and bullet.

Limit the sale of military-style weapons to the military and law enforcement. Limit the amount of ammo to what is necessary for training and self-defense.

It's not too soon to talk - it's far far too late.

National Firearm Regulation: Owning a Gun Comes With Great Responsibility

National Firearm Regulation:

• Background Check - Felonies, Violent behavior related to mental health
• Training - Safety and usage
• Testing
• Insurance - A Single-Payer indemnity pool
• Weapon and Ammunition ID - track every gun and bullet
• License
• Assault Weapons - No sales other than to military and law enforcement
• Ammunition: limit sales to a quantity sufficient for practice and personal defense

This service, since there is a firearm for every man, woman, and child in the U.S., would be paid from our Federal Taxes; administered by State agencies. Database would be secure but immediately accessible by law enforcement, courts with a warrant, etc. License would not be used for Voter ID, employment eligibility, credit worthiness, or in any discriminatory way.

We need to get our elected officials and legislators to help! We're under siege.

This Life is a Riot

I lived through race riots in my home town of Michigan City, IN in the '60s. Brutal police actions led to unrest, which was fanned into flames by outside agitators, and the National Guard had to come in to cool things off for a few days.

I lived through race riots in my adopted city of Boston in the '70s. White people rioted, burned and looted so their schools wouldn't be integrated. It took the better part of a year for this to cool down and for the buses to roll as directed.

I lived through race riots here in Los Angeles in the '90s. Brutal police actions and a complicit judicial system led to almost immediate action, almost as if rioting, looting, and burning were planned.

None of this was warranted or necessary.

Race is almost impossible to talk about here in the U.S. We have such an awful history - genocide on native peoples, wholesale enslavement of people imported to work for the wealthy, Jim Crow laws making sure that a century later these people still didn't have the opportunity many of us had and took for granted. It seems like half of America wants to take us back to the status quo of 1950 or 1850, and we are a brutish and un-exceptional nation because of this.

Young people are very much less likely to care about anyone's race, but it's the old and wealthy that have the power and systematically deny Freedom and opportunity to those without wealth and power - non-whites, immigrants, those not of your religion, different sexual and gender orientation...

Even the brutality of the police - along with horrible Stand-Your-Ground murders, our obsession with firearms and our generation-long war on drugs which is becoming simply a pipeline from school to for-profit prisons - is just a symptom. Our economic divisions and imposition of belief over Human Rights is fundamentally the cause.

It would be naive to believe we can get either side to change overnight. Working to get rid of systematic policies like Stop and Frisk and Stand Your Ground would be a start. Ensuring free and appropriate public education and health care for all would be a great step. We can only do this if we choose, little by little, to put aside differences and embrace what Unites us.

We did this. It's not a matter of belief, it's a matter of science.

For over a century, we have redistributed carbon from our earth to our atmosphere and oceans at an incredible rate.

The results?

-Warmest globe in recorded history
-Historic western drought
-Historic midwestern Polar Vortex

Yes, we did this. It's not a matter of belief, it's a matter of science.

Yes, we can mitigate this. It took over a century to get here, and we will suffer over the next century even if we take proper measures now. We need to use less, derive more from renewable sources- yes, we can do this today.

The only ones arguing against this are a few billionaires, raking the profits, knowing they'll be insulated from the effects during their lifetimes and they won't be around to see the subsequent suffering. They own entire political parties and media sources that lie, and lie, and lie to convince Americans otherwise.

They try to make it OK to send poor sons and daughters to die in the mid east for those billionaires' profit, to get people to vote against their self interest, and to turn around the very meaning of Human Rights to defend the ability of corporations and investors to profit from the suffering they are causing.

Vote with your dollars to support the ending of this war on you. Vote in November - if you don't, you have become their servant.

“I don’t get it either. I sent you a scientist, an engineer, solar panels and wind turbines.”

This is a story of a man who was a firm believer in God, Glen Beck, Sean Hannity and FOX News.

It was hot. Very hot. And dry. His electrical power was shutting down a few times a day with peak usage. He was paying twice as much for half as much water, his lawn was brown, and his cost of food had doubled.

The man sat down in front of the TV, and knew that he would be OK. God would protect him.

He was hot, and he was thirsty. A friend came by and said: “Hey, watch this. It's a documentary. It shows that 97% of scientists agree that because we have been redistributing carbon from our earth to our atmosphere and waters at an alarming rate for the last century, temperatures in both will be rising. This will cause polar ice to melt, ocean levels to rise, cities to flood, and weather patterns to change. If we begin to work now, we can reverse the trend.” “No thanks,” said the man. “I’m a firm believer in God. He will save me, and my TV tells me that these scientists are in collusion so Democrats can tax me, and that the earth is actually cooling. God made the earth, and there is no way man can destroy it.” He sent the friend away.

The summers got hotter, and unprecedented winter storms made him miserable. Another friend came by with an engineer and a businessman, and they said: “You look like you could use some help. We'd like to develop your neighbor's land with solar panels and wind turbines. This project will power tens of thousands of homes and businesses. The panels will cover a lot of ground and birds fly into the turbines. We'll do our best to mitigate this damage. We would like your agreement to let us build this in exchange for infringing on a little bit of your view.”

“No.” said the man. “I’m a firm believer in God. He will rescue us. The TV tells me that this is just a plan to tax me and kill jobs. We can depend on clean coal and the revolution in natural gas, and tens of thousands of jobs will be created if I let them build a pipeline on my land. Don’t worry about me.” The engineer and entrepreneur drove away.

It got hotter, and the man suffered from thirst. A woman  from the state came by and said: “Hi there my friend. We have a program to put solar panels on your roof and install a grey water system to irrigate your plants. We calculate that this for all of our single family homes will actually put electricity back into the grid, eliminating the need for any new coal or nuclear plants, and save our system of aqueducts.” “No,” said the man. “I’m a firm believer in God. He will rescue me. I know he will. My bills keep going up, and the TV tells me that this is Socialism. If the free market hasn't come up with this solution, we can't leave it to the government, which is the problem, and can never do anything right.” The woman from the state drove away.

It kept getting hotter and dryer. The man finally ran out of water, collapsed and died of dehydration and malnutrition.

When the man died, he went to heaven. When entering heaven, he had an interview with God.

After giving a polite greeting and sitting down, the man asked: “Where were you. I waited and waited, in great pain. I was sure you would rescue me from the heat and drought, as I have been a firm believer all my life, and have only done good to others. So where were you when I needed you?”

God scratched his head, twisted his confused looking face and answered: “I don’t get it either. I sent you a scientist, an engineer, solar panels and wind turbines.”

The People are the Pawns.

I support the People of Palestine and Israel. They are pawns in this dangerous game.

I condemn the governments of Palestine and Israel for their warfare, which violates every bit of decency we have ever had in this world. This war is, for both sides, far worse than any action ever taken against the People of these nations and their ancestors.

I blame the global Military Industrial Complex and the financial interests that back the current war and profit from it. Follow the Money, always.

It's Sunday Morning on Bash The President

There's some truth to this (behind the bigoted dig on our President). http://www.nationaljournal.com/white-house/mr-i-me-my-obama-oughta-know-he-s-not-the-hero-20140715 You have to remember that since the middle of 2008 it has been a combination of dark (Koch) money and bright storytelling by the corporate media that has been creating a Barack Obama who is Arab, Kenyan, Muslim, Gay, Dumb, Unknown, Inexperienced, Un-vetted, Communist, Terrorist, Marxist, Socialist. He is none of these, and you and they know it.
That is because they are still furious that they lost their actually dumb and incompetent President, and their chance at a replacement in Palin.

But, by steering the narrative about BHO by boldly asserting that his supporters are the real racists, that ACORN faked all of the registrations so armies of Blacks could illegitimately vote him into office, and that to his supporters he is their Chosen One, Dear Leader, Messiah, etc., they, and poor journalists like you, National Journal, have fueled this narrative that he is believed by his supporters (a true majority of us) to be The Hero.

Even Thomas Frank in today's Salon http://www.salon.com/2014/07/20/right_wing_obstruction_could_have_been_fought_an_ineffective_and_gutless_presidencys_legacy_is_failure/?source=newsletter is trying vainly to denigrate Obama, and his office, by saying he had every opportunity to stop the assault by Congress, the Kochs, and their blind supporters (who vote against their self interest by having shiny objects of various kinds dangled in front of them). No President has ever done so much good in the face of so much opposition. Even FDR in 1937 caved a little, to very similar opposition, and set back our recovery from the Depression by years.

No, Barack Obama does not think he is the Hero. That is your invention. and you, the dark money behind these lies, and gullible voters and supporters, bought and paid for this narrative. Have YOU no shame?

It's Sunday Morning on Bash The President. We're on to your game.

“I don’t get it either. I sent you a friend, an EMT, a helicopter and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.”

This is a story of a man, who was a firm believer of God, Glen Beck, Sean Hannity and FOX News.

One day he began to breathe very heavily. He couldn't stop, and his chest hurt.

The man sat down in front of the TV, and knew that he would be ok. God would protect him.

It kept hurting and now his left arm hurt. A friend came by and said: “Hey, jump in my car. We will take you to the hospital.” “No thanks,” said the man. “I’m a firm believer in God. He will save me, and my deductible hasn't been met.” He sent the friend away.

It kept on hurting and now the pain was worrying him. Another friend came by with a paramedic and a friend said: “You look like you could need some help. We will take you with us in the ambulance.”

“No.” said the man. “I’m a firm believer in God. He will rescue me. My co-pay is too high to go to the ER. Don’t worry about me.” The EMT drove away.

It still hurt and the man cried out in pain. A helicopter came by and a guy in the helicopter threw down a rescue harness and said: “Hi there my friend. Get in. We will rescue you.” “No,” said the man. “I’m a firm believer in God. He will rescue me. I know he will. My insurance wouldn't cover me, and on TV they tell me the truth, that Obamacare is socialism, will raise my premiums, and the webiste doesn't work anyway.” The helicopter flew away.

It kept on hurting, and finally the man went into full cardiac arrest and died.

When the man died, he went to heaven. When entering Heaven, he had an interview with God.

After giving a polite greeting and sitting down, the man asked: “Where were you. I waited and waited, in great pain. I was sure you would rescue me, as I have been a firm believer all my life, and have only done good to others. So where were you when I needed you?”

God scratched his confused looking face and answered: “I don’t get it either. I sent you a friend, an EMT, a helicopter and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.”

"The Dodgers Will Only Have Themselves to Blame"

You Must Be A Republican

(stolen from Facebook) "A woman in a hot air balloon realized she was lost. She lowered her altitude and spotted a man in a boat below. She shouted to him, "Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am."

The man consulted his portable GPS and replied, "You're in a hot air balloon, approximately 30 feet above ground elevation of 2,346 feet above sea level. You are at 31 degrees, 14.97 minutes north latitude and 100 degrees, 49.09 minutes west longitude.

"She rolled her eyes and said, "You must be an Obama Democrat."

"I am," replied the man. "How did you know?"

"Well," answered the balloonist, "everything you told me is technically correct. But I have no idea what to do with your information, and I'm still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help to me."

The man smiled and responded, "You must be a Republican."

"I am," replied the balloonist. "How did you know?"

"Well," said the man, "you don't know where you are or where you are going. You've risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise you have no idea how to keep, and you expect me to solve your problem. You're in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but somehow, now it's my fault."

"COMPROMISE!!!"

Popular Status Update (stolen from Facebook):

Oct 2008: "You'll never get elected and pass healthcare."
Nov 2008: "We'll never let you pass healthcare."
Jan 2009: "We are going to shout you down every time you try to pass healthcare."
July 2009: "We will fight to the death every attempt you make to pass healthcare."
Dec 2009: "We will destroy you if you even consider passing healthcare."
March 2010: "We can't believe you just passed healthcare."
April 2010: "We are going to overturn healthcare."
Sept 2010: "We are going to repeal healthcare."
Jan 2011: "We are going to destroy healthcare."
Feb 2012: "We are going to elect a candidate who will immediately revoke healthcare."
June 2012: "We will go to the Supreme Court, and they will overturn healthcare."
Aug 2012: "The American people will never re-elect you, because they don't want healthcare."
Oct 2012: "We can't wait to win the election and explode healthcare."
Nov 2012: "We can't believe you just got re-elected and that we can't repeal healthcare."
Feb 2013: "We're still going to vote to obliterate healthcare."
June 2013: "We can't believe the Supreme Court just upheld healthcare."
July 2013: "We're going to vote like 35 more times to erase healthcare."
Sept 2013: "We are going to leverage a government shutdown into de-funding, destroying, obliterating, overturning, repealing, dismantling, erasing and ripping apart healthcare."
Oct 2013: "WHY AREN'T YOU NEGOTIATING???"

$1,260,000.00 for this woman to treat breast cancer.

The Cost of Breast Cancer: How I Coped With a Terminal Diagnosis:

$1,260,000.00 for this woman to treat breast cancer.

How many of you know that only about 0.5% of Americans could come up with that much cash?

How many of you know that around 50 million Americans have no health insurance? If these people get sick like this, they would either get no treatment, or sub standard treatment with a low chance of remission, or treatment paid for by your tax dollars and mine through private for-profit providers with the profit going to Wall Street.

How many of you know that a large percentage people with insurance would have to pay $10-15,000 out of pocket - Do you have that much cash lying around?

How many of you know that a large percentage of people with insurance have caps of $100-500,000 in lifetime benefits, so they still couldn't pay for this treatment?

How many of you know that we are the only Western nation where people aren't guaranteed access to health care, that we pay far more than nations that have universal health care, and that our outcomes are worse than theirs?

How many of you know that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act fixes all of this?

Thinking of a Clean Resolution, and What is the GOP's End Game?

OK, here's where we start thinking: There is a "Clean CR" on the table. It funds the government as-is, and the Senate and POTUS will sign it. There is also a Clean Debt Ceiling bill that could keep our Full Faith and Credit intact in two weeks, but I digress.

The Republicans are adding unthinkable, unsustainable items to the resolution that will never get past the Senate or POTUS. This is as if the Democrats had added an upgrade to Single Payer for the #PPACA, permanent ban of fracking, labeling of GMOs, etcl and said that they will shut down the government unless these are added to the resolution to fund the government.

The thinking part is "since the Republicans know that Obamacare can't and won't be defunded, what is their end game instead?"

Doug Osborne at the Cinema Bar September 19, 2013 8:30 PM

Tonight at around 8:30 PM I will be performing a set of my songs at The Cinema Bar in Culver City, CA. Me and my acoustic guitar. If you're in the Los Angeles area, it would be great if you could show up and be enlightened or depressed, depending on the song.

8p Lindsey Jane Bullen
8:30p Doug Osborne Music
915p Rich McCulley
10p Punch-Drunks

Texas. Banning Books and Facts Since December 29, 1845

http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2013/09/17/gun-rights-advocates-want-history-book-removed-from-texas-school/

Pretty much everyone owned a gun of some kind in 1787, and what a farmer owned to protect his livestock from predators was pretty much what government had, too. There was never any question then or now whether people had a gun.

What was under question as we formed a government?

Could the government confiscate your weapons? Of course, a truly Conservative government could (and did, in the case of the King). Ours was a Liberal democracy and we wanted to enumerate Human Rights in our Constitution.

Could the states form Militias and require that people bear arms? Of course, to protect the nascent Federal government lacking a standing army, and to protect wealthy interests (slaveowners - this was a way to insure that plantation owners in the south could protect their property, to keep them part of the fragile new nation).

Does this mean that we are born with the right which ensures that any person can own any weapon at any time. Of course not...that's a fantasy you've been fed by billionaires to keep you terrorized, poor, and ignorant.

We are in debt because of....illegal immigrants?

-We are not at war with or within Mexico or Canada. I do crave Poutine, though.

-Who are you calling we? We don't give any immigrant a job, other than picking our food, washing our cars, wiping our babies' butts. Immigrants come here to work, support their families, make a better life.

-A driver's license is a state issue. A state is not a sovereign nation and doesn't have borders, citizens, etc., the way a nation does. If a state issues a licence without establishing immigration status, WE KNOW WHO THEY ARE, they buy insurance, they pay their fees like the rest of us, but a DMV employee is not an immigration officer, nor would you want them to be.

-No non-citizen gets food stamps...wait, nobody gets food stamps. The SNAP program doesn't use stamps. And the typical recipient is a rural white child, you know, the ones whos parents voted Republican for 30 years and now want to take their country back.

-Immigrants come here to get work and rent or buy a place to live. There are more homeless that are veterans, per capita, than undocumented immigrants. Although some of the homeless veterans are undocumented immigrants since the Army will take them, so they can fight and die for the U.S. When they rent or buy, they are enriching our economy.

-Undocumented immigrants get health care? From the same free health care the rest of us get? This is seriously a thing?

-Yes, all residents are guaranteed a free and appropriate education. The alternative, I suppose, would be children running around in the streets, poor, sick, and ignorant. That's a Great, Exceptional, America.

-Nobody but billionaires and incorporated entities (an immigrant can incorporate here, no citizenship papers needed) can operate businesses largely tax free because of the tax code we started breaking when we elected Reagan. It's you and me who pay for the socialized losses to the 1% can prosper.

We are in debt largely because of two off-the-books wars, tax cuts to billionaires, and Medicare Pt. D (a bribe for seniors' votes). Social insurance programs, etc., have little or nothing to do with our debt (we don't borrow to pay someone's Social Security, in fact we borrow FROM Social Security, which is the only reason why some say it's in trouble).