This page is changed on
a regular basis!
We hope you enjoy reading
“Regurgitations.”
(America’s political scene moves with such speed,
we have a tendency to forget who sold us that sack of wet flour!)
You are un-American if you . . .
. . . espouse solving our energy problems by spouting the “drill baby drill” mantra!
(re-quoting one of our January issues)
Quote in Our Time
“Of all the creatures, man is the most detestable. Of the entire brood, he is the only one
that possesses malice. He is the only creature that inflicts pain for sport, knowing
it to be pain. The fact that man knows right from wrong proves his intellectual
superiority over other creatures; but the fact that he can do wrong proves
his moral inferiority to any creature that cannot.”
Mark Twain
One of Dan’s Gems!
(A pearl of wisdom actually uttered by Dan Quayle)
“Bank failures are caused by depositors who don’t deposit enough money
to cover losses due to mismanagement”.
Comments of The Month?
We don’t have to protect the environment; the Second Coming is at hand.
Jas. Watt
(Secretary of the interior - in the Reagan Admin - responsible for
national policy regarding America’s environment.)
Partisan politics stink!
We have long espoused that a big division in America consisted of the “brights” as opposed to the “not-so- brights.” In fact, following is a re-printing of answers given a highly respected pollster – Harris – who interviewed “members” of the Republican Party.
- 67% were convinced that Obama is a socialist.
- 57 % believe that Obama is a Muslim.
- 45% still insist that Obama was NOT born in the U. S.
- 38% staunchly insist that Obama is doing a lot of things that Hitler did.
- 24% maintain that Obama may be Antichrist.
We have seen the partisan politicians resort to what appears to be - every dirty trick in the book – a book that they themselves wrote. We have seen partisan politics literally fan the flickering flames of hate and racism and we have seen the partisan politics playing a key role – as they welcomed extremist groups with the proverbial ‘open arms.’ Does it come as any surprise that a former Republican Congressman – “Smarmy” Armey has been a key organizer of the Tea Party? When stalwarts of any political party resort to KKK tactics, the bottom of a social barrel - that should be filled with civility - is scraped!
The truly sad aspect of it all, the poll divulged that those without a college education were more prone to believe outlandish claims as opposed to the more educated. (According to the pollster.) Conversely, it has been determined that those pulling the puppet strings have college educations and are extremely partisan. Surprised? No! Repulsed? Yes!
The recent health care reform bill let us know once and for all, the partisan politics has placed party welfare far, far ahead of human welfare. The trouble is, the average voter has the attention span of an anesthetized snail. It is the attention span of many voters that has created the current mess in Washington. For starters, have you heard any outcry over the Dubya Bush Administration granting a trillion dollar tax break that we couldn’t afford - war or no war - but this tax break occurred during time of war? One thing for sure, Obama is expected to clean-up somebody’s mess - which took several decades to create – even before his first Administration ends! And, imagine, Obama is spending money for citizen welfare! ‘Fool!’
In spite of the fact that the year 2009 registered more millionaires than any time in recorded history and the country is experiencing nearly 10% unemployment, there are still those “loonies” that declare that Obama is inflicting “socialism” – whatever the word entails in their feeble minds - upon America. Imagine, Uncle Sam made a $7-bil profit from the sale of its collateralized stock when coming to AIG’s rescue! There’s more! Uncle Sam also garnered a profit of $4.2-bil profit from its “bailout” investment with Bank of America! And, the partisan screaming me me’s still insist on shouting “socialism.”
Wow! That’s not necessarily socialism is it? One thing for sure, the Republican Party had better start putting distance between themselves and the Tea Bag bunch – a lot of distance! Question! What percentage of the whole Tea/Bag/Republican Party tribe represents those that have served their country? Or better yet, what percentage has ever sipped a cup of tea?
Rather than people being concerned about socialism, government size, government take-over, etc., there should be grave concern over the fact that there are more than 11,000 registered lobbyists in D. C. People should be concerned that the financial community has exercised such a firm hold on both the House and Senate. People should be concerned over the existence of the Don Blankenship and Massey Energy-type companies that appear to be placing the cash register ahead of human welfare. And, people should be concerned over such names as Charles and David Koch who are petroleum billionaires reportedly doling-out approximately $40-mil in lobbying monies. (It’s the Koch boys that ostensibly released 91 metric tons of cancer causing benzene from their Texas oil refinery.) These are the same characters that reputedly contributed $800,000.000 to Dubya Bush’s presidential bid . It came as no surprise that Attorney General John Ashcroft decided to drop 88 of the 97 federal environmental charges that had been filed against the Koch boys. (Doing away with approximately 90% of the charges ended-up in a fine of $20-mil. Looks like that $800-M political contribution as opposed to a potential $352-mil in fines plus possible jail time - was a good investment!) Both Blankenship and the Koch’s excel at funding right-wing causes. Unfortunately, too many of us are more concerned as to where somebody was born or who went to bed with whom as opposed to public welfare!
THE Shows of Shows?
It is very doubtful that Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey could ever produce a circus exceeding that which the American public was ‘treated’ fairly recently by the Southern Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans. (The word ‘Leadership’ - in this instance – could be considered a euphemism.)
As you well know, conference headliners consisted of such luminaries as SayRah Palen – a/k/a Caribou Barbie, Shoot E’m from the Air Sara, The Wasilla Hillbilly and, Idiot! If SayRah is an idiot, what would you call her audiences that have made it possible for her to become a multi millionaire? Palen’s qualifications? She was governor of Alaska – for a short period of time before resigning from office. (There is every indication that SayRah quit her governorship of Alaska to make millions of dollars telling many what those many wanted to hear.) Then, stir-in Liz Cheney who was on the public payroll as a Deputy Director for Middle Eastern Affairs of the State Department. (At the same time – Liz’s husband was General Counsel for the Office of Homeland Security and we all know Big Daddy was America’s Vice President! Voila! The American taxpayers not only had to subsidize a sorry situation, they were also treated to a world-class example of nepotism.)
But wait! It gets better! Fold-in Newtwit Gingrich who has never served in the military but can still tell you what is wrong with America. It is safe to assume that Newt isn’t the most sensitive person in the world as evidenced in the documented incident of his telling his hospitalized wife – suffering from cancer – that he wanted a divorce. These characters didn’t have to wear any sequins to dazzle the cheering throngs – there was no need to toss red meat into the spectator galleries. In reality, to us it appeared to be a show of social losers – both on and off stage. (But, they all managed to haul-off a lot of taxpayer money!)
Since much of the foregoing went live on stage in New Orleans at the Republican Southern Leadership Conference, we wonder just how many times the word “Katrina” was mentioned!
Since Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey reputedly has its winter headquarters in Venice Florida, there’s an even bigger circus taking place in that state’s capital, Tallahassee. It is the Florida gubernatorial race with Alex Sink - currently the state’s chief financial officer - in the Democratic ring. In the Republican ring of Florida’s gubernatorial race, Bill McCollum – currently Attorney General holds forth . Who doesn’t know about McCollum’s “mottled” background which many have called, “unethical.” (The latest: McCollum paid - in the vicinity of $120,000.00 taxpayers’ money to Dr. Geo. Rekers – a strong anti-gay proponent - for “professional testimony” in a law suit filed against a gay man that wanted to adopt two boys. Rekers – as we all know, went to Europe with the help of a male prostitute to “carry his luggage.” It was during this vacation that the good doctor ostensibly got massages from his “luggage handler” who – in the buff - did the kneading. We’re not talking about cookie dough.)
And now, the third ring of this circus is busy with THE Rick Scott – co-founder of the Columbia Hospital Corp. in 1987. It was in 1997 that Columbia was fined - by the federal government - $1.7 bil for health-care fraud. (For that kinda money, you have to be doing some really fancy fraud.) It seems that Rick was forced-out by the company’s board of directors in 1997. Imagine, all this in only ten years of an operation in the “tongue depressor” business. (Something tells us the $10 aspirin tablet isn’t such a big joke after all.)
Rick Scott had a platinum parachute since he got $300-mil in company stock, $10-mil severance and a $1-mil a year consulting fee for five years. (That’ll keep you supplied in Little Debbie Snack Cakes!)
Between Bill McCollum and Rick Scott, the Republicans have really got some “winners” in Florida’s gubernatorial race. With the backgrounds of McCollum and Scott, it is difficult to comprehend WHY these circus acts would ever want to run for the office of Florida’s governor. On second thought, “Yes we can.” It sure doesn’t say much for the state’s electorate. (This is bound to be a highly entertaining political race. Move over Arizona, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina and . . . . . !)
Billionaires, Billionaires, Whose Got the Billionaires?
You have heard all the “socialism” screamers ranging from right wing radio and TV programs to bumper stickers but, the following statistics tell a different story. (Unfortunately there are those’ that vastly prefer their own facts as opposed factual facts.)
COUNTRY # OF BILLIONAIRES
United States………………………………………… 269
Japan…………………………………………………. 29
Germany……………………………………………… 28
Italy………………………………………………….. 17
Canada……………………………………………….. 16
Switzerland…………………………………………… 15
France………………………………………………… 15
Hong Kong…………………………………………… 14
Mexico…………………………………………………13
United Kingdom……………………………………… 12
Let’s take into consideration the “socialism” screamers in spite of the fact that the United States has 269 billionaires. Today, many consider the word “socialism” to rank right up there with the names of identifiable sexually transmitted diseases. Leper bells anybody?
Albert Einstein SocietyNominees
We would be most remiss not to – again - mention the Tea Party. We are confused! Here’s where the perplexity sets-in:
- Demands for smaller government. Past Republican Administrations have left behind larger governments which we can’t necessarily discount since USA’s population has doubled in less than eighty years. Arizona’s ongoing capers really blow-up the size of government with the verve of a hydrogen bomb. Has anybody in the Tea Party rebelled over this?
- Demands for less deficit spending. It makes sense but past Republican Administrations have outspent Democratic Administrations by more than 368%. Since the cries are for less taxes, how do we eradicate the debt outrage?
- Kill the health care reform bill! How many members of the Tea Party have even bothered to read the bill? An even better question is, “How many can read?”
- Too much taxation! Never mind that Americans pay far less in taxes than other major countries but, that’s ok. It’s such great fun to shout-out, “Reduce taxes!” Ignore facts!
Why hasn’t the Tea Party held one of its indignant sign-brandishing demonstrations before the West Virginia headquarters for Massey Energy and its CEO Don Blankenship?
(This is the same Don Blankenship that at one time addressed a group attired in an American Flag themed shirt.) Such a demonstration could be a real ‘barn-burner.’ Is one planned? In this case, ‘them’ colors do run! Blankenship has no known record of service to his country. He is a supporter-of-record of the Tea ‘Baggers’ and has a history – considered by many to be of Olympic proportions – of environmental infractions. It is reported that under Blankenship’s direction, actual mountain tops got shaved-off in order to provide greater ease in getting at profitable coal deposits. Surrounding valleys get filled. Voila! A disappearing act! The number of Blankenship’s mine safety violations are legion. Blankenship’s net worth is estimated at a bit more than $3,000,000,000.00 ($3-bil), and, he is paid an annual salary a tad less than $1,000,000.00 ($1-mil) and was given a bonus of $300,000.00. The bells don’t need to be melodic on that cash register!
The latest Massey Energy mine incident is said to place the cash register ahead of human welfare. Is this another example of capitalistic abuse? We think it is out and out capitalistic abuse – so much so, we consider it un-American. We do know that one TV cable host took a call-in poll and the question was to the effect, “Should Don Blankenship – Massey Energy’s CEO - go to jail?” Ninety-five percent (95%) of the respondents said, “Yes.”
The afore-outlined situation is really something to demonstrate against – but where are the demonstrations? Who – in this whole mess – has elected to make money as opposed to serving their country? (Lamentably, it is obvious that money trumps service to one’s country is highly discernable even in the halls of Congress.)
(We relied upon the web site www.MAPLight.org as non-partisan source for some figures in the foregoing.)
What happened to the 9th Amedment
to the American Constitution?
It clearly reads as follows:
“The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.”
What happened to the 9th Amendment? You never hear it mentioned – by political partisans nor by the media – print or electronic. Yet, it is an integral part of the American Constitution!
When haven’t you heard somebody bloviate, “By Gaud, I’ve got my rights!” The Constitution was designed to serve ALL. Wouldn’t the 9th Amendment apply to Columbine, or those armed ring-tailed baboons whose primary mission in life is to unseat a President that the people elected to office? Virginia Tech? What’s that?
An Ideal Political Couple and Why!
Can you think of a good – with tongue in cheek - political duet? If so, submit it to efrick@edfrickauthor.com with the names of the twosome in addition to your rationale as to why you think they would make a good duet. (None of that 25 words or less nonsense - you don’t even have to enclose an aluminum Ovaltine® lid with your submission. No Orphan Annie secret code badges here!)
Examples: Michele Bachman and SayRah Palen - our political “Thelma and Louise”
John Boehner and Eric Cantor - a good pair of “Negative Neds.”
Jim DeMint and Virginia Foxx – “America’s Brightest?”
We firmly believe that there are people out there that share our concern for good congressional representation that is not superseded by the public’s inordinate preoccupation with the dollar, sexual exploits or, sports.
We will do our best to print your nominations with your name on this web site. Send your idea(s) on the Internet to efrick@edfrickauthor.com. Have fun!
The “Inheritance!”
One would think that the Enron debacle was the handwriting on the wall! Not so! We get the health care imbroglio, the Massey Energy tragedy, the Wall Street raptors and a Gulf oil spill – to name a few. The fingers of accusation are pointed at those that stampeded for a veritable rodeo of profits as a result of de-regulation. In fact, even Sen. Mitch McConnell (R), KY and Senator John Cronyn (R) TX, got into the act by – reportedly – holding a recent secret fund- raising meeting with the Wall Street bunch. (You know, including the likes of Blankfein of Goldman Sachs? It was Blankfein who got paid $100,000,000.00 a year for – in his own words - “doing God’s work.” But then, former U. S. Treasury Secretary “Hank” Paulson was paid $1-bil a year salary – said to be the biggest salary in the world – when he was head of Goldman Sachs! Obviously, Paulson was doing the work of God’s God!)
It all keeps coming back to “de-regulation.” Former Senator Phil Gramm - who left the Senate in 2003 for a better paying job with the Swiss investment bank, UBS – lobbied aggressively for de-regulation. It is said that President Ronald Reagan began the domino effect of de-regulation which has contributed so much to the demise of the American economy!
Whatever happened to SayRah and the “one with empty eyes” – John McCain - both extolled at great lengths, ‘Drill Baby Drill?’ When you realize that these two clowns wanted to head the executive ranch of the United States of America, a chill goes-up your spine!
Obama inherited a sad set of circumstances as America’s unemployment lines are still very much in existence. Somebody made a lot of money but it wasn’t the average American citizen.
Dumb BunnyAward!
It appears that the State of Arizona is rivaling the State of Texas when it comes to political feeble-mindedness. The latest involves Arizona’s Governor Janice K. Brewer who – last month - signed house Bill 1108. According to Arizona’s Governor, the bill “protects” the Constitution’s 2nd Amendment rights! This means that it can be legal for a person to carry an unregistered firearm. There wasn’t so much as a whisper as to the existence of the Constitution’s 9th Amendment.
It is said that the NRA is very pleased with Arizona’s dubious bill signing. (That should come as no surprise.) Let’s take a long hard look at some extremely disturbing facts. Here’s some recent statistics supplied us as to the death of human beings in America resulting from guns when compared to other countries – for the year 2009:
Austria 18 Spain 60
Australia 27 Germany 194
England/Wales 59 United States 10,177
And, the firearms proponents get their noses out of joint when they are referred to as “gun nuts.” (For shame!) This is the same Arizona Governor that reportedly signed into law the banning of sparklers on the 4th of July since sparklers are considered dangerous.
One thing for sure, if 10,177 Americans were killed be terrorists, war dances would be held on virtually every street corner in America. That’s a lot of dancing!
Oh, but it doesn’t stop there. The Arizona State Legislature has also decreed that that it needs President Obama’s birth certificate in order for him – Obama - to qualify for being listed on that state’s ballot.
Arizona has just started to wear the dunce cap! Don’t forget, it was Arizona that gave us John McCain and his decades of being on the public dole. And it was this same John, in turn, that gave us SayRah Palen and Joe The Plumber. It is the same McCain that no longer considers himself being a self-avowed maverick and has taken a 180 degree turn on the issue of immigration.
Then, they passed that much debated immigration bill that Arizona’s Governor Janice K. Brewer said to the effect at the bill’s signing ceremonies, “I sign with unwavering
signature. . . ” The Governor’s “unwavering” signature now makes it legal for law enforcement to STOP and ask for citizenship papers from anybody that might look like an illegal immigrant. (Whatever an illegal immigrant is supposed to look like!) Never mind that Arizona borders the country of Mexico or, 30% of Arizona’s population is Hispanic, proof of citizenship papers apparently must be carried about just like a drivers license. Packing heat is optional but, legal.
Since the other Mexican Border States are California, New Mexico and Texas, it is natural to ask, “What’s next?” Don’t be surprised to see a bill come out of the Arizona State Legislature making it illegal to flip pancakes on Tuesdays without proof of citizenship! Do you think partisan politics had something to do with all this?
And to think we thought we would never see the Carolinas and Texas relegated to the rumble seats of the absurd!
Another Dumb Bunny Award
. . .a Sign on the Door!
For some strange reason, we seem to return – comment-wise - to the State of Florida. Although the actual incident is old hat news, we still believe that Dr. Jack Cassell of Florida’s Mt. Dora qualifies for a Dumb Bunny Award. It was Dr. Cassell that hung a sign on his office door stating to the effect, “If you voted for Obama, seek urologic care elsewhere. Changes to your healthcare begin right now, not in four years.” That’s sure taking the Hippocratic Oath and sailing it like a quivering Frisbee, isn’t it?
Later - when queried, - the good doctor stated that he would treat patients of differing political views if they came into the office in spite of the sign on the door. No thanks. Not this week!
They Say, We Say
TS: Am I wrong in stating that America is partially responsible
for the terrible cartel wars?
Silvia. . . Mexico City
WS: No! You are so right! In a way, America is – in many ways - responsible for Mexico’s drug cartel wars! This observation is based on the fact that the drug runners’ guns come from the United States. We also provide a great market for illicit drugs. Without America’s drug consumption it is safe to assume that you would have no drug wars. The American “arms merchants” are well aware that the guns- they sell Mexican drug cartels - will have an end use of killing people but, there are big profits to be made! Where has the NRA been when it entails the blatant abuse of firearms?
TS: Is it true that Walmart heirs consitiute 40% of America’s top billionaires?
Max . . . Ashtabula
WS: It is true and why wouldn’t it be? It has been said that Americans spend $36,000,000.00 AN HOUR of every day with this retailing giant - on a world-wide basis!
TS: Is there any one incident in D. C. that has really stuck in your minds?
Christine . . . Santiago
WS: There are TWO! First we will never forget those “jerques” - you wouldn’t want as next door neighbors” and led by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R), AL - grilling a real thinker, Sonia Sotomayor, and now Kagan - during their nomination hearings for the Supreme Court. Those clowns seemed to express more interest in making partisan political points as opposed to helping the American people. Our second “burr” under the proverbial saddle is that raging intellectual, SayRah Palen consistently denigrating Barak Obama’s one-time work as a neighborhood organizer! (It is fact that the neighborhood organizers’ prime objective it to help people. We can’t have that!)
TS: Don’t you think we should move faster on the American economy?
Steve . . . Muncie, In.
WS: From where we sit, Obama has accomplished more for all in his short time in office than his predecessor did in two Administrations. Let’s face it, Republican Administrations s and their de-regulation objectives – starting with Ronald Reagan – drove our economy into the ditch. This political myopia also included Bill Clinton who had “Guess who?” as his Secretary of the Treasury! Now you see a bunch of taxpayer subsidized, highly-paid sorry-looking losers standing in the middle of the road telling us how to get the economy out of that ditch. History will prove that it was also de-regulation that played a big hand in the Gulf disaster.
TS: Is it true that General Motors repaid Uncle Sam’s ‘bail-out’ loan early?
Charles. . . . Chandler, AZ
WS: Yes! Their initial re-payment installment was paid five years early! Where are all those naysayers - caterwauling like a gaggle of horny alley cats - that were dead-set against helping-out one of America’s own auto companies and the related several million workers that didn’t have to go on the unemployment lines? There were even those paragons of bigotry that referred to helping the American auto industry as “socialism!” Where was the outcry relating to the Wall Street bailout and the ensuing billions of dollars given the “fat cats” and their granting of billions of dollars in bonuses?
TS: It appears that we have had a great economic turn-around. Do you have any ‘post-recession comments?
Glen . . . Milpitas, CA
WS: Oh! Do we! Wall Street is considered by many to be the cause of 99% of the economic woes experienced by the American taxpayer. Again, let’s not forget it all had a great start with the late and ‘great’ Ronald Reagan who did an outstanding job of dismantling banking regulations. And until such time as all former regulations are back into place, we stand yet another good chance for an economic melt-down. It is generally thought that the banking industry has been running this country for too long!
Next Regurgitations!
It’s absurd!
Thank a veteran!
Bumper sticker of the decade!
The ideal political couple and why!
(California’s ‘Big Daddy’ and ‘Little Daddy!’)
We have another Albert Einstein Society nominee!
Another quote from our book, DIRTY OLD LANDLORD
Oh yes! Regrettably, we have another Dumb Bunny Award!
Don’t miss Dan’s Gems – Pearls of Wisdom by Dan Quayle
Who sits on the Senate Banking Housing and Urban Affairs committee?
Previous Blogs thru
01-15-10
02-18-10
03-21-10
04-20-10
05-17-10
(Should you have any comments relating to the foregoing commentary, you can contact me at efrick@edfrickauthor.com Compliments are ecstatically welcomed!) |
