Things to Know - 31 August

1.  I have to admit, I did not have the patience nor the inclination to sit through the TV coverage of the Republicans in Tampa.  First of all, I am turned off by the complexion (or lack thereof) of the attending delegates.  What I see is not the diversity that we all experience when we go to the malls, DMV, stores, or public downtown streets.  What I glean from news highlights and opinions the day after is how I get most of my information.  What I am observing, is that there is a glaring absence of a few key players who are responsible for most of the misery that we are feeling today.   No one is talking about Osama Bin Laden.  The Republicans used Bin Laden and Al Queda to throw us into the biggest boondoggle of unfunded ventures ever experienced by this nation.  Also absent is the name and face of George W. Bush.  For 8 years, "W" was the Republican President - and did he ever screw things up, and so quickly and so thoroughly that he has rightly earned the title of "The Worst President Ever".   Bush did such a masterful job that his legacy and damage will take at least a decade for recovery.  Obama inherited a mess, and the GOP puts the yoke of blame on him for all that Bush created.  Osama Bin Laden, Afghanistan, and Bush are names and subjects that the Republicans refuse to acknowledge, and by doing so they fantasize their campaign on the tracks of missing logic.  As Romney hides much that we need to know, and he and his party go forth etch-a-sketching an erased responsibility to historical events, there is not much to work with.  So, they just make things up:

http://www.nationalmemo.com/republican-national-convention-night-two-lolgop-liveblog/?utm_source=sendgrid.com&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=website

2.  Apparently Paul Ryan took great liberties and presented a host of "misspeaks" or "untruths", or more to the point - lies last night in Tampa.  Even FOX NEWS immediately pointed that out (see the links below).  Ryan may have presented an eager and youthful presentation, which will be an asset to the ticket as he stands next to the plastic and boring Mitt Romney.  However, the Republican penchant for making up stuff and running on stuff that is not true is going to present a huge liability.  When the media is doing its journalistic duty to report the truth, the public is more apt to pay attention and act accordingly than if it is left to the opposition to point out the lies.  This is not going to go well for RomRyan and the GOP from here on out:

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/08/30/paul-ryans-speech-in-three-words/

http://news.yahoo.com/fact-check-ryan-takes-factual-shortcuts-speech-070905927.html?_esi=1

http://www.tnr.com/blog/plank/106730/ryan-most-dishonest-convention-speech-five-lies-gm-medicare-deficit-medicaid

http://www.juancole.com/2012/08/top-ten-repeated-paul-ryan-lies.html

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/08/29/1125666/-Robert-Reich-warning-Right-s-constant-lying-could-lead-to-rise-of-demagogue

3.  The Republican whoppers in Tampa are interrupted for Thom Hartman's presentation of the rest of the news:

http://truth-out.org/news/item/11250-on-the-news-with-thom-hartmann-president-barack-obama-endorses-movement-to-amend-the-constitution-and-overturn-citizens-united-and-more?tsk=adminpreview

4.  "Right-Wing Nuttery".....   Now that is a phrase I have not heard of before.  However, as you read this article, you see how it is applied to the self-appointed vigilantes seeking to prevent "voter fraud" by anyone who does not look like "us" - using firearms and "capping off offenders" as the right-wing-nuts.  They are at the core of hatred that exists in the Tea Party - you know - that group which has taken over the Republican Party:

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/print/45242/

5.  I found this article, a bit strange, and perhaps over the top.  However, it does have some instructional material on understanding the workings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS for short).  This lesson is about the practice of tithing:

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/node/45240

6.  As I was reading this column, I had my TV on with some bobble-headed politician by the name of Mitt (on muted TV), and Bernie Sanders in this article.  I left the TV on mute, and listend to Bernie.  We should all listen to Bernie and Mitt can go back to the Caymans and talk to his money:

http://truth-out.org/video/item/11245-saving-american-democracy

7.  Conventions are full of corporate money and the influence is not there to just give you a glitzy show, it is there because the sponsors and the corporate backers demand and expect a return on their investment.  The underbelly of Capitalism runs the show:

http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/11251-party-conventions-and-convention-parties-dripping-in-irony

8.  I un-muted the TV and tried to watch Romney's acceptance speech...I really tried, but then as I checked in on him briefly, I caught the part where he said ".....this country worked with the president, and did everything to make him be successful ....", and then I bailed out to mute again.   From the date of his Obama's inaugural, the Republican Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell, and now speaker of the house John Boehner, have done nothing but obstruct and obstruct all along the way.  The quoted mission of McConnell was to make Obama a "1-term president".   So much for paying Romney and more time.   He's apparently following the foot-steps of Ryan and either making things ups, or just plain lying.   I'll catch up on the news highlights tomorrow morning, and take other people's points of view to see how Romney did:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/31/opinion/the-hidden-subject-in-tampa.html?hp&pagewanted=print

9. David Brooks is back, and this is his first contribution since his "The Real Mitt Romney" column a few days ago.  It is a very good column, with good points.  It's tenor and subject material confirms that the last one on the Real Mitt was not a fluke or a joke.   This column today says good and bad things about both political parties, but in particular the Republicans.  He fault the GOP for putting on speaker after speaker that harkens and promotes the individual and the success that comes to the individual with hard work and unfailing principles.  Brooks says that this is the mantra and the theme of the old days, and the Republicans as a party are failing to grasp that circumstances have changed and things are now societal and communitarian and the good of the group.  Taking this one step further, this approaches the Conservative definition of "socialism"...and that is a failing the the Republicans are going to have to address.   While the Republicans poo poo anything that has "government" association, Brooks opines that that is main problem with the GOP.   There are very good and great programs that involve the participation of the "government".   The Democrats don't get off easy, however.   They linger too long with programs that don't always work, or fail to change or fix.   There is much more in what Brooks has here, but all in all, it is a very good lesson for both parties:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/31/opinion/party-of-strivers.html?ref=opinion&pagewanted=print

--
Juan

"If you're going to do something tonight that you'll be sorry for tomorrow morning, sleep late."  
       -- Henny Youngman

"They are ill discoverers that think there is no land, when they can see nothing but sea." 
       -- Sir Francis Bacon

"I've wrestled with reality for 35 years, Doctor, and I'm happy to state I finally won out over it."
       -- Mary Chase

"Thank God men cannot as yet fly and lay waste the sky as well as the earth!" 
       -- Henry David Thoreau

"A wise man gets more use from his enemies than a fool from his friends." 
       -- Baltasar Gracian