2. After searching through their trash box, looking for a theme to run on, and finding nothing that works for them, the RomRyan duo, this week is on to this one - "are you better off than you were 4 years ago?" Can we assume that the GOP really does not want to hear the answers? I mean, they think that this worked for Reagan, so they think this will work for them. Not so fast Rip Nomree (actually said by Ryan). First of all, George W. Bush is gone. That in itself is enough to even convince the reddest of the Republicans to be better off. He was so bad that they did not even mention this 2-term recent president at all..not once. Second, my mailing address state is now abbreviated as CA not GA - so much better for me. Today, we now can identify those issues and people who are responsible for making us worse off (the 1%, the global warming/climate change naysayers, who exactly in Congress has sat on their hands in destructive sabotage of the president, how the real estate bubble and the Wall Street crisis was created and who was responsible, etc, etc), Yes today, versus four years ago, we know who and what is actively working to destroy the middle class. We have the knowledge in hand on who is lying to us, and what we have to do to make things right. Over four years ago, we were powerless, and lacking in resources to control our destiny. We now know the source for much of our economic misery, and where particular parts of our government have not worked for us. So, where I am probably better off, I am going to work to see thing through for the rest of us:
3. Having Ryan on the GOP ticket is all we need to pick away on defining the Republican plan. Romney has flipped and flopped his way, but with very little to stick him on because he is not saying, won't show his tax returns, and now he's trying to run away from Ryan's budget plan. So, at every opportunity, Ryan is called out on the inconsistencies, and failures that his budget proposals bring. So, Ryan says that, Romney is the main guy, and he will set the policy, not him. So we turn to Romney, and all we get from him is "I believe in America" and goes silent on specifics. So, all we are left with is Ryan's budget, and his fabrications and misspeakings, and he needs to be called out on each detail, for that is all that these two guys have as a paper trail:
4. The real power broker, and the Republican who is pulling and pushing all the buttons, the guy who is setting the tone on who gets nominated, what legislation gets written, and the gathering of all money to make things happen (the bag man) is Karl Rove. Read about him here in what is about a book written by someone who worked close to him, but apparently Rove is not too happy with. I think it would be poetic justice if all the money that Rove has gathered from all the Citizens United ruling loses out in the election. There are two guys who have more influence on how the Republican side of politics runs Washington D.C. and they are not elected officials - Grover Norquist and Karl Rove. Democracy would be better off without them:
5. What this presidential campaign and election will eventually boil down to is "Character". This article points out that Romney's character or representation of who he is.....is unable to be located or defined. As such, no one knows who he is, not even himself. Picking Ryan as his VP was a way of both pandering to the base and giving the ticket some substance. Ryan will be busy trying to back off from what he has clearly defined and lied about. Romney, on the other hand, is really a hard sale. How can you give him the reins when you really do not know how he is going to act? What would probably happen, if he were to be elected, is that he would wimp out and do what the jackals that Ryan represents run all over him. Not good:
6. Recalling the Mike Lofgren article that was the solo news entry two days ago, here is Mr. Lofgren with Bill Moyers to put a face on that great piece:
7. As you might suspect, I did watch the convention on MSNBC and thoroughly lapped up on the speeches given by Lilly Lebetter, Tammy Duckworth, Deval Patrick, Julian Castro, Kal Penn, and Michelle Obama. Some of them were particularly moving, especially FLOTUS, Castro, and Patrick. What was really noticeable was the faces on the floor of the convention compared to what we saw last week in Tampa. The diversity of Anglo, Asian, Black, Hispanic, and yes even a Hindu and Muslim - the real face of America - was alive, and I was proud to be associated with the Democratic Party. I think that the Republicans may be thinking of their current ..."throw-out-a phrase-this-week-and-see-if-it-sticks" theme , asking "Are you better off than you were 4 years ago?" I like Joe Biden's response ' "Yes, we are all better of than what George Bush left us with". To introduce this next link, which has nothing to do with my report on the TV coverage of Tuesday, all I can say is that the Democrats have completed their party platform, and you won't hear much mention of what's in there (ban on assault weapons, having all sacrifice and pay their fair share in taxes, raising the minimum wage, reducing carbon emissions, etc, etc). Just as the Republicans don't want to people to know what is in their platform because it reveals just how conservative and to the extreme right they are....the Democrats have language in theirs that really is progressive in tone, and would take a ton of explanation):
8. This is an interesting column by Maureen Dowd. It concerns the dynamic similarities between Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, and highlights the glaring differences between the two. Obama needs Bill to really come through for him in his speech tonight. When you consider the rivalries between Obama the candidate and Hillary, and now Obama the president, and the future succession of a possible Hillary in the White House - Ms. Dowd has a field day. This column was written before Michelle Obama's speech, and her presentation could be a factor in how tonight's scenario plays out. Michelle's presentation could just rival the best that Obama can come up with, and then Bill has to take that into consideration, on how and what he says. It will be interesting to see if there are flurries of last-minute speech editions, and IF there is to be any coordination on what the two presidents may be saying - or if it is each one for himself:
--
Juan
"A child of five would understand this. Send someone to fetch a child of five."
-- Groucho Marx
-- Groucho Marx
"Life is pain, anyone who says differently is selling something."
-- William Goldman
-- William Goldman
"The United States is a nation of laws: badly written and randomly enforced."
-- Frank Zappa
-- Frank Zappa
"Life is full of misery, loneliness, and suffering - and it's all over much too soon."
-- Woody Allen
-- Woody Allen
"What luck for rulers that men do not think."
-- Adolf Hitler
-- Adolf Hitler
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