The Issues Have Never Been Clearer

Ed Schultz is again taking up the cause of American Steel companies in Ohio and western Pennsylvania.  Ed marvled at the high tech excellence of these American plants as opposed to the shoddy product put out by Asians.  Which is why a six point earthquake occurs in that part of the world, their buildings get wiped out.  Where in Eureka we just had a six point earthquake with virtually no damage.  Both labor and business are united in the idea that America puts out the best product we ever have.  This is not your grandfather’s steel mill.  Today it’s very high tech and exacting.  But President Obama just doesn’t get it.  It’s questionable whether Obama has ever been a “real democrat” in the tradition of Franklin Roosevelt.  Because Roosevelt “got it” as far as - - building up THIS nation.   What the Republicans seem to be pitching is for the serfs on the plantation to vote for the overlords as the “job providers”.   This possibly Black caller- - is right now wondering what the Hell this President’s legacy is- - since it obviously won’t be health care, and this Trans Pacific Trade agreement- - is the thing that might completely torpedo all of the good that’s been done by way of improvements over the past six years or so.  Ed is saying that Dick Chaney is far and away the best thing the Republicans have got going, because with Dick Chaney’s heart transplant, he’s as good as new and has many years left in him.   Ed believes Chaney is a hell of a lot better candidate than either Scott Walker or Chris Christie, or Marco Rubio or even Rand Paul.  Right now Rand Paul is at the top of the poll - - so we’ll just see whether Paul runs into any snags.

John Fugelsang was in for Stephanie Miller and her usual two cohorts in the studio.  Sometimes we should be thankful that we lefties have at last reached a state of mental clarity on the issues.  For instance when you come down to it, the Republicans want to engender a state of engendered servitude once again in the “working class’ much like the “company store” where the workers are continually in debt and can never get out, which is just what the tea party wants.   When it comes to the war on women, the same principle applies.  They want to disempower women by keeping them “barefoot and pregnant”.  Because if the women are saddled with kids, dependents, they won’t be challenging the network of “Good ol’ boys running the Corporations”.   Bob Dylan long ago said “It’s only people’s Games that you’ve got to dodge”.   We all know about these pop up computer messages that say “Your computer is infected with virus.  Allow us to run our antivirus program to be insured that you are Safe”.  When as Leo points out, in reality this “Program” that you click on and run- - IS itself the malware you thought you were buying protection from.   It’s a protection racket.   It’s like people have convinced the low income workers in the South that - -  “President Obama has raised all your taxes drastically and saddled your employer with so many new regulations that now your job is in danger” or somehow if it weren’t for “big government” that things would be just hunky dory in your life and your take-home pay would be what it was twenty years ago.  The tea party loves Christianity because it takes your attention from reality and gets you to believe a "meme" that serves the Establishment.  But what the tea party needs to know is that Poverty is no vice, and riches are no Virtue.  But the tea party would have you to believe the "meme" of "It's not how loving or caring YOU are as a person, but it's whether you are loved or "blessed" by God that really matters.  John Calvin taught that the way God lets us know who his chosen are is that he Blesses them with material riches.   Remember what Walter Martin said.  “The first thing you have to include in your sharing of the gospel is that all mankind is destined for Eternal Hell if they don’t listen to your message”.   This whole idea of Original Sin is the great whip they hold over your head.  But I have a suggestion inspired by Jehovah Himself as far as “making the punishment for these people fit the crime”.   Chuck Smith has stated “Don’t take revenge on them yourselves but leave them to God- - who is far more efficient at Punishing these people than You are”.    The story of Adam and Eve in the Garden involved a deception.  But do you remember what Jehovah said to the woman, Eve?   He said “I shall multiply your pain in child birth” but he also said to her, “- - and your Desire shall be for your Husband”.   So the most fiendish penalty you could exact on these people like Pat Robertson and James Dobson Chuck Swendoll - - the way to punish these people good is to put some kind of a spell on them to “Make their chief desire to do YOUR will.”   Lots of fiendish fantasies come to mind with that one. 

Joe asked for a book on surrealism - - I assume art and not music or philosophy.  Dr Levy plugged his Legacy Project this week and it’s under the section of “Life living” or something on his web site if I want to get an advanced copy of the two hundred questions.  They were irrelivent things that you wouldn’t even care about any famous person.  I was thinking of people throughout world history in diverse professions such as Mohamed and Leonardo Di Vinci and Sir Isaac Newton,  Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Ghandi, Dwight Eisenhower or singer Michael Jackson.  Do we really care about who gave them their first kiss, or do they remember learning to ride a bike.  Do we care about what their earliest memory was or who their first playmate was?   We probably don’t even care about their most influential teacher was.  

Meet the Press featured the whole Putin thing and one thing not covered above is that Ukraine gave up their Nukes in exchange for “peace” as laid out by a treaty signed by the Ukraine, Russia, Britain and the United States - - which I thought resolved the whole question about national sovereignty.  We all thought ‘OK, Russia has decided to let the other Soviet Republics go on to be free and independent states.  Whatever we thought was true, Putin is now challenging.    There is a broad concencus among lefties now that FOX news loves Putin.   As Stephanie Miller put it last week "They are convinced that Putin is the guy who wants to restore the Russian Orthodox church to its historic glory days, and to go after the gays or anybody else who is different or an independent thinker.  But on the other hand they call President Obama a socialist.

There is some independent agency that downgraded Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker from a strong candidate to a very weak candidate, because Walker is now in a lot of political trouble, and is getting a lot of push-back from the state legislature for all of these anti voting and anti union bills he has tried to ram through.  It's important for us democrats to eliminate Governor Walker as a political force, either in the state of Wisconsin or for the nation at large.

The Lakers game was in half time when I first checked in at 1:45.  I went for coffee in the courtyard both in the morning, when I also got a bread pudding, but I got two cups of coffee on each outing.  The Lakers defeated Oklahoma at Staples Center by four points.  Oklahoma got off to a big lead but then stalled and the Lakers were nine points ahead but the game tightened way up at the end of the game and for a moment the outcome was in doubt.  The game ended maybe at 3:15.