BLOWING "BAD SEEDS"

 AN ILL WIND  --  BLOWING FROM THE RIGHT 
 (A Docu-drama-Blog Memo About The Presidency)
Posted by Wiley, June 11, 2016

There is an ill wind blowing "Bad Seeds" across the land. These "Bad Seeds" are carrying anti-government messages that once swallowed can create fear, distrust, and anger in people who are unhappy with their Government.  The "Bad Seeds" are not new! Conservative Republicans in the U. S. Congress have been planting large crops of "Bad Seeds" and using them against "Big Government" for years with little or no success -- primarily because they refuse to compromise with the Democrats in Congress. Conservatism contains a distrust of Government -- especially "BIG" Government (i.e., Government that has too much influence and power over citizens).   In fact, Conservatism does indeed adopt a much more doubtful view of the desirability of altering proven institutions and societal values.  When Barack Obama won the 2008 Presidential Election. he became the first black man to hold the office. Conservative Republicans may have viewed his election as altering proven institutions and societal values.  This, along with the issue of race, and other issues (e.g., White supremacy) may explain why on the night of his inauguration Conservative were busy planning an anti-Obama campaign to make him a one term President. 

                                

Barack Obama,  44th President of the United States

The fact that Obama's election came just as the Country was falling  into the second worst  financial crisis since the crash of 1929 didn't cut any ice with the conservatives. They basically believed they could blame Obama, and the "right thinking" white population in the U. S. would believe them. 

When Obama took office in 2008, conservative Republicans  in the Country were visibly distraught. They were heard shouting on the streets,  "I want my Country back!"  Conservatives in many parts of the Country took up the challenge! They held protests, cultivated new crops of "Bad Seeds", and wrote new rules for  their members in Congress to follow to help get "their Country" back:    

• Swallow more  "Bad Seeds"; (the messages are now able to change moderate Republicans to conservative via social media)
• Never compromise with Democrats
• Never "fist bump" with Obama!
• DISCRIMINATE!  Piss on every parade not led by a true Conservative                                                                         

However, while the Republicans were writing their "new" rules, the man from Chicago took over! He heard the people at town the hall meetings shouting "I want my Country back!" He stayed cool. The President's team and their supporters put the welfare of the Country first; unhindered and uncontrolled by ideology, ethnicity, or racism!   With great patience and determination, the Obama Administration rescued the Country from what   could have been  potentially  the worst financial crisis since 1929.  The crisis was avoided  primarily through the President's leadership and support for the use of Government funds to bailout the Country's financial and automobile industries.                                                            

The Republicans won majority control of both houses of Congress in the 2010 off-year elections.  They were determined to reduce the size of the Government, and if that made it dysfunctional and killed the economy, the price would be all right for the far right!  

What have they done since their victory?  They have voted over 60 times to repeal the Affordable Care Act (failing each time).  They have  forced the Federal Government to shut down (at a cost of 24 billion dollars) and installed the "Hatchet Act" to cut down any sign of compromise with the Democrats.    

The Republicans were very optimistic about winning the 2012 election for President.  On election night, not very long after the polls closed, the "Breaking News" from the broadcast media informed the world that Barack Obama had been re-elected as President of the United States!  Upon hearing that news, those with anti-government views cried out, "We have lost our Country... again"!

Under President Barack Obama's leadership, the U. S. economy has recovered.  The economy added private sector jobs for 75 consecutive months, that resulted in a total of  14.5 million new jobs for the period. However, the conservatives will not quit. They appear to have adopted the word "NO" and accepted the "Bad Seeds"as their  main approach to governing. They may also believe that if they swallow more "Bad Seeds" they they will overcome their  fears of the future.   While    there is now some more light in the tunnel, there are many miles to go, and we will miss having Barack Obama with us along the way!

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THE SICKNESS IN POLITICS AND THE PRESS

WHO’S SICKER, THE PRESS OR THE POLITICIANS?    (CHANGE TITLE???)

Posted by Wiley
August 18, 2015

TheSometimes we need to just sit down, take a load off, and contemplate the things happening around us that offer both great hope for the future along with great fear.  We are generally pleased with the many ways in which advances in science and technology have improved our lives with nearly instantaneous broadcasting of the news, along with greater access to data and information through computers and the internet.  We marvel at four-year-olds  managing complex electronic games on an i-Pod. Even a trip to another planet (Mars is being mentioned) may not be so far off.  When I was growing up we did not have a television, or telephone, or an inside toilet

And yet, there are those today who (for a variety of reasons) seek to slow down the rush to tomorrow.  There is indeed a number of both short range and long range problems associated with the internet in regard to privacy and security -- especially the difficult task of preventing computer savvy individuals from "Hacking" into systems deemed secure, and stealing data, or documentation -- including Government secrets.

We must press on...into the darkness with our fear.  We can do this if we believe that there is still a better day to come.. Recognizing that in my small world, things have changed far beyond any thing a young Black man born in Alabama nearly 80 years ago could have expected..  Of course, there are things to worry bout such as the current dysfunctional condition of the U. S. Congress.  Another is the growth of suicide bombings in the Middle East. Add to these nuclear weapons and Climate Change.   No one knows how or when these conditions will end. Where there is life, there is hope for the future.

Today one of the main objectives of many politicians and pundits in the press is to create conflict between the Government and the people of this country -- especially political conflict.   Do not buy the political crap that things will get better if you let Cable News piss on the Government! 

          

MYOPIC DISRESPECT

There's Something About Today's Politics

Posted by Wiley, March 12, 2015

If you thought the last Congress was a "do nothing" Congress, you ain't seen nothing yet.  The savage attack on the President comes via a letter to the Government of Iran,  signed by 47 Republican Party (GOP) members in the U. S., Senate stating that the U. S. President can't be trusted to live up to any agreement on the Iranian nuclear program (if one is reached)!  The level of disrespect shown by the letter is astounding!  The letter is a partisan attempt by the Republicans to scuttle efforts by the United States and five other countries to agree on a plan that prevents Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.   It explicitly implies that the Congress or a future president of the United States may overturn an Executive Agreement signed by the President. While the removal of current Congressional sanctions against Iran would require approval by the Senate, the President can negotiate Executive Agreements with other nations under his inherent powers.  

A European negotiator said the six power group - the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China - was generally unified but voiced concern that the Obama administration was under pressure due to concerns the Republican-led Congress might wreck any agreement.  Clearly, this letter disparages the office of the presidency and demonstrates the dysfunctional state of political discourse in the Congress.  Now there is a letter from 367 members of the House of Representatives (piling on?) telling the President in essence that any Iranian nuclear agreement must "foreclose any pathway to a bomb" before they will lift sanctions against Tehran.   Any pathway....like a "gift" from North Korea?  When does the bombing begin?  The fact is those signing the letter simply want to kill the deal, and if that harms the Presidency, so be it!  There is something different about today's politics and the Republicans our way or the highway agenda that includes:

• ·          First, repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA); the consequences be  damned                    
• ·      Second, deny/minimize any accomplishments by the Obama Administration
• ·      Third, deny there is a need to fund plans to combat Climate Change
• ·      Fourth,  do not compromise with the President and the Democrats

Perhaps if they spell the word ..."R-E-S-P-E-C-T"... a few times, they will be able to show some for the Office (just a little bit)!

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THE SMART THING TO DO

ISIS
Posted  10/22/2014 by Wiley

My Goodness, just listen to the breathless “Breaking News” nearly every nanosecond: ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) has captured a third of Iraq and a quarter of Syria in the Middle East. One might think that ISIS is a major power playing the MAD (mutually assured destruction) card: we win or everyone will lose! The Western press and ISIS successes have created an almost legendary attack force in the Middle East.  ISIS has no air force, no navy, no weapons factories, no long range missiles or spy satellites; and yet it has acquired a near super power arsenal of weapons (if you believe cable news which is watched by 51 percent of those younger than 30)!  

As the ISIS conquests continue, the Western press giddily announces, “ISIS has captured a Syrian Military base and 3 fighter jets”. Why giddily?  The Western Press, and specifically the Right Wing press in the United States, is anti-anything the Government does under President Obama!  In their view, a win for ISIS is “WHOOPEE” a loss for Obama!  Damn what happens to the other countries in the region!  The Western Cable News people, going crazy to fill the air with talk 24/7, will jump on a dead bone and say its from a "TERRORIST"!  Then they will go "in-depth" and tell you the CIA and the FBI loss track of him/her before the remains were found on the "White House" lawn!  The prime directive of today's cable news is find someone to blame!

 
Everything from Ebola to ISIS to Ukraine is happening because Obama is weak!  If Obama is so weak, why is Russian President Vladimir Putin accusing the United States of trying to “reshape the whole world” for its benefit.  Would that be the "weak" Mr.  Obama?  While the ebola virus in West Africa has killed nearly 5,000 people, Mr. Obama is following the scientists and the Centers for Disease Control, and not calls to quarantine everyone with a hint of a stop over in that area.  The U. S. is providing resources essential to fighting and stopping the virus. Would that also be Mr. Obama?


Sectarian and ethnic violence has been a continuing problem in the Middle East!  From the beginning of written history about 3500 BC, the land known as Mesopotamia included different groups, all native to the territory of modern-day Iraq. Iraq has a history of sectarian warfare carried out by the different tribal, sectarian, and ethnic groups in Iraq (Sunni and Shia, Arab and Kurd). 



The President is right: help where you can, LIMIT the mission, and allow the people in the region to fix the problems.  He was listening  when Brent Scowcroft, former national security advisor to President George H. W. Bush, warned that an attack on Iraq could create a cauldron in the Middle East that could "destroy the war on Terrorism." The message is avoid the quagmire on the ground!  That is the smart thing to do!  We have been there, done that...twice in the last 13 years (Afghanistan and Iraq)!  

How and why did all those ISIS fighters get together?

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