Just my opinion

I have a bit more to add to the story, or non-story, as it may be, regards the pouting of little Robbie Gibbs the other day.
As you recall, little Mr. Gibbs called out the "professional" left over them not being fully supportive of our "dear leader" Go-bomber.
I was told the other day, by a friend of mine via an email on this topic that I am a part of that very same "professional" left! Imagine that! Yep, old, disabled, former US Marine/Vietnam vet as a "professional" lefty!  It struck me as odd and I had to email her back for why I might be considered such. Her reply was, basically that as I am not, nor have I ever  been, a member of the elephant gang. Also, not being a member of the donkey gang plus the fact that I have been critical of Go-bomber, that I am a part of what Mr. Gibbs terms the "professional" left.
Well, OK, if that is what a "professional" lefty is, then I am such a critter. I still cannot quite accept myself as being a professional anything now days. I was a professional machinist, well I was a real journeyman machinist, having gone through a valid apprenticeship. This blog is in no way "professional" in my own opinion. I have not taken any classes on how to write except for what we may have had back in high school. Yes, they did have high school when I was a kid, and yes, I was young once.
This blog is just an outlet for my opinions and rants, it was not, nor is it intended to be "professional".
I fail to see how Go-bomber and Gibbs can be so upset with any of us who look at this administration with a critical eye and then not be in full support of it. Just what has Go-bomber done for us, the working class people?
The "stimulus" bill that passed? Just what did that stimulate? If the stimulus had been effective, I would think the economy would be better off than it is. I would think that an effective stimulus would have cut unemployment rather than seeing unemployment rise, as it has done.
Can the administration think the health care "reform" is something the working class should applaud? Why? Who benefits the most from that "reform"? Answer, the health care insurance companies is who benefits the most. What is really needed is a true national health care system. Either a Medicare for all or something like they have in Canada. What we get is more profit for the insurance industry, with little to no real benefit for the people.
Can the administration expect the working class to cheer the Wall Street "reform"? What reform? As far as I can tell is still business as usual. We still do not have anything like the old Glass-Steagal Act. The "too big to fail" banksters are still in charge of things. Just where is that "reform"?
If any of you good people who read this blog have any ideas, please feel free to comment and set me straight on these matters.
As to Mr. Gibbs saying he thinks that the "professional"left should be drug tested, well, how about the same for the entire administration? What is good for us ought to be good for them also.
Does Mr. Gibbs realize that the polls show that support for Go-bomber has dropped around 20 points since he took office? Can he really think that is because of the "professional" left and people like me? Does this administration honestly think that my little corner of the internet is why the popularity of "dear leader" has fallen?
Just why should we support this administration? Please do not come back with the very tired and very old bit as how the elephant gang would be worse. We know that already, after all, we suffered through eight years of Cheney/Shrub. We catch the crap being spewed by the right wing, by Faux Noise, and talk(?) radio. Just saying this gang is better than the last is not exactly something to be so proud about.
Mr. Gibbs objects to some of us saying that in some ways, Go-bomber is no better, and in some ways, even worse than Shrubbie was. Well, Mr. Gibbs, then why does your boss, Go-bomber, continue with the very same damn fool wars of choice? Why has he not closed Gitmo, as he promised to do within one year of his being in office? Why has Go-bomber not repealed the worst parts of the vicious "Patriot Act"? Why has he not only continued, but increased the "national security(?)" system?
How is it, that with clear majorities in BOTH houses of Congress, has Go-bomber not really pushed needed legislation? Why does he continue to cave in to the far right wing of the elephant gang? Why has he not made use of the bully pulpit of the presidency? Why does this administration allow the elephant gang to set the agenda?
What we have is not a pro-active administration, but a reactive one. Our president has done next to nothing of real benefit for the working class. And yet, his chief spokesperson demands(!!) that we all get drug tested!
No matter what Mr. Gibbs or his boss think I should do, I will continue to read and then think for myself. I will read and try to learn all I can on a wide variety of topics and then give my opinion on them. It is still a free country and the Bill of Rights still guarantees free speech. I will continue to exercise that right, among others.
If this president does something worth cheering about, then I will cheer them. Whether they do or not, I will continue to voice my opinions, at this corner and in person.
I do not accept comments I have run across from some die hard Democrats who say that Go-bomber has been high-jacked, or that he has no other options. Bull crap! In my opinion, he sold out long before he even ran for his current job.  I do not think he ever really cared about being a pro-active president in any way. In my view, he just wanted to be president to be able to say that he held that job, period. Much like what I thought and still think about old Billy Bob Bubba Clinton. For the rest of their lives, they both can say, "I was the president of the United States of America".
This president has had a clear majority in BOTH houses of Congress, and yet, he continues to cave in to the right wing elephant gang. He allows the far right to set the agenda.
In my opinion, this president has no vision at all of what he thinks the country could be or should be. Other than that we, the working class, should bow down before the "too big to fail" banksters and the war industries/oil conglomerates. We should all cheer this guy for everything he does, even though it has little or no benefit to us. He serves the ruling class of the country, just like the other "professional" politicians who populate the Congress and most every state house in the country.
While I know there are many who feel cheated by this president, those who swallowed his campaign crap and thought they were voting for real change, I don't feel that way. Early in 2008, one of my cousins emailed me that he liked what Go-bomber was saying. I asked just what it was that he said that was so "great". The reply was that Go-bomber spoke in sentences that my cousin could understand. In short, he basically said nothing, but he said it very nicely. I voted for Ms. McKinney, THAT would have been real change.
While the left rattles on and on about how the far right has "drunk the kool-aid",  they also seem to have done the same. When I hear/read them telling all that "we" MUST vote for the donkey gang, I am unsure if I should laugh or throw up. The donkey and elephant gangs are just two sides of the very same war party gang. Actually, they are the two wings of that war party. The donkey gang is just a little bit sneakier about their true motives than the elephants are.
I hope that the people wake up to this soon. This coming election, I will not vote for either a donkey, nor an elephant. As I have said before at this old corner, neither are house broken. They both tramp through the flower beds and shit in the yard. A pox on both of them. We have the option, in many states, to vote for third party candidates. If you trust a candidate from either wing of the war party, well, then do so. Just don't cry to me when that person throws you under the bus.
This country needs to end the idiot wars of choice. These wars do not make us any safer. In fact we just create more enemies for every person we kill. The country needs real, well paying jobs. We need a true national health care system that covers ALL Americans. We need to end the domestic spying and either cut back or better yet, eliminate that vile "Patriot Act". We need to seriously reform Wall Street and then put in place rules and monitors to enforce the rules to prevent more abuses by the "too big to fail" banksters.
Those are just the immediate needs of the country. To me they are the top priorities. Any other suggestions are always welcome here. But, rather than tell me, tell your representatives.
semper fi

New day, new rant

Well a few things have got this old guy set to rant again.
Lately there have been a few former military types on the Maddow TV show on MSNBC. Now, I don't watch any program on that channel very often, and when I do catch any of them, I usually don't watch the entire program. "The Ed Show" seems to be half way tolerable, at times. Ms. Maddow is still a bit fresh and new, but old Keith is just plain old boring. I say this because I remember back when he read the sports scores on the Lost Angeles CBS channel some years ago. Back before he went off to ESPN even. I never cared much for him or his "style" even then. I think he is just very much in love with himself and not worth much of my time.
Getting back to Ms. Maddow and her show. She had some guys who had been kicked out of the military under the "don't ask, don't tell" crap. To me it is very foolish to boot out anybody from the military if they are doing their job as a professional and not breaking any rules. I don't consider being gay and in the military to be breaking a rule.
Consider also, the military has been having a hard time recruiting people to their services. Some of the people who have been forced out of the military have skills that the military really needs. Skills like being fluent in Arabic or Farsi. The military needs those people. Forcing them out because they are gay is very foolish. Actually, it is damn stupid. In my opinion, homosexual people can be good troops. If they can follow orders and do their jobs, keep them as long as they want to be in the military.
Opposing views are welcome. Just do not expect to have me change my opinion. And yes, I would have served with a gay in the Marines when I was a member of that outfit. I may have done so any way. When I was in the Marines, 1968-72, there was no DADT(don't ask, don't tell). So, we may have had gay Marines, we just didn't know it. In Vietnam, all we really cared was wether or not, we could trust other Marines. We did trust each other and I don't think it would have mattered if any of the guys were gay.
Another "new" thing that gets me to laugh is the flap over the comments by Mr. Gibbs about the "professional" left. I am asking any readers the following. Is there a "professional" left in America? If so, who are among this "professional" left? Any ideas?
As I said some time back, every so often I check out the blog "Crooks and Liars". They are up in arms over this flap. I find it very, very funny reading some of the comments there on this topic.
Some sound almost like the "Tea Party" clowns to me.
Yes, I find people who are always critical of others who are, themselves, unable top take any criticisms. Funny how some on the "left" can dish it out, but cannot take it. They rant on and on about the elephant gang and the "Tea Party", yet when anybody makes a critical comment at them, they get totally freaked out and go on the war path, well, they rant on their blogs. I doubt they have the courage/guts/balls, to do much more than that. I will go so far as to say, I doubt they even email or write those who are critical of them. That would require too much effort and, they may get a nasty email/letter in return.
Yes, I do think many on the "left" are gutless wimps. Disagree? No problem. I didn't say they ALL are gutless, just a good many of them seem to be.
The idiot wars. Go-bomber and the rest of our political "leadership" are in big trouble with the current idiot wars of choice. No, they are in real serious trouble. No kidding. The last few days I have talked to some folks who don't follow events the way I and many of you folks do. They may catch a headline or three in a given day, but they don't really follow events around the world very closely at all.
Well, more than a few have come right out and asked me, just why are we still in Iraq. Now, when you have folks who don't keep up with events ask why we are still in Iraq, you know things are not going well for the "leaders". Some have even seemed to be taken aback by the fact that we are still in Iraq. No kidding. Some thought that war was over and the troops had withdrawn from Iraq. Seriously.
I have been asked what we are doing in Afghanistan also. When the regular folks wonder why we are still in these countries, it shows me that the administration and the media are failing, big time.
My reply is, as per my cynical/sarcastic way, to tell them that we are at war for one and only one, very good reason. The reason; obscene profits for the war industries. Oh, and to control access to the resources of those countries.
Iraq is not in the news much of late, which may help explain why some folks find it hard to believe we are still there. The old "out of sight, out of mind" game being played on the public. People are still being killed daily in Iraq. That poor country is not safe in any way yet. "We" have not transplanted democracy there. That never was the real goal any way though.
I do understand some how these folks cannot keep up with events. There is so much on TV to distract them. You know, important things like that Lohan gal going to jail and all. Or maybe it is the "summer" TV season or that the NFL pre-season is about to start. Important things, you know.
Iraq hardly ever gets a mention in the local newspaper now days. About the only time it comes up is if a local trooper is killed or seriously injured in that war. Then Iraq gets a mention. Afghanistan gets a bit more mention, but even then, not very often.
Well, neither war is going very well from the stand point of the "leaders", so it makes sense that it isn't in the news much. Why advertise failure?
What does make news is the miserable state of the economy. That is what folks around here are concerned with. Jobs, pay checks, things that really matter as the banksters continue to rip us off.
The country is going down and still the Fed and the administration keeps pumping money into the big banks. More "quantitative easing". That will do nothing to stimulate the economy.
Hell, if they want to get consumers back into stores spending money, just declare ALL credit card debt to be paid in full. Every credit card holder has their credit card balances reset to zero. THAT would get the people back into stores, spending again.
Or, how about a REAL mortgage negotiation plan? Try to really reset the home value to real world values and then reset the mortgage to suit? I bet that those would get people to spend again.
Old "helicopter" Ben cannot expect folks to take on even more debt. Many people are maxed out with debt. They cannot take on any more debt as they are having serious problems making the current minimum payments today.
The clowns at the Fed and Treasury still want to save the "too big to fail" banksters. They tell us how the banks having this money is good for us. We can go apply for new loans. How can we get any more loans? We are buried under crushing debt, and all these idiots can come up with is for us to borrow more? And this is the best(??) our "leaders" can do?  That right there tells me we are in very serious trouble. Oh, they say, the "market" is up. Big deal! The stock market is no longer any gauge of the working class economy. When companies lay off workers, the market goes up. The market is all about profits, greed, NOT the workers or decent wages. Wages are to be cut to the bone. That is what drives up share prices, increases profits.
The country is in serious trouble and the "leaders" don't seem to have a clue about how to fix things.
We need to elect people who want to help America. We need to stop electing those who care more about other countries than our own. We need to rebuild the infrastructure in America, before we go running around the world, making other people be "like us". Also, before we make others "be like us", we need to ask them just what they DO want from or of us. Not everybody wants to be "like us".  Good for those who do not want to be like us. All people should be allowed to be as they choose to be. We have no right to make anybody be like us. We also need to get our own country in order before we go around getting others places "in order". There is something in the Christian Bible about this. I remember a parable(?) about making sure your house is spotless before you criticize your neighbor for his/her messy house. IF, and it is very big IF, America thinks of itself as a Christian nation, we had best start to put that story into practice, now.
semper fi