There’s an old joke, “Republicans want a leader, Democrats want a meeting.”

Jokes are seldom funny unless there’s a grain of truth to them.

Stop. Before you read any further, answer the question, do you think the joke is true about your political party?

Now that we got that out of the way, let’s get to the point.

Go find yourself a copy of the US constitution and find who is supposed to be the leader of the people. It’s a short and easy read. The president? Congress? But if you don’t want to go check it out for yourself, I’ll give you a clue. There isn’t one!

The framers of our constitution and the forefathers of our country didn’t want there to be leaders. It is We the People who is supposed to lead the government.

And, what’s the best way to lead the government? Through meetings, negotiations, and compromise.

Got that? The Republicans make lousy American politicians because they try to be leaders. Take George W. Bush as an example. He acted like a leader. A lousy leader with all the wrong and stupid ideas but the Republicans loved him. Why would Americans love a leader who did the damage that Bush did to America? Because they have the mistaken belief that they need a leader. That’s what makes it so easy for a strong leader with destructive ideas to become the leader of the Republicans.

America doesn’t elect leaders. If you’re electing a leader, you’re doing the thing that our founding fathers didn’t want you to do. Don’t be a follower. Be a leader and tell your REPRESENTATIVES what to do.

Anders Behring Breivik was arrested for the murder and destruction he brought upon the innocent people of Norway. The crimes are abominable and he deserves any justice he received. But the bigger picture isn’t so much who or where but what.

This fanatic was spewing the same hate-filled nonsensical talking points that America’s right-wing crazies in the Republican party chant. It’s becoming a thinner and thinner line between the crazies who perpetrate the crimes and those in American politics who stoke up the fear and hatred.

Yes, here in America we’ve had our Timothy McVeigh and an assortment of other conservative right-wing fanatics. We’ve got preachers burning Korans, lunatics shooting up liberal organizations, right-wing nuts killing doctors, The list goes on and on.

Americans need to ask where all this hatred is coming from.

I can tell you where it’s coming from. It comes from our right-wing politicians. We all know that to be a fact. The right is full of the most vile and hate filled nuts that you can find anywhere.

Just think for a moment that a politician puts bulls-eyes on a map of Republican home states and used the language of reloading. If this was a Democrat, nobody would vote for him. He wouldn’t have a chance of getting elected.

Conversely, Republican voters vote for these monsters all the time. The party is sick with them.

This, my fellow Americans, is where all the sickness is coming from. You’re voting for it and making it mainstream. Now, I can hear it already, about how the Democrats do it too. But that’s just not true. Any investigation shows that it’s a right-wing disease and only the Republican can quit voting for the hatred.

It seems that America is starting to wake up and revolt against the Republican efforts to destroy our country. Seeing the hundreds of thousands of Americans marching against the anti-worker, anti-middle-class policies of the corrupt Republican governors gives me hope.

The Tea Baggers are starting to wake up and realize that they’re being used by the billionaires. They’re beginning to realize their weird signs made no sense since what they really wanted conflicted with what Dick Armey and the Koch brothers were telling them.

The corporate press is trying their hardest to hide this non-violent revolution but they can’t hide it much longer. Americans are waking up to the fact that our media is part of the problem, not the solution. For the real news regarding the revolution, Americans are resorting to news on the Internet.

Let me suggest a few places you can go to see the real news when it comes to America revolting against Republican crimes.

• Thom Hartmann
• Think Progress
• Democratic Underground
• and, of course, right here, Just-Say-Why

I hope the Republican voters get a good look at their party. I hope this doesn’t all go unreported in the news.

The Republican party held the middle class tax cuts hostage and refused to allow their stimulus benefit unless the billionaires got their tax cuts. The past 30 years have taught us many things but it has taught, even the most ardent Republican voter, that tax cuts for the rich got us into this mess and more tax cuts are only making it worse. Still, the Republican party held our stimulus money hostage for tax breaks for the rich.

Now the Republican party is threatening to destroy America’s credit standing and possibly cause the next worldwide depression in order to take more away from the middle class and the poor to give to the rich. Their argument is that if they refuse to raise the debt limit and America defaults on our loans, that they can get the media to blame Obama.

Got that? They don’t care what harm comes to you or me or even to our country, as long as they can play politics and make Obama look bad. Of course, if they can send us all to the poor house in the process, that’s just a big plus.

Hey, you! Are you a Republican voter? Do you see what your party is doing? When will you do something about it? Don’t you care what they’re doing to your country? Don’t you care what they’re doing to the Republican name? Don’t you care about anything?

Why are they willing to gamble with our country to get their way? Why do they so badly want to end the booming years of the 40s through the 80s? Why won’t they just do what’s right for the country and raise the debt ceiling?

The latest US budget designed and approved by almost every single Republican in the House of Representatives takes food right out of the mouths of the starving and gives it to the millionaires and billionaires.

This action has horrified America enough that we are beginning to realize that we are voting for the party that is as opposite our religious and moral values as possible.

How could we have voted for this immoral party? How could we have been made into such suckers that we have voted against all that we know to be right and voted for those intent on giving our country away to the greedy and the rich?

If we don’t stop and figure out how we got here, we’ll never be able to avoid it in the future.

What went so wrong that we got the party of the greedy running our government?

I can’t speak for everyone who has accidentally voted for the party of the greedy, but I can speak for those I know and I can be pretty sure that this is the same mistake made by almost all of those voting for the Republicans.

Wedge Issues

The easiest way to get people to vote against their own best interests and against the best interests of the country is to get them to vote primarily on wedge issues. A wedge issue is an issue that can be used to drive as a wedge between political parties. The Republicans can’t run on providing for the poor, because it would be a a lie, so they need to find something that will get people riled up enough to go and vote for a lousy candidate if he would just address the wedge issue.

The Republican voter is typically a single issue voter. This means that they are the most susceptible to being used as tools in wedge issues.

Effective Marketing

The Republican party has become experts at marketing destructive policies to the American people. Why else would you have a Tea Party out there chanting for more rights and lower taxes on the multinational corporations and billionaires? The Tea Party was created with money from the billionaires and is sponsored by billionaire dollars and marketed with billionaire money all for the purpose of getting Tea Party candidates elected who vote against the interests of Americans and all for the corporations.

Few people even realize that the original Tea Party was a revolution against multinational corporate power and now they’re out there chanting for more power and more money for the multinational corporations. You can’t tell me that’s not pretty darned impressive marketing.

Lies and Deceipt

The percentage of people who are foolish enough to be Tea Baggers is low enough that the Republican party needs more. Hence, the need to lie about what they are and what they plan to do for the billionaires.

This is not a problem limited to the Republican party. There are a few Democrats who run on Progressive principles and then vote straight ticket with the Republicans.

But, this isn’t really all about how bad the Republicans are. This essay is about how some unethical politicians and greedy billionaires can corrupt our political system. It’s not all about Republicans or Democrats. It happens to be the Republican party they have infected, but it could have just as well been the Democratic party. In fact, they’re spending billions of dollars right now, trying to corrupt that party as well.

Taking Back our Country

How on Earth are we ever going to fix this mess with so much money lines up against the American voters? How will we wrestle the media away from big money? How can we change the campaign finance laws when the Supreme Court is so obviously pro-billionaire?

This almost looks like a perfect storm. It may be too late for us to take back the country peacefully, but hopefully we will at least try before it’s too late.

The Real Issues

As I’ve pointed out, political parties don’t run on real moral issues, they run on wedge issues. This means that we voters are stuck without real issues upon which to vote.

What are the most important moral issue to you? Think about it before reading further. What is really important to you morally? Do these moral issue matter enough to affect your voting? In other words, do your morals affect your “real” life or are they just something to talk about at church?

For the vast majority of Americans, moral issues affect their daily lives. Most people try to keep morals in their lives.

Here is a short list of my moral issues. I have a much longer list but it’s not important what mine are, what matters is what your moral list looks like.

1. Feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, housing the homeless, curing the sick. You know, those things Jesus says need to be part of our lives.
2. Turn the other cheek. This includes reducing the steel heel of oppressive laws in America and reducing the oppressive governments of other lands. This means no wars. Fix the system where the vast majority of those in our prisons are minorities and poor. You know, the things Jesus said we should keep in our lives.
3. Discouraging greed. Wow! There’s no end to where this could go. It’s time to get the money changers out of our religions and out of our politics.

There are plenty more, but this is a good start for discussion. Do yourself a favor and come up with your own personal list of important moral issues.

Now ask yourself, how many of those issues on your list are things you actually vote on? How can there be such a great disconnect between what you think is moral and how you vote?

Now, here is a list of wedge issues that are important but are not anywhere near the top of my list and I bet they’re not at the top of yours either:

1. Abortion. This is not a moral issue. Nowhere in the Bible does it say we need to vote on abortion. Abortions are horrible but if they’re at the top of your morals list, you might want to stop and take a second look at your morals.
2. Hate the Gay. How many times does your religious book refer to defending the downtrodden compared to the number of times it says we need to disenfranchise gays? This is a big wedge issue but is also a big moral issue as well. Should we be taking rights away from gays? What would your common sense tell you?
3. Religion in schools and in government. This wedge issue really as no place in a Christian’s political view. Christianity is opposed to the combination of politics and religion. So are our country’s founding documents. So, why would you vote based on this issue? Don’t get me wrong. There are some religions that think that politics and religions should be the same. But most Americans opposed to Muslim laws regarding this.

What are your most important wedge issues and is it wise to vote based on them while excluding the most important moral issues on your list?

Happy Easter!

I drove past the Nevada capitol Friday and found a handful of people gathering around a sign that said, “Americans for Prosperity”.

Two important things are illuminated by this:

1. The billionaire Koch brothers, known for being the money behind Americans for Prosperity, could only pay a handful of people to gather, and
2. Even though this was slated as a Tea Party rally, it was mostly just workers and volunteers for billionaires.

Why are these issues important? First off, this was a vividly open event to support billionaires against the American people. The signs said right out in the open that these are people supporting the destruction of the middle class and the poor.  There’s really no hiding the fact and no reason to try to hide it.

And, secondly, it was obvious that the vast majority of the Tea Party has realized that they are being used as fools to support legislation that is bad for them and bad for America.

Sure, the Tea Party members know something is wrong with the state of America but they’re beginning to realize that their little Tea Party is created and funded by billionaires and their agenda isn’t America’s agenda, but an agenda to cut the already low taxes of the billionaires.

These are both very big deals. Now that the veil is off the Americans for Prosperity control of the Tea Party, people are coming to their senses.

Now, don’t think this is the beginning of the end of the Tea Baggers. There are millions of Americans out there who don’t know any better than to believe the propaganda and will be signing up with the same anti-American crowd when they start seeing the marketing again.

It’s not just sad but I find it quite disgusting that one of America’s major political parties is so unethical to take advantage of the Tea Baggers. But, what would one expect from a political party that does all the rest of the things the Republican party is known for.

In an email titled “Don’t Allow are [sic] Veterans to be Betrayed any longer,” Sharron Angle says America’s president is as bad as al-Qaeda:

The founding principles of our nation have been under siege for some time. It’s not just radical groups like al-Qaeda that threaten our liberty, either. Many of our own elected leaders have decided that the Constitution is archaic and, therefore, can be ignored! (Case in point: nationalized healthcare.)

When asked if she was referring to elected officials, she says:

Well certainly we’ve seen some leadership that has embraced things that we as Americans are really shocked at seeing, and I think that that comes directly from the leadership of the president.

This isn’t just some sick Tea Bagger, this is an idiot who doesn’t understand that Obama was elected by the majority of America, in other words, he is America’s representative. Got that? She thinks that America is worse or at least as bad as al-Qaeda.

Her little Tea Bagger party is the ONLY America in her mind and the majority of America, you know, the real America, are the bad guys.

Yes, indeed, that’s what we need more of in this country, more sick, ignorant, and mis-guided Tea Baggers in our government.

Where do these people come from?

Imagine for a moment, or maybe you don’t even need to imagine, that your employer decided that even though the business was doing good, it was time to cut your wages and improve profits. No better time to take advantage of the times than right now, when people are worried about their jobs.

So your wages have been cut and you can no longer afford to enjoy the lifestyle you’ve grown accustomed to. What do you do?

If you’re a typical American, you’ll look for better work. No one needs to put up with unethical employers. That’s right, you look to bring in more money. When would anyone say, “oh darned, I better sell my house and start living out of a cardboard box?”

No one would, except the mentally challenged.

So, when our country is dealing with insufficient funds, do we just say, “okay, it’s time to move into that third-world-country?” No! Only the mentally challenged would consider that as the first option.

So, why do we Americans ever listen to the Republican party saying that we have to start expecting less? We’ve been doing with less for over 30 years now and it’s time we started demanding more.

What happens to America if the fools get away with convincing us that we need to expect less from our country? America becomes less of a country. It’s the same thing that happens if you choose the cardboard home rather than a better job.

We can’t afford to listen to the Republican failed misconceptions any longer. If we want America to remain strong, if we want to remain a first-world country, we have to act today and say we don’t want the cardboard box.

Will we ever get back to prosperity if we keep expecting less?

Do you want to live in the best country in the world or the cheapest?

You won’t believe the swill the Tea Baggers are being fed. It’s hard to believe that anyone eats this stuff up without checking any of it out, but it’s the only way they can sustain their hatred of America and her principles. Here is the latest email in my inbox.

Sad but true?
Once upon a time the government had a vast scrap yard in the middle of a desert.  Congress said, “Someone may steal from it at night.”  So they created a night watchman position and hired a person for the job.

Then Congress said, “How does the watchman do his job without instruction?”  So they created a planning department and hired two people, one person to write the instructions and one person to do time studies.

Then Congress said, “How will we know the night watchman is doing the tasks correctly?”  So they created a Quality Control department and hired two people, one to do the studies and one to write the reports.

Then Congress said, “How are these people going to get paid?”  So they created two positions, a time keeper and a payroll officer, then hired two people.

Then Congress said, “Who will be accountable for all of these people?”

So they created an administrative section and hired three people, an Administrative Officer, an Assistant Administrative Officer, and a Legal Secretary.

Then Congress said, “We have had this command in operation for one year, and we are $918,000 over budget.  We must cut back.”  So they laid off the night watchman.

NOW slowly, let that sink in.

Quietly, we go like sheep to slaughter.

Does anybody remember the reason given for the establishment of the DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY….. during the Carter Administration?

Anybody?

Anything?

No?

Didn’t think so!

Bottom line:  We’ve spent several hundred billion dollars in support of an agency…the reason for which not one person who reads this can remember!

Ready??  It was very simple . . . and, at the time, everybody thought it very appropriate.

The Department of Energy was instituted on 8/04/1977 TO LESSEN OUR DEPENDENCE ON FOREIGN OIL.

Hey, pretty efficient, huh???

AND, NOW, IT’S 2010 — 33 YEARS LATER — AND THE BUDGET FOR THIS “NECESSARY” DEPARTMENT IS AT $24.2 BILLION A YEAR.  IT HAS 16,000 FEDERAL EMPLOYEES AND APPROXIMATELY 100,000 CONTRACT EMPLOYEES, AND LOOK AT THE JOB IT HAS DONE! THIS IS WHERE YOU SLAP YOUR FOREHEAD AND SAY, “WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?”

A little over 33 years ago, 30% of our oil consumption was foreign imports.  Today 70% of our oil consumption is foreign imports.

Ah, yes — the good old Federal bureaucracy!!

NOW, WE HAVE TURNED THE BANKING SYSTEM, HEALTH CARE, AND THE AUTO INDUSTRY OVER TO THE SAME GOVERNMENT?

Hello!!  Anybody Home?

This is currently circulating  on the net. I think it proves the point quite well that this Nation needs to get a grip on SPENDING and suggest that you disregard any “interior” rules that may impede cutting Obamacare funding and other projects that are hidden inside the CR and get on with the job of saving the country. In my opinion. the American public is sick & tired of the cavalier approach that you, are Employees take regarding the job we elected you to do. Oh yes, just how much have you cut from Congressional spending? And how much of a reduction in salary have you taken as Speaker? Congressional pay, staff &staff salary has been a ongoing subject with me from the begining of the ecnomic downturn and you will continue to hear from me until a decrease is made; ask Dean Heller, my Congressman, he is aware of my efforts. You may also  hear from other northern Nevada TPers about this. as a SocSec. recipient, I also see no problem with the government shutting down for a period of time. To Quote Ronald Reagan: Government is not the solution, Goverment is the problem! So lets try to put in at least 4 full days a week and stop posturing and get on with some positive,productive labor that will reduce the burden on the American TAX PAYER regardless of whose entitlement (betcha its not constituinal) is skewered.

The first things that pops into my mind when I read this is that they’re asking tea baggers if they know what the government is supposed to do. Really? The Tea Baggers? They have no clue what America is even about. They don’t even know which way is up. ‘They don’t even know which party is the party of the people and which party is the party of the greedy, and you’re asking them something about the government?

To start with, it’s obviously not true, but it begins by saying it is. Now for the average American, I realize just because it says it’s true, they will know better. But for a Tea Bagger, you can bet they think it’s true. Why else would they be voting against their own best interests?

But let’s get to the point about the Department of Energy. Does anyone remember what the inflation of the 70s was all about? That’s when OPEC started manipulating the price of oil. The price of gas tripled and there were serious gas shortages. With the price of shipping going up, the price of everything went up.

President Carter decide to do something about it. He started many programs to cut our dependence on oil. He even installed solar panels on the White House. Incidentally, the solar panels were promptly removed after a Republican president moved in and most of the programs were under funded or polluted with cronies from the oil industry by the Republicans.

Here’s what Carter said: Beginning this moment, this nation will never use more foreign oil than we did in 1977 — never.

So, why did we fail in our quest to become oil independent by the year 2000? Was it because we spent too much money trying? Was it because it was a stupid idea? Was it because it’s not our government’s role? No, it was because we let the Republicans get in power and they destroyed any hopes we had of getting out from under the thumb of the oil tycoons, you know, like the Koch brothers who fund and control the tea baggers.

So, what is the solution according to the Tea Baggers? Shut down the government and quit trying. Tuck our tail between our legs and act like we’ve been beaten.

Really? Is that any way to act like an American? If anything, we need to get serous about this disaster and that means start funding the agencies that we need to help us get it fixed and that means we have to quit voting for Republicans who put oil industry stooges in our Energy Department.

I’m sure that a Tea Bagger will refuse to remember, but it wasn’t that long ago that Bush and Cheney held a meeting to lay out our country’s energy goals for the Bush presidency and guess what. They invited no one but the oil tycoons. Do you have any doubt why the Department of Energy never did anything during the Republican years?

So, if you’re a Tea Bagger, you’ll vote Republican and wonder why your country is going to pot and then believe the Koch brothers when they tell you it’s all the Democrats’ fault.

Ah to be a Tea Bagger.

Just got this in my email. This is from the Tea Party. It’s quite disgusting to see so many Americans intent on attacking America’s president and the workers and middle class. Just read this.

Dear Friends,

We’re engaged on many fronts in the political battle with Barack Obama and his union allies in Wisconsin and many other states across America.  As you heard today, an activist judge played the role Obama wanted and blocked Gov. Walker’s new collective bargaining law.

And a new poll finds Gov. Walker’s opponents trying to mobilize the public against him.  So we need you to help in 2 important ways:

1. Vote for Gov. Walker in this new Journal Times Poll – CLICK HERE TO VOTE

2. Help us fight back against the mob tactics of the Obama campaign team and organized labor unions – and make the most generous contribution you can afford to the Tea Party Express.

If you can afford a larger contribution of $100, $250, $500, $1,000 or more, then please – do your part to show the Left that their efforts will only embolden us even more!

You can contribute any amount up to the maximum allowed limit of $5,000.  And since we’re in a new election cycle, those of you who had previously “maxed out” are once again able to contribute as much as you’d like – all the way up to that $5,000 maximum.

To contribute, just click the button below:

As always, if you prefer, you may also make a contribution via U.S. mail, by sending a check to:

Tea Party Express

That’s right, word for word how it was sent. Let me repeat, “We’re engaged on many fronts in the political battle with Barack Obama…”

These people are in a battle with the representative of the majority of America. What does that make them? Well, beyond the obvious such as ignorant, naive, confused, there is the very real aspect of being against everything America stands for. These people are plain and simple, anti-American.

They want to stop the “mob tactics”. Really? You mean like Democracy? These people are being asked to donate money to fight against workers in Wisconsin. Now that’s pretty darned disgusting.

We have a very sick cult in America being blinded and led by billionaires who are out to destroy our democracy and steal what’s left of our American Dream.