Donald Trump, Our Nation, the Future and Fear

I never feared for my nation, never feared our nation's future.

Until today.

This is why Republicans and the Right-wing hate the media

Proof positive, folks, of why the Republicans and Right-wing hate the media, first, but also call it the "Liberal" and "Left-wing" media (well, besides the fact that they keep reminding us of those pesky poor people in the world, of course).  This article out today on Yahoo! News and written by and for the Associated Press:

Across country, GOP pushes photo ID at the polls

By MIKE BAKER, Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C. – Empowered by last year's elections, Republican leaders in about half the states are pushing to require voters to show photo ID at the polls despite little evidence of fraud and already-substantial punishments for those who vote illegally.

See that?  Right up there, above?  That part where the author wrote "despite little evidence of fraud and already-substantial punishments for those who vote illegally."?  

That's what they hate.

Is it true?

Sure it is.

Is it documentable?

Again, yes, absolutely, and it has been proven in state after state, all across the country.

Will that stop the Republican leadership from pushing this "shrink the voting electorate" agenda of theirs?

Certainly not.

And in the meantime, they want--prefer--that the media just kindly please shut up and stop reporting this stuff, even if it is true and patently, provably true, at that.

It's that nasty, Left-wing, clearly Liberal media that hurts this country.

All that information and truth and data and statistics.

Liberal, left-wing, progressive, inclusive haters.

Link to original post:  http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110325/ap_on_re_us/us_voter_id

Quote of the day---and you're still voting Republican?, Part III

Decline of the Middle Class as Metaphor for the Decline of America: 'Disproportionate' is the freighted word that shackles our society. Over the past few years some two-thirds of the gain in national income has gone to the top one percent of Americans. ...too much of our political system is bought and paid for. Too much of our political system is self serving, responsive to the wings of our two parties and indifferent to the day to day concerns of middle Americans in spite of the incessant lip service extended to them. Yes, there is limp Wall Street reform, but no clawback of the exigencies that drove the nation to the brink. Yes there is a stimulus program, but faltering shamelesly through lack of clear direction. Yes, there is an alternative energy program without clear mandates nor meaningful results as the transfer of billions to the oil providers continues unabated. Yes, there are our soldiers dying in fragmented nation states far away without a modicum of sacrifice being asked of the home front. Yes, there are moneyed interests both domestic and foreign who have access to those who govern, without limitation and a shameless Congress ready to do their bidding in spite of the promises made in Presidential campaigns to curtail their influence. Yes we have courts of law who, through judicial minutiae rather than pragmatic sense of national welfare have given these moneyed interests even greater influence by striking down financial restraints on the powerfully funded in election laws, that make the middle class even more disenfranchised. Yes, there is talk of restraining government spending while special interests with access to government and its earmarks are encumbering the nation into ever greater indebtedness. Yes, while Main Street and middle class Americans continue to lose jobs, the pay checks on Wall Street and corporate boardrooms continue in their unabated and inflated manner while middle class Americans are absorbing pay cuts or shortened work weeks if they have any jobs at all, while teachers, the backbone of the nations future, police and firemen are losing their employment. And so it goes, leaving the nation with a Frankenstein system whose core objective of governance has become self preservation of power and personal influence. This, while governing for the greater good of the nation has become a secondary and distant gerrymandered priority leaving the great body of the American electorate virtually without meaningful representation and forestalling and diminishing America's middle class' engagement with its government with every passing day. --Raymond J. Learsy, Scholar and author, "Over a Barrel: Breaking Oil's Grip on Our Future"

Results of a lazy American electorate

A fellow blogger brought up this subject and yesterday's election brought out more of this so I have to ask: What is it with us Americans that we just reboot politicians, again and again, in the election booth? Why do we let them have these family dynasties in government? There's the Bush family, nationally (and look how well that turned out). There's the Blunts, here in Missouri--a den of thieves, in my view and a lot of other people's. There's the Carnahans (whom I'm for, frankly, but still, it's a family government dynasty, there's no denying it). Allow me to quote blogger friend Damnitkage from yesterday's mail: "Goddamit, I hate it so much that political offices have been converted into birthrights of certain wealthy families." I couldn't agree more. My response: What is it about the laziness of the American electorate that we keep voting in these family governance dynasties? Speaking of which, did you see where, in Kansas, Dennis Moore's wife got breezed back into his place? Holy cow. All you need is the last name and you're there. It's bloody looney. Pensions for life. What dolts we are. Why do we do this? I can't help but think it's just laziness. Answers anyone?

You probably think you know where this poll of Americans is going--but you don't

What you're sure of and what we expect: 52% of the undecideds in the Senate race disapprove of President Obama to 35% who like the job he's doing. They don't think much of the Democrats in Congress either- only 26% have a like the job they're doing. But what you don't know and don't expect: Those numbers might seem bad- but they pale in comparison to how negatively those voters feel about Congressional Republicans- only 10% approve of the job they're doing while 61% disapprove. So these voters are down on President Obama and the Democratic majority- but their most negatives feelings are toward the Republican minority. Fortunately, Republicans are both in a world of hurt AND they're tearing each other apart, along with the job Libertarians and Tea Party members are doing to them. Man, this is getting good. Link to original article: http://publicpolicypolling.blogspot.com/2010/07/undecideds-in-ohio.html