America's Split Political Personality

Good Morning Papamoka Readers! With all the talk about Texas wanting to secede, revolution, and the Republican "Tea Parties" of late, I got to thinking about how angry both political parties are at the moment. Then I read an Op-Ed in the LA Times this morning that really made me laugh. It compared the GOP to a jilted husband. I think it's hilarious!

So, I thought it might be interesting to discuss our two very different national political perspectives this morning, using two very interesting articles from two very different newspapers. Both are fascinating in their differences.

The first - the one about the jilted husband - is called The GOP, Divorced from Reality, from the far more interesting LA Times. It was written by Bill Maher and it's very funny.

The second is called Presidential Poison, His invitation to indict Bush officials will haunt Obama's Presidency. This Wall Street Journal piece is less about the GOP and more about how President Obama is making a serious mistake pursuing Bush officials, but it's still interesting.

The article ends by saying, "Mr. Obama is more popular than his policies, due in part to his personal charm and his seeming goodwill. By indulging his party's desire to criminalize policy advice, he has unleashed furies that will haunt his Presidency." I just love the Right's ability to reduce the President's high approval ratings to "charm" and "goodwill." What a bunch of BS!

Let's see, they also describe what most of us call breaking the law as "policy advice." What a bunch of filthy lying CRAP! It appears the Journal is using "FOX-speak" all the time now. In the end, they predict the future as something that will "haunt" the President. That is downright hilarious! They've been so good at predicting the future so far, wouldn't you say? Idiots!

What a joke conservatives - and the WSJ - have become these days! Wow, the mighty have fallen so far they may never get up. Finally, I love the way the piece mirrors some of the paranoia discussed by Bill Maher. They are going CRAZY right now! It's quite funny to watch.

I think both pieces are wonderful in the way they describe two very different political perspectives. It's fascinating - and depressing - the way our nation is confused politically. The only good news, or light at the end of the tunnel, is how Republicans are leaving the GOP daily. I know, it's not talked about in the news much, but it's true.

National data shows the GOP is bleeding. Some say it's hemorrhaging, or maybe in severe shock. Who cares! The good news is the liars aren't getting away with corrupting the majority of American people using propaganda and BS!

Now don't get me wrong, I don't hate the GOP as a party, just it's regressive policies and corrupt leadership. I also hate the way the GOP has evolved since the Reagan years. Today's corrupt GOP helped destroy the middle-class, promoted irresponsible deregulation, bubble economies, war profiteering, illegal wiretapping, torture, privatizing the profit while publicizing the losses, and overall multi-national corporate greed at the expense of our overall national health and integrity.

I hope THAT GOP is on its way out. I do want a two party system, BUT I want BOTH PARTIES to have the well-being of ALL Americans and the nation at heart. The GOP has failed as a party in that respect. It deserves to die. A two party or multi-party system needs to be concerned about EVERY American, not just the rich. So, with that being said, I'll go on record hoping the GOP dies a slow and painful death. They deserve it!

Anyway, I thought it might be interesting to read two very different viewpoints. Of course, I think Bill Maher's assessment is the more accurate. Enjoy!

Michael Boh

Papamoka's Left Coast Contributor

from Our Rants & Raves Blog

AIG Greed Surpasses Common Sense

AIG took in a huge bailout amount of money from the government which also means you the taxpayer signed part of that check to AIG. AIG is still loosing tens of millions of dollars a month and yet they feel the need to once again reward the staff responsible for the companies original collapse with mega bonuses! I live in the real world and if you screw up so bad that it hurts the company, you loose your job, you get a pink slip, or you simply get fired for gross negligence. Over at AIG they give you a mega bonus for sinking the company because their lawyers say they have too? That is the latest excuse for the latest round of “Screw you America, we are AIG” bonuses about to be handed out. Just a hint for ya, these will not be the last bonuses for these under performers either. $173 Billion in taxpayer money is now part of a bonus program instilled by failure and lawyer speak.

Not for nothing, I would prefer our government give bailouts to industries that actually produce a product other than an insurance firm mired in failure. Detroit and its auto plants could use some serious investment capital, the steel industry could use a serious helping hand, the textile industry could use some research and development money too. I won’t even think about how much the farming industry in America could use a helping hand of this magnitude. Nope, one company that doesn’t make a damn tangible thing received $173 Billion dollars in bailout cash.

CEO Edward Liddy of AIG sent this letter to Treasury Secretary Geithner and Fire Dog Lake has a copy if you want to see it. He was defending why AIG had to pay out a half billion in bonuses. Chalk this response from Liddy up to a mega OOOPs.

Over at the Wall Street Journal they have this little tid bit on AIG and the bonuses…

March 15,2009
AIG to Pay $450 Million in Bonuses

American International Group Inc. will pay $450 million in bonuses to employees in its financial products unit. That division was at the heart of AIG's collapse last fall, which compelled the U.S. government to provide $173.3 billion in aid to keep it running.

Chief Executive Edward Liddy told Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner in a letter dated Saturday that the next payments to employees of the financial products unit -- whose woes caused massive losses at the giant insurer -- are due on Sunday, and added "quite frankly, AIG's hands are tied." - Wall Street Journal

I’m finding myself with no sympathy for AIG or its survival in the business community. Maybe, just maybe, some of the folks on the right side of the aisle are right in letting these people face bankruptcy court. $173 Billion in bailout cash and they are handing out almost a half billion in bonuses? If General Motors or Chrysler pulled this crap then all of Washington would be at the CEO’s throat politically. AIG is no stranger to having its hand out for money and then blowing hundreds of thousands of dollars for its employees for perks. Can I site a few for you?

AIG Splurges Again
AIG Bailout Smack in the Face

When do we say that AIG is no better than a drug dealer on the corner just sucking the life blood out of our people? When do we say enough is enough when that drug dealer starts feeding your children the poison that could kill them? When do we say enough is enough when the government feeds the poison to that drug dealer and all it is in the end is bailout cash? AIG is no better than a simple drug dealer with a clientele that needs them. When they tell everyone around them, including the government that has fed them $173 billion dollars in bailout cash, that they will still do whatever they want to, regardless of what you or I think, then enough is enough. Bankruptcy court is not always a bad thing when the abusers of the business that is bigger than life community run shot gun over corporate abuse and idiocy and then defend it blindly.

You may think at this point think that I sound like a die hard fiscal conservative Republican but you would be wrong. I’m just a Dad thinking that $173 billion could have been better spent fixing roads, schools, bridges and investing in our communities where real life happens. In one report AIG averaged the bonuses out to $120,000 per person and that is one hell of a lot more than most people make in a year. And that is just the bonus for failure in your job at AIG that put the company in a position near collapse. What ever happened to common sense in big business? Apparently, Edward Liddy, aka CEO has no future in stock options when it comes to his time spent at AIG. Failure and rewarding that failure is not common sense to those that once had shares in AIG.

President Obama should sick his Attorney General, Secretary of the Treasury, and the FBI on AIG, its Board of Directors, and its CEO for simple gross negligence. AKA hand them a pink slip for doing a real crappy job. Something stinks over at AIG but this is all just my opinion. What do you think is going on?

One thing is certain when this wash load at AIG is done, many of the corporate executives across America will look at Ed Liddy and learn from his mistakes. You don't take cash out of the taxpayers pockets without serious repercussions and simplistic results. Ed Liddy will or should resign within the next couple of months as AIG's CEO. If he doesn't, he will be indited for fraud and multiple other charges. I'm pretty sure that no corporation wants the IRS to put a magnifying glass on their books.

Most states are receiving bailout money just in the tens of billions of dollars to rebuild our economy, AIG grabbed $176 BILLION with no questions asked under President BUSH and is passing out bonuses?

Shouldn't you be pissed off too?

Papamoka

U.S. to Collapse in 2010

Psst… According to a high ranking former KGB operative, all of our mailing addresses in the United States of America are going to change in 2010. Proffesor Igor Panarin of Moscow is predicting the U.S. Government will collapse and the states will be divied up like economic war prizes. Alaska is going to revert back to Russian control…ROFLMAO! Did anyone ask the US oil companies about that possibility...LOL? All the fashionistas of California and west coast will have to don state approved clothing only and swear allegiance to China. All of you in Texas will now face south to Mexico to salute your new capital. (I'm going to pee my pants laughing) All of you in the midwest will have to learn how to speak Canadian and end all of your sentences with “Aye?” As for all of us in the northeast and southeast down to South Carolina, we get to finally be French, German, Dutch, English, or Spanish and join the European Union. I do hope we don't have to learn all of their languages because the English language is supposed to be the hardest.

Over at the Wall Street Journal they have this to say on it…

DECEMBER 29, 2008, 1:54 P.M. ET
As if Things Weren't Bad Enough, Russian Professor Predicts End of U.S.
In Moscow, Igor Panarin's Forecasts Are All the Rage; America 'Disintegrates' in 2010

By ANDREW OSBORN

MOSCOW -- For a decade, Russian academic Igor Panarin has been predicting the U.S. will fall apart in 2010. For most of that time, he admits, few took his argument -- that an economic and moral collapse will trigger a civil war and the eventual breakup of the U.S. -- very seriously. Now he's found an eager audience: Russian state media.

In recent weeks, he's been interviewed as much as twice a day about his predictions. "It's a record," says Prof. Panarin. "But I think the attention is going to grow even stronger."

Prof. Panarin, 50 years old, is not a fringe figure. A former KGB analyst, he is dean of the Russian Foreign Ministry's academy for future diplomats. He is invited to Kremlin receptions, lectures students, publishes books, and appears in the media as an expert on U.S.-Russia relations. – Wall Street Journal

Getting into the meat and potatoes of the article I quickly realized that Professor Panarin is on crack cocaine. Just for the sake of argument, the guy has no clue as to what America is all about. He has no clue that we are a migrant society among our states. Most of my own family is in Florida while I freeze my butt off up in New England. And yes my brothers do call when the temperatures are ten degrees up hear and they call from the outdoor patio.

Then we have to consider that American Patriotism thingy. Red state, Blue state, it all comes down to the fact that we are all purple. We are all the offspring of the purple people eater and we all wave the same red, white, and blue flag. So I dare to say that if Professor Igor Panarin is not on crack then he has tipped the old vodka bottle one too many times.

Just to be on the safe side I will be calling Governor Deval Patrick of MA to plead the case that Massachusetts is to be taken over by the Bahamas. I so want to call my brothers in Florida and give them an in your face call. It can be ten degrees outside but my mailing address is the freaking Bahammas!

Papamoka

Other folks talking about this issue...

To the Center

Blogging for Michigan

World Vue Letter has a video!!!

Fed Reserve Chairman Endorses Obama

Over at the Wall Street Journal they have an opinion piece today that pretty much calls Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke outright endorsing Obama and the Democrats to handle the economic crisis America is facing. While the editorial board is not actually quoting the Fed Chairman, they assume that he is out right endorsing Obama. Does anyone else with common sense think this is one news organization drawing conclusions without considering what the position of the Federal Reserve Chairman actually is all about?

Over at the Wall Street Journal they have this to say…

Bernanke Endorses Obama
There was a time when Fed chairmen feared to even seem political.

Ben Bernanke apparently wants four more years as Federal Reserve Chairman. At least that's a reasonable conclusion after Mr. Bernanke all but submitted his job application to Barack Obama yesterday by endorsing the Democratic version of fiscal "stimulus."

While the Fed chief said any stimulus should be "well targeted," even a general endorsement amounts to a political green light. Mr. Bernanke certainly knows that Mr. Obama and Democrats on Capitol Hill are talking about some $300 billion in new "stimulus" spending, while President Bush and Republicans are resisting. And by saying any help should "limit longer-term effects" on the federal deficit, he had to know he was reinforcing Democratic opposition to permanent tax cuts. - Wall Street Journal

Contrary to popular belief, the position of Federal Reserve Chairman is a permanent position that has no transition from one Presidential administration to the next. The President can not fire him! Obama does not need an application from the current Chairman to hold his position over at the Fed Reserve. Obama has no say what so ever when it comes to the Federal Reserve, same goes for George Bush or any other President before them.

Could it just be spin from the Wall Street Journal, a respected financial news organization to raise hype with people that don’t know the facts on how the Federal Reserve really works? Umm, that would be possible. Could it be that Ben Bernanke actually knows what is best to short circuit this economic crisis America is facing and agrees with a second stimulus package? That is the more logical route that this opinion piece in the WSJ is not following through on.

Bernanke is the ultimate economist in the entire United States and our economy is and should be his only desire to protect and defend from collapse. This opinion piece by the Wall Street Journal is biased and YES the Fed Chairman needs to speak up loud and clear when we are close to facing a national banking crisis even if it is within two weeks of a Presidential election. That is his JOB! Our economy knows no political affiliation, it is either working great or it is in collapse. Either way, Republican and Democrats, rich and poor lose when it is busted. Bernanke’s job is to fix what he can and adjust the Federal Reserve’s actions accordingly to avert crisis in our economy. That is why Ben Bernanke's office is separated from the Presidency, the Congress, and the Senate.

Papamoka

*****Reuters has picked up this post... Thank you!

100,000 Prove Polls Wrong in MO

This picture of 100,000 people attending an Obama rally in St. Louis, Missouri today pretty much proves that the polls are all out of whack! Missouri has predominantly been a Red State and Obama has proven that there is no such thing as a Red State or Blue State in America once more. If the race and election for President is so tight then how is it that a Democrat like Obama can draw the largest crowd ever in political history in America?

Over at the Wall Street Journal they have this to say on it…

Amy Chozick reports on the presidential race from St. Louis.
Barack Obama attracted 100,000 people at a Saturday rally here, his biggest crowd ever at a U.S. event.

The crowd assembled under the Gateway Arch on a sunny Saturday afternoon to hear Obama speak about taxes and slam the Republicans on economic issues.

Lt. Samuel Dotson of the St. Louis Police Department confirmed the number of attendees piled into the grassy lawn by the Mississippi River.

To be sure, big crowds don’t always signal a big turnout on Election Day. But Obama’s ability to draw his largest audience yet in a typically red state that just weeks ago looked out of reach, could signal a changing electoral map.

For months Missouri polls put Obama as much as ten percentage points behind Republican John McCain. It was widely believed that McCain’s pick of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate would have won over the state’s conservatives and boosted his chances there. So far, that hasn’t happened.

A Rasmussen poll released on Friday shows Obama leading in Missouri 52% to 46% for McCain. - The Wall Street Journal

I’m beginning to think that the election is not even close when you see such a huge turnout like this one with two weeks to go till the election. If this is the case in Missouri then what is really going on around the rest of the nation? Are other states not showing their true polling numbers and real support for Obama in this election? I’m thinking that the polling industry needs to be looked at seriously and revamped into the cell phone based culture of America. Realistically, this kind of rally for Obama proves the polling numbers could be off by five to ten points easily!

I have to say this story in the Wall Street Journal just blew me away! 100,000 people at one rally isn’t even funny for a Saturday afternoon event in a major city like St. Louis. I can see the spin coming from the McCain campaign that they were all downtown to pay parking fines at city hall or desperately searching for the John McCain St. Louis Headquarters. Ya, thats the ticket!

I’m sorry to say but I don’t trust any of the polling numbers anymore where it calls for a close election by any means in any state. Barack Obama can draw crowds such as this simply because the American people are starving for true leadership, compassion for the less fortunate, and common sense in our next President of the United States of America. All I can say is “Wow!”

I'll post a video of the crowds and the speech from Obama as soon as I find one worthy...

Video Update: Channel 5 KSDK.Com in St. Louis, MO has this video from the crowd at today’s event. Click on the link to the video from the crowd. It wasn't working out as an embed link at the time of this post.

Papamoka