Isaac! You missed Tampa!

I wouldn’t wish harm on anyone or anyplace...but had Isaac ripped through Tampa, I wonder how those on the extreme right would have responded?   I’m sure Pat Robertson would have blamed it on the gays or the Muslims or the sinners or???

But here we are in Tampa sans Isaac.   I’m watching the 1st day of the RNC as I’m typing this.   Where is George Bush?   No mention of him!   Nowhere to be found?   An uninvited guest???   Question marks unnecessary!   A message from the current Republican regime...Dear George...stay as far away from Tampa as humanly possible...and however far that is...it ain’t far enough!

But wait a minute.   Isaac even pushed “The Donald” off the agenda.   Supposedly, “The Donald’s”” surprise skit of firing President Obama (ala the Apprentice) was supposed to happen on Monday night...but, as you know Isaac squashed that!

Aside from George and “The Donald”...who else is missing from the Tampa festivities?   Are you folks trying to avoid the teabaggers that got you there...but you don’t want them there?

Hello Herman, Michelle and Sarah.   Where are you?   I thought you would be there to emphasize the fact that the President is a Muslim, a nigger, born in Kenya.   I’ve also noticed that my favorites...McConnell, Cantor and Boehner have been hiding for the last several weeks.   Is this just a coincidence...or is this just me?   Yeah…I know Boehner kicked off tonight’s festivities, but where has he been for the last several weeks?

Okay...now back to your nominees.   Question...Mitt...will I ever see your tax returns?   My family is from Bermuda.   I’ve had the pleasure of vacationing in the Cayman Islands, one of the most beautiful islands on earth.   Hell...I’ve even had the good fortune to visit Zermatt, Switzerland!   However, I ain’t got no money hidden in any of these places!

One more question for Mr. Ryan.   Will you or your running mate or someone please explain the difference between you and Mr. Aiken?

Again…I’m just askin’

Independence Day in America!

OK America, on this Independence Day, perhaps it’s time for a re-assessment of our claim as the greatest country on earth.   Don’t get me wrong, I love this place, but we are not without flaws!

Given the Republican primaries, among other things, I’ve revisited the concept of America’s greatness.   C’mon!   If for nothing else, the fact that so many Americans actually voted for Bachmann, Santorum, & Cain & Perry or believed that “birther” Trump was worthy of the office of the Presidency continues to scare the sh*t out of me!   Did I mention Newt?   Add to that, 47% of the American electorate thought that Sarah Palin qualified to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency still has me shaking in my boots.

America is a leader among the world in religious beliefs, incarceration and defense spending!   Is that greatness?   Sadly enough there are some Americans that still believe that President Obama is a Muslim born in Kenya.   But American intelligence is a whole ‘nother matter.   I’m certain that many Americans probably couldn’t pass the test to become a naturalized citizen.   These are the very same people that are probably fighting immigration reform tooth and nail.

America is a divided nation.   Some have said it’s the college educated, the minorities and the young…versus everyone else.   Red state versus blue state!   Our issues are many and they add to this divisiveness:

• healthcare
• tax policy
• racism
• marriage equality
• immigration reform
• unemployment
• and finally…laying blame for all of the above!

In spite of all of this, I do believe that America can lay claim to the title of “Land of Opportunity”.   I love this country and most…but not all...of its people.   But given the current climate and state of affairs…I question its greatness.

Republikkkans in the European press!

Although the entries below are somewhat dated, they give a glimpse into what the European press thinks about the (then) Republican candidates for the office of the Presidency of the United States.   Need I say more?

Germany:
The Republican presidential contest in America is a "freak show," said Marc Pitzke in the German Der Spiegel.   The candidates vie with one another to spew the most outrageous hard-right positions, denying evolution while endorsing torture and joking about electrocuting illegal immigrants.   How did a major party in the world's sole superpower become a "club of liars, debtors, betrayers, adulterers, exaggerators, hypocrites, and ignoramuses?"   These know-nothings are enabled by a U.S. press that has been "neutered by the demands of political correctness" so that it can't say what's obvious: These people are daft!   Instead, it "proclaims one clown after the next to be the new front-runner."   The current favorite, Newt Gingrich, is actually considered an intellectual merely because he can create sentences with multiple clauses.   Scarcely a one has even the most basic grasp of foreign policy.   One said Africa is a country, another that the Taliban rule in Libya.   Collectively, "they expose a political, economic, geographic, and historical ignorance that makes George W. Bush look like a scholar.”

France:
That's the scariest part, said Lorraine Millot in the Paris Liberation.   The only GOP candidate who knows a thing about diplomacy, Jon Huntsman, is dead last in most polls.   The others "careen to extreme positions that include starting new wars and abandoning old allies."   And that's when they even have a position.   Herman Cain, now thankfully out of the race, was the front-runner even though he couldn't find a single coherent word to say about President Obama's policy on Libya.   He even boasted of knowing little about foreign countries.   And yet it was his adultery, not his astounding ignorance that brought him down.

England:
There's a simple explanation for this bizarre phenomenon, said Max Hastings in the London Daily Mail.   In the "lunatic, gun-toting badlands of America's Hicks-ville, Tea Party country," it's considered suspiciously elitist to show any interest in modern science or the world beyond America's borders.   "Say what you like about British politics, no MP of any party would dare to offer themselves as town dog-catcher while knowing as little about the world as the Republican presidential candidates."   We take public service seriously.   Yet we in Britain, and everyone in the rest of the world, will suffer if "one of the lunatics" vying for the nomination makes it to the White House."   The American political system has seldom, if ever, looked so inadequate."

England:
Don't worry, said Matthew Norman in the London Independent.   The fact that Gingrich is the latest threat to Mitt Romney's inevitability just "confirms how inevitable" Romney's nomination is.   The thrice-married, ethically challenged Gingrich is unlikable in the extreme.   Which means the nominee will be Romney, "the slimiest, phoniest opportunist to run for president since...well, ever.   " So sit back and enjoy this circus passing for a presidential election.   It can't possibly end in a GOP victory.   Can it?

Cain: Impeach Obama over DOMA!

The latest from the Pizza Boy

Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain suggested that impeaching President Barack Obama "would be a great thing to do" on a conference call with bloggers on Tuesday night, Politico reports. The former CEO of Godfather's Pizza predicted, however, that achieving such a goal would likely prove easier said than done. "Because the Senate is controlled by Democrats we would never be able to get the Senate first to take up that action, because they simply don’t care what the American public thinks," he said. "They would protect him and they wouldn’t even bring it up," Cain said, citing the administration's position on the Defense of Marriage Act as an impeachable offense."

Herman Cain? WTF?

“I want people in my administration that are committed to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States.   I don’t want any inkling of anybody in my administration who would put Sharia law over American law.   I have not found a Muslim that has said that they will denounce Sharia law, you know, in order to support the Constitution of the United States.”

Then on the Glen Beck show!
GLENN BECK: So wait a minute, are you saying that Muslims have to prove, there has to be a loyalty proof?
CAIN: Yes, to the Constitution of the United States of America.
BECK: Well, would you do that to a Catholic or a Mormon?
CAIN: No, I wouldn’t, I wouldn’t because there is a greater dangerous part of the Muslim faith than there is in these other religions.

Then again on homosexuality.....
"I believe homosexuality is a sin because I'm a Bible-believing Christian, I believe it's a sin.   But I know that some people make that choice.   That's their choice.   And I believe it IS a choice."