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Monday, March 12, 2012

Feckless?

The Webster's dictionary defines the word "feckless" as 1.Weak, Ineffective and 2.Worthless, Irresponsible. I am really not trying to give a vocabulary lesson here, but have been bothered by the context in which this adjective was recently used.  I watched the President's Public Address last Super Tuesday and one of journalists in attendance quoted Mitt Romney as saying that "President Obama is the most feckless President since Jimmy Carter.
First of all, Why does he have to burn Jimmy Carter? I don't see Mitt Romney out building houses for Habitat For Humanity, and I am guessing that he also doesn't transport his pets on top of his Thule like camping gear.  (maybe Mitt doesn't like that "wet dog" smell) and second and most importantly: Calling President Obama feckless is a total lie in so many ways it is unbelievable that Mitt Romney could even conceivably make that statement without laughing.
So, in response to the component of "feckless" in which Ineffective is alluded to:

A SAMPLE OF CAMPAIGN PROMISES KEPT BY PRESIDENT OBAMA:

No. 4: Extend child tax credits and marriage-penalty fixes
No. 16: Increase minority access to capital
No. 33: Establish a credit card bill of rights
No. 36: Expand loan programs for small businesses
No. 37: Extend the Bush tax cuts for lower incomes
No. 38: Extend the Bush tax cuts for those making less than $250,000 (couples) or $200,000 (single)
No. 48: Close the “doughnut hole” in Medicare prescription drug plan
No. 51: Require insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions
No. 53: Give tax credits to those who need help to pay health premiums
No. 55: Require large employers to contribute to a national health plan
No. 56: Require children to have health insurance coverage
No. 57: Expand eligibility for Medicaid
No. 58: Expand eligibility for State Children’s Health Insurance Fund (SCHIP)
No. 63: Require health plans to disclose how much of the premium goes to patient care
No. 65: Establish an independent health institute to provide accurate and objective information
No. 69: In non-competitive markets, force insurers to pay out a reasonable share of their premiums for patient care
No. 70: Eliminate the higher subsidies to Medicare Advantage plans
No. 93: Reinstate executive order to hire an additional 100,000 federal employees with disabilities within five years.
No. 105: Increase the Veterans Administration budget to recruit and retain more mental health
No. 109: Fully fund the Veterans Administration
No. 113: Expand the Veterans Administration’s number of “centers of excellence” in specialty care
No. 121: Fully fund the Violence Against Women Act
No. 125: Direct military leaders to end war in Iraq
No. 126: Begin removing combat brigades from Iraq
No. 132: No permanent bases in Iraq
No. 161: End the abuse of supplemental budgets for war
No. 167: Make U.S. military aid to Pakistan conditional on anti-terror efforts
No. 172: Open “America Houses” in Islamic cities around the globe
No. 182: Allocate Homeland Security funding according to risk
No. 195: Seek verifiable reductions in nuclear stockpiles
No. 196: Extend monitoring and verification provisions of the START I Treaty
No. 197: Stand down nuclear forces to be reduced under the Moscow Treaty
No. 215: Create a rapid response fund for emerging democracies
No. 222: Grant Americans unrestricted rights to visit family and send money to Cuba
No. 225: Establish an Energy Partnership for the Americas
No. 229: Expand the Nurse-Family Partnership to all low-income, first-time mothers
No. 239: Release presidential records
No. 241: Require new hires to sign a form affirming their hiring was not due to political affiliation or contributions.
No. 244: Provide affordable, high-quality child care
No. 247: Recruit math and science degree graduates to the teaching profession
No. 259: Reduce subsidies to private student lenders and protect student borrowers
No. 269: Increase funding for national parks and forests
No. 275: Expand Pell grants for low-income students
No. 290: Push for enactment of Matthew Shepard Act, which expands hate crime law to include sexual orientation and other factors
No. 293: Repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy
No. 315: Establish ‘Promise Neighborhoods’ for areas of concentrated poverty
No. 359: Rebuild schools in New Orleans
No. 371: Fund a major expansion of AmeriCorps
No. 411: Work to overturn Ledbetter vs. Goodyear
No. 422: Create new financial regulations
No. 427: Ban lobbyist gifts to executive employees
No. 433: Sign a “universal” health care bill
No. 435: Create new criminal penalties for mortgage fraud
No. 449: Raise fuel economy standards
No. 458: Invest in all types of alternative energy
No. 483: Invest in public transportation
No. 495: Double federal spending for research on clean fuels
No. 500: Increase funding for the Environmental Protection Agency
No. 507: Extend unemployment insurance benefits and temporarily suspend taxes on these benefits
No. 513: Reverse restrictions on stem cell research
Is that a lot? Damn! I am still proud of the ONE New Year's Resolution that I have kept up from 08!
Weak
One doesn't rise within the Democratic Party from obscurity to become the leader of the most powerful country in the world in such a short amount of time by being "Weak." I would say that takes fortitude, diligence, hard work, strength, stamina, courage, audacity; frankly the list could go on and on. A word that is the antithesis of all of those words is "Weak." Granted, the example I am using to argue my point is from before his presidency, however "Weak" (in this instance) is intrinsic to one's character, and character is not easily changed. And one doesn't keep that many campaign promises by being weak or passive.
Worthless
Just to get my mind around it, Mitt Romney said that President Obama has an absence of value as a president. After eight long and torturous years under the George W administration, what this country needed was hope. It was the promise of change along with extreme intelligence and wit, that caused people to elect him as president. It was the reason that I teared up on election night when it was decided. It is the reason I spent eight long hours waiting to hear him speak at the Kitzhaber rally and why I volunteered for his campaign. Gauging by his list of accomplishments listed above, I think that attributing the word "worthless" to our President is insulting and naive. Plus he killed Osama Bin Laden so there!
Irresponsible
There are many examples of how responsible he has proven to be, but none greater than that of being responsible with human life. Remember that victory banner that George W stood in front of on an aircraft carrier proclaiming that we had won the war in Irag, well it turns out that we didn't! I know, shocking. Obama ended the war in Iraq, he pulled troops out and sent them home. A war that served no purpose other than an ego boost was ended and countless lives were saved because of that. There is nothing irresponsible about that call.
So, Mr. Romney, I hate to say it is a liar and a mere mouthpiece for the GOP agenda. The average Joe (except Joe the Plumber) can not relate to The GOP any longer. They alienate people and make blatant falsehoods while spinning the rhetoric so thick that it is impossible to understand. 
President Obama is an extremely effective President. Just sayin'. 

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

And the GOP winner is. . . . It is a trick question, if you are in the GOP there is no winner.

The political commentary is a little mind numbing right now to say the least. For the GOP candidate for the 2012 election there is no clear cut choice. It comes down to Mitt Romney, (puke) Rick Santorum (double puke) or Newt Gingrich (puke fest 2012.) The GOP is as discombobulated now as ever. We have Rush Limbaugh calling women who want contraception covered by their insurance sluts and prostitutes,  but Viagra being covered seems to be a non-issue. I really wonder if they are doing this on purpose? How can one party be so totally out of touch with the reality of America? The total scope of the GOP has missed the mark. . . . is this really the crem de la crem of the GOP? These guys? Really?These three numb nuts is the best that the Republicans have to offer? Newt (the epitome of family values) Gingrich clearly has no chance in winning enough delegates to run as the GOP candidate so it really comes down to Mitt(my family defected to Mexico in order to practice polygamy)Rpmney of Rick(I am fucking crazy) Santorum. I wonder where on Earth has Sarah Palin gone? Doesn't her name just bring you back to simpler times? I am beginning to believe that the GOP really does not want it's name on the cluster fuck that George W left us. .Let's just let the Democrats figure that rubix cube of disasters out, we will just sit on the sidelines, make passive aggressive moves in Congress and wait until 2016, then ATTACK! Unless the GOP somehow figures out a way to pull their head out of their asses anytime soon and figure out how the "Average American" thinks then it is unlikely that they will find a candidate that really resonates with the country.