I Never Thought I’d Live to See this day: Donald Trump

Electors do the right thing.

I was a child of the 60’s. I vaguely remember President Dwight Eisenhower talking to the nation on TV. I watched the Vietnam War on the evening news for years and years. I grieved the assassinations of both Kennedy brothers. I never thought I’d live to see this day. 

I remember Martin Luther King, alive and later dead. I watched in dismay as people demonstrated in this country, peacefully and violently. I never thought I’d live to see this day. 

Most of all, I remember Richard Nixon, forcing to resign from office because of covering up a robbery at the Watergate, I never thought I’d live to see this day.

But Watergate is nothing compared with the corruption, lies, and deceit of this man taking office. He has not one redeeming quality. Not one ounce of goodness. The only emotion he seems to express is revenge.

I also watched with real hope when Barack Obama was elected for the first time.

I thought, our country has overcome prejudice. Now, things will change for the better. I never thought I’d live to see this day. 

At first I laughed when I watched Fox news and heard Rush Limbaugh on the radio. I thought, nobody can take these people seriously. I never thought I’d live to see this day.

I dubiously watched Donald Trump on TV. I cringed when he imitated a person with disabilities, I found his rallies reminiscent of films I’d seen of Adolph Hitler. (Having distant relatives who perished in the Holocaust, I’ve read diaries and stories from that time. I’ve listened to people who were living witnesses to that time. He also had victory rallies.)

There are too many similarities. People thought Hitler was a silly fool who couldn’t possibly last. He suppressed the press, and targeted groups of people: Jews, Gypsies, Homosexuals, mentally and physically disabled, and those brave enough to resist him. They never thought they’d  live to see that day.

Too many perished because they were bystanders.

Why do people like this man? He preys on people’s fears. They are afraid that “Isis” is coming to their shores, and they think this narcissistic dictator is going to keep them out. They think they will get rich like him. And who really knows how rich he is? No tax return, and he can’t discern between the truth and a lie.

People think him promoting “Merry Christmas” instead of “Happy Holiday shows he’s a good Christian. This man stands for the total opposite of any religion.

Now, I understand how evil people get in power. They masquerade as something they’re not, and work on people’s fears. They suppress the free press. They promise revenge on anyone who opposes them. They tell people they lied to them and they laugh at them. Those followers are so confused they still don’t acknowledge his shallow soul.

Most of all they tell lies, and after a while the lies start to make sense. Say 2+2=5 long enough and people will start to believe you. Read “1984” by George Orwell. It’s all there.

If somehow, any elector read this post, do the right thing.

It’s a Nail Biter but Get Off my Telephone (I’ve never been so popular!)

The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I’ll be happy when this election is over. It’s not exactly making my life pleasant.

I live in Ohio, and the candidates just won’t stop calling me. First it was Sherrod Brown, and then it was Josh Mandel. Who knew I was going to be so popular?

Not only are people calling me on the phone, they are knocking on my door. They are giving me pamphlets, and telling me how excited they are about their candidates.  I have to admire their tenacity,  but I’m not answering the door until election day is over.

On TV, the talking heads are reduced to talking about the candidates with Body Language experts. Why was Obama’s head tilted to the left? Why did Romney raise his chin?  It’s reminds me of the George Orwell book, 1984. Thought police were going around checking out the population.

Why didn’t “the super pacs”  take all the money they spent on all those annoying advertisements and start reducing the deficit with it.

Do, go out and vote. By now, you ought to know there is a difference between the candidates. Don’t let other people affect your life!

What do you think?

Related articles

• Senate battle looking like a nail-biter (again) (washingtonpost.com)
• BIG NEWS: Republican Josh Mandel Tied Up in Ohio Senate Race (humanevents.com)

Who do you think won Debate #3? Does it matter?

Official photographic portrait of US President Barack Obama (born 4 August 1961; assumed office 20 January 2009) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Romney (Photo credit: Talk Radio News Service)

Watching the debates tonight, we saw a different Romney. He seemed to agree with Obama on everything. I thought Obama acted presidential and better yet, his intelligent self.

Romney tried to calm himself down. He didn’t want us to think he’d love to fight every country in the Middle East.

It doesn’t really matter because most  people have made up their minds already. It’s a sad state of affairs if you ask me. I will go for the more intelligent guy who is not a hot head, and  doesn’t want to increase the navy.  You can guess who I support.

They say, Romney was trying to appeal to women tonight. He was more like a peace-loving guy. Huh?

You could say all you want about Romney, but you gotta say the guy was good-looking in his day. He still is. I bet he’s shocked he’s not appealing to women. Of course the fact that he’s against birth control, abortion, and still sees women in a traditional role might not endear him to young professional women. The fact that he hates teacher’s unions might not excite a lot of those rich teachers either.

Talking heads say Romney must have read Wikipedia and World Book before he got to the debate. He didn’t win me over when he said he wanted more ships for the navy. I loved Obama’s comeback: bayonets and horses aren’t used much anymore either.

But the fact is that the economy is a mess. It’s no fun being without money. You can’t go out and buy stuff without it. Being without a job doesn’t make you feel really good about yourself.  Things are improving, but it’s not fast enough for most people. It’s not a comfortable situation. When you’re desperate, you’ll believe in anyone.

I think every member of Congress should be voted out. They cared more about being reelected that trying to work with the President.

Who says, they’d be any different with another president?

Romney frightens me on several different levels, but  people are impatient and he might just win.

Things might change all right. Tea anyone?

Comments?

American Tapestry by Rachel L. Swarms :The story of Michelle Obama’s Ancestry

Photograph of Michelle Obama’s paternal line great-grandfather, Fraser Robinson, Sr. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

American Tapestry by Rachel L. Swarns, is the story of First Lady, Michelle Obama’s ancestry. If you’re looking for a story about the First Lady’s life, you won’t find it in this book. What you will find is her family tree, and fascinating stories about her relatives.

The author, a New York Times reporter, did extensive research before writing this book. She used census records, photographs, oral histories, and interviews with many of Mrs. Obama’s relatives.

A genealogist, Megan Smolenyak had discovered a connection between a white slave owner, Henry Shields and Mrs. Obama’s great-great-great-grandmother, Melvina. Together they had a son, Dolphus. The author uncovered a funeral program of the son, Dolphus, and a photograph.

Swarns collaborated on an article about this discovery in the New York Times, and did further historical research to write this book.

The author follows four families in the South who eventually migrate to the North. From these families, comes Mrs. Obama’s great grandparents
.
A History Lesson

This is not an easy book to read. There are at least 30 characters to keep track of. Sometimes, you have to go back and reread their connections to each other, but if you persevere you uncover a fascinating story.

The book is in Three parts: Part I —Migration [to the North], Part II—The Demise of Reconstructions and the Rise of Jim Crow, Part III—Slavery and Emancipation.

Not only is it Mrs. Obama’s story, but the story of black people after the Civil war to the present day. Highlights include: black migration to the North, Reconstruction, sexual exploitation, lynchings, people being discouraged from voting, segregation, and passage of The Civil Rights Act of 1963. White and black people intermingle throughout the book.

The oral history was handed down in bits and pieces. Former slaves wanted to put the past behind them. The slavery experience was so painful and shameful that the first generation of freed slaves didn’t want to talk too much about it with their children.

Interesting characters

The author starts out with, Phoebe Moten Johnson, Mrs. Obama’s paternal great grandmother. She decides to escape her dull farm life, in Villa Ridge, Illinois, and gets on a train to seek her fortune. She ends up traveling to four different cities before she ends up in Chicago.

To tie the stories together, there is some speculation on the author’s part. This is about Phoebe:” “Swarns admits that “[n]one alive today knows the precise pace or number of stops that [Phoebe] made on her journey. There are gaps in her story, countless unknowns. …”

There are many other fascinating characters in this saga: Fraser Robinson, Sr., a man who accomplishes a lot even though he loses his arm after a tree falls on him when he’s a child. For a time, he moves in with a white family, friends of his father, and watches as black people lose rights they were granted after the Civil War.

Mrs. Obama’s relatives, like many African-Americans, migrated from the South to the North because there were more opportunities. They did a variety of jobs including: carpentry, coal mining, church ministry, household helpers, and railroad workers.

The author quotes Mrs. Obama’s aunt, Francesca Gray who states that in the black version of the American dream “ you dream a little bit at a time.” It is about black Americans striving toward the pursuit of life, liberty, happiness and property.

I would recommend this book because it gives an insightful look at what the black experience may have felt like after the Civil War to the present day. We learn how the American dream was accomplished by people at a clear disadvantage. Mrs. Obama’s family are the main characters in this book, but they represent the black experience in America for the past 150 years.

You can find this book on Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and on various websites.

Related articles

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My View of the documentary, “Obama’s America”

Cover via Amazon

Sept 9, 2012

Obama’s America is a documentary by Writer/Director Dinesh D’Souza, an Indian born intellectual. It’s based on some writing he’s already done on Obama. D’Souza’s formerly worked for Ronald Reagan. He’s now president of a Christian conservative college in New York.

He traces Obama’s parentage. He claims the biggest influence on Obama was his absent father, a Kenyan native political figure who hated colonialism.   He even goes so far as to bring in a psychologist to discuss Obama’s possible feelings toward his absent father. It reminded me of Clint Eastwood talking to the empty chair at the Republican Convention.

If you know anything about Obama’s life, you will know that he only spent one month with his father. Obama’s mother was an anthropologist who pushed Obama to get a good education. When Obama was in high school he lived with his white grandparents in Hawaii to attend a good private school.  If you heard his speech at the Democratic Convention he referred to both of them. His grandfather served in WWII, and was a mediocre salesman. His grandmother worked her way up the career ladder in a bank. You would guess that maybe they influenced him more heavily than a man he spent a month with, and corresponded with on and off.

D’Sousa also takes sections of “Dreams From my Father” to make his case. It’s all out of context, and he plays fast and loose with it.  He makes a big deal of the fact that the book is not entitled “Dreams of my Father.”  I though it was  a pretty big leap. He even tracks down one of Obama’s half-brothers who is living in a shack in Kenya. I guess this is to prove that Obama isn’t a nice upstanding individual. He can’t get the  half-brother to bad-mouth Obama. He does try.

He also brings up all the old conspiracy theories again. At least he doesn’t question where Obama was born. According to D’sousa Obama was born in Hawaii. Last time I heard it was part of the USA.

He spends half the movie following Obama’s path during his childhood.  He even goes to Indonesia to guess what Obama might have gotten out of living in that country with his mother and step-father. It reminds D’Sousa of India. (I guess that’s why he doesn’t want to live in either place.)

If you’re an Obama supporter you’re not going to like this documentary. Your going to think he doesn’t prove any of his points. If you are suspicious of Obama, you will probably agree with everything suggested by D’Sousa, irrational as it may sound.

The most important thing is that D’Sousa, like Michael Moore, can express their opinion and make documentaries to support their points of view. Let’s face it. That’s what makes America great.

This is my view not a review.  From my point of view, don’t waste your time.

If you’ve seen it, I’d appreciate your comments!

.

Related articles

• According to CRAZY FILMMAKER “DINESH D’SOUZA” Another GOP nutjob – Obama’s dead father is really leading America!!! (bonjupatten.com)
• The Right-Wing Michael Moore? (thedailybeast.com)

The comeback kid does it again!

 

English: Official White House photo of President Bill Clinton, President of the United States. Русский: Президент США Билл Клинтон,официальное фото Белого Дома. Ελληνικά: Επίσημη φωτογραφία Λευκού Οίκου του Προέδρου Μπιλ Κλίντον, Προέδρου των ΗΠΑ (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Bill Clinton gave a great nomination speech. This guy amazes me. He’s been on the bottom, but manages to come out on top every time.

What a great speech!

Co-operation is a word he used when talking about the way the Republicans and Democrats need to work together.

What really bothered me is how the Republicans said their #1 job was to get rid of President Obama.

That’s the only thing they’ve been working on for the past two years.

They refuse to  co-operate.

They need a time-out, or voted out!

 

I don’t trust Mitt Romney: He gives me a bad vibe

Romney (Photo credit: Talk Radio News Service)

I do not appreciate Mitt Romney’s sense of humor, and I’m hoping it helps him lose the election. Surely, other people can see through his insincerity. I do think good character is important if you’re going to be a leader.

Romney made a birther joke today. Then, he said it wasn’t aimed at President Obama.  He was in Michigan today. He said something like, “I was born in  this hospital right here, and my wife was born in another hospital nearby Nobody asked for our birth certificates.”  (That’s not the exact quote).

I guess this goes along with him putting his dog on the top of his car ( while he was driving), his remark about not worrying about the poor, and going after the guy in high school who was gay. Not to mention his views on birth control and abortion. His choice of running-mate doesn’t sit well with me either.

I consider myself a good judge of character. I don’t like his character. He’s reminds me of someone who says hurtful things, and then excuses  it by saying, “I was only kidding.”

I felt the same way about Nixon. I was right about him.

I am afraid the fickle public are going to elect this guy.

He scares me.

Time will tell

“Barack Obama The Story” by David Maraniss: A Review

Official photographic portrait of US President Barack Obama (born 4 August 1961; assumed office 20 January 2009) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If you want to understand where Barack Obama might be coming from read this unauthorized biography by David Maraniss. The author has good credentials. He won a Pulitzer prize  for a series of stories he wrote about Clinton, and works at the Washington Post.

If you don’t like detailed histories, this book is not for you. The author gives you plenty of history. (Maybe, more than you want or need to know.)

President Obama’s Family History

The book studies President Obama’s background in-depth.  It takes you all the way from his great grandparents on both sides.  It’s a parallel story taking place in Midwest Kansas  and Kenya, Africa. Maraniss  described everything: people, places and geography.

The author begins the story in 1926 in Kansas with the suicide of Obama’s great grandmother, Ruth, at age 26.

“From the time of their mother’s death [Obama’s  grandfather and great-uncle] through the rest of their school days, they lived with their maternal grandparents in El Dorado, setting a generational pattern that would be repeated a half century later,” writes Maraniss.

In the next chapter Maraniss goes into the Kenyan side, starting with Obama’s  grandfather and grandmother. He shows that there is sharpness and intellect on both branches of Obama’s family. There is adventure,  and daring on both sides too.

President Obama’s Background

We don’t even hear about  President Obama until Chapter 5. His mother, repeats the family pattern. She falls in love with his Kenyan father while attending the University of Hawaii. (He is attending the university because of an exchange program), becomes pregnant, marries the first Obama,  and divorced him when President Obama was 2 years old. (She was unaware that he already had a Kenyan wife and child.)

We learn all about the first Barack Obama, [President Obama’s father], a man with great promise, brilliance, and charisma. Unfortunately, he also has a drinking problem that proves to be his downfall.

We get to know President Obama’s mother— Ann Dunham—an anthropologist and dedicated mother—who leaves Obama in the care of his grandparents at different times in his life. This couldn’t have made him feel too secure.

President Obama only spends a month with his biological father in 1971. They do correspond over the years, and his mother makes sure he identifies with his African background.

Years after her first divorce, his mother remarries, this time to an Indonesian man.  They live in Indonesia for several years, and welcome President Obama’s sister, Maya, into the family.  After the marriage falls apart, she and Maya stay in Indonesia where Ann worked as an anthropologist.

President Obama is sent back to Hawaii to attend a prep school. He is granted admittance into  the school because his grandfather has connections. (Later, Maya, attends the same school.)

It’s not until he goes to high school, that he earnestly begins exploring his black background. He finds a place in high school by playing basketball, and being a good student.

A defining moment of confusion in his life occurs when he overhears his grandmother telling his grandfather she is nervous about a black man at her bus stop.

“Leaving and being left were the repeating themes of “Barry Obama’s [President Obama’s] young life. ..his mother leaving his family. His father leaving the family….All in the continuum of the family history,” writes Maraniss.

All the while, Obama, is portrayed by others who knew him as very smart, affable, and responsible.  He is repeatedly described as being cautious. The book takes us up to the time he enters Harvard Law School.

The book also covers his undergraduate college years. ( Yes, he did smoke some marijuana and inhaled.) It also describes his work as a community organizer in Chicago.  There are a few girlfriends here and there too. (There isn’t anything about the First Lady).

If you don’t want to read such a complex book, I suggest you read Obama’s book, Dreams from My Father.

Related articles

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• Breaking => When Barack Obama Was Barry Soetoro From Indonesia! (politicalvelcraft.org)
• ‘Barack Obama,’ by David Maraniss: review (sfgate.com)
• David Maraniss on Writing Obama’s ‘Story’ (pbs.org)
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Obama comes out for same sex marriage

Same Sex Marriage (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Good for Obama for supporting same-sex marriage.

This is not something I spend a lot of time thinking about. I say,” live and let live.’ I don’t know why anyone cares so much about what other people do. If they’re not hurting you, let them do whatever they want.

Now the politicians are going to spend a lot of time focusing on this issue, not the ones  affecting everyone.  Like the economy, jobs and health care.

Tonight I watched people discussing this on TV.

Paul Belgala, one of the talking heads said he thinks it will hurt Obama politically. He thinks it will hurt Obama with older voters, and help with younger voters. I think he may be surprised about that. I think plenty of baby boomers share my feelings.

They showed a clip of Mitt Romney saying, ” I believe marriage should take place between a man and a woman.” I’m all for that. I’ve been in one for a long time. It works for me.

I was in a chorus with a lot of gay woman. They were just as happy in their same-sex marriages. It worked for them. They had very well-adjusted kids too. What’s better than having 2 loving mothers,  2 loving fathers, or a mother and a father?

I think it’s nice if anyone can stay married for longer than a few years. I think it’s nice if anyone gets married at all. I think the challenge is staying married.

I can’t wait till this election is over.  Piers Morgan showed a clip of Kirk Cameron, now an evangelist, talking about  The Garden of Eden.

I myself, do not take this story literally. But, there are plenty of people who do. I expect to hear from some of them.

What do you think?

Related articles

• Obama says he supports same-sex marriage (whitehouse.blogs.cnn.com)
• BREAKING: Obama comes out in support of same-sex marriage (politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com)

Why I Wish Rush Limbaugh Would Go Away and Disappear

When I first heard Rush Limbaugh many years ago I couldn’t believe my ears. Surely people would realize he was a throwback to the McCarthy era. He’s much worse. At least they used a little decorum while they were acting like ogres. This guy lets it all hang out. I can’t believe the stuff he’s gotten away with. I can’t believe people actually agree with him.

I hear his voice, and my stomach turns upside down.

He’s made fun of women, homosexuals,  black people, Asian people,  white people, liberals, and everyone and everything under the sun. He is a big name-caller.

He can say the most outrageous things, and his defenders will rationalize what he’s saying! He can say the moon is made of green cheese and they will agree. How about the world is flat? That might be a good one. His followers might say, “if Rush says it’s true, ditto ditto”.  That means they agree with him.

I think he’s responsible for making name-calling stylish. I can’t believe he’s gotten away with the latest snafu, calling a young classy graduating law student from Georgetown University, Sandra Fluke,  a “slut” because she thinks “health care companies, event those connected with religious organizations should provide coverage for birth control contraception.”

When his sponsors started dropping him, he was pressured to apologize to Ms. Fluke. I’m so proud of her for not accepting his feeble apology. Her parents, and President Obama are proud of her too.

You can say what you want about Obama, but at least he has class. He showed it by personally calling her and telling her it was a good thing she was doing.

I thought this was the 21st century. I thought we were past all this cave man mentality.

Maybe people are finally starting to wise up.

I hope Limbaugh’s sponsors keep dropping him.

Meanwhile I applaud Ms. Fluke. I’m so glad that younger generations of women are like her!