Friday, August 31, 2012

Mitt, Marco and Clint bring the Republican Convention to a Strange but Solid End



Friday, August 31st, 2012




My Dear America:


Well, My Dear America, the wait is over and the "Mystery Speaker" at the 2012 Republican Convention has been revealed, although the mystery continues.  

In what has to be one of the Strangest Sights that anyone has ever seen at any political convention (Democrat, Republican or otherwise) Actor/Director Clint Eastwood has to take the cake.  

Clint seemed to start out making sense but at some point along the way he started talking to an empty chair as if it was President Obama and incredibly began acting as though the invisible President Obama was telling him to "shut up" and eventually to "Go F**k Himself."

Wow.

And I thought Eastwood's main problem was letting his latest wife have her own Reality Show.  I have never watched the show but now that I have seen how bizarre Clint has become, I may start to watch it.

Man, this guy was strange.

Although I never actually heard the words that they were saying because I had the sound on my television turned down, I did see The Fairly Odd Couple, Newt and Calista Gingrich at the podium together last night talking.  Maybe I missed something but common sense tells me that whatever it was I missed, I can and will be able to do without.  By the way, Newt, all the other Candidates with the exception of Romney and Ryan didn't take their wives to the podium with them.  She didn't run for anything that I recall.

Most of the other guests last night seemed to be People, Friends, Co Workers of Romney who wanted to put their two cents in on what a wonderful guy Mitt was.  

The person who actually preceded Mitt on stage and was to introduce Mitt was  the once controversial and now seemingly wonderful Florida United States Senator, Marco Rubio.  Rubio, though I disagree with most of what he stands for, is certainly a young man with charisma to spare and will, no doubt be a continuing player in Republican Conventions to come.

Although Rubio's job was to introduce Mitt Romney, he spent very little time doing that and like Chris Christie, earlier in the week, spent a lot more time and effort introducing himself, than he did Romney.  Eventually Rubio did get around to it and Romney came into the hall as one Television Commentator put it in a "State of the Union" style entrance.  He shook hands all the way into the hall as the President does when he enters Congress for The State of the Union Speech.

Romney finally got to the podium and after a lot of cheering he got down to what seemed mainly like a good solid heartfelt speech about his family, his values and his country.  Mainly it was a very positive speech and it was ably delivered in a human, rather than robotic manner.  

Although I hate to admit it, Romney, for the first time to me, at least, actually sounded like a man with convictions who could actually be President.

Certainly in comparison with the assorted buffoons who ran against him in the Republican primary (with the possible exception of John Huntsman) Romney was more than a cut above the rest.  

Toward the end of his very positive acceptance speech last night, however, Romney veered off the high road and ducked down a dark and disturbing back road to Jingoistic, Sabre rattling talk about a war with Iraq, what he termed was America's throwing Israel under the bus and the possibility of war with Syria.

Although he had a point in that we probably could have stood for freedom more honorably in the middle east, the thought of going to war in another middle eastern country should bring shivers to every American concerned about foreign policy.  

These Republicans who rail at Obama for doing "Nothing" to bring down the debt the last four years are the same people who voted to start two unfunded wars in the middle east on their watch during the Bush Administration.  

Now they seem to be ready to go at it again.  These deficit hawks, like Ryan who voted to fund Bushes adventures in the Middle East.

No, Mitt.  Nobody in their right mind wants to fund another war.  Certainly the rich are not willing to be taxed to fund it and neither are the middle class.

So Mitt.  You almost gave a great speech but as you always do, you had to pander, this time to the Warmongers.  

Just a suggestion to both you, Mitt and your buddy, Paul Ryan.  If you want to keep the deficit from getting any worse how about not stoking up any more worthless, destructive wars in the Middle East.

How about that.

Now Let's hear what the Democrats have to say.




Sincerely Yours

Jerry Gallagher 


Thursday, August 30, 2012

Will the Real Paul Ryan Please Stand Up



Thursday, August 30th, 2012




My Dear America:


Last night was another trip into the Republican Party's Bizarro World Convention in Tampa, Florida.

The night could have very well been billed as the "Night of a Thousand Has Beens."  Mike Huckabee was there, as was Rick Santorum.  I did see a bit of Mike Huckabee's diatribe and could have lived without it.  I made no attempt to catch Rick.  I have seen more of those two than I ever wanted to see.  

One of the more impressive speakers was Condoleeza Rice whose speech was less negative than most others.  It appeared as though she was the Republican's token Black Woman and token Representative of the George W. Bush Administration.

Susana Martinez, The Governor of New Mexico, was the token Latino Woman and her story of being a Former Democrat Turncoat Republican must have touched the hearts of the Tea Party Republicans.

Last, but not least, was the Republican Party's and Romney's Choice for Vice President, Paul Ryan.  Ryan was a decent speaker but it became harder and harder to understand what this man, who sounded to me like a Democrat defending Democratic programs was talking about.  

Ryan must have thought that every American listening to him on Television was a dunce that had no idea what this hateful, dishonest, lying young Republican Thug was up to.  

He talked over and over about how Obama did "Nothing" about a whole number of issues.  What he didn't talk about was the fact that when President Obama was trying to line up support for his programs the Republicans in Congress, Ryan being one of the more obnoxious obstructionists, shafted the President at every turn.

One of Ryan's outright distortions of the truth concerned the Simpson- Bowles Commission which made suggestions to improve Government and which Ryan was a member of.  According to Ryan, President Obama received the Commision's report and in an outraged tone Ryan stated that Obama received the report and did "Nothing" about it.  It would seem that if Ryan was on the Commission and that it made a report that he was pissed off that the President did nothing with that report then certainly Ryan must have worked hard on that report and approved and supported that report.

That was not true, however.  Ryan was outraged that Obama did nothing with a report that Ryan voted not to approve when he was on the Commission.  

Ryan also sounded like a liberal when he chastised the Democrats for not supporting Medicare.  Ryan claimed that he and Romney were going to "Save Medicare."  He just didn't say how he and Mitt were going to do that.  

Ryan also didn't bother to disclose to the Republican delegates and to the American people that up to a few weeks ago he was leading the charge in congress to destroy Medicare as we know it.  

Now he is going to be it's saviour.

PLEASE.

Ryan is a Liar, plain and simple and he seems to be running away from every principle he held up until Romney chose him for his running mate.  

Fact checkers, Beware.  Your job is going to get a lot harder in the next few months thanks to the man voted the biggest Brown Noser of his Jaynesville High School Class.

Oh, By the way he doesn't believe in Ayn Rand's philosophy anymore.


RIGHT.




Sincerely Yours


Jerry Gallagher    

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Hurricane Christie rolls through Tampa



Wednesday, August 29th, 2012



My Dear America:


Well the Republican Party Convention finally got underway last night with quite a few angry, whining speeches addressing Barack Obama as if he was the most hateful dictator the world has ever seen.  

Move over Hitler and Stalin.  Move over Saddam Hussein and Mummar Khaddaffi.  

According to the venom spit out by many of the Republicans at the podium all of these hateful bastards of the past can't hold a candle to the terrible Barack Obama.  

Certainly there was and is an air of unreality to this incredibly uncivilized talk on the part of the Republicans about the man who is, after all, of The President of The United States.  

I am old enough to remember quite a few conventions and quite frankly, I don't recall this kind of poisonous talk in any previous conventions,except possibly the last Republican Convention in 2008.  Clearly the Republican Party members , or more accurately the Tea Party members, feel entitled to almost return to the kind of inappropriate talk that one heard for countless years in the South when Lynch Mobs were in vogue and before Martin Luther King Jr. gave his life for the cause of freedom for African Americans and all Americans.

Most of the angry whining was, in fact, pointless, dull and disjointed but after the snakes distributed their venom the Prime Time speeches were worthwhile.

Ann Romney proved to be the kind of beautiful,loving and dutiful wife who not only loves her man, but can give a damned good speech about her man.  Certainly Mitt Romney has had problems in the past relating to the common folk and still does.  Ann Romney, however, talked about young Mitt winning her heart at a high school dance long ago.  While I am tempted to joke about that, there are certainly things that Ann Romney spoke about that will certainly be helpful to Mitt's campaign.  She portrayed Mitt as a Good Husband, Great Father and Good Friend.  She also reminded the American people that unlike Romney's Primary Rival, Newt Gingrich, Romney stuck with his wife in tough times, rather than dumping her like a bad habit like Newt did to his wife when she was in the hospital with cancer.

All in all, Ann did a terrific job of humanizing her husband.  

Unfortunately, Mitt decided to join her on stage after her speech and he looked wooden, stiff, robotic and downright awkward.

Speaking of Awkward, Let's talk about New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, the Overweight, Overblown Egomaniacal Windbag who ended the Tuesday evening's festivities with his Keynote Speech.

Christie came on stage with the energy of a Jersey Shore bar fighter, which I would almost bet he was, in his time.  Prior to last night I have never been able to understand how it was that Christie got elected Governor of New Jersey in the first place, in a state that is heavily Democratic.  

Last night answered that question for me.  Christie is a dymamic, energetic and phenomenal public speaker and I will be surprised if the Republicans come up with a better speaker than Christie during the entire course of the convention.  

Although the speech was a barn burner, up until the last moments of the speech Mitt Romney's name was not mentioned, at all.  ODD.

Throughout the speech Christie talked about the fact that leadership should mean that a Presidential Candidate needed to have the courage to tell the truth to the American People.  Was he talking about Obama or Romney.  Certainly, of the two Presidential Candidates only Obama has told the truth to the American People.  Romney certainly hasn't.  Romney has been on all sides of every issue.  ODD and AWKWARD.

Chris Christie's speech was almost completely about his experience in New Jersey and his mother's desire to be "Respected" rather than "Loved", and his following in her footsteps.  Christie's incredible bragfest got to be a bit much when he talked about how he was concerned about "Teachers" instead of "Teacher's Unions".  The truth is that this man who claims to be concerned about Teachers has put countless Teachers out of Work in New Jersey and is certainly not a man who is loved or respected by Teachers anywhere in the United States.

Although he was bragging about what a great job he has done in New Jersey, I would be surprised if Chris Christie gets a second term, so like Rick Santorum, who lost his Senate Seat to Democrat, Bob Casey, when Pennsylvanians finally wised up and threw him out, I would not be surprised to see the Old Jersey Windbag blowing up a storm in 2016.  He certainly seemed to be blowing his own horn loudly this time out last night.  

And like him or not (And I do not) I do have to admit that Chris Christie can give one hell of a speech.




Sincerely Yours

Jerry Gallagher 

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Paul Ryan Shrugged: The Good News Versus The Bad News about Romney's Ugly Choice


Saturday, August 11th, 2012




My Dear America:

Well, today Romney dropped the bombshell announcement that his pick for Vice President on the Republican ticket will be Paul Ryan.

                       Paul Ryan

What in the hell was Romney thinking as he and his campaign staff trotted out this dyed in the wool admirer of Ayn Rand and opponent of such American tried and true concepts as Social Security and a Woman's Right to Choose.

Romney had a chance prior to this decision to show that he was truly a man of the people, who, despite his tarnished reputation as a Capitalist, really did have a soft heart for the Poor and the Middle Class in America.

No More.

With his choice of Paul Ryan he has chosen which side he is on and in the Presidential Election of 2012 his dangerous gamble may or may not pay off.  I am certainly of the hope that Ryan's pick will show Romney's true colors.  

Now we know for sure that not only did Romney love the Paul Ryan Budget but he also loves Paul Ryan, The Arch Conservative hero of Tea Party Activists everywhere.  Unfortunately for the more sane and less rich portion of the American population, Romney's desperate gamble might just ignite the spark in the Republican and Tea Parties that will energize the Tea Party and Republican activists to completely get behind Candidate Romney, who they have had nothing but tepid support for prior to now.  

Ryan is a Rich man's dream candidate.  He is in favor of smashing the New Deal and every entitlement program to shreds while he refuses to tax the rich on his way to establishing what he calls fiscal responsibility.  

While Ryan will certainly engergize the Republican base, he is also certain to energize the Democrats as well.  In the Democratic Party Paul Ryan is as close to the Boogyman as Progressives and Liberals can get.  Clearly the Democrats will come out in droves to volunteer against Romney and his Ugly Stepson.  

On the Republican side, the Tea Party Republicans will also be out in droves to stump for Romney and his Neo Nazi Running Mate.  

I know that I will be racing to Obama headquarters myself next week to volunteer my services to fight the Republican Menace now that Paul Ryan is on board the Romney Express.

All I can think of to say further is what Barack Obama says after all his speeches.

                   God Bless the United States 

We are certainly going to need that blessing to keep Romney and Ryan out of power.

Unfortunately, Romney and Ryan are certainly going to have the financial advantage from all of their Rich Corporate Friends who will be pouring money into the Romney Campaign Coffers like manna from Heaven.

On the positive side, we are certainly going to have two completely different and stark choices for President in November.  

Lets hope that the Republicans money cannot buy common sense from the average American who has no stake in what Romney and Ryan represent for their future.



Sincerely Yours

Jerry Gallagher
I

Friday, August 10, 2012

The Return of The Maverick: John McCain Rides to the Rescue Again


Friday, August 10th, 2012



My Dear America:

I recently watched the movie, "Game Change" which was about the 2008 Presidential Primary and Election.  The film focused mainly on Sarah Palin and her relationship with McCain Campaign Manager, Steve Smith.  

The movie also dealt with the difficult relationship that John McCain had with Sarah, as well as with members of his own party, when it came to the selection of a Vice Presidential Nominee by the McCain Campaign.

Surprisingly the film, I felt dealt rather delicately and fairly with Sarah Palin.  It showed her to be a rather good mother, out of her league in the Vice Presidential Spot but not altogether a terrible person.

McCain came off as a rather steadfast character, who wanted to nominate Independent (Former Democratic) Senator, Joe Lieberman as his running mate.  Although it is all speculation now, It is my opinion that, had McCain appointed Lieberman and had the Republican party accepted that appointment, McCain would have had a much better chance to win the Presidential Election.

One of the more striking moments in McCain's 2008 Campaign, as far as I am concerned was McCain's defense of Barack Obama as a good and decent Christian man to a woman who was running Barack down at a McCain campaign event.

While the truth was that McCain's principles were certainly compromised over and over in the 2008 Campaign, he had his limits and his personal regard for Barack Obama came out on that hateful occasion.

Recently McCain took to the floor in the Senate in another heroic defense of another good American whose reputation was being brought into question thanks to former Republican Oddball Congresswoman, Michelle Bachman.  

Bachman had jumped on a right wing group's report questioning the ties between Huma Abedin, longtime aide to Hillary Clinton in the Senate and in the State Department.  Bachman and 4 other Right Wing Congresspeople sent a letter to the State Department demanding an investigation of Huma Abedin due to questions about members of her family having ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.

While most gutless Republicans fell silent at these baseless accusations, John McCain quickly and valiantly took the Senate floor and fearlessly slammed these baseless accusations and attempts to ruin Huma Abedin's reputation.  

While I disagree with much of what John McCain stands for, I have to say that in these times when even the slightest appearance of being out of step with the Right Wing can cause the quick end of Republican political careers and reputations, It is with a great regret that the type of Candidate John McCain was is not the type of Candidate that any of the Republican Candidates were this year, with the possible exception of the former Governor of Utah and Ron Paul.

Mitt Romney is an exceptionally gutless liar and distorter of the truth and is not above kissing any Right Wingers Rear End if he feels it will get him any closer to the Presidency.  

While John McCain had a lot to answer for, at least he had and still has, some limits as to what he can and will tolerate out in the 2012 political jungle.

While I would never have voted for John McCain in 2008, I felt that if he did win I could have lived with him as President.  I do not feel that way about Romney or about any of the other Republican Lunatic Fringe Candidates who have duked it out this Election Season.

As lousy a candidate as Romney is, however, he is still probably a cut above all of the other dangerous mental cases who might have won the nomination.

Newt Gingrich, Herman Cain, Michelle Bachman, Rick Perry and Rick Santorum.  

After taking a look back at this bunch I have to say that even though Romney is a barefaced lying distorter of the truth, he is still much better than this crowd but nowhere near as good a Candidate or a person as was and is John McCain.


Sincerely Yours

Jerry Gallagher