OPINIONS BASED ON FACTS (OBOF)
THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED (TYMHM)
YEAR ONE
YEAR TWO
YEAR THREE
YEAR FOUR
YEAR FIVE
YEAR SIX
|
OBOF YEAR
SIX INDEX
|
|
|
OBOF
TYMHM Vol. 16 No. 01
|
Jan.
03, 2016
|
|
OBOF
TYMHM Vol. 16 No. 02
|
Jan.
25, 2016
|
|
OBOF
TYMHM Vol. 16 No. 03
|
Jan.
28, 2016
|
|
OBOF
TYMHM Vol. 16 No. 04
|
Mar.
05, 2016
|
|
OBOF
TYMHM Vol. 16 No. 05
|
Apr.
16, 2016
|
|
OBOF
TYMHM Vol. 16 No. 06
|
May
27, 2016
|
AGENDA
1. FROM FLOYD
2. Without A Political Revolution America Cannot Achieve True Greatness
3. Only Sanders Defeats Trump the Old Fashioned Way:
With Truth-telling, Character & Competence.
4. Senate Democrats Considering
Competence Replacing DNC Chair.
FROM FLOYD
No need to say it,
but I have had health problems, which is the reason for no postings. There is a great deal happening, Of couse,
some good, some bad, as usual.
Special explnation:
I usually go through
all the articles, line by line, and put
in spaces and etc. so as to make it easier to read. It taks a lot of time and I am going to skip
it time so I can get this out to you.
Also, there was an article leading up to the reason for removing the
Chairwoman of the DNC. I can't find it. Among other things, she has, for the past
year and a half, a number of illegal obstuctions to Senator Sanders and others.
I think you will
find these articles real interesting and informative regarding our election
devlopments.
A few
interesting points:
I am sure you know I am a Sanders man until "the last vote is
counted." In Kentucky
and Oregon Sander and Clinton
split the primaries, with Clinton ekeing out a
win by 1/2 a point in Kentucky.
Sanders won 56% to 44% in Oregon.
There were many
charges of cheating and rules being rigged.
At Nevada's
Democratic Convention, Sanders supporters were so upset they were even throwing
chairs and calling for the Convention Chairwoman to be hung. It was reported that, "Under pressure,"
Sanders came on and condemned "any action of violence and
harassment." At the same time he warned
that "Americans are out-raged" at the political establishment.
Columnists have labeled Sanders as "blowing it" when he responded to
the Nevada
uprising.
I have followed
Sanders campaign, actually, before it was a campaign. All the things that I have seen occur during
that time period, while I can't prove it, leaves me to believe that there has
been plenty stacked, illegally, against him.
I THINK
THAT IF HE DOES NOT WIN WE WILL NEED THIS MAN LIKE NEVER BEFORE. WE NEED TO KEEP HIM AND THE REVOLUTION HE HAS
STARTED.
~~~
Without A Political Revolution America Cannot Achieve True Greatness
May 22, 2016
| Op-Ed
In this more than bizarre presidential election process, such as
we haven’t seen in a very long time, we often hear a statement made about
“Making America great again”
or “We need to restore America’s
greatness.” Trump, in particular, is obsessed with that objective and claims he
knows exactly how to make it happen.
Well, it’s easy to talk about restoring this country’s greatness.
Yes, that’s an important and admirable objective and it most certainly can be
achieved; but it cannot unless America experiences a political revolution in
which the vast majority of its people, led by new fearless leaders, rise up,
demand dramatic changes in this government and its policies, and absolutely
refuse to take no for an answer.
Bernie Sanders is often criticized for promoting revolutionary
ideas which the Establishment dismisses as impractical. He knows that it will
take a political revolution to make them a reality; that, without one, these
and other key initiatives will never materialize.
America cannot restore its greatness
until it breaks the massive control that Corporate America has on this government and
this country’s election process. Massive amounts of corporate money continue to
flow into the Congress. This “dirty money” is contaminating that highly
ineffective legislative body and making its members no more than political
serfs employed by the masters of Corporatism.
A country is worthy of being called great when it has a
government in which its president and Congress refuse to go to war unless there
is absolutely no other alternative; one that no longer uses it military to
intimidate and dominate other nations who refuse to bend to its dictates; one
that replaces embedded war hawks with stable, rational-minded individuals. A
great nation and government do not conduct an endless, fabricated War on
Terror.
Greatness is present when a country’s government establishes an
atmosphere of trust of its citizens and does not allow various intelligence
agencies to listen in and record their communications, thereby violating their
Constitutional rights of privacy; when that government is transparent and does
not act in complete secrecy; when it honors the rights of free speech and does
not condemn whistleblowers for exposing serious government abuses.
Great nations and governments have leaders with a vision for the
future and make plans and set priorities designed to address and solve the
country’s problems and strengthen its foundations. That kind of government
would put job creation at the very top of its priorities and work closely with
the business sector to find the ways and means to restore its manufacturing
sector and its workforce.
Can a nation claim that distinction of greatness when it does not
have a universal health care system and many millions of its people don’t have
medical coverage? America, in fact, does not have one health care system but,
rather, five separate systems; private health insurance, Medicare, Medicaid,
Obamacare and the Veterans Administration system. They are not coordinated and
are all very costly and plagued by substantial waste and abuses. And even with
this disjointed system, we keep hearing that this country cannot afford a
single payer system to cover all Americans. That’s shallow, misguided thinking.
A great nation’s leaders would understand that they must begin
the process of reducing the nation’s large dependence on petroleum and make the
development of solar power and other new sources of energy a top priority.
Speaking of solar power, why are Germany
and China
leading the world in its development? Well, it’s because their governments do
not allow powerful petroleum companies to dictate the energy policy of their
countries, as is the case in America; their governments have made this a very
high priority because their visionary leaders know that this will reap great
dividends in the future.
China is the world’s leading manufacturer of a wide variety of
products; Germany
also has a very strong manufacturing sector. Why have they both passed the U.S.in this endeavor? Well, unlike
the U.S. government, which has allowed corporations to dismantle its
manufacturing sector, their governments realize that their countries cannot
remain strong and stable without a thriving manufacturing base and a skilled
workforce.
These two countries are advancing and moving forward into the
future while America
is stuck in neutral because of its corporate-controlled government.
Without such a revolution Wall Street will continue to come up
with more schemes and scams by which to fleece the American people. The stock
market will continue to resemble a Las
Vegas gambling casino. And the next time the banksters
get into a massive financial mess our government will bail them out; and guess
whose money it will use?
Without this revolution, America will continue to head into
the future with an unknown final destination. The nation’s economy will
continue to be lifeless and stagnant, because the massive consumer power that
once fueled it has now been largely diluted after the American worker was
thrown under the bus.
A great country would not continue to enter into trade agreements
such as NAFTA, CAFTA, and the currently proposed TPP and TTIP agreements which
do great things for the Corporatists but continue to decimate the American
workforce. It would not have a president like Mr. Obama who strongly pursues
these corporate trade agreements under a cloud of secrecy so that its many
anti-U.S. worker provisions can’t be seen so they will not be subject to
objections by the Congress and the American people.
That kind of country would not be attempting to intimidate Russia
and China by moving military power into their territories; it would get out of
the Middle East, remove all troops out of Iraq, Afghanistan, stop the bombing
in Syria, stop launching drones into various Middle Eastern and North African
countries; it would not be in the business of entering countries and removing
dictators like Saddam Hussein or Muammar Gaddafi from power.
The restoration of greatness to America will never materialize
unless and until we witness that political revolution that will we need to
completely transform this political process that is suffocating America,
stifling its energies, and impeding its drive and creativity; it won’t happen
unless and until this country is turned in a radically new and positive direction.
Now we could go on and on about all the many other things that America
is failing to do because of the inability of its current government to govern
this nation in an effective manner. But nothing is going to change, nothing
will get better, we won’t solve our many problems, and this country will not
advance going into the future – unless we find the way to light the fire that
will drive this powerful political, or shall we say, people’s revolution.
Want to make America
great again? Well, that’s what it will
take.
Michael Payne
Michael Payne is an independent
progressive activist. His writings deal with social, economic, political and
foreign policy issues; and especially with the great dangers involved with the
proliferation of perpetual war, the associated defense industry, and the
massive control that Corporate America holds over this government and our
election process; all which are leading this nation down the road to eventual
financial ruin if the conditions are not reversed. He is a graduate of Northwestern University,
Evanston, Illinois
and a U.S.
Army veteran.
~~~
Only Sanders Defeats Trump the Old Fashioned Way:
With Truth-telling, Character & Competence`
May 8, 2016
| Op-Ed
The only remaining primary suspense is whether Democrats will
follow Republicans and nominate their least attractive candidate. And that
presents this imperative conundrum: how to trash Trumpery, then ideally reduce
it to a teachable, epic fiasco. Oddly enough, Trump’s steamroller against even
more telling “losers” spotlights Bernie Sanders’ opportunity: here is the Democrats’
best moral, policy and Electoral College giant killer. Though preliminary
polling also elevates Hillary over Trump, her campaign staggers, bogged down
with a less than sterling campaigner still facing unresolved email legalities.
Is that the killer app to stop a train wreck or impede Trump from adding the
world’s most famous residence to his Vanity Fair palaces.
Countering Trump’s novelty entertainment hustle is daunting: his
Star Wars tractor-beam and reality-show fixations with scene domination are so
far immune to ordinary antidotes. You can’t out-blather or out-insult,
out-badger or shout Trump down. Certainly the mild-mannered Sanders is not
blessed with charismatic, star power “spontaneity.” Slick novelty often comes
across as genuine until the veneer wears off, then the ungodly sordidness oozes
up. Enter, Trump’s remarkable opposite.
All significant national polls favor Sanders, mirroring both DT’s
astronomical negatives (the price for crude pandering to disgruntled yahoos)
and Bernie’s valor: courage battling a political machine, high trustworthiness,
and positive, collective goals informed by a humane vision. Trump instead
dishes out theatrical, inflammatory fireworks, yet cheap shots that dominate
primaries wither in general elections. Already for 2/3’s of the electorate,
Sanders excels exactly where Trump is transparently fraudulent: honesty,
coherence, knowledge and moral constancy.
Presidential Lottery?
This election comes down to whether key voters in ten states
embrace a wannabe Demagogue-in-Chief (where anything goes and fabricated crises
rule) vs. two known commodities, whether Clinton or Sanders. Few doubt how
President Clinton reigns: more tepid Obama compromises, with accelerated
militarism and ties to fossil fuel, Wall Street tycoons, and her rich and
famous Foundation’s clients. Sanders’ presidential impact is less predictable,
yet his steadfast career and campaign guarantee this focus: a war against
inequality that reboots the economy, levels the playing field at home and curbs
belligerence overseas.
If you love Obama, Clinton
works; if you don’t, or are offended by the nastiest wheeler-dealer in town,
there’s no other serious change option except Sanders. Undeterred by
farce or gestures, here’s the crisis-driven Trump Way: “who cares what some
agreement says as long it give me bragging rights, a set-up to take credit for
solving my next crisis.”
In fact, Trump’s ascension to presumptive GOP nominee dramatizes
all of Bernie’s strengths, precisely why he’d outdo Clinton in blunting Trump’s faux populism.
Let’s not minimize Trump’s leverage: to seize attention, focus on reductive
sound bites with high (if limited) emotional appeal, and convince the gullible
that talking loudly enough about winning and change equals walking the walk. Trump
has elbowed aside knee-jerk rightwing campaigning, wiping out credentialed Bullying a opponents. That’s his one
great gain.
‘Populist’ Bully?
Direct screaming matches won’t bloody a pugnacious, agile hustler
who knows TV manipulation to perfection. Moral indictments against an
unprincipled opponent, whose fans bizarrely worship this “straight-shooter” for
“telling the truth,” will flop. Anyone captured by a hustler’s con no longer
hears outside the bubble. Contradicting insupportable lies and distortions with
reason, logic, and evidence won’t shift those who long ago axed their thinking,
if not skepticism genes.
Even clever ridicule and piercing satire of Trump’s carnival
reality will not win over the uninvolved and under-informed, indeed could
boomerang as seeming below-the-belt (!), contemptuous abuse. Entertainment does
not answer to ordinary political agendas, that experience and policy matter, so
few philosophic or intellectual levers will dispatch that vacuous war cry,
“Make America
great again.”
The best retort to an unqualified, unstable narcissist is
dramatic contrast with a principled, grounded, selfless career professional
like Sanders. Broadcast Trump’s vanity worldview, glorifying his almighty cash
nexus, against Sanders’ steadfast life of public service — in which honor and
persistence reinforce moral intentions, fleshing in Bernie’s idealistic
pledges. Trumping Trumps demands a veto, a stable, moral choice opposite in
every way to his surfeit of moneyed self-indulgence, life-long manias for fame,
and incendiary fabrication. Absent any voting record, why not make the campaign
about the Donald’s life as a greedy billionaire — without once filling a public
office? Has he ever honored the highest Christian good: anonymous, unselfish
giving, without ego or self-interested bias?
The most powerful lever, plus a great offset to enormous mass
cynicism, is simply broadcast how Sanders has lived his life — and why — with
measurable achievements. Trump loses ground when transformed into the
iconic, multi-multi-billionaire who exemplifies why and how crony capitalism
has gone off the rails. Not only has the middle-class, scandal-free Senator
Sanders dedicated his life to helping others: even now, he refuses the low road
when his candidacy hunts up plausible options for victory. Trump is the
perfect foil for all Bernie stands against.
Bold Gambit: Will Morality Win Out?
Only the least vulnerable pragmatist, the only intact figure
whose demeanor can heal divisions, best neutralizes the loudmouth, content-free
braggadocio who bellows “just trust me.” Hillary is already a sitting duck for
the Trumpster cannon barrage. If trust matters above all, then Trump’s 65%
disapproval ranking already convicts him as the least trusted, political
ne’er-do-well in our history. Or a ne’er-do-nothing,
considering his zero elective resume. Trump’s pre-emptive nomination clarifies
that Democrats risk losing a once-a-generation opportunity by not putting
forwards their best player, the primed and vetted clean-up hitter.
That Sanders is already the most appealing national change-agent
in a generation is why he’s still nipping at Hillary’s well-heeled heels. Both
his character strengths and insurgent protest would be squandered were
Democrats to reject what their own party spawned: a redemptive, growing,
systemic change movement. Is there any question that nothing mortifies Trump’s
electoral weaknesses like a moral mass movement run by a highly-trusted
political professional?
Otherwise, if the top 1% continue to horde the nation’s productivity
gains, then brace for aggressive, less rational pitchforkers whose violent
responses could dwarf the Sanders’ forces. Like FDR, the Sanders’ movement
ultimately offers the 1% a measure of stability, even partial redemption, just
as our first Progressive Era saved capitalism from its greediest capitalists.
Sharing the wealth is not just moral but restores our vaunted socio-economic
mobility, at least for a generation or two. You can’t beat something
(predatory) with nothing, they say, but savvy goodness in a reliable champion
goes a long way to that end.
Robert
S. Becker
For a decade, Robert S. Becker's independent,
rebel-rousing essays on politics and culture analyze overall trends, messaging
and frameworks, now featured author at OpEdNews, Nation of Change and RSN. He
appears regularly at Dissident Voice, with credits from Alternet, Salon,
Truthdig, Smirking Chimp, Dandelion Salad, Beyond Chron, the SF Chronicle and
others. Educated at Rutgers College, N.J. (B.A. English) and U.C. Berkeley
(Ph.D. English), Becker left university teaching (Northwestern, then U.
Chicago) for business, founding and heading SOTA Industries, a top American
high end audio company from '80 to '92. From '92-02, he was an anti-gravel
mining activist while doing marketing, business and writing consulting. Since
2005, he seeks out insight, even wit in the shadows, without ideology or
righteousness across the current mayhem of American politics.
~~~
Senate Democrats Considering Competence
Replacing DNC Chair
May 25, 2016
| News Report
Democrats discuss whether to
#DumpDebbie from her position as chairperson of the Democratic National
Committee.
Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Chairperson of the Democratic
National Committee, may soon be losing her position. She could be giving up her
seat as soon as the beginning of summer. At least a dozen top elected
officials are on board with this decision.
“There have been a lot of
meetings over the past 48 hours about what color plate do we deliver Debbie
Wasserman Schultz’s head on,” a U.S. Senate Only
Democrat supporting Hillary Clinton told The Hill on
Tuesday. “I don’t see how she can continue to the election. How can she open
the convention? Sanders supporters would go nuts,” the source concluded.
Wasserman Schultz has been accused of favoring Clinton because of her history with the
candidate. She was the co-chair of Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential
campaign. In December, she was responsible for stripping the Sanders campaign
of access to the DNC’s 50-state voter file, which caused a lot of outrage
amongst the party.
The hashtag #DumpDebbie is already going viral by Twitter users to
urge the removal of Wasserman Schultz.
~~~
If the
good Lord is willing and the creek don't rise, I'll be with you sometime
again. I am not sure when. Keep turned.
Thanks for watching. I try to get
you info that I think you really need to know.
God Bless You All
&
God Bless the United
States of America
Floyd
