GOP VP

Official portrait of US Senator Marco Rubio of...

Official portrait of US Senator Marco Rubio of Florida. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

I think that Mitt will choose Sarah Palin as his running mate because she is more popular than he is and because of her experience in running against Barack Obama. Just kidding. Actually I believe he will choose a white male from a state he needs to win, like Marco Rubio from Florida.

Change of heart

Dick Cheney - Caricature

Dick Cheney - Caricature (Photo credit: DonkeyHotey)

Dick Cheney recently survived a heart transplant operation. Some survivors of this operation have experienced a change of heart in their way of looking at life. Some believe that the donor’s way of life affects the way the recipient lives his/her life. Just imagine if Cheney were to decide to come clean about the Bush/Cheney administration’s inner workings. There is much I would like to know about WMDs in Iraq, bin Laden at Tora Bora, the swiftboating of John Kerry and the vote counting in Florida in 2000 and in Ohio in 2004. They say confession is good for the soul. The truth from Cheney would clear up some of the distrust in the country and make Obama’s reconstruction efforts easier.  Cheney could go down in history as the last honest Republican. Probably too much to hope for.

Please see Worst president | Dick Cheney | Who shot the sheriff?

Montgomery, Alabama

English: Capitol building, Montgomery, Alabama .

Image via Wikipedia

Today is the 47th anniversary of the first Selma to Montgomery march. Seeing pictures of those recreating the march and of the state capitol in Montgomery brought back memories of a trip I took with my family in 1958 or 1959, can’t remember exactly, from Chicago to Florida and return. We drove south on US41 which has been replaced by Interstate 65. We went through Nashville, Birmingham, Montgomery, Dothan and Tallahassee. Somewhere near the Alabama-Florida border, I saw my first palm tree. It was a short squib, no taller than me.

I particularly recall the steps of the state capitol in Montgomery because I was greeted as “governor” by an elderly African-American sweeping the steps. I was just a gawky, white teenager and I was surprised by his servility. I thought that it was unnecessary, but that was my first trip to the South, and it was 6 or 7 years before the Selma to Montgomery march. Times have changed, how much I do not know. I have not passed that way again.

Orange juice

English: Orange juice. Italiano: Succo d'aranc...

Image via Wikipedia

 

Bought a gallon of orange juice at the store and wanted to avoid juice with pesticide exposure from Brazil. Searched the refrigerated section of the super-market carefully I thought. When I got the juice home, my wife pointed out that the container showed a Florida origin on the front and a Brazil origin on the back. We have determined to drink only the juice from the front of the gallon container.

Fools and tools part 2

The Rachel Maddow Show (TV series)

Image via Wikipedia

Yesterday Rachel Maddow presented a news piece on her TV program on MSNBC that was truly informative about Mitt Romney and how he and Bain made their money. To illustrate, she used a Florida company making medical devices in the Miami area with a branch plant in Puerto Rico. After a series of restructuring moves, the Puerto Rico plant was closed and jobs totaling $30 million annually in salaries and wages were lost in Florida. Bain insisted on repayment for their investment by local governments and pocketed nearly $250 million dollars. Three years later, the restructured Florida company went bankrupt, in part because Bain left the company top-heavy in debt. Mitt still receives remuneration from Bain from that deal and others like it.

Then Rachel introduced a clip from the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Jon proceeded to explain how Mitt Romney, Bain Capital and other private equity firms lobbied Congress to preserve their low 15% tax rate which Mitt enjoys to this day on his annual income of approximately $20 million. Mitt claims to be unemployed although he does not need unemployment compensation or food stamps as many of us do.

In two short segments, Rachel and Jon were able to make crystal clear how Mitt made his money and why he pays a lower rate in federal taxes than most of us. The mainstream media should be ashamed of itself for not providing this information which I deem vital to the voters selecting a candidate for president. To remedy the network failings, I would suggest replacing the three network anchors, ABC, NBC and CBS, with Rachel Maddow at one network, Jon Stewart at another and Fareed Zakaria at the third. It is time for some REAL news. At the very least, the three networks could invite the three to appear as regular guests. The Right has begun to take notice of Rachel Maddow as I am now beginning to find posts ridiculing her on some of their websites.

 

Please see Fools and tools | Freedom of the Press | Mitt and Bain | Bain pain | Polls and debates