Tuesday, December 11, 2012 in 6 Words

Fiscal Cliff Manufactured, Grab People’s Money!

The Republicans Just Do Not Want to Get It

There have been several articles the past couple of days about some conservative or libertarian Republican representatives getting stripped of their House committee assignments, purportedly for not toting the party (establishment) line often enough.  Here is one of the pieces from the New York Times, and here’s one from The Huffington Post.  The most likely suspects here are Speaker of the House John Boehner, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, and House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy.  There may be several factors involved here, but surely the anti-establishment voting records of the “offending” members is one of the principal reasons.

So, let’s take a look at the House Republican leadership.  First of all, we have Speaker John Boehner.  I’m going to give Boehner a pass here, because he is supposed to be the Speaker of the House, meaning the entire body, and not just the Speaker of the Republicans.  Don’t get me wrong, here—I’m not a member of the John Boehner fan club.  I’d rather stick a baseball bat up my butt than turn my back on a bat-wielding John Boehner!

So, that brings us to Eric Cantor, the Republican leader.  Before he became leader, he was the Republican Whip.  It seems (just my opinion) that Cantor is more interested in his illusions of power than in sticking to any kind of principles.  Wasn’t he supposed to be a Tea Party favorite?  You know, the Tea Party, the grassroots movement started by libertarian-leaning Republicans like Ron Paul, but then hijacked by the neo-conservatives, who aren’t conservative at all.  Wasn’t the hijacking of that movement around the same time that talk show host Sean Hannity became one of the Tea Party’s biggest cheerleaders?  Just saying.  Good old Sean, always willing to stick his nose deeply and completely between neo-con butt cheeks.

And then, of course, we have Republican Whip, Kevin McCarthy.  Now, since it looks like some Republicans lost their committee assignments for failing to vote with the establishment, shouldn’t Kevin McCarthy lose his job as Whip for failing to sufficiently rally the troops?  Instead, we have members like Walter Jones of North Carolina, a libertarian (sane) Republican, who lost his financial services committee assignment.  Yes, we certainly can’t have anyone as dangerous as Walter Jones on the financial services committee, now, can we?  He thinks with his BRAIN,  for God’s sakes!!

Just a few random thoughts there.  If the November elections weren’t enough to convince true conservatives, constitutionalists and libertarians that the Republican party has gone completely over the edge, this lame duck period should do the job.  The Republicans are in the twilight zone, folks.

So, put that in your pipe and smoke it!

 

Tuesday, December 4, 2012 in 6 words

USA supported Egyptian revolution—look now.

An Idea for Helping With Some of the USA’s Problems

I just had a thought, so I thought I’d write a short post about it.  First of all, this is definitely not an original thought.  I have seen ideas like this in many forms before, but I think it bears repeating.  Second of all, a fact—our entire Congress, and, for that matter, all of our elected officials, are bought and paid for by big-money interests, i.e., the 1%.  Now, if you’re part of the 1%, good for you.  I hope you made your money without the benefit of government “favors”.  If, like us here at Bohicaville, you’re part of the 99%, it seems as though we are 2nd class citizens when it comes to “representation”.

So, here’s the idea.  For the 2014 midterm elections, do not vote for anyone who’s running as a Republican or a Democrat.  And if those are your only choices, then write in a name, any name.  Also, don’t vote for anyone who’s held any kind of elected office before, ever.  We were originally supposed to have Representatives who were citizen legislators.  How many independent farmers, teachers, truck drivers, waitresses, mechanics, self-employed entrepreneurs, accountants, cashiers, firefighters, police officers, musicians, artists, writers, nurses, orderlies, country doctors, fishermen, longshoremen, toll collectors, train engineers, bus drivers, flight attendants, pilots, factory workers, manual laborers, masons, landscapers, window washers, maids, secretaries (and other low-level cubicle dwellers), taxi drivers, fast-food workers, etc., etc., hold any kind of elected office right now?  Not too many, folks.  Not too many.  Now, for the next state or local elections in your respective state, follow these same rules.

If you like this unoriginal idea, then please share it, and spread it around.  Things won’t start to change in this country until we the people say, “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!”.

The Week of 11/26-12/2 in 6 words

Fiscal Cliff, Geithner’s Wish, Boehner’s Pissed!

Thursday, November 29, 2012 in 6 words

Fiscal Cliff, People Pay, Banksters Don’t

Wed., Nov. 28, 2012 in 6 Words

Divided Republicans, “Extraordinary” Rice, Arrogant Pistole

Who Would You Put on Mt. Rushmore

I’ve been thinking lately at the Presidents who are carved into Mt. Rushmore.  I started wondering, “Hmm, if I had my pick, which Presidents would I put on Mt. Rushmore?”.  So, I decided to come up with my own list of four.  You may agree or disagree.  Feel free to comment below.

First of all, to refresh everyone’s memory (I had to do this when I first started thinking about it), the four Presidents depicted on the side of Mt. Rushmore are, in chronological order, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt.  Second of all, my list  includes none of these Presidents.  I was tempted to include George Washington, simply because he had so much to do with our victory in the Revolutionary War, and because he was opposed to political parties.  I was also tempted to include Thomas Jefferson, because he authored one of the greatest documents in human history, the Declaration of Independence.

But, I had to exclude both of them because I decided to set certain criteria for my list — 1) I would choose 4 Presidents based strictly on their performance in office, not on any achievements prior to taking office.  2) How well did the President stick to the Oath of Office, which reads: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”  Notice that the Oath says to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.  It does not say that the President should stick his nose into the business of every other Nation on the planet.  That would be (and is) unconstitutional.  It does not say to get the US involved in or start any wars in which we have no business, which includes the majority of wars in American history.  There’s no room for that in the Constitution, either.  3) Even though the work on Mt. Rushmore was started in 1927, and finished up in 1939, I decided that I would consider all Presidents for the purpose of my list.

So, my list includes Presidents who, in my opinion, stuck to the Constitution better than either Washington or Jefferson, and certainly better than Lincoln or T. Roosevelt.  I will include some basic information about each President, including a very brief reason why he’s on my list.  I will also include each President’s rank according to 65 historians and professional observers of the presidency surveyed by the cable channel C-SPAN (Their rankings are as of 2009).  So, without any fanfare or drum rolls, my list appears below (in chronological order), so get ready to send your hate mail!

• Martin van Buren (8th President, 1837-1841, Democratic) — President van Buren avoided war with Canada over the border with Maine, supported gold and silver standards, and generally stayed out of the People’s way, which is a good thing.  He is ranked 31st on the C-SPAN list.
• Chester A. Arthur (21st President, 1881-1885, Republican) — President Arthur was a non-interventionist who balanced the budget during his term in office.  Generally speaking, he accomplished very little as President, which I think is a good thing, because it means he really didn’t screw anything up!  He is ranked 32nd on the C-SPAN list.
  
• Grover Cleveland (22nd and 24th President, 1885-1889, 1893-1897, Democratic) —President Cleveland was the only President to serve 2 non-consecutive terms.  He was Mr. Veto, because he vetoed a ton of legislation.  He didn’t feel it was right to spend the People’s money on things not authorized in the Constitution (quite a novel idea, considering what our government has become!).  He also supported the gold standard, another good thing.  In my opinion, he’s the best President in American history.  He is ranked 21st on the C-SPAN list.
• Calvin Coolidge (30th President, 1923-1929, Republican) — President Coolidge, like President Arthur,  didn’t try to accomplish too much.  He did grant citizenship to Native American Indians (about time!).  He also paid off federal debt (another novel idea considering that now we’re constantly increasing the debt limit, and leaving horrific bills for our great-grandchildren!).  In my opinion, he’s the best President of the 20th century.  He is ranked 26th on the C-SPAN list, behind Jimmy Carter and in front of Richard M. Nixon.  He certainly deserves better than to be sandwiched between those two!

So, there you have it — my list of Mt. Rushmore Presidents.  What does your list look like?  Would it be the same as it currently stands, even if you could include any President on the list?  Feel free to comment and let Bohicaville know what you think.

Congressional Oversight of the TSA

There’s an interesting little tidbit today on the TSA website.  Here’s an article about  it.  Here’s the deal  in a nutshell.  The Aviation Subcommittee of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee called TSA administrator John Pistole to participate in a hearing on “How Best to Improve our Nation’s Airport Passenger Security Systems through Common Sense Solutions”.  Mr. Pistole, in his statement on the TSA website, claims that the House rules state that the Committee has no jurisdiction over the TSA.

Are you freaking  kidding me?!  The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee of  the US  House of Representatives has no jurisdiction over the Transportation Security Agency?!?!  Congress created the TSA.  Congress allocates funds for the TSA.  And John Pistole refuses to attend the hearing?

Is John Pistole afraid of something?  Does he fear that he may be called out on some of the TSA’s more questionable practices?  Aren’t people in positions of power, such as John Pistole, paid more money because they’re supposed to answer the tough questions?  Shouldn’t Agency administrators be compelled to participate in House hearings designed to make said Agency more effective and efficient in performing its responsibilities?  If not, why don’t we just declare John Pistole to be the dictator of Transportation Security?

Sure, John, it’s perfectly OK for your agency to put people through X-ray body scanners.  And it’s perfectly OK for some of your agents to be so poorly trained that they can’t conduct a proper pat down without violating a passenger’s personal areas.  And of course it’s acceptable to violate the 4th Amendment Rights of American citizens!

John Pistole should be subject to Congressional oversight, and, more importantly, subject to oversight by the American people who pay his salary, and the salaries of every employee of the TSA!  It’s sickening to know that government bureaucrats consider themselves to be above any oversight and above any reproach.  We pay their salaries, DAMN IT!!!!

Tuesday, November 27, 2012 in 6 Words

Gullible Chinese, Einstein’s Brain, Red Sea.