Smile and Wave

     Anyone who claims that they are planning to vote for Mitt Romney based on what his stances are on almost any issue appear, being generous here, delusional. Mr. Romney has no stances beyond the immediately advantageous .

     Abortion rights. For it, then against it then for it and against it again. Gun control. As governor of Mass. he passed an assault weapons ban but now claims to be a lifelong member of the NRA and avid varmint hunter, if you will. Mandated health insurance with penalties collected in the form of taxes. Good with that before he was against it. Tax breaks for the top. Up until Oct. 4, 2012  20% was the magic number that would heal all ills. Now he claims that there will be no cuts for the very wealthy. He said that the very rich will pay the same percentage after the tax cut as they did before. It's a well turned phrase and also very deceptive. The amount decreases in real dollars by the percentage of the cut itself. Taking a stance that looks more like a dance class floor diagram than a policy position is the norm for Mitt Romney and has been for years. Climate change, availability of contraceptives for women, caring for and about the "47%", evolution, gay rights and on and on. And how many times have his surrogates been trotted out to correct his words after he has spewed, smiled and walked away in a cloud of self righteousness? Will he have there surrogates present in every meeting, at every press conference? Why not just run the surrogates in the first place?

     His campaign resembles much more a high end fashion show for a small slice of well appointed people than a true political effort with the common good in mind. Mitt strolls out in front of his people, dressed in the fashion of the minute, smiles his empty smile, waves, spews and walks away.  He then goes backstage, changes his clothes along with his positions, struts back out from behind the magic curtain of deception and misdirection, walks to the front and waves his pointless wave again. Wash, rinse, repeat.  He does this hour after hour, day after day and position after position. And through all of this the only real constant is his forced and vacuous  smile. His positions, like the fashions that no one will or could actually wear, are just thin fabric, straight pins and strategic pieces of tape that create the illusion of substance while offering no real protection.  

   

      Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are playing this country for fools and about half the electorate are falling for it since it's easier to believe what they are told than to listen to what's being said.

                                          Read, Learn, Act

Question of Leadership

     For the past 3 years I have heard the repeated refrain of "This country lacks leadership from this president". I've heard it from segments of both sides of the political spectrum. But what makes a good leader?

     The definition of leadership, by necessity, changes to match the circumstance at hand. We are hearing from the right and even from some on the left that business experience is the form of leadership we need today. The problem with that is, in the current political environment, the divide is substantially different than what is faced in business. In business a leader is faced with competition and is backed by employees and investors who have the same goal in mind, which is financial gain. This goal is clear and easily defined and quantified. In the challenging present day politics there is no competition, only opposition. The mission of those that form this opposition is not to reach a common goal that benefits everyone, but to ignore the general welfare of the country in the short term to gain what they hope is a long term grasp on power.

     By that measure, have we ever had a true leader? Has there ever been a military leader that has been able to change the goals of our enemies? No, we fight wars and kill the opposition until they feel it will be too costly in lives and money to continue. They surrender but seldom if ever deny their beliefs. Is there a sports coach who has, by virtue of his leadership, caused the other team to give up? No, the game is played on until the time runs out and the score is tallied. But the other team keeps playing through to the final whistle. The losing team walks away thinking wait until next time. So are those generals and coaches not good leaders, are they failures?

     To say that this president lacks leadership skills based on the inability to change the minds of an ideologically entrenched opposition is to imply that anyone who has led a select group against a group that is fundamentally programmed to oppose anything offered, regardless of historic agreement to those offerings, and not changed that groups beliefs is a flawed leader. Why has there been a new definition of leadership been written for this president alone? A leader can lead only those that are looking for leadership, who envision a common goal, not those who live only to oppose.

     All successful presidents from the past, regardless of party, had cooperation from the the other side of the isle or would have never succeeded. This president has none of that cooperation.

Divide to Concur

       The incessant cry of "DIVISION" has emanated from the right since before the inauguration of 2008. The only problem with that is they cannot, when asked directly, say how that division is being fostered by our current administration. They will make reference to something called "Class Warfare" but ignore the truth that the class war had been declared on the poor and middle class by policies put in place by both parties long before the election of President Obama. The rich have been getting richer for the past 30 years while the portion of this nation's wealth held by the middle class has decreased incrementally over this same period.

      That is war no doubt, and the right sees no problem with the current policies that allow for this war and instead want to expand the arsenal that promotes it. Republicans seem most intent on dividing the middle class from the security they have worked for from how they will live in the future. Beyond that all I've seen is mumbled incoherence. 

      That's just one of  the more obvious form of divisions that can be attributed to the present day Republican Party. This once reasonable opposition party has managed to create division in ways no one had considered in the not so distant past. Their blind ideological drive to remove President Obama from office at any cost has moved them to the point of shattering even their own party, while damaging the foundation of this country. 

How else can anyone explain the rights' fight with itself that has resulted in Republicans arguing with Catholics, not the "Church" but the people who make up that church? When their tax breaks are the only thing that will save this country but any tax relief proposed by this administration will bring the country to its knees. What else explains the situation we see in the primaries where there have been no fewer than 9 lead changes, from a crazy eyed manic candidate to a governor without a clue to a former business magnate that had just 1 idea and a few issues to explain to his wife . And who can forget the Donald? Nuff said there. Romney, Gingrich, back to Romney. But wait, here comes Santorum.  Confused? No more than the Republican party.

       They appear to be against themselves in their blind desires. To achieve their goal they have separated the party from women, African Americans, Hispanics, independent voters, gays and even divided the moderate, reasonable Republicans from the far right. The blatant disregard shown to the majority of Americans when it comes to fair tax laws, gay marriage, health care, unions and those who do not live in the lofty clouds of the 1% of the 1% makes the plan clear. They want to end the Obama administration at any cost, and if that cost is borne by the poor and middle class it's even better. We wouldn't want to put a strain on those invisible job creators now would we? That struggling group of people that make more than $77,000.00 a month needs help too.

        They proudly declare on a daily basis what they are against, any where, any time. But one need only watch the circle jerk they have created in the 112th Congress to see the direction they are looking to take this country. 

What they haven't done is provide Americans any solutions, anything positive.

 And they scream "DIVISION".

 How can a party that is against everything and everyone in this country bring us back together?