I have known since Election 2000 he had ethical challenges. I am sure most of you know that as well.

I have heard it said more than once that his parents considered him the smart son. You must have read that as well.

It seems every time I hear him comment on something these days, his words make my jaw drop. He is just so simple. Does he actually think we who hear these things take them seriously? Knowing what we know now, he still thinks we were right to attack Iraq? George W. Bush* kept us safe? Call me crazy, but I didn't feel very safe on September 11, 2001, watching the Pentagon burning from downtown DC where I worked.

And when one thinks about the fact Florida is a 2016 must-win for him, why -- knowing there is an overabundance of senior citizens residing in Florida -- would he say he believes we have to raise the Social Security retirement age to 70? What was he thinking! Or was he thinking?

And speaking of "thinking", does he think that Election 2000 happened 15 years ago and everyone has forgotten about it? We the people are just too dense to realize that his manipulations of that contested election and the shady maneuvers that followed were to force the outcome to favor his brother? Catastrophes such as 911, an illegal invasion of Iraq, the 2008 economic crash, and a ten trillion dollar deficit kept off the general ledger for the next guy to fix ensued. We call those debacles collectively the Bush* legacy. That legacy was made possible by Jeb Bush, who greased the road to the White House for his brother -- Florida Supreme Court decision be damned! The right to vote is not necessarily paramount!

Someone should tell these commentators who have reported gushingly about Jeb's intelligence that simply being smarter than George W. does not necessarily a wise man make.... But the fact that some Republicans think he is the right person to occupy the Oval Office is not amazing -- it is terrifying.

Sam

Postscript edit:

Apparently, Lawrence O'Donnell and an election watchdog (his name is something like Fred Wertheimer -- phonetic) also truly find Jeb amazing. Lawrence just reported on his show tonight a 15-page letter has been sent to the Attorney General asking for an investigation as to whether Jeb has violated campaign finance laws. Lawrence said the election watchdog did not bother sending the letter to the FEC since it only investigates civil violations. The letter forwarded to the Department of Justice asserts Jeb has violated criminal law and cites several statutes.

The glaring (pardon the expression) elephant in the political campaigning room is the fact that Jeb has raised through his PAC approximately One Hundred Million Dollars. The current restrictions limit what someone exploring a run can raise to a figure reasonably suited for expenses during the exploration. Question: who needs One Hundred Million Dollars to explore his or her election viability?

I am going to check out a couple of things on Google, and if I find what I am looking for, I will update this edit.

Here is more: check out this truly cool article I found on the Huffington Post: How Jeb Bush Is Thumbing His Nose at Voters with his Super Pac Scheme.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/27/jeb-bush-super-pac_n_7154030.html

is that the first time you hear it, you are enthralled by every word as the ambiance the song generates grabs your heart and holds onto it. The second time you hear the song is just as enthralling as if you had never heard it. And so it goes every single time the rest of your life you hear that performer sing that song. And that is what this song has done for me.

Goodnight, Mr. Sledge, many of us will never forget your music and will always remember the great pleasure your songs gave us.

Sam

We are the first generation to pay for two generations' Social Security retirements funds. Yet, listen to the generation behind us. They have been brainwashed into thinking it is the Baby Boomer generation threatening their future retirement.

In theory, we were to pay for the generation before us, then we would pay for our generation, and after the last Baby Boomer bit the dust, the problem would be over because the next slate of generation of retirees would not be as huge as ours. When that day comes, who here thinks the FICA tax will be lowered to its former normal rate?

I learned about the resentment many in the generation behind us have for Baby Boomers, thinking their FICA is being sucked up by paying for the huge numbers of retirees considered Baby Boomers one day while shopping in a retail store. The young man behind the counter looked at me and smirked, saying, "Boy your generation really did a number on my generation. By the time I get ready to retire, Social Security will not be there." I was very saddened to hear such a young person say this. I asked him who or what was the source of his news, but he did not respond. So I explained to him the 80s' agreement, and asked him to look this up for himself and see for himself we were paying for our own retirement. I told him this misinformation was being spread by Republicans who wanted to assist Wall Street gets its wish to privatize Social Security.

If George Bush* had been successful in privatizing the program, 40 percent of the then current funds would have been lost during the 2008 crash. We can never allow such privatization to happen. The transition costs to convert the program would have been 3 trillion dollars in 2003. The government would not pay for the transition, neither would those slated to administer the program privately, and it was decided the participants would foot the bill by having their benefits cut.

Sam

I automatically think of Rupert Murdock.

Rupert Murdock was born in Australia, but in the 80s decided he wanted to buy a news station in the United States. Unfortunately for him, U.S. law required one had to be a U.S. citizen to do so. No problem -- Rupert Murdock had a friend in a very high place. That friend's name was Ronald Reagan. Ronald Reagan expedited Murdock's American citizenship application, and enabled Murdock's dream to control a portion of the news broadcast within the United States to become a reality.

Sometimes when one does a favor for a friend, reciprocity comes into play. I am attaching a link which describes Murdock's role in participating in a "Cold-War style propaganda" program. Read the entire article when you have a chance because it will make one's hair stand on end to learn all in one place exactly how much influence this conservative Australian has had in defining what many Americans believe. Of course, many DU'ers know much of this information but perhaps some of the younger members are unaware.

Also, when you read of Murdock's personal perspectives on different issues, you will recognize those perspectives in many of today's Republican politicians. It is good to know where some of this crap originated and how it gets spread around....

https://consortiumnews.com/2014/12/31/murdoch-scaife-and-cia-propaganda/

The Reagan administration pulled right-wing media executives Rupert Murdoch and Richard Mellon Scaife into a CIA-organized “perception management” operation which aimed Cold War-style propaganda at the American people in the 1980s, according to declassified U.S. government records.

This example of how a former conservative United States President used his position to usher into the United States' broadcasting arena someone like Rupert Murdock and the catastrophic influence Murdock has had on news broadcast to the American people over the decades makes President Barack Obama's Executive Orders look mellow, if only because he has done everything in the light of day for the public to see.

And then of course there were 18 immigrations reforms by recent Republican Presidents, none of which were power grabs simply because none of those Presidents were born in Kenya and all were Republicans. See the difference?

http://www.pensitoreview.com/2014/11/17/impeachable-18-immigration-executive-orders-by-republican-presidents/

So the next time you hear the Republicans complain about President Obama's power grabs on immigration reform, think of Ronald Reagan and Rupert Murdock. No one was throwing the impeachment javelin at Reagan because the Republicans were too busy worshiping him.

If you are reading this thread at this late hour, please give it a kick for the morning crowd.

Sam