June 15, 2015

Chris Christie Just Raised Democrat Chances in 2016

No matter who runs as the Democratic candidate in the 2016 General election, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a potential Republican candidate himself, just moved the Democrats closer to the presidency. Christie said, “Listen, first off, I thought that Elizabeth Warren wasn’t running for president. But when I listened to Hillary yesterday, it sounds like liberal political consultants put together that speech.” What this means is that both Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have moved Clinton further to the left where the Democratic voters will be in 2016. Warren still claims she is not running but Bernie is hot on the trail and very close to being a highly competitive candidate to win the primary.

In the MSNBC article Christie questions whether Hillary Clinton really understands the everyday issues Americans face. She doesn't listen to them and she never answers questions he claimed. In a recent interview with NBC reporter Andrea Mitchell, Bernie Sanders made the remark that he didn't understand how anyone could run for president without answering questions. Bernie thrives on making it known what he stands for by being responsive to the public and the press. The big difference here seems to be that Hillary Clinton is carefully orchestrating her campaign with limitations that sometime reflect negatively on the candidate. Bernie Sanders, on the other hand, says simply this is what I am, what I stand for and ask me if there is anything you don't understand. Then, he answers them.

Nasty Jack

June 15, 2015

Bernie Sanders Shocks With New Poll

New Hampshire: BREAKING NEWS

Bernie Sanders comes withing ten points of Hillary Clinton in latest New Hampshire poll. Clinton 42%, Sanders 32%. Bernie is on the roll!

Nasty Jack

June 15, 2015

Bernie Sanders Talks Obscene Wealth

In Iowa on Saturday Bernie Sanders talked about the obscene wealth in America. He was referring to billionaires like the KOCH Bros. that just keep taking but never really giving in return. Yes, I know about the KOCH family foundations but what they offer there is far smaller than what they suck out of this nation. And part of their philanthropy is no doubt to benefit their many conservative causes which lobby against issues like universal health care and climate change. KOCH industries is the top water polluter in the U.S. with three lobbying organizations that have a key influence on U.S. public policy, which accounts for a bought and paid for Republican Congress and some Democrats.

Here are the wealthiest in the U.S., but with distinct differences in character. There is Bill Gates, #1 at $79.4 billion followed by Warren Buffett #2 at $68.9 billion, then Oracle founder and former CEO, Larry Ellison, $54.5 billion. These three are followed by the dregs of billionaires, Charles and David Koch worth $41.6 billion each. And then comes the difference. Don't know much about Ellison but do know that Bill Gates and Warren Buffett have both pledged half of their fortunes to charity. And they have done it without attempting to take over the political reins of the United States and run it as a part of KOCH Industries. And that is what Bernie Sanders was talking about to large crowds this last Saturday in Iowa.

Nasty Jack

June 15, 2015

IKEA to Invest Billion Dollars in the Environment

The Scandanavians are in the news for investing big in cleaning up the environment. IKEA, based in Sweden, announced it will spend one billion euros (1.13 billion dollars) over the next five years to address climate change. While in the U.S. a Think Progress analysis found that "over 58 percent" of congressional Republicans refuse to accept the science of climate change. Go figure. IKEA's decision was partially the result of a survey taken last year with the finding that 41% of the store's customers think the company “takes social and environmental responsibility.” Now that's a refreshing change to some American companies that simply concentrate on polluting the environment.

Forbes magazine has published an article with 11 U.S. companies that are considered best for the environment. Among them are Seventh Generation and Go Lite, but there is also the other side...our country's big polluters. Just recently Environment America released "Polluting Politics" a report that analyzes spending on federal lobbying and campaign contributions by companies releasing the most toxic chemicals into U.S. waterways. Guess who tops the list of water polluters who spend the most politically to prevent environmental policies? KOCH Industries. But they are just one; others include Tyson Foods, Dept. Of Defense, Cargill, U.S. Steel and Phillips 66. And these are only water polluters.

The environment has taken a series of hits that many climate scientists have said we cannot recover from if we don't do something now. With a GOP Congress that won't pass any laws opposed by big business, there is little hope we will ever clean up this mess.

Nasty Jack

June 14, 2015

Colin Powell Talks Republican Racism...Again

Former Sec. of State Colin Powell accused the Republicans in Jan. 2013, of having "... a dark vein of intolerance in some parts of the party." It was former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin who used the term to say that the president is "shuckin" and "jivin," referring to Barack Obama. I grew up in the South and that's about as racist as it gets. But coming from a double-digit IQ like Sarah Palin, well, what do you expect? Powell doesn't mention it by name but during that period of time the far right conservatives responsible for racial attacks were the Tea Party.

Move ahead to March of 2015 and Colin Powell again speaks out against the GOP and its continuing racist views. It was in a "This Week" interview when he said “I still see it. I still see it in the Republican Party and I still see it in other parts of our country. You don’t have to be a Republican to be touched by this dark vein. America is still going through this transformation from where we were just 50 or 60 years ago.” I lived in the South in the 50s and 60s when the phrase "shuckin" and "jivin" was only one of the offenders to black folks. They had to live with the "N" word every day, and not just behind their backs, but face to face in a confrontation they knew they could not win.

Racist have cleaned up their act slightly, mostly due to a somewhat less tolerant public, but the seething hatred is still there with little hope it will go away.

Nasty Jack

June 13, 2015

More Tea Party Lunacy

We know those in the Tea Party live in their own fantasyland of an ideology that if satisfied would close down America. Thank God they have been herded into their own corral and as long as we keep them there, all should be fine. What we can't prevent is their incessant blather carping about everything from Barack Obama to gun rights. Here are some examples:


In a recent post from their site, former Congressman Frank Wolf implies that Christians could be going to prison in the future for their beliefs.

Next, the end of this month the TP newsletter exclaimed that the government was preparing to seize 401 (k) pensions setting the stage for “economic totalitarianism.”

TP newsletter headline: "What Obama Hates About Jesus."

The chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, Roy Moore, said he believes that if the U.S. Supreme Court rules in June that homosexual marriage is a Constitutional right, it “will destroy our country,” and added that “there are people who would like to see this country destroyed.”

And finally, back to 2014, fired former Gilberton, PA, police chief Mark Kessler said, that he is a DHS/FBI plant. He was deemed psychotic for his 2nd Amendment lunacy.

The tea Party never lets up but it does provide us with a wealth of laughter in an otherwise sometimes dismal world.

Nasty Jack

June 13, 2015

The NRA Doesn't Want Public to Know Where Gun Violence Weapons Come From

The National Rifle Assn. (NRA) has pushed the limits of the Second Amendment to the extent that there is daily gun violence all over America, unabated because a gutless Congress won't enact laws to control guns in this country. The 2nd Amendment is an antique that should either be drastically modified or repealed. There is no hope for reasonable gun control until the NRA, along with its leader, Wayne LaPierre, are backed into a corner and told to shut up.

Just yesterday I posted on my blog about the death of an innocent 19-year-old girl and asked the question I have been asking for a couple of years: Where did he get the gun? There is no answer to that because the NRA has refused to allow a gun registry that would assist law enforcement in tracing back every gun used in violent shootings. One of the reasons the gun lobby doesn't want that registry is that then many of the weapons used in gun violence might be connected to NRA members.

Nasty Jack

June 12, 2015

Overturning Citizens Unlimited Must Come From Grass Roots Level

If there is one thing this country can do to balance the political scales in favor of the people it is to overturn the Citizens United ruling made by SCOTUS in 2010. John Roberts and his activist conservative renegades literally put the wealthy and corporations in charge of elections. The flow of dark money has been unlimited and forced some to rethink their candidacy. New Mexico Democrat Tom Udall proposed a Constitutional Amendment in 2014 that was backed by 54 Senators but was stymied by a Republican filibuster that stopped any action.

Enter Bernie Sanders, who had been an advocate for repeal since it was passed into law, who said, “I am extremely disappointed that not one Republican voted today to stop billionaires from buying elections and undermining American democracy." So now it goes back to the grass roots level to gain momentum for the proposed 28th Constitutional Amendment. John Bonifaz, president of Free Speech for People said, “We have amended the US Constitution before in our nation’s history. Twenty-seven times before. Seven of those times to overturn egregious Supreme Court rulings. For the promise of American democracy, we can and we will do it again.”

Nasty Jack

June 12, 2015

Argument Over Beer Ping Pong-Where Did he Get the Gun?

There was a party for Texas A&M graduate Landon Duke in College Station, and now 19-year-old Lacie LaRose is dead, killed by 39-year-old party-crasher Ronald McNeil. The whole problem erupted over a disagreement about the rules of Beer Ping Pong. McNeil said it was an accident but he fired off 14 shots to get the job done which might indicate a fit of rage since he had been thrown out of the party. McNeil lived across the street from Duke and was a convicted felon. I know we're talking about Texas but where did he get the .40-caliber Glock gun?

Ronald McNeil is currently being held in Brazos County Jail on charges of murder, deadly conduct for discharge of a firearm and two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. A 19-year-old young lady's life was snuffed out just like that, once again using a gun. One of 300 million in the U.S. With many states that have extremely loose gun laws. Texas being one of them. From now on I would like to see the media leave these stories of gun violence open until it has been proved where the gun came from. Maybe then the public will understand just how stupid is the National Rifle Association's call for more guns on the street.

Nasty Jack

June 12, 2015

Has Charlie Manson's Helter Skelter Finally Arrived?

Charlie Manson talked to his many followers about the racial wars that would come, naming them Helter Skelter. It was at a New Year's Eve gathering of the Family in 1968 that he coined the term. He said blacks without an outlet for their frustrations would lash out in violent crimes against whites resulting in a murderous rampage against blacks by frightened whites, as recorded in Wikipedia. Although Charlie's goal was a Shangri-la for his family and an outlet for his music, what he described as the events leading up to it, Helter Skelter, were very similar to what is going on today between blacks and law enforcement.

Two anonymous Baltimore police officers said, simply, they are "feeling scared." Baltimore PD leaders have put them in a mode of just reacting instead of being proactive, which has allowed the city's streets to run wild, resulting in 42 killings just in May. But in Helter Skelter Charles Manson was considered by his followers as their savior, Jesus Christ, a leader who interpreted for them Chap. 9 from Revelations, which describes, as one biblical professor put it, when "All Hell Breaks Loose." If there is a leader in today's violence it has to be the gun lobby led by the National Rifle Assn. because of their persistence to put more guns on the street, thus, more murders. Racial tension has always been there but the gun rights bunch gave blacks the means to follow through on Helter Skelter.

Nasty Jack