The Real News Network: Jeff Cohen: Preaching to The Choir

Source:The Real News Network inside The Situation Room at The White House.

"Jeff Cohen: Illusions about Obama and the myth of the need for bipartisanship are reasons why progressives and liberals must have a vigorous debate - there really is no choir." 

From The Real News

I think Paul Jay makes a good point here when he says that there really isn't any one position on anything, at least as far as what to actually do and what the final policy should be, on any given issue that's debated in America, on the Left (or as I would call it, the Far-Left of American Socialists) in America. 

But, when you only talk to yourself and I'm talking about people who already tend to agree with you on the major political issues, and you are buried in the minority politically, even in your own political party (which is where the Far-Left is in the Democratic Party) you are not going to move forward. You either have to convince members of your own party that are more moderate than you, that they're simply wrong, or you have to moderate your own positions, if you want to accomplish anything politically.

Universal Newsreels: 'Presidential Fever- Sweeps The Nation: 4/10/1960'

Source:British Pathe- President Dwight D. Eisenhower (Republican, Kansas)

Source:The Daily Journal

"Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Washington DC, USA. Cut story with American commentary.

Milwaukee. MS.CU. Democratic candidate John F. Kennedy (later President Kennedy). MS.CU.Senator Hubert Humphrey seated at desk. LS.Street in Milwaukee. MS.  Posters on wall, one of Kennedy and one of Humphrey. CU Big sign which says "Humphrey for President Headquarters". MS. Signpost "Vote Here". Various shot people voting. MS.People awaiting results. High angle GV. over packed hall.

Washington DC. MS.President Dwight Eisenhower and Mrs. Mamie Eisenhower on platform acknowledging audience. MS President shakes hands with man before sitting down. MS. President Eisenhower eating leg of chicken from box, with Mrs. Eisenhower next to him. CU Republican Vice President Richard Nixon (later President Nixon) eating cold chicken, pan to his wife Mrs. Pat Nixon next to him. MS.Nixon and Eisenhower together on stage, Eisenhower moves over to microphone. LS.Microphones, Eisenhower in front of them. CU.Eisenhower in front of microphone."

From British Pathe

The 1960 West Virginia Democratic primary was a battle of dirty tricks. With the Humphrey campaign trying to make JFK’s Irish-Catholic faith and issue in an overwhelmingly Anglo-Saxon Protestant state like West Virginia. Which is the South Carolina of the Mid-Atlantic.

The Kennedy campaign with Jack’s father Joe literally buying votes and West Virginia political leaders. Both campaigns running ads against the other that were simply false. When the West Virginia primary should have literally been a battle place of ideas. With HHH offering his social democratic, big government vision. And JFK offering his liberal limited government vision for the country. That would use government to empower people and not just take care of them.

This is one of the most interesting presidential campaigns ever I believe. Jack Kennedy vs Dick Nixon in 1960 was also a great campaign. But the campaign between Senator Jack Kennedy and Senator Hubert Humphrey (or Hubie, to be less formal) I believe at least in some ways was even better. Because it represented a battle of Democratic factions. The New Deal/soon to be Great Society progressive coalition faction of the Democratic Party. That had all sorts of big government social programs for people. Against an emerging liberal New Democratic coalition of JFK that wanted to use government to empower people in need to be able to take care of themselves.

What the Kennedy campaign tried to do here was to make it look like their candidate was the young candidate who represented the younger generation and that Senator Humphrey was old school and represented older people and the ways of the past. Even though they were both World War II Generation and were only six years apart in age. Senator Humphrey ran on his experience even though Senator Kennedy had actually served in Congress longer at this point than Humphrey. With his six years in the House before being elected to the Senate in 1952.

This campaign was really a campaign about ideas and the role of government in America instead. Humphrey wanted a bigger Federal Government to take care of more people. Kennedy wanted to use government to empower people in need to be able to take care of themselves instead. 

Joe Jetson: 'Ted Kennedy and The Chappaquiddick Tragedy- 7/18/1969'

Source:Joe Jetson- This is the CBS Evening News With Walter Cronkite. Sorry, I always wanted to say that in public.

Source:The Daily Journal

“An inebriated Senator Edward (Ted) Kennedy drove a 1967 Olds 88 into the frigid waters of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts after leaving a party on the night of July 18, 1969. Also in the car with the married Senator Kennedy was Mary Jo Kopechne, a young, single woman, and former employee of the Kennedy’s family. While Kennedy (known to his fellow Democrats as “The Soul Of The Democratic Party”) somehow managed to escape the submerged vehicle, his passenger was not so fortunate. She was left for dead by Teddy, The “Hero of Chappaquiddick”. Kennedy fled the scene on foot and did not report the accident to police until TEN HOURS LATER. Kopechne’s dead body was discovered trapped inside the car the next morning. Somehow, Kennedy managed to avoid murder (or at least manslaughter) charges. He used the corrupt Kennedy political machine to somehow escape full responsibility for this tragedy with only minor Traffic Charges. History records that Kennedy went on to become the Spiritual Leader and an Icon of the Democratic Party. He even had the nerve to try a failed bid for President in 1980, but his this scandalous incident caught up with him, and he was forced to withdraw from the race in disgrace. But that didn’t stop him from doing his best to destroy the USA for thirty more years with failed Liberal Programs which are now finally leading to the moral and financial bankruptcy of our once great nation.” 

From Joe Jetson 

Despite this horrible tragedy, Ted Kennedy made a very successful and productive life for himself afterwords. Ted Kennedy, was basically still a frat boy in 1969 even at 37. He was married and already had kids, but wasn’t very serious about his marriage and liked other women. He was still dealing with the assassination of his brother Bobby and perhaps Jack as well. He simply wasn’t ready for the national spotlight and people to be looking at him as the future leader of the country. Because he was still trying to grow up, something that he didn’t really accomplish at all until the mid or late 1990s when he was already in his sixties with grandchildren. Up till then he was still trying to balance his personal life which could be chaotic and his professional life as a U.S. Senator.

If you watched the 2009 HBO documentary about Ted Kennedy which really was Senator Kennedy in his own words I really think you see how responsible and hurt he was from his own childish and immature actions that cost the life of a young woman Mary Joe Kopechne:

First of all, he’s driving this woman home instead of his wife from this party, which I believe is a big clue there. And driving her home when he’s had too much to drink. Ted, was still dealing with alcoholism in his early sixties. He drives the car into a lake and the first thing that comes to his mind is his personal survival. And the second thing his is professional survival. Not the woman who was in the car with him. That came after it looked like he might be held personally responsible for her life.

Of the three Kennedy brothers that served in Congress and had successful careers in politics, Ted Kennedy had the best and longest career. Even though he was never president. But compare his Congressional record with his brothers and most people who have ever served in Congress in either the Senate or House and Senator Kennedy is in the first class, whatever you think of his politics. And all of this despite his lack of maturity and personal responsibility.

Ted was never built to be President of the United States. By the time he was personally ready for that and to even make a strong run at that, he was in his early sixties. And Bill Clinton was already president and the Democratic Party was moving away from Senator Kennedy’s more social democratic politics. But Senator Kennedy, once he finally grew up became a great man and a great senator. 

Russia Today: Thom Hartmann: 'Will President Obama Get Citizenship Pathway For Immigrants?'

Source:Russia Today host Thom Hartmann from back in the day.

"Jim Javinsky in for Thom Hartmann here – on the news…

You need to know this. A rare word is coming out of the Senate today: “compromise.” With President Obama set to tackle immigration reform on Tuesday, a bipartisan group of Senators came out today with their own compromised deal. The team of four Democrats and four Republicans introduced a plan that will put the more than 11 million undocumented immigrants, currently in the United States, on a path to citizenship. But first, they will have to register with the government, pass background checks, pay back taxes and penalties, and then move to the back of the line for full citizenship status. The proposal also puts in place new border security measures – and young people – or “DREAMers” who were brought to the country illegally when they were a child, but have gone to school here and kept their nose clean, will be put on a faster track toward citizenship. This is a good sign that a deal on comprehensive immigration reform can be struck this year. Stay tuned.

In screwed news..the banking sector is ruled by monopolies. New data from the Dallas Federal Reserve shows that a small group of “mega banks” control upwards of 70% of all banking assets. Just twelve banks, out of the total 56-hundred commercial banks in operation across the nation – have assets between $250 billion and $2.3 trillion dollars. They represent only point- 2% of all banks in operation, yet they account for 69% of the industry’s total assets. This is the definition of “Too Big to Fail.” In fact, as Senator Sherrod Brown has pointed out, these banks aren’t just too big to fail, “they’re too big to manage.”

As state senators in Virginia contemplate taking up legislation, to rig the Electoral College for the benefit of Republicans, lawmakers in Michigan are considering doing the same exact thing. Last Friday, Michigan’s Republican House Speaker, Jase Bolger, was quoted as saying, “I hear more and more from our citizens in various parts of the state of Michigan, that they don’t feel like their vote for president counts because another area of the state may dominate that, or could sway their vote…They feel closer to voting for their congressman or their congresswoman, and if that vote coincided with their vote for president they would feel better about that.” Michigan is one of the bluer states taken over by Republicans in 2010 – and if Republicans succeed in rigging the Electoral College there, then that would seriously hurt Democrats’ chances of taking the White House in the future. In fact, if all states took up this election rigging scheme last year – then Mitt Romney would be our president today.

Last Friday, the so-called pro-life movement marched in Washington, DC, to take away a woman’s right to make a choice about her body. And while they got all the media attention, a different kind of pro-life movement arrived in Washington, DC over the weekend. Thousands of protestors flocked to the nation’s capital, calling for national gun control legislation. The march was organized after the Newtown massacre – and more than 100 residents of the Connecticut town joined in, to demand a ban on military style assault weapons and high capacity ammo magazines. Senator Dianne Feinstein, who introduced an assault weapons ban last week, appeared on CNN on Sunday claiming that she does have the support for such a ban – and that she’s been promised by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, that it will receive an up-or-down vote on the floor of the Senate.

The NYPD’s controversial stop-and-frisk policy may have recently been ruled unconstitutional, but that doesn’t bother New York police, who are set to unveil a new type of technology that makes stop-and-frisk unnecessary. NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly announced over the weekend, that within the year, his police force will begin using what are called Tera-Hertz scanners – or T-Ray machines – that can see through people’s clothing, to determine if they are carrying any weapons. As Raw Story reports, “The new device utilizes T-rays, which pass through fabric and paper, but cannot pass through metals.” The NYPD plans to deploy the machines in police cruisers at first, but eventually hope they can get the technology into a small enough machine, that it can fit on an officer’s belt. Privacy activists cheered the decision by the TSA, to get rid of the porno scanners in our airports, but now the fight for privacy continues on the streets of the Big Apple.

Don’t touch our libraries! That’s what the American people are saying amid the age of austerity and privatization, as they watch their community libraries lose funding, and close their doors. A new survey by the Pew Research center, found that 91% of Americans felt that libraries are important to their community. Another 76% said that libraries are important to them personally – and to their family. Unfortunately, public libraries are often the victim of budget cuts on a local, state, and federal level. In fact, the coming sequestration included a $19 million cut to a federal program that provides extra funding for public libraries around the nation.

And finally…Sarah Palin is out at Fox so-called News. Last Friday, Real Clear Politics reported that Fox News has decided to part ways with the gubernatorial quitter turned political celebrity. Over the last three years, she was a paid contributor, earning roughly a million bucks a year. A study out of the University of Minnesota analyzed Palin’s appearances on the network, and concluded that between 2010 and 2012 – Palin spoke nearly 190,000 words on the network – meaning she was paid roughly $15.85 per word. And that includes some of the words that none of us have ever heard before, and don’t even appear in any English language dictionary." 

From TruthOut

FORA-TV: 'Debate: Are The Rich Taxed Enough in the United States?'

Source:FORA-TV- showing a debate about taxes to a convention of insomniacs.

"Intelligence Squared U.S. hosts a debate on whether the rich are taxed enough in the United States. How do we fix the economy? The U.S. government's budget deficit is nearing a trillion dollars for the fourth straight year and unemployment remains high. With the Bush-era tax cuts that are set to expire at the end of 2012, what is the best move for continued economic recovery? President Obama says we should raise taxes on those making more than $250,000 to reduce the deficit. Others say that the richest 1% already pay more than a quarter of all federal taxes and higher taxes for job creators would slow economic growth. Are the nation's wealthiest not paying their "fair share," or should tax breaks be extended for everyone in the name of job creation? For the Motion: Glenn Hubbard and Arthur Laffer. Against the Motion: Robert Reich and Mark Zandi." 

From FORA-TV

Are the rich taxed enough? This is an interesting question because answering is like trying to prove a negative. Everything is relative, perhaps especially with tax policy. It's about what type of government you have, what type of population you, where the people are ideologically, what the people want the government, especially the nationally government to try to do for them. All these factors answer the question are the rich, or anyone else in the country, taxed enough, too much, or not enough.

The Real News: 'Breaking Up The Big Banks is Not a Solution'

Source:The Real News Network with a look at the American private banking industry.

"Leo Panitch: Global capitalism needs massive banks, but big private banks have the power to prevent regulation and threaten more crisis; the solution is not breaking them up but making them public." 

From The Real News Network

Paul Jay and Leo Paitich are literally talking about nationalizing the American banking industry. They're arguing that the only way to save the banking industry, is to make them part of the U.S. Government, owned by the U.S. Government. 

You think private big banks are too big to fail now, make them part of the U.S. Government. Right now every Federal agency that Americans have to have for their lives to be as good and as secure are possible, whether it's defense or the regulatory state, is too big to fail. 

The Socialist answer to every problem not just in America, but the rest of the world, is always a bigger government, especially a bigger national government.

The Young Turks: 'Soda Ban - Kills Minority Businesses?'

Source:The Young Turks with a look at soba prohibition in Michael Bloomberg's Nanny City.

"New York City's attempt to keep people from fattening up on sugary soft drinks, by banning some of them, would disproportionately hurt small, minority-owned businesses, according to the NAACP and the Hispanic Federation.

The two groups have filed a joint brief supporting a lawsuit by the American Beverage Association in which they say New York's unelected Board of Health overstepped its power in approving the ban the sale of sugary drinks bigger than 16 ounces in certain city venues."*

The NYC soda ban was designed to improve public health, but now minority business groups say they'll be the ones losing on the plan. John Iadarola (TYT University), Desi Doyen (The Green News Report) and Lissette Padilla (TheLip.TV) discuss. " 

From The Young Turks

Imagine if soda bans, junk food bans, and somehow the radical hippie-left in America, literally took over America as part of some type of Communist revolution or something (I'm having fun with this) and big government banned meat as well. Think about all the people who would be in jail, for drinking a soda, eating a bag of potato chips, (but hopefully not the bag as well) or a cheeseburger, fried chicken, whatever it might be, could you imagine how much fun political cartoonists would have with that? 

I could see the videos and cartoons with captions now of law enforcement officers telling soda, junk food, and meat suspects with their guns pointed at them: "Put the soda down now! Don't take another sip. I'm warning you, buddy. Don't eat another chip or take another bite, or we'll stuff vegetables and pour water down your throat." 

If this would ever become national policy, (and Seattle ever ran out of coffee on the same day) we would create millions of prions inmates, out of soda drinkers and junk food eaters.