The reelection of President Barack Obama is a historic time. The reactionaries predicted that the President will lose the election, but they were wrong completely. There was more of turnout of people because there was anger over the voter suppression efforts made by numerous reactionaries (or some Republicans). This election represents the continued support of many for the President and the massive demise of the influence of GOP in numerous quarters. The GOP have been so extreme on some issues that many people opposed them. Especially, the Tea Party types were rejected ideologically. The Tea Party's promotion of militarism, anti-immigrant xenophobia, poor scapegoating, the removal of nearly all regulations on businesses, etc. are opposed by the vast majority of Americans (as proven by polls). Now, I do believe that the President made an excellent reelection speech about unity and power of activism in our communities. His reelection speech was much better than the speech that he gave to the National Democratic Convention. There are positives and negatives in both parties. The reality is that the President can go into the path of pragmatic centrist or real, radical, and just reforms in society. The future will tell us which direction that the brother President Barack Obama will go. Clearly, Mitt Romney was roundly defeated, because some of his economic views were too extreme and he made numerous political miscalculations. Virginia (or my home state) voted mostly for the President. The previous polling polls mostly presented what the reality is. There are some great news now. The Reagan Revolution is history. The demographics are rapidly changing in America. People of color are increasing in population and political power (which is evolving into alliances). These changes are permanent and even reactionary people will have no choice, but to accept the fact that America is a very diverse nation. The GOP as a whole will have to be more ideologically reasonable or they will be a permanent minority party. I think it was good to see people voting, even if you didn't vote for the President. The right to vote is a precious human right. This is a new era and it's great for people to stand up to voter suppression. Mitt Romney gave his concession speech in a conciliatory fashion. Now, this doesn't mean that everything is peaches and cream. There is still the threat of the Great Charade (or the Grand Bargain that threaten the social safety net). We still have the administration who executed extreme foreign policy policies (from drone attacks to targeted assassinations). It was just that Romney was even more extreme than the President on economic and foreign policy matters. Although, the President is still wrong on foreign policy matters. He is wrong to support the imperialist Africom clique, he's wrong in supporting a puppet regime in Libya, and he's wrong on drone attacks against men, women, and children too. Like I have always mentioned, we should respect the President and his beautiful family as human beings. Also, we should use our voice to disagree with the White House when it's wrong. We should continue to fight for truth, justice, and freedom for all people (irrespective of who is in the White House). There has been ballots initiatives as well. There was the unfortunate defeat of Proposition 37 in California (which called for GMO labeling), but the genie is out of the bottle. In other words, GMO labeling awareness is still strong. We won't rest until real GMO labeling is available in the four corners of the world. Monsanto and others may have won the battle in California via them spending over 40 million dollars, but they will lose the war in a few years (and decades from now. That's a promise). Also, controversial marijuana policies have been passed in numerous states except in Arkansas. More states promoted same sex marriage like Maryland, Maine, Minnesota, etc. So, society is changing. We may disagree on some issues. Yet, most of us agree with equality. We agree that human rights is superior to states rights. We agree with love for America and we agree with trying to give people opportunities as a means for jobs to grow, education to be improved upon, and the establishment of a peaceful, reasonable foreign policy to reign. My state of Virginia is still Blue, but we are the United States of America. What's most important is for us to defend the rights of workers, to adhere to freedom, and to love the right to vote purely. One positive outcome of this election was the defeat of the voting suppression efforts made by numerous reactionaries. This election is an opportunity to see what the real legacy of President Barack Obama is all about. I do hope that America can be better. I don't agree with him on all issues, but I don't have animus nor hatred for the President at all. The people have spoken with their feet in this election. Reactionaries may lie and obsess with welfare, but they ignore corporate welfare including economic inequality. They may lie and talk about free items, but ignore how some corporations pay 0 percent in income taxes. We accept the truth that when you fight, you can win. We accept the truth that despite huge odds, with talent, with strength, and with progressive insight, mountains can be moved. That is why we will never give up for true love for humanity is not wrong and true adherence to the general welfare of the people is always just. That's the point. Now, I have hope. I have hope for a brighter future since I am an optimistic type of man. Yet, if we want that bright future, then we are going to have to make demands and fight for it. Now, we still have discrimination and oppression based on race, gender, class, national origin, and other characteristics. Therefore, we should continue in fighting for the defeat of the system of white supremacy completely. That is why that there are people of every color who want liberty and are in love with the truth. Imperialism is still here and the struggle continues. Fighting for freedom is a great means in getting the real reforms that we all seek. Therefore, we should pray for the moderate Black President Barack Obama (who is a great intellectual and family man) and hope that this country of America will become much better than the previous four years.
There is a Skulls and Bones connection to the Civil War. Of course, the Skulls and Bones was created in 1832 by Alphonso Taft (President U.S. Grant's Secretary of War, U.S. Attorney General) and William Huntington Russell. Russell is the grand-nephew of Samuel Huntington. Samuel Huntington was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and President of the Continental Congress (1779-1781) ad he was the Governor of Connecticut (from 1786-1796). The Skulls and Bones had members of both sides of the Civil War. This pattern is related to the international bankers funding both sides of numerous wars or configurations spanning the time of human history. Bonesman Orris Sanford Ferry was the Brigadier General of the U.S. Army during the Civil War. Bonesman Burton Norvell Harrison was the Private Secretary to Jefferson Davis. Bonesman John Thomas Croxton was the Major General of the U.S. Army. Other rebel Bonesmen include people like Thomas L. Bayne, Thomas McKinney Jack, William T. S. Barry, and others. Other Bonesmen in the Union side were Henry Martyn Dechert, Stanley Woodward, William Fowler, and other human beings. People realize that the roots of the Civil War came from the Maafa and the beginning of the American nation. Back then, the American nation didn't immediately end slavery, so compromise and immoral gradualism came about on this issue of slavery. The Civil War caused slavery to be banned from American society. Many Harvard University graduates contributed to the Revolutionary War on the side of the colonists from James Warren (a paymaster General of the Continental Army) to Caleb Strong. Even after the Revolutionary War, rebellions like Shay's rebellion (it was led by the Revolutionary War veteran former Captain Daniel Shays. Shays and company wanted to protest the foreclosure of their homes and endless debt), and the War of 1812. U.S. Army Colonel William Sherman (or the then Superintendent of the Louisiana State Seminary and Military Academy) gave a speech on December 24, 1860. After, he learned of South Carolina's secession, Sherman said that the North would defeat the South badly because the North had more mechanical and ingenious resources and supplies than the South. This was a self-fulfilling prediction since the Union developed more supplies, resources, and manpower than the Confederacy as the Civil War progressed. The Confederacy was totally defeated in 1865. Jefferson was inaugurated as the leader of the Confederacy in Montgomery, Alabama on February 18, 1861. President Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated as President of the United States of America in Washington, D.C. on March 4, 1861. President Abraham Lincoln's legacy is a complex one. He wasn't perfect, but his insight and character was vastly superior to Jefferson Davis. President Abraham Lincoln had been through a whole lot of trials and tribulations. People like Frederick Douglas put legitimate pressure upon President Lincoln in order for him to act more progressive in his attitudes about slavery and the Civil War. President Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address expressed his further awakenings on the evils of slavery and the destructive nature of the Civil War. Many great leaders in human history became great by pressure and overcoming obstacles. The Civil War reminds us that the immorality of slavery should have been abolished as soon as possible. If that was done, thousands of peoples' lives would have been saved.
There has been the controversy over nuclear power. Germany has dropped nuclear power in large measure. Now, Germany has now new economic and environmental benefits. People realize the imperfections of nuclear power. It has blatant threats to the human economy and the environment. Washington's Blog is correct to document that nuclear power is expensive and bad for the environment. Clean energy is heavily minimized by establishment circles when you have nuclear power in excess. Fukushima have raised questions about the safety of nuclear power. There is the question of deposing nuclear waste as well. Renewable energy can help society greatly. The nuclear lobby is still powerful though. There has been the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists publishing their issue showing evidence to back this view up (of the horrendous risky nature of nuclear power). The article has been published by SAGE. The report said that Germany is yielding great economic and environmental benefis as a result of Germany utilizing renewable energy. One top expert said that this reality is a game change for the nuclear industry worldwide. Freie Universität Berlin politics professor Miranda Schreuers says the nuclear phase-out and accompanying shift to renewable energy have brought financial benefits to farmers, investors, and small business. Felix Matthes of the Institute for Applied Ecology in Berlin concludes the phase-out will have only small and temporary effects on electricity prices and the German economy. Lutz Mez, co-founder of Freie UniversitÓ“t Berlin’s Environmental Policy Research Center, presents what may be the most startling finding of all in the following words: “It has actually decoupled energy from economic growth, with the country’s energy supply and carbon-dioxide emissions dropping from 1990 to 2011, even as its gross domestic product rose by 36 percent.” Physicist Sowmya Dutta also argues the case for renewable energy forms by saying that the alternative energy sources are actually more abundant than other options such as nuclear. The world has potential for 17 terra watt nuclear energy, 700 terra watt wind energy and 86,000 terra watt of solar energy. Excluding hydropower, renewables made up about 35 per cent of the power capacity added worldwide in 2010, and produced over five per cent of the total power. In Africa, led by Egypt and Kenya, investments were up nearly five-fold, reaching $3.6 billion. So, Microgeneration is a great program in handling our environmental and economic issues. Now, this doesn't mean we should advocate a war with Iran though. Many people from both parties have issued belligerent, demagogic rhetoric against Iran about its nuclear program. I disagree with this plan completely, because Iran doesn't have nuclear weapons and it isn't a threat to the Middle East (or America) directly at all. We can't be true freedom lovers if we advocate war mongering against Iran. Peaceful negotiations, cooperation, and an avocation of peace is superior to war (and the evil, anti-human sanctions that have harmed the Iranian civilians in Iran).
The
struggle for human dignity and power is still here amidst the tragedy of
Hurricane Sandy. We have to work to do since the disaster of Hurricane Sandy is
still apparently real in the Northeastern part of America. It shows profoundly
that a combination of grassroots organizing, public resources and private
resources can develop the areas which are damaged heavily from the storm. We
have issues still. Once, NYC pulled the plug on housing authority residents (or
turning off electricity) before the storm to force residents to evacuate. We
realize about the thousands of people who waited in line to buy gasoline and
evacuees having difficulty in finding residency basically. Staten Island
residents were angry about the temporary inaction of the Red Cross plus other
organizations in helping people. One of the good news about the situation was
the story about Occupy Sandy. Occupy Sandy had little to no money, but they
provided food, clothing, and medical care to the hardest hit neighborhoods. The
Occupy team pumped water from damaged homes and even gave direction to the
National Guard and FEMA teams. Occupy Sandy helped people just like the public
and private sector can do their part. Michael Bloomberg was wrong in trying to
carry forward with a marathon, but he ended that plan as a product of fierce
opposition. Bloomberg was forced to do so. The corporate sponsored event ended,
but many of the athletes did do the right thing by helping the victims of Sandy
in the Northeast though. Now, in urban communities of America, we still have to
fight against the displacement of the poor, against inequality, and against
corporate-sponsored gentrification. Gentrification is when corporations force
black residents (or resident of color) out of urban places in order to be replaced
by richer people. Many of the newer jobs are low wage. Hurricane Sandy proves
to us that we must continue to promote grassroots organizations that are
helping people. If you want something done, we have to demand it. The marathon
was closed when folks protested about it. The Red Cross finally came when the
residents of Staten Island spoke out against being ignored by authorities. There
are problems in Red Hook (some people lack electricity and any meaningful form
of instrumental power), Brooklyn and parts of New Jersey as well. So,
cooperatives, grassroots entities, and other instruments can assist the poor
and the suffering.
The deficit hawk extremists are at it again. They show slick rhetoric, but I will always oppose austerity for life. There are still people with hatred of any federal government program beyond a healthy skepticism about some of the policies of the state. The reactionaries now have a huge hatred of the federal government. The reason is that some of them believe in states rights while wanting a weak central government to reign. This debate existed centuries ago. James Madison and George Washington wanted to end the Articles of Confederation and want the federal law to be supreme over state powers. Indeed, the federal Bill of Rights is superior to states rights. Washington was right to believe that the federal government authority is over interstate commerce. George Washington used the commerce clause as a means to promote the building of national roads and canals. This was done to grow a then young nation and to grow the national infrastructure. In Federalist Paper No. 14, Madison described major construction projects made possible by the powers in the Commerce Clause. “[T]he union will be daily facilitated by new improvements,” Madison wrote. “Roads will everywhere be shortened, and kept in better order; accommodations for travelers will be multiplied and meliorated; an interior navigation on our eastern side will be opened throughout, or nearly throughout the whole extent of the Thirteen States..." Still, back then, some deluded people wanted human rights to apply mostly to white men or white landowners. Thankfully, as time went on, more progressive human rights have been sent to Americans. What we need aren't draconian cuts to Pell Grants, Medicare, Social Security, and other vital parts of the social contract. We must need human rights to be extended to folks and fiscal progressive actions. I have been economically progressive for years. The Great Depression of 1929 and the Great Recession of 2007 proved that laissez faire capitalist economics doesn't work. Many economic populists want to have debt free money in order to benefit society too. The federal intervention of the New Deal and the federal intervention to enforce equality in the 1950's and the 1960's benefited and inspired all Americans. In the 1970's, the counterrevolution came about. Then Reaganism came it was defeated by a lot of voters by 2012. 2012 is the beginning of a new era of American thinking where the young, various minorities,women and other Americans want to move forward not backwards.
By Timothy
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