Recently in Election Issues 2012 Category

Conservatives like Sen. John Warner and Ronald Reagan influenced many to become more conservative. That kind of conservative, however, no longer exists at the core of the Grand Old Party, which has become dangerously extremist. The Warner - Reagan conservative was about governing for the future of America, first and foremost. The current GOP is not about governing, but winning elections at any cost to the nation and people. Let's take a look at these differences and what, if any hope lies with the Democratic Party.

The alleged sexual crimes committed against children at Penn State have been called sexual abuse and scandal. They are in fact, alleged crimes and torture of children. They are heinous, if the allegations are true. Outside an institution with a reputation and integrity to protect, almost any witness to such crime would call the police. Inside institutions of repute, however, too many such crimes against women, men, and children, go unreported, and covered up. Are our institutions more important than the innocent people harassed, abused, or even tortured, within them? So far, the answer seems to be, yes.

"To destroy this invisible Government, to dissolve the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics is the first task of the statesmanship of the day." --Theodore Roosevelt. 

There is a general perception among the majority of Americans today that our political system is corrupt and our government is failing as a result. Most recently, the Occupy Wall Street demonstrators speak to the very same kind of corruption which Theodore Roosevelt spoke of back in the 1920's. When government legalizes bribery and blackmail, these do not cease to be acts of corruption. This is precisely what has taken place in American government and politics, corrupting our system to the point of growing demonstrations in our American streets.

The Occupy Wall Street movement has gone viral. The core of the movement is centered on the singular perception that it is not healthy for the nation, or majority of Americans, if 1% of the population controls the economy for their own benefit, while the other 99% experience declines in their financial and employment status. It is a perception that is nearly impossible to argue against with a straight face. Where is this movement going, however?

American voters and their democracy are under attack, as politicians seek to change election rules to benefit incumbents, regardless of the will of the majority of voters. America's workers are under attack as American corporations and companies, who contribute to election campaigns in record amounts, seek cheaper labor overseas. America's political system is broken. And it is ruining the the government which made this nation great. If voters do not remove these politicians responsible for America's decline, our democracy will be lost, and our vote rendered ever more meaningless.

Many civilizations in history, which failed in the absence of being conquered, faced the same 'Zenith Threat' America faces today. Confronted with the threat of leaving their prosperity zenith behind, their civilization divides. Divided, civilizations fail from within. What divides nation's in the face of a Zenith Threat, is two different ways of knowing and consequent prescriptions. I define these two ways of knowing as empiricists and 'wishful believers'. If 'wishful believers' capture control of the nation's decision making apparatus, that civilization fails. America is currently an example of a nation in the throes of a Zenith Threat, with its divisive and hence, potentially negative consequences.
 

We knew it from polls dating back to the Bush Administration which indicated the majority of Americans supported the Public Option for health care reform, Medicare cannot be politically, eliminated. Why Rep. Paul Ryan and the GOP chose to ignore that public reality, and put forth and pass a Republican bill in the House to get rid of Medicare in favor of a voucher private sector system, can only be answered with one word, Ideology.
 

It is often informative to view lines of history as a tug of war between ideologies or paradigms. Some historians view our political history as a record of the swing of a pendulum from conservative to liberal, and back again. Such has often been the case since the Great Depression and stock market crash of 1929. Replacing it, is a new pragmatism of necessity.

Japan is issuing America due notice! Build new nuclear power plants at your citizen's peril. The message could not be clearer. But, there are powerful money interests intent on proliferating nuclear power in America, nonetheless, and they will be tough to turn down. Let's look at the facts and weigh them against the perils and benefits.

Republicans and Democrats are both pandering away America's future. Who they pander to and for whose benefit, is what distinguishes them from each other.