The Tea Party Has Sucked The "Soul Out Of The GOP"

The Tea Party Has Sucked The Soul Out Of The GOP!

The Tea Party has a major hold on the Republican Party. Let’s take a moment to close our eyes and think of a cigar smoke-filled room in a local Georgetown bar. The time is early November in the year 2008. Inside this room are some of the most influential members of the Republican Party with many of their deep-pocketed supporters. Then comes the historic proclamation for the first time in the history of these United States: a person of color by the name of Barack Obama is declared the winner of the presidential election. What happens next has been widely reported and from the perfect vision of hindsight, the only word that was spoken was short and sweet and to the point, “Obstructionism”.

Regardless of its harmful effects, the Republicans, led by the radicalized Tea Party faction began what was a full-scale attempt to block every legislative initiative put forth by this President. Even if it were policies, that were at some time prior supported by the Republican Party. In short, if Obama was for it,  they were against it. Within this struggle, the main pushback from the GOP was over the Affordable Care Act, which at some point was coined Obamacare. To many,this was an offensive racial slur itself.

With the election of Barack Obama, we saw the emergence of a so-called grassroots movement known as the Tea Party. This group attack President Obama claiming he was not born in the USA. He was a Muslim. Obama was Hitler reincarnated. These Tea Party radicals claimed Obama was the " Anti-Christ."

Fast forward, the time is early November 2012. The Affordable Care Act is the law of the land.  And, after much compromise and litigation to the highest court of the land, and, more importantly put to the people of this nation, Barack Obama was re-elected President of these United States. With the Republican party now being called the “party of ‘no,'” drastic action was in order. This point has not been widely reported, but many have suggested that these same aforementioned Republican adherents gathered once again. The order of the day from this gathering became very clear get rid of Obamacare or shut the government down.

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“Tea Party Republicans and their rich supporters have sucked the last bit of soul from the Grand Old Party of Abraham Lincoln, turning them first delusional, then rabid, with the aid of conservative mouthpieces like Fox News and "multi-millionaire fabulous’" Rush Limbaugh."[Bill Moyers]

Moyers added:

“At least let's name this for what it is sabotage of the democratic process. Secession by another means, and let's be clear about where such reckless ambition leads. As surely as night must follow day, the alternative to democracy is worse. When the president refused to buckle to their extortion, they threw their tantrum. Like the die-hards of the racist South a century and a half ago, who would destroy the Union before giving up their slaves, so would these people burn the place down, sink the ship of state, and sow economic chaos to get their way.”

We heard all kinds of terms during the shutdown sabotage, hostage, terrorism, ransom, “gun held to our heads,” and yes, finally, sedition. However, there is one term that comes to this writers mind radicalization. First, what is radicalization? Radicalization simply means to make radical. The measures the extreme right took to defund Obamacare to the point of a government shutdown is the very essence of radicalization. To call what happened "Sedition" may fall a bit short, in that the keyword for there to be sedition is " A force." With that said, however, there has been a force not of violent radicalization least not yet but one of ideologically based violence. Ideologically Based Violence is the planned use, or threatened use of force or violence by a group or individual to promote the group or individual’s political, religious, or social beliefs. With many News outlets spewing misinformation and the onslaught of social media one of the chief concerns is that this type of ideology can bring one to violence and give birth to homegrown terrorist organizations that many have labeled the current Tea Party.

In keeping with Mr. Moyers’ sentiments. The Tea Party has “sucked the soul from the GOP,” everything I have written here and then some should give us pause to ask just what does that mean over and beyond shutting down the government. Many are concerned that this radicalization that we see that has mostly for now been more of the ideological nature. Evolve to a more violent radicalization that would empower homegrown terrorist groups. Who would, in fact, use violence and threat of violence, which does involve force that would then constitute sedition. Let’s all give the energy of thought that cooler heads will prevail and that we don’t see this type of behavior from our citizens.

Progressive Radio Host David Pakman Filed The Following Report One Year Ago.

The American Dream Has Been Hijacked By The Capitalists

As a kid growing up in rural North Carolina, I often remember hearing the term ” The American Dream.” It brought  a vision of a white house with a white picket fence, with Mommy and sister Suzy playing homemaker inside the house while father and son played pitch and catch in the backyard with the family pet barking for attention. What a utopia setting it brought to my mind. We were Americans fighting for what was right and fair and a sense of community filled the air. Democracy was the way, and Communism was the evil society trying to destroy our way of life. I distinctly remember people would leave their front doors to their houses unlocked and the keys to the family car in the ignition. What happened? The American Dream has been hijacked by the capitalists and their thirst for profits. Two quotes come to mind with the end of this dream:

Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell. – Edward Abbey

A growing nation is the greatest Ponzi game ever contrived. – Paul Samuelson

Capitalism is Killing Democracy 

Our roles in a market economy and democracy have slipped by the wayside. It is our responsibility to a congruent society to participate in keeping our democratic traditions vibrant while keeping our markets and political mechanisms from running wild.

Free markets were supposed to lead to free societies. Instead, today’s supercharged global economy is eroding the power of the people in democracies around the globe. Welcome to a world where … government takes a back seat to big business. …(Robert Riech)

There was always this misconception that if capitalism flourished so would our democratic principles and way of life. Today in this new age of vulture capitalism we see this is not the case. In fact, we see the very opposite. Capitalism… is thriving, while democracy is struggling to keep up. China, for example, over the years has transitioned into free-markets but not political freedom. There are other countries like Mexico and Russia who claim they are democracies but like the Untied States have allowed elitists and corporations to hijack the politicians who in turn limit government's capacity to adjust and address the concerns of its citizenry.

Though free markets have brought unprecedented prosperity to many, they have been accompanied by widening inequalities…, heightened job insecurity, and environmental hazards such as global warming.

The side-effect of this has been an alarming equality gap that has splintered the nations’ democracies around the world, including that of the United States. A representative democracy is designed to allow citizens to deal with these inequalities in a structured, balanced way. However, this has not been the reality, and most people feel a sense of powerlessness that is on the rise in all the world’s democracies. What we are seeing around the world and here in America is the failure of the trickle-down economic theory that reared its ugly head back during the Reagan years and an uncompromising collective pride to admit it was a mistake.

No democratic nation is effectively coping with capitalism’s negative side effects.

Capitalism is an economic system in which trade, industry and the means of production are controlled by private owners with the goal of making profits in a market economy.( Wiki)

The real function of capitalism is to expand the economic pie. Nothing more, nothing less. The role of democracy [government] is to allow citizens through public discourse and their elected officials to collectively determine how that economic pie is to be divided and determine what rules should apply to both the private good and the public good. Nowadays, due to several mitigating factors these choices are being left to the markets. We The People need to take immediate action and task ourselves to delineate the role of global capitalism versus democracy. The free-marketeers have clearly shown a cavalier attitude towards democracy and have created a survival of the fittest mentality and let the losers fend for themselves. Corporations have treated this like a game but unlike most games they have created one who plays by no rules. We The People must ensure that there are rules and guidelines for these corporations to go by and adhere to, who now have the advantage of being treated as a person, with the knowledge that there will be repercussions for not doing so.

It has become all so clear that if the main function of capitalism is to allow corporations to play the markets with earnest zeal we must as citizens challenge ourselves to stop these modern-day economic entities parading as persons from being the writers of their rules.  If not, the question of the growing inequality in America will only get worst. We The People, living in a democratic form of government,  can counteract this  capitalistic conquer all approach culture. The cost to our society and the forever shrinking opportunity to actualize the American dream is at stake. However, due to our lack of interest and our feelings of helplessness, we continue to allow corporations and companies through their battalions of  lobbyists, public relations, and now special interest Super-Pacs like Citizens United and others, to walk the dog all over us while pretending to be acting for the public good. The bottom line over and again has proved that these business entities only desire to maximize profits with little to no consideration for the common public good.

Why is this? We The People have become disabled from the democratic process largely due to the ever-increasing influence of money in our political sphere. Greater sums of money are flowing into the process with a bribe here and a kickback there. This behavior has resulted in laws being passed that have created an atmosphere of imbalance. This reality has created, for lack of term, an ”arms race” for political influence that has suffocated the voice of the everyday citizen.

The purpose of democracy is to accomplish ends we cannot achieve as individuals.

This truism has been circumvented and cannot be utilized because of the ever-increasing influx of money into the political process. This influx of money has allowed these business entities to advance their agendas while leaving most of us to stand in line waiting for some imaginary trickle down effect to meretriciously manifest itself.  In the meantime, we are seeing growing job insecurity, widening of inequality and the destroying of our environment.

In closing, this writer feels compelled to implore all of the citizens of democracies all over the world to rise and let your disdain for this cancer on our democracy be heard. Silence is not golden here it is a detriment. We The People have within us, collectively, the power to reduce this social cost to the fabric of our societies. We must take our roles as citizens seriously. The very first step, which is the most difficult, is to get our thinking straight by realizing, The American Dream Has Been Hijacked By The Capitalists.

  

The Repackaging Of The Fascist Playbook

Just like Joseph Goebbels, who headed the Nazi propaganda machine, present day pundits like Alex Jones, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, and politicians like Ron Paul are making the same claims today as did Goebbels in Nazi Germany.


There seems to be a growing reality concerning the Libertarian and Tea Party movements in this country and can best be summed up in a phrase, “conspiracy nut balls.” While claiming to be all about freedom and liberty, any fair evaluation of their agenda tells a much deeper and darker story. These groups seem to stay up nights trying to erode our civil right to live a quality life. Moreover, their platform would have us barely existing, languishing in debt. They have been successful in many regions of this nation, through their highly funded media echo chambers, at taking away many of our social protections and denying the American people the social justice We The People have fought so hard for over the years.

For example, politicians like former Texas Senator Ron Paul and his son Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky), backed by special interest groups funded by the likes of the Koch Brothers, have executed a media campaign to distort and diminish public support for fair social safety net programs. Their delusional anti-government claims of socialism, among others, have deceived and scared and convinced droves of people into believing their government is out to get them and is something much less than  "of, by, and for the people.”

We The People Are The Government.

Not just the wealthy, perfectly healthy, spoiled easy-come trust fund successful entrepreneurs. The Tea Party and Libertarian movements in this country amount to nothing more than Social Darwinism. Their agenda is plutocracy. They demonize government as evil. They demonize groups of citizens with the intent to divide and conquer. All in all, this is nothing more than the repackaging of the Fascist playbook. Just like we saw in the late 1930’s and early 1940’s. With unconstitutional overreach by the Judicial branch, which upheld the claim money as free speech and corporate person-hood, we have seen this type behavior before from the Anarcho-Capitalist Corporatism of Nazi Germany. 

In these modern times, we see advocates and pundits like Ron Paul, Alex Jones, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, and Lou Dobbs put on their Joseph Goebbels mask spewing all sorts of conspiracy propaganda lies against all types of groups and minorities. All  these people are doing is propagating the desires of the wealthiest people in our country and the world like the Koch Brothers. These reckless capitalist want nothing more than to have all forms of regulation out of their midst. Just like the Nazi, they disdain the chronically ill, poor, disabled and out of work Americans. They embrace voter suppression laws for they know their leverage goes up if the voter turnouts are low. Disabled, welfare poor people are nothing more than parasites that should do nothing more than fend for themselves.

In today’s society, the Nazi propaganda takes the form from the pamphlets of old to conspiracy websites, radio talk shows, cable news and now social media Facebook pages. Just like in Nazi Germany, in the 1930’s and 40’s, we see the demoralization of vast segments of our citizenry. The Tea Party crowd, as well as the so-called Libertarians, have blamed people’s economic despair on everything but their failed austerity policies. Groups like liberals, socialist, immigrants, freemasons, minorities have all been targeted.

The Tea Party, GOP and the Libertarians know their agenda is a minority viewpoint. Just like in Germany, they understand they have no shot of gaining influence in a unified America. They understand that their only chance of getting their platform in practice is to cause a polarization of the American people. By using prejudice and institutional racism as their weapons, they have attempted and with much success to split this country into small groups just like the Nazi did in WWII Europe.

We The People must realize that this massively funded propaganda attack has a purpose.

Who stands to benefit from this propaganda? Is it the middle-class? Is it the moderate and working poor? No, it’s the corporations and the elitist who need We The People out of their business so they can run their enterprise to the detriment of our environment, our workforce, all in the name of capitalism and the free markets. This is not a classroom theory this is history repeating itself.  The right-wing, the Libertarians, the Tea Party are using Social Darwinism to demonize and separate groups for the purpose of demonizing them as threats to our country,our culture, our society as threats to our free markets and democracy. It’s scapegoating 101. Just like the Nazi Party, these radical modern-day organizations have waged a war against equality of the person. They don’t want free healthcare for all. They don’t want a good free public education to survive. They have cut programs to the poor, sick, veterans of wars, taxed the middle class while giving huge tax breaks to the upper one percent. These are not theories they are facts. Moreover, they have ostracized groups who have tried to help these segments of our population. Calling them socialists, communists, and have turned the word "liberals" into a pejorative. Name calling is their forte  which they have made into a science.

Don’t Be Swindled By The Hype

Many fell prey to this rhetoric just as many have bought into it hook, line and sinker today in America. Hitler needed suckers as do the Koch Brothers and what better way than to revisit the tactics of a madman who for a time had all of Europe at his feet. They need people to do lots of hard work for cheap and shunned the unions and have fought against the massive inequality that has come to pass in present day America. Matter of fact, it was Unions and Organized labor that were the biggest enemies to the Nazis and  to the Ron Paul’s of this present day. Organized labor demanded fair pay and safe working conditions and other worker benefits. The Tea Party and Libertarians require no minimum wage, no regulation and desire a desperate under-educated demoralized worker.

All the mindless sheep followers of the Tea Party and Libertarians are, is the Aryan Nazis of yesteryear. The Koch Brothers, and others like them, with their Americans for Prosperity, Citizens United, Cato Institute, all born from the John Birch Society genre, have systematically distorted the real facts, and replaced them with lies for decades now.

They abolish the truth by attacking it. They claim it's one big government scheme to take your rights away. Then they create a false reality. Then they tell you what you hear in traditional historical mainstream media and other educational sources is propaganda. The old ” bait and switch.” It's ” Big Brother,” coming to get you. Conspiracy, to hide the truth, planned lies to confuse and deceive us all.

There has been a game-plan with a playbook for decades, now.

This game-plan and subsequent playbook, are their way of brainwashing people, to incite paranoid suspicion, and cause people to lose faith in traditional scientifically well-established academia. Their goal is to get you to question long-held views and realities, all of which have been drawn from easily verifiable accurate authorities in news, science and history.

The Tea Party and Libertarians are anti-intellectuals.

Hitler hated mainstream established knowledge, science, publicly funded schools and institutes of higher learning. He claimed they were bastions of Liberals, Communists, Zionists, and Socialists. Hitler ruled the German people with speeches of hate and lies that these groups were spies trying to deceive the real Aryan German. 

The Tea Party and their Libertarian counterparts have a similar hatred of historical record and facts. They highly question reality and facts. Scientists question reality by using inductive reasoning. But the Tea Party and Libertarians use deductive reasoning. This type of argument is surely not intellectual nor science in any manner. These organizations run on gut feelings based on misguided indoctrination, false assumptions, and faith in preconceived notions no matter their validity or not.

In Nazi Germany, the cost of higher education became so expensive that attendance at these colleges and universities fell some 50%.

One of the bigger topics, in present day America, is the high cost and the coinciding debt that is associated with getting a good education today. What better way to brainwash people with conspiracies, than to keep people dumb and too poor  to be able to get an affordable public education. Then hammer away in their Koch Brothers media echo chambers that getting a great education from public schools and universities is not needed cause there nothing more than enclaves of Socialism.

In this writer's viewpoint, the real conspiracy is the far-right's push against getting a college education and anti-intellectualism. Just last election cycle we saw this from radical presidential candidate Rick Santorum a Tea Party type of guy.

Just like Joseph Goebbels, who headed the Nazi propaganda machine, present day pundits like Alex Jones, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, and politicians like Ron Paul are making the same claims today as did Goebbels did in Nazi Germany. They claim that the two-party system is broken and, in fact, a scam. They even claim that traditional Republicans are not far-right enough for them and that all Democrats are nothing more than liberal socialists. Just like the Nazis, they hate any government-run or funded anything (except the military, of course).

The Tea Party and Libertarians hate government, they claim the IRS, welfare, regulations, taxes and the Federal Reserve and Keynesian economics are nothing more than socialist, communist plots. Fear-mongering is their order of the day and the base of their playbook. This is where all claims by these radical far-right groups of valuing freedom of speech, freedom of expression, equality and other liberties they defend and fight for fall apart when put under a close study. When you inductively and rationally examine their ideology, economics, and theories, you find a huge disconnect with what these do in practice.

In fact, in most cases, they inhibit and weaken and destroy these very liberties and freedoms. In this year there will be much debate on which direction America should take and this writer would suggest examining the issues to look at your motivations and why you think as you do and make an honest evaluation as to how you came to that view and most importantly participate because there are factions who do not want you to and are spending huge sums of money to discourage you from doing so. What we are seeing in practice  from the Tea Party, Libertarians, and the radical far-right Koch Brothers funded think tanks, is the repackaging of the Fascist playbook.

To The Christian Right, Nelson Mandela Was A Terrorist

Nelson Mandela's life was an example for all of us to follow. The entire world  mourned  his death, we rejoice in his spirit and may it give us all renewed strength never to give up. These were my feelings back in Dec 6, 2013 during the time of his passing and are the feelings I share to this very day. America, we have a far-reaching problem Religious Extremism in any form is self-destructive, unproductive, and dangerous.


To many in America, Nelson Mandela was a terrorist. As we have learned, the Radical Right, Christian Zealots and Dominionist are on a political/theocracy witch hunt to this very day as they were throughout Nelson Mandela life.

American Right Wingers and Christian Zealots labeled Mandela, a terrorist.

The History

The African National Conference [ANC] relationship with the U.S. has been a complicated one. The U.S. has not always supported the efforts of the ANC to gain their freedom from oppression. There were many conservative groups and Christian right groups that had strong lobbies in Washington, D.C. while in the 1980’s who urged Congress, not to give any aid to the anti-apartheid cause.

The George W. Bush administration removed  Mandela from the terrorist watch list imposed by Reagan just prior to Mandela receiving the Nobel Peace Prize on his 90th birthday in 2008. Even so, some Republicans supported the Mandela movement — 21 Republican senators voted to sustain the Reagan veto.[See Article] 

Despite a growing international movement to topple apartheid in the 1980’s, President Ronald Reagan maintained a close alliance with South African government that was showing no signs of serious reform. And the Reagan administration demonized opponents of apartheid, most notably the African National Congress, as dangerous and pro-communist. Reagan’s bill to impose sanctions on South Africa was overruled by Congress.[See Source] One could argue that this issue along with abortion [social problems] was the genesis of the modern-day influence of the “Christian Right ‘ in the political mix. However,  the man we know as Nelson Mandela confounds the passage of time, and his legacy will endure in the hearts of all the people of the world. Where there is such a parallel is the close resemblance of the tactics used by the South African apartheid government and that of the “Jim Crow” southern states. What raises this writer’s eyebrows is the trend in those same southern states to regress back to the “Jim Crow” era.

Rev. Jerry Falwell

Republican VP Dick Cheney labeled the ANC as a “terrorist organization.”  The Christian right front  has been vocal in opposition to Nelson Mandela and his ANC group directing the flock to write their congressman and senators to oppose sanctions against the apartheid South African government. Notably, Christian right patriarch Jerry Falwell commented:

"South Africa is torn by civil unrest, instigated primarily by Communist-sponsored people who are capitalizing on the many legitimate grievances created by apartheid, unemployment and policy confrontations."

Pat Robertson

In 1986, the 700 Club did a series of reports on South Africa and the white government’s struggle against the African National Congress. While many socially liberal religious leaders decried the apartheid regime, Robertson openly supported it because he felt that it was a bastion against communism. For Robertson, everything else was secondary to defeating what he saw as the enemies of God. Robertson sent a copy of The 700 Club program to Freedom Council’s Dick Thompson to have it forwarded to Pat Buchanan, who in turn promised to show it to the president. Reagan’s attitude toward South Africa was one of his most controversial foreign policy stands, and Robertson was one of Reagan’s few allies on the policy.

Those same forces that have been at work since the influx of the “George Wallace Democrats” over civil rights legislation and now the evangelicals spurred on by the Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson 700 Club, and others all who deemed this very much-loved “soldier of love” man a communist terrorist are the same identities of today who have done nothing but obstruct and demonize President Obama. The same ones that called Martin Luther King, Jr. a Communist, home-grown terrorist, and urged Hoover to put him under FBI surveillance.

The George Wallace Crowd Are " Alive  & Well"

The Religious Right Dreams Of Turning America Into A Christian Nation.

Claire Conner

This does NOT mean keeping “one nation under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance and “In God We Trust” in our money. Turning America into a Christian nation is a sinister, dangerous effort to make America into a theocracy governed by strict biblical law.
The religious right has been building a base of support for this concept of theocracy since the 1970s when Francis Schaeffer activated the evangelical right to take up the cause of Christianizing the United States. Day after day, some right-wing politician claims direct, personal communication with God. Today it's Mike Huckabee. .
Huckabee is part of, or at least sympathetic to, the Dominionist movement-a subset of evangelical theology that envisions an America ruled by Christians and governed by biblical law.
Dominionism was founded by and promulgated by Rousas John Rushdoony. This stern, rigid theocrat, who lead the Christian Reconstructionist

Movement, had a close personal friendship with Robert Welch, the founder of the John Birch Society.
Rushdoony said that he admired the John Birch Society but never became a member.
“Welch always saw things in terms of conspiracy,” Rushdoony explained, “and I always see things in terms of sin. ”
In my book, Wrapped in the Flag, I write about Rushdoony. Here’s a snippet from Chapter 16, “Carrying the Cross.”

Rousas John Rushdoony

In his magnum opus, Institutes of Biblical Law,’ published in 1973, Rushdoony described the Old Testament laws that would be the backbone of the new justice system in a Christian America, along with the punishments he envisioned for those who broke them. Criminals would be burned at the stake, hanged and stoned, depending on their sins. The folks facing such punishment included gays, blasphemers, unchaste women, and incorrigible juvenile delinquents. Of course, doctors providing abortions and their patients would also be executed.
John Rushdoony understood that it would take time and hard work to bring his vision for America to fruition. He saw HOME SCHOOLING as the way to “train up a generation of people who know that this is no religious neutrality, no neutral law, no neutral education, and no neutral civil government.

"It was Rushdoony who first urged Christians to take “dominion over the land as the Bible commanded them to do.”

Ron Paul

Ron Paul, the former Congressman from Texas and a John Birch Society favorite, ripped a page from Rushdoony’s playbook and published his own home school curriculum. To get things rolling, he hired Gary North to write and market the program.
Gary North, the son-in-law of Rushdoony, sounds just like his father-in-law when he talks about schooling. “So let us be blunt about it,” says Gary North. “We must use the doctrine of religious liberty to gain independence for Christian schools until we train up a generation of people who know that there is no religious neutrality, no neutral law, no neutral education, and no neutral civil government.
Then they will get busy in constructing a Bible-based social, political and religious order which finally denies the religious liberty of the enemies of God.”
When you read about Ron Paul’s home school curriculum and trace its ideas back to Rushdoony, you’ll understand why Ron Paul is such a dangerous man.
When you hear the term “Dominionists,” know that these are NOT just Christians; these people intend to turn the US into a replay of the Spanish Inquisition, this time run by radical evangelicals.
This fusion of radical right wing politics and radical right wing religion has been fueled by Robert Welch, John Rushdoony, Gary North, and Ron Paul along with a cadre of radical right-wing evangelicals.
I’m terrified by these zealots. They are the most dangerous kind. They believe they are chosen by God to bring America under the boot of the Old Testament.

Claire Conner Spells It Out With A Front Row Seat  in her book ''Wrapped In The Flag.''

View More of Claire's Work

Discourse Unplugged with Johnny Hill

STOP THE MADNESS!!!!!

From House Member DeAnn Padelo

Discourse Unplugged with Johnny Hill #2

The day of the bird is history. Great for us, not so great for the turkey. The House of Public Discourse has much to be grateful for this Thanksgiving weekend. I have been overwhelmed and overjoyed by the awesome, real, and quality associations I have made this year with all of you. However, as a person where the holiday season was a depressing time of year, let us not forget those who hurt inside no reason the wherefores.

Let's Be Thankful For What We Got. 

Voices From The House?

What is angering me is how many businesses are boarding up in surrounding areas of Ferguson now. I do not blame them, but what this is doing to the livelihoods of hundreds of innocent people is astounding! And of course, with the holidays upon us, timing couldn't be worse. What are people thinking? [HOPD Staff Editior Bev Cowling]

For Some, The Holiday's Are Just Another Day In Paradise.

Voices From The House. 

If you are a Christian and you don’t like the “separation of church and state,” then that means that you are unhappy with the Constitution that you so vehemently defend when it aligns with your beliefs. So let me ask you this: what other parts of the Constitution do you want to change? What else doesn’t align with your beliefs? Because if we start changing it to accommodate you, you can no longer claim that you’re working from the mindset of Constitutionalism and patriotism.

Indeed, the Constitution was created as a living document that could be amended. So when you “take our country back,” what else are you going to change about the fundamental basis upon which our nation was founded?[ Friend of House: Pauline Polly Risteau]

From The Streets Of The House

Everyone meet Marty. He just a man on the streets in my neighborhood. Marty is a proud man. Marty is a smart man. Marty has issues. Marty needs medical attention both physically and mentally. Marty is homeless. But mostly, Marty is a person.

Hi my name is Marty and I am somebody

We Are  Only  Humans Born To Make Mistakes!

Discourse Unplugged with Johnny Hill #1

The House 

May The House Come To Order. 

Hello friends,  I finally have time to share and be with you fine peeps. It may be getting cold outside, but we are turning up the heat in the House of Public Discourse. Johnny Hill makes no bones about his passion for covering politics. We all have a shot being at least a drop in the bucket, and collectively these drops could become a flood to perfect positive change. When you peel back all the rhetoric, we find that nobody knows the answers, nobody has a solution, it's the makings of a bloody revolution to our troubled evolution. As One Nation Under A Groove we find melody and music to convey our message of just get down for the funk of it attitude and mindset. And, just like Sting sang about many of us were at one time Englishmen In New York. 

But, right now, I find a message in this classic jam by the group Chicago simply entitled: Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? 

 then came : The Police

We Were All Immigrants At Some Point Except Those Brought Here Against Their Will!!!!!

Something from Tom

Don't Vote Don't Bitch, Why Americans Fail To Vote!

Two-Thirds Say Special Interests Control Elections.

 Why do so many registered voters in America fail to vote? In California, a survey was conducted by the California Voter Foundation.[CVF] In a statewide study attitudes on infrequent voters and citizens eligible but unregistered was undertaken. This study was one of the first to shed light on the voter apathy in America.

Voting Takes To Long And I Hate Standing In Long Lines.

Is it not ironic how people will camp overnight to buy a pair of Jordon's or a new IPhone but to exercise one right to vote is too cumbersome.  These same people will not wait 30 minutes to express their vote for prospective government leaders. Does it take to long to vote? What is too long? Based on the House of Public Discourse research into this question revealed this is more an excuse than a reality. [See Article ] 

Just Don't Have The Time.  

The CVF study found that 28% of  "once an awhile." voters and 23% of qualified unregistered voters  claimed they were just too busy to engage in the voting process. CVF President Kim Alexander elaborates,

Kim Alexander

“This tells us that many Californians may benefit from more information about the time-saving advantages of early voting and voting by absentee ballot,” Alexander said. Voter registration forms are available in post offices, libraries and DMV offices."[See Source]

Alexander went on to say that the finding of the CVF study could assist campaigns trying to reach sometimes and no-time voters alike. There is a national opinion that our political process has been overwhelmed by special interest. This perception right or wrong has led to a major barrier regarding voter turn-outs.

Moreover, many participants in this study expressed the view that politicians are corrupt and don't care or speak to their needs. What was a bit jolting for this writer is that these same groups of non-voters to the tune of 93% acknowledged that voting was important.

“Civic duty and self-expression provide strong incentives to get potential voters to the polls, despite pervasive cynicism about the influence of special interests,” said Alexander.

The report also indicated that a friend and more so family dictate and influenced  how many infrequent voters decide their choice.[See Article] Not the daily newspaper, cable news, or political ads.  The family indoctrination more than any other factor was a major reason in determining how a person votes to the tune of 68%. The CVF study also brought to light that door to door political campaigning had little to no effect on these non-voters. 51% of non-voters stated that they grew up in families where politics was seldom discussed. 

Non-Voters are young, single, less educated and likely to be of a minority.[See Source]

• 40% of non-voters are under the age of 30.
• Infrequent voters are much more likely to be married than nonvoters, with 50 percent of infrequent voters married compared to only 34 percent of nonvoters.
• 76% of nonvoters have less than a college degree, compared to 61 percent of infrequent voters and 50 percent of frequent voters.
• Among nonvoters, 54 percent are white or Caucasian compared to 60 percent of infrequent voters and 70 percent of frequent voters.

In closing, fresh off a historic low voter participation election in 2014. Where some agencies report 75% of registered Democratic voters failed to cast a ballot one who did vote could make a point, don't vote, don't bitch. When the Republican legislation starts to unravel Obamacare, and millions lose their health coverage don't bitch. When Republicans and the aforementioned special interest groups reduce welfare, and other social safety net programs don't bitch. When the vulture capitalist does away with regulatory safeguards to our environment don't bitch. When Republicans cut the taxes of the wealthy off the backs of the middle-class, don't bitch. When right-wing radical extremist Christian zealots dumb down our education by denying scientific facts don't bitch. When Republicans cut your medicare, and social security benefits don't bitch. When the right-wing military industrial complex pushes for wars around the globe and your son and daughters and grandchildren are killed and wounded by the thousands don't bitch. Lastly, when the Republican Party's economic policies drives this country back into the ditch bank, it was in the last time they held power if you did not vote which is  your only real  means of meaningful direct protest to these issues don't bitch. [Source: Johnny Hill, Author of House of Public Discourse]

Will The Real Rand Paul Please Stand Up!




Rand Paul

" Libertarian" Rand Paul supports a federal bill that would arrest marijuana users. Typically this type of statement from a right-wing Republican would not be newsworthy. However, in the case of known flip-flopper ' any which way the wind blows' politician Rand Paul this is a complete about-face from previous statements made by the senator from Kentucky.



Seems this self-proclaimed Libertarian Republican politician who has positioned himself  as the champion of the anti-government crowd has no problem with big government [Federal Government] from intruding the rights of states to regulate marijuana use.  Matter of fact, he's all for it. Very quietly, as in the " hush of the night," senator Paul supported the Republican-controlled House of Representative's measure called ' Enforce The Law Act." This bill would allow Congress to sue the president for not faithfully enforcing laws. In this case Federal law. The type of rules these so-called Libertarians loathe.

“We write laws and he is just deciding willy-nilly if he likes it he enforces it, if he doesn’t, he won’t enforce it, and we really think he needs to be chastened, rebuked, and told that he needs to obey the constitution,” Paul said. 

This position  is a complete departure from previous comments from Rand Paul where he indicated support for the states to set their terms regarding marijuana use. On March 24, 2013, he[Paul] told Fox News,

“The main thing I’ve said is not to legalize them [marijuana and synthetic recreational drugs] but not to incarcerate people for extended periods of time.” [See Source]



Rep.Bob Goodlatte (R-Va)

Our staff here at the House of Public Discourse are well aware of Rand Paul's knack for playing of words. His base made up mostly of uneducated poor white people, and anti-government and white-supremacist groups don't catch these contradictory statements, or they don't care.

Paul, cannot claim ignorance for this flip-flop. One of the senators that introduced the bill Bob Goodlatte (R-Va) submitted a committee report citing President Barack Obama failure to enforce federal marijuana laws as an example of his federal overreach. 



Back in 2013, the Justice Dept.,[ See Source] proclaimed it would not contest states marijuana laws. According to multiple sources many in Congress, support the president's action or inaction regarding this subject matter.



 Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon)

“It doesn't seem right to me to continue to waste our limited resources punishing people for doing something when it's legal under state law, the majority of Americans want it to be legal, and much more dangerous drugs like heroin are making a comeback,”

This bill passed the House with 228 Republican votes. 181 Democrats voted against the bill. At first, it was doubtful that Rand Paul would have a chance to vote on this with a Democratic majority in the legislature. However, with the results from the 2014 election giving the majority to the Republicans and impeachment of Barack Obama swirling around this bill could and very likely will be revisited. If the bill does come before the senate,  it will be one of those moments that beg the question, " Will The Real Rand Paul Please Stand Up!"