"The Man From Bloomfield Hills"

From Selling Daddy

Enjoy and share this short video.  

Paul Ryan and the Irrelevance of Truth

I know the Republican presidential nominee spoke last night; however,  I'll be stuck in Ryan's speech if I don't speak out about it.   I see that even Fox News contributor Sally Kohn has called it what it was, and it's a rare event when a Fox contributor calls out any Republican for misrepresentation of the truth!  Her piece is worth checking out. http://www.foxnews.com/.

Now to what I want to share:  When Paul Ryan took the microphone at the Lakewood Airport Friday morning, I hoped he might come clean about some of the inaccuracies in his Convention speech.  (Help me out here:  If we know a statement is inaccurate, and we say it as if it’s factual, isn’t that a lie?)  So far no corrections.  I know, I know.  Their campaign announced a few days ago that they won’t be influenced by fact checkers; Ryan’s speech showed they meant it!

Ryan condemned the President for not accepting the Simpson-Bowles Commission’s recommendations.  Truth is, Ryan was ON that panel himself and voted AGAINST the recommendations!  No way to square that.   He also blamed the President for the Country’s lowered credit rating, even though the rating agencies themselves pointed to squabbling Republicans in Congress as the ones responsible for the downgrade.

Although there were other inaccuracies, specifics aren’t coming back to me at the moment.  However, we do know, and Paul Ryan knows, the GM plant in his Wisconsin hometown closed while President Bush was in the White House and not on President Obama's watch as he said at the Convention and on other occasions. Mr. Ryan had to know the  things I mentioned above were absolutely untrue; yet he went on to mislead voters who, unlike me, are not political junkies who keep tabs on this kind of thing; some of them probably took his words as truth.  After all, he's a clean-cut young man who espouses "values."  Voters, you might want to do your own fact-checking or plug in to non-partisan groups who check both campaigns for accuracy.  For all the “values” talk, apparently Mr. Ryan doesn’t value truth-telling.

The Quick Skinny - Picture Worth More Than 1,000 Words

From the Mouth of Susan B. Anthony

Thoughts on Poverty

                                             (from the Pragmatic Progressive on Facebook)


Mr. Romney,  you probably haven't seen poverty up close.  Not your fault, really.  You probably don't hang out where the impoverished tend to go.  Your cars likely take routes that run through the high-end neighborhoods; you're not likely to have many "poor folks" sightings that way.  Depending on which of your homes is the return destination, an elevator might take the car "above it all" with you.  I know it's hard to relate to the idea that extreme poverty exists.  It does.  It's epidemic.

Just so you know,  poverty rarely happens because the poor are "lazy" or don't want to work.   Contrary to what many of your fellow Republicans choose to believe, the "safety net" is not a hammock.  For the life of me I can't understand why so many Republicans are downright contemptuous of the poor.  (I heard someone say that TV interviews with the Romneys look like scenes from "The Help"... yep.  They don't seem real crazy about being questioned by the well-heeled media either. You can almost hear them thinking You people . . . .)  Where, oh where, is the compassion your faith teaches?  I rarely see evidence of it.

A Republican friend— I have 2, maybe 3, from the rational wing of the GOP—shared his reason for supporting Romney.  We were relaxing in his luxurious primary residence in a beautiful gated community.   He said if President Obama is re-elected his  taxes will go up. Yep, that's the main consideration! (Ever wondered how the people who scream the loudest about "paying down the debt" are so unwilling to pony up for doing that?)  It was a hard conversation to have with that "country club Republican."  His label, not mine.  I love him, only wish he could see that he has far more material "stuff" than he or his family will ever need.  Why would he mind contributing to the greater good of others through fair taxation?

I see myself as extremely fortunate, even though I live on a fixed income; if Romney is elected, my taxes will go up.  My friend's will not.  And yet that's the very last thing I worry about.  What concerns me far more is the lack of compassion I see in the GOP candidates—along with intolerance, their eagerness to "roll back regulations" on banks, industries that pollute Planet Earth, and for sure those bothersome inspections of food, water, and air that might take away a smidgen from the corporate bottom line.  The fact that they'd like to do away with the Department of Education. Do they understand that not everyone can afford private schools?  Of course they do; that's the point!   I won't even go into the attitude toward women.  They're all for "less government"— except where women's bodies are concerned. 

Let's race to the front of the line in November to vote a second term for President Obama.  Better yet, if your local Republican officials haven't restricted early voting, that would be the way to go.  We don't have the luxury of sitting this one out, my friends.   Let's  V O T E and encourage others to do the same! 

Fox Saves A Life

I'd come back from the dead to change the channel!

(from the Pragmatic Progressive on Facebook)

Flag Day

Took this photo yesterday, June 14, 2012—thus, the flag planted in the palm container.  We Liberals are patriots, too!  (C'mon, y'all, it's a tiny porch, so a smallish flag.)  I'm grateful to all our troops for serving under it and to their families for huge sacrifices, as well. Sometimes the ultimate sacrifice. 

Remedy for Dumbing-Down of America?

Lack of interest in critical thinking and exploring new thoughts and ideas is escalating.  At the same time, the Fox-watching Kool-aid drinkers in the populace scorn those who engage in critical thinking and intellectual debate.  By that I mean reason-based discussion rather than reactive shouting matches.
I'm not at all sure "education" as we have defined it for centuries can remedy this problem; my own brain cells are still at rest this Sunday morning.  However, it's something I'll be pondering as soon as I can bear the weight of it. Again.  Meanwhile, I liked this image of a world of books posted by The Pragmatic Progressive on Facebook.  Since we progressives are more about sharing for the good of all and less about acclaim and accumulating mind-boggling wealth at the expense of others, I believe TPP will forgive me for sharing so many of their great FB posts here at Lucy Left.  May you live well and prosper (but please promise not to get greedy in the process).

Photo from the Pragmatic Progressive

 I love waking up knowing Barack Obama is my President.

He's listening.   Even if he's taking a 3-second power nap,  he'll remember what this child was saying.  The man is a championship multi-tasker!

Obama 2012?

Ohhhhhhhh Yes!

On Corporations and Government - Go Figure!

My Cuz Joe Lyles said this so well on Facebook that I asked for permission to share it here:

Multi-national corporations move jobs offshore, ask for bailouts when they take too much risk and fail, bribe foreign officials, repossess homes, lie in advertising, pay their executives obscene amounts of pay & benefits, pollute our world, screw their shareholders, addict us to deadly cigarettes, sell us defective products, make tons of money on weapons and we hate the Government? 

It's unfortunate that people seem to resent Gov't regulations, no matter how reasonable, yet don't mind being manipulated by business. People hate to be told that they can't drive their trucks on the turtle nests in the sand dunes, for example, but don't mind being unable to buy a truck that gets good gas mileage or protects them in a wreck from serious injury. Go figure!

Couldn't Resist

Last Facebook post I'm sharing today!

From the Pragmatic Progressive

Timely Quote

Love this from Clarence Darrow: 

    “A criminal is a person with predatory instincts without sufficient capital to form a corporation.”

Observation During 2012 Republican Primaries

The Republican presidential candidates have impressed me tremendously with their histories of ethical flexibility.  

President Obama isn't always where I wish he were on policy.  I don't agree with him every time on every issue.  But I know he's far and away more ethical, intelligent, compassionate, industrious and energetic than the entire Republican field.  He also walks the "family values" walk, understanding that families come in a variety of packages — all beautiful when wrapped with love.

  He has my vote.  And he has earned my respect!