Hello:

Our lovely politicians are trying to scare us. I don't know why. Ain't nothing to be scared of. Or is there? Here's my list, in NO CERTAIN order, of things politicians say we should be scared of. Please REARRANGE them in the order you think they should be in, the scariest at the top. Of course, add any fears I've left off.

1. The jobs are never coming back.

2. Secret money will destroy our democracy.

3. Political correctness.

4. Corporations.

5. The deficit.

6. Illegal drugs.

7. Illegal aliens.

8. The New Black Panther Party.

9. Glenn Beck.

10. Barrack Obama.

11. Communism/marxism.

12. Gays.

13. Welfare.

14. Muslims.

15. Iran/N. Korea/China.

16. Global warming.

17. Secularism.

18. Racism.

19. Our declining education system.

20. Our increasing prison population.

21. The health care law.

22. The stimulus.

23. The bailouts.

24. The investment in GM.

excon

You know, ex, that is a list to be scared of, with all that to focus on it is no wonder your leaders don't have answers, but there are things left off your list you should be scared of, give your politicians time they will find them. I refer to the decision to take quanitative economic measures, that is really scarry, and the decision to keep interest rates low. How come you left off extension of the tax cuts? Increased taxes is always scarry, but then you have to have income before you can be scarred of them. I think you should be scarred of having a lame duck President.

Hey, you should attend the rally to keep fear alive.

Those things are scary, but not as scary as the Cowboys losing Sunday, and going one and FIVE!!

I got no control over any of it anyway, but I am still going to VOTE!! Go Rangers!!

Clete
Excellent point about QE2 . But Ex wouldn't find that scary. He is a gold investor.

My immediate concern is the upcoming lame-duck session. Nothing scarier than a bunch of Dems, who are not coming back in January ,pushing through all types of economy killing legislation before they leave.

The 'Boys play Monday night . The fact that they are in a must win situation concerns me ,but doesn't necessarily scare me. Go Giants!

1. Barrack Obama.
( Hes the top dog at this time. But it seems he's ill equipt to see the forrest through the trees)

2. Communism/marxism.
( socialist leanings )

3. The jobs are never coming back.
( this is true at this point because people are losing jobs and the jobs have changed needing further education and training )

4. Political correctness.
( this can bring us to our knees if we refuse to react to situations because we fear how others will respond without regard to the consequences )

5. Racism.
( not so much a fear as a stirring from the mouths of politicians playing the race card too easily )

6. Our declining education system.
( The world is passing us by on the education platform. We are losing our children through lack of disipline and political correctness )

7. The deficit.
( we need to start figuring out that there are no deep pockets left. )

8. The health care law.
( how in the world can anyone sign something into law and have no idea nor responsibility of it put it into law )

9. Illegal aliens.
( all countries have the right to limit those crossing the boarders and to allow immigration at acceptable levels. No one person or persons should be allowed to jump the line)

8. The New Black Panther Party.
( The fear is that they are allowed to go unchecked and may be controlled by others not in the best interest of the U.S. )

10. Glenn Beck.
( this mans a nutcase - nuff said )

11. The stimulus.
( unfunded mandates are bringing this country to its knees )

12. The bailouts.
( same as above )

13. Our increasing prison population.
( political correctness and the inability of our education system to teach our children that they have control over their destiny is causing a lack of free thinkers forcing persons into situations they have no clue about )

14. Illegal drugs.
( the lure of money and being outside the system is what's keeping this going. It needs to stop )

15. Iran/N. Korea/China.
( china is the largest worry as they have been the deep pockets that have been buying U.S. dollars to keep us afloat )

16. Corporations.
( this isn't a fear but a concern as the flip flopping of our policies is driving many to go outside the country. If you want them back pass the fair tax. )

17. Secret money will destroy our democracy.
( This sounds like new world order kind of thing. If this is in reference to contributions from untrackable sources then yes everything should be laid on the table in a no holds barred fashion without regard to what party or organization it is. )

Here's a view form the outside: if you didn't instill being rich as the ultimate individual goal then a lot of your problems would go away. Greed is killing you. Corporations controlling your politics is killing you.

Cal I would rank China much higher . You mention the purchasing of the debt which while it is a concern ;it makes it in their interest to see a successful US economy .However a declining US plays into their overall global ambitions .

They are a growing hegemon illustrated by their aggressive moves recently against Japan and other nations.

There is evidence that they have expanded their manufactured "shortages " of rare earth minerals that is so important for our high tech and military industries. That makes it a national defense issue.

They are growing their blue water Navy equal to their extraterritorial ambitions.

As Ex implied ,they are very much in the nexus of the nations he described ,and I suspect they are also playing games in AfPakia .They have been investing heavily in Afghanistan (with the encourgagement of Richard Holbrook) ,and have expanded their presence Westward as illustrated by their brutal persecution of the Uighurs and Tibet .

1.The jobs are never coming back.
Then stop the ones we have from leaving, by cutting the loop holes and incentives for companies that outsource for cheap labor with relaxed regulations in places to dumb to know better.

2. Secret money will destroy our democracy.
Then lets stop the secrecy, its really simple, transparency for everybody. Lets see who signed the checks. Lets see who has been outsourcing, and laying people off so they have the cash to but elections, and politicians.

3. Political correctness.I trade this one for just old fashion honesty, and civility.

4. Corporations.Money is power and he that has the money can tell you what YOU are worth. Why is that?

5. The deficit.
Nobody cares about it as long as they get what they want. That’s the deficit in a nutshell. Every one wants a piece of the pie, and only holler about deficits when they don’t get it. Geeeeez!

6. Illegal drugs.
Been around forever, and it’s a lot of cash being made, but if all the drugs were legal, then what changes is who gets the money, and who goes to jail for selling, and using. You can’t tax the dope man, but you can tax the corner marijuana store.

7. Illegal aliens.
Wouldn’t be any if Mexico was a REAL country, but it ain’t, and no fence will stop people from being hungry and desperate. But like all law breakers you do the penalty for breaking the law, get to the back of the line, if you want to do better. The problem is everyone wants to blame a poor immigrant for wanting what we all want, a job, and freedom to pursue your own happiness. Mexico ain’t listening. My solution, invade ‘em, and get some real laws going.

8. The New Black Panther Party.
How can you even be afraid of 6 black guys who ain’t got squat??

9. Glenn Beck.
One white guy who gets paid to jibber jabber, because he gets paid to. He may not drink and drug any more, but still acts like he does. He is a certified idiot, but if that’s your thing, go for it, but don’t follow his lead.

10. Barrack Obama.
He’s trying, but the half of the country that shouts and hollers so loud you can’t hear or see what he is saying. Too bad for that half of the country.

11. Communism/Marxism.
IRRELEVANT, just talking points to distract from the real issues and solutions.

12. Gays.
Gays are people too, and what they do is no more anybodies business than yours is.

13. Welfare.
You got to go somewhere when you get kicked to the curb.

14. Muslims.
Just like Christians, they have nut jobs too!!

15. Iran/N. Korea/China.
Third world countries stuck in the past but want to be first class without co operating with their neighbors. Now they are scary with their idiocy.

16. Global warming.
Leave it to science as there is more to learn, and more facts to understand. At least they recognize the world is a globe, and not a pancake, so that’s progress.
17. Secularism.
The alternative to every ones differing religiosity.

18. Racism.
Ignorance that’s fading fast.

19. Our declining education system.
NEGLECTED for IGNORANCE. Refocus the priorities for our kids and get busy.

20. Our increasing prison population.
A reflection of how much we care about people, and how we address our issues, just lock ‘em up, and not help those that can be helped.

21. The health care law.[/B
]About freakin’t tie, now if people stop hollering we may just be headed in the right direction for future generations.

[B]22. The stimulus.
One third tax relief, one third state aid, and one third jobs bill. Helped everybody in a limited way. More to come.

23. The bailouts.
Necessary, and profitable, now we get money back. Saved the whole darn world from financial collapse.

24. The investment in GM.
Somebody had to do it or the trickle sown effect would have lead to even more unemployment and as it stands the treasury gets a profit from this investment.

No these are not things to fear, but things to keep working on

Ive got a two-fer thanks to the Washington Compost... New Black Panthers and Racism.

The Compost finally did an in depth expose on the case . Taliniman... it is not a matter of fear... it is a matter of justice ,or a racist perception in the Justice Dept. that things that happen to whitey cannot be a racist act.

The story misses some details about the NBP ,things like their virulent ant-semitism (not mentioned on Ex's list despite the fact that there are hundreds more incidents of anti-semitism in the country annually compared to genuine Muslim discrimination... and the fact that they are on record as calling for the murder of “cracker babies in their cribs.”

But eventually the article gets to the meat of the issue... why did the Justice Dept drop the case?

“The Voting Rights Act was passed because people like Bull Connor were hitting people like John Lewis, not the other way around,” said one Justice Department official not authorized to speak publicly, referring to the white Alabama police commissioner who cracked down on civil rights protesters such as Lewis, now a Democratic congressman from Georgia.

washingtonpost.com (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/22/AR2010102206650.html?wprss=rss_print)

I suspect that this attitude permeates within the Justice Dept. What I don't know is if this travesty reaches to the highest levels of the Justice Dept leadership. If what I suspect is true ,the equal protection under the law of whites is flagarently ignored by the bureacracy.

So then the issue goes much deeper than a hand full of thugs intimidating white voters (another Constitutional protection apparently ignored by the Holder Justice Dept. )

If what the Compost reports is true ,then DOJ people in the Voting Rights division like Tom Perez, Julie Fernandes, Loretta King, Steve Rosenbaum and others need to be dismissed as quicly as NPR dismissed Juan Williams . Eric Holder should submit his resignation immediately .

Alleged voter intimidation in Philadelphia
Main article: New Black Panther Party voter intimidation case
During the 2008 presidential election, poll watchers found two New Black Panther militia members outside of a polling place in Philadelphia.[28] One of the two was a credentialed poll watcher, while the other was a New Black Panther member who had brought a police-style nightstick baton. A University of Pennsylvania student, Stephen Robert Morse, was hired by the local Republican Party on behalf of the John McCain presidential campaign to film the incident[29], which was aired on several news outlets throughout the country. Republican poll watcher Chris Hill stated that voters had been complaining about intimidation, while the District Attorney's office stated that they had not been contacted by any voters.[30] The New Black Panther with the nightstick was escorted away by the police.[31][32]

On January 7, 2009, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a civil suit against the New Black Panther Party and three of its members alleging violations of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 over the incident at the Philadelphia polling place. The suit accused members Minister King Samir Shabazz and Jerry Jackson of being outside a polling location wearing the uniform of the New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, and that Shabazz repeatedly brandished a police-style baton weapon.[33] The suit sought an injunction preventing further violations of the Voting Rights Act. After the defendants did not appear for court, a default judgment was entered.[citation needed] On May 29, 2009, the Department of Justice requested and received an injunction against the member who had carried the nightstick, but against the advice of prosecutors who had worked on the case, department superiors ordered the suit dropped against the remaining members. On July 6, 2010, J. Christian Adams, a former lawyer for the Justice Department, testified before the Commission on Civil Rights and alleged that the case was dropped because the Justice Department did not want to protect the civil rights of white people.[34] Abigail Thernstrom, the Republican-appointed vice chairwoman of the Commission, dismissed Adam's allegations saying that the Department's resources were better spent elsewhere, given that the evidence did not meet the "very high" legal standards to support voter intimidation: "After months of hearing, testimony and investigation, no one has produced any actual evidence that any voters were too scared to cast their ballots."[35]

According to an April 23, 2010 press release from the New Black Panther Party, the Philadelphia member involved in the nightstick incident was suspended until January 2010. "The New Black Panther Party made it clear then and now we don't support voter intimidation...Correctly the charges against the entire organization and the chairman were dropped. The actions of one individual cannot be attributed to an entire organization any more than every act of any member of the Catholic Church be charged to the Vatican."[36]

This from Wikipedia, with more facts. Fear may have trumped this up beyond what it deserves, and that's what fear does gets you distracted from facts. What, we should have thrown ONE bad guy in jail, and thrown away the key because conservatives wanted justice? Now that's something to be afraid of.

Did you read the WAPO article ? There is a deeper problem at DOJ than a racist wielding a night stick , It doesn't impress me that the NBP "suspended " the guy.
The question you have to ask yourself is what if this was a
cracker standing at the polling place wielding a baton ? How would that incident be treated by the DOJ ?

I did read your article, and a few others to be exact, and there is a lot of he said, she said, back and forth, but what if is not a fact, and you may have a case in the Ike Brown incident, as this was found.


U.S. District Judge Tom S. Lee ruled that Ike Brown, chairman of the Democratic Executive Committee of Noxubee County, violated the Voting Rights Act by issuing different procedures for collecting and counting absentee ballots from white and black voters. The executive committee, also found liable in the case, is responsible for administering Democratic primaries in the county.

There was "ample direct and circumstantial evidence of an intent to discriminate against white voters which has manifested itself through practices designed to deny and/or dilute the voting rights of white voters in Noxubee County," Lee's ruling said.

Brown, who is black, has been chairman of the committee since 2000. He argued at trial that the government's suit was a perversion of the voting rights law and said it was "preposterous" that the Justice Department would claim that blacks, who faced 135 years of discrimination by whites in the state, are now oppressing whites.

The judge said he will consider a remedy at a later date.

Looks like somebody is handling business, and that's certainly justice, not enough for some, but still justice.

Just a brief comment on Juan Williams firing, you have to hear the entire thing before you figure out the context of it and I think it was a lousy thing to do to a guy who had been there for 10 years. Haven't we learned that sound bits can be edited and facts distorted?

All due respect Tom, a few small incidents hardly levels the playing field for years of discrimination, mistreatment, and intimidation, (voting right specifically, because it still goes on against minorities every time there is an election), and before you get equal, then you have to deal with the whole picture and not just snapshots, without fear.

Truth be told, for every case that a majority wants justice, there are hundred more where a minorities doesn't get justice. When that changes, then we can let go of fear, and just administer justice.

All due respect Tom, a few small incidents hardly levels the playing field for years of discrimination, mistreatment, and intimidation, (voting right specifically, because it still goes on against minorities every time there is an election), and before you get equal, then you have to deal with the whole picture and not just snapshots, without fear.

Truth be told, for every case that a majority wants justice, there are hundred more where a minorities doesn't get justice. When that changes, then we can let go of fear, and just administer justice.
__________________


What you have done is justify the logic behind the DOJ official's statement .If voting rights are violated it is up to the Justice Dept to vigorously investigate the incidences ;regardless of the color ,or if the victim is from the majority.
It cracks me up that people who would chafe and display outrage at similar actions by the majority
Dismiss similar charges as 'aint no big thing ',when the situation is reversed .
I guarantee if this was the reverse the dinosaur enemedia would make it a 24/7 story.

Re Ike Brown... Christopher Coates, a former head of the Department of Justice's Voter Rights Division, testified, “Opposition within the voting section was widespread to taking actions under the Voting Rights Act on behalf of white voters in Noxubee County, Miss.”
http://www.seattlepi.com/politico/427304_politico42676.html

That also speaks volumes about the culture inside the DOJ

My point is you can't get equal justice without the equal, because I can point out that just the cases you pointed out, pales in the number of cases that have not been prosecuted by the same DOJ, against minorities.

Incompetence is hardly reverse racism. I also think its telling that two cases get so much outrage when there are THOUSANDS of others being ignored. Just go state by state and get some perspective. Sounds like the right is stuck on whatever makes its talking points, and to hell with the rest of the facts. Thats not fair or equal.

Voter Intimidation (http://projectvote.org/voter-intimidation.html)

From what I've read and heard there are only 3 things putting us in extreme imminent danger:

1. Teabaggers
2. Republithugs
3. Stupid voters

If it weren't for those, the world could still be saved. That's what I've read and heard at least.

Hello again, Steve:

You've summed it up quite nicely..

excon

You're welcome.

Hello again, Steve;

Here's Jan Brewer. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkxAOuvEgB4) She's STUPID, and she's going to win. What?? SMART voters are going to elect her??

Bwa, ha ha ha.

excon

#1 is Nancy Pelosi.

Now THAT's one scary b*tch or should I say Queen.

You left her off the list... shame on you Exie.

Jihadistan reminded us yesterday they should not be ignored .

Why do you elevate thugs, and murderers to the level of righteous holy warriors? Just because they wrap themselves around their own importance, they are really only the dregs, and mislead thugs, and criminals, led by an American fruitcake.

Not unlike any other band of gangsters who thrive, and flourish among the poor of the world. If there was an actual Jihad, then there would be billions of soldiers, not just the scattered flocks across the world.

Scary as these dudes are, the drug cartels are a lot more scarier. And a lot more vicious.

Yes do nothing about them .That's the answer ! Call off the dogs .Shut down the security screening Let's all go back to 9/10/01 .

What you forget is that it took less than a decade for a small group of ideological thugs and murderers to plunge the world into WWII .

There is nothing rightous in what they do.Nor am I elevating them beyond their stature . But what you see as a criminal enterprise I see as a larger ideological movement that has been with the world in various degrees of intensity since Mohammed walked the earth. It's modern manifestation did not begin with AlQaeda .It began in Egypt with Sayyid Qutb. Nor is jihadistan solely an Al Qaeda enterprise.

I didn't say do NOTHING about them, but you treat them like the thugs they are, round 'em up, and throw them in jail, and throw away the key, so they can not poison, or harm others.

They can rot in jail like the rest of the dangerous criminals in the world. Heck, if they had been doing that all along we would all be better off.

I don't think its helpful to point out Muslim thugs when there are many different ones in the world, like Russian, Brazilian, Columbian, Christian, American,. the list is long, and diverse, and to elevate one over another ignores the bigger problem of dealing with world wide criminals. I mean should I be more worried about the criminals who scare you where you are, or the ones that are here in my part of town?

Maybe we need to stop being scared and get them all where ever they are!!

Evil people go a lot further back than Mohammad my friend, and the middle east is but one place it grows, and festers, every society on earth, through history, has there own terrorists, criminals, and just nasty bad guys to deal with. Ideaology aside, show me the perfect society that has solved the problems that the bad guys represent. Just one will do.

Ideology aside ? The whole point is the ideology .You do understand that the long term goal is not to terrorize for terrorism sake but to achieve a world wide ummah .These guys aren't strapping in homicide vests and becoming martyrs for a criminal enterprise . A campaign to blow up planes is not criminal enterprise .It is war waging and has to be treated as such .

A campaign to blow up planes is not criminal enterprise .It is war waging and has to be treated as such .Hello again, tom:

I don't disagree with your premise. The problem is, it hasn't worked.. Wayyyyy back over 10 years ago, I thought we should have waged war in Afghanistan. I was on board. I was a hawk. I wanted to kick those Jihaddists a$$'s...

Then George W. Bush proceeded to LOSE the war. He got distracted by Iraq. Let me say that AGAIN.. George G. Bush LOST the war in Afghanistan. He even told us, "I don't CARE where Ben Laden is". Then he LOST the Iraq war by paying off the enemy and thinking that was going to work.. I've said that from the git go, and now it's becoming OBVIOUS to even the most ardent Bush supporter...

Like the drug war, the only answer the right wing has to our current FAILURE, is to do MORE of what we FAILED at. Clearly, going in over there was WRONG. We should have LEARNED from the Russians. We didn't. Now, we're going to make war on Yemen, in addition to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and Somalia. And, that's just the BEGINNING... Lebanon is heating up, and oh, yeah, how are we going to handle Iran? Seems to me IRAN is the ONLY beneficiary to our wars.. It's certainly NOT US. Yup. Even YOU can see the error of our ways... It's a quagmire...

Again, like the drug war, what we've started, we can't win... Maybe taking a CRIMINAL approach would have been better... Certainly it would have saved BILLIONS of $$$'s and countless lives... Did I mention, that we're just BEGINNING?? It's time for something else.

excon

PS> Did I mention that the wave of right wingers coming into office are going to double down on the wars EVEN more?? Those would be the "small government" conservatives...

The war between good, and evil has been raging since people dominated the earth. People have been trying to rule the world forever. This is yet another battle, no matter the ideology that spews from their lying mouths. Ideology is the distraction from the real problem of who, and how we destroy the evil (lust for power, and GREED) in man.

While you fear a terrorist from where ever, you let the dope man set up shop right down the street.

Get 'em all, and let their God figure out their ideology. Don't be distracted! I don't ignore the ideology, just see the real enemy.

Jihadistan is always out there crying for attention so which incident are you referring to the bombs or OBL

Ummm the Drug war has been a law enforcement effort. I bet if the cartel bosses were ducking predator strikes they wouldn't gotten so strong.

Yes we have had some stikes inside Yemen. That doesn't mean we are 'making war on Yemen' . The Yemenis don't want AQ training and plotting there .They don't have the means to prevent it.

Believe it or not, I totally agree. Its all about how countries have the ability to enforce there own laws, and the cartels, like the terrorist flourish where there is no enforcement to stop them in their tracks and make life hell for the rest of us.

Yemen, and Mexico could use some drones to help them with enforcement. Yemen has asked for more help, I wonder when will Mexico, or Pakistan for that matter, or Somalia? I could give a rather long list but weak/corrupt/mom existent governments is the root cause of this mess, and helping them enforce their own laws is the answer.

Believe it or not, I totally agree. Its all about how countries have the ability to enforce there own laws, and the cartels, like the terrorist flourish where there is no enforcement to stop them in their tracks and make life hell for the rest of us.

Yemen, and Mexico could use some drones to help them with enforcement. Yemen has asked for more help, I wonder when will Mexico, or Pakistan for that matter, or Somalia? I could give a rather long list but weak/corrupt/mom existent governments is the root cause of this mess, and helping them enforce their own laws is the answer.

As far as Mexico... corruption is so endemic there I honestly believe they (most of those in authority) don't want the drug problem to go away... the lure of the money is too strong. Yemen? Combine Poverty and brainwashing by Islamic leaders with an agenda like much of the Islamic world are taught to believe the very same people who are decieving them the most.