Let America be America Again
Rarely does a political ad put an election into such clear perspective as Scott Brown’s new ad, "Let America be America Again."
If you haven't seen this piece, it's worth a few moments to see for yourself.
In summary, the message from Senator Brown is that the bi-partisan approach to the American economic system over the past 50 years has dramatically changed under President Obama, and raises the real question of this election: "What do we want America to be?"
In the piece, President after President, Democrats and Republicans - Kennedy, Johnson, Clinton, Ford and Reagan – extol the virtues of the American value of free enterprise, and the special, but unsung, entrepreneurial heroes who have taken the risk of starting a business, creating jobs, building an unmatched economic system, and investing in the future of the nation.
For too long, we had taken this for granted, as if our dynamic economic system was an American "right." We know different today.
Now we have President Obama attacking that very economic system, belittling the risk takers and entrepreneurs, and claiming that government is the real foundation upon which the American economy and individual success are based.
It's a startling claim – and strongly seconded by Elizabeth Warren – because it is so distinctly opposed to the values upon which America was founded, and from which the nation has prospered. More significantly, it represents a complete reversal of the mainstream Democrat values and expectations of all Americans so iconically declared by JFK in his 1960 inaugural address.
Over 50 years have passed since then, and the country is now in a far different place. Many people are wondering, "How did we get here?" and more importantly, "Is this where we want America to be?"
This is why the upcoming election is first, last and only all about President Obama, and his vision for the future of America:
- It’s not about whether you "like" him or not, it’s about whether you agree with his view of the American economic system with its dependency on government, and not the 43 Presidents who preceded him.
- It's whether you believe in the greatness of free enterprise, or believe that the people should be increasingly subjugated by, and indentured to government.
- It's about whether you see the freedom of the individual as an inalienable right, or that you are more comfortable with increasing government limits on individual achievement.
- It’s about whether you really want a country where "We the people" are to be served by government, or if you prefer a government-centric state free to increasingly confiscate and redistribute your personal property.
- It's about whether you see equality of opportunity as synonymous with guaranteed equality of result, earned or unearned.
My last three blogs have focused on Unenrolled voters and their need to focus on the real issue ("What do we want America to be for our children and grandchildren?"), and not the silly and distracting sideshows and negative ads that insult and deceive us, and pollute the entire election process.
What it all comes down to is this, Presidents and other elected officials can, and often should be replaced.
America cannot.
So, what do you want America to be?
Senator Brown says, "Let America be America Again."
What do you say?
FindBalance
5:13 pm on Monday, July 30, 2012
I'm the first comment? I guess no one can argue with what you are saying, Jim!
Jim Hatherley
9:29 pm on Monday, July 30, 2012
Thanks, Find Balance, but I read these comments in reverse order and I can assure you that this is sadly not so. Read on.
Jim Rizoli
6:15 pm on Monday, July 30, 2012
America will NEVER be America again because it's been sold out! Keep dreaming!
You can talk to yourselves until you're blue in the face..... two many special interest groups getting things to go their way, and laughing all the way to the bank as they spend OUR money.
When you finally see WHY things are the way they are then you will understand that
mans attempt to make it better falls way short of the goal every time.
There was a movie out some time ago called "They Live" and it had to do with creepy characters walking on the earth who took control of things. You couldn't see them unless you had these special glasses.
Once you had the special glasses then you saw these creepy controllers and you were in a better position to fight them.
I can honestly say I now see the unseen, and all the politicians who talk all the talk, are just part of the game, they are just being controlled by the creepy people who are in control. If you want to have the answers go to my website and watch my cable shows. The people causing the problems in the world are same ones trying to stop my freedom of speech. It's as simple as that!
Would I expect you to understand that right now....not until you out on the special glasses, which is the knowledge and understanding of it all, and how it all works.
Jim@ccfiile.com
Rob Penzke
6:57 pm on Monday, July 30, 2012
J. Rizoli, I agree. Special interest groups, corps, banks are the ones that run the country. The American voters were sold out a long time a go. Read the story about the M1 Abrams tank...The Pentagon doesn't need to do the refurbish and is trying to save $3 billion. General Dynamics is lobbying congress so that the refurb is done. 3000 of those tanks are sitting in storage at a California base.
Jim Hatherley
9:31 pm on Monday, July 30, 2012
Jim, thank you for this but I think I need some help with the translation.
FindBalance
9:07 am on Tuesday, July 31, 2012
I don't disagree with you, Jim R. Too many special interest groups (that include Unions, Rob) lobbying the govt to tilt the playing field in their favor, all at the expense of the taxpayer. On top of that, the govt itself makes the rules by which we all must live, and enforces them as they see fit; over time, bias and power corrupt people in govt, at the expense of the citizenry. It can be very discouraging.
But still, in America there is the best chance at reversing these trends to favor individual rights and responsibilities again. It requires getting back to limiting the power of the govt, and ensuring the checks and balances are in place, something of which there is little in our state govt, and away from which we are moving in the federal govt. We have to try.
Rob, I'd like to refine your statement that special interest groups (including Unions), corps, and banks run the country - they do not. The govt runs the country, but these lobbyists have undo access and influence with the govt. And I believe there is a lesser of evils here - corps and banks are the far lesser evil than a govt that has too much power.
Dave Lenane
7:29 pm on Monday, July 30, 2012
I hate to use a clip from TV to make a point. But Jim asked what I wanted America to be again. I ask that you take 5 minutes and watch this clip. It could not be more spot on. I Love this Country! But can we say we are the GREATEST anymore? We could be!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YI7Oq8y-jXA
Jim Hatherley
9:43 pm on Monday, July 30, 2012
Thanks Dave, I have seen this clip twice before and it is pretty riveting. Somewhere along the way America stopped doing big things and got mired in social issues and trying to satisfy every victim's group that whined loud enough to get a politician's attention. We see this in the current campaign. The issue is what do we want America to be, but the pols want to talk about free birth control, Romney's wealth, Obama's birthplace, and which side is the greater job outsourcer. The Jeff Daniels character is very harsh on the co-ed and the colleges as though the colleges are more eager to raise and collect tuitions and fees than educate the students, and the students do not feel the need to be challenged to learn as long as they get a degree. Perhaps this kind of blunt trauma is what is needed to begin getting us back on track.
Rob Penzke
10:13 pm on Monday, July 30, 2012
Spot-on!!
Jim Rizoli
7:41 pm on Monday, July 30, 2012
Great Clip!
He said....paraphrase.....We have to first admit what the problem is.
People are too busy with the "Bread and Circus" and have no clue what's going on.
The ship is sinking and most people are more concerned what the dinner is on the top deck. Find out who the man behind the curtain is..... then go from there.
And most important.... don't Shoot the messenger.
Jim@ccfiile.com
Jim Hatherley
10:31 pm on Monday, July 30, 2012
Thanks Rob, and this is where we are in our every American gets a trophy world, earned or unearned. Curiously, I am watching the Olympics and there are a few lessons here:
- Only winners get gold medals, even if everyone tries hard
- The gymnast who was sobbing because she was eliminated from the finals in the all around event was simply out performed, even though she was a reigning champion. Lots of tears and even some complaints that the system is "unfair" ... Is this a metaphor for America that will be a future Daniels' monologue? Sad to say, but probably yes - unless the athlete rebounds from her sorrow and delivers a winning performance in an event.
Jim Rizoli
12:09 am on Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Jim H....Sorry to say.....You just don't get it.
Some more good speeches.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKgowKOLfCU
Jim@ccfiile.com
Jim Hatherley
7:05 am on Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Jim, thanks again, and I am here to learn, otherwise I would not do something as questionably intelligent as to publicly present my political viewpoints and serve as a pinata for opposing views. Rather than some vague movie references and "vaguer you don't get it" comments, perhaps you can tell me what I am missing? I hope it is not the conspiratorial view that lobbyists and special interests and money have corrupted the government and bought the politicians because that view blows past healthy skepticism which we all should have toward government and gets you into raw cynicism, which discounts the ability of the people to defeat incumbents. I realize that in Massachusetts, most Bay State voters continually elect Democrats which can be very frustrating (to me), but when we look around the Country, and at the 2010 elections, we saw many States reverse their 2008 votes. So help out a fellow Jim, Jim, and tell us all what I don't get, and thanks.
Margaret Estes
12:09 am on Tuesday, July 31, 2012
I am puzzled at how helping out people with little or no means is being "un"American? If I have more money than someone who I know is struggling, I reach out to them and help them. That is what I call American, or shall I just rephrase it and call it what it really is...being human. Something we may want to consider the next time you criticize folks who are helping others that are down on their luck! Let us all be a little bit more human! Not everyone has the chance to grow up in a caring, loving and nurturing environment that will provide a path to success Jim. Not everyone has the same opportunities in America. And yes, I will vote for Elizabeth Warren, a woman who is true to her convictions, not just saying what the constituents want to hear when the time suits her.
Jim Hatherley
6:50 am on Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Margaret, thank you very much for your comment, and I am going to tell you that I agree with you. We should be temporarily helping people who are down on their luck. But government cannot be the solution to every problem. Thirty years ago 6% of the people qualified for welfare, now it is 35%. Why is this? It's because once government becomes involved, politicians and lawyers and advocacy groups are magnetically drawn to the money. Good intentions become over-cost programs in which gaming (e.g., defrauding) is rewarded, and those opposed excoriated for beining unhuman. This is just not sustainable as Europe has learned and we are learning with a soon-to-be $16T debt to be paid by future generations. I appreciate your concern and belief that the Democrats and Eliz Warren reflect your values. However, if a fellow Democrat gratuitously rang your doorbell and asked that you contribute to the National Debt, would you even give them a moment, let alone $50,000 as your "share"? I am being a little absurd to make my point - it is much more complicated and expensive than just labeling people as unhuman.
PREDATOR
7:23 am on Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Margaret: The answer is in your own post.....you have the answer but are just not seeing it. Charity is a great thing and should be praised as such by society. However, the government taking from me, essentially at the end of a barrel of a gun, is an entirely different subject and is not germane to the subject or either humanity or charity.
Concerned Citizen
7:53 am on Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Jim,
I agree with Scott Brown's add, "Let America Be America Again." It has become an internet phenomenon with over 800,000 viewings. People are energized by Scott, because he is the real deal, and he truly loves America. And he can wear the Red Sox jacket, because he "is" an authentic fan. He was recently reported to be the second most bipartisan U.S. Senator in the nation, which is what we need to get the country's business done. Read his book, "Against All Odds," and you will be impressed by what he overcame to be the successful person he is today. Elizabeth Warren's childhood was a piece of cake compared to Scott's. Scott's "can do" positive personality is what we need in Washington not the anger and polarization of Elizabeth Warren.
Ben Jackson
9:53 am on Tuesday, July 31, 2012
And Scott Brown's campaign staff hopping onto the comments as "concerned citizen." Listen, staffer, the TOS here require first and last names be used. So do political ethics - not that this is something in which Mr. Brown would be versed.
UglyHat
11:53 am on Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Yeah Concerned Citizen and Chris L. and others…According to the Democrats you must positively identify yourself when you comment about elections, but not when you participate in them.
Scott Estes
6:48 pm on Tuesday, July 31, 2012
thank goodness we have an authentic red sox fan running for senate cause clearly that is the most important prerequisite for being successful in this job
Chris L.
8:56 pm on Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Well, actually Scott, funny you should say that. You should ask Martha Coakley what can happen when you shun Sox fans during an election year. If I recall, she was too good to stand outside Fenway and do a meet and greet, which is why we're having the discussion about BROWN'S Senate seat, not hers. (to be fair, Coakley had a long list of missteps that led to her defeat, this is just the one most germane to our discussion).
David Nolta
3:08 pm on Wednesday, August 1, 2012
UglyHat--just a brief aside, and with the best of intentions (which is bound to cause me trouble), but why not drop the stereotyping of "the Democrats"? Haven't I expressed my support of your anonymity? At great length, and repeatedly, on this very site.
FindBalance
9:07 am on Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Margaret - Jim H and Predator are spot on. I would add to their points...
Charity through govt ends in govt with too much power, which never works out well for the citizenry, because power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Charity through personal choice is better.
Govt programs turn into "feeding a person day-by-day", rather than "teaching them to fish", and is a disincentive to work on your own behalf.
Chris L.
9:07 am on Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Thanks to the Democrats latest stunt, this upcoming election will now boil down to 2 topics:
1. the economy
2. gay marriage
If this election is basically going to be a national referendum of the 2, Obama is out. Remember, the people of California got to vote on gay marriage, and they shot it down. Add those voters in to those still disillusioned about the economy, and you can see that California is going to be a microcosm for what is going to happen across America on election day. (except of course, here in MA).
Jim Hatherley
11:35 am on Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Chris, thanks for the clarification. I was thinking that the Democrats were positing that the election was about free birth control, free choice, and the fact the Romney is wealthy, hence an inherently an unfair person.
Chris L.
9:24 pm on Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Well, Jim, we know that's what they WANT you to think the election is about. I would think that most people, if asked to use the tried and true election year litmus test, would answer that they are NOT better off than they were 4 years ago. And if they are, most likely not due to any of the current administration's policies.
Ben Jackson
9:52 am on Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Jim writes: "the bi-partisan approach to the American economic system over the past 50 years has dramatically changed under President Obama."
What a preposterous argument.
Remember when the GOP shut down the government during the Clinton years? Twice? There's a reasonable synopsis here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_federal_government_shutdown_of_1995_and_1996
This intense partisanship began in earnest under President Regan (who many conservatives canonize, but who would not be allowed into the GOP of today), and became the way congress operates under the Gingrich Speakership following the "Republican Revolution" of 1994. The misguided and poorly named "Contract With America" set the stage for the divisive, entrenched, and immutable party-line positions that are still in force today.
Combine that with Grover Norquist and his anti-American, dangerous requirement that every GOP legislator sign a "no tax pledge" and his vehement corporate and financial targeting of those who either refuse to sign the pledge or who agree to chagne tax laws - even to let "temporary" tax cuts expire serves only to exacerbate the problem, hamstringing the country on the backs of the poor and the middle class, only to ensure the perpetual wealth of the wealthy.
The short memory and revisionist history rampant in the GOP is evident in your post. I can only hope these same traits will lead to its undoing.
Jim Hatherley
11:35 am on Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Ben, thanks for adding tot he conversation, even if I disagree. As I vividly recall the Clinton days, his first two years were a disaster as he tried to ram Hillarycare through Congress etc. This led to the rejection of the Dems in 1994 (sound familiar), and the advent of Gingrich. Say what you will about him, but he was tough and determined. Say what I will about Clinton, but he was smart and adaptable. Together they put through balanced budgets and created government surpluses - for which both still take credit. We do not have that dynamic today, and if you don't think that Obama is a completely different Democrat than his predecessors, then there little more I can add. Let me just leave it there ... apart from saying that Obama is no Clinton, however badly he stained the Presidency.
FindBalance
2:23 pm on Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Geez - talk about revisionist history, Ben...
Chris L.
11:35 am on Tuesday, July 31, 2012
@Ben....Sorry, this is directly from the Terms of Use: "We encourage, but do not require, that the user name you provide be your real name."
Chris L.
12:27 pm on Tuesday, July 31, 2012
I suppose in the face of overwhelming evidence that disputes his position, we shan't be hearing of the Terms of Use argument anymore.....
Ben Jackson
2:14 pm on Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Fair enough. The Patch TOS did formerly require display names to be the same as the personal names. I retract the TOS argument.
However, I still posit that any member of a campaign staff - including volunteers - should identify themselves as such when commenting in support of their candidate. The poster, laughably self-identified as "concerened citizen" is so clearly a Brown plant as to be ridiculous. It should identify itself as such.
Chris L.
2:18 pm on Tuesday, July 31, 2012
And what do you base this on? No offense to Patch...they haven't been around for very long, but if you were a Brown "plant", wouldn't you be focused on the sites with more visibility?
Your accusation is laughable.
Theresa
11:35 am on Tuesday, July 31, 2012
@ Chris L. I agree. But what is more astounding is that Barney Frank led the crusade to make same-sex marriage part of the Democratic Party platform. In one fell swoop, they alienated all the Catholic and most Christian voters. Is that really where they want to take the Democratic Party? YES!
How important was it to see Ray Flynn endorse Scott Brown? HUGE. The Catholic vote will go to Scott, not the liberal non-practising Catholic vote. Bye bye Lizzy.
The same-sex marriage election talking point is a ruse to draw attention away from the mandates in the healthcare bill forcing Christians to pay for birth control and abortions. The Progressive Liberal Far-Left Democrats are trying to release the hold up of their future plans in their party line by minimizing our religious freedoms. Once the Democrats rid themselves of the religious anchor, they will be free to show us all how 'hope and change', was code for communism. They want the cradle to grave entitlements with massive government expansion. They can't get their if the middle-class holds on to their guns and religion.
Jim Hatherley
12:01 pm on Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Theresa, I do not recall seeing your name on one of my blogs before, but welcome, and thanks for adding to the conversation. Still, as said in the blog, this election is all about Obama and if you agree with his view of America, free enterprise, and increasing indenture to government. I personally cannot understand why anyone would want to trade their freedom and liberty for government dependency - and all the nonsense that Obama is attempting to foist on America (that you list). Have we grown so complacent as a Nation that Taking has become a stronger virtue than Giving? Entitlement Nation just does not work. We need to stop whining and start working.
Jim Rizoli
11:35 am on Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Jim H....There was a time I thought I could change the uber liberal thinking here in Framingham. I ran for public office several times. I actually thought there had to be some people here with common sense. There are quite a few by they don't vote. The Democratic inbreeding is so deep here that conservatives like myself and most likely you are outnumbered by quite a bit.
So you can talk until your blue in the face to these folks and even if what you say makes perfectly good sense they will vote the party which is pretty much a Socialist
Anti-God, agenda.
In regards to your not "getting it"...it's because you have this Cinderella viewpoint that the Republicans are any better. In some ways they are but whoever gets in are
still and always will be answerable to AIPAC and the small 100,000 minority that runs the show. Romney is showing his AIPAC side of now. They all do at some point along the way.
My website spells it out but no one will dare to take me up on it because they can refute anything I say with logic. Too truthful and to the point.
So when you come down off your cloud and really start understand what's going on in the political field you will see we as America are doomed.
The liberal Anti-God Anti-American movement runs the show especially here in Framingham and overall Mass.
So I now have my say with my cable two shows and videos that I do.
How long that will go on until the opposes come against me who knows.
Jim@ccfiile.com
Jim Hatherley
12:01 pm on Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Jim, OK, thnis helps me understand and thank you. Perhaps I am too naive, but here's my deal. I sat around complaining about Obama and the Democrats and MA politics until one day I determined that this was doing nobody any good unless I attempted to change someone else's mindset and behavior. When I joined the Republican Town Committee I found a number of other people who were doing the same thing. If there are a few here, there are many more out there and I am using this tool to try and reach them. If I did nothing I would be no better than all the so-called victim's and whiners and complainers who feel entitled to whatever they need, and the responsibility to pay as little for it as they can get away with. People like me want to be heard for a change and not be drowned out by government that does not live within its means and has become overly intrusive, increasingly confiscatory, and grossly redistributive. Thanks for the clarification, and I hope I have added the same for you.
Dan Fredonia
1:31 pm on Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Jim Rizoli, you said, "....There was a time I thought I could change the uber liberal thinking here in Framingham. I ran for public office several times. I actually thought there had to be some people here with common sense."
Ummm...I don't think that the people that YOU describe as having "common sense" would ever vote for a person who thinks:
A. That israel had a hand in 9/11
B. That the Holocaust's Jewish death numbers were wrong and that there WERE NO GAS CHAMBERS.
C. That it's ok to be on the side of the Westboro Baptist Church.
Please do NOT attribute those who didn't vote for you as NOT having "common sense"....they are FAR from that. A vote against you was basically a vote for not only common sense, but basic sense.
You also said, "The Democratic inbreeding is so deep here that conservatives like myself and most likely you are outnumbered by quite a bit. "
Now I'm not a conservative myself (middle of the road, actually) but I think you are really doing conservatives a disservice when you join together YOUR view of "conservatism" and those of "other" conservatives. Basically, don't speak for them. You are in a (no) class of your own.
Now why don't you just go ahead and tell me that neither I nor anyone else has disputed your "facts" and blah blah blah (broken record ad nausium).
By the way, you and your brother sid that if you wern't elected then Framingham would go down the tubes.
IT'S STILL HERE....SORRY.
Jim Hatherley
2:14 pm on Tuesday, July 31, 2012
OK then. This is my blog and I would urge future respondents to please return to its original context, "What Do We Want America To Be?"
Michael Gelbwasser
2:20 pm on Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Hey folks ... Please focus on Jim's topic. Patch questions/concerns should be directed to me. Thanks.
Jim Hatherley
2:40 pm on Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Ben, now that we are on track about the terms of use etc., let me share something that I have found out as a result of writing a provocative political blog ... you never know who will comment, or if anyone will comment. As you can see, I am plainly identified, so I am not tricking anyone. However, I have had quite a few people come at me very hard, and some repeatedly. Were they plants? Who knows? I just take the comments as they come to me and try to politely dialogue, as I did with you earlier. All the best.
Jim Rizoli
4:02 pm on Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Dan....My beliefs are what they are you can't dispute them logically.
Those points aren't the topic for conversation here but thanks for bringing them up maybe some here will go to my website and do some more investigating.
In regards to Framingham.....LOL It's a hell hole.
Everyone knows it but are too afraid to admit it.
Jim@ccfiile.com
Jim Hatherley
6:17 pm on Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Dan, please don't take the bait - do it on another blog.
Michael Gelbwasser
8:01 pm on Tuesday, July 31, 2012
A reminder: please stay on topic. Personal attacks are frowned upon.
Joe Rizoli
7:26 am on Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Hey Dan, we have a surprise for you. When people go off topic we go to youtube heheheheheh
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8EEuZLjuaE
Joe Rizoli
Concerned Citizen
7:33 am on Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Ben,
I am flattered by your accusation, but for the record, I'm not a Scott Brown "staffer" or "plant." I just believe in Scott Brown's vision for America and think he deserves to be re-elected, because he has been so effective thus far. And MA is in desperate need of a balanced government, not more of the same, which is what we will get with Elizabeth Warren.
Dan Fredonia
9:55 am on Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Oh, no bait to be taken here......just happy to expose the Rizolis to people who don't fully know of their ignorance.....(and just so you know, Jim R....the three of your beliefs i mentioned above do NOT make people go to your website....it actaully REPELS them from you and your brother).
so I've done my job here! as Joe would say, "hehehehe".....
Joe Rizoli
12:02 pm on Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Dan, like you know about people and how they go to web sites. Jim basically exposed your nonsense. You're the typical person who believes the propaganda forced fed to them for 70 yrs. by other people of nonsense. Anytime you want to have a nice talk the phone number is on the web site.
Oh that's right you didn't go to the web site, after all, you wouldn't want to educate youself would we?
We have found that most people don't have the intellectual fortitude for a discussion anyway. Was a time the newspaper came after us like you with the same nonsense to "expose" us but they learned their lesson.
Any writer worth his weight in gold knows the topic would get the writer fired if we had a forum. You seem to have learned your lesson here. Any other silliness with nonsense that you believe would gladly be discussed by email. Jim leaves his. Mines, Rizolitv at gmail.com
Joe Rizoli
Michael Gelbwasser
12:04 pm on Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Folks ... The personal attacks need to calm down. Ridiculing people doesn't advance the debate, on this or any other topic. Please stay on topic.
Jim Rizoli
12:11 pm on Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Dan...You like to think they don't go to my website....
Jim@ccfiile.com
Jim Hatherley
6:59 pm on Wednesday, August 1, 2012
To Dan and the Rizolis, you have essentially co-opted my blog with your off the topic feuding. Please prepare your own blogs and allow people to post in, or take up the invitation to discuss via private email. However, since 5 of the last 8 comments involve your feud - with two "warnings" from the administrator to cease - you have essentially derailed a good dialogue on an important subject. Given the time and thought that I have put into the blog I can assure you that I do not appreciate this at all. Perhaps new posters will get this blog back on track ... "What do you want America to be?"
Dave Lenane
7:11 pm on Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Jim...I have really enjoyed your posts. They are very informative! I hope that you continue! I am a Republican as well, but I try not to vote strictly along Party lines. I want America to go back to be a country that produces goods, promotes tolerance, and is aware of the concerns of its citizens. Hope that makes sense!
Jim Hatherley
7:44 pm on Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Dave, thank you very much. What you say makes a lot of sense, however, I would enlarge your list. We the people let government off too easily, as if we have become so accustomed to so little that we do not believe they can or will deliver what the Country needs. For instance, would you want government to begin living within its means?
Kim Poness
7:50 pm on Wednesday, August 1, 2012
@Dave - ditto (except for the "I'm a Republican" part), though you said it MUCH more succinctly than I did.
Michael Gelbwasser
7:11 pm on Wednesday, August 1, 2012
OK, everyone, I need the back-and-forth personal stuff to stop.
And if someone feels that another poster is attacking them, I need to know. And the person telling me about it shouldn't reply to the post. It just fuels the problem.
I'm concerned the dart-throwing is discouraging other people from commenting, for fear they'll get in the middle.
I hope this is clear. Anyone with questions needs to contact me.
Kim Poness
7:29 pm on Wednesday, August 1, 2012
@Jim - to bring this conversation back to the subject, Uncomfortable as I am with the choices, I can say with almost 100% certainty that Scott Brown will get my vote. I can't vote for an ultra-liberal, just as I can't vote for an ultra-conservative. When it comes to voting for our President, though, I just cannot choose someone who believes that taking certain of my rights as a woman (what are now my rights) away from me, and denying access to what I consider to be very basic women's healthcare choices. I just can't do it. Given my history, that’s just a dealbreaker for me.
What do I want America to be? I want America to be a place where a (non-union) factory worker can again earn a living, buy a modest home, and care for his family. I want America to be a place that gives its poor a helping hand, not where handouts become a way of life. I want America to be a place where not everyone has to work in a corporate office to be “successful”. I want America to be a place where families are able to take care of their own. But I also want an America where the wealthy give back to the country that gave them the opportunity to be where they are (I make the distinction here – the government didn’t allow them to be financially successful, the country did – do you see the difference?).
Jim Hatherley
7:50 pm on Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Kim, thank you for getting this discussion back on subject. I appreciate that more than you can imagine. I am naturally delighted with your thoughts about Scott Brown. I mmight say that Democrats whio cannot vote for Senator Brown will never vote for a Republican since he has angered so many Republicans with his not so conservative voting record. If we had 100 Scott Browns we would all be better off (in my view). As to the Presidential race, everyone must prioritize their issues. The one you cite is not on my list (not surprisingly), but I get it. I would go to more conservative fiscal management first.
And yet, when you say what you want America to be, you appear to be a Scott Brown Republican (even on your main issue).
Thanks again for commenting on my blogs.
Kim Poness
8:08 pm on Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Thanks, Jim. I dropped out of the conversation on your last blog out of . . . oh my goodness . . . I think it was laziness. I'll have to go back and look, but someone provided counterpoints to my points, and I never got around to researching them, which I really should, because I think the poster was right. But that's off-topic. Many of my Republican friends forward what is nothing more than propaganda, while you provide thought-provoking questions and verifiable facts. You make it difficult not to pay attention, and I thank you for that. My problem still remains that I am fiscally conservative and socially liberal (really only in terms of women's issues and same sex marriage), which makes voting a real challenge. I'm terrified for the next presidential election. I can't vote for Obama for fear that we'll go broke. I don't think he's evil, I just think that he's swung the pendulum way too far to the left, and it backfired badly. I can't vote for Romney for fear that my rights will be stripped away, and the interests of what used to be the backbone of this country - the middle class, the "goods producers" to echo Dave L. - will take a backseat to the interests of the ultra rich and corporations. I've seen the effects of outsourcing positions like IT, AP, etc., and I just can't see how that benefits anyone other than stockholders.
Jim Rizoli
7:33 pm on Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Kim....I think you're talking about another country....
Jim@ccfiile.com
Kim Poness
7:56 pm on Wednesday, August 1, 2012
@Jim H. - I want the government to look at its pocketbook as I look at mine. If I can't afford it, I don't buy it (okay, if I'm being honest, sometimes I do buy it). For example, and on a very personal note, I owed a decent sum of money to the IRS, which meant that I can't get my upstairs bathroom re-done, or my front porch re-done, or my house re-sided, or the upstairs spare bedroom re-painted and carpeted, until that debt is paid off. Do I want these things? You bet. Do I want to add more debt to my personal books? You bet I don't. In all honesty, I think of what I would leave behind if something happened to me. And I don't want to saddle my husband or my children with excess debt. I want my government to think in those terms. BUT I also want them to respect my rights and choices as a woman. It's a conundrum, to be sure.
Jim Hatherley
8:42 pm on Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Kim, your openness is very compelling, and I thank you for sharing. What you are expressing is a sense of financial maturity that is lacking in government. People typically have debt, for whatever reason, good and bad. At some point they must make a choice - enlarge the debt or change their behavior. Too many are addicted to spending and we all know what happens as a result.
It seems to me that you can control your woman's issues more than you can control the out of control spending in Washington, but that"s me. You are worried about what you would leave to your family ... why can't the Congress worry what we are leaving to future generations? Very irresponsible - and an important issue in the election as the voters decide what they want America to be. Thanks again.
Joe Rizoli
9:59 pm on Wednesday, August 1, 2012
What I want America to be and where it is headed like a freight train are two different topics.
America has been hijacked. The fact that our politicians have succumbed to foreign policies not in the interest of America will bankrupt us and doom us. Until we get America back to where people have some type of ethical standards, some type of moral turpitude to stand up against those who have taken over our newspapers, our media with their filth and crap, not to mention the fact that America shouldn't be in ANY foreign wars and lastly, and probably not something some are going to like and that is, America needs to tell Israel to go to hell.
You end the wars defending Israel and have all that money put back into AMERICAS pockets, withdraw all troops overseas, take the monies out of the military budget and put it back into AMERICA.
Lastly, make people respect rule of law, read the illegal aliens the riot act and those that hire them and want them to stay here and give them one option. When the illegals are deported take these traitors with them, including Duval Patrick, Mayor Menino, and most of our City and towns politicians, Selectmen and town meeting members, with the Police Chiefs and probably most of the police forces. Put God fearing, upright AMERICANS in these jobs. That's what I want for America. You asked, that's what I'm telling you.
Joe Rizoli
Jim Hatherley
10:35 pm on Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Joe, this is exactly what I was asking and precisely what you delivered. You did not specifically get into the main focus of the Brown ad ... that Obama's view of the free enterprise system is drastically different from his 43 predecessors, but I am sensing that you would agree with the Senator about that. While I agree with most all of your wishes for America, I am sure that your post will generate a new round of comments. Thanks for that - you have expanded the conversation.
David Nolta
11:20 pm on Wednesday, August 1, 2012
When you call for "moral turpitude" you are in fact calling for degeneracy--this is not a spelling error, but a far more serious and very telling indication of your disregard for logic, clarity, and a minimal respect for accuracy and education. Deval Patrick is not a traitor. But I truly believe that Karl Rove and Dick Cheney were, and under any of the presidents Jim is nostalgic for, they would have been tried as such. Jim H., your latest essay is, as one would expect, nicely-written and provocative, but you might--I mean this in the friendliest way imaginable--want to be careful about what you identify as expansive. Honestly, I have your interests at heart here, though I continue to disagree with most of what you say--for example, I find that President Obama is very much in the Kennedy tradition of caring for the disenfranchised via his support for civil rights and social programs And there were a LOT of bad things about the America many of you romanticize and miss--there was great injustice, mistreatment of minorities, injustice to women, exploitation of the poor, hegemonic and self-serving tax laws which benefitted the rich, etc. So many of these things still exist, which is perhaps why the Republican candidate looks as liberal, after all, as he does, and why Obama remains the only choice for those who work so hard to keep this country the America we love.
Jim Hatherley
7:39 am on Thursday, August 2, 2012
David, thank you for the compliment which I appreciate very much. Here's where I would take some exception. Since JFK there have been 50 years of affirmative action (State sponsored discrimination), an alleged, but grossly expensive/expansive, war on poverty, Title iX, ADA, tons of social legislation etc., etc., as we continue to talk as if all of these entitlements had never occurred, or that there was no obligation to move forward in a self sustaining mode as a result. Instead, all this has done is create a dependency on government free stuff which we cannot afford, and a walk-on-eggshell culture that requires political correctness and not candor. Instead of appealing to the highest common denominator, we are fooling ourselves by thinking we can succeed in a global environment by lowering standards. In the past 50 years this Country has gone off the track in terms of virtue and values and morality, and the concept of ME vs. We. Not liking Obama is not racist as too many want to claim, it a statement that the President is about setting the course and leading. I believe he has set the wrong path and has failed to lead.
Joe Rizoli
1:56 pm on Thursday, August 2, 2012
Thanks you David for correcting my bad choice of words. It should have been moral "fortitude", in other words, courage to stand up to all the things I mentioned.
Since you bring up Kennedy I though it might be interesting how he would have felt about Illegal Immigration the way we have it now. When Kennedy lived I always thought that he was in favor of EUROPEAN immigration. I really don't think he would have fallen for the South American tidal wave we have now.
His brother Ted was completly naive when he was behind the 1965 immigration Act. Everything he stated that was NOT to happen happened. So thta's why as to that issue I have that opinion.
Joe Rizoli
Joe Rizoli
7:40 am on Friday, August 3, 2012
One more point that Jim R had in a video link on famous speeches. JFK gave a speech that I believe ultimately lead to his death. That speech exposed secret conspiracies, a media takeover, a Governmental conspiracy that is going on right now.
It also, I believe talked about the connection we have to foreign influence in our Government that hasn't gotten any better, that is the Israeli power in America.
All this talk about Republicans, Democrats bla bla bla is just giving you all opportunity to blow off stream, keep you busy thinking you can change things, but in reality our country has been hijacked by evil wicked men who through the means that Kennedy had talked about control our future.
Romney showed us who really runs America by visiting Israel. His visit there wasn't for no reason. WHY would An America running for president vist Israel? Think about it.
Those are the players in Americas future people. What Israel did to Romney is what The Pope does to people that vist Rome. They made Romney kiss israel's ring, or should I really bluntly say israel's a@@.
Unless America kowtowers to Israel NO president will be in office. If he is in office long enough to expose all of this then those in control, as Kennedy mentioned, will do there best to fix things their way. That's my take of all this politics stuff. It's not the fluff you all are talking about. It's the real deal.
We are living the movie The Truman Show.
Joe Rizoli
Colleen S.
11:43 am on Wednesday, September 26, 2012
"Let America Be America Again" is the title of a poem by Langston Hughes. I wonder if Scott Brown knows that.