Tea Party and the Occupy Movement

[Gerald Lively]

Recently, there has been a discussion that characterized the Tea Party as “good” and the Occupy movement as “not so good”.  Neither were correct.  What I have done, is draw a comparison of both organizations from the same source for your edification. (Wikipedia)
 
In times of change, we must be especially careful.  An entrenched polarized electorate is always a symptom of social change and we must keep the principle of democracy in mind whenever change arrives.  We cannot or should not abridge the right to dissent or oppress any segment of our society that may seem justified during an emotional moment.  This week in Oakland, the Occupy movement became destructive. That, is wrong.  Yet, it does not mean the message should be lost.  I have lived through the 60’s in the Bay Area and I am keenly aware of the brutality that is nearly traditional among the police departments in Berkeley and Oakland.  It was just last year that a BART policeman shot and killed a young man who was handcuffed and laying passively on his stomach.  The Policeman got a two month sentence.

Back in the 60’s it was the Oakland police who “executed” several Black Panthers, turning that organization into a militant group.

While this does not excuse the Occupy Movement for its destructive behavior, it does explain the protest attitudes in this part of our nation.

If you are patient, please read.  Various philosophies roam throughout this presentation including the cautions on fascism.  Do not confuse philosophy with fair-play.

Gerald
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Fascism will come at the hands of perfectly authentic Americans.
John T. Flynn

I'm afraid, based on my own experience, that fascism will come to America in the name of national security.
Jim Garrison

Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power.
Benito Mussolini
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The Tea Party

Various polls have also probed Tea Party supporters for their views on a variety of political and controversial issues. A University of Washington poll of 1,695 registered voters in the state of Washington reported that 73% of Tea Party supporters disapprove of Obama's policy of engaging with Muslim countries, 88% approve of the controversial immigration law recently enacted in Arizona, 82% do not believe that gay and lesbian couples should have the legal right to marry, and that about 52% believed that "lesbians and gays have too much political power".

More than half (52%) of Tea Party supporters told pollsters for CBS/New York Times that they think their own "income taxes this year are fair". Additionally, a Bloomberg News poll found that Tea Partiers are not against increased government action in all cases. "The ideas that find nearly universal agreement among Tea Party supporters are rather vague," says J. Ann Selzer, the pollster who created the survey. "You would think any idea that involves more government action would be anathema, and that is just not the case."

In advance of a new edition of their book American Grace, David E. Campbell of Notre Dame and Robert D. Putnam of Harvard published in a The New York Times opinion the results of their research into political attitudes, finding that Tea Party supporters had been largely "highly partisan Republicans" (and not "nonpartisan political neophytes"). Additionally, according to Campbell and Putnam, their rank and file is more concerned about "putting God in government" than it is with trying to shrink government.[
After the debt-ceiling crisis, polls became more unfavorable to the Tea Party.  According to a Gallup poll, 28% of adults disapproved of the Tea Party compared to 25% approving, and noted that "[t]he national Tea Party movement appears to have lost some ground in popular support after the blistering debate over raising the nation's debt ceiling in which Tea Party Republicans...fought any compromise on taxes and spending". Similarly, a Pew poll found that 29% of respondents thought Congressional tea party supporters had a negative effect compared to 22% thinking it was a positive effect. It noted that "[t]he new poll also finds that those who followed the debt ceiling debate very closely have more negative views about the impact of the Tea Party than those who followed the issue less closely." A CNN/ORC poll put disapproval at 51% with a 31% approval.

Observers have compared the Tea Party movement to others in U.S. history, finding commonalities with previous populist or nativist movements and third parties such as the Know Nothing party, the John Birch Society,] and the campaigns of Huey Long, Barry Goldwater, George Wallace, and Ross Perot.] Two historians, Steve Fraser and Joshua B. Freeman, have written in Salon.com that the Tea Party movement and anti-immigration movements share a "fear of displacement". ] Historian Jill Lepore has described the movement as a form of "historical fundamentalism", turning the founding into sacred history and rejecting critical academic study of it. U.S. Senator Chris Dodd compared the movement to the Know Nothings, saying it seeks to roll "the clock back to a point in time which they've sort of idealized in their own minds as being a better time in America". Other commentators, like Jacob Heilbrunn and Michael Lind, predict that it will share the short life span of third parties in U.S. history that have faded after altering the political order.

In March 2011 Ronald Schiller, a National Public Radio fundraising executive was secretly recorded during a lunch meeting with two men posing as potential donors. On the recording, Schiller said that he would speak personally, and not for NPR; then he contrasted the fiscally conservative Republican party of old that didn't get involved in people's personal and family lives with "the current Republican Party, in particular the Tea Party, that is fanatically involved in people's personal lives and very fundamental Christian—I wouldn't even call it Christian. It's this weird evangelical kind of move." Schiller said some highly-placed Republicans believed the Republican Party had been hijacked by this radical group, and characterized them as "Islamophobic" and "seriously racist, racist people".

The New York Times reported on August 8, 2009 that organizations opposed to the health insurance reform legislation were urging opponents to be disruptive. It noted that the Tea Party Patriots web site circulated a memo instructing them to "Pack the hall. Yell out and challenge the Rep’s statements early. Get him off his prepared script and agenda. Stand up and shout and sit right back down." The memo continued, "The Rep [representative] should be made to feel that a majority, and if not, a significant portion of at least the audience, opposes the socialist agenda of Washington."

Some Tea party organizers have stated that they look to leftist radical Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals for inspiration. Protesters have also appropriated left-wing imagery; the logo for the 9/12 March on Washington featured a raised fist design that was intended to resemble those used by pro-labor, anti-war, and black power movements of the 1960s.
 
In addition, the slogan "Keep Your Laws Off My Body", usually associated with pro-choice activists, has been seen on signs at tea parties.

There have been a number of allegations of racism, gay-bashing, anti-semitism and other abusive behavior by Tea Party protesters.

On March 16, 2010, at a Tea Party protest in front of the offices of Representative Mary Jo Kilroy, a counter-protester with Parkinson's disease was berated by Chris Reichert of Victorian Village, Ohio and had dollar bills thrown at him with additional protesters also mocking the individual. Reichert initially denied the incident, but later apologized for his "shameful" actions.

On March 20, 2010, before the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Bill was voted on in Washington D.C., it was reported that protesters against the bill used racial and anti-gay slurs. Several African-American lawmakers said that demonstrators shouted "the N-word" at them.

Representative André Carson said that as he walked from the Cannon House Office Building with Representative John Lewis, amid chants of "Kill the bill" he heard the "n-word" coming from several places in the crowd. One man "just rattled it off several times," adding "You know, this reminds me of a different time," referring to the 1960s.

 Congressman Emanuel Cleaver said he clearly heard the word nigger shouted  and he was also spat upon by a protester, although whether the spitting was intentional has been questioned. Conservative commentator Andrew Breitbart, who was not present at the protest, has said that the racial slurs and other allegations by Cleaver, Lewis and Carson were fabricated as part of a plan to annihilate the Tea Party movement by all means necessary and that they never actually happened. He offered to donate $10,000 as a charitable donation to the United Negro College Fund if Lewis could provide audio or video footage of the slurs, or pass a lie detector test. The amount was later raised to $100,000 for "hard evidence."  In addition, the National Tea Party Federation sent a letter to the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) denouncing racism and requesting that the CBC supply any evidence of the alleged events at the protest.

A fourth Democrat, Rep. Heath Shuler of North Carolina, who is white, backed up his colleagues, telling the Hendersonville (N.C.) Times-News that he too heard the slurs. And Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO who was also present during the protest, corroborated Lewis', Carson's, Cleaver's and Shuler's version of events during a later debate with Breitbart by saying, "I watched them spit at people, I watched them call John Lewis the n-word."  Politicians from both parties, black conservative activists, and columnists have argued that allegations of racism do not reflect the movement as a whole.

Gay Congressman Barney Frank, was also present during the rally and was called a "faggot".

One of Representative Anthony Weiner’s staffers reported a stream of hostile encounters with tea partiers roaming the halls of Congress. In addition to mockery, protesters left a couple of notes behind. According to the New York Daily News, one letter "asked what Rahm Emanuel did with Weiner in the shower, in a reference to the mess around ex-Rep Eric Massa. It was signed with a swastika, the staffer said. The other note called the congressman "Schlomo Weiner."[


The Occupy Movement
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Occupy Wall Street is the original protest that began the worldwide movement beginning September 17, 2011 in Zuccotti Park, located in New York City's Wall Street financial district, initiated by the Canadian activist group Adbusters. The protests are against social and economic inequality, high unemployment, greed, as well as corruption and the undue influence of corporations on government—particularly from the financial services sector. The protesters' slogan We are the 99% refers to the growing income and wealth inequality in the U.S. between the wealthiest 1% and the rest of the population. The protests in New York City have sparked similar Occupy protests and movements around the world

In a blog post from July 13, 2011, the Canadian-based Adbusters Media Foundation, best known for its advertisement-free, anti-consumerist magazine Adbusters, proposed a peaceful occupation of Wall Street to protest corporate influence on democracy, the absence of legal repercussions for those behind the recent global financial crisis, and a growing disparity in wealth. They sought to combine the symbolic location of the 2011 protests in Tahrir Square with the consensus decision making of the 2011 Spanish protests. Adbusters' senior editor, Micah White, said they had suggested the protest via their email list and it "was spontaneously taken up by all the people of the world.” Adbusters' website said that from their "one simple demand, a presidential commission to separate money from politics," they would "start setting the agenda for a new America." They promoted the protest with a poster featuring a dancer atop Wall Street's iconic Charging Bull statue.

The internet group Anonymous encouraged its readers to take part in the protests, calling for protesters to "flood lower Manhattan, set up tents, kitchens, peaceful barricades and occupy Wall Street for a few months." Other groups began to join in the organization of the protest, including the U.S. Day of Rage and the NYC General Assembly, which became the governing body of Occupy Wall Street. The protest itself began on September 17; a Facebook page for the demonstrations began two days later on September 19 featuring a YouTube video of earlier events. By mid-October, Facebook listed 125 Occupy-related pages, and roughly one in every 500 hashtags used on Twitter—all over the world—was the movement's own #OWS.

The phrase "The 99%" is a political slogan of "Occupy" protesters. It was originally launched as a Tumblr blog page in late August 2011. It refers to the vast concentration of wealth among the top 1% of income earners compared to the other 99 percent, and indicates that most people are paying the price for the mistakes of a tiny minority. Paul Taylor, executive vice president of the Pew Research Center told NPR that the slogan is "arguably the most successful slogan since 'Hell no, we won't go,' going back to the Vietnam era." According to Taylor, majorities of Democrats, independents and Republicans see the income gap as a cause of friction in the United States.

The top 1 percent of income earners have more than doubled their income over the last thirty years according to a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report. The report was released just as concerns of the Occupy Wall Street movement were beginning to enter the national political debate. According to the CBO, between 1979 and 2007 the incomes of the top 1% of Americans grew by an average of 275%. During the same time period, the 60% of Americans in the middle of the income scale saw their income rise by 40%. Since 1979 the average pre-tax income for the bottom 90% of households has decreased by $900, while that of the top 1% increased by over $700,000, as federal taxation became less progressive. From 1992-2007 the top 400 income earners in the U.S. saw their income increase 392% and their average tax rate reduced by 37%. In 2009, the average income of the top 1% was $960,000 with a minimum income of $343,927

Protesters targeted Wall Street because of the part it played in the economic crisis of 2008 which started the Great Recession.

Early on the protesters were mostly young, in part due to their pronounced use of social networks through which they promoted the protests. As the protest grew, older protesters also became involved. The average age of the protesters is 33, with people in their 20s balanced by people in their 40s. Various religious faiths have been represented at the protest including Muslims, Jews, and Christians. On October 10 the Associated Press reported that "there’s a diversity of age, gender and race" at the protest. Some news organizations have compared the protest to a left-leaning version of the Tea Party protests.

According to a survey of Zuccotti Park protesters by the Baruch College School of Public Affairs published on October 19, of 1,619 web respondents, 1/3 were older than 35, half were employed full-time, 13% were unemployed and 13% earned over $75,000. 27.3% of the respondents called themselves Democrats, 2.4% called themselves Republicans, while the rest, 70%, called themselves independents.

Racially, the majority of participants are White, with one study based on survey responses at OccupyWallStreet.org reporting 81.2% White, 7.6% Other, 6.8% Hispanic, 2.8% Asian, and 1.6% Black.

Prior to being closed to overnight use, somewhere between 100 and 200 people slept in Zuccotti Park. Initially tents were not allowed and protesters slept in sleeping bags or under blankets. Meal service started at a total cost of about $1,000 per day; while some visitors ate at nearby restaurants according to the New York Post local vendors fared badly and many businesses surrounding the park were adversely affected. Other Contribution boxes collected about $5,000 a day, and supplies came in from around the country. Eric Smith, a local chef who was laid off at the Sheraton in Midtown, said that he was running a five-star restaurant in the park.[90] In late-October kitchen volunteers complained about working 18 hour days to feed people who were not part of the movement and served only brown rice, simple sandwiches, and potato chips for three days.
The protesters constructed a greywater treatment system to recycle dishwater contaminants. The filtered water was used for the park's plants and flowers. Many protesters used the bathrooms of nearby business establishments. Some supporters donated use of their bathrooms for showers and the sanitary needs of protesters

On October 13, New York City's mayor Bloomberg and Brookfield announced that the park must be vacated for cleaning the following morning at 7 am. However, protesters vowed to "defend the occupation" after police said they wouldn’t allow them to return with sleeping bags and other gear following the cleaning, under rules set by the private park’s owner—and many protesters spent the night sweeping and mopping the park. The next morning, the property owner postponed its cleaning effort.

Shortly after midnight on November 15, 2011, the New York Police Department gave protesters notice from the park's owner (Brookfield Office Properties) to leave Zuccotti Park due to its purportedly unsanitary and hazardous conditions. The notice stated that they could return without sleeping bags, tarps or tents. About an hour later, police in riot gear began removing protesters from the park, arresting some 200 people in the process, including a number of journalists. While the police raid was in progress, the Occupy Wall Street Media Team issued an official response under the heading, "You can't evict an idea whose time has come."

On October 11, it was reported that OWS protesters staying in Zuccotti Park were dealing with a worsening security problem with reports of multiple incidents of assault, drug dealing and use, and sexual assault. A Crown Heights man was charged with sexually assaulting a protester at the park raising the level of public discussion of lawlessness at the demonstrations. Protesters use de-escalation techniques, talking down or blocking with their bodies those people throwing punches. In more tense situations, protesters encircle troublemakers and usher them out. But many times, those kicked out or arrested return. But most protesters say that the most serious concern is the risk of assault, especially for women and at night. Demonstrators have complained of thefts of assorted items such as cell phones and laptops. Thieves also stole $2500 of donations that were stored in a makeshift kitchen. On October 10, a "methadone-addled man freeloading off the Wall Street protest" was arrested for groping a woman. On Nov 10, 2011, a man was arrested at OWS for breaking an EMT's leg.

On October 15, tens of thousands of demonstrators staged rallies in 900 cities around the world, including Auckland, Sydney, Hong Kong, Taipei, Tokyo, São Paulo, Paris, Madrid, Berlin, Hamburg, Leipzig, and many other cities.[142] In Frankfurt, 5,000 people protested at the European Central Bank and in Zurich, Switzerland's financial hub, protesters carried banners reading "We won't bail you out yet again" and "We are the 99 percent." Protests were largely peaceful, however a protest in Rome that drew thousands turned violent when "a few thousand thugs from all over Italy, and possibly from all over Europe" caused extensive damage. Thousands of Occupy Wall Street protesters gathered in Times Square in New York City and rallied for several hours. Several hundred protesters were arrested across the U.S., mostly for refusing to obey police orders to leave public areas. In Chicago there were 175 arrests, about 100 arrests in Arizona (53 in Tucson, 46 in Phoenix), and more than 70 in New York City, including at least 40 in Times Square.[146] Multiple arrests were reported in Chicago, and about 150 people camped out by city hall in Minneapolis.

In the early morning hours of October 25, police cleared and closed an Occupy Oakland encampment at Frank Ogawa Plaza in Oakland, California. The raid on the encampment was described as "violent and chaotic at times," and resulted in over 102 arrests and several injuries to protesters. The city of Oakland contracted the use of over 12 other regional police departments to aid in the clearing of the encampment. An Iraqi war veteran, Scott Olsen, was allegedly hit in the head with a teargas canister and suffered a skull fracture. His condition was later upgraded from critical to fair. The next night, approximately 1,000 protesters reconvened in the plaza and held marches late into the night.

[Gerald Lively]

I have no idea why the above post repeated itself twice.  Sorry 'bout that!

[jbeany]

If you click the "modify" button on it, you can edit it and erase the duplicates, Gerald.

[cariad]

A University of Washington poll of 1,695 registered voters in the state of Washington reported that 73% of Tea Party supporters disapprove of Obama's policy of engaging with Muslim countries, 88% approve of the controversial immigration law recently enacted in Arizona, 82% do not believe that gay and lesbian couples should have the legal right to marry, and that about 52% believed that "lesbians and gays have too much political power".

Oh, my, but that last bit made me laugh.

Tea Party, let me introduce you to my good friend reality. You two have some things to discuss....

[jbeany]

A University of Washington poll of 1,695 registered voters in the state of Washington reported that 73% of Tea Party supporters disapprove of Obama's policy of engaging with Muslim countries, 88% approve of the controversial immigration law recently enacted in Arizona, 82% do not believe that gay and lesbian couples should have the legal right to marry, and that about 52% believed that "lesbians and gays have too much political power".

Oh, my, but that last bit made me laugh.

Tea Party, let me introduce you to my good friend reality. You two have some things to discuss....

It's true to them - since any political power held by gays and lesbians at all, on any level, is too much in their eyes!

[Hemodoc]

A University of Washington poll of 1,695 registered voters in the state of Washington reported that 73% of Tea Party supporters disapprove of Obama's policy of engaging with Muslim countries, 88% approve of the controversial immigration law recently enacted in Arizona, 82% do not believe that gay and lesbian couples should have the legal right to marry, and that about 52% believed that "lesbians and gays have too much political power".

Oh, my, but that last bit made me laugh.

Tea Party, let me introduce you to my good friend reality. You two have some things to discuss....

It's true to them - since any political power held by gays and lesbians at all, on any level, is too much in their eyes!

Well, let's compare the message of these two groups:

1) Tea Party (Rationale,  non violent protest and affirmation of values)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MApy0FQts4M

2) Occupy (Anarchy and violence)

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/10/15/501364/main20120893.shtml

The Occupy folks are underestimating the will of the American people who will soon become very tired of these people seeking their revolution. Sadly, the violence fostered by this movement will very likely result in bloodshed before the summer is over. Look at what a student at Berkley has to say about the Occupy violence:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/01/30/occupy-oakland-s-violent-turn-proves-the-movement-has-lost-its-way.html

[cariad]

It's true to them - since any political power held by gays and lesbians at all, on any level, is too much in their eyes!

The lady speaks the truth! Absolutely right, jbeany!

[glitter]

Seems like the first article was only the bad and the second only the good......I noticed the second didn't mention the thefts and assaults, or the crapping on a police cars hood, or having sex in public.....and the first didnt mention that the people who were being racist and yelling the n word were not representative of all the teapartiers, which was reported over and over- they were a few of the many sincere people- just like the scumbags stealing and crapping in public might not represent all the sincere occupiers.......

[MooseMom]

Seems like the first article was only the bad and the second only the good......I noticed the second didn't mention the thefts and assaults, or the crapping on a police cars hood, or having sex in public.....and the first didnt mention that the people who were being racist and yelling the n word were not representative of all the teapartiers, which was reported over and over- they were a few of the many sincere people- just like the scumbags stealing and crapping in public might not represent all the sincere occupiers.......

Yes, we must not allow insincere people to hijack the message of either group.  Both groups have valid concerns.

[Gerald Lively]

I’ve had enough.  I went to Wikipedia and drew their content, then presented it here.  Fair?  Some people can’t read.  Perhaps one organization is not so good.  We might all consider that thought.

Civil disobedience is rarely pretty.  The right-wing is fond of isolating individual behavior to condemn a movement they do not favor, then they can ignore the message.  I have been around too long behind the scenes in government and the military, and in business in the public sector to not recognize the potential (I erased the word I meant to use) for skullduggery.  I am amazed at the thought of people who ignore the lessons of Watergate, September 2008, and the self-righteousness of the people who brought America to its financial knees.  Listen to yourselves; all others are wrong and I am right, you say.  Where the hell have you people been?

You have a candidate that wants to do away with the Civil Right Act of 1964 and I hear you people saying this guy and that guy isn’t racist.  BS!!!!! 

Enough is enough!  How can so many people be so blind to the obvious.  The right has absolutely no sense of good economics.  The Tea Party is racist. Long ago, during WWII, our government recognized that the partnership between corporate power and the government in policy making is fascism.  Now we have the Tea Party that claims they want to adhere to the Constitution, but they don’t. Witness the Patriot Act.  Where did that come from?  What about those TPers that want to eliminate this amendment and that one?  And, gee whiz, wasn’t that the Tea Party that wouldn’t let people speak at the healthcare town halls?  Hey, wasn’t that a group of TPers that knocked the lady reporter down and stomped on her head?  And didn’t they justify that by claiming she “didn’t belong”?

I am done.  No more!  Wanna vote for those righties, well, stick it in your ear.  I’ll be dead before the full effects of that group is felt – assuming they get anywhere.  I cannot get my head around the notion that so many people by that propaganda.

gl

I am not going to respond.

Auggie, get you butt over here, we’re gonna play!

 

[Hemodoc]

I’ve had enough.  I went to Wikipedia and drew their content, then presented it here.  Fair?  Some people can’t read.  Perhaps one organization is not so good.  We might all consider that thought.

Civil disobedience is rarely pretty.  The right-wing is fond of isolating individual behavior to condemn a movement they do not favor, then they can ignore the message.  I have been around too long behind the scenes in government and the military, and in business in the public sector to not recognize the potential (I erased the word I meant to use) for skullduggery.  I am amazed at the thought of people who ignore the lessons of Watergate, September 2008, and the self-righteousness of the people who brought America to its financial knees.  Listen to yourselves; all others are wrong and I am right, you say.  Where the hell have you people been?

You have a candidate that wants to do away with the Civil Right Act of 1964 and I hear you people saying this guy and that guy isn’t racist.  BS!!!!! 

Enough is enough!  How can so many people be so blind to the obvious.  The right has absolutely no sense of good economics.  The Tea Party is racist. Long ago, during WWII, our government recognized that the partnership between corporate power and the government in policy making is fascism.  Now we have the Tea Party that claims they want to adhere to the Constitution, but they don’t. Witness the Patriot Act.  Where did that come from?  What about those TPers that want to eliminate this amendment and that one?  And, gee whiz, wasn’t that the Tea Party that wouldn’t let people speak at the healthcare town halls?  Hey, wasn’t that a group of TPers that knocked the lady reporter down and stomped on her head?  And didn’t they justify that by claiming she “didn’t belong”?

I am done.  No more!  Wanna vote for those righties, well, stick it in your ear.  I’ll be dead before the full effects of that group is felt – assuming they get anywhere.  I cannot get my head around the notion that so many people by that propaganda.

gl

I am not going to respond.

Auggie, get you butt over here, we’re gonna play!

No reason for you not to respond. I oppose any act of anarchy which is NOT lawful protest. In a link I placed on another thread, the occupy movement with their turn towards violence and destruction is turning off its own liberal base let alone what they are doing to those that did not support them in the first place.

Ron Paul wrote out why he disagrees with the 1964 civil rights act in line with his libertarian ideology of preserving the constitution and its unique powers. Libertarians are quite sincere but have views that are not accepted by the rank and file conservative base. The support for Ron Paul is not so much on the strength of his libertarian ideology, but instead on the strength of his integrity. While there are many aspects of his arguments on various issues that do give honor unto the constitution, the realpolitic is that the damage done already to the constitution cannot be reversed, only mitigated. Despite his fervent supporters, he will not break out past the 10% mark meaning he has no realistic chance of winning the nomination.

Nevertheless, Ron Paul continues to have an important voice on several issues that are not without merit.

The Patriot Act came from the same place the the NDAA came from. The untold story is the people that pull the strings behind the scenes. One thing Ron Paul has brought attention to that is completely ignored and overlooked is the role that the Federal Reserve plays in controlling our economy and our politics.   Go back to the history of Andrew Jackson and his fight against the National Bank to give the historical reason why a central bank is dangerous to any nation. Unfortunately, we lost that battle a hundred years ago and there is no turning back.

So while the media whips up the masses and gets all of those on the left to condemn and castigate all of those on the right, we are falling right into their deliberate manipulations and traps which only adds to their power.

The real enemy isn't those on the left, or the right, it is instead those pulling the strings and manipulating through the media.

[GraphicBass]

Hemodoc doesn't have a lot of views I agree with, but this one I do heartily!

gary

[Hemodoc]

Hemodoc doesn't have a lot of views I agree with, but this one I do heartily!

gary

Thank you I think, but I suspect that we actually have more in agreement than the proverbial cliches of conservative and liberal could ever describe.

God bless, Peter

[Gerald Lively]

HD;

There are many issues in contemporary America that ought to be addressed.  The rise of the Tea Party is very much like any fringe movement that has risen during difficult times. (see the Great Depression) Yes, you and Glenn Beck sound much like Father Coughlin.

Dissent isn’t a bad thing.  We can agree that the destruction of property is not a good thing.  But, the great civil rights leaders have said of such social upheavals, “Riots are the voice of the oppressed trying to be heard.” (Jesse Jackson/Martin Luther King Jr.)

The Tea Party began as an unfocused complaint on taxation, but the facts are that today’s taxes are the lowest in decades.  FOX News gave voice to the Tea Party, using it to promote a conservative agenda. Glenn Beck faded and the GOP co-opted the TP.  Now, there is the baggage of TP misdeeds.  Forever seared into my mind is the so-called leader of the Oklahoma Tea Party appearing on the Evening News to explain his request of the Oklahoma Legislature; that his group be declared the official militia of that state, and that the state should provide weapons to the group.  His justification was to keep the Federal Government from “interfering in state business.”  All the signs of an extremist fringe group are there.

Where in all this, are the solutions – or even some identifications of the problems? 

I submit that the Occupy Movement has identified one problem and that is the growing distance between the middle class and the wealthy, as well as the taxation problems associated with that.  The problem isn’t the fact that the Occupy group wouldn’t move from a park in New York or that they didn’t have a permit to march in Oakland, it is the unfair practices of a skewed economy. 

Citizens of these United States can only vote, but under the circumstances of modern election practices, that doesn’t give voice to the complaints that afflict us all.  Let the voice of the people be heard.  Even the Tea Party is an expressed discontent.  Reasonable people would see these protest groups as symptoms of something larger.

Yes, vote to change our congressional membership, then cross your fingers and hope.  Yes, care for the poor and the elderly, and show compassion to our children.  In the meantime, who will correct the corruption, breakup the overly large corporations, raise taxes for the needed revenues, and who will prepare us to confront world commerce? 

Well, the Tea Party is going to do that and the Occupy group has but one issue;  how about less complaints and more ideas on solutions?

gerald

[Hemodoc]

HD;

There are many issues in contemporary America that ought to be addressed.  The rise of the Tea Party is very much like any fringe movement that has risen during difficult times. (see the Great Depression) Yes, you and Glenn Beck sound much like Father Coughlin.

Dissent isn’t a bad thing.  We can agree that the destruction of property is not a good thing.  But, the great civil rights leaders have said of such social upheavals, “Riots are the voice of the oppressed trying to be heard.” (Jesse Jackson/Martin Luther King Jr.)

The Tea Party began as an unfocused complaint on taxation, but the facts are that today’s taxes are the lowest in decades.  FOX News gave voice to the Tea Party, using it to promote a conservative agenda. Glenn Beck faded and the GOP co-opted the TP.  Now, there is the baggage of TP misdeeds.  Forever seared into my mind is the so-called leader of the Oklahoma Tea Party appearing on the Evening News to explain his request of the Oklahoma Legislature; that his group be declared the official militia of that state, and that the state should provide weapons to the group.  His justification was to keep the Federal Government from “interfering in state business.”  All the signs of an extremist fringe group are there.

Where in all this, are the solutions – or even some identifications of the problems? 

I submit that the Occupy Movement has identified one problem and that is the growing distance between the middle class and the wealthy, as well as the taxation problems associated with that.  The problem isn’t the fact that the Occupy group wouldn’t move from a park in New York or that they didn’t have a permit to march in Oakland, it is the unfair practices of a skewed economy. 

Citizens of these United States can only vote, but under the circumstances of modern election practices, that doesn’t give voice to the complaints that afflict us all.  Let the voice of the people be heard.  Even the Tea Party is an expressed discontent.  Reasonable people would see these protest groups as symptoms of something larger.

Yes, vote to change our congressional membership, then cross your fingers and hope.  Yes, care for the poor and the elderly, and show compassion to our children.  In the meantime, who will correct the corruption, breakup the overly large corporations, raise taxes for the needed revenues, and who will prepare us to confront world commerce? 

Well, the Tea Party is going to do that and the Occupy group has but one issue;  how about less complaints and more ideas on solutions?

gerald

The Tea Party isn't an expression against taxes, it is instead an expression against a president out of touch with the people of America. Without Obama, we would not have a Tea Party. It ain't about taxes my friend.

No matter what is the alleged motivation of the Occupy movement, their tactics will make them lose support and drown out the message. If they want to do something about the disparity between rich and poor, they would be better off getting a job to start with instead of making Oakland spend 5 million dollars of money that is hard to come by cleaning up their destructive urges.

Sorry, I have no respect what so ever for creeps that use violence and anarchy to foment change. They can jump in a lake as far as i am concerned for the damage that they do to society.

Also, when is adhering to virtue and excellence propaganda my friend. Sorry, but I can't agree with any of your polemic rhetorical ventures.

I do have respect for people that will hazard their own lives and property securing freedom for all. I do have great respect and admiration for people that strive against difficulties using their intelligence and back bone in hard work. I do have great respect for people that honestly seek to overcome societal ills in a lawful and peaceful manner.

I have the utmost respect and admiration for what MLK accomplished without bloodshed or resorting to violence. He hazarded his own life and ultimately did sacrifice his life to bring an end of racial inequalities in America. He did it with courage and intelligence.

For those that wish to only destroy and annoy, no I have only the greatest contempt for that type of ignorant approach no matter what the issue is. It speaks of the lowest and most base primal instincts that is the enemy of any sustainable society. If you support these folks then you also are in support of lawlessness and anarchy.

[YLGuy]

HD;

There are many issues in contemporary America that ought to be addressed.  The rise of the Tea Party is very much like any fringe movement that has risen during difficult times. (see the Great Depression) Yes, you and Glenn Beck sound much like Father Coughlin.

Dissent isn’t a bad thing.  We can agree that the destruction of property is not a good thing.  But, the great civil rights leaders have said of such social upheavals, “Riots are the voice of the oppressed trying to be heard.” (Jesse Jackson/Martin Luther King Jr.)

The Tea Party began as an unfocused complaint on taxation, but the facts are that today’s taxes are the lowest in decades.  FOX News gave voice to the Tea Party, using it to promote a conservative agenda. Glenn Beck faded and the GOP co-opted the TP.  Now, there is the baggage of TP misdeeds.  Forever seared into my mind is the so-called leader of the Oklahoma Tea Party appearing on the Evening News to explain his request of the Oklahoma Legislature; that his group be declared the official militia of that state, and that the state should provide weapons to the group.  His justification was to keep the Federal Government from “interfering in state business.”  All the signs of an extremist fringe group are there.

Where in all this, are the solutions – or even some identifications of the problems? 

I submit that the Occupy Movement has identified one problem and that is the growing distance between the middle class and the wealthy, as well as the taxation problems associated with that.  The problem isn’t the fact that the Occupy group wouldn’t move from a park in New York or that they didn’t have a permit to march in Oakland, it is the unfair practices of a skewed economy. 

Citizens of these United States can only vote, but under the circumstances of modern election practices, that doesn’t give voice to the complaints that afflict us all.  Let the voice of the people be heard.  Even the Tea Party is an expressed discontent.  Reasonable people would see these protest groups as symptoms of something larger.

Yes, vote to change our congressional membership, then cross your fingers and hope.  Yes, care for the poor and the elderly, and show compassion to our children.  In the meantime, who will correct the corruption, breakup the overly large corporations, raise taxes for the needed revenues, and who will prepare us to confront world commerce? 

Well, the Tea Party is going to do that and the Occupy group has but one issue;  how about less complaints and more ideas on solutions?

gerald

The Tea Party isn't an expression against taxes, it is instead an expression against a president out of touch with the people of America. Without Obama, we would not have a Tea Party. It ain't about taxes my friend.

If the right worried more about what is good for Americans than just getting Obama out of office this country would be in much better shape. 

[Hemodoc]

HD;

There are many issues in contemporary America that ought to be addressed.  The rise of the Tea Party is very much like any fringe movement that has risen during difficult times. (see the Great Depression) Yes, you and Glenn Beck sound much like Father Coughlin.

Dissent isn’t a bad thing.  We can agree that the destruction of property is not a good thing.  But, the great civil rights leaders have said of such social upheavals, “Riots are the voice of the oppressed trying to be heard.” (Jesse Jackson/Martin Luther King Jr.)

The Tea Party began as an unfocused complaint on taxation, but the facts are that today’s taxes are the lowest in decades.  FOX News gave voice to the Tea Party, using it to promote a conservative agenda. Glenn Beck faded and the GOP co-opted the TP.  Now, there is the baggage of TP misdeeds.  Forever seared into my mind is the so-called leader of the Oklahoma Tea Party appearing on the Evening News to explain his request of the Oklahoma Legislature; that his group be declared the official militia of that state, and that the state should provide weapons to the group.  His justification was to keep the Federal Government from “interfering in state business.”  All the signs of an extremist fringe group are there.

Where in all this, are the solutions – or even some identifications of the problems? 

I submit that the Occupy Movement has identified one problem and that is the growing distance between the middle class and the wealthy, as well as the taxation problems associated with that.  The problem isn’t the fact that the Occupy group wouldn’t move from a park in New York or that they didn’t have a permit to march in Oakland, it is the unfair practices of a skewed economy. 

Citizens of these United States can only vote, but under the circumstances of modern election practices, that doesn’t give voice to the complaints that afflict us all.  Let the voice of the people be heard.  Even the Tea Party is an expressed discontent.  Reasonable people would see these protest groups as symptoms of something larger.

Yes, vote to change our congressional membership, then cross your fingers and hope.  Yes, care for the poor and the elderly, and show compassion to our children.  In the meantime, who will correct the corruption, breakup the overly large corporations, raise taxes for the needed revenues, and who will prepare us to confront world commerce? 

Well, the Tea Party is going to do that and the Occupy group has but one issue;  how about less complaints and more ideas on solutions?

gerald

The Tea Party isn't an expression against taxes, it is instead an expression against a president out of touch with the people of America. Without Obama, we would not have a Tea Party. It ain't about taxes my friend.

If the right worried more about what is good for Americans than just getting Obama out of office this country would be in much better shape.

I would state that Obama is a symptom of what is wrong with this society.

[jbeany]

I don't think Obama gets the sole bad mark on being out of touch with the American people.  Honestly, what president has ever been in touch with the majority of people in America?  The presidents as a group are wealthy, well-educated, and have no experience of what it is like to grow up in a lower middle class home, let alone in the poverty that so many Americans are currently experiencing.  Most of the rest of our elected officials in Washington can't claim to be much better.  We keep electing the people who can afford to run for office, and we are getting out of it exactly what they paid for - power but not progress.

[Hemodoc]

I don't think Obama gets the sole bad mark on being out of touch with the American people.  Honestly, what president has ever been in touch with the majority of people in America?  The presidents as a group are wealthy, well-educated, and have no experience of what it is like to grow up in a lower middle class home, let alone in the poverty that so many Americans are currently experiencing.  Most of the rest of our elected officials in Washington can't claim to be much better.  We keep electing the people who can afford to run for office, and we are getting out of it exactly what they paid for - power but not progress.

Good point Jbeany. We are already ruled by the elites, whether DEMS or GOPS, they are both on the same team perpetrating a false choice between liberal or conservative when in reality, they are playing us off against each other wasting our energy attacking the peons and pawns in this whole game while they sit back and steal more of our freedoms and economic power daily.

[cariad]

jbeany, I think there is definitely something important in your last line, but I have to disagree that presidents as a whole have "no experience of what it is like to grow up in a lower middle class home". That may be true of recent, Republican presidents (in other words, the Bushes), but Clinton quite famously grew up in Backwater, Arkansas and I think Obama is also self-made. Reagen might have had more modest beginnings but I wouldn't know.

[Hemodoc]

Dear Gerald, let's discuss a few issues if we can:

1) A polemic ( /pəˈlɛmɪk/) is when an argument, debate, or opinion leans toward attacking the other person as opposed to the discussion at hand. That is, an argument or rhetoric becomes polemic when they have pejorative implications of the dignity of opposition. This is most common in a heated debate, where frustration or a sense of righteousness promotes hostility. The word is derived from the Greek πολεμικός (polemikos), meaning "warlike, hostile",[1][2] which comes from πόλεμος ('polemos), "war".[3]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polemic

I am not sure that you have any response to me in the last few days that did not involve a polemic argument. Indeed, I entered this conversation after the false allegations of Tea Party racism propagated nearly every post. If you wish to think incorrectly and erroneously that I am racist or that the Tea Party has racist motivations, go for it. You have spent a great deal of energy trying to prove this false allegation and it seems you are adequately in love with this false notion that I wouldn't in the least wish to dispel that myth from you. As I said, it will only serve to motivate people like me who might otherwise be apathetic about an election of people that we really are not happy about, but we are much less happy with your candidate. In honor of your multiple falsehoods against me and my companions in the so called Tea Party movement, I will gladly get politically active for the first time in my entire life.

2) Father Coughlin

In 1935, Coughlin proclaimed, "I have dedicated my life to fight against the heinous rottenness of modern capitalism because it robs the laborer of this world's goods. But blow for blow I shall strike against Communism, because it robs us of the next world's happiness."[23] He accused Roosevelt of "leaning toward international socialism on the Spanish question." Coughlin's NUSJ gained a strong following among nativists and opponents of the Federal Reserve, especially in the Midwest. As Michael Kazin notes, Coughlinites saw Wall Street and Communism as twin faces of a secular Satan. Coughlinites believed that they were defending those people who cohered more through piety, economic frustration, and a common dread of powerful, modernizing enemies than through any class identity.[24]


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Coughlin

Gerald, I would recommend that you go back and learn who Father Coughlin was and who Glenn Beck is. Glenn Beck if you don't know is not a Republican and he spends as much if not more time on his programs critcizing the GOP as he does the DEMS. Beck does not in any sense support fascism and has spoken out openly how both the DEMS and GOP have moved step by step in that direction. In another disparity, Father Coughlin was fervently anti-semitic and supported Hitler as an anti-dote to communisim. It appears he also protested against Wall Street so you might be able to use some of his works for the occupy movement since it seems he would sympathize with the criminal trespassers masquerading as protesters around this nation.

For you to ignorantly associate me with Father Coughlin goes back to your continual polemic attacks against me and against the Tea Party. The Tea Party doesn't actually exist except in the hearts and minds of God fearing people across this nation. There is no one Tea Party organization and there is no Tea Party as a distinct organization. It appears you have spouted some anti-Christian literature in the posts above as well. So be it, par for the course being a born again Christian in this apostate nation any longer. I expect that type of rhetoric any more.

Gerald, do you have some actual issues you would like to debate, or instead are you going to keep reaching for some insulting apparition to place upon the Tea Party mantel and make a failed association to me. Once again, it is a failed tactic to go that direction since it shall only feed into engaging those that you wish to minimize. The Occupy movement is already losing its base of support from its illegal and violent actions. The Tea Party has always been here in this nation although not by that name. There are many that have a deep and abiding love of this nation and of the constitution that is the gaurantor of freedoms. This is not something new and the invention of any man, it has been here in this nation for generations and millions of men have given their lives in defense of these same ideals. I have respect for that and the courage that men showed in the face of fascism, communism and all manner of evil tyrants who wished usurp power and steal freedoms.

Any movement has to have a force in opposition to gain any traction. Pushing against an empty space moves nothing. The problem with the Occupy movement is that they don't recognize who their target really is. They are protesting against unemployment, lack of jobs, wall street bail outs and other such nebulous issues which they haven't actually articulated well at all. I suspect a whole bunch of the folks there in Oakland really don't even know why they are there in the first place.

They fail to recognize that Obama is the greatest threat to employment and prosperity in America and he has given more to Wall Street than all of his predicessors before him did. He continues to publicly speak against Wall Street but at the same time pocket their money. Money buys influence in politics. What is that all about Gerald? I call that the utmost in Hypocrisy.

http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/local/burlington_county_times_news/opinion/guest/obama-criticizes-wall-street-but-takes-money-from-it/article_a2d6baee-fae6-5efc-9dd5-44f0c93c408f.html

http://hotair.com/headlines/archives/2011/11/07/wall-streets-made-more-money-already-under-obama-than-it-did-during-bushs-two-terms/

So, the Father Coughlin allegation gave me another good chuckle. Imagine thinking that I am an anti-semitic fascist. Yippee, what a mouthful that is my friend. I am instead a born again Christian who strives to the best I can in all things and to fight against that which is wrong. I seriously doubt many of the CEOs of dialysis corporations would call me fascist. You have provided me with quite a few laughs in the last few days Gerald. If you ever choose to drop the polemic bravado and actually discuss some issues, that might actually be fun. In the meantime, the thought of me being an anti-semitic fascist draws too much humor for the moment.  Thank you for another well deserved laugh.  Life is too short Gerald, chill out man and see who our real enemies are. I am not your enemy.

[Hemodoc]

jbeany, I think there is definitely something important in your last line, but I have to disagree that presidents as a whole have "no experience of what it is like to grow up in a lower middle class home". That may be true of recent, Republican presidents (in other words, the Bushes), but Clinton quite famously grew up in Backwater, Arkansas and I think Obama is also self-made. Reagen might have had more modest beginnings but I wouldn't know.

Ike, Reagan and Nixon had very modest homes that they grew up in. So did Carter, Clinton, Johnson and Truman. The American dream of your kids growing up to be president is not that far fetched as history records. Roosevelt was a very monied man as well. Not sure how that correlates to their policies.

[Gerald Lively]

I have read you many and various posts and am staggered by your misrepresentations.  I can’t answer them here.  I should say that you seem to want argument, not debate.  You are very defensive and not creative.  And one more things, you trained to be a doctor, I trained to be a politican and was one – at the top of my chosen profession.

You are not the great political intellect you seem to portray, you are an ideologue.  And there is no flexibility in an ideologue’s thinking.  Indeed, Congress’ new members proudly announced “no compromise” during the 2011 session.  It seems that this tyrannical minority, members of an organization that you support, are behaving as if legislation is their entitlement.  They have no goals, no identified problems to resolve; just a pronouncement that they want Obama to be a one term president.

That is malfeasance. Their job is legislation.  If they do not like Obama, impeach him.

Meanwhile, the problems of America languish.  I see nothing in all of your diatribes that solves any issue the US faces today. I see complaints about members, politicians, and the behavior of some citizens.  Anti-change.  Anti-intellectualism.

As for the corporations that have grown too large and should have been broken up via anti-trust law, look at AIG.  They brought down the entire US economy on September 19, 2008 under George W. Bush’s watch.  (Derivatives and multiple insurance policies that could not be supported).  Or, take ENRON, the corporation that cleaned out California’s treasury then went bankrupt before the court action was final.  California still suffers financial troubles caused by that and the GOP sponsored Prop 13.  How many other examples do you need? 

Elections are now swamped with money, the result of the US Supreme Court ruling that corporations are essentially people and can contribute unlimited funds to Super PACS. 

Get the point?  No?

Corporate and Government power combined?  We have it.  Patriot Act?  Abandonment of our civil rights?  You betcha!  Isamophobia in the GOP?  Yep!  Afraid of Iran’s nuke capacity?  Sure.  Racism?  See Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich.  Well, Doctor person, you and I, and all Americans are on the road to fascism.  I don’t think you get it. 

Go your merry way.  I’ll be dead before too long and you’ll have it all to yourself.  And remember this if you can’t get your head around coming events; pay your debts when you have prosperity, skate when times are lean: a principle of government budgeting.

Come November we shall see.  By the way, I never said you were anti-semitic.  You just love to misinterpret, don’t you?

Gerald

[Hemodoc]

I have read you many and various posts and am staggered by your misrepresentations.  I can’t answer them here.  I should say that you seem to want argument, not debate.  You are very defensive and not creative.  And one more things, you trained to be a doctor, I trained to be a politican and was one – at the top of my chosen profession.

You are not the great political intellect you seem to portray, you are an ideologue.  And there is no flexibility in an ideologue’s thinking.  Indeed, Congress’ new members proudly announced “no compromise” during the 2011 session.  It seems that this tyrannical minority, members of an organization that you support, are behaving as if legislation is their entitlement.  They have no goals, no identified problems to resolve; just a pronouncement that they want Obama to be a one term president.

That is malfeasance. Their job is legislation.  If they do not like Obama, impeach him.

Meanwhile, the problems of America languish.  I see nothing in all of your diatribes that solves any issue the US faces today. I see complaints about members, politicians, and the behavior of some citizens.  Anti-change.  Anti-intellectualism.

As for the corporations that have grown too large and should have been broken up via anti-trust law, look at AIG.  They brought down the entire US economy on September 19, 2008 under George W. Bush’s watch.  (Derivatives and multiple insurance policies that could not be supported).  Or, take ENRON, the corporation that cleaned out California’s treasury then went bankrupt before the court action was final.  California still suffers financial troubles caused by that and the GOP sponsored Prop 13.  How many other examples do you need? 

Elections are now swamped with money, the result of the US Supreme Court ruling that corporations are essentially people and can contribute unlimited funds to Super PACS. 

Get the point?  No?

Corporate and Government power combined?  We have it.  Patriot Act?  Abandonment of our civil rights?  You betcha!  Isamophobia in the GOP?  Yep!  Afraid of Iran’s nuke capacity?  Sure.  Racism?  See Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich.  Well, Doctor person, you and I, and all Americans are on the road to fascism.  I don’t think you get it. 

Go your merry way.  I’ll be dead before too long and you’ll have it all to yourself.  And remember this if you can’t get your head around coming events; pay your debts when you have prosperity, skate when times are lean: a principle of government budgeting.

Come November we shall see.  By the way, I never said you were anti-semitic.  You just love to misinterpret, don’t you?

Gerald

Gerald, you just can't seem to discuss issues without throwing in polemic comments one after another. I have never stated I am some sort of incredible political analyst. Far from it, I am a doctor fighting for dialysis reform.

I won't bother to refute any of your new list of accusations. You think I support the GOP without any pretense. You are plain and simply wrong again my friend and I am the first to recognize the run to fascism this nation is facing. You actually are a bit irritating Gerald, which I believe is the underlying basis of your continuous attacks against me since you haven't grasped a single point I have made in defense of false accusation after false accusation. Yes, I believe you are a good politician as you state, you are demonstrating that principle over and over again. I will try to refrain what I would like to say at this moment and only, have a good night, you are just completely wrong. (man that was hard sentence to write, it wasn't what I wanted to write for sure)

I support the GOP this year because they are the only tool to remove the usurper in the White House right now. Other than that, yes, they are all on the same team and NONE of them represent me or you. You are focussing on the wrong enemy my friend.

In any case, you are beginning to truly waste my time with your continuous false accusations.

Have a good night.

By the way, I would highly recommend you consider home hemodialysis or transplant if you are convinced your time is short with your current treatment and talk that option over with your providers. Once again, the symptoms you described a week ago are almost all entirely preventable and something that I never experience at all on dialysis.  I hope you will be able to improve your dialysis treatments from what you described the other day, it doesn't have to be so bad that you are stating you don't have long to live.  Good luck my friend, I hope you find the serenity you are looking for.

P.S. you keep mentioning the Patriot Act. Do you think I have not spoken out against this travesty for years? Geez Louise. Yet, why do you keep giving Obama a pass on NDAA. It goes even further than the Patriot Act. Why do you give Obama a pass on all of his corporate buddies like GE that didn't pay a cent in income taxes? Where does that fit in your framework of fascism? Obama has thumbed his nose at the constitution in greater aplomb than anyone before him. What about the war powers act in Libya that he completely ignored?

http://www.therightscoop.com/levin-obama-only-president-not-to-comply-with-war-powers-act/

My friend we are not heading for fascism, we have already arrived with King Obama. Did you protest against that unconstitutional power and abrogation of existing law unilaterally. Many more examples but it is late.

Chill out my friend, I am not your enemy.  Good night.

[Gerald Lively]

I am not transplant eligible, I have cancer and renal failure.

Let us not argue, discuss or debate.  Just let us know where you stand:

1.   Do you support the idea of Universal Healthcare for all citizens?
2.   Do you wish to see Medicare continued?
3.   Do you wish to see Social Security continued at the present level of benefits?
4.   Do you agree that we should be in Afghanistan fighting “a” war there?
5.   Should the defense budget be reduced?
6.   Do you agree with the Buffett rule that those earning over $1 million should be taxed at 30%?

Gerald