Bring It On! National News

Mitt Romney is going to give a speech at former President George H. W. Bush Library in Texas to defend, define, explain or totally confuse the Christian right wing of his Republican Party.

In the words of former Senator Lloyd Bentsen of Texas…”You Sir are no Jack Kennedy”.

Let me first say that if someone in America thinks your personal religious practice and belief is a reason not to vote for you then you don’t want their vote. Religious faith is what most American’s have on Sunday when they put on the very best clothes that they have and attend whatever service they practice. You smile nice to the widows and widowers and of course pat the young children on the head that look so angelic in their Sunday best. All is well in the world and God is pleased.

Come Monday morning they revert back to being the jerk boss that eyes the nineteen year old receptionist with thoughts of lust, or the cranky garage mechanic owner that will overcharge you for labor and parts that never existed. God forbid they recognize one another in the liquor store or choose not to look one another in the eye. Come Monday the services are ended and it all becomes business as usual where everyone is trying to screw everyone else.

Mitt Romney explaining his religious belief as a Mormon is a bad decision and this one will cost him New Hampshire and Iowa. Why that is what will happen is simple, none of the other candidates are explaining their religion. They do not have to and neither should Mitt. The guy was elected in the bluest of the blue states of Massachusetts as Governor because he simply had the right message at the right time. Put another way, if there were a war in Massachusetts with Republican’s fighting Democrat’s, there would be three hundred Democrat troops and one Republican. Overwhelming odd’s and yet Mitt was elected Governor. Religion had no realistic play in the voters minds. Mike Huckabee is posting advertisements with bold print “Christian Leader”? He obviously is not running from his faith!

President Kennedy needed to defend and explain his religious stance if elected because of the direct link to a religious leader in the Vatican called the Pope. In the Catholic faith you can be excommunicated for failing to follow the Pope’s decree. American voters at that time were concerned about a President possibly bound by an outside influence from a foreign land and rightfully so. That was a risk for him personally and it was something that Kennedy was willing to face to serve our people if that was what the Pope ordered on any decision he made as President of our nation. Kennedy put his faith to the side but did not give it up entirely as he simply understood the Presidency of the United States of America was not about him or his faith as an individual but it was entirely about the greater good of the nation.

That is a huge difference when compared to what Mitt Romney is going to offer and he isn’t giving this speech to defend his personal faith. He’s doing it for votes from a base that he really does not want. That is the reality of what his speech will be about and the Christian Conservative Right will see right through it.

President Kennedy was almost fifty years ago in expressing his religious belief and the concerns of the separation of church and state issue. We as a people have a much larger tolerance for religion, race and sex of our political candidates these days and Mitt Romney just does not get that. Maybe all the trips out of the state he was supposed to be Governing didn’t have a chance to let reality reach him.

Here in New England some folks call us prudes when it comes to our religion or belief in God. Screw them! If someone questioned your faith no matter where you live, how many seconds would be on that time watch before you slugged the SOB? Big Mistake Mitt… HUGE!

American’s do not elect people based on where you go to church, we elect people to the highest office on what your ideas are to make our nation better.

I’m jumping in the shower. I just realized I’m offering advice to a Republican candidate for President. I feel dirty for some odd reason.

Papamoka

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Cross posted to Papamoka Straight Talk, Michael Linn Jones

President Bush loves to claim that his economic policies have made Americans better off. Even in the face of resounding evidence that ordinary Americans are feeling the pinch, Bush obvioulsy believes that so long as the rich, wealthy class is getting their tax cuts, off-shore havens, and increased dividends the economy couldn’t possibly be better. Too bad the chairman of the Federal Reserve didn’t get the memo.

Testifying before Congress, Ben Bernanke warned that the economy was in bad shape and getting worse. Bernanke warned that the economy was going to slow noticeably as housing markets continue to spiral downward and credit lending continues to tighten up. Couple that with all time high energy prices and the weakest dollar in nearly 30 years, and it doesn’t take an MBA at Harvard to see the writing on the wall.

Bush loves to make the claim the he helped invigorate an “ownership society” that allowed more Americans to own homes, buy new cars, and stock up on all the shiny stuff that makes American capitalism flourish. Of course, now those homes are being foreclosed, the roads are filled with gas-guzzling SUV’s bought on easy terms but now costing owners upwards of $50 a week in fuel costs, and half of the new products being purchased are tainted with poison from Chinese laxity. Nice job Georgie.

Americans may be slow, but we aren’t completely stupid. Recent polls have placed economic concerns on a par with the Iraq War as uppermost in voters minds. Many of those voters are also able to see that the two issues are intertwined. After all, the bulk of the federal deficit is due to the Iraq War, that little adventure that was going to be quick and cheap and bring democracy to the Arab world.

George W. Bush may be wondering how history will remember him. Here’s a hint…