“After years of tickling the dragon’s tail, flirting with the demagoguery of America’s right wing and egging on a growing rage within a core constituency of disaffected, working class white Americans, the dragon has started to breathe fire, and the flames have spread in all directions. The result is the maddening success of raving nativist Donald Trump and to a lesser extent, Senator Ted Cruz.”
PrairiePopulistsAndProgressives.net 
WordPress made a bunch of changes, and when I posted this new header I felt like I was in kindergarten starting all over. There will be a learning curve.
Don’t miss the article linked in the header! It’s short, and interesting. I found many of the comments interesting too. It tells the story (in abbreviated form) of how the republicans got to today. It’s a sad story and we mostly know how it happened, but it’ good to know someone else knows the story too.
Walmart announced they are closing 200+ stores – a lot in foreign countries.
On the national blog I follow, there was actually one person that said it was Sam Walton’s fault because he wrote a memo back in 1991 encouraging his Walmart workers to support Bill Clinton.
WTF..
I guess the fact that after Sam’s death – when his kids went for the big bucks at any costs didn’t factor in to how this company got too big and too powerful?
She is a great role model, intelligent, beautiful, well-spoken, kind and classy. Judging by how she tries to keep her daughters’ lives private she is a wonderful mom too.
Jealousy Green is such an ugly color on these Republicans – don’t you think?
Like I said one day this week – the entire Obama family is what these Kristiian Konservatives preach about all the time…..
1) Traditional marriage – long term
2) Both husband and wife seem to enjoy one another’s company
3) I have never heard one ounce of truthful rumor about either President Obama or his wife Michelle as to having that wandering eye disease that so many Republican males seem to have…
4) Both of the Obama girls have grown into beautiful, intelligent, classy and competent young women.
5) That takes a lot of family love and support.
Also – President Obama has had his mother-in-law live with them for years – for that alone, he is heads above most men that I know..
After Poisoning Entire City With Lead, Republicans Swiftly Vote To Gut Obama’s Clean Water Rule
http://www.occupydemocrats.com/after-poisoning-entire-city-with-lead-republicans-swiftly-vote-to-gut-obamas-clean-water-rule-2/
Who wants to bet the Michigan Governor – Rick Snyder – will NEVER be found to be guilty of anything – even though it’s been reported there are emails detailing prior knowledge of this tainted water?
To make matters worse – it’s a safe bet this Republican Governor and his fellow Elephants will try to blame the Federal Government Regulations for all this crap?
This goes hand-in-hand with what I heard Televangelist Pat Robertson say the other day while I was channel surfing…
The old far actually said that God put that oil in the Middle East and God can give it to whomever He pleases – so that’s why WE are entitled to it.
OH REALLY???
Hmm…..God also sent his son to be born a Jew but yet good ol’ Pat and his minions preach that Jews will not go to Heaven.
WTF…..if Jesus does not even qualify for entrance to Heaven with good ol’ Pat…..would that really be Heaven??
NOT to me..
From Robert Reich:
“Yesterday, Goldman Sachs settled with the Justice Department over its fraudulent handling of mortgage-backed securities – which contributed to the financial crisis and millions of people losing their jobs, homes, and savings. Goldman has agreed to pay $5.1 billion. That will put a crimp on this year’s profits and bonus checks. But not a single Goldman executive will go to jail.
Other major banks — JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Bank of America — have reached similar, multi-billion dollar settlements. (See “The Big Short.”) But Goldman is special. Matt Taibbi described it in a “Rolling Stone” piece a few years ago as “a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money.”
The financial crisis itself read like a Who’s Who of Goldman Sachs graduates. As George Bush’s last Treasury secretary, former Goldman CEO Henry Paulson was the architect of the bailout of Wall Street. Robert Rubin, Bill Clinton’s former Treasury secretary — who in the late 1990s spearheaded the efforts to repeal the Glass-Steagall Act and prevent the Commodities Future Trading Corporation from regulating derivatives — spent 26 years at Goldman. After being Clinton’s Treasury secretary he went on to becoming chairman of Citigroup — which in turn got a $300 billion taxpayer bailout from Paulson. John Thain, who after leaving Goldman became chief of Merrill Lynch, got a multi-billion-dollar handout from Paulson that helped Bank of America rescue Thain’s firm. Another Goldman graduate, Joshua Bolten, was George W.’s chief of staff during the bailout. Paulson also put Ed Liddy, a former Goldman director, in charge of bailed-out insurance giant AIG — which forked over $13 billion of taxpayer money to Goldman once Liddy came on board. Another Goldman alum became the head of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York when the New York Fed was overseeing Goldman’s bailout. As Taibbi put it, “If America is circling the drain, Goldman Sachs has found a way to be that drain — an extremely unfortunate loophole in the system of Western democratic capitalism, which never foresaw that in a society governed passively by free markets and free elections, organized greed always defeats disorganized democracy.”
And yet, even as of yesterday’s settlement, no Goldman executive or former executive has even been indicted, let alone jailed.”
Let’s see – who’s wife is currently on leave from Goldman Sachs?
Can we say Ted Cruz?
http://www.npr.org/2016/01/14/463093708/the-ted-cruz-goldman-sachs-loan-explained
—
Read this very interesting article – from NPR which I believe is the most non-political reporting.
Even when caught with serious questions about this money for his campaign from Goldman and Citibank – what does Ted Cruz do?
He turns around and sends out a fundraiser letter and blames that media – again.
God – when will these self-professing Kristian Konservatives stop blaming the media for reporting the truthful facts??????
So, in other words, what is wrong with our US Democracy is not either unknown or misunderstood; it is just ignored by virtue of corruption at the operative and judicial levels. Meanwhile, voters remain powerless throughout all this corruption and unable to change it — while their elected agents are also enriched by the corruption, as enablers and beneficiaries. “That,” my friends, is “politics — pure and simple.”
Let’s not forget who cheered and applauded when the SCOTUS Citizens United ruling came down…
And let’s not also forget which political party demonized President Obama to dare to say anything about that same Citizens United ruling at that year’s State of the Union speech – remember?
With the SCOTUS justices sitting in the House Chamber directly in front of President Obama – he told them and the rest of the country exactly what he thought of that horrible ruling.
Mitt Romney consistently and incessantly stated on the GOP 2012 presidential campaign that corporations are people.
Wow – for claiming to be such a Pro Life group – these same folks actually believe that a corporation is a living, breathing human being that has a soul??
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/richest-62-billionaires-as-wealthy-as-half-the-world-population-combined/ar-BBol3LR?li=BBnb4R7&ocid=DELLDHP
———
This should make people think ……but I’m sure there will be folks that think this is a good thing and those of us that have a problem with it are simply jealous.
Yeah – that’s what I am – jealous.
I don’t view money as the main motivation in life. Money is important and we need it to live but to have it be the main goal in my life – I just don’t give money that much control over me.
Just wanted to say something about our dear friend Wicked.
It doesn’t seem possible she was taken from us a year ago. And it was way too soon for us to lose such a dear, sweet, compassionate, funny, witty and deeply passionate woman.
I think of Wicked often when I am on our little blog. We may be a small group but we are all what used to be called ‘loyal patriotic Americans’. We go through our daily lives doing what needs to be done – working, taking care of kids and/or parents/siblings that need help and caring about our country’s future.
And we do all this without complaining about how much money we have – or don’t have – in the bank. We conduct our daily lives with the gratitude and contentment of being able to participate in our country that is sure a lot better than most of the other countries around this world. Even with the problems we have – we still have it very good here in the good ol’ USA.
So – here to your memory Wicked – wherever you are and watching us. Sending my positive energy your way – dear Blog Friend.
Love is an energy that never dies….love will always find a way to reach those loved ones who have passed from this Earthly journey.
P.S. – I cannot forget to mention Stephen. If it wasn’t for Stephen, we would not have this blog. Here’s to you too Stephen – I suspect he is watching us as we blog and having a good time probably deep into a discussion/debate.
Stephen was a good man and one that was an unsung hero – he showed us in his actions – not just the words.
Thanks, Indy. We should never forget to pause and remember how fortunate we were to know them. A year since wicked died, and Steven died May 2, 2010. They are still sorely missed.