The Mad Political World Of Glenn Reiner

WHEN WILL THAT IMBECILE EVER GIVE UP?

2008-03-27T14:05:00.003-04:00

THE PRESIDENT obviously has little respect for our intelligence. Then again, we - yours truly excluded - did put him in the White House for the past 7+ years, despite a proven rotten track record he accumulated in both the public and private sectors.

This morning, he once again offered the same deluded diatribe about our alleged success in Iraq and especially the competence of the surge. Naturally, he was extremely critical of Congress’ skepticism with the war as well as suggestions continually coming out of Capitol Hill that our troop emphasis should be shifted to Afghanistan and the bordering rough terrain of Pakistan.

But his biggest pet peeve was the lawmakers’ skepticism with an Iraqi government that has yet to show any stability or control of factional violence there.

“They got their budget passed,” the president said. “Nevertheless some members of Congress decided the best way to encourage progress in Baghdad was to criticize and threaten Iraq’s leaders while they’re trying to work out their differences.”

“But hectoring was not what the Iraqi leaders needed, he added. “What they needed was security. And that is what the surge has provided.”

Perhaps Bush hasn’t heard about the recent number of insurgent attacks and the many lives lost in the past week. Or maybe he wasn’t made abreast the American casualty rate has topped the 4,000 mark and is rising.

This president has committed more impeachable offenses than perhaps all who ever held the office collectedly, including Richard Nixon. And since the Democrats have lacked the necessary votes to remove him from office, Bush continues to play like a broken record.

Granted, he did pull the proverbial wool over many American’s eyes for roughly 18 months. However, that ended shortly after his “Mission Accomplished” speech.

With time and continuous evidence to the contrary, even the American public wised up to him and his rogue war, mutilation of our economy and his choice to regularly side-step both the Constitution and Geneva Convention.

Bush has had a horrendous approval rating of roughly 32 percent for quite some time. The 32 percent actually is represented by his Neocon base.

But that has done little to bring his agenda in line with that of the people. Nothing has changed at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Obstruction of Justice, illegal wiretaps, torture of Islamic prisoners abroad, protection of the affluent and Corporate America — at the expense of the middle-class and impoverished – has become this administration’s trademark.

After all, it’s just the American people, and he obviously doesn’t care what they think. Isn’t that what Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, John Ashcroft - as well as his successor, Alberto Gonzalez - have been telling him all along.

THE STRAIGHT ECONOMIC DOPE!

2008-03-24T12:38:00.009-04:00

I RECENTLY learned the party occupying the White House during a recession or depression was never returned by the voters the following presidential election.

After looking at the record, I can clearly feel safe and secure about a Democrat being inaugurated next January. Take a look, and you will understand why!

THE STATS FROM HARDING IN 1921 TO BUSH IN 2003:

1-Democrats held White House for 40 years and Republicans for 42.5 years.

2-Democrats created 75,820,000 net new jobs — Republicans 36,440,000.

3-Per Year new-job Average—Democrats 1,825,200—Republicans 856,400.

4-Republicans had 9 presidents during the period and 6 had depression or recession.

5-Republicans had a recession/depression in 177 months and Democrats in 32 months.

6-DOW—1928 to 2003—Stock market gained 11% average per year under D presidents versus 2% under R presidents. Small Cap stocks gained 18% as yearly average under D and minus 3% under R.GDP—grew by 43% more under Democrats.

But these stats only extended through 2003. Add the last 4+ years and you will really see a true GOP disaster.

CHINA CAN NO LONGER HIDE OPRESSIVE WAYS BEHIND FREE TRADE!

2008-03-23T13:53:00.006-04:00

As the old saying goes, the more things change, the more they stay the same — especially in China.

No question, our relations with the People’s Republic of China has evolved significantly since Richard Nixon and Mao Tse Tung hammered out an unprecedented peace agreement in 1972. Diplomatic relations between the two countries eventually commenced in 1979.

Prior to Nixon’s visit to China, the two nations had been involved in their own cold war since 1949 following Mao’s Communist uprising against the Chiang Kai-shek government.

Since then, the world’s most populous nation with over 1.3 billion people has opened up to and employed modified free-market principals, thus increasing its financial and technological well being . The Chinese Communists have opened the door to free trade with the West and have profited far more than we have, as evidenced by its huge surplus from exports.

Today, Beijing looks more like Hong Kong.. Coca Cola and McDonald's are virtually as prevalent as rice!

China has even relaxed travel restrictions in recent years and has made it possible for many of its citizens to emigrate to the U.S. and other Western democracies.

But totalitarian rule in the Communist stronghold is as prevalent as ever. The Chinese still isn’t strong on human rights, especially when it comes to free speech and public protests.

We first witnessed this during the 1989 Chinese student revolt in Beijing’s Tienanmen Square. According to whose numbers you read, anywhere from hundreds to a couple of thousand students were needlessly slaughtered by military troops with tanks.

Although it has been virtually 19 years since that debacle, nothing has changed, as evidenced by the Communist government’s recent crackdown on Tibetan human rights protests — which turned into riots. According to Tibet’s exiled government, 99 local residents were killed.

While the Chinese have become more astute in business, their human rights ethic has not seen even a microscopic change.Tibet is the home of Buddhist Spiritual Leader Dalia Lama, who for decades has lobbied Beijing for civil rights, only to experience more opression.

China, who is scheduled to host the 2008 Summer Olympics for the first time ever in August, committed a major public relations disaster that could have severe diplomatic consequence.

Beijing has completely lacked accountability. Instead of an apology, it chooses to focus on U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s defense of the victims.

Pelosi, a fierce critic of China, visited the Dalai Lama at his headquarters in India Friday, where she called China’s crackdown “a challenge to the conscience of the world.”

And what was People’s Republic’s response? “Human rights police like Pelosi are habitually bad tempered and ungenerous when it comes to China, refusing to find out the facts of the case,” China’s official news agency Xinhua stated.

Outside of America’s archaic obsession with Capitol Punishment, nothing disgusts me more than human rights violations. For this reason, Pelosi needs to convince the White House and United States Olympic Committee to boycott this summer’s Olympics as we did during the 1980 games in Moscow after Soviet tanks invaded Afghanistan during the height of the Cold War.

A civilized world, led by the U.S. and it’s democratic allies, can no longer tolerate blatant human right’s violations, especially from nations we do business with. As long as we continue to let this occur, the more things change, the more they will stay the same!

SUPREME COURT TO TACKLE GUN CONTROL

2008-03-21T17:35:00.003-04:00

Amendment 2: The Right To Bear Arms

A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed

FRANKLY SPEAKING, I am not a fan at all of this Bush Supreme Court.

With five Ultra-Neocon justices, the cards are have been clearly stacked against a ruling having anything whatsoever to do with compassion, progress, or even Truth.

So when I heard “The Gang of Five in Black” — as a New York Columnist once labeled them — were going to hear arguments about the Second Amendment, something that has never before occurred since the court’s inception, I began feeling quite nauseous and then some.

Funny thing about the Constitution: Our founding fathers knew this society would evolve as time elapsed, so they left room for flexibility and broader interpretation of the finest document ever written. Yet, “The Gang” has shown itself to be anything resembling flexible or broad minded.

The Second Amendment’s purpose was to protect the rights of “regulated militias” — which just happened to make up the vast majority of our fighting forces during the Revolutionary War. It was not about letting any idiot purchase a gun for his/her (alleged) private protection. The founding fathers clearly had no idea that 232 years later, the average citizen could get a hold of an Uzi, AK-47, M-16, or a sniper rifle — fully equipped with telescopic and laser capability.

The case in front of the court is two-fold: clarification of the Amendment’s meaning and the constitutionality of D.C.'s and other major “concrete jungle” cities’ – with noticeable angry, irrational populations — to ban guns, which I happen to think is a damn intelligent idea!Having grown up in Brooklyn, N.Y., while visiting D.C. and Chicago a number of times, I can assure you if the ban is lifted from those and other metropolises, those places would turn into modern-day Wild-West towns – PRONTO!

The problem with that is a lack of brilliant law enforcement people today like Buffalo Bill Cody, Wells Fargo, Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, or even the made-for-television Matt Dillon, to deal with the fallout.

Can you imagine two New Yorkers riding the subway, getting into a shouting match about the one vacant seat available. I guarantee you without question, the next two things you would hear were “draw” and then a revolver going off. I’m not joking about this. It is serious business — dead serious (pun clearly intended).

While “The Gang of Five In Black” have already backed private ownership of guns, another dumb decision, they have opted to take more time before handing down a decision about the major city bans.

And this might be the first right move they made in the past 7.5 years