Rejection of Keystone XL

I have to say that I'm very pleased with Barack Obama's rejection of the Keystone XL Pipeline project as it would have been a disasterous deal for the rest of us. Besides possibly placing more hydrocarbons into the atmosphere and the damage caused to the environment, it would have also dealt us with very severe economic damage by shooting gas prices into the unaffordable range (think of the days of $4, or in some cases $5, per gallon of gasoline). Just think of the health risks involved and it's fairly easy to see why the project was a bad deal for us.

Not to mention, there would be little to no impact on the unemployment rate (try 35,000 jobs max) and the benefits would only go to 1 company, Koch Industries. This is while the risk of failure is passed on to the rest of us in the form of our tax dollars. This is absurd!

While this is a victory for us in the moment, I have a huge hunch that we're not done with project yet. For the company that's trying to build the pipeline can simply re-apply to do so, and it will be almost certainly granted should the GOP take The White House in 2016. This is why we need TheDemocrats in there.

Losing Rabin's Legacy

From reading about a rally that took place in Tel Aviv on Ynetnews commemorating former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, it was very heartening to read about former US President Bill Clinton's participation. What's especially heartening to understand is that in Clinton's words, Rabin refused to dehumanize the people he had to negotiate with in line with the Oslo Accords, and how because of this refusal, it would end up costing him his life.

The other piece of the equation is that Rabin was not afraid to take risks in the name of garnering peace with the Palestinians. Clinton's words were a subtle reminder to the Israeli people that the greatest opportunity for living in peace was slipping away from them by the cowardly actions of the Netanyahu government (I've written extensively on Benjamin Netanyahu's actions in various posts on my blog). By not pursuing any dialogue for peace, it opens the doors for extremists to make calls for violence on both sides.

It was good to hear that Clinton's words were echoed by both current US President Barack Obama and current Israeli President Reuven Rivlin. For Israel to walk away from the talks and blame both the Palestinians and Israeli Arabs for all past grievances, that would put a bitter stain on Rabin's legacy. A legacy that would establish peace for Israel.

Current General Election Match-Up Pollings For 2016 (200th Post)

I've been glancing at the 2016 general election poll match-ups between TheDemocrats and the GOP on 270towin.com, and let me say it's not looking good for the Democrats. Take the Republicans' front runners Donald Trump and Ben Carson and match them up against the Democrats' front runners Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. The nationwide polls show Trump leading Hillary by 2 points, while Carson is running neck-and-neck with both Bernie and Hillary. While there's no data on the match up between Bernie and Trump, it's very worrying.

My biggest worry is that if Hillary gets the nomination, she'll end up losing the general election in November 2016. This will leave permanent ramifications that the Democrats will not be able to undo. This is not to slam Hillary for running, as I think it helps to expose a lot of the extremism of the Republican base and the party itself. It's more that I think if she gets the nomination, she'll have an uphill struggle in winning a number of crucial states like Iowa and Ohio. That's in addition to holding onto a number of Blue States like Connecticut and Michigan if pitted against Carson, who has some ability to pull into the Democratic base for votes, and she can't really campaign against him effectively without being called a racist. Basically, that's the biggest worry for me, is that if Hillary's nominated, the election is pretty much lost.

Prospects are not much brighter for Bernie Sanders, the polls show him as almost not registering on people's radar.

Republicans' Benghazi Committee May Have Killed Their Chances For The White House In 2016

After watching Hillary Clinton take on the GOP's taxpayer-funded smear campaign (aka the Benghazi Committee), it's made me realize how the Republicans may have just killed their chances for a presidential comeback in 2016. There's no doubt in my mind that even though Hillary's the worst possible choice for TheDemocrats in terms of dealing with the obvious corruption and crony capitalism taking place under our noses, having the Republicans actually force her out during the primaries is more or less a huge advantage for their worst nightmare, Bernie Sanders. I've posted how on Facebook, and I'll share that post here:

From watching the #BenghaziCommittee hearings on C-SPAN, I think that Representative Elijah E. Cummings put it best by...
Posted by Jgsf1987 on Thursday, October 22, 2015

Then again it could strengthen Hillary's hand, but my thinking in this case is that it'll give Bernie the boost he needs to secure the nomination.

My reason for not wanting Hillary to win can be found here. One of the biggest turn-offs also about Hillary is that she's not likely to go after Wall Street (Based on published data from OpenSecretsDC of the Center for Responsive Politics, Hillary's primary big-donors are banks and investment companies). Additionally, she's getting campaign funding from private prison companies such as Corrections Corporation of America. That story from Daily Kos will explain everything. It makes me concerned that she's going to continue the old tough on crime through harsher sentences routine, but saying she's for lighter sentences to appease liberals and progressives. The truth is we need to end the private corrections industry altogether.

That's my reason for backing Bernie, he's beholden to noone. Speaking of which, when he got a $2,700 donation from Martin Shkreli (the CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals), he then donated it to a health clinic in Washignton, D.C. By saying no thanks to Shkreli, this is why Bernie's going to be the Republicans' worst nightmare.

Tell President Obama To Issue An Executive Order Mandating Federal Contractors Disclose Their Political Activities

The link for the petition is here: http://signforgood.com/contractors?sp_ref=156333265.270.16277.o.1.2

Joe Biden's Decision

In a lot of ways it was easy to tell that the Vice President wasn't going to run for President. One of the earliest signs was when he was on the Late Show, saying he & his family were just drained having seen Beau Biden die of cancer. No question it's sad to hear that he chose not to run, but it's no surprise either.

New Flare-Up In Mideast

The Russian military campaign against ISIS, while important to note, is not my biggest concern in the Mideast. There's a much bigger concern, another Intifada by both Israeli and Palestinian extremists.

Both Prime Minister Binyamin (Benjamin) Netanyahu and President Mahmoud Abbas need to do whatever they can to rein in this latest round of extremism displayed on both sides, but it's important to note that President Abbas has little influence on Palestinian extremists. Many Palestinians have become drawn to the extremists due in part to the collapse of the peace talks. They're disillusioned by being stymied and humiliated at the peace talks, and by Israeli announcements of further settlement construction. 

On the other hand, Prime Minister Netanyahu really needs to show he means business by cracking down on Israeli extremists, extolling them on the fact that there can be no one-state solution. He can also put out the order to remove all settlements so that the peace talks can resume. The problem is that this will not happen if Prime Minister Netanyahu remains in office. He's shown time and again that he's not interested in peace.

If another intifada does spring up, it will be the Israeli side that caused it by attempting to hijack the talks and railroad the Palestinians into submission. It's a failed strategy with deadly consequences.

Jim Crow's Last Stand And How To Stand Against It

It should come as no surprise that the final generations that lived under Jim Crow will try to resurrect it yet again. It's important to remember the sheer determination it took to rid us of that ugly stain from our society, and how many people lost their lives to see that happen.

As more time passes on, the more desparate and aggressive the defenders of White Supremacy become. Never forget that the racism that brought about Jim Crow is also taught in some form or another to the Milennials. Luckily, though, we as Milennials have the opportunity to learn from the past and take its lessons for how to assert more strongly that Jim Crow and racism (overt and covert) will no longer be the determiners of our day-to-day life.

Thoughts on the Democratic Debate

It seems as though there's been a few splits on who won the Democratic presidential debate. While many in the mainstream media will proclaim that Hillary Clinton won, a lot of polls and straw polls showed that Bernie Sanders was the winner. For both of them, it was a very good showing, and for the others (Jim Webb, Lincoln Chafee, Martin O'Malley) it was a very poor one.

What holds true is that we need a go big and go bold approach to tackling our country's problems, especially when it seems that the Republicans have no ideas that can feasibly do so. Their policy prescriptions have not changed for 3 decades, and it seems that they're now tripling down on their failed ideas instead of adopting new ones.

I'd have to say that out of all the people who've put forth ideas, the one whose ideas are the most in line with our current state of affairs is actually Bernie. More than anything, what he's calling for is what we need to get our middle class back to its former status, and he's got the track record to show that he's willing to take on the powerful interests who don't want to see that happen. I'm a little concerned about Hillary's willingness to take on Corporate America, as she's become reliant on them for campaign donations. Think about the fact that some campaign contributors are big banks like JPMorganChase and Blackstone. This is not a comforting fact, as it makes it look like she's not going to push for a re-instatement of Glass-Steagall Act (Banking Act of 1933). If she does, however, it won't have the same teeth that it did between 1933 and 1981.

How the Bern and/or the Donald will shake up Establishment Politics, and my plans on voting if Hillary becomes the Democratic nominee.

From what I understand about the CNN hosted debate for the GOP, Donald Trump really painted himself into a corner that he's not going to be able to get out of. One of his cute comments was on people with autism, which for me hits a little close to home. In some ways I'm not surprised to hear this coming out of him, as he's been making comments that have offended a lot of people, but this is only strengthening my resolve to make sure he isn't the next President of the United States. But even then, I wasn't planning on voting Republican anyway. I would only plug my nose and vote for the Republicans if Hillary Clinton got the nomination, only because she's even less likely to get anything done and the fact that we really need someone from outside the beltway in the Presidency.

Out of all the people who've proven that they get the struggles of the American public, it's Bernie Sanders. He understands that there needs to be radical change and he's not afraid to stick his neck out to do it. In addition, he's got the ability to recruit people from all over the political spectrum.

Now if both the Bern and the Donald got their respective parties' nominations, I think the stark contrast between the Republicans and TheDemocrats will appear very clearly. The Republican Party has become the tool of the ultra-wealthy to distract the American electorate from the real issues they face, and as an outlet for White Supremacy.

If anything, Donald Trump has been an embodiment of the disatisfaction with establishment politics as usual for the Republicans. The same can be said for Bernie Sanders for the Democrats. If anything, people on both sides of the aisle and all walks of life agree on 1 thing, we need radical change. Establishment politics and economics are clearly not working for the rest of us. From what I understand, Trump's plan will only add to the overall debt hiking it to levels not seen since the Reagan Administration, while Sanders' plan is completely paid for and has specifics of what he plans to do about making sure the wealthiest individuals and corporations pay their fair share of taxes.