Going to China!

The Russians continue to not Impress in Syria.

The Russians have. In Recent years not impressed anyone.
It now seams like the Russians are unable to really preform in any meaningful way that does not involve simply throwing weapons at the enemy until they win.
Now that's not to say that the Russian Military is not large, and large enough to handle most of the problems they face. Just that they seam to have some serious problems.

The terrible failure of the Russian in Afghanistan actually trumps the US defeat in Vietnam.
The Russian Failure to really effect Chechian Rebels.

The Russian Georgian Conflict did end in a Mostly Russian Victory, But it was a embarrassing performance from a nation that should have had no trouble with the small Georgian Force left to defense there nation while most of there experienced troops where away in Iraq. (Helping the US, Who under George W Bush Did nothing about it) Bush "looking into Putin's heart and finding a friend." Or as a like to put it. "Bush looked Putin in the face, and wet himself, then hid like a coward"

The Russian "Involvement" In the Ukraine has not been impressive ether.
Most notable the Russian Air force, once one of there most impressive feats of military might. Is falling out of the air. Six jets in eight weeks. The Russian Military Budget simply can not sustain the effort.

Russian had tried to buy new equipment from the west, but that has now stalled after the Ukraine.
Russian Arms exports have had trouble.. India sending back jet fighters (Mig-29's) They have purchased because they had been badly made.

And now in Syria.
One third of Russian Attack planes are grounded.
One half of transport planes are grounded.
At least one Orlan-10 drone has been shot down or crashed. Mind you this drone is little more then a large RC plane.

And at least one Russian Fighter has been shot down by Turkish F-16's after the Jet Crossed into Turkish Air Space and did not leave when ordered to three times.

China is more Capitalist then the United States.

https://fbstatic-a.akamaihd.net/rsrc.php/v2/y4/r/-PAXP-deijE.gif



I've lived in a place that runs on "capitalist" ideals much more then the US.. Its actually china. No EPA, No safety, VERY low minimum wage. Want to see a America without Socialist ideals... go to a sweat shop in China. Ya the ideal that "Socialism is always bad" Is dangerous. And the Military SHOULD NEVER be a private venture my battle buddies are not mercenaries for hire. The are guardians of society.

The Japanese View of World War II and what we can learn from it.

I once sat in on a High School History class in Japan, 

The teacher asked me to talk about how Americans Understand World War II, It was.. .awkward, but I was prepared for it.

Teacher: "Did any of your family serve in world war two?" 
Me: "Many of them about a Dozen. My grand father served in Normandy." (Everyone is impressed) Teacher: "He helped stop the Nazi's he was a hero." 
Me: "I suppose. But he never talked about it much." 
Teacher: "Did any of your family fight in the Pacific? Did any die?" 
Me: "A few yes, My great Uncle was killed on the Arizona." 
Teacher: "That's very unfortunate. How do Americans think about the war?" 
Me: ~Long Pause~ "Most consider it 'the great war' most don't know much about it. many don't remember that we fought the Italians." Teacher: "Why do you and other Americans think the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor?" 
Me: ~Gives a long a detailed explanation of the events leading up to the attack, making it rather clear that I consider it basically a politically pissing contest over who got to be in charge in the Pacific.~ "But most Americans have no ideal why the attack took place. Most didn't know even at the time..... How do the Japanese view the war?" 
Teacher: "We think that the world collectivist lost its mind. Part of the world believed that you could get what you wanted with force and violence alone. And the other part thought that you could reason with people who believed you could get what you wanted with Violence." 



To this day that is the Single best explanation of world war two I have ever gotten...

Trump and Sanders

So it stuns me that Trump is now the 2nd or 1st depending on the poll numbers your following GOP contender. And it makes me quite happy that Sanders is the 2nd in the DNC.

The thing that strikes me however is that this is a good example of far right vs far left.
Even sanders who is pretty much the farthest left you can get, is still not so far left that swing voters shy away from him. Which is not the case with Trump.



Even in my VERY red part of South Eastern Kentucky, people here are disgusted by the ideal of Trump. They will openly tell you they will vote for Clinton over Bush. And most will just laugh at the ideal of Trump as the POTUS. But even they respect Sanders.

A Sanders vs Bush run would be close.
A Clinton vs Bush will most likely not be so close.
But a Sanders vs Trump run would be down right embarrassing for Trump.
I don't even think Trump can Hope for a VP place.

Hay look at that, Obama has the same job Approval as Reagan.

Bad news for Republicans, but as time goes along it looks more and more like the Sitting POTUS will leave office on a positive note. In his latest job approval rating he is breaking the %50 mark.
Now I know that sound kind of like a lame statement but consider where other POTUS sit at this point in there Time in Office.

The high point of the POTUS's Job Approval rating this year was in April. Sense then it has dipped just a tad to a %50.2 composite score. That is compared to a 53 average overall.
But a 47 for a elected president in there 26th quarter.
By true comparison the POTUS is doing alright.
Bush had a absolutely terrible 32 at this point. Which is lower then Obamas Lowest approval rating time period.
Clinton had a 59 at this point.
Ronald Reagan had a 50.
LBJ had a 48.
Ike had a stunning 63.
And Poor Harry Truman had a 25. (I'm so glad that history had been kinder to Harry)

Now that being stated, Mr Obama is of coarse a more divisive POTUS, with only 3% of people polled having nether a positive or negative opinion of him. Interestingly enough however a study has shown that Reagan is now seen in much the same light. With few people giving a neutral opinion of him in hind sight.

And this is all despite the work that the GOP has done to stop the POTUS from doing anything... or is it? I might make the observation that Obama gets a bit of wiggle room from some people that he might not because of just how much the Right seams to hate him. Largely for doing things that other people do and don't get there Ire as much.

What the hell Kansas?!?!?

If you rule for me, everything is fine....
If you rule against me, I will defund the courts....

Does this sound like the tactic of a man who gives two shits about Democracy?

I keep saying it over and over again.
The rights ideal that the people of American are not going to put up with the "Liberal Agenda" And will get violent is bass akwards. At the rate they are going the left is going to get violent. And the thing is, the more the Right pushes and pushes, the more the American public goes left.

And its not that the Public is moving, its that the right is paddling away from the middle of the road. They are slowly getting so far away that middle of the road seams like another continent to them.

What the actual hell Kansas? You elected this guy more then one time?
Well you made you bed so ether lay in it or turn the sheets over already.

Conservatives Stop defending terrible people.

You know, I really enjoy the ideal for a fare and reasonable debate between different sides of a issue. Which I simply don't get anymore. Because the right has lost its mind.

So the question I now have after a discussion on facebook is simply this.

Why does the new super-conservative part of the US population defend shitbags?

When I say shit bags I don't mean people I don't agree with.

I mean terrible people.

Cliven Bundy. A clearly racist, well fare queen who lies to TV stations about how long his family has been on there land. (Hint it was the 1970's not a hundred years) And supports people who point weapons at law enforcement. (Which is only a bad thing when the law enforcement is fire tear gas at protesters, its not OK If they are rounding up well fare queen's cattle)

Teb Nuggent. A admitted draft dodger, and convinced pedophile. Who is just a pretty much unpleasant person to listen to on top of it all.

And finally..

David Koresh... Ya that David Koresh.

Apparently the right now sells him as a peaceful christian who was persecuted.

Not a man who was wanted to illegal weapons charges.

Had sex with at least 21 children under the age of 14, and very likely many many more.

And who built a compound that was a practical fortress.

Now lets not misunderstand this statement.

The Waco Indecent was a tragedy and a huge bungle on the part of ATF agents. BUT.

I would argue it was always going to be a bad outcome. Why?
Well because the branch devidion sect where heavily armed.

I have yet to get anyone to tell me how they should have approached the place.

Now it was a mistake to use the munitions they did.

But lets not misunderstand Koresh was a Criminal, a terrible human being, the option of leaving him there to do as he wanted was not exceptable.

That is unless you support Pedophiles.,.. Which I'm really starting to think the far-right does.

James David Manning is a asshole and so can you!

James David Manning.
Pastor Manning that is.
Is a asshole.
If you don't know the guy, you should. You should go right now and tell him he is a terrible person.

Let's just qoute him for a moment.

"Let me say something to you, you little twit. You need to understand your contributions to this show are your boobs, and not your brains.”

Mind you...
He was OK with male host of the show giving him guff, but not the female host. And he no fewer then SIX times mentioned her breast.. I think he may have a issue.

The XL pipeline is a Crime. A war Crime.

I want to make this perfectly clear.
People should be SHOT over the XL pipeline. It is a pipeline owned by a Canadian company, that is forcefully buying land from AMERICAN citizens. And is Illegally buying Native American Land.

TransCanada is Already Illegally clearing the path for the pipeline, before it has been approved. It is a pipeline that will create less then 30 lasting American jobs. Will send TarSandOil The Dirtiest kind of oil in the world though the most important farmland in the United States, in a pipe that has already leaked dozens of time. To be refined in Texas and shipped to China. And has refused bill after bill to make the oil stay in America and or be built with American steel.

The State of Nebraska has already ruled the pipeline route though there state illegal.
I'm just going to state this clearly the Illegal seizure of land from United States Citizens by a Foreign Company Is a Invasion, plane and simple. You would not like it if a Turkish Company showed up and forced you off your land, out of your home.

I normally try to keep my cool and not say radical things. But I would consider the passage of the XL pipeline a act of war, it's that simply. Any states person who helped pass the bill traitor who conspired with a foreign nation to take American Land, and forcefully remove people from there land, those people are called Refuges.
And Simply put if you... dear reader still look at this and support the ideal of the pipeline. Your a Fascist and a traitor, you should be exiled from our fair county to the fascist nation of your choice. I would suggest North Korea or Iran, They seam to share the same values. And just remember the bill of rights... That pesky 2nd amendment? Native Americans in the effected areas have already said that they will consider this a act of war and react accordingly. That's allot of displaced farmers in the mid-west. RED County. Gun County. I would not want to be some one working the XL pipeline.

Why we don't get what is due to us.

The county is in a tizzy about trees... Clay County gets Criminally low property taxes from Companies and Absentee land owners. $0.15 on the acre. We get practically nothing from the coal industry despite them using OUR roads. The Federal Government gives money to states based on the amount of federal land in the state and then the State distributes it. And South Eastern Kentucky, which has Danial boon National forest in it, and a higher percentage of Federal land then almost any other part of the state gets a penitence, a insulting token, glass beads cast before naive savages. And we take them and say nothing, because our politicians don't profit any more if the county gets the money.  So they do nothing, and don't care that nothing changes. We make less in Clay County then people in China do... And in China, they have better mass transit, better infrastructure and free health care. (Also longer lifespans then we do) We Die Six years younger then other Americans here. And we are not angry, we are not yelling at our county government to raise company/absentee property tax. We don't yell at them/the state to give us our fair do for out stewardship of federal land, We worry/talk about trees on the side of the road...

Lowest % of workers in a Union in the developed world.

The labour department found that only 6% of American Workers belong to a union.
This is infact the lowest level in the modern world.
Yet since Union Busting Scott Walker has caught the attention of the Fringe in Iowa.
Others like Marco Rubio are mouthing the same Anti-Union Rhetoric.

You may not really have a opinion.

As a general rule.
I'm more then willing to explain something to some one.
I'm more then willing to read something to some one.
I'm more then willing to wait for some one to go look something up.
But I'm no longer willing to have a discussion with some one who does not know what they are talking about.

Simply put if I pose a point and you don't counter it and simply put out your own point that I CAN counter. I lose, your no longer in the discussion.

Ronald "Rhino" Reagan.

A short list of things that Ronald Reagan did that would make the GOP/Tea Party shit on themselves in anger.

Reagan gave amnesty to undocumented immigrants.
The only president to ever give actual amnesty in US history.

Reagan shored up social security.
Expanding it much farther then any other president before him.

Reagan was a union leader.

Reagan had a weapons ban.
The only weapon ban in US history.

Reagan raised taxes.
Across the board.

Reagan doubled the size of medicaid.

Reagan singed EMTALA.
Which stops hospitals from turning people away in ER's if they have no Insurance.

Grew the Federal Government, big time.
Actually much more then any other US president after him.

Nuclear disarmament.

Wanted to make millionaires pay more taxes.

Passed environmental regulations that are now being used to fight climate change.

"Coal Colony" instead of "coal county."

Well I'm practically jumping mad of peoples argument that coal jobs where great. Well they payed well compared to the 

available jobs in the area, paying less then say automotive production jobs in Georgetown. Actually even David makes 

more working at Hitachi. And coal jobs where/are dangerous. I personally know about half a dozen people that where 

killed or almost killed in the last 20 years. And they have basically wrecked large areas of South Eastern Kentucky. I'm 

not so naive that I don't think you should never engage in industries like coal mining, but some of the money should be 

used to make sustainable economies in the area. But that's not what happened, south eastern Kentucky was and still is 

being used as a raw mineral resource colony. No different then Western nations treated Africa in the past. Take all the 

natural wealth and then leave the people with nothing when your done with them, even simple things like corporate land 

tax in SE Kentucky are practically criminal, companies pay literally pennies on the acre of land here. They don't care that 

they need roads and bridges to move there coal out, they can just tax the people that live here for the roads.

Moving onto whats new for Appalachia. Whats "After coal"

Even if you didn't have the EPA making sure that coal mines didn't dump MORE sludge, and leave more bare maintain tops, Natural gas is basically simply killing the coal industry. The much lower cost to produce power with natural gas means that companies are switching over to NG as fast as wells can be sunk. Power companies in Kentucky have taken to running the Natural Gas "backup generators" all the time, and using the coal ones as back ups. The MARKET demand for coal in the United States is so low, that its actually become more profitable to ship the coal to China. Simply put no one wants coal if they can get Natural Gas, and now wind is down below coal in cost, solar is very close as well. And there is no long overhead, solar panels last 50+ years. (Actually most of the first solar panels ever put up are in perfect working order. Coal is effectively the new whale based lap oil. It's being killed because there simply are better alternatives. (All of which must also deal with the EPA but are simply less damaging.) If coal companies or state government where really interested in "coal county" they would have been taking some of the coal money and investing it in whats after coal. It should be like that with almost all businesses. Even with wind and solar, if you put up all the solar panels you can in a area, you should be thinking about what comes after that. But coal companies don't give a shit, they will take the coal and leave ugly toxic holes when ever they can get away with it. We need to be looking at what is next, communities that simply fight to stay the same get left behind and die.

So as part of the new Promise area plan, the Obama Administration has ear marked $20 million from the Department of Labor for states to help workers who lost their coal mining jobs by training them for other professions and $25 million to the Appalachian Regional Commission to help coal communities develop economic development plans.

$1 Billion dollars ear marked to redevelop abandoned coal mines... The list of redevelopments includes "Fishing Areas" "Water Storage" And "Alternative Power Sites" Mountain top removal areas are after all large flat areas with nothing blocking sunlight or wind, with no real vegetation growth. So perfect areas for solar sells and wind turbines. I in fact know of at least four Mines in Clay County that qualify. (Mind you it would be hard to get the money for all four of them) But still. Any of those projects would benefit both businesses and people. Really what else do you want them to do? State Government has to agree to the measures under the promise areas.

Ayn Rand was on welfare.

Ayn Rand died at the age of 70, after being on medicare and social security for eight years. And died 

with a estate worth 1.2 million dollars by today's standards. She justified this by arguing that despite a 

life time of denouncing welfare, that she was simply taking back was she had paid in... Mind you 

medicare was only ten years old when she died, so she took out FAR more then she ever put in...

So basically Ayn Rand Died as the far rights version of Carl Marx.

Why this POTUS?

So I had a discussion with a conservative friend and I posed a question to him. "Why all the negative 

reaction to THIS president?" Mind you my question was not 'what don't you like about his polities' 

Because if you want to have a discussion about the ACA, yes there are absolutely discussions to be 

had. Or any other part of his presidency. The question was why all the unpleasantness? Why not 

unpleasantness against Bush? Who passed the Patriot act? Or Reagan who passed the only Assault 

weapon ban in US History? I can literally point out any number of reasons that Conservatives should 

be mad at other presidents that they love. Or at least be pleased with parts of this Presidents time in 

office. Shit I can criticize this POTUS on actual points. And mind you they are points that the people I 

talk to... for lack of a better word don't seam smart enough to understand. I can name things I actually 

approve of from Bush Jr's stay in office. I can name quite a few that Reagan did. (Mind you Reagan 

would be called a Rhino in todays GOP) So all I can figure is it comes down to one of three things. #1: 

They lost twice and they are sore losers. #2: They can't handle that a smart successful man of mixed 

race is in office. #3: They are panicking because they see they are losing on most every bigoted front 

they can find. And they have convinced people who other side would not give a shit that they should. 

And those are the people that make me mad. On more then one occasion I have had the conversation 

about the POTUS and gun control... You know. The POTUS who cant actually put forth a law on gun 

control. Who has never tried to and who basically had to be the bigger man when the GOP's Answer to 

'can we have a serious discussion about the gun violence problem in the united states' was to put laws 

in place like. Anyone can carry a gun into a court house in the state of Texas, or into schools, or now a 

law that lets teachers use there discretion on weather or not to Shot there students if they are breaking 

school property.

The GOP doesn't support troops. Not while they are in combat, and not once they get home.

My Political thought of the day.

Bush Administration cuts $1.5 billion from military family housing. The Bush Administration cut $1.5 billion for military family housing, despite Department of Defense statistics showing that in 83,000 barracks and 128,860 family housing units across the country are below standard.

Bush Republicans support millionaires instead of military veterans. Bush allies in Congress stopped efforts to scale back the tax cut for the nation's millionaires by just five percent - a loss of just $4,780 for the year - in order to restore this funding for military family housing.

Bush Administration underfunded veterans' health care by $2 billion. The Bush Administration's 2004 budget underfunded veterans' health care by nearly $2 billion.

Bush Administration proposal would end health care benefits for 173,000 veterans. More than 173,000 veterans across the country would be cut off from health care because of Bush Administration proposed budget cuts and its plan requiring enrollment fees and higher out-of-pocket costs.

Bush Administration budget cuts force more than 200,000 veterans to wait for health care. Over 200,000 United States veterans have to wait more than six months for a medical visit because of health care shortages.

Bush Administration opposed plan to give National Guard and Reserve Members access to health insurance. Despite the war efforts of America's National Guard and Reserve Members, the Bush Administration announced in October 2003 its formal opposition to give the 1.2 million Guard and Reserve members the right to buy health care coverage through the Pentagon's health plan. One out of every five Guard members lacks health insurance.

Bush Administration cuts $172 million allotted for educating the children of military personnel. The Bush Administration's 2004 budget cut $172 million of impact aid funding. Impact aid funding assists school districts by making up for lost local tax revenue from tax-exempt property, such as military bases. These education cuts will especially affect school-age children of troops serving in Iraq who reside on military bases.

Bush Administration tax cut denies military families increase in child tax credit. The families of 262,000 children of military personnel do not receive the child tax credit increase because the plan fails to cover taxpaying families with incomes between $10,500 and $26,625. According to The Washington Post, the House version of the Bush Administration plan "wouldn't help many of those serving in Iraq." One solider who will not benefit is Army Specialist Shoshana Johnson, the soldier and single mother who was wounded twice in the same convoy as Jessica Lynch.

"I lost my benefits when I deserted." George W. Bush.

"I was smart enough to get 5 deferments." Dick Cheney.

"He Volunteered to go to Vietnam." Bush Campaign Chairman Marc Racicot.

"No I didn't." President bush, Respounding to a question on NBC's meet the press about whether he 

volunteered to go to Vietnam.

---

And yet, I still know people who say the GOP is the party that supports troops. Mind you I don't know 

that many of my battle buddies that think that.

Colorado woman refused funeral because she was a lesbian.

So the unfortunate story of a Colorado woman whose funeral was canceled moments before we started making it rounds of news outlets in social media.
The narrative goes to the woman's family had paid for the funeral be held at the church and had a video commemorating the woman's life, the church upon viewing the video moments before the funeral started raised objections because it showed pictures of the deceased proposing to and kissing her legally wed what. The church objected and asked for the video to the altar the family refused and so the funeral moments after it began with hundreds of people in the pews was canceled, the deceased in her casket had to be transported by pallbearers across the street to another funeral home where they then held the funeral.

Now my normal liberal response to this should be red-hot moral indignation. But the more I read about the church and the pastor in question, the more I'm utterly dumbfounded at how this happened. The church in question had a clearly stated and out of the open stance on homosexual members of their congregation. Which stated they were free to come and worship with them without fear of being ostracized or judged but that references to homosexuality and the LGBT lifestyle were unacceptable in their place of worship. So the idea of showing them this video and asking them will is this okay for us to show confuses and frustrates me.

Now if someone wants to have a discussion about the legal implications of this I can. The family paid for the church to render service which the church then failed to render, and discussion full refund which the church has not given the family as of yet. So this is absolutely a matter for civil court. But as a social issue I can't help feel that this is a moot point. If you think that the church are backwards ass fascist bigots, fine I agree don't go to that church. Hell feel free to not associate with anybody that goes to that church, socially boycott them.

But going into a place of worship and telling them that they have to accept your lifestyle and beliefs and sensibilities is just as asinine as religious organizations say you can't have a gay marriage because they don't agree with that. Religious freedom means freedom from other people's religion and the door swings both ways.

If you believe in religion that doesn't eat meat that doesn't mean you get to tell other people they can eat me, but we shouldn't be surprised if that religion gets mad if somebody comes into their place of worship in each hamburger.

And if we want to have a discussion about religions being made up, or the roles of those religions being made by men with social agendas, or your interpretation of what Jesus had in store for everybody. That's fine but other people don't have to agree with what you think, the Old Testament states on several occasions that homosexuality is a sin. If you disagree fine, if you think it's unforgivable sin and we should just be more understanding of one another okay. But our country was founded on the idea that you were free from having someone else's religious beliefs forced on you.

Some are real confusion with this very unfortunate and tragic story comes when I think about what the family was thinking, this video should've been run across the minister before hand. Why would they want to have this funeral in this church to begin with.

Now ladies and gentlemen I am by no means insinuating that the family had any ulterior motive, I am not saying they were out to make a political statement or causes scene.
But I will say that if I were a douche bag right wing conservative radio talk show host that's totally what I would claim.

"Most of you know I used to be a strong active member of the Republican party, but no longer support most Republicans. 

Last night I was invited by my old Conservative buddies to a small house party of about 12 people. 


------I stopped by Papa Johns and ordered 8 large pizzas, then picked up a friend and went to the house. As I put the 

pizza's down everyone ran up to get some, but I stopped them and said I couldnt afford to feed them all, and that only me 

and my friend could eat the pizzas. 


------They laughed and said there are 8 pizzas and 14 people in all, so there was clearly enough for everyone. I 

pretended to be all serious and said No loudly. They got pissed off and called me selfish and greedy. One guy said, 

"thats messed up that two people get 8 pizzas while everyone else is hungry. You gotta share instead of be selfish, 

man!" 

as he tried to get by me. 


------So I said: "Sounds like you want free stuff handed to you that you didn't earn. Telling me what to do with my pizzas 

that I bought with my hard earned money sounds communist, I never once said I was bringing them for you all. Yet when 

a CEO makes $8000 an hour, has 10 cars in his driveway and lays off workers who have bills to pay and mouths to feed 

(saying he cant afford to keep them) that's perfectly okay?" They laughed and said thats totally different. I asked how, 

and 

they just told me to leave because commies weren't allowed (oh the irony lol). I told them that since they were hungry 

and 


I had enough food in my kitchen at home, they could keep the pizzas....and we left."

Well no roads from the GOP.

So today. The third? Day in office for the new GOP majority what do they do? Nothing...
More specifically nothing about the nations roads and other infrastructure.

For those who don't know the road is generally funded by a gas tax, which was last raised under Reagan and now only funds the nations roads and infrastructure still may of this year... And that's not even talking about the fact that our nations infrastructure is at its worst sense the 1940's.

The GOP, and there is no argument about this. The GOP has refused to hear the ideal of raising the gas tax, with gas at record lows and still falling this is one of the best times to address the problems at hand, Some have even suggested borrowing money from US banks to fix the us roads and bridges sense interest is at record lows as well.

Some people need to learn what "Unconstitutional means"

So I was having a polite political discussion with a somewhat conservative friend of mine. Who by his own admittance is not the most knowledgeable in the political arena.
Discussion was over the subject of the affordable care act's subsidized health plans, his argument being that they were unconstitutional. And my response was not argue that point. (Not that time anyway) and to point out the logical problem with his argument.

That being that if the ACA's subsidies are unconstitutional and so are farming subsidies and oil subsidies, because they're all applied in much the same way there a set of rules on who can and cannot receive subsidies, if you qualify you get regardless of who you are.

He actually did cede to me that this was a very good point and that my normal debate rule of "if you can't counter the glaring problem in your idea then you don't really have an idea." Should take a fact. But during the discussion I also mentioned that conservatives had also said that the individual mandate was unconstitutional. This of course led into a discussion about that.

A discussion in which a very quickly came to the root of the issue. My friend along with a great number of conservatives and liberals that I now. Do not in fact understand what it means to be unconstitutional or constitutional. Because the affordable care act was passed by Congress, signed by the President of the United States of America. And in the individual mandate itself went before the Supreme Court of the United States of America who game gets constitutional under the law.

And as one of the justices said in a later interview "outside of a full on constitutional amendment, you don't get much more constitutional than the affordable care act." Because of course most laws and never go before the Supreme Court. My friend was still little unconvinced but I could see that he was grasping some of the concept. So I put it to him in a logical a simile.

It's like playing chess. A chess game in which the Democrats and the president through political maneuvering put the GOP in check. Passing the affordable care act, structuring and in a way that it couldn't be defunded. An operating inside the rules of the United States government in which it would take a two thirds majority to avoid a veto from the president if the GOP tried to repeal the affordable care act. The last ditch attempt of the GOP to stop the ACA, was to send it before the Supreme Court and make an argument that the individual mandate was unconstitutional.

Let me make this clear this action in and of itself, is not completely without merit just like my friends thoughts on subsidies are not completely without merit. But both would have very far-reaching and drastic implications. But the comparison is that sending the individual mandate before the Supreme Court was the chess equivalent to consulting the rules to ensure that the Democrats and the president had moved to the chess pieces in a legal manner.

And so we came to the point, which was to say that at this point arguing that the individual mandate was unconstitutional was tantamount to saying. "You can't put me in checkmate that's cheating"

Because you see is someone were to ask me where my political standing was out answer rationalism. Almost everything in the world has a definition, and I am a big fan of definitions. Now like most people I don't always use words correctly but the very definition of the word constitutional means that with few exceptions you can play the law and you can say that is constitutional or that is unconstitutional.

Now this of course doesn't mean that people don't pass unconstitutional laws of course it and most the time they know their unconstitutional and they're doing them solely political gain.

And in truth I eagerly await the Supreme Court's answer to the question of the affordable care act's subsidies. Because I of course am not a constitutional lawyer like the president United States Barack Obama. I'm not a Supreme Court justice of the United States of America, so while I can take an educated guess I can't definitively say whether or not something is constitutional or not.

But I can definitively say until otherwise it dictated by the supreme court of the United States of American or constitutional amendment stating otherwise. That the affordable care act as it stands now is constitutional.




-
By. William C Moore.

Military Personal by political party.

Read a interesting piece on Military Personnel by Political affiliation. And a interesting thing popped into my mind. It made the note that the D.O.D. 40 years ago decided to spend more money on recruiting in red states. Because conservatives tend towards being aggressive and having respect for authority.    Which brings up a interesting point. I don't think I would ever use the words "Respect for authority" when talking about the TeaParty... As a matter of fact I was just thinking about children raised in the TeaParty atmosphere.   The piece itself pretty much stated what I already knew. About two in three officers where republicans. (About the same voted republican in the last election) And enlisted was much more split. (About 45-55%) With Conservatives winning out a little BUT. In the last Election the Military actually leaned slightly towards Obama.  This is most likely because of minorities and "swing voters" are over represented compared to there % of population.

At least with the time I spent in the military I found that it was much less conservative them most people in the public would think. But This is also a very modern phenomenon.

The Bush Era was not kind to the GOP's relationship with the Military.
Two wars, one of which was unpopular with troops from day one, V.A. Cuts. G.I. Bill cuts. Stop gap and any number of other things wore the fabric of GOP relations thin.