I hope you enjoy all 32 of these mini-essays/comments.
Posted on Yahoo! News
ONE:
I wonder if pro-war fever in Britain would cool off if Prince Harry came back from Afghanistan
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
"My message to the prince - this is not a game."
"My message to the prince - this is not a game."
TWO:
[My response to an article on possible prolonged cessation of sunspot activity]:
I hope this isn't the calm before the really big (apocalyptic) storm. Doesn't the Perfect Storm always happen when you least expect it?
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
"Don't you sometimes yearn for the Good Old (really Old) Days when people thought the sun in the sky was God, Who sometimes gave us good days and sometimes (well) gave us His wrath?"
THREE:
But...Obama has not granted the Libyan rebels diplomatic recognition. And this decision is his alone to make - advice and consent from the Senate not being necessary. Tell me, has any of the lamestream media even bothered to ask our President what he's waiting for?
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
"Obama's silence is deafening and 'says' a great deal about his leadership, doesn't it?"
FOUR:
[On why video game sales plummeted in May]
Maybe people are getting tired of gaming. Maybe they're hungry for a chance to change reality, instead of saving some pretend world.
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
"Vote for me, and I'll give them a solid chance to impact reality - by changing our sorry political scene."
FIVE:
It's pretty obvious the rebels aren't any near ready to strike the final blow. If so, believe me, our Congress wouldn't be blowing smoke about cutting off the funding. Hmm...I wonder what Congress knows, as a result of their secret White House briefings, that the rest of us don't know.
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
"Obama is a war criminal for having engaged us inLibya
"Obama is a war criminal for having engaged us in
SIX:
[Article title: More than $6 billion in Iraq
I know where that money went - to pay off Muqtada al-Sadr after he ordered his militia (the Mahdi Army) to stand down in 2004.
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
"And al-Sadr will use that money to finance his bid to control Iraq
SEVEN:
“[POTUS] shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties…” A treaty is an agreement for peaceful purposes between the US
The Constitution says, “The President shall be commander in chief of [US armed forces].” But his war making powers don’t kick in until Congress gives the order. In case POTUS doubts that, he should remember: Congress could impeach him on the basis of charges Congress deems appropriate. And such a decision would be final, even if such charges were “trumped up.”
I suggest Congress pass a special declaration of “war” (in effect, of non-war, which it must be admitted is a kind of war) “against” Libya
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
“None of this is terribly complicated; we only make it so.”
EIGHT:
"...[Michele Bachmann] 'fought against my own party' behind closed doors by opposing the Bush administration’s much-reviled TARP bailout plan."
I see. Fighting behind closed doors counts as a profile in courage these days, eh? Maybe, just maybe, if more of these Two Party System animals would fight in public, certain pieces of odious legislation wouldn't be foisted on us. Just saying...
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
"Who knows? Maybe Bachmann will get the GOP nod...by default...after everyone else drops out."
NINE:
"[Texas Governor Perry] promoted his state's jobs record and economic climate, which he said were a reflection of conservative principles." Sitting on top of an ocean of oil couldn't hurt either - "conservative principles" aside. Hmm...oil backing up conservative principles...where have I heard that before? Ah, Saudi Arabia et al.
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
"Yawn...if Perry wants to jump into the race, I'll thoroughly enjoy picking apart any policy statements he'll care to make. That is, if he bothers to make any at all - I'll be there."
TEN:
“…Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont
Oh, isn’t Leahy such a tough guy – grilling Gates? I can see Gates sweating as Leahy pretends to give him the third-degree. What a crock! Let me rephrase Leahy’s question in a more pertinent way: “How long will the American people support its own government which can’t stop pouring on the lies? When do We-the-People say enough is enough?”
Two Party System animals like Leahy are the problem. They have the power to say “enough is enough.” But loyalty to party stops them – oh, that and loyalty to the hidden agenda.
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
“The only way out of the woods is to vote for Independents. Declare your independence by voting for Independents in 2012.”
ELEVEN:
"...a unilateral Palestinian move at the U.N. will set back the peace process." What peace process? Israel has no intention of ever abandoning its West Bank (illegally seized) settlements, so that doesn't leave much to talk about, does it?
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
"If elected, I will grant US diplomatic recognition to Palestine and remove it from Israel United States
TWELVE:
Take a good look at the photo accompanying this article. The young man in the blue shirt firing his RPG has something in common with other rebel "fighters" I've seen. They all look clean, well-groomed, and as if they're posing for the cameraman. They don't look like bedraggled, starving revolutionaries suffering in the trenches with the desert heat. Does anyone else notice this?
* “the photo” – Sorry I can’t show you the photo here, but that doesn’t really matter. All of the photos I’ve seen show a pretty well-groomed lot.
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
"Oh, I have no doubt there's a war going on over there; it's just not anywhere near what we're being led to believe. A word of advice: Stop letting our leaders decide what is to be done for our own good."
THIRTEEN:
So Jon Huntsman is eager for a go at it, eh? That would make the second Mormon to covet the Big Brass Ring. Not only that, but he shares something else with Mitt Romney - both are related to Mormon apostles. Wow, to be kinfolk of an apostle...how cool is that? I don't mind another Mormon entering the race, though perhaps we should have More Women entering (More Women who are also Mormons...like that will ever happen).
Romney? Huntsman? Neither should be let off the hook, since they have a lot of explaining to do regarding their faith.
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
"No, this isn't a religious test. I just want to know where they're coming from."
FOURTEEN:
[RE: Article title: Can a gay judge rule on gay marriage?]
Even more interesting: Why couldn't a monogamist judge rule on the constitutionality of polygamy? After all, the issue at stake would be the right of religious expression, since our constitution is silent on what is appropriate marriage. For instance, who's to say a Muslim man with four wives can't become a US citizen SOLELY because US
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
"I say, live and let live; and let Romney have his four wives, should he so choose."
FIFTEEN:
[From: "Libyan rebels make fresh gains, NATO drops leaflets"]
"If you continue threatening civilians, you will be killed."
Don't you love how the official party line was inserted into this pamphlet? Of course, in the NATO worldview, any of Gadhafi's men in a tank, by definition, threatens civilians, while any rebel in a tank (again, by definition) does not. Sounds like a classical definition of double-think. Years from now, even school children in France and Britain
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
"Years from now? Forget that, school children the world over are laughing right now."
SIXTEEN:
“… Fischer said his training as an economist would be ‘essential’ to running the IMF and dealing with economic crises…”
Why does Fischer pretend that “training as an economist” means anything? We’re not talking about a monolithic, one-size-fits-all training. There are schools of economic thought and dissidents within those schools. The curricula of even the most prestigious citadels of econ training in the world are under fire for relevancy to the needs of the modern age. How creative and, if needs be, unorthodox can we expect Fischer to be? Or would he be overly-eager to throw old “rigid but tried-and-true” solutions at problems having a modern wrinkle to them?
As for Fischer being “credited for guiding Israel’s economy through the global crisis”: Israel’s economy isn’t the most complex to manage in the first place, and (believe) no one single person would be allowed sole responsibility for Israel’s economy.
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
“This whole nonsense about being a trained economist is irrelevant to the IMF, anyway, since politics would trump economics in those hallowed halls, if push came to shove.”
SEVENTEEN:
[RE: US Speaker of the House Boner giving Obama a deadline to explain his "legal position" regarding his Libyan action]
Congress could simply pass a Resolution finding Obama not in compliance. Or they could (snicker, snicker) impeach him. Oh wait, the GOP doesn't control both Houses. [Can't you hear Boner swearing under his breath saying, "Dang!"]
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
"Elect me in 2012 and, as part of my written contract, there will be no more wars unless Congress declares them."
EIGHTEEN:
So what's Pawlenty proposing to do about ObamneyCare - repeal it? Did he actually come out and say he'd do that, maybe muttering under his breath what he'd replace it with? So far, all we have from Pawlenty on this issue is a cute pun - ObamneyCare, indeed! We need more than Master Punsters in the White House.
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
"I would replace ObamneyCare with Universal Single Payer Health Care, and would veto every bill Congress placed before me until I got it - that, and an 18% interest rate cap on personal credit cards. And I would pay for USPHC by pulling the plug on our illegal wars."
"I would replace ObamneyCare with Universal Single Payer Health Care, and would veto every bill Congress placed before me until I got it - that, and an 18% interest rate cap on personal credit cards. And I would pay for USPHC by pulling the plug on our illegal wars."
NINETEEN:
What Egyptian government? You mean the one under the caretaker control of the military? An endorsement from an Egyptian government having had its first post-revolution election, now that would be more like it.
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
"The fact that Lagarde would seek endorsement [for the IMF presidency] from the caretakers speaks volumes."
TWENTY:
Pelosi said. "I urge Congressman Weiner to seek that help without the pressures of being a Member of Congress."
Ah, so it’s “the pressures” that are worrying Pelosi, is it? To be consistent, the next words out of her mouth should be, “I urge Gabrielle Giffords to focus completely on her recovery from having been shot without the pressures of being a Member of Congress. Besides, her constituents deserve to be actively represented by someone else while Gabby recovers.”
Actually, I don’t care about Pelosi’s consistency. What I really care about is her intelligence. She and all of the other detractors aren’t playing their best hand, which is – threaten to bring Weiner up on charges. Surely he must be guilty of something, otherwise, why all the fuss? Just whisper in Weiner’s ear, “If you don’t resign, we’ll bring you up on charges which, even without merit, will bankrupt you.” That’s how it’s done: Threaten the poor sucker with having to pay so much to defend himself, he’ll wish he had resigned in the first place.
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
“I absolutely don’t advocate this kind of threat. I’m only pointing out how stupidly Pelosi et al are handling this, since I believe this kind of threat is definitely in their bag of tricks.”
TWENTY-ONE:
[Story headline: F-15s intercept plane near US
Too bad those F-15's couldn't have scrambled when it really counted - on 9/11.
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
"It's amazing how quickly planes can scramble when their pilots don't have any 'Stand Down' orders holding them back."
TWENTY-TWO:
Michael,
You claim, “[Congressman Weiner] has admitted to wrongdoing, but will still collect a retirement check from all of us."
Don’t you think the word “wrongdoing” is a bit strong – perhaps “misguided moral compass” would be more accurate? In any event, Weiner didn’t break the law – which is what most people would understand to be “wrongdoing.”
As for your claim, “As a public servant, he should lose everything”... Even if Weiner is expelled from Congress, the current law would allow him to collect his pension. To change the law now to try to punish his conduct would be unconstitutional. That would be an example of an ex post facto law.
All these people who are raising a stink about abuses of the congressional pension system should have been complaining years ago. But, no, only when one man’s miscues hit the news do we hear any squawking. Hell of a way to run a country – after the fact.
Actually, Weiner is being quite brilliant here. He takes a little time off, allows the public to forget (which it will), and then quietly returns to his office* to serve his constituents to the best of his ability. And most galling of all, at lest to his detractors? His district will probably re-elect him, if he isn’t redistricted out of a job.
* UPDATE: Weiner resigned – probably after being threatened with legal action as I’d predicted earlier (see TWENTY above).
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
“Too many people ‘respond’ politically only when a scandal breaks. I call them 'kneejerkers.'”
TWENTY-THREE:
This is all politics. There's no real harm in [Palestine ’s] Fayyad supporting [Israel Arnold
* UPDATE: “In a surprise move, the IMF board failed to support changing the IMF's rules that would have allowed 67-year-old Fischer to run…” – source: http://www.metro.us/newyork/money/article/888622--lagarde-carstens-shortlisted-for-imf-president-race
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
"Politics may indeed make strange bedfellows, but not if one of the partners is too old to get into the bed in the first place."
TWENTY-FOUR:
[Aaron was a slave who fought for the Confederacy during the US War of Secession.]
"If Aaron Perry knew the Union Army was coming to free him, why did he join the other side?"
Well, for one thing, freeing the slaves wasn't the Union Army's mission; preventing secession was. For another, maybe Aaron Perry was willing to accept a known situation (his life as he knew it in the South) versus an uncertain freedom in (what turned out to be) an anarchic environment.
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
"Let's give our ancestors credit for having some brains."
"Let's give our ancestors credit for having some brains."
TWENTY-FIVE:
[RE: Rep. Weiner, before he finally resigned]
"I can tell you that if it was me, I would resign," Obama...said in an interview with NBC News. No, he wouldn't. Just like Bill Clinton didn't. Could you imagine anyone giving up the presidency even though no law had been broken? But then again, an impeachable offense is whatever the Congress says it is - so much for the rule of law.
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
"If Obama would ever suffer such a fate, he'd say he'd "misspoken" about him resigning under such circumstances."
TWENTY-SIX:
“The Obama administration will …give military commanders free rein to plot the drawdown's pace [in Afghanistan
Sounds like our president is relinquishing civilian control of the military in favor of “free rein” for commanders. NOTE: A negative drawdown rate would actually be an increase. Would Obama allow for that?
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
“Obama can ‘mull’ all he wants – but that still won’t be a substitute for leadership.”
TWENTY-SEVEN:
[RE: Article saying Obama’s award for transparency in government should be rescinded.]
Come on, people. Everyone knows Obama is transparent. It doesn't take much at this late date to see right through him.
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
"Make no mistake about this - there was no election in 2008: Obama was the elite's Chosen One from the get go."
TWENTY-EIGHT:
The “institution of the presidency,” you say? Why do we tolerate a One Man Branch of Government that diminishes with each passing year the influence of the other two branches? When one man becomes an institution, he loses touch – absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Our fascination with Strong Man types is shared throughout much of the
BUT…and this is a huge but…this can only work once we arrange for a Congress consisting only of Independents. We couldn’t afford to let the Dem/Pub partisans spoil this new Constitutional arrangement.
And, yes, I’m talking about scrapping our old Constitution and replacing it with one based on Cross-Sectional Representation. If we can’t elect our reps from Cross-Sections, we’ll be stuck with the geographically-based system which has gotten us into so much trouble.
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
“Yeah, I know how sentimentally attached we are to the old Constitution, but it’s time to move on and give up the things of childhood.”
TWENTY-NINE:
Okay, so [GOP presidential candidate] Bachmann wants to repeal Obamacare. Does she plan to replace it with anything else? Would she even advocate for any token adjustments? Does she plan to allow insurance companies to remain unregulated by the feds? Surely she must realize that state regulation isn't working so well, and there are abuses by the industry. Or is she one of those (gasp) Free Marketeers who doesn't like governmental regulation?
There's an awful lot we don't know about Michele Bachmann, though we do know she has a bagful of one-liners that will inspire applause.
Sorry, we deserve more from our next POTUS.
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
"She decided to discard the Dems because of a book written by Gore Vidal, which (she felt) dissed the Founding Fathers? That's quite a leap! My God, what did he say?"
THIRTY:
[This is my response to a reader who commented on TWENTY-NINE (above).]
Sorry, Embnut, I've got enough to read. For me to do as you suggest - "read for yourself" - would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. May I assume you've read the book? If so, perhaps you would be so gracious as to give me some leads (chapter and verse, as it were). Naturally, I was kind of hoping Bachmann herself would have shed some light, since she was the one who took offense at what was written. Even if I would read this book, there's no way I could know the particular text that violated her sensibilities.
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
"I get the funny feeling that Bachmann didn't actually finish reading the book, after finding an offensive passage or two. Just saying..."
THIRTY-ONE:
[A group of 21 Republican Congressmen challenged Obama’s recent use of the autopen to “sign” the (extension of the) Patriot Act into law.]
This bill would have become law without the President’s signature, according to this part of Article 1, Section 7:
“If any bill shall not be returned by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it…”
The 21 idiots who signed this letter to the President, chose instead to cite another part of Article 1, Section 7:
“Every bill…shall, before it become a law, be presented to the President of the United States
Question: Did he “return it unsigned?” Another question: Is some Congressman with too much time on his hands going to insist that the President must return all unsigned bills IN PERSON?? After all, the quote above says, “HE [my emphasis] shall return it.”
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
“This is all moot anyway due to this one overriding consideration: Do you really think any challenge to the Patriot Act could actually get any kind of a fair and impartial hearing in a Court of Law? Naw, I didn’t think so.”
THIRTY-TWO:
I could never figure out why [ex-Governor Blagojevich] didn't use the "April Fool's" defense. When the feds gloated about having damning wiretaps, all Blago had to do was say, "I knew I was being tapped, so I blew a lot of smoke up their butts by spouting off profanities and untruths. APRIL FOOL! I didn't really mean what I said. How could I? Does anyone really think a trained lawyer, like me, would actually say anything incriminating because I didn't think my phone could be tapped? Come on! This is the age of the illegal wiretap anyway, thanks to the Patriot Act."
The prosecutor's case would have collapsed instantly!
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
"If I'd been on his first jury and he'd sprung that April Fool's Defense on me, I would have thought, 'Of course, only a fool would have spoken so candidly on a phone conversation, so NOT GUILTY!'"
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
Founder of The Independent Contractors’ Party
“Do I think I’ll win the election to become the next US
Contact me at bpa_cinc@yahoo.com
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