Tag Archives: Ryan Budget

October 5, 2012 · 3:04 pm

NO PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE BULLIES IN THE BULLY PULPIT,By Louise Annarino,October 4, 2012

NO PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE BULLIES IN THE BULLY PULPIT,By Louise Annarino, October 4, 2012

The Merriam-Webster dictionary tells us that the word debate was originated in the 13th century. It is a Middle English word, taken from Anglo-French debatre, from de- + batre to beat, and from Latin battuere. Its first known use is in the 14th century

Today it defined as: a regulated discussion of a proposition between two matched sides. Its obsolete definition is : fight, contend.

Understanding the definition explains why the first Presidential debate had no winners,especially not the American people for whom this battle or debate of ideas was being waged across our screens. Many would blame moderator Jim Lehrer; but, that would be blaming the victim, as is so common in human nature, for the bully-behavior of one of the contenders, Mitt Romney. Mr. Romney brazenly and brutally shouted down the moderator and set his own rules,altering them to suit his attack. His rapid-fire delivery of disconnected thought bursts made it near impossible for a reasonable person to interject control over the proceedings. From his first comments the debate was removed from the moderator’s control to Romney’s. From that moment on Romney was free to lie, and he did so repeatedly.

I have written so often about his lies I won’t take time to repeat them today. There are many other sources fact-checking and reporting on them, if you will take time to read or listen. Before this first debate I described what to expect, a Romney shell game meant to sell Americans a bill of goods,and intimidation of the moderator. When President Obama calmly but decidedly pointed out Mr. Romney’s game, Romney called the president a liar. I predicted this strategy in my earlier blog. We all have experienced liars in our lives. We all have been warned by our mothers to tell the truth, that if you lie once you will have to continually lie to cover up the first lie, that after the first lie lying gets easier, that once you are known as a liar, no one will ever believe you. Nevertheless,this is the Republican strategy: Call our president a liar. Lie about your own unpopular and destructive policies, then call anyone who points out your lies a liar to confuse people and reinforce your own lies as truth. It is a brilliant one for those who don’t pay close attention to politics, or only watched the debate, or only watch FOX news.

Early in the debate, Mr. Romney called President Obama a liar to his face and obliquely referenced him as “boy” by using his own sons’ lies as a reference point for President Obama’s challenge to Mr. Romney’s lie. He said this with a smile on his face, speeding up his commentary and chuckling at his own wit. President Obama had to be disgusted. I know I was. The moderator remained silent. After this point, there was no debate happening. This was no longer a formal statement of position, with rules governing the manner in which each side argued for their position. Mr. Romney stated the president’s positions as his own, and when challenged called the president a liar. I cannot call what I watched a debate. It was the obsolete definition of a debate. It was battuerre or debatre. It was a fight.

Our president is a gentleman, a statesman, a leader who does not fight with his fists, nor fist-fight with his words. He does not lie to make a point;nor make a point to lie. He does not bully. He would never cheat and call it a victory, as Mr. Romeny’s own son tells us about his Dad with great pride as a reason to elect him president: Craig Romney: My Dad Cheats & “That’s What We Need in the White House.” Once a cheater,always a cheater, on income taxes, in debates, on the campaign trail [just review statements of other Republican candidates during the primary campaign],even in the White House.

Don’t mistake my words. President Obama knows how to fight. Both Mr. Lehrer and the president are the victims of a bully. For the beating they took we must blame the bully, not the victims. However, I do fault them and those who managed them for not anticipating they had a bully who would not play by the rules, who disdains rules, who is so privileged he believes rules should not apply to him and should apply only to lesser beings, certainly to the 47%. Did they not know who Romney is? Have they not been watching him campaign? Have they not seen his ad campaign? Do they think they are immune to bullying? They walked right into the trap. For that, I do blame them. But, that, does not make Romney a winner; just a lying, cheating bully not worthy of the presidency.

Romney can say whatever he wants, change positions all he wants. None of that matters. We know what the Ryan-Romney Budget [not a typo;Ryan will control the budget effort] will do to our economy, our middle class, our poor, women, children, seniors, immigrants, minorities, LGBT community, the arts and Big Bird. It is who he is and how he behaves which will betray our finest American ideals and our leadership throughout the world. No one can be safe with a bully running the neighborhood. Wake up America. GO VOTE for every democratic candidate on your ballots. The lying, cheating bullies must be defeated. In America we battere / debatre / fight withBALLOTS.

Republicans know this which is why voter suppression and intimidation is one tactic in their strategy to take back government. Bullies don’t know how to compromise; it is always their way or the highway. They have only one measure of success: how badly did they batter the other guy? Democrats are not bullies. This does not make us weak; it makes us brave, smart, and compassionate listeners and doers. Don’t judge President Obama or Mr. Lehrer by how they looked while being bullied.I’ve been bullied and it is not a pretty sight. Judge them by what they do for America, by how they behave toward others, by the dignity and compassion they show others, by the wisdom to know when to put up their fists and when to let the bully hang by his own rope. President Obama now knows Mitt Romney. He has felt his flying verbal fists in his gut. He will defeat Mr. Romney. Mr. Romney will never know what hit him.

VOTE OBAMA AND DOWN-TICKET DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES ,INCLUDING JUDGES. VOTE TODAY.

TOILING IN THE POLITICAL GARDEN,By Louise Annarino,August 15,2012

TOILING IN THE POLITICAL GARDEN, By Louise Annarino, August 15, 2012

The grass browns as leaves yellow in the garden plot, and cicadas sing hourly songs of success. Fall intrudes late at night leaving a wet calling card on mornings scrolled open by the sun gaining distance from our lives. The stories politicians tell sound new only to the newly awakened.Those of us who have stayed awake most of the night heard them when they were fresh and contained new information, like the seedlings in our Spring gardens. Slumbering summer politics bursts forth with abundance. Political ads, bus caravans, and nightly speeches fly like insects over every voter, seeking the last drop of sweetness to fuel their flight to victory at the polls.

Campaign teams ready volunteers to harvest votes. The worker bees buzz door-to-door about their neighborhoods. As Summer transitions to Autumn a presidency transitions. It is neither good nor bad. It simply is. And yet, all discussions of such transitions, seasonal or political are value-laden bushels. How do we know which candidate to believe? How do we tell a weed from a cultured plant? A lie from the truth? What is unreal from what is real? How do we know what the heck is really going on?

“Show me somebody who is always smiling, always cheerful, always optimistic, and I will show you somebody who hasn’t the faintest idea what the heck is really going on.” says Mike Royko. When President Obama or Vice-President Joe Biden remind us of the struggles we’ve been through and are still facing and the efforts of the Republicans in Congress, including Rep. Paul Ryan (WI) to protect mortgage companies, banks, investment houses and businesses from desperately needed regulation to avoid another recession/depression they are describing to us what is a weed. This is not fear-mongering, but truth-telling. Mitt Romney, “always smiling, always cheerful, always optimistic” doesn’t know much about gardening nor governance. He has not needed to learn such skills.

As Glen Cook says in Water Sleeps “Rich men have dreams. Poor men die to make them come true.” And the middle class does both. President Obama has moved upward from one class to another to another. Mr. Romney started at the top, and the view looks fine from up there. He smiles all the way to the bank; the Swiss and Cayman Island banks. He disdains the plebian request for his tax returns, details of his policies, how he would implement the Ryan budget. He does not feel it necessary to answer such questions, assuring us he will show us once he is president. I get it. As a captain of (not industry) corporate raiding he has never had to answer an interview question;he is the one conducting the interview. He has never had to answer to employees nor unions; the decisions have been totally in his hands. This is how he would govern. As if he were a majestic force of nature, not the gardener.

He reminds me of a visit with a college friend to see her wealthy grandfather who lived in a three-story pent-house overlooking NYC. I was twenty years old, from a small Ohio town and ever aspect of such a life-style was a revelation to me. My home would have fit inside the living room of the pent-house. I was a gauche young woman, slack-jawed with awe at my surroundings, as I was given the grand tour.

Walking down the hall, I noticed a framed photo of a huge estate surrounded by lovely gardens. It reminded me of Jane Austen’s descriptions of Pemberly in Pride and Prejudice. My friend’s grandfather noted my delight and happily explained that this was a photo of his estate. When I remarked on the extensive gardens, his face lit with pride. He said he loved his gardens. He took pride in describing each are of the garden, including the grape vines and winery. “Oh, I know what you mean”, I gushed. “There is nothing more wonderful than sinking one’s hands into the dirt and gardening. How wonderful it is to eat fruits and vegetables, and drink wine from vines you have planted yourself.”

I had no idea this comment would be taken as an insult; but, it was. With a look of utter disdain, I was informed that he hired people to get their hands dirty. He would never stoop to do such low work himself. He was a majestic force of nature on his estate and in his businesses. He was not a gardener.

My joy in gardening was not diminished by his comments. However, my comments diminished his joy in his grand-daughter’s friendship with me. I felt invisible to him the rest of that first, and last, visit. I feel invisible to Rep. Ryan and Mr. Romney. They are not gardeners. They take delight in using the produce from the American garden, but have not had to get their hands dirty. They ignore the weeds which would destroy the American garden. Those who work and even die in the garden to make them rich are invisible to them.

President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden see us. They are seasoned gardeners themselves, who have toiled long hours getting their hands dirty as well as dreamed big dreams; not just for themselves, but for those of us who are invisible to the men at the top of the mountain.

We cannot become cynical when drought lessens the harvest, although we may be disappointed. President Obama is remarkable that he was able to produce such profound historical changes to health care, women’s pay, openness for homosexual soldiers in the military, way forward for immigrant young people, etc. Our energy production is higher than ever, and oil imports lowest ever. You have seen the list of his accomplishments in earlier blogs.

We cannot become cynical when garden pests threaten the stores we have created and thought we could rely on to get us through the winter. Despite Rep.Ryan and others blocking him at every turn, the president remains pragmatic, getting the best crop he can under uncertain and hostile conditions. Just as those of us who gardened through the heat and drought have done in our home gardens, as Mrs. Obama does in her White House garden. As we must continue to do.

GRATITUDE FOR HARD TIMES, By Louise Annarino,August 6, 2012

GRATITUDE FOR THE HARD TIMES, By Louise Annarino, August 6, 2012

The day I left home for college in 1967 my dad handed me $20. I tried not to accept it, knowing my dad’s pay was only $50 per week and it meant a huge sacrifice. But he insisted saying, “Mommy and I don’t know when we will be able to give you any money again, so take it.” When I got to campus I found an on-campus job through government sponsored work-study program with the help of campus counselors. I also found an intermittent off-campus job stuffing envelopes at Hillel House, having gotten to know the rabbi while taking his free seminar on Martin Buber. I was the first to show up the day he was accepting applications, and he asked me to wait until Jewish students had registered, promising a spot to my Catholic self should he have a remaining opening.At the end of registration 3 hours later I, and a friend who was is the daughter of a Methodist minister, were his only students. I learned more from him than any other professor that first year on campus, and he called me whenever he needed extra office help. The watchful African-American woman who ran Lincoln Tower’s snack bar on Sunday nights, the only meal not included in our meal plan, asked me one Sunday night, “Why do you never order anything when you come through the line with your friends?”. I explained I was a scholarship student and could not afford Sunday night dinner but liked to sit and chat with my friends before we got back to our studies. She immediately told me “Stand right there!” and placed a cheeseburger, fries and a salad on a tray and told me to come through her line every Sunday and she would make sure I had something to eat. I did and she did. It was great not to be hungry.

These acts of generosity put me through college. Yes,I worked hard and constantly. I worked at least 2 jobs over Christmas and Spring breaks.I took summer classes and worked full-time. I soon became an RA (resident advisor) to earn free room and board, and kept a part-time job to cover books and incidentals. But that is not the issue. Everyone works hard in some way at some time; those of us from impoverished backgrounds in every way, all of the time. The issue is that I could not have obtained a bachelor, master and law degrees without the help of others every step of the way. I did not do it alone. No one does anything alone. The thankfulness I feel for those who helped is a constant source of faith and hope for me. Gratitude has made life bearable during the hard times. I can never pay forward so much as I have been given. There is not enough time left in my single life to repay the kindness of so many lives.

When I hear President Obama attacked in political ads featuring business owners chiding him for demeaning their accomplishment by suggesting they did not “make it” on their own; and hear Mitt Romney at the close continue the misrepresentation of the president’s words by affirming, “I am Mitt Romney and I approve this message” I cringe. What arrogance and bravado is needed to so clearly lie about the president who has done everything possible to help business,especially those very small-business owners appearing in such ads. How ironic that Mitt Romney and members of his party who have repeatedly blocked the pro-business agenda of president Obama, and Mitt Romney who off-shores workers’ jobs and his profits after gutting American companies thinks he has the moral authority to approve any message on American job and business creation. He made his billions destroying jobs and small businesses.The Paul Ryan budget he backs would eliminate help for small businesses.

I digress. Again, this is not the point. The point is no businessman created any business on his own. Businesses are not only built and thrive because of infrastructure and tax policies supported by tax dollars. They are built by workers who labor for the business owner day after day, week after week; workers who are educated in our elementary and secondary schools, and in our universities and technical programs; workers who are trained in union apprenticeship and journeymen programs; workers who earn minimum wage or union wage while the owner pays himself a salary 10 times (or more)the highest worker’s wage and takes a percentage of the profits. Worker productivity also builds his business. He does nothing alone, but take the credit.

Instead of a faith and hope filled life of gratitude such business owners appear to lead bitter and fearful lives. I started out being disgusted with them. Now, I feel only pity for them. However, such men cannot be elected to lead this country forward. They are not to be trusted with the fruits of our labor. They do not understand it. They do not appreciate it. They do not honor it. They would squander it and steal it to fill the empty void in their own lives.

It is men like President Barack Obama, Vice-President Joe Biden, and Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown who remind us of our value, who support our dreams, who invest in our futures. it is they who will lead this country through hard times, as so many helped me through mine.

Tag Archives: Ryan Budget

NO PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE BULLIES IN THE BULLY PULPIT,By Louise Annarino,October 4, 2012

TOILING IN THE POLITICAL GARDEN,By Louise Annarino,August 15,2012

GRATITUDE FOR HARD TIMES, By Louise Annarino,August 6, 2012

Archives

Follow Blog via Email

Recent Posts