How will America Survive the Election Results No Matter Who Does What?

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With both political parties staking early claims to success in the midterm elections and the spin machines in high gear pending the reality of the November 2 balloting, perhaps we should look at how America will survive one of the most contentious campaigns in recent memory.

Let's face it, between the two parties practically every aspect of American society has been demonized by one party or the other. It matters not whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, somewhere someone has probably trashed you and what you stand for this year.

TV ads already tell us both the Democrats and Republicans are bad for America. The Democrats are socialists or selfish if they back Obama while Republicans are Neanderthals or racists f they oppose him. Conservatives and liberals are both anti-American. There are the pacifists and war mongers, the tree huggers and drill baby drill brigades, '60's revolutionaries and Reaganities, Muslim haters and Jewish lovers, radical Christians and atheists, and the list goes on and on.

These were times when finding the issues in the midst of the virulent debate was almost impossible. Truth seemed to serve no purpose, facts were much too long for sound bites, and worn out clichés and slick slogans were always more convenient than honesty with the voters.

Partisanship and polarization were accepted strategies while reason and compromise were condemned. Heaven forbid if you were a spokesperson of any significance for a cause like Sarah Palin, John Boehner, Nancy Pelosi or Harry Reid, not to mention Barack Obama, because you were the target of scorn, rumor and innuendo at a scale not often witnessed in America.

The news media and the politicians were guilty of baiting the opposition, freely distorting facts, spreading untruths and character assassination, all plastered in our faces by blank checks from corporations, unions, billionaires and a bevy of special interests intent on having a bunch of politicians in their back pocket.

Yet come November 3 America will awaken to a new day and a bunch of new leaders just like it will awaken every day from now until Judgment Day. No doubt there will be some deep wounds left by the hatred and bitterness of the rhetoric and the lack of good judgment by politicians of both parties who were all too willing to forfeit fair play and common decency for their own egos and political survival.

Still, we are a nation that survived politics for 234 years because we placed our faith in the wisdom and genius of our Founding Fathers, not the politicians of expediency of today. By adhering to the incredible blueprint for success left as a legacy from our Founders, the Constitution and Bill of Rights, the people of America have always survived the politicians.

Politicians come and go but the principles of our foundation never change. Our people are guaranteed life, liberty, equal opportunity, freedom and the pursuit of happiness no matter what the politicians in Washington do to try and take it away. Long ago the people understood that the conservative or liberal views of our politicians swing like a pendulum throughout our history when the people decide it is time for it to swing, not when the politicians declare they know what is best for us.

Our Founding Fathers created this great political show in our nation's capitol and then added an elaborate government framework with three distinct branches of government and checks and balances in order to protect the people from wasting all our lives being preoccupied with politics. There are 546 people in Washington doing the people's business at the beck and call of the people. That includes a president and vice president, 100 Senators and 435 house members, all elected, and 9 Supreme Court Justices appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.

That's it. It takes 2 million civilian employees and 2 more million military to do the work of the 546 people but then it does keep a lot of people employed, out of Main Street and out of our hair throughout the year. In the end the 4 million people running our federal government equal just over 1% of our population so at least we have saved about 99% of the people from taking themselves too seriously.

Outside of Washington we know that a hard work ethic, common sense, a good sense of humor and a good bit of humility are the keys to our economy, education, competitiveness, sense of fair play, creative energy, compassion and place in the world, not the boasting or saber rattling of our politicians. And certainly not the pre-occupation of the media with the sins of the politicians.

It is the politicians who have the most to learn from the election. They must learn to shut up, stop whining and get on with the people's business or they will be thrown out of office. Right now they have lost sight of their role. We don't send Messiahs to Washington to lead us to salvation, we have our own churches and Gods to take care of that. We send people to Washington and the moment they lose sight of that relationship to us, is the moment their usefulness to America has ended.

This year the politicians are a sorry lot with a huge ego and an even bigger appetite for money. Greed is not an asset for our elected representatives. Come November 3, those lucky enough to survive and get elected have two years to demonstrate they have got the message. They better clean up their act, all of them, work together, and fix the mess they have got us into before we take things into our own hands.
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Sarah Palin, James DeMint & Tea Party Trounce Media and both Political Parties in Final Primaries

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There is one clear loser after a tumultuous primary season and that is the eastern news media, the so called political analysts of both parties, and the leadership of the two parties who failed to awaken to the news that they have been buried in the rubble of a political system that is owned by special interests, with the news media and political parties the biggest of special interests.

From the view of Main Street far removed from our nation's capitol and Wall Street, where our news media and politicians call home, there is a comedy going on out east as the professionals and pundits continue to ignore a grassroots movement that is overthrowing a political system that is to corrupt, to beholden to special interests and to arrogant and egotistical to see the light.

Class warfare is alive and well in America fueled by the disconnect between the media, professional politicians and special interests versus Sarah Palin, Senator James DeMint and the People. Now the principles of Palin, DeMint and the People are poised to trounce the elitists and arrogant pros once and for all in the Midterm elections.

This time the Republicans will benefit not because they are more closely aligned to the new American coalition but because they are the outsiders. I mean the GOP establishment suffered more defeats than the Democrats in the primaries but it is only a foreshadowing of the pounding the Democrats will take in the Midterm elections when the massive number of Independents finally join the battle.

Just look at the numbers. Well over 4 million more Republicans than Democrats voted in the primaries in 2010, the first time since 1930 more Republicans voted in the primaries than Democrats. Yet sitting on the sidelines because they were denied the right to vote by archaic campaign laws is the mighty Independent voting block and they are just as mad as the "rogue" Republicans who have been leading the attack.

Take New Hampshire for example. The latest polls show 70% of Independents are dissatisfied with the direction our federal government is going. In yesterday's primary there were 266,144 eligible Democratic voters and about 70,000 turned out. There were 264,451 eligible Republican voters and about 152,000 turned out, more than twice as many Republicans. Yet there are 388,589 Independent voters who did not vote. If 70% are fed up with the direction of Obama and the Democrats they will be joining the vote and bring about a Republican landside in November.

All the political spin in the world will not change what is forthcoming. People are mad as Hell and they are not going to take it any longer. Pundits from Carl Rove of the GOP to the host of liberal Democrats claiming victory because of GOP defeats have failed to read the tea leaves and are standing on the shore with a life jacket while a 400 foot tsunami is bearing down on them.

When the tens of millions of disgruntled Independents finally join the fray come November the face of the political landscape in America will be shattered. The day of the party bosses is over and the politicians caught up in the special interest games will be exposed and eradicated.

The People know the American political system is truly broken, the American news media is as addicted to the old ways as the politicians, the special interests own the country and neither political party has the guts to fix it. It is time to give someone else a chance and the People are taking control of the political system.

People are demanding honesty in politicians and when the old boys keep compromising their principles to protect their system the People know it. Sarah Palin, like her or not, has always stood by her principles no matter how brutal the attacks from the left. Senator James DeMint from South Carolina, an almost unknown national figure from South Carolina has done it as well and will be elected to a second term overwhelmingly. Both have proven they are not about to sell out their principles because the political parties or news media don't like what they say.

They exemplify the honesty of principles lacking in Washington and they have demonstrated a respect for the people that is scorned by the elitists in Washington. That arrogance and scorn will be the eventual downfall of the media and the political establishment.

It is too late for the party pros, pundits and media to see the light. America is being Taken Back in spite of the claims to the contrary. From this point forward it will be fun to watch the dismantling of old style politics in America and it is long overdue. A new dawn is coming to America and the day of special interest control and political party manipulation is nearing an end and with it will go the media and pundits who have worked so hard to preserve a broken system.
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Are Americans Being Biased or Prejudice Against the Muslim World?

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According to The New American Encyclopedic Dictionary, "An Exhaustive Dictionary of The English Language Practical and Comprehensive published by J. A. Hill & Company of New York in 1906, "bias" of things not material is defined as: "The state of mentally or morally inclining to one side; inclination of the mind, heart or will; that which causes such an inclination, leaning or tendency."

In Crabb: English Synonyms, Crabb thus distinguishes between bias, prepossession, and prejudice: "Bias marks the state of the mind; prepossession applies either to the general or particular state of the feelings, prejudice is employed only for opinions. Children may receive an early bias that influences their future character and destiny. Prepossessions spring from casualties; they do not exist in young minds. Prejudices are the fruits of a contracted education. A bias may be overpowered, a prepossession overcome, and a prejudice corrected or removed. We may be biased for or against; we are always prepossessed in favor, and mostly prejudiced against.

Is there is a bias in America based on suspicion of the intent of the Muslim people's of the world and is it based on the history and modern actions of the Muslim world, in particular the actions of the mainstream Muslim factions. The majority of Muslims belong to one of two denominations, the Sunni and the Shi'a.

According to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, in Muslim tradition, Muhammad is viewed as the last and the greatest in a series of prophets—as the man closest to perfection, the possessor of all virtues. For the last 22 years of his life, in 610 AD, beginning at age 40, Muhammad started receiving revelations from God. The content of these revelations, known as the Qur'an, was memorized and recorded by his companions. It has been 1400 years since Muhammad started receiving revelations from God.

Sunni Muslims are the largest denomination of Islam, comprising up to 90% or nine-tenths of the total Muslim population in the world. They are often referred to as Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l-Jamā‘h or Ahl as-Sunnah.

The word Sunni comes from the word sunnah, which means the teachings and actions or examples of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad. Therefore, the term "Sunni" refers to those who follow or maintain the sunnah of the prophet Muhammad.

The Sunni believe that Muhammad did not specifically appoint a successor to lead the Muslim ummah (community) before his death, and after an initial period of confusion, a group of his most prominent companions gathered and elected Abu Bakr Siddique—Muhammad's close friend and a father-in-law—as the first caliph of Islam. Sunni Muslims regard the first four caliphs—Abu Bakr, `Umar ibn al-Khattāb, Uthman Ibn Affan and Ali ibn Abu Talib—as "al-Khulafā’ur-Rāshidūn" or "The Rightly Guided Caliphs." Sunnis also believe that the position of caliph may be democratically chosen, but after the Rashidun, the position turned into a hereditary dynastic rule. After the fall of the Ottoman Empire in 1923, there has never been another caliph as widely recognized in the Muslim world.

Shia Islam (sometimes Shi'a or Shi'ite), is the second-largest denomination of Islam, comprising anywhere between 10% or one-tenth to 13% of the total Muslim population in the world. Shia Muslims—though a minority in the Muslim world—constitute the majority of the populations in Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Iran, and Iraq, as well as a plurality in Lebanon and Yemen.

In addition to believing in the authority of the Qur'an and teachings of the Muhammad, Shia believe that his family—the Ahl al-Bayt (the People of the House), including his descendants known as Imams—have special spiritual and political rule over the community and believe that Ali ibn Abi Talib, Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law, was the first of these Imams and was the rightful successor to Muhammad, and thus reject the legitimacy of the first three Rashidun caliphs.

The Shi'a Islamic faith is vast and inclusive of many different groups. There are various Shi'a theological beliefs, schools of jurisprudence, philosophical beliefs, and spiritual movements. The Shia identity emerged soon after the death of 'Umar Ibnil-Khattab—the second caliph—and Shi'a theology was formulated in the second century and the first Shi'a governments and societies were established by the end of the ninth century.

Kharijite (lit. "those who seceded") is a general term embracing a variety of Muslim sects which, while originally supporting the Caliphate of Ali, eventually seceded after his son Imam Hasan negotiated with Mu'awiya during the 7th Century Islamic civil war (First Fitna). Their complaint was that the Imam must be spiritually pure, and that Hasan's compromise with Mu'awiya was a compromise of his spiritual purity, and therefore of his legitimacy as Imam or Caliph. While there are few remaining Kharijite or Kharijite-related groups, the term is sometimes used to denote Muslims who refuse to compromise with those with whom they disagree.

Sufism is a mystical-ascetic form of Islam. By focusing on the more spiritual aspects of religion, Sufis strive to obtain direct experience of God by making use of "intuitive and emotional faculties" that one must be trained to use. Sufis usually considered Sufism to be complementary to orthodox Islam.

Once Muhammad lived and provided the Qur'an by 632 AD the various factions fought a 7th century civil war before undertaking 500 years of war against the Christians for control of the Western World. The initial Muslim conquest of Syria in the 7th century under the Rashidun Caliphs began the battle between the Christians and Muslims. After the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Christians and Muslims the wars ended with Muslims in control of most Middle East nations and Christianity split between the Latin and Greek sects.

By the time Christianity reached about 1400 years of age the factions within Christianity forced the Protestant Reformation in the 16th and 17th centuries and the break up of Christianity into many independent denominations.

Ironically, the Muslim factions have now existed for 1400 years and in country after country they have turned on each other in brutal wars, suppression of competing sects, and acts of genocide that have left a sense of fear, distrust and anxiety in the Christian and Jewish worlds. Is it not surprising? If the Muslim sects can justify Holy Wars against each other in this modern age what is to stop wars with us? Just look at the tens of thousands of civilian Muslim deaths at the hands of radical Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan. This is in the news every day.

History is a brutal lesson in fact over fiction. The origins of terrorism within the Muslim factions is no surprise as radical extremists with a religious foundation have been around for centuries. There is no single voice for the Muslim world and no central control of order to that world. Until those elements of the Muslim world can overcome their own hatred for each other and then their hatred for the Christian and Jewish so called infidels, bias will exist and caution is warranted.

Just as the Christians had to overcome the violence and bloodshed of the ill advised Crusades and the Protestant Reformation in order for Christianity to evolve, so to must the Muslim world overcome the bitter wars and rivalry of secular and non-secular violence and the offshoots of terrorism that attempt to destroy any perceived effort to threaten the single domination of one religious sect over any government in a multi-cultural and religiously diverse world.

Any bias of unease or misunderstanding on the part of Americans toward the Muslim world can be changed, if the Muslim world evolves as other religions have evolved. When radicalism and terrorism are set aside, and they exist in all cultures and religions, there are far more similarities between Christians and Muslims than differences and both share the same God or Allah.  Finally, within every culture or religion are good people.

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Obama Faces the Lions - The GOP - Now Must Tame Three Wild Beasts

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What am I trying to say you might ask? Let me tell you, I have not been particularly kind to the Obama administration although I do have the utmost respect for the president. On the other hand, I have been as pointed toward the White House staff under Obama and the Democratic leadership in Congress as I was with the Bush advisors and Congress.



It is now clear after listening to Obama have a question and answer session with the Republicans in Congress, a first for his presidency, that he really has his hands full. Politics, and nasty politics runs deep in our nation's capitol. A sad but true situation. It is fueled by the news media and lobbyists who take sides with their mouths and money.



Obama has been criticized for being too much of a teacher and not enough of a leader. Yet my many articles over the years have pointed out that the problem in Washington is so deep that it encompasses both political parties, both houses of congress, the news media, the political commentators, and especially the White House staff.



This was the Republican chance to show that unlike the White House staff and Democratic Leaders in Congress they were willing to listen to the people and make a sincere effort to work on a bi-partisan agenda with the president and the Democrats for the good of the nation.



About half of those asking questions did that to some degree. The rest fell back into the same old sniping and politicking that has disgusted the public and makes all politicians look bad. So when a question was asked to make political hay the president shot back to set the record straight.



There is a lot the GOP and president agree upon. Even those present had to agree. But if Obama is honest and really sees the light and need for bi-partisan work, he has really got his work cut out. He is surrounded by ideologues on the left and right, Democratic and Republican partisans, media maniacs, conservative and liberal fanatics and political jerks in the White House.



I am beginning to believe none of them really want him to succeed. Even the Democratic leadership has done everything to inflame relations between the president and Republicans. His own staff cannot help offering a daily dose of negative nitpicking about conservatives, Republicans, Sarah Palin, Fox News or who knows what else.



Obama will have to be the best teacher in history to pull off teaching this class. Bringing peace to these polarized barbarians will be like converting cannibals to vegetarians. I'm beginning to think Coltons Point, where I live should not secede from the Union but should lead a national referendum to force Washington, DC to secede and take with it all the White House staff, Democratic and Republican politicians, media, lobbyists and special interests.

If we really wanted to defeat the terrorists we would send the Democrats and Republicans in Congress and the White House staff and Washington media to the war zone and you can bet every terrorist in Afghanistan and Pakistan would be consumed by the bickering, badgering and bullsh-- spewed across the landscape. Maybe it is a good thing Obama is like a teacher although it might even be more important to be a psychiatrist, wizard and sorcerer to try and tame this crowd.

Today Obama justifiably got a little testy at some of the pointed questions and nonsensical commentary before questions were asked. His White House staff said in advance that he was going to teach the Republicans a lesson. A typically stupid move. Give him an A for trying, a B for listening, a C for his comments and an M for martyr for entering the Coliseum to face the lions nearly naked.



All of Washington has demonstrated over and over again that they intend to ignore the people and they have disenfranchised the voters in the process. Many of these old politicians will be retired this fall and that is a good thing. Many more should be. It is a real shame we can't vote on the media and White House staff because then the needed housecleaning would be thorough and complete.

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