One might think that the government shutdown and the battle over the national debt limit  fomented by Republicans was over defunding or complete repeal of ObamaCare if you listened to network and cable news. It wasn’t. Part of this bizarre battle is the fact that by 2014, the next Congressional election, or by the presidential election in 2016, salsa will replace ketchup as the leading American condiment. Tortillas already sell better than burger and hotdog buns. In order to maintain market share Marie Callender has dropped some American entrees for grilled shrimp tacos with chipotle ranch dressing. It’s a constant reminder to Republicans that about 80 million Hispanics who mostly vote Democratic live in the U.S.
The real reason for this political “madness” is the fact that the Tea-Republican Party is now nearly the exclusive party of white men. The Washington scene is becoming more bizarre. When a man incinerates himself on a Washington street, an unarmed distraught woman driver is killed by police near the capitol steps, and the Senate chaplain prays to God in front of the Senate: “Save us from this madness,” something is rotting in the state of America. It happens to be democracy.
Civil War II, directed by Texas Senator Ted Cruz, the Koch brothers, and white supremacists for different reasons, is an ugly, oily-spill mess of racism, religion, elements of fascism, historical and hysterical ignorance, greed, anti-gays, pro-lifers, pro-gunners, and Confederates yearning for the return of slavery and Jim Crow laws. Waving the Confederate swastika at the black family occupying the WHITE House reminded some of Little Rock and Selma. Another Confederate swastika flew next to the American flag at a Daytona NASCAR race for the Southern Republican Party on R&R. Like the Republican Party, NASCAR is in decline. The average turn-left fan is now 47, and the fact there are just a few car-flipping accidents has cut into profits. Once a cultural event popular in Southern red states, NASCAR has fallen on hard times. Ford, GM, and Toyota still run cars, but Chrysler has pulled out. Near the Daytona track was a big sign that indicated fans don’t love the black president: “OBAMA CAN KISS MY ASS.” I believe that text indicates some kind of affirmative action.

Here Are The Realities Facing The Grand Old Party

Republican electoral problems didn’t start with the election of a “socialist-Kenya witch doctor-Indonesian immigrant-Muslim-mulatto” named Barack Hussein Obama, but the dark messages from the 2008 and 2012 inaugurations escalated them. Hispanic Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor swore in the overseer of a black man’s administration, Vice-President Joe Biden, a white Catholic. Beyonce may have lip-synched the anthem, but she can shake it better than any twerker. And then came a beautiful prospective inaugural poem written by a young gay Cuban poet named Richard Blanco, a civil engineering graduate of Florida International University with a Master’s Degree in Fine Arts.
Let’s remember that Barack Obama could have been on food stamps while multi-millionaire Mitt Romney as a child never had to worry about his next 90,000 meals. And the poor and middle class voters knew it. In 2008 Romney did not get a single vote in 91 New York City precincts or 59 Philadelphia precincts. He was thoroughly beaten in 11 of the 15 largest cities. In Cruz’s Texas Obama won both Houston and Dallas. Romney got less than five percent of the black vote nationally. Something for the Republicans to think about: (1) Obama beat Romney by five million votes, (2) In Senate races Democrats received ten million more votes than Republicans, and (3) Democrats outpolled Republicans by 1.5 million votes in the House, but Republicans kept control only by computer redistricting. Republican President Dwight Eisenhower got about 30 percent of the black vote in 1952. After his election he pushed the end of segregation in all armed forces. (Harry Truman integrated my Marines in 1948.)  Ike also urged Congress to lift all black voter restrictions—and the country was loaded with them. In 1956 Ike got about 40 percent of the black vote. That’s what happens when a Republican politician actually believes in democracy instead of the “worthless 47 percent.” And women? Republicans have only four females out of 45 senators, the Democrats 16 out of 53.  Gays and lesbians in Congress? Democrats 6, Republicans 0.

Please, Don’t Give Me That Old Time Religion

Retiring Minnesota Representative Michele there’s-nothing-in-the-Bible-about-campaign-funds Bachmann said about the shutdown: “It’s the battle for our times.”  A Dominionist, Bachmann believes that Obama is the Anti-Christ and that all signs point to a “coming-soon” Rapture. She often proclaims: “Obama is part of Al Qaeda and end times are near.” One of my favorite New Yorker cartoons is about the “Left Behind” Rapture. A sinner walking down a sidewalk sees a saved man flying off to Heaven while shedding his shirt and pants. (A “saved” person never enters Heaven clothed.) The sidewalk sinner yells: “Quick! Throw me your wallet and watch!”
There are all kinds of nutcases involved in the 32,000 religious denominations in the U.S.  According to an Associated Press poll eight out of ten Americans believe in angels--although four in ten don’t attend church. Four years ago a Pew Research poll found that one in five Americans have had contact with a ghost and one in seven have sought help of a psychic. Eight years ago Gallup found that three out of four Americans believed in something paranormal and four out of ten said houses could be haunted. A new AP poll says three out of ten young people have no interest in church. We also have to add six percent of the 317 million population who are seriously mentally ill at any one time.

 Ted Cruz And Sarah Palin: The Anointed King And Queen Of The Dominionists

On October 13 Ted Cruz and Sarah Palin were pictured at an anti-ObamaCare rally as they  recited the Pledge of Allegiance. So here we have Ted, the anointed king of the Dominionists, a very active cult of evangelical Christians, with his anointed queen Sarah. Dominionists  base their religion on Genesis when God said to Adam and Eve: “Go forth, multiply, take dominion over all creation.”
Ted’s father Rafael Cruz is pastor of a Dominionist church in Carrolltan, Texas, a Dallas suburb. He is a member of Benny Hinn’s Purifying Fire Ministries. (If you ever get a chance to watch Benny’s fake faith healing programs, don’t pass it up. It’s great entertainment. It’s a big deal down South.)  Cruz appointed his son Ted a “king” of the church so he could assume control over all sectors of society. The Dominionists have an agenda called the “Seven Mountain Mandate.” The main goal is gaining the control of all functions in a society to bring about “a great transfer of wealth from the wicked to the righteous.” Of course, only the Dominionists are “righteous.” Now that Cruz is such a power in American politics, every citizen needs to research his church’s “mandate.” His interest in ObamaCare? Only political. He doesn’t carry Congressional insurance. His wife is a big wheel at Wall Street’s Goldman Sachs and earns millions in salary. The bank pays $40,000 annually for her family health insurance policy which covers Ted. In the health insurance business we often hear the term “Cadillac” which refers to expensive policies. Her policy is not a “Cadillac,” it is a “Lamborghini.” And we taxpayers probably pay for most of it through deductions for business expenses.

The Seven Mountain Agenda Of The Dominionists

The Dominionist anointed kings will ensure the transfer of wealth from the wicked to the righteous. God demands this. The Rapture will begin in 2016, so Pastor Cruz says: “We are anointing kings (instead of priests) to go to the battlefield. The battlefield is the marketplace. We have to occupy the land and take dominion. Kings are anointed to go to war. In the next 3 and ½ years it’s the End Time Transfer of Wealth.” Ted and Sarah have been anointed to bring the Rapture.
Actually Sarah was anointed before Ted.  In 2005 Pastor Thomas Muthee of an Alaskan Dominionist church blessed Sarah to protect her against witchcraft: “I’ll be asking you that we pray for Sarah...When we talk about transformation of a community, we are talking about God invading seven areas of a community. He wants us to penetrate the economic area. It is high time we have Christian businessmen...bankers running the economics of our nations. We have to wire into politics. We need believers who are in education, media, and government.” That’s the plan, sinners. Hang on to your wallets and watches.

Buying Health Insurance Is Not Like Buying An Earwax Vacuum

I spent 28 years at various tables negotiating salaries, benefits, contract language, and health insurance for about 1200 employees. Health insurance and care was an out-of-this-world mess then–and it is much worse now before ObamaCare gets fully implemented. My cousins in France go to a doctor, clinic, or hospital for prevention and treatment and don’t even see a bill. The bill goes directly from provider to government--and it is generally immediately paid. That’s what single-payer universal care is all about.
In this country health care is the most convoluted, $10,000-a-day-room, incoherent, $10 aspirin, muddled, $17rubberglove, $225,000-hip replacement, disorderly disaster ever foisted on a modern, industrialized society. We often hear Republicans bragging we have the best health care in the world. We probably do–for millionaires and billionaires. A New York billionaire lives about 30 years longer than a West Virginia miner. Why should Quatemala, one of Latin America’s poorest countries, have a longer life expectancy than the U.S.? The inequality of income and health care proves to be deadly in this country.
Why should Fairfax County, Virginia and Marin County, California have an 81.5-year average for males and 85 for females? Why do McDowell County, West Virginia and Tunica County, Mississippi have about a 64-year average for males and 73 for females?  Gee, could it be income inequality and lousy health care? What are 18 more years of living worth? Fairfax and Marin counties are affluent, McDowell and Tunica counties are two of the poorest. These two poor counties are just about one year ahead of Haiti, Ghana, and New Guinea in life expectancy according to the World Health Organization. Needless to say, we are about four years expectancy behind other industrialized countries with universal health care. What are four years worth? We now spend over $8,000 annually per capita for lousy health care. If we cut that to what France pays for universal care and improve the quality for everyone at the same time, it would cost us about $5,000 per capita per year. That makes so much sense Tea-Republicans will never agree to it.

The Tea-Republicans: A Nightmare Radical Mixture

The ObamaCare opponents are a volatile mixture of independent locals, Southern racists, religious fundamentalists, wealthy crony capitalists, and social psychopaths who vote single issues from their favorite categories of God, guns, and gays. They cannot be ignored.
Evidently Texas Tea Partyers appreciated Senator Cruz’s no-holds-barred attacks on ObamaCare since his election. They gave him an eight-minute standing ovation  at an appearance last week. Eight minutes is a long time. It reminded me of another long standing ovation in history. In the 1930’s when Joseph Stalin was fortifying his standing as Russia’s supreme dictator he sent his chief functionary and aides to a trouble spot in a rebelling province to shore up his support. His man gave a rousing speech, praising Stalin’s policies and rule. At the end of the speech the crowd gave him a standing ovation. After a ten-minute ovation a local leader on stage was the first to stop applauding. He was immediately taken out and shot with the words: “This will teach you to be the first to stop applauding Stalin’s great work.”