National Archive

Implications of the Spy Ring – Chavez ties

Published: 30 June 2010 1:53 PM UTCPosted in: Global, Local - NYC, National, Politics

Last year, in the heat of the Honduras situation, I came across one of these New York-based characters accused of spying on behalf of Russia, here in the United States. This week, after seeing her name, Vicky Pelaez from El Diario, I was able to connect the dots. It was one of those ah-ha! moments, and I want to share this ah-ha! moment with you, in order to keep you in the know, so that you understand the dangerous implications of Chavez’ existence as a powerful political figure with his boot on the political neck of millions in Latin America, his ties with Russia and what it means to us in the United States.

To brief you on what the Honduras situation last year was about, and its significance in the defense of democracy in Latin America, it was basically the dethronement of a Chavez ally, also known as President Zelaya, by the two other branches of the Honduras government, for breaking constitutional laws, in his quest to perpetuate himself in power, following the example of his buddy Chavez, and friends of the ALBA gang in Latin America. Honduras, as small as it is in size and GNP, it’s a key conduit right south of Mexico and Guatemala, and a valuable stop-over for drugs, weapons and people, as they are smuggled into Mexico and eventually the United States. For enemies of the U.S., Honduras is a valuable rest stop on their way up north. After all, it is small, it is classified as the second poorest country of the Western Hemisphere, and therefore it could be assumed that its government and citizens are corruptible. It was an assumption Honduras citizens proved wrong to the entire world.

Until June 28th of 2009, Mel Zelaya was the president of Honduras. And he exemplified the corruptible assumption. He, after all, had aligned himself with Chavez and his ALBA gang, and it was no secret that Venezuela-registered private planes would land in various clandestine spots in Honduras, with drugs, weapons and people. But boy was the world mistaken about Honduras and its people. The country may be small, there may be a high degree of poverty, and even corruption, but when it comes to democracy and Chavez, people know the difference well and they stood their ground when the time came and president Zelaya pressed them politically so he could imitate the example of Chavez and his ALBA buddies. On June 28th of 2009 we saw the Honduras’ spirit arise, and they legally fired their corrupt president.

Despite the international condemnation of this brave move, and despite the infiltration of Cuban, Venezuelan, Nicaraguan and FARC operatives into this little country, all financed by Hugo Chavez, to lead a so called “opposition” in support of reinstating deposed Zelaya, Honduras stood strong. Its citizens, led by their congress, supreme court and military forces, went to the streets by the thousands, as peaceful demonstrators, all dressed in white, carrying their country blue and white flag, and stood strong, despite freezing of sorely needed international aid, despite the chaos and thuggery set off by the Chavez-financed operatives that had infiltrated the country. Honduras citizens would prefer to go hungry than to bow to Chavez and Zelaya. They knew the implications of the situation if they gave in. They knew it better than the rest of the world, which simply comdemned their brave move as a “military coupe” without looking into the facts and Honduran law. Hondurans instead, would rather go without the international aid than be subjugated by Chavez and his strong international influence.

Aside from the language barrier, which hurt Honduras’ ability to tell their story to the world, Chavez and his influential ring, orchestrated an international media campaign to depict Zelaya’s dethronement as a military coupe, in order to gain international support and pressure little Honduras into putting their corrupt president back. It was important to Chavez to win this one. So he deployed his propaganda campaign that reached deep into credible institutions such as the United Nations, the Organization of American States, the New York Times, CNN en Español, and certainly El Diario, the highest circulation Spanish newspaper in New York.

While the above-named respectable institutions stepped back on their attacks on Honduras once the real story got out, there was one writer in El Diario who did not relent. In fact, her columns were harsh, attacking the Hondurans as well as the United States government supposed involvement, even though president Obama and Hillary Clinton were also denouncing the “military coupe”. This writer, Vicky Pelaez, of Peruvian origin, stood out as one of the harshest critics of Honduras’ defense of its democracy against Chavez. Reading her columns raised many red flags in my head and it made me wonder why was she even allowed to write such lies and communist propaganda, praising Castro and Chavez, under the banner of the well-read and respected El Diario.

Vicky Pelaez not only condemned the Honduras defense of its democracy, and attacked the United States government, but in her subsequent writings, continued attacking the U.S. government, while praising that of Hugo Chavez and his so called Bolivarian revolution, which is code name for 21st century communism.

I won’t bother translating her columns, full of the Chavez propaganda, an echo of lies coming from Venezuela and from Cuba. No one deserves to read that garbage and the typical resentful hate of chavistas who advocate extreme-left measures, to the point of supression of those freedoms guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as the U.S. constitution. What’s really anger-provoking is watching these people, Castro/Chavez and their allies, who have perfected the communist style of silencing dissent, hide under our democratic values that protect the freedom of speech here, and use the same freedoms granted by our democracy, to fight the very democracy they advocate against.

Reading Vicky Pelaez columns often angered me as much as listening to Hugo Chavez. It is known that since Chavez is in power, the presence of Russia, Iran and China has increased dramatically throughout certain countries in Latin America, namely those that belong to the ALBA (Bolivarian Alliance). It is no secret that Chavez has spent millions of dollars purchasing Russian military technology, weaponry, has signed hundreds of agreements, including nuclear ones, with Russia and Iran. It is also known that he has opened visa conduits for Russian, Iranian, Hezbollah and Chinese operatives to come to America via Venezuela and the ALBA countries. To give you a quick background on ALBA, it’s an alliance founded by Venezuela and Cuba. Other countries that joined later are: Antigua, Bolivia, Domenica, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, as well as Honduras, which after Zelaya’s ouster, officially withdrew from the alliance. Note that these countries serve as stops along a path to the north, especially those in the Caribbean.

All that being said, when I read about Vicky Pelaez from El Diario, being arrested for spying, I had that ah-ha! moment. Of course! It all made sense. I wouldn’t be surprised if she is a Chavez operative, probably recruited to aid his cause here in the United States on behalf of his allies, Cuba and Russia. It doesn’t surprise me that she has been part of this spy ring. Her columns were so incendiary, so anti-American, that I found it alarming that a paper with such high circulation and so well read here in NYC, by millions of Spanish speakers, especially immigrants from Latin America, could be influenced by her words. Her columns concerned me greatly.

Of course, those columns themselves could serve as her cover. I won’t be surprised if she claims that because of her writings she and her husband have been detained. It’s the perfect cover. She will claim that her freedom of speech has been violated and she has been falsely accused in order to be silenced.

It is my understanding that for 10 years she has been tracked by the FBI, and the evidence is there. I find it outrageous when people who come to this country, and who benefit of its democracy, take advantage of it to destroy it. I’m relieved she has been removed. She was a dangerous echo of the Chavez Castro agenda here in the United States.

My concern is during the years she wrote her propaganda in El Diario, how many people were influenced by her? How many likely recruited among the Spanish speaking communities in NYC?

It is such a fine line to walk as a government in a democracy. The first amendment guarantees us all the right to freedom of expression, but Vicky Pelaez exemplifies the extreme dangers when that delicate balance is lost. She was not only advocating for enemies of the United States in a highly circulated paper, but is now suspected of spying for foreign countries.

To quote Bill Maher in Larry King last night, “We no longer have to fight them over there, so we don’t have to fight them here. They are already here.”

The time for Chavez and his ring of ominous influence around the world needs to come to an end. He has aligned with countries with an interest to see the United States fail and our democracy end. I am appalled at the fact that Latin American citizens are now involved in these spy rings from across the world. It sickens me. Chavez’ presence in the south of our continent is a severe threat to democracies across the American continent, from north to south. He’s the gaping hole letting in those interested in obliterating democracy.

I ask our brave opposition citizens in Venezuela, what does it take? Imagine living in a world like Cuba, and that is what could happen if we allow this man and his malignant alignments prevail. Castro has prevailed. Can we afford to let Chavez do as well?

1. For more information from local NYC papers, check out:

From the NY Daily News: Suspected Russian spy Vicky Pelaez, a Spanish-language journalist, led many lives

NY Daily News: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2010/06/30/2010-06-30_suspected_spy_led_many_lives.html

2. A Cuban “dissident” wrote his comments on Pelaez here. This will give you insights on her writings and her Latin American influence and ties:

Castro regime scribe (Vicky Pelaez) among the 11 charged in Russia spy case

http://babalublog.com/2010/06/castro-regime-scribe-vicky-pelaez-among-the-11-charged-in-russia-spy-case/

3. From CBS News: FBI: 10 Russian Spies Arrested in U.S.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/06/28/world/main6627393.shtml?tag=mncol;lst;6

4. From MSNBC.com – Venezuela’s Chavez welcomes Russian warships

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27907501/

5. And how is our congress here in the United States handling the whole situation? Here is input from someone living in Honduras with wise observations.

Left Steps Up Attack on HONDURAS; Members of Congress Drink Kool Aid! – http://bit.ly/9HTF3v

While on that topic of “the left” here in the United States. I beg you all in the left, to really think hard before blindly backing the communist-left of Latin America. THEY ARE NOT THE SAME THING AS THE LEFT HERE IN THE USA!

By backing Zelaya in Honduras, without understanding Honduras politics, its constitution and its laws, you are wrong to assume that things run the same as here. You would be considered centrists in Latin America, or moderate left. Zelaya and allies are not like you. They are aligned with Castro and Chavez et all. They are against basic human rights guaranteed by our constitution.What’s more. It was Zelaya’s own leftist party who took him out. What does that tell you? Know your facts, please.

Don’t make a mistake and back the wrong horse, lefties in the U.S.A. If you don’t know the facts, don’t meddle. Of course, this is why conservatives quickly assume I am a Republican. I’m not. I’m an independent and I know the facts about Latin American politics.

I support progressives here in the States, but I know the difference between the Chavez left movement and the progressive movement here. I hope once you learn the difference, you will stand with the people of Honduras, and not with Hugo Chavez, Castro, Zelaya and all their anti-American alliances.

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Global Violence and Hate – Can this trend be overturned?

Published: 01 January 2010 11:37 PM UTCPosted in: Global, National, Politics

Is it just me or is it that now more than ever, we’re seeing an increase of hate rhetoric, and violence of all types, spring up like pop-corn in the microwave, sprouting violently the longer we watch news and learn of events around the world?

The decade that just ended less than 24 hours ago, surely marked a new era. The year 2000 began a period, here in the United States, marked with a strong political divisiveness that grew under the pretense of the so called “great uniter” message in George W. Bush’s mud-slinging campaign. I wonder if millions, like me, saw through that lie, one among the many, coming from a man who spoke in generalities and when pressed for details seemed at a loss for words and facts, and who often was. Every time he claimed to be the “uniter”, to be “reaching out to the other side”, I cannot comprehend why would people believe him. This, yes, the same man who played dirty in the primaries, just to get the nomination. George W’s ascendancy to the presidency of the United States, as decided by 5 robed men, ignoring the will of millions, over half of the country, marked an era that even back in November of 2000, as I watched the election being decided, gave me an awful feeling at the pit of my stomach.

From that time on, the political bickering, corruption, hypocrisy, hate, fear mongering has been rampant, and many agree, it has reached new heights. With the election of Mr. Obama in 2008 we were all filled with hope, not just here in the USA but around the world. We hoped that that the 8 prior years would be healed and a new era of peace and unity would begin. But who were we kidding? Obama may have the best of intentions, but he’s no magician. He needs to reverse an ugly trend that’s been growing for eight solid years, unchecked.

The repercussions of the selection of George W. Bush, by those 5 judges, against the will of the majority of the country, is one that continues to be felt at the global level, even nine years later. Not only did the disgrace of September 11 occurred under George Bush’s watch, but a “war against terror” theme was born. And under the concept of “chasing after terrorists”, so many things have happened and been allowed to happen, not just here in the United States, but around the world. Not only did the revered rights spelled out in the U.S. constitution –by our founding fathers who encountered similar evil and corruption– were trampled by the so called “Patriot Act,” but we invaded a country that had nothing to do with the people who were blamed for the attacks of 9/11, prompting the worldwide increase of anti-U.S. rhetoric, starting in the Middle East, and spreading through Asia, Africa and now in our own continent, Latin America.

The self-serving fear mongering that came out of the Bush White House and the Republican congress majority helped all the wrong causes, here and abroad. There is now the issue of torture being investigated, secret documents, betrayals, all contributing to the rise of new anti-U.S. regimes around the world. These regimes are currently led by cunning men –no different than Dick Cheney– who took advantage of people’s fear, of their hopes and aspirations, to feed their own power-thirsty agenda and line their bloody pockets. Unless you have CNN International, unfortunately you won’t hear much about the horrors in Africa, the genocide and other murders being committed in the name of “God”, a doctrine spread by terrorists who point their finger at mistakes of the U.S. foreign policies, especially during the Bush/Cheney era that exacerbated the fire of hate.

In Latin America, as Cuba’s Fidel Castro communist leadership was in its twilight, he managed to find a new, younger and richer ally, who is taking his dream, financing it, dressing it in a more palatable color and spreading it under the name of democracy, a new cunning sham of what is now known in Latin America, as 21st century socialism, or Bolivarian socialism. If this were some kind of real socialism, like there is in Canada, France, the UK, Spain, it’d be acceptable to many Latin Americans, but in truth, the new version of the oppressive Castro dream, now taken up by Chavez and allies, is really communism in disguise. While socialist European countries have systems in place that help citizens thrive, the expected freedoms of a democracy are allowed. In Latin America, instead of that model of socialism, there is a bad smell of communism, where political persecutions and disappearances occur, freedoms are suppressed, and hateful, anti-U.S. political propaganda is on the increase.

What concerns me the most is that during the Bush/Cheney era, when they were sleep at the wheel in regards to anything that didn’t concern the Middle East, these communist-minded henchmen rose to power right in our Latin American neighborhood. While we hoped Cuba were the last bastion of the failed communist philosophy, Hugo Chavez came along, after a botched coupe attempt where he tried to overthrow the president of Venezuela. He learned the game and came back a few years later and managed to appeal to enough people to “get elected”. His military coupe attempt should have been a red flag, no pun intended, since red is the color of the Chavez “Bolivarian movement”. Chavez took advantage of the fact that “the Americans” were distracted with the Middle East, and began to spread his doctrine, based on hate, pointing at the “gringos” and the “Yankee corporations” –which unfortunately did take advantage of little regulation to do as they pleased in Latin America– thus causing discontent and adding to the hate doctrine that served Chavez well to convince other Latin American leaders to join him in his anti-”Yankee Empire” cause.

Today, as I actively participate in Twitter conversations, and as I keep track of tweets on the topics of Honduras, Venezuela and Ecuador in the various Twitter-feeds, I am appalled at the hate that’s being spread there, by people in Latin America, who believe Chavez and their ALBA gang are the saviors from the “Yankee Empire.”

To clarify, I follow Venezuela because like Iran, the opposition which fights to regain true democracy is suffering major repression and are experiencing persecution. Unlike Iran, Venezuela is not getting the mainstream media attention. I follow Honduras because of the very interesting developments that occurred beginning in the summer of 2008, with the ousting of Chavez’ friend in Honduras, deposed president Zelaya, which in my opinion, is the very first step towards saying no to the Chavez agenda. Ultimately, I follow Ecuador closely because there, president Rafael Correa is another Hugo Chavez in the making. He has already moved to suppress freedom of expression, and like his friend Chavez, his rhetoric is hateful against the United States. What’s interesting is that Ecuadorians are known for overthrowing their presidents when they do something that angers them enough to do so. I watch tweets about Ecuador because knowing their political will and history, I wonder how long is it before Correa is overthrown by its own citizens. After all, in the last 7 years, Ecuador has had 10 presidents. And the nation survives. So far, during those 7 years, no international condemnation or meddling has occurred, and when the next president steps into power, they are simply acknowledged by the international community.

Things may be a little different for Ecuadorians this time around should they manage to get rid of their dictator in the making, Correa. For one, Chavez and his influenced allies are around. Second, there is the issue of Honduras. As you know, Honduras freed itself from Chavez-ally Zelaya and had him replaced, –not without some pain from the international community led by Chavez himself. So, it makes me wonder how the events would unfold this time, should the brave and tough Ecuadorian people manage to overthrow Rafael Correa. I fear he and his allies will make even more noise than when Zelaya was deposed. I can only hope the country of Ecuador will be as strong as Honduras to overcome the difficulties likely to follow a potential Correa overthrow.

So these three Latin American countries have captured my attention, for I believe if the “Bolivarian ideology” is erradicated there, the way it has been avoided so far in Honduras, there will be hope for some peace and less hate, at least in the Americas, and perhaps then we could face together, enemies further out.

But for now, I watch, feeling hopeless when I see so much hate rhetoric, so many lies, coming from the Chavez ideology supporters, utilizing a medium that would be banned if they were in charge (Twitter, Facebook, blogs). I also follow Iran, and I watch, appalled and at the edge of my seat, the bloody developments as the Green Movement there tries to rid itself of a suppressive dictatorship, which is not only feeding the hate fire in the Middle East, but is obviously building nuclear weapons and aligning itself with the new enemy regimes of the United States surging south of its border in Latin America.

If you have not connected the dots already, then I don’t know what to tell you. The more I look at the situation from the global point of view, the more I see the relation between Venezuela –and its allies in the Western Hemisphere– with their new alignments in the Middle East such as Lybia and Iran dictatorships, with China, with North Korea, with Russia. And these alliances are indubitably ominous, for as I read the Twitter feeds on these topics, there is too much hate, based on lies and exxaggeration being spread around the world. I watch as the people in charge of these ideologies, in charge of these hateful, oppressive regimes, finance violent propaganda, finance militia, with our own money, money we spend in buying oil and yes, illegal drugs. In other words, we are financing the very people who want our demise. It is a very vicious and dangerous cycle indeed.

I would feel a bit more hopeful if at least here at home I’d perceive political good will on all sides, the commitment to unite, but it looks like our enemies abroad are taking advantage of our division, to feed their political agendas in their own regions. They are counting on our fear, on our hate for each other, on our political and ideological differences, on our careless spending on oil, on illegal drugs, for all of that feeds them and empowers them abroad to attack us. Over the holidays, the terrorist attempts, successful and unsuccessful, the threats, the hate doctrine, all that, emboldens those who will benefit from the demise of the light of liberty and hope around the world. For with its imperfections, its virtues, vices, the United States is still a land that many around the world, seek as refuge, when their own countries are unable to provide for them, to fulfill the basic necessities that any human being deserves.

I see the levels of hate, of fear, of resentment over past mistakes, feed into new levels of violence and death, starting in our own turf. My question is, how much more can we take? What will it take for this ominous trend to reverse itself? Can it reverse itself? What can each of us do to help this situation? Despite the seemingly hopeless state of things, I believe that perhaps each one of us in some small way can contribute to restoring a more peaceful, harmonious state of affairs around the world.

If perhaps each of us were to take a moment to stop worrying about our own little world and our immediate personal needs and wants, and try to see the repercussions of our personal choices. Perhaps we could see a way to stop feeding the financing of our enemies abroad. Perhaps use alternative energies, help someone get off illegal drugs, perhaps try a way to bridge the political divide here at home and lower the divisive rhetoric. We could help somehow. Perhaps by doing something for someone, starting a positive global trend of good will, while at the same time remaining alert. But how do you walk that fine line?

Whatever it is we can do, we need to do something immediately to reverse this dangerous trend. For I believe there are billions of us –who just want to live in peace, with opportunities to reach a decent lifestyle– against thousands who are making so much of the hate noise to take advantage and spread violence, chaos and death. The majority of us know instinctively what’s right, we know injustice when we see it. Perhaps it is time we stop looking the other way.

After all, as it is known, Friedrich Nietzche said, “Evil will prevail when good men do nothing”.

For how much longer can we afford to keep looking away and expecting the next person or institution to do something. Let’s make the beginning of this new decade be the mark of a movement that will reverse this dangerous trend of hate and violence. Each one of us can make a difference. I can only hope that. We just have to find our own personal way of making it happen. I believe that we are capable.

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It’s Time to Clean Up Congress

Published: 19 December 2009 3:07 PM UTCPosted in: National, Politics

I’m one of the million, who appalled, watch the outrageous performance of many of the people who are supposed to represent us, but do not. I feel –like many of us in Twitter– that it is time we make a list of the people who need not to return when it’s time for re-election. So, I have asked a few tweeps to send in their comments and recommend which members of congress should not return, and why.

A few things that I’ll begin with here:

1. We need more women and minorities in congress, representing us

2. We should request banning of ALL corporate contributions or restrict them to at most $500

3. We should have the media limit ads, and discount them greatly.

4. Campaign funds should have a requirement of at least 75% constituent donations of under $100.

5. Require and allow citizen lobby groups to have more leverage and restrict corporate lobbies.

Ok, that’s my initial feedback. Now, on to what some great tweeps in twitterverse had to say on the topic:

“@HBK112 – The 3 that come immediately to mind are shoe-ins, DeMint, Kyl and Coburn.”

1. DeMint

2. Kyl

3. Coburn- Seeking re-election in 2010.

I will ask what are the reasons and will list them here.

Her reply was hillarious:

“@HBK112 – DeMint because he’s an insane teabagger. Kyl because he’s a disrespectful asshole.Coburn bcz nobody that stupid s/b in congress.”

“@elgocho67 – I said let’s start with anyone with more then 8 years in either the house or senate”

I agree with elgocho67. When you’re in congress long enough, you make it a career and then all you care about is staying in power and forget about your constituents.

“@zoomarang – most of these senators are relics..old habits die hard..we need 55 n under politicians,period”

I could agree and disagree with that statement. I see both sides of the point. Zoomarang always has good insights, so I respect his opinion.

While more input comes from you, here is my personal list of men and women whom I have seen do a terrible job representing us, the people, and are certainly representing corporate interests instead.

Lieberman on the left, embracing McCain on the right.

1. Joe Lieberman (Ind). Senator from Connecticut – Also known as “Traitor Joe.” As a VP candidate in the Democrat ticket in 2000, I found him a yawner. He droned on and on and on.. No wonder Al Gore barely won by a few votes, enough for the election to be decided in favor of GW by the Supreme Court. Lieberman loves the sound of his own voice. When he did not get the support of Democrats in CT for his re-election in 2006, decided instead to run as an Independent, and won, he gained my respect. But soon after, it was clear he was out for revenge and to prove he has power. He supported the McCain Palin (Republican) ticket in 2008, turning his back on millions of constituents who felt otherwise. He did that for himself, not for his constituents. Connecticut is for the most part Democrat and Liberal. And now, aligning with the party of NO to keep healthcare reform from passing, clearly states it is time for this man to go away. Too bad he won’t be up for re-election until 2012, but let’s not forget this. That is why Joe Lieberman is at the top of my DON’T COME BACK list. Let’s see who his true constituents are, as per listing in OpenSecrets.org. His campaign coffers are well-stocked.

Here's who really owns Lieberman

2. Michelle Bachmann - (Repub) Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Minnesota’s 6th district. She is like having Rush Limbaugh and Glen Beck in a skirt. If any of those two outrage you, she should not be in congress. Unless the people in her district truly feel she represents them, she makes Republicans look like they belong in the psychiatric ward at the county hospital.

Let’s see, as per OpenSecrets.org, who funds her campaign and who owns her real allegiance:

3. Ben Nelson of Nebraska - (Dem) Not because he is a democrat, but because he stood in the way of passing health care reform, and his key issue was a woman’s right to choose. He should be replaced by a woman Democrat.

As per OpenSecrets.org, let’s see where is his real allegiance. This guy has gotten quite a bit of money from the Insurance and healthcare lobby. Objecting on the base of abortion was just a decoy to derail Healthcare reform. Here is the real reason:

Look at all the money that the insurance, healthcare & lobbying interests in Nelson's pocket

4. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky – (Repub) – Senate minority leader – Because he leads the party of No down a path of destruction. He comes across as a sore loser who because is now in the senate minority, will resort to any tactics to prevent important legislation from moving forward. Let’s look at who does Mitch McConnell really represent. As of 12 noon, today, Saturday 12/19/09, he went on CNN to state how outraged he is about possibility of the passage of the Healthcare bill. My question is, when you were in charge, what did you do to help Americans in this area? He has promised to pull every stop to keep this bill from passing. Everyone who supports healthcare reform, remember his outrage when he’s up for re-election in 2010, which by the way, his campaign seems to be well-funded. Take a look, as reported by Open Secrets.org:

Listing of contributions to Mitch McConnell, as listed in Open Secrets.org

McConnell states he's outraged over the passing of Healthcare. We should be outraged at his financial alignments.

5. Eric Cantor - (Rep) Virginia – He also is part of the leadership of the party of No, aligning with the rude and negative attitudes and speeches coming from the Republican leadership. Again, do I ask, does he really represent the people of Virginia?

Here are some of the sources of his financial support, as per OpenSecrets.org. By the way, he’s up for re-election in 2010. Same as Boehner & McConnell!

Money from Cantor's constitutents make less than 50% of his funds and rank bottom

As more names come up, I will be updating this post. Feel free to add your comments, suggest names, and why. Share with the world why these people in the United States legislative branch need not to apply again.

On a last note:

There is a Republican list of Democrat members of congress whom they are targetting. I will address this list next. It’s actually a thorough and good list. Since I am an Independent with no party affiliation, I will take a look at it and post my feedback here.

More to come….

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The winds of change are here – But they want their “country” back!

Published: 14 August 2009 12:15 AM UTCPosted in: Global, Local - NYC, National

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,

it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,

it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity,

it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness,

it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair,

we had everything before us, we had nothing before us,

we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct

the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present

period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its

being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree

of comparison only.

Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
English novelist (1812 – 1870)

I am appalled as I watch the news lately.

All these angry people, screaming at the top of their lungs, having so readily digested the lies fed to them by the multibillion dollar corporate interests which are set on keeping the status quo at all costs, via supposedly community organizations in favor of “citizens”, it’s shameful!

How can these people believe such outrageous lies and without fact checking, pounce on others, make a show of themselves in front of cameras, for the world to see their misguided anger and inexcusable rudeness?

Where was that anger when Bush, Cheney and company were trampling our constitution, lying for a profitable war that brought millions to their private companies’ coffers (Halliburton) and death to so many?

Where was this angry mob when the Republican-majority congress rolled over and green-lit every greedy, selfish, corrupt and misguided request of their Republican peers in the executive and legislative branches?

Shameful disrespect for our president - Photo Credit: Erica Stead - Huffington Post

These embarrassing angry mobs are made up of the same people who were happy to stay home and do nothing about the disastrous situation the Republican party was leading our country into for the past 8 years.

It seems so hypocritical to me now that there is a new president making changes and working hard at fixing the mess left behind, now that finally the democrats are truly back in power, only months after their inauguration, how everyone is throwing rocks at the administration, including the media, without giving them sufficient time and space to clean up and undo all the damage left behind by the previous administration.

Did they forget who started the fire on the house and kept it going until it burnt out of control?

The very members of this mob helplessly and lazily watched things burn and get destroyed in Washington by the Republicans and did nothing. Oh yes, they did one thing, many voted for the same gang to keep burning and destroying what president Clinton and the democrats had left behind before the Republicans stole the election in 2000.

We went from a surplus in 1999 to a multi-billion dollar deficit by the time there was a change of power in January 2009. But that wasn’t all.

We were at the brink of a depression, a deep and fast-spiraling recession that had started over 12 months ago, but the Republicans kept denying and doing nothing about!

Photo Credit: WTSP.com - Click on the picture for source article

Where were these angry people? Why didn’t they ask for their “America” back then?

Where were these angry people when the WMDs were found to be a falsehood?

Where were these angry people when Katrina happened?

Anger unleashed - but is it the right time and place?

Where were these angry people when the man they called their president just flew over the largest natural disaster area as he watched from his plane window, so detached, as if it were a TV movie, not happening to his constituents?

Where were these angry people when Dick Cheney and his gang divulged the name of a CIA operative, committing treason and endangering her life and that of those around her?

Where were these angry people when Abu Graib occurred and the shameful pictures were shown and the Republican administration in a gesture of their trademark hypocrisy had the nerve to pick on the low ranking members of the military who were only following orders from the upper echelons?

Democracy at its best and its worst

Where were these angry people when their Republican-led congress passed every initiative and law suggested by the thugs running the country from the White House?

Where were these angry mobs when many attorneys in the White House staff were fired for refusing to yield to their political agenda?

Where were these angry mobs when the elections were rigged in Florida, when the count was unfairly stopped? When proof of election fraud was found in Ohio in 2006?

These people may not get paid to do this, but no doubt their biases & fears are being exploited

Oh! “Americans are cool.” I was told. “They are respectful of the law and order and even if they don’t agree with their politicians, they abide by the democratic process.”

I’m not so sure I can believe this today, as I watch the nastiness, the malicious lines, the lies, the outrageous exaggerations (death panels, socialism).

Are people so desperate to believe anything the mouths of hate tell them, no matter how incredible, so they can have an excuse to hate and look to destroy an administration that is trying hard to put out the fire and fix the mess left behind by the very people they have supported?

They call this a process of democracy. I would like to applaud it but as much as I agree it’s an extreme form of democracy, I feel shivers down my spine because I see the hate and the anger. And like many, I find it disturbing.

How far are we going to let things go?

I try to understand where this anger is coming from. But I can’t excuse the behavior. I cannot understand why are they taking their anger out on the wrong people, on the very people who are trying to fix what’s wrong.

I can’t understand why they continue to be kind to the ones responsible for their woes.

It puzzles me greatly.

And then, I have to unfortunately recognize that the only reason for this irrational behavior, for these mobs to side with the very people responsible for the damage and to yell and scream at those currently in power who are trying hard to fix things, is one thing.

Race.

These mobs are not angry over what’s happened. They are angry that people who do not look like them, who may be of a different culture or color are now in charge and making decisions that will affect their lives.

They fear perhaps that the way they have treated those who don’t look like them, is going to come back and bite them. And so they fight hard and use any excuse, no matter how outrageous the lie, to call for death, for hate, for insurrection, for disorder, against those currently in power, who are trying hard to fix things, who were either powerless or not around –for the most part– when the Republicans (who for the most part look like them) ran things and drove the country into the ditch we’re so hard trying to pull ourselves from.

No doubt that the likes of Limbaugh, Beck and Dobbs (interestingly, white men) have done a good job bringing out the worse in some people, who I’m aware still make up a minority, yet large enough to grab the attention of the sensationalist media that thrives on chaos and ratings.

And I worry.

I do hope that the Democrats and truly independents, as well as those enlightened members of the media and the Republican party (or whatever is left of it) take notice, realize that this hateful and dangerous noise needs to stop. It needs to be diffused because standing in the way of progress is not true democracy, is damaging to the sorely needed process of rebuilding.

I worry because I don’t know who’s watching the mouths of hate, the mouths of those calling for insurrection, calling our still newly elected president a Nazi, among other awful racists and hateful adjectives.

Who’s watching?

Is anyone wondering how far is this going to go?

Guns, righteousness, hate, anger, lack of respect? It’s not a good combination.

He’s only been in power 7 months! And we’re already rating him???

Did we forget it took 8 years to get us into this mess?

I thought only the poor and the ignorant in Latin America could be fed a plate of lies by their so-called “thought leaders”.

North Americans have always been proud and considered themselves more “sophisticated” and “civilized”. But I see there is really no difference when it comes to some people here in the States. I see the pro-Zelaya, pro-Chavez thugs, in Latin America, wearing red, armed with flags, hateful posters, with sticks, guns, spewing hate, calling for insurrection, insulting, screaming and taunting others into violence. I watch these mostly white crowds do the same here in the States, and I cringe.

These are the tactics fed to the mob to unleash them to cause disturbances

I realize that as a human race, we haven’t advanced much from the mob that filled the Roman coliseum centuries ago and delighted on chaos, blood and killing those they didn’t understand.

Unfortunately a thought has begun to percolate through me and thousands of other citizens with whom I share here and in other communities such as Twitter, Facebook, business networks, etc… Having been raised partly in Latin America, race is not how I define someone, and so I have refused to consider race a factor behind people’s mean and irrational behavior, even if it was blatantly in front of me.

But today, after all I see on TV and in the faces of some of the older white folks around, the damaging thought is beginning to seep in my head. Could it be that because now women and minorities seem to be in more prominent positions in government, the less enlightened feel they can yell and scream because after all, they have no respect for them, even if they are now in positions of power?

Could it be that people’s racism has been exacerbated by the hateful rhetoric of the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Glen Beck, Lou Dobbs, etc…?

A black family in the White House, a Wise Latina in the Supreme Court, a woman as Speaker of the House. Could it be that some people are getting nervous? And their fear of “losing” their power, “their America” is expressed in the excessive and misplaced outrage many years too late, way after the fire has damaged so much and the new administration is fighting hard at putting it out?

These “outraged” folks are now screaming at the firemen because the house looks messy and burnt?

It is obvious that the desperate attempts of the drowning existence of the fading Republican Party have finally found a cause to get people out. Something finally has caught on and enraged people. The “tea parties” sham didn’t catch on. The birthers were denounced even by some of the more enlightened conservatives.

Spreading lies and disinformation about Healthcare Reform has been the bonanza of the birthers and the tea party crowd, because now the issues are closer to home, enough to bring many of these less enlightened folks out.

The corporate interests were only too happy to pour their millions behind the right wing groups to stir dissent, hate and fear, and send people, who were ripe for it, out like mad dogs after the very people –a very diverse team spanning all races and age range– who are trying to fix the system.

And it seems to be working.

I only hope that this fever pitch has reached its zenith, and more cool heads will prevail.

We NEED health care reform.

We NEED a public option.

And this CANNOT wait any longer.

I was inside corporate America when Hillary care was attempted. I saw the hate and the money behind the effort to defeat the Clintons’ attempts to break the status quo. I saw the joyous celebration of the high ranking corporate executives congratulating themselves on the defeat of Hillary care back then. I saw them get themselves in their limos and celebrate at the most expensive restaurants with the most expensive bottles in the menu. Money of the tax payers, of insurance companies, of hardworking Americans goes to pay these excesses, these multimillion dollar efforts to defeat initiatives for the people.

When are people going to get it?

These so called “citizen” groups are a front for corporate efforts to keep the status quo.

Can’t people see they are being used?

Their emotions, fears, anger and bias have been aroused with lies and are being steered against the very change we voted for.

It’s the old trick that I see typically in South America, used by the likes of Chavez, Zelaya, Correa, Morales, and Castro. Blame it on the other guy!

I really thought all Americans had been inoculated against that.

It’d be a shame when years later, quite too late by then, should these lies-based movements have any success at thwarting progress, people will finally see what our current administration is trying to do: fix what’s wrong, and prevent the catastrophes that are likely to occur in our future if we keep going in the same path as the past 8 years.

Change is not easy, but it needs to happen.

Those daring enough to initiate change have endured the ignorance of those comfortable in the status quo:

1. Remember abolition? Wasn’t that the birth of the Republican party? How far have they strayed from their origins.

2. Remember the Woman’s Suffrage movement and what those brave women endured?

3. Remember the Civil Rights movement and what many brave citizens endured.

4. Norma Rae

5. Ghandi, Walesa, Mandela… yes, change is not easy on those comfortable with the status quo.

The anger needs to be directed to those responsible for the damage, not the ones who are trying to fix things.

People need to get over the race issue.

Is that too much to ask for?

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The real scoop on the Healthcare Debate

Published: 05 August 2009 9:49 PM UTCPosted in: National

The Republicans, Lobbyists and Corporate interests are at it again. They muscled and bullied their way to put George Bush in office and look at us 8 years later.

We CANNOT let this happen again, not with our Healthcare.

Here’s an EXCELLENT review, by the fabulous Rachel Maddow of MSNBC, analyzing the latest trend of hecklers and thugs being mobilized to nix the Healthcare reform efforts. This is LOW! They’ll do anything to win at the expense of our lives and health! Nothing new there, but we can’t let them get away with it this time. Watch this video. It’ll open your eyes to the shameful behavior of the people that were in power for 8 years and caused so much damage, and now that they’ve been voted out of power, result to these tacky a-la-Chavez/Zelaya tactics. It seems they are aligned with each other. Let’s not let any of them get away with it. This is too important. Let’s fight them back on this misinformation war.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Here’s what happened in 2000, and since they had success, they are multiplying the model now against the efforts to pass Healthcare reform.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Paul Krugman wrote on Saturday about this debate, and he walks us through the myths, misinformation and wrong assumptions. Have no doubt that those who oppose Healthcare reform have a lot at stake, for they are pouring millions of dollars in what is becoming a successful misinformation war.

These corporate interests have won before. Remember the Clinton efforts?

Don’t let them win again. This is is a David vs. Goliath battle.

Here’s Paul Krugman’s clear and concise view of what Obama and the Democrats are trying to accomplish.
Op-Ed Columnist
Health Care Realities

By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: July 30, 2009

At a recent town hall meeting, a man stood up and told Representative Bob Inglis to “keep your government hands off my Medicare.” The congressman, a Republican from South Carolina, tried to explain that Medicare is already a government program — but the voter, Mr. Inglis said, “wasn’t having any of it.”

It’s a funny story — but it illustrates the extent to which health reform must climb a wall of misinformation. It’s not just that many Americans don’t understand what President Obama is proposing; many people don’t understand the way American health care works right now. They don’t understand, in particular, that getting the government involved in health care wouldn’t be a radical step: the government is already deeply involved, even in private insurance.

And that government involvement is the only reason our system works at all.

The key thing you need to know about health care is that it depends crucially on insurance. You don’t know when or whether you’ll need treatment — but if you do, treatment can be extremely expensive, well beyond what most people can pay out of pocket. Triple coronary bypasses, not routine doctor’s visits, are where the real money is, so insurance is essential.

Yet private markets for health insurance, left to their own devices, work very badly: insurers deny as many claims as possible, and they also try to avoid covering people who are likely to need care. Horror stories are legion: the insurance company that refused to pay for urgently needed cancer surgery because of questions about the patient’s acne treatment; the healthy young woman denied coverage because she briefly saw a psychologist after breaking up with her boyfriend.

For more, click here, or paste the link below to visit the article at the NYTimes.com.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/31/opinion/31krugman.html

Paul Krugman's column at the NYTimes

Below are snapshots of Rachel’s video reports showing the ridiculous show the Republicans and Corporate interests are sponsoring to disrupt honest attempts of congresspeople to listen to their constitutents.

These are protesters, likely paid by Lobbying firms, Republican and corporate interests. These people gladly come out because 1. they don’t like Obama 2. are glad to stir trouble because they don’t like Obama and the democrats. 3. likely will get paid.

This man, with a troubled past, is now behind this Lobby interest.

As per Rachel, this is Rick Scott, former Hospital Exec. Caused his organization pay a $1.7B fine.

One of the outrageous lies to derail the Health Care Reform effort

Memo from Repub Boehner calling the strategy Recess Roastings - Shame on him!

Memo from Republicans calling the strategy Recess Roastings - Shame on them!

The foolishness of the Republican scare tactics. Does anyone actually believe them?

And from the hecklers in congress -- courtesy of the party of NO -

Credit for all the video and pictures to MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Show. Please click here or copy the link below for her page with more excellent videos.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#32292089

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On The Healthcare Issue

Published: 22 July 2009 12:25 PM UTCPosted in: National

Today, finally, this is a hot topic. It has reached the attention of the mainstream media, enough that they are covering it in depth, interviewing politicians and citizens alike.

It should have been passed over a decade ago, when my heroes, the Clintons, tried to move it forward in a spurt of optimism. Back then I was working for a major pharmaceutical company, on one of the executive floors, a few levels below the CEO. I’ll never forget the meetings, the stress and finally, the cheers and joy of the executives when they defeated Hillary-care. I still clearly remember it even today. I’ll never forget the VP of Corporate Affairs power-walking down the aisle of the department, arms up doing his victory lap.

As much as that cockiness bothered me, I had little idea of the major impact some of these corporations had on our healthcare. I was still a young 20-something starting a career in the corporate world.

Today, having left corporate America, having learned so much, seen so much, I look back and take responsibility for the time I was there, doing my part to support a company that got richer and richer, fatter and fatter, at the expense of the sick. Today I feel is my duty to insure this doesn’t happen again.

Today, after 8 years of horrendous mismanagement of our country, a new administration is trying to clean up, while at the same time setting up new systems to insure the abuses of the last administration won’t be repeated.

Optimistic, Mr. Obama and a few of his political allies, are again, up against a very thick wall of refusal, financed by corporate giants who either don’t want change, or whatever change happens, that it benefits them, again ignoring the welfare of the average citizen and only focusing on their profits.

President Obama at Healthcare Roundtable

Mr. Obama and his administration, however, have a few more odds stacked on their favor this time around. For one, millions of us, who were not paying attention the first time around, sure are paying attention now. What’s more costs have become prohibitive, to the point it’s raised alarm at the national level because it’s even affecting some of these corporate giants.

This is the time to finally enable healthcare access for all. This is NOT socialized medicine, like the fearmongering corporations would like you to believe. Look out for those “citizen” groups behind the disinformation.

Find out who’s funding them. Let’s inform ourselves and not let hype dictate our decisions.

Let’s address those misleading commercials.

First the one of the $600 hammer, theorizing that bureocrats will be making medical decisions (or hinting at misdecisions) when it comes to our medical care. Give me a break! What about the HMOs today??? They’ve been running people’s healthcare for years, mismanaging people’s health and turning them down for necessary treatments. Why aren’t the commercials talking about that? Could we even theorize that some of those same companies are behind those commercials?

The other one, showing one anecdote from a woman in Canada who had a brain tumor. She says she was told to wait 6 months and she came here looking for healthcare. The question I have for her was, were you one of the people who was able to afford it? Can your fellow Canadians afford it too? Or did you just walk into an ER and benefitted from the “free” services the rest of us pay for in taxes anyway? I would also ask her what do the millions of other Canadian citizens have to say about their healthcare. Are we going to use the opinion of just one person?

These misleading commercials shouldn’t deter us from reading up, researching the issues and pushing forward to get this hugely important bill passed. Over a decade ago it was the Harry and Louise commercials. Are we going to let commercials deter us again? Remember those commercials ARE NOT cheap. Someone is funding them, and I bet you it is not your average citizen.

What I urge all of us to do, as citizens, is to contact your congressperson, your senator, call their office, tweet them, write to them, hound them and let them know you want this bill passed.

Next, we need to research who is FUNDING the campaigns of our politicians. Let’s start looking up who is paying who and let’s out them.

As I find this information I’ll start posting here. I encourage you to either tweet me (@MariaNYC) or write to me at: TwitterDenizen@Gmail.com, with the information you find.

Let’s keep tabs on these “decision makers” who are supposed to represent us, the people, and not the lobbysts, who line their pockets so they can remain in power.

Let’s unite as citizens (even if you’re a non-citizen) and pressure our representatives in Washington, to make a decision for the people, and not for the corporations.

P.S. I just found a great website that lists all the funding for all congress members. Check it out:

http://www.opensecrets.org/index.php

Photo Credits: http://www.whitehouse.gov

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The Bullies and the Pulpit Against Judge Sotomayor

Published: 07 June 2009 8:39 PM UTCPosted in: National

And so it has begun.

Just as I stated in my last post celebrating President Obama’s nomination of Judge Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, the witch hunt would begin as soon as the news were out.

The usual cast of characters has shown up to lead the hunt: Gingrich & Limbaugh, your extreme right wing purists, who believe the party is one that does not include those who are different or who disagree with them. And have you noticed they are both white men?

Yet, there is one other culprit which does surprise me, and perhaps it shouldn’t, since I saw the same type of “coverage” when Hillary Clinton ran for president, and that is the media. I am not speaking about one specific channel, since it is everywhere you turn. Too often I hear them quote the famous “Wise Latina” lines out of context, ignoring the rest of that speech.

What kind of journalism is that?

No doubt, one that attracts more viewers and readers.

And it makes me wonder. Why is it so much easier to pick on the faults of female public figures, as compared to their male counterparts? And why does the media go into a frenzy, playing right into it?

I will have to give credit to CNN though, for making the effort to put the infamous quote within the context of the entire speech. I have seen Soledad O’Brien and Don Lemon actually go in the air and read the entire paragraph surrounding it. Once you hear where it comes from, you can judge for yourself.

I happen to agree that it is our experiences that shape us. It is a fact that white men who are the majority in power, heads of companies, politicians, have been running the world for centuries. So of course she chose white men as an example that even though they are in power, it did not make them necessarily better qualified. She said what she said. But can we look at her record? What do her multiple rulings say about how she handles herself as a judge? Because in truth, it doesn’t matter what you believe in if you apply the rule of law. However, it is comforting to know that she would also have a better understanding of the plight non-white males face. But if you look at her record, I doubt they will find she allowed her ability to empathize hamper her decisions as a judge. It is so easy to paint in black and white what should be treated as a complex multifaceted issue.

As of the past few days, I’m not sure who has discovered that she has not only used the “wise latina” speech once but a couple of times. And now the hunt has been revived. Gingrich, who called her a racist on Twitter last week and then retracted his statement, went on the air today to “reshape” his attacks by calling her mediocre as a judge and that because of her statements, that one single point, she should be disqualified.

There is a saying that states people in glass houses should not be throwing stones. And this guy is obviously unaware of that. Not only does he live in a glass house, but he has quite a few skeletons in his closet. Check it out by clicking here. But my words today are not about him. However, there is a point to be made about Gingrich because he is looking to run for president and therefore has appointed himself to lead the “moral” charge against judge Sotomayor. And the public needs to be reminded that this guy has no business in this issue, nor any credibility to stand and point his self righteous finger. Gingrich is a mean school yard type of bully. He is irrelevant to this nomination, yet I don’t understand why is he getting any coverage. He’s not even an elected official who’s actually going to vote for the nominee!

I am really concerned that the media is giving him a platform to spread his lies and misguided “opinions”.

The man has such little credibility? Isn’t there anyone else out there who can speak on the subject with some authority?

Besides having been Speaker of the House and being outsted in the midst of his adulterous scandal, here are some spots of this leopard:

1. Adulterous

2. Draft dodger

3. Dead beat dad

4. He doesn’t live up to his own talk of “Family values” (According to realchange.org, he pressed his first wife to sign divorce papers while she was still in the hospital recovering from cancer surgery because to quote him: “She isn’t young enough or pretty enough to be the President’s wife.”) Such model of vanity and insensitivity!

5. An elected official who bounced 22 checks during his time in congress.

Check out the sources here: http://www.realchange.org/gingrich.htm

If Sonia Sotomayor would have done one of those things, they would have had her head.

Despite her impeccable record, they had to blow something out of proportion, and have the media play along. I don’t get it why the media allows these characters with so many skeletons in their closet lead the charge against someone with such a great record. It seems that such few journalists seek to find the facts and truth. Instead, they give Gingrich so much respect, and a spot on the Sunday talk shows. Are they that desperate for ratings?

Sure! There is a first amendment guaranteeing his right to blow hot air, but seriously people, what kind of media channel would have enough credibility to have this guy on? He’s the equivalent of the tabloids. Quoting him with any credibility would be the equivalent of quoting the National Enquirer.

Let’s follow the lead of the more level-headed leaders, Democrats and Republicans alike, who are looking to review Sonia Sotomayor’s record, her decisions, her accomplishments, who anyone would agree, speak more than her own words.

So, I’d like to ask the world today, don’t listen to the hype. It’s all a distraction from Sonia Sotomayor’s actual accomplishments.

The bullies are out in full force looking to intimidate and frighten people into thinking judge Sotomayor is a “scary Latina” who is only going to rule in favor of her own. These are the same people who used to run around claiming Obama is the same as Osama. And unfortunately, there is a small segment of the population who is glib enough to believe it.

There will be a minority who will dislike her for the reasons above, or simply because they are afraid of anyone who looks or sounds different. But I hope the press is smart enough not to continue giving them a national platform, from which to continue their attacks.

After all, think about it, if that is the worst thing they can come up with, about Sonia Sotomayor, then she should be confirmed. After all, who doesn’t remember the Republican nominee Clarence Thomas, tainted by a sex scandal. They still rammed him through.

I only could hope there are more reporters like Soledad O’Brien or Don Lemon, who want to make sure all the facts are out there for people to judge for themselves, and not just the sensationalist line designed to influence and taint opinion even though it’s out of context.

But since that is not happening, I encourage you to check out the White House website, which has published all the necessary information on Judge Sotomayor and president Obama’s reasoning behind his nomination. Get the facts from the source and judge for yourself by clicking here or copy and paste into your browser the link below:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/Sotomayor/

And on that topic, here is the definition of Yellow Journalism, as found in Wikipedia. You tell me who does it remind you of.

Yellow journalism is a type of journalism that downplays legitimate news in favor of eye-catching headlines that sell more newspapers. It may feature exaggerations of news events, scandal-mongering, sensationalism, or unprofessional practices by news media organizations or journalists…. the practice of over-dramatizing events.

For more on this quote, click on this link, or copy and paste into your browser, the link below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_journalism

Photo Credit: NY Times – Click here for related article or copy and paste into your browser the link below:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/03/us/politics/03judge.html?_r=1

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Wow! Mr. Obama. – Sotomayor is a winner pick

Published: 05 May 2009 7:48 AM UTCPosted in: National

A few years ago, when I flirted with the idea of going to law school, I was researching other high profile Latinas whom I could reach out as mentors. After some research, I found Judge Sotomayor to be the most impressive of the group I researched. Even back then she was rumored to be Supreme Court material. It seemed like a Hollywood story that it would actually happen; and viewing an episode of The West Wing recently on Bravo, I got teary eyed watching freshly-elected-President Bartlett selecting Judge Mendoza as the first Spanish nominee for the Supreme Court.

I have never considered myself a “flag-waving-hard-core Latina”, because despite my strong ties to my Latin American culture and family, there is also that other half of me, raised in America, with ties as strong to American values and lifestyle. I don’t believe in niching yourself, or taking so much pride in one aspect of your culture over the other, because whenever you do that, you alienate others. I do believe, however, in honoring the dual aspects of our cultural background, whenever the occasion arises.

So, there are times like these, when one can’t help but say, “Wow! One of us, a strong, successful Latina is in the spotlight!” and feel even more motivated to push forward.

“I should have written to her back then.” I kept thinking to myself yesterday, as I saw the woman who had impressed me a few years ago, be nominated for the highest court of this land.

As a Latina, am I proud she has been selected? Heck yeah! I love the fact that she has the native appreciation for a good bowl of rice and beans, as much as she’s a New Yorker now living in Connecticut. More importantly, I’m as proud that she’s a woman, and that by looking at the short list –all four being women–, Mr. Obama is looking to bring gender balance to the Supreme Court.

Deepak Chopra said over the weekend in Larry King’s show, that this is the era for women to run the world, a world currently run by men. Sadly, we’re such a far distance behind that vision. He expressed that there is a need for the wisdom of women. He said that up until now it has been “survival of the fittest”, but now, in these troubled times it was more of a “survival of the wisest”, and the many talents women offer fit that bill. Adding one more woman to the Supreme Court, is one step closer to that vision, however small it may be, it’s a great step towards that gender equality many of us seek.

So many out there have already spoken and discussed Sonia Sotomayor’s background and likely mindset behind her rulings. So, I won’t add to that. What I will add is my strong congratulations to Mr. Obama for his wisdom in selecting her, as well as to Ms. Sotomayor and her proud family, whose hard work and sacrifice has paid off. Her successful life validates the premise that so many hard working immigrants live by, sacrificing all to put the kids in a better school, recognizing the importance of education, diligence and discipline. The professional successes of the Obamas and Ms. Sotomayor show that it does pay off.

The conservatives and misguided Republicans will, –in their dim-witted Republican behavior—nitpick at Ms. Sotomayor, trying to find any little speck and magnify it to paint her as the object of their trademark witch hunts. I’m already smelling the fire and hearing the mob gathering around. They are oblivious to the fact that Sonia Sotomayor is not Clarence Thomas. And with such a major stain, they still managed to put him on the bench, back in 1991, the end of the Bush I era. Ms. Sotomayor has better experience and a spotless background, yet, their minds have been made up to burn her, long before looking at the facts and reality. And God knows I welcome their “noise”. It’s a fight they are certain to lose, in the short and long term. It will be amusing to watch the Party of Doom crash and burn, once again, over the wrong issues. So, in the good old New Yorker spirit I say to them, “Bring it on!”.

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A most accessible President

Published: 26 March 2009 7:41 PM UTCPosted in: National

It is no secret that I wasn’t a supporter of Mr. Obama, and instead was hoping the Clintons, or even Mc Cain (before I got to see his “extreme-right Republican conversion”) would make it to the White House, before this unknown guy with an odd name, who was kicking my candidate in the polls and sweeping delegates for the nomination would make it there. I thought he was young and too much of an unknown, though deep inside I respected his techie marketing skills, being one myself.

When he won the nomination, I was not happy at all. Again, that was no secret. Yet, it was the Clintons themselves who turned me around, compounded with the fact that Mr. McCain chose the dim-witted Mrs. Palin. I knew I had no choice but to support the unknown guy with the funny name. And as I began to research him more and realizing that his platform and values aligned with mine, the same way Mrs. Clinton’s did, the choice was a no-brainer.

After the Bush 8-year mess, between McCain and Obama, the choice was clear. It would be the young guy with the funny-sounding name. So I got in line with the party and promoted Mr. Obama, knowing he would be surrounded by the team that was around the last successful democratic administration, that of the Clintons.

I recognized the historic event that was his election and as I got to see the candidate transform himself in the Fall, as the only viable and reasonable option, into a “presidential figure”, I began to become an Obama supporter.

Watching Mr. Obama handle himself after the election is turning me into a huge fan of his.

Unlike other politicians who, the moment they get elected, “get to work” and we never hear from them again until re-election time, Mr. Obama has made it a point to stay in touch with the people, not only those of us who supported him or share his vision and values, but even those who do not.

I don’t care what “the media” says about Obama becoming “too exposed” to the people. That is a hypocritical thing because they know that the Obama brand brings them ratings. Wherever he appears, people tune in. But of course, that is incidental. What is more important, is his intent in reaching directly to his electorate, reminding us that he’s there, working for us, that he hasn’t forgotten about us.

Today as I ran around, I took part of my lunch time to watch him in the Virtual Town Hall meeting.

Who would have believed, Obama harnessing the reach of the Internet to reach us directly? We could virtually “touch him” with our questions and feedback. Despite the fact that this availability and transparency could put him in the “hot seat” more often, he is not afraid of it because it’s clear he has little to hide.

I love the fact that he continues to reach out to us, the average every day citizen, even though he no longer needs our vote, at least for another 3 years. I love the fact that he appears in non-Orthodox media such as the Tonight Show or ESPN. I love the fact that he uses the Internet for his Saturday “radio address” and the White House website is full of information and open to feedback.

We feel connected to him. And that is how he gets us to mentally invest ourselves in his agenda.

Regardless of what he does, no matter how perfect, or not, he will always have critics, especially the guardians of the “old institutional” thinking. No doubt, Obama is the new deal.

And even though he was not originally my candidate of choice, and I came to support him later in the game, today I am a huge fan because he is showing that he hasn’t forgotten about us.

During the courtship stage in a relationship, there is flowers, poetry, jewelry, passionate promises, which tend to die away once things are formalized such as in a marriage. People tend to get comfortable and forget the flowers, the passion etc..

Obama –as a candidate– gave us the passion, the inspiration, the hope. Once we chose to “marry” him as our president, he continues the “courtship”. I like the fact that he does not take us for granted, like many other politicians have done in the past.

And for those who criticize him about being out there too much and “not doing enough work”, I’d say, don’t forget that he has a huge team behind him doing all the work. He strikes me as a smart leader who knows how to bring the best minds around, get them to work while setting the agenda and making the visionary decisions. Have people forgotten that is the true mark of an excellent leader?

So, please, Mr. Obama, I hope you continue the virtual town hall meetings, and continue to reach out to us directly. We love hearing from you, talking to you, reaching out to you, and contrary to what the “talking heads of the political media” and other critics say, we know you’re doing the very best you can, given the mess that’s been left for you. So, keep doing what you’re doing. Millions of us support you, even if we did not initially do so.

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Weighing my options as a Hillary Supporter

Published: 29 August 2008 1:30 PM UTCPosted in: National

The Obama Biden Ticket - A winning ticket - Source: Obama for President

I could not have been more disappointed as I watched the primaries that ended with the Spring, and saw that my candidate, Hillary Clinton was unable to clinch the nomination.

It is a shame how it all turned out and the ugliness of it all. It turned into a nasty war of race, gender, class, and all sorts of bias. The media didn’t help. And no doubt, in my opinion, gender bias was stronger than racial bias. Some of you may disagree but that is my opinion. And sure, when Obama was declared the winner, I swore I wouldn’t campaign for the guy, nor do anything to help him get elected and turned to my old sympathy for John McCain, and many in my circle felt that way.

The McCain Palin ticket - Source: CNN

It’s been a few months since my huge disappointment and I have been harboring those feelings, especially because I did not see any effort from the Obama campaign to reach out to me as a Hillary supporter, except to ask me for money. I saw their nonchalance in how they handled the VP selection. For the record, I was happy she was not chosen. In my opinion, she deserves to be the #1 in a presidential ticket. But the way they handled it was in my opinion rude and deceitful. It angered me more to think their belief is that we’d have no option but fall into the fold because we’d have no other choice. Some of my black friends who supported Obama from the beginning didn’t help by painting the Clintons as evil, something totally uncalled for.

Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail -- Source: Hillary for President

An enlightened friend of mine finally made sense to me this week as I was lucky enough to be able to watch the events that developed during the democratic convention in Denver.

Hillary’s speech calling for unity –we all knew she would do what she’d have to do—was compelling, but knowing the pressure was on for her to deliver, I was still not convinced into supporting the Obama ticket. Not because I don’t believe in Hillary, but because I believe she’ll do the right thing, regardless of her feelings and I didn’t think the other guy deserved that. As she gave her speech I was busily typing into my blackberry a compelling argument against a dear friend –one of those Obama supporters who vilified the Clintons—listing Hillary’s voting record, and presenting the case why I supported her.

The next day, in the afternoon I watched a historic moment in the convention during the roll call, when the NY State delegation, led by Hillary Clinton called for suspending the roll call and declaring Obama the nominee by proclamation.

NY Delegation with Hillary Clinton calling for proclamation of Obama

During the roll call, watching the states that came before NY, the majority giving a percentage of their vote to Hillary, gave me a dim hope that perhaps she would have enough votes and become the nominee. But when Hillary walked in with the NY delegation and called for the proclamation and for unity, I was utterly touched. I knew I was not the only one with tears in my eyes. I think I finally cried letting out my disappointment when recognizing that my candidate had done the utmost classy move and any remaining hopes of Hillary being elected to president this November were finally dashed. Watching her actions only made me admire her more, but also realize I needed to follow her lead. It was indeed a historic moment.

And then Bill Clinton spoke that evening. Bill Clinton, the man himself, a man who I’m sure was angrier and more disappointed at the way things turned out with our candidate. During the time he was president I wasn’t paying much attention to politics. Things, in my opinion and in my life, were reasonably good for me to worry about what was going on in Washington. It was the equivalent of being a healthy young person. We never pay attention until we develop a life threatening illness and then begin to pay attention. And ever since the race of 2000, I have been paying serious attention to our politics. But before that, during the Bill Clinton era I was somewhat oblivious.

Bill Clinton - Source: Bill Clinton.org

And when Bill Clinton spoke at the convention, he sealed the deal for me. Again, not because I believed in every word he uttered, but he made some points worthy of thought. Those points made me arrive to my own conclusions. Bill –without a doubt — is still a leader, and his call for support of the Obama Biden ticket was so compelling that I actually began to consider supporting the democratic choice, despite my feelings of disappointment for Hillary’s loss and anger against the cockiness and sense of entitlement of the Obama people.

Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi - Source Speaker of the House.gov

I thought about the people I like in Washington, Nancy Pelosi, my hero, Hillary and Schumer, my senators, the people in NYS government, starting with David Patterson on down, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Joe Biden, even those who disappointed me such as Ted Kennedy and Bill Richardson, the Spanish hot headed man governing the good ole state of New Mexico. They are democrats who I know are aligned with my beliefs and values, and I thought to myself, “Sure! I may not be crazy about the man who beat Hillary and is at the top of the ticket, but along with him, there will be a plethora of those people I do like, behind him, ready to be part of his team at every level, from Washington on down to our local districts. And I know they’ll work to insure to stop the flow of damage caused by the Bush/Cheney administrations and begin to work on the repair and rebuilding of our great nation.”

Al Gore - He should have been President

Watching all those good democrats together, I thought to myself, regardless of my feelings for the top of the ticket, why should the team suffer because my choice candidate was not chosen?

I know very well what a McCain presidency would mean. He on the other hand, is a man I like, on the top of a ticket with a team behind him a team of people I have no faith in and who in all honesty are considered pretty scary. McCain has made it very clear he will follow the Bush Cheney mindset, and that would mean the possible overturning of important civil freedoms, especially for us women. I am concerned about healthcare since it is so difficult to afford it nowadays, I am concerned about business opportunities and taxes. I paid very high taxes this year and did not even qualify for the damn incentive. I am concerned about help for education (I am thinking about going back to school), social security (my mom is about to retire, will I have to bear the burden because her social security payments won’t be enough?

During the 2000 primaries Al Gore did not excite me. John McCain did. And I was hugely disappointed and angry at the way the Bush people crushed his exciting run for the nomination. Just watching the dirty plays of the republican party, turned me off about anything that had to do with George Bush. So I always harbored admiration for John McCain.

John McCain - Source: MSNBC

So since Hillary lost the nomination, I have been seriously considering supporting McCain, the maverick whom I have admired in so many instances.

But the McCain of today is barely a shadow of the McCain I followed in 2000. I looked at his voting record and it scared me. What’s more it scared me when he said that as president he would place judges more like Alito and Roberts. That would tip the balance of the supreme court to cater to the right wing! Talk about fairness!

What’s more, I saw an interview of Sheryl Crow in CNN this morning. The CNN anchor asked her why was she supporting the democratic ticket. She said something that confirmed I must support the democrats. Sheryl said she approached McCain at a fund raiser a while ago and asked him why have we been so reluctant to sign the Kyoto treaty and hesitant to support the scientific findings behind global warming. According to Sheryl Crowe, his answer was that “Our planet’s better days are behind us”. What???? Oh my God! Is this the kind of thinking we want of our next political leader? A world leader? I’m sure Al Gore would have choked hearing that. This is not the McCain I thought I knew.

And as of the last hour, McCain has selected a new running mate, Sarah Palin. There is no doubt they are going after us, Hillary’s supporters who have been majorly disappointed by the democrat party’s selection.

Sarah Palin -- Source: MSNBC

And I just heard Sarah’s first speech as McCain’s VP pick. She’s beautiful, sounds intelligent and said some things that resonated with me. She recognized Hillary and that clearly was a way to reach out to us.

But let’s take a look at her record. She’s aligned with the Republican mindset and will support John McCain’s decisions. And unfortunately McCain has been aligning himself with the Bush Cheney administration.

So, unfortunately she is not aligned with my democratic values. Will she support the continuous violation of the constitution brought about by the current administration? Will she support the crappy healthcare plan McCain is presenting? Will she support a woman’s right to choose and the right of gay couples to marry and or unite under law? I don’t think so because of her record so far.

As much as my first impression of Sarah is positive, she’s unfortunately in the wrong party. Hillary is very different from her. And I find it insulting of the republicans to think that just because she is a smart feminine leader the Hillary supporters are going to run to support the McCain ticket in the blink of an eye. To them a woman is a woman. They don’t see who Hillary is and what she means to us. How close-minded! Are we going to vote purely on gender? It’s as foolish as those who vote purely on racial issues. The unfortunate thing is that some people have done so and will do that very thing in November. Let’s just hope our vote in the national elections is a smart vote and not an emotional one.

There is too much at stake.

And now that the race has been defined, I can pledge my support to the democratic ticket, regardless of my feelings. I will follow Hillary and Bill’s lead and hope that one day either Hillary or another amazing qualified woman like her will be selected as the nominee and go on to lead us from the White House.

In the meantime, let’s vote democrat this November, if we are really to choose for issues important to us Hillary supporters.

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