Cheney Speaks From 13% Approval, And Chooses Wrong Topic

   Question.

If you wanted to know how not to stop serial killers would you seek out the BTK Killer of “Wichita Kansas?

If you wanted to know how to hit home runs with man’s natural talents and learned skills, would you seek out Mark Maguire, Sammy Sosa or Bobby Bonds?

How about asking Roger Clements how effective a a major league pitcher can win 25 to 230 games per season from natural talent?

If you still need examples of outright silliness, how about asking Sarah Palin anything about US History?

If you cannot find sensible rational reason for any of the above, can you find the rationale in media asking Dick Cheney his thoughts on anything?

We are talking a man who his own political party hid him from sight during election campaigns (2008 and 2012), and one who served along with George W. Bush in running our nation into an abyss.  In 2011 The Atlantic reported.

 When Vice President Dick Cheney left office, his approval rating stood at a staggeringly low 13 percent. Few political figures in history have been so reviled.

Before today’s Huffington Post article about Cheney criticizing President Obama’s appointments to Cabinet positions, consider a quick run through the Atlantic piece.

Lest we forget Cheney and his staff (specifically Scooter Libby) in Outing Valerie Plame, an active CIA operative. Libby took the fall for the outing, but was not given jail time. While we do not believe  Libby can practice law (resulting from his conviction), we know Bush refused to give him a full pardon for his historic actions against one of our own. 

The Atlantic

Dick Cheney was a self-aggrandizing criminal who used his knowledge as a Washington insider to subvert both informed public debate about matters of war and peace and to manipulate presidential decisionmaking, sometimes in ways that angered even George W. Bush. 

Huffington Post 

Dick Cheney Criticizes Obama National Security Appointees In Speech

By BOB MOEN 02/10/13 01:44 AM ET EST

Cheynne, Wyo. — Former Vice President Dick Cheney said Saturday night that President Barack Obama has jeopardized U.S. national security by nominating substandard candidates for key cabinet posts and by degrading the U.S. military. 

“The performance now of Barack Obama as he staffs up the national security team for the second term is dismal,” Cheney said in comments to about 300 members of the Wyoming Republican Party. 

Cheney, a Wyoming native, said it was vital to the nation’s national security that “good folks” hold the positions of secretary of state, CIA director and secretary of defense. 

“Frankly, what he has appointed are second-rate people,” he said.

Read more 

A Gallery of Appointments 

All the way back to Reagan!

                                              

Huff PO, we understand your journalistic responsibilities but we are having one hell-ev-a time thinking this one is a mere Sunday headline with little actual value. It really falls well shy of newsworthy!

Django, John Brown, Insurrection, and US History

         

History is a wonderful phenomena. 

Human beings have the cognitive ability and wherewithal to look back on the past.  Some look back at things past and long for days of old.  Some look back on the past and wonder how could we ever have been so scandalous, corrupt and insensitive to others.  Others look back, and think we can “never go back gain.“

I look back for a couple other reasons.  Entertainment is within reach with the mere thought of visiting historic times. Lessons come frequently. More significantly, I can look back at things I learned earlier in life, and add perspective and more to the learned experience with current information.

One distinct memories of US History is with human bondage: slavery or the historically sanitized “Triangular Trade”.

A depiction of the so called ” Triangular Trade” in real terms.

Thadeus Stevens

John Brown

Harriet Tubman

The horrors of slavery in the Americas.  Greed and abuse that reached  throughout various nooks and crannies of the human history became an existential foundation of US agriculture, and commerce in states south of the Mason Dixon Line and west to Missouri.  As is the case with forced servitude of human beings, some rebel. 

Nat Turner

I can remember when I first read about slave insurrections and the Underground Railroad.  The desperate courage of Nat Turner emblazoned a image in mind mind that well never fade. The courage and ingenuity of Harriet Tubman would also have a lifelong place in my mind.  When I learned that Quakers and German immigrants were integral to the Underground Railroad, I was thrust into an alternative universe: the abolitionist.  Thadeus Stevens and  John Brown, the extreme abolitionist, occupied my mind for long periods.  I realized that were it not for abolitionist, and a courageous US President, slavery may have become a centuries longer life of horror and hell in the United States.

Read more after the break

John Brown’s death along with most of his raiders was a pre-Civil War History that garners scant lessons in US History (See video below).   Earlier I referenced current information that takes me back to earlier lessons.  The Quentin Tarantino movie Django Unchained  (whether you like it or not), via its fictional theme of bounty hunting and a quest to free Django’s wife struck a curious note.  John Brown’s Raiders included five former slaves and free black men set my mind on yet another quest.  The end stories of the five black raiders became unfounded history.

PBS
John Brown’s black raiders

On October 16, 1859, John Brown led 21 men on an assault at Harpers Ferry — an event that shook the nation and [nudged it even closer toward civil war]. Among these raiders were five black men: two of these men would die at Harpers Ferry, two would be captured and executed, and one would escape to Canada.

Dangerfield Newby, a strong, 6’2″ African American, was the first of Brown’s men to die in the fighting. Born a slave in 1815 but later freed by his white, Scottish father, Newby married a slave who was still in bondage in Virginia. A letter found on his dead body revealed his motive for joining Brown. . .

Dear Husband: I want you to buy me as soon as possible, for if you do not get me somebody else will. The servants are very disagreeable; they do all they can to set my mistress against me. Dear Husband,. . . the last two years have been like a troubled dream to me. It is said Master is in want of money. If so, I know not what time he may sell me, and then all my bright hopes of the future are blasted, for there has been one bright hope to cheer me in all my troubles, that is to be with you, for if I thought I should never see you, this earth would have no charms fo me. Do all you can for me, which I have no doubt you will. I want to see you so much.

Newby’s wife was sold after the raid and moved farther to the south. (see below)

Lewis Sheridan Leary also died at Harpers Ferry, although he did survive for eight hours after receiving his wounds. Originally from North Carolina, Leary moved to Oberlin, Ohio, where he married Mary S. Patterson. She did not know Leary’s plans when he left her and their six-month-old child to rendezvous with Brown. Leary did, however, manage to send his family messages before he died. 

A fugitive slave of pure African ancestry, Shields Green accompanied Frederick Douglass to Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, where the great abolitionist spoke to John Brown for the last time. Brown was unsuccessful in convincing Douglass to join him in the raid; he did, however, recruit the young Green. Green was captured at Harpers Ferry and later executed. He was reportedly only 23 years old. 

Born free in Raleigh, North Carolina, in 1834, John Anthony Copeland, Jr. moved to Oberlin, Ohio, in 1842, where he later attended Oberlin College. In September of 1859 he was recruited to John Brown’s army by his uncle and fellow black raider, Lewis Sheridan Leary. Copeland’s role in the assault was to seize control of Hall’s Rifle Works, along with John Kagi, a white raider. Kagi was killed while trying to escape from the factory. Copeland was captured alive. During his trial, in which he was convicted and sentenced to death, he managed to impress many of those with whom he came in contact. Speaking of Copeland, the trial’s prosecuting attorney said. . .

From my intercourse with him I regard him as one of the most respectable persons we had. . . . He was a copper-colored Negro, behaved himself with as much firmness as any of them, and with far more dignity. If it had been possible to recommend a pardon for any of them it would have been this man Copeland as I regretted as much if not more, at seeing him executed than any other of the party.”

This dignity continued to be evident. On his way to the gallows he was heard to say, “If I am dying for freedom, I could not die for a better cause — I had rather die than be a slave!” 

Of the five black raiders, only Osborn Perry Anderson would escape and remain free. He fled to Canada, but came back to the U.S. and enlisted with the Union army in 1864. Anderson would write the only eye-witness account of the raid, which was published two years after the raid. He died in 1872. 

Dangerfield Newby (ca. 1820-1859). Culpeper County

Participant in John Brown’s Raid

Dangerfield Newby (ca. 1820-1859) was born in Culpeper County, the oldestchild of Henry Newby, a white man, and Elsey Newby, an enslaved black woman. In 1858, Henry Newby sold his land in Culpeper and moved with his family to Bridgeport, Ohio, thereby freeing his wife and their children. Shortly after moving to Bridgeport, Dangerfield Newby began raising money to buy his own wife and children, who were enslaved in Prince William County, Virginia. In the spring and summer of 1859 his wife wrote to him three times expressing concern that her owner would sell her before Newby was able to raise the money to free her. 

“Come this fall with out fail monny or no monny I want to see you so much,” Harriet Newby wrote. “[I]t is said Master is in want of money[:] if so I know not what time he may sell me an[d] then all my bright hops of the futer are blasted.”

Newby raised nearly $742 toward the $1,000 price that Harriet Newby’s owner had set for her and one child, but he was unable to free his family. Shortly after learning of this disappointment, he joined John Brown in the planning for the raid on Harpers Ferry. During the raid, Newby shot and killed a grocer before he himself was shot and killed. His wife’s letters were found on his body. In the 1890s his remains were moved from an unknown location to John Brown’s Farm in North Elba, New York.
(Harriet Newby’s letters pdf)

Fictional movie-making depiction aside, Newby’s quest to gain the freedom of his wife was part of a far greater endeavor than bounty hunting. John Brown’s abolitionism and his (irrational) attempt to start a slave uprising stand in our history as courageous acts to correct horrendous wrongs.  John Brown for those who need more about an American hero, but a man with an obsession that placed him on the wrong side rational behavior. Yet he stands as other courageous abolitionist, who at saved thousands from slavery and death,

John Brown…..

7:08 Minutes

John Brown’s Raid in American History: http://youtu.be/bB_kbFAui-U

John Brown’s War

45:23 Minutes

John Brown’s War: http://youtu.be/-06gy-e4ftM

Tarantino’s fantasy character Django both entertains and reminds.  An Albert Einstein quote seems apropos.

The gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge. ~Albert Einstein

Tarantino’s fantasy whether it riles you or satisfies a need for entertainment leaves me with thoughts similar to those left from viewing other cinematic expositions: The Hunger Game and Avatar. If a person can sit through either of the three expositions without reflection on mankind’s greed and abuse of the “un-powerful”, the person is a prime suspect for manipulation from elements in our nation who do us no good.

“Django Unchained” also reminds of our history as stark and ugly as it is at times, it is US History.  A history that is interwoven with the most horrific of human acts: First Nation People (native indigenous nations) genocide and slavery.

Despite overwhelming indifference towards certain parts of US History, I doubt there are millions in the nation who would find ‘selling and buying the Negro” within the purview of sanity. Yet, it is clear millions among us would support unfettered regression to times past when the privileged view and treated others worse then animals.

Rush, Beck, Coulter, Palin and Rubes

Cross posted from Mario PiperniDotCom. If you were ever a  kid and if you enjoyed the thrill of an Easter Egg Hunt, you know how I feel when I visit Mario’s webpage.  “You never know what you will find over there, and all you find is good.” 

Rush and Beck and Rubes and Their Money

The more complete Maher quote:

“And con men, like Rush and Beck, are one reason the Republicans are in such dire straits today because they don’t care about winning elections, they care about separating rubes from their money. They’ve discovered there is a fortune to be made by keeping a small portion of America under the illusion that they are always under attack from Mexicans, ACORN, or Planned Parenthood, or gays, or takers, global warming hoaxers. It doesn’t matter. They don’t want a majority, they want a mailing list. A list of the kind of gullible Honey Boo Boos out there who think there is a war on Christmas and that the socialist policies of our Kenyan president have been so disastrous that the end of the world is coming.”

If you missed Maher’s New Rules last week, take a listen. This one is a classic.

___

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Morning Java: Axis of Idiocy …John Liming (OP-ED)

Enjoy while the caffeine kicks-in!!!! An OP-ED from John Liming to go along with your Sumatra,  Kopi Luwak Indonesian, Kenya AA, Tanzanian, French Roast, Kona Coast, ‘Black Ivory’ [ Thai Elephant Dong],  Jamaica Blue Mountain, Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, Costa Rican, Espresso,  Moyobama Peruvian Organic, Indonesian Blend, Coffee Latte, Kauai Blend (often bitter), Colombian Red Lips, or your Folgers 100% Colombian.  Coffees of the World _____________________________

American Liberal Times
 When I Read Wild Visions My Imagination Stirs!

Posted on February 9, 2013

by John Liming

2/09/2013

Is There A New “Axis Of Idiocy Loose In The United States?

Opinion

Whenever I read into the wild meanderings  and mist-laden visions of some authors that I consider to be far right wing radical extremist revisionists or when I read into one or more kinds of the new really far-out-takes on conservatism, the term, “Axis Of Idiocy” comes to mind whether it is a fair assessment or not – – – it comes to mind.

My whole concept about this is based in part on what I perceive to be some mis-informed political enthusiasts who really do not seem to know what they are talking about because the information they brand as “fact” does not usually line up with anything that I have ever been taught and quite possibly that anyone else has ever been taught either.

I find that the so-called “facts” that a lot of these writers attempt to present in support of their arguments against the government and/or the president and/or American Tradition did not really exist before the advent of contemporary far right wing myth media on the internet and the airwaves and in some specialized print media which have surfaced on the national scene in the past few years.

I do not buy the pathetic argument advanced by some who would make themselves into constitutional scholars and experts or some who try to convince others they are well-versed and well-qualified in the nuances of governmental sciences and practices because a lot of these self-professed “experts” may or may not have done anything greater or more renowned than get themselves some notoriety on some broadcast or they may have managed to write a book or two spouting wild philosophies and theories that talk trash but prove nothing except that they are either the blind leading the blind or they have some – – – agenda – – – that opposes in one degree or another what we have all come to know as “The American Way.”

Some of the true craziness in political interpretation has only taken place within a generation and little or none of it was ever heard of before perhaps the late 60s or the mid 70s.

The nature of this misleading intellectual beast can best be summed up by pointing out that while it sounds righteous, holy, positive and good, it usually leads ultimately down a very ruthless and dictatorial path in the final analysis – – a path that seems to be designed to overthrow everything we have always known as America and replace it with some religious-sounding moralistic psuedo-democratic theocracy where there is, in the end, nothing but a population of elitists who possess all the wealth and the power and another sub-population who have been subjugated by the elite and whose task and destiny it is only to serve their elitist masters.

The name of this beast as far as I am concerned is “Right Wing Elitist Radical Extremist  Conservatism” and it’s most distinguishing features and most easily recognized attributes are found in its insistence in serving the moneyed power structure at the expense of what has become known in some political circles as the hapless 47%.

The entire thesis of this thing that I view as a  Godless political entity that seeks to consume and devour whoever and whatever it can for its own pernicious causes is that we have all become nothing but one big conglomeration of “Makers” and “Takers” or “Those who are willing to work and those who are not” or some other convolution of reality  – – – claims that we are all becoming all too familiar with because of the incessant nature of the propaganda that has been preaching this bullshit doctrine for nigh onto 40 years now.

This political beast is subtle (as the Bible would say) more subtile than any other beast in the field and it operates from a standpoint of the purest and most persistent negativist propaganda that promises freedom and liberty all wrapped up in what I consider to be a really dangerous form of regressionism.

It’s enemies seem to the anyone who has not made themselves wealthy and I think it preaches a quietly subtle doctrine of sedition disguised as all kinds of parodies on constitutional amendments and rights and other such meaningless contrived pseudo patriotic drivel.

There is a saying worth remembering and it might help people to recognize the beast when it growls it’s tear-jerking false sentiments and that saying goes something like this:

When tyranny finally comes, it will come wrapped in the flag and it will have a Bible stuck somewhere up its rear end.”  (Or words to that effect.)

In my view, the really good thing about all this is that there are still good and truly righteous people who recognize the signs of this horror when they appear and they take steps to reject their advances – – – steps like winning presidential elections as they did in 2012 and in so doing clearly rejecting the advances of the political harlotry of which I have been speaking in these few paragraphs.

In my own personal view, the greatest saving grace for The United States the world has come to know and love is that the greater mass of The American People are a lot smarter and more cognitive than that which I have referred to herein as “The Axis Of Idiocy.”

Posted by John Liming