Bipartisanship

This picture is from

http://www.thedailypage.com

America trapped in gridlock
long on rhetoric,
short on action.

Voters sent a message:

Work it out!
Tackle this nation’s pressing problems!

America’s overlooked majority--

the moderate middle—
craves cooperation.
 

The Democrats are already in the moderate middle—that’s why they won.  The Republicans have caused the gridlock with their ridiculous strategy of trying to win elections by refusing to do anything to help the economy. 

 © 2012 Catherine Giordano

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Truth



Find truth! 

Click Here to learn more
  about Diogenes

In ancient Greece

a new art form--

called rhetoric—

a refined form of speech making. 

Sophists--

the most polished speakers

the world had ever known--

became too good;

people distrusted them;

people felt manipulated.

Sophistry—

a speaker being deceitful.

Diogenes

wandered the streets

looking for an honest man.

Aristotle said

virtue was needed to speak truth. 

Quintilian said

rhetoric is a good man speaking well

Lenin said

a lie told often enough becomes truth. 

Americans must find the truth.

Our nation

depends on a informed electorate. 

Eternal vigilance

is the price of liberty.

 

If

we don’t have an informed electorate,

we don’t have democracy.
 

Ben Franklin was asked after the Constitutional Convention in 187 what kind of government had been created.  He said, “A republic, madam, if you can keep it.”  If American society is dumbed down, the powers that be can forever continue to be the powers that be.  Find the truth. Vote accordingly.

© 2012 Catherine Giordano

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War on Reality

This picture comes from http://thinklikealackbelt.com

Reality
has
a well known liberal bias.*

One

of those jokes,
that isn’t.

One

of those barbs,
that allows
you to see
with clarity.

The Conservative War on Reality.

We cannot debate ideology

Order from amazon.com

if we do not have a body
of facts in common.

The Legacy of the War on Reality.

Facts? Optional!

Reality? Multiple choice!
Questions? Part of a conspiracy!

We have only one country;

we may not share the same reality,

but we share the same fate.

I sometimes wish we could have alternate universes. I’d live in the one where liberal ideals prevailed and laugh at the one where conservatives live, one that resembles the Middle ages—a theocracy where lords dominate the serfs.

In my fantasy, I say, “Go ahead and vote for Romney.  You’ll get what you deserve.” But I don’t live in an alternate universe.  I live in the same country and I have to share their fate.

© 2012 Catherine Giordano

*An observation made by Stephen Colbert.

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Legacy

Land, water, wildlife—
basic to physical,
spiritual,
psychological well-being.

Fresh air and water—

vital to life.
Green space—
soothes stress,
boosts quality of life.

Federal lands are our birthright.

Public ownership protects open space.

America’s unique ecology

from Southern marsh and pine mosaics
to panted mesas in the Southwest.

These are our lands.

They belong to all Americans.

The words for this poem were taken from a column in the newspaper critical of the Republicans environmental policies.  It is written by a Republican who will be voting Democratic henceforth because of her concern for conservatism, i.e., conservation of the environment.

© 2012 Catherine Giordano

This picture is from http://sevennorth.com

Switching to Dems

Registered Republican,
but voting all Democrat.

I want the GOP leadership

to know—
the religious right, the tea party,
they are the fringe, not the base.

The GOP is wrong.

The priorities are wrong.
They use every ruse to excuse
themselves of culpability.

We need to show

the GOP—
the tea party, the religious right
they are the fringe, not the core.

I took this from a letter to the editor.  I think this letter represents a lot of people who have voted Republican all their lives, but can no longer, in good conscience, support a Republican party that more and more represents the fringe and not mainstream Americans.

 

© 2012 Catherine Giordano

 

Romney Controversy

Mitt Romney.
an unfeeling, uncaring plutocrat.
explaining away another gaffe.

The political world roiled.

Romney insulted everyday people,
people who work incredibly hard.

Romney told high-paying donors—

half of Americans are worthless, lazy,
don’t pay taxes,
don’t have a job,
and don’t want one.

Is this the utterance that decides the election?

Not only did Romney dismissively insult half the people in this country, but his facts were wrong.   He claimed that people who don’t pay taxes are going to vote for Obama no matter what.  The fact is that the states with the highest proportion of people who don’t pay income taxes are “red states.”

Message to people who don’t pay income taxes: You heard the man.  Vote for Obama.

If only people would vote their pocketbook instead of their prejudices, Obama would win all 50 states.

 

© 2012 Catherine Giordano

This picture from www.motherjones. com

GOP Lacks Blacks

This picture is from http:proudblackvoter.blogspot.com
There's good info on this website. 

America’s quadrennial political caucuses—
Two distinct nations.

Democrats displayed

a diverse gumbo
ladled from America’s melting pot.

Republicans dished up

New England clam chowder;
diversity scarce in the heart of whiteness.

The polls show Romney

taking a shellacking
among black voters;
94 percent to zero..
Zilch!

For Romney, white is all right.

Romney could grind out
a narrow win from older
white male voters—
The Republicans’ Southern Strategy.  

As Clinton said, arithmetic: 94 +  0 = 94.  Where is the other 6% --undecided or “none of the above.”

Obama will win if everyone who wants America to move forward, not backward, gets out and votes.  Don’t let them suppress your vote. I want Obama to win in a landslide to show the country that voter suppression will not work.

 

© 2012 Catherine Giordano

Libya, Obama, and Romney

The attack:
A small group of militants
arriving late at night,
unleashing a fusillade,
from rifles,
from rocket-propelled grenades.

The U.S Consulate:

Torched and ransacked
on the anniversary
of September 11^th .

The dead:

the U.S. ambassador
and other Americans.

President Barrack Obama:

vows to bring
the killers to justice.

Republican Mitt Romney:

criticizes Obama,
politicizes a tragedy.

Romney’s attack of Obama, as usual, had no acquaintance with the “reality-based” world.  The timing of his attack (while the embassy was still under fire), the content of his attack (based on misinformation), and his reiteration of the attack (after he was given the correct information) have been soundly rebuked, even by his fellow Republicans.
 

© 2012 Catherine Giordano

 

This picture of the attack in Libya and the U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens (age 52), who died in the line of duty, is from http://telegraph.co.uk

 

Do-Little Congress



Unpopular.
Unproductive.
Congress.

A five week recess.

A two-week quickie session.
A crush of big tasks.
Few will get done.

Voters frustrated.

Partisan gridlock.
Pre-election paralysis.

Approval ratings—

Single digits.

Since the Republicans took the majority in the House of Representatives in 2010, the goal has been to do nothing.  If they did something, their thinking goes, Obama might get the credit. 

 © 2012 Catherine Giordano

Dueling Conventions

Tampa:
Amateurish stagecraft.
Emphasis on “defeat Barack Obama”
rather than “elect Mitt Romney.”
The party seemed to believe
Romney will lose.

Charlotte:

Focused and spirited
Emphasis on “reelect Barack Obama.”
The oratory, superior.
The visuals, more telegenic.
No Clint Eastwood moments.

The Republicans—

Meandering.
The Democrats—
Relentlessly on message.
The Democrats—
Absolutely on fire. 

The Democrats’ philosophy of “We’re all in this together” is better than the Republicans’ philosophy of “You’re on your own.” 

 Another difference between the two conventions:  the Republicans lied, the Democrats told the truth. (The independent fact-checkers confirmed this.)

I found this picture at http://www.csmonitor.com/

Four More Years

President Barack Obama
offered a message about the future.

“The election in November

is a choice between
two different paths for America;
two different visions for the future.”

“It will take more

than a few years
to solve challenges
built up over decades.”

The president drew cheers.

Four more years!
Four more years!

A very exciting Democratic Convention filled with rousing emotional speeches by Michelle Obama, Bill Clinton, and Joe Biden.  Obama topped off the convention with a straightforward presentation.  This time he left the soaring rhetoric to others and instead gave a very presidential speech—exactly the speech he needed to give to build on the previous speeches.

Note: I put the president’s words in quotes, but I dropped a few words so it would scan better.

© 2012 Catherine Giordano

I found this picture at http://irregulartimes.com
 

Two Peas in a Pod

This picture is from www.enasco.com

A preview of a Mitt Romney presidency,
right here in Florida.

Our businessman/governor

Rick Scott, promised us jobs.
He delivered Wawa,
convenience stores paying low wages.

He delivered cuts to education,

curbs to early voting,
pandering to campaign contributors,
a rock-bottom approval rating.

Success in business does not translate

to success in government.
Business is all about profits;
government is all about protecting citizens.

I’ve watched a businessman

run my state into the ground.
I don’t want one running
my country into the ground.

This is from a letter to the editor.  If eight years of George W. Bush didn’t teach you enough about how businessmen can run our country into the ground, maybe a look at Rick Scott’s governorship is the refresher course that you need.

© 2012 Catherine Giordano

The Empty Chair

Clint Eastwood’s
rhetorical ramble,
his conversation
with an empty chair,
slamming Obama,
inspiring a social –media
pile on,
diverting attention
from Romney’s speech.

Convention delegates were gleeful.
Rush Limbaugh loved the shtick.
Romney laughed at the improv.
Clint came across as sad and pathetic.  

     

What did Clint Eastwood accomplish? He made Republicans laugh.  He diverted attention away from Romney. He reinforced the idea that the Republican party is the party of “angry old white men.”  He ruined his reputation as a serious filmmaker.

I hope you enjoyed those cheap shots, Mr. Eastwood.  You paid a high price for them.

© 2012 Catherine Giordano   

Get the full behind the scenes
story with this book

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Nominee Romney

Mitt Romney 2012

Nominee Romney.
Romney officially.
The official
GOP nominee
at the RNC.

Nominee Romney,

with the lowest
favorability
ratings of any
presidential nominee.

Nominee Romney,

over the top.
 

Ann Romney, Mitt Romney’s wife, gave a very nice speech about love.  Her message may have been lost among all the other speeches spewing hate.  (Congressman Boehner compared Obama to a drunk in a bar who has to be thrown out.)

Ann Romney praised her husband.  But I noticed the other Republican National Convention speakers mostly praised themselves, or the party, and said very little about Romney.


Update 7/20/16: Four years later and not much has changed, except the hate is even worse. Just the names are different. And Romney is so ashamed of his party that he won't even attend the convention. 

© 2012 Catherine Giordano

Legitimate Lunkheads

I found this picture at

http://media.dcentertainment.com

Offensive, downright stupid, remarks.

“Victims of legitimate rape rarely get pregnant.” 

????????????????

“The female reproductive system shuts down.” 

????????????????

You have to wonder,

what in the world is “legitimate rape”?

Insulting, inexcusable, dumb comments.

Voters deserve better.

Republican Todd Akin, running for senator of Missouri told the nation that a woman can’t get pregnant due to rape.  What? He says he “misspoke.”  What?




CLICK HERE
to look inside

Akin knew exactly what he was saying. If he actually believed it, and was not just saying to score political points with the rabid “no-abortions-ever-for-any-woman-for-any-reason” crowd, the man is a moron.

In keeping with my mission to write about important events, I’ve been trying to do a poem on this subject for days. I finally got an article in the Orlando Sentinel with words that I could use.

 © 2012 Catherine Giordano

Update 7/10/14: Todd Aiken is back.  He has a book now. And he takes back his apology. He doubles down on his comments about legitimate rape.

Romney's VP Pick

Abandoning caution,
Romney selects Paul Ryan
as his running mate.

The selection is risky.

Ryan champions a budget plan
ending Medicare, providing
tax cuts for the wealthy.

It’s a Hail Mary pass,

Romney’s campaign
was stumbling, ratings slumping. 

Democrats are gleeful

over Romney’s choice.

Ryan is out of sync, appealing only to a narrow ultra-conservative slice of the electorate.

P.S. I wonder if Ryan will release his tax returns.

© 2012 Catherine Giordano

I found this picture at http://freakoutnation.com

Obama Talks Taxes

President Barack Obama,

two thousand screaming supporters,

at Rollins college on Thursday

Two different versions of America:
Mitt Romney’s tax cuts for the rich;

Obama’s defense of the middle class.

Trickle-down economics—

the path Romney is proposing—

Trickle-down tax-cut fairy-dust.

Romney asks middle class families

to pay higher taxes.

Not to reduce our deficit,

Not to help care for seniors,

Not to rebuild America,

Not to fight a war.

Romney is asking you to pay more

so that people like him can pay less. 

If you are middle class or poor, why would you vote for Romney?  I think people are starting to catch on.  Obama has substantial leads in the swing states.  Maybe Obama will take all 50 states.  Well, maybe not Utah.  The Mormons will probably vote for one of their own regardless of how bad his policies are.

 © 2012 Catherine Giordano



http://upload.democraticunderground.com/imgs/home/120801-the-romney-tax-plan-in-one-chart.jpg