Fear, Negativity Drive Today's Republican Party

It's very clear that a new reactionary ideology has taken root in the Republican Party. The Republican Party is pushing for economic and social policies based on fear. Fears of massive transformation, turmoil and chaos underway in our society. And, fears about how those transformations will impact lives largely defined by self-interest, power and money. Some fear-generated policies are consciously created; others, not so. That is, some reflect a yearning for restoration of a way of life that no longer works in today's changing society and globalized world. Other policy positions reflect conscious manipulation of those fears; But all driving the positions the Republican Party with assistance from the unrelenting Tea Party demands and is determined to enact.

The way I look at it, their ideology and policies reactionary because they are a retreat away from creating positive, responses to large-scale upheaval and change; and towards objectives that fail to address the sources of problems they aim to fix. (Just sit and watch the wave of negative, doom and gloom, lookout the sky is falling political ads that will fill your airwaves this election season against Democratic Candidates for Federal, State & Local Office). Worse, their view of the impact their policies would have upon society doesn't correspond to factual reality.  Government for example is viewed as the embodiment of fear of being taken over by forces that are dangerous, and therefore must be opposed or defended against. Driving this ideology is the fear of losing control over one's life when confronting the reality of the interdependence and interconnection characterizes today's world. For some, those fears lead to the belief that you can live without help from anyone or anything.

When people are emotionally overwhelmed with feelings that their world, their values and identity are turned upside down or destroyed, they may embrace beliefs that are extreme, rigid or elect candidates who represent those beliefs. Such people become increasingly vulnerable to dysfunction because the everything around them continues to change and evolve in ways that frightened them into embracing false beliefs to begin with. They want to feel safe and protected against a changing world, but their solutions don't work.

Open Elections.....NOT!

The GOP’s need to game voting has spread like political cancer. Republican-controlled legislatures have gone to great lengths to complicate many aspects of the voting process, from registration to ballot-access rules. The goal is to suppress perceived Democratic voting blocks, particularly people of color, the poor and students. What’s especially pernicious about the best known of these tactics, stricter voter ID laws, is that it adds a nasty twist to the otherwise simple requirements to be a legal voter. Instead of satisfying age, residency and citizenship status and showing that one is mentally fit and has no felony record (as in most states) these new laws say you cannot get a ballot unless you also have a specific kind of state government photo ID. Not everybody has that ID, or the documents needed to obtain it. The right to vote has never been based on plastic.

This anti-democratic trend is larger than just photo ID laws. Florida passed laws imposing fines and filing deadlines on voter registration groups, which, despite being blocked by a court recently.

Today’s majority Caucasian dominated GOP knows it cannot hold onto power in an increasingly multicultural America unless it keeps communities of color, young people and women from voting.
You would think today’s Republicans would be more confident in their ideas, stand by them and trust the voters to decide. But that is not the case.

First Nunn Campaign Ad of 2014: Optimist.

Jefferson Jackson Dinner Last Night in Fort Valley

Jason Carter addressing the audience during Peach Co JJ Dinner

Last Night, the Peach County Democratic held its first ever Jefferson-Jackson Dinner in Fort Valley located in Rural Central Georgia at the Agriculture Technology Center. An estimated 200 were in attendance as they got to hear from Gubernatorial candidate Jason Carter, as well as other statewide hopefuls, Connie Stokes (Lt Governor), Alisha Morgan (State Superintendent), Chris Irvin (Agriculture Commissioner), Tarnisha Dent (State Superintendent), Gerald Beckum (Secretary of State) & Robin Shipp (Labor Commissioner)

Candidate for Agriculture Commissioner Chris Irvin speaking

Senator Carter was introduced by Macon Circuit D.A. David Cooke in which afterwards Carter gave a rousing, charismatic speech critical of Gov. Nathan Deal on Public Education, Jobs, etc.

Also on hand was Congressman Sanford Bishop & wife Vivian Creighton-Bishop, sheriffs David Davis (Bibb County) & Lewis Walker (Crawford County) and host of local elected officials from surrounding counties as well.

Rep. Sanford Bishop presents Carter with a Plaque

Candidates Gerald Beckum Secretary of State with Keith Heard Insurance Commissioner

Critical Issues Facing The Black Community

1. Lack of opportunity and safety. There has been a loss of  jobs and a failure to control crime in areas with a high density of black residents.

2. Breakdown of the family, Illegitimacy & welfare. Some still don’t see how welfare reduces the value of black men.

3. Black anti-intellectualism. Accusations of “acting white” while trying to get a decent education and advance to college undermine education as a vehicle for advancement. Instead, black leaders expend enormous resources to advance affirmative action (which has run its course in my opinion) at a small number of elite universities, unmindful of the effects it has had on talented young blacks.

4. Failure of K-12 schools in disadvantage urban and rural areas of the state. Teachers unions and the education establishment have been more interested in pay-raises and grants than student achievement, testing, and competition.

5. High incarceration rate of black men.

6. Reduced respect for human life (abortions). Beyond the tragic loss of life itself, this much death reduces the civility with which people treat each other.

7. Victimology. The speeches and ideologies of Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and so called leaders in the black community undermine the initiative of many African Americans. Moreover, there is a lack of honest debate among black leaders because of the fear of being called an “Uncle Tom” for not supporting the grievance agenda.

8. Excessive race-consciousness. The Left is insincere in acknowledging the advancement in race relations since the early 1960’s, but there's still ways to go. Many black families have joined the middle class. If they lived in an independent country, they would be citizens of the 10th richest nation in the world. Race matters but not very much. Race-consciousness diminishes the importance of addressing the more important issues listed above.

Emotions

I often hear about voters deciding who to vote for based on emotion rather than rational responses to the issues. However, this is not an all-or-nothing situation with some voters making decisions purely for rational reasons while others decide only for emotional reasons. The simple truth is that just about all voters, including the most well-informed amongst us, have emotional responses to issues. If we didn’t, we probably wouldn’t bother to vote. When State Senator Jason Carter, who's a candidate for governor voted for the sweeping gun bill that allows individuals to carry a weapon anywhere, anytime, he caught some grief from many gun control advocates in the state. That was a emotional issue that will drive those who opposed to the bill to get active in this 2014 election season. (Note: NRA gives Carter a A rating)

When you think about the issues that matter, you are likely to have intense emotional reactions to different stances on these topics. If you support gay marriage and care about gay marriage, you will be happy imagining a time where any gay couple has the same legal rights as any straight couple. If you are against gay marriage, you probably smile at the thought of a world where no gay couple can get married. However, emotions may be even stronger on the negative side. For example, if you are pro-life, the idea of legalized abortions being available to anyone with an unwanted pregnancy probably makes your blood boil. In contrast, if you are pro-choice, hearing politicians talking about abolishing Roe v. Wade is likely to make you very upset. You can take just about any issue you are care deeply about, and thinking about an outcome that goes against what you hope for will likely get you very upset. That is not so bad as emotions, and particularly negative emotions like fear and anger are what drive many people to volunteer, make donations and, of course, vote!

When we think about the issues that matter most to us, we are likely to have intense emotional reactions to different stances on these topics. It is important to note that many people get emotional about issues, even if they are not personally affected by them. There are also many heterosexual voters who are passionate about promoting equal rights for gays and white males who are committed to affirmative action. There are even very wealthy Americans making donations to political candidates who will increase their own taxes. This includes the two wealthiest people in the country, Bill Gates and Warren Buffet. Similarly, many voters have secure jobs with excellent health insurance benefits, but are still very emotionally committed to public options for healthcare

Emotion often gets a bad rap. The fact that emotion drives much of voting is not a bad thing. Emotion drives the passion that leads people to volunteer, make personal donations to causes they care about, and deal with the hassle of voting. So don’t feel bad about not being purely rational. Get emotional, get involved, and vote.

To Rigid Opponents of the ACA, or 'Obamacare....It's not Socialism!

How did it happen that supporters of Obamacare are allowing the conservatives to label The Affordable Care Act (ACA) socialized medicine and/ or socialism? Are they trying to hide just how capitalistic the ACA really is? Now I haven't been the biggest supporter of the ACA and it has its flaws, but it has some good things in it and it is not Socialism.....PLAIN & SIMPLE!

 

The ACA is a gift to capitalists. It develops competition in each state between private insurance companies, a sort of textbook definition of capitalism. Granted, this isn’t free market capitalism based on the regulations, but any American knows the US is not run on free market capitalism, as it would never work in the real world.

 

The ACA is not socialized medicine since the customer is still buying insurance. Socialized medicine is not an insurance plan; it is a health plan. Under socialized medicine, you do not worry about bills and deductibles, you go to the doctors or hospital and get your care and walk away. Socialized medicine is also single payer; you simply have health coverage by virtue of being a citizen, and taxpayer money is used to cover everyone. The ACA, however,does not cover those who opt-out, or who do not qualify for coverage.

 

Calling the ACA socialism is harmful to anyone who wishes to properly criticize the faults of the ACA, regardless of whether you are for or against it, any critique must be made with an educated argument. The second someone makes the claim that it is nothing more than Obama’s attempt to push his “socialist agenda” on the American people, all credibility is lost because they have demonstrated they do not have a basic understanding of what socialism is.

 

The ACA is capitalism, and it is going to make a lot of people very rich. The ACA is an idea developed in the minds of The Heritage Foundation and the simple reason it is so opposed is not because it’s healthcare, it is because it has Obama’s name stuck to it. A guy told me yesterday if any GOP president had put this same plan forward, it would have been heralded as the greatest idea that will save the American taxpayer billions of dollars in health costs. It was not, and the democratic president of this country put a great plan into action, and at no matter what cost to the American citizen or the economy, the GOP will fight to destroy the very idea they created.