Must be feeling better

After been sick for over a week, I must be feeling better. While fixing my wife some tea I was thinking about President Obama's leadership style and how to describe it. That he does not have an eye for details is evidenced by his putting his full faith in Congress to draft and pass the "stimulus" bill without input from his administration. The same "stimulus" bill that Obama said would define his presidency, he left to Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. Now, what he is calling the centerpiece of his presidency, health care reform, is being handled in the same manner.

I was thinking, is President Obama like a musher, whipping Congress like a pack of dogs along the frozen ground. Then I thought of how he handled the health care issue in August, that despite repeated calls for leadership by Congressional Democrats, he let that bill flounder and die in August and his own self-imposed deadline pass. Clearly that is not the case.

No, President Obama is like a drunken 1600's sea captain who gathers his men aboard his ship and cries out that they must reach the new world, then leaves it to the deck hands to figure out where that is and how to get there.

Communist Party USA Part 1

After reading an article on the Accuracy in Media website by Cliff Kincaid on the Van Jones scandal, I was interested in seeing if I could find a foundational tie between the current legislative agenda of President Obama and the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) -- his personal ties to communists are highlighted in Mr. Kincaid’s article. So I decided to do the 21^st Century equivalent of letting “my fingers do the walkin’” and Googled CPUSA (not going to link to it, but I do suggest you read it for yourself, for a good laugh). In perusing their website I sort of got off track of my original plan, something I am apt to do, and was struck some very fundamental contradictions in the CPUSA’s philosophies.

To understand the basic inconsistency in this group’s political ideology, you have to compare and contrast the CPUSA slogan "fight for peace, equality, democracy and socialism" (emphasis added) to Article II of its constitution. Section 1 provides, “that decisions and policies are made through democratic procedures, and that once a final decision is made, all members are obligated to carry it out.” Section 3 states, “After a thorough discussion in any club, committee or convention, decisions are arrived at by majority vote. All members, including those who disagree, are duty bound to explain, fight for and carry out such decisions, as long as they do not conflict with national policies and decisions.” So far this seems fairly benign, that is, until you read Section 2:

Each Party body is subordinate to the next higher body, with central authority vested in the National Convention, the highest body of the Party, which not only has the authority to act on all aspects of Party policy and activity, but elects the national leadership to carry through its will and decisions between conventions.

In other words, you can vote locally, but if the national body overrules you, you must “fight for and carry out” the decisions of the national centralized governing body, even when they oppose your local views. This is a requirement, even though you have no say in what the central governing body decides. The theory of this democracy is that you get to vote, only as long you don’t vote contrary the party bosses. This seems less like a democracy and more like a crime family.

This is too rich! (Pun intended) I will have to do a series of these by picking through the various writings on the CPUSA's website. I will leave you with this - the preamble states:

We are the party of the African American, Mexican American, Puerto Rican, all other Latino American, Native American, Asian American, and all racially and nationally oppressed peoples, as well as women, youth, and all other working people.

Notice who’s missing????? . . . . other than the Muslims I mean . . .