The Duke- Tampa Base: Politics as normal

The Duke- Tampa Base: Politics as normal: As we only have less than 40 days until we make a choice, not really a true choice, but a choice nonetheless, I sit back & enjoy the fightin...

Politics as normal

As we only have less than 40 days until we make a choice, not really a true choice, but a choice nonetheless, I sit back & enjoy the fighting among the masses.  The folks who truly believe that President Obama is a Crazed/Anti-Christ/Commie/Non-American bent on bring these United States down to a 3rd world level.  Those folks are truly, very truly touched by God in a special way. I don't know which God they have been touched by or even worship but I would bet "Their" God is the same one who looks upon Jerry Sandusky with love. Oh, don't flip out, its call a Sarcasm.   Another group of "Fine" Americans, or Obama Lovers to some, look at this President as the Great Leader of their cause.  What cause, hell if I know.  Every President has to pass up on some of his promises to reach the greater good but this crop of followers seem to be ok with whatever change of Promises reasoning the President gives.  Kinda of makes me understand why folks supposed Bush II, even after we knew he was full of it.
The Talking Head Crowd, now here's a group that really gets into this BS.  From Maddow to Beck, these folks pick a side and run with it.  Truth, who cares about the Truth.  Its Dollars baby, TV Ratings and Ad Revenue!  The Truth is something for the folks who really are smart and the TV/Radio Talking Head Elite are those Smart Folks!  They tell you who's right, who's wrong, who's should be right and where you should buy your goods.
Then last but not least are the people.  As in "We the People", the folks who make up this great Union. The people who make the America the best place to live and the Great Plains & Mountain West a place that isn't just for Big Game & Oil Rigs.  It's the People who get lost in all of this, the just want to live and let live, the tax break that Mitt talks about doesn't touch them, the Medicare Issue doesn't effect them the way the President says it does.  But the "People" have been given so much Cotton Candy over the past 40 years anything close that cotton candy sugar high gets them to swing.  Like a crackhead to a crackpipe the people are the most at risk in the big grand elections.  Their focus is taken off the area that matters most, HOME.  All Politics is LOCAL and too many times we all forget that.  The Tea Party of Tomorrow and the Progressive Movement of Today, all had their starts at the local level.

What you gonna do about it?  Nothing

The Run to past

As the shark sits warm, humming and ready to run again, the radio is telling a story of a American, from long ago.  A time when the shark was a bit bigger, less comfortable and more thirsty for cheap leaded gas.  The life blood of the shark from the past was killing people, although it took years, and the cost was hurting the american way of life.  It would seem that some in this great country forget that we are never really as good as we view ourselves.  We are never nearly as bad as some others view us too. The shark sits and listens to the radio tell its story, running fast at 1st, the Good'Ol Days I can hear it say, but it knows that the next hill will bring a change.  A change that will impact its life, its status and possibly its country.  The shark never saw EPA mandate on MPG's coming and still is not a fan of ABS breaks.  No different than how the Avg. American sees its paycheck these past 20 years.    The road is not a smooth as it used to be.  The great freeway of America has been replaced by toll stops and signs making the trip a bit more of a chore.  It's cheaper to Fly these days and the need to stop by "south of Boarder" or Wildwood, NJ is no longer the cool family summer vacation thing to do.  Let's fly to the Island's and hide our money in a Tax Shelter.  Let's make a quick stop in Vegas to play the slots.  The planning of stops to see and feel the american dream has passed. The dream has died.

The shark passes yet another Euro-Trash sports, another fat american who forgot what got him into that car...American know how.  Instead of looking inward the man chose to look outward, while doing so his American Dream faded into the dust of Route 66.

What a week

The week has been a good one! If you count covering 3 stores and having a new puppy, Syra, at home. Syracuse put up a good fight against USC, showed more Offensive firepower than the Gator did in two games, and the Bucs showed up to a game. It is early although! Heck, I've had a better week than Mitt Romney!
Tampa lost a good man this week, Perry C. Harvey, passed. The man was a legend in Tampa. Thanks to people like him our fair city has a street named MLK.
We learned that the StreetCar will not need more dollars....YET. But many, including me, feel if we stick with it and expand its tracks it can become a better transit system for our downtown.

The real question is, when will the Bulls win a Game on TV (National Broadcast)????

The Duke- Tampa Base: Where do we go from here

The Duke- Tampa Base: Where do we go from here: Now that both Parties have had their respected Wonk-Beer Pong-Toast Masters get together's maybe they can start being real with the voters o...

Where do we go from here

Now that both Parties have had their respected Wonk-Beer Pong-Toast Masters get together's maybe they can start being real with the voters of America.  Neither party is really going to be able to fix things in a four year period, an eight year period won't do it either, don't kid yourself these problems started a long time ago.  Both parties are to blame, each time they promised a tax cut that money had to come from somewhere else-sometimes the Rich won and many time the Middle Class lost, that is not a "Class Warfare" statement, it's a fact.  If you have a net worth of $500,000.00 a tax cut is greatly more impactful to you compared to a person with a Net-worth of $50,000.00. There is no question about.  Its time to face some true facts, the American people donated Millions of Dollars to the ASPCA every night after 1 am, I still believe that is due to that sappy song, as well as the one kid in backwater country who can eat a full meal 3 times a day for 19-cents!!  Heck, we put an overpriced NFL QB in Jail for fighting Dogs but let OJ get away with playing "Jack the Ripper" on his Ex-Wife & her friend and you really expect the political parties to make a deal???

I believe in the Democratic party for one reason only, they still try to be for the American Worker and members of our society who may or may not be in the "so-called" mainstream.  While it would seem that the folks in the GOP only seem to care about Tax Cuts, Religion and a woman's right to choose. Did you noticed anything?  Not a single mention on Debts, Military Action or the way forward.

Change is hard, only we can bring it and it is not a TV Reality Show- People will really lose something

The Duke- Tampa Base: Finally! The DNC Shows a Backbone

The Duke- Tampa Base: Finally! The DNC Shows a Backbone: It felt good to be a Democrat tonight!  Finally people stood up and said Hey, we aren't Commie/Pinko/Socialist/Whimps you Righties have been...

Finally! The DNC Shows a Backbone

It felt good to be a Democrat tonight!  Finally people stood up and said Hey, we aren't Commie/Pinko/Socialist/Whimps you Righties have been calling us for over 20 years.  A few speakers even suggested that some Dem's grow a God Damm Backbone and fight back. Amen my Brother!

It is time for a little "Bubba" in the Democratic party, the Center Left, to lead from where most American's are.  The extremes segments of both the Dem's and GOP have never been the true GPS of their members but many of us could see where others (namely people who live outside the USA) believe that is what we are.

Both Parties have lead our great country to the cliff of ruin. Both Parties have helped grow the US Gov't into large mess of rules, taxes, Military Control and far too many contradictions to list here.  The Debt "Crisis" has been coming for years, don't just blame the Dem's and don't just blame Bush (W) for it. Blame every President since Ike. Blame every member of Congress since 1960.  This mess we find ourselves in is not due to Social Security, nor is it due to Food Stamps or Well-Fare.

When was the last time you heard someone not talk about ripping off the IRS, ok better choice of worlds, when was the last time you or you over heard someone discuss which "Tax Breaks" you use to keep more $$$?  Or when was the last time you heard about a "Friend" who gets Gov't assistance but really doesn't need it?  I have a feeling you know, you do or know of a person who does one of the things listed above.  Now move back and look at it from a larger view point, We are fighting Terrorist who used cheap bombs made from fuel oil and a dime store radio and we spend Billions on a new Fighter Jet with two differnet engines.  We "Invest" in a finite fossil fuel but make no attempt to improve how we use that fuel.  Think about it.  If we ever really put our money where our mouths are we could do it, we could delevope a new way to travel, a new fuel or a fair tax code.  Heck, we got to the moon in 10 years at a time when we were miles behind our Super Power co-hort, USSR.  When we got into WWII we were able to switch quickly into production mode to out build the Nazi's and Japan combined.  (The Greater Military issue is one I will get into one day but at this moment I chose to wait)

Don't just blame Medicare, Social Security, the Afforable Health Care Act, Food Stamps and Well-Fare as the places to cut for you will truly find those programs are at the center of what most Americans want.  And yes we can & do pay for them.  Look deeper. Don't just take Fox News, MSNBC or Rush's word for or against it. Read a book, not the Drudge Report.

Come to the Center.

The Duke- Tampa Base: What the People Want

The Duke- Tampa Base: What the People Want: It is like a rain storm hitting a tent.  Pounding the cover bringing the people inside the tent closer together.  The petty arguments over ...

What the People Want

It is like a rain storm hitting a tent.  Pounding the cover bringing the people inside the tent closer together.  The petty arguments over country music seem pretty small when you're trying to stay dry.
The storm that is heading this way is unlike anything we have seen before. The waves of distrust are slamming the shore already, eating the sand away leaving the bedrock of our lives.  It is not a good picture, this bedrock, it's the base of our wants & needs after the commercials are off the air.  The need to be wanted, the need to be alive.
This storm will bring it all up. The rich will become less rich and the poor will become poorer.   But then what?

What do most people want, before you start thinking of that big house or european sports car think basics, how do they want to live?  What is the base line that can bring happiness, bring joy and bring a feeling of desire?  I'm sure that it is not a tax break for the poor or a tax on the rich.  Its also quite possible that it is not a giant house on the beach.  Too often our leaders in both parties seem to forget that we "built" this country from nothing.  We moved here for the "idea" of a better life, our Grandparents worked themselves to death to give us what we have.  Did your Grandfather put his nest egg in a CDO, Gold Index Fund, or the Mattress?  It's a good bet that your Grandparents Voted for Ike and many, I would assume, would claim they were good republicans.  If they could see today's Republican Party Platform they would demand a refund.  

Our Grandparents believed in making the country a better place for their children's children.  They came from nothing and expected to make the world around them a better place, not a place where self worth is judged by how big your house is or where you vacation.

Both parties have chosen to take the American people on a ride, the elections don't mean much anymore other than our one chance to try to influence their decisions. We are no longer a country where the little boy or girl in a middle or lower class neighborhood has a real chance to make it big anymore.  You are either in or you are out in today's economy.  And far too many of us are in the "out" crowd.  There are problems when the "Out" crowd is bigger than the "In" crowd, big problems like as in Revolution type problems.  Think about it?  

Or think of the past 10 years this way:  Before the Great Depression hit the USA we got many signs that both parties missed, over a ten year period:

A Huge & Growing income disparity

A regressive Tax Policy

A Inflating and then Collapsing Real-Estate Market

Chronically Depressed Business Sector

A international banking system that would rapidly transmit the effects of the depression in one country around the world, quickly.

Sound like something you have seen recently?  

Now ask yourself the question, What Do You Need to Live a Happy Life?

The Duke- Tampa Base: What have we learned from the RNC

The Duke- Tampa Base: What have we learned from the RNC: Now that the RNC has left our fair city the razor wire fence, tents and National Guard Troops are gone as well.  We the people of Tampa, can...

What have we learned from the RNC

Now that the RNC has left our fair city the razor wire fence, tents and National Guard Troops are gone as well.  We the people of Tampa, can get back to our normal lives while the country has to deal with the choice of who.  The choice of Forward or the choice of the Past.  Shall we chose the pathway that has not been taken before or take the worn path that has shown to be easy but has some very dangerous curves.  Today, unlike in days before, the party platform of the Republican Party is a bit more "Big Gov't" than many Republicans even realize.  Read it folks, for a group of folks who claim that they are all about jobs the party platform seems to be all about Social Engineering.  If you really are a true believer you should no this but it's a better bet that no one other than a few "insiders" have actually read the thing.  Kind of like Paul Ryan's budget plan, many of the right wingers only know what the TV talking heads have told them.

The DNC is just about to start, let's hope President Obama finds his inner "2008" and brings down the house.  He needs to or the right wingers will win and change this country.  The change will be sweeping & harsh and the middle class will find themselves further away from the American dream.  The dream that you too can be rich, you too can be a homeowner and yes, you can be yourself.

I just hope the TV talking heads don't focus on the attendance at the stadium, we have problems that need fixing not just a big crowd of fans.