kanesrealm

Former U.S. Senator Jim Webb has been criticized for defending the Confederate Battle Flag. But did he really? The answer is a nuanced yes and no. Webb's contention is that the issue is more complex than some, according to him, are allowing it to be. He states that Confederate soldiers fought with honor and that the use of the flag by racists have twisted the issue. I don't think anyone has cast aspersions on the honor of Confederate soldiers for this reason, a Civil War naturally contains within it a reconciliation at it's conclusion. As a nation we have already done this. The Confederate Flag certainly became a tool of defiance to Civil Rights and therefore a symbol of intolerance. There are still those who wish to  advance a narrative that slavery was not the main issue for the Civil War. They will often massage it as a states rights issue conflict. Which is the same thing. It was a states rights issue of those states that believed it was perfectly acceptable to own hu

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie announced his bid for the Republican nomination for President today. It was a pretty good fiery speech ala Christie. He's gonna tell us like it is, not how we wanna hear it. He's not going to listen to his political advisors on how to answer questions. How refreshing and how mavericky, I do believe we've seen this show. Christie should have ran in 2012 when there were far more people who actually thought he had pizzazz and star quality. Now a staggering number of New Jersey citizens despise him. They, who know him best, say he shouldn't be President. The credit down grade of his state does not convey confidence in his economic stewardship. Bridgegate is an issue, folks can pretend that it never happened or that he didn't know about it but they are delusional. We're supposed to believe he's a hands on get it done governor but on the other hand knew nothing about his senior aides taking revenge on a non-compliant Mayor? I do

On June 28th, 1969 at a gay bar in New York City, called Stonewall Inn, the patrons that night had reached the breaking point of being raided and abused by the N.Y.P.D. simply for existing. They fought back and riots began. The police beat them back but by the next morning word had spread throughout the gay community and over 1,000 people took to the streets around Stonewall and the riots began again and so did the birth of the Gay Rights Movement. Today in 2015 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of equality of marriage for all. It was a 5 to 4 vote, it should have been unanimous. No where in the U.S. Constitution does it state that marriage is for heterosexuals only, given that, the Justices that voted against the right of equality have no justification beyond personal prejudice. Although Chief Justice Roberts dissent is conciliatory, he is wrong. To those who continue to believe that this issue should only have been decided at the state level, you also are wrong. This issue was

The wonderful yet tragic aspect of politics is that logic need never interfere. President Obama announced today that U.S. citizens who consider paying ransom demands of terrorists will no longer face the possibility of criminal prosecution. Seems reasonable, even makes one think there should never have been such a possibility to begin with. Some politicians, including Speaker of the House John Boehner, aren't so sure it's a good idea. They think it might encourage terrorists to take more Americans. Really? Terrorists need an incentive to harm Americans? Kidnapping is on that list of crimes that has been around as long as man first linked thoughts and wanted what someone else has or can agree to. Sometimes it's for money, the phrase a king's ransom is not simply the clever droppings of a wordsmith. Sometimes it's about the acquiescence of power and sometimes it's just to horrify. The F.B.I. deal with kidnapping on a regular basis. Americans have faced this cri

Yes, yes, yes, cut, edit out the rest, play on a loop lose our minds and call it a day. President Barack Obama discussed race relations in a podcast interview over the weekend. He said it  wasn't enough that we have simply decided it's bad to use the "N" word publicly. He's right and there's nothing wrong with him using the word in the context in which he used it. Some folks seem to be apoplectic or at least slightly upset. My advice is get over it. That word exists and it is used in a variety of ways. I find it disgusting and reprehensible but that doesn't make it go away. It would be nice if it simply faded away but it won't. What brought this discussion is of course the mass murders in Charleston. Nine African Americans gunned down in their church for no other reason than the color of their skin. The monster who did this is an evil racist bastard plain and simple, call him what he is. If you accept that there are good people in the world then yo

Media reports and punditorials (not a real word but it should be) are trying hard to spin the narrative that we have a brewing battle between rival political dynasties. In one corner the Bushes and in the other the Clintons. Our crack editorial team or is it cracked, has consulted with the prestigious word consultants Funk and Wagnell. According to them the analogy is slightly off. In our beloved country we do have some families that seem to have members that are always running for something. They prefer to think of themselves as civic minded individuals following proud family traditions. Speaking of dynasties wouldn't it be exciting if there had been a Presidential battle royal between Blake Carrington and Alexis Carrington-Colby, oh, even better, J.R. Ewing versus Angela Channing. Are these T.V. references too old? Angela Channing was played by Jane Wyman, who was Ronald Reagan's first wife, so by the  transformative laws of celebrity this could have all happened. Now bac

Which is more powerful, the truth or the lie told so often that it becomes reality? God and our Founding Fathers are invoked with the ease of spreading peanut butter. What follows are not my words. "Whenever we read the obscene stories, the voluptuous debaucheries, the cruel and torturous executions, the unrelenting vindictiveness, with which more than half the Bible is filled, it would be more consistent that we call it the word of a demon than the word of God. It is a history of wickedness that has served to corrupt and brutalize..." Thomas Paine "When a religion is good, I conceive it will support itself; and when it does not support itself and God does not take care to support it, so that it's professors are obliged to call for the help of the civil power, 'tis a sign, I apprehend, of its being a bad one." Benjamin Franklin "Religious controversies are always productive of more acrimony & irreconcilable hatreds than those which spring from

I have little patience with ignorant people. I'm not referring to those who have never had an opportunity to learn or the encouragement to pursue knowledge on their own. I'm talking about the willfully ignorant. Those so proud of their ignorance they want to share it with the world. Some of the biggest offenders are those who wish to wear their faith like a lapel pin. Former U.S. Senator and Presidential candidate once again Rick Santorum is a Roman Catholic who sings it from the bell tower. Lately he's expressed unhappiness with Pope Francis' views on a wide range of topics. Most recently he said the Pope shouldn't be talking about climate change. Pope Francis is about to issue a 192 page encyclical on that subject. Santorum has said that he himself is not a scientist, but he doesn't believe climate change is a real issue. He said the Pope should leave science to the scientists, that the church has gotten science wrong before. Francis has a masters degree in c

America's modern day P.T. Barnum, Donald Trump, has finally ended his sixteen year tease and announced he's a candidate for President of the United States. He descended a golden escalator, much like the gods of old, and took to the podium in his building. The Donald spoke for 45 minutes rambling from one topic to another, but what ties it all together was his obvious greatness. He spoke of the stupidity of most politicians, especially his fellow Republican candidates, he's not completely wrong about that. He pointed out that our government doesn't know how to negotiate a trade deal or anything else for that matter, you have to admit he may be on to something or on something. He said we've got to stop the influence of special interests and lobbyists. Of course he is a self-admitted special interest and he employs lobbyists. He compared China to ISIS and suggested they were even more dangerous because of their growing military. That was certainly over the top and l

On Friday President Obama lost the vote in the House of Representatives to grant him Fast Track Authority on trade. The majority of Democrats voted no. Obama even went to the hill to meet with Democrats to try and persuade them to his side. He took no questions and by all accounts was insulting and engaged in brow beating. The question the media is asking is has President Obama lost his influence with the Democratic caucus? Here's the answer (I know they're reading) you can't lose what you never had. For all of Barack Obama's considerable talents, getting along with and influencing his fellow Democratic colleagues isn't one of them. Mostly because he really doesn't consider them his equal. He is like Zeus casting lightning bolts from Mount Olympus. In his arrogance he believes if these lesser beings would just shut up and trust him everything would be much better. Barack Obama is a formidable campaigner, you could easily argue that he loves that part of polit

President Obama announced this past week that we would be sending 500 military "advisors" to Iraq to assist Sunni factions directly. This is part of our unclear strategy to deal with ISIS. I promise this is not a commentary about how we should never have fought the Iraq War to begin with. (See how I worked that in, clever me.) Last year former Secretary of Defense Bob Gates was on the lecture circuit pushing his autobiography. Gates has been widely respected on both sides of the aisle, serving at Defense under both Bush and Obama. During the book tour he stated that Joe Biden was wrong about most things involving foreign affairs. In particular Gates says he was wrong when he urged that Iraq be divided into three autonomous regions with a  weakened federal government to represent Iraq on the global stage and to equitably distribute the oil wealth. Joe Biden didn't pull that idea out of thin air. He pulled it out of history. The Iraq we all know is not a real country. It

President Obama wants Fast Track Authority to move forward with the T.P.P. (Trans Pacific Partnership) the miracle trade deal that's going to shed sunshine all over the land and bring us all great prosperity. Wow, sounds great, how about a few more details Mr. President? Fast Track is not required, in spite of what the President and his allies say, to pass a trade deal. Most agreements have been done without it. What it is required for is the old Potomac two step. You pass a major deal with no debate or public scrutiny and by the time you're done there's no changing it or going back. Speaking of the President's allies, a whole bunch of them are Republicans who totally hate his guts but man have they praised him on the T.P.P. That's enough to make me nervous. The new transparency is clearly mud. If the deal is so great why not open it up for debate and scrutiny. Yes, yes I know the political argument that it weakens the President's hand and could jeopardize th

Those following my mind droppings know I really don't do the celebrity thing. The word has been denegrated over the past three decades, especially in the era of not so real reality T.V. But there are still a few people left that embody the true meaning of deserved iconic status and a celebration of the person's life and artistry. Christopher Lee died at the age of 93 this past Sunday. His wife of 54 years delayed release of the news to have time to notify their relatives. When I think of Christopher Lee I can't help but smile. I grew up watching the Hammer Studios horror films and couldn't get enough of Lee, Peter Cushing and Vincent Price. When Lee stared at you as Dracula you knew you were in trouble, he didn't even have to speak and quite often did not. He was my favorite Bond villain, Francisco Scaramanga, the man with the golden gun, "his eye may be on you or me, who will he burn?" In the 21st century Lee's career had a remarkable resurgence, t

The silly season is here and again I say, our election cycles are too long. We are being subjected to a duality of extremes about money and personal finances. Senator Marco Rubio is the target of stories by the New York Times and others concerning his debts and lack of savings. You heard me right, they're criticizing the guy's rate of savings. His choice of leased car and buying a speedboat are also under the microscope. We're told that Mitt Romney's team flagged these financial difficulties when they vetted him in 2012 as a potential running mate. Really? Who the hell cares? We mere mortals have debts and sometimes we buy stupid shit, nobody cares. Are you listening media whores? Write something of interest, like oh I don't know, maybe what his political platform is. Senator Rubio and I have many political disagreements but I have zero interest in this trivial crap, leave it alone. Now to the opposite end of the spectrum. Hillary Clinton has made millions giving

Exactly why the Supreme Court rendered a decision that substantially gutted the Voting Rights Act is beyond me. Walking into those weeds would be fruitless. Congress can correct the situation but is not likely to do so anytime soon. Finding ways to dissuade people from voting, particularly if you believe they are opposed to your party, is not new. We've heard a lot about it in recent years because of numerous State initiatives to make it more difficult to meet voter identification requirements. Unfortunately some of the dimmer bulbs in the Republican Party have been taped boasting about how their actions will help their candidates have a better chance of winning. I live in Indiana, which was one of the earliest states to adopt stricter voter I.D. laws. In 2003 I attended a political roundtable breakfast where then Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita was the featured speaker. Voter I.D. law was his favorite hobby horse. He said the purpose was to protect against voter fraud. Of

Good citizens and patriots all, lend me your ear. The Patriot Act or at least parts of it expired at midnight Sunday. The question put forth today in some polls is do you feel less safe? The answer should be no. The Patriot Act was passed with little debate post 9/11 out of fear. Some in Congress at the time voted no but most said yes without reading it or contemplating it's long-term consequences. Prior to that horrible September day most Americans believed that our homeland could not be touched by foreign terrorists. Many in our government also believed this, they should have known better. Wide sweeping powers were ceded to the Executive Branch under the guise that they were the good guys and would never abuse their power. Even during the Bush Administration when some, including members of Congress, began to believe questionable actions were being taken concerning surveillance, President Bush said plainly if you don't like what's going on then take legislative action. N