kanesrealm

Dear readers, this is a special day. You are about to enjoy, or not, the 300th post on Kane's Realm. When it launched in the fall of 2014 I wasn't really sure I would stay with it or what direction it would take, though politics seemed the logical path. Food or how to knit a sweater would probably have been more popular but I'm only interested in eating food and I don't know how to knit. Today is also special because it is my last post. Nah, I'm just yankin' your chain. It's not my last post. Come on, the election isn't over yet and who knows what's going to happen. I have thought about taking this blog in it's entirety and possibly 100 or so commentaries from my previous blog and entertwining some new thoughts about various posts and blogging in general into a self published book, but that could be expensive, we'll see. One thing has remained consistent in my writing and that is my poor use of punctuation. I pledge that will never change. I

It's survey time and please dear reader, don't ignore it. If you are receiving this blog's posts through email I need you to leave a comment to this post. Just say yep. Your response will not be published but I will see it in the administrative area for comment moderation. This information is important to my future planning. Twitter is producing no redirection to this blog and is proving to be every bit the useless sea of dribble I always thought it was. Facebook has resulted in some redirection but whether that actually translates to regular readers remains to be seen. I know surveys are a pain in the ass but it's one question requiring one word and your friends and family will never know. Plus, if you act within 24 hours of reading this you will receive as a gift, absolutely nothing!

You can't escape death and taxes, so the saying goes. You can however avoid a lot of taxes if you're wealthy and powerful enough to lobby Congress and twist the tax code into a pretzel. Contrary to what you hear from the corporate media, think tanks and wealthy political candidates or candidates who are solely owned subsidiaries of the wealthy, it is not the rich of this country who pay the bulk of the taxes, it is the working poor and the middle class. Without them this country would fold and their voices are all but ignored on the issue of taxes. Taxes are necessary, there can be no society without them but in our country all you hear about is income tax, but that is just one tax. When I have debated taxes with people and start to argue that everyone pays taxes and then proceed to list them I have literally been told, "let's stay focused on income tax", I of course say let's not. Absolutely no one, including the poorest among us who qualify for Earned Inco

I'm a political junkie. I watch a lot of news and political programming. C-Span has been my companion since it's founding. I also read a lot, including these things called books. I have been this way since the age of thirteen, when I never missed Firing Line and the McLaughlin Group and any P.B.S. political documentary and oh yeah those books I so often refer to. This continued throughout my teenage years and no I was not a popular kid, go figure. As I grew older my interest only intensified and my knowledge of history and politics has nothing to do with the dribble fed to me by the public school system. It comes from my own personal quest for knowledge. I've always looked forward to the political season, though I believe firmly it lasts too long and we need to make serious changes. Some years are boring, some are nail biters but none have disgusted me more than this Presidential cycle. No matter who has been President in my lifetime, whether I agree with them or not my p

I'm wrong and contrary to popular belief, I am always the first to acknowledge it. I have on three occasions referenced Colin Powell using a private server while he was Secretary of State. This was an old story that cited independent fact that unlike Clinton it was housed at RNC Headquarters. According to everything I have now found through multiple disinterested parties is this is not true. Powell did use his private AOL email account for everything including government business unless it was a highly classified item which warranted a SCIFF. My apologies to my readers and to Colin Powell. See how transparency and accountability actually works.

The Associated Press story which recently came out on Hillary Clinton while Secretary of State and the Clinton Foundation is a gross misrepresentation of the totality of her four years as Secretary. During those four years she had over 1,700 official scheduled meetings. The AP chose to take a two year period and only examine 184 meetings of which half were people who had donated to the Clinton Foundation. All of these meetings were officially scheduled and placed on the State Department calendar. I'd be willing to bet that those donors also gave money to dozens of charitable organizations. There is not a single charge of inappropriate conduct by Secretary Clinton by any credible source with proof of a quid pro quod. Donald Trump says the Clinton Foundation is a criminal enterprise set up to for the sole purpose of enriching the Clintons through abuse of power. It's time for him to put up or shut up. Trump donated $100,000.00 to the Clinton Foundation while Hillary Clinton was

Former Secretary of State and Republican icon Henry Kissinger said Hillary Clinton ran one of the most efficient State Departments in history. You might not like Kissinger, I myself think that he's a bit overrated, but I know exactly what his status among Republicans and some Democrats is. He is regarded as being a towering figure in Foreign Policy and someone you must meet with if you're running for President as a Republican (Trump has) and worthy of consultation behind the scenes at the highest levels. Donald Trump and the Republican Party pound the narrative that we can't trust Clinton's disastrous foreign policy. So, what they are saying is Henry Kissinger is an idiot and should be ignored at all costs. Why don't they just say that? What about Hillary Clinton's so called failed foreign policy? The last time I checked the Constitution, Cabinet Secretaries carry out the will of the President. If you wish to take issue with Barack Obama's foreign policy

The Clinton Foundation is the topic of controversy because Hillary Clinton is running for President. It was previously under a cloud of controversy when Hillary Clinton was asked to be Secretary of State. Other than these two situations, the Clinton Foundation was praised by rational people of all political persuasions as a force for good. They certainly all willingly showed up at Clinton Global Initiative events and spoke at them. Before becoming Secretary of State all kinds of disclosures and hoops had to be jumped through by the Clintons, all of which they did. Now a new batch of emails have been released, all of three which show two requests for meet and greets with the Secretary and one from Bono asking if he could broadcast from the International Space Station, which they couldn't help him with. One was the Crown Prince of Bahrain, who could have gotten any call he wished to make to anyone returned. The other was the founder of Slimfast. All three had been donors to the Clin

No, scratch that, I meant Rudy Giuliani has dementia. I know it's true because it's on the internet. Remember Rudy the 9/11 Mayor of New York that we briefly thought was a reasonably decent guy? Remember Rudy, the Mayor that was pro immigration and not for scaring undocumented workers into the shadows? Remember Rudy, the guy that dressed as a woman for a comedy review? Remember Rudy, the guy that lived with two gay guys when he was between wives? Remember Rudy, the pro choice middle of the road Republican? Where the hell did that Rudy go? People do change but Rudy began a disgusting transformation after losing his 2008 Presidential run. He endorsed his friend John McCain and became a nasty surrogate attacking and making crass remarks about Barack Obama. Rudy had always been pugnacious but something hateful began to infect him at that time and it has continued to fester. Now he's an attack dog for Donald Trump and he daily acts like a rabies afflicted pit bull. His favorit

We have just witnessed the stupidity of politicians worrying so much about the way something looks, it interferes with what was a good thing. President Obama stated emphatically at the beginning of August that the 400 million dollar payment made in cash to Iran had no link to the release of hostages. We now know that wasn't true because a spokesman for the State Department just answered a question honestly about it. We did hold up the payment until those hostages were released. It is not ransom because the money was not ours, it was Iran's. It's a legal case dating back to 1979 which was about to be settled in the Hague where all indications were we would lose and be ordered to pay billions in interest and penalties. Because of the recent Iran Nuclear Deal we were able to strike the appropriate deal, which was they only get back the money they paid for weapons under the Shah that were never delivered because of the Revolution. It was smart to play hardball and say throug

The State of Louisiana is confronting the worst flooding that area has faced in 1,000 years, I didn't create that figure it comes from scientists. I think epic sums it up. But why am I commenting on this you ask? First and most important I feel for anyone facing such devastation and it is my sincere hope that their pain and suffering ends soon. Now to the rest. Donald Trump went to Louisiana to tour some of the damage. If you believe that he went there for anything other than a photo-op I'll be kind and say you're deluding yourself. One woman was caught on tape yelling to Trump at least he wasn't out playing golf, a reference to the fact that President Obama is on vacation, Martha's Vineyard to be exact and he always golfs on vacation. Trump naturally couldn't let it go, he had to make a dig. Granted, this woman set up the line, I guess she was unaware that Trump golfs every weekend and indeed owns many golf courses worldwide. As a candidate he is also in no p

Every morning I ask myself the same question, will I write something in this blog today? What bungling politician will move me? What policy issue will I beat again on a now frayed drum? Is there really anything outrageous left for Donald Trump to say that I haven't already commented on? This country has never seen a major party Presidential candidate who is such a buffoon and so inadequate to the task of the office he seeks and yet he may well be the next President. I've said before that it could happen and I mean it. The current polls showing him in trouble mean nothing. Only political junkies pay close attention to races early on. The majority of voters will not focus until the final four weeks and Trump can close the gap in those four weeks and deliver a November surprise. Hillary Clinton has so many question marks surrounding her that she is more vulnerable than she should be considering the man she's opposing. The server and deleted personal emails have dogged her ca

Aetna C.E.O. Mark Bertolini threatened the Justice Department in July that if it was not allowed to buy Humana Healthcare it would withdraw from the Affordable Care Act. Aetna didn't get what it wanted and yesterday announced they were leaving the A.C.A. marketplace citing diminishing profit margins. They're lying of course, it's nothing more than hardball revenge with no concern for the Americans it will hurt. No big surprise. The Affordable Care Act was written by and embraced by the major insurers, pharmaceutical and hospital corporations of this country. They got everything they wanted including killing a public option. I have been writing about this subject for over eight years and living it most of my adult life, it is a disgrace that in the richest nation on Earth we are still debating whether healthcare is a right or privilege. The Affordable Care Act has problems, starting with corporate influence, that needs to be fixed. There is no reason that we cannot achiev

Christopher Hitchens referred to Ayn Rand's philosophy as "excrement on the page", I don't know that I would go that far, well actually I have on more than one occasion. So yeah, it's crap. My real problem with Rand isn't her, it's the majority of her devotees. Her philosophy, which she called objectivism is easy to understand. She was born in Russia to a wealthy family. The Soviet Union stripped her family of their wealth and social standing, so she was pissed off. I don't blame her, any of us would be but not all of us turn our bitterness into a political philosophy skewed from experience with communism. Rather than blaming the ruling elites, she chose to blame the masses, everywhere. Her basic gripe comes down to this, there is a small number of smart productive people who make the world work and then there's the rest, who are nothing more than leaches. Very similar to Mitt Romney's 47% statement in 2012. Rand's prominence came about

Facing the fact that his campaign sucks and he's an incoherent mess Donald Trump is trying his best to convince people that Hillary Clinton is sick. His sycophant sock pocket FOX blowhard Sean Hannity is making a melodramatic Maury Povich style repetition of strongly insinuating Hillary Clinton has had multiple strokes and is too debilitated to serve as President. Hannity is bringing on alleged doctors to analyze a person they have never examined. No doctor worth their title would engage in such activities. Hillary Clinton fell in her home in 2012 while she was still Secretary of State. She took a few weeks off to rest and then returned to work. From that minor incident this fabrication about strokes is being manufactured. There is no evidence she ever had a stroke or for that matter any serious illness. Anyone who has ever been around a stroke victim, even minor, knows the person does not return to work in just a few weeks, particularly to a highly stressful position. There has

If you are a citizen of this country and have attained or will attain by election day the age of eighteen you have the right to vote. In spite of what you may hear if you're not a citizen you can't vote. Fantasies about President Obama importing millions of illegal immigrants to vote is pure nonsense. In fact the Obama Administration has deported more illegals than the previous three Presidents combined. Your right to vote has come at a great price and it is up to you to be your own advocate on protecting that right. Do not wait for someone to come to you and lead you to the voting both. You must find out how to register and make certain you have a valid photo I.D. if your State requires it. There are numerous bonehead Republicans caught on tape discussing why they have worked to pass Voter I.D. laws. They should be busted down to stuffing envelopes and never allowed to speak for their party again. But you must not let them defeat you. If you don't personally need a drive

If you only listen to the far right of the Republican Party and the middle right who give a wink and a small nod, the answer is voter fraud is rampant, well not rampant but happening, well not happening but it could. Some would have you believe we're no better than a one party third world nation that has special inspectors review all the paper ballots before announcing the results. Naturally those inspectors are appointed by the sitting President and not all of those ballots will reach the final count. It's all a lie. Indiana was one of the first States to pass Voter I.D. laws. It was a central theme in the administration of our then Secretary of State Todd Rokita. In the fall of 2003 I attended a Republican Party breakfast with my then boss. The featured speaker was none other than Secretary Rokita. The voter I.D. issue brought many questions. Rokita freely admitted that there were no problems with voter fraud occurring in Indiana but it was better to be safe than sorry. Al

Donald Trump has proclaimed we have a rigged system and like any idiot, once in awhile he gets it right. We do have a rigged system. Not our elections, they remain relatively straight and I 'll explain why in a separate post. For now let's stay on the rigged system of which Donald Trump is a part of. From the moment man slithered from the primordial sludge, for you creationists when God wiggled his nose and zapped the human race into existence, the system has been rigged. It started first with the strongest simply beating the weakest to death, for land, women, food or because their God(s) commanded it. Then mankind discovered organization and the joy of money. The system then shifted to Kings and Queens and those they favored. Money and position took root and brought us forward to now. The system is rigged to favor the rich and powerful, like Donald Trump. They have access to the best of everything and they and their surrogates write the laws and regulations which govern us.

Donald Trump is setting the stage for what he clearly believes is going to be his defeat on November 8th. He's been making references to our "rigged system", but now he's going further by stating that the only way he'll be defeated is because our elections are rigged and that cheating will be involved. His narcissism is so great that he is willing to plant seeds of massive distrust and directly imply we are a Banana Republic, just to soothe his own ego. I still cannot predict what will happen on election day. By normal metrics a candidate that is as erratic and bombastic as Trump would lose, but just how many Americans want to burn the house down is unknown. Trump's rallies, in spite of what he thinks, are not an indication of his support. His rallies only demonstrate that people want to attend a free show. Attacking the media has always been good for a politician but Trump is now taking it to a new level. He now says not only is he up against "Crooked

I maintained for years that I would never join Facebook and certainly never use Twitter. The only way I could see a justification for these things, for me, was if I were engaged in promoting a business interest or if I were a public figure needing to assert control over my persona. Part of my feelings on the issue has to do with my belief that social media is anything but. Twitter is the perfect illustration of this. There is no real dialogue on this platform. It isn't possible when you can't exceed 140 characters, I've joked that my farts require more characters than that. The joke however, is slight. It's easy to see how valuable Twitter has been in countries where it was the only way for protesters to communicate and remain connected. It's perfect for a mass push of a product or personality but how beneficial is it really for the average person? I'm now on Twitter for the purpose of promoting this blog. The one thing you learn quickly is that just because so

I continue to be stunned by the lack of basic civics knowledge in my country. Today Donald Trump once again dropped his pants and took a dump in the public square. He was droning on about Hillary Clinton wanting to eliminate Second Amendment rights and if she's elected she'll take your guns. This is an old chestnut used by Republicans against many Democrats and it's total hogwash. Trump went further and suggested that hardcore folks might take action. No one with a sound mind is confused, his intent was to incite violence and potential assassination. The fact is Hillary Clinton is pro gun ownership. That is her record and nothing she has said suggests otherwise. The point here is the profound ignorance of millions of Americans, including Donald Trump. There are very basic things about our Republic that people should know. No President can remove a Constitutional right. That can only occur through the amendment process which requires all fifty states to participate. Let m

...if you subscribe to the theory of voting for the lesser of two evils. Now, I know what you're thinking, this advice seems to go against my advocacy for voting, not so. So great is my love for humanity that I want to save you from yourself, whoa, that was a little too far to the left. Let's reel that back a bit, I'm no nanny. If you vote for the lesser of two evils you are still voting for evil. If you're voting for evil the rest of us would prefer not to suffer the consequences of your evil ways. To recap, don't vote on November 8, 2016. Thank you. Do I have your attention? Probably not but let's continue. It is unhealthy to adhere to the evil philosophy of political candidates or to vote against someone. You are better off to vote FOR someone. Very early in the creation of this blog I wrote about some of the bullshit reasons people give for not voting and cheerfully shred each one. I encourage you to read that, especially if you're new here. This will

If we believe the polls, and you know I don't, we have the two most unpopular major party Presidential candidates in the history of polling. What are the latest poll numbers on enthusiasm for polls? If these candidates are so unpopular, how is it they beat their opponents? Somebody likes them. The Republicans nominated a Nationalist with fascist tendencies and the Democrats nominated a so called center right lying hawk, in spite of the fact we're constantly told the Democratic Party is all about the far left. If that were true the Democrats would have gone with Bernie Sanders and it wasn't close no matter the spin. The Republicans who are allegedly conservatives have nominated a man who will balloon the national debt to over thirty trillion dollars, start trade wars, destroy valuable foreign alliances and amp up the nuclear arms race. Am I happy with our nominees? Not really and you can't blame me because I'm an independent that actually respects the political pro

This is a Kanesrealm exclusive and comes after many years of extensive research, combing over documentation and innuendo only available to all of us. Hillary Rodham Clinton, or H.R.C. if you prefer, was born into a middle class family with a father and mother that loved her. Devout Methodists, they dined on pot roasts and ham, developing a love of all things vanilla. Hillary's dad was a Republican, the good kind, not the dirty kind of today. Young Hillary was a Goldwater Republican Girl, later as she dealt with more and more poor people she would begin to think maybe these people needed more than just prayer and the food nobody else wanted. Against no odds she was able to use her brains to get a good education, at really hoitytoity schools. The smart little girl now became a highly intelligent woman with a deep love of public policy, ick, nobody cares about that. Then she met a pesky rogue named Bill Clinton, eventually they were married. She was a lawyer, a mother and dutiful wi

I do declare that man Trump is givin' us the vapors! The genteel flowers of The Republican Party are having a meltdown over Donald Trump's latest round of antics. R.N.C. Chairman Reince Preibus and other establishment leaders are having conversations about what to do about Trump's insanity. They intend to meet with the man himself. Here's what's going to happen Reince, nothing. Trump is on you and the entire Republican establishment. You were asleep at the wheel and didn't take him seriously and oh yeah, you've spent twenty years fueling the nutbags of your party. Fourteen million of those nutbags stuck it in you during the primary and said take that you weak willed pussies! There's a fantasy plot about getting Trump to drop out but it has to happen very soon or else a new name can't be put on the ballot. The new candidate would be selected by 168 Republicans.  Yeah, that would go over well with Trump's fourteen million nut sack swingers. Tru

The term politically correct is an oxymoron in a democratic free society. It can only exist and be true in a dictatorship. Those of us who care about critical thinking and open dialogue on all issues need to speak up now more than ever on the issue of political correctness because a viper has made it's way into the public discourse using a major platform to twist and exploit this nonsensical phrase that we have allowed to paralyze the public square. The viper is Donald Trump and the platform is nothing less than the American Presidency itself. Trump continually states that he is not politically correct as his justification for what actually is bad manners and a nasty disposition. The fight against political correctness is being greatly harmed by this despicable man and his followers. Making fun of people and reciting haneous over the top hyperbole has nothing to do with stopping this grotesque philosophy which seeks to turn us all into a stack of Pringles. The two words are inc