Political Nevada

The United States is a country composed of 50 states, at least in theory we are a country. When listening to the Right Wing in this “country” a person gets the impression that this isn’t a country with 50 states, but 50 independent countries that allow a central authority to enact laws as long as it doesn’t infringe on the “Will of the State”, or the “Will of the People”. The “Will of the People”; someone needs to explain that the “Will of the People” is shown whenever people vote, or in many cases, don’t vote. It is not whenever some Right Wing orator decides that he or she doesn’t like what the voter’s decided in the last election. If the “Will of the People” is as important as is said why are these minority groups screaming so loud that the “Will of the People is not being listened to? The voters are the Will of the People, not the minority fringe who happen to scream louder than the rest.
These screamers of the “Will of the People” are the same screamers of “States’ Rights”.
The 10th amendment states that “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” On the face it seems that the states’ rights advocates are very correct in their belief that the Federal Government should have little power over the states, but this is not 235 years ago when there were only 13 states and those who ran the states were new to the idea of a united country. Today, in a world where weapons can be launched from the other side of the world, and where “multinational” companies control food, medicine, and even the weapons, it is necessary for the survival of the this country that we think as a country first and a state second.
The State’s Rights advocates are very vocal in their beliefs that the state has special rights over the Federal Government. They profess to believe in the Constitution, but how could they when they don’t believe that the Federal Government should have any decision-making control over the states that share this Country.The same people that are professing patriotism are some of the same ones that are threatening to secede from the United States. One very recent example is the Right Wing’s very own Sara Palin. Her husband was one of the leaders of a group that wanted to secede from the United States and until Sara was selected to run for Vice President, she didn’t seem to have any issues with his desire to leave this country. Governor Rick Perry of Texas has been talking about the possibility of Texas seceding from the Union, and calls those who want to leave the United States Patriots. How can someone who wants to breakup this country call themselves patriotic?
These patriots; are they patriotic Americans or are they patriotic Texans, Arizonans, Nevadans, Montanans, etc.? An American patriot believes in this country and would never consider anything as traitorist as seceding from the United States. Those that profess being patriots are traitors to every man and woman who ever fought for this country.
Maybe they are American patriots because their state is in the Americas, not because they care about the United States.
Perhaps their idea of patriotism has to do with how much they agree with the policies of the Central Government of the Confederation of States.We were taught that the Confederacy ended in 1865, but when discussing States’ Rights, the idea of a Confederacy seems the major idea of States’ Rights people, not a true country in the sense of united.
The issue of States’ Rights is extremely old and very much an American tradition, since no other country on this planet has the States’ Rights mentality. Whenever a province of some foreign country cries for their freedom from their country, the United States leads the way to assist that province into becoming “independent”. Perhaps it is time for the 50 states that are supposed to make up this country to become 50 independent countries? That way instead of being a world leader, each one could be a “third world” country with most having a third world economy, with limited financial power as well as limited military power. Obviously some of these new countries would have some military power, depending on the population, such as California, or New York. Others such as Wyoming, Nevada, and Montana could hire mercenaries to protect their borders. Financially, some of the states(new countries) might be able to do well in the global economy, Alaska with their oil fields, Texas with their industry.
Maybe the last 234 years as a country has been a failure and we should just do what the Minority says?
It is a minority that has been calling for States’ Rights. They definitely are a vocal group and they vote, but they do not represent the majority of those of us who believe that we are and should continue to be a Country made up of 50 states, not a confederation of 50 states coming together when it suits them.
They vote and because they vote their power is stronger than their actual numbers. When there is an election a voter turnout of 65% is considered a great turnout. Where are the 35% of the voting population who didn’t vote? If people don’t want the minority controlling the majority, then they better get out and vote. This country should see at least a 90% voter turnout any time there is a national election. If that were to happen, then the vocal minority would go back to their caves where they crawled from and let the United States be the power that it has been, because it is a country, not a confederation of states.

Blame it on the other guy

There seems to be a general consensus in this country that no matter what happens it’s always the responsibility of the “other guy”.
We hear every day that it’s not your fault if you are obese, it’s not your fault if you’re in financial default, it’s not your fault if you can’t hold a steady job. If it isn’t the obese person’s fault for eating too much, or the home owner who bought a house that he couldn’t afford, or the person who can’t seem to keep a job, then wHose fault is it? If you’re obese did someone force-feed that junk food to you daily? When you bought that house did you make sure that your income was good enough to afford the house and be able to put some money away in case of problems? When you were fired wHat did you think the boss would do when you refused to get to work on time, or you constantly left work early, or you simply didn’t do your work?
There are hundreds of examples of these, “it’s not my fault” exclamations all of which are nothing more than excusing the behavior of the person screaming “It’s not my fault”
In our school systems, when our children are behind the rest of the world, instead of pushing to become better, our teachers and their representatives tell us that their isn’t enough money, or the tests are rigged against our system of education, or it’s not a true test of what our students know; in other words, “it’s not my fault”!
We see this attitude of “blame it on the other guy” in the political arena. Each party blames the other for everything that went wrong with our country, whether there is truth to the blame or not, but more importantly, they refuse to admit their own culpability.
We are currently recovering from one of the worse financial crisis this country has seen in over 70 years and the blame is running rings around the truth. The truth is that no one, in either party, was aware of the impending crisis until it happened and then neither party had an answer as to how it could be quelled. But, now that the party that was in power during the immediate collapse is out of power they are the ones blaming the other for the collapse. Whenever the Republicans are reminded that they were in power at the time of this collapse, they sidestep the truth and insist that “it wasn’t, and still isn’t, their fault”.
Karl Rove, who led the Republican Party to power has written a book that takes today’s history and modifies it to fit what he wants the American people to remember, which is the opposite of what actually happened. This isn’t the questioning of history from one thousand years ago, or even one hundred years ago, this is history of the last eight years. How can someone believe that they can change current history so easily? They simply convince people of their version by refusing to take the responsibility of their own actions and “blaming it on the other guy”.
Who are these people who are hiding the truths of who is responsible for our failing schools; of who are willing to believe falsehoods instead of truths, and of who are allowing everything else that is wrong with this country to be hidden under the excuse of “it’s not my fault”. Those people are “we, the people”. “We, the people”, are allowing excuses to hide the truths.
“We, the people”, need to make our leaders stop excusing themselves and admit where they made their mistakes and then maybe those mistakes can be fixed?
We need to stop listening to the advertisements(propoganda) that we are inundated with daily and demand only the truth and no excuses, for anyone.
We need to educate ourselves and our children so we can’t be controlled by someone elses words. We need to listen and analyse
before we run-off screaming hate and intolerance.
We need to stop “blaming it on the other guy” and take responsibility for our actions.

We are just like you! That is what many politicians want us to believe. If they were raised in a blue collar environment they want everyone to believe they feel the same pain of struggle as any working person. The only thing most of the politicians feel is the pull of “power”.

Sarah Palin uses her “roots” when she speaks to the people. Trouble is that Ms Palin hasn’t been “one of the people” for years, if she ever was “one of the people”. She has been part of the “elite” for so many years that the only connection she feels with the working man is when she signs their checks or has them terminated from employment for disagreeing with her or her family. Today she has become a “superstar” with multiple book signings, and political speeches. She loves to throw around the phrase, Soccer Mom, but the only tie-in to the title of Soccer Mom is that maybe one of her children played soccer while in school. She is in no way the same as a real Soccer Mom. She doesn’t have to carpool with the other moms to save money on gasoline, or worry about baby sitters, and she doesn’t have to worry that she may not have the finances to send her children to college. She is definetly not of the “common people”!

In Nevada, we have our own version of Sarah Palin, only this version is much smarter, and much richer.
Sue Lowden loves to tell Nevada that she understands the “working man”. She states that because she grew up in a blue collar household she feels what the average person feels. Trouble is that Ms. Lowden hasn’t been living a “blue collar” lifestyle for at least the past 26 years.
Before she married Paul Lowden she was already becoming a power player in Las Vegas. As a news reporter and Anchorwoman she became a local celebrity which by itself is power. Then when she married Paul Lowden she increased her celebrity power level and added it to the power of great wealth. Once she added the true power of wealth to her rising power of celebrity she used it against those that she claims she wants to represent.

These people that she wants to represent are the same type of working people that she forced to sign away their health care benefits when she owned the Santa Fe Hotel Casino; (in which a judge ruled against the Lowdens for illegal labor practices). She touts her involvement in creating jobs in Nevada, and that is extremely true, but she didn’t create jobs to create jobs, she created jobs becase she needed employees to operate her businesses. She was forced to employ people because without employees she would not have had the businesses she had and therefore would not have acquired the over fifty million dollars that she now has banked. Therefore she didn’t do anything different than any other business other than trying to bully her employees and being ruled against by a court of law.
Her lifestyle and more importantly her power has placed her so far above the average working man that it is a surprise that she doesn’t carry her Royal Scepter with her on her campaign trail.
When people become socially and financially powerful they loose any real connection to the average person. Then the only time they remember their “roots” is when they need those “little people” to keep them in power or to help them gain more power.
Like the majority of Power Seekers, Ms. Lowden hasn’t done anything for the people of Nevada that wasn’t directly related to her own personal agenda. Now she wants Nevadans to believe that she is running for Senate because she cares. I believe that she truly cares; yes she truly cares for the power of the Lowdens.