A web of corruption is spun in the wake of awarding and winningU.S. government contracts and funds.
Corruption has no party affiliation, just special interests. Cash is king.
This affects the public and private sectors in nearly every industry and most countries.
Uncle Sam needs a colonic. STAT!
Someone grab a hose and bucket; it’s about to get dirty.
Photo Credit/Source: Kathy van de Laar/LinkedIn
All bets are off in 2016. I’m not buying most of what the presidential front runners are selling. Media coverage is basically satire except it’s not funny anymore.
Progress is at a stand still and the arguments are old as time.
Forget what you thinkyou know about republicans and democrats. Right now, there is no difference between them regarding the biggest problems plaguing our country – greed and corruption.
While rampant, these problems are not unique in the United States. Criminals, everywhere, line each others’ pockets with U.S. taxpayer funds.
Until this is fixed, our politics will remain broken.
It’s that simple and it’s sad and pathetic.
Money, money, money.
In December 2015, Reuters reported the U. S. tied ex-Panamanian president, Ricardo Martinelli, to a bribery scheme involving German software giant, SAP.
Last year, ex-SAP sales executive, Vicente Garcia, pleaded guilty to bribing Panamanian officials. On December 16, 2015, Garcia was sentenced to 22-months in prison by a U.S. court in California.
In February 2016, SAP agreed to pay a $3.9 million penalty under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act after an investigation by the SEC.
Isolated event or the tip of the iceberg?
That’s up to the SEC to determine. I have to believe the SEC learned from its careless investigation of Bernie Madoff and his Ponzi Scheme, I hope they wouldn’t miss another. However, corruption knows no bounds.
The U.S. government and public sector spend billions of dollars, annually, on SAP software and maintenance. Many taxpayer funded implementations run tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions of dollars over budget.
SAP is not alone, but they are a nucleus. The U.S. government is an SAP customer. More than 70% of the Fortune 500 are government contractors and most of them are SAP customers.
Between the U.S. and SAP and contractors and SAP and the U.S. and contractors, there is ample opportunity for the morally bankrupt.
It’s a global playground. Like I said, SAP is everywhere.
If people hate America, it should be because over 40% of us allow less than 60% of us to elect our president and that’s an optimistic election year.
It’s usually closer to 50%.
“Because a vision softly creeping, left its seeds while I was sleeping”
I accompanied my stepmother to the polls during the 1984 presidential election. While she waited to cast her vote, I stood by the entrance of the school and asked people who they voted for as they exited.
As she walked out, she heard me. Immediately, she cut me off, told me my question was inappropriate, and apologized for me.
I asked her why? I was under the impression one candidate was far superior to the other and I just wanted to see if people made a bad decision.
She told me politics are personal.
Turns out, one was far superior that year according to voters. Only 53% of US voters showed up that year. 59% of them elected Ronald Reagan to a second term. He beat Walter Mondale 525 electoral votes to 13. Minnesota and Washington D.C. chose Mondale.
“And the vision that was planted in my brain, still remains”
My grandfather defined Republicans and Democrats for me.
He said Republicans teach a man to fish and Democrats give a man a fish.
While there were other easily digested anecdotes, religion was never part of it.
“In restless dreams I walked alone, narrow streets of cobblestone”
I’ve known I was gay since I was in first grade; I did not choose this supposed lifestyle.
I played hockey for 10 years. In those locker rooms was where I heard the word faggot.
Every time I felt I needed to be interested in a girl, I chose someone unattainable, sometimes from another school.
I began to think I was sick, but the thought of a girlfriend gave me anxiety because it would be a lie and she would be a tool.
I never told anyone until after I left Alaska to attend college.
I was 37 when I realized someone else in my graduating high school class was gay.
To this day, politicians waste money fighting basic workplace protections preventing harassment or discrimination against me.
They tout job creation.
I thought we’d be beyond this by now.
“People talking without speaking, people hearing without listening”
We act like life is black and white, and nothing could be further from the truth.
Today’s headlines would have us believe life is simple and matter-of-fact.
We, the people, are divided by absolutes and armed with free speech.
Follow, share, repeat, but whatever you do, don’t think.
“Silence like a cancer grows”
Spoon fed and distracted, we’ve become stoic and desensitized.
We are not malnourished.
“Hear my words that I might teach you; take my arms that I might reach you”
Screw baseball and football; America’s favorite pastimes are manipulation and hypocrisy.
Forget everything you’ve heard because today’s party names are labels and nothing more.
The first and second amendments should be honored, literally, and handled responsibly.
Neither are going away, no matter who is president.
Lump separation of church and state in there too.
Knitting needles have put more religion than the constitution permits into the fabric of our nation.
Freedom to think you’re right isn’t the right to define freedom.
Every citizen of this country shouldbe able to form and build a family.
Every citizen of this country shouldbe protected at work from any form of harassment or discrimination.
When you hear something scary from anywhere but the source, you’re being manipulated by fear.
Fear equals desperation and is the lowest form of manipulation.
So long as we can make each other feel stupid, scared, or insecure, we don’t have to admit what we don’t bring to the table.
Hate perpetuates fear and fear leads to war.
You have a choice to be part of the problem or part of the solution.
Fear causing hate will never produce a solution.
We have a lot to fix and it won’t happen over night.
It may not happen in your lifetime.
We shape a better future by being better people.
Lovethy neighbor.
People will die no matter what.
“But my words like silent raindrops fell, and echoed in the wells of silence”
We all agree opinions don’t matter, except the opinions we agree with.
It’s easy to feel right when everyone tells you you’re right in the safety of your very own chamber of echos.
“And the people bowed and prayed, to the neon god they made”
The United States isn’t mentioned in the bible.
7.3 billion people are on this planet and less than 5% live in the United States.
There is no war on Christmas.
There is no war on Christianity.
Anyone who tells you differently is a war monger, looking for a fight.
The Pledge of Allegiance was originally written by a socialist minister in 1892 and did not contain the words ‘under God.’
‘Under God’ was added in 1954.
‘In God We Trust’ first appeared on US currency in 1957 followed by coins in 1964. Personally, that doesn’t bother me so long as our currency is strong.
Religion is good, but can be dangerous in the wrong hands, especially a government.
Freedom of religion is not going anywhere and neither is my right to say that.
Believe it or not, we are in a safe phase of our election process. The rubber meets the road after the primary elections.
The vitriol you hear today is between leaders fighting for supporters to represent their parties and is not representative of the American population.
First world problems.
We live in a world of ‘do as I say, not as I do.’
One party wants to raise taxesto fund programs while the other believes there are plenty of tax dollars for whatthey care about.
Lobbyists pad the pockets of both parties as ourtax dollars are astronomically wasted with little effort to fix.
We have a financially irresponsible government and weface ongoing tax increases, yet there are plenty of sources they aren’t collecting from.
Did I say lobbyists earlier?
Global warming enthusiasts fly around on private jets and contribute as much, or more, to the carbon footprint they shame others for denying or even caring about. Do nothing or deny, neither contribute to the solution, just make sure to throw your aluminum in the blue bin, okay?
Some people perfectly understand the second amendment, but twist the first amendment to accommodate their own selfish interpretation. Mostly, this affects other people more than it affects themselves.
The people who want to do away with the second amendment altogether, expect literal compliance with the first amendment, while their gun carrying bodyguards protect them.
Neither are willing to negotiate because any mention of being responsible is an all or nothing argument.
People waving the flag of ‘family values’ get exposed for infidelity, adultery, or same-sex shenanigans. They’d rather risk keeping a secret and destroy the family they value so much than deal with their own unhappiness.
Self proclaimed pro-life loyalists only care about the moment a sperm penetrates an egg, but do nothing for the life the embryo eventually lives.
People who identify as ‘pro-choice’ don’t often approve of people who choose to think differently.
The party ruling the executive branch of our government cannot gain the population’s confidence to simultaneously rule the legislative branch, thereby causing an endless stalemate, all while we foot the bill. These are our leaders.
The stuff that gets done becomes campaign fodder for the next election cycle to undo.
States start their own controversies that require intervention from the judicial branch of our federal government.
Both sides have taken notes on the legal acrobatics of defining what the word ‘is,’ is.
It used to be obvious when a headline was from The Onion or an actual news source.
Polarizing hypocrisy is more common than bullet holes in this country.
We are better than that.
Baby steps.
Today’s parties are two different degrees of unappealing with two fundamentally different strategies.
Power, greed, corruption, hypocrisy, narcissism, and complete disrespect have beat the living crap out of politics and have filtered down to how we act toward one another. They pander to us for our votes enough to not disturb the base.
That doesn’t mean don’t vote, if even reluctantly.
New leaders with new ideas and unifying messages will emerge if we are willing to accept them.
The climatein America has changed. Unusually high temperatures have caused a dense pocket of hot air to become the country’s very first Trumpnado.
Unpredictable winds and shrapnel fly out of this thing so randomly, you’re best to avoid it altogether. Unless, of course, you’re a storm chaser.
It’s on a path of special destruction causing a wake of WTF at every turn.
The Trumpnado will dissolve sometime after it jumps the Sharknado.
That moment could be this week. Some would argue it already happened.
The GOP got Trump’d!
If I had to pick one thing I like about Donald Trump it would be Celebrity Apprentice. I hope he does more Celebrity Apprentice when he’s done with this circus.
When I first heard Trump was running for president, I thought it was a joke. Then, I watched the first Republican debate and it clicked. He’s sabotaging the GOP. That party got Trump’d.
During the first debate, he was the only candidate who would not commit to supporting someone else as the nominee, hinting that he could run as an Independent. Plus, did that fight with Megyn Kelly during the first debate make any sense? Remember when he asked her if she was bleeding?
He later stated he would support another nominee. Honestly though, would it surprise anyone if he flipped on that?
Trumpnado Warning!
Since hitting the campaign trail, Trump’s statements and stances are petulant and arrogant.
His words have been increasingly aggressive and disturbing and the media is having a hay day re-posting and re-tweeting and regurgitating everything this man says.
He’s attracting disturbing personalities like flypaper.
It’s like the Twilight Zone.
He’s acting so far the opposite of presidential, it’s embarrassing that he’s actually leadingthe Republican polls.
However, that could be the point he’s intended all along.
He’s erratic, unpredictable, unfiltered, and getting worse by the day. He’s effectively not electable.
It’s getting so bad, it makes perfect sense. Even Fox News contributors today were discussing how he’s gone off the rails and becoming a problem for the GOP.
Intended or not, he’s helping the Democrats and the other candidates have caught on.
I believe he’s always intended to run as an Independent to ensure a Republican loss. His campaign is straight out of Team America: World Police, “America! Fuck Yeah!”
It would be funny if our president had this in Las Vegas. Photo Source: TripAdvisor
He will steal millions of votes from the Republican nominee while ensuring a bigger blue turnout.
Trump is being so blatantly and believably stupid right now, but he’s not a stupid man.
I predict record ratings for the next installment of the Celebrity Apprentice. The good news for Trump is his current haters will forgive him and he won’t have to take a huge pay cut to play in the Oval Office.
Despite whichever individual stances we hold dear, anyone can make a fantastic life for themselves by the people they choose to be in it.
Guess what? Being a Republican or Democrat has nothing to do with it.
In the US, we have a gift to experience things so many people on this planet don’t have a prayer to make happen. We owe it to ourselves to be better than we are today.
On November 8, 2016, the United States will elect its 45th president.
Until then, candidates campaign for nominations and, though nothing’s official, the menu resembles ’92 with subtle differences.
In ’92, Bush senior was the incumbent president, but he wasn’t reelected. Today’s Bush probably won’t win the Republican nomination, but if the 2000 election taught us anything, Bush’s don’t need the popular vote. He’s a lifelong politician.
In ’92, Bill Clinton, a Democrat, ended the right’s 12-year-reign. Today’s Clinton, if elected, will probably ban blue dresses in the Oval Office. Intern jokes and talk of impeachment would be fodder throughout her tenure. She’s a lifelong politician.
In ’92, a wealthy mogul (Perot) caused a stir as an Independent earning over 19 million votes (18%) in a pre-social media, but equally frustrated, world.
Today’s wealthy mogul (Trump) hinted at running regardless of whether or not he’s the Republican nominee, but later said he wouldn’t. The polls today say he doesn’t have to. He doesn’t have a lifetime of practiced politics. He speaks his mind and dominates the headlines. So far, it’s working.
The remaining contenders are dwindling. Others have passionate supporters, but only time will tell which ones matter.
Across-the-aisle support is vague, at best, to ensure their bases show up on election day; anything more is chum for bloodthirsty cannibals.
The parties will nominate their most electable option, which may or may not be their best candidate.
Meanwhile, social media feeds and news sources are jammed with headlines and shared stories by impassioned supporters yelling as loud as CAPS LOCK and extra punctuation convey.
By election day, we’re over-saturated, over-sensitive, and over the entire battle.
Free speech is exhausting!
Swing states will elect the president they dislike the least, keeping us on the party pendulum swinging between red and blue. In ’92, Democrats scored 8 years. In ’00, Republicans scored 8 years. In ’08, Democrats scored 8 years.
The score in years since ’92 – Democrats 16, Republicans 8. Now that I think about it, it’s clear why some people are falling apart right now.
Bullets and Bombs Affect Us All Equally
In ’92, we had recently ended a war in the Middle East, but the region remained in turmoil. Fast forward 23 years – same shit, different day.
In ’92, the threat of domestic terrorism loomed, evidenced by the first attack on the World Trade Center. Only 37 days after President Clinton took office in ’93, a bomb exploded underneath the North Tower. Miraculously, only six people died.
On September 11, 2001, less than a year into President Bush’s first term, terrorists killed nearly 3,000 people before breakfast on the west coast.
Just last week, 14 people diedin an attack in California. The debate has turned into whether or not it was ISIS-sponsored, or ISIS-supported.
Meanwhile, all mass shootings are politicized. People are more interested in who’s pulling the trigger than the trigger being pulled because that’s the litmus test for whether or not we collectively call it terrorism.
Call me crazy, but if anyone pulls out an assault rifle and starts mowing people down in my presence, I’ll be fucking terrified regardless of which religion they don’t understand.
What color was the shooter? Did the shooter have an accent? Was the shooter foreign? Somebody please tell me how I should feel! I need to know for other arguments!
The second amendment was written in the late 1700’s and ‘arms’ were significantly different.
The Pendulum Between Red and Blue
Party names are exactly that – names.
Abraham Lincoln, our 16th president, was technically our first Republican president. He fought and won our Civil War and slavery was abolished.
A Democrat was the president of the Confederate States of America that seceded and fought to keep slavery. Oddly, those are predominantly red states today and any support of the Confederate flag is linked to the right.
If you asked me at that time which party I supported, I would have not hesitated to wave the flag of a proud Republican. I don’t like voting on single issues, but slavery is pretty cut and dry to me.
Today, however, the parties are confusing. Clearly, things have changed. Today’s Republicans seem like Civil War Democrats. Parties can call themselves whatever they want, they both need overhauls.
Power, greed, corruption, hypocrisy, narcissism, and complete disrespect have beat the living crap out of politics. Knitting needles have put more religion than the constitution permits into the fabric of our nation.
Like guns, religion isn’t bad. Some bad people conceal and carry religion.
I feel manipulated, not supported.
We’d rather shame and vilify one another than make any concessions on or evolve our stances.
Politocrisyis my new word. That’s what I’m blaming for disinterest in our election process.
Voter turnout for president moves around 50-55%. There’s no excuse for nearly half of the eligible voters in this country to forego their vote.
We’re all in this together so we better all be involved.
Politics are played on a tennis court and the players need to restring their rackets.
I feel like we’re in a pre-Civil War society. That’s why nobody wants to even hear the words gun control. What are people preparing for? We better figure it out fast, because the rhetoric I’m seeing does not make sense to me.
That’s the real terrorism we are ignoring. It’s not about them killing as many soft targets as possible. That’s the pre-show. It’s about us killing ourselves, and it’s working.
For the record, I support the second amendment. I’m from Alaska, what did you expect? However, all the guns I’ve ever been around were for hunting or general protection in the Alaskan outdoors.
I don’t believe guns will ever be banned in the US. Nothing covered in the constitution should be illegal. That doesn’t mean we can’t be more responsible with our rights.
The petulance from the polarized bases is extremely off putting.
We need a party of leaders to put together an agreeable platform with the necessary concessions for a passionate majority.
Until then, we’ll see which way the swing states direct or redirect the pendulum.
I was officially banned from a Facebook page today – and called a troll!
Both were firsts for me.
The silly thing is, I agreed with the story on the page and many sentiments expressed in comments, but its followers misunderstood what I posted.
Suddenly, I offended everyone due to a careless, unintentional oversight I didn’t even consider until it was too late.
An overzealous, emotional group misunderstood what I was trying to say and saw me as their enemy. The page admin stepped in, called me a troll, and I was banned without a chance to explain myself.
I saw enough reactions to I understand how my comment went completely off track; all because of one word.
Did I say I agreed with the story and the general sentiments of the page’s community?
The article was about the Colorado Springs shooting at a Planned Parenthood location which left two civilians and a police officer dead. Nine others were injured, including a personal friend’s husband.
The article pointed out unnervingexamples of support on social media from extreme‘pro-life’ Christians praisingthe shooter, saying the victims deservedto be shot – a disgusting sentiment.
Let me be clear. I don’t agree with that.
Anyone who knows me, reading this right now, is thinking to themselves, “What the hell?”
I stepped on a social media mine.
The point I was trying to make was the hypocrisy of people who aren’toutraged by the shooting in Colorado are the same people who were outraged when the graphic appeared of Sarah Palin in rifle crosshairs, except Palin wasn’t shot.
Simple, right? Not really.
I didn’t end my statement saying Palinwasn’t shot. I said nobody was shot because that particular graphic didn’t lead to anyone being shot.
However, there was a crosshairs graphic that did; a graphic that surfaced before the one I was talking about.
What I didn’t address (and certainly wasn’t referring to) was a separate, but related, earlier graphic produced by Sarah Palin’s Political Action Committee (SarahPAC) containing a picture of House Representative Gabrielle Giffords in crosshairs who, subsequently, survived an assassination attempt when she was shot in the head on January 8, 2011.
The followers of this site thought I was referring to SarahPAC’s graphic and intentionally being an internet troll, stoking emotion because, you know, I have nothing better to do.
Yeah, no. Those people are out there, but I’m not one of them. It makes me sick to think anyone thought that was my intent.
The intricacies of the issues affecting us today are deep, and emotions are running higher than ever, no matter what side you take.
Mistake or not, once a group bands together, only perception matters.
My mistakes were pointing out hypocrisy only referencing one easily confused detail of a much larger incident, and forgetting how easily I could be misunderstood. Oops.
Communicating with strangers through social media, even ones with whom you agree, is risky business, and it’s easy to stumble.
The specific page isn’t important. I submitted an apology through the group’s main website and explained the mix-up, but I haven’t heard from them. The admin was much more quick earlier today.
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