Americans Elect

Arpaio's Joke

As most of Arizona and the country know, Joe Arpaio, Maricopa County Sheriff is in trouble. The feds are investigating him for numerous civil rights violations. He has squandered millions of tax dollars and pursued a number of bogus cases while neglecting child abuse cases. In the sheriff's latest ploy he has claimed that after an extensive investigation, President Obama's birth certificate is a forgery. In extensive video "proof," the sheriff points out that when enlarged, there is "noise" or rough edges on the typed letters of an authentic birth certificate. On the copy of Obama's birth certificate, there is no noise, hence, according to the sheriff, who must have nothing better to do, Obama's birth certificate is a forgery. Arpaio's joke is that he enlarged the first or authentic certificate many times. The alleged phony certificate was enlarged one or two times, not enough to show any noise that may or may not have been there. So much time, energy and effort has been expended trying to prove that Obama is not a citizen that might have been used for a better purpose. We have more important things to do than to try to disprove something that has already been verified. Obama IS the president. If there is anything phony in the State of Arizona, it is Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

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Anti, anti, anti...

It has been a hobby of mine for some time to study anti-Mormon literature. I haven't been through it all, but I've read my share. If it weren't so sadly ridiculous, it would be funny. I was taught as a young man to question everything and I do. I have found that anti-Mormon literature and attack ads as well as hate from the right and the left have a lot in common. Reaching for the truth is not it. Persuasion by propaganda and twisting accuracy is the commonality.

If you want to be a good "anti-" person, here are a few lessons.

1. Take anything you can out of context. Putting things in quotes helps (see # 10).
2. Associate the person you are against with any fringe person they may know or may have met once. President Obama's picture with the couple who broke into a White House party some months ago is a classic case. He had his picture taken with them, so he must be in favor of breaking into White House parties.
3. Take every stupid thing the person may have said and blow it out of proportion. Please note: we all say stupid things at one time or another (the trick is not to do it all day long). A high school term paper, if one is still extant would be great.
4. Watch for misspellings (see Dan Quayle).
5. Tripping or a bad golf swing automatically condemns a politician (see Gerald Ford). If you are Charles Barkley, you can get away with it even at a Pro-AM.
6. Look for inappropriate relations with the opposite sex, or, better yet, with the same sex. If the person you are trying to defame is dead, all the better (see Abraham Lincoln).
7. Corollary to #6: If you are trying to defend someone who is guilty of #6, find an excuse for the behavior (see Republicans defend a conservative gay candidate for any office).
8. If the person to defame is squeaky clean, find something wrong (see Mitt Romney's dog on vacation).
9. If you can't find anything else, find a family member, friend or associate who is in jail, out of work, had a face lift or has said something really outlandish.
10. If the defame has said "a," "and," or "the," put quotes around it and go with it.
11. Go after the wife. Set her up as an idiot or as a noble soul who has suffered terribly because of her spouse (see Pat Nixon).
12. Most important: lie, lie, lie!. And if you can tie a negative word to the person (see socialist), do it.

There you have it. Professional defaming. Religion or politics, some people make a living at it. It is a facet of our society. Please see through it.

What South Carolina Missed

In the Republican Debate before the South Carolina primary, candidate Newt Gingrich was asked a direct question about his divorce. He responded with an angry attack against the media. The crowd went crazy, Gingrich created a national sensation and was propelled to a victory in the ensuing primary. But the voters in South Carolina forgot about one thing in voting Gingrich to victory: leadership.

It is important for the American people to remember that their president is the leader of the country and of the free world. He is not the sound bite champ, nor the temper tantrum king; he is the leader.

What does a leader do? He leads with character. He is not perfect, but his weaknesses do not define who he is to the country. He has ideas and a plan, well thought out and organized. He evaluates what is going well and what needs improvement. He surrounds himself with the best individuals available and listens to input from a variety of sources.

Speaker Gingrich has been a leader in our government. A failed leader. He came to his position with a number of ideas and a great deal of hype. Without going into detail here, Gingrich failed. His own party removed him from leadership. South Carolina voters missed that. They missed the opportunity to help propel a leader to the Republican nomination. They bit on the hype. It was a dangerous error.

Mitt Romney-a letter to the New York Times

December 19, 2011

Editor,
It has interested me that Mitt Romney has been portrayed as a man of privilege. As students at Brigham Young University in 1970, my wife and I were poor and rented one of the most rundown apartments in a poor section of Provo, Utah. The wood floors were coming up, nails protruded, there was no air conditioning, no shower and the heater was lousy. Two floors below us were Mitt and Ann Romney. My wife and I were surprised that they would live in the same poor complex we did. Certainly Mitt's parents could have placed their son and his wife in the nicest apartment in town. We did not know the Romneys well, but were always impressed with them. As an independent voter who has considered each of the candidates including the president, I believe Mitt Romney is the man who can unify our country and solve our country's woes. Mitt Romney wasn't lifted to the top, he climbed. What he did for himself he can do for our country.

Rodney J. Ross
Gilbert, Arizona

The Presidential Race

The race for the White House has taken on some momentum. I do not pretend to know who will win. I have my favorites, but we'll see what happens. The media will destroy most of them.

I do know one thing. If Gov. Rick Perry of Texas is the nominee, I will be voting for four more years of Pres. Obama. Gov. Perry reminds me of some used car salesmen I've come across and that an insult to used car salesmen. Interesting. I've never met a used car saleswoman.

I could get into the Pearce-Lewis race here in Arizona, but I will leave that to another day.

Madness

At the end of "The Bridge on the River Kwai," the lone person alive surveys the wreckage of the fallen bridge and the fallen men, looks at the camera and says, "Madness."

Madness is alive and well in Tucson, Arizona. The Republican Party in Tucson thought they needed a fundraiser. They decided to have a lottery and raffle a gun. So far not wise, but okay. However, the gun the Tucson Republicans chose to raffle was a Glock, the same model used to shoot beloved Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in the head and to kill six people.

I am 67 years old and have never seen a political move that reflected such insensitivity, stupidity and "madness!"

Whoever came up with that idea should go far away for a long, long time.