America’s True Welfare Queens and Kings: Congress

As the Republican legislatures throughout America are cutting or eliminating welfare benefits, many Americans that need those services are falling way below the poverty level.

The very group that criticizes citizens for welfare benefits because they believe it makes people lazy and that no one deserves a free lunch should pause the next time they walk across a mirror and take a long hard look at who is truly lazy and getting a free lunch.

Elected officials used to work to get things done. They used to pass meaningful legislation such as creating jobs but they do nothing of the sort these days. What this new group of lazy politicians now do is spend millions of dollars voting down Obamacare, a piece of legislation that is the law of the land and will benefit millions of people. They spend time writing laws attempting to restrict women and voting rights, defund education, eliminate the postal service and other social services beneficial to all of us.

No. The true "Welfare Kings and Queens" are our government. They are a "do nothing" group and are destroying our nation by doing just that...Nothing. The current congress is setting records for all the wrong reasons. This is the least accomplished congress in its 230 years, and not since Reconstruction have we witnessed politicians introducing legislation that promotes racism, bigotry, sexism, and xenophobia.

Not only are they receiving welfare for rendering no service to the public, but their entire rhetoric is based upon hubris and hypocrisy.

Foolishly Flawed

Last week, Bill O'Reilly went on a racist, fact-less rant about the number of Black babies being born out of wedlock. He then said Black people commit the most crime in America all the while foolishly attempting to connect the dots of what's failing the Black community and what happened to Trayvon Martin.

What O'Reilly purposely didn't mention in his baseless rant is that more than 35% of Caucasian children are born out of wedlock and that Caucasian men commit crimes against other Caucasian men in almost the same proportion as Blacks.

But in step, CNN Anchor, Don Lemon supported O'Reilly and didn't think O'Reilly went far enough.

Was Don Lemon speaking out and providing effective solutions to the problems in the Black communities before O'Reilly started spewing his buffoonery? No. Don Lemon doesn't spend any significant time on his show talking about those in the Black and Latino communities each day--365 days-a-year creating and implementing solutions to stopping Black-on-Black and Latino-on-Latino crime. Nor does he highlight the mentoring efforts to the youth in making better life decisions. Don Lemon is entitled to his opinion, albeit, foolishly flawed but his opinion, nonetheless.

Equally, embarrassing was Lemon's cookie cutter asinine 5 basic principles of being a successful Black person:

1. Pull you pants up
2. Finish your education
3. Stop using the N-word
4. Fix your communities
5. Stop having babies out of wedlock

Here are some stats that Mr. Lemon should keep in mind:

1. Guns are more accessible in the Black communities than food and shelter.

2. Unemployment in Black communities is as high as 25-30 percent.

3. As schools are closing, the penal system is the new education system for America's Black youth.

4. Black youth homelessness is at its highest now than at any other time in U.S. history, including during the Great Depression.

Violence, poverty and apathy have engulfed our communities for some time now, and Don Lemon has been glaringly silent. When he finally has an opportunity to speak what does he do? He supports and validates an individual who gleefully bathes in the waters of racism, bigotry, xenophobia and hypocrisy.

 

Anthony Johnson

“Crab in the Barrel" 2013

I was watching what I thought was the Cartoon Network on my cell phone while going to meet with some clients. I couldn't stop laughing at what I was witnessing. There were people, sharply dressed and speaking gibberish, buffoonery, and just plain silliness. But as I was enjoying the show, someone leaned over me and said, "That's not the Cartoon Network; that's the CPAC event."

In March, extremists were the toast of the CPAC event where they united and voiced their disdain for the beltway media, President Obama, and all that's democratic and progressive. They sent an urgent message that America is going in the wrong direction.

The CPAC debacle was a cornucopia of incohesive, incoherent, and a divisive group of incapable people, who are incomplete opposition to where the nation and its citizenry is moving.

How can we take a political party seriously when it attempts to bludgeon the rest of us with racist, fear mongering, bigotry, anti-women, anti-Latino, anti-LGBT, anti-American, and secessionist rhetoric?

One of the speakers in attendance was Dr. Ben Carson, one of the most brilliant surgeons of any century, who took the opportunity to label President Obama as one who is dividing the nation. What was ghastly apparent to me was that the good doctor is drinking the same Kool-Aid as his extremist colleagues. After his rant...uh...speech, I learned that I've taught 5th graders with a vastly superior knowledge of politics and Presidential history than Dr. Carson.

I guess when Reagan was calling women "Welfare Queens," Black women in particular, Reagan was in no way dividing America. When Bush, Sr., allowed Lee Atwater to pull a Willie Horton to inspire fear in Caucasians against Black people, I guess Bush was in no way creating division in America. When Bush 2 moved slower than molasses to help the poor people during Katrina, Bush 2 was in noooo way dividing Americans.

I find it interesting that a Black man is in the White House and he is transformed from Hitler to Mao, from Stalin to Marx, to the Anti-Christ. I'm curious as to where was Dr. Carson when those former Presidents were destroying and dividing the nation?

My father used to say, "Anthony, even the most educated and brilliant African American is not immune to being fed the "crab in the barrel" philosophy.

"Lobbying Firm of Smoke and Mirrors"

I recently read where it cost more than $10,000,000 to operate a campaign for a senate run. I keep hearing politicians state that our government needs an infusion of youth participation in the political process as well as someday seeking elected office. But how can they?

How can little Mike, Erica, Vaughn, Eric, or Skree Rock who comes from humble beginnings ever aspire to become a senator, a mayor, city council member, or President when they can barely afford bus fare? How can the youth participate and bring much needed fresh ideas to save our government from being currently water boarded by extremist politicians when the political system has been taken over by lobbyist and billionaires whose sole purpose is to provide these same political extremists with millions of dollars to destroy the middle class and poor?

I get it. Career politicians don't want the likes of little Mike, Erica, Vaughn, Eric or Skree Rock from humble beginnings to hold elected office. Its foolish talk brought to you by the lobbying firm of "Smoke and Mirrors."

As long as this system of government is focused on who has the most money to mount a political campaign instead of who can provide good government, the closest thing to elected office little Skree Rock will get to is a soap box on a street corner.

"Since the Docking of the Mayflower"

Abraham Lincoln once said, “If destruction be our lot we must first be its author.” There is a moment in our lives when we make a decision to stand up and be accounted for, and in the process we take a stand for what we believe to be decent and fair. It has always been within us to decide right from wrong--and racism is wrong

Racism can be eliminated in America for the most part, but it will take more than words. It will take common sense and action to terminate this virus that has been ingrained in the nation since the docking of the Mayflower.

I have and will always be an idealist. I believe in achieving the impossibility, but I'm not a fool. Of course there will always be pockets of racism in America by those who find comfort thinking they and their ethnicity is superior to others. I get it. But I also believe that we have the ingenuity to make racism so ineffective and insignificant that it would be relegated to the back pages of America's history that has yet to be written.

We can make racism a non-factor, but to do so, we must be willing to part ways within our comfort zone, meaning our indoctrinated belief system.


Anthony Johnson

"A Circus of Simpletons"

There comes a time when we as citizens must come to the conclusion that we must hold our elected officials responsible for their irresponsible behavior and the utter shame they display and project to the world.

Secretary State Hillary Clinton went to Capital Hill to speak with elected officials about the Benghazi tragedy in which four Americans were murdered. However, what I saw was a circus of simpletons--a group of bitter, angry, and chauvinistic men attempting to belittle, berate, and browbeat Secretary Clinton into submission.

The GOP is dead, and if you're still not convinced of its extinction, simply watch what transpired during the hearing. What has spawned from the party of Lincoln and Eisenhower is a viral, putrid group of individuals who thought it was better to grandstand, denigrate, and desecrate Americans who were murdered in Benghazi rather than seeking solutions to ensure that a tragedy of this magnitude never occurs again.

Just remember, those elected officials of Ron Johnson, John McCain and Rand Paul to name a few are a cancer in our government and to the Republic, but they were elected by you. Yes you. We are asked to drink responsibly to avert accidents to ourselves and the public. I ask that beginning today we vote responsibly, to protect the nation from irresponsible elected officials.


Anthony Johnson

The Real Culprit

Pennsylvania Governor Corbett is suing the NCAA, which according to the governor overstepped its authority by inflicting stiff penalties on Penn State University, claiming that those sanctions are hurting the state. It's hubris of Governor Corbett to find time in his schedule to sue the NCAA over the sanctions he initially supported levied at Penn State for covering and giving free reign to a sexual predator to abuse children on the campus of the institution.

As governor, Mr. Corbett has no capacity on how to effectively manage Pennsylvania's affairs. He is clueless at stopping the flow of unregistered guns coming in the state; he is woefully impotent at creating jobs for Pennsylvanians; he callously de-funded public schools; and he gleefully signed-off on the voter suppression law that had to be overturned by the State's Supreme Court.

As Attorney General, Governor Corbett moved at a snail's pace in bringing the Sandusky issue to light, and in this writer's opinion, the newly elect Attorney General should be investigating him.

Consequently, if Governor Corbett is looking for the real culprit who's hurting the state of Pennsylvania, all he has to do is look in the mirror.

 

 

 

Anthony Johnson         

“This Experiment Called Democracy”

As 2012 comes to an end and the dawn of 2013 is upon us, let's remember the things that affected us as individuals and as a nation. There were monumental events we will remember for years to come including the loss of one of the greatest singers of any generation, Whitney Houston, the tragedy of gunning down of 27 people including 20 beautiful little children inside a school in Newtown, Connecticut, and the destruction of homes and communities by Hurricane Sandy. There was Mitt Romney who believed that 47% of the citizenry was not worthy of consideration, or the mandate to reelect President Obama. We were galvanized by one political party's vehement hatred of President Obama, women, gays/lesbians, minorities and senior citizens, veterans, and the disabled. However, throughout these turbulent times, the citizenry rose to rebuild our bruised spirits and a fractured nation.

Consequently, this experiment called "democracy" was tested to its core in 2012 and the wear and tear is beginning to show. If 2013 becomes a carbon copy of 2012, then the 232 year experiment we call democracy will be cast into great doubt as far as its successful continuation.

I want to wish you a Happy, Healthy and Productive 2013.

 

 

 

Anthony Johnson

"A Fictional Character"

You are a coward in the highest order. In the darkness that has engulfed the Republic and its citizenry, you slither about spewing vitriol, and for what? At a time when most Americans are still coping with the unfathomable living nightmare that occurred in Newtown, Connecticut, you justify the killings because GOD was taken out of school?

There are times like this that the infinitely stupid should be silent. You, Mr. Huckabee, should have exercised that right. You are not a man! You are a nameless, fictional "Boogey Man" that hides under the bed that older siblings tell their younger siblings to be afraid of. You are the waste that humans release. You are not evil, because history has shown that there is "intelligence" in many that perpetrate the unthinkable, and you most certainly have proven that you are not intelligent. What you are is a petty, heartless, insignificant virus. It is my hope that the antibiotic of compassion and human decency will eradicate your kind.

Forgiveness is reserved for those that merit it. However, there can be no forgiveness for the fictional character that you are.

Anthony Johnson

 

 

* Thank you, Terri Willmott and Bonnie Kaye for your assistance

Two Angry Caucasian Men

Over the last two-weeks the citizenry in the Republic have had the opportunity to hear the economic and social plan of Team Romney/Ryan. Unfortunately, with just 17 days left they’ve offered nothing but a phantom plan, lies and arrogance. I cannot remember when I’ve witnessed two very angry Caucasian men who aspire to be president and vice president but neither one possess effective leadership for America during these tumultuous times. I see two very angry Caucasian men who combined, think 87% of the citizenry are irresponsible, lazy, welfare degenerates and two very angry Caucasian men who believe women cannot make decisions without the guidance of men.   

 

As November 6, 2012 is fast approaching, the people have a decision to make: Choose Two very angry men with no plan, questionable ethics and an incoherent, and shady political record or a president who has been calm and steady at the wheel in guiding the Republic during these torrid times.

 

I wish I could say that the decision is clear but alas, some in the citizenry think two very angry men would be the better choice.

 

 

 

Anthony P. Johnson

"Painfully Clear"‏

It is painfully clear that Mitt Romney cannot lead the Republic or its citizenry to social and economic prosperity and therefore, his dream of becoming president will most likely not come to fruition. Mr. Romney is a chameleon--and not even an effective one. It is unquestionably clear that Mr. Romney will say and do anything to get elected. Mitt Romney has gone from a somewhat affable man to a sneaky and conniving snake oil salesman where the town’s folk shut their doors, windows and turn-off the lights until he has faded from view as he goes to another town to pander whatever it is he's selling.

Mr. Romney has started a tradition where presidential candidates who call themselves Republicans (he didn't get the memo that the Republican Party is gone) are so inept and down right ignorant that they think the "Big Bang Theory" is an adult movie staring Ron Jeremy.

In the end, Mr. Romney never understood the complexity and the multi- layers of the Republic and its citizenry. He is a one dimensional figure who believes that 47% of the population is a bunch of lazy, welfare degenerates. This ideology is very dangerous to the nation and Mr. Romney in one word--is dangerous.


Anthony P. Johnson

"Worst of the Worst"

Now that the Tea Party National Convention (TPNC) has concluded (thankfully), let us turn our attention to the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte North Carolina. I just witnessed the "worst" political convention in modern history; a convention that was deceptive, angry, combative and oozing with cartoon characters so bad that I longed for my Saturday morning line-up of "Muppet Babies" and "Thundar the Barbarian.”

During the pointless and vague diatribes during the convention, someone forgot to tell “wanna-be-Tony Soprano,” Gov. Christie that this was the 2012 presidential convention. During the remainder of his fifteen minutes of political fame he spent 1800 words out of 2600 words giving his acceptance speech for the 2016 presidential nomination. Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney's speeches were baseless, fact-less, tasteless and of all things, they lacked any logical intelligence. Marco Rubio looked as if someone had an invisible firearm pointed in his back as he searched for the words to present Mr. Romney as a legitimate contender. But, of all the flat, cheap, dish watery rhetoric spewed for four days, the most perplexing was given by Clint Eastwood. I was speechless (and that's saying a lot) at Mr. Eastwood's Charles Manson like behavior. This was the same man that gave the "Lincoln-esque" speech about why the auto bailout was the right thing to do during half-time of this year’s Super Bowl. Now, he is reduced to giving threatening gestures--at a chair, mind you, like a school bully threatening to beat up a kid @ 3:00pm.

Moving forward, we will now turn our attention to the Democratic National Convention where President Obama and those who will speak about taking the Republic in a new direction of economic prosperity will undoubtedly do a better job than the cast and crew of a poor man's version of "Animal House," right? Right!

 

 

 

Anthony P. Johnson

 

“From Whence You Came”

You simply don’t get it. You are a vociferous liar and even though you’ve been caught in your constant lies you continue them with no shame whatsoever. You cannot be serious that we take your seriously, but unfortunately you are. You don’t really think you’ll win do you? How could you win when you are allergic to honesty and integrity?

Like so many others that are infecting our government, you too have no right to sit at that table and dictate policy for the nation. You are a fraud, a deceiver and a snake oil salesman. You betray your own ideas and compromise your morals with perfect regularity. You stand for nothing and yet, you stand for anything that will satisfy the populace. You are hollow, arrogant and misguided. Go home from whence you came and never again darken the steps of the Republic.

Anthony P. Johnson

"Calling You Out."

Let me be clear to Mitt the "Spineless" Romney and the rest of the Tea Party and its supporters: Calling African Americans lazy and welfare degenerates to win elections will not aid you.
 
The fact of the matter is just as many other ethnicities in the Republic receive public assistance. But what YOU, the citizens are allowing to come into your homes are these racists, bigots and fear mongers calling themselves journalists and manipulating you into thinking that African Americans are destroying America.
 
Do not be misguided and DO NOT BELIEVE IT!

Anthony P. Johnson

“Keep Asking…Why‏?”

Many will say the penalty was too severe. They will say Joe Paterno didn't know that assistant coach and family friend, Jerry Sandusky was molesting children. They'll say this was bigger than Joe Paterno.

For me, Joe Paterno was to Penn State what George Washington was to the young Republic. Of course we know that Adams, Jefferson, Hamilton and Franklin, just to name a few, were equally instrumental to Washington in the formation of the United States. And so, the same must be said of Coach Paterno's bosses who also actively participated in the vile cover-up. They too must be held accountable for the unspeakable acts of child abuse.

To think Joe Paterno didn't know about Sandusky's perverted dark side would be like saying Mitt Romney simply misplaced his tax returns. Although Sandusky is in prison for the rest of his life, and the NCAA handed Penn State a severe and well deserved punishment that would have made Ivan the Terrible say, "damn,” the question that still remains is, “Why was the perpetration of mental and sexual abuse on all of these children able to be carried out for more than a decade?”

Removing a statue, taking away past victories, stripping scholarships, bowl games and imprisoning a life-long pedophilia should not be the end of this heinous chapter. There are still too many questions unanswered. We must continue to ask "why" and until we obtain the truth, keep asking—“Why?"

 Anthony P. Johnson

“Obamacare Now Belongs to the Ages”

Not Bill Clinton, not LBJ and not even Theodore Roosevelt, the man that got the conversation started about ensuring healthcare for every American; none of these former leaders could get it done. President Obama achieved a great milestone in his presidency that will secure his place as one of the "greatest" presidents in U.S. history when the United States Supreme Court upheld his landmark healthcare legislation on June 28, 2012. Whatever criticisms one may have about President Obama, many of those criticisms are unjustified; he achieved what many believed to be the unthinkable and did it during a time in the Republic that many of our elected officials made the very word healthcare a diseased manifestation.

Death panels, socialized, fascist, communist, Nazi healthcare some of the terms that cable news personalities, elected officials and even “Skree Rock” from 30th Street used to attack President Obama’s healthcare bill. The Tea Party was confident that once “Obama Cares” reached the United States Supreme Court it would be struck down faster than you could say “Newt for President.” But it didn’t turn out that way. It turned out that Chief Justice Roberts sided with the minority and with his vote President Obama’s legislation won 5-4.

The healthcare legislation now belongs to the ages. The United States Supreme Court upheld the legislation and other than cry foul and chant “Repeal ObamaCare,” there is nothing more Mr. Romney and the Tea Party can do. For the record, the “Citizen’s United” decision upheld by the highest court in the land ranks with “Dred Scott” as two of the “worst “made by the SCOTUS. Although “ObamaCare” does not balance the scale of those two decisions, as my friend Germaine Kornegay said, “This decision benefits all Americans.” I completely agree.

 Anthony P. Johnson

"A Referendum On Our Resolve and Tenacity"

I am befuddled! After all that the citizens in the Republic know about Mitt Romney, there are many in the country that prefers him over President Obama. I'm amazed that the 2012 presidential election is going to be so close.

I am an educated individual and like so many other citizens, I have more than one job to supplement my income, but is President Obama to blame for this and will Mr. Romney somehow make it all better for me and the other 98%? 

The Republic experienced an economic depression in the 1930's and during that crisis, the citizens reelected Roosevelt three times because they believed he could and he did guide them through it. The voters at the time didn't choose panic over substance and despite a whopping 25% unemployment rate in the country; the citizenry remained steadfast and was later rewarded with a booming economy. President Obama is not Franklin Roosevelt, but he's definitely not Ronald Reagan or George W. Bush either. This didn't happen overnight. It took 8 years for the economy to erode faster than Donald Trump's toupees' and we expect President Obama to fix it in 4 years? The entire Justice League couldn't accomplish this task. We must stay the course. Did we not learn anything when President Jimmy Carter was tossed out for Reagan despite the fact that it was Reagan's pal, Gerald Ford and Nixon that kept the nation in an economic recession? Instead of asking "Are you better off than you were 4 years ago, you should ask, "will you be better with Mr. Romney?

Like all former presidents, President Obama has his flaws, but he has handled the affairs of the nation very well up to this point during his more than three years at the helm. And Romney? He failed at creating jobs as a governor and as a Bain executive, he has a Ph.D. in indecisiveness and he is completely out of step with the needs of the middle class, working poor and poor citizenry. And yet, if the 2012 presidential election was held today--Romney might win.

This presidential election is a referendum on our resolve and tenacity to be vigilant during this time of hardship. On one side is the incumbent who needs us to keep moving forward to weather this storm of economic turmoil and reach the valley of economic prosperity. While on the other end of the spectrum is the presumptive presidential candidate who wants us to panic and press the restart button.



"Progressives will bring balance to the Republic."

Anthony P. Johnson

The Religious Right Empire Strikes

Many on the left have written that the long life of the Religious Right has come to an end. If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard this, I’d be able to pay off the national debt--twice. The Religious Right in America is lavishly funded and politically well connected. While the men who lead the fundamentalist Christian political movement hold different opinions about theology, they share a deep and abiding hostility to the separation of church and state. They seek to inject religion into public schools, obtain taxpayer funding for religious schools and other ministries, roll back reproductive choice and deny civil rights to the gay and lesbian community.

Public opinion on the matter of equality for gays and lesbians is rapidly changing and that change is a huge part of Republican support for civil unions in the Republic than has ever existed before. There are those that believe, like GOP attorney Mario Nicholais of “Coloradans for Freedom“, that this is one of several issues on which the GOP must modernize its platform or risk permanently marginalizing itself as attitudes from generation to generation have evolved. But the Religious Right, a powerful force, doesn't agree, and are fighting moderation--regardless of the consequences.

Religious Right politicians cut programs for the poor, reduce scholarships for students, and protect tax breaks for the rich—even as they claim allegiance to a gospel of love. They are usually eager to meld church and state, but when it comes to economics, they deny this historical context: biblical culture treated religion and politics as one. The Bible does not make caring for the poor a purely voluntary, individual responsibility, as Republicans claim. In fact, priests were activist lawgivers; society, church and government were integral, and the Temple imposed taxes for the public good as a mandate, not as a voluntary option.

The Religious Right make up about 32% of the former Republican Party (the party was laid to rest by the Tea Party in 2010) and yet their influence is overwhelming because the one reason that drives the majority of elected officials to bow way below the equator to the wealthy minority is MONEY. From 2009-2011 the Religious Right raised more than three-quarters of a billion dollars and they achieve this annually, the bulk of it is tax-exempt.

With that type of influence and how easy it is for them to "pimp" a politician, you need not wonder why the Religious Right is here to stay.

“Progressives will bring balance to the Republic”

Anthony P. Johnson

A Fragile Foundation

There are some in the Republic that say they are fiscally responsible and steadfast on having a limited government. So, why are they trying to block President Obama's legislation regarding same sex marriage, when in fact, President Obama has NOT proposed ANY legislation on same sex marriage? Isn't it interesting that all these elected officials from the Tea Party are attempting to “increase” government while spending billions of dollars to define abortion, contraception and what constitutes marriage? They’re taking a page from their hero, Ronald Reagan, who once stated “Government was the problem”; but, he went on to increase government spending to record levels. What we’re hearing is rhetoric that they don't believe.

When legislators strip the middle class and poor of what little resources they do have, ban compassionate people from feeding the homeless, cut funding for education while increasing funding for the construction of new prisons, allow Wall Street to devour people's life savings and look the other way while companies destroy the food and medicine and the environment with the stroke of a pen, you begin to understand the seriousness of this conundrum.

What have we become? Instead of moving forward and creating a better society, we resemble barbarians savagely attacking women, gays, lesbians, and minorities, the homeless and religious beliefs. It was my teaching that we were to evolve as a species, but at this moment we have sunken to a level just above crud and the stuff stuck on the side of our eyes when awakened from a long sleep. We are an apathetic society quickly eroding an already fragile foundation that keeps the Republic from falling over. Instead of ensuring that we don’t repeat the darkness of our past, we’re creating a future with frightening similarity.

Greed, apathy, bigotry and hate are attempting to crash the gates of compassion, wisdom, love and humility, while placing the Republic in the history books as a once great nation but no more and the evolution of humanity--regressing expeditiously.



“Progressives will bring balance to the Republic”


Anthony P. Johnson

Respectfully Agree-to-Respectfully Disagree

What I love about being a citizen of the Republic is we have so many opinions and although we may not always agree, we can respectfully disagree. Some of us don't agree with same sex-marriage and some of us do. With that being said, there is no War on Marriage--there has never been a War on Marriage. Unfortunately, there are some in the Republic that attack same sex-marriage by stoking the embers of vile and hatred rhetoric hoping that the rest of us will join them in embracing the darker angels within. But let us not fall prey, hold steadfast and continue to respectfully agree to respectfully disagree.

“Progressives will bring balance to the Republic”

Anthony P. Johnson