Losers and Lunatics: A weekend in Houston with the NRA

Tuesday, May 7th, 2013




My Dear America:


Talk about your strange weekends.

This past weekend in Houston, Texas the National Rifle Association (NRA) held it's annual Convention.   This year's Convention was possibly the first time ever, or at least in most commentator's memories, the first time anyone could remember when there were no Democrats speaking at the Convention.

Instead, The National Rifle Asscociation changed it's name for the Weekend to the National Republican Association and the doors of the National Republican Clown College opened and out of the College doors poured forth the Republican Clowns of past, Present and Future to populate the stage of the NRA Convention. 

There were the Teds (Nugent and Cruz) both scary as hell, Nugent because of his blatant threats to kill the President and Cruz because of his blatant attempts to kill the President's legislative agenda in the Senate.

There were also the Ricks (Santorum and Perry).  Santorum was the loser of his Pennsylvania Senate Seat to Democrat, Bob Casey, who then had the gall to run for President and actually ended up a strong contender in some states to Mitt Romney.  Rick Perry was, of course, the Governor of the host state and to show his commitment to guns a video of him firing an automatic weapon on a gun range introduced him to the Houston Convention audience to great cheers.

Sarah Palin was there, finally having some convention somewhere showing her some respect.

So was Glenn Beck back from the media dead squeaking and whining about those awful Liberals who were trying to steal democracy away from the poor Gun Toting Americans by proposing background checks.

Another speaker was Non Relevant Bush Appointee, John Bolton, the UN
Ambassador famous for wanting to kill the UN.  He also had a say on the Houston Stage.

And Louisiana Governor, Bobby Jindal, who is famous for his statement after Mitt Romney's loss that the Republican Party should stop being the "Stupid Party," was in Houston showing that he had not quite given up on the stupidity in his party just yet.

Apparently everyone in Houston was celebrating the fact that they had somehow shut down the possibility of the expansion of background checks, at least for the time being.  It is certainly strange to see the NRA celebrating that since most polls show that actual honest to god NRA members are widely in favor of background checks.  Could it be that the gun industry has been putting their money making agenda in front of their common sense agenda in fighting against background checks through the NRA.

What is truly frightening to me is that some of the members of the 2013 Republican Clown College may very well end up being viable Republican Candidates for President in 2016, Cruz, Perry, Palin and Jindal, for instance.  If that happens liberals may very well look back at the Republican Crop of Oddball Candidates in the 2012 Election as "The Good Old Days."

God forbid that one of these Gun Toting, Venom Spouting mad men or woman
would ever get to the White House.

That is a thought that is very frightening and very real. 

It is time for the average American Voter to start paying attention to what is happening to their liberty.  Slowly but surely we are sinking ever more frighteningly into the swamp of stupidity and arrogance that can one day leave us in the grip of someone like Cruz or Perry, who may very well turn out to be clowns, but extremely dangerous and persuasive clowns, nevertheless.


Sincerely Yours

Jerry Gallagher

After The Boston Marathon Bombings The Healing Begins

Monday, April 22nd, 2013



My Dear America:

Today is exactly a week after the horrific Boston Marathon Bombings in Boston, Massachusetts last Monday.  It is only a week after the bombings but it seems as though we have been dealing with this horror for much longer. 

Many questions remain as to why two people who seemed to genuinely take advantage of the American Dream would turn their attention to trying to destroy that dream.  The suspects in the bombing were brothers who did not flee Boston immediately after the bombs went off but instead seemed to go about their business as usual until Thursday of last week when the FBI singled out their pictures and videos for broadcast and asked for the cooperation of the public in identifying them. 

Judging by the events of Thursday night the brothers became spooked by the fact that they were probably going to be identified by someone who knew them and started on a night of killing and gunfighting that left one MIT Policemen dead and another Policeman badly wounded and hanging onto his life at this point.  They carjacked an individual prior to having a gun battle with Boston Authorities but did not kill that person.  Reportedly the younger brother ran over his seemingly dead older brother in his effort to get away from the authorities. 

The younger brother was eventually captured in a blood spattered boat in a Watertown, Massachussetts backyard and was arrested to the cheers of neighbors and other Bostonites and to the relief of Federal State and local Boston Law Enforcement Agencies after a virtual lockdown of Boston for most of the day on Friday.

Certainly it is easy for me to second guess authorities in a situaltion like this since I didn't have any responsibility for anything that happened in Boston.  I think that the powers that be (Federal, State and Local) showed a courage that was admirable and a willingness and even an eagerness to work together that eventually led to the death of the older brother and the capture of the younger brother.  This unity in the face of extreme danger was and is admirable and is something that our Congress could and should learn from as we continue to waste time on petty BS instead of dealing with the monstrous challenges and problems that our country faces day after day, week after week and year after year.  

The shutting down of Boston on Friday might be debated but the truth was that no one was sure if the man on the run had other explosive devices he was planning to use.  In my opinion the shutting down of Boston was, if not a necessay step, at least a wise step. 

My only real problem with this whole situation is that seemingly age old problem of giving too much Television and other media attention to people who should not be given any attention at all.

Why these nice looking average seeming young guys became monsters a week ago is something we will probably learn about in time.  Why they killed three people and blew the limbs off many more will also probably be revealed.  Hopefully the dastardly deeds of these two men will not lead other lunatics to try and outdo them but the speed in which social media and technology helped to kill and capture the duo will certainly give pause to others who might feel as though they can get away with acts of terror in a city like Boston.

Certainly Boston, its residents, its law enforcement representatives and the State Police, FBI and The Massachussetts Governor, Deval Patrick and President Obama must be commended for their swift, decisive and effective action in bringing this terrible episode to a swift conclusion.

Boston has many reasons to be proud.



Sincerely Yours

Jerry Gallagher

Happy 100th Birthday, Richard Nixon

Friday, March 22nd, 2012




My Dear America:

Last Saturday, March 15th, I was in my living room playing Remote Roulette trying desperately to find something interesting to watch on Television.  As I flipped through the channels suddenly I saw one of the C Span channels that caught my eye.  The C Span logo for the program that I found was "Happy 100th Birthday, Richard Nixon" or something akin to that.  The broadcast was initially recorded in January according to information on the screen and the Richard Nixon birthday party was taking place at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C..

Here I was, merely days after virtually attending the Common Cause sponsored "Lessons of Watergate" Conference Online, which reminded me not only how wrong things went during the "Watergate Scandal" but how after changes had been put in place to prevent abuses similar to Watergate, those changes had over time been watered down or done away with altogether.

In my opinion Richard Nixon was certainly one of the worst Presidents we have ever had, if not the worst.  Now here was this bizarre televised tribute to Nixon in a packed ballroom with lots of applause for Pat Buchanon who seemed to go on forever extolling the virtues of his former boss.  Following Buchanan was a barely literate Henry Kissinger also finding wonderful things to say about Tricky Dick.  A few moments of Kissinger was all I could stand and I looked for something else to watch, something less disturbing and weird.

I can't get it out of my mind, though, how it was even possible to get this many people together to sing the praises of Nixon at what was surely an expensive dinner and celebration, yet the turnout for the "Lessons of Watergate" was far fewer people and I am sure cost less to attend in person.

When Richard Nixon is being idolized anywhere in America something has gone terribly wrong.  I thank C Span  however for showing those of us who remember the criminal activity of the Nixon Administration that incredibly weird things are occurring in our country even outside of the House of Representatives.



Sincerely Yours

Jerry Gallagher

Thank You Common Cause For All You Do

Thursday, March 14th, 2013



My Dear America:

I just finished watching what I understand to be the final presentation of the Conference sponsored by Common Cause titled "The Lessons Of Watergate."

The presentation was by John Nichols, a journalist for "The Nation."

Mr. Nichol's presentation, like all of those other presentations that I watched on my computer during the past two days, was interesting, exciting and very informative.  As a Watergate Junkie for many years I was struck by the number of Watergate Scandal involved individuals who were apparently attending the conference.  John Dean, Daniel Ellsberg, Richard Ben Veniste, William Cohen and Elizabeth Holtzman, just to name a few.  

There were many outstanding presenters and many incredible moments even for those of us who were not there in person.

I want to personally thank Common Cause and especially the Administrators and Staff of Common Cause for putting on a very worthwhile and interesting presentation for everyone who was there and for those of us who could only make it online.  I hope Common Cause is able to put the entire live stream broadcast on their website for people to enjoy the Conference for years to come.

Even more important to me than learning about Watergate was learning more about Common Cause and what those of us who call ourselves liberals or progressives owe this outstanding organization.  Common Cause has been in the forefront of advocating for the people of America who often times do not have anyone else standing up for them.  Common Cause has been advocating for you and I, America for a very long time and it appears will be continuing to be planning to do so for a lot longer.

I feel lucky that we all continue to have Common Cause looking out for us in the New World of Big Bucks Politics and little attention paid to to High Crimes and Misdemeanors involving our Political Leaders.

I learned some things from this outstanding Conference that I am sure will continue to stick with me over the years.  I learned that one of the possible reasons for some of the Nixon White House Plumbers burglaries might have been to find out in 1972 if Democrats were aware that Richard Nixon had convinced North Vietnam not to be involved in peace talks in 1968 until after Nixon won the White House.   That was a mind blower to be sure.

Another bit of information that blew my mind was the revelation that the Administration with the most legal prosecutions pressing reporters to reveal their sources using the threat of jail is the Obama Administration by a wide margin.

Neither of these startling bits of information can be designated good news but I believe that good or bad, Americans need to know and learn how to deal with the Truth and that, indeed, the truth truly shall make them free.

We in America have many problems, almost too many to fix.  The news we hear daily is mostly bad news, news stories showing how things are going from bad to worse.  Its a shame that we have to tolerate the bad news with the good but I am thankful that we have organizations like Common Cause that are truly looking out for us, for Americans of all Genders, Colors and Stations in Life.

Thank You, Common Cause for being there for us for so long, for putting on this Conference and for keeping the Democratic Ball rolling in these seriously strange and difficult times. 

All Americans who benefit from your Tenacity, your Courage and your Truth continue to support you and wish you well in all of your struggles.

Thanks Again.


Sincerely Yours

Jerry Gallagher

Common Cause Conference on "The Lessons of Watergate" will be streaming on the Common Cause Website on Wednesday 3/13/13 and Thursday 3/14/13 from 9:15 AM til ?

Tuesday, March 12th, 2013





My Dear America:


I am pleased to report that even though I was not able to arrange to actually attend the Common Cause Conference on "The Lessons of Watergate" it appears that I will not completely lose out on participating in the conference because at least some of the presentations will be broadcast streaming online on the Common Cause website www.commoncause.org.  

I am pleased for many reasons to be able to take advantage of an online participation in this Conference for quite a few reasons.  It is difficult for me to comprehend the fact that it has been 40 years since The Watergate Scandal erupted and for several years preyed on you and I and our consciences, America until we were finally able to shake Richard Nixon off our backs and out of the White House like the barnacle on the ship of progress that he truly was.

I found myself in those bygone days in the 70's and paying a lot of attention to Watergate and especially the Senate Watergate Hearings while I was recovering from a very serious and life threatening operation.  I found that a way to write about my feelings concerning Watergate was similar to the way I am presently communicating with you, by way of writing letters to you, America, as if you were (are) a person with whom I can communicate. 

I gathered those letters to you about Watergate and later on wrote more letters to communicate about later instances of Watergate history, such as the final outing of Mark Felt as "Deep Throat," as well as the deaths of Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.  All of those letters and other information about Watergate that I thought was significant have been included in my Watergate History, "Letters To A Lost Nation: A Watergate Chronicle," which is available as a Kindle book or a paperback book through Amazon.com and can also be bought through clicking on the image of the book's cover on this website.  I learned a lot through writing that book and continue to be interested in the topic of Watergate these 40 years later, after the fact.

Some of the lessons of Watergate that I have learned are the following:

When it comes to your Government, Executive and Legislative Branches:
Trust but Verify.

In the case of not only Watergate but probably every other Executive Branch and Legislative branch of Government that we have ever had, much secrecy and in some cases obvious criminality is going on behind the scenes and is being  covered up.   


When the Chips were down and we needed every branch of the Federal Government to be doing it's Job, the system eventually worked although it took awhile.

Although the wheels of justice turned at a snails pace in the case of Watergate, eventually, although Richard Nixon never spent a day in jail man,y of his henchmen did and in the end, largely through the efforts of the Senate Watergate Committee, the House Judiciary Committee and the Watergate Special Prosecutors, Judge Sirica and the Supreme Court, the system finally worked and we moved on from Watergate.


Politicians do not always do what is right for the people they represent and the American People need to do more to pay attention to and get involved in their government and not allow Politicians to do whatever they want without any consequences to bad decisions or bad behavior on their part.


Although I am sure that there are many other lessons to be learned from Watergate I will leave the rest up to others.


I urge whoever can arrange their schedules to do so, however, to join with Common Cause and if you can't attend "The Lessons of Watergate" in person at least attend online.

I am looking forward to watching and listening to such Watergate All Stars as William Cohen (Republican) and Elizabeth Holtzman (Democrat), both members of the House Judiciary Committee who voted articles of Impeachment against President Richard Nixon and finally caused Nixon to resign. 

Also the distributor of the Pentagon Papers, Daniel Ellsberg will be there.  Nixon and Company were so obsessed with Ellsberg that Nixon's black bag operations crew, "The Plumbers" broke into Ellsberg's Psychiatrist's office in Los Angeles to try to find dirt on him.  They were not successful in finding the dirt they were looking for. 

Richard Ben Veniste, one of the Watergate Special Prosecutor's Assistant Prosecutors will also be there with many other notables including Former Senator Russ Feingold.

I'm gearing up my computer right now and I am looking forward to what I believe will be a very interesting and inspiring Conference beginning tomorrow.



Sincerely Yours

Jerry Gallagher

Sequestration: Fear and Loathing In The Halls of Congress - Just One More Month Until The Government Shuts Down Completely

March 1st, 2013

My Dear America:

Well its official now, or it will be in about an hour.

The Lunatics have finally taken over the Asylum, that Asylum being the United States Congress and we are about to enter the New World of Sequestration.

Sequestration is the result of Congressional "Negotiations" with the President when we had our debt ceiling debate and semi-crisis last year and with a gun to President Obama's head politically, the Congress set us on the road to Sequester.  

We have been told by numerous Republican Senators and Members of Congress that President Obama is blowing things out of proportion and that things won't be so bad when across the board cuts hit at 11:59 this morning.

Of course things won't be so bad for Senators and Congresspeople.  They have very wisely put into the Sequestration plan that they passed last year provisions that allow many other people, including their staff members, to be losing their jobs.  Amazingly enough, though, Senators and Congresspeople will still be receiving their salaries.  No wonder they don't feel that Sequestration will be so bad.  It will only be bad for those other people who do lose their jobs and salaries, not for Congress.  

Something else that the Republicans have kept under wraps is that with regard to government spending the Federal Government has actually been decreasing government spending levels over the past 4 years that President Obama has been in office.  You don't hear any Republicans advertising that fact.

Prior to Obama's Election, however, George W. Bush took us from a healthy Government Monetary Surplus left by President Clinton to near financial collapse and out of control debt by the beginning of the Obama Presidential Term.  Oddly enough Republican Deficit Hawks during the George W. Bush years were in short supply in the halls of Congress.  Paul Ryan voted Pro Bush all the way.  Only when Barack Obama took over did Representative Ryan see a darkness on the debt horizon.

Certainly we have a debt problem in this country, along with a jobs problem and many other incredible problems.  Sequestration is not going to help heal any of the problems we have.  It is going to aggravate our problems and when, as the Republicans have promised, the United States Government shuts down in a month we will then be looking at possibly bigger problems than it will be even possible to fix.

We all have to hope that the Lunatics come to their senses before it is too late to salvage anything from the rubble of a Republican controlled House of Representatives.

It's time to say a prayer people.

God Bless us all and God Save The United States of America and hopefully send some knowledge and common sense to the voters of America so that we can "Clean House" in a big and responsible way in the coming years.

Amen

Sincerely Yours

Jerry Gallagher

Why is The United States Congress on a Week Long Vacation

Monday, February 18th, 2013 
(Presidents Day)



My Dear America:

Here we are again, My Dear Country.   

We are once again poised at the top of another Republican created Fiscal Cliff wondering if this may, indeed, be the big one, the big Kahuna that puts us all in the poorhouse and finally completely knocks the underpinnings out from under the increasingly weakened structure of Democracy in the United States of America.

                    Sequester  

It is an ugly sounding name and each day and time that we hear it as it comes closer and closer it becomes uglier and more frightening.  What is it?  When is it coming?  What can we do about it.  

It is becoming increasingly obvious that we are being governed by a Congress full of irresponsible Stupid Lunatics.  No, they are not all Stupid and Lunatics. But the Stupid Lunatics, while they have not completely taken over the Asylum, yet, seem to be increasingly willing to do whatever it takes to destroy, or at least damage the United States Government.  

Why are these wild men and women able to wreak havoc on our country, America?

The simple answer is that we let them do whatever they want, without consequences.  These maniacs in the House and Senate have been running amok for years and tearing this country apart and "We The People" have let them trample our rights and freedoms with little reaction from the more responsible members of our society.  

We have had elections in recent years.  Some of them have been stolen out from under us by tactics that would have seemed harsh and unlawful even in the USSR in it's heyday.  Certainly the Bush Family and Friends stole the election for George W. in 2000.  Karl Rove and Republican Secretaries of State in key Republican controlled states helped George W. keep his incredibly expensive warmongering lunatic policies in office once again in 2004.  Since then somehow or other, primarily due to the force of his personality, Barack Obama has been elected twice, once in 2008 and also in 2012.  

It seems to have made no difference at all, however, to the Republicans in Congress that we have had these past two Presidential Elections.  It seems as though the Radical Right Wing Republicans in Congress have had no message from the 2008 and 2012 Elections other than that they should in 2013 step up their irresponsible game.  

It is increasingly clear as we prepare to go over a Fiscal Cliff, possibly far worse than the one at the beginning of the year, that many Republicans, especially Tea Party Republicans don't give a damn about what is good or right for you, America, and are increasingly looking to dismantle, if not destroy, your Federal Government.

The truth is that we are very lucky that the Republicans, even with their fortunes spent to kill the Obama Presidency, were not able to do so.  Thank God, and the Constitution for that.  Obama's victory should have been a lesson for the Republican Lunatic Fringe that it was time to stop the Madness.  Clearly the Lunatics have not gotten that message and some of the things that are going on in the Republican party are mind shattering.

For instance, the ruthless Character Assassination of Secretary of Defense Nominee, Chuck Hagel, in his Senate Confirmation Hearings were clearly unnecessary and although he will be confirmed, he will be confirmed as a weakened leader of the Defense Department at a time when we need strong leadership in that role.  In the case of Chuck Hagel the Guilty Culprits were not Lunatics but instead were Senators who formerly (and in John Mccain's case still) counted Chuck Hagel as a friend.  The other main Senate culprit, Lindsey Graham, who along with John McCain demanded answers on 4 dead US Diplomats and their protectors in Benghazi, have prior to their present week long vacation from their Senate duties, held up the release of Hagel's name to the entire Senate for a Confirmation vote for no good reason.

In the meantime, these two Senators who claim to be concerned about National Security, allow the Defense Department, to be without a permanent leader for a week while one of the most dangerous worlds we have ever known  continues to spin out of any reasonable control in many spots all over the globe.  Both Graham and McCain have already indicated that when the Senate returns after their week long vacation they will vote to allow Chuck Hagel's full Senate vote to proceed provided that they don't find any more verbal ammunition to fire at their former Senate colleague and "friend."

Meanwhile the madness continues seemingly unabated not only in America but around the world, in Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, North Korea, Lybia, Egypt, Pakistan, Mali and elsewhere.  It certainly would be more responsible to have had Senators McCain and Graham helping to get through former Republican Senator Hagel, instead of doing what they did before in killing what was a responsible choice for Secretary of State, Susan Rice, because of their obsessive and vindictive concentration on Benghazi.  While Certainly what happened at Benghazi was a matter of legitimate concern, so are all of the other matters of legitimate concern all over the world.

It is way past time for all of us who live in America to get involved in what is happening in our country and to let our elected leaders know what we want, no demand that they do.  Governmental Leadership in America should not be left to the Tea Party and other members of the Right Wing Lunatic Fringe.  

We need to get on our computers and E Mail our Representatives.  We need to call them.  We need to sign petitions.  We need to get involved in our local Democratic and/or Republican Parties and stay involved on local government and even run for office if the chance presents itself.  We need to get involved now or the Lunatic Fringe will continue to put the screws to Progressives
everywhere.  Lastly, I would recommend that those of us who can, commit some time and effort to get involved with Common Cause, the Peoples Lobby, sign their petitions as well as petitions from other sites and groups, get involved also with organizations like Moveon.org or other Progressive Organizations which are taking stands in which you believe.

If we don't do this, citizens, we may live to regret it, or our children and grandchildren may live to regret our failure to take actions.  The time is always now for taking action and it is always good to realize that real Freedom is not always Free.  We have gotten used to it being that way but we can lose our Freedoms very quickly, or even more likely, We can lose our Freedoms gradually, seemingly without our noticing until, it is too late.

Have a wonderful time Congress on your week's vacation before Sequestering puts America over the Cliff and on the skids once more.  

I have one question for you, however.

What are you on Vacation From?  Certainly it is not from work.



Sincerely Yours


Jerry Gallagher