The Most Powerful Person in the GOP

John Boehner may be celebrating his winning control of the House, but he should not delude himself into thinking he's the new King of the GOP Block.

After tonights bloodshed there is only one true Republican force - and it's Sarah Palin. Hate her or love her, there is no doubt she has tapped into a potent political force and used it to mobilize the tea party. Which is clear by tonights early results that shows the GOP has trounced the weak kneed Democrats who despite accomplishing a great deal - ran like chickens as soon as the mad right starting yelling at town meetings. Instead of yelling back, Democrats panicked and were slaughtered in the end.

Back to Speaker Boehner - good luck in controlling your new tea party members who will make the fractured Democrats look like the Cosby's. Because in the end, it will be Madam Palin and her loyalists who will be driving the agenda - not you.

5 Reasons Why I Don't Trust Republicans!

1. When Republicans talk about cutting spending they mean ending funding for programs they don't benefit from - when real spending cuts need to come in areas which both parties refuse to discuss - defense spending, social security and medicare.

2. The Republican emphasis on cutting taxes without providing details on how they will make up for the loss revenue and the fact less taxes (nor bailouts) does little to encourage corporations to expand or hire more people - see 8 years of Bush tax cuts.

3. The close association between the Grand Old Party and the Christian right wing, a group of conservatives whose views of life don't include people of different religions, race or sexual orientation - evident by the constant clashes over abortion, immigration and gays serving in the military.

4. The GOP scorch earth campaign strategy which emphasizes playing on people's fears and painting opponents as out of touch with "real Americans" while rarely offering any solutions of their own except cutting taxes and spending.

5. And finally because when I think of the GOP the first images that comes to mind are a cheaply tanned US Senator, a Tea Party Queen from Alaska, a blow hard radio host named Rush and a former VP who would makes even Darth Vadar shiver.

5 Questions I Would Like to Ask a Politician?

If I had the chance to sit down with any politician from Washington, these are 5 questions I would like them to answer.

1. With all the talk about the deficit, and the debate over raising taxes and cutting spending, which three programs would you cut or eliminate funding for to balance the budget?

2. Name me three intiatives you would support to start America on the road to energy independence?

3. Would you support a measure which the majority of your district, the country and your party was against, in order to protect the rights of minority?

4. What do you believe are the reasons for the persistent problems with educating our youth, eliminating poverty and the wide gap between the rich and the poor?

5. If one of your children, family members or close friends became engaged to someone who was of a different color, religion or sexual orientation and asked for your public support - would you give it?

Politics as Usual on Gay Ban

Today's vote about ending the ban on gays in the military was just another example of Congress' inability to get anything meaningful done. And blame goes both ways on this issue. I blame the Democrats for attaching the measure to a large defense bill without allowing GOP amendments, knowing full well Republicans would reject the idea and fillbuster. But I also blame the GOP who would've found some other way to say "no" which in the end forced the Democrats to stuff it through on the defense bill.

In other words, it was politics as usual in DC. Screw the people and what they deserve, because party ideology is more important than what's best for the nation. Shame on you Senators. All 100 of you.

The Best Part of Fall

Other than the start of football the best part of the Fall is the changing of the leaves. Living in New England we are blessed with some of the most beautiful foilage scenes in the world. Attending college in NH, I witnessed first hand how people come from all over the world to view New England's fall foilage.

If you have a Saturday or Sunday free, take a ride on Rte 101 between Peteboro and Keene in the Monadnock Mountain region of New Hampshire and you'll see what I mean. Just don't use my name - I terrorized the region for 5 years.

One Down 15 More to Go

The Patriots kicked off their season with a solid win over the Bengals. Of special note was the performance of the defense which held its own against a pretty good offensive unit especially the much worried about DBs who had their hands full with Carson Palmer and his receivers.

Of course, not everyone was happy at the end of the game - Randy Moss repeated his belief he is "not appreciated" and this will be his last year as a Patriot. All I can say is Adios Amigos.

9 Years after 9/11

Nine years later America continues to grapple with the consequences of the 9/11 attacks. The cowardly attack by Islamist fanatics rocked this country to the core and has been struggling to regain its footing ever since. And with the recent uproar of the proposed mosque in NYC and the Karon buring in Florida, never mind the war in Afghanistan, its obvious we still have a long way to go.

Unlike the "Greatest Generation" which united to fight the threat of facism, today's Generation has turned on each other and created an atmopshere of me against them. Doing that dishonors all the victims of 9/11 and the Wars that followed. Instead of looking for someone to blame (ie government, immigrants), American's should be asking what they can do to get this country back on the right track. In the end, this would be the greatest tribute to those we lost.