WHAT DO PAWLENTY AND BACHMANN HAVE TO INDICATE COMPETENCE FOR THE PRESIDENCY?

Tim Pawlenty's governance of Minnesota was thrust under a microscope as the government of Minnesota has just been shut down.  The move throws, as one minor example of the catastrophic results to residents of the state, 23,000 state workers out of jobs.  Even with the Democrat currently as governor, the state is in the control now o9f a decided Republican majority in both houses.  They seem to be totally without heart about the citizens who voted them in.

Taken from an article in The Wall Street Journal by Patrick O'Connor and Neil King, Jr.:
"Mr. Pawlenty presided over the state's last government shutdown in 2005. He frequently highlights that impasse on the campaign trail as evidence of his dedication to cutting spending. The former governor eventually resolved that fight partly by offering to raise a fee on cigarette sales, a measure he still declines to refer to as a tax."  To read the entire article, click here. 

While Mr. Pawlenty doesn't believe it will impact on his bid for Presidency, it shocks me how ridiculously low the Republican candidates hold preparedness and competence for the Office of US Presidency and its complex problems.

The Minnesota shutdown puts Bachmann also in the limelight.  ABC News in an article by Matthew Jaffe writes:  "The other candidate, Rep. Michele Bachmann, solidified her standing as Tea Party darling when earlier this year she urged Republicans in Congress not to fear a federal government shutdown -- or "slowdown," as she called it -- in their own funding fight in Washington."   Click here for the whole article.  I, for one, would never vote for either of them who reflect a total disconnect with the way their actions impact their constituencies.

May the 'Force Be With Us' because, clearly, trust in God isn't working!

WHY ARE WOMAN REPUBLICAN POLITICIANS NOT PROTESTING THE CUTBACK IN PLANNED PARENTHOOD?TO PLANNED

As more and more blocks are being put on women's health and interests, I do not hear the Republican women raising their voices.  Who in the world are the misogynists that have been voted in to represent the 18th C in our laws?  Click here,  and here,  and here.

Two high profile Republican women have not uttered a public word when they hear that their sisters have lost the 97% of their medical  care Planned Parenthood  provided their poorest sisters.  Apparently they think they are accepted in the White, big boy network.  They will soon understand they are nothing but arm candy, to the Republican men; what Maria Shriver was to Arnold   Schwartzenegger...someone to make him look good in public; to make him look like an honest man.

It is as though the Phyllis Schlafly  of the is still blocking the progress of women towards finding some equality as marital partners and in the workplace.  This woman has been the equivalent of the American Taliban for women.  Schlafly campaigned against the proposed Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). The amendment called for men and women to be given equal treatment under the law. Schlafly opposed the ERA because it would require women to serve in combat, and because she believed it would take away legal rights of wives and would negatively influence family life.(from her biography...se link above).  She was wrong for women as Ayn Rand was wrong in her economic ideas used by Greenspan for this country.

BULLYING NOT NEW; JUST SUPPORTED BY TOO MANY

Bullying is often not the creation of the bully.  Often there is subtle approval and permission given by a parent or parents, the local society, and those who want someone else to do their 'dirty work'.  I've been searching out what is going on about laws or states who seriously express concern about bullying, I found a site that looks interesting.  Click here. The site belongs to the Bully Police USA.  Most of the states are listed, with many having been given a grade rating.  I was interested in seeing that Massachusetts earned an A++ rating.  If that is deserved, I don't wish to imagine how little is being done in other states.  California brought their rating up from a D to a B and the reasons why it came up are listed.

Bullying exists wherever the power structure is unequal and the one with more perceived power can effectively bully...sometimes indistinguishable from blackmail, though often physical or power in other ways to hurt the target, such as firing, doing damage to their reputation, etc..  As prevalent as it may be in Middle School, we should never presume bullying only happens in children and teens.  There are bosses who are bullies, law enforcement personnel in all stations, clergy, politicians, men, women, and anyone who can 'win' over someone else and sports the cruelty to be able to see it through.  Just disagreeing with someone else's opinion causes some bullies to take action.

This makes it a conclusion that those who are biased, opinionated, and unable to believe theirs are not the only acceptable opinions can easily bully to get others to agree.  The abortion doctor, Dr. George Tiller, who was shot a few months ago is certainly a poster boy for this kind of rigidity in the bullying perpetrator.  The murderer believed he was doing something good.  He was incapable of feeling for the life he took nor the family around him and friends who loved and depended on Dr. Tiller. 

As is typical in my first paragraph, the man who shot Dr. Tiller was being urged on by the rhetoric of the anti-abortionists.  Those who advocate violence will watch this kind of bullying and feel virtuous because it was not their finger lifted in the violence.  However, Bill O'Reilly, in my opinion, and those like him should share the responsibility for their actions.  Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, Glenn Beck, Limbaugh, and all those who are stirring up violence should be held accountable when it happens.