Guns don't kill people, Republican's do!

http://winkprogress.com/thedailyedge/4079/house-republicans-still-determined-to-kill-you/

Walker's Thugs brutalize old woman

http://bloggingblue.com/2014/06/71-year-old-woman-files-brutality-complaint-against-wisconsin-capitol-police-officer/

Hobby Lobby opens door for terrorists

http://mobile.rawstory.com/all/2014-07-06-lawyers-for-guantanamo-detainees-cite-hobby-lobby-ruling-in-motion-for-prayers#1

Zimmerman busted again

http://winkprogress.com/thedailyedge/2719/texas-where-an-armed-george-zimmerman-gets-a-warning-for-speeding-innocent-women-get-a-cavity-search/

What Would Thomas Paine Say If He Were Alive Today?

Who Was Thomas Paine?

According to Wikipedia, 

Was an English-American political activist, philosopher, author, political theorist and revolutionary. As the author of two highly influential pamphlets at the start of the American Revolution, he inspired the Patriots in 1776 to declare independence from Britain. His ideas reflected Enlightenment-era rhetoric of transnational human rights. He has been called "a corsetmaker by trade, a journalist by profession, and a propagandist by inclination. Moreover, he promoted reason and freethinking, and argued against institutionalized religion in general and Christian doctrine in particular.

With that said, what would the Britain born political activist of his day have to say about America Today? What would his views be on Corporations as people, and money equaling free speech. Would he approve or is he turning over in his grave? Would the recent Hobby Lobby case cause him to take the stump and pen to paper or would he affirm the decision? Based on this writers research the answer to these questions would be an emphatic no. Paine's early activism caught the eye of then statesmen Benjamin Franklin. Ironically, Paine's early activism centered around better pay for the working class in his home country of Britain. Thomas Paine moved to America was mainly because he was a failure at many of his endeavors in Britain and America offered him a fresh start. Once getting to America he began working as a journalist. The breakout of the American Revolutionary war gave Paine the chance to define in print the purpose of the war which to many had remained ambiguous. This condition of not really knowing what the American colonies were fighting for inspired his most famous literary work entitled " Common Sense."  

In this writers view, Common Sense was the first litmus test on how political activism and journalism could co-mingle themselves not only to educate the unknowing masses, but to actuate change in public thinking which resulted in changing public policy which in this case led to the American Revolutionary war. What to this day is a little known fact is that only a third of the organizers of the rebellion in America were for total independence. It was not until the publishing of Common Sense that the tide swung and what resulted was the Declaration of independence.

I offered nothing more than simple facts, plain arguments, and Common Sense. [Thomas Paine, 1776]

It was this pamphlet that stirred the public discourse to such a point that it brought about the desired recourse for We The People. 

George Washington  was quoted

" The American people owe their liberty to Thomas Paine more than any other man."

One of Thomas Paine's most famous quotes:
'There are times that try men's souls.' Are we not living in such times today? We have a high court that places more regulations on a female's vagina than on weapons of mass destruction in the hands of mental incompetents. In addition, we have a high court through judicial over-reach totally ignores the separation of church and state doctrine  in our constitution. In fact, the behavior of the U.S. Supreme Court mirrors very much the actions of the British monarchy of Paine's time. We have an attack of the rights of workers in this country that was the genesis of Paine becoming politically active in the first place. What was a British monarch in 1776 has become a corporate monarch of 2014. With everyday citizens losing rights on a daily basis to corporate bought legislative tactics such as "right to work," "voter ID laws," and gerrymandering just to name a few these are truly times that can try a man's soul.

Just like today, conservative thinkers of Paine's time found him bothersome. John Adams called Thomas Paine a mongrel. Just like today, when you have politicians like Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, and Christian zealots applauding the Hobby Lobby decision  for upholding so-called religious liberty at the expense of everyone else we see our present condition here in America reverting back to a truism this writer holds dear," history does repeat itself." Conservatives of Thomas Paine times are no different than modern-day conservatives. They fear change. In closing, the important thing and example that Thomas Paine's story teaches us is that we must as individuals make a mark for ourselves on what we stand for and believe. No matter how insignificant you may feel your voice crying in the wilderness might be it's the collective voices crying together that can become a roar and effect change. What would Thomas Paine say if he were alive today? Rise America, participate in the process these are times that try men's souls use your common sense with reason.

    


   

If the founding fathers were all Christian

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/03/18/1285607/-If-Our-Founding-Fathers-Were-All-Christians-Why-Did-They-Say-This?detail=email

FCC Political TV Ads: New Rule Allows Anyone to Track Spending Online

Thursday, 03 Jul 2014 12:04 PM

By Clyde Hughes

Exactly who is funding political ads has always been public information, but interested citizens used to have to physically travel to each television station to get it. Under the new rule, political ad buys will be available online from about 1,000 broadcasters around the country, Dennis Wharton, a spokesperson for the National Association of Broadcasters,told The Washington Post.

"Suppose you're running a political campaign. Beginning now, you're going to be able to sit at your computer and find out where your competition has been taking out ads, when they got them for and for how much money," The Post reported. "That kind of information may have always been accessible if you were willing to travel to get it, but now you — or any citizen, for that matter — can find this stuff out from your computer."

Nonprofits like the Sunlight Foundation, which tracks political spending, said the new rule is a victory for transparency in political advertising.

"The expanded online access comes just in time," wrote Kathy Kiely for the Sunlight Foundation blog Monday. "At least six of this year's most hotly contested Senate races — which will likely determine control of the closely-divided chamber — are taking place in states that don't have a top-50 television market: Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana, and West Virginia. In addition, the public will now be getting online access to the political ad files of important stations that aren't affiliated with the big four broadcast networks, including Spanish-language stations."

The Post said the new rule, though, does not cover cable and satellite television companies not under FCC rule.

"We think there's a fundamental unfairness in that exception," Wharton told the Post.

The top four stations in the top 50 markets have been under the new rules since August 2012 and the Sunlight Foundation has filed a complaint with the FCC against 11 stations for not complying with them, according to Broadcast & Cable.