A New Blog On A SUNDAY? Yep, a different day for a different kind of blog!

I think most of you readers would agree with my observation that if you take the time to read the kind of stuff that's written HERE, with all the "opinion" aspects, etc., YOU are proudly what I refer to as the deep THINKERS among us. And I don't say this because all of you agree with me all of the time because nothing could be further from the truth. After every blog that's written and posted, I have email and phone dialogue with many who DISAGREE with what I've written and that dialogue is encouraged by me. While you might be small in numbers compared to so much of the "fluff" that's out there, not to mention diatribes written by intelligent radical minds who zero in on our nation's simplest of minds (whew!), to keep it "simple", I'm talking about the whack-job religious radicals who preach the "Us versus Them HATE" doctrine that's very effective. When times are tough, the simple minds among us are willing to respond favorably to any "Carnival Barker" type who preaches the gospel of "Lashing Out" as opposed to "Looking Within"!

Because I've lived (here) in Los Angeles for more than thirty years, I'll give you an example of what I mean; Many years ago, I was a radio and television sports guy here. In a moment of frustration, the very personable manager of the Dodgers, (and eventual Baseball Hall of Fame member) Tommy Lasorda lashed out by yelling, "It ain't MY bleepin' fault! CAMPANIS is the bleepin' guy!" Tommy was referring to Al Campanis who was the then General Manager of the Dodgers. The Dodgers were going through some difficulties at the time and Tommy wanted everyone to know that none of what was happening was his fault.

And he wanted us to believe that.

Sound familiar?

The United States of America and most of the rest of the world, are going through some very tough economic times right now.

If you're older (like I am), it's easy to "give up" trying to find a job because you've convinced yourself that people of our age aren't even being "considered". Soooo, with the help of the "carnival barker hate mongerer's", we begin to believe it's the Black Guy's fault, it's the Mexican's fault, it's the gay people's fault, go to the Bible, get more guns, etc., etc.....Buuuut....We, the older folks who haven't let the thinking part of our brains get hijacked by the "Hate Preachers", suddenly take note of the fact that YOUNG PEOPLE can't get jobs, either.

In other words, we're ALL in the "SAME BOAT", people!

And what do we do when we're in the same boat while we're having some fun with family and or friends in the water? We row in the same direction, TOGETHER!!!

But what are so many of us doing NOW? Thanks in part to hate spewing carnival barker types and phony hate spewing preachers who claim to be representing God when in fact they're representing the Devil, the hands down best country in the world, The United States of America, is rapidly becoming the "Country of NO!". As opposed to the country I grew up in, loved and served in the military for, which used to be the "Country of YES!", which is what MADE us the greatest country in the world.

As we approach the anniversary of "9/11", Labor Day and memories of what Dr. King stood for, I find myself remembering a film. "Network". A film written by Paddy Chayefsky, a guy who has since been proven to be either a psychic, a prophet or both because of things that happened AFTER this great film was released. And who will ever forget the words that were screamed by the fictional character, Howard Beale which resulted in an Oscar being awarded to the actor who played Howard Beale, Peter Finch. And those words were, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not gonna take it anymore!"

On this, the 28th of August, 2011, I'm mad as hell, too! Will you please join me in the boat that will have us all rowing in the same direction. Which is the direction of, "YES!"

I don't know about you, but I've had it up to HERE with this phony carnival barker, radical religion phony preacher crowd who have their simple minded followers believing "NO" is the way to go.

Do you remember what the late NRA President Mr. Heston said (in essence) about him being willing to die for his right to "bear arms"? I'm a long time NRA member and I agree with what Mr. Heston said.

I also agree with (unlike most Muslim countries) our country's "Separation of Church and State" which I'm also willing to die for.

How about it, gang? Are you with me on wanting us, The United States of America to become the proud country of "YES!" again?

THOUGHTS AND OR COMMENTS? Please write to me at scottstjames@sbcglobal.net and I will respond to you ASAP. Don't write to the blog because there's no way for me to know your email address which means I wouldn't be able to respond to you. All "Anonymous" emails are ignored, but everyone else is responded to by me.

THE NEXT BLOG? First of all, the next blog will have some entertainment stuff at the end of the blog like it usually does. I will mention one entertainment item that I forgot to mention when I wrote about the new film, "The Help"in the last blog. I forgot to mention the very fine performance of Jessica Chastain in that film. In addition to her good work in that film which could get her Supporting Actor Oscar consideration, Ms. Chastain has six other films she's starring in that haven't been released yet.

Next blog? Hopefully a week from now, but because of the upcoming Labor Day thing, the next blog might not be until a couple of Wednesdays from now.

Meanwhile, I hope that all of you have a great week. YES!!!

Where Should I Begin?!?

I'm serious! Where should I begin?

I mean, I haven't had a chance to write a new full blog since just before the Republican debates were held in Iowa. And just when I think I know what I'm going to write about, something else happens. And then something else-ELSE happens. And most of these "something else's" are BAD!!!

Let me put it this way; Do you know anyone who isn't a little scared about the condition of the condition our COUNTRY is in right now?!?

And the best way I can describe how bad things REALLY are is by saying there are some people who think Michele Bachmann is a LEGITIMATE presidential candidate!

PUH-LEEZE!!!

So this is where I'll begin.

First of all, I thought the Republican debates were big time entertaining. The next Republican debates will be September 7th. I watched the whole two hours of those debates. I think it was about two hours after they ended that one of the debaters decided he didn't want to be a candidate anymore. Bye, bye T-Paw! I thought all of the debaters said at least a few interesting things and some of the debaters came to fight! T-Paw, while saying some things about Michele Bachmann that she didn't like and a good number of people in the audience didn't like, put T-Paw in a defensive position and Bachmann ended up looking the better of the two by using strategy once used by the great Muhammad Ali; Rope a dope. And T-Paw never knew what hit him.

Newt Gingrich came to fight. But the fight he picked wasn't with any of the candidates, it was with Fox's Chris Wallace. After he stopped barking at Wallace, Gingrich said some things that were worth listening to. Candidate Rick Santorum came to fight, but the fight he picked was with another crowd favorite who was also the oldest candidate, Ron Paul. Not a good strategy, Rick. Candidate Jon Huntsman didn't say much, but what little he did say, was to me, impressive. But earlier TODAY, Jon Huntsman took the gloves off and fired off three verbal rockets in the direction of late arriving candidate, Rick Perry and some might suggest that what Huntsman said today could have been directed at Bachmann as well.

I'll tell you what those three things were in a minute, but let's talk a little about Bachmann and Perry.

Both of them are so-called Tea Party "darlings".

Perry likes to refer to himself as a patriot along with other self aggrandizing descriptions. I don't have a problem with that. When you're trying to become our next President of the United States, you gotta spin the "positive" about yourself. Buuuuut....Isn't this the same guy who, not too long ago, was making noises about Texas seceding from the United States of America and that he, Governor Rick Perry was prepared to be the leader of that movement?

Uh, Governor Perry? Would or could you please explain to us about how patriotic it is to even TALK about something like that? And while you're at it, if somehow you were to get Texas to secede, Texas would then be what? Another country in the middle of the United States of America, the same USA you claim to be a patriot of? And Governor Perry? Can you explain to us why we shouldn't just think you're bleeping CRAZY for coming up with ideas like that? And I mean, DANGEROUSLY crazy?!?

Oh, uh....Governor Perry? What's up with this fundamentalist movement known as "Dominionism" that we are told you are "connected at the hip" to? A movement which says (among other things) that "Christians should rule all earthly institutions". In other words, Christians should rule the world.

Governor Perry, thanks to our Constitution and Freedom of Expression, all of us are entitled to believe in anything we want or choose to believe in. But riddle me this, Governor Perry; Isn't the opposite true for hard-line Muslims? And aren't most of us AGAINST that belief? Just asking, Governor. Just asking.

At the risk of sounding like that wonderful character, Columbo that was played so brilliantly by the late Peter Falk, "Excuse me sir, just one more thing." Governor Perry, if you were to be elected our next President of the United States, will you be trying to get our "Separation of Church and State" OVERTURNED?

Just askin', Governor. Just askin'.

Back to Michele Bachmann for a minute.

She is also friendly with the "Dominionism" crowd. And yes, if she got the nomination, I would be asking her the same questions I'm asking Governor Perry except for the Texas secession business. Other questions I would ask Congresswoman Bachmann?

WHERE do I BEGIN?!?

I mean, she pretty much says something damn near everyday that we all want to ask her about, don't we? Sudden thought: I think that after the next presidential election, a new rule should be made. A quota rule. In the future, every presidential candidate will be allowed to make only so many misstatements. If anyone goes over that number, they can no longer be a candidate.

How many misstatements has Congresswoman Bachmann made in just the last few months? Incalculable. So I'll just bring up a couple of them. While campaigning, she has raised a lot of hell about Government "handouts". Oooops! Turns out that she and her husband have been accepting Government handouts for a good number of years. There are financial statements that people have to fill out after they have accepted Government money. Even when faced with the evidence, she still barks negatively about "handouts" and acts as though the truth is false. Yes, I know that's a confusing sentence I just wrote, but Congresswoman Bachmann is more often than not, a confusing woman. How about what she said yesterday!?! That a few months after she becomes President of the United States, gas prices will drop to TWO DOLLARS A GALLON!!! Say, whaaaat?!?

I could go on and on about Mrs. Bachmann and the "interesting" things she says, but I don't want to come across as someone who's "picking on the girl". Whether it's by design, meaning this is some kind of strange strategy she has, or it's because she has made herself believe some of these wacky things she says, I'll give her this; She's very entertaining.

BACK TO REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE, JON HUNTSMAN:

Earlier in this blog, I mentioned how quiet Mr. Huntsman was during the Republican debates last week. I also mentioned how LOUD Mr. Huntsman was TODAY!

On a day in which three things that Governor Perry has expressed opinions stating he's either against or doesn't believe in were being discussed, Mr. Huntsman threw three verbal rockets stating he totally disagrees with Governor Perry. Perry seems to not believe in evolution and global warming and he seems to be against anything having to do with gay people having the opportunity to be legal couples. Huntsman said, loud and clear, that he's a believer in evolution, a believer in global warming and he believes in same sex civil unions.

A long time Republican and former presidential candidate was heard saying, "He's (Huntsman) CRAZY to be running as a REPUBLICAN!"

A guy who's apparently thinking about becoming a Republican presidential candidate is Congressman Paul Ryan. Politics is a blood sport and if Ryan does indeed become a candidate, he will face questions about things he now disavows. Like the auto bailout he voted for and TARP. He'll also catch heavy heat regarding his ideas about watering down Medicare.

WARREN BUFFETT FOR PRESIDENT?

If you care, you know that the very rich Warren Buffett has publicly stated all this howling coming from Republican politicians about raising taxes on the rich will hurt job creation is absolutely BOGUS!

Buffet is what? The 3rd richest guy in the U.S.? The world? Whatever. He's in the very rare air of the uber-rich. After he made his case in a commentary he wrote for the New York Times, a few Republicans made wise cracks about him but none of them were stupid enough to argue with him because if Republican politicians are consistent with anything, they are most definitely consistent with bowing down to rich guys.

Here's a word for word quote from Warren Buffett: "I have worked with investors for 60 years and I have yet to see anyone....not even when capital gains rates were 39.9% in 1976-77....shy away from a sensible investment because of the tax rate on the potential gain. People invest to make money, and potential taxes have never scared them off. And to those who argue that higher rates hurt job creation, I would note that a net of nearly 40 million jobs were added between 1980 and 2000. You know what's happened since then? Lower tax rates and far lower job creation."

If you didn't read his commentary, there's a lot more than what I chose to use, but nothing that he wrote was contradictory to what you see above.

Several people, including my former great radio producer, Jeanette Grider have suggested that maybe Warren Buffett should be a presidential candidate. If he won, he'd have to take a hell of a pay cut, but none of those lobbyists that Washington is full of would have one second of "Bribe time" with him! In fact, a guy as rich as Buffett is, would be the perfect guy to let all lobbyists know they are no longer welcome in Washington. Think about it. A lot of (mostly Republican) politicians are bitching and moaning about the "deficit"! If lobbyists were outlawed in Washington what kind of deficit reduction would THAT result in?!?

Warren Buffett for President? Like Elvis once sang, "If I can dream....."

ENTERTAINMENT STUFF:

Have you heard about this Billy Crystal rumor? That he might be the host of the next Academy Awards show? Crystal has let it be known he's interested in doing that gig again and now we'll find out how badly (or not) Academy officials would like to see ratings for that show go UP!!! Again.... "If I can dream...."

I've seen a lot of movies (mostly on cable) since the last blog, but I'm only going to mention three. A film on cable I was very disappointed in....A film on cable that surprised me big time....And a new film that deserves serious, SERIOUS Oscar considerations.

"How do you Know", a 2010 film that's currently on the STARZ circuit. This film was directed by the great James L. Brooks and it featured an outstanding cast. Reese Witherspoon, Owen Wilson, Paul Rudd and the great Jack Nicholson. On paper, it's impossible to screw up a film with that kind of cast and director, but screw it up they did. Major, major disappointment.

"Gigli", a 2003 film that was BARBECUED by the critics. And the critics were barbecuing this film long after the film wasn't being shown anywhere. It's currently on the Encore circuit and I have no idea why I decided to try watching this film. I believed the critics. They couldn't all be wrong, could they? Under the category of "Different strokes...", I ended up being very, very surprised. I thought there were a couple of short weak stretches, but overall, I liked this film. This is a film that starred Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez when they were dating and talking about getting married to each other. I didn't know that the great character actor Christopher Walken was in this film and I never heard anything about Al Pacino being in this film. Well, he was and as usual, he was damn good. Justin Bartha, an actor I had never heard of, played a handicapped guy and he was outstanding in this role. And as usual, the chemistry provided by Jennifer Lopez is terrific. No matter what one might think of her, one thing can't be taken from her. When she's on the screen, you can't take your eyes off of her. I know. I might be the only critic in the world who said something nice about this film. Check it out. You might end up being as surprised as I was.

Have you heard about this new film, "The Help"? This past Monday, my long time friend Kevin Gershan who is also a long time Producer-Director for "Entertainment Tonight" told me I should see this film. The next morning (this past Tuesday), I went to an 11:30-am showing of this film. 11:30 in the morning and the theatre was almost packed.

Some people are referring to "The Help" as a Chick Flick. The morning I was there, the gender breakdown was pretty much 50-50.

"The Help" is a film based on a best selling book about African American maids in White households in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 60's.

Great cast. Emma Stone plays the role of "Skeeter" and Allison Janney plays her mother. You might remember Janney from all the episodes of "The West Wing" that she was in. Sissy Spacek and Mary Steenburgen have good supporting roles. Three other stars in this film are Viola Davis as "Aibileen", Octavia Spencer as "Minny" and Bryce Dallas Howard as "Hilly", a character that made me think of Michele Bachmann.

Gang, you'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll almost die. That's how good "The Help" is. It is two hours and seventeen minutes of superb film-making. Viola Davis, Emma Stone, Octavia Spencer, Bryce Dallas Howard, Director Tate Taylor and film itself are all deserving of Oscar consideration and multiple Oscars being won wouldn't surprise me at all. Because of a scene near the end of the film that will bring tears to your eyes unless your blood is made of ice, Allison Janney might get a nomination as well.

"The Help" doesn't need MY help because it's brilliance speaks for itself. Check it out and when you do, you'll thank me.

THOUGHTS AND OR COMMENTS? Please write to me at scottstjames@sbcglobal.net and I will respond to you as quickly as I can. Don't write to the blog because there's no way for me to know your email address which means I wouldn't be able to respond to you. With the exception of "Anonymous" emails, I respond to everyone. "Anonymous" emails are ignored.

THE NEXT BLOG? The way things have been going lately, we're never sure, right? Hopefully, sometime next weekend which means August 27, 28 or 29.

Meanwhile, I hope that you and yours have a terrific weekend.

ANOTHER DELAY!!!

Hi Gang,

My intention was to write a new blog on Tuesday or Wednesday (August 16 or 17), but because of a job playing a college professor that I booked, the new blog will hopefully be written and posted tonight, August 18) or tomorrow, August 19.

Some of the things that will be covered in the new blog will be thoughts on the Republican debates that were held last week and Warren Buffet's comments about why he thinks big time rich folks like him should pay more taxes and how the excuses against that idea posed by bought and paid for congress people are bogus.

Also covered will be Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry's connection to a fringe fundamentalist movement known as "Dominionism" which says Christians should rule all earthly institutions. And while the belief here is that everyone is entitled to their own beliefs, I can't help but wonder if that isn't the same thing that radical Muslims believe about their faith? And aren't most of us critical of that? Just askin'.

Another question that will be posed has to do with Tea Party backed presidential candidates and whether or not one of their missions has to do with making "The Separation of Church and State" a target? In other words, somehow getting it "struck down"?

I'll also be telling you about a so-called "Chick Flick" I saw yesterday, a film that is anything but that and has the potential of being a big time Oscar candidate.

And speaking of the Oscars, will Billy Crystal be the host of the next Academy Awards show?

All the above and more sometime tonight, August 18 or tomorrow, August 19.

Again...Sorry about the additional delay and thanks for your patience.

Scott "The Jammer with the Hammer" St. James

Warren Buffett for President? Are the Tea Party candidates hoping that if elected, they'll be able to eliminate the Separation of Church & State?!?

Interesting stuff coming up in our next blog, gang. My intention was to have our new blog posted sometime tonight, (Monday, August 15) but because of show business obligations, I won't be able to get the blog posted until tomorrow night, August 16 or Wednesday night, August 17.

Oh, have you ever heard of "Dominionism"? I hadn't. Until today. And now I know of two people who know what "Dominionism" is and they both seem to be fans of it. Hello Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry.

More on this when I write the new blog either tomorrow or Wednesday.

Thanks for your patience.

Scott "The Jammer with the Hammer" St. James.

The Jackie Robinson-Barack Obama comparison and from the grave, is Jackie about to get even with JFK & LBJ?!?

I think that in a previous blog, I might have made some slight mention of the comparison associated with President Obama and Jackie Robinson. I know that I have spoken by phone about this with some of you readers and there have also been email conversations about this.

For those of you who might not know, Jackie Robinson was the first African American to play on a major league baseball team. The Brooklyn Dodgers. As we all know, Barack Obama is the first African American President of the United States.

When Jackie Robinson was given this opportunity, he was told by Dodger bosses that a whole lot of people wouldn't like it, he would be called names by fans in the stands and also by players in the opposing dugouts, some of whom might try to injure him with their spikes when they were on the field with Jackie. He was also told that he could not retaliate. Verbally or physically. Because if he did retaliate in any way, shape or form, he would hurt the chances of any other African American baseball player who was good enough to play in the major leagues.

Looking back, people are amazed at what Jackie Robinson put up with for many years while showing on the field talents that would eventually gain him entrance into baseball's Hall of Fame.

After retiring from baseball, he then became a very successful businessman. Some would say, a somewhat bitter businessman because of all the abuse he had to endure while playing baseball. And he ended up dying at a relatively young age.

Buuuuut.....Because he understood the importance of how he conducted himself 24/7, more and more and more players of color were allowed to participate at a major league level in what was then, America's favorite sport.

Do you see where I'm going with this?

Barack Obama.

On this, the 8th day of August, 2011, a whole lot of people who voted for Obama are big time troubled by the fact that a pattern they're seeing from their (our) president is a pattern they don't like at all. In fact, a good sized number of people who voted for Obama are now letting it be known that they want Hillary Clinton to challenge Obama again for (this time) the 2012 nomination! WHY?!? The "pattern" I mentioned that people who voted for him are troubled with is a pattern that seems to show him being unwilling (or unable) to FIGHT for what he believes in. One frustrated 60+ male Obama supporter was recently heard yelling, "I want to see BLOOD on the floor!!!" A 67-year old female Obama supporter was heard yelling, "Obama has no spine and no balls!!!"

Did you watch or hear Obama's short speech this afternoon about the S&P downgrade and the 30 soldiers in the helicopter who were killed in Afghanistan? And while he was speaking we could watch "stock market tanking" updates?

Were you inspired by what you saw and or heard?

I wasn't. And as I've written (here) in the past, I'm a lifetime Republican who voted for Obama. But unless he (all of a sudden) dials up the volume and lets everyone know he IS The Commander in Chief and he DOES have a plan to get us out of this mess annnnd....He IS prepared and willing to FIGHT and FIGHT and FIGHT for what he believes is RIGHT (no pun intended) and if this were to cause him to lose the election, so be it.....Well, if he doesn't do that, no way in hell does he get my vote again.

But back to the Jackie Robinson comparison.

If anyone thinks that our first African American President wouldn't have to walk a little softer than every other president we've had, you're living in a dream world. One thing in particular jumps out at me. Do you remember when the Dean Martin wannabe, otherwise known as the Speaker of the House, John Boehner refused to take a phone call from Obama and then refused to call him back?

Yo, Mister Speaker Dean Martin wannabe!!! The President of the United States? And you don't take his call or call him back? Is that because he's.....and you (maybe) grew up and or are surrounded by people who look more like you who have decided THIS president......?!?

Here's a newsflash, Mister Speaker Dean Martin wannabe. Dean Martin would take Frank Sinatra's call and he would call Sinatra back if he missed a call from Sinatra. Why? Because in the real Dean Martin world, Frank Sinatra was The Chairman of the Board.

Mister Speaker John Boehner, here's your real world. Like it or not, you are outranked by the President of the United States. ANY President of the United States. You take the call, you return the call. Otherwise you come across as a punk who would have been chewed out by any other President of the United States.

And now does everyone understand what I mean by the Jackie Robinson-Barack Obama comparison?

Having said that, YO!!! MISTER PRESIDENT!!! Take the gloves off, Mister President. Take the gloves off and come out swinging. President Bush Senior did that and it cost him a second term. He will always have my admiration because what he did (it had to do with taxes) was what he felt was the right thing to do even though it was the unpopular thing to do. That's what we want to see from you, Mister President. Between now and the 2012 election, FIGHT for what you think is RIGHT! And if enough voters agree with you, you'll win a second term. If not, you walk away with your head held high.

OTHER QUICK ITEMS...

Texas Governor Rick Perry will reportedly announce his candidacy for president this coming Saturday. Yes, he's a Republican.

Donald Trump said some things I wholeheartedly agreed with earlier today. It was about the obscene low taxes that Oil Companies pay while they're raking in billions and billions of dollars that are profits. Trump also pointed out how our oil companies are in cahoots with OPEC.

The rich get richer, don't they? They also have great lobbyists.

Did you hear about this Jackie Kennedy private tapes business? Tapes that Caroline Kennedy gave to ABC in exchange for ABC refusing to air a produced television series about the Kennedy's that starred Tom Cruise's wife as Jackie Kennedy. Among other things said by Jackie in these tapes are (allegedly) Jackie admitting that she had affairs with actor William Holden, some rich car guy and maybe others as a way to get back at JFK for all the cheating he was doing on her. Jackie also (allegedly) says in these tapes that she believed that LBJ (who became President LBJ after the assassination) and some Texas businessmen were responsible for the death of JFK. We will (allegedly) be able to hear those tapes during an ABC special in September that will feature the 50-years since JFK's inauguration.

ENTERTAINMENT STUFF:

As if the Jackie tapes won't be?

Have you ever watched the HBO show, "Entourage". I'm a big fan and this is their final season. So far, it appears as though they plan to go out with a "bang". You can see these final episodes on Sunday nights and the rest of the week.

HBO's "True Blood" is having another good season as well. Also on Sunday nights and the rest of the week.

A couple of days ago, I saw the new film, "Rise of the Planet of the Apes". This is billed as a prequel to the "Planet of the Apes" films in which Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowell, etc. participated in.

When I went to my favorite Cineplex to see this film, I didn't know what to expect, but what I ended up seeing, I didn't expect.

And with the exception of what I thought was a Golden Gate Bridge scene that was too long, I liked this film a lot. James Franco plays a sharper than nails scientist, Freida Pinto plays his love interest and the great John Lithgow plays the Franco character's father.

But the actor who flat out STEALS this film is Andy Serkis. Serkis plays an ape named Caesar andI believe this is the coolest ape that's ever been featured on film. Check it out!

THOUGHTS AND OR COMMENTS? Please write to me at scottstjames@sbcglobal.net and I will respond to you ASAP. Don't write to the blog because there's no way for me to know your email address and that means I wouldn't be able to respond to you. I write back to everyone except for "Anonymous messages". They are ignored.

THE NEXT BLOG? Probably early next Monday morning or later that day.

Meanwhile, I hope that all of you have a great week and that President Obama becomes what people who voted for him wanted. And that's for him to become "Presidential"!!!

SCOTT ST. JAMES’ BLOG ‘THE JAMMER WITH THE HAMMER’ HAS A NEW 'FREE' E-MAIL SUBSCRIPTION FEATURE!

Want to receive updates to my blog, delivered directly to your email inbox? There is a new subscription form, just below my 'About Me' Profile. Just enter your email address, in the box provided, and click on 'Subscribe.' Then, click on the confirmation link in your email and you are good to go. Every time there is a new blog, it will automatically be delivered to you via email. No new content, no email for you. No ads, no spam. Just new content when published. What a country!

A Federal Debt Ceiling Agreement Appears To Have Been Made!

After this blog gets posted sometime (early) this morning, we might learn that a so-called debt ceiling agreement has fallen apart, but as of now, we're led to believe that an agreement (of some kind) has been made.

Serious business, folks. It looks like some people are in danger of being seriously screwed. Like senior citizens who played by the rules and paid for things like Social Security and Medicare. The (mostly GOP) Tea Party crowd has been demanding draconian spending cuts and no tax increases, but no mention has been made about wars that have had a serious effect on our current economic situation.

I know. Details, details. If you want to keep your heads in the sand like the creatures you seem to relate to most (ostriches), it's easy to ignore things like expensive wars that include off the charts medical costs and the fact that the Bush tax cuts have resulted in NO "jobs creation". None, zip, Nada. In fact, this tired argument about lower taxes leading to economic growth is something that has absolutely nothing to do with the truth. Economic growth comes into play when a variety of things happen, things that occur right after taxes have gone up or taxes have gone down.

Again...Details, details.

Trust me, folks. I don't want higher taxes. But even a dumb guy like me can figure out if we're involved in wars, we gotta pay for 'em. I mean, these (in my view) stupid wars we've been involved in and continue to be involved in are wars that have lasted....what? 10-years? Longer?

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Please, please, PLEASE bring back the "military draft". You think we'd still be in Iraq and Afghanistan if the "draft" was in play. Do you think we would have even gone to Iraq? Afghanistan? In Afghanistan's case, I think the answer would have been "Yes!" because of what appeared to be a direct connection to 9/11 involving where Osama bin Laden was reportedly hiding. And because the vast majority of 9/11 murdering hijackers were from Saudi Arabia, an argument could have been made for us to go to war in that country.

THE OVERALL "TEA PARTY" RADICAL EFFECT AND THE GROVER NORQUIST "PLEDGE PUPPETS"

When we first started hearing about the Tea Party crowd, I was pleased. I'm all for people who get involved in our political process as opposed to bending over and accepting what is foisted upon us.

But some of this Tea Party crowd has become scary. I mean, big time scary. I think Michele Bachmann and her husband are scary. I don't doubt for one minute that both of those people are smart and I'll even go so far as to say that (unlike Sarah Palin) when Michele Bachmann spouts off something that isn't even close to being true, I think she knows it isn't true, but what it is, is great speech material. But upon close examination, we note the hypocrisy associated with the Bachmans, too. Like being against government handouts and we discover that the Bachmann family has had no trouble at all accepting government handouts. And this position they take regarding the gay community? Look, I know that a lot of the "radical" Tea Party crowd would like us to be like they thought we were in the 50's, but here's a newsflash, Bachmann family; It's 2011! Deal with it or go back to your (I think now former) hate mongering pastor, your efforts to get a pardon for a ponzi schemer and your conversations with....Well, they're conversations we'll just simply have to take your word for, won't we?

Speaking of scary and hypocritical, have you heard about Republican Congressman, Joe Walsh who has been ranting and raving about us (America) needing severe spending cuts because he's worried about his children having to pay for all the spending we've been doing. Upon first glance, that's a reasonable argument until...ooops...We learn that Congressman Walsh is more than $117,000 behind in his child support payments and is showing no signs of rectifying his hypocritical position.

And then there's Grover Norquist. A lobbyist who has never been elected to anything. A lobbyist who has gotten all but six of the current 240 Republican members of the House and all but seven of the 47 Republican Senators to sign a "no-tax pledge". (thanks to Time Magazine's Joe Klein for this info) What's going on? Are you Republican office holding officials POLITICAL PUPPETS?!? I mean, what happens if something serious happens? Something that's even more serious than this "debt ceiling" business? (Yes, sarcasm intended.) Because you've signed this "no-tax pledge" that means you have to abide by that pledge no matter what?!?

Look, I know you people like to keep things simple. And it looks like you've gotten simple-tons to be your water carriers.

Speaking of simpletons....Rupert Murdoch and Fox News.

Murdoch has been keeping things simple for many years and he got very rich doing that. But he recently became a news maker when charges of possible criminal behavior reared it's ugly head.

As you long time blog readers know, I don't publish comments from readers at the end of my blog like most other writers do. From time to time, I will print comments from readers in the main part of this blog. I have had friendly debates regarding something I've written from a good number of readers. And yes, people who read these musings are people from different parts of the country (in some cases, the world) who agree and disagree with thing they read here. One of our long time readers is a guy who (maybe) agrees with 10% of what I write, but he is constantly sending me information that is greatly appreciated along with his opinions. Hello, Patrick Gallagher. Pat sent me an early story about Murdoch's current situation and included his thoughts about how people (like maybe me) might approach this regarding Fox News regarding their "fair and balanced" political slant, etc. He wrote this on July 17 and I responded immediately.

Hi Pat,

As far as Murdoch and the way he does business goes, I hearken back to something said by someone much smarter than me when he said, "If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's probably a duck."

That has always made a lot of sense to me and heavy thinking is not required in this case.

When I finally get around to writing a new blog, among other things, I will point out four people that Fox's Sean Hannity has "hitched his wagon" to. Sean "Mr Principles" Hannity worships at the alter of a guy who, back in the day would have been a firing squad candidate for being involved in the "cover blowing" of a CIA agent, a family values hypocrite who has cheated on multiple wives, a convicted federal lawbreaker who needed a pardon to "escape" and a homophobic presidential candidate who has a husband who redefines the description of being "interesting".

Quack, quack.

OTHER STUFF:

If you're looking for ideas about spending cuts, here's one. How about all the wasted money we've spent on "The Drug Wars". Multi billions of dollars have been wasted.

Have you heard about this new political party, "Americans Elect", that is trying to get going? What is making them particularly interesting is the fact that no one seems to know who's financing "Americans Elect".

Details, details

A lot of stuff about political figures in this blog, so I'm going to share with you a story about a possible political figure who didn't become one.

Me.

Back in the 70's when I was working as a radio host in St. Louis, I was approached by a representative of a big union who was offering me serious financial support if I would be interested in running for the office of U.S. Senator from Missouri.

I never talked about it on the radio while I was considering their offer, but after a long conversation I had with the son of the then Mayor of St. Louis (who I was friends with), I decided to decline their offer. There were complicated reasons associated with my decision that had to do with things that wouldn't matter (for example) NOW! I'm reminded of this because of some of things that have been written about in this blog. During my discussions with the union officials, among other things, the subject of the party I'd be representing was discussed. When they said something about me running as a Democrat, I quickly told them that I was a lifetime Republican. Their response? "Scott, we don't care what you ARE, but what you're going to RUN as, is a DEMOCRAT! After you get there, you can do what you want or need to do."

The height of cynicism? Perhaps, but I've never forgotten that moment and I believe that stuff like that probably goes on all the time.

And speaking of that, do you know what else I believe? That in the recesses of his soul, Barack Obama is a moderate Republican.

ENTERTAINMENT STUFF:

Because this is the first blog I've written in a month or so, I'm not going to deal with specifics regarding the many films I've seen in the last month.

Keeping it simple, I'll tell you that if you get Encore, HBO, STARZ and Showtime, you know that there are a lot of good films you can watch.

I'm going to mention two films I saw on cable and one film that is relatively new.

"The Kids are all Right". This film got Annette Bening an Oscar nomination and it also featured very fine performances from Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo. I liked it.

"Burlesque". This stars Cher, Christina Aguilera and a terrific supporting cast. The reviews for "Burlesque" were not good and the film didn't do well at the box office. I was prepared to watch a few minutes of it and then look for something else. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised. Cher isn't in the movie much, but she does more with silent expressions than most actors do with thirty pages of dialogue. To me, "Burlesque" is a very underrated film. Check it out!

"Friends with Benefits". Wow, wow, wow, wow-wow!!! I absolutely LOVED this film!!! Justin Timberlake is becoming a major movie star and so is Mila Kunis. I thought Kunis deserved an Oscar nomination for "Black Swan" and I thought Timberlake deserved an Oscar nomination for "Social Network". In "Friends with Benefits", the chemistry between Timberlake and Kunis is off the charts charming and they are assisted by an "A"-group of supporting players.

THOUGHTS AND OR COMMENTS? Please write to me at scottstjames@sbcglobal.net and I will respond to you ASAP. Don't write to the blog because there's no way for me to know your email address which means there would be no way for me to respond to you. Everyone who writes to me directly is responded to by me. All "Anonymous" emails are ignored.

THE NEXT BLOG? Hopefully, a week or so from now. I've had a number of computer problems recently, problems that seem to have been eliminated (knock on wood) thanks to great help from my mother, Kevin Gershan and John Clemens.

Meanwhile, I hope that all of you have a great week and that things get better for all of us, jobs-wise and otherwise.