U.S Senate Races 2014 - The Boomerang Effect

The Boomerang Effect - When The Same Elected Office Holders, Keep Returning To The United States Senate, Over & Over Again. 

Change isn't going to come to D.C. until we get rid of the permanent political class of D.C. denizens, enjoying their D.C. ride on the American people's dime.

There is an election coming up in November 2014 a year and 4 months out.  Politicians  are going to start begging you for your donations, and your time to volunteer for their campaigns, to get them elected or reelected. I think it's time for Americans to become more selective, and raise their standards for the people they hire - for public office.  To quote Clint Eastwood, these people are our employees. 

The issue with D.C dynamics is not liberal vs conservative. That's the over simplification, that's sold to the public by the dinosaur media to the low information voter - rubes. Blue team vs Red team, cheer-leading political party's like sport's teams. It's constitutionalist vs career politicians. There are politicians in D.C. that are willing to hump whatever the latest political ideological "fad" may be, including progressive if it further's their personal interest. For some reason their constituents keep sending them back to D.C.  They keep returning them like a boomerang.  Although the current Congress's approval rating is at an all time low. 5 June 2013, Rasmussen Reports, only 6% think Congress is doing a good or excellent job.  So much for progressivism's popularity. The public is always out in front of changing trends and attitudes , the government always lags behind.  This was apparent in the November 2010 mid term election results with the historic 70 year seat change, that was only a little less than 3 years ago. These boomerang club members seem to have very short attention spans. 

I have surveyed the U.S. Senate, and those currently serving.  I surveyed their ages, time spent in office, we have people serving in our current Senate, that have made a very good living out of public service. I have had to adjust for those who died recently in office of extreme old age. Does anyone believe that the intent of the persons who founded this country was to create career politicians -  who's apparent motivation is to feather their own nest? SEE Congressional approval rating is 6%

This is a list of U.S. Senator's listed by their ages and length spent in their current office.  Least time held in US Senate office is Jeffery Chiesa, New Jersey, 7 days, he was appointed.  Chiesa is holding the seat until the special election, being held sometime in October. Because U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg (D) died in office, 6 months short of his 90th birthday. Frank Lautenberg served from 1982-2001 and returned in 2003 until his death 2013. That's 29 years holding a United States Senate seat.  SEE Congressional approval rating at 6%

I watched a tribute on CNN for U.S. House Rep., John Dingell Jr., Michigan, for being the longest serving member in the U.S. House of Representatives, 57 years.  Check out how he does it, John Dingell Jr., has spent 30 terms in the House, and he's 86 years old. The federal retirement age is 65 years, Dingell is 21 years past federal retirement age. Since when is making a career out of holding public office an honor?  But I digress, the House of Representative's occupiers is another blog post. SEE Congressional approval rating at 6%.

The longest remaining resident of the Boomerang club is Patrick Leahy, (D) Vermont, he's spent 38 years in office and he's 73 years of age.  73 years, 8 years past the federal retirement age. Patrick Leahy was born in the year 1940 he's not from the boomer generation, but he came of age with them in the 1960s when he would have turned 20 years old. This is the year 2013, and we have people holding public office trying to govern us as if we were still living in the 1960s. SEE Congressional approval rating at 6%

We have 37 out of a 100, U.S. Senator's currently serving in the US Senate, that are 65 years or older. 65 years is the federal retirement age.  22 of these Senators are in their 70s, that means over 1/3 of the U.S. Senate office holders are past federal retirement age.  We do have a few that are not going to run for re election in 2014.  For example, Max Baucus (D) Montana, 71 years of age, Baucus first took office in 1978, and has been a denizen of the boomerang club for 34 years. SEE Congressional approval rating at 6% 

I am not advocating that we throw out every incumbent in the U.S. Senate in November of 2014, that is running for reelection.  I am advocating that voters need to understand that returning the same people over, and over again to the same government body is not going to change anything for the better in D.C.  How many terms in office does one person deserve to fulfill their promises to their constituents? Given that the government works in 5, 7, and 10 year plans, it seems reasonable that 2 six year terms in the U.S. Senate should be enough. If the public servant can't accomplish the people's work in 12 years, they should step aside, and allow another person to assume the people's work. The problem is they assume office, and they get addicted to the power, and are more concerned with their own personal gain.   Perhaps it's time for some new blood in the U.S. Senate?  There is a reason we hold  primaries in this country, just sayin.....SEE Congressional approval rating at 6%

Senators up for reelection in November 2014, there is an asterisk next to the retiring Senator. 

Democrats
Max Baucus (Montana) *
Mark Begich (Alaska)
Chris Coons (Delaware)
William Cowan (Massachusetts) retiring appointee June 2013
Richard Durbin (Illinois) 
Al Franken (Minnesota)
Kay Hagan (North Carolina)
Tom Harkin (Iowa) *
Tim Johnson (South Dakota) *
Mary Landrieu (Louisiana) 
Carl Levin (Michigan) *
Jeff Merkley (Oregon)
Mark Pryor (Arkansas)
Jack Reed (Rhode Island)
John Rockefeller (West Virginia) *
Jeanne Shaheen (New Hampshire)
Mark Udall (Utah)
Tom Udall (New Mexico)
Mark Warner (Virginia)

Republicans
Lamar Alexander (Tennessee)
Saxby Chambliss (Georgia) *
Jeff Chisea (New Jersey) appointed June 2013 succeeded October 2013
Thad Cochran (Mississippi) 
Susan Collins (Maine) 
John Cornyn (Texas)
Micheal Enzi (Wyoming) 
Lindsey Graham (South Carolina) 
James Inhofe (Oklahoma)
Mike Johanns (Nebraska) *
Mitch McConnell (Kentucky) 
James Risch (Idaho)
Pat Roberts (Kansas) 
Jeff Sessions (Alabama)

Currently serving in the 113th Congress, there are 53 Democrat Senators, 45 Republican Senators, and 2 Independents. Senator Harry Reid (D) Nevada, is the majority leader of the US Senate. Senator Harry Reid is 73 year old, he's 8 years past the federal retirement age of 65, and he has served in the US Senate for 26 years. 

People get the government they deserve, Thomas Jefferson.

Remember this folks when they start sending you their campaign solicitations.  RETURN TO SENDER Elvis

Covert Hypnosis, The Somnombulance Lament " I don't wanna do your sleepwalk dance anymore"

"Show us on the graphic above where 

the Internet touched you".

This is a current meme trending on facebook.

A cartoon of a brain with the meme: Show us 

on the doll where the internet touched you.  

This graphic is from Gizmag's article,

IBM supercomputer used to simulate
 typical human brain. 

Hat Tip/Anonymous, comment from last blog post. 

I only publish the comments with an ID.

I do read the pending comments, but I flush the SPAM.

Anonymous tipped me off to Conversational Hypnosis.

What is covert hypnosis? 

Covert hypnosis refers to an attempt 
to communicate with

another person's unconscious mind
 without the person noticing.

As it often takes place in the course
 of a seemly regular conversation,

it's also known as conversational hypnosis
 or "sleight of mouth". 

I took the idea of this phenom one more step,

 what happens when "covert hypnosis"

is being employed by a non human?

William Shatner has a program 
on the Sci Fi Network 

and National Geographic Network.

It's called "Is That Weird or What" 

Last night's episode was titled 

The End of the World.

Resistance is Futile 

But what if the greatest threat to life as we know it is neither natural nor extra-terrestrial? What is we are the engineers of our own demise? Noted engineer Ray Kurzweil insists that Robot Intelligence will surpass human level by the year 2029. But, rather than anticipating a terminator style annihilation, Kurzweil believes that biological humans will have completely synthesized with technology by the year 2045 in an event dubbed "The Singularity." He insists that this radical reinterpretation of the human condition will alter our biology rather than our humanity, elevating us to levels of ability and intellect unachievable under natural constraints.

I was watching this episode last night, and
 William Shatner, even brought up, what if this thing we call the 

Internet actually takes over? 

Wireless brain implants represents
a small step for
human-computer interfaces.

As far as media manipulation of the passive viewer, I have blogged 

about it Here, Here  & My Last Post Here. 

A note to my commenters if you don't want to use
 an ID, and you want to leave a link, 
use the chat box in the

upper right hand corner. 

"Santa Monica"

I don't wanna be the bad guy

I don't wanna do your sleepwalk dance anymore

I just wanna see some palm trees

I will try and shake off this disease.....

swim out past the breakers 
and watch the world die.....

Imus, Guest Stuart Varney "Channel's His Inner George Carlin"

Imus's guest this morning Stuart Varney, takes exception with the description of the Boston marathon bombing by President Barack Obama.  President Barack Obama used the word "tragedy" to describe the terrorist attack on the Boston marathon 15 April 2013. 

This discussion by Imus and Varney, reminded me of an old routine by George Carlin in one of his comedy acts. George Carlin had an entire comedy routine about how our government uses our language to manipulate  public opinion.  One example that George Carlin used to prove his point was the use of the word "casualty" and when and why it was introduced to our lexicon . During WWI the government was reporting on our War dead, the government was concerned about the impact on American's opinion about the War - coincidentally the same people who made up the numbers of the War dead/  The government introduced the "term" casualty to manipulate the American public's opinion of the War. 

Imus, looked up the word "tragedy" in the dictionary, it refers to a disaster.  This wouldn't be the first time that this administration referred to terrorism as a disaster. When DHS Janet Napolitano, took over the position of Department of Homeland Security Secretary, she directed that the term "terrorism"  would no longer be used, instead the term  "man made disaster" would be used instead. 

Imus takes exception with Stuart Varney's criticism of the President's use of the word "tragedy".  It just so happens that English is Stuart Varney's first language.  Stuart Varney is not a product of the U.S. public school system.   Imus's self described role is critiquing what he calls the "Freak Parade" aka the media.  I think Imus is standing too close to the media to be objective in this instance.  Imus needs to stand back, and look at the bigger picture.  This isn't about left wing or right wing.  Imus shouldn't shoot the messenger our British Paul Revere - Stuart Varney.   If George Carlin were alive, he would be pointing out the same exact behavior by our government.  I really miss George Carlin. This isn't about politics. This is about the government manipulating the narrative after the Boston marathon bombing. This isn't the time to divide the country - this is the time to unite the country. 

In fairness to the President of the United States, I agreed with his first statement after the bombing of the Boston marathon. President Obama stated that this isn't about democrats or republicans, we are all Americans.  President Obama's speeches are no doubt  filtered through a politically correct format. We live in an era of hypersensitivity to public word usage.  Blame the President's speech writers for their knee jerk politically correct speech writing.

 Stuart Varney tells Imus, that the Boston marathon was not a "tragedy" it was an "outrage" Imus tells Stuart Varney to get out.  You can watch Stuart Varney on Imus In The Morning HERE.  

Stuart Varney points out BS - Bushido . Dedicating this to Stuart Varney  (Verbal - Samurai)  slicing and dicing political spin. Sometimes we are all standing too close - to see what's playing out right in front of us. 

Too Close, Alex Clare

TGIF "How I Stopped Worrying And Learned To Love The Bomb"

Buckle Up Buttercup It's Gonna Be A Helluva Ride!

Doctor Strangelove's plan for post nuclear war survival involves living underground with 10-1 female to male ratio. 

General "Buck" Turgidson: Doctor you mentioned the ratio of ten women to each man. Now, wouldn't that necessitate the abandonment of the so- called monogamous sexual relationship, I mean as far as men were concerned?

Who thinks being trapped underground with women in the  majority is surviving? Gives a whole new meaning to going nuclear. 

War on Christmas "Embeds" Imus Guest, Father Jonathan Morris

"We're Not Happy, Till You're Not Happy"

Embed: To assign (A journalist) to travel with a military unit during an armed conflict or in this case embedded with Imus for the Christmas season.

Imus guest this morning, Father Jonathan Morris. I don't think the suits at Fox News understood Neil Cavuto's request for Imus in the Morning, that would be an old priest AND a young priest.

Father Jonathan Morris, explains what it means to our country's social fabric if Jesus Christ is removed from Christmas.  

Father Jonathan Morris is not the only Catholic clergy that has appeared on Imus in the Morning.  Cardinal Egan used to be a frequent guest on Imus In The Morning. The Cardinal is sorely missed.  Now bow your heads you heathens. 

Fox Business News, Christmas Tree vs Holiday Tree. Father Jonathan Morris discusses whether there is currently a “War on Christmas”.

Politically Correct Speech Police, Merry Christmas vs Generic Holiday Greeting

I received this ornament as a gift back in 2008 - An official White House ornament. According to the White House it's Christmas, and apparently it's also a Christmas Tree. That's the official position of the United States government aka the state.

When did free religious expression become intolerance? When did the hyper sensitivity to non Christian's sensitivities over ride Christian's freedoms of religious expression on the observance of their holy season? What is so offensive about the greeting Merry Christmas, that the secular progressives (the minority in this country) want to dictate to the majority Christians in this country, the use of their traditional greeting? Who exactly is being offended by the use of the greeting "Merry Christmas"? Muslims? Jews? Hindus? Buddhist?  I have been wished  a Merry Christmas by many people of many different religious persuasions. Not one was offended by my observance of Christmas, in fact they enjoyed the festivities of the season.  I haven't found one Jewish person who has stated that they hate Jesus Christ, and what he stood for. Muslims believe that Jesus was a prophet, and that his mother Mary is an especially holy figure in Islam.

So who is it who is really offended by the greeting Merry Christmas?  I believe it's the secularist that want Americans to worship the state instead of a Spiritual deity. I have no problem rendering unto Caesar what is Caesar's but I don't owe the state - the state of my immortal soul. The state is not in the delivering salvation business, in any of it's shape shifting incarnations.

Father Jonathan Morris is going to be Imus's guest tomorrow on Imus In The Morning, 5 December 2012,  Fox Business News, perhaps he will explain how the 1st amendment also apply's to Christians living in the United States. 

You load sixteen tons/trillion, and what do you get
Another day older, and deeper in debt
St Peter don't you call me, "cause I can't go"
I owe my soul to the company store.......
I would love to get a 2012 White House Ornament for Christmas this year. If anyone knows how I can go about obtaining one, please email me at: keyboard.jockey1@gmail.com


Hat Tip Beth, thanks so much for the link to the White House Ornament collection. The 2012 Ornament celebrates the Taft White House.  If you are interested in purchasing a White House Ornament Go HERE. 

BCS Championship Game 7 January 2013 Alabama Crimson Tide VS Notre Dame's Fighting Irish

Are You Ready For Some Football? Deep Fried Sports- Offers Some Alabama Crimson Tide Wallpaper. 

For the Twelve Days of Christmas, my true love gave to me, the national championship.......in the meantime here are the Alabama Crimsonettes leaping. 

Listen to Imus and Warner Wolf, discussing the upcoming BCS match up HERE. 

Notre Dame is ranked 1# (12-0) and Alabama is ranked 2# (11-1) 

ESPN Brian Kelly and Nick Saban on preparing for the BCS title game.

Twelve Days Of Christmas, Irish Style, Frank Kelly