Videos...Citizens Against Politics As Usual

These two videos are each about ten minutes in length. They were recently recorded by me to explain in detail why LeRoy Goldman and I founded Citizens Against Politics As Usual in Late 2010. (website: capau.org). I hope you will take the time to view them and, if you agree with the content, please forward the link for either this blog or capau.org to others who might also be interested. Our nation is in grave danger...especially for our children and future generations. It is critical that every adult become an informed voter and then vote their individual conscience.

Mike Tower 

How do you kill 11 million people?

August 19, 2012

This could never happen in America???

I just finished a recent book by Andy Andrews titled; "How Do You Kill 11 MILLION PEOPLE?" I assumed correctly that it must be referring to the Holocaust when the Nazis led by Hitler exterminated millions of Jews. The number seemed odd though, because I remembered the holocaust involving six million Jews murdered by these truly evil humans. Andrews explains that the Nazis also murdered another 5+ million people, including any group considered as undesirables. These included Gypsies, Catholics, Jehovah's Witnesses, homosexuals, mentally and physically disabled, and others. He reminds us that only about 10% of the German population actually belonged to the Nazi party. He also reminds us of a few other similar horrible slaughters that have happened in other nations in just the past hundred years. These include: Three million killed in North Korea. More than a million each in Mexico, Pakistan, and the Baltic States. Three million in Cambodia. Nearly 62 million in the former Soviet Union. Two million Armenians murdered in Turkey. And, nobody knows for sure how many, many millions of Chinese were murdered by their leaders. In most cases, a single leader along with a small group of loyal followers were able to conceive and execute the plans for these unthinkable atrocities...always in search of expanding and continuing power for themselves.

Mr. Andrews' original question posed by his book's title was not literally asking how the holocaust victims were killed. He was actually asking why they so easily allowed it to happen. They seldom fought back or even tried to escape. He wonders how that could be possible? The answer he provides is chillingly simple...they were lied to by the Nazis. These Nazi monsters repeatedly told these poor victims to be that they were in no danger and, desperate to believe, they did as they were told. Initially they agreed to be identified within whatever sub-group they belonged, and to wear a cloth marker on their clothing (Jews with their gold stars, others with different colors and symbols). Next they submitted to being collected and segregated into the ghettos. Finally, they allowed themselves to meekly be transported to the actual death camps. During all of these events they were told repeatedly they were in no danger and if they simply went along and followed orders they would be safe. And so, these poor innocent people were led, like sheep, to their slaughter.

Most of these victims likely thought that these atrocities could never happen where they lived...just as most Americans must feel today. In every case the vast majority of unaffected citizens looked away. perhaps they simply did not want to risk the same fate. Perhaps because they had no weapons to fight back with. Or, perhaps because they too were prejudiced.

This could never happen here...could it? After all, what did we do to the American Indians? What did we do during WW II, when our government shipped all Japanese-American citizens to special camps for their "safe-keeping"?

Just be reminded that we 300+ million Americans are totally dependent on the laws, regulations, and executive orders created by a mere 545 human beings (one president, nine Supreme Court justices, 100 senators, and 435 member of the House of Representatives). Those currently holding office and those who preceded them over the past few decades are collectively responsible for every long term problem our nation faces today. They and their successors are also the only ones who can either solve our problems or allow them to worsen. Current partisan politics certainly suggests the latter. Some day in the future, when Americans finally stand and proclaim that enough is enough, how do you suppose those collectively in power will respond? How far might they go to retain their corrupting power? Is it truly impossible that, as happened in Germany, we will never pick a leader who, while promising to fix all problems, turns out to be as evil as Hitler? German voters did not know much about Hitler, but conditions were awful following WW I, and most felt like they could not do worse. Were they ever wrong.

Mr. Andrews opens his book by quoting; "You shall know the truth, and it shall set you free". He then goes on to point out what happens when you invert this principle; "When you don't know the truth, its absence can place you in bondage." Now connect that thought to what you observe in America every day from the mainstream media, our elected leaders, and both political parties.

I am not pointing a finger of blame at a single person or party, because almost all elected and both parties are corrupted by the power they hold and are so desperate to maintain. Individually and collectively they lie to us every single day by saying whatever is needed to keep our vote.

Our only real weapon, of course, is that vote. To continue to pick sides and blame all the leaders and the followers of the "other" party is playing right into the real power's hands. We must find the courage to vote out all incumbents. Until our supposed representatives in DC know by our actions that we control their power...we have no chance. We are all being played as suckers by both parties and most of us don't even see it!

These are my opinions. What do you think?

Mike Tower

Campaign Advice For Mr. Romney

August 12, 2012

Campaign Advice For Mr. Romney

Mitt, I am sure that you are up to your neck in well-intended advice from your campaign team. It seems these days that much of this conventional advice is based on the daily minute-by-minute voter's polls. It must be tempting to get caught up in believing that the only way to win voter's support is to then couch your campaign rhetoric in ways that pleases the largest number of voters, and offends the fewest. I believe this is referred to as being all things to all people.

To this ordinary citizen it seems clear that your campaign team has a three pronged strategy; 1. Strongly encourage you to find ways to come across to the majority of Americans as if you are an ordinary person just like them. They apparently want you to adopt colloquialisms and phrases and tell jokes intended to show that you are indeed just an ordinary, every day American that we can relate to...and more importantly like. 2. Denigrate Mr. Obama's ineffectiveness at every opportunity. 3. Describe what you intend to do to reverse Mr. Obama's specific failed actions.

The first tactic, this quest to become likeable, caused me to think back to former Presidents such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Can you, in your wildest dreams, imagine them even considering worrying about such an issue? These two knew they had strengths that had been proven by their life's actions that distinguished them from the average citizens...and they behaved accordingly. Clearly each of them was elected to lead our nation because they were perceived to bring a strong set of personal values, strengths, and judgement to this important job. Reading the many writings by third parties about these two, neither appeared to be particularly likable, or to much worry about it. As for tactic two, Mitt, you are wasting your time in constantly reminding us of Mr.Obama's failed policies. Don't sell us short. We all see the evidence of failed policies from both sides, and the broken economic system that is not creating jobs, and we are all worried about our's and our children's future. What we need to hear from you are your specific plans for fixing the problems. Lastly, harping on simply undoing the health care law may be your undoing...unless you have a clear and credible vision of what to replace it with. Going forward with the new law that so favors the health care industry's special interests is not acceptable, but neither is going back to the broken system we had before that did the exact same thing...but on a smaller scale.

Mitt, you know our nation is in very deep economic trouble. Our citizens are justifiably afraid for their family's futures. Most of us aren't desperate to elect someone we can relate to and like as a person. We don't need for you to pretend to be an ordinary American...because you aren't and cannot be that person. You are what you are; born into a wealthy family, highly educated, a successful capitalist, a former governor, and a person with proven strong religious and family values. You have demonstrated by your life experiences and results that you understand how capitalism and government works. You have shown that you know how to successfully make the difficult decisions needed to turn failures in both around, how to grow a company from inception, and how to control costs and when to cut your losses. These are the requirements for the type of leadership America needs today in order to improve our economy, create jobs, reduce our debts and deficits and, ensure that our entitlement promises are met.

In the process of becoming a successful businessman, you have become fabulously wealthy and have then done exactly what the majority of informed Americans (even St. Buffett) do every year in legally taking advantage of the laws and regulations available to protect that wealth from taxation. It isn't cheating, it's called tax avoidance not tax evasion, and to not do so, if not considered almost un-American, would have been stupid. I don't think the majority of Americans resent your success. They might envy it, but most would love to emulate it.

Mitt, in summary, you need to stop campaigning with the objective of attacking Mr. Obama and trying to portray yourself as a likeable ordinary American, and get on with telling us what you will do as the CEO of America to repair our many problems. Show us the confident strong leader that has been so successful in the private and public sector. Our nation needs an experienced capable leader with a credible plan today more then ever. You have those skills and, hopefully, are that person...now just get on with proving that to us.

As for the constant mudslinging from the opposition...leave the response tactics to the Super Pacs. The next time Mr. Obama accuses you of being non-transparent for not sharing all of your tax records; tell him this...Mr. Obama, you show the American people your transcripts, school applications, passports, social security card, and birth certificate...and I'll show them all of that and my tax records!!

To all voters, if you owned a large, formerly successful, company that had serious survival-threatening problems, who would you most trust to turn it around, Mr. Obama or Mr. Romney?

These are my opinions. What do you think?

Mike Tower

Do many regret voting for Mr. Obama?

August 5, 2012

How many regret voting for Mr. Obama?

In 2008, predictably, most Democratic voters were very disappointed in the Bush administration. So too were many Republicans and Independents because many of them believed that he and the Republican party had lost their way. We had entered two wars that made no sense that were squandering the health and lives of our military men and women and taxpayer's money on wars that could never be won. The No Child Left Behind Act was becoming exposed as a failure, the Medicare Prescription Drug bill was an entitlement that most rational voters knew was unaffordable, and the housing bubble grew and burst under his watch (yes Bush repeatedly warned the Democratic controlled congress...but that was an ineffective response). All of these actions combined with the weak McCain-Palin ticket, and the promise for hope and change from the first black candidate for our highest office, led to Mr. Obama becoming our president. To even his least ardent supporters it seemed that we could hardly do worse as a nation under Obama than we had under Bush. I'm guessing that somewhere in some voter's consciousness was the hopeful image of Nelson Mandela who had come into office in South Africa and proved to be such a great unifier of that country's politics and people.

Sadly, Mr. Obama quickly proved that he is no Nelson Mandela. Instead of uniting our political leaders and followers he did just the opposite. Instead he can easily be described as the great divider and blamer (Bush caused it all, or those intransigent Republicans are at fault). He quickly drew a line in the sand and said to the Republican lawmakers by words and actions...we won, you lost, now get out of the way. He then proceeded to push an agenda pitting the poor against the wealthy, and even managed to further the racial divide in our nation, not only between blacks and whites, he also appealed to Hispanics to join the Democrats against "them".

Mr. Obama reminds me of some of the many extremely well-educated people I have encountered during my long life who were judged by themselves and others to be smart because of their academic achievements. However, I have also observed that to have achieved academic success does not automatically mean that one has the necessary shared values, common sense, practical experience, judgment, integrity, and finally accumulated wisdom needed to actually be effective as a leader. It comes down to the simple fact that being able to memorize and regurgitate information in order to achieve academic success doesn't mean nearly as much as the other ingredients mentioned. Mr. Obama did have one positive key factor for his success in getting elected. As LeRoy Goldman pointed out in an article several weeks ago...he had lots of luck. If his U.S. Senate race opponent had not withdrawn from that race in disgrace, if Hillary hadn't bombed out in Iowa, if President Bush hadn't left behind such a dismal image, and finally, if McCain-Palin had not been such weak opponents...hope and change wouldn't have had a chance.

Look at Mr. Obama's two crowning achievements; The stimulus and health care reform laws. He handed off responsibility for writing these critically complex bills to Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi. And they did what was expected and enlisted the help of the lobbyists for the special interest's most affected. Predictably, these new laws then significantly favored those same special interests instead of our citizens. In the end, the stimulus package did not help to stimulate the economy in ways that created jobs, just as Obamacare will not improve health care delivery for the vast majority of our citizens. Clearly, Mr. Obama, even with a majority of his party in control of both houses from the two years preceding his election through the first two years he was in office, and a continuing majority in the Senate even now, has failed to deliver positive results for anyone but the special interests. The reasons for his poor performance are simple, first he did not have the courage to confront the special interests, and he had no clue about how to turn our economy around. He had almost never worked in the private sector, let alone led a capitalistic organization. How would he be expected to know what to do. He could have, of course, surrounded himself with experienced business turn-around experts, but instead he chose to appoint mainly loyalists, and intellectual academic types who shared his vision of a more socialist economy for America. The net results are that America's economy and our nation's citizen's futures have never been more threatened.

I read his two books; "Dreams from My Father, and "the Audacity of Hope" recently, and learned from his own words how he views the world, and can only conclude that it was predictable how he would choose to lead our nation. His lack of practical experience combined with his socialized agenda have been verified by his words, actions, and results. He has proven that he is more interested in social change than repairing our economy and creating jobs. What do you want; bigger government and a weaker private sector with fewer jobs, or the opposite?

Can we afford any more hope and change?

These are my opinions. What do you think?

Mike Tower

Hendersonville, NC

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Citizens Against Politics As Usual

Lee's Political Opinion