Most project managers focus on the products they release in marketing campaigns. They don’t necessarily think about the services they release along the way. If you want to be a marketing pro, you really need to learn the value of good customer service. The way you treat your customers may actually be more important than the advertising you do for a business. Here is a look at the rewards that can come from good customer service.
Reputation
The only way to draw in repeat customers is to have a good reputation. This reputation will also cause a buzz about the business in the community. Most people don’t give word of mouth the credit it deserves, but it really can make a difference in the success of an organization. With the right amount of customer service, you can convince people to support a company and make it grow.
Feedback
A lot of people review companies before they work with them. They do this in spite of whatever ads you might put out. If your customers say bad things about a business you’re promoting, you may have a hard time attracting new customers to work with you. You have to get good feedback so that your business looks better than the competition.
Commitment
Customers remain committed to businesses when they feel important. If you make the customers feel like they matter, they will stick with you for as long as they can. I switched from cable to Dish Network a few years back because I wanted to get some channels that my cable company didn’t offer. I cancelled my one year subscription after three weeks because the customer service for Dish was so shitty. I was literally willing to pay the $400 cancellation fee just to get back to the customer service I knew I could count on. Your customers may feel the same.
Focus on providing customers with good care at all times, and you will have the best possible chance of seeing your marketing succeed.
Web development is a continuously growing field that isn’t going anywhere any time soon. This career combines web design and computer programming and allows people to create fully functioning sites on the World Wide Web. If you are interested in working on the internet in the future, this could be the perfect opportunity to do so. You just need to have a solid education in your background to be able to work in the field. Here is a look at some of the training you will go through to become a web developer so you can determine if this is a good path for you.
Web Development Degrees
There are many programs you can go through to learn how to become a web designer. Some of them are more comprehensive than others, but they could all lead to a career in web development over time. Possible degrees to consider include:
Associate’s Degree in Computer Science
Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design
Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering
Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Systems
Bachelor of Science in Computer Science
Bachelor of Science in Information Technology
Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems
Bachelor of Science in Web Development and Design Systems
Master of Science in Computer Science
You could go through yours online or in person and develop all the skills you need to work in this career.
Classes in Web Development Degrees
You probably want to know what you’ll be learning about if you decide to go through with a web development degree. Every program is a little bit different, but they all cover the same basic information in the end. Listed below are some of the courses you may go through for your degree, just to give you an idea of the subject matter involved here.
Advanced Computer Graphics
Advanced Database Structures
Advanced Server-side Languages
Applied Design Tools and Interfaces
Art History
College Mathematics
Concepts of Object-Oriented Programming
Database Structures
Deployment of Flash Projects
Designing Computer Graphics
Designing for Web Standards
Flash ActionScript Techniques
Flash Design and Animation
Flash Fundamentals
Flex Frameworks
Fundamentals of Physics
Geometry and Measurement
History of Visual Communications
Intellectual Property and Law
Interpersonal Communications
Mobile Device Deployment
Networks and Server Structures
Principles of Production Process
Psychology of Human Interaction
Rich Media Optimization
Scripting for Web Applications
Server-Side Languages
Streaming Media Servers
Web Design Fundamentals
Web Interface and Usability
If you think those courses sound interesting and exciting, you should have no problem getting a kick out of web development.
Salaries for Web Developers
Of course, I couldn’t write this article without giving you a heads up about what you may make in this career. That just wouldn’t be right. A web developer can make just about any salary he or she wants, depending on the kinds of projects he or she works on. The chart below shows the average web developer salary based on a person’s career experience, but it may not reflect the true potential of this profession.
Less than 1 year of experience: $29,284 – $56,183 per year
1-4 years of experience: $30,290 – $66,652 per year
5-9 years of experience: $38,879 – $80,815 per year
10-19 years of experience: $41,576 – $85,649 per year
20 years or more of experience: $41,217 – $92,136 per year
If you think that a career in web development is right for you, start getting your education today.
The former Soviet Union was forced to live in a political and economic fantasy world for nearly a century, being conditioned to believe that they lived in a communistic society when they actually lived in an a Fascist State. Historians today do not like to characterize the Soviets as Fascists but neither the political or the economic system during the years that they controlled resembled Communism in any way. The Chinese actually designed a working Communist system but changed to Socialism. This decision has quickly moved the Chinese to the top of the economic world pile. The point is that the people, the masses of regular people, were conditioned to believe that they lived in a system that in reality did not even exist. A truly communistic system requires everyone to not only work equally but to share equally. This essentially means that a doctor, or politician, should get no more benefits than a field or factory worker. In the Soviet Union however Party members received many more benefits than non-Party members and Party leaders were treated like Royalty.
In the United States we are told from childhood that our political system is democratic and our financial system is free market capitalism. In a democratic society the people elect representatives to Congress. In a democratic society the only criteria for election is supposed to be how many popular votes a candidate receives.If “representatives” are supposed to represent the people who vote them into office then, in a true democracy, these “representatives” should act according to the will of the people. If the will of the people is either for or against a policy, if the Representative is truly representing, they will learn how the people who voted them into office feel about it and vote accordingly in Congress. In free market society, i.e. Capitalism, people are free to trade without governmental restrictions that would favor one industry or entity over another. This does mean that the Government cannot or should not regulate. Regulation is necessary to protect consumers and the environment. What this means is that the government cannot pass legislation that favors one industry over another.
There is no more perfect example of how we are living in a faux democracy then the recent decision by Senate Republicans to filibuster legislation that would end the huge “subsidies” currently being enjoyed by the most profitable industry in the world. A recent Gallup poll indicates that 82% of Americans are in favor of ending these wasteful subsidies and nearly 60% favor using the money for alternative energy research and development. If a member of Congress questions the validity of these polls they should at least pay attention to the huge disparity. A gap this large could only indicate two things. The first is that the entire poll is a fraud. The second is that the people are not happy. Congress members never seem able to hold town hall meetings on this particular issue.
Research into alternative energy sources would soon cause massive cuts in the profits of the oil and gas industry. None of the largest companies are doing any research at all in energy that does not involve either petroleum or natural gas, despite massive profits. It does not take the training of an FBI Agent to figure out that while the words of Senate Republicans claim to represent the will of the people, their actions in putting an end to such an obvious injustice show us who they are really representing. Where is the “free-market” system for the alternative energy when the government is financing its hugely profitable competitor? Where is the People´s voice when Congress seems to be deaf to their cries? On every single platform issue maintained by the Republican Party during the last several years the American people have been overwhelmingly against.
In the United States the idea that all politicians are liars who will say anything to get into office and stay there. While normal people would not naturally think that having a pack of liars for leaders is not the best idea. But apparently Americans are not normal people. When Congressional leaders can stand in that great Chamber and tell obvious lies with no repercussions it might be time to question the priorities of American voters. While most of these lies are coming from the Conservative side of the isle, Republicans do not have a monopoly by any means. In today´s digital world we see examples of this coming from politicians from Obama down to local city councilpersons. The problem is, to a great extent, caused by the media however and it is this problem that we will discuss today.
On her Thursday night show MSNBC´s Rachel Maddow was bold enough to challenge Rick Santorum about some of the complete fabrications he has been spreading in his speeches. A few months ago Santorum told supporters that the Dutch elderly lived in fear of euthanasia, even going to the point of wearing bracelets that begged to be spared. This was not only a completely false allegation it insults the people of an entire nation. And Santorum did not spare Americans from his insults either. According to him, most of the California State University system does not offer, even one course, American history. The fact is that all of the Cal State system schools offer numerous American History. Another fact, one that has to be known to Santorum, a college graduate, is that it is impossible to obtain a degree without taking and passing American History. In most States two courses (6 hours) are required for graduation. You cannot even get an Associates Degree, no matter what your major is. Software Engineering schools, medical schools, and all others, still require completed hours in this course.
Maddow called Santorum out about this on her show twice, merely asked for a retraction and in both cases her requests were ignored. While Santorum´s Campaign manager appeared on her second show he refused to apologize or retract the lies, merely saying that Santorum refused to follow any scripted speeches. But if he is saying this, it means that this “candidate” has personal responsibility to acknowledge, retract and apologize to the many millions of people that his vicious lies insulted. The problem is however that this will never happen. Politicians have been given the idea that their lies are considered “just part of the political world” and that this is acceptable, simply because there are seldom challenges and never consequences.
While Rick Santorum is free to say whatever he wants, and even more free to think it, he is not free to commit slander and both of the above statements are slander under the law. If the people of Holland were mean spirited enough they could end his Presidential run with a simple civil suit for slander. How has it become acceptable for a potential President to tell such obvious and insulting lies against such large groups of people? There are no consequences and we treat it like a joke when it happens. We have more than 500 people in Congress yet not one of them, Republican or Democrat, has spoken out against this or demanded that he explain himself and only one network has had the courage to even speak about it. Our political leaders are becoming our dirty little secret (except that its not a secret), our retarded child hidden in the basement.
The mainstream news coverage of every single aspect of the Trayvon Martin case, in Sanford, Florida. The entire incident began when George Zimmerman called 911 to report a suspicious person walking down his street. Zimmerman had a long history with the Sanford police however. He had a history of criminal violence and had been ordered by the court to attend anger management classes after being charged with assaulting a police officer and with a history of domestic abuse. Zimmerman has also called 911 on more than 40 occasions in 2012 alone, making essentially the same report and it is fairly certain that the 911 operator taking his call on that night had dealt with him before.
When Zimmerman called 911 he was told that a patrol unit had been notified and for Zimmerman to remain inside his home.
It is at this point that the problems begin. Zimmerman chose to disobey police and remain inside the safety of his home and pursued Trayvon Martin. When police arrived on the scene they found Martin dead of a gunshot wound from Zimmerman´s gun. Zimmerman claimed that under Florida law he had a right to protect himself if he felt threatened by someone. Zimmerman claims that he was in fear of his life. But one has to question this claim however considering that he actually chased after Martin. How likely does it seem that Zimmerman was so afraid that he chased after his assailant? The second point is, what was a man twice convicted of violent crimes doing with a permit to carry a gun? A man so paranoid that he called 911 more than 40 times in just over 2 months? And finally, while he was shooting Trayvon Martin, under both Florida and Federal law Zimmerman was committing a crime: Failure to Obey a Police Officer.
The last decade has seen on law like the law that is somehow allowing this killer to walk slide through State Legislatures across the nation. No one in law enforcement, from local police officers to FBI Special Agents and BATF agents agrees that these laws are good ideas. In Texas the State Legislature passed a law allowing guns on college campuses just a few months after Representative Gabrielle Giffords was nearly killed on an Arizona campus while attending a rally, when less guns on campus would seem to have been the battle cry for the Party of Life.
Privatization: “The process of moving from a government controlled system to a privately run, for-profit system.”
The Medicare system was created from the pen of Lyndon B. Johnson under the Title XVIII of the Social Security Act in 1965 and in 1972, under Republican Richard Nixon it was expanded to include people who are receiving disability from Social Security. One of the largest misunderstandings about Medicare is how it is financed. Most of the money for this program comes from a tax that has been in place since its beginnings and which comes out of every workers paycheck. This tax can range from 1.45% payroll tax on both employees and employers. When Medicare was first introduced it had broad bi-partisan support, which held strong until 1980 and the beginning of the Age of Neocons. In 1980 when Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush took office they began a massive program to increase the wealth of the top 1% of the population and remove as much regulation as possible. Reagan was the first to introduce the ludicrous theory of “trickle down” or Reaganomics.
Ronald Reagan had been against any type of “social welfare” or “social medicine” for decades, speaking out numerous times against it as early as 1961. During his 8 years in office he made several efforts to backdoor the program by cutting off pieces while at the same time creating the conditions that made the Savings & Loan Crisis and quadrupling the Federal Deficit. The Elder Bush continued the attacks in 1988 with the Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act and his son, George W., created the proscription drug mess that still causing problems. George W. was also the first President to use the words “Privatization” when referring to Medicare.
The very reason for the creation of Medicare was that there were simply too many Americans with little or no health insurance. Programs like Medicare save money in the long term because uninsured people inevitably go to emergency rooms, which cannot by law refuse treatment, for even minor problems and trauma centers are many times more expensive to maintain than are smaller clinics. The idea that turning this program over to private insurance companies would create a more economical health care system is simply ridiculous when you consider the fact that Medicare was created to fill the void left by private, profit driven, private insurers.
But the argument that privatizing or even significantly cutting Medicare and its various programs will help reduce the deficit and health care costs does not hold water. Privatizing Medicare will actually have a number of negative effects. As programs are cut the medical industry will need far fewer employees, doctors, registered nurses, technicians, administrative personnel, as fewer and fewer people will be able to afford insurance or medical care. If Medicare were completely eliminated in one day thousands would lose work immediately. Out of work these people could not afford insurance and would be soon flooding emergency rooms and the tax payer ends up paying three times as much as they would with the program in place.
It would seem that none of this evidence effects the information-free zone in Washington D.C. However. No less than three times since the 2010 mid-term elections has Conservative members of Congress, in both Houses, tried to introduce legislation that would have essentially destroyed Medicare by turning it over to the Private sector. Despite overwhelming public outrage over this issue, with even hard core Republicans crying foul ball, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, sponsored a new piece of legislation in the Senate that perfectly complements Paul Ryan’s plan last year and which Jim DeMint calls the “beginning to privatize” Medicare. The demonstrative facts that the American people want this program and that is saves money overall simply does not seem to matter. The bottom line is, always has been and always will be, that the Insurance Industry does not like competition and employers, especially those with tens of millions of dollars in weekly payroll, do not like to pay that 1.45% for Medicare. The financial health of the nation and the physical health of its people seems to be considerably less important than a healthy bottom line for their largest contributors.
The situation in Washington politics is almost laughable. The situation at the State level however is much more dangerous and is not funny at all. While politicians within the Beltway are paralyzed however, at the State level they seem to be galvanized. Records indicates that from the early 1970´s State Legislatures tend to introduce about 80 anti-abortion Bills. Since the 2010 mid-term election however there have been more than 600 anti-abortion measures passed and more than 500 more still awaiting resolution. That is an 1,100 % increase in this type of legislation. But we are discovering this year that abortion is not the real issue at all. These attacks are directed at something much more fundamental than abortion.
Some pundits are calling it a “War on Sex” but in reality, it goes even deeper than sex. In Illinois last year the Catholic Church closed down its adoption services rather than follow Illinois law about allowing same-sex couples to adopt. When President Obama ordered employers to provide contraception in their insurance Christians immediately cried religious discrimination. They want to receive government money, not pay taxes, but following the law is completely offensive to them. No one is required in the President´s order to use contraceptives. But according to the Church, for a Christian to have any policy that contains contraception as a alternative, it is against biblical teachings. In support of this idea Evangelical Republican Representative from Missouri, Roy Blount, tried to amend a highway bill to allow employers to refuse employment, insurance and coverage by simply stating that they have a moral objection. In Sacramento this week the Catholic Diocese defunded a group that helped homeless people because the director of the group publicly supported equal rights for gays and was openly pro-choice. In Utah, the Republican controlled Legislature voted to cut funding for any school if they taught anything about homosexuality, contraception (including protection from STDs), or sex outside of marriage and the Mormon governor is expected to sign it.
The above statements by two time candidate for President and ex-Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee make it perfectly clear what the agenda is. The same groups that are pushing for more contraception laws, engaging in gay bashing, fighting against people having control of their own bodies, are Huckabee´s supporters and want nothing more than an American Theocracy controlled by Evangelical Christians. In Governor Huckabee´s words, he considers the Judea-Christian world view the only legitimate one. He completely ignores the rights of anyone from Asia, any Atheists/Agnostics, anyone not in his exclusive club.
In 2010 they lied over and over to the American people to get into office. Every one of these clowns told us that they wanted to go to Congress to get jobs and fix the economy. The State of Florida is an excellent example of this problem. Since their election Republicans have passed nearly 50 anti-abortion measures while the State has one of the worst employment records in the country. All of the States in which they have control are passing these extreme social engineering measures while ignoring jobs. In consequence, every one of these States leads the nation in unemployment rates. This is true in every case. No exceptions. Texas cannot maintain the illusion of high job creation when you consider that all the jobs created came from either the stimulus or are minimum wage jobs. But Texas is also one of the most extreme States with social engineering Bills dominating the Legislatures
This weeks article is in appricaiation of Rachel Maddow at MSNBC. On last nights show she forwarded the theory that this seemingly insane self-destruction of the Republican Party Is actually part of a long term plan created nearly two generations ago. Rachel´s figures clearly show that Republicans during the last 30 years have soured to the far right on every issue. This includes both the tone in Congress and in the Supreme Court. The chart illustrate that when Republican politics go extreme right the Democrats, in an effort to “meet-in-middle” drift slightly to the right as well. This trend has been happening in cycles with the most extreme being seen during the last two years. Rachel´s idea that the Republicans being so extreme is an attempt to have a long term effect on t he overall politics of the nation. While I agree with Rachel that this theory raises a great number of questions, I think she might have underestimated how long Republicans have been using this tactic. The Republican Party is destroying itself, but is this the first time they have done so?
The American Whig Party was formed in the 1830´s to fight what they saw as government overreach. The leaders of the Party were all prosperous businessmen, the Donald Trumps and Koch brothers of the time and they pushed hard for unrestricted free trade and a completely non-regulatory business environment. One of the most prominent members was Daniel Webster, making them socially conservative as well. During the 1850´s the Party had begun to fracture over the issue of Slavery. Most readers might not be aware however that the Civil War was fought for purely economic reasons. The North could not compete with free labor in the South. The Whigs that supported Emancipation, did so for business reasons, not moral. They split from the Party in 1854, moved to the Northern States and formed the Republican Party in much the same manner as the recent formation of the “TEA” Party. The first Republicans were not in any way progressive. They were extremist Whigs who pursued a seemingly progressive platform to business reasons and destroying the economical advantages given to the South, then destroying their entire infrastructure in a war, gave these Northern Industrialists enormous profits for nearly three generations.
The Republicans really are destroying the credibility of their Party and we must ask ourselves why long time, experienced and jaded politicians would voluntarily destroy entire political careers. We might find the answers by studying the historical tactics of the Party and understanding the nature of the people in control. The Party specializes in dividing the people on social issues and using a different issue for each demographic. Union workers are turned against the Gay community, whites are put into fear about illegal immigrants, Christians against Muslims. Study each election cycle from the Post-Civil War period and tactics used by Republicans. There is a great deal of information about this subject online and you do not have to be a forensic psychologist to understand the material.
We anticipated during the debt ceiling fight that the Party would find themselves in this position if they remained on this path. Instead of backing off they decided to double down and began to attack contraception, attempting to ban it entirely. The recently defeated Blount Amendment would have given employers, insurance companies and doctors to refuse employment, coverage and even treatment of anyone, for anything, if they have religious or moral objections, a law that would have effectively destroyed health care in America.
The current United States Congress has the lowest public approval rate in the history of the Institution. Currently hovering at around 10% the future does not look bright for incumbents from both parties in the up coming but the problem has suddenly developed a much darker side. Last year one man was able to nearly assassinated Democratic Congresswomen Gabrielle Giffords during a speech and during the fight several others were killed. Apparently however this is only the tip of the iceberg. This week several members of Congress received correspondence that contained a “suspicious” looking white substance and threatening letters. Congressional Sergeant-at-Arms Terrance Gainer said that three Representatives, including House Speaker John Boehner said that the threats said that they wanted an end to “end to corporate money and ‘lobbying,” and end to corporate “person-hood” According to the FBI there has been 26 separate death threats against members of Congress this last year, the highest in history.
Threats are being made to members on both sides of the isle. Boehner is a Republican and so is Eric Cantor, who was threatened in Philadelphia. But the largest percentage of threats are being made against Democrats. Giffords was a Democrat and Patrick Leahy and Tom Daschle were both Democrats and received the same type of threats as John Boehner. Gregory Lee Giusti was sentenced in San Francisco for threatening to destroy the home of Nancy Pelosi, Democrat from California, and Ohio Rep. John Boccieri, D-Ohio was threatened in Tennessee.
hreats against members of Congress are not a new phenomenon. In 1856 a South Carolina Representative assaulted a Massachusetts Senator with a gold tipped cane after taking offense at an anti-slavery comment and Massachusetts voters filled the victims reelection coffers with money and South Carolina voters sent dozens of new canes to Congressmen Brooks to replace the one he broke. In 1999 Russell Eugene Wilson tried to force is way into Congressional offices and killed two Capitol Police officers in the fighting. In 2010 Senator Patty Murray received the following telephone message:
“There are many people out there that want you dead. Just remember that as you are politicizing for your reelection. It only takes one piece of lead… Kill the … senator! Kill the … senator! I’ll donate the lead. Now that you’ve passed your healthcare bill, let the violence begin.”
American voters are rapidly losing control of their government to extremists. Failing to achieve their extreme agendas using honest political strategies, they quickly resort to violent action. There are isolated instances of “progressives” instigating or threatening violence but their numbers are dwarfed by attacks traced to groups supporting neo-conservative ideas.
This group has promoted division, fear and aggressiveness for the entire nation for nearly two generations and the level of violence that they are capable of seems to be rising significantly. Progressives and Conservatives are supposed to naturally balance each other. But Neo-Conservatives, posing as Republicans, have attempted to completely dominate the argument at all levels of the political spectrum and their tactics can only be classified as domestic terrorism, which is defined as violent acts, either physical or emotional, that are used to create fear for political purposes.
There has only been one case in the history of the United States that the US Supreme Court found itself deciding who won a Presidential election. Regardless of a person´s feelings about the Court´s decision, most people would agree this was about the time that our political system went insane. The refusal of the American people to do any actual research on the Candidates for public office, it might be understandable for a man who was convicted of DUI, spent his first 40 years as an alcoholic, failed at every business he was involved in, and investigated 3 times by the SEC to be elected President. But after 4 years during which he was barely able to utter a coherent statement, illegally invaded a foreign country, and his Administration had been plagued by scandal after scandal, when he was elected yet again all rational people must have been in shock.
But after this election the Republican party and Conservative movement began to disintegrate. Drunk with power they began to deregulate everything and lower taxes to historical lows for corporations, putting a severe strain on the economy, which by 2006 had begun to implode. After they were crushed during the 2008 elections they experienced a brief resurgence in 2010 by running on a jobs program that never materialized, they again went too far to the right. Instead of creating jobs they focused on abortion, restricting voting and Union rights, defeating gay marriage and stripping all social safety nets to the bone. The problem is that the Party was doing all this while the overwhelming majority of voters were solidly against it. When 80% of the public said it was against cutting Social Security every Republican Congressperson and all Presidential candidates supported Paul Ryan´s plan to privatize it.
Now we are in another election year that promises to be as historical as the 2000 election was. The national media seems enamored with the idea that this is still a race. The numbers seem to tell a far different tale. If you want to find out exactly what the mood of the people really is you must look at the numbers that are seldom shown: Participation. We can start with poll numbers. Republican polls about the candidates are taken with registered Republican voters. When we do a quick calculation of the percentages that each candidate gets however, throughout the season it has never totaled more than 75% and has dipped below 60% several times. This leaves as much as 40% of registered Republican voters who are voting for none of the Republicans, which means that they either will not vote or will vote Democrat.
Because polls are not totally accurate we can also look at actual participation. Politics in the State of Iowa is a big thing. The State has the honor of being the first of the Primary States and gets more media attention and money spent than any other State. During a Primary the only people who are allowed to vote are registered members of that Party. The State of Iowa has 2 million registered voters, 615,000 of whom are registered Republicans. Yet this year´s Primary only saw a total of 129,000 votes cast. While Primaries do not have the heavy participation that general elections do this is an abysmal turnout by any standards. Doctors, lawyers, Registered Nurses and mechanics, all decided to stay home. Whether registered Republicans are deciding to just not become involved or whether they are planning to switch Parties, the news is good for Democrats. The United States, and the rest of the world, must stop the massive blood loss brought on by extremist Conservatives.
The new Republican Party is beginning to resemble the old American folk song “The Old Gray Mare”: “She ain’t what she used to be.” One single glance at the insanity of the Republican primaries is all a rational person needs to see that this Party in no way resembles the Party even 40 years ago, let alone what it was when it began in 1858, launching itself into the White House on a progressive platform. During the mid 1800´s the issue of slavery, the idea of giving all human beings the same rights, was considered to be extremely progressive but it was championed by the newly founded Republican Party. Today we have many of the same issues that voters faced way back then but the Republican Party seems determined to disenfranchise as many citizens as they possibly can. Their extreme views of gay rights, immigrant rights, women´s rights, even the rights of the poor, seem to be anathema to what was once the most liberal and progressive of political parties.
Looking at the candidates in the primaries is the best way to examine the issue. A large percentage of Republicans identify themselves as “Evangelical” (read-Fundamentalist) Christians, a group of people who claim to hold the Ten Commandments and teachings of Jesus as having supremacy over secular law. But when Mitt Romney says that the President has made the economy worse, despite the official numbers that give us 22 consecutive months of private sector job growth (and more than 2 million jobs created), a rescued auto industry and a more than 5,000 point climb in the Stock Exchange, he knows that he is telling an intentional lie for personal gain. Newt Gingrich is not only a serial adulterer but a hypocrite a liar as well because he was persecuting President Clinton for committing adultery while he was doing the exact same thing, at the same time. These are two men who have consistently, over many years, violated the Ten Commandments and yet still have wide support from Republicans.
But yesterdays primaries gave us even more insight into the chaos in this Party. After tens of millions of dollars in negative advertising, paid for by these huge anonymous “Super-Pacs” that have been flooding our political system with invisible money now allowed because of the Citizens United decision, both men seem irreparably damaged. Rick Santorum went on to win three State primaries after political pundits across the spectrum had essentially written him off. There are two problems with these “wins” however. In two of the States voting yesterday the Republicans spent more than $10 million running a primary that did not count. Because the States refused to comply with primary dates set by the Republican National Committee, these elections mean essentially nothing and the only vote that will count will be the one in the Caucuses that will be held in about 2 weeks.
But who is Rick Santorum? Santorum is a life long Evangelical Christian who is determined to promote extensive government control over the personal lives of every American. His platform has no clear plan for the economy, no plan for foreign relations. What his plans do include however is the complete dismantling of Social Security, Medicare, Environmental Protection, Food Testing and Educational programs sponsored by the Government. He plans to reintroduce mandatory Christian prayers in public schools, make the teaching of the Christian creation story mandatory in school science classes, eliminating legal abortions for any reason, even in cases of rape, incest and danger to the mother, and eliminate all forms of hormonal birth control. He has zero experience in the private business sector and none in foreign relations. In short, Rick Santorum is George W. Bush, abbreviated. While Bush failed at every business he ever tried, (including President), at least he tried. While he ducked combat in the military, at least he put on the uniform. While he had no foreign policy experience, at least his advisers and father did and could advise him. Santorum has none of these minor qualifications and every single one of his positions are based on improving the standing of Christianity.
There has been a great deal of misleading information about Newt Gingrich and his time in Congress. The common “wisdom” is that Gingrich was expelled from Congress because of the ethics charges that he was convicted. The facts however are a bit different. Newt Gingrich was in fact convicted by Congress for ethics violations and Congress did find him guilty and fined him more than $300,000 but, and please let us be clear about this: Newt Gingrich was never expelled from Congress. With a new election on the horizon and more than 80% of his own Party refusing to support him for a continuing in the Speaker´s job, Gingrich decided to voluntarily resign from office, rather than be humiliated in an election.
But Gingrich is a man with more than 30 years of experience doing the “Potomac Two-Step” and this campaign season is no difference. Understanding Newt´s place in this campaign is not difficult as long as we stop underestimating this man. Gingrich has been a professional politician long enough to fully understand that there is simply no possible way that he would end up in the White House. This professional politician has made one statement after another which guarantee that he will not win a general election. He has offended African Americans, Latinos, Gays and the poor and in every move, instead of painting himself as the perfect “modern” Republican: Fundamentalist Christian, racist, and anti-government. The problem is when we start thinking about why he would completely change everything he has ever stood for.
The one thing everyone knows about Newt Gingrich is that he is a very vindictive person. Newt never forgets a slight. He spent most of his life supporting the Republican Party and during his time in Congress he followed the “Reagan Rule” (the 11th Commandment) about never attacking another Republican. Yet when he is brought up on charges nearly all Republicans threw him to the wolves. We only need to look back less than 15 years when Gingrich, then Speaker of the House, led an attack on President Clinton that was unprecedented in American politics. Gingrich approved spending tens of millions of tax payer dollars trying to prove that Clinton committed an act that was not even illegal, i. e. Adultery. During this smear campaign he authored and authorized a single ad campaign that cost over one million dollars. This tells us that when Newt is offended, Newt goes on the attack, with the sole mission of completely destroying his attackers.
Everything Gingrich has done during this campaign season can be seen as simply unexplainable, mostly because it is him doing them. In May, everyone of his campaign staff, advisers, executive assistants, pollsters, everyone, packed up and walked out on him because he was spending more time promoting his books and traveling to the Greek islands on vacation, then he was campaigning. This is hardly the behavior of someone who seriously intends to be elected President.
The facts are that Newt Gingrich is simply not a stupid politician and he is a man who deeply resents how he was treated in 1999 by his compatriots on the Hill. Political pundits are speculating that his decision to continue to campaign until the Convention is simply because he does not like Mitt Romney. But while Romney has said some nasty things about him, nothing he has said or done to Gingrich is anywhere near as insulting as his forced resignation 12 years ago. There is a very real fact that Gingrich is not trying to embarrass only Romney. Gingrich is trying to completely destroy the entire Republican Party by creating a stereotypically racist, intolerant, flip flopping Republican. If Newt does in fact continue the smear campaign during the next several months the damage done to the Party will possibly be irreparable and it will certainly destroy any chance of them returning to power in the White House and very likely cost them their current strangle hold on Congress.
Because the religious right has been playing such a major role in American politics we are beginning this article with the words of Jesus. In Mark 7:16 Jesus said: “By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles?”, Matthew 7:16 New International Version. This is not a difficult concept to understand for intelligent, emotionally stable individuals and basically says that while a person may say anything, the only effective way to judge them is by their actions. This weeks State of the Union Address, delivered by the President and rebutted by Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels. In the United States we have a saying that is probably one of the most self-destructive in our lexicon: “Oh well, its politics”. We use this when we catch politicians in complete lies or when they act like school yard brawlers.
There are several aspects in the sudden activity of these “moral and ethical” people who are now trying to dominate our political dialog that are nothing short of disturbing. The sixth through tenth Commandments, orders directly from “God” are supposed to be the foundation of Christian living. Thou shall not lie, steal, kill, commit adultery or covet your neighbors property. This is a fairly basic set of rules and it would seem like they would need no explanation, especially to Christians. These Commandments are used constantly by believers when they want to direct attention to the actions of other people. When Fundamentalists (and yes, they are Fundamentalists. They changed their name during the 1980´s when some of them began blowing up clinics), began organizing to get involved in politics, as a group, during the Reagan administration their platform of “Christian” morality and “Family values”. Now that 32 year have passed and 20 of them have given us “leaders” from the Party chosen by this group to represent them, we can honestly begin to assess which political party actually represents morality and family values.
Mitt Romney has said repeatedly that the President has made the economy worse. Newt Gingrich says electric co-ops and credit unions are “government-sponsored enterprises” like Freddie Mac. These two men are the leading Candidates for President in 2012 and have lobbied heavily with Christian Conservatives across the nation. It would seem logical that if they were representing a group who claimed to follow the Commandment not to lie that they would tell the truth. The facts are however that according to PolitaFact.com both of these statements are not just in error, they are flat lies and when we consider that the improving economy can be seen in hard numbers, available online to anyone and that Gingrich was actually involved with Freddie Mac, these men cannot possibly claim error: They were violating the Commandment against lying.
Mitt Romney was the CEO in charge of Damon Corporation the company was fined $100 million after being convicted of Medicare fraud. Newt Gingrich was forced to resign over ethics violations and is an admitted serial adulterer. Not only is he a serial adulterer, he was committing adultery at the same time he was persecuting President Clinton for lying about his own adulterous relations with Monica Lewinsky. Clinton was not impeached for the relationship. He was impeached because he lied about it to Congress. When we compare either one of these men to our current President however we see some stark contrasts. Obama was vetted probably more than any other President in American history. The attacks on his birth records demonstrate conclusively that there simply is not negative history on this man. Yet Christians would rather support these Republicans than they would a man who actually lives by their rules. When asked to supply his financial records, Obama gave us a full 8 years worth. When Romney was asked however he refused and it does not take FBI training to suspect that he has something to hide. When asked his net worth this week Romney told the press that he was worth between $150 million and $250 million. A man who claims to have been a successful venture capitalist for 20 years who does not know his net worth closer than that seems pretty unlikely.
President Obama´s message during the State of the Union was one of positive hope, a call for unity, trying to bring the nation together after a decade or more of division. When Mitch Daniels spoke however it was exactly the opposite. According to Daniels however the only possible salvation comes from the Republican Party. One side speaking of unity, one side speaking of division and intolerance. One party led by a man with no questions in his background, the other proposing leaders with highly questionable backgrounds. Three candidates with no adultery in their backgrounds and Gingrich, the only one who has, is leading among fundamentalists.
Reputation
