Dear Family and Friends

Granted that I did not listen to all the various pundits sound off on President Obama’s State of the Union Address last night – listened to the entire speech + the Repub response, I was surprised that the one’s I did listen to – MSBNC – Chris, Keith, Rachel and their guests – did not comment on his direct attack on the Supreme Court while they were sitting listening to him.

Personally, I was delighted that Obama chastised the SC for their decision to provide for unlimited corporate spending on elections.  I was pleased to hear him request that Congress address the shortcomings associated with the SC’s decision of overturning decades of precedence in declaring all previous laws pertaining thereto as an unconstitutional invasion of free speech.

I always had a problem with corporations being considered individuals.  I realize that this designation came about so that corporations could be sued.  However, corporations are not people and do not have all the rights that people do.

I also have had difficulty with the concept that money equals speech.  Granted, money can buy time which can then be used for ideas to be promulgated in the form of speech.  However, money, in and of itself, is not speech.

No average citizen could even begin to think of matching the vast amounts of money that corporations could make available to influence elections.  Former presidents warned us about corporate power and Eisenhower warned us against the Military Industrial Complex.  This past Congressional session demonstrated, conclusively, using health care insurance reform as the paradigm, the power money has in corrupting the workings of government in favor of corporations and against the best interests of the American people.  During the consideration of health care insurance reform legislation, I kept asking a question to which no one has ever provided me with an appropriate answer: What is the difference between bribery and the actions of lobbyists?  The only answer I came up with is the fact that Congress conveniently made this specific activity legal.  Yet, bribery by any other name is still bribery.

Just think of what this SC decision will do in making money available to buy the hearts and minds of politicians.  This SC decision provides evidence for the cynical adage: “The US has the finest government money could buy.”

If Americans are cynical now, just think how much more cynical they will become as the consequences of this decision become manifest.
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“It is required of a man that he should share the passion and action of his time, at peril of being judged not to have lived.”
Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes.

Aspire to inspire before you expire. -Anon.

“When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” -Sinclair Lewis

“When fascism comes to America and the world, it will be because the world refused to respond properly to the banners of religion. -floridadynamo’s  modern paraphrase of Sinclair Lewis.

Let me introduce myself.

I am the floridadynamo.  I am a retired educator and scientist who also was very active in community affairs in the cities in which we lived.  I am a polemist. I will reveal more of myself in my profile as I learn more about the intricacies of blogging.

The name floridadynamo is an extension of my CB handle back in the 19 70s.  At that time it was just dynamo or sometimes Hoosierdynamo.  Since the name dynamo was already being used, I just added my current geographic location as a prefix.  The word dynamo is an apt description of my personality, albeit it is a more accurate portrayal of me when I was younger. As the great Sinatra song points out, my pace is a little slower.

My blog will deal with a variety of social, political, economic and foreign policy issues.

In the social realm, I will tend to  concentrate on issues pertaining to  education, many of the “isms”, religiously based hates, science and medicine, religion, and the interactions between science and religion.

Politically, I like to think of myself as an independent: I am quite capable of thinking for myself.

As a polemist (or polemicist, if you prefer), you will find that I am very straight forward and have a great penchant for telling it as it is.  I am not known for pulling punches.

I hope you will not only enjoy reading what I have to say but also learn from it.

I also enjoy reading and interacting to comments from readers.

Thanks for reading,
Floridadynamo