Seeing True Colors Through Politics

The 2012 presidential election helped to show me the true colors of many people. I’m not talking about the Democratic blue and Republican red colors.  This election exposed some of the worst traits – the true colors - of some people, and many of those people were even family and friends.

I was saddened to see how many of my so called “friends” - in their attempt to support Mitt Romney - posted photos and/or links to other sites that promoted intolerance and racism. I suppose they thought that by continuing to promote their candidate by repeated low blows to the current president that somehow I would come over to their way of thinking. (I didn’t.) Many of those same “friends” forwarded bigoted emails, thinking that because they forwarded content that someone else wrote that I would never expect those bigoted thoughts to come from them. (They were mistaken.) Some forwarded emails filled with accusations about the Obama administration that simply were not fact checked beforehand (I checked.) Of course, when I would reply back giving them links to the facts to counter their claims, I’d either be ignored or sent a reply that said something like “Oh, I was just forwarding it to you as I thought you’d get a laugh.”

Who is laughing now?

What some of these “friends” fail to understand is that their barrage of negativity only worked against their candidate. Granted, the Romney campaign likely never sanctioned any of these emails or political messages that were seemingly sent by supporters on his behalf. I’ve been voting since 1973 and I’ve gone between voting Republican and Democrat many times; I tend to vote for a person rather than a party, But the increasing vitriol from my Republican “friends” that began as far back as the 2008 election has confirmed that the Republican Party ideals aren't even remotely close to mine. Sadly for them, I don’t see them getting there any time soon, at least not without the party jettisoning any Tea Party affiliation or without showing some respect for minorities, for women, or for the “47%”.

Congratulations to President Barack Obama on his re-elections. I can’t help being happy – and energized - about it. The fact that he has been given a second term tells me that we have a good chance of moving…”Forward.”




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My Endorsement of Barack Obama Via “Why Obama Now”

This animated video short, created by Simpsons / Family Guy animator Lucas Gray and using a speech delivered by President Obama at the Associated Press Luncheon in April of 2012, best represents one of the many reasons why I am endorsing Barack Obama for another term as President of the United States. It’s also the best explanation of the failures of the "trickle-down economics" concept that I’ve ever seen.








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There Are No Mulligans in Politics (A Cautionary Tale)

Mitt Romney’s bid for the White House took a turn for the worse this week, much like a golf shot that hooks into the woods out of sight. My guess is Romney wishes that politics would have the golf equivalent of a mulligan – a “do over” – but he has learned the hard way that once words come out of one’s mouth and are either heard by others, or worse yet RECORDED by others, they are impossible to take back. One would think he should have already learned this by now, but there we go thinking again.


A video of Romney secretly recorded at a fundraiser with wealthy donors recently went public. It didn’t take long for the information to blanket the Internet, TV, and print media. In this video, Romney took the stance that the bottom 47 percent of Americans are a bunch of useless, entitled people who see themselves as victims, and that he really can’t worry about them because people like that will vote for Obama no matter what. One can argue that Romney never expected someone to record his words at a private event. If he really expected his words would never be repeated, he was being either incredibly stupid or incredibly naïve (either trait is not good for a president). Americans should be thankful that Romney’s speech was exposed as now people can really see how he feels about 47 percent of the population.

Of course, this Romney flub is fodder for the Obama campaign and related backers, and I can’t say I blame them for jumping it quickly and getting TV ads out there that use the recordings. Yes, it’s rough here in Ohio being blasted with nasty ads from all sides, but I must admit that this time, I’m enjoying them. Two of the latest ads on this issue are below – sorry, no mulligans for Mitt.







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Be Sure to Vote – Be Sure You're Registered!

The political season is bringing out the usual vitriol and it’s becoming really tiring. In fact, I’ve stayed away from jumping into the fray with my usual commentary as the media is already flooded with polarizing commentary. It’s been really bad here in in the battleground state of Ohio, where the uncalled for pummeling of Senator Sherrod Brown by the PACs began over a year ago. Enough already!

The most important message that I can relay regarding the 2012 presidential election is to make sure that every person of voting age gets out and votes. One may think a single vote doesn’t count, but those single votes add up. Just as important as actually voting, voters should be sure that they are registered long before they get to the polls. The time to do that is NOW before the voter registration cut off (check your local voter registration bureau).

Get out and vote - it does make a difference!



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SiriusXM: Worst Customer Service EVER

SiriusXM has a great product. I got a 6 months free trial with my new car purchased in late 2010 and grew to love all the great music channels. I especially loved being able to hear music without the annoying barrage of commercials on “free” radio. My husband got a new car several months ago and also got the trial package and he loves the product too. We also have access on our computer.

The problem with SiriusXM, though, is that their customer service is the worst I have ever experienced. I used to think that because I spent almost 30 years in the field of customer service – 20 of those years in middle and upper management – that I was overly sensitive to customer service failures. But SiriusXM has proved to me time and time again that the problem is clearly theirs.

Anytime I have renewed or modified/added on to my SiriusXM service, SiriusXM screwed it up. That’s problem #1. Problem #2 is that their customer service people can only be described as incompetent. I just spend over 30 minutes on the phone with one who seemed incapable of understanding my problem, and then was completely incapable of resolving it. In fact, when he was unable to find the transaction I initiated a week before with another SiriusXM agent, he told me he was worried that my credit card had been compromised and told me to immediately contact my bank and credit card company. Nothing like having a clueless customer service rep warn you that the previous rep you spoke to may have been dishonest!

I contacted my bank who could clearly see a tiny pending transaction from SiriusXM which they felt was likely put through to verify the card. Why SiriusXM could not see this transaction or my order is beyond me. When I called SiriusXM back – I got a new customer service rep, of course – they seemed to start the whole thing over by NOT listening to my problem and parroting back to me information already on my account. At my wits end, I interrupted the rep and explained my problem, and, when he clearly sensed my growing frustration, immediately said he’d get his supervisor. A few short minutes later, this new agent was able to determine that they did have my order but it would not be processed until the date the trial ended on my husband’s new car. Why the first customer service agent could not see this is beyond me.

One of SiriusXM’s big problem is that it is evident they are outsourcing their customer service to a country – or countries - outside the U.S. and the communication barrier is great. And likely because of this issue, their agents seem to have a scripted manner of handling calls; when the call deviates from the script, the agent becomes confused and stymied in resolving the problem. They clearly have a case of “the right hand doesn’t know what the left is doing” problem, too.

SiriusXM seems unwilling to do anything except provide minimal customer service and they company doesn’t seem to care how much they inconvenience their customers. But they’d better change fast. More people are getting smart phones and other methods of wireless access that allows for more music choices and more ways to get music. When my subscriptions run out, I am going to give a serious look to SiriusXM alternatives. This is that last time I want spend time in the hellish world of SiriusXM customer service!

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Living In A Presidential Election Battleground State

The motto for most people who live in a presidential election battleground state is “Stop the insanity!” The political ads are non-stop here in Ohio, and after a while, they all sound like noise. The worst ads are coming from the PACs, who seem to think that voters are stupid and won’t check out some of the outrageous claims they make. And while PACs each give themselves a moniker, it’s not like a candidate speaking out under his or her real name and holding themselves accountable. PACs, in my opinion, are the equivalent of an anonymous poster trolling on an internet forum or message board. I do understand the need for people who are not actually campaigning for election to have an outlet to voice their opinions, but many PACs seem very loose with the truth in many cases. Thankfully, there is Politifact.com which helps voters to sort out the lies from the truth.

Also, the internet and web sites such as YouTube provide an excellent vehicle to document past comments made by those currently seeking election. The current Republican and PAC ads attempt to place the blame on the current dismal economy and job market on President Obama. But in 2004, Mitt Romney had this to say about blaming a president for economic woes (excerpt from the video below):


"The people of America recognize that the slowdown in jobs that occurred during the early years of the Bush administration were the result of a perfect storm. And an effort by one candidate to somehow say, 'Oh, this recession and the slowdown in jobs was the result of somehow this president magically being elected' - people in America just dismiss that as being poppycock."




Using Romney’s logic from 2004, this voter sees Romney’s current placing of blame for the current economic woes on Obama as poppycock. Of course, since the term poppycock isn’t one used by most normal people, I’d rather call Romney’s claims ludicrous.

Living in a battleground state means a voter has to do more than just listen to the ads and respond emotionally. Here, one must take the initiative to check the facts and use tools like Politifact.com to get the real story. In fact, every resident of every state should consider their vote important enough – and their state critical enough – that they take the time to get the facts before casting a vote.

While those of us in battleground states get bombarded with attack ads multiple times a day, I for one consider myself lucky that many of these ads often expose the real candidate and what kind of elected official they would be.

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Dear Mitt Romney – Release Those Tax Returns!

Dear Mitt, 

Enough is enough. If you really want to be President of the United States, you must be open and honest with the American people. Your reluctance to make public several years of tax returns screams that you have something to hide.

Your wife Ann isn’t helping matters much when, in an interview today on ABC, she told Robin Roberts that “…we've given all you people need to know and understand about our financial situation and about how we live our life.” (See video below.) First, the American people don’t believe they have enough information to understand your financial situation and secondly, “you people”???   Talk about condescending.

There are many reports that other Republicans and conservative pundits are also perplexed at your reluctance to release this information. And where there is smoke, there is fire. If your own party is starting to smell smoke, your official nomination and campaign may go up in proverbial flames before you know it.

If there is nothing for which to be ashamed, embarrassed, or fearful,  why not release the information, not only to ease the minds of the voters, but of the members of your own party?

By the way, in the spirit of transparency, I thought I should let you know that I'll be voting for Barack Obama this November.

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