Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

George Voinovich

2015-06-04T15:16:49Z

Alpineopossum:

{{Officeholder
|name=George Voinovich
|image=000Voinovichphoto2.jpg
|party=[[Republican]]
|spouse=Janet Voinovich
|religion=Roman Catholic
|offices=
{{Officeholder/senator
|state=Ohio
|terms=January 6, 1999 – January 5, 2011
|preceded=John H. Glenn, Jr.
|former=y
|succeeded=[[Rob Portman]]
}}
{{Officeholder/governor
|state=Ohio
|number=65th
|terms=January 14, 1991 – January 1, 1999
|preceded=Richard Frank Celeste
|former=y
|succeeded=[[Nancy Hollister]]
}}
{{Officeholder/mayor
|number=54th
|city=Cleveland, Ohio
|terms=1980–1989
|preceded=[[Dennis Kucinich]]
|former=y
|succeeded=Michael White
}}
}}

'''George Victor Voinovich''' (born July 15, 1936) is the former [[United States]] [[Senator]] from [[Ohio]] and a member of the [[Republican Party]]. Voinovich announced he would retire from the Senate when his term expired in January 2011. Previously he served as [[Mayor]] of [[Cleveland]] from 1980-1989 and [[Governor]] of [[Ohio]] from 1991-1999. Voinovich was widely credited for sparking an economic revival in Cleveland when he was mayor. In the Senate he had a reputation as a moderate Republican.

==Early Life==

George Voinovich was born in Cleveland, Ohio to a [[Serbia]]n father and [[Slovene]] mother. He graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in government from [[Ohio University]] in 1958 and a law degree from [[Ohio State University]] in 1961. After serving as Ohio Assistant Attorney General, Voinovich served in the Ohio House of Representatives from 1967 to 1971. He introduced 85 bills which became law.<ref>http://www.library.ohiou.edu/archives/voinovich/index.html</ref> Voinovich unsuccessfully ran for Mayor of Cleveland in 1975. However, was elected in a second attempt in 1979, defeating [[Democrat]] [[Dennis Kucinich]].

==Political Career==

When taking office, Cleveland was the first major city to declare [[bankruptcy]] since the [[Great Depression]] and the city was on the edge of financial ruin. Despite the city having eight times as many registered democrats as republicans. The election was a difficult one for Voinovich as his daughter was hit by a car and killed shortly before the election. Voinovich overcame this personal tragedy to win the election by a comfortable margin over [[Dennis Kucinich]]. As Mayor, Voinovich approved a referendum to extend the terms for Mayor and City Council from two years to four, and reduced the number of council members from 33 to 21. He managed the revival the city's [[economy]] and became the longest serving Mayor of Cleveland in history. One major success of his tenure was the restoration of the Playhouse Square theaters, three of which, the State, the Ohio, and the Palace, reopened while he was mayor. He was instrumental in getting the project to completion, and today the theaters are one of the biggest economic engines in the city. He also spurred new construction in the city, most notably when Standard Oil of Ohio (now BP America) built their 45-floor headquarters building on Public Square (the building is the headquarters of Huntington Bank). Cleveland was also selected as the home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame while Voinovich was mayor, although the museum on the Cleveland lakefront did not open until the 1990s, after he left the mayorship. The National Journal called Voinovich "one of five local and state officials who make a difference in Washington." Today, Voinovich remains a fondly remembered figure in the Cleveland area.

In 1988 Voinovich ran for the United States Senate and was defeated 57% to 43%, despite Republican [[George H.W. Bush]] winning Ohio by eleven percentage points in the national presidential election. However, in 1990 Voinovich was elected Governor of Ohio with a record 72 percent of the vote. During his two terms [[unemployment]] hit a 25-year low, and curved state spending which balanced the budget. A popular Governor, he was reelected by the largest margin of victory in over a century in Ohio. His skills as a budget hawk led [[Bob Dole]] to consider him as a potential vice presidential nominee in 1996. Voinovich declined any interest in the job, and Dole instead selected [[Jack Kemp]]. He was unable to run for a third term in 1998, and he set his sites on a Senate seat. Famed astronaut [[John Glenn]], a popular incumbent Democrat, was retiring and Voinovich decided to run for the job. He was elected to the United States Senate in 1998 and reelected in 2004 by a landslide, winning all 88 counties. Voinovich gained a reputation as a party maverick in the Senate. He opposed John Bolton's nomination and sided with Democrats. However, he was against No Child Left Behind, arguing that it was a big government program that took away the rights of state and local governments to set educational policy. As Voinovich said, "the federal government is not a school board."

==Political Views==

In March 2009, Voinovich was ranked number four on [[Human Events]]' top ten [[liberal]] Senate Republicans.<ref>http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=31018</ref> He supports [[gun control]], has voted against reducing the marriage penalty and against repealing the death tax. As a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, George Voinovich strongly opposed [[John Bolton]] as [[United Nations]] Ambassador, saying "I just did not feel comfortable."<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/19/politics/19cnd-bolton.html?hp&ex=1113969600&en=f8772edeba476df8&ei=5094&partner=homepage</ref> In May 2005, he cried on the Senate floor, urging the Senate to vote against the confirmation of John Bolton.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wF08KHwVjoo</ref> Voinovich later changed his position and said Bolton has done a "good job" as UN Ambassador.

In July 2009, Voinovich attacked southern conservatives, saying to The Columbus Dispatch "we got too many [[Jim DeMint]]s and [[Tom Coburn]]s. It's the southerners, They get on TV and go 'errrr, errrrr. People hear them and say, 'These people, they're southerners. The party's being taken over by southerners. What they hell they got to do with Ohio?'"<ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/29/vitter-defends-south-valu_n_247335.html</ref> Conservative [[Louisiana]] Senator [[David Vitter]] responded, "He's a moderate, really wishy-washy. I'm on the side of conservatives getting back to core conservative values." Also in July, Voinovich voted against gun owners carrying firearms between states.

Some of Voinovich's stances are conservative, he voted with his Republican colleagues 66.5% of the time.<ref>http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/v000126/</ref> Voinovich voted against the $827 billion stimulus package, "I voted against this bill because it is weighed down by too much spending that is not stimulative and will not provide the jump-start our economy so desperately needs."<ref>http://voinovich.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=NewsCenter.PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=71795c66-f9d7-0280-2710-167e85ea83fb&Region_id=&Issue_id=</ref> During the [[2008 Presidential Election]], Voinovich said of [[Barack Obama]] "He is left of [[Ted Kennedy]]. With all due respect, the man is a [[socialist]]."<ref>http://blog.cleveland.com/openers/2008/10/george_voinovich_calls_barack.html</ref>

== References ==
<references/>

==External Links==
*[http://voinovich.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Home.Home Official Website]
*[http://www.ontheissues.org/senate/george_voinovich.htm Voinovich on the Issues]

{{DEFAULTSORT: Voinovich, George}}

[[Category:Former United States Senators]]
[[Category:111th United States Congress]]
[[Category:RINOs]]
[[Category:Ohio]]
[[Category:United States Mayors]]

George Voinovich

2015-06-04T15:15:31Z

Alpineopossum: /* Political Career */

{{Officeholder
|name=George Voinovich
|image=000Voinovichphoto2.jpg
|party=[[Republican]]
|spouse=Janet Voinovich
|religion=Roman Catholic
|offices=
{{Officeholder/senator
|state=Ohio
|terms=January 6, 1999 – January 5, 2011
|preceded=John H. Glenn, Jr.
|former=y
|succeeded=[[Rob Portman]]
}}
{{Officeholder/governor
|state=Ohio
|number=65th
|terms=January 14, 1991 – January 1, 1999
|preceded=Richard Frank Celeste
|former=y
|succeeded=[[Nancy Hollister]]
}}
{{Officeholder/mayor
|number=54th
|city=Cleveland, Ohio
|terms=1980–1989
|preceded=[[Dennis Kucinich]]
|former=y
|succeeded=Michael White
}}
}}

'''George Victor Voinovich''' (born July 15, 1936) is the former [[United States]] [[Senator]] from [[Ohio]] and a member of the [[Republican Party]]. Voinovich announced he would retire from the Senate when his term expired in January 2011. Previously he served as [[Mayor]] of [[Cleveland]] from 1980-1989 and [[Governor]] of [[Ohio]] from 1991-1999.

==Early Life==

George Voinovich was born in Cleveland, Ohio to a [[Serbia]]n father and [[Slovene]] mother. He graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in government from [[Ohio University]] in 1958 and a law degree from [[Ohio State University]] in 1961. After serving as Ohio Assistant Attorney General, Voinovich served in the Ohio House of Representatives from 1967 to 1971. He introduced 85 bills which became law.<ref>http://www.library.ohiou.edu/archives/voinovich/index.html</ref> Voinovich unsuccessfully ran for Mayor of Cleveland in 1975. However, was elected in a second attempt in 1979, defeating [[Democrat]] [[Dennis Kucinich]].

==Political Career==

When taking office, Cleveland was the first major city to declare [[bankruptcy]] since the [[Great Depression]] and the city was on the edge of financial ruin. Despite the city having eight times as many registered democrats as republicans. The election was a difficult one for Voinovich as his daughter was hit by a car and killed shortly before the election. Voinovich overcame this personal tragedy to win the election by a comfortable margin over [[Dennis Kucinich]]. As Mayor, Voinovich approved a referendum to extend the terms for Mayor and City Council from two years to four, and reduced the number of council members from 33 to 21. He managed the revival the city's [[economy]] and became the longest serving Mayor of Cleveland in history. One major success of his tenure was the restoration of the Playhouse Square theaters, three of which, the State, the Ohio, and the Palace, reopened while he was mayor. He was instrumental in getting the project to completion, and today the theaters are one of the biggest economic engines in the city. He also spurred new construction in the city, most notably when Standard Oil of Ohio (now BP America) built their 45-floor headquarters building on Public Square (the building is the headquarters of Huntington Bank). Cleveland was also selected as the home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame while Voinovich was mayor, although the museum on the Cleveland lakefront did not open until the 1990s, after he left the mayorship. The National Journal called Voinovich "one of five local and state officials who make a difference in Washington." Today, Voinovich remains a fondly remembered figure in the Cleveland area.

In 1988 Voinovich ran for the United States Senate and was defeated 57% to 43%, despite Republican [[George H.W. Bush]] winning Ohio by eleven percentage points in the national presidential election. However, in 1990 Voinovich was elected Governor of Ohio with a record 72 percent of the vote. During his two terms [[unemployment]] hit a 25-year low, and curved state spending which balanced the budget. A popular Governor, he was reelected by the largest margin of victory in over a century in Ohio. His skills as a budget hawk led [[Bob Dole]] to consider him as a potential vice presidential nominee in 1996. Voinovich declined any interest in the job, and Dole instead selected [[Jack Kemp]]. He was unable to run for a third term in 1998, and he set his sites on a Senate seat. Famed astronaut [[John Glenn]], a popular incumbent Democrat, was retiring and Voinovich decided to run for the job. He was elected to the United States Senate in 1998 and reelected in 2004 by a landslide, winning all 88 counties. Voinovich gained a reputation as a party maverick in the Senate. He opposed John Bolton's nomination and sided with Democrats. However, he was against No Child Left Behind, arguing that it was a big government program that took away the rights of state and local governments to set educational policy. As Voinovich said, "the federal government is not a school board."

==Political Views==

In March 2009, Voinovich was ranked number four on [[Human Events]]' top ten [[liberal]] Senate Republicans.<ref>http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=31018</ref> He supports [[gun control]], has voted against reducing the marriage penalty and against repealing the death tax. As a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, George Voinovich strongly opposed [[John Bolton]] as [[United Nations]] Ambassador, saying "I just did not feel comfortable."<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/19/politics/19cnd-bolton.html?hp&ex=1113969600&en=f8772edeba476df8&ei=5094&partner=homepage</ref> In May 2005, he cried on the Senate floor, urging the Senate to vote against the confirmation of John Bolton.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wF08KHwVjoo</ref> Voinovich later changed his position and said Bolton has done a "good job" as UN Ambassador.

In July 2009, Voinovich attacked southern conservatives, saying to The Columbus Dispatch "we got too many [[Jim DeMint]]s and [[Tom Coburn]]s. It's the southerners, They get on TV and go 'errrr, errrrr. People hear them and say, 'These people, they're southerners. The party's being taken over by southerners. What they hell they got to do with Ohio?'"<ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/29/vitter-defends-south-valu_n_247335.html</ref> Conservative [[Louisiana]] Senator [[David Vitter]] responded, "He's a moderate, really wishy-washy. I'm on the side of conservatives getting back to core conservative values." Also in July, Voinovich voted against gun owners carrying firearms between states.

Some of Voinovich's stances are conservative, he voted with his Republican colleagues 66.5% of the time.<ref>http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/v000126/</ref> Voinovich voted against the $827 billion stimulus package, "I voted against this bill because it is weighed down by too much spending that is not stimulative and will not provide the jump-start our economy so desperately needs."<ref>http://voinovich.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=NewsCenter.PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=71795c66-f9d7-0280-2710-167e85ea83fb&Region_id=&Issue_id=</ref> During the [[2008 Presidential Election]], Voinovich said of [[Barack Obama]] "He is left of [[Ted Kennedy]]. With all due respect, the man is a [[socialist]]."<ref>http://blog.cleveland.com/openers/2008/10/george_voinovich_calls_barack.html</ref>

== References ==
<references/>

==External Links==
*[http://voinovich.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Home.Home Official Website]
*[http://www.ontheissues.org/senate/george_voinovich.htm Voinovich on the Issues]

{{DEFAULTSORT: Voinovich, George}}

[[Category:Former United States Senators]]
[[Category:111th United States Congress]]
[[Category:RINOs]]
[[Category:Ohio]]

Vietnam War

2015-04-30T04:19:55Z

Alpineopossum:

{{War
| image =SaigonFall.jpg
| conflict =
| date =1959-1975
| location =[[Vietnam]]
| combatant1 ='''Anticommunist Forces''' [[South Vietnam]] [[United States]]
| combatant2 ='''Communist Forces''' [[North Vietnam]] [[Khmer Rouge]] [[Pathet Lao]] [[Viet Cong]]
| commander1 = [[Ngo Dinh Diem]] [[John F. Kennedy]] [[Lyndon Johnson]] [[Robert McNamara]] [[William Westmoreland]] [[Richard Nixon]] Nguyen Van Thieu
| commander2 = [[Ho Chi Minh]] Le Duan Hoang Van Thai
| strength1 =
| strength2 =
| casualties1 =
| casualties2 =
}}

[[Image:SaigonFall.jpg|thumb|South Vietnamese residents flee [[Saigon]], as North Vietnamese forces enter the city.]]
The '''Vietnam War,''' also known as the Second Indochina War or The American War (in Vietnam), was fought principally between [[North Vietnamese]] [[Communist]] troops and [[South Vietnamese]] forces supported by American soldiers. The war was basically a fight over whether South Vietnam should have a Communist government, part of the ongoing [[Cold War]] between the US and the Soviets.

The war was in progress more or less continuously since the surrender of [[Japan]], which occupied Vietnam during [[World War II]], in 1945. [[Ho Chi Minh]], an operative of the [[Comintern]] (the Soviet organization charged with promoting Marxist-Leninist revolution around the world),<ref>[http://www.triumphforsaken.com/index.php?pr=Excerpt Triumph Forsaken], book by [[Mike Moyar]]</ref> led the movement for a unified, [[Communist]] Vietnam from 1941 on. He served as the dictator of North Vietnam until the late fifties, though he remained the figurehead president. He remained a popular icon of the New Left around the world, despite heading a totalitarian dictatorship and murdering hundreds of thousands of people.

==Prelude==
During World War II the Japanese occupied Vietnam and disarmed the French. With the vacuum caused by the defeat of Japan, an opportunity arose for the Communists to declare the "independence" of Vietnam in 1945. No nation recognized the new regime and the French returned and swept it away, with remnants hiding in the mountains. The [[United States]] backed France and its puppet emperor Bao Dai. [[Ho Chi Minh]] began a campaign to fight a weakened France and seize independence through force. France's economy was shattered by the war and so by 1953, 80% of the money and material used by Bao Dai's troops came from the United States. Nonetheless, in early 1954 French were defeated at the [[Battle of Dien Bien Phu]] over many months when the fortress was overrun by a well-forged Vietnamese fighting force. More than 500,000 Vietnamese died in this conflict with France (the First Indochina War).

The French sued for peace at talks in [[Geneva]], the upshot of which was the creation of four independent countries in their former colony of [[Indochina]]: [[Cambodia]], [[Laos]], [[North Vietnam]] and [[South Vietnam]]. North Vietnam was run by Ho Chi Minh as a totalitarian Communist dictatorship, while the South was run based on the Western model. Neither side respected the legitimacy of the other; as a consequence, the division was widely regarded as temporary. A British diplomat suggested that free elections be held in the North and South to determine the future of a unified Vietnam. South Vietnam consistently opposed such arguments on the grounds that free elections were impossible in the communist North. The United States was willing to accept free elections and a reunified Vietnam, Communist-led and hostile to China. Indeed, US officials ''favored'' such a default outcome; they listed it in secret communications never intended for public consumption (but released in the Pentagon Papers) under the heading "advantages."<ref>The Pentagon Papers (Beacon Press, 1971), vol. 3, p661.</ref> The US gradually intervened, due to the insistence of the North on a campaign of military aggression, as part of its wider Cold War strategy of containment.

A unity government was established in Laos, and the US was firmly committed to defending South Vietnam from conquest. Huge numbers of North Vietnamese desperately fled to the South for freedom. Cambodia was neutral and united behind the rule of Sihanouk. Despite repeated diplomatic efforts by the US to bring about a peaceful regional settlement; Hanoi became increasingly convinced that the revolution could be spread throughout Indochina only by force.

===The North Vietnamese Terror===
During the twenties and thirties, Communist forces waged an insurrection of mass murder and terrorism in an effort to seize power in Vietnam. The communist Viet Minh collaborated with French colonial forces to massacre supporters of the Vietnamese nationalist movements in the forties. When the Viet Minh went to war against France they continued their campaign to wipe out the nationalist groups. (America refused to back the French against the communists until 1950.)<ref>Robert F. Turner, Vietnamese Communism: Its Origins and Development (Hoover Institution Press, 1975), pp57-9, 67-9, 74 and “Myths of the Vietnam War,” Southeast Asian Perspectives, September 1972, pp14-8</ref> The Japanese invasion of French Indochina proved to be a catalyst for Vietnamese independence, as it united the Vietnamese people behind the Communist resistance to imperial domination. In 1953, Ho launched a "rent reduction" campaign in which communist planners decided to massacre 1 out of every 1,000 North Vietnamese.<ref>Alec Holcombe, [http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.1525/vs.2010.5.2.243?searchUrl=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3Ffilter%3Djid%253A10.2307%252Fj50000660%26Query%3Drent%2Breduction%26wc%3Don%26Search.x%3D0%26Search.y%3D0&Search=yes&uid=3739656&uid=367529381&uid=2134&uid=2&uid=70&uid=3&uid=3739256&uid=60&sid=21101672198221 Politburo's Directive Issued on May 4, 1953, on Some Special Issues regarding Mass Mobilization] ''Journal of Vietnamese Studies'', Vol. 5, No. 2 (Summer 2010), pp. 243-247, quoting a translated Politburo directive from May 4, 1953. This directive was published in Complete Collection of Party Documents (Van Kien Dang Toan Tap), a 54 volume work authorized by the Vietnamese Communist Party.</ref>

From mid 1953 to early 1956, the North Vietnamese Communists embarked on a ruthless "land reform" in which landowners, dissidents, and French collaborators were slaughtered en masse in a "genocide triggered by class discrimination."<ref>http://www.rfa.org/english/news/vietnam_landreform-20060608.html</ref> Declassified Politburo documents confirm that 1 in 1,000 North Vietnamese (i.e., about 14,000 people) were the minimum quota targeted for execution during the earlier "rent reduction" campaign; the number killed during the multiple stages of the considerably more radical "land reform" was probably many times greater.<ref>Alec Holcombe, [http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.1525/vs.2010.5.2.243?searchUrl=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3Ffilter%3Djid%253A10.2307%252Fj50000660%26Query%3Drent%2Breduction%26wc%3Don%26Search.x%3D0%26Search.y%3D0&Search=yes&uid=3739656&uid=367529381&uid=2134&uid=2&uid=70&uid=3&uid=3739256&uid=60&sid=21101672198221 Politburo's Directive Issued on May 4, 1953, on Some Special Issues regarding Mass Mobilization] ''Journal of Vietnamese Studies'', Vol. 5, No. 2 (Summer 2010), pp. 243-247, quoting a translated Politburo directive from May 4, 1953. This directive was published in [http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.1525/vs.2010.5.2.225?uid=3739656&uid=367529381&uid=2134&uid=2&uid=70&uid=3&uid=3739256&uid=60&sid=21101672298091 Complete Collection of Party Documents] (Van Kien Dang Toan Tap), a 54 volume work authorized by the Vietnamese Communist Party.</ref> In 1957, during its "Rectification of Errors" campaign, North Vietnam admitted that it had wrongly executed about 15,000 communist cadre during the "land reform", and that 30% of the "landlords" executed were party members; i.e., that about 50,000 people were executed in total.<ref>''Nhan Dan,'' August 13, 1957.</ref><ref>''Time,'' July 1, 1957, p. 13, says they were given a proper burial.</ref><ref>Gittinger, J. Price, [http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/3024603?uid=3739656&uid=2134&uid=367529391&uid=2&uid=70&uid=3&uid=367529381&uid=3739256&uid=60&sid=21101618662091 "Communist Land Policy in Viet Nam"], ''Far Eastern Survey'', Vol. 29, No. 8, 1957, p. 118.</ref><ref>Lam Thanh Liem (1990), [http://www.paulbogdanor.com/left/vietnam/landreform.html "Chinh sach cai cach ruong dat cua Ho Chi Minh: sai lam hay toi ac?"] in Jean-Francois Revel et al., ''Ho Chi Minh'', Nam A, pp. 179-214. "Vo Nhan Tri found and read a top-secret report on the number of communist cadres falsely accused and executed: 15,000."</ref> Lam Thanh Liem, a major authority on land issues in Vietnam, conducted multiple interviews in which communist cadres independently confirmed that 20-30% of those executed were actually fellow communists, but gave higher estimates for executions ranging from 120,000 to 200,000. Such figures match the "nearly 150,000 houses and huts which were allocated to new occupants".<ref>Lam Thanh Liem (1990), [http://www.paulbogdanor.com/left/vietnam/landreform.html "Chinh sach cai cach ruong dat cua Ho Chi Minh: sai lam hay toi ac?"] in Jean-Francois Revel et al., ''Ho Chi Minh'', Nam A, pp. 179-214.</ref><ref>Dommen, Arthur J. (2001), [http://books.google.com/books?id=MauWlUjuWNsC&pg=PA340#v=onepage&q&f=false ''The Indochinese Experience of the French and the Americans''], Indiana University Press, p. 340, quotes comparable figures for communist cadre executed.</ref> Official records from the time suggest that 172,008 "landlords" were killed during the "land reform", of whom 123,266 (71.66%) were later found to be wrongly classified.<ref>''The History of the Vietnamese Economy'' (2005), Vol. 2, edited by Dang Phong of the Institute of Economy, Vietnamese Institute of Social Sciences. Landlords were classified as 5.68% of the population, but only a fraction of them were killed. These figures are proportionally comparable to those for China's land reform, in which millions of "landlords" were slaughtered.</ref> The full death toll was even greater because victims' families starved to death under the "policy of isolation."<ref>''Nhan Vhan,'' November 5, 1956: "In the agrarian reform, illegal arrests, imprisonments, investigations (with barbarous torture), executions, requisitions of property, and '''the quarantining of landowners’ houses''' (or houses of peasants wrongly classified as landowners), which left innocent children to die of starvation, are not exclusively due to the shortcomings of the leadership, but also due to the lack of a complete legal code. If the cadres had felt that they were closely observed by the god of justice... calamities might have been avoided for the masses." Nhan Vhan was one of the best-known opposition periodicals that was allowed during the three-month period of relative intellectual freedom in the fall of 1956, modeled on Mao's "Hundred Flowers" campaign.</ref> As communist defector Le Xuan Giao explained: "There was nothing worse than the starvation of the children in a family whose parents were under the control of a land reform team. They isolated the house, and the people who lived there would starve. The children were all innocent. There was nothing worse than that. They wanted to see the whole family dead."<ref name="Turner">Turner, Robert F. [http://www.paulbogdanor.com/deniers/vietnam/turner.pdf "Expert Punctures 'No Bloodbath' Myth"]. ''[[Human Events]],'' November 11, 1972.</ref>

In 1959, Hanoi's politburo received a series of reports indicating that even though the North had been directing a phase one guerrilla insurgency in the South for two years, the South was socially and economically out-pacing the North. "By Tet of 1959," William Colby writes in his book, ''Lost Victory'', "it was plain that a nationalist and non-Communist Vietnam was firmly established. It was also becoming apparent that its future was, if anything, more promising than the gray and regimented society in the North."<ref>http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/events/1996_Symposium/96papers/story.htm</ref>

In response, the North decided to rapidly escalate the campaign to conquer South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia using the Ho Chi Minh trail. To "hide" the fact that "there had been an invasion from the North," as one North Vietnamese commander openly admitted, seemingly indigenous forces were deployed in the initial phases of the conflict. Originally part of the [[Vietminh]] and honorary branches of the North Vietnamese army; groups of Cambodian (the [[Khmer Rouge]]), Laotian (the Pathet Lao), and South Vietnamese (the [[Vietcong]]) Communists were dispatched by the North to overthrow the governments of their respective countries. Thousands of North Vietnamese troops overtly aided them by providing arms and training, and by invading and occupying large chunks of Cambodia and Laos to assist them. By 1961 northern Communists were assassinating one hundred southern hamlet, village, and/or district officials each month. By 1962 that figure had grown to one thousand per month.<ref>http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/events/1996_Symposium/96papers/story.htm</ref>

The atrocities escalated rapidly with no end in sight. By 1965, the guerilla war was largely over, and the army of North Vietnam was using conventional warfare to try and overrun Cambodia and South Vietnam. The US began sending military advisors to South Vietnam in 1950. By 1965, it reluctantly decided to commit combat troops to prevent a Communist takeover.

The Viet Cong massacres were described as follows:
<blockquote>
The village chief and his wife were distraught. One of their children, a seven-year-old boy, had been missing for four days. They were terrified, they explained to Marine Lt. Gen. Lewis W. Walt, because they believed he had been captured by the Vietcong.

Suddenly, the boy came out of the jungle and ran across the rice paddies toward the village. He was crying. His mother ran to him and swept him up in her arms. Both of his hands had been cut off, and there was a sign around his neck, a message to his father: if he or anyone else in the village dared go to the polls during the upcoming elections, something worse would happen to the rest of his children.

The VC delivered a similar warning to the residents of a hamlet not far from Danang. All were herded before the home of their chief. While they and the chief’s pregnant wife and four children were forced to look on, the chief’s tongue was cut out. Then his genital organs were sliced off and sewn inside his bloody mouth. As he died, the VC went to work on his wife, slashing open her womb. Then, the nine-year-old son: a bamboo lance was rammed through one ear and out the other. Two more of the chief’s children were murdered the same way. The VC did not harm the five-year-old daughter — not physically: they simply left her crying, holding her dead mother’s hand.

General Walt tells of his arrival at a district headquarters the day after it had been overrun by VC and North Vietnamese army troops. Those South Vietnamese soldiers not killed in the battle had been tied up and shot through their mouths or the backs of their heads. Then their wives and children, including a number of two- and three-year-olds, had been brought into the street, disrobed, tortured and finally executed: their throats were cut; they were shot, beheaded, disemboweled. The mutilated bodies were draped on fences and hung with signs telling the rest of the community that if they continued to support the Saigon government and allied forces, they could look forward to the same fate.

These atrocities are not isolated cases; they are typical. For this is the enemy’s way of warfare, clearly expressed in his combat policy in Vietnam. While the naive and anti-American throughout the world, cued by communist propaganda; have trumpeted against American “immorality” in the Vietnam war — aerial bombing, the use of [[napalm]], casualties caused by American combat action — daily and nightly for years, the communists have systematically authored history’s grisliest catalogue of barbarism. By the end of 1967, they had committed at least 100,000 acts of terror against the South Vietnamese people. The record is an endless litany of tortures, mutilations and murders that would have been instructive even to such as Adolf Hitler.
</blockquote>

In 1960, some 1,500 South Vietnamese civilians were killed and 700 abducted. By early 1965, the communists’ Radio Hanoi and Radio Liberation were able to boast that the VC had destroyed 7,559 South Vietnamese hamlets. By the end of 1967, 15,138 South Vietnamese civilians had been killed, 45,929 kidnapped. Few of the kidnapped were ever seen again.<ref>http://www.paulbogdanor.com/left/vietnam/hochiminh.html</ref>

==The War==
In 1958, North Vietnam launched an invasion of Laos.<ref>http://countrystudies.us/laos/24.htm</ref>

In 1959, by its own admission, North Vietnam decided on war in South Vietnam.
North Vietnam created the Viet Cong and sent 20,000 men to attack the South. In 1961, North
Vietnam used 30,000 troops to build invasion routes via Laos and Cambodia. North Vietnam
later admitted that it “played a decisive role” in bringing to power the Pathet Lao in Laos and
the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.<ref>The Economist, February 26, 1983; Washington Post, April 23, 1985.</ref>

The [[Kennedy]] administration, which had repeatedly intervened to halt right-wing coups, acquiesced in November 1963 to the overthrow of the weak South Vietnam leader Diem by a coalition of generals. President Nixon would later characterize this decision as a catastrophic betrayal of an ally that contributed to the ultimate disintegration of South Vietnam. The casus beli for full combat intervention by the United States was an exaggerated confrontation between North Vietnamese P4 torpedo boats and the USS Maddox on August 2, 1964 and a second alleged attack by North Vietnam on August 4, 1964 which involved both the USS Maddox and USS Turner Joy; the events became known as the "[[Gulf of Tonkin incident]]". Shortly thereafter, President Johnson got Congress to pass the "[[Gulf of Tonkin Resolution]]". President Johnson then deployed US military forces for warfare against North Vietnam. He had the US respond with a massive bombing campaign called "Operation Rolling Thunder". Although a swift victory over North Vietnam would have taken a matter of months, the risk of Chinese intervention was considered too great to accept. Thus, Vietnam was fought to avoid "another Korea".

President Johnson, a tormented but ultimately sincere man, could not bear the burden of the war. His incoherent war policy, combined with the lies and deceptions he employed to sell it, resulted in a loss of public faith in his honesty. He began to doubt himself, while his incompetent administration, exemplified by [[Robert McNamara]], began to have doubts about the morality of US policy. Many of them would join the anti-war movement.

Richard Nixon was subsequently elected President on a pledge to end the war by ''prosecuting'' it. His shrewd diplomacy, backed with the immense intellect of his National Security Advisor and Secretary of State, [[Henry Kissinger]], hoped to negotiate an end to the war through a show of force.

Although Sihanouk designated all insurgents "red Khmers," or "Khmer Rouge," in reality there were two main indigenous insurgent groups. One was the Khmer Viet Minh, modeled on the Pathet Lao, that Hanoi held total political authority over. The other was called the Khmer Krahom, a fanatical Maoist cult that would soon be led by one Saloth Sar, who would later become infamous for his genocidal brutality under his assumed name, Pol Pot. Both traced their roots back to a common cadre trained by Ho Chi Minh in China from 1925-30. At Geneva, Hanoi had attempted to secure a KVM "zone" in northeastern Cambodia that would have been modeled on the Pathet Lao zone they secured in Laos. This amounted to an attempt to divide Cambodia into Communist and non-Communist halves, like Vietnam.

By 1968, the KK had 14-15,000 fighters, while the KVM had 12,000. North Vietnam had invaded and occupied large chunks of Cambodia. Nearly half of the country was faced with North Vietnamese or other Communist occupation. The Viet Cong was active in the country with about 30,000 troops, and worked with the KVM to launch invasions of Cambodia from North Vietnam. The North Vietnamese had 60,000 troops on Cambodian soil. This would be the equivalent in the United States of nearly 4 million armed and organized troops from Mexico and Canada overrunning most of the country. These figures are from 10 months prior to the start of any US bombing, which began in late 1968 under President Johnson.

By 1969, the North had accelerated its long-term plan, dubbed "Campaign X," to conquer Cambodia. By 1970, it had the supply lines, troops, and logistical support necessary to force the collapse of Cambodia. Sihanouk had long done little to disguise his support for the North Vietnamese Communists, but now he grew afraid. "Hanoi," he said, "could easily force the collapse of both Cambodia and what is left of Laos if it was not faced with American opposition." Therefore, he encouraged the Americans to bomb KK, KVM, VC, and North Vietnamese "sanctuaries" in Cambodia so as to send Hanoi a message that it had better back down immediately. Demographic evidence indicates that the US bombings of Cambodia, especially the Menu bombings, ultimately killed about 40,000 Cambodian combatants and civilians.<ref>Marek Sliwinski, Le Génocide Khmer Rouge: Une Analyse Démographique (L’Harmattan, 1995), pp41-8.</ref> Some estimates go as high as 100,000 killed by the bombing.<ref>http://www.yale.edu/cgp/Walrus_CambodiaBombing_OCT06.pdf</ref> Many leftists opposed to the war considered the bombing to be a war crime. The Khmer Rouge claimed that 600-800,000 died in the war,<ref>http://www.paulbogdanor.com/200chomskylies.pdf</ref> which is about three times the real figure,<ref>Marek Sliwinski, Le Génocide Khmer Rouge: Une Analyse Démographique</ref> and far-left activists such as [[Noam Chomsky]] have not only embraced these numbers but also attributed all of the deaths to American bombing and thus implied that the Khmer Rouge ''underestimated'' the full toll from the war<ref>http://www.paulbogdanor.com/200chomskylies.pdf</ref>--despite the demographic impossibility of their assertions.

In 1970, North Vietnamese troops invaded and attempted to overrun the entire country of Cambodia at the request of the indigenous Communist forces, who had surrounded the capital and hoped one small push would be enough to overthrow the weak Lon Nol regime. Nixon responded forcefully with an incursion and bombing campaign to force the North Vietnamese out. Justifying his actions, he stated:
<blockquote>
"Cambodia, a small country of 7 million [actually 8 million] people, has been a neutral nation since the Geneva agreement of 1954 - an agreement, incidentally, which was signed by the Government of North Vietnam.
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
American policy since then has been to scrupulously respect the neutrality of the Cambodian people. We have maintained a skeleton diplomatic mission of fewer than 15 in Cambodia's capital, and that only since last August. For the previous 4 years, from 1965 to 1969, we did not have any diplomatic mission whatever in Cambodia. And for the past 5 years, we have provided no military assistance whatever and no economic assistance to Cambodia.
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
North Vietnam, however, has not respected that neutrality.
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
For the past 5 years - as indicated on this map that you see here - North Vietnam has occupied military sanctuaries all along the Cambodian frontier with South Vietnam. Some of these extend up to 20 miles into Cambodia. The sanctuaries are in red and, as you note, they are on both sides of the border. They are used for hit and run attacks on American and South Vietnamese forces in South Vietnam.
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
These Communist occupied territories contain major base camps, training sites, logistics facilities, weapons and ammunition factories, airstrips, and prisoner-of-war compounds.
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
For 5 years, neither the United States nor South Vietnam has moved against these enemy sanctuaries because we did not wish to violate the territory of a neutral nation. Even after the Vietnamese Communists began to expand these sanctuaries 4 weeks ago, we counseled patience to our South Vietnamese allies and imposed restraints on our own commanders.
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
In contrast to our policy, the enemy in the past 2 weeks has stepped up his guerrilla actions and he is concentrating his main forces in these sanctuaries that you see on this map where they are building up to launch massive attacks on our forces and those of South Vietnam.
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
North Vietnam in the last 2 weeks has stripped away all pretense of respecting the sovereignty or the neutrality of Cambodia. Thousands of their soldiers are invading the country from the sanctuaries; they are encircling the capital of Phnom Penh. Coming from these sanctuaries, as you see here, they have moved into Cambodia and are encircling the capital."<ref>http://www.mekong.net/cambodia/nixon430.htm</ref>
</blockquote>

Although North Vietnam would invade and annex South Vietnam and invade, occupy, force the collapse of and establish total political control over Laos; it would ultimately fail to meet this objective in Cambodia. Though it supported, or rather offered support to, the KK; its goal of directly establishing political control over Cambodia would not be reached until 1979. Some commentators, like William Shawcross, have controversially argued that the US bombing, by forcing out the North Vietnamese, helped to create the conditions that allowed Pol Pot to come to power. Shawcross and others have also claimed that the US bombing was the main propaganda tool used to recruit members for the KK, and that it helped radicalize the Cambodian populace and swell the ranks of the Communists.

Documents uncovered from the Soviet archives after 1991 reveal that the North Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia in 1970 was launched at the explicit request of the Khmer Rouge and negotiated by Pol Pot's then second in command, Nuon Chea.<ref>Dmitry Mosyakov, “The Khmer Rouge and the Vietnamese Communists: A History of Their Relations as Told in the Soviet Archives,” in Susan E. Cook, ed., Genocide in Cambodia and Rwanda (Yale Genocide Studies Program Monograph Series No. 1, 2004), p54ff. Availible online at: http://128.36.236.77/workpaper/pdfs/GS20.pdf "In April-May 1970, many North Vietnamese forces entered Cambodia in response to the call for help addressed to Vietnam not by Pol Pot, but by his deputy Nuon Chea. Nguyen Co Thach recalls: “Nuon Chea has asked for help and we have liberated five provinces of Cambodia in ten days.”"</ref>

When Nixon came into office, there were more than 500,000 U.S. troops in Vietnam, and their number was increasing. Hanoi insisted that to obtain a cease-fire, the U.S. had to meet two preconditions: First, the U.S. had to overthrow the South Vietnamese government, disband its police and army and replace it with a communist-dominated government. Second, it had to establish an unconditional timetable for the withdrawal of its forces, to be carried out regardless of subsequent negotiations or how long they might last. The presence of North Vietnamese troops in Laos and Cambodia was declared not an appropriate subject for negotiations. Between 1969 and 1972, he withdrew 515,000 American troops, ended American ground combat in 1971 and reduced American casualties by nearly 90%. According to Kissinger, "a breakthrough occurred in 1972 because the administration's strategic design finally came together in its retaliation for the North Vietnamese spring offensive. When the U.S. mined North Vietnam's harbors, Hanoi found itself isolated because, as a result of the opening to China in 1971 and the summit in 1972, Beijing and the Soviet Union stood aside. Hanoi's offensive was defeated on the ground entirely by South Vietnamese forces assisted by U.S. air power. Faced with a military setback and diplomatic isolation, Le Duc Tho, Hanoi's principal negotiator, abandoned Hanoi's 1969 terms in October 1972. He accepted conditions publicly put forward by Nixon in January 1972 -- and decried as unachievable in the U.S. domestic debate. The terms of the resulting Paris peace agreement were an unconditional cease-fire and release of prisoners; continuation of the existing South Vietnamese government; continued U.S. economic and military help for it; no further infiltration of North Vietnamese forces; withdrawal of the remaining U.S. forces; and withdrawal of North Vietnamese forces from Laos and Cambodia."<ref>http://articles.latimes.com/2007/may/31/opinion/oe-kissinger31/2</ref>

Nixon brought about the first peace agreements between [[Israel]] and [[Egypt]], and dramatically lessened the scale of the bloodshed in Indochina. For a time, it seemed peace might be within our reach. Nixon was re-elected by a landslide in 1972.

Meanwhile, the Khmer Krahom fell under the control of its most fanatical members, led by Pol Pot and Ieng Sary. They were beyond the control of Hanoi and sought to completely annihilate Cambodian society and restart from scratch. When they besieged the capital again, the US again launched a bombing raid against Communist forces. The US Seventh Air Force argued that the bombing prevented the fall of Phnom Penh in 1973 by killing 16,000 of 25,500 Khmer Rouge fighters besieging the city.

The communist leaders had expected that the ceasefire terms would favor their side. But Saigon, bolstered by a surge of U.S. aid received just before the ceasefire went into effect, began to roll back the Vietcong. The communists responded with a new strategy hammered out in a series of meetings in Hanoi in March 1973, according to the memoirs of Tran Van Tra.

As the Vietcong's top commander, Trà participated in several of these meetings. With U.S. bombings suspended, work on the Ho Chi Minh Trail and other logistical structures could proceed unimpeded. Logistics would be upgraded until the North was in a position to launch a massive invasion of the South, projected for the 1975–1976 dry season. Trà calculated that this date would be Hanoi's last opportunity to strike before Saigon's army could be fully trained.

In 1974, Congress voted not to enforce the commitments agreed to in the Paris Peace Accords. Air support for Cambodia, South Vietnam, and Laos was cut off. The military aid promised was scaled back or never materialized, and the North was allowed to resume support for the Khmer Rouge. "After Nixon stepped down over Watergate," said one Communist commander, "we knew we would win."<ref>http://www.grunt.com/scuttlebutt/corps-stories/vietnam/north.asp</ref> Without the logistical support provided by the Ho Chi Minh trail, the North would not have been able to launch an invasion of South Vietnam by 1975, which it predicted would be its "last chance" before the South was self-sufficiently able to defend itself.<ref>http://www.grunt.com/scuttlebutt/corps-stories/vietnam/north.asp</ref> The US canceled the bombing of Communist positions on the trail. In Cambodia, last minute efforts on the part of the US to arrange for a peace settlement involving Sihanouk ended in failure. When the US Congress vetoed [[Ford]]'s call for a resumption of air support in Cambodia, panic and a sense of doom filled the capital, which was mercilessly shelled for more than a year by the Communists. President Ford openly predicted a "bloodbath" and stated that the Congress's decision to abandon Cambodia to the Khmer Rouge, in particular, would lead to "an unbelievable horror story".<ref>http://www.paulbogdanor.com/left/cambodia/bloodbath1.pdf</ref> The US frantically abandoned Saigon, and the Pathet Lao advanced throughout Laos.

==Aftermath==
Professor R.J. Rummel calculates that Communist Vietnam directly killed 1.7 million people from 1945 to 1987 in democide alone (not counting war casualties or boat people),<ref>http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/SOD.CHAP6.HTM</ref> from a total range of 700,000 to 3.7 million murdered.<ref>http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/COM.TAB1.GIF</ref> Some 400,000 to 2.5 million of these were killed after 1975. These figures include Laotians and Cambodians killed by Hanoi.

Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, fell to followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, commonly known as the [[Khmer Rouge]], on April 17, 1975. Over the next four years, the Khmer Rouge enacted a genocidal policy that would kill over one-fourth of all Cambodians, or more than 2 million people. UN investigation reported 2–3 million dead, while UNICEF estimated 3 million had been killed.<ref>William Shawcross, ''The Quality of Mercy: Cambodia, Holocaust, and Modern Conscience'' (Touchstone, 1985), p115-6.</ref> Demographic analysis by Patrick Heuveline suggests that between 1.17 and 3.42 million Cambodians were killed,<ref name="Heuveline, Patrick 2001">Heuveline, Patrick (2001). "The Demographic Analysis of Mortality in Cambodia." In Forced Migration and Mortality, eds. Holly E. Reed and Charles B. Keely. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.</ref> while Marek Sliwinski estimates that 1.8 million is a conservative figure.<ref name="Marek Sliwinski 1995">Marek Sliwinski, ''Le Génocide Khmer Rouge: Une Analyse Démographique'' (L'Harmattan, 1995).</ref> Researcher Craig Etcheson of the Documentation Center of Cambodia suggests that the death toll was between 2 and 2.5 million, with a "most likely" figure of 2.2 million. After 5 years of researching grave sites, he concluded that "these mass graves contain the remains of 1,386,734 victims of execution".<ref name="Mekong.net_deaths">{{cite web|last=Sharp|first=Bruce|title=Counting Hell: The Death Toll of the Khmer Rouge Regime in Cambodia|date = April 1, 2005|url = http://www.mekong.net/cambodia/deaths.htm|accessdate =January 9, 2013}}</ref> Even the Khmer Rouge acknowledged that 2 million had been killed—though they attributed those deaths to a subsequent Vietnamese invasion.<ref>Khieu Samphan, Interview, Time, March 10, 1980</ref> By late 1979, UN and Red Cross officials were warning that another 2.25 million Cambodians faced death by starvation due to "the near destruction of Cambodian society under the regime of ousted Prime Minister Pol Pot,"<ref>New York Times, August 8, 1979.</ref><ref>http://www.time.com/time/magazine/printout/0,8816,947511,00.html</ref><ref>http://www.time.com/time/magazine/printout/0,8816,912511,00.html</ref> who were saved by American and international aid.

The Vietnamese Communists, led by Le Duan, perpetrated a huge bloodbath in South Vietnam, murdering hundreds of thousands of South Vietnamese men, women, and children in cold blood. Up to 155,000 refugees fleeing the final NVA [[1975 Spring Offensive|Spring Offensive]] were killed or abducted on the road to [[Tuy Hoa]] in 1975.<ref>Wiesner, Louis, ''Victims and Survivors: Displaced Persons and Other War Victims in Viet-Nam, 1954-1975'' (Greenwood Press, 1988), pp. 318-9.</ref> Sources have estimated that 165,000 South Vietnamese died in the re-education camps out of 2.5 million sent,<ref name="Desbarats">Desbarats, Jacqueline. [http://jim.com/repression.htm "Repression in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Executions and Population Relocation"], from ''The Vietnam Debate'' (1990) by John Morton Moore. "We know now from a 1985 statement by Nguyen Co Tach that two and a half million, rather than one million, people went through reeducation....in fact, possibly more than 100,000 Vietnamese people were victims of extrajudicial executions in the last ten years....it is likely that, overall, at least one million Vietnamese were the victims of forced population transfers."</ref><ref>Anh Do and Hieu Tran Phan, [http://dartcenter.org/content/camp-z30-d-survivors Camp Z30-D: The Survivors], ''Orange County Register'', April 29, 2001.</ref> while the number executed could have been as high as 200,000<ref>Al Santoli, ed., ''To Bear Any Burden'' (Indiana University Press, 1999), pp272, 292-3.</ref> (Jacqueline Desbarats estimates an absolute minimum of 100,000 executions<ref name="Desbarats"/><ref>Morris, Stephen J. [http://www.paulbogdanor.com/left/vietnam/morris.pdf Glastnost and the Gulag: The Numbers Game], ''Vietnam Commentary'', May–June 1988.</ref>). Victims were beheaded, eviscerated or buried alive.<ref>Jacqueline Desbarats and Karl D. Jackson, "Research Among Vietnamese Refugees Reveals a Bloodbath," Wall Street Journal, April 22, 1985.</ref> Rummel estimates that slave labor in the "New Economic Zones" caused 50,000 deaths (out of a total 1 million deported).<ref name="Desbarats"/><ref name="Statistics of Vietnamese Democide">Rummel, Rudolph, [http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/SOD.CHAP6.HTM Statistics of Vietnamese Democide], in his ''Statistics of Democide''.</ref> The number of [[boat people]] who died is estimated between 200,000 and 400,000, out of the 2.5 million that fled (according to the UN).<ref>Associated Press, June 23, 1979; San Diego Union, July 20, 1986. See generally Nghia M. Vo (2006), ''The Vietnamese Boat People, 1954 and 1975-1992'', McFarland.</ref> There were also tens of thousands of suicides after the North Vietnamese take-over.<ref>Le Thi Anh, "The New Vietnam", ''[[National Review]]'', April 29, 1977, estimated some 20,000 post-war mass suicides.</ref> In 1988, Vietnam suffered a famine that afflicted millions.<ref>Crossette, Barbara, [http://www.nytimes.com/1988/05/15/world/hanoi-citing-famine-fears-seeks-emergency-aid.html?src=pm Hanoi, Citing Famine Fears, Seeks Emergency Aid], ''[[The New York Times]],'' May 15, 1988.</ref>

The Pathet Lao overthrew the Royalist Government of Laos in December 1975. They established a Communist dictatorship known as the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. The Pathet Lao waged a campaign of genocide, exterminating an estimated over 100,000 Hmong tribespeople. They inflicted massacres, terror bombing, concentration camps, and mass rape.<ref>Forced Back and Forgotten (Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights, 1989); and Jane Hamilton-Merrit, ''Tragic Mountains: The Hmong, the Americans, and the Secret Wars for Laos'' (Indiana University Press, 1999)</ref> The Communists killed over 184,000 people in Laos altogether.<ref>http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat5.htm#Lao75</ref>

More than 3 million people fled Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos as “boat people,” about half of whom have been resettled by the United States.

After repeated border clashes in 1978, Vietnam invaded Cambodia and ousted the Khmer Rouge, installing a puppet government headed by Khmer Rouge defector Heng Samrin. From January until July 1979, according to [[CIA]] estimates, around 350,000 people were killed, primarily by Vietnam's refusal to allow foreign aid for a time. In addition, a comparable number of people fled Cambodia for [[Thailand]].<ref>http://www.mekong.net/cambodia/demcat.htm</ref> The toll from the entire famine over the years 1979-81 is estimated at about 500,000 dead (according to Etcheson).<ref>http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/SOD.TAB4.1A.GIF</ref> Some 25-50,000 Vietnamese died in combat,<ref>http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat3.htm</ref> while perhaps 100,000 Cambodian combatants and civilians died in the war itself.<ref>http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat3.htm</ref><ref>http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/SOD.TAB4.1A.GIF</ref> Tens of thousands more were killed by the Khmer Rouge, which controlled parts of the country late into 1979 and waged a guerilla war against the Vietnamese-backed government.<ref>http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/SOD.TAB4.1A.GIF</ref> The total number of people killed by the Samrin regime in democide has never been clearly documented. Rummel estimates 230,000;<ref>http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/SOD.TAB4.1A.GIF</ref> but this is mere guesswork. As noted, scores of thousands more were killed in the civil war that followed the invasion and by Khmer Rouge guerillas. Rummel believes that the full toll from this period could be in excess of one million.<ref>http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/SOD.CHAP4.HTM</ref> This claim may be an exaggeration, but as is common in post-genocide societies, the population growth rate for Cambodia in the eighties was exceptionally high--which could have masked the full extent of the democide.

In response to the Soviet-backed Vietnamese invasion, China invaded Vietnam in 1979. The two countries fought a brief border war, known as the Third Indochina War, which cost over 200,000 casualties, including some 30,000 deaths.

In 1981, Pol Pot made his famous declaration denying guilt for the brutalities committed by the organization he led:

<blockquote>
Pol Pot said that he knows that many people in the country hate him and think he’s responsible for the killings. He said that he knows many people died. When he said this he nearly broke down and cried. He said he must accept responsibility because the line was too far to the left, and because he didn’t keep proper track of what was going on. He said he was like the master in a house he didn’t know what the kids were up to, and that he trusted people too much. For example, he allowed [one person] to take care of central committee business for him, [another person] to take care of intellectuals, and [a third person] to take care of political education.... These were the people to whom he felt very close, and he trusted them completely. Then in the end ... they made a mess of everything.... They would tell him things that were not true, that everything was fine, that this person or that was a traitor. In the end they were the real traitors. The major problem had been cadres formed by the Vietnamese.
</blockquote>

Communist Vietnam's refusal to allow international food aid into Cambodia after 1979 so as to starve out whatever remained of the Khmer Rouge resistance nearly led to the mass death of millions of people from starvation and disease.<ref>http://www.time.com/time/magazine/printout/0,8816,947511,00.html</ref>

Vietnam fought three more wars after 1975 and armed Communist insurgencies with billions of dollars in an attempt to overrun [[Thailand]] and [[Malaysia]]. In South Vietnam, a nightmarish police state was established based on the Stalinist model: Political parties were outlawed; all music, books, literature, movies, and other media published prior to 1975 were banned completely; rationing, malnutrition, and famine ensued; ongoing class discrimination, xenophobic ethnic cleansing, and religious persecution continue to this day.<ref>http://www.paulbogdanor.com/left/vietnam/toai.pdf</ref><ref>http://www.paulbogdanor.com/left/vietnam/hoan.html</ref><ref>http://www.paulbogdanor.com/left/vietnam/morris.pdf</ref><ref>http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~sdenney/Vietnam-Reeducation-Camps-1982</ref><ref>http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~sdenney/SRV-Discrimination-1990</ref>

The US and other Western countries covertly armed the non-Communist forces of Son Sann and Prince Sihanouk in an attempt to force out the Vietnamese troops occupying Cambodia. These brave guerillas also engaged in extensive fighting with the Khmer Rouge.<ref>Far Eastern Economic Review, December 22, 1988</ref> (See [[Reagan Doctrine]])

Far from bringing peace, American defeat vastly increased the scale of the bloodshed in Indochina, as 3-4 million people were slaughtered in a bloodbath far surpassing the expectations of even the most fervent supporters of the war. Although North Vietnam agreed to "peace" in 1973; no one protested its subsequent invasion of South Vietnam, let alone Vietnam's wars with China, Laos, and Cambodia. The campuses were silent on the Holocaust in Cambodia, despite their hysterical response to the limited US incursion in 1970. The bloodbath received little media coverage at the time.

===Failure of US campaign to help the South===
Military, political, and social historians have ever after debated why the United States was unable to defeat the North Vietnamese.

James Q. Wilson wrote: "First, Presidents Kennedy and Johnson both wanted to avoid losing Vietnam without waging a major war in Asia." <ref>When Richard Nixon became president, he wanted to end the war by pulling out American troops, and he did so. None of the three presidents wanted to win, but all wanted to report "progress." All three administrations instructed military commanders always to report gains and rely on suspect body counts as a way of measuring progress. [http://www.opinionjournal.com/federation/feature/?id=110009203] </ref>

Another factor was careerism of the officer corps. The number of officers in the US army grew disproportionately from the end of World War II, with a 1-in-15 ratio dropping to 1 in 6. Competition for promotions was handled badly by General Westmoreland, who permitted a six month tour of duty for officers. This was hardly enough time to learn how to engage the enemy successfully, and gave rise to resentment among the largely working-class enlisted men. {{fact}}

America at first operated on the assumption that victory by body count was possible and would eventually bring the North Vietnamese to the peace table. There were in fact peace negotiations following Operation Linebacker II in December 1972, but these succeeded mostly in giving the United States its prisoners back and time to withdraw from the fight. It was simply impossible for the North Vietnamese leadership, which had been fighting in some form for 30 years, to imagine the indefinite existence of South Vietnam apart from unification under their rule.

==Cost of the War==
195,000-430,000 South Vietnamese civilians died in the war.<ref name="Lewy">Lewy, Guenter (1978). ''America in Vietnam''. New York: Oxford University Press. Appendix 1, pp.450-453</ref><ref>Thayer, Thomas C (1985). ''War Without Fronts: The American Experience in Vietnam''. Boulder: Westview Press. Ch. 12. </ref> 50,000-65,000 North Vietnamese civilians died in the war.<ref>Wiesner, Louis A. (1988). ''Victims and Survivors Displaced Persons and Other War Victims in Viet-Nam''. New York: Greenwood Press. p.310</ref><ref name="Lewy"/> The Army of the Republic of Vietnam lost between 171,331 and 220,357 men during the war.<ref>Thayer, Thomas C (1985). ''War Without Fronts: The American Experience in Vietnam''. Boulder: Westview Press. p.106.</ref><ref name="Lewy"/> The official US Department of Defense figure was 950,765 communist forces killed in Vietnam from 1965 to 1974. Defense Department officials believed that these body count figures need to be deflated by 30 percent. In addition, Guenter Lewy assumes that one-third of the reported "enemy" killed may have been civilians, concluding that the actual number of deaths of communist military forces was probably closer to 444,000.<ref name="Lewy"/> During the peak war years, almost a third of civilian deaths were the result of Viet Cong atrocities.<ref>Guenter Lewy, America in Vietnam (Oxford University Press, 1978), pp272-3, 448-9.</ref> Between 200,000 and 300,000 Cambodians died in the war,<ref>Marek Sliwinski, Le Génocide Khmer Rouge: Une Analyse Démographique (L’Harmattan, 1995)</ref><ref>Heuveline, Patrick (2001). "The Demographic Analysis of Mortality in Cambodia." In Forced Migration and Mortality, eds. Holly E. Reed and Charles B. Keely. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.</ref><ref>Banister, Judith, and Paige Johnson (1993). "After the Nightmare: The Population of Cambodia." In Genocide and Democracy in Cambodia: The Khmer Rouge, the United Nations and the International Community, ed. Ben Kiernan. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Southeast Asia Studies.</ref> as well as 20,000 Laotians.<ref>Small, Melvin & Joel David Singer, ''Resort to Arms: International and Civil Wars 1816–1980''.</ref>

Over the course of the war, the United States suffered 46,226 battle deaths with 153,311 wounded 5,486 missing and 10,326 non-battle deaths. 3.3 million troops fought over the course of the war, with the largest number of 625,866 reached on March 27th, 1969. The North Vietnamese claimed to have lost 1 million men.<Ref>Encyclopedia of Military History, Dupuy & Dupuy, 1979, Chart Page 1221</Ref> Such a casualty rate, if applied to the United States, would have meant 13 million Americans killed and 3.9 million missing in action.<ref>Who Lost Vietnam?, by Joseph L. Galloway, a senior writer for U.S. News & World Report</ref>

{{cquote|'''They were quite a group, the boys of Vietnam -- boys who fought a terrible and vicious war without enough support from home, boys who were dodging bullets while we debated the efficacy of the battle. It was often our poor who fought in that war; it was the unpampered boys of the working class who picked up the rifles and went on the march. They learned not to rely on us; they learned to rely on each other. And they were special in another way: They chose to be faithful. They chose to reject the fashionable skepticism of their time. They chose to believe and answer the call of duty. They had the wild, wild courage of youth. They seized certainty from the heart of an ambivalent age; they stood for something.'''

'''And we owe them something, those boys. We owe them first a promise: That just as they did not forget their missing comrades, neither, ever, will we. And there are other promises. We must always remember that peace is a fragile thing that needs constant vigilance. We owe them a promise to look at the world with a steady gaze and, perhaps, a resigned toughness, knowing that we have adversaries in the world and challenges and the only way to meet them and maintain the peace is by staying strong. ---[[President Ronald Reagan]], 1986'''}}

The death toll from US defeat far surpassed that exacted by the war itself.

==Controversies about the War==

Max Boot wrote:
<blockquote>
Numerous bits of conventional wisdom have accreted around the Vietnam War. It is commonly held that [[Ho Chi Minh]] was a Vietnamese nationalist above all, not a true [[communist]], and that his victory was inevitable. That [[Ngo Dinh Diem]] was an unpopular and repressive [[reactionary]]. That the United States had no vital strategic interest in defending South Vietnam. That the ‘[[domino theory]]’ was a myth. That the U.S. was right not to invade North Vietnam or Laos for fear of triggering Chinese intervention. [[Mark Moyar]], a young, bold, and iconoclastic historian, takes a sledge hammer to these hoary beliefs. [His book] is ‘revisionist’ in the best sense of the word.” [http://www.triumphforsaken.com/]
</blockquote>

Jeffrey Record contends that the military was relegated, as a result of its constitutional position, to the role of an accomplice in what Records states was the ''most strategically reckless American enterprise of the 20th century.'' He charge President Lyndon B. Johnson and Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara with harshly suppressing their military advisers, with Johnson believing that his hawkish Joint Chiefs of Staff were out to destroy his Great Society by their wild-eyed schemes.<ref>The wrong war. Why We Lost in Vietnam, by Jeffrey Record.</ref>

Many politically correct "history books" make the My Lai Massacre into an important event of the war. In March 1968 in the hamlet of [[My Lai]], approximately 400 civilians were killed by American troops under the command of 2nd Lt. William Calley. Many troops present that day protested and did not take part in the event. After the event, the U.S. Army conducted an investigation and concluded there had been poor training in the Laws and Rules of Engagement, poor discipline and poor leadership up to the brigade commander. Atrocities on some level occur in every war. Since the 19th century, the U.S. is one of the few nations who prosecute its soldiers for such acts when they happen. The enemy in Viet Nam "conveniently" overlooked their far more numerous acts of atrocities and used this event for propaganda.<ref>Dunnigan & Nofi, ''Dirty Little Secrets of the Vietnam War'' (1999)</ref> This does not justify the massacre, but 3 to 5,000 civilians were killed and found in mass graves after the retaking of Hue following the Tet Offensive, a point not often noted. Other atrocities are listed in other sections of this article.

==Media Bias==

Charges of western [[media bias]] in favor of the Communist side have often been made by critics,<ref>Leonard Magruder, “I was there and that’s not the way it was”</ref> who see such alleged bias as being crucial in turning military victories by America into a loss of the war, much by means of propaganda. Underlying the importance of such is the often quoted exchange between Colonel Harry G. Summers, Jr. and his North Vietnamese counterpart, Colonel Tu. During one of his liaison trips to Hanoi, Colonel Harry told Tu, "You know, you never beat us on the battlefield," Colonel Tu responded, "That may be so, but it is also irrelevant."<ref>On Strategy: A Critical Analysis of the Vietnam War, Harry G. Summers</ref>

The success of the propaganda war has seemed enigmatic to many. “If there is to be an inquiry related to the Vietnam War, it should be into the reasons why enemy propaganda was so widespread in this country, and why the enemy was able to condition the public to such an extent that the best educated segments of our population (that is, media and university elite) gave credence to the most incredible allegations.” (Final Report - Chief of Military History - U.S. Government)

British "Encounter" journalist Robert Elegant stated,
<blockquote>
For the first time in modern history, the outcome of a war was determined not on the battlefield but on the printed page and, above all, on the television screen. Looking back coolly, I believe it can be said (surprising as it may still sound) that South Vietnamese and American forces actually won the limited military struggle. They virtually crushed the Viet Cong in the South, the "native" guerrillas who were directed, reinforced, and equipped from Hanoi; and thereafter they threw back the invasion by regular North Vietnamese divisions. Nonetheless, the war was finally lost to the invaders after the U.S. disengagement because the political pressures built up by the media had made it quite impossible for Washington to maintain even the minimal material and moral support that would have enabled the Saigon regime to continue effective resistance....Never before Vietnam had the collective policy of the media sought by graphic and unremitting distortion, the victory of the enemies of the correspondents own side.<ref>[http://www.wellesley.edu/Polisci/wj/Vietnam/Readings/elegant.htm How to Lose A War: The Press and Viet Nam]; Encounter (London), vol. LVII, No. 2, August 1981, pp. 73-90</ref>
</blockquote>

Some journalists have admitted that their reporting was decidedly biased, and had profound effects on history. West German correspondent Uwe Siemon-Netto confessed, "Having covered the Viet Nam war over a period of five years for West German publications, I am now haunted by the role we journalists have played over there.

In relation to not reporting the true nature of the Hanoi regime and its actions resulting from the American withdrawal, he stated,

"Those of us who had wanted to find out knew of the evil nature of the Hanoi regime. We knew that, in 1956, close to 50,000 peasants were executed in North Viet Nam. We knew that after the division of the country nearly one million North Vietnamese had fled to the South. Many of us have seen the tortured and carved-up bodies of men, women, and children executed by the Viet Cong in the early phases of the war. And many of us saw, in 1968, the mass graves of Hue, saw the corpses of thousands of civilians still festively dressed for Tet, the Vietnamese New Year."

"Why, for heaven's sake, did we not report about these expressions of deliberate North Vietnamese strategy at least as extensively as of the My Lai massacre and other such isolated incidents that were definitely not part of the U.S. policy in Viet Nam?. What prompted us to make our readers believe that the Communists, once in power in all of Viet Nam, would behave benignly? What made us, first and foremost Anthony Lewis, belittle warnings by U.S. officials that a Communist victory would result in a massacre?

Why did we ignore the fact that the man responsible for the executions of 50,000 peasants, Truong Chinh, was—and still is—one of the most powerful figures in Hanoi. What made us think that he and his comrades would have mercy for the vanquished South Vietnamese? What compelled, for example, Anthony Lewis shortly after the fall of Saigon to pat himself on the shoulder and write, "so much for the talk of a massacre?"

"...Are we journalists not in part responsible for the death of the tens of thousands who drowned? And are we not in part responsible for the hostile reception accorded to those who survive?...However, the media have been rather coy; they have not declared that they played a key role in the conflict. They have not proudly trumpeted Hanoi's repeated expressions of gratitude to the mass media of the non-Communist world, although Hanoi has indeed affirmed that it could not have won "without the Western press."<ref>Uwe Siemon-Netto in the International Herald Tribune, reprinted in Encounter, October 1979</ref>

''CBS Evening News with [[Walter Cronkite]]'' regularly carried news reports from its [[Moscow]] Bureau Chief, [[Bernard Redmont]]. When peace negotiations commenced with North Vietnam in Paris, Redmont became ''CBS News'' [[Paris]] Bureau Chief. What Redmont never reported during the ten year conflict was, Redmont had been a [[KGB]] operative since the 1930s, and member of the notorious [[Silvermaster group]].<ref>[http://hnn.us/articles/11581.html KGB file 43173 vol. 2 (v) pp. 46-55], Alexander Vassiliev, Notes on A. Gorsky’s Report to Savchenko S.R., 23 December 1949. Original document from KGB Archives [http://www.johnearlhaynes.org/page46.html].</ref> Redmont was the only journalist to whom his fellow [[Comintern]] party member, and North Vietnamese chief negotiator, Mai Van Bo, granted an interview to bring the Communist point of view into American living rooms in what has been called, "the living room war."

The most manifest example of such biased reporting is held to be the portrayal of the TET offensive, in which western media was charged with inspiring and aiding the propaganda war of the communists.

Truong Nhu Tang stated years later,

The Tet Offensive proved catastrophic to our plans. It is a major irony of the Vietnam War that our propaganda transformed this debacle into a brilliant victory. The truth was that Tet cost us half our forces. Our losses were so immense that we were unable to replace them with new recruits. (Truong Nhu Tang - Minister of Justice - Viet Cong Provisional Revolutionary Government - The New York Review, October 21, 1982)

In addition to his biased reporting, FBI documents, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act by [[Yahoo]] news, evidence that legendary CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite collaborated with anti-Vietnam War activists in the 1960s, going so far as to offer advice on how to raise the public profile of protests and even promising that CBS News would rent a helicopter to take liberal Senator Edmund Muskie to and from the site of an anti-war rally.<ref>http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/ynews_ts2067/print</ref>

An on going example of such liberal bias is the work on Vietnam by the extreme left-wing propagandist, historical revisionist and genocide-denier Marilyn Young, which is required reading in many universities, even though she denies the North Vietnamese "land reform" bloodbath by relying entirely on official Communist press releases (as well as Moise and Porter, who in turn rely entirely on official North Vietnamese press releases). According to her, Communist Vietnam killed only 15,000(!) people at most during the "reform" and all other accounts of its atrocities were fabrications made up by the Western media (hence North Vietnamese media is a more reliable source than any in the West—a point she quite explicitly argues); ''even though official North Vietnamese government records document over 172,000 executions of individuals named as landowners during the 1954-6 period alone''.<ref>http://www.rfa.org/english/news/vietnam_landreform-20060608.html</ref>

Young ignores the testimony of former North Vietnamese government officials like Hoang Van Chi, as well as foreign witnesses like Gerard Tongas; she denies the irrefutable evidence of the "disappearance" of at least 150,000 landowners from 1953-6<ref>http://www.paulbogdanor.com/left/vietnam/landreform.html</ref>; she dismisses US intelligence; accuses Vietnamese experts like Lam Thanh Liem of lying; and mocks the survivors of Communist genocide as CIA propagandists. She endorses [[Noam Chomsky]]'s nonsensical lies, ''supports'' the North Vietnamese invasion of South Vietnam, paints a glowing picture of the concentration camps, and reduces the role of Khmer Rouge atrocities to 500-1,000,000 by citing the obscure and unknown Pol Pot apologist Michael Vickery--despite the 1,386,734 victims of execution in the mass graves!

Young further blames America for Pol Pot's rise, attributes all of the deaths in the entire war solely to the United States, and (on page 310) argues that the "boat people" really fled Vietnam not due to Communist repression, but rather the US trade embargo. She also simply denies the Hue Massacre.

Finally, Young claims that South Vietnam was the aggressor and that its imaginary “violation” of the 1973 cease-fire prompted the invasion from the “peace-loving” North--which is not surprising in the light of her reliance on official Communist sources, although it suggests quite a chasm between their claims and reality.<ref>Vietnam Wars, 1945-90 by Marilyn Young.</ref>

Notably, all of Young's sources on North Vietnamese crimes come from the North Vietnamese government itself, and she fails to cite a single dissident Vietnamese publication independent of that government in her entire work, while casting suspicion on the honesty of Vietnamese refugees. That she is a respected Professor indoctrinating American youth is consistent with the overall liberal propaganda that has come to characterize American higher eduction.

Paul Bogdanor notes: "The bloodbath deniers simply ignore or dismiss the evidence from dissident publications, communist defectors and foreign witnesses. They rely on official North Vietnamese publications, which they take at face value. This is what passes for scholarship on the 'anti-imperialist' left."<ref>http://www.paulbogdanor.com/left/vietnam/landreform.html</ref> And Young is but one gulag-denying professor out of many.

Young's denial of the "land reform" bloodbath is not unique. Gareth Porter, an investigative historian and journalist on U.S. national security policy, wrote the key bloodbath-denial work, titled simply "The Myth of the Bloodbath." Professor Robert F. Turner, drawing on his knowledge of thousands of captured Viet Cong documents, scores of interviews with Communist defectors, and extensive research on the "land reform;" carefully refuted all of Porter's charges, demonstrating that they could not withstand any serious critical scrutiny and that some 300,000 people were, in fact, killed during the genocide.<ref>http://www.paulbogdanor.com/deniers/vietnam/turner.pdf</ref>

Porter is shown repeatedly contradicting himself, lying, making judgments that lack evidence and credibility, and accusing others of mistranslating a language he could barely speak. Although Porter's work was apparently sufficient to convince Young, its manifest sloppiness is contrary to honest scholarship. Vietnamese scholar Hoang Van Chi (1913-1988), who worked as a revolutionary and diplomat writing history and political science, also responded to Porter, who accused him of being a CIA propagandist in a ridiculous ad hominem attack.<ref> http://www.paulbogdanor.com/deniers/vietnam/chi.pdf</ref> Porter would later deny the Cambodian genocide and express admiration and outspoken support for Pol Pot in the infamous ''Cambodia: Starvation and Revolution.''

Many US reporters admired the Khmer Rouge, while prominent intellectuals openly denied the Cambodian genocide. During the genocide, human rights abuses in Chile and South Korea got more coverage than Cambodia.<ref>"Irvine derived from the Television News Index and Abstracts a statistical table on media coverage of human rights in Chile, South Korea, North Korea, Cuba and Cambodia. The news organizations covered were the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the three television networks, ABC, CBS, and NBC in 1976. The findings were startling. In table 4.1, the reader will see that, contrary to the Porter-Hildebrand-Chomsky-Herman claims, the New York Times and Washington Post published four and nine stories on human rights in Cambodia, respectively. According to table 4.1, Chile received more than eight times the coverage "on human rights problems" as did Cambodia. South Korea was covered merely 5.6 times more often. The total allocation of media resources to Cambodia paled in comparison to the massive campaign against Chile and South Korea, two non-communist countries. Perhaps the reason why Chomsky and Herman used anecdotal evidence to prove their theories was because they knew that aggregate analysis would show they were wrong." Sophal Ear. "The Khmer Rouge Canon." http://jim.com/canon.htm</ref> Some journalists, mocking the claims of a bloodbath, were so bold as to sing the following lyrics to the tune of "She Was Poor But She Was Honest": "Oh will there be a dreadful bloodbath/ When the Khmer Rouge come to town?/ Aye, there'll be a dreadful bloodbath/ When the Khmer Rouge come to town."<ref>http://jim.com/canon.htm#ch2</ref>

==Vietnam War in Popular Culture==
The war and its aftermath were the inspiration for several films, including ''The Green Berets'', ''The Deer Hunter'', ''Platoon'', ''Hamburger Hill'', and ''We Were Soldiers''.

The TV series ''Tour of Duty'' was about a U.S. Army platoon in country around the time of the [[Tet Offensive]]. The series ''Magnum, P.I'', ''Night Court'', ''Airwolf'', and ''Area 88'' all had Vietnam veterans as main or major characters. In the military drama series ''JAG,'' the main character's father was a US Navy pilot lost over North Vietnam, and the main character's desire to find out what happened to him is the focus of a major story arc over the first few seasons.

===Quotes===
See: [[Vietnam War Quotes]].

==References==
<references/>

==See also==
*[[Allen Ross Culpepper]]

==Further reading==
* Prados, John. ''Vietnam: The History of an Unwinnable War, 1945–1975'' (2009) 704 pages
* Jennings, Phillip. ''America's victory in Vietnam'' 244 pages "A well-researched, brisk review of the central myths of the Vietnam War, set in historical context." (James S. Robbins, Washington Times)

==External links==
* [http://tigger.uic.edu/~rjensen/vietnam.html Vietnam War Bibliography by Richard Jensen]
*Larry Berman, [http://hnn.us/articles/37934.html ''Perfect Spy: The Incredible Double Life of Pham Xuan An''], Time Magazine (Smithsonian Books/HarperCollins, 2007). [http://www.harpercollins.com/books/9780060888381/Perfect_Spy/index.aspx]
*[http://www.fas.org/irp/nsa/almanac-saigon.pdf SIGINT and the Fall of Saigon, April 1975].
*[http://www.independent.org/events/transcript.asp?eventID=6 "Secrecy, Freedom and Empire: Lessons for Today from Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers"].
*[http://www.onpower.org/foreign_regional_Asia.html#10 Vietnam War].
*[http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2391209/posts?page=3 Capt. Marshal Hanson, U.S.N.R (Ret.) Capt. Scott Beaton, Vietnam (Fact vs Fiction)]
*[http://www.i-served.com/v-v-a-r.org/VietnamAndTheMedia_part01.html Vietnam and the Media, part 1]
*[http://www.viet-myths.net/Turner.htm Myths and Realities in the Vietnam Debate]
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F67C8yzww_Y How the Vietnam War Was Won and Lost by Prager University]

[[Category:Wars]]
[[Category:United States History]]
[[Category:Vietnam War]]
[[category:Cold War]]
[[Category:Veterans]]

Robert McNamara

2015-04-30T04:14:12Z

Alpineopossum:

'''Robert McNamara''' (1916-2009) was a businessman and the [[Secretary of Defense]] for U.S. Presidents [[John F. Kennedy]] and [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] and was largely responsible for mishandling the [[Vietnam]] war.<ref>http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/episodes/11/interviews/mcnamara/ </ref><ref>http://www.defenselink.mil/specials/secdef_histories/bios/mcnamara.htm </ref> He resigned when it became clear that his strategy for the war was not working and went on to lead the [[World Bank]]. McNamara later admitted his strategy was false.

Born in [[San Francisco]], McNamara attended the [[University of California at Berkeley]] and [[Harvard University]]. After serving in World War II
McNamara joined [[Ford Motor Company]], which he would eventually lead. After a successful stint at Ford, President [[John F. Kennedy]] appointed him Secretary of Defense. McNamara was one of the leading architects of the successful solution to the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]]. His strategy in Vietnam of wearing down the North Vietnamese with heavy loses proved ineffective. McNamara later said that the strategy he had employed was based on the faulty notion that the Vietnam War was not a Civil War but a global conflict. He was also an early supporter of the space program.

After his tenure at the Defense Department, he became the President of the World Bank, where he promoted programs to fight hunger. He published his memoirs in 1995. McNamara died in 1993, and was buried in [[Arlington National Cemetery]]. He also selected the site for John F. Kennedy's grave at Arlington, on the request of Kennedy's widow [[Jackie Kennedy]].

==References==
<references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT:McNamara, Robert}}
[[Category:United States Appointed Officials]]
[[Category:1960s]]
[[Category:Finance]]
[[Category:Vietnam War]]

Robert McNamara

2015-04-30T04:13:42Z

Alpineopossum:

Alan Simpson

2015-04-30T04:07:01Z

Alpineopossum:

'''Alan Simpson''' (b. 1931) served [[Wyoming]] in the [[U.S. Senate]] from 1979 to 1997. Despite being a member of the [[Republican Party]], Simpson served as a [[liberal]] on social issues, benefiting from the [[conservative]] reputation of his father, Milward L. Simpson, who served Wyoming in the [[U.S. Senate]] from 1962-1967 after having been governor of Wyoming from 1955-1959. Simpson was an advocate of fiscally conservative positions and argued strongly for entitlement reform. Despite his Republican affiliation Simpson supports [[abortion]]. He was a leader of the Simpson/Bowles committee. Since leaving the Senate, Simpson has taught at graduate school.

Simpson's political leanings are best summed up in his own words:

:Any education that matters is "liberal." All the saving truths, all the healing graces that distinguish a good education from a bad one or a full education from a half empty one are contained in that word.

Simpson has been an advocate of a balanced federal budget and has supported entitlement reform. He occasionally teaches at the University of Wyoming.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Alan}}
[[category:Former United States Senators]]
[[Category:RINOs]]
[[Category:Wyoming]]
[[Category:Liberals]]
[[Category:Fiscal Conservatives]]

Charlie Baker

2015-04-30T04:04:13Z

Alpineopossum: Created page with "'''Charles Duane "Charlie" Baker, Jr.''' is an American politican and businessman who is the current governor of Massachusetts. A member of previous governor's administration..."

'''Charles Duane "Charlie" Baker, Jr.''' is an American politican and businessman who is the current governor of [[Massachusetts]]. A member of previous governor's administrations in Massachusetts, Baker was the CEO of Harvard Pilgrim, a healthcare company, where he was widely acclaimed as having turned the company around. In 2010, he ran for governor against [[Deval Patrick]] and lost. He tried again in 2014. Baker ran on a campaign platform of fiscal conservatism, low taxes, smaller government, and education reform as well as being moderate to liberal on social issues. He ran against [[Martha Coakley]] and won. The victory was considered a surprise as Massachusetts is a blue state. Baker has been very popular since taking office.

==Biography==
Baker was born in [[Elmira, New York]] but grew up in [[Needham, Massachusetts]]. Baker has two younger brothers, and had what he describes as an "all American childhood." He played football, hockey, and baseball in his youth. Baker's father worked in the administration of President [[Richard Nixon]] in the Transportation Department.

Baker attended [[Harvard University]] where he got a degree in English. He has said he did not have a positive experience there. After Harvard, he attended Northwestern University where he achieved an MBA. After a stint at a libertarian think tank in Boston, Baker took a job as Undersecretary of Health and Human Services under Governor [[William Weld]] in 1991. He gained a reputation for innovative ideas and was promoted to Secretary of Health and Human Services the following year. He later became the Secretary of Administration and Finance. Governor [[Paul Cellucci]] offered him the position of running mate, but Baker declined. During his time in this position, Baker helped finance the Big Dig, a major infastructure project to rebuild a freeway in Boston and revitalize the city's downtown. Many have called this project largely a success.

In 1999, Baker became the CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, a non profit company. Finding it in deep financial trouble, he cut the workforce, cut costs, and renegociated contracts. The company went from losing $58 million a year to being profitable for 24 straight quarters. Under Baker's leadership the company won awards for the Best Health Plan in America for five straight years. While at Harvard Pilgrim he remained involved in politics, and served as a selectman in Swampscott, Massachusetts.

After being rumored to run for Governor in 2006, Baker announced a campaign in 2010, after retiring from Harvard Pilgrim in 2009. He was running against incumbent Democrat [[Deval Patrick]]. Baker focused on supporting job creation, government reform, and fiscal conservatism, while taking a liberal stance on several social issues. It was a relatively close race, but in the end Patrick won.

Baker remained involved with business but made a return to politics in 2014. With the retirement of Governor Patrick, Massachusetts had an open governor seat. After defeating businessman Mark Fisher in the Republican Primary, Baker campaigned on a similar theme of low taxes, job creation, government reform, social liberalism, and fiscal conservatism. This time, Baker was running against [[Martha Coakley]], the state Attorney General. Baker won a hard fought victory in November, in a night that saw Republican victories across the country.

After taking office, Baker has enacted policies to help small business and to reform the MBTA. He also presided over one of the largest blizzards in the history of Massachusetts. Polls show his approval rating as high as 70%.

Baker lives in Swampscott, Massachusetts, with his wife Lauren and their three children. He is a member of a congregationalist church.

[[Category:Fiscal Conservatives]]
[[Category:Social Liberals]]
[[Category:Business people]]
[[Category:Massachusetts Governors]]
[[Category:Republican Governors]]

Lee Harvey Oswald

2015-02-22T04:36:59Z

Alpineopossum:

'''Lee Harvey Oswald''' was born on October 18, 1939, in [[New Orleans]], [[Louisiana]]. He was held responsible as the sole assassin of [[President]] [[John F. Kennedy]] in [[Dallas]], [[Texas]] on November 22, 1963, by the [[Warren Commission]], although the assassination has become a popular target for conspiracy theorists. Oswald was a lifelong communist and leftist who at one point defected to the Soviet Union.

Oswald was murdered in front of live [[television]] cameras on November 24, 1963, by [[Dallas]] nightclub owner [[Jack Ruby]].

JFK conspiracy theories usually gloss over Oswald's marriage to the daughter of a KGB colonel. She was allowed to marry him and they were allowed to emigrate, but the KGB had no plans for him? Occam's razor could use a good stropping here.[http://www.amazon.com/Guilty-Liberal-Victims-Assault-America/dp/030735346X/]

==The Most Rejected Man of His Time==
[[James Dobson]] wrote a short story concerning the reason why Oswald murdered John F. Kennedy. It reads as follows:

: "He began his life with all the classic handicaps and disadvantages. His mother was a dominating woman who found it difficult to [[love]] anyone. She gave him no affection, no training and no [[discipline]] during his early years.

: "When he was 13, a school psychologist commented that he probably didn't even know the meaning of the word "love." During [[adolescence]], the girls would have nothing to do with him and he fought with the boys.

: "After failing at every pursuit, including a stint in the [[United States Marine Corps]], he fled the country. He married a Russian girl, but she also began to hold him in contempt. She could outfight him, and she learned to bully him. Finally, she forced him to leave.

: "After days of loneliness, he went home, fell on his knees and literally begged her to take him back. He wept at her feet, but she laughed at him and made fun of his sexual impotency in front of a friend. Finally, he pleaded no more. No one wanted him. No one had ever wanted him. He was perhaps the most rejected man of his time.

: "The next day, he was a strangely different man. He arose, went to the garage, and took down a rifle he had hidden there. He carried it with him to his newly acquired job at a book-storage building. And from a window on the sixth floor of that building, shortly after noon, November 22, 1963, he sent two shells crashing into the head of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

: "Lee Harvey Oswald, the rejected, unlovable failure, killed the man who, more than any other person on earth -- embodied all the success, beauty, wealth, and family affection which Oswald lacked. In firing that rifle, he utilized the one skill he had learned in his entire, miserable lifetime.

Also on November 22, 1963, someone had shot a Dallas policeman, Officer J.D. Tippit, using a handgun, and Oswald was accused of that shooting as well. Evidence revealed that Oswald had received both the rifle and a handgun, through mail-order purchase, and both arrived on the same day.

== External links ==

* [http://www.rrojasdatabank.info/lbemkall.pdf Estos Mataron a Kennedy, Robinson Rojas, Ediciones Arco, 1964.] Book in Spanish.
* [http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKoswald.htm Lee Harvey Oswald.]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oswald, Lee Harvey}}
[[Category:Assassins]]
[[Category:Communists]]

2014 Midterm Elections

2014-11-22T03:58:55Z

Alpineopossum: /* Democrats */

[[File:Election map.png|right|300px|thumb| Republican red victories by districts]]

The '''2014 Midterm Elections''' began with the [[Texas]] primary on March 4, and continued with a primary or a "runoff" nearly every week somewhere in the [[United States]] until Tuesday, September 9th.<ref>[http://www.thegreenpapers.com/G14/events.phtml?format=chronological Election days listed chronologically or 2014]</ref> Soon thereafter [[early voting]] began in some areas, culminating in the general election day on Tuesday, November 4th.

The election was a complete and utter rejection of Democrats with Republicans capturing the U.S. Senate, expanding the U.S. House and winning super majority control in 31 states.

==Senate==
===Democrat Incumbents===

*'''Alaska'''

[[Mark Begich]]: The incumbent Begich lost to Republican Dan Sullivan.

*'''Arkansas'''

[[Mark Pryor]]: The incumbent Pryor lost to Republican Tom Cotton.

*'''Colorado'''

[[Mark Udall]]: The incumbent Udall lost to Republican Cory Gardiner.

*'''Delaware'''

[[Chris Coons]]: The incumbent was reelected.

*'''Hawaii'''

[[Brian Schatz]]: The incumbent was reelected.

*'''Illinois'''

[[Richard Durbin]]: The incumbent was reelected.

*'''Iowa'''

[[Tom Harkin]][1]: Democrat Bruce Braley lost his bid to Republican [[Joni Ernst]].

*'''Louisiana'''

[[Mary Landrieu]]: The incumbent Landrieu lost to Republican Bill Cassidy. The margin of victory has enabled a runoff race. Cassidy is poised to gain this seat.

*'''Massachusetts'''

[[Ed Markey]]: The incumbent was reelected.

*'''Michigan'''

[[Carl Levin]][1]: Democrat Rep. Gary Peters defeated Republican Terri Lynn Land.

*'''Minnesota'''

[[Al Franken]]: The incumbent Franken was reelected.

*'''Montana'''

[[Max Baucus]][1]: Republican Steve Daines defeated Democrat John Walsh.

*'''New Hampshire'''

[[Jeanne Shaheen]]: The incumbent Shaheen was reelected.

*'''New Jersey'''

[[Cory Booker]]: The incumbent Booker was reelected.

*'''New Mexico'''

[[Tom Udall]]: The incumbent Udall was reelected.

*'''North Carolina'''

[[Kay Hagan]]: The incumbent Hagan lost to Republican Thom Tillis.

*'''Oregon'''

[[Jeff Merkley]]: The incumbent Merkley was reelected.

*'''Rhode Island'''

[[Jack Reed]]: The incumbent Reed was reelected.

*'''South Dakota'''

[[Tim Johnson]][1]: Democrat Rick Weiland lost to Republican Mike Rounds.

*'''Virginia'''

[[Mark Warner]]: The incumbent Warner was reelected.

*'''West Virginia'''

[[Jay Rockefeller]][1]: Democrat Natalie Tennant lost to Republican Shelley Moore Capito.

===Republican Incumbents===

*'''Alabama'''

[[Jeff Sessions]]: The incumbent Sessions was reelected.

*'''Georgia'''

[[Saxby Chambliss]][1]: Democrat Michelle Nunn lost to Republic David Perdue.

*'''Idaho'''

[[James Risch]]: The incumbent Risch was reelected.

*'''Kansas'''

[[Pat Roberts]]: The incumbent Roberts was reelected by defeating Independent candidate Greg Orman. Democrat Chad Taylor dropped out of the race before election day.

*'''Kentucky'''

[[Mitch McConnell]]: The incumbent McConnell was reelected.

*'''Maine'''

[[Susan Collins]]: The incumbent Collins was reelected.

*'''Mississippi'''

[[Thad Cochran]]: The incumbent Cochran was reelected.

*'''Nebraska'''

[[Mike Johanns]][1]: Republican [[Ben Sasse]] defeated Democrat David Domina.

*'''Oklahoma'''

[[James Inhofe]]: The incumbent Inhofe was reelected.

[[Tom Coburn]][1]: Republican James Lankford defeated Democrat Constance N. Johnson.

*'''South Carolina'''

[[Tim Scott]]: The incumbent Scott was reelected.

[[Lindsey Graham]]: The incumbent Graham was reelected.

*'''Tennessee'''

[[Lamar Alexander]]: The incumbent Alexander was reelected.

*'''Texas'''

[[John Cornyn]]: The incumbent Cornyn was reelected.

*'''Wyoming'''

[[Mike Enzi]]: The incumbent Enzi was reelected.

==House==
Every seat of the 435 member chamber is up for election. The new term will be the 114th United States Congress.

===Notable Races===

* [[Eric Cantor]] (Virginia) - Cantor was defeated by [[David Brat]] in the Republican primary. Republican Brat defeated Democrat Jack Trammell for Virginia's 7th Congressional District.
* [[Elise Stefanik]] became the youngest Republican female ever elected to Congress at age 30. She is from New York's 21st Congressional District.
* [[Mia Love]] won Utah's 4th Congressional District becoming the first Republican black female Congresswoman in the U.S. House.
* [[Will Hurd]], a former covert CIA operative, won Texas's 23rd Congressional District for the Republicans.

==Governors==

===Democrats===

*[[Neil Abercrombie]] (Hawaii): The incumbent Abercrombie lost to [[David Ige]] in the Democratic Party primary. Ige went on to win the general election.
*[[Mike Beebe]] (Arkansas) [1]: Republican Asa Hutchinson defeated Democrat Mike Ross.
*[[Jerry Brown]] (California): The incumbent Brown was reelected
*[[Lincoln Chafee]] (Rhode Island) [1]: Democrat Gina Raimondo defeated Republican Allan Fung.
*[[Andrew Cuomo]] (New York): The incumbent Cuomo was reelected.
*[[Mark Dayton]] (Minnesota): The incumbent Dayton was reelected.
*[[Maggie Hassan]] (New Hampshire): The incumbent Hassan was reelected.
*[[John Hickenlooper]] (Colorado): The incumbent Hinkenlooper lost to Republican Bob Beauprez.
*[[John Kitzhaber]] (Oregon): The incumbent Kitzhaber was reelected.
*[[Dan Malloy]] (Connecticut): The incumbent Malloy was reelected.
*[[Martin O'Malley]] (Maryland) [1]: Republican Larry Hogan defeated Democrat Anthony Brown.
*[[Deval Patrick]] (Massachusetts) [1]: Republican Charlie Baker defeated Democrat Martha Coakley.
*[[Pat Quinn]] (Illinois): The incumbent Quinn was defeated by Republican Bruce Rauner.
*[[Peter Shumlin]] (Vermont): The incumbent Shumlin won his race against Republican Scott Milne. He did not receive 50% of the vote and the Vermont legislature will chose the Governor in January 2015.

===Republicans===

*[[Robert Bentley]] (Alabama): The incumbent Bentley was reelected.
*[[Jan Brewer]] (Arizona) [1]: Republican Doug Ducey defeated Democrat Fred DuVal.
*[[Terry Branstad]] (Iowa): The incumbent Branstad was reelected.
*[[Sam Brownback]] (Kansas): The incumbent Brownback was reelected.
*[[Tom Corbett]] (Pennsylvania): Incumbent Corbett was defeated by Democrat Tom Wolf.
*[[Dennis Daugaard]] (South Dakota): The incumbent Daugaard was reelected.
*[[Nathan Deal]] (Georgia): The incumbent Deal was reelected.
*[[Mary Fallin]] (Oklahoma): The incumbent Fallin was reelected.
*[[Nikki Haley]] (South Carolina): The incumbent Haley was reelected.
*[[Bill Haslam]] (Tennessee): The incumbent Haslam was reelected.
*[[Dave Heineman]] (Nebraska) [1]: Republican Pete Ricketts defeated Democrat Chuck Hassebrook.
*[[John Kasich]] (Ohio): The incumbent Kasich was reelected.
*[[Paul LePage]] (Maine): The incumbent LePage was reelected.
*[[Susana Martinez]] (New Mexico): The incumbent Martinez was reelected.
*[[Matt Mead]] (Wyoming): The incumbent Mead was reelected.
*[[Butch Otter]] (Idaho): The incumbent Otter was reelected.
*[[Sean Parnell]] (Alaska): The incumbent Parnell lost to Independent Bill Walker.
*[[Rick Perry]] (Texas) [1]: Republican [[Greg Abbott]] defeated Democrat Wendy Davis.
*[[Brian Sandoval]] (Nevada): The incumbent Sandoval was reelected.
*[[Rick Scott]] (Florida): The incumbent Scott was reelected
*[[Rick Snyder]] (Michigan): The incumbent Snyder was reelected
*[[Scott Walker]] (Wisconsin): The incumbent Walker was reelected

[1] Indicates a term-limited or retiring candidate

==References==
<references/>

[[category:Politics]]
[[category:Obama Presidency]]
[[category:Republican Party]]
[[category:Democratic Party]]

2014 Midterm Elections

2014-11-22T03:57:53Z

Alpineopossum: Don't feel bad...Michelle Obama got his name wrong too!

[[File:Election map.png|right|300px|thumb| Republican red victories by districts]]

The '''2014 Midterm Elections''' began with the [[Texas]] primary on March 4, and continued with a primary or a "runoff" nearly every week somewhere in the [[United States]] until Tuesday, September 9th.<ref>[http://www.thegreenpapers.com/G14/events.phtml?format=chronological Election days listed chronologically or 2014]</ref> Soon thereafter [[early voting]] began in some areas, culminating in the general election day on Tuesday, November 4th.

The election was a complete and utter rejection of Democrats with Republicans capturing the U.S. Senate, expanding the U.S. House and winning super majority control in 31 states.

==Senate==
===Democrat Incumbents===

*'''Alaska'''

[[Mark Begich]]: The incumbent Begich lost to Republican Dan Sullivan.

*'''Arkansas'''

[[Mark Pryor]]: The incumbent Pryor lost to Republican Tom Cotton.

*'''Colorado'''

[[Mark Udall]]: The incumbent Udall lost to Republican Cory Gardiner.

*'''Delaware'''

[[Chris Coons]]: The incumbent was reelected.

*'''Hawaii'''

[[Brian Schatz]]: The incumbent was reelected.

*'''Illinois'''

[[Richard Durbin]]: The incumbent was reelected.

*'''Iowa'''

[[Tom Harkin]][1]: Democrat Bruce Braley lost his bid to Republican [[Joni Ernst]].

*'''Louisiana'''

[[Mary Landrieu]]: The incumbent Landrieu lost to Republican Bill Cassidy. The margin of victory has enabled a runoff race. Cassidy is poised to gain this seat.

*'''Massachusetts'''

[[Ed Markey]]: The incumbent was reelected.

*'''Michigan'''

[[Carl Levin]][1]: Democrat Rep. Gary Peters defeated Republican Terri Lynn Land.

*'''Minnesota'''

[[Al Franken]]: The incumbent Franken was reelected.

*'''Montana'''

[[Max Baucus]][1]: Republican Steve Daines defeated Democrat John Walsh.

*'''New Hampshire'''

[[Jeanne Shaheen]]: The incumbent Shaheen was reelected.

*'''New Jersey'''

[[Cory Booker]]: The incumbent Booker was reelected.

*'''New Mexico'''

[[Tom Udall]]: The incumbent Udall was reelected.

*'''North Carolina'''

[[Kay Hagan]]: The incumbent Hagan lost to Republican Thom Tillis.

*'''Oregon'''

[[Jeff Merkley]]: The incumbent Merkley was reelected.

*'''Rhode Island'''

[[Jack Reed]]: The incumbent Reed was reelected.

*'''South Dakota'''

[[Tim Johnson]][1]: Democrat Rick Weiland lost to Republican Mike Rounds.

*'''Virginia'''

[[Mark Warner]]: The incumbent Warner was reelected.

*'''West Virginia'''

[[Jay Rockefeller]][1]: Democrat Natalie Tennant lost to Republican Shelley Moore Capito.

===Republican Incumbents===

*'''Alabama'''

[[Jeff Sessions]]: The incumbent Sessions was reelected.

*'''Georgia'''

[[Saxby Chambliss]][1]: Democrat Michelle Nunn lost to Republic David Perdue.

*'''Idaho'''

[[James Risch]]: The incumbent Risch was reelected.

*'''Kansas'''

[[Pat Roberts]]: The incumbent Roberts was reelected by defeating Independent candidate Greg Orman. Democrat Chad Taylor dropped out of the race before election day.

*'''Kentucky'''

[[Mitch McConnell]]: The incumbent McConnell was reelected.

*'''Maine'''

[[Susan Collins]]: The incumbent Collins was reelected.

*'''Mississippi'''

[[Thad Cochran]]: The incumbent Cochran was reelected.

*'''Nebraska'''

[[Mike Johanns]][1]: Republican [[Ben Sasse]] defeated Democrat David Domina.

*'''Oklahoma'''

[[James Inhofe]]: The incumbent Inhofe was reelected.

[[Tom Coburn]][1]: Republican James Lankford defeated Democrat Constance N. Johnson.

*'''South Carolina'''

[[Tim Scott]]: The incumbent Scott was reelected.

[[Lindsey Graham]]: The incumbent Graham was reelected.

*'''Tennessee'''

[[Lamar Alexander]]: The incumbent Alexander was reelected.

*'''Texas'''

[[John Cornyn]]: The incumbent Cornyn was reelected.

*'''Wyoming'''

[[Mike Enzi]]: The incumbent Enzi was reelected.

==House==
Every seat of the 435 member chamber is up for election. The new term will be the 114th United States Congress.

===Notable Races===

* [[Eric Cantor]] (Virginia) - Cantor was defeated by [[David Brat]] in the Republican primary. Republican Brat defeated Democrat Jack Trammell for Virginia's 7th Congressional District.
* [[Elise Stefanik]] became the youngest Republican female ever elected to Congress at age 30. She is from New York's 21st Congressional District.
* [[Mia Love]] won Utah's 4th Congressional District becoming the first Republican black female Congresswoman in the U.S. House.
* [[Will Hurd]], a former covert CIA operative, won Texas's 23rd Congressional District for the Republicans.

==Governors==

===Democrats===

*[[Neil Abercrombie]] (Hawaii): The incumbent Abercrombie was reelected.
*[[Mike Beebe]] (Arkansas) [1]: Republican Asa Hutchinson defeated Democrat Mike Ross.
*[[Jerry Brown]] (California): The incumbent Brown was reelected
*[[Lincoln Chafee]] (Rhode Island) [1]: Democrat Gina Raimondo defeated Republican Allan Fung.
*[[Andrew Cuomo]] (New York): The incumbent Cuomo was reelected.
*[[Mark Dayton]] (Minnesota): The incumbent Dayton was reelected.
*[[Maggie Hassan]] (New Hampshire): The incumbent Hassan was reelected.
*[[John Hickenlooper]] (Colorado): The incumbent Hinkenlooper lost to Republican Bob Beauprez.
*[[John Kitzhaber]] (Oregon): The incumbent Kitzhaber was reelected.
*[[Dan Malloy]] (Connecticut): The incumbent Malloy was reelected.
*[[Martin O'Malley]] (Maryland) [1]: Republican Larry Hogan defeated Democrat Anthony Brown.
*[[Deval Patrick]] (Massachusetts) [1]: Republican Charlie Baker defeated Democrat Martha Coakley.
*[[Pat Quinn]] (Illinois): The incumbent Quinn was defeated by Republican Bruce Rauner.
*[[Peter Shumlin]] (Vermont): The incumbent Shumlin won his race against Republican Scott Milne. He did not receive 50% of the vote and the Vermont legislature will chose the Governor in January 2015.

===Republicans===

*[[Robert Bentley]] (Alabama): The incumbent Bentley was reelected.
*[[Jan Brewer]] (Arizona) [1]: Republican Doug Ducey defeated Democrat Fred DuVal.
*[[Terry Branstad]] (Iowa): The incumbent Branstad was reelected.
*[[Sam Brownback]] (Kansas): The incumbent Brownback was reelected.
*[[Tom Corbett]] (Pennsylvania): Incumbent Corbett was defeated by Democrat Tom Wolf.
*[[Dennis Daugaard]] (South Dakota): The incumbent Daugaard was reelected.
*[[Nathan Deal]] (Georgia): The incumbent Deal was reelected.
*[[Mary Fallin]] (Oklahoma): The incumbent Fallin was reelected.
*[[Nikki Haley]] (South Carolina): The incumbent Haley was reelected.
*[[Bill Haslam]] (Tennessee): The incumbent Haslam was reelected.
*[[Dave Heineman]] (Nebraska) [1]: Republican Pete Ricketts defeated Democrat Chuck Hassebrook.
*[[John Kasich]] (Ohio): The incumbent Kasich was reelected.
*[[Paul LePage]] (Maine): The incumbent LePage was reelected.
*[[Susana Martinez]] (New Mexico): The incumbent Martinez was reelected.
*[[Matt Mead]] (Wyoming): The incumbent Mead was reelected.
*[[Butch Otter]] (Idaho): The incumbent Otter was reelected.
*[[Sean Parnell]] (Alaska): The incumbent Parnell lost to Independent Bill Walker.
*[[Rick Perry]] (Texas) [1]: Republican [[Greg Abbott]] defeated Democrat Wendy Davis.
*[[Brian Sandoval]] (Nevada): The incumbent Sandoval was reelected.
*[[Rick Scott]] (Florida): The incumbent Scott was reelected
*[[Rick Snyder]] (Michigan): The incumbent Snyder was reelected
*[[Scott Walker]] (Wisconsin): The incumbent Walker was reelected

[1] Indicates a term-limited or retiring candidate

==References==
<references/>

[[category:Politics]]
[[category:Obama Presidency]]
[[category:Republican Party]]
[[category:Democratic Party]]

Massachusetts

2014-11-22T03:56:04Z

Alpineopossum: /* Federal */

{{USState
|name=Massachusetts
|flag=Massachusetts_State_Flag.gif
|motto="Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem" (By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty)
|nick=The Bay State
|capital=Boston
|language=English
|governor=Deval Patrick
|gparty=Democrat
|senator1=John Kerry
|s1party=Democrat
|s1phone=(202) 224-2742
|s1email=http://kerry.senate.gov/v3/contact/email.html Contact
|senator2=Scott Brown
|s2party=Republican
|s2phone=(202) 224-4543
|s2email=http://scottbrown.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/emailscottbrown Contact
|population=
|date=February 6, 1788 (6th)
}}

The '''Commonwealth of Massachusetts''' is a state<ref>It is one of four states officially known as "commonwealths"; there are no practical differences between a "commonwealth" and a "state".
</ref> in the [[New England]] region of the northeastern [[United States]]. Its capital city is [[Boston]]. The name is derived from the Indian tribe that lived there, the "Massachusett". It is one of four states officially known as "commonwealths"; there are no practical differences between a "commonwealth" and a "state". It is well noted for being a bastion of American leftism and is often called "Taxachusetts."

==History==

Massachusetts was first settled by the [[Pilgrims]] who emigrated from [[England]] on the ''[[Mayflower]]'' in 1620 and founded a settlement at [[Plymouth Colony|Plymouth]], and soon afterward by the much larger group the [[Puritans]], who founded the "Massachusetts Bay Colony". Both groups came to America seeking religious freedom.
[[File:Col-mass.jpg|thumb|300px|left|Harvard College was founded in 1638 making Boston the intellectual center of New England]]
The colony was a major center of the [[American Revolution]], as events such as the [[Boston Massacre]] and [[Boston Tea Party]] helped to create a desire for national independence among the Americans. The first battle of the war was fought at [[Lexington]] and [[Concord, MA|Concord]]; the first great American victory was the expulsion of the British from Boston on "Evacuation Day," March 17, 1776.

Shortly after the war ended, tax protesters in the western part of the state revolted in [[Shays' Rebellion]], a major factor leading to demands for a stronger national government at the [[Constitutional Convention]] in 1787. Massachusetts abolished slavery in 1783 and ratified the Constitution on February 6, 1788.

During the 1800s, Massachusetts was marked by increasing industrialization, including the founding of textile mills in towns such as Lowell. Important historical figures during this time included [[Horace Mann]], an important educational reformer, and [[Ralph Waldo Emerson]] and [[Henry David Thoreau]], two of the main contributors to the [[Transcendentalism|Transcendental]] movement.

In the 1900s, Massachusetts moved from a factory-based economy to a more service-based economy, sparked by growth in its local colleges and universities as well as by a collapse in the textile industry during the 1920s. This encouraged increased suburbanization, leading to the current demographic situation in which the population is concentrated in suburbs around the city of [[Boston]]. In 1987, the state received federal highway funding for the Central Artery/Tunnel Project, known colloquially as the [[Big Dig]]. The $14.7 billion grant is the largest federal highway project ever approved.

==Politics==
Liberal icon [[Ted Kennedy]], the third longest-serving Senator in U.S. history, died from a brain tumor in August 2009, marking the end of an era. During the [[2004 Presidential Election]] the Democratic super-majority in the state legislature blocked the Republican Governor [[Mitt Romney]] from appointing an interim senator should [[John Kerry]] be elected President. The legislature changed the law back again after Kennedy's death, allowing Governor [[Deval Patrick]], a Democrat, to appoint a temporary replacement for Kennedy. He chose former Democratic National Committee chairman [[Paul Kirk]]. Kirk did not seek a full term of his own, and a special election was held on January 19, 2010.

Republican State Senator [[Scott Brown]] pulled a major upset, defeating Democrat Attorney General [[Martha Coakley]] in the election. Brown rode on a wave of voter anger at President Obama and his [[health care]] overhaul and won by a 52%-47% margin.<ref> See [http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/01/19/us/politics/massachusetts-election-map.html?hp statistical analysis of 2010 vote]</ref>

Although once a bastion of social conservatism (the term "Banned in Boston" is still in widespread use)<ref>http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Massachusetts/id/1896007</ref> Massachusetts is known as one of the most Catholic and most liberal states. It is the most populous state to have all-Democratic congressional representation (before Brown won in 2010). It was called "Taxachusetts" because of its high tax rate, which has since been lowered by a series of Republican governors in the 1990s and 2000s ([[William Weld]], [[Paul Cellucci]], [[Jane Swift]] and [[Mitt Romney]]); they were among the most liberal Republican governors in the country.<ref>http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Massachusetts/id/1896007</ref>

Its current [[United States Senate|U.S. Senators]] are [[John Kerry]] (who unsuccessfully ran for [[President]] in 2004) and [[Scott Brown]].

The current governor, elected in 2006 over Republican and former Lieutenant Governor Kerry Murphy Healey,<ref>http://www.boston.com/news/local/politics/candidates/governor/patrick/</ref> is [[Deval Patrick|Deval L. Patrick]], who was the first Democrat to take the office in 16 years, and the first African American to win the post.<ref>http://www.mass.gov/</ref><ref>http://www.nndb.com/gov/911/000051758/</ref> A strong liberal in the state that legalized [[homosexual marriage]], Patrick signed a bill which allowed out-of-state gay couples to marry in Massachusetts. In a speech afterward, Patrick was recorded openly mocking conservatives and the Bible by stating, "In five years now, ... the sky has not fallen, the earth has not opened to swallow us all up."<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2008/07/31/massachusetts-gov-patrick-signs-allowing-gay-marriage-non-residents</ref>

Patrick is faring poorly in polls, as he has been ineffective in getting his own priorities enacted, and in dealing with the [[recession of 2008]].

Massachusetts is the home of Presidents [[John Adams]], [[John Quincy Adams]], and [[John F. Kennedy]].

Massachusetts has been a [[blue state]] in presidential elections since 1928 except when it favored [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] and [[Ronald Wilson Reagan]] both terms.

In 2012, an Elementary school in Bellingham, MA attempted to take out the word, "God" from the song, "God Bless the USA" by Lee Greenwood for a school concert. The attempt failed, as parents in the community complained. [http://video.foxnews.com/v/1549117644001/]

==Elected Officials==

===Federal===
*Sen. [[Ed Markey]] (D)
*Sen. [[Elizabeth Warren]] (D)
*Rep. [[John Olver]] [D, MA-01]
*Rep. [[Richard Neal]] [D, MA-02]
*Rep. [[Jim McGovern]] [D, MA-03]
*Rep. [[Barney Frank]] [D, MA-04]
*Rep. [[Niki Tsongas]] [D, MA-05]
*Rep. [[John Tierney]] [D, MA-06]
*Rep. [[Ed Markey]] [D, MA-07]
*Rep. [[Michael Capuano]] [D, MA-08]
*Rep. [[Stephen Lynch]] [D, MA-09]
*Rep. [[William Keating]] [D, MA-10]

===Statewide===
*Governor [[Deval Patrick]] (D)
*Lt. Governor [[Tim Murray]] (D)
*State Auditor [[Suzanne Bump]] (D)
*Secretary of State [[Bill Galvin]] (D)
*Attorney General [[Martha Coakley]] (D)
*State Treasurer [[Steve Grossman]] (D)

==Notes and references==
<references/>

{{USstates}}
[[Category:States of the United States]]
[[Category:Massachusetts]]
[[Category:New England]]

Sports Car

2014-07-27T02:03:31Z

Alpineopossum:

'''Sports Cars''' are vehicles designed for performance and the track and range from tiny anemic British runabouts like Lotuses to full fledged Americans world beaters like the [[Ford GT]]. The first sports cars were made in the 1900s shortly after the invention of the automobile, and it didn't take long for two people to decide to find out who's car was the fastest. Over the last 100 years they have evolved into a huge number of varieties. Environmentalists and politicians often try outlaw high performance automobiles, While they have sometimes been successful in curtailing the power of sports cars, the desire for them means they will always keep being made. Sports cars are commonly bought by middle aged gentlemen who are going through a midlife crisis. Famous brands of sports cars include [[Porsche]], [[Corvette]], [[Ferrari]], [[Lotus]], [[Lamborghini]], and [[Aston Martin]].

[[Category:Cars]]

Mercedes-Benz

2014-07-27T02:01:25Z

Alpineopossum: Created page with "'''Mercedes Benz''' is a luxury car manufacturer based in Stuttgart, Germany. It takes the name of Karl Benz, who developed the first automobile in the late 1800s, and the br..."

'''Mercedes Benz''' is a luxury car manufacturer based in Stuttgart, Germany. It takes the name of [[Karl Benz]], who developed the first automobile in the late 1800s, and the brand named used by Gottlieb Daimler, another early German automotive engineer. The company has a reputation for luxury and innovation and have produced many iconic cars over their long existence. Examples of these include the 300SL "Gullwing" sports car, which has been one of the most iconic automobiles in the world since it's introduction in the 1950s for its unique doors and beautiful design, the 600 Grosser, which has been infamous as the car of choice for dictators (Notable owners include [[Nicolae Ceausescu]], [[Leonid Brezhev]], and [[Kim Jong-Il]]), and the E-Class, which is typically considered the benchmark mid size luxury sedan. The company is involved in Motorsports, and competes in [[Formula 1]] racing as well as touring car racing. Mercedes-Benz also owns the Smart company, which makes a very small compact car called the ForTwo.
[[Category:Cars]]
[[Category:Companies]]

Erich Honecker

2014-07-27T01:51:54Z

Alpineopossum:

'''Erich Honecker''' (1912-1994) was the longtime leader of the German Democratic Republic, or East Germany. A communist, Honecker was perhaps the most well-known official of the DDR, which he led from 1971 until his fall from power in 1989. During this time, Honecker normalized relations with the west but kept [[East Germany]] firmly in the Eastern Bloc. Honecker was known for supporting the building and defense of the [[Berlin Wall]] as well as his policy of consumer socialism, which made some western goods and limited private business available to East Germans. He was a prominent figure of the [[Cold War]].
Honecker was born in Saarland, near the French border in Western Germany. He joined the Communist Party as a young man and was jailed during the 1930s and 40s by [[Nazi Germany|the Hitler regime]] and was sent to the Brandenburg Gordon Prison, a concentration camp near the capitol of Berlin. After an unsuccessful escape attempt, Honecker was freed when the Soviets liberated the prison camp in 1945. He returned to Communist Party politics and became a rising politician in the DDR. He was won of the few Politurbo members to support Walter Ulbricht when most of the group attempted a coup d'état in 1953.
In 1971 he replaced Ulbricht, who was in declining health, as the head of East Germany. By the 1980s, relations between the DDR and the Soviet Union had deteriorated considerably. He and Soviet leader [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] had something approaching a personal animosity toward each other, and Honecker publically disagreed with glasnost, pointing to the fact that he had implemented watered down reforms in Germany earlier. He fell from power in 1989 when his strict adherence to socialism fell out of favor. Not long after Honecker was deposed, the Berlin Wall fell. Facing criminal charges in Germany, he fled to Chile where he was taken in by a priest. Eventually the criminal case against him was dropped. He died in Chile in 1994. He was survived by his wife Margot, two children, and several grandchildren.
Honecker was often the subject of jokes for his dry, plain-spoken style and rather uninspiring speeches. Honecker also had some rather eccentric quotes such as "Neither an ox nor a donkey is able to stop the progress of socialism." Although he headed an oppressive communist regime, Honecker was one of the few communist leaders who was not a participant in mass murder, and under his administration the DDR had the most open society and the highest standard of living in the eastern bloc. However he remains infamous for his involvement in the Berlin Wall.

[[Category: Heads of State]]
[[Category: Communists]]
[[Category: Dictators]]
[[Category: Cold War]]

Nicolae Ceausescu

2014-05-24T00:20:20Z

Alpineopossum:

[[Image:Ceausescu.jpg|right|thumb|Newspaper headline of Ceausesce's fall]]
'''Nicolae Ceausescu''' was the stalinist [[Communist]] [[dictator]] of [[Romania]] from the late 1960s until his overthrow in 1989. He is most famous in the West for his [[totalitarian]] governance, personal extravagance, and for banning [[abortion]] in an effort to increase the Romanian population. After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of Communism in Eastern Europe, Ceausescu was overthrown by a popular uprising. Within days of being overthrown, he and his wife were both executed by an impromptu military court on a wide variety of charges.

During his rule, which lasted from 1967-1989, Ceausescu employed propaganda to create a cult of personality. These measures ranged from painting him as having a much larger role in communist philosophy than he actually did to the purely cosmetic: Ceausescu's relatively small stature (at 5 foot 5 inches) was never emphasized. During his role, Ceausescu oppressed any political dissent by imprisoning and even killing political enemies. He did take a very independent route in terms of relations with Russia, most notably supporting the Czechs in the Prague Spring, when he strongly condemned Soviet intervention there. Ceausescu initiated a series of disastrous economic policies that led to widespread poverty among the Romanian people, while he lived in a lavish palace that remains one of the biggest ever built to this day. He was overthrown and executed in December 1989 after revolutions had toppled communist dictatorships in other Eastern European countries, such as Albania, Hungary, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, and East Germany

{{DEFAULTSORT: Ceausescu, Nicolae}}
[[Category:Communists]]
[[Category:Dictators]]
[[Category:Atheists]]
[[Category:European History]]
[[Category:Cold War]]

Erich Honecker

2014-05-24T00:00:11Z

Alpineopossum:

'''Erich Honecker''' (1912-1994) was the longtime leader of the German Democratic Republic, or East Germany. A communist, Honecker was perhaps the most well-known official of the DDR, which he led from 1971 until his fall from power in 1989. During this time, Honecker approved a few minor reforms while refusing to implement any major efforts to open up the country. He was a supporter of the [[Berlin Wall]], and was a prominent figure of the [[Cold War]].
Honecker was born in Saarland, near the French border in Western Germany. He joined the Communist Party as a young man and was jailed during the 1930s and 40s by [[Nazi Germany|the Hitler regime]] and was sent to the Brandenburg Gordon Prison. After an unsuccessful escape attempt, Honecker was freed when the Soviets liberated the prison camp in 1945. He returned to Communist Party politics and became a rising politician in the DDR. He was won of the few Politurbo members to support Walter Ulbricht when most of the group attempted a coup d'état in 1953.
In 1971 he replaced Ulbricht, who was in declining health, as the head of East Germany. By the 1980s, relations between the DDR and the Soviet Union had deteriorated considerably. He and Soviet leader [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] had something approaching a personal animosity toward each other, and Honecker publically disagreed with glasnost, pointing to the fact that he had implemented vaguely similar ideas in Germany before. He fell from power in 1989. Not long after Honecker was deposed, the Berlin Wall fell. Facing criminal charges in Germany, he fled to Chile where he was taken in by a priest. He died in Chile in 1994. He was survived by his wife Margot, two children, and several grandchildren.
Honecker was often the subject of jokes for his dry, plain-spoken style and rather uninspiring speeches. Honecker also had some rather eccentric quotes such as "Neither an ox nor a donkey is able to stop the progress of socialism." Although he was an incompetent administration, Honecker was one of the few communist leaders who was not a participant in mass murder.

[[Category: Heads of State]]
[[Category: Communists]]
[[Category: Dictators]]
[[Category: Cold War]]

John Ashbrook

2014-05-23T23:54:18Z

Alpineopossum:

''not to be confused with [[John Ashcroft]]''

'''John Milan Ashbrook''' (1928-1982) was a leading [[conservative]] in the 1960s and 1970s as a member of the [[House of Representatives]]. He challenged and ran against [[President]] [[Richard Nixon]] in the 1972 presidential primary, paving the way for fellow [[conservative]] [[Ronald Reagan]]'s more successful challenge of incumbent President [[Gerald Ford]] in the 1976 primary.

A veteran of the [[U.S.]] [[Navy]], he worked upon graduation of law school for the Johnstown Independent, a weekly newspaper that he father, also a [[Congressman]], had founded in 1884. That gave him publicity to be elected in 1956 as a Republican to the [[Ohio]] General Assembly. He served it for two yaerd before being elected to [[Congress]] in 1960, where he served 22 years without interruption. He was one of the founders of the [[American Conservative Union]] and served as its chairman from 1966 to 1971. He was also one of the founders of the draft [[Barry Goldwater]] movement in 1963.<ref>http://www.ashbrook.org/about/ashbrook.html</ref>

John Ashbrook is best known for challenging [[Richard Nixon]] in the 1972 presidential primary. In Ashbrook's announcement of his candidacy for president, he listed how Nixon had betrayed his campaign promises in 1968 and was governing like a [[liberal]] rather than like a [[conservative]]:<ref>http://www.4president.org/speeches/johnashbrook1972announcement.htm</ref>

:''"He [Nixon] has led the drive to admit [[Red China]] into the [[United Nations]], and watched the cynical expulsion of the Republic of China from that body - though the government on Taiwan is one of America's oldest and closest allies, and despite the fact that he had pledged less than a year ago that we would never desert it."''

:''"He has permitted our defenses to sink from a status of clear superiority to one of bare "sufficiency", and then still further to a level at which stark, irretrievable inferiority is less than two years away."''

:''"He has allowed a deficit of 30 billion dollars in the current fiscal year, with all that implies for the overheating of the economy and the inevitable accompanying inflation - and has then sought to mask the inflationary effect by imposing an absurd tangle of wage and price controls that are already being widely ignored, in large part because nobody can possibly understand them."''

:''"He has allowed still bigger deficits in the years ahead, and still more vicious cycles of inflation and regimentation, by calling for the early enactment of a Family Assistance Plan that will easily double the already swollen cost of welfare to the taxpaying citizens of this country."''

Ashbrook received 9.6% of the vote in [[New Hampshire]], less than 9% in [[Florida]], and then 10% in [[Nixon]]'s home state of [[California]], before pulling out. Later, when the Watergate scandal hit, he was among the first Republicans to call for Nixon's resignation. Ashbrook was preparing for a Senate run in 1982 when he died suddenly.

== Legacy ==

Shortly after his death, the Ashbrook Center was established at Ashland University in his home state of Ohio, which remains a major part of the university. It has hosted prominent conservatives as guest speakers including President [[Ronald Reagan]], British Prime Minister [[Margaret Thatcher]], and Massachusetts Governor (and 2012 presidential candidate) [[Mitt Romney]]. Ashbrook's papers are maintained at the center, consisting of 309 feet of documents (mostly congressional papers) and personal documents spanning 1950 to 1982.

== References ==
<references/>

== Sources ==

* American National Biography, Volume I, ed. John A. Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (Oxford University Press, 1999)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashbrook, John}}
[[Category:Former United States Representatives]]
[[Category:Republican Party]]
[[Category:Ohio]]
[[Category:Conservatives]]

John Ashbrook

2014-05-23T23:53:50Z

Alpineopossum:

''not to be confused with [[John Ashcroft]]''
'''John Ashbrook''' (1928-1982) was a leading [[conservative]] in the 1960s and 1970s as a member of the [[House of Representatives]]. He challenged and ran against [[President]] [[Richard Nixon]] in the 1972 presidential primary, paving the way for fellow [[conservative]] [[Ronald Reagan]]'s more successful challenge of incumbent President [[Gerald Ford]] in the 1976 primary.

A veteran of the [[U.S.]] [[Navy]], he worked upon graduation of law school for the Johnstown Independent, a weekly newspaper that he father, also a [[Congressman]], had founded in 1884. That gave him publicity to be elected in 1956 as a Republican to the [[Ohio]] General Assembly. He served it for two yaerd before being elected to [[Congress]] in 1960, where he served 22 years without interruption. He was one of the founders of the [[American Conservative Union]] and served as its chairman from 1966 to 1971. He was also one of the founders of the draft [[Barry Goldwater]] movement in 1963.<ref>http://www.ashbrook.org/about/ashbrook.html</ref>

John Ashbrook is best known for challenging [[Richard Nixon]] in the 1972 presidential primary. In Ashbrook's announcement of his candidacy for president, he listed how Nixon had betrayed his campaign promises in 1968 and was governing like a [[liberal]] rather than like a [[conservative]]:<ref>http://www.4president.org/speeches/johnashbrook1972announcement.htm</ref>

:''"He [Nixon] has led the drive to admit [[Red China]] into the [[United Nations]], and watched the cynical expulsion of the Republic of China from that body - though the government on Taiwan is one of America's oldest and closest allies, and despite the fact that he had pledged less than a year ago that we would never desert it."''

:''"He has permitted our defenses to sink from a status of clear superiority to one of bare "sufficiency", and then still further to a level at which stark, irretrievable inferiority is less than two years away."''

:''"He has allowed a deficit of 30 billion dollars in the current fiscal year, with all that implies for the overheating of the economy and the inevitable accompanying inflation - and has then sought to mask the inflationary effect by imposing an absurd tangle of wage and price controls that are already being widely ignored, in large part because nobody can possibly understand them."''

:''"He has allowed still bigger deficits in the years ahead, and still more vicious cycles of inflation and regimentation, by calling for the early enactment of a Family Assistance Plan that will easily double the already swollen cost of welfare to the taxpaying citizens of this country."''

Ashbrook received 9.6% of the vote in [[New Hampshire]], less than 9% in [[Florida]], and then 10% in [[Nixon]]'s home state of [[California]], before pulling out. Later, when the Watergate scandal hit, he was among the first Republicans to call for Nixon's resignation. Ashbrook was preparing for a Senate run in 1982 when he died suddenly.

== Legacy ==

Shortly after his death, the Ashbrook Center was established at Ashland University in his home state of Ohio, which remains a major part of the university. It has hosted prominent conservatives as guest speakers including President [[Ronald Reagan]], British Prime Minister [[Margaret Thatcher]], and Massachusetts Governor (and 2012 presidential candidate) [[Mitt Romney]]. Ashbrook's papers are maintained at the center, consisting of 309 feet of documents (mostly congressional papers) and personal documents spanning 1950 to 1982.

== References ==
<references/>

== Sources ==

* American National Biography, Volume I, ed. John A. Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (Oxford University Press, 1999)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashbrook, John}}
[[Category:Former United States Representatives]]
[[Category:Republican Party]]
[[Category:Ohio]]
[[Category:Conservatives]]

Manuel Noriega

2014-05-17T02:40:55Z

Alpineopossum:

{{Dictator bio
| image =[[File:Manuel Noriega mug shot.jpg|200px]]
| name =Manuel Noriega
| birth =February 11, 1938 [[Panama City]]
| parents =
| religion =
| education =Chorrillos Military School
| spouse =-
| children =-
| death =-
| deathmanner =-
| burial =-
| country =Panama
| military =n/a
| rank =n/a
| polbeliefs =
| party =
| dictatordate =1983-1989
| war =-
| deathnumber =-
}}
'''Manuel Antonio Noriega''' (born February 11, 1934) is the former Panamanian general and the military dictator of [[Panama]], serving from 1983-1989. Ad the US found that Noriega had contacts with drug dealers, [[George H.W. Bush]] started an intervention to overthrow Noriega. After this Noriega was arrested in a prison in [[Miami]]. He was sentenced for 60 years in prison for [[Corruption]] and murdering of political opponents.<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/06/04/panama-requests-extradition-ex-dictator-manuel-noriega-france-face-murder/</ref> At the time of his removal from power, as many as 93% of Panama's citizens supported American military action. He took refuge in the Vatican embassy. The US military played loud rock music to get him to leave. During an unspecified [[AC/DC]] song, Noriega surrendered. As of 2014, he remains in prison.
==References==
<references/>
{{DEFAULTSORT:Noriega, Manuel}}
[[Category:Panama]]
[[Category:Dictators]]
[[Category:Organized Crime]]

Mao Zedong

2014-05-17T02:37:31Z

Alpineopossum: /* Mass Murder */

{{Dictator bio
| image =[[Image:Ncvjgfu.jpg|200px]]
| name =Mao Zedong
| birth =December 26, 1893 Shaoshan, Xiangtan, Hunan, China
| parents =Mao Jen-sheng Wen Chi-mei
| religion =[[Confucianism]] (rejected) [[Buddhism]] (rejected) [[Atheism]]
| education =Hunan Normal School Peking University
| spouse =Luo Yixiu (married 1907-1910) Yang Kaihui (married 1921-1927) He Zizhen (married 1928-1939) Jiang Qing: (married 1939-1976)
| children =Mao Anying (from Yang) Mao Anqing (from Yang) Li Min (from He) Li Na (from Jiang)
| death =September 9, 1976 Beijing, China
| deathmanner =Complications after heart attack
| burial =Chairman Mao Memorial Hall, Beijing, China
| country =[[People's Republic of China]]
| military =[[People's Liberation Army]]
| rank =Grand Marshal
| polbeliefs =Communism Maoism
| party =Communist Party of China
| dictatordate =October 1, 1949
| war =[[Chinese Civil War]] [[Great Leap Forward]] [[Cultural Revolution]]
| deathnumber =40,000,000 to 80,000,000 est. Rummel: 77,000,000
}}
'''Mao Zedong''', (1893-1976) was the leader of Chinese Communism and a ruthless [[atheist]] dictator after he came to power in 1949. While not the founder, he was an early member of the [[Chinese Communist Party]] in 1921. In 1935, Mao was elected to the Executive Committee of the [[Comintern]] in Moscow and remained on this committee until it was publicly disbanded in 1943. Mao is regarded as perhaps the most prolific [[mass murder]]er in human history, not even counting the inummerable unborn female fetuses whom he [[abortion|callously slaughtered]].[http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/20TH.HTM]

==Soviet national liberation movement==

[[Edgar Snow]], an admirer of the Chinese communists, introduced Mao and [[Zhou Enlai]] to American readers in 1937 in his book, ''Red Star Over China'', shortly after the [[Chinese Red Army]]’s rout by [[Chiang Kai-shek]] in 1934 and their year long retreat to [[Yenan]] known as the [[Long March]]. Snow wrote, "The political ideology, tactical line and theoretical leadership of the Chinese Communists have been under the close guidance, if not positive detailed direction, of the [[Communist International]], which during the last decade has become virtually a bureau of the Russian Communist Party." And he further declared that the CCP had to subordinate itself to the "strategic requirements of [[Soviet Russia]], under the leadership of [[Stalin]]."<ref>Red Star Over China by Edgar Snow, New York, 1937.</ref>

Mao defeated [[Chiang Kai-shek]]'s Nationalists, taking control of the Chinese mainland and establishing the People's Republic of China.

==Three Years of Disasters==

As the leader of China, Mao initiated the [[Great Leap Forward]], an economic plan intended to rapidly industrialize China's then largely rural economy.

==Cultural Revolution==
[[Image:Little red book.jpg|left|200px|thumb|During the [[Cultural Revolution]], it was required for every Chinese citizen to own, read, and carry at all times ''Quotations from Chairman Mao'', also known as "the little red book".]]
In 1966, Mao instigated the [[Cultural Revolution]], in which those disloyal to the Chairman were killed or humiliated in order to solidify Mao's control.

==Mass Murder==
According to the ''Washington Post'' (7/14/94):
<blockquote>
While most scholars are reluctant to estimate a total number of “unnatural deaths” in China under Mao, evidence shows he was in some way responsible for at least 40 million deaths and perhaps 80 million or more. This includes deaths he was directly responsible for and deaths resulting from disastrous policies he refused to change.
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
One government document that has been internally circulated and seen by a former Communist Party official now at Princeton University says that 80 million died unnatural deaths – most of them in the famine following the Great Leap Forward. This figure comes from the Tigaisuo, or the System Reform Institute, which was led by Zhao Ziyang, the deposed Communist Party chief, in the 1980s to study how to reform Chinese society.
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
In comparison, Hitler is blamed for 12 million concentration camp deaths and at least 30 million other deaths associated with World War II, while Stalin is believed responsible for between 30 million and 40 million “unnatural deaths,” including millions from a famine he created.
</blockquote>

The article also added:
<blockquote>
Sources of new information on the famine indicate it was more widespread than long believed and could have been avoided.
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
— An article appearing last year in the Shanghai University journal Society stated that at least 40 million died from 1959 to 1961. Previous estimates have ranged from 10 million to 30 million. The article noted a mistake in government population statistics for 1960 that led to an underestimation of “unnatural deaths.” Authorities later banned this issue of the journal and withdrew it from circulation.
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
— In another study, National Defense University professor Cong Jin estimated that 40 million died between 1959 and 1961.
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
— Chen Yizi of Princeton University’s Center for Modern China did research for years in China, first as a student and then as a government official, and determined that 43 million had died in the famine, a figure recently matched by a report from a think tank in Shanghai. According to Chen, this made the total number of Chinese who died as a result of Mao’s policies 80 million.<ref>http://www.paulbogdanor.com/left/china/deaths1.html</ref>
</blockquote>

This confirms the accuracy of democide analyst R.J. Rummel's research on China. Taking every available estimate of Chinese democide by category and time period; averaging them out and adding them together; repeating the process several times; doing the same with other Communist states and comparing the results; Rummel estimated 77,000,000 Chinese were killed by Mao Tse-Tung, assuming 38 million famine-dead from 1959-61.<ref>http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/20TH.HTM</ref> Mao was responsible for more deaths than [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]], [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]], [[Pol Pot]], [[Nicolae Ceausescu|Ceausescu]], and [[Tito]] ''combined''. Despite this massive body count, Mao remains an icon for certain segments of the far-left. For example, his likeness and books are often seen at [[Occupy Wall Street]] events.

==Little Red Book==

Mao is the author of ''[[Quotations from Chairman Mao]],'' published in 1966, informally known as "the little red book." During his lifetime, almost everyone in the [[People's Republic of China]] was expected to have a copy. One of his most well known statements was that "political power grows out of the barrel of a gun".

==Legacy==
In their book ''Mao: The Unknown Story'', authors Jung Chang and Jon Halliday state that in his first five years of power, 700,000 were claimed by Mao to be dead, but another 700,000 died in local excesses and 700,000 committed suicide out of fear of Mao. During the Great Leap Forward, Mao deliberately killed peasants by shipping food to the USSR and Eastern Europe in exchange for aid in building arms plants. As well, Mao's plans for peasants to make steel and build canals meant that in 1959-60 nobody grew any food. Thus, the worst famine in history occurred. Huge numbers were killed by puppets of Mao in the Cultural Revolution, which actually was launched to get rid of Mao's rivals in the Chinese Communist Party.

Name: ([[Traditional Chinese]]: 毛澤東; [[Simplified Chinese]]: 毛泽东; [[Hanyu Pinyin]]: Máo Zédōng; [[Wade-Giles]]: Mao Tse-tung)

==Further reading==
* Chang, Jung and Jon Halliday. ''Mao: The Unknown Story,'' (2005), 814 pages, ISBN 0-679-42271-4
* Clark, Paul. ''The Chinese Cultural Revolution: A History'' (2008), a favorable look at artistic production [http://www.amazon.com/Chinese-Cultural-Revolution-History/dp/0521875153/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1214281188&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* Dietrich, Craig. ''People's China: A Brief History,'' 3d ed. (1997), 398pp [http://www.amazon.com/Peoples-China-History-Craig-Dietrich/dp/0195106288/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1197238522&sr=8-2 excerpt and text search]
* Esherick, Joseph W.; Pickowicz, Paul G.; and Walder, Andrew G., eds. ''The Chinese Cultural Revolution as History.'' (2006). 382 pp. [http://www.amazon.com/Cultural-Revolution-Shorenstein-Asia-Pacific-Research/dp/0804753504/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1197221379&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]
* Fairbank, John King and Goldman, Merle. ''China: A New History.'' (2nd ed. 2006). 640 pp. [http://www.amazon.com/China-New-History-Second-Enlarged/dp/0674018281/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1197346975&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* Hsü, Immanuel Chung-yueh. ''The Rise of Modern China,'' 6th ed. (1999), highly detailed coverage of 1644-1999, in 1136pp. [http://www.amazon.com/Rise-Modern-China-Immanuel-Hsu/dp/0195125045/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1197238178&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* Jian, Guo; Song, Yongyi; and Zhou, Yuan. ''Historical Dictionary of the Chinese Cultural Revolution.'' (2006). 433 pp.
* MacFarquhar, Roderick and Fairbank, John K., eds. ''The Cambridge History of China. Vol. 15: The People's Republic, Part 2: Revolutions within the Chinese Revolution, 1966-1982.'' (1992). 1108 pp.
* MacFarquhar, Roderick and Michael Schoenhals. ''Mao's Last Revolution.'' (2006).
* MacFarquhar, Roderick. ''The Origins of the Cultural Revolution. Vol. 3: The Coming of the Cataclysm, 1961-1966.'' (1998). 733 pp.
* Meisner, Maurice. ''Mao's China and After: A History of the People’s Republic,'' 3rd ed. (1999), dense book with theoretical and political science approach. [http://www.amazon.com/Maos-China-After-History-Republic/dp/0684856352/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1197238473&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* Schoppa, R. Keith. ''The Columbia Guide to Modern Chinese History.'' Columbia U. Press, 2000. 356 pp. [http://www.questia.com/library/book/the-columbia-guide-to-modern-chinese-history-by-r-keith-schoppa.jsp online edition from [[Questia]]]
* Spence, Jonathan D. ''The Search for Modern China'' (1991), 876pp; well written survey from 1644 to 1980s [http://www.amazon.com/Search-Modern-China-Jonathan-Spence/dp/0393307808/ref=pd_sim_b_title_2 excerpt and text search]; [http://www.questia.com/read/98946348 complete edition online at [[Questia]]]
* Spence, Jonatham. ''Mao Zedong'' (1999) [http://www.amazon.com/Mao-Zedong-Penguin-Life-Lives/dp/0670886696/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200477500&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]
* Shuyun, Sun. ''The Long March: The True History of Communist China's Founding Myth'' (2007)
* Taylor, Jay. ''The Generalissimo: Chiang Kai-Shek and the Struggle for Modern China'' (2009), 722 pp. highly favorable scholarly biography of Mao's great enemy
* Wang, Ke-wen, ed. ''Modern China: An Encyclopedia of History, Culture, and Nationalism.'' (1998). 442 pp.
* Xia, Yafeng. "The Study of Cold War International History in China: A Review of the Last Twenty Years," ''Journal of Cold War Studies''10#1 Winter 2008, pp. 81-115 in [[Project Muse]]
* Yan, Jiaqi and Gao, Gao. ''Turbulent Decade: A History of the Cultural Revolution.'' (1996). 736 pp.
* [http://orpheus.ucsd.edu/chinesehistory/pgp/index.html Studies of Modern Chinese History: Reviews and Historiographical Essays]

==References==
<references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mao Zedong}}
[[Category:Atheists]]
[[Category:Chinese History]]
[[Category:World War II]]
[[Category:Communists]]
[[Category:Mass Murderers]]
[[Category:Marxism]]
[[Category:Lunatics]]
[[Category:Dictators]]

Erich Honecker

2014-05-17T02:21:47Z

Alpineopossum:

'''Erich Honecker''' (1912-1994) was the longtime leader of the German Democratic Republic, or East Germany. A communist, Honecker was perhaps the most well-known official of the DDR, which he led from 1971 until his fall from power in 1989. During this time, Honecker approved a few minor reforms while refusing to implement any major efforts to open up the country. He was a supporter of the [[Berlin Wall]], and was a prominent figure of the [[Cold War]].
Honecker was born in Saarland, near the French border in Western Germany. He joined the Communist Party as a young man and was jailed during the 1930s and 40s by [[Nazi Germany|the Hitler regime]] and was sent to the Brandenburg Gordon Prison. After an unsuccessful escape attempt, Honecker was freed when the Soviets liberated the prison camp in 1945. He returned to Communist Party politics and became a rising politician in the DDR. He was won of the few Politurbo members to support Walter Ulbricht when most of the group attempted a coup d'état in 1953.
In 1971 he replaced Ulbricht, who was in declining health, as the head of East Germany. By the 1980s, relations between the DDR and the Soviet Union had deteriorated considerably. He and Soviet leader [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] had something approaching a personal animosity toward each other, and Honecker publically disagreed with glasnost, pointing to the fact that he had implemented vaguely similar ideas in Germany before. He fell from power in 1989. Not long after Honecker was deposed, the Berlin Wall fell. Facing criminal charges in Germany, he fled to Chile where he was taken in by a priest. He died in Chile in 1994. He was survived by his wife Margot, two children, and several grandchildren.
Honecker was often the subject of jokes for his dry, plain-spoken style and rather uninspiring speeches. Honecker also had some rather eccentric quotes such as "Neither an ox nor a donkey is able to stop the progress of socialism." Although he was an incompetent administration, Honecker was one of the few communist leaders who was not a participant in mass murder.

[[Category: Heads of State]]
[[Category: Communists]]
[[Category: Dictators]]

Erich Honecker

2014-05-17T02:21:09Z

Alpineopossum: Created page with "'''Erich Honecker''' (1912-1994) was the longtime leader of the German Democratic Republic, or East Germany. A communist, Honecker was perhaps the most well-known official of the..."

'''Erich Honecker''' (1912-1994) was the longtime leader of the German Democratic Republic, or East Germany. A communist, Honecker was perhaps the most well-known official of the DDR, which he led from 1971 until his fall from power in 1989. During this time, Honecker approved a few minor reforms while refusing to implement any major efforts to open up the country. He was a supporter of the [[Berlin Wall]], and was a prominent figure of the [[Cold War]].
Honecker was born in Saarland, near the French border in Western Germany. He joined the Communist Party as a young man and was jailed during the 1930s and 40s by the [[Hitler Regime|Nazi Germany]] and was sent to the Brandenburg Gordon Prison. After an unsuccessful escape attempt, Honecker was freed when the Soviets liberated the prison camp in 1945. He returned to Communist Party politics and became a rising politician in the DDR. He was won of the few Politurbo members to support Walter Ulbricht when most of the group attempted a coup d'état in 1953.
In 1971 he replaced Ulbricht, who was in declining health, as the head of East Germany. By the 1980s, relations between the DDR and the Soviet Union had deteriorated considerably. He and Soviet leader [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] had something approaching a personal animosity toward each other, and Honecker publically disagreed with glasnost, pointing to the fact that he had implemented vaguely similar ideas in Germany before. He fell from power in 1989. Not long after Honecker was deposed, the Berlin Wall fell. Facing criminal charges in Germany, he fled to Chile where he was taken in by a priest. He died in Chile in 1994. He was survived by his wife Margot, two children, and several grandchildren.
Honecker was often the subject of jokes for his dry, plain-spoken style and rather uninspiring speeches. Honecker also had some rather eccentric quotes such as "Neither an ox nor a donkey is able to stop the progress of socialism." Although he was an incompetent administration, Honecker was one of the few communist leaders who was not a participant in mass murder.

[[Category: Heads of State]]
[[Category: Communists]]
[[Category: Dictators]]

Victor Atiyeh

2014-04-30T21:19:17Z

Alpineopossum: Created page with "'''Victor George Atiyeh''' is a Republican Party politician who was Governor of Oregon from 1979 to 1987. He is the most recent Republican to hold that office, and was un..."

'''Victor George Atiyeh''' is a [[Republican Party]] politician who was Governor of [[Oregon]] from 1979 to 1987. He is the most recent Republican to hold that office, and was unusual as a conservative governor of a liberal state. Atiyeh's election was one of a number of victories for the Republican Party in the years preceding the Reagan Revolution in 1980. As Governor, Atiyeh was known as a fiscal conservative who promoted free trade and improving the state's business climate. He was very well liked during his tenure and easily won reelection in 1982 with over 60% of the vote.
Aside from politics, Atiyeh is also somewhat well known as one of the alleged targets of a plot by the [[Rajneesh cult]] to overthrow the Oregon government as well as the local government of [[The Dalles, Oregon]]. He is also the only Governor in American history to be of Arab Christian heritage.

[[Category: Oregon]]
[[Category: Republican State Governors]]

Governors of Oregon

2014-04-30T21:11:10Z

Alpineopossum: /* State Governors of Oregon */

A list of '''governors''' from the state of '''[[Oregon]]'''.<ref>http://arcweb.sos.state.or.us/banners/governors.htm</ref>

==Provisional Governors of Oregon==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Name !! Years
|-
| George Abernathy
| 1845-1848
|}

==Territiorial Governors of Oregon==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Name !! Party !! Years
|-
| Joseph Lane
| Democrat
| 1848-1850, 1853
|-
| Kintzing Prichette
| Democrat
| 1850
|-
| John P. Gaines
| Whig
| 1850-1853
|-
| George Law Curry
| Democrat
| 1853, 1854-1859
|-
| John W. Davis
| Democrat
| 1853-1854
|}
==State Governors of Oregon==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Name!! Party !! Years
|-
| John Whiteaker
| Democrat
| 1859-1862
|-
| A. C. Gibbs
| Republican
| 1862-1866
|-
| George L. Woods
| Republican
| 1866-1870
|-
| Lafayette Grover
| Democrat
| 1870-1877
|-
| Stephen F. Chadwick
| Democrat
| 1877-1878
|-
| W. W.Thayer
| Democrat
| 1878-1882
|-
| Z. F. Moody
| Republican
| 1882-1887
|-
| Sylvester Pennoyer
| Populist Democrat
| 1887-1895
|-
| William Payne Lord
| Republican
| 1895-1899
|-
| T. T. Geer
| Republican
| 1899-1903
|-
| George E. Chamberlain
| Democrat
| 1903-1909
|-
| Frank W. Benson
| Republican
| 1909-1910
|-
| Jay Bowerman
| Republican
| 1910-1911
|-
| Oswald D. West
| Democrat
| 1911-1915
|-
| James Withycombe
| Republican
| 1915-1919
|-
| Ben W. Olcott
| Republican
| 1919-1923
|-
| Walter M. Pierce
| Democrat
| 1923-1927
|-
| I. L. Patterson
| Republican
| 1927-1929
|-
| A. W. Norblad
|Republican
| 1929-1931
|-
| Julius L. Meier
| Independent
| 1931-1935
|-
| Charles H. Martin
| Democrat
| 1935-1939
|-
| Charles A. Sprague
| Republican
| 1939-1943
|-
| Earl Snell
| Republican
| 1943-1947
|-
| John H. Hall
| Republican
| 1947-1949
|-
| Douglas McKay
| Republican
| 1949-1952
|-
| Paul L. Patterson
| Repubican
| 1952-1956
|-
| Elmo Smith
| Republican
| 1956-1957
|-
| Robert D. Holmes
| Democrat
| 1957-1959
|-
| Mark O. Hatfield
| Republican
| 1959-1967
|-
| Tom McCall
| Republican
| 1967-1975
|-
| Robert W. Straub
| Democrat
| 1975-1979
|-
| [[Victor Atiyeh]]
| Republican
| 1979-1987
|-
| Neil Goldschmidt
| Democrat
| 1987-1991
|-
| Barbara Roberts
| Democrat
| 1991-1995
|-
| [[John Kitzhaber]]
| Democrat
| 1995-2003
|-
| Ted Kulongoski
| Democrat
| 2003-2011
|-
| [[John Kitzhaber]]
| Democrat
| 2011=present
|}

==Notes==
<references/>
{{Governors}}
[[Category:Oregon Governors]]

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

2014-04-19T22:11:51Z

Alpineopossum:

{{Ib_Protected_area
|name = {{PAGENAME}}
|width=300
|image=Blank USA outline.png
|base_width=288
|base_caption=US locator map
|x_pos=210
|y_pos=114
|area=522,051 acres (2,112.7 km²) {521,256 acres (2,109.4 km²) federal}
|location = [[Tennessee]], [[North Carolina]]
|nearest_city = Cherokee, NC Gatlinburg, TN
|coords =
|established = June 15, 1934
|entrance_fee =
|visitation_num = 9,372,253
|visitation_year = 2007
|governing_body = [[National Park Service|U.S. National Park Service]]
|website=[http://www.nps.gov/grsm/index.htm NPS - Great Smoky Mountains ]
}}

Great Smokey Mountains National Park is a protected wilderness area in [[Tennessee]] and [[North Carolina]]. It is the most visited national park in the United States.

==References==
<references/>
{{Nb_US_national_parks}}

Walt Disney World

2014-04-19T22:10:12Z

Alpineopossum:

'''Walt Disney World Resort''' is a resort and theme-park tourist destination located near Orlando, Florida. Built after California's [[Disneyland]] proved successful, the Walt Disney World resort covers approximately 27,5000 acres devoted to [[Walt Disney]]'s vision of a destination that would provide a complete vacation opportunity for visiting families.

Developed under the Reedy Creek Improvement District, '''Walt Disney World''' theme parks have grown from the original [[Magic Kingdom]] (opened October 1, 1971) to include [[Epcot]] (opened October 1, 1982), [[Disney's Hollywood Studios]] (May 1, 1989), and [[Disney's Animal Kingdom]] (opened April 22, 1998). The park arose when Walt Disney sought to create a new, more expansive resort after opening Disneyland in 1955. His company purchased large amounts of what was then a combination of swamps and cow pastures under fake company names in the 1960s, and commenced construction on the complex soon after. Over a decade after its original opening, a second theme part opened called Epcot, meant to be a permanent worlds fair. This was followed by hollywood-themed and wildlife-themed parks in the 1980s and 90s.

== Resorts ==

From a handful of hotels and a campground when it opened in 1971, Walt Disney World has grown to 25 resorts and a campground featuring architecture designed to reflect differing themes. Resorts are grouped according to their relative expense, sometimes also reflecting the amount of space provided by the accomodations.

The '''''Value Disney World Hotels'''''
*All-Star Movies Resort
*All-Star Music Resort
*All-Star Sports Resort
*Pop Century Resort

The '''''Moderate Disney World Resorts'''''
*Caribbean Beach Resort
*Coronado Springs Resort
*Port Orleans Resort Riverside
*Port Orleans Resort French Quarter

'''''Home Away From Home'''''
*Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground

'''''Deluxe Disney Hotels'''''
*Animal Kingdom Lodge
*Beach Club Resort
*BoardWalk Inn
*Contemporary Resort (one of the two original hotels at Magic Kingdom)
*Grand Floridian Resort
*Polynesian Resort (one of the two original hotels at Magic Kingdom)
*Walt Disney World Swan (not Disney owned)
*Walt Disney World Dolphin (not Disney owned)
*Wilderness Lodge
*Yacht Club Resort

'''''Disney Deluxe Villas'''''
*Animal Kingdom Lodge Villas
*Beach Club Villas
*Boardwalk Villas
*Old Key West Resort
*Wilderness Lodge Villas
*Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa

'''''Other Disney Resort Hotels'''''
*Shades of Green

== Golf Courses ==
*Disney's Palm Golf Course
*Disney's Magnolia Golf Course
*Bonnet Creek Golf Courses
*Lake Buena Vista Course
*Disney's Oak Trail Golf Course

'''Miniature Golf Courses'''
*'''Fantasia Gardens''' Two 18-hole miniature golf courses which were themed based on Disney's animated theme '''''Fantasia'''''. One course is a traditional miniature golf course while the other is a miniature version of a standard 18-hole course.
*'''''Winter Summerland''''' Two 18-hole miniature golf courses which are designed to contrast one another. One course sports a "snow"-clad Florida look while the other features a more tropical, holiday theme complete with Christmas ornaments hung from palm trees.

==Downtown Disney==
A shopping and entertainment district, '''Downtown Disney''' is separated into three distinct sections: Market Place, Pleasure Island and the West Side. Each area features unique restaurants and shops, not all of which focus on Walt Disney merchandise and memorabilia.

==Water Parks==
*Disney's River Country (opened June 20, 1976 and permanently closed on November 1, 2001)
*Disney's Typhoon Lagoon
*Disney Blizzard Beach

==Other Recreation Destinations==
*Wide World of Sports
*Richard Petty Driving Experience

[[Category:Florida]]
[[Category:Entertainment]]

Geodesic Dome

2014-04-19T22:06:38Z

Alpineopossum:

A '''geodesic dome''' is a structure based on a network of [[triangle|triangles]] that form a [[geodesic]]. Depending on the sizes of the dome and the triangles, a geodesic dome's shape is approximately spherical. The edges of the triangles form ''geodesic lines'' which are circular sections on the surface of the sphere.

Their modern use is generally credited to [[Buckminster Fuller]] who has a U.S. patent on the design. He was also the architect for the ''Biosphère'' in [[Montreal]].

These domes are among the largest and most structurally sound man-made objects. They are also extremely lightweight and cheap to produce. Geodesic domes have numerous modern applications in industrial, the military, and housing. Some famous examples of geodesic domes include the Biosphere, the Climatron Dome, which houses a botanical garden in Missouri, and Spaceship Earth, a geodesic sphere located at [[Walt Disney World]] in [[Florida]].

==References==

*[http://architecture.about.com/od/domes/g/geodesic.htm]

[[Category:Engineering]]
[[Category:Architecture]]

Dennis Kucinich

2014-04-05T14:13:56Z

Alpineopossum: /* Abortion */

{| align=right border=3 cellspacing=0 style="border-width: 5px; border-color: #c0c0c0; background: #e0e0e0; margin: 2em;"
| style="text-align: center; padding: 10px 40px 10px 40px;" | [[Previous_Breaking_News/Dennis_Kucinich | Previous Breaking News: Dennis Kucinich]]
|}

{{Officeholder
|name=Dennis Kucinich
|image=Kucinich.png‎
|party=[[Democrat]]
|spouse=Elizabeth Kucinich
|religion=Roman Catholic
|offices=
{{Officeholder/representative
|state=Ohio
|district=10th
|terms=January 3, 1997 - Present
|preceded=Martin Hoke
|former=n
|succeeded=
}}
{{Officeholder/mayor
|number=53rd
|city=Cleveland, Ohio
|terms=1977–1979
|preceded=Ralph J. Perk
|former=y
|succeeded=[[George Voinovich]]
}}
}}

'''Dennis Kucinich''' is one of the most [[liberal]] members of [[Congress]]; he was a candidate for the Democratic presidential primary election in 2004 and 2008. He served as mayor of [[Cleveland]], Ohio from 1978 through 1980, when the city became the first US city to default since the [[Great Depression]].

Like many [[Democratic]] voters, Kucinich has pretended to be [[pro-life]] while politically supporting key positions of the [[abortion]] industry.

In 2012, Ohio lost two seats in census redistricting and that included Kucinich's seat. On [[Super Tuesday]], he battled for the new district with longtime Toledo Democrat Marcy Kaptur and lost.

==Career==

===Early Life===
Kucinich was born in Cleveland in 1946 and attended local Catholic schools and [[Cleveland State University]]. He received a masters degree in Speech and Communications from [[Case Western University]] in 1974. At the age of 23, Kucinich began his political career by running for Cleveland City Council.

===Mayor===
He won the election for City Council, and in 1977 ran for mayor of Cleveland and won the election, becoming the youngest person ever to lead a major American city<ref> http://kucinich.house.gov/Biography/</ref>. Kucinich married Sandra Lee McCarthy, whom he divorced in 1986<ref>http://www.nndb.com/people/763/000024691/</ref>. When he took over the Mayor’s office in Cleveland, he received a city in disastrous economic conditions, all of which would be compounded under his administration. Under his administration, Cleveland would be the first city to go bankrupt since the [[Great Depression]]. Kucinich refused to grant a major bank in Cleveland, [[Cleveland Public Power]], request for the city to sell one of their municipal utility into the private sector. The disagreement between the bank and the mayor led to greater economic problems, causing the city to become the first to city to fall into [[default]] since the [[Great Depression]]<ref> http://www.pbs.org/newshour/vote2004/primaries/kucinich_bio.html</ref>. Mayor Kucinich appointed a 19 year old into a key position of office and also placed a 24-year-old, with less then a year experience as a [[stockbroker]], in office as city [[finance director]]. Kucinich also got into a fight with the popular Cleveland Police Chief, whom he fired on live TV for insubordination. The [[Cleveland Police Department]] later went on strike protesting the Mayor’s budget cuts. The public outraged at his policy, gave him the nickname of, "Dennis the Menace,” and called for a recall election<ref>http://www.nndb.com/people/763/000024691/</ref>. In 1978, as Kucinich threw out the first pitch wearing a bullet proof vest, nearly all 75,000 fans at the opening of [[Cleveland Municipal Stadium]] booed him. The recall took place and Kucinich barely survived the recall, by only 236 votes<ref> http://www.pbs.org/newshour/vote2004/primaries/kucinich_bio.html</ref>.

===Congress===
In 1979, the disgraced mayor ran for a second term, but lost to a [[Republican]], [[George Voinovich]]. With his political future looking bleak, former Mayor Kucinich moved to [[Los Angeles]]. He returned to Cleveland in 1994. Here he had success with his business, [[Kucinich Communications]], a company that produced industrial videos and brokered media time for clients. Kucinich ran for [[State Senator]] in 1994, and he won the election. He held this position for two terms. In 1996, Kucinich won a race for [[United States Congress]] and has been re-elected every two years since. In his last congressional election he received 66% of the [[Ohio]] vote. In 2004 Kucinich sought the [[Democratic Presidential nomination]] but lost. Kucinich currently is serving his 6th term in Congress, and second time as Democrat presidential primary contender.

===ACORN===
The House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to defund ACORN, 345-75 on September 17, 2009. Seventy-five Democrats [Kucinich] stood with [[ACORN]] and voted no. <ref>[http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/House-votes-to-cut-off-ACORN-funding-59647917.html House votes to cut off funding, but 75 stand by ACORN, Washington Examiner, September 17, 2009]</ref> This despite their nationwide attention related to voter fraud and recent revelation of ACORN's ties to prostitution including child trafficking and defrauding the IRS.

==Political Positions==

===Abortion===
Kucinich’s position on abortion has been somewhat of a “flip-flop.” During Kucinich’s first three terms at congress he compiled a consistently pro-life record; this earned him a 95-percent approval rating from the [[National Right to Life Committee]] in 2000. Kucinich stated that he believed that “life begins at conception.”<ref>http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-enrich022003.asp National Review, “Kucinich Choice”</ref> However in 2003, he changed his position, stating that he was “pro-choice” and promised before an Iowa campaign crowed in 2003, "as president, I would protect that right [to abortion], and I would also make sure that appointees to the [[Supreme Court]] protected that right."<ref>http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-enrich022003.asp National Review, “Kucinich Choice”</ref> The President of the National Abortion Rights Action League, [[Kate Michelman]], stated that, “[Kucinich] understands that this [abortion] is a fundamental freedom. Do I think that's sincere? Yes I do." His support of abortion seems to correspond directly with the amount of campaign funding he gets from the abortion lobby.

===Health Care===
Like the majority of the Democratic primary candidates, Kucinich supports a type of socialized universal healthcare. He co-sponsored “Medicare for All Act”, with Congressman [[John Conyer]], this bill would create a [[universal healthcare]] system. The healthcare system would create a government program that would eliminate private health insurance, and buy prescription drugs in large amounts, the estimated cost for Kucinich’s plan would cost the United States about $2.2 trillion a year. until 2013<ref> http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/politics/jan-june03/kucinich_05-29.html</ref>.

===Foreign Affairs===
Kucinich has said that he supports diplomatic foreign policy but not militaristic. He stated in an NBC News Democrat debate that, “I [am] opposed [to] the idea of using war as a matter of policy. I don't think it reflects America's greatness..”<ref>NBC News Debate Transcript, http://www.wcnc.com/news/local/stories/wcnc-042607-krg-debate_part1.1023b3ba.html</ref> He calls Bush’s war on terrorism an excuse for aggressive action, similar to the position held by [[John Edwards]]. He said that, “Because the fact of the matter is that the global war on terror has been a pretext for aggressive war. As president of the United States, I intend to take America in a different direction, rejecting war as an instrument of policy, reconnecting with the nations of the world, so that we can address the real issues that affect security all over the globe and affect our security at home: getting rid of all nuclear weapons, the United States participating in the chemical weapons convention, the biological weapons convention, the small arms treaty, the landmine treaty, joining the International Criminal Court, signing the Kyoto climate change treaty”. <ref>Votes and statements on foreign policy, http://www.ontheissues.org/2008/Dennis_Kucinich_Foreign_Policy.htm, NBC News Debate Transcript, http://www.wcnc.com/news/local/stories/wcnc-042607-krg-debate_part1.1023b3ba.html</ref>

===War in Iraq===
Unlike many of his Democratic opponents, Kucinich has opposed the [[Operation Iraqi Freedom|War in Iraq]] since its beginning. He is a member of the Get out of Iraq Caucus. He has proposed a cut-n-run strategy in which the United States withdraw from the Iraq war and a [[United Nations]] task force move in.<ref>US out of Iraq, UN in, http://iraq.kucinich.us/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1&Itemid=1</ref> Kucinich's bill would, as he stated, “call on the international community to provide peacekeepers and security forces that will move in as our troops leave. But we can’t do that until we determine we’re going to end the occupation. And we will do that when we stop the funding.” <ref>NBC News Debate Transcript, http://www.wcnc.com/news/local/stories/wcnc-042607-krg-debate_part1.1023b3ba.html</ref> In 2007, Kucinich said that former [[Vice President of the United States of America|Vice President]], [[Dick Cheney]], should be impeached for ‘lying about Iraq.’ <ref>On the Issues, http://www.ontheissues.org/Government_Reform.htm#Dennis_Kucinich</ref>

===[[Afghanistan War]]===
In March 2010, Kucinich sponsored a bill in the House for the complete withdrawal of American forces within 30 days, arguing, "Unless this Congress acts to claim its constitutional responsibility, we will stay in Afghanistan for a very, very long time, at great cost to our troops and to our national priorities." <ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/03/10/house-rejects-bid-end-afghan-war/ House Rejects Bid to End Afghan War, FoxNews, March 10, 2010]</ref> Five Republicans including [[Ron Paul]] supported Kucinich's efforts, but the measure was defeated 356-65.

=== [[Libyan War]] ===
On March 18, 2011, in response to President Obama’s warlike declaration of intent against Libya, Representative Dennis Kucinich issued the following statement:
<blockquote>
“While the action is billed as protecting the civilians of Libya, a no-fly-zone begins with an attack on the air defenses of Libya and Qaddafi forces. It is an act of war. The president made statements which attempt to minimize U.S. action, but U.S. planes may drop U.S. bombs and U.S. missiles may be involved in striking another sovereign nation. War from the air is still war. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
“It is also worth noting that the President did not comment upon nor recognize that the Libyan government had declared a ceasefire in response to UNSC Resolution 1973. It was appropriate for the UN to speak about the situation. It was appropriate to establish an arms embargo and freeze Qaddafi’s considerable financial assets. But whether the U.S. takes military action is not for the UN alone to decide. There is a constitutional imperative in the United States with respect to deciding to commit our U.S. armed forces to war.
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
“It is hard to imagine that Congress, during the current contentious debate over deficits and budget cutting, would agree to plunge America into still another war, especially since America will spend trillions in total for the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and incursions into Pakistan.
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
“The last thing we need is to be embroiled in yet another intervention in another Muslim country. The American people have had enough. First it was Afghanistan, then Iraq. Then bombs began to fall in Pakistan, then Yemen, and soon it seems bombs could be falling in Libya. Our nation simply cannot afford another war, economically, diplomatically or spiritually.”
</blockquote>

On Jun 15, 2011: "With regard to the war in Libya, we believe that the law was violated," Kucinich said in a prepared statement. "We have asked the courts to move to protect the American people from the results of these illegal policies." Kucinich and nine colleagues took their case to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, where they filed a lawsuit. <ref> [http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2011/06/dennis_kucinich_files_lawsuit.html Dennis Kucinich files lawsuit against President Obama, says Libya war violates the law] </ref>

===Trade===
Kucinich does not support free trade agreements such as [[NAFTA]]. He has stated that as President, one of his first acts would be to end NAFTA. He also said that he wants to end other trade agreements such as the [[World Trade Organization]] and [[GATT]]. He says that free trade agreements must end because of United States citizen’s jobs are lost by the trade agreements, and also the lack of worker right provisions in the agreements. In replacement of the multilateral trade agreements, Kucinich supports bilateral trade<ref>http://www.ontheissues.org/2008/Dennis_Kucinich_Free_Trade.htm</ref>. Kucinich was one of the supporters of the [[Occupy Wall Street]]-movement.

===[[Gun Control]]===
In 2003, Kucinich was given an F by the [[National Rifle Association]] in regards to gun control, indicating a pro-gun control record. Kucinich voted no on prohibiting suing gun makers and seller for gun misuse, he also voted no on decreasing gun waiting period from three days to one<ref>http://www.ontheissues.org/2008/Dennis_Kucinich_Gun_Control.htm</ref>.

===Energy and Oil===
Kucinich support the raising of [[CAFÉ]] standards from 27.5 mpg to 40 for cars and 40 mpg for SUV’s. He voted no on opening [[ANWR]] for oil drilling. He supports the use of renewable sources to replace fossil fuels, he stated, “I would lead this country on a new energy initiative. In the same way that President Kennedy decided to bring the academic and spiritual resources of this country to reach the moon, I intend to have a journey to planet Earth about sustainable and renewable energy. By the year 2010, I'll call upon Americans to assist in creating a program, not only of conservation, but of moving to renewable energy, away from oil, nuclear and coal, and towards wind and solar and geothermal, green hydrogen and biomass.”<ref>http://www.ontheissues.org/2008/Dennis_Kucinich_Energy_+_Oil.htm</ref>
===Immigration===
In 2004, Kucinich said that, “We also ought to agree that there ought to be amnesty for anyone who has been working in this country and would otherwise be denied rights.” He got a 0% rating from the [[Federation for American Immigration Reform]], mostly because of his ardent support for a path for citizenship for illegal immigrants. Kucinich also does not support the building of a fence between [[Mexico]] and the United States border. He also voted against a bill that would help in hospital’s reporting of illegal alien’s treatment<ref>http://www.ontheissues.org/Dennis_Kucinich_VoteMatch.htm</ref>.

==Democratic Primary Campaign==

===Support===
On December 11, 2006, Dennis Kucinich announced that he would again run for the Democrat presidential nomination. Seen as a lower tier candidate, Kucinich lashed out at his Democrat opponents, calling them hypocritical for funding the [[Iraq War]], “Trust in the Democratic Party is on the line... What kind of credibility will our party have if we say we are opposed to the war, but continue to fund it?” Despite his push for the liberal base, Kucinich still remains as a lower tier candidate, poll numbers show that only 1% of Democrats voters support him<ref>Poll Numbers, http://www.pollingreport.com/wh08dem.htm</ref>.

===Funding===
In first quarter fundraising Kucinich raised $756,567, more then 25 million behind the first quarter leader [[Hillary Clinton]]<ref>http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/democrat-obama-nears-clinton-first-quarter/story.aspx?guid=%7B841BDC61-B47D-4A74-87DB-1D3D49961CF4%7D</ref>. The second quarter fundraising for Kucinich was not released by his campaign. [[Chris Dodd]] and [[Mike Gravel]] also did not release fund raising estimates<ref>http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/tag/second-quarter-fundraising/</ref>.

===Primary Debates===
After a July 2007 democrat primary debate, presidential primary candidate [[John Edwards]] said in a conversation with [[Hillary Clinton]] that "We should try to have a more serious and a smaller group.” Clinton agreed, and stated that the candidates they needed to cut were “not serious." Being a lower tier candidate, Kucinich attacked Edwards, "This is a serious matter, and I'm calling him on it," Kucinich said. "Whispering, trying to rig an election, then denying what's going on and making excuses. It all reflects a consistent lack of integrity."<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/13/AR2007071301891.html?hpid=sec-politics</ref>

In addition, he was excluded from a primary debate in Nevada, he sued for reentry and won. However, there has been no news since then concerning his reentry in to the debate.

He has withdrawn from the race and will pursue his seat in Congress. <ref> http://youdecide08.foxnews.com/2008/01/24/kucinich-drops-presidential-bid/ </ref>

During the primary, the press asked Kucinich about seeing UFO's. Actress Shirley MacLaine says Kucinich saw a UFO in the 1980s while visiting her Washington state home. MacLaine wrote "He saw a gigantic triangular craft, silent and observing him. It hovered for about 10 minutes or so and sped away with a speed he couldn't comprehend. He felt a connection in his heart and heard directions in his mind." <ref>http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,306616,00.html , Fox News Rep. Dennis Kucinich Acknowledges UFO Sighting, October 31, 2007</ref> He said ""I saw something."

== Criticism ==
* On the sixth anniversary of the terror attacks of 9/11, Congress voted on a resolution to honor those who lost their lives. Kucinich was the only member Congress to vote against the resolution. <ref>http://blog.cleveland.com/openers/2007/09/cleveland_democratic_rep_denni_1.html , Cleveland.com Kucinich votes against 9/11 anniversary resolution</ref>

*After announcing his intention not to vote for [[ObamaCare]], Dennis took a ride aboard [[Air Force One]]. Soon there after, he was in favor of ObamaCare leading to calls of spineless sellout.

*July 2010, Kucinich cancels all townhall meetings, afraid to face his constituents.

*In August 2010, Kucinich was named one of 85 socialists that occupy seats in the [[Congress]].

==See also==
[[Previous Breaking News/Dennis Kucinich|Articles about '''Dennis Kucinich''' from previous "Breaking News"]]

==External links==
*[http://kucinich.house.gov/ Official Website]
*[http://kucinich.house.gov/ Congressional Website]
*[http://ontheissues.org/Dennis_Kucinich.htm Voting Record]

==References==
<references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kucinich, Dennis}}
[[Category:United States Representatives]]
[[Category:Democratic Party]]
[[Category:Ohio]]
{{liberalism}}
[[Category:2004 Presidential Candidates]]

Cleveland

2014-04-05T14:05:25Z

Alpineopossum:

''For the 22nd and 24th President, see [[Grover Cleveland]]''

'''Cleveland''' is a city in the state of [[Ohio]] located on the southern shore of [[Lake Erie]], and 60 miles from the [[Pennsylvania]] border in northeast corner of the state. Cleveland was founded in 1796, near the [[Cuyahoga River]] and was a manufacturing center for many years but now has a service based economy. In the 2000 US Census the city of Cleveland had a population of 478,403,<ref>2000 Census : [http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/SAFFFacts?_event=&geo_id=16000US3916000&_geoContext=01000US|04000US39|16000US3916000&_street=&_county=cleveland&_cityTown=cleveland&_state=04000US39&_zip=&_lang=en&_sse=on&ActiveGeoDiv=&_useEV=&pctxt=fph&pgsl=160]</ref> however Greater Cleveland (Cleveland-Akron-Elyria-Mentor Combined Statistical Area) is a larger metropolitan area, with a population of 2,945,831 and is the 14th largest in the United States.<ref>2000 Census : [http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/GCTTable?_bm=y&-ds_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U&-CONTEXT=gct&-mt_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U_GCTPH1_US25&-redoLog=false&-_caller=geoselect&-geo_id=&-format=US-10|US-10S&-_lang=en]</ref>
A Major Tourist Attraction in Cleveland is the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]].

Cleveland was once a major steel manufacturing center and even was an early center of the automobile industry before the latter centered in [[Detroit]], [[Michigan]]. The city reached its peak in the 1950s and early 60s, but began to decline after that, due in part to inept leadership and a changing business climate. Under the ill-fated mayorship of [[Dennis Kucinich]], the city defaulted on its loans. In the 1980s, [[George Voinovich]] took over as mayor and the city experienced something of a rebirth. The precursor to this was the Playhouse Square project. This project involved rehabilitating and restoring a series of 1920s theaters that had been abandoned and fell into disrepair. Although many viewed the project as a pipe dream, a few dedicated individuals made progress and the city's business community gave heavy support to it, and eventually the restoration effort became a great success and created a vibrant arts district. Both Kucinich and (especially) Voinovich were big supporters of this. Also in the 1980s, the flats district, on the Cuyahoga River, hosted a brief revival and several new buildings were built downtown. The revival continued into the 1990s while Michael White was mayor (Voinovich had become the Ohio's Governor by this point), when the Society Bank (now called Key Bank) built its headquarters on public square, new football, baseball, and basketball venues were built downtown, and the city's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame opened. Cleveland's fortunes declined in the 2000s, but recently there have been signs of a revival: The flats are being revitalized and a number of major projects are underway downtown, many of which have been supported by the JobsOhio program created by Governor [[John Kasich]].

Cleveland is also prominent in the arts and music. The University Circle neighborhood is home to the acclaimed Cleveland Museum of Art and the internationally renowned Cleveland Orchestra. Several other museums are in this area. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is located on the waterfront, next to the Great Lakes Science Center.

==Sports==
Cleveland is home to the [[NFL]]'s [[Cleveland Browns|Browns]], the [[NBA]]'s [[Cleveland Cavaliers|Cavaliers]], and [[Major League Baseball|Baseball's]] [[Cleveland Indians|Indians]]. The Cavaliers rose to prominence in the late 2000s with star players including [[LeBron James]], [[Mo Williams]], and [[Shaq]], but the departure of these three and others have left the team struggling. The Indians were one of the top MLB teams in the late 1990s and early 2000s, during which they fielded many legendary players such as [[Jim Thome]] and [[Omar Vizquel]]. The city held an IndyCar race on the runways of the [[Burke Lakefront Airport]], a small semi-commercial downtown airport for many years. The race was popular but was canceled in 2008 when the merging of two open wheel racing series caused a scheduling conflict that made it impossible to hold the race that year. There has been talk of reviving the race, but no firm plans have been put in place.

''For the UK county of Cleveland, see'' [[Cleveland (UK)]]
''See [[Cleveland, TN]]''

==References==
<References/>

[[Category:Ohio Cities and Towns]]

Michael Schumacher

2013-12-28T21:14:59Z

Alpineopossum: Created page with "'''Michael Schumacher''' is a retired race car driver from Manheim, Germany. He is famous for holding many records in Formula One racing, including most wins and most champio..."

'''Michael Schumacher''' is a retired race car driver from Manheim, Germany. He is famous for holding many records in [[Formula One]] racing, including most wins and most championships. He competed in the series from 1991 to 2012.
[[Category:Athletes]]
[[Category:Germans]]

Porsche

2013-12-28T21:12:39Z

Alpineopossum:

'''Porsche''' is an automobile brand from Germany, started by [[Ferry Porsche]], the son of automotive and military engineer [[Ferdinand Porsche]]. They are known for their sports cars like the [[Porsche 911]]. The company was founded in the late 1940s, producing a sports car called the 356. This model was produced in 1964 when it was replaced by the 911. Porsche uses a number of unusual design features, such as placing the engine in the rear of the car and using a horizontally opposed engine (as opposed to a conventional V-shape). Classic Porsches were air cooled and therefore did not have a radiator. Porsche also has a long history in automobile racing, and has won the prestigious Le Mans race more than any other marque of car. Porsche is affiliated with the VW-Audi Group and is headquartered near Stuttgart, Germany.
[[category:companies]]
[[category:cars]]

Mazda Miata

2013-12-28T21:05:21Z

Alpineopossum:

The '''Mazda Miata''' or '''MX-5''' is a small convertible sports car made in Japan. It was first released in the late 1980s. It has a very small engine and isn't any faster than your average econobox. It is really a copy of the British [[Lotus Elan]] from the 60s. The car is known as a "gay car" because of the fact that it tends to be driven by homosexuals.[http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/12/fashion/12cars.html], particularly the lower power models of the 1990s. Despite this, it remains a popular car in automobile racing.
[[category: cars]]

Melissa Harris-Perry

2013-12-25T06:59:37Z

Alpineopossum:

'''Melissa Harris-Perry''' is an anchor on the low-rated [[MSNBC]] network. She was an unknown until she filmed a promotional video for MSNBC were she stated America needs a "collective notion of these are our children" and that "we have to break through our kind of private idea that kids belong to their parents".<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2013/04/09/critics-slam-msnbc-hosts-claim-that-kids-belong-to-community-not-parents/#ixzz2QDK2AH2L</ref> When criticized for wanting to take children from their parents into the her utopian collective, she used the classic liberal tactic of claiming to be a victim. <ref>http://dailycaller.com/2013/04/08/msnbcs-melissa-harris-perry-wants-your-children/</ref>

Her comments have earned her the nickname "Stranger Danger" in the Conservative Twittersphere. <ref>http://dailycaller.com/2013/04/08/msnbcs-melissa-harris-perry-wants-your-children/</ref>

Harris-Perry has also agreed with a guest who stated that the [[Pro-Life Movement]] was based in white supremacy, a notion that numerous abortion supporters found absurd. Harris-Perry herself wore tampons as earrings in a rather disgusting publicity stunt to support [[Wendy Davis]]'s opposition to the new Texas abortion law.

==References==
<references/>

MS NOW

2013-12-25T06:56:34Z

Alpineopossum: /* Liberal Bias */

[[Image:April 2nd MSNBC.png|right]]
'''MSNBC''' is a [[liberal propaganda]] 24-hour cable "news" channel and website aligned with the [[Democrat]] party. Jointly owned by [[Comcast]] and [[General Electric]], MSNBC is considered by many to be one of the most liberal cable news channels of all the [[mainstream media]]. For years, MSNBC trailed [[Fox News]] and [[CNN]] in the ratings. However, it has been beating CNN since the ratings for that network are in freefall. <ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/03/business/media/cnn-ratings-decline-stirs-worries.html</ref> It typically garners ratings that are just one-third those of the [[Fox News Channel]]. Some consider it to be the liberal counterpart to the conservative Fox News. In 2012, Microsoft fully divested itself from MSNBC resulting in a the creation of NBC news and NBCnews.com. <ref> http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-16/msnbc-website-renamed-nbcnews-com-after-microsoft-split.html </ref> It is possible Microsoft divested due to MSNBC's [[liberal hypocrisy]] since they opined that "we wanted to show different perspectives."

The ''Daily Caller'' observed that MSNBC "might be trying a little too hard to push" its agenda: "MSNBC duped: Network runs satirical fake news," and that wasn't the first time.<ref>http://dailycaller.com/2012/04/05/msnbc-duped-network-runs-satirical-fake-news-from-daily-kos-as-a-real-story/</ref>

The MSNBC channel was started in 1996 as a joint venture between [[Microsoft]] and [[NBC]]. On December 23, 2005, ending a partnership that had soured long before, Microsoft and NBC announced that they would dissolve their joint ownership of the cable news channel, with NBC taking control. NBC completed a deal to assume majority control of the channel, with an 82% stake.<ref>[http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30610F93E540C778EDDAB0994DD404482]</ref> The joint venture with Microsoft has come to an end.<ref>http://www.theglobeandmail.com/technology/microsoft-nbc-dissolve-msnbccom-joint-venture/article4418455/</ref>

On January 28, 2011 Comcast, America's largest cable operator, purchased NBC Universal, which includes MSNBC, from former parent company General Electric. <ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/01/business/media/01deal.html New York Times; With Deal, G.E. Clears Path to Sale of NBC]</ref> <ref>[http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20101028/ARTICLE/10281045/2055/NEWS?p=2&tc=pg Sarasota Herald-Tribune; Corporate Report]</ref><ref> http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/done-deal-fcc-department-of-justice-approve-comcast-nbc-universal-acquisition_b48942 </ref> Comcast acquired a 51-percent stake in NBC Universal, creating a $30-billion business that would include broadcast, cable networks, movie studios and theme parks. <ref> http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110118/bs_nm/us_nbc_comcast_13 </ref> Some liberals fear that Comcast might turn into a more conservative outlet. <ref>http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2010/11/09/socialist-senator-wants-comcast-nbc-deal-blocked-due-olbermanns-suspe</ref> <ref>http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/11/6/145630/235</ref> Some critics and supporters of [[Keith Olbermann]] blame Comcast for his firing from MSNBC. In addition, on July 2012, Microsoft also dropped MSNBC from its ownership, although it was still allowed to retain the name.<ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/15/microsoft-nbc-news-dissolve-msnbc-joint-venture_n_1675071.html</ref>

MSNBC is blatantly [[Communist]]. One of their anchors, [[Melissa Harris-Perry]], was featured in an MSNBC promotional video explaining that children "belong to whole communities". <ref>http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2013/04/09/critics-slam-msnbc-hosts-claim-that-kids-belong-to-community-not-parents/</ref> The promo is part of the Marxist "Forward" (MSNBC refers to it as "Lean Forward") campaign that has been going on since the late 19th century. <ref>http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/inside-politics/2012/apr/30/new-obama-slogan-has-long-ties-marxism-socialism/</ref>

== State Run ==
Publicly, the channel claims to be a non-biased, journalist driven news network. In reality, they are Democrat-aligned to the point that they are perceived as a mouthpiece for the [[Obama Administration]]. On several occasions, Obama Administration officials have stated their public support for MSNBC.

Opinion-driven news is common and a successful formula at Fox News. MSNBC opinion news includes attacking Republicans relentlessly and promoting or whitewashing Democrat politicians. Their remarks are so outlandish, choke full of proven lies and mean spirited that their TV hosts often get suspended from the air.

== Low Ratings ==
The MSNBC network has perennially had very low ratings. In 2002, the network was regularly beaten in the ratings by [[CNN Headline News]]. The CEO of Microsoft once even admitted that he wouldn't have started MSNBC knowing what he knew later.<ref>http://news.com.com/2100-1023-268073.html</ref> In June of 2006, [[CNN]] co-founder Reese Schoenfeld told journalist Don Kaplan that "Everybody compares MSNBC to Fox and CNN - when its real competition is Headline News". Schoenfeld pointed out that the ratings for MSNBC and Headline News are roughly the same, about 300,000 viewers on average and that "by comparison, Fox and CNN regularly average three or four times as many viewers." Kaplan even joked that "the running joke in TV news is Fox and CNN are news channels with websites, but MSNBC is a website with a cable channel".<ref>http://newsbusters.org/node/5891</ref>

Shock jock Don Imus's radio show ''Imus in the Morning'' was simulcast on MSNBC for over ten years. During this time, the program become well-known for displaying offensive commentary. However, MSNBC continued to support the show. In April of 2007, the network sparked outrage when during a broadcast of ''Imus in the Morning'', Don Imus and another MSNBC staff member made remarks about the Rutgers University women's basketball team, considered to be both racist and sexist. Initially, MSNBC refused to cancel the show. After sponsors started withdrawing their advertisements from the show, MSNBC canceled the simulcast of ''Imus in the Morning''.

== Liberal Bias ==
MSNBC has been criticized regarding the channel's [[liberal]] slant. The media watchdog group the Media Research Center<ref> [http://www.mediaresearch.org/about/aboutwelcome.asp About Media Research Center] www.mediaresearch.org</ref> has cited MSNBC shows by [[Keith Olbermann]], [[Dan Abrams]] and [[Chris Matthews]] in its criticism of the network's bias reporting. Among the networks daily lineup, liberals include Matthews, [[Ed Schultz]], [[Rachel Maddow]], [[Melissa Harris-Perry]], [[Lawrence O'Donnell]], and [[Chris Hayes]]. [[Joe Scarborough]], a moderate republican, is the sole conservative voice with a show on the network.

Olbermann has denounced President [[George W. Bush|Bush]] and the [[Republican Party]], calling the latter a "terrorist organization". He has called on President Bush and Vice President [[Dick Cheney|Cheney]] to resign.<ref>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19588942/</ref>
Olbermann has conducted post-debate interviews of Republican presidential candidates and led live coverage of presidential primaries. In the February 2008 issue of ''Men's Journal'' magazine, a senior executive at MSNBC stated that Olbermann "runs MSNBC" and that "because of his success, he's in charge" of the network.<ref>http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/msnbc/olbermann_talks_office_politics_other_politics_74648.asp</ref> Olbermann has since left the network and returned to sports journalism at [[ESPN]]

The [[left-wing]] advocacy group Media Matters for America<ref> [http://mediamatters.org/ Media Matters for America homepage] www.mediamatters.org</ref> has criticized the MSNBC's commitment to promoting a left-wing agenda since the channel has had shows hosted by [[Libertarian|left-libertarian]] [[Tucker Carlson]] and former moderate [[Republican]] Congressman [[Joe Scarborough]]. Ironically, on August 16, 2007 Scarborough revealed an incident in which people in the MSNBC newsroom ceaselessly booed [[President of the United States|President]] [[George W. Bush|Bush]] during a State of the Union address.<ref>http://newsbusters.org/node/14899/print</ref>
[[Image:Msnbc dem.jpg|right|150px]]
In the past, MSNBC shows have featured [[Mitch Albom]], [[Ann Coulter]], [[Phil Donahue]], [[Bill Moyers]], [[Maury Povich]], and [[Michael Savage]], among others. That varied programming was gradually reduced as MSNBC veered more [[leftist]] in its point-of-view. Among MSNBC's 2008 lineup, [[Patrick Buchanan]] was perhaps the most conservative voice.

In 2003, in an apparent effort to appear more balanced, MSNBC fired talk-show host Phil Donahue. An internal memo read, in part, "Donahue represents a difficult public face for NBC in a time of war. At the same time, our competitors are waving the flag at every opportunity." <ref>http://mediamatters.org/items/200410290004</ref>
<ref>http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/03/24/1446244</ref>
<ref>http://www.allyourtv.com/0203season/news/02252003donahue.html</ref>

On November 5, 2007, the ''[[New York Times]]'' reported that the cable news channel was in serious discussions with [[Rosie O'Donnell]] to have a prime-time show on the network. Under one scenario, O'Donnell would be given the 9 p.m. slot where she would compete with ''Larry King Live'' on [[CNN]] and ''Hannity & Colmes'' on the [[Fox News Channel]]. Her show would replace ''Live with Dan Abrams'', a low-rated program that only recently replaced ''Scarborough Country''.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/05/business/media/05cnd-msnbc.html?_r=1&oref=slogin</ref> The deal later fell through as O'Donnell leaked information about the agreement without MSNBC's permission.

Later in November of 2007, the president of MSNBC, Phil Griffin, flat out admitted that the network has a left-wing liberal bias. In a ''New York Times'' article, he said that "it happened naturally" and that "there is a Go for it" mentality when it comes to pushing the liberal agenda among the MSNBC staff.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/06/business/media/06msnb.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin</ref>

Continuing its offensive against the [[Bush administration]] and its reposition as a left-wing "news" outlet, in December of 2007, the network ran a series titled ''Bush League Justice'' with the explicit purpose of attacking the [[United States Department of Justice|U.S. Justice Department]] under the presidency of [[George W. Bush]].

In October 2010, MSNBC has publicly acknowleged its liberalism in October 2010 while launching a marketing campaign with the tagline "Lean Forward," <ref>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39507182/ns/business-media_biz/</ref> <ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/05/business/media/05adco.html?_r=1</ref> <ref>http://theweek.com/article/index/207856/msnbcs-new-slogan-what-does-it-even-mean</ref> <ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkinYM4EPy0</ref> following several years in which many observers noted a leftward shift in the channel's programming <ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/30/study-nbc-news-doesnt-fol_n_139162.html</ref> <ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/08/AR2008090800008_pf.html</ref> <ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/08/business/media/08msnbc.html?pagewanted=print</ref>. As a result, NBC Universal and Microsoft is considering changing the name of the less partisan msnbc.com, a separate news company, to prevent confusion with the liberal TV network, MSNBC <ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/07/business/media/07msnbc.html</ref>. Some of the NBC News correspondents and producers, who attempt to be straightforward reporters, say they are embarrassed to be associated with the liberal cable outlet and fear being “tainted” by association with it <ref>http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=39332</ref>. The situation became more apparent when NBC News decided to keep Brian Williams and Tom Brokaw away from MSNBC during the November 2, 2010 midterm election coverage <ref>http://mediaconfidential.blogspot.com/2010/10/nbc-news-separates-itself-from-partisan.html</ref>.

In July 2013, former MSNBC senior producer Jeff Cohen attacked MSNBC for being what he called the “official network of the [[Obama]] White House.” <ref> http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Journalism/2013/07/08/former-producer-rips-msnbc-as-obamas-official-network</ref>

==The MSNBC – White House Conneciton==
During coverage of the Gulf Oil Spill, Democrat party apparatchik Mika Brzezinski, who is also an anchor of the MSNBC show Morning Joe, worked with the White House to distribute propaganda falsely claiming that Obama was doing an effective job managing the problem. Brzezinski, who is the daughter of NSA Zbigniew Brzezinski from the failed Carter administration, admitted on the air that "I have a file that I've been working on with the White House."<ref>http://newsbusters.org/blogs/mark-finkelstein/2010/06/21/mika-admits-im-working-white-house-oil-spill-talking-points#ixzz2PpmYB7O3</ref>

==The MSNBC – Media Matters Connection==
[[Media Matters for America]] is a very popular source of information within MSNBC’s prime time lineup. Some might argue [[MSNBC]] is a defacto mouth piece for the organization..<ref>[http://bigjournalism.com/sright/2011/07/12/media-matters-propaganda-watch-the-tax-exempt-research-department-of-msnbc-martin-bashir-edition/ Media Matters Propaganda Watch: The Tax-Exempt Research Department of MSNBC, Martin Bashir Edition]</ref> In prime time alone, since 2005 Media Matters has either been booked as a guest and/or mentioned on the network nearly 200 times. Media Matters has been particularly popular with MSNBC’s producers during the last 2 years.
Below are some interesting tid bits about Media Matters and its growing relationship with MSNBC’s prime time programming:

* 197 guest appearances and/or on-air mentions on MSNBC’s prime time since January 2005
* Of the roughly 390 broadcast evenings on MSNBC since July 2010, Media Matters has either been booked as a guest and/or mentioned on air 26% of the possible broadcast evenings (1 out of every 4 days).
* In 2011, on average, a Media Matters representative appeared on MSNBC at least once per week
* [[Eric Boehlert]] has been the most popular Media Matters representative on MSNBC, accounting for 43% of all Media Matters appearances on the cable network
* [[The Ed Show]] is the most popular show for Media Matters representatives, accounting for 72 Media Matters guest appearances since 2009<ref>[http://www.nexis.com Search and analysis on MSNBC's primetime transcripts via Nexis.com]</ref>

== See also ==
* [[NBC]]
* [[Liberal media]]
* [[Keith Olbermann]]
* [[Chris Matthews]]
* [[Pat Buchanan]]
* [[Rachel Maddow]]

==External Links==
* [http://msnbc.msn.com Official Site]
* [http://www.setstudio.com/pages/msnbc/ Photos of the MSNBC studio]
* [http://newsbusters.org/blogs/matthew-sheffield/2007/11/16/msnbc-president-admits-lineup-tilts-leftward MSNBC President Admits: Lineup Tilts Leftward]
* [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/06/business/media/06msnb.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin Cable Channel Nods to Ratings and Leans Left]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

[[Category: Media]]
[[Category: Cable TV Networks]]

Anthony Weiner

2013-12-25T06:50:32Z

Alpineopossum:

Anthony Weiner is a former U.S. Congressman from the 9th congressional district in New York. He is a [[liberal]] [[Democrat]] and is infamous for his sharing of sexually explicit photos via the internet. He is ran unsuccessfully for mayor of [[New York City]] in 2013, losing the democratic primary to [[Bill de Blasio]]. His campaign faltered when he was again implicated in an online sex scandal.

Upon receiving his [[Bachelor of Arts]] in [[political science]] in 1985, Weiner joined the staff of then-[[United States House of Representatives|congressman]] and current [[United States Senate|Senator]] [[Chuck Schumer]]. He worked in Schumer's [[Washington, D.C.]] office for three years, then transferred to Schumer's district office in [[Brooklyn]] in 1988 when Schumer encouraged him to become involved in local politics.<ref name="rapid rise">{{cite web|url=http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/?story=/politics/war_room/2011/06/16/weiner_resignation|author=Steve Kornacki |title=The rapid rise and spectacular fall of Anthony Weiner – War Room |work=Salon.com |date=June 16, 2011 |accessdate=June 16, 2011}}</ref> He was then elected to the New York City Council when it was expanded in size.

He married [[Huma Abedin]], a longtime personal aide of [[Hillary Clinton]], in July 2010.
==References==
<references/>
{{Liberalism}}

[[Category:Liberalism]]
[[Category:United States Representatives]]
[[Category:Democratic Party]]
[[Category:New York]]

Kermit Gosnell

2013-12-25T06:48:34Z

Alpineopossum:

'''Kermit Gosnell, MD''' is an [[abortion]] practitioner in [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania|PA]]. On April 29, 2013 he went on trial for murder in the first degree, charged in the deaths of several babies that, the State alleges, were born alive, and that he made sure would die anyway. Gosnell achieved this by a method he called snipping, where he severed newborns spines with scissors. His clinic was also notably for shockingly substandard health circumstances. One fifteen year old girl was made an anesthesiologist after reading a textbook for twenty minutes. Gosnell himself was not a licensed OB/GYN. In addition to his abortion practice, his clinic, Women's Medical Society, operated a "pill mill", selling OxyContin.His trial has received coverage from only one reporter (Joe Slobodzian of ''The Philadelphia Inquirer''), one cable television channel ([[Fox News Channel]]), NPR, <ref>[http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/04/25/178826212/philadelphia-case-exposes-deep-rift-in-abortion-debate NPR]</ref>, the ''Chicago Tribune'', <ref>[http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-04-28/news/sns-rt-us-usa-philadelphia-clinicbre93s02d-20130428_1_gosnell-case-abortion-debate-philadelphia-abortion-clinic Chicago Tribune]</ref> the ''New York Times'', <ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/24/us/judge-throws-out-some-charges-against-dr-kermit-gosnell.html?_r=0 New York Times]</ref> Al-Jazeera <ref>[http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/04/201341411431138373.html al Jazeera]</ref> the ''Atlantic Monthly'', <ref>[http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/04/kermit-gosnell-and-intelligence-failures-contd/275092/ Atlantic Monthly],</ref> and the ''Huffington Post''. <ref>[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/29/kermit-gosnell-trial-closing-arguments_n_3177156.html Huffington Post]</ref>

The issues raised at trial, and lack of response to them from some quarters, raise serious questions as to the motives of [[abortion]] advocates in America today. Many in the media were critical of the lack of media coverage, including [[Bill O'Reilly]], [[Megyn Kelly]], and perhaps most prominently Democratic Party analyst [[Kirsten Powers]]. The bill fillabustered by [[Wendy Davis]] was conceived in part as a response to the Gosnell incident. Gosnell has been sentenced to prison for his actions while running the clinic.

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Abortion]]

Kirsten Powers

2013-12-25T06:42:44Z

Alpineopossum:

'''Kirsten A. Powers''' (born 1969) is a [[Democrat]]ic political analyst on the [[Fox News Channel]] and a columnist for the [[New York Post]] and the Daily Beast. She regularly appears on [[Hannity]] and [[Bill O'Reilly|The O'Reilly Factor]]. Previously Powers served as Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Public Affairs for the [[Clinton Administration]]. She went on to become Vice President at the AOL-Time Warner Foundation. Despite being an atheist most of her adult life she has converted to Christianity. Although a liberal, she has criticized the liberal establishment on several occasions, most notably in opposition to late term [[abortion]]. She heavily criticized the media for its blackout of the trial of [[Kermit Gosnell]]. She briefly dated [[Anthony Weiner]] in 2002, but has become a critic of Weiner's actions.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Powers,Kirsten}}

[[Category:Liberals]]

Stephen Colbert

2013-12-25T06:38:45Z

Alpineopossum: /* The Colbert Report */

[[File:Stephencolbert2.jpg|thumb|Colbert performing a bit on ''The Daily Show'']]

'''Stephen Colbert''' is a writer, a comedian, and an actor. Colbert is [[Catholic]], an erstwhile Sunday school teacher,<ref>http://www.tvsquad.com/2006/07/13/ask-tv-squad-stephen-colbert-teaches-sundayschool/</ref> and a self-proclaimed [[liberal]] [[Democrat]]. <ref>http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/jon_stewart_stephen_colbert_americas_anchors/page/4 Rolling Stone Interview, Oct 31, 2006</ref> Even though he says he is a Christian, this directly goes against his very liberal points of view.

His show, ''The Colbert Report'', gained credibility by featuring ''Conservapedia'' on December 8, 2009, including an interview in his studio.<ref>{{cite episode
| title = The Colbert Report (December 8, 2009 episode)
| series = The Colbert Report
| serieslink = The Colbert Report
| airdate = 2009-12-08
| url = http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/258144/december-08-2009/andy-schlafly}}</ref> Apparently pleased with the popularity and quality of the segment, Colbert selected and featured the same episode as a subsequent rerun. The show had previously mentioned ''Conservapedia'' on prior occasions.<ref>{{cite episode
| title = The Colbert Report (October 7, 2009 episode)
| series = The Colbert Report
| serieslink = The Colbert Report
| airdate = 2009-10-07
| url = http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/251994/october-07-2009/tip-wag---conservapedia--louvre---honda-unicycle}}</ref> Some Colbert fans responded to the references to ''Conservapedia'' by attempting to vandalize the site.<ref>[http://www.conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Stephen_Colbert&diff=709438&oldid=709432 Example of vandalism on the Stephen Colbert article]</ref><ref>[http://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Genesis_1-8_%28Translated%29&diff=prev&oldid=709520 Example of vandalism on the Genesis 1-8 page of the Conservative Bible Project]</ref>

Colbert began his career at [[Comedy Central]] in the year 2000 on the show ''Strangers with Candy''. He later left in order to become a correspondent on ''[[The Daily Show|The Daily Show with Jon Stewart]]'', where he began to build what would later be the character he would play on ''The Colbert Report''. He was well-regarded on the show and occasionally guest-hosted for Stewart.

Due to his work on ''The Daily Show'', he won three [[Emmy Awards]] and two [[Peabody Awards]] along with the other writers.<ref>http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0170306/awards IMDB List of Stephen Colbert Awards </ref> <ref>http://128.192.29.189/news/pressrelease.asp?ID=151 List of 2007 Peabody Award Winners</ref>

==''The Colbert Report''==

'''''The Colbert Report''''' (pronounced Col-'''bear''' Re-'''pore''') is a late night satirical program hosted by liberal Christian Stephen Colbert on [[Comedy Central]]. The show stars the character Stephen Colbert, a news anchor who makes many of his jokes [[parody]]ing [[conservative]]s and [[conservative values]]. It started in 2005 as an spinoff of ''[[The Daily Show]]''.

Colbert plays a character who shares his name. Colbert's character is a liberal stereotype of a conservative pundit, particularly a mockery of Fox News host [[Bill O'Reilly]] and ''[[The O'Reilly Factor]]''. Colbert has a guest every episode on the last segment, including authors, activists, and occasionally politicians and political personalities. He has said that his personality was based on O'Reilly, [[Anderson Cooper]], and [[Geraldo Rivera|Geraldo]].

Colbert's interviews are short and almost never serious, where Colbert's character often jokes around and never to the point, making often unrelated jokes and random obvious fallacies.

Colbert is famous for coining words, most notably ''truthiness'', which states facts are meaningless and one should trust his gut, which was coined to mock conservatives by saying they are unintelligent or unlearned.

Colbert has also used the show to condone vandalism on [[Wikipedia]] and [[Conservapedia]] on several occasions.

A book, ''I Am America (And So Can You!)'' was written by Colbert and his writers in the persona of his character in which conservative values are mocked and it is merely a pure extension of Colbert's character.

A ''Better Know a District'' segment frequent on ''The Report'' is where Colbert will have a congressman from a district appear on the show, and Colbert has had a disproportionate showing by party, having significantly more [[Democrat]]s than [[Republican]]s on the show. The interviews, which are pre-recorded, are later edited to cast the interviewee in a poor light. For example, a congressman's answer to a question might be made to appear as though in reply to a totally different question, making the answer, and by extension the congressman, appear ridiculous, immoral, biased or ignorant. Another technique used in these interviews is Colbert's asking of loaded questions, such as his famous "George Bush- great president or ''the greatest'' president?"

''The Colbert Report'' has a following which the Colbert character often uses for his various pranks. For example, in every public vote for naming something, Colbert urges his fans to vote for him. He also leads frivolous wiki-vandalizing campaigns, having requested viewers vandalize Wikipedia several times and Conservapedia (see Relationship with Conservapedia section later in the article).

In his recurring segment "The Wørd", which is a parody of O'Reilly's "Talking Points", Colbert coined the word [[truthiness]] on the show's pilot, which refers to the quality possessed by statements which, though factually false, are repeated by supporters who feel in their hearts that they ''ought'' to be true, and regard it as quibbling to object to their falsehood.

Colbert has poked fun at [[Wikipedia]] and its apparent democratization of truth. He has coined the word "Wikiality" (as opposed to "reality") and caused trouble for Wikipedia by suggesting that his listeners alter articles. In August of 2006, he encouraged users to state that the population of African [[elephants]] had tripled in the last decade. Colbert's point was that if enough people believe something, it becomes "the truth". Wikipedia responded by reverting and locking down the pages to prevent further vandalism.

Colbert had viewers write in his name to a public vote done by [[NASA]] to name a new room addition to the [[International Space Station]]. Colbert's cult-like followers won the contest for him with an astonishing 230,539 total votes, 40,000 more than NASA's choice of Serenity.

In September of 2010, Colbert testified in character before Congress.

Colbert "ran" for President in the South Carolina primary in 2008, and announced a possible run in 2012.

Mr. Colbert founded the Colbert Super PAC, which was designed to make fun of the ''Citizens United'' ruling. The ads made fun of former Republican candidate [[Rick Perry]], and the negative ads about [[Mitt Romney]].

==See also==
*''[[The Daily Show]]''

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT: Colbert, Stephen}} 
[[Category:Actors]]
[[Category:Television Show Hosts]]
[[Category:Comedians]]
[[Category: Liberals]]
{{liberalism}}

Talk:It's a Wonderful Life

2013-12-25T06:35:39Z

Alpineopossum: Created page with "I would argue that this film is conservative. It embraces family values and the traditional family. The hero, George Bailey, is hardworking and honest. In Bailey Park, the poor a..."

I would argue that this film is conservative. It embraces family values and the traditional family. The hero, George Bailey, is hardworking and honest. In Bailey Park, the poor are uplifted through the free market. Affordable housing is built by a private company and not by the government. It celebrates Harry as a war hero. Altogether it's a celebration of conservative America (albeit with a warning on the dangers of greed). -Alpine

Austin, Texas

2013-12-15T04:57:09Z

Alpineopossum: /* Sports and Recreation */

'''Austin''' the fastest-growing large city in America, located in free-market friendly [[Texas]], where it is the capital city for the state. The Texas state legislature meets in Austin for 5-7 months every two years. Part of Travis County Austin is home to 656,562 people (as of the 2000 Census).[http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/GCTTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=04000US48&-_box_head_nbr=GCT-PH1&-ds_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U&-format=ST-7]

The city takes its name from [[Stephen F. Austin]].

==Politics and Government==

Austin is considered to be a very [[liberal]] city. In 2004, residents of the city helped Sen. [[John Kerry]] take Travis County, even though every other county in the Central Texas area went to [[George W. Bush]].

Also, due to Austin's liberal social and fiscal political atmosphere, [[libertarianism]] is also active here.

Austin's mayor is Will Wynn.

==Sports and Recreation==

Austin is best known as the home of seven time [[Tour de France]] champion [[Lance Armstrong]] and legendary golfers, such as [[Tom Kite]].

Austin is the largest city in the country without a team in any of the major sports leagues (the [[National Football League]], [[Major League Baseball]], the [[National Basketball Association]] or the [[National Hockey League]]), but it is home to several minor league teams. The city is also the home to Circuit of the Americas, a recently opened racetrack that hosts [[Formula 1]] racing.

Austin is also known as the "live music capital of the world" due to its diverse performance of live music by various musicians.

==Education==

Austin is home to the [[University of Texas at Austin]].

[[Category:Texas Cities and Towns]]

[[Category:US State Capitals]]

==See Also==

*[http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/ Official Website]
*[http://www.austintexas.org/music/ Live Music Capital of the World]

George Foreman

2013-12-15T04:55:20Z

Alpineopossum:

'''George Foreman''' is a former heavyweight [[boxing|boxer]]. He had a successful career in boxing, and is a four time world heavyweight champion. He is also an ordained baptist minister. Foreman is better known these days for the "Foreman Grill", a unique [[electric]] [[cooking]] device available in several models.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foreman, George}}
[[category:athletes]]
[[Category:Boxers]]

Bella Abzug

2013-11-23T18:22:14Z

Alpineopossum:

'''Bella Abzug''' (1920-1998) was a leading [[feminist]] and politician.

She was born Bella Savitzky in [[New York City]] to a [[Jew]]ish family. After earning a law degree at [[Columbia University]], she practiced law in New York City, specializing in labor law. She was elected in 1970 to the [[House of Representatives]] and served until January 3, 1977. During this time, she proposed a plan to hold up the nomination of [[Gerald Ford]] for vice president, impeach [[Richard Nixon]], and therefore promote Democratic house speaker [[Carl Albert]] to the presidency. Albert refused to have any part in the plan. The plan was, in effect, an attempt at a [[coup d'etat]], and historians have argued that this incident was the closest the United States has ever come to a coup in its history.

Abzug was an early supporter of gay rights and legalized [[abortion]]. She died in 1998.

==References==
[http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=A000018 Biographical Directory of the United States Congress]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Azbug, Bella}}
[[Category:Former United States Representatives]]
[[Category:Liberals]]
[[Category:Democratic Party]]
[[Category:Abortion Advocates]]
[[Category:Feminists]]
[[Category:New York]]
[[Category:Abortion Advocates]]

Chris Christie

2013-11-10T20:13:56Z

Alpineopossum:

{{Officeholder
|name=Chris Christie
|image=Chris-christie3.jpg
|party=[[Republican]]
|spouse=Mary Pat Christie
|religion=[[Roman Catholic]]
|offices=
{{Officeholder/governor
|state=New Jersey
|terms=January 19, 2010 - Present
|preceded=[[Jon Corzine]]
|former=n
|succeeded=
}}
}}

'''Christopher Christie''' (born September 6, 1962 in Newark, New Jersey) is the 55th and current Governor of [[New Jersey]], having won in the 2009 election by a 49%-45% margin over incumbent [[Democrat]] [[Jon Corzine]]. A [[Republican]], Christie previously served as U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey.

Christie declined to run for president in 2012, but endorsed [[Mitt Romney]] early and at a pivotal time, when Romney was struggling with [[evangelical]] statements against him. But Christie was passed over by Romney in his selection of a candidate for Vice President, despite how Christie might attracted [[Catholic]] voters nationwide, as well as Irish and Italian American voters, and helped carry nearby [[Pennsylvania]]. Instead, Christie was picked to deliver the keynote address at the [[Republican National Convention]], and will likely be appointed as [[Attorney General]] if Romney is elected president.

Christie wanders between [[conservative]] values and [[RINO]] positions. Christie vetoes same-sex marriage bills and other socially [[liberal]] legislation. But he has nominated Supreme Court Justices who are not conservative. He pardoned a man who received an absurdly long sentence for peaceful gun possession, but Christie has also been criticized for sometimes supporting of [[gun control]]. Conservatives have also criticized him for his stance on immigration reform.<ref>http://americasvoiceonline.org/blog/chris_christies_immigration_record/</ref> He believes in the liberal hoax known as [[global warming]], <ref>http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0511/55793.html</ref> and has supported the [[Obamacare]] [[Medicaid]] expansion.

On the important [[abortion]] issue, Christie is a bit of a [[PLINO]] - pro-life in name only. Christie has occasionally espoused [[pro-life]] views, but since early 2010 he has done almost nothing for unborn children. The [[abortion]] rate in [[New Jersey]] remains among the highest in the nation. Still, it is unlikely that Christie would run ads in support of abortion in certain cases, as Romney did in 2012.

He easily won reelection in 2013, winning in a landslide against democrat [[Barbara Buono]].

==Biography==

Prior to his election as governor, Christie's only elected experience was serving on the Morris County board of Freeholders from 1995-1998. His colleagues praised him as effective, such as requiring as policy that the freeholder board go out for three quotations even on no-bid contracts. They also noted that he was unusually ambitious, when he unsuccessfully ran for State Assembly just two months into his term. <ref>http://www.politickernj.com/max/26275/political-career-three-parts-chris-christie-freeholder</ref> During his tenure in office county taxes decreased by 6.6%. <ref>http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/05/gop_candidate_chris_christie_l.html</ref>

After serving as a top fundraiser for [[George W. Bush]]'s 2000 presidential campaign, the [[Bush administration]] appointed Christie as U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey and served from 2002-2008. He was also one of the 17 U.S. Attorneys on [[Attorney General]] [[Alberto Gonzales]]'s advisory commitee. Christie's most high profile prosecutions included State Senator and [[Newark]] Mayor Sharpe James for mail fraud, wire fraud, and conspiring to rig the sale of nine city lots to his mistress. <ref>[http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/04/newark_ex_mayor_sharpe_james_convicted.html] Mayor James convicted</ref> He also led the felony conviction of State Senator Wayne Brant of mail and wire fraud, and bribery for soliciting a job at the School of Osteopathic Medicine. <ref>http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/topstories/index.ssf/2008/11/exlawmaker_bryant_guilty_of_br.html</ref> As attorney, Christie won convictions or guilty pleas from over 130 public officials, without losing a single case.

Christie's service as a prosecutor had an influence in [[national security]], when he led the team that prosecuted Hemant Lakhani, who had the desire to broker the sale of shoulder-fired missiles to shoot down American passenger jets. <ref>http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-6229181-details/%27Del+Boy%27+trader+on+arms+charge/article.do;jsessionid=2F40D75F1AFD0FA79E8E876DCB944F88</ref> When leaving office in December 2008 he was praised by every major newspaper in New Jersey. The Philadelphia Inquirer editorialized "Christie has already done more good for New Jersey than some previous governors." The [[New York Times]] wrote that Christie "won widespread admiration for his aggressive fight against political corruption." <ref>http://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=14677&ShowAllPoll=Y</ref>

Even Governor Corzine, Christie's opponent in the gubernatorial election praised Christie in 2005, saying "I have supported Chris Christie as being our U.S. attorney, fought for his ability to be that, endorsed what he's doing...There have been as many Republicans as Democrats who have been brought to justice because of Chris Christie. I think he's doing a great job." <ref>http://www.christiefornj.com/images/negativeattacks.pdf</ref>

==2009 Gubernatorial Campaign==
[[Image:Christiemap.jpg|thumb|right|350px|2009 Election Results]]
In the Republican primary, Christie defeated former mayor [[Steve Lonegan]].

Although a Democratic state, Christie was elected while advocating the need to downsize state [[government]] and reduce property taxes. New Jersey had faced a weakened economy, high budget deficit and a high tax burden, reslting in Corzine's defeat.

In July, Christie endorsed [[President Obama]]'s nomination of [[Sonia Sotomayor]] to the [[U.S. Supreme Court]], saying "Elections have consequences. One of those consequences are judicial appointments. While Judge Sotomayor would not have been my choice, President Obama has used his opportunity to fill a seat on the Supreme Court by choosing a nominee who has more than proven her capability, competence and ability." <ref>http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2009/07/gop_gov_candidate_chris_christ_3.html</ref>

Christopher Christie is pro-life:
:"I believe in the sanctity, dignity and inherent value of all human life. Hearing the heartbeat of my unborn daughter 14 years ago had a profound effect on me. I am pro-life because I believe her life and the life of every child is precious." <ref>http://www.christiefornj.com/questions-for-chris</ref>

===Notable Endorsements===
*Former [[New York City]] [[Mayor]] [[Rudy Giuliani]]
*Former [[Massachusetts]] Governor [[Mitt Romney]]
*Former New Jersey Governor [[Thomas H. Kean]]
*Economist [[Steve Forbes]]
*New Jersey Right to Life Committee <ref>http://www.lifenews.com/state4512.html</ref>

==Record as Governor==

On Christie's first day as governor he signed eight executive orders and froze several government regulations. He gave a nod to Casinos, signing an order saying that their employees are essential state workers and will not have to close in any future state government shutdown, as they were in 2006. Christie also added unions to the list of groups who cannot receive state contracts of more than $17,500 if they have donated more than $300 to a campaign for governor or county political committee in the previous 18 months.<ref>http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/press/new_jersey/article_63a14ff8-8038-591a-8f1a-7503e1bbcbcc.html</ref>

In February, Christie announced that he would immediately freeze all state spending. Saying New Jersey is on the verge of bankruptcy, Christie declared a fiscal emergency, announcing drastic cuts. <ref>http://wcbstv.com/local/governor.christie.freezes.2.1487727.html</ref>

On March 16, 2011, Christie announced major cuts to education to help balance the budget bloat caused by years under Democratic governors. <ref>http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2010/03/22/25559/</ref> The New Jersey Education Association hotly contested these vital cuts, as they would almost certainly require the firing of non-tenured teachers to balance local school budgets, a problem the teacher's union created in the first place. Recently, the cuts have been challenged by the Supreme court, despite there being no link between New Jersey's relatively large amount of educational spending and increased statewide academic success. <ref>http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/03/christies_school_aid_cuts_left.html</ref>

In August 2011, Christie raised controversy by dismissing legitimate concerns voters and members of the New Jersey state legislature had raised concerning his appointment of Sohail Mohammed, a Muslim attorney with a history of defending Muslims after [[September 11, 2001 attacks|9/11]], as a judge on the state bench. Christie used profanity in referring to concerns that Mohammed would institute [[Sharia law]] from his position as state judge, and called citizens concerned about the Islamization of America "crazies."<ref>http://nation.foxnews.com/chris-christie/2011/08/04/christie-defends-appointing-muslim-judge-sharia-law-business-crap</ref>

Governor Christie has endorsed a plan to to merge part of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) with Rutgers University. The plan would include UMDNJ’s New Brunswick-Piscataway campus — Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, the School of Public Health and the Cancer Institute of New Jersey. The change would help raise Rutgers’ profile and draw more research dollars to the state, according to the recommendations. <ref>[http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/09/umdnj-rutgers_partial_merger_r.html Gov. Christie strongly endorses partial merger of Rutgers and UMDNJ]</ref> Rutgers, one of the few state universities without its own medical school, has been lobbying for a merger since another state task force headed by former New Jersey Gov. [[Thomas H. Kean]] first suggested the idea in January 2011. The reorganization has an “aggressive” target date of July 1, 2012. By adding a medical school, Rutgers’ rank among universities in spending on research and development would rise dramatically<ref>[http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/12/no_time_wasted_creating_rutger.html No time is being wasted creating Rutgers medical school]</ref>

He has also failed in getting the New Jersey Grand Prix ready for 2013, it will now be held in 2014.

==External Links==
*[http://www.state.nj.us/governor/ Governor of New Jersey Official Site]

===Videos===
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICIa-KJeUtM&feature=related Governor Christie: Style]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Evtt-R7Rmdw&feature=related Governor Christie: Day of Reckoning]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVccFQLFmUo&feature=related Conservative Governor on his "confrontational tone"]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlzA9dgZ1qM&feature=related Rush Limbaugh: Governor Chris Christie Slaughters a Liberal Reporter]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeXBlZdPENU&feature=related Governor Chris Christie For President 2012]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljIVr0dVgww&feature=related Christie Slams Teacher Unions]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuri7p_9pm4&feature=related Chris Christie vs. Teachers Unions]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ksLlAi3iIc&feature=related Governor Christie: Not About Teachers]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vkv6uo5nZDM&feature=related Governor Christie on Hannity]

==References==
{{reflist|1}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christie, Christopher}}
[[Category:Republican Party]]
[[category:Fiscal Conservatives]]
[[category:New Jersey Governors]]
[[category:Republican Governors]]
[[Category:The 100 Americans The Left Hates Most]]
[[Category:Rino backers]]
[[Category:RINOs]]

Nicolae Ceausescu

2013-11-10T02:11:24Z

Alpineopossum:

Lee Harvey Oswald

2013-11-10T02:03:45Z

Alpineopossum:

'''Lee Harvey Oswald''' was born on October 18, 1939, in [[New Orleans]], [[Louisiana]]. He was held responsible as the sole assassin of [[President]] [[John F. Kennedy]] in [[Dallas]], [[Texas]] on November 22, 1963, by the [[Warren Commission]], although the assassination has become a popular target for conspiracy theorists.

Oswald was murdered in front of live [[television]] cameras on November 24, 1963, by [[Dallas]] nightclub owner [[Jack Ruby]].

JFK conspiracy theories usually gloss over Oswald's marriage to the daughter of a KGB colonel. She was allowed to marry him and they were allowed to emigrate, but the KGB had no plans for him? Occam's razor could use a good stropping here.[http://www.amazon.com/Guilty-Liberal-Victims-Assault-America/dp/030735346X/]

==The Most Rejected Man of His Time==
[[James Dobson]] wrote a short story concerning the reason why Oswald murdered John F. Kennedy. It reads as follows:

: "He began his life with all the classic handicaps and disadvantages. His mother was a dominating woman who found it difficult to [[love]] anyone. She gave him no affection, no training and no [[discipline]] during his early years.

: "When he was 13, a school psychologist commented that he probably didn't even know the meaning of the word "love." During [[adolescence]], the girls would have nothing to do with him and he fought with the boys.

: "After failing at every pursuit, including a stint in the [[United States Marine Corps]], he fled the country. He married a Russian girl, but she also began to hold him in contempt. She could outfight him, and she learned to bully him. Finally, she forced him to leave.

: "After days of loneliness, he went home, fell on his knees and literally begged her to take him back. He wept at her feet, but she laughed at him and made fun of his sexual impotency in front of a friend. Finally, he pleaded no more. No one wanted him. No one had ever wanted him. He was perhaps the most rejected man of his time.

: "The next day, he was a strangely different man. He arose, went to the garage, and took down a rifle he had hidden there. He carried it with him to his newly acquired job at a book-storage building. And from a window on the sixth floor of that building, shortly after noon, November 22, 1963, he sent two shells crashing into the head of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

: "Lee Harvey Oswald, the rejected, unlovable failure, killed the man who, more than any other person on earth -- embodied all the success, beauty, wealth, and family affection which Oswald lacked. In firing that rifle, he utilized the one skill he had learned in his entire, miserable lifetime.

Also on November 22, 1963, someone had shot a Dallas policeman, Officer J.D. Tippit, using a handgun, and Oswald was accused of that shooting as well. Evidence revealed that Oswald had received both the rifle and a handgun, through mail-order purchase, and both arrived on the same day.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oswald, Lee Harvey}}
[[Category:Assassins]]
[[Category:Communists]]

Chris Christie

2013-07-15T23:12:22Z

Alpineopossum: F1 Recently announced that the race will be on for 2014.

{{Officeholder
|name=Chris Christie
|image=Chris-christie3.jpg
|party=[[Republican]]
|spouse=Mary Pat Christie
|religion=[[Roman Catholic]]
|offices=
{{Officeholder/governor
|state=New Jersey
|terms=January 19, 2010 - Present
|preceded=[[Jon Corzine]]
|former=n
|succeeded=
}}
}}

'''Christopher Christie''' (born September 6, 1962 in Newark, New Jersey) is the 55th and current Governor of [[New Jersey]], having won in the 2009 election by a 49%-45% margin over incumbent [[Democrat]] [[Jon Corzine]]. A [[Republican]], Christie previously served as U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey.

Christie declined to run for president in 2012, but endorsed [[Mitt Romney]] early and at a pivotal time, when Romney was struggling with [[evangelical]] statements against him. But Christie was passed over by Romney in his selection of a candidate for Vice President, despite how Christie might attracted [[Catholic]] voters nationwide, as well as Irish and Italian American voters, and helped carry nearby [[Pennsylvania]]. Instead, Christie was picked to deliver the keynote address at the [[Republican National Convention]], and will likely be appointed as [[Attorney General]] if Romney is elected president.

Christie wanders between [[conservative]] values and [[RINO]] positions. Christie vetoes same-sex marriage bills and other socially [[liberal]] legislation. But he has nominated Supreme Court Justices who are not conservative. He pardoned a man who received an absurdly long sentence for peaceful gun possession, but Christie has also been criticized for sometimes supporting of [[gun control]]. Conservatives have also critized him for his stance on immigration reform.<ref>http://americasvoiceonline.org/blog/chris_christies_immigration_record/</ref>

On the important [[abortion]] issue, Christie is a bit of a [[PLINO]] - pro-life in name only. Christie has occasionally espoused [[pro-life]] views, but since early 2010 he has done almost nothing for unborn children. The [[abortion]] rate in [[New Jersey]] remains among the highest in the nation. Still, it is unlikely that Christie would run ads in support of abortion in certain cases, as Romney did in 2012.

==Biography==

Prior to his election as governor, Christie's only elected experience was serving on the Morris County board of Freeholders from 1995-1998. His colleagues praised him as effective, such as requiring as policy that the freeholder board go out for three quotations even on no-bid contracts. They also noted that he was unusually ambitious, when he unsuccessfully ran for State Assembly just two months into his term. <ref>http://www.politickernj.com/max/26275/political-career-three-parts-chris-christie-freeholder</ref> During his tenure in office county taxes decreased by 6.6%. <ref>http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/05/gop_candidate_chris_christie_l.html</ref>

After serving as a top fundraiser for [[George W. Bush]]'s 2000 presidential campaign, the [[Bush administration]] appointed Christie as U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey and served from 2002-2008. He was also one of the 17 U.S. Attorneys on [[Attorney General]] [[Alberto Gonzales]]'s advisory commitee. Christie's most high profile prosecutions included State Senator and [[Newark]] Mayor Sharpe James for mail fraud, wire fraud, and conspiring to rig the sale of nine city lots to his mistress. <ref>[http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/04/newark_ex_mayor_sharpe_james_convicted.html] Mayor James convicted</ref> He also led the felony conviction of State Senator Wayne Brant of mail and wire fraud, and bribery for soliciting a job at the School of Osteopathic Medicine. <ref>http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/topstories/index.ssf/2008/11/exlawmaker_bryant_guilty_of_br.html</ref> As attorney, Christie won convictions or guilty pleas from over 130 public officials, without losing a single case.

Christie's service as a prosecutor had an influence in [[national security]], when he led the team that prosecuted Hemant Lakhani, who had the desire to broker the sale of shoulder-fired missiles to shoot down American passenger jets. <ref>http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-6229181-details/%27Del+Boy%27+trader+on+arms+charge/article.do;jsessionid=2F40D75F1AFD0FA79E8E876DCB944F88</ref> When leaving office in December 2008 he was praised by every major newspaper in New Jersey. The Philadelphia Inquirer editorialized "Christie has already done more good for New Jersey than some previous governors." The [[New York Times]] wrote that Christie "won widespread admiration for his aggressive fight against political corruption." <ref>http://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=14677&ShowAllPoll=Y</ref>

Even Governor Corzine, Christie's opponent in the gubernatorial election praised Christie in 2005, saying "I have supported Chris Christie as being our U.S. attorney, fought for his ability to be that, endorsed what he's doing...There have been as many Republicans as Democrats who have been brought to justice because of Chris Christie. I think he's doing a great job." <ref>http://www.christiefornj.com/images/negativeattacks.pdf</ref>

==2009 Gubernatorial Campaign==
[[Image:Christiemap.jpg|thumb|right|350px|2009 Election Results]]
In the Republican primary, Christie defeated former mayor [[Steve Lonegan]].

Although a Democratic state, Christie was elected while advocating the need to downsize state [[government]] and reduce property taxes. New Jersey had faced a weakened economy, high budget deficit and a high tax burden, reslting in Corzine's defeat.

In July, Christie endorsed [[President Obama]]'s nomination of [[Sonia Sotomayor]] to the [[U.S. Supreme Court]], saying "Elections have consequences. One of those consequences are judicial appointments. While Judge Sotomayor would not have been my choice, President Obama has used his opportunity to fill a seat on the Supreme Court by choosing a nominee who has more than proven her capability, competence and ability." <ref>http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2009/07/gop_gov_candidate_chris_christ_3.html</ref>

Christopher Christie is pro-life:
:"I believe in the sanctity, dignity and inherent value of all human life. Hearing the heartbeat of my unborn daughter 14 years ago had a profound effect on me. I am pro-life because I believe her life and the life of every child is precious." <ref>http://www.christiefornj.com/questions-for-chris</ref>

===Notable Endorsements===
*Former [[New York City]] [[Mayor]] [[Rudy Giuliani]]
*Former [[Massachusetts]] Governor [[Mitt Romney]]
*Former New Jersey Governor [[Thomas H. Kean]]
*Economist [[Steve Forbes]]
*New Jersey Right to Life Committee <ref>http://www.lifenews.com/state4512.html</ref>

==Record as Governor==

On Christie's first day as governor he signed eight executive orders and froze several government regulations. He gave a nod to Casinos, signing an order saying that their employees are essential state workers and will not have to close in any future state government shutdown, as they were in 2006. Christie also added unions to the list of groups who cannot receive state contracts of more than $17,500 if they have donated more than $300 to a campaign for governor or county political committee in the previous 18 months.<ref>http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/press/new_jersey/article_63a14ff8-8038-591a-8f1a-7503e1bbcbcc.html</ref>

In February, Christie announced that he would immediately freeze all state spending. Saying New Jersey is on the verge of bankruptcy, Christie declared a fiscal emergency, announcing drastic cuts. <ref>http://wcbstv.com/local/governor.christie.freezes.2.1487727.html</ref>

On March 16, 2011, Christie announced major cuts to education to help balance the budget bloat caused by years under Democratic governors. <ref>http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2010/03/22/25559/</ref> The New Jersey Education Association hotly contested these vital cuts, as they would almost certainly require the firing of non-tenured teachers to balance local school budgets, a problem the teacher's union created in the first place. Recently, the cuts have been challenged by the Supreme court, despite there being no link between New Jersey's relatively large amount of educational spending and increased statewide academic success. <ref>http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/03/christies_school_aid_cuts_left.html</ref>

In August 2011, Christie raised controversy by dismissing legitimate concerns voters and members of the New Jersey state legislature had raised concerning his appointment of Sohail Mohammed, a Muslim attorney with a history of defending Muslims after [[September 11, 2001 attacks|9/11]], as a judge on the state bench. Christie used profanity in referring to concerns that Mohammed would institute [[Sharia law]] from his position as state judge, and called citizens concerned about the Islamization of America "crazies."<ref>http://nation.foxnews.com/chris-christie/2011/08/04/christie-defends-appointing-muslim-judge-sharia-law-business-crap</ref>

Governor Christie has endorsed a plan to to merge part of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) with Rutgers University. The plan would include UMDNJ’s New Brunswick-Piscataway campus — Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, the School of Public Health and the Cancer Institute of New Jersey. The change would help raise Rutgers’ profile and draw more research dollars to the state, according to the recommendations. <ref>[http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/09/umdnj-rutgers_partial_merger_r.html Gov. Christie strongly endorses partial merger of Rutgers and UMDNJ]</ref> Rutgers, one of the few state universities without its own medical school, has been lobbying for a merger since another state task force headed by former New Jersey Gov. [[Thomas H. Kean]] first suggested the idea in January 2011. The reorganization has an “aggressive” target date of July 1, 2012. By adding a medical school, Rutgers’ rank among universities in spending on research and development would rise dramatically<ref>[http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/12/no_time_wasted_creating_rutger.html No time is being wasted creating Rutgers medical school]</ref>

He has also failed in getting the New Jersey Grand Prix ready for 2013, it will now be held in 2014.

==External Links==
*[http://www.state.nj.us/governor/ Governor of New Jersey Official Site]

===Videos===
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICIa-KJeUtM&feature=related Governor Christie: Style]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Evtt-R7Rmdw&feature=related Governor Christie: Day of Reckoning]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVccFQLFmUo&feature=related Conservative Governor on his "confrontational tone"]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlzA9dgZ1qM&feature=related Rush Limbaugh: Governor Chris Christie Slaughters a Liberal Reporter]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeXBlZdPENU&feature=related Governor Chris Christie For President 2012]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljIVr0dVgww&feature=related Christie Slams Teacher Unions]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuri7p_9pm4&feature=related Chris Christie vs. Teachers Unions]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ksLlAi3iIc&feature=related Governor Christie: Not About Teachers]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vkv6uo5nZDM&feature=related Governor Christie on Hannity]

==References==
{{reflist|1}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christie, Christopher}}
[[Category:Republican Party]]
[[category:Fiscal Conservatives]]
[[category:New Jersey Governors]]
[[category:Republican Governors]]
[[Category:The 100 Americans The Left Hates Most]]
[[Category:Rino backers]]
[[Category:RINOs]]

Code Pink

2013-05-29T03:40:33Z

Alpineopossum: /* Global Exchange */

[[File:Obama-jodie-evans-300x136.png|right|thumb|250px|Code Pink co-founder Jodie Evans with President Obama.]]
[[File:Jodieevans-medeabenjamin-cindysheeh.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Notorious [[anti-Semitic]] [[conspiracy theorist]] [[Cindy Sheehan]] with Jodie Evans, Venezuelan dictator [[Hugo Chavez]], and Medea Benjamin.]]
'''Code Pink''' is a primary [[community organizing]] group for [[leftist]] causes. Among its efforts have been anti-war protests, disrupting Congressional hearings into [[Enron]] and the [[Financial Crisis of 2008]], organizing the [[Occupy Wall Street]] movement, disrupting [[NRA]] press conferences after the Sandy Hook shooting<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGlk0Vt0TKU </ref>, and [[fundraising]] for [[President Barack Obama]].

It was founded by Jodie Evans, Diane Wilson and Medea Benjamin in 2002.

==Global Exchange==
In 1988, Medea Benjamin founded Global Exchange. Benjamin is a pro-Castro activist who lived in Cuba and was a principal organizer of the 1999 Seattle riots in which some 50,000 protesters tried to shut down the [[World Trade Organization]] (WTO) meetings. Benjamin was a signatory in 2003 to Not in Our Name (NION) along with [[liberal]] activists and icons [[Bernardine Dohrn]], [[Jim McDermott]], [[Ramsey Clark]], [[Noam Chomsky]], and [[Cynthia McKinney]]. NION was started in 2002 by C. Clark Kissinger, a member of the [[Revolutionary Communist Party]] (RCP), a [[Maoist]] group calling for the overthrow of the U.S. government and its replacement with a Communist dictatorship.

Diane Wilson is a radical [[Wiccan]] activist.

Jody Evans is a [[leftist]] activist and [[Democratic Party]] fundraiser who sits on the Board of Directors of the [[Rain Forest Action Network]] (RAN). Evans is a key fundraiser for [[Barack Obama]]. Despite this, the group has grown critical of the president and the government in general. In May 2013, Medea Benjamin interrupted Obama's speech by heckling.

==Anti-War on Terror==
Code Pink started out by trying to hand "pink slips" (symbolically "firing") to President Bush, Hillary Clinton, and other members of Congress that supported the war in Iraq. In November 2002, they devised Code Pink as a play on the [[Department of Homeland Security]]'s Code Red terror alert system. <ref>[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/03/06/ED126988.DTL Code Pink Alert] SFGate, March 6, 2003</ref> Code Pink has since evolved into a hate group: members are to be united in their hatred of President Bush, America and anybody that supports going after terrorists. Their rallies include women of all backgrounds and men that are abortion supporters, 9/11 conspiracy believers; their members chant "Fascist State" and include open-border supporters waving upside-down American flags. Code Pink will protest returning wounded troops at Walter Reed Medical Center. Code Pink will unlawfully block military recruiting centers. Code Pink looks the other way as its followers vandalize war memorials. In September 2008, Code Pink members stole media passes to gain entrance into the [[Republican]] convention. <ref>[http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=35233 Code Pink Used Reporter's ID Tag to Disrupt Convention Event] CNSNews, Septemeber 5, 2008</ref>

===Oppose Hillary Clinton's demand for accounting of Saddam Hussein's WMD===
[[Hillary Clinton]], who as First Lady was intimately involved in [[National Security]] matters in the [[White House]], addressed Code Pink in her Senate offices in March 2003. <ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtK9AzcU42g Hillary Clinton's views on going to war, Saddam, and WMD]</ref> Clinton told the group she had been studying the issue of Saddam Hussein's [[Weapons of Mass Destruction]] for ten years, and was deeply concerned. Clinton justified her vote to authorize the [[War in Iraq]]:
{{Cquote|There is a very easy way for to prevent anyone from being put into harms way and that is for [[Saddam Hussein]] to disarm. And I have absolutely no belief that he will. I have to say that this is something that I have followed for a decade. If he were serious about disarming, he would have been much more forthcoming. There may be progress, we may be destroying his missiles, there is no accounting for the [[Weapons of mass destruction|chemical and biological stocks]]. I just have to respectfully disagree what the proximate cause of any action that might be taken is. }}

===Delivered $600,000 to Iraqi resistors===
A book by ''[[New York Times]]'' best-selling author Lt Col. Robert "Buzz" Patterson (U.S. Air Force-Ret.) entitled ''War Crimes: The Left's Campaign to Destroy Our Military and Lose the War on Terror'' charged Code Pink materially supported terrorists when they delivered $600,000 in cash and supplies they claim was humanitarian aid. Democratic Congressman [[Henry Waxman]] of California facilitated the transaction by signing a letter to get the aid into [[Fallujah]]. <ref>[http://www.onenewsnow.com/2007/07/author_claims_antiwar_groups_g.php Author claims anti-war groups gave material support to terrorists], Chad Groening, OneNewsNow.com, July 13, 2007.</ref> Code Pink distributed the supplies to “the other side” in the terrorist stronghold in December 2004. Fallujah was the site of a fierce battle which took the lives of 95 Americas and over 1,000 [[al Qaeda]] terrorists and combatants loyal to Shi’ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Patterson also makes the charge Code Pink has established offices in Iraq for the purpose of encouraging American soldiers to desert.

===Humanitarian volunteers desert the movement===
Marla Ruzicka was a 28-year-old activist who had traveled to Iraq in 2003 under the aegis of Code Pink, along with a delegation whose members intended to act as human shields to protest the liberation of the Iraq people from [[Ba'athist]] tyranny. Out of genuine humanitarian concern for civilians, Ruzicka left Code Pink in December of 2004. She began working with the Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict(CIVIC). <ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24737-2004Aug22.html U.S. Activist Mends Lives Torn by War], By Glenn Kessler, ''The Washington Post'', August 23, 2004, Page A13.</ref> In April 2005, Ruzicka was killed when a suicide bomber attacked a convoy she was riding in. <ref>[http://www.frontpagemagazine.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=17933 Who Killed Marla Ruzicka?], By David Horowitz and Ben Johnson, ''FrontPageMagazine.com'', May 3, 2005.</ref>

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Anti-war Movements]]

John Edwards

2013-05-29T03:37:31Z

Alpineopossum: /* Scandal */

*''For the 18th century preacher, see [[Jonathan Edwards]]''.
*''For the British athlete, see [[Jonathan Edwards (athlete)]].
----
{{Officeholder
|name=John Edwards
|image=SenatorJohnEdwards.jpg
|party=[[Democrat]]
|spouse=[[Elizabeth Edwards]] (separated)
|religion=Methodist
|offices=
{{Officeholder/senator
|state=North Carolina
|terms=January 3, 1999 - January 3, 2005
|preceded=Lauch Faircloth
|former=n
|succeeded=[[Richard Burr]]
}}
}}

'''John Edwards''' is a prominent [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] politician who served as the United States Senator from [[North Carolina]]. He was [[John Kerry]]'s Vice Presidential running mate during the [[2004 Presidential Election]]. He is known for his advocacy of [[liberal]] policies [[class warfare|pitting rich against poor]]. A contender for the 2008 [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] nomination for president, Edwards' reputation collapsed overnight with his admission that he had had an affair with [[documentary]] film-maker Rielle Hunter while she was dying of breast cancer. He denied fathering her child at the time, but in January, 2010, admitted he was a [[Lies|liar]]. <ref>[http://content.usatoday.com/communities/entertainment/post/2010/01/john-edwards-admits-fathering-child-bafta-nominations-tara-reid-gets-engaged/1 USA Today; John Edwards admits fathering child]</ref> In addition, John Edwards declared he is an [[evolution|evolutionist]].<ref>http://www.funmurphys.com/blog/archive/001406.html</ref>

===Early Life and Education===

Edwards was born in Seneca, [[South Carolina]] on June 10, 1953, where his father was the manager of a textile mill. He grew up in Robbins, [[North Carolina]], and graduated from North Carolina State University in 1974. He received a law degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1977.

In 1977, he married Elizabeth Anania (1949-2010). Their son, Wade, was born in 1979 and daughter, Cate, in 1982. Following Wade's death in a car accident in 1996, the couple chose to have more children. Emma Claire was born 1998, and Jack was born in 2000.

In November of 2004, Elizabeth Edwards was diagnosed with breast [[cancer]]. After undergoing treatment, the cancer seemed to have been eradicated. At a March 22, 2007 press conference, Elizabeth announced that doctors had found her cancer had returned; it metastasized to her ribs, lungs and liver.

===Private Sector===
Edwards served as a personal injury [[trial lawyer]] in [[Tennessee]] and in North Carolina for 20 years, specializing in negligence and medical malpractice suits. Critics describe Edwards' personal fortune as having been amasssed by preying on malpractice victims and using [[junk science]] to win large settlements. <ref>Peter W. Huber, ''Galileo's Revenge: Junk Science in the Courtroom'', 1993. ISBN 0-465-02624-9. </ref> [[Michael Medved]] said, "Ambulance chasers like Edwards don’t create wealth; they seize wealth from its creators...There are also serious questions about his misuse of his own S-type corporation to dodge taxes, and the shady sale of his previous mansion in Georgetown in a sweetheart deal with a supporter who’s currently under government investigation....lawsuits on which Edwards built his career damaged the economy ...building nothing at all and benefiting only the lawyer and his clients. On what basis can Democrats argue that government should cap or actively discourage big salaries for successful corporate heads, but never consider such a limitation for a court-room conniver like Edwards?" <ref>[http://michaelmedved.townhall.com/Blog/issue9 For Presidents Day: Our Most Under-rated Chief Executive], Michael Medved, February 20, 2007.</ref> The most lucrative deal for Edwards was a $25 million suit for a girl who was disemboweled by a swimming pool drain.

Social commentator [[Ann Coulter]] quoted an article from the ''[[New York Times]]'' about Edwards' behavior in the courtroom with this description, "He's the trial lawyer who pretended in court to channel the spirit of a handicapped [[fetus]] in front of illiterate jurors to scam tens of millions of dollars off of innocent doctors. According to ''The New York Times'', Edwards told one jury:

{{Cquote|She speaks to you through me ... And I have to tell you right now -- I didn't plan to talk about this -- right now I feel her. I feel her presence. She's inside me, and she's talking to you. <ref>[http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=21345 That Was No Lady -- That Was My Husband], by Ann Coulter, ''Human Events'', 06/28/2007.</ref>}}

===Political Career===
In 1998, Edwards ran as the Democratic candidate for a seat in the [[United States Senate|U.S. Senate]]. He beat incumbent Senator Lauch Faircloth to win the seat.

Edwards served in the Senate for one 6 year term, declining to stand for re-election so that he could run for the 2004 Democratic party nomination for President. He withdrew from the presidential race on March 2, 2004 after failing to win any state of the 10 contested states in the Super Tuesday elections. Democratic nominee John Kerry named Edwards as his vice-presidential candidate for the Democratic ticket.

===2004 Vice-Presidential Candidacy===
[[File:John-edwards-mug-shot.jpg|350px|thumb|right|Former Democratic Vice-Presidential candidate John Edward's mugshot. Edwards was later charged and booked in a fundraising scheme.]]
Democratic National Committee insider [[Bob Shrum]] reported in his book ''No Excuses'' about the 2004 loss of Kerry/Edwards. In the book Shrum told of private Kerry-Edwards discussions when Democratic Presidential Nominee [[John Kerry]] was considering Edwards for the Vice-Presidential slot;
{{Cquote|(Kerry) was even queasier about Edwards after they met. Edwards had told Kerry he was going to share a story with him that he'd never told anyone else -- that after his son Wade had been killed, he climbed onto the slab at the funeral home, laid there and hugged his body, and promised that he'd do all he could to make life better for people, to live up to Wade's ideals of service. Kerry was stunned, not moved, because, as he told me later, Edwards had recounted the same exact story to him, almost in the exact same words, a year or two before -- and with the same preface, that he'd never shared the memory with anyone else. Kerry said he found it chilling, and he decided he couldn't pick Edwards unless he met with him again.}}

The Kerry-Edwards ticket lost to incumbent president George W. Bush and Dick Cheney with 48% of the vote to the Republicans' 51%.

===Post 2004 Election===

After losing the bid for Vice President in the 2004 election, he became the director of the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at UNC-Chapel Hill.

===2008 Presidential Candidacy===

On December 28, 2005, John Edwards officially announced that he would again seek the Democratic nomination for president for the 2008 election.

Edwards is reported to be miffed over having been branded "the Breck Girl" <ref>[http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/images/blpic-edwardsbreckgirl.htm John Edwards the Breck Girl] ''"Sometimes another pretty face is just another pretty face."''</ref> in the 2004 Vice Presidential contest. Columnist Joan Vennochi characterized Edwards problem, "Usually, women are forced to ward off stereotypical thinking that equates beauty with brainlessness. But Edwards is not the first male politician to feel the double-edged sword that comes with being too pretty to be taken seriously." <ref>[http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/vote/5289.php Edwards' obstacle: 'Breck girl' good looks], Joan Vennochi, ''The Boston Globe'', 01.10.2004. </ref> In the spring of 2007, Edwards was ridiculed for getting $400 haircuts and charging his political campaign for them. He later said that he reimbursed his campaign $800.<ref>CBS News, [http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2007/04/24/publiceye/entry2722181.shtml ''John Edwards And The Case Of The "Breck Girl" Comment''], April 24, 2007.</ref>

On [[Memorial Day]] 2007 Edwards was accused of using the National Holiday to "trash the sacrifice, honor and glory of American soldiers."
<ref>[http://www.onenewsnow.com/2007/05/john_edwards_criticized_for_en.php John Edwards criticized for 'trashing' troops on Memorial Day], Jim Brown, ''OneNewsNow.com'', May 30, 2007.</ref><ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2007May26/0,4670,EdwardsInterview,00.html Edwards Defends Stepped-Up War Opposition], By Mike Glover, Associated Press, May 26, 2007. </ref>

The ''New York Times'' reported Edwards created a nonprofit organization with the stated mission of fighting poverty. The organization, the Center for Promise and Opportunity, raised $1.3 million in 2005, and — unlike a sister charity he created to raise scholarship money for poor students — the main beneficiary of the center’s fund-raising was Mr. Edwards himself, according to tax filings. The organization became a big part of a shadow political apparatus. Its officers were members of his political staff, and it helped pay for his nearly constant travel, including to early primary states.

While Mr. Edwards said the organization’s purpose was “making the eradication of poverty the cause of this generation,” its federal filings say it financed “retreats and seminars” with foreign policy experts on Iraq and national security issues. Unlike the scholarship charity, donations to it were not tax deductible, and, significantly, it did not have to disclose its donors — as political action committees and other political fund-raising vehicles do — and there were no limits on the size of individual donations. <ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/22/us/politics/22edwards.html?_r=2&hp&oref=slogin&oref=slogin In Aiding Poor Edwards Built Bridge to 2008], Leslie Waynem ''New York Times'', June 22, 2007.</ref>

John Edwards has ended his run to become the Democratic candidate for the 2008 election cycle after the [[Florida]] primaries on January 29, 2008. It was over when he became a distant third to [[Hillary Clinton]] and [[Barack Obama]]. It was the third primary in a row where he ended third, and he dropped out before Super Tuesday, when voters in twenty-two states allocating about 45 per cent of the delegates.

==FEC==
The Federal Election Committee has recommended fines exceeding $170,000 for 2004 campaign violations that included the transfer of $500,000. to his Senate account from his Presidential campaign. <ref>[http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/931460.html Campaign of Sen. John Edwards faces $170K fine, Miami Herald, March 4, 2009]</ref>

In addition, the FEC is investigating his 2008 presidential campaign for money transfers to his mistress, another violation of the law.

===Political views===
During his Senate career and the 2004 presidential campaign, one of Edwards' main themes was "Two Americas," contrasting the poorer working-class Americans with wealthier Americans. Critics cite the hypocrisy of Edwards call for "affordable health care," when it is [[malpractice]] attorneys that use junk science to win big awards such as himself that have made the cost of health care beyond the reach of the poor.

===Criticism===
Edwards came under fire for not firing two of his campaign workers who made bigoted and hateful statements on their blogs. Statements included calling Christian supporters of President Bush his "wingnut Christofascist base", asking what would have happened if the Virgin Mary had taken an emergency contraceptive<ref>http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/02/13/politics/p171426S05.DTL&type=politics</ref>, and asking religious conservatives "What don't you lousy motherf——ers understand about keeping your noses out of our britches, our beds and our families?".<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,251620,00.html</ref><ref>http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,251009,00.html</ref> These incidents were largely ignored by the mainstream media.<ref>http://www.mediaresearch.org/realitycheck/2007/fax20070222.asp</ref> Edwards was criticized for not firing the employees, but they later resigned themselves.

Critics also cite Edwards lack of government experience. One often heard criticism is that, other than the fact he has a full head of hair, there is little else to qualify him as a candidate.

In 2005, with a big announcement from the [[liberal]] media, John Edwards started the College for Everyone scholarship program. The goal was to reward a [[college]] student should they make it through the four years of school by paying a year's tuition for each [[graduate]]. John Edwards cancelled the program in July 2008. <ref>[http://blog.indecision2008.com/2008/08/01/millionaire-playboy-john-edwards-little-kid-problem/ Millionaire Playboy John Edwards' Little Kid Problem] Comedy Central Indecision 2008, August 1, 2008</ref>

In 2007, Elizabeth Edwards was stricken with incurable [[breast cancer]]. The link on John Edwards' [[campaign]] web site invites people to send get well wishes to Elizabeth. John Edwards used those well-wishers' information to solicit email donations to his Presidential campaign. <ref>[http://www.nypost.com/seven/04052007/news/nationalnews/edwards_cashing_in_on_wifes_cancer_nationalnews_maggie_haberman.htm EDWARDS CASHING IN ON WIFE'S CANCER] NY Post, April 5, 2007</ref>

Repeatedly [[lied]] while running for the highest office in the nation.

August 9th, Rielle Hunter's sister Melissa, calls on John Edwards to come clean about the child and to take a [[paternity]] test. <ref>[http://hotair.com/archives/2008/08/09/blowback-starts-hunters-family-challenges-edwards-to-paternity-test/ Hunter’s family challenges Edwards to paternity test] Hot Air Network, August 9, 2008</ref>

===Scandal===
[[Ann Coulter]] wrote:
:"In 2008, he based his entire presidential campaign on his selfless dedication to a cancer-stricken wife. Meanwhile, in order to pass the time between giving $50,000 speeches on poverty, Edwards was cheating on the cancer-stricken wife." [http://www.hebookservice.com/products/BookPage.asp?prod_cd=c7315]

In October 2007 the ''[[National Enquirer]]'' accused Edwards of having an extramarital affair with [[Rielle Hunter]], a claim that Edwards repeatedly denied even while running for [[President]]. Armed with knowledge that Edwards planned to visit Rielle at her hotel on July 22nd 2008, the ''Enquirer'' confronted Edwards at 2 A.M. when he left her room after being there for a considerable time. Edwards ran, hid in a bathroom and security was called to escort him out.

With a few exceptions, [[liberal bias]] ensured the silence of the major Internet and television news organizations. Edwards disavowed the allegations in a brief statement, saying that he would not dignify lies with responses. He asserted that he was telling “99 percent” of the truth before coming clean. <ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,401462,00.html Inconsistencies Raise Concerns Edwards May Still Be Lying About Affair] Fox News, August 11, 2008</ref> Most liberal-owned networks and Internet sites were still silent.

[[File:Edwards-lies.jpg|thumb|280px|Edwards was notorious for fathering many lies]]

The [[conservative]] media's pursuit of the truth forced the issue into the public eye and further raised serious questions about Edwards. Edwards chose to give an interview to [[ABC News]] less than two weeks after being caught with his mistress yet again. He claimed that some elements of the story were false, including the allegation that he was the father of Rielle's child.<ref>[http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5441195&page=1 Edwards Admits Sexual Affair; Lied as Presidential Candidate] ABC News, August 8, 2008</ref> At that point, the [[mainstream media]] finally began to give the story serious coverage.

There may be elements of the scandal that are still being glossed over. Apparently, a close political friend of Edwards had been sending Hunter $15,000 a month, something that Edwards says he knew nothing about, and that he attempts to explain away by speculating that it might simply be a case of a friend helping out a person in distress. Fox News has also pointed out that elements of Edwards story and the timeline are inconsistent <ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,401462,00.html Inconsistencies Raise Concerns Edwards May Still Be Lying About Affair] Fox News, August 11, 2008</ref>

The seriousness of the allegations led Edwards to cancel all public appearances during the election campaign, recognizing that his presence could only be a detriment to his party.<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,417042,00.html</ref> Beyond the 2008 election, the gravity of the situation, which was compounded by the fact that these events took place as Elizabeth was being treated for cancer, the scandal has in all likelihood derailed Edwards' future political prospects.

The ''Enquirer'' reported that a DNA test confirmed that Rielle's son was fathered by Edwards. In January 2010, Edwards admitted that the child is his and that he has separated from his wife. <ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/08/12/report-dna-tests-proves-edwards-fathered-videographers-daughter/?test=latestnews DNA Test Proves Edwards Fathered Videographer's Daughter, Fox News, August 13, 2009]</ref>

If there was any doubt before as to Edwards's honesty, the facts now prove he is one of the most pathetic liars to have ever served in American politics.

A sex tape of Edwards and Hunter was formerly in possession of one of Edward's aides. His aide was going to release tape before a judge intervened and ordered it confiscated.

An indictment of Edwards over campaign finance violations is expected by a federal grand jury in April 2010. He will likely be charged with converting political action committee money to personal use and lying to hide breaking the law. <ref>[http://www.breitbart.tv/national-enquirer-editor-says-john-edwards-indictment-could-come-soon/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter NATIONAL ENQUIRER EDITOR SAYS JOHN EDWARDS INDICTMENT COULD COME SOON, Breitbart.tv Video]</ref> In 2012, Edwards was found not guilty of any crime in a trial. In his statements after the verdict he admitted to lying and said his actions were "morally wrong".

==Miscellania==
===Books===
''The Four Trials'' (with John Auchard), about his career as a lawyer

===Trivia===
The $25 million settlement was the largest in NC history.

==See Also==
[[Previous Breaking News/John Edwards|Articles about '''John Edwards''' from previous "Breaking News"]]

== References ==
<references/>

==Sources==
http://johnedwards.com/
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, John}}
[[Category:Former United States Senators]]
[[Category:Democratic Party]]
[[Category:Reagan Era]]
[[Category:Liberals]]
[[Category:North Carolina]]
[[Category:2004 Presidential Candidates]]

Alan Simpson

2013-05-29T03:30:34Z

Alpineopossum:

'''Alan Simpson''' (b. 1931) served [[Wyoming]] in the [[U.S. Senate]] from 1979 to 1997. Despite being a member of the [[Republican Party]], Simpson served as a [[liberal]] on social issues, benefiting from the [[conservative]] reputation of his father, Milward L. Simpson, who served Wyoming in the [[U.S. Senate]] from 1962-1967 after having been governor of Wyoming from 1955-1959. Simpson was an advocate of fiscally conservative positions and argued strongly for entitlement reform. Despite his Republican affiliation Simpson supports [[abortion]]. He was a leader of the Simpson/Bowles committee. Since leaving the Senate, Simpson has taught at graduate school.

Simpson's political leanings are best summed up in his own words:

:Any education that matters is "liberal." All the saving truths, all the healing graces that distinguish a good education from a bad one or a full education from a half empty one are contained in that word.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Alan}}
[[category:Former United States Senators]]
[[Category:RINOs]]
[[Category:Wyoming]]
[[Category:Liberals]]

Indianapolis 500

2013-05-29T03:27:31Z

Alpineopossum:

The Indianapolis 500 is a car race held in Speedway, [[Indiana]]. It is one of the best well known events in American racing. The race is held every [[Memorial Day]] weekend at the 2.5 mile racetrack. Cars are purpose-built race cars with 800 [[horsepower]] V8 engines mounted behind the driver. The engines run on American-grown [[ethanol]] supporting American farmers.{{fact}} Despite being a very American tradition, there are many successful foreign drivers, including [[Dario Franchitti]] from [[Scotland]], [[Scott Dixon]] from [[New Zealand]] and [[Helio Castroneves]] from [[Brazil]].

The event has been run for a hundred years and has a massive attendance on race day with as many as 400,000 attendees.

The defending champion is [[Tony Kanaan]] who won after years of near misses in the event.

[[category:sports]]