My Party is Right. Your Party is Evil

America's bifurcation has reached new levels of absurdity. More and more people are realizing this and 40% of the electorate are registered Independent. While Democrats have 38%, Republicans have just 28%.

When each party takes control of the presidency or a house of Congress they believe they've been given a mandate. This is patently ridiculous. The party that has gained the power quickly pushes things too far and the independents become disturbed.

If Santorum became the nominee of the Republican Party in the fall, Republicans would soon go the way of the Whigs.

With the revelation that John Corzine is a crook, just like all the other bankers, the Democrats can get off their high horse. He authorized the transfer of clients money into an overseas account the company used to meet the firm's obligations.

Whether the Justice Department, or the SEC will throw him in jail, of course, is another question. The fox is guarding the hen house and he was a powerful Democrat.

What I've seen from the Corzine incident is the inability of Democratic Party members to see that a member of their party could be a criminal. I already knew the Republicans were incapable of identifying the wolves among the sheep.

My guess is the percentage of the electorate that registers Independent will only grow. Both parties have blinders on. The Democrats don't want to reduce the deficit. The Republicans don't want to pay for the wars they start or the basic safety net required for the American people.

The next time you think you're right, and the other party is evil, try to think that you might be making another decision based solely on ideology. As they say, "the Devil knows Scripture too."

France, Savoir Faire and Soccer

As an American, when I used to visit France it was at best a mixed experience. Since I speak Chinese, not the lingua franca (which once was French), I was barely tolerated. But I've changed that situation.

When I lived in Europe, the last French official soccer jersey they had for sale was the home jersey. (They won the '98 World Cup in the Blue one.)  This white jersey stands out because everybody wanted the Bleu one.

Every day on my last visit to the City of Light I wore this, washing it at night in the hotel. I was waited on first in small restaurants. I also tried not to be an American, by not yelling and by being polite. (man, it was hard)

I also said only two things loudly which were "La Belle France, and "Vive La France."

I'm looking forward someday to once again being the Toast of Paris.

Bloomberg Tries to Destroy Whistle Blower

For the last 36 hours Bloomberg television has been trying to destroy the reputation of Greg Smith, the Goldman Sachs whistle blower. They've put on everyone they can think of who will demean him. They talk about how he'll never get another job. They talk about how low-level he is and they talk about the fact he only makes $500,000 a year.

This concerted effort to destroy his credibility makes me wonder if Wall Street learned anything at all about the financial crisis.

I no longer respect Mayor Bloomberg and will not watch Bloomberg.com. This unrelenting attack is one of the most vicious  in journalism and makes Bloomberg look like Rupert Murdoch.

People who know Greg Smith, who worked in the London office of Goldman Sachs say he is a man of the highest principles. He is someone who is ethical to a fault. Because of this, he wrote an op-ed piece in the New York Times which talked about the culture of Goldman Sachs. He said the bank tried to make money for the firm at the expense of its clients. Goldman Sachs has had its ethics questioned over and over. Its  flagrant self dealing is a matter of record.

We now know that Wall Street has learned nothing from the Financial Crisis. It will continue to do anything to make money at the expense of its clients. MF Global shows how little ethics matters on Wall Street.

Bloomberg has shown how little he respects the average American. I can't believe how much I used to admire him. Now I wonder just how slimy he is. Our country is in trouble and our public figures don't care.

John McCain and Neville Chamberlain

As he probably was for many others, John McCain used to be my hero. He was the rational voice in the Republican Party. I really miss him.

I still regard him as a great patriot, but the man who wants to drop bombs on a lot of countries is not the same John McCain I used to admire.

He has joined the Republicans who still think Neville Chamberlain is the enemy. In every war since World War II the Republicans have brought up the concept of appeasement and the Democrats, afraid to take a stand on anything except support for the teachers unions, have gone along.

The most interesting aspect of this is that Republicans were solidly behind America First which tried to keep us out of  the Second World War. They weren't interested in stopping the boxcars heading for Auschwitz. However, since Korea they've used Munich as a sledgehammer on other Americans who might not want to invade Iraq just because the Iraqis were nasty to George's daddy. So I watch John McCain, who now wants us to bomb Syria, and wonder if he knows how sleazy and uncoordinated the opposition is in that country?

It's too much I guess to hope the old John McCain will return. He has joined the disloyal opposition and wants us to kill everybody.

However, I still miss the John McCain that provided hope Americans could work together to fix our problems and transcend the vitriol and nastiness of our present two party system.