Paul Luvera Journal

Benjamin Tillman was governor of South Carolina from 1890 to 1894. He was responsible for doing everything possible to prevent blacks from voting. He proudly said that he "had done his level best [to prevent blacks from voting]…We have scratched our heads to find out how we could eliminate the last one of them…" He served in the Senate and was censured after assaulting another Senator. He was also barred from the white house. He became known as "Pitchfork Ben" after…

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 Much of what has happened to America since the Bush administration reminds me of an old movie. In the 1976 movie Network the main character, Howard Beale, played by Peter Finch explains his "calling" to the TV audience during the newscast. He says:  "The voice said to me, ‘I want you to tell the people the truth, not an easy thing to do, because the people don’t want to know the truth’ And I said "You’re kidding. What the hell…

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Well, another one of those self righteous hypocrites got caught doing what they preached against. South Carolina Republican Governor Mark Sanford has admitted having an affair. This was the poster boy for the Christian right. As state senator John Land said about Sanford's disclosure that he had a mistress even though married with four sons: "The position (Sanford) has taken the whole time he's been in office is: 'I'm smarter than the rest. I'm more religious than the rest. I'm more godly than the…

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I’ve been following the bizarre behavior of South Carolina’s governor Mark Sanford who disappeared for five days and then suddenly reappeared. Republican Sanford is chairman of the Republican Governors Association and considered a leading Republican presidential candidate, or at least he was until this fiasco. This is the man who rejected millions in federal stimulus money for education and has been outspoken in trying to demonstrate his conservative Republican values. First, his staff put out the story that he was…

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 Last Thursday Lita and I attended a private dinner in Seattle with some twenty other  people and Governor Christine Gregoire.  Among the sujects Governor Gregoire discussed was our proposed budget. We have a two billion dollar short fall in our state, economic decline and increased costs to contend with. The Governor pointed out that the problem is complicated by the fact a large part of the budget leaves little room for cut back such as education, pensions etc. The economy…

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Our government was unique at the time it was created. Think about the forms of government in the world. Some of the better known in history include a monarchy where there is a government of one ordained to lead. Oligarchy means a government by the few elite and is justified by the argument that only the few are fit to govern. Aristocracy means government by the best because the rest are not as qualified to run the country. Plutocracy means government by the wealthy…

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In 1993 Absolutely Nobody died. That is, David Powers died in Oakland, California. You see in 1991 Powers legally changed his name to "Absolutely Nobody" and then ran for Lieutenant Governor of Washington State. His central theme was that the position was unnecessary and a waste of taxpayer money. The one time manager of a Winchell’s doughnut shop was working for a U-Rent when he ran for the office. Powers said that  "My friends and I got to talking last…

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This is purely a political posting so if you are a Republican, you can skip this entire message. I get E-mails with some clever political things in them. Two are worth looking at. The first deals with the ridiculous attempt by John McCain to distance himself from George Bush now that Bush's policies have turned out to be as disaster. When he thought showing agreement with Bush policies would get him votes, he bragged about supporting Bush more than 90% …

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I have been wrong about who "won" the presidential debate each time it has occurred. So, with that in mind, here’s my take on Thursday’s debate. First, moderator Bob Schieffer was so significantly better then any previous moderator of these debates that he should be given the job permanently. For the first time searching questions were asked and the candidates better required to answer them. He was the first moderator who seemed to me to be in full control. My…

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