{"id":575843,"date":"2010-05-22T19:27:56","date_gmt":"2010-05-22T23:27:56","guid":{"rendered":"tag:ronkayela.com,2010:\/\/1.1090"},"modified":"2010-05-22T19:50:20","modified_gmt":"2010-05-22T23:50:20","slug":"ignore-lying-ads-vote-for-courage-honesty-trust-elect-kaus-romero-winograd-ramani","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/575843","title":{"rendered":"Ignore Lying Ads, Vote for Courage, Honesty, Trust &#8212; Elect Kaus, Romero Winograd, Ramani"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>        <meta http-equiv=\"Content-Type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta name=\"ProgId\" content=\"Word.Document\"><meta name=\"Generator\" content=\"Microsoft Word 11\"><meta name=\"Originator\" content=\"Microsoft Word 11\"><link rel=\"File-List\" href=\"file:\/\/\/C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CCOMPAQ%7E1.YOU%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C03%5Cclip_filelist.xml\"><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri=\"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags\" name=\"PlaceType\"><\/o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri=\"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags\" name=\"PlaceName\"><\/o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri=\"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags\" name=\"country-region\"><\/o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri=\"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags\" name=\"place\"><\/o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri=\"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags\" name=\"City\"><\/o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>\n <w:WordDocument>\n  <w:View>Normal<\/w:View>\n  <w:Zoom>0<\/w:Zoom>\n  <w:PunctuationKerning\/>\n  <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas\/>\n  <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false<\/w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>\n  <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false<\/w:IgnoreMixedContent>\n  <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false<\/w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>\n  <w:Compatibility>\n   <w:BreakWrappedTables\/>\n   <w:SnapToGridInCell\/>\n   <w:WrapTextWithPunct\/>\n   <w:UseAsianBreakRules\/>\n   <w:DontGrowAutofit\/>\n  <\/w:Compatibility>\n  <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4<\/w:BrowserLevel>\n <\/w:WordDocument>\n<\/xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>\n <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState=\"false\" LatentStyleCount=\"156\">\n <\/w:LatentStyles>\n<\/xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object \nclassid=\"clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D\" id=\"ieooui\"><\/object>\n\n\n<style>\nst1\\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) }\n<\/style>\n\n\n<![endif]--><\/p>\n<style>\n<!--\n \/* Style Definitions *\/\n p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal\n\t{mso-style-parent:\"\";\n\tmargin:0in;\n\tmargin-bottom:.0001pt;\n\tmso-pagination:widow-orphan;\n\tfont-size:12.0pt;\n\tfont-family:\"Times New Roman\";\n\tmso-fareast-font-family:\"Times New Roman\";}\n@page Section1\n\t{size:8.5in 11.0in;\n\tmargin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in;\n\tmso-header-margin:.5in;\n\tmso-footer-margin:.5in;\n\tmso-paper-source:0;}\ndiv.Section1\n\t{page:Section1;}\n-->\n<\/style>\n<p><!--[if gte mso 10]>\n\n\n<style>\n \/* Style Definitions *\/\n table.MsoNormalTable\n\t{mso-style-name:\"Table Normal\";\n\tmso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;\n\tmso-tstyle-colband-size:0;\n\tmso-style-noshow:yes;\n\tmso-style-parent:\"\";\n\tmso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;\n\tmso-para-margin:0in;\n\tmso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;\n\tmso-pagination:widow-orphan;\n\tfont-size:10.0pt;\n\tfont-family:\"Times New Roman\";\n\tmso-ansi-language:#0400;\n\tmso-fareast-language:#0400;\n\tmso-bidi-language:#0400;}\n<\/style>\n\n\n<![endif]--><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Once upon a time in the land<br \/>\nof the free and home of the brace, you could trust a man&#8217;s handshake and his<br \/>\nword was as good as gold.<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">We celebrated the virtues of<br \/>\nfrugality and modesty, idealized those who could not tell a lie and made <span style=\"\">&nbsp;<\/span>legends of <span style=\"\">&nbsp;<\/span>war heroes and Honest Abe.<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Those were the days my<br \/>\nfriends, if only they had never ended.<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Today, our bankers and<br \/>\nfinanciers can&#8217;t be trusted with a dime of our money, we can&#8217;t do the simplest<br \/>\nbusiness without a lawyer, envy celebrities their fortunes and their sexual<br \/>\nprowess.<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">And our politicians? They<br \/>\naren&#8217;t crooks anymore, they aren&#8217;t the take. They are part of a system that<br \/>\nitself is corrupt, from our cities to our state&#8217;s to our nation&#8217;s capital. Corruption<br \/>\nis the business of politics. The two parties have divvied up the graft from the<br \/>\nbroad array of special interests and legalized it. They have turned political<br \/>\ndiscourse and debate into a war of divisive messages meant to segment us into<br \/>\nantagonisms while lulling the masses into passivity and helplessness.<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Trust, honesty, courage are pass\u00e9.<br \/>\nWe now look for no more than their abstractions in integrity and transparency<br \/>\nas if the coherency of their behavior and its visibility alone were the real<br \/>\nstuff of leadership.<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Personally, I long ago<br \/>\nreduced my own political philosophy nothing more, or less, than right of<br \/>\neveryone to &#8220;life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness&#8221; as they see fit, just<br \/>\nas long as they respect those same rights for others.<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">When I go to the polls June<br \/>\n8, I will vote against who holds public office almost without exception. My<br \/>\njudgments have nothing to do with Democrat or Republican or any other party or<br \/>\ntheir positions on any particular issue.<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">It has solely to do with my<br \/>\nsense of their character, whether there is any reason to believe that they<br \/>\nmight show courage, honest and are trustworthy.<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">There may be dozens of great<br \/>\npeople running for office but I only have come across four of them that I<br \/>\nbelieve are people who strive to be honest, have shown the courage of their<br \/>\nconvictions and just be worthy of our trust.<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Politically, they are all over<br \/>\nthe map, left, right and center.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image\" style=\"display: inline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/ronkayela.com\/kaus-thumb-183x240.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Thumbnail image for kaus.jpg\" src=\"http:\/\/ronkayela.com\/assets_c\/2010\/05\/kaus-thumb-183x240-thumb-143x187.jpg\" class=\"mt-image-right\" style=\"float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 20px 20px;\" height=\"187\" width=\"143\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">At the top of the ticket,<br \/>\nrunning for the United States Senate is <a href=\"http:\/\/kaus.sitebuilder.completecampaigns.com\/\">Mickey Kaus,<\/a> a journalist who became<br \/>\none of the first great bloggers with the Kaus Files and became a mainstay at<br \/>\nSlate.com.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Kaus is a maverick Democrat<br \/>\nwho believes Barbara Boxer is the worst kind of political hack who achieved<br \/>\nlittle or nothing in her three terms except wasting a seat in the Senate and<br \/>\npandering to the party faithful&#8217;s prejudices without actually achieving what<br \/>\nthey want or looking after the interests of her state.<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image\" style=\"display: inline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/ronkayela.com\/winograd.gif\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"winograd.gif\" src=\"http:\/\/ronkayela.com\/winograd-thumb-143x195.gif\" class=\"mt-image-left\" style=\"float: left; margin: 0pt 20px 20px 0pt;\" height=\"195\" width=\"143\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Then, there&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/winograd4congress.com\/\">Marcy Winograd<br \/>\n<\/a>who is an ultra-liberal environmental idealist who has mounted an aggressive challenge<br \/>\nto long-time Rep. Jane Harman in the <st1:placename w:st=\"on\">South<\/st1:placename><br \/>\n<st1:placetype w:st=\"on\">Bay<\/st1:placetype>, someone to whom serving in the<br \/>\nCongress of the <st1:country-region w:st=\"on\"><st1:place w:st=\"on\">United<br \/>\n  States<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> is something like being president of<br \/>\nthe country club except that the perks and sense of self-importance is so much<br \/>\ngreater.<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">I&#8217;ve spent some time with<br \/>\nstate <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gloriaromero.org\/\">Sen. Gloria Romero<\/a> because I believe as she does that are schools will<br \/>\nnever succeed unless parents are fully involved and have at least as much say<br \/>\nin their educations as unions, bureaucrats and the education establishment. She<br \/>\nstood up to all them and brought enough of her party along to get legislation adopted<br \/>\nearlier this year that gives parents real power over the schools. Other states<br \/>\nmay soon adopt the &#8220;parent trigger&#8221; as well.<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image\" style=\"display: inline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/ronkayela.com\/romero.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"romero.jpg\" src=\"http:\/\/ronkayela.com\/romero-thumb-143x165.jpg\" class=\"mt-image-right\" style=\"float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 20px 20px;\" height=\"165\" width=\"143\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Romero is the only major<br \/>\ncandidate for the non-partisan State Superintendent of Education who is<br \/>\nindependent of the education lobby and has intellectual credibility to embrace<br \/>\nnew ideas.<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Finally, there is<a href=\"http:\/\/ramaniforassembly.com\/home.html\"> Sunder<br \/>\nRamani,<\/a> who is running in the special election to succeed Paul Krekorian in the<br \/>\nstate Assembly representing <st1:city w:st=\"on\">Burbank<\/st1:city>, <st1:city w:st=\"on\">Glendale<\/st1:city> and <st1:place w:st=\"on\"><st1:placename w:st=\"on\">East<\/st1:placename><br \/>\n <st1:placetype w:st=\"on\">Valley<\/st1:placetype><\/st1:place> area.<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">There is nothing idelogicial<br \/>\nabout Ramani. He is a successful businessman who has devoted himself for 25<br \/>\nyears to volunteering in a broad range of community groups and won the respect<br \/>\nof hundreds of community leaders.<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image\" style=\"display: inline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/ronkayela.com\/ramani.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"ramani.jpg\" src=\"http:\/\/ronkayela.com\/ramani-thumb-143x198.jpg\" class=\"mt-image-left\" style=\"float: left; margin: 0pt 20px 20px 0pt;\" height=\"198\" width=\"143\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">In my list of political<br \/>\nvirtues, I left some that may be the most important: Common sense and a caring<br \/>\nheart. That&#8217;s why of all the candidates I&#8217;ve encountered, Sunder Ramani is the<br \/>\none I most want to win.<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Frankly, I don&#8217;t care if you<br \/>\nagree with me on any of these four people. That isn&#8217;t the point.<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">What matters is that you get<br \/>\npast the slogans and the attack ads and ideological nails hammered into your<br \/>\nbrains with money raised from special interests and remember the values you<br \/>\nhold dear, the values you look for in a mate and hope to see in your children.<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">This isn&#8217;t some war game we&#8217;re<br \/>\nplaying where one side wins and the other surrenders. This is our city, our<br \/>\nstate, our nation. We&#8217;ve all got to win or feel like we had a fair chance at<br \/>\nwinning or we&#8217;re all just a bunch of losers.<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p> <input id=\"gwProxy\" type=\"hidden\" \/><!--Session data--><input onclick=\"jsCall();\" id=\"jsProxy\" type=\"hidden\" \/><\/p>\n<div id=\"refHTML\"><\/div>\n<p><input id=\"gwProxy\" type=\"hidden\" \/><!--Session data--><input onclick=\"jsCall();\" id=\"jsProxy\" type=\"hidden\" \/><\/p>\n<div id=\"refHTML\"><\/div>\n<p><input id=\"gwProxy\" type=\"hidden\" \/><!--Session data--><input onclick=\"jsCall();\" id=\"jsProxy\" type=\"hidden\" \/><\/p>\n<div id=\"refHTML\"><\/div>\n<p><input id=\"gwProxy\" type=\"hidden\" \/><!--Session data--><input onclick=\"jsCall();\" id=\"jsProxy\" type=\"hidden\" \/><\/p>\n<div id=\"refHTML\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Once upon a time in the land of the free and home of the brace, you could trust a man&#8217;s handshake and his word was as good as gold. &nbsp; We celebrated the virtues of frugality and modesty, idealized those who could not tell a lie and made &nbsp;legends of &nbsp;war heroes and Honest Abe. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4290,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-575843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/575843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4290"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=575843"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/575843\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=575843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=575843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=575843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}