The Beatles: The Best Band Ever (Interesting Biographies #14)

The Beatles is one of the best if not the best band ever. They set the standard for music and pop culture through their massive influence. No band has topped their fame yet, but why? Little darling, here comes the story of The Beatles.

The Beatles started in Liverpool when John Lennon in March 1957, began recruiting members for his band. Eventually, he teamed up with three other members and the group we all know as the Fab Four was created. It was Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Stuart Sutcliffe. Wait, Sutcliffe? Wasn’t it someone else? Anyway, Sutcliffe is the one who came up with the name, “The Beatles”. Originally he suggested the band be called “Beatals”  as a tribute to Buddy Holly and The Crickets. Then the band became “The Silver Beatles” and then they changed their name to “The Beatles”. Sutcliffe also has credit for creating the classic hair cuts The Beatles had that we all love. In mid-August a drummer joined the band. I bet you know who it was. That’s right, it was Pete Best! Wait, did you expect someone else? The band performed at several clubs the next two years and became popular in Liverpool. During this period Sutcliffe left the band to pursue his art studies in Germany. Boy, did that guy miss out. Eventually, The Beatles made a record deal with George Martin of EMI.

The Beatles first recorded at EMI’s Abbey Road Studios in London on June 6, 1962. However, Martin was not satisfied with Best’s drumming skills, so The Beatles replaced Best with Ringo Starr (there is the fourth member we all know). Hear that haters? Starr literally replaced the Best. In February 1963, The Beatles recorded ten songs for their debut album, “Please Please Me”. It included two songs that had been released as singles a month earlier: “Love Me Do” and “Please Please Me”, which had moderate success. Those song titles aren’t exactly proper grammar. The album released in March and met with success, remaining at the top of the charts in the UK for thirty weeks. In April the band released their third single, “From Me To You” and their fourth single called “She Loves You” reached the top of the charts with their fourth single receiving the fastest sales of a record at the time.

(The Beatles’ first album, Please Please Me.)

On February 7, 1964, the Beatles landed in New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport to begin their conquest of the United States of America after their band had gained popularity in the U.S. in December. They became even more famous after they appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show with 70 million viewers watching them. This began the phenomenon known as Beatlemania. In March and April, United Artist Records convinced the band to sign a three-motion-picture deal because of the commercial potential for their songs. During those months The Beatles shot their first film, A Hard Day’s Night, which was a mock-documentary on the band. It was a success when it premiered in July and August in the U.S. and U.K. In August the Beatles met famous musician Bob Dylan, whom introduced them to cannabis. I guess The Beatles weren’t kidding when they said they got “higher with a little help from my friends”.

In July 1965, The Beatles released their second album called, “Help!”. This album highlighted the McCartney-Lennon song writing partnership in songs like Help!, Ticket To Ride, and Yesterday. In December they released their third album, “Rubber Soul”, which included famous songs such as In My Life that showed the maturity and growth of the band. In June 1966, The Beatles released a compellation album for the U.S. called “Yesterday and Today” that caused an uproar for its gruesome cover art. The idea of the cover was supposed to be a satirical response to how the U.S. was butchering their albums. They ran into more U.S. controversy when Lennon made a comment during an interview stating The Beatles were “More popular than Jesus”. It was supposed to be more of a humorous remark by commenting on how their concerts were more packed than churches. However, in the eyes of Bible Belt America, The Beatles were spawns of Satan. Just imagine how Fox News would have reacted to that comment. In response, Bible Belt Americans burned Beatles albums and banned their music from the radio. If Lennon had said “To teenage girls we are more popular than Jesus”, maybe he would have gotten away with it.

(The cover of The Beatles’ compellation album, “Yesterday and Today. Quite gruesome isn’t it?)

In August, The Beatles released their next album, “Revolver”.  This continued to show the band’s maturity and experimentation with psychedelic rock. Then in June of 1967, they released their next album, “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”. This album is considered the greatest album of all time. In 1968, The Beatles released a successful film called Yellow Submarine. Then they released their next album, “The White Album”, while it was successful it was not critically received well for it lacked creativity. Also the cover of the album is incredibly lazy. The making of “The White Album” is marked as the beginning of the break up of The Beatles. Tensions were growing high as the band members were becoming annoyed with each other. Also Lennon began to bring his girlfriend, Yoko Ono to the recordings. We all know what that’s like when your friend is dating and they show off their date everywhere. In September they released their next album, “Abbey Road”, which quickly rose to number one. It was a miracle that album was made considering how much the band members hated each other at that point. In May of 1970, The Beatles released their final album, “Let It Be”. A month earlier the world was brought the most devastating announcement since the Kennedy Assasination. McCartney had announced his departure from The Beatles and soon all the other members left as well.

(The album cover to The Beatles’ “Abbey Road”.)

What happened to the members? John Lennon had is own successful solo career, but he was assassinated in December 1980. George Harrison also had a successful solo career, but he died in November 2001 due to lung cancer. Paul McCartney is still alive and has had a successful solo career. Finally, Ringo Starr is also still alive and had a briefly successful solo career, but now is the guy people go to in order to find out about the more popular members of The Beatles.

Why are The Beatles the most successful band in history? Why is it we don’t have a artists like The Beatles in today’s time? First of all The Beatles set the standard story for all bands. Start off your career with some love songs, have a documentary film about you, do some controversial stuff, get hooked on drugs, and break up. No band has strayed from this formula unless they just fade into obscurity like Click Five.

The closest thing we have to The Beatles today is One Direction, which is sad because it shows how much popular music has deteriorated over the years. Anyway, when The Beatles first started they were a simple boy band, whom sang love songs that filled the fantasies of teenage girls. One Direction is doing the same thing right now. Will One Direction mature like The Beatles did? Probably not. Why? The answer is the market. When The Beatles were around their was major changes taking place in America. President Lyndon B. Johnson had the War on Poverty, Civil Rights, and the protests against the Vietnam War. The Beatles became the people’s voice of these issues and that sold a lot of money. In today’s world we obviously still face major issues, but political music doesn’t sell. Sex, drugs and partying does. Yeah, there are songs that relate to issues like gay marriage out there, but they are not rebellious in nature. We need a band or artist that is not afraid to be like, “FU!” to the government. For example when the NSA scandal was uncovered did you hear any artists sing about it? When is the last time you heard a political song on the radio? I don’t know why, but artists have not been allowed to express those beliefs. I would think a producer could make more money on an artist that is outspoken than a restricted one. If you watch The Beatles in their interviews, they are smart and funny. They aren’t afraid to mock the U.S. We need more artists like that in the world. No artist really stands out on top today because music wise they don’t stick out from everybody else. There is a good chance I will not see a band like The Beatles in my lifetime and that is sad.

This has been the fourteenth installment of my Interesting Biographies series. Follow my blog for more entries in the future. Also check out my previous biographies. Leave a comment if there is someone you want me to do a biography on.

Marie Antoinette: The Most Hated Queen Ever(Interesting Biographies #12)

Marie Antoinette is known for saying, “Let them eat cake” even though she never said that. If TMZ existed in her time, she would be the scapegoat of the show. She was so unpopular people even tried to kill her. Why was she so hated and was she hated too much?

Antoinette was born a princess on November 2, 1755,  in Vienna, Austria. Her dad was Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor and her mom was Queen Maria Theresa of Hungary and Bohemia. Fun fact, she was born the same day the Great Lisbon Earthquake, when fires and tsunamis almost completely destroyed the Portugal city. If that was not an obvious symbolism of the French Revolution in the future, I don’t know what would have been. The only thing her education covered as a youth was how to behave like a princess, so she watch the Princess Diaries daily. She did learn how to play musical instruments such as the clavicord (whatever that is) and the harp.

(Antoinette at age thirteen, looking like a grandma.)

On April 19, 1769, she was married to Louis XVI, the future king of France. She was fourteen, which might seem young, but is only two years younger than the average Disney princess. On June 11, 1775, her husband became the king of France. Immediately, she was pressured into producing a heir. However, Louis did not know how to have sex. Their relationship was like Steve Urkel marrying Paris Hilton. Louis’ friends had to tell him how to have sex. If you thought your parents were putting pressure on you to have children, just imagine how it must have felt for Antoinette to have an entire country pressure her. Antoinette did not help her image out by buying lavish clothing and gambling money while the people were living in famine. She gave birth to a daughter on December 19, 1778. Antoinette was like, “Look people, I gave birth to a child just like you wanted.” The people responded, “We wanted a MALE heir, not a girl! Go have another baby!” Considering how rough of the birth was she was not looking forward to going through it again. She gave birth to a son on October 22, 1781. The only job a queen had was give birth to a son. She had no real power or influence.

(Antoinette and her husband, Louis.)

As the financial situation in France kept getting worse and no reforms were being made, the queen became involved with politics. One major reason was to save her reputation because there had been a recent scandal, which today is known as the Affair of the Diamond Necklace. The queen was accused of not paying the crown jewelers for a necklace they made for her. On top of that there was a lot of bad gossip surrounding the queen related to sexual activity.

On July 14, 1789, the French Revolution began with the destruction of the prison called Bastille. Violence started as a result of Louis’ failure to provide more rights to the people. As a result, Louis signed the Deceleration Rights of the Man and Citizen, declaring men had certain universal rights and a constitutional monarchy was born. However, that didn’t end the revolution because a bread shortage drew people mad again. On October 5, an angry mob stormed into the Palace of Versailles where the royals and powerful people were living. The mob successfully drove the royals and most of the French Assembly back to Paris, which is where they were supposed to be. In Paris the royal family were under watch 24/7 under house arrest. Antoinette was accused of several sex scandals and hit tabloids harder than Britney Spears. On the night of June 20, 1791, the royals tried to escape from Paris by disguising themselves as servants to spark a counter-revolution. However, the king was recognized and the escape failed.

(The angry mob storms into the palace, but they don’t look that angry in this picture.)

On September 21, it was officially declared the French monarchy was over and the National Assembly became the head power in France. King Louis was put on trial in December for his crimes and was found innocent. Just kidding, of course they found him guilty and had him executed on January 21, 1793. As a result Antoinette went into mourning and her health deteriorated.  The National Assembly debated on what they should do with the queen. Ideas ranged from execution to trading her for money. Eventually, she was tried on October 14, with less than a day to prepare her defense, but it’s not like it would have made a difference. She was tried for incest with her son, assassination attempts, massacres, money theft, and planning orgies. To no one’s surprise, she was found guilty and was executed on October 16.

(Antoinette’s execution.)

Marie Antoinette was the easiest target for the French media. All of the accusations of her sexual activities were false including the one that claimed she had sex with her son. I’m not saying Antoinette is not guilty of being a bad queen. While the queen did not have much power, she should have at least fought for her people. She and the rest of the royals should have been more aware of the poverty that surrounded them. To be fair, part of this is because Louis and Antoinette were trained to behave like royals, but not on how to take the responsibilities of a royal. They had no guidance to make good choices. Giving the circumstances it is easy to see why the French media was angry and insulted her constantly. What is famously known about her comes from the rumors. In today’s media we can see the same thing from TMZ reports on celebrities to Fox News on President Obama. It shows how much influence the media has and how they can create a false image of a person that becomes accepted.

This has been the twelfth installment of my Interesting Biographies series. Follow my blog for more entries in the future. Also read my previous biographies. Leave a comment if there is someone you want me to do a biography on.

John Brown: Hero or Terrorist? (Interesting Biographies #11)

Was John Brown a hero or a terrorist? He tried to end slavery, but used violence and killed people. Brown is like John Lennon if he spread his message through riots instead of music. He’s the only white guy Malcolm X approved. Brown believed violence and fear was the only way to make change happen. Was he right?

Brown was born on May 9, 1800, in Torrington, Connecticut. When he was 16, he left his family in hopes of becoming a Congregationalist Minister. However, he ran out of money and had eye inflammations, so he had to move back in with his parents in Ohio. He opened a successful tannery of his own. He married Dianthe Lusk and moved to New Richmond, Pennsylvania. This guy was handier than Bob the Builder because he built his own barn, cabin, and tannery. He had seven children, but then Brown hit a rough spot in his life. One of his children died, he became ill, his business was not doing well, and his wife died. He remarried to Marry Ann Day, whom was 16 years old. Wait, Brown was 34 when he married her. That’s weird, but at least she wasn’t his cousin (looking at you Edgar Allan Poe). In 1836, Brown and his family moved to Franklin Mills, Ohio. Once again he opened up a tannery and once again he ran into financial difficulties. A year later Elijah Parish Lovejoy was murdered. Lovejoy was an newspaper editor and abolitionist that criticized slavery. He was killed by a pro-slavery group. When Brown heard the news, he vowed he would end slavery.

In 1846, Brown and his business partner, Simon Perkins moved to Springfield, Massachusetts. It was like the head quarters of the anti-slavery movement. He became a member of the “Free Church”, where abolitionists came and gave speeches. He even spoke with Frederick Douglass. Brown and his partner ran a wool operation, but ran into financial disputes with Springfield marketers, whom were selling his wool for prices that were too cheap. Brown went to Europe to search for better business, but failed. He had to close his business and was faced with huge debt again. Poor Brown, he just can’t run a business.

In 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act was passed, which stated authorities in free states had to assist slave states in capturing escaped slaves. In response to this Brown created the League of Gileadites to protect slaves escaping from Springfield. This was his first act in his abolitionist movement.

In 1855, the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed that said Nebraska and Kansas were given the right to vote whether they would be a free state or a slave state. Pro-slavery supporters began to invade Kansas. Brown saw the corruption that was being committed and realized Kansas was practically being forced by pro-slavery supporters into becoming a slave state. On May 21, 1856, 800 pro-slavery supporters led by Sheriff Jones cause havoc in Lawrence, destroying a hotel and two printing presses. This angered Brown and he created a militia to fight back. Brown and his men killed five pro-slavery supporters north of the Pottowatomie River in Franklin County. However, it is disputed how involved or if Brown was involved in the killings at all. At the very least his followers caused havoc and murder following Brown’s ideals.

The next few years Brown gathered money, weapons, and supporters. He allied with six wealthy abolitionists, which provided his financial backing for his plan for a certain raid. These men were known as the Secret Six, not to be confused with Doctor Octopus’ Sinister Six. He met with famous figures such as Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and got some men from Harriet Tubman. Finally, after years of planning and preparation, Brown could commence his raid on Harpers Fairy, West Virginia. His ultimate goal was to start a slave revolt.

(It’s Brown cosplaying as Radagast the Brown?)

On October 16, 1859, before the raid Brown and his men took several people hostage including Lewis Washington, the great-grandnephew of George Washington. They raided the arsenal of Harper’s Fairy to get weapons. During the raid they killed a free black man, which was ironic. The next day, the community of Harpers Ferry set up their own militia. Brown battled the townspeople and relocated to a small engine house. The companions of Brown who tried to escape the house including his son were killed. President James Buchanan sent Brevet Colonel Robert E. Lee (yes, THE Robert E. Lee) and troops to take care of Brown. The next day, Brown was given a chance to surrender, but refused. Then an epic battle that lasted three minutes ensued. Brown and seven of his men were captured, five of his men escaped, and ten of his men were killed.

(An artist’s depiction of the battle at Harpers Ferry.)

On October 27, Brown was put on trial in Virginia for the murder of four white men and one black man, conspiracy to start a slave rebellion, and treason. After a week, Brown was found guilty on all three accounts. This is not surprising when you consider he was tried in the state he attacked. That’s like putting Osama Bin Laden on trial in New York. Brown was hanged on December 2, for his crimes.

In a sense John Brown was a terrorist. He and his buddies used violence and intimidation to try to achieve their political goals and they terrorized people. Brown’s role in the deaths has been debated. His men defiantly killed people, but some historians claim Brown thought his men went too far. People defend Brown by saying he was fighting fire with fire. The pro-slavery guys attacked first and Brown was just defending abolitionists. Also just the fact that he was trying to end slavery justifies his actions and even those deaths. That makes him a hero. There is a very thin line between terrorist and hero in this case. It’s all about perspective. No one was there when Brown made his decisions, so it’s tough to decide. However, I will say that he did do more good than harm when you look at what happened after his death. The Raid on Harpers Fairy is on of the events that set of the Civil War and the Civil War ended up freeing the slaves. Then again I could say Adolph Hitler was a major cause of World War II and World War II was the reason the U.S. got out of a financial crisis and it led to the world we have today. Every historical figure has made a contribution that was better or worse for the world.

This has been the eleventh installment of my Interesting Biographies series. Follow my blog for more entries in the future. Also read my previous biographies. Leave a comment if there is someone you want me to do a biography on.

Joseph McCarthy: The Boy Who Cried Communist(Interesting Biographies #6)

During the last few years the US has heard wild accusations coming from both parties. Lies are associated with politicians. If their was a politician that people would say was the human representation of those lies it would be Joseph McCarthy. During the Cold War this man sent the government on a wild goose chase or communist chase in this case. Was he completely wrong? If we examine McCarthy’s actions we can learn a very important lesson.

McCarthy was born on November 14, 1908, in Grand Chute, Wisconsin. He joined the US Marine Corps and fought in World War II. After the war he won the 1946 senate election for Wisconsin as a Republican. McCarthy did not stand out during his first term, but when he did it was not for the better. He was seen as a corporate sell out. There was an incident where McCarthy claimed the US military illegally tortured German soldiers to have them confess a massacre. However, he had no proof. This led him to being voted as “the worst US senator currently in office”. It’s ironic because you would think McCarthy would have learned a lesson from this; don’t make accusations you can’t back up. However, he learned nothing.

On February 9, 1950, McCarthy made the infamous announcement during a speech in Wheeling, West Virginia. There people claimed he announced, “The State Department is infested with communists. I have here in my hand a list of 205—a list of names that were made known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist Party and who nevertheless are still working and shaping policy in the State Department.” This was McCarthy’s political equivalent to Miley Cyrus’s performance at the 2013 VMAs. At the time Americans, especially the government was afraid of Communists. McCarthy decided to become the driver of the Communist hate band wagon. Keep in mind I said “people claimed he announced”. There is no official audio of the speech. Some people claim the list was said to have both Communists and Communist Sympathizers. Also the number he said is debated.

To McCarthy’s surprise the media actually wanted him to provide evidence for his claims. McCarthy wasn’t exactly what one would call a “good liar” because not only did he refuse to show his sources, but he also kept changing up the number of Communists that he was accusing. Some people say in his defense that the change in numbers was due to the State Department’s personnel transferring in and out. There was a series of hearings called the Tydings Committee Hearings where Democrats challenged McCarthy to back up his claims. McCarthy failed to support his case in those hearings completely, but that did not stop him from spreading the fear of Communism. His main argument was that the government was failing to see the Communists that had infiltrated it. Overtime he gained fame, popularity, and a following from people. However, he still had his opponents. They created the phrase, “McCarthyism”. “McCartyism” is making accusations of disloyalty without having any evidence to back it up. So basically it’s the political term for “bullshit”.

(The political cartoon that coined the phrase, “McCarthyism”.)

Despite the controversy surrounding him, McCarthy was reelected for the Wisconsin senate seat in 1952. By then his influence was huge. Even President Eisenhower was afraid to publically criticize him. McCarthy had become the bully on the playground every kid was afraid of. At this point the Communist investigation had become a witch hunt, which is actually an appropriate comparison to make because Arthur Miller’s famous play; “The Crucible”, was based on the insanity of McCarthyism.

(Political cartoon that illustrates McCarthy’s big influence on the government.)

In 1953, he became the head of the Senate Committee on Government Operations. The committee investigated people and organizations suspected of Communism. They attacked news shows, movies, and libraries. If you had a film on Communism, you were a Communist. If you wanted to educate yourself on Communism, you were a Communist. If you knew about Communism, you were a Communist. If you wore red, you were a Communist. If your name began with the letter “C”, you were a Communist. Point being that no one was safe from the committee.

However, the committee doomed themselves when they began to investigate the US Army. This led to the infamous televised Army-McCarthy hearings in 1954, which lasted for thirty-six days. The most famous moment of trials and the day that ended McCarthy’s career was on June 9th, the 30th day of the trials. McCarthy was accusing a man named Fred Fisher of Communist ties. At that moment the army’s chief legal representative, Joseph Nye Welch was being questioned. Angry at McCarthy’s accusation toward Fisher, Welch said, “Until this moment, Senator, I think I never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness …Let us not assassinate this lad further, Senator. You’ve done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?” The audience applauded after he said that. If this were a rap battle, McCarthy would have been served.

http://qph.is.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-2fbf23b501dcde3db4dcd3b80fa77db8?convert_to_webp=true
(Political cartoon of McCarthy after the hearings.)

On December 2, 1954, after the disastrous hearings, the Senate voted to censure McCarthy for false accusations and abusing his power. When the Senate censures someone, all they are really doing is saying that the guy is “disapproved”. The person isn’t punished, just given a bad name.

In his final years McCarthy was ostracized from society. He sank into a deep depression and became an alcoholic. On May 2, 1957, McCarthy died of hepatitis caused by his alcoholism.

Was McCarthy a total fraud? While the majority of people agree he was there are some who say we should reevaluate him. Recently the Venona Files were released. These files have names of Communists in the government during McCarthy’s time. 159 of those names were used or referenced by McCarthy, so he actually might have had legit info. However, the files have not been approved by the history committee yet. Critics have bashed its legitimacy. Looking at the 159 names alone, it is believed a majority of them were not actual threats. Could the Democrats have painted a false picture of McCarthy? Maybe, but then again McCarthy was not perfect. He still went after the wrong guys. He crossed the line.

What can we learn from McCarthy? Besides the obvious don’t lie. Today when I think of American politicians and the accusations they have made I realize that they need to be called out. The media needs to do a better job of researching claims and letting the truth out there. For example there is a great website called politifact.com. It’s a nonpartisan website that researches politicians claims and states whether they are false or not. The media needs to be like this. It is infuriating how politicians will get away with bullshit claims and people will buy it. McCarthy teaches us that we can’t take someone’s word when it comes to politics, you have to research it on your own.

This has been the sixth installment of my Interesting Biographies series. Follow my blog for more post like this in the future. Also check out my previous biographies. Leave a comment if there is someone you want me to do a biography on.

Has Obama Been A Let Down This Year?

In 2007, Barack Obama was elected as the nation’s first black president, who in the future will probably known as the first biracial president. I remember Democrats treated Obama as their Ronald Reagan. People in my liberal town saw him as a savior. Obama had huge goals for this country. However, once Obama found out he could not shut down Guantanamo Bay, it became clear that his promises were a little too grand. He did make progress, but he fell short. In the beginning of his presidency people were blaming George W. Bush for leaving Obama in a tight spot. By the election people were beginning to see his flaws. Fortunately for Obama, he was up against what had to be the worst selection of Republican nominees in history. He was reelected, but this time he is being watched more carefully by the public. Some people have said, “it is like people have finally realized Bush is not in office anymore”.

This was the roughest year for Obama. Republicans were bashing him for Benghazi. Then Republicans had him on the IRS scandal. However, that was really just the Republicans bashing him.

The first big scandal was the NSA leaks. I do not think anyone was surprised the NSA was spying on Americans, but Edward Snowden gave an official confirmation. Snowden’s story is a classic rebel vs government. Obama came across as a bad guy because people did not see Snowden as a Benedict Arnold. The government was the one lying to us. It was the Benedict Arnold. Now it has been revealed that the government is looking at people’s web history and the NSA agents have been using their technology to spy on their crushes. At a recent White House press conference, a reporter asked Obama to name one time the NSA stopped a terrorist attack with their tactics. Obama completely dodged the question. Instead he answered by saying what the NSA is supposed to be doing with people’s information. This scandal has made people lose trust in the government. Especially since Obama expanded the NSA program when he had promised to end it during his campaign.

Then Obama threatened to go to war with Syria. That was a stupid move. No one wanted to go to war. The war campaign completely failed. This high lighted how America’s mission of democratic peace was becoming more of a military movement in the Middle East. It was Russia’s Vladimir Putin that made peace, not America. Syria proved that America should not try to solve conflicts in the Middle East by itself. Problems should be solved in a diplomatic solution, contributed by all parties. The recent talks with Iran are a step in the right direction.

Finally we have the disastrous Obama Care website roll out. The whole scenario seemed comedic like a joke you see in a South Park episode. This was Obama’s big mark as a president and he blew it. It is like if Usain Bolt tripped and fell over at the start of an Olympic race. Maybe Obama rushed the website because he wanted to do something good this year.

This year was not a good start for Obama, but he still has three more years ago. I think he has showed signs that he learned from his mistakes, but I will not get my hopes too high up.

Worst Congress Ever

Recently John Boehner made a compromise with Democrats. While he did not get what the Republicans wanted, he did keep our government functioning. However, his party refuses to see past what they did not get and insult him. Republicans call him weak. There were similar complaints when Boehner was seeking reelection as Speaker of the House. However, despite their complaints, the Republicans chose to reelect him again.

Recently it was announced that this congress was the worst congress in American History. Some politicians defend themselves by arguing that people should focus on what they have stopped the country from doing. I do not think Congress should just blindly pass legislation, but it seems that they do not plan on passing any legislation. 

In order for a democracy to work there has to be compromise. No party is ever going to completely get what they want. In Congress a person is seen as a traitor if they agree with the other side on even just one issue. New comers to Congress must be pressured to not compromise. It is a bad lesson that is being passed down. 

The truth is there is no person out there who is 100% liberal or conservative. Human nature is inconsistent. If everyone thought one way then we would not have made the progress which makes America great. We still have a lot of work to do to fix this country and we will not solve anything being stubborn. 

What congress needs is a generation of new, younger politicians. People who understand the difficulties of our generation. These current, old congressmen have no idea how people really feel. There are younger politicians out there, but none of them want to enter Congress because they feel like they will not accomplish anything. I understand Congress must be like Hell, but those people need to get in there and fix things.

It is time for the American people to have their voices heard. So have peaceful protests, march on Washington, convince people to contact your representative, or even better, threaten to not reelect your current representative. Politicians care about their power and image more than anything. If you apply enough pressure on them, they will give in. Take a good look at your current representative and ask yourself if they have done what you wanted. If the answer is no, then do not reelect them. Americans need to start a new movement. However, lets not get crazy like the 70s.

I will end this blog with the lyrics from the Bob Dylan song; The Times They Are A-Changin.

Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don’t stand in the doorway
Don’t block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There’s a battle outside
And it is ragin’
It’ll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin’.