If you haven't read Sarah Palin's "Going Rogue, An American Life" book yet, I would suggest it. It is a very comfortable read, it is like reading about a friend, someone who is that person who is always keeping the plates spinning in their community. We all know this person, many of us are them. I have been on so many volunteer boards that are filled with people of the kind of individuals that Sarah Palin reminds me.
These are the people who are the busiest people in town, yet are the first ones to volunteer for things that need them. They are filling the positions of volunteer leadership in the Churches, Schools, and every imaginable social club and group that makes things happen in your town, or any town around the country. They are the backbone of America. My wife, who volunteered to be our daughter's Brownie leader 7 years ago when no one would step up, now is the District Chairperson for the entire school districts Girl Scout organization running 35 troops plus her own, always says to people who complain that most parents don't get involved, "Get used to it, it is always the same handful in any organization who take the responsibility to make it happen." These are the people who Sarah Palin reflects in her own life.
I have read some people who have complained that "Going Rogue" didn't lay out her plans for the future or what she would do if in power. That wasn't what this book was about. This book allowed Sarah to speak directly to the people and tell her story her way. She told who she was, is, and what she cares about. It was her story up to now, in her words, not spun by her enemies from either party or press.
If you read it, it would be hard for you not to like Sarah Palin the person if you agree or disagree with her politics. She is a good person, someone most of us would feel comfortable having in our sphere of acquaintances. Her next book will be the policy one, if you haven't heard she just signed to do another book. It will be the vision book, I look forward to reading it as well.
If you have questions about any of the myriad of claims made against her, I recommend reading her version of the story found here. It would give you the opportunity to decide for yourself which story makes more sense, hers or the medias.
Rather than going into it fully here, I can feel another blog coming on this, I find the similarities between Sarah Palin and Ronald Reagan to be a lot more than just their biographies carrying the "An American Life" as part of their titles. With the exception of one thing for each, everything that Sarah Palin's detractors have said about her, are exactly the same things they said about Ronald Reagan. It is as if they have a playbook on how to Alinsky an attractive conservative candidate. Going back before Alinsky was born, the irony is that what was said about both Reagan and Palin, was also said by even those in the cabinet of Abraham Lincoln. The only place different between them was Palin is put down for her "Barbie Doll looks," Reagan for his age, and Lincoln for his ugly clumsy lankiness. Maybe soon I will take the time to ferret out the quotes against each, it is amazing how similar they are.
When it comes to Palin, as with anyone, I like to look at who their enemies are. If they have the right enemies, they must be doing something right. It surely appears that Sarah Palin must be doing a lot right with the list of people who are against her.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
I Say Pluck Them!
Last night the battle was lost, but not the war! Obama, Pelosi, and the Democrats burned up a lot of political capital pushing through the most unpopular legislation in American history. The back room deals, the bribes, the sleaze, and filth makes even their supporters queasy seeing things done, never done before. How is that Hope and Change thing working out? Where is the reaching out across the aisle? We did see that much talked about bipartisanship, where 34 Democrats had the courage to vote for their constituents, and for America over the threats of Obama and Pelosi. Only Progressive Democrats voted for it.
There will be all kinds of dances going on in the Senate, and challenges by the Republicans, however, the defeat of Obamacare will come in the Supreme Court. There appears that soon 39 different individual State Attorney Generals are going to sue the Federal government on the Un-Constitutionality of this bill. There are so many different issues that are Un-Constitutional. They are mandating you buy, they can't do that. They are mandating you buy what they approve, they can't do that? They are giving the IRS power to monitor your bank accounts and punish you if you are not buying a policy they approve. They can't do that. They are telling what features you must buy, they can't do that. They are giving special deals to different states, and two different religious groups, they can't do that.
The courts should start seeing dozens of suits from individual states, from businesses large and small, and from hopefully millions of individual Americans. One of the groups already getting ready to file suit is the American Center for Law and Justice, a group with a high success rate of defeating anti-Christian laws and the ACLU. You can join with them at www.aclj.org.
Once before America was being torn asunder to a Socialist take over of the private sector. It was the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933, the NIRA. It was the first major instrument of FDR's attempt to over come the depression. It was far reaching into determining "fair" competition legislated by the government with more than 750 different codes. The Act declared a National emergency and used that to justify Congressional action under the Commerce and General Welfare clauses of the U.S. Constitution. The same one that Obama and the Democrats are using today.
Then came four chicken pickers who took on the most powerful president in history, Franklin D. Roosevelt. The Schechter Poultry Corporation, owned and operated by Joseph, Martin, Alex, and Aaron Schechter, was in the business of selling chickens at wholesale. The corporation purchased some of the poultry from outside the state of New York. It bought the poultry at markets and railroad terminals in New York City and sold the poultry to retailers in the city and surrounding areas. In April 1934 President Roosevelt approved the code of fair competition for the live poultry industry of the New York City metropolitan area (Live Poultry Code). In July 1934 the Schechters were arrested and indicted on SIXTY counts of violating the Live Poultry Code. The indictment included charges that Schechter Poultry had failed to observe the "minimum wage" and "maximum hour" provisions applicable to workers and that it had violated a provision of the Live Poultry Code prohibiting the sale of unfit chickens. The case became popularly known as the Sick Chicken case.
The Schechters pleaded not guilty to the charges. At trial, the Schechters were convicted on eighteen counts of violating the Live Poultry Code and two counts of conspiring to violate the Live Poultry Code. An appeals court affirmed their convictions, but the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear their appeal.
The Schechters presented several arguments challenging the Live Poultry Code. According to the Schechters, the code system of the NIRA was an unconstitutional abdication of the legislative power vested in Congress by Article I, Section 1, of the U.S. Constitution. The Schechters argued further that their intrastate wholesale business was not subject to congressional authority under the Commerce Clause of Article I, Section 8, Clause 3, of the Constitution and that the procedures for enforcing the NIRA codes violated the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment.
The Court unanimously disagreed with the federal government. Under the Commerce Clause, Congress had the power to regulate commerce between the states, not intrastate commerce. The power to enact legislation on intrastate commerce was reserved to the states under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution. The Court reversed the Schechters' convictions and declared the Live Poultry Code unconstitutional.
The Schechter decision was decided around the same time as other, similar Supreme Court decisions striking down federal attempts to address the economic crises of the Depression. However, the Schechter decision was a particularly troublesome setback for the Roosevelt administration. The NIRA was the centerpiece of Roosevelt's plan to stabilize the national economy (the New Deal), and the government's loss in the Sick Chicken case marked the end of the NIRA and its fair trade codes.
Less than one week after the Schechter decision was announced, Roosevelt publicly condemned the Court. Roosevelt declared that the Court's "horse-and-buggy definition of interstate commerce" was an obstacle to national health.
Roosevelt's remarks were controversial because they appeared to cross the line that separated the powers of the executive branch from those of the judicial branch. Nevertheless, they sparked a national debate on the definition of interstate commerce, the role of the U.S. Supreme Court, and the limits of federal power. Several citizens and federal legislators began to propose laws and constitutional amendments in an effort to change the makeup of the Supreme Court.
After the Supreme Court delivered another series of opinions in 1936 that nullified New Deal legislation, Roosevelt began to push for legislation that would modify the makeup of the Court. Roosevelt wanted to add 6 more Justices to give it 15 so he could stack it with his own people to over ride the Court.
Congress never enacted Roosevelt's so-called court-packing plan
There will be all kinds of dances going on in the Senate, and challenges by the Republicans, however, the defeat of Obamacare will come in the Supreme Court. There appears that soon 39 different individual State Attorney Generals are going to sue the Federal government on the Un-Constitutionality of this bill. There are so many different issues that are Un-Constitutional. They are mandating you buy, they can't do that. They are mandating you buy what they approve, they can't do that? They are giving the IRS power to monitor your bank accounts and punish you if you are not buying a policy they approve. They can't do that. They are telling what features you must buy, they can't do that. They are giving special deals to different states, and two different religious groups, they can't do that.
The courts should start seeing dozens of suits from individual states, from businesses large and small, and from hopefully millions of individual Americans. One of the groups already getting ready to file suit is the American Center for Law and Justice, a group with a high success rate of defeating anti-Christian laws and the ACLU. You can join with them at www.aclj.org.
Once before America was being torn asunder to a Socialist take over of the private sector. It was the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933, the NIRA. It was the first major instrument of FDR's attempt to over come the depression. It was far reaching into determining "fair" competition legislated by the government with more than 750 different codes. The Act declared a National emergency and used that to justify Congressional action under the Commerce and General Welfare clauses of the U.S. Constitution. The same one that Obama and the Democrats are using today.
Then came four chicken pickers who took on the most powerful president in history, Franklin D. Roosevelt. The Schechter Poultry Corporation, owned and operated by Joseph, Martin, Alex, and Aaron Schechter, was in the business of selling chickens at wholesale. The corporation purchased some of the poultry from outside the state of New York. It bought the poultry at markets and railroad terminals in New York City and sold the poultry to retailers in the city and surrounding areas. In April 1934 President Roosevelt approved the code of fair competition for the live poultry industry of the New York City metropolitan area (Live Poultry Code). In July 1934 the Schechters were arrested and indicted on SIXTY counts of violating the Live Poultry Code. The indictment included charges that Schechter Poultry had failed to observe the "minimum wage" and "maximum hour" provisions applicable to workers and that it had violated a provision of the Live Poultry Code prohibiting the sale of unfit chickens. The case became popularly known as the Sick Chicken case.
The Schechters pleaded not guilty to the charges. At trial, the Schechters were convicted on eighteen counts of violating the Live Poultry Code and two counts of conspiring to violate the Live Poultry Code. An appeals court affirmed their convictions, but the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear their appeal.
The Schechters presented several arguments challenging the Live Poultry Code. According to the Schechters, the code system of the NIRA was an unconstitutional abdication of the legislative power vested in Congress by Article I, Section 1, of the U.S. Constitution. The Schechters argued further that their intrastate wholesale business was not subject to congressional authority under the Commerce Clause of Article I, Section 8, Clause 3, of the Constitution and that the procedures for enforcing the NIRA codes violated the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment.
The Court unanimously disagreed with the federal government. Under the Commerce Clause, Congress had the power to regulate commerce between the states, not intrastate commerce. The power to enact legislation on intrastate commerce was reserved to the states under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution. The Court reversed the Schechters' convictions and declared the Live Poultry Code unconstitutional.
The Schechter decision was decided around the same time as other, similar Supreme Court decisions striking down federal attempts to address the economic crises of the Depression. However, the Schechter decision was a particularly troublesome setback for the Roosevelt administration. The NIRA was the centerpiece of Roosevelt's plan to stabilize the national economy (the New Deal), and the government's loss in the Sick Chicken case marked the end of the NIRA and its fair trade codes.
Less than one week after the Schechter decision was announced, Roosevelt publicly condemned the Court. Roosevelt declared that the Court's "horse-and-buggy definition of interstate commerce" was an obstacle to national health.
Roosevelt's remarks were controversial because they appeared to cross the line that separated the powers of the executive branch from those of the judicial branch. Nevertheless, they sparked a national debate on the definition of interstate commerce, the role of the U.S. Supreme Court, and the limits of federal power. Several citizens and federal legislators began to propose laws and constitutional amendments in an effort to change the makeup of the Supreme Court.
After the Supreme Court delivered another series of opinions in 1936 that nullified New Deal legislation, Roosevelt began to push for legislation that would modify the makeup of the Court. Roosevelt wanted to add 6 more Justices to give it 15 so he could stack it with his own people to over ride the Court.
Congress never enacted Roosevelt's so-called court-packing plan
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Elections Have Consequences.
Tonight we witnessed history. A historic bill that seventy five percent of Americans have come out on record to say that they didn't want. How did we arrive at this point? How can something that the American people so strongly opposed be the new law of the land? There is a saying that is always right, but never welcomed. It is designed to speak to you as an individual, but works in the collective as well.
"You are exactly in life where you wanted to be." You may be screaming "NO I'M NOT!! I didn't choose my financial situation, I didn't choose this Health Care Bill!!" I say to you, yes you did. You, and I, are where we are in direct result of the decisions and actions we have made up until today, choices have consequences. So good or bad, it is your bed and you made it. The good news is you are not dead, that means you can make new decisions that will have new results.
There are two very different things I wanted to talk about in tonight's blog. I have gone back and forth as to which to write. Do I kick us all while we are down and lay out the cause of our challenges, or do I try to inspire to get up, dust ourselves off, and get back into the battle?
I really want to tell the story of Leonidas and the Brave 300 who stood in the gap at Thermopylae. He led his bravest 300 Spartan warriors and about 5,000 Athenians fighting a million warriors led by Xerxes the kind of Persia. They stood in the gap between a rock cliff soaring above them and another dropping off below them to the sea. In that gap they saved the spark of a new idea of how men could live free and independent, the infancy of Democracy. It had just begun in the city states of Greece such as Sparta and Athens. Had those city states been snuffed out, so too would have been this new idea for individual human freedoms. The history of these city states were a large part of what our founders studied to create our own.
This is too good of a story for me to write tonight in my current mood. It will have to wait, maybe later this week. Ultimately we do have to get back up after being knocked down, we must dust ourselves off and start all over again.
Tonight it is going to be about Consequences, the consequences of our actions.... or in-actions.
Tonight's results could easily have been predicted in November of 08. Once Obama was elected with overwhelming majorities in both the House and Senate. There was truly nothing that could be done to stop it. The fact that it was as difficult as it was gives testament to the brilliant and valiant job the Republicans in those chambers have done. They were truly charging Hell with water pistols, but were able to hold it back for over a year. I thought they had won by keeping it from being done by last December. I didn't believe any Democrat would vote for this during an election year, I underestimated their suicide bomber mentality.
This evening it has been infuriating to see the many posts on Facebook, the emails, and texts I have seen blaming the Republicans for not fighting hard enough, not being vocal enough, not doing whatever enough. I have seen calls for third parties, or to "throw all the bums out" that we need to get rid of all 535 people who brought us this. People, there were not 535 people who brought this to us. It was 100% Democrats, and not even all of them. We need to first be honest with whom the enemy is if we hope to defeat them, we don't have our archers shoot into the midst of all combatants killing our own as well.
If we must assign blame, I blame too many of you, and me. There were so many people in the fall of 08 who told me that they were voting for Obama because they wanted to send the Republicans a message. In Hamilton County, IN, one of the most Republican counties in all of America, our Republican governor got 20% more votes than did McCain. WE THE PEOPLE did this. WE THE PEOPLE had a hissy fit, and now WE THE PEOPLE are paying the price as will our children and their children. I am not giving up, I believe WE THE PEOPLE have learned a valuable lesson, that ELECTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES. It will just take a couple generations to pay for these mistakes already due to the reckless spending we have seen in this last year. I guess we can call that an education by the school of hard knocks.
If however, we haven't learned our lesson, if we endorse and vote for ANY third party candidates this next few elections then we will get more of the same. It is more our blame than Obama and the Democrats, they told us before the election this is what they wanted to do, and were going to do. However, I kept hearing people tell me that Obama would not govern nearly as hard to the left as he was saying, that he was just stroking his base, but was too smart to actually govern as a Socialist. At the time I kept asking what in his history led them to believe that. Never did an answer come, Obama the candidate was magical, because he was whatever people wanted to believe he might be without proof or even evidence.
Now we are here, freedom failed tonight. The IRS is now our boss, they now have access to ALL of our bank accounts to monitor and determine if we are making payments on a health care policy that they approve of each month. They are also the police department to remedy with us if we are not doing as they wish and dictate.
Expect that now the Democrats will feel all powerful after tonight, it is highly likely that they will do as they said last week and shove Cap and Trade, Card Check and amend the Health bill by adding public option in the next few weeks. They are who they are, and are now free to be.
In November we need to make them pay, we need to fight this. I just pray for each of our sake, for our children's sake, and for the future of this nation, as well as for all those who came before who paid the price of our freedom, that we can win it back.
"You are exactly in life where you wanted to be." You may be screaming "NO I'M NOT!! I didn't choose my financial situation, I didn't choose this Health Care Bill!!" I say to you, yes you did. You, and I, are where we are in direct result of the decisions and actions we have made up until today, choices have consequences. So good or bad, it is your bed and you made it. The good news is you are not dead, that means you can make new decisions that will have new results.
There are two very different things I wanted to talk about in tonight's blog. I have gone back and forth as to which to write. Do I kick us all while we are down and lay out the cause of our challenges, or do I try to inspire to get up, dust ourselves off, and get back into the battle?
I really want to tell the story of Leonidas and the Brave 300 who stood in the gap at Thermopylae. He led his bravest 300 Spartan warriors and about 5,000 Athenians fighting a million warriors led by Xerxes the kind of Persia. They stood in the gap between a rock cliff soaring above them and another dropping off below them to the sea. In that gap they saved the spark of a new idea of how men could live free and independent, the infancy of Democracy. It had just begun in the city states of Greece such as Sparta and Athens. Had those city states been snuffed out, so too would have been this new idea for individual human freedoms. The history of these city states were a large part of what our founders studied to create our own.
This is too good of a story for me to write tonight in my current mood. It will have to wait, maybe later this week. Ultimately we do have to get back up after being knocked down, we must dust ourselves off and start all over again.
Tonight it is going to be about Consequences, the consequences of our actions.... or in-actions.
Tonight's results could easily have been predicted in November of 08. Once Obama was elected with overwhelming majorities in both the House and Senate. There was truly nothing that could be done to stop it. The fact that it was as difficult as it was gives testament to the brilliant and valiant job the Republicans in those chambers have done. They were truly charging Hell with water pistols, but were able to hold it back for over a year. I thought they had won by keeping it from being done by last December. I didn't believe any Democrat would vote for this during an election year, I underestimated their suicide bomber mentality.
This evening it has been infuriating to see the many posts on Facebook, the emails, and texts I have seen blaming the Republicans for not fighting hard enough, not being vocal enough, not doing whatever enough. I have seen calls for third parties, or to "throw all the bums out" that we need to get rid of all 535 people who brought us this. People, there were not 535 people who brought this to us. It was 100% Democrats, and not even all of them. We need to first be honest with whom the enemy is if we hope to defeat them, we don't have our archers shoot into the midst of all combatants killing our own as well.
If we must assign blame, I blame too many of you, and me. There were so many people in the fall of 08 who told me that they were voting for Obama because they wanted to send the Republicans a message. In Hamilton County, IN, one of the most Republican counties in all of America, our Republican governor got 20% more votes than did McCain. WE THE PEOPLE did this. WE THE PEOPLE had a hissy fit, and now WE THE PEOPLE are paying the price as will our children and their children. I am not giving up, I believe WE THE PEOPLE have learned a valuable lesson, that ELECTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES. It will just take a couple generations to pay for these mistakes already due to the reckless spending we have seen in this last year. I guess we can call that an education by the school of hard knocks.
If however, we haven't learned our lesson, if we endorse and vote for ANY third party candidates this next few elections then we will get more of the same. It is more our blame than Obama and the Democrats, they told us before the election this is what they wanted to do, and were going to do. However, I kept hearing people tell me that Obama would not govern nearly as hard to the left as he was saying, that he was just stroking his base, but was too smart to actually govern as a Socialist. At the time I kept asking what in his history led them to believe that. Never did an answer come, Obama the candidate was magical, because he was whatever people wanted to believe he might be without proof or even evidence.
Now we are here, freedom failed tonight. The IRS is now our boss, they now have access to ALL of our bank accounts to monitor and determine if we are making payments on a health care policy that they approve of each month. They are also the police department to remedy with us if we are not doing as they wish and dictate.
Expect that now the Democrats will feel all powerful after tonight, it is highly likely that they will do as they said last week and shove Cap and Trade, Card Check and amend the Health bill by adding public option in the next few weeks. They are who they are, and are now free to be.
In November we need to make them pay, we need to fight this. I just pray for each of our sake, for our children's sake, and for the future of this nation, as well as for all those who came before who paid the price of our freedom, that we can win it back.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Why I Am Now Against Building a Fence on Our Border.
There has been a sea change in my thinking on some issues over the last few months. Things that I thought were good before, I see as evil today, or at least potentially serious evil, if not yet so.
When President Bush created the Patriot Act, I was a strong supporter and defended it from the left, the media, and even the right, and Libertarian community. The defense made a great deal of sense to me, basically the Patriot Act removed the "wall" that was put in place under Bill Clinton and Janet Reno to keep the different police, security, and intelligence agencies from sharing information on suspects that they are tracking. It was a new idea that only seemed to give any advantage to the Clinton's to slow down ongoing investigations into many of the Clinton's scandals. Yet it hamstrung our security agencies and made it much more difficult for them to protect our country from terrorists. It actually made criminals of our police agents if they told another agency about suspicious activity of a potential terrorist. How can any reasonable person argue against this part of the Patriot Act?
Another part of the Patriot Act allowed real time monitoring of international cell phone transmissions from targeted nations known for terrorist connections. This didn't listen into Americans calls, but international calls. It turns out that nearly 80% of all international calls are routed through American servers. Again, why would anyone be upset over having us listen in on a call from Iran to Syria going through an American server?
However, now we have the Obama administration saying that "Americans have no reasonable expectation of privacy." This administration is admitted to monitoring all social media sites, and now listening in on ALL Americans cell phone calls. This is deeply disturbing, even more so with the total silence we are hearing from the Main Stream Media and the left over this outrageous attack on our civil liberties. Where is the ACLU?
What we must all learn is that no matter who is stepping on our Constitutional rights, our guys or theirs, we need to demand it stop. Even if those encroachments make sense, even if they make sense to us, we need to say no. Once a liberty is encroached upon, it is hard to reestablish. The power we allow "our guy" to take to do those things "we approve of" will soon be held by someone who is not "our guy" and it can be used to destroy those things we hold dear. This goes back as far as the Alien and Sedition Act under John Adams to curtail the outrageous attacks on his administration while America was being torn apart in a dispute over picking sides in the war between France and England. Fortunately it expired in 1781, and also fortunately Jefferson didn't try to keep it in force to use for his own benefit.
We could discuss many issues where we might like "our guys" to have a particular power, but wouldn't want "their guys" to. This is something that those 20% who still strongly support Obama should keep in mind. He only has about 1,000 days left in power, then it looks like it will be one of "our guys." How would you feel if Dick Cheney held all the power that Obama has seized for himself?
With what I have come to realize, one of my positions that I was upset that George W. Bush didn't do, that I thought he should have, I am now very thankful for. We on the right were and have been upset that we have not built a wall on our border to protect America from rampant illegal immigration. What has finally dawned on me, is that the last time a country built a fence it was used to keep her own people in. Any fence that could keep interlopers out, could just as easily be used to imprison those inside.
When President Bush created the Patriot Act, I was a strong supporter and defended it from the left, the media, and even the right, and Libertarian community. The defense made a great deal of sense to me, basically the Patriot Act removed the "wall" that was put in place under Bill Clinton and Janet Reno to keep the different police, security, and intelligence agencies from sharing information on suspects that they are tracking. It was a new idea that only seemed to give any advantage to the Clinton's to slow down ongoing investigations into many of the Clinton's scandals. Yet it hamstrung our security agencies and made it much more difficult for them to protect our country from terrorists. It actually made criminals of our police agents if they told another agency about suspicious activity of a potential terrorist. How can any reasonable person argue against this part of the Patriot Act?
Another part of the Patriot Act allowed real time monitoring of international cell phone transmissions from targeted nations known for terrorist connections. This didn't listen into Americans calls, but international calls. It turns out that nearly 80% of all international calls are routed through American servers. Again, why would anyone be upset over having us listen in on a call from Iran to Syria going through an American server?
However, now we have the Obama administration saying that "Americans have no reasonable expectation of privacy." This administration is admitted to monitoring all social media sites, and now listening in on ALL Americans cell phone calls. This is deeply disturbing, even more so with the total silence we are hearing from the Main Stream Media and the left over this outrageous attack on our civil liberties. Where is the ACLU?
What we must all learn is that no matter who is stepping on our Constitutional rights, our guys or theirs, we need to demand it stop. Even if those encroachments make sense, even if they make sense to us, we need to say no. Once a liberty is encroached upon, it is hard to reestablish. The power we allow "our guy" to take to do those things "we approve of" will soon be held by someone who is not "our guy" and it can be used to destroy those things we hold dear. This goes back as far as the Alien and Sedition Act under John Adams to curtail the outrageous attacks on his administration while America was being torn apart in a dispute over picking sides in the war between France and England. Fortunately it expired in 1781, and also fortunately Jefferson didn't try to keep it in force to use for his own benefit.
We could discuss many issues where we might like "our guys" to have a particular power, but wouldn't want "their guys" to. This is something that those 20% who still strongly support Obama should keep in mind. He only has about 1,000 days left in power, then it looks like it will be one of "our guys." How would you feel if Dick Cheney held all the power that Obama has seized for himself?
With what I have come to realize, one of my positions that I was upset that George W. Bush didn't do, that I thought he should have, I am now very thankful for. We on the right were and have been upset that we have not built a wall on our border to protect America from rampant illegal immigration. What has finally dawned on me, is that the last time a country built a fence it was used to keep her own people in. Any fence that could keep interlopers out, could just as easily be used to imprison those inside.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
The Great Pretender
Oh yes, Im the great pretender
Pretending that Im doing well
My need is such I pretend too much
Im lonely but no one can tell
Oh yes, Im the great pretender
Adrift in a world of my own
I play the game but to my real shame
You left me to dream all alone
Words and Music by Buck Ram, sung by the Platters. This should be the theme song for Barack Obama.
During the election of 2008 it was common to hear people say that they were either going to vote for Obama, or that it wouldn't be that bad if he won. Their logic was that he was going to run to the left but govern to the middle like Clinton. However, my question to them was what has Obama ever done to lead you to believe that? The next question was "to the center like Clinton AFTER he went so far to the left that the Republicans won back the House and Senate for the first time in forty six years just two years into his administration?
Obama, like all Progressives, hide who they are from the voters. They have even gone back to the Progressive label after they had to run from it decades ago, and usurping the Liberal label. Now the word liberal always loses elections so they are Progressives. Obama ran that he would cut taxes on 95% of Americans only "soaking the rich." He ran that he was going to cut the budget, cut wasteful spending, cut out earmarks, and give real transparency to the political process. These are all conservative principles, and are wanted by the moderates and independents.
Of course Obama is anything but a centrist. He is the single most leftist ideologue to ever hold the White House. What has the result of his true style of governing with the American people? Actually it was predictable.
Today's polls show that 24% of Americans strongly approve of Obama, 42% strongly disapprove with a net negative rating of -18%. Yesterday it was -21%, and only 43-46%even marginally approve of Obama today.
When you look at how the polls showed us this year what the political makeup of our nation's voters. There are 21% who consider themselves to be liberal, 42% who consider themselves conservative and the rest independent or moderate. If you look at this poll number and Obama's you will find they are almost the same. Maybe we have learned something here.
John Adams told us that any any war only one third of Americans would strongly support it, another third would strongly oppose it, and the battle would be for the hearts and minds of the third in the middle.
This same principle works in politics as well. Neither party can win with only those who are strong supporters, they must win the hearts, minds, and trust of those independents and moderates.
That is why "The Great Pretender" lied to us about his moderate and even conservative ideas. Now that the middle has seen what he really meant, they have moved away in a sea-change. It is time to send Obama a strong message in November by taking away his toy box of a House and Senate that gives him what he wants.
Pretending that Im doing well
My need is such I pretend too much
Im lonely but no one can tell
Oh yes, Im the great pretender
Adrift in a world of my own
I play the game but to my real shame
You left me to dream all alone
Words and Music by Buck Ram, sung by the Platters. This should be the theme song for Barack Obama.
During the election of 2008 it was common to hear people say that they were either going to vote for Obama, or that it wouldn't be that bad if he won. Their logic was that he was going to run to the left but govern to the middle like Clinton. However, my question to them was what has Obama ever done to lead you to believe that? The next question was "to the center like Clinton AFTER he went so far to the left that the Republicans won back the House and Senate for the first time in forty six years just two years into his administration?
Obama, like all Progressives, hide who they are from the voters. They have even gone back to the Progressive label after they had to run from it decades ago, and usurping the Liberal label. Now the word liberal always loses elections so they are Progressives. Obama ran that he would cut taxes on 95% of Americans only "soaking the rich." He ran that he was going to cut the budget, cut wasteful spending, cut out earmarks, and give real transparency to the political process. These are all conservative principles, and are wanted by the moderates and independents.
Of course Obama is anything but a centrist. He is the single most leftist ideologue to ever hold the White House. What has the result of his true style of governing with the American people? Actually it was predictable.
Today's polls show that 24% of Americans strongly approve of Obama, 42% strongly disapprove with a net negative rating of -18%. Yesterday it was -21%, and only 43-46%even marginally approve of Obama today.
When you look at how the polls showed us this year what the political makeup of our nation's voters. There are 21% who consider themselves to be liberal, 42% who consider themselves conservative and the rest independent or moderate. If you look at this poll number and Obama's you will find they are almost the same. Maybe we have learned something here.
John Adams told us that any any war only one third of Americans would strongly support it, another third would strongly oppose it, and the battle would be for the hearts and minds of the third in the middle.
This same principle works in politics as well. Neither party can win with only those who are strong supporters, they must win the hearts, minds, and trust of those independents and moderates.
That is why "The Great Pretender" lied to us about his moderate and even conservative ideas. Now that the middle has seen what he really meant, they have moved away in a sea-change. It is time to send Obama a strong message in November by taking away his toy box of a House and Senate that gives him what he wants.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
"American On Purpose" by Craig Ferguson
Rather than writing something myself tonight, I simply want to share some lines from actor/comedian Craig Ferguson's book "American on Purpose." It is outstanding, but these two stories are truly something all should read.
"It seemed to me that American patriotism had been hijacked by politicians who used it for their own jingoistic ends, and I wanted to use my television show to get away from that. I wanted to get back to the image of the gum-chewing GIs who brought swing dancing, fruit, and hope to Scotland when my parents were kids. I wanted to share the feeling I got when I received my big color poster from NASA in the mail. I wanted as many native-born Americans to understand the thrill and exhilaration that comes from joining the land of the free.
If this sounds trite I don't give a rat's ass. I believe it. America truly is the best idea for a country that anyone has ever come up with so far. Not only because we value democracy and the rights of the individual but because we are always our own most effective voice of dissent. The French may love Barack Obama but they didn't Fxxxing elect him. We did.
We must never mistake disagreement between American on political or moral issues to be an indication of their level of patriotism. If you don't like what I say or don't agree with where I stand on certain issues, then good. I'm glad we're in America and don't have to oppress each other over it.
We're not just a nation. We're not an ethnicity. We are a dream of justice that people have had for thousands of years.
I proudly took the Oath of Allegience and received my citizenship at Pomana Fairgrounds in Los Angeles in January 2008 along with three thousand other new Americans from Mexico, and no others from Scotland."
This picks up again when he went to Scotland to visit his dying mother. It picks up again below the morning after she passed.
"I stopped on Great Western Road and looked in the window of a closed art gallery at a Peter Howson painting of a shouting man with a barking dog. A short chipper gentleman of advanced years, of which there are a few in Glasgow, came and stood next to me.
'It's Craig, isn't it?' he said in an accent as thick as soup.
'It is,' I said.
He told me he remembered me from the old days when I was causing trouble in the parish. We hadn't known each other, he just used to see me around.
'Yer American noo?' he asked.
'I am,' I said.
'Must be nice, Although, you still seem Scottish to me. Nae offense.'
'None taken,' I said.
I felt a surge of affection for the old fella as I watched him walk toward a nearby pub, his giant old-guy ears pink and shiny from the cold.
Suddenly I was struck by the first broadside of terrible sadness, it sprung up and wrung tears out of me unexpectedly. I rubbed my face pretending my eyes were watering from the cold, which was entirely possible, and walked in the other direction.
I realized that in my desire to be an American, I risked forgetting where I had come from, and that would be an appalling act of self-robbery. I realized that I loved this place, that I always would, and that I would carry it with me wherever I went.
I am the child of two parents and two countries. My mother put the blue in my eyes and my father gave me grit. Scotland made me what I am and America let me be it.
America gave me everything I have today. It gave me a second chance at life. Americans taught me failure was only something you went through on the way to success, not just in the sense of career or wealth but as a person. I learned that failure is only failure, and that it can be useful, spun into a story that will make people laugh, and maybe once in a while give a message of hope to others who might need some.
For me, becoming an American was not a geographical or even political decision. It was philosophical and emotional one, based on a belief in reason and fairness of opportunity.
I swore an oath not to be cowed by the authority of kinds and churches. I won't allow any kids of mine to grow up as I did, witnessing casual hatred between children just because it had always been that way.
I didn't become any less Scottich when I became an American. The two are not mutually exclusive. I am proud of my heritage. I will always be Scottish in my heart, by my soul is American, which means; between safety and adventure, I choose adventure.
Scottish by birth, but American on purpose."
I so enjoyed reading Craig's words, I felt I had to share them with you. I have a new found respect for Craig Ferguson the man beyond his humor. I hope you enjoyed them as well. If you would like to read the book, it is "American On Purpose,The Improbable Adventures Of An Unlikely Patriot." by Craig Ferguson Harper Collins Publishing.
"It seemed to me that American patriotism had been hijacked by politicians who used it for their own jingoistic ends, and I wanted to use my television show to get away from that. I wanted to get back to the image of the gum-chewing GIs who brought swing dancing, fruit, and hope to Scotland when my parents were kids. I wanted to share the feeling I got when I received my big color poster from NASA in the mail. I wanted as many native-born Americans to understand the thrill and exhilaration that comes from joining the land of the free.
If this sounds trite I don't give a rat's ass. I believe it. America truly is the best idea for a country that anyone has ever come up with so far. Not only because we value democracy and the rights of the individual but because we are always our own most effective voice of dissent. The French may love Barack Obama but they didn't Fxxxing elect him. We did.
We must never mistake disagreement between American on political or moral issues to be an indication of their level of patriotism. If you don't like what I say or don't agree with where I stand on certain issues, then good. I'm glad we're in America and don't have to oppress each other over it.
We're not just a nation. We're not an ethnicity. We are a dream of justice that people have had for thousands of years.
I proudly took the Oath of Allegience and received my citizenship at Pomana Fairgrounds in Los Angeles in January 2008 along with three thousand other new Americans from Mexico, and no others from Scotland."
This picks up again when he went to Scotland to visit his dying mother. It picks up again below the morning after she passed.
"I stopped on Great Western Road and looked in the window of a closed art gallery at a Peter Howson painting of a shouting man with a barking dog. A short chipper gentleman of advanced years, of which there are a few in Glasgow, came and stood next to me.
'It's Craig, isn't it?' he said in an accent as thick as soup.
'It is,' I said.
He told me he remembered me from the old days when I was causing trouble in the parish. We hadn't known each other, he just used to see me around.
'Yer American noo?' he asked.
'I am,' I said.
'Must be nice, Although, you still seem Scottish to me. Nae offense.'
'None taken,' I said.
I felt a surge of affection for the old fella as I watched him walk toward a nearby pub, his giant old-guy ears pink and shiny from the cold.
Suddenly I was struck by the first broadside of terrible sadness, it sprung up and wrung tears out of me unexpectedly. I rubbed my face pretending my eyes were watering from the cold, which was entirely possible, and walked in the other direction.
I realized that in my desire to be an American, I risked forgetting where I had come from, and that would be an appalling act of self-robbery. I realized that I loved this place, that I always would, and that I would carry it with me wherever I went.
I am the child of two parents and two countries. My mother put the blue in my eyes and my father gave me grit. Scotland made me what I am and America let me be it.
America gave me everything I have today. It gave me a second chance at life. Americans taught me failure was only something you went through on the way to success, not just in the sense of career or wealth but as a person. I learned that failure is only failure, and that it can be useful, spun into a story that will make people laugh, and maybe once in a while give a message of hope to others who might need some.
For me, becoming an American was not a geographical or even political decision. It was philosophical and emotional one, based on a belief in reason and fairness of opportunity.
I swore an oath not to be cowed by the authority of kinds and churches. I won't allow any kids of mine to grow up as I did, witnessing casual hatred between children just because it had always been that way.
I didn't become any less Scottich when I became an American. The two are not mutually exclusive. I am proud of my heritage. I will always be Scottish in my heart, by my soul is American, which means; between safety and adventure, I choose adventure.
Scottish by birth, but American on purpose."
I so enjoyed reading Craig's words, I felt I had to share them with you. I have a new found respect for Craig Ferguson the man beyond his humor. I hope you enjoyed them as well. If you would like to read the book, it is "American On Purpose,The Improbable Adventures Of An Unlikely Patriot." by Craig Ferguson Harper Collins Publishing.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
An Example Why We Don't Want Government Health Care
How can anyone who has ever had to deal with the government, ever want government controlled health care?
For the last week my wife kept trying to call the number on her traffic ticket as the contact number. She had a question she wanted an answer to before she paid it. After repeated calls daily for several days she never got anything but an answering machine, it doesn't matter what time she called. Today was the final day so she planned to pay it online until she noticed on the bottom of the page where she was about to submit that it wouldn't be credited for forty eight to seventy two hours.
We started calling other numbers in the court house and finally found a human, after a long time on hold, another human told us there was no way to get it done in time other than to come to the court house and pay it today before four. If we didn't she would have her license suspended until she came down with proof of pay to get a receipt to take back to BMV.
My wife was walking out the door to take her mom to the hospital, so I took off for the court house. Once I found a parking space, double parked in front of a no parking zone, went in to see lines circling the hallways. I stood in line for about an hour to get to the first window and still was about a hundred feet from it. Looking at what was in front of me, just to get into the next line for the next window, I left for my appointment elsewhere.
My son went there to get in line, and my wife was able to meet him there after leaving the hospital, as he was getting to the window. They got the receipt at 3:59.
This event reminded me of how the BMV used to be in Indiana before Mitch Daniels cleaned it up and made it run like a business. The BMV is the exception not the rule today. Maybe if Mitch Daniels ran government health care it might work, but he may decide to retire someday and then where would we be?
Why would anyone who was not feeling well want to deal with this kind of aggravation? Why would anyone want to see their loved ones while ill be treated this way? If you have had dealings with Government anything you surely don't want government health care.
Think about it.
For the last week my wife kept trying to call the number on her traffic ticket as the contact number. She had a question she wanted an answer to before she paid it. After repeated calls daily for several days she never got anything but an answering machine, it doesn't matter what time she called. Today was the final day so she planned to pay it online until she noticed on the bottom of the page where she was about to submit that it wouldn't be credited for forty eight to seventy two hours.
We started calling other numbers in the court house and finally found a human, after a long time on hold, another human told us there was no way to get it done in time other than to come to the court house and pay it today before four. If we didn't she would have her license suspended until she came down with proof of pay to get a receipt to take back to BMV.
My wife was walking out the door to take her mom to the hospital, so I took off for the court house. Once I found a parking space, double parked in front of a no parking zone, went in to see lines circling the hallways. I stood in line for about an hour to get to the first window and still was about a hundred feet from it. Looking at what was in front of me, just to get into the next line for the next window, I left for my appointment elsewhere.
My son went there to get in line, and my wife was able to meet him there after leaving the hospital, as he was getting to the window. They got the receipt at 3:59.
This event reminded me of how the BMV used to be in Indiana before Mitch Daniels cleaned it up and made it run like a business. The BMV is the exception not the rule today. Maybe if Mitch Daniels ran government health care it might work, but he may decide to retire someday and then where would we be?
Why would anyone who was not feeling well want to deal with this kind of aggravation? Why would anyone want to see their loved ones while ill be treated this way? If you have had dealings with Government anything you surely don't want government health care.
Think about it.
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