Tuesday, December 29, 2009

The Real Enemy



Written : Dec. 29, 2009



This week I was planning to write about the Institute for Policy Studies, but instead the world’s security infrastructure broke down and someone came close to blowing up another jet plane. Oh, well!



Yet another young man managed to smuggle explosive components aboard an aircraft on an international flight. This time the individual was able to mix his chemicals together but was unable to make his compound explode. Fortunately, there was “only” a fire. Only two people were burned, the perpetrator and the hero who stopped the plane from burning up and falling out of the sky.



Janet Napolitano, the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, gave us the wrong message about the attempted bombing. Reminiscent of Alexander Haig’s idiotic publicity blunder in the ‘80’s, she praised the security system by stating, “it worked”. Riiiiiiight! I understand what she was trying to do. Calm the nation, but we didn’t need calming. It’s the typical political response from someone who’s fairly new to his or her position and doesn’t have confidence. The first thing they do is praise their group, say nothing’s wrong, and maybe mention they’ll fix what’s broken. The last thing they do is blame themselves. She and President Obama both mentioned in their first statements about the incident that the “no-fly” lists for perpetrators of manmade disasters (God forbid we say “terrorists”) had been in place for many years – of course that’s yet another slap at President Bush. How tedious!



Political Correctness (PC) is killing us. On Dec. 28, President Obama referred to the madman as a “suspect” and also said, “ a passenger allegedly tried to ignite an explosive device on his body”. Why “allegedly”? The very next day he toughened his language by calling it, “the attempted terrorist attack”. Good! Perhaps he’s coming around to the realization we can’t ignore the word “terrorist” and we have to address these matters seriously. We must not treat these attacks as criminal matters – we must use the courts of military justice instead. As Yoda might say, “Acts of war, they are!” Typically criminals have rights because they are treated as citizens, even though some of them aren’t. War criminals have few, if any rights, and – for the uneducated - there is a difference.

Political correctness is the real enemy. For example, if none of the terrorists have ever been female Caucasians, Asians, or old people, we could be a little more lenient with those groups, right? That doesn’t mean there won’t ever be a terrorist with those characteristics, but we can relax a little with them, no? The goal is to find the terrorist before he can do us harm, the goal is not to be afraid of insulting anyone. Just because all the recent terrorists have been Muslim doesn’t mean every Muslim is a terrorist, but we do have to stop ignoring reality. And, this does not mean we are being racists or “Islamo-phobes, we can be realists!



Another aspect of PC is the irrational fear of magnetometers. They show nearly everything under a person’s clothes, and that’s a good thing with regard to discovering hidden explosives destined for detonation aboard an airplane. The folks who scream about privacy are just “magnetometer-o-phobes”! The heck with privacy, just keep us safe, why don-cha?




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Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Transparent Aluminum



Written : Dec. 22, 2009



The following was available from the Obama Administration's web site on Dec. 22, 2009: ( Obama on Transparency ) :



"My administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government. We will work together to ensure the public trust and establish a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration. Openness will strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness in Government."



I urge you to read the aforementioned and stunning web page. Which system of transparency is our president talking about? This administration has gone from saying it would be the most transparent in history to being the most secretive ever. From the drafting of the health care monstrosity bill in private (what collaboration?) to the arm-twisting which went on behind closed-doors in Democrats-only meetings, we've been shown a level of back-room dealing not seen since the early 20th century. What public participation? This administration and our Congress, which consists mostly of Democrats, has repeatedly belittled the Tea Party Movement - and its members - all of whom belong to "the public". What happened to your C-SPAN promise to televise the entire health care debate, Mr. President?



Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) should be ashamed of themselves. To obtain their support of the healthcare debacle, Sen. Landrieu was given $300 million of our tax dollars for her state and Sen Nelson copped a permanent exemption from Medicaid payments required by this bill for his state. Astounding! You and I will pay dearly for each bribe.



House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (and then other Democrats) complained of a "culture of corruption" over and over again (mostly over nothing) when President Bush was in office. Now is the appropriate time to call out our representatives on partisanship and deal-making. They act with impunity as the country suffers. They don't seem to care, they just make deals in smoke-free back rooms, where Republicans are not welcome to tread. Is it fair? No! But we'll remember what harm they've done to America.



Pssst, we can vote them out in eleven months!




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Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Scrap It



Written : Dec. 15, 2009



A couple of hours ago CNN reported the current health care reform bill may be passed without a “public option”. Their web site quoted former Governor Howard Dean’s complaint in an interview with VPR (Vermont Public Radio), "…the best thing to do right now is kill the Senate bill and go back to the House."



Governor Dean (D-VT) is correct. What’s required is to dump the current bill and rewrite it because only Democrats were involved in drafting it. The Republicans were left out of the original debate and bill-writing process, so how can anyone consider it a bi-partisan bill? Some of my liberal friends refuse to believe Republicans were ignored, but if you listen carefully - and with an open mind - to what Republican Representatives and Senators have all said, they really were.



The right way to consider legislation which lasts and stands the test of time is to invite members of both parties to participate in the process, so a majority will support a bill coming out of the House committee. President Obama even promised a public debate on C-SPAN during his campaign, remember? Do you recall ever hearing about or seeing such an inclusive event? It would have been unprecedented and wonderful, but it never happened. A solid reform bill would have certainly passed by last summer if a valid process were followed in the beginning. A good bill - which we all want by the way - and which takes the best ideas of both sides, still can be.



If the Democrats force this bill through, and it does pass by a slim margin, it will spell a Republican revival in upcoming elections. Hooray for our side, but the country would not have been served. America will be hurt deeply if it passes, and conservatives will be worried. Eventually, when they realize they have been betrayed, the rest of the country will be angered. What I feel we need to learn from this is that when politicians ignore their constituents, everyone loses. The first American revolutionaries had it right when they said, “taxation without representation is tyranny”.



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Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Global Warming is The Savior!



Written : Dec. 08, 2009



When I was young we believed in science over religion because science was based on fact and research. It seemed sensible at the time, much better than religion because in my parents’ minds religion was based on faith, and not on fact.



Amid the hysteria surrounding Global Warming (ex.: tax corporations now, before the ice caps melt!) we hear many scientists were “cooking the books”. Can you imagine, the science guys were falsifying their data! This should have reduced Global Warming in the eyes of the atheists, secular progressives, and former believers to the level of faith-based religion, minus the religion. Still, many scientists and the faithful discount the e-mails suggesting the fact twisting was justified. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) even ignored the stunning content of the e-mails and tried to distract by condemning the e-mail thefts, although nothing was stolen, nothing was broken into.



If humans are truly contributing to Global Warming (which I doubt), then we have to say a great big “hallelujah” for the contribution. Most cities are registering more record low temperatures than record highs. The Denver area has been below freezing for about two weeks now – and we’re freezing here! The low tonight is forecast to be negative seven degrees. I’m beginning to think “Global Warming” is preventing the onslaught of the next ice age! Hallelujah!



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Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Zappolo’s People



Written : Dec. 01, 2009



A FOX affiliate in Denver airs “Zappolo’s People” on Sundays at 10PM Mountain time. It’s an interview show hosted by a local news anchor, Ron Zappolo. Generally light and airy, the show turned fascinating on Nov. 29 with the appearance of TV reporter Lisa Ling and it got my attention. Zappolo is a likeable guy. He was once a sports reporter and he’s knowledgeable about sports. Politics, not so much.



Ling’s career is mildly interesting, a gal from Sacramento makes good, gets lucky (and is sharp), builds a solid journalism career on TV while highlighting women’s and children’s issues. She mentioned more than once - one out of three women in Colorado lives below the poverty line. I’m not sure where she got her statistic - but if true, certainly we can all agree it’s a shame. But, what’s the use if it’s only a story? Good journalism demands she suggest solutions when she exposes problems. I’ll look forward to seeing her stories on Oprah’s new network in 2011. However, I’ll be looking for the specific methods she suggests for fixing the sad circumstances she will reveal. Shouldn’t you also expect solutions? Otherwise, why will you be watching?



Zappolo and Ling really got into it. They seemed to stumble over each other verbally while pouring over their exuberance for our current president – and other ideas. “Are you excited that President Obama is in office…?”, Zappolo asked. “I am excited he is President of the United States,” she answered. “You can’t deny the historical significance…” she continued. There’s the usual platitude, but one expects the other side, too. Ling only showed a mild other side, though. “The overtures he’s made to other countries has been extraordinary,” as she continued her praise. She gave him only a 50% on his “platform of diplomacy” upon which she said he campaigned but implied if countries he made overtures to don’t respond, they would be at fault. As usual, the unprecedented apologizing, the bows he made to other world leaders, etc., go unnoticed and unmentioned by those who should be our 'guardians of the truth'.



There was more. Zappolo said, “I don’t know how we go from the 60 Minutes generation to the screaming cable TV.” There were many veiled comments, which were surely aimed at the FOX network and others. There were also comments I agreed with like the slams of the continuous coverage of “The Octomom”, the woman who gave birth to eight children at once. Although Zappolo and Ling bashed cable over how partisan some of its shows are, Zappolo told us he likes “Anderson Cooper 360”, which is one of the more left-leaning and partisan “news” shows on cable today. Ling’s sister is one of two reporters who “accidently” crossed the North Korean border this past March. Ling said if the incident helps raise awareness (whatever that means), it was worth it. Umm, the last time I checked, violating any country’s border is illegal. Their captors were part of a rogue and detestable nation, but North Korea also has its sovereignty, and the two reporters should not have done what they did. Committing a crime is never worth it.



Much of the banter was easily recognizable as left-leaning rhetoric and both got in the obligatory zingers at President Bush. “[Obama] has reached out the olive branch that previous administrations might not have done… but I am excited about the whole idea that we should be engaging people of other countries more…inevitably we have so much more in common [with other peoples of the world] than I ever thought and things aren’t so black and white.” Zappolo interrupted with, “Reaching out to people works out a whole lot better than … war.” Oh, brother!



Ron Zappolo continued by bashing the American people. “There’s people for whatever reason that are angry about our president and instead of saying I’m gonna see what this guys’s got to offer, they’ve gone the other way – I’m not gonna accept this.” For the record, we are not angry, Mr. Zappolo, we just disagree with our president. Is dissent in this country not allowed anymore? Ling chimed in, “It’s surprising to me so many people are so misinformed about the health care debate. Do people really understand what a public option is?” Yes, we do, and it will, with its lower prices (i.e. Walmart), guide everyone away from private health care and eventually destroy it. It will make everyone more dependent upon government services, which is one of socialism’s definitions. “[Do] people who are accusing President Obama of being a socialist really understand what socialism is?” All of my father’s friends were either Communists or socialists, so, the answer is a resounding yes, I most definitely do, Ms. Ling, do you? I doubt it!



Ms. Ling, and anyone else interested, please don’t take my word for it, read at least the first paragraph of Wikipedia’s page on Socialism - to learn more : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism



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Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Health Care Questions



Written : Nov. 23, 2009



Of the new health care legislation, don’t we need to ask more questions? For some examples, please see these: Tell me why the new health care bill spends $800+ billion to save $100 billion? Perhaps I don’t understand, but the new bill doesn’t offer a very good ROI (return on investment), does it? Why are there twelve million uninsured individuals in this country? And, if that number is incorrect, why are there so many more uninsured? Why is the media saying Obama’s (Sen. Harry Reid’s) plan builds on the private insurance system when it really sets up a government-run system which, through lower prices, would naturally overpower the private system we have today? Rather than blindly trusting the politicians this time, why not drill down and ask questions? During the Bush administration most wouldn’t blindly accept what was going on, so why do it now?



First of all, we do need to think about this. I don’t have a good answer on the question of ROI, though: Can someone please let me in on the secret?



There are so many uninsured - partially because we have not improved the immigration system yet. Too many people come here from other countries without going through “the system”. We all know the current system is outdated and inefficient. It takes a very long time for an immigrant to legally become a citizen. Yet, one has to ask this question, too... Why have so many put up with the current antiquated system and have become citizens anyway? Why won’t a single Senator or Congressman put forth a simple plan to update it? Former Alabama Governor, Mike Huckabee has (see it at this URL: http://townhall.com/blog/g/d1703ab4-54ee-4e2b-835f-3f81311d2ee2), so, why not at least examine his ideas?



People are forced to purchase health insurance in their own state. Why not allow people to purchase it anywhere in the U.S.? It’s what “free enterprise” is about, right? People get health insurance through their employers. Shouldn’t there be other ways folks can band together to get lower rates? There are. Many are saying how this can be done. Why are the politicians not listening?

The media is telling us Nevada Senator Reid’s plan builds on the current system because they ignore the citizens who are critical of it. The fact is a public plan will eventually supplant the private system because its rates will be less expensive. We all know how price affects the purchasing habits of Americans. Just look at Walmart. Even though folks may fundamentally disagree with Walmart “taking over” the mom & pop shops in America, who deliberately buys from the more expensive, mom & pop stores and refuses to pay Big W’s lower prices?



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Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Hasan’s PC



Written : Nov. 17, 2009



Nidal Hasan, a U.S. Army Major, went on a murderous rampage Nov. 5 at Fort Hood, killing 13 people and wounding many others. He allegedly screamed “Allāhu Akbar” in Arabic just prior, which in English means, “God is Great”. Yelling (especially that) and then killing Americans has been the calling card of Islamic terrorists lately. Was it a terrorist conspiracy, or, did he commit the act with others? No. Was it a terrorist plot, or, did Hasan plan it? Probably. Was it an act of terror, or, did it terrorize the folks at Fort Hood and/or other Americans? Definitely. Were his actions against the American military treasonous? Yes. Were his actions enough to consider them acts of war? Of course.



It turns out the Army knew Hasan harbored extremist views, and yet the Army kept silent. For example, Hasan carried a business card, which had “SoA” on it, which means, “Soldier of Allah.” Several people who dealt with him on a daily basis have said he expressed his extremist views to them. He is reported to have telephoned known members of Al Qaeda, the terrorist organization; they are our sworn enemy, remember? Chris Matthews, of MSNBC, has asked, “That's not a crime to call up al Qaeda, is it?” Well, yes, Chris, it is. If an American soldier had telephoned the Nazis during WWII, he would have immediately been arrested for treason, no matter what he said to them.



According to Reuters on Nov. 8, General George Casey said, “As horrific as this tragedy was, if our diversity becomes a casualty, I think that’s worse.” I never thought I’d see the day when a U.S. general would place political correctness above the lives of the troops. If we find out we have an enemy in our midst, we just don’t do anything about it and hope he doesn’t attack his fellow soldiers. Did I miss it? When, oh, when did the world get turned on its’ head?



So, why was the Army silent if it knew so much about Hasan? There are three possibilities, as I see them. They didn’t take him seriously and didn’t feel he would erupt. They wanted to avoid a possible lawsuit for singling him out. The most likely is this: The Army didn’t want to appear to have been targeting a religious group, Muslims.



All three reasons are silly. “By protecting radical Muslims,” Nina Easton said, on Hannity on Nov. 12, “who are we helping? It does the majority of the Muslim population, who are peace-loving, no good.” Exactly. As reported by the brave Matthew Continetti on www.weeklystandard.com, Sarah Palin said, “I say, profile away.” And she’s right. Think about it. A friend of mine, who is a Muslim, told me after 9/11 he understands the importance of profiling people who “look like me.” He said if it would keep America safe and free, he was all for it and would be willing to put up with it. He asked me if I’d recently seen a group of mostly Asian, Black, or White terrorists? Now, that’s a true patriot to me!




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Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Questions



Written : Nov. 10, 2009



Generally speaking, people on the right prefer less government intrusion into people’s personal lives and folks on the left want government to do more for the people, especially the federal government. A contradiction caught my eye while watching CNN’s GPS program, also known as “The Global Public Square”, hosted by Fareed Zacharia. This show is set up to showcase Zacharia’s, CNN’s, the mainstream media’s, and his mostly liberal guests’ view that happily, America’s power is waning in the world. It’s just another country. He and his guests don’t always tear America down, they also build up every country - other than the U.S. - to have you believe America is not special; all the other countries are. We’re living in “a post-American world”, Zacharia is fond of saying from time to time. To help you understand the emphasis a little more, the name of one of his books is, “The Post-American World”.



Zacharia’s guest, Matthew Hoh, on the show which aired on Nov. 1, said of the Afghan people: they resent their government’s intrusion [into their lives]! Such a statement forces me to wonder, “Don’t the American people resent the same thing from their government?” But I digress. Instead of touting the left-wing idea of central governmental control (federal vs. the states), Hoh said there are 34 provinces in Afghanistan - there are 34 solutions. Why would such a conservative idea be pushed for other countries when at the same time, for America, the left wants our federal government to control everything? Why did they reject the Republican suggestion to let a single state experiment with the federal health care bill before forcing it on all the states? To be consistent with Hoh, shouldn’t the left say there are 50 states, and therefore there are 50 solutions for health care reform?



A question I ask myself frequently is, “Why does the mainstream media (TV) have the propensity to hand their conservative guests a title? For example, when introducing a guest author who happens to be a conservative, they’ll usually say, “…I want to introduce the conservative author [their name]…”. While introducing a liberal author they generally leave out the “liberal” in the title, and come up with, “I want to introduce [their name], author of…” For example, on CSPAN on Oct. 26, Ramesh Ponnuru, a senior editor for National Review - a conservative magazine - was asked by the host, “In your view as a conservative columnist…” So, I ask you, “Why do they do this?” Is it fair, or are they trying to get a response or rise out of their (assumed liberal) audience when they use the word “conservative” in the person’s title? If you have not noticed this, listen for it when you watch the Sunday talk shows. (Fox News is excluded, because it does no such thing. I encourage you to watch all the Sunday shows anyway!)




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Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Encouraging News



Written : Nov. 3, 2009



The gubernatorial race in Virginia looks secure for the Republicans. Why should you care? Because this is a glimmer of hope we now have that America is not the socialist nation I thought it was becoming. It appears the more conservative candidates are winning the state in a landslide! We should take the Governorship, the Lieutenant Governorship, and the Attorney Generalship – and such a thing hasn’t happened in Virginia in a very long time.



You see, Virginia went hog-wild for Obama in 2008 but now appears to be wearing pig-red-lipstick in 2009. It’s a huge swing to the right. Perhaps it suggests that the 2008 Obama-mania was more a dissatisfaction with incumbents than a Communist Manifesto. And that’s very good for America. We need to move away from the president’s mainly anti-American agenda.



For example, the dismantling of wealth in this country would help destroy it. Through their spending-crazy bailouts it’s estimated by some the current administration owns almost half the economy! Perhaps that’s an exaggeration, but a government takeover of private wealth – anywhere - is called Communism. Now, I am NOT saying that Obama is a Communist! But Obama’s “apology tour” certainly hurt America by hurting our ability to defend our allies and ourselves. Don’t feel guilty, as President Obama does, over what America has done in the past. Without America, dictators would rule the world. We have defended freedom everywhere. And we should be proud of it. Another example of the wounding of America goes to the current effort to socialize the health care system in this country without regard for any conservative ideas. In the House and Senate, Democrats have crafted bills alone - in private - and then reveal them, hoping everyone will just go along. That’s not bi-partisan, it’s dictatorial!



Communism, socialism, and dictatorships are very, very bad for you. Under these demagogic regimes they worship their president (remember the framed pictures of Mao Tse Tung everywhere in China in the 60’s?)! You live where the government says you live. You have the job the government says you have. You do not have the freedom to voice your own opinions. The only opinions that count are those of the government. There’s no opposition. Here’s the comparison: Barack Obama - and his most fervent supporters - hate criticism of any kind. The proof is the Obama administration has started a war with Fox news. Ask yourself why Obama has stated he would sit down and negotiate with foreign dictators such as Ahmadinijad, Chavez, Castro, Ghadafi, and others - and yet he hasn’t the courage to visit a Fox News Bureau. It’s because he wants to silence his opposition! To appear on Fox would be to give them credibility.



Look at the 2009 election results, especially in Virginia and New Jersey. Realize – even if Corzine (D-NJ) wins re-election - he will not have won decisively, and the conservative vote was split between a third-party guy and the incumbent. Even a close loss for the conservative candidate would mean people are dissatisfied with the direction of the Obama Administration and they are dissatisfied with the actions of the president. Be happy tonight, America, things are not so bad for our side!





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Tuesday, October 27, 2009

An Obama Promise...



Written : Oct. 27, 2009



Among other things, candidate Barack Obama repeatedly promised the following while campaigning in 2008, about his future “open” administration: He was going to have all the [health care] negotiations around a big table. He suggested the participants would include doctors and nurses and hospital administrators, insurance companies, drug companies. They'd get a seat at the table…they just wouldn’t be able to buy every chair… The negotiations were promised to have been televised on C-SPAN so that people could see who’d be making arguments on behalf of their constituents and who’d be making arguments on behalf of the drug companies or the insurance companies.



Obama suggested bipartisanship and transparency. He told us, “Transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency.” Many now wonder who, beside his union and media supporters, believes him anymore.



The truth is, the Democrats have created their bills behind closed doors, without any conservative Republican input. The only attempt at bipartisanship has been a demand that the Republicans buy into the Democrats’ plan. That’s not bipartisanship at all. It’s the beginning of a dictatorship. When the American people expressed their displeasure at such secrecy at “town halls” and “tea parties”, the Obama administration dismissed them by among other things suggesting that evil Fox News put all the “crazies” up to it! Mainstream media Obama-supporter reporters openly still call citizens’ opinions “noise”. Kiran Chetry dismissed ordinary Americans on CNN when comparing those at town halls to members of organized political groups singing about the virtues of the public health care option this week. The following didn’t make into the official CNN transcript, but I definitely heard Chetry say, “Now isn’t that better than all that noise?”, referring to the people who attended the town halls.



Just for fun, I remind you of some of the other campaign promises: Promising health care as good as the senators have – for everyone. “We will work to lower your premiums by $2,500 per family…And we’ll do it by the end of my first term,” he said. He promised to not raise taxes on anyone making less than $250,000, then $200,000, then $ per year. Remember that?



To see more campaign promises from the current U.S. President cut + paste the following URL into your browser: http://www.votegopher.com/obamaIssues.php





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Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Obama’s Prize



Written : Oct. 13, 2009




Just a mention of the Nobel Peace Prize used to give me a feeling one could achieve anything if given a chance. Of course, like a lot of young people years ago, I confused “Nobel” with the English word “noble”. The prize is actually named for Alfred Nobel, a Swedish entrepreneur, who lived his entire life in the nineteenth century (1833-1896). You might be surprised to learn (as I was) that Nobel experimented with explosives like nitroglycerine, is credited for inventing dynamite, blasting caps, and various blasting powders, started his own explosives company, and as a result became quite wealthy. Nobel, the businessman, knew several peace activists in his life and specified in his final will that a peace prize be given to people or groups promoting peace.



Many previous recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize received the award out of something they did to further peace in the world. The current U.S. president, Barack Obama, was awarded the prize after only nine months in office – with no tangible measure of success for peace, at least not yet. According to the Nobel Committee’s rules one must be nominated by Feb. 1 of the current year in order to become eligible. In President Obama’s case, this would have been just after spending twelve days in office!



The questions requiring answers are, “Does Obama deserve the Nobel Peace Prize?”, and, “Was the award given for political reasons?” For example, if the Nobel Committee were comprised of mostly liberals, was it possible they awarded the prize to Obama because they agree with his politics or policies? If so, was such action fair, or was it politically biased? Should the award only be given to liberals?



What is peace, anyway? Is it kindness? Is it the absence of war? Is it the absence of conflict of any kind? Is it the feeling of “peace of mind” one gets when one is completely protected? Is “peace” provided when someone else (or another country) will not attack you out of fear of reprisal? On Hannity, on Oct. 12, 2009, Mark Steyn said that if you define peace as the absence of American power on the world stage, then Obama definitely deserves the prize.



I used to respect the Nobel Peace Prize and its committee, but I respect them no longer. If the prize was used to take a stab at George W. Bush and /or his policies, which protected the U.S. and its citizens, then the prize is a joke. At the very least the committee should have waited until Obama had actually accomplished something peaceful in order to award the prize to him. If the committee had done it that way instead, it would have been much more respectable. Donna Brazile, a liberal commentator, was in favor of Obama being awarded the prize. Of this, her comment on “This Week” on Oct. 11, was, “Now [that he got the Nobel Peace Prize], he has to earn it!” But, doesn’t that go against the idea of a prize? First you earn it, and then after you earn it, you may be recognized for your action!





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Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Where Do We Go From Here?



Written : Oct. 06, 2009




Former Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) gave what turned out to be a motivational speech on Oct 1, 2009 which he called, “Jumpstarting America’s Economy by Putting People First.” It was part of the American Future Fund's 2009 Conservative Lecture Series. It was televised on CSPAN on Oct. 5. You can view it at: Santorum Speech A speech on TV hasn’t made me feel this good in a long time!



Sen. Santorum pointed out that Republicans shouldn’t “believe in business” as such. Instead, we should believe in people and markets. If markets are allowed to flourish while being modestly regulated, businesses will succeed, he reasoned. “We have to believe that people can… and markets do (work)”. This is a common sense approach, which stabs at the stereotype that conservatives love business to the exclusion of all else. It’s a falsehood some want to perpetuate for political reasons.



This is partly what’s wrong with the GOP’s lost direction these days, and Santorum addressed it with finesse while hitting the nail on the head. I agree. As members of the Republican Party we need to analyze issues like this in detail and choose how to proceed. This is in no way a cover-up, but in many ways this is a struggle with semantics.



Sen. Santorum’s right, we need to do a better job of telling the people who we are. We believe in America’s can-do attitude. We believe in the middle-class work ethic. It doesn’t matter who you are and your heritage makes no difference to us. Be persistent. Don’t let the little things get you down. Work hard, stay in school, do your best, work well with others, learn, and excel at what you do and you can achieve anything in America. It does work. You can achieve great things if you try hard enough. There’s plenty of success around – enough for ALL of us! Who can argue with that? If you consider yourself a moderate or even a liberal who believes in the individual and is dissatisfied with the way things are going, seriously consider us, we may be just what you were looking for all along, but didn’t know it. We welcome you with open arms!



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Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Investigative Reporting



Written : Sep. 21 and 23, 2009




Remember Watergate? Investigative reporters were hailed for bringing down a U.S. president. A movie, “All the President’s Men”, was made to celebrate their persistent and diligent search for the truth. Remember the TV show “60 Minutes”, and how their reporters grilled rip-off artists and corrupt politicians in an attempt to be an American watchdog? I recall a “Saturday Night Live” spoof starring Martin Short portraying a nervous, cigarette-smoking target. He stated/asked while visibly shaking, “It’s not me, it’s them, right?” Hilarious, great stuff.



Things are different today. Have you heard of ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now)? ACORN is an organization on schedule to receive 8.5 billion dollars of stimulus funds, and it defines itself a “grassroots community organization of low- and moderate-income people… committed to social and economic justice”. To be fair, check out their own page: ACORN Of course, ACORN has a right to exist and to aim for change it deems necessary; it’s the American way.



At the same time, ACORN is an organization in deep trouble. Accusations arose in 2008 from ACORN’s alleged registration of people not eligible to vote. They have been accused of falsifying documents, and registering underage and deceased voters. In addition, I’ve seen a story claiming that they used all the names of the Dallas Cowboys football team to register voters illegally. Even I, an ordinary citizen, know from personal experience that some people think it’s legitimate to stop at nothing to elect candidates they believe in. That’s just plain wrong.



Some may not know that recently several of ACORN’s offices were visited by two young, investigative reporters, James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles (remember the bold Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, the ones who uncovered Watergate?). Today’s truth digging reporters exposed ACORN employees who encouraged illegal activities (prostitution) and offered suggestions for the reporters, who were posing as a pimp and a prostitute, to evade taxes and the law. These bold, young reporters released videotapes to prove their allegations are true. To learn more, see: ACORN exposed. ACORN’s leaders eventually fired the employees in question. Their CEO, Bertha Lewis, has ordered an independent investigation into the story. Ignoring President Obama’s many ties to ACORN for the moment, shouldn’t the government suspend all funds going to ACORN and shouldn’t the government itself investigate the group in a rigorous manner for the purpose of reducing fraud?



In addition, where’s the “60 Minutes” report? Why is the mainstream media so relaxed about this particular investigative story? If the national media are so concerned about law breaking and corruption in businesses, shouldn’t they be jumping on this story and publicizing it, as they did for the Watergate investigation? Shouldn’t your local newspaper or local TV station be exposing the truth about ACORN on their front page and as their top story? Why have you not heard more about this?




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Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Rep. Joe Wilson’s Apology



Written : Sep. 15, 2009




In case you haven’t heard about this yet, Representative Joe Wilson (R-SC) shouted “You Lie” during President Obama’s speech to both branches of Congress last week. He was wrong to do so and privately apologized to the president sometime afterward. The apology was graciously accepted. After the apology the president reportedly said, “Now, let’s move on.”



The Democratic Congress was not done, however. After all, Joe Wilson gave the Democrats something to rail against. Therefore, they jumped on the chance to punish Wilson. They did so by censuring him. The measure involves a vote by the governing body for a resolution showing displeasure toward the politician. The House of Representatives voted 240-179, passing it.



You know, there’s video which was shot during President Bush’s speeches to Congress showing the opposition (the Democrats) rudely booing, moaning, and shouting. No video has emerged revealing anyone calling him a liar during the speeches, at least not yet. There’s video of members of Congress stating that President Bush was a liar. Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid outwardly showed anger toward him while speaking about his plan to rescue Social Security. Did any of them ever apologize? There was a movie made and people were urged to assassinate President Bush but was anyone called out for it in the mainstream media? No. It was awful, shameful, disgusting, embarrassing, boorish, immature, hateful, etc. - you have to admit it - what the media and many celebrities did to our last president.



However, all of the Democrats’ nastiness doesn’t excuse Joe Wilson. No one should boo or shout down a President of the United States – ever. No citizen should. No representative should. It’s bad behavior, it’s against the rules, and it’s inappropriate. Sure Wilson made a mistake. I disagree with most of Obama’s policies. I support the Tea Parties and the rallies against the current health care bill. But, Rep. Wilson interrupted a president’s speech inside the walls of Congress. He apologized to the president, but didn’t he owe an apology to the Congress as well? It wouldn’t have hurt to apologize to the Congress as well as to President Obama.

At the same time I wonder, would the Democrats have been as fair and as respectful to President Bush and/or a Republican Congress? Somehow, I doubt it. Take a gander at this, an article from the NY Daily News online by Albor Ruiz: Yet another biased, hateful article in the mainstream media



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Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Conservatives OK with Content of Obama Speech to Kids



Written : Sep. 8, 2009




A long time ago a young Democrat who happened to be the President of the United States urged the American people to, “Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country.” It was part of the kind spirit and greatness of John Fitzgerald Kennedy to ask Americans to help America in a unique way.



The other day the current president announced he had an address prepared for the school children of this country. Great. JFK and other presidents did it. However, many parents believed the Obama Administration would make this a partisan speech. Why did they think such a possibility existed? The contents of the lesson plan, which was sent to the schools ahead of time, suggested it. The lesson plan asked the teachers to suggest the children write something (to themselves) describing what they could do to help the president! Help the president? What happened to “help America?” Such an idea to help the president stands in stark contrast to what John F. Kennedy said at his inaugural.



Conservatives are ok with the content of Obama’s speech to the school kids. Really. What ticked off many was the over-zealous lesson plan. Excuse some of us for thinking, but the lesson plan’s objective made many ask, “Help the president? Help him with his agenda? Help him ‘spread the word’ about how great his Congress’ Health Care Reform package could be? Help him by reporting those who don’t agree with him to the special web site he setup for such insanity?” You tell me, could asking the children how they would have helped him have been perceived as a partisan tactic, or not? What if President Bush had done the same thing? In that situation could liberals have guessed he would have been asking them to support his policies?



The icing on the cake was the way Thomas Friedman, author and NY Times correspondent, went nuts over the parents’ and others’ objections over the speech on the Sep. 7, 2009 edition of “Meet the Press”. He repeated over and over in a loud voice and angry demeanor, “It’s flat out stupid!” Of course he was telling us that thinking carefully about the matter is stupid. He and other liberals believe people are against the president because they are against the man himself. My local TV station repeated such an opinion at least twice this morning. Such a take is misguided, as is the racist angle, and the ridiculous argument that conservatives will never support him. We are just astounded how partisan the lesson plan sounded. Remember, our elected officials work for us, and not vice-versa. Asking the children to think about how they might help him is ludicrous. In fact, “It’s flat out stupid!”





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Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Health Care Plan (HR3200) Made Simple



Written : Sep. 1, 2009



It's a Government Run Program - and they never work properly -


- for instance, Social Security, Medicare, the Post Office, etc.



- and which seeks to save lots of money



- saves money one way by cutting Medicare re-imbursements



+ adds end-of-life counseling for old people



- reimburses Doctors for said counseling



= causes choices which favor only “efficient” operations with high success rates



= which is rationed care and goes against the Hippocratic oath and



= old people are encouraged to take meds and cross their fingers instead of getting life-saving procedures.



also = a change in values in America favoring death over life = scary!




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Tuesday, August 25, 2009

More On Health Care (no pun intended!)



Written : Aug. 25, 2009




Proponents of HR3200 (the health care bill proposal) say that there are “myths” being propagated “out there”, implying that falsehoods are deliberately being spread by the bill’s opponents on the alternative media. They are mischaracterized as “myths”. They are in reality, concerns.



Although I haven’t read the health care bill, and probably never will read it in its entirety, I will concede “Death Panels” and illegal immigrant coverage are not included in the bill. A mandatory requirement that employers be forced into the public plan is probably not directly mentioned either, and I’m sure abortions are not stated as automatically covered in the bill’s language. However, concessions I've made in no way impede my ability to use critical thinking with regard to the bill.



Critical thinking. Something we all must have to make sure we use so we are not oppressed by our government (or others). Something the Democrats were screaming about during all of George W. Bush’s two terms in office. Something I was taught by my wonderful - and radical - parents to protect me against future tyrants who might erode my freedom later in life. So let’s get to it!



The bill begins by talking about “acceptable” requirements for health care. These are: affordable coverage, essential benefits, and consumer protection. Nice ideals. But don’t we have the obligation to ask how those ideals will be paid for? Which programs will legislators cut? We should consider it. Our officials say we will be allowed to retain our “current” health care plan. But what if our employer, looking to cut costs for its own benefit, forces us to a cheaper solution? I’ve seen it happen every single year since I’ve had coverage! And, that’s with a couple of large companies! Such a track record leads me to believe that each employer will choose the cheapest option, and we will eventually not have a choice. As a consequence, we will be left with only the public option and private insurance companies will go out of business. What about all the jobs which will be inevitably lost as a result?



If every employer chooses the cheaper option as I predict, the private companies are done for, right? I know, I know, it doesn’t specifically state such a thing in the bill, but isn’t it the logical conclusion? This is only one point and there are dozens more. We need to watch out for proponents of the bill brushing aside our concerns by stating that our sensible conclusions concerning HR3200 are “not in the bill”. We realize they probably are not in the bill. However, critical thinking tells us about the huge problems which might result from the bill’s passage.



Health care for everyone is a nice idea. But, with the same number of doctors and infrastructure, how will we cover 40+ million more people without sacrificing quality of care? Are we not supposed to ask such questions? Are we home grown terrorists (Timothy McVae types) if we come to the town halls to make our voices heard? So, ok, call me a radical.



I invite you to read the entire bill at: Read H.R.3200 . CSPAN will have a debate (happening now) hosted by Rep. James Moran (D-VA) and former DNC Chairman Howard Dean from Reston, VA shortly. Watch it here: Watch the debate



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Tuesday, August 18, 2009

The Least Important Affair



Written : Aug. 18, 2009




Senator John Edwards (D-NC) was caught in an illicit affair in 2007-2008 just after Speaker Nancy Pelosi declared the Republicans a “culture of corruption”. The media, with the exception of the National Enquirer in July of 2008, knew that a story was brewing with Edwards, but looked the other way. For me this matters only because Edwards was a public figure. But we’re all human. Anyone, given the right circumstances can be guilty of such a transgression. Such matters belong to no political party. And, no two situations are the same, but the media has an obligation to treat each instance in a similar manner.



Early in 2009 Governor Mark Sanford (R-SC) was caught in an illicit affair. No one covered it up, and the media jumped all over the story. Sanford was a public figure and therefore the story was important. It can happen to anyone, of course. In politics, the list could include Congressmen, Senators, Governors, Presidents, etc.



On “The O’Reilly Factor” with Bill O’Reilly within the past couple of days, Linda Stasi argued vehemently that Sanford’s affair was a more important mistake – even though Edwards’ affair occurred while he was running for the U.S. presidency. In fact, Edwards was a more prominent figure than Sanford. Stasi dismissed Edwards’ affair while correctly pointing out he was a former Senator at the time. A sitting Governor was more important to highlight, more prominent than a former Senator. I disagree, but ok. This may be a bit of a stretch, but it struck me as funny how just last year the media fell in love with a Senator (Obama), while they attacked a Governor (Palin). Whichever is more convenient if it fits your political ideology, I guess. We, the public, have an obligation to be skeptical about all the pundits we watch, to think for ourselves, and to ask pertinent questions.



Read the transcript at: Read Stasi on O’Reilly There’s a link there entitled “Click here to watch the debate!” or, watch it now: Watch the debate




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Tuesday, August 11, 2009

1984 - All Over Again



Written : Aug. 11, 2009




In 1948, George Orwell wrote his frightening novel, 1984, which suggested government would be meddling in our lives in ways we could never have imagined before. By the way, to come up with the title, Orwell simply reversed the last two digits of the then current year.



I can tell you Orwell’s book scared my politically radical parents to death. They envisioned a scenario in which right-wingers would conspire to craft sneaky ways to revise history and modify the English language for their own sinister purpose. One method for suppressing the people was to limit deep thought and personal expression by the forced substitution of certain words for others. Tight-fisted laws regarding word usage would be put in place to weaken the people and to make them more submissive. My parents hated the idea of censorship and my left-wing dad always told me I’d notice the first hint of a totalitarian regime in America when I notice people’s freedoms being reduced as we’re told what we can and cannot say or think.



Surprise! It’s the left, instead, which has implemented the policy my parents feared most. Fast forward to 2009. Textbook companies are being lobbied by left-wing groups to change the lingo in their tools of learning for the purpose of influencing social policy.



Tucker Carlson appeared on Fox & Friends (not on CNN, on Fox News Channel!) on July 29, 2009 and on August 6, 2009. In two different segments, he outlined the words and some phrases which will soon be forbidden. Big brother is coming.



The first is “Founding Fathers”. Instead we must use, “The Founders” or “The Framers”. This is because the first phrase is too male oriented! You’ll notice there’s a common theme to all of this censorship. Carlson said we wouldn’t want to suggest the men who wrote the Constitution were men! It would be historically accurate – but SCARY!



We must not use the words chairman and chairwoman. Those are sexist. Instead please say that they are pieces of furniture, or chairs. Do not say or write the word Congressman, in its place we’ll use “Member of Congress”. Examine the other words, fisherman, brotherhood, fellowship, freshman, workmanship, caveman. Notice the similarities – see how they suggest “male” and leave out “female”? - They actually don’t, those words were used without objection while I was growing up and their use was generic (the words meant male and/or female – the same words were never perceived as sexist before. Changes such as these are proposed because some people are horrified by generic words, such as “actor”! They want to sterilize our language of words they misperceive as insults. Be careful, this is censorship, or at least an attempt to change the way people express themselves in order to influence our sense of fairness and equality concerning the sexes. It strikes me as silly and petty. Why are people so sensitive these days, really?



You can watch one of Tucker Carlson’s appearances on Fox & Friends at the following link: Tucker Carlson on Fox & Friends E-mail me at mark.marj57@comcast.net to tell me what you think. If I get enough responses I’ll post them next week. If not, ok, but you know this is censorship and it shouldn’t be happening.




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Sunday, August 2, 2009

Health Care vs. The Health Insurance Debate



Written : Aug. 1, 2009




The health care debate is about insurance for health care, or coverage, it's not about health care itself. We have the best health care in the world in the U.S., bar none. This is not disputed, and the evidence is apparent. For instance, if anyone goes to the emergency room they are treated right away, regardless of who they are and regardless of which insurance they do or do not have. People flock to this country to be treated but few Americans travel to countries which feature socialized medicine for care.



House of Representatives' Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) has a daughter, Jackie Kucinich, who appeared on CSPAN's Washington Journal on July 29,2009. Ms. Kucinich works for Roll Call, which professes to offer unbiased online and print coverage of American national politics. The appearance by Ms. Kucinich on CSPAN on July 29 also appeared to have been unbiased, kudos to her. Libby Casey, a member of Alaska Public Radio was the guest host on July 29. While I do not yet understand the relationship between each state's public broadcasting network (ex. Colorado Public Radio) and National Public Radio, or NPR, I do know from personal experience that NPR appears to be unbiased, but it leans to the left.



Back to the debate. The political left tells us there are 50 million uninsured in the U.S. It's their right to have insurance, so how will we cover them? It's a matter of fairness at any cost for the left. The issue as seen from the right questions why we need to spend $1-2 trillion or more in future taxes or "stimulus" to clean up health care insurance issues since there are many other ways to do it. The right also questions the 50 million number (it's usually stated as 47 million) and brings to a part of the debate the question of whether or not the millions of people here illegally in the country (estimated from 7-20 million) should be counted as uninsured. The right wonders if the millions of people who do not pay for insurance should be covered, or paid for, by the tax payers?



Libby Casey, the host, referred to the issue several times as "health care". When it's framed that way, conservatives can appear to be the 'bad guys', especially when they are accused of being against "health care". The issue should be referred to by any of its' rightful names instead, such as "health care reform", "health care debate", or "the health care insurance bill". As Ms. Kucinich pointed out in a fair and unbiased manner, Republicans DO NOT want to kill "health care", since we all have great health care already. The Republicans, or conservatives, just take a different approach to reform. Their version is based on tax cuts - the opposite of taxes imposed - and making the industry healthier via cleaning up waste in the system. Conservatives in general look at the public insurance option and think it will undercut private health care insurance, thereby eliminating it in the long run. They also look at the long wait for service in other countries and are put off by the idea that a calculation is usually made as to whether or not it's cost effective to treat patients based upon the estimated survivability of a patient.



Please be careful how you refer to the debate. It's not about health care. It's about insurance.



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Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Tidbits II



Written : July 21, 2009




This evening I searched for some liberal blogs in order to understand what they’re thinking these days. I stumbled onto a site called, “Liberal Values” at liberalvaluesblog. The sub-title is, “Defending Liberty and Enlightened Thought”. The reader is to glean from the sub-title: Only liberal thought is enlightened! And, at leftcoaster, a lefty blogger implies it was wrong for the mainstream media (MSM) to ‘allow’ former Vice President Cheney to express himself on Meet The Press. Funny, I was taught by liberals that tolerance and open-mindedness was paramount.



Michele Norris of NPR – said this past Sunday on “Meet the Press”, on 7/19/09, “Much was made of community service – and not in a good way – during the [last presidential] campaign.” Michele, people were taking issue with some community organizers and their impact on society during the ’08 campaign, not with community service. There’s a difference. Every person, liberal or conservative, with a grain of sense knows that community service is a good and a noble thing.



Sean Hannity reported this week that actress Jeanine Garafalo recently stated that the mainstream media is tilted to the right! I can understand why liberals complain about Fox News, but how can the media be seen as entirely far-right with no outlet whatsoever for liberal expression?



I thought the cursing and personal attacks were abrasive enough, but it’s a shame that some people go further than that. Early this month a story was published on Playboy's website (Playboy is the magazine I loved in my youth - for the articles, of course!). It was about ten conservative women the author would like to rape! Amazing and outrageous! You can read about it at: chickensontheright in an article published there on June 6. The article was eventually pulled from the Playboy web site.



A liberal’s view of another tasteless joke (as Playboy excused it) on conservatives perpetrated by the media, is at: blogacause


You can see an interesting take on this at : politicalvindication



This YouTube Video describes the hateful list on “Red Eye”:






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Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Talk Radio



Written : July 14-15, 2009




Do you listen to talk radio in your car or elsewhere? If you're a regular reader, you'll know I do. I listen to both sides and enjoy the debate.



On progressive talk on July 10, 2009, I heard a tirade by Ed Schultz which was more intolerant than most I'd heard before. He said he hated bipartisanship! Basically he claimed the Democrats won the last presidential election, and therefore they deserve to get everything they want, without opposition! Republicans should just get out of their way, because as he put it, he "don't trust 'em". Interesting what happens to some opinions when the shoe is on the other foot! For example, when the Republicans were in power Schultz among others were loud in their opposition! - Hey, Ed, there's nothing wrong with that! - Even now!



Schultz called Bill Frist, who was the Republican majority leader until he left office in 2007, "a dork". Referring to conservatives, Schultz said, "I hate them." While laying down his reasons he angrily postulated that "they" gutted the middle class. There's the popular "class warfare" argument again. Why does the left like to pit people against each other? Republicans want all people to get along. "They" listen in to our conversations. Who wants to listen into Schultz' conversations? BORING! And, the government doesn't have the resources to listen into all of our conversations! However, we do want to know if terrorists are conversing with their counterparts in hostile countries, right? Then he screamed that the Republican party should be wiped out, replaced with nothing - just wiped out. And Rush Limbaugh gets the bad press! This shows the mainstream media has got its collective hands over its collective ears.



I think Schultz is living under a blanket of anger and operates out of a set of inaccurate assumptions. Republicans are not evil. They want everyone to succeed (not just Republicans, but everyone). They think people make better decisions with their own money than government. In addition, government is full of waste - among other things. It's not true that half of us want to be taxed at a higher rate, but it is true that half of us want someone else to be taxed at a higher rate! - Ask yourself if that's fair. You're right, it's not! Who'll want to succeed if success means one's money will someday go to support some Joe who won't match your level of effort? More working people will get ahead if we allow them to keep more of their own money. It's such a simple idea: I don't understand why more people don't see it that way.



On The Ed Schultz Show on the same day, a caller from Manhattan stated, "People have been making money on the internet since… Clinton [so] they have to be taxed!" What a silly idea! Why tax use of the Internet to simply increase the size of the bureaucracy of our government? Why be jealous of others who succeed? Be happy for them! Let business people on the Internet keep their income. It's common sense that those who make larger profits and want to increase their business will hire more help. Job growth equals a bigger economy. Hmmm…



We need more open-mindedness and tolerance in this world, not less. Schultz is giving us less. What a pity.




Take a gander at this YouTube Video:





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Keywords: Conservatism, Conservative, blog, politics, political, Mark Cohen, Mark A. Cohen, From The Left to the Right, conservative blog, conservative blogs, Ed Schultz, Air America, bureaucracy.



Keyword Phrases: "Conservatism", "Conservative", "blog", "politics", "political", "Mark Cohen", "Mark A. Cohen", "From The Left to the Right ", "conservative blog", "conservative blogs", "Ed Schultz", "Air America", "bureaucracy"




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Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Sarah!



Written : July 7, 2009




Driving to work one day this week I was listening to The Mike Gallagher Show, but he went into commercial. I switched to our local “Air America” affiliate. The folks there did a ten-minute, non-stop barrage of attacks against “America’s Governor”, Sarah Palin. I wasn’t shocked because I’d heard it all before, but the meanness and constant negativity was striking. It makes one wonder why these radio “professionals” were so angered, so upset, and so unprofessional.



I heard a caller cursing out the Governor’s daughter and I can understand his anger. He’s another one who is ticked off by those who engage in bad behavior, but only if they are conservative. I don’t force my beliefs on anyone else, but I certainly wish people would use less foul language. My personal belief is that everyone (and not just liberals) should curse less often. This statement alone will offend some people, as they will think I'm judging them, but I'm not. Cursing doesn't bother me, I'd just rather hear less of it.



Does reaching for a higher moral plane (by Palin) make it right to hold the governor accountable for her daughter’s behavior? If one aspires to be a person who upholds his values does it become more proper to insult him/her for a single mistake? If the left is so sensitive about being judged, should they be so judgmental of others? Call me a hick from NYC, but this is something I just don’t understand.



Sarah strikes me as a wonderful person who has great leadership ability and plenty of experience. She had guts to run for governor, run for VP after only a couple of months’ notice, and to stick with her daughter and support her through a surprise teen pregnancy. I’m disappointed that the left goes out of its way to paint her as an idiot because she’s far from it. Her chances to become president may have been damaged by the mainstream media, but she’d make a terrific Secretary of Anything.





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Keywords: Conservatism, Conservative, blog, politics, political, Mark Cohen, Mark A. Cohen, From The Left to the Right, conservative blog, conservative blogs, Governor Palin, Sarah Palin.



Keyword Phrases: "Conservatism", "Conservative", "blog", "politics", "political", "Mark Cohen", "Mark A. Cohen", “From The Left to the Right “, "conservative blog", "conservative blogs”, “Governor Palin”, “Sarah Palin”, “foreign policy”




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Tuesday, June 30, 2009

The Sanford Affair



Written : June 30, 2009




We look at South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford and wonder what he was thinking. He had a shot at the presidency; his actions were not logical. It’s a shame. We contrast this one to other “scandals” and realize this one is wrong, too, but it pales in its comparison.



True, Sanford (R-SC) is a powerful, sitting Governor, but he’s come clean while others in similar situations did not. Senator John Edwards (D-NC) campaigned for president during his affair and lied about it to all of us by hiding it. He was caught “red handed”, in the middle of the night while trying to sneak a visit to his ‘other woman’ through a back alley (creepy). Edwards was even rumored to have fathered a child with his mistress. He appeared to have used his wife, who had cancer, to garner sympathy. And, of course, all coverage of his affair was hushed and covered up as much as was possible by the mainstream press until The Enquirer broke the story.



President Clinton (D-AR) wriggled under oath, lying about having sex with an intern, wagging his finger at us and telling us he didn’t have sex “with that woman”, Monica Lewinsky. He even implied the meaning of the word “is” would have changed the meaning of his deed. Come on.



Sanford definitely screwed up. But as I said in a recent post, Republicans do not preach to others – they just aspire to a high (high, not “higher”) set of morals. Sometimes they fail. It’s amazing to me that some point their finger and say Sanford didn’t “practice what he preached”, as Michael Eric Dyson robotically repeated this past Sunday on ABC’s “This Week”. That’s misuse of an old, tired stereotype; a distortion and a tactic Democrats use against conservatives. Sanford didn’t preach to anyone, did he preach to you?




Keywords: Conservatism, Conservative, blog, politics, political, Mark Cohen, Mark A. Cohen, From The Left to the Right, conservative blog, conservative blogs, President Obama, Barack Obama, foreign policy, weakening of America.



Keyword Phrases: "Conservatism", "Conservative", "blog", "politics", "political", "Mark Cohen", "Mark A. Cohen", “From The Left to the Right “, "conservative blog", "conservative blogs”, “President Obama”, “Barack Obama”, “foreign policy”, “weakening of America”.




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