A Beheading in NY in 2009?

Written : Feb. 17, 2009

Not many beheadings occur in the United States, but we just had one about a week ago. In this time of enlightenment, a woman was beheaded near Buffalo, NY on Feb. 12, 2009!! How barbaric! Her husband, the founder of a Muslim TV station, was accused of doing it supposedly because she filed for divorce. In addition, she had an order of protection filed so that he could not enter the family home. The accused was a man who worked hard to help portray Muslims in a positive light after 9/11. Not that it matters, but he was a Muslim. If he is found to have done this, his actions certainly wouldn’t have helped his cause very much. What was he thinking? How can a person living in a civilized society such as ours commit such an act?

Keywords: Conservatism, Conservative, blog, politics, political, social, economic, socio-economic, muslim, muslims

Keyword Phrases: “conservative blog”, “liberal and conservative”, “conservative and liberal”, “republican blog”, “From the Left to the Right”, “religious stereotypes”, “Mark Cohen”

Stimulus Whimulus?

Written : Feb. 17, 2009

President Obama won. He got his “spending” or “stimulus” or “whatever you want to call it” package passed within a month of assuming the presidency. “Some say” that it was a great accomplishment. “Others” say he couldn’t lose with a heavily Democratic congress. Whatever, it passed.

How did it happen so quickly? “Some say” the President worked his magic. “Others” say the Republicans weren’t allowed to participate in the creation of the bill. They also claimed to not have had enough time to read it. Whatever, it passed quickly.

What will it do to the economy? “Some say” it will create jobs for people like those who study “the impact of minimum wage increases that have occurred, and are scheduled to occur, in American Samoa and the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands.” Those same people say it will create jobs for people like those who study the census procedures of the Virgin Islands. Good for them! “Others” ask if those jobs are the ones we really need? Those same “others” say it will not create jobs for very many and that the newly created jobs won’t last very long. Whatever, it definitely will create a few jobs.

One thing we can all agree on is that it spends a lot of money over the next four to five years. Another is that we’ll all be watching to see if it works. For America’s sake, I hope so, but I am skeptical as I believe we should all be. We’re supposed to “speak truth to power”, right? Whatever, our kids and grandchildren will carry an awesome burden.

Keywords: Conservatism, Conservative, blog, politics, political, social, economic, socio-economic

Keyword Phrases: “conservative Blog”, “liberal and conservative”, “conservative and liberal”, “republican blog”, “President Obama”, “From the Left to the Right”, “stimulus bill”, “stimulus package”, “HR-1”, “Mark Cohen”

Will the Real President Obama Please Stand Up?

Written : Feb. 10, 2009

President Obama said some wonderful things last week. It was refreshing to hear him say this on Feb. 4, “This is America. We don’t disparage wealth. We don’t begrudge anybody for achieving success. We certainly believe that success should be rewarded. But what gets people upset – and rightfully so – are executives being rewarded for failure.” BINGO! That was just right!

The very next day, however, he gave a left-wing, partisan, harsh speech on television while in front of a group of adoring House Democrats while they were at a Virginia retreat. Unbelievably, instead of speaking about bipartisanship, he accused Republicans of using phony arguments and petty politics when speaking about or giving suggestions for the stimulus package. He appeared to scold the Republicans, “Don’t come to the table with the same tired arguments and worn ideas that helped to create this crisis. I welcome the debate, but come on. We are not going to get relief by turning back to the very same policies that for the last eight years doubled the national debt...”

He then taunted conservatives, “Then you get the argument, well, this is not a stimulus bill [it’s a spending bill].” He then turned sarcastic and angry, “What do you think a stimulus IS? That’s the whole point.” No, it’s not. The stimulus must not just be about spending, it must be about building businesses and creating jobs, jobs that continue on for years, not just for a few months while the current project runs its course. The vile nature of the speech was definitely not “change we can believe in”, it was precisely the same old, tired Sen. Harry Reid / Speaker Pelosi demagoguery we heard during most of the Bush term.

So, which President Obama is the real one? The one who unites America with soaring rhetoric, or the one who bashes President Bush, the Republicans, and their ideas? The mainstream media isn’t up to criticizing this President, at least not yet, so I’ll take that liberty - while I still have it.

Keywords: Conservatism, Conservative, blog, politics, political, social, economic
Keyword Phrases: “conservative Blog”, “liberal and conservative”, “conservative and liberal”, “republican blog”, “President Obama”, “from the left to the right”

Constructive Conservative Comments for the “Stimulus Package”

Written : Feb. 3, 2009

Some are suggesting that conservatives are being obstructionists when it concerns the “Stimulus Package” for our economy. On the contrary, there are many good reasons for opposing it in its present form. No matter what you believe about the package, here are some positive comments from conservatives, which I’ve heard recently, that just might help.

On “Fox News Sunday” on Feb. 1, 2009, Sen. John Kyl (R-AZ) said, “We have to be careful not to create some sort of devil out of business. The president said that it’s wrong for them to make a profit in these days. If there are not profits made, they won’t stay in business, they won’t create jobs, and they won’t hire people unless they can make a profit.” That’s certainly something important to keep in mind. We won’t solve the crises if businesses can’t make a profit.

On “Hannity” on Jan. 30, 2009, Newt Gingrich (R-GA), a former US Speaker of the House, said, “If we had a tax holiday [until] August, we would jumpstart this economy a lot better than pouring the money [into] a government bureaucracy for politicians to affect cuts. On the same program, Rich Lowry, who writes for National Review suggested, “A straight cut in the payroll tax would make the most sense.” Congress should consider both ideas, but will they?

On GPS (Global Public Square) on CNN, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said that no one country can solve the financial crisis. That wasn’t brilliant, but it’s true.

The best suggestion was made by Kay Bailey Hutchinson on “Meet the Press” on Feb. 1, 2009, although the host, David Gregory, actually spoke over it and basically ignored the end of her brilliant statement. On the subject of “more tax relief”, she said, “We have to do something that makes business want to create jobs.” Indeed, that is the key. I’m not suggesting that spending hundreds of billions of dollars is “ok” in the first place. However, spending in order to create jobs that will be around for the long term is not only obviously better than spending to create short-term jobs but it comes closer to solving one of the economic problems we face. We can’t forget that we’ll also need to fix a housing crisis and a financial crisis.

A Liberal Democrat Praises a Working Mom in Politics in 2009

Written : Jan. 29, 2009

During the 2008 Presidential campaign, Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK), then running for Vice President, was viciously criticized by many for being a working mom. The sexist question raised by some Democrats was, “If elected, how would she be able to spend any time with her children?” She was hardly ever praised for being a role model for working moms.

When Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi appeared on “This Week” with George Stepanopolous on Jan. 25, 2009, something quite different occurred. The discussion was about the soon-to-be vacant Senate seat of Secretary of State nominee Hilary Clinton and the appointment to the United States Senate of US Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand by N.Y. Governor David Paterson to that vacant seat. I didn’t know much about Gillibrand, but I was surprised when Ms. Pelosi praised her for being a working mom. I believe that Pelosi was not one who actually attacked Palin for being a working mom in 2008, but I was alarmed at how different her treatment of Gillibrand was than how Palin was treated by Democrats (and the mainstream media) during the campaign. Amazingly, Pelosi said that Gillibrand could “speak to the aspirations of so many working moms”. We should have at least heard that some of the time about Palin from fair-minded liberals during the campaign. However, none were apparently able to have been that honest late last year.

Losing is Everything

Written : Jan. 27-28, 2009

My thanks to Mike Gallagher, the fine conservative talk show host for pointing out the Micah Grimes story on his morning show on Jan. 27, 2009. If you don’t listen to Mike and he’s available in your area, you should make a point to listen to him. (In my area he’s on KNUS-AM, 710, from 7-9AM, M-F.) On that particular day he highlighted a story I hadn’t heard about until then. A girl’s basketball team had won a game by the score of 100-0. That’s right, a hundred point shut-out!

The story was that Micah Grimes, the winning coach, had deliberately made his superior team massively overpower the opposition, even when it was apparent that the other team was badly beaten early on. The charge was really what we used to call unsportsman-like conduct. His school, Covenant School, is a religious high school, which means (to many non-believers) that it therefore, for some reason, has to have a much higher standard of conduct than any other. What is not widely known is that his school had suffered a similar beating just four years before. So, Covenant beat up on Dallas Academy, which specializes in teaching children with learning disabilities such as ADHD, ADD, and dyslexia. Having such a learning disability should not necessarily prevent a person from playing basketball well, although it might prevent a person from concentrating on academics. The fact about the losing team having members with learning disabilities was highlighted in the media most likely for the purpose of eliciting anger for Covenant’s victory and to make people feel sorry for the Dallas Academy’s team.

The odd thing was that it was the winning team’s school’s leaders who were extremely embarrassed for having won the game by so many points. They were so upset by it that they not only apologized for the win, but I heard they either wanted to or actually did forfeit the game! As Mike Gallagher pointed out on his show, what does that teach the girls of both teams? It’s similar to the children’s leagues of the 1990’s which gave out trophies to every player regardless of skill level or results! That behavior was (and is) sickening and maddening at the same time! I realize that the following question is a simplification of the situation but, what was the winning team to do, stop playing in the middle of the game?

To Micah Grimes’ credit, he disagreed with his school and e-mailed a newspaper to that affect. He stated that the girls on his team played hard, just as they should have. For his team’s terrific performance, he was summarily fired! What a strange turn of events, and what completely backwards behavior from the leaders of the Covenant School! When I was young, such a victory would have elicited praise of the highest order, not only from the winning school, but from everyone - including the losing school, not to mention all of the players, and the media. What kind of an example was this to set for the next generation of Americans? To be embarrassed for possessing superior talent and to apologize for your own victory may be politically correct, but it’s a complete reversal of a winning attitude! When it’s these kids’ turn for representing America in the future, will they compete and win or will they apologize instead?