From the Left to the Right

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Conservative Blogs Central. Once on page 21, go to the bottom (scroll down), it shows and points back to this blog.

Keywords: Conservatism, Conservative blog, Mark A. Cohen, From The Left to the Right, Christiane Amanpour, Mike Pence, Rand Paul, John McCain, Bill O'Reilly, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich

Keyword Phrases: "Conservatism”, “Conservative blog”, “Mark A. Cohen”, “From The Left to the Right”, "Christiane Amanpour", "Mike Pence", "Rand Paul", "John McCain", "Bill O'Reilly", "Mitt Romney", "Newt Gingrich"

See Mark's 'Author of the Month' page at Castle Rock's Local Gathering Place

Mark A. Cohen is represented at AKA Literary by Agent Terrie Wolf. This page scrolls through authors whose last names begin with either an A, B, or C. You can either wait for the scroll, or click on his name there.

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Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Time to Do the Big Things

Apr. 12 and 19, 2011

New Jersey's Governor, Chris Christie, spoke at the American Enterprise Institute on Feb. 16, 2011, in Washington, D.C. There's a reason people find this non-candidate irresistible. No BS. He's honest. He's blunt. The cliches are applicable here, as old time sportscaster Howard Cosell might say, "He tells it like it is."

The president recently said that America was all about doing the big things. Gov. Christie agrees, but what are the big things? The governor starts by paraphrasing the president, "the big things are high speed rail." Christie looks up and gets a little nervous laughter. "And internet access for some percentage of the population. One million electric cars on the road by some date." Chris Christie pauses a moment, changes his tone, and says, "That is the candy of American politics. Those are not the big things."

Gov. Christie informs the crowd, "Let me guarantee you something, if we don’t fix the real big things, there are going to be no electric cars on the road. There is going to be no high speed internet access, or if there is you’re not going to be able to afford to get on it." It's time for all of us to open our eyes, he's right, the real big things are our economic woes.

I know some of you judge a politician by how much he promises the poor, or how much he loves corrupt labor unions. Maybe you hold onto that old, reactionary, tiresome, and antiquated stereotype that all conservatives are racist and homophobic. Or, perhaps you can just read their mind (sure you can, Jack). Or, their accent bothers you. Perhaps you're jealous because you think Christie's the worst of all sins, rich! Some will make fun of him because he has a hard time with his weight, and his L's. Well, I don't know about you, but this is a guy I can support. No, he doesn't say what each constituency wants to hear, he's about tough love. Gov. Christie genuinely likes everyone - equally - and you can feel it when he speaks. This is a realistic politician who cares about all Americans.

By being careful with spending, Chris Christie's trying to save the pensions of workers in New Jersey, he's not trying to take them away. But, the entitlement state can't go on forever. With more baby-boomers retiring each year and fewer and fewer younger people to pay for them, how can the system sustain itself? It might not be fair, but that's the way it is. So, c'mon, liberal friends, admit it, sometimes fat-cat labor unions and previously coddled workers have to sacrifice, too. At times they have to do the big things, too. Maybe they will. But as we've seen, they'll whine and complain all the way!

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Keywords: Conservatism, Conservative blog, Mark A. Cohen, From The Left to the Right, Governor Chris Christie, Time to Do the Big Things, High Speed Rail, President Obama, New Jersey

Keyword Phrases: "Conservatism”, “Conservative blog”, “Mark A. Cohen”, “From The Left to the Right”, "Governor Chris Christie", "Time to Do the Big Things", "High Speed Rail", "President Obama", "New Jersey"

See Mark's 'Author of the Month' page at Castle Rock's Local Gathering Place

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Tuesday, April 12, 2011

More Liberal Gaffs

Mar. and Apr., 2011

The mainstream media (MSM), which is defined as a left-leaning conglomerate of older news organizations, tends to imply that America and its capitalist system are failing. Watch, and you'll see it. Time Magazine featured two articles on the subject in their March 14, 2011 edition. The first, written by Fareed Zacharia, Yes, America is in Decline, was featured on the cover, complete with a finger - pointing down, a sign of pessimism. If you turn the magazine upside down, it's easy to see there's another featured cover story, No, America is Still #1, by David Von Drehle. The finger only points upward, showing optimism, when the magazine is turned on its head.

Zacharia hosts a show on CNN called GPS, the Global Public Square, which gleefully highlights the strengths of foreign countries and points out where and how the U.S. has failed. But, Zacharia insists he's not really being negative. His story is that America has placed itself in a position which makes it unable to lead the rest of the world. Other nations are on the rise, that's all it is. Yet, I watch with a skeptical eye, and wonder if there's an agenda behind all the claimed innocence.

The MSM's favorite pastime is suggesting there are wedges splitting the Republican Party apart. The Tea Party is just the latest wedge. Witness MSM reporters calling the Tea Party extreme. One example would be, "Senator, don't you think the Tea Party has caused the Republican Party to splinter?" I can think of a million of these because they're so common. And, this just happens to be a talking point of the Democratic Party. How do we know? Reporters overheard Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) telling Democrats on a conference call in late March, 2011 that he uses the word "extreme," because it's what "the caucus instructed me to do the other week." Schumer said, "The American people are seeing the Tea Party for what it is - extreme." The next time someone says the MSM is slanted right, remember this true story, and tell 'em, "It's just not true."

Try to recall the last time you heard an MSM interviewer say, "Oh, come on!" to a Democrat... Didn't think you could. From CNN's own transcript: The following is from Candy Crowley's interview with Donald Rumsfeld Sunday, Feb. 27, 2011:

CROWLEY: ... the Republican Party ... you've watched it go through a number of iterations. What do you think of this one with the Tea Party influence and the conservatives?

RUMSFELD: Fascinating. I find it...

CROWLEY: Oh, come on.

RUMSFELD: I find it very interesting...

So do I.

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Keywords: Conservatism, Conservative blog, Mark A. Cohen, From The Left to the Right, Fareed Zacharia, David Von Drehle, CNN, GPS, liberal bias, mainstream media, Crowley interviews Rumsfeld

Keyword Phrases: " Conservatism”, “Conservative blog”, “Mark A. Cohen”, “From The Left to the Right”, "Fareed Zacharia", "David Von Drehle", "CNN", "GPS", "liberal bias", "mainstream media", "Crowley interviews Rumsfeld"

See Mark's 'Author of the Month' page at Castle Rock's Local Gathering Place

Mark A. Cohen is represented at AKA Literary by Agent Terrie Wolf. This page scrolls through authors whose last names begin with either an A, B, or C. You can either wait, or click on his name there.

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Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Confusion in Libya

Mar. 27 and 29, and Apr. 4, 2011

National Journal reporter Megan Scully and Reuter's Missy Ryan were two of Libby Casey's guests on Washington Journal on Mar. 25, 2011. All three are experienced journalists. Scully and Ryan discussed the current situation in Libya, especially America's role and fielded questions from callers.

Scully's and Ryan's deep understanding of the administration's positions and criticism of the same came through, loud and clear. Ms. Ryan described the Obama Administration's strategy: "We would ... prefer to ... shrink into the shadows and continue to play this logistics and support role as we're going to have to do but not have it be an American face." (By the way, why did she say "we" and not "they?" Does Ms. Ryan serve the Obama administration? It would seem so!) She also described the Obama Doctrine as a "more authentic, international, military effort involving sanctioned backing from multi-lateral organizations like the U.N. ... in contrast to what happened in Iraq." In truth, there is no Obama Doctrine, and no clear foreign policy, either. This president merely distorts the Bush Doctrine, which supports pre-emptive strikes around the world.

Recall the stance of President Bush's critics, who to this day paint him a unilateral leader, even though he built a large coalition (of 30 nations) and obtained a vote of confidence from the U.S. Congress and the U.N. - before invading Iraq. It is not clear to me why some say the war in Libya is considered more authentic than the war in Iraq by Obama administration supporters. According to many, a war is a war is a war. Remember? In 2003, that was the flavor of the rhetoric we heard.

It seems the president's better-late-than-never, flip-flop decision to support a twisted version of the Bush Doctrine, can be spurred into action by the words of any dictator. Muammar Gaddafi vowed there would be "no mercy" on the rebels and spoke about cleansing the city of Benghazi. I agree, that's pretty awful stuff, but in a time of great financial debt, and when many have complained for years that Iraq and Afghanistan were two more wars than we could ever bear, we rush off to a third war based on a mere threat? Saddam Hussein was gassing his own people, for God's sake! By the way, long gone are the chants of "war monger" and calls for war crime trials for presidents and vice presidents... Where are the complaints we heard when President Bush was in office - that the current president never served in the military, and that we are in this for the oil? Now that the Democrats occupy the White House, we hear a completely different story. Interesting, isn't it?

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