From the Left to the Right: August 2012

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Quotes – Can you Guess Who Spoke or Wrote Them?

Written : Aug. 28, 2012

I enjoyed these quotes and it's not easy to guess who said them. This blog post is not political, and I have no particular agenda by republishing them. - What’s wrong with me? - Just have fun this week, and enjoy the Republican National Convention.

A. “The people I meet -- in small towns and big cities, in diners and office parks -- they don’t expect government to solve all their problems. They know they have to work hard to get ahead, and they want to.”

B. “There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured with what is right in America.”

C. “Each of us knows that we have an obligation to care for the old, the young and the sick. We stand strongest when we stand with the weakest among us.”

D. “A friend is one who has the same enemies as you have.”

E. “Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.”

F. “Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names.”

G. “When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.”

H. “Cruel leaders are replaced only to have new leaders turn cruel.”

I. “A people free to choose will always choose peace.”

J. “Any jackass can kick down a barn but it takes a good carpenter to build one.”

K. “If you want to make beautiful music, you must play the black and the white notes together.”

L. “Sometimes I think if I had the same body and the same natural ability and someone else's brain, who knows how good a player I might have been.”

M. “It's always good to be underestimated.”

N. “I've made all my money on my own without my family and I work very hard.”

Answers:

A. President Barack Obama
B. President Bill Clinton
C. Governor Sarah Palin
D. President Abraham Lincoln
E. President George Washington
F. President John F. Kennedy
G. President Franklin D. Roosevelt
H. Che Guevarra
I. President Ronald Reagan
J. President Lyndon Baines Johnson
K. President Richard Nixon
L. Mickey Mantle
M. Donald Trump
N. Paris Hilton

Source: Brainy Quote

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Theories

Written : Aug. 21, 2012

Rich DeVos, a co-founder of Amway, speaking to a group of young people, once said that as we travel, we “…find people who don’t believe that people should be rewarded in direct proportion to the effort they put forth. They think that all people should be treated equally like in the socialistic or the Communistic governments. And what that means is that everybody should be equal. What they really mean to say is that everybody should be equally poor – because that’s about where they stand… And they’re telling me that that system’s the wonderful one.” He then quoted someone who told him, ‘Your theories are all wrong.’ To which Mr. DeVos replied to his audience, “And all I can say to the boys with the theories is, ‘Friend, I’m not talkin’ theory.’”

What Rich DeVos tried to convey was that while capitalism isn’t perfect, it has a proven track record. Our system has provided more for people than the entire socialist and Communist countries ever did – put together. Is that a statistic I can quantify? No. But over hundreds of years it provided for people while Communism, in its short history has failed millions. In each case it failed. It will always fail. That system creates insecure, intolerant dictatorships which murder fellow countrymen who disagree with them. And yet, we still hear people talking about the benefits of the redistribution of wealth, which hurts individuals and makes them weak, and causes their nations to become vulnerable to the decay of diminished expectations and laziness.

Case in point was the appearance of MIT Political Science professor, Andrea Louise Campbell, on yesterday’s Washington Journal. She will soon publish an article entitled, The U.S. – The Undertaxed. In it, as in her segment, she states that we need more infrastructure, more public education, transportation. A caller, in support, stated another obvious left-wing talking point. We need more firefighters and police. We’ve heard this all before, and, duh. But Andrea Louise Campbell didn’t examine the question, “Can we afford them?” The government has to be funded somehow – is another simple excuse the left uses to bolster this theory. As I have demonstrated in this blog, if you took all the wealth of all the rich folks away and gave it to the feds, you could not pay down this nation’s nagging debt.

More taxes on the rich. We’ve heard this theory before. Kim Kardashian should pay her fair share. Right. How do we know how she divides her income? As Ms. Campbell calmly described the incomes of the wealthy, she called it ”take home pay.” But the rich don’t take home most of their earnings. They invest most of their bucks - in companies, in stocks, and some in, dare I say, infrastructure (government bonds). For all you know you could be hurting the public sector, too, by sucking the wealthy dry. I don’t claim to know how people like Paris Hilton salt away their funds, but – think about it - they don’t have much take home pay. Ms. Campbell should update her failed socialist theories and look into good old competition. Redistribution of wealth is destructive, not constructive. As Rich DeVos said, “if we don’t challenge them, they’ll take the day.” So stand up and tell people like Ms. Campbell, “It’s not that way!” Our system works, but socialism is still but a dreamer’s theory.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

President Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney – Are there Any Differences? Part II

Written : Aug. 5 and 14, 2012

We on the right are used to the mainstream media’s left-wing bias. This continued - business as usual, as CBS/NBC reporter Marvin Kalb appeared on Washington Journal on Aug. 5, 2012. Claiming there is no difference between Mitt Romney and President Obama (on foreign policy I assume), Kalb took the liberal position that the war in Iraq should never have happened. According to the left (as I see it) the U.S. has no foreign interests and should not interfere with global dictators’ attempts to oppress millions of people. Trying to follow the fit of twisted logic, I guess we must stay out of the way of despots because they only threaten us when it’s too late – and it’s not too late now!

A caller asked whether or not it’s moral that the U.S. keep over 800 military bases in over 100 countries and suggested that we are pushing our way of life and democratic principles (God forbid!) on those countries. Mr. Kalb surprisingly took exception to the caller’s assumptions and claimed that instead of occupying, we are defending America, and not trying to spread democracy all over the world. Our objective reporter suggested that the U.S. today is not beholden to the military industrial complex (this somehow proves the current president’s toughness). Kalb’s statement is a flip-flop position, as the left claimed that President Bush (and Vice President Cheney) cow towed to the armed services and acted as their proxy for eight years. To be fair, Marvin Kalb did say he thought that Mitt Romney would govern as a centrist president as opposed to a hawk. When a caller suggested she wouldn’t listen to a thing Romney said because he wouldn’t release his tax returns prior to 2011, interestingly, no one on the program (not even fair-minded Mr. Kalb) raised the point that we’re still waiting for President Obama’s college transcripts (and applications) to be released. He withholds them still.

While campaigning in 2008, according to Kalb, President Obama said that Afghanistan was a war we must win – and - after one short year the president flipped and searched for an exit strategy… Mr. Kalb didn’t say the president lied to get elected, he said his position on Afghanistan changed over time (evolved?). I wonder if Marvin Kalb will be as warm and kind to a Republican president. Fortunately, we may know for sure in just a few short months. In past years when media types made biased statements, we conservatives either ignored them or rolled over and accepted their rhetoric. But, this time, we’ll be watching and listening for consistency and objectivity. I’ll bet we won’t find any, but, who knows? At least the right keeps an open mind. If you’re on the left, find out and come join us!

The Entire ‘You Didn’t Build That’ Speech

A Conservative Take

Elizabeth Warren on the infrastructure we all paid for

Elizabeth Warren Video

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

President Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney – Are there Any Differences? (Part I)

Written : Aug. 5 and 7, 2012

Despite liberal claims that the mainstream media is biased toward the right, the facts do not support them. In fact, of the media people polled, 81% voted for Carter over Ford in 1976, 58% voted for Mondale over Reagan in ’80. In 1988, correspondents supported Dukakis over George H.W. Bush by a ratio of 12-1 (according to conservapedia.com). US News reported in 2011 that in Tim Groseclose’s book, Left Turn, he asserted that the tilt reached a whopping 93 to 7 percent, in favor of the left. Brent Bozell’s Media Research Center is dedicated to gathering and maintaining statistics such as these because the MSM itself thinks it is neutral, which it is not. Newsweek covers usually belittle the Republican candidate. I cite one for George H.W. Bush’s campaign in 1988 entitled, “Fighting the Wimp Factor,” and another for Mitt Romney’s 2012 push for the highest office in the land, “The Wimp Factor: Is he just too Insecure to be President?” Meanwhile their covers idolize Democrats, for example, they give President Obama a halo and use titles such as, “America’s First Gay President” or claim he is “God of All Things,” or ask, “Why Are Obama’s Critics so dumb?”

Long time reporter, Marvin Kalb, made an appearance on Washington Journal on August 5, 2012. Mr. Kalb now works on foreign policy at the Brookings Institute, a think tank which considers itself non-partisan, but it once organized the now far-left United Nations. To be fair, it now works on deregulation and tax reform. Keeping in mind that Kalb is deep into U.S. foreign affairs, he said that there wasn’t much difference between President Obama and Mitt Romney. This is false if one considers the economy, where there is an ocean between the two. In the foreign policy arena I also think this a falsehood.

Marvin Kalb demonstrated liberal thinking when he said that there is no longer a threat from the Soviet Union, and therefore suggested the president’s policy for scuttling our military is a good idea. However, Kalb also pointed out that the new areas of concern come from global terrorism. With regard to foreign policy, it is my opinion that President Obama believes America is an ordinary country and it should have little influence around the world. He equates the Arab struggle for creating a Palestinian state with Israeli independence from bully nations. He believes Russia is our pal and tends to play nice with rogue dictators and arrogant nations. If we simply dissolve into a country like Sweden, Mr. Obama thinks that adversarial countries would change their minds, and like the U.S.A. This foreign policy idea is flawed, and doesn’t keep us safe. It projects weakness and invites attack. Some people dislike America not for what we are, but out of their own false stereotype – which they hold high - against us.

At the same time, I think that Mitt Romney believes we are an exceptional country and he will stand with our allies and against our foes (as John F. Kennedy once believed and said). He will not apologize for America as the current president did in Cairo – and elsewhere. He will support our ally, Israel, and will not snub its’ Prime Minister – as President Obama did at least twice. Mitt Romney will talk the talk and walk the walk when it comes to defending America. We want our presidents to stand tall for us, Mr. Obama - as many past presidents have – remember? We need our president to talk tough, too. Hey, that does not mean he will necessarily act tough, it simply means he needs to project strength and American pride to other nations. Liberals say President Obama is tough because he got Osama Bin Laden! But he didn’t do it alone! He didn’t do that! President Bush built the national security infrastructure which allowed President Obama to get Bin Laden!