Faultline USA

What’s behind the manic rush to pass dangerous, intrusive legislation?

2009-11-03T08:57:00.004-06:00

Commentary by James H. Shott

Belief in manmade climate change has dropped off in recent years and support for cap and trade measures also is losing steam. This latter trend is picking up speed as it becomes more obvious that climate scientists are sharply divided on whether humans play any role in global warming/global cooling/climate change. However, the U.S. Congress races blindly on with plans to enact sweeping, intrusive legislation, undaunted by either the lack of convincing evidence that human activity affects the environment, or the public’s increasing disaffection with this legislation.

While a recent CNN poll found that 60 percent support cap and trade measures, it neglected to mention to participants that these measures will raise energy and other costs, instead talking only about companies paying penalties for their greenhouse-gas emissions.

But when consumers realize their pocketbooks will take a hit, they have a different view, as shown by a poll commissioned by NBC and The Wall Street Journal. The survey asked half the respondents: “Would you approve or disapprove of a proposal that would require companies to reduce greenhouse gases that cause global warming, even if it would mean higher utility bills for consumers to pay for the changes?” This question garnered only 48 percent approval when respondents realized their costs would rise, while 43 percent disapproved, a significant change from April, when 53 percent approved and 40 percent disapproved.

The other half was asked questions about the importance of greenhouse-gas pollution. Only 29 percent regard it as a serious problem requiring immediate action (down from 34 percent in 2007), and 29 percent also believe we don’t know enough and need more research (up from 25 percent in 2007). These changes in public perception of this issue occurred despite the one-sided coverage of the scientific debate on manmade climate change.

Each house of Congress has its own version of this legislative misadventure, crafted in Capital backrooms in meetings to which the minority party was not invited, the 946-page Waxman-Markey bill in the House and the 821-page Kerry-Boxer bill in the Senate.

During climate change hearings Montana Democrat Sen. Max Baucus, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, commented that “we cannot afford the unmitigated impacts of climate change but we also cannot afford the unmitigated effects of legislation.” Like so many in Congress Sen. Baucus is unaware that human-caused climate change is a tenuous claim, at best, so his comment is only half right; we cannot afford the unmitigated effects of this legislation.

Putting that concern into practical terms, Steve Roberts, president of the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce, which represents businesses providing jobs to a majority of West Virginia workers, said that while the administration and Congress have put several anti-business measures into effect, the greatest threat to his state lies in the cap and trade bills. Speaking to the Rotary Club of Bluefield, W.Va., he said that in addition to raising the cost of electricity, the Waxman-Markey Bill contains 1,000 costly new mandates and 420 expensive resolutions that employers will have to implement, if the bill becomes law.

Mr. Roberts believes it is possible to craft legislation to address carbon pollution that would actually do something about it, but Waxman-Markey will have no measurable impact on the environment. It will, however, have a substantial negative impact on the economy of West Virginia, as well as neighboring southwestern Virginia, and other states whose economy depends upon energy.

Another leader whose organization represents businesses providing jobs to Americans – nine million jobs, to be precise – is Jack Gerard, President of the American Petroleum Institute. “Like the House climate change bill,” he said, “the Senate’s Kerry-Boxer bill would hurt our economy by killing American jobs, increasing energy costs and undermining our nation’s energy security.” He said that multiple studies show that more than two million jobs, net of any so-called “green” jobs created, will be lost, and rising direct and indirect energy costs will hit everyone in the pocketbook.

“The Kerry-Boxer bill would undermine America’s energy security,” he continued. “Under the bill, many refining and related jobs would likely move offshore to countries that have lower costs because they do not have similar climate change laws. Americans would be more dependent on foreign sources of gasoline and other refined products. … We should not be sending any of these jobs overseas.”

The Energy Information Administration analysis of the House bill predicts gasoline prices may exceed $5 a gallon and diesel prices may exceed $5.60. With our economy struggling to recover from a historical recession, now is not the time to enact job-killing legislation, or measures that will raise the cost of living for the American people.

Job creation will suffer if businesses spend more of their money on higher taxes and higher operational costs, and everyday Americans can’t buy more products to spur the economy if they don’t have a job, or they have less to spend on wants and needs because the costs of energy and everything associated with it have been driven higher by thoughtless legislation.

Surely our servants in Washington are capable of understanding this simple economic equation. But perhaps they are more concerned with increasing control over their constituents than with protecting their interests.

Cross-posted from Observations

Saving The New Socialist/Communist America From Itself

2009-11-03T00:21:00.002-06:00

Saving The New Socialist/Communist America From Itself
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
************************************

That thing that could not happen HAS, indeed, happened in America.

Back in the 18th century, some very independent folks living along the eastern seaboard of the North American continent decided they wanted to be free. They decided they did not want a sovereign of any kind, a king, a czar, an emperor, or ANY kind of sovereign, to rule over them.

So they challenged a world super power and fought a long, grueling, war for independence and, against all odds, they won! They set themselves up a government called a democratic republic. They even wrote into their laws that no citizen of their country could have a title. There would be no royalty, in this country; there would be no ruling class in this country. This country would be ruled over by its people!

So – how did that work out? Pretty good, actually... up ‘til fairly recently, that is.

So, what happened? Socialism happened. Back in the 1930’s the FDR Administration ushered socialism into America. He held the door open wide. Some say that FDR, himself, was not a socialist but was willing to TRY socialism in order to advance his political career. However, he was surrounded by socialists in the White House and, some say, even his wife was a socialist.

FDR’s New Deal was a socialist program. There can be no denying it. It did not bring the depression to an end; in fact, looking back on it today we can see how it prolonged The Great Depression rather than shortening it and restoring the American economy. Truth be told, it was the Second World War that ended the depression in America. But, America’s flirtation with socialism had begun. One political party seemed to really like those socialist ideas and the power of a strong central government over the lives of their fellow citizens, especially if they happened to fill those positions in which they, themselves, could wield that power. Oh, did I mention, FDR was a Democrat?

Then in the 1960’s President Lyndon Johnson introduced America to something called “The Great Society.” More socialism was introduced to the American people. The US government ballooned in size and power. And something else showed up in America for the first time -- something very ugly. It was cultural Marxism. That is employing Marxist thought into the media, art, theatre, film, and other cultural institutions in a society. And, boy, did they ever! It has become so inter-twined in American society today that it is accepted as the norm.

You probably know Cultural Marxism as most American do. Today we refer to it as “Political Correctness.” The practice of political correctness is nothing more than employing Marxist thought. William S. Lind is reported to have said: "Political Correctness is cultural Marxism. It is Marxism translated from economic into cultural terms. It is an effort that goes back not to the 1960s and the hippies and the peace movement, but back to World War I. If we compare the basic tenets of Political Correctness with classical Marxism the parallels are very obvious.” Lind goes on to say that American citizens are "afraid of using the wrong word, a word denounced as offensive or insensitive, or racist, sexist, or homophobic.” He says that such changes can be attributed to the influence of cultural Marxists.

All of this was an expansion of socialism mixed with outright Marxism and it occurred in the 1960’s under the Johnson Administration. Oh, need I remind you that LBJ was a democrat?

Now, here we are today, with Barack Obama in the White House and we are looking down the barrel of another gigantic expansion of socialism in America. Socialized Medicine. I KNOW they don’t like us using that term – socialized Medicine, but THAT, dear reader, is exactly what it is! Changing the name to something like “Universal Healthcare” or “public option insurance” is political correctness and we have just learned that political correctness in nothing more that Marxism.

Since we have begun shucking this particular ear of corn, let us shuck it further: Socialism is nothing more than communism. It is not quite as bold as full-blown communism. It is stealthier than full-blown communism. A better word, I think is “sneakier.” It is socialism until it has a nation by the throat then it becomes known by its real name – COMMUNISM!

As a soldier in the US Army in the 1950’s and 1960’s I was trained to fight communism. Now I am forced to watch it take away my country, right before my eyes -- and if I raise my voice in protest I am shouted down as another “right-wing nut!”

The thing I want you to understand, as my readers, is this: In my opinion, American is not only becoming a socialist nation, America is becoming a communist nation. Our current government in the Congress and in the White House is leading America into the darkness from which it will not, it cannot, emerge. Socialism/communism rots the soul of a nation and utterly destroys it. It is a hard truth. It is a truth we had better deal with and very quickly. Much damage has been done and even if we could turn America around, on a dime, today it will be generations before we can ever claim a democratic republic again as our chosen form of government. I believe it to be that bad today.

Before I forget, I just want to be sure you understand that Barack Obama is a democrat as are the leaders in the Congress of the United States. Do I detect a trend here? You might want to consider that fact, long and hard, over the next year as we prepare to go to the polls in the 2010 elections.

If we are to save America we must begin NOW! Do not deceive yourselves, it will be a long bitter battle, and it may well end in a divided country. As it stands today the socialists and the communists have the upper hand. I am convinced that the battle to reclaim America for the democratic republic she was meant to be will be led by the Christian Conservatives. The disaffected from the left will slowly join the ranks of the “Save America” movement over time.

We must blunt the socialist/communists as best we can, these days, and the first targets must be the Socialized Medicine Bill and the Cap and Trade Bill now before the current socialist dominated Congress. Neither must be allowed to pass.

The movement to Save America must begin NOW!

J. D. Longstreet

******************

America+Socialism+Communism

The Triumvirate of DUMB!

2009-11-02T00:05:00.000-06:00

The Triumvirate of DUMB!

A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
***********************************

Where are the “Grown-ups” in the Obama Regime? I look around and I see emotionally immature people traipsing about in the West Wing of the White House with the blessing of the uno numero socialist in America, President Obama. Then I look up the Hill to the Congress and I see Harry Reid over in the Senate, and I see Nancy Pelosi over in the House of Representatives -- and I shudder. I fear I am looking at “Dumb” and “Dumber.” It is frightening to realize that our country is in the hands of those three people: Obama, Reid, and Pelosi. You know what is even scarier? Pelosi is third in line for the Presidency should something, God forbid, happen to the President and the Vice-President.

There is a great deal of angst in the US these days. One can almost feel the tension in the air. Each day we awaken to another day of wondering what exactly the Obama regime is going to do today to strip more of our precious freedom away.

Already we have a Cap and Trade bill hanging over our heads. That bill alone is going to cost every American family mucho deniro in the years ahead as the government attempts to fight an enemy that doesn’t even exist. I am referring to global warming, or as the “environuts” are wont to say -- “Climate Change.” The “Bailouts” have strapped a generation, or so, of

Americans, even those yet unborn, with thousands of dollars of debt they must pay off in their lifetimes on this earth. I have read that the Obama Regime has saddled America with more debt in his ten months, or so, in office than all the previous US Presidents combined! Unemployment in America is now over nine percent and climbing. With fewer jobs there is less disposable income, less money in the marketplace, and that has affected Wall Street and stocks are all over the map. Investors are as nervous as a lady of ill repute in church!

Now, comes socialized medicine. The added cost to Americans is expected to be well over a trillion dollars in the first decade, and, frankly, we have serous doubts it will turn out to be that cheap. And regardless of what our esteemed senators and congresspersons are telling us it WILL affect the nations deficit and wreak even more havoc with what is left of our economy.

If there is any silver-lining, at all, to the dark clouds gathered over America these days, it is the very real possibility that in one year, if we can hang on, there is likely to be a political massacre of democrat politicians at the ballot box.

Even the liberal voters who flocked to the polls in 2008 to elect Obama are now having serious doubts about him and his policies.

I have noticed some of the more liberal journalists are bemoaning Obama’s failure to stand by his campaign promises, those promises especially favored by ultra-liberals, and, in fact, has continued a number of Bush’s policies and programs with what appears to be total disregard for the leftist dreams he has shattered along the way over the past ten months, or so.

Now, we are told, some in the White House are experiencing some trembling in the knees as Tuesday’s elections approach and their candidates are not making the “showing” they were expected to make against the more conservative candidates. In fact, The Obama Regime is admitting that at least a couple of races, they deem especially important to them, are likely to go to the opposition as their candidates go down in flames. One must ask: is this a precursor to coming attractions in 2012? Could be. But, 2012 is still a long way off and things change at a remarkable velocity in politics, especially national politics.

Dumb, dumber, and dumbest. Taking on Fox News was, probably the dumbest move yet. But, hey, that is what happens when people with power get cocky. They open themselves up to return fire.

I was in the US Army Artillery during my service in the military. One of the important lessons we learned -- and it is a lesson readily applied to one’s life -- is to always remember when the enemy is in range of your guns – YOU are in range of THEIRS! Somebody apparently forgot to tell the folks in the Obama Regime.

Americans have, at a minimum, three more years of wondering what we are going to be hit with next. Are we worried? You are “durn tootin” we’re worried -- and with good reason. We still do not see a viable presidential candidate being groomed by the Republicans to run against Obama in 2012. Oh, yes! It is truly worrisome.

J. D. Longstreet
***************

Conservative+Obama-Regime+Pelosi+Reid+Dumb

Is The Cost of Freedom Too High? Totalitarian Socialism is Much Cheaper!

2009-10-31T00:08:00.000-06:00

Is The Cost of Freedom Too High? Totalitarian Socialism is Much Cheaper!
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
************************************************

I’ve thought about it for a long while now and I have concluded that the US needs to recant its pledge not to be the first to use the atom bomb in a war/conflict. I mean, hey, we did it, already. Two of them, in fact! Perhaps you remember August 1945 and a place called Japan??? I do!

Look, we are allowing ourselves to be tied up in these little brushfire wars in Afghanistan, and Iraq, when both could be ended by a flight of B-2’s and a few nukes.

What about the problem in Iran? Well, Mr. Ahmadinejad wants the atomic bomb? Well, I say give it to him, several, actually, delivered from the bomb bay of a B-2, or B-52 bomber.

Then… the little squirt in North Korea, we could provide a demonstration of what a REAL atomic blast looks like… up close and personal!

For those of you screaming at the computer and pulling your hair out about now, YES, I know it is extreme. But understand this: the whiners and those who bitch, and moan, about the war in Afghanistan going badly, and those who force our armed forces to fight with one, or both, hands tied behind their backs are, quite frequently, the same people. They are quickly pushing the US into a corner. A corner, from which, the only means of escape is to lash out in all directions. The most effective way to do that is with our atomic arsenal.

I hear the “national scolds” complaining that we have now been in Iraq as longer than it took for us to fight the Second World War. Well, actually, that’s true, but we have less KIA’s than we had the day we hit the beach in Normandy!

So, you want to leave win the war, any war? Use the nuke arsenal. It would be quick, efficient, very effective, and there would be no question as to the victor. Leave the offending country a radioactive pile of debris for the next few thousand years.

We have the material, the methods, and the means to take out any country causing trouble for us in the world. I must tell you, those atomic weapons, as costly as they are, would be more cost efficient than placing a couple hundred thousand troops on the ground, in a troublesome region, and supporting those troops while forcing them to fight handicapped. And that is what we are doing, currently!

Hey, I’m tired of all the bellyaching, all the bitching, and moaning, coming from the very people who could not screw up enough courage to defend their own shadow. I’m tired of good, loyal, American men and women spilling their blood and laying down their lives for a whole segment of our society who have no respect, nor love for the country nor their fellow Americans. I’m tired of the useful, idiots our enemies find, in abundance, in the governing bodies in Washington.

What you will, my fellow Americans, but we have become two nations, again, much as this country split in the 1860’s. I’m not talking about a North/South split… I’m talking about a “Love America/Hate America” split. The last presidential election did nothing to bring us closer together. In fact, it appears Obama’s election has driven us even farther apart. We are hopelessly split apart and the Union, though it appears as one on paper, in reality… it no longer exists. Neither side has any interest, at all, in rejoining the other.

The “Hate America” and the “Blame America First” crowds (one and the same) have sapped this country of its will to survive. Any medical practitioner will tell you that when the will to survive is gone… all is lost.

The story is told of a Confederate general, during the darkest days of the America “War Between the States,” sending a dispatch to the Commanding General, Gen Robert E. Lee. In the dispatch, the Southern general is said to report that he and his troops were cut off, vastly outnumbered, the causality rate was extremely high, they were without provisions, and their ammunition was all but gone. In summation that Southern cavalier told Gen. Lee he would do the only thing left for him, and his men, to do. So, he said, they would attack, at dawn, with everything they had at their disposal!

That is the America I was born into. That is the America I grew up in. That is the America for which I wore the uniform of the US Army, and that is the America, which does not exist anymore.

I am frustrated with “mealy-mouthed” Americans who will accept second place. In my America, second place didn’t exist… in anything. Like the US Marine Corp, the improbable we did right away. The impossible took us just a tad longer.

I have been chided for stating that the US losses in Iraq are well within the acceptable range. Look, you don’t go to war if deaths are not acceptable. Rather, you bow your head and bare your neck to the chains of slavery. If you would remain free you must be willing to pay the price. The price for freedom is high. It is paid in the blood of patriots… the men and women of our Armed Forces.

I am heartsick at what this nation has become. America is now a cesspool of deviancy, mediocrity, cowardice, socialism, secularism, hedonism, and, regardless of what Obama says we are without hope.

Somewhere, about the late 1960’s to early 1970’s, Americans, like the shirker, in the Bible, decided to bury our talents for safekeeping rather than risk them in order to have them grow and benefit the country. Now we are paying the price for that reticence to risk everything for each other.

We are growing apart as a people. Our national conversation has grown shrill and vulgar. We can’t communicate with each other. When we try, it turns into a shouting match. We have become course, crass, and without sophistication. Our gentility is gone.

Finally, we have painted ourselves into a corner now. A corner, which threatens to deny us, even our own survival. Only drastic action will save us… and, unfortunately, many Americans do not wish to be saved and those who do are not interested in saving those who don’t. We are feeding upon ourselves.

I began this piece by pointing out where this attitude of mediocrity has gotten America in its war-fighting capability and the cost to recover that capability. Atomic Bombs will certainly win for us on the battlefields, but they will do nothing to salvage our land.

American men and women in uniform are growing tired of sacrificing their blood, limbs, and lives, for fellow Americans who actually want them to lose! And why would they not? They have grown distrustful of their Commander-in-Chief who is plainly dragging hi feet while trying to make a decision on whether oer not to allow those American fighting ment to have the resources they say they need to win the war in Afghanistan. Once before, in Somalia, a President (of the same political party) denied a request from the commanders on the ground and it cost the lives of at least 18 US service men and resulted in the withdrawal of US troops from that troubled land – and -- emboldened America’s enemies to such a degree that they flew plane loads of people into skyscrapers in our greatest city killing thousands of innocent Americans. The trust of many of our service men and women for their fellow Americans has been forever shattered. When the time comes for them to send their young sons and daughters to war for the US … will they do it? Can you blame them?

When a nations vision is forced to dissipate, that nation is doomed. When a nation’s hopes, and dreams, and aspirations, are shelved because social programs, such as socialized medicine, take precedence over that national vision… the death knell has sounded. When a nation sends it’s national treasure, its sons, and daughters, into harm’s way… and abandons them, that nation has lost its soul. Make no mistake about it. Many US troops in Afghanistan are beginning to question if their Commander-in-Chief has abandoned them.

Here are the words of the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, a man even his own party would seek to impeach today:

“The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender, or submission.”… Pres. John F. Kennedy

Kennedy also said:

“There are risks and costs to a program of action, but they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction”

President Harry Truman, the 33rd President of the US, said the following:

“America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination, and unbeatable determination to do the job at hand.”

Nowadays, the men mentioned above would be accused of insisting on “staying the course”. They would be ridiculed and hounded from office… even by their own Democrat Party.

That, Dear Reader, is how far we have sunk!

J. D. Longstreet

*********************

America+Socialism America+Socialism+Apathy+Obama+Afghanistan+Iraq+Iran+Military+Freedom

Double Jeopardy in the New Hate Crimes Legislation?

2009-10-30T17:04:00.000-06:00

by Maggie at Maggie's Notebook

A few days ago, Hans Bader writing for Stop the ACLU reported on the hate crimes legislation Bill. This article is intended to be a further discussion of what is behind the language in the Bill. The question is, is double jeopardy a factor in this new legislative language?

Dual Sovereignty

The answer is kinda-sorta. It's really more about The Dual Sovereignty Doctrine negating the double jeopardy clause in the 5th Amendment.

The government now does have the right to try hate crime suspects after they have been tried by the state, and even if already tried and found guilty by the state. This position is confirmed by a letter from the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights to members of the U.S. Senate. Read it at NationaReviewOnLine. So how does it happen a person can be tried twice for the same crime?

Here is a portion that I believe gives the DOJ the opportunity to retry a hate crime: (The text of the Bill is here).

(b) (1) IN GENERAL - No prosecution of any offense described in the subsection may be undertaken by the United States, except under the certification in writing of the Attorney General, or his designee, that- (C) the verdict or sentence obtained pursuant to State charges left demonstratively unvindicated the Federal interest in eradicating bias-motivated violence; or (D) a prosecution by the United States is in the public interest and necessary to secure substantial justice.

(b) (2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION- Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to limit the authority of Federal officers, or a Federal grand jury, to investigate possible violations of this section.

This gives the DOJ the right to try any case on behalf of a victim they feel has not received justice, while also eliminating "the badges...and relics of slavery and involuntary servitude."

A quick reading of the Bill might lead you to think it will simply "support" state's with money, but it goes much deeper than the $5 million to be given to states in each of the years 2010 and 2011. If a state can "certify" the need for government assistance to "investigate or prosecute the hate crime," then that state will get that assistance. But read about the"sham and cover" exception a few paragraphs below. We have to ask why this administration believes this legislation is necessary.

The Dual Sovereignty Doctrine expects those administering under the Doctrine to "limit" their actions. This from TheFreeLibrary:

The court did not, however, fully eliminate the double jeopardy prohibition from this context. The dual sovereignty doctrine continues to be limited by what is referred to as the "sham" exception, which was described by the Bartkus Court.

The sham exception provides that a prosecution by one sovereign cannot be used as a "sham and a cover" for another sovereign's re-prosecution of the same defendant.

This doctrine would operate to prevent, on double jeopardy grounds, a prosecution brought by one sovereign with the encouragement and support of another sovereign that has already failed in its attempt to prosecute the same defendant.

The doctrine is founded on the rationale that the two sovereigns are acting as one. Unfortunately, this exception has been construed so narrowly as to make it difficult to be utilized successfully.

Apparently, this DOJ and Barack Obama believe that justice is not done often enough, and courts do not punish, often enough, those who commit hate crimes? So the question remains: is it possible for any violent crime to be classified as a “hate crime” when it is perpetrated against a Jewish or a white person?

The American Socialist Phase

2009-10-30T00:05:00.000-06:00

The American Socialist Phase
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

************************************

“Health Care Bill Favors Marijuana and Cocaine Smokers Over Tobacco Users.” That’s the title of a piece by Karen Schuberg ay CNSNEWS.Com.

In the article Ms. Schuberg says: “Under the Senate Finance Committee version of the health-care bill, health insurance companies would be allowed to charge tobacco users premiums up to 50 percent higher than those of non-users, while marijuana and crack cocaine smokers could not be penalized with higher premiums.”

Ms. Schuberg points out that this means, for example, that for every $100 in premium that a non-tobacco user pays, a tobacco user could be charged $150.

Why Tobacco users and not users of Cocaine and Marijuana? Simple -- because tobacco use is politically incorrect.

Read the entire article HERE.

The big push for socialized medicine in the United States began, in earnest, this week. . Altho, there is little funny about this boondoggle, it is sorta funny to watch the socialists in the US government, including the Obama Administration, tie themselves into knots to avoid using the words “socialized” and “medicine” in the same paragraph, let alone the same sentence. Nevertheless, that is exactly what they are proposing… socialized medicine. And again, I expect ignorance to overcome logic and sound reasoning as the government shoves socialized medicine down the throats of American citizens and, in so doing, bring about the collapse of the best healthcare system in the world.

After reading Ms. Schuberg’s commentary you just cannot bring yourself to believe the US government will do this to her people -- think again! They WILL do it, if fact, they are DOING IT even as I write this piece. Remember now, we no longer have a democratic republic in America. We have a full-blown socialist government in America these days. Democracy is dead and gone from the shores of America. We warned that that would happen and you didn’t believe that either, did you?

ObamaCare is all about POWER in the hands of the Federal Government. That is something my Confederate ancestors knew something about.

For those of you who think it’s bad now, wait until we actually HAVE national health insurance (known as ObamaCare). Our every move will be monitored, and the government, will direct us in every facet of our lives.

Still don’t believe me? Are you deaf, dumb, and blind? The government is going to run our lives through ObamaCare! America will become a dictatorship overnight! There is no other way to describe it.

Weigh too much? Lose weight… or the government won’t pay for your medical bills.

Drive too fast? Slow down or the government won’t pay for your medical bills if you’re in an accident.

Smoke? The government won’t pay for your medical bills, period.

Have more than (two) kids? Your medical bills will not be paid if you exceed the allowable limit on babies.

Pregnant with a third child and the government insists that you have an abortion, but you really want this third child? Well, either have an abortion, or that third child will have no medical coverage and the cost of the pregnancy, and delivery, will not be covered, either.

Didn’t finish High School? Your medical bills will not be covered if you do not get a High School Diploma.

Take the wrong courses in college? Well, if you didn’t check before you signed up for a course, and you signed-up for a course the government thinks is uncalled for, or that you do not need for your chosen occupation… then your medical bills will not be picked up by the National Healthcare.

Choose the wrong career, and you are on your own! No medical help from the government.

Get the picture? Almost total control. And you, and I, will have given that power to the government!

So, next time you hear someone calling for the passage of ObamaCare, remind them of all the freedom they will give up for that cradle to the grave care.

I have said time and again, the Founders of this country wanted us to live free… healthy, if we can manage it, but free, in any event. Today, it seems we are prepared to give our freedom up for a form of modern day Marxism -- Socialized Medicine.

Slowly, but surely, all the things we have warned about with ObamaCare (Socialized Medicine in the United States) are coming to pass. One really big one can’t come to pass until after Obamacare is “installed.” I refer, of course, to healthcare rationing. I know many of you don’t want to believe it and many of you have consistently lied to yourselves for so long about this that you can no longer deal with the reality of the situation. Nevertheless, healthcare rationing WILL become a reality. It must.

Healthcare rationing is something we have never had before in our history. Just THINK about it! Rationing of healthcare. There is simply no escaping it. Costs of healthcare will have to be brought to heel by the Obama administration (The socialist government in charge) and there is only one way to do that… and that is to ration it. In other words you will be placed on a waiting list and your ailment will be treated whenever they get to you, in a couple of weeks, a couple of months, or a couple of years, or maybe never. If you don’t get the care you require and you die, so much the better. That is the other way of bringing healthcare costs down.”

When Americans stopping deceiving themselves and come to the realization they have traded their freedom for a bottle of pills, by the time Americans come to understand that those of us warning against a government healthcare system are, in fact, telling them the truth, it will be too late and healthcare in the US will be scraping the bottom of the barrel like so many other socialized medicine programs around the globe. In other words it will be too cussed late to do anything about it! We have very nearly arrived at that point -- even as I write this piece today.

I am lobbying my Congressional delegation to vote against any form of National/universal/socialized healthcare. Why? I am lobbying simply because I am convinced it is the last nail in the coffin lid of freedom in America.

I was thinking just the other day that King George could not hold a candle to the current government of the United States. The current Socialist Government of the US is doing that which was denied King George. This socialist government is squelching the freedom of Americans and making them come to heel. For the very first time in the history of the United States, the government has the power of life and death over its citizens. When any entity can decide whether you live or die that have the ultimate power over you. THAT fellow Americans is exactly where we are headed with ObamaCare. ObamaCare will not just socialize medicine in America. It will place an implacable stamp of socialism on everything American -- first and foremost – her government. America has entered her socialist phase.

J. D. Longstreet
**********************

America+Socialism

America IS Turning To Socialism

2009-10-29T00:06:00.000-06:00

America Is Turning To Socialism
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

************************************
There is an article entitled: “America Moving from Kingdom of Cash to Socialism Slowly but Surely” we recommend you read. You’ll find it on Pravda’s site. And, YES, we DID say PRAVDA!

If any organization on the planet should know a socialist state when it sees one, it is Pravda.

So, who, or what, is Pravda? Well, for those you who attended government schools … Pravda ("Truth") was a leading newspaper of the Soviet Union and an official organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party between 1912 and 1991. The Pravda newspaper was started in 1912 in St. Petersburg. It was converted from a weekly Zvezda. It did not arrive in Moscow until 1918. During the Cold War, Pravda was well known in the West for its pronouncements as the official voice of Soviet Communism. (Similarly Izvestia was the official voice of the Soviet government.)

Leon Trotsky founded the original Pravda as a Russian social Democratic newspaper aimed at Russian workers. The paper was published abroad to avoid censorship and was smuggled into Russia. The first issue was published in Vienna, Austria on October 3, 1908. The editorial staff consisted of Trotsky and, at various times, Victor Kopp, Adolf Joffe, and Matvey Skobelev.

After the paper was closed down in 1991 by decree of then President Boris Yeltsin, many of the staff founded a new paper with the same name, which is now a tabloid-style Russian news source.

There is an unaffiliated Internet-based newspaper, Pravda Online (http://www.pravda.ru/) run by former Pravda newspaper employees. A number of other newspapers have also been called Pravda, most notably Komsomolskaya Pravda, formerly the official newspaper of the now defunct Komsomol and currently the best-selling tabloid in Russia. (Courtesy of Wikipedia)

The Pravda article states, flatly, the following: “The appeal to adopt American values doesn’t work either. Why would we adopt the system if the system is in crisis? Pragmatic America realized that billions of people are not willing to live in the kingdom of hard cash and decided that it would be better off leaving this kingdom itself. Now the USA is talking about introducing elements of socialism." Pravda goes on to say: “What does Obama’s decision not to build the Eastern European Missile Defense System have to do with all of this? Well, it means that it’s not capitalism that’s undergoing the crisis, but the belief in its high efficiency. And this, in turn, means that America, the bulwark of capitalism, is no longer the boss of the world. And if it’s not the boss any more, it has to be friends with everybody, including Russia. And it’s America’s turn to offer Russia to push the reset button. Or maybe it’s just tired of imposing its rules on others and felt that friendship is more valuable than money and power? If this is the case, we will soon witness another turning point in the world history.” You may read the entire article at Pravda HERE.

The point is -- we have been attempting to call your attention to the fact that America has been turning to socialism at an ever-increasing speed since the election of the current Congress in 2008 – and -- at an even faster pace since the election of the current President, Obama. Now comes a news outlet whose very birth was at the hands of Leon Trotsky, a Bolshevik revolutionary and Marxist theorist, to support our claims!

Trotsky was one of the leaders of the Russian October Revolution, second only to Lenin. During the early days of the Soviet Union, Trotsky served first as People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs and later as the founder and commander of the Red Army and People's Commissar of War. He was also among the first members of the Politburo. The news outlet Trotsky founded, called Pravda, was an official organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party between 1912 and 1991. Now Pravda is validating what we have been trying to tell you.

So listen up! When old graybeards, like myself, tell you that today’s America is NOT the America we knew, NOT the America we grew up in, NOT the America The Founders of the country intended, we are telling you THE TRUTH! This is not the America we knew, at all! When we say we want our country back, we are absolutely sincere. For today’s America is not ours. Today’s America is only a shadow of our America. Today’s America is a shell of its former self.

Dare I say it again? Yes, I shall! I want my country back!

J. D. Longstreet

*******************

America+Socialism+Pravda+Obama+Trotsky+Marx+Lenin+Democrats

First Amendment

2009-10-27T22:48:00.001-06:00

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle

Wake up, America

View at YouTube

I find myself amazed at the poor quality of education that $41,500 a year buys at Harvard Law School. You would think that for that amount of money they would at least teach the US Constitution. But it seems not to be the case, especially with one of their most famous graduates, Barack Hussein Obama, our current President.

I wonder what part of the First Amendment they did teach him or was he absent that day? For no person who has been taught the US Constitution would ever forget the words of the First Amendment:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

Yet President Obama has chosen to ignore this and is pushing for full restrictions on our right to Free Speech:

The U.N. Human Rights Council approved a U.S.-backed resolution Friday deploring attacks on religions while insisting that freedom of expression remains a basic right.

The inaugural resolution sponsored by the U.S. since it joined the council in June broke a long-running deadlock between Western and Islamic countries in the wake of the publication of cartoons depicting the Muslim Prophet Muhammad.

American diplomats say the measure — co-sponsored by Egypt — is part of the Obama administration's effort to reach out to Muslim countries.

"The exercise of the right to freedom of opinion and expression is one of the essential foundations of a democratic society," the resolution states, urging countries to protect free speech by lifting legal restrictions, ensuring the safety of journalists, promoting literacy and preventing media concentration.

Not the sort of "outreach" the majority of Americans want. We like our Freedoms very much. Free speech is a protected right here in the US. Our own Supreme Court has affirmed the concept that "Even the most hateful and harmful speech is protected speech." (NATIONAL SOCIALIST PARTY v. SKOKIE, 432 U.S. 43 [1977])

Oh yes, we can say what we want about a religion without the fear of blasphemy laws. Oh happy day!

Mr. Condell need not worry about the United States losing our Freedoms soon. Not as long as Article VI of the Constitution is the law:

"This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the members of the several state legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several states, shall be bound by oath or affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States."

Or in layman speak:

"This Constitution will be the hightest law in the land. No law or treaty can be written or ratified that would violate this Constitution."

This whole idea of forcing Islamic blasphemy laws came about because of the riots over the Danish Muhammad Cartoons, it is only fitting that this post on Free Speech end with these cartoons.

To Muslims around the world:

Feel free to riot. For that shows to us the true face and spirit of Islam. A backward cult suitable only for children and those with the intelligence of an imbecile.

The rest of us will just laugh at your ignorance and keep on speaking our mind!

Manufactured Crisis Speech

2009-10-27T08:29:00.003-06:00

Jim Simpson gave a speech on the Manufactured Crisis Strategy last Friday, October 23, to Grassroots America We the People, in Tyler, Texas. To listen, go to the Grassroots America radio program and look to the right hand side, under the “Recent Shows” heading for the following description:

The Freedom Destroying Philosophy of Leaders in the White House Administration: James Simpson's Speech on Friday Oct 23 at Call To Action Lunch Meeting in Tyler, TX.

You can either click on the “Play” button under the description or double click on it and download the podcast.

Those greedy corporate CEOs and their absurdly high salaries

2009-10-27T06:18:00.003-06:00

Commentary by James H. Shott

Corporate CEO salaries have been a target of criticism for a long time, and that criticism increased during the mortgage banking collapse, when bank CEOs also became targeted for doing a lousy job.

The heads of large companies do make huge salaries, as shown by this sample from the 2008 AFL-CIO CEO Pay Database: Robert A. Iger, The Walt Disney Company, $51 million; Lloyd C. Blankfein, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., $42.9 million; Mark V. Hurd, Hewlett-Packard Company, $34 million; and Rex W. Tillerson, Exxon-Mobil Corporation, $32 million.

There are a few reasons for this criticism, including envy and not understanding how businesses work. However, some people who understand perfectly well how businesses work also think CEOs are overpaid. People wonder how CEOs can be worth multi-million dollar salaries.

The short answer is that this is America – at least for a little while longer – and people are able to make as much as they can. Businesses want the best talent they can find, and they’ll pay what they must to get the right person to run the company.

Here’s one example:

Rex Tillerson’s company, Exxon-Mobil, is the world’s largest publicly traded company, the world’s largest refiner and marketer of petroleum products and also among the world’s largest chemical companies. It provides a job for 30,000 Americans and 80,000 people worldwide.

Exxon-Mobil had total income of $477.3 billion in 2008, and spent $395.6 billion on operations and other expenses. Some of the same people who get upset with CEO pay also get upset with the amount of money Exxon-Mobil earned in 2008, and for the same reasons. The company’s profit was $45.2 billion, which is a lot of money. But considering that Exxon-Mobil had $477 billion in income, $45.2 billion really isn’t excessive; only about 8.9 percent.

The company paid taxes of approximately $120 billion, more than twice its profit, and paid its shareholders $40 billion in dividends. Mr. Tillerson was in charge of the company and responsible for its performance. He did his job well. How much is that performance worth to shareholders?

If you still think Mr. Tillerson and his fellow corporate heads are overpaid, remember that corporate CEOs are not the only ones making a lot of money, even though they are the ones whose incomes are most frequently criticized. So do professional athletes, entertainers, and TV personalities, including some news anchors.

The top five athletes last year, for example, were also highly paid, and because of their success attracted lucrative endorsements from product manufacturers: Golfer Tiger Woods earned $100 million; boxer Oscar De La Hoya, $43 million; golfer Phil Mickelson, $42 million; auto race drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Michael Schumacher, $40 million and $36 million.

Salaries in the world of entertainment also boggle the mind. Take movie actors: Matt Damon made $26 million for The Bourne Supremacy; Johnny Depp takes home $20 million per film; Nicole Kidman gets up to $17 million per film; and George Clooney routinely collects more than $15 million per film.

On television, the highest-paid person on the 2008 prime-time series list is Charlie Sheen at $825,000 an episode, and with money he gets from owning a stake in his show, he makes nearly $20 million a year. David Letterman gets $40 million annually, and American Idol’s Simon Cowell’s annual pay is $36 million.

We even see that some of the people that deliver the news have seven- and eight-figure annual salaries, like CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric at $15 million; Matt Lauer, NBC Today co-anchor, $12 million; ABC News’ Diane Sawyer makes $12 million; Meredith Vieira, NBC Today co-anchor, $10 million; NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams takes home $8 million, Anderson Cooper of CNN is paid $5 million; and MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann gets $4 million.

These CEOs, athletes, entertainers and news people are among the best in their respective fields. Their pay is not based entirely upon their performance, however, because some CEOs drive their companies into the ground; some athletes make horrible mistakes and lose instead of win; some movies and TV shows do not do well, despite the stars that appear in them; and news anchors often produce lousy ratings. Some high earners in every career field have notoriously bad personal problems, and some have committed crimes.

Because of the expectation of high levels of performance, these folks are in high demand, hence the high paychecks, sometimes in spite of embarrassing personal problems or criminal involvement.

Tampa Bay Rays owner Stuart Sternberg sees no problem with big salaries in sports. "People should be able to make what they make," he said. That idea applies equally to everyone in America, even CEOs.

Maybe we should make thoughtful judgments about the value of what each of these people produces. Which of them contributes the most to the society at large; which is the more valuable: a movie, a television program, a winning team or athlete, a news program or a business that provides useful products or services, jobs and that pays taxes to support government activities?

Viewed in that light, a CEO running a successful business deserves more than contempt and resentment.

Are Obama’s Czars Constitutional?

2009-10-27T00:23:00.000-06:00

Are Obama’s Czars Constitutional?
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
****************************************
OK. Let us “tell it like it is!” Obama’s Czars are simply a way for Obama to get around the Constitution. There. I’ve said it.

We have noted many times in the past that the Constitution is only an irritant to the political left and they will do almost anything to get around dit. They consider it an outdated “suggestion” if you will, and not The Law as the political right considers it.

With the Obama Regime, America has a government being run, for all practical purposes by a bunch of unelected officials who answer, not to the American people, but to the benign dictator Barack Obama. Oh, may I remind you that even a benign dictator is still a dictator.

One of the finest military men this country has ever produced, a republican, and a man in line to receive his party’s endorsement as a candidate for president, Douglas McArthur, once said: ““I am concerned for the security of our great nation, not so much because of any threat from without, but because of the insidious forces working from within.” — General Douglas MacArthur. If General MacArthur could see the US today, he would be spinning in his grave!

A friend admonished me many months ago because I referred to Obama as a socialist. My friend told me I was wrong. He went on to say that Obama was not a socialist; he was, and is, a communist! I must tell you now, that I am slowly coming around to my friend’s way of thinking. Why? It is primarily because of Obama’s Czars.

Alan Caruba in his commentary entitled: “Obama’s Unconstitutional “Czars” says the following: “As I read it, the Constitution is very specific about whom the President may appoint and he can do so only within parameters “established by law” and this applies specifically to the “heads of departments.” I interpret this to mean Cabinet Secretaries, all of whom must be vetted and approved for their positions by the Senate.” Mr Caruba goes on to say: “Obama’s appointments are clearly “principal officers” though it will be argued that they are only advisors to the office of the President. Clearly, Obama’s appointments are not heads of departments, but they appear to have been granted an unknown degree of influence and control as regards their responsibilities. They function “in the dark.” You may read the entire article HERE.

Looking at the Constitution we find this: “Article II. Section 2. “He (the President) shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consults, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States, whose appointments are not herein provided for, and which shall be established by law; but the Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments.”

Clearly, The Founders gave no thought to CZARS when writing the constitution. Clearly they did not intend for any unelected group to weild authority over their fellow American then or now. But that is what we have with the Obama Regime and its Czars.

Many times in the past we have warned of a “Shadow Government” wielding the REAL authority in the American government. We have taken a good bit of ribbing for that. But, not so much these days as readers begin to understand what a shadow government is. It is a group of Czars operating, as Mr. Caruba says: “… in the dark.”

Why should we fear this group of 30 odd czars? As usual, Mr. Caruba’s insight has nailed it for us. He says: “There are now some thirty or more of these “czars” and they represent a threat to the authority of the Congress and could be utilized in some manufactured “crisis” to take control of the federal government, dispensing with the rule of law.”

I don’t know about you, but I am convinced that Americans have a “Shadow Government” in place and ruling America today.

But – is this Shadow Government”, this group of Czars, constitutional? We need a ruling from the Supreme Court on it and the sooner the better before irreparable harm is done the Republic.

J. D. Longstreet

******************
Socialist+Obama+Shadow-Government+Unconstitutional,Czars

Obama’s Chicago-Style Politics

2009-10-26T00:10:00.000-06:00

Obama’s Chicago-Style Politics
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

*************************************

Ah, Chicago! It is mythologized as the land of the mobster, the gangster, Al Capone, etc, etc. Many politicians, and even some journalists, are adding the name of Obama to that list of supposed infamy.

Do you remember back during the campaign for President when Obama promised to re-introduce “bipartanship” into Washington politics if he was elected? I do. As a matter of fact I wrote at least once piece in which I blasted bipartanship as a bad thing, a VERY bad thing for the country if Obama was elected. Well, as it turned out he WAS elected and it also turns out, I needn’t have worried about bipartanship being re-introduced, by Obama, into politics in our capital city! It didn’t happen -- and it isn’t likely to happen -- as long as Obama is President. (As for my part, I hope it NEVER happens because that is not the way a democratic republic works!) As a matter of fact, Obama has introduced Chicago style politics into Washington politics.

Strong arms and brass knuckles are now the order of the day. No velvet gloves for the Obama Regime. Nope. It is Obama’s way, or the kneecaps are mush! See, Obama and his minions run everything, I MEAN EVERY THING! His Czars will see to it. THEY decide how you and I will live. If you are inside Obama’s orbit you get pretty much what you want. If you are outside Obama’s orbit you get what they let you have and no more. THAT is what Americans; especially the business community in America, is living with today.

Michael Barone has an excellent article on this very thing entitled: “Obama Hits Opponents With Chicago Brass Knuckles.” You’ll find it HERE. In his commentary Mr. Barone says: “It's not the worst way to run a city… But it's not the optimal way to run a national administration, at least if you've promised to bring in a new era of bipartisanship and mutual respect. Even so, it appears to be the way that Barack Obama, who once aspired to be mayor of Chicago, has decided to run his administration.” Mr. Barone goes on to say: “…Maybe Obama thought everyone in Washington would be his great friend. Having encountered un-Chicago-like dissent and disagreement, he has responded with classic Chicago brass knuckles. We'll see how far this kind of thuggery gets him.”

“In the American Mafia Family everyone has a job to do. Some people are bosses and some are workers. However you can always work your way up the ladder of power, and respect. Below is the hierarchy of an American Mafia family.

The Boss of the family. He controls everything that goes on in the mafia family. Every worker and lower ranking boss works for him. It is the boss who decides if someone should be killed or if someone should be initiated. The boss gets money from all of his workers and therefore is usually the richest person in the family.

The Underboss. The underboss is the person who actually runs the family. He is boss over all the other members except the actual boss. He will often become the boss of the family if something happens to the boss. The boss will choose who his underboss is. A family will usually have only one underboss.

The Consigliere. Consigliere is an Italian term meaning someone who gives advise. The consigliere in a mafia family is the "right hand man" to the boss. It is his job to help the boss make important decisions. The consigliere is as important as the underboss but is not the boss of anyone in the family. A family will usually have only one consigliere. Acts as a middle man in personle vendetas. He is supposed to make impartial descions which are best for everybody.
Caporegimes.

The next position of the family is caporegime (or captain). Families will have different numbers of caporegimes. A caporegime is in charge of a group of workers (see below; Soldiers). The underboss of the family is in charge of the caporegimes. The job of the caporegime is to collect money from the workers to give to the boss, underboss and consigliere as well as keeping money for himself. A family can have anywhere from 2 to 20 caporegimes.

Soldiers. The workers of a family are called "soldiers" or in Italian "soldati". There job is to earn money to give to their captain (caporegime). They will do any job asked of them by their captain or the boss or underboss. A family can have anywhere from 10 to 300 soldiers.
Each family will have a number of associates. These are people that work with them or for them but are not official members.” (Courtesy of Wikipedia. You can read the full article HERE.)

As you observe the Obama Regime in action keep this article (HERE.) in mind. It might help you sort through the smoke and mirrors and gain some insight into how the current regime occupying the White House operates.

Lest you conclude we are dubbing the President a gangster, allow me to disabuse you of such an idea. What we are saying is simply that his STYLE of politics resembles, greatly, the style of politics infamously attriubuted to the style of politics in Chicago, which is famous, or infamous, (as you will) for it’s history of gangsters.

A recent example of the Obama Regime’s Chicago style politics is their attempt to freeze Fox News out of an interview with White House pay czar Kenneth Feinberg. Plus, some of the President’s aides have recently referred to Fox News as an arm of the Republican Party, as the opposition, and as a non-credible news operation. Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio), at his weekly press briefing last week, said the following: “When you can’t win an argument based on the facts, launch vicious political attacks. This Chicago-style politics is shutting the American people out and demonizing their opponents.”

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), a former Nixon White House aide, said: “An 'enemies list' only denigrates the Presidency and the Republic itself." (You will find an excellent article on this at CNSNEWS.com HERE.)

In our view, the President needs to “grow-up.” Petulance does not become a President of the United States.

Thinking back over the long months of the presidential campaign we recall that we were warned on more than one occasion that the President has a strong bent toward narcissism. His actions, and those of his staff, in the past few months have done absolutely nothing to ease our concern over those warnings. Self-importance, self-absorption, self-centeredness, all these shortcomings are more than a little evident in the Obama Regime. And they all point to narcissism. Narcissists tend to strike out, to flail, viciously when they perceive opposition.

If anything has become clear, in the past nine months or so, it is that America has made a monstrous mistake in choosing a leader. As the remaining years of the Obama Regime go by, we can only pray that the damage to The Republic can be held to a minimum until the next presidential election in 2012 and the nation can begin the process of healing.

J. D. Longstreet

*****************

Liberal+Socialist+Chicago+Politics+Obama

The First Step Into A Thousand Years Of Darkness

2009-10-25T00:33:00.000-06:00

The First Step Into A Thousand Years Of Darkness
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
******************************************

This is a sad time in world history. The “Shining City on a Hill,” so often referred to by Ronald Reagan, has fallen.

The great American Spirit has been broken by a socialist government, which feeds on power and has neither love nor concern for its people. Just power, raw political power, and they’ll do whatever is necessary to maintain their grasp on that power.

Is this the way the greatest nation ever to exist in the history of the planet goes out… on bended knee, with heads bowed, and necks bared to the blade of a government grown fat and ugly on raw power? Is this it?

Or… do we rise up, in righteous anger, and take our government back from those whose thirst for power has taken the USA to the brink of extinction as a nation?

The people of America must make a decision before November of 2010. Do we allow those we entrusted with our safety, and security, to continue to tear the country apart, or do we clean the house at the polls? Do we vote to send those incumbent politicians back to Washington… after what they have done to this country, or, do we run our own candidates, candidates sworn to take this country back to is roots in the Constitution, candidates sworn to ensure the domestic tranquility and security of this nation? Yes, all this is extremely important, but we are going to desperately need candidates who will return the US to its status as a democratic republic.

The socialist in charge if the US government are working feverishly to impose socialized medicine on all Americans regardless of whether we want it or not. They intend to force us to purchase health insurance although; the constitution invests no such power in the Congress. Many Americans maintain that healthcare is not a concern of the Federal government. It is ONLY the concern of the private citizen. It is up to each individual American to decide for himself, or herself, if they wish to invest in health insurance. But the federal government, in true socialist style, is determined to force all Americans to purchase it.

True Americans do not rely on the government. Americans who wish to better themselves, to amount to something, must rely upon themselves, not the federal government. Here is what President Theodore Roosevelt had to say about that: “If an American is to amount to anything he must rely upon himself, and not upon the State; he must take pride in his own work, instead of sitting idle to envy the luck of others. He must face life with resolute courage, win victory if he can, and accept defeat if he must, without seeking to place on his fellow man a responsibility which is not theirs. Theodore Roosevelt - Review of Reviews, January 1897

I don’t know about you, but I want my country back! I want that America which would look anybody, any nation, any political philosophy, such as socialism, in the eye and say: “If you want my country, then, by God, you’ll have to fight me to the death for it!”

Something must be done. The federal government has made it clear they intend to foist socialism on the people of America. We have a chance to stop them a year from now at the ballot box. One year is not a long time in a fight for the life of a country. We must begin now.

Ronald Reagan said: “"You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. If we fail, at least let our children and our children's children say of us we justified our brief moment here. We did all that could be done". Ronald Reagan

Defense of a nation by the people of that nation is “self defense.” Self-defense is a God given right. Many Americans took oaths, upon entering the US military, to defend America from all enemies foreign and domestic. Many are now remembering their oaths and asking themselves if there is an expiration date on the oath they took. It is a question well worth pondering.

If we want to save what is left of the republic, we must begin now and be ready in November 2010. We cannot afford to lose the next round at the ballot box. Even if we win, many decades of hard work will await as we attempt to heal the nation from the damage done it by the brief experiment with socialism lead by the current administration.

The nation cries out for rescue. We must not turn our backs a second time. She will not survive.

J. D. Longstreet

*********************

Conservative+US+Obama+Socialism+Collapse+Rescue

The United Democratic Nations?

2009-10-23T00:27:00.000-06:00

The United "Democratic" Nations?
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
*******************************

The United Nations has become so corrupt and, so anti-American, the United States can no longer remain a member. Any chance to save the UN, as a viable mediator of disputes in the world, has completely disappeared. Their graft, and corruption, has taken away the last leg they were leaning on. It is now a hollow shell of what it was supposed to be, indeed, what it was created to be. It never quite reached the grand plateau of respectability envisioned for it by its creators.

The United Nations is a flop. Worse… it is a caricature of the organization it should be and… could have been. The United nations seems occupied, these days, with one thing, and one thing only, and that is -- the advent of global governance -- a "One World Government." Guess which organization will be the government of that "One World?" You've got it! the UN. The US MUST get out. To preserve itself, and its constitution, Americans have no choice but to demand the United States government pull out of the United Nations. If, in fact, we find a world forum is needed to fill the void left by the decomposing UN, then we should found a new one… one that reflects the hallmark of truly democratic countries.

Enter the United Democratic Nations. (The UDN.)

Let the world see the US, Great Britain, Australia, Canada, Israel, New Zealand, just to name a few of the democratic nations inside the US orbit, conceive and give birth to a world body of nations to carry out the mandate once given to the United Nations and spurned so horribly by them.

It is only a matter of time until an organization, such as the UDN, is established.

Oh, it was not a mistake, by this author, to be so obvious in overlooking France and Germany, and Russia and the other European Socialist Democracies. They have decided to go their own way, refusing to believe there is anyone else on the globe worthy of their respect. France and Germany have the shortest memories in the history of the planet. Or, is it a huge inferiority complex? Whatever their problem, they no longer deserve to be shielded by the truly western democracies and we should make it plain that membership in the UDN will not be extended to them. They are own their own… to fend for themselves.

If history is any is any indication of their destiny, they will soon be at each other’s throats again. For history has taught us that as soon as the US leaves "The Continent" they begin to squabble with each other, pick fights that turn into wars that set the globe ablaze in WORLD WARS. Their vanity and arrogance is exceeded only by their utter lack of common sense.

Yes, we will have a bi-polar world again. East and West. There will soon be a diplomatic slugfest to determine the leader of the Eastern Block and that will soon be Russia, not France, as France supposes. The French entitlement to leadership is in THEIR minds ONLY.

So, bring on the UDN, if we must, and the sooner the better. Let us commit the United Nations to the ash heap of history where it belongs. That dream turned into a nightmare. It is time to wake up, from it, and get on with handling the problems of the real world.

J. D. Longstreet
********************

Conservative+US+UN+Global-Governance+UDN

FCC moves to codify network neutrality principles

2009-10-22T11:08:00.001-06:00

The FCC: Net neutrality, localism, and media ownership reviews are soon to be underway. Watch out for the progressive code word, "localism," which could be the death blow to conservative talk radio.

From C-SPAN this morning. FCC Votes to Move Forward With Net Neutrality Rulemaking Process

Today
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) met and voted to move forward on Chairman Julius Genachowski’s open internet proposal. The net neutrality rules, if passed, would prohibit internet providers from favoring or discriminating against online applications. The FCC will have a period of hearings and comments on the proposal before a final vote is taken.

FCC Votes To Propose Net Neutrality Rules

As expected, the FCC voted Thursday to launch a rulemaking to expand and codify network neutrality principles.
All the commissioners agreed it was the beginning of a process that will solicit much comment. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said the FCC will establish a technical advisory process to make sure, as Commissioner Meredith Attwell Baker said, that the process is informed by the laws of physics and not just politics. . .

The FCC has proposed to codify its existing four Internet openness principles as well as adding two new ones requiring ISPs to inform customers about network management techniques and preventing them from discriminating against content of applications, with a carve-out for reasonable network management public safety and homeland security. That codification is meant to remove any question of whether they are enforceable.

As expected, the vote was unanimous to launch the process, but the commission Republicans dissented on the factual basis undergirding it, which was that there were cracks and fissures in the open Internet that needed fixing. They warned of unintended consequences that could include reduction in service quality, a rise in price and disincentive to investment. . .

. . .Republican members expressed concern that the new rules could be viewed by other countries, with darker motives, as a precedent for their attempts to increase their hold on the net.

Panelists, Agenda Set For Ownership Workshops

October 22, 2009: The FCC has set the agenda and panelists for three workshops, to be held November 2, 3, and 4, that will kick off the 2010 quadrennial media-ownership review.

These initial panels, held by the Media Bureau, will "discuss the scope and methodology of the proceeding and the analytical framework the commission should use for conducting its review." Also on the table are the specifics of how the FCC should address its goals of competition, localism, and diversity. . .

The above link lists the featured panelists by name.

Technorati Tags: FCC,Net neutrality,localism,media,ownership,reviews,rules,codes

"The Most Moral Army In The World!"

2009-10-22T01:11:00.001-06:00

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle

Is the assessment given to the IDF by Colonel Richard Kemp (Great Britain) to the UN Human Rights Council 12th Special Session, 16 October 2009 Debate on Goldstone Report.

The Goldstone report (you can read this work of fiction here) is based on lies, innuendos, and hearsay. There is no factual data in this work of fiction (the conclusion was made way before the members of the committee were picked) and it is considered the honest truth by the Obama Administration trying to appease their Muslim masters. It is the only way Obama and his Muslim cohorts can "legally" destroy Israel (since the Muslims are too incompetent to do it with an army).

The world will not listen to reason and the truth. The world has already decided on the verdict (with the great appeaser Barack Hussein Obama leading the way to the slaughter [His his idol Hitler would have been so proud of him!]).

I ask you, truthseeker, to listen to the words of this British hero, and judge for yourself.

Col. Richard Kemp on the U.N. Goldstone Report

View at YouTube

Text of the speech

Thank you, Mr. President.

I am the former commander of the British forces in Afghanistan. I served with NATO and the United Nations; commanded troops in Northern Ireland, Bosnia and Macedonia; and participated in the Gulf War. I spent considerable time in Iraq since the 2003 invasion, and worked on international terrorism for the UK Government’s Joint Intelligence Committee.

Mr. President, based on my knowledge and experience, I can say this: During Operation Cast Lead, the Israeli Defence Forces did more to safeguard the rights of civilians in a combat zone than any other army in the history of warfare.

Israel did so while facing an enemy that deliberately positioned its military capability behind the human shield of the civilian population.

Hamas, like Hizballah, are expert at driving the media agenda. Both will always have people ready to give interviews condemning Israeli forces for war crimes. They are adept at staging and distorting incidents.

The IDF faces a challenge that we British do not have to face to the same extent. It is the automatic, Pavlovian presumption by many in the international media, and international human rights groups, that the IDF are in the wrong, that they are abusing human rights.

The truth is that the IDF took extraordinary measures to give Gaza civilians notice of targeted areas, dropping over 2 million leaflets, and making over 100,000 phone calls. Many missions that could have taken out Hamas military capability were aborted to prevent civilian casualties. During the conflict, the IDF allowed huge amounts of humanitarian aid into Gaza. To deliver aid virtually into your enemy's hands is, to the military tactician, normally quite unthinkable. But the IDF took on those risks.

Despite all of this, of course innocent civilians were killed. War is chaos and full of mistakes. There have been mistakes by the British, American and other forces in Afghanistan and in Iraq, many of which can be put down to human error. But mistakes are not war crimes.

More than anything, the civilian casualties were a consequence of Hamas’ way of fighting. Hamas deliberately tried to sacrifice their own civilians.

Mr. President, Israel had no choice apart from defending its people, to stop Hamas from attacking them with rockets.

And I say this again: the IDF did more to safeguard the rights of civilians in a combat zone than any other army in the history of warfare.

Thank you, Mr. President.

Col. Richard Kemp, CBE, served in the British Army from 1977 - 2006. He was Commander of British Forces in Afghanistan, an infantry battalion Commanding Officer, worked for the Joint Intelligence Committee and COBR and completed 14 operational tours of duty around the globe.

Richard Kemp was appointed Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE), Military Division, in recognition of his intelligence work in Northern Ireland in 1992–1993 and was awarded the Queen's Commendation for Bravery as a commander in the United Nations Protection Force in Bosnia in 1994. He was appointed Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE), Military Division, in the New Year Honours 2006 for his service in relation to the London bomb attacks in 2005, and for his work for the British and US governments in Iraq the same year.

Thousands have watched his testimony. Now is the time to turn his words into action. Write to your Congressman, to your Senator, remind them that lies do not make a truth no matter how many times you tell them. Remind them that you vote, that you support Israel, and will not vote for them if they do not do all that they can to get the President to use our veto in the Security Council when this pack of lies comes up for a vote.

There is truth and there are lies. Goldstone is a lie.

ObamaCare and the Disarmament of US Citizens

2009-10-22T00:25:00.001-06:00

ObamaCare and the Disarmament of US Citizens
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

**********************************
To do this commentary justice you really need to read this short piece in The Washington Times. Please do so before continuing this commentary. Just click the link HERE.

We knew it was just a matter of time. So, apparently the Obama administration has decided it IS time.

How many times have we warned that ObamaCare would punish American gun owners? We were shouted down each time.

Now, we can see the attempt by the Obama regime to tie guns into some sort of health issue in order to make gun ownership fall under the auspices of Obamacare where gun control will be a huge issue.

Simply put, under Obamacare there is a strong likelihood that if you own a gun you will not get healthcare insurance. Read the article at the link above for a better understanding of how the Obama regime is going about this.

Why else would the national HEALTH agency (NIH) be studying gun control issues or any issue having to do with guns? To fix solidly in the collective mind of the public that guns (and gun control) is really, is actually, a HEALTH issue. Tell a lie long enough and people begin to believe it.
Thirteen years ago Congress cut off funds to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), which was used for studies pertaining to gun control. So far that has not slowed the NIH.

Now we have ObamaCare grinding it’s way through Congress and we can’t help but notice the strong possibility that with the extension of government control into the everyday lives of American citizens, which ObamaCare will certainly do, it provides the perfect vehicle for gun control. By establishing gun violence as a health issue if will fall within the purview of the universal health care laws. Once that is done, it is a very simple step, indeed, to declare that an Obama Policy holder who owns guns, even for self-protection in the home, does not qualify for national healthcare. Turn in your guns and get your healthcare, or keep your guns and don’t get healthcare. Wait a minute, it will be against the .law not to have healthcare, so you gotta turn in your guns or be fined, and not have healthcare, or heavens forbid, go to jail and not have healthcare… or simply turn in your guns and have healthcare and all is well. See? Is it clear now? OK. So maybe not. But I think you begin to understand why it has gun owners across the nation, and a few in Congress worried.

There is an excellent article by Karen De Coster entitled “Stealth Agencies for Gun Control" in which the author states: “But in the end, even the CDC couldn’t make its research work in favor of its agenda. Its own studies could not link gun control laws to the reduction of crime. Nevertheless, any time the government studies “gun safety,” you know that in spite of the fact that all the research in the world will not support its end goal of the necessity of disarmament, the aim is to produce enough information, studies, and opinions to influence the public against gun ownership and persuade them to internalize the emotional aspect of the issue, thereby leading them to despise guns, distrust gun owners, and desire more government intervention to make gun ownership more difficult.

The anti-gun movement is built on pure emotion – hating guns and being afraid of guns – so building perception among the masses through fear mongering and emotional coercion is much more essential, and uncomplicated, than actually proving a hard case through a mishmash of statistics.” We recommend this article to you. You will find it HERE.

The point is – the leftist gungrabbers of America have not been resting; they have been very busy making ready for the possibility of a leftist President and a leftist Congress, which they now have. They also have the perfect vehicle to carry their plans for the disarmament of American citizens into federal law – ObamaCare.

ObamaCare is not about healthcare. It is about POWER. It will be the largest transfer of power from the people of the United States to the government of the United States in the history of the country and could, very well, cause the collapse of the United States.

A huge percentage of the American citizenry will resist any disarmament. They will not give up their guns. If forced to choose between the US Constitution and the US Government, they will choose the Constitution every time. A great conflagration will ensue. Only a fool swaddled in a fool’s vanity can claim ignorance of a future America ripped in twain by the lust for power of elitist, leftist, utopians in search of a society that has never existed, does not exist now, and never will exist.

The National Healthcare bill must be killed in the US Senate. It is time to pressure your senators to vote against any National Healthcare bill. They need to hear from you and the sooner, the better.

J. D. Longstreet

*****************

Conservative+Disarmament+Gun-Control+ObamaCare+Senate+NIH+Healthcare+Power

Lionheart: English Defence League Protest October 31, 2009

2009-10-21T20:00:00.001-06:00

by Maggie at Maggie's Notebook

Take your pick of spellings: Anjem Choudry, Anjem Choudary, Anjem Choudhury or Ajum Choudhary. He is the scourge of freedom loving peoples in Britain. He is a British citizen and a jihadist working openly on the streets of London - trying to bring Islam to the West in a very final way. The members of the English Defence League (EDL) are protesting Choudry's influence in their beloved and non-Muslim country. See an English Defence League video about the protest below.

Anjem Choudary - Anjem Choudry

A protest demonstration against Choudry, extremist Islam and the country's Islam-appeasing, over-taxing authorities, is scheduled in Leeds on October 31st, 2009 at the Leeds City Square, 13.00 to 15.00 hours. The name of the protest is "Judgement Day."

The next thing you need to know is that a "fanatical group, Islam4UK, is also assembling on October 31st to push sharia law on the people of Britain:

10-19-09 Daily Express

A RADICAL Muslim group sparked outrage last night as it launched a massive campaign to impose sharia law on Britain.
The fanatical group Islam4UK has announced plans to hold a potentially incendiary rally in London later this month.

And it is calling for a complete upheaval of the British legal system, its officials and legislation.

So the English Defence League will also be there. Their website says they stand for:

(1) free speech, (2) democracy, (3) equality in law, and (4) cultural tolerance.

Choudry and Islam want no part of these principles. From EDL:

We also protest against individual Islamic fanatics like Anjem Choudary who has stated:

“Not being a Muslim is a crime against god”
“If you are a non-Muslim you are guilty”
“I must have hatred for everything which is non-Islam”

Source: BBC World.

Anjem Choudary has also stated that it is his aim to fly an Islamic flag over 10 Downing Street and to enforce Sharia law over our country. His hatred for freedom, democracy and our culture is clear to see.

Unfortunately others share Anjem Choudary’s view. Extremists like him, use their influence in the Islamic community to spread the seed of hatred among disillusioned Muslim youth.

For years we have looked to the government to resolve the direct and indirect causes of Islamic extremism in our country. They have failed us. And they have failed our troops who fight for our freedom from terrorism and tyranny.

Whilst British troops have been fighting and dying, your Members of Parliament have submitting inappropriate expense claims for duck islands, porn films and luxurious second homes. Their obscene behaviour had to be leaked to the press before some of them reluctantly repaid the money taken from tax-payers.

They have also bailed-out the fat-cats, the privileged few, in the City with hundreds of billions of pounds of tax-payers money whilst leaving 2.47 million British people to rot unemployed, or on unliveable wages.

In the absence of effective Government the English Defence League has been forced to rise up.

If you share the EDL’s values please attend the peaceful demonstration at Leeds City Square at 1pm on Saturday 31st October 2009.

Choudry is a follower of Omar Bakri Mohammed who founded al-Muhajiroun, which Choudry now leads. Mohammed also founded Hizb ut-Tahrir. Hizb ut-Tahrir has already made inroads into the U.S. under the guise of "moderation." President Obama's head of Muslim Affairs, Dalia Mogahed, was interviewed on a British television show, Muslimah Dilemma on the Islam Channel on October 4th. Ms. Mogahed told the host of the show that she finds from her surveys that "the majority of women around the world associate gender justice, or justice for women, with shari'ah compliance." Only a small majority of women, said our President's advisor, associate Sharia law with oppression of woman.

Hizb ut-Tahrir attempted to hold a "Caliphate Planning Conference" at an Islamic school in Bridgeview, Ilinois, but the event was canceled after publicity, at least in the school; instead the group moved to the Hilton Oak Lawn in Oak Lawn, Illinois. The goal of Hizb ut-Tahrir:

In its self-description, Hizb-ut-Tahrir declares: "Its work is not educational, as it is not a school, nor is its work concerned with giving sermons and preaching. Rather its work is political, in which the thoughts and laws of Islam are presented in order to act upon them and to carry them so as to establish them in life's affairs and in the State."

According to Heritage Foundation researcher Ariel Cohen:

Hizb-ut-Tahrir is a "totalitarian organization, akin to a disciplined Marxist-Leninist party, in which internal dissent is neither encouraged nor tolerated." Candidates for membership undergo two years of indoctrination, becoming full members only after they "mel[t] with the Party." Members belong to compartmentalized cells and know the identities of only the others in that cell. "When a critical mass of cells is achieved," writes Cohen, "according to its doctrine, Hizb may move to take over a country in preparation for the establishment of the Caliphate." Hizb-ut-Tahrir reportedly has cells in 40 or more nations.

We are following in the footsteps of Britain and we must wake up! Here's another lesson:

This from the TimesOnline 9-14-08:

ISLAMIC law has been officially adopted in Britain, with sharia courts given powers to rule on Muslim civil cases.

The government has quietly sanctioned the powers for sharia judges to rule on cases ranging from divorce and financial disputes to those involving domestic violence.

Rulings issued by a network of five sharia courts are enforceable with the full power of the judicial system, through the county courts or High Court.

Previously, the rulings of sharia courts in Britain could not be enforced, and depended on voluntary compliance among Muslims.

It has now emerged that sharia courts with these powers have been set up in London, Birmingham, Bradford and Manchester with the network’s headquarters in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. Two more courts are being planned for Glasgow and Edinburgh.

The mistakes the Brits have made by allowing Islam to encroach on huge chunks of normal English life is astonishing. Perhaps the worst is allowing Muslim MEN further control over a British Muslim citizen, who may not want a Shari'ah court looking over them. What happens to a Muslim couple who are British citizens, attending a mosque but wanting to follow Western laws because they are lawfully living in the West?

More tidbits about Choudry:

From Discover the Networks:

October 2000, Choudary co-signed and issued a “Warning to All Jews…in the UK” that “if you support Israel financially, verbally or physically you will become part of the [Middle East] conflict.” Choudary, in other words, explicitly warned Jews in democratic Great Britain, the mother of parliaments, that if they opened their mouths in support of Israel, they risked being attacked in England by Islamist terrorists.

9/10/08:

Speaking at a meeting in London, Anjem Choudary, right-hand man of exiled preacher Omar Bakri Mohammed [his deported mentor], said: "It may be by pure conversion that Britain will become an Islamic state. We may never need to conquer it from the outside."

So how would this happen? Choudry tells us and notice his plan for the "flag of Sharia."

Mr Choudary then referred to Bakri’s notorious aim of flying the ‘flag of Sharia’ over Downing Street, claiming that this would happen by 2020 as 500 people a day were converting to Islam and laughing that Muslim families in places like Whitechapel and Bethnal Green in east London were having ‘10 or 12 children each’.

Read about the EDL below the video.

English Defence League Protest October 31, 2009 (video)

Just a note about the English Defence League: My friend Lionheart (Paul Ray) is a member of EDL. There are some who refer to the EDL as "far right," which I think is a good thing in these dire times. No marshmallow can stand before a hot fire. Nevertheless, if you see "far right" as skinheads, then EDL is not "far right." As I have watched Lionheart for a couple of years now, I see no violence. I see and hear the urging for peaceful and meaningful protests, which have sometimes not been allowed, although Muslim groups HAVE been allowed to protest returning troops from Iraq in a most despicable manner, as well as the British people and their values, in general.

Lionheart - Paul Ray

I pray for England. There are some very harsh times ahead for them if their leaders don't do something. Next stop: the U.S.

Panel Discussion with Lord Monckton Thursday!

2009-10-21T15:23:00.001-06:00

Tomorrow, Thursday, October 22, at noon eastern time, Jim Simpson will be on a radio discussion panel with Lord Christopher Monckton to talk about global warming and Lord Monckton's prophetic warning that we are about to give up our sovereignty to the UN.

Please go here for details.

Ex-Washington Post Executive Editor wants philanthropic funds to preserve journalism

2009-10-20T17:22:00.002-06:00

by Maggie at Maggie's Notebook

The headline caught my eye. Journalism does indeed need preserving, but my ideas about how to do so were not even close to those laid out in the report.

I am thinking that journalism needs more of a scrubbing - a good clean-up, more about getting to journalist ethics. A report, co-authored by a former executive editor for the Washington Post, doesn't go there.

Len Downie, in a report commissioned by the Columbia University Journalist School, wants "nonprofits" (philanthropists) to step in and help financially, as well as lobby for government tax codes granting nonprofit status - and how about that suggested fee for telecom and internet users?

What about feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, getting children who need medical assistance to the right hospital, donating to DARE and diabetes, the Ronald McDonald House, AIDs, various adult cancers and heart associations and our local church and missions? Where do these elitists get the brass to ask nonprofits to syphon-off monies given by the "givers" in America?

Did I mention there is a tax in this plan? The report is asking "philanthropic organizations to support local reporting." That's where the tax comes in - or fees - to be gathered in some fashion from telecom or internet providers."

I might not object if a clear definition of "journalism," and adherence to that definition, must be met to get the nonprofit status. Of course, it all depends on the definition of the trade - like defining what "is is."

Next will be White House ordered legislation assuring that FOX News is excluded from "nonprofit status."

I cannot credit this report by linking to it, because the "original source" says I cannot (but never mind, they want me to donate to keep their less-than-honest endeavors alive) but go to Breitbart.com type in some keywords and you'll find it.

Washington, DC: Chicago on the Potomac and the Land of Make Believe

2009-10-20T06:46:00.004-06:00

Commentary by James H. Shott

The Land of Make Believe. Those words form the title of a great song and the name of some amusement parks. But they also describe President Barack Obama’s perception of the health care reform process.

Mr. Obama recently announced from The Land of Make Believe that all of the objections to the health care reform plan have been heard: "This is another milestone on what has been a long, hard road toward health insurance reform. In recent months, we’ve heard every side of every argument from both sides of the aisle."

He is right about one thing: Many arguments against the dangerous features of the dominant Democrat proposals have been voiced. But our elected leaders had their fingers in their ears so they couldn’t hear them.

"The approach that is emerging includes the best ideas from Republicans and Democrats, and people across the political spectrum," Mr. Obama continued.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is manifestly false. The best ideas of Republicans have been rejected out of hand, such as medical liability reform to encourage speedy resolution of claims, and deter junk lawsuits that drive up the cost of care; letting families and businesses buy insurance across state lines; that individuals, small businesses and other groups should be able to join together to get health insurance at lower prices, the same way large businesses and labor unions do; and that insurers should be able to offer incentives for wellness care and prevention. These beneficial and practical ideas are regrettably absent from the several radical Democrat plans.

"In fact, what’s remarkable is not that we’ve had a spirited debate about health insurance reform,” the president continued, “but the unprecedented consensus that has come together behind it," including the nation’s doctors and nurses.

Well, no. Some doctors and some nurses support the Democrat proposals, but not nearly most doctors and nurses.

A White House Rose Garden meeting with doctors was touted as a summit of physicians. While the doctors looked impressive in their spiffy white lab coats, it was an invitation-only event of doctors who were and are Obama supporters. This Chicago-style propaganda is what the president terms “consensus.”

Now, it is true that the American Medical Association supports the president’s vague plans to reform the health care system, but it does so despite the fact that some of the most important of its seven critical elements of reform are ignored in the various Democrat plans. The AMA’s support does not mean that most doctors support the plan, because only about 20 percent of practicing physicians are members of the AMA. The truth: most doctors oppose the reform measures.

A poll of more than 1,300 randomly selected practicing physicians conducted by mail by Investor’s Business Daily and TechnoMetrica Institute of Policy and Politics found that 65 percent of participants oppose reform measures and, far worse, some 45 percent said they will consider leaving the practice of medicine if Democrat reform measures become law.

Having willfully distorted the support of physicians, Mr. Obama next proudly announced the support of two former Republican Senate Majority Leaders: Bob Dole and Dr. Bill Frist.

This, too, stretches truth past the breaking point. Bill Frist supports certain aspects of the reform effort, but there are several he doesn’t support. He thinks, for example, that reform proposals don’t do nearly enough to bring costs under control, and believes the plans would fall far short of providing universal coverage, leaving millions out.

Bob Dole’s support is also equivocal: He said that he “supported the Democrats’ attempt to overhaul the health care system.” (Emphasis added.) He and former Democrat leader Tom Daschle issued a joint statement that said, in part: “The current approaches suggested by the Congress are far from perfect, but they do provide some basis on which Congress can move forward.” (Emphasis added.)

So, while the president plays fast and loose with the truth, many Americans believe him when he says that there is bi-partisan consensus, despite their natural suspicion of the health care reform measures. That is a highly dishonest tactic. One vote by one Republican on one measure in one committee of one house of Congress does not a consensus make.

The president’s comments are the sort of deliberate distortion and outright misstatement of fact that prompted South Carolina Representative Joe Wilson to shout an unkind comment at Mr. Obama during the address to the Congress not long ago. Rep. Wilson’s behavior was wrong, and he expressed regret for it.

The president, on the other hand, misrepresents the truth with impunity and without shame or regret and, indeed, is ably assisted in his deception by a compliant, discredited and dishonest national media that has replaced its professional ethics with adoration for and allegiance to the person who, more than any other individual, ought to be the focus of its objective scrutiny.

The health care reform “plan” is a bunch of bad ideas cobbled together with duct tape and bailing wire, with the reluctant participation of insurers and providers pressured into subservience by the threat of something far worse if they don’t get on board.

This is the hope and change we elected last November.

Cross-posted from Observations

The Chronically Offended. A Malady, Perhaps?

2009-10-20T00:39:00.000-06:00

The Chronically Offended. A Malady, Perhaps?

A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

************************************

It makes no difference what you do or what you say, these days, you can bet that someone will be offended.

Oh, yeah, I know people were offended back in the day. Truly they were, but… there was one major difference. Back in the day, we understood that for an offended person to protest was a sign of weakness on the offended’s part. And frankly, they were too embarrassed to protest because they knew society would see them for what they were, weak.

Things changed. In the mid to late 20th century, and early 21st century, American society began to celebrate weakness in individuals. Whole organizations sprang up to serve the chronically offended. (And while they were doing that…. milk them of all their ready cash, as well!)

How could this have happened? Political Correctness, that’s how. Marxism by another name. As of today in America, the weak, and the minorities, have more power than the strong majority. The tables have turned. Natural law has been turned on its head.

When I was growing up one of the signs that you were, indeed, growing into adulthood was the skill at which you were able to handle disappointment… and… being offended.

Stoicism is no easy thing for me. I am Scot-Irish, Dutch, German, and a healthy dose of Native American. So you can see the how the fiery temperament of the Irish, and the combativeness of the Scots, and the dogged determination of the Germans, and stoicism of the Native Americans was, and is, always at war in my mind.

However, after a few bloody noses and split lips, and broken teeth, I managed to get a grip on myself and I learned a valuable lesson. It is better to keep your mouth shut and not whine when you are offended! The main thing to remember is… do not whine! Strike, if you must, but do not whine! What I forgot was… my size disadvantage. Quite often the attacked was physically larger than me and I got the tar beaten out of me!

So what did I learn for these confrontations? Not a whole lot… if you ask those who know me personally. I STILL tend to attack windmills! I love lost causes. But, it did build character. It gave me understanding into the mind of the chronically offended.

I have learned that the chronically offended are sad, lonely, people. They perceive themselves as without power and influence and they crave recognition, by anybody, for any reason. It is a form of inferiority complex.

To get that recognition, if only to force someone, anyone, into confirming their existence, they will cause a commotion about the smallest of things they may deem an infraction, or an abuse, or an offense to their sensibilities. No matter that society might accept that which offends them, that fact has no value to the Chronically Offended. Their self-centered nature rules out any pleas for common sense from the un-offended. .

And now THEY are in charge! Well, maybe not directly… with hands-on control… but they certainly have the power to browbeat the remainder of society like water torture.

If man had not fiddled with Mother Nature’s Natural Selection, these people would not be among us. But we did, and they are here. And… they are a royal pain in the butt to all of society.

Political Correctness has empowered them. And now WE are powerless to dis-empower THEM!

J. D. Longstreet

**********************

Conservative+Offensive+Politically-Correct+Marxism

Obama to cede US sovereignty to UN at climate summit

2009-10-19T18:50:00.000-06:00

Not content with his humiliation at Copenhagen, Denmark this past September, President Obama will be traveling there again in December to attend the UN COP15 Climate Change Conference. This agreement would commit the United States to punitive and expensive greenhouse gas regulations dictated by the United Nations without recourse.

COP stands for "Conference of the Parties" and the December Copenhagen conference will be the 15th under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), hence COP15. According to their website, it will be one of the largest conferences ever held outside the New York or Geneva headquarters, with an anticipated attendance of over 10,000 people, including governmental representatives from 189 countries, industry groups, and other non-governmental organizations.

The theme of the December 7 - 18 conference is "Hope," so perhaps Mr. Obama will have more luck this time. Instead of soliciting the International Olympic Committee with trite cliché and no payoffs, he will be doing something much easier: selling out our country. After all, ceding power, relinquishing billions in U.S. tax dollars and destroying U.S. economic competitiveness is a pretty easy sell to the countries that will benefit, and he has had a lot of practice doing the same thing here at home. He will have a hard time screwing this one up.

The Hope site optimistically pronounces:

On 7 December, leaders from 192 countries gather for UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen and decide the fate of our planet...

Decide the fate of our planet... Do these people have any idea how mindlessly grandiose they sound? Of course not. They are out to save the planet, just like Nancy Pelosi! It is hard for a normal person to imagine making such proclamations without embarrassment. But this is today's political class

This agreement will cede U.S. sovereignty permanently and irrevocably to the United Nations. So said British Lord Christopher Monckton at an event at Bethel University in St Paul, Minnesota this past Wednesday, October 14th.

Read more...

Obama Vs. Fox News

2009-10-19T14:52:00.001-06:00

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle

Today Barack Hussein Obama, President of the United States, Leader of the Free World and Champion of Free Speech declared War on Fox News Channel.

Using his Kapos, he has attempted a Blitzkrieg upon the Network.

White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel told CNN that President Obama does not want "the CNNs and the others in the world [to] basically be led in following Fox."

Obama senior adviser David Axelrod went further by calling on media outlets to join the administration in declaring that Fox is "not a news organization."

"Other news organizations like yours ought not to treat them that way," Axelrod counseled ABC's George Stephanopoulos. "We're not going to treat them that way."

While the other ~~News Networks~~ Propaganda Mills are rallying around the President, his Healthcare proposals, and denigrating the protesters on 9/12 as a bunch of kooks and racists, Fox News has been hitting hard on Obama's czars, his foreign policy, his economic policy, his Healthcare proposal, and the general lies and deceits Barack Hussein Obama has brought to Washington.

Looking at the lead stories from the other networks it is no wonder that Obama wants Fox News to start looking like them. Instead of examining the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Healthcare, and the situation in Iran, viewers at CNN and other media outlets (to call them news channels would be erroneous) subject their viewers to Sexy Michael Buble jokes, bed-wetting, and Balloon Boy. Not exactly the hard-hitting stories. More like fluff for the masses.

Or the example of distinguished journalism by such ~~reporters~~ ink slingers like Rick Sanchez.

Mr. Sanchez once wrote:

Sanchez generated controversy on Twitter when he wrote in his account, "do u know how much money i’d make if i’d sold out as hispanic and worked at fox news, r u kidding, one problem, looking in mirror."

In response, Fox News anchor Julie Banderas wrote on Twitter, "As a wise Latina woman, I have no comment other than to say...if I were Rick Sanchez, I wouldn't look in the mirror, period."

A Fox News spokesman also responded with, "Everyone knows that Rick is an industry joke, he shows that he's a hack everyday. And he doesn't have to worry about working at FOX because we only hire talent who have the ability to generate ratings."

Rick Sanchez, Politically Correct Hack, pushes the pro-Obama agenda, flunked his course in objectivity at college, is openly anti-Semitic (he supports La Voz de Aztlan openly including their full anti-Semitic rhetoric), and is vying for the Joseph Goebbels award for Excellence in Journalism. Is it any wonder that a Conservative like Lou Dobbs (the only Conservative on the staff) is leaving CNN (Hostile work environment?).

The last President who declared war on the media was Richard Nixon. He declared war on the Washington Post and New York Times. Look what happened to him. A fair warning to any President with skeletons in his closet.

President Obama thinks the heat is on now, just wait a bit. Think of what the heat will be like if and when Fox News start to investigate his private finances (Deep Throat did tell Woodward and Burnstein to "Follow the money.").

Nixon's approval ratings were very high when the Washington Post started to investigate Watergate. Obama doesn't have that luxury any more. Even Saturday Night Live and Late Night Comics are taking potshots at him:

SNL Obama Do Nothing Skit 10 3 09

View at YouTube.

The honeymoon is over President Obama. You better grow a thick coat, the satire and criticism is just going to get worse.

Are Evangelical Churches Drifting Left?

2009-10-19T14:18:00.001-06:00

by Barbara Sowell

Did you wake up one Sunday morning and finally realize that you could no longer support or attend a church that has gradually embraced an anti-American – anti-Capitalistic gospel in the name of Christ? Did it suddenly dawn upon you that the ever-present term “social justice” is merely a code word for a Marxist view of redistributive justice wrapped in a thinly disguised Christian veneer? Have you visited church after church after church only to discover that something decidedly unchristian has crept into the gospel teachings replacing, by redefinition, all that has been sacred to Christianity for centuries?

We live in the Age of Heresy and what we have to fear is not the old cults that Christians have traditionally warned against for years. What we have to fear today is the steady drift to the political left that has distorted our many venerable institutions and well-known Christian denominations.

Today 100,000 local congregations and 45 million Christians are supporting leftist goals yet most of the members are still blissfully unaware. For a quick overview of this un-Christian indoctrination, please read: United Nations Entrenched Within Most Christian Denominations

The following information is from the leftist progressive blog called Queering the Church which is proudly proclaiming the Evangelical Christian churches “leftwards drift.”

Martha Cook of the Centre for American Progress reports that “Evangelicals Step Up For Marriage Equality”

Brent Childers used to call himself a “Jesse Helms Republican” who justified his homophobic beliefs through biblical interpretation. But last weekend, as he marched in the Equality March in Washington, D.C., he stood alongside his lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender friends in support of their full human rights. . . .

From “The Rise of the Religious Left”

As Austen Ivereigh points out, Moore’s anti-capitalist preaching is quite in keeping with Catholic traditions of social activism. What’s less known is that evangelical Christian churches – the supposed mainstay of rightwing politics in the US – are showing a leftwards drift.”

“Nearly every major social justice battle fought in the US has been supported, if not driven, by religious groups – which in statistical terms overwhelmingly means Christians. It’s widely known that the historically black church has been a key player in promoting justice for African Americans – from the abolition of slavery to the civil rights movements – as well as championing initiatives that support marginalised communities, both black and white. Beneath the more notorious rhetoric of Obama’s former pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, who at one point looked likely to irreparably fracture Obama’s presidential bid, we can find him preaching the acceptance of homosexuality and the importance of works as well as faith. Wright’s work at Trinity United Church of Christ, the church Obama was a member of for over 20 years, involves programmes for HIV/Aids sufferers, drug rehabilitation, and housing support for Chicago’s impoverished South Side communities.” . . .

For a thorough assessment of Wright’s church, Black Liberation Theology, and what the Catholic Pope also has to say about the dangers of Black Liberation Theology, please read Obama’s Marxist Liberation Theology Church.

From David Horowitz Newsreal on “queer theory:”

. . .For these new radical theorists, the enemy is no longer a ruling class, a hegemonic race or even a dominant gender. Instead it is the sexual order of nature itself. Oppression lies in the very idea of the “normal,” the order that divides humanity into two sexes. Instead of a classless society as the redemptive future, queer theorists envisage a gender free world.

A specter is haunting America’s universities, the last refuge of the political left. It is the specter of “queer theory,” the latest of the radical identity politics that have replaced class struggle and the classic proletariat in the schema of Marxist revolution. . .

Here are some links to other bits of news concerning Christianity this week:

A Reason for the Left to Hate MLK offers an excerpt from the writings of Martin Luther King Jr. as to why he rejected Marxism.

Praise God – Washington Times Covers the story of the Iranian Christian Girls (Maryam Rostampour, 27, and Marzieh Amirizadeh Esmaeilabad, 30) Jailed for Converting to Christianity

Members of Iran’s tiny and much-persecuted Christian minority, they were arrested March 5 for “acting against state security” and “taking part in illegal gatherings” and left to rot in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison. Their families have tried to bail them out, to no avail. . . .

PETITION FOR THE RELEASE OF MARYAM RUSTAMPOOR & MARZIEH AMIRIZADEH
FROM IRANIAN PRISON

The following from beliefnet’s Crunch Con

Politically correct white flight

Aaron M. Renn at the indispensable New Geography site has a fascinating analysis of a curious aspect shared by progressive urban havens like Austin, Portland and suchlike: they have relatively few black people in them. Excerpt:

This raises troubling questions about these cities. Why is it that progressivism in smaller metros is so often associated with low numbers of African Americans? Can you have a progressive city properly so-called with only a disproportionate handful of African Americans in it? In addition, why has no one called these cities on it? . .

Obama ‘Loathes’ and is ‘Disgusted’ by Israel

JERUSALEM – U.S. officials in recent days expressed to the Palestinian Authority that President Obama’s administration is “disgusted” with Israel, a top aide to PA President Mahmoud Abbas told WND in an interview. . . .

Organizing for America — a political action group for President Barack Obama — recently carried an entry on its website from ultra-left-wing professor Richard Falk, who said “Comparing the present-day Israel with Nazi Germany, one discovers that the majority of the Israeli policies are exact copies of the Nazi policies.”

Technorati Tags: left,leftist,Marxist,Christianity,Christian,church,churches,Evangelical,social justice,United Nations,Marriage equality,lesbian,gay,bisexual,transgender,human rights,marginalized,communities,Pew Research Center,biblical,bible,scripture,Reverend Jeremiah Wright,Black Liberation Theology,Martin Luther King Jr.,Iranian,Iran,Maryam Rostampour,Marzieh Amirizadeh Esmaeilabad,progressive,white flight,African Americans,Israel,Nazi Germany