Government Isn't the Answer

On Friday December 14, a mentally defective young man started his day by shooting his mother repeatedly and heading to an elementary school in Connecticut where he forced his way inside and massacred 20 young children and six adults before taking his own life.

Their little bodies weren't even cold before politicians, cable news hosts, Hollywierdos and others began calling for more gun control, gun bans, and even confiscation of guns from law-abiding citizens.  They couldn't wait to use the blood of innocents to promote their political agendas and loudly proclaim their ignorance in front of the nearest camera, microphone or Twitter account.

It absolutely baffles me when this is the typical response to some deranged or mentally ill wacko going on a shooting spree.  Guns are never the root cause for murder.  And they never will be, no matter how hard people wish they were, or how many ignorant people think they are.

I've been on this Earth for over 40 years, and many things have changed in that time.  However, one thing that has changed relatively little is government.  Aside from a sustained, consistent effort to expand its powers and consequently, spend more of our money, government hasn't really changed a whole lot.  We get idiots in office, then we get some good people, then more idiots, and on and on.  Each push their agenda and do their thing.  The pendulum is perpetually swinging back and forth.

The things that have changed over that time began at home.  Every parent I know proudly proclaims that they are determined to make sure their kids have it better than they had it.  While their intentions are good, many times their definition of "better" translates to "easier".  "Easier" results in kids not learning life lessons early enough, and leads them to believe that it's normal that someone else will make sure they get what they want and need while protecting them from all things bad.

Society, too, has changed.  When I was a kid, I ran the neighborhood unsupervised all evening, doing stuff kids do.  We built rickety ill-designed ramps with scrap wood and jumped our bikes off them without a helmet.  Sometimes we crashed, but we dusted ourselves off, learned from it, and made appropriate adjustments.  Now, kids aren't allowed out of their parents' sight because the perception is that the world is a darker place than it once was...never mind that crime data shows otherwise.  News has always been about sensationalism, and with the dawn of the 24-hour news cycle it seem all we hear about is murder and tragedy.  We hear about it a lot more, but it isn't happening a lot more.  In fact, according to FBI Uniform Crime Reporting data, the violent crime rate is lower nationally than it has been since 1973, and continues trending downward.

So many things prevalent in society today were unthinkable 30 years ago.  Back then, we had Space Invaders, Donkey Kong, Duck Hunter, and pinball games.  Today we have Grand Theft Auto which glamorizes assault, rape and murder...we have Ghost Recon and Call of Duty, featuring all the blood, guts and gore imaginable.  When I was a kid, my parents were uncomfortable with me being exposed to the humor of Statler and Waldorf, the two grumpy old guys in the box seats from the Muppet Show.  Now, kids can flip on the TV and see a transvestite space alien hitting on an underage boy on American Dad, and the never-ending sexual perversion including babies and animals being depicted on Family Guy.

In schools, leftists and militant athiests have ensured kids won't be hearing a peep about Christianity, God, or moral values, but kids can head on down to the library and pick up a copy of Heather Has Two Mommies for their summer reading list. If they're in San Francisco during the right time of year, they will likely run into gay men fellating each other on the street as their friends walk around wearing nothing but leather bondage gear during the Folsom Street Fair.  Meanwhile, back at school, we're adjusting expectations by race and everyone is being told they are special.  They're taught that fairness is when government confiscates the wealth of the earners and gives it to the takers.  The wars in Korea, Vietnam and the Middle East are used in history class as examples of America being a big part of what's wrong with the world.

Kids don't have a positive male role model, such as a dad or another family member, around as much as they did 30 years ago.  The nuclear family, once thought to be idyllic, is no longer the majority in our society and indeed, is no longer even a goal for most people.  Kids are growing up with single mothers, and they might see their dad once a week for a day or two if even that.  Many have never even met their fathers.  And there is no longer a social stigma where single parenthood or absent fathers are concerned.

I'm not saying that playing Call of Duty caused this tragedy, and I'm not saying that prayer in schools would have prevented it.  I'm also not saying it was caused by a kid reading a book about lesbians or that single helicopter parents are to blame.

What I'm saying is that sometimes, the sum is greater than its parts.  Some parts of our society are better today than they once were.  Some are worse, such as the political correctness that we're all forced to deal with these days. Merry Christmas, anyone?  Other parts, that taught our kids about the realities of life...about personal responsibility, individual accountability, success and failure, the value of life...are not there at all like they once were.

Gun ownership has increased steadily over the last 30 years.  Today the ratio of guns to people is approaching one-to-one, according to estimates.  Yet, as I previously mentioned, the violent crime rate is decreasing.  But as Rush Limbaugh noted on his show today, we have a lot of "low-information" people in this country (formerly known as morons and idiots).  They applied about three nanoseconds of thought to the tragedy that happened last Friday in Connecticut and decided it was the fault of inanimate objects - guns.  Sen. Dianne Feinstein of San Francisco has already authored a gun control bill for debate when Congress convenes again after the holidays.

The same government that thinks it is smarter than we are is blaming an inanimate object for the actions of a mentally ill person. 

There is no better proof that government isn't the answer.

Government stepping in to restrict the rights, freedoms and liberties of people that didn't do anything wrong isn't the answer.  It's not the answer to what happened in Connecticut, Colorado, or anywhere else a psycho picked up a gun and went on a shooting spree.

We the People are the answer.

If you have children, raise them to be right.  If you don't know how to do that, find out.  Ask your relatives, your friends, the church if you go, or any number of available resources for parents.  Teach them the value of life.  Teach them right from wrong...teach them to be responsible and accountable for their actions.  Teach them to be independent...to dig deep when the going gets tough, rather than blaming others and looking to government for solutions.  Teach them boundaries, and teach them kindness and respect for others.  Don't allow video games or TV to be their babysitter for hours, days, months, years on end.  Be a parent.

If your child is mentally ill, don't just do what you can for them and hope for the best, as this man's mother apparently did.  It's your responsibility as a parent - and a member of society - to ensure they get the help and attention they need so they don't hurt others when they act out.  If you aren't fully prepared to dedicate your entire life to your child, then you need to give them up to someone that would do ANYTHING to dedicate their lives to a child they can't have themselves.

The American way isn't to look to government for the solutions to our problems.  More often than not, government isn't the answer.

Transformation Complete

Back in 1787, Benjamin Franklin was leaving Independence Hall at the close of the Constitutional Convention when he was asked, "Well doctor, what have we got?  A republic, or a monarchy?"

"A republic, if you can keep it", he replied.

A most prescient answer.

I've written and rewritten this several times talking about why the election being called for Obama was the death knell for America, but I feel like it's an exercise in futility.  The majority of Americans don't care.

The majority have turned their backs on the ideals, principles and virtues that made America exceptional and great.  The people have rejected the Declaration of Independence, and view our Constitution and Bill of Rights with contempt.

Make no mistake about it: Barack Obama's fundamental transformation program was wildly successful.

Four more years of rule by fiat, gross mismanagement of tax revenue, utter lack of transparency, hostility toward the free market, success and wealth.  Four more years of high unemployment, a rapidly expanding government, increasingly higher taxes and spending, and eroding freedom and liberty.  Four more years of an impotent border security apparatus, four more years of coddling illegal aliens, and four more years of pushing disincentives for people to provide for themselves.  Four more years of fraud, deceit, theft, murder and sedition perpetrated by our federal government.

And with a big fat stamp of approval by We the People.

In fact, with the change in demographics resulting from yet another amnesty coupled with Obama's appointment of a few more liberals to the Supreme Court and the legal precedent that Obamacare sets, it will be much longer than four more years. 

Call me pessimistic, but I don't see any chance of our nation being led by those who respect our country's founding principles and the Constitution, ever again.

I don't hate Obama or blame him for any of this.  He's just doing what he does.  What disgusts me is the willful ignorance and/or stupidity of the American people.  It wasn't even a year ago when I noted that we're still a majority conservative country, but clearly I was mistaken.  The majority want the government to be their nanny and moral compass, and they support its unconstitutional path and expansion to that end.

Since the election, people in all 50 states have filed petitions for peaceful secession.  It's another exercise in futility but I sure can't blame them.  I know I sure don't want to live in a country full of ignorant, apathetic dimwits like this one.

And frankly, I wouldn't mind one bit if the secessionist movement in Texas got off the ground and gained real traction.  My hope is that it would be a peaceful divorce, but I'd take it either way.

Crystal Clear Clarity

"Let me be clear..."

I don't know about you, but I'm sick and tired of hearing Obama preface nearly everything he says with that phrase.  Instead of just talking about being clear, Obama would do well to actually BE clear.

The man is a gifted orator.  His speeches were once eloquent and inspirational...and in my opinion, they were a significant reason Obama was elected in 2008.  Obama's themes of "hope" and "change" resonated with the majority, many of whom had grown weary of George W. Bush.

After having assumed the very real responsibility and accountability of the presidency, the novel ideas of "hope" and "change" borne from Obama's community organizing days quickly evaporated as he struggled to be clear in reporting to Congress and the American people.  His spin doctors had to work overtime preparing his speeches for the TOTUS (TelePrompTer Of The United States), and Obama was unable to provide clear explanations or take responsibility for his rapidly mounting failures. 

To quote Shakespeare, his speeches became "...tale[s], told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.".  The only thing clear was the lack of clarity.

He tried to excuse his incompetence by blaming others and whining about having "inherited" this economy. 

To be sure, he did inherit the economy - but he wanted to inherit it.  He fought hard day in and day out for months trying as hard as he could to inherit this economy!

For two years - half of his term - his Democrat party controlled both houses of Congress.  This is a Democrat president's dream, and essentially allowed Obama to deploy his agenda for America with relatively little resistance.  This was the best opportunity for him to kick off his "fundamental transformation" of America...and kick it off he did.

Obama's first term lowlights include increasing the debt more than every single president in history combined.  He promised to cut the deficit in half, but instead he tripled it.  He took over healthcare, nationalizing an industry that represents 17% of the economy. 

He lined the pockets of the UAW while leaving GM investors with nothing and taxpayers with billions in losses.  He prevented the purge of illegal aliens while refusing to secure the border.

He has trampled upon religious liberty by forcing religious institutions to pay for contraception and he has ensured that taxpayer money will fund abortions. 

After taking credit for the killing of bin Laden, his idiot VP endangered our special operations warriors. Obama blamed an American for attacks on our Libyan embassy and the killing of our diplomats rather than blaming extremism and terrorism.

Eric Holder, Obama's attorney general, is directly responsible for countless deaths associated with the "Fast and Furious" operation, and actively fights against efforts to combat voter fraud by filing suit against every state that passes voter ID laws.  He also helped Obama ensure illegals enjoy a comfortable stay in America by suing Arizona in response to its efforts against illegal immigration.

Obama talked a lot about jobs, but the unemployment rate kept climbing and has never fallen below the level it was when he took office. 

In January of 2009 when Obama was inaugurated, the average price of gas was $1.84.  Today it is $3.69.

Now at the end of his first term, there is real clarity.  Barack Hussein Obama has clearly failed as President of the United States.  If you or I were to perform at our jobs the way Obama did at his, we would have been fired a long time ago.

We are not better off than we were four years ago.  It would be impossible for a reasonable person to conclude otherwise.  I simply can't wrap my head around the fact that once again, even after all these miserable failures, there is so much support for Obama.

Let me be clear: Obama has got to go!

Obamacare: Symptom of a Disease

"After having thus successively taken each member of the community in its powerful grasp and fashioned him at will, the government then extends its arm over the whole community. It covers the surface of society with a network of small, complicated rules, minute and uniform, through which the most original minds and the most energetic characters cannot penetrate, to rise above the crowd. The will of man is not shattered, but softened, bent, and guided; men are seldom forced by it to act, but they are constantly restrained from acting. Such a power does not destroy, but it prevents existence: it does not tyrannize, but it compresses, enervates, extinguishes, and stupefies a people, till each nation is reduced to nothing better than a flock of timid and industrious animals, of which the government is the shepherd." - Alexis de Tocqueville

De Tocqueville was clairvoyant, but I would argue that - especially after this week's United States Supreme Court rulings - our nation's government IS forcing men to act, it DOES destroy, and DOES tyrannize.

Today, the United States Supreme Court ruled that Obamacare and its individual mandate passes constitutional muster, as a "tax" (never mind that Obama himself vigorously denied - and, inexplicably continues to deny - that the individual mandate was a tax).  Because of this, there will be $500 billion in new or increased taxes on everyone (mostly the poor and middle class) over the next 10 years, while also adding $1.76 trillion to the national debt.

So much for Obama's promise not to raise taxes on anyone making less than $250,000 a year.

 According to the Court, it's perfectly constitutional for the federal government to force people to buy health insurance, and levy a punitive tax if they don't do so.  That's right, folks...for the first time in history, the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of the federal government of the United States of America have come together to impose and uphold a tax - on simply being alive.

To put this in perspective, if you're in the service industry as many of my friends are, making $30K per year and don't have health insurance, you MUST A) pay your contribution for the insurance that your employer offers, B) find and pay for your own insurance, or C) pay a $695 penalty for not having insurance, and go on the government dole for your healthcare.

No matter what, you're going to pay.  That's the law.  Obama's "fundamental transformation" in action.

Another portion of this ruling dictates that small business owners must provide health insurance if they have 50 or more employees, or face fines.  Whether they start offering health insurance or pay the fine for not doing so, they will have to incorporate these new expenses into the cost of doing business.  To offset these new costs, they will have to raise prices and/or lay off employees.  Neither of those are good for the economy, and one of those is especially bad for you, the employee.

Government, through tyranny, is forcing people to act against their free will. The spending needed to enforce this tyranny and enact this legislation will dramatically speed our progress towards financial destruction.

This legislation flies in the face of freedom, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  You know, those things this nation was founded upon.  When a government can dictate to people what we must spend our money on, and there is no alternative, there is less freedom.  There is less liberty.  Our pursuit of happiness has been restrained, limited, curtailed.

Liberals will applaud and cheer this ruling, because they'll say it's for the common good and it saves the country money.  How is the destruction of the country "good"?  How is taking healthcare decisions out of the hands of We the People "good"?  How does adding 30 million people to the government dole, and building the additional bureaucracy necessary to enforce Obamacare provisions going to save anybody any money?  (It won't.)  How is putting the government in direct control of 18% of the economy "good"?  (It's not.)

It's scary how diabolical liberals are.  They take advantage of the ignorant and reap the fruits of their lifelong brainwashing (see my last blog entry) in order to advance their ultimate agenda of fundamentally transforming America into a socialist utopia even worse than Greece, Spain, and other countries currently swirling down the toilet of financial ruin wrought by socialism.  They are winning, and America is losing.  The Founding Fathers are rolling in their graves.

America is sick, and it took a turn for the worse today.  Help cure our great nation by kicking the disease known as Barack Hussein Obama out of office in November.

The Strength of Conservatism

It's not often you see or hear anyone openly praise or advocate socialism, Marxism or communism in America, but I respect those that do.

No, I don't have a crack pipe in my hand, and I haven't been hitting the bong.  The thing is, I respect those who stand up for what they believe in, and who don't try to hide it.  In my opinion, integrity is one of the most honorable traits one can possess.  I may disagree with the idealism, but that's another issue.

Today, I read a couple of stories that got me thinking about fundamental differences between liberals and conservatives, beyond the relatively obvious.  One was about a teachers union member videotaped praising Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels while expressing his desire to see a socialist revolution here in America.  The other was about a New York Times writer that expressed surprise and offense at another newspaper openly promoting conservatism.

Since the founding of America, there have been liberals and there have been conservatives.  The liberals, while suffering from that mental illness known as "liberalism" are, by and large, actually somewhat smart.  They came up with the strategy of infiltrating our schools and the media, two of the most influential institutions in American society.  They mold and shape impressionable young minds at school, and continue that subtle influence through the way they "report" the "news" in the mainstream media.  A shrewd strategy, to be sure.  One that would be nearly insurmountable on paper.

But the liberals, who still believe we are all too dumb to make it through life without their infinite wisdom and firm guidance, didn't count on We the People being intelligent and exercising independent, critical thinking skills.

Despite being subjected to sixteen-plus years of leftist indoctrination during our primary and secondary "education" and constant bombardment of liberal slant in the media, more than half of Americans repudiate liberalism.  And the vast majority want no part of socialism, Marxism, or communism.

There is a reason that you never hear liberals refer to themselves as "liberals" or their ideas as "liberalism".  There is a reason that 70 members of Congress don't openly share that they are members of the Democratic Socialists of America, an organization that subscribes to the same philosophies espoused by the likes of Lenin and Marx.  There's a reason Nancy Pelosi condescendingly stated that "we need to pass the bill so you can see what's in it", when referring to the deeply unpopular Obamacare legislation.  There is a reason that liberals use terms such as "social justice" instead of "government-sponsored discrimination", and "going green" instead of "capitalism sucks balls so we need to micromanage and punish the free market under the guise of imminent planetary doom".

It's the same reason that the Occupy Wall Street morons wear masks and bandannas to cover their faces much like Hezbollah and al Qaeda members do.

They're cowards, and they're wrong. 

Liberals know their idealism runs afoul of the founding principles of the United States of America, so they are too cowardly to openly own it.

It's commonplace for conservatives to use the words "conservative" and "conservatism", and identify themselves as "conservatives".  Those with scruples and integrity don't have to hide their beliefs or their agenda.  They don't have to hide their faces, and they don't need stealthy indoctrination strategies to achieve their goals.  Good people doing the right things never have to hide anything.  They put it all out there and let the people decide, instead of believing that the people are too stupid to make the "right" decisions for themselves.

Terrorists, with their roadside bombs and human shields, are cowards.  Occupiers that push cops off their motorcycles and smash store windows while wearing masks are cowards.  Liberals that don't own up to their idealism and agenda (are you listening, New York Times and NBC?  Are you listening, college professors?) are also cowards.  They hide and deceive and lie because they know they are WRONG.

After all, if the left was right, they wouldn't call it "the left".

We can only hope that Americans will continue to use their independent, critical thinking skills when it comes to the direction of our country.  People need to turn off Dancing with the Stars and turn on to what's going on around them, before it's too late.

Fortunately, conservatism is strong and stands on its own merits.  Its application requires neither stealth nor indoctrination, because it is right.

Just ask our Founding Fathers by way of reading our Constitution.

The Right Things

It's been awhile since I last posted on my little blog here.  There's just too much stuff going on to blog about, and I went into overload.  A break was in order, and I took it.  And now I'm baaaaaack!

If you know me or read my stuff, you can probably guess what I would have had to say about the newsworthy events of the past couple of months.  My positions generally align with The Right Things.

Now, the question is, just what IS "right"?  Most people would say that what is right is entirely subjective.  It is, except when it's not.

You see, The Right Thing is what most reasonable people will conclude first, and most easily, about a given issue, given the facts.  It's the conclusion that makes the most sense, and the position that requires very little in the way of explanation to be understood or "sold" to someone else in a discussion or debate.

However, one must have a happy and healthy relationship with Common Sense and Reason (hence the "reasonable" qualification, above) in order to know what the Right Thing is.  Unfortunately, common sense is a lot less common these days as it's gradually being replaced by government nannying.  But I digress.

Let's see...since my last blog, I think the first thing that made me want to run for president myself was Obama's ridiculous mandate to private insurance companies that they must provide birth control at no cost to the recipient.  This, of course, is part of his grand healthcare takeover scheme where he claims he's not taking over anything, but when the president can order an entire industry to provide a product for free, he's taking over the industry.

Ladies and Gentlemen, that is NOT The Right Thing.  We know it's not the right thing because we have a capitalist system here in America.  Capitalism isn't where government controls industry.  That's socialism, Marxism, and communism.  You know...those systems that are in place in 3rd world shitholes whose innocent citizens depend on the United States for food aid.

What else...oh yes, the Koran burning incident over in Afghanistan.  Some Korans had been confiscated from a detention center library since they contained extremist writings.  Evidently they got mixed in with some trash on its way to be incinerated, and some of them were burned.  This enraged the Afghanis.  Our top commanders apologized for this, as did president Obama a few days later.  Nevertheless, four American soldiers and more than 20 Afghanis were killed in the ensuing violent riots.

Somehow I missed hearing about Karzai's phone call to Obama, apologizing for our dead soldiers (because it never happened).  We burn a few books and fall all over ourselves apologizing to them.  They kill four Americans. They KILL PEOPLE over BOOKS, and nary an eyebrow is raised on either side, let alone an apology.

That, my friends, is another example of Not the Right Thing.

Let's talk about the economy for a minute, and we can talk about what IS the Right Thing.

We are nearing sixteen trillion dollars in debt.  Our debt to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio has surpassed 100% for the first time in history. President Obama has added more debt during his presidency than every president before him, combined.  Meanwhile, More than half of U.S. households pay NO federal income tax. 51%, to be exact, while the top 5% of earners pay 59% of all federal taxes.

President Obama's answer?  Make the rich pay even more.  How fucking stupid is that?  I mean, seriously??

The Right Thing would be to cut government spending.  Cut it to the BONE for a few years until we get things back under control (you know, like you and I would have to do if our debt was out of control).  Then, pass legislation requiring that the United States balance its budget every single year, like each of the 50 states is required to do, and like most households do (and a lot more frequently).

Those are pretty common sense, reasonable, and effective solutions to our economic problems.  They're The Right Things to do.  Leftist idiocy like soaking the rich is only going to take a couple hundred billion away from the debt over 10 years.  That's 1.2% (or essentially nothing).

Moving on...I'm thinking you've probably heard of that black kid Trayvon Martin being shot by the white/Hispanic neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman down there in Florida.  Quick - from what you heard, did Trayvon get killed by a wild-eyed racist?

Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Mike Tyson, and other assorted & sundry race hustlers and victimhood pimps came out in force after the shooting, desperately looking for cameras to get in front of.  The media swarmed obligingly, helping the sheeple stay "informed".  Mission accomplished: in the court of public opinion, George Zimmerman became an evil racist who shot Travyon Martin out of pure hatred for "coons".

A few days after the story broke, however, more information became available. Zimmerman stated that Martin initiated the altercation by punching Zimmerman in the face, then beating his head into the concrete.  A witness corroborated this story. Turns out, too, that Zimmerman has black family members and tutors black kids.

Uh-oh...

A police officer's report noted that Zimmerman had grass and dirt and moisture on his back.  Medical records and video footage shows injuries to Zimmerman's face and the back of his head.  Meanwhile, a website gets a hold of Trayvon Martin's Twitter feed where he calls himself the "NO_LIMIT_NIGGA" and there were tweets indicating he may have punched a bus driver.  It's a little hard to read because it's written in thug. (Seriously.  Read it.)

Whoops...bunch of folks feelin' stupid 'bout now.

And the moral of this story?  So many people could have avoided sounding like stupid, ignorant race-hustled buffoons by doing The Right Thing and waiting for all the facts to come out before passing judgment.

Finally, some food for thought on The Right Things...

If the federal government was doing The Right Things, it would have nothing to fear from law-abiding citizens with guns.  Democrats, Progressives, Liberals and Leftists (those that do The Wrong Things) are scared to death of We the People keeping and bearing arms and work hard every day towards banning guns.

If the IRS and the tax code were The Right Things, Title 26 of the United States Code wouldn't be over 16,000 pages long and take taxpayers billions of hours every year to sort through.  (And we wouldn't have 51% of households not paying taxes).

If Obamacare was The Right Thing, its full text would not be 906 pages long, and the Speaker of the House would not have said "we need to pass it so you can see what's in it".

Your parents told you when you were a kid to do The Right Things.  Your teachers, coaches and mentors all told you to do The Right Things.  Because, doing The Right Thing is the Right Thing to do.

If the left were right, they wouldn't call it the left.


"A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship."  -Unknown 

Do the Right Thing in November and get rid of Obama and the Democrats!

Tolerance, Killing, Judicial Stupidity & Brotherly Love

G.K. Chesterton once said, "Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions."  I think my blog has a new motto.

Once again I've come to the point that I've had enough and I need to blow off some steam here on my little corner of the internet.  It seems that's how it goes...I see and hear and read things over time until the point that I've just had it, and I'm either going to go batshit crazy, resign myself to the idea that America is doomed, or furiously attack my keyboard.

Aren't you glad I usually choose option "C"?

Before I start ranting, I'm going to take a minute to shamelessly plug the latest in a series of books by one of my favorite authors, Vince Flynn.  Kill Shot was released today and is a prequel to all but one of the other books in the series of thrillers featuring Mitch Rapp, the country's most lethal terrorist hunter.  In fact, he is SO bad-ass that while the bogeyman checks under his bed for Chuck Norris, Chuck Norris checks under his bed for Mitch Rapp. For readers that were fans of the Fox series "24", Vince Flynn's books are right up your alley.  I can't wait to start reading it on my NOOK tonight.  (Yeah, another shameless plug.)

OK, back to business. The tipping point for me this afternoon was learning that the Obama administration has appointed an official advocate for illegal aliens.  Evidently, this person will be the point of contact for "concerns, questions, recommendations or other issues" that illegals or their buddies (community organizers) here in the United States wish to express.  This position reports up through U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security.

That's right, folks.  The Department of Homeland Security has a sympathetic ear for criminals that breach the security of our homeland by crossing our borders illegally.

Seriously?  Why don't we just give them a big fat wad of cash and a pamphlet showing how to obtain every taxpayer-funded benefit available to them as we welcome them across the border?

It's not enough that the Obama administration has ordered DHS and ICE to stop deporting illegals unless they have some ridiculously heinous track record of violent crime.  Now, our tax dollars are being used to pay the salary of some schmuck that is an official advocate for foreign criminals on American soil. That just pisses me off.  What's next...a free ticket to America and an advocate for terrorists at Guantanamo?

We have GOT to get rid of this pinhead in the Oval Office come November.  Then, we need to get rid of every other idiot politician sympathetic to illegal alien lawbreaking scum.

Next, from the Hate America wing of the Judicial Branch of the Federal Government...we have Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a liberal activist justice on the United States Supreme Court, telling a crowd of Egyptians that they shouldn't use the U.S. Constitution as a model as they work towards forming a new government.  Rather, she says, they should have a look at the constitution of South Africa...or basically any other nation formed after WWII.

Only mildly offensive to most Americans, on its surface.  But the kicker is her reasoning.  Essentially, she bemoans our founding document because it is so old, behind the times, and inflexible.  While she didn't say it, she undoubtedly believes - as does the New York Times - that the Constitution should guarantee the right to food, health care, and education.

Now folks, the Supreme Court is the highest authority in the land, responsible for determining whether laws passed by legislative machinery at all levels of government throughout the country are, in fact, Constitutional.  The justices are supposed to be experts on the subject of the Constitution, which you cannot be without also having read the Federalist Papers.  These papers are a collection of letters and notes written by the founding fathers as they were going through the process of drafting our Constitution.

Many people believe the founding fathers - Jefferson in particular - were adamant that the Constitution was not intended to be subject to evolving interpretation.  There was debate and disagreement among them, but in the end that is why parts of the Constitution were left vague and a mechanism for its amendment exists.  It is only considered "inflexible" and "behind the times" by those who oppose it's principles - or advocate ideas that would never pass muster with We the People.

Hell, even Obama acknowledges it.  This weekend, he said, "Our founders designed a system that makes it more difficult to bring about change than I would like sometimes."  For once, Obama said something smart that I agree with.  The Constitution was written that way and made hard to change by design.

Justice Ginsburg would do well to appear less foolish while representing the United States abroad.

Moving right along...this from the Department of It's Only Racist if You're White...the City of Brotherly Love has been anything but over the past few months.  One of the latest stories about the violence in Philadelphia involves a group of ten black teenagers who swarmed a taxi stopped at a red light and brutally beat the white driver and white passenger.

Seems that the thugs won't be facing "hate crime" charges.  Unfortunately, I have NO doubt in my mind that if the races were reversed in this story, it would be the hate crime of the century, complete with marches by community organizers, Black Panthers, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and all the other race hustlers we hear about in the news these days.

We'd hear Obama talk about how the taxi driver "stupidly" drove into the wrong neighborhood, and then we'd never hear from those ten racist white thugs until they were up for parole in twenty years.

I guess you have to be a "brotha" for it to be the City of Brotherly Love.

Voter ID: Why do Democrats Resist?

Today I got an email from the State Representative, Rafael Anchia (D-Dallas) that represented the district where I used to live.  It was a pretty simple email, notifying "Constituents and "Friends of District 103" that the Democrat party needed something from them.

I haven't lived in his district for a couple of years, and this is the first email I can recall getting from him since I moved.  Kind of like those "friends" you never hear from unless they want something.

Anyway, below is the text of his email, the subject of which was simply "Texas Voter ID Lawsuit":

Dear Constituents and Friends of District 103:

The Texas House Democratic Campaign Committee is seeking voters willing to be named as intervenors in the voter ID lawsuit who fit the following criteria:

1. The voter is Hispanic, African American or Asian (i.e. groups protected under the Voting Rights Act);

2. The voter does not have any of the forms of ID that would be available under the voter ID bill. 

The types of ID that will be necessary if the voter ID bill is approved are:

• Driver’s license, election identification certificate, personal identification card, or concealed handgun license issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety;
• United States Military identification card containing the person’s photograph;
• United States citizenship certificate containing the person’s photograph; or
• United States passport.
• With the exception of the U.S. citizenship certificate, the identification must be current or have expired no more than 60 days before being presented for voter qualification at the polling place.

3. The voter would have trouble obtaining the free Election Identification Certificate for some reason (doesn't have necessary documents, too far to travel, etc.);

4. The voter is willing to testify to that effect (their testimony would likely be taken in the town where they live, not DC)

If you know of any individuals who meet the above-referenced criteria, please contact Cliff Walker, Executive Director, of the Texas House Democratic Campaign Committee at (512) 473-2004 or at cliff@texashdcc.com.  Thank you for your time on this important issue.

Sincerely,

Rafael Anchia

State Representative

District 103

It's not hard to figure out which part of this letter I was reading that first pissed me off.

And, somehow I was not up to speed on the issue of voter ID in Texas, so I had to do some homework to get caught up.

Last year, the Texas Legislature passed a bill requiring that voters show an acceptable form of government-issued identification in order to cast a vote at a polling place in the Lone Star State.

However, the bill cannot be enacted without approval known as "pre-clearance" from the federal government's Department of Injustice.  You see, about 100 years ago, Texas and various other states had some problems with voter discrimination.  So the feds - by way of the Voting Rights Act - insist on reviewing and providing final approval of anything we and these other states do that would have any impact to elections.

Six months later the Department of Injustice still has Texas' bill on its desk, in no hurry to provide the required approvals despite the bill specifically indicating that it was to be enacted in time for the Texas primaries.  It's no secret that the feds don't like Texas and Texas doesn't like the feds, so the delay isn't much of a surprise.

After having run out of patience, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott filed a lawsuit against the federal government a few days ago to light a fire under the feds' asses so the bill would be approved.  And, based on this email from Rep. Anchia, opponents of the voter ID bill are gearing up for a fight.


Democrats whine that the voter ID requirement would be de facto discrimination against a large part of their voter base - minorities - because they are disproportionately poor and less likely to have the required identification than other groups, while Republicans (and other rational, intelligent people) know that a voter ID requirement is necessary to minimize voter fraud.


State Rep. Dawanna Dukes (D-Austin), one of Anchia's Democrat buddies, was eager to display her stupidity for all to see when she smugly declared that the burden is on the state of Texas to prove that requiring ID to vote isn't discriminatory.  Apparently she is indeed a minority, because the majority of people know you can't prove a negative.


Further, the United States Supreme Court has recently dismissed the Democrats' weak argument against voter ID laws in Crawford v. Marion County Election Bd., 07-21 (2008), saying, "The inconvenience of making a trip to the [Bureau of Motor Vehicles], gathering the required documents, and posing for a photograph surely does not qualify as a substantial burden on the right to vote, or even represent a significant increase over the usual burdens of voting.".  (It's even easier than that here in Texas).  


But let's pretend for a second that there is something to the Dems' argument that requiring ID creates an undue burden on the poor.  Why does Anchia's Democrat party only want to hear from minorities as stated in criteria #1 in his letter above?  Can someone please explain to me how OTC's (Other Than Caucasians) are somehow MORE burdened than an equally poor Caucasian person would be?  Is it somehow MORE difficult for OTC's to obtain identification than it is for Caucasians?


Of course not.


So then, why IS it that Democrats fight so hard against voter ID laws every time a state proposes one?


The only plausible explanation is that they depend heavily on dead people, illegal aliens, and people that don't exist (voter fraud) to have any chance at winning elections.

Singing, Dancing, Waste, Racism, & Censorship

Happy Hump Day!

Today begins season 11 of American Idol, the flagship of those reality shows that crush the dreams of millions across the country.  I hoped that American Idol would fade mercifully into the sunset after the its creator left to start a copycat reality show; alas, it refuses to die and we are stuck with yet another singing and/or dancing show polluting the airwaves during prime time television.  Now I'm starting to wonder where the saturation point is.  We have American Idol, X Factor, Dancing With The Stars, So You Think You Can Dance, America's Got Talent, etc. etc. etc.

I suppose, however, that reality shows such as these are good for demonstrating to young people that, in real life, everybody doesn't get a trophy just for participating.  On the other hand, I fail to understand the twisted allure of watching adult role models open fire on the esteem of naive, idealistic young people...or the fanatical worshiping of these shows by their fans.  If only they demonstrated the same passion and interest toward what's going on around them in America, our country might be in better shape.

Meanwhile, from the Department of Federal Waste and Imprudence, it seems that the federal government deemed it worthy to spend $1.6 million in taxpayer dollars from a transportation fund in order to restore hundreds of Chicano "murals" from the 1970's that were painted onto freeway underpasses in California.  These murals began as simple graffiti borne of "rage" from Hispanics that believe half of the United States should be taken by force and made a part of Aztlan, a fictitious nation that is to be inhabited exclusively by Mexicans.  Some of this graffiti that our tax dollars are being used to restore include glorifying murderous and oppressive asshats like Che' Guevara and Fidel Castro.

Evidently, the funds earmarked for this restoration project were approved in 2002; however, the focus on Aztlan - one pillar of the Mexican supremacy doctrine - was a concern for our government.  But the Obama administration, cozy with the overtly racist group La Raza (The Race) and willfully ignorant of the fact racism  actually IS perpetuated by people that aren't white, released the funds and work has begun to restore these murals.

I marvel at how racism is allowed - and encouraged - to flourish among minority groups, while Caucasians are taught to be ashamed and guilty in perpetuity because of our ancestors' actions.  In order to be politically correct, it seems one must acknowledge that racism is just a white thang...and it warms my heart knowing my tax dollars are paying to spread the word.

Moving on...there have been two bills introduced in Congress recently, informally known as SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act).  The idea behind the legislation is fighting piracy of songs, videos, and other artistic works that one would normally need to pay for before downloading.  These bills were poorly written to say the least, and if they became law they would effectively become legal justification for subjective censorship.  Websites with even a crumb of questionable content would get shut down immediately, and questions would be asked later.  Guilty until proven innocent.  

As a result of these bills, many internet content providers have chosen to black out their websites today as a form of protest against the proposed legislation.  If you were to try using Wikipedia today, for instance, you'd be out of luck.  Other sites, such as Craigslist, have added front pages drawing attention to the issue and asking surfers to take action by writing or calling their congressional representatives urging them to vote "no" on these bills.  I'm glad that they're using their prominent position in society to protest this idiocy, because we must be extremely careful proposing anything that could come anywhere close to censorship.  We have already lost freedoms and liberties in the name of security with the Patriot Act and similar legislation, and the same encroachment and oppression simply cannot reoccur when it comes to our free speech rights.

As a side note, these artists and owners of the material in question have been pushing for something like this because they don't get paid when their works are copied and shared freely (and illegally).  I find it ironic and slightly hilarious that many of these artists are leftists, and they would just as soon wipe their asses with exact same capitalist system they are trying to exploit.

As another side note, I'm pretty disgusted by the embarrassingly poor job that our legislators are doing in writing bills over the past few years.  There's little doubt in my mind that some of it is by design, but when reading the SOPA and PIPA bills, they reek of their authors' incompetence.  Could it be that the special interests (RIAA, MPAA, etc.) wrote the bills on behalf of the legislators?  The concept is not so far fetched; I'm certain that it's happened before...but the politicians that put their names on this stuff really need to do a better job editing the bills before they're published for everyone to see.

Enjoy your Wednesday!

Politics and Post-Racial Racism

Racism is alive and well in the United States of America.

While some in the media breathlessly declared in 2008 that a post-racial utopia was ushered in with the election of Barack Obama, such declarations were hardly based on reality.  Voter turnout rates of young blacks increased 8.7% over 2004 - the largest jump ever - to 58.2% in 2008, and a full 95% - 95%! - of all blacks voted for Obama.  It's clear that race was a major factor - if not the only factor - in how blacks voted.

That, my friends, is racism.  Racism practiced by some who were once its victims.

Meanwhile here in Texas, The 2010 census showed a significant increase in Texas' population, meaning that Texas is due four additional seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.  The Texas legislature drew up new congressional districts but Democrats and their race-hustler allies immediately began screeching that the new districts didn't properly represent Latinos, who made up the lion's share of Texas' population growth. The issue is currently before the Supreme Court.

More racism and bigotry.  Only racists and bigots care more about the color of their representative's skin than what that representative might actually do.

With blacks eager to see a brotha elected to the highest office in the land for the first time, coupled with leftist fraud machines like ACORN working hard to get the Democrat candidate elected, it's not hard to imagine the intense effort that was expended to get out the Latino vote ahead of the 2008 elections.  Minorities generally vote Democrat for some reason and everybody knows it.  Sure enough, some 67% of Latinos voted for Obama in the general election.

Yep, more blind focus on race.

While Obama never made much of an effort to hide his racism while proudly recounting his time as a parishioner at a church with a hate-filled racist pastor for 20 years, and  immediately jumping to the conclusion that a white police officer "acted stupidly" when arresting a suspected home invader who was black and turned out to be a college professor, it's unacceptable that he use the proverbial soapbox belonging to the president of the United States to spread his racist ignorance like he did at a fundraising dinner last night:

Everything we fought for during the last election is at stake in this election. The very core of what this country stands for is on the line — the basic promise that no matter what you look like, no matter where you come from, this is a place where you could make it if you try.  The notion that we’re all in this together, that we look out for one another — that’s at stake in this election.  Don’t take my word for it.  Watch some of these debates that have been going on up in New Hampshire.

He is inferring that if a Republican wins the White House, the new president will act to minimize opportunities for minorities.  That is intellectually dishonest and frankly, it's appalling to see our president - the leader of the greatest country in the world - stoop so low.  Utterly despicable.  But then again, that's what racists do...they play the race card when have run out of compelling arguments on the actual subject at hand, like Obama has.  He has been in office for nearly four years, and has amassed an impressive, steaming pile of failures to show for it.  Desperate, one of the last weapons he has in his arsenal of failure is racism, hoping that it will somehow help him win re-election.

There's a fair chance it will work.  If it does, we will have post-racial racism to thank for a post-American America.

Fundamental transformation?  Check.

Meet the New Year, Same as the Old Year

Happy New Year!  I hope this post finds you in good spirits and ready to tackle all of the challenges that 2012 is sure to bring, not the least of which is getting back to normal life after a couple of holiday weeks and time off.

A quick check of the headlines this morning seems to indicate that 2012 isn't going to be much different than 2011.  Stupidity, brain damage, bad policy, and general incompetence continues to be prevalent throughout our society.

In the aftermath of a park ranger being shot by a mental defective, a whiny story laments the passing of a law two years ago that allows people to carry guns in national parks.

So, who thinks this guy would have left his guns at home had he not been allowed to have them at the park?  Let me get a show of hands.  Anyone?  Anyone at all?

Yeah, I didn't think so.  I struggle to understand how people of this mindset are even able to dress themselves in the mornings, given their symptoms of extensive brain damage.

Iran has offered to resume negotiations over its nuclear program, while simultaneously threatening its neighbors with war exercises in the Persian Gulf, and directly threatening the United States Navy.

Boy, talk about brain damage.  Do these idiots really believe they have any chance whatsoever against our navy?  Do they really believe the world will allow them to possess nuclear weapons?  The sad thing is that we engage Iran as if they are a responsible and respectable member of the world community, while they've made no secret of their desire to see an entire country and all of its people wiped off the map.

There is yet another story of a responsible, law-abiding citizen (a Marine, actually) falling victim to unconstitutional gun laws in New York. With the rampant moronism on display in New York state government, I'm left wondering why New York hasn't banned jet planes yet.  Apples to apples; think about it.

And, from the Department of Public Stupidity, we have a story of a local library that sent police to the home of a 5 year old girl to collect two overdue books.

Seriously?  Did the library ever consider picking up the phone and giving the family a call first?  Do cops in Boston have nothing better to do than run around and collect overdue library books?  Unbelievable.

One of my favorites from the last few days is Verizon's announcement that it will charge customers for paying their bill.  This, after several major outages affected its highly-touted mobile data network recently.

Was there a government takeover of Verizon when we weren't looking?  Did they hire the Netflix CEO and put him in charge?  Can you hear me now?  Apparently they did, because they backed off that harebrained idea post haste.

Here's hoping everyone has a great 2012!  And remember, if you're an Obama fan, American Idol comes back on soon, so you'd better go get ready.  The rest of you - study up on the candidates and VOTE (for Mitt Romney) in your state caucuses, primaries, and in the November general election!!