Always Right

Liberalism 101

2006-12-14T12:41:00.000-05:00

This is a great analysis on liberalism:

The Liberal Mind: The Psychological Causes of Political Madness

By Lyle H. Rossiter, Jr, MD

Monday, December 4, 2006

Dr. Lyle H. Rossiter, Jr.,a forensic psychiatrist, explains the madness of liberalism in his new book The Liberal Mind: The Psychological Causes of Political Madness. You can read an excerpt below, and read more at his website libertymind.com.

Like all other human beings, the modern liberal reveals his true character, including his madness, in what he values and devalues, in what he articulates with passion. Of special interest, however, are the many values about which the modern liberal mind is not passionate: his agenda does not insist that the individual is the ultimate economic, social and political unit; it does not idealize individual liberty and the structure of law and order essential to it; it does not defend the basic rights of property and contract; it does not aspire to ideals of authentic autonomy and mutuality; it does not preach an ethic of self-reliance and self-determination; it does not praise courage, forbearance or resilience; it does not celebrate the ethics of consent or the blessings of voluntary cooperation. It does not advocate moral rectitude or understand the critical role of morality in human relating. The liberal agenda does not comprehend an identity of competence, appreciate its importance, or analyze the developmental conditions and social institutions that promote its achievement. The liberal agenda does not understand or recognize personal sovereignty or impose strict limits on coercion by the state. It does not celebrate the genuine altruism of private charity. It does not learn history's lessons on the evils of collectivism.

What the liberal mind is passionate about is a world filled with pity, sorrow, neediness, misfortune, poverty, suspicion, mistrust, anger, exploitation, discrimination, victimization, alienation and injustice. Those who occupy this world are "workers," "minorities," "the little guy," "women," and the "unemployed." They are poor, weak, sick, wronged, cheated, oppressed, disenfranchised, exploited and victimized. They bear no responsibility for their problems. None of their agonies are attributable to faults or failings of their own: not to poor choices, bad habits, faulty judgment, wishful thinking, lack of ambition, low frustration tolerance, mental illness or defects in character. None of the victims' plight is caused by failure to plan for the future or learn from experience. Instead, the "root causes" of all this pain lie in faulty social conditions: poverty, disease, war, ignorance, unemployment, racial prejudice, ethnic and gender discrimination, modern technology, capitalism, globalization and imperialism. In the radical liberal mind, this suffering is inflicted on the innocent by various predators and persecutors: "Big Business," "Big Corporations," "greedy capitalists," U.S. Imperialists," "the oppressors," "the rich," "the wealthy," "the powerful" and "the selfish."

The liberal cure for this endless malaise is a very large authoritarian government that regulates and manages society through a cradle to grave agenda of redistributive caretaking. It is a government everywhere doing everything for everyone. The liberal motto is "In Government We Trust." To rescue the people from their troubled lives, the agenda recommends denial of personal responsibility, encourages self-pity and other-pity, fosters government dependency, promotes sexual indulgence, rationalizes violence, excuses financial obligation, justifies theft, ignores rudeness, prescribes complaining and blaming, denigrates marriage and the family, legalizes all abortion, defies religious and social tradition, declares inequality unjust, and rebels against the duties of citizenship. Through multiple entitlements to unearned goods, services and social status, the liberal politician promises to ensure everyone's material welfare, provide for everyone's healthcare, protect everyone's self-esteem, correct everyone's social and political disadvantage, educate every citizen, and eliminate all class distinctions. With liberal intellectuals sharing the glory, the liberal politician is the hero in this melodrama. He takes credit for providing his constituents with whatever they want or need even though he has not produced by his own effort any of the goods, services or status transferred to them but has instead taken them from others by force.

It should be apparent by now that these social policies and the passions that drive them contradict all that is rational in human relating, and they are therefore irrational in themselves. But the faulty conceptions that lie behind these passions cannot be viewed as mere cognitive slippage. The degree of modern liberalism's irrationality far exceeds any misunderstanding that can be attributed to faulty fact gathering or logical error. Indeed, under careful scrutiny, liberalism's distortions of the normal ability to reason can only be understood as the product of psychopathology. So extravagant are the patterns of thinking, emoting, behaving and relating that characterize the liberal mind that its relentless protests and demands become understandable only as disorders of the psyche. The modern liberal mind, its distorted perceptions and its destructive agenda are the product of disturbed personalities.

As is the case in all personality disturbance, defects of this type represent serious failures in development processes. The nature of these failures is detailed below. Among their consequences are the liberal mind's relentless efforts to misrepresent human nature and to deny certain indispensable requirements for human relating. In his efforts to construct a grand collectivist utopia-to live what Jacques Barzun has called "the unconditioned life" in which "everybody should be safe and at ease in a hundred ways"-the radical liberal attempts to actualize in the real world an idealized fiction that will mitigate all hardship and heal all wounds. (Barzun 2000). He acts out this fiction, essentially a Marxist morality play, in various theaters of human relatedness, most often on the world's economic, social and political stages. But the play repeatedly folds. Over the course of the Twentieth Century, the radical liberal's attempts to create a brave new socialist world have invariably failed. At the dawn of the Twenty-first Century his attempts continue to fail in the stagnant economies, moral decay and social turmoil now widespread in Europe. An increasingly bankrupt welfare society is putting the U.S. on track for the same fate if liberalism is not cured there. Because the liberal agenda's principles violate the rules of ordered liberty, his most determined efforts to realize its visionary fantasies must inevitably fall short. Yet, despite all the evidence against it, the modern liberal mind believes his agenda is good social science. It is, in fact, bad science fiction. He persists in this agenda despite its madness.

Lyle H. Rossiter, Jr, MD is the author of The Liberal Mind: The Psychological Causes of Political Madness. He received his medical and psychiatric training at the University of Chicago and served for two years as a psychiatrist in the United States Army. He is currently in private practice in the Chicago area

Has the Country Drifted to the Left?

2006-11-09T17:44:00.000-05:00

It may be tempting to conclude that the country has moved to the left after the 2006 elections. However, many of the Democrats ran as conservatives. In some races, the Democratic candidate looked more conservative than the Republican. Another way to look at the results is to study the statewide initiatives. Overwhelmingly conservative values were on display for these votes. Here is a recap of the initiatives:

Abortion – 3 ballot initiatives, 0 for 3 for the pro abortion crowd

Marijuana - 3 ballot initiatives, 0 for 3 for the dope heads

Banning same sex marriage – 8 ballot initiatives, 7 for 8 voted for traditional marriage and against same sex marriages

Illegal Immigration - 3 ballot initiatives, 0 for 3 for the illegals

English as Official Language – 1 ballot initiative, 74% yes for English

Restricting Affirmative Action (discrimination) – 1 ballot initiative, 58% for restricting affirmative action (anti-discrimination victory)

This affirms the fact that the country is conservative. The Democratic leadership is far to the left of the average American. The main stream media is out of touch as well. If you were to believe the main stream media output, however, you would have a far different picture of reality.

Below is a little more detail of the state initiatives as compiled by the Washington Post.

Key 2006 Statewide Ballot Initiatives and Referenda
Compiled By washingtonpost.comNov. 7, 2006
Marijuana | Marriage | Minimum Wage | Stem Cells | Others of Interest
ABORTION
The most-watched abortion measure this year is in South Dakota, where a ballot initiative seeks to repeal the state's strict new ban on abortion.
S.D. State Referendum 6 Abortion Ban Results
Approve Votes %
No 185,934 56%
Yes 148,664 44%
Key: * Incumbent | Winner
Precincts: 100% | Updated: 6:40 PM ET | Source: AP

Voters in two other states -- California and Oregon -- will consider proposals to place further restrictions on abortions for minors.
Calif. State Proposition 85 Notify Parent Results
Approve Votes %
No 3,577,051 54%
Yes 3,035,043 46%
Key: * Incumbent | Winner
Precincts: 100% | Updated: 6:48 PM ET | Source: AP

Ore. Ballot Measure 43 Parental Notification Results
Approve Votes %
No 606,659 55%
Yes 504,689 45%
Key: * Incumbent | Winner
Precincts: 83% | Updated: 6:42 PM ET | Source: AP

MARIJUANA
Medical marijuana and decriminalization initiatives will be under consideration in three states -- Colorado, Nevada and South Dakota:
Colo. State Amendment 44 Legalize Marijuana Results
Approve Votes %
No 819,579 60%
Yes 557,758 41%
Key: * Incumbent | Winner
Precincts: 98% | Updated: 6:51 PM ET | Source: AP

Nev. Ballot Question 7 Legal Marijuana Results
Approve Votes %
No 320,854 56%
Yes 252,776 44%
Key: * Incumbent | Winner
Precincts: 100% | Updated: 6:48 PM ET | Source: AP

S.D. Ballot Initiative 4 Medical Marijuana Results
Approve Votes %
No 173,184 52%
Yes 157,945 48%
Key: * Incumbent | Winner
Precincts: 100% | Updated: 6:40 PM ET | Source: AP

MARRIAGE
Ballot initiatives to ban same-sex marriage and/or define marriage strictly as a union between one man and one woman will be voted on in eight states:
Ariz. State Proposition 107-Define Marriage Results
Approve Votes %
No 585,885 51%
Yes 553,311 49%
Key: * Incumbent | Winner
Precincts: 100% | Updated: 6:49 PM ET | Source: AP

Colo. State Amendment 43 Marriage Results
Approve Votes %
Yes 768,700 56%
No 612,155 44%
Key: * Incumbent | Winner
Precincts: 98% | Updated: 6:51 PM ET | Source: AP

Idaho State Amendment HJR2 Marriage Results
Approve Votes %
Yes 275,686 63%
No 159,892 37%
Key: * Incumbent | Winner
Precincts: 98% | Updated: 6:52 PM ET | Source: AP

S.C. State Amendment 1 Define Marriage Results
Approve Votes %
Yes 815,601 78%
No 229,632 22%
Key: * Incumbent | Winner
Precincts: 100% | Updated: 6:40 PM ET | Source: AP

S.D. State Amendment C Define Marriage Results
Approve Votes %
Yes 172,237 52%
No 160,756 48%
Key: * Incumbent | Winner
Precincts: 100% | Updated: 6:40 PM ET | Source: AP

Tenn. State Amendment Define Marriage Results
Approve Votes %
Yes 1,415,810 81%
No 326,141 19%
Key: * Incumbent | Winner
Precincts: 100% | Updated: 6:42 PM ET | Source: AP

Va. State Amendment: Marriage Results
Approve Votes %
Yes 1,325,668 57%
No 1,003,967 43%
Key: * Incumbent | Winner
Precincts: 100% | Updated: 6:47 PM ET | Source: AP

Wisc. State Referendum 1 Same-Sex Marriage Ban Results
Approve Votes %
Yes 1,260,554 59%
No 861,554 41%
Key: * Incumbent | Winner
Precincts: 100% | Updated: 6:43 PM ET | Source: AP

MINIMUM WAGE
Proposals to raise the minimum wage are on the ballot in six states:
Ariz. State Proposition 202-Minimum Wage Results
Approve Votes %
Yes 756,144 66%
No 393,393 34%
Key: * Incumbent | Winner
Precincts: 100% | Updated: 6:49 PM ET | Source: AP

Colo. State Amendment 42 Minimum Wage Results
Approve Votes %
Yes 725,700 53%
No 646,935 47%
Key: * Incumbent | Winner
Precincts: 98% | Updated: 6:51 PM ET | Source: AP

Mo. State Proposition B Minimum Wage Results
Approve Votes %
Yes 1,557,465 76%
No 495,180 24%
Key: * Incumbent | Winner
Precincts: 98% | Updated: 6:50 PM ET | Source: AP

Mont. Ballot Initiative 151 Minimum Wage Results
Approve Votes %
Yes 283,258 73%
No 106,777 27%
Key: * Incumbent | Winner
Precincts: 100% | Updated: 6:53 PM ET | Source: AP

Nev. Ballot Question 6 Minimum Wage Results
Approve Votes %
Yes 394,058 69%
No 179,388 31%
Key: * Incumbent | Winner
Precincts: 100% | Updated: 6:48 PM ET | Source: AP

Ohio State Amendment 2 Minimum Wage Results
Approve Votes %
Yes 2,080,648 56%
No 1,622,772 44%
Key: * Incumbent | Winner
Precincts: 100% | Updated: 6:53 PM ET | Source: AP

STEM CELL RESEARCH
Missouri voters would protect the rights of scientists to conduct stem cell research and patients to receive resulting treatments.
Mo. State Amendment 2 Stem Cell Results
Approve Votes %
Yes 1,059,202 51%
No 1,013,850 49%
Key: * Incumbent | Winner
Precincts: 98% | Updated: 6:50 PM ET | Source: AP

OTHERS OF INTEREST
Arizona: Two immigration-related proposals are on the ballot. One would prohibit a person who is in the country illegally from receiving damages awarded in a civil action.
Ariz. State Proposition 102-Civil Actions Results
Approve Votes %
Yes 840,582 74%
No 289,464 26%
Key: * Incumbent | Winner
Precincts: 100% | Updated: 6:49 PM ET | Source: AP

The other would bar illegal aliens from participating in several state-funded education programs.
Ariz. State Proposition 300-Public Program Results
Approve Votes %
Yes 809,655 72%
No 320,296 28%
Key: * Incumbent | Winner
Precincts: 100% | Updated: 6:49 PM ET | Source: AP

Also on the Arizona ballot is a proposal to declare English the state's official language:
Ariz. State Proposition 103-EnglishLanguage Results
Approve Votes %
Yes 849,772 74%
No 295,632 26%
Key: * Incumbent | Winner
Precincts: 100% | Updated: 6:49 PM ET | Source: AP

Colorado: One immigration-related proposal is on the ballot. It would direct the attorney general to initiate a lawsuit to demand the enforcement of immigration laws by the federal government.
Colo. State Referendum K Immig Suit vs Fed Govt Results
Approve Votes %
Yes 742,516 56%
No 582,977 44%
Key: * Incumbent | Winner
Precincts: 98% | Updated: 6:51 PM ET | Source: AP

Michigan: Voters will consider an initiative to bar the University of Michigan and other state universities, the state, and all other state entities from discriminating against or granting preferential treatment based on race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin.
Mich. Ballot Proposal 2 Affirmative Action Results
Approve Votes %
Yes 2,137,574 58%
No 1,552,459 42%
Key: * Incumbent | Winner
Precincts: 100% | Updated: 6:53 PM ET | Source: AP

Source: Stateline.org

Beginning of the End?

2006-08-10T12:00:00.000-04:00

The defeat of Joe Lieberman may be the beginning of the end for the Democratic Party. In years gone by, Democrats cared about national security and were not afraid to defend our country. Joe was a true liberal Democrat who made one mistake; he supports the war on terror. We just got a reminder yesterday of our war as a terrorist plot to blow up several jets was foiled by the Brits. And rather to profile travelers, we now cannot take our bottle of water or coffee on the plane. Welcome to the political correct world that we live in today thanks to the left.

The Late Sen. Henry "SCOOP" Jackson used to say, "I'm a liberal but not a damn fool." On domestic policy, he was indeed a liberal: a lifelong Democrat who enthusiastically backed the New Deal-Fair Deal economic agenda of Presidents Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman. But in foreign affairs, Jackson was, as one journalist put it in 1972, "the hawkiest hawk" around. This made him the quintessential Cold War liberal

Let’s examine the modern day Democratic Party vs the days of old:

Scoop Jackson Democrats

Scoop Jackson
F.D. Roosevelt
J. F. Kennedy
Harry Truman
Joe Lieberman (ousted by the Dems)
Zell Miller
Ed Koch (amazingly)

Michael Moore Democrats

Howard Dean
Nancy Pelosi
J. F. Kerry
John Murtha
Harry Reid
Jimmy Carter (World Diplomat)
Dennis Kucinich

Then & Now: More Troops or Surrender?

2005-12-11T11:19:00.000-05:00

The Democrats are trying everything to regain their power. Do you remember a few months ago when you could hear about every day from the left that we need more troops in Iraq? Well that did not work. Americans realize that Bush was right to rely on the military leaders to determine troop strength rather than politicians. Below are just a couple of quotes to remind us of that drumbeat. But now just a few months later the Democrats are calling for immediate withdrawal from Iraq. John Murtha, a military veteran considered by some as a war hawk Democrat said that we should “redeploy” troops immediately. Many Democrats jumped on his bandwagon but quickly jumped off when the polls showed that Americans were not in favor of surrender.

The Democratic leader Howard Dean made a mistake when he said what he (and many on the left) really believed. He said that we cannot win this war. He related Iraq to Vietnam (a favorite strategy of Dems). This made even lefties like Pelosi and Harry Reid to run from Dean’s remarks. One thing that Americans know is that our military never loses a war, politicians lose wars. We won every battle in Vietnam, but thanks to the main stream media and the politicians, we “lost” the war. We should never make that mistake again. As you can see from the quotes below, the Democrats have no core beliefs on Iraq (or for that matter just about anything). They sway with the polls and their entire motivation is to hurt Bush and regain power.

Do you ever want a Democrat to be “Commander in Chief” again? Think bout it. We could have had John Kerry or even Howard Dean if he didn’t do his famous scream. Kerry is even calling our troops terrorist. Disgusting.

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Then:

Feb, 2005

Senator Kerry outlined his proposal in comments to the press Tuesday. He said he would try to attach a proposal to add 40,000 troops to the US military establishment, 30,000 to the Army and 10,000 to the Marines.

Senator Harry Reid, the Democratic minority leader in the Senate, said, “Getting our troops and their families what they need and deserve has always been a Democratic priority, and the first bill we introduced this Congress reflects the commitment of Sen. Kerry and the rest of the caucus to stand with our troops.” He said the Democratic caucus had adopted the proposed troop increase as one of its top 10 legislative priorities for the current session of Congress

Now:

November 17, 2005

John Murtha in a speech said: “My plan calls to immediately redeploy U.S. troops consistent with the safety of U.S. forces.”

November 19, 2005

"Our troops have become the enemy. We need to change direction in Iraq," said Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania,

Kerry said he has a plan to bring 20,000 troops home by Christmas. He said that if the election and referendum in Iraq are successful, troops should be brought home because the election would act as a benchmark of the troops' success.

December 2005

December 1, 2005

Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) became the first congressional leader to endorse a call to begin withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, following the path laid out two weeks ago by Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.).

Pelosi said she was offering her own view, not speaking for the Democratic caucus, but added that her conversations with colleagues suggest that "clearly a majority of the caucus supports Mr. Murtha" and his plan to immediately bring home the 160,000 U.S. forces in Iraq.

December 5, 2005

“and there is no reason, Bob, that young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children, you know, women, breaking sort of the customs of the–of–the historical customs, religious customs. Whether you like it or not…”

December 6, 2005

Howard Dean -- Saying the "idea that we're going to win the war in Iraq is an idea which is just plain wrong," Democratic National Chairman Howard Dean predicted today that the Democratic Party will come together on a proposal to withdraw National Guard and Reserve troops immediately, and all US forces within two years.

"I've seen this before in my life. This is the same situation we had in Vietnam. Everybody then kept saying, 'just another year, just stay the course, we'll have a victory.' Well, we didn't have a victory, and this policy cost the lives of an additional 25,000 troops because we were too stubborn to recognize what was happening."

Dean made his comments in an interview on WOAI Radio in San Antonio.

December 8, 2005

The United States needs to reduce its forces in Iraq by "at least 100,000" by the end of 2006, sending a message to the Middle East that Americans are not interested in maintaining a permanent military presence in that country, Sen. John Kerry said Thursday.

In a speech before the Council on Foreign Relations, the former Democratic presidential contender said the goal should be to have a force of 30,000 to 40,000 in Iraq by the end of next year.

Thanksgiving's Early Lesson

2005-11-24T11:26:00.000-05:00

The Great Thanksgiving Hoax
by Richard J. Maybury
[Posted on Saturday, November 20, 1999]

Each year at this time school children all over America are taught the official Thanksgiving story, and newspapers, radio, TV, and magazines devote vast amounts of time and space to it. It is all very colorful and fascinating. It is also very deceiving. This official story is nothing like what really happened. It is a fairy tale, a whitewashed and sanitized collection of half-truths which divert attention away from Thanksgiving's real meaning. The official story has the pilgrims boarding the Mayflower, coming to America and establishing the Plymouth colony in the winter of 1620-21. This first winter is hard, and half the colonists die. But the survivors are hard working and tenacious, and they learn new farming techniques from the Indians. The harvest of 1621 is bountiful. The Pilgrims hold a celebration, and give thanks to God. They are grateful for the wonderful new abundant land He has given them. The official story then has the Pilgrims living more or less happily ever after, each year repeating the first Thanksgiving. Other early colonies also have hard times at first, but they soon prosper and adopt the annual tradition of giving thanks for this prosperous new land called America. The problem with this official story is that the harvest of 1621 was not bountiful, nor were the colonists hardworking or tenacious. 1621 was a famine year and many of the colonists were lazy thieves. In his 'History of Plymouth Plantation,' the governor of the colony, William Bradford, reported that the colonists went hungry for years, because they refused to work in the fields. They preferred instead to steal food. He says the colony was riddled with "corruption," and with "confusion and discontent." The crops were small because "much was stolen both by night and day, before it became scarce eatable." In the harvest feasts of 1621 and 1622, "all had their hungry bellies filled," but only briefly. The prevailing condition during those years was not the abundance the official story claims, it was famine and death. The first "Thanksgiving" was not so much a celebration as it was the last meal of condemned men. But in subsequent years something changes. The harvest of 1623 was different. Suddenly, "instead of famine now God gave them plenty," Bradford wrote, "and the face of things was changed, to the rejoicing of the hearts of many, for which they blessed God." Thereafter, he wrote, "any general want or famine hath not been amongst them since to this day." In fact, in 1624, so much food was produced that the colonists were able to begin exporting corn. What happened? After the poor harvest of 1622, writes Bradford, "they began to think how they might raise as much corn as they could, and obtain a better crop." They began to question their form of economic organization. This had required that "all profits & benefits that are got by trade, working, fishing, or any other means" were to be placed in the common stock of the colony, and that, "all such persons as are of this colony, are to have their meat, drink, apparel, and all provisions out of the common stock." A person was to put into the common stock all he could, and take out only what he needed. This "from each according to his ability, to each according to his need" was an early form of socialism, and it is why the Pilgrims were starving. Bradford writes that "young men that are most able and fit for labor and service" complained about being forced to "spend their time and strength to work for other men's wives and children." Also, "the strong, or man of parts, had no more in division of victuals and clothes, than he that was weak." So the young and strong refused to work and the total amount of food produced was never adequate. To rectify this situation, in 1623 Bradford abolished socialism. He gave each household a parcel of land and told them they could keep what they produced, or trade it away as they saw fit. In other words, he replaced socialism with a free market, and that was the end of famines. Many early groups of colonists set up socialist states, all with the same terrible results. At Jamestown, established in 1607, out of every shipload of settlers that arrived, less than half would survive their first twelve months in America. Most of the work was being done by only one-fifth of the men, the other four-fifths choosing to be parasites. In the winter of 1609-10, called "The Starving Time," the population fell from five-hundred to sixty. Then the Jamestown colony was converted to a free market, and the results were every bit as dramatic as those at Plymouth. In 1614, Colony Secretary Ralph Hamor wrote that after the switch there was "plenty of food, which every man by his own industry may easily and doth procure." He said that when the socialist system had prevailed, "we reaped not so much corn from the labors of thirty men as three men have done for themselves now." Before these free markets were established, the colonists had nothing for which to be thankful. They were in the same situation as Ethiopians are today, and for the same reasons. But after free markets were established, the resulting abundance was so dramatic that the annual Thanksgiving celebrations became common throughout the colonies, and in 1863, Thanksgiving became a national holiday.

Thus the real reason for Thanksgiving, deleted from the official story, is: Socialism does not work; the one and only source of abundance is free markets, and we thank God we live in a country where we can have them.

Katrina Brings out the Best in Democrats

2005-09-19T20:22:00.000-04:00

Tragedies such as 9-11 and natural disasters such as Katrina are opportunities for leaders to do great things. After the terrorists attacked us on 9-11, we saw great leadership from President Bush and Rudy Giuliano. Katrina gave state and local leaders in the long time one party (Democrat) state of Louisiana a chance to shine. Let’s examine what we observed.

New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin refused to issue a mandatory evacuation order until President Bush urged him to do so.

Louisiana’s governor Blanko (aka BlankBrain) refused to allow the National Guard to be deployed until strong-armed by Bush.

FEMA and Red Cross were initially told not to bring food to the New Orleans Superdome because local leaders (see above) were worried that New Orleans residents would stay rather than leave town.

Hundreds of school buses were left parked and eventually flooded rather than deployed to help evacuate residents of New Orleans.

Senator Mary Landrieu, D-La, when asked why the buses were not used, said that it was hard enough to get drivers out on sunny days, let alone during a hurricane. I guess the marriage of Democrats and unions isn’t all that rosy.

Nagin, BlankBrain and Landrieu couldn’t wait to criticize FEMA and Bush for being late to the dance, even though they prevented federal action early on.

Race baiters like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton will never miss an opportunity to play the race card. Bush’s reaction was slow because the displaced residents were predominately black according to the poverty pimps.

Kooks like Robert Kennedy, Jr. blamed the hurricane on global warming. Of course Republican policies are the primary cause global warming.

Farrakhan uncorked his ugly theory, telling a North Carolina audience: "I heard from a very reliable source who saw a 25 foot deep crater under the levee breach. It may have been blown up to destroy the black part of town and keep the white part dry."

Kayne West said George Bush hates blacks.

President Bush announced a plan to rebuild New Orleans. Rather than to just throw money at the problem, Bush wants to create enterprise zones, use school vouchers, and allow displaced residents to buy homes with a mortgage using his ownership society model. This has stirred up the lefties in Congress who criticize Bush for using this as an opportunity to do “social experiments”. When will the Democrats learned that they are the ones who have been doing social experiments for 50 years, and their socialist model has failed miserably. Bush’s plan to empower individuals to succeed goes against the Democrats philosophy of creating segments of society completely dependent on them for their basic needs (and they dependent on them for votes).

Lastly, the Democrats, lead by their fearless leader Hilary Clinton, are crying for an independent investigation of Katrina. Why? Will eyes be on Governor Blankbrain, the incompetent Ray Nagin and the airhead Landrieu? Will the residents who refused to leave despite the warnings be blamed? How about asking why it was mostly blacks living in these flood-prone areas. Will we ask why 76% of black children in New Orleans are born out of wedlock? Will we ask why the levees were downgraded from level 5 to 3 because of environmentalist wackos threats and lawsuits?

Quick quiz, how many people have died in New Orleans as a result of Katrina?
A. 10,000
B. 5,000
C. 2,500
D. 579

To the great disappointment of some on the left, the correct answer is D.
How many people died in Chicago from the heat wave a few years ago?
A. 10,000
B. 5,000
C. 2,500
D. 739

The answer is D. When was that heat wave again? 1995. Did Hilary or anyone for that matter call for an investigation? Of course not. As you know, ole Slick Willey was the President in 1995.

I guess looking for leadership from the Democrats was asking a bit too much.

The Highway Bill of 2005, A healthy dose of pork

2005-08-07T13:00:00.000-04:00

There is one thing that legislators agree on and that is pork barrel spending. Lawmakers passed the pork laden highway bill by a 91-4 vote. The bill is worth $286.5 billion over six years, a 30 percent increase over the $218 billion program that expired in September 2003. The bill includes $24 billion in “special projects”, which is a kind way to say waste. These projects are referred to as “earmarks”. Below is a list of earmarks by State:

State	Earmarked $$$'s	# of earmarks	Population	Per capita
CA	$2,629,995,251	545	33,871,648	$77.65
IL	$1,334,075,702	330	12,419,293	$107.42
NY	$990,268,885	494	18,976,457	$52.18
AK	$941,267,966	119	626,932	$1,501.39
TX	$754,384,684	231	20,851,820	$36.18
MO	$740,036,000	98	5,595,211	$132.26
PA	$706,691,502	423	12,281,054	$57.54
FL	$694,616,440	232	15,982,378	$43.46
OH	$665,231,434	245	11,353,140	$58.59
OK	$573,200,000	66	3,450,654	$166.11
OR	$566,171,677	133	3,421,399	$165.48
VA	$562,885,500	152	7,078,515	$79.52
NJ	$552,772,800	179	8,414,350	$65.69
LA	$540,580,200	112	4,468,976	$120.96
WA	$522,557,600	144	5,894,121	$88.66
MI	$526,904,000	192	9,938,444	$90.83
TN	$516,735,533	169	5,689,283	$53.02
MN	$495,680,756	147	4,919,479	$100.76
GA	$452,340,204	273	8,168,453	$55.38
AL	$422,743,600	80	4,447,100	$95.06
WI	$418,740,600	88	5,363,675	$78.07
IA	$415,708,000	149	2,926,324	$142.06
AR	$415,311,734	66	2,673,400	$155.35
NC	$407,493,904	129	8,049,313	$50.62
MT	$398,259,000	40	902,195	$441.43
NV	$390,991,000	49	1,998,257	$195.67
CO	$385,284,086	94	4,301,261	$89.57
WV	$380,464,000	25	1,808,344	$210.39
MD	$382,453,600	104	5,296,486	$72.21
KY	$370,359,253	76	4,041,769	$128.92
MS	$366,738,733	68	2,844,658	$91.63
MA	$332,486,000	127	6,349,097	$52.37
CT	$334,739,440	104	3,405,565	$98.29
VT	$331,400,000	55	608,827	$544.33
IN	$328,834,493	146	6,080,485	$54.08
UT	$295,043,000	78	2,233,169	$132.12
RI	$282,846,000	60	1,048,319	$68.20
SC	$273,600,000	57	4,012,012	$359.53
SD	$271,388,844	32	754,844	$390.53
ND	$250,800,000	54	642,200	$78.36
KS	$210,672,000	54	2,688,418	$161.32
ME	$205,666,800	57	1,274,923	$114.84
NE	$196,516,000	25	1,711,263	$157.78
HI	$191,156,816	40	1,211,537	$103.76
NM	$188,750,000	27	1,819,046	$214.78
DE	$168,303,000	29	783,600	$122.15
ID	$158,062,000	41	1,293,953	$26.83
AZ	$137,655,200	17	5,130,632	$275.02
WY	$135,800,000	50	493,782	$269.81
NH	$69,333,200	32	1,235,786	$56.10
UST	$103,542,204	36
DC	$147,480,000	7
Totals	$24,135,018,641	6,371	280,831,847	$85.94

Note that we are spending a whopping $1,501 per person in Alaska in this bill, and $544 per person in Vermont.

Some “Highlights”

$231 million for a bridge in Anchorage to be named Don Young's Way (sadly Don Young is a Republican)

$223 million for a bridge to Ketchikan (Alaska)

$15 million for a Juneau, Alaska access road, dubbed the Black Ice Highway by group analyst Erich Zimmermann because "that's all you'll see in the winter if this project is built."

$50 million for a bridge in Kansas City, Mo

$16 million for the eponymous Nick J. Rahall II Appalachian Transportation Institute at Marshall University

$1.9 million for a pedestrian bridge in California

$35.2 million for ferry boats, terminals and approaches in Alaska

$35.2 million for ferry boats, terminals and approaches in Hawaii

This type of wasteful spending is understandable for Democrats, but the Republicans should be ashamed of themselves. The sad fact is that voters look at these projects as a way to determine who to vote for. Until this changes, watch your wallet, the Congress wants to spend all of your money.

If you are interested in reading all the earmarks, the Taxpayers for Common Sense has the entire file, 365 pages http://www.taxpayer.net/Transportation/safetealu/earmarks.pdf.

Brain Dump

2005-08-07T10:42:00.000-04:00

· As I predicted (see December 2004 archives, “MLB’s Failed Answer”) the drug testing policy of the Major League Baseball is a joke and will not deter the use of steroids. Rafael Palmeiro was pitiful in his testimony to Congress. In Clintonesque fashion, he pointed is finger to Congress and stated emphatically “I have never used steroids. Period.” This was a few months before he failed a drug test. The 40-year-old Palmeiro became the seventh player to fail a test under the new major league policy that took effect in March, rules criticized by Congress as not being stringent enough. Palmeiro used the tired old excuse that he did not know he was using steroids. Yeah right. If baseball wants to eliminate steroid use, it should adopt the Olympic policy, first offense, a 2 year suspension, and second offense a lifetime suspension.

· Don’t be fooled by the seemingly calm and cordial treatment that the Democrats are giving John Roberts, President Bush’s nomination for the Supreme Court. The Dems are posing as open-minded, professional legislators who respect the fact that Supreme Court nominations are the job of the President. This is how the Republicans acted when Bill Clinton nominated the far left Ruth Bader Ginsburg. But to expect professionalism from the Democrats is asking too much. This is the calm before the storm. They are asking for tons of documents, many of which they are not entitled to and they know it. This will give them the ability to say later that they did not get the documents that they requested. This will not work, however, because the Republicans are ready to pull the trigger on the Constitutional option (sometimes referred to as the Byrd options named after Senator Robert “KKK” Byrd from WV). This is the option to change the rules of the Senate to disallow the filibuster for Supreme Court nominations. I am confidant that we can count on Teddy Kennedy, Chris Dodd or Charlie Schumer to begin to rant about John Roberts soon.

· Kudos to George Bush for his recess appointment of John Bolton as Ambassador to the United Nations. The Democrats tried every argument that that could think of or make up to railroad this candidate. Why? Because Bolton is a tough guy who may actually do some good in the corrupt UN. The Dems don’t wasn’t a nominee that might upset the despots and America haters of the UN. Of course the real answer to this is for the US to leave the UN and to kick them out of our country. A world body of democratic nations is much preferable to the corrupt United Nations of communists.

· The New York Times, once the flagship of the journalist world, is little more than a rag of the Democratic Party. They lost their objectivity years ago. But now they have gone beyond partisan reporting to the outrageous. In a desperate fishing expedition, they have asked the courts to unseal John Roberts’s adoption papers. John Roberts and his wife adopted two children, both under 6 years old. They are not asking for these papers because of some known fact or suspicion, but rather just to see if they can find something on Roberts. This is disgusting. Adoption records are routinely sealed to protect the parties involved. To open these records up to the New York Times would be a disgrace and disservice to the families and the young children.

Another Reaganism

2005-07-04T12:50:00.000-04:00

Republicans believe every day is 4th of July, but Democrats believe every day is April 15.
– President Ronald Reagan.

2005-07-04T12:47:00.000-04:00

Brian William's Terrorists

2005-07-04T12:45:00.000-04:00

Brian Williams seems to be a good fit for the left wing “main stream media”. He compared the modern day terrorists to our Founding Fathers. This from his blog:

“Many Americans woke up to a curious story this morning: several of the former Iran Hostages have decided there is a strong resemblance between Iran's new president and one of their captors more than 25 years ago. The White House and most official branches of government are ducking any substantive comment on this story, and photo analysis is going on at this and other news organizations. It is a story that will be at or near the top of our broadcast and certainly made for a robust debate in our afternoon editorial meeting, when several of us raised the point (I'll leave it to others to decide germaneness) that several U.S. presidents were at minimum revolutionaries, and probably were considered terrorists of their time by the Crown in England.”

The Religion of the Democratic Party

2005-07-03T11:19:00.000-04:00

The left (Democrats), led by the communist organization ACLU, have done their best to remove religion from our everyday life. This is done by the misunderstood and misused “separation of church and state”. Actually there is no such separation in the Constitution. There is a prohibition against the state “establishing” a religion. It is ironic, therefore, that the Democrats are the ones who are using government to pimp their religion, which is abortion. This is the one uniting issue of the Democratic Party. They are a party bankrupt of ideas which leaves their primary purpose in life to maintain abortion.

We will see this during the Supreme Court nomination process. Since the Democrats cannot win elections any more, the courts are all they have. They have picked activist judges over the years who legislate from the bench. President Bush will probably get to nominate two Supreme Court judges during this term. One is a conservative (Reinquist) and one is a so-called swing judge (Sandra Day O’Conner). This gives him an opportunity to maybe move the court to the right, which is badly needed. This will create a war in the Senate. Already the big blowhard Ted Kennedy has warned the President to get the Democrat’s approval before naming a candidate. This is ridiculous.

Elections still mean something. President Bush has won two elections. During his campaign for his second term, he stressed the importance of the nomination of judges as an issue. It is the job of the President to nominate judges, and it is the job of the Senate to give their “advice and consent”. In other words, they get to vote on the nominations. This does not mean that they can hold up nominations with filibusters and other techniques. Yet they probably will. There will be a war and the owners of the Democrats, George Soros and move on.org will spend millions of dollars to fight Bush’s nominee.

The Supreme Court judge’s job is to interrupt law, not make it. They are supposed to be the defenders of our Constitution. They have failed over the last several years. It’s time to put judges on the Court not based on some political litmus test, but based on their belief in protecting the Constitution.

2005-05-31T13:29:00.000-04:00

The Charlie Brown Party

2005-05-31T13:18:00.000-04:00

Senator John McCain along with 6 other Republicans (John Warner of Virginia, Susan M. Collins and Olympia J. Snowe of Maine, Mike DeWine of Ohio, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island) and seven Democrats brokered a deal to “save the Senate”. The Republicans who were party to this deal used some lofty language to describe their actions. McCain said: "We have reached an agreement to try to avert a crisis in the United States Senate and pull the institution back from a precipice that would have had -- in the view of all 14 of us -- lasting impact, damaging impact on the institution." Others said we can get back to business. The deal would allow a vote on Janice Rogers Brown, Priscilla Owens and William Pryor. Two other nominees were apparently put in limbo. A vote on John Bolton’s nomination was also assured. In return, the Republicans agreed not to vote yes on the Byrd option (a vote to disallow filibusters on judicial appointments.

These proud Republicans declared that this agreement was built on trust. They want us to believe that the men and women of the Senate are of high moral and ethical character, and we can rest assured that they will honor this deal. The deal lasted less than 3 days. The nomination of Priscilla Owens was voted on and she was confirmed by a 55-43 vote, pretty good for someone referred to as an extremist just days ago. But when the Bolton nomination was brought up, the Democrats went right back to their obstructionist self’s in direct violation of their agreement. This came to no surprise to most Republicans who are frankly frustrated with their leaders. When will the Republicans learn that the Democrats will not honor any agreement they make, and if in power they would yield that power rather than compromise all the time with the Republicans? The Republicans are like Charlie Brown playing football with his friends. He always wants to kick off, and time and time again the holder of the ball lifts it at the last second so Charlie misses it, and falls on his butt.

It is time that the Republicans regain control of their party and power. John McCain is a lost cause. He is the Jesse Jackson of the Republicans, always looking for ways to grab the spotlight. He has a safe seat, but it is time to purge the John Warners and Lindsey Grahams of the party who should know better.

Desperate Dems

2005-05-22T19:19:00.000-04:00

Desperate people do desperate things. So, it seems, do desperate political parties. What is driving the seemingly crazy Democrats? They complain about every election now, claiming that disenfranchised voters were deprived of their right to vote. They are now filibustering president Bush’s nominees for federal appeals court and are holding up a vote for confirmation of John Bolton, Bush’s choice for Ambassador to the U.N. The filibuster has never been used to prevent an up or down vote on appellate court appointees with one exception, Abe Fortas. President Lyndon Johnson tried to cram him through, but even the Democrats did not want him appointed. So this filibuster was quite different than today.

The desperate Dems are crying that the Republicans would be violating the Constitution if the Senate rules were changed to end the filibuster. This is the so-called “nuclear option” The Dems are so good at naming things, aren’t they. But this would be better named the “Byrd” option, since Senator Robert (KKK) Byrd used it a few times when he was the majority leader in the seventies. The filibuster may be a long used tactic in the Senate, but it is not in the Constitution. The Constitution calls for a very limited number of situations where a super majority is required in the Senate. Judicial appointments are not one of these. (The original Constitution requires a two-thirds vote of either the House, the Senate, or both in five situations. They include:

(1) Overriding presidential vetoes, Article I, section 7, clause 2;

(2) Removing federal officers through impeachment proceedings with conviction by two-thirds vote of the Senate, Article I, section 3, clause 6;

(3) Ratifying treaties by two-thirds vote of the Senate, Article II, section 2, clause 2;

(4) Expelling members from the House or Senate, Article I, section 5, clause 2; and

(5) Proposing constitutional amendments, Article V.

In addition, the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, ratified in 1868, disallowed anyone who engaged in “insurrection or rebellion” from holding any civil or military office unless each house removed this disability by a two-thirds vote. The Twenty-Fifth Amendment, ratified in 1967, addresses the issues of presidential succession and inability. In the case of an Acting President, the House and Senate, by a two-thirds vote of each chamber, may determine that “the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.”)

The desperate Dems have put themselves in a situation whereby they must claim that these appointees are extremists. The Dems historically have considered the far left American Bar Association’s recommendations as the gold standard. No more. Priscilla Owen, a brilliant Supreme Court judge in Texas, earned the ABA’s highest marks. California Supreme Court Justice Janice Rogers Brown also was endorsed by the ABA. She was elected in San Francisco by a large majority. I guess San Francisco is right wing now. The Dems are fighting two women, one black, and a Hispanic nominee. You would think that these candidates are ideal for the Dems.

Why are they so desperate? Well, they have not won an election for years now. Their once 40 plus years stronghold on Congress and State governorships has long since past on. The courts are their only hope. They cannot get their (paltry few) ideas passed in a legitimate manner, so they must rely on activists judges to pass their agendas. They have even lost their domination of the press due to the internet Bloggers and Fox news. Yes they own the three networks and the irrelevant CNN, but it is no longer possible for them to get away with their looniness. Isn’t it ironic that the party who worries about every vote being counted (at least once or twice) is doing their best to prevent an up or down vote for these judges.

Liberal Bias in the Press - So What is New?

2005-05-22T16:17:00.000-04:00

Newsweek’s journalistic blunder that lead to rioting in Afghanistan provides opportunity for discussion in a few directions. First, the story provides yet another example of the leftist bias of the mainstream media. Newsweek finally admitted its error after pressure from many directions, including the Whitehouse. Apologists for Newsweek say it was “an honest mistake”. This was not an honest mistake but a deliberate abandon of journalistic principles to publish a story that will harm the President and the military. Journalists used to verify sources with an independent source. This is routinely violated whenever opportunities to hurt Bush or the military present themselves. Remember Dan Rather. These so-called honest mistakes never happen with a story detrimental to the Democrats.

This story also provides an opportunity to exam the religion of Islam, sometimes referred to as the “religion of peace”. What a joke. Here we had a riot and 17 people were killed by Muslims because of a story that the Koran was flushed down the toilet at Guantanamo Bay. Did anyone blame the rioters for the killings? Muslims always get a pass on their actions because somehow they are deemed to be justified. How can the killing of 17 innocent people ever be justified, especially as a result of an article that was later proved false? What would the reaction be from the left if Catholics or Christians rioted and people died protesting the “Piss Christ” (Andres Serrano’s brilliant piece of art)? There would be massive condemnations of the rioters without a doubt. In reality the Catholics, Christians, and Jews do not react with violence as Muslim’s often do. The “Piss Christ” outraged many people of faith but the vast majority of the voices on the left hailed it as brilliant artistic expression. Can you imagine if an artist produced the “Piss Koran”. There would undoubtedly be massive rioting and the left would call for an apology from the artist and might even try to call it a hate crime rather than focus on the killers.

The Tom Delay Witch Hunt

2005-05-18T19:59:00.000-04:00

Howard Dean, the fanatic leader of the Democratic Party and the media have targeted House Majority Leader Tom DeLay on ethics because of a few trips that he has taken. In reality he is nowhere near the top of the list of congressional junketeers.

In fact, the top 10 travelers for the last five years in both the House and Senate happen to be, surprise, Democrats. This has not stopped the non-stop attacks on Delay. Has the press investigated Congressional travel? No way, they know the answer but they, like the Democrats, rely on the ignorance of the public.

Let’s exam the top 10:

1. 61 Trips - Tied for first place in the category of congressional wanderings are Rep. Maxine Waters, Democrat - Louisiana and Senator John Breaux Democrat from California.

3. 60 Trips - Rep. Harold Ford, Democrat - Tennessee

4. 59 Trips – Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, Democrat - Ohio

5. 57 Trips – Senator Joe (the plagiarist) Biden, Democrat

6. 51 Trips – Rep. Barney Frank, Democrat

Rounding out the top ten are Senator Joe Lieberman, Rep. James Clyburn, Senator Evan Bayh and Rep. Danny Davis, all Democrats.

So, where does media target Tom DeLay rank? Way down the list in the 121st slot - tied with Democratic Senate heroine Barbara Boxer (14 trips each) and well below the Democratic Party's shining star, Sen. Hillary Clinton - who has jet-setted her way through 28 junkets since making her congressional debut.

Why are the Democrats and their lapdog press after Tom Delay? Simply because he is effective. They ran Newt Gingrich out of town, as well as Trent Lott (although he was not in the league of Delay and Newt). This is a dangerous road for the Democrats, as they are the party that lacks ethics. Hat is why the ethics committee is moving at a snails pace on this.

The Racist Party and It's Policies

2005-04-24T12:40:00.000-04:00

The Democrats have long been the racist party even though they and their lapdog press portray the Republicans as racists. Rather than going way back to the days of slavery, let’s go back to the 60’s. Democratic icons like Lyndon Johnson, Al Gore, Sr. and Robert “KKK” Byrd filibustered civil right legislation time after time as it was debated. Thanks to the determined republicans, civil rights legislation was finally passed. Over the years the Dems have passed policies that were aimed at keeping blacks on the lower rung of society. The Dems are shrewd, however, and spin their deceit well. Take Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society” and his War on Poverty. What did these programs really accomplish? They created a cottage industry of Democratic cronies and generations of welfare families. These welfare families not surprisingly voted for democrats who were in essence their drug dealers, dealing out government give-aways designed to imprison an entire race. Unfortunately for the Dems but fortunately for the families, both white and black that were trapped in vicious cycle op welfare, the “racist” Republican’s passed welfare reform despite Clinton’s vetoes.

The Dems have other tools aimed at keeping blacks and other poor people from succeeded in life. One of their most successful racist tools is their undying support of the failed public schools. This serves two purposes. It rewards the teacher’s unions and keeps certain segments of society from achievement, predominantly minorities. After all, if these groups were able to receive a good education and participate in the rewards of hard work and achievement, they would have no need for the Democratic Party. The Dems have fought hard against school vouchers, which have been embraced by many black leaders as the best hope to improve the educational system. Vouchers would give “choice” to all families, enabling them to choose the best school for their children. The Dems, as they send their own children to expensive private schools, scream loudly that public schools are great. The “party of choice” somehow does not want blacks and other minorities and low-income families to have the same choices that they have when it comes to the education of children.

Of course abortion has long served a dual purpose for the Dems. It has kept a loyal voting block of woman for the party. But a more devious purpose is to keep the population of blacks and other minorities down. The fact that abortion affects blacks disproportionately is intentionally not well publicized. Abortion helps manage spending for the Dems. If abortions would be significantly reduced, spending on existing give-away programs would increase, taking away from new spending opportunities for the Dems.

The latest attack on the Dems strategy to keep minorities down is social security reform. The National Urban League recently issued its annual report on the state of Black America. The report displayed the success that years and years of Democrat Party politics has had. The report indicates that the typical black household has a net worth of only $6,100, while a typical white household has $67,000. Also, in true Democratic Party tradition, black seniors are disproportionately more dependent on Social Security, but they receive less benefit from the system. Blacks on average collect one year of benefits while paying into the system for life. Whites, on the other hand, receive about seven years of benefits. The biggest winner of social security has been greedy big spender politicians. While approximately 20% of white Americans depend entirely on Social Security for their retirement income, the figure doubles for blacks. These facts seem to indicate that blacks would benefit the most from private accounts that can be passed on to generation after generation. Despite this, the self-proclaimed party of the little man works fervently to keep them little.

2005-04-23T12:07:00.000-04:00

Hanoi Jane Admires The Enemy

Hanoi Jane's Book Tour "Apology"

2005-04-21T09:17:00.000-04:00

Isn’t it nice to see Hanoi Jane “apologize” for sitting on a North Vietnamese tank during the Vietnam War? Her so-called apology kicks off her book tour. Oh yes, Janey has written a book and wants to appear to make amends for her treasonous actions. But did Jane apologize? Today (4/21/05) on Good Morning America Jane said that she “regrets” posing for that picture, but that her actions were merely just poor judgment. Jane specifically said that the “one mistake” that she made was posing for that picture, and that her record was one of a total supporter for the troops (Which side Jane?).

Jane did not say that she is sorry, that she apologizes and asks for forgiveness, she only says that she regrets that one decision to pose for that picture. She forgot to mention the fact that when she visited American POW’s in the “Hanoi Hilton”, they passed to her secret notes that she turned in to the enemy guards as she departed. If this is not treason, I do not know what is. I wonder how those POW’s were treated after Hanoi Jane left.

Now the lefties are saying that we should accept Jane’s apology and get over it. Well, first, she did not really apologize, second, she did not even regret the POW incident, and lastly, treason should never be forgiven.

Men's Right To Choose!

2005-03-28T21:36:00.000-05:00

The left are routing hard for Terry Schiavo’s death. The leftist press and politicians realize what they are doing, but many Americans who rely on the “mainstream” press have been duped. They have been led to believe that Terry is brain dead. The press says that she has been on life support for years, leading one to believe that she is on breathing machines, etc. In reality, the "life support" is a feeding tube, which was ordered by her husband despite the fact that she could swallow on her own. Furthermore, many caregivers, including doctors, say that she is alert and responsive. The husband Michael, for seven years said that he did not know what Terry would want. But he had a revelation some time after he won a large monetary award and said that Terri would want to die rather than be kept alive on “life support”. This was also after he had two out of wedlock children with his common law wife. He then ordered all therapy (therapy paid for by the monetary award) discontinued, and ordered the feeding tube inserted even though she could swallow on her own. Shockingly, neither an MRI nor PET scan was ever ordered to verify brain activity or the lack thereof. Even worse, the husband has ordered that Terry be cremated despite the fact that she is a Catholic and that is against her beliefs. You ask where the proof is for this. Congress passed a bill ordering the courts to review the case from scratch, which would have allowed all the relevant facts to come out. The Judge, U.S. District Judge James Whittemore, ignored the order.

I wonder if the left has thought this through. What they have done, by relying on the hearsay testimony of the husband that Terry would have wanted to die, is to grant men a new right, a right to choose. Choose what? To choose, if they are not so happy with their wife, to terminate the life of their wife. After all, she is “brain-dead” anyway, and woman can kill babies as they are seconds from being born who are quite healthy (partial birth abortion). This can also be applied to those pesty parents. If they become somewhat dependent on you, just say that they really do not want to live. The same can be said for paraplegic or otherwise handicapped children.

This case is full of ironies. Imagine if a person allowed a cat or a dog to die of starvation. The PETA gang would be outraged. Remember Elian Gonzales? It was just fine when Bill Clinton ignored court decisions and, through his lapdog Janet Reno, raided the Gonzalez home and kidnapped Elian only to have him sent back to Cuba where he will live under a tyrant. The left cheered as Elian, whose mother died to get him to freedom, was sent to their beloved Castro to serve in the military in Cuba. But when Congress passed a law to force the courts to re-hear the Schiavo case from scratch (which the Judge ignored, snubbing the will of the people) the left was outraged, claiming the government should stay out this (a whole other discussion needs to take place reminding people that the Courts are part of the government, one of 3 branches, and are accountable to the laws of the land). When Governor Jeb Bush suggested that the Florida government seize Terry Schiavo, take her to a hospital and feed her, the left were once again outraged. Jeb wanted to save a life. On the other hand Bill Clinton sent a child to a life of misery under a tyrant. Which is worse? Imagine also if the US government deprived the terrorists at Gitmo food and water. I doubt that we would hear from “experts” that the terrorists would not suffer but rather would experience euphoria.

You may wonder why the left take the position in this case that they do. It is pretty simple. The left (Democrats) are bankrupt of ideas and have lost election after election because of their failed agenda. Their only power base is the left wing courts. They cannot pass laws in the way the Constitution allows, so they rely on out of control activist judges to realize their agenda.

Dumbing Down Continues in Public Schools

2005-03-28T21:17:00.000-05:00

No Cop-Out Left Behind
Courtesy of Andrew J. Coulson

The federal No Child Left Behind Act was supposed to improve public schools by setting clear performance standards and enforcing meaningful consequences if those standards went unmet. This was such a wonderful-sounding idea that the NCLB was ushered into law with unprecedented bipartisan support.

Another reason for the law’s broad appeal is its lack of specificity. The federal government demands that states set standards, but doesn’t dictate their content. The feds insist that schools make "adequate yearly progress," but leave the definition of that term to the states. In other words, NCLB is a politician’s dream: It provides an opportunity to be seen as doing something, without necessarily having to do anything.

Michigan is living that dream.

Earlier this month, the state Board of Education voted unanimously to redefine the term "adequate yearly progress" so that only 762 schools will be expected to fall below the standard next year instead of the 1,444 expected to fail under the current definition. The state board must now seek approval of their change from the U.S. Department of Education, which they are likely to get.

The official justification for lowering Michigan’s education standards is to allow for "statistical error" in the determination of which schools are failing. In other words, if there is a slight chance that a borderline school could be considered "adequate," the Board wants to exempt it from having to follow the improvement measures required under the NCLB. Acting State Superintendent of Schools Jeremy Hughes told The Ann Arbor News, "For the purposes of meeting AYP, we're going to give schools the benefit of the doubt."

Rather than giving children the benefit of the doubt, by insisting on NCLB remedies whenever schools seem to be failing, Michigan’s top public school officials want to give schools the benefit of the doubt.

If the education feds approve Michigan’s plan, it won’t be the first time the state will have redefined "adequacy." In the summer of 2002, 1,513 schools failed to meet Michigan’s standards. Notwithstanding federal assurances that states couldn’t just dumb-down their standards to circumvent the NCLB, Michigan did just that. It lowered the bar, requiring as few as 38 percent of students to pass the MEAP in order for a school to be considered "adequate" (in place of the original 75 percent requirement). Under this new definition, the number of "failing" schools dropped from 1,513 to just 216.

Consider what might happen if McDonald's followed the Michigan Board of Education’s management model. It could lower its standards for the definition of an "adequately cooked" burger, with ample allowance for "culinary error." If it looked like a patty showed some sign of having been exposed to heat, then McDonald’s would give itself "the benefit of the doubt," slap it on a bun and right into your hands. Mmmmmmmm.

Given the lengths to which the state Board of Education is going to circumvent NCLB’s remedies, or at least to minimize the number of schools to which they are applied, you might imagine that those remedies are truly Draconian. Hardly. Schools that fail to make AYP must simply come up with and implement an improvement plan, and allow students to attend other public schools. Not private schools, mind you, just other public schools. If the school still fails to perform in subsequent years, it can theoretically be restructured, and its staff reassigned.

Perhaps the saddest aspect of the NCLB saga is that even if states were not doing their best to elude its consequences, it would still do next to nothing to improve public education. Getting schools to write up improvement plans? How much difference will that make? The Soviet Union had more "Five Year Plans" than you could shake a stick at, but that didn’t prevent the collapse of its government-run economy.

As for restructuring, it is nothing more than a game of musical chairs. Even in the most recidivistically deficient schools, NCLB never calls for a single employee to be let go. They’ll just get plunked down in other schools. Maybe in your school.

And public school "choice"? Breaking a monopoly requires more than allowing consumers to move to another of the same monopoly’s outlets. When the Supreme Court ruled that Microsoft was a monopoly, what would the public have said if the court’s remedy was for consumers to simply switch to buying different Microsoft products?

Though setting real standards and implementing real consequences in education truly is a wonderful idea, federal intervention is a misguided and embarrassingly anachronistic way of going about it. Rather than taking our cue from the government-devised Five Year Plans of a now-defunct communist state, perhaps there is another model for creating healthy incentives for effective, efficient, responsive service. Wasn’t there another economic system that went up against communism back in the 20th century? And didn’t it seem to work out pretty well by comparison?

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Andrew J. Coulson is senior fellow in education policy for the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a research and educational institute headquartered in Midland, Mich. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author and the Center are properly cited.

2005-02-27T10:40:00.000-05:00

Thanks for your help Hollywood!

The USS Jimmy Carter (disgusting)

2005-02-20T20:11:00.000-05:00

The Navy commissioned its newest nuclear-powered attack submarine Jimmy Carter on Feb. 19, during ceremony at Naval Submarine Base New London, Groton, Conn. While I admire and thank anyone who serves their country in the military, Jimmy Carter has dishonored the soldiers and his country many times since his service. His behavior dating back to his presidency has bordered on treason on several occasions. His actions in the 1990’s paved the way for North Korea to build its nuclear weapon capabilities. His giving to China the Panama Canal was insane. He is, like many on the left, an admirer of dictators and left wing despots. Jimmy Carter eulogized Yasser Arafat, praising, among other things, his "indispensable leadership to a revolutionary movement." He was also a big fan of Nicolai Ceaucescu, Romania’s dictator who was finally toppled. He once said Ceausescu, "Our goals are the same: to have a just system of economics and politics . . . We believe in enhancing human rights." Carter hailed Yugoslavia's Tito as "a man who believes in human rights." Jimmy Carter's praised Syria's Hafez Asaad, one of the world's leading sponsors of terrorism. He also had praise for Ethiopian dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam and of course Fidel Castro, the love of the left. Of North Korean madman Kim Il Sung, Carter said: "'find him to be vigorous, intelligent, surprisingly well informed about the technical issues, and in charge of the decisions about this country' (DAH!). He said, 'I don't see that they [the North Koreans] are an outlaw nation.' Pyongyang, he observed, was a 'bustling city,' where shoppers 'pack the department stores,' reminding him of the 'Wal-Mart in Americus, Georgia.' Carter also employed his longstanding technique of praising the beauty of a dictator's wife. Kim Jon Ae, he noted, 'is a very attractive lady.'" (He probably had lust in his heart for her). More recently, Jimmy Carter compared the Iraqi insurgency to the American Revolution -- and, in the same interview, called the American Revolution "an unnecessary war."

Jimmy Carter has consistently and illegally interfered with U.S. foreign policy since leaving office. He is a shameless, self-promoting politician and is the last person that the military should be honoring.

Social Security Demagoguery

2005-02-07T22:22:00.000-05:00

The left call Social Security a system in crisis when their solution is to raise taxes, but if out of power, they say there is no crisis.

In reality, if you calculate actuarially the amount of funding required for this broken system, it is about $3.7 trillion under funded. If this was a corporation, the CEO, CFO, Partners of the audit firm, etc, would be put in jail. The left would demagogue it to death ala Enron. But since the current proposed solution, the only true solution, is to privatize social security, it’s not a crisis. If the solution would be to raise FICA taxes, the crisis would be back on. Of course we know why, the irresponsible left wants to spend the excess taxes on other things and let future politicians inherit the disaster.

Who said?

"We have a great opportunity now to take action now to avert a crisis in the Social Security system. By 2030, there will be twice as many elderly as there are today, with only two people working for every person drawing Social Security. After 2032, contributions from payroll taxes will only cover 75 cents on the dollar of current benefits. So we must act, and act now, to save Social Security."

George W. Bush? No, William Clinton: February 1998.

Americans cannot afford any new spending "before we take care of the crisis in Social Security that is looming when the baby boomers retire."

George W. Bush? No, William Clinton: February 1998.

The administration’s economical advancements cannot go forward as long as the U.S. is "threatened by the looming fiscal crisis in Social Security. We have a great opportunity now to take action now to avert a crisis in the Social Security system."

George W. Bush? No, William Clinton: February 1998.

"Save Social Security first,"

Dick Cheney? No, Al Gore: 1998.

"Save Social Security first,"

Denny Hastert? No, Dicky Gephardt: 1998.

"Save Social Security first,"

Mary Jo Kopechne? No (how could she?) No, Teddy Kennedy: 1998.

"Save Social Security first,"

Bill Frist? No, Barbie Boxer: 1998.

Who said?

Three principles should be observed in legislation on this subject. First, the system adopted, except for the money necessary to initiate it, should be self-sustaining in the sense that funds for the payment of insurance benefits should not come from the proceeds of general taxation. Second, excepting in old-age insurance, actual management should be left to the States subject to standards established by the Federal Government. Third, sound financial management of the funds and the reserves, and protection of the credit structure of the Nation should be assured by retaining Federal control over all funds through trustees in the Treasury of the United States.

In the important field of security for our old people, it seems necessary to adopt three principles: First, non-contributory old-age pensions for those who are now too old to build up their own insurance. It is, of course, clear that for perhaps thirty years to come funds will have to be provided by the States and the Federal Government to meet these pensions. Second, compulsory contributory annuities which in time will establish a self-supporting system for those now young and for future generations. Third, voluntary contributory annuities by which individual initiative can increase the annual amounts received in old age. It is proposed that the Federal Government assume one-half of the cost of the old-age pension plan, which ought ultimately to be supplanted by self-supporting annuity plans.

George W. Bush? No, Franklin D. Roosevelt, PRESIDENTIAL STATEMENT SIGNING THE SOCIAL SECURITY ACT. AUGUST 14, 1935

In case you do not follow what FDR, the father of liberalism said above, he says that the federal government should privatize social security after about 30 years, or 1965.

Furthermore:

Franklin Roosevelt when he introduced the Social Security (FICA) Program.

He promised:
1.) That participation in the Program would be completely voluntary,
2.) That the participants would only have to pay 1% of the first
$1,400 of their annual incomes into the Program,
3.) That the money the participants elected to put into the Program would be deductible from their income for tax purposes each year,
4.) That the money the would be put into the independent "Trust Fund" rather than into the General operating fund, and therefore, would only be used to fund the Social Security Retirement Program, and no other Government program, and,
5.) That the annuity payments to the retirees would never be taxed as income.

How are we doing?????

Now … and Then

Now:

Jay Rockefeller, 2005 (unfortunately my Senator): “The president says that Social Security is in crisis, but the truth is that Social Security benefits are secure until at least 2042”.

Teddy Kennedy, 2005:

We have an Administration that falsely hypes almost every issue as a crisis. They did it on Iraq, and they are doing it now on Social Security. They exploit the politics of fear and division, while ours is a politics of hope and unity.

Then:

Jay Rockefeller as he voted against impeaching Slick in 1999: “And, why have we not been able to debate the real issues for the future of our nation--strengthening Medicare, reforming Social Security, ending the steel import crisis so West Virginia steelworkers can get their jobs back”?

Jay Rockefeller, 1998 as member of Social Security Task Force: "Reforming Social Security is one of my priorities, and it should also be a priority for Congress.”

Jay Rockefeller Voted NO on Social Security Lockbox & limiting national debt. (Apr 1999)

Teddy Kennedy Voted NO on Social Security Lockbox & limiting national debt. (Apr 1999)

Teddy Kennedy 1998: "Save Social Security first,"

Kofi Annan Acts Decisively!

2005-02-07T19:47:00.000-05:00

Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in a bold and very responsible move, suspended the head of the $64 billion U.N. Oil-for-Food program in Iraq and a senior U.N. official who dealt with contracts following an independent investigation that accused them of misconduct. This is a program in which billions of dollars were siphoned off at the expense of the Iraqi people. Benon Sevan, who was in charge of the program, and Joseph Stephanides, who heads the U.N. Security Council Affairs Division, were told Friday that they had been suspended with pay. Wow, tough disciplinarian.

Sevan quickly retired when the scandal hit and ran for cover. Yet amazingly Annan left him on the payroll for a salary of $1 per year. He does not come to work or do anything to earn that dollar (or the real reason that he is on the payroll).

Annan, who realized that the scandal surrounding the Oil-for-Food program was serious, suspended Sevan with pay. Let’s see, he has no pay, and he doesn’t work, good old fashioned left wing discipline. Stephanides, who is scheduled to retire in five months, was also suspended, with pay. Sounds like a nice retirement package to me.

2005-01-30T20:26:00.000-05:00

Iraqi Proudly Votes (once)

Important Day in Arab History

2005-01-30T20:20:00.000-05:00

Over 8 million Iraqi people defied the many naysayers and turned out to vote in the Iraq national elections today. While the Ted Kennedy’s of the world call for us to cut and run (the only lesson that the Democratic party has learned from the history of wars is from the Vietnam War, cut and run even if you are doing the right thing and even if you are winning) the Iraqi people turned out in overwhelming numbers to exercise, for the first time in their lives, their new right to vote. Many on the left and in the main stream media (same thing I guess) were predicting a disaster on the day of voting. Sadly, I think some were hoping for disaster.

This day will probably go down in history as great success for Iraq and President Bush. President Bush, despite criticism from the right and left, stuck to his moral principals regarding democratic elections in Iraq. It would have been easy to cut and run as most Democrats wished for.

The brave Iraqis, who went to the polls despite threats on their lives, make the Democrats crying about 2000 election in Florida or even worse, Ohio in 2004, look silly. Despite the allowance of early voting and the insane provisional voting, the Democrats claimed that voters in Ohio were “disenfranchised”, complaining that they had to stand in the rain and wait in long lines. Meanwhile, people in Iraq risked their life to vote. This sort of puts that silliness in perspective.

This makes me wonder what Bill Clinton must be thinking. Here we have George Bush going against the will of so many, following his moral convictions and making it possible for Iraqis to choose their form of government. And he will probably find a favorable place in history, while ole Bill raised his finger every day to see which way the wind was blowing, and went that way, and he will only be remembered as an impeached, unserious president. Well, he may also be remembered as the President that was most responsible for the fall of the Democratic Party.

2005-01-30T20:10:00.000-05:00

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass., buffoon) called on President Bush to begin withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq after Sunday's elections and complete the pullout by early next year, declaring the president's Iraq policy "a catastrophic failure" that is only "fanning the flames of conflict." Ted, the terrorist's best friend.

Fox Crushes CNN

2005-01-23T14:44:00.000-05:00

From the Drudge Report we learned that CNN’s audience for the Bush 2005 inauguration was less than ½ of its audience for the 2001 inauguration. CNN and MSNBC are fading fast and are no longer relevant. CNN’s demise is not news. Fox has been eating its lunch for some time now. Despite this fall, the networks still do not get it. CNN continues to feature leftist anchors and biased stories. CBS has not showed that it has learned anything from RatherGate. ABC, probably just as biased as CBS, had a posting on its website recently asking if there were any soldier burials scheduled for inauguration day. They were hoping to fill their inauguration day coverage with military funerals rather than focus on Bush. Disgusting. They quickly pulled the posting when it was outed. Here are the average audience figures:

10 A.M – 4:00 P.M.

Fox News (FNC) - 2,581,000

CNN - 779,000

MSNBC - 168,000

Primetime:

FNC - 2,439,000 (up 57% from 2001)

CNN - 1,353,000 (down 14% from 2001)

MSNBC - 385,000 (down 47% from 2001)

MLB's Failed Answer

2005-01-17T21:58:00.000-05:00

Major League Baseball (MLB) has dealt with its drug problem. The owners, along with the very flexible union, came out with a very “aggressive” drug testing policy. The key points of the new plan are:

TESTING

• Every player will undergo at least one unannounced test during the season. Players may be randomly tested additional times, including during the offseason, irrespective of a player's country of residence.

PENALTIES

• The penalty for a first-time offender will be a 10-day suspension; second time, 30 days; third time, 60 days; fourth time, one year. All suspensions will be without pay.

SUBSTANCES

• Coupled with new federal legislation, the list of banned substances will include not only steroids, but steroid precursors and designer steroids such as THG, as well as masking agents and diuretics.

Wow, a year off for the fourth offense. That is serious. This policy will really send a message to the players. MLB decided that the USA Track & Field’s (USATF) policy was not really necessary. In 2003, USATF launched its ZERO TOLERANCE policy, featuring a comprehensive anti-drug messaging plan that calls for lifetime bans of steroid cheats. One of its main tenants is to educate athletes, coaches and officials on all levels about the dangers of drug use, and to spread the message that drug use is morally wrong - and cheaters will be caught. Let’s compare.

The USATF plan’s key points are:

“Zero Tolerance” focuses on three goals:

* Increasing efforts to catch and punish cheaters

* Expanding educational efforts and focusing the message on the theme that cheating is wrong and cheaters will be caught

* Taking a more visible role on these issues

Among the initiatives being launched by USATF as part of the plan are:

* A substantially increased set of punishments and fines for athletes who cheat and their coaches. This could include lifetime bans for first steroid offenses and fines up to $100,000 for steroid convictions.

* Implement a groundbreaking effort to proactively root out cheaters. This program will encourage whistle blowing and ask former cheaters to tell us how they did it so we may share this information with testing authorities.

* Create an elite athlete outreach program focused on anti-doping messaging. Utilize Golden Spike Tour community outreach programs and USATF youth events to introduce the “Zero Tolerance” program to other elite athletes, young people and college athletes.

* Call for an emergency drugs in sports summit in Washington, D.C. USATF has called for a summit of major U.S. sports leagues and proposed the meeting be hosted by the Drug Czar’s office.

* Engage the IAAF on the issue. Urge the IAAF to enforce its own rules requiring all IAAF member countries to conduct out-of-competition testing.

The USATF policy calls for from a two year ban to a lifetime ban for the first time offense. MLB should have taken a queue from this sport. What got in the way? The greedy union, that will be the downfall of baseball, stood between opportunity and obstruction. MLB squandered a big opportunity to re-engage with fans.

2005-01-17T13:28:00.000-05:00

Jesse Jackson Spewing Hate

Poverty Pimp Celebrates King Holiday

2005-01-17T00:30:00.000-05:00

Jesse Jackson could not miss the opportunity to politicize the Martin Luther King holiday. “War, poverty, violence and social injustice are dampening Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy as the nation prepares to celebrate the slain civil rights leader's birthday”, the Rev. Jesse Jackson told a church gathering Sunday. I guess we should not engage is war, no matter how valid, because it will detract from holidays. Jesse did say one thing that I agree with. He said "It's easy to admire Dr. King," It's a challenge to follow him." This is so true for Jesse. Rather than following him, he has exploited his fellow blacks and created a cottage “poverty” industry for his benefit. Dr. King stated in his famous I have a dream speech in 1963, “In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must ever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.” Jesse must have missed this. He is a bitter self appointed spokesman for blacks, spewing hate and bigotry every chance he can.

King also said, “I have a dream, that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” Jackson and other so-called black leaders have not bought into Dr. King’s desire for a color blind society. Rather they continue to call for special treatment based on race (lefties always have good names for their destructive policies, calling this racist policy affirmative action), and fight against vouchers and brave men like Bill Cosby who say it like it is, dooming blacks to live in a perpetual state of dependency. Of course this keeps Jesse’s gravy train chugging along.

Letterman CBS Top Ten List

2005-01-16T21:37:00.000-05:00

10. Stories must be corroborated by at least two really strong hunches.

9. “Evening News” pre-show staff cocktail hour is cancelled until further notice.

8. Reduce “60 Minutes” to more manageable 15-20 minutes.

7. Change division name from “CBS News” to “CBS News-ish”

6. If anchor says anything inaccurate, earpiece delivers an electric shock.

5. Conclude each story with comical “Boing” sound effect.

4. Instead of boring Middle East reports, more powerball drawings.

3. To play it safe, every “exclusive” story will be about how tasty pecan pie is.

2. Not sure how, but make CBS News more like “C.S.I.”

1. Use beer, cash and hookers to lure Tom Brokaw out of retirement.

2005-01-08T11:29:00.000-05:00

Yet another Hillary scandal

Hillary's Campaign Abuse

2005-01-08T11:25:00.000-05:00

Hillary Clinton's former Campaign Finance Director David Rosen was indicted with four counts of filing false reports with the Federal Election Commission. This type of indictment is rare. The charges focus on an August, 2000 dinner and concert supported by more than $1.1 million in "in-kind contributions" -- goods and services provided for free or below cost. The FBI said in court documents that it had evidence that the former first lady's campaign deliberately understated its fund-raising costs so it would have more money to spend on her campaign. I wonder if Hillary suggested this. Rosen reported contributions of about $400,000, knowing the figure to be false. Rosen also delivered a fraudulent invoice stating the cost of a concert associated with the gala was $200,000 when he knew that figure was false, according to the indictment. The actual cost of the concert was more than $600,000. Each of the four counts of making a false statement carries a maximum penalty of up to five years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines upon conviction.

This is just another in a long line of abuses by the Clintons. This won’t get any play by the “mainstream” media. You also won’t hear Teddy Kennedy or Joe Biden or any other Democrats, who never miss an opportunity grandstand, ask of Hillary, “What did she know, and when did she know”? Hopefully it will be more ammunition against Hillary’s run in 2008.

Barbara Boxer Rebellion

2005-01-08T10:57:00.000-05:00

The Democrats refuse to believe that they are losing election after election because of their ideas (or lack thereof). They also do not see that being in bed with the wackos in Hollywood, especially the grand wacko, Michael Moore, and the gay radicals is hurting them in the elections. Rather than analyze why they are losing, they are attacking the validity of the elections. How arrogant, “We can’t be wrong, so it must be election fraud”. The other reason offered is that they did not “get their message out”. Their problem is that they did get it out, and it was soundly rejected!

In just two elections, the expected Democrat hypocrisy has surfaced. After the Florida election, many on the left were ready to scrap the Electoral College system, since their boy ALGORE won the popular election by a razor’s edge. However, in 2004, when George Bush won the popular election by over 3% or about 3.5 million votes, they all of a sudden believe in the Electoral College. Their plan of attack now is to say that Kerry really won Ohio and should be President. Admittedly, even Kerry believes he lost Ohio, and there has been a recount that resulted in giving Kerry about 300 more votes, leaving him about 120,000 short. This did not stop Barbara Boxer from objecting to the Ohio electoral votes going to Bush. This also happened in the House of Representatives, which is more understandable as they are generally more radical than the Senate. But to have a Senator do something like this probably embarrassed even most Democratic Senators.

It is this state of denial that gives the GOP hope that they will continue to win elections. The Democrats will probably pick Howard Dean or someone like Dean (someone on the far left) as the Chairman of the party.

2005-01-08T10:45:00.000-05:00

Boxer Shedding A Tear over Ohio

Tsunami Politics

2005-01-08T10:20:00.000-05:00

In years past, politicians from both parties had enough class to not politicize war or natural disasters. Not so any more. We see almost daily how the Democrats use the War in Iraq as a political weapon, during the election, the constant calls for Rumsfeld’s head, the barrage of Abu Grub stories, etc. You might remember a memo that was pulled out of the trash can of Sen. Jay Rockefeller detailing this strategy to be used to embarrass Bush during the election. Now the Democrats are using the Tsunami disaster as a weapon against Bush, first saying he waited too long to say anything, then that we are not giving enough. The Democrats love symbolism, and wanted to see Bush come out right away as Bill Clinton would, and say we feel your pain. This would have been a useless gesture. Rather, Bush studied the problem before developing a plan. He identified a group of private charities, many already on the ground in the affected areas, rather than to let private funds go the corrupt United Nations.

It is very irritating when hacks from the UN say that we are stingy. I have not heard Kofi Annan or his cronies call for the oil rich Arab countries to pony up more money. After all, the areas affected by the Tsunami are overwhelmingly Muslim. What is worse, however, are the Democrats and media saying the very same thing. These opportunists fail to count as contributions the ships and military deployed by the US to help out with security, fresh water, etc and the overwhelming response by individuals and corporations. In the end, it will be the US who provides the most relief. Below are the contributions as of 1/6/05 (cash only, does not included services, etc) by country.

Australia — $764 million
Germany — $674 million
Japan — $500 million
United States — $350 million
Norway — $183 million
France — $103 million
Britain — $95 million
Denmark — $76.4 million
Sweden — $75.5 million
Spain — $68 million
Canada — $67 million
China — $60 million
South Korea — $50 million
Taiwan — $50 million
European Commission — $39.8 million
Netherlands — $32 million
Switzerland — $23 million
India — $25 million
United Arab Emirates — $20 million
Finland — $16 million

Many Democrats and members of the media naively believe that we can “buy” some good will in the Muslim world by the magnitude of our contributions. This shows their lack of fundamental understanding of the terrorist mind. No amount of money in the world will change these terrorist’s desire to kill anyone who is not Muslim. We have always been very generous in these situations, consistently contributing about 40% of the world relief, certainly a disproportionate share. This has not bought us any good will and our reasons to help should never be for good will but rather because it is the right thing to do.

Social Security Must Be Reformed

2004-12-11T19:09:00.001-05:00

Why are the Democrats against social security reform? Well of course the Democrats are just looking after the little guy, right? WRONG! The Democrats for years have been raiding Social Security taxes for decades, creating new entitlements and expenditures on pork. The Republicans can share in the blame for a few years, but they have been forced into spending in order to rebuild the military that Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton gutted while in office. It is perhaps the most shameful story in Washington. The average return on investment for Social Security taxpayers is about 1%. The stock market has had its ups and downs, but when you look at any twenty year period, the return has been at least 10%. The problem is that there is no “trust fund”, as the politicians like to say, but merely iou’s. President Bush wants to carve out a miniscule amount, about 1 or 2%, and let taxpayers keep their own money in investment accounts. The Democrats, in usual form, have and will demagogue this to death. They will scare seniors by telling them that they will not get what is owed to them, and they will scare all others by saying that the cost is too great. The cost is using the taxes as they were intended, for the taxpayer’s retirement, instead of for current spending (the incumbent re-election security fund). Bush should put an aggressive plan to totally privatize, on a voluntary basis, the social security plan in a limited number of years.

Bill Moyer’s Ridiculous Rant

2004-12-11T19:09:00.000-05:00

The left just cannot stand the fact that they no longer have a monopoly on dispersing information (propaganda) to the American public. With the explosion of internet Bloggers, talk radio and the immense success of Fox News, the American public have many choices for information. The latest rant from the left was from the retiring Bill Moyers, who has spent many of his last years working for the left wing PBS. "I'm going out telling the story that I think is the biggest story of our time: how the right-wing media has become a partisan propaganda arm of the Republican National Committee," says Moyers. "We have an ideological press that's interested in the election of Republicans, and a mainstream press that's interested in the bottom line. Therefore, we don't have a vigilant, independent press whose interest is the American people." Give me a break. Since when are the New York Times, the LA Times, ABC, NBC, CBS, or CNN vigiliant and independent press”? Moyers shows his ignorance by confusing commentary (like talk radio or shows like Hannity & Colmes) with news. The reality of it is that the mainstream news outlets (the Dan Rather and Peter Jennings of the world) have forgotten what news is, using their anchor slots to pimp for the Democrats. So long Bill, another dinosaur is gone.

Bill Clinton Pimps for Communist Government Search Engine

2004-12-11T19:08:00.000-05:00

Bill Clinton helped launch a new Internet search company backed by the Chinese government which says its technology uses artificial intelligence to produce better results than Google. "I hope you all make lots of money," Clinton told executives at the launch of Accoona Corp., which donated an undisclosed amount to the William J. Clinton Foundation (The Clinton Library). Accoona takes its name from the Swahili phrase, "accoona matata," for "no worries," popularized by Disney's film, "The Lion King.” This seems fitting since Bill Clinton is the “Lying King”. Bill Clinton has a long history with the Communist Chinese government. The Chinese government bailed Bill out while Governor of Arkansas after he raided the Arkansas teacher’s union pension. Since then Clinton has been owned by the Chinese government. Bill’s campaigns have been heavily funded by the commies ever since then. He returned the favor by appointing members of the Chinese government to top secret posts with full security clearance (John Huang, for example). During Bill’s reign the Chinese obtained many of our top military secrets from his appointments in return for campaign donations. You will probably hear about this again if Hilary makes a run in 2008. Her hands can be found throughout “Chinagate”. You don’t think Bill & Hilary (and the commies) would use this search engine to gather information do you?

MLB's Last Chance?

2004-12-11T11:42:00.000-05:00

Major League Baseball (MLB) has one last chance to clean up its act with the latest attention on the steroids problem. All honest fans of baseball know that Barry Bonds late career run at homeruns was largely due to steroids. Barry claims that he used some products, but did not know what they were. Right. The steroid problem has been going on for years and the owners and the baseball union, led by Donald Fehr, are to blame. They are also responsible for the decline in baseball because of free agency and lack of salary caps like in the NFL. Fehr said that the union wants to deal with this next spring (why wait?) and thinks that the minor league plan should be adopted. The minor league has a plan which allows four tests per year. The penalties are not serious. For the first offense, the player gets counseling, second offense gets a 15 game suspension, fourth offense a one year suspension, and finally, after five offenses, a lifetime ban. MLB’s current testing policy is a result of the collective bargaining agreement reached in 2002 by the union and management. It expires following the 2006 season. Under the policy, a first positive test for steroid use results in treatment. A second offense carries a 15-day suspension or fine of up to $10,000. A third offense results in a 25-day suspension or up to a $25,000 fine and a fourth a 50-day suspension or a fine up to $50,000. A fifth positive test is either a one-year suspension or a fine of up to $100,000. All suspensions are without pay and there is no out-of-season testing. Fehr’s call to adopt the minor league plan shows that he is not serious. Neither plan sends a message to the players that steroid use is wrong.

Fehr now says that he will consider the steroid issue now, how big of him. His motivation is that Senator McCain has said that Congress will come up with a plan if MLB does not. The last thing I think we need is the government getting involved in major league sports or for that matter almost anything. But in this case, baseball is a sport where many players enter right after high school. The message that Don Fehr, Bud Selig and the owners are saying is that in order to excel you need help, and it’s pretty easy not to get caught. Its time to get serious, with much stiffer penalties including not recognizing any MLB records if steroid use was found.

Shut Down The United Nations

2004-12-05T13:14:00.000-05:00

Finally there are cries that Kofi Annan should resign as head of the corrupt United Nations. Under his watch, at least $21 billion dollars has been extracted from the UN “Oil for Food” program. This is easily the largest scandal in terms of dollars in the history of the world. Defenders of Annan say look at all the good that he has done. What good? He has no record of accomplishment to speak of, except maybe winning a Nobel Peace prize, which perhaps helps the case against Annan. Annan has ignored the genocide in Rwanda and the Sudan, he has looked the other way rather than address the slavery problems in Africa, he never spoke out against the suicide killings in Israel, the UN is sitting out of three historical democratic elections in Pakistan, Iraq and Palestine, and he was in favor of keeping the Sadaam killing machine in office. In a telling gesture, Kofi lowered the flags of the UN to half-staff to honor the death of the father of modern day terrorism, Arafat. Annan was appointed to replace an ineffective Boutras Boutras-Ghali with the task to reform the UN. This was a chance for the UN to prove to the world that there is a need for their institution. He failed.

No, it is time for the UN to go, not just Annan. It is far too corrupt to reform. It has become simply a forum for despots and haters of democracy to bash the United States and Israel. This is a group that picked Libya to head the UN Commission on Human Rights. The UN is good at using “moral equivalence” in their thinking. They will condemn the United States freeing Iraq and the world from an evil murdering dictator, or condemn Israel for defending itself against terrorist attacks, yet only chide Sadaam Hussein for multiple violations of UN resolutions and the slaughter of his people, or he will consistently defend the Palestinian terrorist’s attacks against woman and children in Israel.

Charles Krauthammer had a great idea. We should shut down the United Nations and create a new “Institution of Democracies”, and group consisted of the world’s democratic countries. No despots or dictators welcome. And sorry France, your seat at the Security Council would be gone.

Jessi's Blog

2004-11-27T10:24:00.000-05:00

I have added a link to my daughter Jessica's blog. Since I asked her to put a link to my blog, she insisted that I put a link to hers. Her blog and my blog are like matter vs. anti-matter. I am hoping that some of her friends check out my blog and maybe learn something.

Check her blog out. It's not too populated yet, but I know it will be entertaining.

So Long Dan

2004-11-26T15:53:00.000-05:00

Should we be happy that Dan Rather is “retiring” rather than face the music of the investigation into his use of false documents during the 2004 election? I suppose that we should just be happy that he is gone from the evening news. He will, however, still be slanting the events of the day on 60 Minutes. Dan would never admit his bias, even as Andy Rooney said that he “should be more careful” and Walter Cronkite admitted that most journalists are liberal. Rather also could not help himself from his love of Bill Clinton. When congratulated by newly elected president Bill Clinton on his new partnership with Connie Chung, he replied "Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. President. If we could be one-one-hundredth as great as you and Hillary Rodham Clinton have been together in the White House, we'd take it right now and walk away winners." When asked point blank by Bill O’Reilly if he thought that Clinton was an honest man, he said that he did. When reminded of all of the lies, he said that we all lie, and that you can lie about some things and still be an honest man.

Many Americans do not believe that the “big three networks”, along with CNN and MSNBC, are biased. They think that they are fair because occasionally they cover news that is negative to Democrats. They covered bad news for Clinton, for example, because they had to. The news was so well known that to not report it would be difficult. However, what makes these networks biased is in the way they report news, and what news that they choose not to report.

First, the way they report. The leftist media love to use adjectives when describing Republicans in a way that they do not for Democrats. For example, when introducing a Republican Senator, they will say “conservative Senator X”, or “right wing Senator Y”. When introducing a Democrat, how many times have you heard Rather, Brokaw or Jennings say “left wing Senator Ted Kennedy”? When describing the Ken Starr investigation Rather reported on the CBS Evening News August 5, 1998 "Today marks the end of four years of the Ken Starr investigation, and still counting. Cost to taxpayers so far: 40 million dollars, and counting." When describing the Lawrence Walsh investigation into Iran-contra-(The Camera Never Blinks Twice, 1994), which lasted seven years, he said: "And the special prosecutor, Lawrence Walsh, kept digging tirelessly, seeking convictions and, when convictions weren't to be had, seeking justice.... If crimes are committed in the government, then someone ought to be held accountable--that's the American way. So Walsh kept pressing." I wonder how much Walsh spent.

On the point of not reporting certain news, an example would be the Juanita Broderick story. Broderick accused Bill Clinton of rape against her, a pretty serious charge. Whether or not it is true, it was a story worthy of reporting. We all remember the ridiculous charges by Anita Hill against Clarence Thomas during his nomination hearing. The mainstream media ate up the silly charges, saying that they must be reported because of the “serious nature of the charges”. The National Organization for Women (NOW) echoed the “seriousness “charge over and over again. Yet the NOW gang and the mainstream media were absent during the Broderick charges and for most of the other “bimbo eruptions”, as was spun by Clinton apologists. Another example was when the 9-11 Commission issued their report, which contained evidence of links between Al Qaeda and Sadaam Hussein, the mainstream press ignored it. Even worse, they allowed John F. Kerry to continue the lie that there was no link unchallenged.

I guess that we should be happy that Dan is gone. Maybe, just maybe, CBS will decide to change things up and look for an objective reporter. You would think that being in third place (of three) for years would be a motivation for change, but CBS has not shown any motivation to change yet. For a treasure of information about the bias of Dan Rather, check out http://www.ratherbiased.com/news/.

Clinton's Legacy Update

2004-11-21T13:45:00.000-05:00

Hamilton College has hired Susan Rosenberg to teach the following half-credit class: Resistance Memoirs: Writing, Identity, and Change. Composition, Literature and Eng/CRWR 343. Who is Susan Rosenberg? She is a 1980s radical who was convicted of having more than 600 pounds of explosives and who was indicted in a bank robbery that killed three people. For years, she had been an activist against the Vietnam War, and a strong supporter of African American and Puerto Rican liberation struggles. She and co-defendant Timothy Blunk defended their illegal actions as morally justified efforts to resist U.S. government oppression. So far good credentials for a liberal college professor. Any other credentials you ask? Her 58-year sentence was commuted by President Bill Clinton in 2001 on his last day in office; one of the many going away presents by Bill to many criminals. This is nothing new for Hamilton College. The appointment of Rosenberg is the latest in a string of stories that have brought Hamilton into the national spotlight. Three years ago, a visiting professor of French quit after revelations that she was trying to clone a baby with the help of a group that believed in extraterrestrials. In 2002, President Eugene Tobin resigned after admitting he had plagiarized passages in some speeches.

NBC's Bias On Display Again

2004-11-21T13:32:00.000-05:00

The coverage by pool correspondent Kevin Sites of NBC television of the shooting of a terrorist by a Marine was blatantly biased. Site’s is a known war activist, and for NBC to embed him as an objective journalist is both irresponsible and disgraceful, but business as usual for the main stream media. Sites has his own blog (http://www.kevinsites.net/) that is full of anti-war images complimented by his writings. Sites also contributes to an anti-war site http://www.imagesagainstwar.com/ . The soldier acted within the context of his experience. That experience told him that terrorists routinely booby trap themselves and lure in unsuspecting soldiers for the kill, they booby trap children and they booby trap bodies of the dead. Terrorists surrender, only to open fire on soldiers. Question, if your son or daughter was a soldier in Iraq, would you want him or her to ignore this battlefield intelligence or would you want him to proceed with caution and put himself and his fellow soldier’s safety first? I am ok with embedded journalists, as long as they are real journalists and not activists. The problem is that there are not that many journalists around these days.

Say Good-bye to the World's #1 Terrorist

2004-11-21T13:19:00.000-05:00

The world is a better place now that the father of modern day terrorism, Yasir Arafat, is dead. Arafat is not, as many in the main stream media state, a “world leader”. He was a terrorist, period. The fact that so many politicians like Bill Clinton thought that a deal could be made with Arafat was naive and sad. Bush dealt with him in a correct manner. He stated bluntly that he was the problem and did not recognize him as a leader. French President Jacques Chirac, however, treated him as a great world leader, personally attending his funeral and kissing his grave. The French are even considering naming streets after Arafat.

Reaction To Cabinet Changes

2004-11-21T13:07:00.000-05:00

I find the Democrat’s reaction to the Bush cabinet changes both predictable and amusing. The typical comment is that Bush is filling his cabinet with “yes men”. You also here comments like cabinet members are “bailing out”. This turnover in staff is typical and healthy. As far as the yes men comment, let’s remember that cabinet members work for the President and are suppose to execute his vision. They are not another branch of government that acts independently of the Executive Branch of the government. One of Bush’s problems in his first term was the fact that his Secretary of State, Colin Powell, mostly worked against his policies. Interestingly, when this happens the left comment about the division in the Bush administration. More of having it both ways.

More Hypocrisy from the Left

2004-11-21T13:02:00.000-05:00

More hypocrisy from the left surfaced as political cartoonists ridiculed Condoleezza Rice’ appointment as Secretary of State. These cartoons were racist and inappropriate. Left-wing cartoonist Jeff Danziger shows Rice saying “I knows all about aluminum tubes”, correction, “I don’t know nuthin’ about aluminum tubes”. Even worse than this was a cartoon by Ted Rall in the Washington Post. In that cartoon he asks: What do you call a black conservative who works for the Bush Administration? He answers: A house nigg..! Ha-ha-ha! Now pass the cornpipe, paw. Gary Trudeau, another darling of the left, referred to Rice as “Brown Sugar”. Can you imagine if someone on Fox News said something like this? Yet these comments are very acceptable to the left since they are aimed at conservatives. Disgraceful.

Winners Losers of the 2004 Election

2004-11-07T18:00:00.000-05:00

Winners:
Carl Rove
Tom DeLay
Fox News, Bloggers
Iraq
Charlie Daniels Band, Darryl Worley, Martina McBride
Tax payers
The Stock Market
Laura Bush
Vietnam Vets
U.S. Military
U.S. Constitution
George Allen
Zell Miller
Patriotism
and of course George W. Bush

Losers:
Terry McAuliffe
Tom Daschle
Massachusetts Supreme Court, Gay Marriage
Thousands of lawyers wishing for another Florida
Michael Moore
George Soros
John Edwards
Robert Redford, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Barbara Streisand ( I could go on and on here)
Terrorists
Hilary Clinton and the Far Left
CBS, Dan Rather, N.Y. Times, Chris Matthews
Pollsters (except Rasmussen)
P. Diddy, Eminem,Bruce Springsteen, Dixie Chicks
Al Gore
United Nations
Osama Bin Laden
Old Europe
Teresa Heinz
McCain-Feingold "Reform"
Kweisi Mfume / Julian Bond
and of course John Forbes Kerry

Brain Dump - Thoughts about the Election

2004-11-07T14:30:00.000-05:00

George W. Bush is the first presidential candidate to win a majority of the votes since 1988
Bush is the first president since Franklin D. Roosevelt to be re-elected while increasing a majority position in both houses of Congress
Bush enjoyed support from 48 percent of women voters this year, up from only 43 percent in the 2000 election
Women with children overwhelmingly went Bush's way
The Democrats will blame everyone and everything except the message for the loss in 2004. The party has drifted far left, despite the losses since 1994 in Congress. Rather than learn from the 1994 election, they reacted by going more liberal. Daschle, an ultra-liberal, replaced Mitchell as party leader in the Senate (Daschle lost in 2004), and Pelosi, another far left member of Congress, was chosen to lead the House for the Democrats.
Immediately after the election, Kerry and other Democrats called for the Republicans to reach out to the Democrats. This is ridiculous. I do not remember the Democrats, during their 40 years of reign, ever reach out to the Republicans. As a matter of fact, they ruled as if there was no other party. The GOP has been much more civil and bi-partisan than the Democrats ever were. It is the Democrats who should reach out to the Republicans if they want to be a part of Bush II.

A Divided Nation?

2004-11-05T00:11:00.000-05:00

How many times over the last few years have you heard that the nation is "divided"? Far too many I bet. Just look at the election results, specifically the election map by county on my site. You will see that the country is pretty solidly red (Republican). The few splotches of blue (Democrat) are concentrated in the big cities. The cities generally are entitlement centers and / or dominated by unions.

The fact of the matter is that the Democratic Party has drifted way to the left, leaving many traditional Democrats without a home. The main stream media is on the train heading left, and will do anything to help their party get into power. This includes bias reporting and polling designed to support their agenda. Creating a perception that the country is divided is designed to make the left appear mainstream. They are not, they are out of touch with mainstream America.

The spinners will surely say that Kerry was just not able to get his message out. The Democratic party will have a very hard time changing courses after this election because they are owned by unions and trial lawyers. Let's all hope they conclude they their message is correct, and they just had the wrong messenger. This will ensure GOP majorities for some time.

2004-11-04T20:54:00.000-05:00

USA Election Map by County 2004

Quotes from Ronald Reagan

2004-11-01T20:40:00.000-05:00

Work in Progress - Thoughts from Ronald Reagan

"Nations that place their faith in treaties & fail to keep their hardware up don't stick around long enough to write many pages in history."
"It would not matter if 3/4 of the human race perished; the important thing is that the remaining 1/4 be communist" - Nicolai Lenin ("Reagan - In His Own Hand")
"We want to avoid a war and that is better achieved by being so strong that a potential enemy is not tempted to go adventuring".
"The communist party enters into bourgois institutions not to do constructive work but in order to direct the masses to destroy from within the whole bourgois state machine and the parliament itself". - Nicolai Lenin ("Reagan - In His Own Hand") --> My analysis - Modern day analogies, Greenspeace, Global Warming, PETA, political correctness, etc...
"The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would hire them away. "
"The government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it."
"My fellow Americans, I am pleased to tell you I just signed legislation which outlaws Russia forever. The bombing begins in five minutes. "
"I have left orders to be awakened at any time in case of national emergency, even if I'm in a cabinet meeting. "
"It is not my intention to do away with government. It is rather to make it work -- work with us, not over us; stand by our side, not ride on our back. Government can and must provide opportunity, not smother it; foster productivity, not stifle it. "
"We don't have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven't taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much. "
"Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall! "
"Politics is supposed to be the second-oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first."
"Recession is when your neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours. And recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his."

2004-11-01T01:11:00.000-05:00

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