So here we are once again, with a terrorist threat nearly thwarted by the expert skill of those in charge.  Those elected and appointed to safeguard the lives of American citizens foiled the man who is now known as ‘the underwear bomber.’  Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab, hid explosive powder in his underwear and an explosive gel alone his legs.  With a blanket covering his lower body, he began to mix the two together.  Thankfully though, he was stopped.

That would all be well and good if it was true.  While the part about the explosives is true, the part about our government saving the day was not.  Those two compounds needed to be mixed and settle for a half an hour before they were ignited.  He waited twenty minutes.  If he had waited another 10 minutes, there would have been a huge explosion, and three hundred or more lives would have been lost.  The airliner would have gone up and the damage on the tarmac and airport would have been unimaginable.

AbdulMutallab’s father, Alhaji Umaru Mutallab is one of his countries wealthiest bankers.  He was so disturbed by the radicalization of his son that he went to the officials of his country, who them took him to the American embassy and local CIA officials.  He claimed that his son had been radicalized by Islamic militants in Yemen, and told them all that he had learned from his son.  Reports were sent to the CIA headquarters in Langley, VA.

AbdulMutallab’s name was added to a list of half a million suspects with suspected terrorist ties.  They did not place his name on the country’s no-fly list, and they did not contact Yemeni intelligence officials, according to the Yemen government.  The ball was completely dropped.  It could have been a lazy bureaucrat who didn’t file the case report quickly or thoroughly enough.  It’s more likely however, that through political correctness has so engulfed and strangled our intelligence apparatus that we simply have forgotten how to get into the fight and protect ourselves

Israel has not has had an airline attack in decades, because they profile those who are a danger to them.  Those with bombs and guns are searched, and arrested.  I’ll make the point very bluntly:  Safeguarding the lives of innocents is more important than potentially inconveniencing a foreigner or two.  If they are on a list of any kind, they should have to go through extra screening to enter the United States.  We should not care about their inconvenience and feelings.  Why should we risk our way of life?

Janet Napolitano’s greatest contribution to the Department of Homeland Security was her memo on profiling conservatives in the country as possible homegrown terrorists, but not Muslims.  So terrified of the ACLU and the Daily Kos they have become that those in charge with our security would allow a would-be terrorist into our borders in order to seem ‘nice.’

President Obama said that there would be an investigation.  He gave off a speech that said led the impression that heads would soon roll.  However, I know that Obama shares the same ideology as Napolitano, Pelosi, and all the rest of them.  He may want to plug a hole in security because it reflects poorly on him, happening on his watch.  I doubt he would try AbdulMutallab under a military tribunal, or consider any solution, which did not immediately make it more difficult to prevent further things like this from happening.  It is more likely that a far greater number of heads would roll if someone had not read this terrorist his rights and afforded him constitutional protection and a fresh latte.

Mr. President, let the CIA and FBI talk to each other.  Tear down the politically correct veil that had blinded us to threats and tied our hands.  Let us profile those who are on lists and considered a threat.  Lets stop giving Visas to people on watch lists, or revoke them once they are placed on said list.

Why should we risk our way of life?

What is amazing to me is how often people do NOT learn from history.  It can be recent or ancient, and they never learn.

A recent Rasmussen Poll says that a ‘Tea Party’ candidate beats Republicans in a national election, but still lose to the Democrats.  People are whipped up in a fury about the insane expansion of government and they are actually buying that a third party candidate could win.  Now let’s think about what the poll said.  A Tea Party candidate could beat the Republican, but not the Democrat.

Well, that’s all well and good if the Republican was the current incumbent and there was no such thing as a Democrat party.  Lets review some history.  In 1912, Teddy Roosevelt broke away from the Republicans to form the Progressive, or Bull Moose party.  The Republicans lost.  What was worse was that the Republican in the race, William Taft was already the incumbent.  It ushered in the beginning of the presidency of Woodrow Wilson, a progressive liberal democrat who supported such things as eugenics and isolationism.  Great.

Woodrow Wilson carried 40 states.  Teddy Roosevelt carried 6 states and Taft carried two.  As expected, many Republicans broke off to follow Roosevelt, but their numbers were too small, and it ushered in a 435 electoral-vote landslide for Wilson.

Lets zoom ahead to 1992, shall we?  Conservative independent (some said progressive, but his fiscal policies were very conservative) Ross Perot ran as an independent against the Incumbent Republican George H.W. Bush, and Democrat Bill Clinton.  Clinton won with a popular vote of over 44 million.  Bush won just over 39 million, and Perot clocked in with nearly 20 million votes.  Examine that carefully.  Twenty million votes could have gone to Bush and easily put him over the top.  Perot did not carry a single state, but he bled enough votes away for Clinton to march to victory.

Conservatives vote for the candidate that they believe is more conservative.  If that doesn’t fall on a major party line, so be it.  Liberals overwhelmingly vote for the Democrat candidate, because they know it will win.  You have socialist party and green party candidates who throw their hat into the ring, but they can never garner strong support.  None of them ever even came CLOSE to getting nearly 20 million votes!!

We must come back to our senses, people.  First of all, there is no ‘Tea Party.’  The Tea Party groups have a de facto political leader, and her name is Sarah Palin.  But if Sarah Palin ran as a member of a third party, I would not support her, despite how much I admire her.  I know that conservatives will divide our numbers, and the Democrats will not.  This time around we do not even have the incumbent advantage.  It will be reminiscent of Reagan defeating Mondale, 49 to 1.

This is not what we want, and not what we need.  I have been to these tea parties.  I support them and find the people are all great people.  They have a great message.  Their fundamental flaw is that they would rather take down the whole system than hijack a party, just like the liberals did with the Democrats decades ago.  If Sarah Palin or Mitt Romney ran as a Republican, I think they would have a solid chance at beating President Obama.  You could run Jesus Christ as a third party candidate in this country and he would lose in a landslide.

If we as conservatives ever hope to stop the Democrats, we need to unite.  The Republican party is not going anywhere, and only if it did would there be room for a third party, which of course would then be the new second party.  We must not divide our numbers.  We must stand united.  Trust me, they want a third party.  The Democrats in power would love to see a Tea Party organize and run against the Republicans, because they sure as heck would not be running against the Democrats.  It would be no contest.  Trust me, that bitter reality makes me sick.

If someone like Palin or Romney would enter the race head on, nothing would make me happier.  As a Republican with tea party support, they could probably do it.  The Democrats are not exactly on any favorite lists of Americans, save those in NYC or LA.  The biggest flaw the Republican Party is making, is not embracing these outsiders.  We’ve had enough of Gingrich, boys.  Bring in Sarah.

United we can win it all.  If we divide our forces, we’ll end up dying by friendly fire.

I was fortunate enough to live in a city that was on the list of stops for Governor Palin’s book tour.  Of all the cities and areas in upstate NY, I didn’t expect it to be mine!  However as an organizer for 2012 Draft Sarah Committee, I was happy that I could potentially get my book signed and meet the governor.  I ended up walking out with a signed copy of ‘Going Rogue,’ a signed t-shirt (that my awesome girlfriend made for me) and an awesome experience under my belt!

There were people from all walks of life.  Some were your average blue-collar working class Americans.  Some looked like they came from a little bit of money.  Some had been there waiting since the previous evening.  They were white, black, Asian, Latino, eastern Indian.  All ages.

Despite MSNBC’s Chris Matthew’s claim that Palin’s supports were only rich, white and elderly, I saw a true cross section of America. Considering that I live in a liberal city in a liberal state, I was really happy to see well over a thousand people lined up by the time the store opened.  I arrived a few minutes before 7:30, and the line went halfway across the plaza. (Quite a large plaza I might add)  The number of people nearly doubled by the time the doors opened an hour and a half later at 9:00.  The biggest surprise for me was the large group of people who were under twenty-five years old.  It was so exciting to see.  Another wonderful thing to see – there were only a handful of protestors, all of which looked like they were transplanted from 1968.

There were other organizers and political peeps there as well.  It was great to stand and just talk with people casually who were like-minded. Some of them were fans of her policies.  Some of them were women who had never seen a fellow woman in public office who shared their views.  Most people were there because they believe that they may have found their champion.

The last two Republican presidents (Bush, and W. Bush) did some things that were really great, and made some pretty big mistakes. Since the day that Ronald Reagan left office, conservatives have been searching for a true champion.  There is now a generation of young Americans that have grown up without a truly inspiring leader on the right side of the aisle.

There are other leaders in the GOP that are decent speakers with some conservative cred.  Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is now a member of the talk show crew, and his time as a Baptist minister certainly helps with the public speaking.  A lot of people are unhappy with how often Huckabee would try to get along with the democrats a-la John McCain.

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney (Who I must disclose I am a huge fan of) is a very sharp speaker and looked tailor-made to be a president.  He has excellent economic credentials, ran the 2002 Olympics and was a successful governor, elected in a very liberal state. However some people still have questions about the health care plan he tried to enact during his time in office.  He will no doubt have to answer those questions if he decides to run again.

Sarah Palin is a triple-threat.  She can rally a crowd while appearing personable.  She has conservative credentials, and she can tout a successful string of jobs.  She was elected to City Council, then Mayor, then was the Chairperson of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, and then finally Governor.  While she did resign her term as governor prematurely, she did so only because the frivolous lawsuits kept her from doing her job.  It was not often reported in the main-steam media that during her term as governor she enjoyed approval ratings in the high eighties.

She comes off like your neighbor.  She is hitting two cities a day, signing over a thousand books per stop.   When she entered the store and waved to the crowd outside, you would have sworn that Michael Jackson was in to sign copies of the Thriller album in 1984.  The cheers were deafening.

She is a personable and genuine person, who is on what many people believe to be the ‘right’ side of the issues. (ba dum bum) For the first time in forty years, more people in the country are pro-life than pro-choice.  The tea party movement has not only shown disgust with the current administration, but with mistakes made from the Bush years as well.  They despise the rapid growth in government that has taken place since the year 2001.  Palin is a small-government reformer who could if elected to the presidency, reduce the size of bureaucracy and government the way Ronald Reagan did in the eighties.

That’s something we could all use.  Imagine a world with government half the size it is now.  Imagine a government not so politically correct that we have a ‘civil court’ trial for the 9/11 mastermind planners so that we can curry favor with the rest of the world.  Imagine a bureaucracy not so clogged with useless pencil-pushing jobs that soak up taxpayer money.  Imagine a government not hell-bent on pushing economic crippling bills like Cap-and-Trade and Health Care reform.  I imagine it every day.

Run Sarah Run.

Before I really get rolling, I want to take a minute and talk about the horrific events at Ft. Hood that took place yesterday.

I’ve always been a staunch supporter of the United States Military, and its personnel. I was coming home from work and saw it on the news when I walked in the house. It was one of the most disgusting displays of humanity that I had seen since September 11^th. This man, Maj. Nidal Malik Hassan, did something deplorable. He was known to be politically against the war, and had spoken about how Muslims should not be made to fight other Muslims. He had had a recent past of poor performance reviews, and decided to take the coward’s way out.

Chanting “Allahu Akbar” (god is great) he turned his guns on his fellow soldiers. He killed 13 and wounded over thirty others. This country and its military gave him a chance, a life, and an education. Nearly half a million dollars I hear in that education, too. It’s disgusting that this is how he chose to show himself. He ended up being a terrorist, a scumbag, and a disgrace to the uniform.

I want to say that my thoughts and prayers are with the men and women of Ft. Hood. I also want to say that I only wish that they had killed him when he was taken down.

Okay, now onto what I was originally had written, which deals with the election victories for the GOP this week.

I’ll admit I did a little bit of partying on behalf of the GOP victories.   After losing two straight elections, it was a pleasant surprise to see some life breathed back into the Republican brand. These were not RINOs taking home the gold, either. These people were running as tax-cutting, small-government, traditional-valued conservatives.

The State of Virginia was painted red across the board, as Republican Bob McDonnell beat out Democrat Creigh Deeds, 58% to 41%. To have a Republican win with a 17-point margin of victory in a state Obama won soundly last year is fantastic for the GOP brand. McDonnell is not the only one celebrating in Virginia today.   The Republican candidates for Lt. Governor and state Attorney General also won decisive victories. Three-for-three in ‘The Old Dominion State.’

Virginia showed quite a turnaround in exit polling from last year’s results. In polls conducted by Edison Research, we saw a dramatic change from last year. In 2008 the number of people who identified themselves as members of the GOP leveled off at about 33%. This year it topped 37%. During last year’s election, the number of self-described Democrats was at 39%. This year it is down to 33%.

Creigh Deeds spent a decent amount of time trying to show that McDonnell’s conservative cred meant that he was oppressive towards women, but according to those polled, McDonnell took the women’s vote 54% to 46%, and ‘working’ women even preferred him over Deeds 51% to 48%.

The top issues in Virginia were the economy by 47%, health care by 24% and taxes by 15%. Conservatives and Republicans both showed up in greater numbers than in 2008, and it paid off.

In New Jersey, it was nothing short of divine intervention. This is the bluest of blue states, and an incumbent Democrat governor should have sailed right through to victory. Christie in fact led the race for most of the past few months. Even with Obama coming multiple times to campaign for him, Corzine still lost, 48% to 44%. (Independent candidate Jim Daggett took the remainder of the vote.)

Independents made up 25% of the vote, and they favored Christie over Corzine, 60% to 30%. Members of the GOP voted solidly for Christie, 91% and 6% for Corzine. Registered Democrats were less loyal, going 88% for Corzine and 8% for Christie. Moderates for the most part were split, but still favored Christie, 48% to 45%. Conservatives, who were out in huge numbers in New Jersey, favored Christie by 88%.

The most important issues in New Jersey were the economy with 32%, property taxes (highest in the nation) with 26%, corruption with 20% and health care, 17%.

In a brief note about the special election of New York’s 23^rd district, all conservatives and Republicans can learn an important message here:

1) 1) Pick conservative candidates, and not traitorous RINOs who will either NOT champion liberal causes’ or betray their party by endorsing the Democratic candidate.

2) 2) Learn whom in the party to trust more. Sorry Newt, but Palin’s endorsement won that round. Not only did her endorsement put Hoffman in the lead for a while, she proved to be a true force to be reckoned with. Hoffman nearly won as a third party conservative candidate in a blue state. People do like Sarah, and her endorsements.

The elections also brought other surprises. The state of Maine became the 31^stin a row to vote down Gay Marriage. Maine is no red state, and I was sure this was going to pass with popular vote. Barack Obama may have won in what was called an electoral landslide, but he did not win in an ideological one. Many people voted on their anger towards President Bush, which is just moronic. Ya know, because he wasn’t on the ticket!

The United States is still a center-right nation. People may have voted in change last year, but it wasn’t what they thought it was going to be. This is only the beginning. They woke up the sleeping giant, and the conservatives are being led to the polls once again.

The winds are poised to shift next week in a few major elections.  While it is an unusual thing, watching for election results on an odd year, these certainly are unusual times.  Two of these races are for the gubernatorial positions of Virginia and New Jersey.  A Republican victory in either state could start the swinging of a pendulum.

Today Virginia is one of the most ‘purple’ states in the union.  Neither red nor blue, it is a true swing state.  This is also a race with no incumbent.  The GOP has put up state Attorney General Bob McDonnell, who as of this week is running with 55% support according to a Washington Post poll.  On the Democrat side of the isle we have state senator Creigh Deeds, who is running with 44% support.

If this were New York or Texas, this would not be such a fun race to watch.  We typically know who is going to win if the state is solidly Democrat or Republican.

But this is Virginia, a state with an outgoing Liberal Democrat Governor, and a republican majority in the 100-seat Virginia House of Delegates.  (The Republicans currently hold 53 of those hundred seats.)  This race could go either way, but the fact that McDonnell is 11 points ahead in a state that went for Barack Obama in last year’s election.

Last year when Barack Obama won with 365 electoral votes to John McCains 173, the media and the entire Democrat party wrote off conservatives and Republicans as a dead breed.  It was the first time a Democratic presidential candidate had won with more than 50% of the vote since Jimmy Carter. (With that landslide 50.1%)

Just nine months into his presidency we are witnessing the results.  Massive spending increases.  I never thought anyone could outspent President Bush, but Obama proved me wrong in a matter of weeks.  He has continued to push a massive health care bill that the public does not want in any poll.  He has delayed sending troops to Afghanistan, however he has mulled sending them to Fox News.  The Tea Party movement is the beginning of what could be a huge backlash towards the arrogant presumption that the Whitehouse and entire democrat party have exuded since November of last year.

In New Jersey you have a different entity altogether.  This is one of the most liberal, one of the most ‘blue’ states in the union.  Liberal Democrat incumbent governor Jim Corzine is in a race too close to call in any poll taken.  GOP challenger Chris Christie has been outspent 24 million to 9 million.  The fact that he is a stones throw away from winning this race with that kind of money being thrown to derail him is amazing.  Some would say a miracle, but then Richard Dawkins would have to step in and write a book about it.

It would be an upset and a gift to the state of New Jersey if Christie pulled out the win here.  It would be a bigger message to Democrats in conservative states or districts if either of these two GOP challengers won.  It would signal that President Obama’s policies are not the current trend they were broadly proclaimed to be.  Politicians are scared of never getting re-elected, and they have a gift for seeing which way the wind is blowing, and switching sides.  Worrying about re-election would make some of them in conservative areas less likely to want to help Nancy Pelosi push her socialist agenda further.  It would be a potential gift for those of us who oppose that monstrosity of a health care bill she put forth Thursday, all 1,990 pages of it!

Finally, there is a race in my home state of New York in the 23^rd congressional district.  Here we have a very conservative district in New York (One of the two some would say) where you have a three-way race.   Republican John M. McHugh was tapped to be Secretary of the Army on September 21^st, so Governor Paterson of New York called for a special election.  Under New York law, there are no primaries for special elections.  If there had been, Doug Hoffman would have probably cleaned the clock of Deirdre Scozzafava.  She is a liberal Republican member of the NY state assembly, but secured the party’s nomination.  On the democrat side, attorney Bill Owens was nominated.  Doug Hoffman was nominated on behalf of the conservative party, who felt that Scozzafava was far too liberal to represent them in their district.

This race truly caught fire when Sarah Palin threw her support behind Doug Hoffman.  She still carries a lot of clout with conservatives in this country, and now Doug Hoffman is showing in the polls enough to possibly pull off an upset.  Palin has said she does not support a third-party movement in this country, but rather wants to show the Republican Party that they could pick better candidates.

I wish Hoffman, Christie and McDonnell luck.  Any of these three winning would be a blessing, and it would be nice for a change to see the looks on the Democrats faces when they realize that their policy’s are truly not a well-received as they believe.  They still all need our support though, so let’s keep it up!!

Recently at a town hall meeting, Congressman Barney Frank (D-Mass) was in rare form.  He normally is snide and arrogant, but that day he was downright abusive.  He will no doubt say he was being reactionary, cashing in on the convenient excuse that apparently every town hall grouping is full of nothing but angry mobs carrying torches and pitchforks.  He asked someone what planet they were from when they asked him questions about the health care bill.  He was not only condescending, he was utterly full of contempt for the audience.  I saw the video clips, and I think he truly believed himself above the ‘little people.’

Congressman Frank and others of his ilk do not live here on planet earth with the rest of us.  He is an extreme liberal, a group that is the smallest of all general political labels (Republicans, Democrats, Independents, Conservatives and Liberals).  They do not know what it is to be out in ‘normal’ America.  They are almost always guaranteed re-election, and never have to really put up much of a fight in their extremely liberal states and/or districts.  Barney Frank is from one of the most liberal districts in one of the most liberal states in the country.  Other Democrats in this category would be Congressman Charlie Rangel (NY), Ted Kennedy (Mass), Dianne Feinstein (Cali), Nancy Pelosi (Cali), and California Senator Barbara Boxer, who actually for the first time finds herself in dangerous polling territory against her 2010 assumed-to-be rivals Carly Fiorina and Chuck DeVore.

These people are calling the protesters Nazis, thugs and ignorant hicks.  They are complaining at the audacity that these people have to stand up and voice their objections.  They don’t like the fact that anyone would have any objections.  People like Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY) said he would vote against his constituency’s wishes and vote for H.R. 3200 (The Democrat-written health care bill) even if they all told him not to. He said he didn’t care.  He spoke with arrogance, as if the ‘little people’ did not know what is best for them, and needed to be told.  They all seem to bristle with that arrogance, as if they cannot be bothered with the serfs who do not seem to know what is best for them.

They do not know what a general election looks like.  They never have to fight and they have never had to deal with people who think other than what they think, until they started screwing with their health care.  They woke people up to how they truly view people.  They view people as something that can be pushed around and controlled, and they seem to have woken up the sleeping giant.

Speaking of H.R. 3200, I have downloaded it from the congressional website where it is available, and I am making my way through it.  My next few blogs will feature my findings and review of this monstrosity of a bill.   I’ve read 250 pages so far it and it is a complete train wreck, kind of like Obama’s sales pitch these past few weeks!

Stay tuned!

Does anyone know the exchange rate for thirty pieces of silver?  I don’t mean today’s market price.  I was actually thinking of what it would have been worth around the year 33 AD.  Anyone know?  Only reason I ask is, I am curious to see if the final estimated amount ended up in either Senator Olympia Snowe’s or Susan Collin’s bank account recently.  I’m just asking!

We all know that politics is a dirty business.  It is not that far fetched to believe that two liberal-leaning republican senators could have been promised money to fund their pet-projects in order to give their vote to the health care bill.  Those two votes, if indeed they vote that way, cover for a few ‘blue-dog’ democrats that don’t want to loose their jobs next election-cycle.  They give the comfort zone necessary to pass the bill, and the excuse for Obama and the congressional democrats to say this bill is passed with ‘bipartisan support.’

Sorry Mr. President, but two liberal republicans out the whole mess of them serving in congress currently is hardly bipartisan.  The military refit programs under President Reagan, an the Welfare Reform Acts under President Clinton would be far better examples.  While I identify with President Reagan much more than Clinton, I can at least respect Clinton for his pragmatism and his ability to look beyond his ideology.  When that man had his back against a wall, he knew when to bargain and when to shift.  That’s how someone who is a leader of a people gets things done.  You don’t keep hitting your head against a brick wall, hoping the other side will give in.  We pay our leaders to work together, and sometimes that means bargaining and compromise.

President Obama is a different animal all together.

I firmly believe that President Obama is willing to commit political suicide to pass health care reform.  While the numbers of support keep slipping, I have no doubt he will ’sacrifice himself’ for the greater good.  By the way, anytime you hear leaders talking about the greater good, be prepared to hum the old Soviet anthem.

I’ve said before that it takes a great amount of arrogant presumption to believe you know what is best for 300 million people.  Every leader wants to try and do what is best for their people, but they she never cross over into “I know what’s better for you than you do.”  Suggesting a good idea and winning over public support is one thing.  Ramming it down their throats when they say no is another thing entirely.  They have tried the moral argument.  They have tried the urgent one.

Soon it will be ‘we’re going to make it very financially hard for your employees to not dump you onto the public option.  Then it will be mandatory ‘volunteering’ and community service.  Then it will be illegal to homeschool your children.  After all, how would they learn their Barack Hussein Obama songs at home?

Soon they may have a White House Communications Director who lauds the works of Chairman Mao.  Oh!  Sorry!  Too late eh?  Oh well, at least they aren’t trying to discredit a news organization and have a public enemies list.  What’s that?  I’m too late on that also!  Ugh!  Just when I think that President Obama cannot be beaten for the newest whacky-leftist leader, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown opens his mouth again.  He spoke recently about ‘climate change,’ saying that the world MUST come to an accord in Copenhagen.  Why so soon?  Well, in fifty more days it will be too late.  Thats right folks!  We only have fifty more days to save the world.  I’m guessing if we don’t, then there will be some sort of horrendous space kablooie!!!!  ACK!  RUN!!!

What a bunch of nutjobs.  Oh well!  At least our dear leader isn’t keeping our troops on the battlefield without proper funding, orders or reinforcements.  What?  Oh man!!!

Vote in 2010 and 2012 people.  This has to end with this term.

I will take any opportunity to start off things with a delicious pun, so lets get started!

President Obama and the democrats health care reform seems to be in, ‘critical condition.’ 

Ba dum bum.

Now I know that no one really objected to H.R. 3200 of course until they read it.  I have been working through it, and I must say I am terrified.  After only 50 pages into the 1000 plus page bill I found myself breaking out in a cold sweat and wishing I still consumed alcohol.  It’s all in there.  This will be part of a three part blog series where I will go over parts of the bill, using direct quotes and translation to the best of my ability.  I have two dictionaries and a thesaurus to understand the bill, but I’m working on it!

I wanted today to start off with a simple comparison.  It starts off with the now famous ‘death panels’ remark by former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin made on her Facebook page.  She spoke that there would be bureaucratic panels and advisory boards that might eventually come to decide which people could live and which could die.  Of course, she was not saying that someone with a Donkey pin on his shoulder and a set of horns could sneak in during the dark of night and literally pull the plug on grandma. 

What she was saying was that eventually it could come to the point where a panel would have to choose weather to save one life or another.  What is worrisome to her and many other people across the country is how we would gauge which life to save.  Would it be over whom was a more productive member of society, the younger and stronger being saved so that they might contribute more?  Could it be simply a matter of money?  Your surgery might cost less than mine, so you get to live, and I get the pain pills.  It doesn’t matter how it is decided.  It simply should not be allowed to ever happen.

There are many people who work in the Obama administration who are well known.  Rahm Emanuel is the president’s chief of staff, but someone who may not be so well know would be his brother, Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel.  Dr. Emanuel is a top advisor to the president for medical policy.  The quote that is coming up again and again from Dr. Emanuel is from his advocating medical decisions being made on a system, which “produces a priority curve on which individuals aged roughly between fifteen and forty years get the most chance, whereas the youngest and older people get chances that are attenuated.” 

‘Angels and ministers of grace, defend us.’

Of course, Dr. Emanuel has said that his method of thinking has evolved.  It’s amazing this happened so quickly, since many of his views were written in January of this year!  It must also be a huge coincidence that he did not retract his views until he was called out on it. 

This kind of plan would of course favor the strong and leave behind the weak.  It comes eerily close to falling in line with the earlier ideals of perfecting society, perfecting people.  The early twentieth-century progressives believed in saving the ‘really fittest’ so that society could move forward without those who were considered undesirable by society polluting the gene pool.  They also believe that those who soak up the most health care, the elderly and the chronically ill, would be free up much needed money if they were allowed to die at a younger age. 

Lets go back to the progressive movement of the early twentieth century.  This is not just a progressive ideology but a mindset as well.  It is a bridge between socialism and secularism.  Authoritarians and statists, joining hands with a common view. It is a viewpoint often seen in stark opposition from most conservative viewpoints.  We’ll go to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary for a definition on the Progressives:

Progressive: one believing in moderate political change and especially social improvement by governmental action

Progressive leaning ideologues come loaded with hubris.  They have a belief that people can be helped, or rather ‘helped along.’  Some other well-known progressives in history were Adolf Hitler, and Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger.  At the time it was called The American Birth Control League.  Sanger had written books pamphlets and papers about how the lesser fortunate denominations of humans, such as the Aboriginal population of Australia (which she believed to be the lowest species of human, just above the ape) should not be allowed to reproduce or contribute further to the human race.  She was also opposed to American blacks, and the waves of Asian and catholic immigrants.

There were many other undesirable people that were brushed aside during this time period.  People with physical handicaps were ignored or institutionalized.  Those with forms of mental retardation were forcibly sterilized and hoped to no longer have an impact on society.  Presidents Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson were two very well known progressives, despite being on opposite political parties!  Wilson, a democrat, held the belief that the human race was something that could be improved upon.

I do not believe that there is a large shadowy conspiracy and there is no looming new world order.  There are however, people who hold common ideals. People have held these kinds of ideals before, and others that were equally harmful.  When people who hold them come into power they can do a variety of damage.  There are still many people in office who consider themselves to be progressives.  Democratic house speaker Nancy Pelosi comes to mind first and foremost.     

Ironically, and I do say this not to try to stab anyone’s scientific beliefs, those who seem to believe in dwarinism and evolution the most seem to be rather selective on where it applies.  If it is with animals on the Galapagos Islands it’s fine, but if it’s in your own backyard, then that’s something else.   It had better make sure it stays with the animals it seems!

Again I must stress once more that I do not believe in a huge conspiracy, no fifth column that needs to be toppled.  But, just like a group of fundamentalist Muslims might wish to impose Sharia law on those who do not share their beliefs, people who have money, power and influence might wish to organize things the way they see fit.

They will always believe they know what is good and what is right.  They believe they have the appropriate view for all.  Detractors try to say that the conservatives and religious among us will try to force our beliefs on others.  In reality, most conservative Christians and Jews want to be left to their own devices, and would respectfully do the same.  If they truly believe the books they have read, they would lead by example and hope that others follow.  They would not want anyone to come along whose arm they had to twist.  I wish I could say the same for the secularists and progressives…

They use money and power to influence the politicians and people.  When that fails, they will use the law.  They will truck in busloads of people in SEIU and Acorn shirts to intimidate the opposition.  They will camp out on your front lawn or spam you with e-mails. 

They have the hubris to believe that people need to be tended over like sheep.  People like President Obamas science czar John Holdren, who wrote in his textbook “Ecoscience” in the 1970s, about forced abortions, sterilants in drinking water and reducing the overall population of the planet for it’s own good.  The have the Gaul to know not only what is best for themselves, but for everyone else too.  The little people simply do not have the status or brains to choose for themselves they will say…

When questions come up about individual liberty and freedom, or a persons right to choose for themselves, they will stare blankly at you.  How could you possibly not see it from their point of view?  They will see humans not as their fellow beings but as Lego’s and tinker toys from which they can create a new image.  If they are defeated, there will come a time for them to try again.  They will constantly hold up to the ideal that they can make people, ‘better.’

In the next two blogs that come, I will show how some of these ideas are not entirely gone…

The title of today’s blog is taken from one of my favorite movies when I was a kid, “Hook.”  In the 1991 Robin Williams feature’s final battle scene, we see the rag-tag ‘lost boys’ led by Peter Pan fight and winning the battle against Captain Hook and his larger group of pirates.  I thought of this the other day when I saw President Obama visibly angry or at least distressed at a press conference this week.  The topic of course was…health care!  ((Thunder and lightning!))  

Known for his cool, placid composure, it was surprising to see him scowling and fidgeting while answering questions.  I saw the same thing tonight as I sat and watched him talk tonight in his fourth televised press conference in six months of his presidency.  Six months into this administration he is finally being shown the downside of the job.  Not everything will go his way.  There were questions being launched at him that he did not want and did not expect.  I had to stand up and shout a few times as some of the most liberal members of the white house press corps gave him some questions that I never thought they would.  A few times my girl ‘Marie’ and I slapped high fives as he evaded one question after another, clearly not pleased with what he was getting.  

(To give my girl a sense of anonymity I will refer to her as ‘Marie.’  Her real name will be kept private)

‘Marie’ and I giggled and laughed a few times as he made these long-winded speeches that I believed were clearly designed to take up time.  I don’t think he wanted to answer any more questions than he had too.  He didn’t like what he was getting thrown at him at all.  I can’t say I really blame him.  On the campaign trail he was asked softball questions, greeted by throngs of blindly adoring followers, and never had to take the bumps that the mainstream media would typically give a candidate.  Governor’s Romney and Huckabee’s personal faith were scrutinized by the various talking heads on prime time.  Endless quotes from Hillary Clinton were talked about, and we won’t even get into what they put Governor Palin through.  Anything they could have looked into about then senator Obama was largely ignored, save for a few commentators and talk radio hosts.

President Obama’s health care overhaul could collapse before it ever gets off the ground.  The fact that some House and Senate democrats might be the reason in the end that it does not succeed has got to be driving Obama right up a wall.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad for all of this.  It is certainly better than the alternative.  If it collapsed after it took off, it would probably take the entire United States economy with it.  Still, he is not exactly used to having things not go his way.  So far in six months he has had almost no opposition worth mentioning.  The republicans are outnumbered in the house, and there are sixty votes in the senate for the democrats.  Before there were sixty democrats in the senate, there were a few liberal republicans that were willing to make back room deals.  

On January 29th he signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.  February 9th saw the signing of an extension of the State Children’s Health Insurance program.  The crippling blow for a generation came on February 17th when he signed The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (better known as the Stimulus bill) into law.  Later on came the Omnibus bill, which like the stimulus bill was loaded with pork projects.  On May 22nd he signed the Credit CARD Act, and then on tuesday of this week he got the senate to strip funding for new F-22 Raptors.  The senate handed Obama a way to actually keep a campaign promise, cutting military spending.  Now I always give credit where credit is due, and I have to give some to Senator Chris Dodd, who spoke out on the senate floor warning that this would cost thousands of jobs.  Good job Chris, but your still in hot water for that whole sub-prime thing.   

A universal health care bill was up for consideration before in 1993.  President Clinton and then first lady Hillary wanted a single-payer universal health care bill passed quickly.  It bombed horribly when the American people learned what was contained in the pages of the bill, and spoke out.  The next year marked the republican takeover of congress, a signal of the publics disapproval with the way Clinton and the democrats were trying to cram things in quickly.  The current crop of congressional democrats may be radical, but they are by no means stupid.  They know that 2010 could be a painful flashback for them if this bill bombs out like its predecessor.  

This health care bill is being read as much as the stimulus bill was by members of congress.  For those playing the home game, this means that they are hardly reading it at all.  It is loaded with projects that do not save people money, or have anything to do with health care for that matter.  People are being made aware of this and it turns their stomachs.  It’s now beginning to show in the polls, and that is giving President Obama his first wake-up call of the season.

I saw in my local paper today the results of a recent Associated Press-GfK Poll.  This poll shows that 54% of Americans now believe that we as a nation are on the wrong path. This figure is up from 46% in June.  President Obama’s approval rating has broken down below the June dreaded 60 mark, and now hovers at a cool 55%.  People who believe that Obama can help the economy have dropped down a sobering 19% from just before inauguration day.  The president is not the only one hurting in the polls.  The democrat-controlled congress has not been showing well for over a year and a half, and is now sinking lower once again.  They are currently hovering at 32%, and I would not be surprised if they sunk lower back into the twenties, which at that point you’re down to blood relatives and a few staff members being the only ones giving you their approval.  

People fear waiting lists, rationed care and clogged emergency rooms.  They see people in Britain being denied treatments because they are not deemed worth it to try and save.  They see the enormous costs of the European and Canadian systems.  What’s worse, if we go to a Canadian style single-payer system, then where will Canadians in need of a serious operation go?!  

Every time most or all of the republicans in congress vote against another huge expensive government project, I give them the ole’ pat on the back and an “Atta boys!”  It’s time I give the same to the American people.  Obama is like a paper champion, a boxer who has never fought a real battle.  He has finally been cut, and it has him frayed at both ends.

Keep at ‘em!

Well, it’s been a while since Governor Sarah Palin dropped a tactical nuclear bomb on the country.  I of course am referring to her resignation from the office of Governor of Alaska.  She came swooping into this office and followed it up with some of the highest approval ratings in recent gubernatorial history.  She is also one of the most successful, working with people to get things done as she promised.  

I believe she is far more of a threat to the liberals and Democratic party than they would ever let on, both because of the way she reaches people, and for the values she proudly wears on her sleeve.  She is far more qualified than anyone of them would say, and she is far smarter as well.

In a short amount of time she has rooted out corruption in both major parties. Her state is one of the only ones in this deep recession showing a surplus of cash and energy.  She has cut billions from their spending budget for this fiscal year while still being able to meet all major priorities.  Her state did not need the stimulus bill, and she turned down the money when it was thrust upon her.   Why should she?  If you don’t need it, don’t spend it!  She fought the oil companies and fought to have her states vast resources of oil pumped down to the lower 48.  She knows that ANWR is full of oil and has none of the endangered species to protect we’re told it does by the EPA and other agencies.  It’s frozen tundra on top of buried treasure.  C’mon people!!!  People argue her state has a surplus because of the oil reserves.  I ask them to keep in mind that much of it, they have not been able to tap, pump, drill or sell, so therefore it does not help them with their budget or energy supply.  

Last week there was a USA Today / Gallup Poll that showed that a over two-thirds of republicans want Palin as the nominee in 2012, or at least as ‘a major national political figure.’  I like to go deeper sometimes, beyond the poll numbers…

Today in America if you drop GOP or DEM from the polling questions, more people identify themselves as conservatives, a full 40%.  I know conservatives who are libertarian.  Some of them are members of the Constitution or American Independence parties.  There are more still who have no party at all, but are conservative at heart.

I was at a tea party on July 3^rd, the day the governor announced her resignation.  There were over a thousand people from all races and parties, men and women, old and young who began to chant ‘PALIN! PALIN!’ 

Sarah Palin connects with regular Americans.  Some call them Reagan-Democrats, some call them ‘average joe’s.’  Their detractors call them hicks, farmers, rednecks and a whole slew of other people that they assume cling to their guns and religion.  (Ba dum bum)  She drew thousands upon thousands of people to her campaign rallies, and in fact she drew much more than the head of the ticket, Senator McCain.  No other conservative candidate has had that kind of draw with the American public since Ronald Reagan.  She is also equally polarizing.  It is a fundamental law of Newtonian physics that for every action there is an equal but opposite reaction.  If there was ever proof that physics applied to politics, then that proof is Sarah Palin.

For every person who is a fan, there is another who hates her.  For each person who came out to see her at a rally, one sat at home and called her a whore on Myspace.  People did not know why they hated her, but they did.  They wrote her off as a dunce, a fool, and a ditz.  The medias portrayal of her did not help at all.  For three months they beat the hell out of her, giving her questions about Bush’s policy that Bush and Cheney could not have answered, and offending her at other times with questions that were a waste of time.  When it comes to the mainstream media, our friend Sir Isaac Newton departs.

In the afore mentioned poll, three-fourths of republicans, over half of independents, and a full third of democrats say the media coverage of Palin had, and still has been unfairly negative.  When she was announced as Senator McCains running mate last year, the banner on MSNBC said “How Many Houses Does This Add To The Republican Ticket?”

Chris Matthews lambasted her on his show for a full five minutes for writing a book with the aid of a ghostwriter.  I guess he forgot about Hillary Clintons who had helped her with her book. 

Charlie Gibson and Katie Couric asked her questions that not only would they never have asked President Obama, but questions that were not too relevant to well, anything!  (Governor Palin later said that she paused and smiled during the Katie Couric interview because she could not believe what she was being asked half of the time.)  Add this onto the unbelievable bias that the mainstream media showed to Obama during the campaign, and it is a recipe for swaying public opinion.  If you happen to doubt that there was intense bias from the media favoring President Obama, then just ask his secretary of state.

I won’t even dignify the constant comments of people like David Letterman.  To do so would lead people to believe that I watch him.  He of course is free to say whatever he wants, no matter how tacky, tasteless or unfunny.  That’s the price of a free society, and I pay it gladly.

There were even some fellow republicans who were less than helpful.  Governor Palin had poor handlers on a poorly run campaign.  Personally, I think some of the former staffers, like the ones who contributed to the twenty-four page article in Vanity Fair, not only did not give their names out of cowardice, but out of selfish career aspirations as well.  I believe they would cite themselves as having helped written the article at any interview, or any step to them being hired to work on the campaign circuit again.  After how poorly the McCain campaign was run, I doubt many of them will work again.  They made two tactical blunders that sunk them.  The let Senator McCain off the leash, and they kept Governor Palin on one.

No one wants to hire a rat who deserts the ship even before it sinks, let alone one who runs to the press!  We all know people like this!  As soon as your back is turned they are running off to the media with juicy stories about you, and as soon as you turn around again they are giving you the smile and pat on the shoulder.  They go above your head to your boss and blame you for their mistakes.  If someone is going to accuse someone of such things, I’d rather they at least be brave enough to author their libel writings.

If someone does not like Sarah Palin’s policies or positions, that’s a personal call and I can respect that.  However, when I see someone who would instead say that they do not like her because she is stupid, or a dummy, or ‘too pretty,’ (I actually heard that from someone) or the ‘wrong kind of feminist,’ I get angry.  It is the same as someone who

Makes fun of a gay person, then when they are confronted they say ‘well, I guess I’m just more homophobic than I realize.’  They brush it off with a stupid excuse for their ignorance.  When people reside themselves to that all-too-comfortable kind of resignation, without the compulsion to find out why, or even the willingness to express it, it is as sad as it is inexcusable. 

If Governor Palin is so dim and inconsequential, as the elites, the media and Matt Damon would tell us, then why the constant attacks even after the campaign is long gone?  Do we not still ignore that which truly does not matter?  If she is not a threat, why still attack her?