Monday, December 29, 2008

Peace Was Never An Option


Recommended Reading:

  • CNN: Gaza death toll from Israeli offensive exceeds 375
  • Rick Moran: BLOODTHIRSTY JEWS BRUTALLY MURDER HAMAS BABIES

  • MEMRI: PLO and Fatah Officials: Hamas is Responsible for the Deaths of Its People

    A big part of the problem we have as Americans and western Europeans is we continuously attempt to frame the Israeli-Arab conflict through our moral values. We assume, very wrongly, that both sides ultimately want peace. It just is not true.

    We are about to witness a New Year's Eve massacre with thousands of Palestinians dead and wounded. We are about to witness a humanitarian crisis of biblical proportions. I'm not trying to be glib or funny or ironic. Hospitals lack supplies and the residents of Gaza lack food and basic supplies.

    I don't believe Israel will back off this time. And I don't think they should. What is happening is simply tragic. It is not avoidable.

    The leaders of Hamas desire this totally predictable outcome. They are more than willing to spend the only capital they possess: human lives. They want thousands of their own citizens dead. They want live television coverage. They want blood in the streets, the blood of Palestinians.

    By ending the tenuous six month old cease fire with dozens of poorly crafted missiles aimed clumsily at Israeli civilians, they counted on the overwhelming military response. Now they are counting on international outrage. And they hope that other Arab countries will join them in the fight. Or that the worldwide moral outrage will leave Israel weakened and without support.

    But the real truth is that the Oslo Accords were a tragic mistake. Far from being a "roadmap to peace" they are a monument to Western arrogance and stupidity. In reality the Oslo Accords were simply a delaying action that provided cover to two sets of people who never had the slightest desire to travel any path to peace.

    A Two State Solution? Neither side wants one. Neither side will tolerate a two state solution.

    Where will this current battle end? Nowhere. Israel cannot wipe out Hamas. And the west will not turn against Israel. Thousands will suffer and die. And they battle lines will remain unchanged.

    Frankly, I believe that the only solution is a single state solution. Israel should annex 100% of the disputed Palestinian territory. By force. All Palestinians should then become provisional Israeli citizens.

    Then, and only then, can the world begin to treat Israel like they treated apartheid South Africa. Then and only then can a real roadmap to peace be found.

  • Sunday, December 21, 2008

    Liberal Intolerance, Hate and Derangement

    I simply must take today's five minutes to express my profound disgust at the giant cadre of liberal pundits and bloggers who are mounting an unrelenting attack on Reverend Rick Warren, pastor or the immensely popular Saddleback Church, in Lake Forest, California, a "new age fundamentalist Christian church." Warren's egregious sin? He was chosen by President-elect Barack Obama to give the invocation at Obama's inauguration on January 20, 2009.

    The level of intolerance and absolute stupidity being portrayed on the pages of The Huffington Post, Daily Kos, Slate Magazine and others is stunning and deeply saddening, especially coming during the holiday the celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. So much for peace on earth and good will toward men.



    I absolutely refuse to post a single link to any of the crap out on the blogosphere from those who insist on condemning Warren for actually daring to believe the tenets of Christianity. Warren is roundly condemned for daring to both believe the basic dogma of his church and then to actually have the intellectual and moral courage to practice his faith in his daily life.

    I am a deeply devout Unitarian Universalist. Warren and I share very few religious beliefs. I disagree with him profoundly on most theological issues. I most certainly disagree on the issues of human sexuality and lifestyle, especially Gay Marriage, which I strongly support.

    But I disagree with almost every large and fundamentalist religion worldwide. I strongly disagree with most Islamic teachings and abhor the discrimination against women embedded in many religions.

    But I DO NOT EXPECT, LET ALONE DEMAND that Pastor Warren magically abandon his core beliefs, just because liberals find some of those beliefs distressing. Far from it. I actually expect Warren to believe, follow, live and preach the word and commandments of God as he believes them. If Warren failed to do this he would simply not be a fundamentalist Christian.

    Many, in fact most, of my close personal friends are Jewish. Many are Orthodox and live very conservative lives, keeping the Sabbath and following the laws of Judaism as closely as they can. Like Warren they reject homosexuality, They also deny that Christ is the savior.

    Some day very soon a strongly conservative or ever Orthodox Rabbi will give an invocation at an Obama state function. Likewise I'll bet we soon see a Muslim pray at a state sponsored event. Will we so-called liberals DEMAND that they renounce their most sacred beliefs?

    Or do we only demand that Christian ministers give up their beliefs and deny their God, as so many are now demanding of Warren?

    And why do these supposed liberals insult and ridicule Christians, but remain reverent and respectful of other world religions? I've actually read these moronic pundits insult Christ in the most foul mouthed and demeaning language possible and then turn around and condemn the Danish who published the Mohammad cartoons for insulting Muslims and failing to respect their "deeply held beliefs."

    Frankly, if Barack Obama chose Rick Warren to give the invocation at his Inauguration, I suspect that Barack Obama actually wanted a conservative Christian of deep moral faith to give that Invocation. Otherwise Obama could have chosen one of the many extremely fine and talented Methodists, Episcopalians or Unitarian Universlists to give the Invocation, or perhaps a great rabbi or Buddhist monk.

    As to my fellow bloggers and pundits, have the courage to direct your outrage toward the person who chose a fundamentalist Christian to speak. Direct your outrage toward Barack Obama.

    Friday, December 19, 2008

    Five Minutes....

    As we get closer to the heart of the December Holiday Season I want to wish all my friends a Merry Christmas, a Joyous Winter Solstice and a belated Happy Hanukkah.

    My time each day has been nearly consumed with the demands of the retail holiday season, but I try to sneak in 5 minutes or so to quickly surf my favorite bloggers and I really appreciate those of you who are doing such a great and entertaining job.

    I appreciate all of you but I want to add a really quick "tip o' the Wizard's pointy cap" to Lee over at
    Lee's Tidbits. Lee has done something I have really wanted to do over the last few weeks and that is to point out the great debate over the issue of "man made global warming." I encourage all my readers to follow all of Lee's blog entries and to be open to a real discussion of this issue. It is far from settled.

    Here is additional food for thought. I encourage you to read this news story today
    CNN Meteorologist: Man made Global Warming Theory 'Arrogant'

    You all know I spend 90% of my time on this blog discussing human rights, free speech, politics and Internet issues. As a result I generally point my readers to other blogs that discuss similar issues. But today I want to direct you all to one of the most creative and brilliant blogs I've ever seen. It is a work of art. And a journalistic masterpiece. It is an joy to read each day. So take your five minutes today and visit LIQUID ILLUZION .

    I'm especially pleased and proud to point LIQUID ILLUZION out because it is created by a fellow Mississippi resident. I mention this because I guess I'm hoping you will think that because Liquid only lives about a hour from me, some of her greatness is contagious or that it has rubbed off on me. Alas, none of that is true.

    Liquid posted the above photograph on her website site as a "gift" to her many readers. I have taken my "gift" and reprinted it here in order to pass it on to all of you. It is certainly illustrative of her creative brilliance.

    Happy Holidays to you all.

    Monday, December 08, 2008

    They Told Me If.......

    They told me if I voted for John McCain I would get a bi-partisan moderate President who would often reach across the aisle and would appoint a broad range of people from across the political spectrum to his cabinet.

    They told me that if i voted for John McCain I would get a pragmatic, logical and intelligent President who would NOT be captive to dogma or partisanship in making decisions BEST for the American people.

    The told me if I voted for John McCain I would get a President who followed an intelligent and protective approach to our withdrawal from Iraq, a man who would listen to our military in the field and would not just quickly and dangerously withdraw troops regardless of the outcome.

    So I voted for John McCain....

    And I got exactly the type of President I hoped to have!

    Good Work President-Elect Obama! I couldn't possibly be more pleased!

    Friday, December 05, 2008

    The Great Depression

    I want to apologize to my readers for the few posts. It is so humbling to actually get comments and emails asking for more frequent postings.

    My various business and consulting gigs are all retail related and go into high gear in December. Generally I'm working 18 to 20 hour days and I absolutely love it. If (heaven forbid) retailing gets into your blood, this time of year is the World Series, Super Bowl and Kentucky Derby all rolled into one. Posts will be light until after the holidays.

    But....... All you faithful readers already know I've been trying to tell anyone who will listen that we are not in a recession, but are instead heading into a Depression that will dwarf the 1930's. I am appalled that our so called financial leaders in Washington either can't or won't see the coming disaster.

    Our current activities in Washington will not help. The proposed auto bailout is a huge mistake. We are plunging the nation into a deep national debt from which we may never recover.

    Today's record breaking unemployment report is a harbinger of things to come:
    Employers cut 533K jobs in Nov., most in 34 years

    Make your personal financial decisions based on the coming disaster.

    Wednesday, November 26, 2008

    It's How We Roll in a Small Town

    I virtually never post anything specific about our town, Kosciusko, Mississippi. First of all, why would anyone outside of our little community care about a church luncheon or even the mayoral election? And second, we tend to keep our business to ourselves.

    But, this story is just too good to pass up! As long time readers know I am a big supporter of the Second Amendment and, frankly, a big supporter of the right to carry a weapon, under strict licensing and control.

    Far from causing crime, I believe the proper use of guns protect honest people and deters criminal behavior.

    Here's the story. In our small town, which is almost always crime free, we recently have had a series of armed robberies taking place in daylight in the parking lot of our local supermarket. By series I mean three robberies. It's a small town. No one has been injured, at least up to this point.

    However, yesterday, our local crime wave came to an abrupt halt. The would be robber finally picked on the wrong man. Melton King, co-owner of our wonderful Sonic Drive-In was the latest victim. As King came out of the supermarket, the gunman approached, gun drawn and held straight out at arms length.

    “He held the straight out like in a movie,” King said. “He put the gun to my ribs.”

    King said he tried to stay calm and when asked for money, he gave him money from his wallet and then from his bank bag containing Sonic money.

    King said robber took off running behind the supermarket. King jumped into his Ford F-150 pick-up truck in hot pursuit. He had hoped to see the robbers vehicle and give a license plate to the police.

    But King, also was carrying a firearm and he did fire a warning shot or two at the fleeing robber.

    This clearly surprised and upset the robber who glanced back at the rapidly pursuing King. While looking back, the robber stepped into a hole along the side of the road and he stumbled and fell. King's pick-up truck was closing so fast he accidentally struck the robber a glancing blow.

    “He was stumbling to get up,” King said.

    King immediately returned to supermarket and called 911 for help. Once he returned to the accident scene, where he found his Sonic money bag, but the robber had recovered enough to flee the scene.

    Moments later, Kosciusko Police officers apprehended the accused robber on a nearby road. Kosciusko Police Chief R.J. Adams said the man was armed with the weapon described as the one used in the robbery. He, of course, was detained and provided full medical attention for his minor injuries.

    Police Chief Adams commended Melton King for his action and also commended KPD officers Brice Cole, Stan Beall, Herbert Dew and Curtis Pope for their quick actions in apprehending the suspect.

    Chief Adams and every one of these officers are friends of mine. And Melton King is certainly a local hero.

    And, as our accused robber can testify, it's simply not wise to mess with folks you don't know in small town America. We're not only clinging to our guns, we're often carrying them.

    Thursday, November 20, 2008

    Facing the Future

    Here are some rambling thoughts, in no specific or logical order, about the very difficult future that awaits President Obama......


    Somewhere in the deep, dark recesses of my mind I hoped that the worldwide terrorist conflict with al-Qeada was somehow all President Bush's fault. Of course, in the logical and reasoning part of my brain, I knew this was not true. The attacks on 9/11 were planned well before Bush took office, during the tenure of President Clinton. And, unlike Bush, Clinton was relatively well like and well respected world wide. And Clinton had worked hard, if unsuccessfully, for peace between Palestine and Israel.

    But, somehow in the very back of my brain and in my heart, I hoped the election of Barack Obama might allow a start toward the ultimate end of our conflict with radical Islam. However, Ayman al Zawahiri brought me back to reality. In a scathing communique, al Zawahiri condemned President-elect Obama ion the nastiest possible terms.

    In a flashy and well produced video al Zawahiri condemned Obama as a hypocrite and traitor to his race, unfavorably comparing him to "honorable black Americans" like Malcolm X, the 1960s black Muslim leader. Parroting the words of Malcolm X, al Zawahiri called Obama a "House Negro," a docile slave doing the bidding of the white man.

    The State Department dismissed the new video as spin control and a desperate tactic by al-Qaedo to blunt the world wide popularity of the new President who not only is black but has Muslim middle name. While this is undoubtedly true, it clearly shows al-Qaeda has no intention of dialing back the rhetoric or scaling back their on going efforts to attack and ultimately destroy the United States and much of western civilization.

    As if this news wasn't upsetting enough, today we learned that Iran has enough
    nuclear fuel to create their first atomic bomb. Just how long do we believe it will take Iran to use the weapon on Israel or pass it along to a terrorist organization? Clearly the European led negotiations to curb Iran's development of the weapon have failed miserably. Can Barack Obama bring a fresh start to these negotiations or will he quickly learn that Iran's sentiments toward the US are identical to those of al-qaeda. I fear that Iran hopes Obama will be a docile "house negro." Based on what we witnessed during the campaign, I believe Iran will quickly learn he is nothing of the sort.

    But the biggest problem that President Obama will face is the collapse of the world economy. I remain convinced we are entering a period similar to, but much worse than, the great depression of the 1930s. Unemployment will quickly move into double digits and major and massive bankruptcies loom immediately as Obama in sworn into office. Even as I write this today the stock market is on the verge of losing 50% of its value from it's peak. And some people I know personally have virtually lost their life's savings.

    The big issues will be the loss of jobs and the cascading collapse of the retail marketplace. It will be difficult to overcome these twin problems and solutions don't come easily or quickly.

    So far I'm very impressed with the choices Barack Obama has announced for his staff and cabinet. He is assembling a team with depth and talent. He is going to need them. We all will.

    Tuesday, November 11, 2008

    Campaign Finance Fraud

    The right leaning blog The Gateway Pundit's lead story today is "Confirmed: It Looks Like Obama Just Got Away With Largest Election Donations Fraud in History" Gateway Pundit, along with a host of other right wing bloggers (all cross linked) has well documented the purposefully shoddy bookkeeping, elimination of security checkpoints and questionable donations and even more questionable accounting that allowed Barack Obama to raise hundreds of millions of dollars from unknown and possibly illegal sources.

    Sadly, the mainstream media is still largely ignoring the story, although there is some rustling of the leaves among the press.

    Pundit hypothesizes that is would actually take a "Special Prosecutor" to unravel the deception of the Obama campaign and I fear that is correct. Of course, during the glow of the honeymoon and a Democrat Party lock on Congress, no such prosecutor will be appointed.

    What has happened here is appalling. If the actual list of donors were released it could, and I believe would, ruin the Obama Presidency. Of course, the massive cover-up is under way. Well, sort of. Bloggers investigating the scam at the Obama campaign website report that it is still possible to make fraudulent donations even today, even after the campaign had sworn they has fixed the problem.

    I don't want to ruin the Obama Presidency. And and I don't want the massive fallout that would occur if a real investigation took place. I'm sure there are ample campaign staffers would would fall on their swords for Obama.

    We the people should demand a full accounting and a full investigation of this grotesque fraud. And liberals should be leading the parade demanding accountability. Alas, I'm in a tiny minority.

    The worst part of this evil is that it was totally unnecessary. Barack Obama would have easily won the election if he had followed reasonable security measures.

    While I blogged about this numerous times before the election, here is my primary blog entry,
    "Can the Presidency Be Bought?"

    Monday, November 10, 2008

    Tea Leaves

    Wouldn't it have been nice for politicians of all stripes, the media and the public to be able to take a few days off and bask in the glory of Barack Obama's election to the office of President. We should all be pleased and proud of this historic election. Absolutely everyone, including McCain supporters should take a bow.

    Alas, the politicians, the pundits, the mass media and the blogosphere hardly missed a beat, dissecting every breath from everyones mouth. Talk about "much ado about nothing." Even Joe Scarborough was reduced to using the infamous "F-Word" live and on the air when discussing "Rahm 'F--- you' Emanuel." It's a hot video over on You Tube. I'm guessing no one ever heard the word before.

    And, oh my god, the hysteria about Sarah Palin! What the hell is that all about? I don't believe she was elected to anything. Did I miss something? Let's see here. We elect the first African American President in history and the media is obsessed with Sarah Palin. So is the blogosphere. The #1 topic today at The Huffington Post, based on the number of times a tag is used is Sarah Palin!!!! Talk about a rock star.

    So here I am reading all the posts about everything, which are, in reality, little pieces of nothing.

    We are all reduced to reading the tea leaves, trying to find a sign. And I did find one especially good sign today. It seems Barack Obama wants Senator Joe Lieberman to remain in the Democrat caucus in the US Senate. Obama has sent a sign to Senate Majority Leader Reid to "back off." and let Lieberman remain, with his chairmanship in tact.

    It seems President-elect Obama really does want reconciliation. And he may well just recognize Lieberman's value to the party and to the country.

    It's a good sign.

    Monday, November 03, 2008

    Principles versus Partisanship

    "I love humanity, it's people I can't stand."
    Linus van Pelt, Peanuts (Charles Schultz)

    Tomorrow we will celebrate once again our wonderful freedom to choose democratically our leadership and government. The voice of the people will be heard. Your voice matters. Your vote matters.

    For the last few years (or ten years in my case), the Internet has provided an amazing soapbox for each of us to state our ideas and advocate our positions. The free blog software and webspace provided by Blogger (and it's parent Google) and other providers is a great gift and a wonderful tool. And millions of us world wide take advantage of this great gift of democracy and freedom.

    Certainly over the last few months opinions have flown from left to right, from one extreme (and I do mean extreme) to the other. I've read things I've found appalling, even abhorrent. Hate speech appears all too often. People feel so strongly about their positions they resort to extremes of hyperbole. Name calling is not uncommon. And lies and exaggeration fill the atmosphere.

    Tomorrow the election is over. And, I must be honest, I don't expect the name calling or hyperbole to end. But most folks will dial it back a notch. And many will simply turn their attention to other issues and other interests.

    If I had one hope for the post election period it is that all people would place principles above partisanship. Make decisions and state positions based on what is morally or ethically right, not what suits your party or candidate.

    Let me provide one little example. If you, like Representative John Conyers, are appalled at the possible misuse of governmental power in the release of information about Barack Obama's illegal alien aunt, please also be equally concerned about the now proven horrific abuse of those same governmental powers in the release of information about Joe the Plumber.

    Right is right. Wrong is wrong. To steal the blog tag line from one of my favorite bloggers (and often my ideological nemesis) Mary at Freedom Eden:

    "Stand with anybody that stands RIGHT. Stand with him while he is right and PART with him when he goes wrong."
    Abraham Lincoln

    Saturday, November 01, 2008

    Can The Presidency Be Bought?

    This story ought to be the top headline in every newspaper in America. It ought to lead every network news broadcast. And, frankly, this story ought to thoroughly disqualify Barack Obama from the Presidency.

    The Obama for President campaign has purposefully allowed and encouraged illegal campaign contributions from large donors, corporations, foreign countries and even illegal aliens. It is probable that these contributions were made with the full knowledge of the Obama campaign staff and management. It is possible that Barack Obama knew himself.

    If the major news media wasn't so thoroughly in the tank for Obama the investigation would be in full force. It will take paid reporters to dig out the facts and ask the important questions. And it will eventually happen. The only question is when.

    Right now only a few newspapers are beginning to ask the key questions. One real leader is
    Investors Business Daily who wrote in an editorial on Thursday:


    Barack Obama has turned a blind eye to the use and abuse of prepaid credit cards. It's just one way he hides who his contributors are and just how much they're giving.

    When Steve and Rachel Larman of North Kansas City, Mo., opened their credit-card bill recently, a strange charge appeared on their statement — a $2,300 donation to Barack Obama's presidential campaign.

    This was odd, they thought, since they had not only not made the donation, they were planning to vote for John McCain.

    It was one more piece of evidence that the unprecedented flow of cash to and through the Obama campaign is not entirely legit. In any campaign, bogus or unwanted contributions can slip through the cracks. But team Obama has deliberately created a chasm of credibility.

    In addition to noncontributors being charged for contributions, at least $218 million has been received by the Obama campaign from donors of under $200 whose names it is keeping secret, according to FEC spokesman Robert Biersack.

    Fact is, team Obama has deliberately encouraged credit-card fraud by deliberately turning off the online safeguards normally used by sites receiving contributions or payments. There is no checking of names, addresses or card numbers done on the front end.

    According to the Washington Post, "Faced with a huge influx of donations over the Internet, the campaign has also chosen not to use basic security measures to prevent potentially illegal or anonymous contributions from flowing into its accounts, aides acknowledged."

    Campaigns can accept donations of under $200 without disclosing contributors' names. McCain, who accepted public financing while Obama did not, has made his full donor database available on the Internet. Of the $150 million Obama claims to have raised in September, some $42 million was raised from secret contributors and listed under a single line, "Donors, Unitemized."

    Obama's deliberate lack of finance vetting allows the use of largely untraceable prepaid credit cards. These can be purchased at a local drugstore and used under any name, allowing anonymous donors to exceed limits on contributions and even foreign donors to funnel money to Obama's campaign.

    A Newsmax report noted a separate FEC database, of more than 11,500 foreign contributors to the Obama campaign, totaling $33.8 million. It was the largest influx of foreign money into a campaign since the Clinton-Gore campaign took millions of dollars of unregulated soft money from donors with ties to Chinese military intelligence.

    Typical is Viktor A. of Lagos, Nigeria, who gave $500 to Obama in May. State abbreviations accepted by the Obama campaign include IT (Italy), FR (France), GR (Greece), NZ (New Zealand), JP (Japan) and GA (Gaza). According to Newsmax, 2,372 donors gave their state of residence as "ZZ" with addresses from Beirut to Kiev to Shanghai.


    I hate to sound like a paranoid right winger, but can you imagine the uproar if the roles were reversed and McCain had encouraged and accepted illegal campaign contributions and overlooked basic security? The press would have gone ballistic! And with good cause. No matter who does this kind of illegal activity, it should be investigated. And it should not be tolerated.

    What Barack Obama has done is placed America for sale to the highest bidder. Elections shouldn't be bought and sold on the Internet.

    Barack Obama should not be allowed to purchase the Presidency with illegal campaign funds.

    Friday, October 31, 2008

    Paranoia?

    As I surfed around the blogosphere today I detected two distinct feelings that dominate the conservative and Republican blogs, panic and paranoia. The first is certainly understandable. Most tracking polls and virtually all reasonable pundits see an Obama victory as an absolute certainty. McCain supporters are panicking. They are looking for any tiny ray of sunlight as they head into the long dark night of defeat.

    As a side note, I often must simply laugh out loud at the reporting over on the Fox News Channel. Over on Fox the polls are tightening and McCain is on the verge of victory. If you live exclusively inside the Fox News bubble, they will convince you McCain is winning. Just don't change that channel.

    In the real world we are also witnessing a creeping paranoia among the folks on the right and a few on the left over the possibility of Barack Obama being elected Emperor and Chief, king god guru and messiah for life.

    Even Obama has admitted he has a rather large ego. And Obama is acting is a rather partisan and vengeful in these last few days. Just ask Joe the Plumber who has felt the stinging abuse of governmental power or the reporters from The Dallas Morning News, The New York Post and The Washington Times suddenly left off the campaign planes.

    But is there any validity in the paranoia? Let me direct you to Rick Moran's long and highly detailed column today,
    ‘WE DIDN’T KNOW” WILL NOT BE AN ACCEPTED EXCUSE.

    Moran is hardly a reliable conservative. He is a strong opponent of George Bush and the War in Iraq. He often frustrates his fellow conservatives with long, rambling leftist essays. For a while many wondered if he would even support John McCain. But today Moran launched a withering attack on Barack Obama and left virtually no stone un-thrown. Here is an example. You need to read the entire column.

    As clearly as many conservatives saw the way that the welfare state was designed would lead to eventual catastrophe, I will base the following on my life experience and more than 40 years observation of politics and government; a Barack Obama presidency will result in a radical diminution of American wealth, American power and prestige, and inevitably, a loss of liberty.

    Barack Obama is not qualified to be president of the United States. He has little interest in the nuts and bolts of how government works (yes, one can say the same of George Bush and look at us now). Unlike a Clinton or Bush #41 who enjoyed fiddling with the levers of government, enjoining the bureaucracy and Congress to bend to their wills, Obama literally doesn’t have a clue. He will be eaten alive by the striped pants set in the State Department. He will be gobbled up whole by the poverty lobby. And since he has little or no ideology or principles, he will sway with the political winds tacking hard left and then hard right until he angers everybody.

    I strongly believe we can, should and even must elect John McCain president. This country needs McCain's strong leadership and logical approach to the problems we face. Barack Obama would (or will) be a complete disaster for the economy. We need McCain's simpler and more logical tax plan and we don't need Obama to expand the welfare state.

    But..... should we really fear an Obama Presidency? I'll admit to a little paranoia myself. There is a grain of truth in Moran's rantings. Mostly I fear Barack Obama's ego. I fear he really does feel mightily superior to all us little people. I believe if the people of Ohio, Michigan and middle America knew Obama's real opinions of them, he couldn't be elected dog catcher.

    Are a lot of people beginning to fear another Imperial President? Will Obama abuse his power to attack his opponents? Why hasn't he roundly condemned the horrific attack on Joe the Plumber?


    Will Obama actually stifle the speech of his opponents? His team has attempted to do it in the campaign. And now Obama is removing reporters from newspapers who endorsed McCain from his campaign airplane.

    Still, Is the loss of liberty Rick Moran writes about above a possibility? Is Obama that frightening? That concern is really showing up today among bloggers on the right.

    Happy Halloween

    Six Hundred Million Dollars in campaign donations do help you buy better equipment. But the results kind of frighten me.....



    Happy Halloween Everyone!!

    By the way, we're in the middle of a non-stop Halloween Special over on Wizard Radio. Join thousands of listeners WORLD WIDE for the biggest and most frightening Halloween Broadcast ever.... thousands of tracks from classical to comedy. Old Time Radio Broadcasts..... Halloween tunes you haven't heard in years....

    Just
    CLICK THIS LINK.... and then hit the PLAY BUTTON. It's all FREE and anyone can listen from anywhere in the world (even on a dial-up modem).

    Tuesday, October 28, 2008

    John McCain: You Can Win! Here's How....

    I don't think John McCain is reading my blog. And I rather suspect his advisers are too busy, too. But, if you are out there John, you can still win (easily).

    How? Simply return to the full and open press availability that was the hallmark of your earlier campaigns. Your advisers (or should we call them "handlers") are giving you really bad, bad advice. Sarah Palin knows it. And, in your heart, you know it too.

    You'll never close the 3% to 4% gap in the polls following your current plan. It's not possible. Barack Obama is out spending you in paid advertising 20 to 1. His 603 million dollars dwarfs your 87 million dollars.


    O.K., accepting public financing was a huge mistake. But you can't fix that one now.

    Barack Obama is completely hiding from the press. He hasn't had a press conference in ages and refuses more than two to three (carefully controlled) questions, and only on some days. And Obama has a lot of reasons to hide. More importantly, the press is finally starting to return to real journalism. They've been shamed into it.


    And Joe Biden.... well, Biden is a disaster.

    Sarah Palin is now the only available candidate and it's working. But you are the pro! You cannot match Obama's spending. But you can absolutely dominate every news cycle. Trust your instincts and return to the open, honest, available, candid, funny, controversial, folksy, trustworthy candidate that got you here in the first place.

    John McCain, you can win. Talk to the press every hour of every day. And encourage Sarah Palin to continue to do the same thing.

    Sunday, October 26, 2008

    The Manchurian Candidate

    Is Barack Obama The Manchurian Candidate?

    If somehow you are not familiar with
    Richard Condon's best selling 1959 novel or the 1962 blockbuster movie of the same name starring Frank Sinatra or even the rather sluggish and strange 2004 remake starring Denzel Washington, the "Manchurian Candidate" is a charismatic candidate who runs for President only to be the puppet of another, much more sinister, power. In the novel and 1962 movie that unseen power was the communist Chinese (hence the name). In the 2004 version the hidden villain was updated to be a domestic corporation, replacing our cold war fear of communism with the more politically correct (and rather prophetic) fear of Wall Street greed.

    So is Barack Obama the real Manchurian Candidate? Do we have a man who has one very charismatic public persona, but a radically different personal and political agenda for the country once he takes office? We really don't know.

    And this is EXACTLY what happens when the bulk of the Main Stream Media decides, in mass, to simply stop doing their jobs. When the main stream media (most importantly the print media) decides to elect one candidate instead of reporting the news and investigating the facts, the real electorate is left with a lot of questions and a whole lot of fear. That is where we are today.

    The
    right wing blogosphere is erupting with the story of a video tape they claim is so explosive it could and would, by itself, cost Barack Obama the election. The LA Times has admitted it has the tape and has had it for months. They claim it's nothing, certainly not news. But, so far, they refuse to release it. Now that does strike me as odd. And it's the stuff conspiracies are made of.

    All agree the tape in question does show Barack Obama at a party for radical Islamist Rashid Khalidi along with the left wing anti-war group Not In My Name, the Electronic Intifada, and the ex-Weatherman domestic terrorists Bernadine Dohrn and Bill Ayers. Supposedly Obama gave a speech heaping high praise upon Khalidi and, according to others, spoke harshly of Israel and the jews.

    Except we don't really know, because absolutely no one in the media has bothered to lift a pencil in reporting this relationship, or the event in question.

    Much worse malfeasance on the part of the MIA MSM is their failure to look into the
    money flow (called money laundering by many on the right) into Obama's campaign. It has been proven that Obama's campaign has turned a blind eye toward the source of the massive cash inflow, reportedly 150 million dollars last month. It is entirely possible that the hundreds of millions of dollars Obama has used to swamp McCain came from one single individual or a small group of individuals or even a foreign country or terrorist group.

    All this happened (whatever may have happened) with the willful cooperation of the Obama campaign which disabled the normal name and address verification procedures for credit card donations. These are the facts we do know.

    What is stunning is that the Main Stream Media has completely ignored what might be the biggest story of any election in history.

    While the media was completely enraptured with front page story after front page story about Sarah Palin's wardrobe, not one single reporter was looking into this gross and now proven (thanks to the bloggers who investigated themselves) violation of campaign fund raising procedures. The MSM is still trying hard to ignore the story.

    I don't think for a minute that Barack Obama is the pawn of either Islamic militants bent of the destruction of Israel or he is the pawn of George Soros or a small cabal of liberal kingmakers. Although I am certain his campaign is grossly violating campaign fund raising laws.

    But we don't know. We just don't know. Because the adoring press won't or can't ask any tough questions. Not of Obama or anyone on his team.

    The Sinking of the MSM Titanic



    There are a few others, mostly conservatives, in both the traditional media and the blogosphere who clearly see the complete unraveling of the Main Stream Media. Chris Muir, cartoonist writing the Day by Day strip certainly gets it. If you have any trouble reading the above cartoon, please link over to the Day by Day Website for a full sized version.

    Faced with the dilemma of choosing between the ethics of journalism and their dedication to the man they genuinely believe must become President of the United States, these pseudo journalists are consistently choosing politics over professionalism.

    Make no mistake about it, these people genuinely believe that Barack Obama must become President. This isn't some vast left wing conspiracy to deprive the world of real news.

    Instead these are zealots who have convinced themselves they are doing the right thing. A kind of "group think" mentality sets in that allows people who were at one time idealistic journalists to begin to overlook their ethics and their responsibilities. Stories get buried. Reporters are never assigned to certain stories. Key questions simply are never asked. Words and phrases are changed.

    But the results are extremely serious. I have another entry coming up on this later today or tomorrow.......

    Saturday, October 25, 2008

    The Death of Journalism, 2008

    UPDATE; October 28, 2008 8:00 am: ABC News columnist Michael Malone has updated, edited and expanded the essay discussed below and ABC NEWS has published it on the flagship ABC NEWS Website. This searing indictment of the election coverage of 2008 is a must read essay. Link over to ABC NEWS and read the entire essay now: Media's Presidential Bias and Decline

    - - - - - -

    ABC News columnist Michael Malone, curiously writing in Pajamas Media, has a must read essay that documents the death of journalism in the United States during the 2008 election. Please link over and read the entire essay, even though it is rather long. Here are just a few of his key points:


    The traditional media is playing a very, very dangerous game. With its readers, with the Constitution, and with its own fate.

    The sheer bias in the print and television coverage of this election campaign is not just bewildering, but appalling. And over the last few months I’ve found myself slowly moving from shaking my head at the obvious one-sided reporting, to actually shouting at the screen of my television and my laptop computer.

    But worst of all, for the last couple weeks, I’ve begun — for the first time in my adult life — to be embarrassed to admit what I do for a living. A few days ago, when asked by a new acquaintance what I did for a living, I replied that I was “a writer”, because I couldn’t bring myself to admit to a stranger that I’m a journalist......

    .....what I object to (and I think most other Americans do as well) is the lack of equivalent hardball coverage of the other side - or worse, actively serving as attack dogs for Senators Obama and Biden. If the current polls are correct, we are about to elect as President of the United States a man who is essentially a cipher, who has left almost no paper trail, seems to have few friends (that at least will talk) and has entire years missing out of his biography. That isn’t Sen. Obama’s fault: his job is to put his best face forward. No, it is the traditional media’s fault, for it alone (unlike the alternative media) has had the resources to cover this story properly, and has systematically refused to do so......

    .....The absolute nadir (though I hate to commit to that, as we still have two weeks before the election) came with Joe the Plumber. Middle America, even when they didn’t agree with Joe, looked on in horror as the press took apart the private life of an average person who had the temerity to ask a tough question of a Presidential candidate. So much for the Standing Up for the Little Man, so much for Speaking Truth to Power, so much for Comforting the Afflicting and Afflicting the Comfortable, and all of those other catchphrases we journalists used to believe we lived by.


    What frightens me the most, Mr. Malone, is that my fellow liberals cannot see or simply refuse to see what is happening right before our eyes. Believe me, this will come back to haunt us all.

    Thursday, October 23, 2008

    Why the Media's Mistreatment of Sarah Palin is So Important

    The mainstream media and liberal/progressive blogosphere's grossly unfair treatment of Sarah Palin is not really an issue in this years campaign, at least as far as I'm concerned. Governor Palin herself has rarely complained and it does go with the territory. When you are plucked out of nowhere and placed in center stage the media is going to investigate, research and then test the new star.

    And frankly, she did scare the heck out of the Democrats and Obama supporters with good cause. Barack Obama's egotistical elimination of Hillary Clinton as Vice President rubbed millions of Americans the wrong way. The left believed that McCain's Vice Presidential pick had to be destroyed in order to keep the Democrat faithful in the fold.

    I do not fault any Democrat or liberal/progressive pundit or blogger for their full throated objection to everything Sarah Palin represents. Hell, it's just good politics.

    What is really important is what many are calling the "death of modern journalism." When our journalists consciously make a decision to throw the election to one candidate over another, we are genuinely lost as a society.


    But make no mistake, journalism is dead. Deader than a doornail. And Sarah Palin is the poster child. It all happened when the mainstream media decided to become the tabloid media. Not one reporter ever made even a pretend passing effort to actually investigate Palin, instead 100% of the effort was to dig up dirt, find embarrassing skeletons in the closet or outright fabricate totally false stories that make the Brothers Grimm look like non-fiction writers.

    This all finally got to be too much for Newt Gingrich last night and he literally exploded in one of the most brilliant rants I've even been privileged to hear. Both the video and the copy follow. And Gingrich is 100% correct in every word he utters.




    The elite media's attack on Governor Palin again and again has been factually wrong, intellectually dishonest, totally biased, worthy of the Polish State news media attacking Lech Walesa back in the 1980's. I mean this is the type of deliberate, vicious, dishonest, total distortion of who Governor Palin is including by the way, the Saturday Night Live Skit some of which by the way, I think were slander and were worthy of a lawsuit.

    And, I think the American people should realize that the elite media on the Left is so desperate to elect Barack Obama that the view they are giving you of Governor Palin is fundamentally a falsehood. And, the one you saw from CNN is so outrageous that they owe her an absolute apology. But frankly, Katie Couric misquoted Henry Kissinger, earlier than that, ABC News misquoted the Bush Doctrine. Again and again you've seen elite reporters do things that were false in order to try to make Governor Palin look bad...

    If you would look at the coverage Michelle Obama has gotten and the coverage that Cindy McCain has gotten you have to believe that the fix is in. When you look at the magazine covers, the pictures that were taken, again and again, over and over for the last year we have been brainwashed, propagandized, insultingly lectured by the news media. If you look what happened to Joe the Plumber... Now, I haven't seen anyone from the elite media do a live broadcast from the non-existent Katie's Restaurant to point out that Joe Biden is just out of touch with reality. He's either dishonest or has a total memory lapse about his hometown. Yet, nobody notices it. Again and again there were 14 factual mistakes by Biden in the vice-presidential debate. Nobody said that disqualified him. This has been a totally one-sided campaign where the news media has been the best ally that Barack Obama has gotten. And we ought to be honest about it. There's no pretense, not a shred of neutrality on the part of the major networks or The New York Times...

    I've been thinking about having one of my researchers look at every single elite media interview of Governor Palin to see if any of them asked her how she gave $1300 a person back to Alaskans as a tax break, how she negotiated and got so much money out of Big Oil, how she worked out the deal for the natural gas pipeline, or anything of substance about how she shaped an $11 billion budget involving 29,000 employees of the state government.

    I don't believe by the best of my knowledge that there has been a single question by an elite television journalist about her actual career in Alaska.

    And, I think it is the most insulting. I can't say this too strongly. This is like watching Pravda.

    This is a one-sided vicious unending dishonest campaign.



    GayPatriotWest (B. Daniel Blatt) also has an excellent article on the same issues. Be sure to link on over and read MSM More Interested in Palin Gossip than her Record

    Wednesday, October 22, 2008

    Sarah Palin is Very Qualified to be President

    We have only a few days until we cast our votes for President and Vice President. In fact many of us have already voted.

    I have so much I would like to write between now and November 4th, but I also have real world duties and obligations.


    Before I do anyhing else, let me thank those who read and comment here. I do really appreciate the dialog discussion following the last several posts. I deeply appreciate the quality, the wisdom and the honest and civilized debate.

    I have started and then discarded several columns outlining and defining my endorsement of John McCain and Sarah Palin for President and Vice President. They will receive my vote, although I still believe that Barack Obama and Joe Biden will win. It would be a huge upset if McCain and Palin pull this one out.

    I certainly do not think for even one second that anything I write here will change a single vote. The world isn't waiting on the wisdom of the Wizard for their instructions.

    I've looked at dozens of different issues in making this decision. In some areas, like health care, I feel that Barack Obama has the best program. In other areas, most notably foreign policy, I feel McCain is more correct.

    There are two defining areas that tipped the scale in favor of McCain and Palin. The first is obvious, and that is that John McCain and Sarah Palin have the real world experience to hold the offices they seek. And while the same can be said of Joe Biden, it cannot be said of Barack Obama.

    I've said often that Obama has never made a single tough decision in his entire life and it is tragically true. He has literally voted present his entire life and throughout his public career. Such a record is actually helpful when running for President because you have no history, no paper trail. There is nothing for the press to check (as if anyone in the press was actually looking at Obama's record). You can claim to stand for anything and no one can disagree. The bottom line is Obama gives great speeches. That's it.

    Compared to Barack Obama, Sarah Palin is experienced, tested and ready. She has made the toughest decisions and handled intense and detailed negotiations and faced difficult situations. She has created and submitted budgets. She has worked with the legislature in order to get things done, get laws passed. And she excelled in every single effort, building a stunning 80% approval rate. She has been wildly successful in handling a damned tough job.

    Obama, by contrast, can not point to a single accomplishment throughout his entire career beyond winning a Senate seat against only token (no offense intended) competition. He can't even point to any legislation. There is no McCain-Feingold anywhere in Obama's past.

    Obama has good ideas and we should not diminish his wonderful ability to communicate. But we do not know what he really stands for, at least not from any real world examples.

    Now the press and the left have been grossly unfair in handling Palin. Her mistreatment is stunning, yet she has rarely objected or complained. And recently, all the networks have noted, Palin has been the most available and most interviewed of all four candidates with more press availability every day than Obama, McCain and Biden combined. And she looks and sounds good.

    I've read, heard and watched literally hundreds of news stories, articles and blog posts that criticized (or more correctly defamed) Governor Palin. I've not read a single one of importance, substance or credibility. Only those rare posts that discussed Palin's policies or positions were reasonable and fair. It is certainly fair to oppose her over issues like abortion rights or sexual rights or gay rights. I applaud those who support Obama and disagree with Palin because of those issues.

    Now, before I depart this evening, I want to also mention the second deciding factor in my decision to endorse John McCain. I feel McCain has the best plans to handle the economy, taxes and Washington special interests. I will be writing a full and detailed column on this issue in the next few days.

    Wednesday, October 15, 2008

    What McCain Needs to Say.....

    You can add me to the long, long list of bloggers who are already second guessing John McCain's performance even before the debate has begun.
    I am deeply distressed that Senator McCain cannot gain traction against Barack Obama. Obama is a terribly flawed candidate, one who certainly should not be elected President.

    I remain absolutely convinced that Barack Obama will win and win by a landslide. Can John McCain do anything tonight to stop the train wreck? No. So what McCain should do is simply argue policies and facts. He should leave William Ayers and Rev. Wright at home.

    Two recent Wall Street Journal articles point out the road Senator McCain needs to follow. First is Obama's 95% Illusion which clearly point out the flaws and absolute fantasy of Barack Obama's constant claim of a tax cut for 95% of all Americans, and a tax increase only on the rich. Like the Journal, I remain stunned that McCain and the Republicans haven't blown this house of cards up before now. It is, quite simply, a lie. And it's a huge lie.

    Obama's plan actually is a dramatic increase in welfare. And his plan increases welfare in a way that will dis-incentivize people from working or improving their job or salary. If people get a better job, they will actually lose money.

    Worse, it's a plan that will institutionalize poverty. Obama's plan will pass out a lot of checks to people who pay no taxes. But the checks will be too small to lift people out of poverty. Yet his program actually penalizes those who try. We will create the largest underclass in history, permanently on the dole.

    Second McCain needs to genuinely attack Barak Obama on his absolute failure to lead during the fight for legislation that could have saved the world from this huge Banking Crisis. Again, I'll reference a Wall Street Journal article, Obama Voted 'Present' on Mortgage Reform

    I must also reference my own essay from October 11th, We're About to Elect a Good Listener When We Need a Strong Leader which covers all the same facts. I can only assume, since my essay preceded the Journal article by 4 days, that they are reading my stuff...... O.K., probably not.

    The Journal article is much better and much more complete than my own. You need to read every word to really understand why this collapse happened and how it was that the Democrats, and not Republicans, authored "the only banking deregulation in recent years." We are reffing to the Democrats deregulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two mortgage lenders who caused the subprime disaster.

    While Barack Obama wasn't the only villain in this meltdown, he could have personally stopped it. And, worse yet, he clearly saw the disaster in the making and yet he did nothing.

    The Journal writes, "In the summer of 2005, a bill emerged from the Senate Banking Committee that considerably tightened regulations on Fannie and Freddie, including controls over their capital and their ability to hold portfolios of mortgages or mortgage-backed securities. All the Republicans voted for the bill in committee; all the Democrats voted against it. To get the bill to a vote in the Senate, a few Democratic votes were necessary to limit debate. This was a time for the leadership Sen. Obama says he can offer, but neither he nor any other Democrat stepped forward."

    "Instead, by his own account, Mr. Obama wrote a letter to the Treasury Secretary, allegedly putting himself on record that subprime loans were dangerous and had to be dealt with. This is revealing; if true, it indicates Sen. Obama knew there was a problem with subprime lending -- but was unwilling to confront his own party by pressing for legislation to control it. As a demonstration of character and leadership capacity, it bears a strong resemblance to something else in Sen. Obama's past: voting present."

    These are just two of the real issues Senator McCain needs to address. There are several others, but Bill Ayers is not among them. Senator McCain, you cannot win. So you need to fight with class and bring the real issues of the election to a public that, frankly, does not want to see them.

    Tuesday, October 14, 2008

    A New Title and Statement of Principles

    I've made a very small change in the title of this blog and the principles that guide my writings here.

    The old subheading at the top of this page "An Explorer in Cyberspace" is long outdated. If you go back in the essays to their beginnings you will find 99% of the entries were about the marvels of Internet. Many essays were designed as guides to the use of the many tools available on line.

    The Internet has changed and grown. It's still a little bit of the wild west, but it is so much more. For many of us it is our principle source of news and information. It is also an important part of our social lives.

    Today most essays I write are about politics and world events. And most essays reflect my long held liberal and religious values as a Unitarian Universalist. I believe in equality of all men and women. I believe in individual freedom and cherish the extremely rare freedom of speech. I believe we need to help and protect one another, especially the weakest among us. And we should always help secure for others the rights we so cherish.

    This blog is an extension of my life, it is not my entire life. I've changed the blog title and heading to more clearly reflect what I am doing here and now.

    Monday, October 13, 2008

    Are We All Going to Put the "N" Word on Our Tee-Shirts Now?

    It's official. Respect for women is over. Hundreds of years of fighting for equal rights and equal respect, lost in a just a few days.

    And those who we expected to protect our freedom have sold us into slavery.

    If you actually believe in the inherent worth of all human beings, you are worthless yourself.

    If you actually believe in freedom of a woman to chose, you must be ridiculed for making a choice.

    If you actually believe in the freedom of religion, you must be damned for all eternity in the most vile manner possible.

    If you actually believe in the dignity of all women, you must be denied all dignity.

    If you are a woman today, any woman, you are nothing more that an object. You are a possession. You are a sexual outlet. You are to be used and then discarded. You are scum. You are nothing.

    I have proof. But I will provide no images. I will provide no copy. I will merely point you to this link: Obama Supporters T-Shirts

    And this link: Obama's Supporter's Vile T-Shirt Prominently Displayed on Barack Obama's Own Website

    I've already signalled my support for John McCain for President. I can hardly threaten Barack Obama. He is hardly afraid of losing my vote. But if he doesn't specifically condemn what his supporters are doing (exactly as John McCain has done several times over the last few days), I will certainly lose all respect for him. Now and forever.

    This is not an option. If the man cannot condemn this debasement of all women, he does not deserve to be President. It is this serious.

    Sunday, October 12, 2008

    A Reality Check Courtesy of Michelle Malkin

    O.K., can we all come back to earth now? I mean the escalation of abject stupidity is now stratospheric. If we fly any higher we will all singe our wings on the sun and crash in flames to the earth.

    No one is soaring higher than Frank Rich, who has never had any ties to the mother earth. He really believes he is a certified genius and the world's most learned student of history and politics. This, of course, has never been true and his flights of fantasy are numerous and far flung.

    Often we mere mortals realize he is simply shooting off gas and we ride along for amusement, laughing at him and not with him. But I do tire of his constant effort to explain matters simple beyond his meager comprehension through his use of tired analogies and historically incorrect references. I'll cite an example in a moment, but let me broaden the discussion to other liberal, progressive and left wing narrators of current events.

    The (totally false) story today across the blogosphere and main stream media wasteland is that the McCain and Palin devotes are raging out of control and may well explode into full blown revolution. Murder and mayhem are in the offing, if we can believe what we read. Conservatives are, we are told, certifiably insane.

    This is all because of a couple of questions poised at John McCain's virtually constant Town Hall Meetings and catcalls during Sarah Palin's mega-rallies. Trust me when I tell you the media had to film and them ignore countless hours of thoughtful questions and great speeches to locate and explode these occasional outbursts.

    Then they still had to carefully edit the sloganeering to eliminate the intelligent and calming responses from Senator McCain himself (or "that one" as I prefer to call him).

    Enter the Frank Rich's of the world (and his cohorts are legion). Let me actually begin with Paul Krugman writing today in the New York Times (I will get to Rich later, I promise).
    Krugman is simply terrified as he writes:

    “Something very ugly is taking shape on the political scene: as McCain’s chances fade, the crowds at his rallies are, by all accounts, increasingly gripped by insane rage…What happens when Obama is elected? It will be even worse than it was in the Clinton years. For sure there will be crazy accusations, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see some violence.”
    Not to be outdone (and to prove beyond a doubt he is an astute student of history and mankind) Franks Rich implies Sarah Palin and John McCain are engaging in behavior that will assure Barack Obama is assassinated. Rich's logic and his inferences are astonishing:

    "Some voters told reporters that they didn’t want Obama to run, let alone win, should his very presence unleash the demons who have stalked America from Lincoln to King. After consultation with Congress, Michael Chertoff, the homeland security secretary, gave Obama a Secret Service detail earlier than any presidential candidate in our history — in May 2007, some eight months before the first Democratic primaries."

    ".......what has pumped up the Weimar-like rage at McCain-Palin rallies, is the violent escalation in rhetoric, especially (though not exclusively) by Palin. Obama “launched his political career in the living room of a domestic terrorist.” He is “palling around with terrorists” (note the plural noun). Obama is “not a man who sees America the way you and I see America.” Wielding a wildly out-of-context Obama quote, Palin slurs him as an enemy of American troops."

    "By the time McCain asks the crowd “Who is the real Barack Obama?” it’s no surprise that someone cries out “Terrorist!” The rhetorical conflation of Obama with terrorism is complete. It is stoked further by the repeated invocation of Obama’s middle name by surrogates introducing McCain and Palin at these rallies. This sleight of hand at once synchronizes with the poisonous Obama-is-a-Muslim e-mail blasts and shifts the brand of terrorism from Ayers’s Vietnam-era variety to the radical Islamic threats of today."

    You've just got to love Rich's tossing in the phrase "Wiemar-like rage" to be certain that is brilliantly educated, elite readers understand the Palin and McCain are actually inciting their followers to assassinate someone or everyone of a different race, color or religion.

    For those of you who haven't studied pre-World War II history lately, the phrase is used (very often by Rich and many progressive bloggers) to compare the actions of Republicans to the actions of Hitler in inciting mob violence in order to
    build the Third Reich. Often, in fear that readers might miss the not-so-subtle point , Rich and others simply call their opponents Reich-Wing Republicans. Isn't that clever?

    Thank goodness there is someone writing this Sunday who has an ounce of intelligence and a simple sense of balance and perspective. There is someone who can actually look at both sides of the coin. There is someone to provide a "reality check."

    Who knew the voice of reason and rational thought would be none other than Michelle Malkin? I hope what I have written above has peaked your interest, because I refuse to spoil one sentence of Malkin's brilliant blog entry by repeating it here. Please just link immediately over to
    Crush the Obamedia narrative: Look who’s “gripped by insane rage”
    After reading Malkin the only word you'll be able to use to describe Frank Rich and his friends is "hypocrite."

    Saturday, October 11, 2008

    We're About to Elect a Good Listener When We Need a Strong Leader

    I'm obviously signalling that I intend, barring any unforeseen changes or surprises, to endorse John McCain for President of the United States shortly after the last debate. I will reserve my final opinions for that time and I may well change my mind.

    I do not have any form of Barack Obama Syndrome. I like him, he has a wonderful vision for the future. His health care plan is far superior to John McCain's. Barack Obama is a good and decent man.

    But these are really troubled times and we really need s strong and decisive leader. When Barack Obama is elected (and he will be elected), he will need to develop both leadership and decision making abilities. But today, he has neither.

    As B. Daniel Blatt
    wrote late last night, Barack Obama's record on tough issues is clear and extremely consistent: Identify the problem, fail to offer a solution, and then pass the buck.

    Never in our history can I identify anyone running for the Presidency who has accomplished less in his long elected career. Obama's record of avoiding responsibility is simply stunning. And he is doing it right up to this minute!

    Remember Obama's words from the last debate:


    I wrote to Secretary Paulson, I wrote to Federal Reserve Chairman [Ben] Bernanke, and told them this is something [sub-prime lending crisis] we have to deal with, and nobody did anything about it.


    He then turned right around and ridiculed John McCain because McCain, who actually sponsored real legislation that would have solved this problem, failed to get the legislation passed!!! Obama failed to mention that he was in the Senate and he was part of the cadre of Democrat Senators who stopped the legislation cold. Not that his name appears anywhere.

    I listened to a story on National Public Radio this morning in which an "undecided voter" decided to vote for Obama because he seems to really understand our problems. And,indeed, as I listen to his stump speeches, he does understand. He has great empathy. He is a good listener. He is a good man.

    When he is elected he will have a huge job in front of him and he will probably have, in Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, the two worst leaders in the entire history of the Senate and House to not help him one bit.

    It is likely our government will do almost everything wrong before Barack Obama has travelled far enough along the learning curve to begin to get it right. He will institute massive tax increases on businesses and on capital gains. He will stop 100% of all energy exploration (Pelosi has promised that!!!!). He will restrict trade and increase tariffs. In short he will duplicate every step Herbert Hoover took to cause the Great Depression.

    Obama talks a great, soothing, blissful game. And we are destined to elect him. But we shouldn't. His record is stunning. He has never made a single difficult decision in his entire life.


    Let's not let him start next January.

    ------------------------

    I had originally titled this essay "Which Democrat Will We Elect This November." McCain's strange endorsement of big government proposals like the Home Mortgage bailout for individuals along with programs like McCain-Feingold and McCain's very liberal policy toward immigration, give him a strange, eclectic, liberal, pedigree. In spite of attempts to label him a Bush clone, he is very much the anti-Bush.

    Thursday, October 09, 2008

    America Burns while McCain Fiddles

    Sad to say my time machine is broken. But I would love to travel back in time to the stock market crash of 1929 and listen to the discussions President Herbert Hoover had with his Cabinet and advisers. Do you suppose he was just a clueless as Barack Obama and John McCain are tonight?

    I'm betting he didn't realize what the stock market crash meant. He thought it would recover. He didn't see the Great Depression coming.

    Neither did a vast majority of the population. But the economic landslide was relentless.

    But tonight most Americans are starting to realize they have lost 1/3 of their life's savings and/or their retirement fund. Folks that thought they could retire at 59 or even 65 now realize they may need to work the rest of their lives. Retirement is no longer an option.

    People on fixed incomes or living today off their 401K's realize they are moments away from losing their homes or worse.

    And they realize that neither Barack Obama nor John McCain will have the money to institute their proposed Medical Programs.

    And many people really fear they might be laid off before Christmas. Those fears are well founded.

    The current disaster is far worse than the stock market crash of 1929.

    John McCain is genuinely clueless. He actually believes this election is about Barak Obama's relationship with distinguished University of Illinois at Chicago Professor (and unrepentant radical terrorist) William Ayers.

    Wake the hell up, John. Americans couldn't give a rat's ass about Ayers. In fact Americans would overwhelmingly elect Ayers if they thought he could solve this financial mess.

    And America is already scared as hell of Barack Obama. Trust me, we are terrified. And it doesn't have anything to do with Ayers. So give us an alternative. Show some real leadership.

    I realize that you must attack Obama. It's part of the campaign mix and negative ads so work. So hit Obama where it will really hurt: Barack Obama's total lack of experience and timid decision making. Obama hasn't ever managed his way out of a Senate cloak room. He generally refused to make decisions. He's inexperienced and weak.

    Give America an alternative. But if you continue to ignore the 8 trillion ton gorilla in the room, we are all going to lose.