Political Science Archives
Secret Service Director Resigns
After seeing a plat map of the area where former President Donald Trump was holding a rally on July 13, 2024, I posted a short note on Truth Social:
Head of Secret Service, who qualified for the job by checking the appropriate DEI boxes, should resign immediately if not sooner. Never cede the high ground. Someone should have been on the AGR building.
It doesn't take a military genius to understand that the roof of the AGR building was close enough to the rally to take a rifle shot at President Trump. The lowliest agent with a pistol posted on the roof would have been plenty to deter any attempt to kill President Trump from there.
It was a day or two later that we learned the Secret Service had determined the building to be of some importance, but had posted one or more agents inside the building instead of on top of the building. I get it. The Secret Service agent(s) had forgotten their sunscreen and were afraid of getting a sunburn if they had been posted on the roof.
Today we learned that Kimberly Cheatle, the Director of the Secret Service, resigned. She can now back to protecting Doritos, which is where she belongs. (Cheatle was senior director of global security at Persico for three years prior to being named Director of the Secret Service on September 17, 2022.)
The agent who posted the agents inside the AGR building and the agent(s) who allowed themselves to be posted inside the building should also resign.
Posted by Rick | July 23, 2024 04:36 PM | Political Science
Kamala Harris On Foreign Policy
Vice-President Kamala Harris, who as vice-president is the President of the Senate, has indicated that she plans to boycott Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's address to a joint session of Congress.
It will be Netanyahu's record setting 4th address to a joint session of Congress. His address comes at a time when Israel is attempting to wipe out Hamas and free over 100 hostages still held by Hamas since the massacre by Hamas of over 1,200 people in Israel on October 7, 2023.
Disrespecting Israel, our best friend in the mid-east, is not the best way to begin Harris' campaign to become the Democratic candidate for president following Joek Biden's decision to scrap his attempt to be re-elected. If this is what we can expect from a President Harris, the Democrats really need to find someone with some common sense to take over Biden's campaign.
Posted by Rick | July 23, 2024 04:13 PM | Political Science
The Debate, Biden, And The 25th Amendment
It was a stunning performance in the presidential debate by ‘President’ Joek Biden last night, and not stunning in a good way. A couple of things came to mind after the debate while considering what, if anything important, came out of the debate. The first thing was the movie ‘The Wizard of Oz’ and the second was Sandie Shaw’s #1 hit song, ‘Puppet On A String’. Who is behind the curtain in the Oval Office while someone is pulling Joek Biden’s strings? Those questions need to be answered sooner rather than later.
It is a dangerous world perhaps more so now than ever before with war in the Ukraine, Iran on the brink of testing its first nuclear weapon, the rogue nation of North Korea already possessing nuclear weapons, and China building up its military at an alarming rate all the while threatening to invade Taiwan, not to mention the war between Israel and Hamas/Hezbolah.
It became obvious during the debate that Biden is incapable of being our Commander In Chief and leader of the free world? If there is the slightest possibility that I am wrong, Biden could take a test that Trump to check on his cognitive abilities. If he passes, let him stay in office until the election in November. If he doesn’t he should resign immediately. If he won’t resign there is always the 25th Amendment which would be used to remove him.
The 25th Amendment, which has 4 parts, can be invoked in relative short order. The most important section is the 4th Section which reads:
Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.
Posted by Rick | June 28, 2024 09:10 AM | Political Science ~ | Social Studies
Biden's Ultimate Wisdom - Tariffs On EV Batteries
You may have heard that the Joek Biden administration has just announced a list of new tariffs on goods coming into the United States from China. I don’t know if Joek’s administration has completely thought them all through.
I wasn’t necessarily surprised that Joek raised the 25% tariff that Trump put on electric vehicles (EV) to a 100% tariff. It’s currently meaningless since I don’t believe China is currently selling Chinese automobiles in the US.
One of the centerpieces, if not the main centerpiece, of Joek’s climate change agenda in the US has everyone driving an electric vehicle. Of course, Joek has made mining for the rare earth minerals needed to make EV batteries virtually impossible in the US. This ends up making us reliant on others for the rare earth minerals. Guess who has enough rare earth minerals to make EV batteries. If you guessed China you guessed correctly. China has been going around the world acquiring the rare earth minerals needed for said batteries. Now Joek, in his ultimate wisdom, just put a new 25% tariff on EV batteries that we need to manufacture electric vehicles in the United States. This will mean that we will become more and more dependent upon China for the batteries and the cars that Americans aren't buying will become even more expensive.
News report after news report says that American auto dealerships have a huge inventory of electric vehicles on their lots that they can’t sell. Add another 25% to the cost of the EV battery and what have you done. The American auto manufacturer can’t continue to make cars that no one wants at current prices much less adding another cost like the new 25% tariff to the equation.
Trying to figure out how much this new tariff will really add to the cost of an EV is not, as I discovered, an exact science. Various reports on the internet have the cost of EV batteries between $7,000 and $30,000. Let’s say for argument’s sake that an EV battery costs $10,000. Joek’s new tariff just added $2,500 hundred to the cost of a new car that nobody wants in the first place.
We all know that Joek Biden is the most pro-union president ever, or so he says time after time after time.
Unfortunately, actions speak louder than words. Almost immediately upon entering the White House, Joek did away with 10,000 union jobs on some obscure pipeline (Keystone XL pipeline) that took over 10 years to plan.
The electric vehicle business is in trouble. They are trying to sell vehicles nobody wants and, in many cases, can't afford and Joek just made it worse. In a news report from CNN on April 25, 2024, “Ford’s electric vehicle unit reported that losses soared in the first quarter to $1.3 billion, or $132,000 for each of the 10,000 vehicles it sold in the first three months of the year, helping to drag down earnings for the company overall.”
Now Joek is going to put perhaps a few thousand UAW auto workers on unemployment because of a new tariff.
I haven't heard anyone make this argument yet but they will.
So much for thinking things through.
Posted by Rick | May 16, 2024 05:44 AM | Political Science ~ | Social Studies
Too Old To Prosecute
The special prosecutor gave his final report on the results of his investigation of President Joek Biden's horde of top secret documents he had squirreled away in a number of locations. The decision was made not to prosecute Biden because "Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,"
Make no mistake, they were never, ever going to prosecute Joek Biden. They just had to conjure up some semi-believable excuse so they came up with 'he's too old to prosecute'.
The special prosecutor said that President Biden was 'too old to prosecute' but he only said that because the excuse he really wanted to use was the one FBI chief Comey used when he said of Hilary Clinton: “No reasonable prosecutor would bring a case,” Comey concluded. “This investigation was done honestly, competently and independently.” Comey went on: “We did not find clear evidence that Clinton intended to violate the law,” Comey said. “There is evidence that they were extremely careless.”
Posted by Rick | March 13, 2024 04:30 AM | Political Science
Sticks And Stones
Today Stuart Varney of the Fox Business Network went on a tirade against Donald Trump because Trump had the bad manners to call Gavin Newsom,Newscum.
I wrote to Varney for his Friday feedback segment:
OMG - Trump had the bad manners to call California governor Gavin Newsom, Newscum. Too bad your tender sensiblilites were offended but you are focusing on the wrong thing.Newscum has sucked on the government tit since 1998 and has had an integral part in transforming one of the most beautiful cities (San Francisco) and states (California) into a filthy, drug infested, uneducated, unaffordable, homeless hell hole all the while dining at the French Laundry and sending his kids to private school. “Let them eat cake” comes to mind.
Newscum could be called a lot worse.
We'll see if I get a response
Posted by Rick | March 7, 2024 10:16 AM | Political Science ~ | Social Studies
Hypocracy Of The Biden Administration
In 2018 the Trump administration cut off all funding to the Palestinians, $360 million per year.
One of the first things Joek Biden did when he took office was to restore most, if not all, of the $360 million a year to the Palestinians. $360 million a year for three years is over $1 billion dollars. That can buy a lot of rockets to lob into Israel. I'm a little tired of listening to most of the talking heads in media and the government expressing their anger over how much Iran is sending to Palestine, especially in light of our own culpability.
Biden should look into his own contributions to the slaughter before complaining about Iran.
Posted by Rick | October 15, 2023 06:33 PM | Political Science
Lies And Total Capitulation
Over the weekend I heard a few things about the negotiated debt cap proposal and I wasn't too pleased but wanted to wait for the whole bill to be presented.
The bill is being described by House leadership as the best the Republicans could get. Has Speaker McCarthy actually read the bill? If he has he should be ashamed for presenting this to anyone with a brain. I don't know who was negotiating for the Republicans but they should be fired immediately. It's no wonder President Biden went on vacation during the negotiations. He had nothing to worry about.
Representative Dan Bishop (R-NC) was on the 'War Room' with Steve Bannon a little while ago and described what was not a negotiation but a total capitulation. The bill is little more than a shell game full of the same old lies and half truths that I have come to expect from Washington.
McCarthy should take a lesson from the negotiators who negotiated with China during the Trump administration, "grow a pair" or resign!
Posted by Rick | May 30, 2023 11:20 AM | Political Science
Chaos
President Joey says he wants to "finish the job." If his job was to ruin our country, I think the job has been finished quite well, thank you.
Posted by Rick | April 28, 2023 02:59 PM | Political Science ~ | Social Studies
It's All Money From Taxpayers
Today President Biden said of the takeover of two banks by his administration: "No losses will be borne by the taxpayers."
Where is he going to get the money, if not from the taxpayer?
President Joey Biden missed Econ 101 in college because he obviously missed the day that they taught us that the government doesn't have any money of it's own but gets all it's money through taxation or by borrowing it through the sale of bonds with the promise that the taxpayers will pay it back with interest.
All that money that he is going to throw at these two banks to guarantee all deposits, not just those deposits insured up to $250,000 by the FDIC, is not his money. Banks pay a fee to the FDIC to insure the deposits up to $250,000, but there is no fund that I know of that Biden has access to where he can insure hundreds of millions of dollars over $250,000. This is similar to his unconstitutional desire to forgive student debt.
Posted by Rick | March 13, 2023 11:03 PM | Political Science
It's Trump's Fault
Joe Biden's message to America is: I just want everyone to know that whatever catastrophe, great or small, happens in the United States during my administration it was Donald Trump's fault.
Posted by Rick | March 13, 2023 02:49 PM | Political Science
Despicable Behavior
While overseas last week, President 'Branden' Biden called out the Supreme Court calling their ruling on the Roe V Wade case "despicable behavior." In reality, what the Supreme Court did was take a ruling that made up a 'right' to privacy 49 years ago out of whole cloth and sent it back to the states to decide. The despicable behavior was Biden criticizing the Supreme Court in such an unseemly manner while overseas.
Posted by Rick | July 3, 2022 12:11 AM | Political Science
All Aboard The Train Of Thought
I was surprised when President ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ Biden was caught last week on an open mike describing Peter Doocy of Fox News as “a stupid son of a bitch.”
I was even more surprised that President ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ Biden could manage to put together that many words in a row without losing his train of thought.
Posted by Rick | February 2, 2022 03:53 PM | Just For Fun ~ | Political Science
Pay Your Fair Share! Self Serving Tripe
Remember this every time Pelosi or Biden talk about paying your fair share.
From The Committee for A Responsible Government:
"The current version of the Build Back Better Act under consideration in the House would increase the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap from $10,000 to $80,000 through 2026..... there is no such thing as progressive SALT cap relief. Roughly 98 percent of the benefit increase would accrue to those making more than $100,000 per year, with more than 80 percent going to those making over $200,000."
In other words, if you (Nancy Pelosi) live in a multi-million dollar 16.55-acre estate with your own vineyard in Saint Helena, CA (Napa Valley) and pay $80,000 a year in property taxes, and you are in a 40% tax bracket this would allow you to deduct (write-off) $80,000, saving yourself $32,000 annually in federal income taxes.
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Posted by Rick | November 10, 2021 08:26 AM | Political Science ~ | Social Studies
Please Help Me, Im Falling
Before I’m accused of being as stupid as a suburban soccer mom who voted for Joe Biden, will somebody please tell me who this ‘Brandon’ is everyone is talking about.
Posted by Rick | October 27, 2021 02:12 AM | Just A Thought ~ | Just For Fun ~ | Political Science ~ | Social Studies
Blood On Biden's Hands
I want to give a big shout out to President Biden for the BANG up job he is doing in Afghanistan. Only 12 13 American soldiers dead so far. Just don't forget he IS the President and the buck stops with him.
Posted by Rick | August 26, 2021 12:53 PM | Political Science ~ | Social Studies
Military Claims To Be Clueless
I just heard a military spokesman say that they have no idea how many Americans are in Afghanistan who need to be airlifted out.
Common sense says that if there were a well thought out plan to leave Afghanistan the military would be responsible for the transportation of the American citizens during the extrication. The military would surely coordinate with the State Department about this, wouldn't it? The military would need to plan for planes, fuel, food and other needs of the thousands of people who would be descending upon the airbase. Apparently and unfortunately, neither the State Department or the military have any idea about how many Americans need to be evacuated.
Not only are we not leaving but we are now forced to deploy thousands of additional troops to protect the airbase until we figure out how to get all the Americans out.
It's 3 A.M. at the White House and there is a collect call from Afghanistan. The Commander In Chief, President Joey, needs to answer the phone and accept the charges.
Posted by Rick | August 19, 2021 12:24 PM | Political Science
As Long As We're Woke
From the cadets at West Point, the sailors on our nuclear subs, to the Chairman of The Joint Chiefs Of Staff (JCS), our military is officially woke.
Unfortunately the military's job is not sitting around campfires singing Kumbaya. We have thousands of people who work in the Pentagon making plans, contingency plans, and contingency-contingency plans. Those plans are available to our civilian leaders but do us no good if we have idiots for civilian leaders who are more worried about sexual identity, skin color, and Critical Race Theory (CRT) than they are about protecting American interests. Our military can be very, very good at breaking things and killing people if left alone, but for many, many years this other crap has slowly become more important than their true mission which should be protecting America, first, last and always.
Today in Afghanistan there is chaos. If the current JCS, General Mark A. Milley, advised President Joey to do what is transpiring in Afghanistan, he should resign in shame. If he advised President Joey to do something different and was overruled he should resign in protest. The impolite term for this in military terms is a cluster fuck and it will go down in history as perhaps our military's second best cluster fuck rivialing Custer's battle at the Little Big Horn for first place.
But don't worry, no matter how many people die because of this failure of leadership, our military is woke. Thank God for that.
Posted by Rick | August 16, 2021 11:20 AM | Political Science ~ | Social Studies
Mysterious Economic Policy Provides Jobs
Fell out of bed this morning upon hearing Marty Walsh, the new Labor Secretary in President Joey’s administration proclaim that the 916,000 new jobs were due to “good economic policy.” Of course there were no examples of this “good economic policy.” What could he possibly point to? Perhaps he was referring to President Joey’s destruction of the oil and gas industry in the United States.
This former mob union boss, and former mayor of Boston, who resigned that job to become Labor Secretary, claims among his accomplishments having introduced a bill to have The Modern Lovers song "Roadrunner" be named, and eventually became, the official rock song of Massachusetts.
This guy wouldn’t know economic policy from an insurance policy.
Posted by Rick | April 2, 2021 08:59 AM | Political Science ~ | Social Studies
Where The Hell Am I? - Can President Joey Answer Correctly
There is a crime being committed at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Washington, D.C., and the American people are the victims. We are being told that Joe Biden is the President, however, even the casual observer using any semblance of common sense has to admit that President Joey is not playing with a full deck, so to speak.
Trotting President Joey out to read a few sentences on a teleprompter and then trotting him back to the Oval Office or White House residence doesn't mean that he knows what the hell is going on.
We were promised transparency in the Biden administration but we aren’t allowed to ask President Joey questions that aren’t scripted. Remember the good old days when President Trump would answer questions for 20 minutes before getting on the presidential helicopter. Reporters could ask anything they wanted and they did, no matter how important, inane or disrespectful.
President Joey isn’t allowed to answer even the simplest questions after reading his brief remarks from the teleprompter. Trotting him out to justify the 1.9 trillion dollar stimulus boondoggle isn’t going to happen. Letting him answer questions about the worthless bombing we did in Syria isn’t going to happen. The bombing took place twelve days ago but would he even remember the who, what, when, where, why, and how of the attack at this point?
Is Jill Biden running the country? Is Kamala Harris running the country? The time has come to unleash President Joey and let him answer some questions about all the illegal aliens, many who have contracted the Chinese Wuhan virus, being allowed to roam the streets of America with no means of support , no food, no money, no shelter.
Thousands of illegal alien minors are being detained in tents, shipping containers with a small window, or cages beyond the legal time frame for releasing them. We deserve answers directly from President Joey. If he can do that, fine. If he can’t do that then we have a right to know who is behind the curtain pulling his strings.
The 25th Amendment was enacted partly because after President Woodrow Wilson's stroke in 1919, his condition was kept secret by his wife, Edith Wilson, and the White House physician, Cary T. Grayson. No one officially assumed his powers and duties and the President’s wife and his personal secretary (chief of staff), Joseph Patrick Tumulty, effectively ran the Oval office. Wilson's condition became public knowledge with only a few months remaining in his term and Congressional leaders didn’t pursue the matter.
Back in 2018, President Trump, as part of his annual check-up, took the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). The Montreal Cognitive Assessment is a 30 point test designed as a rapid screening tool for mild cognitive dysfunction which will indicate a loss of memory and clear thinking ability that sometimes precedes dementia.
Maggie Fox, writing for NBC News on January 26, 2018 wrote:
“The 30-point test includes drawings of a lion and a rhinoceros, which patients must name. Test-takers are also asked to copy a simple line sketch of a cube; match the letter A to the number 1, the letter B to the number 2 and so on. They are asked to recall a list of five words and repeat very short lists of numbers forward and backward.
It also includes one of the best-known tests for early Alzheimer's disease -- the clock test, in which patients are asked to draw an analog clock face.
The exam assesses attention, planning, memory and visual skills, all of which deteriorate in people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia. A score of 26 or lower indicates dementia.
A Cochrane Collaboration review of the test showed it detects 94 percent of people with dementia.”
It was reported that President Trump scored a perfect 30.
It is likely that Jill Biden along with Biden’s chief-of-staff, Ron Klain, and perhaps VP Kamala Harris are hiding President Joey’s mental acuity, or lack thereof, and the true state of his overall mental health.
The time has come for President Joey to take the test. President Joey can pass the test and prove everyone wrong. If not , President Joey should relinquish his office and join Chomp, I mean Champ, back in his Delaware basement.
The American people deserve someone they voted for who knows what planet he’s on when answering the 3 A.M phone call. No one voted for Jill Biden or Ron Klain.
Posted by Rick | March 9, 2021 12:24 PM | Political Science ~ | Social Studies
The Elephant InThe Room
I just heard that General Motors is planning to be manufacturing only all electric vehicles by 2035. I know that it is very fashionable to jump on the electric vehicle bandwagon right now but there are some things that no one is talking about that trouble me.
President Joey has promised to build 500,000 charging stations which will solve a small, actually very small, portion of the fueling problem for electric vehicles. The logistics of getting the electricity to those stations is going to be a huge undertaking. Of course, tens of millions of homes will have to be retrofitted with individual charging stations.
In California, where they don’t produce enough electricity to serve their population on a very hot day already, can you imagine a few million vehicles plugging into the electric gird after work every day. Can you spell rationing. Perhaps a few nuclear power plants will solve their energy problem if they can and are willing to build them fast enough. Wind and solar just aren’t capable of producing enough reliable energy to sustain the huge need for that many cars in California, let alone the rest of the United Sates, 365 days a year.
Watching all the pundits praising electric vehicles, I believe they are all ignoring the elephant in the room, namely lithium. Right now the average life of a vehicle in the United Sates is probably between 5 and 10 years before they hit the junk yard. We currently have places to recycle old vehicles. Some vehicles are crushed and recycled that way. Some can be found in pick-a-part junkyards. Tires are another thing altogether. There are some attempts to recycle the old tires but they mostly are stored in huge piles and left to rot in the baking sun. Imagine hundreds of millions of pounds of old lithium batteries sitting around leaking into the local water table with nowhere to safely store them. The nationwide need for a place to safely store our nuclear waste is currently a huge problem but no one wants to store it in their backyard. I’m sure most of you are aware of the fight over Yucca Mountain? Where in the world are we going to find a home to safely store all the old lithium filled car batteries? Rest assured Nevada won’t take them.
In one of the few news articles that address the battery waste problem it says that in the UK, a pretty small country by any standard, based on the relatively small number of electric cars sold there in 2017, “researchers in the United Kingdom calculated that 250,000 metric tons, or half a million cubic meters, of unprocessed battery pack waste will result when these vehicles reach the end of their lives.”
The article goes on to say:
“Currently in the United Kingdom, there are no dedicated operating facilities for processing electric vehicle waste batteries. What batteries do get processed are exported and recycled using a pyrometallurgical method, which uses high temperatures to smelt the batteries and extract some reusable components. However, it’s wasteful and inefficient, which means some materials can’t be recovered, he said.
The batteries produced by different manufacturers vary widely and the paper calls for more standardization to allow easier recycling. Current designs also don’t lend themselves to easy deconstruction by hand or machine.”
The article goes on to say that we are currently capable of recycling 95% of old batteries currently used in our nasty combustion engine automobiles.
You can read more about the problem here.
To sum up the electric vehicle situation -
The lack of charging stations is a major hurdle....500,000 stations are not going to suffice.
Retrofitting tens of millions of homes with charging stations won't happen overnight.
The lack of enough clean energy to supply the charging stations is a major hurdle.
The need for a place to safely store all the old batteries hasn’t been addressed by anyone that I know of.
I am confident our brand spanking new visionary President, President Joey, has thought about all of this and he will have solutions for us just soon as he wakes up from his nap.
Posted by Rick | March 2, 2021 01:05 PM | Political Science ~ | Social Studies
Misinformation And Biden
We know that President Joey doesn't write his own speeches. Most of the time he doesn't know what day it is, but yesterday in another of his brief speeches he proclaimed that the Wuhan virus had killed 500,071 Americans and he said that number of deaths exceeded the number of Americans killed in World War I, World War II, and the Viet Nam war combined. When he said that I knew that was a lie. Using round numbers, it is estimated that 116,000 Americans died in WWI, 418,000 Americans died in WWII, and 58,000 Americans died in the Viet Nam war. The total of those deaths is 592,000. President Joey needs a better speech writer.
It is important to remember that the number of Wuhan virus deaths is likely exaggerated. Two Minnesota state lawmakers recently said that the number of deaths being attributed to the Wuhan virus there might have as much as a 40% error rate. You can read about it here.
I am certain that the number of deaths attributed to this virus are also inflated in other states as well. Hospitals and other medical facilities make much more money if a death is attributed to the Wuhan virus than if someone dies from drowning, a fall, a heart attack, etc. Remember to always follow the money.
Posted by Rick | February 24, 2021 09:47 AM | Political Science ~ | Social Studies
Biden Crime Family Administration
I didn't watch the swearing in of our 46th President but I gather that Joe Biden took the oath of office and swore to uphold the constitution. Chris Wallace of Fox News said it was the greatest inaugural speech he had ever heard but most serious talking heads panned the speech as a snoozer. Poor Bill Clinton was so enthused that he was caught napping during the speech.
Later in the day Joey signed 17 executive orders many of which gave away our sovereignty to globalists. In his ultimate wisdom Joey deigned that we should once again belong to the World Health Organization, be a party to the Paris Climate Accord, and allow anyone who wants to come into our country illegally via our southern border to come on ahead by stopping construction of the border wall, stopping deportations, and giving a pathway to citizenship to the millions of illegal immigrants who came here in the past. You are probably aware that Joey vowed during the election to give free health care to illegal immigrants.
Joey also canceled the XL pipeline, upsetting our neighbor to north, Canada, and putting a thousand or so Americans out of work.
On another note, I wonder how long it will take the family to monetize Joey's new position. How much will Joey's son, Hunter, charge someone for the honor of sleeping in the Lincoln bedroom? Will Joey's brother, James Biden, be building more homes in third world countries? One can only guess what kind of trouble Joey's brother, Frank Biden, will get into while Joey is in the White House.
We suffered through the violence and destruction by the Democrap's brown shirts , more commonly known as antifa and black lives matter, on college campuses during the Obama/Biden administration meant to intimidate conservative voices and keepd them from speaking, and the looting, assaults, and arson of most of our urban areas during the Trump administration by those same groups yet Joey and the Democraps seem to think that white supremacists are the greatest threat to our democracy.
Posted by Rick | January 20, 2021 10:43 AM | Political Science
Now Comes The Impeachement Of Trump...Again
President Donald J. Trump was not guilty of any "high crimes or misdemeanors" when he gave his speech last Wednesday.
Unlike the first impeachment which was about a phone call where the only record was a transcription of the call, this time the President's speech was televised for the world to see.
During the first impeachment of President Trump, the Democraps (Communists) tried to 'interpret' the words of the President to claim he had committed a high crime or misdemeanor, and they are going to try to 'interpret' his words once again to justify another impeachment.
You will not, however, see any news outlets replaying any part of the speech where Trump supposedly incited someone, anyone, to commit acts of violence, and they are not going to replay it, because, once again, there is not one shred of evidence that anything of the sort was said,
It's obvious Nancy Pelosi, Chuckie Schumer and the Democraps (Communists) want to impeach the President. They've wanted to impeach him since he won the election in 2016, even before he had taken the oath of office. Unfortunately all they have is their unhinged hatred of him and his supporters, not because there is a valid reason to do so.
Posted by Rick | January 11, 2021 09:24 AM | Political Science
It's Official! Biden Won*
With all the electoral votes finally counted, it is a certainty that the Biden Crime Family will now occupy the White House for the next four years or until President-elect Biden is pronounced unfit to hold the office.
*Biden won with the help of corrupt election officials.
Posted by Rick | January 7, 2021 06:26 PM | Political Science ~ | Social Studies
Sisolak Is An Idiot
Nevada has reportedly had 133,888 citizens contract COVID-19 with a mere 2,017 deaths attributed to the virus statewide. This is an exceedingly low death rate of 1.50648%, yet our 'esteemed' governor, Steve Sisolak, has done everything possible during the pandemic to destroy our economy, our schools, our churches, our lives. This idiot couldn't figure out a risk/reward ratio if his life depended on it.
Governor Sisolak, who is in quarantine after supposedly contracting the Chinese virus while wearing his mask 24 hours a day each and every day for the last six months, said during his latest decree and press conference last Sunday, "I have done everything I could to help spread this virus." This was probably a mis-statement by him at the time but, in reality, truer words were never spoken.
In a purely political decree on March 24, 2020, Nevada governor Steve Sisolak banned the use of anti-malaria drugs for COVID-19 treatment, notably chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine.
Hydroxychloroquine is a very inexpensive drug (less that $25.00 per month) that has been used to treat malaria, very safely I might add, since 1955. At the time of Governor Sisolak's decree there were really no other good therapeutic options, but because President Trump said he believed that this was possibly a viable treatment, Sisolak, without any scientific evidence to the contrary and at least one small study done in France showing evidence of positive results in treating COVID-19, denied the treatment to thousands on Nevadans.
You can read the study here
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Posted by Rick | November 23, 2020 06:55 AM | Political Science
Sometimes You Just Have To Laugh
As you may or may not know a number of rappers have decided to support President Trump ~ among them L'll Wayne and 50Cent. I had to laugh when 50Cent said that he didn't want to become 20Cent under Biden. You can see the news story at the New York Post here.
Posted by Rick | October 31, 2020 04:31 PM | Political Science ~ | Social Studies
The Final Question
I just watched a Trump rally with tens of thousands of supporters in Reading, PA, and a competing Biden 'campaign stop' at an apparently undisclosed location somewhere in Michigan with about 50 people in attendance. It was very, very stark difference.
I guess the big question here in the few days before the election is ~ Will the Biden BLM/antifa supporters be able to tear themselves away from their looting, vandalism, arson and violence long enough to vote for the corrupt socialist/communist Joe Biden or are they just going to be too exhausted?
Posted by Rick | October 31, 2020 02:44 PM | Political Science ~ | Social Studies
Safer ~ I Think Not
In an amazing display of hubris during the Vice-Presidential debate last night, Kamala Harris actually said “I will not be lectured by the Vice-President on our record of what we have done in terms of keeping our communities safe and a commitment to reforming the criminal justice system of America.”
Consider these facts:
The Democrats are promoting defunding the police all across America, and many cities run by left-wing politicians, including Minneapolis, New York and Los Angeles, have actually begun doing so.
They, including Kamala Harris and many Biden staffers, have established funds to bail out the BLM and antifa looters, vandals, arsonists, and violent thugs so they can go out into the streets again the very next night.
They have said nothing to the “mostly peaceful” protesters demanding that they stop the destruction of their cities. The destruction by these “mostly peaceful” criminals which is costing insurance companies over $2,000,000,000. That’s Two Billion (with a B) Dollars. Never mind the cost of the damage to those who were uninsured and the physical damage to police officers, business owners and innocent citizens during the “mostly peaceful” protests.
They want to take away our 2nd Amendment rights and force us to sell the weapons we need to protect ourselves.
They have set up sanctuary cities to protect criminal illegal aliens and want to do away with ICE (Immigration And Customs Enforcement) which is tasked with removing the criminal element from the illegal alien population including the infamous gang, MS13.
They want open borders so that illegal aliens can stream across our borders unimpeded, which will in turn overwhelm our schools, hospitals, welfare and criminal justice systems.
Just as an afterthought , every Democratic presidential candidate said they supported providing free health care to illegal aliens. Good luck paying for that!
They certainly want to ‘reform’ our criminal justice system but somehow I don’t think we’re going to be safer.
Posted by Rick | October 8, 2020 07:43 AM | Political Science ~ | Social Studies
Presidential Debate
Just finished watching the debate and while it appeared that Joe Biden knew where he was it was apparent that if his lips were moving he was either lying or talking about some delusional plan to fix 'climate change' by retrofitting buildings and making us all drive cars that all run on electricity and blaming tornados in the mid-west on said 'climate change'. Millions of jobs to be created in 'green new deal' programs is absurd. Can you say 'Solyndra'?
I live in Nevada where in the past month or so we have been asked to reduce our power consumption because California was having energy shortages causing rolling black-outs. If California were to go to all electric vehicles can you imagine 15 million vehicles being plugged in every day during happy hour....there would be a lot of drinking going on but there would be no ice cubes for the drinks.
Where in the world is Hunter Biden? Nothing to see there... The entire saga of his economic escapades in China, the Ukraine, and Moscow were all debunked don't you know says 'Say It Ain't So' Joe.
You can read the report on Hunter Biden's corrupt financial dealings here.
Posted by Rick | September 29, 2020 07:55 PM | Political Science
YouTube And Twitter Want To Censor Free Speech
Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) has had his question he posed during the impeachment trial of President Trump about the alleged whistIe-blower, Eric Ciaramella, stricken from YouTube and Twitter. I'm surprised they are not calling for some good old-fashioned book burning.
If you are interested in reading more about Eric Ciaramella go here or here.
Posted by Rick | February 14, 2020 06:11 PM | Political Science ~ | Social Studies
The Paris Climate Agreement And 1 Trillion Trees
Go here to read an enlightening article about the Paris Climate Agreement.
At the World Economic Forum President Trump entered into an agreement between some of the leaders there to help plant 1 TRILLION trees around the world to combat climate change. By the way, that is a lot of trees.
You can go here to read more about the planting of 1 trillion trees.
Where is Johnny Appleseed when you need him?
Posted by Rick | February 11, 2020 02:53 AM | Political Science
The 'Great' Senator Romney ~ God Made Me Do It!
President Trump isn’t accused of committing any crime in his impeachment trial. He did withhold approximately $400 billion dollars in aid from Ukraine for a few weeks but did deliver it before the end of the fiscal year. It should also be noted that it is entirely within his power to withhold foreign aid to any country for any reason he believes is in the best interest of the United States.
The 'great' Senator Mitt Romney is going to vote to convict President Trump today. He claims that he believes (without any proof) that President Trump asked for the newly elected Ukrainian President to investigate corruption in Ukraine that included former Vice- President Joe Biden. There is proof (a video) that Vice-President Biden leveraged a $1 billion loan guarantee to the Ukrainians in order to get a Ukrainian prosecutor fired. It just so happens that the prosecutor was investigating a Ukrainian company that was paying his son $83,333 a month for a no show, no experience needed job.
Was President Trump so afraid of former Vice-President Biden that he would concoct a scheme to smear him? Remember the smearing was already done by former VP Biden’s own words. Do we know what the former VP’s exact motives were when he threatened the Ukrainians?
The 'great' Senator Romney is making an assumption that he can somehow divine President Trump’s motives in the worst possible light and divine former VP Biden’s admitted leveraging of the $1 loan guarantee as completely in the best interests of the United States and no further investigation should be conducted.
In his one and only interview about this before the vote this afternoon, Romney seemed to hide behind his religion while coming to these extraordinary conclusions. The 'great' Senator Romney claims that it is his religion that is making him do this. That must be one very special religion that has given him these powers to divine everyones’ exact motives.
What could the 'great' Senator Romney’s real motives be for voting to convict President Trump? Jealousy? Payback for not getting a high profile job in Trump’s administration? Some other perceived slight? My divining rod isn’t working right now.
Posted by Rick | February 5, 2020 12:44 PM | Political Science
What Is That Awful Smell?
To quote ‘Quid Pro’ Joe Biden, “I’ll be damned,” the Democraps congressional clown car, with Nancy Pelosi driving and Chuck Schumer riding shotgun, joined by RINO senators Mitt Romney and Susan Collins, just crashed into a big pile of dog shit and exploded into a huge, smelly ball of flames.
The Democraps were trying to smear the dog shit on President Trump but unfortunately (for them) they landed in it while President Trump came away smelling like a rose.
Posted by Rick | January 31, 2020 04:39 PM | Political Science
Chief Justice John Roberts & The Whistle Blower
Why wouldn’t Chief Justice John Roberts read the question posed by Senator Rand Paul during the impeachment trial of President Trump?
Senator Paul’s question according to his Twitter account was:
"Manager Schiff and counsel for the president, are you aware that House intelligence committee staffer Shawn Misko had a close relationship with Eric Ciaramella when at the National Security Council together, and are you aware and how do you respond to reports that Ciaramella and Misko may have worked together to plot impeaching the President before there were formal House impeachment proceedings?"
This question does not accuse Mr. Ciaramella or Mr. Misko of being “the whistle blower.”
Why wouldn't Chief Justice Roberts utter either one of those names? Does Chief Justice Roberts know who the whistle blower is? If Chief Justice Roberts knows who the whistle blower is, who told him? House manager Rep. Adam ‘Piece Of’ Schiff (D-CA) claims he doesn’t know who the whistle blower is so someone else must have told him.
If Roberts wouldn’t read the question because he is trying to protect one or both of the people mentioned in the question from being identified as ‘the whistle blower,’ since when is it his job to do that? It is my understanding that a whistle blower isn’t guaranteed anonymity and it certainly isn’t Chief Justice Roberts job to protect the whistle blower's identity. Why all the secrecy?
I thought this ‘trial’ was supposed to be a search for the truth.....
Note: If you are interested in reading more about Eric Ciaramella go here
Posted by Rick | January 30, 2020 05:04 PM | Political Science
Impressions Of The Impeachment Of President Donald John Trump
Tuned in a little while ago to watch 'the impeachment of President Donald John Trump' as they continue to say. It is impossible to watch Congressman Adam 'Piece Of' Schiff (D-CA) without laughing. His presentation is full of distortions, omissions, and outright lies. If I decide to watch for any extended length of time I will definitely have to have an $18 dollar scotch. (That's a little inside joke ~ Fleming's steakhouse outrageously charges that much for a Johnny Walker Black.)
Right now I'm going to make better use of my time by picking up dog poop.
Posted by Rick | January 22, 2020 11:44 AM | Political Science
Clowns Invade Senate
Watched much of the impeachment trial in the Senate today without the aid of an alcoholic beverage, but a little after dinner tonight I just couldn’t take it any more and I made a margarita. It’s now almost midnight and I ran out my normal margarita mix and have graduated to watermelon margaritas.
The Democraps are quite insistent in their message today to the Senate is that no one is above the law...now be careful Democraps what you wish for.. remember...not Lois Lerner (IRS), not Samantha Powell (Un ambassador unmasking over 250 Americans illegally), not Peter Strzok (FBI), not Andrew McCabe (FBI), not Lisa Page (FBI), not Loretta Lynch (DOJ), not James Comey (FBI ~ FISA warrant/extensions/leaks), not Hillary Clinton (uranium/foundation pay for play~destruction of emails and electronic devices~improper handling of classified documents~600 denied security requests that led to death of ambassador and other American heroes), and certainly not VP Joey Biden (his ne’r-do-well son was paid millions for his no show/no experience job in Ukraine, $1.5 billion, that’s $1.5 billion with a ‘B’ from a Chinese bank to fund a brokerage account in the US, and there's Joey's bothers who also cashed in on government deals after he was VP). And of course, who could forget HRH Barrack Hussein Obama who had to know of all the crap that was going on with the illegal surveillance of Carter Page and the Trump campaign. Did I miss anyone in my drunken stupor? Probably!
I fully expect the House Of Representative impeachment gang of seven to show up tomorrow wearing big round red noses and huge floppy shoes. Clowns all!!!
Make America Great Again~Keep America Great!!!
Posted by Rick | January 21, 2020 11:56 PM | Political Science
Weasel Says No 'Proof' Of Bias
Apparently IG Horowitz could not conclude that the actions taken by the FBI and DOJ in the investigation of the Trump campaign were biased is that despite hundreds of emails documenting anti-Trump bias, activities such as falsifying emails, sending in people to secretly record meetings with President Trump, and renewing an unverified FISA application three times is because the people involved in those activities didn't have 'I Hate Trump' tattooed on their foreheads.
It would have been fine to produce the report without drawing a conclusion but to conclude that because no one confessed to having an anti-Trump bias there was no bias is a disservice to the people who worked on preparing the report and an insult to the intelligence of the American people. The word 'weasel' comes to mind.
Posted by Rick | December 11, 2019 12:22 PM | Political Science
Impeachment Inquiry For Laughs
Yesterday, having just completed my annual Christmas compilation CD, I was contemplating what to do next. I had a few choices: I could see how many times I could spin around before I fell down; I could try a 'I Can't Believe It's Not Beef' Whopper from Burger King; I could see how many bloody mary's I could drink before I passed out; I could slit my wrists; and finally, I could watch the 'impeachment inquiry'. Deciding that the first four options were too dangerous, even life threatening, I turned on the TV.
The questioning had already begun and the two witnesses were asked if they had listened to to the phone call President Trump had made to the newly elected Ukranian leader and they both responded that they had not. They were asked if they had ever met or spoken with President Trump and they responded that they had not. At that point I turned off the TV and began spinning around.
Posted by Rick | November 14, 2019 07:43 PM | Political Science
The Census And John Roberts
The census the gives us the opportunity to determine how many citizens and non-citizens we have living in any given area of the country every ten years.
With the question of citizenship on the census we would have been able to get a true head count of our population while apportioning the House of Representatives according to actual citizenship.
Without the question we will now give added representation to states, mostly states bordering Mexico - California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, with bloated populations of illegal immigrants. Believing that the hispanic population will generally vote with the liberals, this is the reason the Democraps support open borders and do not want the illegal alien population counted separately from the total population.
Unfortunately, Chief Justice John Roberts managed to distort his reasoning, as he did with his decision on Obamacare, finding a way to side with the liberals on the Supreme Court in denying the question of citizenship on the census questionnaire.
Roberts wrote the Commerce Department's rationale for including the question "seems to have been contrived."
"We are presented, in other words, with an explanation for agency action that is incongruent with what the record reveals about the agency's priorities and decision-making process."
Deciding the question because Roberts didn't like the rationale presented is a terrible reason to skew the results of the census.
Posted by Rick | June 27, 2019 10:35 AM | Political Science
Inmates Running the Asylum
The Orlando Sentinel, announced it was endorsing whoever challenges Trump in the general election no matter who it is.
"Enough of the chaos, the division, the schoolyard insults, the self-aggrandizement, the corruption and especially the lies. Trump's successful assault on truth is the great casualty of this presidency, followed closely by his war on decency."
Trump loves America and has a great vision for America. His vision has brought us lower taxes, energy independence, a revitalized steel industry, better trade agreements, a stronger military and his demands on our NATO allies has strengthened that organization. Lower business taxes and fewer regulations on our US businesses have transformed our economy into a financial juggernaut that is the envy of the world.
The democraps vision for America includes open borders, 'free' stuff, higher taxes, abortions on demand up until birth and infanticide after birth, socialized medicine, the "green new deal," 'free' stuff, legalized drug addiction, tent cities for the homeless, and 'free' stuff. Did I miss anything?
The people at the Orlando Sentinel are idiots.
Posted by Rick | June 18, 2019 01:17 PM | Political Science ~ | Social Studies
Biden, Clinton And Corruption
Nancy 'The Witch' Pelosi proclaims on a daily basis that no one is above the law. I would like to know where are her calls to investigate the million dollar deals that former Vice-President Joe Biden's son came home with while he was galavanting around the world (specifically China and the Ukraine) with his daddy on Air Force 2.
If no one is above the law, where is the outrage that Hilary Clinton signed off on a deal to sell a significant portion of our uranium to Russia while her foundation was taking a reported one hundred and forty five million dollars (that's $145,000,000 for those of you in Altoona) from Russian contributors. And we should not forget to mention deleting 33,000 emails, destroying server(s) and phones, and being caught with top secret documents on her private servers. Remember former President Bill Clinton secretly meeting with AG Loretta Lynch on the tarmac in Phoenix while his lovely bride was being investigated by the Department of Justice that AG Lynch was the head of.
Change the names on the above paragraphs to President Trump, Donald Trump Jr., AG Barr and let's see what the Democraps would have to say about that. They would be apoplectic. Impeach! Impeach!! Impeach!!!
Posted by Rick | May 23, 2019 10:23 AM | Political Science
Pound Sand!
When President Trump told Nancy 'The Witch' Pelosi (D-CA) and 'Cryin'' Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to pound sand yesterday, I stood up and cheered. It was about time!
Posted by Rick | May 23, 2019 10:10 AM | Political Science
China Tarriffs And Taxes And Idiots
President Trump is trying to get China to stop stealing intellectual property, stop manipulating their currency and to stop putting exorbitant tariffs on Americans goods while tariffs on Chinese good coming into the United States had remained quite low for decades.
Of course the Democraps (except Chuckie Schumer (D-NY) wail and wring their hands about how much this is going to cost our agriculture and manufacturing sectors and individual Americans. You might think the world was going to come to an end in twelve years.
On the other hand you have Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) chomping at the bit to raise our taxes by repealing the 'crumbs' we received in President Trump's new tax legislation.
Former vice-president and current presidential candidate, "Sleepy" Joe Biden, says that we (Americans citizens) should pay for illegal aliens' health care. If there are 20 million illegals in the United States right now and it costs an individual $200 for the 'Un'Affordable Care Act (Obama Care) per month, that's a measly $48 billion dollars per year the 50% of Americans who pay taxes will have to shell out.
And then you have presidential candidate, Andrew Yang, who would like to impose a VAT (value added tax) on everything we purchase. Why is he proposing this tax on all of us? He is upset because Amazon didn't pay any corporate income tax last year.
The cherry on top of all this idiocy is a proposal in Illinois to tax everyone who bought an electric vehicle $1,000 a year to register their automobile because they use our roads and bridges without paying the gasoline tax. Buy a electric vehicle to save the planet and we'll tax you 'til you cry Republican.
Forgiveness of past college loans and free college going forward, the Green New Deal, Medicare for all, and open borders. I'm going to need a bigger pot for all the free stuff!
If the Democraps take control of the presidency and the senate grab hold of your wallet real tight because they are coming after your money. You just can't make this stuff up.
Posted by Rick | May 13, 2019 06:58 PM | Political Science
The Mueller Report
After 675 days, Robert Mueller has completed his'witch hunt. We won't know for a few days what his conclusions are but it is being reported that there won't be any more indictments. I know the democraps can't be happy about that.
Adam 'Piece Of' Schiff (D-CA) said that he had hard evidence that Trump colluded with RUSSIA, RUSSIA, RUSSIA. Looks like now would be a good time to present that evidence.
Eric Swalwell (D-CA), who also said he has evidence that President Trump colluded with Russia but was unable to present said evidence when given the opportunity to do so on Tucker Carlson's Fox News show, is the dumbest man in congress and should resign from the Intelligence Committee that he sits on. He really is too stupid to be associated with the word intelligence.
Posted by Rick | March 23, 2019 12:40 AM | Political Science
John McCain's Stained Legacy
I get it - Meghan McCain worships her late father, John McCain. McCain, of course, had the best health care available to him when he needed it but he made sure that there were, according to Jeff Flake in an interview while on his book tour, nearly 400,000 people in Arizona who had no or unaffordable health care. Those were people he was supposed to represent. Additionally, millions of Americans have to have two jobs to survive and thousands of American companies are saddled with ridiculous and extremely costly regulations because Meghan McCain's daddy, John McCain, decided to grandstand and vote against repealing the 'Un'Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare. The disasterous Obamacare is now a huge part of John McCain's legacy and no amount of caterwauling on Meghan's part can erase that.
Meghan McCain now says that her daddy would have been happy to see that he got under the skin of President Trump. Of course, it's President Trump who got under Meghan's skin.
Posted by Rick | March 23, 2019 12:36 AM | Political Science
How Much Blood Does It Take To Make A Crisis?
The question for today is: How much blood does it take to make a crisis?
Police officers shot and killed by illegal aliens. Millions of doses of lethal illegal drugs flowing across our border with Mexico while more Americans are dying annually from drug overdoses than were killed in the entire Vietnam war. Thousands of American lives lost by illegal aliens driving drunk, hundreds of killings by MS13 and other Hispanic gangs, thousands of sexual assaults by illegal aliens, not to mention all the other petty and not-so-petty crimes committed by illegal aliens. Emergency rooms overflowing with illegal aliens with tuberculosis, flu, pregnancies and other sundry ailments while Americans wait for hours for care. Hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens clogging up the immigration process by making bogus claims for asylum. School rooms all over the country filled with students who don't speak english which makes teaching those who do speak English almost impossible.
All this and more, yet Nancy and Chuckie have the audacity to continue with the refrain: No crisis here.....
Posted by Rick | January 9, 2019 01:17 PM | Political Science
Lack Of Intelligence A Bipartisan Affair
U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Kelly has granted CNN's request for a temporary restraining order reinstating Jim Acosta's White House press pass.
After a ruling that said Acosta was entitled to due process if the White House wanted to revoke his access to the White House, one wonders how a judge like Kelly ever got a license to practice law, much less an appointment (by President Trump no less) to a district court judgeship.
Regardless of a ruling by another district court judge in 1977 that said the White House must give the reporter notice and the right to rebut a formal written notice, Judge Kelly should have denied the claim that this revocation would infringe on Acosta's freedom of speech rights. Television and radio stations abound, newspapers print daily and weekly editions, and websites and podcasts all provide free speech outlets for anyone inclined to speak their mind. The decision to revoke Acosta's pass didn't limit his access to any of the millions of the aforementioned outlets. Acosta had proven to be a 'bad actor' in and around the White House and his reprehensible performance at the press conference where he refused to surrender the microphone was the final straw that broke the proverbial camel' back. He deserved to have his press pass revoked.
Posted by Rick | November 16, 2018 09:30 AM | Political Science ~ | Social Studies
Macron Needs A History Lesson
It was rich that French President Macron lectured us and the rest of the world during the 100th anniversary celebration of the end of World War I about patriotism and nationalism.
In World War I France had over 4 million casualties and over 1 million deaths. By 1917 thousands of French soldiers were deserting and the French offensives against Germany had basically come to a halt while waiting for American and British troops to come save their bacon.
When Germany invaded France in World War II, the French armed forces folded like a cheap suit in less than a week. Romantic stories about the French underground to the contrary, if it wasn’t for our blood and treasure President Macron would be speaking German, drinking beer, and eating brats.
Posted by Rick | November 12, 2018 05:14 PM | Political Science ~ | Social Studies
Collateral Damage
On October 14, 2018, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), while being interviewed by The New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, famously said:
We have to have total clarity about what we do, when it comes to everything — a woman’s right to choose, gay marriage … whether it’s about immigration, whether it’s about gun safety, whether it’s about climate … I think that we owe the American people to be there for them, for their financial security, respecting the dignity and worth of every person in our country, and if there’s some collateral damage for some others who do not share our view, well, so be it, but it shouldn’t be our original purpose.
I wonder if she puts Congressman Steve Scalise (R-LA), who was shot while practicing for a charity baseball game by a crazy Democrap, in the collateral damage category.
Today bombs were sent to a number of high profile Democraps including HRH Obama, Bill and Hillary Clinton, ex-CIA chief John Brennan, and the bastion of fake news, CNN. Fortunately, none of them exploded. Next time they may go off, but don't worry, it's only collateral damage.
Is this a case of "you reap what you sow?"
Posted by Rick | October 24, 2018 01:00 PM | Political Science
What the Hell Was That?
So much for egg on the face. That was the most underwhelming, pathetic performance by the attorney hired by the Republicans to question Dr. Ford anyone could possibly imagine.
Here are just a few more probing questions that might have shed a little light on the alleged attack by Judge Kavanaugh on Dr. Ford. Was anyone doing drugs that evening? Were the lights on in the bedroom where you were attacked? How long were you in the bedroom with the two boys? Did you bite him when he put his hand over your mouth? Did you fight back at all when he was on top of you? Were any of your clothes torn or damaged in any way? Why would you talk to Mark Judge at the Safeway store a few weeks after the attack on you when he was one of the perpetrators of said attack?
By the way, I don't believe that a polygraph exam can be completed correctly with only two questions. All questions are answered with a yes or no answer and a baseline for truthfulness is generally established before getting down to the nitty gritty. For instance: Is your name Richard Joseph Rasmusson? Were you born in Watertown, South Dakota? Is your birthday May 16, 1949? Then the rest of the questions can be asked but should be more specific than those asked by Dr. Ford's examiner.
Posted by Rick | September 27, 2018 12:32 PM | Political Science ~ | Social Studies
Egg Anyone?
It is being reported by Fox News and the New York Post that the Senate Judiciary Committee has interviewed two men who claim that they, not Judge Brett Kavanaugh and Mark Judge, were the 'gentlemen' who were with Christine Blasey Ford on the night (nobody knows exactly what night) in question back in 1982. Is it possible that the accuser, Dr. Ford, and all the Democrats who said they ‘believed’ the 'good' doctor will be wearing their breakfast omelets instead of eating them?
Posted by Rick | September 27, 2018 04:57 AM | Political Science ~ | Social Studies
Democratic Attacks Desperate and Despicable
Democratic activist Christine Blasey Ford has come forward to accuse Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh of sexual assault. She says she thinks it occurred in the summer of 1982 when she was 15, but isn’t sure. She doesn’t remember where it occurred, but says it was at a house party somewhere. She remembers that she was wearing a bathing suit under her clothes. She remembers having ‘one’ beer and says that Judge Kavanaugh, 17 at the time, was drunk. She says that she was pushed into a bedroom where Kavanaugh attempted to remove her clothes while on top of her but was seemingly too drunk to accomplish that task, while another boy watched, I guess. She claims the boys were both laughing “maniacally” while this was occurring and she was able to run out of the room when Kavanaugh’s friend jumped on top of them, twice. (Sounds pretty kinky I thought, laughing maniacally to myself.)
She doesn’t remember how she got home but remembers that she wasn’t raped. She doesn’t indicate that any of her clothing was removed or even torn.
I have just a few questions about the night in question. Who were the other boys and girls at the party? How many beers did the 15-year old really have? Is she sure she only had one beer? What was everyone doing to entertain themselves while they were all drinking their ‘one’ beer? Did she and the two boys have any interaction at the party prior to the alleged “assault?” Were there any drugs involved? Was anyone smoking pot? Were they dancing? Were they kissing? Was she physically harmed in any way, even after being jumped on by Kavanaugh’s friend, twice?
How is it that she can remember Kavanaugh and Judge’s names but not the house where the alleged “assault” took place or even how she got home?
Why didn’t she tell anyone about this alleged “assault” until she told her therapist in 2012 during a marriage counseling session, a mere 30 years after the traumatic experience? Is this just an attempt by Ms. Ford to make excuses for her own inability to have a normal relationship with her husband?
This is an “alleged“ assault. There was no physical injury to anyone supposedly involved. There is no proof that any of this occurred - no friend to corroborate the event, no torn blouse, no bruises, not even a blue dress. (A lie detector test is not proof. I took many lie detector tests while working for a jeweler and was once told I lied about my name.)
This is just another desperate attempt to sully the reputation of a Republican nominee to the Supreme Court. This is despicable.
My message to anyone who is peddling this garbage: Prove it or shut up!
Posted by Rick | September 16, 2018 05:23 PM | Political Science
Former CIA Chief John Brennan Loses Security Clearance
Former CIA chief and communist sympathizer, John Brennan, who had his security clearance revoked by President Trump, is claiming it was an effort to curtail his first amendment rights of free speech.
Brennan used his right to freedom of speech almost immediately upon learning of the revocation of his security clearance and tweeted his over the top response to losing same. I'm sure he will be welcome on any number of television and radio stations to continue using his right to freedom of speech to make his ridiculous claims. He will continue to spout his disdain for President Trump and losing his security clearance won't affect his big mouth in any way.
Posted by Rick | August 15, 2018 02:09 PM | Political Science
Not Even An Aspirin Factory?
As many as seventy five people in Syria died as a result of the alleged use of poison gas, probably chlorine and, perhaps, serin gas, in an attack in the city of Douma, Syria, a week ago. It is believed that the Assad regime carried out the attack.
Putting the regrettable deaths into some perspective, in a war that has killed hundreds of thousands of Syrians, seventy five deaths is regrettable but quite insignificant
I understand that the use of chemical weapons is against the Geneva Convention and a war crime. Many world leaders were incensed by this latest despicable attack. Te fact that the Assad regime doesn't seem to understand this is even more galling.
When Assad used chemical weapons against his people a year ago the United States unilaterally sent the Assad regime a message by targeting the aircraft that could deliver the outlawed weapons. Fifty-nine cruise missiles ultimately destroyed about 20% of the Assad regime's air force. A pretty good return on investment for the United States.
There have been reports of further use of chemical weapons this past year, but when pictures of the carnage of the latest chemical weapons attack were shown, President Trump was incensed and decided it was time to do something again.
The attack Friday night by the United States, France and Great Britain on Syria was meant to send a message that the use of poison gas is unacceptable and I'm sure that the message was received, but it was a very expensive message.
It is being reported that the allies used 108 cruise missiles to deliver their latest message, targeting what was believed to be a research center used in the production of chemical weapons and two storage facilities for said chemical weapons. Reuters is reporting that, if you can believe anything the Syrians or their friends say, it is possible that the buildings that were demolished in the attack on Syria were empty.
A senior official in a regional alliance that backs Damascus told Reuters the sites that were targeted had been evacuated days ago thanks to a warning from Russia.
You can read more about this here.
This also raises the question of how the Russians knew what the targets were going to be.
If the buildings were, in fact, empty and you consider the cost of just the missiles that were used in the attack, we spent well over $100 million dollars, not to mention the cost of the ships, planes, and military personnel from the United States, Great Britain, and France, this attack did not have a very good return on investment.
If this is true and the buildings destroyed Friday night were completely empty, it makes Bill Clinton's attack on the aspirin factory in Sudan look pretty good, considering it only took a handful of missiles and the payout of $50 million dollars to the businessman whose business was mistakenly destroyed.
Posted by Rick | April 15, 2018 02:53 AM | Political Science
Schumer Shutdown
Deferred Action For Childhood Arrivals (DACA) was HRH Obama's unconstitutional executive order giving legal status, albeit temporary, to about 800,000 illegal aliens.
Last night the Democraps, who have romanticized the illegal aliens who fall into the category known as DACA by labeling them dreamers (as if young Americans don't have any dreams of their own), led by Senator Chuckie Schumer (D-NY), shut down our government because they were unable to get a clean DACA agreement giving permanent legal status to the DACA illegal aliens.
The Democraps could have had their deal but it would have entailed some common sense concessions on their part. President Trump was asking for money to build a wall as needed along our southern border; money for additional measures to protect the integrity of our borders; an end to chain migration and an end to the visa lottery program. Give the President those items and the Democraps would have had their signed DACA Agreement.
The Democraps fooled President Reagan in 1986 when he was assured that, if there was amnesty for millions of illegal aliens, there would be money for securing the border. We were also told there would never be another amnesty program. The money to secure the border never materialized and we're once again being asked to start another huge amnesty program. We have been here before. Fool us once, shame on you...fool us twice shame, on us.
The Democraps have no problem putting the lives of American citizens at risk with their illegal sanctuary cities and states. Now they have no problem putting the welfare of our military and their families at risk. (The military will stay on duty but won't be paid so their families can go live on the streets and scavenge for food, while Chuckie Schumer sheds a bucketful of tears for the ne're-do-wells in the DACA program.)
Posted by Rick | January 20, 2018 03:09 PM | Political Science
Verdict In Bowe Bergdahl
In a decision that rivals the not guilty verdict in the O.J. Simpson murder trial, U.S. Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, who confessed and plead guilty to desertion and misbehavior in front of the enemy, was merely demoted to private, fined $10,000 and dishonorably discharged. While Bergdahl could have been sentenced to life in prison, the prosecution asked for a prison sentence of 14 years and Bergdahl's defense team asked for no prison time whatsoever.
There are reports that Bergdahl will appeal his dishonorable discharge.
The incredulous decision to impose such a punishment is a slap in the face to all who serve bravely and wear the uniform honorably. The judge, Army Colonel Jeffery Nance, should be ashamed of himself and resign immediately.
Posted by Rick | November 3, 2017 04:19 PM | Political Science
The American Thinker On The NFL Protests
Here is a link to a very insightful article by Shari Goodman in The American Thinker about the protests in the NFL.
Posted by Rick | September 29, 2017 01:41 AM | Political Science ~ | Social Studies
Who Is John McCain Representing?
The Associated Press is reporting that Senator John McCain (RINO-AZ) said that he would not be supporting the latest attempt by the GOP to get rid of some of the most onerous parts of Obamacare.
"I cannot in good conscience vote for the Graham-Cassidy proposal," McCain said in a statement, referring to the bill by Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana."I believe we could do better working together, Republicans and Democrats, and have not yet really tried," he said. "Nor could I support it without knowing how much it will cost, how it will affect insurance premiums, and how many people will be helped or hurt by it."
The latest iteration of the Republican's attempt to amend (not replace) Obamacare would get rid of the individual and employer mandates and would allow the states to administer what would be left of Obamacare on a state by state basis.
Senator McCain, who is ill and has no problem with his highly subsidized health care insurance, seems to be clueless when it comes to his Arizona constituents, who number in the hundreds of thousands according to the junior senator from Arizona, Jeff Flake, without health insurance or who cannot afford to use their insurance because of the extraordinarily high deductibles piled on top of the outrageous monthly premiums.
Posted by Rick | September 22, 2017 12:14 PM | Political Science
White House Messaging
I was never a fan of the Obama administration's programs/policies, but it cannot be denied that the messaging that came out of that White House was as if it were coming from one voice. It didn't matter if what they were telling us was a lie, the entire administration all told the same lie. If you didn't want to use the preferred terminology you were gone.
If I could make any suggestion to the Trump administration it would be to try emulate the previous administration and speak with one voice. Time after time it has become apparent that Trump White House has to stop stepping on their message. It wouldn't matter if the message would come via a Presidential tweet, a Presidential interview, the daily press briefing, or a press release, make the message clear and concise.
I liked Sean Spicer and am sorry that he felt it necessary to resign. Changing the White House communications director or press secretary will not change the underlying problem unless there is the will to all speak with one voice and that guidance must come from the top.
The time has come for President Trump to make sure the messaging from his administration is with one voice.
Posted by Rick | July 21, 2017 11:42 AM | Political Science
Fake Votes, Fake News
HRH Obama and the Democrats lied to us for a year prior to the enactment of the 'Un'Affordable Care Act, commonly known as ObamaCare
With well over 50 votes between the Senate and The House Of Representatives in the past three or four years to cleanly repeal ObamaCare, while HRH Obama was President, the Congress was supposedly sending a message to voters in America that they were ready to get rid of ObamaCare. Now that they actually have someone in the White House who would sign the repeal of ObamaCare, they are refusing to vote on a clean repeal, insisting instead on keeping much of ObamaCare.
In addition to keeping most of the taxes in ObamCare, one of the more idiotic things that they insist on keeping is the provision which lets people get insurance when they have a pre-existing condition. It's like forcing an insurance company to cover you for an auto accident after you have an accident or life insurance after you die.
Fake news is usually just a fake story with little or no consequences. Fake votes are our elected leaders essentially lying to us with consequences effecting millions of lives. Very disappointing!!
Posted by Rick | July 17, 2017 08:28 AM | Political Science
Democrats Colluding With Shooter?!
The Republicans and the FBI must immediately open an investigation into the shooting at the baseball diamond in Virginia to find out if Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), or any other Democrat colluded with the shooter in order to win the upcoming baseball game.
It is being reported that the shooter was a staffer for Senator Sanders during the 2016 presidential campaign.
If you're looking for a motive for this dastardly act, I'm told by anonymous, unnamed, unreliable sources that there were illegal wagers being placed and the Democrats stood to lose tens if not hundreds of dollars if the Republicans won the game.
If necessary, an independent counsel should be named. I hear James Comey isn't busy.
Posted by Rick | June 14, 2017 11:25 AM | Political Science
James 'Captain Courageous' Comey Really A Weasel
Former FBI director James Comey is more of a fortune teller, by his own account, than investigator.
Comey fired up his crystal ball on more than one occasion in the past year.
While coming to the conclusion that Hillary Clinton showed no 'intent' while committing over 10 felonies involving her private servers including storing top secret information on unsecured servers, the destruction of over 30,000 emails, the cleaning of her hard drives with a program called BleachBit, allowing her assistant to send classified emails to a computer controlled by her assistants husband, destroying government cell phones with hammers, and more.
When Comey claims that President Trump said he hoped Comey could let the investigation of former national security advisor Michael Flynn go, Comey, who said he felt it was an order, was under obligation to immediately report the conversation to his supervisor, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, because, as such, it was an attempt to obstruct justice. Comey said he didn't report it because he felt, I guess because he had consulted his crystal ball once again, that his supervisor, Attorney General Sessions was going to recuse himself and we know that AG Sessions did just that 17 days later. Unfortunately, after the recusal Comey didn't bother to report it to the next in command at the Attorney General's office either. Maybe it wasn't an order, or maybe, just maybe, it wasn't that important.
Comey also said during the hearing that he wrote down his recollections of his meetings with President Trump because he feared the President would lie about the content of their conversations. Did he have some reason to believe that President Trump was that big of a liar or was he consulting his crystal ball again?
Why would the director of the FBI want to work with and for a man he distrusted so much and who he believed had attempted to obstruct justice?
Posted by Rick | June 8, 2017 12:15 PM | Political Science
McCain Is Ready For Retirement
It was obvious that Senator John McCain (R-AZ) was not in control of all his faculties when questioning former FBI director James Comey. The time has come for Senator McCain to retire to his home in Arizona.
Posted by Rick | June 8, 2017 12:11 PM | Political Science
Paris Agreement
I am always amazed by the things liberals say without any proof and they continue to say those things over and over. So often, in fact, that people believe them to be true without questioning the validity of such statements..
The other day before President Trump said that we would not stay in the Paris Agreement there were some outrageous claims being made about it.
From Wikipedia: The Paris Agreement "is an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) dealing with greenhouse gas emissions mitigation, adaptation and finance starting in the year 2020." The agreement, which is non-binding, says that "each country determines its own contribution it should make in order to mitigate global warming. There is no mechanism to force a country to set a specific target by a specific date."
Of course our former President, HRH Obama, in is zeal to show how important it is to show the world how sorry we are for being so successful,l committed the United States to pay twice as much money as any other country on earth towards this farcical agreement and did so without going the United States Senate for ratification of this non-binding, unenforceable agreement. China and India, perhaps the world's two largest polluters, would pay nothing.
The left would have you believe that 70% of all Americans believe that we should be a part of this non-binding, unenforceable agreement at all costs.
Of course, everyone should do what they can to responsibly reduce their individual carbon footprint, but do so without bankrupting themselves, and if a survey were taken a huge percentage of Americans would agree to this.
I seriously doubt that if the question were framed honestly that 70% of all Americans would support the Paris Agreement, which, by the way, isn't worth the paper it's written on. .
Would you be in favor of staying in the Paris Agreement if you would have to pay twice your current power bill beginning immediately and into the unforeseen future without any governmental subsidies no matter your income level?
Well perhaps, if you have some extra money to spend after paying for all the costs of Obamacare I guess you might.
Posted by Rick | June 4, 2017 03:17 AM | Political Science
And The Winner Is.......Nobody
There is an old adage that declares: A pig wearing lipstick is still a pig.
For years the goal of conservatives was to repeal Obamacare, aka the 'Un'Affordable Care Act. Then the moderates got into the act and decided that they would not be satisfied with just repealing Obamacare and would also replace it with another big government program, and the mantra became "repeal and replace," essentially putting lipstick on Obamacare
If the figures put forth by White House spokesman Sean Spicer are correct, Obamacare currently has an enrollment of about 10 million people. Using round numbers, another 14 million people who should have signed up for Obamacare have filed for hardship status and finally about six million people pay a penalty for not buying Obamacare Thanks to Supreme Court Justice John Roberts' ultimate wisdom that penalty is called 'a tax.'
The bill that was going to be voted on today in the House Of Representatives was going to do neither repeal or replace, but was merely going to tinker with, Obamacare.
Millions of Americans became part time workers because of Obamacare and millions more haven't been hired because of the employer mandates found therein.
Millions of Americans who have Obamacare have discovered that their insurance is basically unusable. In many cases the deductibles are so high people still can't afford to go to the doctor and those that aren't the beneficiaries of huge government subsidies are paying higher and higher monthly premiums with some increases over 100% year to year.
I understand that there were constraints put on the lawmakers because of the arcane rules of the Senate which require 60 votes to stop debate and allow a new bill to be brought up for a vote. Of course we know this wouldn't have stopped former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) were he the current Senate Majority Leader. He would have just changed the rules of the Senate as he did a few short years ago when he wanted to appoint a bunch of liberal judges to the federal bench. Unfortunately, current Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) isn't man enough to rescue 1/6th of the American economy from the ravages of Obamacare by changing the Senate rules and would rather cling to the outdated Senate filabuster rule.
If it were as important as I believe it is to repeal Obamacare and replace it with a free market alternative which would hopefully drive insurance premiums and deductibles down, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell would step up and change the rules of the Senate.
Is that lipstick I see on Senator McConnell's collar?
Posted by Rick | March 24, 2017 02:35 PM | Political Science
James Clapper...Can He Be Trusted To Tell The Truth?
Watched Bill O'Reilly this evening playing clips of James Clapper being interviewed by Chuck Todd on NBC's Meet The Press this past Sunday and Clapper didn't answer the questions posed to him by Mr. Todd but seemed to be playing verbal gymnastics...He said 'we didn't include any evidence of wrongdoing by the Trump camp IN OUR REPORT.' He didn't say there wasn't any.
When asked if he could confirm or deny the existence of a FISA warrant he said, "I can deny it." Is he 'definitively' denying the existence of the warrant or is he merely saying he is 'able to' deny it? It just depends on what the meaning of the word 'can' is.
Isn't this the same James Clapper who admitted to lying to Congress while under oath? James Clapper is not to be trusted.
Posted by Rick | March 6, 2017 08:20 PM | Political Science
Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid
With liberal judges deciding what steps should or should not be taken to keep refugees who wish us death and destruction out of our country and liberal politicians applauding their decisions, it is only a matter of time until people are killed and/or maimed by the very people let in without the proper vetting denied by these liberals.
Americans need to stand up and protest these anti-American decisions.
Posted by Rick | February 16, 2017 12:12 PM | Political Science
A Healthy Skepticism Of Intelligence Agencies
Everyone is in an uproar over the release of emails from the Democratic National Committee and John Podesta, the chairman of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign in 2016, even though the veracity of said emails has gone unchallenged.
Whoever obtained those emails and gave them to WikiLeaks deserves an 'atta boy'. The emails gave us a look under the covers of Clinton's campaign and shed some light on some amazing truths about the Clinton presidential campaign that we deserved to know.
Now the 'intelligence' community has prepared a report blaming the Russians for hacking the emails and we are supposed to believe their conclusions without question?
Of course, the intelligence community has never lied to Congress...wrong. The Director Of National Intelligence, James Clapper, lied to Congress when asked if the Obama administration was collecting data on millions of Americans in 2013.
Of course, the daily briefing that is given to the President is always totally truthful...wrong. The fact is that analysts have been pressured to 'massage' the reports to fall in line with HRH Obama's agenda. If I am not mistaken, I believe that at least one high ranking general was fired by HRH Obama because he wouldn't fall in line.
So why are the reports that were given to Congress today and to be given tomorrow to President-elect Trump to be believed without a healthy dose of skepticism?
A Wendy's ad famously said, "Show me the beef!" President-elect Trump has every right to ask, 'Show me the proof!'
Posted by Rick | January 5, 2017 04:12 PM | Political Science
Democrats On Obamacare
All day long the Democrats have been demanding that the Republicans disclose what their new plan is that will replace the 'Un'Affordable Care Act, more commonly known as Obamacare. This just tickles me to death.
Of course, there are a couple quotes from Democrats that they would do well to remember now.
I'm sure everyone remembers, "Elections have consequences."
And remember when the 'Un'Affordable Care Act was being rammed down our throats without any input from Republicans and not a a single Republican vote? Nancy Pelosi said "We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy."
So here is my suggestion to Schumer, Pelosi and the rest of the Democrats...Elections have consequences! Sit down and shut up. We'll let you know what's going on when we're good and ready.
Posted by Rick | January 5, 2017 02:49 PM | Political Science
The Left Just Can't Handle It
It's the funniest thing ever when Saturday Night Live pokes fun at Sarah Palin mercilessly. When Letterman skewered Palin's daughter, that was hilarious. When any number of late night 'comedians' hammer away on Republicans it is always 'in good clean fun.' Remember when former Vice-president Dan Quail had his problem with the word potato?
Cartoonist Dixon Diaz has done a some very funny cartoons aimed directly at HRH Obama and Hillary Clinton, but the LA Times decided that he isn't funny anymore and stopped carrying his strip.
Here are some examples that were sent to me that I find very amusing....
Posted by Rick | November 12, 2016 05:42 PM | Just A Thought ~ | Political Science ~ | Social Studies
Election Post Mortems
Donald J Trump is the President-Elect and the hand-wringing, name calling and demonstrating has begun in earnest.
Last night and today, NBC, MSNBC and Fox News all had black commentators who called the President-Elect a racist.
On MSNBC, Eddie Glaude, Jr., the chair of the Center for African-American Studies and the William S. Tod Professor of Religion and African-American Studies at Princeton University, blamed the election of Trump on 'whitey' saying, white America has just elected "an ill-informed racist who, by any standard, is morally and ethically bankrupt."
A brief analysis of the facts lead to a different conclusion about who elected who.
I saw a report that indicated Trump got about the same number of white votes as Romney got in 2012.
The fact is that Trump made more overtures and appeals to the African-American community than either of the last two Republican candidates combined, so it is likely that Trump got a slightly larger percentage of the African-American vote than Romney got in 2012.
And finally, Glaude and all the other race baiters should remember that many African-Americans who voted for HRH Obama were no-shows this year at the polls.
With all this in mind, the only logical conclusion that one can come to is that the African-American community were responsible for electing Donald J. Trump as America's 45th President.
Posted by Rick | November 10, 2016 05:29 AM | Political Science
And The Winner Is.....
America.
Posted by Rick | November 9, 2016 01:37 AM | Political Science
It's Not Official But...
Chris Matthews just peed all over the thrill that was running up his leg.
Posted by Rick | November 8, 2016 09:00 PM | Political Science
Note To Glenn Beck
I get it...you don't like Donald Trump. Your 3 hour diatribes against him for the past year or so have made that perfectly clear.
I was a Cruz supporter during the primaries, but unfortunately I can't vote for him for President and must choose the lesser evil of 4 candidates. Not voting is not an option. If I don't vote, it only makes someone else's vote more valuable.
It would be nice to stand on principle, but this is the real world. The real world where choices must be made between options that may not always be ideal.
You told a listener who made it clear that she was going to vote for not Hillary, which meant she was going to vote for Trump and you said you disagreed with her choice. She could vote for Stein or Johnson but they can't win and voting for a third party candidate (Perot) who couldn't win gave us Bill Clinton.
I take it that you will not vote for Trump, but suggested recently that it was important that the GOP hang on to the Senate because of the Supreme Court. So you do understand the importance of the Court, where appointees have an effect far beyond the term of any President.
A Supreme Court that would abolish partial birth abortions would be nice. A Supreme Court that would protect our 2nd Amendment rights would be nice. A Supreme Court that would protect the Constitution in general would be nice.
If you think that having a small majority in the Senate would keep a liberal nominee from sitting on the Court, you are wrong. Mitch McConnell will not protect us from liberal appointees for the next 4 years.
The only way to ensure that a conservative will sit on the Court is by nominating a conservative. (Of course, John Roberts is a glaring example of how this could even go wrong.)
The Supreme Court is the ultimate prize in this election and the person who would nominate the most conservative judge is the person that should be voted for.
I am reminded of the true story of the man who had to cut off his arm in order to survive. He must have said to himself...It would be nice to have two arms, but at what cost.
Posted by Rick | October 27, 2016 09:40 AM | Political Science
Clinton, Trump And The Women
Donald Trump is being excoriated by the left for speaking inartfully about women, particularly the f^t p*g Rosie O'Donnell. I must admit that, generally speaking, it isn't nice to speak the way he has about Ms. O'Donnell or anyone for that matter. Shame on you, Donald Trump.
On the other hand William Jefferson Clinton has been accused of RAPING Juanita Broaddrick.
Clinton has been accused of EXPOSING HIMSELF to Paula Jones.
Clinton has been accused of GROPING Kathleen Willey and essentially forcing himself on her.
Clinton has had affairs with Dolly Kyle, Gennifer Flowers, and most famously with the White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
There have been other accusations:
Eileen Wellstone claims to have been RAPED by Clinton while he was attending Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship.
Elizabeth Ward Gracen has admitted to a one-night stand with Clinton in 1982.
Sally Perdue, a former Miss Arkansas, claimed to have had a four month affair with Clinton in 1983.
Lencola Sullivan, a former Miss Arkansas, reportedly had a sexual relationship with Clinton according to Arkansas state trooper L.D. Brown, who was Clinton's body guard.
Clinton has reportedly taken 26 trips aboard 'Lolita Express' to his friend Jeffrey Epstein's private island nicknamed 'Orgy Island' where God knows what happens.
The left doesn't seem to care that Clinton just can't seem to keep it in his pants and that Hillary seems to be the enabler in all of her husband's despicable behavior.
The only jobs the Clinton's have ever really created are the army of attorneys who have been retained to control the 'bimbo eruptions'.
Words? or Deeds? What Trump said is child's play when compared to the deeds of our 'illustrious' former President who is doing whatever he can to occupy the White House once again.
I definitely don't want to see William Jefferson Clinton chasing any more interns around the White House!
Posted by Rick | October 7, 2016 05:08 PM | Political Science ~ | Social Studies
Beck On Trump
Just as I was waking up this morning, Glenn Beck was taking a call from some guy named Jack who was trying to make a case for supporting Donald Trump and without giving the poor guy a chance to make his case, Beck and the boys began laughing at him. I have heard Beck say that he is willing to listen to anyone who can make a case for supporting Trump, but with treatment like that why would anyone call into the show?
I was a supporter of Ted Cruz during the primaries, and was as disappointed as anyone when he lost to Trump. Now that Cruz is not an option, the reality of the situation is that I do not want Hillary to make the next appointment(s) to the Supreme Court and believe that this is the most important reason to elect anyone but her. The only viable option to Hillary is Donald Trump. None of the minor party candidates can beat her.
Perhaps Beck and his minions could use their time more productively by making a case for someone who can beat Hillary in the presidential race, rather than ridiculing listeners and continually tearing down Trump. I doubt if there will be much laughing at the Blaze studios If Hillary wins and nominates 'another Ginsberg' for the Supreme Court.
Posted by Rick | September 7, 2016 08:29 AM | Political Science
The People Have Spoken! The UK is Leaving The EU
The liberal politicians and media in the United Kingdom were predicting that the populous, like lambs to the slaughter, would vote to stay in the European Union and continue the slow demise of their society.
The people saw through all the propaganda and voted 52% to 48% to take back their country.
Congratulations to them all!!
Posted by Rick | June 24, 2016 05:14 AM | Political Science
Transparency
I was reassured to hear from Attorney General Loretta Lynch, that if nothing else, the Department Of Justice was going to be transparent....roflmfao.
Posted by Rick | June 21, 2016 06:34 PM | Political Science
Glenn Beck Is 'Off The Reservation' This Time
Last week Glenn Beck decided to engage in a 'what if' conversation about Donald Trump with fiction writer Brad Thor that I really didn't understand the need for. I believe the conversation went something like this ...
What if Donald J. Trump is elected President and then decided to suspend the constitution? Ultimately the conversation got around to: Should he be assassinated if he were to do something like that?
The whole thing was ridiculous. I even said to someone at the time that I thought Beck was "off the reservation."
There isn't enough to discuss about Trump that is based on actual fact that he had to go into the realm of the absurd?
Beck has made it abundantly clear that he disagrees with Trump on just about everything and despises him to boot.
I believe that because of his obvious dislike for Trump, Beck has decided that this is the year for him and perhaps a number of his sycophants to stand by their conservative ideals and only vote for someone who, in large measure, shares those ideals.
I understand that desire and would love to find someone in every political race who shared all of my ideals.
In past years it has been hard to hold my nose and vote for RINO's like George H.W. Bush, Bob Dole, John McCain, and Mitt Romney, but I managed to do it.
The problem is that there are generally only a couple viable options. I have to decide who has the county's best interests at heart or, at the very minimum, who will do the least damage. The choice is to vote for the lesser of two evils or stay home
Staying home is not an option for me. If I stay home it means that whatever voice I have isn't heard at all.
Cauliflower, Brussels sprouts or starve.....
This year's presidential election, while there are many pressing issues facing the country, is about who do I want to nominate the next Supreme Court justice(s) for the next 4 years and the answer is crystal clear.
Hillary Clinton, Donald J. Trump or starve.....
Posted by Rick | May 31, 2016 10:09 PM | Political Science
Anybody But Joe 'Go Along To Get Along' Heck
I'm in the backseat of a car and I give the keys to someone who will likely drive it off a cliff, and the car is ultimately driven off a cliff. The question for 'Go Along To Get Along' Joe is: Am I responsible for my own demise?
Congressman Joe Heck, (RINO-NV) thinks he should be the next Senator from Nevada and apparently he thinks he is going to harass me into supporting him with unending phone calls from mindless supporters. One must remember that 'Go Along To Get Along' Joe voted for John 'Cry Baby' Boehner when he was running for re-election as speaker of the House.
'Cry Baby' Boehner was always afraid to stand up to HRH Obama and any time there were any negotiations with HRH 'Cry Baby' Boehner gave away the farm.
It wasn't too long after his re-election as speaker that 'Cry Baby' Boehner had an epiphany and resigned from Congress but he just couldn't help himself and he proceeded to engineer the 2016 budget deal on his way out, giving HRH Obama virtually everything he wanted and, of course, funding for Planned Parenthood and ObamaCare through the end of Obama's term in office. The budget passed with the Democrats and a few Republicans supporting it. Knowing full well that the budget deal would pass, 'Go Along To Get Along' Joe voted against Boehner's budget deal, giving Heck political cover, but the damage had already been done.
A wise person once said from the podium in the White House briefing room, "Elections have consequences."
In this case, electing John 'Cry Baby' Boehner had huge consequences!
Planned Parenthood kills hundreds of thousands of babies every year with the continued help of our tax dollars. Thanks 'Go Along To Get Along' Joe and 'Cry Baby' Boehner!
As far as ObamaCare goes or doesn't go, all anyone has to do is ask how their state run ObamaCare is faring. Many are bankrupt or on the verge of bankruptcy and insurance rates are skyrocketing. The 'private' insurance companies managing ObamaCare are drowning in red ink. Thanks 'Go Along To Get Along' Joe and 'Cry Baby' Boehner!
Posted by Rick | May 24, 2016 03:07 PM | Political Science
JEB! Bush Won't Support Turmp
JEB! Bush has announced that he won't be supporting Donald Trump. Of course, Trump was the only one of the Republican candidates for president who famously said he wouldn't guarantee that he would support the GOP's nominee for president in the first Fox debate, but was ultimately pressured into signing a pledge to do so.
JEB! pledged he would support whoever ultimately prevailed in that Fox debate, but it appears he is made of the same cloth as his daddy, former President George H.W. "Read My Lips, No new Taxes' Bush. His word didn't mean anything either.
So much for JEB's future in the Republican party. Everyone will remember this if he asks anyone to vote for him in the future. I personally wouldn't hold my nose long enough to vote for him for dog-catcher.
Posted by Rick | May 7, 2016 04:35 PM | Political Science
Michelle Fields vs. Corey Lewandowski - A Shakedown
First, it should be noted again that I am a Cruz supporter and have been disappointed by the name calling and other unbecoming behavior by Trump and the other candidates which ultimately demeans the office that all these 'gentlemen' aspire to.
That said, everyone of the taking-head attorneys on TV last night said they would much rather be the defense attorney than the prosecutor in the case of Michelle Fields vs. Corey Lewandowski. Ann Coulter, who knows a little something about being assaulted, could barely control her laughter when asked if she thought this was an assault.
I watched the tape of the 'incident' over and over and over and no where did I see anyone being thrown around. If anyone was out of line, it may have been Ms. Fields who apparently had already been told a couple times by the Secret Service to back down.
All the talk on the Fox News show, The Five, about issuing an apology to make this go away is a no-win situation for the Trump camp. Issuing an apology would be an admission that something wrong was done to Ms. Fields. Then, even if there were no criminal prosecution/conviction, Ms. Fields would run to civil court where the bar is much lower and, with apology (read admission of some guilt) in hand, would sue for monetary and other damages. The way juries are handing out money these days, she may get more than the $115 million Hulk Hogan was recently awarded.
This is nothing more than a political, and potentially financial, shakedown by Ms. Fields.
Posted by Rick | March 29, 2016 08:03 PM | Political Science ~ | Social Studies
Fox News Sunday Where They Report Half The Story
I am not a Donald Trump supporter per se and voted for Ted Cruz in the Nevada caucus. That said, I am concerned that Chris Wallace, who has a show called Fox News Sunday, is editing clips to make Trump look bad while leaving out things said by Trump that put perspective on his comments. Specifically, Trump explained that he had said that there were protesters who had brought things in to throw at him and that is why he told them to do whatever was necessary to stop the attacks and that he would pay their legal fees.
Fox always says they are fair and balanced and we report, you decide. If Wallace wants to tell the story, tell the whole story and let the audience decide. If not, Mr. Wallace can always go to work for MSNBC where half-truths are the rule rather than the exception.
Posted by Rick | March 13, 2016 01:47 PM | Political Science ~ | Social Studies
More Primary Election Results Are In
Posted by Rick | March 8, 2016 05:35 PM | Political Science
Fox Still Trying to Embarrass Trump
Just watched Fox News Sunday With Chris Wallace and was disappointed in Chris Wallace's attempt to continue to demean Trump. I wrote to the show on their facebook page and said this:
The question you posed to Trump about his demeanor was fine, however, after Trump indicated that he was going to moderate his demeanor your snarky comment 'when are you going to do it?' was really uncalled for. You are becoming a commentator when you do that - not a hard news journalist. That is the same crap Trump complained about after the first debate when y'all tried to embarrass him with your first question - raise your hand if you won't agree to sign a pledge to support the Republican nominee - knowing full well that Trump would be the only one to raise his hand. If you had continued to to do that with every question - on citizenship for illegals, support for common core, full repeal of Obamacare, etc. - that would have been better but you didn't. You started off only trying to embarrass Trump. Become a commentator or keep your snarky little comments to yourself.
Posted by Rick | February 21, 2016 03:47 PM | Political Science
Eminent Domain Hypocrisy
Jeb Bush has been highly critical of Donald Trump for trying to acquire the home of a 'little old' lady who didn’t want to sell her home to him through eminent domain. Trump went to court and eventually lost.
It has just come to my attention that the Bush family, namely his brother, former President George W., profited handsomely through his interest in the Texas Rangers baseball team. The team uses a stadium in Arlington, Texas, which was built, while the former President was involved, with extensive use of eminent domain. Apparently, President George W. Bush, prior to becoming governor of Texas, invested +/- $600,000 in 1989 for a 1.8 percent interest in the team (plus another 10 percent bonus if the team is later sold and the investors get back their original investment plus interest) and ended up with +/- $15,000,000 in 1998 when the team was, in fact, sold . A very tidy profit to say the least.
You can read a more complete history of the Arlington stadium saga here.
I am sure that Jeb is demanding that all of his brother's ill-gotten gains be returned to those whose property was stolen from them at the point of a gun.
But for now, Jeb Bush, as he wipes all that egg off his face, should just sit down and shut up. How embarrassing!
Note: I would like to point out that I am not a fan of eminent domain for private use and have actually been victim of a taking of a property which was supposedly to be used for airport expansion, but is now a neighborhood Wal-Mart. We were forced to sell at appraised value and no one could really fight the taking because the individual properties were so inexpensive to begin with.
Posted by Rick | February 8, 2016 10:49 PM | Political Science ~ | Social Studies
Rubio On Immigration
Marco Rubio, famously of the Senate gang-of-8 that came up with an immigration reform bill that proposed a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants, still refuses to denounce his support for said pathway to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants. He only says that we have to secure the border first.
His big claim on the campaign trail is that he will unite Americans...he will unite us alright...with millions of illegal immigrants.
He cannot be trusted on immigration reform - period.
Posted by Rick | February 6, 2016 01:49 PM | Political Science
Iowa Kerfuffle
If people didn't vote for Carson because of CNN/Cruz statements, I'm not certain all votes went to Ted Cruz. It is possible that the votes were spread around among all the candidates evenly.
Posted by Rick | February 6, 2016 01:46 PM | Political Science
Bill Clinton's Back On Stump For Hillary
Bill Clinton is back on the stump for Hillary and he has a little more pep in his step than I have noticed in some time.
Could it be that she enticed him to come out and campaign for her with a promise that if she were elected president, Bill would be allowed to interview all the interns who were applying for jobs at the White House?
Just wondering........
Posted by Rick | February 3, 2016 03:13 PM | Political Science
Trump Is Unhappy With Fox News - Fox News Is Unhappy With Trump
Fox News just doesn't seem to be able to control itself when it comes to Donald Trump putting out a nasty little tongue-in-cheek message over the weekend essentially asking for a war between them and Trump.
“We learned from a secret back channel that the Ayatollah and Putin both intend to treat Donald Trump unfairly when they meet with him if he becomes president — a nefarious source tells us that Trump has his own secret plan to replace the Cabinet with his Twitter followers to see if he should even go to those meetings.”
Trump, deciding he had enough of Fox News, announced he would skip the debate today and arranged to do a fund-raiser for wounded veterans at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, tonight at 9 P.M.
Without Trump, the viewership of the debate tonight is likely to drop by millions of viewers and Fox News has been apoplectic since Trump's announcement, with virtually every host bemoaning Trump's decision. Even the 'great' Bill O'Reilly was pleading with, and cajoling Trump for two segments on his show, The Factor, last night in an effort to bring Trump back to the debate. At one point, he, O'Reilly, even reminded Trump that he had brought Trump numerous vanilla milkshakes in the past.
O'Reilly also suggested that Trump ought to forgive Meghan Kelly, who, along with the other moderators in the first debate hosted by Fox News, tried to embarrass Trump from the outset. Unfortunately, Kelly won't admit that they were trying to embarrass Trump and customarily one only offers forgiveness when someone has asked to be forgiven.
It should be noted that I am leaning towards Ted Cruz for President, although I would vote for Trump if he gets the nomination. I am also an avid Fox News viewer and generally a big fan, but I wrote about the treatment Trump got after the first debate.
It will be interesting to see just how many viewers stay away tonight. If Fox News loses a huge chunk of their ratings for this debate, they will have no one to blame but themselves.
Posted by Rick | January 28, 2016 08:21 AM | Political Science
Another Massacre...Another Lecture
Last night, for no apparent reason, HRH Obama found it imperative that he speak with the nation about the threat we face from radical Islam (although he refuses to call it that).
HRH Obama is going to stay the course with his ineffective policy of a few drone strikes, a few sorties (most of which return with their ordinance unused), and no boots on the ground.
The big news seemed to be that he plans to negotiate a political settlement with Assad. He is also going to solve the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians before Christmas, but he forgot to mention that.
And then came the lecture...We shouldn't blame the Muslims for anything, especially the American Muslims. They are all good people. They may chant, 'Death to America!' and dance in the streets when they knock down the World Trade Center. They are merely misunderstood. We must forgive them, for they know not what they do. They will come to their senses any day now.
A couple days before the lecture, Attorney General Loretta Lynch, HRH Obama's newest apologist for the Muslim's in our midst, threatened to prosecute anyone who might criticize Muslims under the guise of hate speech.
HRH Obama may not be a Muslim, but just because he doesn't want to interrupt his golf game to pray 5 times a day doesn't mean that he is not a Muslim sympathizer.
There is even a rumor being spread, by the same people who told Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) that Mitt Romney hadn't paid his taxes, that HRH Obama will have a ceremony in the White House rose garden right after the Christmas to announce that the ISIS flag will begin flying over the White House beginning January 1, 2016.
Note to HRH Obama and his Attorney General: The Constitution is not a suicide pact and there is a good reason the 1st Amendment is listed first in the Bill Of Rights - free speech is sacrosanct.
Posted by Rick | December 7, 2015 06:14 PM | Political Science
Reince Priebus Oblivious To Reality
The head of the Republican National Committee was not happy with the debate last night and said:
While I was proud of our candidates and the way they handled tonight’s debate, the performance by the CNBC moderators was extremely disappointing and did a disservice to their network, our candidates, and voters. Our diverse field of talented and exceptionally qualified candidates did their best to share ideas for how to reinvigorate the economy and put Americans back to work despite deeply unfortunate questioning from CNBC.One of the great things about our party is that we are able to have a dynamic exchange about which solutions will secure a prosperous future, and I will fight to ensure future debates allow for a more robust exchange. CNBC should be ashamed of how this debate was handled.
Reince Priebus must be living in an alternate universe to have expected anything else. The NBC brand (NBC, MSNBC, and CNBC) is crawling with lefties. There is no objectivity. There is no intellectual honesty.
Before the debate I was already asking myself why the Republicans were subjecting themselves to another debate hosted by wacko reporters who have obvious disdain for the conservative's point of view. I was not to be disappointed. I got exactly what I expected. The head of the RNC should have known better.
Perhaps the time has come for Mr. Priebus to re-evaluate his position as the head of the Republican National Committee.
Posted by Rick | October 29, 2015 12:17 AM | Political Science
Hillary On Benghazi
President Truman was famously known for having a sign on his desk that said, "The Buck Stops Here."
Dismissing an email sent to her from her assistant, Huma Mahmood Abedin, which indicated she felt that Ambassador Chris Stevens may resign his post because of security concerns, Hillary said over and over that she was never contacted about the security requests from Stevens.
Hillary denied that a stand-down order had even been given to the people at the CIA annex when they requested permission to go to the aid of the Ambassador. I have watched and listened to the people who survived the attack swear that a stand-down order was given and that they ultimately decided to ignore the order and went to the state department's compound but were to late to rescue Ambassador Stevens .
Hillary also indicated that she took responsibility for the debacle in Benghazi, yet when questioned she was unable to say exactly what that meant. Did she fire the person supposedly responsible for the security of the Ambassador in Libya? No. Did she resign? No. In Hillary's world taking responsibility is meaningless.
Hillary was seemingly unaware that there were no representatives from any countries still in Libya, except for the USA, at the time of the attack on the consulate because of the increase in violence. Even the Red Cross had pulled out.
Hillary also made the point several times that she had traveled to Libya. Rest assured that she had adequate security on her visits.
Ambassador Stevens was sent to Libya to prove that American foreign policy had been a success there and to being him home would have admitted another foreign policy failure.Hillary and HRH Obama were willing to risk Ambassador Steven's life and the lives of the CIA personnel at the annex in Benghazi to prove that point.
If you took only one thing away from Hillary's testimony today it would be that it was apparent that no sign like Truman's sign will ever grace her desk if she becomes President.
Posted by Rick | October 22, 2015 04:25 PM | Political Science
Democratic Debate - Don't You Dare Pick On Hillary
In the first Republican debate Fox News tried to embarrass Donald Trump from the very first question and much of the questions after that followed in the same vein.
CNN tried to get the participants to attack one another in the second Republican debate.
We know that CNN is in tank for Hillary so don't expect them to ask her anything too tough lest they get accused of a war on women.
We know she was for the war on Iraq before she was against it.
We know she was against gay marriage before she was for it.
We know she was for the for the Trans-Pacific Trade Partnership (a.k.a. the TPP) before she was against it.
We know she doesn't think Obama went far enough with his illegal executive orders regarding illegal immigrants.
We know that she has lied about her emails and personal sever and attempted to destroy emails when she had been served with at least one subpoena and other requests under the freedom of information act.
And finally, we know that the phone rang at '3 A.M.' when the American ambassador and three others were attacked and ultimately killed in Benghazi and neither she or the President even bothered to 'answer the phone.'
Bernie Sanders is a communist.
The other 3 candidates are riding in the trunk of the Democratic clown car.
Debate over.
Posted by Rick | October 13, 2015 05:16 PM | Political Science
Obama And Putin At The United Nations - Who’s Kidding Who?
HRH Obama met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the United Nations yesterday. HRH Obama was eager to show how flexible he was now that he had won reelection and showed off some wonderful yoga poses including Ragdoll, Functional Squat, Kneeling Lunge, Pyramid, and the Extended Child’s Pose. Everyone in attendance thought HRH Obama’s demonstration was amazing.
It was clear that Putin was impressed by HRH Obama’s increased flexibility and asked HRH to email him the name of his yoga instructor.
After the meeting, President Putin met with other world leaders about the ongoing problems in Iraq and Syria.
Meanwhile, HRH Obama went to his scheduled yoga class which includes most, if not all, of the leaders in the impressive 62 country coalition HRH Obama has managed to put together. After the strenuous yoga class, HRH Michelle Obama treated those world leaders in attendance to a lovely afternoon tea which included a variety of teas, wonderful scones served with a lovely blueberry marmalade and cucumber sandwiches which had the cucumber seeds removed and the bread crusts carefully cut off by HRH personally.
HRH Obama lunched while the Middle East burned.
Posted by Rick | September 29, 2015 07:35 AM | Political Science
Is Obama A Muslim?
While HRH Obama may not currently be a card carrying Muslim, he went to a Muslim school as a child and his entire administration will not use the term 'radical Muslim' or 'Islamic terrorist' while describing Muslim's who want to kill us.
HRH Obama has insulted the Israeli Prime Minister and has thrown the Jewish state of Israel under the bus with the Iranian deal. He has criticized Christians for the Holy Wars hundreds of years ago, but says nothing about our current problems with the Muslim religion.
If nothing else, one can only conclude that he is, at the very least, a Muslim sympathizer.
Since when is it Donald Trump's job to stand up for our anti-American president?
Posted by Rick | September 18, 2015 10:06 PM | Political Science
CNN Presidential Debate - A Few Thoughts
I watched the main debate tonight and the talking heads afterwards and had a few thoughts.
The consensus after the debate was that Carly Fiorina was the winner in the debate and I agree. She is very confident, quite unflappable and has a great grasp of what seems to be most important militarily and internationally. She is also not afraid to confront Hillary Clinton’s obfuscations and outright lies.
The debate was set up to confront the front runner going into the debate about some of the things he has said and because of that he had the most time on camera. The moderators format also made it very hard for Trump to make any positive comments since he was on the defensive almost the whole evening. The one point that he was able to make was that while there is little evidence that vaccinations cause autism, it might be wise to spread out the dosages rather than try to give the full dose of the vaccinations all at one time and Dr. Carson and Dr. Rand Paul seemed to agree with that position.
I got a kick out of Governor Christie complaining about the discussion of Trump and Fiorina’s past business adventures, yet he brings up his adventures as a federal prosecutor and governor in every statement and every ad. Should we care about his past accomplishments more than he cares about Trump’s and Fiorina’s?
Senator Ted Cruz is somewhat of a mystery to me. He seems to remain an also-ran all the while espousing conservative positions on virtually everything. He is smart and unafraid to tell it like it is with regard to the spineless leaders in the House and Senate. He is obviously not the choice of the Washington insiders or talking heads, but I like him a lot.
Senator Marco Rubbio, on the other hand, is a fan favorite of the Washington talking heads and is always mentioned ahead of Senator Cruz. I believe it is his boyish good looks but I don’t trust him on illegal immigration and believe that he would, at some point, be in favor of rewarding illegal immigrants with citizenship and cannot support him.
Dr. Carson could operate on me at any time. I don’t know if his demeanor is what the doctor ordered when he would be confronted with the likes of Vladimir Putin and the rest of the tough-as-nails and/or wacko world leaders. A tour of duty at the United Nations might make him a little tougher.
Senator Rand Paul is someone who I was initially attracted to but his isolationist point of view gives me pause.
Governors Huckabee and Bush - three words sum up a majority of the problems I have with them - Immigration and common core. I have expressed my opinion on them here previously and nothing has changed my mind.
Governor Walker seems like a nice guy but I am a little tired of hearing about how he fought the unions in Wisconsin. Seems to be sort of a one trick pony.
Governor Kasich is the bleeding heart liberal on the stage and might as well become a Democrat.
Let’s see what shakes out in the next few weeks.
Posted by Rick | September 16, 2015 11:49 PM | Political Science
Hypocracy And The Republicans
There is a poll being talked about that says 26% of Republicans would never vote for Donald Trump and then there is, of course, the inevitable speculation about where those voters would go.
In light of the fact that Trump refused to say he would support the Republican candidate whoever it turned out to be, unless it was someone he respected, I can understand that there may be the feeling that turnabout is fair play. On the other hand, if the Republicans who believe that Trump should take an oath to support whoever the Republican candidate no matter who that is, should not those who believe that way support Trump if he becomes the party's nominee?
If you want it both ways then your hypocrisy is showing...
Posted by Rick | August 27, 2015 06:48 PM | Just A Thought ~ | Political Science
JEB! Needs To Look In Mirror
JEB! is calling out Donald Trump for having had some less than conservative positions in the past.
Unfortunately, JEB! has less than conservative positions now while Trump is promoting much more conservative positions than JEB!
JEB! is still a proponent of Common Core although stating that he is willing to let the states run their educational system. (We all know how that works in Washington - do it our way or we'll withhold the money we stole from your state.)
JEB! claims that illegals come into are country are doing it as an act of love, but as he was speaking the other night started to say what I believe is truly in his heart and that is he wants to reward the illegals with a pathway to citizenship. I also believe he is cut from the same cloth as his daddy and brother and will only pay lip service to securing our borders, just as his brother and daddy did before him. Remember, it's all about the LOVE!
JEB!, unlike Trump, who actually created his fortune through hard work and risk taking, has gotten ahead by sucking on his daddy's tit, using the Bush political machine to get elected governor of Florida, and has become wealthy via Wall Street pals (who his brother bailed out with taxpayer dollars to the tune of nearly a trillion dollars) parlaying his name and status as former governor of Florida into a net worth of millions of dollars.
JEB! needs take a long hard look in the mirror before calling out Trump for being a liberal. Frankly, JEB! is a big government politician you can't trust any more than you could his brother or his daddy.
Posted by Rick | August 21, 2015 03:46 PM | Political Science
Hillary Clinton And Her Minions Headed For Big House?
Is this not the exact thing HRH Hillary Clinton has done with her private server and the deleted documents on said server?
From Title 18 - CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
CHAPTER 101 - RECORDS AND REPORTS
18 U.S. Code § 2071 - Concealment, removal, or mutilation generally(a) Whoever willfully and unlawfully conceals, removes, mutilates, obliterates, or destroys, or attempts to do so, or, with intent to do so takes and carries away any record, proceeding, map, book, paper, document, or other thing, filed or deposited with any clerk or officer of any court of the United States, or in any public office, or with any judicial or public officer of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.
(b) Whoever, having the custody of any such record, proceeding, map, book, document, paper, or other thing, willfully and unlawfully conceals, removes, mutilates, obliterates, falsifies, or destroys the same, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both; and shall forfeit his office and be disqualified from holding any office under the United States. As used in this subsection, the term “office” does not include the office held by any person as a retired officer of the Armed Forces of the United States.
And then you have:
From Title 18 - CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
PART I - CRIMES
CHAPTER 93 - PUBLIC OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES
18 U.S. Code §1924. Unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or material (a) Whoever, being an officer, employee, contractor, or consultant of the United States, and, by virtue of his office, employment, position, or contract, becomes possessed of documents or materials containing classified information of the United States, knowingly removes such documents or materials without authority and with the intent to retain such documents or materials at an unauthorized location shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both.(b) For purposes of this section, the provision of documents and materials to the Congress shall not constitute an offense under subsection (a).
(c) In this section, the term "classified information of the United States" means information originated, owned, or possessed by the United States Government concerning the national defense or foreign relations of the United States that has been determined pursuant to law or Executive order to require protection against unauthorized disclosure in the interests of national security.
And there's more:
From Title 44 - PUBLIC PRINTING AND DOCUMENTS
CHAPTER 31 - RECORDS MANAGEMENT BY FEDERAL AGENCIES
44 U.S. Code §3101. Records management by agency heads; general duties The head of each Federal agency shall make and preserve records containing adequate and proper documentation of the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, and essential transactions of the agency and designed to furnish the information necessary to protect the legal and financial rights of the Government and of persons directly affected by the agency's activities.
I saw HRH Hillary wearing an orange pant suit at a news conference the other day and I think orange is a very flattering color for her.
Posted by Rick | August 14, 2015 10:39 AM | Political Science
The Debates - Candidates Fared Well In Spite Of Fox News
I watched the debates tonight and, from my perspective, the debaters fared rather well considering the negative tone of the questioning which was, without question, intended to diminish quite a few, if not all, of the presidential candidates.
The evening debate, which seemed to be the most egregious in the negative tone of the questioning, led off with the Fox team wasting no time trying to embarrass Donald Trump, the current front-runner standing center stage, asking everyone to raise their hand if they would not take a pledge to run as a third-party candidate, knowing full well that Trump was the only one who has publicly stated that this would not be taken off the table.
Some tough questions were to be expected, but virtually all of the questions seemed to try and point out a flip flop on a particular position; a gaff in some earlier statement; and, again in Donald Trump's case, why did he have the audacity to file bankruptcy in four business ventures out of the hundreds of business ventures he is and has been involved in.
The negative questions left little opportunity to make comparisons between the debaters’ positions and the Democrats.
I don't know who decided to make the questioning so negative, but I doubt that ultra-liberals Rachael Maddow, Candy Crowley, and Ed Shultz (of MSNBC, CNN and MSNBC respectively) could not have done a better job of attempting to embarrass the debaters.
Frankly, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the dumb-as-dirt current head of the DNC, was treated better than the candidates in either debate when she came on to give her spin on the evening's events.
I was under the impression that the Fox team had spent many hours planning the questioning. Unfortunately, their efforts were.....unfortunate.
Posted by Rick | August 6, 2015 10:57 PM | Political Science
Rick Perry Hedging Bet On Immigration
Rick Perry took a play out of Hillary Clinton's playbook and decided that it would be better not to tell the electorate where he stands on dealing with the millions of illegal immigrants living in our midst. It must be noted that he supports giving illegals living in Texas the benefit of paying in-state tuition. Why not Obamacare? Why not unemployment? Why not Section 8 housing?
I have no doubt that he won't answer because he favors amnesty and a path to citizenship for millions of future Democratic voters. He might as well join the Democratic party and become Hillary's running mate.
Posted by Rick | August 6, 2015 02:18 PM | Political Science
John McCain Vs. Donald Trump - Food Fight
John McCain started a food fight between himself and Donald Trump saying during an interview with Ryan Lizza, part of which was published in the New Yorker magazine, "This performance with our friend (Trump) out in Phoenix is very hurtful to me. ... Because what he did was he fired up the crazies."
Trump responded saying McCain was "a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren't captured."
So is John McCain a hero?
Merriam-Webster defines hero as:
1a: a mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability 1b: an illustrious warrior 1c: a man admired for his achievements and noble qualities 1d: one who shows great courage2a: the principal male character in a literary or dramatic work 2b: the central figure in an event, period, or movement
3: plural usually he·ros : submarine 2
4:an object of extreme admiration and devotion : idol
Collins defines the noun hero in much the same way:
1.a man distinguished by exceptional courage, nobility, fortitude, etc2.a man who is idealized for possessing superior qualities in any field
3.(classical mythology) a being of extraordinary strength and courage, often the offspring of a mortal and a god, who is celebrated for his exploits
4.the principal male character in a novel, play, etc
Personally, I believe that the term 'hero' is used far too lightly, and on January 21, 2008, in this blog I wrote about John McCain:
While one must admire Senator John McCain (R-AZ) for his service to the United States, I don't believe that being captured and spending time as a P.O.W. makes him a hero. It does indeed make him a survivor, but that does not make him a heroic figure.
Many people, including Senator McCain (RINO-AZ), have called for Trump to apologize since his remarks. I have already decided, but I'll let you decide whether John McCain is a hero or not, and if you believe he is, in fact, a hero, then you probably believe Trump should apologize.
I have not heard anyone asking McCain to apologize for his name calling. I am! McCain owes the Trump supporters, who believe the borders should be closed and that anyone who breaks the law by entering the United States illegally should not be given the honor of becoming United States citizens, he labeled "crazies" a huge apology.
I guess in McCain's world, if you believe in the rule of law and not chaos on the borders and anarchy in the streets, you are crazy.
We know McCain believes this how? In 2007, 21 years after we were told that Reagan's amnesty for illegals would be the last amnesty program, a bill called 'The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007' (its full name was Secure Borders, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Reform Act of 2007 (S. 1348)) was discussed in the 110th United States Congress that would have provided legal status and a path to citizenship for the approximately 12 million illegal immigrants residing in the United States at that time. Although the bill's sole sponsor was Senator Harry Reid (D-NV), the bill was crafted largely as a result of efforts by Senator Teddy Kennedy (D-MA), Senators McCain (RINO-AZ) and Kyl (RINO-AZ), and Senator Lindsey Graham (RINO-SC), with input from President George W. Bush.
Another amnesty program and another and another? The border chaos will continue until we show we are serious about border security and the rule of law.
Apologize Senator McCain to all of us who believe in secure borders and the rule of law!
Posted by Rick | July 20, 2015 07:07 PM | Political Science
ObamaCare...RobertsCare
I was disappointed, to say the least, after hearing that the Supreme Court had revised The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare). You can read the Supreme Court's decision here.
From the onset of the opinion it was apparent that the fix was in.
In the first paragraph, the supposed reasoning for setting up The Patient Protection and (Un)Affordable Care Act was tortured and misleading.
In the 1990s, several States sought to expand access to coverage by imposing a pair of insurance market regulations—a “guaranteed issue” requirement, which bars insurers from denying coverage to any person because of his health, and a “community rating” requirement, which bars insurers from charging a person higher premiums for the same reason. The reforms achieved the goal of expanding access to coverage, but they also encouraged people to wait until they got sick to buy insurance. The result was an economic “death spiral”: premiums rose, the number of people buying insurance declined, and insurers left the market entirely.
Of course you know that, if you are paying any attention at all, while ObamaCare has theoretically expanded access to insurance to more people by offering reduced rates via subsidies (transfer of wealth) to those who couldn't afford it in the past, there are actually less people who can afford health care because of the outrageously high premiums and deductibles.
I had to laugh when I read the second paragraph which stated in part:
Second, the Act generally requires individuals to maintain health insurance coverage or make a payment to the IRS, unless the cost of buying insurance would exceed eight percent of that individual’s income.
Remember the tax that wasn't a tax that was a tax? Robert's is now calling the tax a payment to the IRS. John Roberts belongs on Saturday Night Live because he is hilarious.
Posted by Rick | June 25, 2015 01:36 PM | Political Science
JEB! Just Another RINO...
I watched Jeb Bush's interview with Sean Hannity tonight. Of course JEB! thinks he can change the course of America.
Almost immediately Hannity asked him why he was having so much trouble with the conservative base, and of course he wouldn't say it, but he still favors Common Core and citizenship for illegals.
I'm sure his strategy is to court the Hispanic vote, but he is going to need a lot of Hispanic votes because millions of conservatives won't vote for him because of the aforementioned stances.
It was interesting when he was asked whether he would keep Guantanamo Bay (Gitmo) open, he answered with an emphatic 'Yes.' Unfortunately, when he was asked whether he would use enhanced interrogation, he said we didn't need it. It seems he could have answered that it would depend upon the circumstances, or an even better answer would have been that he would do whatever it takes to keep Americans safe. He wouldn't budge and repeated that we just didn't need it. Apparently, a stay at Guantanamo Bay courtesy of Jeb Bush would equal 3 hots, a cot and all the soccer they wanted to play on that $750,000 soccer field we just built. A Jeb Bush presidency would not include enhanced interrogation no matter how many American lives it would cost.
Except for the conservative bluster, there isn't much difference between JEB! and Hillary.
Posted by Rick | June 16, 2015 10:10 PM | Political Science
Texas Reducing Number Of Abortion Clinics - An Unintended Benefit
On Wednesday June 6, 2015, just before 5 P.M. Eastern , I was channel-surfing and stopped briefly on MSNBC and watched while the host, Alex Wagner, interviewed Planned Parenthood executive, Cecile Richards . The Ms. Richard was concerned about the fact that abortion clinics in Texas may be reduced to as few as 10 locations. While that number may or may not be adequate to meet the demands for abortions, one of the concerns that Planned Parenthood had was that that number of abortion clinics may force illegal immigrants to return to Mexico to obtain an abortion.
The following incredible exchange took place:
WAGNER: Because if you are asking a woman to drive hundreds of miles to get an abortion, that's limiting the number of women who can take work off, who have access to transportation. I mean, this law disproportionately it would seem targets poor women.RICHARDS: Absolutely. It already targets women that have the least access to health care. And I think one of the really cruel ironies of this is that women on the Rio Grande border, one of the most under served areas of the State of Texas, many of those women are undocumented. They actually cannot drive to San Antonio. They cannot drive to Houston or Austin because they can't pass through the border check points. And so, we're really literally forcing women to go across the border to Mexico to get what is a legal procedure in the State of Texas or should be a legal procedure in the State of Texas.
Apparently, we are currently using tax dollars to give illegal immigrants abortions and by reducing the number of abortion clinics we can get the lawbreakers to go home. I just don’t see the problem.
You can read a transcript of the interview here:
Posted by Rick | June 11, 2015 06:17 AM | Political Science ~ | Social Studies
Obama's Message To The World
HRH Obama continues to send a strong message to the world while the Middle East burns - "Present."
Posted by Rick | June 9, 2015 06:49 AM | Political Science
It's A Matter Of Trust, And Bush And Huckabee Can't Be Trusted
While parents are outraged about Common Core, some Republicans, like former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, support the curriculum and say a name change is needed because "Common Core" has become toxic.
So that's it...kiss it and make it better. They must think everyone has the intellect of a four year old.
Posted by Rick | May 5, 2015 11:41 AM | Political Science ~ | Social Studies
Christians & Jews Can Breathe Easier Now
Just watched as Josh Earnest, White House spokesman, issued a statement on behalf of President Obama saying "The United States condemns in the strongest terms" the killing of another batch of Christians in Libya by those crazy ISIL guys.
All Christians and Jews throughout the Middle East can breathe a lot easier tonight.
Posted by Rick | April 20, 2015 03:32 PM | Political Science
Hillary's Message To America
I watched Hillary Clinton's brief news conference yesterday and I will attempt to sum up her message to America in two words - pound sand, or as her husband would say, "nice tie."
With a little shrug of her shoulders, Hillary notified everyone that she will be the final arbiter of what emails are released, period.
Any emails about the failings in Benghazi (what difference, at this point, does it make) or kickbacks (what kickbacks?) to be made to the Clinton foundation just don't exist (anymore).
Posted by Rick | March 11, 2015 08:49 AM | Political Science
HRH Obama And The Bomb
It seems that, from what I’ve heard, HRH Obama is intent on getting a deal, any deal, no matter what is in the deal, with the Iranians concerning their continuing attempts to obtain a nuclear weapon. It's all about the optics, never mind that Iran, the world’s largest supporter of terrorism, has vowed to wipe Israel off the face of the earth.
We have been negotiating with Iran for years in an attempt to get them to stop their quest to become a nuclear power to no avail. All the while, their centrifuges keep plugging away.
There is only one thing that the Iranians understand, brute force. Unfortunately, HRH Obama has no clothes.
Posted by Rick | February 25, 2015 08:27 AM | Political Science
On Net Neutrality
I don’t believe that I understand everything that is being discussed with regard to net neutrality, but there are a couple of old adages that can usually be relied upon in cases like this:
1) If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
2) Leave well enough alone.
3) Always keep in mind the law of unintended consequences and make sure that any government intervention via new laws or regulations is needed and that the consequences of such governmental intervention have been fully considered.
To allow the FCC, directed by five unelected commissioners, to institute sweeping new regulations on the internet without any congressional hearings and/or input seems heavy-handed and un-American.
Posted by Rick | February 25, 2015 08:09 AM | Just A Thought ~ | Political Science ~ | Social Studies
Obama's State Of The Union
Everyone is talking about the State Of The Union address HRH Obama gave last night, so I might as well chime in with some good and bad news and a couple thoughts of my own.
Touting the booming economy led by falling gasoline prices, which, if the price of a barrel of oil continues to hover at or below $50 per barrel, could lead to another banking catastrophe that would make the housing crash look like child's play, HRH Obama says that the unemployment rate is 5.6%. Unfortunately, using the formula the administration uses, he could have just as well said said there is full employment...because he has a job. Interestingly, George Will, just prior to HRH's speech, said that the rate would be 9.9% if the rate was calculated with the formula used prior to the Obama administration's changes to said formula.
While playing word games about the exact identity of the fighters/terrorists comprising the threat in the Middle East, Africa and around the globe, HRH barely mentioned the Islamic extremists in his speech. Unfortunately, there is no question that the Middle East and Africa are in chaos. ISIS is in control of major parts of Syria and Iraq. Iran is on the verge of manufacturing nuclear weapons. In Yemen, the presidential palace is surrounded by dissidents with a coup d'état possible at any moment. The political stability of Egypt, Libya, and much of the rest of Africa is very tenuous at best with bands of rebels roaming the countries killing, looting, burning, kidnapping, and raping with little resistance. Oops, I forgot to mention Ebola.
In other good news, the cost of health care, not necessarily health insurance, is sky-rocketing for those who are actually paying for it. While health insurance premiums continue to rise, the tremendous increases in the copay and deductibles are up at tremendously higher rates than the increases in premiums. It is also important to remember that of the 8 million or so people who have actually signed up for the (Un)Affordable Care Act, more than half of those are being subsidized by the federal government. What does that mean? It means, don’t get sick unless you are one of the lucky ones being subsidized by HRH.
Need I mention Russia, the Ukraine, Israel, Palestine, North Korea, Afghanistan, hackers, and race relations in the United States?
With all this going on, HRH believes that global climate change is the biggest threat to our national security. NASA believes with 38% certainty that the year 2014 was the warmest on record. 38%!!! Must be true then.
Enough of the good news!
Unfortunately, all of the above problems pale when you consider that we will have a national debt of well over $20 trillion by the time HRH hits the pavement looking for a new job. HRH, as if he believed he had the Midas touch, has been printing money like it is going out of style while keeping the interest rate artificially low. If we had to pay a fair rate of return for the money we have printed (borrowed), the interest alone would wreak havoc on our national economy. At an interest rate of even a meager 5% per annum, the interest on $20 trillion dollars would be $1 trillion dollars in interest per year.
HRH Obama needs to have his medication adjusted if he thinks as he said in his opening statement,
"America, for all that we've endured; for all the grit and hard work required to come back; for all the tasks that lie ahead, know this:The shadow of crisis has passed, and the State of the Union is strong."
because he is becoming more and more delusional by the minute.
Posted by Rick | January 21, 2015 01:58 PM | Political Science
Kerry In France - Sacré bleu
Everyone may have thought that the State Department could not sink any lower when then Secretary of State Hilary Clinton presented the Russians with a 'reset' button, and the word 'reset' was misspelled.
Well, today new lows were reached by that same department when Secretary Of State John Kerry took American musician James Taylor over to France to sing a command performance of You've Got A Friend in the wake of the massacre of 17 Frenchmen by three crazy, radical Muslims.
This was a performance worthy of the dreams of a high school student body president. Unfortunately, Kerry is not in high school.
Posted by Rick | January 16, 2015 04:23 PM | Political Science
A Message From The Emperor Of The United States
In anticipation of the speech HRH Obama is giving in a few hours, let me be the first to say to our illegal immigrants:
Los Estados Unidos
De México!
Posted by Rick | November 20, 2014 02:28 PM | Political Science
Stupidity In Action
Jonathan Gruber, one of the masterminds of the Massachusetts socialized medical insurance plan implemented while Mitt Romney was governor, was everyone's go to advisor during the planning of the Affordable Care Act nationally. Receiving millions of dollars from the federal and state governments for his expertise, Gruber was lauded in speeches by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and HRH Obama.
Gruber, while consulting with HRH, felt that the only was to get the ACA passed was to prey on the 'stupidity' of the American people. The plan was to make the bill so large and convoluted that even the Congressional Budget Office couldn't figure out how to score it financially.
Recently, however, Gruber has been running around giving speeches during which he laughs about how they were relying on the stupidity of the American people to get the ACA enacted. During these speeches he has also been pointing out that the health insurance act in Massachusetts was unsustainable by itself and had been subsidized by the federal government to the tune of over $400 million dollars.
The amazing part of the whole thing is that the real stupid people in the ACA debacle were the lawmakers who voted to pass the bill which was designed to take over about 18% of the entire nation's economy. Famously, even Speaker Pelosi was mystified by the bill and said that the bill had to be passed so that we could find out what was in it. That from the one of the top lawmakers in the land. How is that for stupid?
Truth be told, you don’t have to be a professor at MIT to see that giving insurance to 40 million people who have to pay little or nothing for it will put an additional strain on the entire health care system. The numbers didn't add up in Massachusetts and they won't add up nationally. The name should be changed to the Unaffordable Care Act.
Posted by Rick | November 18, 2014 10:52 AM | Political Science
Obfuscations, Distortions & Outright Lies
HRH Obama did not disappoint in his prime time speech tonight.
From the preposterous assertions that we have had great success in defeating Al Qaeda in Somalia and Yemen; to the delusional belief that the state of our economy is getting better based on questionable job growth and fictitious unemployment numbers (officially 6.1%; unofficially 12%) that belie the fact that we have fewer people working now than we had 35 years ago, and a financial system on the verge of collapse under the weight of an $18 trillion dollar debt; to the promise that he is going to wipe out ISIL with, as he put it just last month, doctors, farmers and pharmacists fighting in Syria and Iraq, and no American boots on the ground, HRH Obama takes us for fools.
ISIL has control over many cities and towns in Iraq and Syria which is going to hinder the effectiveness of our air power. Furthermore, ISIL has control over a substantial amount of oil-rich land in Iraq which allows them to collect and sell enough oil on tthe black market to keep them on the offensive indefinitely.
With no effective army to combat the stranglehold ISIL has on much of Syria and Iraq, it is naive to believe that we can effectively remove ISIL from the territory they now control, much less wipe them out.
Posted by Rick | September 10, 2014 06:54 PM | Political Science
Obama Is Going To Bullshit Us Again Tonight
I can hardly wait for HRH Obama's speech tonight.
I think HRH is going to try to persuade us that he is more concerned with our security than he is about his golf handicap or flying around the country fund raising. I personally believe he is doing just as little as possible while secretly rooting for an Islamic caliphate. He cannot completely ignore the problems in the Middle East because he would be hammered by the left, right and center in America, so he will do something, but not much.
What has he done about Iran getting a nuclear weapon? What has he done about the Russians taking over Crimea? What has he done about ISIL in Syria and Iraq? What has he done about the thousands of rockets raining down on Israel? What has he done to secure our borders? What has he done about the thousands of Americans who were targeted by the IRS? What has he done about..................?
The only things on HRH's radar is golf and flying around on his personal magic carpet (Air Force 1) when he is not on vacation.
HRH Obama doesn't give a whit about his job or America in general.
Posted by Rick | September 10, 2014 04:54 PM | Political Science
Will Obama Boycott France?
I thought we had tough sanctions in place against the Russians?
Why then, when the French are going ahead with the sale of at least 2 warships to Russia, did HRH Obama prance around France at the D-Day ceremonies with French President Francois Hollande? Apparently the sale of warships isn't important when HRH is being wined and dined.
And I doubt that the sanctions apply in the White House kitchen. After all, what would HRH Michelle do without Russian caviar and fancy French wine at her lobster luncheons?
You can read more about the sale of the warships here.
Posted by Rick | June 13, 2014 11:55 AM | Political Science
Hillary - Above It All
Politico, which received an advance copy of Hillary Clinton's new book, Hard Choices, quotes Hillary from the chapter titled Benghazi: Under Attack.
“I will not be a part of a political slugfest on the backs of dead Americans. It’s just plain wrong, and it’s unworthy of our great country. Those who insist on politicizing the tragedy will have to do so without me."
She went on to say,
“Those who exploit this tragedy over and over as a political tool minimize the sacrifice of those who served our country,”
The fact is that Ambassador John Christopher Stevens, who died in the early stages of the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, September 11–12, 2012, was the direct responsibility of the Secretary of State, who at the time was Hillary Clinton. Ms. Clinton had to know, and if she didn't know, should have known, that the consulate had been attacked twice in the months preceding the attack which began on September 11, 2012, and culminated in the early morning hours on September 12, 2012. Furthermore, Ms. Clinton either knew, or should have known, that virtually all other foreign diplomatic personnel had been removed from Libya after attacks on their embassies/consulates.
Ms. Clinton may not have been in charge of the three CIA operatives who also died in the Benghazi attack, but the death of Ambassador Stevens lies squarely on her.
While Ms.Clinton may not want to discuss this during her expected run for the Presidency, she cannot erase the fact that the proverbial '3 A.M. phone call' that she brougt up during her debates with HRH Obama went in to the State Department and she didn't pick up the phone. I understand that Ms. Clinton was not the commander-in-chief, but she should have been on the phone with HRH Obama demanding military support. No one in Benghazi, at the State Department, at the Department of Defense, or at the White House knew or could have known how long the attack was going to go on or how many American lives were in danger, yet no one ever gave the command to send help to the brave Americans fighting for their lives.
Silly me! I just remembered, HRH wasn't in the situation room at the White House and wasn't answering the phone at the White House either.
Must have been everyone's 'date night.'
Posted by Rick | May 30, 2014 04:07 PM | Political Science
Obama On Obamacare
The White House lawn (and Michelle's garden) is knee deep in fertilizer after the speech HRH Obama just gave touting the (Un)Affordable Care Act.
White House speech writer(s) jammed HRH Obama's speech with so many half-truths, distortions, omissions, obfuscations and outright lies in such a short speech they deserve hazardous duty pay.
The Obama administration is claiming 7.1 million people have signed up for the (Un)ACA. If they have that number, they must have the other numbers but unfortunately they are unwilling to share with us the cold, hard, unadulterated statistics. The administration needs to answer these questions honestly before they can be taken seriously.
Out of the 7.1 million people they are claiming have signed up:
1) How many people signed up for medicaid at little or no cost to them?
2) How many people were given a subsidy to purchase the (Un)ACA?
3) How many people have actually paid for their insurance?
4) How many healthy young adults, who the administration is relying upon to pay for the older unhealthy foks, have actually signed up and paid for the (Un)ACA?
And of course, since the entire health care system had to be overhauled to make sure that the plus or minus 40 million Americans who didn't have health insurance were insured, and considering that over 6 million policies were cancelled:
5) How many previously uninsured people now have insurance?
Posted by Rick | April 1, 2014 01:44 PM | Political Science
Hope And Change = Lies And Deceit
Obama's version of Hope And Change, his overworked campaign slogan from 2008, has descended into Lies And Deceit.
Here are a few, but not all, of the Obama administration's high lights low lights:
Fast And Furious - AG Holder in contempt of Congress for failing to provide key information pertaining to Operation Fast and Furious - the vote was a bipartisan 255-67, with 17 Democrats breaking ranks and voting with Republicans in favor of contempt
IRS Targets Conservative Groups - a top IRS official, Lois Lerner, takes the 5th rather than testify before Congress
Benghazi - stonewall by Hillary Clinton, Susan Rice and others - and wouldn't we all like to know where HRH Obama was the evening of the attack??? Shhh....It's a secret!!!
Unemployment Numbers - millions of Americans have been arbitrarily taken out of the equation because they have stopped looking for work - the real unemployment number is somewhere around 11%
(Un)Affordable Care Act - On February 17, 2014, while giving a speech in Orlando Florida, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius said: "There is absolutely no evidence, and every economist will tell you this, that there is any job loss related to the Affordable Care Act," Sebelius went on to say: "I know that's a popular myth that continues to be repeated, but it just is not accurate."
It has been said that men are from Mars and women are from Venus. Sebelius, and every astronomer will tell you this, is not from this solar system.
The hits just keep on coming.
Posted by Rick | March 1, 2014 03:37 AM | Political Science
The Sound Of His Own Voice
I just watched HRH Obama perform at a news conference about the Ukraine during which he warned the Russians "there will be costs for any military intervention in Ukraine."
I'm sure Putin ran and hid under his desk when he heard that threat.
What's HRH going to do, take away the poorly translated 'reset button' Hillary presented them with in 2009? Perhaps HRH will draw a line in the sand like he did with Serbia.
Does anyone care what HRH says any more except HRH?
Feckless! I can think of no better word to describe HRH and his administration.
Posted by Rick | February 28, 2014 04:49 PM | Political Science
Socialized Healthcare, Then And Now
Interestingly, socialized medicine was the debate topic when I was a sophmore in high school. I was against it then and nothing has convinced me to change my opinion. Virtually all the available information then, and now, indicate that health care suffers under a socialized medical care law.
Liberals seem to believe that the (Un)Affordable Care Act is the only plan out there and complain that conservatives don’t have a plan.
First: I don’t know why the liberals have to mess with those of us who already have health insurance. The (Un)ACA policies are discouraging businesses from hiring and making part-time workers out of full-time workers. If liberals are concerned about those who don’t have any insurance, deal with that problem and leave the rest of us alone.
Second: I would submit there is a conservative plan and it is called the free market. Let the insurance companies compete in all states for the business and it will keep prices down. The 30-40 million people who do not have health insurance could be asked to obtain, at a minimum, a major medical insurance policy so the country doesn’t have to pick up the tab if they have some type of catastrophic injury or illness.
Third: Do tort reform that will keep malpractice insurance costs down, which would, in turn, reduce the cost of care.
Fourth: Disallow the forgiveness of medical care costs in bankruptcy.
Fifth: A sales tax or value added tax on insurance policies and/or health care could be put in place to subsidize those who cannot afford the major medical policy.
Posted by Rick | November 16, 2013 01:57 AM | Political Science ~ | Social Studies
A Liberal's Crocodile Tears
Kirsten Powers, staunch liberal and Fox News contributor, appeared on Special Report with Bret Baier Tuesday 11/12/2013, and complained that her health insurance had been canceled and her new insurance through the (Un)Affordable Health Care Act was doubling. She went on to say that the only reason it was so high was that she was now going to be paying for someone else's health insurance.
Where has Ms. Powers been? Mars? Did she just realize that the socialist scheme of our government, and Democrats in particular, has been all about the redistribution of wealth since the inception of the income tax?
The redistribution of wealth certainly looks a little different when it comes directly out of your pocketbook every month and ends up supporting some mooch in his underwear sitting on the couch playing video games all day, doesn't it Ms. Powers?
Ms. Powers' crocodile tears over her personal health care predicament couldn't make me happier.
Posted by Rick | November 13, 2013 12:06 PM | Political Science ~ | Social Studies
Total Capitulation By Senate Republicans!
MSNBC, the Obama administration’s official news channel on cable television, is portraying the Senate’s vote of 81-18 to increase the debt limit and fund the government as “total capitulation” by the Republicans and there is little to disagree with in that assessment.
Mitch McConnell (RINO-KY), John McCain (RINO-AZ) and Lindsay Graham (RINO-SC), just to name a few of the supposed Republican leaders, have become nothing more than water boys for the Democratic party. That gives rise to the question: Why don’t the Republicans just go home and let the Democrats run things the way they want?
My message to the RINO’s who caved: Stop the charade and change party affiliation today.
Posted by Rick | October 16, 2013 06:07 PM | Political Science
HRH Teaching Us Poor Surfs A Lesson
HRH Obama and his administration seem to have forgotten that they work for the citizens of the United States. If HRH really had the best interests of the American people at heart he would be doing everything he could to minimalize the effects of the partial government shutdown. Instead he is acting as if he were the king and he was going to teach us, the poor surfs, a lesson by making the shutdown as inconvenient as he can.
Never fear, HRH’s golf course at Andrews Air Force Base is still open.
Posted by Rick | October 8, 2013 12:04 PM | Political Science
Democrats Shut Down Government
Senate majority leader Prince Harry Reid (D-NV) with support from HRH Obama effectively shut down most of the federal government today because the alternative would have meant that he and all the other congressmen and women, their staffs and most other political appointees would have had to join the Affordable Health Care exchanges just like everyone else if they had agreed to pass the continuing resolution (CR) sent to them by the House of Representatives.
The arrogance of the Democrats who believe that they should not suffer under the same laws they force others to live under is stunning, and reminds one of the old Soviet Union where the leaders shopped in grocery stores with fully stocked shelves while the poor peasants shopped where the bread was stale and the meat counters were shut down because there was nothing to sell.
Someone should remind the Democrats that they're no better than us, the poor peasants they serve.
Posted by Rick | October 1, 2013 04:29 AM | Political Science
HRH Obama On Jobs
HRH Obama claims to want to create jobs with infrastructure projects yet disparages the Keystone pipeline, claiming it will only create 50 full time jobs. The number of permanent jobs it will create is absurd on its face but I will get to that in a minute.
The Keystone pipeline is an infrastructure project. It is no different than a bridge that is built, rebuilt or repaired. In the long term, not many permanent jobs are created. Usually bridge work is paid for by some government entity - a city, state or the federal government. The Keystone pipeline is a privately funded project with no need for the government to spend any money building it. HRH won't get to dole out billions of dollars to his friends and pet projects. Is that why HRH is opposed to it?
HRH's claim that only 50 full time jobs will be created is silly. The pipeline will create jobs maintaining the pipeline; create jobs processing the crude oil; create jobs transporting the finished product; create jobs feeding, clothing and housing those workers, and on and on and on.
All this at a cost of zero to the government. There is no question that the pipeline will create products that will be in demand, unlike all HRH'S green jobs that created something no one wanted at exorbitant prices. The only long term jobs HRH created with all that green job money are jobs in the legal community while all the bankruptcies are sorted out.
Posted by Rick | August 1, 2013 06:42 AM | Political Science
Can We Trust Our Government?
We have had a government that has been able to listen to our electronic transmissions for decades. After some complaints it was decided that a judge would have to issue a search warrant before our privacy could be compromised by our government. Even after 9/11 when the federal government wanted to expand its capabilities to listen to our electronic transmissions, a FISA court was embodied with the power to authorize the enhanced government intrusions into our lives.
Because of a, some would say brave, even heroic, whistle-blower, it has come to light that our government has increased its collection and storage of the electronic transmissions, including information from Google, Facebook, Yahoo, cell phones, and emails, of hundreds of millions of US citizens.
In a smaller scandal where only 80,000 farmers were affected, the EPA recently released what should have been private information about the farmers to three radical environmental groups. Only after the release of the information was discovered by some US senators did the EPA ask for the return of the information from the environmental groups. If you believe that the information will be returned, you also believe in unicorns, the tooth fairy, the Easter bunny, and Santa Claus. A bell cannot be unrung.
And the abuses by this administration just seem to keep coming. Prior to the release of the farmers' information, it was discovered that Cindy Thomas, a unit manager in the Cincinnati IRS office, had illegally released the tax applications of nine conservative organizations to the left-wing group, ProPublica. Of course, the IRS has claimed that the release was accidental. It has also come to light that some pro-marriage groups had their information released to gay marriage advocacy organizations. I don't know if the IRS asked for the information from these illegal releases to be returned, but I doubt it. The IRS is probably a little more skeptical about human behavior.
In light of these abuses by this administration, do we really want our current, or future, government collecting and storing all this information from our electronic transmissions. We must also remember that our government is also going to collect and store all our medical information.
Posted by Rick | June 11, 2013 06:06 AM | Political Science ~ | Social Studies
Obama's 'Shameful Day"
Last week when the left's attempt to ram more gun laws down our throats failed, HRH Obama called it a "shameful day" in Washington.
Of course, if you follow current events at all, you know that the Obama administration picks and chooses what laws it will enforce.
This week in the NRA magazine Rifleman, NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre wrote about all the existing gun laws that HRH Obama and his henchmen at the Department Of Justice never, or very rarely, prosecute. You can read more about guns in America here.
The following is Mr. LaPierre's entire article identifying the gun laws that are rarely prosecuted by the slackers at HRH Obama's Department Of Justice.
Standing Guard By Wayne LaPierre, Executive Vice PresidentNot Enforcing Existing Gun Laws—That’s A Crime
If anybody in Chicago is culpable for the armed carnage on that city’s mean streets, it’s Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who never misses an opportunity to blame peaceable, law-abiding gun owners for the daily bloodletting by violent Chicago thugs.
Emanuel steadfastly refuses to demand application of tough federal laws that would surgically rid the streets of criminals who currently terrorize many Chicago neighborhoods. And that represents a kind of aggressive political malfeasance.
For Emanuel—a former U.S. congressman, former chief of staff in President Barack Obama’s White House and former Bill Clinton White House gun-ban guru—to intentionally blow off federal laws punishing illegally armed violent criminals is especially vile.
The reason is simple. If Chicago citizens knew the extent of existing harsh criminal sanctions and that those laws could readily be applied to prosecute real criminals, Emanuel’s endless call for new “gun control” would be seen for what it is: an evil campaign to disarm the innocent. And those federal laws apply equally in every corner of the nation.
That reality goes for New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and for every other mayor signed on to his phony national political machine, Mayors Against Illegal Guns. It also goes for U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and President Obama.
A January 2013 Chicago Tribune story headlined, “U.S. struggles over which gun crimes to prosecute,” reported, “Obama’s Justice Department has shown little appetite to prosecute what it considers low-level firearms crimes… officials with the department said.”
If “low-level” prosecutions of the most violent armed criminals in Chicago were the norm, that city—with thousands of shootings and armed robberies added to its growing number of murders—would see scores of the worst violent gang members and armed drug dealers sent to prison in sure, swift prosecutions. That’s true for every city in America.
But Chicago, with the most vicious armed criminals in the nation, ranks 89th out of 90 U.S. Attorney districts. That ranking comes from Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), which provides the gold-standard review of federal law enforcement performance.
Given thousands of violent crimes involving armed criminals, including record numbers of murders every year, Chicago has seen pathetically few federal gun-law prosecutions: 63 in fiscal year 2011.
How many of the 506 murders involving firearms in Chicago last year would never have happened had Obama’s Justice Department taken criminals off the streets?
A simple look at the law answers that question. Everything real violent criminals do to acquire a firearm is already a serious federal felony. Under federal law, lying to a licensed dealer, lying on the form 4473, and straw sales are all federal felonies that are almost never prosecuted. Holder’s Justice Department calls them “paper violations.” Yet those are the very crimes that they say demand a “universal background check”—a national registration scheme—for all of us.
So let me cite—from a federal public defender fact sheet—a few of the existing federal statutes dealing with armed criminals once they have their guns. I’ll give you the prison term first along with the citations in the United States Code (U.S.C.).
• 10 years—18 U.S.C. § 922(g)—for possession of a firearm or ammunition by a felon, fugitive, or drug user… And possession means touching a gun, any gun, handgun, rifle or shotgun. Any firearm that Dianne Feinstein would ban for us, is already an illegal gun for violent criminals.
• 10 years—18 U.S.C. § 922(j)—for possession of a stolen firearm.
• 10 years—18 U.S.C. § 922(i)—for shipment or transport of a stolen firearm across state lines.
• 10 years—18 U.S.C. § 924(b)—for shipping, transporting or receipt of a firearm across state lines with intent to commit a felony.
• 5 to 30 years consecutive mandatory minimum sentences—18 U.S.C. § 924(a)(1)(A)—for carrying, using, or possessing a firearm in connection with a federal crime of violence or drug trafficking.
• The death penalty or up to life imprisonment—18 U.S.C. § 924(j)—for committing murder while possessing a firearm in connection with a crime of violence or drug trafficking.
• 15 years mandatory minimum—18 U.S.C. § 924(e)—for a “prohibited person” who has three prior convictions for drug offenses or violent felonies.
• 10 years—18 U.S.C. § 924(g)—for interstate travel to acquire or transfer a firearm to commit crimes.
So, if every possible aspect of acquisition, possession, transport, transfer of a firearm by criminals demands harsh and swift punishment under existing law, what is it that Emanuel, Bloomberg and President Obama really want?
To criminalize—then prosecute—everything that we do as law-abiding, peaceable citizens who own and use firearms.
I want to ask a favor. Copy this column and give it to people in the media and to politicians. Put them on notice that their ignorance of law, feigned or real, and their unwillingness to push for prosecution of real criminals using existing federal law cannot be tolerated—EVER! Otherwise these agenda-driven politicians are complicit in criminal violence.
The bottom line is - Why do we need more gun laws when the existing laws aren't being enforced?
Posted by Rick | April 24, 2013 02:58 PM | Political Science ~ | Social Studies
Terror In Boston - Obama's On The Job
Thank God Obama's on the job! Well, maybe not so much on the job, but on the television.
It has been less than 24 hours since the terrorist attack on participants and spectators of the Boston marathon and we have had two televised appearances by the King, neither of which had any substance, just empty rhetoric.
Rather than gracing our airwaves with his glorious image, perhaps King BO should actually roll up his sleeves and do a little work. Wasn't he going to bring the perpetrators of the Benghazi attack to justice?
Posted by Rick | April 16, 2013 10:03 AM | Political Science
King Obama Hiding Under The Covers
You may remember that during one of the debates in the midst of the presidential campaign in 2008, Hillary Clinton asked who you would rather have answering the phone at the White House at 3:00 A.M. should an emergency arise. The choice was between Hillary Clinton and Barack Hussein Obama.
It took over 4 years, but we found out who we should have chosen and the answer is someone else, anyone else.
On September 11, 2012, our consulate in Benghazi, Libya, was attacked while Barack Hussein Obama was President and Ms. Clinton was Secretary of State and it appears that the decision was made to let our ambassador, Chris Stevens, and three other brave men, including a couple of former Navy seals, die.
During a protracted 7 hour battle, it seems the ambassador and one man were killed early in the fighting, but the last two were killed in the last hour of the pitched battle. Leon Panetta, the Secretary of Defense, testified that no help was ever dispatched by our military, proclaiming the military isn't 911.
King Obama, the supposed Commander-In-Chief, apparently took himself out of the loop early on, delegating all rescue missions and responses to the attack, or lack thereof, to Secretary Panetta and some feckless General by the name of Dempsey.
Ultimately, the ‘Commander-In-Chief’ went to bed without even a phone call to inquire about how the things were going in Benghazi - not even a phone call.
King Obama is famous for voting ‘present’ as an Illinois state senator. Unfortunately, as King and ‘Commander-In-Chief’ he was not even ‘present,’ but snuggled up in the covers of his White House bed without a care in the world while Benghazi burned.
Posted by Rick | February 11, 2013 08:25 AM | Political Science
Colin Powell - Republican? And Racist?
After watching Bill O'Reilly interview Colin Powell a couple evenings ago, I came to the conclusion that the self-proclaimed Republican is certainly no conservative and would be better suited as a member of King Barack Hussein Obama's Democratic (read Communist) Party.
'Republican' Powell would have us believe that he supported King Obama in 2008 because he believed Obama's economic policy was superior to John McCain. In reality, there was really no economic policy presented by Obama (remember it was all 'hope and change') and both Obama and McCain supported the pork-filled stimulus package just prior to the election. With all things being equal, Powell, as a good Republican, should have supported Republican McCain.
Powell also voted for King Obama in 2012 when it was crystal clear that Obamanomics had been a catastrophic failure in the past 4 years. Romney has been a very successful businessman and former governor of Massachusetts, and there is every reason to believe that he would have had a much stronger economic policy than that of the former community organizer, King Obama.
Unable to give any other substantive reason for not supporting the Republican's semi-conservative candidate, Mitt Romney, in 2012, could it be that Powell preferred the color of Obama's skin to that of Romney?
Note to Colin Powell: The Republican Party is no place for racists.
Posted by Rick | January 31, 2013 03:48 AM | Political Science
King Barack Hussein Obama On Gun Responsibility
King Obama just got through lecturing us on the evils of guns and signed a number of relatively insignificant executive orders while urging congress to pass more sweeping gun ownership reforms and restrictions.
Unfortunately, his administration is responsible for the most egregious acts of distributing assault weapons to criminals in the history of our nation. Does anyone remember 'fast and furious'? Attorney General Holder has continued to stonewall the investigation by congress into 'fast and furious' and absolutely no new gun control legislation should pass congress until Holder and King Obama's administration come completely clean concerning this deadly fiasco.
Posted by Rick | January 16, 2013 10:40 AM | Political Science
King Barack Hussein Obama On The Debt Ceiling
King Obama discovered early in his reign that it is really fun to spend other people's money. Unfortunately, WE HAVE RUN OUT OF OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY! When increasing the debt ceiling comes up for a vote, every conservative representative and senator should get up and give this speech Obama gave in 2006 (before he became King Obama) and then vote against raising the debt ceiling unless there is an agreement written in stone to reduce spending and pass a balanced budget.
Mr. President, I rise today to talk about America’s debt problem. The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government can’t pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government’s reckless fiscal policies. Over the past 5 years, our federal debt has increased by $3.5 trillion to $8.6 trillion. That is ‘‘trillion’’ with a ‘‘T.’’ That is money that we have borrowed from the Social Security trust fund, borrowed from China and Japan, borrowed from American taxpayers. And over the next 5 years, between now and 2011, the President’s budget will increase the debt by almost another $3.5 trillion. Numbers that large are sometimes hard to understand. Some people may wonder why they matter. Here is why: This year, the Federal Government will spend $220 billion on interest. That is more money to pay interest on our national debt than we’ll spend on Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. That is more money to pay interest on our debt this year than we will spend on education, homeland security, transportation, and veterans benefits combined. It is more money in one year than we are likely to spend to rebuild the devastated gulf coast in a way that honors the best of America. And the cost of our debt is one of the fastest growing expenses in the Federal budget. This rising debt is a hidden domestic enemy, robbing our cities and States of critical investments in infrastructure like bridges, ports, and levees; robbing our families and our children of critical investments in education and health care reform; robbing our seniors of the retirement and health security they have counted on. Every dollar we pay in interest is a dollar that is not going to investment in America’s priorities. Instead, interest payments are a significant tax on all Americans—a debt tax that Washington doesn’t want to talk about. If Washington were serious about honest tax relief in this country, we would see an effort to reduce our national debt by returning to responsible fiscal policies. But we are not doing that. Despite repeated efforts by Senators CONRAD and FEINGOLD, the Senate continues to reject a return to the commonsense Pay-go rules that used to apply. Previously, Pay-go rules applied both to increases in mandatory spending and to tax cuts. The Senate had to abide by the commonsense budgeting principle of balancing expenses and revenues. Unfortunately, the principle was abandoned, and now the demands of budget discipline apply only to spending. As a result, tax breaks have not been paid for by reductions in Federal spending, and thus the only way to pay for them has been to increase our deficit to historically high levels and borrow more and more money. Now we have to pay for those tax breaks plus the cost of borrowing for them. Instead of reducing the deficit, as some people claimed, the fiscal policies of this administration and its allies in Congress will add more than $600 million in debt for each of the next 5 years. That is why I will once again cosponsor the Pay-go amendment and continue to hope that my colleagues will return to a smart rule that has worked in the past and can work again. Our debt also matters internationally. My friend, the ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, likes to remind us that it took 42 Presidents 224 years to run up only $1 trillion of foreign-held debt. This administration did more than that in just 5 years. Now, there is nothing wrong with borrowing from foreign countries. But we must remember that the more we depend on foreign nations to lend us money, the more our economic security is tied to the whims of foreign leaders whose interests might not be aligned with ours. Increasing America’s debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that ‘‘the buck stops here.’’ Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better. I therefore intend to oppose the effort to increase America’s debt limit.
Posted by Rick | January 16, 2013 09:57 AM | Political Science
The Time Has Come To Revoke Obama's Frequent Flyer Privileges
Rumor has it that if Obama is reelected 'Air Force One' will be renamed 'Muslim Brotherhood One.' That's what Harry Reid is saying anyway.
Posted by Rick | October 15, 2012 11:58 AM | Political Science
Outrageous Supreme Court Decision
In a stunning decision, the Supreme Court has ruled that the government of the United States can force everyone to buy spinach.
While that is somewhat of an oversimplification, the Supreme Court said that the government can fine (tax) you if you refuse to purchase spinach (health insurance).
Chief Jusitice Roberts, who sided with the liberals in the government's case against Arizona's immigration law a few days earlier, surprisingly sided with the liberals in upholding the individual mandate in Obamacare that forces everyone to purchase health inusrance or in the alternative, to be TAXED into submission.
The elections in the fall have become all the more important for conservatives who would like government out of our lives.
You can read the decison here.
Posted by Rick | June 28, 2012 08:26 AM | Political Science
It Takes A Lot Of Hutzpa
Barack Hussein Obama's speech tonight before a joint session of Congress was exactly what one would expect from our first affirmative-action President. Empty, naive, self-aggrandizing, fictitious, inaccurate are a few of the words that more than adequately describe the tripe that spewed from Obama's mouth this evening.
Does Obama think we are all as stupid as he is? He wants to hand out another $450 billion dollars that we do not have to somehow reduce unemployment, all the while claiming that this new stimulus package was paid for. Of course, he offered no specifics on where the money was actually coming from. Jesus could work miracles with "five loaves of bread and two fish." I am, however, skeptical of Obama's ability to work miracles with $450 billion considering how well he did with the first stimulus package worth nearly a trillion dollars.
It is interesting that he feels the urgency to pass a new stimulus package "right now" when there is still money from the first stimulus package has not been utilized. Much of the money from the first stimulus was spent protecting union jobs and pensions at the state level, or squandered on green jobs that have since gone overseas or disappeared into the earth's ozone. As for repairing our nation's crumbling infrastructure, there were, he has laughingly admitted, far fewer shovel-ready projects to put people to work than he said there were.
On June 6, 2010, David Barboza wrote in The New York Times:
Last week the Japanese automaker Honda said it had agreed to give about 1,900 workers at one of its plants in southern China raises of 24 to 32 percent, in hopes of ending a two-week strike, according to people briefed on the agreement. The new monthly average would be about $300, not counting overtime.And last Thursday, Beijing announced that it would raise the city’s minimum monthly wage by 20 percent, to 960 renminbi, or about $140. Many other cities are expected to follow suit.
Obama would be a miracle worker if he could figure a way to compete with Chinese workers who make as much in a month as American workers make in 4 hours. (Note to Obama - You can't walk on water.)
Posted by Rick | September 8, 2011 07:41 PM | Political Science
The American Nightmare Continues
Another day, another speech filled with exaggerations, distortions, half-truths, omissions and outright lies by our illustrious anti-American, anti-capitalist, affirmative action President, Barack Hussein Obama.
New federal employees since Obama was sworn in now total more than 36,000.
Unemployment since Obama was sworn in has risen to 9.2%.
Employees laid off because of the Obama's automotive bailout 200,000+.
Commercial real estate vacant because of Obama's automotive bailout account for millions of square feet.
Uprisings in the Middle East will result in Egypt, Syria and Libya being run by Muslim jihadists.
I don't know about you but I have had enough "hope and change."
Posted by Rick | July 27, 2011 03:29 AM | Political Science
McCain On Enhanced Interrogation...Again
Senator John McCain (RINO-AZ) went to the senate floor today to protest that, despite the proclamations of various officials from our intelligence community that information we received from the enhanced interrogation of terrorists led to the killing of Obama bin Laden, enhanced interrogation does not work.
The question is, Why did he make that speech?
I am not sure whether this is just McCain trying to make sure that President Bush doesn't get any of the credit for the demise of bin Laden because of his hatred of the former President, or is he trying to somehow revise his own personal history while he was a guest of the North Vietnamese during the Vietnam war.
My best guess is both of the above.
Posted by Rick | May 12, 2011 04:28 PM | Political Science
Romney On RomneyCare
Today Mitt Romney gave a speech at the University of Michigan that was supposed to put the controversy on the medical plan he approved while he was the governor of Massachusetts to rest.
In the speech, he described his plan as "a state solution to a state problem," while describing ObamaCare as "a power grab by the federal government."
He should have described his plan as 'a failed solution to a state problem,' but more importantly he should know that a power grab by a state government (or a federal government) is a power grab no matter how much powdered sugar you pour on it.
Romney's unwillingness to distance himself from any form of mandated health care is sure to doom his presidential aspirations.
Posted by Rick | May 12, 2011 04:07 PM | Political Science
I Said It First Ann...
At 1:08:46 PM Pacific Daylight Time today, in an email to oreilly@foxnews.com, I wrote:
While Obama doesn't want to "spike the ball" by releasing bin Laden's photo, he has no compunction about taking a political 'victory lap' at 'ground zero' tomorrow.
I point this out only because Ann Coulter while on Sean Hannity's show this evening, which airs at 6 PM Pacific Daylight Time, reiterated my point. I just don't want anyone to say I stole her talking point.
Posted by Rick | May 4, 2011 06:37 PM | Political Science
Ya Gotta Love The National Labor Relations Board
The National Labor Relations Board is suing Arizona and South Dakota because they each passed a law that requires any group attempting to unionize hold 'secret' balloting. Prior to initiating the lawsuit, the NLRB wanted to negotiate with the states in an effort to change the law. The hilarious part of the story is that the NLRB requested the states sign a confidentiality agreement prior to any negotiations. How hypocritical is that.
Posted by Rick | April 28, 2011 07:13 PM | Political Science
The Certificate Of Live Birth Has Been Doctored...Say It Ain't So, Barack
The moderator at Just Americans Making Ethical Statements Weblog gives some evidence that the CERTIFICATE OF LIVE BIRTH that Barack Hussein Obama presented this week for everyone to see is, in fact, a fake. The video with the analysis is here.
Additionally, a copy of Obama's CERTIFICATE OF LIVE BIRTH can be compared to another CERTIFICATE OF LIVE BIRTH from the same time frame at Free Republic. In addition to the discrepancies discussed there in the comment section, I would like to bring your attention to Section 22 where it appears that the heading, 22. Date Accepted by Reg. General, definitely has some cut and paste issues.
While I cannot be sure that this is all on the up and up, there are certainly issues with the document that deserve further scrutiny.
Posted by Rick | April 28, 2011 04:03 PM | Political Science
Do You Think We're Stupid?
Our illustrious Communist-In-Chief, Barack Hussein Obama, would like us to believe that he really is concerned about the price we are all (except him) paying for a gallon of gasoline and to illustrate his concerns, he has formed a new working group staffed by officials from the Justice Department, National Association of Attorneys General, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, Treasury Department, Federal Reserve Board, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the departments of Agriculture and Energy, to investigate and prosecute fraud in the energy markets.
The truth is that there is no indication that there is any fraud or manipulation in the oil market or any of the commodity markets, for that matter. None. Zero. Zip. Nada.
The price of all commodities, not just gasoline, is skyrocketing. Where is the working group to investigate fraud and manipulation of the corn markets; the wheat market, the gold market; the silver market; the copper market; the beef, chicken and pork markets; or the dairy market? Personally, I want to know if my favorite French market, Target, is price gauging on Milkbones, which went up over 15% since my last purchase about a month ago.
We are in the initial stages of hyper-inflation and the causes are actually very simple. Our government is spending approximately 40% more everyday than it takes in and the Federal Reserve Bank is monetizing our debt (printing money and then lending it to us) so that we don’t have to borrow from others. We don’t take in enough money, not because we don’t tax the rich enough, but because over 40% of American 'taxpayers' aren’t 'taxpayers.'
A few weeks ago, C-I-C Obama asked during an open microphone ‘speech,’ “Do you think we’re stupid?” I would like to ask our C-I-C the same question. Unfortunately, he does, and, unfortunately, he is right. There are far too many people in the United States who really believe the crocodile tears Obama is shedding over our high gasoline costs are genuine.
Note to Obama, Reid and Boehner: Don't raise the debt limit. Balance the budget. Stop this insanity before we become Zimbabwe on steroids.
(The first Zimbabwean dollar was introduced in 1980 and replaced the Rhodesian dollar at par - 1 for 1. At the time of its introduction in 1980, the Zimbabwean dollar was actually worth more than the U.S. dollar, with a ZWD 1 = USD 1.47. However, the currency's value eroded rapidly and is now worthless.)
Posted by Rick | April 25, 2011 04:54 PM | Political Science
Boehner Is A 'Fish'
BHO and Harry Reid were playing poker this past week while John Boehner was playing ‘go fish.’
The Republicans turned into real ‘fish’ in the budget negotiations this past week, ‘negotiating’ (term used loosely) a reduction of a measly $38.5 billion on a deficit of $1.6 trillion and, after all the cards were turned over, John Boehner and Mitch McConnell had the nerve to go before the American people to proclaim how proud they were of the outcome! Hell, they didn’t even get their money in with the best hand before getting felted!!
It sounds like BHO, our illustrious commander-in-chief, used the military as a trump card in the budget negotiations, threatening to classify them non-essential personnel which would preclude them from getting paid if the government were ‘shut-down.’
I didn’t realize that soldiers, sailors, and airmen were BHO’s personal slaves. It may be legal for him to send them home without paying them, but for him to order them as commander-in-chief to fight, and perhaps die, without paying them is the most absurd (and perhaps illegal) thing I have ever heard.
Note to John Boehner: I don’t know where y’all learned to play poker, but when BHO raised you with the threat not to pay the military, that was the time to re-raise, not fold like a cheap suit.
Can you imagine going into the 2012 election being able to highlight BHO’s total disregard for the troops he commands?!
FYI: Poker terms for the uninitiated:
Fish: A bad or weak poker player. A sucker.
Felted: A spinoff of an old poker saying, "down to the felt," meaning down to the bottom of your chip stack.
Posted by Rick | April 9, 2011 10:39 AM | Political Science
The Games People Play (In Washington)
Money is fungible. Fungible (fun'ja bal) is an adjective which means:
From yourdictionary.com:
"Law designating movable goods, as grain, any unit or part of which can replace another unit, as in discharging a debt."
To help illustrate this, this morning my lovely wife paid the housekeeper $100 and then proceeded to rifle through my pockets for some money before she left for work, taking $50 from me. She told me later that she had paid the housekeeper. I told her that I disagreed with that assessment of the facts. I believe I paid the housekeeper 50% of the money she was due regardless of the fact that my $50 went into my lovely wife’s purse.
This is the same game the Democrats and Republicans have been playing with our money ever since the law making it illegal for the federal govenment to pay for abortions went into effect . The law says that it is illegal for the federal government to pay for abortions, yet we fund Planned Parenthood, a group that provides abortions, to the tune of about $350 million dollars per year. They claim they use the money for everything else but the actual abortion. So we pay for their rent, staff, utilities, computers, paper, cleaning supplies and everything else under the sun but none of the money goes for the abortions? Would the abortions happen without our money?
However you look at the process, the federal government pays for a percentage of every abortion that Planned Parenthood does - law or no law. Using some round numbers to exemplify this, let’s say the taxpayers give $350 million dollars to Planned Parenthood and they have revenues and expenditures of $500 million dollars. Slice it anyway you want, we are then providing 70% of their revenue and therefore paying for 70% of every abortion.
The Republicans would like to defund Planed Parenthood with this budget they are currently negotiating. Let's hope they have the intestinal fortitude for this fight.
Posted by Rick | April 8, 2011 05:12 PM | Political Science
1979 Redux In Egypt & The Muslim Brotherhood
Our beloved Communist-In-Chief, Barack HUSSEIN Obama can't wait to throw Israel under the bus. Rather than support the man who has held the Islamic animals in check for 30 years in Egypt, Obama is bound and determined to allow the country of Egypt to be hijacked by Islamic radicals, eliminating a friend to the United States and, perhaps more importantly, a "friend" of Israel. It is certain Mubarak is leaving. When, not if, Egypt falls under control of the Sunni radicals, all bets are off when it comes to the fragile peace between Israel and the rest of the Muslim countries in that area. We could easily see something akin to World War III.
The following text, although not specifically titled as such, is the charter for the elimination of Israel. It is quite long, but I thought it was worth posting, so anyone who is interested could see just how crazy these people are.
The Charter of Allah: The Platform of the Islamic Resistance Movement
“In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate You are the best community that has been raised up for mankind. Ye enjoin right conduct and forbid indecency; and ye believe in Allah. And if the People of the Scripture had believed, it had been better for them. Some of them are believers; but most of them are evil-doers. They will not harm you save a trifling hurt, and if they fight against you they will turn and flee. And afterward they will not be helped. Ignominy shall be their portion wheresoever they are found save [where they grasp] a rope from Allah and a rope from man. They have incurred anger from their Lord, and wretchedness is laid upon them. That is because they used to disbelieve the revelations of Allah, and slew the Prophets wrongfully. That is because they were rebellious and used to transgress.” Surat Al-Imran (III), verses 109-111 Israel will rise and will remain erect until Islam eliminates it as it had eliminated its predecessors. The Islamic World is burning. It is incumbent upon each one of us to pour some water, little as it may be, with a view of extinguishing as much of the fire as he can, without awaiting action by the others.
Introduction
Grace to Allah, whose help we seek, whose forgiveness we beseech, whose guidance we implore and on whom we rely. We pray and bid peace upon the Messenger of Allah, his family, his companions, his followers and those who spread his message and followed his tradition; they will last as long as there exist Heaven and Earth. O, people! In the midst of misadventure, from the depth of suffering, from the believing hearts and purified arms; aware of our duty and in response to the decree of Allah, we direct our call, we rally together and join each other. We educate in the path of Allah and we make our firm determination prevail so as to take its proper role in life, to overcome all difficulties and to cross all hurdles. Hence our permanent state of preparedness and our readiness to sacrifice our souls and dearest [possessions] in the path of Allah. Thus, our nucleus has formed which chartered its way in the tempestuous ocean of creeds and hopes, desires and wishes, dangers and difficulties, setbacks and challenges, both internal and external. When the thought matured, the seed grew and the plant took root in the land of reality, detached from temporary emotion and unwelcome haste, the Islamic Resistance Movement erupted in order to play its role in the path of its Lord. In so doing, it joined its hands with those of all Jihad fighters for the purpose of liberating Palestine. The souls of its Jihad fighters will encounter those of all Jihad fighters who have sacrificed their lives in the land of Palestine since it was conquered by the Companion of the Prophet, be Allah’s prayer and peace upon him, and until this very day. This is the Charter of the Islamic Resistance (Hamas) which will reveal its face, unveil its identity, state its position, clarify its purpose, discuss its hopes, call for support to its cause and reinforcement, and for joining its ranks. For our struggle against the Jews is extremely wide-ranging and grave, so much so that it will need all the loyal efforts we can wield, to be followed by further steps and reinforced by successive battalions from the multifarious Arab and Islamic world, until the enemies are defeated and Allah’s victory prevails. Thus we shall perceive them approaching in the horizon, and this will be known before long: “Allah has decreed: Lo! I very shall conquer, I and my messenger, lo! Allah is strong, almighty.”
Part I - Knowing the Movement
Article One: The Ideological Aspects: The Islamic Resistance Movement draws its guidelines from Islam; derives from it its thinking, interpretations and views about existence, life and humanity; refers back to it for its conduct; and is inspired by it in whatever step it takes.
Article Two: The Link between Hamas and the Association of Muslim Brothers. The Islamic Resistance Movement is one of the wings of the Muslim Brothers in Palestine. The Muslim Brotherhood Movement is a world organization, the largest Islamic Movement in the modern era. It is characterized by a profound understanding, by precise notions and by a complete comprehensiveness of all concepts of Islam in all domains of life: views and beliefs, politics and economics, education and society, jurisprudence and rule, indoctrination and teaching, the arts and publications, the hidden and the evident, and all the other domains of life.
Article Three: Structure and Essence. The basic structure of the Islamic Resistance Movement consists of Muslims who are devoted to Allah and worship Him verily [as it is written]: “I have created Man and Devil for the purpose of their worship” [of Allah]. Those Muslims are cognizant of their duty towards themselves, their families and country and they have been relying on Allah for all that. They have raised the banner of Jihad in the face of the oppressors in order to extricate the country and the people from the [oppressors’] desecration, filth and evil.
Article Four: The Movement welcomes all Muslims who share its beliefs and thinking, commit themselves to its course of action, keep its secrets and aspire to join its ranks in order to carry out their duty. Allah will reward them.
Article Five: Dimensions of Time and Space of the Hamas. As the Movement adopts Islam as its way of life, its time dimension extends back as far as the birth of the Islamic Message and of the Righteous Ancestor. Its ultimate goal is Islam, the Prophet its model, the Qur’an its Constitution. Its special dimension extends wherever on earth there are Muslims, who adopt Islam as their way of life; thus, it penetrates to the deepest reaches of the land and to the highest spheres of Heavens.
Article Six: Peculiarity and Independence. The Islamic Resistance Movement is a distinct Palestinian Movement which owes its loyalty to Allah, derives from Islam its way of life and strives to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine. Only under the shadow of Islam could the members of all regions coexist in safety and security for their lives, properties and rights. In the absence of Islam, conflict arises, oppression reigns, corruption is rampant and struggles and wars prevail. Allah had inspired the Muslim poet, Muhammad Iqbal, when he said:
When the Faith wanes, there is no security
There is no this-worldliness for those who have no faith
Those who wish to live their life without religion
Have made annihilation the equivalent of life.
Article Seven: The Universality of Hamas. By virtue of the distribution of Muslims, who pursue the cause of the Hamas, all over the globe, and strive for its victory, for the reinforcement of its positions and for the encouragement of its Jihad, the Movement is a universal one. It is apt to be that due to the clarity of its thinking, the nobility of its purpose and the loftiness of its objectives. It is in this light that the Movement has to be regarded, evaluated and acknowledged. Whoever denigrates its worth, or avoids supporting it, or is so blind as to dismiss its role, is challenging Fate itself. Whoever closes his eyes from seeing the facts, whether intentionally or not, will wake up to find himself overtaken by events, and will find no excuses to justify his position. Priority is reserved to the early comers. Oppressing those who are closest to you, is more of an agony to the soul than the impact of an Indian sword. “And unto thee have we revealed the Scripture with the truth, confirming whatever scripture was before it, and a watcher over it. So judge between them by that which Allah hath revealed, and follow not their desires away from the truth which has come unto thee. For each we have appointed a divine law and a traced-out way. Had Allah willed, He could have made you one community. But that He may try you by that which he has given you [He has made you as you are]. So vie with one another in good works. Unto Allah, you will all return. He will then inform you of that wherein you differ.” Hamas is one of the links in the Chain of Jihad in the confrontation with the Zionist invasion. It links up with the setting out of the Martyr Izz a-din al-Qassam and his brothers in the Muslim Brotherhood who fought the Holy War in 1936; it further relates to another link of the Palestinian Jihad and the Jihad and efforts of the Muslim Brothers during the 1948 War, and to the Jihad operations of the Muslim Brothers in 1968 and thereafter. But even if the links have become distant from each other, and even if the obstacles erected by those who revolve in the Zionist orbit, aiming at obstructing the road before the Jihad fighters, have rendered the pursuance of Jihad impossible; nevertheless, the Hamas has been looking forward to implement Allah’s promise whatever time it might take. The prophet, prayer and peace be upon him, said: The time will not come until Muslims will fight the Jews (and kill them); until the Jews hide behind rocks and trees, which will cry: O Muslim! there is a Jew hiding behind me, come on and kill him! This will not apply to the Gharqad, which is a Jewish tree (cited by Bukhari and Muslim).
Article Eight: The Slogan of the Hamas Allah is its goal, the Prophet its model, the Qur’an its Constitution, Jihad its path and death for the case of Allah its most sublime belief.
Part II - Objectives
Article Nine: Motives and Objectives: Hamas finds itself at a period of time when Islam has waned away from the reality of life. For this reason, the checks and balances have been upset, concepts have become confused, and values have been transformed; evil has prevailed, oppression and obscurity have reigned; cowards have turned tigers, homelands have been usurped, people have been uprooted and are wandering all over the globe. The state of truth has disappeared and was replaced by the state of evil. Nothing has remained in its right place, for when Islam is removed from the scene, everything changes. These are the motives. As to the objectives: discarding the evil, crushing it and defeating it, so that truth may prevail, homelands revert [to their owners], calls for prayer be heard from their mosques, announcing the reinstitution of the Muslim state. Thus, people and things will revert to their true place.
Article Ten: The Islamic Resistance Movement, while breaking its own path, will do its utmost to constitute at the same time a support to the weak, a defense to all the oppressed. It will spare no effort to implement the truth and abolish evil, in speech and in fact, both here and in any other location where it can reach out and exert influence.
Part III - Strategies and Methods
Article Eleven: The Strategy of Hamas: Palestine is an Islamic Waqf The Islamic Resistance Movement believes that the land of Palestine has been an Islamic Waqf throughout the generations and until the Day of Resurrection, no one can renounce it or part of it, or abandon it or part of it. No Arab country nor the aggregate of all Arab countries, and no Arab King or President nor all of them in the aggregate, have that right, nor has that right any organization or the aggregate of all organizations, be they Palestinian or Arab, because Palestine is an Islamic Waqf throughout all generations and to the Day of Resurrection. Who can presume to speak for all Islamic Generations to the Day of Resurrection? This is the status [of the land] in Islamic Shari’a, and it is similar to all lands conquered by Islam by force, and made thereby Waqf lands upon their conquest, for all generations of Muslims until the Day of Resurrection. This [norm] has prevailed since the commanders of the Muslim armies completed the conquest of Syria and Iraq, and they asked the Caliph of Muslims, ‘Umar Ibn al-Khattab, for his view of the conquered land, whether it should be partitioned between the troops or left in the possession of its population, or otherwise.
Following discussions and consultations between the Caliph of Islam, ‘Umar Ibn al-Khattab, and the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, be peace and prayer upon him, they decided that the land should remain in the hands of its owners to benefit from it and from its wealth; but the control of the land and the land itself ought to be endowed as a Waqf [in perpetuity] for all generations of Muslims until the Day of Resurrection. The ownership of the land by its owners is only one of usufruct, and this Waqf will endure as long as Heaven and earth last. Any demarche in violation of this law of Islam, with regard to Palestine, is baseless and reflects on its perpetrators.
Article Twelve: Hamas in Palestine, Its Views on Homeland and Nationalism: Hamas regards Nationalism (Wataniyya) as part and parcel of the religious faith. Nothing is loftier or deeper in Nationalism than waging Jihad against the enemy and confronting him when he sets foot on the land of the Muslims. And this becomes an individual duty binding on every Muslim man and woman; a woman must go out and fight the enemy even without her husband’s authorization, and a slave without his masters’ permission. This [principle] does not exist under any other regime, and it is a truth not to be questioned. While other nationalisms consist of material, human and territorial considerations, the nationality of Hamas also carries, in addition to all those, the all important divine factors which lend to it its spirit and life; so much so that it connects with the origin of the spirit and the source of life and raises in the skies of the Homeland the Banner of the Lord, thus inexorably connecting earth with Heaven. When Moses came and threw his baton, sorcery and sorcerers became futile.
Article Thirteen: Peaceful Solutions, [Peace] Initiatives and International Conferences: [Peace] initiatives, the so-called peaceful solutions, and the international conferences to resolve the Palestinian problem, are all contrary to the beliefs of the Islamic Resistance Movement. For renouncing any part of Palestine means renouncing part of the religion; the nationalism of the Islamic Resistance Movement is part of its faith, the movement educates its members to adhere to its principles and to raise the banner of Allah over their homeland as they fight their Jihad: “Allah is the all-powerful, but most people are not aware.” From time to time a clamoring is voiced, to hold an International Conference in search for a solution to the problem. Some accept the idea, others reject it, for one reason or another, demanding the implementation of this or that condition, as a prerequisite for agreeing to convene the Conference or for participating in it. But the Islamic Resistance Movement, which is aware of the [prospective] parties to this conference, and of their past and present positions towards the problems of the Muslims, does not believe that those conferences are capable of responding to demands, or of restoring rights or doing justice to the oppressed. Those conferences are no more than a means to appoint the nonbelievers as arbitrators in the lands of Islam. Since when did the Unbelievers do justice to the Believers? “And the Jews will not be pleased with thee, nor will the Christians, till thou follow their creed. Say: Lo! the guidance of Allah [himself] is the Guidance. And if you should follow their desires after the knowledge which has come unto thee, then you would have from Allah no protecting friend nor helper.” Sura 2 (the Cow), verse 120 There is no solution to the Palestinian problem except by Jihad. The initiatives, proposals and International Conferences are but a waste of time, an exercise in futility. The Palestinian people are too noble to have their future, their right and their destiny submitted to a vain game. As the hadith has it: “The people of Syria are Allah’s whip on this land; He takes revenge by their intermediary from whoever he wished among his worshipers. The Hypocrites among them are forbidden from vanquishing the true believers, and they will die in anxiety and sorrow.” (Told by Tabarani, who is traceable in ascending order of traditionaries to Muhammad, and by Ahmed whose chain of transmission is incomplete. But it is bound to be a true hadith, for both story tellers are reliable. Allah knows best.)
Article Fourteen: The Three Circles:The problem of the liberation of Palestine relates to three circles: the Palestinian, the Arab and the Islamic. Each one of these circles has a role to play in the struggle against Zionism and it has duties to fulfill. It would be an enormous mistake and an abysmal act of ignorance to disregard anyone of these circles. For Palestine is an Islamic land where the First Qibla and the third holiest site are located. That is also the place whence the Prophet, be Allah’s prayer and peace upon him, ascended to heavens. “Glorified be He who carried His servant by night from the Inviolable Place of worship to the Far Distant Place of Worship, the neighborhood whereof we have blessed, that we might show him of our tokens! Lo! He, only He, is the Hearer, the Seer.” Sura XVII (al-Isra’), verse 1 In consequence of this state of affairs, the liberation of that land is an individual duty binding on all Muslims everywhere. This is the base on which all Muslims have to regard the problem; this has to be understood by all Muslims. When the problem is dealt with on this basis, where the full potential of the three circles is mobilized, then the current circumstances will change and the day of liberation will come closer. “You are more awful as a fear in their bosoms than Allah. That is because they are a folk who understand not.” Sura LIX, (Al-Hashr, the Exile), verse 13.
Article Fifteen: The Jihad for the Liberation of Palestine is an Individual Obligation. When our enemies usurp some Islamic lands, Jihad becomes a duty binding on all Muslims. In order to face the usurpation of Palestine by the Jews, we have no escape from raising the banner of Jihad. This would require the propagation of Islamic consciousness among the masses on all local, Arab and Islamic levels. We must spread the spirit of Jihad among the [Islamic] Umma, clash with the enemies and join the ranks of the Jihad fighters. The ‘ulama as well as educators and teachers, publicity and media men as well as the masses of the educated, and especially the youth and the elders of the Islamic Movements, must participate in this raising of consciousness. There is no escape from introducing fundamental changes in educational curricula in order to cleanse them from all vestiges of the ideological invasion which has been brought about by orientalists and missionaries. That invasion had begun overtaking this area following the defeat of the Crusader armies by Salah a-Din el Ayyubi. The Crusaders had understood that they had no way to vanquish the Muslims unless they prepared the grounds for that with an ideological invasion which would confuse the thinking of Muslims, revile their heritage, discredit their ideals, to be followed by a military invasion. That was to be in preparation for the Imperialist invasion, as in fact [General] Allenby acknowledged it upon his entry to Jerusalem: “Now, the Crusades are over.” General Gouraud stood on the tomb of Salah a-Din and declared: “We have returned, O Salah-a-Din!” Imperialism has been instrumental in boosting the ideological invasion and deepening its roots, and it is still pursuing this goal. All this had paved the way to the loss of Palestine. We must imprint on the minds of generations of Muslims that the Palestinian problem is a religious one, to be dealt with on this premise. It includes Islamic holy sites such as the Aqsa Mosque, which is inexorably linked to the Holy Mosque as long as the Heaven and earth will exist, to the journey of the Messenger of Allah, be Allah’s peace and blessing upon him, to it, and to his ascension from it. “Dwelling one day in the Path of Allah is better than the entire world and everything that exists in it. The place of the whip of one among you in Paradise is better than the entire world and everything that exists in it. [God’s] worshiper’s going and coming in the Path of Allah is better than the entire world and everything that exists in it.” (Told by Bukhari, Muslim Tirmidhi and Ibn Maja) I swear by that who holds in His Hands the Soul of Muhammad! I indeed wish to go to war for the sake of Allah! I will assault and kill, assault and kill, assault and kill (told by Bukhari and Muslim).
Article Sixteen: We must accord the Islamic [young] generations in our area, an Islamic education based on the implementation of religious precepts, on the conscientious study of the Book of Allah; on the Study of the Prophetic Tradition, on the study of Islamic history and heritage from its reliable sources, under the guidance of experts and scientists, and on singling out the paths which constitute for the Muslims sound concepts of thinking and faith. It is also necessary to study conscientiously the enemy and its material and human potential; to detect its weak and strong spots, and to recognize the powers that support it and stand by it. At the same time, we must be aware of current events, follow the news and study the analyses and commentaries on it, together with drawing plans for the present and the future and examining every phenomenon, so that every Muslim, fighting Jihad, could live out his era aware of his objective, his goals, his way and the things happening round him. “O my dear son! Lo! though it be but the weight of a grain of mustard-seed, and though it be in a rock, or in the heavens, or in the earth, Allah will bring it forth. Lo! Allah is subtle. Aware. O my dear son! Establish worship and enjoin kindness and forbid inequity, and persevere, whatever may befall thee. Lo! that is of the steadfast heart of things. Turn not thy cheek in scorn toward folk, nor walk with pertness in the land. Lo! Allah loves not braggarts and boasters.” Sura XXXI (Luqman), verses 16-18.
Article Seventeen: The Role of Muslim Women: The Muslim women have a no lesser role than that of men in the war of liberation; they manufacture men and play a great role in guiding and educating the [new] generation. The enemies have understood that role, therefore they realize that if they can guide and educate [the Muslim women] in a way that would distance them from Islam, they would have won that war. Therefore, you can see them making consistent efforts [in that direction] by way of publicity and movies, curricula of education and culture, using as their intermediaries their craftsmen who are part of the various Zionist Organizations which take on all sorts of names and shapes such as: the Freemasons, Rotary Clubs, gangs of spies and the like. All of them are nests of saboteurs and sabotage. Those Zionist organizations control vast material resources, which enable them to fulfill their mission amidst societies, with a view of implementing Zionist goals and sowing the concepts that can be of use to the enemy. Those organizations operate [in a situation] where Islam is absent from the arena and alienated from its people. Thus, the Muslims must fulfill their duty in confronting the schemes of those saboteurs. When Islam will retake possession of [the means to] guide the life [of the Muslims], it will wipe out those organizations which are the enemy of humanity and Islam.
Article Eighteen: The women in the house and the family of Jihad fighters, whether they are mothers or sisters, carry out the most important duty of caring for the home and raising the children upon the moral concepts and values which derive from Islam; and of educating their sons to observe the religious injunctions in preparation for the duty of Jihad awaiting them. Therefore, we must pay attention to the schools and curricula upon which Muslim girls are educated, so as to make them righteous mothers, who are conscious of their duties in the war of liberation. They must be fully capable of being aware and of grasping the ways to manage their households. Economy and avoiding waste in household expenditures are prerequisites to our ability to pursue our cause in the difficult circumstances surrounding us. Therefore let them remember at all times that money saved is equivalent to blood, which must be made to run in the veins in order to ensure the continuity of life of our young and old. “Lo, men who surrender unto Allah, and women who surrender and men who believe and women who believe, and men who obey and women who obey, and men who speak the truth and women who speak the truth and men who persevere (in righteousness) and women who persevere and men who are humble and women who are humble, and men who give alms and women who give alms, and men who fast and women who fast, and men who guard their modesty and women who guard [their modesty], and men who remember Allah much and women who remember Allah has prepared for them forgiveness and a vast reward.” Sura 33 (Al-Ahzab, the Clans), verse 35.
Article Nineteen: The Role of Islamic Art in the War of Liberation: Art has rules and criteria by which one can know whether it is Islamic or Jahiliyya art. The problems of Islamic liberation underlie the need for Islamic art which could lift the spirit, and instead of making one party triumph over the other, would lift up all parties in harmony and balance. Man is a strange and miraculous being, made out of a handful of clay and a breath of soul; Islamic art is to address man on this basis, while Jahili art addresses the body and makes the element of clay paramount. So, books, articles, publications, religious exhortations, epistles, songs, poems, hymns, plays, and the like, if they possess the characteristics of Islamic art, have the requisites of ideological mobilization, of a continuous nurturing in the pursuance of the journey, and of relaxing the soul. The road is long and the suffering is great and the spirits are weary; it is Islamic art which renews the activity, revives the movement and arouses lofty concepts and sound planning. The soul cannot thrive, unless it knows how to contrive, unless it can transit from one situation to another. All this is a serious matter, no jesting. For the umma fighting its Jihad knows no jesting.
Article Twenty: Social Solidarity: Islamic society is one of solidarity. The Messenger of Allah, be Allah’s prayer and peace upon him, said: What a wonderful tribe were the Ash’aris! When they were overtaxed, either in their location or during their journeys, they would collect all their possessions, and then would divide them equally among themselves. This is the Islamic spirit which ought to prevail in any Muslim society. A society which confronts a vicious, Nazi-like enemy, who does not differentiate between man and woman, elder and young ought to be the first to adorn itself with this Islamic spirit. Our enemy pursues the style of collective punishment of usurping people’s countries and properties, of pursuing them into their exiles and places of assembly. It has resorted to breaking bones, opening fire on women and children and the old, with or without reason, and to setting up detention camps where thousands upon thousands are interned in inhuman conditions. In addition, it destroys houses, renders children orphans and issues oppressive judgements against thousands of young people who spend the best years of their youth in the darkness of prisons. The Nazism of the Jews does not skip women and children, it scares everyone. They make war against people’s livelihood, plunder their moneys and threaten their honor. In their horrible actions they mistreat people like the most horrendous war criminals. Exiling people from their country is another way of killing them. As we face this misconduct, we have no escape from establishing social solidarity among the people, from confronting the enemy as one solid body, so that if one organ is hurt the rest of the body will respond with alertness and fervor.
Article Twenty-One: Social solidarity consists of extending help to all the needy, both materially and morally, or assisting in the execution of certain actions. It is incumbent upon the members of the Hamas to look after the interests of the masses the way they would look after their own interests. They must spare no effort in the implementation and maintenance of those interests, and they must avoid playing with anything that might effect the future generations or cause damage to their society. For the masses are of them and for them, their strength is [ultimately] theirs and their future is theirs. The members of Hamas must share with the people its joys and sorrows, and adopt the demands of the people and anything likely to fulfill its interests and theirs. When this spirit reigns, congeniality will deepen, cooperation and compassion will prevail, unity will firm up, and the ranks will be strengthened in the confrontation with the enemy.
Article Twenty-Two: The Powers which Support the Enemy The enemies have been scheming for a long time, and they have consolidated their schemes, in order to achieve what they have achieved. They took advantage of key elements in unfolding events, and accumulated a huge and influential material wealth which they put to the service of implementing their dream. This wealth [permitted them to] take over control of the world media such as news agencies, the press, publication houses, broadcasting and the like. [They also used this] wealth to stir revolutions in various parts of the globe in order to fulfill their interests and pick the fruits. They stood behind the French and the Communist Revolutions and behind most of the revolutions we hear about here and there. They also used the money to establish clandestine organizations which are spreading around the world, in order to destroy societies and carry out Zionist interests. Such organizations are: the Freemasons, Rotary Clubs, Lions Clubs, B’nai B’rith and the like. All of them are destructive spying organizations. They also used the money to take over control of the Imperialist states and made them colonize many countries in order to exploit the wealth of those countries and spread their corruption therein. As regards local and world wars, it has come to pass and no one objects, that they stood behind World War I, so as to wipe out the Islamic Caliphate. They collected material gains and took control of many sources of wealth. They obtained the Balfour Declaration and established the League of Nations in order to rule the world by means of that organization. They also stood behind World War II, where they collected immense benefits from trading with war materials and prepared for the establishment of their state. They inspired the establishment of the United Nations and the Security Council to replace the League of Nations, in order to rule the world by their intermediary. There was no war that broke out anywhere without their fingerprints on it: “…As often as they light a fire for war, Allah extinguishes it. Their efforts are for corruption in the land and Allah loves not corrupters.” Sura V (Al-Ma’ida—the Tablespread), verse 64 The forces of Imperialism in both the Capitalist West and the Communist East support the enemy with all their might, in material and human terms, taking turns between themselves. When Islam appears, all the forces of Unbelief unite to confront it, because the Community of Unbelief is one. “Oh ye who believe! Take not for intimates others than your own folk, who would spare no pain to ruin you. Hatred is revealed by [the utterance of] their mouth, but that which their breasts hide is greater. We have made plain for you the revelations if you will understand.” Sura III, (Al-Imran), verse 118 It is not in vain that the verse ends with God’s saying: “If you will understand.”
Part IV
Article Twenty-Three: Our Position Vis-a-Vis the Islamic Movements: The Hamas views the other Islamic movements with respect and appreciation. Even when it differs from them in one aspect or another or on one concept or another, it agrees with them in other aspects and concepts. It reads those movements as included in the framework of striving [for the sake of Allah], as long as they hold sound intentions and abide by their devotion to Allah, and as along as their conduct remains within the perimeter of the Islamic circle. All the fighters of Jihad have their reward. The Hamas regards those movements as its stock holders and asks Allah for guidance and integrity of conduct for all. It shall not fail to continue to raise the banner of unity and to exert efforts in order to implement it, [based] upon the [Holy] Book and the [Prophet’s] Tradition. “And hold fast, all of you together, to the cable of Allah, do not separate. And remember Allah’s favor unto you how ye were enemies and He made friendship between your hearts so that ye became as brothers by His grace; and (how) ye were upon the brink of an abyss of fire, and He did save you from it. Thus Allah makes clear His revelations unto you, that happily ye may be guided.” Sura III (Al-’Imran), verse 102.
Article Twenty-Four: Hamas will not permit the slandering and defamation of individuals and groups, for the Believers are not slanderers and cursers. However, despite the need to differentiate between that and the positions and modes of conduct adopted by individuals and groups whenever the Hamas detects faulty positions and modes of conduct, it has the right to point to the mistake, to denigrate it, to act for spelling out the truth and for adopting it realistically in the context of a given problem. Wisdom is roaming around, and the Believer ought to grasp it wherever he can find it. “Allah loves not the utterance of harsh speech save by one who has been wronged. Allah is ever Hearer, Knower. If you do good openly or keep it secret, or give evil, lo! Allah is forgiving, powerful.” Sura IV (Women), verses 147-148.
Article Twenty-Five: The National (wataniyya) Movements in the Palestinian Arena: [Hamas] reciprocated its respect to them, appreciates their condition and the factors surrounding them and influencing them, and supports them firmly as long as they do not owe their loyalty to the Communist East or to the Crusader West. We reiterate to every one who is part of them or sympathizes with them that the Hamas is a movement of Jihad, or morality and consciousness in its concept of life. It moves forward with the others, abhors opportunism, and only wishes well to individuals and groups. It does not aspire to material gains, or to personal fame, nor does it solicit remuneration from the people. It sets out relying on its own material resources, and what is available to it, [as it is said] “afford them the power you can avail yourself of.”
[All that] in order to carry out its duty, to gain Allah’s favor; it has no ambition other than that. All the nationalist streams, operating in the Palestinian arena for the sake of the liberation of Palestine, may rest assured that they will definitely and resolutely get support and assistance, in speech and in action, at the present and in the future, [because Hamas aspires] to unite, not to divide; to safeguard, not to squander; to bring together, not to fragment. It values every kind word, every devoted effort and every commendable endeavor. It closes the door before marginal quarrels, it does not heed rumors and biased statements, and it is aware of the right of self-defense. Anything that runs counter or contradicts this orientation is trumped up by the enemies or by those who run in their orbit in order to create confusion, to divide our ranks or to divert to marginal things. “O ye who believe! If an evil-liver bring you tidings, verify it, lest ye smite some folk in ignorance and afterward repent of what ye did.” Sura XLIX (al Hujurat, the Private Apartments), verse 6 .
Article Twenty-Six: The Hamas, while it views positively the Palestinian National Movements which do not owe their loyalty to the East or to the West, does not refrain from debating unfolding events regarding the Palestinian problem, on the local and international scenes. These debates are realistic and expose the extent to which [these developments] go along with, or contradict, national interests as viewed from the Islamic vantage point.
Article Twenty Seven: The Palestine Liberation Organization : The PLO is among the closest to the Hamas, for it constitutes a father, a brother, a relative, a friend. Can a Muslim turn away from his father, his brother, his relative or his friend? Our homeland is one, our calamity is one, our destiny is one and our enemy is common to both of us. Under the influence of the circumstances which surrounded the founding of the PLO, and the ideological invasion which has swept the Arab world since the rout of the Crusades, and which has been reinforced by Orientalism and the Christian Mission, the PLO has adopted the idea of a Secular State, and so we think of it. Secular thought is diametrically opposed to religious thought. Thought is the basis for positions, for modes of conduct and for resolutions. Therefore, in spite of our appreciation for the PLO and its possible transformation in the future, and despite the fact that we do not denigrate its role in the Arab-Israeli conflict, we cannot substitute it for the Islamic nature of Palestine by adopting secular thought. For the Islamic nature of Palestine is part of our religion, and anyone who neglects his religion is bound to lose. “And who forsakes the religion of Abraham, save him who befools himself?” Sura II (Al-Baqra—the Co), verse 130 When the PLO adopts Islam as the guideline for life, then we shall become its soldiers, the fuel of its fire which will burn the enemies. And until that happens, and we pray to Allah that it will happen soon, the position of the Hamas towards the PLO is one of a son towards his father, a brother towards his brother, and a relative towards his relative who suffers the other’s pain when a thorn hits him, who supports the other in the confrontation with the enemies and who wishes him divine guidance and integrity of conduct. Your brother, your brother! Whoever has no brother, is like a fighter who runs to the battle without weapons. A cousin for man is like the best wing, and no falcon can take off without wings.
Article Twenty-Eight: The Zionist invasion is a mischievous one. It does not hesitate to take any road, or to pursue all despicable and repulsive means to fulfill its desires. It relies to a great extent, for its meddling and spying activities, on the clandestine organizations which it has established, such as the Freemasons, Rotary Clubs, Lions, and other spying associations. All those secret organizations, some which are overt, act for the interests of Zionism and under its directions, strive to demolish societies, to destroy values, to wreck answerableness, to totter virtues and to wipe out Islam. It stands behind the diffusion of drugs and toxics of all kinds in order to facilitate its control and expansion. The Arab states surrounding Israel are required to open their borders to the Jihad fighters, the sons of the Arab and Islamic peoples, to enable them to play their role and to join their efforts to those of their brothers among the Muslim Brothers in Palestine. The other Arab and Islamic states are required, at the very least, to facilitate the movement of the Jihad fighters from and to them. We cannot fail to remind every Muslim that when the Jews occupied Holy Jerusalem in 1967 and stood at the doorstep of the Blessed Aqsa Mosque, they shouted with joy: “Muhammad is dead, he left daughters behind.” Israel, by virtue of its being Jewish and of having a Jewish population, defies Islam and the Muslims. “Let the eyes of the cowards not fall asleep.”
Article Twenty-Nine: National and Religious Associations, Institutions, the Intelligentsia, and the Arab and Islamic Worlds: Hamas hopes that those Associations will stand by it on all levels, will support it, adopt its positions, boost its activities and moves and encourage support for it, so as to render the Islamic peoples its backers and helpers, and its strategic depth in all human and material domains as well as in information, in time and space. Among other things, they hold solidarity meetings, issue explanatory publications, supportive articles and tendentious leaflets to make the masses aware of the Palestinian issue, the problems it faces and of the plans to resolve them; and to mobilize the Islamic peoples ideologically, educationally and culturally in order to fulfill their role in the crucial war of liberation, as they had played their role in the defeat of the Crusades and in the rout of the Tartars and had saved human civilization. How all that is dear to Allah! “Allah has decreed: Lo! I verily shall conquer, I and my messengers. Lo! Allah is strong, Almighty.” Sura LVIII (Al-Mujadilah), verse 21.
Article Thirty: Men of letters, members of the intelligentsia, media people, preachers, teachers and educators and all different sectors in the Arab and Islamic world, are all called upon to play their role and to carry out their duty in view of the wickedness of the Zionist invasion, of its penetration into many countries, and its control over material means and the media, with all the ramifications thereof in most countries of the world. Jihad means not only carrying arms and denigrating the enemies. Uttering positive words, writing good articles and useful books, and lending support and assistance, all that too is Jihad in the path of Allah, as long as intentions are sincere to make Allah’s banner supreme. “Those who prepare for a raid in the path of Allah are considered as if they participated themselves in the raid. Those who successfully rear a raider in their home, are considered as if they participated themselves in the raid.” (Told by Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud and Tirmidhi).
Article Thirty-One: The Members of Other Religions The Hamas is a Humane Movement: Hamas is a humane movement, which cares for human rights and is committed to the tolerance inherent in Islam as regards attitudes towards other religions. It is only hostile to those who are hostile towards it, or stand in its way in order to disturb its moves or to frustrate its efforts. Under the shadow of Islam it is possible for the members of the three religions: Islam, Christianity and Judaism to coexist in safety and security. Safety and security can only prevail under the shadow of Islam, and recent and ancient history is the best witness to that effect. The members of other religions must desist from struggling against Islam over sovereignty in this region. For if they were to gain the upper hand, fighting, torture and uprooting would follow; they would be fed up with each other, to say nothing of members of other religions. The past and the present are full of evidence to that effect. “They will not fight you in body safe in fortified villages or from behind wells. Their adversity among themselves is very great. Ye think of them as a whole whereas their hearts are diverse. That is because they are a folk who have no sense.” Sura 59 (al-Hashr, the Exile), verse 14 Islam accords his rights to everyone who has rights and averts aggression against the rights of others. The Nazi Zionist practices against our people will not last the lifetime of their invasion, for “states built upon oppression last only one hour, states based upon justice will last until the hour of Resurrection.” “Allah forbids you not those who warred not against you on account of religion and drove you not out from your houses, that you should show them kindness and deal justly with them. Lo! Allah loves the just dealers.” Sura 60 (Al-Mumtahana), verse 8.
Article Thirty-Two: The Attempts to Isolate the Palestinian People : World Zionism and Imperialist forces have been attempting, with smart moves and considered planning, to push the Arab countries, one after another, out of the circle of conflict with Zionism, in order, ultimately, to isolate the Palestinian People. Egypt has already been cast out of the conflict, to a very great extent through the treacherous Camp David Accords, and she has been trying to drag other countries into similar agreements in order to push them out of the circle of conflict. Hamas is calling upon the Arab and Islamic peoples to act seriously and tirelessly in order to frustrate that dreadful scheme and to make the masses aware of the danger of coping out of the circle of struggle with Zionism. Today it is Palestine and tomorrow it may be another country or other countries. For Zionist scheming has no end, and after Palestine they will covet expansion from the Nile to the Euphrates. Only when they have completed digesting the area on which they will have laid their hand, they will look forward to more expansion, etc. Their scheme has been laid out in the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and their present [conduct] is the best proof of what is said there. Leaving the circle of conflict with Israel is a major act of treason and it will bring curse on its perpetrators. “Who so on that day turns his back to them, unless maneuvering for battle or intent to join a company, he truly has incurred wrath from Allah, and his habitation will be hell, a hapless journey’s end.” Sura 8 (al-Anfal—Spoils of War), verse 16 We have no escape from pooling together all the forces and energies to face this despicable Nazi-Tatar invasion. Otherwise we shall witness the loss of [our] countries, the uprooting of their inhabitants, the spreading of corruption on earth and the destruction of all religious values. Let everyone realize that he is accountable to Allah. “Whoever does a speck of good will bear [the consequences] and whoever does a speck of evil will see [the consequences].” Within the circle of the conflict with world Zionism, the Hamas regards itself the spearhead and the avant-garde. It joins its efforts to all those who are active on the Palestinian scene, but more steps need to be taken by the Arab and Islamic peoples and Islamic associations throughout the Arab and Islamic world in order to make possible the next round with the Jews, the merchants of war. “We have cast among them enmity and hatred till the day of Resurrection. As often as they light a fire for war, Allah extinguishes it. Their effort is for corruption in the land, and Allah loves not corrupters.” Sura V (Al-Ma’idah—the Table spread), verse 64.
Article Thirty-Three: The Hamas sets out from these general concepts which are consistent and in accordance with the rules of the universe, and gushes forth in the river of Fate in its confrontation and Jihad waging against the enemies, in defense of the Muslim human being, of Islamic Civilization and of the Islamic Holy Places, primarily the Blessed Aqsa Mosque. This, for the purpose of calling upon the Arab and Islamic peoples as well as their governments, popular and official associations, to fear Allah in their attitude towards and dealings with Hamas, and to be, in accordance with Allah’s will, its supporters and partisans who extend assistance to it and provide it with reinforcement after reinforcement, until the Decree of Allah is fulfilled, the ranks are over-swollen, Jihad fighters join other Jihad fighters, and all this accumulation sets out from everywhere in the Islamic world, obeying the call of duty, and intoning “Come on, join Jihad!” This call will tear apart the clouds in the skies and it will continue to ring until liberation is completed, the invaders are vanquished and Allah’s victory sets in. “Verily Allah helps one who helps Him. Lo! Allah is strong, Almighty.” Sura XXII (Pilgrimage), verse 40.
Part V - The Testimony of History
Article Thirty-Four: Confronting Aggressors Throughout History: Palestine is the navel of earth, the convergence of continents, the object of greed for the greedy, since the dawn of history. The Prophet, may Allah’s prayer and peace be upon him, points out to that fact in his noble hadith in which he implored his venerable Companion, Ma’adh ibn Jabl, saying: “O Ma’adh, Allah is going to grant you victory over Syria after me, from Al-Arish to the Euphrates, while its men, women, and female slaves will be dwelling there until the Day of Resurrection. Those of you who chose [to dwell in one of the plains of Syria or Palestine will be in a state of Jihad to the Day of Resurrection.” The greedy have coveted Palestine more than once and they raided it with armies in order to fulfill their covetousness. Multitudes of Crusades descended on it, carrying their faith with them and waving their Cross. They were able to defeat the Muslims for a long time, and the Muslims were not able to redeem it until their sought the protection of their religious banner; then, they unified their forces, sang the praise of their God and set out for Jihad under the Command of Saladin al-Ayyubi, for the duration of nearly two decades, and then the obvious conquest took place when the Crusaders were defeated and Palestine was liberated. “Say (O Muhammad) unto those who disbelieve: ye shall be overcome and gathered unto Hell, an evil resting place.” Sura III (Al-Imran), verse 12. This is the only way to liberation, there is no doubt in the testimony of history. That is one of the rules of the universe and one of the laws of existence. Only iron can blunt iron, only the true faith of Islam can vanquish their false and falsified faith. Faith can only be fought by faith. Ultimately, victory is reserved to the truth, and truth is victorious. “And verily Our word went forth of old unto Our Bordmen sent [to warn]. That they verily would be helped. And that Our host, they verily would be the victors.” Sura 38 (Al-saffat), verses 171-3.
Article Thirty-Five: Hamas takes a serious look at the defeat of the Crusades at the hand of Saladin the Ayyubid and the rescue of Palestine from their domination; at the defeat of the Tatars at Ein Jalut where their spine was broken by Qutuz and Al-Dhahir Baibars, and the Arab world was rescued from the sweep of the Tatars which ruined all aspects of human civilization. Hamas has learned from these lessons and examples, that the current Zionist invasion had been preceded by a Crusader invasion from the West; and another one, the Tatars, from the East. And exactly as the Muslims had faced those invasions and planned their removal and defeat, they are able to face the Zionist invasion and defeat it. This will not be difficult for Allah if our intentions are pure and our determination is sincere; if the Muslims draw useful lessons from the experiences of the past, and extricate themselves for the vestiges of the [western] ideological onslaught; and if they follow the traditions of Islam.
Epilogue
Article Thirty-Six: The Hamas are Soldiers: The Hamas, while breaking its path, reiterates time and again to all members of our people and the Arab and Islamic peoples, that it does not seek fame for itself nor material gains, or social status. Nor is it directed against any one member of our people in order to compete with him or replace him. There is nothing of that at all. It will never set out against any Muslims or against the non-Muslims who make peace with it, here or anywhere else. It will only be of help to all associations and organizations which act against the Zionist enemy and those who revolve in its orbit. Hamas posits Islam as a way of life, it is its faith and its yardstick for judging. Whoever posits Islam as a way of life, anywhere, and regardless of whether it is an organization, a state, or any other group, Hamas are its soldiers, nothing else. We implore Allah to guide us, to guide through us and to decide between us and our folk with truth. “Our Lord! Decide with truth between us and our folk, for Thou are the best of those who make decisions.” Sura VII (Al-A’raf—the Heights), verse 89. Our last call is: Thanks to Allah, the Lord of the Universe.
Posted by Rick | February 2, 2011 11:14 AM | Political Science
Where Has The Liberal Outrage Been For The Last Ten Years?
Michelle Malkin's primer on liberal hate speech is here.
Where has the liberal outrage been over all this liberal hate been for the past 10 years? Maybe I missed it...
The time has come to merely ignore the left when they wring their sweaty hands over these arguments about right wing speech. They have no credability left.
Posted by Rick | January 20, 2011 02:04 AM | Political Science ~ | Social Studies
Bad News For Nevada And The Country
Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has beaten Sharron Angle and will be returning for another 6 year term in the Senate, quite likely as the majority leader. Very disappointing....
On a brighter note, Republican Joe Heck, who was leading by quite a wide margin in the polls, has beaten Democrat Dina Titus (D-NV) by less that 2,000 votes, in what turned out to be an extremely close race.
Posted by Rick | November 3, 2010 02:55 AM | Political Science
Midway Through The Election Results
It appears that the Republicans are headed toward a victory in the House Of Representatives, picking up about 60 seats. There have not been a lot of surprises in the House races up to this point. Of note, many people are particularly pleased that big mouthed Alan Grayson (D-FL) has been soundly defeated and will not be returning to Washington in any official capacity after the lame-duck sessions.
With a loss in Connecticut, where congenital liar, Richard Blumenthal (D), has defeated businesswoman Linda McMahon, it appears that the Senate will continue to have a Democratic majority, albeit a very slim majority, and the Republicans will have to wait until the 2012 election to regain a majority there.
I am anxiously awaiting the results of the Senate race here in Nevada where polls had Sharron Angle leading Senate majority leader Harry Reid by about 3% prior to the election.
Posted by Rick | November 2, 2010 07:46 PM | Political Science
Harry Reid Can Walk On Water Too!
Harry Reid appeared on MSNBC's 'Ed Show' on October 21, 2010, and said this:
“People have been hurting. And it doesn’t give them comfort or solace for me to tell them, you know, but for me, we’d be in a worldwide depression.”
What Harry is forgetting is that the world is in trouble because of Harry and his liberal friends have spent the United States (and most other countries in the world) to the brink of bankruptcy.
Workers are rioting in streets, most notably in France and Greece. Other more civilized countries are suffering less violently.
Unemployment is 'officially' at 9.6% in the United States but the 'effective' unemployment rate is really closer to 20.0%. Harry's own state of Nevada has the highest unemployment rate in the entire United States at nearly 15.0%.
In the United States, the liberal housing policies championed by Harry and his liberal friends allowed every Tom, Dick and Juan to buy houses with no down payment, no credit and no hope of ever making the mortgage payments. The marketplace has been flooded with foreclosures and bank owned homes have driven down home values far below replacement costs. Foreclosures are projected to be about 2.8 million in 2010 and 3.3 million in 2011. Harry's own state of Nevada is leading the entire United States in foreclosures.
Banking reform championed by Harry and the Democrats has forced banks to keep more capital on hand, which in turn has limited lending to small business.
The automotive bailout approved by Harry and his progressive buddies in the Congress closed over 2,000 automobile dealerships nationwide, putting tens of thousands of workers on the unemployment roles and left millions of square feet of commercial real estate vacant.
Even if you can walk on water Harry, please don't do us any more favors.
Posted by Rick | October 25, 2010 06:51 PM | Political Science
Obama's Chief Of Staff To Resign
Rahm Emanuel is expected to resign today as White House chief of staff to begin his campaign for Chicago mayor's job he has coveted for sometime.
Who is going to be President now???????
Posted by Rick | October 1, 2010 12:22 AM | Political Science
Obama On Jobs - You Just Can't Beleive A Word He Says
You just can't believe a word President Barack Hussein Obama says. Obama keeps talking about the need for more jobs, but he seems to forget that he is single handedly responsible for the loss of almost 300,000 thousand jobs since he took office. No small feat.
The President put over 200,000 thousand people out of work when he closed some 3,000 automobile dealerships in the automotive bailout of General Motors and Chrysler, and with the arbitrary cessation of drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, he sent another 80,000 workers to the unemployment line.
This is not to mention the impact on the commercial real estate industry when 2,000 automobile dealers are forced to vacate the land used to house showrooms, maintenance areas, and the new and used cars. Hundreds of millions of square feet of commercial property vacant in one fell swoop. Don't forget the devastating impact on the people who own those vacant lots and on the banks who hold the mortgages. Can you say bankruptcy?
Whoever first said, 'Actions speak louder than words,' must have had Obama in mind.
Posted by Rick | September 30, 2010 11:43 PM | Political Science
Stupid Astroturf
The Republican/Tea Party candidate for Senate in Delaware, Christine O’Donnell, is nutty and unelectable. Sharon Angle, the Republican/Tea Party candidate for Senate in Nevada is nutty and unelectable. So say the left-wing talking heads today and they will say it over and over until the November elections, believing if they say it enough, it will come true.
They have tried to marginalize the Tea Party as gun-totin’ racists too stupid to pick their own noses. Well, I am here to tell you that the Tea Party will elect the candidates the progressives (can you say ‘communists’) on the left claim to too right wing, too nutty, or too stupid. The left-wing thinks everyone who doesn’t agree with them is stupid.
The Tea Party, a true grass-roots movement, fed up with big government spending us into the bankruptcy, has been belittled by Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, calling the movement Astroturf. Well dear Nancy, come November the Tea Party is going to shove that Astroturf up your ........ I have just one suggestion for Ms. Pelosi - learn to say 'commercial coach.’
Poor Harry Reid, who, unable to run on his pathetic record, is running an almost entirely negative campaign against Sharon Angle, will be running for Searchlight dog-catcher come next election cycle.
The Tea Party will return our government back to the basics of “life, liberty and the pursuit (not guarantee) of happiness.”
We will not be marginalized. The Tea Party is here to stay.
Posted by Rick | September 15, 2010 01:03 PM | Political Science
His Lips Are Moving
How can you tell when President Barack Hussein Obama is lying?...his lips are moving.
In yet another pie in the sky speech on day 57 of the worst ecological disaster in our history, President Obama claims that he is doing everything that can humanly be done to mitigate the damage done by the oil spill. Of course, that is a lie. In the first couple of days after the oil rig explosion in the Gulf Of Mexico, the Norwegians offered to send giant skimmers to the Gulf region to suck up the crude oil making its way toward shore, but the Obama administration declined the offer, in writing no less. All The Great Obama needed to do was to take a lesson from his predecessor, George W. Bush, who waived the Jones Act within the first three days following hurricane Katrina and put out a big 'WELCOME NORWAY' banner. Fifty seven (57) days into the spill, we have rowboats with Shop Vac's trying to protect our coasts.
In the last third of his speech tonight, Obama indicated that he is a supporter of alternatives to oil for our energy needs, yet in the 18 months since he took office he has shutdown the development of the nuclear repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada and, to the best of my knowledge, has not started any new nuclear power plants. Yucca Mountain was going to be the only major repository for waste in the country. The respoitory, which had been under development for over 25 years, was nearing completion and is now officially moth-balled.
If Obama were truly serious about non-petroleum forms of energy, he wouldn't have shut down the Yucca Mountain site. Is Obama going to go out and find another site to store nuclear waste? I doubt that it is anywhere near the his to-do list, and is probably not even on the list. A site similar to the Yucca Mountain site might take another 25 years or more to develop. Obama is putting all his hopes and dreams on wind and solar energies. If Obama thinks he can heat all the houses in America in winter and cool them all in summer with wind and solar power he is dreaming. The technology is just not there, not to mention the power grids, to achieve that now or in the foreseeable future.
The bigger question is how are we supposed to get to work, move merchandise, or get to the grocery store without gasoline. There are not enough electric vehicles to even begin to move Americans to and from wherever we are going to do this and, if there were, there is not enough electricity produced to keep the vehicles on the road. Can you imagine plugging in 150 million or more vehicles every day?
Never mind the words, they are all lies. Watch what The Great Obama does.
Note: 6/16/2010 - Carl Rove was on Hannity this evening and was perhaps even more critical of The Great Obama than I was. Rove said that in every area of the speech Obama "misled, he omitted, and he gave misdirection to the American people." I stand corrected.
Posted by Rick | June 15, 2010 07:19 PM | Political Science
Where In The World Is ...James Carville
Democratic operative James Carville took President Barack Hussein Obama to task for his ineffective handling of the ecological tragedy in Louisiana in a highly publicized rant. Since that time he has not been seen or heard from. If a Republican had taken President Bush to task in such a manner every news organization would have him on their programs night and day. In this case it appears that our thin-skinned President has given Mr. Carville a time-out.
Posted by Rick | June 8, 2010 12:32 PM | Political Science
Are We Tired Of The Muslim Crap Yet?
I received the following e-mail just before Memorial Day and before the provocation of Israel by Hamas supporters that has once again spawned unwarranted condemnation of Israel by much of the world. It is a little long but worth taking the time to read it.
It is IMPORTANT that you read this in its entirety. WE are giving AWAY our County unless you stand up and become recognized as a Real American who is Tired of all this Crap being doled out by President Obama, Nancy Polosi, Barbara Boxer, Harry Reid and the rest of Congress. UNLESS YOU FIND A GOOD ONE IN THE BUNCH, VOTE THEM ALL OUT IN UPCOMING ELECTIONS.... Other than this I have no opinion...DavidRed Meat editor's note: This is a free translation of an article reportedly first published in the Spanish language in a Spanish newspaper. I have been unable to confirm the name of the author, the name of the newspaper that originally published it, or the date of its original publication. The earliest date I could find for it was November 21, 2004. It is likely that the author's name is a pseudonym or nom de plume, apparently to avoid attack by those crazy guys, namely jihadist Muslims.REMEMBER AS YOU READ -- IT WAS IN A SPANISH PAPER
ALL EUROPEAN LIFE DIED IN AUSCHWITZ
By Sebastian Vilar Rodrigez
Tuesday, 15 January 2008I walked down the street in Barcelona, and suddenly discovered a terrible truth - Europe died in Auschwitz .... We killed six million Jews and replaced them with 20 million Muslims. In Auschwitz we burned a culture, thought, creativity, talent. We destroyed the chosen people, truly chosen, because they produced great and wonderful people who changed the world.
The contribution of this people is felt in all areas of life: science, art, international trade, and above all, as the conscience of the world. These are the people we burned.
And under the pretense of tolerance, and because we wanted to prove to ourselves that we were cured of the disease of racism, we opened our gates to 20 million Muslims, who brought us stupidity and ignorance, religious extremism and lack of tolerance, crime and poverty, due to an unwillingness to work and support their families with pride.
They have blown up our trains and turned our beautiful Spanish cities into the third world, drowning in filth and crime.
Shut up in the apartments they receive free from the government, they plan the murder and destruction of their naive hosts.
And thus, in our misery, we have exchanged culture for fanatical hatred, creative skill for destructive skill, intelligence for backwardness and superstition.
We have exchanged the pursuit of peace of the Jews of Europe and their talent for a better future for their children, their determined clinging to life because life is holy, for those who pursue death, for people consumed by the desire for death for themselves and others, for our children and theirs.
What a terrible mistake was made by miserable Europe.
The email continued:
A lot of Americans have become so insulated from reality that they imagine America can suffer defeat without any inconvenience to themselves.Absolutely No Profiling!
Pause a moment, reflect back, and take the following multiple choice test about actual historical events. They really happened! Do you remember?
HERE'S THE TEST:
1. 1968 Bobby Kennedy was shot and killed by:
a. Superman
b. Jay Leno
c. Harry Potter
d. A Muslim male extremist between the ages of 17 and 40
2. In 1972 at the Munich Olympics, athletes were kidnapped and massacred by:
a. Olga Corbett
b. Sitting Bull
c. Arnold Schwarzenegger
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
3. In 1979, the US embassy in Iran was taken over by:
a. Lost Norwegians
b. Elvis
c. A tour bus full of 80-year-old women
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
4. During the 1980's a number of Americans were kidnapped in Lebanon by:
a. John Dillinger
b. The King of Sweden
c. The Boy Scouts
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
5. In 1983, the US Marine barracks in Beirut was blown up by:
a. A pizza delivery boy
b. Pee Wee Herman
c. Geraldo Rivera
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
6. In 1985 the cruise ship Achille Lauro was hijacked and a 70 year old American passenger was murdered and thrown overboard in his wheelchair by:
a. The Smurfs
b. Davey Jones
c. The Little Mermaid
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
7. In 1985 TWA flight 847 was hijacked at Athens, and a US Navy diver trying to rescue passengers was murdered by:
a. Captain Kidd
b. Charles Lindberg
c. Mother Teresa
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
8. In 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 was bombed by:
a. Scooby Doo
b. The Tooth Fairy
c. The Sundance Kid
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
9. In 1993 the World Trade Center was bombed the first time by:
a. Richard Simmons
b. Grandma Moses
c. Michael Jordan
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
10. In 1998, the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed by:
a. Mr. Rogers
b. Hillary Clinton, to distract attention from Wild Bill's women problems
c. The World Wrestling Federation
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
11. On 9/11/01, four airliners were hijacked; two were used as missiles to take out the World Trade Centers and of the remaining two, one crashed into the U.S. Pentagon and the other was diverted and crashed while the passengers struggled with the hijackers. Thousands of people were killed by:
a. Bugs Bunny, Wiley E. Coyote, Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd
b. The Supreme Court of Florida
c. Mr. Bean
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 4012. In 2002 the United States fought a war in Afghanistan against:
a. Enron
b. The Lutheran Church
c. The NFL
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
13. In 2002 reporter Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and murdered by:
a. Bonnie and Clyde
b. Captain Kangaroo
c. Billy Graham
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
14. And now we can add: In 2009, 31 people wounded and 13 American Soldiers murdered on base at Fort Hood by a Major that was known as...
a: You guessed it - A Muslim male extremist between the age of 17 and 40.No, I really don't see a pattern here to justify profiling, do you? So, to ensure we Americans never offend anyone, particularly fanatics intent on killing us, airport security screeners will no longer be allowed to profile certain people. They must conduct random searches of 80-year-old women, little kids, airline pilots with proper identification, secret agents who are members of the President's security detail, 85-year old Congressmen with metal hips, and Medal of Honor winner and former Governor, Joe Foss, but leave Muslim males between the ages 17 and 40 alone lest they be guilty of profiling.
Let's send this to as many people as we can so that the Nancy Pelosis, Gloria Aldreds and other dunder-headed attorneys along with Federal Justices that want to thwart common sense, feel ashamed of themselves - if they have any such sense.
We can not allow the socialist transformation being brought on by the current administration to continue. Look at what it has done to Europe. We all must stand together before it's too late and everything America stands for is lost.
The global Islamic population is approximately 1,200,000,000; that is ONE BILLION TWO HUNDRED MILLION or 20% of the world's population.
They have received the following Nobel Prizes:
Literature:
1988 - Najib Mahfooz
Peace:
1978 - Mohamed Anwar El-Sadat
1990 - Elias James Corey
1994 - Yaser Arafat
1999 - Ahmed Zewai
Economics:
(zero)
Physics:
(zero)
Medicine:
1960 - Peter Brian Medawar
1998 - Ferid Mourad
TOTAL: 7 SEVENThe global Jewish population is approximately 14,000,000; that is FOURTEEN MILLION or about 0.02% of the world's population.
They have received the following Nobel Prizes:
Literature:
1910 - Paul Heyse
1927 - Henri Bergson
1958 - Boris Pasternak
1966 - Shmuel Yosef Agnon
1966 - Nelly Sachs
1976 - Saul Bellow
1978 - Isaac Bashevis Singer
1981 - Elias Canetti
1987 - Joseph Brodsky
1991 - Nadine Gordimer World
Peace:
1911 - Alfred Fried
1911 - Tobias Michael Carel Asser
1968 - Rene Cassin
1973 - Henry Kissinger
1978 - Menachem Begin
1986 - Elie Wiesel
1994 - Shimon Peres
1994 - Yitzhak Rabin
Physics:
1905 - Adolph Von Baeyer
1906 - Henri Moissan
1907 - Albert Abraham Michelson
1908 - Gabriel Lippmann
1910 - Otto Wallach
1915 - Richard Willstaetter
1918 - Fritz Haber
1921 - Albert Einstein
1922 - Niels Bohr
1925 - James Franck
1925 - Gustav Hertz
1943 - Gustav Stern
1943 - George Charles de Hevesy
1944 - Isidor Issac Rabi
1952 - Felix Bloch
1954 - Max Born
1958 - Igor Tamm
1959 - Emilio Segre
1960 - Donald A. Glaser
1961 - Robert Hofstadter
1961 - Melvin Calvin
1962 - Lev Davidovich Landau
1962 - Max Ferdinand Perutz
1965 - Richard Phillips Feynman
1965 - Julian Schwinger
1969 - Murray Gell-Mann
1971 - Dennis Gabor
1972 - William Howard Stein
1973 - Brian David Josephson
1975 - Benjamin Mottleson
1976 - Burton Richter
1977 - Ilya Prigogine
1978 - Arno Allan Penzias
1978 - Peter L. Kapitza
1979 - Stephen Weinberg
1979 - Sheldon Glashow
1979 - Herbert Charles Brown
1980 - Paul Berg
1980 - Walter Gilbert
1981 - Roald Hoffmann
1982 - Aaron Klug
1985 - Albert A. Hauptman
1985 - Jerome Karle
1986 - Dudley R. Herschbach
1988 - Robert Huber
1988 - Leon Lederman
1988 - Melvin Schwartz
1988 - Jack Steinberger
1989 - Sidney Altman
1990 - Jerome Friedman
1992 - Rudolph Marcus
1995 - Martin Perl
2000 - Alan J. Heeger
Economics:
1970 - Paul Anthony Samuelson
1971 - Si mon Kuznets
1972 - Kenneth Joseph Arrow
1975 - Leonid Kantorovich
1976 - Milton Friedman
1978 - Herbert A. Si mon
1980 - Lawrence Robert Klein
1985 - Franco Modigliani
1987 - Robert M. Solow
1990 - Harry Mark owitz
1990 - Merton Miller
1992 - Gary Becker
1993 - Robert Fogel
Medicine:
1908 - Elie Metchnikoff
1908 - Paul Erlich
1914 - Robert Barany
1922 - Otto Meyerhof
1930 - Karl Landsteiner
1931 - Otto Warburg
1936 - Otto Loewi
1944 - Joseph Erlanger
1944 - Herbert Spencer Gasser
1945 - Ernst Boris Chain
1946 - Hermann Joseph Muller
1950 - Tadeus Reichstein
1952 - Selman Abraham Waksman
1953 - Hans Krebs
1953 - Fritz Albert Lipmann
1958 - Joshua Lederberg
1959 - Arthur Kornberg
1964 - Konrad Bloch
1965 - Francois Jacob
1965 - Andre Lwoff
1967 - George Wald
1968 - Marshall W. Nirenberg
1969 - Salvador Luria
1970 - Julius Axelrod
1970 - Sir Bernard Katz
1972 - Gerald Maurice Edelman
1975 - Howard Martin Temin
1976 - Baruch S. Blumberg
1977 - Roselyn Sussman Yalow
1978 - Daniel Nathans
1980 - Baruj Benacerraf
1984 - Cesar Milstein
1985 - Michael Stuart Brown
1985 - Joseph L. Goldstein
1986 - Stanley Cohen [& Rita Levi-Montalcini]
1988 - Gertrude Elion
1989 - Harold Varmus
1991 - Erwin Neher
1991 - Bert Sakmann
1993 - Richard J. Roberts
1993 - Phillip Sharp
1994 - Alfred Gilman
1995 - Edward B. Lewis
1996 - Lu Rose Lacovino
TOTAL: 129!The Jews are NOT promoting brain washing children in military training camps, teaching them how to blow themselves up and cause maximum deaths of Jews and other non-Muslims. The Jews don't hijack planes, nor kill athletes at the Olympics, or blow themselves up in German restaurants. There is NOT one single Jew who has destroyed a church. There is NOT a single Jew who protests by killing people.
The Jews don't traffic slaves, nor have leaders calling for Jihad and death to all the Infidels.
Perhaps the world's Muslims should consider investing more in standard education and less in blaming the Jews for all their problems.
Muslims must ask 'what can they do for humankind' before they demand that humankind respect them.
Regardless of your feelings about the crisis between Israel and the Palestinians and their Arab neighbors, even if you believe there is more culpability on Israel 's part, the following two sentences from Benjamin Netanyahu really say it all:
If the Arabs put down their weapons today, there would be no more violence. If the Jews put down their weapons today, there would be no more Israel.
It is a matter of history that when the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, found the victims of the Nazi death camps he ordered all possible photographs to be taken, and for the German people from surrounding villages to be ushered through the camps and even made to bury the dead.He did this because, he said in words to this effect:
Get it all on record now - get the films - get the witnesses - because somewhere down the road of history some bastard will get up and say that this never happened.
Recently, the UK debated whether to remove The Holocaust from its school curriculum because
it 'offends' the Muslim population which claims it never occurred. It is not removed as yet.
However, this is a frightening portent of the fear that is gripping the world and how easily each
country is giving into it.How many years will it be before the attack on the World Trade Center 'NEVER HAPPENED' because it offends some Muslim in the United States?
And now another slap in the face to America!!
Building a Mosque by Ground Zero, is being allowed by New York City Council is unbelievable!!!!!!!!
This Mosque will be opened on the 10th Anniversary of 9/11. 9/11/2011.........How does this set with you??
WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY, is my question??
It is now more than 60 years after the Second World War in Europe ended. This e-mail is being sent as a memorial chain, in memory of the, 6 million Jews, 20 million Russians, 10 million Christians, and 1,900 Catholic priests who were 'murdered, raped, burned, starved, beaten, experimented on and humiliated' while the German people looked the other way.Now, more than ever, with Iran, among others, claiming the Holocaust to be 'a myth,' it is imperative to make sure the world never forgets.
This e-mail is intended to reach 400 million people. Be a link in the memorial chain and help distribute this around the world.
Please do not just delete this message; it will take only a minute to pass this along.
Red Meat editor's notes: I particularly like the quote above from Benjamin Netanyahu.
The wonderful contributions of Muslims to our society today are largely two-fold: Drugs from the poppy fields in Afghanistan and terrorism. How proud the Muslims of the world must be!
When will enough be enough?
Posted by Rick | June 3, 2010 04:45 PM | Political Science
The Politics Of Provocation
Career diplomat and former United States ambassador to Mauritania, Edward Peck, was among those who were accompanying the flotilla attempting to break the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip. This was an obvious attempt to provoke Israel, which is demanding to inspect shipments to the Gaza Strip for rockets and other weapons. Peck is basically a few cards short of a deck. From Wikipedia:
He argues that while Hezbollah could be considered a terrorist organization, it is no more terrorist than Israel or the U.S. itself.
If you see this man on television, and you probably will if you watch MSNBC or Fox News, understand where he is coming from and don't be fooled by his demeanor. He is generally as anti-Semitic and anti-American as our beloved President, Barack Hussein Obama. There is even a rumor that Peck has offered to accompany Obama on his next apology tour.
Posted by Rick | June 1, 2010 10:28 PM | Political Science
Carr On Blumenthal
Howie Carr, columnist for the Boston Herald, wrote a hillarious piece on war hero and Senate
It began:
This Dick Blumenthal even looks a little like Eliot Spitzer.And now it turns out, as somebody said yesterday, even Jane Fonda spent more time in Vietnam than he did.
You can read the entire piece here. You will not be disappointed.
Posted by Rick | May 21, 2010 01:30 AM | Political Science
Richard Blumentahl - Liar, Liar, Pants On Fire
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal (D) has, over the years, repeatedly stated that he was stationed in Vietnam during the Vietnam war. Unfortunately, after receiving 5 deferments, he finally joined the Marine Corps Reserve never serving in Vietnam.
He had this to say when he finally admitted his lies:
I never had sexual relations with that woman oops, wrong liar.
Here is what he actually said:
Now on a few occasions, I have misspoken about my service and I regret that and I take full responsibility, but, I will not allow...I will not allow anyone to take a few misplaced words and impugn my record of service to our country.
I'm surprised he didn't claim he received the Congressional Medal Of Honor while fighting in Vietnam. And just how is he taking responsibility for his "misplaced words?" Blumenthal is running for the United States Senate, attempting to replace another liar, Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, who claims that he was unaware he received any sweetheart mortgages from his buddy at Countrywide Financial, Angelo Mozilo.
From the Wall Street Journal:
In response to the charge that he knew he was getting favors, Mr. Dodd at first issued a strong denial: "This suggestion is outrageous and contrary to my entire career in public service. When my wife and I refinanced our loans in 2003, we did not seek or expect any favorable treatment. Just like millions of other Americans, we shopped around and received competitive rates." Less than a week later he acknowledged he was part of Countrywide's VIP program but claimed he thought it was "more of a courtesy."
Just a few more "misplaced words."
Can't the Democrats find anyone in Connecticut who can tell the truth?
Posted by Rick | May 19, 2010 02:57 PM | Political Science
When Adults Ruled The World
Whenever I hear Carl Rove comment on the political events of the day, I get a little melancholy remembering the days when common-sense adults like him, Dick Cheney and George W. Bush strolled the halls of the White House.
Whenever I think about the current occupants of the White House, I yearn back to the days of Senator Joseph McCarthy. McCarthy, who was unable to substantiate his claims that there were a number of Communists and Communist sympathizers in the federal government during hearings in the early days of the 1950's, would certainly not have that problem today. Really a shame...
Posted by Rick | May 14, 2010 11:16 AM | Political Science
Desperation Mode - McCain Will Say Anything
John McCain has decided that he was against reading the Miranda warning to the Times Square firecracker bomber, Faisal Shahzad, who is a citizen, albeit naturalized, of these United States, unlike many of the other wacko Islamic jihadists. This is the same John McCain who doesn't want anyone to be questioned using motivational interrogation techniques. In other words, name, rank and serial number...would you like cream and one or two lumps with your tea...and perhaps another scone?
First of all John, if you don't read someone their Miranda warning, it doesn't mean they don't have those rights enumerated in the warning. They can invoke their right to silence and request an attorney at any time.
The point of McCain's stance is 100% politically motivated. He knows the handwriting is on his wall...he is gone come the Republican primary unless he turns to the right in an effort to attract some of those right-wing Astroturf tea party whackos he wouldn't be caught dead pandering to in a non-election year. He wants us to believe that he is tough on terror. Remember, McCain thinks he is a maverick and mavericks don't always toe the line when it comes to party politics. Remember, McCain voted for the TARP even though it had billions of dollars of earmarks and pork in it. Remember, McCain was against water boarding, but I'll bet you he'd let himself be water boarded right now if it meant he would beat J.D. Hayworth. Remember, McCain was a co-sponsor of McCain-Feingold which limited free speech in elections. Remember, McCain was for a path to citizenship for illegals until recently, pandering to the Hispanic vote during the presidential campaign, but as soon as he lost and knew he had to run for reelection, he came out for troops on the border.
I also heard McCain try to link Hayworth to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, and that may be the case. Wasn't McCain the unindicted coconspirator and the only Republican involved in the 'Keating Five' saving and loan scandal? From a National Review column written by Mark Levin:
In its final report (November 20, 1991), here is what the Senate Select Committee on Ethics concluded about McCain's conduct:"Mr. Keating, his associates, and his friends contributed $56,000 for Senator McCain's two House races in 1982 and 1984, and $54,000 for his 1986 Senate race. Mr. Keating also provided his corporate plane and/or arranged for payment for the use of commercial or private aircraft on several occasions for travel by Senator McCain and his family, for which Senator McCain ultimately provided reimbursement when called upon to do so. Mr. Keating also allowed Senator McCain and his family to vacation with Mr. Keating and his family, at a home provided by Mr. Keating in the Bahamas, in each of the calendar years 1983 through 1986.
"…[F]rom 1984 to 1987, Senator McCain took actions on Mr. Keating's behalf or at his request. The Committee finds that Senator McCain had a basis for each of these actions independent of the contributions and benefits he received from Mr. Keating, his associates and friends.
"Based on the evidence available to it, the Committee has given consideration to Senator McCain's actions on behalf of Lincoln. The Committee concludes that, given the personal benefits and campaign contributions he had received from Mr. Keating, Senator McCain exercised poor judgment in intervening with the regulators without first inquiring as to the Bank Board's position in the case in a more routine manner. The Committee concludes that Senator McCain's actions were not improper nor attended with gross negligence and did not reach the level of requiring institutional action against him. The Committee finds that Senator McCain took no further action after the April 9, 1987 meeting when he learned of a criminal referral.
"The Committee reaffirms its prior decision that it does not have jurisdiction to determine the issues of disclosure or reimbursement pertaining to flights provided by American Continental Corporation while Senator McCain was a Member of the House of Representatives. The Committee did consider the effect of such on his state of mind and judgment in taking steps to assist Lincoln.
"Senator McCain has violated no law of the United States or specific Rule of the United States Senate; therefore, the Committee concludes that no further action is warranted with respect to Senator McCain on the matters investigated during the preliminary inquiry."
McCain was the only Republican implicated in the Keating Five scandal, yet today he lectures his party and his president about "the corrupting influence" of money in politics. He rails against the so-called "wealthy special interests" and their ability to buy access to elected officials, yet this is precisely what the Keating Five scandal was all about. And, of course, under McCain's current standard, a politician who takes a principled position that may benefit a donor is corrupt, even if no law has been violated.
The John McCain of old should be thankful that his political fate wasn't determined by John McCain the reformer.
McCain is nothing more than a sleazy, slimy windbag who will say or do anything to beat J.D. Hayworth.
Posted by Rick | May 8, 2010 05:36 PM | Political Science
Hyper-Inflation Is At Our Doorstep
Our economic situation is really no laughing matter. This Congress is spending and the Federal Reserve is printing money just as fast as they can. Right now the largest bank note generally in use in the United States is one hundred dollars. If they keep printing money at the current rate, and sooner than you think, our largest note will have to increase substantially or we will need a wheelbarrel full of money just to buy a loaf of bread. Just ask the people of Zimbabwe what hyper-inflation is like.
Here is a bank note for one hundred trillion dollars currently in use in Zimbabwe (courtesy of capitalistpig.com):
Posted by Rick | April 15, 2010 02:07 AM | Political Science
John And Sarah Sitting A Tree, K I S S I N G
I admire Sarah Palin for her support of John McCain, even though I don't believe she should support him. It was, after all, John McCain who brought her to national prominence when he asked her to be the vice-presidential candidate on the Republican ticket in 2008.
Unfortunately, Senator McCain (RINO-AZ) is on the wrong side of too many issues, especially in the current political environment, and cannot be trusted to vote against Obama's socialist agenda, especially cap-and-trade (see Senate bill S.139 introduced by McCain-Lieberman in 2003) and illegal immigration (see Senate bill S.1033 introduced by McCain-Kennedy in 2005).
See a complete summary of McCain's cap-and-trade bill from Resources Magazine here. The overview of the summary is posted below.
Summary and Analysis of McCain-Lieberman – “Climate Stewardship Act of 2003” S.139, introduced 01/09/03 (January 28, 2003) By William A. Pizer, RFF Fellow, and Raymond J. Kopp, RFF Senior Fellow Summary The legislation proposed by Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) suggests an alternative to the existing approaches to address climate change in the United States based on a new broad, flexible, and domestic framework. Previous approaches include the Clinton administration’s 1997 negotiation of the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement now ratified by 100 countries, which called for significant greenhouse gas emissions reductions by the United States. President Bush rejected the Kyoto Protocol as too costly and unfounded in science and, in February 2002, called for new voluntary measures to curb greenhouse gas emissions. In the fall of 2001, Senators James Jeffords (I-VT) and Lieberman put forward their approach in a so-called four-pollutant bill, which would limit power-plant emissions of carbon dioxide, as well as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and mercury.
In contrast to these international, voluntary, and sector-based approaches, McCain-Lieberman requires domestic, mandatory, and economy wide emissions reductions. While the specific emissions limits will likely be the subject of lengthy debate, we view the architecture of the emissions-trading program in this bipartisan bill to be a significant step forward. The broad coverage and flexibility of the trading program make this bill one of the most cost-effective domestic proposals to date. The bill also features a climate research program and an emissions registry. However, it is the trading program (Title III) that represents the most significant change in the debate over climate change and is the subject of this summary and analysis.
McCain's position on immigration which included "a mechanism for subsequent adjustment of status" (read: path to citizenship for people who entered our country illegally) can be found in a bill (S.1033) he co-sponsored with the late Teddy Kennedy (D-MA) in 2005. The summary of the bill from the Library of Congress is below.
S.1033 Title: Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act Sponsor: Sen McCain, John [AZ] (introduced 5/12/2005) Cosponsors (9) Related Bills: H.R.2330 Latest Major Action: 5/12/2005 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY AS OF: 5/12/2005--Introduced.Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act - Requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to develop and implement a National Strategy for Border Security and other specified border security programs.
Authorizes the Secretary to establish a Border Security Advisory Committee.
Requires the Secretary of State to provide a framework for security coordination between the governments of North America.
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to: (1) authorize appropriations through FY2011 for the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program; and (2) reimburse states for pre-conviction costs.
Amends the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 to authorize additional funding through FY2011 to reimburse states for indirect costs of incarcerating undocumented aliens.
Establishes: (1) an H-5A essential worker visa program for low-skilled workers; (2) a mechanism for subsequent adjustment of status; and (3) an Essential Worker Visa Program Task Force.
Addresses document security. Requires the Commissioner of Social Security to create a new Employment Eligibility Confirmation System.
Amends the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to address the collection of arrival and departure information.
Broadens the Department of Labor's investigative authority under INA.
Authorizes the Secretary of State to enter into an agreement with foreign governments whose citizens participate in the H-5A program to establish a labor migration facilitation program.
Exempts immediate relatives of U.S. citizens from the annual cap on family-sponsored immigrant visas. Increases numerical limits for specified visas.
Authorizes H-5B nonimmigrant status for undocumented aliens present in the United States on the date of this Act's introduction who meet specified requirements and pay a fine. Provides a mechanism for subsequent adjustment of status.
Defines "authorized representative" for immigration purposes. Makes alien victims of fraud perpetrated by unauthorized representatives eligible for U (victims of certain crimes) nonimmigrant status.
Authorizes the Secretary to establish the U.S. Citizenship Foundation. Requires the Secretary to establish a competitive grant program to address civic integration.
Amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to extend authorization of Federal reimbursement for hospitals that provide emergency care to undocumented immigrants.
I wonder if McCain's contemptible, despicable campaign staffers who threw Sarah under the bus after the election are still hanging around. If they are, they would have been the only ones at the rallies without Ms. Palin showing up. McCain forgot her name when Leno asked about Republican presidential candidates for 2012, but he obviously knows all about her star power now that he's in trouble.
Posted by Rick | March 28, 2010 06:15 PM | Political Science
Not-So-New Anti-Semitism
As I write this, Barack Hussein Obama is meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu. Today's meeting is certain to be less than fruitful, and because of that there will be no public statements or photo opportunities. The diplomatic problems between Israel and the Obama administration don't require a lot of analyzation.
In the Middle East, Obama has come to the realization that he is impotent except for the power he wields over Israel.
The Palestinians are not about to stop terrorizing Israel, and they won't negotiate in good faith. They believe that Israel should be wiped from the face of the earth. Obama knows this and there is absolutely nothing he can do about it.
Obama also knows that there is nothing he can do to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons short of war and he is unwilling to go to war with them. He would just as soon they take care of Israel and all the problems in the Middle East would be solved.
Barack Hussein Obama and his administration have decided that the root cause of all the problems in the Middle East stem from Israel's desire to survive. He has determined that the only way to gain peace in the region is to put his boot firmly on the neck of the Israelis. Obama believes they will submit to his demands because they value their friendship with the United States, and because Obama believes that they will eventually see the halo over his head.
I hope that Netanyahu has the courage to tell Obama and Company to take a hike just as the Palestinians and Iranians have.
The Jewish community in the United States may finally realize the simple truth in the Obama approach to peace in the Middle East, but they seem to hold out hope that Obama will soften his position on Israel.
From an interview with the head of the Anti-Defamation League, Abraham Foxman, on March 13, 2010, following Vice-President Biden's visit to Israel comes this:
I am also disturbed that in this whole year there hasn't been one specific condemnation by the American administration about anything that the Palestinian Authority leadership has done or said. Not once! And how many times was Israel publicly criticized, condemned, in all kinds of places? I found this very troubling, the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority goes with the torch to burn Israeli food products, and the American administration doesn't say boo? The president of the Palestinian Authority threatens with religious war - and the states doesn't say boo. They dedicate a stage to the suicide bomber - and the U.S. doesn't say boo, because they believe placating will work - but it doesn't work. They wait for Israel to compromise, to take risks - but the U.S. continues to be the closest friend and ally. And what happened in the last 48 hours put it in a big question."So do you think Biden is a true friend of Israel?
Yes. I think President Obama is a friend of Israel too. But I think it's a mistaken and counterproductive strategy and flawed analysis of what is in the best interest of the U.S. Support of Israel has served the U.S. interests more than supporting anyone else in the world.
You can read more of the Foxman interview by Haaretz correspondent, Natasha Mozgovaya, here.
Posted by Rick | March 23, 2010 02:29 PM | Political Science
Barney Fife In Charge At The White House
The Huffington Post is reporting that Timothy Geithner knew or should have known that:
An arm of the Federal Reserve, then led by now-Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, told bailed-out insurance giant AIG to withhold key details from the public about overpayments that put billions of extra tax dollars in the coffers of major Wall Street firms, most notably Goldman Sachs.
Geithner was confirmed as Treasury Secretary even though he admitted to 'mistakes' made when he filed his taxes. That was small potatoes compared to this. If ever there was someone who need to be fired immediately, Tim Geithner is the guy.
How many people is Obama going to hire who are not stupid (Janet Napolitano), communist (Van Jones), or corrupt (Timothy Geithner)?
As a post-script, it was just reported on Fox News that spy satellites have been diverted from tracking terrorists to tracking icebergs with the full support of CIA chief Leon Paneta . As I have said before, President Barack Hussein Obama and his administration does not, except for the occasional lip-service) care about our security and is going to get a lot of Americans killed because of his pathetic policies concerning the war on terror, or as the Obama administration calls acts of terror, man-caused disasters.
Like Barney Fife, Obama and his administration is truly the gang that can't shoot straight.
Posted by Rick | January 7, 2010 04:36 PM | Political Science
Another Democratic Senator Bites The Dust
The Washington Post is reporting that 5-term Senator Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn) has decided not to seek re-election this fall. He is expected to make the announcement Wednesday.
Dodd, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, used his position to obtain sweetheart mortgages from Countrywide Financial before the collapse of the mortgage industry. Because of the mortgage scandal and his support for the Democrat's health care bill he was having a very difficult time raising money and could see he was not going to be re-elected.
The announcement will be the second in two days with North Dakota Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) indicating on Tuesday that he would not run this fall.
Hopefully Senate majority leader, Harry Reid (D-NV), who trails in every poll against every potential candidate, will make his retirement announcement soon.
Then the task will be to replace them with truly conservative senators who will work to control spending and bring some fiscal common sense back to the Senate.
Posted by Rick | January 5, 2010 11:34 PM | Political Science
Obama Administration Delusional
The New York Times is reporting that the Obama administration believes sanctions may cause the Iranians to halt their attempts to build a nuclear weapon. Unfortunately, our illustrious (read feckless) leader, Barack Hussein Obama, who is either too arrogant or too stupid to take lessons of the past from another famous American diplomat, Jimmy Carter, will not be happy until Israelis and/or Americans die at the hands of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and those crazy mullah guys lead by Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei. You can read more about the NYT's article here.
As President Obama faces pressure to back up his year-end ultimatum for diplomatic progress with Iran, the administration says that domestic unrest and signs of unexpected trouble in Tehran’s nuclear program make its leaders particularly vulnerable to strong and immediate new sanctions.
Posted by Rick | January 5, 2010 09:51 AM | Political Science
Waiting For The Next Shoe Panty To Drop
As anyone who travels by airplane knows, the consequences for the flying public after the attempt by Richard Reid to blow up a plane with explosives in his shoe were that all passengers had to remove their shoes while going through airport security.
Now that terrorist Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab tried to blow up a plane with 80 grams of the explosive PETN in his underwear, it would seem that all passengers from here on out would have to remove their underwear while going through the rigorous screening process at our airports.
I have no doubt that as I write this, Janet Napolitano, the clueless head of Homeland Security who claimed on the Sunday talk show circuit following the foiled attempt to blow up Northwest flight 253 that the 'system worked,' is trying to decide if we should have to take off our underwear at airport security checkpoints before boarding a plane.
If they don't make us take off our underwear as we go through airport security from now on we should be able to keep our shoes on as well.
Otherwise, the removal of shoes at airports is nothing more than harassment of the traveling public.
Posted by Rick | December 28, 2009 03:04 PM | Political Science
Robin Hood Rides Again
Merry Christmas! Now bend over and grab your ankles, because you are about to have your 'turkey' stuffed in one of the largest redistribution of wealth schemes since Robin Hood and his band of merry men were stealing from King John and giving their ill-gotten gains to the ne'er-do-wells living in the English countryside.
Barack Hussein 'Robin Hood' Obama , Harry 'Little John' Reid, and Nancy 'Maid Marion' Pelosi and their merry 'Democratic' congressmen are, like their counterparts of English lore, little more than common thieves and liars, all the while claiming that they are going to steal from the 'rich' (people with income over $200,000) and give to the 'poor' (the 47 million people without health care) all for the common good. Never mind that the 'rich' went to school, took risks, worked hard and deserve their money, and most of the 47 million 'poor' don't need (18 to 30 year olds who aren't sick very often) or don't deserve (Americans who would rather sit on their uneducated derrieres all day collecting unemployment, doing drugs, and making out-of-wedlock babies or the illegal immigrants who should return to their own countries) the ill-gotten gains of this band of thieves.
Using bad mathematical assumptions, accounting schemes, sacred cows and bribes, Obama, Reid and Pelosi have made a stew that is unsavory and unsustainable in any of its current incarnations.
This gang of 'merry men' claim that they can take money from Medicare and give a like amount to the uninsured and end up with a surplus instead of a zero sum game. They claim that a program that is funded (by our tax dollars) for 10 years and pays out benefits for 6 years is deficit neutral. They have not addressed, in any way, tort reform, preferring to keep the trial lawyers as their sacred cow, and they would like to somehow include in this 'unholy' stew the mystery ingredients of funding for abortions and tax breaks for unions. Finally, they have had to bribe some of their henchmen (Ben Nelson, Mary Landrieu and Chris Dodd) to obtain their support for this pot of crap stew they are forcing upon the American taxpayers.
The quality of health care for those that need it most will ultimately suffer because of this bill. The elderly and infirmed will suffer more and die sooner because of reduced payments to care-givers, much longer waits for health care, and rationing because of 'death panels.' Socialist schemes such as this have one major flaw: they always run out of other people's money.
So Merry Christmas to you and yours!! Your 'turkey' has just been stuffed.
Posted by Rick | December 24, 2009 07:26 AM | Political Science
Obama's New Foreign Policy...A Policy Of Engagement
In an all out effort to boost his prestige abroad, President Obama has decided that his apology tours were just not as effective as he hoped and he has decided to become more indispensable to foreign leaders.
The Telegraph reported it here:
At over six feet tall, the US president was photographed bending to nearly a 90 degree angle when he greeted the relatively diminutive Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko at the Imperial Palace on Saturday.
I, quite frankly, believe that there is a little more going on here than the Telegraph was willing to report.
Obama had previously tried out his new foreign policy in Saudi Arabia when he visited King Abdullah.
Only time will tell if this new policy of 'engagement' will reap any benefits for the United States.
Posted by Rick | November 17, 2009 01:10 AM | Political Science
Unemployment Black Hole
While the government is reporting that the official unemployment rate is at 10.2%, the New York Times is reporting a much bleaker, albeit unofficial, figure here.
In all, more than one out of every six workers — 17.5 percent — were unemployed or underemployed in October.
The economic stimulus that the Obama administration is overseeing is obviously not working. If anything is going to help get us out of this economic meltdown, tax cuts and incentives for the private sector to hire new workers would seem to be the answer to the increasing number of unemployed workers. Unfortunately, I don't believe Obama has the vision to see beyond his never-ending quest for undeserved income redistribution.
Posted by Rick | November 7, 2009 01:01 PM | Political Science ~ | Social Studies
I Told You So! Dede Scozzafava Is/Was A Republican In Name Only (RINO)
After taking nearly one million dollars from the Republican party in her bid to represent New York's 23rd congressional district in Congress, 'Republican' Dede Scozzafava saw the hand-writing on the wall and withdrew from the race over the weekend, then promptly endorsed the Democratic candidate, Bill Owens, over Conservative Party candidate, Doug Hoffman.
One can only wonder if she is related to Senator Arlen Spector (Ex-RINO - PA).
Posted by Rick | November 3, 2009 04:07 AM | Political Science
Another Democrat In Republican Clothing
With a go-along-to-get-along approach to politics, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has endorsed liberal Republican Dede Scozzafava in New York's 23rd congressional district over Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman in the upcoming special election. Unfortunately, Scozzafava is cut from the same cloth as Senators Arlen Spector, Olympia Snowe, Susan Colins, John McCain, and even former Senator Bob Dole. The aforementioned Senators, two of whom ran for President and lost by huge margins and one switched to the Democratic party, are shining examples of what is wrong with the Republican party. Unfortunately, they all might as well be in the Democratic party.
The Republican party needs to stand on conservative principles or it will become a footnote in American political history, just as the Whig party has become. It is time for conservative Republicans to stand up for ourselves and vote our principles.
Let the liberal Republicans play the any-way-the-wind-blows game. Conservatives need to quit voting for these wishy-washy politicians and vote for people with conservative values. America will get the message. When cap-and-trade results in huge increases in the cost of utilities and lost jobs, America will get the message. When Obama-care results in long lines, rationed care and huge tax increases, America will get the message.
Posted by Rick | October 28, 2009 09:14 AM | Political Science
The Government Wants To Run Everyone's Heath Care
New flash!! There's waste in government run health care in Washington, D.C..
Our government can't run a dinky program like this AIDS program but believe they should run health care throughout the entire country. Good luck to us all. Read more here.
Posted by Rick | October 19, 2009 03:53 AM | Just A Thought ~ | Political Science ~ | Social Studies
Nobel Peace Prize Committee A Joke
In his 1895 will, Nobel Prize award founder Alfred Nobel stipulated that the peace prize should go "to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between the nations and the abolition or reduction of standing armies and the formation and spreading of peace congresses."
With the Norwegian Nobel Committee buying into the rhetoric of Obama's campaign of 'hope' and 'change,' President Barack Hussein Obama was awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize today for accomplishing nothing,
In an article from the Miami Herald, Associated Press writers Doug Mellgren and Ian MacDougall wrote:
Obama embraced the goal of a nuclear-free world in an agenda-setting speech in April and renewed that commitment as the 15-nation U.N. Security Council last month unanimously approved an ambitious strategy to stop the proliferation of atomic weapons.
I am posting the announcement for the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize below, which shows they bought into Obama's flowery, but empty, rhetoric hook, line and sinker. You can read more about Alfred Nobel and the Norwegian Nobel Committee here.
AnnouncementThe Norwegian Nobel Committee
The Nobel Peace Prize for 2009
The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 is to be awarded to President Barack Obama for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples. The Committee has attached special importance to Obama's vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons.
Obama has as President created a new climate in international politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play. Dialogue and negotiations are preferred as instruments for resolving even the most difficult international conflicts. The vision of a world free from nuclear arms has powerfully stimulated disarmament and arms control negotiations. Thanks to Obama's initiative, the USA is now playing a more constructive role in meeting the great climatic challenges the world is confronting. Democracy and human rights are to be strengthened.
Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future. His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world's population.
For 108 years, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has sought to stimulate precisely that international policy and those attitudes for which Obama is now the world's leading spokesman. The Committee endorses Obama's appeal that "Now is the time for all of us to take our share of responsibility for a global response to global challenges."
Oslo, October 9, 2009
It is interesting to note that nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize had to be in by February 1, 2009, just 10 days after Obama was inaugurated as President. The committee doesn't reveal who nominates someone for 50 years, but one cannot help but wonder who would be so presumptuous to nominate someone who had been on the international stage for a mere 10 days.
The prestige of the Peace Prize has been waning for years. I'm afraid this year is a new low for the Peace Prize and the Norwegian Nobel Committee.
Posted by Rick | October 9, 2009 10:42 AM | Political Science ~ | Social Studies
Barack Hussein Obama, King Of The World!!
BHO is pressuring New York governor Patterson to abandon his run re-election. I guess it's not enough for our beloved big-shot-in-chief to run the auto industry, the banking industry, the insurance industry, and the health care industry. It's obvious BHO can multi-task. Maybe he should run for governor of New York, and California too while he still in campaign mode. He could appoint a "czar" for each state to help him govern while he continues his speech-making tour.
You can read the story here.
Posted by Rick | September 20, 2009 04:17 AM | Political Science
Obama - He Loves The Sound Of His Own Voice
I told someone before tonight’s speech by our country’s orator-in-chief, Barack Hussein Obama, that there would be nothing new, and I predicted that the speech would be little more than soaring, but empty, campaign rhetoric filled with distortions, half-truths, promises that could not be met, and even outright lies. As usual, I was correct on all counts.
Obama returned to the basic math that any fifth grader would know just doesn’t add up.
1) If there are $600 billion dollars in savings that can be found in Medicare, show us first.
2) If there are enough doctors, nurses, hospital beds, and other equipment to handle another 30 or 40 million people without creating long lines, poorer treatment, and ultimately rationing, show us first.
3) If health care costs are 1/6th (17% +/-) of the nation’s economy, how is a health care premium of 8% per worker going to begin to cover all the costs?
4) If this is such a good program, why is the Congress excluding itself from the program?
5) Why is there a refusal to address tort reform for medical malpractice when malpractice insurance is such a huge portion of current helath care costs?
6) Why should anyone believe that the government could run a program that is 1/6th of our economy when it can’t run the post office, Medicare, social security, or even a piddlely little program like cash-for-clunkers efficiently?
This was nothing more than the orator-in-chief talking because he loves the sound of his own voice; nothing more.
Posted by Rick | September 9, 2009 11:10 PM | Political Science
Your Life Is Your Own...Or Is It?
Ayn Rand writes that we "must remind the world that the basic premise of the Founding Fathers was man's right to his own life, to his own liberty, to the pursuit of his own happiness-which means: man's right to exist for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself; and that the political implementation of this right is a society where men deal with one another as traders, by voluntary exchange to mutual benefit."
On the other hand Obama and his gang of communist cronies would enslave us for the good of the collective, perpetuate class warfare with his tax the rich philosophy, and deliver our country into the worst type of third world economic disasters.
Capitalism did not, in and of itself, bring us to the verge of economic ruin. The government stuck its big nose where it did not belong by encouraging, some might say by forcing, mortgage companies to lend to people who had no chance of repaying their mortgages. Now, only a few short years later, we have banks foreclosing on those same individuals and now, because of government regulations, the banks are forced to price the foreclosed properties far below true value or replacement cost, destroying trillions of dollars of wealth in the process.
The government is not the solution, it is the problem.
Posted by Rick | September 3, 2009 05:23 AM | Political Science
Walmart Responds
On August 20, 2009, I wrote to Walmart:
There is a lot of misinformation on the internet. I like to verify what I read before I discuss the information with others. There is a news item going around the internet that Walmart had decided to discontinue any advertising during the Glen Beck show on Fox News and has, by that decision, shown that did not want to do business with supporters of Mr. Beck, whose show has struck a positive chord with millions of Americans. Would you please confirm or deny the news report's veracity. Thank you in advance for your reponse.
Walmart responded:
Dear Richard,My name is John. I am with the Walmart.com Customer Service Team. Thank you for allowing me to assist you today.
I am sorry to hear that we were not able to meet your expectations. We continuously review our media plans. In keeping with our internal guidelines to avoid content that is highly polarizing, we've instructed our agencies, as of August 3rd, not to run Walmart advertising in news commentary shows on national cable networks. This would include the Glenn Beck Show.
We thank you for taking the time to send us your suggestions and comments to help improve our Web site. We value your input in continually improving your online shopping experience. Your satisfaction is our number one priority.
Richard, I apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced.
Thank you for visiting Walmart.com. I appreciate the opportunity to serve you and look forward to your next visit.
If we may be of further assistance, please email us at help@walmart.com. We're here to serve you 7 days a week!
Sincerely,
John
Customer Service at Walmart.com
I responded to Walmart as follows:
Unfortunately, your company guidelines do not have the same tender sympathies. If I am not mistaken, your company recently came out in favor of nationalized health care in a letter written in conjunction with SEIU, one of the unions that has so vigorously tried to defame and demean Walmart because it is not unionized.I am afraid your company doesn't know which side its bread is buttered on.
I received the following reply from Walmart:
Dear Richard,Thank you for your inquiry. At Walmart, we believe the time for comprehensive health care reform is now. The present system is not sustainable and the status quo is not an option.
We also believe in shared responsibility and support an employer mandate that is broad and fair. That mandate must be accompanied by strong efficiency provisions that will reduce health costs and dramatically improve the value we get for our health care dollar.
The bill should contain 'trigger' provisions which guarantee that promised savings take place both for the federal government and for employers who provide insurance.
We applaud the bipartisan efforts in Congress to craft and pass legislation.
Again, thank you for contacting us with your concerns. For any additional information, we would suggest visiting our website at www.walmartstores.com.
Sincerely,
Walmart Customer Care
My replay today was as follows:
Why is it your business what other employers do? Why do we need to rush into this? You need to take care of your business model, and let other businesses take care of theirs.
There is no reason to believe that our government will be able to save any money on current government medical programs, and if it can, in fact, save some money because of waste and fraud there are no assurances that it will save anywhere close to what Obama claims. If there are savings to be had, the government should prove to us that they can find the savings before saddling us with a huge program that can do nothing but increase taxes, increase the time it takes to see a doctor, and force us into situations where health care rationing becomes a necessity. Name one country where taxes have not increased and rationing hasn't become more prevalent.
No current bill addresses the cost of malpractice insurance for doctors (tort reform), and there is no indication that we have enough doctors, nurses, and hospital beds to add another 20 to 45 million people in one fell swoop without forcing us into rationing situations.
Posted by Rick | August 22, 2009 02:46 PM | Political Science
Too Stupid To Agree With Obama?
Jonathan Alter, senior editor and columnist at Newsweek magazine, was on Keith Olberman's show tonight and in typical left wing fashion implied that anyone who doesn't agree with Obama is just basically stupid. Speaking of Obama, Alter said and I quote:
The problem is that he hasn't gotten to the core moral argument....But he hasn't closed the sale with the American people. In fact, he hasn't really begun that sale, and instead everybody is talking about public options and costs and this and that. And not focusing on the fact that this bill would end discrimination against sick people, or people who have been sick, or might be sick in the future, and that really is, if you look at it, in principle, its a combination of the social security act and the civil rights act. And its just not being sold that way. As so people aren't buying right now...And you do have to KISS - keep it simple stupid. If you look at the polling that we saw at MSNBC earlier in the day of people understanding or misunderstanding of the bill. Barack Obama likes to treat people like adults but I think in this case maybe he should treat them a little more like children and simplify.
So Alter thinks Obama should use the old tried and true method of KISS (keep it simple stupid) while out on the stump trying to sell his pathetic health care reform mess to the poor, stupid masses who just don't have the intellectual wherewithal to understand the bill of goods they are being sold.
This is an old, elitist left-wing tactic. Remember Reagan was stupid, Quail was stupid, Bush 43 was stupid, and, of course, Sarah Palin wasn't just stupid, she was portrayed as stupid, cheap trailer park trash who had the audacity to be elected mayor of an Alaskan city and then elected governor of the entire state of Alaska. Of course, the snotty, east coast elitist MSM was enthralled by the racist, anti-American community organizer who became the left-wing Mesiah and ultimately the President.
I wonder what Alter's IQ is? Frankly, I'd be surprised if Alter is even potty trained.
Posted by Rick | August 21, 2009 12:29 AM | Political Science
Boycott Procter & Gamble
I wrote to Proctor & Gamble a week ago and received a promise that they would get back to me about their boycott of the Glen Beck show on FOX News. I have not received a reply to date.
I am assuming from their silence that they have, in fact, removed their advertising from the Beck show and have decided that they have no desire to do business with listeners and/or viewers of Beck's show.
If you would like to show your displeasure with Procter & Gamble, let them know with your pocketbook. There are many great alternatives to Tide laundry detergent, Bounty paper towels, Charmin toilet paper, and Duracell batteries, etc. Click here to view a list of Proctor & Gamble products they would rather you not purchase if you support Glen Beck.
Update: While Procter & Gamble does not seem to be advertising on Glen Beck's show, they are advertising on MSNBC shows such as blow hard Keith Olbermann's show, the ED show, and Rachael Maddow's show. Beck crushes MSNBC's Chris Matthews and O'Reilly crushes Olbermann in the ratings while FOX News generally obliterates MSNBC in all time slots, yet P & G would prefer to advertise on MSNBC. They must be getting a great deal to spend their advertising dollars on MSNBC's third-rate programs.
Posted by Rick | August 20, 2009 11:50 PM | Political Science ~ | Social Studies
Free Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
I was just listening to President Barack Hussein Obama's speech in Montana and he was receiving unrestrained applause from the audience during his health care giveaway. Not only is the Messiah promising everyone a free lunch, but free breakfast and dinner too.
Claiming that he is going to reform the insurance business from the ground floor up, the Anointed One says that he will force insurance companies to insure everyone, even if they have a preexisting medical condition(s). So, just to be clear, let's say I have no health insurance and I show up on the doorstep of ABC Insurance Company after being diagnosed with cancer of the liver. The prognosis gives me 0% chance of recovery and the cost of prolonging my life for a year or so is going to be $200,000. How is the insurance company going to justify paying for my care when all they can ask me to pay are a dozen or so monthly premiums?
If we could do the same with other insurance, no one would buy homeowner's insurance until after their house burned down and no one would buy automobile insurance until after they had an accident. If you believe that an insurance company can afford to insure someone who has a preexisting condition the same way they insure a healthy individual, you are as delusional as those Obama Kool-Aid drinkers in Montana who are applauding him as I write this.
Obama is promising to prohibit insurance companies from placing an annual or lifetime cap on benefits paid, and, he is also promising to limit the out-of-pocket expenses an insurance company can charge. As The Prez sez, "no one in America should be broke when they get sick."
Remember, members of Congress are excluding themselves from the proposed health care system they would subject the rest of us to. Ask them why they won't drink from the same Kool-Aid cup they expect the rest of us to drink from!!!
The entire plan is crap, and I do not use that word lightly This is a desperate President saying and promising anything to accomplish his socialist agenda. This is not ordinary Kool-Aid he is serving up, this is Reverend Jim Jones, Jonestown Kool-Aid. Do not succumb to the promises of a better place. There is no free breakfast, no free lunch, and there is no free dinner. There will be higher taxes. There will be long linesat the doctor's office and the hospital; there will be rationing of drugs, operations, and exams; and there will be people dying while waiting for health care just as there are in Canada and Great Britain.
Posted by Rick | August 14, 2009 12:42 PM | Political Science
Left Playing Economic Hardball With Dissenters
A racist left-wing group that calls itself ColorOfChange.org has decided to try and silence FOX News channel's Glen Beck. Beck is the newest star at FOX and most of the time advertisers would be glad to advertise during his show because he crushes his competition by a huge ratings margin, but ColorOfChange.org is literally using 'Black'mail to 'encourage' advertisers to pull their advertising from Beck's show, which airs at 5:00 P.M. EDT on the FOX News channel.
ColorOfChange.org was founded in 2005 by its executive director, James Rucker, who, like President Barack Hussein Obama, was essentially a community organizer for MoveOn.org, serving as Director of Grassroots Mobilization for MoveOn.org Political Action and Moveon.org Civic Action; and by Van Jones, who now serves as Special Advisor for Green Jobs at the White House Council on Environmental Quality. I don't know if he is considered one of President Barack Hussein Obama's czar's, but that certainly sounds like a pretty cushy job to me.
Oh, what a tangled web we weave. We now have at least one political operative in the White House with ties to a group he co-founded with a political operative from MoveOn.org, that is trying to silence a very successful member of the media who dares disagree with the President. Sounds like something Hugo Chavez would do if you ask me.
I am writing to the companies that have reportedly pulled their advertising from the Glen Beck Show and will post more about it later.
Posted by Rick | August 14, 2009 02:29 AM | Political Science ~ | Social Studies
Thoughts And Amazing Statements
1) Carl Bernstein, of Watergate fame, during an appearance on MSNBC's Morning Joe said this about Sarah Palin:
She is a demagogue. She is ignorant. She's a flake.Bernstein went on to say:
She's manifestly unqualified for high office. He (McCain) really committed an almost unpatriotic act in picking Sarah Palin...
I wonder what he comparing her to - the former community organizer and half term senator we currently have in the White House?
2) Meredith Vieira said this while speaking with President Barack Hussein Obama.
You are married to one of the most stylish women in the world...OMG! I don't think she's been watching the same first lady I've been watching.
3) How is the Obama's trickle up theory of economics treating you?
4) If health care reform passes, get ready for long lines, rationing and the 'duty to die' theory of health care.
5) The administration is concerned about the next shoe to drop in the economic recession, commercial real estate. Of course, the administration helped trash commercial real estate by closing over 2,000 car dealerships all over the country, not to mention the loss of jobs in those communities.
The administration is really clueless. They should have encouraged the automakers to keep those dealerships open. The marketplace would have taken care of dealers who couldn't make it.
5) Defense Secretary Gates was just in Israel trying to convince Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and perhaps himself, that President Barack Hussein Obama is not naive in his dealings with Iran. ROFLOL Contrary to what Obama would like the Jews in America and Israel to believe, he is no friend of Israel.
Posted by Rick | July 27, 2009 08:13 PM | Just A Thought ~ | Political Science ~ | Social Studies
Colin Powell - RINO, Racist, No Room
Colin Powell considers himself a Republican. However, he supported and voted for then Senator Barack Hussein Obama (D-IL) for President of the United States. This is the same Barack Hussein Obama who began his political career in the living room of the infamous terrorist William Ayers and sat in the congregation of the anti-American Reverend Jeremiah Wright for 20 or so years. This is the same Barack Hussein Obama who supports abortion rights, even the latest term abortion rights of women. This is the same Barack Hussein Obama who had accomplished little in his political career, and perhaps less in his professional career. One of the highlights of his poltical career iwas his record of voting "present" approximately 129 times while in the Illinois state legislature. As far as I can tell, the only noteworthy accomplishments of Barack Hussein Obama's professional career were his two books; one, an auto-biography recounting his days as a community organizer and drug user; the other, a tome filled with empty rhetoric complaining about a "political process that is broken" and a government that is out of touch with America. This is the same Barack Hussein Obama who campaigned on the empty rhetoric of "hope," "change," and class warfare. This is the same Barack Hussein Obama whose wife was 'proud of her country for the first time' only because her husband was now running for President of the United States.
I question why Colin Powell, a decorated solder who rose through the ranks of the Reserve Officers Training Corp (ROTC) to become a four-star general and one of the most powerful men in our armed services ever, serving as National Security Advisor, Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Army Forces Command, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, would vote for Barack Hussein Obama instead of Senator John McCain (R-AZ), a very moderate Republican who served his country proudly as a Navy flyer, Navy commander and, when his military career was over, Senator in the United States Congress. Is it possible that Mr. Powell was unaware of Barack Hussein Obama's friendships? Is it possible that Mr. Powell was unaware of Barack Hussein Obama's lack of accomplishments? Is it possible that Mr. Powell could not see through Barack Hussein Obama's empty campaign rhetoric and repugnant attempts to buy votes with his class warfare against the 'rich' in America who have the audacity to work hard, save, and risk their savings investing in America and ultimately make over $250,000 a year as a family? Is it possible that he understood Michelle Obama because he was only proud of his country when he was appointed four star general, or was it when he was appointed Secretary of State by President George W. Bush? I think it was none of those things. I believe that Colin Powell voted for Barack Hussein Obama because he is a black man and that makes Mr. Powell a racist. Nothing more, nothing less. The Republican party has no room for racists and, if by some odd chance Mr. Powell missed everything else about Barack Hussein Obama, he is too stupid to be a Republican. Either way, the Republican party has no room for Colin Powell.
Why Mr. Powell wants to continue to call himself a Republican is his business, but if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's a Democrat.
Posted by Rick | May 29, 2009 02:06 AM | Political Science
Political Fact Checking
From time to time I receive an email that somehow just doesn't ring true. This was the case about a week ago when I received a missive which originated at the Illinois Review that had been making the rounds on the internet. Although I added "If this is true it is pretty unbelievable.", I forwarded it without doing any research of my own.
Someone who received the email from me began the task of checking it out and emailed me back. I then began to research it on my own, and discovered that at least a portion of the email was not even close to the truth.
When I began to delve deeper into the erroneous message, I came across a website called FactCheck.org that will help anyone with a political question. I have added a link to their site in my reference desk.
From their own website they describe themselves as follows:
We are a nonpartisan, nonprofit "consumer advocate" for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. We monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases. Our goal is to apply the best practices of both journalism and scholarship, and to increase public knowledge and understanding.The Annenberg Political Fact Check is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. The APPC was established by publisher and philanthropist Walter Annenberg in 1994 to create a community of scholars within the University of Pennsylvania that would address public policy issues at the local, state and federal levels.
The APPC accepts NO funding from business corporations, labor unions, political parties, lobbying organizations or individuals. It is funded primarily by the Annenberg Foundation.
I have learned my lesson and will not forward items that I cannot verify personally or through a valuable tool like FactCheck.org. I hope anyone else who is tempted to forward email without some verification will take a few minutes and do a little research. The internet will be a better place for it.
Posted by Rick | April 21, 2009 10:09 PM | Political Science
Bonuses!?! What A Surpirse...
These guys in our government are idiots!!! That includes the current and past Presidents, the current and past treasury secretaries, and most, if not all, of the 535 members of Congress, past and present. It is not surprising that no one was aware that the AIG bonuses were already in place when it was decided to bail them out. No need to do any due diligence...Congress just decided to cut them a check for $170 billion dollars or whatever the exact amount ended up to be.
The reason I say it is not surprising is that they didn't bother to read any of the stimulus/bailout/budget packages. They didn't have time. They threw these spending packages together and voted on them before anyone could possibly read them, much less analyze them, no matter how large the check was going to be written for, ultimately spending trillions of dollars. They are writing checks so fast they don't have time to figure out what they bought; how much they lent; who they lent to; or which way is up.
The American people who elect these idiots time, after time, after time are going to get exactly what they deserve - screwed.
Posted by Rick | March 17, 2009 07:14 PM | Political Science
Rewarding Terrorism Obama Style
The United States is broke. We are borrowing against our children's futures, yet Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is giving $900 million dollars, hard-earned taxpayer dollars we don't have, to the terrorists in the Gaza strip. Now Hamas won't have to spend their or their supporters' (read Iran) money taking care of their people. They can use their money to buy rockets to continue in their quest to obliterate Israel.
Obama declared himself a supporter of Israel during the campaign. How exactly does this help Israel? Every American Jew who voted for Obama should be ashamed of themselves.
Posted by Rick | March 3, 2009 02:27 AM | Political Science
There Is No Doubt About It
After last night's speech by President Obama, a speech that was little more than a warmed over campaign speech, there is no doubt that Obama is undoubtedly the most naive President of my lifetime, and that includes Jimmy Carter.
Obama would like us to believe that he has all the answers - he is going to: fix our educational system: reform our health care system; reinvent our military; revive our failing economy: and, turn water into wine. Did I miss anything?
It is one thing to campaign like that, but unfortunately for him, and for us, his grandiose plans sound like something an eighth-grader came up with. What he really needs to do is put away the campaign speeches and go to work.
Posted by Rick | February 25, 2009 02:38 AM | Political Science
Adults Finally Surface In Auto Bailout
With Senator John Ensign (R-NV) threatening to filibuster the vote on the bill passed by the House of Representatives giving a bridge loan to the 'Big 3' auto companies and Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) proposing a bill that would actually put some teeth in the bailout by forcing concessions on the United Auto Workers union and the bond holders, there are finally some lawmakers with some common sense taking charge of the bailout process. Let's hope they can keep up the good fight.
Update: Unfortunately, Senate majority leader Harry Reid is not one of the adults who surfaced in the Senate. The Senate blocked the vote on the bogus bailout bill which passed in the House of Representatives and Senator Reid (D-NV) refused to allow a vote on the common sense bill proposed by Senate Republicans. Seems the Democrats only wanted to send a parting gift to the UAW before GM went belly-up. The UAW was never serious about saving either General Motors or their jobs.
Posted by Rick | December 11, 2008 05:40 PM | Political Science
Video Confirms Society's Lowest Common Denominators Elected Obama
There is a video along with a poll by John Ziegler that reinforces the notion that the lowest common denominators in society elected THE ONE, Barack 'Barry' Hussein Obama, to be the 44th president of the United Sates.
As a famous man (I can't remember exactly who...) once said, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do."
Posted by Rick | November 18, 2008 03:51 AM | Political Science
Two Senators Keeping Senate From Being Overrun By Democratic Horde
With 96.85% of precincts counted, Minnesota's incumbent Republican Senator Norm Coleman is leading wacko Al Franken by the narrow margin of 12,513 votes.
In Alaska, recently convicted felon, incumbent Republican Senator Ted Stevens, is leading his Democratic challenger Mark Begich by 4,526 votes after 72.1% of precincts have been counted. Senator Stevens will likely leave the senate at some point in the not to distant future should he be reelected. He would be replaced by someone chosen by Governor Sarah Palin. However, said appointment will only be for 90 days when a special election must be held.
Update: In Minnesota, with 98.55% of the vote counted, the Minnesota Secretary of State is reporting that Coleman is now leading by only 6,352 votes.
Posted by Rick | November 5, 2008 12:26 AM | Political Science
Obama Wins Big
It's only 7:30 P.M. P.D.T. and the presidential election is over. Barack Hussein Obama is the big winner. John McCain should have agreed to be Hillary's running mate. He would have had an office in the White House, even if he wasn't sleeping there.
If this election proves anything it is that racism is alive and well in America, if you are black that is. Fox News is estimating that 95% of black people voted for Obama. 95%!!! Can you imagine what the blacks would say if 95% of whites voted for McCain?
I watched Obama's acceptance speech given before a delirious crowd of well over 100,000 supporters at Grant Park in Chicago and, as usual, the speech was filled with little more than soaring, yet empty, rhetoric. The only thing missing from the setting was a gold crown. The crowd included Oprah Winfrey, who was hanging on Obama's every word, and Jesse Jackson, shown weeping uncontrollably throughout most of the speech.
The hard part for Obama is just beginning. He will now have to govern. He won't be able to vote 'present' any more. Decisions will have to be made. His first decision will likely be who gets to sleep in the Lincoln bedroom first, terrorist William Ayers or the anti-American Reverend Wright. I'm betting on Wright.
Labor unions, the same labor unions that have ruined the textile, automotive and airline industries, must be ecstatic now that the Democrats have control of both houses of congress and the presidency. Union leaders will be gearing up to press their highest legislative priority, the deceptively named Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), which seeks to replace secret ballot elections with publicly signed union cards. Should it become law, prices will undoubtedly be going up at Walmart. Non-union Walmart has long been a target of labor organizers. In Canada, Walmart merely closed one store where employees managed to organize into a union. Unfortunately, Walmart will not be able to hold off union organizers armed with the Employee Free Choice Act in the United States.
I had to laugh while watching the election coverage on CNBC after Barry's (Barack's) speech. A black man, whom I was not familiar with, spoke up and disparaged trickle down economics. Nope. There would be no more trickle down economics under President Barack Hussein Obama. No sireee. I guess he figures 'trickle up' will work better.
During the next four years I pledge to help him work on the 'trickle up' economic theory. I am going to hire less staff to do landscaping, painting, cleaning, and other general work at home and at work. I am going to spend less, much less as it were, on discretionary items. I pledge that there will be no purchases of new cars; no new refrigerators; no new washing machines or dryers; no new furniture; no new computers; no new printers; and, the most difficult item to personally give up, there will be no new CD's or DVD's. I urge others to join me - let's give Obama's trickle up economic theory a chance.
Posted by Rick | November 4, 2008 07:38 PM | Political Science
Just A Light Lunch
Barack Hussein Obama's campaign undoubtedly paid for Ms. Obama's lunch. I am quite sure that, should the Obama's get into the White House, this will only be the beginning of the untold extravagance. It is the 'Iranian' Osetra caviar that I am most curious about. Do we really buy Iranian caviar in the United States, and if we do, why would the Obama's support it?
Just one more flaw in the Obama's judgment.
Posted by Rick | October 31, 2008 12:37 AM | Political Science
Redistribution Of Wealth Nothing New To Obama
Here is an interview on Chicago Public Radio with Comrade Barack Hussein Obama discussing the best way to redistribute wealth. The interview is from 2001 when Obama was still an Illinois state legislator.
This just goes to show that Obama has tried to hide his true colors during his campaign for President.
Posted by Rick | October 27, 2008 12:48 PM | Political Science
Helping Obama Polish His Image
The blog, Patterico's Pontifications, has pointed out that a post written by 'red rabbit' on January 27, 2005, and since scrubbed from the web site Musings & Migraines, indicates that, if the post is true, Barack Obama was lying in the last debate when he denied the fact that traitor and terrorist Bill Ayers helped him launch his political career in the terrorist's living room.
Get to know Barack Obama When I first met Barack Obama, he was giving a standard, innocuous little talk in the livingroom of those two legends-in-their-own-minds, Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn. They were launching him--introducing him to the Hyde Park community as the best thing since sliced bread. His "bright eyes and easy smile" struck me as contrived and calculated--maybe because I was supporting another candidate. Since then, I've never heard him say anything new or earthshaking, or support anything that would require the courage of his convictions. I only voted for him in this last race--because his opponent was a pinhead. And I've been mostly alone in my views. But maybe that's changing.
Interestingly, no mention is made on the blog of any inaccuracies or falsehoods in the piece, which goes on to criticize Obama for voting to confirm Dr. Condoleezza Rice as Secretary of State. The piece just miraculously disappeared from the blog. Could this be one of the miracles that will ultimately lead to Obama's sainthood?
Posted by Rick | October 26, 2008 02:45 AM | Political Science
Colin Powell Endorses Obama
Colin Powell has decided that the best man to lead us out of the economic problems we are in is Barack Hussein Obama, not because he is black (wink, wink) but because he is the anointed one who has all the answers. Powell was also impressed that the ladies of The View liked Obama better.
Obama's answers boil down to just one - class warfare (socialism by any other name). Everyone but the most productive among us will get a tax cut. The poor slobs who dare make over $250,000 will pay a bunch more. It is their patriotic duty.
Former Secretary of State Powell says he is afraid of the conservative judges McCain might appoint to the Supreme Court. I always knew Powell was not a true conservative but merely an opportunist who would suck up to the nearest lamp post if it would further his career.
Powell is also disappointed that McCain had the audacity to pick the most popular governor in America, Sarah Palin, to be his running mate. Powell says she is not experienced enough to be President, forgetting the fact that she is actually more experienced than the Obama character he is endorsing. She has actually had executive experience running a town as mayor, and a state as governor. The proverbial 'buck' has stopped at her desk. The One, Obama, has experience as a community organizer, a state legislator (where he voted 'present' over 100 times) and as a U.S. Senator where he spent most of his time running for President. Those are pretty impressive credentials, if I do say so myself.
Colin Powell could have shown his good judgment by staying mute but has obviously has decided that race trumps qualifications and has thrown in with his 'bro.'
Posted by Rick | October 20, 2008 01:34 AM | Political Science
McCain Joins The Socialists
Although it had apparently been spoken of by McCain last spring, McCain decided to bring his hair-brained scheme of housing socialism into prime time tonight. Comrade McCain's plan to further socialize the housing market was spelled out in detail via a press release issued during tonight's debate:
AMERICAN HOMEOWNERSHIP RESURGENCE PLANJohn McCain will direct his Treasury Secretary to implement an American Homeownership Resurgence Plan (McCain Resurgence Plan) to keep families in their homes, avoid foreclosures, save failing neighborhoods, stabilize the housing market and attack the roots of our financial crisis. America’s families are bearing a heavy burden from falling housing prices, mortgage delinquencies, foreclosures, and a weak economy. It is important that those families who have worked hard enough to finance homeownership not have that dream crushed under the weight of the wrong mortgage. The existing debts are too large compared to the value of housing. For those that cannot make payments, mortgages must be restructured to put losses on the books and put homeowners in manageable mortgages. Lenders in these cases must recognize the loss that they’ve already suffered.
The McCain Resurgence Plan would purchase mortgages directly from homeowners and mortgage servicers, and replace them with manageable, fixed-rate mortgages that will keep families in their homes. By purchasing the existing, failing mortgages the McCain resurgence plan will eliminate uncertainty over defaults, support the value of mortgage-backed derivatives and alleviate risks that are freezing financial markets.
The McCain resurgence plan would be available to mortgage holders that:
· Live in the home (primary residence only)
· Can prove their creditworthiness at the time of the original loan (no falsifications and provided a down payment).
The new mortgage would be an FHA-guaranteed fixed-rate mortgage at terms manageable for the homeowner. The direct cost of this plan would be roughly $300 billion because the purchase of mortgages would relieve homeowners of “negative equity” in some homes. Funds provided by Congress in recent financial market stabilization bill can be used for this purpose; indeed by stabilizing mortgages it will likely be possible to avoid some purposes previously assumed needed in that bill.
The plan could be implemented quickly as a result of the authorities provided in the stabilization bill, the recent housing bill, and the U.S. government’s conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It may be necessary for Congress to raise the overall borrowing limit.
As an example, let's say your neighbor, who bought a new car every other year and took an annual Hawaiian vacation, bought a $300,000 house with 5% down ($15,000) and financed his closing costs ($12,000). Unfortunately, the market has driven the price of your neighbor's house down 20%. Your neighbor now owes $297,000 on a house that's only worth $240,000. Your neighbor is upside down $57,000 on his house. Hold everything! Here comes Comrade McCain to the rescue! Comrade McCain says your neighbor should be forgiven the $57,000 difference and given a lower interest rate to boot. After all, everyone is 'entitled' to own their home, and this is, of course, for the common good.
You, on the other hand, bought the same $300,000 house with 20% down ($60,000) that you had managed to save by doing without that new car every other year and by postponing your Hawaiian vacation until after you had enough to buy your house. You also paid your closing costs out of pocket to avoid going over the 80% loan-to-value threshold that triggers mortgage insurance. You now owe exactly what the house is worth ($240,000). Comrade McCain says too bad for you chump; shut up and keep paying on your 6% mortgage like a good boy. And by the way, please send us just a little extra in your taxes because we had to bail out your neighbor who needed that new car every other year and his annual Hawaiian vacation. It is, after all, for the common good.
I knew McCain was no conservative, but did not realize what a lefty he truly was. I'm surprised McCain didn't agree with Barack Hussein 'Barry' Obama during the debate when 'Barry' proclaimed health care in America to be a 'right' for everyone.
Unbelievable CRAP (read: Communists raping American people).
Posted by Rick | October 8, 2008 02:05 AM | Political Science
The Bailout Bill Is.....
CRAP. (read: Congress Rapes American People).
The Senate in it's ultimate wisdom decided it would take the bail-out bill that the House of Representatives voted down on Monday, loaded it up with a mere $150 billion dollars of pork and passed it by a pretty substantial margin. Now that same pork-laden bill has sent back to the House of Representatives for a vote on Friday morning. I guess they figure pork cures all ills.
The new bill did address a couple of issues that needed addressing.
First, it raised the FDIC guarantee on deposits to $250,000. ($100,000 just isn't what it used to be.)
Second, it changed the mark-to-market accounting that had the banks in a strangle-hold.
Unfortunately, the bill fails to address the underlying issue that got us into this mess in the first place. The banks and other lending institutions gave loans to people who couldn't pay them back. People with rotten credit were given loans. People were qualified at the teaser rate of adjustable rate mortgages who would not be able to pay the mortgage once the rate adjusted to the real rate. People were allowed to buy houses with no money down and some were even allowed to finance the closing costs, which meant they were upside down on the property from the minute they closed.
If this is truly a crisis of the first magnitude, Congress should pass a stand-alone bill (no pork) that addresses the underlying problem before we start throwing around $700 billion dollars to bail out Wall Street. Anything else is nothing more than CRAP.
Posted by Rick | October 2, 2008 11:38 AM | Political Science
Get To The Root Cause Before The Bailout
I am not opposed to doing something to fix the financial crisis, although the Newt Gingrich proposal seems to be more rational than just throwing $700 billion dollars at the problem. You can read what Newt had to say about the 'bailout' in an interview with Greta Van Susteren here
It seems that any 'bail-out' of the banking crisis should include basic revisions to the mortgage guidelines that brought on this crisis. None of the proposals I have seen get to the root cause of the problem and if the root cause is not addressed we will revisit this problem in a few short years. Although it will keep the demand for new and resale homes lower than perhaps most would like, revisions to the mortgage guidelines should include:
1. There should be no more adjustable rate mortgages for people who do not have the obvious means to pay for the mortgage if/when it increases.
2. People should not be approved at the 'teaser' interest rate of an adjustable rate mortgage.
3. There should be no more 'no money down' deals. Everyone should have to put at least 5% down.
4. There should be no mortgages given to those who have poor or marginal credit.
Everyone should keep in mind it is not a 'right' to own a home, and it is not the end of the world to rent, rather than purchase, a home.
Posted by Rick | September 26, 2008 02:24 PM | Political Science
McCain As Commander-In-Chief
Reflecting upon all the newspaper articles and television programs chronicling the events of September 11, 2001, and all the fine speeches given this year, especially the speech given by would-be president John McCain honoring the passengers of United Airlines Flight 93, that crashed into a field near Shanksville in Stonycreek Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania, I was reminded that unlike the passengers of Flight 93, supposed tough-guy, war hero John McCain is, and would be as president, unwilling to do whatever is necessary to stop attacks like those that killed thousands of Americans on 9/11/2001.
The unfortunate truth is that if John McCain were president prior to 9/11/2001, and we had actually captured one of the conspirators prior to the tragic events of that day, nothing would have changed. McCain, the great American warrior, would let 3,000, 30,000, or even 300,000 Americans die rather that extract information using motivational interrogation (waterboarding) that could change the course of events. I want a president who will protect America and American lives.
President John McCain would let you and your children die...
Posted by Rick | September 13, 2008 05:46 PM | Political Science
God, Country, Marxists And/Or Muslims
MSNBC's host Keith Olbermann and newly anointed host, lefty Rachel Maddow, spent an entire segment on Keith's show today making fun of Sarah Palin's religious beliefs. Of course, nothing was said of their beloved Barack Hussein Obama's wacko racist, anti-American church, Trinity United Church Of Christ, that the Obama's spent the better part of 20 years attending and, of course, there is Trinity's infamous hateful, racist, anti-American pastor, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Jr., who was Obama's spiritual advisor all those years. The Rev is a huge proponent of Black liberation theology.
Anthony B. Bradley, a research fellow at the Acton Institute for the study of religion and liberty, and assistant professor of apologetics and systematic theology at Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, wrote on April 2, 2008, in part:
One of the pillars of Obama's home church, Trinity United Church of Christ, is "economic parity." On the website, Trinity claims that God is not pleased with "America's economic mal-distribution." Among all of controversial comments by Jeremiah Wright, the idea of massive wealth redistribution is the most alarming. The code language "economic parity" and references to "mal-distribution" is nothing more than channeling the twisted economic views of Karl Marx. Black Liberation theologians have explicitly stated a preference for Marxism as an ethical framework for the black church because Marxist thought is predicated on a system of oppressor class (whites) versus victim class (blacks).
Bradley's entire article can be read here.
Of course, economic redistribution (AKA class warfare, socialism, communism) is the center-piece of Obama's economic plan to restore America to greatness. Haven't they tried class warfare, and/or socialism, and/or communism in one form or another in Russia, China, Cuba, and North Korea for the better part of the past century? Shining examples of economic growth and prosperity all...can you say bread line?
The battle of religions may be a battle that is not in B. Hussein Obama's best interest to fight.
On another note: Was it just a slip of the tongue or was it what the chosen one, Barack Hussein Obama, really holds dear when he mentioned 'his Muslim faith' on George Stephanopoulos' ABC show, "this week," this past Sunday?
Whether Obama is a member of a racist, anti-American church or a closet Muslim, do we really want him as our president and his angry wife as first lady?
Posted by Rick | September 9, 2008 12:07 AM | Political Science
Deterioration Of Social Mores In America
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin seems to be a fine candidate for vice-president.
However, the fact that she is going to parade her unwed, pregnant daughter, Bristol, and the kid who impregnated her before the Republican convention is really tacky. There is no shame in America anymore, and that is a shame.
It is fine to stick by your daughter if she makes a mistake but don't rub our noses in it. Bristol and her impregnator should stay home and read a book on birth control and/or parenting.
Posted by Rick | September 3, 2008 03:54 AM | Political Science ~ | Social Studies
Michelle Obama's Senior Thesis
Michelle LaVaughn Robinson, now Mrs. Michelle Obama, wrote her senior thesis, entitled "Princeton-Educated Blacks and the Black Community," in 1985 on what it was like being a black student at the prestigious, predominately white Ivy League university. Mrs. Obama was angry then, and is still angry 23 years later.
Politico.com has an overview of her thesis here.
You can read her thesis, which is published in four parts at politico.com as follows: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4.
Are you sure you want her running around the White House with that big ol' chip on her shoulder?
Posted by Rick | September 2, 2008 08:36 AM | Political Science
It's All About The Image
Tonight at the Democratic convention, Michelle Obama tried to polish her image from that of an angry, black woman to a warm, caring mother and wife who loves America. Unfortunately, her performance tonight only masked her true feelings about America. Make no mistake about it...Michelle Obama is that angry black woman who believes that America is a mean country.
Can you really imagine her running around the country in Air Force One spewing the socialist party line of income redistribution and hatred for the American way of life? If so, be my guest and vote for B. Hussein Obama.
Posted by Rick | August 25, 2008 04:24 PM | Political Science
Change
My lovely sister sent me an email that contained the following....
This is apparently making it way around the internet without any credits. My hat is off to whomever came up with this.
Posted by Rick | June 19, 2008 01:38 PM | Political Science
The Left Side Of South Dakota
As you may or may not know, I grew up in South Dakota, which is, along with Montana, the site of the final democratic primary tomorrow.
I have never really understood why a mid-western state with so many hard-working, generally well-educated people, a majority of whom go to church every Sunday, would be so liberal. South Dakota is, of course, the state that gave us Democratic senators George McGovern and Tom Daschle. McGovern, as I'm sure you remember, ran for President in 1972 and was crushed by incumbent President Richard Nixon. Hubert Humphrey, who was elected as a senator from Minnesota and ran against Richard Nixon in the 1968 presidential election, was also originally from South Dakota.
The general consensus in the MSM is that Barack Hussein Obama is going to win in South Dakota tomorrow. I hope it doesn't come to pass, not because I'm a Hillary supporter, but because I hope the people of South Dakota can see Obama for what he is - a racist, anti-American with an agenda that would bankrupt us financially at home and politically abroad.
Good luck Hillary! I hope you give the boy from Illinois what for tomorrow.
Posted by Rick | June 2, 2008 11:07 PM | Political Science
Is Bill Clinton In Trouble...Again?
You can read the latest on Bill Clinton in the Vanity Fair article which will hit the newstands this week here.
Posted by Rick | June 2, 2008 10:10 AM | Political Science
Straight Talk Express Now Double Talk Express
Today, in a "I voted against the war, before I voted for it" John Kerry moment, the Republican candidate for President, Senator John McCain, while attempting to distance himself from President Bush, angrily declared that 'never again, never again" would the federal government's response to a tragedy like hurricane Katrina be so inept, all the while proudly defending his votes against funding the relief and reconstruction efforts along the gulf coast in hurricane Katrina's wake.
How can the 'great' Senator McCain condemn the federal government's response to the catastrophe, when, as senator, he voted against sending any funds to the devastated areas, rationalizing his votes against the relief and reconstruction bills because they were laden with extraneous wasteful spending provisions, more commonly known as pork?
Senator McCain, who will normally cross the aisle in the blink of an eye, understands compromise and, just as he did when he went along with the 'gang of 14' which allowed some worthy candidates to the federal bench to be thrown under the bus while getting other federal judgeships approved, could have and should have voted for sending the much needed funds to Katrina victims, while looking the other way at the pork.
Now, because of his forceful "never again, never again" proclamation, one would believe that, as President, McCain would have signed the pork-filled bills if they were sent to him.
McCain voted against the funds for the relief effort as senator, but would have us believe that he would sign the legislation as President? "To be or not to be".... Which is it John boy??
It seems the Straight Talk Express wants to play politics with the Katrina catastrophe and today it became the Double Talk Express.
Posted by Rick | April 24, 2008 10:48 PM | Political Science
Holy Hypocrite
It is being reported that holier-than-thou New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, who as New York state attorney general prosecuted at least two prostitution rings, has been caught up in a prostitution scandal of his own. You can read more about his involvement in the prostitution scandal here. We are awaiting a statement from Governor Spitzer as I write this.
Could this have happened to a nicer guy?!
Update: In a very brief statement about the reports of his involvement in what he described as 'a private matter," Governor Spitzer had this to say, in part: "I apologize first and foremost to my family. I apologize to the public to whom I promised better."
No resignation was forthcoming, but because of his low approval ratings and his involvement in the smear campaign he has led against New York state senate majority leader Joseph Bruno, a resignation is almost a certainty.
You can read more about the smear campaign here and here.
Posted by Rick | March 10, 2008 11:56 AM | Political Science
McCain Makes It Official
John McCain made it official tonight winning the primary elections in Ohio and Texas and is the nominee of the Republican party for the 2008 presidential race. As liberal as he is, at least he is not a Communist. Unfortunately, that is the nicest thing I can say about him.
Posted by Rick | March 5, 2008 12:14 AM | Political Science
McCain - The Political Opportunist
Bob Cusack, in an article written for The Hill on 3/28/2007, describes discussions/negotiations Senator John McCain (R-AZ) had with leaders of the Democratic Party in 2001 that would have had McCain leaving the Republican Party, becoming an independent and caucusing with the Democrats.
(Then-Senate minority leader, Tom) "Daschle said that throughout April and May of 2001, he and McCain “had meetings and conversations on the floor and in his office, I think in mine as well, about how we would do it, what the conditions would be. We talked about committees and his seniority … [A lot of issues] were on the table.”"
To be fair, Daschle's claim was denied by McCain's campaign.
In a statement released by his campaign, McCain said, “As I said in 2001, I never considered leaving the Republican Party, period.”
Perhaps McCain was leading the Democrats down the primrose path; perhaps not.
You can read the entire article here and decide for yourself.
Posted by Rick | February 10, 2008 02:02 PM | Political Science
Anybody But McCain
It appears that the Republican party has been taken over by liberals such as John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. While I, as a conservative, have been a proud Republican since my college days, it is becoming increasingly apparent that I need a new, more conservative party to support and be a member of.
I found I could not support Bush '41' in 1992 after he supported NAFTA and broke his no new taxes pledge. Bush '43' has spent like a drunken sailor and refuses to control illegal immigration - he wasted money putting the National Guard on the border with no weapons and no mandate to stop illegals. Exactly how long has it been since the fence was supposed to have been built? McCain will support 'amnesty' for illegals; won't interrogate captured terrorists; will raise taxes à la Bush 41; will continue to support McCain-Feingold; can't be trusted to appoint conservative judges. Where are the conservative Presidential candidates in the Republican party?
We need someone with the courage to veto this crap. Unfortunately, McCain, who if he were to become President, is likely to sign every Democratic program that crosses his desk, including free health care for everyone.
ABM - Anybody but McCain!
Posted by Rick | February 7, 2008 12:58 AM | Political Science
"John MCain - True Conservative" - Another Hillarious Oxymoron
John McCain just can't help himself. The good Senator apparently believes, as most liberals do, that if you say something often enough people will believe it is true, no matter that it is just so much hogwash.
I was watching MSNBC for a couple minutes this afternoon and saw a campaign ad being run by the Senator's own campaign that ended with the full screen saying "John McCain - True Conservative." You can watch the ad here.
This ad shows just how desperate he is to sleep in the White House for the next four years and, not unlike Hillary Clinton, will say anything, absolutely anything, to get there.
Posted by Rick | February 4, 2008 03:03 PM | Political Science
Democrats Lose Best Candidate
Bill Richardson has dropped out of the race for President of the United States. This is a very sad turn of events because he was the most qualified candidate running for office in either party.
After majoring in French and political science at Tufts University, Richardson earned a master's degree in international affairs from Tufts' Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in 1971. From there he went on to serve for over 14 years in the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat from New Mexico. He then served as the Secretary of Energy and Ambassador to the United Nations in the Clinton administration and is currently the Governor of New Mexico.
That is a resume unrivaled by any of the candidates. Hillary’s experience came to her through osmosis in the rarefied air of the First Lady’s offices in the White House and Barack Hussein Obama is an empty suit, having accomplished virtually nothing during his days as an Illinois legislator and his two years as a U.S. senator. Obama's two years in the U.S. Senate were really more like one year since he normally worked about three days a week in that post.
Unfortunately, the Democrats are blinded by their burning desire to install a woman or an African-American in the White House and gave little support to the one man in either party who was truly qualified to be President.
Posted by Rick | January 10, 2008 10:07 AM | Political Science
John McCain - Too Cute By Half
I have noticed that whenever the subject of immigration comes up, the distinguished senator from Arizona, John McCain, says that we must secure the border first. Unfortunately, he then moves on to the next subject and no one wants to ask him - What would you do with all the illegals after we secure the border?
I believe that McCain still believes that they should all be given amnesty and citizenship. Break the law and the benevolent President McCain would reward the law breakers by giving them all a pass.
If you think America should be the dumping ground every uneducated, unskilled Mexican that can climb, tunnel or sneak into the United States, vote for McCain, but I won't. I can mow my own lawn.
Posted by Rick | January 3, 2008 02:15 AM | Political Science
McCain - Heartless
I had to laugh when I was the latest ad John McCain ran attacking Mitt Romney. He showed radical Muslims burning and blowing stuff up in an effort to say that Romney wouldn't know how to deal with the situation. Unfortunately, McCain wouldn't deal with the situation.
If tough guy McCain were President he has indicated over, and over and over that, should the United States capture even one of the Jihadists, he wouldn't hurt a hair on the scum bag's head in an effort to gain information that might stop further attacks no matter how many Americans, Brits, Aussies, or Spaniards might be in harms way. John McCain would let 9/11 happen again, and again, and again before he would lay a glove on an a prisoner of war.
John McCain would let them blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago. John McCain would let them blow up the Empire State Building. John McCain would let them fly a plane into a stadium during the Super Bowl. John McCain would let them behead you, your wife, your children and your dog. John McCain would let us all die rather than waterboard even one enemy combatant.
Give me anybody but John McCain. He just doesn't have the heart.
Posted by Rick | January 3, 2008 01:56 AM | Political Science
Liberals Love McCain
The liberal media is once again touting the candidacy of Senator John McCain (D R-AZ). They would love for the liberal McCain to represent the Republicans in the Presidential election next November.
Unfortunately, no Republican with more than a pea-sized brain could ever support McCain. I defy any conservative to name one policy McCain supported that would justify their vote. (Being a prisoner-of-war is not a policy.)
McCain championed the free-speech limiting McCain-Feingold legislation, opposed President Bush's tax cuts, supported "comprehensive" (read amnesty) immigration reform, and has refused, time and again, to support any form of interrogation technique that might actually protect American lives,
Senator McCain is a liberal in what is supposed to be a conservative political party. He really should, in order to be true to his beliefs, change his political party - and sooner rather than later.
Posted by Rick | December 28, 2007 12:17 AM | Political Science
Blame America First Crowd Blames U.S. For Bhutto Assassination
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated earlier today while she attended a political rally by a suicide bomber who shot her and then sent himself to hell by blowing himself up.
Left wingers on the internet, the radio and the television are putting forth the absurd argument that the United States is to blame for supporting Ms. Bhutto. Of course, their hatred for President Bush is clouding their judgment.
It’s not as if the political rallies Ms. Bhutto insisted on attending were in a secure location where all of the attendees went through metal detectors and were scrutinized by bomb-sniffing dogs. Those political rallies are held out in the open where virtually anyone could be targeted very easily by the fanatical Muslims. Even Ms. Bhutto’s pleas for more security while she attended these political rallies were unrealistic. There was no security under those circumstances that would have been able to thwart an attack such as this.
The radical Muslims had a vested interest in destabilizing the government in Pakistan. They did not want a woman in power, and certainly not a woman who was educated in, and friendly to, the United States. They want their Muslim clerics running the country just as they do in Iran.
Posted by Rick | December 28, 2007 12:05 AM | Political Science
Ocean Front Property In Arizona? Who You Gonna Believe?
If you are worried about the sea level rising as glaciers and the polar ice cap melt, read this interview.
Dr. Nils-Axel Mörner is the head of the Paleogeophysics and Geodynamics department at Stockholm University in Sweden. He is past president (1999-2003) of the INQUA Commission on Sea Level Changes and Coastal Evolution, and leader of the Maldives Sea Level Project. Dr. Mörner has been studying the sea level and its effects on coastal areas for some 35 years.
You can believe Dr. Nils-Axel Mörner or you can believe Al Gore. Personally, I'm not planning on investing in any ocean front property in Arizona.
Posted by Rick | October 21, 2007 02:48 AM | Political Science ~ | Social Studies
What To Expect From President Thompson...
Apparently former U.S. senator Fred Thompson doesn't hold a very high regard for the office to which he aspires.
Thompson was a senator during the impeachment of President William Jefferson Clinton. Unfortunately, when it came time to vote on the two counts of the impeachment, the senator from Tennessee voted not to convict President Clinton of perjury. Of course, everyone knows President Clinton lied through his teeth again and again - straight to the American people on television and under oath. He lied about Paula Jones and he lied about Monica Lewinsky. Yet the good senator couldn't bring himself to convict the Liar in Chief of perjury.
I am puzzled by his vote. He voted with all the pseudo-Republicans not to convict. Susan Collins (R-ME), John H. Chaffee (R-RI), Slade Gorton (R-WA), James M. Jeffords (R-VT), Richard C. Shelby (R-AL), Olympia J. Snowe (R-ME), Arlen Spector (R-PA), Ted Stevens (R-AK), and John W. Warner (R-VA ). You can see the entire vote here.
Is this what he expects of the President of the United States? Is this what we can expect from him if we elect him to that high office?
Sometimes there are deal breakers and this is one of them for me. I would rather have Hillary to kick around for 4 years than a Judas like Fred Thompson in the White House. If Fred Thompson is the Republican nominee I will vote, but I will vote for the Libertarian candidate.
Posted by Rick | October 20, 2007 05:01 AM | Political Science
Democrats Are Off The Reservation
MoveOn.org's now infamous General Petraeus ad was about what you would expect to come from George Soros. He is as anti-American as you can get. Can you say communist?
Hillary Clinton's latest vote buying scheme is so ludicrous I wasn't going to mention it, but really Hillary - $5,000 to every baby born in America! That really is pandering to the lowest common denominator.
Barack Obama has removed the American flag lapel pin as a protest against the war. Who does he think he is, John Kerry?
These guys are just too funny.
Posted by Rick | October 6, 2007 06:13 AM | Political Science
McCain Would Let New York City Become Another Chernobyl
I watched the Republican debate on Fox News tonight and Senator John McCain (D-AZ) talked tough on spending, immigration and the war on terrorism. Unfortunately, the tough talking Senator said that he would allow America to become a waste land before he would torture someone to stop a nuclear bomb from going off in America.
The good Senator should go home and leave the tough work of governing to someone with the balls to protect us.
Posted by Rick | September 5, 2007 08:23 PM | Political Science
Is Fred Thompson The Second Coming Of Ronald Reagan?
While comparisons of Ronald Reagan and Fred Thompson are constantly made because both were actors before they became prominent politicians, I think the similarity ends there.
Ronald Reagan was a big picture politician and had a burning desire to become president. After running (and losing) in the primaries in 1976 against incumbent President Gerald Ford, Reagan continued his quest for the presidency virtually non-stop until the elections in 1980.
On the other hand, the vision for Fred Thompson's candidacy seems to come from the day dreams of the media rather than the candidate himself. After listening to Thompson's speeches it is quite apparent that Fred has no substantive vision for his candidacy or the nation.
If and when Thompson does actually declare for the presidency, it will be the highlight of his campaign. It will all be downhill from there.
Posted by Rick | September 5, 2007 11:46 AM | Political Science
Sex In The Big City Restroom
After being accused of attempting to solicit sex in the men's room at the Minneapolis Airport, Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) submitted his guilty plea to a charge of disorderly conduct, paid $575 in fines and fees and was put on unsupervised probation for a year, while a sentence of 10 days in the county workhouse was stayed.
Today Senator Craig went before the cameras and proclaimed his innocence. Excuse me while I puke. The guy is as gay as Elton John and as guilty as Bill Clinton.
The Democrats have already begun their hue and cry for Senator Craig to resign. They should sit down and shut up. They have no moral authority to call for anyone to resign after allowing President Clinton to remain in office after he chased a lowly intern named Monica Lewinsky around the oval office, then lied about it under oath. (Thank God for the 'blue dress'.)
I, having never cheated on my wife or skulked around public restrooms looking for anonymous sex, do have the moral authority to ask for this lowlife to call it a day.
Having disgraced himself and the office of United States Senator, this scumbag should go home to Idaho and never show his face in public again. We do not need our United States Senators running around public restrooms searching for illicit sex. Leave that to George Michael.
Senator Craig, resign NOW!
Posted by Rick | August 28, 2007 11:47 PM | Political Science
Stick A Fork In McCain, He's Done!
With virtually no money left in his campaign coffers, and no support from the right, John McCain is now trying to revive his campaign today by pandering to the left and the moderates, promising he would close the detention center at Guantánamo Bay, and guaranteeing that the United States would never torture anyone else if we would only elect him President.
In all honesty, the detention center lovingly referred to as Gitmo, where they house the illegal combatants, is little more than a country club. Special meals are actually flown in from Las Vegas at a cost of over $12 per day per prisoner, which is more than four times the cost of feeding prisoners in our federal prison system.
Remember the pranks they pulled at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq that had every bleeding heart liberal screaming bloody murder? That wasn't torture. That was fraternity hazing at best, and, I must say, not all that imaginative.
McCain believes torture doesn't work. I say, tomatoes. If John McCain believes he was tortured while he was a prisoner-of-war, again I say, tomatoes. Relatively speaking, the North Vietnamese treated him with kid gloves because he was the son of an admiral in the U.S. Navy - an admiral who happened to command the U.S. forces in the Pacific during the Vietnam war. The North Vietnamese were going to make sure that he left the Hanoi Hilton in one piece, and he did.
The good senator must not watch any movies, because all you have to do is watch a couple good gangster movies to know that with a little imagination and the right tools (hammers, nails, vice-grips, a couple scalpels, a high-speed drill, and a kitchen-type blow torch) you could have someone begging to tell you everything, yes, everything he knew about anything you asked, and sooner rather than later.
You don't believe me?
Let's play make believe.
It's 8 A.M. and we believe you know where a dirty bomb has been hidden. We also believe the bomb will go off at 1 P.M.. This is a dirty bomb that, if it explodes, will make a ghost town out of downtown Manhattan and will certainly kill thousands of Americans slowly, and painfully.
John McCain and I will be your interrogators and we want to know exactly where the dirty bomb has been hidden.
Senator McCain gets first crack at you, the scum bag Muslim jhadist.
Tough guy McCain wants to know where the bomb is and in his ever so forceful voice asks you politely to tell him where the bomb is. You're a tough guy too and you forcefully, yet politely, decline to answer.
McCain implores you to please tell him where the bomb is. He knows you are a reasonable Muslim jhadist and, because of his good looks and engaging personality, is sure you will gladly tell him where the bomb has been hidden. You admit to him that he was very convincing but you just can't bring yourself to tell him where the bomb is.
You can hear the frustration in McCain's tough guy voice as he screams at you, "Tell me where the bomb is, or else." (He knows that when his mother said "or else" she really meant business and it always worked on him.) He is beginning to wear you down, but you manage to say nothing.
McCain is getting serious now. He pounds on the desk and threatens to put you in jail forever. You admit to yourself that McCain was pretty persuasive in his argument and he almost got you to talk. Fortunately, you were able to bite your tongue.
With nothing left to say to you, the almost persuasive John McCain went to lunch, leaving you alone to reflect on the impending destruction.
Fortunately for you, the tight lipped jhadist, but unfortunately for Americans, you believe that your plan will now succeed. Presidential wanna-be McCain is willing to let the bomb go off since he couldn't convince you in a humane, civilized and politically correct way that it is better for everyone if you tell him where the bomb is. He believes we are too honorable to mistreat anyone, for any reason, and by the way, doesn't want us to forget the Geneva Conventions.
As they say on the internet...roflmao (roll on floor laughing my ass off).
I, on the other hand, am not willing to put the life, limb, or politically correct feelings of a scum bag terrorist like you ahead of the life or well-being of a single American and am bound and determined to get the information. I believe that we won't have a civilization if we are not prepared to do whatever is necessary to defend and protect our country. Unfortunately for you, the scum bag jhadist, I will do anything, and everything, in my power to find out where you put that bomb.
Let's get down to some serious questioning. Please tell me where that bomb is I politely ask? You reply that you don't want to hurt my feelings but my interrogation tactics just won't work on you. You have already been interrogated by the most convincing person you can imagine. You are a really tough guy and you are just not willing to tell me anything about the bomb.
Now I am more determined than ever to find out where that bomb is. Maybe I can convince you.
Let's start by pulling out your fingernails and your toenails without benefit of anesthesia, of course. (No good interrogator would ever use anesthesia.) You politely tell me that torture won't work on you and this "run-of-the-mill torture" certainly won't make you spill your guts?
With frustration beginning to show in my voice, I politely ask you where the bomb is as I drill your teeth. After all 28 teeth were drilled (your wisdom teeth were extracted as a child you tell me), you admit the pain was excruciating but still give no indication that you are prepared to tell me the location of that darn bomb.
What is an interrogator to do? I pull out your teeth, but some are unfortunately broken off before they can be extracted. Again, although you have a little difficulty speaking, you very politely decline to answer my questions about the bomb. You truly are a tough guy.
I am getting serious now. Let's see if crushing your fingers and toes one at a time with a sledge hammer will motivate you to talk. Mum's the word? Now "Don't worry," I say. You don't look too good, can't hold anything and probably don't feel like standing up, but you're still alive. I have to admit you are one tough jhadist.
Perhaps having your knee caps and elbows broken with a ball peen hammer will loosen you tongue. Bush (no pun intended) league torture you say. OK. That's no problem, because I'm just getting warmed up and I haven't felt a thing.
As I clean off my pall peen hammer, I wonder aloud if ten-penny nails driven into the bottom of your feet will loosen your tongue. "Loose lips sink ships," you mumble to me through your broken teeth. Wow! You're a better man than me.
Let's try crushing your testicles with a vice-grip. Cat still got your tongue? "You're a pretty tough cookie," I mutter to myself. "That jhadist training is amazing,"
I'm ready for lunch and I am down to my last couple of tricks. Creme brule anyone? Let's see if melting your eyeballs with a blowtorch will induce you to tell me what I want to know. Haven't spilled your guts yet? HOLY PROPHET! That eyeball thing usually gets them every time.
I have one last trick up my sleeve...
I politely threaten to kill you and bury you in the belly of a pig. Oh My God! I knew that would get you. You tell me where the bomb is and even tell me where I can find your first born child.
After I rush off and defuse the bomb, I'm hungry and a little tired so I go to lunch. At lunch I see John McCain getting ready to begin his new career as a public servant. (He is taking out the garbage - a job for which he is truly suited.)
To recap: That is what I call torture, and it will get us the information we need to save American lives and the American way of life.
Would you like to bet your life on it? If you want to make that bet, go ahead - donate to, and vote for, John McCain for President. In the end, it won't matter. The American people have seen and heard enough of John McCain.
Stick a fork in him, he's done!
Posted by Rick | July 14, 2007 11:05 PM | Political Science
Bush Wimps Out Again
Today President Bush completed another job half-heartedly half way. Unfortunately, instead of pardoning I. Lewis 'Scotter' Libby, Vice-president Cheney's former chief-of-staff who was convicted of lying about a non-crime, Bush decided he would commute Libby's 30 month jail term, but left standing 2 years of probation and a $250,000 fine. Here is the news release as posted on the White House website:
Statement by the President On Executive Clemency for Lewis LibbyWhite House News
Grant of Executive ClemencyThe United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit today rejected Lewis Libby's request to remain free on bail while pursuing his appeals for the serious convictions of perjury and obstruction of justice. As a result, Mr. Libby will be required to turn himself over to the Bureau of Prisons to begin serving his prison sentence.
I have said throughout this process that it would not be appropriate to comment or intervene in this case until Mr. Libby's appeals have been exhausted. But with the denial of bail being upheld and incarceration imminent, I believe it is now important to react to that decision.
From the very beginning of the investigation into the leaking of Valerie Plame's name, I made it clear to the White House staff and anyone serving in my administration that I expected full cooperation with the Justice Department. Dozens of White House staff and administration officials dutifully cooperated.
After the investigation was under way, the Justice Department appointed United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Patrick Fitzgerald as a Special Counsel in charge of the case. Mr. Fitzgerald is a highly qualified, professional prosecutor who carried out his responsibilities as charged.
This case has generated significant commentary and debate. Critics of the investigation have argued that a special counsel should not have been appointed, nor should the investigation have been pursued after the Justice Department learned who leaked Ms. Plame's name to columnist Robert Novak. Furthermore, the critics point out that neither Mr. Libby nor anyone else has been charged with violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act or the Espionage Act, which were the original subjects of the investigation. Finally, critics say the punishment does not fit the crime: Mr. Libby was a first-time offender with years of exceptional public service and was handed a harsh sentence based in part on allegations never presented to the jury.
Others point out that a jury of citizens weighed all the evidence and listened to all the testimony and found Mr. Libby guilty of perjury and obstructing justice. They argue, correctly, that our entire system of justice relies on people telling the truth. And if a person does not tell the truth, particularly if he serves in government and holds the public trust, he must be held accountable. They say that had Mr. Libby only told the truth, he would have never been indicted in the first place.
Both critics and defenders of this investigation have made important points. I have made my own evaluation. In preparing for the decision I am announcing today, I have carefully weighed these arguments and the circumstances surrounding this case.
Mr. Libby was sentenced to thirty months of prison, two years of probation, and a $250,000 fine. In making the sentencing decision, the district court rejected the advice of the probation office, which recommended a lesser sentence and the consideration of factors that could have led to a sentence of home confinement or probation.
I respect the jury's verdict. But I have concluded that the prison sentence given to Mr. Libby is excessive. Therefore, I am commuting the portion of Mr. Libby's sentence that required him to spend thirty months in prison.
My decision to commute his prison sentence leaves in place a harsh punishment for Mr. Libby. The reputation he gained through his years of public service and professional work in the legal community is forever damaged. His wife and young children have also suffered immensely. He will remain on probation. The significant fines imposed by the judge will remain in effect. The consequences of his felony conviction on his former life as a lawyer, public servant, and private citizen will be long-lasting.
The Constitution gives the President the power of clemency to be used when he deems it to be warranted. It is my judgment that a commutation of the prison term in Mr. Libby's case is an appropriate exercise of this power.
When is Bush going to stand up against this crap served up by the left? My guess is NEVER.
Posted by Rick | July 2, 2007 09:21 PM | Political Science
Freedom Of Speech As Long As It's From The Left
This morning, July 2, 2007, I watched an unbelievable interview of Paul Krugman, New York Times op-ed columnist, by Darby Dunn on CNBC. I took the time to transcribe it because I found Mr. Krugman, a well paid member of the left wing press, so hypocritical in his approach to freedom of the press. Apparently Mr. Krugman believes that the only good press is a leftist press, and in his interview he is shown to be a typical leftist who would like to suppress the speech of someone who doesn’t agree with him and his communist friends. Next week he will be leading the charge to bring back 'The Fairness Doctrine" along side Senators Kerry, Boxer and Durbin.
DD: What if you could not trust a news outlet to give you the whole truth? Should you then allow the person controlling that company to buy another media outlet? That is the question raised by Paul Krugman in his New York Times column “The Murdoch Factor.”Mr. Krugman joins us now.
Paul, the Murdock in question, of course, is Rupert Murdoch. The news outlet he’s trying to buy is Dow Jones which publishes the Wall Street Journal. So you’re saying you think he should not be allowed to buy that newspaper , and if so, why?
PK: Well, you know there’s no, legally he had the right. So the question is really whether pressure can be brought, moral pressure mostly, on the Bancroft family. You know there’s a lot of discussion about, speculation about how Murcoch would run the Wall Street Journal if he gets it. Amazingly, there’s very little discussion of how he actually runs his most distinctive news outlet, which is Fox News, and it is, you know, worse than you can imagine. We have hard evidence that Fox has been a, both a biased and a cheapened news outlet, and there is every reason to think that he would bring at least some of that to the Wall Street Journal, which although it is a competitor to my employer, is in fact is one of America’s handful of really great national newspapers.
DD: And don’t you think that he recognizes that? That that is one of the nation’s great newspapers, and so that he would be reticent to change it into something of a, like a tabloid.
PK: Well, there’s some hope on that but, you know, do you really want to trust in that, and the fact of the matter is, look, he may believe that, that cheapened inaccurate news sells, he may even be right about that. It’s a problem. Also he has given pretty clear signals that he intends to change the Journal in ways that will make it worse, I mean, from my point of view certainly. He said, you know, that he thinks that the non-business news reporting is too liberal, so he has already made it clear that he intends to move the reporting in a partisan direction. And let’s not forget, you of all people should be aware that Murdoch is planning a Fox business channel because he believes CNBC is insufficiently pro business. So you’ve got a, you know, is this the person you really want taking over one of America’s two great national newspapers and its premier business news source
DD: You raised a question in your column of possibly congressional hearings; some kind of public outcry. But we haven’t heard anything like that. Why not?
PK: You know if you were a politician... First of all, it’s moving kind of fast . It’s... I have to admit, there isn’t a whole lot of time. The other thing, if you’re a politician, there’s always the problem of dealing with the media. You’ve got to worry that you yourself are going to get unfavorable coverage. One of the problems that Democrats have certainly had is trying to get their own members to say look, Fox is not a legitimate news outlet, which it’s not. But those same members are hoping for face time on Fox TV.DD: Now they are trying to hammer out some kind of agreement on editorial direction for the paper, the Bancroft family, before they actually go ahead and favor a sale of Dow Jones, So I would assume you're of the mind that Murdoch’s not going to honor any kind of agreement like that?
PK: Well, there’s been back and forth about what the agreement actually entails, but it sure sounds as if it’s not going to be enough. As if, you know, there might be some, some residual power to block appointments, but in the end, and this is from Murdoch’s track record, in the end he will be a position to very much shape the paper. It’s one of those things that would almost certainly be nothing but a paper protection, a hypothetical protection that won’t actually prevent it from doing exactly what he wants to do.
DD: Paul, in your column you highlight some interesting statistics about readers and viewers and whether they’re misinformed on certain things. Can you share some of the highlights from the statistics.
PK: Sure. I mean that was the really stunning thing. This is in the fall of 2003, after we had failed to find WMD in Iraq; after basically the rationale for the war had turned out to be wrong. 80 per cent of Fox news viewers, people who got their news primarily from Fox, believed one of three completely wrong things about the war; that we found WMD, actually found them; that we found clear evidence that Sadam and Al Quaeda had been in cahoots; or that world opinion supported the US invasion of Iraq. You know those were totally false things, but 80% of Fox news viewers believed at least one of those things compared with only a little over 20% of people who got their news from National Public Radio. That, you know that, I like statistics like that because we can go back and forth, he said, she said, about whether Fox news is actually biased, but if you can show that people who get their news there have got a seriously warped version of the news, that kind of settles the question. My other favorite thing, just you know, Fox has basically ramped down coverage of Iraq as things have failed to go the way they wanted, They can no longer pretend that’s its just liberal media reporting, failing to report the good news. So there is this wonderful statistic that in the first quarter of this year, Fox News daytime, which is the most distinctive, Fox News daytime spent almost three times as much time covering Anna Nicole Smith as it did covering the Iraq war and all the debates around the war.
DD: That Anna Nicole Smith story did get a lot of coverage by all of the networks I must say. We’re out of time though Paul. Thank you very much for coming in. Paul Krugman, New York Times op-ed columnist.
Posted by Rick | July 2, 2007 09:14 PM | Political Science
New Math In The Senate
Senator Teddy "Chappaquiddick" Kennedy (D-MA) spoke yesterday after the crushing defeat of the comprehensive immigration reform bill claiming that a minority of the Senate had stopped it from passing. From the Congressional Record:
Immigration reform is an opportunity to be true to our ideals as a nation. Our Declaration of Independence announces that all of us are created equal. Today, we failed to live up to that declaration for millions of men and women who live, work, and worship beside us. But our ideals are too strong to be held back for long. Martin Luther King had a dream that children would be judged solely by ‘‘the content of their character.’’ Today, we failed to make that dream come true for the children of immigrants. But that dream will never die. It has the power to overcome the most bitter opposition I believe we will soon succeed where we failed today, and that we will enact the kind of comprehensive reform that our ideals and national security demand. Soon, word will echo across the country about the consequences of today’s vote. The American people will know that a minority of the Senate blocked a record investment in border security.H.L. Mencken said that for every complex problem, there is a simple solution—and it is wrong. A minority in the Senate has employed a simple label against this bill—amnesty—and they
were wrong, too. A minority in the Senate rejected a stronger economy that is fairer to our
taxpayers and our workers. A minority of the Senate rejected America’s own extraordinary immigrant history and ignored our Nation’s most urgent needs.
Of course, if Senator Kennedy was less busy worrying about where he was going to get his next case of scotch and more interested in the basic math of the situation, he would have noted the the cloture vote on the bill failed by a majority vote of the senators (46-53).
Note to Senator Teddy "Chappaquiddick" Kennedy: The 12 million or so ILLEGAL ALIENS do not have a right to invade our country willy-nilly. We are a country of laws, and we have laws governing immigration. No one has a right to come here and live - it is a priviledge that we grant to some of those who apply legally.
The government, that you are a part of, has a duty to secure our borders and return people who are here illegally to their country of origin. Get to it!
Posted by Rick | June 29, 2007 09:54 AM | Political Science
Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill Crushed
Senate majority leader Senator Harry Reid (D-NV), although disappointed that the comprehensive immigration reform bill was defeated on a cloture vote (46-53), was glad that new friends were made and newfound trust was abundant in the Senate. From the Congressional Record after the crushing defeat of the cloture vote on the comprehensive immigration reform bill:
The majority leader is recognized.Mr. REID. Mr. President, the vote has been cast. As I told a number of my Republican friends, even though the vote is disheartening to me in many ways, I think as a result of this legislative
work we have done in the last several months on this legislation, there have been friendships developed that were not there before, trust initiated that did not exist before. I say to my friends, Democrats and Republicans, this is a legislative issue. It will come back; it is only a question of when. We are only 6 months into this Congress. We have so much to do. Hopefully, this lesson we have all learned will be one where we recognize we have to work more closely together. I hope we can do that. I say to all of you, thank you very much for your patience—
the phone calls I have made; if I twisted arms, it was not very often. I so appreciate—I think I speak for all of us—being able to be part of this great Senate where we are able to participate
in decisions such as this.
What a load of crapola. The Democrats have been nothing more than obstructionists for the seven years George Bush has been President.
The fact is that Americans could see through the rhetoric by the President, Senator Teddy "Chappaquiddick" Kennedy (D-MA) and others who could not wait to give away our sovereignty. The phone calls, emails, letters, and the decibel level on talk radio put the fear of God into the Senate and America is still a sovereign nation.
Hopefully the President will now get off his throne and protect the border, as is his mandate. He should immediately hire more border patrol agents and, while the new agents are being trained, give the national guard that are currently on the border some ammunition and a true mission statement to PROTECT the border, not just watch it.
Unfortunately, I doubt if the President will get the message. He has become more clueless than his father.
Posted by Rick | June 28, 2007 10:05 AM | Political Science
Coulter On Injustice In America
Ann Coulter chimes in on 'injustice in America' with an article you can read here.
Posted by Rick | June 26, 2007 11:36 AM | Political Science ~ | Social Studies
R.I.P. Comprehensive Immigration Reform
Now that the comprehensive immigration reform bill is dead, President Bush can get down to business and SECURE THE BORDER!!!
Posted by Rick | June 8, 2007 01:36 AM | Political Science
Brothers-In-Arms
Hugo Chavez, Danny Glover, and John Edwards = Brothers-In-Arms!?
Glover visited Chavez in Argentina and proclaimed them brothers.
Now Edwards and Glover are appearing together promoting Edwards for President.
Edwards, playing all the angles, must figure he can always represent Chavez' Citgo if he loses in his bid for the presidency. How can he lose? After all, he could really use a bigger house.
Posted by Rick | June 7, 2007 02:50 AM | Political Science
McCain On Immigration And Border Control
Although he was accused of being too busy running for President to actively negotiate the latest 'comprehensive' (read amnesty) immigration package, Senator John McCain (R-AZ) is 'proud' to have been a part of the newest proposal for amnesty for 12 million ILLEGAL aliens. From TheHill.com:
One senator who lent his presence yesterday was John McCain (R-AZ), who has distanced himself from the negotiating table as he prepares to stress a borders-first approach for his presidential run. McCain chose his words carefully, telling reporters he is “proud to have been a small part” of the talks.
Of course, Senator Teddy "Chappaquiddick' Kennedy (D-MA) is ecstatic because 90% of the ILLEGAL aliens will eventually register as Democrats when they become citizens. Why? Because the Democratic party will always attract 90% of all the low-lifes.
McCain may just as well join the ILLEGAL aliens and register as a Democrat because he is finished in the Republican party.
The Bush presidency is imploding on the issue of immigration as well.
While his Daddy's Waterloo was "Read my lips, NO NEW TAXES," Bush 43's immigration policy or lack thereof will ultimately lead to the Republican party's demise and the country's fiscal ruination.
Unfortunately, I believe history will show that although the war in Iraq defined the Bush '43' presidency in the short term, Bush's unwillingness to control the borders in any meaningful way during his presidency and his unconscionable support of a policy legitimizing millions of illegal aliens who will bring anarchy to our streets and bankrupt our society after his term in office will be his true legacy.
Posted by Rick | May 22, 2007 03:14 AM | Political Science
It's Official - "Republican" John McCain Is A Candidate For President
To no one's surprise, Senator John McCain (R-AZ) announced today that he is running for President of the United States. The problem is that Republican Republican-in-name-only McCain is running in the wrong party. McCain has absolutely no hope of occupying the West Wing of the White House as a Republican. He has told those of us in the conservative base of the Republican party to stick it where the sun don't shine on a host of issues but now wants, and desperately needs, our support. Fortunately, we're not as dumb as he looks.
Over the next few days, I will be delving into Senator McCain's positions on campaign finance, abortion, gun control, immigration, drilling for oil, tax cuts, supreme court nominees, and terrorist interrogations.
Stay tuned.
Posted by Rick | April 25, 2007 06:37 PM | Political Science
Libby vs. Berger...No Contest
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/03/berger_libby_a_tale_of_two_cri.html
Posted by Rick | March 13, 2007 10:41 AM | Political Science
Too Cold For Any Outrage
As a cold wave sweeps across a large section of the United States, also-ran Democratic presidential hopeful Senator Joe Biden (D-DE), put both feet in his big mouth this week when, in an interview with the New York Observer, he said:
"I mean you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice looking guy. I mean, that's storybook."
Unless I somehow missed it, there was not one of the usual suspects from the African-American community, no Jesse Jackson, no Al Sharpton, no Kweisi Mfume, no CongresswomanSheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX), no Louis Farrakhan from the Nation of Islam, on TV expressing their usual outrage at slights, real or imagined. No one could be found demanding Biden resign from the senate, or even withdraw from the presidential race. They were all MIA..
Apparently it was just too cold for any outrage this week. I guess brain-freeze got to them.
For more information on the the founder of the Nation of Islam see: Elijah Muhammad, also known as Elijah Poole. Louis Abdul Farrakhan is aka Louis Eugene Walcott, aka Prince Charmer, aka Calypso Louie. Former President and Chief Executive Officer of the NAACP Kweisi Mfume is aka Frizzell Gray.
Posted by Rick | February 3, 2007 09:28 AM | Political Science
Do You Hear That Sucking Sound?
No, it is not Monica Lewinsky!
That loud sucking sound is the mainstream media (MSM) sucking all the air out of everyone's presidential campaign except that of former first lady, now Senator, Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY).
Media darlings, Senators Barack Hussein Obama (D-IL) and John McCain (R-AZ), have even been forgotten since Hillary announced the formation of her presidential exploratory committee 8 days ago.
The really big news that mega-wealthy George Soros, major financier of MoveOn.org, Air America Radio, and other liberal outlets, had abandoned Hillary in favor of BHO got only fleeting mention in the media this past week.
Hillary is the MSM's choice as Bush's heir apparent and I believe that unless and until some catastrophe befalls her campaign, the other announced candidates will receive little or no attention.
Posted by Rick | January 28, 2007 07:08 AM | Political Science
Drooling In Vain
It is almost official. It has come as no surprise to anyone that Senator (and former first lady) Hillary Clinton (D-NY) announced today that she will form an exploratory committee in her bid to win the Presidency in 2008. Her announcement said in part:
I'm in. And I'm in to win.Today I am announcing that I will form an exploratory committee to run for president.
And I want you to join me not just for the campaign but for a conversation about the future of our country -- about the bold but practical changes we need to overcome six years of Bush administration failures.
I am going to take this conversation directly to the people of America, and I'm starting by inviting all of you to join me in a series of web chats over the next few days.
The stakes will be high when America chooses a new president in 2008.
With the formation of this committee, Senator Clinton will now be able to officially raise funds in her bid to retake the White House living quarters.
Of course the mainstream media (MSM) has been breathlessly speculating about this for years and now that Barack Hussein Obama has also formed an exploratory committee, they have begun drooling about a Hillary/Obama ticket.
Unfortunately, the MSM might as well put away their drool buckets. When (not if) Hillary wins the Democratic nomination, she will not name the freshman senator from Illinois as her running mate.
Although the MSM would love a white woman and a black man on the Democratic ticket, it just won't happen with these two in 2008. Obama's lack of any real experience in big time politics will not affect Hillary's decision. The fact that he is one of the laziest senators in Washington and has managed to accomplish virtually nothing in the short time he has been in the Senate will not affect Hillary's decision.
Hillary's decision will be based solely on the fact that Obama is a black man from Illinois and, as such, brings nothing to the table.
Hillary, 'the smartest woman in America,' knows that she can already rely on receiving 90% of the black vote in America. Even if that could be improved upon, the fact is that there are some Democrats, especially in the South, who would not be caught dead voting for a black man thus offsetting any potential gains in the black community.
Hillary also knows that the corrupt Democratic machine in Chicago will assure her of the Illinois electoral college votes. Why does she need Obama?
The only reason she could possibly have to name Obama would be to satisfy the MSM, but the MSM can stop drooling, because Hillary will raise so much money she won't need any free publicity from the liberal press.
Obama will have to win the Democratic nomination on his own in the future if he expects to ever occupy the White House and that will not happen in 2008. Hillary won't let it happen.
Posted by Rick | January 20, 2007 11:13 PM | Political Science
The Search For Mediocrity
John Bolten, who did a phenomenal job in his tenure as Ambassador to the United Nations as a recess appointee, silenced his many of his critics.
Today, when it became apparent that the Democrats, in their never-ending search for mediocrity, were going to once again block a vote on his appointment as United Nations Ambassador, Ambassador Bolten announced his resignation, effective at the end of the year. It will be difficult to find anyone as determined as Ambassador Bolten was to reform the morass at the cesspool of bigotry and corruption called the United Nations.
The Democrats would like nothing better than to have President Bush appoint someone like Clinton appointees Madeleine K. Albright (2/93 - 1/97) or Bill Richardson (2/97 - 9/98) who served faithfully in the United Nations as pieces of furniture.
I am hopeful that the President can find someone with as much fire in his belly for United Nation's reform as Ambassador Bolten.
Posted by Rick | December 4, 2006 10:19 PM | Political Science
Republican Nightmare Becomes Reality
Oh My God!! The Democrats have won control of the House of Representatives, and, as of 11:42 P.S.T., the count is exactly even in the Senate 49-49. Unfortunately, the Republican candidates in Virginia (Allen) and Montana (Burns) are both trailing their Democratic opponents in the last two undecided senatorial elections.
A bit of humor was provided by Senator Harry Reid (D-NV), soon to be majority leader in the Senate, who said during an interview with Fox News' Carl Cameron that he was prepared to put away the partisan politics and work with the Bush administration. Rest assured, nothing will be further from the truth when the Democrats take control come January 2007.
The Democrats have no new ideas; have no will to address pressing problems such as social security and illegal immigration; have no intention of allowing President Bush to address Islamo-fascism in any significant way.
What the Democrats will do is make sure we cannot listen to Islamo-fascists calling one another; will make sure we cannot interrogate terrorists effectively; will make sure that class warfare continues over taxation; will make sure that the flow of illegal immigrants from Mexico continues unabated across our southern border.
Truth be told, the President and the Republicans in Congress have no one to blame but themselves because, although they gave lip service to their concerns about our national problems, they refused to make tough political choices and address the above-mentioned problems.
Posted by Rick | November 7, 2006 11:41 PM | Political Science
Senator Kerry Confirms His Hatred Of The Military
On December 6, 2005, WorldNetDaily reported,
"In accusations about American troops reminiscent of what the young John Kerry said to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1971, the senator and 2004 Democratic presidential nominee told CBS "Face the Nation" host Bob Schieffer there was no reason for U.S. soldiers to continue "terrorizing" Iraqi children."And there is no reason, Bob, that young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children, you know, women, breaking sort of the customs of the – of – the historical customs, religious customs," Kerry said Sunday. "Whether you like it or not ... Iraqis should be doing that."
On Monday, October 30, 2006, in a speech at California's Pasadena City College Kerry said, "We're here to talk about education, but I want to say before - you know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't you get stuck in Iraq."
Then on Tuesday in response to calls he apologize for the remarks he made on Monday, Kerry defiantly said, "I apologize to no one for my criticism of the President and his broken policies."
And he went on, "My statement yesterday, and the White House knows this full well, was a botched joke about the President and the President's people, not about the troops."
On Wednesday, amid a torrent of calls from within his own party that he apologize, comes this "statement" posted on his official government web site:
As a combat veteran, I want to make it clear to anyone in uniform and to their loved ones: my poorly stated joke at a rally was not about, and never intended to refer to any troop.I sincerely regret that my words were misinterpreted to wrongly imply anything negative about those in uniform, and I personally apologize to any service member, family member, or American who was offended.
It is clear the Republican Party would rather talk about anything but their failed security policy. I don’t want my verbal slip to be a diversion from the real issues. I will continue to fight for a change of course to provide real security for our country, and a winning strategy for our troops.
Unfortunately, Kerry keeps spinning his comments as a "joke," and seems to feel that the only way you could have been offended by his remarks were if you "misinterpreted" his remarks. The truth is that Kerry looks down his long nose at those in the military, and generally hates the military.
In response to the remarks Senator Kerry made this week a group of soldiers from the Minnesota National Guard stationed in Iraq made up the following poster which speaks for itself.
Posted by Rick | November 1, 2006 11:38 PM | Political Science
Election Guide 2006
It's now less than three weeks before nationwide elections to elect all 435 of our representatives to the House of Representatives and 33 senators to the Senate. I have compiled a voting guide to help you decide how to vote.
If you think we should worry more about how we treat the terrorists we have captured than we worry about the lives and safety of our American citizens, vote Democratic.If you think we can talk our enemies out of their efforts to obtain nuclear weapons, vote Democratic.
If you want your taxes raised, vote Democratic.
If you want same sex marriages legalized in the United States, vote Democratic.
If you think sending an explicit instant message to a page is worse than the President receiving blow jobs from an unpaid intern in the Oval Office, vote Democratic.
If you believe in partial birth abortions, vote Democratic.
If you want illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition at state run universities while American citizens from other states pay much higher out-of-state tuitions at the same universities, vote Democratic.
If you believe the terrorists will not try to attack us here in the United States once we leave Iraq, vote Democratic.
If you believe illegal immigrants should be given citizenship ahead of those who came here legally, vote Democratic.
If you believe we should have no religious symbols on public property; we should not have 'In God We Trust" on our money; our schools should not allow Christmas carols be sung during the Christmas holidays; the phrase 'under God' should be taken out of the Pledge of Allegiance; vote Democratic.
If you believe the Boy Scouts must allow homosexual scout leaders, vote Democratic.
Make sure you vote!
Posted by Rick | October 17, 2006 09:57 PM | Political Science
Harry Reid's Land Deal = Malodorous
There is something smelly about the Las Vegas land deal Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) and Jay Brown, Reid's longtime friend and former casino lawyer, were involved in between 1998 and 2004.
The AP story by John Solomon and Kathleen Hennessey reported this week :
-The deal began in 1998 when Reid bought undeveloped residential property on Las Vegas' booming outskirts for about $400,000. Reid bought one lot outright, and a second parcel jointly with Brown. One of the sellers was a developer who was benefiting from a government land swap that Reid supported. The seller never talked to Reid.-In 2001, Reid sold the land for the same price to a limited liability corporation created by Brown. The senator didn't disclose the sale on his annual public ethics report or tell Congress he had any stake in Brown's company. He continued to report to Congress that he personally owned the land.
-After getting local officials to rezone the property for a shopping center, Brown's company sold the land in 2004 to other developers and Reid took $1.1 million of the proceeds, nearly tripling the senator's investment. Reid reported it to Congress as a personal land sale.
The complex dealings allowed Reid to transfer ownership, legal liability and some tax consequences to Brown's company without public knowledge, but still collect a seven-figure payoff nearly three years later.
I have an LLC and understand the reasons for transferring property into an LLC. I have various partnerships, one is even with an attorney, and I understand the potential pitfalls of partnerships. Everything in the transaction seems very normal until this:
They also said they have no documents proving Reid's stake in the company because it was an informal understanding between friends.
and then this:
Reid isn't listed anywhere on Patrick Lane's corporate filings with Nevada, even though the land he sold accounted for three-quarters of the company's assets. Brown is listed as the company's manager. Reid's office said Nevada law didn't require Reid to be mentioned in the filings."We have been friends for over 35 years. We didn't need a written agreement between us," Brown said.
An old friend taught me a long time ago that "friends are friends, and business is business." The point being that in business, you need to take care of business. Senator Reid, who is also an attorney, had a $400,000 investment, $400,000, that he transferred to an LLC which did not have his name on it! And he is an attorney? If this guy were my attorney and he allowed this to happen he would lose his license for sheer stupidity.
Why would Harry Reid transfer $400,000 worth of land into a company without getting any documentation of his interest in the company? If Jay Brown or the Reid's had died after the transfer to the LLC who would have known that the Reid's were 75% owners of the assets of the LLC? Or if Jay Brown had filed for bankruptcy or fallen behind on his taxes, the Reid's could have lost their entire investment and would have had little or no recourse.
This begs the question: What were they hiding? And if they weren't hiding anything, you have to ask, "Is Harry Reid really that stupid?"
The AP report talks about minor differences in the amount of property taxes the various parties paid on the land, but there are potentially much larger tax ramifications involved that no one has pointed out. Solomon and Hennessey stated:
Reid and his wife, Landra, personally signed the deeds selling their full interest in the property to Brown's company, Patrick Lane LLC, for the same $400,000 they paid in 1998, records show.
But contradicting the above statement, they reported:
The senator's aides said no money changed hands in 2001 and that Reid instead got an ownership stake in Brown's company equal to the value of his land. Reid continued to pay taxes on the land and didn't disclose the deal because he considered it a "technical transfer," they said.
If, in fact, no money changed hands and the Reid's were not recorded partners in the LLC, questions must be raised about the state and federal tax consequences of a company receiving $400,000 worth of land and giving nothing in return.
In talking to a CPA I am very familiar with, it was pointed out that, if the Reid's didn't have any recorded interest in the Patrick Lane LLC and were not paid $400,000 for transferring the property in 2001, the land value ($400,000) that the Reid's transferred into the LLC became taxable income to the LLC. Did the Patrick Lane LLC pay taxes on that income? Doesn't sound like it. No mention was made in the AP report that the Reid's received, or filed, a K-1 tax form from the LLC and I am surmising that one was not issued.
Something, as they say, is rotten in Denmark.
Posted by Rick | October 14, 2006 03:22 AM | Political Science
Clinton Doth Protest Too Much
Bill Clinton's phony rage at Chris Wallace while Wallace was interviewing him this past weekend is the talk of blogs and news casts everywhere.
Unfortunately, Clinton's claim that he was closer to killing Usāmah bin Muhammad bin `Awad bin Lādin, commonly known as Osama bin Laden, than anyone else is bogus. How does he know how close he was when he lobbed a couple missiles at a tent out in the middle of a desert and how does he know how close the troops in Afghanistan have come to getting the little turd, bin Laden? Besides, close does not count in killing.
The fact is that Bill Clinton and his lackey, Attorney General Janet Reno, mustered far more fire power and boots on the ground to send Elian Gonzalez back to Cuba, not to mention the extraordinary force they used to kill 80+ innocent men, women and children in Waco, Texas, than they ever did trying to get bin Laden.
Posted by Rick | September 25, 2006 06:49 PM | Political Science
Has The Time Come To Boycott Citgo Gasoline?
Citgo Petroleum Corporation or Citgo, a subsidiary of Petróleos de Venezuela S.A., the Venezuelan state-owned petroleum company, is a United States-incorporated refiner and marketer of gasoline, lubricants, petrochemicals and other petroleum products.
7-11 stores sell Citgo gasoline. Write an email to 7-eleven, Inc., asking them to find another supplier for the gasoline they sell. You can read about the history of the Citgo Corporation here.
Posted by Rick | September 21, 2006 06:24 AM | Political Science
World War III - The New Crusades!
If you thought I was kidding after you read my last three posts, you must know that, in light of the arrest of 21 al Qaeda terrorists in London who were plotting to blow up 20 planes en route to the United States, I was not. This is a worldwide war against civilization as we know it by the Muslim world, and life is going to become much more complicated for us all in the coming days, months, and years.
The Muslim religion is infected with a virus - the virus of hate. Government and religious leaders who would have you believe that we need only worry about a few radical Muslims are delusional. We must not be diluted into believing that this is only a small radical fringe of the followers of Muhammad who are conspiring to undermine our way of life.
Mark my words...Take it to the bank...Write it in stone...Ultimately, this war will be waged by a majority of the Muslim world against us and our way of life and, unfortunately, they will keep coming after us until we eliminate them all by whatever means necessary.
Posted by Rick | August 10, 2006 02:54 AM | Political Science ~ | Social Studies
Bring Back Saddam?!
Massive demonstrations in the streets of Baghdad this past week calling for death to Americans and Israelis while extolling the virtues of Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah have been very disappointing.
While it would seem that great strides have been made in bringing democracy to Iraq, it may be that the Iraqis just aren't ready to self govern. President Bush '41 had it right when he left Saddam Hussein in power after the first Gulf War. The Iraqis only seem to behave themselves when a strong-man like Saddam treats them like children, and tortures and/or kills them when they misbehave.
We have spent more than 2,500 lives and hundreds of billions of hard-earned dollars to bring self-rule to Iraq, yet there is obviously no one in Baghdad who appreciates the effort. Every day it becomes more apparent that there are no real reasons for us to to continue trying to root out troublemakers in Baghdad - the city is full of irrational troublemakers, none of which is is worth the value of the elements that make up their DNA. Perhaps we should surround Baghdad, cut off all routes in and out of the city, and let the inhabitants continue their civil war until there is no one left.
The Muslims will be happy because they have gone to be with Mohammed and the virgins that await them in hell, and we will have cut our losses without running. Everyone wins.
Posted by Rick | August 6, 2006 11:23 PM | Political Science
Joe Wilson & Valerie Plame Wilson Seek Revenge
Joseph C. Wilson IV and his 'lovely' wife, Valerie Plame Wilson, have filed a lawsuit against I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby Jr., Vice-President Richard Cheney, and Carl Rove in an attempt to make the named defendants' lives miserable, not because they can win the lawsuit. This is merely a political ploy and it has been made more apparent by the meetings the Wilson's have had with the Democratic hierarchy on Capitol Hill.
Valerie Plame Wilson, the CIA employee who was supposedly a classified employee until 1997, is going to claim that her rights were violated by the three named defendants because she was 'outed' as a CIA employee.
Never mind that Ms. Wilson was not a classified CIA employee covered by any law that would make it a crime to out her.
Never mind that an extensive investigation by a federal prosecutor found no wrong-doing when articles were written that mentioned that she was employed at the CIA and that she was the one who recommended her husband take a fact-finding trip to Niger.
Never mind that she was in no way harmed by the revelations and, if anything, will profit from the notoriety gained from the controversy through book sales and speaking engagements.
Never mind that there is no proof that any of the three "outed' her.
Never mind that no crime was committed when Ms. Wilson was identified as an employee of the CIA.
Below is the code that applies to the protection of CIA operatives identities. I have highlighted the very pertinent portions.
U.S. Code as of: 01/19/04Section 421. Protection of identities of certain United States undercover intelligence officers, agents, informants, and sources
(a) Disclosure of information by persons having or having had
access to classified information that identifies covert agent
Whoever, having or having had authorized access to classified
information that identifies a covert agent, intentionally discloses
any information identifying such covert agent to any individual not
authorized to receive classified information, knowing that the
information disclosed so identifies such covert agent and that the
United States is taking affirmative measures to conceal such covert
agent's intelligence relationship to the United States, shall be
fined under title 18 or imprisoned not more than ten years, or
both.
(b) Disclosure of information by persons who learn identity of
covert agents as result of having access to classified
information
Whoever, as a result of having authorized access to classified
information, learns the identify of a covert agent and
intentionally discloses any information identifying such covert
agent to any individual not authorized to receive classified
information, knowing that the information disclosed so identifies
such covert agent and that the United States is taking affirmative
measures to conceal such covert agent's intelligence relationship
to the United States, shall be fined under title 18 or imprisoned
not more than five years, or both.
(c) Disclosure of information by persons in course of pattern of
activities intended to identify and expose covert agents
Whoever, in the course of a pattern of activities intended to
identify and expose covert agents and with reason to believe that
such activities would impair or impede the foreign intelligence
activities of the United States, discloses any information that
identifies an individual as a covert agent to any individual not
authorized to receive classified information, knowing that the
information disclosed so identifies such individual and that the
United States is taking affirmative measures to conceal such
individual's classified intelligence relationship to the United
States, shall be fined under title 18 or imprisoned not more than
three years, or both.
(d) Imposition of consecutive sentences
A term of imprisonment imposed under this section shall be
consecutive to any other sentence of imprisonment.Section 422. Defenses and exceptions
(a) Disclosure by United States of identity of covert agent
It is a defense to a prosecution under section 421 of this title
that before the commission of the offense with which the defendant
is charged, the United States had publicly acknowledged or revealed
the intelligence relationship to the United States of the
individual the disclosure of whose intelligence relationship to the
United States is the basis for the prosecution.
(b) Conspiracy, misprision of felony, aiding and abetting, etc.
(1) Subject to paragraph (2), no person other than a person
committing an offense under section 421 of this title shall be
subject to prosecution under such section by virtue of section 2 or
4 of title 18 or shall be subject to prosecution for conspiracy to
commit an offense under such section.
(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply (A) in the case of a person who
acted in the course of a pattern of activities intended to identify
and expose covert agents and with reason to believe that such
activities would impair or impede the foreign intelligence
activities of the United States, or (B) in the case of a person who
has authorized access to classified information.
(c) Disclosure to select Congressional committees on intelligence
It shall not be an offense under section 421 of this title to
transmit information described in such section directly to either
congressional intelligence committee.
(d) Disclosure by agent of own identity
It shall not be an offense under section 421 of this title for an
individual to disclose information that solely identifies himself
as a covert agent.Section 423. Report
(a) Annual report by President to Congress on measures to protect
identities of covert agents
The President, after receiving information from the Director of
Central Intelligence, shall submit to the congressional
intelligence committees an annual report on measures to protect the
identities of covert agents, and on any other matter relevant to
the protection of the identities of covert agents. The date for the
submittal of the report shall be the date provided in section 415b
of this title.
(b) Exemption from disclosure
The report described in subsection (a) of this section shall be
exempt from any requirement for publication or disclosure.Section 424. Extraterritorial jurisdiction
There is jurisdiction over an offense under section 421 of this
title committed outside the United States if the individual
committing the offense is a citizen of the United States or an
alien lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent
residence (as defined in section 1101(a)(20) of title 8).Section 425. Providing information to Congress
Nothing in this subchapter may be construed as authority to
withhold information from the Congress or from a committee of
either House of Congress.Section 426. Definitions
For the purposes of this subchapter:
(1) The term "classified information" means information or
material designated and clearly marked or clearly represented,
pursuant to the provisions of a statute or Executive order (or a
regulation or order issued pursuant to a statute or Executive
order), as requiring a specific degree of protection against
unauthorized disclosure for reasons of national security.
(2) The term "authorized", when used with respect to access to
classified information, means having authority, right, or
permission pursuant to the provisions of a statute, Executive
order, directive of the head of any department or agency engaged
in foreign intelligence or counterintelligence activities, order
of any United States court, or provisions of any Rule of the
House of Representatives or resolution of the Senate which
assigns responsibility within the respective House of Congress
for the oversight of intelligence activities.
(3) The term "disclose" means to communicate, provide, impart,
transmit, transfer, convey, publish, or otherwise make available.
(4) The term "covert agent" means -
(A) a present or retired officer or employee of an
intelligence agency or a present or retired member of the Armed
Forces assigned to duty with an intelligence agency -
(i) whose identity as such an officer, employee, or member
is classified information, and
(ii) who is serving outside the United States or has within
the last five years served outside the United States; or(B) a United States citizen whose intelligence relationship
to the United States is classified information, and -
(i) who resides and acts outside the United States as an
agent of, or informant or source of operational assistance
to, an intelligence agency, or
(ii) who is at the time of the disclosure acting as an
agent of, or informant to, the foreign counterintelligence or
foreign counterterrorism components of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation; or(C) an individual, other than a United States citizen, whose
past or present intelligence relationship to the United States
is classified information and who is a present or former agent
of, or a present or former informant or source of operational
assistance to, an intelligence agency.(5) The term "intelligence agency" means the Central
Intelligence Agency, a foreign intelligence component of the
Department of Defense, or the foreign counterintelligence or
foreign counterterrorism components of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation.
(6) The term "informant" means any individual who furnishes
information to an intelligence agency in the course of a
confidential relationship protecting the identity of such
individual from public disclosure.
(7) The terms "officer" and "employee" have the meanings given
such terms by section 2104 and 2105, respectively, of title 5.
(8) The term "Armed Forces" means the Army, Navy, Air Force,
Marine Corps, and Coast Guard.
(9) The term "United States", when used in a geographic sense,
means all areas under the territorial sovereignty of the United
States and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.
(10) The term "pattern of activities" requires a series of acts
with a common purpose or objective.
Posted by Rick | July 14, 2006 10:59 PM | Political Science
Leaks Apparently No Big Deal
Apparently putting the leaked story about the administration's investigations into terrorists' money transfers on the front page of the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times was no big deal. At the state dinner last week honoring Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, big-shots from both the New York Times, White House correspondent, Mr. David Sanger and Mrs. Sherill Sanger, and Los Angeles Times, Washington bureau chief, Mr. Doyle McManus and Mrs. Paula McManus, were on the guest list.
Instead of revoking their White House press credentials, the administration honors the two newspapers by inviting them to the dinner? I'm surprised they weren't invited to stay over and perhaps even sleep in the Lincoln bedroom, or maybe they were.
Nope....no big deal at all......
Posted by Rick | July 3, 2006 12:48 AM | Political Science
Pandering The Tim Russert Way
Tonight on CNBC's The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch, Tim Russert, host of NBC's Meet The Press, compared using a picture of President George Bush hugging a little girl who lost her mother in the World Trade Center on 9/11 as a campaign ad to the widows Ann Coulter complains about in her latest book, Godless.
In case you are living in a vacuum and have not heard about the uproar over Ms. Coulter's comments, her point is that the widows came out making vile assertions, telling outrageous lies, and using asunder half-truths to blame President Bush and his administration for the deaths of their husbands, yet the main stream media refrained from confronting them about their remarks because it would have been viewed as an attack on the not-so-poor (virtually everyone who lost a relative became a millionaire because of the settlements received) grieving widows.
So this is Russert's truth....
A campaign ad that uses a picture of the President showing compassion toward a young girl who lost her mother is the same as a group of women telling lies and half-truths about the President that the media was afraid to question.
And Russert would have us believe that he is unbiased....roflmao
Donny 'Big Idea' Deutsch mentioned that, while he felt Ms. Coulter's point was vile, sick, repulsive and filled with venom, he would refrain from calling Ms. Coulter a name reserved for 'promiscuous women' for fear it would increase his ratings.....roflmfas
Note to Donny: Nothing could increase The Big Idea's ratings except a new host. As a matter of fact, his ratings are currently so low that they may have gone up 100% when I tuned in.
Posted by Rick | June 19, 2006 10:20 PM | Political Science
Senator Robert 'KKK' Byrd Sets Mark
Today 88 year-old Democratic Senator Robert 'KKK' Byrd (D-WV) became the longest serving senator in history, having served 17,327 days, surpassing Republican Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, who served 17,326 days and retired at age 100.
Always daper, click here to see the senator's fashion sense.
Posted by Rick | June 13, 2006 03:15 AM | Political Science
Al-Zarqzwi Is Dead!!!
MSNBC is reporting that Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi has been killed by an air strike called in by American special forces. He was hiding in a house approximately 8 kilometers north of Ba'qubah. Ba'qubah is a city about 50 kilometers north/north east of Baghdad.
Three cheers for the good guys!!!
Posted by Rick | June 8, 2006 12:38 AM | Political Science
Election Results For California's 50th Congressional District
With approximately 67% of the precincts reporting, unofficial election results for the seat in the House of Representatives vacated by disgraced Republican Duke Cunningham have Republican Brian Bilbray holding onto the Republican seat by a narrow margin. Here are the most recent results as reported by the San Diego Union-Tribune:
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE 50TH DISTRICT - (RUN-OFF)Counted: 331 of 500 precincts – 66.2 percent
BRIAN BILBRAY - REP 44692 49.69%
FRANCINE BUSBY - DEM 40371 44.89%
W. GRIFFITH - IND 3424 3.81%
PAUL KING - LIB 1446 1.61%
Update:
With 90% of the vote in, Bilbray's lead has actually increased slightly to just under 5,000 votes. Click here to see the updated election results from the County of San Diego's Registrar of Voters.
Update #2:
With 100% of the precincts counted, Bilbray leads by 4,732 votes. Although it looks good for Bilbray, anything can still happen because there are approximately 68,500 absentee / provisional ballots to be counted.
Yesterday's election was to determine who would complete the balance of Cunningham's term. Busby and Bilbray will face off again in the November general election.
Posted by Rick | June 7, 2006 12:43 AM | Political Science
McCain Can't Help Himself
When the time comes to vote for or against a constitutional amendment to assure that marriage in America remains between a man and a woman and not between two men, or two women, John McCain has announced he will vote against it.
No matter how many commencement addresses McCain gives at conservative colleges and universities, he is still a liberal in conservative's clothing.
He desperately wants to be president but this issue will bury him in the Republican party. He will not get the base of the Republican party to vote for him and he will never live in the White House, unless he runs as a Democrat.
I voted for George Bush as the lesser of two evils in 2000, but should McCain somehow end up as the Republicans' candidate in 2008, I would not vote for him as the lesser of two evils. I would stay home.
Posted by Rick | June 6, 2006 12:17 AM | Political Science
Democratic Culture Of Corruption
Drug addict Congressman Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) uses the streets of Washington DC, as his own private demolition derby, claims he doesn’t remember a thing, and then heads off to a posh rehabilitation center to while away 30 days. Wasn’t it only this past December when he admitted himself to the same rehab center.
After the latest accident Kennedy was cited with failure to keep in the proper lane, driving at an unreasonable speed, and failing to give full time and attention to operation of a vehicle, but not the more serious offense of ‘driving under the influence’ even though he had red, watery eyes and slurred speech as he tumbled out of his vehicle. He should have been cited for driving ‘with influence’ since he was given a pass on the more serious charge. Heaven forbid they actually charge him appropriately and take away his drivers license. The D.C. officials are apparently going to wait to do that until after he drives off a bridge and drowns someone.
Does he resign? Of course not. He won’t even admit any guilt. He is the ‘victim’ of a ‘disease.’ The dreaded ‘lack of self-control’ disease. He is, after all, a Kennedy!
Questions about where he continues to obtain addictive prescription drugs go unasked and unanswered by the media.
Next comes eight-term Congressman William Jennings Jefferson (D-LA) whose House district includes New Orleans and some of its suburbs. The ‘Honorable’ Congressman has been caught with $90,000 'cold cash' in his freezer and apparently there is even a video tape with him accepting a $100,000 bribe. He has thumbed his nose at calls for his resignation from the House of Representatives and has refused to resign from the congressional committees he serves on. He has even taken offense at search warrants which were served at his home and office after he refused to comply with subpoenas. You can read more about the investigation in to Congressman Jefferson here.
It gets better...
Congressman Alan B. Mollohan (D-WVA), a member of the House Appropriations Committee and ranking Democrat on the house ethics committee, has become a multi-millionaire on his annual salary of approximately $150,000 and a number of ‘shrewd’ real estate transactions. The transactions involve an intricate web of foundations, friends, former associates and businessmen who receive large government contracts. Jonathan Weisman of the Washington Post reported:
In a 500-page complaint filed with a U.S. attorney in February, the conservative National Legal and Policy Center in Falls Church challenged the accuracy of Mollohan's financial disclosure forms and detailed a remarkable change in the lawmaker's personal fortune.Mollohan's real estate holdings and other assets jumped in value from $562,000 in 2000 to at least $6.3 million in 2004, said Ken Boehm, chairman of the legal center.
After first refusing, Mollohan has had the decency to step down, at least temporarily, from the House ethics committee.
(For more information on how to achieve wealth with little or no money, do a internet search on Senator Hillary Clinton and commodities investing.)
And finally, Senate minority leader Harry Reid (D-NV), who has attended hundreds of fights over the years as a boxer and a fight judge, 'needed' to take free boxing tickets in order to do his job as Senator. Apparently the fight game has changed dramatically since the last fight he attended and his attendance was a necessary for him to research the compelling question: Should the federal government do more oversight of the sport of boxing He says he was proud of what he did and would do it again.
I would have to agree with the Democrats who have been complaining about a “culture of corruption” in Washington. Unfortunately, it appears that it's the Democrats who are worst offenders.
At least the Republicans who have been caught in the middle of some indiscretion have had the decency to resign and therein lies the difference between Republicans and Democrats. Republicans have consciences and feel guilt and remorse. The Democrats seem to revel in their misdeeds, never admit guilt (“I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky”), and never look back.
Posted by Rick | May 31, 2006 12:54 AM | Political Science
Spanish National Anthem And Now This....
While Hillary is trying to position herself as a moderate, President Bush is trying to position himself as a Mexican, with lip service to the problem of, and solution to, illegal immigration.
Tonight President Bush said that securing our borders is a "basic responsibility of a sovereign nation. It is also an urgent requirement of our national security."
Unfortunately, the Bush administration's immigration policy has been MIA for the past 6 years and is only now being addressed, grudgingly addressed, because of the upcoming fall elections and the very real possibility that the Republicans will lose both the House of Representatives and the Senate because they have refused to address the problem of the flood of illegal immigrants sucking the lifeblood out of our schools, hospitals, prisons, and virtually every other infrastructure in our society.
In tonight's speech, President Bush said he plans to put "up to 6,000" National Guard troops on the border between the United States and Mexico. Unfortunately, these troops "will not be involved in direct law enforcement activities." Basically these troops will be there to hold hands and sing 'Kumbaya' with the members of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps who are watching the southern border as I write this. The only thing missing will be the campfire.
The National Guard will be there to operate surveillance systems, analyze intelligence, install fences, build roads and provide training. (Note to Bush administration: If you need help building the roads and fences, there are many of the millions of illegal immigrants you allowed into the country in the past 6 years who would love a government job.)
This help for the border patrol is all well and good, but what we really need is boots on the ground to chase down every last one of the illegals coming across the border and punish them. Yes, I said punish them! Once caught, rather than sending them directly back to where they came from, I'll bet Arizona's Maricopa County Sheriff, Joe Arpaio, would be happy to show the Bush administration how to properly incarcerate someone. No fancy digs like Guantánamo Bay in Maricopa County, no siree. Sheriff Arpaio currently houses lawbreakers in tents, makes them wear striped prison uniforms and pink underwear, and feeds them on less than $.20 per meal, with only 2 meals per day. After six months of those accommodations, we could send the illegal aliens back where they came from, and they may think twice about trying to return. If they get caught trying to enter illegally a second time, let them spend a year on Sheriff Jos's chain gang. If they get caught a third time, they get the firing squad 'cause they're just too dumb to get it. (Just a quick note about the pink underwear: The underwear is dyed pink to stop the theft of the jail's underwear. The Sheriff is not perverted and gets no perverse thrill by having the inmates wear pink underwear. Or does he?)
President Bush said the other day that he thought the National Anthem should be sung in English, but, as my brother-in-law Grant pointed out, the official White House web site is now translated into Spanish for all the illegal aliens to read.
His father, President Bush '41' didn't realize that you couldn’t say one thing and do another ('read my lips, no new taxes'). Bush '43' got reelected, but it was not because of his efforts on stemming the tide of illegal immigrants into the country. It was only because his opponent, Senator Kerry, was such an idiot.
Bush's "talk is cheap" policy on the border issue is becoming more and more transparent. The volunteer minutemen who have taken up positions on the border seem to be having more success stemming the tide of illegals than the Bush administration. Most Americans who are concerned with the illegal immigration problem have not taken to the streets to protest against the millions of illegals scurrying across our border from Mexico, but we are not DOA.
'43' is pandering as fast as he can to the Hispanic vote, but he is forgetting who really votes, and it is going to come back to haunt the Republicans this November. Many of the Republican base will stay home on election day or vote against the Republicans to protest the unwillingness of the administration to do anything meaningful to stem the tide of illegal immigration.
Someone in the White House needs to take the pulse of America on the immigration issue, and then actually do something to stop the flood of illegal aliens across our Mexican border!
Sadly, I think it is way too little, way too late. I predict the Democrats, who have no immigration policy at all, are going to crush the Republicans. We will lose control of the House of Representatives and maybe even the Senate.
Posted by Rick | May 15, 2006 08:21 AM | Political Science
Thrown Under The Bus
Porter Goss, who resigned this past week from his post as the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, was supposedly given a mandate to shape up an agency full of leakers and squeakers.
He actually took the mandate to heart and many malcontents left the agency. Amazingly, a few weeks ago, he even tracked down one of the leakers and had her terminated. For his efforts he was unceremoniously sacked, although technically he offered his resignation and the President accepted it.
In an interview with Kelly O'Donnell, Vice-President Dick Cheney said Goss did "a reasonably good job." What exactly did the administration expect from Goss in the short time he was at the CIA?
FEMA Director Michael Brown was tossed under the bus for the failings of New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin, Louisiana governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, and now Goss is pitched under the same bus. Read more about the Chertoff/Brown controversy here in an article by Jonathan S. Landay, Alison Young and Shannon McCaffrey of the Knight Ridder Newspapers.
As thousands of hurricane victims went without food, water and shelter in the days after Katrina's early morning Aug. 29 landfall, critics assailed Brown for being responsible for delays that might have cost hundreds of lives.But Chertoff - not Brown - was in charge of managing the national response to a catastrophic disaster, according to the National Response Plan, the federal government's blueprint for how agencies will handle major natural disasters or terrorist incidents. An order issued by President Bush in 2003 also assigned that responsibility to the homeland security director.
At this point in time, you would have to be an idiot to go to work for the Bush administration.
Posted by Rick | May 9, 2006 12:40 AM | Political Science
Your Oil Dollars At Work
The Bush administration is bound and determined to allow the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to invest its wealth of oil riches in crucial American infrastructure.
Dubai International Capital LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Dubai Holding, has agreed to the purchase of Doncasters, which is a "leading international engineering group that manufactures precision components and assemblies for the aerospace, industrial gas turbines, specialist automotive, medical orthopaedic and petrochemical markets. The group excels in working with alloys and metals that are difficult to shape and form." Doncasters manufactures engine components for U.S. military aircraft and main battle tanks.
The Huffington Post reported:
Dubai, which agreed this month to sell its interest in U.S. ports, said its $1.2 billion takeover of a U.K. company with U.S. plants that make military equipment is delayed while the authorities investigate security concerns.Dubai International Capital LLC, which is owned by the government of the Persian Gulf emirate, and Doncasters Group Ltd. agreed to delay the transaction by as many as two months from March 31 while government agencies review the purchase, Sameer Al Ansari, Dubai International's chief executive, said in an interview today.
As I indicated when I commented on the ill-fated port deal, the UAE is actually one of the most anti-Semitic countries on the face of the earth.
Will Jewish employees in the United States be be descriminated against or even terminated? Time will tell, but remember that the UAE doesn't allow Israeli citizens or items manufactured in Israel into its country.
Security issues aside, these are despicable people who should not be allowed to do business with the United States government until they change their anti-Israel policies.
Posted by Rick | April 28, 2006 02:56 PM | Political Science
Chocolate City's Mayor Will Melt In Next Disaster If Re-elected
If New Orleans re-elects Mayor Ray Nagin in the upcoming runoff election, the city will deserve all the chaos and turmoil that is sure to ensue in the next disaster season.
Posted by Rick | April 25, 2006 03:16 AM | Political Science
John Dean - The Liberals New Best Friend
Would somebody please bitch-slap former Nixon White House counsel, John Dean!
Posted by Rick | April 6, 2006 09:41 PM | Political Science
Homeland Security Chief Chokes
I have not written much lately because, for the most part, it has all been the same hate-filled empty rhetoric from the left and no one from the right has been indicted for taking bribes or exposing a desk-jockey at the CIA as an undercover agent.
Yesterday, however, in a news conference, President Bush announced that he had asked Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff why all those trailers (10,700 more or less) were still sitting unused in Hope, Arkansas. Finally, I thought, something might get done.
Well, silly me. Apparently this brilliant man, Secretary Chertoff, has decided to move 5000 trailers down to the hurricane ravaged areas where ten's of thousands of people need housing, but will leave about 5,000 in reserve for the next potential disaster.
Notice to Secretary Chertoff: For months now the federal government has been paying for displaced families to live in hotels, ships, and other temporary housing. Move every one of those trailers where they are needed. Don't wait another day. Use everything that you have at your disposal NOW. If you want more trailers for the next disaster, put in an order more trailers. There are companies that will be more than happy to build them.
Where did President Bush find this guy anyway?
Posted by Rick | March 22, 2006 03:24 AM | Political Science
Dubai Deal Dead
After it became apparent that Congress would block Dubai Ports World, owned by the government of Dubai, from managing a number of ports on our east coast, DP World has announced that it would transfer its interests to an American entity.
The fact that the Republicans were instrumental in the about face once again underscores the difference between the intellectually dishonest kool-aid drinking Democrats and the Republicans who are not afraid to let their leaders know when a deal is a bad deal.
The rank-and-file Republicans were the driving force behind the withdrawal of Harriet Miers' nomination for the Supreme Court and were not shy about voicing their displeasure over the President's support for the DP World transaction.
Unfortunately, Jack Kemp called the Republicans' desertion of the administration shameful and embarrassing, and went on to say that because we have other foreign entities managing our ports on the west coast, we should have supported this deal. It seems that two wrongs make a right in Mr. Kemp's eyes. Mr. Kemp is flat wrong. We should take back the management of all our ports. We manage our airports and I am absolutely positive we have American companies that can manage our seaports.
Dubai has been supportive of our efforts in the war on terror and will continue to be. It is in their best interest to make sure we win the war on terror. If we don't, the United Arab Emirates' emirs are smart enough to know they could be the next target for the wacko Muslims. They are not going to suddenly start supporting the Taliban or al-Qaeda. You can take that to the bank.
Posted by Rick | March 9, 2006 07:30 PM | Political Science
Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA) To Be Sentenced
Former congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA), who pleaded guilty November 28, 2005, to accepting bribes, tax evasion and conspiracy, is going to be sentenced to prison within the hour.
The prosecutors are asking for 10 years in prison. Cunningham's attorneys, citing Cunningham's age and poor health, are asking for 6 years.
A blatant breach of the public's trust such as this deserves no leniency. Let him rot in prison.
Update: Cunningham, 64, was sentenced to 8 years and 4 months in prison and was ordered to pay $1.8 million in back taxes and penalties plus $1.85 million in restitution based on the bribes he received. Ironically, the taxpayers will pay Cunningham approximately $64,400 annually while he cools his heels in the federal penitentiary. He is eligible for a congressional pension of approximately $36,000 a year for his 15 years in the House of Representatives and a Navy pension of approximately $28,800 per year for his 21 years of military service.
Posted by Rick | March 3, 2006 12:22 PM | Political Science
United Arab Emerites Boycott Of Israel
The United Arab Emirates (UAE), once known as the Trucial States, is a federation of seven independent states located in the southeastern corner of the Arabian Peninsula, which is part of, what is commonly known, as the Middle East region. A hereditary chief called an emir rules each emirate. A petroleum-rich desert country about the size of South Carolina, the United Arab Emirates became an independent country in 1971.
The city of Abu Dhabi became the provisional capital of the United Arab Emirates when it was formed in 1971.
Located on the northeastern coast of the United Arab Emirates, the city of Dubai is the capital of the emirate of Dubai and is the largest city in the UAE.
The UAE and a company called Dubai Ports World has recently become the focus of the firestorm over port security in the United States. Dubai Ports World, owned by the government of Dubai, is seeking to take over management of 6 major ports up and down the east coast of the United States from a British based company.
Just as it was announced that DPW was to take over the management of these ports, the Jerusalem Post ran an article disclosing the fact that Dubai is involved in a boycott of goods and services from Israel and, in a separate article, noted that the UAE even refuses to allow Israeli citizens to enter the country.
The parent company of a Dubai-based firm at the center of a political storm in the US over the purchase of American ports participates in the Arab boycott against Israel, The Jerusalem Post has learned.The firm, Dubai Ports World, is seeking control over six major US ports, including those in New York, Miami, Philadelphia and Baltimore. It is entirely owned by the Government of Dubai via a holding company called the Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation (PCZC), which consists of the Dubai Port Authority, the Dubai Customs Department and the Jebel Ali Free Zone Area.
Aside from the fact that it is against the law to boycott a country because of religious beliefs, these are despicable people. Regardless of their efforts to help us in the war on terror, Dubai Ports World should not be given the contract to manage our ports.
Note: You can read the complete law here.
Posted by Rick | March 3, 2006 12:17 PM | Political Science
The State Of The Union Speech
If you didn't get a chance to listen to the State of the Union speech President Bush gave, I have reprinted the entire speech below as it was released prior to the actual speech. I have highlighted the part of the speech where Bush bitch-slaps Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and the rest of the Democrats.
Mr. Speaker, Vice President Cheney, Members of Congress, Members of the Supreme Court and diplomatic corps, distinguished guests, and fellow citizens:
Today our Nation lost a beloved, graceful, courageous woman who called America to its founding ideals and carried on a noble dream. Tonight we are comforted by the hope of a glad reunion with the husband who was taken from her so long ago, and we are grateful for the good life of Coretta Scott King.
Each time I am invited to this rostrum, I am humbled by the privilege, and mindful of the history we have seen together. We have gathered under this Capitol dome in moments of national mourning and national achievement. We have served America through one of the most consequential periods of our history - and it has been my honor to serve with you.
In a system of two parties, two chambers, and two elected branches, there will always be differences and debate. But even tough debates can be conducted in a civil tone, and our differences cannot be allowed to harden into anger. To confront the great issues before us, we must act in a spirit of good will and respect for one another - and I will do my part. Tonight the state of our Union is strong - and together we will make it stronger.
In this decisive year, you and I will make choices that determine both the future and the character of our country. We will choose to act confidently in pursuing the enemies of freedom - or retreat from our duties in the hope of an easier life. We will choose to build our prosperity by leading the world economy - or shut ourselves off from trade and opportunity. In a complex and challenging time, the road of isolationism and protectionism may seem broad and inviting - yet it ends in danger and decline. The only way to protect our people ... the only way to secure the peace ... the only way to control our destiny is by our leadership - so the United States of America will continue to lead.
Abroad, our Nation is committed to an historic, long-term goal - we seek the end of tyranny in our world. Some dismiss that goal as misguided idealism. In reality, the future security of America depends on it. On September 11th, 2001, we found that problems originating in a failed and oppressive state seven thousand miles away could bring murder and destruction to our country. Dictatorships shelter terrorists, feed resentment and radicalism, and seek weapons of mass destruction. Democracies replace resentment with hope, respect the rights of their citizens and their neighbors, and join the fight against terror. Every step toward freedom in the world makes our country safer, and so we will act boldly in freedom's cause.
Far from being a hopeless dream, the advance of freedom is the great story of our time. In 1945, there were about two dozen lonely democracies on Earth. Today, there are 122. And we are writing a new chapter in the story of self-government - with women lining up to vote in Afghanistan ... and millions of Iraqis marking their liberty with purple ink ... and men and women from Lebanon to Egypt debating the rights of individuals and the necessity of freedom. At the start of 2006, more than half the people of our world live in democratic nations. And we do not forget the other half - in places like Syria, Burma, Zimbabwe, North Korea, and Iran - because the demands of justice, and the peace of this world, require their freedom as well.
No one can deny the success of freedom, but some men rage and fight against it. And one of the main sources of reaction and opposition is radical Islam - the perversion by a few of a noble faith into an ideology of terror and death. Terrorists like bin Laden are serious about mass murder - and all of us must take their declared intentions seriously. They seek to impose a heartless system of totalitarian control throughout the Middle East, and arm themselves with weapons of mass murder. Their aim is to seize power in Iraq, and use it as a safe haven to launch attacks against America and the world. Lacking the military strength to challenge us directly, the terrorists have chosen the weapon of fear. When they murder children at a school in Beslan ... or blow up commuters in London ... or behead a bound captive ... the terrorists hope these horrors will break our will, allowing the violent to inherit the Earth. But they have miscalculated: We love our freedom, and we will fight to keep it.
In a time of testing, we cannot find security by abandoning our commitments and retreating within our borders. If we were to leave these vicious attackers alone, they would not leave us alone. They would simply move the battlefield to our own shores. There is no peace in retreat. And there is no honor in retreat. By allowing radical Islam to work its will - by leaving an assaulted world to fend for itself - we would signal to all that we no longer believe in our own ideals, or even in our own courage. But our enemies and our friends can be certain: The United States will not retreat from the world, and we will never surrender to evil.
America rejects the false comfort of isolationism. We are the Nation that saved liberty in Europe, and liberated death camps, and helped raise up democracies, and faced down an evil empire. Once again, we accept the call of history to deliver the oppressed, and move this world toward peace.
We remain on the offensive against terror networks. We have killed or captured many of their leaders - and for the others, their day will come.
We remain on the offensive in Afghanistan - where a fine president and national assembly are fighting terror while building the institutions of a new democracy.
And we are on the offensive in Iraq, with a clear plan for victory. First, we are helping Iraqis build an inclusive government, so that old resentments will be eased, and the insurgency marginalized. Second, we are continuing reconstruction efforts, and helping the Iraqi government to fight corruption and build a modern economy, so all Iraqis can experience the benefits of freedom. Third, we are striking terrorist targets while we train Iraqi forces that are increasingly capable of defeating the enemy. Iraqis are showing their courage every day, and we are proud to be their allies in the cause of freedom.
Our work in Iraq is difficult, because our enemy is brutal. But that brutality has not stopped the dramatic progress of a new democracy. In less than three years, that nation has gone from dictatorship, to liberation, to sovereignty, to a constitution, to national elections. At the same time, our coalition has been relentless in shutting off terrorist infiltration, clearing out insurgent strongholds, and turning over territory to Iraqi security forces. I am confident in our plan for victory ... I am confident in the will of the Iraqi people ... I am confident in the skill and spirit of our military. Fellow citizens, we are in this fight to win, and we are winning.
The road of victory is the road that will take our troops home. As we make progress on the ground, and Iraqi forces increasingly take the lead, we should be able to further decrease our troop levels - but those decisions will be made by our military commanders, not by politicians in Washington, D.C.
Our coalition has learned from experience in Iraq. We have adjusted our military tactics and changed our approach to reconstruction. Along the way, we have benefited from responsible criticism and counsel offered by Members of Congress of both parties. In the coming year, I will continue to reach out and seek your good advice.
Yet there is a difference between responsible criticism that aims for success, and defeatism that refuses to acknowledge anything but failure. Hindsight alone is not wisdom. And second-guessing is not a strategy.
With so much in the balance, those of us in public office have a duty to speak with candor. A sudden withdrawal of our forces from Iraq would abandon our Iraqi allies to death and prison ... put men like bin Laden and Zarqawi in charge of a strategic country ... and show that a pledge from America means little. Members of Congress: however we feel about the decisions and debates of the past, our Nation has only one option: We must keep our word, defeat our enemies, and stand behind the American military in its vital mission.
Our men and women in uniform are making sacrifices - and showing a sense of duty stronger than all fear. They know what it is like to fight house to house in a maze of streets ... to wear heavy gear in the desert heat ... to see a comrade killed by a roadside bomb. And those who know the costs also know the stakes. Marine Staff Sergeant Dan Clay was killed last month fighting the enemy in Fallujah. He left behind a letter to his family, but his words could just as well be addressed to every American. Here is what Dan wrote: "I know what honor is. It has been an honor to protect and serve all of you. I faced death with the secure knowledge that you would not have to.... Never falter! Don't hesitate to honor and support those of us who have the honor of protecting that which is worth protecting."
Staff Sergeant Dan Clay's wife, Lisa, and his mom and dad, Sara Jo and Bud, are with us this evening. Our Nation is grateful to the fallen, who live in the memory of our country. We are grateful to all who volunteer to wear our Nation's uniform - and as we honor our brave troops, let us never forget the sacrifices of America's military families.
Our offensive against terror involves more than military action. Ultimately, the only way to defeat the terrorists is to defeat their dark vision of hatred and fear by offering the hopeful alternative of political freedom and peaceful change. So the United States of America supports democratic reform across the broader Middle East. Elections are vital - but they are only the beginning. Raising up a democracy requires the rule of law, protection of minorities, and strong, accountable institutions that last longer than a single vote. The great people of Egypt have voted in a multi-party presidential election - and now their government should open paths of peaceful opposition that will reduce the appeal of radicalism. The Palestinian people have voted in elections - now the leaders of Hamas must recognize Israel, disarm, reject terrorism, and work for lasting peace. Saudi Arabia has taken the first steps of reform - now it can offer its people a better future by pressing forward with those efforts. Democracies in the Middle East will not look like our own, because they will reflect the traditions of their own citizens. Yet liberty is the future of every nation in the Middle East, because liberty is the right and hope of all humanity.
The same is true of Iran, a nation now held hostage by a small clerical elite that is isolating and repressing its people. The regime in that country sponsors terrorists in the Palestinian territories and in Lebanon - and that must come to an end. The Iranian government is defying the world with its nuclear ambitions - and the nations of the world must not permit the Iranian regime to gain nuclear weapons. America will continue to rally the world to confront these threats. And tonight, let me speak directly to the citizens of Iran: America respects you, and we respect your country. We respect your right to choose your own future and win your own freedom. And our Nation hopes one day to be the closest of friends with a free and democratic Iran.
To overcome dangers in our world, we must also take the offensive by encouraging economic progress, fighting disease, and spreading hope in hopeless lands. Isolationism would not only tie our hands in fighting enemies, it would keep us from helping our friends in desperate need. We show compassion abroad because Americans believe in the God-given dignity and worth of a villager with HIV/AIDS, or an infant with malaria, or a refugee fleeing genocide, or a young girl sold into slavery. We also show compassion abroad because regions overwhelmed by poverty, corruption, and despair are sources of terrorism, organized crime, human trafficking, and the drug trade.
In recent years, you and I have taken unprecedented action to fight AIDS and malaria, expand the education of girls, and reward developing nations that are moving forward with economic and political reform. For people everywhere, the United States is a partner for a better life. Short-changing these efforts would increase the suffering and chaos of our world, undercut our long-term security, and dull the conscience of our country. I urge Members of Congress to serve the interests of America by showing the compassion of America.
Our country must also remain on the offensive against terrorism here at home. The enemy has not lost the desire or capability to attack us. Fortunately, this Nation has superb professionals in law enforcement, intelligence, the military, and homeland security. These men and women are dedicating their lives to protecting us all, and they deserve our support and our thanks. They also deserve the same tools they already use to fight drug trafficking and organized crime - so I ask you to reauthorize the Patriot Act.
It is said that prior to the attacks of September 11th, our government failed to connect the dots of the conspiracy. We now know that two of the hijackers in the United States placed telephone calls to al-Qaida operatives overseas. But we did not know about their plans until it was too late. So to prevent another attack - based on authority given to me by the Constitution and by statute - I have authorized a terrorist surveillance program to aggressively pursue the international communications of suspected al-Qaida operatives and affiliates to and from America. Previous presidents have used the same constitutional authority I have - and Federal courts have approved the use of that authority. Appropriate Members of Congress have been kept informed. This terrorist surveillance program has helped prevent terrorist attacks. It remains essential to the security of America. If there are people inside our country who are talking with al-Qaida, we want to know about it - because we will not sit back and wait to be hit again.
In all these areas - from the disruption of terror networks, to victory in Iraq, to the spread of freedom and hope in troubled regions - we need the support of friends and allies. To draw that support, we must always be clear in our principles and willing to act. The only alternative to American leadership is a dramatically more dangerous and anxious world. Yet we also choose to lead because it is a privilege to serve the values that gave us birth. American leaders - from Roosevelt to Truman to Kennedy to Reagan - rejected isolation and retreat, because they knew that America is always more secure when freedom is on the march. Our own generation is in a long war against a determined enemy - a war that will be fought by Presidents of both parties, who will need steady bipartisan support from the Congress. And tonight I ask for yours. Together, let us protect our country, support the men and women who defend us, and lead this world toward freedom.
Here at home, America also has a great opportunity: We will build the prosperity of our country by strengthening our economic leadership in the world.
Our economy is healthy, and vigorous, and growing faster than other major industrialized nations. In the last two-and-a-half years, America has created 4.6 million new jobs - more than Japan and the European Union combined. Even in the face of higher energy prices and natural disasters, the American people have turned in an economic performance that is the envy of the world.
The American economy is pre-eminent - but we cannot afford to be complacent. In a dynamic world economy, we are seeing new competitors like China and India. This creates uncertainty, which makes it easier to feed people's fears. And so we are seeing some old temptations return. Protectionists want to escape competition, pretending that we can keep our high standard of living while walling off our economy. Others say that the government needs to take a larger role in directing the economy, centralizing more power in Washington and increasing taxes. We hear claims that immigrants are somehow bad for the economy - even though this economy could not function without them. All these are forms of economic retreat, and they lead in the same direction - toward a stagnant and second-rate economy.
Tonight I will set out a better path - an agenda for a Nation that competes with confidence - an agenda that will raise standards of living and generate new jobs. Americans should not fear our economic future, because we intend to shape it.
Keeping America competitive begins with keeping our economy growing. And our economy grows when Americans have more of their own money to spend, save, and invest. In the last five years, the tax relief you passed has left 880 billion dollars in the hands of American workers, investors, small businesses, and families - and they have used it to help produce more than four years of uninterrupted economic growth. Yet the tax relief is set to expire in the next few years. If we do nothing, American families will face a massive tax increase they do not expect and will not welcome.
Because America needs more than a temporary expansion, we need more than temporary tax relief. I urge the Congress to act responsibly, and make the tax cuts permanent.
Keeping America competitive requires us to be good stewards of tax dollars. Every year of my presidency, we have reduced the growth of non-security discretionary spending - and last year you passed bills that cut this spending. This year my budget will cut it again, and reduce or eliminate more than 140 programs that are performing poorly or not fulfilling essential priorities. By passing these reforms, we will save the American taxpayer another 14 billion dollars next year - and stay on track to cut the deficit in half by 2009. I am pleased that Members of Congress are working on earmark reform - because the Federal budget has too many special interest projects. And we can tackle this problem together, if you pass the line-item veto.
We must also confront the larger challenge of mandatory spending, or entitlements. This year, the first of about 78 million Baby Boomers turn 60, including two of my Dad's favorite people - me, and President Bill Clinton. This milestone is more than a personal crisis - it is a national challenge. The retirement of the Baby Boom generation will put unprecedented strains on the Federal government. By 2030, spending for Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid alone will be almost 60 percent of the entire Federal budget. And that will present future Congresses with impossible choices - staggering tax increases, immense deficits, or deep cuts in every category of spending.
Congress did not act last year on my proposal to save Social Security, yet the rising cost of entitlements is a problem that is not going away - and with every year we fail to act, the situation gets worse. So tonight, I ask you to join me in creating a commission to examine the full impact of Baby Boom retirements on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. This commission should include Members of Congress of both parties, and offer bipartisan answers. We need to put aside partisan politics, work together, and get this problem solved.
Keeping America competitive requires us to open more markets for all that Americans make and grow. One out of every five factory jobs in America is related to global trade, and we want people everywhere to buy American. With open markets and a level playing field, no one can out-produce or out-compete the American worker.
Keeping America competitive requires an immigration system that upholds our laws, reflects our values, and serves the interests of our economy. Our Nation needs orderly and secure borders. To meet this goal, we must have stronger immigration enforcement and border protection. And we must have a rational, humane guest worker program that rejects amnesty ... allows temporary jobs for people who seek them legally ... and reduces smuggling and crime at the border.
Keeping America competitive requires affordable health care. Our government has a responsibility to help provide health care for the poor and the elderly, and we are meeting that responsibility. For all Americans, we must confront the rising cost of care ... strengthen the doctor-patient relationship ... and help people afford the insurance coverage they need. We will make wider use of electronic records and other health information technology, to help control costs and reduce dangerous medical errors. We will strengthen Health Savings Accounts - by making sure individuals and small business employees can buy insurance with the same advantages that people working for big businesses now get. We will do more to make this coverage portable, so workers can switch jobs without having to worry about losing their health insurance. And because lawsuits are driving many good doctors out of practice - leaving women in nearly 1,500 American counties without a single OB-GYN - I ask the Congress to pass medical liability reform this year.
Keeping America competitive requires affordable energy. Here we have a serious problem: America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world.
The best way to break this addiction is through technology. Since 2001, we have spent nearly 10 billion dollars to develop cleaner, cheaper, more reliable alternative energy sources - and we are on the threshold of incredible advances. So tonight, I announce the Advanced Energy Initiative - a 22-percent increase in clean-energy research at the Department of Energy, to push for breakthroughs in two vital areas. To change how we power our homes and offices, we will invest more in zero-emission coal-fired plants; revolutionary solar and wind technologies; and clean, safe nuclear energy.
We must also change how we power our automobiles. We will increase our research in better batteries for hybrid and electric cars, and in pollution-free cars that run on hydrogen. We will also fund additional research in cutting-edge methods of producing ethanol, not just from corn but from wood chips, stalks, or switch grass. Our goal is to make this new kind of ethanol practical and competitive within six years. Breakthroughs on this and other new technologies will help us reach another great goal: to replace more than 75 percent of our oil imports from the Middle East by 2025. By applying the talent and technology of America, this country can dramatically improve our environment ... move beyond a petroleum-based economy ... and make our dependence on Middle Eastern oil a thing of the past.
And to keep America competitive, one commitment is necessary above all: We must continue to lead the world in human talent and creativity. Our greatest advantage in the world has always been our educated, hard-working, ambitious people - and we are going to keep that edge. Tonight I announce the American Competitiveness Initiative, to encourage innovation throughout our economy, and to give our Nation's children a firm grounding in math and science.
First: I propose to double the Federal commitment to the most critical basic research programs in the physical sciences over the next ten years. This funding will support the work of America's most creative minds as they explore promising areas such as nanotechnology, supercomputing, and alternative energy sources.
Second: I propose to make permanent the research and development tax credit, to encourage bolder private-sector investment in technology. With more research in both the public and private sectors, we will improve our quality of life - and ensure that America will lead the world in opportunity and innovation for decades to come.
Third: We need to encourage children to take more math and science, and make sure those courses are rigorous enough to compete with other nations. We have made a good start in the early grades with the No Child Left Behind Act, which is raising standards and lifting test scores across our country. Tonight I propose to train 70,000 high school teachers, to lead advanced-placement courses in math and science ... bring 30,000 math and science professionals to teach in classrooms ... and give early help to students who struggle with math, so they have a better chance at good, high-wage jobs. If we ensure that America's children succeed in life, they will ensure that America succeeds in the world.
Preparing our Nation to compete in the world is a goal that all of us can share. I urge you to support the American Competitiveness Initiative ... and together we will show the world what the American people can achieve.
America is a great force for freedom and prosperity. Yet our greatness is not measured in power or luxuries, but by who we are and how we treat one another. So we strive to be a compassionate, decent, hopeful society.
In recent years, America has become a more hopeful Nation. Violent crime rates have fallen to their lowest levels since the 1970s. Welfare cases have dropped by more than half over the past decade. Drug use among youth is down 19 percent since 2001. There are fewer abortions in America than at any point in the last three decades, and the number of children born to teenage mothers has been falling for a dozen years in a row.
These gains are evidence of a quiet transformation - a revolution of conscience, in which a rising generation is finding that a life of personal responsibility is a life of fulfillment. Government has played a role. Wise policies such as welfare reform, drug education, and support for abstinence and adoption have made a difference in the character of our country. And everyone here tonight, Democrat and Republican, has a right to be proud of this record.
Yet many Americans, especially parents, still have deep concerns about the direction of our culture, and the health of our most basic institutions. They are concerned about unethical conduct by public officials, and discouraged by activist courts that try to redefine marriage. And they worry about children in our society who need direction and love ... and about fellow citizens still displaced by natural disaster ... and about suffering caused by treatable disease.
As we look at these challenges, we must never give in to the belief that America is in decline, or that our culture is doomed to unravel. The American people know better than that. We have proven the pessimists wrong before - and we will do it again.
A hopeful society depends on courts that deliver equal justice under law. The Supreme Court now has two superb new members, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Sam Alito. I thank the Senate for confirming both of them. And I will continue to nominate men and women who understand that judges must be servants of the law, and not legislate from the bench. Today marks the official retirement of a very special American. For 24 years of faithful service to our Nation, the United States is grateful to Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.
A hopeful society has institutions of science and medicine that do not cut ethical corners, and that recognize the matchless value of every life. Tonight I ask you to pass legislation to prohibit the most egregious abuses of medical research - human cloning in all its forms ... creating or implanting embryos for experiments ... creating human-animal hybrids ... and buying, selling, or patenting human embryos. Human life is a gift from our Creator - and that gift should never be discarded, devalued, or put up for sale.
A hopeful society expects elected officials to uphold the public trust. Honorable people in both parties are working on reforms to strengthen the ethical standards of Washington - and I support your efforts. Each of us has made a pledge to be worthy of public responsibility - and that is a pledge we must never forget, never dismiss, and never betray.
As we renew the promise of our institutions, let us also show the character of America in our compassion and care for one another.
A hopeful society gives special attention to children who lack direction and love. Through the Helping America's Youth Initiative, we are encouraging caring adults to get involved in the life of a child - and this good work is led by our First Lady, Laura Bush. This year we will add resources to encourage young people to stay in school - so more of America's youth can raise their sights and achieve their dreams.
A hopeful society comes to the aid of fellow citizens in times of suffering and emergency - and stays at it until they are back on their feet. So far the Federal government has committed 85 billion dollars to the people of the Gulf Coast and New Orleans. We are removing debris, repairing highways, and building stronger levees. We are providing business loans and housing assistance. Yet as we meet these immediate needs, we must also address deeper challenges that existed before the storm arrived. In New Orleans and in other places, many of our fellow citizens have felt excluded from the promise of our country. The answer is not only temporary relief, but schools that teach every child ... and job skills that bring upward mobility ... and more opportunities to own a home and start a business. As we recover from a disaster, let us also work for the day when all Americans are protected by justice, equal in hope, and rich in opportunity.
A hopeful society acts boldly to fight diseases like HIV/AIDS, which can be prevented, and treated, and defeated. More than a million Americans live with HIV, and half of all AIDS cases occur among African-Americans. I ask Congress to reform and reauthorize the Ryan White Act ... and provide new funding to states, so we end the waiting lists for AIDS medicine in America. We will also lead a nationwide effort, working closely with African-American churches and faith-based groups, to deliver rapid HIV tests to millions, end the stigma of AIDS, and come closer to the day when there are no new infections in America.
Fellow citizens, we have been called to leadership in a period of consequence. We have entered a great ideological conflict we did nothing to invite. We see great changes in science and commerce that will influence all our lives. And sometimes it can seem that history is turning in a wide arc, toward an unknown shore.
Yet the destination of history is determined by human action, and every great movement of history comes to a point of choosing. Lincoln could have accepted peace at the cost of disunity and continued slavery. Martin Luther King could have stopped at Birmingham or at Selma, and achieved only half a victory over segregation. The United States could have accepted the permanent division of Europe, and been complicit in the oppression of others. Today, having come far in our own historical journey, we must decide: Will we turn back, or finish well?
Before history is written down in books, it is written in courage. Like Americans before us, we will show that courage and we will finish well. We will lead freedom's advance. We will compete and excel in the global economy. We will renew the defining moral commitments of this land. And so we move forward - optimistic about our country, faithful to its cause, and confident of victories to come.
Thank you, God bless you, and may God bless America.
Posted by Rick | February 1, 2006 06:47 PM | Political Science
The Democratic Response To The State Of The Union Speech
Governor Tim Kaine (D-VA) gave the Democrats response to the President's State of the Union speech. Unfortunately, the theme of Governor Kaine's speech - There is a better way - was as empty as Ted Kennedy's bottle of scotch.
First complaining about the "staggering national debt" and the deficits we have rung up since 9/11, Kaine went on with of litany of programs where the federal government wasn't spending enough or was attempting to cut back its spending.
Kaine complained about the inadequate spending on education where: the 'no child left behind' program is not fully funded; there have been cut backs on school loans; there are not enough preschool programs.
Governor Kaine continued adding to the Democratic complaints when he noted health care cuts in medicare and the new, but inadequate, senior medicare drug plan.
And finally, the Governor complained about benefit cuts to veterans and the active duty military, along with inadequate intelligence, inadequate body armor, and cuts in staffing levels of the National Guard and the reserves.
For good measure the good Governor complained that the federal government wasn't doing enough to preserve the environment; wasn't doing enough to keep work places safe; wasn't doing enough to preserve family farms; and the federal government needed to end partisanship and cronyism in Washington.
Did Governor Kaine attempt to put a figure on his wish list? Obviously not...this was just more rhetoric, empty at that.
In what was the only real initiative in the Governor's speech involved confiscating some of the profits from our oil companies. I'm surprised he didn't suggest nationalizing the entire industry so the government could get its hands on all the profits. Perhaps the Democrats can hire Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez as a consultant on just how to go about something like that.
Viva La (Democratic) Revolución!
Posted by Rick | February 1, 2006 12:05 AM | Political Science
Leaving Baghdad...Will Not Bring Us Peace
No matter what the anti-war factions in this country say, the war in Iraq is only a small part of the war on terror. We are in a global war against the militant Muslims who want the world to be a Muslim theocracy and will do anything to stop democracy from spreading.
Right now we are being attacked by the Islamo-fascists in Iraq on a regular basis because we are the closest target. If we leave Iraq, we won't be attacked on a daily basis, but we will be attacked and the wackos will have a cozy little base from which to plan their mischief. There will be attacks on our embassies, our ships, and the hotels, bars and restaurants where Americans congregate. There will be attacks in the United States. The terrorists will merely have more time to dream up more 9/11's.
Frankly, I would much rather keep the terrorists occupied and on the defensive in Iraq. If we leave, they will merely have more time to plan their attacks elsewhere.
Leaving Iraq will not bring us peace, and you can take that to the bank.
Posted by Rick | January 24, 2006 02:31 PM | Political Science
John McCain's Crazy Values
This past weekend Senator John McCain (R-AZ) indicated that the killing of innocent people in wartime was regrettable but sometimes unavoidable. On CBS' Face The Nation January 15, 2006, Senator McCain had this to say:
"It's terrible when innocent people are killed. We regret that, but we have to do what we think is necessary to take out al quaeda, particularly the top operatives."
I understand that...
but this is the same Senator who just initiated the new strict anti-torture law which prohibits cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of detainees in U.S. custody, even illegal combatants captured on the battlefield.
So Senator McCain thinks it's OK to kill innocent civilians caught up in a war, but it's not OK to inflict a little pain or humiliation on people who were trying to kill us in order to gain important information that might save American lives?
This makes it official...John McCain is an idiot.
Posted by Rick | January 18, 2006 02:07 AM | Political Science
Governor Blanco Is Clueless
With red ink in the Louisiana state budget flowing like water from a broken levee, Governor Kathleen Blanco is continuing to display the questionable judgment she used in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
At a cost of 'only' $564,838, Governor Blanco has just finished remodeling 3 floors of the Louisiana State House. While all three floors that the governor and her staff occupy were upgraded, the 6th floor, which will not be accessible to the public, was redesigned to add three new offices, a conference room and file storage areas upgrades at a cost of nearly $300,000. Other upgrades included hookups and mounts for two flat screen televisions, Swedish granite countertops, walnut paneling and frosted laminated glass. A bathroom was added to the 5th floor and all areas received new carpet.
I submit to you that not another penny should be given for the reconstruction of Louisiana until Governor Blanco resigns or is recalled.
If you have a desire to donate to Hurricane Katrina victims, the seemingly forgotten states of Mississippi, Alabama and Florida still need plenty of help. Donations made through the Salvation Army can be directed by you to the area you wish to help.
Posted by Rick | January 4, 2006 03:49 PM | Political Science
Snoop Dog
Let me first say that I am in favor of the President authorizing the National Security Agency's interception of telephone calls, emails and other correspondence between suspected terrorists outside the United States and persons inside our borders without getting warrants from the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA).
This is not like the unwarranted strip searches of the little old lady going through airport security, while other more likely suspects waltz through.
There has been no admission that there has been any surveillance of communications between persons inside our borders without getting warrants from the court, but it defies common sense that surveillance of the person in the United States would stop after intercepting an international call from a suspected Al Quaeda operative.
If the President abuses this power, something should be done to reign in the program, but there is no indication that there have been any abuses and the critics should just button their lip until there is.
Posted by Rick | December 20, 2005 11:04 PM | Political Science
Moribund Government Agencies Need Overhaul
The government's mind-numbing mix of regulation and paperwork is unbelievable. Read this article in the NYT.
Posted by Rick | December 15, 2005 11:04 AM | Political Science
Immigration Lip Service?
Five years into his presidency, George Bush finally made a speech which seemed to address his concerns about the illegal immigration problem in this country.
"We're a nation built on the rule of law and those who enter the country illegally break the law. In communities near our border illegal immigration strains the resources of schools, hospitals, and law enforcement, and it involves smugglers and gangs that bring crime to our neighborhoods. Faced with this serious challenge our government's responsibility is clear - we're going to protect our border."
Hopefully this will become a major priority of President Bush and his Department of Homeland Security, but I fear this is just lip service. Bush is more concerned that he might upset his friend, Mexican President Vincente Fox Quesada, than he is about securing the Mexican border. Fox has refused to do anything to curb the flow of illegals into the United States and has even defended it saying:
"There's no doubt that Mexican men and women full of dignity, willpower and a capacity for work are doing the work that not even blacks want to do in the United States."
Never mind that Fox has lost control of his northern border, including the Texas border town, Neuvo Laredo, which is fondly referred to as 'Narco Nuevo,' and the California border town, Tijuana, which has had two police chiefs assassinated in the past few years, to drug traffickers and other nefarious characters.
The Department of Homeland Security, which is supposedly in charge of controlling the borders, is a joke and Secretary Chertoff has done perhaps less than his predecessor Tom Ridge did, if that is possible.
This past week it was announced that passengers on planes would be allowed to carry small knives and other sharp objects. The homeland security staff that strip-searches little old women and well-known personalities at airport checkpoints while letting strapping young Muslim men through unimpeded, is apparently unable to look for knives and bombs at the same time. The fact that four planes were hijacked on 9/11/2001 using small sharp objects has been forgotten.
Posted by Rick | December 4, 2005 01:05 PM | Political Science
John Kerry - Commander-In-Confusion?
Former presidential candidate Senator John Kerry (D-MA) made the following quote this past week:
"I'm not asking even for the specific timetable of withdrawal. I'm asking for a specific timetable of transfer of authority, of transfer of responsibility, of the shift and the setting of the benchmarks specifically that allow us to bring our troops home."
Can you imagine Kerry saying this to the Secretary of Defense if he were President? Wars are not fought in a vaccuum, but Kerry seems to be suffering from one between his ears.
Posted by Rick | December 4, 2005 12:51 PM | Political Science
Turkey, Chicken Or Crow For Thanksgiving?
Congressman John 'Jack' Murtha (D-PA), who originally voted to support the war in Iraq, has now called for the immediate withdrawal of our troops.
I believe before the Iraqi elections, scheduled for mid December, the Iraqi people and the emerging government must be put on notice that the United States will immediately redeploy. All of Iraq must know that Iraq is free. Free from United States occupation.
In closing Congressman Murtha said:
Our military has done everything that has been asked of them, the U.S. can not accomplish anything further in Iraq militarily. IT IS TIME TO BRING THEM HOME.
Taking exception to the proposal by Congressman Murtha, White House spokesman Scott McClellan, responded Thursday:
Congressman Murtha is a respected veteran and politician who has a record of supporting a strong America. So it is baffling that he is endorsing the policy positions of Michael Moore and the extreme liberal wing of the Democratic party.The eve of an historic democratic election in Iraq is not the time to surrender to the terrorists.
The outcry over those remarks could be heard all the way to the Golden Gate Bridge. John Kerry said it was "the lowest form of smear and fear politics." Other terms used to describe the comments ranged from dismal and pathetic, to disgusting, while another said it was "as low as you can get."
Then today, Congresswoman Jean Schmidt (R-OH) relayed a message from Marine Corps Reserve officer and State Representative from Ohio, Colonel Danny Bubp (R-West Union, OH) to Congressman Murtha which said in part that we should 'stay the course' and went on to say "cowards cut and run, Marines never do." Unfortunately, Ms. Schmidt was forced to withdraw the remarks, regardless of how accurate, under threat of rebuke.
Lest the Democrats forget, the far-left bomb-thrower and noted America hater Michael Moore was an honored guest at the Democratic convention, sitting proudly next to former President Jimmy Carter. If Murtha was there at all, I'm sure he was up in the cheap seats so why are the Democrats so upset that he would be mentioned in the same breath as the great hero of the Democratic party, Mr. Moore.
Tonight in the House of Representatives a vote was held on Congressman Murtha's proposal just so that all those who feel that we should cut and run are able to go on record.
Ultimately, the Democrats in the House of Representatives did not have the courage to vote their convictions despite all their posturing. After a short debate during which Mr. Murtha took up most of the Democratic time reiterating his position and reading three letters from families of servicemen who were killed or injured in Iraq, only three lone Democrats could muster the courage to vote for the immediate withdrawal of our troops from Iraq. The House of Representatives voted against the immediate withdrawal of our troops 403 to 3, with 6 courageous representatives voting present.
This Thanksgiving I hope the brave troops and all those who are proud of America's efforts to bring freedom and democracy to Iraq and Afghanistan enjoy their turkey!
To those on the left who quietly wanted to vote for the resolution, but did not - Enjoy your chicken.
To the vocal supporters of Congressman Murtha who continue to undermine the war on terror and the troops, while not being able to vote their convictions - Eat crow.
Posted by Rick | November 18, 2005 03:12 PM | Political Science
Let Them Eat Cake
The streets of Paris are burning. A number of buildings and over 1200 vehicles have been torched and over 250 arrests have been made.
For years, France has opened its doors to Muslims and north Africans who are now turning on their hosts and burning the country, promising 40 days of violence. Now the Parisians are beside themselves. As Japan Today put it:
The seemingly uncontainable violence has proved deeply embarrassing to the government, focusing global attention on the often terrible conditions in deprived suburbs, where largely immigrant populations complain of dismal economic prospects, rampant discrimination and heavy-handed policing.
What is the reason for the violence? The initial excuse was that two hoodlums were electrocuted while running from the police. Of course the fact that the low-lifes were hiding at an electrical substation had nothing to do with their demise.
If things are so bad in France, why don't the downtrodden immigrants go back where they came from?
This is nothing but violence for violence sake. France should shoot to kill those who are burning and looting, but they won't. The French believe in appeasement, until it's time to surrender.
In France, the inmates are running the asylum. French President Chirac certainly doesn't get it. I heard his initial response to the violence was: "Let them eat cake."
Posted by Rick | November 4, 2005 01:40 AM | Political Science
2000 Deaths In Iraq - Only The Beginning
There have been 2000 American deaths in Iraq since we decided that Saddam Hussein had to go. The anti-American left-wing Democrats and media types would like us to leave Iraq - NOW. They want a timetable for us to leave. They demand a plan for our retreat.
Unfortunately, a plan made public for our retreat would allow our enemies to hunker down until we leave. They could become good little Muslims until we left and then they could begin their reign of terror on the Kurds and Shiites all over again.
Does anyone remember all those killed after we left Vietnam? Apparently not enough of us!
Should we have stayed in Vietnam to keep millions of Cambodians and Vietnamese from dying? Yes!
Should we have fought to win the war rather than turn tail and run? Of course!
We are now in another war. Some call it the war on terror. It is really much more than a war on terror. The war in Afghanistan and Iraq is all part of the same war. Maybe it wasn't when we first began, but it has become the front line of World War III. This is a war that will ultimately effect more people than WWII. There will be more deaths, more destruction, more suffering. It is a war for the soul of civilization. It is a war that will go on for years and years; perhaps even centuries. It is a war a large part of the Muslim world has declared against non-believers and they are going to keep trying to kill us until we cease to exist.
Prior to September 11, 2001, the Islamofascists had been taking pot shots at us for a number of years: blowing up a ship here and an embassy there, and, of course, there was the earlier, albeit, unsuccessful attempt to destroy the World Trade Center in 1993. People were injured and killed in these attacks, but until President Bush ‘43’ came along, American presidents were content to ignore the problem, giving the Muslim fanatics little more than lip service. (President Clinton was too busy getting lip service to give it. He did, however, manage to blow up some tents and an aspirin factory.)
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- Lest we forget, the fatalities of September 11, 2001, were in the thousands!
- At the World Trade Center 2,742 innocent souls were lost. There were 76 passengers and 11 crew members on American Airlines Flight 11 which smashed into the first tower. There were 51 passengers and 9 crew members on United Airlines Flight 175 which crashed into the second tower. There were 2,595 people killed in and around the World Trade Center, including 343 New York City firefighters, 23 New York City police officers, and 37 Port Authority police officers.
- At the Pentagon, there were 125 civilians and military personnel killed along with 53 passengers and six crew members of American Airlines Flight 77.
- On United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, there were 33 passengers and 7 crew members.
- A total of 2,966 innocent people lost their lives on September 11, 2001.
- Unfortunately, only 19 despicable, contemptible Islamofascists went to hell.
The property damage was in the billions of dollars. In addition to the destruction of the 110-floor twin towers of the World Trade Center, five other buildings at the World Trade Center site and four subway stations were destroyed or badly damaged. A total of 25 buildings were damaged on Manhattan Island. Communications equipment such as broadcast radio, television and two way radio antenna towers were damaged beyond repair. At the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, a portion of the building was severely damaged by fire and one section of the building collapsed.
The economic losses in the aftermath of the attack have been every bit as devastating as the actual attack, but there is really no way to gauge the total cost. The ongoing cost of additional security at virtually every level of society has become almost prohibitive.
For argument sake, let’s say we have now lost 4,966 people in this war. Really a drop in the bucket when a comparison is made to World War II.
During World War II, Germany, Japan, and Italy were running amuck across Europe, Asia, and Africa. Millions of civilians were killed; millions more targeted 'undesirables' including especially Jews, gypsies, Poles, Russian war prisoners and other Slavs, Roma and Sinti, the mentally or physically disabled, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, Communists and political dissidents were exterminated by Hitler, Mussolini and Hirohito. Our efforts to defeat the Axis are never questioned. The 407,318 American lives lost were the unfortunate cost of victory.
We are in another world war; World War III, if you will. Teddy Kennedy and John Kerry would have you believe we are not, but when they speak remember you must consider the source. Mark my words, the Muslim fanatics are going to keep coming to kill us - kill your mother and your father - kill your kids - kill your neighbor - kill your dog. They are chicken shit, brain dead, scum sucking ragheads who would just as soon cut off your head as look at you. There is no reasoning with them. There can be no peace treaty. They want you and I to stop breathing. They want nothing more from us.
Since a quarter of the world is Muslim, many of them religious fanatics, they are going to kill many more than the current total of 4,966. The only way to stop them is to kill them. Unfortunately, we are going to be killing them for a very, very long time.
Right now, the front line of the war is in Iraq and I would prefer to keep it there. Once the war comes to Main Street, USA, Mr. Kennedy will be hiding in a bottle of scotch, and Monsieur Kerry will be residing in the Islamic Republic of France.
Posted by Rick | October 26, 2005 03:20 PM | Political Science
Does SMU Offer Creative Writing For Supreme Court Justices 101?
Everyone wants to learn as much as they can about nominees to the Supreme Court because they are appointed to the court for life. Once they are on the Supreme Court, the justices answer to no one.
All kinds of questions are being asked about President Bush's nominee to fill Sandra Day O'Connor's position on the Supreme Court, Harriet Miers. Who does her hair? Does she make her own clothes? Does she like Mexican or Chinese food better? Can she write coherently?
Of course, writing legal opinions is an important part of a Supreme Court justice's work.
Ms. Miers does not have a large volume of work by which to be judged as did recently confirmed Chief Justice John Roberts. Most of her writing was published in the Texas Bar Journal in 1992-1993 while she served as president of the State Bar of Texas. This week Ms. Miers has been criticized for her writing skills, perhaps most notably by David Brooks in the New York TimesSelect on October 13th. In critiquing her skills as a writer, Mr. Brooks opined: "the quality of thought and writing doesn't even rise to the level of pedestrian."
He went on to quote some examples, noting:
Nothing excuses sentences like this:"More and more, the intractable problems in our society have one answer: broad-based intolerance of unacceptable conditions and a commitment by many to fix problems."
Or this: "We must end collective acceptance of inappropriate conduct and increase education in professionalism."
Or this: "When consensus of diverse leadership can be achieved on issues of importance, the greatest impact can be achieved."
Or passages like this: "An organization must also implement programs to fulfill strategies established through its goals and mission. Methods for evaluation of these strategies are a necessity. With the framework of mission, goals, strategies, programs, and methods for evaluation in place, a meaningful budgeting process can begin."
Or, finally, this: "We have to understand and appreciate that achieving justice for all is in jeopardy before a call to arms to assist in obtaining support for the justice system will be effective. Achieving the necessary understanding and appreciation of why the challenge is so important, we can then turn to the task of providing the much needed support."
Here is the final Harriet Miers' gem Mr. Brooks chose to highlight in his article:
"There is always a necessity to tend to a myriad of responsibilities on a number of cases as well as matters not directly related to the practice of law." And yet, "Disciplining ourselves to provide the opportunity for thought and analysis has to rise again to a high priority."
Remembering that Ms. Miers was a math major as an undergraduate, I would imagine that she became quite adept at putting together algebraic formulas; constructing coherent sentences and fashioning them together to make a point is obviously not her strong suit.
Nevertheless, Ms. Miers will be confirmed as the next associate justice unless she speaks as incoherently as she writes. Perhaps Ms. Miers can take a crash course on creative writing next summer at SMU during the court's hiatus.
If you would like to read some of the things she has written in their entirety, go here.
Posted by Rick | October 14, 2005 03:18 PM | Political Science
Harriet Miers - Supreme Court Justice Material Or Administrator?
Here's what we know so far about Harriet Miers, President Bush's nominee to replace Justice Sandra Day O’Connor on the SCOTUS:
She is 60 years old and has never married.
She received both her undergraduate and law degrees from Southern Methodist University.Upon graduation from law school she clerked for U.S. District Court Judge Joe Estes
She served as a Member-At-Large on the Dallas City Council for a two year term.
She was chairman of the Texas State Lottery Commission.
She was the President and director of the State Bar of Texas.
She was the first woman President of the Dallas Bar Association, and also served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Dallas Bar Association.
She is currently a member of the House of Delegates for the American Bar Association and State Delegate for the State of Texas.
She went to to the Valley View Christian Church in Dallas from 1980 until she moved to Washington, D.C., to work for Bush. (The Valley View Christian Church is an independent evangelical church associated with the Restoration Movement Christian Churches/Churches of Christ.)
She gave campaign contributions to the DNC and Democratic candidates including to Al Gore in his bid for President in 1988. After 1988, she began making political contributions to Republicans. See the complete list here.
She donated $150 to a pro-life group, Texans United for Life, in 1989.
She was the co-managing partner of Locke Liddell & Sapp LLP, a prestigious law firm in Dallas.
She represented President Bush in the purchase of some real estate and was counsel for Bush's gubernatorial campaign in 1993-1994.
She served as assistant to the President and Staff Secretary before becoming White House counsel.
She has served as a trustee of the Southwestern Legal Foundation.
She has served as a member of the Executive Board for the Southern Methodist University School of Law.
It certainly seems that Harriet Miers is qualified for something, but this resume would make her better suited for court administrator than Supreme Court judge.
Here is a biography of Harriet Miers from the American Justice Partnership.
Posted by Rick | October 8, 2005 08:01 AM | Political Science
White House Counsel Harriet Miers May Be Bush's Boo-Boo
I must admit that I am more than a little skeptical of President Bush's nomination today of White House counsel Harriet Ellan Miers for associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
I heard earlier today that she had contributed to Al Gore's campaign for president in 1988. Contributing to a Democratic presidential campaign is one thing, but contributing to Al Gore's campaign shows a lack of sound judgment.
Then I see Senate majority leader Harry Reid on the telly saying how much he likes Ms. Miers and I almost want to puke. Come to find out, Harry actually suggested Ms. Miers as a potential nominee to Bush.
What gives here?
Posted by Rick | October 3, 2005 10:24 PM | Political Science
Judith Miller, The Worst Reporter In America?
How embarrassing it must be for Vice-President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Jr., to be the confidential informant for New York Times reporter, Judith Miller, of whom Jim Pinkerton on FOX News Watch called the worst reporter in America. (Although she has many critics, in fairness it must be pointed out that eight months before the attacks on 9/11/2001, she published a piece documenting Al Qaeda’s WMD ambitions which was part of a series, which later earned her and several colleagues a Pulitzer Prize.) Ms. Miller may not be the best reporter in the world, but apparently has no shortage of important, A-list friends. read here.
If Libby still has a job after the investigation into the leaking of Valerie Plame's identity as a CIA agent, perhaps he can talk to Jayson Blair, who holds the distinction of being perhaps the worst reporter ever to work for the New York Times.
Posted by Rick | October 2, 2005 06:39 AM | Political Science
Congratulations To Chief Justice John Roberts!
The United States Senate has just voted 78-22 to confirm John Glover Roberts, Jr., as the 17th chief justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
At age 50, he is the youngest chief justice since John Marshall was confirmed as chief justice in 1801.
All the Senate Republicans voted to confirm Judge Roberts. The 22 Democrats who voted against him were the typical left-wing hard liners. Leading the left against him were:
Akaka, HI
Bayh, IN
Biden, DE
Boxer, CA
Cantwell, WA
Clinton, NY
Corzine, NJ
Dayton, MN
Durbin, IL
Feinstein, CA
Harkin, IA
Inouye, HI
Kennedy, MA
Kerry, MA
Lautenberg, NJ
Mikulski, MD
Obama, IL
Reed, RI
Reid, NV
Sarbanes, MD
Schumer, NY
Stabenow, MI
At the end of the day, no real surprises.
Congratulations to Chief Justice Roberts!!
Posted by Rick | September 29, 2005 10:01 AM | Political Science
FEMA - An Unbelievable Bureaucracy
I have been a big supporter of FEMA since the disaster in New Orleans, but while I was listening to Ann Coulter on the Sean Hannity radio show today, she mentioned a news report on NBC5.com that discussed FEMA requiring 700 volunteer firemen, including Indiana firefighters Bill Lundy and Joe Calhoun, take an 8 hour course on sexual harassment and equal opportunity employment procedures before they would be allowed to help.
Lundy and Calhoun's first task was an eight-hour course on sexual harassment and equal opportunity employment procedures, Rogers reported. Neither firefighter would be involved in technical rescues of trapped people or any of their other specialties.
If this is the type of petty, shortsighted bureaucracy that pervades FEMA, the whole agency should be overhauled.
Posted by Rick | September 27, 2005 10:52 PM | Political Science
Reid Says 'No' To John Roberts
Senate minority leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said he was going to vote against Judge John Roberts, who has been nominated as the next chief justice of the Supreme Court.
The senate had over 75,000 pages of documents and over 300 appellate cases to review in evaluating Judge Roberts qualifications, but Senator Reid still said he didn't know enough about Roberts to vote for him. Reid is kidding isn't he?
Posted by Rick | September 20, 2005 07:03 PM | Political Science
Sandy Berger Medium-Well Done
Case closed, but it seems to me that former national security adviser Sandy Berger should have been sent to the big house to reflect on the error of his ways for at least 3 years. Martha Stewart lied to the feds and spent 5 months in the slammer and 5 months under house arrest (more or less). Not only did Sandy Berger smuggle classified documents out of the National Archives, he reportedly either misplaced or destroyed some of them. Here is the report from the Indianapolis Star:
A federal judge Thursday ordered former national security adviser Sandy Berger to pay a $50,000 fine and give up his security clearance for three years as the penalty for smuggling classified terrorism documents out of the National Archives in 2003.The sentence was much more severe than the $10,000 fine that Justice Department prosecutors and Berger's attorneys had jointly proposed after Berger pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge. But Magistrate Judge Deborah Robinson said the punishment, which also included two years of probation and 100 hours of community service, would more "sufficiently reflect the seriousness of the offense."
Berger, who had classified documents hand-delivered to his desk when he advised President Bill Clinton, pleaded guilty in April to unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents.
Posted by Rick | September 9, 2005 04:20 AM | Political Science
The Disgrace Of The Louisiana Department Of Homeland Security
It is becoming almost impossible for the Democrats to place the horrific conditions at the New Orleans Superdome and Convention Center that lasted for four days at the feet of FEMA's head, Michael Brown, and President Bush. In an interview on Hugh Hewitt's radio show, Major Garrett of Fox News laid the blame squarely in Louisiana officials' laps:
HH: Making an encore appearance, and we're very grateful for it, Major Garrett of Fox News Channel. Major, you certainly made waves yesterday. Perhaps the most reported story in America was yours. You followed up on it tonight. What has your investigation into the Red Cross relationship with the Louisiana Department of Homeland Security revealed today?MG: A couple of things. First of all, it established on tonight's Special Report, that it wasn't just the Red Cross. It was the Salvation Army. Both agencies, both organizations were ready, prepared, pre-positioned, eager, but were thwarted in their efforts to bring supplies, basic supplies...not everything these people needed, but core supplies to the Superdome, and then eventually, the convention center. Why? Because the New Orleans Department of Homeland Security said look. Our plan is to evacuate these people. Marty Evans, the President and the CEO of the American Red Cross, said on camera...you don't have to believe me. Believe her. You can read her own eyes, saying look. We were told if we came in, we would create an atmosphere that would lead people to stay, and give them the feeling that they should stay. And the state did not want that.
I, for one, can't wait for the bipartisan congressional hearings!
Posted by Rick | September 9, 2005 02:22 AM | Political Science
We Really Need To Get A Grip On Iraq
James Glanz is reporting in the New York Times that the mayor of Baghdad, Alaa al-Tamimi, was ousted in an apparently bloodless coup d'état Monday, and replaced by a member of Iraq's most powerful Shiite militia.
The man the group installed, Hussein al-Tahaan, is a member of the Badr Organization, the armed militia of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, known as Sciri.
The deposed mayor went into hiding and was not expected to return.
If we don't start using a bigger stick, it won't matter how many carrots we hand out. The coalition forces and the newly trained Iraqi military must not allow this to continue or no one will be willing to serve in the newly democratic country. Our military is capable of cleaning the clock of any foe in a conventional war, but it is becoming apparent that a new tact will be necessary to win the unconventional war being waged against us in Iraq. If we don't get a grip on things soon, Iraq will be Vietnam redux.
Posted by Rick | August 10, 2005 11:29 PM | Political Science
How Low Can They Go?
If the news reports that the New York Times was trying to unseal the adoption records of Supreme Court nominee Roberts two children are true, politics have sunk to a new low in America.
Posted by Rick | August 5, 2005 05:57 PM | Political Science
When Pigs Fly
In an article at TownHall.com, Caroline B. Glick, deputy managing editor of The Jerusalem Post where the article first appeared, wrote:
During his meeting with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice last Saturday, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas told Rice that the PA had ceased all incitement activities against Israel. Yet on the same day that they met, the PA's official news service WAFA "reported" that Israelis were sending hordes of wild pigs to Palestinian villages around Hawarah village in the Nablus district to attack them and destroy their fields. The PA's official news service even interviewed Hawarah Mayor Mansour Dmaidi, who backed these ludicrous and incendiary statements.
If true, the Palestinians would, at the very least, have fresh meat.
Seriously, Abbas will say anything to keep the checks coming from the Bush administration. President Bush would love to be seen as the man who 'tore down the wall' and brought peace to the Israelis and Palestinians, so he just keeps writing checks in return for empty promises; the same empty promises that inspired the administrations of Carter, Reagan, Bush 41, and Clinton to underwrite the peace process. The truth that administration after administration refuses to recognize is that we can't buy a peace the Palestinians don't want!
Posted by Rick | July 22, 2005 05:38 PM | Political Science
Is John Roberts Another David Souter?
Ann Coulter is afraid that Bush's Supreme Court nominee, John Roberts, may end up being another Justice David Souter - a liberal in conservative clothing.
How much will we end up knowing about Judge Roberts before he is confirmed? Probably not much. And for the record, I do not believe nominees should have to answer questions about cases that may come before them, but it would certainly be nice if Judge Roberts had a larger legal history with which his judicial leanings might be measured.
That said, Judge Roberts certainly seems to have the qualifications to be a Supreme Court justice.
You can read more about Judge Roberts in the New York Times.
I hope the Democrats can make the confirmation process a civil one, but rest assured Senators Schumer, Kennedy, Boxer and Kerry will turn it into a petty, partisan pissing contest.
Posted by Rick | July 21, 2005 01:22 PM | Political Science
'Top Gun' Ace Grounded
Ethically challenged Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA) announced today that he will not run for another term as representative from California's 50th U.S. House district.
On June 30, 2005, Fox News reported:
Cunningham, who sits on the House Defense Appropriations subcommittee, sold his house to defense contractor Mitchell Wade for $1.7 million. That turned out to be roughly $700,000 more than the house was worth. Wade's company, MZM, Inc., has since been the recipient of $104 million in classified, Pentagon no-compete contracts.Wade also owns a 42-foot yacht that until recently Cunningham called home when in Washington. But the questions don't end there.
After the story broke, Cunningham, a former U.S. Navy fighter ace during the Vietnam War, issued a three page press release which said in part:
I recognize, however, that I showed poor judgment in selling my home in Del Mar to a friend who does business with the government. At the time of the sale, I failed to adequately consider how this transaction might be perceived by others who don't know me.
You can read Rep Cunningham's complete press release here if you are so inclined.
Then on July 1, 2005, ScienceDaily reported:
Federal agents searched the San Diego-area home of Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, R-Calif., and the Washington, D.C., offices of a defense contractor Friday.A task force made up of agents from the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service, the Defense Criminal Investigation Service and the U.S. Attorney's offices in San Diego and Washington also searched the boat Cunningham has lived on for much of the past year at Washington's Capitol Yacht Club.
Cunningham could see the writing on the wall and today the eight-term Congressman, during a hastily arranged news conference, called it quits. The Associated Press, in a story found at Fox News, quoted the Congressman:
"The time has come for me to conclude the public chapter in my life," the eight-term San Diego-area Republican said, reading from a brief written statement. "Quite simply, right now I may not be the strongest candidate."
Posted by Rick | July 14, 2005 09:33 PM | Political Science
Subliminal Message Discovered In Democratic Rhetoric
Mona Charen, writing for townhall.com, comments on the problem liberals in the United States seem to have with patriotism toward their own country. In a no-holds-barred article she writes:
A measure of anti-Americanism has come to infect the left worldwide, and American liberals not only partake, they are the most assiduous popularizers of America hatred this side of Al-Jazeera.
and this:
It continues to defy explanation why liberals, who theoretically love liberty, equality, tolerance and moderation, should find so much to despise in their own country, which represents the fullest expression of those virtues anywhere on the globe. Perhaps it is because, as Robert Frost said, "A liberal is a man too broad-minded to take his own side in a quarrel."
While Frost undoubtedly gives too much credit to liberals in the above quote, it is obvious that with every passing day; with every Congressional hearing; with every speech; with every interview; the liberals’ underlying, almost subliminal, message is 'America isn’t worth fighting for.' Liberals would love to turn tail and run, cry Uncle! if you will, from the tough fight against terrorism we are engaged in. They believe that the Muslim worms shooting and blowing up stuff in Iraq and Afghanistan are doing so because of injustices inflicted on people all over the world by America and are therefore justified in their bloody behavior. They believe that if we all went to couples therapy together, all this hatred and bloodshed would disappear and we could put a flower in the end of every gun. Please join hands now and sing: Michael Allah row the boat ashore, hallelujah...
Today the Democrats seem to be concerned that we are having a problem recruiting enough young men and women for our Armed Services, yet when we call upon the brave soldiers, sailors, and airmen to fight for our way of life, our democracy, our republic, the Democratic voices have nothing but criticism, scorn, and derision in their tone. Saying you support the military is one thing, but for most Democrats, it's really nothing more that empty rhetoric. The petty criticisms leveled against, and the second-guessing of, our soldiers in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantánamo Bay in the past 18 months by the Democrats have been beyond the pale, pathetic crap. Without a doubt, their inflammatory rhetoric is one of the main reasons our young men and women currently have second thoughts about joining the military.
I have no problem with the Democrats disagreeing with the Social Security proposals put forth by Republicans, although I would like to hear how they would fix the looming crisis. If there are honest disagreements over judicial and other appointments, Democrats should make their concerns known, as long as the disagreements are honest and not merely obstructionist. I do have a problem with the Democrats who joined with the Republicans 3 days after the attacks on 9/11/2001 and voted 98-0 in the Senate and 420-1 in the House of Representatives to allow the President to use all necessary force against those who were responsible and now call for us to cut and run. The vote taken 3 days after 9/11 meant nothing to the Democrats. That vote was just tough talk, bit is seems for Democratic leaders, talk is cheap, and that is all they are prepared to do.
The Democrats who now complain that the war in Iraq, and, to a lessor extent, Afghanistan is a quagmire and has become "series of gross errors and mistakes," or who call incessantly for the Secretary of Defense to resign seem to have a greater allegiance to the terrorists than our military and our country. We have taken the fight on terror to Iraq and Afghanistan rather than let the Muslim radicals bring the fight to our shores as they did in 1993 when they bombed the World Trade Center, and in 2001 when they actually brought it down, killing over 3,000 Americans in the process. The Democrats just won't be satisfied until we are being bombed and shot at by every two-bit Muslim radical on every street-corner in America. When the battle against terror is on Main Street, USA, whose quagmire will that be?
Posted by Rick | June 25, 2005 09:47 AM | Political Science
Durbin Apologizes
From Senator Dick Durbin's own web site, I am posting his published statement that he gave on the floor of the Senate today. If you would like to hear him giving his statement, you can go to Radio Blogger and click on his posted remarks which will take you to an audio clip of the Senator ‘apologizing.’.
DURBIN APOLOGIZES ON SENATE FLOOR FOR GUANTÁNAMO BAY ANALOGIES Tuesday, June 21, 2005 [WASHINGTON, DC] – U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today made the following statement on the floor of the United States Senate:
"More than most people, a Senator lives by his words, words are the coin of the realm in our profession. Occasionally words will fail us and occasionally we will fail words."
"On June 14, I took the floor of the Senate to speak about genuine heartfelt concerns about the treatment of prisoners and detainees at Guantánamo and other places. I raised legitimate concerns that others have raised, including Secretary of State Colin Powell, about the policies of this administration and whether they truly do serve our needs to make America safer and more secure, whether, in fact, some of the policies might, in fact, endanger our troops, or in some ways disparage the image of America around the world."
"During the course of that presentation, I read an e-mail from the Federal Bureau of Investigation that was discovered to exist last August, and has now been produced as part of the Freedom of Information Act. After reading the horrible details in that memo, which characterized the treatment of prisoners at Guantánamo, I then, on my own, my own words, made some characterizations about that memo. I made reference to the Nazis, Soviets and other repressive regimes."
"Mr. President, I have come to understand that was a very poor choice of words. I tried to make this very clear last Friday that I understood to those analogies to the Nazis, Soviets and others were poorly chosen. I issued a release which I thought made my intentions and my inner-most feeling as clear as I possibly could."
"Let me read to you what I said. ‘I have learned from my statement that historical parallels can be misused and misunderstood. I sincerely regret if what I said causes anybody to misunderstand my true feelings. Our soldiers around the world and their families at home deserve our respect, admiration and total support.’"
"“Mr. President, it is very clear that even though I thought I had said something that clarified the situation, to many people it was still unclear. I'm sorry if anything that I said caused any offense or pain to those who have such bitter memories of the Holocaust, the greatest moral tragedy of our time. Nothing, nothing should ever be said to demean or diminish that moral tragedy."
"I'm also sorry if anything I said in any way cast a negative light on our fine men and women in the military. I went to Iraq just a few months ago with Senator Harry Reid and a bipartisan Senate delegation. When you look in the eyes of the soldiers you see your son and daughter. They are the best. I never, ever intended any disrespect for them."
"Some may believe that my remarks crossed a line. To them, I extend my heartfelt apologies."
"There's usually a quote from Abraham Lincoln that you can turn to in moments like this. Maybe this is the right one. Lincoln said, ‘If the end brings me out right, what is said against me won't amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, 10,000 angels swearing I was right wouldn't make any difference.’"
"In the end, I don't want anything that I may have said detract from the love for my country, my respect for those who bravely risk their lives each day for our security, and this Senate which I am so honored to serve as a member. I offer my apology for those offended by my words. I promise to speak out on the issues that I think are important to the people of Illinois and to the nation."
I particularly liked the line: "Some may believe that my remarks crossed a line. To them, I extend my heartfelt apologies."
It seems that it would have been a more appropriate apology if he believed that he crossed the line.
Posted by Rick | June 21, 2005 10:51 PM | Political Science
Close Guantánamo Bay - Relocate To Maricopa County, Arizona
I am in agreement with the bleeding heart liberals that we should close the storage facility at Guantánamo Bay. During all the chatter this past week I have heard talking heads make some pretty ridiculous suggestions. One handwringer said, without cracking even a smile, that we should move them to Guam. What!? Amnesty International can't find Guam?
I think we should move the human waste we currently store at the lovely facility at Gitmo to Attica, Rikers Island, or any one of America's other exceptionally fine prisons or local jails. Let them get a taste of a real American prison. In an article printed in the San Francisco Chronicle on January 23, 2005, Paul Pringle, staff writer at the Los Angeles Times, wrote about food at the Men's Central Jail in Los Angeles that includes a sack lunch:
The bag held two pieces of tired-looking processed turkey, two slices of wheat bread, two cookies, an apple and carrots. It is a typical lunch. Breakfast is mainly bran flakes and milk, hard-boiled eggs, a bun, jelly and fruit juice.The jail stopped serving hot oatmeal last year to trim $1.5 million from its annual food budget, which is $22.9 million -- or $2.25 per day per inmate, less than that of California's state prisons ($2.45) and federal penitentiaries ($2.78).
Doesn't sound like the glazed chicken sometimes served at Guantánamo Bay does it? Carol Rosenberg, writing for Knight Ridder Newspapers, wrote in an article published at CentreDaily.com on June 8, 2005:
In its campaign to portray the Guantánamo Bay prison for terrorism suspects as humane, the Bush administration has made a rare disclosure: The Pentagon is spending $2.5 million a year to provide a proper Muslim meal to each prisoner behind the razor wire in isolated Cuba.That's $12.68 a day in meals for each suspect.
and this:
Since soon after the prison opened in January 2002, the Pentagon has emphasized that the U.S. military provides prisoners with Qurans and Muslim-approved halal meat to portray it as sensitive to Islam. Commanders early on posted markers pointing toward Mecca, for prayer, and airlifted in 125 pounds of halal lamb for a special stew to celebrate the end of Ramadan, the month when Muslims fast.
and this:
In contrast, the Miami-Dade Corrections Department spends $2.19 a day on each prisoner's food - or $3.60 if you calculate salaries and equipment, says Cmdr. Debbie Graham.If a Miami-Dade prisoner requires a kosher meal, which is similar to Islam's no-pork halal diet, the county spends an additional $3 per prisoner for a prepackaged dinner at night.
and finally this:
Blackner provided a sample from Guantánamo's culturally sensitive menu: whole wheat bagels, fresh fruit, rice pilaf, chicken breast in orange sauce, string cheese, vegetable patties, dates, baklava and yams.
Ms. Rosenberg went on to report that "prisoners get 2,600 calories a day" and during Ramadan, "prisoners get nuts, honey and extra rations." By contrast, the military spends only about $8.25 a day to feed the soldiers who guard the Muslim maggots.
My vote for the warden of any prison holding tough-guy terrorists would be the current sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, Joe Arpaio. Chris Summers, writing for the BBC News on Tuesday, 26 October, 2004, wrote:
Sheriff Arpaio's prison policies have made headlines across the United States. He reinstated chain gangs, for women and juveniles, as well as men, forces inmates to wear pink underwear and the old fashioned black and white hooped uniforms, and hit on the idea of housing minor offenders in a huge "Tent City" in the desert.
Forget the chain gangs and the fact that Sheriff Joe feeds his prisoners on less than $1.00 a day, the terrorist-loving liberals would probably run screaming to Amnesty International that the pink underwear provided to the prisoners was 'torture.'
Shaun Attwood, a British citizen who served two years in Sheriff Joe's jail before pleading guilty to money laundering and drug charges and being transferred to a state prison, has a weblog, Jon's Jail Journal, maintained by his father Derick in which he described the conditions of his confinement. Read and enjoy!!
Posted by Rick | June 19, 2005 05:44 PM | Political Science
Senator Richard Durbin's Complete Remarks On Detainees
Considering the firestorm that followed Senator Richard Durbin's (D-IL) remarks made this past Tuesday on the floor of the Senate, I think Durbin's complete remarks are worth reading, if only for the twisted rationale of the left, which will obviously do anything it can to discredit the Bush administration regardless of the consequenses to our troops or our international reputation. Tripe of this sort only encourages our enemies and strengthens the resolve of those who would do away with our great democracy.
Here are Senator Richard Durbin’s complete remarks on Guantánamo Bay and detainees held there from The Congressional Record of June 14, 2005: (emphasis mine)
(Page: S6593)Mr. President, there has been a lot of discussion in recent days about whether to close the detention center at Guantánamo Bay. This debate misses the point. It is not a question of whether detainees are held at Guantánamo Bay or some other location. The question is how we should treat those who have been detained there. Whether we treat them according to the law or not does not depend on their address. It depends on our policy as a nation.
How should we treat them? This is not a new question. We are not writing on a blank slate. We have entered into treaties over the years, saying this is how we will treat wartime detainees. The United States has ratified these treaties. They are the law of the land as much as any statute we passed. They have served our country well in past wars. We have held ourselves to be a civilized country, willing to play by the rules, even in time of war.
Unfortunately, without even consulting Congress, the Bush administration unilaterally decided to set aside these treaties and create their own rules about the treatment of prisoners.
Frankly, this Congress has failed to hold the administration accountable for its failure to follow the law of the land when it comes to the torture and mistreatment of prisoners and detainees.
I am a member of the Judiciary Committee. For two years, I have asked for hearings on this issue. I am glad Chairman Specter will hold a hearing on wartime detention policies tomorrow. I thank him for taking this step. I wish other members of his party would be willing to hold this administration accountable as well.
It is worth reflecting for a moment about how we have reached this point. Many people who read history remember, as World War II began with the attack on Pearl Harbor, a country in fear after being attacked decided one way to protect America was to gather together Japanese Americans and literally imprison them, put them in internment camps for fear they would be traitors and turn on the United States. We did that. Thousands of lives were changed. Thousands of businesses destroyed. Thousands of people, good American citizens, who happened to be of Japanese ancestry, were treated like common criminals.
It took almost 40 years for us to acknowledge that we were wrong, to admit that these people should never have been imprisoned. It was a shameful period in American history and one that very few, if any, try to defend today.
I believe the torture techniques that have been used at Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo and other places fall into that same category. I am confident, sadly confident, as I stand here, that decades from now people will look back and say: What were they thinking? America, this great, kind leader of a nation, treated people who were detained and imprisoned, interrogated people in the crudest way? I am afraid this is going to be one of the bitter legacies of the invasion of Iraq.
We were attacked on September 11, 2001. We were clearly at war.
We have held prisoners in every armed conflict in which we have engaged. The law was clear, but some of the President's top advisers questioned whether we should follow it or whether we should write new standards.
Alberto Gonzales, then-White House chief counsel, recommended to the President the Geneva Convention should not apply to the war on terrorism.
Colin Powell, who was then Secretary of State, objected strenuously to Alberto Gonzales' conclusions. I give him credit. Colin Powell argued that we could effectively fight the war on terrorism and still follow the law, still comply with the Geneva Conventions. In a memo to Alberto Gonzales, Secretary Powell pointed out the Geneva Conventions would not limit our ability to question the detainees or hold them even indefinitely. He pointed out that under Geneva Conventions, members of al-Qaida and other terrorists would not be considered prisoners of war.
There is a lot of confusion about that so let me repeat it. The Geneva Conventions do not give POW status to terrorists.
In his memo to Gonzales, Secretary Powell went on to say setting aside the Geneva Conventions "will reverse over a century of U.S. policy and practice ..... and undermine the protections of the law of war for our own troops ..... It will undermine public support among critical allies, making military cooperation more difficult to sustain."
When you look at the negative publicity about Guantánamo, Secretary Colin Powell was prophetic.
Unfortunately, the President rejected Secretary Powell's wise counsel, and instead accepted Alberto Gonzales' recommendation, issuing a memo setting aside the Geneva Conventions and concluding that we needed "new thinking in the law of war."
After the President decided to ignore Geneva Conventions, the administration unilaterally created a new detention policy. They claim the right to seize anyone, including even American citizens, anywhere in the world, including in the United States, and hold them until the end of the war on terrorism, whenever that may be.
For example, they have even argued in court they have the right to indefinitely detain an elderly lady from Switzerland who writes checks to what she thinks is a charity that helps orphans but actually is a front that finances terrorism.
They claim a person detained in the war on terrorism has no legal rights--no right to a lawyer, no right to see the evidence against them, no right to challenge their detention. In fact, the Government has claimed detainees have no right to challenge their detention, even if they claim they were being tortured or executed.
This violates the Geneva Conventions, which protect everyone captured during wartime.
The official commentary on the convention states:
Nobody in enemy hands can fall outside the law.
That is clear as it can be. But it was clearly rejected by the Bush administration when Alberto Gonzales as White House counsel recommended otherwise.
U.S. military lawyers called this detention system "a legal black hole." The Red Cross concluded, "U.S. authorities have placed the internees in Guantánamo beyond the law."
Using their new detention policy, the administration has detained thousands of individuals in secret detention centers all around the world, some of them unknown to Members of Congress. While it is the most well-known, Guantánamo Bay is only one of them. Most have been captured in Afghanistan and Iraq, but some people who never raised arms against us have been taken prisoner far from the battlefield.
Who are the Guantánamo detainees? Back in 2002, Secretary Rumsfeld described them as "the hardest of the hard core." However, the administration has since released many of them, and it has now become clear that Secretary Rumsfeld's assertion was not completely true.
Military sources, according to the media, indicate that many detainees have no connection to al-Qaida or the Taliban and were sent to Guantánamo over the objections of intelligence personnel who recommended their release. One military officer said:
We're basically condemning these guys to a long-term imprisonment. If they weren't terrorists before, they certainly could be now.
Last year, in two landmark decisions, the Supreme Court rejected the administration's detention policy. The Court held that the detainees' claims that they were detained for over two years without charge and without access to counsel "unquestionably describe custody in violation of the Constitution, or laws or treaties of the United States."
The Court also held that an American citizen held as an enemy combatant must be told the basis for his detention and have a fair opportunity to challenge the Government's claims. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor wrote for the majority:
A state of war is not a blank check for the President when it comes to the rights of the Nation's citizens.
You would think that would be obvious, wouldn't you? But yet, this administration, in this war, has viewed it much differently.
I had hoped the Supreme Court decision would change the administration policy. Unfortunately, the administration has resisted complying with the Supreme Court's decision.
(Page: S6594)
The administration acknowledges detainees can challenge their detention in court, but it still claims that once they get to court, they have no legal rights. In other words, the administration believes a detainee can get to the courthouse door but cannot come inside.
A Federal court has already held the administration has failed to comply with the Supreme Court's rulings. The court concluded that the detainees do have legal rights, and the administration's policies "deprive the detainees of sufficient notice of the factual bases for their detention and deny them a fair opportunity to challenge their incarceration."
The administration also established a new interrogation policy that allows cruel and inhuman interrogation techniques.
Remember what Secretary of State Colin Powell said? It is not a matter of following the law because we said we would, it is a matter of how our troops will be treated in the future. That is something often overlooked here. If we want standards of civilized conduct to be applied to Americans captured in a warlike situation, we have to extend the same manner and type of treatment to those whom we detain, our prisoners.
Secretary Rumsfeld approved numerous abusive interrogation tactics against prisoners in Guantánamo. The Red Cross concluded that the use of those methods was "a form of torture."
The United States, which each year issues a human rights report, holding the world accountable for outrageous conduct, is engaged in the same outrageous conduct when it comes to these prisoners.
Numerous FBI agents who observed interrogations at Guantánamo Bay complained to their supervisors. In one e-mail that has been made public, an FBI agent complained that interrogators were using "torture techniques."
That phrase did not come from a reporter or politician. It came from an FBI agent describing what Americans were doing to these prisoners.
With no input from Congress, the administration set aside our treaty obligations and secretly created new rules for detention and interrogation. They claim the courts have no right to review these rules. But under our Constitution, it is Congress's job to make the laws, and the court's job to judge whether they are constitutional.
This administration wants all the power: legislator, executive, and judge. Our founding father were warned us about the dangers of the Executive Branch violating the separation of powers during wartime. James Madison wrote:
The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.
Other Presidents have overreached during times of war, claiming legislative powers, but the courts have reined them back in. During the Korean war, President Truman, faced with a steel strike, issued an Executive order to seize and operate the Nation's steel mills. The Supreme Court found that the seizure was an unconstitutional infringement on the Congress's lawmaking power. Justice Hugo Black, writing for the majority, said:
The Constitution is neither silent nor equivocal about who shall make the laws which the President is to execute ..... The Founders of this Nation entrusted the lawmaking power to the Congress alone in both good times and bad.
To win the war on terrorism, we must remain true to the principles upon which our country was founded. This Administration's detention and interrogation policies are placing our troops at risk and making it harder to combat terrorism.
Former Congressman Pete Peterson of Florida, a man I call a good friend and a man I served with in the House of Representatives, is a unique individual. He is one of the most cheerful people you would ever want to meet. You would never know, when you meet him, he was an Air Force pilot taken prisoner of war in Vietnam and spent 6 1/2 years in a Vietnamese prison. Here is what he said about this issue in a letter that he sent to me. Pete Peterson wrote:
From my 6 1/2 years of captivity in Vietnam, I know what life in a foreign prison is like. To a large degree, I credit the Geneva Conventions for my survival. ..... This is one reason the United States has led the world in upholding treaties governing the status and care of enemy prisoners: because these standards also protect us. ..... We need absolute clarity that America will continue to set the gold standard in the treatment of prisoners in wartime.
Abusive detention and interrogation policies make it much more difficult to win the support of people around the world, particularly those in the Muslim world. The war on terrorism is not a popularity contest, but anti-American sentiment breeds sympathy for anti-American terrorist organizations and makes it far easier for them to recruit young terrorists.
Polls show that Muslims have positive attitudes toward the American people and our values. However, overall, favorable ratings toward the United States and its Government are very low. This is driven largely by the negative attitudes toward the policies of this administration.
Muslims respect our values, but we must convince them that our actions reflect these values. That's why the Ð9/11 Commission recommended:
We should offer an example of moral leadership in the world, committed to treat people humanely, abide by the rule of law, and be generous and caring to our neighbors.
What should we do? Imagine if the President had followed Colin Powell's advice and respected our treaty obligations. How would things have been different?
We still would have the ability to hold detainees and to interrogate them aggressively. Members of al-Qaida would not be prisoners of war. We would be able to do everything we need to do to keep our country safe. The difference is, we would not have damaged our reputation in the international community in the process.
When you read some of the graphic descriptions of what has occurred here--I almost hesitate to put them in the RECORD, and yet they have to be added to this debate. Let me read to you what one FBI agent saw. And I quote from his report:
On a couple of occasions, I entered interview rooms to find a detainee chained hand and foot in a fetal position to the floor, with no chair, food or water. Most times they urinated or defecated on themselves, and had been left there for 18-24 hours or more. On one occasion, the air conditioning had been turned down so far and the temperature was so cold in the room, that the barefooted detainee was shaking with cold. ..... On another occasion, the [air conditioner] had been turned off, making the temperature in the unventilated room well over 100 degrees. The detainee was almost unconscious on the floor, with a pile of hair next to him. He had apparently been literally pulling his hair out throughout the night. On another occasion, not only was the temperature unbearably hot, but extremely loud rap music was being played in the room, and had been since the day before, with the detainee chained hand and foot in the fetal position on the tile floor.
If I read this to you and did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime--Pol Pot or others--that had no concern for human beings. Sadly, that is not the case. This was the action of Americans in the treatment of their prisoners.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator's time has expired.
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent for 3 additional minutes.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. DURBIN. It is not too late. I hope we will learn from history. I hope we will change course. The President could declare the United States will apply the Geneva Conventions to the war on terrorism. He could declare, as he should, that the United States will not, under any circumstances, subject any detainee to torture, or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment. The administration could give all detainees a meaningful opportunity to challenge their detention before a neutral decision maker.
Such a change of course would dramatically improve our image and it would make us safer. I hope this administration will choose that course. If they do not, Congress must step in.
The issue debated in the press today misses the point. The issue is not about closing Guantánamo Bay. It is not a question of the address of these prisoners. It is a question of how we treat these prisoners. To close down Guantánamo and ship these prisoners off to
(Page: S6595)
undisclosed locations in other countries, beyond the reach of publicity, beyond the reach of any surveillance, is to give up on the most basic and fundamental commitment to justice and fairness, a commitment we made when we signed the Geneva Convention and said the United States accepts it as the law of the land, a commitment which we have made over and over again when it comes to the issue of torture. To criticize the rest of the world for using torture and to turn a blind eye to what we are doing in this war is wrong, and it is not American.
During the Civil War, President Lincoln, one of our greatest Presidents, suspended habeas corpus, which gives prisoners the right to challenge their detention. The Supreme Court stood up to the President and said prisoners have the right to judicial review even during war.
Let me read what that Court said:
The Constitution of the United States is a law for rulers and people, equally in war and in peace, and covers with the shield of its protection all classes of men, at all times, and under all circumstances. No doctrine, involving more pernicious consequences, was ever invented by the wit of man than that any of its provisions could be suspended during any of the great exigencies of government. Such a doctrine leads directly to anarchy or despotism.
Mr. President, those words still ring true today. The Constitution is a law for this administration, equally in war and in peace. If the Constitution could withstand the Civil War, when our Nation was literally divided against itself, surely it will withstand the war on terrorism.
I yield the floor.
Posted by Rick | June 17, 2005 01:27 PM | Political Science
The Long Goodbye
Reuters is reporting that there is a smoking gun in the form of a memo which may very well be Kofi Annan's undoing.
A newly disclosed memo appeared to cast doubt on U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's insistence he was unaware of a bid by a Swiss firm that employed his son for a lucrative contract under the scandal-tainted U.N. oil-for-food program.
If this memo proves out it should be only a matter of time before Annan resigns.
Posted by Rick | June 15, 2005 02:17 AM | Political Science
Tom Ridge's Legacy At Homeland Security Needs Some Polishing
It appears that Tom Ridge's legacy at Homeland Security will not be a pretty one. The CNews is running a story by the Associated Press that leads:
Investigations by the U.S. Homeland Security Department's internal watchdog yielded the arrests of 146 workers and grant recipients and identified $18.5 million in unsupported costs during a six-month period that began last fall.
I have written about the fiscal abuses at the Department of Homeland Security before and this report doesn't surprise me in the least.
Hopefully, new Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff will have more luck running the still fledgling department. We wish him well.
Note: Interestingly, one of Tom Ridge’s first acts as a private citizen was to accept a cushy position on Home Depot’s board of directors. Home Depot was one of the main beneficiaries of ridiculous fear mongering recommendations from the Department of Homeland Security, reminiscent of school children hiding under their desks in the event of a nuclear attack, that resulted in a huge increase in sales of duct tape, plastic sheeting and batteries. MarketWatch reported:
Home Depot, in fact, went so far as to set up special Homeland Security displays nears it entrances to tout sales of duct tape, plastic sheeting, batteries and bottled water, among other safe-room supplies.
The Atlanta Business Chronicle reported the compensation in 2003 for the part-time position Ridge accepted was as follows:
Home Depot's board members are paid an annual retainer of $90,000. On top of that, directors receive $2,000 for attending a board meeting and $1,000 for committee meetings. The company pays an additional $5,000 to chairmen of any of its committees, except for the audit committee, whose chairman gets $10,000.
In Ridge’s second corporate affiliation since leaving his position at Homeland Security, the Mercury News reported:
Tom Ridge, the first Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, is joining the board of directors of Savi Technology, a private Sunnyvale company that provides radio frequency identification (RFID) technology.
On April 11, 2004, David Asman of Fox News, said:
Since Savi is a private company, they don’t have to disclose how much they’re paying Mr. Ridge. But he doesn’t come cheap. Home Depot’s paying him $120,000 as a director, and Savi could be paying him more than that.Washington is known for its revolving door between government service and private sector companies that rely on government contracts. Happens all the time. But that doesn’t make it any easier for us taxpayers to swallow.
You can read more about Savi Technology here.
Posted by Rick | June 4, 2005 09:58 AM | Political Science
Dean Delusional In D.C.
At the Take Back America Conference held in Washington D.C., this week, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean came up with some real doozies. Here are some samples of his delusional, delirious diatribe:
While Dean was speaking about some of the long lines voters, both Republicans and Democrats, faced in the last election, Dean seemed to think that Republicans could endure the long lines better than Democrats and said this:
Republicans can do that better because a lot of them have never made an honest living in their lives.
(Note to Howard Dean: This from the party of John Kerry, Al Gore, Bill Clinton, Jay Rockefeller and Teddy Kennedy?!)
then this:
We've suffered a couple of serious defeats, but we're energized because we know that our vision for America is much better than the dark, difficult and dishonest vision that the Republican Party offers America.
(Note to Howard Dean: It would be helpful if you would tell us what your vision is if you have one. Seems to me that you lost the last Presidential election because your candidate kept saying he had a plan that was better than Bush's but would never tell us exactly what it was.)
and in reference to the ethics investigation of Tom DeLay, Dean said:
We need to get rid of the culture of corruption and abuse of power in Washington.
(Note to Howard Dean: I understand that taking trips paid for by lobbyists is not the right thing for Congressmen to do. It seems most of the trips Congressmen take are nothing more than glorified vacations and should all be eliminated. If the trip DeLay took was paid for by lobbyist with DeLay's knowledge, he should be reprimanded and made to pay for it with his own money. Frankly, all the 'fact-finding' trips should be eliminated unless approved by some type of oversight committee. However, I really don't think that trips taken by Congressmen are the biggest problem we have with corruption and abuse of power in Washington. It seems to me that the Democratic Senators’ filibusters that are holding up the business of the nation are a far worse abuse of power.)
You can read Dean's complete remarks here.
Posted by Rick | June 3, 2005 01:27 AM | Political Science
W. Mark Felt - Hero & Villain
From an article written by James Mann in The Atlantic Monthly published in May 1992, this interesting bit of insight and information about W. Mark Felt, now unmasked as 'Deep Throat':
W. Mark Felt, the FBI's deputy associate director, the No. 3 man in Hoover's hierarchy, wrote in a 1979 memoir, The FBI Pyramid:It did not cross my mind that the President would appoint an outsider to replace Hoover. Had I known this, I would not have been hopeful about the future. There were many trained executives in the FBI who could have effectively handled the job of Director. My own record was good and I allowed myself to think I had an excellent chance.
And then this interesting turn of events in what turns out may have been Felt's involvement in a precursor to the current Patriot Act:
Irony is the lifeblood of history. And so, throughout the late 1970s L. Patrick Gray, who had been assigned by Richard Nixon to take political control of the FBI, and Mark Felt, who had fought to resist that control, found themselves joined together in a prolonged legal battle to fend off prosecution by the Justice Department for approving illegal break-ins at the homes of members of the Weathermen underground organization and their families and friends. The government eventually dropped charges against Gray. But in 1980 Felt and another of Hoover's top aides were convicted of conspiracy to violate civil rights. Soon after taking office President Ronald Reagan granted the two men a pardon, claiming that they had "acted on high principle to bring an end to the terrorism that was threatening our nation."
Here is President Reagan's statement from April 15, 1981, on the pardons of W. Mark Felt and co-defendant Edward S. Miller:
Statement on Granting Pardons to W. Mark Felt and Edward S. MillerApril 15, 1981
Pursuant to the grant of authority in article II, section 2 of the Constitution of the United States, I have granted full and unconditional pardons to W. Mark Felt and Edward S. Miller.
During their long careers, Mark Felt and Edward Miller served the Federal Bureau of Investigation and our nation with great distinction. To punish them further -- after 3 years of criminal prosecution proceedings -- would not serve the ends of justice.
Their convictions in the U.S. District Court, on appeal at the time I signed the pardons, grew out of their good-faith belief that their actions were necessary to preserve the security interests of our country. The record demonstrates that they acted not with criminal intent, but in the belief that they had grants of authority reaching to the highest levels of government.
W. Mark Felt was, at different times, both a hero and a villain to the left. While his motives were not necessarily idealogical, but were seemingly shaded because he was passed over at the FBI after Hoover's death by Nixon, he became a left-wing hero for helping destroy the Nixon Presidency, and a few years later become a became a villain to the left for going after the militant left-wing group of terrorists known as the Weather Underground using, what was to the left, some pretty heavy-handed tactics.
Posted by Rick | May 31, 2005 04:45 PM | Political Science
'Deep Throat' Revealed
Vanity Fair has reported that former FBI agent W. Mark Felt, now 91 and residing in Santa Rosa, CA, has admitted to being Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein's source, known as 'Deep Throat,' for much of the inside information they received during their Watergate investigation.
Woodward and Bernstein were both reporters for the Washington Post at the time and ultimately won the Pulitzer Prize for their investigative reporting of the Watergate incident that helped bring down the Nixon administration. Woodward and Bernstein also co-authored two books, All the President's Men and The Final Days, that stemmed from their Watergate reporting.
Mr. Felt, who ultimately rose to the number two position at the FBI, reportedly gave John D. O'Connor, the author of the article which will appear in the July edition of Vanity Fair, permission to disclose his identity.
There has been speculation for many years that Felt may have been 'Deep Throat,' as evidenced by this article in The Washingtonian magazine of June 1974:
Read the February 28 and March 13 Presidential transcripts and then try someone like Mark Felt on for size. A Hoover loyalist and number-two man to Pat Gray, he had every reason and resource for leaking the Watergate story and destroying Nixon.
and again in 2002:
To help bring Watergate and Deep Throat into perspective, here are stories that appeared in The Washingtonian in June 1974 and August 1974 that show what inside Washington was saying. Twenty-eight years later, we still think it was Mark Felt.
This is the first time that it has come from the purported source himself.
Posted by Rick | May 31, 2005 08:45 AM | Political Science
Lessons To Be Learned
The full text of the agreement between the 7 Democrats and the 7 Republicans to limit filibusters of judicial nominations in the Senate can be read here.
Just as President William Jefferson Clinton sought to educate us all on the meaning of the word "is" while testifying under oath during the Monica Lewinsky scandal, I am quite sure Senate Democrats will have a lesson for Senate Republicans on the meaning of the word "extraordinary" in the very near future.
It will be interesting to see if the 14 Senators who crafted this agreement in secret back-room negotiations will be able go back and work within their respective parties, or will this be the impetus to form a new moderate 3rd political party by a group of Senators with the power to control the political landscape with their fourteen votes. Six of the fourteen Senators are up for reelection in 2006, and it is highly unlikely that any of the 6 would be defeated, even if they ran in a new 'moderate' party. Perhaps they could use the snake as their party mascot, much as the Republicans use the elephant and the Democrats use the donkey.
Posted by Rick | May 24, 2005 09:25 AM | Political Science
What Will McCain Spend His 30 Pieces Of Silver On?
McCain sold out Frist and Bush's judicial nominees tonight...cheap.
My question for Bush and those who will not be confirmed - Don't you hate it when you don't even get kissed?
Posted by Rick | May 23, 2005 11:32 PM | Political Science
Arrogance In Arizona
John McCain (R-AZ) still doesn't believe that his support of the Democratic filibuster will effect his chances if he runs for President in 2008. I can assure him that it won't help. Frankly, if he votes against ending the filibusters, he might just as well run as a Democrat. Maybe he would like to be Hillary's running mate. See my post of April 23, 2005.
Posted by Rick | May 22, 2005 03:03 PM | Political Science
Frosted Cookies In Arizona
This must surely frost the cookies of Arizona residents being overrun by illegal immigrants in their emergency rooms, their class rooms, and their court rooms. The New York Times ran an article by the Associated Press that began:
Arizona Governor Vetoes Two Immigration BillsPHOENIX (AP) -- Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano vetoed two proposals Friday aimed at confronting the state's immigration problems, rejecting bills that would have prohibited illegal immigrants from receiving child care assistance and given police the power to enforce federal immigration laws.
In Arizona, illegal immigrants even pay in-state tuition rates, while out-of-state students who are citizens of the United States pay much higher fees.
How much longer are the hard-working, tax-paying citizens of this country going to take this? Viva la revolución!!
Posted by Rick | May 21, 2005 07:12 AM | Political Science
Precipice Of A Constitutional Crisis
If you have not tuned in to the Senate's TV channel, C-Span 2, in the last couple days, you should. The Democrat's over-the-top language while debating President Bush's judicial nominations, and Senator Frist’s proposed Senate rule change which would eliminate filibusters that prevent votes on said nominations is something to behold. Marvelous performances full of omissions, exaggerations, half-truths, and outright lies have been given by Senators Chuckie Schumer (D-NY), Robert 'KKK' Byrd (D-WV), and Mark 'Beam Me Up' Dayton (D-MN), among others.
Yesterday, Senator Teddy 'Chappaquiddick' Kennedy (D-MA) called the Republican's refusal to allow 41 Senator's to hold up judicial confirmations an "absolute power grab." Did Kennedy think he was on stage at the Comedy Store on Sunset Strip?
If Barbara 'The Lip' Boxer (D-CA) has spoken on the matter in the last two days, I've missed it, but based on her remarks found in the Congressional Record, May 14, 1997, it is highly likely that Boxer will break ranks with the Democrats and vote to eliminate the filibusters.
According to the U.S. Constitution, the President nominates, and the Senate shall provide advice and consent. It is not the role of the Senate to obstruct the process and prevent numbers of highly qualified nominees from even being given the opportunity for a vote on the Senate floor.
Just kidding... Boxer wouldn't ever break ranks with her Democratic comrades, but her previous comments are a great example of the hypocrisy of the left.
Other examples of the left's hypocrisy found in the Congressional Record from:
Senator Teddy Kennedy, January 28, 1998:
The Constitution is clear that only individuals acceptable to both the President and the Senate should be confirmed. The President and the Senate do not always agree, but we should resolve these disagreements by voting on these nominees - yes or no. As Chief Justice Rehnquist said in his annual report, "The Senate is surely under no obligation to confirm any particular nominee, but after the necessary time it should vote" up or down.
Senator Chuckie Schumer, March 7, 2000:
I also plead with my colleagues to move judges with alacrity--vote them up or down. But this delay makes a mockery of the Constitution, makes a mockery of the fact that we are here working, and makes a mockery of the lives of very sincere people who have put themselves forward to be judges and then they hang out there in limbo.
Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) had a great speech detailing how the Senate governs itself, the rules in effect, and what procedures can be used to change the rules. Democrats should remember the rules are the rules are the rules. When they regain control of the Senate, the Democrats will be free to change the rules back if protecting the rights of the Senate minority is that important to them.
Note: Las Vegas bookmakers have Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) even money to collapse into a puddle of tears on the Senate floor by Monday at 5 P.M. boo-hoo, boo-hoo, boo-hoo
Posted by Rick | May 20, 2005 04:48 AM | Political Science
Robert 'KKK' Byrd At His Finest?
Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV), perhaps the biggest hypocrite in the Senate, is heard in this rambling audio clip posted by Radio Blogger, in the piece entitled Now how can you top this?, explaining to Senator Bill Frist (R-TN) why the Republicans should continue to allow the Democrats to filibuster judicial nominees.
People actually vote for this guy!
Posted by Rick | May 13, 2005 03:41 PM | Political Science
Nurse Ratched, Senator Reid Is Ready For The Rubber Room
The Las Vegas Review Journal, reported that Senator Harry 'Crybaby' Reid (D-NV), while giving a presentation in Las Vegas, NV, before 60 juniors at Del Sol High School, said, among other things, that he thought President George Bush was a loser.
In the course of a discussion on filibusters and Senate rules, Washington's top Democrat gave the 60 juniors a lesson in partisan politics, particularly about the commander in chief. "The man's father is a wonderful human being," Reid said in response to a question about President Bush's policies. "I think this guy is a loser."I think President Bush is doing a bad job," he added to a handful of chuckles.
"He's driving this country into bankruptcy," Reid said, referring to the deficit. "He's got us in this intractable war in Iraq where we now have about 1,600 American soldiers dead and another 15,000 injured."
All this from the top Democrat in Washington. It should be noted that the tacky comments, made while Bush was overseas, also violated the practice of restraint the opposition party customarily exercises when a President is abroad.
Supposedly, the 'distinguished' Senator from Nevada later called the White House to apologize for the name-calling. He should have apologized for his lapse of memory. Need we remind Harry that it is George Bush who has been sleeping in the White House for the past 5 years, not Al Gore or John Kerry. It should also be pointed out to Harry that the Republicans control the House of Representatives, the Senate and a majority of the governorships in this great country of ours. Sounds like a big bunch of losers to me.
Then, on May 10, 2005, the 'distinguished' Senator Reid said this to reporters in the Capitol:
Maybe it was a poor choice of words, but I want every one within the sound of my voice to know how displeased I am with what this White House is doing to our country. We have a fictitious crisis on Social Security that's been created. We have deficits that are absolutely unbelievable. This man has gone from a multi-trillion dollar surplus to a 6 trillion dollar deficit. We have an intractable war in Iraq that he has no way out of this, that he has been able to share with the American people.
"Maybe...." Do you, or do you not, apologize Harry?
Then this:
I still consider this confrontation entirely unnecessary, and irresponsible. The White House manufactured this crisis. Since Bush took office, the Senate confirmed around 208 of the judicial nominations and turned back only 10. A 95% confirmation rate.
And finally:
George Bush wants to run the Senate into a second House of Representatives; a rubber stamp for his right wing agenda and radical judges. That's not how America works.
This one-sided discourse by the Senator is truly pathetic. If there has been a constructive thought uttered by the Democrats since George Bush won in 2000, I don't remember it. Wouldn't it be nice if the gentleman from Nevada would spend more time prescribing his own plan for America, and less time on all this petty obstructionism?
Posted by Rick | May 12, 2005 10:54 PM | Political Science
Bush Plays The Race Card & The Class Warfare Card
President Bush played the race card last week in an effort to promote needed Social Security reform. He pointed out that black people have a shorter life expectancy than other races and therefore collect fewer Social Security benefits. Under the proposed plan, the privatized portion of Social Security will be passed on to one's heirs. Additionally, because black people tend to be in the lower economic brackets, this inheritance will, in some small way, help lift black and other poor families out of the cycle of poverty. Why the Democratic Party is against this is beyond my comprehension...
Then Georgie Boy decided that since the Democrats don't like the partial privatization of Social Security, he would sweeten the pot by adding means testing to Social Security payouts. This sounds like we're getting closer and closer to the complete socialization of America. What could make the Democrats happier?
Are the Democrats too stupid to know when an offer is too good to be true? Will they continue to be the 'obstructionist only' party? It appears that the answers are Yes!, and Yes!.
Posted by Rick | May 2, 2005 03:52 AM | Political Science
Spring Is Here And They're Playing Hardball In Washington
Washington, D.C., after a 34-year absence, has another major league baseball team: the Washington Nationals. The team is the transplanted Montreal Expos, doormat of the National League for many years. The newly christened Nationals are enjoying their new home and are playing pretty good hardball. Unfortunately for the Republicans, there is another pretty good hardball team in Washington these days: the Democrats of the 109th Congress.
In sports, it is often the case that a team with inferior talent can dominate a team with superior skills because of intangibles like teamwork, desire, perseverance, and that little thing known as ‘heart.’ It is becoming more and more apparent that the Democrats, and, to a lesser extent, the Nationals, have found a winning combination of those intangible attributes. The Nationals, at 11-11, are not necessarily going to the playoffs, but are playing some inspired baseball. The Democrats, on the other hand, are playing flawlessly. Using teamwork, a good game plan, and a never say die attitude, they look like they are ready for the World Series. Skippered by co-managers Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) and Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), the Democrats, with a willingness to do whatever is necessary to win, are swinging for the fences.
Meanwhile, the muscle-bound Republicans, with their great ideas and all-star line-up, are struggling to stay in the Major Leagues. The Republicans remind me of the 1962 NY Mets. An expansion team, the now infamous Mets, with an aging Casey Stengel at the helm, had the likes of former all-stars Richie Ashburn and Gil Hodges; colorful players like ‘Marvelous’ Marv Throneberry and Choo Choo Coleman; and a cast of other relatively talented players like Frank Thomas and Charlie Neal gracing their lineup. Nevertheless, the Mets lost 120 games while winning only 40. There were many days when it was difficult to tell which team the Mets were playing for. It took 8 years, a new manager, and a new attitude to get them to the World Series.
One of the highlights for those hapless 1962 Mets occurred when ‘Marvelous’ Marv, the team's first baseman, hit a shot off the wall in the Polo Grounds. Never noted as a speedster, Marv nevertheless 'flew' around the bases and ended up at third base with an apparent triple. As he was standing on third base, the opposing team threw the ball to the second baseman, claiming Marv hadn't touched second base on his way to third and was therefore out. As Mets’ manager Stengel roared onto the field to dispute the call, Solly Hemus, the Mets' third base coach, stopped him. Hemus told Stengel not to bother arguing the call at second base, because, as it turns out, ‘Marvelous’ Marv had missed first base as well.
In many respects, the Republicans in Congress are much like those Amazin' Mets. They show up every day to play with good intentions. Unfortunately, for the American public, they seem to have no teamwork, no game plan to carry out the good ideas, and someone is always missing either first base or second base on the way to third.
The saga of the Republican team is long and troubled over the past decade. While the Democrats, to a man, stood shoulder to shoulder with President and Hillary Clinton during their scandals, and to everyone's amazement, ultimately won the argument with a few Republicans actually playing with the opposing team. Republicans Newt Gingrich, Trent Lott and Bob Livingston all missed a base after hitting a shot off the wall and no one on their team was willing or able to kick some dirt on the umpires' shoes on their behalf. Instead, all three were ejected from the game for unsportsmanlike like conduct.
Currently Tom DeLay is in the batter’s box, John McCain is in the on deck circle, and Bill Frist is 'in the hole.' If history is any indication, Tom ‘Terrific’ will hit a towering drive that will ultimately fall just short of the center field fence, landing harmlessly in the centerfielder's glove. McCain will hit a tiny pop foul to the third baseman, and Frist is going to hit a dribbler to the shortstop who will throw him out at first base 'by a mile.' There will be no smash line drives up the middle that just miss the pitcher's head; there will be no hard hit balls to the left field corner; there will not even a well placed bunt for a base hit. The Republicans are having a hard time just getting their bats on the ball. In fact, they may end up holding the league record for most strikeouts during the regular season.
The Republicans have great uniforms, bats with lightning in them, and potential golden glove candidates at almost every position, but the well-coached Democratic team with less talent seems as if it will prevail on Social Security, the judicial and the United Nations nominations, and even the budget fight. Right now, neither team is willing to play the illegal immigration game. That game will eventually be played, but only because overwhelmed state infrastructures and bankrupt state coffers force the two teams to play.
The Republicans: do not have a winning attitude; are not playing as a team; and, are not swinging for the fences. They are destined to end up like the 1962 Mets - in the cellar with the league's worst won-lost record. The Republicans need a manager like Billy Martin, former Yankees great who served as both a player and manager. Billy 'The Kid" knew that 'winning isn't everything...it's the only thing,' and he was willing to do whatever it took to win. Unfortunately, Billy Martin is unavailable, having died in 1989, and neither of the Republican co-managers, House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL) or Senate majority leader Bill Frist (R-TN), have the temperament to win, much less win at all costs, as the Democrats do.
Posted by Rick | April 29, 2005 12:47 AM | Political Science
Senator McCain And The Dark Side - Soul For Sale
It has been rumored that Senator John McCain (R-AZ) would like to run once again for President in 2008. There is, however, a problem with Senator McCain as a national Republican candidate. He is a moderate in an increasingly conservative party. Furthermore, when it comes to crunch time, the Republicans just can't count on him.
Senator McCain’s latest defection came during an appearance on CBS' Face The Nation on Sunday April 10, 2005, when he declared that he was against changing Senate rules to prohibit filibusters of President Bush’s judicial nominations. He left his ultimate vote open with the caveat, "Yes, but I will listen to our leadership." If this betrayal of the Republican Party comes to fruition, it will be a pretty good indication that McCain has gone over to the dark side permanently. The Republicans will survive his defection. The question for McCain to answer is: Can I survive as a Republican if I vote against this rule change? I think the distinguished Senator already knows the answer.
After Senator John F. Kerry (D-MA) secured the Democratic Presidential nomination in 2004, it was reported that Kerry approached McCain to be his running mate, although both men deny it. True or not, war hero and former POW McCain could never have supported Kerry because of Kerry’s anti-war positions, questionable military career, and uninspired service as Senator from Massachusetts.
Furthermore, if he lost as Kerry’s running mate, McCain’s political career would have been virtually over. Unable to continue as a Republican in the Senate, he would have been relegated to the backbench as a Democrat in the Republican controlled Senate. (A nightmare scenario for the proud and powerful Senator.)
Sure to lose if he ran against incumbent President Bush and unwilling to support John 'I Have A Plan' Kerry, Senator McCain had few options in 2004, but he understands politics and realized his power could only be preserved by remaining a Republican in the Republican controlled Senate. He decided to bide his time as a Republican Senator and wait until the next Presidential election. He even surprised many by campaigning for incumbent President Bush, though there was thought to be no love lost between the two men.
Quite possibly, the reported invitation to be Kerry’s running mate, if only a figment of some reporter’s overactive imagination, inspired something in McCain.
McCain must realize that, based on his 2000 Presidential bid, he cannot win the Republicans' nomination in 2008. He knows he is too moderate/liberal for conservative Republicans to support realizes his best chance to further his political career in the 2008 is on the Democratic ticket.
He also knows full well that Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY), odds on Democratic Presidential nominee in 2008, is a terribly polarizing candidate who will not garner enough independents and moderate Republicans to win on her own. The Democratic nomination is Hillary’s for the asking. The question for Hillary to answer is: What do I need to do to get elected? Hillary knows she has to run to the middle and she is attempting to position herself there. On the other hand, McCain is already in the middle. He can attract the moderate support Hillary needs, and he can believably support the former first lady, especially in her new, more moderate incarnation.
This defection from the Republicans in the filibuster fight, should it come to pass, will be only the first real salvo. Soon thereafter, McCain will declare that he has sold his soul to the dark side, the price being a place on the Democratic ticket in 2008. Vice-president may be the closest McCain will ever come to the White House, but I believe he is a realist and even he is smart enough to figure this one out.
Senator Clinton, on the other hand, may not realize it yet, but her success or failure in 2008 may hinge on whom she chooses as a running mate. Clinton/McCain sounds pretty formidable to me and would very likely carry the day. It could be only be a matter of time before Hillary, the smartest woman on earth according to the Kool-Aid drinkers, figures it out too.
Posted by Rick | April 23, 2005 11:09 PM | Political Science
Senator Dayton Endorses Hillary For President - Does Anybody Care?
The 2008 Presidential election is already heating up. The Star Tribune is reporting that Senator Mark 'Beam Me Up' Dayton (D-MN) has apparently endorsed former first lady, now Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY), much to the chagrin of failed Presidential candidate Senator John Kerry (D-MA). Senator 'BMU' Dayton, who has decided not to run for re-election in 2006, has shown himself to be the wackiest Senator on Capitol Hill and couldn't get elected as the proverbial dog catcher much less as Senator again. Therefore, an endorsement from him carries little, if any, weight, except perhaps among the other tinfoil hat aficionados in the Democratic Party. Kerry, perhaps nearly as delusional as Dayton, has hopes of running against a Republican he can beat in 2008. I don't know if the Republicans can nominate someone that bad, but, if they manage to find another Bob Dole, anything is possible.
Posted by Rick | April 23, 2005 05:10 PM | Political Science
Hillary Seems Above The Fray While Others Take The Fall
Allegations that former President Clinton and former first lady, now Senator, Hillary Clinton took more than $2 million in illegal donations from foreign nationals and then misreported them continue to swirl about. Additionally, the Senator's campaign is being investigated for misreporting the cost of fund-raising events in an effort to reclassify so-called 'soft money' contributions as 'hard money' contributions.
Most of the MSM seems to be focusing on Tom DeLay's questionable fact-finding trips, while remaining predictably silent on these quite serious allegations.
So far, only campaign staffers have been indicted for the alleged campaign improprieties that include bank fraud charges and making false statements to federal authorities.
You can read more about this in today's New York Sun.
Posted by Rick | April 21, 2005 02:00 PM | Political Science
The Democrats And Ethics Fit Together Like O.J. And The Glove
I am amazed by the Democrats sudden concern for ethics in government.
Wasn't it just six short years ago that their great leader, President and adulterer-in-chief William Jefferson 'Billy Bob' Clinton, had his own private intern/paramour, Miss Lewinsky, in the White House, and then lied about it under oath? Yet when it came time to show their outrage, to let everyone know that it was not acceptable for the most powerful man in the world to use his position to take advantage of a lowly female intern, only 5 out of 206 Democrats in the House Of Representatives voted to impeach Billy Bob! When the vote was taken in the Senate, not one Democrat voted to convict Billy Bob, NOT ONE!
The Democratic Party is also the home of Robert 'KKK' Byrd. Sheets, as he is affectionately known, has been a Democratic Senator since 1959, and Senate Democrats thought so highly of the former klansman from West Virginia they elected him as their leader in the Senate for 12 years - January 1977, through December 1988. (He served as Senate Majority Leader six years (1977-80, 1987-88) and as Senate Minority Leader six years (1981-86).) It must make the klan proud to see one of its own do so well.
Most decent people who, after a day of drinking (July 18, 1969), had killed a young woman (Mary Jo Kopechne) in an automobile accident and then walked away without reporting it until the next morning would resign from public life and reflect on the error of their ways, but not the esteemed Democratic Senator Edward M. 'Chappaquiddick' Kennedy. Teddy, elected to the Senate in 1962 to finish the term of his brother, President John F. Kennedy, has been the pride and joy of the Democratic Party for the past 43 years. It should be noted that a week after the incident, Kennedy, who arrived in court wearing a neck brace, plead guilty to leaving the scene of an accident and was given a two-month suspended sentence and a year's probation. Ouch!
And then we have Hillary...you know, President Billy Bob's beloved wife and stock market whiz, who, with the help of her broker, Robert L. "Red" Bone and her friend James B. Blair, an experienced futures trader and chief attorney for Tyson Foods, turned a $1,000 investment into $100,000 in ten short months trading in cattle futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. It should be noted that Hillary began her commodities trading just weeks before her husband won election as governor in November 1978, and Tyson Foods was and is one of Arkansas's most powerful and highly regulated companies. Can you say, Hedging your bet?
You know, the authoress Hillary, who received an $8 million advance from Simon & Schuster, a subsidiary of media conglomerate Viacom, just weeks before she was sworn in as Senator from New York.
Reed Irvine and Cliff Kincaid writing for Accuracy In Media reported on January 23, 2001:
Alfred S. Regnery, president of Regnery Publishing, says the advance is so unusually large and the arrangement is so vague that the book deal constitutes a gift designed to influence a U.S. Senator.First, he says it's doubtful that the publisher can recoup the advance. He says Simon & Schuster would have to sell 2 million copies of Mrs. Clinton's book in order to do so, and that's remote. Second, the publisher got no written proposal for what's going to be in the book. That, too, is unusual. And third, the advance -- all in one lump sum - is unusual. He says publishers typically give advances in installments, after they have seen what's in the book as it's being written. He says this gives the publisher the ability to know that the book will generate sales. The arrangement has all the earmarks of an illegal gift to Mrs. Clinton designed to influence her treatment of Viacom's business deals coming before the Senate and federal regulators.
It seems that having Democrats on the House Ethics Committee is a lot like having Libya, Syria and Sudan on the United Nations Human Rights Commission.
Posted by Rick | April 19, 2005 06:21 AM | Political Science
Democrats Smell Blood In The Water - Oops! Some Of It Is Theirs!
Tom DeLay (R-TX) is under fire by the left for hiring his wife and daughter to work for his PAC. Apparently they have been paid nearly $500,000 over the last four years. In an April 14, 2005, LA Times article staff writers Richard Simon, Chuck Neubauer and Rone Tempest report:
DeLay, a Texas Republican, has defended the payments to his wife, Christine, and his daughter, Danielle DeLay Ferro, saying his family members provided valuable service to his campaign. They received $473,801 over the last two election cycles, records show.
It is reported in the same article that Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), the liberal lip and paragon of virtue from California, also believes in lining the family coffers on the public's dime, yet there is nary a word of criticism from her Congressional colleagues reported anywhere in the MSM.
Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) paid her son, a lawyer, $130,000 over four years to run her political action committee, according to her campaign filings.
In an article written last June, 2004, by another LA Times staff writer, Chuck Neubauer, it was reported that not only are family members running PAC's, but family members are also lobbying Congress and getting paid handsomely to do so.
Like many sisters, Tanya Rahall talks to her brother often. But unlike most sisters, she gets paid handsomely to do it.Rahall makes $15,000 a month lobbying Congress for the tiny Arab country of Qatar. And the person she frequently lobbies is Rep. Nick J. Rahall II (D-W.Va.), her older brother and one of Qatar's biggest champions in Washington.
and this:
Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has called for a review of ethics rules for lobbyists, following stories detailing legislation he sponsored that benefited clients of his sons and son-in-law.
And there is so much more!
Evan Lehmann, of the MediaNews Group, Washington Bureau, reports in Vermont's Bennington Banner on the lone socialist/communist in Congress, Rep. Bernard Sanders of Vermont:
Rep. Bernard Sanders used campaign donations to pay his wife and stepdaughter more than $150,000 for campaign-related work since 2000, according to records filed with the Federal Election Commission.Jane O'Meara Sanders, his wife, received $91,020 between 2002 and 2004 for "consultation" and for negotiating the purchase of television and radio time-slots for Sanders' advertisements, according to records and interviews.
Approximately $61,000 of that was "pass through" money that was used to pay media outlets for advertising time, Jane O'Meara Sanders said in an interview. The rest, about $30,000, she kept as payment for her services, she said.
Carina Driscoll, daughter to Jane O'Meara Sanders and stepdaughter to the lawmaker, earned $65,002 in "wages" between 2000 and 2004, campaign records show.
And the reports continue:
Eamon Javers reporting for MSN Money, August 8, 2003, wrote:
Lobbyist Chet Lott reported around $330,000 in billings from his clients in 2002. He lives in Kentucky, where he's owned several Domino's pizza franchises and plays on a polo team. He also happens to be the son of former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott of Mississippi.
There is a list attached to this article detailing relatives of high profile Congressmen who lobby, including Ruth Harkin, who is married to Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), and David Lugar, son of Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN).
SFGate.com has another list of lawmakers with relatives on their congressional or campaign staffs.
Of course, one of the most notable lobbyists on K Street is former Senate minority leader (and majority leader, at different times) Tom Daschle's lovely wife, former Miss Kansas, Linda Hall Daschle. A lobbyist since 1997, Ms. Daschle works for Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC (headed by former GOP Senate leader and ex–Reagan chief of staff Howard Baker and ranked by The National Law Journal in 2004 as one of the 10 fastest growing law firms in the U.S.) as a lobbyist for the airline industry. But because former Senator Daschle (D-SD) has steadfastly refused to release his income tax returns, it is difficult to know to what extent the family coffers were filled while he was trudging through the halls of Congress for a measly $171,900 per annum. David Freddoso writing in WorldNetDaily reported in May 2002:
Clients for whom Mrs. Daschle is listed as a lobbyist have paid her firm approximately $5.8 million since 1997 – although that number is also only a rough estimate, since the federal lobbying law requires that lobbying firms estimate their fees from each client to the nearest $20,000 every six months. On their 2001 financial disclosure form, the Daschles reported that their publicly traded assets (primarily mutual funds) were worth between $197,000 and $730,000.
Interestingly, Mrs. Daschle is not only an important asset to her customers because of her expertise but is valued for her access to insider information as this quote from her employer's press release notes:
While Linda's experience and effectiveness are important to her clients, there is another reason they value her service – her frequent reporting of insider intelligence. Linda scours the news coming out of Washington each day for developments of concern to her clients and reports to them on what she learns. "We put a premium on keeping our clients informed," she says. "We do not want our clients to be caught by surprise by something that the federal government might do."Eamon Javers, from the previously linked article in MSN Money, August 8, 2003, also wrote this about the Daschles:
Nonetheless, her work as a lobbyist means big companies with business on Capitol Hill can legally put money into Tom Daschle's bank account.It gets even more complicated. Tom Daschle's daughter-in-law is also a registered lobbyist. Married to the senator’s son Nathan, Jill Gimmel Daschle is a political fundraiser by profession: She served as finance director for the 2000 re-election campaign of Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., and worked for former Democratic New Hampshire Gov. Jeanne Shaheen's 2002 senate campaign.
She has her own small company, JD Consulting. And through her connection to the political firm Sullivan & Baldick, she worked as a lobbyist for Northwest Airlines (NWAC, news, msgs) and Freddie Mac (FRE, news, msgs).
She's not making a career out of lobbying, and she doesn’t intend to lobby next year. Should Jill Daschle be required to disclose her clients and her relationship to the senator? And should she be prohibited from lobbying her father-in-law’s office? As it stands, she doesn't have to reveal the family connection, and there’s no prohibition on lobbying him, although the senator’s office says that she hasn’t.
Daschle was defeated in the 2004 election but we won't need to worry about him applying for unemployment benefits anytime soon. Tommy, as his friends call him, has been recruited to go to work for the prestigious firm of Alston & Bird as a special adviser in the law firm's legislative and public policy group. It should be noted that he was recruited to the firm by former Senator Bob Dole, who, at 81, uses his name and influence to earn somewhere between $800,000 and $1,000,000 per year, and whose wife is Senator Elizabeth Dole (R-NC). Perhaps Tommy will now be able to help his wife with the mortgage on their $2 million home on Washington’s tony Foxhall Road.
In an article published March 14, 2005, in the Washington Post, staff writer Christopher Lee reported:
The revolving door is just spinning out of control these days," said Craig Holman, legislative representative for Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group.Holman said that in the 1970s only about 3 percent of retiring members of Congress wound up in K Street law and lobbying firms. These days, the figure is more like 32 percent, he said, in part fueled by the dramatic increase in pay for such positions.
The point is that there are many members of Congress - Republicans, Democrats, and even a Socialist - who are enriching their families through the power and prestige of their elected office. Our elected officials are hiring their family members to manage political campaigns; manage PAC's; and lobby the halls of Congress while they slave away as public servants. Then, when the Congressmen retire, they parlay their influence into huge golden parachutes for themselves. I wouldn't mind seeing this cleaned up, but to single out Tom DeLay for hiring a couple relatives is certainly selective persecution.
Posted by Rick | April 14, 2005 04:41 AM | Political Science
So This Is What An "Honest Mistake" Looks Like
The crimes of Samuel R. 'Sandy' Berger are really much worse than we were initially led to believe. Mark Sherman of the Associated Press is reporting on ABC News that Samuel R. 'Sandy' Berger, former Clinton National Security Advisor, plead guilty to removing highly classified documents from the National Archives, a misdemeanor. Additionally, Mr. Berger, who had previously described the theft as an "honest mistake," admitted during his appearance before U.S. Magistrate Deborah Robinson that he had intentionally destroyed missing documents by cutting them up with scissors.
I guess it depends on what the meaning of the word "honest" is, or perhaps it depends on what the meaning of the word "mistake" is, or perhaps it depends on what the meaning of the words "honest mistake" taken as a whole is.
Whatever the case may be, this plea deal, in which Washington insider and Clinton crony Samuel R. 'Sandy' Berger will serve no jail time, will have to pay a measly $10,000 fine, and will only lose his security clearance for three years, is a travesty of justice! If you or I did this, it would certainly be classified as a felony for which they would lock us up and throw away the key. Oh, and about our top secret security clearance - as Tony Soprano's associates might say, forgetaboutit.
Posted by Rick | April 1, 2005 01:21 PM | Political Science
Berger's Briefs Redux
In what must be one of the most lenient plea agreements ever, former Clinton national security advisor (officially, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs) Samuel R. 'Sandy' Berger will be allowed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor for removing classified documents from the National Archives. Berger has admitted to removing documents by stuffing them in his pants, his jacket, and "inadvertently" in a leather portfolio. Mr. Berger claims to have returned most of the documents, but some sensitive documents are still missing. I previously wrote about this cheeky thief on December 3, 2004, and January 12, 2005.
The misdemeanor charge of unauthorized removal and retention of classified material carries a maximum sentence of one year in jail and a $100,000 fine, but ABC News is reporting the "plea agreement calls for Berger to serve no jail time but to pay a $10,000 fine, surrender his security clearance for three years and cooperate with investigators."
By comparison, Martha Stewart received a sentence of 5 months in jail, 5 months house arrest, two years probation, a $30,000 fine and was forever barred from serving as an officer in her corporation for merely lying to federal agents. Berger, who committed theft of highly classified national security documents, some of which have not been returned, receives no jail time, and, can do it again in three years!? This is not justice!
Samuel R. 'Sandy' Berger is a common thief, and in the process, betrayed the trust of the American people. If this doesn't deserve 5 years in jail, I don't know what does. I also think he should have to pay to disinfect the returned documents that had been stuffed in his pants...
Obviously, it's 'who you know and who you blow' at the Justice Department these days, but there is a silver lining in this tough love plea agreement. We can all take solace in the fact that our National Archives will be safe from Samuel R. 'Sandy' Berger for the next three years!
Note: Berger, who called his theft of the documents from the National Archives, an "honest mistake," has a habit of downplaying his illicit behavior. In 1997, in another very lenient deal with the the DOJ, Berger agreed to pay (was fined) $23,043 in settlement of a civil suit brought by the United States for an alleged financial conflict of interest violation. The 'fine' was only the dividends and the profits from the sale of Amoco stock between the time he was told divest himself of the stock and actual date of divestiture.
The Department of Justice news release of Monday, November 10, 1997, read in part:
In Berger's answer to the complaint, Berger alleged that he fully intended to divest the stock, but neglected to follow up promptly, and over time totally forgot about the issue and his family's ownership of the stock.He therefore denied that he had knowingly participated personally and substantially as a government officer in a particular matter in which, to his knowledge, he had a financial interest, the element of intent required to prove a criminal offense under 18 U.S.C. § 208.
Just another "honest mistake"....
Posted by Rick | April 1, 2005 02:28 AM | Political Science
Crybaby Harry Reid - Arrogant Abuse Of A Little Power
It currently takes 60 votes in the Senate to stop debate. Therefore, if any one of forty-one senators wants to filibuster, he can prevent a vote. Democrats hold 45 seats and can prevent a vote on virtually anything they desire. These days the senators don't really have to stand up and talk 'till they drop. Being the sophisticated lot they portend to be, a senator need merely say he will filibuster, and it effectively becomes a filibuster. And for the last few years, the Democrats have been using this ploy to waylay a number of President Bush's judicial nominees.
The Republicans are considering changing the rules so that a majority vote will be able to stop debate, thereby reducing the power of the minority and restoring the Senate to one man, one vote. (There are seven instances listed in the Constitution when a super majority is necessary for an item to pass in the Senate - 'advise and consent' on Presidential nominees is not one of them.)
The prospect of losing more power has the Senate Democrats throwing a hissy fit. In a news conference on the steps of the Capitol, Senate minority leader Harry Reid (D-NV) called the Republican plan an “arrogant abuse of power.” Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) said enacting the plan would be “beginning a huge, partisan, cataclysmic event, the implications of which are so profound that none of us really know the answer to it.” Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) before MoveOn.org said changing the rule would "undermine the fundamental tenets of democracy." Chuckie Schumer (D-NY) also before MoveON.org said this would be the "rubber stamp of dictatorship." Oh My God! This may be the end of civilization as we know it...the end of the world, and to my great disappointment, nary a Nazi reference in all this overheated, self-important rhetoric. Where is Senator Robert 'KKK' Byrd (D-WV) when you need him? (My personal suggestion would be to anoint President Bush king. Just kidding...although King George does have a nice ring to it.)
In reality, believing that 41 senators should be able to dictate the agenda to the other 59 senators is the true arrogance here. This almost takes us back to the time when a black man was only 3/5's of a person. Predictably, the Democrats take this arrogant position, and then accuse the Republicans of arrogance. Can you say chutzpah, audacity and temerity real fast three times?
Senate minority leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is truly showing how arrogant the Democrats in the Senate have become, by threatening to shut down the Senate and therefore the government if the rule is changed. In a letter to Senate majority leader Bill Frist (R-TN), Senator Reid threatens:
The Senate conducts most of its business by cooperation and consent. The minority provides that consent with the expectation that the courtesies it extends to the majority will be met with respect for minority rights. And no Senate right is more fundamental than the right to debate. Should the majority choose to break the rules that give us that right, the majority should not expect to receive cooperation from the minority in the conduct of Senate business.Of course Democrats would never block legislation vital to our troops or other national security interests, and we will help ensure that critical government services continue to function for the American people. Beyond that very limited scope, however, we will be reluctant to enter into any consent agreement that facilitates Senate activities, even on routine matters.
Frankly, if Senator Reid were to enact such a limited government policy permanently, it may be, as that noted felon Martha Stewart often says, "a good thing."
Note to Harry: Eventually even the blue-staters are going to get wise to your tired little games. Harry, soon it won't matter if it takes 41 votes to stop a filibuster, 'cause you'll only have 35 Democratic senators. So, Harry, go ahead, make the Republicans day.
You can read more about the news conference here. Be forewarned, it might be best to take an anti-gag pill first.
Posted by Rick | March 17, 2005 09:15 AM | Political Science
Democratic Think Tank - Running On Empty
The Democratic party, bereft of ideas since the beginning of W's first term, had an opportunity to receive partial credit for the reform of the Social Security program. With Bill Clinton's admonition in 1998 that there was a looming crisis, the big guns in the Democratic party all chimed in with their concerns, but now, because they blinded by their hatred of Bush, and/or because they are just stuck on obstructionism, they are painting themselves into a corner from which they will be hard pressed to extricate themselves.
Without any new ideas, the Social Security tax must be raised, benefits must be reduced, the retirement age must be increased, or some combination thereof. At this rate, we will begin to receive benefits at age 70, pay a 20% Social Security tax in addition to our already exorbitant income taxes, and receive 40% less benefits. Why don't we just give our entire paycheck to the government?
The Congress has a privatized retirement plan for its members. If it's good enough for them, it must be good enough for the peons.
Posted by Rick | March 9, 2005 01:06 PM | Political Science
ACLU Sues Rumsfeld For 'Torturing' Detainees
The Anti-American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is at it again. They have filed a lawsuit against Secretary Of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld for abuses allegedly meted out to detainees in Iraq during interrogations. Some of the allegations actually accuse Secretary Rumsfeld of humiliating the detainees - Oh! The Horror. The lawsuit merely reinforces the perception that the ACLU will do everything in its power to bring an end to life and civilization in America as we know it. They would like us to huddle in caves, eat bread and water, and live in constant fear for our lives. Heaven forbid we make any attempt to extract information from these animals who will behead any infidel who does not believe in the 'great' Muhammad. (I ask you, is there any more pathetic religion than Islam in its present day context? The Nazis (since everyone from Ward Churchhill to Senator Robert 'KKK' Byrd are making Nazi references) were pikers next to these losers. The Nazis were prepared to only destroy the Jews, the gypsies, the homosexuals and the disabled. The Islamofascists want to kill everyone who is a non-believer, not to mention the repressive conditions they force upon their women. They have their work cut out for themselves.
The ACLU will represent NAMBLA, and then sue the Boy Scouts; the government over the Patriot Act; and now the Secretary Of Defense. What a proud organization they have become. Why doesn't the ACLU sue the cretins who took away the civil rights of Daniel Pearl, Nick Berg, and Paul Johnson Jr. by beheading them instead of wasting taxpayer dollars by forcing us to defend the Secretary Of Defense.
You can read all about the lawsuit in an AP article entitled Suit Blames Rumsfeld for Abuse by Troops written by Pauline Jelinek, Associated Press Writer.
Posted by Rick | March 1, 2005 10:48 PM | Political Science
Senator Reid, Would You Like A Little Cheese With That Whine?
Watching the Democrats these days is a lot like watching a Saturday Night Live skit with those 'wild and crazy guys' Steve Martin (Harry Reid) and Dan Aykroyd (Teddy Kennedy) tormenting Gilda Radner (Hillary Clinton) and Jane Curtin (Barbara Boxer). I can not stop laughing.
In an interview that aired this past Sunday on KLAS-TV in Las Vegas, local reporter Jon Ralston asked Senate minority leader Harry Reid (D-NV) about the mailing the Republican National Committee sent out to a million or so people. Senator Reid's response was to whine about his mistreatment at the hands of the RNC, even though it consisted primarily of a compilation of his votes and public statements. Given the opportunity, the Senator made no effort to correct any misstatements or clear up any contentions made in the mailing, he just whined. (The Senator had initially run crying to the President about the mailing and I wrote about it here.)
Jon Ralston also asked about Senator Reid's statement, made during an appearance on Fox News Sunday, February 14, 1999, concerning the looming Social Security crisis in which he declared "Most of us have no problem with taking a small amount of the Social Security proceeds and putting it into the private sector," and the Senator's latest position where he backtracked, stating emphatically that partial privatization was 'not going to happen, no way, no how.' In a quip eerily reminiscent of John Kerry's now infamous flip-flop ("I actually did vote for the 87 billion before I voted against it"), Senator Reid deftly replied, "Well, that was then, this is now." Pretty fancy footwork from the former pugilist, wouldn't you say?
If you would like to watch the video, you can click here for segment 1 (the whining) and here for segment 2 (the flip-flop).
Posted by Rick | February 26, 2005 06:46 AM | Political Science
Democratic Party Continues To Marginalize Itself
Democratic Congressman Maurice Hinchey's comments, made at a community forum last weekend in Ithaca, New York, accusing Carl Rove, President Bush's political advisor during the 2004 campaign, of forging the now infamous 'Rathergate' National Guard documents released by CBS are really old news and without merit.
In a Washington Times article entitled McAuliffe Denies Involvement In Memos Flap, Stephen Dinan reported that Terry McAuliffe put forth similar, if less pointed, accusations:
Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe today said neither his organization nor John Kerry´s campaign leaked to CBS documents questioning President Bush´s service record, which may have been forged. He suggested White House adviser Karl Rove could be behind the documents. "I can unequivocally say that no one involved here at the Democratic National Committee had anything at all to do with any of those documents. If I were an aspiring young journalist, I think I would ask Karl Rove that question," Mr. McAuliffe said.
Since McAuliffe's comments, no one has come forward with any evidence incriminating Carl Rove or anyone else in the Republican party.
During the forum in Ithaca, Congressman Hinchey had the following exchange with an audience member finally admitting that he had no evidence:
Audience Member: Do you have any evidence for that?Congressman Hinchey: Yes I do. Once they did that --
Audience: [Murmuring]
Congressman Hinchey: ...once they did that, then it undermined everything else about Bush's draft dodging. Once they were able to say, 'This is false! These papers are not accurate, they're, they're, they're false, they've been falsified.' That had the effect of taking the whole issue away.
Audience Member: So you have evidence that the papers came from the Bush administration?
Congressman Hinchey: No. I -- that's my belief.
You can actually listen to the recording of the speech here.
Rep. Hinchey, appearing Wednesday on Hannity & Colmes (Fox News Channel), reiterated his claim that Carl Rove was behind the forged documents and again admitted that he had nary a shred of evidence to back up his claim.
The election is over and George Bush won. I have no clue as to Congressman Hinchey's motives in making these baseless claims. Perhaps he just read last September's Democratic talking points. It could certainly be argued that future Democratic initiatives might be minimized by this tripe. House minority leader Nancy Pelosi should reign the guy in before the entire Democratic party ends up looking like irresponsible buffoons. Although, when you consider: Kennedy, Boxer, Byrd, Dean, Dayton, Kerry, Gore, Reid, Sharpton, Clinton, Clinton, Carter, Moore, Carville, Goldberg, Streisand....it may be too late.
Posted by Rick | February 24, 2005 03:32 AM | Political Science
Hillary Has A Chink In Her Hollywood Armor
Lloyd Grove wrote in the New York Daily News on Friday February 18, 2005:
Friends no more? I hope Sen. Hillary Clinton isn't counting on help from Hollywood mogul David Geffen in her possible run for the White House in 2008. Geffen, a generous supporter and pal of Bill Clinton when he was President, trashed Hillary's prospects last night during a Q&A at the 92nd St. Y. "She can't win, and she's an incredibly polarizing figure," the billionaire Democrat told his audience. "And ambition is just not a good enough reason." Geffen's dis was met with hearty applause.
I am really looking forward to the 2008 presidential race with Hillary as the Democratic nominee. The Democrats will nominate her, and raise a potful of money again, but they might as well flush it down the ol' crapper. Spending money without the message will be merely going through the paces.
Hillary has been in the senate four years now but she has not really contributed more than pablum to the political discourse.
As smart as everyone says Hillary is, she will not present the American electorate with any acceptable solutions to the problems we face. The Democratic idea bank is empty. Can anyone give me even one semi-good idea she has presented in over four years as Senator Hillary? Please, tell me....I'm waiting....
Can anyone imagine commander-in-chief Hillary sending our troops off to fight the terrorists while Bill chases interns around the west wing? Like deja vu all over again, Bill can certainly imagine it.
I agree with Mr. Geffen, but prefer to say, Hillary won't win.
Nope, it's just not going to happen.
Posted by Rick | February 19, 2005 01:22 AM | Political Science
Congress - Professional Time Wasters
Washington Post Staff Writer Dana Milbank writes in The Washington Post today that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld "doesn't do accommodating very well," after he left a hearing before 24 members of the House Armed Services Committee had a chance to question him. In her article, entitled Secretary On the Offensive, Ms. Milbank also complains that Secretary Rumsfeld, before heading off to a hearing in the Senate, refused to give answers to a number of questions.
Questions that were posed by the 'esteemed' members of the House Armed Services Committee included and I paraphrase: How long will the war in Iraq last?; How much will the war cost?; How much will the veterans' benefits cost?; How many insurgents are there in Iraq? What kind of bases will we end up with in Iraq?. Finally Rumsfeld retorted, "There's never been a war that was predictable as to length, casualty or cost in the history of mankind."
Other questions had answers that were classified and the members of the committee should have known that the questions were inappropriate for a public forum.
My point here is that these grand-standing self-indulgent members of congress seem to have nothing better to do with their time than to subject the people coming before them to stupid, inane, unanswerable, even unintelligible questions. They should use their allotted time to ask questions that will enlighten the committee and the nation. If they have nothing to add, sit quietly and listen. Who knows, they might even learn something.
If they have some free time after that and want to ask questions that entail pure speculation they could subpoena a fortune teller and waste her time. Congress should let the Secretary of Defense and others with real jobs get back to work.
Posted by Rick | February 17, 2005 11:24 AM | Political Science
I Was Right - Harry Reid's A Crybaby
Al Gore's former campaign manager, Donna L. Brazile, writing in Roll Call, February 15, 2005, (Harry Reid vs. The Republicans: Round One) had the same initial impression of Harry Reid's reaction to the RNC's fact sheet as I did (see my post of February 10, 2005, entitled Harry Reid - Senator Crybaby) when she wrote: "At first, I thought Reid would come off as a hapless little crybaby...", but it quickly became apparent that she needed to visit an optometrist when she described Senator Reid this way: "Then Reid's left leg shifted against the podium. His right foot was firmly in forward position as those broad and steely shoulders stood erect." That certainly doesn't describe crybaby Harry. She must have been describing House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) who has been sharing the stage with Harry often as of late.
If you have nothing better to do and you have already flossed today, you can read the entire myopic article here.
Posted by Rick | February 16, 2005 04:13 AM | Political Science
Musical Chairs In Palestine Is About To Begin - Abbas Is Helpless
Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, is apparently as delusional as the late Yasser Arafat. In January, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon lifted a ban on contacts with the Palestinians after the newly elected Abbas, on January 20th, ordered Gaza security forces to halt militant attacks on Israelis. Unfortunately, the Palestinian effort was not really an attempt to stop the attacks on Israel, but was, in fact, mere rhetoric, both figuratively and literally. In an article written by Craig Nelson of the Cox News Service, January 24, 2005, and published online at reflector.com:
Ismail al-Dahdouh, a senior Palestinian officer, said after briefing security personnel on Friday that his orders were to "control these areas and to stop attacks."But when asked what would happen if his men came across militants preparing to carry out an attack, Dahdouh was disarming. "We will avoid clashing with them and we will talk to them in a positive way," he told the Reuters news agency.
Only two days after February 8, 2005, when a bilateral cease-fire had been announced between Israel and Palestine, militants (terrorists) within Palestine fired approximately 36 mortars and 20 rockets into Israeli territory. Subsequently, president Abbas fired a substantial number of his security force including the the overall commander of Palestinian security forces, Major-General Abdel Razek al-Majaida Abdel Razek Majaida; Gaza police chief Saeb al-Ajez; and Omar Ashour, the national security commander in southern Gaza. There were reports that, in addition to the weak-kneed policy toward the militants, some members of the security forces moonlight as militants. Since their day jobs will no longer interfere with their real mission in life which is to destroy the state of Israel, those fired can now concentrate on bomb building and mortar attacks in earnest.
After the firings, Abbas announced a meeting with the militant groups. That would be like the mayor of Los Angeles firing the police chief and a bunch of policemen before meeting with the Bloods, the Crips, and the Latin Kings. It seems to me that Abbas should have met with his security forces and fired (disarmed, attacked, and/or killed) the terrorists.
This merely shows that it is Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and other militant groups who are in charge in the Palestinian territory and not Abbas. Any real attempt by Abbas to reign in the militants will only result in his demise and the game of musical chairs in the Palestianian leadership will begin in earnest.
Note: The ranks/titles and the spelling of names of the various players in the region varies from news report to news report. For instance, Major-General Abdel Razek al-Majaida's name was spelled Abdel-Razek al-Majaydeh, Abdel Razek Majaida, Abdel Razek Majaidie, and Abdelrazzak al-Majaida in various reports. He was also reported to be a Brigadier General and not a Major General. The police chief's name was also spelled Saeb al-Ajed and Saeb al-Ajez. National security chief in the southern Gaza Strip, General Omar Ashour also had his name spelled Omar Ashur. Mohammed Abdel-Raouf Arafat As Qudwa al-Hussaeini, the full name of Yasser Arafat, is also known as Yasir Arafat in various formats. For future reference and in an effort to bring some sameness to the chaos, I have decided to use the NY Times spellings and titles. I guess something gets lost in translation. My apologies to anyone whose name or rank/title have been reported incorrectly.
Posted by Rick | February 12, 2005 02:04 PM | Political Science
Harry Reid - Senator Crybaby
On Monday, February 7, 2005, the Republican National Committee put out a fact sheet entitled REID ALL ABOUT IT: WHO IS HARRY REID?. The report details the legislative flip-flopping and obstructionism of current Senate minority leader Harry Reid (D-NV). It seems, however, that good ol' Harry doesn't like the truth, and he complained (perhaps whined is a better word) to the President about the RNC's release during a dinner at the White House later that evening.
It really takes a lot of nerve to complain about the truth to someone you have just called a liar.
As recently as December 2004, Reid stood by comments attacking President Bush as a “Liar.” NBC’s Tim Russert: “In 2002, you said, ‘President Bush is a liar. He betrayed Nevada and he betrayed the country.’ Is that rhetoric appropriate?” Senator Harry Reid: “. . . [P]eople may not like what I said, but I said it, and I don’t back off one bit.” (NBC’s “Meet The Press,” December 5, 2004)
Read more about Senator Crybaby here.
Stepping before the cameras and microphones on Tuesday to bemoan the release of the report, Harry didn't bother to refute any of the stated facts. He was too busy acting indignant.
Harry, don't you just hate it when the truth bites you in the a..?
Posted by Rick | February 10, 2005 12:01 AM | Political Science
Senator Mark 'Beam Me Up' Dayton Will Not Run In 2006
In a rare moment of lucidity, Minnesota Senator Mark 'Beam Me Up' Dayton declared in a telephone news conference earlier today, "I do not believe that I am the best candidate to lead the DFL Party to victory next year," and indicated that he would not run for re-election in 2006.
Read more about the news conference here.
Posted by Rick | February 9, 2005 11:09 PM | Political Science
Does A Presidential Campaign Really Change A Person?
After an extensive 2 hour interview with Peter S. Canellos, Nina J. Easton, Michael Kranish, and Susan Milligan of the Boston Globe staff, Peter Canellos wrote an article that appeared in the Boston Globe February 6, 2005. He quoted John Kerry as saying some amazing things:
Kerry demanded that the swift boat veterans who had criticized his military record agree to open up their own files because he knows "one guy was busted" and another "has a letter of reprimand."
And:
The furor over military credentials hasn't ended with the campaign. Kerry pledged to sign Form 180, releasing all of his military records, but challenged his critics, including Bush, to do the same.
This is the same crap that Bill Clinton tried to pull with the Jennifer Flowers, Paula Jones, Kathleen Willey, and Monica Lewinsky scandals...always trying desperately to smear the messenger. Clinton then and Kerry now could not face the fact that the issues in question are really not about the accusers. John Kerry and his records, his veracity, and his character were/are the issues.
To this day, he has not signed Form 180 releasing his military records. He gives it lip service and did as recently as an appearance on 'NBC NEWS' MEET THE PRESS with Tim Russert, January 30, 2005, but it has apparently been just one of those thngs he is too busy (read 'unwilling') to do.
Asked what hurt him the most during the campaign, Kerry mused about how ''all of us are flawed as human beings" and ''I think I have a strong record" before raising his voice and declaring: ''One thing I know is that I didn't flip-flop on anything."
You're absolutely right John. No doubt about it John. Whatever you say John.
Posted by Rick | February 7, 2005 11:15 AM | Political Science
Eternal Optimists
The Bush administration has pledged another $350 million dollars to the Palestinians, supposedly with the caveat that the Palestinians stop killing Israelis. Bush/Rice, et. al., should wait at least a year before handing over the cash. The Palestinian madmen have no interest in peace, and continuing to fill their coffers with American gold without some real positive results is more than being eternally optimistic, it is stupid.
We should also withhold any more funds until the money Arafat stole and invested in American bowling alleys and other things is returned to the Palestinian administration and used as it was intended - to build the infrastructure that is so desperately needed by the Palestinian people.
Posted by Rick | February 6, 2005 02:20 PM | Political Science
Kerry Redux - Democrats Flip-Flop On Social Security
In a article at National Review Online entitled “Save Social Security First”? Byron York maintains that the claim begun by President Clinton in 1998 that Social Security was in financial straits was nothing more than a money grab by the Democrats in the face of looming government surpluses:
In 1998, the major policy question in Washington was what to do with enormous anticipated federal budget surpluses. Republicans, arguing that a surplus meant the government was taking in too much money, wanted to cut taxes. Clinton wanted to kill any tax-cut proposal before it had a chance to gather support. So in his 1998 State of the Union speech, he came up with a famous slogan."What should we do with this projected surplus?" Clinton said. "I have a simple four-word answer: Save Social Security first."
The article goes on to say that many of the hard-line Democrats including Barbara Boxer, Al Gore, Dick Gephardt, and Teddy 'Chappaquiddick' Kennedy took up the mantra "Save Social Security first," knowing full-well that Clinton had no plans to do anything about it.
Of course now that we have a President with the chutzpah to do something about it, the Democrats have miraculously discovered that there is no crisis within the Social Security system, and actually had the audacity to 'boo' President Bush when he confronted the Congress with the problem during Wednesday's State Of The Union address. As Robert 'KKK' Byrd would say, 'Petty, petty, petty.'
Can anyone tell me the last time the Democrats had a really good idea....maybe when Harry T. dropped the bomb??? 60 long years ago...
Posted by Rick | February 3, 2005 04:03 PM | Political Science
My, What A Big Hole You're Digging For Yourself Senator Dayton
Senator Mark 'Beam Me Up' Dayton announced Tuesday that he will vote against President Bush's nominee for Attorney General, Alberto Gonazles. Today, Rob Hotakainen, Star Tribune Washington Bureau Correspondent, writes in an article entitled Dayton will vote against Gonzales:
Gonzales is expected to win confirmation Thursday. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said he wanted to schedule a vote Tuesday but decided not to do so after Democrats threatened to filibuster. Democrats said they wouldn't delay the nomination but asked for additional time to debate Gonzales' record, forcing a delay in until after Bush delivers his State of the Union speech tonight.
In his remarks, which were given sans his tin-foil chapeau, Senator Dayton tried to show concern for our troops killed and wounded in action while decrying efforts to extract intelligence from terrorists that could prevent further American casualties. Pick a side Senator Dayton...
Posted by Rick | February 2, 2005 10:31 AM | Political Science
Howard Dean's The New Face Of The DNC
In a NY Times piece entitled Dean Emerging as Likely Chief for Democrats by Adam Nagourney and Anne E. Kornblut, it appears to be all over but the shouting (pun intended). Howard Dean will be the new chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
Democrats said Dr. Dean overcame the hurdles of his failed presidential candidacy by intensely courting Democratic leaders, assuring them that he was not the liberal and undisciplined caricature that many said they saw last year. He also freely made the kind of bread-and-butter promises that have always helped politicians win elections, promising to channel at least $11 million in national Democratic money to pay salaries at the state parties, Democratic officials said.
The Democrats are selling themselves out for $11 million dollars. Really very cheap when you consider how much George Soros and his cohorts spent on 527 ads during the presidential campaign. Howard Dean thinks the Democratic party needs better organization in order to rebound against the Republican onslaught, and that may very well be the case, but truth be told, what they really need to dig themselves out of the hole they're in is a good idea or two, or ten. I wonder if the Democrats ever heard of Newt Gingrich's Contract with America.
Thankfully, we won't have to look at Terry McAuliffe's smirk any more. (With his attitude and his little smile, he was always too cute by half.) Under McAuliffe's leadership, the Democrats should have discovered that throwing piles of money at an election would not necessarily translate into a victory without the necessary message behind the money. Can you say Contract With America?
Monday, during the pre-buttal by Senate minority leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and House minority leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) of President Bush's State Of The Union speech, it was apparent that there is no new message, not yet anyway, just petty politics. Read more about their forgettable appearance before the Natioanal Press Club here.
Pelosi spoke dismissively of the reception Mr. Bush is likely to receive from GOP lawmakers on Wednesday night in the first State of the Union address of his second term. "You really don't have to have very many communications skills if you have a couple of hundred people who will jump to their feet when you recite the ABCs," she said.
John Kerry said 'I have a plan' thousands of times during the campaign, but his message was really 'I can do anything you can do better,' and Monday's pre-emptive strike by Reid and Pelosi was little more than Kerry's message regurgitated. There were no solutions to problems; no new plans; no new ideas - just the same tired message over and over and over. (Message to Harry and Nancy: Keep up the good work.)
With the brain trust of Reid and Pelosi, not to mention Senators Teddy ‘Chappaquiddick’ Kennedy, Robert 'KKK' Byrd, and Mark ‘Beam Me Up’ Dayton, in the Congress, the Democrats are neck-deep in an idea vacuum. We know Howard Dean can raise money on the internet. It will be interesting to see if the internet can provide him with a decent idea or ten.
Posted by Rick | February 2, 2005 08:16 AM | Political Science
Boxer, Byrd, Kennedy, Dayton...The Democratic Mt. Rushmore - ROFLOL
After more than 9 hours, which included more than 4 1/2 hours of torturous pontification by Senate Democrats in a pathetic attempt to discredit Dr. Condoleezza Rice before the vote to confirm her as Secretary Of State, the discussion in the United States Senate has come to an end, and the nation is grateful for said end. Dr. Rice should be easily confirmed today, unless Senator Robert 'KKK' Byrd pulls something else out of his robe.
The television time that was provided to this group of arrogant air-heads must be of little consolation tonight to the Democratic brain-trust, as it became quite obvious as the day painfully crawled along that the message Senators Barbara Boxer, former Ku Klux Klan member Robert Byrd, Teddy 'Chappaquiddick' Kennedy, and Mark 'Beam-Me-Up' Dayton were attempting to deliver was old and tired. There were no new questions; no new accusations; no new revelations; and certainly no new solutions to real or imagined problems. In perhaps the funniest presentation, Barbara Boxer used charts (undoubtedly left over from Saturday Night Live) to help her shore up her petty, pitiful, partisan performance of last week. Ultimately, the words were as empty as John Kerry's pockets before he married.
No true statesmen would continue to attack Dr. Rice for lying to the American people when the senators know full well that erroneous intelligence and/or hidden WMD's are the real reasons that nothing but huge hordes of conventional weapons were found in Iraq. The pathetic portrayals of the war in Iraq as a quagmire and this generation's Vietnam belie the progress that is being made.
While watching the proceedings, I noticed that the Senators were all dressed very nicely for their face time. The only thing missing today from the Democratic Senators' sartorial splendor was their tin foil hats which, on a good day, protect the Democrats in question from being attacked by alien alpha rays that replace brain cells with creamed corn. (It is painfully obvious that Senator Dayton has forgotten his hat far too often.)
As President Bush prepares to ask for another 80 billion dollars to continue the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, the unwanted expense of the war on terror and against the radical Muslims is becoming a huge strain on our dollar. However, we must not waiver. We must remain strong and determined. We must remember that we are fighting the war on terror over there and not over here where the financial and physical consequences to our great nation would be ten thousand times greater.
Congratulations Secretary Of State Rice!
Update: The U.S. Senate just approved Condoleezza Rice as Secretary Of State by a vote of 85-13. Twelve Democrats (the usual suspects) and one Independent (Jeffords - VT) voted against the nomination. The 13 votes against Dr. Rice were the most ever against a candidate for Secretary Of State. You can read more about it in this article from Bloomberg.com and this article from Voice of America News.com.
Posted by Rick | January 26, 2005 01:38 AM | Political Science
Hillary, Hillary, Hillary....... If It's Not One Thing, It's Another
Hillary Clinton's 2000 campaign-finance director, David Rosen, has been indicted for under-reporting the cost of an August 2000 campaign fund-raiser by approximately $700,000.
Dick Morris, in an article in the New York Post, asked the following:
The question of who understated the cost of the Hollywood event now joins the pantheon of questions that have haunted the senator's past — Who hid the billing records? Who ordered the travel office firings? Who helped Hillary to make a killing in the commodities market? Did the first lady know her brother was paid to secure a pardon for a major drug trafficker? Did Hillary represent the Madison Bank in a fraudulent real-estate deal? Who ordered the removal of the FBI files?
And finally:
If young David Rosen wants to take the fall for Hillary and join the likes of Web Hubbell and Susan McDougal, who chose to languish in prison rather than tell the truth, that is his decision. But don't ask us to believe something the average 8-year-old knows can't be true — that a gain to the campaign of $280,000 was beneath Hillary's notice.
Just how thick is Hillary's teflon coating anyway?
Posted by Rick | January 17, 2005 02:24 AM | Political Science
History 101
History 101 is supposed to teach you basic historical facts and the UN's ineptitude in the 'oil for food' fiasco is history. Using this as a guide, President Bush's willingness to turn over the tsunami relief effort to the UN will accomplish one thing for sure - less of the funds earmarked for the victims will actually go to the victims. If an full accounting of the monies we contribute fffor the tsunami relief effort isn't required, Bush may be as dumb as he's portrayed. He might even demand that in order for the UN to be allowed to do this, an honest accounting of the UN 'oil for food' program in Iraq be given with all supporting documents released to the UN investigator Paul Volker and/or the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, headed by Senator Norm Coleman (MN), which has been investigating the oil-for-food program for more than eight months.
Posted by Rick | January 11, 2005 07:50 AM | Political Science
Chump Change For Chumps
Clarence Thomas apparently can't say no to gifts offered to him. He has accepted expensive gifts totaling over $40,000 during the past 6 years including an historical bible valued at $19,000 and an $800 NASCAR jacket. You can read more about it in the latimes.com in an article by LA Times staff writers Richard A. Serrano and David G. Savage.
Of course, this is chump change in comparison to what the Clinton's accepted on their way out of the White House in 2000. Hillary Clinton apparently fell in love with a store in Omaha, NE, owned by Warren Buffet called Borsheim's. Brian Hartman, in an article written for ABC News headlined Clintons' Gift Take Raises Ethics Questions, wrote: "Financial disclosure reports show President Clinton and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton accepted $190,027 in gifts last year — more than any previous first couple.", and he went on to say: "In the final days of their administration, Clinton supporters even took the extraordinary step of setting up an account akin to a gift registry with Borsheim's, a high-end jewelry and china dealership owned by billionaire financier Warren Buffett." (As far as I can tell, valuations were placed on the items by the recipients. A portrait of Clinton's dog was valued at $300. I must not know the right people because I can't even get a painting framed for $300 much less an original painting and frame together.)
Even Ronald Reagan was not immune from criticism when he left office. Apparently a group of his friends ponied up the money to buy a $2.5 million home for the outgoing President. The criticism was tempered somewhat because the President paid $15,000 rent per month on the property.
Dorian Benkoil, in another article for ABC News, wrote: "In describing the Clinton's acceptance of gifts given to them during their last year in office "It may not be criminal," said Daniel Schorr, a political analyst. "It may not be, even if you study it, entirely unethical. But it is their sense of terminal tackiness.""
OK, we know the Clinton’s are tacky. The point here is that the Supreme Court as the highest court in the land should be inhabited by justices, appointed to their positions for life, whose conduct is above reproach. After the tacky behavior Clarence Thomas was accused of by Anita Hill during his confirmation hearings, you would hope that he would not want to do anything that might discredit him further, but this seems not to be the case. Justice Thomas while not having done anything illegal or entirely unethical is guilty of "terminal tackiness” by accepting the gifts. Therefore, when Chief Justice William Hubbs Rehnquist steps down, I believe that Justice Thomas should not replace him.
Posted by Rick | January 2, 2005 11:52 PM | Political Science
More Tripe From The New York Times
In an article by Neil A. Lewis which The New York Times gave the headline Fresh Details Emerge on Harsh Methods at Guantánamo, it was reported that prisoners were "being shackled for hours and left to soil themselves while exposed to blaring music or the insistent meowing of a cat-food commercial. In addition, some may have been forcibly given enemas as punishment."
First, I have been told by an unreliable source not very close to the incidents in question that the music was sung by the American Idol reject William Hung. If this is true, there is no doubt that this was a violation of the Geneva Convention and the officers and enlisted personnel who engaged in this horrific treatment should be confined at Fort Leavenworth and forced to throw darts at a picture of Simon Cowell for 8 hours a day.
Second, Morris, the Meow Mix cat, should demand the Army pay him residuals for the use of his commercial.
Third, Mr. Lewis reports that some of the prisoners "may have been forcibly given enemas as punishment." My question for Mr. Lewis is: Were they or were they not....? Apparently Mr. Lewis missed the day at the ITT Tech School of Journalism when they taught that speculation is not reporting? This report is just another example of The New York Times serving tripe in an effort to encite prejudise against the USA and the military.
Mr. Lewis might consider returning to j-school to pick up a few of the courses he obviously slept through the first time. That done, his point of view might be more appreciated at Aljazeera, or, it's possible Mr. Lewis is already at Aljezeera and his current employer merely needs to change its name. How does 'Aljezeera New York - All The Propaganda That's Fit To Print' sound?
Posted by Rick | January 2, 2005 12:17 AM | Political Science
Beancounters Giving Black Eye To Department Of Defense
Specialist Robert Loria of Middletown, NY, recently lost his arm during the fighting in Iraq. The Army subsequently billed him $310 for missing equipment; over $2400 that the Army mistakenly overpaid him for family separation pay he received while recuperating at Walter Reed Army Medical Center; and over $2200 for travel expenses between Walter Reed and his station at Fort Hood, TX, that should have been paid to him but the paperwork apparently went to the wrong desk. Without enough gas money to get back home, it took help from Senators Charles Schumer and Hillary Clinton to get him back home to NY. This is sad because of the obvious screw-ups by the Army, but the really sad thing is that it took liberal Senators Schumer and Clinton to get the ball rolling in the right direction here. No wonder there are rumblings about the performance of the Secretary of Defense. I understand mistakes are made, but this guy lost his arm....he deserves a lot more than a bill for a few dollars. Specialist Loria should give the Army a bill for his missing arm.
You can read more about it in a story by Dianna Cahn (Times Herald-Record dcahn@th-record.com) at LibertyPost.org. Be sure to use the phone numbers in the article to call in your concerns to the Secretary of Defense, etc.
A follow up note...
The Army has apparently agreed to forgive the $310 for missing equipment, the $2400 for the overpaid family separation pay and will help with re-filing the missing paperwork. Give the Army a gold star....the point, however, is that this should not happen to anyone who has served his country and given so much. It is doubly embarassing that it took Schumer and Clinton interceding to fix things.
Posted by Rick | December 26, 2004 01:10 AM | Political Science
The Man With A "Plan"
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is, and has been, under fire because of the way he has waged the war in Iraq by the left and even a few people on the right. Of course his critics have all been brilliant military strategists in their own right. The most vocal critic of note was John L. F. Kerry who got his military education at the revered Yale Military Institute and subsequently rose through the ranks to become one of the most famous lieutenants in American history with a command of nearly 20 people under him.
During the recent elections Kerry said over and over and over and over... that he had a plan to help us win the war in Iraq. Since Rumsfeld and the inept military minds at the Pentagon are having such a tough time coming up with a 'plan' of their own to win the war as fast as his critics would like, I suggest that ex-Lieutenant Kerry offer his services and his 'plan' (gratis to be sure since Kerry is already on the payroll of the United States as Senator from Massachusetts) to the Secretary of Defense. I am sure with Kerry's 'plan' we can win the war in the next week or two with no further casualties and bring our boys back home victorious.
(Substitute John 'Monday Morning Quarterback' McCain for ‘Kerry’ in the above musing if you would like. I’m sure he could also win the war in no time. Senator McCain’s military skills were honed during the Vietnam war by his instructors at the Hanoi Hilton. Senator McCain, with even fewer men under his command than Senator Kerry during his illustrious military career, was instrumental in planning as many as ZERO (0) major offensives and won no fewer than ZERO (0) major battles with his brilliant military strategies.)
Posted by Rick | December 23, 2004 10:10 AM | Political Science
CBS News Reporting - Bloggergate?
In an effort to shift the spotlight from the blatant attempt by Dan Rather and his minions on the ‘CBS Evening News’ and ’60 Minutes’ to influence the 2004 Presidential election, and to minimize the damage done by 'Rathergate' to CBS’ credibility, an article written by David Paul Kuhn, chief political writer for CBS News.com is looking to the blogosphere. He begins:
Internet blogs are providing a new and unregulated medium for politically motivated attacks.
As compared, of course, to the ‘regulated’ political attack by CBS’ Dan Rather in which he presented, without adequate fact-checking or corroboration, forged documents questioning President Bush’s National Guard service? Even though the documents were proven forgeries, Rather, while in the middle of his apology for presenting forgeries as ‘the gospel by Dan’, continued to certify, without a shred of evidence, that the underlying message in the forgeries was correct.
The Sioux Falls Argus Leader and the National Journal first cited Federal Election Commission documents showing that Jon Lauck, of Daschle v Thune, and Jason Van Beek, of South Dakota Politics, were advisers to the Thune campaign.The documents, also obtained by CBS News, show that in June and October the Thune campaign paid Lauck $27,000 and Van Beek $8,000. Lauck had also worked on Thune’s 2002 congressional race.
Both blogs favored Thune, but neither gave any disclaimer during the election that the authors were on the payroll of the Republican candidate.
No laws have apparently been broken. Case precedent on political speech as it pertains to blogs does not exist. But where journalists' careers may be broken on ethics violations, bloggers are writing in the Wild West of cyberspace. There remains no code of ethics, or even an employer, to enforce any standard.
Does case precedent exist as it pertains to filmmaking? If Mr. Kuhn saw Fahrenheit 9/11, he should be able to write of his great concern about the code of ethics displayed in that gem. Perhaps he is waiting for the Academy Award nominations to be announced before he expresses his outrage.
At minimum, the role of blogs in the Daschle-Thune race is a telling harbinger for 2006 and 2008. Some blogs could become new vehicles for the old political dirty tricks.Like all media, blogs hold the potential for abuse. Experts point out that blogs' unregulated status makes them particularly attractive outlets for political attack.
Mr. Kuhn, being ‘employed’ by CBS News, must certainly understand the difference between ‘news’ and ‘punditry’. ‘News’ as presented by CBS should generally be ‘the facts and nothing but the facts’, with the audience left to decipher the message and make up it’s own mind. ‘Punditry’, the ‘op-ed’ page of television and the internet, generally displays the author’s bias right up front with little left to the imagination. Dan Rather, esteemed anchor of the CBS Evening News seems to have missed that course in journalism school.
Consultants are usually hired to give their opinions, advice, and talking points to, not take them from, a candidate. Jon Lauck and Jason Van Beek, who just happened to have weblogs where they were free to ‘pundit’ away, were paid political consultants and the Thune campaign correctly reported said payments to the Federal Election Commission. No laws were broken and nothing was hidden.
Mr. Kuhn must also realize that there is a difference between being employed by someone and accepting a contribution from someone. CBS News, by employing Mr. Kuhn, generally has a right to tell him what to write and after he has written it, has a right to change it, air or publish it, or throw it in the trash. The choice belongs completely to the CBS News. They own his work product and the right to do with it as they see fit. A contribution may encourage a particular message begin or continue, but the contribution doesn't guarantee said message.
Did Senator-elect Thune (has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?) and/or any entity of the Republican Party own the weblog Daschle v. Thune or South Dakota Politics? If they did, said ownership would have had to be reported to the Federal Election Commission, and I’m sure CBS would have reported it to us.
As an interesting aside, on November 30, 2004, Joh Lauck discontinued his blog and joined Jason Van Beek at South Dakota Politics.
Posted by Rick | December 11, 2004 04:27 AM | Political Science
I Know Who's Running The Asylum - The U.S. Congress
Yesterday Congress passed the spending bill that keeps the U.S. government going through the end of the year. Not only does it keep our government going, but it also keeps the Palestinian pseudo-government going by sending them a mere $20,000,000.00. This begs the question - What the hell were they thinking? Why are we continuing to throw money at these ungrateful terrorists?
Why didn't the Palestinians ask Mrs. Arafat for the money? Apparently she has many millions more than that-money that we gave the Palestinians and stolen by that slimy little raghead husband of hers. (Sorry, I lost my temper.)
Of course, the $20,000,000.00 was supposedly earmarked for utility bills. However, past monies have either been stolen by the likes of Arafat or used to buy millions of dollars worth of munitions, but certainly haven't been going to the direct aid of the Palestianians who, despite millions of dollars of direct aid from the U.S. government, live in abject poverty (everyone but Mrs. Arafat that is). The Palestinians should not be given one more dime until they agree to the peace proposal President Clinton negotiated in 2000, and outlaw the terrorist organizations within their borders.
Posted by Rick | December 9, 2004 01:59 AM | Political Science
Why Not Get It Right The First Time?
F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.), the House Judiciary chairman, was absolutely right to put up a stink about driver's licenses being given to illegal 'immigrunts'. While some reform is needed in the handling and sharing of intelligence by the many government agencies that collect, analyze, and use it, the driver's license is indispensable to someone who wants to move about this country. The nineteen 9/11 hijackers had 63 licenses between them. I don't understand why the families of the 9/11 victims pushing so hard for this bill don't demand driver's license reform as well. Let's hope that the bill, if it passes without addressing this problem, does more than just create another giant bureaucratic mess.
Posted by Rick | December 6, 2004 11:25 PM | Political Science
More Money Than Brains
Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, Ohio's chief election official, made Bush's victory there official by certifying the results of the November 2nd election. The final margin of victory was 118,775 votes. An article by Andrew Welsh-Huggins in the Washington Post indicates that the battle is not over for some of the losers.
A ruling by a federal judge in Columbus on Friday rejected one county's attempt to stop a recount, avoiding a legal precedent that could have stopped other recounts. Green and Libertarian party candidates have already raised the required $113,600 for a recount.The Democratic Party also said Monday it will examine reports of voting problems in Ohio.
Outgoing Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe said the party will spend "whatever it takes" to study complaints from Ohio voters.
Obviously, it would take a true miracle to find enough votes to change the outcome. Neither of the two parties asking for a recount really has a dog in the fight, so why are they footing the $113,600 bill for a recount? If they were hoping that Kerry would ultimately win, why did they run a candidate in the first place? They had to realize that by running a candidate they would ultimately hurt Kerry far worse that Bush.
Terry McAuliffe can pay to study complaints about the election all he wants. Republicans stood in the same lines as the Democrats, but I did not hear about any Democratic headquarters being ransacked by Republican thugs or Democratic vehicles being trashed the night before the election. McAuliffe should consider spending some of that extra money on a study that will help the Democrats pick better candidates in the future.
Posted by Rick | December 6, 2004 03:41 PM | Political Science
HELP WANTED: Statesmen In Iraq
The recent media hand-wringing over the coming elections in Iraq is really pathetic. They couldn’t wait for us to turn over control of Iraq to some Iraqi, but now that we have and the process of forging a new government has begun, the MSM (main-stream media) is simply beside itself. The elections should take place regardless of any no-go zones and the threat of violence. Iraq will not be a completely safe place for a quite a while considering the huge caches of weapons we are still uncovering. Freedom didn’t come easy for America, and it isn’t coming easy for Iraq.
This is, however, an opportunity for the Iraqi people to begin to erase the past and help themselves down the road to a free country, with free elections. Have they forgotten the elections of the past when Saddam Hussein received 101% of the votes? One would hope that the Iraqis have a burning desire to live in peace and prosperity; to vote in free elections; and to finally control their own destiny. Freedom is theirs for the taking, if they would only grab it and hold on for dear life as we did. We are there to do the dirty work for them. A little help uncovering the insurgents’ strongholds and the caches of arms would go a long way in making the elections safer. If the good people of Iraq would only say enough is enough to the killing, the no-go zones could be cleaned up in 60 days - just in time for the elections.
Would-be statesmen among the Iraqis still fighting against change should understand that the January 2005 elections are the greatest gift anyone could give them. These elections are to decide who is going to write their “Declaration of Independence” from tyranny; and their “Constitution,” the road map for future peace and prosperity. To be a part of this election process is the best hope for all Iraquis regardless of their ethnicity.
When Muqtada al-Sadr agreed to disarm his militia and join the political debate, I was hopeful. (The glass wasn’t half full, but had a drop of water in it anyway... we are dealing with Muqtada al-Sadr after all.) Perhaps al-Sadr is a statesman in the making. He is young and influential. If he will keep his word and stop killing ‘infidels’, and perhaps even get his followers to help clean up the problem, he could be a major player in Iraqi politics for many years. If he can’t keep his word, the American forces will deal with him.
America was fortunate to have many true statesmen when the republic was in its infancy. True statesmen, as we have seen throughout our history, come in many shapes and sizes, but all are men of vision; men of strength; men of conviction; and, men with the courage to do the right thing even when it entails some compromise. Are there any statesmen with these qualities among the current troublemakers in Iraq? Probably not...
I’m afraid a twisted religious fervor has made it impossible for many Muslims in Iraq, and around the world, to do the right thing. Life means little to them. They have no hopes or dreams for themselves or their children. Their homeland means nothing to them. It is not possible for them to behave in a civilized manner. They would rather dance in the street every time a vehicle is blown up, or hang an infidel from a bridge after mutilating the body. Joy is found in ridding the world of non-believers and nothing else.
There will be no-go zones in Iraq beyond the January 2005 elections. Eventually, however, the Muslim zealots must, and will be destroyed. There will be no peace until they are gone, but there will be peace, even if it comes from the working end of an M-16. Let’s hope they can handle the 72 virgins waiting for them when Allah greets them at the gates of hell.
Posted by Rick | December 1, 2004 04:07 PM | Political Science
Going...Going...Gone
Tom Ridge is leaving his job as Director of Homeland Security. It was a big thankless job. The question remains: Are we safer now than we were before he took the job?
We have a color-coded warning system that everyone is familiar with. It doesn't really do anything to make us safer, but it sounds good. I hope someone didn’t stay up all night figuring it out.
Airline passengers are definitely safer in the cabin of the plane. Security for the passengers is so tight that they are doing everything but strip-searching the passengers before they get on the plane. Security checks on the airport workers have been proven to be abysmal. I don't think the airport workers would have a difficult time getting some explosives onto the tarmac and subsequently into the a plane's cargo hold at any number of airports via the delivery trucks or under the worker's clothes.
The biggest problem persists - the borders. The INS has been worried about a few fake ID's at the border crossings while hundreds of thousands of ILLEGAL aliens are pouring across the Mexican border each year with NO ID's, NO skills and NO assets. (Let’s not forget about all those Canadians storming across our northern border, either). Congesting our communities' schools, emergency rooms, and jails, these illegal aliens cost hundreds of millions of dollars to already broken economies in California, Nevada, Arizona and other southwestern states. The administrations of Ronald Reagan, George Bush 41, and William Jefferson Clinton turned a blind eye to this problem in the 80’s and 90's. The George Bush 43 administration has had both eyes closed to this illegal attack on our society for the last four years. Truth be told, they need a white cane and a seeing-eye dog. Increased scrutiny at border crossings and claims of added technology to help control the flood of insurgents crossing our borders daily are merely pacifiers meant to keep the populous from crying aloud day and night. No matter that we are at war..no matter that terrorists want to come here and blow something up..no matter that the states' economies are bankrupt. No. Let's spend billions rebuilding Afghanistan; hundreds of billions to liberate Iraq; and spend more billions attempting to fix an unfixable AID's epidemic in Africa instead of securing our own borders. No more talk...we need action...real action, HERE in OUR HOMELAND.
The new homeland security director needs some backbone and a lot of attitude. It's OK for Bush to appoint 'yes men' to his cabinet. I don't care if the Secretary of the 'whatever' has YES tattooed on his forehead. Let's hope Tom Ridge's replacement doesn't.
Posted by Rick | December 1, 2004 05:26 AM | Political Science
Where Is ‘Quincy, ME’ Now That The Democrats Need Him?
Now that the election has been over for a few days and the liberals have had a chance to get over the shock of the erroneous exit polls, they have begun their post-mortem dissection of John Kerry’s loss. Talking heads have actually kept me quite amused by the number of different reasons they think Kerry lost. The solutions to their problems are sometimes laugh-out-loud hilarious.
Chris Matthews of MSNBC's Hardball thinks that the media should start sending correspondents to the red states just like they do foreign countries in an effort to try to figure out what makes middle America tick.
The NY Times’ liberal bomb thrower Maureen Dowd doesn’t necessarily believe that it was what Kerry did or did not do, but instead credits the “brilliant” Carl Rove for the Bush victory. Carl Rove, she states matter of factly, “mined intolerance and ignorance and tailored it to the 4 million extra evangelicals he wanted.”
Senator Hillary ‘The Anointed One’ Clinton opined in a speech at Tufts University: “I don’t think you can win an election or even run a successful campaign if you don’t acknowledge what is important to people...We don't have to agree with them. But being ignored is a sign of such disrespect. We should talk about all the issues.”
Others speculate that the problem was more geographical and the fact that Kerry was an elitist liberal from the north east was the reason for his demise. Liberal candidates, it was argued, like the last two Democratic presidents, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, both came from the south and were more appealing, perhaps because they seemed more like common folk. The hicks from the sticks just aren’t bright enough to understand all the nuances that made Kerry such an appealing alternative to Bush.
The funniest argument was made by a couple of the pundits on Brit Hume’s show on the Fox News channel when they said they thought it would be a good idea for the Democrats to go to church. Kerry, who claims to be a good Catholic but disagrees with the church on abortion, campaigned in every black church he could find. Some of the most memorable photo-ops during the Clinton administration came with Bill And Hill leaving the church on Sunday, Bible in hand. Jimmy Carter, who was an almost god-like figure to the MSM while in the White House, was a God-fearing good ol’ boy although he did admit to sinning in a Playboy interview by ‘lusting in his heart.’ John Kennedy was the first Catholic elected to the presidency. It appears to me that the Democrats are already going to church. Could it be that they are just praying for the wrong things?
Chris Matthews also chimed in on the religious front, with perhaps the tackiest comment on the subject. Paraphrasing Mr. Mathews comments, it seems the problem with people of faith is that they all believe in the literal interpretation of Genesis including the fact that God created the universe in 6 days, resting on the seventh. Reading between the lines, one could interpret the comment as ‘Those darn red states are full of narrow-minded country bumpkins too stupid to believe in evolution.’
Now here is some food for thought, a little redmeat if you will, for: 1) all the intellectual elites in the MSM and NPR; 2) the Ivy League lefties; 3) Michael Moore and George Soros; and 4) the Hollywood swells who want to move to France to live with Jacques 'What Have You Done For Me Lately' Cherac now that Bush has won the election by a margin of over 3 million votes:
Is it possible that the Democrats nominated someone who:
1) exaggerated his exploits in combat in a effort to promote himself as a Vietnam ‘war hero’;
2) exaggerated his combat inflicted wounds in order to get out of combat, leaving behind his beloved ‘band-of-brothers’ to deal with the enemy without his invaluable services;
3) thought so much of his service to his country that he discarded the medals/ribbons given to him by his country;
4) thought so much of himself that he took the initiative, as a junior grade officer with no official capacity as a negotiator, to meet with the Viet Cong in Paris effectively giving aid and comfort to the enemy, while the battle still raged in Vietnam and fellow countrymen were tortured in their POW cells;
5) accomplished virtually nothing in his 20 years in the Senate;
6) supported virtually no efforts to upgrade the military while in the Senate;
7) tried to strip funding for the intelligence agencies he was overseeing as a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee;
8) got a new crystal ball for Christmas and was now able to foresee just how to run the war in Iraq without any glitches;
9) had 'a plan' to do everything the President was doing, just better, anointing himself as the biggest and best Monday-morning quarterback of all time;
10) could not make a decision of any importance without trying to hedge his bet;
11) showed his tacky side, for whatever reason, by bringing the Vice-President’s lesbian daughter into both the Presidential and Vice-Presidential debates, and allowing his campaign manager to say that it was ‘fair-game’:
12) was a bad candidate who did not deserve to be elected.
Prior to the election it was oft’ repeated in MSM interviews with potential Kerry voters that they were not voting for Kerry but against Bush - they just hated Bush, hence the mantra ‘anybody but Bush’.
Is it possible that at least 4 million people who were completely ignored by the MSM ultimately decided that they were going to vote for ‘anybody but Kerry’?
Posted by Rick | November 27, 2004 05:28 PM | Political Science