The Smoke Break

You want some brie with that whine?

An American Solstice Dream

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In the northern hemisphere, we stand on the brink of the darkest day of the year and the arrival of Winter.  But it is always darkest before the dawn so on this day also comes a promise that tomorrow the light will begin its annual return.  No coincidence the world now celebrates for the return of the light is return of the hope of life.  Whether recognized as the Sun or the Son, it is with contrite hope we bow our heads in prayers of mercy for release from the darkness.  And in these darkest hours, we dream.

I have a dream that one day, a day in the not-so-distant future, the American people will awaken from their chicken-in-every-pot stupor and realize that the freedoms for which this country’s Founders were willing to die, the freedoms for which millions of Patriots have died both here and abroad, have been taken from their sleeping hands by the wolves in sheep’s clothing they elected to represent them in Washington.

And in the cold, silent dawn of that dank morning, they will remember that freedom is a right given to us by our God.  And they will reach down deep into the unique fiber of what it means to be an American and, like the very best of masters, send their greedy servants back to the bowels of Hell from whence they came. That they will bring back a government of the people, by the people, and for the people; for all the people, not just a few who seek only personal advantage. That they will cause with one stroke of a mighty pen the rolling back of every piece of misnamed “progressive” legislation of the last 100 years that has made a mockery of the law of this land, thereby returning America back to Her beautiful, Constitutional origins that allow for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness by each and every individual.

I dream of a grown-up America.  Not the gawky adolescent who has pranced in front of the world mirror, flashing Her sacredness like some lame, hip-hop “can’t touch this” know-it-all but instead a manifestation of the joy that comes from living in real freedom, spreading the wealth of Her inherent kindness with the maturity that comes only when what is best loved has almost been lost.  An America that encourages self-responsibility and thereby encourages initiative, risk and innovation.  An America that accepts failure is inherent to life itself yet where those who fail through honest efforts are supported and failures from attempts for selfish gain are seen for what they are and effectively sent packing.

America, America…God indeed shed His grace on thee.  Yet just like any spoiled child you have become complacent and in that complacency you have become selfish and self-serving.  Confusing wants with needs you have sold your soul to the highest bidder; you have handed over your hard-earned money to buy the snake oil of every P.T. Barnum who would promise to dazzle you and astound you with the trick of giving you something for nothing. 

But freedom has never been free.  Dazzled until your eyes crossed, you allowed them to lull you to sleep, forgetting that your freedom is dependent upon your own vigilence, forgetting that it is your God-given right to create your own future; a future dependent solely upon your own honest efforts.  Forgetting that when you sleep, the only real evil in this world – those who are ruled solely by their ego – will not hesitate to steal the fruits of your labor.

 Today is the darkest day of the year.  It is a day when God’s most beloved archangel Lucifer boldly, brazenly walks this blessed land from sea to shining sea.

And so I dream of the Light.  And I pray that it illuminates the minds and hearts of those who would call themselves American and gives them the courage to uphold the portentous truths of Her Constitution.

The Week Before Christmas

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‘Twas the week before Christmas and down in D.C.
The snow started falling with our liberty.
Senator Reid handed out bribes with care,
In hopes that the votes needed soon would be there.
Americans had shouted in loudest of voice,
Rejecting the Democrats stealing their choice.
But Reid and the others just scuttled away
Hiding their dirt from the bright light of day.

Reid Unveils Health Bill Compromises

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It is somehow fitting that a bill hastily patched together under the cover of darkness is now being unveiled under the cover of a snowstorm blanketing Washington, D.C.  In the wee morning hours today, Harry Reid released the text of his amendment to the Senate’s version of the unconstitutional takeover of American medicine.  I’m reading it.  And it’s just as ugly has its cousin in the house.

Page 3:  The infamous “Secretary” will be the sole determinator of “essential benefit” restrictions.  (Read:  rationing.)

Page 9:  Regulates private insurance (i.e. the free market) by requiring insurance companies “rebate” their profits based on premium costs.

Page 17:  Eliminates “in-network” vs. “out of network” costs for emergency services.

Page 21:  Doctors specializing in ob/gyn will be required to accept any health insurance plan under which a patient may be covered.

Page 23:  Creates “Medical Data Reimbursement Centers” at “academic or other non-profit institutions” and these “centers” will publish fee schedules for services.

Page 30:  Defines clinical trials, which will be only those funded by the federal government or for drugs that have applied for FDA approval.  The studies or investigations are subject to “peer review” and such as determined only by the Secretary.  (For how well this works, reference global warming research.)

Page 38 contains the Big One:  Instead of outright denying federal funding for abortions, Harry and his cohorts have decided to leave abortion coverage up to the individual states and make it dependent upon laws in place 6 months prior to a plan year.  It requires separate accounting for premium monies that would go to plans that cover abortions.  In effect, this means that every American taxpayer will subsidize abortions since payment of premium subsidies will continue, thereby freeing up people’s money to go towards paying for a plan that covers them.  States like California are certain to allow for health insurance plans to cover voluntary abortion so people living in states that do not will still have to pay for someone else’s choice.

And right there I can stop reading. 

Nothing has changed and therefore this bill – and Harry Reid and every Senator who will even consider voting for it – needs to go.

Arguing For The Stupak Amendment In Plain English

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They must really think they’ve got the American people by the short hairs.  At least that’s the impression I get when reading quotes from anyone in Washington, including those from that man with the bad combover, David Axelrod.

On CNN’s Sunday “State of Union”, Axelrod is quoted as saying about the current health care debacle:  “This shouldn’t be a debate about abortion.  And he’s going to work with Senate and the House to try and ensure that at the end of the day, the status quo is not changed ….”  Meaning that President Walking Eagle is going to use his most charming Chicago-style persuasions to yank out anything remotely resembling a serious denial of federal funding of abortions from a final health care “reform” bill.

No one is asking the most basic question, that of the constitutionality of the federal government controlling American’s access to their health care, so of course the matter has deteriorated into a smoke-screen argument about abortion coverage.  Coverage that Pelosi is on the record saying she wants (including for illegal immigrants).

You will recall that the “Stupak amendment” was tacked onto HR 3962 last weekend in a last-ditch attempt to appease some of the Blue Dog Democrats into voting for it.  The amendment flat-out restricts any federal funds from going towards paying for abortions, rightly to the point that if someone is receiving a federal subsidy to pay for their health insurance, even if they purchase other coverage, that separate coverage may not include abortions.

Personally, I see nothing wrong with this.  Giving someone a subsidy (our hard-earned tax dollars) and then allowing them to use any resulting freed-up personal funds to pay for an additional health insurance policy with abortion coverage is still using the taxpayers’ money to subsidize abortions.  Color me a dangerous right-wing extremist or one of the conservative “mob”, but while I will not deny someone personal choice, whether directly or in such an indirect way as included in HR 3962 I refuse to help them pay for it.  As do millions upon millions of other American citizens. 

But because it goes against their agenda of overarching control, the progressives and liberals simply can’t let people be responsible for themselves.  I was privy to a short series of emails ranting about the loss of “womens’ rights” and such that are perceived to be insidiously hidden in the Stupak amendment.  It was sorely tempting to smack ’em down with common sense but I realized my time was better spent doing something more constructive than playing Wack-A-Mole.

Some of the arguments I read in the emails against this amendment were also bandied about on the House floor during debate, with the biggie coming in as “no one plans to have an abortion”.  And surely there are those rare instances when a pregnancy is a grave health matter and abortion may be the only viable option.  But you know, getting pregnant in the real world isn’t some mysterious, hoodoo voodoo process over which women have no control.  Getting pregnant is a choice.  In fact, I would go so far as to say it is a very deliberate choice, for no one holds a gun to people’s heads and forces them to insert Tab A into Slot B. 

Let’s just say it in plain English.  If you can’t save your pennies or find a rich sucker to pay for your own abortion, ladies, then I suggest you keep your legs crossed if you expect someone else to pay for your health insurance.

You Call That Bipartisan?

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I spent yesterday watching the wankers in Washington, specifically the House of unrepresenting Representatives, debate and then vote on HR 3962, the health care “reform” bill.  A nauseating experience, really; it left me feeling almost shameful, the way one feels after gawking at a trainwreck.  It was clear most hadn’t taken the time to read all of the legislation; few stances or rebuttals were based on facts versus the MSM campaign talking points so every chair’s gavel got a workout as the unrepresenting representatives squabbled like little schoolchildren.

In the end, despite the announcement of 10.2% unemployment and a $1.2 trillion price tag, the Speaker of the Nuthouse got what she wanted.  The bill passed 220 to 215.  It was aided by the defection of Republican Louisana Representative Cao.  True to form, he again fell for the lies of the likes of Rahm Emmanuel and Nancy-Ann Deparle and President Walking Eagle.  Closed-door “promises” of future financial and campaign support were the 30 pieces of silver by which they secured his vote, thereby allowing great crowing about “bipartisan support” for the takeover of the entire field of medicine in America.

But I think “bipartisan” is more clearly shown by the sensible 39 Democrats who refused to vote for this abomination.  Of course, President Walking Eagle’s campaign arm, MoveOn.org, is now loudly raising money and threatening those Democrats in their reelection bids.  My suspicion is,  however, they will fare better than their fair-weather counterparts who voted in favor of HR 3962 after passage of the “Stupak amendment”, which rightly locked down the language preventing the use of taxpayer monies to pay for abortions.  While passage of the amendment allowed some Democrats to vote yes for the containing bill, it is almost a given that the amendment will quietly disappear in committee since allowing it a vote on the floor was only a reluctant appeasement move on the part of Pelosi to get those yes votes.

Dick Morris provides a further peek into the machinations behind the curtain:

  • The American Medical Association (AMA) was facing a 21 percent cut in physicians’ reimbursements under the current law. Obama promised to kill the cut if they backed his bill. The cuts are the fruit of a law requiring annual 5-6 percent reductions in doctor reimbursements for treating Medicare patients. Bravely, each year Congress has rolled the cuts over, suspending them but not repealing them. So each year, the accumulated cuts threaten doctors. By now, they have risen to 21 percent. With this blackmail leverage, Obama compelled the AMA to support his bill…or else!  [ My note:  this endorsement may be repealed, after it was revealed that the AMA did not follow its own procedure for providing endorsements and thereby rightly raised the ire of both members and non-members. ]
  • The AARP got a financial windfall in return for its support of the healthcare bill. Over the past decade, the AARP has morphed from an advocacy group to an insurance company (through its subsidiary company). It is one of the main suppliers of Medi-gap insurance, a high-cost, privately purchased coverage that picks up where Medicare leaves off. But President Bush-43 passed the Medicare Advantage program, which offered a subsidized, lower-cost alternative to Medi-gap. Under Medicare Advantage, the elderly get all the extra coverage they need plus coordinated, well-managed care, usually by the same physician. So more than 10 million seniors went with Medicare Advantage, cutting into AARP Medi-gap revenues.

Presto! Obama solved their problem. He eliminates subsidies for Medicare Advantage. The elderly will have to pay more for coverage under Medigap, but the AARP — which supposedly represents them — will make more money. (If this galls you, join the American Seniors Association, the alternative group; contact sbarton@americanseniors.org This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .)

  • The drug industry backed ObamaCare and, in return, got a 10-year limit of $80 billion on cuts in prescription drug costs. (A drop in the bucket of their almost $3 trillion projected cost over the next decade.) They also got administration assurances that it will continue to bar lower-cost Canadian drugs from coming into the U.S. All it had to do was put its formidable advertising budget at the disposal of the administration.
  • Insurance companies got access to 40 million potential new customers. But when the Senate Finance Committee lowered the fine that would be imposed on those who don’t buy insurance from $3,500 to $1,500, the insurance companies jumped ship and now oppose the bill, albeit for the worst of motives.

The only industry that refused to knuckle under was the medical device makers. They stood for principle and wouldn’t go along with Obama’s blackmail. So the Senate Finance Committee retaliated by imposing a tax on medical devices such as automated wheelchairs, pacemakers, arterial stents, prosthetic limbs, artificial knees and hips and other necessary accoutrements of healthcare.

There is still a long road ahead of this insane, tyrannical Democratic endeavor and while many feel the Senate is a more sensible group and some have assured me it doesn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell of passing there, where money and control are concerned, I’ve no more personal faith in the Senate than I do in those inhabiting the Nuthouse.  To be honest, Harry Reid is just as scary as Nancy Pelosi; they are two peas in a mean and withered old pod, and it will take every bit of Conservative strength to put them soundly in their place.

The Giant And His “Friends”

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There is a wind blowing.  A mighty wind. The Giant, long asleep, has awakened to find his home being pillaged in the stealth of night. 

And he is angry.

The Giant, who is kind, works hard, takes care of his tribe and usually keeps his own counsel, thought the thieves were Friends. He thought that by taking care of himself and his tribe, and those Friends, he would keep the land safe so his tribe could grow strong and prosper. He gladly paid a small tithe to the Friends, but that is not what they want.  The stores he has put by for the long winter, the patch of ground he has worked, they want all that, too. The Friends want to control the Giant and his tribe, so what the Giant won’t simply hand them they take and steal.  They want the Giant to be dependent on them; he has too much, they say, so they take it and make it theirs.

The Friends have never seen the Giant angry. They ignore him in his protests; they turn a deaf ear to his complaints. He has been quiet too long and that quiet has been taken as complacency. But that wasn’t what it was.  It was simply the Giant going about his business, content with his world, warts and all. He never expected his life to be perfect, but he always had options and choices and he could work with that. He sees now the Friends aren’t his friends; they have been waiting quietly for the Giant to sleep so they may take away what he has worked for, to take away his choice of how he lives. Has the Giant awakened in time?  How greedy have the Friends really become? How far will they go? They have already started to smear the Giant’s good name, to say things about him that are untrue. The Friends have already shown they might use force if the Giant doesn’t cooperate and go back to sleep.

How far will they go?

It has been many, many years since the Giant has had to fight on his own land for his right to be left alone. Can he still do it? For all the Giant holds dear, he must now fight or what he loves will be forever changed.

We, The People, of The United States of America are at the crossroads of one of the most dangerous times in our long history. Is that statement scaremongering? Over the top? I don’t think it is. The wealth of our nation is our wealth, wealth that we have earned. The government has no wealth except for what WE, THE PEOPLE, create.

Think about that.  They are borrowing on what we do, on what we will do in the future, and spending it. It is NOT their money; the government has no money but what they take from WE, THE PEOPLE.

WE are a kind and generous folk, always have been.  Are we perfect? No, we are humans. However, we should always understand and be proud of all the good we do. The money, goods and time we give freely to help others in this country as well as others.  WE, THE PEOPLE, are good folks.  We can’t forget that though they, the government, would like us to forget. They call us greedy and tell us we have no idea not only how to take care of ourselves but how to best use what we have earned though our labor and so they will take it.

This isn’t about the rich,  it is about our rights.  It is about our right to choose how we conduct our lives.  To choose how to to PURSUE our own happiness, how we live day-to-day.

It is about control.

Do we have the guts to fight this? I believe we do and it isn’t just Congress.  It is the local and state governments as well.

How do they play?  Let us count the ways.

Schools go right after busing and anything else they can think of to upset the kids and inconvenience the parents. Yet on closer inspection they have hired more administrators, given them raises, and have spent money on precious little that has to do with actual education. Plus they have to follow unfunded, useless mandates from the state and federal
governments.

At the local and state levels they say “We will cut services”; police and fire go right off the bat, yet spend $500 a pop on office chairs (yes, that happened in my state). Hire more pencil pushers and give everyone raises. Have assistants for assistants; everyone has a state car to drive, and on and on.

The Federal government …won’t even start.

They all have their hand in our pocket.  They all make laws and rules daily that take a bit more of our rights and our ability to pursue happiness.

It is time to stop “The Friends” because our “friend” they are not.

Call It By Its Real Name

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America has always been a great and grand country.  Her enormous expanse is a direct reflection of the enormous heart of Her people.  There is a generosity in the American spirit that is matched only by Her wildness; she is born of an inherent restlessness that over the course of two short centuries has spurred both jaw-dropping exploration and seemingly miraculous innovations, and the founding freedoms that encourage them have been a beckoning inspiration to the rest of the old and weary world.

I see America today standing at a crossroads, for Her generous and trusting heart may be Her undoing.  She has always struggled to balance her fierce, wild independence with the human need for the safety of the collective; the last few tumultuous decades culminated in the 2008 election of someone who used soaring rhetoric to speak directly to that human need to belong.  It was rhetoric the likes of which the younger generation had never heard and both wary and weary of the realities of responsible citizenship, they eagerly fell under the spell of its hypnotic rhythms.

Those who actually listened to the words knew there was nothing good afoot.  And, indeed, the first 200 days of Obama’s presidency have proved this to be true.  The progressive, liberal, left-wing ideologies of Pater Knows Best came fast and furious, crushing an already crashing economy and promptly sunk this nation into mind-boggling, multiple generations of debt.  Policies previously derided and formerly vocally and visibly protested have been hypocritically (even if rightly) adopted and adapted by this new administration, while promises of transparency are countered by an ever-increasing number of  presidential appointees who are no longer accountable to the people or to those in Congress sent to represent them.

But like any wild animal, no matter how seemingly tame, that inherent American wildness remains intact.  As the differences between the words and actions of President Obama and his administration make clear an ideology so at odds with the United States Constitution, those who could not find the words for their initial unease are now at last starting to come to terms with it.  They are beginning to identify it, and to call it by its real name:  enemy.  And though it confuses and chagrins them to see that enemy is within America’s own borders, they have begun to speak out.

The reemergence of America’s untamed spirit has taken the left by surprise.  They mistook tameness for tacit agreement and they have been unable to reconcile their gloating “I won” perspective with the August recess townhalls filled with citizens questioning their Congressional representatives.  Blinking like proverbial deer in the headlights they have been taken aback by the very core of the questioning: 

When did you stop serving US? 

And to their discredit, because they are incapable of feeling shame, they have not handled it well at all.

Hip-hop President Obama got himself all “wee-weed up”, beating his chafed campaign stump harder than ever to try to salvage his plummeting poll numbers.  Nancy Pelosi has taken to dismissing average American citizens, even her own constituents, as “astroturf”, while Robert Gibbs finds himself  lumbering in tap shoes two sizes too small as he tries to wave away both the dangerous and the stupid actions of his boss.  And he who represents both the best and the most unaccountable worst of both capitalism and simple humanness1, Obama supporter George Soros, is bankrolling television ads and hiring people to go to health care reform townhall meetings to try to silence the questions and opposition protests of ordinary citizens.  And all the while self-proclaimed communists now seated within the Obama inner circle call on their homies to boycott the advertisers of cable news opinion shows who dare to ask questions and who dare to connect the dots and who – in direct contrast to the countless spineless, so-called professional reporters in the mainstream media – then dare to tell America exactly what is going on behind that curtain in Oz.

It is time to ask the tough questions.  And it is time to demand answers.  What could possibly be the reason for President Obama and certain members of Congress to surround themselves with self-avowed Marxists, communists, socialists, revolutionaries, and anti-capitalists?  While freedom of speech and thought is everyone’s right and therefore are certainly to be supported, are Marxists, communists, socialists, revolutionaries, and anti-capitalists really the kind of people ordinary Americans want advising the President, effectively running the country by writing legislation?

“This legislation [stimulus bill] is the first step in building a clean energy economy that creates jobs…. The Apollo Alliance2 has been an important factor in helping us develop and execute a strategy that makes great progress on these goals and in motivating the public to support them.”
(Harry Reid)

Why does America need “a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded” as our military?  A civilian national security force under the control the government, of course, and intended to fight against…who?  We already have the Army, the Navy, the Marines, the Air Force, and the National Guard to protect our country.  Does President Obama and his administration see Americans now standing up in protest of their cadre of Marxists, communists, socialists, revolutionaries, and anti-capitalists and the ideas spewing forth from them as some sort of enemy against whom force will be necessary?  Based on the immediate reactions to squelch any kind of criticism of the President, based on Homeland Security Reports that continue to flag conservatives and veterans as “right-wing extremists”, based on their requests for citizens to “snitch” on fellow citizens who disagree with health care reform legislation, based on their use of taxpayer dollars to send propaganda to people who never expected to get an email from the White House, based on efforts by the FCC’s “diversity czar”3  to shut down conservative voices in the media, I believe this is a valid question.  The United States is financially broke yet the President wants to stand up what amounts to little more than his own private army solely for the purpose of…exactly what?  Forcibly stamping out political dissent? 

Tyranny by any other name is still as evil.  Americans are guaranteed the right to bear arms in order to protect themselves, in particular against a tyrannical government.  This is an important point when we are faced with a government that won’t let a “good crisis” go to waste, even if – as many are now beginning to suspect – it has to manufacture it and likely is planning even more.  It should go without saying that any attempts to legislate such a “civilian national security force” must be stopped before they even begin, and all its sneaky beginnings in the form of “government service” like AmeriCorps and the “GIVE Act” be yanked out by its roots.

“[I]f circumstances should at any time oblige the government to form an army of any magnitude[,] that army can never be formidable to the liberties of the people while there is a large body of citizens, little, if at all, inferior to them in discipline and the use of arms, who stand ready to defend their own rights and those of their fellow-citizens. ”
(Alexander Hamilton, 1788) 

For many years, America has slowly and stealthily been encircled and She is now being backed into a corner.  Like any lazy-assed hunter who uses bait or dogs, the enemy has been oh-so-careful to disguise its true motives but cornered is cornered and living in a cage instead of living free is still living in a cage instead of living free.  America must now make a choice.  Will She heed the siren call of the Constitution’s guarantee of life and true liberty, allow her wild instincts to come to the fore and once again stand up and fight for Her freedom, or will She fall asleep with begging hands outstretched to the government?

“Hey, Obama has just nationalized nothing more and nothing less than General Motors.  Comrade Obama! 
Fidel, careful or we are going to end up to his right!”
(Hugo Chavez)

 

 

1 CBS’ 60 Minutes  interview with Steve Krofton December 20, 1998:

KROFT: (Voiceover) You’re a Hungarian Jew…

Mr. SOROS: (Voiceover) Mm-hmm.

KROFT: (Voiceover) …who escaped the Holocaust…

(Vintage footage of women walking by train)

Mr. SOROS: (Voiceover) Mm-hmm.

(Vintage footage of people getting on train)

KROFT: (Voiceover) …by–by posing as a Christian.

Mr. SOROS: (Voiceover) Right.

(Vintage footage of women helping each other get on train; train door closing with people in boxcar)

KROFT: (Voiceover) And you watched lots of people get shipped off to the death camps.

Mr. SOROS: Right. I was 14 years old. And I would say that that’s when my character was made.

KROFT: In what way?

Mr. SOROS: That one should think ahead. One should understand and – and anticipate events and when – when one is threatened. It was a tremendous threat of evil. I mean, it was a – a very personal experience of evil.

KROFT: My understanding is that you went out with this protector of yours who swore that you were his adopted godson.

Mr. SOROS: Yes. Yes.

KROFT: Went out, in fact, and helped in the confiscation of property from the Jews.

Mr. SOROS: Yes. That’s right. Yes.

KROFT: I mean, that’s–that sounds like an experience that would send lots of people to the psychiatric couch for many, many years. Was it difficult?

Mr. SOROS: Not – not at all.  Not at all.  Maybe as a child you don’t – you don’t see the connection. But it was – it created no – no problem at all.

KROFT: No feeling of guilt?

Mr. SOROS: No.

KROFT: For example that, ‘I’m Jewish and here I am, watching these people go. I could just as easily be there. I should be there.’ None of that?

Mr. SOROS: Well, of course I c– I could be on the other side or I could be the one from whom the thing is being taken away. But there was no sense that I shouldn’t be there, because that was–well, actually, in a funny way, it’s just like in markets–that if I weren’t there – of course, I wasn’t doing it, but somebody else would – would – would be taking it away anyhow. And it was the – whether I was there or not, I was only a spectator, the property was being taken away. So the – I had no role in taking away that property. So I had no sense of guilt.

2  Jeff Jones, a leader of the Apollo Alliance, was a founder of the Weather Underground (alongside Bill Ayers), and a leader of the infamous “Days of Rage” in October 1969.

 3  Mark Lloyd, FCC Diversity Chief, has proposed that radio companies pay 100% of their operating budget each year as a tax that would then be transferred to the state-run radio, NPR.  If not paid, you’d lose your license and it would be sold to minority group.  (And by the way, the FCC just approved the sale of another radio station — this one on Long Island — to ACORN.)  He has previously and admiringly said, “In Venezuela, with Chavez, really an incredible revolution — a democratic revolution — to begin to put in place saying that we’re going to have impact on the people of Venezuela, the property owners and the folks who were then controlling the media in Venezuela rebelled — work frankly with folks here in the U.S. government, worked to oust him and came back and had another revolution. And Chavez then started to take the media very seriously in this country.”

The Danger Looming With The 2010 Census

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You aren’t seeing this in the mainstream media, but a piece in the Wall Street Journal spells out the grim consequences looming with the way the government is planning to handle the outcome of the 2010 census.  Here’s the bottom line: 

According to the latest American Community Survey, California has 5,622,422 noncitizens in its population of 36,264,467. Based on our round-number projection of a decade-end population in that state of 37,000,000 (including 5,750,000 noncitizens), California would have 57 members in the newly reapportioned U.S. House of Representatives.

However, with noncitizens not included for purposes of reapportionment, California would have 48 House seats (based on an estimated 308 million total population in 2010 with 283 million citizens, or 650,000 citizens per House seat). Using a similar projection, Texas would have 38 House members with noncitizens included. With only citizens counted, it would be entitled to 34 members.

Of course, other states lose out when noncitizens are counted for reapportionment. According to projections of the 2010 Census by Election Data Services, states certain to lose one seat in the 2010 reapportionment are Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania; states likely (though not certain) to lose a seat are Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, and Ohio could lose a second seat. But under a proper census enumeration that excluded illegal residents, some of the states projected to lose a representative—including our own state of Louisiana—would not do so.

Taking a census is not a bad thing; we are a vast sprawl of a country and to know how many people reside here is necessary so that those things for which the federal government is Constitutionally responsible may be effectively accomplished.  (Yes, “effectively” is a stretch since the federal government has so overstepped its bounds, but stay with me here.)

That the United States government intends to allow the presence of illegal immigrants, deliberate criminals who by definition are in no way entitled to the privileges of an American citizen, to dictate the representative makeup of Congress boggles the mind.  It dangerously erodes the very foundation of the idea of state sovereignty;  when a state like California that, by its own choices, coddles high numbers of illegals it forces other states to pay for their resulting problems by ending up with greater voting influence in Congress.  Voting influence that determines where the hard-earned tax dollars of the residents of other states are sent. 

Simply put, it rewards bad behavior and hurts those states that act responsibly.  Even more simply put, if you are not from California (or Texas), THIS DIRECTLY HURTS YOU.

In 1790, the first Census Act provided that the enumeration of that year would count “inhabitants” and “distinguish” various subgroups by age, sex, status as free persons, etc.  Inhabitant was a term with a well-defined meaning that encompassed, as the Oxford English Dictionary expressed it, one who “is a bona fide member of a State, subject to all the requisitions of its laws, and entitled to all the privileges which they confer.”

 The Constitution, in Article 1, Section 2 states that “The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct.”  Although simple counting for the original purpose of apportioning State Representatives has morphed into an enormous trivial pursuit, I don’t think it is asking to much of the government to use said trivia appropriately.   The U.S. Code, Title 13, Chapter 3, Subchapter V, Section 101 states that:

(a) The Secretary may collect decennially statistics relating—

(1) to the defective, dependent, and delinquent classes; and
(2) to crime, including judicial statistics pertaining thereto.

(b) The statistics authorized by subsection (a) of this section shall include information upon the following questions, namely: age, sex, color, nativity, parentage, literacy by race, color, nativity, and parentage, and such other questions relating to such subjects as the Secretary deems proper.

(c) In addition to the decennial collections authorized by subsections (a) and (b) of this section, the Secretary may compile and publish annually statistics relating to crime and to the defective, dependent, and delinquent classes.

Translated, this means the government has the legal right to count the number of illegal immigrants in the United States.  Frankly, they should then use that data to remove them, not to reward criminals and states like California who harbor them in great numbers by giving them a voice in the House of Representatives.

 

The 1st Amendment: The Freedom Of Speech

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“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,

or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;

or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press;

or the right of the people peaceably to assemble,

and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

This is the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States.  First in the series and number one for a reason.  The Founding Fathers saw “the freedom of speech” as a most basic of human rights, one that exists through simple, natural law (because it is “…endowed by their Creator….”)  They refer to it as an “inalienable” right, meaning it is a right that cannot be alienated (made hostile, unfriendly, or indifferent when there was previously an attachment; or cause to be withdrawn or diverted); it is not something that can be surrendered or transferred.

This fundamental inability of the government to alienate, surrender, or to transfer the people’s right to the freedom of speech is important.  They do not give to you, and they can’t take it away.  No matter what anyone says or what anyone tries to do, you always, now and forever, have the right to make your thoughts heard.

The current “protests” coming from the far-left that anyone who is now voicing their disagreement with their spin or with their actions (or lack thereof) is somehow doing wrong is actually, in itself, not only incorrect but a dangerous mindset.  It’s not merely a matter of what’s good for the goose should be good for the gander, this reaches even beyond the confines of what most people commonly call “fairness”.  It is that at the most basic and fundamental level, simply because of their existence, anyone in this country has the right to voice their opinion. 

This holds true even and – as hard as this is to swallow for those who embrace the ideology of material entitlement – especially if the way something is expressed is not to the listener’s liking.

Judge Andrew Napolitano explains it this way:

“Because speech can startle and offend, as well as enlighten and illuminate, the courts have held that it requires breathing room.  Stated differently, no one in the government – any government – may impose a burden on the exercise of speech. That means that the government may not require a license, demand permission, or intimidate any speakers. It may not punish speech, no matter what the speech asks.”

Does this mean you should run around screaming and yelling like a moron?  Personally, I don’t think you should.  But if you choose to do so, it isn’t against the law.  Unless you are doing something like yelling “Fire!” in a crowded theater and thereby overtly and deliberately endangering the lives of others, you have the right to make an ass out of yourself any time you like.  The consequences of such behavior fall under the jurisdiction of societal mores – meaning, if you run around making stupid or lying statements or are always rude when you speak, don’t be surprised if you don’t have many (if any) friends and people go out of their way to avoid you. 

But while regular citizens may choose to ignore your blatherings, the government does not have the power to shut you up.  No matter what means you use to get your message across, no matter how much they may dislike what you have to say, they may not interfere with your expressing it.

The Obama administration’s latest “snitch” program is in violation of the 1st Amendment.  By encouraging citizens to do little more than spy on one another, even if they cloak their request in the guise of trying to counter “misinformation” about health care reform, they have not simply overstepped their Constitutional authority, they have crossed the line into a place where no such authority even exists.  The laws governing the federal archival of all communication with the executive branch require that they keep the names, e-mail addresses, and correspondence sent to them and this, then, through this latest request for “help”, creates an opportunity for the federal government to create a database of “dissidents”.  There is precedent for such activity and while there are those in the White House who would like you to remain ignorant, the outcome came down firmly on the side of the American people:

When the Nixon administration created the “Cointelpro” and”Houston” plans in the 1970s, it used undercover FBI, CIA, and civilian-garbed military to photograph and record the faces and voices of anti-war protestors. Nixon claimed that he needed the records of this for national security purposes. He argued to David Frost, after he had resigned the Presidency, that in case of domestic upheaval, his government would know who to arrest.

 The Supreme Court rejected the idea that the First Amendment permits the government to make and keep a record of the faces and voices and ideas of its domestic political opponents. The Court called this “chilling” the right to speak freely; in other words, denying it the breathing room that free speech requires. The whole purpose of the First Amendment, the Court wrote, is to encourage – not discourage – open, broad, robust political debate, and any inhibition, real or threatened, that comes from the government is unconstitutional.

In direct response to Cointelpro and Houston, Congress enacted the Privacy Act. Among many other protections, it specifically prohibits the President or anyone in his name from making or keeping records of any persons’ use of speech. The constitutional rule is “All innocuous speech is absolutely protected. And all speech is innocuous when there is time for more speech to address the same matter.”

Continue to speak out, America.  For the ability to dissent is, truly, American and patriotic.  And by doing so, freedom rings.

The Fight Is Against Cowards

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With the exception of SEIU and ACORN members, the American people are angry.  And they are letting their unrepresenting representatives know this in rare, loud form.

Paul Wehner writes:

Obama and the Democratic National Committee have embraced a novel approach: attack the voters.  These voters are, a new DNC ad tells us repeatedly, a “mob,” an “angry mob,” engaging in “mob activity.”  Much of the anger, insists the president’ s press secretary, Robert Gibbs, is “manufactured.” There are hints of a conspiracy. And President Obama, in remarks yesterday, gripes and complains about “griping and complaining” by the American public.  (This from a man who, during the campaign, in counseling his supporters on what to do with his opponents, asked them to “get in their face” and celebrated properly channeled “anger” on the part of the American people.)

With public anger toward ObamaCare rising, the president and his allies have decided to pour kerosene on the embers and flames (and fearful Democrats have taken to canceling town-hall meetings).  It is an old and sad story we are seeing play out: rather than facing the rancor at town-hall meetings as a sign of growing frustration and unrest, the president and his team are outright denying it.  They are reacting defensively, bitterly, and aggressively.  And Barack Obama — the man of unsurpassed equanimity and a calm temperament, who praises Lincoln because he always understood the views of those with whom he disagreed, the man who would usher in a “new era” of politics and civility, of enlightened public discourse and comity among previously warring factions — is allowing his representatives to mock and demonize his critics.

And so it is.  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said, “They have no interest in letting the negotiators, even though few in number, negotiate.  It’s really simple: they’re taking their cues from talk show hosts, Internet rumor-mongerers … and insurance rackets.”  The U.S. Community Organizer In Chief, through his Democrat handmaidens, has promised the party and allies would “punch back twice as hard” if they are openly criticized.  Nancy Pelosi tells tall tales of you and I, plain old regular Americans, walking around waving swastikas.

On Thursday, the AFL-CIO announced plans to mobilize labor activists to attend town hall meetings in 50 congressional districts during the August recess.  And the Center for American Progress, among other organizations, is drumming up Obamabots to “make sure that health care town halls aren’t hijacked!”

Some Congress critters are taking all this to heart and last night’s town hall meeting in South St. Louis, hosted by Democrat Representative Russ Carnahan, actually locked the doors against regular citizens who lined up to attend.  SEIU members were snuck in through the back door (a door ironically marked “handicapped”) and, in stereotypical union fashion, some of them became violent with the regular citizens in attendance, resulting in six arrests (including people taking pictures).

In Tampa, Florida, Democratic State Representative Betty Reed and U.S. Representative Kathy Castor set up a session on health care and insurance reform but were met by larger-than-expected crowds who didn’t want to hear just talking points.  Meeting organizers scuffled with regular citizens and it wasn’t long before Castor was escorted out of the town hall by police after Reed encouraged her to leave.   (Note to self:  one of the “most popular” articles next to this one is headlined “Woman accused of having sex with dogs “.  Cancel trip to Florida.)

It’s extremely encouraging to see the sleeping dragon, America’s silent majority, has begun to awaken.  But I take exception to those who would cross the line into outright rudeness and become physical with those who hold differing views, no matter how wrong they are.  That only gives validity to the Democrats’ agenda and, considering the mindset of Obama and those he has placed into positions of power in the federal government, give him flimsy reason to do something as stupid as attempt to declare marshall law.

We don’t need violence or – god forbid – bloodshed to wrest this country back from the leeches who are sucking the life out of her.  Cool heads must prevail.  The polls show confidence in the administration continues to drop like a rock.  The Rasmussen Report’s daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Thursday, August 6, 2009 shows:

  •  
    • 32% of the nation’s voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President
      38% Strongly Disapprove
    • 71% believe the President’s policies have driven up the federal deficit
      54% say that middle class tax cuts are more important than new spending on health care
      Only 33% now believe the country is heading in the right direction
    • Overall, 49% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President’s performance
      51% disapprove

Those in government know that for every phone call or letter they receive, there are at least 10 people who think the same way but just aren’t taking the time to say so, so we must continue to call and write Congress.  Continue to show up at townhall meetings and Tea Party protests because even if your Congress critter turns tail and locks you out of the dialogue, and even if the mainstream Obama-lapdog media won’t report on it, your presence counts.  But whatever you do, do so with polite resolve.  If confronted with bots and stupidity, meet them with stony silence.  Though the normal reaction is to argue, remember this – when you wrestle with a pig you both get dirty but only the pig enjoys it.  While the last thing they want is to be ignored (and in truth this is the best way to anger them), if you can’t manage to turn your back, laugh at them instead and let their reactions cause them to look the fool.  As more and more regular Americans take up the fight for freedom, more and more cameras will be rolling and, frankly, it’s the perfect opportunity to continue to flush out those with nefarious hidden agendas because when they go on tape saying or doing stupid things, it’s there forever and try as they may, they cannot deny it.

Never forget that although we surround them, this fight for freedom is a fight against cowards.  And cowards don’t play fair.   They won’t discuss facts but instead call names and try to force matters into a place of emotions.  The minute you go there with them, they’ve won.

And this is one fight we, the people, cannot afford to lose.