The Smoke Break

You want some brie with that whine?

Quote Of The Day

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Save energy.

Unplug Obama’s teleprompter.

 

If anyone was really serious about this, we’d also cap the amount of carbon dioxide emissions he emits by cancelling a few press conferences, too.

heh….

A Letter To The Deliberately Clueless

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Dear Mr. President,

I’m “waving my tea bag around” with both anger and with  pride because I, along with over a million other Americans willing to do the same, stand for something.  And that something is the Constitution and the Bill of Rights of the United States of America.

I’m “waving my tea bag around” because the principles upon which this country was built are what allowed you, Mr. President, and your wife to attend college.  In fact, it was MY money you borrowed and were given in grants as a result of my working hard and paying my taxes.  And it was then my money again that you used to pay me back because just who do you think was helping to pay your salary when you were supposed to be representing the state of Illinois in the Senate those 2 years you spent on the campaign trail?  And who do you think was the real source of those federal tax dollars used by those “community organizing” groups who paid you to hone the skills necessary to subvert the laws of this land?

I’m “waving my tea bag around” because despite their great publicity, you apparently could not be bothered to notice that an enormous outcry against yours and Congress’ self-serving, spendthrift ways was taking place on April 15th.  Even though it is your job to know what is happening in this country.

Which tells me that I wasted my money sending you to college.

I’m “waving my tea bag around” because just like the vitriolic drool running down the chins and spilling over onto the keyboards of your lapdog mainstream media reporters, you have the audacity to use their very same tactics when forced to acknowledge there is a great and growing groundswell against your ideologies and attempts to manifest them against the will of at least half of the American people.

I’m “waving my tea bag around” because when I say the pledge of allegiance, I am able to recite it clearly.  Unlike you, who were somehow unable to properly voice your oath of office in January; and it is irrelevant whether that was because the words were not given to you on a teleprompter or because you choked over having to actually say them out loud and really mean them after 20 years of listening to your chosen preacher tell you “God DAMN America”.  In that moment, you told those who have eyes to see exactly where you stand and it is NOT on the side of America.

I’m “waving my tea bag around” because the 1st Amendment’s the right to free speech still lives despite your efforts to silence anyone who disagrees with you, and I find it deplorable that a high school teacher would bully a student who chooses to read news at an outlet like Foxnews.com instead of what is, in their opinion, a more “acceptable” one.

I’m “waving my tea bag around” because I do NOT apologize for the actions taken by your predecessors to keep this country safe.  Nor will I apologize for their actions and the trillions of hard-earned citizen tax dollars sent by this “arrogent” society to other countries to help alleviate their poverty and help them create a similar republican form of government.

I’m “waving my tea bag around” because I will not bow down to anyone.  Not to you, and especially not to those who harbor or outright encourage people doing everything possible to wipe us off the face of the Earth.

I’m “waving my tea bag around” because your rights end where mine begin.  I pledged my allegiance to this country.  You, on the other hand, get only the respect due your office.  Anything further must be earned but during your first 100 days you have done nothing towards that end.

When all is said and done, I’m “waving my tea bag around” because I’m ashamed that there are people who will judge us by your hypocritical actions and because for the first time in my life I no longer feel safe in my own country.  The heart and soul that is America is something good and honorable.  It is not childish, petulant, lying, selfish, or blatantly stupid.  It doesn’t waffle or dissemble.

I’m “waving my tea bag around” because you owe the American people an apology.  If not your resignation.

Replacing Justice Souter

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Supreme Court Justice Souter has advised he is going to retire when the Supreme Court recesses for the summer.  The media is buzzing with speculation as to how President Obama is going to fill this vacancy, though it is acknowledged that any replacement for left-leaning Souter may not shake up the makeup of the current bench, unless Obama’s choice is from the far-left wingnut camp. 

A hint of what may be coming in terms of nominees can be found in previous statements made by the President during his pre-election campaigning:

“I want people on the bench who have enough empathy, enough feeling, for what ordinary people are going through.”  (March 2008, in Ohio)

“I will look for those judges who have an outstanding judicial record, who have the intellect, and who hopefully have a sense of what real-world folks are going through.” (October 2008 presidential debate in New York)

My question is:  exactly how does President Obama think he will recognize such people?  These statements were made by someone who has absolutely NO clue about what it means to be an “ordinary person”.  With no experience in business, no real-world use of his law degree, his only adult experience that of being tucked deeply inside the enclaves of left-wing radicals (translation:  homeland terrorists; at best one could perhaps call them merely divisive) and self-serving politicians, and now with a laundry list of tax cheats chosen for his cabinet nominees, President Obama’s choice to replace Justice Souter on the Supreme Court promises to be as bad for the future of this country as was his own election.

Fare Thee Well, Chrylser

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I suppose it’s par for the course.  The company that was first overhauled by Walter P. Chrysler in 1925 is now undergoing a metamorphasis the likes of which no American company has ever seen.  Forced onto life support by President Obama, it will now be owned jointly by the United States government, Canada, Fiat, and the UAW, while GMAC will handle its financing to customers.  Chrysler stockholders and its major debt holders, who aren’t beholden to the government’s TARP, have been handed the very short and pointed end of the stick, while the rest of America will join them in pouring more good money after bad.  Though with all of Chrysler’s auto manufacturing being idled as part of this government takover…errrr…”bankruptcy restructuring”, I can’t imagine how the government thinks Americans involved in the auto industry won’t be negatively impacted to the point their contributions in the form of taxes becomes a moot point?

With its long and storied history, the company is far more deserving of a dignified death.

A Picture-Perfect Hypocrite

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A perfect example of how Congress has lost sight of its prime directive – defending our basic rights and freedoms – can be seen in the media-lauded actions of Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter.   After 29 years, Senator Specter is changing parties and turning Democrat.

Why?  In a nutshell it is because he can no longer win election in the upcoming primary as a Republican.  Over the years, his self-perceived “independent” nature has slid more and more towards the Democratic left and his signing the TARP legislation was the icing on the cake for many of his conservative supporters.  So like any self-respecting rat on a sinking ship, he jumped.

Which tells me that Senator Specter does not belong in Washington at all.  He is selfish and self-serving; more interested in being a Senator than doing the work required of a Senator.  He has no principles.  He has no loyalty.  I honestly hope he fails to get on the ballot in 2010, and I hope that anyone now in Congress who are supporting him also loses in 2010 or 2012.  We, the people, do not need, nor did we ask for this kind of misrepresentation.

“I changed my mind about that.”  (Senator Specter, now,  about telling Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell several months ago that he wouldn’t need his help when the Democratic governor offered to help him raise money if he switched parties)

Democrats are thrilled because this now puts them within dizzying, drooling, tantalizing closeness of having complete control over the House, the Senate, and the Oval Office:

“You have my full support.”  Democrats are “thrilled to have you.”  (President Obama)

“If the president is asked to raise money for Sen. Specter, we’re happy to do it.  If the president is asked to campaign for Senator Specter, we’ll be happy to do it. As the president told Senator Specter on the phone, he has our full support.  I think the president is quite pleased. Understatement of the day.” (White House press secretary Robert Gibbs)

“I welcome Senator Specter and his moderate voice to our diverse caucus, and to continuing our open and honest debate about the best way to make life better for the American people.”  (Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid)

“…a great party left him, not the other way around.”  (Senator Patrick Leahy)

“This has been a long time coming.  He’s been having this conversation with Specter for half a dozen years. They’re close. You’d be hard-pressed to find a senator he’s co-sponsored more bills with.” (a senior official about Specter’s relationship with Vice-President Joe Biden, who spoke to FOX News on condition of anonymity)

“It’s a huge change for labor and for progressives everywhere.  This provides the room, it provides space for him to continue this discussion and pass a meaningful bill.”  (AFL-CIO legislative director Bill Samuel, talking about

This is just pouring grease on an already dangerous and slippery slope, of course.  Our government was designed to contain inherent checks and balances.  Whatever agenda the left-wing Democrats decide to push can go sliding downhill through with what will be at best lip-service given to any discussion about it.  No matter how bad, no matter how harmful to the American people.  No matter if the American people don’t even want it, whatever the left-wing wants, the left-wing will now get.

Unless every single one of us who doesn’t feel entitled to things we haven’t earned begin to voice our wishes loudly, clearly, and regularly – and do it right now by reminding the idiots wandering the halls of Congress that they work for us – I believe this is a clear sign that you may now kiss the American dream goodbye.  Though I’d previously applauded his taking a stand against “card check”, if it means getting elected by the Democrat-controlled unions I am quite sure that Senator Spector will now vote for it.  He’s as much said he’ll consider an EFCA “compromise”.  With just a little encouragement, the Constitution is going to be ripped to shreds.

So you can kiss goodbye your right to work and your right to vote for unionization in secret and give a kiss hello to the government bureaucrats who will determine what businesses will pay their employees.  You can kiss goodbye your 2nd Amendment right to bear arms.  You can kiss goodbye your 4th and 5th Amendment rights to privacy and due process when the government watches everything you do and does whatever it wants to control actions you take that it doesn’t like.  You can kiss goodbye more of your paycheck (if you are still getting one) so that nationalized health care can be implemented and you can later kiss goodbye any treatment you need when the government decides you aren’t worth it.  You can kiss your Social Security goodbye because there won’t be any money to pay it to you, while kissing 22 million illegal immigrants hello as they become citizens and are given entitlement to take what you’ve worked so hard to earn.  You can kiss the 22nd Amendment goodbye while kissing Barack Obama hello as he emulates his new BFF Hugo Chavez and becomes “president for life” if he so chooses.  You can kiss the 1st Amendment goodbye when the government controls the media and dissenting opinions are outlawed, and the “Fairness Doctrine” makes sure everyone gets to hear what only special interests want us to hear. 

But don’t worry.  The government will take care of everything for you.

Don’t Spit Too High

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I have a hard time dealing with stupidity before I’ve had my first cup of coffee.

Has society come to just blindly accept as “business as usual” that politicians, like lawyers, eat their young?  No one is very surprised any more when what used to be headline scandals involving Democrats are now little more than “look at me!” Twitter twitches traipsing like tiny Tinkerbells across the national conscience.  Certainly, the left-wing bias of the mainstream media will be reluctant to shine light on even the most blatant cheating and  indiscretions of Democrats currently bragging and bullying their “progressive” take-down agenda around Washington like a bunch of drunken high school rebels with a dangerous cause, but where, oh, where is the collective voice of the American people?

GOP consultant Joe Gaylord, an aide to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, recently told FOXNews.com he believes GOP values and principles played a role in getting more attention paid to ethics accusations against Republican lawmakers.

“Republicans who have generally used the ethics process become much more susceptible to the hypocrisy charges because they set a high standard for how people should behave,” he said. “Then when a Republican doesn’t behave properly, it becomes a bigger story.”

No, Mr. Gaylord.  The fact is that nobody likes a hypocrite.   Period.

It’s that very same decided air of snobbish moral superiority, used to cover up the reality many Republicans are just as outright corrupt as the majority of today’s Democrats that causes them to think they’re strung up higher when caught.  And about as effective as that Saran Wrap covering yesterday’s Republican TARP pork sitting next to the dish of Democratic TARP pork in the refrigerator.

I have a suggestion.  Both parties need to clean up their act.  Then we, the people, need to put the media in its place and go clean the House.  And the Senate.

The Bitter Fruits Of Handshakes & Dialogue

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“It was a nice gesture to give me a book; I’m a reader.”

So says President Obama about Hugo Chavez creating a stereotypical Chavez-serving photo op by giving Obama a copy of “The Open Veins of Latin America:  Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent,” a book by Eduardo Galeano.  Like Chavez’s ties to Hamas and drug cartels, the title speaks for itself, don’t you think?  Little surprise coming from the man who only a month ago went on record calling Obama “ignorant” and is well-known for his sentiments towards “the most murderous American empire.”

Maybe it simply came as a relief after Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega thrashed the United States for 50 minutes during the opening ceremonies of the 5th Summit of the Americas.  “I’m grateful that President Ortega did not blame me for things that happened when I was three months old,” he said.  A dangerously flippant remark that speaks volumes to this American patriot about where Obama’s loyalties really lay.  As the elected leader of this Republic, he represents America and her history; it horrifies me that the man lacks such basic knowledge.  But then again, this is the man who considers the Constitution to be a “flawed document” so perhaps it is understandable after all that he would want to be seen as divorced from it.

But this kind of disrespect for his country hasn’t gone unnoticed by those Obama would most wish to impress.  No sooner did he speak to Iran about engaging in some kind of peaceful dialogue, behind closed doors they convicted American-Iranian journalist Roxana Saberi of “spying” and sentenced her to 8 years in prison.  And French President Nicolas Sarkozy has become less-than-complimentary of late, calling Obama “inexperienced” and wisely noting that despite “a “subtle mind” and being “very intelligent, very charismatic,” intelligence doesn’t necessarily guarantee political success.

I fear that this kind of foreign policy is going to do only one thing:  get the United States engaged in another great war.  Obama can dismiss Venezuela’s military size but he cannot dismiss its Communist and other anti-American ties.  He has already thrown Israel under the proverbial bus by his inaction at the U.N. and Israel now stands poised to attack Iran alone.  Or is that attack Iran for us?  I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to find this is all a machination of those of George Soros’ ilk, Obama a perfect foil to finally take control when the economy gears up once again to support a war machine.  It’s not really a far stretch when we get wind that the administration is considering converting its preferred shares in the banks into common stock.  In lockstep with not allowing banks to repay TARP loans, can you say “nationalize the banking system”?

The President may think he’s a reader, but it’s becoming more and more obvious that the books he’s chosen to read are doing us all far more harm than good.

Ignorant Confusion Is Dangerous

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Like it or not, at least at first glance we are judged by the company we keep since birds of a feather and all that.  If we’re lucky, we get a chance to prove ourselves through our individual actions, which may then validate or negate that initial opinion, for better or for worse.

Adjust your thinking cap and read this little piece posted at The Volokh Conspiracy blog.  Though originally aimed at President Bush, if you are a regular reader of Smoke Break, the parallels to President Obama and his administration will be painfully obvious.

Then, more importantly, check out the list of signers.

The Hypocrisy Behind Terrorist Interrogation

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She can’t deny it any more.  Nancy Pelosi knew.  So did a few others.  But unlike Jane Harmon, at the time she voiced no objection.

For no other reason than because it was in her own best interests, she managed to keep her mouth shut.  Until it became a convenient tool by which to rally those progressive liberals who hide beneath her skirts to go on a witch hunt against the Bush administration.

Now the Obama administration has released details about what our hypocritical Speaker and the others were told in confidence.  This is transparency of the most unfortunate sort.  It is a spiteful move by a mean man in yet another attempt to divert attention from his profligate ways by attempting to discredit his predecessor.  But unlike the simple shame of his bowing and his endless apologies to foreign friend and foe alike, this time he puts the country at real and present risk.

I’m no fan of torture.  But the truth is the world ain’t a Disney flick and it ain’t gonna be one any time soon, no matter how many flowery phrases roll across Obama’s teleprompter, and no matter how much the far-left wingnuts moan and wring their own blood-stained hands about it.  There are people in this world beyond the Chicago congregation of Reverend Wright who not only damn America but desperately hate America and her freedoms even more than those greedy souls who saunter the corridors in Washington.  They will not hesitate to come at us, seething in their righteous, fundamental anger, willing to take their own lives if it means taking out a few or more of ours.  And if that can be accomplished on American soil, so much the better their perceived victory.

I have learned that you can’t argue with either stupidity or insanity.  Bullies don’t lay claim to power by being nice guys and don’t understand much besides a brute force more powerful than their own.  There will be occasion that the requisite toughness of survival goes beyond the average American’s softened sensibilities, but when the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one, well, all I can say is that ends sometimes DO justify means.  Yes, it sucks.  And I don’t like it one bit.  But if not for America’s willingness to be tougher than those who will gladly risk everything to destroy us, there would, in fact, be no America.  President Obama has just told those who hate us there will be no real reason to fear us should they again attempt what was thought unthinkable before September 11, 2001.

The world has always been a dangerous place.  The hypocrisy of this administration would be cause for laughter if it hadn’t just made it even more so.

 

 

The Important Question

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Republicans and certain pro-life contingencies have their panties in a wad over President Obama’s nomination of Dawn Johnsen to head the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel.

My question is:  has she paid all of her taxes?