My Two Cents Worth

Atlas Is Shrugging

2012-01-18T10:15:00.000-05:00

The big controversy going on in Washington right now deals with legislation aimed at further regulating Internet content. The purpose is supposedly to preserve intellectual property rights, but the ultimate result of the legislation, if passed and signed into law will be censorship of the Internet. In other words, freedom of speech could easily be undermined at the slightest suggestion of online piracy (even if the claim is unfounded).

And much like Ayn Rand envisioned in her novel, Atlas Shrugged, major websites like Wikipedia and Reddit, along with other groups and websites like Campaign For Liberty and Daily Paul, are participating in a blackout today as a protest to these bills.

According to Republican Liberty Caucus chairman Dave Nalle, the Senate version (known as the Protect IP Act, or PIPA) already has 40 co-sponsors, and is scheduled to be voted on this coming Tuesday, while the House version (Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA), still currently in committee, may see a vote soon thereafter.

As Jim DeMint wrote on Facebook, “In seeking to protect intellectual property rights, we must ensure that we do not undermine free speech, threaten economic growth, or impose burdensome regulations.” What's at stake here is Internet liberty. More than that, it's our liberty at stake here, and I hope you will contact your representatives in Congress and ask them to put an end to PIPA & SOPA. Campaign For Liberty has more on the matter of the bills, and I encourage you to read it and view the video as well. As Mr. Nalle says it, speak up for Internet liberty.

A dose of the best medicine

2012-01-17T23:29:00.000-05:00

Notice anything odd about this picture? Yeah, it's a screen shot of the Daily Paul website from yesterday afternoon, but that's not it. Give up? Okay, I'll show you here:

And here:

Yep, that's right! Not one, not two, but three Mitt Romney ads on a website supporting Ron Paul!

This was from yesterday afternoon, but upon last check, they still have some of the Romney ads up there. Since we're talking about two candidates who are polar opposites, and a website which is arguably the most emphatic pro-Paul website out there, seeing three hard-to-miss ads touting Mitt Romney for President at Daily Paul can only do one thing for me: cause bouts of uncontrollable laughter.

Personally, I suspect the guys behind the website have no control over the specifics when it comes to having ads placed on it, but oh man!

Being a newly converted Ron Paul supporter, I don't point this out to criticize the guys at Daily Paul, but how can you not laugh at something like this? As I write this, it's hard for me to keep a straight face! Besides, considering how intense the primaries have been, some levity is certainly needed. After all, isn't laughter the best medicine?

Well, anyway, if you would like to see it, go ahead and check it out, but do it real soon, as they're going Galt tomorrow in an unrelated protest.

Thank you, have a good night and enjoy the laughs, everybody!

One of those head-scratching moments

2012-01-15T17:34:00.000-05:00

The head of a major political party is unhappy with the recent transfer of documents, considered sensitive by the government, to a college where they could be made public more easily. Would you be ticked off to hear such news? If so, you're in the same boat as Michéal Martin.

Martin, the head of one of Ireland's major parties, Fianna Fáil, sent out a statement three days ago about sensitive documents on the Irish peace process being transferred to Boston College. Uh-huh, Boston College, out of Boston, Massachusetts, in the U.S. of A.

I will be the first to admit I don't know anything about the Irish peace process, but this episode does leave me wondering, What the...? What exactly was the reasoning behind the nation's Justice Minister, Alan Shatter, in having the documents transferred across the Atlantic to a university in another country?

Mr. Martin makes two points of interest here: 1) the likelihood that getting access to the documents would be much easier at Boston College (or, for that matter, any college) and 2) the move to Boston makes it more difficult for Irishmen who may want to take a look at the documents, as they would have to travel across the Atlantic (instead of another part of the island) to do so.

To the best of my knowledge, neither Minister Shatter nor the party he represents, Fine Gael, have responded to Mr. Martin's statement. In the larger scheme of things, this may not mean much (at least not here in America), but it's one of those episodes that leaves me just scratching my head.

Pat Bauer's Latest Excuse

2012-01-11T14:43:00.000-05:00

“Our actions since the session began this year has been all about having the voice of the people heard”

Those were the words of the leading Democrat in the Indiana House of Representatives, Pat Bauer, in response to the recent resumption of the House Democrats blocking a quorum in the chamber over the reintroduced Right-To-Work legislation.

The voice of the people? Really, Pat? You claim to fight for the right of the people to be heard? The same people who elected Republicans to 60 of the 100 seats in the House, thus making you the Minority Leader once again? The same people who also elected Republicans to 37 of the 50 seats in the Senate, giving Republicans the ability to conduct business without even the participation of a single Democrat necessary?

The voice of the people has been heard, and Pat Bauer has not been hearing it, let alone fighting to have it heard. Instead, he has been fighting for the voice of his masters to be heard, the voice of the labor unions, the same unions bitterly opposed to the Right-To-Work legislation, the same legislation which would balance the right of workers to be part of a union and the right of workers who want nothing to do with a union.

If Pat Bauer were truly fighting for the voice of the people to be heard, he would not be allowing this continual blocking of a quorum in the House.

Ron Paul for President

2011-12-30T14:52:00.000-05:00

I will tell you that four years ago, if somebody had told me this would happen, I'd have told him he was out of his mind. I freely admit I was bitterly opposed to this man in 2008, and I repeatedly conveyed my own 2¢ about him here, here, here, here, here, here and here. However, in the time since Sarah Palin announced she would not run for President, time which I've spent examining the current field of candidates seeking the Republican nomination and contemplating who to support in the primaries, I have slowly come to the conclusion the best candidate in the race is none other than Ron Paul.

Over the years, many complaints have been brought up about the Congressman's qualifications, stances and history, so I'm addressing them right now before I explain why I'm supporting Ron Paul.

The most explosive complaint aimed at Congressman Paul involves a series of newsletters published under his name about two decades ago, newsletters which are said to contain hateful, racist, bigoted and anti-Semitic content. The charges are not new, as they've been brought up on a number of occasions over the past 15 years, but the thing which bothers me about the newsletters is that the controversial content doesn't sound like anything the Congressman has either said or done (which calls into question the authorship of these newsletters), yet most commentators (not just his detractors) haven't addressed this oddity. It leaves me more suspicious of the people who bring it up, suspecting them of trying to smear the man (as one guy contends). I do fault the Congressman for what has been a bad attempt on his part at dealing with the matter; although he has accepted responsibility for the newsletters, he certainly could've done a better job than he has over the years.

The most visible complaint has to do with a number of Congressman Paul's supporters, individuals who are 9/11 Truthers, neo-Nazis, John Birch Society members, conspiracy theorists and other like-minded people considered to be outright nutcases. Detractors obviously remember the famous saying about the company one keeps, but there's a problem with the concern they express: it's misplaced. Ron Paul has not actively sought the support of Truthers, neo-Nazis, Birchers, conspiracy theorists or the like; they chose to support him, not the other way around.

The one complaint with genuine credence concerns the Congressman's stances on foreign policy, from Iran and Israel to our national security and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is also a complaint which has been voiced by a larger number of people, particularly those who've expressed enthusiastic support for Congressman Paul on most (if not all) domestic issues, but within the same breath, express trepidation (if not outright opposition) to his stances on foreign policy. I know it all too well, for I certainly was expressing the same concerns four years ago, but in examining his foreign policy stances, however, I've realized much of the concern is baseless.

Yes, Ron Paul supports removing foreign aid to Israel (as he supports ending foreign aid entirely), but it's apparent he supports Israel. He's spoken of maintaining a strong national defense, but that doesn't mean he'll wait until a whole city is taken out. Consider this quote from his website: “using constitutional means to capture or kill terrorist leaders who helped attack the U.S. and continue to plot further attacks”; does that sound like someone who'll wait for another 9/11 to happen? I may have thought so in 2007/8, but I'm highly doubtful today. The one issue I disagree with Congressman Paul concerns Iran, as he advocates free trade instead of applying sanctions to Iran; regardless of whether sanctions are working against Iran or not, the idea of free trade being the solution is one I don't subscribe to.

The complaints I've addressed here have led Congressman Paul's critics to claim he's a racist, a Truther, an isolationist, anti-Semitic, anti-war, and pretty much anything that could further cast him as a full-blown kook who belongs on the fringe of American politics. Let me put my response in a very simple term to those of you who believe these claims about Ron Paul: You're wrong.

Ron Paul has not said a word or committed an act that could possibly warrant his being called a racist, or a 9/11 Truther, for that matter (Dave Nalle of the Republican Liberty Caucus attests to that). Some of you believe his being a non-interventionist is the same as being an isolationist, but I have a hard time believing anyone who supports free trade can be an isolationist. And I will repeat: Congressman Paul's stances on Israel does not make anti-Israel, let alone anti-Semitic (that also doesn't make him a neo-Nazi, either). As for the anti-war label, one thing also needs to be made clear: Ron Paul has expressed willingness to go to war, but only under certain circumstances (as stipulated in the Constitution), and should the green light be given, he favors a get in-win-get out approach. To me, that doesn't sound like a typical anti-war candidate. When it comes to foreign policy, the problem has more to do with how Ron Paul states his positions (something Dave Nalle also addresses) rather than the stances themselves.

Now it's time to address the reasons why I've chosen to support Ron Paul in 2012, and the number one reason can be found by looking at his Plan To Restore America. This is a plan aimed at serious cuts in spending, rolling back oppressive government regulations, cutting taxes, addressing entitlements, our monetary policy, and putting an end to government waste. It is also a plan aimed at shrinking the size of the federal government as it stands today. Add in also his free market approach to other economic issues (as well as energy issues), the fact is pro-life, he advocates greater adherence to the Constitution, has got a pretty good idea on tackling illegal immigration, is pro-Second Amendment, supports Right To Work, and supports homeschooling, and that just about sums it up.

There is one last reason why I'm supporting Ron Paul for President: Of all the candidates currently seeking the Republican nomination, this is the one candidate I have the most trust in. I don't, quite frankly, trust Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman or Rick Perry to put the nation back on the right track, and I don't know for sure if either Rick Santorum or Michele Bachmann can do the job. I have my qualms about Ron Paul, such as his naivete on dealing with Iran and the motivation behind radical Islamic terrorists, and I don't believe he is the only candidate who can lead the way in the fundamental restoration of our nation, but he is the best candidate for the job in 2012.

I hope, when the time comes for me to vote in the Republican primary this May, I will cast my vote for Ron Paul.

The Truth About The Refugees

2011-12-08T07:12:00.001-05:00

Once again, Israel's Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister, Danny Ayalon, tells the truth about Israel and the Palestinians, and this time, it deals with the truth about the Palestinian refugees:

If you're not familiar with the truth about either the West Bank or the Peace Process, by all means, go and take a look. The videos are about five and a half minutes long each, and well worth your time. And once again, my deep thanks to Danny Ayalon and the people responsible for these videos.

Tim Tebow: A Good Man

2011-12-06T14:27:00.001-05:00

I've tried very hard over the course of the current NFL season to ignore it; like I wrote earlier, the lockup that almost ruined the season left me not wanting to know how the Packers or the Colts are doing and so on (that also goes for the Super Bowl as well). However, one story that has become impossible to ignore is how Tim Tebow, the Heisman-winning quarterback currently playing for the Denver Broncos, is faring.

The fact Tebow is a Christian is not something he has shied away from, and a number of individuals (most notably other players, including a former Broncos QB) have resorted to mocking or criticizing him for it. Yet, despite the negative reaction to Tebow's expressions of his faith, he not only continues to express his faith freely, he also has led the Broncos to winning six of their last seven games (and putting them currently in a tie for first place in the AFC West Division).

William J. Bennett, in a piece he wrote for CNN, makes a superb defense of Tebow and his faith, which includes the stark contrast between the content of Tebow's character and the fallout which has taken place at Penn State and Syracuse. A particular portion of Dr. Bennett's piece is especially important to contemplate, as he points out the folly of suspecting hypocrisy in all good men:

C.S. Lewis warned us of this. He wrote in "The Abolition of Man," "We make men without chests and expect from them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst." We scoff at Tebow and all that he represents and are horrified at the scandals at Penn State and Syracuse. We are right to be horrified, but we shouldn't make fun of our good men. (emphasis mine)

Despite what Tim Tebow's critics have said about him and what their motivations are, he thankfully has not let them affect how he lives, or how he plays. He continues to be the very thing his detractors don't believe (and repeatedly try to prove doesn't) exist: a hero. May he continue to live as a good man of faith, may he continue to succeed as a quarterback, and may we all appreciate the existence of good men, of heroes, such as Tim Tebow.

Ohhhhh Brother No. 38: Much Ado About Tweeting, Part II

2011-11-27T14:19:00.001-05:00

Just when I think the reprimanding of a high school girl over a tweet she made concerning a politician was bad enough, now comes this story about a cheerleader losing her whole Twitter account!

This past Thanksgiving, the Dallas Cowboys were battling the Miami Dolphins, and at one point in the game, Cowboys tight end Jason Witten wound up out of bounds, tackling a Cowboys cheerleader, Melissa Kellerman. It's one of those newsworthy stories that nobody can make up!

The story took a different turn, however, when it was reported earlier today that Miss Kellerman's Twitter account was deleted at the behest of the Cowboys organization after she tweeted about the tackle.

Ohhhhh brother!

Can somebody please explain to me how a cheerleader's tweeting of her own tackling is a bad thing? What good reason do the Cowboys have in forcing Miss Kellerman to delete her own Twitter account? In the end, it does nothing but make the Cowboys organization look like villains. Shame on them, indeed.

Ohhhhh Brother No. 37: Much Ado About Tweeting

2011-11-26T15:17:00.001-05:00

Do you know what the cost is to bring hell down upon yourself? For a high school girl in Kansas, I'd say the cost was about two cents.

Apparently, while on a field trip to Topeka where they met Governor Sam Brownback, a senior by the name of Emma Sullivan tweeted that she told the Governor he sucked and in person, "#heblowsalot". She later joked about telling him he sucked, but the Governor's communications director, Sherriene Jones-Sontag, got wind of the tweet, and the girl's principal, Karl R. Krawitz, read her the Riot Act for about an hour. It was further reported the girl wrote an apology to the Governor.

Ohhhhh brother!

Joke or not, Emma Sullivan simply stated her opinion about Governor Brownback and that was it. The communications director who initially raised hell over the tweet, and the principal who reprimanded the girl for an hour and had her write an apology for simply tweeting her opinion, should be the ones to apologize for their actions.

As for the girl, I'm glad to read she's not sorry about posting the tweet and the fact she now has over 1,000 followers on Twitter. All the best to her, including an unhindered ability to exercise her right to speak (and tweet) freely.

The Height of Arrogance

2011-11-26T10:13:00.001-05:00

Breitbart posted a brief video of a historian attempting to correct a Congressman's mistake:

So, you have Congressman Don Young acting like (what looks to me) an arrogant fool, incorrectly stating Douglas Brinkley's name, Brinkley seeks to correct the Congressman on his error, and it's Mr. Brinkley who's chastised for breaching protocol.

The video is a reminder that some members of Congress think that because of their current occupation, they can get away with doing whatever they want, and are offended when someone else calls them out on it. Congressman Young was wrong in his mistake and added insult to injury by overstepping his bounds in telling Brinkley to shut up.

It's a shame some members of Congress have forgotten they're only there because We the People put them there; hopefully, enough people in Alaska will vote out Don Young, thereby letting him know he can't get away with his crap anymore.

The Big 0-5

2011-11-22T11:39:00.001-05:00

Eight days ago, there was a big milestone in my life: the 5th anniversary of my being a blogger.

It's hard to believe, even now, I can call myself a blogger (especially after taking a look back at some of my previous posts). Nevertheless, taking a look at my very first post, it's amazing how far I've come; nowadays, I'm not worried about how to blog, just what to blog about! Not to mention the places I've been, the events I've witnessed, the opportunity to write about all sorts of issues. It has been a helluva journey, I will admit.

Looking back has also made me contemplate what kind of blogger I am. Have I done a good job offering my two cents on the issues at hand? To some extent, I believe I have, but I know I've also made mistakes in the past, I've gone one direction when I should've gone another, I didn't go as good a job in making my arguments as I thought I had, and I suspect I've also been harsh when I shouldn't have been (although I'm not sure where). I'll have to let history judge me.

Hopefully, as I move on with the next five years, I'll do a better job blogging, a better job arguing my case, and actually blog more often!

On Tuesday's elections

2011-11-09T13:25:00.000-05:00

This year's municipal elections had results I wasn't happy with. I had hoped candidates like Paula Hughes and Zach Bonahoom in Fort Wayne would win, but they lost (especially after Hughes was smeared by her opponent), and it left a sour taste in my mouth. A majority of Ohioans voted in favor of a referendum which repeals the law Governor John Kasich fought to pass in order to limit the bargaining power of public unions. And in Mississippi, a referendum aimed at establishing personhood (and which caused a split amongst pro-life forces as to its merits) went down in flames.

I can just imagine the cheers and jeers from the other side for what they see as signs of more victories to come (although I wonder how the unions' victory in Ohio will benefit them). In the end, I find it takes a song from Starship to make me remember that people like Paula Hughes and Zach Bonahoom will not go away, and neither will efforts to curtail the leeches that are the unions and protect the rights of the unborn. And furthermore, I also know there were some great victories (like that of a good man getting elected to the Fort Wayne City Council). Indeed, to quote from the song: “They play to win, we play for keeps/It's not over 'til it's over/It's not over 'til we get it right”

Win or lose, I'm in it for the long haul. Now on to 2012.

Are Critics of Islam the Nazis of Our Time?

2011-10-11T10:09:00.000-04:00

The guys at Gates of Vienna posted an essay by the blogger known as Fjordman, which was originally intended for the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten, and because the newspaper refused to run it, it has now appeared online. Considering the blogger himself has already endured one of the worst smears imaginable when he was accused of being the mass murderer Anders Brevik, whose heinous crimes have been used to further smear Fjordman and other critics of Islam as Nazis, this essay needs to be read so the record can be set straight, something Baron Bodissey stressed when he wrote the following:

We encourage as many blogs as possible to mirror these posts. Our goal is for more people to read this article than if it had been published in Aftenposten, as Fjordman originally intended. The Norwegian MSM will discover that they no longer control the flow of information to the public. We will demonstrate that the “new media” can do a better job of disseminating news than the newspapers can.

And here is the essay, Are Critics of Islam the Nazis of Our Time?, in its entirety (with my deep thanks to the Baron and Dymphna for posting it on their site):

Here follows the translated text of an essay that the newspaper Aftenposten has now refused to publish. According to the ethical guidelines of the Norwegian Press Association, one has the right to reply to accusations put forward about oneself in the press. Aftenposten, a few days before I went public with my real name, posted a notorious article about “Islamophobes” such as Robert Spencer, Bat Ye’or and myself (Fjordman) where we were presented as the new wave of right-wing extremism. The photos in the print edition were particularly nasty, where I was put next to Vidkun Quisling, Anders Behring Breivik and several neo-Nazis who are convicted murderers. I think they owe me for that. They were very close to a libel suit back then.

I sent them this essay a few days ago (as Peder Jensen, of course) for review. They rejected it. I’m not going to claim that it is the best text I have ever written, but I think it is at least as well-written, well-researched and logically coherent as the countless mediocre and easily-forgotten essays that very same newspaper has published about racist white Islamophobes and right-wing extremists.

I was first told that the text didn’t match the title. I think it does. I linked it to the Nazi sympathies of Islamic organizations such as the Muslim Brotherhood and showed how the authorities and the mainstream media have appeased the real Nazis of our time. However, they wanted me to remove the second part. I refused, and argued that the examples I had used were relevant. The same journalist then changed tactics and stated that my arguments were not new and had been used before. I suppose that means that Aftenposten will reject all future essays about Islamophobia or xenophobia, since most people have heard those arguments hundreds of times before, if not more. Somehow, I doubt that will happen.

Aftenposten asked me to remove the reference to my upcoming book The Curious Civilization from the text because this could be seen as a commercial of some kind. I admit that was indeed part of the reason why I put it there. That is the one change that I would have been willing to make to the text, to cut out that particular reference. Also note that they didn’t dispute a single factual claim that I wrote in the essay. I can easily document all of them.

The bottom line is that one has the “right to reply”, but apparently only as long as the journalists agree with your reply, which isn’t very helpful. I can accept being rejected if I simply don’t write well enough. I am not claiming that every single text I write is a masterpiece. Perhaps this one isn’t. But I cannot live with being turned down because of ideological censorship, and will not rewrite an essay to please those doing so. Perhaps I am wrong, but I personally sense an element of that motive here. If that is indeed the case then I will not accept it. That is why I started blogging in the first place. I therefore publish the text here to highlight censorship in the press.

Are Critics of Islam the Nazis of Our Time?

by Peder Jensen, also known as the writer Fjordman on the Internet

On the 30th of July of this year, Aftenposten printed the article “They are the third wave,” in which they harassed people such as Bat Ye’or, Robert Spencer and myself. The illustrations in the printed edition were particularly appalling. One was shown a picture of Bat Ye’or, and on the next page a picture of the convicted Nazi traitor Vidkun Quisling. This is extremely tactless, especially considering that the Nazis were responsible for the genocide of about six million Jews and the fact that Bat Ye’or is Jewish. Besides, Aftenposten‘s own historical relationship with the Nazis is far from pretty.

The message that is now being presented in the mass media after the atrocities committed by Anders Behring Breivik is that critics of Islam like myself are the Nazis of our time. But is this true? The Nazis were national Socialists, even though many people would now like us to forget the second part of their ideology. I have personally never heard of a totalitarian movement that could not also be partially described as Socialist. Is it a coincidence that a disproportionate number of Western converts to Islam are neo-Nazis or Marxists? Do they share a common totalitarian DNA?

In 2008, Marte Michelet from Dagbladet startlingly enough made common cause with Islamic organizations, Communists and neo-Nazis in favour of a new, large mosque in Cologne. German neo-Nazis regard Islamic organizations as allies in the struggle against “Jewish-Zionist dominance.” This did not lead to critical remarks from other media in Norway. There is more inbreeding in the Norwegian press than amongst Pakistani cousins.

As I mention in my upcoming book on European culture, The Curious Civilization, Muslims have a choice between Mozart and Hitler, and often choose Hitler of their own free will. In sharp contrast to the East Asian passion for European Classical music, Adolf Hitler’s autobiography Mein Kampf was number two on the bestseller list in the allegedly moderate NATO member state Turkey as late as in 2005. The book is still popular in parts of the Arab world.

The Muslim Brotherhood was founded by Hassan al-Banna in 1928, grew in parallel with the Nazi movement in Europe and was inspired by this in addition to Islam. Their leader Mahdi Akef has reassured his followers that Jihad “will smash Western civilization and replace it with Islam, which will dominate the world.” Akef stated in 2007 that if Muslims are not able to achieve this in the near future they are “obliged to continue Jihad [holy war to expand Islamic global rule], which will lead to the collapse of Western civilization.”

The Islamic Council of Norway, which is being funded by native Norwegian taxpayers, receives guidance from the European Council for Fatwa and Research about issues such as whether or not to support the death penalty for homosexuals. The Council is led by the powerful Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the spiritual guide of the Muslim Brotherhood. Qaradawi, who supports marriage with underage children, has openly boasted that Muslims will conquer Europe, spoken in positive terms of the Holocaust perpetrated by the Nazis, and suggested that the next mass murder of Jews will come at the hands of Muslims. As Walid al-Kubaisi points out, the Brotherhood has a big influence in many countries, the West included. Representatives of Jonas Gahr Støre’s Foreign Ministry have met members of the Muslim Brotherhood for talks in Oslo.

In 2007 under the government of Jens Stoltenberg, Norway was the only Western country to recognize the Palestinian government that was then led by Hamas. The ideology of Hamas has many similarities with Nazism. This move was widely applauded by the Norwegian press at the time. People within the governing parties and the political Left wanted to support such a government financially, which would imply that Norwegian taxpayers had to fund terrorists.

In September 2011 the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST) asked the cartoonist Kurt Westergaard to leave Norway because they feared that an assassination attempt would be made against him. According to Islamic sources, critics of Mohammed were killed by his followers. Given that his personal example, or Sunna, which along with the Koran constitutes the teachings of Islam, this remains a valid principle to this day. Those who want to kill Theo van Gogh or Geert Wilders are therefore acting in full compliance with traditional Islamic theology.

This is described in Halvor Tjønn’s surprisingly realistic Norwegian biography of Mohammed. Ibn Warraq, author of the book Why I Am Not a Muslim, is a man who was born in Pakistan but has to write under a pseudonym in order to avoid the death penalty for apostasy. Islam is the only religion on Earth that prescribes death to those who criticize or leave it.

Thomas Seltzer, a host on NRK3, has presented a caricature of me as a multi-handicapped writer in a wheelchair. I presume that this makes me the Norwegian equivalent of Stephen Hawking, which I take as a compliment. Alternatively, one could imagine it to be an insinuation that people in wheelchairs are drivelling fools, which is not particularly tasteful.

The difference between a humorist and a bully is that a true humorist makes fun of the powerful, not the weak. Seltzer can ridicule people like me because he knows that we will not assault him, but he does not dare to show a drooling Yusuf al-Qaradawi in a wheelchair explaining to Muslims that paedophilia is OK. By so doing he has himself indirectly admitted who the real successors to the Nazis in our time actually are. I can inform him that genuine neo-Nazis do not like me at all and have circulated rumours on the Internet for years about me being an Israeli agent because of my clear pro-Israeli line.

Some people might assert that I, who stretch the boundaries of freedom of speech, should put up with as much. Perhaps. The difference is that citizens do not have to pay for my writings. Through the TV license they have to pay for what is broadcast on NRK, whether they want to or not. In an age when a heavily left-leaning press looks like as a wall-to-wall carpet of Multicultural propaganda, one has to ask why. Hundreds of thousands of Norwegians are fed up with the fact that those who are deeply concerned for the future of their children because of a mass immigration that is unprecedented in human history are harassed by their own press corps and labelled as extremists, racists and Nazis.

Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg has spoken in favour of more openness and democracy after Breivik. One of the most important things one could do to get a democratic debate going in Norway is to remove press subsidies and to abolish NRK in its present form. The question is whether the Labour Party is willing to do this as long as NRK constitutes an integral part of the Left’s grip on power.

The World Has Gone Mad & Another 2¢ On Sports

2011-10-09T14:36:00.000-04:00

Speaking as a lover of baseball, the season isn't quite over (waiting for the World Series), but speaking as a Cubs fan, the season has been over for some time, and all I can say about how the season turned out is that I know full well the world has gone mad.

No, it wasn't the ascendancy of Barack Obama to the White House, it wasn't the chaos dominating Europe, it wasn't all the Occupy protests taking place on Wall Street and elsewhere, it was something far more insidious than the others combined.

The Cubs finished one game behind the Pirates in the regular season. One game. Behind. The Pittsburgh. Pirates.

I wish I were kidding, but no, one of the most notorious cellar dwellers in the National League (if not the whole of Major League Baseball) finished a game ahead of the Cubs. Ahead! It was bad enough (maddening enough, in fact) to see the Pirates maintain a double-digit lead over the Cubs during much of the regular season, but after the Cubs had a stronger second half (and the Pirates went down in the NL Central rankings), they still finished one game behind the Pirates!

Don't ask me how this could have possibly happened. All I can do is quote iconic cartoon characters: AAAAUGH!!!!

Meanwhile, pro football has been under way for weeks, and thanks to the dispute which took place in the NFL between the players and team owners, a dispute which almost put the kibosh on the season itself has soured my interest completely. Soured enough, as a matter of fact, I've begun paying attention on the new NHL season, which has just started (I'm also aiming to see a Komets game or two).

Mind you, I haven't sworn off football altogether; I'll be checking out the occasional college game, but right now, I don't care to read how the Cowboys, Raiders, Packers, Steelers or any other team is doing, and I especially have no interest in reading about the latest exploits of the players. The same also goes for pro basketball; I'm just not interested right now in what's going on in that arena (don't worry, I'll probably watch a college game here and there, and hopefully attend a Mad Ants game if I can).

Bottom line, once the World Series ends, my interests will keep me focused on the ice arenas of America and Canada.

Moving Forward

2011-10-09T13:58:00.000-04:00

(Note: This was first published at Hoosiers For Sarah Palin and Sarah Palin Information Blog, both on October 7th.)

“Is there not one thing in your life that is worth losing everything for?” - The Wind And The Lion (1975)

Sometimes it is a line in a movie that says it all, that conveys so succinctly what you want to say. With the recent announcement by Sarah to not seek a run for President in 2012, it was the great screenwriter and director, John Milius, who unwittingly captured my own sentiments so well.

Sarah's announcement resulted for the most part in two types of reactions: shock, sadness, disappointment, even anger from Palinistas, and snickering variations of “See I told you so” from detractors (if not outright Palin haters) deeply entrenched in their own negative opinions about Sarah, that she is shallow, ignorant, stupid, only out to make money, a fake, a liar, etc., etc., etc.

My own reaction wasn't anger or disappointment, but has been what I call resigned acceptance. I had hoped Sarah would announce a run for the top job, and was a little sad at the news, but also knew the possibility she would say no was there. And because I didn't want to raise my hopes up only to have them deflated, I tried to be prepared for either a yes or no. The reasons for her decision are not known to me, and I don't have the slightest idea what they are, but knowing what the media and Palin-haters have done to her, I can imagine the reasons.

For those of the “See I told you so” crowd, my response to them is short and sweet: Buzz off. Most of those individuals are not only a waste of my time, but are also complete wastes of skin. They are mired enough in the false and negative illusions of Sarah they have subscribed to that they are willing to believe anything and everything bad about her, no matter if the claims are distortions or bald-faced lies, like the garbage peddled by “author” Joe McGinniss. When it comes to Sarah, they are beyond the capability of reasoned argument to be convinced otherwise.

For my fellow Palinistas, there isn't much I can say at all. We all respect Sarah's decision, and her reasons for the decision. More importantly, we know her role in the 2012 race and how it turns out will be significant, and we have not forgotten why we are in this fight. We know what we fight for is bigger than any one person, and that Sarah's decision doesn't mean the end of the movement. We know that no matter what, God is not done with us or with America.

Before I close, I will further note that to be able to serve alongside fellow Palinistas like the Mama Grizzly #2 herself, Karen Allen, Peter Singleton, Martha Cano, Mark America, David Powell, Thomas Schmitz, Janne Myrdal, Laura Hatton and Jesse Cornish was an honor. It was worth giving my time, my effort and my money to help Sarah any way I could, and it will continue to be so.

To all the Palinistas in Indiana and elsewhere, thank you, and especially to Sarah Palin, thank you for all you have done. May God bless all of us as we continue fighting the good fight.

Christie 2012?

2011-09-28T09:16:00.001-04:00

The media was once again reporting that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was reconsidering a run for President in 2012. After delivering the keynote address at an event at the Reagan Library last night, Governor Christie alluded to a video of compiled clips featuring his many responses to the question of whether he will run for President. Here is the video:

The reason I write this is to once again reiterate what Governor Christie has always said: no, no, no, NO, NO, NO, and just in case you weren't paying attention, NO!!!

Are you listening, Ann Coulter?

The charm of newspapers

2011-09-23T11:20:00.000-04:00

So last night, I get a copy of the Detroit Free Press (remember a time when you could get a paper for 50¢ instead of $1?). The front page headline told the shocking story of a lawyer and his sons in their car when it exploded (car bomb), miraculously surviving the explosion (thank God) and federal agents wondering why the lawyer was the target. Page six of the front section featured an interesting article about Michigan Governor Rick Snyder calling obesity a threat to the future of the state's economy.

And, unsurprisingly, you might say, a look at the editorials and the opinion pieces offered a notable slant in favor of Barack Obama's latest jobs policy, with all but two of the letters to the editor going after Republicans with attacks on their collective intelligence, using class warfare rhetoric, and also the former Governor of Michigan, Jennifer Granholm, offering her defense of the President's jobs bill. I'm guessing the question now is why waste a dollar on a newspaper like that?

The answer is simple: I'm a sucker for traditional print newspapers.

For as long as I can remember, there has been a charm about newspapers I cannot resist, like one time I was on a field trip as a school kid. At a rest stop, while everybody else was getting candy or drinks, I went to get the latest edition of USA Today. Even after growing up and realizing most newspapers print garbage and have a slant in their coverage which goes against my own beliefs, the charm has not gone away. And especially whenever I travel, the charm is more potent, whether I'm in Iowa (The Des Moines Register) or Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) or elsewhere. Yes, I'm that big a sucker.

And so ends my latest rambling. Enjoy your paper.

The Truth About The Peace Process

2011-09-16T15:09:00.000-04:00

If you haven't seen the video on the truth about the West Bank, you need to, and if you have, here's another video featuring Israel's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Danny Ayalon, talking this time about the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians:

These are must-watch and must-share videos; I hope you tell others about them.

The Truth About The West Bank

2011-09-16T15:02:00.000-04:00

What do you know about the West Bank, hmm? That particular term, along with “occupied territories” has been used quite often and for quite some time. Thanks to Israel's deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Danny Ayalon, the truth about the West Bank has been presented:

Ohhhhh Brother No. 36: A “hopeful” endorsement

2011-09-16T14:17:00.000-04:00

Mitt Romney just received an endorsement of sorts from a former President, and no, it's not George W. Bush or his father, George H.W. Bush. It came from our 39th President, Jimmy Carter. How long will it be before Mitt mentions it on his website?

Speaking on MSNBC, the former President from Georgia expressed his hope the former Governor of Massachusetts will win the Republican nomination for Presdient. Of course, the former president had this to say:

Carter, a Democrat, added that he thinks Romney would lose in a match up against Obama, and that he supports the president's re-election. (emphasis mine)

So Mr. National Malaise wants Mitt Romney to win the Republican nomination, because he thinks Barack Obama could defeat him in 2012; gee, and all this time, I thought there wasn't any kind of ulterior motive behind Jimmah's expressed hope! How long will it be before Mitt posts that on his website?

Ohhhhh brother!

Now Isn't That Interesting, Chapter 42

2011-09-15T13:01:00.000-04:00

In 2008, Dennis Kucinich had to end his second run for President in order to hold onto his seat in Congress against primary contenders. Now, as 2012 approaches, the gentleman from Ohio will have to compete against one of his senior colleagues in the primaries if he is to remain a Congressman.

As a result of the state of Ohio needing to dissolve two of its Congressional districts, Congressman Kucinich's district, the 10th, was among those targeted for elimination, with much of his district to be merged with the state's neighboring 9th District, represented by fellow Democrat Marcy Kaptur, a nearly 30-year veteran of the House.

The fate of Kucinich's Congressional career took an interesting turn a while back when it was suggested he might move to another state and try to continue serving in Congress, but now that he is staying in Ohio, the arena has been set for a primary battle between Kucinich, who has been in office almost fifteen years, and Kaptur.

The latest turn in events is interesting to me only because of how rare a primary battle between long-serving incumbents are. It will be interesting to see what happens between Kucinich and Kaptur.

What to expect from Obama's new plan

2011-09-06T15:01:00.001-04:00

The President is supposed to have a plan announced this week intended to address the still high unemployment in the nation. What do I expect from all this?

To date, all the President has advocated is increased government spending, increased bureaucracies and the creation of more (thereby, an increase of the federal government), calls for bipartisanship while engaging in nothing but the most concerted partisanship, and vilifying those who have called for the limiting of government and cutting of the out-of-control spending. His defenders, for their part, have echoed the President (in both words and actions), especially in the vilifying of limited government advocates.

From what little I have heard of the President's new plan (so far, a mention of more so-called infrastructure spending), to call it a new plan is disingenuous. I don't expect anything but more of the same, more of the same political cliches, more of the same calls for throwing money at the problem (as well as relying on government for the solutions), more of the same disingenuous calls for bipartisanship and more of the same acts of demonizing of limited government advocates.

In other words, what I expect from all this is just more of the same.

Carson: The Latest Demonizer

2011-09-01T13:45:00.001-04:00

So, I'm able to use the computer at home again after a couple of weeks, and what do I discover on the Internet? One of my state's Congressmen has just taken the maligning of Tea Partiers to a new level.

Congressman Andre Carson of Indiana's 7th District (the city of Indianapolis) made some comments about the Tea Parties, using racial terms such as “Jim Crow” and claiming Tea Partiers want to see blacks treated as second-class citizens and lynched. The reaction from those of us who consider ourselves Tea Partiers and the like was naturally one of outrage, and unsurprisingly, the Congressman's response has been unapologetic.

What Congressman Carson has done is no different than what many on the Left have tried to do: castigate and demonize the Tea Parties as racist and divisive. It's simply another example of egregious behavior on the part of people like Congressman Carson, and since I don't expect anything from him or the Democrats remotely resembling an apology (a genuine apology), I call upon all of you who consider yourselves Tea Partiers, 9/12'ers and genuine, freedom-loving, America-loving patriots to contact Speaker John Boehner and respectfully demand Congressman Carson be censured for his comments.

You can call the Speaker's office at (202) 225-0600 and if you wish to send an e-mail, click here. As for Congressman Carson and the rest of his ilk, I say, nuts to you.

A million reasons

2011-07-04T08:32:00.000-04:00

Who better than John Wayne himself to explain why I love America, and what better time of year than this day, July 4th, to explain it?

My thanks to apicecream for the wonderful video, and I hope you all remember what America means to all of you as you celebrate this blessed day (and by the way, don't burn anything down with the fireworks, okay?)

Stand With Indiana

2011-06-29T06:21:00.001-04:00

Unsurprisingly, after the passage of the law here in Indiana defunding Planned Parenthood, actions were taken to stop it in the courts, and unfortunately, the Medicaid funds which were not supposed to go to Planned Parenthood have been restored.

Also unsurprisingly, the federal government played a role in this battle, even threatening to withdraw all Medicaid funds in order to help Planned Parenthood, a barbaric business which performs over half of the abortions in Indiana but only serves 1% of Medicaid patients, something highlighted by the good people at Live Action:

The idea Planned Parenthood offer services not available at close enough locations for Medicaid patients is proven to be a crock, not only in the video, but also by the state of Indiana, which notes the more than 800 Medicaid facilities found throughout the state. Cathie Humbarger of Indiana Right To Life further sets the record straight here.

Legislators here in Indiana did the right thing by passing the legislation, Governor Daniels did the right thing by signing the bill into law, and Indiana did the right thing by fighting to keep it intact in the courts. Pray my state has the backbone to take this fight as far as it can go, and stand with Indiana in this good fight.

Then and Now

2011-06-24T16:02:00.000-04:00

National Review published an article by a one Lafayette A. Hooser, which features the following paragraph:

The Right-to-Work law is a protection against laborism — the blind concentration of dictatorial power in the hands of a few irresponsible and self-perpetuating union bosses. Not many people in the labor movement want laborism, but they are getting it rammed down their throats anyway — as attested by the thousands and thousands of scribbled notes received by the McClellan Committee, notes from union members all over the country asking for protection from the union bosses. They are getting what they don’t want, because they are apathetic and afraid. They will not guard their freedoms. Every man, woman and child in America has a stake in the principle of free choice, in the towering importance of man’s right to get and hold a job without being forced into unwanted association and coerced payment of funds over which he has no control.

Well said, relevant to say the least, and very much the reason why I support Right-to-Work legislation (especially here in Indiana), but the most interesting about the article isn't what Mr. Hooser wrote, but rather when he wrote it. This article appeared in the June 17th issue of National Review...in 1961.

It's amazing to think fifty years ago, the issue of people wanting to work without having to join a union was alive and just as serious; it certainly shows just what the union fat cats (just as today) were trying to do then: hold onto their power any way they could.

Of great importance, however, is since the publishing of the article, union membership (the key to the unions' power) has decreased over the decades, to the point the union fat cats of today fear the potential of the Right-to-Work legislation like Dracula would fear the potential of a wooden stake through his heart (and also why they support Card Check legislation, which has the potential of resurrecting the power previously enjoyed).

The unions were supposed to be looking out for the working man against the fat cat employers, but as Mr. Hooser's article clearly showed fifty years ago, the union leaders were already becoming the very fat cats they claimed then (and still claim now) to be fighting. I think it's time to put the unions back in their place.

A Victory For Liberty

2011-06-24T15:29:00.000-04:00

The trial of Geert Wilders in his home country of the Netherlands ended yesterday with the Dutch statesman acquitted on all counts. Among those covering the trial who've written about this great news include Pamela Geller at Atlas Shrugs and Big Government, Robert Spencer at FrontPage and the people at Gates Of Vienna, all of them worth the read.

The right to speak freely in Europe has been preserved thankfully, but the trial continues to serve as a reminder of how perilous that freedom is. With hate speech laws over there combined with a bend-over-backwards appeasement mentality towards those who actually commit what is defined in Europe as the crime of hate speech, what was seen with Geert Wilders's trial (and also Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff's trial) is not an isolated incident.

May Geert Wilders and Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff continue fighting the good fight in Europe, and may others like them answer the call and continue fighting that fight.

On the decisions of some television networks

2011-06-07T13:26:00.000-04:00

In the last year or two, there has been a list of complaints over the actions of some cable channels, and I finally decided to vent my beef here:

Why is BBC America airing non-British programs like The X-Files, Star Trek: The Next Generation and soon the remake of Battlestar Gallactica? Even if British actors and actresses were involved in these shows as cast members, as an American, when I tune in to BBC America, it's because I want to see British television. As long as they were produced originally for British audiences to air on British tellies, it doesn't matter to me. Just don't give me American-produced shows originally aired for American audiences*; that's what CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX & PBS are for.
Why is the Cartoon Network airing live-action shows? It's a cable channel which by its very title implies it is a network which airs cartoons, and (I would expect) only cartoons. So why has the Cartoon Network, as part of its Adult Swim package, been producing and airing shows like Eagleheart and Children's Hospital, both live-action shows? I had the same problem for a time when another channel, Disney XD (formerly Toon Disney), began airing similar shows on what I thought was supposed to be a cartoon-only channel. Original programs are fine, but would it really kill them to produce and/or air only cartoons?
Why has the SciFi channel (or SyFy, thanks to some idiot's idea) aired wrestling? Doesn't matter what is entailed with the wrestling, why is wrestling being aired on a cable channel which is supposed to be airing programs and movies which have something to do with, I don't know, science fiction? They don't have to be even good science fiction, as long as it's just science fiction; maybe they could ask BBC America if they can air The X-Files, Star Trek: The Next Generation and the remake of Battlestar Gallactica.
Why has the Independent Film Channel (IFC) stopped airing films without commercial interruption and even (I suspect) uncut? In addition, why has IFC been producing original television shows? Whatever happened to the days when this particular channel would air uncut, commercial free, independent films? Seems like IFC has lost some of its independent streak.

If I did enough digging, I'm sure I could find more cable channels taking some strange decisions on their programming, but it does puzzle me why these channels have done what they have done. If they want to do a 180° turn on their programming, that's their choice, but it would be nice if they followed the path of channels like Disney XD and simply change their titles.

*To further highlight the programming decisions of BBC America, I thought an episode from the classic Are You Being Served? was in order:

Down With La Raza

2011-05-24T15:58:00.000-04:00

This is a video which should be seen by everybody:

The Blaze has more about the recent episode in Tucson, Arizona, and here's where you can go to support the efforts to try and defund La Raza.

Dick Lugar A Conservative? I Don't Buy That.

2011-05-23T22:12:00.001-04:00

Earlier today, talk radio host Gary Snyder ran a brief piece claiming Senator Dick Lugar is actually a conservative, something he tries to back up with a look at the Senator's record on Presidential appointments. Well, like it or not, Gary, Senator Lugar is not a conservative, and I know how such is the case: look at his record during his current term.

For starters, there was Lugar's support for the DREAM Act in 2007 (as a cosponsor) and again during the previous Congress (as one of the introducers). In 2009, he voted against two amendments, one which would've restored gun rights to residents of D.C., and the other involving concealed carry reciprocity. Senator Lugar later voted for the infamous S. 510 last year (the so-called Food Safety bill). These are only a few examples, but how many conservatives in the Senate would vote exactly as Senator Lugar here?

And, of course, there's his record with Presidential appointments. As Gary noted, when it comes to advising and consenting:

Senator Lugar has a solid record of doing just that, unless there are circumstances in an appointee’s background that Senator Lugar feels make him unqualified to serve.

Great, except how he concludes some of these appointments are qualified has been in question, especially when one considers the qualifications of such appointments as Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. It isn't a matter of liberal or conservative, but a matter of supporting those appointed officials who either strictly interpret the Constitution or legislate from the bench. Unfortunately, Senator Lugar seems too concerned about giving the President the benefit of the doubt.

Dick Lugar was doubtlessly a conservative Senator when he began serving in 1977, but since 2007, he has been anything but. In fact, his recent decisions to not support the DREAM Act and filibuster the nomination of Goodwin Liu show he knows he's in trouble with conservative voters here in Indiana and is trying to prove he has conservative credentials. Bottom line, Dick Lugar is no longer a conservative and needs to go in 2012.

(Update May 24th, 3:35 AM EDT): Unfortunately, thanks to some snafu from Blogger, this post came out unpolished, but I've smoothed out the rough edges.

Targeted: The 4th Amendment

2011-05-18T21:28:00.000-04:00

That's what it boils down to. Right here in Indiana, almost a week ago, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled that we don't have the right to resist the police when they come into our homes, even if they don't have warrants. The 4th Amendment to our national Constitution states otherwise, but that didn't seem to matter to the three justices who ruled in favor of infringing our rights as so stated.

Looking at what has also happened in Arizona and the city of Philadelphia, it's alarming to see that line being crossed, but it's particularly shocking to see this being given a carte blanche here in Indiana, of all places, and by the highest court in the state. I guess when it comes to my state, I didn't expect such a blatant infringement of my rights as an American.

Too bad those three idiots on the bench didn't follow the example of their colleagues at the Supreme Court.

A Victory For Life

2011-05-13T16:13:00.000-04:00

A milestone achievement took place earlier this week, and it was right here in Indiana. Governor Mitch Daniels signed into law Tuesday legislation which prevents state tax dollars from going to Planned Parenthood. Unsurprisingly, Planned Parenthood sought a restraining order to stop the implementation of the new law. Thankfully, their efforts were stopped dead in its tracks.

Needless to say, this is wonderful news, as now none of the tax money will go to businesses like Planned Parenthood that deal in the barbarism of abortion. And for those who think the possible departure of those facilities which will be directly affected by the new law means no health or family services for women, Indiana Right To Life is saying think again.

This has been a victory for life, pure and simple, and I hope this new law will have a ripple effect throughout America.

Never Again, Never Again

2011-05-05T13:48:00.001-04:00

The day to remember the victims of the Holocaust occurred earlier this week, but frankly it is important to remember no matter what time of year it is:

A Jewish writer (I don't know the name) wrote the following words* when describing (I am assuming here) the massacre of over 30,000 Jews at Babi Yar in the Ukraine:

(The Nazis) did not even realize that they were standing before so many precious unique human beings, devout believers and atheists, sad and joyful, good and bad, a carpenter, a banker, an apprentice.

The image of the little boy with his hands up in the air seen in the beginning of the video has always stayed with me. The look of fear so clear on his face seems to say it all, not only describing what he went through, but also the nightmare which visited so many millions like him.

May we always remember, and as for myself, I join with the Zionists when I say: Never again. Never again.

*The quotation came from a History Channel documentary series on the SS, in an episode on the Death's Head division. It was read during a portion devoted to the massacre at Babi Yar that took place in the final two days of September, 1941. Who wrote it and when is unknown to me.

Now Isn't That Interesting, Chapter 41

2011-04-25T14:59:00.000-04:00

The walkout committed weeks ago by Indiana's own Nancy Pelosi, State Representative Pat Bauer, and his Democrat colleagues in protest of the Right-to-Work bill on the legislative agenda, proved a success in that the legislation was removed from the agenda (the reason why I will never support Governor Mitch Daniels should he decide to run for President).

It turns out, however, there may have been some illegal activity at work here in this walkout. VotingFemale, a contributor at Texas for Sarah Palin, ran this post on her own website almost a week ago, and it is very much worth the read. It is quite interesting to say the least. What's more interesting is the fact the law which plays in this whole episode was a law sponsored by none other than Pat Bauer himself. Talk about nerve!

I don't know what will happen now (hopefully Bauer and his ilk are fried for it!), but this serves as a reminder of just who Pat Bauer, his cronies and their masters truly are.

On this day...

2011-04-24T12:31:00.000-04:00

What Sarah Palin has written for today describes my sentiments exactly:

Happy Easter
Easter is the celebration of what hope really means. In Jesus’ triumph over death through His Resurrection, we believe that death was defeated and hope became the expectation of eternal life with God.

Hope is the great driving force in many of our lives, and it has been the driving force in our country’s history. America has always had a strong sense that God’s providence is abundant, that no challenge can ever be too great and no enemy too strong. It was this hope that inspired us to carve a nation out of the wilderness, to appreciate opportunities to responsibly utilize nature’s resources, to engineer skyscrapers towering over our gleaming cities, and to fly to the moon.

As a country and as individuals, we can always have true hope to guide us. Our best days remain ahead of us. And working together we will leave this country to our children a better place than we received it from our parents.

On this blessed day let’s remember our Lord’s sacrifice that led to the Resurrection; and from the whole Palin family, have a wonderful Easter!

- Sarah Palin

For myself, I wish you all a blessed Easter and I hope you all have a great day today. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Hallelujah!

Good Friday

2011-04-22T15:10:00.000-04:00

Out here in this part of the world, it's been raining for much of the day amidst dreary skies. For a day like today, Good Friday, such weather is most appropriate.

For those of us who are of the Christian faith, we remember this day as the anniversary of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. I can certainly look on this day with joy and happiness for we know we have been forgiven of our sins through the sacrifice Christ made on the cross and His subsequent Resurrection, but on this day it is so difficult to think of joy or happiness.

No other day of the year provides a greater reminder, no other day brings home the message to me in such a painful manner as the fact that it was my crimes which caused His sacrifice to take place, that I, a miserable sinner, am responsible for the nails which went through each of His hands and both of His feet, for the unspeakable scourging He received and the crown of thorns forced upon His head, for the passion and death He had to endure.

The guilt I feel seems too great on this day to be able to feel the comfort of knowing I have been saved. Makes me yearn all the more for Sunday to come, when we celebrate the Resurrection. To conclude, I do get a feeling of consolation when I think about John 3:16:

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall receive everlasting life.

The Coming Shutdown

2011-04-08T21:44:00.000-04:00

The situation is quite simple: if a deal on a budget isn't reached between Republicans and Democrats in Congress by midnight, there will be a government shutdown. Democrats are trying to portray Republicans as not willing to compromise, and they are in particular demonizing Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin for his Path To Prosperity plan.

Here's an interesting question to the Democrats: Where's your budget plan? I know it's a question asked by just about everybody, and yet there's no answer from Harry Reid and his buddies. With all the spending done by the Obama administration since it began, it's galling to find the Democrats battling to cut as little spending as possible.

The Republican leadership for the most part hasn't been pursuing the kind of cuts I'd like to see (like what Senator Rand Paul, God bless him, has offered), but compared to the Democrats, what they offer to cut in the budget and in government spending is significantly more. What do the Democrats offer? The Democrats want compromise, but they expect the compromising to come from the Republicans.

As for Paul Ryan's budget plan, I've gone through it and it's a pretty good first step in trying to undo the economically threatening actions of the Democrats and reverse the years of increased government spending, but of course, the Democrats do nothing but claim with this plan, senior citizens will lose their Social Security and Medicare coverage. Too bad the Democrats haven't bothered to come up with an alternative plan while launching hyperbolic attacks against their opponents in Congress.

Bottom line, the Republicans are the ones trying to do their job (acting like adults), the Democrats are the ones behaving like brats, while trying to spin the possibility of a shutdown as a nightmare brought upon the American people by the Republicans. John Boehner and the Republicans need to stand firm against the Democrats, and they need to back Paul Ryan and his budget plan.

Now Isn't That Interesting, Chapter 40

2011-04-05T14:39:00.000-04:00

So after two and a half years of his idea of “hope” and “change”, Barack Obama has decided he will run for re-election in 2012:

Isn't that interesting. So nearly two and a half years of such government spending that makes what was spent under George W. Bush's watch look like a matter of overspending by pennies, increased government oversight unaccountable to our elected representatives, the attempted oppression of the free markets through ObamaCare and Cap-and-Trade, half-hearted actions while serving as Commander-in-Chief, the constant apologizing for our nation and the blatant disregard for the Constitution (among other things) warrant Barack Obama serving another four years in the White House? I find this Obama ad to be more truthful:

I've been waiting since January 20th, 2009 for real hope and real change to come. Can those of us who are of the conservative and libertarian persuasions achieve that change? Yes, we can. Yes, we can.

Hey Chicago, whaddya say?

2011-04-02T16:00:00.000-04:00

With the Cubs winning today's game against the Pirates, 5-3, this is a good time to be singing this song:

Go Cubs Go!

April Fools Day 2011

2011-04-01T18:30:00.000-04:00

What an April Fools Day this has been. I unleashed a joke aimed at Palin-haters and other leftists, and I'm not sure if it was a success. I see a blog post claiming Dick Lugar will drop out of the Senate race and become President of the Boy Scouts (what a way to get a guy's hopes up!).

And to top it all off, Opening Day for the Cubs was today. They had a nice ceremony, which included a moment of silence for the late Ron Santo and the people of Japan, and Robert Redford throwing the 1st pitch of the game. The game started well for the Cubs, leading 2-0 against the Pirates after three innings.

At church, we have a softball team and this year will be my fourth year with the team, and most of the losses we have had can be attributed to one reason: one bad inning. For the Cubs, it came in the top of the 5th, with the Pirates getting a grand slam and taking the lead, 4-2. Two innings later, the Pirates extended their lead thanks to a 2-run homer, and the Cubs only scored once later in the inning before the game ended in a 6-3 victory for the Pirates.

Well, it's not the first time the Cubs have started the season with a defeat, and it's never good when the Cubs lose at Wrigley Field, but it's only the beginning of the season; there's 161 games to go, and anything can happen. Go Cubs Go!

I hope you all have been enjoying the day.

Sarah Palin Will Pose For PLAYBOY!

2011-04-01T10:44:00.001-04:00

This news just came out yesterday, and it just completely overwhelms me!

Well, it looks like the bear rug will be serving a bigger purpose after all, as Sarah Palin is going to pose for Playboy magazine in this year's June issue, according to a spokesman for the magazine:

April Fools!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

C'mon! You didn't really think Sarah would pose for Playboy, did you?! I certainly hope you weren't thinking that; I mean, you're not that big of a sucker, are you? You're not the type to buy into the hoopla normally seen on The Huffington Post, or Little Green Footballs, or Mudflats, or Weekly World News, do you?

It couldn't have been because you were appeasing your animal lusts by clicking on the link, was it?

Well, to those of you who fell for the sensational headline, be sure to get your next issue of the National Enquirer (somebody's getting a divorce somewhere!), and to those of you who have nothing better to do, enjoy your day, perverts!

And to my fellow Palinistas, I hope you guys get the point of the joke.

Planned Parenthood's Lies Exposed: What Else Is New?

2011-03-30T10:01:00.000-04:00

Supporters of the nefarious Planned Parenthood claim they provide more than abortion services, like mammograms. Too bad nobody said that to staffers at 30 different Planned Parenthood facilities:

Planned Parenthood gets $350 million in taxpayer funding every year, and they are apparently willing to hold onto that money any way they can, even lying about they provide. I can't say I'm surprised.

What's Going On In Libya?

2011-03-28T11:41:00.000-04:00

When it comes to Libya, I either hear people crying hysterically for intervention or crying hysterically for non-intervention, when what I would like to hear, I mean really like to hear, is who the hell is fighting the Qaddafi regime. It doesn't matter if it's Sarah Palin or Ron Paul, Michael Reagan or Justin Amash, their calls for action do nothing but frustrate me, as none of them seem to know who is fighting whom over there.

Every search I conduct on the Internet results in little (if any) info on just what the opposition over there consists of. One piece which addresses the identity of the opposition, though, comes from Byron York of The Washington Examiner, which focuses on one leader who previously defended the Taliban against our troops in Afghanistan, and claimed to have recruited 25 jihadists to fight our troops in Iraq. The piece also focuses on the group this leader is said to be a member of, and its relationship with al-Qaeda.

Whether groups like the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group make up the whole or even most of the opposition to Qaddafi is still not known for sure, but the evidence presented by Mr. York is disturbing. Thanks to President Obama, we are now involved in the situation in Libya, and it's quite possible we're helping forces out there who not only may be far worse than Qaddafi ever was, but who may have fought and killed our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq after 9/11. That's unacceptable to me if such is the case.

It's bad enough President Obama has been a worthless Commander-in-Chief (I keep thinking of what I read about how Jimmy Carter did during a hostage crisis in Iran), but the mess he's in is going to get worse if it turns out radical Islamists in Libya are getting assistance from us.

Act! For America (Episode Six)

2011-03-23T11:36:00.000-04:00

Here's the latest episode from Act! For America's new television program:

The guest in this episode is Dr. Tawfik Hawid, and the discussion is on the need for the genuine reformation of Islam. There is also featured in the episode a story on the couple who began the Nashville, Tennessee chapter of the organization.

Good news for Rifqa's rescuers

2011-03-20T19:38:00.000-04:00

If you're not familiar with the story of Rifqa Bary, an 18-year old Muslim convert to Christianity, Pamela Geller has been covering her harrowing story from the beginning at Atlas Shrugs, and in her latest blog post about Rifqa, Ms. Geller wrote of good news involving the people who helped rescue her from her family.

Ms. Geller reports the people who helped Rifqa will not be facing criminal charges for helping her, thank God. The only battle still being waged in regards to Rifqa that I know of involves a $10 million dollar lawsuit filed by the lawyer for Rifqa's parents against Ms. Geller.

For once, radical Islam has been dealt a defeat, and I'm very thankful for the good news. God bless and keep Rifqa Bary and her rescuers.

As Strange As It Can Get

2011-03-20T19:19:00.000-04:00

When you have the bureaucracy which oversees website domains on the Internet presenting a new domain designed specifically for pornographic websites, and you have not only religious groups, but also pornographers standing in opposition, the title of this blog post is as adequate a description as can be!

The Blaze has the story out on the opposition to the new domains:

Religious groups argue that giving adult websites their own corner of the Internet legitimizes the content.

Pornographers worry it will ghettoize their sites. Although it’s meant to be voluntary, they fear governments could try to mandate the domain’s use, so that pornographic content is more easily blocked.

There's no specifics given in the article as to what these religious groups are, and the only group associated with the pornographers mentioned is known as the Free Speech Coalition, but it is interesting to see this opposition. It's also interesting to read about the main proponent of the new domains, primarily because the man in question would stand to make quite a bit of money from it:

ICM Registry and its CEO, Stuart Lawley, who has led the fight for ICANN’s approval of “.xxx,“ stand to profit handsomely from the rollout of ”.xxx” websites – because he will be in charge of collecting fees for the use of the new domains.

$60 a year for each domain name (when domain names are said to be no more than $10 a year), and half a million such names expected to be purchased; no wonder this man is in favor of the new domains.

Well, it's interesting to say the least, and I can't say I know what to make of all this. What say you?

Ohhhhh Brother No. 35: Amtrak Smamtrak

2011-03-20T16:25:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, as reported by The Daily Caller, a ceremony was held in Wilmington, Delaware, where an Amtrak train station was renamed in honor of our current Vice President, Joe Biden.

The CEO of Amtrak, Joe Boardman, made his way to Wilmington by train, and all was right with the world, it would seem. Except the train he was riding was stuck in Baltimore. In the end, as the article continues, Boardman had to take a car to get to the ceremony.

Ohhhhh brother!

I must say, this couldn't have turned out better (or funnier!) if the Vice President, the gaffe master himself, had unwittingly caused the delay! Considering the Vice President has been a strong proponent of funding for Amtrak and high-speed rail, I can't think of a better event for this funny story to be connected to than a ceremonial renaming of a stimulus-funded train station after Joe Biden.

Grassroots News Minute (Mar. 18th)

2011-03-18T03:49:00.000-04:00

On this occasion...

2011-03-17T16:34:00.000-04:00

...I couldn't think of a better way to say happy St. Patrick's Day to all of you, including those of you with a little Irish or a little luck o’ the Irish, than with a greeting from Jeff Dunham and his friend, Bubba J:

Tá Lá Fhéile Pádraig Shona libh go léir!

Act! For America

2011-03-15T07:21:00.000-04:00

For those who may not know, the organization Act! For America has begun its own television program. So far, five episodes have been aired, and here is the fifth episode:

The episode features Frank Gaffney of the Center for Security Policy, looks at what Sharia law is all about, and the efforts to stop the Ground Zero mosque. You can see the first four episodes here (1, 2, 3, 4), as well as the organization's YouTube channel, and here's also an introduction from Brigitte Gabriel if you're not familiar with Act! For America:

Grassroots News Minute (Mar. 11th)

2011-03-15T06:23:00.000-04:00

If you haven't been to the NRA's Annual Meetings and Exhibits, you gotta be there! Acres of guns and tens of thousands of like-minded people who believe in our rights as stated in the Second Amendment to the Constitution; it's always worth the trip!

A Part-time Monk

2011-03-12T07:27:00.000-05:00

I read this story at The Blaze, and I thought I was sacrificing for Lent!

An Illinois man named J. Wilson has resolved to give everything up except water and a special kind of beer during Lent, and no, this isn't some kind of stunt, but something he has been looking into and has been consulting with his pastor on.

The story mentions his interest in an alcoholic brew which was used by monks in ancient times, described as “liquid bread”. He also has been documenting his experience at this blog.

Considering the potential health risk from not eating any food between now and Easter, I hope he will be alright. I further hope he succeeds, and that he doesn't forget what the purpose of Lent is for.

Ash Wednesday

2011-03-09T13:17:00.000-05:00

Today marks the beginning of Lent, and prior to becoming a Lutheran, I knew just about nothing when it came to Lent, or what this day is supposed to be about. It's amazing how little they are taught in some Christian denominations.

And for this year, I have given up something during Lent; no, in the case of Lutherans, it's not a requirement (in case you were wondering). Hopefully, it won't become a shallow thing on my part.

It's a shame I didn't learn about Ash Wednesday and Lent sooner.

Now Isn't That Interesting, Chapter 39

2011-03-09T08:43:00.000-05:00

So, after all the campaigning Barack Obama did on behalf of overhauling the health care system in favor of government-run care, it turned out he's given several hundred waivers to companies and organizations, sparing them from having to participate in this overhaul. How interesting, but it gets better.

Matthew Boyle, writing at The Daily Caller, notes what has happened since Congressman Fred Upton of Michigan began looking into the process of these waiver selections:

In fact, since Upton first requested documentation from Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in late January, the administration has issued 307 more Obamacare waivers, 47 of which for labor unions.

Mr. Boyle also notes of the total 1,040 waivers given so far, 269 have gone to labor unions. Now isn't that interesting.

I was under the impression that ObamaCare was such a great thing! I mean, after all, this was the issue the President staked the success and legacy of his administration on, so why all the waivers? And why nearly three hundred of them to labor unions? It might be because the labor unions already have such a sweet deal with their health plans, but isn't ObamaCare the best thing for everybody?

I guess ObamaCare isn't all it's cracked up to be, is it? I guess the labor unions, because they're in tight with the President, got off lucky, didn't they? Isn't that interesting.

Who's Really Hurting The Middle Class?

2011-03-09T07:18:00.001-05:00

The argument of the unions in their battles with state legislatures in three states can be summed up perhaps in one simple claim: the government is hurting the middle class.

What I find interesting about the whole thing, especially in regards to Wisconsin and Ohio, is the fact these states are in dire financial straits, and they need to cut their budgets. They are broke, and they need to cut the spending; it's that simple. The public employee unions, on the other hand (the fat cat leaders, I should say), don't really care about the budgetary problems. They care only about their own nest eggs and the power they have through collective bargaining.

So what is the state of Wisconsin, for instance, supposed to do, just keep spending and hope it'll all turn out okay? Thankfully, Governor Scott Walker is doing nothing of the kind, but because of the standoff engineered by the unions, he is forced to layoff state employees. I guess if it's beneficial to the cause of the fat cat labels, the layoff of public employees is an okay thing, is that it?

Naturally, the unions will spin that around and portray it as the middle class suffering from all this, but I ask you, what's the alternative? Raise taxes? Increase rates for public services? Push all of this onto the local governments and let them deal with it? Just because the union fat cats want to continue receiving the huge salaries and pensions they get from the state, that the state can no longer afford?

Who's really hurting the middle class here? Do you wonder now why I despise the unions?

175 Years Ago Today,

2011-03-06T17:08:00.000-05:00

Over 180 men gave their lives at an old mission-turned-fort known as the Alamo, fighting for the independence of Texas against thousands of Mexican soldiers under the personal command of the ruling dictator Santa Anna, ending a siege which lasted thirteen days.

The day after the siege began, the commander of the Alamo garrison, Colonel William Barret Travis, sent a letter asking for help. What was eloquently written that day in 1836 has never been forgotten:

Very little is known of the men who fought there, which included the legendary Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie (even the number of men who were there is not known with absolute certainty), but their courage and sacrifice gave Sam Houston the time he needed to train an army to fight and defeat Santa Anna, thus securing independence for Texas.

Writing for the great John Wayne film The Alamo, screenwriter James Edward Grant wrote the following words for Sam Houston, “I hope they remember. I hope Texas remembers.” May we always remember.

Grassroots News Minute (Mar. 4th)

2011-03-05T12:04:00.000-05:00

Marlin Stutzman: “stop worrying about politics”

2011-03-03T07:39:00.000-05:00

This past Monday, my Congressman, Marlin Stutzman, spoke on the ABC News webcast Top Line about the battle over budget cuts in the House:

Note to Jonathan Karl: It's not Fort Wayne, it's Howe, Indiana! Anyway, what the Congressman was spot on. The goal here is trying to stop the spending and shrink the size of government, not playing politics. I certainly hope enough Republicans in the House (and the Senate) will remember that, or face, as Congressman Stutzman noted, “the political wrath of the American people”.

Election Day isn't too far away.

Chutzpah in Harlem

2011-03-03T07:29:00.001-05:00

WPIX out of New York had this story about a play on 9/11 not being performed in Harlem due to who was promoting this particular venue:

Something about the people behind the Ground Zero mosque promoting a performance of a play about the victims of 9/11 smacks of what the Jews would call chutzpah, in my opinion. Pamela Geller, who was interviewed in the video, has more at Atlas Shrugs.

Another Reason To Love Capitalism

2011-03-02T12:47:00.001-05:00

So a girl finds out her boyfriend has been cheating on her, he leaves and also leaves behind his stuff, so what does the girl do? She sells them on eBay using quite an alluring marketing strategy!

A girl from Florida known as Taylor has been selling her ex's stuff online, and she's been modeling the stuff (clothes, so far) through poses featuring little clothing on her at all. This ended up getting the attention of national news, including an article in the New York Post. She has since set up a website with a wonderfully fitting name.

I've read the article, visited the site (how could I resist?) and saw the items currently up for sale (pricey, but not too high), and I say kudos to Taylor. I'm glad she's moving forward from her break-up with the idiot (he must have been an idiot judging by what I've seen on the website!), I think it's poetic justice she is selling her ex's stuff, it's brilliant marketing on her part to sell them the way she has, and I hope this sexy young woman makes a boatload of cash with her enterprise!

Oh yeah, I love capitalism.

Now Isn't That Interesting, Chapter 38

2011-02-27T15:21:00.000-05:00

Like President, like Chief of Staff, I guess.

No sooner has Rahm Emanuel been elected Mayor of what was very recently his new place of residence than news has come about that a co-chair of his transition team had to resign over revelations she had to leave her old job due to ethics violations, according to Doug Powers (writing at Michelle Malkin's blog).

How interesting. Just like a number of appointees in the Obama administration who had to resign over various skeletons in their respective closets, the soon-to-be Mayor has begun losing appointees. Makes me wonder how many more will have to resign within the first year of Emanuel's administration.

Grassroots News Minute (February 25th)

2011-02-25T05:43:00.000-05:00

Right from the Wisconsin playbook

2011-02-23T12:44:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, in an effort to block Right-to-Work legislation here in Indiana, most of the House Democrat legislators in the General Assembly have left Indiana to another state, namely one with a Democrat Governor so as to prevent being returned to Indiana (according to The Indianapolis Star).

Just like Senate Democrats in Wisconsin, Indiana House Democrats, led by Pat Bauer, are resorting to desperate measures to thwart good legislation, to the joy of their union masters. Unfortunately, unlike Wisconsin's Governor Scott Walker, Governor Mitch Daniels hasn't exactly shown a will to fight this battle with the Democrats, stating his opinion the Right-to-Work legislation should've been decided at a later time.

Now may not have been the right time for the legislation to be decided on, since our economic situation is not as dire as in Wisconsin and there are other matters needed to be dealt with here in Indiana, but the battle over the right to work has begun here in Indiana, whether Governor Daniels likes it or not, and he should stand with Speaker Brian Bosma and the Republican members of the House. If the good guys in this fight back down now, Democrats could resort to similar measures on other bills they deeply oppose but cannot stop.

As Chicago Turns, The Soap Opera Ends

2011-02-23T12:04:00.000-05:00

Buried amidst the news of the battles with the unions in Wisconsin and Indiana were the results of the mayoral race in Chicago last night, in which Rahm Emanuel, with 86% of the precincts reported, was declared the winner with 55%, more than enough to avoid a runoff election.

His closest competitor, it turned out, was Gery Chico, who had 24% and Carol Moseley Braun tied for third with 9%. In other words, an uneventful finish to what had been largely an uneventful race, with a so-called resident of Chicago becoming the next Mayor.

Well, if there's a lesson to be had, it's this: don't watch soap operas; they're just not worth it!

I Support The Right To Work

2011-02-21T21:04:00.000-05:00

During the past week, there's been a lot of coverage on the battle in the Wisconsin Senate over budget cuts, which has resulted in labor unions converging on the Statehouse in Madison in protest and counter-protests from Tea Partiers, as well as Democrat members of the Senate hiding in Illinois in order to stop Governor Scott Walker's agenda, and Governor Walker refusing to budge.

This week, similar battles have begun in neighboring Ohio and here in Indiana. In my state, the fight is over two pieces of legislation: one is HB 1468, which enables a worker to not have to join or pay dues to any union to keep their job, and the other is SB 575, which deals with the collective bargaining capabilities of teachers. Today saw unions protesting these Right-to-Work bills in Indianapolis (although a Facebook friend of mine noted there weren't as many as projected).

First off, let me start by saying I stand with the efforts of legislators in my state and elsewhere to pass Right-to-Work legislation. Over the years, I have seen how the labor unions use their bargaining power to screw businesses over while still looking like the heroic underdogs. I see people like Richard Trumka and Andy Stern, and I see the real fat cats in America, not the business titans constantly maligned as such.

The individual states are facing severe economic problems and are attempting to solve them, while the labor unions (with the help of the Obama administration) are trying to stop the states from solving the problems. These unions are not looking out for their members by their actions, but for themselves and their own nest eggs. When it comes especially to the teachers' unions, Pamela Geller describes the situation so well just in the title of one of her blog posts alone: Free lunch vs. Free people.

Another reason I particularly support HB 1468 is the fact the bill enables me, as a worker, to decide for myself if I want to join a union or not. The idea I would have to join a union in order to either keep my job or have a job brings about the rage of the inner libertarian in me. I don't want to be told by some union thug I have to join his club or pay dues in order to keep working; that's unacceptable under any circumstances.

I stand with Governor Walker, with Governor John Kasich of Ohio, with the courageous legislators who have the spine to wage the fight to pass Right-to-Work legislation, and with my fellow Hoosiers, Ohioans, Wisconsinites and all other Americans committed to the right to work, committed to breaking the stranglehold of the labor unions, committed to independence and not dependence.

Ohhhhh Brother No. 34: The name's the thing!

2011-02-12T10:53:00.000-05:00

What's in a name? With this story, a helluva lot.

A government center in nearby Fort Wayne, Indiana is about to be renamed, and a majority voted online to rename the building after a former mayor of Fort Wayne from decades ago. Of course, despite the vote for this former mayor, city officials have decided not to honor the wishes of the majority. Why, you may ask? The mayor's name was Harry Baals (pronounced balls).

That's right. Harry Baals. For some reason, city officials just don't like the idea of renaming a government building the Harry Baals Center. I guess it's because it might make them look like fools, although since we're talking about a government building, it sounds great to me! In any case, it's what the people want, so what's wrong with it? The former mayor's son mentioned he was known as H.W., so why not name it the H.W. Baals Center?

Unsurprisingly, the story itself has found its way onto the national stage, as WANE-TV in Fort Wayne has reported (with much thanks to Wyatt Earp on the heads up), and apparently they're quite happy with all the national attention given to their city:

"Anytime we get an opportunity to let people know we're here, we're on the map, and what we're doing I think is a good thing," said Fort Wayne Deputy Mayor Beth Malloy.

This deputy Mayor has pie on her face from this story, and it's a good thing to her since it puts Fort Wayne on the map; ohhhhh brother! The things bureaucrats say these days.

Happy Birthday, President Lincoln

2011-02-12T09:39:00.000-05:00

(Note: I wrote this post one year ago today to pay tribute to our 16th President. What I wrote then continues to describe accurately my own regard for the man. Happy birthday, Mr. President.)

We reached our new home about the time the State came into the Union. It was a wild region, with many bears and other wild animals still in the woods. There I grew up.
- Abraham Lincoln on Indiana

To know our 16th President spent fourteen years of his life, the formative years of his life, in Indiana causes a bit of a surge in my Hoosier pride. An individual uploaded a tribute video to Abraham Lincoln two years ago, and it's a wonderful tribute to one of our great Presidents:

One thing I still remember very clearly were the many portraits taken of Abraham Lincoln during the last six years of his life. It was truly shocking to see how the job of President had taken such a toll on him, from looking like a man in his late forties when he took office in 1861 (he was 52 at the time) to looking like a frail old man in his sixties (he wasn't yet 56). The Civil War, admittedly, heightened the burden, but it's no less shocking; only a strong-willed man could've handled the job ahead. Thank God for Abraham Lincoln.

(My deep thanks to Manny535 for creating this superb video)

Grassroots News Minute (February 11th)

2011-02-12T09:25:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday, Sarah!

2011-02-11T14:03:00.008-05:00

Governor, I wish you a happy 47th birthday, and may all your future birthdays turn out wonderful. I thank you for everything you have done, and always remember you have the support of many people throughout America, including myself. Happy birthday, ma'am, and God bless all of you.

And for everyone else, with today being Sarah Palin's 47th birthday, take a look at 47 Reasons Governor Palin is Qualified to Be President! (much thanks to Whitney Pitcher for the post)

(Cross-posted from Hoosiers For Sarah Palin)

Remembering A Hero

2011-02-11T08:31:00.000-05:00

First of all, my deep thanks to Wayne Allyn Root for sharing the story on Facebook, and for myself, I don't understand why this story was lost in all the coverage of the latest updates coming out of Egypt.

Almost a month ago, a 13-year old Australian boy gave his life in an effort to save his family from rising flood waters. Although described as not being able to swim and afraid of the water, the boy, Jordan Rice, went in to get his brother and mother out, and when rescuers arrived, he told them to “save my brother first”. Sadly, after saving his brother, they were unable to save Jordan or his mother Donna, who let go of the tree she was holding onto to save her son when he was unable to hold on any longer.

While the rest of the world has seemed to have completely ignored what has been happening in Australia, thankfully Jordan and Donna are being remembered rightly as the heroes they were in their country, and there is also a Facebook page up for people to pay tribute to their actions. My thoughts and prayers are with their family and friends, and the rescuers at Toowoomba (may any guilt they feel be lifted off their shoulders), as are those Australians affected by the floods.

May Jordan and Donna rest in peace, and may they never be forgotten.

Planned Parenthood Exposed In New York

2011-02-09T09:14:00.000-05:00

It was proven in New Jersey and at multiple locations in Virginia, but in case you still want more proof, here's another example of Planned Parenthood workers aiding sex traffickers, this time in New York City.

Lila Rose of Live Action wrote about it at Big Government, and Live Action has the full footage available of the event which took place in the Bronx (as well as all of their undercover visits in New Jersey and Virginia).

It's horrifying as more and more evidence turns up exposing Planned Parenthood as an accessory in sex trafficking. As Miss Rose puts it:

Planned Parenthood has poured millions of dollars (many of them taxpayer dollars) into carefully crafting a positive public image. They like to brand themselves as the “trusted provider of women’s health care.” But Planned Parenthood’s real agenda is emerging: in its daily operations, the organization is rigidly pro-abortion and pro-abuser, enabling the victimization of young girls by partnering with their abusers.

If you haven't bookmarked Live Action, do so; the information it possesses is nothing short of astounding.

“Implementation will continue”

2011-02-09T08:50:00.000-05:00

I suppose I should've seen this coming; all of us opposed to President Obama's attempted takeover of the health care system should've seen this coming. What outrages me a little bit about this is the scant attention given to this update.

Bill Wilson of Americans For Limited Government wrote at the blog NetRight Daily this past Monday:

On January 31st, when Judge Roger Vinson declared the individual mandate of ObamaCare to be unconstitutional, he also determined that the legislation could not be severed from the rest of the legislation, nullifying the entire law. This means that, unless and until a higher court stays or overturns Judge Vinson’s decision, ObamaCare is no longer the law of the land.

In other words, the implementation of ObamaCare should be stopping right now, yet three paragraphs later, Mr. Wilson related the response of the Obama administration:

Instead, the Obama Administration has responded with sheer arrogance. “Implementation will continue,” wrote White House Adviser Stephanie Cutter on the Administration’s blog. And surely it has. Call it the rule of Obama.

Yes, Mr. Wilson, that's what it is, the rule of Obama. The ruling in Florida is a ruling coming from the highest court in the land to address ObamaCare to date, and that apparently hasn't stopped President Obama from continuing to impose government control of the nation's health care system. This should serve as reason enough to say NO to four more years of Barack Obama come November of next year.

What I Got From Super Bowl XLV

2011-02-07T12:38:00.001-05:00

I saw a hard-fought game between the Packers and the Steelers throughout. It turned out much the same way as the NFC Championship between the Packers and the Bears, right down to even the ending.

There were more funny Super Bowl ads than last year (although there were a few ads I found to be either weird or just downright unfunny!). Budweiser was 4-for-4 on its ads (especially the first two), Best Buy also had a good one, but the funniest for me came from Snickers:

The Black Eyed Peas performed at the Super Bowl halftime show. I didn't watch it (I'm no fan), but from the feedback I saw on Twitter, it was leaning more towards disappointment. How about Sara Evans or Brad Paisley (or both)? Is anybody at the NFL paying attention?

Finally, I was delighted at the Packers victory. As I said before, it turned out a lot like the NFC Championship two weeks ago, where the Packers started out strong (at least in scoring) in the 1st half, but in the 3rd quarter, struggled against the Steelers' comeback. Their offense, however, got their act together during the final quarter, ensuring a nail-biting end and a 31-25 victory. Congratulations, Green Bay!

Thank You, Ronald Reagan

2011-02-06T23:57:00.000-05:00

To start with, I don't know where to begin in writing a worthy tribute to Ronald Reagan on the occasion of his 100th birthday. I've been having a hard time trying to come up with something decent, and with such excellent tributes written by Humberto Fontova, Michelle Malkin, and especially my former Congressman Mark Souder, it seems unnecessary for me to write one. But Ronald Reagan was a great President and a good man; I feel like I owe him something.

What I can say about the man is well known to everybody; he was a good actor, a great speaker, a man of strong convictions, sound conservative principles, and a strong faith, one of the best Governors the state of California ever had (although not too many Californians have realized that, it seems), one of the finest Presidents in the 20th century (if not all time), one of the three major players responsible for bringing down the Evil Empire otherwise known as the Soviet Union, an eternally optimistic man who believed in the exceptionalism of Americans, and above all, a regular guy.

My earliest memories of President Reagan aren't much; just a warm, grandfatherly face, the face of somebody important (though I didn't knew how or why at the time). With what I've learned about him in the years since, I find the fact I was born during his first term as President as a point of pride. I regard the the fact I am a Reagan Baby to be a badge of honor. I thank God for placing Ronald Reagan at the right place and at the right time.

Thank you, President Reagan, for giving us the faith and optimism to resolve the problems we had to confront and have to confront now. You will never be forgotten.

What do I expect from Super Bowl XLV?

2011-02-06T07:10:00.001-05:00

Well, other than a hard-fought game between the Steelers and the Packers, I expect:

A lot of funny commercials. Super Bowl XLIV was memorable for a shortage of truly funny commercials. Except for a Doritos ad featuring a kid giving an ultimatum to her mom's beau and a Snickers ad featuring Betty White, I can't recall much at all by way of funny ads. Very disappointing.
A decent halftime show. Last year's show with The Who was truly disappointing, and has been the latest in a string of disappointing or just downright worthless shows which have been held during the halftime of the greatest football game to ever be played; the last time I enjoyed a halftime show was when Paul McCartney played there. I don't know who will be playing at this year's show, but is it too much to ask for something good?
A Packers win. For personal reasons, I'll be rooting for the Packers during the Super Bowl. Hopefully, they'll do a better job in the 2nd half than they did in the NFC Championship against the Bears. They played a solid 1st half in that game, then faltered somewhat in the 2nd half while still withstanding the Bears’ short-lived comeback. The Steelers fared about the same during the AFC Championship against the Jets, but needless to say, the Steel Curtain is no pushover. All the best to you guys in Green Bay; Go Packers!

I look forward to this year's Super Bowl!

Update (Feb. 7th, 11:54 AM EST): Thanks to a commenter, I realized I had made a mistake about when Randall Terry's graphic ads would air; they're supposed to air during next year's NFL playoffs. I have since removed the section on Randall Terry, with my apologies.

Hoosiers For Sarah Palin: Our Time Of Choosing

2011-02-05T18:53:00.001-05:00

I wrote this post at my new blog:

Hoosiers For Sarah Palin: Our Time Of Choosing

It's my 2¢ on Sarah's speech from last night which she gave at the Reagan Ranch in Santa Barbara, California, on occasion of the Centennial Celebration of Ronald Reagan. If you haven't seen this speech, you need to SEE IT!

Reagan/Palin Appreciation Month

2011-02-04T11:02:00.000-05:00

(This was posted originally at Hoosiers For Sarah Palin.)

If you're not aware, there is an effort to going on to remember our 40th President, Ronald Reagan, on his centennial, and our future President (God willing), Sarah Palin, known as Reagan/Palin Appreciation Month.

Begun as a response to the actions of some columnists in the media trying (and failing) to conduct a Palin-free month in their work, this effort has blossomed into a celebration of what both the late President and the former Governor were and are, what they have accomplished, and what they stand for.

If you wish to participate in this celebration, then please head over to this site and sign the petition. If you also wish, you can send an e-mail requesting your blog to become a sponsor (just click on the button CONTACT PETITION SPONSOR featured below the list of sponsors to the right of the petition).

It's a great opportunity on this month to celebrate two great individuals, the Great Communicator and the Arctic Fox!

Planned Parenthood Exposed In Virginia

2011-02-04T07:06:00.001-05:00

For some people who might think what happened at the Planned Parenthood facility in New Jersey was an isolated incident, take a look at this video of another PP facility in Richmond, Virginia, where a worker there does the exact same thing:

This isn't just isolated incidents being shown here; this is happening all over the nation at Planned Parenthood facilities, and it needs to stop.

Here's also a must-see video of Lila Rose speaking on Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor (much thanks to the Susan B. Anthony List for the video):

Update (4:18 PM EST): There is more video footage of two other clinics in Roanoke and Charlottesville, Virginia from Live Action, which can be found at Big Government.

Planned Parenthood, Where's The Responsibility?

2011-02-02T09:34:00.001-05:00

With the release of video footage taken at the Planned Parenthood clinic by Live Action, Planned Parenthood has tried to strike back by claiming the whole thing is a hoax. Yet with the very recent firing by Planned Parenthood of the worker featured in the video footage, Lila Rose puts it best:

Why did PP fire her if they claim video is a "hoax" and they had already reported abuse?

Going through the article linked by Miss Rose, there was a section which caught my attention:

"If these visits are part of a ‘dirty tricks’ campaign, they must be condemned," said Stuart Schear, a Planned Parenthood federation vice president. "Falsely claiming sex trafficking to health professionals to advance a political agenda is an astoundingly cynical form of political activity."

Okay, so let's see if I get this right: the people at Planned Parenthood call what Live Action did a hoax, then reported the information to the Attorney General roughly two weeks after it happened, followed by the firing of the worker featured in the video just last night, and yet they condemn Live Action for “an astoundingly cynical form of political activity”?

If Planned Parenthood knew about possible underage sex abuse on the first day, why didn't they report it to the Attorney General on the first day? Why wait approximately 13 days before reporting it? Why fire the worker almost three weeks after it happened? Judging by the video, the lack of obligation the worker felt in not reporting possible sex abuse and the delayed reaction of Planned Parenthood, I'd sooner suspect Planned Parenthood of trying to cover its bases amidst more scandal.

As Lila Rose also puts it: “PP, you can't have it both ways.”

Update (1:10 PM EST): Live Action released a statement on Planned Parenthood's recent actions.

Planned Parenthood Exposed (Again)

2011-02-02T06:17:00.000-05:00

The pro-life group Live Action recently released video footage of a sting on a Planned Parenthood worker in New Jersey willing to help members of an underage sex ring, even going to the point of showing how to bypass regulations in order to get tested and have abortions:

Live Action has the unedited footage in two videos, totaling 22 minutes and 33 seconds:

This is nefarious, and I cannot say I am surprised by this. Thank you, Lila Rose, and everybody at Live Action for your courage in continuing to expose the truth about this barbaric business.

The snow is coming

2011-01-31T20:21:00.000-05:00

While there's been much coverage on the unrest in Egypt and the ObamaCare ruling in Florida, here in Indiana, we're looking at a big snowstorm for the next few days.

Up to two feet of snow is expected, and there's been a rush to get the necessary items in preparation. My own parents also did a little stocking up on food, and noted in the two places they went, they were packed with people.

I also saw maps of the weather forecast, and needless to say, it looks like a tidal wave is fast approaching my area. We're all as prepared as can be, so all I can say is: Bring on the tidal wave!

First Virginia, now Florida

2011-01-31T20:14:00.000-05:00

The ruling in Virginia was a noted victory for We the People, but the ruling in Florida is an even bigger victory.

A judge named Roger Vinson, for the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Florida, ruled the mandate requiring individuals to get health coverage unconstitutional. According to The Wall Street Journal, this ruling is more important than the Virginia ruling because Judge Vinson also ruled the entire ObamaCare law must be declared void since the mandate is “not severable” from the rest of the law.

This is a major victory for two reasons: 1) the ruling by Judge Vinson in Florida puts the entire law potentially on the cutting block and 2) not only was Florida involved, but so was 25 other states as well (including my own state of Indiana), so this was seen as a titanic struggle between the federal government and state's rights.

The fight isn't over, as the ruling is also seen as a guarantee of the case going all the way to the Supreme Court. Nevertheless, as was in Virginia, the ruling in Florida brings considerable hope that we're on the way out of the darkness of the Obama administration.

Much thanks to former Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum and current Attorney General Pam Bondi for leading the way, and also to the other Attorneys General (including my own, Greg Zoeller) for joining in the fight.

More from The Daily Caller

2011-01-30T22:26:00.000-05:00

Once again, a few headlines you just can't make up:

Little diversity among this year’s Oscar nominees
Apparently, for the first time in ten years, none of the actors, directors and producers nominated for the Academy Awards are black, which has been noticed by the NAACP among others. Can somebody tell me why it's so important for black people to be nominated for the Oscars just for the sake of having black people among the nominees? Whatever happened to actors being nominated and awarded Oscars for their performances, or directors for their achievements, or producers for bringing us the best films of the year? Some people need a hobby.

Dem lawmaker blames Rush Limbaugh for deranged death threats after host’s impersonation of Hu Jintao’s Chinese
Okay, so a state legislator in California is offended by Rush Limbaugh doing a Chinese impersonation, and now is trying to link him to death threats he has received from someone else? Aside from the absurdity of this State Senator, Leland Yee from San Francisco (why doesn't that surprise me?), in demanding an apology over something he perceived as a slight, this same individual is now attributing the death threat to Rush's supposed hate-spewing. Why do I get the feeling this guy is just looking to get his name out there in the news?

Steele on RNC chair loss after successful midterms: ‘Republican Justice’
Just like he said when running for re-election earlier this month, former RNC Chairman Michael Steele in recent interviews cited last year's election victories as the result of his two years in office. The problem I find with his insistence here is the fact the GOP is currently in debt of over $20 million, and most importantly, there's the oft-ignored factor of the Tea Parties in the 2010 victories, which calls into question just how much (or how little) of the victories can truly be credited to his leadership as RNC Chairman. Mr. Steele, how many people really believe you when you say “We won”?

Pence For President? Not In 2012.

2011-01-30T13:19:00.000-05:00

I know this story has been out for a while, but it's one I intend to give my 2¢ on. I found out about Congressman Mike Pence's decision not to run for President in 2012 thanks to an e-mail he sent out sometime last week. Now, with the list of possible candidates decreased by one, I must say I'm relieved.

First off, while a Pence candidacy would've been more successful (in my opinion) against at least half of the others, it still would've been an uphill battle for him, considering the need for effective fundraising (of which he would've needed a LOT of funds as a result). Further considering some of the potential opposition he would've faced (Romney and Huckabee, for starters), Congressman Pence would've needed to start building up an organization immediately if he were to have any chance of holding his own against such potential opposition.

Another reason I'm relieved is because I am undeniably hoping Sarah Palin will run for President in 2012; a Pence candidacy would have (in my opinion) worked to siphon votes away from her, on account of the similarities between the two of them. The most important reason, though, remains the fact this leaves open the possibility for the Congressman to run for Governor here in Indiana.

Since Governor Mitch Daniels cannot run for a third term, and Lt. Governor Becky Skillman has already opted out of a run for the job herself, this leaves Congressman Pence as the only possible Republican candidate at this moment. With possible candidates amongst Democrats also slim (and unpromising) for the time being, a gubernatorial run for Mike Pence could be a potential cakewalk. It also could serve as a stepping stone for him to make a run for President in the future, and with hopefully eight years as Governor under his belt, his standing as a candidate would be much stronger then than now.

I hope come next year, I'll be placing a yard sign which reads MIKE PENCE for GOVERNOR.

Rahm Emanuel Can't Run For Mayor OR As The World Turns

2011-01-24T22:28:00.001-05:00

Sometimes, elections can be outright circuses, but in the case of Chicago's mayoral race, it's really more of a soap opera, and in the latest episode of this soap comes the most surprising turn of events.

An appellate court in Illinois ruled former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel cannot run for Mayor because he has not been a resident of Chicago for at least a year prior to the election (as required of candidates), overturning a lower court's ruling that Emanuel was eligible to run in the election, which is slated to take place February 22nd. Needless to say, Mr. Emanuel intends to appeal the decision.

When you have a former chief of staff to a President who had previously insured opponents in his first election for State Senator were removed from the ballot have his own name removed just strikes me as poetic justice, don't you think? Doesn't matter really, as I suspect none of the candidates are satisfactory to begin with, but it still makes me laugh anyway.

But now, I must leave you with some spellbinding questions: Can Rahm get his name back on the ballot? Will Carol be able to capitalize on this and get votes? Can Gery get Dick to secure votes for him? Do Miguel, Patricia and Dock have any chance in hell regardless? And will Barack come in and save the day for Rahm? Find out the answers to these and much more as the world turns, or is it like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives? Eh, who cares?

(By the way, this might help!)

Update (Jan. 28th, 9:31 AM EST): Rahm got his name back on the ballot, thanks to the Illinois Supreme Court. The soap opera continues.

Roe v. Wade after 38 years

2011-01-22T12:42:00.000-05:00

With today's anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade, I submitted a letter to the editor of The Star (our local newspaper). It was published this past Tuesday, and is focused on what the full cost of the infamous decision has been since. I recommend you take a look at the letter to know my 2¢ on the subject of Roe v. Wade after nearly four decades.

And remember the cost of Roe v. Wade.

Obama 2012 Underway?

2011-01-21T11:55:00.000-05:00

Last week, there was President Obama speaking at a memorial service at the University of Arizona for the victims of the Tucson shootings, where he was lauded for his speech (something Lloyd Marcus tears apart in his piece at American Thinker). The thing that bothered me about the service was seeing t-shirts with the phrase “TOGETHER WE THRIVE-TUCSON & AMERICA”. Add in the behavior of those who were in attendance, and it was no memorial service; it was a political rally.

That phrase TOGETHER WE THRIVE is sounding like the new campaign slogan for Barack Obama's re-election campaign. In addition, there's also a post from William Jacobson at Legal Insurrection, where he makes the case that Sarah Palin is the target of a test run the media is carrying out to help Obama get re-elected in 2012. Sounds to me like further proof they never let a crisis go to waste, and in this case, the goal is ensuring the President is re-elected next year.

Now Isn't That Interesting, Chapter 37

2011-01-20T16:22:00.000-05:00

As I've written before, one of the things the Left has sought to do as a result of the Tucson shootings is push through gun control legislation, such as a bill to ban specific gun magazine clips from the notorious gun control zealot, New York Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy. There's also been an effort by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) to tighten regulations on gun dealers in the southern border states.

Interestingly, the reaction has been negative, especially the BATFE action, which has drawn opposition from even several Democrats in Congress. It shouldn't surprise me, considering the growing opposition to gun control nationally over the years, and it also shouldn't surprise me to see politicians and bureaucrats not letting a crisis go to waste here.

Anyway, the interesting thing about this post is that it's my 1000th post here on this blog. It's amazing how much I've written about, how much I've opined about in the time I've had this blog and other blogs. I hope in these 1000 posts lies proof of a good blog, and in the next 1000 posts, more proof will be shown.

Waiting for The Dark Knight Rises

2011-01-20T07:58:00.000-05:00

It wasn't until yesterday that I found out about Christopher Nolan's third Batman film, now titled The Dark Knight Rises. In addition to its theatrical release being set for July of next year, some major casting decisions have also been made. Not only are Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman and Morgan Freeman expected to return for the third film, but Anne Hathaway has been cast to play Catwoman, and another actor, Tom Hardy, is to play a villain named Bane.

I won't deny it: I'm having a bit of a hard time imagining Anne Hathaway as Catwoman; I'm not quite sure if she fits the part. Of course, when The Dark Knight came out, I wasn't sure if Heath Ledger fit the part of The Joker, and boy, how wrong I was then!

The other thing that bothers me is how will the new film turn out. The Dark Knight was and remains one of a few films I've seen in theaters that blew me away (and I've seen close to 75 films in theaters). It's a tall order for Christopher Nolan as co-writer and director to even meet up to the greatness of his previous Batman film, let alone surpass it. Also, there's been previous examples of sequels which just weren't as good as their predecessors, no matter what, it seemed (Spider-Man 3 is sadly the best example).

However, considering the great films Christopher Nolan and his brother, Jonathan, have already done, it gives me great hope The Dark Knight Rises will prove to be a great film as well. I can't wait for July of 2012.

“There's something you don't see everyday.”

2011-01-20T06:26:00.000-05:00

Something happens which stands out in its own way, and before I know it, I'm using that immortal line from Bill Murray in Ghostbusters. Yesterday, I came across three such somethings:

The New C-Word
With the media having tried to affix the motive for the Tucson shootings on rhetoric that supposedly instigates violence, we now have a CNN anchor apologizing for the use of that horrible word crosshairs (gasp! hope nobody has been motivated to violence because of me!). This anchor acted as if Howard Stern uttered an obscenity; talk about stupidity of the highest order! Of course, this is CNN I'm talking about here, so what else is new?

Bye-Bye Parker?
Speaking of the quote-unquote “most trusted name in news”, the New York Post has a story claiming CNN will be getting rid of Kathleen Parker as co-host of their tanking program Parker/Spitzer. If that's true, I don't know how to react except...(sounds of uncontrollable laughter). Although the idea of keeping a guy like Eliot Spitzer seems so laughable, I find the idea of the network (which decided to air this show in the first place) deciding to get rid of Kathleen Parker instead doubly laughable. I guess her harping about Sarah Palin didn't do much for the show, now did it? (sounds of uncontrollable laughter)

Randall Terry For President
The founder of the pro-life group Operation Rescue recently announced he is running for President in 2012 against Barack Obama, as a Democrat (sounds strange since he's described as a lifelong Republican). He isn't trying to win, mind you, he's trying to take advantage of primary election rules so he can run ads during the Super Bowl, ads aimed to showcase the President's pro-abortion stance. I don't know what to expect from this latest effort of Terry's; whether it will have any impact on the election in 2012 is debatable. In any event, it's something you don't see every day.

Ohhhhh Brother No. 33: Republicans Expected To Betray Tea Partiers, Uncertain How, Says Opposing Party!

2011-01-17T21:10:00.001-05:00

The Libertarian Party has long painted the Republicans and the Democrats as being one and the same, and for their Monday message, they warn Tea Partiers will be double-crossed by the Republicans.

Wes Benedict, the LP's Executive Director, expressed his certainty the Republicans will betray the Tea Partiers. Of course, he also wrote, “I'm not sure exactly what will happen first, though,”.

Ohhhhh brother!

The Libertarian Party may be better than the Republican Party, but it is a political party. For myself, I hold as much trust in the LP as I do in the GOP (little, if any), and when it comes to elections, I don't vote for parties, I vote for candidates.

So, Mr. Benedict, thanks for the warning, but don't worry. If any Republicans (or Libertarians, for that matter) double-cross the Tea Parties, the 9/12er's and the like, they will get their just desserts - at the ballot box.

Remembering a dream

2011-01-17T17:41:00.000-05:00

A noble dream he spoke of, “a dream deeply rooted in the American dream” as he described it. Listening to the speech, I noticed a line he said:

Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

Certainly something important to remember, in addition to his more famous quotation:

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

Plus, these two quotations:

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

...one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

The goal was always simple: a nation where human beings are treated as human beings, where the color of one's skin is irrelevant, where the ethnic origins of one's family is irrelevant. Let us remember what was sought in 1963, as we remember Martin Luther King today.

The New RNC Chairman: Reince Priebus

2011-01-16T17:02:00.000-05:00

This past Friday, 168 eligible voters cast their votes over the course of seven rounds of ballots, and the winner of the election for Chairman of the Republican Party was Reince Priebus, at the time, the Chairman of the Wisconsin Republican Party.

As I wrote previously when discussing my take on the RNC Debate held almost two weeks ago, I had never heard of Reince Priebus before, and after the debate, I still came away uncertain. He sounded like an outspoken conservative, acknowledged the presence of the Tea Parties more than his opponents (and also expressed the need for unity with the Tea Parties), but these were just words in my mind.

During the debate, he cited the successes of 2010 in Wisconsin as the result of his leadership, but as with Michael Steele, the question for me remains: just how much of the victories in 2010 can truly be credited to Mr. Priebus (and the Wisconsin GOP) and how much belongs to the Tea Parties/9/12'ers? I honestly cannot say whether he was the right choice, or even the best choice to replace Michael Steele.

At this point, I'm willing to give Reince Priebus a chance to back up what I've heard him say with action, and to handle the challenges which await him. I will expect nothing less from the Republican Party's new chairman as we head for 2012.

An Orwellian Must-Read

2011-01-15T19:00:00.001-05:00

Fellow Palinista M. Joseph Sheppard wrote up a wonderful blog post today, combining Sarah Palin with the classic Orwell novel 1984:

M.JOSEPH SHEPPARD’S "A POINT OF VIEW": If Orwell Had Written '1984' With Palin In The "Tw...: "It was nearly eleven hundred, and in the Records Department, where Winston worked, they were dragging the chairs out of the cubicles and gro..."

Reading Mr. Sheppard's post gives one an insightful look at the workings of those who are consumed with Palin Derangement Syndrome. I love it. By all means, click on the link and read the post.

Tom DeLay And The Criminalization Of Politics

2011-01-14T11:55:00.000-05:00

With the news coverage centrally focused on the Tucson shootings, the recent updates on Tom DeLay have gone under the radar. Sentenced this past Monday to three years in prison and ten years probation, the former Texas Congressman will continue to appeal to have the conviction and sentence overturned.

The fact that Congressman DeLay has had to go through the process of inquiries in the first place, both at the national and state levels, should never have happened. I can't say it surprises me, with the good he did against Democrats in Washington and in Austin, and the only way his political enemies, notably the now-retired persecutor (I mean, uhh, prosecutor) Ronnie Earle, could stop him was to try and bring him down through the legal system; in other words, the criminalization of politics, as Mr. DeLay put it.

According to an article at Human Events, the odds look pretty good for the former Congressman to overturn the conviction. I certainly hope such will be the case. The Democrats successfully got Tom DeLay out of Congress already; let justice not be perverted a second time.

Keep the faith!

Who Is Truly Responsible?

2011-01-14T08:17:00.000-05:00

In the debate over the Tucson shootings, the Left has condemned the use of what they deem violent rhetoric as the primary source of responsibility for the shootings (while ignoring their own use of rhetoric far more vitriolic and incendiary; here's an example). It's this damnation by the Left which has brought about questions for me: Where does the responsibility truly belong? When does rhetoric become the cause of violent acts?

We're seeing in Europe a Dutch politician and an Austrian educator on trial for hate speech. Many people disagree with what they say, but have people gone out and killed Muslims as a result of what the politician and the educator have said? Have they actually called for the deaths of anyone? And even if there has, where should the responsibility be placed? Where is the acceptable line between responsibility and culpability?

It is apparent from what is known about the Tucson shooter, Jared Loughner, that he is a psycho, pure and simple. How big a factor was that violent rhetoric in his motivation? If he wasn't insane, would he have done it anyway?

Seeing what some people are hoping to accomplish (i.e. attempting to restrict speech as a result of the Tucson shootings), it's made me wonder just what the definition of responsibility truly is in our nation, and should be. Is it a matter for government to resolve, or for individual human beings to resolve for themselves?

These are serious and non-rhetorical questions I have here. What rhetoric is unacceptable in a public forum? Where does the culpability belong? Most importantly, where the does the responsibility belong?

What say you?

Grassroots News Minute (January 14th)

2011-01-14T03:16:00.000-05:00

Sarah Palin on America's Enduring Strength

2011-01-12T09:25:00.001-05:00

Here is Sarah Palin's response to the shootings in Tucson, Arizona (and to those who've politicized it):

The Real Targets

2011-01-11T17:42:00.000-05:00

As is well known, no sooner had the murders of six people and the attempted murders of thirteen more in Tucson, Arizona, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, it was transformed into a political blame game with the media, pundits, politicians and even law enforcement trying to put the blame on the Tea Parties, on Sarah Palin, and on our so-called violent rhetoric; as if what we've been saying, what we've been advocating, instigated Jared Loughner to start shooting at a Tucson Safeway.

Just read through the comments at a Daily Caller piece which came out the day of the shootings, and you'll see comments like these from a commenter who called himself Joe Steel:

Many of the commenters, thankfully, showed respect for the victims, but there's no question what the motivation behind these vile comments are: it's the targeting of conservatives, of Tea Partiers, 9/12'ers, etc. and especially of Sarah Palin. It's something the SOB commenter notes on the same comment thread:

Unfortunately, you don't have to travel very far to see crap like this, and not only the playing of this blame game, but also using the crimes to stoke support for gun control (take a look at this piece (of crap from ):

And, unlike in the real Arizona of old, there was no Ordinance No. 9, no Earp brothers in the crowd yesterday to enforce it, to maybe spot the killer with the gun before he had a chance to use it.
The result was exactly the kind of carnage the Earps had sought to prevent with their attempt at instilling gun-control culture.

Boy, you people never let a crisis go to waste, do you?

Considering the truth that keeps coming out about Jared Loughner, it's apparent this was not some right-wing extremist, and it was not a normal person who committed this attack, contrary to what the Left has been saying. Considering the truth about where the real violent rhetoric comes from, it's apparent the hypocrisy of the Left knows no bounds.

In the end, thanks to the Left playing politics with the horrific crimes committed, the people Jared Loughner shot at that Safeway in Tucson weren't the only targets in this episode. May the truth of this latest blame game be exposed for what it is.

(By the way, check out Adrienne Ross' piece at Conservatives4Palin and this piece at Standing4Palin; they do a better job of fighting back than I do.)

2012: A Presidential Odyssey

2011-01-10T13:53:00.001-05:00

It's been discussed since the day after Election Day, 2008. It's been discussed while people were running for seats (and pundits were trying to sound smart) during last year's midterm elections. And since the day after Election Day, 2010, that's become the most pontificated political topic right now. Well, what else is new?

I've written elsewhere about 2012 already, as has everybody, but the sheer number of possible candidates has surprised me. So many names have been brought up on the Republican side alone that I'm further surprised nobody has started going, “Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! 25 Candidates Vying For A Nomination! Get your tickets! Get your tickets! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!”. Yeah, I've said that elsewhere, too.

Anyway, I decided a while back to try and write as good an analysis of 2012 and the possible candidates as I can, even though I don't know enough about the candidates (well, it can't be any worse than when the pundits put their foot in their mouths!). So here it is, my 2¢ on nearly 20 names brought up as candidates for President:

Haley Barbour - He has two things going for him when it comes to experience: serving as Governor of Mississippi for seven years, proving himself a capable leader (especially when dealing with emergencies like Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil spill), and four years as RNC Chairman from 1993-97 (remember the ’94 elections?); such a background could serve him well. However, he is considered a dark horse candidate (like Mike Huckabee was in 2007) and is still fairly unknown (although attempts to smear him as a racist have already taken place).

John Bolton - A strong candidate on foreign policy, as well as strongly pro-2nd Amendment and pro-Israel, his biggest obstacle is the fact he's looking at an election where foreign policy is not the major focus. He'll have to convey his stances on economic issues and what solutions he'd pursue if elected, but I'm willing to predict if he were to run, the former Ambassador to the U.N. wouldn't last long.

Herman Cain - A successful businessman and conservative columnist, he's been touted as a candidate by RedState and R.S. McCain, but he remains a virtual unknown. In other words, it'd be an uphill battle.

Mitch Daniels - 1st observation that comes to mind is he's a great alternative to Mitt Romney on three counts: 1) his background in business and experience as Governor here in Indiana 2) his Health Savings Accounts (for obvious reasons) and 3) a consistent social conservative. He's approached the job here with a businessman's mindset (in my opinion), which has resulted in an efficiently run government, but his efforts to reform local government here hasn't gone over well and it also begs the question of which government is better, efficient or limited?

Newt Gingrich - Although there's nothing about him that screams Presidential material to me, he's long been regarded as a perennial possible candidate. I don't remember enough of his record as Speaker of the House for four years, but he serves a better purpose writing books, contributing his 2¢ on TV and giving speeches, and I believe he knows that as well.

Mike Huckabee - His strengths lie in his social conservatism and as a proponent of the FairTax, but he'll be carrying the same baggage from 2008 (his record as Governor of Arkansas primarily), and he will have an obstacle to face in the form of libertarian-leaning voters, of whom the former Arkansas Governor is among their least favorite people; if anything, the overall Patriot movement has stoked a fire for libertarian thoughts and beliefs among many people, and his support for Michelle Obama's obesity fight won't endear him too well.

Jon Huntsman - The Ambassador to China was recently brought up (although I honestly don't know why) as a possible candidate. He's been described as a moderate Republican, and if so, I have no use for him. Opponents of Mitt Romney might like him running due to the fact he is a Mormon also (although the fact he was Governor of Utah before becoming Ambassador might be a bigger factor in siphoning votes from Romney).

Gary Johnson - The fact he is described as a libertarian Republican might be all that's needed to explain what kind of candidate the former Governor of New Mexico could be. As a candidate, his biggest appeal lies with Ron Paulians, and as a candidate, a possible Achilles’ heel could be the fact his appeal is strongest with Ron Paulians (especially if Ron Paul himself runs in 2012 thus canceling out a Johnson bid). The fact he's been out of office for eight years might serve as a negative (although I don't see that as likely), and the fact he supports marijuana legalization will be used to paint him as a fringe candidate.

Sarah Palin - There's no way I can be objective about this one; she's the best candidate as far as I'm concerned, has shown herself willing to combat fellow Republicans if necessary, proved to be an effective leader as Governor of Alaska, has a strong support base, and is proving to be an intelligent voice on the issues. Her greatest strength lies in who she is as a person, in her character, and the fact she comes across as a regular person; not an intellectual or an establishment snob, but someone you could talk to about anything instead of just politics.

Ron Paul - And speaking of the rock star himself, when he ran in 2008, I was opposed to his bid over disagreements on foreign policy (which haven't changed). I'm personally opposed to a 2nd run, however, because of his new spot as Chairman of the House Domestic Monetary Policy Subcommittee. If he were to run, though, he would fare better the 2nd time around due to his words and stances resonating more with voters (he still wouldn't win, of course; he's never been an establishment favorite, I grant that). If he runs, I predict he'll win at least one primary contest.

Tim Pawlenty - Almost from the moment I came across his name as a possible candidate, the former Governor of Minnesota has always struck me as a weak candidate (plus I'm not nuts about his environmental stances either). Furthermore, he also strikes me as milquetoast and unimpressive (a lot like Sam Brownback in 2007). I predict a solid backbencher in the 2012 race right here.

Mike Pence - A solid conservative Congressman who's name is out there thanks to his tenure as head of the House GOP Conference, and fairly popular with Tea Partiers and 9/12'ers, the only reason I haven't taken much stock in a Pence run is because of a possible run for Governor here in Indiana. With our Lt. Governor, Becky Skillman, out of contention, his name is the only one left on the Republican side. It's still a long time until 2012, but if he wants to, the Governor's Mansion in Indianapolis could be his for the taking.

Mitt Romney - He has the money to be a major contender for the nomination and is regarded by some establishment members as preferable to Sarah Palin. As with Mike Huckabee, however, this one will be bringing the baggage of 2008 with him (the suspected flip-floppery), and on top of that, there's the fallout over RomneyCare, which he continues to defend. Although his strength lies on the economic issues, the baggage could prove too much (especially if Mitch Daniels runs). I personally wouldn't vote for him even if he wins the GOP nod.

Rick Santorum - Because he has been politically active in key states like Iowa, the former Senator from Pennsylvania continues to be mentioned as a possible candidate, but I'm just not seeing him as someone who has a chance at all if he decides to run. The fact he lost his last bid for elected office in 2006 to Bob Casey isn't something I'd be bragging about. Also, his strength lies in social issues as well, which not only isn't the focus of 2012, but his strength could be cancelled out by a Huckabee run.

John Thune - Aside from defeating Tom Daschle in 2004 for the Senate seat he currently holds, he remains largely an unknown (he's strongly pro-2nd Amendment, but I don't know much else). He has always struck me as Vice Presidential material, not Presidential.

There have been other candidates brought up somewhere in the great forum of public opinion, and most of them I've long dismissed for various reasons, but there are three candidates I have a little more to say:

Rudy Giuliani - If he runs as a moderate, he could help Romney in the short run, cancelling out perhaps a Huntsman bid and keeping Utah (and the Mormon vote) theoretically safe for his old foe.

Michele Bachmann - I'm more inclined to think she's working behind the scenes to help get a good candidate elected instead of running for the job herself.

Donald Trump - He flirted with the idea (as I understand) in 1988 on the Republican ticket, and he flirted again with the idea in 2000 on Ross Perot's Reform Party ticket; he's just flirting with the idea the 3rd time around. He remains a pipe dream and nothing more.

Well, that's about it for my analysis. Yeah, I know it probably stinks, but I will note I've never been a good analyst when it comes to political candidates. The only other thing I have to say is, as I have said repeatedly, my support first and foremost is for Sarah Palin. If she doesn't run, I'm willing to look at a few of the possible candidates (most likely Gary Johnson, Haley Barbour and Mitch Daniels). I'm not confident about John Bolton, Herman Cain or Mike Pence making a run, I'm not comfortable with Mike Huckabee and I don't believe Ron Paul would win the primaries (although if he won, I'd support his bid in the general election).

I'd rather not have to look elsewhere for the best candidate for President in 2012, but I'm willing to do so if necessary; I hope I that won't have to happen.