Television You NEED To Watch

My friends. I told you that I probably would not post unless I saw something that I thought needed to be shared. Last week, I saw such a thing.

As someone who does his research before going out with a story, I watched three hours of truly remarkable television that i want to share. Glenn Beck did an amazing three hours on George Soros AKA "Spooky Dude" and his influence, power and attempt to change the United States.

I suggest each of you watch this. Dedicate some time to it and reflect. Then as Glenn says, go out and do the research. I can tell you from a personal standpoint, there have been countless times as I investigate different things, whether it be Lacy Clay or various other things that I look into, groups like the Tides Foundation continue to come up.

This is well worth your time to watch. Please do.

Robyn on Allman In the Morning

On Thursday morning, Robyn Hamlin appeared in the last hour of Jamie Allman's show on 97.1 FM Talk.

It's great to hear her message getting out there and that people are receptive to her and her campaign.

Add to that the letter to the editor which just appeared in the Post Dispatch and that leads to a lot of positive momentum going into November 2nd.

There is still a lot to do and we still need a lot of volunteers to help Robyn and her campaign. If you can spare anytime during the week or weekend, do what you can to help her campaign out. Let's help get out the vote and fire Lacy Clay!

New York Times Gives Hamlin & Martin No Chance

It’s funny what you can stumble across when surfing the web. While surfing through the many news websites I stumbled upon this piece of gold from the New York Times. Apparently, the grey old lady is not giving Robyn Hamlin and Ed Martin much if any chance of winning their elections. Even though their polling shows Martin and Carnahan in a tight race, they are giving Ed Martin only a 5% chance of winning. In the case of Robyn Hamlin, they are giving her no chance of winning, predicting she will only take 24% of the vote in the first district.

You can find these forecasts here and here

Now, you may be asking yourself, where does this come from? Well, the Times appears to be using a group call FiveThirtyEight. You can find out more about them by going here.

I am sure some of you will read this and immediately believe this guy, Nate Silver, to be a political hack. You know what, he may be. That said, he is a stats junkie for Baseball Prospectus and tends to be right more than he is wrong. I have read and listened to this guy on the radio and he knows his stuff. Additionally, he made some early calls on the 2008 primaries that were spot on. He tends to know his stuff given enough information.

That said, I post this as more of a wake up call to you first and third MO district residents. This information is based upon history of the area including voter turnout, etc. but is also based upon polling data. In the case of Robyn Hamlin vs. Lacy Clay, it does not appear there is any polling data to support this case, it is all based upon history. In the case of Ed Martin vs. Russ Carnahan, it is based upon history and polls from August.

What does this mean, it means the establishment is writing off the challengers for these two districts. They are saying that Robyn and Ed have no chance of winning. Do no let this get you down, though. The forecasters have been wrong and will continue to be wrong. It is up to YOU to make the difference. In the case of Robyn Hamlin, all we have is history of the district. There have been no polls that I can find to show where she is truly at. In the case of Ed Martin, even though the polls are old, the forecasts are showing a fairly close race. YOU are the ones that need to make sure you vote and get other like minded individuals out there voting. YOU are the ones who need to make sure that the uninformed are informed. Otherwise the uninformed and the like minded will get their information from the MSM and either skip voting or be an uninformed voter.

We are now less than 30 days away. Quit hitting the snooze button and do what has to be done. Let’s prove the forecasters and the New York Times wrong.

Lacy - I have a simple question

OK, in case you have not heard about this, there is a chain email going around stating that there are 70 members in the US Congress that are a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. A copy of the document can be found on Scribd HERE

Now, I am not one to forward rumors and such, but there is something very interesting about this email. Why has no one that has been listed on this email stood up and said that it is not true? There is no way that they do not know about this email chain. It has been picked up by bloggers all over the US. I know that someone from the US House of Representatives hits my blog at least once a week, so you know that Congressional members are having their staff surf the net to look for news on them. How could they claim they have no knowledge of this.

There are either two answers:

1. It is completely true and the seventy members listed cannot stand up and deny it.
2. It is not true, but since the MSM will not run with the story, they are not going to answer it.

While I am not the mainstream media, as a voter I will ask the question. Lacy Clay, are you a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, their PAC, caucus or any related group?

Look at the list and see if you have a Congressman or Congresswoman on that list. If so, call up their office and ask them or their staff to answer this question. Post a comment or email me with the answer you get.

This and That on the Media

Having studied Journalism I find it interesting to view it from afar. Speaking from experience, it is difficult to critique a profession when you are a part of it. When you are a part of the machine, it is harder to separate yourself from it. You tend to come up with excuses for certain actions or behaviors. When you are a part of the machine, you do have a perspective that outsiders do not have, but it rarely gives you the type of objective viewpoint that is needed.

I bring this up because I have seen some interesting things with the main street media (MSM). On a national level, we can see that they are starting to turn on the Obama administration. Don't fool yourself and think they are going to start espousing the ideals of the Tea Party or that they have become converts to fiscal responsibility. No. The MSM is still going to go after Rand Paul, Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck and such. But, they are now going after Obama and his minions because they are not being served the way they expected. Obama ran on an open government and led them to believe the press would have access like never before. That is not happening. Instead, they are seeing a president that is refusing to answer questions, a White House PRess Secretary that gets flippant if you dare question a policy decision or question administrations thought process, a bullying Chief of Staff and nonsensical policies. As I said back in January (article HERE) and before that October (article HERE) the media is biting the hand that fed it. The media, especially the national media, is a vindictive bunch who will sell their grandmother for a story that could win them a Pulitzer Prize. It is no great surprise that the MSM is going after Obama now.

That is why I had to chuckle when I saw this on DrudgeReport
And now, according to Breitbart TV, the WHPress Secretary, Robert Gibbs, is privately chastising reporters for going after the administration on the BP oil spill.

This all will not last, though. As the elections get nearer, the administration will reach out to the national MSM and do what it can to make them happy in hopes of using the MSM to sway public opinion in favor of Democrats. Obama and team know there are going to be losses and they know they need the press to help sway opinion.

My prediction is this - Barring any further scandal, the press will have a field day over a good part of the summer on the BP-Gulf Coast crisis. Many will compare it to Katrina with talk of it being called Obama's Katrina moment. Late this summer, after vacations and primaries, the administration will start to make nice with the press. Obama will probably do some one on one interviews and may well have a press conference or two. This will lead to the press and non-Fox News pundits, starting to speak highly of the president and his administration. They will try and take off the toxic image he currently has so that he can help with the November campaigns.

Possible Game Changer - All bets are off if Dick Morris is right and someone starts sniffing around and finds something with Joe Sestak's claim that he was offered a position in the administration if he did not run. IF this gets any legs, this will last a long time and could be big. Remember, the press will do anything for a Pulitzer and most papers and national news need ratings.

On the local front, I once again look at the St. Louis Post Dispatch and just shake my head in wonder. This paper bewilders me, yet I really should not be surprised as this is how they have been since I can remember.

All indications are that the Post is willing to let Russ Carnahan go down in defeat. While they are not actively pursuing Russ as much as some of our local bloggers and radio personalities, they are running stories that do not put Russ in a great light. That said, I find it interesting that they have not done anything on Lacy Clay. Lacy has a person within his own party running against him and a search on StlToday.com of Candice Britton yields no results.

If you do a similar search for Martin D. Baker, you will find 1 story from 2008. If you do a search on Robyn Hamlin, you will find press releases that her campaign has sent out. That is it. No stories or profiles on mentions of any of these candidates.

Add to that, why is it that myself and other bloggers are the only ones doing any reporting on Lacy and his associations with the Rent to Own groups as well as the large campaign payments to his sister. I know times are tough, but the Post could at least follow up to some of these stories much like they did the with Bob McCarty's story on Celeste Finkenbine. You can find the Post's version of the story HERE.

What is it about Lacy that the post is not willing to go after him. Is it a race thing? Is the Post worried about claims of racism if they legitimately go after him? That is the only thing I can think of. If that is the case, it is a sad state of affairs for our town and our only daily print newspaper.

What are your thoughts and/or predictions?

The Arizona Immigration Bill

OK, I have been sitting on this one for awhile. When it came out, I wrote a whole column on it and decided to sit on it. Why? I wanted to see what the response would be. Let's just say I was not surprised. People all over the place are running around screaming that this is an attack on civil liberties, it is anti-Hispanic, etc. Here's the rub, this law does nothing but reiterate the federal law. In other words, there will not be people asking to see your papers as you try and get on a commuter train like Nazi Germany.

The left are once again overreacting to a law that HAD to be made. The federal government was not taking action. Instead both the Bush and Obama administration want to look the other way. There are some who just want to grant them amnesty because it is easier and a good way to buy votes. Any time someone wants to really do something about it people the likes of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton go on the warpath claiming it is Jim Crowe law, etc.

Think about this for a second. Michigan has a high Middle Eastern population. Some of them are here legally and some illegally. The state legislature comes out and says that we are having too many issues and cannot afford to offer free health care to the illegals. In addition, they are taking jobs for lower than standard living wages, which are keeping legal residents from obtaining these jobs. So, if this law was passed, do you think there would be as much of a stir up? Sure, the ACLU would be out there protesting this as would some of the hard core liberals, but do you think people would be talking about boycotting visits to the state of Michigan? Do you think that people would be trying to get the NFL or MLB to not hold major sports activities there? Of course not. Because in this example I am talking about people who are from Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, etc.

The only reason Democrats and the MSM are making such a big deal about this is because Arizona's issues are with Hispanics. The Hispanic population is the fastest growing population in the US. The culture of the Hispanic community is one that tends to have the same ideals as those of many moderate and conservative Republicans. Hispanics tend to be religious, have a strong sense of both nuclear and extended family and have a sense of pride in their work and performance at work. What we are seeing here is the Democrats and the MSM lap dogs attempting to sway and eventually indoctrinate the Hispanic community into voting Democrat. No more, no less.

Will there be bad cops who take advantage of this new law to harass Hispanics. Yes. Believe me, though, that happens now anyway. There will always be bad cops. Just as there will always be good cops who will follow the law and sometimes take the extra steps to make sure justice prevails on the correct side.

The Arizona immigration law is needed and just. Let the liberals wine and cry, but at the end of the day it will remain law and other states will be doing the same thing. Hell, you know you are in trouble when Caffferty is slamming you.

Media Biting the Hand That Fed Them

Back in October, I wrote an article on the media and the slippery slope is was on. I said at that time that the media would eventually bite the hand that fed them. Well it is starting to happen.

From C-Span admitting they were played for political purposes and then asking for open conferences.

You have Jack Cafferty of CNN ripping Obama for his lack of transparency on the healthcare debate.

And the CBS Evening News posting the following headline - Obama Reneges on Health Care Transparency.

On top of that, Madam Speaker, took a swipe at President Obama with this.

With friends like this, who needs enemies. No wonder Obama is going grey with less than a year in office.

White House is Contacting MSNBC During Live Broadcasts

Not like we did not already know this, but Ed Schultz verifies what everyone else seemed to already know. It appears that the White House, who has admitted to being fond of MSNBC, may be actively communicating with its hosts during its live broadcasts.

Maybe the White House will text the hosts tomorrow morning informing them to deny this report

As a side note, what does it say about this administration when the liberal Ed Schultz is complaining that the administration he supports cannot take criticism.

Hat tip to Brian Maloney

Cult of Personality

I was listening to the radio yesterday and heard a favorite of mine from back in the day. It was the only real hit from the group Living Colour. The song was Cult of Personality. Listening to the lyrics, it struck me how prophetic this song really is. In case you are not familiar with it, the lyrics are as follows:

Look into my eyes, what do you see?
The cult of personality
I know your anger, I know your dreams
I've been everything you want to be
I'm the cult of personality

Like Mussolini and Kennedy
I'm the cult of personality
cult of personality
cult of personality

Neon lights, A Nobel Price
The mirror speaks, the reflection lies
You don't have to follow me
Only you can set me free

I sell the things you need to be
I'm the smiling face on your T.V.
I'm the cult of personality
I exploit you still you love me
I tell you one and one makes three
I'm the cult of personality

Like Joseph Stalin and Gandi
I'm the cult of personality
The cult of personality
The cult of personality

Neon lights a Nobel Prize
A leader speaks, that leader dies
You don't have to follow me
Only you can set you free

You gave me fortune
You gave me fame
You me power in your God's name
I'm every person you need to be
Oh, I'm the cult of personality
I'm the cult of
I'm the cult of
I'm the cult of
I'm the cult of
I'm the cult of
I'm the cult of
I'm the cult of
I'm the cult of personality

Who would have thought that lyrics written in 1988 could be so prophetic about the situation we are in now.

If you want something really interesting, read Wikipedia's entry on what the definition of a cult of personality is. It will send shivers down your spine

Allegory for Candidate Obama?

This is just a quick hit, but I would suggest that everyone take a look at watching at least the pilot episode of V on ABC. Talk about art imitating life, in this case the V or Visitors are trying to spread a message of "hope" and offer "Universal Healthcare".
To spread this message, they manipulate the media to ask questions that are only pro V.
It is eerily similar to the election last year.

At the end of the episode, one of the characters says
“They Are Arming Themselves With the Most Powerful Weapon Out There.....Devotion"

Some in the media, even in Chicago, are already calling it an allegory for last years election.

Remember, I said a couple of weeks ago, the media will only put up with so much before they revolt. It was reported back in August that the producers were doing some reshoots and touch ups. It makes you wonder if some of this is a part of it?

H1N1 = Political Points?

My family and I just go over the H1N1 flu. We are all fine, but I will say that it was not fun. It was certainly not the plague that the government is making it out to be. Having lived through it and survived (note the sarcasm), I had to wonder; why is the government making such a big deal of this.

Let me start off by saying, I do not blame the media on this one. While we all know that the media is the lap dog of this administration, they are covering a story, pure and simple. In this case, the government is feeding the story to the media.

Anyway, so I have to wonder, why is this such a big deal. The H1N1 flu is similar to the standard flu types that we have all experienced. You get the muscle aches and fever. In some cases you do get some of the stomach issues. The additional thing with this strain is that in some cases you get a cough, kind of like a chest cold. If you are the type of person that is prone to bronchitis or pneumonia, then it could turn into an infection and lead to some real issues. As with any type of flu, as long as you get your rest, drink plenty of fluids, take Tylenol for the fever and aches and pains you should be fine. As always, don't just trust me, consult your medical professional as not everyone will react the same way. In our case, we were able to deal with this without the intervention of a doctor and without prescription medication.

One evening, after the kids were in bed, my wife and I were sitting on the couch recovering from the day and still recovering ourselves. We were watching the news and hearing all of these government officials talking about the Swine Flu and how this is a national emergency and how there were all of these deaths. My wife looked over at me and said, "This is such bull sh!t. It was not anything worse that any other flu I've had." I looked at her and said, "It's because the administration wants a win."

You see, here is the thing. The Obama administration does not look really good right now. The shine and luster is fading away. This man who claimed he was going to bring hope and change has not really done either. Add to that a Congress that really cannot seem to do the right thing to save their lives, and you have a very wary American public. So what do you do? You pull a page out of the movie "Wag the Dog". What the administration is doing is trying to get everyone in a panic. If you get everyone freaked out of H1N1, then you have their attention. You then get everyone from the head of Health and Human Services to Elmo, telling you how to cough into your sleeve and to wash your hands. Once you have everyone's attention, you then show all of the wonderful things the government, i.e. this administration, is doing to protect you from this "pandemic". There still has to be deaths to keep people's attention, so the government supplies those numbers as well as the number of people believed to be infected. Then, once everyone has received the vaccination and the number of infections and deaths related to this go down, we will hear how the government stepped in, rushed a vaccine, kept the public informed and saved the day.

With this, you have just built trust. Now that you have built said trust, they can then start asking for you to trust them with a "public option" or "cap and tax" or any number of things. Folks, lets get some things straight, many of the numbers they are handing out are based upon assumptions. Except for deaths, the tests that are being done to test for the flu are not testing specifically for H1N1, the are just testing for the flu since this is the dominant strain right now. The CDC admits this. Add to that, that many of the people who have died from this flu, have done so due to pre-existing conditions or due to not seeking doctor's care.

I will say right now that much like any illness, H1N1 is no laughing matter and should not be taken lightly. Anyway that gets sick from this or any type of flu should take care of themselves and see the advice of a medical professional if necessary. If you feel you need to, call or see your doctor, go to an urgent care facility or just go to your local Walgreens Take Care clinic. That said, do not let the administration turn this into something they can use for political points. Call their bluff if necessary. The blogs and the media are already talking about how this is going to be so much worse for the uninsured. Don't' believe me, just google "H1N1 uninsured".

A Slippery Slope

Back in J school, I had a professor that would always say, "If you start down that path it is a slippery slope." I think that is the same thing he would say about what the current administration is doing in relation to speech. This administration is very savy in Internet and propaganda. They also tend to play Chicago style politics. The two make for a very unique and possibly ugly combination.

The Obama administration has not been shy about using the media to propel their message. It has been that way since he was candidate Obama. In fact, other Democrats complained about how the media was not asking him the hard questions and not being balanced in their reporting. It was so apparent SNL even did a skit based upon it. Once he was elected, it did not really change. Except there are a couple of problems:

1. Bloggers
2. Talk Radio
3. Fox News

Obama cannot control those three entities and the work they are doing is causing problems for this White House. So rather than engage and retort them, like most administrations would, Obama has instead started working to circumvent the system to quiet dissenters.

Let's go through this and look at how the White House is dealing with this.

Bloggers
This may be one of the most difficult issues for the administration. It is not easy to limit speech and that is exactly what they would have to try and do. The power of bloggers was truly showcased when Dan Rather was put in his place when he attempted to defame President Bush. Since then, blogging has become a way for many people, including yours truly, to report and and analyze the events of the day without having to belong to a newspaper or television organization. Obama took advantage of the power of the Internet to get himself elected. Since that time, it has been many of the bloggers who have risen up to become a political movement of their own and created the Tea Party. Add to that the far left bloggers who are unhappy with Obama not being progressive enough in their mind and you can see that Obama has a blogger problem. So what are they to do? This starts with FTC cracking down on bloggers for payola schemes. This seems obvious, bloggers are going to have to let people know that they were given a product or were paid to promote an item in their blog. While this is the ethical thing to do, the interesting part of this is that it paves the way for the government to force ISP's and providers to provide private information of bloggers. There is not litmus test for this either. If I, as a blogger, am given a book on politics in the digital age by the author and I Tweet or post that I am reading this book, the FTC has a right to come after me if I do not disclose that I know the author and they gave me the book. Even if I did not run out and tell everyone to go out and buy this book, the FTC can come after me. Add to this the recent court case where a Manhattan federal judge has ordered Google to tell a model the name of an anonymous blogger so she could sue them for libel. We are in very dangerous waters here. Some people, like myself, have to stay anonymous so that we may keep our jobs or to keep our families from harms way. In these cases, the government has begun paving the way to remove the anonymity and pressure those that we are speaking of.

In addition, the administration has used their own Internet savvy to try and counter the bloggers. Locally here we have the FiredUp Missouri blog which is one of many Democratic controlled blogs that are made to feel like the authentic blogs like yours truly, Jim Hoft of the Gateway Pundit and Sharp from Sharp Elbows have created. BTW, hat tip to 24th state on all the good work he has done researching FiredUp's links to Robin Carnahan's office. Barack Obama himself has used his own website to transform from a campaign website to one that pushes for organizing support for his plans. In addition, Dana Loesch has found some great stuff on how serve.gov was linking to groups like Acorn. Since the administration cannot completely stop their critics, they crowd the market with spokespersons perpetrating to be regular folk and linking back to their supporting organizations.

Talk Radio
This is where things start getting uglier and more apparent. Candidate Obama came out and said that he was against the "Fairness Doctrine". That sounds great, but listen to what his surrogates are saying. Mark Lloyd, the FCC diversity "czar" was quoted as saying, "Unless we're conscious of the need to have more people of color, gays, other people in those positions, we will not change the problem. We're in a position where you have to say who is going to step down so someone else can have power." These statements were made in regards to talk radio hosts and ownerships. Lloyd's solution in a report entitled "The Structural Imbalance of Political Talk Radio" and a subsequent essay, "Forget the Fairness Doctrine", he calls for he called for "equal opportunity employment practices," "local engagement" and "license challenges" to rectify a perceived imbalance. "Nothing in there about the Fairness Doctrine," he wrote. He continues by saying, "The other part of our proposal that gets the 'dittoheads' upset is our suggestion that the commercial radio station owners either play by the rules or pay. In other words, if they don't want to be subject to local criticism of how they are meeting their license obligations, they should pay to support public broadcasters who will operate on behalf of the local community." So instead of mandating equal time, he wants to make stations pay to allow commercially successful free speech.

Implementing a program like this would be no less than bullying media outlets to either pay for play or support the likes of "Air America". Never-mind that the government already supports National Public Radio but under Lloyd's plans, media outlets could be forced to pay for government favorable views. If you want to know more about Lloyd and his interesting interactions, check out this transcript from Glenn Beck.

Fox News
This one kind of blurs between talk radio and FNC since many of the opinion shows are hosted by people who are part of the conservative talk radio movement. That said, let's talk about Fox News and the Fox News Channel. Within recent weeks, the Obama administration has made it clear that they are going to go after their opponents. They have publicly statedthat they are going after their critics. In the case of Fox News, the news channel itself has been fair in their reporting, showing both sides of the issues. That said, the administration takes issue with FNC's opinion shows that lean anywhere from Libertarian to hard right, with Greta Van Susteren being probably the only center to left of center opinion show. The Obama administration hates that. They would prefer to have everyone emulate MSNBC and the New York Times. Why else would it be that Barack Obama met privately with a group of commentators from these two groups to talk about the media.

What the administration is trying to do is paint Fox News as not a news outlet, but an opinionated news forum, therefore not worthy of being considered in the same vain as network news, including MSNBC and CNN. They are attempting to pressure other news organizations from allowing Fox News into the White House press corp and not reporting on news items broken by Fox News. In addition, the administration has banned all officials from appearing on Fox News shows and recently tried to keep Fox News from interviewing the "Pay Czar" when he was made available to the White House pool.

While Fox News is the most apparent act of the administration, all three are a scary attempt to control the free press. Any J school student at Mizzou will tell you that the press has long been seen as the fourth establishment, there with the Presidency, the Congress and the Supreme Court. While the press does not have federal power, they do have the power to keep these entities honest. They are also taught the history of other governments who have attempted to silence the press and the ways that they go about that. Even though the press has become a business whose model is changing, they all still respect the sanctity of the First Amendment and of free speech. There is a reason that some professors make every student learn, word for word, the First Amendment. Knowingly or not, the Obama administration is taking their leads from the likes of Hugo Chavez, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and even Adolf Hitler. Secretly, the press is not happy with the way they were manipulated by candidate Obama, as explained by Anita Dunn.

Obama is asking the news organizations that he favors to enter and engage a slippery slope that they do not want to go down. They no full well that if they act in concert with this president, it will set a dangerous precedent for the future. In addition, much like it has happened with other countries, they know what happens when the president starts bullying the press. These issues are not a matter of national security so the administration does not have a leg to stand on. While the pundits who back Obama will continue to do so, they may lose some of their zeal. Most Democratic strategist think this is a bad idea. Many in the print press, who dislike Fox News, think this is a bad idea. This is not going to end well for the administration. It may cost them some seats in 2010 and will probably cost someone their job if not the entire presidency in 2012.

UPDATE - On Thursday 10/29, Glenn Beck did an outstanding show covering many of these things and much more. It was well worth a view. You can watch them over at the P/Oed Patriot's website here.

On the Turning Away

Apparently my last posting stirred up a little bit of a hornet's nest. I have suddenly noticed a lot of traffic coming from Washington DC as well as some of the various members of APRO. To my new readers, I say welcome. Now on to the matters at hand.

Have you noticed how the media, the group that did everything they could to get Barack Obama elected, are slowly starting to turn on him? More and more we are hearing the media, and I am talking about more than just Fox News, start to reference his inability to bring about the change that was promised. We are hearing complaints that the transparency that was promised is not there and we are hearing criticism that he is not as good as advertised.

Just take, for example, this excerpt from last week's Newsweek editorial from Howard Fineman

Obama can seem a mite too impressed with his own aura, as if his presence on the
stage is the Answer. There is, at times, a self-referential (even
self-reverential) tone in his big speeches. They are heavily salted with the
words "I" and "my." (He used the former 11 times in the first few paragraphs of
his address to the U.N. last week.) Obama is a historic figure, but that is the
beginning, not the end, of the story.

This is not a glowing review of the president by any stretch of the imagination and Newsweek is a far stretch from the National Review.

Even Jon Stewart and SNL has had some recent digs at Obama. Just look at this from last weeks Saturday Night Live

Now, I am in no way of saying that the media is abandoning Barack immediately, but I think they are starting to get a sense that this ship is taking on water. Sure, they will do their best to act as his personal bilge pump but believe me, they are going to start hedging their bets.

It's just something to start thinking about and watching for.

MSNBC Hosts Cannot Even Defend Keith Olbermann

Perusing the interwebs, I found this little gem that I thought I would share.

Hat Tips to Dee and LA Times Blogs

I always liked Ari Fleischer and now I may even have a man crush on him. This was just beautiful and no one could say a thing.

Boy, this just turned a terrible day into a half way decent one.

A Brief History Lesson

The president is getting ready to give a speech to our youth soon. Based upon the lesson plan that was sent out to schools, it looks like the President Obama is asking our youth to understand the importance of education, civic duty and listening to the government. As one who supports the 9/8 truancy day, I created a lesson plan myself that I thought I would share. This lesson plan also covers civic duty and government as well as history.

Considering everything that is going on, I thought it would be best to first talk about what government is all about.

The death-knell of the republic had rung as soon as the active power became lodged in the hands of those who sought, not to do justice to all citizens, rich and poor alike, but to stand for one special class and for its interests as opposed to the interests of others. - Theodore Roosevelt

Wow, sounds like Teddy was almost talking about the goings on today and some of the Chicago style politics going on in DC. While we are talking about Teddy Roosevelt, we should also remember this one

Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official, save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country. It is patriotic to support him insofar as he efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent that by inefficiently or otherwise he fails in his duty to stand by the country. In either event, it is unpatriotic not to tell the truth, whether about the president or anyone else. - Theodore Roosevelt

I guess the White House did not get the memo that you do not have to follow blindly because the president says so. I think our 39th president really understood how people feel about the government in general.

The nine most terrifying words in the English language are... I'm from the government and I'm here to help. - Ronald Reagan

Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it. - Ronald Reagan

Of course, this is the same man who knew that to get the economy going and raise the mood of our nation, we had to lower taxes and restore the American business. President Obama really does not seem to understand this. He would rather ask for forgiveness and tax everyone. One of our founders probably said it best when he said,

The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not. - Thomas Jefferson

Of course this White House does not really seem to understand some of the basic principles that many of our great leaders ascribe to. If the president would have just listened to another of our founding fathers, things may be a lot different.

Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation for 'tis better to be alone than in bad company. - George Washington

We all know what quality men Bill Ayers, Jeremiah Writght and Van Jones are. These are men who are ideologues who do not care about the masses, they care about their causes or their viewpoint alone.

While the facts and proof are all there, it is hard to oppose the president in these times. Many in the MSM as well as those in the Democratic party have decided that since we disagree with them we are unpatriotic, an unruly mob or extremist. To my fellow unpatriots, mobsters and extremists, I say this,

A man is not finished when he is defeated. He is finished when he quits. - Richard Nixon

Keep up the good work. They are feeling the heat and we will win this fight.

Government Motors to Export Jobs to China

The company formerly known as General Motors announced today that they are forming a venture with the Chinese to produce more cars in China. Wow, I am so glad that now that the government and the unions own GM we are shipping our jobs overseas. To make matters worse, as reported by Reuters....

Vehicles made at the venture will carry the FAW brand and will focus on supplying the China market, but they could be exported under a GM brand through the Detroit automaker's global network in the future, Wale said.

Now, I am not a psychic, but I think you have your out clause right there. These cars will eventually make their way over to US soil. According to that same article, GM already produces several cars over there. Now, I know that I am getting older and they say that memory is one of the first things to go, but wasn't it candidate Barack Obama that said at the 2007 AFL-CIO Democratic primary forum

Q: The flip side to fair trade: how do you convince a working family that’s struggling to get by that buying American is still best for them, when American T-shirts cost $20 and imported ones are $10?

A: Look, people don’t want a cheaper T-shirt if they’re losing a job in the process. They would rather have the job and pay a little bit more for a T-shirt. And I think that’s something that all Americans could agree to.But this raises a larger point, which is:
globalization is here. And we should be trading around the world. We don’t want
to just be standing still while the rest of the world is out there taking the steps that it needs to in order to expand trade. Congress has a responsibility because we’ve got right now provisions in our tax code that reward companies that are moving jobs overseas instead of companies that are investing right here in the US. And that is a reflection of the degree to which special interests have been shaping our trade policy. That’s something that I’ll end.

Is it me, or does that contradict the actions of a government owned company. Wasn't it candidate and president Obama who made all types of statements about demanding that China have labour rights for their workers and enforce safety laws. It was also Barack Obama who said at the third 2008 Presidential Debate

For far too long, certainly during the course of the Bush administration with the support of Sen. McCain, the attitude has been that any trade agreement is a good trade agreement. And NAFTA did not have enforceable labor agreements and environmental agreements.And what I said was we should include those and make them enforceable. In the same way that we should enforce rules against China manipulating its currency to make our exports more expensive and their exports to us cheaper.

Where are the guarantees that these things are being met. IF they were there, Robert Gibbs would have trumpeted them upon high.

And where are the Unions and the media on this. The unions who demonized companies for sending jobs overseas have been quiet since the announcement of this deal today. There has not been a peep out of the UAW. The MSM has barely spoken a peep regarding this deal. It almost seems like they don't want anyone to really hear about it. I wonder why?

In addition, where is the outrage from our congressmen and senators. Seeing as we saw several cutbacks in labor back in July at our local GM truck plant, why isn't there a demand to have GM produce these vehicles here. Where is the demand that GM close its China plants in favor of building these vehicles stateside. This will never happen my friends and the reason is.....because China owns us. The spending by this administration and the Congress has us in so much debt and projected for even more, we have to keep China happy. What better way to keep China happy then build more non eco-friendly cars over there.

To quote the Bard, William Shakespeare, from Hamlet Act 1 Scene 4, "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark".

Edward "Ted" Kennedy 1932 - 2009

Edward "Ted" Kennedy has passed. I pray for his family and for his soul. I think he will need it. I have sat on writing this for a day and almost did not until I nearly vomited due to the MSM regaling Ted Kennedy as some kind of bastion of goodness.

Ted Kennedy was nothing more than elitist, east coast, limousine liberal. He pushed through and supported many of the most liberal causes, was a failed presidential candidate and a murderer. Yes, I know it was reported as an accident, but only someone like a Kennedy could get away with it.

Let us be frank here. Kennedy was an opportunist and knew how to manipulate people and the government to his best interests. He learned this from his father Joe and was rather good at it. Robert, while still left leaning, had a moral code that he stuck with even when he was doing things that were unpopular (see going after the mob when it was a very strong presence in the union). Ted Kennedy did things to help Ted Kennedy and his family; no more and no less. Ted Kennedy pushed through bills to make more people reliant upon government, therefor guaranteeing him a job. Ted Kennedy was an opportunist who took advantage of every situation to keep himself and his family in power. When No Child Left Behind made him look good, he was right there with George W Bush, shaking hands and saying what a good man he was. 8 years later, the man who helped create the No Child Left Behind Act was a failure of the Bush administration.

There are those that say with the death of Ted Kennedy, we have the end of Camelot. I had to laugh when I heard this because Camelot is, of course, fiction. There never was a Camelot and everything about it was fiction. It was great story and oratory filled with grandiose ideas and grandeur but it was truly nothing but vapor. For this reason, it is fitting that the Kennedy family was considered Camelot. Basically, a lot of talk, but nothing of substance.

I am truly sorry that Ted Kennedy died and do not wish death upon anyone. That said, I will not waste a tear on a man that has done nothing more than create a larger bureaucracy and many more people dependant upon the government.

The Myth of Charity

There is a general myth in America that is perpetuated by the MSM that Liberals care and give more to their community and the country. A study released in the book "Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism" proved otherwise. According to this study released in 2008:

• Although liberal families' incomes average 6 percent higher than those
  of conservative families, conservative-headed households give, on average, 30
  percent more to charity than the average liberal-headed household ($1,600 per
  year vs. $1,227).
• Conservatives also donate more time and give more blood.
• Residents of the states that voted for John Kerry in 2004 gave smaller percentages of their incomes to charity than did residents of states that voted for George Bush.
• Bush carried 24 of the 25 states where charitable giving was above average.
• In the 10 reddest states, in which Bush got more than 60 percent majorities, the average percentage of personal income donated to charity was 3.5. Residents of the bluest states, which gave Bush less than 40 percent, donated just 1.9 percent.
• People who reject the idea that "government has a responsibility to reduce income inequality" give an average of four times more than people who accept that proposition.

Now, just imagine if these same Liberals, who want to force you to give up your rights and money through taxes and laws, would just spend a little more time donating their personal time and money. Think of how much better the country would be. Just think about it.

Of course we all know that the Liberal philosophy of giving has nothing to do with actual charity. Instead it has everything to do with the redistribution of wealth.

The Press Now Officially Works for Obama

I originally went to school to become a journalist. I had all the intention in the world to report the news to people in an objective fashion. I even remember early on in my classes debating with one of my professors about how it was a reporters job to report all of the attainable facts and let the public decide. My professor, of course, said that we could never do that because reporting the facts was boring and people wanted a perspective while still presenting the facts. I asked, "Isn't that what editorials are for?" to which I was told in so many words, the job of a reporter is to choose what facts they think are relevant and report on them. Since many times there are so many facts and perspectives, I as a reporter along with my editor would choose what facts should go first, second, etc. Also, we were told that when we write stories, we cannot get too complicated in the facts as we had to write for the 4th to 5th grade level.

It was not much longer after that, that I chose not to become a journalist. The idea that my editor and I would choose the facts and more importantly to choose to omit some facts was something I could not stomach. Add to that, many of the editors, even in small town middle America, are liberals with a capital L. This was all something I could not stomach and I walked away.

Even though I was greatly disappointed with the real world aspect, my education taught me something that has proven to be invaluable; I have the capability to read past what the reporter/newspaper is trying to tell me. Short of the story being about a fire in an apartment complex, there is usually some sort of spin. I know how to look for it and when a story is missing something due to a reporter or editor not giving ALL of the details.

Fast forward to early 2008, my wife donated some money to a charity and won/was given a subscription to Newsweek. While I have never been a fan, I am a news and political junkie and read it in disgust every week. Why not, it's free. Throughout the campaign, even before the primaries, I remember telling my wife that something was rotten in Denmark with the coverage of Obama. It just did not seem right. It was too one sided and there were things that just seemed off. I could not put my finger on it and chalked it up to a reporter that was probably trying to get on his good side to win an exclusive interview. As the election ramped up, the coverage did not change, in fact, it got worse. The stories on Obama were not just one sided, but as someone who was educated in the process, they seemed to be missing some of the next steps a journalist would take (this is just a little aside, but let me tell you this. Other than some "true believer" most journalists will do whatever they can to get a good story. Even if they like the person/company, etc they will sell them down the river in the blink of an eye if they think it will give them an exclusive, a book deal, a Pulitzer, etc.) and it just did not make sense.

Finally today, it all came together. Today, Newsbusters reported that the reporter that covered Obama for Newsweek, Daren Briscoe, is now officially working for the president's drug czar. If this happened in the Busch administration or even with Sarah Palin there would be outcries of a conspiracy. Liberal bloggers, CNN, MSNBC and the like would have huge reports about how this was wrong, etc. Daren Briscoe was not an editorial writer or columnist like Tony Snow, he was a reporter. At least he claimed to be a reporter. This is just another example of the press working for Obama, except for this time he is actually on the payroll