My thanks to D=S for pointing this one out.
WATCH THIS VIDEO!
Although I’m still ticked off with Fred for not fighting for the nomination, what he has to say is important, as usual.
Trout in the Milk?
Of course, circumstantial evidence isn’t equivalent with being caught red-handed, but if there’s a trout in the milk, one may be safe in assuming the milk’s been adulterated, eh?
I’ve noted before that The Obamassiah’s long alliances (not mere association) with communists, terrorists and folks who express open hated of America are obvious disqualifiers for any public office, let alone the presidency, but that’s all in the past, as he might say: some guy he knew when he was a youth (whom he has described as greatly influential on his own belief/value system); another guy he saw around in his neighborhood (who got him his first big-time job out of law school and to whom he funneled millions of dollars for his radical “education” initiatives); some preacher (who was The One’s pastor for 20+ years and whom The One described as his spiritual mentor), some “community group” he’s had dealings with in the past (ACORN–the bigtime vote fraud group, a subsidiary of which the Obama campaign has paid $800,000 for “get out the vote” efforts).
All in the past. Nothing to do with now or future plans, right?
But there’s a trout in the milk, folks. Every single solitary proposal that is a constant amid the forest of Obama hand-waving is right out of the Frank Marshall Davis/Jeremiah Wright/William Ayers playbook. If all these people who were identified as Obama himself as influencing his values, with whom he worked for years are not still influencing his policies and procedures, then why does everything he proposes sound like and agree with their viewpoints?
Just wondering if we can catch and fry up that trout…
Hammer away on the theme articulated by Dick Morris:
“Rezko was his financial adviser, Wright was his spiritual adviser, and the guy who gave him his first job used to blow up government buildings.”
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0.01%
That’s one-hundredth of one percent. For the innumerate among our increasingly illterate and innumerate society, that’s one part in ten thousand. A tiny, itsy-bitsy, teen-einsty speck, for those who can’t understand that.
That’s how much of ANWR is any part at all of what’s even being considered for drilling in.
And it’s an environmental zero of a mud flat. The equivalent of a couple of shopping malls… after prime real estate has already been turned into the wasteland that is a shopping mall.
Not even polar bears want to live there. *heh*
Drill, baby, drill.
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How Do You Spell “Relief”? P-a-l-i-n
I took a break from “the world” yesterday. Things to do, sleep to glom onto, etc. *heh* Back in the world again today and…
I discover the 24X7 Mass Media Podpeople Hivemind attack on Sarah Palin continues apace. *yawn* Not news. The Obamassiah (or The Dali ‘Bama, as some have dubbed him) selects the lame old hack Biden, and the Mass Media Podpeople Hivemind fakes an orgasm. Juan Mexicain selects middle America hockey mom, card carrying NRA member, dynamic first term reform governor of the state that provides up to 20% of the nation’s petro-energy needs and the Mass Media Podpeople Hivemind emerges from a stunned epileptic fit to initiate attack mode.
No bias there, eh?
But, as Thomas Lifson notes, while
The announcement of Palin’s selection by Senator McCain last Saturday reportedly triggered outright laughter in newsrooms across the land, a nearly unanimous opinion that she would be a disaster for McCain. To the sort of people who believe themselves sophisticated citizens of the world and feel a sense of pride at saving the planet by purchasing carbon offsets, a woman who has borne five children is incomprehensible. Add in moose-hunting, a champion snowmobiler husband and a pregnant 17 year old daughter, and the phrases “white trash” and “trailer trash” are deployed…
The cheese-eating surrender monkeys of the Left just don’t get it:
She has the rarest of qualities: authenticity. Media and Beltway types can’t fathom what that is. It goes right over their heads. Not even on the radar screen. Her multiple facets — beauty queen, moose hunter, mother, member of an Assembly of God Church, and ferocious reformer of corrupt politics may baffle sophisticates, but ordinary Americans see all the pieces fitting together, and they recognize a type of person they know and love.
Heck, Palin may be one of the very few authentic Americans in politics, nowadays, at least beyond the local school board or city councilman level in small town America.
And she still has more executive experience than The Obamassiah, Joe Plagiarism, Juan Mexicain or that Abraham Lincoln, for that matter, had before his presidency. (Oops. Maybe I ought not mention the latter, given the mess he made of his administration.)
While I regularly eschew watching politicians *spit* speak, preferring to read the content of their (usually) blather to, urm, see if it has any content apart from polished vowels and consonants, I do plan on listening (carefully, for real content) to Gov. Palin’s upcoming convention speech. I’ve seen the one interview I referred to a couple of days ago, and I’ve read other speeches, “debates” (as much–or as little–as a media run “debate” for a political office like governor is a debate) and comments made by Palin, and so far, she’s the only one worth listening to in the presidential field. If her speech and behavior continues to match up with her record so far, it looks like I can cast a relieved vote for Palin in November.
Oh, yeh, and whatsisname too, I suppose.
*heh* Update II:
Oh, and, from the official campaign website, an excerpt from an article in the St Petersburg Times,
…Palin’s years of elected executive experience beat out the rest of both tickets, even her own running mate.
Seems I’m not the only one who thinks that. 😉
Annnd… from a lifelong “progressive cos it’s cool” commenter (“Fallon”) at PajamasMedia,
…I have been struggling with this decision, too, but I will be voting for Governor Sarah Palin via Senator McCain because I feel she is a strong and accomplished leader who I respect. I cherish the thought that she will be a mere heatbeat away from the presidency. I will never agree with any candidate 100%, never have, but I now believe that character and personal integrity trumps image, and security trumps domestic issues.
Now that I have made my decision, I feel at peace for the first time since the campaigns began.
Amen, sister. 🙂
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Issues and Answers 2.01
Energy policy. No matter how much we work to reform tax policy to get the “feddle gummint” out of savings/investment policy and level the international trade playing field a bit, with the energy lashup that passes for “feddle gummint” policy we now have in place, our economy is hamstrung, our billions are being sent OUT of this country, largely to third world thugs, and we face a future of spiraling inflation.
The answer is complex but can start with one simple thing: learn some commonsense steps we can take NOW… and take them.
See American Solutions for more.
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It’s Not THE Answer…
…but it’s a step in the right direction.
Then, of course, nuclear power (I like PBRs), space-based solar, TDP plants and more–all very nearly “off-the-shelf” technologies–to round out an approach to energy independence from Middle Eastern (and other foreign) thugs (yeh, Saudis, I’m talking mainly about YOU).
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Pay Attention! (OK, I’m not going to say this just once… )
Tell the Saudis to Drink Their Oil
Found via Hotair (via Pursuing Holiness):
Go Here. Now.
While nuclear energy would make a good near-mid term addendum to our energy needs, we have enough oil in our own back yard to be able to stop paying the Saudi (and other Middle Eastern) thugs for our oil. All we lack is congresscritters who aren’t bought and paid for by those whose real desire is to “Sink America First!”
Also via Hotair:
Yep.
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Whither Now, Conservative?
A Few Shiny Pebbles notes the serious problem of articulating conservative first principles. That’s nothing new. I could wish that American Conservatism did not conform to the model that R.L. Dabney noted in the 19th Century, but wishes alone ain’t gonna wash the dog…
“Conservatism’s history has been that it demurs to each aggression of the progressive party, and aims to save its credit by a respectable amount of growling, but always acquiesces at last in the innovation. What was the resisted novelty of yesterday is today one of the accepted principles of conservatism; it is now conservative only in affecting to resist the next innovation, which will tomorrow be forced upon its timidity and will be succeeded by some third revolution, to be denounced and then adopted in its turn. American conservatism is merely the shadow that follows Radicalism as it moves forward to perdition. It remains behind it, but never retards it, and always advances near its leader. This pretended salt hath utterly lost its savor: wherewith shall it be salted? Its impotency is not hard to explain. It is worthless because it is the conservatism of expediency only, and not of sturdy principle. It tends to risk nothing serious for the sake of truth.”
As I said much earlier (January 21, 2008) in this election cycle regarding the choices being offered us for the presidential race (choices that by and large reflect the choices also offered us in other races),
Folks, the only difference of opinion that bears on elections of late is this: do you or do you not favor scrapping America in order to make it over into a fledgling third world country, as France, et al are attempting to do in Europe? Each and every one of the potential candidates [running for office as Dhims, and most who are running as Repubs *sigh*] are in favor of policies that would Frenchify America even further. It is still possible that the Republican’ts may come up with a candidate who is willing to at least drag his feet in approaching the ultimate goal of pulling America down to the level of Mexico or Saudi Arabia or Iran or even *shudder* France.
Remember: modern “liberalism” (which is not liberal in any rational sense of the word) has as its ultimate goal is to destroy the America the Founders left us. Nothing else will satisfy the left’s cravings for multiculturalist, divisive victim identity, statist anarcho-tyranny politics.
And, looking at most Repugnican’t candidates for federal offices, how much less do they advocate multiculturalist, divisive victim identity, statist anarcho-tyranny politics?
About 1/2 ounce less.
Want to clarify conservatism? Start with this–but unlike the current crop of politicians *spit* you must MEAN it–with every fiber of your being proclaim:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
(Yes, I added emphasis to a portion not usually cited.)
THEN, read through the “long train of abuses” and ask yourself: Would the Founders long endure the “long train of abuses” of life, liberty and property our current government regularly inflicts upon The People today?
Kelo
Government sponsored baby killing
TSA
Ruby Ridge, Waco
Martha Stewart, Ramos and Compean, et-oh-so-many-al
Promotion of the Cult of Hate and persecution of the religion that teaches, “Love your enemy”
Punitive taxation of the productive and subsidy of the slackers
Punishment of citizens in order to reward outlaws (the Bush-McCain-Kennedy amnesty bill for ILLEGAL aliens comes readily to mind here)
Failure at every level to protect citizens from its own abuses is becoming the hallmark of our own Federal government.
Is it time for a rearticulation of the Declaration of Independence? Maybe, but do note the header quote for this blog:
“In a democracy (“rule by mob”), those who refuse to learn from history are usually in the majority and dictate that everyone else suffer for their ignorance.”-third world county’s corollary of Santayana’s Axiom
Makes one wish for an electorate that matched the Founders’ model more closely, eh?
Any political conservatism that does not focus on protecting The People’s life, liberty and property is not conservatism at all, but something very like Dabney’s description. Any political aims that threaten The People’s lives, liberties or property must be eliminated from so-called conservatives’ lexicon of political aims. Still, one must work with what one has, unless another Revolution is forced upon the few remaining conservatives in this nation (and I do not doubt that there are far too few who possess the Founders’ conservative values for such a thing to ever come to pass), and so, even though some of the suggestions below make use of Federal usurpation of People’s and States’ rights and responsibilities, let’s start with what we have:
Given: that the Federal government has far too much influence on “energy policy”; it ought at least to focus that policy on protecting its citizens from foreign limitations on their “pursuit of happiness” instead of playing footsie with such as the Saudis who export not only overpriced oil but jihadism.
Energy policy: allow the exploitation of ALL known oil deposits; remove artificial Federal barriers to atomic energy production; remove artificial Federal barriers to building new refineries; remove artificial (and, frankly, harmful) barriers to oil manufacture via small TDP plants, etc.; scrap NASA and in its place offer “X Prizes” for space ventures focused on energy production (and resource enhancement–see Pournelle’s “A Step Farther Out” for examples): these would be a start.
Given: the Federal tax structure is not only a mess, it penalizes productivity and thrift and is exactly the kind of taxation the Founders saw as abusive. The Fair tax would return our Federal government to something more like the Founders envisioned, while still affording a realistic nod to current Federal excesses of non-constitutional (and thus illegitimate) authority by continuing the current funding levels. I have read all the critiques of The Fair Tax I can get my hands on and have reluctantly concluded that almost all the critics (all of the critics I’ve seen in Mass Media Podpeople bloviations) I have read are either idiots or liars. Get the facts. No, the real facts.
Given: the Federal government is doing damn all to protect its citizens from foreign invaders. 20,000,000 or more illegal aliens; at least 80% of them Mexicans entering through our southern border. And what do our federales want to do? Roll over on their backs and pee themselves like submissive puppies, lapdogs to successive Mexican regimes. Close the damned borders. Close them and allow people through ONLY at official gateways and ONLY according to already established law. Prosecute to the fullest extent of the law each and every employer of illegal aliens. Deny ALL Federal funding to ALL agencies, municipalities, states that provide social services to illegal aliens (yes, I mean schools and hospitals as well). Recognize and effect policy to reflect the FACT that by entering our country in defiance of our laws, illegal aliens have asserted that they are NOT under our jurisdiction and so they are NOT under legal protection, either. Make our country so very harshly inimical to ILLEGAL aliens (and warmly friendly to LEGAL aliens) that the masses of alien invaders will seek to return to their own lands.
There’s more, of course, but you get the drift: protection of CITIZENS’ lives, liberties and property is the legitimate function of our government. Anything else is just cause for rebellion. And that’s exactly what we need at the polls: rebellion. Mass write-ins. We need, as well, to harass–yes, harass–any congresscritter who allows or encourages abuse of citizens to continue. We can do it nicely for a while, perhaps, but if such abuse continues, then a genuine “fairness doctrine” would assert that those who encourage or allow such abuses to continue ought to be themselves abused. Excoriation in print, in person, via phone; campaigns for removal from office; continual denunciations to each and every person of our acquaintance: these and more are the just due of any politician who does not FIRST seek to PROTECT the lives, liberties and property of his constituents, whether from outlaws or from an outlaw government that simply legislates outlawry. (Yeh, the perfect definition of anarcho-tyranny: when government becomes THE Outlaw Gang.)
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Prescription for What Ails US: Hope and Change
Yes, both “us” and “US”. This will be short (relatively), and I will provide zero supporting elements. Any comments resulting from readers doing their own homework on the elements below are welcome. Comments that demonstrate absolutely no knowledge of the elements below will be mocked. Do your own homework. I will NOT provide links here. You can type “google.com” as easily as I can.
Barry Hussein Obama-Winfrey floats a lot of hot air about “hope” and “change” (yeh, he hopes to change the US into a completely socialist society filled with grievance groups of “victims” leeching off producers–and he has a good chance of success). Well, unless we, as an electorate, take steps to knock a few politicians *spit*, bureaucraps and assorted other leeches on the head (metaphorically, you understand) in order to change the direction our coutry is headed, I hold out little hope for a future U.S. with any resemblance to the City Set on a Hill envisioned by the Founders.
What must be done (apart from throwing the bums out of office–darned near every elected official we can find)? Several things would stem the tide–perhaps even roll it back.
1. Don’t take this lightly. Every person I’ve presented this to so far (and I’ve been talking this up in the RW for years *sigh* so far w/o much movement) has expressed a positive response–even those who view themselves as “lefties”:
Each State of the Union needs an amendment to its State constitution providing that
a. every elective position on each ballot include “none of the
above” as a choice on the ballot
b. if “none of the above” recieves a plurality of votes, then ALL
candidates listed for that ballot position are disqualified from
seeking that office in the future and
c. a new election must be held for that position with new
candidates.
Frankly, I could see “none of the above” winning in a landslide in the upcoming presidential election…
2. Get the feds OUT of public education, at ALL levels. Out. No influence, no monies, no diktats. Nada, zilch, a big zero with the rim kicked off. Then work on reducing State influence on local schools. Make local school boards and parents completely responsible for their children’s education. With around 2/3 of recent college graduates functional illiterates, largely as a result of early intervention by “feddle gummint” busybodies’ stupid policies, we need to get the fedgov out of education.
It’d be a start.
3. Do some commonsense things to get our economy back on track. No, I’m not talking here about the recent Chicken Little wails about recession. I’m talking here about the fact that we’ve been strongly encouraged (in large part by stupid fedgov meddling) to become a nation of consumers surrendering more and more of our nation’s producing capabilities. “Line jobs”–factory work, even low-to-medium skill work–is dropping off, and this suits socialists just fine (more dependents for government handouts) but does nothing for a republic of free folk. Look, by definition, half our population is “below average” in intellectual potential. What are you going to do for productive, meaningful work for thse folks as more and more real goods manufacturing is moved offshore? Put ’em all in call centers making telemarketing annoyances of themselves?
Or maybe they can all go to work for McDonalds. Ya want fries with that?
To stem the tide of manufacturing jobs bleeding from our society (mixing metaphors is what metas are for, IMO :-)), two simple things would make a huge difference. (Do remember Clausewitz’s admonition that “everything in war is simple, but the simplest thing is difficult” and remember that we The People must recognize that we are in a sort of war with our political buffoons *cough* leaders.)
a. despite the opposition of politicians who do NOT want to
reliquish the power over your life that the IRS and the income
tax gives them, we must press for The Fair Tax.
Do your own homework. I’ve posted enough FACTS here at twc in the past to demolish most of the disingenuous arguments against the plan, so any comments demonstrating you have not done your homewoprk will be roundly raspberried. Rational argument demonstrating you’ve done your homework will be welcome, though. (*crickets chirping*)
b. a 10% accross-the-board tarrif on ALL imports from
EVERYWHERE, no exceptions whatsoever. Period.
These two things alone would do much to restore America’s competitiveness in manufacturing, create more jobs for the average joe (and josephine :-)), strengthen the dollar and encourage thrift (more investment capital–of the right kind).
4. Get a handle on illegal immigrants who are stealing American jobs, stressing American health and social services, Close our borders. Period. Make sure we facilitate LEGAL immigration, but close our borders, seriously police them–like Mexico does its Southern border (complete with shoot to kill orders, exactly as Mexico does). And aggressively go after ALL employers of illegal aliens (are you listening, Tyson?). Shut down the jobs and social services (all social services except for legitimate health emergencies–provide emergency health care and then a free ride to the border) and watch the flood of illegals make their way to the borders. And make no mistake, of the 20,000,000 or more ilegals in this country, much more than 75% of them will head south… Eisenhower accomplished similar results in the 1950s, and what man has done, man can aspire to do… It ain’t rocket science.
Reminder: any arguments with assertions made above should show you’ve done your homework.
5. Make some commonsense decisions about energy policy. Right now, energy policy is being made by stupid, short-sighted politicians who’re either afraid of their shadows (eco-whackos) or bought and paid for lackeys of oil companies, OR by greedy, short-sighted energy company execs who just want to cash in now without serious thought for the future.
a. eliminate our need for fossil fuels for electricity production.
E-lim-in-ate.
MIT has put plans for a modular pebble bed reactor in the public domain. China likes it. Although China is now leading the world in oil imports (actually, energy imports of all kinds), it plans on being a net exporter of energy within the next decade, relying largely on pebble bed reactors. Now, admittedly, PBRs are not the most technically advanced possibilities for nuclear energy production, but the technology is here, now, and is safer than any other energy production method, save possibly hydro-generation, that can approach its ability to provide large-scale electricity production. Safe. (Do your homework. Oh, and include readings on radioactivity, hormesis and what actually happens when Cobalt60 is accidentally introduced into the building materials for a large apartment complex… yeh, you get one link from me to start you off. It’s a PDF file. :-).) And please, no cries of “What to do with nuclear waste?” That problem’s been solved, solved and solved again. Take your pick of safe, eficient and easy methods. It’s 19th Century engineering.
But oil for other uses? Why the heck is the U.S. importing oil at all? We already have enough reserves for short-to-medium term oil production. If the fedgov would get out of the way, that is. And technologies like thermal depolymnerization manufacturing of oil are proven technologies. Heck, if every lil burg simply contracted with a TDP company to process its raw sewage, the lil burgs would have their clean water as a “by-product” and the contracting company could sell the oil. Everybody wins. And the odor some folks complain about from TDP plants? Not any worse than raw sewage, my friends, and the odor from TDP plants has this advantage: it smells like money. Talk about win-win-win-win: lower costs could be assessed on citizens for water treatment, city has a new business to tax (*feh*), the Saudis and Hugo Chavez take it on the chin, and the TDP business makes money.
And nuclear energy, available proven reserves and TDP plants are just three of many things we could be doing right now to wean ourselves of foreign oil. No pie in the sky technology leaps necessary, just political will.
There you have it: the twc five-point plan. It’s not exhaustive (I’ve not mentioned, for example, annual meetings of Mass Media Podpeople with Dr. Tarr and Mr. Fether or many of the other things that would benefit our society), but you get the picture.
Argument welcome, but remember the warning above: comments that demonstrate the commenter hasn’t bothered to do his/her homework will be mocked.
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