iPandora

Norman Rockwell's Freedom of Speech

President Obama is still hoping he gets health care socialized before fall gets much underway and the Democrat leadership is anxious to deliver their messiah something palatable (to him and them) before he spurns them and finds a new set of disciples.

The fight waged on through the summer in the halls of our elected representatives and the screens of our TVs as it seems nearly the entirety of the elite class of America seems to want this.

The idea of class and elitism is an entirely different rant for an entirely different day. However, suffice it to say, America as a whole has been enablers at the very least in this creation of a super class. A group of people who, contrary to the very bedrock ideas and ideals of American idealism, are listened to and admired for reasons not much different than the aristocracy and royalty of those whose chains we sloughed off many years ago. Because they’re glamorous and seem to lead charmed lives and are adulated and congratulated by a fawning and feeding media pandering to a fawning and frenzied populace.

But Congress has let out for the summer and those we’ve employed to carry out the duties layed before them by the Constitution and with the admonition to remain constrained by the same, are coming home for their brief stint in what little of real life they must put up with prior to returning to the insular Washington D.C. And in these times at home, in order to breath new life into the flagging support for their beloved leader’s socialized health care initiatives, they are having what are being laughingly called townhall meetings.

Seeking to conjure up visions of colonial American citizens coming together in their meeting houses while ignoring the fact those meeting houses were usually churches and usually presided over by their pastors, they are creating what they hope to be media ready events with lots of weepy sob stories about how insurance carriers have shafted and cheated and dropped and left people with insurmountable bills.

But they read wrong.

The events are being taken over by citizens concerned, not that insurers are cheating them, but that government will fail and this failure will hurt far too many people than can be forgiven.

In video after video, we’re seeing soldiers and seniors and wives and mothers, fathers and sons standing up and demanding their representatives show them where in the Constitution they find the justification to perform what will be an abominable failure. Demanding reasons why if we can’t trust to government to run even the boondoggled “Cash for Clunkers” program, why we’re to trust them with our health care.

And those citizens, spending they’re own time and money and effort to attend these media events, are being called “plants” of the insurance companies, trained goons of the Republican party.

If the idea of socializing health care is such a valid and reasonable and good idea, why won’t we accept and allow discussion, alternate ideas, and even criticism of this so perfect program?

We have a democratic republic as our form of government and society in America and there is great weight and significance in the acceptance and even promotion of alternate ideas and opinions different from our own. The divergence of ideas even insures the strength of the positions eventually taken, as they’ve had to bear the strain of testing against all comers.

To provoke dissent and accept criticism is a proud tradition in America. It is perhaps our greatest strength.

To stifle protest and dismiss digressing opinions is becoming scarily commonplace in this administration.

Yes, it was “unpatriotic” to protest the Patriot act. But there wasn’t a talking point memo being read by every major network anchor stating they were planned plants of the evil Democrat leadership. And even that suppression was for the most part unwarranted, unnecessary, and un-American.

And so I ask, where is the decency? Where is the acceptance of those truly American ideals of protest and dissent? Where is the reason surrounding what is becoming a most messy muddle of he-said’s and she-said’s.

It’s like the butter battle all over again.

Start dissenting, before it’s not just unappreciated.

Newt Gingrich:

Americans should look carefully at the anti-politician, anti-government mood exhibited in California last week.

This vote is the second great signal that the American people are getting fed up with corrupt politicians, arrogant bureaucrats, greedy interests and incompetent, destructive government.

The elites ridiculed or ignored the first harbinger of rebellion, the recent tea parties. While it will be harder to ignore this massive anti-tax, anti-spending vote, they will attempt to do just that.

Voters in our largest state spoke unambiguously, but politicians and lobbyists in Sacramento are ignoring or rejecting the voters’ will, just as they are in Albany, N.Y., and Trenton, N.J. The states with huge government machines have basically moved beyond the control of the people. They have become castles of corruption, favoritism and wastefulness. These state governments are run by lobbyists for the various unions through bureaucracies seeking to impose the values of a militant left. Elections have become so rigged by big money and clever incumbents that the process of self-government is threatened.

Albany is even more corrupt and dysfunctional. The special interests that own the legislators in both parties have been exploiting New York for two generations. They have impoverished the Upstate region to the point where it is a vast zone of no jobs and no opportunities. Their predatory tax and bureaucratic union behavior is beginning to cripple New York City. More and more successful New Yorkers are leaving the state. In the face of multiple crises, Gov. David Paterson has shown himself incapable of carrying out reform.

…the machines don’t care because all they want to do is own the wreckage.

…look again at the 62 percent-plus majority in California in favor of smaller government and lower taxes.

In the great tradition of political movements rising against arrogant, corrupt elites, there will soon be a party of people rooting out the party of government. This party may be Republican; it may be Democratic; in some states it may be a third party. The politicians have been warned.

Read all about it: States have become castles of corruption

But Dan Walters, in the Sacramento Bee,  says we shouldn’t be as upset as we are:

When… new taxes expire in a couple of years, Californians’ relative tax burden could also drop further – but if the economy is rising by then, it could also mean a surge of revenues even when the increased rates disappear.

If nothing else, these data indicate that while income and sales tax rates may make a difference, the economy is the biggest factor in how much tax Californians pay in aggregate.

When the economy rises, so do tax collections, and when it falls, revenues fall with it.

Walters asks if Californians taxes are too high or too low.

It’s not that the taxes are too high or too low, it’s the socio-political philosophy which supports such confiscatory policies and uses the money to pad pockets and entrench power.

As usual I was browsing the news today (yes, it is thanksgiving, but I am over 2,000 miles away from my family and my adopted family hasn’t woken up yet) and I ran into this interesting article.

Just some basic concepts I pulled from the article.

• Although creativity is rarely a prerequisite from the presidency but it should have been in Mr. Obama’s case. By promising change, Mr. Obama was promising somoething new or atleast newer (because it is assumed that the old establishment cannot change). This would require creativity to look outside of Washington and find competent staff members who can fill national level positions. However, this creativity and change doesn’t seem to be happening.

Barack Obama defended his decision to pack his new Cabinet with veteran Washington insiders and former Clinton officials yesterday after a campaign in which he promised change.

• Mr. Obama doesn’t have a “New” plan. Throughout his campaign, Mr. Obama always said he had a plan, but never mentioned to show it. At the end he started listing steps of action that sounded a whole ton like core conservative values, however, no real plans, just promises to every person on welfare. Now, we are receiving evidence that he has no plan. As my point above mentioned, a plan for change would include reaching outside of Washington for influence and ideas. However, Mr. Obama is simply falling back on the core of his party, the Clintons. Hmm . . . is Mr. Obama a leader, or a mouthpiece?
• Despite the appointments of Rahm Emanuel (the single most dangerous person in the Democrat party) and Hillary Clinton, Mr. Obama’s party is still claiming he is center-right. What is scary is that they are saying this about their most liberal member. I believe that the Liberals believe that this last election, and the huge turnout, gave them a mandate (a word the Conservative movement started using first) to drag this country down to European standards. However, a closer look at the election will tell a different story. In fact, the turn out at this election was much less than expected. The turn out this election was only about 10% higher than 2004 while the 2004 turnout was about 17% higher than 2000. Also, once again, youth did not vote. In fact, the majority of the increase in voting was because people who had already voted before, but hadn’t recently, voted. On top of that, these “liberal” voters, voted for traditional marriage in every state where it was being contested (though now the California Supreme Court is deciding whether a Constitutional Amendment is Constitutional [um . . . duh . . . it is the Constitution]).
• One last point I really want to make. There are over 40 million people on welfare who can vote. Those people most likely voted their pocket books (which candidate will give me more), but, as my last point makes, I find it hard to say this about everyone else. I do though think I know why they voted. Here is my argument. Mr. Obama was constantly labeled as a great communicator (I am not sure how true this is because communicators actually communicate information). He was someone who spoke to the voters and kept them informed. The voters loved to listen to Mr. Obama, and I believe this is the Republican parties fault. The basics of leadership dictate that a leader must communicate with his followers. The leader must let the followers know what is happening, where they are going, and what they are to do. If a leader does this, they are halfway to success. This what Mr. Obama has done. He has said that the Democratic party needs to get to the White House, has to battle the Republicans, and needs support. Compare this to the Republican party. In the election we were told, we dont’ need the conservatives (till they realised that the conservative vote was their only vote), we dont’ have an enemy (after all, we want this to be a civil election), just get the White House, who cares what we do after that (maybe we can do what we have been doing, it has worked so far). However, even before the election, we the voters have not been led. After all, what is really happening in Iraq? And who is telling us what has happened? Oh, the media, why can’t the President tell us? Communicate with us and let us know that he needs our support? There was no communication about the financial crash. The Washington Insiders just got together and came up with a plan without communicating the situation to the voters. Sure, the Republicans have challenged the Democrats on their policies, but have they told the voters about the Democrat policies and how they could be countered? Although I do loath Mr. Obama’s rash of news conferences (he is not the President yet), he is fulfilling people’s basic needs, communication.

So . . . I spent some time browsing and have some news to share.

Iran is working on nuclear capabilities and has the neccessary nuclear material.Should we be worried? I honestly do not think we need to be worried about our own safety, but world politics could change. After all, India will be the first target.

We all knew this was comming, but Proposition 8 in California, the ammendment defining marriage as a man and a woman (not directly banning homosexual marriage) is being challenged in courts.Now let me get this right. Prop 8 was a Constitution amendment that passed . . . So, why are courts considering these cases? After all, Prop 8 is now basically the law of the land in California. The California Supreme Court may interpret the Proposition (scarry thought) but may not rule is Unconstitutional (because it is part of the Constitution). So, in light of this logic, what does the California Supreme Court think they can do?

Here is a very revealing quote from the article:

All three cases claim the measure abridges the civil rights of a vulnerable minority group. They argue that voters alone did not have the authority to enact such a significant constitutional change.

I am sorry, this just gets my blood up. If voters, the most fundamental part of our governmental system, do not have the authority to enact such legislation (more importantly, a constitutional amendment, than who does? Because, even though the legislature and courts have enacted similar legislation, they have done it outside their authority. All I can do is shake my head.

Change we can believe in has become change that always was.Obama, in a further effort to show his bipartisanship, continues to appoint Clinton and Democrat stalwarts. And the Republican party grows smaller.

Hey, there is some good news though. A disabled man in California who has filed over 400 suits against businesses for not totally complying with the American’s With Disabilities Act (not enough disable parking spaces, no hand rails . . .), has been barred from filing and more suits. The man would sue and ask the courts to fine the businesses $4,000 a day till the changes were implemented. So, your might be thinking, that is a little crooked, but he isn’t making anything off it. Well, it turns out that a lot of businesses were afraid of him and would settle out of court, earning him hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.

We all like being generous, right?Well turns out that the people that have managed our money for years . . . and years, are asking for us to be generous again . . . to the tune of $1 Trillion. Yep, we gave them our earning and investments, they screwed us over, and now they want more of our money so that they can somehow “get back” what we initially invested in them. On a side note, there is only $350 Billion left from the $700 Million bail out package. It is good that the money has gone to help . . .  to help . . . to help . . . hmm . . . that is funny, I don’t know what the $350 Billion dollars helped. Probably created another bureaucracy somewhere and is helping pay for salaries. Hey it could be anything seeing as there is no oversight board.

And lastly, Obama is already voting “Present” in high profile public policy.It seems that Obama does not mind changing our anti terror policy by releasing inmates from Guantanamo, but is wary of change when it comes to taking a stand on bailouts for under producing, over paid auto companies. Maybe if they made a better product their revenue might be better. Just a thought.

Michael Medved opened my eyes.

On his radio show he was trying to explain on “Disagreement Day” to disheartened conservatives that trying to “purify” the Republican is not the correct course of action. The root of his argument:

You win by making your group bigger, not smaller.

First: you should not win by selling out. A win bought at so dear a price may not be worthwhile.

Second: you should not compromise your deepest principles either.

But, in my stands and beliefs there is a hierarchy: Abortion is one of my strongest concerns, to not value life is to not value life, there is no grey area. The issue of homosexual privilege is strong, though not as strong as abortion. Abortion is more external and more obviously a violation of laws and human rights and can be dealt with more legislatively than homosexual privilege.

The economy is a matter of principle: free market economics benefit the most people in a way most conducive to supporting Free Will as divised by God. But we can witness to people regardless of thier economic station and a faulty economy is less of a harm to people’s souls than abortion or homosexuality.

By balancing the hierarchy of beliefs and convictions and principles I can find ways to include people who I may have less in common with in reaching my goals.

I have no qualms working with members of the Mormon church to work for significant reinforcement of traditional marriage and the preventing of special privilege for homosexuals beyond the privilege accorded to heterosexuals, despite my serious disagreements with their beliefs.

I have no qualms working with Catholics to further the protection of the innocent unborn despite my belief that most Catholics are decieved and not Christians.

I have no problem working with athiests in pursuit of a libertarian economic policy despite serious disagreements on probably every other issue due to our differences in root beliefs.

The point is: Being wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove, I will work with any I can to achieve the ends which follow my convictions. I will be accepting and friendly to all as people so that none will have reason to say that I’m not for them as they could be for me.

With the devious I will be devious, with the narrow I will be narrow. The goal being that by any and all means, except those which violate my conscience and God’s law, we can advance the cause of physical and economic freedom here on earth for as many as possible, and hope and eternal freedom in the life hereafter for as many as will believe.

Refining this ideal is the fact that people follow a leader with a vision. It does not have to be a clearly defined vision so much as a stirring vision (or at least one spoken of stirringly, see Barack Obama). Reagan was the “Great Communicator” and people followed his visions. Barack Obama has a way with words, a visible empathy that stirs people to want to believe what he says.

Individually, we need to be ready and willing and able to act in concert with all kinds of people, making the “big tent” an actual Big Tent. Seek common ground more than ideological purity within the bounds of our own individual abilities to accept differences. Instead of finding people most like us, find people most able to bring most of us along with them in a path headed towards truth.

As a group we need to find those people who have strong and principled stands we can agree with mostly who are also strong communicators and vibrant individuals. Vision and passion have few foes who can stand against them working together.

That is my plan for real change.

I will grant – to the point – I voted for McCain/ Palin, but honestly what choices did I have this election as a conservative? Truly I was rooting for Palin who is a real conservative; in contrast to McCain who has a moderate/ Rhino history – working with Kennedy doesn’t get him marks in my book. But the socialist Obasmic Democratic “elect” is out of the question. I’ll grant it is great to have an African American as our President; but that is as far as I will go. Now the Republican party is cannibalizing itself.

If you were listening to Rush Limbaugh today you’d heard how the Republican party threw Palin under the bus – for why they lost the election by a landslide. Of course it had nothing(!) to do with McCain’s lack of allegiance to the conservative movement, nor his inability to tag Obama as a CLEAR socialist (merely hinting via Joe the Plumber), and him not having a clear distinction from Bush. “My fellow Americans,” and “My friends” will only give you so much encouragement in this economy. If you ask me McCain should have followed after Palin – she should’ve been the lead of the ticket. Granted even then she would’ve not won because the Bush party set the Republican party up for failure, but she would’ve done better than 155 electoral votes – last I remember. Point being the Republican party is tossing this beautiful woman under the bus. This is why I’m an Independent and have little hope in BOTH parties which are, for a lack of better words, screwing us.

RUSH: Ladies and gentlemen, it is worse than I thought. It is worse than I thought inside the Republican Party. What the Republican Party, led by disgruntled and failed McCain staffers are trying to do to Sarah Palin, is unconscionable and is unacceptable.

Rush LINK

If you ask me the Republican party is treating her like a cheap date – humped and dumped!

Read the rest of the story and ask yourself if you want to reform the party, which has become more and more like the Democratic party, or be more like another party – a separatist. Michael Savage has been saying this for the longest time – both sides are against the American values – and FINALLY maybe you’ll see this truth; while both Rush and Hannity have been carrying the Republican water bucket and drinking the red cool-aid. I’m not insulting Rush or Hannity (I listen to them regularly) but we – the next generation of voters – need to consider our future. Changes are needed, NEEDED!

So I’m an independent. Once you come to this realization, in honor of American history (ie Pilgrims and Puritans), we may then be able to talk about what to do.

Voting for Obama, for many black people, is about sticking it “To The Man,” – whether they know it or not. Other than the color of the skin, Obama is simply popular among his ethnicity because he is a socialist and black culture is heavily influenced by this belief system – take from those who are capable and have, and give to those who are not and have not. Much of this aligns with the black culture which believes they are still regularly discriminated against by the white man in high places from businesses. So if the government can be turned into a tool to take from the rich, they will vote for people to do so; and the socialist Democratic party is more than willing to use these votes to their advantage. This partially explains why, even though it was the Republican party which freed the slaves, that the Democratic party gets the largest percentage of votes from the black community.

Obama in a radio interview in the early 2000s stated he believes the Civil Rights movement of the 60s didn’t go far enough because he believes there wasn’t enough “distribution….change.” LINK. He’s also went onto say the founding fathers did not do enough with the constitution because it doesn’t say what the government is to do for us LINK So this IS the change of which Obama wants to bring to America. I can understand why people with entitlement mentalities would vote for him, however, what really concerns me is the average American who is okay with paying more in taxes directly, or indirectly via the products of companies which pay, now, higher taxes. With this passive, boiling-frog mentality, before they know it they or their grandchildren will be in the cross hairs of the government.

As an Independent I have some serious issues with the Republican party, but the vote is between an American socialist (John McCain) and a European socialist (Obama); and the reason my founding fathers came to America was to NOT be like Europe and be our own nation. I hope my generation, which by many polls is more conservative, can steer this great nation back on course.

This is going to be an interesting election and next four years.

I was rather disturbed recently when reading about the Democrat’s need to suppress right leaning speech.

Here are a few quotes from the articles.

Yes, the Obama campaign said some months back that the candidate doesn’t seek to re-impose this regulation, which, until Ronald Reagan’s FCC phased it out in the 1980s, required TV and radio broadcasters to give balanced airtime to opposing viewpoints or face steep fines or even loss of license. But most Democrats – including party elders Nancy Pelosi, John Kerry and Al Gore – strongly support the idea of mandating “fairness.”

Liberals, Rasmussen found, support a Fairness Doctrine by 54 percent to 26 percent, while Republicans and unaffiliated voters were more evenly divided. The language of “fairness” is seductive.

But Obama and the Democrats also plan other, more subtle regulations that would achieve much the same outcome. . . One such measure would be to impose greater “local accountability” on them – requiring stations to carry more local programming whether the public wants it or not. . . The measure is clearly aimed at national syndicators like Clear Channel that offer conservative shows. . .Finally, the Democrats also want more minority-owned stations and plan to intervene in the radio marketplace to ensure that outcome.

It might just be me but does this sound like a direct attack on a multitude of the basic rights that freedoms that are supported and coveted by conservatism. Is this an attack on ideas like say . . . free speech, free market, free enterprise. Wait, I think I just had a revelation . . . Isn’t this a DIRECT attack on freedom.

Honestly, what are the liberal puppeteers trying to accomplish? Isn’t it clear that this is the suppression of dissention, the bridling of local choice, and forceful creation of unsuccessful enterprises in the name of equality (that last quote really sounds like what happened to housing in the United States).

To sum it all up, I know that tomorrow will be better because of what I have done today, but why does today have to be so bleak? I am sorry if this offends some, but I am almost at the point where I cannot look at the presidential candidates without a measure of disdain, distrust, and disturbance.

In other news . . . A government funded scientific study supports industial advances. However, the English government cannot stand the truth they themselves found and so there is a cover up (sounds like the fair and representative government has an agenda).

I love my life and am going to have a great day today. I just wish my loving, protective government would stop getting in my way.

This morning the Wall Street Journal blogs laid out a scenario for the results for the Socialist Supermajority in Congress and the Presidency.

There may be dark days ahead…

…but this is still America. And we may not wake up in heavy chains and the dark dystopian socialist paradise if Obama ascends:

It’s always possible that events — such as a recession — would temper some of these ambitions. Republicans also feared the worst in 1993 when Democrats ran the entire government, but it didn’t turn out that way.

Like ShatteredChina quoted:

The sun will come out tomorrow…

Smile… it’s just tomorrow.

Just a thought:

Joe the plumber is a real man.

Don’t Worry, Be Happy!

Did our favorite socialist just shoot his own foot off?

Please, oh please!

No. Really. You’re kidding me. Barack Obama actually told that Joe the Plumber guy that he wants to “spread the wealth around.” What, did Obama just get done reading the Wikipedia entry on Huey “Share the Wealth” Long or something? Was he somehow channeling that left-wing populist from the Depression? Talk about playing into the most extreme stereotype of your party, that it is infested with socialists.

I will admit it. I am sick of politics. In fact, I turned off the last Presidential debate after the first five minutes. I have become very concerned with the direction our country is heading with the spineless Republicans and arrogant Democrats running Washington. However, I just heard this song and was given a good perspective.

This is from the musical “Annie.”

The sun’ll come out
Tomorrow
Bet your bottom dollar
That tomorrow
There’ll be sun!

Just thinkin’ about
Tomorrow
Clears away the cobwebs,
And the sorrow
‘Til there’s none!

When I’m stuck with a day
That’s gray,
And lonely,
I just stick out my chin
And Grin,
And Say,
Oh!

The sun’ll come out
Tomorrow
So ya gotta hang on
‘Til tomorrow
Come what may
Tomorrow! Tomorrow!
I love ya Tomorrow!
You’re always
A day
A way!

Now, I know this has nothing to do with politics but it has something more important, attitude. No matter what we are facing, remember, tomorrow is still ahead and, thanks to the Lord and the intelligence he has given us, it will be better than today.

In my personal opinion, there are really only two essential attitudes. This first, Grit is what most growing world power has used to establish themselves. The second is . . . a smile . . .? Yes, that is all. Or, if you want to look to “Annie” again, you can look up the lyrics to “You’re Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile.” I remember when my family was going through a hard time. Our family relationships were tense and nerves were being frayed. Then, for some weird reason (do not ask me why) I resolved to wear a smile every day all day long regardless of how I felt. I will never forget the result. My family, in a nose dive, did a U-turn.

Now, I doubt that I have the emotional energy to smile all the time now (growing up does that to one), but now I remember that tomorrow will come and I have a choice. Face it like another day and let the day define me or face it with a smile and make the day be defined by me.

To me, the choice is clear and I know what I will choose. Will you join me?