Scandals and Scorpions

Any one of the three scandals currently smothering Barack Obama would be sufficient to sink any other president.  Barack Obama has a life line…he is the first black president.  African Americans are understandably proud of the first African American president; but the assumption is wrong.  He had done NOTHING for the black community because he is not “black” as Americans currently understand the term.  He is a socialist who happens to be black.  Nonetheless, it may be the only thing standing between him and ultimate impeachment.  The visuals of impeaching the first African American president are unfathomable.  But you never know.

I am floored at the political tone deafness of the Obama administration.  Commentators keep asking why he has responded to these scandals using Nixonian tactics.  For those of us over the age of 55, it is déjà vu all over again.  Therein lies the answer to the question…because all roads lead to him and his cabal of socialist thugs.  If one assumes he as "in the dark" or ignorant or clueless as he claims, then one would think he would want to resolve the issues quickly.  Unfortunately, he is as guilty as sin of malfeasance at worst and gross negligence at best.  Either way, he has to cover up and hope everything eventually goes away.  He has no other choice.

Contrary to what the Fox News people are saying, the mainstream press is not pursuing these scandals in any aggressive manner.  Fox News has been chasing Benghazi since last September, and the press, while finally giving it some scrutiny, is still dragging their feet.  The IRS scandal is interesting to them, but at the end of the day, they quietly approve of what the IRS did to those big, bad Tea Party racists and haters. 

The Associated Press story, on the other hand, as has been magnified by seizing of the phone records of Fox reporter Jim Rosen, finally got their attention.  God forbid, Obama should turn his wrath on the press.  The story of Jim Rosen is downright scary.  In order to get a judge to sign off on a search warrant, they had to identify him an unidentified co-conspirator who committed a crime.  Not only did the Justice Department go after his records, but those of his parents. 

Obama gets in front of the press and says he believes in the sanctity of the First Amendment.  Right! Tonight we find out it was his Attorney General Eric Holder who signed off on the subpoena.  But that’s okay, Obama believes in the sanctity of the First Amendment.  After all, he said he did.  As in all things Obama, look at what he does; not at what he says.

The big scandal in ALL of these three scandals is Obama lied to the public to get re-elected.  The bigger scandal is the press knew it, and let him get away with it.  Several years ago my wife asked me when Obama was going to get his.  I answered when he goes after those who are defending him, the press.  That is exactly what happened. 

Of course one wonders why would he try to go after those who helped him.  It’s the old story of the scorpion and the frog.  While the frog was carrying the scorpion across the river the scorpion stung the frog. “Now you did it,” said the frog.  “You have killed us both.  Why did you do that?”  “It’s my nature,” said the scorpion. 

And this is Barack Obama’s nature.  The real Barack Obama.  

Boston Bombers and American Liberalism

The fallacy of liberalism has reared its ugly face in full view of the country in the circumstances surrounding the Boston Marathon bombers.  From terrorism denial to student visas to political correctness in the FBI and CIA to Homeland Security ineffectiveness to welfare to scholarship programs….it has it all.  America should take a lesson.  This is the ugly side of liberal policies.

It’s hard for the mainstream media to run from this one although they are trying.  The Tsarnaev family must have studied how to take advantage of our flawed and guilt ridden American system.  They came to this country as political refugees seeking political asylum.  That enabled them to qualify for welfare programs immediately.  Yet they went back and forth to Chechnya the way we go to Cleveland.  Included in their welfare package were food stamps, direct cash payments, and Section 8 housing.  Initial figures put the “welfare” portion of their sponging at about $100,000.00 over a ten year periods.  Commentators stated that is probably just the surface.  They lived in Cambridge, one of the most expensive areas in one of America’s most expensive cities.  Section 8 housing paid the rent. There is much more to come.  The brothers Tsarnaev attended the most exclusive schools and colleges on scholarships and by all indications had no issues with money dealing drugs on the side. 

While on welfare Tamerlan, the dead terrorist, managed to squeeze in a trip or two to Russia and attempted to go to Saudi Arabia for a pilgrimage.  The Russian government tailed him, and told the United States, both the CIA and the FBI, to watch this guy.  There were problems with his Visas, yet Homeland Security was not made aware.  Early reports stated the Saudis also warned our government. The wouldn't let him in.  The Saudis have since changed their story…hmmmm.   All of this notwithstanding, Tamerlan, for all intents and purposes, posted his intentions on You Tube for everyone to see.  Of course, we would not wanted to have invaded his privacy.

The stories go on and on.  And the government is stonewalling again.  Governor Deval Patrick inserted himself into the debate by denying access to the family welfare records citing privacy issues.  Really?  Can this guy be serious?  But what else would one expect from a Massachusetts liberal?  Conservative media and the Massachusetts legislature put an end to that foolishness. 

And now we find out that the younger bomber’s friends attempted to help him escape by destroying evidence.  One of them was here illegally.  The stories go on and on and on.  Meanwhile, Eric Holder sends in a judge and justice department lawyers to interrupt the interrogation of young Dzhokhar while he was in the hospital by reading him his Miranda rights.  He then announces to the world that he will prosecute anyone who discriminates against Muslims. 

This is from the same guy who wants to try terrorists in New York City and has stonewalled his knowledge of gun running across the Mexican border in the Fast and Furious operation.  Standing Amen Corner is John Kerry who has taken over as apologist in chief from Hillary Clinton.  On the back of the Benghazi debacle we now have a trend.  Of course, Hillary Clinton wanted to know what difference four dead Americans made now….and Jay Carney said at a press conference today that Benghazi terrorist raid during the height of the election was “ a long time ago.”  President Obama, of course, is "not familiar" with accusations that his White House has hidden Benghazi survivors and threatened career staff members if they do any whistle blowing on Benghazi. 

You who they need?  They should get Candy Crowley to run cover for them…just like in the debate.  If you want to know what is wrong with America and American liberalism, just look.  

Suspect 1, Suspect 2, and America

The most that can be said about the Boston Marathon terrorist attacks and subsequent pastiche was that it made for interesting…no…riveting television.  At its worst, it is an American tragedy on so many levels.  There are dead people, one a child.  There are severely injured people who will feel effects the rest of their lives.  There is the dead campus security officer who was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.  And finally two wasted lives of young men who from all reports were talented and smart, one gunned down and the other facing God knows what.  What were they thinking?

In many ways this is worse than the Sandy Hook and Aurora and Gabby Giffords shootings.  The perpetrators of those horrific acts were nuts, psychopaths walking among us.  But the young brothers who bombed the marathon were sane, at least by common definition.  They chose to do this.  It was religiously and politically motivated.  Their thinking may have been warped, but the act of terror was deliberately done by choice to express a point of view.

America needs to come to its senses.  There is evil in the world, and it is currently operating under the guise of radical Islam.  You can call them whatever you like, but those aren't Episcopalians blowing up a marathon race.  We have reached the point where we can’t even call it what it is.  The Associated Press banned its reporters from using the word “Islamist.”  Political correctness is trumping all common sense.  Granny’s breasts are being felt up at airports yet the FBI, alerted by another country two years ago to problems with the eldest brother, literally let these guys walk away with no follow up.  Had they done their job, they would have seen the terrorist propaganda posted on You Tube, and the radical teaching of Islamists posted on Facebook; put there by the elder brother who they supposedly investigated.  The fallout from this is just beginning.   

Unfortunately both Benghazi and the Boston Marathon don’t follow the current administration’s narrative that the war on terror is over.  In fact, the opposite is true.  Maybe Al Qaeda’s structure has been diminished to a degree, but most of the activity is at lower levels.  They may or may not be capable of pulling off another 9/11…at least not now.  But they are more than capable of small scale attacks against soft targets.  Boston will be the model in the foreseeable future…until Iran gets Nukes.

The Obama administration has taken the position that America’s greatest threat is homegrown terrorism, and not of the type that just happened in Boston.  Obama and crew are convinced that terrorism will come from right wing militia groups, white extremists and Tea Party types. His adviser David Axelrod commented that Obama’s initial reaction to the bombing was that it was “tax day.”  His Homeland Security Agency has purchased enough bullets for twenty years, and a fleet of armored vehicles.  This predilection also manifests itself in his preoccupation with semi automatic weapons.  He wants to know who owns them and limit their effectiveness as he builds a civilian army.    

Meanwhile, these young men took the best America had to offer and gave back to America their worst.  America needs to take a lesson.  The ethos of Suspect 1 and Suspect 2 were formed by a twisted system.  These young men studied in schools that celebrated diversity instead of commonality of American culture.  Look at the family life of these young men, raised by somebody other than their parents in God knows what circumstances.  At some point, their religion took a turn to the extreme.  They were traveling back and forth to Chechnya with impunity.  Our government was warned but political correctness got in the way.  They posted their extremism online for the whole world to see…and we did nothing. 

Here are the politically incorrect solutions to the problems:

1)            America needs to celebrate the melting pot theory of one common American culture rather than “celebrating diversity.”

2)            English needs to be the common tie that binds the culture.

3)            Profiling needs to be included as one defense against terrorism no matter how abhorrent it may be to us.  With deference to the Muslim community, Muslim males between the ages of 18 and 30 need to be scrutinized if traveling back and forth to areas where terrorism is taught, and that is just the way it is.

4)            One of the brothers was sworn in as American citizen two years on ago…on 9/11.  How did that happen? 

5)            Visas to students from Islamic countries need to be checked and re-checked and re-checked again. 

The solution to terrorism is common sense.  America needs to come to its own senses, then use some common sense.  Otherwise we are just sitting ducks along a marathon race route.  

The Wages of Appeasement...

The wages of appeasement are death.  The events of this past week in Boston are another example of America’s weakness.  Midst the media platitudes and purple prose the true lessons are lost.  Peace through strength is the only path.  In a world filled with evil, the answer to “Can’t we all just get along?” is no.  Until we realize that, things will just keep getting worse.

America has lost its way.  Words of community and forgiveness make for good sound bites on television but accomplish nothing.  It took hours before the government could even bring itself to say the word terrorism because they “didn’t know yet.”  The people that did this set of a bomb and killed and maimed a bunch of folks watching the finish of an iconic marathon.  What else would one call it?

The Mayor of Boston then goes on television and says we shouldn’t treat certain groups certain ways.  What groups and what ways?  The first reaction of the President was to say it was a “tax day” event.  That doesn’t surprise me.  And it very well might be….but minimally it shows his ideological bent.  Do you think for one minute Janet Napolitano and Homeland Security have purchased 20 years worth of bullets and armored vehicles because of Al Qaeda? 

Since the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima America has lost its sense of power and strength.  Through both Republican and Democratic presidents we have appeased and appeased and appeased.  It took Ronald Reagan to outsmart the Soviet Union making them think he was nutty enough to blow them up and rich enough to build the Star Wars missile defense system.  They bought it and backed down because they perceived America to be dangerous. How does the world perceive America today? 

And it’s not just Barack Obama.  Jimmy Carter should have settled the Iran issue then and there.  Look at what we are dealing with today.  When North Korea hijacked our ship or shot the plane out of the air or killed some South Koreans…did we fight them?  No…we gave them money to build an atom bomb.  We invaded Iraq twice…and left without one drop of oil.  Why?  Because of some cockamamie idealized vision of America’s virtue?  Screw that.  How many people have to die? How many times do we have to invade.  Never fight for the same real estate twice.  We will end up doing it three times. 

Now we are in Afghanistan fighting a war with rules of engagement that spells out we lose by definition.  We are going to pull out of there next.  Why?  How many times do we have to go over there?

President Obama came with an idealistic vision.  If we become less dependent on foreign oil, we can walk away from the Mideast mess.  Looks good on paper, but he burdened that vision with his environmental whacky ideas.  And then he said the war on terror was over.   I guess not.

The primary job of government is to keep us safe.  It can’t be done looking through rose colored glasses.  Domestic or foreign, left or right, you have to call a terrorist a terrorist.  You have to call an illegal immigrant an illegal immigrant…not an undocumented person.  You have to call extreme Islamists what they are….Islamists.  No more political correctness.  No more appeasing.

Sooner or later we are going to have to fight Iran and/or North Korea.  It is inevitable.  Sooner or later we are going to have to confront domestic terror whether it is from within or without.  Sooner or later we are going to have to settle the Israeli question.  And when those things happen, it isn’t going to be pretty. 

Wake up, America.  Life isn’t a video game.  Like I said…the wages of appeasement are death. 

Lessons from Cyprus

Cyprus is once again in the news. This is time it’s not for the Greeks or the Turks fighting who controls the island country, but because it is broke. Cyprus is an island about the size of Vermont with an economy identical in size. Unfortunately, its debt load is 145% of GDP. It has been a tax haven for tax evaders. It has been a depository for Russian money…mostly laundered…making its banking business way out of proportion to the size of the country and its economy.

Over the past several years, things have gone from bad to worse and Cyprus and its banks are on the verge of collapse. A member of the European Union, Cyprus went to the European Central Bank looking for a bailout. It got an agreement, but in exchange for the bailout the ECB required that the Cypriote Government confiscate 10% of cash deposits in its banks. Overnight the banks closed and remained closed for over a week. When they opened, depositors were only allowed to withdraw 300 Euros/week. It was a disaster.

There is a general consensus that the Cyprus is not so much a country debt situation…but a banking situation. For reasons known only Cyprus and Greece, the Cyprus Banks took all of that Russian money and invested in Greek bonds. Of course the Greek economy was and is on the verge of collapse and its bonds are worth…well…zero!!!! The banks couldn’t come up with the money to pay its depositors and went to they Cypriote government for money and the Cypriote government didn’t have any so they went to the ECB . Voila…he who pays the piper picks the tune. Cyprus confiscated 10% of all deposits in excess of $100,000.00. The saga in Euro land goes on.

This is scary stuff. Can you imagine a government coming in and saying give us 10% of all your accumulated wealth just because? It couldn’t happen here they say. Unfortunately, it does. The Estate Tax is exactly the same thing. Only our government takes 45% of accumulated wealth over $ 5 million of a deceased’s estate. Money that was earned and taxes paid on already.

When it comes to Progressives, there is no end for the desire to take your money. They take from the rich to give to…the rich…and then take from the middle class to give to…government bureaucrats. There is talk in Washington of raising the gasoline tax. There is the estate tax and the income tax. There is talk of a national sales tax and a value added tax. They print more money to devalue the worth of your currency. Many of these are regressive taxes that affect EVERYBODY regardless of income or class.

Cyprus should be a lesson to all of us. People like me keep saying look over there…look to Europe…to see where we are headed. Will that little island have a direct effect on the American economy? For what it’s worth, probably not! But this is a teachable moment. If they can do it there, they can do it here. And here’s a word to the wise: THEY WILL!!!!

A Looming Constitutional Crisis?

Governor Kasich was in Youngstown for the Youngstown-Warren Regional Chamber of Commerce annual awards luncheon. He has had many visits to this area since his election as Northeast Ohio is the base of Ohio’s economic resurgence. Much of the growth is based in the natural gas industry, but much of it isn’t. In fact, 55% of the business growth stems from diversified industries from food processing to computer software development to new techniques in dye making.

In his comments, he contrasted what is happening in states like Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee, Texas, North and South Carolina, and Nevada to job flight from states like New York, Illinois, Massachusetts, California and as of late in the news, Rhode Island which for all intents and purposes is bankrupt. It’s more than a coincidence that the states that are growing are Republican run red states…and the ones on the brink which are the bluest of the blue liberal dominated states.

He pointed specifically to New York which has banned fracking; too bad for New York, but great for Ohio. The anti-fracking zealots who are preaching doom and gloom have shut down an industry in New York that could go a long way in producing needed revenue to support its massive welfare system/nanny state.

This message of economic dichotomy is more and more dominating the news. What is even more frightening is these liberal states keep doing more of the same, digging the hole deeper notwithstanding the businesses deserting these states in droves. Even Bill Maher, that paragon of liberal obnoxiousness, has warned California…and his left wing movement….that they may “lose” him unless the unrelenting assault on wealth is stopped.

Of course a little thing like money has never stopped a virtuous liberal from his appointed rounds. I am sure Governor Brown from California and Governor Cuomo from New York are eyeing states that are fostering economic growth. They will be looking for bail outs as their situations worsen. They will be looking for federal intervention to stop economic flight. It will also cause severe blow back from the successful states which will raise a constitutional battle.

Many of the debtor states have large urban populations. As liberal policies have driven out businesses, they have simultaneously attracted the government dependent class. California tops the list with this problem. The fifth largest economy in the world is broke and getting broker by the day.

To states like California, the Constitution is an impediment. The Senate with two senators from each state notwithstanding a state’s population dampens the influence of states like California. More problematic is the electoral college system which is also state based. As it stands now…California with a declining population will ultimately lose electoral votes to those with an increasing population. A declining population always follows loss of business, and states like New York and California will begin to lose a small degree of influence after the next census. All of this makes it difficult for the debtor states to look to the federal government for a bailout. No state, let alone a red state, will vote to provide funds to another state who has acted fiscally irresponsible.

Look for these states to demand amendments to the Constitution promoting things like elimination of the electoral college and a possible revision of Senate rules. They will do this under the guise of “democracy” when what they actually want is wealth redistribution.

America is NOT a democracy. It is a Republic with representative government and checks and balances to prevent a raid on the treasury by either the masses or a dictator. For warned is for armed…and the country needs to be vigilant against those who would destroy it. And there are plenty of those around who are willing to do it in the name of being “fair”.

Re-Branding Republicans

Mitt Romney reappeared this past weekend with an analysis of his campaign and his feelings on the state of America today. Romney is a good and decent man who ran one of the worst campaigns I can remember, including McCain’s 2008 presidential bid. At least McCain had the financial crisis to blame for his loss. Romney just didn’t have the street smarts or stomach for the type of campaign he needed to defeat Barack Obama.

Since the election, the press has been offering the template that Republicans are in disarray and trying to rebrand themselves. It’s a narrative the press wants the public to believe as preparations are already underway for the 2014 mid-term elections. The Dems want the House back to foist Nancy Pelosi back on a compliant and supplicant public.

Of course, the press fails to tell you that they are propagandists for the Obama administration. NBC chief Washington correspondents such as David Gregory and John Harwood no longer even offer the pretense of objectivity. Harwood appears as the liberal commentator on CNBC while supposedly offering objective reporting of White House activities. David Gregory’s head is so far up Obama’s ass it would take the jaws of life to pull it out. CNN’s Candy Crowley, the objective moderator of the second presidential debate, offered Obama cover when he got into trouble even though she was factually incorrect. CNN said “bad Candy. Don’t do it again.” Wink! Wink!

Republicans can try to rebrand themselves all they want and it will be for naught because the press has made the decision to block the message. Although a portion of the public listens to alternative media for critical news, for the most part Americans are disengaged and take at face value they are getting accurate reporting from the spawn of liberal journalism schools whose professors are rooted in 1960’s radical activism.

Rather than wasting time on trying to get a national message out that will never be delivered, Republicans should focus on state and local elections. Democratic sage Tip O’Neill stated all politics is local. I agree. Both Democrats and Republicans have their fair share of national twits. The real power is in the states, in the cities, in the townships and on the school boards.

One area that Republicans have failed to capitalize on are the appointments to the Boards of Trustees of state universities. Here is where Republicans can watchdog liberal, progressive and outright communist professors lost in the nether world of academia. Republicans control a majority of the state statehouses. Here is an opportunity to create a starting point for monitoring the twaddle that has crept into our state universities. These bastions of higher education scream academic freedom and diversity when in reality they are anything but. The Harvard Kennedy School of Government has twenty five professors and not one….NOT ONE…is a Republican. Of course, Harvard is a private university. But the state colleges aren’t too far behind. Not only do they deny conservative professors, they deny invited conservative speakers. Enough is enough.

All politicians are concerned with the next election. In the short term, Republicans have to lose the idea of whose turn it is to run next. McCain and Romney shows old guard middle of the road types cannot win elections. You know the definite of stupid…doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.

But in the long term, Republicans need to concentrate on getting the conservative message out to the people on the local level...one voter at a time.  They have to become in engaged in the education system.  It can be done. It will just take a little effort.