Monday, November 30, 2009

The Arabs Have Stopped Applauding Obama

The Arabs Have Stopped Applauding Obama

A foreign policy of penance has won America no friends.
By FOUAD AJAMI

'He talks too much," a Saudi academic in Jeddah, who had once been smitten with Barack Obama, recently observed to me of America's 44th president. He has wearied of Mr. Obama and now does not bother with the Obama oratory.

He is hardly alone, this academic. In the endless chatter of this region, and in the commentaries offered by the press, the theme is one of disappointment. In the Arab-Islamic world, Barack Obama has come down to earth.

He has not made the world anew, history did not bend to his will, the Indians and Pakistanis have been told that the matter of Kashmir is theirs to resolve, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the same intractable clash of two irreconcilable nationalisms, and the theocrats in Iran have not "unclenched their fist," nor have they abandoned their nuclear quest.

There is little Mr. Obama can do about this disenchantment. He can't journey to Turkey to tell its Islamist leaders and political class that a decade of anti-American scapegoating is all forgiven and was the product of American policies—he has already done that. He can't journey to Cairo to tell the fabled "Arab street" that the Iraq war was a wasted war of choice, and that America earned the malice that came its way from Arab lands—he has already done that as well. He can't tell Muslims that America is not at war with Islam—he, like his predecessor, has said that time and again.

It was the norm for American liberalism during the Bush years to brandish the Pew Global Attitudes survey that told of America's decline in the eyes of foreign nations. Foreigners were saying what the liberals wanted said.
Now those surveys of 2009 bring findings from the world of Islam that confirm that the animus toward America has not been radically changed by the ascendancy of Mr. Obama. In the Palestinian territories, 15% have a favorable view of the U.S. while 82% have an unfavorable view. The Obama speech in Ankara didn't seem to help in Turkey, where the favorables are 14% and those unreconciled, 69%. In Egypt, a country that's reaped nearly 40 years of American aid, things stayed roughly the same: 27% have a favorable view of the U.S. while 70% do not. In Pakistan, a place of great consequence for American power, our standing has deteriorated: The unfavorables rose from 63% in 2008 to 68% this year.

Mr. Obama's election has not drained the swamps of anti-Americanism. That anti-Americanism is endemic to this region, an alibi and a scapegoat for nations, and their rulers, unwilling to break out of the grip of political autocracy and economic failure. It predated the presidency of George W. Bush and rages on during the Obama presidency.

We had once taken to the foreign world that quintessential American difference—the belief in liberty, a needed innocence to play off against the settled and complacent ways of older nations. The Obama approach is different.

Steeped in an overarching idea of American guilt, Mr. Obama and his lieutenants offered nothing less than a doctrine, and a policy, of American penance. No one told Mr. Obama that the Islamic world, where American power is engaged and so dangerously exposed, it is considered bad form, nay a great moral lapse, to speak ill of one's own tribe when in the midst, and in the lands, of others.

The crowd may have applauded the cavalier way the new steward of American power referred to his predecessor, but in the privacy of their own language they doubtless wondered about his character and his fidelity. "My brother and I against my cousin, my cousin and I against the stranger," goes one of the Arab world's most honored maxims. The stranger who came into their midst and spoke badly of his own was destined to become an object of suspicion.

Mr. Obama could not make up his mind: He was at one with "the people" and with the rulers who held them in subjugation. The people of Iran who took to the streets this past summer were betrayed by this hapless diplomacy—Mr. Obama was out to "engage" the terrible rulers that millions of Iranians were determined to be rid of.
On Nov. 4, on the 30th anniversary of the seizure of the American embassy in Tehran, the embattled reformers, again in the streets, posed an embarrassing dilemma for American diplomacy: "Obama, Obama, you are either with us or with them," they chanted. By not responding to these cries and continuing to "engage" Tehran's murderous regime, his choice was made clear. It wasn't one of American diplomacy's finest moments.

Mr. Obama has himself to blame for the disarray of his foreign policy. American arms had won a decent outcome in Iraq, but Mr. Obama would not claim it—it was his predecessor's war. Vigilance had kept the American homeland safe from terrorist attacks for seven long years under his predecessors, but he could never grant Bush policies the honor and credit they deserved. He had declared Afghanistan a war of necessity, but he seems to have his eye on the road out even as he is set to announce a troop increase in an address to be delivered tomorrow.

He was quick to assert, in the course of his exuberant campaign for president last year, that his diplomacy in South Asia would start with the standoff in Kashmir. In truth India had no interest in an international adjudication of Kashmir. What was settled during the partition in 1947 was there to stay. In recent days, Mr. Obama walked away from earlier ambitions. "Obviously, there are historic conflicts between India and Pakistan," he said. "It's not the place of the United States to try to, from the outside, resolve those conflicts."Nor was he swayed by the fate of so many "peace plans" that have been floated over so many decades to resolve the fight between Arab and Jew over the land between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean. Where George W. Bush offered the Palestinians the gift of clarity—statehood but only after the renunciation of terror and the break with maximalism—Mr. Obama signaled a return to the dead ways of the past: a peace process where America itself is broker and arbiter.

The Obama diplomacy had made a settlement freeze its starting point, when this was precisely the wrong place to begin. Israel has given up settlements before at the altar of peace—recall the historical accommodation with Egypt a quarter century ago. The right course would have set the question of settlements aside as it took up the broader challenge of radicalism in the region—the menace and swagger of Iran, the arsenal of Hamas and Hezbollah, the refusal of the Arab order of power to embrace in broad daylight the cause of peace with Israel.


The laws of gravity, the weight of history and of precedent, have caught up with the Obama presidency. We are beyond stirring speeches. The novelty of the Obama approach, and the Obama persona, has worn off. There is a whole American diplomatic tradition to draw upon—engagements made, wisdom acquired in the course of decades, and, yes, accounts to be settled with rogues and tyrannies. They might yet help this administration find its way out of a labyrinth of its own making.

Mr. Ajami, a professor at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and a senior fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, is the author of "The Foreigner's Gift" (Free Press, 2007).

Anatomy of a Failed Presidency!

Anatomy of a Failed Presidency!

The following is an interesting article. I wonder how long Dr. Hunt can remain at NIH once the powers that be get wind of this article. Dr. Hunt is a social and cultural anthropologist. He has had nearly 30 years experience in planning, conducting, and managing research in the field of youth studies, and drug and alcohol research. Currently Dr. Hunt is a Senior Research Scientist at the Institute for Scientific Analysis and the Principal Investigator on three National Institutes on Health projects. He is also a writer for American Thinker.

Another Failed Presidency

An article from American Thinker by Geoffrey P. Hunt

Barack Obama is on track to have the most spectacularly failed presidency since Woodrow Wilson. In the modern era, we've seen several failed presidencies--led by Jimmy Carter and LBJ. Failed presidents have one strong common trait-- they are repudiated, in the vernacular, spat out.

Of course, LBJ wisely took the exit ramp early, avoiding a shove into oncoming traffic by his own party. Richard Nixon indeed resigned in disgrace, yet his reputation as a statesman has been partially restored by his triumphant overture to China.

But, Barack Obama is failing. Failing big. Failing fast. And failing everywhere: foreign policy, domestic initiatives, and most importantly, in forging connections with the American people. The incomparable Dorothy Rabinowitz in the Wall Street Journal put her finger on it: He is failing because he has no understanding of the American people, and may indeed loathe them. Fred Barnes of the Weekly Standard says he is failing because he has lost control of his message, and is overexposed. Clarice Feldman of American Thinker produced a dispositive commentary showing that Obama is failing because fundamentally he is neither smart nor articulate; his intellectual dishonesty is conspicuous by its audacity and lack of shame.

But, there is something more seriously wrong: How could a new president riding in on a wave of precedented promise and goodwill have forfeited his tenure and become a lame duck in six months? His poll ratings are in free fall. In generic balloting, the Republicans have now seized a five point advantage. This truly is unbelievable. What's going on?

No narrative. Obama doesn't have a narrative. No, not a narrative about himself. He has a self-narrative, much of it fabricated, cleverly disguised or written by someone else. But this self-narrative is isolated and doesn't connect with us. He doesn't have an American narrative that draws upon the rest of us. All successful presidents have a narrative about the American character that intersects with their own where they display a command of history and reveal an authenticity at the core of their personality that resonates in a positive endearing way with the majority of Americans. We admire those presidents whose narratives not only touch our own, but who seem stronger, wiser, and smarter than we are.

Presidents we admire are aspirational peers, even those whose politics don't align exactly with our own: Teddy Roosevelt, FDR, Harry Truman, Ike, and Reagan.

But not this president. It's not so much that he's a phony, knows nothing about economics, and is historically illiterate and woefully small minded for the size of the task--all contributory of course. It's that he's not one of us. And whatever he is, his profile is fuzzy and devoid of content, like a cardboard cutout made from delaminated corrugated paper.

Moreover, he doesn't command our respect and is unable to appeal to our own common sense. His notions of right and wrong are repugnant and how things work just don't add up. They are not existential. His descriptions of the world we live in don't make sense and don't correspond with our experience.

In the meantime, while we've been struggling to take a measurement of this man, he's dissed just about every one of us--financiers, energy producers, banks, insurance executives, police officers, doctors, nurses, hospital administrators, post office workers, and anybody else who has a non-green job.

Expect Obama to lament at his last press conference in 2012:
"For those of you I offended, I apologize. For those of you who were not offended, you just didn't give me enough time; if only I'd had a second term, I could have offended you too."

Mercifully, the Founders at the Constitutional Convention in 1787 devised a useful remedy for such a desperate state--staggered terms for both houses of the legislature and the executive. An equally abominable Congress can get voted out next year. With a new Congress, there's always hope of legislative gridlock until we vote for president again two short years after that.

Yes, small presidents do fail, Barack Obama among them. The coyotes howl but the wagon train keeps rolling along.

Margaret Thatcher: "The trouble with Socialism is, sooner or later you run out of other people's money."

"When you subsidize poverty and failure, you get more of both." - James Dale Davidson, National Taxpayers Union

"The more corrupt the state, the more it legislates." - Tacitus
"A Liberal is a person who will give away everything he doesn't own." - Unknown

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Joy Of Being A Muslim Women

Joys of a Muslim Woman
by Nonie Darwish
________________________________________
In the Muslim faith a Muslim man can marry a child as young as 1 year old and have sexual intimacy with this child. Consummating the marriage by 9.
The dowry is given to the family in exchange for the woman (who becomes his slave) and for the purchase of the private parts of the woman, to use her as a toy.
Even though a woman is abused she can not obtain a divorce.
To prove rape, the woman must have (4) male witnesses.
Often after a woman has been raped, she is returned to her family and the family must return the dowry. The family has the right to execute her (an honor killing) to restore the honor of the family. Husbands can beat their wives 'at will' and he does not have to say why he has beaten her.
The husband is permitted to have (4 wives) and a temporary wife for an hour (prostitute) at his discretion.
The Shariah Muslim law controls the private as well as the public life of the woman.
In the West World (America) Muslim men are starting to demand Shariah Law so the wife can not obtain a divorce and he can have full and complete control of her. It is amazing and alarming how many of our sisters and daughters attending American Universities are now marrying Muslim men and submitting themselves and their children unsuspectingly to the Shariah law.
By passing this on, enlightened American women may avoid becoming a slave under Shariah Law.
Ripping the West in Two.
Author and lecturer Nonie Darwish says the goal of radical Islamists is to impose Shariah law on the world, ripping Western law and liberty in two.(Consider what is happening in Britain and Europe.)
She recently authored the book, Cruel and Usual Punishment: The Terrifying Global Implications of Islamic Law.
Darwish was born in Cairo and spent her childhood in Egypt and Gaza before immigrating to America in 1978, when she was eight years old. Her father died while leading covert attacks on Israel. He was a high-ranking Egyptian military officer stationed with his family in Gaza .
When he died, he was considered a "shahid," a martyr for jihad. His posthumous status earned Nonie and her family an elevated position in Muslim society.
But Darwish developed a skeptical eye at an early age. She questioned her own Muslim culture and upbringing. She converted to Christianity after hearing a Christian preacher on television.
In her latest book, Darwish warns about creeping sharia law - what it is, what it means, and how it is manifested in Islamic countries.
For the West, she says radical Islamists are working to impose sharia on the world. If that happens, Western civilization will be destroyed. Westerners generally assume all religions encourage a respect for the dignity of each individual. Islamic law (Sharia) teaches that non-Muslims should be subjugated or killed in this world.
Peace and prosperity for one's children is not as important as assuring that Islamic law rules everywhere in the Middle East and eventually in the world.
While Westerners tend to think that all religions encourage some form of the golden rule, Sharia teaches two systems of ethics - one for Muslims and another for non-Muslims. Building on tribal practices of the seventh century, Sharia encourages the side of humanity that wants to take from and subjugate others.
While Westerners tend to think in terms of religious people developing a personal understanding of and relationship with
God, Sharia advocates executing people who ask difficult questions that could be interpreted as criticism.
It's hard to imagine, that in this day and age, Islamic scholars agree that those who criticize Islam or choose to stop being Muslim should be executed. Sadly, while talk of an Islamic reformation is common and even assumed by many in the West, such murmurings in the Middle East are silenced through intimidation.
While Westerners are accustomed to an increase in religious tolerance over time, Darwish explains how petro dollars are being used to grow an extremely intolerant form of political Islam in her native Egypt and elsewhere.
In twenty years there will be enough Muslim voters in the U.S. to elect the President by themselves! Rest assured they will do so... You can look at how they have taken over several towns in the USA.. Dearborn Mich. is one... and there are others...
I think everyone in the U.S. should be required to read this, but with the ACLU, there is no way this will be widely publicized, unless each of us sends it on!
It is too bad that so many are disillusioned with life and Christianity to accept Muslims as peaceful.. some may be but they have an army that is willing to shed blood in the name of Islam.. the peaceful support the warriors with their finances and own kind of patriotism to their religion.. While America is getting rid of Christianity from all public sites and erasing God from the lives of children the Muslims are planning a great jihad on America ..
This is your chance to make a difference...! Pass it on to your email list or at least those you think will listen..

A Look A Palin We Don't Get To See

Posted by a commercial fisherman in AK.


The last 45 of my 66 years I've spent in a commercial fishing town in Alaska . I understand Alaska politics but never understood national politics well until this last year. Here's the breaking point: Neither side of the Palin controversy gets it. It's not about persona, style, rhetoric, it's about doing things. Even Palin supporters never mention the things that I'm about to mention here.

1- Democrats now forget that Palin once was the "Darling of the Democrats", because as soon as Palin took the Governor's office away from a fellow Republican and tough SOB, Frank Murkowski, she tore into the Republican's "Corrupt Bastards Club" (CBC) and sent them packing. Many of them are now residing in State housing and wearing orange jump suits. The Democrats reacted by skipping around the yard, throwing confetti and singing, "la la la la" (well, you know how they are). Name another governor in this country that has ever done anything similar.

2- Now with the CBC gone, there were fewer Alaskan politicians to protect the huge, giant oil companies here. So she constructed and enacted a new system of splitting the oil profits called "ACES." Exxon (the biggest corporation in the world) protested and Sarah told them, "don't let the door hit you in the stern on your way out." They stayed, and Alaska residents went from being merely wealthy to being filthy rich. Of course, the other huge international oil companies meekly fell in line. Again, give me the name of any other governor in the country that has done anything similar.

3- The other thing she did when she walked into the governor's office is she got the list of State requests for federal funding for projects, known as "pork." She went through the list, took 85% of them and placed them in the "when-hell-freezes-over" stack. She let locals know that if we need something built, we'll pay for it ourselves. Maybe she figured she could use the money she got from selling the previous governor's jet because it was extravagant. Maybe she could use the money she saved by dismissing the governor's cook (remarking that she could cook for her own family), giving back the State vehicle issued to her, maintaining that she already had a car, and dismissing her State provided security force (never mentioning - I imagine - that she's packing heat herself). I'm still waiting to hear the names of those other governors.

4- Now, even with her much-ridiculed "gosh and golly" mannerism, she also managed to put together a totally new approach to getting a natural gas pipeline built which will be the biggest private construction project in the history of North America. No one else could do it although they tried. If that doesn't impress you, then you're trying too hard to be unimpressed while watching her do things like this while baking up a batch of brownies with her other hand.

5- For 30 years, Exxon held a lease to do exploratory drilling at a place called Point Thompson. They made excuses the entire time why they couldn't start drilling. In truth they were holding it like an investment. No governor for 30 years could make them get started... This summer, she told them she was revoking their lease and kicking them out. They protested and threatened court action. She shrugged and reminded them that she knew the way to the court house. Alaska won again.

6- President Obama wants the nation to be on 25% renewable resources for electricity by 2025. Sarah went to the legislature and submitted her plan for Alaska to be at 50% renewables by 2025 We are already at 25%. I can give you more specifics about things done, as opposed to style and persona. Everybody wants to be cool, sound cool, look cool. But that's just a cover-up. I'm still waiting to hear from liberals the names of other governors who can match what mine has done in two and a half years. I won't be holding my breath.

By the way, she was content to return to AK after the national election and go to work, but the haters wouldn't let her. Now these adolescent screechers are obviously not scuba divers. And no one ever told them what happens when you continually jab and pester a barracuda. Without warning, it will spin around and tear your face off. Shoulda known better.

You have just read the truth about Sarah Palin that sends the media, along with the democrat party, into a wild uncontrolled frenzy to discredit her. I guess they are only interested in skirt chasers, dishonesty, immoral people, liars, womanizers, murderers, and bitter ex-presidents' wives.

So "You go, Girl." I only wish the men in Washington had your guts, determination, honesty, and morals.

I rest my case.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

How a 95 Year Old War Vet Feels About our OHbamananation

This venerable and much honored WW II vet is well known in Hawaii for his
seventy-plus years of service to patriotic organizations and causes all over
the country. A humble man without a political bone in his body, he has never
spoken out before about a government official, until now. He dictated this
letter to a friend, signed it and mailed it to the president.

Dear President Obama,

My name is Harold Estes, approaching 95 on December 13 of this year. People
meeting me for the first time don't believe my age because I remain wrinkle
free and pretty much mentally alert.

I enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1934 and served proudly before, during and
after WW II retiring as a Master Chief Bos'n Mate. Now I live in a "rest
home" located on the western end of Pearl Harbor allowing me to keep alive
the memories of 23 years of service to my country.


One of the benefits of my age, perhaps the only one, is to speak my mind,
blunt and direct even to the head man.
So here goes.
I am amazed, angry and determined not to see my country die before I do but
you seem hell bent not to grant me that wish.
I can't figure out what country you are the president of. You fly around
the world telling our friends and enemies despicable lies like:

* "We're no longer a Christian nation"

* "America is arrogant" - (Your wife even announced to the world,"America
is mean-spirited. " Please tell her to try preaching that nonsense to 23
generations of our war dead buried all over the globe who died for no other
reason than to free a whole lot of strangers from tyranny and hopelessness.)

I'd say shame on the both of you but I don't think you like America nor do I
see an ounce of gratefulness in anything you do for the obvious gifts this
country has given you. To be without shame or gratefulness is a dangerous
thing for a man sitting in the White House.

After 9/11 you said," America hasn't lived up to her ideals." Which ones
did you mean?
1. Was it the notion of personal liberty that 11,000 farmers and
shopkeepers died for to win independence from the British ?
2. Or maybe the ideal that no man should be a slave to another man that
500,000 men died for in the Civil War ?
1. I hope you didn't mean the ideal 470,000 fathers,
brothers,husbands,and a lot of fellas I knew personally died for in
WWII,because we felt real strongly about not letting any nation push us
around because we stand for freedom.
4. I don't think you mean the ideal that says equality is better than
discrimination. You know the one that a whole lot of white people understood
when they helped to get you elected.

Take a little advice from a very old geezer,young man. Shape up and start
acting like an American.If you don't, I'll do what I can to see you get
shipped out of that fancy rental on Pennsylvania Avenue .You were elected to
lead not to bow, apologize and kiss the hands of murderers and corrupt
leaders who still treat their people like slaves.

And just who do you think you are telling the American people not to jump to
conclusions and condemn that Muslim major who killed 13 of his fellow
soldiers and wounded dozens more. You mean you don't want us to do what you
did when that white cop used force to subdue that black college professor in
Massachusetts who was putting up a fight ? You don't mind offending the
police calling them stupid but you don't want us to offend Muslim fanatics
by calling them what they are,terrorists.

One more thing. I realize you never served in the military and never had to
defend your country with your life but you're the Commander-in-Chief
now,son. Do your job. When your battle-hardened field General asks you for
40,000 more troops to complete the mission, give them to him. But if you're
not in this fight to win, then get out. The life of one American soldier is
not worth the best political strategy you're thinking of.

You could be our greatest president because you face the greatest challenge
ever presented to any president.
You're not going to restore American greatness by bringing back our bloated
economy. That's not our greatest threat. Losing the heart and soul of who we
are as Americans is our big fight now. And I sure as hell don't want to
think my president is the enemy in this final battle.

Sincerely,

Harold B. Estes

Tell Congress How You Really Feel

Some of you aren’t old enough for Social Security yet—but you will be some day!

This is for all my fellow Social Security recipients. If it doesn't seem just a little bit unjust, then ignore, otherwise, send to you ss friends as well.

Take notice of this.
This is just the way it's going to be as long as these folks are allowed to remain in congress. While members of congress thumb their nose at us, they're taking away OUR benifits and giving it to themselves.

Your U.S. House &Senate have voted themselves $4,700 and $5,300 raises.






1. They voted to not give you a S.S. cost of living raise in 2010 and 2011.



2. Your Medicare premiums will go up $285.60 for the 2-years and you will not get the 3% COLA or $660/yr. Your total 2-yr loss and cost is $1,600 or $3,200 for husband and wife. Plain enough??????



3. Every member of Congress will get an added $10,000 which is putting them very close to $ 200,000 per year. Sounds like an elite class to us.



4. Do you feel SCREWED? They vote themselves a raise and better benefits. They only care about WE THE PEOPLE on election day, right? You never did anything about it in the past. The time for action is near!!!!



5.Do you really think that Nancy, Harry, Chris, Charlie, Barnie, et al, care about you? SEND THE MESSAGE-- You're FIRED.




*** THIS IS NOT ABOUT POLITICAL PARTIES! IN 2010 YOU WILL HAVE A CHANCE TO GET RID OF THE ENTIRE SITTING CONGRESS, Up to 1/3 OF THE SENATE, AND 100% OF THE HOUSE.
The election in 2010 will be a sea-change to the mindset of any member of Congress who may survive.





MAKE SURE YOU’RE STILL MAD IN NOVEMBER 2010 AND REMIND THE REPLACEMENTS NOT TO SCREW UP LIKE THE GUYS THEY ARE REPLACING.

THIS IS A MUST DO!

It is ok to forward this to your sphere of influence if you ARE finally tired of this abuse.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Check this out and see if it makes sense.

The Plan, The Scam, The Man, Don't ya just love it when a plan comes together?



Ignore all the gas crap and just look at how the stupid car buyer got taken to the cleaners:

If you traded in a clunker worth $3500, you get $4500 off for an apparent "savings" of $1000.

However, you have to pay taxes on the $4500 come April 15th (something that no auto dealer will tell you). If you are in the 30% tax bracket, you will pay $1350 on that $4500.

So, rather than save $1000, you actually pay an extra $350 to the feds. In addition, you traded in a car that was most likely paid for. Now you have 4 or 5 years of payments on a car that you did not need, that was costing you less to run than the payments that you will now be making.

But wait; it gets even better: you also got ripped off by the dealer.
For example, every dealer here in LA was selling the Ford Focus with all the goodies, including A/C, auto transmission, power windows, etc for $12,500 the month before the "cash for clunkers" program started.

When "cash for clunkers" came along, they stopped discounting them and instead sold them at the list price of $15,500. So, you paid $3000 more than you would have the month before... (Honda, Toyota , and Kia played the same list price game that Ford and Chevy did).

So let's do the final tally here:

You traded in a car worth: $3500
You got a discount of: $4500
---------
Net so far +$1000
But you have to pay: $1350 in taxes on the $4500
--------
Net so far: -$350
And you paid: $3000 more than the car was selling for the month before
----------
Net -$3350

We could also add in the additional taxes (sales tax, state tax, etc.) on the extra $3000 that you paid for the car, along with the 5 years of interest on the car loan, but let's just stop here.

So who actually made out on the deal? The feds collected taxes on the car along with taxes on the $4500 they "gave" you. The car dealers made an extra $3000 or more on every car they sold along with the kickbacks from the manufacturers and the loan companies. The manufacturers got to dump lots of cars they could not give away the month before. And the poor, stupid consumer got saddled with even more debt that they cannot afford.

Obama and his band of merry men convinced Joe consumer that he was getting $4500 in "free" money from the "government" when in fact, Joe was giving away his $3500 car and paying an additional $3350 for the privilege.
Think this was stupid for those who were crazy enough to swallow this wonderful scheme?
Just wait until we get health care with no additional costs over what most of us now pay for health insurance and the best medical care in the world. Think that scheme might be designed by the same people who came up with Cash for Clunkers?

WE THE PEOPLE

"I am a home grown American citizen, 53, registered Democrat all my life. Before the last presidential election I registered as a Republican because I no longer felt the Democratic Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. Now I no longer feel the Republican Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. The fact is I no longer feel any political party or representative in Washington represents my views or works to pursue the issues important to me. Instead, we are burdened with Congressional Dukes and Duchesses who think they know better than the citizens they are supposed to represent.
There must be someone. Please tell me who you are. Please stand up and tell me that you are there and that you're willing to fight for our Constitution as it was written. Please stand up now.
You might ask yourself what my views and issues are that I would feel so horribly disenfranchised by both major political parties. What kind of nut-job am I? Well, these briefly are the views and issues for which I seek representation:

One, illegal immigration. I want you to stop coddling illegal immigrants and secure our borders. Close the underground tunnels. Stop the violence and the trafficking in drugs and people. No amnesty, not again. Been there, done that, no resolution. P.S., I'm not a racist. This is not to be confused with legal immigration.


Two, the STIMULUS bill. I want it repealed and I want no further funding supplied to it. We told you No, but you did it anyway. I want the remaining unfunded 95% repealed. Freeze, repeal.


Three: Czars. I want the circumvention of our constitutional checks and balances stopped immediately. Fire the czars. No more czars. Government officials answer to the process, not to the president. Stop trampling on our Constitution, and honor it.


Four, cap and trade. The debate on global warming is not over. There are many conflicting opinions and it is too soon for this radical legislation. Quit throwing our nation into politically-correct quicksand.


Five, universal healthcare. I will not be rushed into another expensive decision that will burden me, my children, and grandchildren. Don't you dare try to pass this in the middle of the night without even reading it. Slow down! Fix only what is broken -- we have the best health care system in the world -- and test any new program in one or two states first.


Six, growing government control. I want states rights and sovereignty fully restored. I want less government in my life, not more. More is not better! Shrink it down. Mind your own business. You have enough to take care of with your real [Constitutional] obligations. Why don't you start there.


Seven, ACORN. I do not want ACORN and its affiliates in charge of our 2010 census. I want them investigated. I also do not want mandatory escrow fees contributed to them every time on every real estate deal that closes -- how did they pull that one off? Stop the funding to ACORN and its affiliates pending impartial audits and investigations. I do not trust them with taking the census with our taxpayer money. I don't trust them with any of our taxpayer money. Face up to the allegations against them and get it resolved before taxpayers get any more involved with them. If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, hello. Stop protecting your political buddies. You work for us, the people. Investigate.


Eight, redistribution of wealth. No, no, no. I work for my money. It is mine. I have always worked for people with more money than I have because they gave me jobs -- and that is the only redistribution of wealth that I will support. I never got a job from a poor person! Why do you want me to hate my employers? And what do you have against shareholders making a profit?


Nine, charitable contributions. Although I never got a job from a poor person, I have helped many in need. Charity belongs in our local communities, where we know our needs best and can use our local talent and our local resources. Butt out, please. We want to do it ourselves.


Ten, corporate bailouts. Knock it off. Every company must sink or swim like the rest of us. If there are hard times ahead, we'll be better off just getting into it and letting the strong survive. Quick and painful. (Have you ever ripped off a Band-Aid?) We will pull together. Great things happen in America under great hardship. Give us the chance to innovate. We cannot disappoint you more than you have disappointed us.


Eleven, transparency and accountability. How about it? No, really, how about it? Let's have it. Let's say we give the buzzwords a rest and have some straight honest talk. Please stop trying to manipulate and appease me with clever wording. I am not the idiot you obviously take me for. Stop sneaking around and meeting in back rooms making deals with your friends. It will only be a prelude to your criminal investigation. Stop hiding things from me.


Twelve, unprecedented quick spending. Stop it now.
Take a breath. Listen to the people. Slow down and get some input from nonpoliticians and experts on the subject. Stop making everything an emergency. Stop speed-reading our bills into law. I am not an activist. I am not a community organizer. Nor am I a terrorist, a militant or a violent person. I am a parent and a grandparent. I work. I'm busy. I am busy, and I am tired. I thought we elected competent people to take care of the business of government so that we could work, raise our families, pay our bills, have a little recreation, complain about taxes, endure our hardships, pursue our personal goals, cut our lawn, wash our cars on the weekends and be responsible contributing members of society and teach our children to be the same all while living in the home of the free and land of the brave.


I entrusted you with upholding the Constitution. I believed in the checks and balances to keep from getting far off course. What happened? You are very far off course. Do you really think I find humor in the hiring of a speed reader to unintelligently ramble all through a bill that you signed into law without knowing what it contained? I do not.
It is a mockery of the responsibility I have entrusted to you. It is a slap in the face. I am not laughing at your arrogance. Why is it that I feel as if you would not trust me to make a single decision about my own life and how I would live it but you should expect that I should trust you with the debt that you have laid on all of us and our children. We did not want the TARP bill. We said no. We would repeal it if we could. I am sure that we still cannot. There is needless urgency and recklessness in all of your recent spending of our tax dollars.


From my perspective, it seems that all of you have gone insane. I also know that I am far from alone in these feelings. Do you honestly feel that your current pursuits have merit to patriotic Americans? We want it to stop. We want to put the brakes on everything that is being rushed by us and forced upon us. We want our voice back. You have forced us to put our lives on hold to straighten out the mess that you are making. We will have to give up our vacations, our time spent with our children, any relaxation time we may have had and money we cannot afford to spend on bringing our concerns to Washington . Our president often knows all the right buzzwords like unsustainable. Well, no kidding. How many tens of thousands of dollars did the focus group cost to come up with that word? We don't want your overpriced words. Stop treating us like we're morons.


We want all of you to stop focusing on your reelection and do the job we want done, not the job you want done or the job your party wants done. You work for us and at this rate I guarantee you not for long because we are coming. We will be heard and we will be represented.. You think we're so busy with our lives that we will never come for you? We are the formerly silent majority, all of us who quietly work, pay taxes, obey the law, vote, save money, keep our noses to the grindstone... and we are now looking at you.
You have awakened us, the patriotic freedom spirit so strong and so powerful that it had been sleeping too long. You have pushed us too far. Our numbers are great. They may surprise you. For every one of us who will be there, there will be hundreds more that could not come. Unlike you, we have their trust. We will represent them honestly, rest assured. They will be at the polls on voting day to usher you out of office.
We have cancelled vacations. We will use our last few dollars saved. We will find the representation among us and a grassroots campaign will flourish. We didn't ask for this fight. But the gloves are coming off. We do not come in violence, but we are angry. You will represent us or you will be replaced with someone who will. There are candidates among us who will rise like a Phoenix from the ashes that you have made of our constitution.


Democrat, Republican, independent, libertarian. Understand this. We don't care. Political parties are meaningless to us Patriotic Americans are willing to do right by us and our Constitution, and that is all that matters to us now. We are going to fire all of you who abuse power and seek more. It is not your power. It is ours and we want it back. We entrusted you with it and you abused it. You are dishonorable. You are dishonest. As Americans we are ashamed of you. You have brought shame to us. If you are not representing the wants and needs of your constituency loudly and consistently, in spite of the objections of your party, you will be fired. Did you hear? We no longer care about your political parties. You need to be loyal to us, not to them.. Because we will get you fired and they will not save you.
If you do or can represent me, my issues, my views, please stand up. Make your identity known. You need to make some noise about it. Speak up. I need to know who you are. If you do not speak up, you will be herded out with the rest of the sheep and we will replace the whole damn congress if need be one by one. We are coming. Are we coming for you? Who do you represent? What do you represent? Listen. Because we are coming.

We the people are are now ready for some real change Come on 2010 lets vote again
Then 2012 we get to vote again

We will get some Change For Sure

Saturday, November 21, 2009

A Very Good Read.. Just proves that we have a bunch of incompentant folks steering our Country

By NOEL SHEPPARD

From the Media Research Center

During Wednesday's Justice Department oversight hearing by the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) stumped Attorney General Eric Holder on what should have been a fairly routine question for America's top law enforcement official.

Maybe more surprisingly, NPR reported it at its website.

As NPR's Frank James noted, "The exchange started with Graham stumping Holder with a question one would have thought the attorney general would have been prepared for."

I quite agree.

SENATOR LINDSEY GRAHAM, (R-S.C): Can you give me a case in United States history where a enemy combatant caught on a battlefield was tried in civilian court?

ERIC HOLDER, ATTORNEY GENERAL: I don't know. I'd have to look at that. I think that, you know, the determination I've made --

GRAHAM: We're making history here, Mr. Attorney General. I'll answer it for you. The answer is no.

HOLDER: Well, I think --

GRAHAM: The Ghailani case -- he was indicted for the Cole bombing before 9/11. And I didn't object to it going into federal court. But I'm telling you right now. We're making history and we're making bad history. And let me tell you why.

Now, the real focus of this NPR piece was Graham's subsequent question concerning whether or not U.S. officials would have to Mirandize Osama bin Laden if he was captured:

GRAHAM: If bin Laden were caught tomorrow, would it be the position of this administration that he would be brought to justice?

HOLDER: He would certainly be brought to justice, absolutely.

GRAHAM: Where would you try him?

HOLDER: Well, we'd go through our protocol. And we'd make the determination about where he should appropriately be tried. [...]

GRAHAM: If we captured bin Laden tomorrow, would he be entitled to Miranda warnings at the moment of capture?

HOLDER: Again I'm not -- that all depends. I mean, the notion that we --

GRAHAM: Well, it does not depend. If you're going to prosecute anybody in civilian court, our law is clear that the moment custodial interrogation occurs the defendant, the criminal defendant, is entitled to a lawyer and to be informed of their right to remain silent.

The big problem I have is that you're criminalizing the war, that if we caught bin Laden tomorrow, we'd have mixed theories and we couldn't turn him over -- to the CIA, the FBI or military intelligence -- for an interrogation on the battlefield, because now we're saying that he is subject to criminal court in the United States. And you're confusing the people fighting this war.

Much as what NPR did with its piece, this bin Laden segment will likely get a lot of attention from the media in the next 24 hours, as it certainly should.

How they report Holder being stumped by the earlier question will be very interesting to see.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Stores Who Support Christmas vs Those who Do Not

Companies FOR "Christmas"
updated 11-18-09

Amazon.com
Bass Pro Shops
Bath & Body Works
Bed Bath & Beyond
Belk
Big Lots
Books-A-Million
Cabella's
Collective Brands
Costco
Dollar Tree
Family Dollar
Dollar General
H.E.B. Stores
Hallmark
Hobby Lobby
Home Depot
JC Penney
Kmart
Lowe's
Macy's
Meijer
Menard's
Michael's Stores
Neiman Marcus
Petsmart
Pier One Imports
Publix
QVC
Rite Aid
Sears
Super D Drug Stores
Target
Toys R Us
Walgreens
Wal-Mart/Sam's Club


Companies marginalizing "Christmas"
updated 11-10-09
Best Buy
Hy-Vee Stores
Kohl's
Safeway


Companies against "Christmas"
updated 11-18-09

Advance Auto Parts
Aldi
Banana Republic
Barnes & Noble
CVS Pharmacy
Dick's Sporting Goods
Gap Stores
Harris Teeter Stores
Home Shopping Network
Kroger
Limited Brands
Nordstrom
Office Depot
Old Navy
Radio Shack
Staples
SUPERVALU
Victoria's Secret

An Interesting Read and Well Thought Out

>
>
> Once upon a time, a white teenager from Kansas got pregnant by her
> black Kenyan boyfriend, Barack Obama Sr., or was it her husband?
> Whatever. (I say whatever because we've never seen either marriage or
> divorce certificates). Some say the couple was in Kenya visiting
> relatives when the birth of their son, Barack Obama Jr., occurred. No
> matter..
> (I say no matter
> because we've never seen an authentic birth certificate). By the time
> the baby was two years old his father abandoned him for his other wife
> and child in Kenya .
>
>
>
> I wonder how toddler Barry felt when his father left him, and never
> reappeared until a single time when the boy was 10. Bewildered? Sad?
> Lonely? Angry? What
> do two-year-olds do with those feelings?
>
>
>
> It didn't take long for Barry's mother to meet and marry an Indonesian
> native named Lolo Soetoro. They moved to Indonesia , where her child
> became Barry Soetoro, took on Indonesian citizenship, and was
> presumably schooled in public, Christian, and Muslim schools. (I say
> presumably because we've never seen those school records). But when
> Barry was 10 years old, his mother sent him back to the U.S.
> to be raised by her parents, Madelyn and Stanley Dunham, although she
> kept her baby daughter Maya Soetoro with her.
>
>
>
> I wonder how the by-now fully-sentient young Barry felt when his
> mother sent him packing. Sad? Jealous of the baby who remained behind
> with mommy? Confused and dizzy by the disparate cultures, languages,
> customs, foods, sights, sounds, schooling he had experienced?
> Resentful? What
> did Barry do with those feelings?
>
>
>
> By the time he was 10, the boy had been abandoned three times ... by
> his father, stepfather, and mother. And although he was raised by his
> white grandparents in Hawaii , where "people of color" were not his
> color. He found out soon enough that his mixed-race background
> rendered him, in effect, an outsider. Did that make him feel
> self-conscious, indignant, victimized? But he wasn't altogether an
> outsider. In Hawaii , young Barry met Frank Marshall Thomas, his first
> and perhaps most influential mentor. The infamous Marshall, a
> Communist activist (and self-confessed
> pedophile) taught Barry - was it Obama, Soetero, Dunham? - that white
> people were the devil incarnate and that blacks were the most
> "victimized"
> people on earth.
>
>
>
> Yet the abandoned and rejected child was lucky. His white-devil
> grandparents gave him a comfortable life in Hawaii , and an education
> that apparently qualified him to attend several prestigious schools -
> Occidental College in CA, Columbia Univ.
> in NY City, and Harvard
> Law School
> in Cambridge ,
> MA . (I say apparently qualified because we've never seen any of his
> college transcripts).
>
>
>
> BARRY
> MORPHS INTO BARACK
>
>
>
> After his
> undergraduate days at Columbia
> , Obama chose not to go to graduate school, but instead
> held various jobs in
> the Big Apple and then moved to Chicago
> to become a community organizer.. Although he had been
> exposed to American
> exceptionalism through his life in the United States and
> his privileged
> education, it is clear that his experiences in impoverished
> Kenya and
> totalitarian Indonesia, as well as his exposure to Marshall
> and the other
> radicals he had met during his years in New York - among
> them the unrepentant
> domestic terrorists William Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn of
> Weather Underground
> infamy - made the deepest and most lasting impressions.
> Their messages of
> American imperialism and its white-devil culture clearly
> resonated in the
> thrice-abandoned boy. In his young-adult and adult years,
> free to choose his
> friends and pursuits, he opted exclusively for far-left
> socialists and
> Marxists, and activities aimed at relieving the suffering
> of people he
> perceived to be as victimized as apparently he felt he had
> been. He understood
> their feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, and impotent
> rage, as well as the
> pain of fatherlessness. After all, his Harvard-educated
> father consciously
> chose to leave him. And his mother gave him away. Was that
> depressing to Barry?
> Infuriating?
>
>
>
> When given the opportunity to join one of dozens of
> churches in Chicago, Barry
> - who had morphed into Barack - opted for the Trinity
> United Church of Christ,
> which was led by the fire-breathing Rev. Jeremiah Wright,
> whose decades-long
> anti-American and anti-Semitic rants apparently resonated
> in Obama's rejected
> and abandoned heart and soul. (I say apparently resonated
> because in over 20
> years of regular attendance, Obama said he heard nothing
> inflammatory or
> anti-American, and we've never seen the videotapes of
> any sermon, although each
> one was unfailingly recorded). "God damn
> America ," Wright raged.
> "The chickens have come home to roost," he
> "preached" to
> his whooping and hollering congregation after 9/11. Obama
> heard nothing.
>
>
>
> But it wasn't only Wright who Obama was attracted to in
> Chicago . He was also drawn to another
> hate-spewing radical, Rev. Louis Farrakhan, as well as to
> the raving Father
> Michael Phleger, the radical Islamist Khalid Rashidi, his
> friends and neighbors
> the Ayers, and to equally-close friends "Tony"
> and Rita Rezko - Tony
> being the notorious "fixer" and
> now-convicted-and-imprisoned felon
> for fraud, bribery, and money laundering. What did the
> seemingly mild-mannered
> Obama find so irresistible in these angry and/or crooked
> people and others like
> them? Was it the same thing that a shy man finds in his
> attraction to a
> flamboyant girlfriend - and alter-ego, a person who
> expresses what he really
> feels but is unable to give voice to? In these
> relationships and in community
> organizing - which offers inner-city mostly-black residents
> job training,
> tutoring, and methods to organize tenants'-rights
> groups and voter-registration
> drives, etc. - the twenty-something Obama apparently found
> his calling, and
> also a renewed and burning ambition.
>
>
>
> WITH
> FRIENDS LIKE THESE
>
>
>
> While
> his community-organizing job paid a paltry $12,000 or so
> per year, Obama
> somehow managed to pay his way through one of the priciest
> graduate schools in
> the world, Harvard
> Law School .
> (I say somehow managed because we have no record of his
> tuition payments). Even
> more amazing, he became the first black president of the
> Harvard Law Review
> without ever producing a written paper - or at least a
> paper that the public
> has ever read.
>
>
>
> There is a good deal of evidence that Obama's
> acceptance at Harvard Law - and
> his tuition - were facilitated by friends who had a vested
> interest in the
> community organizer. Among them was Percy Sutton, a former
> Manhattan borough president and ardent
> leftist, who was also Malcolm X's lawyer. In an
> interview last year, the
> octogenarian Sutton stated: "I was introduced to
> [Obama] by a friend. The
> friend's name was Dr. Khalid al-Mansour, and the
> introduction took place about
> 20 years ago." Sutton described al-Mansour as
> "the principle adviser
> to one of the world's richest men " and suggested
> that al-Mansour was
> raising money for Obama. Knowing that Sutton had friends at
> Harvard, al-Mansour
> asked him if he would write a letter to Harvard
> recommending Obama, which
> Sutton did most agreeably. This took place about 1988 when
> 27-year-old Obama
> was applying to Harvard Law.
>
>
>
> Journalist Jack Cashill has credibly speculated that
> Obama's two memoirs were
> actually written by his pal Bill Ayers, who was and is a
> University of Illinois
> at Chicago English professor, having escaped life in prison
> on a technicality.
> Two years [after he was admitted to law school], Cashill
> writes, "while
> still a law student, Obama improbably received an advance
> to write a memoir
> that would be called.. Dreams From My Father: A Story of
> Race and Inheritance,'
> which was published in 1995."20His second memoir,
> published in 2006, was
> "The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the
> American Dream." (I
> suspect Cashill said, "improbably received an
> advance" because, as
> stated earlier, Obama had not produced even one paper or
> distinguished himself
> in any way to have inspired a major publishing company to
> approach him).
>
>
>
> All this begs the question: Who writes two memoirs about
> himself before the age
> of 45? My own speculation is that it could be no one but a
> narcissist. As most
> people know in this age of pop psychology, the psychiatric
> disorder of
> narcissism derives from the Greek myth in which Narcissus,
> a handsome young
> man, became obsessed with himself and fell in love with his
> own image as he
> gazed into a pool of water. A lot of people have some
> degree of narcissism,
> which is characterized by grandiosity, an unquenchable need
> for admiration,
> unhealthy self-absorption, dependence on the affirmation of
> others, and also a
> lack of empathy, which is hidden by both personal charm and
> the kind of earnest
> language that pretends to "feel your pain." Or he
> could be a
> malignant narcissist., which psychiatrist Dr. Otto
> Kernberg, a legendary leader
> in thought disorders, compares to a narcissist on steroids.
> This variety involves
> paranoid traits (think of Obama's thin-skinned,
> quasi-hysterical reactions to
> Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin), and ego-syntonic
> aggression, which means the
> person is perfectly in-sync with people who have the
> courage he lacks to lash
> out. But consider the source! Obama's father was a
> self-aggrandizing narcissist
> who thought nothing of throwing his son away to fulfill his
> own ambitions and
> his mother also threw him away for the same reason. Talk
> about DNA, which Obama
> perfectly exhibited when, during his campaign, he
> unflinchingly dispensed with
> both his white grandmother and his black "mentor"
> Rev. Wright for his
> personal ambition.
>
>
>
> GROOMING
> THE PERFECT MARXIST CANDIDATE
>
>
>
> This
> leads me to only one conclusion, which I wrote about in a
> former article: "Obama:
> The Trojan Horse." My theory is that President
> Obama's narcissistic charm,
> even temperament, skill with words (teleprompter included),
> hunger to please,
> radical agenda, and subterranean rage at the
> "unfair" American system
> have been brilliantly exploited by powerful leftist
> radicals and Marxists in
> the United States, who for decades have plotted
> America's path to socialism. He
> is their pawn, totally dispensable but handy while the
> "aura" lasts.
> These "handlers" saw in Obama the ideal blank
> slate on which to
> actualize their agenda, and they made sure the slate
> remained blank by
> concealing (or destroying) any evidence of his past,
> including his birth
> certificate, Selective Service record, visa(s), school
> transcripts, and other
> vital documents. All of which is costing his moneyed
> backers - including
> America-loathing billionaire George Soros - multimillions
> in lawyers' fees to
> fight the proliferating lawsuits that seek the truth about
> this stealth
> president. In fact, former ambassador Alan Keyes, one of
> the many plaintiffs
> seeking proof of Obama's American citizenship, has
> reported that Obama's
> lawyers have now filed a motion "to quash our effort
> to obtain the
> relevant documents...[which] confirms Obama's ruthless
> determination to destroy
> anyone who continues to seek the information the
> Constitution requires. Obama
> thus signals his intent to bring financial ruin on those
> who won't accept his
> cover-up of the circumstances of his birth is a tactical
> escalation. It
> confirms the common sense suspicion that he won't act
> forthrightly in this
> matter because he has something to hide."
>
>
>
> It is clear that Obama and his fellow radicals are restive.
> In the less-than
> four weeks of his presidency, the new president has taken
> volumes from the
> Marxian handbook, which dictates that the stupid masses be
> blitzed with an
> overload of information, hollow press conferences,
> appointments, dismantling of
> formerly effective national-security programs, et al., in
> order to set the
> stage for a massive, Soviet-style takeover of our
> government, including a
> civilian national security force that Obama has said should
> be "just as
> powerful, strong and well-funded as the U.S.
> military." Echoes of Nazi
> Germany in 1938, anyone? According to writer Kyle-Anne
> Shrive, in Obama's
> ascendance: "We have yet to see a more perfect
> collision of Murphy's Law
> with the Peter Principle. In only three weeks' time,
> [he] has signaled to every
> terrorist on the planet that we are a sorry, groveling,
> ashamed nation ready to
> come to the diplomatic confessional. He is closing Gitmo
> within one year, has
> suspended trials there, and dismissed the charges against
> the U.S.S. Cole
> plotter. [He] has just put our money where his mouth
> is and is using
> $20.3 million to bring in Palestinian refugees from
> Gaza ...[he] had the gall to pronounce the
> so-called economic stimulus bill absolutely free of..
> earmarks' and.. make-do
> work'...but according to the Congressional Budget
> Office [this bill] will do
> worse to our overall economy than no government action
> whatsoever." And
> Obama has done all this with the predictable double-speak
> that characterizes
> malevolent intention, i.e., touting transparency while
> concealing everything,
> speaking of integrity while appointing crooks and
> incompetents riddled with
> conflicts-of-interest, supporting energy independence while
> killing off-shore
> and domestic oil-drilling and nuclear power, and feigning
> optimism while he
> speaks of impending "catastrophe" in order to
> push through a
> pork-laden, trillion-dollar-plus Stimulus plan that rewards
> the corrupt
> voter-fraud organization Acorn with billions and unions
> with discriminatory
> union-only labor agreements, paves the way for socialized
> medicine, and
> threatens to take away the most cherished rights of We The
> People.
>
>
>
> As blogger Eric Gurr has said: "We still talk about
> the health care
> crisis, the environmental crisis, the oil crisis, the
> banking crisis. Let me
> tell you my friends you are about to learn the meaning of
> the only crisis that
> matters, the survival crisis.."
>
>
>
> You can be sure that the sad-lonely-angry two-year-old, the
> jealous-confused-resentful 10-year-old, the
> self-conscious-cheated-victimized
> adolescent, and the man who found solace in and identified
> with his
> hate-America mentors is now determined to redeem all of his
> demons. Unfortunately,
> he is acting out his rage on free-market capitalism, a free
> press, property and
> gun rights, a limited constitutional government, protection
> of the unborn, and
> everything else that is good and great about our country.
>
>
>
> This
> is Obama's revenge!

Yes Mr President We Noticed...

This was written by Sherry Hackett, Buddy Hackett's widow........

"WE NOTICED"

President Obama:

Today I read of your administrations' plan to re-define September 11 as a National Service Day. Sir, it's time we had a talk.........

During your campaign, Americans watched as you made mockery of our tradition of standing and crossing your heart when the Pledge of Allegiance was spoken. You, out of four people on the stage, were the only one not honoring our tradition.

YES, "We noticed."

During one of your many speeches, Americans heard you say that you intended to visit all 57 states.
We all know that Islam, not America has 57 states.

YES, "We noticed."

When President Bush leaned over at Ground Zero and gently placed a flower on the memorial, while you nonchalantly tossed your flower onto the pile without leaning over.

YES, "We noticed."

Every time you apologized to other countries for America 's position on an issue we have wondered why you don't share our pride in this great country. When you have heard foreign leaders berate our country and our beliefs, you have not defended us. In fact, you insulted the British Crown beyond belief.

YES, "We noticed."

When your pastor of 20 years, "God-damned America " and said that 9/11 was "America's chickens coming home to roost" and you denied having heard recriminations of that nature, we wondered how that could be. You later disassociated yourself from that church and Pastor Wright because it was politically expedient to do so.

YES, "We noticed."

When you announced that you would transform America , we wondered why. With all her faults, America is the greatest country on earth. Sir, KEEP THIS IN MIND, "if not for America and the people who built her, you wouldn't be sitting in the White House now." Prior to your election to the highest office in this Country, you were a senator from Illinois and from what we can glean from the records available, not a very remarkable one.

YES, "We noticed."

All through your campaign and even now, you have surrounded yourself with individuals who are basically unqualified for the positions for which you appointed them. Worse than that, the majority of them are people who, like you, bear no special allegiance, respect, or affection for this country and her traditions.

YES, "We noticed."

You are 9 months into your term and every morning millions of Americans wake up to a new horror heaped on us by you. You seek to saddle working Americans with a health care/insurance reform package that, along with cap and trade, will bankrupt this nation.

YES, "We noticed."

We seek, by protesting, to let our representatives know that we are not in favor of these crippling expenditures and we are labeled "un-American","racist", "mob". We wonder how we are supposed to let you know how frustrated we are. You have attempted to make our protests seem isolated and insignificant. Until your appointment, Americans had the right to speak out.

YES, "We noticed."

On September 11, 2001 there were no Republicans or Democrats, only Americans. And we all grieved together and helped each other in whatever way we could. The attack on 9/11 was carried out because we are Americans.

And YES, "We noticed."

There were many of us who prayed that as a black president you could help unite this nation. In six months you have done more to destroy this nation than the attack on 9/11. You have failed us.

YES, "We noticed."

September 11 is a day of remembrance for all Americans. You propose to make 9/11 a "National Service Day". While we know that you don't share our reverence for 9/11, we pray that history will report your proposal as what it is...a disgrace.

YES, "We noticed."

You have made a mockery of our Constitution and the office that you hold. You have embarrassed and slighted us in foreign visits and policy.

YES, "We noticed.."

We have noticed all these things. We will deal with you. When Americans come together again, it will be to remove you from office.

Take notice.

Ladies and Gentlemen Beware Car Jackers

Warning..!!!! Warning..!!!! Warning..!!!!


Just last weekend on Friday night we parked in a public
parking area. As we drove away I noticed a sticker on the
rear window of the car. When I took it off after I got home,
it was a receipt for gas. Luckily my friend told me not to
stop as it could be someone waiting for me to get out of the
car Then we received this email yesterday:



'WARNING FROM POLICE

THIS APPLIES TO BOTH WOMEN AND MEN

BEWARE OF PAPER ON THE BACK WINDOW OF YOUR VEHICLE--
NEW WAY TO DO CARJACKINGS (NOT A JOKE)'

Heads up everyone! Please, keep this circulating... You walk
across the parking lot, unlock your car and get inside. You
start the engine and shift into Reverse.

When you look into the rearview mirror to back out of your
parking space, you notice a piece of paper stuck to the middle of the rear window. So, you shift into Park, unlock your doors, and jump out of your car to remove that paper (orwhatever it is) that is obstructing your view. When you reach the back of your car, that is when the carjackers appear out of nowhere, jump into your car and take off. They practically mow you down as they speed off in your car.



And guess what, ladies? I bet your purse is still in the car.
So now the carjacker has your car, your home address, your
money, and your keys. Your home and your whole identity are now compromised!


BEWARE OF THIS NEW SCHEME THAT IS NOW BEING USED.


If you see a piece of paper stuck to your back window, just

drive away. Remove the paper later. And be thankful that you

read this e-mail.. I hope you will forward this to friends and

family, especially to women. A purse contains all kinds of

personal information and identification documents, and you

certainly do NOT want this to fall into the wrong hands

Another Great Appointee

David Michaels, a left-wing ideologue who supports junk science and seeks to restrict gun possession, has been approved by the Senate Health Committee to head the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Only two Senators -- both Republicans -- voted against Michaels, who was nominated by President Obama.

The vote occurred with no discussion, and no hearing was even held on his nomination, although hearings have consistently been held on nominees in the past, even for far less controversial picks.

Gun-law expert David Kopel explains how Michaels wants to ban guns in and near workplaces, and could use his position at OSHA to do so, if the political climate shifts in favor of gun control. (Some businessmen in high-crime areas possess guns to protect themselves against armed robbers, and even strict local gun-control laws have generally contained exceptions to allow such businesses to defend themselves).

As the Washington Times noted, "Mr. Michaels also is an anti-gun zealot who has described 'gun violence' as an issue of 'public health' that 'invariably demands more and stronger regulation, not less.' As Walter Olson of the Manhattan Institute explained, by way of warning, on Aug. 15: 'That's by no means irrelevant to the agenda of an agency like OSHA, because once you start viewing private gun ownership as a public health menace, it begins to seem logical to use the powers of government to urge or even require employers to forbid workers from possessing guns on company premises, up to and including parking lots, ostensibly for the protection of co-workers. In addition, OSHA has authority to regulate the working conditions of various job categories associated with firearms use (security guards, hunting guides, etc.) and could in that capacity do much to bring grief to Second Amendment values.'"

Michaels wants to reverse the Supreme Court’s Daubert decision limiting the use of junk science.

Do you know the Constitution Preamble for your state?

Who is "We"?
President Barack Obama said in Turkey : "We do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation. We consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values."
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIVd7YT0oWA&feature=PlayList&p=350CEF1EBED1277E&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=2)

An interesting comment… since the very constitutions that define our various states are not secular!

. .
(Be sure to read the message at the bottom! )

Alabama 1901, Preamble
We the people of the State of Alabama , invoking the favor and guidance of Almighty God, do ordain and establish the following Constitution..

Alaska 1956, Preamble We, the people of Alaska , grateful to God and to those who founded our nation and pioneered this great land.

Arizona 1911, Preamble We, the people of the State of Arizona , grateful to Almighty God for our liberties, do ordain this Constitution...

Arkansas 1874, Preamble We, the people of the State of Arkansas , grateful to Almighty God for the privilege of choosing our own form of government...

California 1879, Preamble We, the People of the State of California , grateful to Almighty God for our freedom...

Colorado 1876, Preamble We, the people of Colorado , with profound reverence for the Supreme Ruler of Universe...

Connecticut 1818, Preamble. The People of Connecticut, acknowledging with gratitude the good Providence of God in permitting them to enjoy.

Delaware 1897, Preamble Through Divine Goodness all men have, by nature, the rights of worshipping and serving their Creator according to the dictates of their consciences...

Florida 1885, Preamble We, the people of the State of Florida , grateful to Almighty God for our constitutional liberty, establish this Constitution...

Georgia 1777, Preamble We, the people of Georgia , relying upon protection and guidance of Almighty God, do ordain and establish this Constitution...

Hawaii 1959, Preamble We , the people of Hawaii , Grateful for Divine Guidance .... Establish this Constitution.

Idaho 1889, Preamble We, the people of the State of Idaho , grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, to secure its blessings..

Illinois 1870, Preamble We, the people of the State of Illinois, grateful to Almighty God for the civil , political and religious liberty which He hath so long permitted us to enjoy and looking to Him for a blessing on our endeavors.

Indiana 1851, Preamble We, the People of the State of Indiana , grateful to Almighty God for the free exercise of the right to choose our form of government.

Iowa 1857, Preamble We, the People of the St ate of Iowa , grateful to the Supreme Being for the blessings hitherto enjoyed, and feeling our dependence on Him for a continuation of these blessings, establish this Constitution.

Kansas 1859, Preamble We, the people of Kansas , grateful to Almighty God for our civil and religious privileges establish this Constitution.

Kentucky 1891, Preamble... We, the people of the Commonwealth are grateful to Almighty God for the civil, political and religious liberties..

Louisiana 1921, Preamble We, the people of the State of Louisiana , grateful to Almighty God for the civil, political and religious liberties we enjoy.

Maine 1820, Preamble We the People of Maine acknowledging with grateful hearts the goodness of the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe in affording us an opportunity .. And imploring His aid and direction.

Maryland 1776, Preamble We, the people of the state of Maryland , grateful to Almighty God for our civil and religious liberty...

Massachusetts 1780, Preamble We...the people of Massachusetts, acknowledging with grateful hearts, the goodness of the Great Legislator of the Universe In the course of His Providence, an opportunity and devoutly imploring His direction

Michigan 1908, Preamble.. We, the people of the State of Michigan , grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of freedom, establish this Constitution.

Minnesota, 1857, Preamble We, the people of the State of Minnesota, grateful to God for our civil and religious liberty, and desiring to perpetuate its blessings:

Mississippi 1890, Preamble We, the people of Mississippi in convention assembled, grateful to Almighty God, and invoking His blessing on our work.

Missouri 1845, Preamble We, the people of Missouri , with profound reverence for the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, and grateful for His goodness . Establish this Constitution...

Montana 1889, Preamble. We, the people of Montana , grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of liberty establish this Constitution ..

Nebraska 1875, Preamble We, the people, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom . Establish this Constitution.

Nevada 1864, Preamble We the people of the State of Nevada , grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, establish this Constitution...

New Hampshire 1792, Part I. Art. I. Sec. V Every individual has a natural and unalienable right to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience.

New Jersey 1844, Preamble We, the people of the State of New Jersey, grateful to Almighty God for civil and religious liberty which He hath so long permitted us to
enjoy, and looking to Him for a blessing on our endeavors.

New Mexico 1911, Preamble We, the People of New Mexico, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of liberty..

New York 1846, Preamble We, the people of the State of New York , grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, in order to secure its blessings.

North Carolina 1868, Preamble We the people of the State of North Carolina, grateful to Almighty God, the Sovereign Ruler of Nations, for our civil, political, and religious liberties, and acknowledging our dependence upon Him for the continuance
of those...

North Dakota 1889, Preamble We , the people of North Dakota , grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of civil and religious liberty, do ordain..

Ohio 1852, Preamble We the people of the state of Ohio , grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, to secure its blessings and to promote our common.

Oklahoma 1907, Preamble Invoking the guidance of Almighty God, in order to secure and perpetuate the blessings of liberty, establish this

Oregon 1857, Bill of Rights, Article I Section 2. All men shall be secure in the Natural right, to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their consciences

Pennsylvania 1776, Preamble We, the people of Pennsylvania , grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of civil and religious liberty, and humbly invoking His guidance.....

Rhode Island 1842, Preamble. We the People of the State of Rhode Island grateful to Almighty God for the civil and religious liberty which He hath so long permitted us to enjoy, and looking to Him for a blessing...

South Carolina , 1778, Preamble We, the people of he State of South Carolina grateful to God for our liberties, do ordain and establish this Constitution.

South Dakota 1889, Preamble We, the people of South Dakota , grateful to Almighty God for our civil and religious liberties ....

Tennessee 1796, Art. XI..III. That all men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their conscience...

Texas 1845, Preamble We the People of the Republic of Texas , acknowledging, with gratitude, the grace and beneficence of God.

Utah 1896, Preamble Grateful to Almighty God for life and liberty, we establish this Constitution.

Vermont 1777, Preamble Whereas all government ought to enable the individuals who compose it to enjoy their natural rights, and other blessings which the Author of
Existence has bestowed on man ..

Virginia 1776, Bill of Rights, XVI Religion, or the Duty which we owe our Creator can be directed only by Reason and that it is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian Forbearance, Love and Charity towards each other

Washington 1889, Preamble We the People of the State of Washington, grateful to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe for our liberties, do ordain this Constitution

West Virginia 1872, Preamble Since through Divine Providence we enjoy the blessings of civil, political and religious liberty, we, the people of West Virginia reaffirm our faith in and constant reliance upon God ..

Wisconsin 1848, Preamble We, the people of Wisconsin , grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, domestic tranquility...

Wyoming 1890, Preamble We, the people of the State of Wyoming , grateful to God for our civil, political, and religious liberties, establish this Constitution...

After reviewing acknowledgments of God from all 50 state constitutions, one is faced with the prospect that maybe, the ACLU and the out-of-control federal courts are wrong! If you found this to be 'Food for thought' send to as many as you think will
be enlightened as I hope you were.

(Please note that at no time is anyone told that they MUST worship God!)

CZAR List and some info on thier positions

OBAMA'S "CZARS"-- Read who they are and realize what they want to do.

OBAMA'S CZARS

CZAR Czar Position Summary

Richard Holbrooke AfghanistanCzar Ultra liberal anti gun former Gov. of New Mexico. Pro Abortion and legal drug use. Dissolve the 2nd Amendment

Ed Montgomery Auto recovery Czar Black radical anti business activist. Affirmative Action and Job Preference for blacks. Univ of Maryland Business School Dean teaches US business has caused world poverty. ACORN board member. Communist DuBois Club member.

Jeffrey Crowley AIDS Czar Radical Homosexual.. A Gay Rights activist. Believes in Gay Marriage and especially, a Special Status for homosexuals only, including complete free health care for gays.

Alan Bersin Border Czar The former failed superintendent of San Diego . Ultra Liberal friend of Hilary Clinton. Served as Border Czar under Janet Reno – to keep borders open to illegal’s without interference from US

David J. Hayes California Water Czar Sr. Fellow of radical environmentalist group, “Progress Policy”. No training or experience in water management whatsoever.

Ron Bloom Car Czar Auto Union worker. Anti business & anti nuclear. Has worked hard to force US auto makers out of business. Sits on the Board of Chrysler which is now Auto Union owned. How did this happen?

Dennis Ross Central Region Czar Believes US policy has caused Mid East wars. Obama apologist to the world. Anti gun and completely pro abortion.

Lynn Rosenthal Domestic Violence Czar Director of the National Network to End Domestic Violence. Vicious anti male feminist.Supported male castration. Imagine?

Gil Kerlikowske Drug Czar devoted lobbyist for every restrictive gun law proposal, Former Chief of Police in Liberal Seattle. Believes no American should own a firearm. Supports legalization of all drugs

Paul Volcker E conomicCzar Head of Fed Reserve under Jimmy Carter when US economy nearly failed. Obama appointed head of the Economic Recovery Advisory Board which engineered the Obama economic disaster to US economy.. Member of anti business “Progressive Policy” organization

Carol Brower Energy and Environment Czar Political Radical Former head of EPA - known for anti-business activism. Strong anti-gun ownership.

Joshua DuBois Faith Based Czar Political Black activist-Degree in Black Nationalism. Anti gun ownership lobbyist.

Cameron Davis Great LakesCzar Chicago radical anti business environmentalist. Blames George Bush for “Poisoning the water that minorities have to drink.” No experience or training in water management. Former ACORN Board member (what does that tell us?)

Van Jones Green Jobs Czar (since resigned).. Black activist Member of American communist Party and San Francisco Communist Party who said Geo Bush caused the 911 attack and wanted Bush investigated by the World Court for war crimes. Black activist with strong anti-white views.

Daniel Fried Guantanamo Closure Czar Human Rights activist for Foreign Terrorists. Believes America has caused the war on terrorism. Believes terrorists have rights above and beyond Americans.

Nancy-Ann DeParle. Health Czar Former head of Medicare / Medicaid. Strong Health Care Rationing proponent. She is married to a reporter for The New York Times.

Vivek Kundra Information Czar Born in New Delhi, India. Controls all public information, including labels and news releases. Monitors all private Internet emails. (hello?)

Todd Stern International Climate Czar Anti business former White House chief of Staff- Strong supportrer of the Kyoto Accord. Pushing hard for Cap and Trade. Blames US business for Global warming. Anti- US business prosperity.

Dennis Blair Intelligence Czar Ret Navy. Stopped US guided missile program as “provocative”. Chair of ultra liberal “Council on Foreign Relations” which blames American organizations for regional wars.

George Mitchell MideastPeace Czar Fmr. Sen from Maine Left wing radical. Has said Israel should be split up into “2 or 3 “ smaller more manageable plots”. (God forbid) A true Anti-nuclear anti-gun & pro homosexual "special rights" advocate

Kenneth Feinberg Pay Czar Chief of Staff to TED KENNEDY. Lawyer who got rich off the 911 victims payoffs.(horribly true)

Cass Sunstein Regulatory Czar Liberal activist judge believes free speech needs to be limited for the “common good”. Essentially against 1st amendment. Rules against personal freedoms many times –like private gun ownership and right to free speech.

John Holdren Science Czar Fierce ideological environmentalist, Sierra Club, Anti business activist. Claims US business has caused world poverty. No Science training.

Earl Devaney Stimulus Accountability Czar Spent career trying to take guns away from American citizens. Believes in Open Borders to Mexico . Author of statement blaming US gun stores for drug war in Mexico .

J. Scott Gration Sudan Czar Native of Democratic Republic of Congo. Believes US does little to help Third World countries. Council of foreign relations, asking for higher US taxes to support United Nations

Herb Allison TARP Czar Fannie May CEO responsible for the US recession by using real estate mortgages to back up the US stock market. Caused millions of people to lose their life savings.

John Brennan Terrorism Czar Anti CIA activist. No training in diplomatic or gov. affairs. Believes Open Borders to Mexico and a dialog with terrorists and has suggested Obama disband US military

Aneesh Chopra Technology Czar No Technology training. Worked for the Advisory Board Company, a health care think tank for hospitals. Anti doctor activist. Supports Obama Health care Rationing and salaried doctors working exclusively for the Gov. health care plan

Adolfo Carrion Jr.. Urban Affairs Czar Puerto Rican born Anti American activist and leftist group member in Latin America . Millionaire “slum lord” of the Bronx , NY. Owns many lavish homes and condos which he got from “sweetheart” deals with labor unions. Wants higher taxes on middle class to pay for minority housing and health care

Ashton Carter Weapons Czar Leftist. Wants all private weapons in US destroyed. Supports UN ban on firearms ownership in America .. No Other “policy”

Gary Samore WMD Policy Czar Former US Communist. Wants US to destroy all WMD unilaterally as a show of good faith. Has no other “policy”.

How lucky are we that these are the people who are helping President Obama in the RUNNING of our country and the White House?

ARE YOU MAD YET?

Please pass this on and EDUCATE your family, friends and neighbors!

Vets Speak Out

Branson, Mo. -- They have come from every state in the union -- more than 50,000 veterans and their families. They are here to celebrate "Veterans Homecoming Week" in a city that "never forgets our heroes," where businesses proclaim to "hire veterans first" and entertainers proudly announce the units with which they served -- to the applause and cheers of fellow soldiers, sailors, airmen, guardsmen and Marines. They come for reunions with comrades from campaigns in faraway places and to remember their shared sacrifice in long-ago battles. They come here because Tony Orlando's "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" melody means something special to them and because the parade down Branson's Main Street every Nov. 11 reminds them of -- well -- America.

For nearly a decade, it has been my great privilege to interview thousands of our active duty military personnel, veterans and their families. Fox News has sent me to every theater of war in which Americans have fought since World War II -- and given me the opportunity to keep company with heroes. For two years in a row, I have covered this remarkable celebration in Branson. Last year, it was just days after a presidential election, and among the thousands of vets and their families, there was a sense of "watchful waiting." Because Americans in general -- and veterans in particular -- are innately fair, they were willing to give a new commander in chief and his administration a chance. That "decent interval" is over.

This year, we arrived just four days after the terrible carnage at Fort Hood. Within hours, it was clear these veterans -- normally reticent, rarely outspoken, invariably polite -- are, in their terms, "fed up" with our national leadership.

The veterans who spoke with me in Branson this year do not represent all 20 million American veterans and their families, and this is hardly a "scientific sampling" of public opinion. Everyone here knows I work for Fox News. Most are fans of the network. Some are veterans I previously have interviewed for "War Stories" or for Fox News in Iraq, Afghanistan or here in Branson.

But these men and women really are a cross section of mainstream America. Most served a single "hitch" in the military. About 25 percent of them are "retirees." All of them self-identify as respected community leaders at home. Many have sons, daughters or grandchildren serving in today's armed forces. Some now serve or have served in local or state elected or appointed office, and many volunteered their party affiliations.

This year, as I always do, I asked, "What was the last unit with which you served; where; when; and what did you do when you left the service?" In no case did I ask about politics, nor did I solicit their opinions about the current White House.

Herewith, excerpts from responses elicited from nearly 10 hours of meetings during the course of two days with these great Americans:

"I served in the 82nd Airborne Division from 1942 to 1945. ... When I came back to the states, we got married, and I went to work for a car dealer. ... We eventually bought the dealership. Two of our sons served in Vietnam. ... What happened at Fort Hood isn't a 'tragedy'; it's a travesty. ... It should never have happened. ... The people who knew about this guy Hasan and did nothing to stop him ought to be fired. All of 'em."

"In 1950, I was six weeks out of boot camp when I landed with the 1st Marine Division at Inchon. ... We fought our way through Seoul all the way to the 'Frozen Chosin.' ... I retired in 1970 as a master gunnery sergeant after two tours in Vietnam. ... Both our sons served as officers in the Corps. ... Our daughter was a Navy nurse in Desert Storm. ... This crowd in Washington scares us. A few months ago, they were telling us that our biggest threat was disgruntled veterans and right-wing extremists. ... That's not who's killing Americans."

"I was drafted in 1969, served in Vietnam with the 1st Cav, was medically discharged from the Army in 1973 ... came home and married my high-school sweetheart. I used the GI Bill to get my degree, taught English for 20 years, and retired as the principal of our high school. ... We're Democrats. ... We're sick and tired of being told by this White House not to 'jump to conclusions or rush to judgment' about what happened at Fort Hood. ... How can the president tell us what this guy Hasan did is 'incomprehensible'? What don't they comprehend about militant Islamists?"

And from a young staff sergeant wearing a Purple Heart medal on his uniform and standing beside his pregnant wife: "I came in because of the attack on 9/11. I've done three combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. We agreed I was going to stay in. But if we're not in to win, I'm getting out."

Though the sentiments of these veterans may hearten opponents of the Obama administration, it is notable that the overwhelming complaint was leveled not only at the White House but also at Washington. Incumbents: Sound reveille.

Let You State Senator Know Where You Stand

State Ethics Reform Necessary
NC Senate Fails to Consider Important Ethics Legislation
During the 2009 Session I was a primary co-sponsor of three bipartisan bills aimed at reforming our State ethics laws. House Bill 944, “Disclosure by Appointees,” sponsored by Reps. Glazier (D-Cumberland), Ross (D-Wake), Stam (R-Wake) and Tillis (R-Mecklenburg), requires disclosure of campaign contribution activity by those appointed to critical positions in state government. House Bill 961, “Pay to Play Regulation” was co-sponsored by Reps. Glazier, Stam, Ross and Goodwin (D-Richmond). This legislation is aimed at preventing conflicts of interest involving political contributions by critical state contractors. House Bill 1136, “Executive Branch Revolving Door,” sponsored by Reps. Ross and Stam, would prohibit certain Executive Branch employees from registering as lobbyists for six months after leaving employment with the State.

All three bills passed the House of Representatives with almost unanimous approval. HB 944 was received by the Senate on May 7, 2009. HB 961 and HB 1136 were received by the Senate on May 14, 2009. However, not one of these bills was considered by the Senate prior to adjournment last August. Recent allegations involving former Governor Mike Easley and Mary Easley, as well as other top Democratic officials, indicate the critical need for ethics law reform.

These bills will be pending in the Senate when the legislature reconvenes next May. I call upon the Senate leadership to make their consideration a priority.

Three Great Men and Greater Quotes

> "All that's necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do
nothing." Benjamin Franklin

> "No man who refuses to bear arms in defense of his nation can
give a sound reason why he should be allowed to live in a free country"
> T. Roosevelt

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

Think About the Soldier

He was getting old and paunchy
And his hair was falling fast,
And he sat around the Legion,
Telling stories of the past.

Of a war that he once fought in
And the deeds that he had done,
In his exploits with his buddies;
They were heroes, every one.

And 'tho sometimes to his neighbors
His tales became a joke,
All his buddies listened quietly
For they knew where of he spoke.
But we'll hear his tales no longer,
For ol' Bob has passed away,
And the world's a little poorer
For a Soldier died today.

He won't be mourned by many,
Just his children and his wife.
For he lived an ordinary,
Very quiet sort of life.
He held a job and raised a family,
Going quietly on his way;
And the world won't note his passing,
'Tho a Soldier died today.

When politicians leave this earth,
Their bodies lie in state,
While thousands note their passing,
And proclaim that they were great.
Papers tell of their life stories
From the time that they were young
But the passing of a Soldier
Goes unnoticed, and unsung.

Is the greatest contribution
To the welfare of our land,
Some jerk who breaks his promise
And cons his fellow man?

Or the ordinary fellow
Who in times of war and strife,
Goes off to serve his country
And offers up his life?

The politician's stipend
And the style in which he lives,
Are often disproportionate,
To the service that he gives.

While the ordinary Soldier,
Who offered up his all,
Is paid off with a medal
And perhaps a pension, small.
It's so easy to forget them,
For it is so many times
That our Bobs and Jims and Johnnys,
Went to battle, but we know,

It is not the politicians
With their compromise and ploys,
Who won for us the freedom
That our country now enjoys.
Should you find yourself in danger,
With your enemies at hand,
Would you really want some cop-out,
With his ever waffling stand?

Or would you want a Soldier--
His home, his country, his kin,
Just a common Soldier,
Who would fight until the end.

He was just a common Soldier,
And his ranks are growing thin,
But his presence should remind us
We may need his like again.
For when countries are in conflict,
We find the Soldier's part
Is to clean up all the troubles
That the politicians start.

If we cannot do him honor
While he's here to hear the praise,
Then at least let's give him homage
At the ending of his days.

Perhaps just a simple headline
In the paper that might say:

"OUR COUNTRY IS IN MOURNING,
A SOLDIER DIED TODAY."
Pass On The Patriotism!
YOU can make a difference