The Enemy Within is the Worst One

Commander in Chief Barrack Hussein Obama
Major Nidal Malik Hasan

I was discussing the Ft. Hood assault today with my father on the telephone. I said, "what am I missing? You've got a guy who is already been on the radar screen of authorities for some internet rants, he goes around Killeen, TX wearing 'traditional Arab garb' yet he was born and raised in the United States. And this guy is a Major in the U.S. armed forces??? How does this happen?"

Well, my father with his 79 years of wisdom and cut-to-the-chase Arkansan-cum-Texan uncomplicated way of seeing things says, "son, you only need to look through to the Commander in Chief."

I have been very private in certain thoughts I have had about Barrack Obama, because on the surface they may seem unfair or even snobbish. But Barrack Obama has never been "American enough" for me. It's not like this guy was raised in London or even Frankfurt because his father worked for Citicorp or IBM. There is little to no cultural overlap between the United States and Kenya. Furthermore, between Indonesia and Hawaii, it doesn't appear that Obama ever lived in the mainland United States until he graduated from high school. I am sorry, but I want someone who played on the high school football team somewhere like in Kansas, who said the Pledge of Allegiance, and decorated his bike on the fourth of July to be President. Maybe he was in Cub Scouts, went duck hunting with Grandpa, and wore a Larry Czonka Miami Dolphins jersey. His mom would have been a den mother or class mom, not a sixties radical. Does this make me horrible?

When things don't appear right on the surface, they rarely are underneath too, and bad things are prone to happen. It just doesn't pass the "dumb test" for Major Hasan to be in the military. And look what we got yesterday. Likewise it just doesn't pass the dumb test for Barrack Obama to be President of the United States. I think we are in for it. God help us all.

English Spoken Here

My son is taking Drivers Education at the local high school. As such, he was told to go to the Department of Motor Vehicles and get a NJ Driver’s Handbook. My wife took him to two locations, and the only manuals available were in Spanish. At one location, after waiting in line for some time, he was told that he would have to download the manual off the internet.

I have one thought on this: Welcome to America, now SPEAK ENGLISH!

Congratulating Versus Condemning Goldman Sachs

I made the mistake of flipping to CNN just before bedtime last night, to hear the lunacy of Ohio congresswoman Marcy Kaptur rant about Wall St. pay, her ignorance enraging me. Not a good feeling just before bedtime! It seems that Goldman Sachs bashing is back on the front burner. Why should Goldman not pay its employees well for a banner year? I just don’t get it. What should they do with all the money they made? They have already paid back the government the money they really didn’t want in the first place, plus an incredible return. And of the $20 odd billion in bonuses, at least $6 billion will go to the government in the form of income tax. Shareholders are in good shape, and employees shouldn’t be robbed to enhance their returns.

What many people don’t realize is that many recipients of TARP funds did not want or even need the capital. Way back before Bear Stearns went under, when the Wall St. firms were being encouraged to borrow from the FED, firms like JP Morgan used the FED window as a sign of leadership. Otherwise, firms that really needed the funds wouldn’t take them because they were concerned it would be a sign of weakness, so the government encouraged EVERYONE to engage in these borrowings. Woe be it for the firms that took TARP funds and borrowed from the Fed, whether they have paid the money back yet or not, the government has conspired with the media to vilify these firms and change the rules on them. Regulating maximum compensation??? You have got to be kidding. Just how un-American is that!

I hear over and over again that “taxpayers money” is being used to pay outrageous bonuses with respect to Goldman Sachs. This is wrong, wrong, wrong on so many levels. First think about what is ”taxpayer money” anyway. Where did those tax dollars come from in the first place? I would imagine that the average Goldman Sachs employee has paid more federal income tax in the last 2 years than the average American will pay in a lifetime. It is the wealthy that are paying the taxes in the first place. In 2006, the bottom half of earners only paid less than 3% of total taxes! The top 5% of earners pay a STAGGERING 60% of all taxes! So even if you so wrongly accept the argument that taxpayers money pay bonuses, well, the people that are getting the bonuses are the ones who paid the taxes anyway. Maybe they are just getting their own money back! In Goldman’s case, the most important issue is that Goldman Sachs is immensely profitable, and all TARP funds have already been repaid. It is that simple. There IS NO ARGUMENT for bashing Goldman’s compensation policy. And it is a DISGRACE for elected officials and members of the media to use their pulpits to suggest otherwise.

Firms like JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs are winners. Their employees should be rewarded as such! Congratulations, Goldman!

Jimmy Carter Calling us Racists

Recently, Jimmy Carter, perhaps in an effort to length his post-presidential 15-minutes, has suggested that to criticize Obama is to be a racist. “I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man…”

So what does this mean, that Obama should get a free pass BECAUSE of his race? I have seen some intensely demonstrated animosity toward George Bush just blocks from my office in New York City on many occasions. No one ever accused these people of being racist, or anti-straight, or “anti-male” or whatever one might attribute to George Bush’s inherent being. This activism was policy oriented – these people were anti-war, or pro gay marriage… fair enough, I guess. But when conservatives become activists, they are dubbed “religious fanatics,” “right wing extremists,” and of course, now, “racists.”

Carter stated that, “There is an inherent feeling among many in this country that an African-American should not be president.” What a ridiculous leap! Maybe he should consider that there is an inherent feeling among many in this country that a president should uphold the constitution, keep our nation strong with a strong military, stop wasteful spending, stop big government, allow capitalism to flourish, be proud of America, be proud of our history. As a president Obama is almost the complete embodiment of everything I am against, both domestically and regarding foreign policy. He is arguably a socialist, certainly a pacifist, an apologist, pessimist, and he vilifies success. Oh….. he’s black? Even if I were Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan that would be the LAST thing on my mind.

Obama's "Ghetto Speech" to our Children

When I first learned that Obama would be addressing our schools I was concerned he might try to use the opportunity to feed his liberal rubbish to my kids. I felt a sense of relief when I heard that would not really be the case. Interestingly enough, neither of my kids were shown the speech yesterday anyway (and I have kids in elementary, middle school, and high school). However, I read the text of the speech and was honestly flabbergasted by the negativity it contained, and a perspective revealed by Obama that America’s youth is some impoverished at-risk mass of depressed and misunderstood children teetering on the brink of dropping out. Mind you, this speech was for viewing by kindergartners as well! I have a daughter who just started first grade, and trust me when I say that she has no concept that a child can “drop out” of school.

Here are some of the depressing remarks with which our president defiled our nation’s youth:

“making sure you stay on track”
“turning around schools that aren’t working”
“unless you show up to those schools”
“you can’t just drop out of school and just drop in to a good job”
“if you quit on school – you are just quitting on yourself”
“I know you have a lot of challenges in your lives right now… that can make it hard to focus on schoolwork… my father left when I was two years old”
“I did some things I am not proud of and got in more trouble than I should have”
“I got a lot of second chances”
“maybe you don’t have adults in your life who give you the support you need”
“maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don’t feel safe”
“that’s no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude,”
“that’s no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school”
“that’s no excuse for not trying”
“even when bouncing from foster home to foster home”
“keep young people out of gangs”
“your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework”
“success through rapping or basketball”
“you can’t let failures define you”
“if you get a bad grade, that doesn’t mean you are stupid”
“even when you’re struggling…discouraged”
“and you feel like other people have given up on you”
“working hard to fix up your classroom and get you the books… you need”

Just WHO did Obama think he was talking to??? He provided a few anecdotal stories of struggle of three children: Jazmin, Andoni, and Shantell. What about Michael, Lisa, and David? This school speech is just another incident that portrays the narrow agenda of Obama at the expense of everyone else. There is a broad spectrum of experience in America that Obama either fails to recognize or chooses to ignore. Is he trying to depress our kids?

Where were comments about how the strength and future of our nation depend upon on youth? Where was the pride shown – perhaps that American children are some of the most talented and educated children in the world? Where was the “keep up the good work?” Why not “work even harder than you already are to even become greater than we expect?” Instead we got “don’t drop out” and “don’t quit on yourself” and a few patronizing attempts at optimism along the lines of “maybe you’ll be even good enough to write a book” one day.

What I thought would be perhaps the most “non-story” story of Obama’s administration so far has turned into one of the most troubling for me. Obama is either narrower in policy agenda than I had thought or perhaps more sinister in achieving what so many are afraid of – dumbing down our nation to allow for a more controlling government. You know, don’t worry, big Nanny government is here for you. Oh you poor depressed lamb, have a Wellbutrin on Uncle Sam!

Obama - Awakening a Sleeping Giant

Sir Francis Bacon, the great English philosopher, scientist, lawyer, and statesmen once said “if a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts.” This may ring true for the Obama Administration and many of Obama’s staunchest supporters, as Obama’s presidency has quickly hit turbulent waters after having cruised easily through the election with well-trimmed sails and a nicely set rudder.

On the other side of the political spectrum, people have accused Obama of enormous hubris and sarcastically referenced his status as a messiah of sorts: The One. After all, Obama had a plan to “remake America” and “spread the wealth around” – much to the disdain of the many Joe the Plumbers across the nation, yet to the delight of the academic elite parading within Obama’s circles. What with Democratic control in the House and the Senate – and not just Democrats, but very liberal Democrats in the best political position – this administration would prove to be a sure thing, with a certain outcome. Right?

Historically, Democrats have cornered the market on grass-roots activism to support their principal causes and have garnered attention for their most fringe ones as well, and their activism is something that Democratic political leaders could always rely upon. (Working in Manhattan I have on many occasions throughout the years had to step through throngs of people hailing for Bush’s arrest and for stopping the war in Iraq, and of PETA activists informing me that meat is murder.) For the most part, save for the occasional anti-abortion protests, conservatives are not activists. At least until now.

Earlier this year, in the wake of frustration with bailout funds, stimulus plans, and talk of tax increases on “wealthy” Americans, we saw numerous tax protests across the country. While tax protests are normally reserved for Libertarians, we witnessed many mainstream conservatives participate in these “tea parties,” each an obvious tip-of-the-hat to the Boston Tea Party, a precursor to “the shot heard ‘round the world.” The rage now is for conservatives to confront legislators at town hall meetings to protest Obamacare, rejecting any form of socialized medicine, capturing news headlines across the country. Recently a thirty-five year old stay-at-home mom, Katy Abram, confronted Senator Arlen Specter, challenging him in a voice quivering with her nervousness to tell her what he was going to do to restore America to an America consistent with the vision of its founding fathers. Mrs. Abrams claimed no involvement in politics, but warned Specter that he had “awakened a sleeping giant!” There must be millions more like her, rising up (or on the verge of) in protest, who like America the way it is… or perhaps was.

Politicians are ill-prepared for conservative activism; after all, it is so new. They have tried denial, claiming it is “fake” activism, organized by lobbyists – i.e. “Astroturf,” according to Nancy Pelosi, as opposed to truly grass-roots. They have lashed out at these town hall protestors, referring to them as “un-American,” “brown shirts,” “nazi-like” in their tactics. But however one chooses to view these tactics, they are tried and true, and straight from the playbooks liberals have used for decades. This is a medicine, formerly their own, and I wonder how it tastes to them now.

Conservatives appear to be enjoying their new voice. But by nature, with their general disdain for government, conservatives are less vocal, and we all know that the squeaky wheel gets the oil. Well, conservatives are squeaking like never before. I believe that most conservatives generally want to just go about their business, left alone, and want little from their government. Likewise, they want the government to stay out of their lives so they can enjoy the freedom and opportunity afforded by our country. They believe that America is special, and it should stay that way – that it should reject transnational overtures by groups such as the United Nations, who might suggest that the United States should do things “like everybody else.”

Perhaps conservatives have been pushed too far, to the detriment of those doing the pushing. There is an economic theory about taxation – the Laffer Curve – which suggests that there is a tax rate that when exceeded actually lowers tax revenue, perhaps as incentives to earn marginal income get taxed away, or increasing tax rates cause marginal income to more likely be deferred or sheltered. Maybe there is a similar curve, more social in orientation, whereby the conservatives’ tolerance to liberal ideology is surpassed, such that the liberal cause is diminished as a whole - conservatives having been pushed to the limit such that they not only reject but push back as well. I believe we may very well be at that point now.

Taking the healthcare issue, for instance, I have always accepted the status quo, and recognized healthcare insurance as an important part of my well being. Until recently, when I purchased my own health plan directly, I had always received and paid for health insurance through my employer. When confronted with taking my own position on Obamacare, which contemplates mandating employers either provide healthcare insurance or face penalties, I began to question why employers provide healthcare insurance in the first place –something I had never even thought about or questioned before.

Imagine the first company that provided access to health insurance as a benefit for its employees. What a novelty that must have been! And now, presumably decades later, what once was a novelty is now being codified into law? I would wager that more households have electricity, cable TV, and cell phones than an individual with a job. Why isn’t healthcare offered through these providers instead of employers? Where did this link between medical care and employment that we take for granted - as sure as gravity - come from? So now I am to the point of questioning the regulation of any employer benefit, and we have Obamacare to thank for that.

I tell you this to highlight the fact that new conservatives are born everyday – people that don’t even realize they are conservative because they’ve never had to think much about the issues. Sure, most people have taken a position on abortion, but that is no longer the conservative/liberal, Republican/Democrat litmus test.

Most of us accept that the feel-good ideology of the Democrat’s liberal base has always conflicted with the realistic pragmatism of conservative Republicans, but the centrists ultimately seemed to rule the day. This phenomenon allowed most people to find a way to live in comfort with political discourse, even to largely ignore it if they chose, and they were never too fearful of either the extreme right or their extreme left getting their way. But there is a new sheriff in town, from the left, unlike any we have ever seen, and his posse is like-minded. Talk of tax increases, fear of healthcare reform as a stepping stone to a single-payer system, gun control, legislating pay in the private sector, activist Supreme Court justices, big deficits, bigger role of government – some heavy stuff. Conservatives can no longer leave “their side” of the political discourse to Rush and the Fox network, not taking their part in it because they are too busy working, and well, taxes aren’t that bad. The Obama Administration has taken these issues to their doorsteps and knocked loudly. The sleeping giant is rubbing his eyes, waking up, and about to start stomping – who knew? - putting some doubt in the “certainty” of Obama.

Obama - It's All America's Fault

Obama recently added dates for his "American Apology Tour" and completed another visit to Mexico. It seems that, in Obama's opinion, America's freedom is to blame for Mexico's drug wars. He said that the U.S. owns the responsibility of stopping American guns from getting in the hands of Mexican mobsters. He lamented the fact that the recent ruling by our Supreme Court regarding the second amendment would make it harder to reinstate the Clinton-era Assault Weapons ban. Obama had already apologetically noted that he had no authority to overturn the Supreme Court's ruling. Duh! To even utter such a thought is disturbing to say the least. But in light of all of this, Obama has ordered more checkpoints to stop the flow of guns heading South.

NOW WAIT A MINUTE! If the U.S. is responsible for preventing the flow of guns to the South, shouldn't Mexico be held responible for another flow... a Northward flow? Yes, the flow of illegal aliens from Mexico to the United States? It seems Obama is more concerned about guns LEAVING our country than illegal aliens ENTERING our country. Perhaps the $1.4 billion we have earmarked to give to Mexico to help them stop their drug wars could be used instead to beef up border patrol to stop illegal immigration!

I will do a little rudimentary math. Suppose that $1.4 billion were invested to earn as little as 6%. That would mean the $1.4 billion could endow $84 million a year of expenditures. Now the US-Mexico border is about 2,000 miles. That means you could have patrols every 2 miles of the border and have $84,000 per year to pay each agents salary. That could provide a great wage in South Texas! And this new force would be IN ADDITION to what is already in place.

My point ultimately is that here is just another example of where Obama just gets it all wrong. He is out apologizing for our freedom, while failing to address the real problems of the American people. He is our president, NOT Mexico's.

Demand representation! Stop the insanity!