Saturday, October 31, 2009

Is The Cost of Freedom Too High? Totalitarian Socialism is Much Cheaper!

Is The Cost of Freedom Too High? Totalitarian Socialism is Much Cheaper!
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
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I’ve thought about it for a long while now and I have concluded that the US needs to recant its pledge not to be the first to use the atom bomb in a war/conflict. I mean, hey, we did it, already. Two of them, in fact! Perhaps you remember August 1945 and a place called Japan??? I do!

Look, we are allowing ourselves to be tied up in these little brushfire wars in Afghanistan, and Iraq, when both could be ended by a flight of B-2’s and a few nukes.

What about the problem in Iran? Mr. Ahmadinejad wants the atomic bomb? Well, I say give it to him, several, actually, delivered from the bomb bay of a B-2, or B-52 bomber.

Then… the little squirt in North Korea, we could provide a demonstration of what a REAL atomic blast looks like… up close and personal!

For those of you screaming at the computer and pulling your hair out about now, YES, I know it is extreme. But understand this: the whiners and those who bitch, and moan, about the war in Afghanistan going badly, and those who force our armed forces to fight with one, or both, hands tied behind their backs are, quite frequently, the same people. They are quickly pushing the US into a corner. A corner, from which, the only means of escape is to lash out in all directions. The most effective way to do that is with our atomic arsenal.

I hear the “national scolds” complaining that we have now been in Iraq longer than it took for us to fight the Second World War. Well, actually, that’s true, but we have less KIA’s than we had the day we hit the beach in Normandy!

So, you want to win the war, any war? Use the nuke arsenal. It would be quick, efficient, very effective, and there would be no question as to the victor. Leave the offending country a radioactive pile of debris for the next few thousand years.

We have the material, the methods, and the means to take out any country causing trouble for us in the world. I must tell you, those atomic weapons, as costly as they are, would be more cost efficient than placing a couple hundred thousand troops on the ground, in a troublesome region, and supporting those troops while forcing them to fight handicapped. And that is what we are doing, currently!

Hey, I’m tired of all the bellyaching, all the bitching, and moaning, coming from the very people who could not screw up enough courage to defend their own shadow. I’m tired of good, loyal, American men and women spilling their blood and laying down their lives for a whole segment of our society who have no respect, nor love, for the country nor their fellow Americans. I’m tired of the useful idiots our enemies find, in abundance, in our governing bodies in Washington.

Say what you will, my fellow Americans, but we have become two nations, again, much as this country split in the 1860’s. I’m not talking about a North/South split… I’m talking about a “Love America/Hate America” split. The last presidential election did nothing to bring us closer together. In fact, it appears Obama’s election has driven us even farther apart. We are hopelessly split apart and the Union, though it appears as one on paper, in reality… it no longer exists. Neither side has any interest, at all, in rejoining the other.

The “Hate America” and the “Blame America First” crowds (one and the same) have sapped this country of its will to survive. Any medical practitioner will tell you that when the will to survive is gone… all is lost.

The story is told of a Confederate general, during the darkest days of the American “War Between the States,” sending a dispatch to the Confederate Commanding General, Gen Robert E. Lee. In the dispatch, the Southern general is said to report that he and his troops were cut off, vastly outnumbered, the causality rate was extremely high, they were without provisions, and their ammunition was all but gone. In summation that Southern cavalier told Gen. Lee he would do the only thing left for him, and his men, to do. So, he said, they would attack, at dawn, with everything they had at their disposal!

That is the America I was born into. That is the America I grew up in. That is the America for which I wore the uniform of the US Army, and that is the America, which does not exist anymore.

I am frustrated with “mealy-mouthed” Americans who will accept second place. In my America, second place didn’t exist… in anything. Like the US Marine Corp, the improbable we did right away. The impossible took us just a tad longer.

I have been chided for stating that the US losses in Iraq are well within the acceptable range. Look, you don’t go to war if deaths are not acceptable. Rather, you bow your head and bare your neck to the chains of slavery. If you would remain free you must be willing to pay the price. The price for freedom is high. It is paid in the blood of patriots… the men and women of our Armed Forces.

I am heartsick at what this nation has become. America is now a cesspool of deviancy, mediocrity, cowardice, socialism, secularism, hedonism, and, regardless of what Obama says we are without hope.

Somewhere, about the late 1960’s to early 1970’s, Americans, like the shirker, in the Bible, decided to bury our talents for safekeeping rather than risk them in order to have them grow and benefit the country. Now we are paying the price for our reticence to risk everything for each other.

We are growing apart as a people. Our national conversation has grown shrill and vulgar. We can’t communicate with each other. When we try, it turns into a shouting match. We have become course, crass, and without sophistication. Our gentility is gone.

Finally, we have painted ourselves into a corner now -- a corner, which threatens to deny us even our own survival. Only drastic action will save us… and, unfortunately, many Americans do not wish to be saved and those who do are not interested in saving those who don’t. We are feeding upon ourselves.

I began this piece by pointing out where this attitude of mediocrity has gotten America in its war-fighting capability and the cost to recover that capability. Atomic Bombs will certainly win for us on the battlefields, but they will do nothing to salvage our land.

American men and women in uniform are growing tired of sacrificing their blood, limbs, and lives, for fellow Americans who actually want them to lose! And why would they not? They have grown distrustful of their Commander-in-Chief who is plainly dragging his feet while trying to make a decision on whether or not to allow those American fighting men to have the resources they say they need to win the war in Afghanistan. Once before, in Somalia, a President (of the same political party) denied a request from the commanders on the ground and it cost the lives of at least 18 US service men and, ultimately, resulted in the withdrawal of US troops from that troubled land – and -- emboldened America’s enemies to such a degree that they flew plane loads of people into skyscrapers in our greatest city killing thousands of innocent Americans. The trust of many of our service men and women for their fellow Americans has been forever shattered. When the time comes for them to send their young sons and daughters to war for the US … will they do it? Can you blame them?

When a nations vision is forced to dissipate, that nation is doomed. When a nation’s hopes, and dreams, and aspirations, are shelved because social programs, such as socialized medicine, take precedence over that national vision… the death knell has sounded. When a nation sends it’s national treasure, its sons, and daughters, into harm’s way… and abandons them, that nation has lost its soul. Make no mistake about it. Many US troops in Afghanistan are beginning to question if their Commander-in-Chief has abandoned them.

Here are the words of the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, a man even his own party would seek to impeach today:

“The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender, or submission.”… Pres. John F. Kennedy

Kennedy also said:

There are risks and costs to a program of action, but they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction

President Harry Truman, the 33rd President of the US, said the following:

America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination, and unbeatable determination to do the job at hand.

Nowadays, the men mentioned above would be accused of insisting on “staying the course”. They would be ridiculed and hounded from office… even by their own Democrat Party.

That, Dear Reader, is how far we have sunk!

J. D. Longstreet


Thursday, October 29, 2009

The American Socialist Phase.



The American Socialist Phase

(We TRIED to Tell You, But You Wouldn’t Listen!)
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

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“Health Care Bill Favors Marijuana and Cocaine Smokers Over Tobacco Users.” That’s the title of a piece by Karen Schuberg at CNSNEWS.Com.

In the article Ms. Schuberg says: “Under the Senate Finance Committee version of the health-care bill, health insurance companies would be allowed to charge tobacco users premiums up to 50 percent higher than those of non-users, while marijuana and crack cocaine smokers could not be penalized with higher premiums.”

Ms. Schuberg points out that this means, for example, that for every $100 in premium that a non-tobacco user pays, a tobacco user could be charged $150.

Why tobacco users and not users of Cocaine and Marijuana? Simple -- because tobacco use is politically incorrect.

Read the entire article HERE.

The big push for socialized medicine in the United States began, in earnest, this week. Altho, there is little funny about this boondoggle, it is somewhat funny to watch the socialists in the US government, including the Obama Administration, tie themselves into knots to avoid using the words “socialized” and “medicine” in the same paragraph, let alone the same sentence.


Nevertheless, that is exactly what they are proposing… socialized medicine. And again, I expect ignorance to overcome logic and sound reasoning as the government shoves socialized medicine down the throats of American citizens and, in so doing, bring about the collapse of the best healthcare system in the world.

After reading Ms. Schuberg’s commentary you just cannot bring yourself to believe the US government will do this to her people -- think again! They WILL do it, in fact, they are DOING IT even as I write this piece. Remember now, we no longer have a democratic republic in America. We have a full-blown socialist government in America these days. Democracy is dead and gone from the shores of America. We warned that that would happen and you didn’t believe that either, did you?

ObamaCare is all about POWER in the hands of the Federal Government. That is something my Confederate ancestors knew something about.

For those of you who think it’s bad now, wait until we actually HAVE national health insurance (known as ObamaCare). Our every move will be monitored, and the government, will direct us in every facet of our lives.

Still don’t believe me? Are you deaf, dumb, and blind? The government is going to run our lives through ObamaCare! America will become a dictatorship overnight! There is no other way to describe it.

Weigh too much? Lose weight… or the government won’t pay for your medical bills.

Drive too fast? Slow down or the government won’t pay for your medical bills if you’re in an accident.

Smoke? The government won’t pay for your medical bills, period.

Have more than (two) kids? Your medical bills will not be paid if you exceed the allowable limit on babies.

Pregnant with a third child and the government insists that you have an abortion, but you really want this third child? Well, either have an abortion, or that third child will have no medical coverage and the cost of the pregnancy, and delivery, will not be covered, either.

Didn’t finish High School? Your medical bills will not be covered if you do not get a High School Diploma.

Take the wrong courses in college? Well, if you didn’t check before you signed up for a course, and you signed-up for a course the government thinks is uncalled for, or that you do not need for your chosen occupation… then your medical bills will not be picked up by the National Healthcare.

Choose the wrong career, and you are on your own! No medical help from the government.

Get the picture? Almost total control. And you, and I, will have given that power to the government!

So, next time you hear someone calling for the passage of ObamaCare, remind them of all the freedom they will give up for that cradle to the grave care.

I have said time and again, "The Founders" of this country wanted us to live free… healthy, if we can manage it, but free, in any event. Today, it seems we are prepared to give our freedom up for a form of modern day Marxism -- Socialized Medicine.

Slowly, but surely, all the things we have warned about with ObamaCare (Socialized Medicine in the United States) are coming to pass. One really big one can’t come to pass until after Obamacare is “installed.” I refer, of course, to healthcare rationing. I know many of you don’t want to believe it and many of you have consistently lied to yourselves for so long about this that you can no longer deal with the reality of the situation. Nevertheless, healthcare rationing WILL become a reality. It must.

Healthcare rationing is something we have never had before in our history. Just THINK about it! Rationing of healthcare. There is simply no escaping it. Costs of healthcare will have to be brought to heel by the Obama administration (The socialist government in charge) and there is only one way to do that… and that is to ration it. In other words you will be placed on a waiting list and your ailment will be treated whenever they get to you, in a couple of weeks, a couple of months, or a couple of years, or maybe never. If you don’t get the care you require and you die, so much the better. That is the other way of bringing healthcare costs down.

When Americans stop deceiving themselves and come to the realization they have traded their freedom for a bottle of pills -- by the time Americans come to understand that those of us warning against a government healthcare system are, in fact, telling them the truth, it will be too late and healthcare in the US will be scraping the bottom of the barrel like so many other socialized medicine programs around the globe. In other words it will be too cussed late to do anything about it! We have very nearly arrived at that point -- even as I write this piece today.

I am lobbying my Congressional delegation to vote against any form of national/universal/socialized healthcare. Why? I am lobbying simply because I am convinced it is the last nail in the coffin lid of freedom in America.

I was thinking just the other day that King George could not hold a candle to the current government of the United States. The current Socialist Government of the US is doing that which was denied King George. This socialist government is squelching the freedom of Americans and making them come to heel. If right thinking Americans don't gether the strength to stop ObamaCare, very soon now, for the very first time in the history of the United States, the government will have the power of life and death over its citizens. When any entity can decide whether you live or die they have the ultimate power over you. THAT, fellow Americans, is exactly where we are headed with ObamaCare. ObamaCare will not just socialize medicine in America. It will place an implacable stamp of socialism on everything American -- first and foremost – her government. America has entered her socialist phase.

J. D. Longstreet
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America Is Turning To Socialism

America Is Turning To Socialism
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

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There is an article entitled: “America Moving from Kingdom of Cash to Socialism Slowly but Surely” we recommend you read. You’ll find it on Pravda’s site. And, YES, we DID say PRAVDA!


If any organization on the planet should know a socialist state when it sees one, it is Pravda.

So, who, or what, is Pravda? Well, for those of you who attended government schools … Pravda ("Truth") was a leading newspaper of the Soviet Union and an official organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party between 1912 and 1991.

The Pravda newspaper was started in 1912 in St. Petersburg. It was converted from a weekly Zvezda. It did not arrive in Moscow until 1918. During the Cold War, Pravda was well known in the West for its pronouncements as the official voice of Soviet Communism. (Similarly Izvestia was the official voice of the Soviet government.)


Leon Trotsky founded the original Pravda as a Russian social Democratic newspaper aimed at Russian workers.
The paper was published abroad to avoid censorship and was smuggled into Russia. The first issue was published in Vienna, Austria on October 3, 1908. The editorial staff consisted of Trotsky and, at various times, Victor Kopp, Adolf Joffe, and Matvey Skobelev.

After the paper was closed down in 1991 by decree of then President Boris Yeltsin, many of the staff founded a new paper with the same name, which is now a tabloid-style Russian news source.

There is an unaffiliated Internet-based newspaper, Pravda Online (http://www.pravda.ru/) run by former Pravda newspaper employees. A number of other newspapers have also been called Pravda, most notably Komsomolskaya Pravda, formerly the official newspaper of the now defunct Komsomol and currently the best-selling tabloid in Russia. (Courtesy of Wikipedia)

The Pravda article states, flatly, the following: “The appeal to adopt American values doesn’t work either. Why would we adopt the system if the system is in crisis? Pragmatic America realized that billions of people are not willing to live in the kingdom of hard cash and decided that it would be better off leaving this kingdom itself. Now the USA is talking about introducing elements of socialism." Pravda goes on to say: “What does Obama’s decision not to build the Eastern European Missile Defense System have to do with all of this? Well, it means that it’s not capitalism that’s undergoing the crisis, but the belief in its high efficiency. And this, in turn, means that America, the bulwark of capitalism, is no longer the boss of the world. And if it’s not the boss any more, it has to be friends with everybody, including Russia. And it’s America’s turn to offer Russia to push the reset button. Or maybe it’s just tired of imposing its rules on others and felt that friendship is more valuable than money and power? If this is the case, we will soon witness another turning point in the world history.” You may read the entire article at Pravda HERE.

The point is -- we have been attempting to call your attention to the fact that America has been turning to socialism at an ever-increasing speed since the election of the current Congress in 2008 – and -- at an even faster pace since the election of the current President, Obama. Now comes a news outlet whose very birth was at the hands of Leon Trotsky, a Bolshevik revolutionary and Marxist theorist, to support our claims! Trotsky was one of the leaders of the Russian October Revolution, second only to Lenin. During the early days of the Soviet Union, Trotsky served first as People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs and later as the founder and commander of the Red Army and People's Commissar of War. He was also among the first members of the Politburo. The news outlet Trotsky founded, called Pravda, was an official organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party between 1912 and 1991. Now Pravda is validating what we have been trying to tell you.

So listen up! When old graybeards, like myself, tell you that today’s America is NOT the America we knew, NOT the America we grew up in, NOT the America The Founders of the country intended, we are telling you THE TRUTH! This is not the America we knew, at all! When we say we want our country back, we are absolutely sincere. For today’s America is not ours. Today’s America is only a shadow of our America. Today’s America is a shell of its former self.

Dare I say it again? Yes, I shall! I want my country back!

J. D. Longstreet
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The Great Newspaper Bailout

“The Great Newspaper Bailout”
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Congress is looking into bailouts for the media.

There are some important aspects of the debate that you must consider.

For an important article on the possibility of a government bailout of the media CLICK HERE.

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Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Taking Away Your Choice ... Alan Caruba

Taking Away Your Choice
By Alan Caruba

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I am always amazed at the variety of choice that exists in my local supermarket. There are other supermarkets in the area, but the one I frequent most has lower prices on most items and almost anything you want to purchase allows one to select among several brands available.


We Americans may not think much about choice when it comes to what we buy because we have so many choices. It is the mark of a free marketplace where competition determines winners and losers. It says a lot about a society that puts a high premium on freedom.


Your government, however, has decided that, in 2012, you can no longer choose to purchase and use Thomas Edison’s iconic invention, the 100 watt incandescent light bulb. By 2014, all such bulbs will be banned from sale. That’s right, they will vanish from the shelves of supermarkets and other outlets.


As this is being written, your government is debating taking away your choice to purchase health insurance. Or not. If it gets its way, everyone, old and young, healthy or ill, everyone will have to buy health insurance—most likely the brand issued by the government because it will drive most present insurance companies out of business. That is so un-American as to defy belief.


In Europe, thanks to a European Union ban on incandescent light bulbs, consumers are cleaning out the shelves to stockpile a supply when they can no longer be sold. As Jason Lomberg, the Technical Editor of Electronic Component News, a trade publication, noted recently, “The ban has proved to be massively unpopular. All across Europe its media are reporting huge increases in the sales of incandescent sales. In Germany alone, sales for 100 watt bulbs rose by 80% to 150%.

Why were the EU and U.S. bans put in place? It is the view of environmentalists who insist that incandescent bulbs are less energy “efficient” than compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) and that consumers must be denied the choice between them.

They are less “efficient”, but it is equally true that CFL’s unnatural, bluish light takes time to achieve full brightness, about three minutes on the average. At least a quarter of them fall short meeting their rated service life, meaning you will have to buy more of them.

In addition to the fact that some “emit a headache-inducing buzzing sound” the worst thing about fluorescent light bulbs is that they contain mercury. As a recent issue of The DeWeese Report points out, they “contain poisonous liquid mercury over 300 times the EPA’s standard accepted safety level.”

“In addition, days after a bulb has been broken,” noted Tom DeWeese, “vacuuming or simply crawling across the carpeted floor where the bulb was broken can cause mercury vapor levels to shoot back upwards of 100 times the accepted level of safety.” Who crawls on the floor? Babies! Whose closer to the floor than you? Pets!

The Maine Department of Environmental Protection reported that a woman was quoted $2,000 for cleanup of a broken compact fluorescent bulb in her house.

The politicians in the U.S. Congress, pandering as always to the crazed environmentalists, enacted the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 that put the ban in place to begin in 2012.

The Obama administration has declared war on the building of new coal-fired energy plants despite the fact that they currently provide just over half of all the electricity we use daily, nor has a new nuclear plant been built in decades. It won’t allow any offshore exploration and extraction of oil or natural gas either. So, while allegedly providing for “energy independence” the government is thwarting any new provision of electricity.

But you will be forced to buy fluorescent light bulbs to ensure “energy efficiency” while one of the greatest inventions, the incandescent light bulb, is banned from use. The result will turn all U.S. landfills into toxic dumps.

Where the government finds the justification for destroying your right of choice continues to elude my grasp.What it portends are supermarkets with far less products and food choices than currently exist because some environmentalist or vegetarian has decided that coercive laws are the best way to take away the freedom of choice that is quintessentially American.

This ban must be repealed along with so-called healthcare “reform” and the hideous “cap-and-trade” law, renamed as the “American Clean Energy and Security Act”, that will raise the cost of electricity in the name of saving the Earth from a “global warming” that is NOT happening.

As Pogo said, “We have met the enemy and he is us.”

Alan Caruba
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Alan Caruba writes a daily post at http://factsnotfantasy.blogspot.com/. A business and science writer, he is the founder of The National Anxiety Center.

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Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Are Obama’s Czars Constitutional?

Are Obama’s Czars Constitutional?
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
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OK. Let us “tell it like it is!” Obama’s Czars are simply a way for Obama to get around the Constitution. There. I’ve said it.

We have noted many times in the past that the Constitution is only an irritant to the political left and they will do almost anything to get around dit. They consider it an outdated “suggestion” if you will, and not The Law as the political right considers it.

With the Obama Regime, America has a government being run, for all practical purposes by a bunch of unelected officials who answer, not to the American people, but to the benign dictator Barack Obama. Oh, may I remind you that even a benign dictator is still a dictator.

One of the finest military men this country has ever produced, a republican, and a man in line to receive his party’s endorsement as a candidate for president, Douglas MacArthur, once said: ““I am concerned for the security of our great nation, not so much because of any threat from without, but because of the insidious forces working from within.” — General Douglas MacArthur. If General MacArthur could see the US today, he would be spinning in his grave!

A friend admonished me many months ago because I referred to Obama as a socialist. My friend told me I was wrong. He went on to say that Obama was not a socialist; he was, and is, a communist! I must tell you now, that I am slowly coming around to my friend’s way of thinking. Why? It is primarily because of Obama’s Czars.

Alan Caruba in his commentary entitled: “Obama’s Unconstitutional “Czars” says the following: “As I read it, the Constitution is very specific about whom the President may appoint and he can do so only within parameters “established by law” and this applies specifically to the “heads of departments.” I interpret this to mean Cabinet Secretaries, all of whom must be vetted and approved for their positions by the Senate.” Mr Caruba goes on to say: “Obama’s appointments are clearly “principal officers” though it will be argued that they are only advisors to the office of the President. Clearly, Obama’s appointments are not heads of departments, but they appear to have been granted an unknown degree of influence and control as regards their responsibilities. They function “in the dark.” You may read the entire article HERE.

Looking at the Constitution we find this: “Article II. Section 2. “He (the President) shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consults, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States, whose appointments are not herein provided for, and which shall be established by law; but the Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments.”
Clearly, The Founders gave no thought to CZARS when writing the constitution. Clearly they did not intend for any unelected group to weild authority over their fellow American then or now. But that is what we have with the Obama Regime and its Czars.

Many times in the past we have warned of a “Shadow Government” wielding the REAL authority in the American government. We have taken a good bit of ribbing for that. But, not so much these days as readers begin to understand what a shadow government is. It is a group of Czars operating, as Mr. Caruba says: “… in the dark.”

Why should we fear this group of 30 odd czars? As usual, Mr. Caruba’s insight has nailed it for us. He says: “There are now some thirty or more of these “czars” and they represent a threat to the authority of the Congress and could be utilized in some manufactured “crisis” to take control of the federal government, dispensing with the rule of law.”

I don’t know about you, but I am convinced that Americans have a “Shadow Government” in place and ruling America today.

But – is this "Shadow Government,” this group of Czars, constitutional? We need a ruling from the Supreme Court on it and the sooner the better -- before irreparable harm is done The Republic.

J. D. Longstreet
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Sunday, October 25, 2009

Obama’s Chicago-Style Politics


Obama’s Chicago-Style Politics
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
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Ah, Chicago! It is mythologized as the land of the mobster, the gangster, Al Capone, etc, etc. Many politicians, and even some journalists, are adding the name of Obama to that list of supposed infamy.

Do you remember back during the campaign for President when Obama promised to re-introduce “bipartanship” into Washington politics if he was elected? I do. As a matter of fact I wrote at least once piece in which I blasted bipartanship as a bad thing, a VERY bad thing for the country if Obama was elected. Well, as it turned out he WAS elected and it also turns out, I needn’t have worried about bipartanship being re-introduced, by Obama, into politics in our capital city! It didn’t happen -- and it isn’t likely to happen -- as long as Obama is President. (As for my part, I hope it NEVER happens because that is not the way a democratic republic works!) As a matter of fact, Obama has introduced Chicago style politics into Washington politics.

Strong arms and brass knuckles are now the order of the day. No velvet gloves for the Obama Regime. Nope. It is Obama’s way, or the kneecaps are mush! See, Obama and his minions run everything, I MEAN EVERY THING! His Czars will see to it. THEY decide how you and I will live. If you are inside Obama’s orbit you get pretty much what you want. If you are outside Obama’s orbit you get what they let you have and no more. THAT is what Americans; especially the business community in America, is living with today.

Michael Barone has an excellent article on this very thing entitled: “Obama Hits Opponents With Chicago Brass Knuckles.” You’ll find it HERE. In his commentary Mr. Barone says: “It's not the worst way to run a city… But it's not the optimal way to run a national administration, at least if you've promised to bring in a new era of bipartisanship and mutual respect. Even so, it appears to be the way that Barack Obama, who once aspired to be mayor of Chicago, has decided to run his administration.” Mr. Barone goes on to say: “…Maybe Obama thought everyone in Washington would be his great friend. Having encountered un-Chicago-like dissent and disagreement, he has responded with classic Chicago brass knuckles. We'll see how far this kind of thuggery gets him.”

“In the American Mafia Family everyone has a job to do. Some people are bosses and some are workers. However you can always work your way up the ladder of power, and respect. Below is the hierarchy of an American Mafia family.

The Boss of the family. He controls everything that goes on in the mafia family. Every worker and lower ranking boss works for him. It is the boss who decides if someone should be killed or if someone should be initiated. The boss gets money from all of his workers and therefore is usually the richest person in the family.

The Underboss. The underboss is the person who actually runs the family. He is boss over all the other members except the actual boss. He will often become the boss of the family if something happens to the boss. The boss will choose who his underboss is. A family will usually have only one underboss.

The Consigliere. Consigliere is an Italian term meaning someone who gives advise. The consigliere in a mafia family is the "right hand man" to the boss. It is his job to help the boss make important decisions. The consigliere is as important as the underboss but is not the boss of anyone in the family. A family will usually have only one consigliere. Acts as a middle man in personle vendetas. He is supposed to make impartial descions which are best for everybody.
Caporegimes.
The next position of the family is caporegime (or captain). Families will have different numbers of caporegimes. A caporegime is in charge of a group of workers (see below; Soldiers). The underboss of the family is in charge of the caporegimes. The job of the caporegime is to collect money from the workers to give to the boss, underboss and consigliere as well as keeping money for himself. A family can have anywhere from 2 to 20 caporegimes.

Soldiers. The workers of a family are called "soldiers" or in Italian "soldati". There job is to earn money to give to their captain (caporegime). They will do any job asked of them by their captain or the boss or underboss. A family can have anywhere from 10 to 300 soldiers.
Each family will have a number of associates. These are people that work with them or for them but are not official members.” (Courtesy of Wikipedia. You can read the full article HERE.)

As you observe the Obama Regime in action keep this article (HERE.) in mind. It might help you sort through the smoke and mirrors and gain some insight into how the current regime occupying the White House operates.

Lest you conclude we are dubbing the President a gangster, allow me to disabuse you of such an idea. What we are saying is simply that his STYLE of politics resembles, greatly, the style of politics infamously attriubuted to the style of politics in Chicago, which is famous, or infamous, (as you will) for it’s history of gangsters.

A recent example of the Obama Regime’s Chicago style politics is their attempt to freeze Fox News out of an interview with White House pay czar Kenneth Feinberg. Plus, some of the President’s aides have recently referred to Fox News as an arm of the Republican Party, as the opposition, and as a non-credible news operation. Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio), at his weekly press briefing last week, said the following: “When you can’t win an argument based on the facts, launch vicious political attacks. This Chicago-style politics is shutting the American people out and demonizing their opponents.”

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), a former Nixon White House aide, said: “An 'enemies list' only denigrates the Presidency and the Republic itself." (You will find an excellent article on this at CNSNEWS.com HERE.)

In our view, the President needs to “grow-up.” Petulance does not become a President of the United States.

Thinking back over the long months of the presidential campaign we recall that we were warned on more than one occasion that the President has a strong bent toward narcissism. His actions, and those of his staff, in the past few months have done absolutely nothing to ease our concern over those warnings. Self-importance, self-absorption, self-centeredness, all these shortcomings are more than a little evident in the Obama Regime. And they all point to narcissism. Narcissists tend to strike out, to flail, viciously when they perceive opposition.

If anything has become clear, in the past nine months or so, it is that America has made a monstrous mistake in choosing a leader. As the remaining years of the Obama Regime go by, we can only pray that the damage to The Republic can be held to a minimum until the next presidential election in 2012 and the nation can begin the process of healing.

J. D. Longstreet
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The First Step Into A Thousand Years Of Darkness


The First Step Into A Thousand Years Of Darkness
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
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This is a sad time in world history. The “Shining City on a Hill,” so often referred to by Ronald Reagan, has fallen.

The great American Spirit has been broken by a socialist government, which feeds on power and has neither love nor concern for its people. Just power, raw political power, and they’ll do whatever is necessary to maintain their grasp on that power.

Is this the way the greatest nation ever to exist in the history of the planet goes out… on bended knee, with heads bowed, and necks bared to the blade of a government grown fat and ugly on raw power? Is this it?

Or… do we rise up, in righteous anger, and take our government back from those whose thirst for power has taken the USA to the brink of extinction as a nation?

The people of America must make a decision before November of 2010. Do we allow those we entrusted with our safety, and security, to continue to tear the country apart, or do we clean the house at the polls? Do we vote to send those incumbent politicians back to Washington… after what they have done to this country, or, do we run our own candidates, candidates sworn to take this country back to is roots in the Constitution, candidates sworn to ensure the domestic tranquility and security of this nation? Yes, all this is extremely important, but we are going to desperately need candidates who will return the US to its status as a democratic republic.

The socialist in charge if the US government are working feverishly to impose socialized medicine on all Americans regardless of whether we want it or not. They intend to force us to purchase health insurance although; the constitution invests no such power in the Congress. Many Americans maintain that healthcare is not a concern of the Federal government. It is ONLY the concern of the private citizen. It is up to each individual American to decide for himself, or herself, if they wish to invest in health insurance. But the federal government, in true socialist style, is determined to force all Americans to purchase it.

True Americans do not rely on the government. Americans who wish to better themselves, to amount to something, must rely upon themselves, not the federal government. Here is what President Theodore Roosevelt had to say about that: “If an American is to amount to anything he must rely upon himself, and not upon the State; he must take pride in his own work, instead of sitting idle to envy the luck of others. He must face life with resolute courage, win victory if he can, and accept defeat if he must, without seeking to place on his fellow man a responsibility which is not theirs." Theodore Roosevelt - Review of Reviews, January 1897

I don’t know about you, but I want my country back! I want that America which would look anybody, any nation, any political philosophy, such as socialism, in the eye and say: “If you want my country, then, by God, you’ll have to fight me to the death for it!”

Something must be done. The federal government has made it clear they intend to foist socialism on the people of America. We have a chance to stop them a year from now at the ballot box. One year is not a long time in a fight for the life of a country. We must begin now.

Ronald Reagan said: "You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. If we fail, at least let our children and our children's children say of us we justified our brief moment here. We did all that could be done". Ronald Reagan

Defense of a nation by the people of that nation is "Self Defense." Self-defense is a God given right. Many Americans took oaths, upon entering the US military, to defend America from all enemies foreign and domestic. Many are now remembering their oaths and asking themselves if there is an expiration date on the oath they took. It is a question well worth pondering.

If we want to save what is left of the republic, we must begin now and be ready in November 2010. We cannot afford to lose the next round at the ballot box. Even if we win, many decades of hard work will await us as we attempt to heal the nation from the damage done it by the brief experiment with socialism lead by the current administration.

The nation cries out for rescue. We must not turn our backs a second time. She will not survive.

J. D. Longstreet

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Saturday, October 24, 2009

The Great American Auto Boondoggle

The Great American Auto Boondoggle
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
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The American Motorists is making a serious mistake… yet again.

Back in the seventies, when the so-called fuel shortage occurred, Americans began trading the big cars in for those little gas sipping rattletraps from overseas and later from the American automakers. As it turned out they were fairly good on gas mileage… if you didn’t mind giving up safety, and comfort, which the standard sized American car afforded.

In time, the gas shortage was seen for what it really was… a hoax… and gas stations, again, had plenty of gasoline. But the American motorists had a pile of junk on his hands. That is… those who survived car crashes in those tiny little things.

Already, I’m seeing ads in papers for SUV’s, and Standard, as well as the Mid-sized, American cars on sale, with prices drastically cut, some thousands of dollars off the price they’d normally bring on the market. Dealers are frightened they will be stuck with the large cars, and trucks, and they’re practically giving them away to cut what they see as losses coming down the road aways.

Now, having said all this… let me say, if you own an SUV, or a standard size automobile, or Pick-up… keep it. At least you’ll be safe in a car crash. Families with small children should keep their SUV’s for the safety of their families, too.

I have a Pick-up and my wife has a standard sized four-door sedan. We plan to keep them. My daughter has one of the largest, if not the largest SUV’s on the market today. She also has two small children, one an infant. That vehicle affords a margin of safety for her, and for her children, that those little beer cans, on wheels, will never provide. So it costs more to fuel up. How can you put a price on the safety of your family, how?

Those little cars, as we have learned, were death traps in a collision with a standard sized vehicle or truck (including SUVs). Reducing the speed limit didn’t do much other than make motorist angry, add to the road rage, and make lots of money, from speeding tickets, for the states and municipalities.

Now, remember what we learned from the 70’s and 80’s when the market was flooded with those little toy cars: the owners were so angry, that some of us did not downsize as they did, they tried to put a guilt trip on all the owners of standard sized cars, and trucks, claiming that when your standard size vehicle hit theirs, in a collision, people tended to get killed in the little car. Well, that was true, but the people in the standard sized vehicle survived!

The point I’m trying to make is that the decision to buy one of those tiny death traps has a price, not shown on the sticker. That is the price of your life and the lives of your families.

The hybrids coming out onto the market today will be featured in the Smithsonian before too many decades are past. The technology is not new; it’s just newly applied.

We need more refineries in this country, built away from the immediate coasts. We need them badly. We have oil. We just have no way to refine enough to meet today’s demands. As soon as we get new refineries built, and the newly refined petroleum products begin to hit the market… watch OPEC”S prices drop like a stone… and their production increase.

Finally, we do need to begin serious research into an alternative for oil when it does run out. That is still many, many, decades down the road, but we need the research started now.

Until that day arrives we have no real choice but to use what we have. What we have is oil. Be safe, drive your big truck, or car. Drive less, if necessary, but think of your safety and the safety of your family.

J. D. Longstreet

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Friday, October 23, 2009

Obama's Poll Drop Worst in 50 Years!


Notice this story is from an “Off-Shore” newspaper… “The Telegraph” of the United Kingdom:

"Barack Obama sees worst poll rating drop in 50 years"

"The decline in Barack Obama's popularity since July has been the steepest of any president at the same stage of his first term for more than 50 years."

Read the entire story HERE.
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The United Democratic Nations?

The United "Democratic" Nations?
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

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The United Nations has become so corrupt and, so anti-American, the United States can no longer remain a member. Any chance to save the UN, as a viable mediator of disputes in the world, has completely disappeared. Their graft, and corruption, has taken away the last leg they were leaning on. It is now a hollow shell of what it was supposed to be, indeed, what it was created to be. It never quite reached the grand plateau of respectability envisioned for it by its creators.

The United Nations is a flop. Worse… it is a caricature of the organization it should be and… could have been. The United nations seems occupied, these days, with one thing, and one thing only, and that is -- the advent of global governance -- a "One World Government." Guess which organization will be the government of thatg "One World?" You've got it! the UN. The US must get out. To preserve itself, and its constitution, Americans have no choice but to demand the United States government pull out of the United Nations. If, in fact, we find a world forum is needed to fill the void left by the decomposing UN, then we should found a new one… one that reflects the hallmark of truly democratic countries.

Enter the United Democratic Nations. (The UDN.)

Let the world see the US, Great Britain, Australia, Canada, Israel, New Zealand, just to name a few of the democratic nations inside the US orbit, conceive and give birth to a world body of nations to carry out the mandate once given to the United Nations and spurned so horribly by them.

It is only a matter of time until an organization, such as the UDN, is established.

Oh, it was not a mistake, by this author, to be so obvious in overlooking France and Germany, and Russia and the other European Socialist Democracies. They have decided to go their own way, refusing to believe there is anyone else on the globe worthy of their respect. France and Germany have the shortest memories in the history of the planet. Or, is it a huge inferiority complex. Whatever their problem, they no longer deserve to be shielded by the truly western democracies and we should make it plain that membership in the UDN will not be extended to them. They are own their own… to fend for themselves.

If history is any is any indication of their destiny, they will soon be at each other’s throats again. History has taught us that as soon as the US leaves "The Continent" they begin to squabble with each other, pick fights that turn into wars that set the globe ablaze in WORLD WARS. Their vanity and arrogance is exceeded only by their utter lack of common sense.

Yes, we will have a bi-polar world again. East and West. There will soon be a diplomatic slugfest to determine the leader of the Eastern Block and that will soon be Russia, not France, as France supposes. The French entitlement to leadership is in THEIR minds ONLY.

So, bring on the UDN, if we must, and the sooner the better. Let us commit the United Nations to the ash heap of history where it belongs. That dream turned into a nightmare. It is time to wake up, from it, and get on with handling the problems of the real world.

J. D. Longstreet

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Wednesday, October 21, 2009

ObamaCare and the Disarmament of US Citizens


ObamaCare and the Disarmament of US Citizens
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

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To do this commentary justice you really need to read this short piece in The Washington Times. Please do so before continuing this commentary. Just click the link HERE.

We knew it was just a matter of time. So, apparently the Obama administration has decided it IS time.
How many times have we warned that ObamaCare would punish American gun owners? We were shouted down each time.

Now, we can see the attempt by the Obama regime to tie guns into some sort of health issue in order to make gun ownership fall under the auspices of Obamacare where gun control will be a huge issue.

Simply put, under Obamacare there is a strong likelihood that if you own a gun you will not get healthcare insurance. Read the article at the link above for a better understanding of how the Obama regime is going about this.

Why else would the national HEALTH agency (NIH) be studying gun control issues -- or any issue having to do with guns? To fix solidly in the collective mind of the public that guns (and gun control) is really, is actually, a HEALTH issue. Tell a lie long enough and people begin to believe it.

Thirteen years ago Congress cut off funds to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), which was used for studies pertaining to gun control. So far that has not slowed the NIH. (National Instututes of Health)

Now we have ObamaCare grinding it’s way through Congress and we can’t help but notice the strong possibility that with the extension of government control into the everyday lives of American citizens, which ObamaCare will certainly do, it provides the perfect vehicle for gun control. By establishing gun violence as a health issue it will fall within the purview of the universal health care laws. Once that is done, it is a very simple step, indeed, to declare that an Obama Policy holder who owns guns, even for self-protection in the home, does not qualify for national healthcare. Turn in your guns and get your healthcare, or keep your guns and don’t get healthcare. Wait a minute! It will be against the law not to have healthcare, so you must turn in your guns or be fined, and not have healthcare, or heaven forbid, go to jail and not have healthcare… or simply turn in your guns and have healthcare -- and all is well. See? Is it clear now? OK. So maybe not. But I think you begin to understand why it has gun owners across the nation, and a few in Congress, worried.

There is an excellent article by Karen De Coster entitled “Stealth Agencies for Gun Control" in which the author states: “But in the end, even the CDC couldn’t make its research work in favor of its agenda. Its own studies could not link gun control laws to the reduction of crime. Nevertheless, any time the government studies “gun safety,” you know that in spite of the fact that all the research in the world will not support its end goal of the necessity of disarmament, the aim is to produce enough information, studies, and opinions to influence the public against gun ownership and persuade them to internalize the emotional aspect of the issue, thereby leading them to despise guns, distrust gun owners, and desire more government intervention to make gun ownership more difficult.

The anti-gun movement is built on pure emotion – hating guns and being afraid of guns – so building perception among the masses through fear mongering and emotional coercion is much more essential, and uncomplicated, than actually proving a hard case through a mishmash of statistics.” We recommend this article to you. You will find it HERE.

The point is – the leftist "gungrabbers" of America have not been resting; they have been very busy making ready for the possibility of a leftist President and a leftist Congress, which they now have. They also have the perfect vehicle to carry their plans for the disarmament of American citizens into federal law – ObamaCare.

ObamaCare is not about healthcare. It is about POWER. It will be the largest transfer of power from the people of the United States to the government of the United States in the history of the country and could, very well, cause the collapse of the United States.

A huge percentage of the American citizenry will resist any disarmament. They will not give up their guns. If forced to choose between the US Constitution and the US Government, they will choose the Constitution every time. A great conflagration can be expected to ensue. Only a fool swaddled in a fool’s vanity can claim ignorance of a future America ripped in twain by the lust for power of elitist, leftist, utopians in search of a society that has never existed, does not now exist, and never will exist.

The National Healthcare bill must be stopped, cold, in the US Senate. It is time to pressure your senators to vote against any National Healthcare bill. They need to hear from you. They need to hear from you NOW!

J. D. Longstreet


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Only Idiots Listen to these “Leaders” ... Alan Caruba



Only Idiots Listen to these “Leaders”
By Alan Caruba

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Not long ago U.N. Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, told everyone they only had a few weeks in order to save the Earth from “climate change” and this week it’s the Prime Minister of Great Britain, Gordon Brown.

Ever since he was Vice President and a defeated candidate for the presidency, Al Gore has been telling people the Earth is doomed.

President Obama talks about climate change—remember when it used to be global warming?—and will no doubt sign the treaty coming out of a “climate” conference in Copenhagen in December. The real problem will be whether the Senate will ratify it because, if it does, the U.S. Constitution will be nullified in favor of a global government.

Ever since the first United Nations conference on “global warming” the only goal has been to establish a global government so that the “leaders” could grow wealthy while the rest of mankind is treated like cattle.

Why would anyone believe anything as preposterous as the claims being made regarding global warming or climate change?

Consider what happens when climate and natural events occur? If it’s a drought, people have to flee to find sources of water. If it’s a flood, people have to flee to avoid being drowned. If it’s a hurricane, they often have to evacuate and, even if they don’t, their homes can be flattened by the winds. Anybody remember Hurricane Katrina?

If a lightning strike sets off a forest fire, people have to get away from it. If a blizzard hits a city or a rural area, people have to wait for the roads to be cleared. If a mudslide occurs, those in its path get killed.

For the past ten years the Sun has moved into a cycle in which it is virtually free of sunspots; magnetic storms on its surface. In that time, the Earth has been cooling and in October, early autumn, parts of this nation and other places around the world are getting snow. Overall, the temperatures are falling and breaking records that have existed for a century or more.

Why then is a climate change conference based on claims of “global warming” even being held? Answer: Because it has nothing to do with the climate and everything to do with the destruction of the right of local people exercising local control over their lives through elections.

The further away from the source of government, the less control people have. This was the reason the U.S. Constitution cedes most governing power to the States and puts limits on federal power. Those limits have been steadily eroded since the middle of the last century.

Imagine, now, decisions being made about your life, your choices, by unelected bureaucrats in some far-off place, completely protected from public opinion.

A YouTube video of Lord Christopher Monckton, former science advisor to British PM Margaret Thatcher, addressing a recent event at Bethel University in St. Paul, MN, has gone “viral” as people share it with friends, family, and colleagues.

In his speech, he says of the Copenhagen climate change treaty that “a world government is going to be created. The word ‘government’ actually appears as the first of three purposes of the new entity. The second purpose is the transfer of wealth from the countries of the West to third world countries, in satisfaction of what is called, coyly, ‘climate debt’ because we’ve been burning CO2 and the haven’t”

“How many of you think that the word ‘election’ or ‘democracy’ or ‘vote’ or ‘ballot’ occurs anywhere in the 200 pages of that treaty? Quite right, it doesn’t appear once.”

“And the trouble is this; if that treaty is signed, your Constitution says that it takes precedence over your Constitution and you can’t resign from that treaty unless you get agreement from all the other state parties—and because you’ll be the biggest paying country, they’re not going to let you out of it.”

“They are about to impose a communist world government on the world.”

Who do you trust? Ban Ki-moon? Gordon Brown whom most of the British will replace at their next election? Tony Blair, a former British PM who wants to be the next president of the European Union? Former President Bill Clinton? His former Vice President, Al Gore? President Barack Hussein Obama? The many CEOs of corporations who want a piece of the climate change pie? The financial markets that want to trade in “carbon credits” instead of equities backed up by something of actual value?

Or none of them because they all will be running the new world government, because they have all been lying about climate change for years, because they don’t care about the United States, the United Kingdom, or any of the other free nations that will be subject to the great gray army of bureaucrats who will kneel before them.

Only idiots listen to and believe these “leaders”!

They are the same kind of “leaders” that, in the last century, dragged Europe into war twice, destroying its economies and destroying its cities and peoples. Ditto for the Empire of Japan during WW2.

They are the same kind of “leaders” that foisted communism on Russia in 1917 until in 1991 it finally failed of its own dead weight.

These are the same present-day “leaders” who think they can “negotiate” with crazy Islamic fanatics who can’t wait to get their hands on nuclear weapons.

Who cleaned up the mess those former leaders left behind in World War II? Americans. Whose dollar is being destroyed by a President that has foisted more debt on the nation in nine months than all previous presidents combined? Americans.

Whose lives, dreams, and hopes are going to be destroyed by the present administration and Congress rushing to “reform” the nation’s healthcare system, the best in the world, and to enact a huge energy tax via cap-and-trade? Americans.

Who will send U.S. representatives to Copenhagen and who will sign that horrid treaty?

It has the putrid odor of treason.


Alan Caruba

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Editor’s Note: Want to read the UN Climate Change treaty?
http://www.globalclimatescam.com/documents/un-fccc-copenhagen-2009.pdf

Alan Caruba writes a daily post at http://factsnotfantasy.blogspot.com. A business and science writer, he is the founder of The National Anxiety Center.

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Tuesday, October 20, 2009

The "Chronically Offended" Rule!


The Chronically Offended. A Malady, Perhaps?
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
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It makes no difference what you do or what you say, these days, you can bet that someone will be offended.

Oh, yeah, I know people were offended back in the day. Truly they were, but there was one major difference. Back in the day, we understood that for an offended person to protest was a sign of weakness on the offended’s part. And frankly, they were too embarrassed to protest because they knew society would see them for what they were, weak.

Things changed. In the mid to late 20th century, and early 21st century, American society began to celebrate weakness in individuals. Whole organizations sprang up to serve the chronically offended. (And while they were doing that…. milk them of all their ready cash, as well!)

How could this have happened? Political Correctness, that’s how. Marxism by another name. As of today in America, the weak, and the minorities, have more power than the strong majority. The tables have turned. Natural law has been turned on its head.

When I was growing up one of the signs that you were, indeed, growing into adulthood was the skill at which you were able to handle disappointment… and… being offended.

Stoicism is no easy thing for me. I am Scot-Irish, Dutch, German, and a healthy dose of Native American. So you can see the how the fiery temperament of the Irish, and the combativeness of the Scots, and the dogged determination of the Germans, and stoicism of the Native Americans was, and is, always at war in my mind.

However, after a few bloody noses and split lips, and broken teeth, I managed to get a grip on myself and I learned a valuable lesson. It is better to keep your mouth shut and not whine when you are offended! The main thing to remember is… do not whine! Strike, if you must, but do not whine! What I forgot was… my size disadvantage. Quite often the attacked was physically larger than me and I got the tar beaten out of me!

So what did I learn for these confrontations? Not a whole lot… if you ask those who know me personally. I STILL tend to attack windmills! I love lost causes. But, it did build character. It gave me understanding into the mind of the chronically offended.

I have learned that the chronically offended are sad, lonely, people. They perceive themselves as without power and influence and they crave recognition, by anybody, for any reason. It is a form of inferiority complex.

To get that recognition, if only to force someone, anyone, into confirming their existence, they will cause a commotion about the smallest of things they may deem an infraction, or an abuse, or an offense to their sensibilities. No matter that society might accept that which offends them, that fact has no value to the Chronically Offended. Their self-centered nature rules out any pleas for common sense from the un-offended. .

And now THEY are in charge! Well, maybe not directly… with hands-on control… but they certainly have the power to browbeat the remainder of society like water torture.

If man had not fiddled with Mother Nature’s natural selection, these people would not be among us. But we did, and they are here. And… they are a royal pain in the butt to all of society.

Political Correctness has empowered them. And now WE are powerless to dis-empower THEM!

J. D. Longstreet











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