Civility? From the Democratic Party? You Gotta Be Kidding! ... Alan Caruba

Civility? From the Democratic Party? You Gotta Be Kidding!

By Alan Caruba

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We have already begun to hear calls for civility in the remaining ten weeks of the campaigns until Election Day. While I take this for granted from Republicans, I have not seen much evidence of it from Democrats.

Television ads claiming that Mitt Romney caused a woman to die from cancer or portraying Paul Ryan as pushing on old lady in a wheelchair off a cliff are not my idea of civility if the definition of civility also includes telling the truth.

Taking their cue from a President who is currently lying about everything from “our plan worked” to “the private sector is doing fine”, the Democrats are stuck with this blatantly false message.

I want you to watch and listen to the level of Democrat hysteria that will follow Mitt Romney’s acceptance speech. It will tell you everything you need to know about the weeks ahead between now and Election Day.

Currently, the Democrats are pushing a claim that there is a Republican “war on women.” Please! On the same night that Paul Ryan gave his acceptance speech, he was preceded by former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez.


Expect more of the same deliberate deceptions as Democrats desperately try to keep the focus on anything other than the economic mess they “inherited” and did not fix. They created the mess with their housing policies that demanded and rewarded banks for making bad mortgage loans. Those chickens came home to roost in 2008 as George W. Bush's second term was coming to an end and they have been blaming him ever since!

Winston Churchill warned that “We must beware of trying to build a society in which nobody counts for anything except a politician or an official, a society where enterprise gains no reward and thrift no privileges.”

That is a description of the last nearly four years of the Obama administration, replete with a shadowy super-class of White House officials dubbed the “czars.”

As any historian or student of history will tell you, presidential campaigns in America have not been distinguished by civility. Vicious attacks between opponents were the order of the day from the earliest days following the precedent-setting two terms held by our first President. For much of the late 18th and throughout the 19th centuries, the name-calling was often virulent.

Writing recently in The Wall Street Journal, Robert Dallek noted that “Character assassination so often trumps policy differences in presidential campaigns for a couple of reasons. Despite all the public hand-wringing about negative advertising, political veterans will tell you that it persists because, more often than not. It works. But tearing down the other guy has another attraction: It can be a substitute for building much of a case for what the mudslinger will do once in office.” The key word here is “substitute.”

Back in 2010 when voters demonstrated their dissatisfaction with Obama’s conduct of national and international affairs by returning control of the House of Representatives to Republicans, political pundit Karl Rove wrote, “If Mr. Obama is serious about his commitment to courtesy and respect, then he will need to demonstrate presidential leadership and rein in the verbal excesses of the leaders of his party.”

One example was the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Rep. Chris Van Hollen, who characterized conservatives as “reptiles” and “fire-breathing tea party nut jobs.”

More recently over at CNN, a reliable platform for Democratic Party spokespersons, both Anderson Cooper and Wolf Blitzer were so appalled by Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s lies about the Romney-Ryan approach to saving Medicare and repealing Obamacare that they were forced to strongly reproach the DNC Chairwoman in ways not frequently seen on television.

In April 2010, the results of the Allegheny College Survey of Civility and Compromise in American Politics revealed that voters were well aware of what they deemed a lack of civility.

“A whopping 95% of Americans believe civility in politics is important for a healthy democracy” while “87% suggest it is possible for people to disagree about politics respectfully” and “nearly 50% of Americans believe there has been a decline in the tone of politics since Barack Obama became President.”

Among the factors that caused Sen. John McCain to lose the 2008 campaign was his unfailing civility; his refusal to focus on Obama’s total lack of preparedness to be President, his hiding of personal records reflecting what little was known of his life beyond his two memoirs, the hollowness of his themes of “hope and change” as well as his promise to “fundamentally transform” America.

With the selection of Paul Ryan, we see that candidate Romney, a man of unfailing civility, has learned the lessons of 2008. Ryan, who knows the problems afflicting the economy as well as Romney, has demonstrated that he is eager to take on and condemn Obama’s appalling record of failure. Happily, Romney has been doing so as well on the campaign trail. They are telling the truth and the Democrats are calling it uncivil.

The Democrats, however, just can’t help themselves. From the President to the Democrat leaders in Congress, along with those leading the Democratic Party, the charges levied against Republicans, the Tea Party movement, and GOP candidates have been replete with claims that they are crackpots, hate women, and are racists have persisted and will be heard again and again between now and November 6th.

Regarding Obama, this writer has been impolite in the past, but this writer is not running for office or receiving a paycheck from the Republican Party. I could have been more polite, but then I would have failed to point out in the strongest possible way the threat of four more years of a President Obama and the failure of the Democratic Party to avoid more than forty months of high unemployment, crony capitalism, the seizure of General Motors and the nation’s healthcare system. Et Cetera!

The President continues to blame his predecessor for his failures while the Democratic Party in 2012 takes the low road to political power over our lives and the future of the nation.

The same sunny optimism that propelled President Reagan into two terms in office and the same steely determination after 9/11 that gave George W. Bush two terms will, I am confident, do the same for Mitt Romney.

I fully expect the Democratic Party convention to be a cesspool of incivility.

© Alan Caruba, 2012.
******************

Alan Caruba's commentaries are posted daily at "Warning Signs" and shared on dozens of news and opinion websites. His blog recently passed more than 1.7 million page views. If you love to read, visit his monthly report on new books at Bookviews. For information on his professional skills, Caruba Editorial Services is the place to go! You can find me on both Facebook and Twitter as well.

 

We've Had It With Obama's Socialism ... J. D. Longstreet

We've Had It With Obama's Socialism
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
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I marvel at the MSM's spinning of the polls and Obama's obvious glide to oblivion in order to paper over what will be a devastating Democratic Party loss of the Oval Office and, very likely, the US Senate, as well, in less than seventy days.

Look, the denizens of the Mainstream Media already KNOW the Obama team is in serious trouble.  They just don't want democratic party voters to know it.

The Prez?  Well, most normal folk have concluded that he is delusional and THAT explains his surety of demeanor.  Delusional people rarely ever live in the real world.

I sense a slow but consistent swing toward the republican candidate across the country today.   

In my state of North Carolina, we have gone from being an Obama state to a battleground state, to a Romney state.  Obama can mark The Old North State off his list.  It ain't gonna happen for him here.

The thing is -- it's happening across the country, this slow turning away from Obama.  The pendulum is swinging from left back to right.  That's a good thing.

So -- what happened?

Obama happened.

To be a bit more specific, it was/is Obama's socialism, his obvious love for Marxism, and  his burning desire to -- as he said --"fundamentally transform" this country. 

Here's the thing:  Americans don't want fundamental change.  Oh, we will allow you to fiddle around the edges, a bit, but when  you begin fooling around with the basic fundamentals of what America means, what America stands for, and you begin to demean America in the eyes of Americans -- you are finished.  Obama is finished.

I think America was willing to give the first black President of America a chance.  The electorate did that in 2008 -- and many now rue the day.  His first two years in office he had control of two branches of the three-branch US government made up of his team players -- democrats.  He blew it -- pushing the largest socialist program to come down the American pike in the history of the country --socialized medicine known as Obamacare.

By the time he had completed that task he had so angered Americans that the dye was cast. His days in office were numbered. 

In 2010 the electorate deliberately sent a new team of conservatives to Congress with the mission to block, obfuscate, or plainly put, do whatever was necessary to stop Obama and see to it that he could do no more harm to the country until we could get back to the polls in November of 2012 to rid ourselves of the Obama menace to America and to America's capitalist society.  Yes, it was self-imposed gridlock.  Obama and his minions HAD to be restrained for the sake of the country -- and, for the most part,  they were.  

For nearly four years now Americans have had a taste of what a socialist system would look like in America.  It finally became clear that if Obama and his fellow socialists had their way -- America's middle class would cease to exist. 

It took a while for this lesson to sink in.  But it did, and now Americans are fighting mad.

So, they are turning to Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, the GOP candidates for President and Vice-President, to use their skills at business and economics to stop America's slow collapse and begin the restoration process so at least SOME of the damage done by Obama can be repaired.  It will, we know, take many years to right our ship of state and our economy.

There is a poll I'd like to suggest to the various polling companies.  How about asking how many voted for Obama and are now ashamed of their vote.  I think, there is a huge swath of the electorate who did, in fact, vote for Obama, believing he could do all those things he touted and promised.  They are now embarrassed by that vote -- but they are not going to openly admit it.  They will make a conscious effort to atone for that mistaken vote in the voting booth in a few days.

Look.  America is NOT just another country -- no matter what the political left says.  American exceptionalism is a fact.  Evidence of American exceptionalism is the fact that Americans are not in open revolt at this moment!

We Americans ARE different.  We ARE unique.  That which works for Europe will not work for the USA.  Most of us hail from families that left Europe generations ago to come to America PRECISELY BECAUSE America was/is different.   Opportunity in America was limited only by a man's ambition and ability. The individual American built this country -- not the government.  In fact, it was the individual Americans from the thirteen colonies that built the US government. 

The task is clear.  Our government is in trouble.  It has grown so huge and become so intrusive that IT has now become the primary obstruction in the path to the continued success of individual Americans.  That must change.  It must change NOW.  Four years from now will be too late.

Obama's socialism has no place in America.  It is a policy of personal defeat practiced by the defeated people of a defeated nation who live in constant fear.  Obama's agenda to foist his brand of socialism off on America has enraged the populace in a manner I have not experienced in my (well over) seven decades of life.  It is palpable.  Obama's agenda is not to build America up and help her claim the high ground again.  No!  His agenda is to manage America's decline!  How totally un-American is that?!

"Live free or die"  is not just a state motto, or a nice sounding slogan.  It is the TRUTH.  A nation cannot truly live unless it is free.

We Americans must reclaim our birthright of freedom in November and get our country restored, set right, and moving upwards again.  Else -- we die.

J. D. Longstreet 
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This IS A Religious War! ... J. D. Longstreet

This IS A Religious War!
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
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It never fails to amuse me -- and fill me with wonder -- at how we mortals will work so diligently and go to such great lengths to deny the obvious. 

Example:  "undocumented immigrant" = illegal alien.  

We have adopted (and adapted) the language of political correctness to camouflage our cowardice.      

Heck, I am so old I can remember when a "plain spoken person" was considered a valued member of society.  You could count on that person, at least, to "call 'em as he saw 'em."  You never had to wonder where he stood nor how he felt about a given subject.  He'd tell you -- and you could take it to the bank.

No longer.  Speaking plainly in public today may cause gasping, feinting, the vapors, or bring on a light stroke.

Politically correct speak is insidious!  It is, as I said above, the language of cowardice.  It is the vocal equivalent of rose colored glasses for the eyes.  Its results are the same.  Both deliver false information to both the seer and the hearer.

And it is dangerous.

I doubt there is a single adult person on the planet who does not know that Islam is at war with all the other religions of the world. But NOBODY will say it ... publicly! 

The adherents of Islam practice proselytizing, or convincing others to convert to Islam, by the sword.  They've been doing it for centuries with qualified success. 

There are those who argue that the God of Islam and the God of the Judeo-Christian faiths are one and the same.  I beg to differ. In fact, I dare say, my Judeo-Christian God has more in common with the Native American "Great Spirit" than the God of Islam.

Look, if the God I worship insisted that I do the things the God of Islam (apparently) tells his follows to do, by way of their Holy Book, I'd be a convert to atheism before the sun went down.

In the Christian New Testament, more specifically, in the book of 1st John, the 4th chapter and the eighth verse it is said: "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love."  (New International Version)  See, right there we have run, smack dab, into a solid wall that separates Christianity from Islam.  Christianity converts with LOVE -- not by the sword.

Islam has one single goal, it seems to me. That is to conquer all the people of earth by any means necessary and rule the world with an Islamic theocracy referred to as a Caliphate. With the exception of two nations the world cowers before the sword of Islam. 

Those two nations, already hip deep in a religious war with Islam, are Israel and, of course, America, more specifically, the United States of America.  That's why all the Islamic shouts of "Death to America," "Death to Israel," etc. .    

The plain truth is:  We are at war with Islam, whether we want war, or not.  We are up to our necks in what is, in truth, a religious war. If we lose, we will all become Muslims or --  DEAD.

If you would like to explore the difference between Yahweh and Allah there is an interesting article at:
http://oncedelivered.net/2007/12/20/yahweh-the-god-of-the-bible-vs-allah-the-god-of-the-koran/ 

Here in America, we are about to run headlong into a constitutional crises.  The constitution grants freedom of religion to all citizens.  BUT -- what if the practice of a particular religion presents a threat to the national security of the United States.  What then? 

I predict that at some point in the fairly near future we will find that an amendment will be necessary to make clear that everyone is free to practice their religion -- so long as that religion presents no threat to the security of the country.    

If you think my prediction above is a stretch, remember where you heard it first -- because I am convinced that it is but a matter of time before the Islamofascists REALLY begin to create havoc within the borders of the US.  I'm talking IED's, car bombs, suicide bombers, the whole 27 feet. 

Look.  We MUST get past this Kabuki Theatre dance with Islam and shine the light of truth on it, and see it for what it really is before we can effectively defend against it and move offensively against it with any degree of success.

The practitioners of Islam already KNOW it is a religious war.  Heck, they call it "Jihad" or "Holy War."

We are in a war about religion, dear reader. History teaches us there are few things as deadly and vicious as a war about religion.  And let's be clear about something -- THIS war predates The Crusades.  Yes, I know that is not the politically correct thing to say, these days -- because we might upset our enemy -- but, hey, some of us are a bit upset ourselves, about, you know, them trying to kill us!

So, what we have here is Islam versus everybody else.  And since, somehow, they have managed to convince themselves that the JEWS run the world, including America, it makes sense, in a weird sort of way, that they would direct their hate at both Israel and America.  Heck, they've already practically taken over Europe.  And they have made deep inroads into South America.  Frighteningly, their numbers are increasing exponentially here in America, as well.  They are simply taking advantage of our law, the First Amendment.  Pretty slick, huh?

Maybe we ought to consider changing the name of the War on Terror to "The War to Save Infidels."  I mean, my suggested title is a bit shorter than oh, say: "Islam versus Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Baha'i, Hinduism, Taoism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Rodnoveri, Celtic pagan, Heathenism, Semitic pagan, Wicca, Kemetism, Hellenic pagan, Roman pagan, etc.," don't you think?  Besides, the list is incomplete.  But you get the picture, right?

The point, dear reader, is that all non-Muslims are targets in a war we did not want, did not seek, and, for the most part, don't even understand.  But don't worry.  It's going to get a whole lot worse -- and soon.  Seems to me we'd have a better chance at defending ourselves if we knew who we are actually fighting and why.  In my case, I've always had better luck fighting the devil I know.

J. D. Longstreet
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Can Rand Paul Deliver the Paul Voters?

By JB Williams

jb.uspu@gmail.com

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As father Ron Paul prepares to retire, leaving behind a political career that spans nearly forty-years and passing the libertarian torch to son Senator Rand Paul, can Rand fill Dad’s shoes? As Rand attempts to deliver the libertarian vote for Romney-Ryan in 2012, will his father’s biggest fans follow Rand’s lead?

Ron Paul prepared a video statement that will open the GOP show on the evening that Vice Presidential nominee Paul Ryan will accept his nomination. Paul’s son, Rand Paul, will follow with a live speech in Tampa, following on his endorsement of Mitt Romney for President, only hours after his father’s biggest fans walked out of the convention in protest.

Ron Paul was one of several declared candidates hoping to force a brokered convention in Tampa. But when Romney officially secured 90.16% of the GOP delegates (2,061 of 2,286) ending all speculation about a floor fight for the GOP nod, Paul supporters reached the peak of their frustration. New GOP delegate rules provided a final blow to those who had hoped to wrangle delegates away from Romney on the convention floor.

RON PAUL

In the end, Ron Paul received 8.27% of the GOP delegates, 189. Although his supporters believe Ron could have blocked the Romney nomination without the new GOP rules change, the truth is Ron Paul has been stuck at or below 10% support within the GOP for decades. Nobody can win anything with only 10% support.

Ron Paul has one of the most loyal followings in modern politics. He has had an impact by forcing subjects onto the table and GOP platform that would not be there without him. However, his all-or-nothing supporters have demonstrated a firm “our way or no way” election attitude for many years now, bordering on venomous in their assaults on all other political figures. This is a very dangerous play for both their agenda and the nation.

At a time when the nation is unifying to remove the most dangerous administration in U.S. history from power, can Rand Paul convince his father’s angry followers to become a grown-up productive part of solutions for America? Or, will he lose them to ideological bickering, backstabbing and protest votes in November?

The stakes are high for Romney-Ryan and Rand Paul. The stakes have never been higher for America. Ron Paul supporters have some options and they have been talking about those options for months now.

·         Write in Ron Paul’s name in protest

·         Vote 3^rd Party in protest

·         Stay home on election day in protest

·         Vote for Obama in protest

Of course, all of these protest options will end with the same result, the re-election of the worst administration in U.S. history. It’s not possible to say you oppose these Marxists while at the same time, doing things to keep the Marxists in power. Someone is lying…

RAND PAUL

Rand Paul will try to get his father’s supporters to leave all of these protest options behind, and bring them into the mainstream where their ideas and votes can have some impact. Does he have the political clout to pull it off?

Ron and Rand both realized that they could not affect anything from the outside looking in with a critical eye. They both realized that they had to be in the game to affect the game. Many Rand Paul supporters realized the same thing when they chose to make Rand a Senator. Nobody would even know Ron Paul’s name had he not left behind 3^rd Party fantasies and joined the Republican Party in order to become a member of congress.

Still, many Ron Paul supporters continue to demonstrate an “our way or no way” attitude that could leave them sitting on the sidelines complaining about Barack Obama and his Marxist march to Globalization.

The deal is now sealed. Only one candidate will have a chance to remove Barack Obama from office and that candidate is Mitt Romney. How we feel about that doesn’t matter. What we do about it will decide the future of freedom and liberty in America.

So long as the Obama Crime Syndicate controls D.C., freedom and liberty are dead in America and all over the globe. The future of freedom and liberty depends first and foremost, upon removing the current Marxist regime from power.

Rand Paul will try to convince his father’s followers to support Romney and Ryan in their historic effort to remove anti-American Marxists from the people’s Executive branch. Paul supporters have a chance to play a significant role in that effort. Or, they can take their football and go home in anger, leaving freedom and liberty in the hands of the most corrupt and tyrannical regime to ever hold power in the United States.

Paul supporters can become a force to be reckoned with inside politics, or they can sit on the sidelines and cast stones at everyone else. Millions will listen as Rand Paul tries to bring libertarians into the fold and millions will watch how Paul supporters respond to his call for unity.

But at the end of the day, those who believe in freedom and liberty could never leave our future in the hands of known anti-American despots.

There is no doubt in my mind that both Ron and Rand Paul will vote for Romney-Ryan on November 6th.

But the jury is still out on what Paul supporters will do. Ron Paul is riding off into the sunset and Rand is trying to become a person of influence in D.C. But can Rand even influence his father’s followers? If Rand can’t influence his own libertarians, who can he influence?

JB Williams

Co-Founder
www.PatriotsUnion.org
www.VeteranDefenders.org
www.ThePatriotsNews.com

Socialist Philosophy Thicker than Blood ... Tom Greene

Socialist Philosophy Thicker than Blood
By Tom Green
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As many of you know from reading my blog regularly, your intrepid blogger suffers from cancer-terminal in fact.  The cancer is very rare, only 15 reported cases.  Being so rare (lucky me) the ONLY person to have it three times and survive.

Now, due to the collapse of WaMu and Kerry Killinger’s investing in high risk bad mortgage backed securities, yours truly found himself unemployed with a Socialist in the White House using failed Keynesian, state-run economic “solutions” to high unemployment.  A plan by the way, the President recently said is working…really?

  While unemployed the side effects of 18 years of cancer treatment, surgery, radiation, chemotherapy,  have rendered this blogger disabled; that is to say a consumer of Government Cheese-Velveeta, airlifted in like a third world nation.  Yes, the Editor-in-Chief is a burden to society, talk about irony, eh?!  Trust me, nothing galls me more.

Now, under Obamacare Insurance companies HAVE to cover me.  Socialists say, “Oh, that’s great, if it weren’t for Obama you would be dead.”  They seem to take pleasure in that, oddly enough?  Anyhow, the truth is there is more to all of this than meets the eye.

The chemo drug I need to keep the rare cancer in check is very costly, $36,000 PER MONTH.  What many of you may not realize is that in addition to the 2000+ page bill that was Obamacare, there are now an additional 13,000 pages of FDA regulations that accompany Obamacare that dictates the administering (rationing) of care and drugs.

A part of those regulations are that the distribution of NEXAVAR is rationed.  Bottom line is since someone like me, one of a kind, needs a particular drug, there is no way to justify the Cost-Benefit of administering the 1 American with this particular type of cancer, a drug that costs $36,000 a month.  So, as a result, the life saving chemotherapy drug I need is no longer allowed, (I can get it, but I would just have to pay full retail)  based upon the reality of cost, to me.

In addition the blood thinning drug, Lovenox, that I need to keep me from clotting and croaking is no longer covered; de facto.  Specifically, the drug has been “re-classified” under FDA regs, as a result of Obamacare.  As a result the drug costs $22,000 for a 3 month supply; my share-$6,600. Once again, Obamacare effectively cuts me off from a drug necessary to my survival.

Now, when I had all these health issues but was employed, ALL of this was covered under my company insurance.  Also, it ends up that the “evil” Pharmaceutical Giant, Bayer, provides me with the chemo drug at a co-pay of $20 a month.  So much for Capitalism having no heart!

Now, I know you will say, well what about your spouse?  She was unemployed for more than a year and a half and COBRA ran out.  Finally she has gainful employment, but guess what?  Due to the rising cost of health care (thanks to Obamacare mandates increasing costs astronomically) they are making insurance available to EMPLOYEE ONLY, no coverage for spouse.   Who can blame them?
As we ran in a link last week, 10% of all employers are now saying they will be dropping health care for their employees and families since Obamacare is now the Law of the Land.

Now, to the title of this article, when I shared all of the above with my sibling, a health care professional, and Socialist, her response was, “Don’t make this political, don’t blame Obama!”

Don’t blame Obama I am told.  How could I not?!  If Obamacare and it’s budget busting costs weren’t passed, employers would still issue coverage to employees, AND their family, AND I WOULD BE COVERED as I always had been.  But NO, under Obamacare and it’s regulations, we are effectively moving toward a Single Payer System, which, as we have said COUNTLESS times before was ALWAYS THE INTENTION.

The point in all of this, in case you don’t get it, is not “woe is me.”  I accept the hand that life has dealt me and am ready to meet my maker.  What galls me is that this Socialist Philosophy, so deeply ingrained in the Secular Humanists LITERALLY divides brother against brother (or more accurately in this case, brother against sister).

This is Civil War folks, not on a literal battlefield, (not yet at least)  but on a philosophical battle field.  When your own sibling would rather see you meet your fate sooner rather than later as a result of their adherence to Socialist Philosophy, when they would rather there be “free” health care for all rather than a free market solution that would allow better health care for all, when their actions speak louder than words, when the implied message is you, and those like you,  need to die to advance the cause, we are talking a Culture War on a massive scale.

 Mine is not the only story like this around the country, folks.

There is a religion, it is called Socialism.  It has no God, except for “your inner god”, it hides behind words like economic and social justice, fairness, collective good, equality of outcome, tolerance, spirituality, moral relativism, etc.  What it really DOES is make everyone equally miserable, it weeds out the sick and elderly through regulations or de facto Death Panels, a.k.a. Eugenics,  it robs us of our dignity, of our God given rights, our freedom and our Liberty, all in the name of the “common good.”  Since the “great unwashed” don’t know what’s best for them, Big Government will decide.

I mourn the loss of my sibling to Socialism.  I mourn the loss of freedom and liberty, accountability and free market solutions to economic challenges.

 Be forewarned folks, it is not paranoia anymore, slowly, insidiously, Socialism is permeating every aspect of our society, and it will be the Death of this once great nation.  That is what I mourn.


That’s my opinion.

Tom Greene
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Thomas Greene is a full time blogger for the Greene Opinion.  He has a degree in Political Science from St. John’s University.  He believes in America, freedom and liberty, as described by the Founding Fathers, the free market and entrepreneurial spirit as it provides the best path to prosperity.

Tom, when not buried in blogs, books or the news can be reached at goldcoastconservative@gmail.com
You can also post comments at greeneopinion.com and stay abreast of the latest in Conservative commentary and satire.

Beware of the Mainstream Media ... J. D. Longstreet

Beware of the Mainstream Media

By Alan Caruba

A recent outburst by MSNBC’s Chris Matthews was a near classic example of how some members of the media are so over the moon about Obama that it serves as a reminder that their long knives are out for the Romney-Ryan ticket.

Matthews’ man-crush on Obama is blatant, but I do take some heart from a recent Newsweek cover and article that tore Obama to shreds with facts and figures. It was so unusual, given the usual news magazine adoration accorded Obama that I found it odd, though welcome.

Much depends, of course, on the coverage that will be given by the network news channels, ABC, NBC, CBS, and we should include PBS as well. From my observation, only C-SPAN makes a good faith effort to provide balanced coverage of both parties and political viewpoints.

And, of course, there’s Fox News. “Fair, balanced and unafraid” is their motto, but Fox has been afraid to get anywhere close to the issues involving Obama’s blatantly false birth certificate, the fact that his closest advisors in the White House are committed Marxists, along with his long association with friends who fit that description such as Bill Ayers.

Moreover, Fox has liberal commentators such as Juan Williams on staff and invites liberals to share their views on air as well. That said, its conservative tilt makes it about the only TV news channel a conservative can watch without wanting to throw up.

Matthews became incensed with GOP Chairman Reince Priebus during a recent discussion prior to the convention, riding his hobby horse that any criticism of Obama is racist. This charge is used to inoculate Obama against a reasoned examination of his policies, all of which have brought the nation to the brink of financial collapse, along with massive unemployment and other ills. In the area of foreign affairs, he has thoroughly weakened America’s capacity to influence the world.

The New York Times columnist, Maureen Dowd, sharpened her knives in a predictable attack on Romney in the Sunday edition, but anyone other than a brain-dead liberal knows about this newspaper’s antipathy toward any conservative seeking or serving in public office. Referencing Romney’s little joke about not having to produce a birth certificate to prove he was born in Michigan—to a Michigan audience, Dowd opined that “Already suspicious conservatives pounced on the remark as proof that Mitt would say anything to get elected.” As if Obama isn’t already famous for that.

This is not to say that many conservatives spend a lot of time reading The New York Times. They don’t. It’s the other daily newspapers, primarily written by liberal journalists, that should be of concern. I stopped reading my own state’s largest circulation newspaper for just that reason. While it devotes its columns to tearing down Governor Chris Christie, the rest of the nation has embraced his Jersey-style straight talk and guess who will be the GOP convention keynote speaker?

While most people get their general news from television, conservatives prefer sources such as Fox News, along with The Wall Street Journal, the National Standard, and the many conservative news and opinion sites available on the Internet. I am inclined to believe that conservatives are, in general, better informed and, frankly, more intelligent than liberals.

That said, the conservatives I fear most are those who say they will vote for a third party candidate like the Libertarians. When you consider how narrow the margin was in the George W. Bush v. Al Gore election literally EVERY vote matters, especially in the forthcoming one.

So this is a reminder that a massive amount of distortion about everything the Romney-Ryan ticket says in the weeks ahead will be written and said. The mere fact that the mainstream press is so reluctant to cover the biggest story of all, the dangerous state of the nation’s economy, tells you everything you need to know about their preference, once again, for the worst President to ever serve in the Oval Office.

© Alan Caruba, 2012
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Alan Caruba's commentaries are posted daily at "Warning Signs" and shared on dozens of news and opinion websites. His blog recently passed more than 1.7 million page views. If you love to read, visit his monthly report on new books at Bookviews. For information on his professional skills, Caruba Editorial Services is the place to go! You can find me on both Facebook and Twitter as well.

 

What If ... ? ... J. D. Longstreet

What If ... ?
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
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For weeks now there have been all sorts of stories of various government agencies buying up millions of rounds of ammunition.  Try as they might, those agencies/the US government have/has not been able to present a plausible story to convince American citizens that they are NOT up to something nefarious.

Sad to say, we just don't trust our government anymore ... not that we've  trusted them a great deal for a very long time, you understand.  But the level of trust that we had -- previous to the Obama Administration -- has plummeted right through the floor.

We have been pummeled with lie after lie from Washington until we have become saturated with their prevarications and like a "soaked" sponge, we simply cannot hold any more.

HOLLOW POINT ROUNDS

DC's perversions of the truth just leave us laughing these days -- and not a little worried.

I mean -- using hollow point rounds for target practice is, well, laughable.  Did you know that even the military is banned from using hollow point ammo by international agreement?  Yep.  It's a fact.  It is horrible what those rounds can do to the human body.  Upon impact the leading edge of the round "mushrooms."  Think of a dime suddenly becoming a fifty-cent piece.  It will often fragment with small metal pieces ripping and tearing away at the body's vital organs -- all the while that fifty-cent piece size slug is blowing a ragged hole along its trajectory.

As I said:  It's horrible what a hollow point round can do to the human body.

Now, allow me to be clear:  I have no idea what the government has planned for those millions of rounds of ammo they have ordered.  It's for darn sure the US military cannot use them -- on the battlefield.  But, I know of no law precluding them from using that ammo within the borders of the US.  (At least one state has certain restrictions on the sale and use of hollow point ammo.) They just can't shoot America's enemies with it on a foreign battlefield.       


Just thinking out loud here:  What if a second term Obama has plans to regulate the sale of ammunition by way of a Presidential Executive Order.  Seems to me that it would be much simpler to regulate ammunition sales by EO than regulating the sale of guns by EO. I mean, there IS the Second Amendment to get around for that.  But --  the Second Amendment does not mention ammo.

Suppose the various departments of the government are ordered to purchase millions of rounds of ammunition to reduce the supply available to the market.  In other words, an attempt to create an artificial shortage of ammunition available to the American marketplace today.  We know that ammo sales are going through the roof as gun owners, fearing the worse in a second term Obama Administration, are stocking up.  Gun sales, too, are at record levels.

OK.  I want to be sure I am understood here.  I have no inside information reference those ammo purchases by the government.  NONE!  The same is true reference Obama's plans for an Executive Order (somehow) controlling ammunition sales. Like practically every other American gun owner, I am concerned for my 2nd Amendment rights and, frankly, the security of my family -- and my fellow countrymen -- should our government go rogue on us.

About a week ago, I sat in my office with a fellow conservative talking about this very thing.  His business carries him all over the state and he tells me this is a topic of conversation at the various "coffee klatches" in which he often takes part. 

And why not?  People are worried and concerned about the direction the Obama Administration has taken America in the past almost 4 years. Added to the worry and concern is an underlying layer of rage. 

I must tell you that I suspect the government is well aware of this pent-up rage and they are concerned that the tinniest crack will result in the collapse of the dam holding back that anger instantly unleashing a flood of anarchy across the country -- especially in America's large metropolitan areas.

Allow me to point out something else, too.  When the mainstream media cannot be counted upon to do its job, believe me, "alternative media" WILL step up and fill that void.  I think that is what has happened with the "government ammo purchases" story.

What we know for sure is -- basically -- NOTHING.  A number of gun owner organizations are pressing for a congressional investigation of these massive purchases of ammunition by (and reportedly for) government agencies that, at first glance, seem to have no use for this type of man stopping/killing ammo.

That we are even having THIS conversation only adds to the feeling of unease permeating America today.  We wait with bated breath to see how vicious the anarchist's shenanigans will be in Tampa and in Charlotte as the two political parties endeavor to celebrate the official coronation of their respective candidates for President.

It just doesn't FEEL like America, anymore.  In fact, America has begun to favor a banana republic, especially at our air terminals.  Law enforcement officers dressed in black -- and some in military fatigue-type uniforms -- toting semi-automatic long guns, lends to the feeling that America's citizens are more hostage than free.

Eventually, Americans are going to reject the "it's for your own safety,"  propaganda and the backlash will begin.  One must wonder if that's what the government's humongous purchase of hollow point ammo is about.  Could it be the government EXPECTS a backlash?  If so, does their expectations of a backlash mean they are set on a course, which will diminish the freedom and liberty of American citizens even more?  

What if ... ?

J. D. Longstreet
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Learning To Live With A Nuclear Iran ... J. D. Longstreet

Learning To Live With A Nuclear Iran
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
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If the window of opportunity has not already closed for a preemptive strike against Iran's nuclear facilities, it is ALMOST closed and closing rapidly.

If that turns out to be the case, then isn't it time Israel drags it's nuclear arsenal, out into to full view of the Iranians and the remainder of the "terror community?"

One of the fundamentals of a nuclear armed military is the ability to survive a first strike by your enemy and offer, in reprisal, a second strike -- from your own arsenal -- that will deal a killing blow to your attacker.  Israel has such a capability.  Maybe it is time to show it. 

Not much is said about Israel's seaborne nuclear arsenal.  But it is there ... cruising out there above and/or below the surface of the oceans. 

Before the US dropped the first atomic bomb on Japan there was a discussion amongst US leaders and a suggestion that maybe we ought to demonstrate the power of the bomb to the Japanese BEFORE we dropped it on them. 

The thought was that the fear generated by such an awesome spectacle would cause Japan to rush to the surrender table -- and actually dropping the bomb on them would be unnecessary.  It was eventually decided that nothing short of atomic destruction would cause Japan to sue for peace.  Even then it took TWO atomic bombs, dropped just days apart, to get a surrender from Japan.

I mention this because there is some suggestion that Israel should demonstrate to Iran that it has the capability of nuking them, even now, and also has a second strike capability that would instantly set Iranian society back to the stone age in a flash (no pun intended.)

All this is predicated upon the possibility that Israel might be dealing with sane people within the Iranian government.  After all, this is a government where sanity always seems to be in scant measure.

Now -- all this talk about an Israeli second strike capability is worrisome because it bespeaks what I fear is reality.  A preemptive strike is no longer possible and the world is going to have a terrorist nation armed to the teeth with nukes.

Frankly, Israel should have stuck Iran YEARS ago.  Nothing less than an early preemptive strike would have deterred Iran.  No amount of diplomatic entreaties, discussions, UN inspections, pleading, begging -- NOTHING was going to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear bomb.  Sometimes you simply have to kill your enemy, in great numbers, to get his attention. Been there-done that. ( Nuclear bombing of Japan by the US in WWII)

Maybe an effective demonstration of Israel's nuclear arsenal would include the nuking of the facilities in Iran where the so-called "Islam Bomb" is being made.  For darn sure, Iran would be denied the use of whatever was left of those labs for centuries into the future. And it might serve to introduce the Iranian government and their proxy terrorist gangs exactly what "nuking" means.  

The other troublesome aspect of a nuclear Iran is the certainty of their passing along nuclear capability to their terrorist proxies. 

Let me be clear here:  All the nations of the world cowering in the shadows -- frightened of a nuclear Iran -- NOW you REALLY have something to worry about.  Even though you might be geographically outside the nuclear missile range of Iranian ballistic missiles, you are well within range of Iran's terrorists who will not think twice about setting off  nuclear devices in your cities.  You, too, had the opportunity to stop Iran and you chose to stand back and HOPE the US and Israel would do your job for you.       You have no one to blame but yourselves when the inevitable happens and you have thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of your countrymen dead or dying from a terrorist nuclear attack on your territory.

Of COURSE, the same applies to America.  WE COULD HAVE STOPPED IRAN!

Look.  America makes mistakes.  We are not infallible.  And yes, we made a humongous mistake in electing as President a man who many American suspect is a closet Muslim, himself.  He bears a Muslim name.  His father was Muslim and he was partly reared in a Muslim country and educated in Muslim schools.  There has been ample evidence during his nearly four years as our President that Obama has chosen the Muslim nations of the Middle East over America's only friend in that region -- Israel. 

Many Americans, myself included, feel that Obama's goal from the early days of his presidency was to run interference for Iran until Iran could successfully build a nuclear bomb.  All one has to do is look objectively at Obama's policies -- as per Iran and Israel -- and the pattern becomes crystal clear.

To the question:  "Are you better off today than you were four years ago," the Republican Party ought to add:  "Are you safer today than you were four years ago?"

 As soon as Iran has an operable bomb, they're certainly going to "demonstrate" it to the world.  They have told us they have two prime targets:  Israel and America.  When the Islam Bomb explodes in America -- remember which administration is responsible for bringing it to the shores of America.   Not that there is anything we can do about it.  Not now.

J. D. Longstreet
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Neil Armstrong: Trail-Blazer To The Future.

Neil Armstrong: Trail-Blazer To The Future.
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
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Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut, test pilot, aerospace engineer, university professor and United States Naval Aviator. He was the first person to walk on the Moon.

I grew up a reader.  I fell in love with words and especially the printed word even before I began first grade. I, basically, taught myself to read with the Charlotte News, which (in those days) was an afternoon edition newspaper.  It had every thing a young scholar needed.  There were photographs with captions -- and there were the "funny papers," or, as we called them,  "the funnies." Somewhere, along about the second or third grade, my aunt presented me with a gift that changed my life.   It was a worn, torn, smudged, dog-eared, Webster's Collegiate "abridged" dictionary, which had been her sister's when she (the sister) had been a college student. 

As difficult as it might be to understand, especially today with all the electronic instruments we have for communicating, I was in love with a book!  I read that dictionary -- from cover to cover -- and used it for most of the remainder of my formal education. 

Soon afterwards, she gave me a copy of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol." It was my introduction to reading for the pure fun of it.  It did not take long before the county library was my second home.

I do not recall how, exactly, I became addicted to Science Fiction, but -- did I ever!  In a fairly short time I had read my way  through the "Science Fiction" section at the library.

Science fiction allowed the reader's (my) mind to wander, to explore realms that were not explorable -- but -- held the promise of exploration in the future.  It erased the horizon.
 
I recall that on one summer break my teacher offered special credit for any books we read over vacation time.  I read 26 books that summer.

My love for science fiction continued into adulthood and, honestly, continues even today.

I was absolutely crushed when Sputnik flew successfully into orbit around the earth I was elated and crushed at the same time.  For, you see, I KNEW that when the door to space was opened, it would be the USA that kicked it open and colonized the planets of Sol and the worlds of those, oh, so distant stars. 

In those days, America was a "can-do" country with a people who simply did not believe there was anything they could not do.

The race to the stars was ON!

The US decided the moon was to be our first stop.  It offered a "way station," if you will.  It was a place where man could learn to live and work in an alien "biosphere."  It was to be the jumping-off place for expeditions to our neighboring planets. Then, from the moon, it was  onwards and outwards to worlds we did not even know existed but hoped to find on our gypsy-like wandering through the universe(s). 

Neil Armstrong was the first human being to set foot on the surface of the moon.  He opened the door for all mankind. And Neil Armstrong was an AMERICAN!   The photo of Armstrong standing beside that American flag planted firmly in the lunar surface still brings a lump to my throat every time I see it.  The door to space HAD been kicked open by America -- and there was no turning back.

... Except -- we DID turn back.

The scriptures tell us in Proverbs 29:18, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.”  It is a truth that is playing out all around us today as America is obviously a nation in decline.  Not only have we restored our horizons, we have dragged them in even closer suffocating the yearning to learn what's over the next hill or around the next corner -- let alone the next universe or the next galaxy.

Someday, if America survives, and there is a huge "if" concerning our survival as a nation today, we will have to go back to the moon.  It is still the stepping stone to the discovery of man's future and some say -- to man's past.  There are those who believe it is the doorway to man's ancestral home.

When we DO go back -- and beyond -- it will be as the result of the courage, the work, and the risk, of a man by the name of Neil Armstrong who inspired all mankind by taking "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

Yes, I know we have robots on Mars.  But to me, until a human being steps onto the surface of Mars, as Neil Armstrong did to Luna, it doesn't count. 

Sorry NASA. 

NASA and the government must understand. They have lost the interest of the public simply because the human element has been ejected from America's space exploration program.

It is impossible to place a price on dreams.    As Robert Browning, the Victorian English poet said:  “Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?”   Browning understood that man must continue to reach for those things beyond those he already has within his grasp.   It is an inherent part of the human animal to reach for, to seek, and hopefully to discover, that which he knows is there, and that which he only suspects is there.  In doing so, we grow and flourish -- and -- we expand those horizons I so often write about.  In NOT doing so we perish -- just as the proverb from the Bible so wisely states.

Neil Armstrong knew that.  He was at the vanguard of man's quest in reaching for the stars. His place in the history of human beings is well secured.

Browning also said:  “The aim, if reached or not, makes great the life ... "

Neil Armstrong blazed the trail into a future of untold discovery.  He showed us the way. How sad it is that we can no longer find enough "vision" in ourselves -- or our leaders -- to follow. 

I am very afraid there is but a residue of vision left in America today as we lay to rest a trail-blazing visionary who risked everything to mark the way for all mankind to follow.

Alas, Armstrong's countrymen may no longer be in the vanguard of space exploration, but mankind WILL go to the planets -- and beyond. That is a given.  When one nation falters, another steps up.  When one nation's vision diminishes, another's expands.  As in a game of leap frog, progress is slow and laborious. But in the end, it is sure. Neil Armstrong proved that.

We salute Neil Armstrong with the words of John Gillespie Magee, Jr :

Up, up the long, delirious burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or ever eagle flew —
And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.     

J. D. Longstreet 
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The Grand Old Party: 1854 to 2012 ... Alan Caruba

The Grand Old Party: 1854 to 2012

By Alan Caruba

I grew up thinking that the only political party was the Democratic Party. Born a few years after Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected in 1932, he would be the only President of whom I was aware until he died in 1945, thirteen years later! A Constitutional amendment was passed to avoid that ever happening again.

Considering how much damage Obama has done in just under four years that seems like a very good idea. Defeating him for a second term is an even better one.

Lincoln was the then-new Republican Party’s first to be elected President in 1860. A much older Democratic Party had held the presidency from Martin Van Buren, with time out for Republicans William Henry Harrison and John Tyler, until Democrats James K. Polk, Franklin Pierce, and James Buchanan.

After Lincoln there was a succession of Republican Presidents until the election of Grover Cleveland in 1885. Democrats would have to wait until Woodrow Wilson to regain executive power in 1913, but he would be followed by Republicans Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover.

During my lifetime, the New Deal coalition forged by FDR in the 1930s fell apart in the 1960s, largely over the issue of civil rights which is a kind of poetic justice when you consider that the Democrats had sought to expand slavery in all the years leading up to the Civil War.

There have been five Republican Presidents since Lyndon Johnson declined to run for office in 1969; six if you count Eisenhower who served two terms (1953-1961) prior to the young, charismatic JFK.

I am not sure when the nation became so divided politically with the Democrats representing the liberal-progressive agenda that created Social Security and Medicare and Republicans who have always been identified with a conservative, pro-business, pro-military platform, mixed with a social outlook that still finds issues such as abortion an offense to religious and moral values. In essence they were always divided.

It is an interesting coincidence of history that today’s Republican Party candidate for President was born in Michigan where, on July 6, 1854, the first statewide convention was held near Jackson. Its Vice President candidate comes from Wisconsin where the name “Republican” was first suggested for the party in a Ripon, Wisconsin schoolhouse on March 20, 1854.

At this point in our nation’s history, the Democrat President, Barack Obama, and Democrats who regained power in Congress in 2009 has run up more national debt than all the previous presidents combined. He has brought the nation to the edge of economic collapse and, naturally, that is the last thing he wants to talk about.

The issues regarding the solvency of Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid have long been thought the province of the Democratic Party that would always tell voters that the Republicans intended to end these programs. Politics is rife with irony and they are now a primary issue of the Republican campaign based on trying to save them!

The contrast could not be greater. In my mind, the Republican Party is composed of grown-ups and the Democratic Party is run by children. I like the way the Romney-Ryan ticket has elevated the tone of their campaign while the Democrats appear to be so desperate they are engaging in vile accusations against Romney. Ryan was instantly labeled “radical.” That’s laughable.

Like many of today’s Republicans, I began as a Democrat. Ronald Reagan changed all that for me. In fact, even before changing my registration I had been a conservative and a Republican without realizing it. We should not be surprised that there were a lot of “Reagan Democrats” who voted for him.

Reagan, like Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln before him, dwarfs the presidents that followed in his wake. In the latter half of the last century and first decade of this one, the Democrats sought to increase the welfare state from Lyndon Johnson’s “war on poverty” to Obama’s obscene “food stamp” America with 23 million Americans out of work. They are not likely to vote for more of the same.

The 2008 financial crisis was the direct result of the absurd Democratic Party promise that all Americans would be able to own their own home and the machinery of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, bundling dubious mortgages as “assets” facilitated the failures of major banks, investment firms, and a huge insurance company. The American taxpayer had to bail them out, a punishment of sorts for believing all those Democrat lies.

I admit my bias. I cannot conceive that Americans will return Obama to a second term in office. I will not let myself think that they will be duped again by a combination of the media and the Democratic Party. I know that there is a solid base of liberals constituting some 30% of the voters. I know too that many Democrats will pull the level for whoever are their party’s candidates.

I also think we are reliving the first and last term of Jimmy Carter, a failure as President in so many ways. He was replaced by Ronald Reagan and for eight years America enjoyed economic prosperity that included a subsequent term by George H.W. Bush who was savaged by the media. The successes claimed by Bill Clinton are the programs that a Republican return to control of Congress in 1994 produced.

It says something about the values of Democrat voters that Clinton was essentially forgiven for disgracing the office of President and is now regarded as an elder statesman while his wife is a Secretary of State for Obama whose foreign policies have weakened the nation in the eyes of the world.

The Republican Party, if it can return to power in the Senate and hold it in the House, and put Romney and Ryan in the White House, will have earned once more its nickname, the Grand Old Party. I think it will!

© Alan Caruba, 2012
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Alan Caruba's commentaries are posted daily at "Warning Signs" and shared on dozens of news and opinion websites. His blog recently passed more than 1.7 million page views. If you love to read, visit his monthly report on new books at Bookviews. For information on his professional skills, Caruba Editorial Services is the place to go! You can find me on both Facebook and Twitter as well.