Stupid Voters ... Alan Caruba

Stupid Voters

By Alan Caruba
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It’s a comment I hear all the time these days. “The voters are stupid.”

I am not sure that those saying it mean literally that the voters have a low level of intellect or academic achievement, but rather that they mean voters seem prone to making their choices based more on emotion than on a serious examination of the candidate’s qualifications and character.

The best example of this was the 2008 campaign in which a candidate was presented in much the same way companies seek to “brand” their product or service, repeating the same message (Obama’s was hope and change) until it becomes part of the consumers’ decision-making process. It’s why we buy a particular brand of cereal or car. We have come to associate values with it that go beyond the taste or the look.

Barack Obama had served barely two years in the U.S. Senate before he made an unprecedented leap from there to the White House. He was, for all intents and purposes, an unknown quantity with a legislative record—if anyone bothered to check—that was a straight Democratic Party line vote.

In his earlier incarnation as an Illinois legislator, he had voted “present” so many times it was clear he was avoiding taking any position he regarded as politically dangerous; a vote that would come back to haunt him and very few did. The media cooperated in this, avoiding calling attention to anything that might be deemed controversial.

By contrast, Hillary Clinton, whether you liked her or not, was a candidate with a full cart of baggage from her years as the former governor’s and president’s wife, and her years as a U.S. Senator who served, not from Arkansas where she first came to notice, but from New York where liberals thrive. The process of campaigning wore her out and, being the first women to seriously contend to be president, she had even more of a challenge to overcome. Her raw ambition tended to make people afraid of her.

What elected Obama had nothing to do with the slim qualifications he put forth. Few candidates had less to offer. He had never met a payroll. All information regarding his academic records was sealed from view. The press made no effort to ask what passport he had traveled on to Pakistan at one time and did not raise any question about his Social Security number, issued in Connecticut where he had never lived or worked. Famously, he released a “birth certificate” that anyone in Hawaii could attain for the asking, not the “long form” which is deemed credible.

The voters have paid a fearful price for electing Obama; increased unemployment, a huge national debt, a hollowed-out military, billions wasted on “Green” energy, unprotected borders, a Congress in near total gridlock, and a world beyond our shores that perceives an America made weaker by Obama’s three years in office.

I have worked as a public relations counselor for most of my life with earlier years spent as a journalist. I know something about how a product, a service, or an individual is “packaged” to present a positive “image.” What we have all learned since 2008 was that Obama was superbly “packaged” and that the image of an articulate, highly intelligent, well informed candidate was without substance. His inability to speak publicly without a TelePrompter swiftly became a joke.

So, to say that those who voted for him were “stupid” is to misread the new era of politics, one that has more to do with “American Idol” and “Dancing With the Stars” than with the serious selection of the leader of the nation and the free world.

As they say in advertising, voters bought the sizzle, not the steak.

We are seeing this process continue as the Republican candidates vie for votes. The Gingrich “surge” in South Carolina came after he had two successful debates. It is true that Gingrich is a good debater, but the real question is whether he would be a good president. Questions about his character remain.

Gingrich has been comfortable sharing a couch with Nancy Pelosi to advocate the bogus global warming “theory” or taking money from Freddie Mac.. Now he is trying to appear to be a “real” conservative as opposed to Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, and the quixotic Ron Paul.

While his judgment on issues has been called into question, Romney’s character never has. There has never been a hint of scandal in his life. In terms of policy, he was the Governor of one of the most liberal states and he did support Romneycare there. Politics is rarely pretty and even New Jersey’s fire-breathing Governor, Chris Christie, has taken some extraordinarily liberal positions and made some questionable appointments.

There might have been a time when Gingrich was, indeed, a bona fide conservative, but his long years in Washington, D.C., have taught him that “to get along you have to go along” In the end, even his colleagues in the House, for reasons of policy and personality, could no longer support him as Speaker.

From the days of Bush41 until the 2010 elections the Republican Party looked so much like the Democratic Party, voters had an increasingly hard time telling them apart. The Tea Party movement changed that. They and the “independents” are going to decide the 2012 elections that are currently making history with endless debates.

The debates are proving to be a succession of sound bites and vitriol between the candidates. They increasingly demonstrate how the mainstream media, the debate sponsors, are visibly seeking to influence the outcome of the election and they demonstrate that many voters are easily swayed by matters that have little to do with actual policies and issues.

There has been less and less substance with each debate.

I fear that too many Republican voters are having too many mood swings, relying on a moment or two from the most recent debate than on a serious examination—I repeat myself—of the candidate’s qualifications and character. Romney is carefully scripted and a tad robotic, but Gingrich could become the GOP nominee simply because he is entertaining.

Without doubt, President Obama and the Democrats are enjoying the Republican free-for-all and, without doubt, they have concluded that the voters are stupid.

© Alan Caruba, 2012
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 Alan Caruba's commentaries are posted daily at "Warning Signs" his popular blog and thereafter on dozens of other websites and blogs. If you love to read, visit his monthly report on new books at Bookviews. To visit his Facebook page, click here For information on his professional skills, Caruba.com is the place to visit.

Time to (Officially) Start Worrying About the Next Election ... Alan Caruba

 

Time to (Officially) Start Worrying About the Next Election

By Alan Caruba

It seems nuts even to a political junky like me, but I am already worrying about the November 2012 election now that Obama has made it official that he is running.

I think Obama can be easily defeated for all manner of reasons that include the way he has begun to lose his liberal Democrat base thanks to the Libyan non-war and the more general electorate thanks to Obamacare, the bailouts, a soaring national debt, unemployment, and gas prices.

What does bother me is what appears to be a fairly lackluster group of expected GOP candidates for the presidency currently gearing up to announce their candidacies. They are not generating a lot of enthusiasm at this point, but there is a lot of time for one of them to catch fire if they make a real case for themselves and against Obama.

Many people are understandably focused on present economic fears and November 2012 seems a long way off. There’s an unrealistic disappointment in the performance of the new batch of Republicans in Congress. Members supported by the Tea Party have barely been in office, but some are beginning to assert themselves.

Within the Republican leadership, there seems to be the view that they need only let Obama and the Democrats hang themselves as the national debt and deficit continues to skyrocket, along with inflation, rising gas prices, and a lingering high unemployment rate.

Republicans are understandably reluctant to be blamed for shutting down the government if they cannot get the White House and Democrats to agree to more realistic budget cuts. The Democrat strategy is to brand them as “extremists” in a shutdown. The mainstream media will reflect this. Some 25-30% of liberals will accept this, but that still leaves a majority of Americans who will not.

The fact remains, even with a Republican majority in the House, the majority Democratic Senate is a major roadblock to solving the financial problems of the nation and the White House can still wield a veto. However, keeping the government going with continuing resolutions based on cutting a few billion from a $14 trillion dollar debt is beginning to look lame.

It is, however, the presumptive Republican candidates that are my concern at this point and, it will surprise those who have read my criticisms of him, but I think Mitt Romney may emerge is the leader of the pack.

The surprise for many who hear him is that Mitt Romney is a dynamic throwback to Ronald Reagan, espousing the same values. When he addresses Republican audiences these days, he makes a lot of sense, particularly when he dissects Barack Obama and when he discusses the role of business in American life. He does so without Tele Prompters and with real passion. If America can elect a black President, they can elect a Mormon. I can remember when fears were expressed about JFK’s Catholicism.

Forget about Newt Gingrich. Too much baggage from his personal life and an opposition research file on him a foot thick means he is not a viable candidate against the likes of Obama.

Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty strikes me as a nice fellow who says the right things, but few know who he is and those that do can’t figure out why he wants to be President or should be. Too much of what he says comes out sounding bland. The same can be said of Gov. Mitch Daniels. Both are good men, but neither offers a compelling reason to pay them much attention.

Haley Barbour has a ton of political expertise and a good record as Mississippi Governor, but the problem is that he is from Mississippi. He’s “too southern” and, in a presidential campaign, his opposition would show up at every rally waving the Confederate flag and so would some of his supporters!

Then there are what I call the weird candidates, Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee, and Donald Trump, none of whom have come out and said they are running for the nomination. Palin excites the far right because the woman is never boring. That, however, is not a criterion for running the country. Former Gov. Huckabee is making a ton of money with his popular Fox Channel and likely knows he’s better off there.

Donald Trump has been playing the media and getting tons of exposure by hinting he might run. He is a combination of real estate mogul, television star, and a celebrity who agreed to be roasted on the Comedy Channel. He’s smart enough to know that being president would be a demotion and cut in pay. He wouldn’t be able to tell Congress “You’re fired!”

Rep. Michele Bachmann, a Tea Party favorite, is a smarter version of Palin. Both Paul Ryan and Marco Rubio, serious minded Congressmen, are too young and too smart to get into the race at this time. Forget about Herman Cain, a pizza magnate; a good man for sure, but not now, probably not ever.

These candidates, individually and in aggregate, probably account for the reason why the name of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie keeps coming up despite his denial that he will run at this time. If the GOP convention were a Hollywood movie, one could see it turn to Christie after a deadlock and draft him to run, but it isn’t and that is not going to happen.

Ronald Reagan had been Governor of California for two terms. He gained political credits when he ran against then President Jerry Ford for the nomination and, after four years of Jimmy Carter, he looked very good. Even the Bush’s, father and son, had the political credentials to run and win, though we need to recall what a squeaker that first George W. election was when we came within a hair’s breath of having loony Al Gore in the Oval Office.

Whoever is chosen to carry the party’s banner had better be willing to tear into Obama and the Democrats because, if he bores us to death, Obama will destroy the nation in a second term.

© Alan Caruba, 2011
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 Alan Caruba's commentaries are posted daily at "Warning Signs" his popular blog and thereafter on dozens of other websites and blogs. If you love to read, visit his monthly report on new books at Bookviews. To visit his Facebook page, click here For information on his professional skills, Caruba.com is the place to visit.

Shut The Government Down!

Shut The Government Down!
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

I am beginning to believe that we OUGHT to shut the government down for as long as it takes to determine who, exactly, are the government workers essential to running the government. Then, fire all non-essential workers. And don’t re-open until we cut the heck out of the expense of running the government, itself, AND get a handle on congressional and executive branch spending.

Ok. Let’s cut to some of the basics here. First do not buy into the notion that the government actually shuts down when there is a government shutdown. OH, no! That is exactly what the political left wants you to believe. (By the way. For those of you new to my scribblings – understand that when I say “the political left” – I include the mainstream media in that nomenclatura.)

Surely you do not think government bureaucrats and federal employees do not have their backsides covered in the event of the dreaded “government shut-down?” Oh, to be sure, they DO. Yes, assuredly, they DO!

All the scare tactics used by the political left to scare the living daylights out of Americans who, as a rule, have not an inkling as to how their government actually works, are very effective when disseminated by a state controlled press – otherwise known as the Mainstream Media.

NO. Planes will not be grounded, the border will continued to be patrolled, hospitals will continue to treat patients, the military will continue to fight, federal prisoners in federal pens would still be guarded, The tax people (IRS) will keep right on aggravating the dickens out of Americans and, well, just about all the important stuff will continue as if nothing is going on.

What does happen is -- the non-essential government workers will get to stay home and be paid retroactively AFTER the government starts back up again. Most Americans would not notice a government shut down were it not for the press screaming it from every headline, microphone, and TV set in the nation.

Seems to me, shutting down the government would be a good thing. Heck, lets shut it down, and get rid of the non-essential government worker as we recommended above. That, alone, ought to save a whopping amount of money for the treasury.

Certainly, you know that a government shut down does not include sending Congress home. Oh, how I wish it did! The only time I feel safe, anymore, is when Congress is in recess.

See – this whole government shut down thing is a last ditch democrat dirty trick hatched up just in case they DID lose control of the government last November. They continued to push back approving a budget until it fell into the lap of a republican House of Representatives … just as it was planned. Now, the dems believe, they can make hay from the “don’t care” stigma smeared on the Republican Party by themselves and the mainstream media, which, as you know by now, THEY control.

But wait! Something is wrong. Something is not working as it was supposed to work.

Oh, drats! Turns out the American people actually DO want the government’s reckless spending cut back… even if it entails a shutdown of the government itself! Why, that tosses a mean spanner into the cogs, what?

Oh, joy! It turns out those DUMB Tea Partiers are not as dumb as the Mainstream Media and the democrats thought. Those people actually DO know how the government works. They DO know their constitution; and they DO know how to thwart the machinations of the liberal-socialists in the government. As a result, blow back from the electorate has splashed all over the democrats and they are beginning to question the wisdom of forcing a government shutdown.

Now the ball is in Obama’s court. He is the one person in the US government all eyes will be gazing upon if there is a shutdown.

In my opinion, all American voters should be standing in their chairs, yelling at the top of their lungs, demanding a shutdown of the US government until we can get spending under control.

A government shutdown is a GOOD thing, a useful thing, and an essential tool to help us save this country.

So bring it on. Let’s learn whose jobs are essential and whose are not -- and get rid of the non-essential workers as the first order of business.

Now that I have had my fun, allow me to say that I don’t believe either side, dems or repubs have what it takes to get our national budget in order. I am convinced that the US economy WILL crash as a result of the lack of courage of the men and women who are running it into the ground.

When the economy goes so will the government. Only God, Himself, knows what kind of government we will have when the smoke clears. But I WILL venture an educated guess: a communist government. (Notice: I didn’t say “a socialist government!”)

The last two generations of Americans have been prepared in the public schools for this eventuality. They KNOW that socialism/communism is a far better form of government that a representative constitutional republic. They know that because they have been taught that.

It certainly seems that only the American people are interested in saving America. It is obvious America’s government is not.

J. D. Longstreet

Bipartisanship Must Be Left At The Door

Bipartisanship Must Be Left At The Door
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet


Bipartisanship has no place in the next Congress. Getting along with Democrats should not even be a consideration. We conservatives did not send representatives to the US House of Representatives and the US Senate to “get along” with Democrats OR the Obama Administration. We sent them there to bring the current goings on to a “screeching halt” and to turn the country around and take it back to its conservative roots as a constitutional republic and not the socialist “People’s Republic” the liberal-socialists of the Democratic Party have striven so hard to make it into.

Our country is bearly recognizable today as a constitutional republic. The democratic controlled congress made clear they did not give a rip what the people wanted and they set about to “fundamentally change” America into a socialist dung heap. The many government regulatory agencies under the command of the Obama Regime have taken on so much power they resemble more the Nazi Gestapo than they do agencies of the US government… a government supposedly controlled by the people of the country. They, too, must be stopped, even if that means closing them down -- forever. The Environmental Protection Agency, the Federal Communications Commission, the Department of Homeland Security, the Education Department, the Energy Department, the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission, the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, all top the list of government agencies that must be stopped.

Speaking of US government regulatory agencies – have you ever taken the time to discover just how many government agencies there are? Well, now you can. Go (HERE) for a complete list of all US government agencies. It is an “A” to “Z” list – and you will be astounded! These represent only those agencies made public. We have no idea, who, what, or how many others exist without the knowledge of the citizens of the country.

Prepare for the liberal-socialist democrats to begin, very shortly, to complain that the US government is “broken.” See, it is NOT broken as long as they get their way. Only when the American people get THEIR way is the US government broken to the Democrats!

If the politicians we sent to Washington, as a result of the November elections, do as we want and have instructed them to do, there will be a knock-down-drag-out brawl within the US House of Representatives and the US Senate over the next two years.

We don’t want compromise. We don’t want bipartisanship. We did not send them to Washington for either. We sent them to Washington to rescue our country -- before it is lost forever.

For instance: We want ObamaCare repealed. We want it COMPLETELY repealed! That, alone, will be a monstrous job. The so-called “Dream Act,” which is only another rendition of Amnesty for illegal aliens must be stopped as well.

There will be weeping, and wailing and gnashing of teeth among the democrats at any effort to repeal ObamaCare, especially. Its repeal will mean the government losses control of one-sixth of the US economy. You’d better believe they will fight tooth and nail for control of the lives of every American citizen. They will weep on the floor of their respective chambers. They will tell America that ObamaCare is for the children, for the oppressed minorities, for anything and everything they can think of that might tug at America’s heartstrings. They have won so many battles before by playing on the voter’s emotions that they will not care how ridiculous they look with the crocodile tears streaming down their façade covered faces. It will be a ridiculous comedy played out before the eyes of the world.

We conservatives must be prepared for the onslaught of vile propaganda unleashed on their efforts to rescue America. The Mainstream Media, which is totally immersed in the agenda of the liberal-socialist democrats, will ride to the rescue of Obama and his socialist agenda. It has already begun. They currently sing his praises as the “come-back-kid” after his mediocre successes in the lame duck session of Congress.

Over the next two years, conservatives will need to take careful notice of the remaining “RINO’s” in Congress and prepare a plan of attack to remove them from office in the elections of November 2012.

And we must discover a conservative republican candidate for president who actually has a chance to win. Frankly, I see no possible winner among the host of names being floated about for consideration as possible candidates for the republican nomination today. We may need to go outside the usual herd to find a new face, a new name, with hard rock conservative values to carry our banner into the Oval Office.

The next two years will be two of the most difficult years in the conservative movement in the United States. We must be unrelenting as we push forward the conservative agenda.

Someone once said: “A nation of sheep, breeds a government of wolves.” It is time for conservative Americans to re-assert themselves as neither sheep nor wolves – but as lion-hearted Americans.

Ours is a rescue mission. If we do not press home our advantage over the next two years our mission will become a “recovery” mission.

J. D. Longstreet

Impatient Americans ... Alan Caruba

Impatient Americans
By Alan Caruba

Americans are an impatient people. There’s a reason why every manner of labor-saving device was invented here and why we are in love with every kind of device that lets us instantly communicate with one another.

In an earlier era, it might have taken longer for a majority of Americans to realize just how awful President Obama’s legislative and other policy initiatives were for the nation, but a plethora of punditry on countless Internet websites and blogs alerted them even while the mainstream media was trying to deceive them as they had with their support for candidate Obama.

As an aside, media prognosticators are predicting that daily newspapers are essentially all dinosaurs and many, if not most, will be gone in a decade or so. The general rule is that new technology, the Internet, drives out old technology, dead-tree newspapers.

The other factor is that most daily newspapers with their liberal outlook have simply been abandoned by subscribers who have tired of seeking real news amidst the propaganda. Prediction: none of the news weeklies will be around in five years or less. When even the National Enquirer and Star Magazine are filling for bankruptcy protection, you know the times they are changing. Survivors, however, may be the nation’s many weekly newspapers because, like politics, all news is local.

Impatience with a Congress that was so clearly out of touch with most constituents has resulted in a historic turnover of power to the Republican Party and it is a far more humble party than its heyday during George W. Bush’s two terms, the latter of which saw Americans return Democrats to power.

Americans had already grown weary of the war in Iraq that had begun in 2003 and had little enthusiasm for the nation’s military involvement in Afghanistan since 2001. Throughout history, great empires have fallen because they got over-extended in such conflicts.

Making matters worse for any administration is the growing perception that the Middle East is psychotic; a place where reason takes a backseat to a seventh century religion that dominates its politics and social life. Watching Muslims blow up mosques filled with other Muslims is sufficient to convince many Americans that no amount of military power or billions in foreign aid will change anything.

Only one nation in the Middle East poses any kind of military threat and that is Iran. The minute it actually acquires nuclear weapons will be the hour in which Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and various Gulf States sit down at the table with Israel to discuss and plan ridding itself of this threat. The Iranian leadership—not its people—are certifiably crazy.

Americans will be looking to a Republican controlled House to rid the nation of Obamacare and begin to address over-spending, joblessness, and other issues, but the next two years will be spent in triage, trying to stop the bleeding until the patient can make it to the operating room and that will require the election of a new president and a Republican Senate.

So Americans are going to have to strive to be patient while the many Republican governors redistrict their states to aid a victory in 2012. They will have to content themselves with legislative maneuvers to defund Obamacare or remove many of its more noxious mandates. Also on the To-Do list will be to put the Environmental Protection Agency in manacles before it utterly destroys the economy with crazed greenhouse gas emissions regulations.

There is little that can be done to turn around the decades-old disastrous energy policies that have stalled the construction of the many new coal-fired and nuclear plants needed to provide the electricity that is the very breath of life to the nation. The Obama administration will also continue to thwart any oil exploration and drilling, and how much of a priority this will be in the new Congress is unknown.

Meanwhile the White House has announced that, upon his return from India, President Obama will sit down with the Republican leadership of the House along with their Democrat counterparts including the noxious Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi. It is likely to be little more than a photo-op because this president is deaf to partisanship or the reversal of his plans to destroy the nation.

This means that that a less frightening two years is ahead with the hope of real change in 2012. The economy is barely improving and is likely to remain stagnant, even with the extension of the Bush tax cuts. A Mount Everest of federal regulations will have to be eliminated to get the economy moving again.

And then there are the unknown and unpredictable “events” that will occur. 9/11 was one such event in 2001.

On September 18, 2008, there was a little reported electronic run on U.S. banks that withdrew $550 billion before the Federal Reserve stepped in to stop it. It blew away the charade of the nation’s housing market that involved Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Privatizing both should be a GOP priority. Americans have yet to have been told who withdrew those billions.

Other events over which there is no control such as hurricanes, earthquakes and volcanoes could play a role. We’ve seen how the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico undermined confidence in the Obama administration.Two years isn’t really that long a time, but a lot can happen and it will call for patience and perseverance.

© Alan Caruba, 2010

GOP’s “Pledge To America” Falls Short … VERY Short!

GOP’s “Pledge To America” Falls Short … VERY Short!
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

The Republican Party made a spectacular mistake in publishing their “A Pledge to America.” In an attempt to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory they have raised questions about their own party’s commitment to issues their base is most concerned with and about which they would like answers.

For instance, the pledge says nothing about a fence along the US/Mexico border. It is ambiguous about worksite enforcement of immigration laws and, most important of all, it does not mention amnesty for illegal aliens. WHY???

The 2008 Republican Platform committed the Republican Party to completing a border fence, enforcing immigration laws at the worksite, and opposing an amnesty. But “The Pledge” is ominously quiet on these extremely important issues. Again … WHY?

“The Pledge” says this: “Our borders are a vital part of our security, so we will act decisively to ensure that the federal government fulfills its constitutional duty to protect our citizens and our Nation, working closely with our state and local governments …” This is far too broad a statement to satisfy the GOP base -- not to mention the host of Independents and Tea Party members looking to cast a GOP ballot in November.

Nowhere in The Pledge is the word “FENCE” mentioned. The Pledge only says: “We must take action to secure our borders, and that action starts with enforcing our laws. We will ensure that the Border Patrol has the tools and authorities to establish operational control at the border and prohibit the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture from interfering with Border Patrol enforcement activities on federal lands.”

The Pledge says nothing about putting the quietus on the Federal Lawsuit against the state of Arizona for passing a state law that would, in fact, assist the federal government in enforcing immigration laws -- at least along that part of the border that bisects Mexico and Arizona. Why do you suppose that was left out, huh?

What about those employers who hire vast numbers of illegal aliens? Reports tell us the government already has a list of the worst of these offenders. What will a GOP controlled government do about them? Why doesn’t The Pledge address this?

In 2008, the Republican Party Platform had this to say about worksite enforcement: “Our commitment to the rule of law means smarter enforcement at the workplace, against illegal workers and lawbreaking employers alike, along with those who practice identity theft and traffic in fraudulent documents.” As broad a statement as THIS is better focused than The Pledge.

And what about amnesty for illegal aliens already in the US? The GOP platform of 2008 said this: “"We oppose amnesty. The rule of law suffers if government policies encourage or reward illegal activity. The American people’s rejection of en masse legalizations is especially appropriate given the federal government’s past failures to enforce the law.” The Pledge to America does not mention the party’s position on amnesty for illegal aliens now living in the US. Again, we have to ask WHY?

This omission is worrisome, very worrisome. I have to wonder what, exactly, is the position of the Republican Party on amnesty for illegal aliens, on constructing a formidable fence along the border between the US and Mexico, plus what, exactly, the GOP plans to do to bring the full force of the law down on those employers who continue to hire illegals they know, or should have known were/are illegally in the US.

All indications are that the US electorate is readying itself to place its trust in the GOP and hand them control of the legislative branch of the government in a little over a month. I don’t think it is asking too much to inquire of the GOP what the party’s position is on amnesty for illegal aliens, on securing the border with a physical fence, and enforcement of immigration laws with employers. We want to know and we want to know NOW before we cast a vote for another government with which we will be constantly at odds over illegal immigration.

Look, the American people feel the Democrats, and especially the Obama Regime, have snookered them. They are looking for a change… a change “BACK” if you will, to a responsive constitutional republic in which they can have, at least, a reasonable amount of trust and confidence. With The Pledge to America, the Republicans have given them reason to be distrustful not for what The Pledge says – but for what it does NOT say.

The GOP did itself no favor by publishing The Pledge to America. It was a dumb move on their part and it will cost them at the polls.

Now is not the time for overconfidence. No election is over until the last vote is counted. Even then, there are times when a recount is required to determine a winner.

Never, ever, present the enemy a target unless there is a well thought-out plan to use that target to entrap said enemy. With The Pledge to America, I see only a target with nothing very well thought out – at all.

J. D. Longstreet

Americans Seething With Anger

Americans Seething With Anger
Mood Darkens As Mid-Term Election Approaches
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

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In an article by Peter Wallsten and Eliza Gray, at the Wall Street Journal’s website, entitled: “Grim Voter Mood Turns Grimmer” The dual scribes write the following: “Americans are growing more pessimistic about the economy and the war in Afghanistan, and are losing faith that Democrats have better solutions than Republicans, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll.

Underpinning the gloom: Nearly two-thirds of Americans believe the economy has yet to hit bottom, a sharply higher percentage than the 53% who felt that way in January.”

Wallsten and Gray go on to say: “The sour national mood appears all-encompassing and is dragging down ratings for the GOP too, suggesting voters above all are disenchanted with the political establishment in Washington. Just 24% express positive feelings about the Republican Party, a new low in the 21-year history of the Journal's survey. Democrats are only slightly more popular, but also near an all-time low.” (SOURCE)

WOW! Who’ed ‘ov thunk it?!

Well, actually, we THUNK it! That is to say – those of us who actually pay attention to what the politicos are saying -- and doing -- in Washington.

Yes, and we have been yelling and waving our arms about TRYING to get your attention for months on end, now. Heck, we even warned BEFORE the elections in 2006 and 2008 that THIS WOULD HAPPEN IF THE DEMOCRATS AND OBAMA GAINED CONTROL OF THE US GOVERNMENT.

My fellow conservative writers, I assure you, are not celebrating our accuracy in predicting the sorry state America finds herself in today -- far from it. We feel the very same frustration you do. We, too, are angry! We, too, are chomping at the bit, just waiting for a chance to get at the ballot box in November.

History tells us that when the British surrendered at Yorktown, Virginia, to Washington’s rag-tag army, the British band played “The World Turned Upside Down.” Maybe we ought to gather a band together and stand outside the White House and Congress and play the same tune 24 hours a day to vent our frustrations.

Talk about a world turned upside down! Back in the 1950’s, as an enlisted man in the US military, I was trained to fight socialism and marxism and communism on the battlefield. Our intelligence services were out there digging, day and night, for Intel to fight those nations who subscribed to the “killer of nations” – socialism. Today, some half a century later, our American government has embraced Socialism/Marxism/Progressivism – and guess what? It is killing America just as it does every country that adopts it.

The writers of the same article, cited above, go on to say: “As in recent polls, Americans are split on President Barack Obama's job performance, with 47% approving and 48% disapproving. But a majority disapproves of his performance on the economy. And six in 10, including 83% of independents and a quarter of Democrats, say they are only somewhat or not at all confident that Mr. Obama has the right policies to improve it.” (SOURCE)

Really? I find that difficult to believe. I mean, the mainstream media continues to tell us what a wonderful President Mr. Obama is, and all. How gauche of conservatives to point out the obvious. “The Emperor has no clothes!”

Only Jimmy Carter can really appreciate Mr. Obama. Now Mr. Carter is no longer the worst President the United States has ever had.

The article goes on to say this about the way in which voters view Congress: “The survey suggests that Democrats should expect little if any appreciation from voters for legislative achievements such as overhauling the health care and financial systems. Six in 10 Americans rated Congress' performance this year as below average or one of the worst. And the economy is dominating voters' worries. Among those who believe the economy will get worse over the next year, 67% want a GOP-led Congress.” (SOURCE)

Well, what about the war, you know—“The Right War” – Mr. Obama’s War in Afghanistan? The article continues: “On the Afghanistan war, which had been an area of strength for the president since he revamped his military strategy, 68% of Americans now feel less confident the war will come to a successful conclusion. Just 44% approve of the president's job on Afghanistan, down from a majority who approved in March, the last time the poll addressed the topic.” (SOURCE)

The war in Afghanistan is what a country gets when it politicizes a war. For evidence, may I present the Vietnam War?

You want to win a war? Forget about winning hearts and minds so the enemy will do what you want! Get them by the “cajones” and you can take them anywhere you want to take them! In other words, FIGHT to WIN!

Angry Americans no longer have faith in either the Democrats or the Republicans to fix what ails our country. Having no viable third party to turn to accounts for some of the frustration.

Americans are tired of choosing between the lesser of two evils. We understand the lesser of two evils is STILL EVIL! BUT, having said that – we are probably going to vote for the Republicans this fall to punish the Democrats. (That is no way to run a railroad, folks, but there it is.) So, the GOP will probably win by default – IF they don’t do something stupid and snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

America is one PO’ed country these days.

I was in my barber’s shop earlier this week when someone made the statement that he guessed we were all agreed that America has “one looney President.” Agreement was unanimous. It was also agreed that our longtime congressperson would not get our votes this time around. We, every one of us, expressed our intention of voting for a newcomer republican, an Iraq war veteran, who has demonstrated his intestinal fortitude on the battlefield actually leading men in battle as an officer.

Now, if we can only find a “Fighting General” to run for President against Obama, or Hillary, in 2012. We are going to need him when we go back to Iraq for the third time.

As the Japanese can tell the world, it takes something BIG to wake Americans up. But, by golly, when they awaken, somebody is going to pay -- and pay dearly!

Good Morning, America!

J. D. Longstreet

ObamaCare LIVES!

ObamaCare LIVES!
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

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Like Dracula, ObamaCare seems to crawl away when the light of day threatens only to climb out of its coffin at moonrise.

To paraphrase the famous line from the movie “Jaws”: “Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water…” We can say: “Just when you thought it was safe to breath free…” ObamaCare twitches.

It looks dead. But is it? Poke it with a stick and see if it moves. Hold a mirror beneath its nostrils and watch for condensation. If this were the TV series “CIS” or “NCIS” we’d punch a spike thermometer through its abdomen, and into the liver, to determine time of death – if any.

Sadly, I have to report, that ObamaCare is NOT dead. Weakened, yes. Nigh unto death? Yes. Dead? NO.

I am still convinced the democrats will get some form of ObamaCare thru both house of the Congress and on the President’s desk before Spring -- probably a lot sooner, actually.

The house has some serious problems with the bill as written. Speaker Pelosi KNOWS she cannot get it through the House in its current configuration, so she is hoping the Senate will configure a bill the House dems can agree so she can get it passed on her side of the building. Then on to the President for his signature and -- Walla! ObamaCare is the “Law of the Land.”

I have no clue as to how, exactly, they will accomplish this feat, but, I am satisfied that they will. Now is not the time to be complacent. We must keep up the fight against ObamaCare.

Even more importantly, the Republicans ought to crying loudly and clearly that should ObamaCare pass into law, the battle cry for the campaigns between now and the Mid-term Election, this November, and beyond, will be “REPEAL OBAMACARE!”

Democrats need to understand this is no threat. It is a promise. They need to understand they vote for ObamaCare at the expense of their political careers.

Few things have inflamed the American anger quite like ObamaCare and the Democrats insistence on ramming it down the throats of Americans. Yet the far left understands that this is their best chance to grab all the power that government control of the nation’s healthcare will gain them. They are willing to go for broke even if it means losing their hold on the Congress -- as they surely will. It doesn’t matter. They are the “true believers” and they are in charge.

No, dear reader, Obamacare is NOT dead -- not by a long shot.

ObamaCare is, after all is said and done, not about healthcare. It is all about power. If ObamaCare passes into law, the socialists will maintain their power over your life, and the life of every American, even when they are out of power in the Congress!

Some Republicans get it. Senator Lamar Alexander, of Tennessee, said over the weekend: “"People are saying, 'We don't want it.' The Democrats are saying, 'We don't care, we're doing it anyway.' The Democrats will try to jam this through, and the rest of the year we're going to be involved in a campaign to repeal it."

At this moment, however, we need to expend our energy on killing ObamaCare. If that fails the republicans should switch immediately to a campaign to repeal it.

Be aware, however, the dems do not believe the republicans have the intestinal fortitude to mount a campaign to repeal ObamaCare. In fact, they are counting on it. It helps them justify the political massacre of their party at the polls this coming November.

J. D. Longstreet

Dr. Martin Luther King Was A Republican ... Frances Rice

Dr. Martin Luther King Was A Republican
by Frances Rice
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It should come as no surprise that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a Republican. In that era, almost all black Americans were Republicans. Why? From its founding in 1854 as the anti-slavery party until today, the Republican Party has championed freedom and civil rights for blacks. And as one pundit so succinctly stated, the Democrat Party is as it always has been, the party of the four S's: slavery, secession, segregation and now socialism.

It was the Democrats who fought to keep blacks in slavery and passed the discriminatory Black Codes and Jim Crow laws. The Democrats started the Ku Klux Klan to lynch and terrorize blacks. The Democrats fought to prevent the passage of every civil rights law beginning with the civil rights laws of the 1860s, and continuing with the civil rights laws of the 1950s and 1960s.

During the civil rights era of the 1960s, Dr. King was fighting the Democrats who stood in the school house doors, turned skin-burning fire hoses on blacks and let loose vicious dogs. It was Republican President Dwight Eisenhower who pushed to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and sent troops to Arkansas to desegregate schools. President Eisenhower also appointed Chief Justice Earl Warren to the U.S. Supreme Court, which resulted in the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision ending school segregation. Much is made of Democrat President Harry Truman's issuing an Executive Order in 1948 to desegregate the military. Not mentioned is the fact that it was Eisenhower who actually took action to effectively end segregation in the military.

Democrat President John F. Kennedy is lauded as a proponent of civil rights. However, Kennedy voted against the 1957 Civil Rights Act while he was a senator, as did Democrat Sen. Al Gore Sr. And after he became President, Kennedy was opposed to the 1963 March on Washington by Dr. King that was organized by A. Phillip Randolph, who was a black Republican. President Kennedy, through his brother Atty. Gen. Robert Kennedy, had Dr. King wiretapped and investigated by the FBI on suspicion of being a Communist in order to undermine Dr. King.

In March of 1968, while referring to Dr. King's leaving Memphis, Tenn., after riots broke out where a teenager was killed, Democrat Sen. Robert Byrd (W.Va.), a former member of the Ku Klux Klan, called Dr. King a "trouble-maker" who starts trouble, but runs like a coward after trouble is ignited. A few weeks later, Dr. King returned to Memphis and was assassinated on April 4, 1968.

Given the circumstances of that era, it is understandable why Dr. King was a Republican. It was the Republicans who fought to free blacks from slavery and amended the Constitution to grant blacks freedom (13th Amendment), citizenship (14th Amendment) and the right to vote (15th Amendment). Republicans passed the civil rights laws of the 1860s, including the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and the Reconstruction Act of 1867 that was designed to establish a new government system in the Democrat-controlled South, one that was fair to blacks. Republicans also started the NAACP and affirmative action with Republican President Richard Nixon's 1969 Philadelphia Plan (crafted by black Republican Art Fletcher) that set the nation's fist goals and timetables.

Although affirmative action now has been turned by the Democrats into an unfair quota system, affirmative action was begun by Nixon to counter the harm caused to blacks when Democrat President Woodrow Wilson in 1912 kicked all of the blacks out of federal government jobs.

Few black Americans know that it was Republicans who founded the Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Unknown also is the fact that Republican Sen. Everett Dirksen from Illinois was key to the passage of civil rights legislation in 1957, 1960, 1964 and 1965. Not mentioned in recent media stories about extension of the 1965 Voting Rights Act is the fact that Dirksen wrote the language for the bill. Dirksen also crafted the language for the Civil Rights Act of 1968 which prohibited discrimination in housing. President Lyndon Johnson could not have achieved passage of civil rights legislation without the support of Republicans.

Critics of Republican Sen. Barry Goldwater, who ran for President against Johnson in 1964, ignore the fact that Goldwater wanted to force the Democrats in the South to stop passing discriminatory laws and thus end the need to continuously enact federal civil rights legislation.

Those who wrongly criticize Goldwater also ignore the fact that Johnson, in his 4,500 State of the Union Address delivered on Jan. 4, 1965, mentioned scores of topics for federal action, but only 35 words were devoted to civil rights. He did not mention one word about voting rights. Then in 1967, showing his anger with Dr. King's protest against the Vietnam War, Johnson referred to Dr. King as "that Nigger preacher."

Contrary to the false assertions by Democrats, the racist "Dixiecrats" did not all migrate to the Republican Party. "Dixiecrats" declared that they would rather vote for a "yellow dog" than vote for a Republican because the Republican Party was know as the party for blacks. Today, some of those "Dixiecrats" continue their political careers as Democrats, including Robert Byrd, who is well known for having been a "Keagle" in the Ku Klux Klan.

Another former "Dixiecrat" is former Democrat Sen. Ernest Hollings, who put up the Confederate flag over the state Capitol when he was the governor of South Carolina. There was no public outcry when Democrat Sen. Christopher Dodd praised Byrd as someone who would have been "a great senator for any moment," including the Civil War. Yet Democrats denounced then-Senate GOP leader Trent Lott for his remarks about Sen. Strom Thurmond (R.-S.C.). Thurmond was never in the Ku Klux Klan and defended blacks against lynching and the discriminatory poll taxes imposed on blacks by Democrats. If Byrd and Thurmond were alive during the Civil War, and Byrd had his way, Thurmond would have been lynched.

The 30-year odyssey of the South switching to the Republican Party began in the 1970s with President Richard Nixon's "Southern Strategy," which was an effort on the part of Nixon to get Christians in the South to stop voting for Democrats who did not share their values and were still discriminating against their fellow Christians who happened to be black. Georgia did not switch until 2002, and some Southern states, including Louisiana, are still controlled by Democrats.

Today, Democrats, in pursuit of their socialist agenda, are fighting to keep blacks poor, angry and voting for Democrats. Examples of how egregiously Democrats act to keep blacks in poverty are numerous.

After wrongly convincing black Americans that a minimum wage increase was a good thing, the Democrats on August 3 kept their promise and killed the minimum wage bill passed by House Republicans on July 29. The blockage of the minimum wage bill was the second time in as many years that Democrats stuck a legislative finger in the eye of black Americans. Senate Democrats on April 1, 2004, blocked passage of a bill to renew the 1996 welfare reform law that was pushed by Republicans and vetoed twice by President Clinton before he finally signed it. Since the welfare reform law expired in September 2002, Congress had passed six extensions, and the latest expired on June 30, 2004. Opposed by the Democrats are school choice opportunity scholarships that would help black children get out of failing schools and Social Security reform, even though blacks on average lose $10,000 in the current system because of a shorter life expectancy than whites (72.2 years for blacks vs. 77.5 years for whites).

Democrats have been running our inner-cities for the past 30 to 40 years, and blacks are still complaining about the same problems. More than $7 trillion dollars have been spent on poverty programs since Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty with little, if any, impact on poverty.

Diabolically, every election cycle, Democrats blame Republicans for the deplorable conditions in the inner-cities, then incite blacks to cast a protest vote against Republicans.

In order to break the Democrats' stranglehold on the black vote and free black Americans from the Democrat Party's economic plantation, we must shed the light of truth on the Democrats. We must demonstrate that the Democrat Party policies of socialism and dependency on government handouts offer the pathway to poverty, while Republican Party principles of hard work, personal responsibility, getting a good education and ownership of homes and small businesses offer the pathway to prosperity.

Frances Rice
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Ms. Rice is chairman of the National Black Republican Association (NBRA) and may be contacted at http://www.nbra.info/.