Coming to America: "Death of a President".

Has the Political Left lost what little mind it had left??? It would certainly appear so!

A British made film titled: “Death of a President” portrays President Bush being gunned down, by a sniper, minutes after making a fictional speech in Chicago in 2007. Using computer wizardry, the filmmakers place President Bush’s head on the body of an actor and the scene looks amazingly real. Too real.

Americans are furious!

How could a country, declaring itself to be America’s ally, allow such a film to be made, let alone aired on British TV. This BRITISH film will be shown, for the first time, at the Toronto Film Festival later this month. (September 2006)

Americans are asking if this is the manifestation of a deep-seated desire of "the dark side", the Political Left? Others ask if this film is an open invitation for some "nut" to imitate the movie? You know, “Life Imitating Art”, and all that elitist garbage.

Look, I can still tell you exactly where I was and what I was doing the day President Kennedy was shot and killed in Dallas, Texas. I wept with the remainder of the country… and I didn’t even like the guy! But, he was MY President!

I held my breath when President Reagan was shot... and I prayed. Him, I DID like.

There is no single tragedy as personal to the people of a country, as an attempt upon the life of their leader. Yes, it IS personal. An attack upon the American President is an attack upon every American, for like it or not, he represents EVERY American.

We have federal laws in this country, which may prevent the film from being shown within the borders of the country. There are reports that the rights to show the film in the USA have been bought for one million dollars. But there are laws in this country, which make it a federal crime to threaten the life of the President… and there should be. We are hoping those laws will apply to the distribution and screening of this despicable movie within the United States.

For more on the movie go to:

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23365246-details/President+Bush+assassinated+in+new+TV+docudrama/article.do

For an American perspective go to:

http://boortz.com/nuze/200609/09132006.html#democrats

Jeff Jacoby, over at Townhall.com asks: “Six years into the Bush administration, are there any new depths to which the Bush-haters can sink?” For his entire article go to:

www.townhall.com/columnists/column.aspx?UrlTitle=a_new_low_in_bush-hatred&ns=JeffJacoby&dt=09/11/2006&page=1

The "Lunacy of the Left" has reached a definite degree of MADNESS.

On the bright side, this film will be the best political advertising the Conservative Right could possibly hope for in the run up to the November elections. It will serve as a reminder of who we (Conservatives) are dealing with and the degree to which they will stoop to regain power.

This film will make it even more difficult for despondent voters, on the Right, to stay home… and will, indeed, propel many more to the ballot box in November to ensure the Left is kept away for the reins of power in the US government.

It has been said that… out of power the Political Left is Hilarious. In power they are Dangerous! It would appear they are now dangerous… even out of power. Their flailing about, within the government apparatus, does great damage to the country and their equally frustrated flailing, outside of government, is demonstrated so vividly by this unfortunate film.

As November draws nigh, the Left ratchets up their childish manifestations of impotence with this film standing as stark evidence of their madness.

Longstreet

End the Tyranny of Homework!... by Alan Caruba

End the Tyranny of Homework!
By Alan Caruba

I do not recall doing much homework when I was growing up. Most certainly, I was not burdened with it in elementary school. It probably began in what is now called Middle School grades. I do recall wondering, after having spent the better part of the day in school, why the teachers thought that additional study at home would have any benefit?

To put it another way, if a teacher is unable to impart the basic knowledge required of a student during the many hours he spends in the classroom, why expect that same student to acquire that knowledge independently and, presumably, on his own time? Why must parents be pressed into service to do the teacher’s job? Why must otherwise good time spent with one’s family or just being a kid be wasted on the rigors of homework?

Did it build character? No. Did it help me to learn “time management” techniques? No. Did it develop in me a burning desire to learn more? No.

By contrast, during my teenage years, I became a professional magician, earning scads of money entertaining at birthday parties and other events. I learned to be confident in front of an audience of any age. It taught me to be skeptical of other kinds of “magicians” offering up reports, surveys, and polls purporting to support some harebrained notion or other.

Someday, perhaps, grateful generations of students will erect statues of Aflie Kohn on the campuses of their schools. Who is Alfie Kohn, you ask? He is the author of “The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a Bad Thing.” ($24.00, Da Capo Press)

Suffice it to say, I am going to share the central message of his book with you because it happens to have answered many of the questions asked above. It answers the questions that parents across this fruited plain called America continue to ask teachers and school administrators without ever getting a decent, honest answer.

Indeed, anyone witnessing tiny tots and older students trudging to school, stooped over with backpacks filled with the previous day’s homework assignments, must surely wonder why whole generations of Americans went to school without once wearing a backpack? There was homework, but it was never the burden that it is today.

As Kohn notes, the mystery surrounding homework “deepens in light of the fact that widespread assumptions about the benefits of homework—higher achievement and the promotion of such virtues as self-discipline and responsibility—aren’t substantiated by the available evidence.” That’s right. The author poured through countless studies of homework and concluded that it serves no purpose whatever.

What is evident, however, is “The most striking trend regarding homework in the past two decades is the tendency to pile more and more of it on younger and younger children.” Those of us who have examined the education establishment since the 1960s have long concluded it is utterly failing the students passing through government schools. Loading up kids with after-school work is simply proof of that failure.

Kohn notes five significant aspects of homework and why it is a bad thing.

(1) It puts a burden on parents. In many cases, both parents work and, after a full day on the job, why should they and their children then have to deal with still more work?

(2) It is responsible for a lot of stress in the lives of children by simultaneously overwhelming the struggling student and removing the joy of learning for high achievers.

(3) Homework is frequently the cause of family conflict. Specifically the nagging to which parents must resort followed by the whining of the child. This affects the parent-child relationship negatively, as do the tensions that arise when kids try to work with parents on homework. After a full day at school, home should be a place to unwind, to engage in hobbies, to play, to be a kid!

(4) There is less time for other activities. “There is less opportunity to read for pleasure, make friends and socialize with them, get some exercise, get some rest, or just be a child.” The freedom to “do nothing” is very important to children and, in my case, an adult.

(5) Perhaps most important of all, one of homework’s worst adverse affects is to dull a love of learning. If learning something is always “work” than learning anything takes on the same connotation. This is why most kids hate homework. Learning is what they are required to do in school. Why can’t their home be free of the tentacles and burdens of school?

Kohn’s book, a densely documented look at the realities of homework clearly demonstrates that all the things we are told about it or believe about it are wrong. There are laws against child labor in America that were, when enacted, considered quite progressive. There is no law against homework. There ought to be!

Alan Caruba writes a weekly column, “Warning Signs”, posted on the Internet site of The National Anxiety Center, www.anxietycenter.com. His new book, “Right Answers: Separating Fact from Fantasy”, has just been published by Merril Press.

© Alan Caruba, 2006

The Threat to Freedom of Speech on the Internet and the Airwaves of America.

Just so we are clear here: This site does not accept political advertising for any candidate, or any political party, or any special interest group. The opinions, expressed here, are my own and those of my readers. I have no plans in future to accept paid political advertising. As a former broadcaster, I had my fill of all the required paperwork inherent in handling political ads. I learned quickly, the money, paid for those ads, did not make them worth the trouble.

The broadcasting Industry was, and remains, one of the most heavily government regulated industries in the United States. Political ads only bring state and federal government to your doorstep… always with the threat of heavy fines and, the ultimate punishment for any broadcaster, pulling the company’s broadcasting license.

So far, the blogging industry, and let’s face it, it IS becoming an industry, is on the thresh hold of government regulation. The Blogosphere is far too powerful a force to go unregulated by a government afraid of any thing, any entity, or any person, which may be able to influence the American public, especially voters. So, every day the blogoshere goes without government regulation is a "gift". For when the hammer comes down, it will come down with a resounding echo across the entire globe.

Look, there are bloggers out in the "sphere", with which I am diametrically opposed… and they with me. But, we share a freedom unlike any in the annals of human history… at least since the advent of governments. If we ban together, we stand a chance of extending this freedom for a while longer. But, be aware, we WILL lose in the end.

You see, bloggers have power. We have proved it time and again. Governments fear all power not wielded by them. The blogoshere is a threat to government… and believe you me… they are fully aware of that threat.

Do not delude yourselves, fellow bloggers, we are being scrutinized, and we are being analyzed by the powers that be and they do not like what they see.

One political party has tried to use the power of the blogosphere to spread its influence into yet untapped resources of money and support. That portion of the blogoshere was quickly offset by the other segments of the blogosphere who did not agree either with their philosophy, or the way in which the blogoshere was being used. So far, we have done a fairly good job of policing ourselves. But, again, do not be complacent. The end is neigh.

It is not just the blogosphere which is in danger. The broadcast community is once again in the crosshairs of the government. If the Democrats DO manage to take over the Congress, look for the re-imposition of the “Fairness Doctrine”. Now, the Fairness Doctrine sounds benign enough… until you try to work within it’s dictates… as I have. Simply put, it works this way. If broadcast station, radio, or TV, airs a program concerning a controversial issue, it must make available time for those opposed to that opinion on the controversial issue which espoused by the original program. That, taken to the nth degree, means… a broadcast station could conceivably be tied in knots with all it’s allotted broadcast time being used up by every Tom, Dick, and Harry, with a different opinion on the issue. It was a policy right out of broadcast hell.

Broadcasters found themselves having to weigh whether or not to touch a controversial subject, and be subjected to the demands for “time to answer” of the hordes of individuals, or groups, with differing opinions on the issue, or, ignore the issue entirely. So, most broadcasters simply did not touch ANY controversial issues… period. “Public Affairs” broadcasts were relegated to the wee hours, on Sunday mornings, or to any other hour of the station's broadcast day with the least amount of listenership.

The result was that stations simply entertained and did not attempt to educate or inform, short of the news, sports, and weather.

When the Fairness Doctrine was lifted, stations, both radio and TV, began to wade into the world of controversial subjects. Talk shows soon became the rage! Some liberal, some conservative, and some, well, you’d have to figure out, for yourself, exactly what category they fell into. But, the long and the short of it was and is, that broadcast stations, for the first time since the imposition of the Fairness Doctrine, began to serve their communities as they are required to under the terms of their licenses.

But, what the government did not count on, when they lifted the Fairness Doctrine, was the inherent conservatism of the masses of Americans outside the major metropolitan areas. Soon, it seemed, only the conservative talk shows were left on the air as listeners, in “flyover country”, rejected the liberal philosophy of the left wing talk shows. Very soon the field was narrowed down to a handful of really successful talk shows, mostly conservative. And... therein lies the “rub”.

The American political left has been threatening to re-impose the Fairness Doctrine in order to bring more variety to TV and radio listeners, and viewers, in America. Of course, that is a façade, a sham. The real purpose for the threat is that Conservative thought has taken over the airwaves and that is detrimental to the Left and, as a result, it cannot be allowed to continue.

Believe me, these are not idle threats by the Left. I am convinced they fully intend to re-impose the Fairness Doctrine at their very first opportunity. Conservative broadcasters will be relegated to paid satellite radio, which does not require a broadcast license, or to pirate stations operating surreptitiously, or from broadcast stations aboard ships anchored just outside the territorial waters of the US. It has been done before and Conservatives will certainly move in that direction.

The long and the short of all this is… freedom of thought, no matter how strongly those in political power support it publicly, is a threat to them... and they know it. It stands to reason, they will make every effort to bring it to “heel”, or to stop it altogether.

The most effective weapons the Government has to combat freedom of speech on America’s airwaves, and the Internet, is McCain-Feingold, and the Fairness Doctrine. If McCain-Feingold is considered the heavy artillery, then the Fairness Doctrine is the Atom Bomb.

So, we bloggers had best enjoy it while we can!

Longstreet

Forever Changed? Hardly! Certainly not America!

Forever Changed? Hardly! Certainly not America!

Today we remember the horrible attack upon the World Trade Center in New York, which claimed 3000 lives.

My flag was put out, on display, at dawn this morning. Then I walked out to the street and got my copy of our regional newspaper, which is owned by the New York Times, and opened it. The headlines leapt off the page at me: “Forever Changed!” I thought, even they don’t get it!

Oh sure for a few weeks the American flags came out. For a few weeks Americans were nicer to each other, and for a few weeks it was a gung ho country ready to go after the terrorists and kick butt and take names. But that is all in the past. It’s gone!

The “fever of patriotism” was soon cooled by the mainstream media, and the left wing liberals in Hollywood, and the homegrown enemies of America, who told us our patriotic behavior was unseemly. Why even some of the Mainstream Media TV news anchors refused to wear a tiny American flag lapel pin.

And… it has gotten worse. Much worse.

Now Americans are clambering to “Bring the Troops Home”. They are whining that we cannot win this war. They are moaning and wringing their hands and crying that all we need to do is be nicer to those who want to kill us… and what happened on 9-11-01 was AMERICA’S FAULT because we didn’t try to understand the terrorists.

Now, let me be as clear as I can be with what I’m about to say. All the whining, all the bitching and moaning, about America’s fault, and America’s complicity, and America’s arrogance, and whatever else those less than patriotic Americans use to blame America for the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, is tantamount to forming a circle around that gigantic hole in the ground, in New York, and pissing into it! It is that dishonorable!!!!

No, dear reader, America hasn’t changed! Not even a little bit. You see, it is so much easier to pretend that we can fix all this by being nice and by negotiating with the people who want to kill us. It is so much nicer to just pretend that there is no war and that we don’t need US troops pursuing the enemy, and killing them wherever we find them. It is so much nicer to believe that everything will be OK, and that the bad guys will go away, and there really is no threat to America and her people. And… all of the above is going to get you and I killed!

I would to God that America HAD changed on 9/11. But it didn’t… and we must stop deluding ourselves and stop buying into the “dream world” the America Left is selling us.

Maybe the next 9/11 will get America’s attention, but, frankly, I doubt it.

Longstreet

America is Not Ready for War… Any War!

(This Post First Ran In December of 2005!)

America is Not Ready for War… Any War!

Do you really care that the NSA (No Such Agency!) was eavesdropping on international phone calls and e-mail?

Or, are you, like me, upset more that there is a leak within the NSA, or possibly within the Congress or congressional aids. My best guess would be the latter.

You know, I watch Americans going about their daily chores completely unaware that their country is in a war for its life. It is amazing, and simply astounding, to see Americans acting as zombies in the face of a global conflagration which could sweep America off the globe at any moment.

I must tell you, I will be very happy when the “Baby Boomers” age out and the generation behind them begins to assert it’s leadership. The Baby Boomers, for the most part, have been stuck in the sixties, for their entire lives, and have been "mentally damaged" by their dreams of nirvana and pacified by mental pictures of daisies sticking out of the barrels of rifles.

Complete idiocy!

And, these people, Dear Reader, are running our government, our universities, our major religious denominations, and, of course, the Main-Stream Media! Is there any question as to how we got into the sorry mess we find ourselves today?

My generation… spawned by the Greatest Generation… has produced another generation off Americans who have been taught, throughout their youth, just how self-centered the Baby Boomer generation is. They have been taught to take responsibility for their actions, and they have been taught they owe a debt to this country they can never repay, but are obligated to make a continuous attempt. They are connected to American as no generation has been since their grandfathers and grandmothers.

Many of the forthcoming generation are products of baby Boomer parents and have personal experience, oftimes embarrassing, of just how "disconnected with reality" their parents are.

And that leads me to my belief that America is not ready to fight a war. I mean, mentally. Our leaders are such vacuous, empty suits, that we have no real, meaningful, national leadership. It’s like having a terrific college basketball team and no bench! You worry, all they time, that the other team will notice and take advantage. Well, in America’s case the other team has noticed and they are taking advantage of the weak bench.

When Congressman, and Senators, are so shallow as to suggest America flee the battlefield with an enemy dead set on eradicating us, then the weakness of America’s “bench” is obvious to the world. I mean, talk about a weak bench! Consider those sitting upon it: Kennedy, Kerry, Clinton, Reid, Boxer, Pelosi, Feingold, Spector, and let us not forget… John McCain and, even the Senator from my home state of South Carolina, Lindsey Graham. This is not a bench; it’s the “disabled list”!

Now, add to these problems a Central Intelligence Agency, which is "fatally flawed" and "dysfunctional" to the point of being a laughing stock. And, a State Department filled with political hacks, with their allegiance pledged to the Democrat Party, who work feverishly to sidetrack any iniatives the Bush Administration asks them to implement, and... we have a formula for utter disaster.

(Soon after the Christmas holidays) I expect a move by the Democrats to Impeach President Bush. It will not succeed, but they know this already. They simply want to make it even more difficult for the Bush Administration to govern. I would remind the Democrats that should President Bush step down, for whatever reason, Dick Cheney would become President! The Vice-President does not suffer fools lightly and that, alone, should send icy cramps clenching the intestines of Congressional Democrats.

There are no more “Greats” in our Congress, indeed, in our government. We have a Congress of second stringers, lightweights, who seem to think they are in Congress to accrue power for themselves at the expense of everyone else, including their fellow Americans.

We have a Military, the likes of which, the world has never seen. But, again, the bench is weak. Our Armed Forces need to be as much as four times it’s current size. We are allowing anarchy to creep up on this country from all sides.

Currently, we need to overthrow the governments of Venezuela, Bolivia, and Cuba, all within what we used to call our “Sphere of Influence”. The same with Iran. If we can’t overthrow the “mad mullahs” of Iran, we will be at war with them within a matter of months. We will win, but it will take our attention off those pip-squeak, tin pot dictators, Chavez and Morales, in South America. Plus, we need to be positioning ourselves to see that the next “Presidente” of Cuba is a freedom-loving democrat rather than a freedom hating communist.

Unfortunately, the Congress of the US is simply not capable of handling real problems of governance.

Granted, this is not a pretty picture to paint of our government (as we approach the end of the old year and the beginning of another). But, unfortunately, this is the state, in which we find ourselves, today, in America.

Here endth the lesson for today!

Longstreet

A Chance to Vote Against John Edwards Again?

(This Post First Ran In September of 2005!)

A Chance to Vote Against John Edwards Again?

John Edwards is still campaigning. This time for President. If would seem Mr. Edwards only stopped long enough to change shirts and launched immediately into his 2008 Presidential Campaign before the Kerry/Edwards train wreck had stopped smoking!

He is becoming a frequent visitor to the state of Iowa. In 2008 the Iowa precinct caucuses will open the nominating season for Presidential candidates.

Somehow, Mr. Edwards has completely missed the message Americans sent in 2004. The American electorate knows his name and, what’s even more important and telling, they know his politics and his policies. It cost Mr. Edwards, and Mr. Kerry, the election in 2004. The unfortunate truth, for Mr. Edwards is, that his message did get out. Americans did hear it and they rejected it.

Nothing much has changed as far as the electorate is concerned. They are prepared to reject Mr. Edwards and his message… again. I would point out that his home state of South Carolina and his adopted home state of North Carolina rejected Mr. Edwards and Mr. Kerry in 2004. Neither of those two states is prepared to vote for him… if given a second chance in 2008

Tar Heels are still angry over what is perceived as his personal ambition to be President when he ran for the US Senate the first time. We are convinced that the bulk of the six years he was in Washington, to represent the state of North Carolina, he was representing himself, positioning himself for a run at the top spot in American politics. That speaks volumes about him… none of it good.

So, he has not given up his quest for the holy grail of American politics. Mr. Edwards has about as much chance of corralling the Democratic nomination for President as a snowball has in Hades in August. That is… if Hillary decides to claim the prize. And she will. The Democratic nomination is hers. All she has to do is nod her acceptance.

Ah well, Mr. Edwards, maybe in 2012? How about 2016. Huh?

“Longstreet”

“Path to 9/11” Docudrama Raises Hackles on the Left.

Well, by now you have heard all the fuss about the “The Path to 9/11” miniseries coming up this coming Sunday and Monday on America’s ABC Television Network.

The Political Left is in full throat against this docudrama. That got my attention, immediately. So, I did a little research and ran across an enlightening article at "Frontpagemag.com".

The article is by Govindini Murty.

You’ll find the entire article here:

http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=24042

We recommend you click on over to "Frontpagemag.com" and read it in it’s entirety.

At the rate, and intensity, the Left is assaulting this movie; you have to feel that the movie has touched a nerve. It also says something about the thin skin on the Left. They can dish it out, but taking it????? Oh, no! These are the same folks who are trying to persuade Americans that they are tough enough to go "toe to toe" with the terrorists?

Oh, well. When your opponent insists on shooting himself in the foot, the smart thinker simple gets out of the way. So, stand back, and watch the show!

Longstreet