Bumper Stickers Seen on Military Bases - from an email

"Except For Ending Slavery, Fascism, Nazism and Communism, WAR has Never Solved Anything."

"U.S. Air Force - Travel Agents To Allah"

"Stop Global Whining"

"When In Doubt, Empty The Magazine"

"Naval Corollary: Dead Men Don't Testify.

"The Marine Corps - When It Absolutely, Positively Has To Be Destroyed Overnight"

"Death Smiles At Everyone - Marines Smile Back"

"Marine Sniper - You can run, but you'll just die tired!"

"Marines - Providing Enemies of America an Opportunity To Die For their Country Since 1775"

"Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Anyone Who Threatens It"

"Happiness Is A Belt-Fed Weapon"

"It's God's Job to Forgive Bin Laden - It's Our Job To Arrange The Meeting"

"Artillery Brings Dignity to What Would Otherwise Be Just A Vulgar Brawl"

"My Kid Fought In Iraq So Your Kid Can Party In College"

"Machine Gunners - Accuracy By Volume"

"A Dead Enemy Is A Peaceful Enemy - Blessed Be The Peacemakers"

"If You Can Read This, Thank A Teacher. If You Can Read It In English, Thank A Veteran"

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But the U.S. ARMED FORCES don't have that problem." ...Ronald Reagan

**********
A friend of mine once sent a liberal Democrat a post card with a picture of the entire planet Earth taken from space. On the back it said, 'Wish you were here.'"

The Competing Narratives of Barry and Sarah

In the spring of 1964, Sarah Heath, then just three months old, flew into backwater Skagway, Alaska (population 650) aboard a 1930s-era Grumman Goose to start a new life with her parents, brother, and sister.

At that same time, in America's other new outlier state, Hawaii, two-year-old Barry Obama was just getting used to a fatherless existence in the otherwise-comfortable world his white grandparents and occasionally his mother would make for him.

At the time, not even Nostradamus could have foretold that the paths of Barry and Sarah would intersect in the "historic" 2008 election, Barry as the first major party presidential nominee of African descent and Sarah as the first woman with a real shot at the vice-presidency.

Each would change names before reaching the national stage. Barry Obama would become Barry Soetero, and then Barack Obama. Sarah Heath would become Sarah Palin after eloping with the formidable Todd Palin. Obama would chronicle his journey in the 1995 memoir, Dreams From My Father and the 2006 sequel, The Audacity of Hope. Palin would chronicle hers in the 2009 memoir, Going Rogue: An American Life.

By Jack Cashill: Read the rest of the article here.

Czarist Amerika

JOHN GALT SPEAKS: A Montage of Modern History

Our Fore Fathers Knew What Could Happen And IS!

When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe .
Thomas Jefferson

The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.
Thomas Jefferson

It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world.
Thomas Jefferson

I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.
Thomas Jefferson

My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.
Thomas Jefferson

No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.
Thomas Jefferson

The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.
Thomas Jefferson

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Thomas Jefferson

To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.
Thomas Jefferson

The Virginian Reminds Us . . .

With that in mind, and with an eye to history, let us remind ourselves what we have in Mr. Obama.

• A charismatic leader who inspired huge audiences with his rhetoric in Berlin.
• Who promises a rebirth of hope and change.
• Who frequently uses elaborate imagery and stagecraft.
• Who makes women weep and men shout themselves hoarse during his speeches.
• Who is handsome and attractive to young maidens.
• Who is taking over in a time of economic turmoil.
• Who has the support of many leading industrialists and financiers who believe they can control him.
• Who is planning to draft both young and old into government work details. Will the Civilian Security Force have uniforms, armbands or distinctive insignia? We don’t know yet.
• Who thinks the constitution is flawed and could use a rewrite.
• Who finds an armed populace dangerous and wants to destroy the second amendment.
• Who promises to re-distribute the wealth.
• Whose followers intimidate and shout down the opposition.
• Who has the press totally on his side.
• Whose allies have plans to silence dissenting voices.
• Whose associates are blatant racists and anti-Semites.
• Who made his money from writing a book.
• Who was street organizer.
• Who had father problems.

LINKS ARE AT THE SITE.

When Is It Okay To Vote AGAINST A Candidate?

A vote against Obama is a vote against socialism.

A vote against Obama is a vote against high taxes.

A vote against Obama is a vote for life.

A vote against Obama is a vote against the welfare state.

A vote against Obama is a vote against same-sex marriage.

A vote against Obama is a vote against the teachers’ unions.

A vote against Obama is a vote for Joe the Plumber.

A vote against Obama is a vote for keeping more of what you earn.

A vote for Obama is a vote against government legally robbing your wallet.

A vote against Obama is a vote for a sovereign USA.

A vote against Obama is a vote for our national anthem.

A vote against Obama is a vote against Oprah Winfrey.

A vote against Obama is a vote against a rubber stamp for Pelosi and Reid.

A vote against Obama is a vote against the hollywood left.

A vote against Obama is a vote against the liberal media whores.

A vote against Obama is a vote against cradle-to-grave government control.

A vote against Obama is a vote against a guy who thinks Bill Ayers is rehabilitated.

A vote against Obama is a vote against a guy got huge donations and helped create economic ruin by opposing Freddie and Fannie reforms.

A vote against Obama is a vote against doom and gloom warnings about our success potential in Iraq.

A vote against Obama is a vote for human life.

Pick any and all that seem to appeal to you. Not every issue resonates with everyone. Some are more important than others, and if you can find one or two or more that matter to people, it’ll get them thinking. Possibly researching more on their own and coming to the right decision.

Thanks to secret agent man

A Little History Lesson

A Time Line for Weathermen Underground in PDF with newspaper clippings attached. This is something you might want to read, especially if you lean to the Left politically speaking. This is what Liberal Ideology produces. The anger that some Democrats feel toward President Bush and Senator McCain and Governor Palin can too easily be manipulated by someone like Senator Obama or Professor Ayers into a rage willing to kill the perceived enemy. I've witnessed this hatred first hand. It is blind rage which believes that by destroying the perceived enemy their anger will be abated and all will be well. The problem is, killing the perceived enemy only produces a murderer who remains angry and wonders if he or she could have done more or should have done more in order to quell the surging interior rage and anger. The anger and rage are within, not without. Changing circumstances will not terminate the rage and anger. Only a changed heart, soul, mind, spirit through salvation and the conforming of the conscience to God's Word and Will can end the suffering caused by rage and anger.

Salvation has in Scriptural language the general meaning of liberation from straitened circumstances or from other evils, and of a translation into a state of freedom and security.

U.S. Tax System Explained by Beer -- a subject I can relate to

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100.
If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that's what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. 'Since you are all such good customers,' he said, 'I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20. 'Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers?

How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?' They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so the fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28% savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 ( 22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.
'I only got a dollar out of the $20,' declared the sixth man.
He pointed to the tenth man,' but he got $10! "Yeah, that's right,' exclaimed the fifth man.
'I only saved a dollar, too.. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I! "That's true!!' shouted the seventh man.
'Why should he get $10 back when I got only two?
The wealthy get all the breaks!
"Wait a minute,' yelled the first four men in unison. 'We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!
'The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up. The next night the tenth man ( the richest) didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

-Reido

Five Hundred Forty Four with Sen. McCain as POTUS

545 PEOPLE
By Charlie Reese

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.

Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?

Have you ever wondered why, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does.

You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does.

You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does.

You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does.

You and I don't control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.

One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president, a nd nine Supreme Court justices 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.

I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.

I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a president to do one cotton-picking thing.&nb sp; I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.

Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.

What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits. The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.

The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and tax es. Who is the speaker of the House? She is the leader of the majority party. She and fellow House members, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts -- of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal gov ernment, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair.

If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red.

If the Army & Marines are in IRAQ , it's because they want them in IRAQ.

If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way.

There are no insoluble government problems.

Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like 'the economy,' 'inflation,' or 'politics' that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.

They, and they alone, have the power.

They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees.

We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!

Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper.

What you do with this article now that you have read it is up to you, though you appear to have several choices.

1. You can send this to everyone in your address book, and hope' they' do something about it.

2. You can agree to 'vote against everyone that is currently in office, knowing that the process will take several years.

3. You can decide to 'run for office' yourself and agree to do the job properly.

4. Lastly, you can sit back and do nothing, or re-elect the current bunch.

Sen. Obama's Ayer's Connection: In His Own Words

Senator "Obama" -- You Forgot Something Important

Team Obama has not yet released the following fairly routine requests for documents. Surely, we the People have the right to know who we are going to entrust with our country before we give him the keys.

1. Certified Copy of Original Birth Certificate (no alternatives accepted)

2. Columbia College records

3. Columbia Thesis paper

4. Certification of Life Birth showing where he was born (no alternatives accepted)

5. Harvard College records

6. Illinois State Senate records

7. Illinois State Senate schedule

8. Law practice client list and billing records/summary

9. Locations and names of all half-siblings and step-mothers

10. Medical records (one page summary unacceptable)

11. Parents’ Marriage Certificate

12. Parents’ Divorce Certificate

13. Mother’s Marriage Certificate to Lolo Soetoro

14. Adoption Papers from Indonesia

15. Record of Baptism as Christian

16. Trip schedules and Passport for trips outside the United States before 2007

17. Scholarly articles

18. Campaign donor analysis requested by 7 major watchdog groups

And finally, Senator Obama, the People would like to meet your maternal grandmother. Why will you not allow anyone to go near her in Honolulu, Hawaii? She can hardly say something that could be fatal to your run for the Presidency if everything you have told us, the People, has been truthful.

Thanks to http://obamawtf.blogspot.com for most of these talking points.

Barack Obama Will Not Win

Besides the legality of using a false name on legal documents . . . marriage license, deed to house, loan for house, The American Thinker article lists the following reasons, with narrative.

He's too young and inexperienced.

He's too liberal.

He's too race-conscious.

I add to that

He is unpatriotic.

He is a citizen of the world and not a Citizen of the United States of America.

He thinks he is the 'chosen one' and is above the law.

He is a fear-monger.

He lied about himself in his "autobiographical" books.

He lied about never being a Muslim.

He is elitist.

He is a socialist who wants to take your money away from you while protecting his own money.

He has a negative view of the USofA.

He interfered in the electoral process of another Sovereign Nation while he was a U.S. Congressman.

The Arab-American Who Would Be President. Did he mention he's "black."

Subject: In His Own Words (from his books)

This guy wants to be our President and control our government. He also talks about unifying everyone. Does this sound like one who really wants to unify?

Pay close attention to his last comment.

From Dreams of My Father: 'I ceased to advertise my mother's race at the age of 12 or 13, when I began to suspect that by doing so I was ingratiating myself to whites.' Barack Hussein Obama got tired of explaining his multi-racial (or bi-racial) background and since he "looked" black, it was easier to just say so or to infer so and not admit to the truth. What is essentially misleading is that he's entitled the book "Dreams of my Father" and yet he glosses over the verifiable fact that his father is an Arab-African from Kenya. In the book, he claims he does not identify with the "Arab-ness" of his father, and he hides behind the "blackness" and "African-ness" and assumed (by others) "Negro-ness" of his skin color. Wonder why?

From the article http://www.amconmag.com/2007/2007_03_12/feature.html 'He found a solace in nursing a pervasive sense of grievance and animosity against his mother's race.' Barack Hussein Obama did not actually write this, although he inferred it in his book.


'There was something about him that made me wary, a little too sure of himself, maybe. And white.' This is taken out of a few paragraphs about his first job and the man who hired him, but the tone of the words conveys the message whether you read it in context or out.

'It remained necessary to prove which side you were on, to show your loyalty to the black masses, to strike out and name names.' In context, Barack Hussein Obama is trying to distance himself from those who classed themselves as "multi-racial" and wanted to know about all of their heritage rather than to chose just one aspect (or the higher percentage "race" or "culture" or "ethnicity") and who felt that it was the black community who refused to allow them to be "multi-racial" by forcing them to choose one aspect of their ethnic background and stick to it. So, he chooses, "black" as in "Negro-African" when he has 1/16 of this ethnicity and 7/16 of "Arab-African" ethnicity. Barack Hussein Obama is 1/2 Caucasian and had he wished to do so, he could have stated he was "white" whether his skin color indicated so or not. So, he is confused about his multi-racial background and tries to hide his "Arab-ness" by being "black" and by inference "Negro-African."

'I never emulate white men and brown men whose fates didn't speak to my own. It was into my father's image, the black man, son of Africa , that I'd packed all the attributes I sought in myself, the attributes of Martin and Malcolm, DuBois and Mandela.' Rewording of two separate statements. But the truth is there, however obscure in the misquote above, that Barack Hussein Obama measures himself by his Arab Kenyan father and not by his Caucasian mother and grandparents whom he knew well and who nurtured him with total disregard of his skin color or his perceived 'difference.' I liken it to someone who has a Native American in their genealogy and who studies his Native American heritage and then attempts to emulate by words, deeds, and thoughts, his Native American-ness.


Here's the entire quote:

All my life, I had carried a single image of my father, one that I had sometimes rebelled against but had never questioned, one that I had later tried to take as my own. The brilliant scholar, the generous friend, the upstanding leader — my father had been all those things. All those things and more, because except for that one brief visit in Hawaii, he had never been present to foil the image, because I hadn't see what perhaps most men see at some point in their lives: their father's body shrinking, their father's best hopes dashed, their father's face lined with grief and regret.

Yes, I'd seen weakness in other men — Gramps and his disappointments, Lolo [my adoptive father] and his compromise. But these men had become object lessons for me, men I might love but never emulate, white men and brown men whose fates didn't speak to my own. It was into my father's image, the black man, son of Africa, that I'd packed all the attributes I sought in myself, the attributes of Martin and Malcolm, DuBois and Mandela. And if later I saw that the black men I knew fell short of such lofty standards; if I had learned to respect these men for the struggles they went through, recognizing them as my own — my father's voice had nevertheless remained untainted, inspiring, rebuking, granting or withholding approval. You do not work hard enough, Barry. You must help in your people's struggle. Wake up, black man!

Now, as I sat in the glow of a single light bulb, rocking slightly on a hard-backed chair, that image had suddenly vanished. Replaced by ... what? A bitter drunk? An abusive husband? A defeated, lonely bureaucrat? To think that all my life I had been wrestling with nothing more than a ghost!

We know what Barack Hussein Obama writes, but we do not know what he thinks, what's in his heart. He writes for his audience and he glosses over what he doesn't wish his audience to know about himself. He's hidden his grandmother away and refuses to bring her forward for interviews. Why? What's he afraid of? The truth? Written as he's describing his 1992 wedding:
"The person who made me proudest of all," Obama wrote, "was Roy. Actually, now we call him Abongo, his Luo name, for two years ago he decided to reassert his African heritage. He converted to Islam, and has sworn off pork and tobacco and alcohol."

There is a photo on the campaign trail of Senator Barack Hussein Obama with a glass of beer in his hand "sipping" the beer. I have no documentation that he actually did more than touch his lips to the rim of the glass, trying to look "blue collar" or something ingratiating to Pennsylvania voters. If you have more information, please pass it along to me.

From Audacity of Hope: 'I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.'

The original contains no specific mention of "Muslims":

In the wake of 9/11, my meetings with Arab and Pakistani Americans, for example, have a more urgent quality, for the stories of detentions and FBI questioning and hard stares from neighbors have shaken their sense of security and belonging. They have been reminded that the history of immigration in this country has a dark underbelly; they need specific reassurances that their citizenship really means something, that America has learned the right lessons from the Japanese internments during World War II, and that I will stand with them should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.

So what is he really implying? That he will support the Constitution of the United States from enemies foreign and domestic? Or not? Is this why he refuses to revere the National Anthem and the Flag of the United States of America? Is he secretly harboring animosity (as his wife has inferred in her words and actions) toward the USofA? Or just Republicans and "whites" and Conservatives and me?

Typical of Snopes http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/ownwords.asp
to stand on the fence on this one, afraid to verify some easily verifiable information which Barack Hussein Obama has left out of his books for themselves, which leads me to think they're not centrist, but leaning quite noticeably to the left.


But you can be your own judge of his moral character, integrity, honesty, leadership, and experience. I've already made up my mind that the only thing Barack Hussein Obama is experienced in is hiding the truth about himself from the Voters.

Michelle Obama is no Jackie Kennedy, not by a long shot.

Barack Obama's Bitter Half
By Michelle Malkin
May 7, 2008

Are you ready for hope and change? Barack Obama better hope his bitter half has a change of attitude if she expects to assume the title of first lady in November. She's been likened to John F. Kennedy's wife, what with her chic suits and pearls and perfectly coiffed helmet hair. But when she opens her mouth, Michelle O is less Jackie O and more Wendy W -- as in Wendy Whiner, the constantly kvetching "Saturday Night Live" character from the early 1980s.

Martin Luther King, Jr

The legacy lives on, but not in black churches which want "reparations" and claim that their venomous vitriol is "prophecy" (trust me on this, it's not). Two things must occur for a prophet to be a Prophet of God: 1- prophecies must never be at odds with the Word of God as left to us in the Canon, and 2- every prophecy of a proclaimed prophet is always correct. If he speaks one false statement, the speaker brands himself as a false prophet. Or, black churches have turned to the "prosperity" gospel which states God blesses the faithful with wealth and spiritual power.

The prosperity gospel is winning in black churches. These churches claim to teach personal responsibility, motivating and equipping people to become prosperous. But where's the "community service?" Isn't there a vital part of living your faith missing from a "prosperity" gospel? There still are a few ministers who claim to be prophetic and a number of them do follow the words of Jesus to encourage their congregations to become social reformers and social activists. But where is Dr. MLKing Jr's message of non-violent confrontations for social justice?

The white congregations look on Dr. MLKing, Jr, as a religious hero. The black congregations are interested more in financial prosperity. And perhaps an independence which says "See, I don't need any white person's help." But why are you even seeing this in "white and black" at all. Are we not just human beings? Why is color so important to black church leaders? Don't throw the "our heritage" smoke screen. If we're all God's children, then, why are we not all one big happy family, without regard to color (at least)?

Here's MY OPINION and POINT of VIEW:
Where are those blacks when poor black neighborhoods are being overrun with black gang members? Why are the black church members not there to live and preach the gospel? Why are they not setting up seminars to teach self-help and self-management? Blacks want to attack whites (it's so easy to tell us apart, I guess, which is so much racist profiling as not to need a comment). It's always the white person's fault. Blacks are the victims of white suppression. Oh, really? Looks to me as if blacks are the victims of their own or other blacks' suppression. Black on black crime is higher than black on white crime. And while we're there . . . where are those black preachers when you need them? Are they marching through black neighborhoods and black public housing ghettos giving support to the blacks who must live there due to lack of education or jobs? No, they're sitting at home counting their big cars, diamond rings, and fancy houses in upscale communities. Is there something wrong with this picture?

How many blacks do you know who have volunteered to work with Habitat for Humanity? I mean just volunteering to work, without earning credit-hours toward their own Habitat House? When I worked on a house years ago, everyone except the woman and children who would later live in the house were true volunteers and every one of them was white. This was in Alabama, so it's not like there were no blacks around who could have volunteered.

I see Catholic Charities helping blacks more than I see any black organization helping blacks. And while we're at it, Catholic Charities is one of the highest ranking charity organizations. All donations go to assist the poor, unlike most other "charity" organizations which use donations for salaries, travel, building expenses, publicity, etc.

Refute me if you can. Give me websites with statistics to prove me wrong. And if you consider yourself black, read the BHObama Files and the article on BHObama's logic and write me a comment. I'm interested to hear your response. Thanks and have a really good day.

Paul R. Hollrah . . . who is he?

Miserable Creatures February 20, 2007

In an interview with a Brussels newspaper (De Standaard, October 23, 2006) Dutch author, Oscar Van den Boogaard, described what appears to be the attitude of most post-WWII Europeans. He said, “I am not a warrior, but who is? I have never learned to fight for my freedom. I was only good at enjoying it.”

As John Stuart Mill has said, “War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing worth a war, is worse. A man who has nothing which he cares more about than he does about his personal safety is a miserable creature who has no chance at being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.”

It is a sad picture, a Europe where so many of the people have never learned to fight for their freedom… where people were only good at enjoying it. But it is sadder still to realize that nearly half the American people – liberals, Democrats, the anti-war radicals with the loudest voices – agree with them… relying for their freedoms on the exertions of better men than they.

So what is it about the term “miserable creatures” that liberals, Democrats, and anti-war radicals find so appealing?

Deceipt February 12, 2008

Standing on the platform, surrounded on all sides by adoring sycophants, he rails at the lobbyists and the special interests who populate the halls of Congress and the executive branch. “When I am elected President of the United States,” he intones, “the lobbyists and the special interests will no longer run Washington, DC. Power will be returned to the people!”

And the crowds go crazy. They spring to their feet, screaming and shouting, waving their placards in the air...placards that read “Public Employees for Obama” and “Classroom Teachers for Obama.” These are the toadies of AFSCME, AFT, and the NEA, three of the ten most powerful special interest lobbies in Washington, who, along with the trial lawyers and the anti-American billionaire George Soros, own the Democratic Party.

We are forced to wonder, if Obama were to stand on the platform and shout, “When I am elected President of the United States the teachers unions, the trial lawyers, and the public employees unions will no longer run Washington, DC. Power will be returned to the people,” would he actually escape the auditorium unscathed? Probably not.

No Jack Kennedy February 20, 2008

Jack Kennedy was a true war hero. During World War II he served in the South Pacific as skipper of a PT boat, the famous PT-109. For his heroic action in saving the lives of his crew he was awarded the Navy & Marine Corps Medal. He was also awarded the Purple Heart, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal.

Barack Obama has no military record, no background or experience on which to judge his personal courage, his patriotism, or his ability to serve as Commander in Chief of our military forces. During the years that Obama would have served in the U.S. military, he worked on voter registration drives as a community organizer on Chicago’s south side.

In that capacity he relied heavily on the community organizing techniques of radical leftist Saul Alinsky who, quite coincidentally, was the subject of Hillary Rodham’s senior honors thesis at Wellesley College, titled, “There Is Only The Fight…”: An Analysis of the Alinsky Model.”

Returning from military service, Kennedy ran for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, serving three terms from 1947 until 1953. He was then elected to the United States Senate where he served for seven more years, from 1953 to 1960, before being elected President of the United States.

Obama was elected to the Illinois State Senate in 1996 and served two four-year terms with an unsuccessful run for Congress sandwiched in between. He ran for the United States Senate in 2004 and served just two years before launching a campaign to become the leader of the Free World. But what is most alarming about this ambition-driven upstart, what most distinguishes him from a man like Jack Kennedy, and what serves as the wellspring of his campaign theme, “Change We Can Believe In,” is his allegiance to the teachings of Saul Alinsky.

In his book, Rules for Radicals, Alinsky wrote: “There’s another reason for working inside the system… Any revolutionary change must be preceded by a passive, affirmative, non-challenging attitude toward change among the mass of our people. They must feel so frustrated, so defeated, so lost, so futureless in the prevailing system, that they are willing to let go of the past and change the future…”

Even the most disinterested and uneducated observer of the Obama campaign style could not have failed to note the messianic nature of his approach or his fealty to the concept of “change for the sake of change.” But what “revolutionary” change? That is the question before us today. Clinton and Obama have been working “inside the system,” just as Alinsky prescribed. Are we willing to gamble on what change either of them would pursue if they were put in charge of our great nation?

So, yes, Obama, there are those of us old enough to remember Jack Kennedy. And while you try mightily to assume his mantle, it doesn’t quite work for you. Yes, you remind us of a Kennedy, alright… but it’s not Jack, it’s Ted.

What did you say? March 6, 2008

Obama told his audience that, because some folks had the courage to “march across a bridge” in Selma , Alabama , his mother, a white woman from Kansas , and his father, a black Muslim from Africa , took heart. It gave them the courage to get married and have a child. The problem with that characterization is that Barrack Obama, Jr., was born on August 4, 1961, while the first of three marches across that bridge in Selma didn’t occur until March 7, 1965, at least five years after Obama’s parents met.

Obama went on to tell his audience that the Kennedys, Jack and Bobby, decided to do an airlift. They would bring some young Africans over so that they could be educated and learn all about America . His grandfather heard that call and sent his son, Barrack Obama, Sr., to America .

The problem with that scenario is that, having been born in August 1961, the future senator was not conceived until sometime in November 1960. So if this African grandfather heard words that ‘’sent a shout across oceans,” inspiring him to send his goat-herder son to America , it was not a Democrat Jack Kennedy he heard, nor his brother Bobby, it was a Republican President, Dwight D. Eisenhower.

This you need to see

Please watch this preview of the CNN Special "On Deadly Ground, the Women of Iraq."

Time Out for Me

I have been visiting family and am about to go off again -- retirement is so much fun -- so I will not be blogging much over the next few days and then I'm taking the month of February off for personal improvement (sounds so enlightened, doesn't it?)

There is so much going on in the world that I could comment on -- let's see, there's the Gaza Strip reopening which I believe is a total and grand error foisted on the Israelis by appeasers and proponents of the hateful cult of islam (I refuse to capitalize it or give it recognition it does not deserve due to its vengeful nature). Then there's the election process of caucuses and primaries. Fred Dalton Thompson is no longer running. He was the 'great GOP hope' and I believe he expected the media to treat him as a television star but when they treated him as 'one more enemy of Hillary' he wasn't ready for it. Then the media decided he was "lazy" and pushed that on the uninformed public so that the term stuck to Fred like gravy to rice. (No wonder Hillary lives and breathes by the Polls -- humans are basically ignorant and she doesn't have to be smart, just cunning.) Then there is the weather, which everyone likes to discuss as it relates to them or to global warming (the big AlGore-ism lie) or to the coming ice age, as my generation was taught in school. Then, there's crime, the interest rate, drugs, the de-fence-less Southern border, etc, etc, ad nauseum.

But I'm not going there today or during February, you are free to go there whilst I am on my personal retreat. I may come up for air and post in February if something I read is just too good not to remark about. So check in when you have a second. As I've said before, my side bar has great links and I invite you to peruse them.

Peace Out.

Fibromyalgia & Backpacking

I suffer from Fibromyalgia. It's not as bad as some people's because my doctor prescribed a second drug which kept me pain free. My insurance carrier has refused to approve the medication because its primary use is not for Fibromyalgia Syndrome. I haven't had this medication for a week. I am in a lot of pain. There is no joint on my body (that I'm aware of) that doesn't hurt when I touch it. And some of the joints that adjoin other joints when I move are in constant pain as long as I'm moving. Then, other joints that are compressed when I'm not moving cause pain. Typing is causing pain. All because of an insurance company that wants to save a buck or two and make medical decisions concerning my health.

I AM angry. It's the only thing that is keeping me moving. Without anger, I'd be in really bad shape.

Backpacking the Appalachian Trail has been a goal of mine for a number of years. Right now, for two reasons I'm ready to chuck the whole thing and find another hobby that includes saner members than some in the backpacking community.

This is what I recently wrote on my MySpace blog:

Meredith Hope Emerson went hiking with her dog, Ella, on New Year's Day at Blood Mountain in North Georgia. She was kidnapped and eventually killed a few days later by a man named Gary Michael Hilton.

The question we all ask is "why?"

Meredith made some "newbie hiker" mistakes, even though her roommate stated she was an "experienced hiker" and had a "blue belt in Karate." What were they? Not in any order they are:

1- She failed to keep her dog close to her so that Ella could protect her and she allowed Ella to think that the "stranger" was one of Meredith's friends.

2- She failed to take into consideration that just because someone is on a trail, wearing a backpack, doesn't mean he is a member of the hiking community or that he is a safe person, even if he is a member. There are a lot of hikers and backpackers who do not have the best interests of other hikers in mind. A few years ago there was a hiker Thru Hiking the AT who was a thief. No one caught him in the act until he got to Rhode Island, but other hikers were sure that it was their expensive clothing or gear that this hiker had on or with him, but because there was no way to actually prove it, he got away with it. One guy I talked to said that a very expensive polyester hiking shirt he "lost" at a laundromat turned up being worn by this thief-hiker, but because he had not placed anything identifying the shirt as his, the thief wasn't confronted.

3- She befriended a hiker she did not know. Or she allowed him to ingratiate himself to her so that she didn't keep her defenses up. No one should live in fear. No one should have to be constantly on guard toward other people one meets. YET, depending on the circumstance and place, we often do just that. You get on a bus or airplane and you don't tell your life story to the unknown person next to you or open up your wallet to count your money. Why? You are on guard and you keep a societally appropriate distance from strangers.

4- It appears that Meredith forgot what her Mama taught her about strangers. And she let her defenses down. We say we don't want to live in "fear" but we have the ability to use fear for our own good. Fear is a postive emotion, not a negative one. It's fear that keeps us from walking in front of moving trains. It's fear that keeps us out of many potentially dangerous situations and away from potentially dangerous people. Fear is healthy; fear is often what keeps us alive. If you haven't "honed" your fears to be useful, then I suggest you work on using fear to your benefit.

5- I suggest she didn't use her 'gut test' with Gary Michael Hilton. Other hikers who saw him on New Year's Day said they got 'bad feelings' about him. People here in town say he was a regular at one of the laundomats; those who work there described as "weird." They said looking into his eyes gave them strong negative feelings. Did Meredith fail to look at his eyes?

There are other newbie mistakes made by Meredith. All the Karate in the world won't protect you from someone who hits you from behind. A new acquaintance is best observed around others. Rather than going to her car, she'd have been better off hiking to the road crossing at Neel Gap and walking into Mountain Crossings Outfitters there.

I don't know what transpired between the two -- an innocent young girl with few life experiences and a man who may turn out to be a serial killer if cases in Florida and North Carolina can be linked to him.

It's all in the eyes. Always look a person in the eyes. And always accept that "gut" feeling as "nature's way" of warning you about a person or situation.

I feel so sorry for Meredith's parents. It's unnatural for parents to bury children. Children are supposed to bury parents. Parents are supposed to see their children get married and produce their grandchildren. We'll never know who Meredith might have become as she aged. Gary Michael Hilton stole that from her parents, friends and all of us.

The worst kind of thief is one who kills another person and steals that person's future from all of us. In my opinion, a person who steals another person's life has forfeited his own life.

God comfort Meredith's parents and friends.

( for additional information about this case)

I wrote something similar on a private yahoo group and was personally attacked for questioning Meredith's "expert hiker" status. Well, I said then and say now -- I report it as I see it. And the news reports, while they may not state the same, do support my observations. These observations are MINE and no one else's. I don't really care if hikers disagree with me. I've been in situations on the trail similar to Meredith's and I've hiked out of them because I am More Mature and because I Have A Contingency Plan. Poor Meredith didn't. She was young and thought she was invincible (as do the majority of youth who have no experience in the "real and painful world") and as do many "heads in the clouds" hikers who attacked my observations. There is more than a modicum of truth in what I wrote. And I continue to stand by it.

Right at this moment, in FMS pain-anger-fog and incredulous that I would be so vilified by hikers who are angry at me ONLY because they know in their heart of hearts that what I wrote about immature and inexperienced hikers like Meredith is true, I am this [ ] close to making a drastic change in my future plans. IF I Thru Hike or WHEN I Thru Hike the Appalachian Trail, it will not be as a member of any online group of hikers who attack me for telling the truth. They can chalk it up to my OPINION or they can chalk it up to my PERSONAL EXPERIENCE. I prefer to be in the company of people mature enough to know that experience which works trumps just about everything else.

Stay Safe. Educate yourself. Have a workable contingency plan for as many different scenarios as you can think of which might occur on your journey through life. Fear is a Good Thing. Treat it as such. Peace out.