Archive for November, 2009

Harry Truman once said, “Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear.”

Mark Hyman over at the Spectator had a great piece this morning on how the White House has started down that path.

The Obama Administration declared war on the minority of media outlets that do not worship the political left’s newest false idol immediately after Obama was sworn in. Three days into his presidency Obama warned Congressional Republicans against listening to radio host Rush Limbaugh. Amazingly, the president who offered to sit down with the thug leaders of rogue nations, such as Iran’s Holocaust denier Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, without any preconditions believed an immense threat was posed by a radio talk show host originally from southeastern Missouri.

Then the White House launched a jihad against Fox News Channel and its hosts by first boycotting appearances on the cable channel and then second, by engaging in name-calling and leveling baseless allegations.

Thankfully defeated, there was also the Fairness Doctrine, which promoted fairness like the Taliban promotes womans’ rights. Since none of those efforts have worked, there is this.

The FCC is contemplating the notion that some or all of the electromagnetic spectrum occupied by radio and TV broadcasters is the perfect real estate to launch a national wireless broadband service. The price tag is $350 billion. That is as much as nearly $120,000 per person to be connected. Apparently, the FCC has not heard of the “$99 Triple Play.”

Evicted broadcasters would no longer offer free, over-the-air radio and TV, but would instead be confined to subscription platforms such as cable and satellite or the Internet. This aspect of the plan is indeed troubling. The public would be required to pay for their news, information and entertainment services and there would be no free option.

Elimination of free private media. Maybe I should ask a North Korean where that leads?

Two weeks ago tomorrow was Veteran’s Day, and I missed this from the Boston Globe.

On Veterans Day, Christine Devlin stood in the cold in Westwood for the unveiling of a new memorial to local soldiers lost overseas, including her son Michael, one of the 241 servicemen killed in the bombing of the US Marine barracks in Lebanon in 1983.

Devlin is among 30 Massachusetts relatives of victims of the Beirut attack who have been fighting for more than a decade to get compensation for what many consider the first major terrorist attack against the United States. After a federal judge ruled in 2007 that Iran was liable for $2.65 billion in damages to be shared by 150 families seeking restitution, they believed they were on the cusp of victory.

But now, the Obama administration is going to court to try to block payments from Iranian assets that the families’ lawyers want seized, contending that it would jeopardize sensitive negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program and establish a potentially damaging precedent.

Yeah, he’s right. It would definitely “jeopardize sensitive negotiations,” and those negotiations might actually stall. Or even worse, we might actually have to start enforcing UN resolutions.

The Justice Department declined to comment further on the administration’s position, but as the congressional analysis stated, “The issue has pitted the compensation of victims of terrorism against US foreign policy goals and some business interests.’’

Here’s some more moral building in the Obama military…

FoxNews is reporting that three Navy SEALs are being charged with assault in the capture of one the FBI’s most wanted terrorists. Ahmed Hashim Abed is the supposed “mastermind of the murder and mutilation of four Blackwater USA security guards in Fallujah in 2004.”

The three SEALs will be arraigned separately on Dec. 7. Another three SEALs — two officers and an enlisted sailor — have been identified by investigators as witnesses but have not been charged.

FoxNews.com obtained the official handwritten statement from one of the three witnesses given on Sept. 3, hours after Abed was captured and still being held at the SEAL base at Camp Baharia. He was later taken to a cell in the U.S.-operated Green Zone in Baghdad.

The SEAL told investigators he had showered after the mission, gone to the kitchen and then decided to look in on the detainee.

“I gave the detainee a glance over and then left,” the SEAL wrote. “I did not notice anything wrong with the detainee and he appeared in good health.”

Lt. Col. Holly Silkman, spokeswoman for the special operations component of U.S. Central Command, confirmed Tuesday to FoxNews.com that three SEALs have been charged in connection with the capture of a detainee. She said their court martial is scheduled for January.

United States Central Command declined to discuss the detainee, but a legal source told FoxNews.com that the detainee was turned over to Iraqi authorities, to whom he made the abuse complaints. He was then returned to American custody. The SEAL leader reported the charge up the chain of command, and an investigation ensued.

Okay so let me get this strait. A Navy SEAL team monitors this guy for weeks; they plan, execute, and succeed in an insanely dangerous mission. After the target is captured, he’s turned over to the Iraqis, where he whines about a bloody lip. And now three of those SEALs have been charged with dereliction of duty?!

They should have left him laying in the sand.

Joseph “Newt” Williford, 1929-2009

My grandfather, the son of an eastern NC tobacco sharecropper, was a gruff old man with a big heart. He loved bluegrass music, especially when he was picking on his guitar or banjo; he loved NC State athletics, the Atlanta Braves, and NASCAR; he never turned down a pig pickin’ or a fish fry. Early on I remember his fondness for golf, but in his retirement he was more often found on the Triple S pier (Atlantic Beach, NC) with a rod and reel. He was a typical southern blue dog, patriotic, conservative about life, conservative about his wallet, too young to serve in WWII, a new father in Korea, an active Free Mason and a dedicated church member.

As the years passed, moving away, then moving back, visits were often sporadic and short. As a young adult, I was fortunate enough to spend a lot of time with him while I was at ECU, and as I moved on, started a family, started to get busy, again the visits got sporadic and short. Then last summer we became neighbors, a mere 20 minute drive. He played that guitar for my boys; he bounced his great-granddaughter on his knee; we shared some good food – mostly BBQ. The last 18 months were some of the best for him, I think. He and I grew quite close, talking often about politics, sports, family, food, cars, history and life in general.

Three months ago, the Lord started calling the old man home. Like all of us, he fought for a while, but soon realized it was time. I have no doubt he’s already loved on his mom and dad, thrown a hook in that great ocean in the sky, and probably even sank a long putt on some majestic par 4. He loved to talk, and now he’s got an eternity to share.

He was loved, he will be missed.

Yesterday, Watchdog.com broke the story about numerous bogus claims on the federal site Recovery.com, 30 new or saved jobs in Arizona’s 15th district; 25 jobs saved or created in Connecticut’s 42nd district, and the list can go on.

Today, Watchdog.com has more information.

According to data retrieved from Recovery.gov, nearly $6.4 billion was used to “create or save” just under 30,000 jobs in these [440] phantom congressional districts–almost $225,000 per job. The web site operates on an $84 million budget and is tasked with monitoring the distribution of the $787 billion stimulus package passed by Congress–which, for the record, counts 435 members–in early 2009.

To see a list of the 440 bogus districts, click here.

The site’s monitors, however, are not too savvy about America’s political or geographic landscape. More than $2 million was given to the 99th District of North Dakota, a state which has only one congressional district. In order to qualify for 99 districts, North Dakota would have to have a population of about 60 million people, almost 24 million more people than California…

South Carolina’s 7th took the cake, garnering more than $27 million in stimulus funds, despite being eliminated in 1930. And Virginia’s 12th District may have been written off at the start of the Civil War, but it must carry some sentimental value in Old Dominion–it received more than $2 million, according to recovery.gov…

The stimulus helped to create 35 congressional districts in Washington D.C. and the four American territories, all of which have no congressional districts. These areas received $5 of the $6.4 billion distributed to the non-existent districts…

Vice President Joe Biden admitted that the administration’s statistics were flawed after an Associated Press study revealed several instances of exaggerated and outright false job creation. The vice president acknowledged that “further updates and corrections are going to be needed.”

Either, the editors of Recovery.com think we’re all morons, or they are incredibly lazy. I’m thinking it’s probably both; there has apparently been no attempt to proof the site, at all.

Duane Lester, at All American Blogger, asks a good question. Given all this, do you want to depend on the government for a health recovery(.com)?

Okay, so I missed this over the weekend; Saturday was my wedding anniversary (Renae- I love you more than you could possibly imagine.), and yesterday was Sunday, which is always a busy day for me. Anyway, enough excuses.

RedState, and a few others has this. Apparently, our illustrious leader, in his reckless apathy for history and feelings at home, bowed to the Emperor of Japan. Now, before you say, “wait, Japan is a democracy,” I know Japan is a democracy; it still has an emperor, kind of like the UK still has a queen; Obama bowed to her too. But, the difference here though, is that the current Japanese Emperor is the son of Hirohito. Lest you’ve forgotten, here’s a quick history on Hirohito.

7 December 1941: Over 2,400 killed and over 2,000 others wounded in the attack on Pearl Harbor.

This would be like a president 60 years from now, bowing to the son of Osama Bin Laden.

Pathetic.

My apologies to the nearly 109,000 who died fighting in the Pacific theater, and to the other 16 million men and women who served during WWII.

Eric Holder’s decision to try Khalid Sheik Mohamed in civilian court in NYC is not about justice; it’s about interrogation and the CIA.

I am not a lawyer, but I’ve watched enough Law & Order to get an idea on how things work, things like discovery – and through the discovery process, the prosecution will be obligated to disclose the nature of KSM’s confession. The defense then will be allowed to call “expert” witnesses to clarify, verify, and vilify the CIA for the measures taken to secure that confession, and most of it, if not all of it, will become public record.

When Obama was asked about the trial this morning, he said “I am absolutely convinced that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will be subjected to the most exacting demands of justice.”

Justice?! Are you kidding me! Does anyone honestly think there are twelve objective people in that jury pool? This is so obviously political – the case is slam dunk in NYC, guarantee a conviction, and, at the same time, expose all the intelligence and military dirty laundry.

Nicholas Ballasy over at CNSNews has posted a great article quoting Daniel Akaka saying he’s not aware of the Constitution giving Congress the right to include the individual mandate. Go ahead pick up your jaw; now, before you assume the pride of the Aloha state has flipped his liberal lid, Akaka also says the lack of such authority doesn’t matter. But, then again what Constitutional authority or lack thereof has ever really mattered to these folks anyway?

Regardless, it’s a good piece revealing the state of mind of those supporting ObamaCare and the individual mandate.

When CNSNews.com asked whether the Constitution gives Congress the authority to make Americans buy health insurance, Sen. Akaka said: “I’m not aware of that; let me put it that way. But what we’re trying to do is to provide for people who have needs, and that’s where the accessibility comes in, and one of the goals that we’re trying to present here is to make it accessible.”

Oh, so it’s about accessibility. Using that defense, Congress should make everyone who is eligible by a car, so those who can’t (or won’t) drive, can ride the bus. I know, it doesn’t make sense to me either

When asked if there was a specific part of the Constitution that gives Congress the authority to make people buy health insurance, Akaka said: “Not in particular with health insurance. It’s not covered in that respect. But in ways to help citizens in our country to live a good life, let me say it that way, is what we’re trying to do, and in this case, we’re trying to help them with their health.”.

Wait, what, so it’s about health then. Okay, so everyone should be forced to buy a gym membership, so those who don’t want to work out, can go sit in the sauna at the Y. Again, doesn’t make sense to me either.

“It’s an idea of making it possible for people and this is what it’s all about,” he said. “I don’t look upon that as a penalty but as a way of getting help with health insurance.”

Um, uh, hmmm, what?

In 1994, when Congress was considering a universal health care plan proposed by then-President Clinton that included a mandate that all individuals purchase health insurance, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) studied the issue and discovered that the federal government had never in the history of the United States mandated that individuals purchase any good or service.

“A mandate requiring all individuals to purchase health insurance would be an unprecedented form of federal action,” said the CBO. “The government has never required people to buy any good or service as a condition of lawful residence in the United States.”

In an analysis published this July, the CBO said that an attempt to justify a mandate that people buy health insurance by using the Commerce Clause—which gives Congress the power to regulate commerce “among the several states”—raises a “novel issue.”

Not a “novel issue,” a Constitutional issue.

See the whole interview here.

Townhall.com is reporting that Obama has ordered a full review of all the intelligence related to the Nidal Hasan, and is specifically asking the question if that information was properly disseminated and thoroughly checked out.

Obama also ordered the preservation of the intelligence. Members of Congress, particularly Michigan Rep. Peter Hoekstra, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, have called for a full examination of what agencies knew about Hasan’s contacts with a radical imam and others of concern to the U.S., and what they did with the information.

Hmmm, I can’t help think this a “CYA” response to questions Hoekstra raised about Hasan’s finances. This guy was making close to $90k/year, and he was living in a $300/mo apartment on Ramen Noodles and Beenie Weenies (beef of course). Where was the money going?

The FBI confirmed this week that the U.S. government knew about 10 to 20 e-mails between Hasan and a radical imam beginning in December 2008.

It think it pretty obvious if it was properly disseminated, the answer to the last question above is, No!

Remember when Volkswagen meant a small, affordable, rather unattractive import car? Most people were so familiar with the automobile they just called it “Bug.” There was absolutely no doubt in anyone’s mind as to what was meant by Volkswagen. A direct corollary was that at one time Volkswagen enjoyed over 60% market share for import autos in the US. That is a whopping percentage!

Now-a-days Volkswagen means nearly anything automotive as the company offers a full line of very nice cars. What about the market share numbers? Well…let’s just say ambiguity has its drawbacks.

The above is a great illustration for the current state of the GOP.

Ronald Reagan was and is a figure who elicits strong feelings both positive and negative. Because he was unambiguous regarding his convictions, and because he clearly communicated conservative principles, Reagan engendered great loyalty among the like minded. But he did more than that; President Reagan also won over large numbers of people who were dissatisfied with the liberal direction of the nation but had never been introduced to a clear, concise argument of our founding principles of government. I became a Republican as a direct consequence of thoughtful deliberation and comparison of Liberal verses Conservative ideology and the outcomes of each.

Oh, and by the way, let us not forget Reagan’s “market share” on Election Day 1980 and 1984. The term landslide does not even come close to describing what happened. There was no doubt as to what Mr. Reagan stood for and no doubt that the nation stood with him.

But ever since President Reagan left office the Republican Party has been walking away from the conservative ideas so persuasive to me and millions of others. And lest you think this a mere nostalgia piece praising Reagan let me point out the man had his failings. Yet it is abundantly clear that the areas of failure were when he did not live out conservative principles. The point is this:

No one really knows what it means to be a Republican anymore! And, as we have already established, ambiguity has its drawbacks. The last elections should teach us that much at least!

A final thought for any GOP leadership out there. Being “Fiscally Conservative” is like three day old fish…it stinks! More and more it sounds like a cloak to hide behind, an effort to straddle the fence and not offend anyone. A list of the presidential candidates you have fielded demonstrates clearly that the lessons of Ronald Reagan have been lost on you. Please, if you don’t believe in personal liberty and personal responsibility just admit it. We will find a party that does.

But if the party of Reagan is to become a thing of the past then let us go down fighting for our constitutional liberty rather than just fade away into meaninglessness. God forbid that “this is the way that liberty ends, not with a bang but with a whimper.”