A Day of Remembrance

There are only 10 shopping days left to buy a flag before September 11 if you don't already have one. Then, please show your colors all day on September 11 just like we all did for months after September 11, 2001.

Remember when all flag manufacturers were out of flags across the USA and you had to put your name on a long waiting list to get a large, sewn one? Well, they are readily available now, and I challenge each reader to get a flag or get it out of the attic and fly it for our troops, our neighbors, our children, and our enemies. Let's remind ourselves and the rest of the world that we stand for individual freedom and responsibility. We will not be enslaved and we will continue to help other countries escape slavery because "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

We can provide no better service to our country at this time.

*Rule One Alert!

Not only while Obama and the Congressional Clowns are on vacation, but in the middle of wall to wall coverage of the Kennedy funeral, word about a revised bill giving the president authority to shut down the public's access to the Internet emerged. And surprise, surprise, no one is available for explanations or comments. And the public relations experts believe that between August 28 and September 8, everyone will forget about the bombshell.

I think they're wrong.

Declan McCullough of CNET lifts the veil on S.773, the bill from Jay Rockefeller's office that grants the President authority to shut down all private access to the Internet during an emergency. No definition of emergency is given and few parameters for its execution are listed. It sounds like one more assault on our privacy and our freedom. Welcome your senators back to the office by having a strongly worded letter waiting for them when they return to the office in September. Then we'll start on emails and phone calls.

*Rule One refers to methods that media personnel use to manipulate public reaction to news.

Democrat Astro Turf

Kyle-Anne Shiver details some thuggery of recent months that tries to pass for political activism in today's column at American Thinker. No wonder that *Democrats immediately accuse the Republicans of astro turfing the town hall meetings and tea parties. They have to recruit attendees (see jobs listings at places like Craig's list), bus the demonstrators to selected locations (note descriptions of bystanders at said meetings), and then pay people (or at least furnish tee shirts, signs, and more) to demonstrate. And according to Rush Limbaugh, they even recruited union members to visibly mourn along the route and at the library for Ted Kennedy's memorial yesterday.

The Clowns just can't quite comprehend large numbers of people making their own signs, doing their own research, and paying their own way to attend political demonstrations without coercion or visible rewards. They can't imagine the intense love for country and the constitution that most Americans have, because all they care about is power. To them patriotism is perfunctory at best.

*Many Republicans think the same things about patriotic demonstrators, but since the media tends to ignore them, no one knows their assessment.

Good News!

On September 3, the chaplain and ten Episcopal nuns of the Society of All Saints’ Sisters of the Poor in Maryland will be received into the Catholic Church. How fitting that they chose the feast day of St. Gregory the Great for the occasion. Pope Gregory first attempted to go to Britain himself in order to convert the pagan Angles to Christianity. He sent Augustine (now known as St. Augustine of Canterbury) there on an evangelistic mission after he was not allowed to go himself. All Christians of Anglo-Saxon descent owe him a debt of gratitude.

Their chaplain, Fr. Warren Tanghe is the former rector of Church of Our Saviour in Atlanta where my two younger children and I attended. He graciously encouraged me to become a Catholic when I talked with him about my dissatisfaction with the Episcopal Church back in 1999. I've been delighted with my decision and now I am delighted that he has joined me and other ex-parishioners on this side of the Tiber.

Welcome home to you and the nuns!

Insuring Early Death

In today's Wall St. Journal, Betsy McCaughey reveals chilling information about Dr. Exekiel Emmanuel, Rahm's brother.

1. Currently he is both health-policy adviser at the Office of Management and Budget and a member of the Federal Council on Comparative Effectiveness Research. Therefore he plays a major role in shaping Obamacare.
2. He believes that health care should serve society's needs, whatever that is, not the patients' needs.
3. He proposes changing medical ethics to achieve savings in health care costs and admits that Obama's ideas about improved record keeping and preventative medicine are practically worthless.
4. Our big problem, according to medical ethicist Emmanuel, is relying on the Hippocratic Oath too much.
5. He wants the majority of health care dollars to serve the people from around age 10 to age 50, with peak expenditures between 20 and 40. Infants would receive the least amount of help and from 50 on, there would be a precipitous decline in availability of medical assistance.

His idea is to spend the most health care dollars for the age group that has the least need for medical care, while almost insuring early death for the weakest among us -- the babies and older people.

Of course such a program would result in great savings in medical expenses, but it's barbaric. No wonder Congressional Clowns refuse to apply the "reform" to themselves and their own families.

No Rest for The Weary, III

Several political junkies believe the Democrats and the bureaucrats beholden to them are exaggerating the dangers from H1N1 in order to create a crisis that will frighten people into accepting Obama's health care "reform" more readily. They also foresee an attempt to use public sentiment over unfortunate death of Sen. Ted Kennedy to persuade
Congressional Clowns to pass a bill that Kennedy would have been proud of.

Of course, outsiders have no idea what's going on behind closed doors in the back halls of Washington, DC, but do not believe for one minute that this administration and other progressives have given up on the plan for the federal government to insert itself even more completely into our health care system.

And do not succumb to the siren song that the proponents of Obamacare care for the little people. Nothing in any of the bills or plans made known so far have helpful solutions for the people. Instead they are filled with stringent, needless regulations and more mandates that will ultimately kill the health care we all enjoy now -- even those of us without insurance. The health care "reform" being considered now is all about control, not compassion.

The problems we have now with insurance and affordability are the direct result of bumbling Congressional interference and giving them more latitude is going to make it worse, not better. Get revved up the coming battles when Congressional
Clowns return to Washington by reviewing all the posts on socialized medicine.

The Inside Scoop

The following is an unedited email from a friend in Montana who attended the Obama "Town Hall" in Bozeman. I find it informative and much more revealing than anything I've seen in the mass media. If you agree, please send it on.

Hello All,

By now you have probably heard that President Obama came to Montana last Friday. However, there are many things that the major news has not covered. I feel that since Joe and I live here and we were at the airport on Friday I should share some facts with you. Whatever you decide to do with the information is up to you. If you chose to share this email with others I do ask that you DELETE my email address before you forward this on.

On Wednesday, August 5th it was announced locally that the President would be coming here. There are many groups here that are against his healthcare and huge spending so those groups began talking and deciding on what they were going to do. The White House would not release ANY details other than the date.

On about Tuesday Joe found out that they would be holding the “Town Hall” at the airport. (This is only because Joe knows EVERYONE at the airport).

Our airport is actually located outside of Belgrade (tiny town) in a very remote location. Nothing is around there. They chose to use a hangar that is the most remotely located hangar. You could not pick a more remote location, and you can not get to it easily. It is totally secluded from the public.

FYI: We have many areas in Belgrade and Bozeman which could have held a large amount of folks with sufficient parking. (gymnasiums/auditoriums). All of which have chairs and tables, and would not have to be SHIPPED IN!! $$$$$

During the week, cargo by the TONS was being shipped in constantly. Airport employees could not believe how it just kept coming. Though it was our President coming several expressed how excessive it was, especially during a recession. $$$$$

Late Tuesday/early Wednesday the 12th, they said that tickets would be handed out on Thursday 9am at two locations and the president would be arriving around 12:30 Friday.

Thursday morning about 600 tickets were passed out. However, 1500 were printed at a Local printing shop per White House request. Hmmmm……900 tickets just DISAPPEARED.

This same morning someone called into the radio from the local UPS branch and said that THOUSANDS of Dollars of Lobster were shipped in for Obama. Montana has some of the best beef in the nation!!! And it would have been really wonderful to help out the local economy. Anyone heard of the Recession?? Just think…with all of the traveling the White House is doing. $$$$$ One can only imagine what else we are paying for.

On Friday Joe and I got out to the airport about 10:45am. The groups that wanted to protest Obama’s spending and healthcare had gotten a permit to protest and that area was roped off. But that was not to be. A large bus carrying SEIU (Service Employees International Union) members drove up onto the area (illegal)and unloaded right there.(SURPRISE, SURPRISE) It was quite a commotion and there were specifically 2 SEIU men trying to make trouble and start a fight. Police did get involved and arrested the one man but they said they did not have the manpower to remove the SEIU crowd. (LET'S SEE, THE PRESIDENT IS IN TOWN BUT THERE IS NOT ENOUGH POLICE MANPOWER TO CONTROL A BUS LOAD OF PROTESTORS ?)

The SEIU crowd was very organized and young. About 99% were under the age of 30 and they were not locals! They had bullhorns (TO DROWN OUT THE OPPOSITION) and PROFESSIONALLY made signs. (THE COMMUNITY ORGANIZER-IN-CHIEF KNOWN HOW TO PROTEST.)Some even wore preprinted T-shirts. Oh, and Planned Parenthood folks were with them…..professing abortion rights with their T-shirts and preprinted signs. (BTW, all these folks did have a permit to protest in ANOTHER area)

Those against healthcare/spending moved away from the SEIU crowd to avoid confrontation. They were orderly and respectful. Even though SEIU kept coming over and walking through, continuing to be very intimidating and aggressive at the direction of the one SEIU man.

So we had Montana folks from ALL OVER the state with their homemade signs and their DOGS with homemade signs. We had cowboys, nurses, doctors you name it. There was even a guy from Texas who had been driving through. He found out about the occasion, went to the store, made a sign, and came to protest.

If you are wondering about the press…..Well, all of the major networks were over by that remote hangar I mentioned. They were conveniently parked on the other side of the buildings FAR away. None of these crowds were even visible to them. I have my doubts that they knew anything about the crowds.

We did have some local news media around us from this state and Idaho.

Speaking of the local media…they were invited. However, all questions were to be turned into the White House in advance of the event. Wouldn’t want anyone to have to think off the top of their head.

It was very obvious that it was meant to be totally controlled by the White House. Everything was orchestrated down to the last detail to make it appear that Montana is just crazy for Obama and government healthcare.

Even those people that talked about their insurance woes……..the White House called our local HRDC (Human Resource and Development Committee) and asked for names. Then the White House asked those folks to come.

Smoke and mirrors…EVERYTHING was staged!!!!!!!!!!!

I am very dismayed about what I learned about our current White House. The amount of control and manipulation was unbelievable. I felt I was not living in the United States of America, more like the USSR!! I was physically nauseous. Joe and I have been around when Presidents or Heads of State visit. It has NEVER been like this. I am truly very frightened for our country. America needs your prayers and your voices. If you care about our country please get involved. Know the issues. And let Congress hear your voices again and again!! If they are willing to put forth so much effort to BULLY a small town one can only imagine what is going on in Washington DC. Scary!!

JOE'S WIFE

Bozeman, Montana

Food Costs Going Up?

I don't ever remember paying more than $1.00 per avocado in my many years of buying groceries. But this week, the lowest price I've found is $1.12, with much higher prices at several grocery chains. According to some prognosticators, this may be a portent for the near future all over the US.

But it's not just avocados. Sugar, sorghum, corn, and wheat crops have been bad due to drought conditions or bad weather in several states, especially *California and Texas, which will cause both price increases and shortages in those commodities and everything that either eats them or is made from them. There may be a temporary decrease in the price of beef as ranchers sell off their herds early, but expect higher prices down the road.

Consider buying and storing while it's relatively easy and cheap.

*Remember that at least part of the problem in California lies with the EPA which is redirecting the resevoir water to save the smelts instead of saving the crops for the people.

Deficit Estimate and Rule One

Friday evening, the Obama administration released the news bomb that its deficit estimate had increased from $7,000,000,000,000 to $9,000,000,000,000. Of course, they hoped that no one would notice since it was done just before the weekend and hoped that the mass media would consider it old news by Monday and generally ignore it. Since it is an estimate by the administration for ten years, one almost knows that it's a lowball; the reality will probably be much worse.

Those of you who've been long time readers know Rule One refers to various ways that politicians manipulate news.

Something New under The Sun

Or rather, there is something new on the Internet -- political entertainment. Apparently the first one, Moving Numbers, will be a sit com about getting someone elected to the Senate. Waiting in the wings are series called: Scoops,a reality based show with amateur journalists; Look Who's Coming to Dinner, featuring conversations of insiders in DC restaurants; and My America, pairing liberals and conservatives introducing each other to the pastimes and pleasures of their America. Bookmark Zolitics.com and return to it later in the fall.

Moving Numbers "Idiot" - Trailer 1 from Zolitics on Vimeo.

Obama Believes in Offshore Oil Drilling

The only trouble is, he wants it for Brazil, not the US, and he's putting our money where his mouth is to the tune of $2,000,000,000 (and possibly even more in the future) in US loans. Too bad he didn't get our whole message. We had said, "Drill here. Drill now," but he only heard the drill now part. So he is paying Brazilians to do the very thing he refuses to allow our own businesses to do. Hot Air first had the news a couple of days ago.

Strangely enough, last Friday, George Soros positioned himself to benefit from Brazil's Petrobras dividends days before the announcement of US aid was made public, causing an increase in the value of said dividends. Of course, it's mere coincidence. . .

Green Jobs Czar vs Glenn Beck

Van Jones, a black activist who has been appointed Obama’s Green Jobs Czar, gained his political experience as a radical environmentalist. He bragged in a 2005 interview that he was using environmentalism to fight for racial and class justice. He was so angered by the Rodney King riots of 1992 that he became a communist. Since then he has worked with /or founded a number of radical groups:
• STORM – or Standing Together to Organize a Revolutionary Movement, primarily black group advocating “third world Marxism”
• The Apollo Alliance – a coalition of labor, business, community leaders, and environmental groups favoring a “green” revolution
• Green for All – an activist environmental organization with mostly black membership
• Colors of Change – an activist group organized to "strengthen Black America's political voice"

Colors of Change is the group that persuaded many advertisers to withdraw their ads from Glenn Beck’s popular television show on Fox News. The show has done several segments recently that were critical of both President Obama and Van Jones.

Has the Chicago way has moved to DC?

LOL!

Pajamas Media has a video about Obama's advertising brand that is well worth watching. Not many people have mentioned it, but Obama has frequently replaced the presidential seal (reserved for only 43 people in our history) with the signature O emblem from his campaign. This has troubling implications: Obama is more important than the office, for one. Another, more sinister inference would be the dissolution of the office of president and the ascendency of The One. If you go here to see it, you'll understand the title of this blog post. Let the LOL! begin.

The Las Vegas Way

Natives of Las Vegas have found a new way to "beat" upside down mortages and bank foreclosures. Donald Marron discusses how a few of them have managed to pocket some extra cash in the process, even if the methods used are not what you would discuss with your Sunday School teacher.

Chuck's New Dirty Secret

Chuck Norris has revealed another secret about ObamaCare -- it's really Ezekiel Emanuel Care. Norris correlates the administration's messages and activities with Emanuel's book, Health Care, Guaranteed. The rush to pass the legislation, the dearth of details, the insistence on remaking health care rather than correcting a few loose ends, the death panels, ending Medicare, and all the other moves to date come straight from the Emanuel playbook. Read the article to get all of the details.

Ezekiel Emanuel, Obama's chief medical advisor, knows how to "play the Chicago way" just like his brother, Rahm. He's been labeled both the Health Czar and the Death Czar.

Still No Rest for The Weary

Both Drudge and the Wall Street Journal recently suggested that Obama and his supporters were running up the white flag on health care "reform." But, please do not rest on your laurels.

They're probably just trying to tone down the town hall meetings to give their loyal Congressional Clowns a break from the bad publicity.
1. Obama has *lied repeatedly when speaking in favor of the "reform," so we now know that we can not trust him to stand by his word.
2. It does not matter whether the government provides the health insurance or merely increases its control and regulations, the effect will be the same on the people.
3. They have already planned to use *reconciliation to pass health care reform if they do not have a filibuster proof (60 votes) margin.
4. The Progressives in US government have been lusting for socialized medicine for decades. Now, at last they have it within their grasp and they're not about to just give up. If absolutely necessary, they'll just tuck elements of their version of "reform" into other bills. For example, the "death panels" and other elements of increased health care control are already in the "stimulus" bill. I wrote about that in February.

So keep up the protests. Keeping telling your Clowns how much you detest every proposal so far. And, if you're not yet a senior citizen, get your mother and father to protest with you. Dick Morris thinks that's the only group with enough clout to slow down the Democrats.


*For example: You can keep your insurance. You can stay with your doctor. More preventive care will cut costs. All proposed legislation will be posted on the Internet for three days before voting and signing. I will not have any ex-lobbyists in my administration. My administration will be transparent.

Defend Your Health Care

Betsy McCaughey has an important website that every patriot should book mark -- defendyourhealthcare.us. In it, she has sifted through the bills and interpreted them for those of us who have trouble with the Legalese language, especially when Congressional Clowns intentionally made it deceptive. You will find specifics there that you can depend on. McCaughey has been involved in the political battles over the healthcare industry since the Clinton administration. You can also sign up there for free email updates.

Is The Sky Falling?

According to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, it is. Speaking to the Global Economic Forum in Incheon, North Korea conference last week, he said, “We have just four months. Four months to secure the future of our planet.”

Sounding even more panicky than Al Gore, he spoke of both droughts and floods occurring because of Global Warming, causing food shortages, malnutrition, social unrest, and death. Fortunately, he believes there is a solution.

The simple solution for avoiding total catastrophe is for wealthy nations to allocate new money for environmental concerns to the UN at the Copenhagen Conference in December, approximately four months from now.

On the other hand, lots and lots of money has already funded our EPA which, in turn, is creating its own drought in the San Joaquin Valley. Crops and trees wither in the sun, farmers abandon their land, crop workers have no crops to maintain or pick, and soon grocery prices will rise as America loses the produce we’ve come to depend on.

The media frequently repeats the state officials’ claim California has experienced a three-year drought, although the state’s Department of Water Resources reports that state reservoirs have received 80 to 95% of the yearly rain.

Instead of allotting water from the reservoirs to the farms to protect food for human beings, the Environmental Protection Agency is protecting a three-inch smelt. Thus, the water is diverted to San Francisco bay and out to the Pacific Ocean. This spring, the official explanation changed to protecting whales because defending smelts makes for bad publicity.

And so in a state with reservoir capacity to irrigate 4,000,000 acres, a dust bowl is developing and one town now suffers from 40% unemployment and long bread lines.

But if we just sent more money to Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, and maybe, a few extra dollars to the EPA, this problem would be solved.

On the other hand, when it comes to global warming, I’ve always wondered why everyone was so excited. If indeed, the summers in Atlanta ever get so hot that Yankees retire in Pennsylvania, we’d all just move North a couple of hundred miles. The US might lose Florida, but think of all the acreage in the Northwest Territories now open to farming. I’m sure our Canadian cousins would welcome us.

Apparently, some people agree with me. Minnesotans for Global Warming have established a website, www.m4gw.com, and written a Global Warming Anthem. Watch the video and sing along.

Pelosi's Signal

Princess Pelosi signaled "her" crowd a couple of weeks ago that Health Care "Reform" protesters were seen carrying swastikas at town hall meetings. While the conservative masses scratched their heads in disbelief because the few swastikas seen had lines drawn through them indicating "no", the presstitutes and the politicians knew which plays were coming up.

Since then the people who are protesting more government control, i.e. socialism, have repeatedly been labeled as Nazi's (the National Socialist party headed by Hitler). Posters of Obama with a Hitler moustache have appeared on the scene, giving Obama supporters more ammunition for disparaging any distaste for Obamacare. And surprise, surprise, a few days after Rep. David Scott's *disastrous town hall meeting hit the national news, a black swastika was painted on a sign in front of his office. And, since both Scott and Obama are black, Nazi symbols and allusions have morphed into racist allusions.

Kyle Ann Shriver reminds us this morning that such activity is a favorite trick from Saul Alinksy's playbook. Her article quotes from a biography of Alinsky:

"...in the spring of 1972, at Tulane University...students asked Alinsky to help plan a protest of a scheduled speech by George H. W. Bush, then U.S. representative to the United Nations - a speech likely to include a defense of the Nixon administration's Vietnam War policies. The students told Alinsky they were thinking about picketing or disrupting Bush's address. That's the wrong approach, he rejoined, not very creative - and besides causing a disruption might get them thrown out of school. He told them, instead, to go to hear the speech dressed as members of the Ku Klux Klan, and whenever Bush said something in defense of the Vietnam War, they should cheer and wave placards reading, ‘The KKK supports Bush.' And that is what they did, with very successful, attention-getting results."

*Scott was filmed shouting down a town hall attendee claiming that he was not from his district and that if he wished to discuss health care, he should call his office for an appointment. Those who fact checked, discovered that the protester, a physician, was from Scott's district and had tried to call him several times, but never could get an appointment. Most national news stories have omitted these salient facts, just as they ignored the "Bushitler" signs and pictures.

Conspiracy?

I would have posted sooner, but Google had a problem and I couldn't access the site. Let's see, in the last week I've had trouble with my computer, with back-ups, with the power coming into my house, and with Google. It's a good thing I'm not paranoid. ;-)