Happy 101st Birthday President Reagan: But Today There are ‘Two Visions’

February 6, 2012 | Filed Under Americans For Prosperity, Ronald Reagan, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

(Courtesy of Americans for Prosperity)

Washington, DC – Today Americans for Prosperity, the nation’s premier advocate for economic freedom, released a very special “Happy Birthday” message to honor President Ronald Reagan on his 101st birthday. The 60-second television spot contrasts Reagan’s optimism, prosperity, and belief in freedom with the broken promises and class-warfare rhetoric of President Obama.

Americans for Prosperity President Tim Phillips said, “On Reagan’s birthday, I can’t help but miss the President more than ever. His vision for America contrasts so sharply with the big-government waste and cronyism that will be the legacy of the Obama Administration.”

Called “Two Visions,” the ad compares and contrasts quotes from the two presidents, showing the stark difference in their view of what America should be.

“It’s important to remind ourselves what a terrific difference a great leader can make in this country,” Phillips continued. “President Reagan knew that free market policies would result in millions of new American jobs, exploding personal incomes, with broad-based prosperity and optimism for our nation. However President Obama’s approach is just the opposite – more taxes, more government, and job killing regulations – all in pursuit of his own liberal ideology.”

The ad culminates with the message: Happy Birthday, President Reagan. We miss your optimism, your love of America, and your belief in the power of freedom. The ad release coincides with social media advertising and grassroots action.

The New American Elite

February 6, 2012 | Filed Under Alan Caruba, Anti-Americanism, Book Reviews, Budget, Business, Congress, Conservatives, Democracy, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Elections, Ethics, Free Trade, GOP, Government, Government, Corruption, House of Representatives, Jobs, Liberals, President, Republicans, Socialism, Taxes, WWII | No Comments

-By Alan Caruba

The only constant in the life of individuals and nations is change. Since the beginning of the last century, the process or rate of change has accelerated with the invention and availability of a myriad of machines, technologies that have altered the lifestyle of Americans as well as of millions around the world.

Let me put it in personal terms. When I was born in the late 1930s, my Mother washed the family laundry by hand and hung it out to dry on sunny days or in the basement of our home if it was raining. We were not poor. We were middle class. My Father was a Certified Public Accountant and we lived in a spacious suburban home in an upscale New Jersey community. Mass produced washers and dryers would arrive after the end of World War Two.

The differences between lower economic classes, the middle class, and upper classes were well defined back then. All, however, generally held the same values regarding societal institutions such as marriage, religion, national pride. Those values have eroded since the 1960s and Charles Murray, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, whose new book, “Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010” ($27.00, Crown Forum) tells you how and why.
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Dear Romneyites, Reagan Was NOT an Abortion Supporter!

February 1, 2012 | Filed Under Abortion, Elections, GOP, Mitt Romney, President, Republicans, Ronald Reagan, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

One of the things that many Romney supporters are using to explain away their decision to ignore Romney’s many flip flops is Ronald Reagan’s one-time support for abortion and his signing of the Therapeutic Abortion Act as governor of California in 1967. But this comparison is a non sequitur. Reagan’s support of that abortion bill and his subsequent turn against it is less like a flip flop than Romney’s about face on the issue. In fact, a review of the two men’s record on abortion makes Romney look worse for the effort, not at all “just like Reagan.”

The first thing to realize about Reagan’s 1967 signing of the California abortion bill was that the whole national debate on abortion was, if you will, in its infancy. It was then not much of a national issue. The arguments for and against abortion had not crystallized into the well-worn positions we now know so well. After all, Roe v Wade wasn’t to catapult the issue to national prominence until 1973.

When this bill came before him in 1967, Reagan was admittedly unsure of what to do with the thing. He dithered for a long time before finally signing the bill because he simply had never given much thought to the issue. He quickly regretted placing his signature on the bill and firmly decided that hence forth he would be pro-life. He never supported an outright pro-abortion measure again.
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The U.S. is on a Suicide Watch

January 22, 2012 | Filed Under Alan Caruba, Budget, Business, Capitalism, Cold War, Communism, Democrats/Leftists, Ethics, Free Trade, Government, Liberals, President, Socialism, Taxes | No Comments

-By Alan Caruba

In 1991, the Soviet Union, arguably the greatest experiment in Communism, collapsed. After Mao Zedong died in 1976, his successors moved to shift its Communist economy to one that embraced Capitalism while retaining centralized government control.

Following World War Two, the recovering nations of Europe were rescued from Communism by the Marshall Plan, but adopted Communism-Light in the form of Socialism. The U.S. was already headed in that direction, creating programs that we now call “entitlements.” For most of the nation’s history, such “entitlements” did not exist.

What binds together the financial problems of the West is the common thread of infantile behavior and thought. One might call it wishful thinking. Instead of encouraging people to provide for old age and possible illness, politicians decided to turn government into Big Daddy, the eternal source of money for everything.

Need to go to college, start a business, or plan for retirement? Government would be there to help. All this ignored the need to actually pay for these programs. In the case of Social Security Congress began to dip into its funding to pay for other programs! This is what children do.
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Come On, People! Poor Men Do Not Become President

January 18, 2012 | Filed Under Abraham Lincoln, Anti-Americanism, Campaign Finance, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Elections, Ethics, Founders, Franklin Deleno Roosevelt, GOP, Government, History, Liberals, President, Warner Todd Huston | 2 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

I have to say, I am getting a bit sick and tired of this nonsensical lament about how rotten it is that those running for president are “rich” people. Stop it right now, America. The fact is that we’ve never really had a poor man as president so talking about it as if it is news that rich people often seek the presidency is stupid. Not only that, but today it is impossible for a poor or even middle class man to run for president anyway, so get this populist silliness out of your minds right this instant.

The latest in this onslaught of populist foolishness is the New York Times (unsurprisingly) with an article full of serious tones on how hard it is going to be for two Harvard educated, Richie-Riches like Obama and Romney to win over those “blue collar Americans.”

“Both are Harvard-educated millionaires,” The Times begins sonorously. “Both have been criticized as elitist and technocratic. Both have struggled to handle the populist anger coursing through politics.”

Of course, much of that anger is fostered by the Old Media constantly harping on that “anger” by writing daily stories indulging themes of class warfare as if it is some sort of legitimate political discussion in this, a capitalist-based society.
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Christianity’s Triumph

December 23, 2011 | Filed Under Alan Caruba, Bible, Christianity, History, Islam, Jews, Judaism, Religion, Society/Culture, Western Civilization | No Comments

-By Alan Caruba

“By far the most important event in the entire rise of Christianity was the meeting in Jerusalem in around the year 50, when Paul was granted the authority to convert Gentiles without them also becoming observant Jews.”

So wrote Rodney Stark, the Distinguished Professor of the Social Sciences and co-director of the Institute for Studies of Religion at Baylor University. His most recent book is “The Triumph of Christianity: How the Jesus Movement Became the World’s Largest Religion” ($27.99, HarperCollins).

For Christians in particular, I recommend it if only because so many have a tenuous grasp of Christianity’s real history, as opposed the versions that too often are casually accepted as truth.

The truth is that the rise of Christianity is one of the most extraordinary stories of the past two millennia. Stark not only has the knowledge of his vast subject, but he writes with such felicity that it is hard to put the 500-page book aside for both its revelations and its devotion to the facts.
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Boston University Muslim Chaplin Raising Funds for Al Qaeda, Mass. Pols Embrace Him

December 21, 2011 | Filed Under 9/11, Afghanistan, al Qaeda, Anti-Americanism, Boston, CAIR, Crime, Democrats/Leftists, Ethics, Government, Corruption, Islam, Islamofascism, Jihad, Liberals, Massachusetts, PCism, Security/Safety, Society/Culture, Terrorism, War on Terror, Warner Todd Huston, Western Civilization | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Abdullah Faaruuq, a Muslim “spiritual advisor” and chaplain from Boston-based Northeastern University, was a key speaker at a fundraiser for al Qaeda’s Ma Barker, the criminal female terrorist named Aafia Siddiqui, also known as “Lady al Qaeda.” This man, Faaruuq, is living off American taxpayers yet advocates for his followers to use “the gun and the sword” to advance Islam in America.

The fundraiser for Siddiqui was held at the Islamic Center of Worcester, Mass. on Dec. 8 with the stated goal of raising $30,000 to assist this female terrorist convicted in 2008 of attempting to kill American soldiers in Afghanistan.

As Steve Emerson of Family Security Matters reports, Abdullah gave Siddiqui high praise.
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Denial: VP Biden Says Taliban NOT Our Enemy, Obama Official Refuses to Say al Qaeda are ‘Radical Islamists’

December 20, 2011 | Filed Under 9/11, Afghanistan, al Qaeda, Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Democrats/Leftists, Ethics, Government, Government, Corruption, History, Iraq, Islam, Islamofascism, Joe Biden, Liberals, Military, President, Taliban, Terrorism, War on Terror, Warner Todd Huston | 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

President Obama and his various quislings and underlings still cannot bring themselves to say that the USA is under attack by radical Islamists. This is the self-destructive garbage that comes from the Obama administration every day. This is the kind of stuff that makes of us the “weak horse” that Islamists use to justify their attacks on the US.

We have two examples of this today, one from a representative of the Department of Homeland Security and one from Gaffemaster Joe Biden.

First up, our erstwhile VP. Ol’ Slow Joe Biden told Newsweek’s Leslie Gelb that the Taliban isn’t our enemy, either. You know, despite that we invaded Afghanistan to oust them from power, and all.

Look, the Taliban per se is not our enemy. That’s critical. There is not a single statement that the president has ever made in any of our policy assertions that the Taliban is our enemy because it threatens U.S. interests.

Next we have assistant defense secretary for homeland defense Paul Stockton refusing to agree with Rep. Dan Lungren’s (R.-Calif.) characterization of al Qaeda as “radical Islamists.”
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Salon’s Joan Walsh: Reagan Dems Voted GOP in 1980 Because They Were Raaaaacists

December 15, 2011 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Conservatives, Democrats/Leftists, Elections, GOP, Government, Journalism, Liberals, Media, Media Bias, MSNBC, President, Republicans, Ronald Reagan, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Did you know that the only reason those famed “Reagan Democrats” voted for Ronald Reagan in 1980 and 1984 was because they were… uh… racists? Well on the little watched Ed Show on MSNBC, Salon’s Joan Walsh assured the nation — or at least the 20 people watching — that this was the truth.

Sometimes a talking head on TV will say something so stupid that jaws drop nationwide as a result. Often that stupidity becomes the talk of the news cycle, too. But usually that only happens when there are actually viewers for the show upon which the stupidity is uttered. In this case, Joan Walsh of Salon uttered the stupidity, but since no one watches MSNBC — most especially the Ed Show — I thought I’d help pass around her comments to make her stupidity the talk of the day. It’s just a service from us here to you in the Internet tubes.

The rotund Ed Schultz was disparaging the Reagan Democrats as “dead” (both figuratively and literally) and was saying that Reagan Democrats could not possibly be a factor in 2012. Whatever merits of that claim, when Schultz turned to Salon’s Joan Walsh he got one of the most absurd comments about Reagan Democrats evah!

Walsh said:
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History & The Eye of Newt

December 15, 2011 | Filed Under Anti-Semitism, Frank Salvato, History, Israel, Palestinians | Comments Off

-By Frank Salvato

Former US House Speaker and GOP presidential contender Newt Gingrich was instantly assailed by a plethora of people for statements critical of the modern-day understanding of the Palestinian history. From Palestinian Authority leaders, to mainstream media political analysts and even those who share the GOP presidential primary debate stage with the former Speaker, each offered denunciation ranging from outright condemnation of Mr. Gringrich’s statement to disagreement based on its diplomatic political incorrectness. But, the fact of the matter is this: Mr. Gingrich’s history on the matter is solid.

In the interview with The Jewish Channel, Gingrich said:

“Remember there was no Palestine as a state. It was part of the Ottoman Empire. And I think that we’ve had an invented Palestinian people, who are in fact Arabs, and were historically part of the Arab community…And they had a chance to go many places. And for a variety of political reasons we have sustained this war against Israel now since the 1940′s, and I think it’s tragic.”

He went on to say that it is “delusional to call it a peace process,” pointing out that the Fatah-run Palestinian Authority and Hamas “represent an enormous desire to destroy Israel.”

Anyone debating the base declaration of Mr. Gingrich’s assertion – that there has, through history, never been a Palestinian state – is either disingenuous or an extremely poor student of World History.
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Debunking Myths About The Great Depression

December 14, 2011 | Filed Under Budget, Business, Capitalism, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Ethics, Financial Reform, Franklin Deleno Roosevelt, Government, Corruption, History, Liberals, Nanny State, President, Stimulus, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston, WWII | Comments Off

The New Deal Was A Failure: Hoover and FDR Prolonged the Great Depression with Big Government

The Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation explains how the statist policies of Presidents Hoover and Roosevelt lengthened and deepened the Great Depression. The video also briefly explains how reductions in the burden of government spending helped the economy recover from a deep recession after World War I and to grow after World War II.

Prophecy 2012: America in the Valley of Decision

December 11, 2011 | Filed Under Christianity, Founders, Michael Bresciani‏, Religion | Comments Off

-By Rev Michael Bresciani

This message is less about the denouement of America than it is about the deliberations of a nation at an urgent and critical moment in its history. I urge Americans to carefully consider the course they are choosing in the very near future.

My choice would have been to put this message out later in 2012, but on December first, I realized that nothing could wait, the timing of a message is equally important to the content. Here are seven points and a conclusion that I can only pray that many will give careful consideration to, as we enter what promises to be, the most critical year of our entire history as a nation.

It may not even need to be said that terms like liberal and conservative, the right wing and the left have ceased to be terms that can be used in the broadest sense, as they have been for generations. Now the battle is emerging between good and evil, right and wrong and Godliness and ungodliness. It is all preparation for the coming world ruler known as the antichrist and his aide the false prophet.
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Obama: Capitalism and Liberty Don’t Work

December 8, 2011 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Budget, Business, Capitalism, Communism, Constitution, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Elections, Ethics, Federalism, Founders, Free Trade, Government, Government, Corruption, Jobs, Liberals, Nanny State, President, Regulation, Socialism, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Barack Obama, President of the United Deniers of America, is slamming the country again. This time he ways that capitalism, liberty, and American principles have never worked.

Speaking in Osawatomie, Kansas, where in 1910 an off-the-rails Teddy Roosevelt laid out a new socialist-inspired dream for America he entitled the “New Nationalism,” Obama had a few choice words for our American principles.

In his speech, Obama went for the gusto in class warfare rhetoric characterizing anyone that makes a few dollars as the eeevil rich that refuse to be “fair” to the poor. Obama told his audience that capitalism doesn’t work and never did. And guess what he thinks the solution is? Yep, more power to himself and government.

If no other video clip has done it for you, this one should show that Barack Obama’s ideals are not American ideals.
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We’ve Been Had: Reagan’s Words Have Gone Unheeded

December 8, 2011 | Filed Under Budget, Business, Capitalism, Daniel Clark, Democrats/Leftists, Elections, Energy, Ethics, Government, Government, Corruption, Liberals, Oil, Republicans, Ronald Reagan, Taxes | Comments Off

-By Daniel Clark

In Ronald Reagan’s first inaugural address, he described America by saying, “We are a nation that has a government, not the other way around.” Thirty years later, that doesn’t exactly ring true.

During the 2008 primaries, Barack Obama told a group of supporters in Oregon that, “We can’t drive our SUVs, and eat as much as we want, and keep our homes at 72 degrees at all times, and then just expect that other countries are going to say, ‘oh, okay.’ That’s not leadership. That’s not going to happen.” Exercising our freedom as consumers is “not going to happen?” Spoken like the future leader of a government that has a nation.

This September, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack lectured representatives of the National Restaurant Association about the amount of salt and sugar in their food, as part of an intimidation campaign with which several large restaurant chains are already “cooperating.” Of course, salt and sugar cost money, so if it made good business sense for restaurants to reduce the amounts they use, they would have done so already. They haven’t because the food just won’t taste as good, as you’re well aware if you’ve ever accidentally bought a can of low-sodium soup, and then carpet-bombed it with salt in an attempt to make it palatable.
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Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese ‘Sneak Attack’ On Pearl Harbor ‘Will Live in Infamy’

December 7, 2011 | Filed Under Franklin Deleno Roosevelt, Germany, History, Japan, Warner Todd Huston, WWII | Comments Off

On Dec. 9th, 1941, the Japanese launched a sneak attack on our forces at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. As a result, America formally joined the war against the Axis powers.

2,402 American servicemen were killed and 1,282 were wounded.

In memory of them.

Contrasting World Views

December 5, 2011 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Budget, Congress, Conservatives, Constitution, Declaration of Independence, Democrats/Leftists, Elections, Founders, GOP, Government, Government, Corruption, History, House of Representatives, Liberals, Nancy Salvato, Republicans, Senate, Socialism, Taxes | Comments Off

-By Nancy Salvato

Thomas Jefferson outlined the philosophy of our nation’s government in the Declaration of Independence with the words,

“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.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

Make no mistake; this is the philosophy on which our fundamental law is based. The goals for our government, which are listed in the preamble to our constitution, are intended to secure these unalienable rights.

“In Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity,…”

If the electors and elected officials of our country do not honor our covenant

“We the People…[who] do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America…”

And if they choose not to uphold the blessings of liberty, then

“Whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new Government.”

What happens if the electorate and elected officials of our country do not understand the covenant, or what if they choose not to subscribe to the mission? What if the goals of our electorate are not aligned with the fundamental law set down by the Founders and Framers? What if the policy on which our representatives vote and implement is at odds with the philosophy on which our government was founded?

‘Historian’ Gets Mouthy At Congressional Hearing

December 4, 2011 | Filed Under Animal Rights, Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Business, Capitalism, Congress, Energy, Ethics, GOP, Government, History, House of Representatives, Oil, President, Regulation, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

I meant to get to this last week, but “historian” Douglas Brinkley is so forgettable as a writer that it all slipped my mind. But, it’s a slow news day, so let’s take a look at the temper tantrum this hack threw when he visited the House Natural Resources Committee on Nov. 22, shall we?

Brinkley was there to provide his, uh, “insight” into the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, testimony that Alaska Rep. Don Young called “an exercise in futility” because the hearing wasn’t going to be changing anyone’s mind about the subject. I’d have to agree that anything including hack Brinkley truly is an exercise in futility. He’s one of the worst writers of popular history out there.

The fireworks began when Rep. Young accidentally called Brinkley by the wrong last name. This sent the scribbler off into paroxysms of pique and spurred him to interrupt not only Rep. Young, but also Committee Chair Doc Hastings when he tried to restore order.

Rep. Young later told the Washington Post’s Amy Argetsinger that he thought that Brinkley was just trying to get publicity with his outburst.
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Frank Rich: Obama’s Just Like JFK Because JFK Was Killed With Hate, or Something

November 28, 2011 | Filed Under Barack Obama, Democrats/Leftists, Government, Corruption, John Kennedy, Journalism, Liberals, Media Bias, Newspapers, President, The New York Times, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

It’s hard to believe but Frank Rich’s latest exercise in the fantasist’s art comparing JFK to Obama is a wonder to behold. It really is. One might think it satire if Rich had never been presented as a serious essayist by the New York intelligentsia. If this were to be his first public writing, one might think him the new Jonathan Swift for its central premise is simply amazing for its utter deviation from reality. Rich, it seems, thinks that Obama is just like John Kennedy because Kennedy was somehow killed by the “hate that ended his presidency,” or something.

The part that is so fantastic is that Rich devolves to a long ago discredited theory that Kennedy was killed that dark November day in 1963 somehow because of right-wing hate for him. What is so absurd about Rich’s fantastic claim is that he wholly discounts the fact that Kennedy’s killer was a communist. In fact, Rich never even mentions that Lee Harvey Oswald was an avowed communist. He hints at it obliquely but does so in a way that dismisses the ideology as in any way important.

It has been a long time since I’ve read a piece on a public figure that is one part hero worship, one part discounting of that same figure, one part pure fantasy, and one part baseless comparison to the life of a whole other public figure that is also worshiped as a hero without a legitimate reason. But Frank Rich has done it here in a way that brings to mind J.R.R. Tolkein’s intricate and complicated plotting.

There’s so much wrong in this one piece that it’s hard to figure out where to start first, but Rich’s central premise is that JFK was killed because of a climate of “hate” engendered by the blindness of Kennedy’s detractors on the right. This, Rich seems to think, is somehow just like Obama. Well, except that Obama is still alive and no one has even made a single attempt to kill him (God forbid), of course.

Interestingly, Rich does seem to notice that John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s presidency did not live up to its hype. Rich notes that historians have basically rated JFK’s short tenure in the White House as a wash, neither good nor horribly bad. But even with that admission, Rich writes glowingly of Kennedy. It is still all “Camelots” and “brief shinning moments” with little justification for any other reason than mere hero worship. With that, though, Rich succumbs to the worship like so many starry-eyed members of his deluded generation.

But for all his glorious filler — one wonders if Rich has ever had an editor — here is his raison d’être for bothering us with his hagiographic blather:
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What Is Constitutional Conservatism?

November 27, 2011 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Congress, Conservatives, Constitution, Democracy, Democrats/Leftists, Ethics, Federalism, Founders, GOP, Government, Government, Corruption, History, Liberals, President, Republicans, Senate, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Yuval Levin, National Review

(ED: I don’t usually repost an entire article from another site but this article is too important to just excerpt. I apologize to Mr. Levin in advance, but his essay is one of the best definitions of what American conservatism truly is that I’ve seen for a long time. It is also a good explanation on why modern liberalism is as wrong as can be and anti-American to boot. It is a must read for anyone that wants a hint of the character of American conservatism and a good guide on how to think about what conservatives advocate. I just had to post it in it’s entirety, just had to have this chronicled on my site.)

This fall, liberals from the president on down have begun to grasp the scope of the political and intellectual disaster that the past three years have been for the Left. Their various responses to the calamity have tended to have one thing in common: immense frustration. But the different expressions of that frustration have been deeply revealing. They should help Americans better understand this complicated moment in our politics, and, in particular, help conservatives frame their responses.

Liberal frustration has fallen into two general categories that seem at first to flatly contradict each other: denunciations of democracy and appeals to populism. In September, Peter Orszag, President Obama’s former budget director, wrote an essay in The New Republic arguing that “we need less democracy.” To address our country’s daunting problems, Orszag suggested, we need to take some power away from Congress and give it to “automatic policies and depoliticized commissions” that will be shielded from public pressure. “Radical as it sounds, we need to counter the gridlock of our political institutions by making them a bit less democratic.” Two weeks later, North Carolina’s Democratic governor, Beverly Perdue, made a less sophisticated stab at the same general point, proposing to suspend congressional elections for a few years so members of Congress could make the difficult decisions necessary to get our country out of its deep problems.

Orszag and Perdue both seemed to channel a long and deeply held view of the Left — that the complexity of modern life and the intensity of modern politics should lead us to put more power in the hands of technical experts who have the knowledge to make objective, rational choices on our behalf. Leaving things to the political process will result only in delay and disorder. President Obama has frequently expressed this view himself — wistfully complaining to his aides earlier this year, for instance, that things would sure be easier if he were president of China.
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Thanksgiving Story: Why There Are No Communist Pilgrims

November 24, 2011 | Filed Under Capitalism, Communism, Europe, Founders, Government, Corruption, History, Holiday, Liberals, Nanny State, Socialism, Thanksgiving, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

With as Euroized as Democrats and their supporters in our miseducation establishment have become these days, one shouldn’t be surprised to learn that one of the important lessons of Plymouth Colony — popularly known as the Pilgrims — is practically unknown in our schools today. We are all familiar with the bountiful Thanksgiving meal shared between the Pilgrims and the Indians, but less well known is how the Pilgrims turned away from their experiment in the communist-styled social policy upon which they built their fledgling, New World colony.

That’s right, the Pilgrims repudiated communism in 1623. No wonder the principles of communism never got a foothold here until recently when the Democrat Party began to shift away from American principles and toward the more socialistic ideas of Europe’s social democrats.

You see, when the emigres from England via Holland got to the New World and they established their new colony, Governor William Bradford and his fellow leaders decided to follow what they thought was the ideal Christian society. It was a version of the later communist ideal of “from each according to his ability to each according to his need.
It certainly seemed like a good idea, right? The whole of the colony would work for the benefit of the whole of the denizens therein. What could be more selfless? What could be more equitable and, well, Christian?
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Just a Little Reminder…

November 23, 2011 | Filed Under Founders, Free Speech, Freedom, Health, History, Liberty, Obamacare, Thanksgiving, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

A 2012 World View: What is the End Game?

November 11, 2011 | Filed Under Constitution, Democracy, Elections, Ethics, Founders, Government, Corruption, Nancy Salvato | Comments Off

-By Nancy Salvato

Having a world view and understanding how that perception influences our choices is important to knowing ourselves, being able to take or defend a position, and set goals and work to meet them. Sharing perspective helps us to understand and communicate with those who do not share the same belief systems but allows us to get along if we can find some commonalities or on what we can agree to disagree. When people holding a world view do not have the awareness to understand why they hold their position or are unable to comprehend that different experiences allow for a different outlook, this is when conflict can occur. This holds relevance for the 2012 election cycle.

Conflict is not confined between strangers. It can arise within family units; it can happen in the workplace, on the playing field, or even at a party. On such a smaller scale, it might be considered a personality conflict. A person can even be conflicted inside one’s own head. It is how potential conflict is addressed that makes all the difference in the world.

Within our own country, the Founders and Framers understood that there has to be a balance between individual rights and the rights of the community. They were under no illusions that in a country this large that everyone could hold the same beliefs and goals. They wanted to create a place where to the largest extent possible, people could be free without imposing on others. You could say their end goal was freedom. In creating the U.S. Constitution, they created a document that would maximize freedom and minimize conflict. For example, rather than elevate one religion over others by sponsoring it by the state, they included the First Amendment, which reads:
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Atheists Lie And Do So On a Billboard!

October 31, 2011 | Filed Under Abraham Lincoln, Alexander Hamilton, Atheism, Bible, Christianity, Democrats/Leftists, Education, Ethics, Founders, George Washington, History, James Madison, John Adams, Journalism, Liberals, Media, Media Bias, Religion, Revolutionary War, Thomas Jefferson, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Talk about making a mistake everyone can see! Atheists in California have done a disservice to their own crusade to spread atheism by launching a new billboard campaign that ascribes a false quote to Thomas Jefferson. That’s right, they’ve essentially become liars for atheism.

In Costa Mesa, California a group of atheists calling themselves Backyard Skeptics have unveiled a billboard to sell atheism to the general public that features a quote they claim came from Thomas Jefferson, the Third President of the United States.

“I do not find in Christianity one redeeming feature,” the billboard “quotes” the president as having said. “It is founded on fables and mythology,” this quote concludes.

That would be a stinging rebuke of Christianity, indeed… were it true. Unfortunately for this little atheist group it seems that their quote is a fake quote the group found on the Internet and assumed was real.
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The Rise of the Obamavilles

October 26, 2011 | Filed Under Banks, Barack Obama, Budget, Business, Capitalism, Communism, Democrats/Leftists, Financial Reform, Government, History, House of Representatives, Jobs, Liberals, President, Socialism, Taxes, The Great Depression, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

Remember back in the 30s when disgruntled WWI veterans and homeless Americans created shanty towns called “Hoovervilles“? They felt failed by an uncaring president in Herbert Hoover.

Well, with the Occupy-Whatevers have they created “Obamavilles”?

I’d say they have.

Poll Shows that 6 out of 10 Voters in Ohio Do Not Understand the History of Unionization in America

October 25, 2011 | Filed Under AFSCME, Government, History, Liberals, Nanny State, Ohio, Paleo-Skeptic, PCism, Public Employees Unions | Comments Off

Paleo-Skeptic

First of all, I am a union man. I am a member in good standing in a trade union, where I hold journeyman status.

Now, I was reading a report form Reuters about the popularity for the repeal of a law restricts the rights of public sector employees entered into collective bargaining agreements.

Almost 6 out of 10 Ohio voters say they want to repeal a law that restricts collective bargaining by public sector unions…

Ohio voters by 57 percent to 32 percent support the repeal of the law, which forbids government workers from going on strike…

While Wisconsin’s public sector union fight featured mass protests at the state capital and gained more national attention, Ohio is more important to unions.

Ohio has the sixth largest number of public sector union members among all U.S. states, twice the number of Wisconsin. Wisconsin’s law restricting collective bargaining exempts police and firefighters, but Ohio’s includes them.

Anyone familiar with the history of unionization in America would understand what an abomination it is that public sector employees (what were once known as public servants) might have any right whatsoever to engage in collective bargaining– and perhaps most of all the Post Office. Read more

Abuse: Union Leaders Pull Down Millions in Public Pensions in Illinois

October 9, 2011 | Filed Under Adam Andrzejewski, Budget, Democrats/Leftists, Elections, For The Good Of Illinois, Franklin Deleno Roosevelt, Government, Corruption, Illinois, Illinois State Government, Liberals, Pensions, Public Employees Unions, Regulation, Taxes, Teachers Unions, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Andrew Thomason of the Illinois Statehouse News agency has a pair of stores on the criminal syndicate that is unions in the Land of Lincoln this week that have to be seen to be believed. In fact, these stories and the ones like them we’ve seen for the past several months in Illinois are proof positive that unions should be illegal for government employees.

In one story, Thomason reports the tale of Michael Johnson, a corrupt teacher out to milk the taxpayers dry by collecting $209,379.43 in pension benefits while at the same time also collected $324,785 from a separate Illinois pension fund. And so far this crook has already collected $1.1 million of our tax dollars on top of the $198,105 a year he makes for “part-time work” for the school district.

This is called double dipping. Johnson was able to do this because he worked at one job in Illinois education, “retired” from it, then took a second job in the same field. This means he gets two pensions to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, likely totaling up to millions by the time he dies. All paid for by the taxpayers of Illinois.
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Finger-Waving, Child-Like Protestors Refuse to Allow Left-Wing Congressman to Address Crowd

October 8, 2011 | Filed Under Budget, Business, Children, Civil Rights Act, Democracy, Democrats/Leftists, Ethics, Georgia, Government, Government, Corruption, House of Representatives, Liberals, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | 5 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

This is the funniest thing I have ever…

This is the funniest thing I’ve ever….

Seen in my life.

A bunch of child-like protesters in Atlanta, Georgia refused left-wing Congressman John Lewis — a civil rights icon to many — to be allowed to address the crowd this weekend. The whole scene is reminiscent of the worst, hackneyed, new agie-styled preschool program devised for 5-year-olds by one of the most idiotic leftists imaginable. But it makes for hilarious video entertainment.

Apparently these people decided that their “assembly” would employ pure democracy. But if there was ever a more annoying way to do it, I’ve never seen it.

A scraggly, bearded, hippie wannabe playing the part of the crowd’s conscience spoke to those gathered over a megaphone system. He would say a few words and the crowd would, like five-year-olds in a preschool class, repeat his words verbatim.

It went something like this:

Anorexic Hippie Megaphone Guy: “We have someone here…”
Dirty, Ground-Sitting Hippie Crowd in Unison: “We have someone here…”
Anorexic Hippie Megaphone Guy: “Who would like to address the assembly…”
Dirty, Ground-Sitting Hippie Crowd in Unison: “Who would like to address the assembly…”

So, Anorexic Hippie Megaphone Guy explains to the crowd that they don’t “use clapping” in their “assembly” because clapping can “prevent someone else who is addressing the assembly from being heard.” So, to “signal approval” the crowd is instructed to raise their hands and wiggle their fingers. I swear I saw this on Barney the Dinosaur show.
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ABC’s Joy Behar: Historical Illiterate

October 5, 2011 | Filed Under ABC, Civil Rights Act, Civil War, Conservatives, Democrats/Leftists, Education, GOP, Government, Corruption, History, Liberals, Media Bias, Race, Republicans, Warner Todd Huston | 2 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Sadly, ABC’s The View is what passes for as “intelligent” conversation on TV, these days. The View yacker Joy Behar’s blather is also indicative of the historical illiteracy of the far left in this country.

Herman Cain made an appearance on the coffee klatch show today and genius Behar had this comment about the history of the Republican Party for him:

The Republican Party hasn’t been black friendly over the many centuries in this country.

This comment is ignorant in a million ways.
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Cheney: Say, Shouldn’t Obama Apologize to Bush, Now?

October 2, 2011 | Filed Under 9/11, al Qaeda, Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Conservatives, Democrats/Leftists, Dick Cheney, George W. Bush, Government, Government, Corruption, Islamofascism, Liberals, Military, President, RightPundits.com, Security/Safety, Taliban, Terrorism, War on Terror, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

It’s a good question, isn’t it? On a whole host of questions, too, not just the one that former VP Dick Cheney was referring to on CNN.

On CNN, Cheney was talking about the Predator Drone attack that last week killed al Qaeda mastermind Anwar al-Awlaki and his cohort Samir Khan. Cheney reminded the CNN audience that Obama slammed the Bush administration for “overreacting to 9/11.” And Cheney thought that Obama owed the whole country an apology for his characterization…

Read the rest at RightPundits.com.

Oil is There. Obama Doesn’t Care.

October 2, 2011 | Filed Under Barack Obama, Declaration of Independence, Energy, Huffington Post, Jobs, Kevin Roeten, Oil, Uncategorized, Unemployment, Washington Post | Comments Off

-By Kevin Roeten

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) has told the Obama Administration they’ve found enough oil under US territory that estimates 163 billion barrels of recoverable oil and enough natural gas to meet the country’s demand for 90 years. [Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/03/10/new-report-says-u-s-has-largest-fossil-fuel-reserves-in-world/#ixzz1ZAKRYXDD.]

Back in 2006, the Department of Energy (DoE) and the Mineral Management Service (MMS) both revealed the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) had enough oil to last at least another 50 years [Assessment of Undiscovered Technically Recoverable Oil and Gas Resources of the Nation’s Outer Continental Shelf, 2006 (Summary Brochure)].

The map above is from a 2006 MMS titled “Assessment of Undiscovered Technically Recoverable Oil and Gas Resources of the Nation’s Outer Continental Shelf”. Additional details are here.

That was well before the CRS report. In fact, the CRS report shows how the US leads all nations in World Fossil Fuel Resources. That includes Russia, Saudi Arabia, China, Iran–everyone.
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