A Hollywood Republican

This blog is for an open discussion on politics. My views will be to the right as will be most of the posters. But, we are willing to post alternative viewpoints as lons as they are well thought out. I started this in response to the Obama election and will continue it as long as it feeds a need.

Jul 7, 2010

Rage Against the Machine by Craig Covello

With all due respect to Tom Morello’s 1990’s rock band, this article is not about music. I refer instead to the Chicago-style political machine. Michael Powell of the New York Times published an interesting article on July 2 that exposes some rather ugly realities regarding the fiscal health of the state of Illinois. Here are some sobering statistics -

• Illinois has a $12 billion deficit. Put in perspective, 50% of the state's entire budget.

• The University of Illinois's has not been paid 45% of its state appropriations this year.

• Illinois has $62.4 billion in unfunded pension liabilities. Some experts think that the number is significantly higher. Regardless of the exact figure, everyone agrees that the pension is at least 50% underfunded.

• The Illinois governor would like to borrow an additional $3.5 billion to cover just one year's worth of pension payments, but the state's credit rating is so poor that this would translate into $1 billion worth of interest over the life of the loan.

• The state owns $5 billion to schools, rehabilitation centers and childcare.
• In 2006, the Illinois unemployment rate was below 5%. Now it is more than double.
• The state ranks in the top 10 in foreclosures.

• Five years ago, the Chicago suburb of Tinley Park issued 650 home building permits. In 2009, they issued only one.
In response to this financial spiral, the Illinois legislator recessed this month without deciding how to pay 26% of the state's budget. State Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie also thinks the situation must not be that dire. She was quoted as saying:

"In the long run, we'll muddle our way through".
Perhaps her definition of "muddle" includes a federal bailout. But a federal bailout will not solve the root causes responsible for this state’s self-inflected fiscal crisis. Those causes include political pandering, lack of leadership and political corruption that has run amok. Two of the last six governors have served jail terms, and now Rod Blagojevich is on trial. He is being prosecuted on racketeering charges that have involved the White House.

In the meantime, Illinois fiscal malaise is taking its toll on honest, hard-working people.

• Literally hundreds of young teachers are moving out of state because of state layoffs and dismal job opportunities.
• A 100-year-old pharmacy in Beardstown is closing because the state is late on its payments.
• A Chicago funeral home director charged with burying the impoverished has not been paid for six months.

These are merely anecdotal examples, but they serve to illustrate that any private enterprise providing services to the state of Illinois is getting stiffed. No pun intended.

Analysis:

So here's the point. The Chicago-style "political machine" has exported its brand of politics to the White House.

That’s the same Chicago-style political culture that has brought the state of Illinois to the brink of fiscal ruin.

That’s the same Chicago-style political corruption that landed two governors in prison and a third on trial.

That’s the same Chicago-style political “leadership” who believe they can simply "muddle through" the situation.

Now their shining star Obama is pushing his own brand of Wall Street financial reform legislation, which has already cleared the Democratic-controlled House on its way to the Senate. The White House believes it knows best how to micro-manage financial institutions. Many of the talking heads disagree, citing that this proposed legislation is hollow, full of special-interest exemptions, overly burdensome and does nothing to address the elephants in the room called Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. This legislation also allows un-elected bureaucrats to bypass bankruptcy laws and unilaterally seize control of any firm they believe to be in trouble. So it appears that you can take the politicians out of Chicago, but you can't take Chicago out of the politicians. They intend to muscle-in on private enterprise territory. Having a Chicago-style political machine promoting financial reform is like having a Mexican drug cartel in charge of our border security.

Sorry, that's a bad analogy because I believe the Mexican drug cartels are in charge of our border security.

Sources:



I, Frank DeMartini, would like to ad some additional information to Craig's Article based upon events of the past few days.  They are relevant only peripherally to Craig's Article but definitely need to be mentioned in this column.  Both events relate to Attorney General Eric Holder, who in my opinion, is proving to be one of the worst Attorney Generals this country has ever seen.  It should be added that these are not the opinions of Craig Covello, but are mine exclusively.

The first is the decision to sue the State of Arizona on its Immigration Law based upon the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution.  (It is interesting to note that the lawsuit ignores the Tenth Amendment); and,

Second, the decision not to prosecute the two Black Panthers who were standing outside the Philadelphia Polling Place with billyclubs on the day President Obama was elected in 2008.

The Arizona decision is complete pandering to what is perceived a Democratic voting block, the Hispanics.  There is simply no either reason to file the suit.  The Arizona Law merely mimics the current Federal Law which is not being enforced.  So, the Supremacy Clause argument should not stand.  Further, there is evidence that legal Hispanics in Arizona support the law.  And, the country on the whole supports the law by a 70/30 margin according to the latest polls.  Is the Obama Administration conceding the middle class white vote by filing this lawsuit in order to gain the Hispanic vote?  Is there any other reason for this lawsuit to have been filed on than on race based grounds?

The Black Panther decision also cannot be looked at in any way other than on racist grounds.  There is videotape of these two men standing outside the polling booth with the billyclubs.  There is video of them trying to intimidate a voter.  Why not prosecute?  In fact, a former member of the justice department was on Fox News last night stating that there is no tenable position for not presecuting.  And, yet Eric Holder does not.  Has mister left wing idealogue Eric Holder now openly become a racist?

Based upon these two decisions, I have no choice but to answer yes.  I cannot think of any other reason why these decisions were made.  I am sure that I am going to be labeled as such for even having the guts to say this.  But, I really do not care any more.  The Chicago thugs are in control and they are going to do whatever is necessary to stay in control even if it means ignoring the law to appease their voting blocks.  In this case, the African Americans and the Hispanics.  And, unfortunately for the country, these decisions are entirely race based.

If anyone can come up with any other reason, please feel free to comment.  This is one in which I would really like to be proven wrong

Copyright 2010 by Craig Covello and Frank DeMartini.  Used with Permission.  All rights reserved.

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38 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I don't care what happens or did happen or will happen in the State of Illinois in regards to their "political machine". The POTUS was a State Senator there and later served as a Senator representing Illinois in the House of Representatives. He didn't single-handedly run the State of Illinois nor did he have his prints all over the fiscal mess they are now in, and probably have been in for many years. To somehow equate their current economical status to one man who had as much impact on the situation as any person who served along side him is a stretch, to say the least. As to Frank's comment, you may not like Eric Holder but one would have to go a long way to take the title of "Worst" away from Albert Gonzalez to be sure. No single person did more damage to our legal system and I bet he'll be the proud owner of that title for a long time to come. In reference to the pending legal action against Arizona how do you address the fact that a myriad of law enforcement representatives who serve in Arizona currently have signed on to it and support it? Perhaps they are out to destroy "your" country too!!

July 7, 2010 at 5:06 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

You might enjoy viewing this video. In particular 29:30 to 34:00

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/3/2/a_look_at_arne_duncans_vip


Lisa

July 8, 2010 at 2:52 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

And you are correct on "The Arizona decision is complete pandering to what is perceived a Democratic voting block, the Hispanics"

It is all about perception nowadays...

Lisa

July 8, 2010 at 2:54 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Good content, folks!

Once upon a time, in the land of Oz, there was a blog that carefully crafted a discussion on racism around a non event, the Tea Party reaction to the democrats parade across the “People’s Square” to the session addressing the passing of the healthcare bill. Did not Breitbart dismantle that myth? Was the reward for proof of the accusations swirling comfortably, amongst those too timid in the face of honorable danger or pain, around that event ever earned? It appeared that we Republicans/Conservatists/Independents are sheepishly concerned, afraid, too timid to express real emotion, real justifiable anger and unwilling to be “mad” (huffy, roused to anger…not… a mental disorder, insane or irrational hatred) over issues of moral conviction. This blog could benefit from a dissertation from those of great literary talent, usually on display here, on the Sal Alinsky Rules for Radicals and the cure, should you know what that is.

Have no doubt, racism is an issue and must be dealt with…fairly. Maybe one is way ahead of this blog with questions about the DOJ dismissal of the Black Panther activities in 2008, but that did happen back in 2008, and it was just dismissed the other day. The real courage of conviction is emanating, not from us, as we jab with the tincture of disguised loathing, but from people, now at risk, like Christian Adams, Asheesh Agarwal and Mark Corallo who are holding Congress to their “duty” to oversee the executive branch and enforce the laws Congress has passed. Does Arizona come to mind?

But the real outrage comes from the thundering silence absent, with the exception of this blog, any condemnation hidden, much less moral un-equivalency to tea Party demonstrations, of the clear, documented, and looped continuously on, at least FOX, of the 2009 Philadelphia street festival where the New Black Panther leader “King Samir Shabazz” (one of the two people in the dismissed voting incident) is “heard” to say “I hate white people. All of them! Every last iota of a cracker, I hate him! You want freedom? You're going to have to kill some crackers! You're going to have kill some of their babies.”

“Well, look, maybe this was just a bad day for the defendants. Maybe they were just nice young men who took civic engagement to a momentary extreme of enthusiasm. They’re probably just nice guys caught in a single instance of bad judgment … right? Er, not exactly, as Naked Emperor News and Breitbart’s B-Cast discovers after watching National Geographic,” said those afraid to vigorously confront evil.

“There is a trend in America in which we are more and more idolizing people who have at the base of their identity the spread of hate. These people are considered entertaining because of the controversy and the extremism they represent. But our consumption of their product is creating a culture in which hate is heroic.” Look inward, excise hatred, embrace moral conviction, struggle with every fiber of your being, and beware.

The issue is not to be proven wrong; it is to do the “right” thing. We look to winning the latest skirmish, Ronald Reagan and John Wooden always looked far, far, far into character, odd as that seems to be, far into the future, far into destiny, with a vision of history.

July 9, 2010 at 8:13 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Where is the outrage on the part of US citizens? It is our government behind the bumbling and/or downright criminal actions and inactions that tear at the fiber of our country. I see news coverage of millions of more illegal aliens flooding our streets in support of allowing them to hurt our economy and weaken our security than of US citizens taking to the streets and demanding that our government work for us. That can't all be the fault of the Obama-controlled media. America needs to wake up.

*shaking head in disbelief* A recess during a financial state of emergency?!

July 9, 2010 at 10:39 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Anonymous as always a pleasant and thought-provoking read. While you and I sit on opposite ends of the political spectrum it would be an honor to converse with you one-on-one. I don't always agree with your perspective but I do share your vision for the future and the best way for us all to move forward towards it. Unfortunately your words don't rile the inner core of hatred which is in such dire need to be fed right now. I see it all as a pendulum swinging madly and soon, I hope, it will head back to center where it belongs with extremism, partisanship and hatred being drowned out by principled and mindful thinking.

July 9, 2010 at 2:59 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Chell, most of us are not folks who have all the time in the world to do the real research which is required to be informed and "wake-up". Those who are working are being asked to work more hours, take on more tasks and sacrifice more in their personal lives for less money. There isn't even a choice of whether that is what they want to do, with the current job shortage. They know even a bad job is better than no job at all. So they end their day exhausted and set about to filling what little time they do have with the necessary efforts required to keep their families emotionally and financially afloat. Couple that with the high level of propaganda which is encased in all the many news outlets available and it just becomes too daunting a task to allow oneself to become engaged in it. As a result you have a high level of disconnected folks who get by with a snippet or two of information leaving the call to duty to anyone else but them. The whole reason the tea party is enjoying such success right now is that a large majority of them, according to numerous studies, are retired folks. For obvious reasons they don't face the same demands of everyday life as the majority of others do. Those people whom you are calling on to "wake up" are just too busy trying to survive right now and don't want to become mired in the rhetoric and propaganda which surrounds our political system curently.

July 9, 2010 at 3:19 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Fair enough. But that same exhausted population needs to know that it will only get worse if no one can muster even a little more energy to put towards ending this downward spiral. Another musical reference- sorry. As far as the media, thank goodness for the relative freedom to speak and share information on the internet! Imagine not having that with the current goings on. Unfortunately, those who purportedly represent us are seeking to control an on/off switch for that as well.

July 9, 2010 at 3:36 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Chell:
What I listen to on both the television and radio and what I read on the net is all the same. The words I hear and see are in the direct proportion to the opinions of whoever is doing the reporting.

I am one of those people who has the same harried lifestyle I described in my first comment to you. Until recently I was working 7 days per week, in a hospital setting, no less. Most can only imagine the horrific demands required of anyone who chooses to work in that setting. Fortunately for me I have a high energy level, a keen sense of interest in the political goings-on and a strong investigative nose. Additionally I find myself a widow today whose only child is off venturing on his own journey. I literally spend every waking moment outside of the workplace researching all news outlets. even those with sensationalism at their core, in hopes of gathering enough information to feel that I have a TRUE grasp of the current situation. Having said that, even I find myself confused and dismayed at times at the perplexities involved. I can only imagine those with lesser time available to them and how most would just rather steer clear of the whole mess entirely.

One of the changes I believe would have the greatest impact on our political system would be term limits. I don't know that a single or even two terms would provide an effective environment. It is pretty clear that most aspire towards a lifetime position only exiting upon death, long after their level of effectiveness has worn out. The other change I believe would make a huge difference is lobby reform, those people in Washington don't represent Mr. or Mrs. America, the majority are working for those who line their pockets the most. That. in itself, serves to provide us with a level of corruption our forefathers never intended to take place.

By the way, I have always held a strong interest in the workings of our government. Truthfully I can think back to various times in our past when situations seemed dire, at best. I remain hopeful, as anonymous so aptly put it, that "the right thing" will prevail and we will see our way out of this current mess.

July 9, 2010 at 4:50 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It is inevitable that arguments and discussions become bogged down in detail, distractions, dismissives, hyperbole and a claim or disclaimer on the truth. What matters, in a disturbing context, is that we are often allowed to be spoon fed by well meaning blogs. Some of us have lost the courage to believe in that “shining city on the hill,” some have even given up their ability to imagine as we no longer “form” independent thoughts but “absorb” opinions from others as we ruminate, slack jawed in front of a television or in a trance-like view of the burnt offerings of the internet.

When a disaster happens, most great minds are captured by the details of the macabre. The BP gulf disaster is a black hole of current emotion, sucking up precious energy, wisdom and genius, sidelined in negativity. Within a reasonable time, this horrible event will be history, no more or less significant than any other oil disaster (The Gulf War Spill, Lakeview Gusher, Ixtoc I, Exxon Valdez, et al) but it will have robbed us of precious, timely, concentration on solutions for prevention of future blowouts. Unless one believes that America can survive in today’s world, can do without oil and petroleum products, the efforts must be on harnessing this and other sources of energy. If you are mesmerized by a cubic foot of CO2, a myth of Cap and Trade, to be sold on the CCX, take heed.

Money and power have no lasting intrinsic, natural value unless they do “good.” If “peace” broke out tomorrow, would anyone know how to preserve it? Only three things are require, Faith, Hope and Charity. And yet no one knows the appropriate meaning of these virtues, they are non-theocratic even though every religion lays claim to them; if we did there would be no war…so how can they be experienced? We complain about wrongs, we argue about incompetent government, we position and posture for selfish reasons and few if any smell the roses, drink that wine and enjoy the sunset. Of course we don’t get it. “A man is but the product of his thoughts, what he thinks, he becomes.” Be mindful of what you think!

The significance of “details” in our clobbered connection of words is always in question. Any two accounts of General George Washington crossing the Delaware will be different. And God gave Moses the Ten Commandments; you take the argument from there. Was Christ angry, mad, enraged or just a compassionate, concerned, fiscal conservative when He chased the money changers from the temple? It is the historical, moral, spiritual and humanitarian message that transcends the minutia. It is the “operating manual” of the human condition that nobody acknowledges.

For some, if Hitler were to have given a passionate, substantive and morally correct defense against anti-Semitism, they would most assuredly reject his proffer of reason out of hand. And yet that would be a cardinal sin of logic, forever repeated, that axiom being, “That which discredits a man does not discredit his argument.” So much of what one reads these days is more about individual aggrandizement, disdain or pomposity than a serious effort of embracing the collective benefit. It is more about generosity, ill defined, than it is about charity, rarely understood, a sad mistake. Someone once said that progress is much, much easier to experience if you do not worry about who “gets the credit.” Selflessness is supremely underrated.

These essays effectively analyzes in great detail what is eschewed, errant, dangerous even, and wrongheaded. Our experience is the eternal reaction, the examination of possibly the worst party affiliates and political operatives in history. What is missing is the proverbial clarion call to rational pro-action.

A post mortem is always possible because we have the death and destruction. The miracle is the ounce of prevention, never leaving a cadaver with “tell tale” evidence. We will never be able to say it didn’t happen because, but we can say it didn’t happen. Friedrich Nietzsche said “That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” Can we start there?

July 9, 2010 at 11:52 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Anonymous II, so eloquently written with stark morsels of truth and logic throughout. The literary talents of the participants here is so impressive, experiencing the words makes the whole experience worthwhile.

July 10, 2010 at 5:45 AM  
Anonymous Ira said...

"That which does not kill us makes us stronger" is a truism that needs no explanation. Anonymous I think you neglect to give humans the due they actually deserve. Mankind developed the brain to use to think his way through problems. Here on earth he is still the ultimate problem solver. Those that sit in front of the TV or their computer screen and accept what they see, hear or read without question solely occupy the lower rung of the human intelligent ladder. Most of us still use that part of our brain especially designed for independent thought. We accept what the news media says, either in print or on the screen, with a grain of salt. History has shown us again and again that blindly following a leader or a government because they are simply spouting the "Flavor of the Month" to all is a bad mistake that usually will come back to bite you in the ass. The Romans did it against the Christians; the Japanese did it against the Chinese; the Germans did it against the Jews, Gypsies and Russians and we did it against the American Indians. World history is littered with dozens of instances. And today we are doing the same thing to the Illegal Immigrants. It would be nice if our planet could somehow fit into the nice, neat Star Trekian world of your vision but that is not possible just yet. We as a race still need to do some growing up. Maybe when Klaatu finally lands in DC we will stop being so selfish and realize that we, humans, are only a small part of a greater univeral society.

Remember without spreading around some manure nothing will grow. What you see as distraction I see as multi tasking; when you say "nobody acknowledges the operations manual of the human condition I reply the manual is still being written.

Mankind has crossed and will continue to cross many intersections in its existance and whatever decisions it makes along the way only history will judge. A few more cherry trees need to be chopped down and a few more Potomics need to be crossed before we reach that promised place mankind has been hoping for since we first stood erect in that valley so long ago. The real possibility is we may never reach it; truth be told the joy may just be in the journey.

July 10, 2010 at 8:37 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Nicely done Ira and for me the joy has always been in the journey, mishaps and all. I concur with everything you say here, you just have the ability of articulating it all much better than I ever could.

July 10, 2010 at 12:37 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

translation : Still like it here - to support you

To: our foreign friend:
謝謝您的支持

July 10, 2010 at 4:06 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

And he said “I am sure that I am going to be labeled as such for even having the guts to says this. But, I really do not care anymore.” Reread the blog if this sentiment escaped the reader.

Well, the point is, you finally really do care. Those who know you never doubted it. It is your message that needs that clarity of passion. And you just anteed up. God bless you. Was this a slip of the tongue, a moment of indiscretion, a Freudian gaffe where we saw a thread of deep conviction? Did someone drop the meek approach and become a warrior with skin in the game. I applaud you, will pray for you and with deep sincerity warn you “Truth begets hatred.” This blog, on your back, may have just taken a serious, a conscionable, a worthy turn from credulity into the realm of high moral wisdom. I pray you are serious.

July 11, 2010 at 7:55 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Unfortunately in this current frenzied political realm the "truth" is no longer based on fact. Facts are skewed and massaged in such a subjective way that most have no real idea where the truth really lies. Only those words which serve their distorted belief system are clung to as TRUTHS. Even the intentions of our forefathers and writers of the very document by which we govern today is in question. It doesn't get more distorted than that.

July 11, 2010 at 8:23 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

So brace up. Use your God given talent and separate the wheat from the chaff. Would any of us have gotten involved, started to think, use our intellect unless irritated, offended, been personally affected or challenged? You represent the good, the fire that has been kindled by this forum. Keep up this worthy effort and cherish an “open” mind. Challenge everything with vigor even the existence of God. He would want it that way.

July 11, 2010 at 8:32 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

That is exactly what drives my participation here and elsewhere regarding our current situation. Although I will guarantee my motives are diametrically opposed to most of the other contributors. I am seeking truth in every avenue available to me with every ounce of passion and conviction I can muster up. It alone has stirred my soul and caused me to question everything I see, hear or even think what might be the truth.

July 11, 2010 at 8:45 AM  
Anonymous Ira said...

Our founding fathers just like the rest of us were only human. They too suffered all the human shortcomings we all must endure. They however, as did every great human, were able to rise above the normal and were capable, in a burst of intellectual clarity, to perform super human events. This is what sets them above the rest. This is why we remember them. But, as in my short story, at the end of the day they were still only human. We tend to forget that when we write history and we shouldn't.

July 11, 2010 at 8:55 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

" We tend to forget that when we write history and we shouldn't."
....or even attempt to rewrite it.

July 11, 2010 at 9:15 AM  
Anonymous Ira said...

When we find inaccuracies in the way history has been portrayed it is our duty, no matter how painful that duty would be, to correct those inaccuracies. We owe it to those generations yet to come.

July 11, 2010 at 6:12 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

As one wanders down the list their personal, political and governmental displeasure remember Thomas Paine “These are the times that try men’s souls; the summer soldiers and the sunshine patriots (us?) will, in a crisis, shrink from the service of their country (convictions, beliefs?) but he that stands by it now (in sacrifice and pain) deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have the consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.” And the impossible dream is Martin Luther’s non-violent revolution.

July 11, 2010 at 8:32 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The illusionary nature of “facts” and the lazy intellectual use of them to justify fallible arguments is an ever increasing and acceptable form of lying, a simple misrepresentation, or the false assertion that somehow our version of the debate is” right,” that is creeping into our culture. All one has to do is seemingly state a “fact” or disprove it, and the discussion is over, the conclusion is predestined and the outcome is beyond reproach. Oh, how foolish we are. There is an infinity of articles of faith, religions are based on much of this phenomena, that are easily disproved by the lazy mind as not “factual.”

The courts have long ago put the “lie” to “expert’ opinion, a legal interpretation of the “facts’ that has effectively shown the weakness of and the danger of conditioning the mind to accept other “opinions” as to the fact of the matter and not to rely on our own God given ability, also flawed by human nature, to “know” instinctively what is the “truth.”

Use “facts” to bolster your argument but do not be so naive as to actually believe you can rest your case, in pompous arrogance, and actually feel you do not have to revisit, recheck and rethink everything you have ever learned, based on what you may just have been presented with. It was an undisputable fact the earth was once flat. So be humble or you will certainly suffer humility. The cache of lies is a misinterpretation of the truth and the truth is never an absolute unless defined as so. Definition is not the substance of fact. Faith is often the miracle that saves us from drowsing in convenient “facts.”

There is a difference between “fact” (a piece of information about circumstances that exists or events that have occurred), “truth” (a fact that has been verified) and “wisdom” (accumulated knowledge or erudition or enlightenment). They are tools to an end, not the end itself.

Use facts in your discussion, they are worthy, do not ever assume your reader will allow you to rest your case on such a proven feeble foundation, that is an insult to their intelligence. There is a reasonable, rational justification for nullification.

Gandhi said “It is unwise to be too sure of one’s own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.

And I could be wrong.

July 12, 2010 at 9:32 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

If I may borrow another quote here:
"There is a difference between “fact” (a piece of information about circumstances that exists or events that have occurred), “truth” (a fact that has been verified) and “wisdom” (accumulated knowledge or erudition or enlightenment). They are tools to an end, not the end itself."

...such as that whole black panther story about the pardoning of men making threatening and racial slurs by the POTUS and Mr. Holder? When we find out today that FACTUALLY speaking those men were pardoned under GWB and months later a civil case was filed against them by the justice dept dated Jan 9, 2010; clearly 11 days before this current administration was in power and 2 months before Eric Holder was appointed. Is that what we mean by facts? I wonder how many emails were sent and fury was stirred up surrounding this event when it was all a lie in the first place. It baffles me how some members of the media think the populace is so stupid they'll buy anything that is sold to them. Or... in this regard anyway, their followers really were that gullible?

July 12, 2010 at 6:18 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

We have seen this blog, both offerings rather excellent, and I, for one, have not seen, in the comments, the kindling of any significant fire in the souls of patriots who might make a difference. Even when we are forced to ingest the “truth” are we accepting the opinions of others or not forming/reforming our own.

Our mistake is almost universal. We mistake the Saul Alinsky Principles Rules for radicals, as a symptom, and not the reformation of America by the Radical/Progressive/Liberal movement. The Democrats don’t even want this but they are being cannibalized by it, and it may be too late. Some have called this movement a cancer on the Constitution.

Jeff Jones, was a founding member of the Weather Underground (a 2002 documentary with some “facts” about a white radical organization)…a Bill Ayers club, now working in NY for the Apollo alliance, has views on violence expressed against policemen in “Bring the War Home.” He is quoted at saying “The point of (action against policemen?) was that if they’re going to continue to attack the Vietnamese and to kill the (Black) Panthers, then we as white people (Weather Underground possibly?) are going to attack them behind the lines…that is why we…smashed up peoples private property, their cars, their windows and fought the cops.”

Read the “Weather Underground Political Statement.” The racism and kill cracker babies claim attributed to King Samir Shabazz has been reported. It is mostly unreported that the last meeting of the Weather Underground attended by Bill Ayers (source Doug McAdam, Stanford University Sociology Professor), an Obama associate…”The question that was debated was it –was it or was it not the duty (brand the word “duty” in your mind) of every good revolutionary to kill all new born white babies.” White people are the oppressors.

The major and suspected activities of this group is listed as 1969 Haymarket Police Memorial Bombing, 1969 Days of Rage, 1969 Flint war Council, 1970 Park Place Police Station bombing, 1970 Judge Murtagh arson attack, 1970 Greenwich Village townhouse explosion, 1970 NYC Police bombing, 1970 Timothy Leary prison break, 1972 Pentagon bombing, 1974 Prairie Fire and COINTELPRO. Do not ignore the indiscretions of the police but they pale in comparison to the activities of the Weather Underground.

So, we have the Black Panthers wanting to kill cracker babies, the Weather Underground (WUO) saying kill all white babies before they grow up to be oppressors. And then from Khalid Muhammad 1993, now deceased, the forerunner of Malik Shabazz, “I say if they don’t get out of town….we will kill the men, we kill the women, we kill the children, we kill the blind, we kill the crippled, we kill the crazy, we kill the fa****s, we kill the lesbians, I say G*******t, we kill the all.”

Are we not to believe the very “words” from the lips of the opposition? This is the mind-set that does not “bother” the DOJ.

The timeliness of this blog content comes at a moment in time when the NAACP is drafting a resolution to brand the Tea Party as racist. Do not aid and abet the enemy. What exactly don’t we understand? The analytical opinion of Eric Holder in this blog is just too kind. Never has there ever been such a gross dereliction of duty on the part of the US Attorney General. But try as these essays have, the sleeping giant is not stirring, is not awake and does not appear to be having any nightmares.

And we ask “Who are our enemies?”

July 12, 2010 at 10:11 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Would someone kindly tell me what the new label for an independent voter is these days? I see titles like "Radical/Progressive/Liberal", just to name a few, being tossed around about the democrats. Does that refer to anyone who is not of conservative persuasion? According to Mr. Beck that is the case and since his truths are the only ones people find credible so it shall be in his followers minds.

July 13, 2010 at 2:11 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

You are a treasure. Don’t look to simple explanations, arguments, discussions, and the meanings of semantics like “labels”, they are nothing more than attempts to “guide” a discussion. Confusion is the devils work. We are born perfect, then stuff happens. When someone says “Beck” we know exactly what the rub is. When we say democrat, republican, conservative, progressive and every “ism” you can thing of, you know most of us are referring to either the “good” or ‘bad” that men can do. When one says Hitler, do we think of anything “good?”. When we say Gandhi, do we thing of anything “bad.” Escape the conditioned “opinions” and continue to form your own “truth.” You don’t want my definition of anything. What ever someone else “says” is only a “data” point, a reference to be evaluated against our own moral compass. The real question is “who and what do you think an Independent is.” I can produce a pristine homily or an evil dissertation. You will still have to make your own decision. You want the “truth” you arrive out through your own “God” given intellectual talents. There is “good” is almost everything. Capture that and discard the rest. If you are asking only me, I say I am an independent voter, independent in no ones image but my own. Please, pray, that I use my intellectual gifts as well as you appear to.

July 13, 2010 at 7:45 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

as I am in the habit of "making my own decisions" I will consider myself on the right path. As always the discussion here has been enlightening on all levels.

July 13, 2010 at 2:41 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Frank,
Interesting, several conservative blacks have called in to our local radio talk show to voice the same concerns that you have expressed here. I couldn't comment on Eric Holder's views on race, but the situation does seem very divisive... (just a note - red is very hard for me to see w/ your blog's background, could you use light blue?)

Lisa Jones

July 14, 2010 at 5:42 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yeh Lisa, we all know that the fact that they are CALLERS wouldn't preclude anyone from lying about their race. Those kinds of political stunts are a thing of the past most assuredly

July 14, 2010 at 11:01 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The new landscape is cluttered with pseudo liberal Democrats (a pseudo [an imposter who makes deceitful pretenses]-intellectuals) and faux-conservative Republicans (an outspoken, irrational person with deeply-held, nominally conservative, political views). The internet is alive with a bouillabaisse of serious, half sober and down right idiotic opinions, we all fall in that rut occasionally, and yet we have not perfected a decent intellectual spam filter. Redefining words has become an art form when their true definition, unfavorable, crystallizes. Fill your bucket with “isms” and start your research.

Hint, see how Sal Alinsky, the author of an ideology this blog has yet to tackle, redefines the opposition as shouting head pseudo-journalism. Once you label the Tea Party as Racist, one doesn’t have to intellectualize, examine, and justify the arguments on their merits. Once you label King Samir Shabazz as a young man who took civic engagement to a momentary extreme of enthusiasm, you no longer have to deal with his hate speech, his abhorrent rhetoric, his authentic mission and goal, and his abject racism and race-baiting.

But the corrupt reformation goes deeper. Impeccable funeral etiquette is the recorded façade of deception. In a moment of what should have been a transcribed public disgrace, mass media euphemisms replaced the ugly truth with self serving pomposity. With the funeral for Senator Robert Byrd, progressives (don’t trip over a label) altered history, as is their mantra, for he was portrayed by President Clinton and elegized by President Obama, our current president who did know better, in glowing terms reserved for honorable statesmen. Here was a contradiction, a lie that sickened the soul of chronological truth, as their “praise” denied the facts of a near lifetime bigot, a racist, and a foe of civil rights. Senator Byrd, it is reported, was a self proclaimed enemy of the black man, “I shall never fight in the armed forces with a Negro by my side… Rather I should die a thousand times, and see Old Glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again, than to see this beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongrels, a throwback to the blackest specimen from the wilds.” He is the equal of King Samir Shabazz in any arena, transforming in death to the consummate, forgivable political icon, a “Pillar of the Senate” who might have in his career “took civic engagement to a momentary extreme of enthusiasm” but only to get elected. As if that is a justification. And everybody cheered, as his true legacy was malevolent intelligence, hypocrisy of character but he brought home the “pork.” He was certainly in very good company on that day of interment. “Show me your friends and I will tell you who you are”….a computational model of reputation.

The Fundamental Transformation of America is in progress and in the end it will all be the same empty carnival-barking that proves again, again and again, that “A fool is born every second.” And “You can fool all of the people some of the time.” We must be vigilant and know the difference between racism and race-baiting. Public Relations is the scientific engineering of consent. So why is PR important? Why is hundreds of millions poured into clever subliminal suggestive ads? Why must the populace have their opinions warped, formed, and delivered, instilled in their souls, opinions that if reason where to prevail are not their own? This is a noble, singular purpose of this blog. You can’t take away the freedom of an aware, informed populace; they have to give it up themselves.

July 14, 2010 at 8:34 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I truly wish there were some way to distinguish between the anonymous posters here. To the most recent submission by one, at the risk of sounding like a puppet: BRAVO!

July 16, 2010 at 4:38 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

谢谢我的朋友

July 17, 2010 at 7:38 AM  
Anonymous Ira said...

感谢您参与

July 20, 2010 at 8:11 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

So, have we reached the lowest common denominator? Is this the literary excellence we subscribe to? This only diminishes the value and character of this effort.

July 20, 2010 at 8:58 AM  
Anonymous Ira said...

And what are you refering too?

July 21, 2010 at 7:05 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

A thoughtful, simplistic offering from the ether. Don’t get bogged down in the logic.

We must find a way to get rid of all incumbents, and then, not vote for any attorney running for office. We need to have people that are representative of us representing us instead of just attorneys. Teachers, engineers, small business owners, entrepreneurs, salesmen, senior citizens, farmers, truck drivers, plant workers, accountants, retirees, soldiers, doctors, etc, etc, etc,

Once upon a time the government had a vast scrap yard in the middle of a desert. Congress said, "Someone may steal from it at night."
So they created a night watchman position and hired a person for the job.

Then Congress said, "How does the watchman do his job without instruction?" So they created a planning department and hired two people, one person to write the instructions, and one person to do time studies.

Then Congress said, "How will we know the night watchman is doing the tasks correctly?" So they created a Quality Control department and hired two people. One to do the studies and one to write the reports.

Then Congress said, "How are these people going to get paid?" So They created the following positions, a time keeper, and a payroll officer, then hired two people.

Then Congress said, "Who will be accountable for all of these people?" So they created an administrative section and hired three people, an Administrative Officer, Assistant Administrative Officer, and a Legal Secretary.

Then Congress said, "We have had this command in operation for one Year and we are $18,000 over budget, we must cutback overall cost." So they laid off the night watchman.

NOW, slowly, let that sink in. Quietly, we go like sheep to slaughter.

Does anybody remember the reason given for the establishment of the DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY..... during the Carter Administration?

Anybody? Anything? No? Didn't think so!

Bottom line. We've spent several hundred billion dollars in support of an agency...the reason for which not one person who reads this can remember!

Ready??
It was very simple...and at the time, everybody thought it very appropriate.

The Department of Energy was instituted on
8-04-1977, TO LESSEN OUR DEPENDENCE ON FOREIGN OIL.

Hey, pretty efficient, huh???

AND NOW IT'S 2010 -- 33 YEARS LATER -- AND THE BUDGET FOR THIS "NECESSARY" DEPARTMENT IS AT $24.2 BILLION A YEAR. THEY HAVE 16,000 FEDERAL EMPLOYEES AND APPROXIMATELY 100,000 CONTRACT EMPLOYEES; AND LOOK AT THE JOB THEY HAVE DONE! THIS IS WHERE YOU SLAP YOUR FOREHEAD AND SAY, "WHAT WAS I THINKING?"

33 years ago 30% of our oil consumption was foreign imports. Today 70% of our oil consumption is foreign imports.

Ah, yes -- good ole bureaucracy.

AND, NOW, WE ARE GOING TO TURN THE BANKING SYSTEM, HEALTH CARE, AND THE AUTO INDUSTRY OVER TO THE SAME GOVERNMENT?

HELLOOO!
Anybody Home?

And some will need to “fact” check” this.

July 21, 2010 at 8:25 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Well Frank, both of you have said it better than we could! And PS you are dead-on right. The Chicago Thugs have taken over our nation! Sadly! The double standard displayed by Holder was alive during the election, and has moved into DC and the White House. We kept making videos during the election about the radicals. No one wanted to believe it, and we were sort of branded as the freaks, but here we sit right. But right does not deter the MACHINE! Our Votes will! Thanks for standing up! Gammy Sparkles

July 22, 2010 at 5:50 AM  

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