Pounding The Podium

Remember when we were young and naive (me either) but I think that at one point in my life I used to believe that Politics made sense.  You know, if 51 % of Americans wanted traffic lights to go Green Red Yellow instead of Red Yellow Green, by God that’s the way it would be.  Sadly the truth is much stranger.  The truth is that if 95% of Americans wants Green Yellow Red and 4 Percent wants Red Yellow Green but 1% who happen to be lobbyists want their lights mounted sideways on telephone polls well…you know where to look for your traffic lights now don’t you?

How can this be fair?  I was reading a rant from some left wing blogger who was trying to convince me that “That’s how things are done in the big leagues”  Oh, Really? So that’s how it is?  Maybe that’s because we allow it to be that way.  And it is so easy to justify.  If you are a Republican or Conservative and ask a liberal or Progressive if the 300 Million dollars now included in “Special Language” in the Reid Bill for the State of Louisiana is a bribe  you’ll get an answer that is similar to the “That’s how the big league’s work” that I did.  Bob Beckel (everyone’s favorite liberal) said basically the same thing on Hannity.  And when pushed on the issue, what is the next line of defense that the left throws up?  No, it’s not the race card – the race card is their “game ender’, I’ve never had one honestly answer what was wrong with Republicans when Hillary care didn’t pass, we’re we prejudiced against women in pantsuits?  Surprisingly, I’ve never gotten an answer.  No, it’s not the race card it’s the Bush Card.

Yes, George Bush did it first, he was worse, that is the liberal answer to everything, I only hope that this card wears out quicker than the race card has.

Who remembers when Bush, Sr., said “Read my lips, no new taxes” he was villified by the left, how many times did we watch the enlargement of Bush’s lips saying this, time and time again.  But Obama has been the President with the free pass,the following list of the top ten broken promises is not from Fox News, Glenn Beck or even Sarah Palin, it is from that bastion of liberalism the Huffington Post:

1.  End the war in Iraq, troops home in 2009 – Nope

2.  Close Gitmo in first year of his presidency – Nope

3.  Immigration reform (substantial in 200) – Nope

4.  End Detainee Torture – I’m not going to say Nope on this, even though Huff Po does.  I’m not going to score this one as I do not know what critera Huffington Post was using to determine this.  But you can argue it anyway you want to.

5.  Break the cycle of Bush’s abuse of power – Nope Bush policies restored, and the administration as secretive or more than ever

6.  Pass Net Neutrality – Nope (PS:  Thank God)

7. No Earmarks in Stimulas Package – Actually I am laughing too hard over the thosands of earmarks in the Stimulas to type poperly

8.Dump The Patriot Act – Nope Apparently he found out why we have one, or just likes keeping secreats

9. Promised to redo NAFTA – Nope and has no known plans to

10. Promised no more Wall Street Bailouts – Well we all know how that turned out.

Please keep in mind, this is just the top ten, not an all exhaustive list, it does not even include my favorite “Lobbyists will not have a home in an Obama Whitehouse” I guess that means he makes them leave at night, because God knows that there are about 20 working there.

The bottom line is that Obama promised “No more business as usual” was it unrealistic to believe him?  Probably, but we (America) wanted so badly to believe in his “hope and change” message.  No one should feel more offended and more orphaned than the true believers who work hours and hours for this guy, just to see another Ivy League guy in a suit promising things.  And just think it is this loyal core of the Obama machine that falls into the 36%, and represents a number that shrinks each day as the Independent members of the 36% grow discouraged and leave.

Many of those on the right who voted for Obama were voting against McCain as much as voting for Obama, and many thought that he would rise to the job.  Well, if he made some effort to govern from the middle it would have provided the right with some hope.  But Obama was in a no win position between making his ‘friends’ or the nation happy.  He has choosen his friends more often than not.  Why do I say that?  Because it can’t be the nation.  Why would we possibly be attempting to raise taxes for a program that less than 1/2 of the country wants (actually 36%) when it will not generate jobs or even the health care benifits that it is supposed to for four more years?

If you COULD poll everyone in America right now, how would they rank the following problems?

Unemployment,  The economy, Health Care, Climate Change, Immigration, Afganistan

Would healthcare be on the top of the list of 50% (or more) of the country?

No, 36% regardless of where you went to school does not equal a majority.  It is not a mandate.  Repeating over and over again “America wants this bill” will never make it true.  Well, maybe it does in Obamaland, but no where else.

So, after my last article about “where do we go from here” I’ve been kind of called out.  I won’t mention the source by name,  but they felt that I was been a little disingenous about my reasons for leaving Gretawire and coming out here to the land of safe blogging (well apparently not too safe as I got called out).

Basically I was told “Well, I guess you are in the right place now, where you won’t be criticized or disagreed with, as this is your real comfort zone, however not very conducive to being the writer that you want to be.  Try not to fall into the trap of thinking that your political stand prevents you from standing up to those who exhibit PERSONAL traits that are distasteful and ignorant.”  Fair enough and well said.  I do however stand by my statement that I find blogging and arguing with individuals to be a total waste of time.  Liberals don’t come on to Gretawire to be converted anymore than conservatives do, and if anyone ever got their affilation changed from reading someone else’s view on GW it would be a first.

Regardless, the reasons that I choose not to be criticized or disagreed with are that my passions run deep when it comes to some things, and my health is very poor and very fragile.  It was for this reason (primarlly) that I left GW in the first place.

But I am not afraid of sticking up for my beliefs, and I am not afraid of sharing those beliefs.  I will just have to avoid as many pointless ‘he said she said’ arguments as possible.  I still have a tough week to go through medically, but I will take this weekend to rest up and get ready to battle some more.  I guess the best thing I can say is the old cliche “be careful what you wish for”

I’ve got to tell you that I am as frustrated tonight as I can ever remember being.  There is so much going on in the world today that needs good, dedicated, concerned and engaged individuals working on that it is difficult to keep track of it all.  Let me make a quick off the top of my head list:

Health Care

Cap & Trade

Union Card Check

Immigration Reform

2010 Elections

And on and on and on.  So what am I doing?  Writing articles about people writing articles about Sarah Palin because they make me mad.  That is in all likelyhood not helping the cause much.

This is why I quit blogging on places like Gretawire, not that I don’t think that there are some great conservative bloggers there, but because I was spending far to much time fighting with people with monikers like “Vixen, Robinhoodlum, Glenn Lachrymose, Obama Rocks, Zorra, etc.” and even though I would always tell myself what a waste of time that was, I would find myself doing it again next time.

Why?  Because I hate to see the left get away unchallenged.  I hate to see them look down their noses at people and treat them with their typical elitist snobbery.  I especially hate to see “men” or individuals who are supposed to be ‘men’ hiding behind a moniker and talking to women in ways that their mothers would have in all likelyhood slapped them silly for.

But as long as I spend time fighting that fight, no matter how personally satisfying, I won’t spend the time fighting the liberal agenda that I listed earlier.  Writing your Senators and Congressman (even the liberal ones) is more effective than arguing with some liberal loon.  I am also half convinced that more and more leftist bloggers are just employed to cloud the issues.

So I will continue to plug away sending letters, emails and op-eds anywhere that will accept them.  I can’t promise to eliminate my articles about liberals bashing Palin, but I promise to limit them somewhat.

Stay Free!!!

Does this look like the crowd at a Lady Gaga concert?

That stereotypical mush would be condescending, except for the fact that Sarah Palin is quite the looker. So therefore, anything (former) Gov. Gorgeous utters automatically comes off as genuine and dare I say, genius.”

Later on in the article Demis grudgingly remarks that Palin’s starting her tour in Michigan is no accident, but rather than giving the former Governor her due for keeping her word (something very rare in today’s political world) Demis snidely remarks “The Mitten State stop was intended to be the ultimate kiss-off to the John McCain campaign, as Palin made clear in her score-settling, factually challenged memoir. There’s no doubt that the operation blew Michigan, culminating with its bumbling pullout five weeks before Election Day. That’s when the veep-to-be “went rogue,” striking back at the McCain meanies.”

I think that “factually challenged” refers to the fact that the 11 (that’s right eleven) reporters that the AP assigned to ‘fact check’ her book found that Sarah Palin and her daughter actually stayed in an expensive hotel at one time.   As for the ‘ultimate kiss-off to the John McCain campaign why it must be, why else would a politician due something just because she said she would.  Remember Demis lives in the world of Jennifer Granholm.

It is also apparent that no one has ever treated Susan Demis in a sexist manner, or she would probably not be so quick to dismiss the treatment of Palin with remarks like “Why conservatives comically insist that Sarah’s sex appeal isn’t, well, part of her appeal, is beyond me, but it seems to be a fascinating psychological blend of cynicism and repression. Sorry, but it’s not her impressive reign as mayor of the Iditarod capital of the world (population 6,700) that lured screaming fans to a half-empty mall on a rainy weeknight.” I’ve posted a picture of the ’screaming sex crazed fans above and wasn’t Sarah Palin also Governor of Alaska and a former Vice Presidential candidate?   Neither of those accomplishments normally call for particularly sexy women.

It is really impressive that Susan was so able to so quickly forget her days of working for the Battle Creek Enquirer and become oh so far removed from the crowds at the Mall (who from all indications were typically Michiganders).  Sarah Palin is unlike Susan and her ilk at Huffington Post as she seems to remember where she comes from.

I was unable to make it to the signing last night, but two of my daughters attended for me in order to get some books signed.  Neither was a huge Palin fan upon going, they just wanted to get the books for their father because even if they don’t agree with me, they respect my opinion.  I’ve even posted a picture from inside the mall, is it just me or is the crowd of people waiting for an autograph not really typical of a crowd waiting to see some sexy women?  Both of my daughters left the booksigning being very impressed with the person that Sarah Palin portrayed.   Apparently I raised them with open minds, for which I am very grateful, too bad that practice is not more common.

Update:

Michelle Malkin posted this story about the much more offensive picture of Sarah Palin in Newsweek, no doubt our friends at Huff Po would have thought this was appropriate also:

The more offensive Newsweek photo of Sarah Palin

Everyone has commented on the cover photo of Sarah Palin that Newsweek editors used — a photo from a Runner’s World spread taken during the campaign.

Whatever the intentions of the left-wing Newsweek editors, I think Sarah looks fabulous.

The truly tasteless photo of Palin that no one is talking about is inside the magazine on p. 33, illustrating Christopher Hitchens’s broadside against Palin populism:

The dregs at MSNBC tried and failed to get away with faked photos of a sexualized Sarah Palin. Newsweek’s weasels found a way to evade responsibility for their rank sexism by using a photo of a real Palin doll in schoolgirl regalia.

Just another manifestation of Female Conservative Derangement Syndrome.

And no, it isn’t “playing the victim” to expose their bigotry.

It’s calling them out.

“Famous for Being famous:  The Sarah Palin Show Is On the Air” is the latest rant from Bob Cesca – trust me he is a real person, he has even written a book called “One Nation Under Fear: Scaredy Cats and Fear-Mongers in the Home of the Brave’ what you never heard of it?  That’s okay it’s not a real book , it is a collection of  ‘blog like entrys’ in book form which contains some brilliant things he says about how unfair we are to suspected Muslim extremists.

Here is an example of the brilliant Mr. Cesca “Officials ordered nine Muslim passengers, including three young children, off an AirTran flight headed to Orlando from Reagan National Airport yesterday afternoon after two other passengers overheard what they thought was a suspicious remark.  All but one of these passengers were American citizens. And all they did was to comment about how close their parked airplane was to another airplane. It required FBI assistance in order to be booked onto another flight.  AirTran has since “apologized” and offered reimbursement for their missed flight and the cost to catch a flight on another carrier. I imagine that the lawsuits will fly soon despite their efforts. (oops, kind of made a pun there).   It really sounds like some folks just need to mellow out. I understand the need for vigilance, but it’s getting borderline retarded out there”  Wow Bob, that is freaking brilliant.  I can’t understand why you don’t have crowds of people waiting for copies of your book or why you are not #1 on Amazon (or anyplace else).  How do your comments play out now in light of Fort Hood?  Are you still prescribing unchecked Political Correctness?

Maybe that is Bob Cesca’s real problem.  No one takes him, his blog, or his little collection of essays seriously.  I can understand why that would cause him such frustration, and seeing the success of Sarah Palin must really irritate this guy.  But really Bob, let’s examine your article a little bit here.  First of all you start your rant, I mean ‘article’ by saying  “I’m not sure what I have more contempt for. Sarah Palin’s pathological lying or the people who can say with a straight face that Sarah Palin is qualified for anything other than a reality show contestant or the the Edie McClurg role in a remake of Planes, Trains & Automobiles.” and then continue “What’s even more alarming is the constant reporting from the cable news people this week: Sarah Palin is famous! Wow! But no one is digging into exactly why she’s famous.”

Well gee Mr. Journalist, beyond watching Tina Fey’s SNL  skits on YouTube, what kind of research did you do?  You called Sarah Palin a “pathological liar” without offering any examples (real classy guy) and apparently did zero research into what Sarah Palin is famous for.  What makes Sarah Palin special is that she started her political career by tackling corruption in her own party and took on the old-boy network in Alaska.  Something that requires a little more personal fortitude than simply calling someone names behind the dubious ’shield’ of the Huffington Post.

Your total ignorance of Sarah Palin’s background is manifested in your statements such as “Here’s how it works: Take a not unattractive rube with a screwy family and mix in some drama. Add cameras and POOF! We have a candidate/show.

Is there any other formula to explain the obsession with, say, Jon & Kate? Or the Balloon Boy family? The Sarah Palin Show is nothing more than a confessional interview with poorly articulated politics tossed into the mix.”

Does the fact that Sarah Palin has far more political experience than our President even counting his one year disaster of a Presidency count for anything?  I know that you didn’t do any research on this article Bob, but maybe you could have at least looked at the fact that President Obama did umpteen “Town Hall” meetings that were as scripted as an Episode of “Big Bang Theory” (just not as funny), were he was ever so fortunate to only have those who love him question him and he did that same phony “put my jacket over my arm and roll up my sleeves” move at every town hall less than 2 minutes into each speech.  he gave a speech a week, appeared on EVERY talk show with one notable exception and in 1 facebook post Sarah Palin changed the game.  Bet you wish you could do that with your little Wednesday article on Huffington Post.

So actually Bob, your literary effort consisted of seeing what Huffington Post was writing checks for this week, reading what the other ‘journalists’ had to say and putting your own little slant on it.  Great job.  But maybe if you are really after fame, you’ll learn that there is real work involved.  It’s not about kissing ass and saying what you are asked to say.  It’s not about acting like a wannabee rebel while spouting the party line (which is exactly what you are doing).

Ann Coulter has famously (and correctly) stated that “If you want to know what Liberals are up to, read what they accuse you of”.  Hmmm, sounds about right in this case.

Two of my daughters Carrie and Mary got up at 2:00 in the morning to stand in line at the Barnes & Noble in Grand Rapids, Michigan to get their dad a signed copy of Sarah Palin’s book.

I was unable to attend due to some medical testing that I could not reschedule.  So after the 2:00 in the morning line standing, my daughters went back to stand in line tonight and are just seconds away from getting into the bookstore!

UPDATE:  Here it is!!!

Somedays I feel like I write for the Huffington Post, and that is really not a good feeling.  But before I shut down for the evening I tend to check out a few of the more left leaning sites like Huffington Post, Newshounds, Media Matters, etc., probably not a good idea as it is after 1:00 in the morning and here I am pounding the keyboards.

One of the editors over on “I Hate The Media” says that his biggest complaint about me (and he has several) is that I read something that makes me mad and then I sit down and write about it.  Sometimes that works, and sometimes it doesn’t.  Probably a better way to write satire which I have stayed away from a little bit lately is to think on it a day or two before committing it to paper (or computer memory, or what have you).

Anyway, he is probably right, in fact I am sure he is.  But this is not about satire, this is about I am mad dammit and here is why I am mad (you know – good blogging!!!).

Okay, tonight I am mad at Andy Ostry of Huffington Post for his contention that the “Republicans Once Again Shamelessly Exploiting Terrorism  for Political Purposes” which happens to be the title of his latest Huffington Post article.

In example, we of course have the case of “US Army Major Malik Nadal Hassan, who Republicans are demanding be called a terrorist for killing 13 people in what they claim is the first act of terrorism on U.S. soil since the September 11, 2001 attacks”  Ostry goes on to contend that “Any mentally ill Muslim can walk into a supermarket and yell “Allahu Akbar,” as Hasan had before opening fire on his fellow soldiers, but does that in and of itself make him an Islamist terrorist rather than simply a violent fringe lunatic? Does this give license to Republicans to frame the debate with reckless, irresponsible and incendiary rhetoric?”

Ostry’s statement reminds me of a textbook I had in college so many, many, many years ago – the fact that I remember after so many years the name of the book “The Big Umbrella” by   I was fortunate enough to find a website about the book which was originally released in 1972 (Ouch!!) here is an excerpt that should provide a good example of why the above paragraph by Ostry brought it to mind

“During the last generation a big umbrella was opened. Beneath its huge, over-arching expanse you now find people with the most diverse problems and difficulties. Under its shadow they have been gathered together according to the novel idea that nearly everybody who is having problems, regardless of what his difficulties may be, is sick. The name of this umbrella is Mental Illness. This umbrella was designed and opened by Charcot and Freud and others who worked with them. Until their time, “illness” meant physical illness. But they stretched the concept of illness until it pertained to nearly any and every sort of difficulty in life.’

Apparently now if one is to believe Ostry, the “Big Umbrella” described above has now been extended to include Muslim extremists.

One wonders (at least I do) how we would prove the fact that the extremists who crashed airliners into buildings with such devastating effect were in fact terrorists and not as Ostry contends “mentally ill” and a ‘violent fringe lunatic’ as very little evidence remains to test Ostry’s theory on.  Perhaps that is just the Conservative Republican in me being “reckless, irresponsible and incendiary” sorry.

Later in his writings, Ostry finds a supposed like thinker in Matt Duss of ThinkProgress who put it: “The definition of terrorism is not ‘any violence by any Muslim anywhere at any time for any reason’.”

In what I would term fanciful editing, Ostry leaves out the results of the train of thought that Duss began on the matter of what terrorism is, because that leads into the left’s belief that Hassan’s actions were no better or worse than the U.S. and its allies are routinely guilty of as stated in Glenn Greenwald’s article on the subject which says “But that — along with the repellent claim that saying ”Allahu Akbar” is “suggestive of terrorism,” rather than suggestive of someone who is Muslim (obviously the same thing in the minds of the people claiming that) – is exactly what seems to be driving discussions of this attack.  It’s likely that there will always be a lack of clarity about exactly what motivated Hasan — some combination of mental instability, religious fervor and political conviction — but, regardless of motive, the only way to define an attack on soldiers as an act of “terrorism” is to indict ourselves in the same way.”

So apparently we are the same thing as the Muslim extremists, and we do the exact same things.  That explains Bernie Goldberg’s remarks on the Factor last night where he basically warned us to watch out for “all those Christian suicide bombers” and how many times has a guy shouted out “Praise Jesus” before shooting up a bunch of unarmed Muslim soldiers.  Why it is exactly the same thing.

Not only is the left mired deep in deadly “political correctness” they are still hoping that the Barrack Obama world apology tour will bring about world peace.   In the words of Doctor Phil “How’s that working our for ya?”

According to today’s Huffington Post, Obama’s financial wizard, Mr. Turbo Tax himself Tim Geithner may be in serious trouble.  According to Huff Po “A brutal report issued Monday by a government watchdog holds Timothy Geithner — then the head of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and now the nation’s Treasury Secretary — responsible for overpayments that put billions of extra tax dollars in the coffers of major Wall Street firms, most notably Goldman Sachs”

The report was scathing in it’s criticism of Geithner both in terms of his actions on some issues and inaction on others.  Huffington Post also reported that “There is no question that the effect of FRBNY’s decisions — indeed, the very design of the federal assistance to AIG — was that tens of billions of dollars of Government money was funneled inexorably and directly to AIG’s counterparties,” the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program said.

Wall Street firms like Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and Wachovia got full value for their derivatives contracts with AIG, and taxpayers got the bill. In total, $27.1 billion of public money was transferred to companies that did business with AIG.”

Hmmmm, not being an accountant myself I can only say that does not sound good, it almost hearkens back to the days of old, I think it was this March when calls for Geithner’s resignation were long and loud on Capitol Hill

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Politico actually ran the following article on calls for Geithner’s resignation over his handling of AIG  “Should he stay or should he go? That was the topic being hotly debated on the Hill Wednesday as a partisan battle shaped up over the fate of embattled Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner.  Rep. Connie Mack (R-Fla.) kicked it off early, becoming the first member to publicly call for Geithner’s head.  “I’ve had serious concerns about Secretary Geithner from the moment he was nominated. In the months since, he has shown us time and again why he was the wrong choice for this critical post,” Mack wrote in a statement. “This week’s news on the AIG bonus scandal is but the latest fiasco under his watch, and he has lost the confidence of the American people. Quite simply, the Timothy Geithner experience has been a disaster. … Timothy Geithner should either resign or be fired for the good of the country.”

Obama stuck up for the embattled Geithner through his previous problems, but should it prove good timing to blame Geithner for all the financial troubles the administration is currently having then we will soon  find Geithner keeping company with the crowd currently cooling their heels under Obama’s bus.  Stay tuned!!

By Patrick Michael

Read more at:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/16/aig-bailout-government-ov_n_359919.html

If you just need a good laugh check out the following video on YouTube:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfL-Oj1rQ-c

I am currently working on an in depth article on SEIU and environmental groups and came across this great article by Michelle Malkin.  More proof that great minds do indeed think alike!!

http://michellemalkin.com/2009/11/16/seiu-thugs-vs-the-boy-scouts/

Just read his Bio at Huff Post “Geoffrey Dunn is an award-winning writer and filmmaker. Dunn has produced and directed more than a dozen award-winning documentary films, including Dollar a Day, 10¢ a Dance: A Historic Portrait of Filipino Farm Workers in America; Miss…or Myth?; and the recently completed Calypso Dreams.

Dunn is the author of Santa Cruz Is in the Heart and Chinatown Dreams: The Life and Photographs of George Lee. He also wrote the original screenplay for the feature film Maddalena Z. Dunn earned a Ph. D. in Sociology from the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he was the recipient of an Excellence in Teaching award in 2001″.

Hard to imagine that a life that seemed so full of promise has been reduced to being a “I hate Sarah Palin” hack for the Huffington Post.  I mean who has a full time job hating Sarah Palin (besides Geoffrey Dunn).

Geoffrey Dunn despite being in his more advanced years displays a childlike glee in anything that casts disparagement on Sarah Palin, and apparently gives him cause to write another “article” and cash another check.

For those of you who think it impossible that an “award winning” writer and filmmaker could possible sink so low, check out a listing of his blog entries,(which follows)  does this list seem a little slanted?  It’s hard to believe that the left is not worried about Palin (right – not much) when they employ people like Dunn to write negative articles about her on a full time basis.

In all honesty, Dunn is also in the process of writing a whole book of Palin bashing.  Seems like someone has a fixation.

Palin Lifts From Gingrich in Anchorage Speech