Wednesday, October 01, 2008
"Penny-Wise Politics"
Thomas Sewell writes this week about "Penny-Wise Politics". His opening comment: "Congress is never more ridiculous than when it tries to look like it is serious." Is that the well-said truth, or what? Sewell notes that Democrats have learned to play the class envy tune for all it is worth. The more Sewell writes, the better it gets.
"Dedicated To A Great Proposition"
Are you all aware of what a good writer is Bill Bennett? I just finished reading Volume II of his work entitled "AMERICA, The Last Best Hope". It begins with events leading up to World War I, and ends with the Presidency of Ronald Wilson Reagan. It is a wonderful book, chocked full of interesting details of our country's history as leader of the free world.
On the next-to-last page, Bennett asserts, "We surprise ourselves, never knowing with exact certainty from whence our next leader or hero will come - good reason to respect and defend one another as Americans, as fellow countrymen dedicated to a great proposition." Will it be McCain? Will it be Obama? Or, will we have to wait four more years to get that next great leader?
I wish we could have the benefit of hindsight, instead of trying to figure out ahead of time, whom to trust with our votes. The nation gave Richard Nixon a huge landslide victory in 1972. He became the first president to have to resign in shame. The nation was thrilled to see Jimmy Carter get out of his limo and walk with the people on his inauguration day in Washington. Four years later, the nation could not wait to see him leave Washington. People were suspicious that an actor could be president, but Ronald Reagan, because of his steadfast faith in God and country, and the principles on which the country was built, made us believe in ourselves again. Harry Truman had been a small town judge in Missouri, but led us to victory in World War II, and desegregated the military.
This morning I picked up Bennett's "Book of Virtues". Are you like me: when I enjoy one good book by an author, I immediately want to read other works by the same author.
On the next-to-last page, Bennett asserts, "We surprise ourselves, never knowing with exact certainty from whence our next leader or hero will come - good reason to respect and defend one another as Americans, as fellow countrymen dedicated to a great proposition." Will it be McCain? Will it be Obama? Or, will we have to wait four more years to get that next great leader?
I wish we could have the benefit of hindsight, instead of trying to figure out ahead of time, whom to trust with our votes. The nation gave Richard Nixon a huge landslide victory in 1972. He became the first president to have to resign in shame. The nation was thrilled to see Jimmy Carter get out of his limo and walk with the people on his inauguration day in Washington. Four years later, the nation could not wait to see him leave Washington. People were suspicious that an actor could be president, but Ronald Reagan, because of his steadfast faith in God and country, and the principles on which the country was built, made us believe in ourselves again. Harry Truman had been a small town judge in Missouri, but led us to victory in World War II, and desegregated the military.
This morning I picked up Bennett's "Book of Virtues". Are you like me: when I enjoy one good book by an author, I immediately want to read other works by the same author.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Slipping in the Polls
John McCain is slipping in the polls. What has happened? Or, perhaps, a better question to ask is, what did he do when he went up in the polls? That's easy. He went up in the polls when he sounded like a conservative in the Saddleback church debate moderated by Rick Warren in California. He went way up in the polls when he selected Sarah Palin as his running mate.
Lately, though, John McCain has reminded us of what we have long known about him: he is not a conservative. We need to guard ourselves against getting too emotionally involved with him, because, like President Bush, he will disappoint us time and again.
Lately, though, John McCain has reminded us of what we have long known about him: he is not a conservative. We need to guard ourselves against getting too emotionally involved with him, because, like President Bush, he will disappoint us time and again.
Vote "Yes" on Amendment 49
Unions are another arm of the Democratic party. Colorado's Democratic Governor, Bill Ritter, has made it possible for unions to collect dues directly from state employees' paychecks. Jon Caldera of the free market Independence Institute has offered an amendment to the state's constitution to stop this practice. Unlike the Denver Post, I usually do agree with Caldera. Like the Denver Post, I agree with Caldera's Amendment 49, which the Post says, "would stop politicians from collecting union dues that are used to elect and re-elect those very same politicians."
ACORN
Did you notice that the Democrats tried to insert funding for ACORN in the bailout plan? ACORN is a radical arm of the Democratic party. They have been registering voters for Obama here in Colorado throughout 2008. I had some experience with them this summer. I was looking for a job. I heard they were registering voters. When I took the foster children into the huge Denver Social Services building at 12th and Federal, I saw them registering welfare recipients to vote. They were always there with a large table, and people were signing up. I also saw them at a grocery store in the inner city, getting signatures on petitions for labor union-sponsored petitions, from welfare recipients standing in line to cash their checks on the first of the month. They were very aggressive.
I thought, that would be a fun thing to do, register voters, and be paid for it! So, I went to their office to apply for a job. I was up front with them, and told them I wanted to sign up people in the suburbs, closer to our farm. They said no, "We are only employing people to work in the housing projects and welfare offices." Can you believe the Dems were so blatant as to try to include massive funding for ACORN in the bailout plan?
You just know the next thing ACORN will be doing is taking van-loads of people to the polls on election day. Without ACORN, I believe most of the people they have signed up will not bother to take the initiative to get themselves to the polls on election day. I wonder how many vans will be purchased with taxpayer money!
I thought, that would be a fun thing to do, register voters, and be paid for it! So, I went to their office to apply for a job. I was up front with them, and told them I wanted to sign up people in the suburbs, closer to our farm. They said no, "We are only employing people to work in the housing projects and welfare offices." Can you believe the Dems were so blatant as to try to include massive funding for ACORN in the bailout plan?
You just know the next thing ACORN will be doing is taking van-loads of people to the polls on election day. Without ACORN, I believe most of the people they have signed up will not bother to take the initiative to get themselves to the polls on election day. I wonder how many vans will be purchased with taxpayer money!
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Perspective
I recently met an 88-year-old man named Dave. Dave moved to Colorado from Southern California about five years ago. His nephew, a retired, single firefighter, told him he would take care of him here in Colorado, and, Dave says with grateful conviction in his voice, "he has"!
However, the story does not end there. Dave has a friend who is "only fifty" who calls him every Sunday without fail. She tells him how grateful she is that she has him for a friend, and how much he has helped her appreciate life. She tells him that he has helped her approach life much more positively, and she now has lots of friends, whereas previously she had none.
Dave was married for forty-eight years to a woman who was beautiful at every stage of her life. He showed me pictures from his wallet to prove it! One day, twenty years ago, they were out tending to yard work, when she said, "This is it!" She died right after saying those words.
Dave has other pictures in his wallet. He has several that show him standing next to the plane he flew in World War Two. He has several more of him standing next to the bread truck he proudly drove after returning from the war.
Dave does not like Colorado. The people here are too busy to talk to him. They are always hurrying around. He wants to go back to Southern California. He has a friend there who is only fifty.
However, the story does not end there. Dave has a friend who is "only fifty" who calls him every Sunday without fail. She tells him how grateful she is that she has him for a friend, and how much he has helped her appreciate life. She tells him that he has helped her approach life much more positively, and she now has lots of friends, whereas previously she had none.
Dave was married for forty-eight years to a woman who was beautiful at every stage of her life. He showed me pictures from his wallet to prove it! One day, twenty years ago, they were out tending to yard work, when she said, "This is it!" She died right after saying those words.
Dave has other pictures in his wallet. He has several that show him standing next to the plane he flew in World War Two. He has several more of him standing next to the bread truck he proudly drove after returning from the war.
Dave does not like Colorado. The people here are too busy to talk to him. They are always hurrying around. He wants to go back to Southern California. He has a friend there who is only fifty.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Recent Photos
Yes, I have had my camera with me to record the changing season and the miraculous sunsets.
Don't Doubt Him
Rush Limbaugh has made it as one of his purposes in life to study the thinking and behavioral patterns of people on the left. I believe he accurately summarizes what they are all about: power and control over the rest of us.
In the 1990s Rush first warned us about the "environmental whackos." Among other things, he warned that the SUV would be demonized. Rush was right. The news media always say "a person was hit by an SUV," not "a person was hit by a drunk driver." He saw through Al Gore's hysterical rants about man-made global warming. He showed us Gore's incredible hypocrisy, as Gore jetted around the world and lived in environmentally unfriendly mansions.
Rush was also right about the feminist movement, which was not about advancing women. It was about hating the fact that men were in positions of power and control. It was about advancing the idea that women should have the "right" to kill unborn babies. It was about debunking traditional values.
Now, Rush is warning us about how the left will use the financial crisis. He played the tape yesterday of Senator Chuck Schumer talking about how the "lowly mortgage" has brought down the financial markets. What? What about the irresponsible lending practices? What about the House and Senate banking committees, led by Barney Franks and Chris Dodd, blocking in 2003 and 2005 Republican efforts to set up a receivership corporation to handle bad debts? What about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, feathering the nests of politicians? No, it is us, the little guys, who are at fault for holding mortgages! Like SUVs, mortgages themselves will now be humanized and demonized, and be blamed for the financial failures, instead of looking at the effects of liberal government policies.
Yes, Rush says, it is the Marxist belief system that people on the left adhere to like glue. The problem, they think, is that too many of us are trying to own property. Too many of us are buying into the American dream, which the leftists thought they had banished long ago. Instead, we should all be realizing that we would be so much better off if we just let the government own all the property, and allow the leftists who control Congress and government agencies at all levels lay out for us the politically correct ways in which we are supposed to live our lives. They should own our property, not us.
As Rush often says, "Don't doubt me on this!"
In the 1990s Rush first warned us about the "environmental whackos." Among other things, he warned that the SUV would be demonized. Rush was right. The news media always say "a person was hit by an SUV," not "a person was hit by a drunk driver." He saw through Al Gore's hysterical rants about man-made global warming. He showed us Gore's incredible hypocrisy, as Gore jetted around the world and lived in environmentally unfriendly mansions.
Rush was also right about the feminist movement, which was not about advancing women. It was about hating the fact that men were in positions of power and control. It was about advancing the idea that women should have the "right" to kill unborn babies. It was about debunking traditional values.
Now, Rush is warning us about how the left will use the financial crisis. He played the tape yesterday of Senator Chuck Schumer talking about how the "lowly mortgage" has brought down the financial markets. What? What about the irresponsible lending practices? What about the House and Senate banking committees, led by Barney Franks and Chris Dodd, blocking in 2003 and 2005 Republican efforts to set up a receivership corporation to handle bad debts? What about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, feathering the nests of politicians? No, it is us, the little guys, who are at fault for holding mortgages! Like SUVs, mortgages themselves will now be humanized and demonized, and be blamed for the financial failures, instead of looking at the effects of liberal government policies.
Yes, Rush says, it is the Marxist belief system that people on the left adhere to like glue. The problem, they think, is that too many of us are trying to own property. Too many of us are buying into the American dream, which the leftists thought they had banished long ago. Instead, we should all be realizing that we would be so much better off if we just let the government own all the property, and allow the leftists who control Congress and government agencies at all levels lay out for us the politically correct ways in which we are supposed to live our lives. They should own our property, not us.
As Rush often says, "Don't doubt me on this!"
Sunday, September 21, 2008
The Drumbeat of the Left
Arrogance and lust for power, the drumbeat of the left. Willian Staneski writes in the American Thinker about this neverending drumbeat. The politically correct leftists are always seeking to increase their control over the rest of us.
My favorite passage: "In truth, and in direct opposition to the drumbeat, each human being must be accorded his or her natural rights, individual sovereignty, and self responsibility to be in harmony with human nature. Each of us must have the freedom to succeed or to fail."
Read the whole thing here.
My favorite passage: "In truth, and in direct opposition to the drumbeat, each human being must be accorded his or her natural rights, individual sovereignty, and self responsibility to be in harmony with human nature. Each of us must have the freedom to succeed or to fail."
Read the whole thing here.
Abuse Directed at Conservative Women
Working outside the home now seven days a week, I have missed reading so many good posts. Michelle Malkin has written a powerful post explaining how liberals' hatred of conservative women is manifested. Malkin details here the four stages of the abuse: infantilzation, sexualization, demonization, and dehumanization.
Taxation, Altruism, and Patriotism
David Harsanyi was not impressed when Joe Biden tried to convince us this week that taxation was "patriotic". David does his usual persuasive writing here, putting into perspective the differences between coercion, altruism, and patriotism.
Harsanyi also has some interesting facts about who pays what percentage of taxes. For example, did you know that in 1980, when the top income tax rate was 70 percent, the share of income taxes paid by the top 1 percent of taxpayers was less than 20 percent? Now, with their tax rate being less than 40 percent, the top one percent pay nearly 40 percent of all income taxes.
Although Biden is a multi-millionaire, he has given an average of $369 per year to charity in the last decade. I agree with Harsanyi that it is your money, through the coercion of taxation, not Biden's, through altruism, that Biden wants to be patriotically redistributed.
Biden should be especially happy to know that taxpayers are now going to be coerced into paying perhaps as much as an additonal 1 trillion dollars in the government plan being worked out this weekend to buy up financial institutions' bad debt. Patriotism abounds!
Harsanyi also has some interesting facts about who pays what percentage of taxes. For example, did you know that in 1980, when the top income tax rate was 70 percent, the share of income taxes paid by the top 1 percent of taxpayers was less than 20 percent? Now, with their tax rate being less than 40 percent, the top one percent pay nearly 40 percent of all income taxes.
Although Biden is a multi-millionaire, he has given an average of $369 per year to charity in the last decade. I agree with Harsanyi that it is your money, through the coercion of taxation, not Biden's, through altruism, that Biden wants to be patriotically redistributed.
Biden should be especially happy to know that taxpayers are now going to be coerced into paying perhaps as much as an additonal 1 trillion dollars in the government plan being worked out this weekend to buy up financial institutions' bad debt. Patriotism abounds!
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Proof of a Bad Economy
Did you see that Obama raised only $9,ooo,ooo last night in Hollywood? We must surely be living in a poor economy.
Hold Your Tube of Lipstick High for Sarah!
Monday in Golden, Colorado Sarah Palin spoke to a crowd of 5000 in a small horse arena, where we used to take our kids when we lived in Golden. On the front page of the Rocky Mountain News yesterday there was a picture of women in the audience. They were holding tubes of lipstick high above their heads and swaying their hands from side to side. I thought it was very cool.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Will the Holy Spirit Give Us The Gifts We Need?
The dominant media is all over Wasilla, Alaska, trying to find someone speaking in tongues. The pentecostal churches teach that the Holy Spirit may give a believer special gifts, and among those is speaking in tongues. If they can just find someone speaking in tongues, they believe that will discredit and ridicule Sarah Palin, who left the church five years ago!
Do you think it is working? Sarah Palin is a real threat to the elites, because she gets it. She identifies with us, because she is one of us. McCain's wisdom in choosing her has changed the polling results significantly. The Dems and their allies in the media are desperate. McCain's surge in the polls is continuing.
Sarah Palin has found a way to serve God by serving the people. The Holy Spirit will give her the gifts she needs. She believes that, and so do I.
Do you think it is working? Sarah Palin is a real threat to the elites, because she gets it. She identifies with us, because she is one of us. McCain's wisdom in choosing her has changed the polling results significantly. The Dems and their allies in the media are desperate. McCain's surge in the polls is continuing.
Sarah Palin has found a way to serve God by serving the people. The Holy Spirit will give her the gifts she needs. She believes that, and so do I.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Non-verbal Cues
Have you noticed how John McCain fidgets with his wedding ring finger while standing next to Sarah Palin? He did it again today at the 9-11 ceremonies, but this time he was standing next to his wife on one side and Obama on the other. Bad habit! Can't someone in his campaign explain that to him? Placing his right hand on his ring finger and moving it up and down the finger just looks bad.
I know, I probably have had way too much training on observing non-verbal cues. I find it fascinating to observe non-verbal behaviors and try to figure out if they mean anything. There is a former police chief from Rock Island, Illinois who makes a good living training law enforcement officers around the country to observe people's eyes when they are talking. If the eyes go down and to the right, it means one thing (lying?), and if they go up and to the left it means another, which I can't remember. Likewise for up and to the right and down and to the left.
One of the many things I like about Sarah Palin is that she looks an interviewer right in the eyes. Straight ahead, Sarah!
I know, I probably have had way too much training on observing non-verbal cues. I find it fascinating to observe non-verbal behaviors and try to figure out if they mean anything. There is a former police chief from Rock Island, Illinois who makes a good living training law enforcement officers around the country to observe people's eyes when they are talking. If the eyes go down and to the right, it means one thing (lying?), and if they go up and to the left it means another, which I can't remember. Likewise for up and to the right and down and to the left.
One of the many things I like about Sarah Palin is that she looks an interviewer right in the eyes. Straight ahead, Sarah!
Thursday, September 11, 2008
A Nice Moment
Yesterday I spoke with a cab driver who looked exhausted. He explained that it was Ramadan, and he was fasting. I asked him how long the fasting period would last. He answered, "one month." I said, "Look at me. How many people do you see?" He cracked up laughing. It was a nice moment.
Confronting Evil
With today being September 11, many of us are thinking about our enemy, the Islamic terrorists. However, I have Georgia and Iran on my mind, too. I am wondering who this Putin guy really is. I am wondering if we are about to make the same mistakes in Georgia as the democracies of the world made in the 1930s, when Adolph Hitler marched unopposed into the Rhineland, Austria, the Sudetenland, and Czechoslovakia. Is Putin similar to Hitler? If so, which of our current presidential candidates has the spine to stand up to him?
Hitler carefully studied the leaders of the world's democracies. Is Putin studying the democracies of Europe? Hitler realized their weaknesses and their inability to stop his quick, decisive actions. Then he attacked Poland from the west, while the Soviets attacked Poland from the east, and the Western press remained silent about the atrocities committed by the Nazis and the Soviet Communists. Norway was then seized almost effortlessly by Hitler; then Holland and Denmark.
Finally a man was elected in Britain who understood that negotiations with Hitler would be impossible and that Hitler was committed to total war. That man was Winston Churchill. Churchill and FDR had spines. The two men became close friends, and they both loved the people of the countries they led. They realized that evil men who were a threat to their countries must be confronted and crushed. They inspired their countrymen to fight evil, not seek to appease it.
George Bush realized that Sadaam Hussein was evil, and he crushed him. However, Bush has looked Putin in the eye and seen a friend who can be trusted. John McCain looked Putin in the eye and saw "KGB." Who is right about Putin: Bush, or McCain?
Will Americans elect the negotiator, Barack Obama, who sees "poverty" as evil, or the man who realizes that once a man is KGB, he will always be KGB? Will we elect a leader who wants America to self-flagellate, or will we have leaders like FDR and Churchill, who will stand up to and crush evil men like Putin, Bin Ladin, and Ahmahdinejad?
Hitler carefully studied the leaders of the world's democracies. Is Putin studying the democracies of Europe? Hitler realized their weaknesses and their inability to stop his quick, decisive actions. Then he attacked Poland from the west, while the Soviets attacked Poland from the east, and the Western press remained silent about the atrocities committed by the Nazis and the Soviet Communists. Norway was then seized almost effortlessly by Hitler; then Holland and Denmark.
Finally a man was elected in Britain who understood that negotiations with Hitler would be impossible and that Hitler was committed to total war. That man was Winston Churchill. Churchill and FDR had spines. The two men became close friends, and they both loved the people of the countries they led. They realized that evil men who were a threat to their countries must be confronted and crushed. They inspired their countrymen to fight evil, not seek to appease it.
George Bush realized that Sadaam Hussein was evil, and he crushed him. However, Bush has looked Putin in the eye and seen a friend who can be trusted. John McCain looked Putin in the eye and saw "KGB." Who is right about Putin: Bush, or McCain?
Will Americans elect the negotiator, Barack Obama, who sees "poverty" as evil, or the man who realizes that once a man is KGB, he will always be KGB? Will we elect a leader who wants America to self-flagellate, or will we have leaders like FDR and Churchill, who will stand up to and crush evil men like Putin, Bin Ladin, and Ahmahdinejad?
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Whining: An Unattractive Quality
Do we really want a whiner as President of the United States? Have you noticed Obama's incessant whining? Maybe it is just a pet peeve of mine, because I have learned that portraying oneself as a victim only leads to self pity, which is never helpful to oneself or to those one comes into contact with. I always catch myself when I go in that direction, and I emphasize it with my children. If they can learn that lesson early, they will have much smoother sailing through life.
Sarah Palin has gotten inside Barack Obama's head. Joe Biden's, too. Less than a week after Sarah's remark about the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull being lipstick, Barack makes a comment about "You can put lipstick on a pig, but it will still be a pig." Even if he did not mean it as an insult to Palin, it is clear to me that she is on his mind, and he is having a hard time figuring out how to deal with this woman whose popularity with voters has caused his lead over McCain to evaporate.
Dennis Miller today said, "It is not the color of his skin, it is the thinness of it."
Sarah Palin has gotten inside Barack Obama's head. Joe Biden's, too. Less than a week after Sarah's remark about the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull being lipstick, Barack makes a comment about "You can put lipstick on a pig, but it will still be a pig." Even if he did not mean it as an insult to Palin, it is clear to me that she is on his mind, and he is having a hard time figuring out how to deal with this woman whose popularity with voters has caused his lead over McCain to evaporate.
Dennis Miller today said, "It is not the color of his skin, it is the thinness of it."
Studying Strange Creatures
Isn't it amusing to see the media, like a freshman anthropology class, scrambling all over Alaska to study these strange creatures who vote for Sarah Palin? Years ago Sarah attended a Pentecostal church. The media is really excited about that. Maybe there is a video they can dig up of Sarah speaking in tongues. No? Well how about a video of her killing an animal? No? Well, I guess we'll just have to interview an Assembly of God pastor where she formerly attended.
Talk about strange, this guy not only loves God, but he actually loves America! Did any one of these people ever seek to get an interview with Obama's pastor of twenty years, America-hating Jeremiah Wright?
Funny thing is, people like me will be all the more determined to stand with Mrs. Palin, the more the media attempts to ridicule her. So, keep it up, drive-by media hordes; all of us who are clinging to our guns and religion will only deepen our resolve to back the mavericks!
Talk about strange, this guy not only loves God, but he actually loves America! Did any one of these people ever seek to get an interview with Obama's pastor of twenty years, America-hating Jeremiah Wright?
Funny thing is, people like me will be all the more determined to stand with Mrs. Palin, the more the media attempts to ridicule her. So, keep it up, drive-by media hordes; all of us who are clinging to our guns and religion will only deepen our resolve to back the mavericks!
Sunday, September 07, 2008
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