Who is Barack Obama?

Who is Barack Obama? Vanderleun writes in the American Digest that Obama's life is "less documented than the undocumented Democrats oozing across our southern borders." Is his administration "one that sees no foreign enemies, only domestic ones"? "I don't tell, so you don't ask," seems to be the agreement Obama has with the dominant liberal media. In this brilliant piece of writing, Vanderleun suggests that one can only understand Obama by looking at what he and his minions do in the present. He concludes that "this leader who cannot lead is the fruit of our more than fifty years of downward drift and rising degeneracy." What will it take for us to wake up?

Jonathan's Cochlear Implant activation

from You Tube via American Digest

Families of the flag remember

from You Tube via American Digest

Of beauty and God's love

Long anticipated beauty finally opened up this morning on the south side of the house. Two beautiful orange poppies burst forth, feeling safe now to show their incomparable beauty. No cosmetics (photoshopping) needed. To the naked eye they appear totally orange, except for the blue interior; but the camera reveals splotches of yellow, reflecting the sun, no doubt.



One has to be in the presence of beauty in order to notice it. If we don't walk in their midst, caring for them, we miss the revelation of their beauty. If we don't open ourselves to God's love, we miss His healing, guiding power. The poppy's beauty is fleeting; God's love is omnipresent. There is more beauty after this beauty fades. We won't see it though, unless we seek it; unless we open ourselves to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. If we seek, we will find.

"offering alternative paths to service"

Well, it is now front page news in the Denver Post. Tribune Company writer Peter Nicholas dutifully reports the results of a "White House investigation" into alleged bribery attempts made by the White House. The White House version is "Don't worry, citizens, we were only commiting acts of kindness:" "offering alternative paths to service to candidates weighing bids for public service."

We've got a long three day weekend ahead of us, folks. Let's not let this die, as the White House hopes, by its release of its investigation at the beginning of this long weekend. Who will be the next Woodward and Bernstein? Sean Hannity seems to be the one media person bird-dogging this story. Sean was also all over the Rev. Wright and Bill Ayres connections to community organizer Barry Obama.

Was the White House smart to enlist the services of world class liar ("I did not have sex with that woman, Miss Lewinsky") Bill Clinton? At the behest of Obama's Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel, Clinton made the phone call to Pennsylvania Congressman Sestac. Are we going to settle for the White House version of events? No! There must be a Special Prosecutor, as there was in Watergate.

Trivia question: do you know who was an assistant to the Special Prosecutor in the Watergate case? Fred Thompson.

"Search for answers everywhere. We will be the key!"

Cliff Stewart has been writing about the alleged White House bribery offers (using Bill Clinton as the bribe-offerer) to keep a candidate (Congressman Sestac) in Pennsylvania from challenging incumbent Senator Arlen Spector, who was (unsuccessfully) favored by the White House. Our country has been down a road similar to this one in the Watergate scandals beginning in 1972. I hope publishers will allow new Woodward and Bernsteins to emerge and replicate what was journalism's finest hour in my lifetime. It will help if "We the people" demand to know the truth, which will once again set our country free.

Oh, by the way: Denver Post writer Michael Riley has written about a similar offer made to candidate Andrew Romanoff here in Colorado, to try to persuade Romanoff not to challenge incumbent Michael Bennett. We the people should get the opportunity to ask these candidates for specifics, as they campaign for our votes this year. Ultimately, though, a special prosecutor will need to be appointed, as in Watergate. Attorney General Holder will not appoint one without tremendous pressure from the press and the people. Likewise, the slimy chairman of the Senate judiciary committee, Senator Leahy of Vermont, is not likely to agree to hold hearings unless the pressure from a free press and a free people becomes overwhelming.

As the music on the Glenn Beck show says, "Search for answers everywhere. We will be the key!"

Vote for this man. He needs a "steady job."

Do you think voter dissatisfaction is limited to America's dissatisfaction with Democrats? If so, you would be wrong! The man who is favored to win tomorrow's mayoral election in Reykjavik, Iceland is using humor and satire to make fun of the politicians who have joined with bankers (sound familiar?) to ruin Iceland's economy. Jon Gnarr is a popular radio host and comic. He says he is running because the mayor's office "has a very nice desk," and he "needs a steady job." Michael Casey writes about Mr, Gnarr's "Best Party" campaign in today's Wall Street Journal.

I find Gnarr's candidacy refreshing and attractive. A politician who does not b.s. us and who does not take himself too seriously would be a most welcome change here in America, too.

To Whom should we turn for solutions?

There is an article by Jeremy Meyer in today's Denver Post that just knocked my socks off. The article cites a survey of 24,000 U.S. students at 70 high schools. The survey shows that 95% of students admit that they have "participated in some form of cheating, whether tests, plagiarism, or copying homework! The conducter of the survey said the students justified their cheating.

The article goes on to say that some "educational psychologists" (here we go again) say that they "fear high-stakes tests and grade-point averages that determine college acceptance are leading students to cheat." Okay, secular psychologists, by that line of reasoning, then does that mean that there should be no high standards that we expect the little darlings to strive for? The article cites yet another study that concludes that "cheating in high school is a significant predictor of lying and cheating across a wide range of adult situations." We needed a study for this conclusion?

As soon as I finished reading this article I sat down with my sons. I told them that we expect them to try hard, but that if they try their hardest and do their homework to prepare, and still do not achieve a high score, we will be proud of them anyway for preparing and trying hard. Greg told me that he did not know how to proceed once with a math problem, so he just wrote in "blah, blah, blah" on the answer sheet to that particular problem.

I showed the boys the Denver Post article, where it says if you convince yourself that it is okay to cheat on one thing, then you are likely to cheat in other areas of your life, too. I told them that there is a solution: that God is always with us, always willing to forgive us, and if we learn to trust God, He will show us how to behave properly in any situation. I warned them that they might have to keep on asking God to forgive them, because it is just our human nature to keep making the same mistakes over and over. If they finally learn to just let go of behaviors that are not working well for them, and trust God to show them a better way, He will always be willing to do that.

I asked Greg if he knew of a better solution to that math problem. He said, "I could just leave it blank, and then tell the teacher that I don't understand how to do that problem." I agreed with Greg that his idea was a good one, but I also know of our sinful nature, and that we need to keep asking forgiveness and learn to trust God to show us The Way.

Let's shine some light on union thugs!

In November, will it be tea parties versus unions? Both were very active in primary elections last week. John Fund notes in the May 21 Wall Street Journal that so far the media has scrutinized the tea party people far more than it has the unions.

For example, have you heard anything in the media about the SEIU (government and healthcare workers) chartering nine busloads of protesters to go to the Washington D.C. house of Greg Baer, a lawyer for Bank of America, to scream and yell and wave their union placards? Only his teenage son was home, locking himself in a bathroom for fear of the union goons. The mob of 500 were protesting Bank of America's role in bank foreclosures. Andy Stern, the recently retired head of SEIU was the most frequent guest at the Obama White House last year.

The media has largely ignored SEIU's close ties to the discredited group ACORN, and also pays little attention to union violence. For example, did you know about union thugs beating up tea party supporter Kenneth Gladney in St. Louis? They were especially angry that Gladney, an African American, would support the tea party movement, and called him the "n" word while beating him.

Scientists have created the first synthetic cell!

Robert Lee Hotz writes about it in the May 21 Wall Street Journal. The synthetic cell is completely controlled by man-made genetic instructions. "This is literally a turning point in the relationship between man and nature," said one molecular biologist who was not involved in the project. The cell can reproduce. It is the birth also of an entire new field of scientific study called synthetic biology.

Applications are already being pursued in areas of industrial biology to breed industrial life forms that can secrete fuels, vaccines, and other commercial products. Politicians are already jumping on the issue: hearings will be held next week in the House Energy and Commerce Committee, where politicians will no doubt grandstand as only they know how to do.

E.coli and yeast cells helped in the development of the complete genome. The creators of the cell wrote their names into the cell's chemical DNA code, along with three "apt quotes from James Joyce and others." The article did not say what those quotes were, but I'm curious. How about you?

"You won't recognize America by the end of the year!"

Dow theorist Richard Russell: "Sell everything. You won't recognize America by the end of the year!"

"uncoordinated jerks"

Richard Fernandez, writing at Belmont Club: "It’s easy to believe the dysfunction is real. Faced by the linked yet separate crises in the Middle East and in Northeast Asia the Obama administration is acting like it was shot through the central nervous system, acting in uncoordinated jerks. The alliances with Korea and Japan and the special relationships with Israel and Britain lie almost forgotten like neglected toys on the floor of a spoiled child distracted by his latest bauble. Gone are the heady prospects of Grand Bargains with the Muslim world kicked off by dramatic speeches in Cairo. Gone is the idea of a swift drawdown from Iraq; or of a comprehensive solution in the Middle East. Gone is the promise of catching Osama Bin Laden. Gone is the notion that Europe, which once hated America because of George Bush, would turn like a blossoming rose to Obama. In their place are half-finished begun threads without closure: a growing Hezbollah menace in Lebanon; a defiant Iran; a belligerent North Korea; a buffoonish but menacing Chavez; a drug war on the southern border; an Eastern Europe with the shadow of the Russian bear growing ever longer across it."

When in doubt, blog it!

A little while ago Sara came running to me, saying "Dad, the boys flipped me off, and I flipped them off, and then they flipped me off again, so I flipped them off again too, and shaked my booty at them!"

I wasn't sure how to respond to this information, so I just decided to blog it.

Superstar

Sara is holding our new baby goat, Superstar, who was born last night. Her mother, Pinhead, doesn't want anything to do with her. Colleen thinks it's because she has four legs, and Pinhead probably thinks of herself as having two legs, since she was bottle-fed here in the house by two-legged creatures. Aren't baby goats cute?

Iatrogenic

I just got a call from my psychologist wife. "Bob, have you ever heard of the word iatrogenic?" It sounded faintly familiar, but I couldn't recall specifically, so I went to the dictionary and read the definition to her: "Caused by medical treatment: said especially of symptoms, ailments or disorders induced by drugs or surgery." "Yes!" she said, "and add the word therapy to that list of inducers."

Then she explained that increasingly she is finding she can be of most help to her clients by undoing what they have been taught by therapists! For example, today a mom told her that the best thing that ever happened to her family was when Colleen told them to ask their school to take off one of the goals of their child's "Individualized Educational Plan." You see, their son had become a narcissistic little brat. One of the goals of the plan had been to increase his self esteem. The mother requested that be taken off the plan.

Narcissism now almost gone. No longer a "child-centered" family. Parents, not the child, now in charge.

Here they go again!

Ed Morrisey, writing in the Hot Air blog, warns us of the latest attempt in Congress to limit political speech (and protect incumbents).

Enlightened tyrants

David Harsanyi is at his best when writing about the "enlightened tyrants" who think our freedoms are getting in the way of "progress." Today in the Denver Post he takes on Woody Allen, who wishes Obama could be a dictator, Thomas Friedman, who believes despotism can be a good thing if the despots are "enlightened, as in modern China," Chris Matthews, who wonders why we have not yet nationalized the oil industry, and Donald Berwick, Obama's choice to run Obamacare. Berwick is fond of the rationing program in Britain, called the National Hea lth Service.

An unsolved problem

Honey bees are continuing to decline, due to a mysterious affliction known as "colony collapse disorder," in which much of a colony suddenly disappears, leaving only the queen. Anne Marie Chaker writes about it in today's Wall Street Journal. Scientists have so far not been able to determine the cause - or come up with a solution.

If you were a bee, hanging around pesticides, wouldn't you disappear? Just sayin.

A Father's Day gift idea

My choice for President in 2008 was Fred Thompson. Fred has written a book entitled Teaching the Pig to Dance. Newsmax has this review, suggesting it would be a great Father's Day gift

Whatever Works!

All was peaceful. Sixteen-year-old Kim was seated in the big chair in the living room, computer lying dutifully on her lap. All of a sudden she let out a thundering yell: "They are awesome!" She was referring to the lensless black glasses she wore to school today to bring her good luck on her final exams. So far she has four A's and two B's, with two more finals tomorrow, the last day of tenth grade classes. She gives all the credit to the glasses. I say whatever works!

Is our President "misdirected?"

With the visit by Mexican President Calderon to the White House today, illegal immigration is once again at the top of the news. Cities, including Los Angelos and San Francisco, urge us to boycott Arizona, because Arizona passed a law that mimics the federal law. Rush Limbaugh suggested that all illegals detained in Arizona be put on a bus to San Francisco, with a map showing where the government benefits offices are located. A member of the Arizona Utilities Commission suggested Arizona can comply with Los Angelos's wish not to have anything to do with Arizona: Los Angelos gets 25 percent of its water from Arizona. That water can go other places.

President Obama, who, along with his Attorney General and Homeland Security Director, has not read the Arizona law, said the White House is "looking closely at the law," because Obama believes the law is "misdirected."

Mexico has severe deportation laws concerning people who are in their country illegally. How does Calderon get off telling Arizona it cannot do the same?

Democrats: Rush has some great advice for you!

No one in the dominant liberal media establishment is saying that yesterday's elections were a referendum on Obama, Reid and Pelosi. Rush Limbaugh is encouraging the media to urge all Democratic candidates to run on the records of Obama, Reid and Pelosi in November.

Babies and hygiene

Whom do you think would be healthier: a baby raised in A "green" family in San Francisco, or a baby raised on a farm in Africa, whose family goats drank from his bathwater and livestock baby-sat him? Melinda Beck writes in today's Wall Street Journal about the "hygiene hypothesis" which looks at the exposure "to a variety of bacteria, viruses and parasitic worms" early in life. If a child is so exposed, does that prime his immune system, much like sensory experiences prime his brain? Well, actually, autoimmune diseases are rare in rural Asia and Africa, but rise sharply when immigrants from those areas come to the developed world. There is a new movie, Babies, which looks at babies from around the world.

What a day!

Are you ready for a new post by eight-year-old Greg? Here it comes...

I was awakened this morning by my worst enemy, my alarm clock. I rolled out of bed and smacked it right on the top. Another boring day at work lay ahead. I made my coffee, got dressed, and was off to work. I finally reached Subway, and was as busy as a bird.

In the middle of the day an eleven foot tall man came in. "How can I help you?" I asked. "I would like a sub with two pig esophaguses, one pound of rusty nails, and a chopped-up cat heart on a muddy hot dog bun." Sir, I think that Subway is in Brazil," I replied. "Well the heck with this. I am going home!" he said. Then he stomped off and slammed the door so loud that he shook the whole store. The manager ran out as fast as she could. "What is going on in here?" she demanded. "A tall man just came by and ordered an esophagus/cat-heart/rusty nail sandwich," I said. She rolled her eyes and went back into her office.

My day continued with lots of customers coming and going. My work is finally done and I'm on the couch watching the news and I heard the t.v. announcer say, "A man was caught stealing an airplane. We forced him to tell us where he was going." He told us, "I'm going to Brazil to buy a Subway sandwich." I grinned and turned over asleep. What a day!

Should the Vatican be held responsible?

Should the Vatican be held responsible for bishops who kept quiet about priests who sexually abused children? Sorry, fellow Christians who are Roman Catholics: this one seems like a no-brainer to me.

"Who among us does the left not think needs psychiatric treatment?"

The Supreme Court issued a ruling today regarding how long a person can be kept in prison. Justices Thomas and Scalia were the only dissenters. Rush Limbaugh, warning of a slippery slope here, asks, "Who among us does the left not think needs psychiatric treatment?"

Reading newspapers, eating fresh strawberries

One of my favorite things to do in life is to read newspapers. Another is eating fresh strawberries. So this morning I read this Associated Press story by Carla K. Johnson, telling me that my strawberries are loaded with pesticide residue that affects my brain chemistry. What is the solution? Go broke happily eating organic strawberries, or become uninformed by stopping reading newspapers?

Wicked Whiney Watermelon Rules!

In Greg's second grade class, the teacher is trying to encourage the kids to write. Each day she turns to the blackboard and writes the "T.Q.," which stands for Today's Question. She writes a question on the board, then the students write a story about the question she poses. When Colleen visited the class today, the students all joined in and chanted "Greg, Greg, Greg!" By that chant they were asking Greg to read some of his stories that he had written in response to the "T.Q." He showed me some of them, and I will reprint one of them below, with his permission, and follow with others in the days ahead.

What a peaceful day. Nothing could go wrong. "Help, help, help, help! I've been...I've been...I've been robbed," said Stuttering Sally. "Robbed? By whom, asked Smart Alec Smarty. "I don't know. He's fat, wears a mask, and c-c-carries a gun!' "Just as I thought," said Smart Alec Smarty. "It was Wicked Whiney Watermelon!" "Who? asked Stuttering Sally. "You've never heard of him? He's the food that has been causing all the trouble! Oh well, better get to bed."

The next day there was a huge fire in the apartment building. The people heard angry screams coming from there, so they sent in the cucumber cops. As soon as they reached room 17, they busted open the door, and what do you know, it was Wicked Whiney Watermelon holding a gun to the baby bananas' heads. "Put your hands in the air," said the cucumbers. "No!" "Oh yeah, what are you going to do?" demanded the cucumber cops. "This," said Wicked Whiney. Suddenly two thousand persian peppers came running out of the wall and started attacking the town! They burned down buildings, ripped up papers, and turned everyone into peppers. The island fell into evil hands, and Wicked Whiney Watermelon ruled all. What a sad day.

Learning to sew

Jon is studying Colorado history. He did a good job stitching together this Colorado flag.

The class of 2022

Tonight was kindergarten graduation for the class of 2022.
After the ceremony, Sara was all smiles, and headed for the cookies and punch, after first getting big hugs from her parents.

Choices

Today's Denver Post tells us that the Colorado legislature bipartisanly approved a bill at the last moment, giving sex offenders three choices as to where to get their court-mandated treatment. Sounds very humane, right? We are for giving people choices in America, right? But, wait a minute. Let's ponder this a moment, shall we?

Let's set up a hypothetical example: one hundred sex offenders are given three choices of where to go to get their therapy. They visit each of the three. One "therapist," in order to capture the offender's dollars, gives the impression of being soft on offenders. The next "therapist" seems pretty soft, too. The third one says, "We believe there is no cure. We believe that as long as you are in the community, your behavior should be monitored. Any examples of self-centered behavior, lack of empathy, lack of humility, lack of honesty, or other distorted thinking patterns, will be confronted head-on by our group members." How many of the one hundred convicted offenders will choose the third therapist?

For Your Own Good

Are you a victim of advertising by corporations? C'mon, you know you are. Which foods did they hook you on? Oreos? Chips Ahoy? Ben and Jerrys? Coke? Pepsi? Dominos? Well, if you will just cooperate with us, we will take over these evil corporations, just like we have General Motors, Chrysler, the health care industry, and the financial institutions.

What? You don't want to stop eating and drinking these things? You don't care if you get obese? Now, listen to me! We are now responsible for your health care. We must control health care costs. If you insist on eating things that are not good for you, we will have no choice but to ration your health care. That means no health care for you, you bitter clingers. When my husband said he will "fundamentally transform" America, he wasn't just doing what George Soros told him to do; he actually meant it! He does not even need a teleprompter on this one!

Oh, and by the way. Those of you who are eating meat almost every day. Were you not listening when we said we must stop "environmentally damaging consumption patterns?" One more thing: How much longer do you think we will let you drive those gas-guzzling automobiles?

BEWARE!

People who try to convince you that you are a victim are almost always really about trying to control you. If someone is trying to convince you that you are a victim, BEWARE! If there is one vitally important thing I have learned in this life, this is it! I think it ranks right up at the top of life lessons for me. It is so seductive, and often so hard to see through.

Yes, people are wronged in varying degrees on almost a daily basis. However, if you have been wronged, do you really need someone else to tell you? No! You know it, because you are the one who has been wronged. Whose responsibility is it to decide whether or not to do something about it? Yours! Do you need to become dependent on some other human being to rectify the situation? No!

Whom do we need to become dependent on? God! Only God! God in three persons: the Holy Trinity! And the guidance you will receive from God will be vastly different from the guidance you will receive from another human being or from your own brain and emotons!

Mothers Day continues onward.

All of the children did something nice for Colleen this Mother's Day. As for gifts, once again eight-year-old Greg's took the prize in my mind. The red card and rainbow hotplate were from Greg.
But, when you open the card, this is the hilarious message Greg writes, capped off with smoke coming out of the chimney and a butterfly sitting on the roof.

Why do I say Mother's Day continues onward? This morning sixteen-year-old Kim asks mom to put this hair color in Kim's hair, accompanied by the promise "Don't worry, Mom, it washes right off." About one hundred washes later, this is what Colleen's hands look like.

May 8, 1945

While we are on or near the subject of freedom, let us remember what happened sixty-five years ago today.

IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING!

Today's big hit at the box office is the movie Ironman 2. Peggy Noonan writes today in the Wall Street Journal about an "Iron Lady," Britain's Margaret Thatcher. Peggy wonders if David Cameron will be anything like her. Most historians give her, Ronald Reagan, and Pope John Paul credit for ending the Cold War and preserving our freedom. Her indomitable spirit and undying determination to stand up to the Soviets and the terrorists in the IRA should be inspirational to us all. In New York apparently there are signs on buses and trains that say IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING! That has certainly proven to be prescient, considering the role of ordinary citizens in catching the Incompetent Bomber of Times Square.

I knew it!

Karen Kaplan reported Friday in the L.A. Times that scientists now know with certainty that Neanderthal DNA is 99.7 percent identical to that of people. It is just 0.3 percent that makes us unique. The small changes unique to humans are thought to be in the areas of "energy metabolism, skeletal structure, and brain development." I'm sure glad they found that brain development thingy. And, here's to multiculturism and making love instead of war! And we now understand our neighbors much better than before reading this article!

Unemployment: hitting men harder than women?

David Wessel writes in today's Wall Street Journal about "The Unemployable Man." He points out that one of every five American men 25 to 54 is not working! Moreover, that trend may continue well into the future. Surveys have found that the "unemployed in the U.S. spend 40 minutes a day looking for work and 3 hours and 20 minutes a day watching t.v." It is not a pretty picture.

Wessel says the situation for women is not as bad. "They were more likely to be in health care and other jobs that were not hit as hard in this recession as jobs that were predominantly filled by men. They are increasingly likely to have the education so often required to get or keep a good job these days."

My stepson is very bright. With what appears to be minimal effort, he can master subjects. The key words there were "minimal effort". My stepdaughter, on the other hand, although also very bright, really puts in the time and effort, and her grades show it. How do we get teenage boys to think "school" learning is cool?

For African American students only

An Ann Arbor, Michigan elementary school put together a nifty field trip. Students would get to meet and ask questions of a real, live rocket scientist! One problem, though: only the African American students got to go on the trip. You see, the rocket scientist was African American. The school administrator wanted the African American kids to see that they, too could become rocket scientists. Fine, but is it really okay to exclude the white students?

(Via Instapundit)

Computers can be very annoying

Toyota and Honda are working on robots that read your brainwaves. You are driving down the highway feeling hungry, and suddenly the computer speaks up and tells you what restaurants are nearby. I think I would not appreciate that helpfulness. How about you? I drive a car that has absolutely no computer-controlled functions, and I like it.

I get amused when guys at the grocery selfcheck get furious at the (female voice) computer telling them to put their item in the bag. When they complain I just agree with them that she is very annoying, and slowly move away from them.

(Via Instapundit)

"Character" Day

Today was "character" day at our school. Any of our kids could have won an award for being the biggest character, but this was another meaning of the word character. Awards were given to students who showed exceptional character in areas such as taking responsibility, forgiveness, persistence, and then an award for generosity.
Lo and behold, the award went to our very own Sara! We are very proud of her. It hasn't been easy, folks.

2010 in America

Yesterday there was a piece in the Denver Post about a U.S. census worker dropping off thousands of census promotional materials at a high school in Jefferson County, Colorado. Over one thousand posters featuring various languages other than English, and over one thousand grocery bags (you know, the "save the environment" bags) were among the items dumped. Over three hundred of the posters were in Farsi, the language spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, and parts of Pakistan. Jefferson County is not a hotbed of Farsi-speaking families (just over 300 persons listed Farsi as the language spoken in their homes in the 2000 census). The principal has an idea for the posters: turn them on the other side, and give them to the students in art classes.

Yesterday was Cinco de Mayo. Some students in California came to school with tee shirts on which American flags were featured. Assistant principal Rodriguez said some "European" students had tipped him off about the tee shirts. The guilty students were brought in to the assistant principal's office and asked to turn their shirts inside out. Their mothers came to the office in defense of their sons. One mother told Laura Ingraham today that she had sarcastically apologized to the assistant principal that she had raised a son who thinks for himself, not blindly adhering to the "politically correct" thinking the school promulgates.

Are you raising children who think for themselves, or do you urge them to be politically correct?

"On top of it from day one" (?)

President Obama and at least a half dozen of his top cabinet officials are saying that his administration was on top of it from day one," referring to the gulf oil spill. Sean Hannity asks why they did not require that the oil be burned off soon after the explosion occurred. But Hannity is an expected critic; the Sierra Club and the New York Times are the unexpected critics.

Now Obama admits that ordinary citizens played a vital role in the capture of the Islamic radical Pakistani American fool who tried to detonate a bomb in his newly purchased van parked in front of the building which houses Comedy Central, producers of South Park, which showed Mohammed in a bear costume. Rush Limbaugh wonders if now it is okay for ordinary citizens in Arizona also to be vigilant?

The biggest fool in all of these events has to be New York mayor Bloomberg. Interviewed by Katie Couric, Bloomberg assumed that they would find that the would-be bomber would probably turn out to be someone who was upset about health care legislation.

Then there is Colorado's own Ken Salazar, talking about putting a "jackboot to the throat" of British Petroleum. Rush wonders when we are going to put a jackboot to the throat of Islamic terrorists.

An Army of Davids

This morning I listened a bit to Glenn Beck. He said some interesting things. For example, he pointed out that he broadcasts from a building in Times Square, where someone tried to detonate a bomb Saturday (the Taliban is taking credit for the attempt). Beck noted that the truck in which the bomb was found was parked next to the Viacom building, which houses Comedy Central, where the South Park creators recently produced Mohammed in a bear costume. No one else has made that connection, certainly not in the dominate liberal news media.

I like it when people ask questions and seek the truth. Beck doesn't always do that (Obama's birth certificate and other documents Obama has placed off limits), but when he does, Beck can be a real hound dog for the truth.

Another tack Beck is currently taking is to connect the unions and the communists, who were obviously behind the May Day demonstrations across the country. You will not see that in the dominant liberal media.

Finally, Beck looks at Obama's promise to "fundamentally transform" America. In this quest he is joined by Rush Limbaugh, who unceasingly points out what that means. Limbaugh and Beck are two giants on today's scene, but it takes all of us together, independently pursuing the truth: as Instapundit wrote, it takes "an Army of Davids."

What are your rules?

Tonight's bedtime story for six-year-old Sara touched on the subject of rules. I couldn't resist asking her to recite for me what the rules are at school and at home. Keep in mind that she was sleepy, but she did come up with the ones listed below.

At School: Don't be mean to people. I asked her what that meant. She replied, "sticking out your tongue at people, pushing people down, calling people stupid." Don't push in line (that rule has been one that has been emphasized for many generations, I think). Don't be rude. Don't dig in the dirt. Don't throw wood chips at people. Don't push people in the wood chips. Do not be too difficult for the teachers to handle.

At home: Don't get mud on the floor. Don't yell. Don't talk too much. Do not stare. Do not punch people. Do not be difficult for your parents to handle (that means, "if your parents tell you to do something, and then you don't do it, and you scream at them, that makes it difficult for them to be around you.")

Sweetness and Light (except for a few pissed off potheads)

Well, I have read the Denver Post's report on the rallys by illegal immigrants, and I saw no Denver pictures of raised fists, as La Raza rallys usually produce. In fact, the Post describes the mood like this: "A bagpiper played as he marched, the sound mingling with chants and the tinkling bells of ice cream cart vendors." Isn't that sweet?

The only violence came from about 75 pro-pot marchers, who angrily shouted at police for giving out tickets to two marijuana smokers.

The illegals carried professional (and I assume expensive) signs that read "Reform Immigration for America."

How many of us realize what is happening?

Today's nationwide rallys by raised-fisted illegal immigrants were on my mind yesterday. I asked a woman who was speaking with an accent where she was originally from. "Romania," she answered immediately. She then told me how her husband worked hard to earn enough money to hire surreptitiously a USA attorney, while the couple still resided in Romania. The attorney arranged for the couple to come legally to the U.S. Had the communist leaders of Romania had any inkling that the couple planned to escape, they would have thrown the couple in jail. After five years in the U.S., the man and woman became proud, legal U.S citizens.

The woman told me she is deeply saddened at the direction Obama and pals are taking this country. "Socialism has not worked anywhere it has been tried," she asserted. Furthermore, she told me that she was not at all surprised that Obama is a socialist. I asked her what made her see through his b.s. She said that it was his unwillingness to be transparent about his personal history (unwillingness to reveal his passport, original birth certificate, college records, memories of church membership in Rev. Wright's "Goddamn America" palace, etc.) I asked her how she keeps informed. She said, "Glenn Beck." She lamented the fact that Americans do not know what is happening, since few of us have ever lived under socialism.