Thinking in Print – Cogito Ergo BlogitoThinking in Print – Cogito Ergo BlogitoThinking in Print – Cogito Ergo BlogitoThinking in Print – Cogito Ergo BlogitoThinking in Print – Cogito Ergo Blogito
Democracy for America, a Progressive organization, is touting a Progressive Grassroots All-Star Top 10 Finalists list of candidates they would most like to see win a seat in the US House in November. The 10 are listed at their page and you can vote to move them up and down in the ranking. Not surprisingly, 4 of their current top 5 are from California. The 5th member of the top 5 is from Massachusetts. The bottom of the line-up hail from Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia and New Hampshire. Just for grins, I clicked on the DFA icon for a quick blurb on what each candidate stood for. What I found for each person in less than 150 words each became this post. Not all the bad policy found in the things these candidates are actually proud of is represented below. These are just the things that jumped out at me. For your political nightmare of the week, I present the following …
#1 – Beth Krom from CA-48 says, “I will work to reform health care. In order to create a health care system that works, there must be greater accountability built into our national healthcare reforms — by individuals, physicians, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies and insurers.” Presumably she intends to do this by using the hammer (and sickle) of the federal government she hopes to be elected to be a part of. How interesting that she demands greater accountability from “individuals, physicians, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies and insurers” but conveniently neglects to address how she will be accountable for her abuse of federal powers and completely exempts government from any accountability whatsoever in the healthcare reform process.
#2 – Mac D’Alessandro from MA-09 says, “I’m always going to side with families and consumers over insurance companies and Wall Street. I’m going to fight to ensure we create good-paying jobs in our communities …” Mac is going to beat up on insurance companies and Wall Street and then expect them to work with him to create new jobs and opportunity in his district. I’m not sure how that’s going to work out for him. Companies and market sectors, like people, respond to how they are treated. When they are over taxed, they move away. When they are unfairly demonized and pilloried by one group of people, they choose to work with other groups. Mac doesn’t seem to understand that siding with families and consumers means you have to have a good working relationship with Wall Street. Mac also doesn’t seem to understand that he has no Constitutional authority to do anything to a specific company or market sector.
#3 – Bill Hedrick from CA-44 actually has the temerity to say, “I am running for Congress to fight waste and corruption.” I remember when his fellow Californian, Nancy Pelosi, promised to create and preside over ” the most honest, most open, and most ethical Congress in history.” Speaker Pelosi has been so successful that Mr. Hedrick needs to be sent to DC to clean it up. His first vote would possibly be to re-elect Pelosi as Speaker. One wonders exactly what it is that Hedrick believes needs changing and who he sees as responsible for fouling things up. Not to worry, President Obama has been telling us for years now that it’s Bush’s fault …
#4 – Ami Bera from CA-03 says, “I examine a crumbling economy built largely on the sands of self-interest …” I’d like for Mr. Bera to explain to me what other motivation exists for doing anything other than self interest. Even those who give away all they have or make great sacrifices do so because they believe there is a benefit to themselves in their actions. No one does anything without believing there is a benefit for themselves in it. Even Mr. Bera. More than any of his fellow finalists, in his blurb Bera uses the words “I”, “me” and “my”. Evidently Bera has a bit of a self interest challenge himself. Worse, as a Progressive, he doesn’t understand that the proper application of self interest means you cannot violate the Rights of another to accomplish your own goals and interests. You know, like forcing me to have and pay for health care if I don’t want it because your self interest determines that I should have it. Thanks for watching out for all of us, Ami …
#5 – Stephen Pougnet from CA-45 says, “The district ranks second to last in Federal funding of all California districts … As Mayor of Palm Springs, I have continually witnessed the degradation of federal services that my opponent should be fighting to preserve.” Palm Springs?!? California?!? The Playground of the Stars?!? Pougnet is disturbed his town is second to last in federal funding in California. I understand that there are residents of Palm Springs that aren’t wealthy and have needs. But why the interest in looking to DC and the rest of the country to fix that problem? Why not tax his own residents to fix his own problems? Oh, that’s right, California has already done that. It has worked so well that his own state’s deficit is bigger than my state’s entire budget! And one of his fellow cities who adopted his intended policies just collapsed under the weight of all the irresponsiblity. Maywood, CA just got rid of all its employees except the City Manager because their actions bankrupted the entire city. Pougnet wants to bring this sort of foolishness to your towns as well.
#6 – Billy Kennedy from NC-05 says, “Ever since 9th Grade civics, we’ve all known the way Washington is supposed to work. We elect representatives who go to Congress to pass laws for the good of the citizens. But as adults, we’ve all learned why things have gone terribly wrong and aren’t working.” I’m not sure what 9th Grade Civics class Kennedy took, but in mine we learned that Government was instituted by the People to secure our Liberties, not to pass laws for the good of the citizens. Perhaps Billy is unfamiliar with the idea of securing of Liberties because it is Constitutional language. It appears his Civics class neglected to cover that document. Billy did get one thing right. We have all, indeed, learned why things have gone terribly wrong and aren’t working. It’s because Progressives have been at work undermining the country and its economy for the last 100 years.
#7 – David Segal from RI-01 says he will be “…taking on Wall Street by breaking up the big banks and forcing them to lend to small businesses and homeowners.” Where does the federal government, or even any state government, derive the power to break up any company or to force them to do anything? Segal evidently slept through the previous attempts at government forcing banks to do what it wanted them to do. It was what gave us the current Housing crisis and the related recession! David Segal is saying he wants to do more of what caused the current economic recession in the first place! And there are people at Democracy for America who think that makes him a Top Ten Finalist for best candidate for the House.
#8 – Russell Edwards from GA-10 says, “I am a firm believer in the 50-State Strategy and have taken matters into my own hands. I am DFA-trained and feel empowered. Many progressives have fled for more thoughtful communities. I have stayed, determined to help my state move forward.” I’m not even sure what to say about this guy. He says absolutely nothing at all with an objective perspective. He offers no ideas or plans. He appears to have acquired his place on the list by taking part in some Democracy For America training. Other than that, feeling empowered and taking matters into his own hands to assist a non-thoughtful community in moving forward appear to be his only qualifications for office. I cannot find a worse candidate profile on the list.
#9 – Ann McLane Kuster from NH-02 says, “I want to help President Obama move us past the mistakes of the Bush years – mistakes like the war in Iraq, a federal deficit that’s totally out of control, and an energy policy that ignores global warming and makes us even more dependent on foreign oil. But this isn’t just about George Bush.” This woman should not be permitted to speak without a real time fact checker to correct her. She cannot see the reality of our current situation. The war in Iraq? We’re still there. A federal deficit out of control? The vote to raise the Debt Ceiling, Bailouts and increased Deficit Spending are now the worst ever! Bad energy policy? We refused expert help in cleaning up the Gulf oil spill and moratoriums on the Oil Industry have jobs and energy production moving overseas as oil platforms flee the Gulf. But enough about George Bush … This woman is certifiable. One is tempted to wonder if somewhere in her past her relatives exchanged the “C” for a “K” in their last name hoping that would eradicate bad decision making from their gene pool …
#10 – Bryan Lentz from PA-07 is the only rational sounding candidate on the page. In fact, his history and points would play well in any circle I’m a part of. Military service, fighting for the People and “fighting for real economic solutions, investment in new and clean energy, and the restoration of accountability and transparency to our government. I have never been afraid to stand up for ordinary Americans against the powerful special interests and in Washington I will continue to put the people first.” make him sound positively Reagan-esque. The Open Left email introducing the 10 Finalists notes that “Almost all the Democrats in danger of losing their seats in 2010 are conservatives. Progressives actually have several good chances to win new seats. If we find and support progressive champions, we can make sure the only Democrats who lose in November are Blue Dogs and Conservadems.” Given that, I’m not sure how Lentz made the list. I will point out, however, that he’s in last place. Nobody’s perfect.
These are the candidates supported by the Far Left. These are the policies and principles they want to enact. These policies have already dealt our country severe economic and constitutional blows. Please consider looking up the incumbents these folks are supporting and sending a few bucks their way to help make sure we are protected from this insanity.
BP CEO Tony Hayward has been the brunt of massive, international criticism for his behavior. Barack Obama has also personally been critical of Hayward and BP. Hayward’s comment that he’d like his life back and his decision to attend a yacht race while the Gulf crisis remains unresolved have been seen as evidence of his lack of concern and engagement regardless of what official statements BP might release. BP is seen as fiddling while Rome burns. Response to him and his actions is understandable.
Inexplicably, President Obama has avoided similar charges being laid at his doorstep. Searching for “whose a** to kick” and shaking down BP for $20 billion between shots on the front nine gives the impression of effective engagement and serves to divert attention from his own equally irresponsible and callous disregard for those impacted by the spill.
At issue are resources for cleaning up oil spills known as skimmers. They have a variety of designs, applications and capacities. But skimmer technology is proven and in daily use around the world. Recognizing large spills need large capacity skimmers, the Market has developed just such products.
These products are being offered to the US from all over the world. But the Obama administration refuses to accept them. There are are two basic reasons why, one environmental and one rooted in protectionist labor policy. President Obama cares more about the interests of Labor Unions and Environmentalists than he does everyday Americans being devastated by the oil spill.
The environmental argument is irresponsibility in the extreme. The Taiwanese have a ship in US waters, waiting for permission to be deployed to the Gulf, that can process 500,000 barrels of contaminated water per day. Current estimates of the amount of oil flowing into the gulf range from 5,000 to 25,000 barrels per day (Note:figures are determined assuming litres=quarts and 42 gallons per barrel. It’s understood this is not an exact conversion). Depending on the water:oil ratio of the area in which the ship was working, it could stop the increase in oil accumulation in the Gulf if not get ahead of it.
The Taiwanese Super Skimmer sucks up water and oil and separates the two. The oil is stored aboard the ship and the water is pumped back into the ocean. Since the the oil/water separation is not 100% effective, some water returned to the Gulf has oil in it. How much? An AP writer says, “traces of oil.” But even those traces require EPA permission for the technology to be deployed. 500,000 barrels out – traces back in. The irony and surreal nature of the situation is obvious. The President could sign an order to deploy the technology. He refuses …
… deals with cabotage (i.e., coastal shipping) and requires that all goods transported by water between U.S. ports be carried in U.S.-flag ships, constructed in the United States, owned by U.S. citizens, and crewed by U.S. citizens and U.S. permanent residents …
In addition, amendments to the Jones Act, known as the Cargo Preference Act (P.L. 83-644), provide permanent legislation for the transportation of waterborne cargoes in U.S.-flag vessels.
In the event of emergency, Presidents can suspend the Jones Act. President Bush did so after Katrina. President Obama decimated the livelihoods of thousands by enacting a moratorium on drilling. He permits the livelihood of thousands more to be decimated as oil washes ashore. Yet he has the gall to claim he is doing all he can. Other countries have ships and crews, waiting to help, sitting idle in American waters, including the Taiwanese ship, flagged out of Liberia and carrying a crew of 32. How long must we wait for Barack Obama to decide the devastation of America’s economy outweighs the temporary suspension of 32 union jobs.
Worse, some of the most effective technology doesn’t even need such attention. According to Wierd Koops, chairman of the Dutch organization for combating oil spills, Spill Response Group Holland, Dutch technology is available which can be deployed “… very quickly, because only the oil skimmers need to be flown across the Atlantic and placed on local tankers …” While this still violates the Jones Act provision that such material be constructed in the United States and owned by U.S. citizens it gets around the shipping issue. It’s not like the US has companies capable of producing such equipment in a reasonable time frame, if at all. Why is this not the easiest decision of Obama’s presidency?
The conclusion is inescapable. We elected an inexperienced, empty suit with ties to people, places and policy detrimental to America’s best interests. He is incapable of action supportive of the Free Market, the notion of Americans protecting America or his constitutional obligation to secure the liberties of the people. He cannot distinguish between the anonymity of the Illinois Senate and the focus on his solo performance on the Presidential stage. Having flubbed easily memorized lines and eschewing the cue cards, the President resorts to blaming his supporting cast, stage hands and the orchestra while boasting of his award winning performance. The quintessential diva.
But beyond the staging, smoke and mirrors, Americans are being savaged. This is no play. It’s a battle. And it must be asked, who is more despicable? The man who shoots another man, even innocently or accidentally, or the man who watches the victim bleed out, having the power to help yet without lifting a finger, all while claiming he’s an integral part of the life-saving? If you can find the President somewhere on the back nine, ask him that for me …
Obama finds a way to impose a moratorium on deep water drilling. Obama finds a way to extort billions from BP. He finds a way to fire his own General for telling the truth. He finds a way to still make the green in 3 after his tee shot lands in the rough. But there are available assets in the US which he is not committing to the Gulf? There are assets and resources out there which the Obama administration is not pursuing? Even though they are pursuing him? And he’s unsure whose backside needs kicking? So says Florida’s other GOP Senator, George LeMieux. Hat tip to the folks at Shark Tank for their investigative efforts.
TeaPartyHD.com has a live interview up today with Nathan Tabor, the GOP County chair assaulted by Governor Spencer. Spencer, an apparent Leftist activist, crashed a peaceful demonstration in which Tabor was participating, issued threats, generally disrupted an assembly in which he had no part, shoved Tabor’s wife and then punched Tabor in the face.
The video was pulled from YouTube but TeaPartyHD was able to capture it before it came down. The video of the assault is spliced in with a live interview with Tabor. Governor Spencer was contacted and offered the opportunity to speak for himself and explain his actions. He refused.
But if you listen to the Progressives and those enjoying the Kool Aid they are vending, it’s the Right that is violent and racist. The “old sayings” are too numerous to list exhaustively but “It takes one to know one”, “Methinks thou doest protest too much!” and “The pot calling the kettle black!” come to mind – just to start. The takeaway here is that Democrats, Progressives and Leftists are the party of violence, division and criminal activity.
From ACORN and their criminal enterprise to Governor Spencer and his complete disregard for the values that made America great – it is the Left that Americans should be afraid of. This is true whether the Progressive in question is Governor Spencer punching out a man because he doesn’t approve of his views or if the Progressive in question is Barack Obama assaulting the values that made our country the envy of the world because he doesn’t approve of individual and economic Liberty.
One has to wonder what is going through the President’s mind when he is developing his policies. Certainly he has given the course he is charting for the nation some thought. The question is, what result is the process intended to produce? The direction he has taken with Health Care, Cap and Trade and a host of fiscal issues is not merely different from what the majority of Americans think is the right course – it is a direction clearly demonstrated to be vastly more expensive than he promised while economically damaging the nation in ways it may take decades to fix.
Yet his social meddling may be the place that costs him the most in the short term. His administration’s refusal to deal with the challenges of Islamic extremism, along with its denial of the connection between attacks and terrorism has resulted in more low level attacks on our nation than at any other era I can remember. The underwear bomber, the Fort Hood massacre, the Times Square bombing and more are evidence of terrorist’s boldness in the face of American vacillation and weakness. His Party’s willingness to engage in Immigration Policy as a tool to acquire political power is well documented in the recent discussion of Puerto Rican statehood.
The examples here are merely low hanging fruit from Google searches on the President’s performance since taking office less than 2 years ago. The closer one looks at the empty suit in the Oval Office the more one comes to the conclusion that, despite the early predictions of a new era of adulation for America from her citizens and the world, history will record quite a different tale. The latest gaffe, and with each new one it gets more difficult to argue that these are just passing comments or misquotes, is reported by Ed Morrissey over at Hot Air.
During the Administration’s recent visit to China, in the context of discussing ” freedom of religion and expression, labor rights and rule of law, officials also discussed Chinese complaints about problems with U.S. human rights, which have included crime, poverty, homelessness and racial discrimination,” America was thrown under the bus yet again by this administration. Specifically concerning Arizona’s recent immigration law, the administration brought up the subject to the Chinese as an example of our bad behavior.
He said U.S. officials did not whitewash the American record and in fact raised on its own a new immigration law in Arizona that requires police to ask about a person’s immigration status if there is suspicion the person is in the country illegally.
…
QUESTION: Did the recently passed Arizona immigration law come up? And, if so, did they bring it up or did you bring it up?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY POSNER: We brought it up early and often. It was mentioned in the first session, and as a troubling trend in our society and an indication that we have to deal with issues of discrimination or potential discrimination, and that these are issues very much being debated in our own society.
At what point does one begin to ask, regardless of how one feels about the War on Terror, “If defending our nation against an unprovoked attack results in a reduction of prestige and respect for America around the world, what result might we expect if we openly trash our own nation and are, ourselves, the ones mounting an unprovoked attack against ourselves?”
A friend notified me the other day that some daring, bold, fearless and undaunted champion of Progressive thought had chosen to blog about Ron Ramsey’s new television ads. The author is Sam Jones and his blog post is titled “Ron Ramsey Commercial Represents Racist, Neo-Nazi Slogan”.
Ramsey’s ads feature the tag line, “If Washington doesn’t like it, we’ll give them the boot!” Sam’s premise is, you don’t really know what “give them the boot” means. While most understand it to mean “dismissal from employment or from a place that one is in” as, indeed, it is defined in the “Idiom” section of The Free Dictionary, Mr. Jones prefers a different understanding.
According to Sam, at some time and somewhere (he doesn’t say or link when or where) Neo-Nazis and Skinheads used the phrase to indicate how they treat people they don’t like. Rather than actually citing racists using the term, Mr. Jones references his personal response to a single scene from the film American History X as proof the phrase is filled with racist overtones. Next Sam applies the universally known, understood and accepted rule for understanding what people mean when they talk known as “polysemous interpretation.”
“Polysemous” is a term used by media critics in the academic field of communication studies to express “diversity of meanings.” When a mediated representation is not clearly defined, such as the rhetoric used in the Ron Ramsey campaign ad, it allows for and basically represents all of the possible diversities of meaning. And, therein lies the problem.
Ron Ramsey’s message resonates with racists, Neo Nazis, and Skinheads who hate Barack Obama (read, “Washington”) because he is Black, and Ron Ramsey’s message resonates with racists, Neo Nazis, and Skinheads because it literally copies a popular Skinhead and Neo Nazi Slogan (read, “Give them the boot”).
Sam concludes, “The case can easily be made (and the fact that it can easily be made is problematic) that Ron Ramsey’s political consultants have scripted him to represent racist, Neo Nazi rhetoric in his campaign ad.”
Being the only non-racist Conservative in existence and the only person on the planet unaware of the latent racism in common American idiom I decided to do a little research of my own. One can never be too sure. After all, you know how clever those Neo-Nazis and Skinheads can be! I Googled the phrase “give them the boot” and braced for my laptop to overload its capacity to filter out the hate and bile. This is what I found.
Warning – small children, Christians, ladies, Progressives, Democrats and others easily offended by graphic scenes of racial hatred and violence should not, under ANY circumstances click through to the following sites. I did, taking one for the team in the name of journalistic and personal integrity. I had to put in an after-hours, emergency call to my therapist. The first 10 pages of Google results revealed the following partial list of polysemous Internet racists.
Salon author Glenn Greenwald encourages Progressive Democrats to give “Blue Dog” Dems the boot. Check out the actual URL. It reads “blue-dogs-die”;
It’s a flood of Government help from Democrats in charge at the City and State level. If only it would be limited to clearing the streets and ensuring we retain clean water and the sort of things Government is supposed to do, I wouldn’t mind. We’ll see …
But if they follow Rahm’s advice and don’t let a crisis go to waste, we’ll be seeing all manner of new regulation, legislation and general Government meddling and posturing that accomplishes nothing. Don’t build stuff here! Everyone must now have this or that in their home! Government can now force you out of your home against your will. The usual tyranny …
I suppose that’s not nothing. After all, it will likely rob of us a little more Liberty at the cost of a little more in taxes and political weasel words. I guess the truth is it will accomplish nothing worthwhile.
When creeks, streams and rivers escape their confines and spread across the countryside, it endangers everyone and everyone wisely recognizes the danger and takes appropriate action. Too bad people don’t recognize that Government escaping its confines is infinitely more dangerous to a people who desire to remain free.
Mike Turner caught me. I’m tired of running and I just give up. I’m publicly admitting that I’m a R.A.C.I.S.T. – I’m a Republican Against Crazy Ignorant Stupid Twits!
As reported in the City Paper and in a TN GOP presser today, Turner, the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, (I’d call him Representative Turner but I don’t think anyone wants his views to be representative of theirs) put his big big ol’ Democratic foot in his big ol’ Democratic mouth yesterday when at a press conference he said:
“‘We’ve got a lot of bills on states’ rights here, state sovereignty and all that,’ he added. ‘We went through that fight once before. All of a sudden, we have a black man elected president and everybody wants to start acting like something’s wrong with our country. I didn’t agree with a lot of things George Bush did, but I wasn’t ready to secede from the union.’
“Asked to elaborate afterward, Turner said, ‘I think some of the people who are against Obama are just against Obama because he’s African-American.’”
Really, Mike? You think the 10th Amendment and the Bill of Rights are synonymous with secession? You SERIOUSLY think that? You believe that people who oppose Obama are racists? To quote your Party’s leader in the US House, “Are you serious? Are you SERIOUS?” Based on what, Mike? Any facts to go with that irresponsible allegation? There’s a simple way to tell. It’s really easy, Mike. Just produce “some of the people” you reference so it can be verified that they indeed are both “against Obama” and that it’s “because he’s African-American.” I can tell you that there are a host of intelligent, thoughtful, principled, rational and patriotic people who are against Obama and his agenda. I can produce them by the thousands. Just visit any Tea Party, Mike. Except those folks only fulfill half your description because they are “against Obama” based on his policies not his pigment. It’s his methods not his melanin. But unless you can produce more than your own allegations, perhaps you should just keep your ignorance to yourself.
But that doesn’t fit with standard Democratic battle strategy so you actually publicly made one of the saddest and most ignorant comments I’ve heard from a politician in any party in years. Tell me you were just frustrated and misspoke, Mike. Tell me you just blurted out the first stupid thing that entered your mind and that you regret it. Tell me you understand how ignorant and foolish you realize your remarks publicly reveal you to be. Tell me it was only by accident that you slandered, libeled and tarred millions of Americans with your bile, ignorance, bitterness and hatred. Perhaps there’s an explanation that tells me it was all just a “youthful exuberance” or some other dalliance that should be overlooked. Better yet … tell all of Tennessee. They are watching, Mike, and wondering what sort of man says such things.
I don’t think there’s an explanation possible, Mike. And I don’t know there’s a fix. How can you work with me when you hold such a low opinion of me? And how can I work with you given your revelation of how much integrity you lack? But what do I know? I’m just a R.A.C.I.S.T.. But the Crazy, Ignorant, Stupid, Twits I oppose now have you as their poster-boy. I suppose we’ll see which of us pays the worse price for our views.
Democracy for America, a Progressive organization, is touting a Progressive Grassroots All-Star Top 10 Finalists list of candidates they would most like to see win a seat in the US House in November. The 10 are listed at their page and you can vote to move them up and down in the ranking. Not surprisingly, 4 of their current top 5 are from California. The 5th member of the top 5 is from Massachusetts. The bottom of the line-up hail from Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia and New Hampshire. Just for grins, I clicked on the DFA icon for a quick blurb on what each candidate stood for. What I found for each person in less than 150 words each became this post. Not all the bad policy found in the things these candidates are actually proud of is represented below. These are just the things that jumped out at me. For your political nightmare of the week, I present the following …
Entries (RSS)