Awakening the Sleeping Giant

Admiral Yamamoto used this analogy to describe the reaction of the United States after the proposed attack on Pearl Harbor. He could not have been more accurate.

Politically speaking, the attempt to wrench the United States down a left wing socialist path during a prolonged economic crisis has done the same thing.

In this case the sleeping giant was conservative and libertarian America. These folks, for the most part, are the backbone of America. They own small businesses, many served in the military, some work for larger companies in every capacity you can imagine. Others are self-employed as professionals. Some grow our food or even work in the government itself. All share the same ideal, that in America you can get farther, faster on your own efforts without government getting in the way.

Taking over major corporations with government power, promising to raise electric bills based on a discredited environmental theory, running up major deficits and planning to spend even more money on dubious health care programs are bad enough. Meanwhile we have pursued a policy of weakness in foreign affairs.

Increasingly it is clear that America did not vote for Obama. It voted against a centrist Republicanism that talked small government but delivered more debt. It voted for change in a time of economic fear, willing to gamble on the outsider, perhaps wanting to prove once and for all that America is not a racist nation. John McCain would have made a solid president, but the times demanded a stronger statement from the GOP. Conservatives refrained from casting a ballot for president in silent protest, a portent of the release soon to come.

We bet on the wrong horse.

You might also call the Republican Party a sleeping giant. Its limbs have awakened faster than its head, but it is roused and ready for action. Tea Party advocates crammed the streets of Washington last weekend. Morgan McComb of Texas proudly related on Facebook that at Obama's inauguration people had room to sit. At the 9/12 tea party in the nation's capital, bodies were jammed together, peacefully standing and protesting socialism. They also protested teh centralization of power in the hands of Obama along with the Chicago style corruption that has tarnished appointments and appropriations.

The RNC seems to still be wary of the movement, cautiously backing it. That being said, the West Virginia state party leadership has shown tremendous enthusiasm. You have to remember, until recently many Republicans proudly said "conservatives do NOT protest." As Bob Dylan sang once, the times they are a changin'. People are roused to direct action nationwide in numbers reminiscent of the 1960s. Many of the people mobilized to act were of that generation. They do not want to see the government steal their lifetime of savings or take away the Medicare plans that were promised them.

Left wingers reacted with hysterics at the suddenly uncivil tone of conservatives and libertarians. Accustomed to strongly worded letters to the editor, they had no experience in dealing with the kind of action they endorsed against the policies of President Bush. Confident in their mastery of a radical playbook, they could not fathom that their opponents might try the same ideas used by them for the past eight years. Leftists seem to have all been stricken by some kind of amnesia related to their past behavior. All they can do in response is shout the trite label "racist."

Our nation is at a crossroads. We need to work to build a strategy for the future. Will it be big government paternalism or a return to small government that unleashes the potential in each individual willing to work hard? The next two elections will indicate where our country goes from here. It is time for free people to stand with the Republican Party, elect strong candidates in the primaries, and take them to victory in Novembers to come.

The Ugliness of Pure Unadulterated Bigotry

In the past few days we have seen the ugliness of bigotry directed at the good people of South Carolina.

In a defining moment of the current political debate, Congressman Joe Wilson shouted during Obama's speech to Congress last week "You lie!" Under pressure from other Republicans he issued an apology. Pushed to reiterate his retraction, he refused to budge another inch. In other words he does not dispute what he said, just the forum in which he said it.

Wilson's statements triggered an unusually heated blast of hatred from the Left that coincided with the massive protests last week in Washington DC and elsewhere. Obama's Administration dictated to the protestors that their stance was simply "wrong." Columnists such as Maureen Dowd of the New York Times and Margery Eagan of the Boston Herald attacked Wilson as a racist. His powerful stance against a president that happened to be black could not have come from honest disagreement over that chief executive's policies. No, it must be racism.

And here is how you know that the leftists have lost. They try to hush all debate by hauling out what used to be the dreaded "R" word. That word used to make people shake in their boots. Stab me, shoot me, just don't call me a racist. However it has been trotted out so many times, it's lost its punch.

Eagen was particularly eager to slam the state of South Carolina, hauling out historical figures who, except for Strom Thurmond, all died before any of her readers were born. Of course she recounted all the insults (the Audacity of Dope I particularly liked) and accusations aimed at Obama as a sign of hysteria. Did she feel the same when Bush was accused of falsifying National Guard enlistments, or was compared to a monkey? She was likely right along with that hatred, feeling morally righteous all the while. Today she says the whole state of South Carolina is full of crackpots and dingbats. Maybe I think that her entire newspaper is just as filled with hate, bigotry, and vitriol as she is. That would not be fair, but the left specializes in collective generalization.

Folks, this is what they think. Don't assume that they will not attack West Virginia. They feel the same, if not worse, about us. It is hatred, pure bigotry, a knee jerk negativity that knows no reason or bounds. If they could get away with hanging all rural conservatives from a sour apple tree, they would.

The scary thing is that two groups of Americans move farther and farther apart, unable to fathom the other side or how we even live in the same country. They blame it on conservatives and libertarians, but they lie. Two visions exist of what America ought to be. One side wants government paternalism, the other a restrained system that promotes freedom and responsibility. Just as before the Civil War, the realm of compromise shrinks to imperceptibility.

In the Civil War no option remained by 1860 except to fight. No political solution existed to solve the divide between those that believed that individual liberty was best protected by states and those that believed the federal government ought to play a predominant role (although much less predominant than leftists today.) Are we seeing the same trend in our time? Perhaps, but probably not.

Bigotry from the left expresses a hatred not seen in this nation since the 1960s. That hatred was the last gasp of the dying segregationist culture. They knew history was closing the book on them. Hopefully radical left wing socialism is issuing its last foul and dying breath with this administration.

The Trap of the Imperial Presidency

Historians will often use the phrase "Imperial Presidency" to describe a personal style of rule that some chief executives assume. When thinking about this concept, Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt often come up in discussions. Debates arise over whether or not personal rule is best for the country because it gets things done quickly, or whether it violates the balance of powers set in the Constitution.

The main instrument in the hands of an aspiring imperial president has been the executive order. This has the force of law and can claim indirect lineage from the Middle Ages era power of the monarch to make statutes. In recent years executive orders have proliferated and encompass a much broader scope than in the past. Obama exacerbated the problem of expanding presidential power by appointing powerful bureaucratic chieftains nicknamed "czars" to direct policy. These men and women, unlike official advisors, do not require Senatorial consent.

Lincoln and Roosevelt have this in common. They used their expanded powers during a time of national crisis. After Lincoln, the power of the president, for various reasons, shrank. During the Cold War and after it has expanded. Yes a president needs the authority to meet national emergencies, but too many use that power in more mundane situations.

Much of this is our fault. We expect our presidents to be superhuman. They must maintain economic prosperity, national security, protect innocents around the world, and attend to every issue that we think is important. When crises occur, we expect him or her to do something. We are not sure what, but we want something done, even when it would be better to do nothing.

In this way we resemble Rome at the end of the Republic. They had elected consuls that could not solve every social problem. When the dictator Julius Caesar acted forcefully, the people approved even though it broke their constitution. After Caesar came civil war and the establishment of the empire. Augustus was everything his people could have wanted in a leader, just, wise, effective. He seemed to affirm the positives of the imperial ideal. However when less scrupulous, and then downright insane people inherited the throne, the power Augustus used for good was bent towards evil goals.

We must put the brakes on the imperial presidency through constitutional amendment. First, kill off the czars. No major appointments without the "advice and consent of the Senate." Second, cap executive orders. No executive order may remain in force for more than five years without congressional affirmation. That is enough time for a president to address an emergency. Executive orders involving the seizure of land must be approved by the state legislature, or territorial, or Indian reservation authorities before they go into effect. This is the first step in restoring balance to our system and saving our Republic.

Congresswoman Capito Says Announcement is Latest in EPA Delays and Continues Troubling Uncertainty for Miners

As the Environmental Protection Agency today announced that they would effectively block nearly 80 mining permits across the mining region, Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-WV, expressed her concerns about the potential economic impact of the administration’s decision.

“With a new announcement from the EPA comes more delays and continued uncertainty for West Virginia miners,” said Capito. “As I’ve said before, it’s certainly appropriate to have legitimate oversight and review of all proposed permits, but today’s announcement amounts to the latest in a series of decisions that create still more ambiguity for mines across our state and region. Our nation depends on West Virginia coal as a domestic resource to power our economy and we can’t afford never-ending delay on the many outstanding permits. ”

Over the course of the summer, Capito met with officials at the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers where she highlighted the stakes of the continued evolution of the permit review process.

“In my discussions with officials at the EPA, I’ve regularly stressed that their decisions stand to directly impact jobs in our state and today’s news of further delays is a troubling development. Simply put, the decisions of bureaucrats in Washington have a real personal impact on West Virginia families.”

Twenty three of the 79 permits mentioned in today’s announcement are located in West Virginia. The EPA, which will have final approval on all permits, gave no binding deadline for completing their enhanced review process.

“This can’t be an endless process,” added Capito. “Yet it’s beginning to seem like it might be, and that’s unfair to mining families and mining communities throughout the Mountain State.”

Remembering

I remember where I was when it happened. Very few historical events take me back to where I was at the time. Ronald Reagan being shot was one, the Challenger explosion another.

I remember the sadness after the first plane hit. Then the anger after the second hit. Then fear. What would get hit next? After the Pentagon, rumors flew everywhere.

We scoured our minds to think of who we knew who might have been in the line of terror.

We entertained the most brutal thoughts of retribution.

Today we remember those who died, the families that still suffer, the country that will never forget, and the soldiers that sacrifice for our freedom every day. We will not forget who did this, or the fact that they attacked us not for what America has done, but the freedom we proudly stand for and the prosperity our forefathers worked so hard to create.

Some try to muddy the waters on what Patriots' Day means. We still know evil when we see it. We still recognize what America has always meant to ourselves and freedom loving people around the world.

So say a prayer for the fallen and look to your flag with pride.

Mr. Obama, Tear Down Your Ivory Tower

The Founding Fathers never intended the President or the Congress to be locked away from the public. The facts are they wanted them to be regular members of the public, after all we a government of the people and by the people. Overtime mainly because of security our elected officials have become increasingly isolated from the people. As a result, our government is suffering.

It didn’t used to be that way, many Presidents of the past held specific hours at the Whitehouse to hear from citizens. We should return to that and the President should hold a few hours a week to hear the concerns of citizens in person and it should be available live to the public. He will hear good things and bad and I’m sure a few nutty things as well, but the point is he needs to hear from the average American on a regular basis. That would help him to understand those that he governs.

Wednesday night during his speech to Congress when he made the statement that, illegal aliens would not be covered under his government run health care plan a South Carolina Congressman stood up and yelled, “You Lie.” Democrats were appalled that anyone would dare do that to the President, yet it was OK for them to boo George W. Bush during the State of Union speech during his Presidency. The fact of the matter is the Democrats should not be chastised for booing Bush and the South Carolina Congressman has nothing to apologize for calling Obama a liar. Both the President and the Congress need to hear dissent.

Have you ever watched British Parliament on C-Span when the Prime Minister addresses them? You hear emotion, you see reactions of how people feel. More importantly the Prime Minister is questioned by the opposition in an open and public forum. The people get to see the real mood of their nation and how the leadership is being carried out. We need that here in the United States.

We need the leaders of this nation to be in touch with the people. They should not be isolated in an ivory tower. They should never feel they are better than you or me, because they are not. Perhaps is it time to add an Amendment to the US Constitution to require the President of the United States appear before the US House for 2 or 3 hours each month to publicly answer questions asked by the member of the House. Take the President out of his ivory tower and make Congress show its constituents where they stand on the issues without being able to hide. We must return our government to the people.

"You Lie!"

Representative Joe Wilson of South Carolina (whose official site is currently offline due to high traffic) made international news last night and in some ways stole the show. As Barack Obama ground through his proposals for health care reform, Wilson channeled his inner British Member of Parliament and shouted in disgust "You lie!"

As usual Obama tried to play it both ways, suggesting the public option was a great idea, but that he migth consider other options. He pleaded for bipartisanship, but slammed dissidence. It was a typical act that, according to polls, was just as well received as the failed Clinton effort to pass his version of socialized health care one year before the GOP retook Congress.

Wilson's shout broke the tradition of recent decades that Congressmen and women must remain quiet during presidential addresses with the exception of applause. One registers disapproval by refusing to make any appreciative noises. Wilson's anger hearkens back to the original century of congressional deportment. George Washington briefly attended congressional debates until he found himself repeatedly attacked and vowed to never return except when constitutionally mandated.

The focus on "You Lie!" reintroduces into the responsible media the persistent gaps between what Obama says and what the proposed legislation could do. He keeps Factcheck.com extremely busy. For left wing Democrats it represents the final nail in the bipartisan coffin. For Republicans it is a war cry. Some will debate the propriety of Wilson's action, but not the message it conveys. "You Lie!" is not the cry of the old school GOP leadership, but of the Tea Party movement, educated by years of Bush bashing in confrontational politics.

What is promises is that this fight will get uglier. As we approach the next election cycle, the chances that Obama will get anything he wants dims. However the bruised egos and hostile emotions will only burn brighter. 2010 will be one of the nastiest campaigns in American history because the stakes are so high. "You Lie!" was the first shot across the bow.

Calvin Coolidge For President In 2012

America has never been more ready for a certain type of leader. The kind that knows that people do not want to see him every day, the kind that tries to say as few words as possible instead of as many, and finally the kind that believes in artfully doing nothing until something absolutely needs to be done.

Americans are tired of drama eminating from the White House. They are ready for prosperity and relaxation without a lot of big plans and changes. In short, the country wants a return to normalcy.

Through no fault of our own we were plunged into an abyss of violence in 2001. This mobilized our feelings and actions. We prepared to meet and destroy an enemy, first in Afghanistan and next in Iraq. Our cause was just, but it wore on the emotions and the patience of the country.

And now this, a left wing president accompanied by a left wing Congress. They are bound and determined to change the very nature of our economy, saddling us with mountains of debt and government run systems. The people rose to stop this madness. Those that care about the country must keep up the fight through the fall as the president has set himself against it. He wants what he wants regardless of the disgust of the people.

In 2012, we need a president who will administer the country and leave us the hell alone. Calvin Coolidge (were he alive) would stay out of the classrooms, the boardrooms, and most anywhere else. He will refrain from appearing on television, the radio, or the internet for vast stretches. Chances are that under President Coolidge, you'd forget we even had a president. Why? He does not want to bother or harass you!

So those of you in either party who want to keep a person in office or vote for someone else that wants to fight for major change, think about the country for a second. We need quiet. We need political peace. Nominate someone who will just leave us alone.

Calvin Coolidge!

McKinney to Rahall and Mollohan: Stop Following Nancy Pelosi's Marching Orders and Listen to West Virginia

[Charleston, West Virginia] - Republican Chairman Doug McKinney called on Congressman Nick Rahall and Congressman Alan Mollohan to stop taking Nancy Pelosi's orders on health care and listen to the concerns of West Virginia voters.

"I don't like to break up other's friendships, but Nancy Pelosi doesn't care about West Virginia," McKinney said. "She hates the coal we produce, and she believes the federal government and not our citizens should decide how we should spend our money or which doctor we should visit. Now, she is telling the media that she will pass a health care bill out of the House that our citizens don't support, and she will order her foot soldiers to vote for it."

"Congressmen Rahall and Mollohan tried holding a few town hall meetings filled with supporters of Nancy Pelosi's health care bill that includes a public option, but they were surprised that West Virginians turned out in force to tell them 'NO!' But, now that they are back in Washington, they are back under her thumb when it comes to voting on a bill."

Chairman McKinney further explained, "Congressmen Rahall and Mollohan have been taking their marching orders from Nancy Pelosi for far too long. Poor Nick Rahall had to beg for the Speaker to let him vote no on Cap and Trade, and she only gave him her approval the night before the vote. It is never a good sign when he has to choose between his party's leadership in Washington and the people who actually elected him."

"Instead of trying to grandstand once a year during the August recess, Congressmen Mollohan and Rahall should spend more time back in their districts," said McKinney. "Congresswoman Capito used the recess to travel from one side of her district to the other to talk energy and health care with thousands of her constituents through meetings, public events and tele-town hall conference calls."

Act of War?

Two American journalists recently captured and freed by North Korea claim that a guide led them across the river briefly from China into North Korea. Once they realized their mistake, they returned to China but were "violently dragged" back to North Korea by soldiers and imprisoned.

Technically two nations should howl in outrage at this behavior. The United States should immediately shut down any communications between the two governments and disavow any positive statements made by former President Bill Clinton. The freeze ought to be palpable and immediate. A gangster government responded to Obama's Apology Tour by kidnapping US citizen journalists and extorting favorable treatment from our country.

China should punish this small, but real incursion into this territory by North Korean soldiers through economic sanctions or military action. I have more faith in China's ability to focus its wrath on this outcast regime than I do in Obama. Likely, this matter will go under the rug. China will fins a way to quietly punish while the US may protest, if that, and let matters lie.


The lack of American reaction will embolden terrorists again, just as our demonstrations of weakness in the past provoked 9/11.

Dems feel safer in Washington than at home

Real Long Term Victor in 2008 May End Up Being Libertarians

In 2008 the Republican Party warned about what would happen and few believed. Major debt hikes, tremendous expansions of federal power at the expense of the private sector, increasing infringements upon natural rights were all mentioned and dismissed by the media and ultimately about 55% of the voters.

Few believed that Obama would be as radical as promised. Also few believed that the GOP would act radically differently. After all, its last few years controlling Congress were a virtual orgy of spending relative to what had come before. Conservative and libertarian voters stayed away from the polls, not seeing much difference between moderate Republican economic interventionism and what the GOP was warning voters about.

Now all predictions have come true and then some. A conservative country is led by a radical left winger and we are reaping the results.

Libertarians have suddenly seen their principles and beliefs grow into part of the mainstream political discussion. Ron Paul's demands to audit the Federal Reserve are being echoed by Republicans across the country, for example. Why is it a priority to expose the inner workings of the CIA, but not the Federal Reserve? Quasi-nationalization of massive companies frightens even centrists who are rediscovering the wisdom of balancing and restraining federal power. Even local authorities seem to have lost their minds, drunk with power. Consider the epidemic of local governments sending police to chase away children selling lemonade from stands because they lack the proper permits. Consider the way that schools now function effectively as part time minimum security prisons complete with mandatory random drug testing for certain groups.

America has changed for the worse and the people of this country associate every negative change with the expansion of the power of government. Voters and activists suddenly have turned from older issues and focused on saving the free market and the free society. Government power is unpopular. The time of libertarian political beliefs, championed by Republican candidates, is at hand.

Jack Webb & Joe Friday talk to Obama

Why Your Children Should Take the Day Off From School Tomorrow

Originally we were not going to run a column today. Events have directed otherwise.

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You saw it here last week and have heard about it on the news ever since. Obama will be speaking to children in class tomorrow, Tuesday, September 8th. Not only will he give a speech, children will have to rate the three best words in it, discuss how he "inspires" them, and write letters about how they will "help the president." The message itself is benign, but the assignments ram home the idea that the president is an objective truth giving authority, not a politician whose methods are always to be questioned. Obama fest in many areas will be cheered on by enthusiastic members of the teacher's union. At the very least this is creepy. At the worst it is quasi-facsist.

John F. Kennedy appropriately asked Americans to "ask not what your country should do for you, but ask what you should do for your country." He had his own cult of personality, but he did emphasize devotion to the United States that he fought for in World War II. Our children tomorrow are asked to express emotion for Barack Obama.

This is reminiscent of the oaths German officers were asked to take directly to Hitler. It also reminds me of the scene in Blazing Saddles where the gang of bad guys are asked to "pledge allegiance to Hedy Lamaar . . . that's HEDLEY!" Obama politically is more like Hedley Lamaar than Hitler, but it is still creepy. Organizations across the country are trying to organize a boycott by conservative and libertarian families.

Even worse, it has become clear that the US Department of Education wrote directly to school principals, bypassing elected boards and supervisors. As a response, many boards of education across the country have declared that since the activity lies outside the curriculum, they will not permit its showing in classrooms. It shows an attempt to get past the checks and balances established by a democratic people to establish an agenda in a manner usually followed by authoritarian regimes.

This is dangerous. No other president in American history has tried to fuse himself with the idea of the nation. Obama's speech combined with the activities suggested by the Department of Education does this. Some parents say that their children are smart enough to question and fight brainwashing. That's a good thing. However, left wingers will see even simple attendance as evidence that the people accept this unprecedented behavior. And we will see more of it until this scourge of freedom is gone.

That is why children should either not attend school at all next Tuesday, or they should be signed out by 11:30 to make sure that the statistics prove America does not accept indoctrination.

Alan Mollohan's Opposition to Windmill Construction

Last night at the US Windforce meeting in the Wind Lea Conference Center in Keyser, a letter was produced and distributed containing a several page long list of objections by Congressman Alan Mollohan to this development.

Mollohan cited a number of concerns in his letter, starting first with the fear that windmills might adversely affect the bat population. Next he asserted that the Beech Ridge project was constructed without regard for the positions of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, again citing an as yet unknown effect on birds. Finally he complained that it affects the aesthetics of mountain views. Congressman Mollohan believed the effects on tourism would be dire.

This letter was passed around as evidence of Congressman Mollohan's antagonism to wind power. Whether or not the congressman feels the same today as he did in the letter may be debatable since it was dated July 26, 2006. Since that point we have had two congressional and one presidential election. No matter what other nonsense the dominant party has spewed since last January, a commitment to wind power has been one of their goals. Would Congressman Mollohan issue a detailed statement so diametrically opposed to wind power today? Perhaps, but then again perhaps not. After all, windmills do not permanently alter the contours of the mountains that he so wonderfully describes. I doubt that he would reject a new limited access highway carving through the hills and ridges of his district, nor would I want him to.

The letter's predictions, however, are worthy of study. Did windmills in Tucker County affect tourism? I see busses stopped at windmills there all the time so people can have their pictures taken with them. Have the numbers of people who visited that county dropped since the construction of windmills more than what would be normal in a recession? The answer to that could be interesting.

At the end of the day the practical numbers are what is important. How many local companies and individuals will be involved? How much will the heightened tax revenue help our cash strapped school system? How much money will the property owners who benefit from these projects spend in Mineral County?

My thought on aesthetics is that I do not see a ridge near a town as an unspoiled view. We have development extending from Keyser up Green Mountain. The Department of Highways is considering the construction of a highway perhaps a generation from now in the same general spot. Certainly there are areas some areas with a unique quality where we'd rather not have them. Having them sitting above the lights of a large town does less visual harm.

I also disagree with anyone who believes that wind will ever come close to substituting for coal. Wind power helps to bolster our output and enhance even further our energy exports. Congressman Mollohan in 2006 took a narrow view when he said that power exports only help those outside the state. Producing more power than you consume helps keep rates from increasing even faster than they do now. Expanding all possible sources of power, as the representative from the state Department of Energy expert explained at the meeting, increases jobs and state tax revenues. West Virginia can now also boast of being one of only a few states pursuing both alternative and renewable energy resources.

Most developments in the state, once done, cannot ever be completely undone. Coal companies try to restore the original contours of mountain ridges as much as possible. Highways snake across the landscape cutting through the hills. Industrial parks are permenent monuments of concrete, block, and steel. Windmills are one of the few things that, if they do not work, their removal would leave the natural view almost unchanged. Some fear that if wind power goes belly up, they will have to look at decaying structures with no purpose. I would doubt that, with the ever increasing price of scrap metal, that they would go unclaimed for long. People in the last election stole campaign signs for the steel mounts because metal is now such a lucrative product. If this is a major concern, the Legislature could hold wind power companies to the same standard as coal; when you are done, remove the evidence of your presence.

We want development. We want more clean and cheap power. Wind power provides a minimum of risk with a broad potential for gain.

Environmental Protection Agency Study Shows Mankind Does Not Change Global Temperatures, But Don't Tell Anyone!

Michelle Malkin has spent a lot of time on her net publication discussing the increasing pressure on Environmental Protection Agency senior analyst Dr. Alan Carlin.

Apparently Dr. Carlin produced a study that shows that fluctuations in the ocean, not man produced carbon dioxide, affect global warming and cooling cycles. Add this to the very strong scientific evidence that the Earth's temperatures (as well as Mars) rise and fall in conjunction with solar activity.

Dr. Carlin heads the National Center for Environmental Economics under the EPA and is a career government civil servant. Of course his little neck of the federal government woods is about to be eliminated by executive action. In other words, Dr. Carlin contradicts the innumerable and scientifically useless correlation based studies and fake computer models that bolster legal attempts to raise our electric bills and destroy the coal industry. Therefore he must go.

Again, I am not saying that we should not try to reduce pollution. Capitalist nations have shown themselves to be most effective at reducing pollutants as opposed to Communist countries and other dictatorships. The free market punishes industrial polluters through publication of facts and figures. Gradually we have cut pollution in this country tremendously since the 1970s. We still have work to do, but we have come a long way. On the other hand, we must not sacrifice our standard of living for radical changes.

Radical changes, such as the president's goal to drive electric bills into the stratosphere, will be counterproductive. Part of the drop in pollution overall comes from decreased use of wood and coal burning stoves over the past century. If electric bills go up, people will return to wood and coal in large numbers. After all, many West Virginians can get that fuel from the very land they own by themselves.

Too many experts and studies contradict the anti-capitalist mantra of global warming. Obama's heavy handed ploy to drive out the architect of the latest study that points out his mistakes reveals how little confidence they have in their own science.

Weighing Carefully the Risks of the Swine Flu Vaccination

Swine flu is the latest killer disease du jour for the media. Like SARS before it, we are seeing a rise in coverage of every single person who contracts the disease. This creates a perception that the disease is rampaging throughout the world, killing manby people. In the entire United States, under 8,000 people have sought medical treatment for the swine flu and 522 died. In a nation of three hundred million people, that means that over 99.99% of the people did not contract this virus. By comparison last year, between five and ten million people contracted pneumonia. Between 40-70,000 patients died of this condition. That means that a Charleston sized population dies of pneumonia every year, but the swine flu is a dangerous pandemic.

So why not get the vaccine just to be on the safe side? According to the London Telegraph, (yes we often have to go abroad to get accurate news) the swine flu vaccine could create much more significant health problems. During the swine flu immunization of 1976 in the United States, twenty-five patients died of a crippling neurological disease called Guillain-Barre Syndrome. British medical personnel have been advised to utilize "enhanced surveillance" of vaccinated patients to watch for any signs of the condition. Doctors have not yet established whether or not the vaccine or the actual flu resulted in more cases of the syndrome, causing the leader of one British medical watchdog group to comment "What we've got is a massive guinea pig trial."

Guillain-Barre syndrome does not usually kill, but it is the leading cause of non traumatic paralysis in the world. The immobility generally strikes the legs.

Each individual must weigh the costs and benefits before rushing in to get the vaccine regardless of what the government says. The risks of getting this flu, much less dying from it, are extremely miniscule. One must weigh the slight chance of spending a week recovering from the swine flu (a type of flu no more serious than the regular flu) against the risk of spending a longer time contending with slight possibility of possible paralysis from the aftereffects of the vaccine.

Personally I have never gotten a flu shot and do not intend to this year either. The link to the British story is below.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/swine-flu/6038460/Doctors-told-to-watch-for-Guillain-Barre-syndrome-during-Swine-flu-vaccination-programme.html

Can You Spell "Indoctrination" Boys and Girls? I Knew You Could!

I'm taking my son fishing at noon next Tuesday, September 8th. I am going to let him sleep in and eat a good breakfast. Then at noon, we will go down to New Creek and go try to catch some dinner.

That is what we will do if Mineral County Schools comply with the request of the Secretary of Education to basically turn that day into "Barack Obama Day." Here is the letter from the Secretary of Education to school principals written last week:

Letter From Secretary Arne Duncan to School Principals August 26, 2009
Classroom Activities
Grades preK-6

PDF (64K) | MS Word (32K)
Grades 7-12

PDF (108K) | MS Word (80K)
Please note that the time of this speech has changed to 12:00 noon eastern standard time.
Dear Principal:

In a recent interview with student reporter, Damon Weaver, President Obama announced that on September 8 — the first day of school for many children across America — he will deliver a national address directly to students on the importance of education. The President will challenge students to work hard, set educational goals, and take responsibility for their learning. He will also call for a shared responsibility and commitment on the part of students, parents and educators to ensure that every child in every school receives the best education possible so they can compete in the global economy for good jobs and live rewarding and productive lives as American citizens.

Since taking office, the President has repeatedly focused on education, even as the country faces two wars, the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression and major challenges on issues like energy and health care. The President believes that education is a critical part of building a new foundation for the American economy. Educated people are more active civically and better informed on issues affecting their lives, their families and their futures.

This is the first time an American president has spoken directly to the nation's school children about persisting and succeeding in school. We encourage you to use this historic moment to help your students get focused and begin the school year strong. I encourage you, your teachers, and students to join me in watching the President deliver this address on Tuesday, September 8, 2009. It will be broadcast live on the White House website www.whitehouse.gov 12:00 noon eastern standard time.

In advance of this address, we would like to share the following resources: a menu of classroom activities for students in grades preK-6 and for students in grades 7-12. These are ideas developed by and for teachers to help engage students and stimulate discussion on the importance of education in their lives. We are also staging a student video contest on education. Details of the video contest will be available on our website www.ed.gov in the coming weeks.
On behalf of all Americans, I want to thank our educators who do society's most important work by preparing our children for work and for life. No other task is more critical to our economic future and our social progress. I look forward to working with you in the months and years ahead to continue improving the quality of public education we provide all of our children.
Sincerely,

Arne Duncan

*********************************************************

Why has this not been big news in the media outlets? How come this unprecedented expansion of exposure of Il Duce right into our classrooms has not been debated or discussed? Apparently it is flying very smoothly under the radar. I learned about it from Facebook.

What is the problem? This president has failed to ingratiate himself with the people, so he is taking his charm and smile to the children. They will be asked to rate the three most important words of his speech, read background materials on Obama (probably NOT provided by the RNC), and discuss "what he is inspiring them and challenging them to do."

The fact is, we know all we care to know about this man. His attempt to worm his way into the school curriculum is actually pretty pathetic.

My kids will likely be home that day. My son will love another fishing trip. When they ask for an absence note, they'll get a "Don't Tread On Me " flag. Of course that is if Mineral County Schools signs on to this. Hopefully they have better things to do that day, like education.

Secretary of Education Asks Schools to Devote Much of September 8th to Obama

Tuesday September 8th has been designated by the US Secretary of Education apparently as a day to bask in the glow of The Won.

A speech will be broadcast from the White House online. Students will be asked to read about His Husseinness, rate the three best words from the speech, discuss how Obama inspired them, etc.

A national day of protest by Bury the Blue is in the early stages of being organized.

It is not clear at this point if Mineral County or other regional systems will be taking part.

More details to come in tomorrow morning's Potomac Highlands Conservative.

Only God Knows When It's Your Time to Go

Left wing proposals for an independent panel to make allocation choices for the sick and elderly generally find condemnation among conservatives. Sarah Palin's reference to such bodies as "death panels" sharpened the debate and placed left wingers on the defensive. Some writers, even on the conservative side, however, have questioned the logic of pumping costly resources into patients during the last year of life. They cite the statistic that 30% of health care costs go to people in their last several months of living.

Here's the problem. No one knows whether or not the sick eighty year old is on their last legs, or if they have several good years in them. Obama Administration health care advisors callously argue that younger people deserve more health care because they have potentially more to contribute. This ignores the fact that the elderly paid into insurance and/or Medicare their entire lives. Don't forget the servicemen who sacrificed for their country either. Doctors must proceed under the assumption that the patient can make a reasonable recovery, or they risk killing a person well before their time.

Another problem lies in the patient. Let's say the eighty year old is a distinguished senator compared to a former teacher or factory worker, or any common person. I seriously doubt that the "independent panel" that Obama wants to make decisions will look at a senator, an actor, or another famous individual in the same way as retired railroad worker Joe Smith of Keyser, West Virginia. One will get the care, the other gets the shaft.

We are a people conditioned to be optimists because sometimes heroic and expensive measures do give us a few more years with Grandma. You cannot put a price tag on a life that a person wants to live, or the love their families have for them. Their productivity over a lifetime paid into insurance or Medicare entitles them to care no matter what callous, uncaring left wing socialists think is best.

Some Items Left Out of Kennedy-Fest

Last week we saw endless praises and near canonizations heaped upon Senator Ted Kennedy. Someone, somewhere called him the "Lion of the Senate" and others compared him to Henry Clay and Daniel Webster as one of the greatest ever. Of course no Democratic funeral would be complete without utilizing it for political gain. The Kennedy family brought forth children to try and convince the nation to pass socialized health care that the man himself would never have used himself.


You would never, however, go through a Richard Nixon death without mention of Watergate. Kennedy's misdeeds similarly ought to follow praises of whatever it is he did that was great.


Most remember the death of Mary Jo Kopechne. Nothing to say about this that readers of thise site do not know already.


What many people are not aware of is how damaging Ted Kennedy was to this state. In 1960 the future Senator took charge of John F. Kennedy's effort to win Southern West Virginia. The region already had an unsavory reputation for corruption. Most county bosses lined up behind Midwestern traditional liberal Hubert Humphries. At this point their influence, especially that of Raymond Chafin of Logan County, was very strong.


Chris Matthews said recently that John F. Kennedy's good looks won him the 1960 primary in West Virginia. In contrast to this rather insulting and condescending assertion, West Virginians themselves have tried to relate the real story of the 1960 primary. Two books in the past few years, West Virginia Tough Boys, by F. Keith Davis and Don't Buy Another Vote I Won't Pay For a Landslide, by former Gaston Caperton Administration official Dr. Allen Loughry, discussed in detail the drama that unfolded in that primary season. Basically what it boils down to is that the Kennedy campaign pumped tens of thousands of dollars into the hands of county bosses. This caused them to switch allegiances overnight to Kennedy and to use some of the funds to line up precincts for their new candidate.


Dr. Loughry also argues that the massive amount of funds injected into the hands of the bosses and by extension many corrupted voters raised the bar for voting irregularities. In essence, to purchase a West Virginia election, a candidate would need more cash than ever. This tied some more tightly to unsavory donors while making for others personal wealth and the willingness to use it in illegal ways more tempting than ever. Obvious fraud and corruption benefitted the status quo since voters reacted by growing ever more cynical. When you have a mindset that all politicians are crooks, you tend to adopt "the devil you know is better than the devil you don't" mentality.


And who should answer for this? Ted Kennedy's death removed a man who likely knew a lot, but never uttered a word about that scandalous year of 1960.

Rockefeller on Healthcare

Secularism As a Religion

In the Middle Ages, the Roman Catholic Church controlled society. It saw itself as a parent of the people, guiding them away from sin, by persuasion if possible and by force if necessary. This, as well as Puritan theocracies in early New England, gave religious authority a bad name for intolerance and tyranny.

Religious authorities in those times and places used the power of the state to curb people's natural rights to think and make choices about religion. The United States Constitution responded to such fears by weighing in against the establishment of any particular denomination as an official religion. It balanced this language by providing that government cannot prevent the free exercise of religion either.

This reflects a general trend in Western Civilization towards the religion-neutral state. Certainly this has sparked arguments and dissention as some occasionally go too far in wiping away religious references in government controlled zones. It does not mean that religion has been officially established when high school football teams pray in the locker room before a game.

In recent years, the religion-neutral state has started to transform into the religiously hostile state. France recently outlawed the Muslim practice of burkha wearing among women. They argued that women wear the clothing under duress. I wonder how they determined that every Muslim woman in the entire country has rejected that tradition. Headscarves are also not permitted in that country's schools.

Most frightening is the recent prosecution by Obama's Justice Department of a principal and an athletic director in federal court because they prayed before a meal. The ACLU claims that the entire school district has "flagrantly" defied their interpretation of the First Amendment for years. They could spend six days in federal prison for praying.

Secularism has become, in some ways, a religion. It has no god and no soul, but it does keep a creed and a faith in a flawed perception of the Constitution. When good men go to jail for simply exercising their natural right to speak and freely exercise their religion, secularist tyranny has emerged. These men forced no one to pray with them, whether they were adults or students. However they violated the conformity of thought that secular tyranny seeks to impose, regardless of a man or woman's natural rights. Obama recently removed the legal and liability protections once enjoyed by medical practitioners who refuse to participate in procedures that are against their faith.

The victims of secularist tyranny are not only Christians, but also Jews, Muslims, or anyone else with an abiding and principled faith in their religion. Tolerance of different religions is great and necessary in a free society. Left wing government today actively campaigns against the faithful, proving that our nation grows less free every day that left wing Democrats remain in power.

Never Underestimate the Will of the American People

CONGRESS THIS INCLUDES YOU! LISTEN TO US!

Rockefeller Proposes Federal Control Over Internet

US Senator Jay Rockefeller is currently working on a bill that, if passed, will drastically increase the power held by the federal government over the internet.

Designed as a law to enable federal takeover of large parts of cyberspace in event of a national security crisis, it identifies "critical" elements of the private sector that might be vulnerable. It gives the government authority over information sharing and personnel hiring. Proponents compare it to the power that President Bush exercised after 9/11 to ground air traffic.

Critics argue that this is another attempt by a left wing government to extend its power over America's private sector. Larry Clinton of the Internet Security Alliance told Declan McCullough of CBS News that the vagueness of the bill invites maximum infringement upon property, personal, and other rights. This group, which includes representatives from Verizon, Carnegie Mellon University, and others, has expressed repeated concerns over increased control from an administration already noted as failing in most areas of cybersecurity.

Vague laws undermine the concept of rule of law that is critical to our freedom. If a law is written loosely enough, it can be applied to many situations where enforcement to protect or maintain order is not required. The federal government would love to see the internet regarded more like broadcast radio and television than print. That way it can regulate it without regard to the Bill of Rights.

The Real American Crisis

The media over the past several months provided America with saturated coverage of two manufactured crises, one of health care and the other of global warming/climate change/whatever else they want to call it this week.

America's most important domestic crisis of the next decade lies somewhere else, behind bars.

Two major state penitentiary type institutions, one in California and the other in Kentucky, saw violent riots this month. They serve as frightening reminders that the criminal population has exploded well beyond the capacity of the state and federal government to handle them, much less discipline or rehabilitate.

Two factors played into the explosion of the prison system. First was the drug boom starting in the 1960s. This obviously created new and more dangerous classes of criminals. Money fueled the rise of street gang power and violence.

The massive shutdowns of state hospital facilities at about the same time also contributed to the problem. Criminals with serious mental problems now go to jail instead of treatment. I am talking here more about the kleptomaniac, the severely depressed, and others who would benefit more from medical science rather than incarceration. So many individuals with severe problems were let out onto the streets with admonitions to take their pills and no other guidance. Many, unable to cope with mainstream society, ended up in prison or homeless. All too many of the mentally ill only immerse themselves more into the criminal world when they are placed with more hardened inmates.

No easy answers exist here. I watched a National Geographic program recently about the North Branch prison built near Cresaptown. Every cell has an intercom and a camera. Every control system is redundant. This prison cost $171 million. It is only one of many prisons in one medium sized state. The cost of prison is skyrocketing.

The problem is that when prisons get overcrowded, the chance that society will have to deal with truly violent prisoners increases. California received a court order to simply release a large number of prisoners. How many armed robbers, rapists, murderers, and molesters does that include? Early release programs also send these people back onto the streets more quickly. Less ability to monitor these people means that increasing numbers can escape from facilities less modern than North Branch. Those most violent inmates also prey upon the weaker and non violent in their midst, exacerbating their problems and creating a disturbed mindset that they will take with them when they are released.

I have no idea how to begin to solve this problem outside of dropping the country's most violent offenders onto a deserted atoll in the Pacific Ocean. Just because no solution is apparent now does not mean we should avoid the conversation. Our inmate population will eventually grow to a point where we cannot afford to keep it housed. Time to look at ways to address it right now.

Papiere gefallen!

What has happened to free speech in this nation? It is a Constitutional Right guaranteed by the First Amendment to petition government and a Congressman has the nerve to ask for the identification of a constituent. It is reminiscent of those words heard in Germany in the 1940's "Papiere gefallen!" When a Congressman basically echo's "Paper's Please," then things have gone to far. It is time to return to the Constitution!

The Republican Party Finally Embraces the Alice Cooper Strategy

I used to be such a sweet, sweet thing

Until they got a hold of me . . .

I got no friends cause they read the papers

They can't be seen with me and I'm getting shot down

And I'm feelin' mean

No more Mister Nice Guy

No more Mister Clean

The Ministry of Disinformation once again issued an Obama style bull. Republicans found themselves again attacked, Obama threatening to not work with them on major issues.

Hmm. Who outside of the Republican Party of Maine has he worked with?

A furious Michael Steele charged the issue, challenging Obama directly. Calling the current health care bills "poisonous," Steele told the Democrats to go ahead and try to pass it over public protests and GOP objections. He promised that the Democrats would face voter wrath next year.

Steele's approach so far in his tenure as national chairman has reflected occasional pin pricks at the opposition, but not the fire and brimstone expected from the faithful. This shows a new adversarial approach that reflects left wing attitudes towards the conservative majority of America in the past few months.

State parties have already taken up the challenge. Michigan's Republican Party has a Facebook page with a nationwide following. It issues press releases, commentary, and links to nationally known writers such as Michelle Malkin. Followers get at least three or four topical updates from this source daily.

The West Virginia Republican Party has also fired up its press machine, releasing information and attacks on Democratic hegemony daily. It plans to update its website soon and increase its ability to reach those who follow the new media. Media modernization will form a large part of its plan to push towards legislative majorities in the next election.

Republicans tend to be quiet citizens, concentrating on work and family. The threat to our country's values has sparked justifiable fear and rage that the party organizations must recognize and channel into peaceful, effective protests and votes.

Media Mythologizing

If I had a dollar for every time I saw the word "myth" in the media recently, I'd be rich for awhile, but then an Obama redistribution czar would say I had too much and take it away.

For once, the left found itself on the short end of the language battle. Well schooled in postmodernist principles of the slippery nature of words, they scared the dickens out of people when Bush proposed modest changes in Social Security. No one accused liberals of mythologizing when they made seniors think that Bush wanted to put all of their Social Security into the stock market. As usual, conservatives lost the language war by trying to keep the tone and rhetoric at what they believed was a civil level.

A new generation, guided by Newt Gingrich and led in part by Sarah Palin, attacked leftists on their own turf. Conservatives and libertarians were still more accurate in their rhetoric than leftists in the past. Obama and his ghoulish chief of staff discussed independent panels and allocating resources to people with social usefulness. Palin called them what they are, "death panels." If you withold health care to an elderly person with dementia, as Emmanuel wants, you kill them. Leaving the decision to an independent panel of experts, as Obama advocates, put them in charge of saying who will live and who shall die. What is mythological about that?

Leftists struggle to regain the initiative by calling conservative and libertarian concerns "myths." Opponents gained the initiative on this debate because, unlike congressmen and media types, they actually read the bill and imparted their sense of horror to the world. Democrats opposing Social Security reform did not quote at length from the bills as conservatives and libertarians have. The word "myth" still lacks the punch of "death panel" and I would assume that baby boomers will continue to fight for their immediate future and the health care they have paid for all of their working lives.

We ought to still seek a tone of reasonableness and civility whenever possible. However in some cases the stakes are too high to not inflame and mobilize. Those opposing the transformation of America into something alien have not lied, nor have they exaggerated the truth out of all proportion. However they have succeeded in getting your attention. Hopefully that will be enough.

Senator Edward M. Kennedy dies at 77

Who Says There's Death Panels In Obama Care? Obama!

Hat tip, Erick Erickson of RedState.com

In their own words:

One of Obama’s health-care advisors, the brother of Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel wrote in January 2009 that health care should be rationed in a way that “promot[es] and reward[s] social usefulness.” He said age could play a factor in determining who can and cannot access health-care resources and “[S]ervices provided to individuals who are irreversibly prevented from being or becoming participating citizens [in the body politic] are not basic and should not be guaranteed. An obvious example is not guaranteeing health services to patients with dementia.”

Obama himself said, "Whether, sort of in the aggregate, society making those decisions to give my grandmother, or everybody else’s aging grandparents or parents, a hip replacement when they’re terminally ill is a sustainable model, is a very difficult question. … And that’s part of why you have to have some independent group that can give you guidance.” The example Obama used should not distract us from the fact that he wants a death panel to decide who gets care and who does not after individuals paid into the Medicare fund over their working lifetimes.

They won't cut alcoholics and drug addicts from SSI, but they want grandma to die sooner so they can save money.

Call it what you want, it's a death panel. Add this to the Obama Administration placing "Hurry Up and Die" booklets into Veterans' Administration hospitals and you have a serious threat against the sanctity of elderly care in this country.

After all, they paid into it. Now Obama wants to deny them the care they need when it is most necessary.

As for Sarah Palin, who has adopted this as her crusade, her decision to leave the governorship of Alaska looks better and better. We need a visible and national leader to take the left wing grandma and baby killers head on.

So What If You Sacrificed For Your Country? Hurry Up and Die Already!!!

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204683204574358590107981718.html

The above link takes you to a column explaining the re-released "death book" given to elderly and sick veterans from the Department of Veterans' Affairs. Long story short, it was written by a euthanasia advocate and tries to create a sense of guilt among sick and elderly veterans for having the audacity to remain alive.

President Bush, horrified at the content, ordered the booklet's removal from VA Hospitals. Under Barack "Dr. Death" Obama, they have been restored to use.

What kind of message do we send to anyone, much less veterans, when our government tries to guilt people into dying sooner? What kind of monstrous society are we transforming into when this becomes standard operating procedure and few people raise an eyebrow.

Basically Obama's health care policies tell a veteran "yeah, we know you came ashore at Normandy, were pinned down at Omaha Beach, and fought one of America's most tenacious foes into their heartland. Dude, sorry that was seventy years ago. You're wasting our time and money, so hurry up and die."

Sickening, just sickening. I don't see Teddy Kennedy making the end of life decisions that they want our World War II and Korean War era vets to make. And I would never want him to choose death over life because it is convenient for other people.

Margaret Thatcher on Socialism

"West Virginia is very comfortable with the elected officials we've got, and most of those officials are Democrats,"

That quote comes from Nick Casey, Chairman of the West Virginia Democratic Party.

Has he been paying attention?

Congressmen Rahall and Mollohan struggle to defend the increasingly out of touch policies of the left wing Congressional leadership. Rahall, frustrated, even asked a constituent if he would rather the congressman read the health care bill, or came down to his district to talk about it. The answer, obviously, was "Both!"

Give the congressmen credit. They worked to accomodate large crowds with opposing points of view. They stayed for long periods of time, despite the lack of experience in dealing with overtly hostile constituencies. However, their answers were often evasive. The political situation for some elected Democrats has been as comfortable as a nail in the bottom of the foot.

The comfort level of the voters has fallen away as Democrats pursue policies to increase taxes, increase electric bills, and decrease good paying jobs in areas such as the coal industry. All the comfort that remains lies in the minds of Democratic officeholders and their party who have become very accustomed to power in West Virginia. That will not change.

West Virginia Republicans and other concerned voters have an opportunity next year to afflict

the comfortable. Even Democrats should want their party to remember the concerns of voters and not take their support for granted. The GOP has a sound and proven plan for prosperity. Most of the state continues to lag in economic indicators. It is time for positive and constructive change.

96% Want Mollohan to have a Potomac Highlands Town Hall

A recent poll conducted by the Potomac Highlands Conservative show that 96% of those surveyed want Congressman Alan Mollohan (D) to hold a town hall meeting in the Potomac Highlands region of his congressional district.

Contact the Congressman and let him know you want to be heard.

WASHINGTON Phone: (202) 225-4172 Fax: (202) 225-7564	Congressman Alan B. Mollohan 2302 Rayburn House Building Washington, DC 20515
CLARKSBURG Phone: (304) 623-4422 Fax: (304) 623-0571	Congressman Alan B. Mollohan Room 209, Post Office Building PO Box 1400 Clarksburg, WV 26302-1400
MORGANTOWN Phone: (304) 292-3019 Fax: (304) 292-3027	Congressman Alan B. Mollohan Marina Tower, Suite 504 48 Donley Street PO Box 720 Morgantown, WV 26507-0720
PARKERSBURG Phone: (304) 428-0493 Fax: (304) 428-5980	Congressman Alan B. Mollohan Room 2040, Federal Building 425 Juliana Street Parkersburg, WV 26101
WHEELING Phone: (304) 232-5390 Fax: (304) 232-5722	Congressman Alan B. Mollohan Federal Building Chapline Street Wheeling, WV 26003

WV GOP kicking "Ass" in fund raising

State Democrats lag far behind in fund raising

With 675,305 registered Democrats in the state and only 353,437 Republicans in the state, the fund raising shows Republicans are on the right side of the issues that matter to West Virginians.

WV Republican Party Individual Contributions: $95,752
WV Democrat Party Individual Contributions: $66,434
(FEC filings through July 31, 2009)

The WV GOP is raising 28 cents per every Republican in the state, while state Democrats are only raising 10 cents for every Democrat in the state.

Out numbered nearly 2 to 1 in voter registration in the state, but people are realizing that the Democrat Party is more often siding more with Liberal San Francisco Democrat Nancy Pelosi than the people of our own state, and they don't like it.

This Note Is Legal Tender For All Debts, Public and Private

If you look at a piece of US paper money, there is a disclaimer on it somewhere claiming "this note is legal tender for all debts, public and private." As any Ron Paul supporter will correctly explain, that means that those pieces of paper are money and have worth because the government says so and for no other reason.

For a long time, that backing meant something. One could put full faith and credit into the money because the government was always able to support the currency. The obligation of the United States government to pay its debts, much like the money itself at one time, was as good as gold. As any individual knows, when one takes out too many loans, or fails to pay their bills on time, their credit is undermined. Spending money frivolously causes most of the problems that result in this state of affairs.

That is where the United States is at right now. China questions our credit. Automobile dealerships and medical facilities question our credit. The "cash for clunkers" deal is approaching fiasco status because the government is not paying the credits due to the dealers. Medicare is habitually behind on its payments. These problems undermine faith and credit in our government's handling of the economy.

That goes back to those little pieces of paper we carry around with us. What happens when the faith and credit extended to our government are replaced with suspicion and fear? Our currency then loses value, causing inflation. Lenin did say that high taxes and inflation were the perfect combination with which to destroy the political influence of the middle class.

Regardless of why this is happening, the danger is real. Credit, once lost, is hard to regain even for the United States of America. Admittedly this process has taken many years and presidents to hit this stage. However, Obama is severely exasperating the problem by proposing new costly initiatives instead of trying to scale back the burdens on taxpayers and the system itself.

Good Times When Obama Improvises

Once again the president demonstrates a complete lack of awareness of the very issues he pushes. The following came from a recent appearance by The Won.

A student raised a question about the government's provision of health services and its impact on private services. Obama answered:

"How can a private company compete against the government? My answer is that if the private insurance companies are providing a good bargain, and if the public option has to be self-sustaining, meaning that taxpayers aren't subsidizing it, but it has to run on charging premiums and providing good services, and a good network of doctors, just like private insurers do, then I think private insurers should be able to compete.

"They do it all the time. If you think about it, UPS and Fed-Ex are doing just fine. It's the Post Office that's always having problems.... there is nothing inevitable about this somehow destroying the private marketplace. As long as it is not set up where the government is being subsidized by the taxpayers so that even if they are providing a good deal, we keep having to pony up more and more money."

You know, that sounds like a great argument AGAINST government intervention in health care. Gee America, your health care can be run just with as much cost efficiency as the Postal Service.

Of course Fed Ex is not exactly running in a purely capitalist mode either, having somehow gotten John Kerry to successfully introduce legislation many years ago to tweak the law and give them an advantage over UPS. Meanwhile the Postal Service, unable to handle its own task efficiently, repeatedly contracts out a lot of work to UPS.

Obama really needs to stick to his script. When he gets too far away from it, too much truth comes out. Then he just sounds like Joe Biden.

More Evidence That the Wheels Are Falling Off the Obama Administration

Remember Bush era foreign policy? In his second term, he sent the calm, collected, and brilliant Dr. Condoleeza Rice to wage diplomacy. She took the point on every major diplomatic situation and performed adeptly despite a wide range of thorny problems.

Now who represents America? Diplomatic czars? Joe Biden? Obama? A former NBA All Star?Former President Clinton? The world is beginning to wonder as it finally grasps the slipshod international presence of America under Obama.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton certainly does not. Recently she snapped at a Congolese university student as if he had come to talk to her about health care deform. He had a reasonable question about international finance and asked her what her husband and Dikembe Mutombo's opinions were on it. Clinton responded "Wait. You want me to tell you what my husband thinks? My husband is not the secretary of state; I am. So you ask my opinion, I will tell you my opinion. I'm not going to be channeling my husband."

Brilliant diplomacy from a former radical left winger. Isn't the left the movement that claims that all points of view and perspectives, even from the Third World, have merit? This was obviously the question of a young man from a patriarchical society where men's opinions carry more weight.

It was not a tactful question, but tact is not the job of a college student. Hillary Clinton's irritated response spoke volumes about her miniscule role in diplomacy and her frustration. She could have passed it off humorously and kept the upper hand. Instead she revealed some of her rather justifiable anger. That rage should be kept away from diplomatic photo ops with NBA players and Africans.

The question also revealed the fact that Hillary Clinton has very little role or respect in US diplomacy. Obama has adeptly humbled his former rival, but will it end up hurting him in the long run if she decides to break free of this impossible situation?

New Black Panther Party Scandal Erupting

Most of us saw the horrifying video on national television. Two members of the New Black Panther Party stood outside a polling place yelling racial epithets and carrying weapons. Incredibly, they were able to intimidate voters for quite some time. Bush's Justice Department secured major indictments against the two individuals and leaders in the terrorist group. however once Attorney General Eric Holder took over, he cited "freedom of speech" and only had them convicted of very light acts. The Justice Department also claimed that since the two accused refused to show up to answer for their crimes, they must be innocent.

The US Commission on Civil Rights has launched a major investigation of the New Black Panthers and the Justice Department, threatening the Attorney General with subpoenas.

Would we tolerate for a moment the appearance of hooded Klansmen outside a polling place, burning crosses, and shouting racial slurs? They would be jailed for interfering with voting. You cannot even have political signs within a football field of a polling place in most areas.

One would hope that racial motivation or pressure from outside groups such as the notorious outlaw group ACORN did not play a role in this case. In any event, the menacing presence of these people at a polling place must be severely punished. It might encourage similar behavior by the Black Panthers. You may also see voters willing to challenge the New Black Panther thugs for their right to vote . . . "by any means necessary."