This is especially true in writings which deal with compelling human experiences. In Behind the Wall: Life, Love and Struggle in Palestine (Potomac Books, 2010), Rich Wiles undoubtedly directs his readers, although implicitly, towards taking a stance. But he is unabashed about his moral priorities and makes no attempt to disguise his objectives.

As I began reading Wiles’ book, various aspects struck me as utterly refreshing in contrast to the way Palestine is generally written about. We tend to complicate what was meant to be straightforward and become too selective as we construct our narrative. And we tend to consider the possible political implications of our writings, and thus compose the conclusions with only this political awareness in mind.

Much of this is understandable. The situation in Palestine is appalling, and also worsening. If our writing is not meant to influence positive change, then why bother? But a hyped awareness of the consequences and over-politicization of narratives and texts can prove limiting and intellectually confining. Worse, at times it provides a particular contextualization of the conflict – with all of its internal offshoots and external outcomes – that does much injustice to other important contexts. It neglects facts and paints an unrealistic picture of a subject already confused in the minds of many readers.

Thus when the conflict is deciphered by a writer, all players take positions. Israel is pitted against ‘the Arabs’. Palestinians are often sliced off into two competing parties, while Israel is largely shown as maintaining a sense of political and institutional integrity. Palestinians are radicals or moderates, Islamists or secularists. The ‘conflict’ is right in the center, and within it are the sub-topics: the peace process, the occupation, the settlements and numerous others. Without such lucid configuration there is no structure. Publishers get frustrated. The writer is urged to revisit and restructure his work.

But real life is not a well-organized academic argument. It can be, and often is chaotic, strange and puzzling, but it is real. Only by understanding reality the way it is - not the way we feel that it ought to be for any reason - can we meaningfully position ourselves to appreciate the subject at hand.

Can we understand the conflict in Palestine and Israel without subscribing to the same language, confronting the same political and historical milestones? Can Palestinians be understood outside the confines of political and ideological affiliations?

That is what Rich Wiles attempted to do in Behind the Wall, and in my opinion, very much succeeded.

Wiles relocated the conflict historically, geographically and sociologically to the side most affected by it: the Palestinians. The book is located in the West Bank, mostly Aida refugee camp, where Wiles spent years dedicating his time and efforts as an artist and a writer to help children share their stories and talents with the rest of the world. The writing is a non-elitist, part and parcel, which is a prerequisite to a factual understanding of the struggle in Palestine. Equally important, Wiles provides a depiction of the Palestinian not as the victim, despite the protracted process of victimization that Palestinians have endured for generations. Wiles’ subjects might have been imprisoned or deeply scarred by war, but they are confident and complex human beings.

A chapter entitled “A Child and a Balcony” starts with this line: “‘On Friday, December 8, 2006, I was shot.’ Miras is unemotional as he tells his story.” Miras should be emotional, but he is not, and Wiles doesn’t attempt to rectify the seemingly inconsistent behavior. It turns out that Miras, a child (now a promising young photographer, thanks to Wiles’ help) almost died when a bullet carved its way through his body and penetrated his abdominal from one end and emerged from the other. He was playing with his siblings and cousins at a balcony in the refugee camp, when an Israeli sniper hit him from the watchtower. The story is short, but rich in emotionally powerful detail: the father’s panic and near hallucination, the mother confusion, the sense of solidarity that unifies the refugees and strengthens their resolve even when their situation seems so helpless.

Wiles is not an anthropologist or a detached ethnographer, and he doesn’t pose as one. He is part of the story, at times an important character. In “Memories”, he accompanies a young Palestinian boy on the journey of his life, from the confines of the small refugee camp to Jerusalem. The boy is visiting his very ill grandfather at a hospital in the Arab side of the city. (No other member of the family was granted an Israeli permission to make the short journey, thus the need for Wiles’ intervention). Wiles provides an extremely honest and vivid account, bringing to life the bravery of the boy and the sense of freedom he experiences as he crosses the checkpoints into Jerusalem.

At the same time, Wiles does not attempt to assemble the perfect, heroic and infallible character of the Palestinian. He includes the story of a son of drug user who was mysteriously killed (perhaps by a Palestinian group that suspected him as a collaborator with Israel). The son became involved in the resistance to redeem the family’s honor. His impulsive resistance (an attempt to burn a hole in the Israeli wall that surrounded his refugee camp) earned him time in an Israeli prison. Yasser Jedar (known as Yasser ‘Wall’ owing to his obsession with trying to bring down the Israeli wall) was certainly not a poster child revolutionary. But he is refreshingly real, which is what should matter the most to an inquisitive reader.

Wiles’ work is an important contribution to what I insist on referring to as a ‘People’s History of Palestine’. In order for this genre to endure and flourish, it must remain honest, and duty-bound to the truth - to reality as it is, not how we wish it to be.

~ The Author ~
Ramzy Baroud is an author and editor of PalestineChronicle.com. His work has been published in many newspapers and journals worldwide. His latest book is “My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza’s Untold Story” (Pluto Press, London), now available on Amazon.com.

I have to admit, I’m a little bit confused. There is something about people that I just can’t seem to come to terms with. Maybe if I explain what confuses me, you can help me figure it out. So how about I start out by giving you a few imaginary scenarios to consider.

To begin with, imagine if you invited someone to live in your home, and all this person did was make a mess, steal from you, and invade your privacy. I am pretty sure that if you found yourself in that type situation you would do something about it, wouldn’t you?

Or let’s say you owned a home that, for the time being, was unoccupied. What if someone had told you that it was being broken into and vandalized, would you ignore their claims, or would you make an effort to find out if they were true?

Finally, let’s pretend that you were attending a major league sporting event and your favorite team was on the verge of winning the championship, but there was some guy behind you making lewd comments to your wife. Would you ignore him and continue watching the game, or would you do something to defend your wife’s honor?

While it would seem that the answer to each of these questions is pretty obvious, there is a reason why I asked each of them. If you look at them again you will see that each of them involve something that in some fashion belong to you, i.e. your home, your property, or your wife.

Why did I ask those particular questions? It is because I wonder, how many people realize that this country belongs to them as well? Are they aware that it does not belong to the government to do with as it pleases? Think about the old question, which came first, the chicken or the egg. In this case the answer is pretty straightforward, the citizens came first; it was only by their actions that our system of government was established.

Nobody in their right mind would create a system of government which would reduce the people to utter slavery. Therefore it is safe to assume that our system of government was established to serve the needs of the people. However, those who established this system put into place certain limitations upon the powers of the government which they were creating.

The specific grants of power to this government are found in the Constitution, which is merely a charter, or a power of attorney if you will, which clearly define the objects upon which government may legislate. Did you ever stop to ask yourself why each elected official is required to take an oath to uphold the Constitution? It is only because of that document that they have any authority over us whatsoever, and that oath is their sworn promise, to us, and to God, to abide by the limitations it imposes upon them.

Now let’s see how my scenarios fit into the picture. Why is it that people will take measures to protect the things they possess, but not lift a finger to prevent their government from overstepping their Constitutionally mandated power?

Why is it that a majority of the people care more about what is on television than in learning what powers the Constitution grants to their government?

Finally, why don’t enough people seem to care about those rights, which our nation’s founders felt were so crucial to our liberty, that they were specifically listed, and added to the Constitution as amendments?

You see, that is the point that has got me confused. Is a persons possession any less important than their freedom, or their liberty? The way I look at it, what good are possessions if you are a slave.

I don’t know how many people are aware of this, but former President Bill Clinton once stated, “When we got organized as a country and we wrote a fairly radical Constitution with a radical Bill of Rights, giving a radical amount of individual freedom to Americans, it was assumed that the Americans who had that freedom would use it responsibly…. [However, now] there’s a lot of irresponsibility. And so a lot of people say there’s too much freedom. When personal freedom’s being abused, you have to move to limit it.”

There is so much wrong with that statement that I could devote an entire article to it, but I only want to touch upon one point, which is the following, “When personal freedom’s being abused, you have to move to limit it.”

Has our government grown so arrogant that it thinks that has the power and authority to limit our freedom? What is worse, are the people of this country so uninformed that they believe that rubbish?

I hate to be the one to burst your bubble, but nowhere is written in our Constitution, nor the Bill of Rights for that matter, anything which says that the government has the authority to limit our freedom. And I mean absolutely nowhere!

Under our legal system a person may be tried, and punished, when their actions violate another persons rights. But to limit the freedom of everyone because of the actions of a few individuals is unconscionable. Has the term shall not be infringed lost all its significance to people these days?

Allow me to explain something to you. If you recall your American history, the reason our nation fought the War for Independence was because the colonists had grown weary of a “…long train of abuses…” upon their rights. It was only when the Redcoats attempted to seize their arms at Lexington and Concord that it escalated from peaceful petitions and protests to an armed conflict between those who were unwilling to give another inch and those who the colonists considered sought to establish “…an absolute tyranny over these states…” (Quotes courtesy of Declaration of Independence)

Even though our nation suddenly found itself at war, not all the colonists were in favor of going to war, or even wanted independence for that matter. Yet there were enough who felt that they had suffered long enough under the tyrannical rule of the British, and that war was the only way they might regain their liberty.

Each of those who took up arms against their existing system of government understood the risks, and those risks were something none of them took lightly. No one just suddenly up and said, “Why don’t we go out and start a war with England.” War was the last resort of a people who felt that they had exhausted all other courses of action.

Prior to the first shots being fired the colonists had, on numerous occasions, peacefully petitioned the Parliament, and the King, listing in great detail, their grievances, only to have their petitions repeatedly ignored.

If people would just open their eyes, they would see that the same thing is happening again, history is repeating itself right now, in this country. There are a large number of Americans who have had just about enough with the actions of their government.

Most of us have either written, called, and attended peaceful protests to express our dissatisfaction with our governments blatant disregard for the limits to their power, and their continued attacks upon our rights. And just as it happened to the colonists, our petitions and protests have fallen upon deaf ears.

One of our nations most vocal patriots, Samuel Adams, once said, “It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people‘s minds.”

Why do people think I spent countless hours researching and writing, trying to find the right combination of words and thoughts; it is to set brush fires in enough people’s minds so that maybe our government would be forced to pay attention to us. Yet all the time and effort people such as myself devote to warning people do not seem to be paying enough dividends; as far too many people continue to show absolutely no concern whatsoever over the ever increasing usurpations of power by their government, and the steady erosion of their rights.

I know it has taken a long time to get to this point, but hopefully by now the point I am trying to get across might be coming into focus. You may have heard from members of the government, and the media, classify us as nutcases, or radicals who pose a threat to the nation. You may believe them. You may also believe that we pose a threat to the various benefits you have grown accustomed to receiving from them. However, as I asked in a similar question earlier, what good are benefits if you are a slave to those who bequeath them?

I am sure that some people doubt what I am saying. They may be thinking our government would have told us, or we would have heard about it in the news. Well, to give you an idea of how truthful your government, and the media are, consider the following for a moment.

We have all heard it time and time again, from both our elected officials and the news media Islam is a religion of peace. It is only those who are radicals and extremists, who are responsible for all the atrocities committed. There are even certain people who claim that the threat posed by Islamic fanatics is merely a tool to be used by our government to instill fear in, and control the people.

What they don’t tell you is that, while the majority of Muslims may very well be peaceful, the small percentage of them who are radicals are a very real threat to our way of life. They are the ones who slaughter Christians for their belief, they are the ones who are suicide bombers, and they are the ones who perform such barbaric acts as stonings, honor-killings and female genital mutilation. All these things are done by a small percentage of those who are followers of Islam.

The point I am trying to make is this, why is it then that if those who do these things are such a small percentage of the Muslim population, why do those who claim to be peaceful practitioners of Islam remain silent in regards to the atrocities committed by a small percentage? They do so because they are fearful for their own safety.

It is very much like those who live in neighborhoods in which there are a large number of gangs, they do not dare speak out about what they see on a daily basis because they too fear for their own safety.

Could the same thing be said about those who live in this country and remain silent when it comes to the atrocities committed against the Constitution by their government? Could they fear that they might find themselves the victim of an IRS audit or other manner of reprisal by any number of government agencies? Or could it be that they just don’t care, as long as they have a roof over their heads, three square meals a day, and something to watch on TV at night?

Getting back to our nation’s War for Independence, those who fought against the crown, as well as those who affixed their signatures to the Declaration of Independence were considered traitors by the British.

They faced all manner of retribution by the British for their actions, up to, and including the fate suffered by Nathan Hale, hanging. Yet did they waiver in their belief that their liberty was worth fighting for?

No, they were steadfast in their commitment. In fact the final words of the Declaration of Independence state, “And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”

You may think that those of us who wish to see a return to limited government, and an end to the infringements upon our rights, are itching to start a war. Not true, not true at all. We realize the consequences of war, and it is something we wish to avoid at all costs.

Prior to our first War for Independence there were numerous acts of civil disobedience which took place in protest against the acts of the British. Most notably was the Boston Tea Party, which unfortunately has become the moniker of the Tea Party movement.

You see, I have nothing against the Tea Party movement when it comes to awakening people in regards to the actions of our government, but the original Tea Party was an act of vandalism…on a very large, and costly scale to the British to boot. I have yet to see the Tea Party movement live up to its name by committing similar acts against those who threaten their liberty.

I wonder, how would the media cover it, and how would people react if some group today did something similar? I want you to be honest with yourself now, if something like that happened today, could you blame them for acting out like that? If you had written numerous letters, and made numerous phone calls in protest against a perceived injustice, only to be ignored, wouldn’t you lash out in whatever manner you could against those who you felt had performed the injustice? The act then becomes a warning to those who pose the threat to back off, leave you alone…or else.

If people think a war like that will never be fought upon our soil again, you really ought to study history a bit more. I can’t recall any nation, or empire, whose existence was not marred by civil strife, or war over the course of its existence. Our own Civil War ought to be enough to give you reason to reconsider.

So, to those who think it could never happen, not here, not in America, it happened once, and if you were to pay closer attention to the sentiments of many Americans, it may just happen again.

It is my belief that it is inevitable, that there will come a time when one side pushes the other too far, and shots will be fired. Who will take the first shot, I don’t know. But it won’t really matter, because once the bullets start flying it will escalate, and as Mel Gibson’s character in the movie The Patriot so poignantly stated, “This war will be fought not on the frontier nor on distant battlefields, but among our homes. Our children will learn of it from their own eyes and the innocents will die with the rest of us.”

All this could very well be averted if the silent majority woke up to what their government has been up to. It could be prevented if more people would demand that any and all violators to their oaths of office were imprisoned for their betrayal of the peoples trust. However, unless that happens, eventually this country will find itself in another war.

You have read my articles, you know my position. I am not alone, there are many others, have repeatedly spoken out, tried to awaken people to what is going on. Yet the vast majority of Americans continue to ignore the warnings.

Therefore, not if, but when war does break out, it will be those who ignored our voices who will be to blame, not those who have decided to stand up for what remain of their rights. Hopefully, those who write the history books will get it right as well and record that you are guilty as charged of letting your apathy lead to war.

~ The Author ~
Neal Ross can be reached for comments at bonsai@syix.com. Visit Neal’s Blog at http://www.zombie-slayer.com/neal

Atlantic hurricanes, like Earl and Katrina, are formed off of the northwest coast of Africa in atmospheric depressions and are driven by the tropical westerlies towards Central and North America. The engine for the hurricanes is the heat of the ocean, which rises upward quickly in the newly-forming tropical depression. As the heat rises ever faster within the center of the hurricane, it creates massive friction between water and air molecules in the up and down currents within the hurricane. Winds rotate counter clockwise around low pressure areas, tropical depressions and hurricanes. The heat and friction increases the counter clockwise rotation until winds as high as 180 miles an hour can occur in the eye wall of the hurricane. These hurricanes contain massive amounts of water vapor and can drop 10 to 20 inches of rain in a 24-hour period with ease. The damage to property and lives occurs from high wind speeds and wide-spread flooding. People are wise to flee its wrath.

Hurricanes are created by large differences in atmospheric pressure and the heat of the ocean. The lower the pressure and the higher the heat, the stronger the hurricane. Similar conditions can occur in governments in their relation with the people they govern. If they apply too much pressure on the people with rigid enforcement of ever-tightening laws, regulations and restrictions, the heat rises and fuels unrest, discontent, frustration and anger within the general population. The greater the pressure, the higher the heat. If the government favors one segment of the population and penalizes another, resentment grows between the two segments. With the resentment comes growing friction between the different factions. With growing friction comes vitriolic exchanges. Vitriolic exchanges can rise to the level of violence.

A different kind of hurricane, that has the potential of destroying America, along with its freedom, liberty and sovereignty, has been brewing in the halls of government and the seats of national and international financial power for at least the last 100 years, while the general population seemed oblivious to the ever-growing storm clouds on the horizon. President Wilson and some very influential bankers and industrialists began the seeds of this political hurricane with the formation of the Federal Reserve and the implementation of the Internal Revenue Service. It was all about who controlled the currency and the increasing power to tax in order to fund unconstitutional legislation for the sole purpose of buying votes.

Wilson believed that the U. S. Constitution was deeply flawed and saw a vision of a one-world where America would be merged into that world through a world government body that he helped to form ….. the League of Nations. The League of Nations failed miserably. Wilson was a tyrant by any definition and had people thrown in jail for daring to speak out against World War I ….. a war that Wilson campaigned against before his election and within one month after his inauguration, threw America headlong into that war.

Wilson began the long, slow march away from the founding principles of America and initiated a steadily growing political hurricane that would eventually erupt into a nation-destroying monster in the year of our Lord 2008 when Barack Hussein Obama ascended to the throne of the White House, in the eye of the hurricane, Washington DC.

But Wilson wasn’t the only culprit in adding fuel and energy to the political hurricane. FDR did more to pull the pins out from under the foundation of liberty than virtually any President before him. He issued over 3,600 executive orders during his three terms as President. The average for all previous presidents was 300 to 500 executive orders per term and many Presidents issued executive orders well below 300. He convinced a desperate population that he was their savior and that whatever he did, constitutional or not, was for the good of the people. He increased the power of the executive branch of government well beyond the vision of the Founding Fathers. He turned the Separation of Powers Doctrine on its head. He bullied the legislature and the judiciary and even threatened to pack the U. S. Supreme Court to 13 members. The winds circling the eye of the political hurricane began to gain real speed under the extended reign of FDR.

Things quieted down for awhile until Lyndon Baines Johnson assumed command of America, after the unexpected assassination of John F. Kennedy. Johnson started to lower the pressure and increase the heat of our political hurricane with the implementation of the Great Society, in which he employed the ever-failed philosophy of Karl Marx by “taking from those with the greatest capability and transferring it to those with the greatest need” ….. socialism by any other name. Johnson was favoring the non-producing segment of society, at the expense of the producing segment. The friction and heat mounted and once again, wind speeds in the eye of the political hurricane began to pick up more speed.

Then another fast-talking, glib con man, William “I did not have sex with that woman” Clinton, took over the seat of power from a previous president who made a promise about “read my lips, no new taxes” and then promptly broke his promise. Clinton, a consummate progressive, turned over the formation of a national health care initiative to his wife Hillary “There is a vast Right Wing Conspiracy” Clinton. In secret, behind closed doors, she and her willing accomplices set about to craft a national health care plan that so infuriated the general population, the Republicans, in a political sweep, took over the U. S. House and the Senate in 1994. “Bill” saw the error of his ways and moved back to the center, which gained him a 2nd term. The winds in the eye wall of our political hurricane continued to increase.

Then, against almost insurmountable odds, Barack Hussein Obama beat out the Clintons and conned enough of the naive electorate with the largest load of bull and no-substance generalities since the beginning of our fledgling Republic, to win the Presidency in 2008 with un-definable HOPE and CHANGE. Many of us knew who this man was, knew who his associates were, knew what his agenda was and knew exactly what he was going to do once he took office. We were not surprised when he embarked on the nationalization of American banks and industry and set about to destroy American capitalism. We were not surprised when he came down soft on illegal immigration (more votes). We were not surprised with his radical environmental man-caused global warming and cap and trade initiatives. We were not surprised that he moved rapidly to increase executive power, in the true spirit of FDR. We were not surprised when allegations of racism against conservatives escalated throughout the land, allegations fomented by the left. We were not surprised that he criticized America when in foreign lands, because his criticism reflected what he really thought and believed about America.

Oh, he had willing accomplices all right. Most of the press was in his camp. The House and the Senate had sufficient majorities to move the “Messiah’s” agenda along. And move they did, in spite of overwhelming opposition by a significant majority of the American people to that agenda.

But as he increased the pressure on the American people, the heat began to rise in our political hurricane. Resentment grew between the segments of society Obama was rewarding and those who get to pay the bill through increasing taxes. Anger at the out-of-control spending that Obama and his minions were inflicting on the American economy, sent waves of fear through the populace. The cry, “we will never be able to pay the debt” ripples across America. Frustration with rising taxes and thus increasing prices, raised that anger even more. They were and are furious over special treatment being granted to illegal aliens. Special treatment paid for on the backs of hard-working, producing and legal Americans.

Freedom groups were forming in every corner of the country. Radio talk show hosts were elevating freedom warnings to severe. A well-known talk show host held a peaceful rally in Washington DC to restore our honor and our spirituality, where over half a million people descended on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and the Capitol Mall to hear the voices of faith, hope and charity, along with the call for the return to honor, integrity and honesty. This was an unprecedented event and reflected the true character of the American people, who were becoming fed up with an Obama Presidency and his socialist agenda.

The left shuddered at the realization that patriot America was being re-born again and they lashed out in fear with attacks of hate, racism, bigotry and even insanity. The talk show host was out of his mind of course and out of touch with reality. More on the left told their audiences that conservatives and Republicans hated blacks and Latinos. Race warfare has become the strategy of the left to pit one class of Americans against another class. The strategy of divide and conquer.

The eye-wall winds of our political hurricane started reaching Category 5 conditions and continue to increase every day Obama is in office and the Democrats hold majorities in the Congress. As in 1994, a mid term Republican sweep is a high probability.

The power of this ever-growing political hurricane has the energy to either restore America or destroy her. American patriots can either peacefully win back the hearts and minds of those who have lost their way into the abyss of socialism, or vote out of office those who led us into that abyss, or take up arms and restore America through violent means. The choice we make on how to channel the energy and forces of this political hurricane that threatens to unleash her massive power on our nation, will determine the fate of America and whether freedom, liberty and sovereignty can long endure.

© Copyright September 2, 2010 - All Rights Reserved

~ The Author ~
Ron Ewart is the President of The National Association of Rural Landowners and nationally recognized author on freedom and property rights issues. Ron may reached for comment via email at r.ewart@comcast.net.

I do a lot of one on one emailing with readers all over and one of the topics most emailed about is my faith. How I seem to not be as *emotionally* stirred up as some writers on things. I tell them it is my unwavering FAITH in God to carry me thru whatever comes along. I have this small wall plaque that was my mothers that says, “The Will of God will never lead you where the Grace of God cannot keep you.” That has been the case all my life. Even when I strayed from His Will and his Word, I know that He was there protecting me and guiding me thru to the other side of the mess I had gotten myself into. I also know that I was and still am a ‘willful’ child of God but I know He loves me and that He knows my heart and my intent.

I have also been richly blessed with having established early in my walk with God a very personal life with Him at all times. The song, “In The Garden” was one of the earliest songs I remember singing, it is still my favorite as it says how I talk with my Father all day as well as when I wake up during the night. I know He is right there, watching over me and hearing my thoughts, my prayers. Nothing, absolutely NOTHING is going to happen to me that He hasn’t given permission to happen. I learned early in my life that this skin and bones I dwell in is a temporary vessel and that death isn’t something to fear for me. This flesh will die but my spirit will then rest until Christ returns to lift me up according to His Word.

I have tried to live my life in such a way (the mis- duly noted) that I will not have regrets. When my mothers mother dies I recall hearing the aunts and uncles and others all crying and saying, “If only I had done this or that while she was alive.” We hear those kind of things a lot at funerals. All those people wishing they had done something while the person was alive. I was only 6 when gramma died but that has stuck with me all these years and I determined to do what I could and say what I could to and for others while they could appreciate it - not plop some flowers on a bunch of dead skin afterwards as a way of showing I cared. This quote says it pretty well too: “As you grow older, you’ll find the only things you regret are the things you didn’t do.” ~Zachary Scott

I realize this is a bit off of my usual commentaries, but I believe there is a reason, one I am not aware of, that I am writing this today. I am sure it is intended for a few folks to read and that it may make a big difference in their lives.

WE hear often that it only takes ONE PERSON to get something started - well, maybe this will start something among readers. Imagine if each person who reads this and the words to the song, “Did I Make A Difference” does one thing - just ONE thing to make a DIFFERENCE in the life of another person.

Words are the result of what is in our hearts I am told…. this is what is in my heart this morning - I hope it lifts up those who read it….. I hope that I am making a Difference.

September 2, 2010

“Did I Make a Difference”

I’m caught up in the push and shove
The daily grind, burning time, spinning wheels
I wonder what I’m doing here
Day to day. year to year, standing still

Somewhere there’s a teacher with a heart that never quits
Staying after school to help some inner city kids
A mother who’s a volunteer, a soldier In the fight
I can’t help’but ask myself when I lay down at night

Did I make a difference in somebody’s life?
What hurts did I heal? What wrongs did I right?
Did I raise my voice in defense of the truth?
Did I lend my hand to the destitute?
When my race Is run, when my song is sung
Will I have to wonder, did I make a difference?
Did I make a difference?

I’ve been, working hard to make a living
And forgetting what true living is Taking more than giving, something’s missing
Lord, how long can I go on like this?

There’s a lonely old man down the street
And I should be ashamed I’ve never been to see him, I don’t even know his name
There’s kids without their supper in my own
neighborhood
Will I look back someday and say that I did all I could?

Did I make a difference in somebody’s life?
What hurts did I heal? What wrongs did I right?
Did I raise my voice in defense of the truth?
Did I lend my hand to the destitute?
When my race is run, when my song is sung
Will I have to wonder, did I make a difference?
Did I make a difference?

When my race is run, when my song is sung
Will I have to wonder, did I make a difference?
Did I make a difference?
When my race is run, when my song is sung
Will I have to wonder, did I make a difference?
Did I make a difference? Did I make a difference?

How can honest, law-abiding citizens, ever expect to seek their rightful protections from an out of control government, whose brand of legislation is through theft, deception, fraud, and fear mongering.

The economic uncertainty of our future has enslaved millions of American’s who demand answers as to why this president, and Congress, are raping and pillaging the United States Treasury, and extorting the American tax payers blind.

The people demand answers as to when this economic collapse started, and why; being that our entire economy was supposed to be protected by the full faith and credit of the United States Government, acting under the color of law.

It’s hard for the average person to imagine that our country is disintegrating right before their very eyes without prior warning.

"I come ready!"

Let’s face it, three years ago most American’s weren’t doing that bad. Not really that great, but not bad considering President Bush’s phony profiteer war in the Middle East, eating up tax dollars faster than PAC Mans gluttonous lust.

Things started turning bad near the end of President Bush’s second term. Realizing that his employment would be terminated soon, and being too stupid to hold a real job, he and Treasury Secretary, Hank Paulson, decided to reward themselves with golden parachute retirement plans, by pulling off the biggest heist in history, while ripping off the United States treasury, with the aid of a complicit Congress.

By the time the Obama hub-cap thieves rode into town, it was barren. Most of the good tangible loot had been taken by the Bush-Paulson gang, leaving the Obama-bangers in a lurch.

Therefore, the Obama Klan would have to improvise new techniques and steal directly from the people. The Obama thugs turned their talents into becoming stick up artists, sticking tax payers up without wearing a mask. They just subverted, and perverted the laws to their advantage, while ripping the American tax payers off.

After nineteen months of this crap… larceny, and theft by deception, the people are finally waking up to the fact that America is being destroyed from within.

Finally, American’s are realizing that they are losing their freedom and liberty, as the United States is being transformed into a third world banana republic.

The Tea Party movement was an effective way of bringing attention to this country’s mismanagement, and corruption, but that’s not enough.

Somebody has to pay, and be held accountable for the economic catastrophe that they have caused.

They have to be punished in the most severe way, not just a slap on the wrist that most connected politicians get off of, with the help of a sticky fingered judge.

In order to restore honor, confidence, full faith and credit back to the people, all of these tyrannical culprits must be held accountable for their felonious actions. Their interference, and manipulation of the markets, and their usurpation of the law had done egregious, and irreparable harm to the people.

This president, and Congress must be held accountable in a court of law. We have to hit them hard and make them hurt as an object lesson against tyranny.

If they are found guilty of treason against the Constitution, or treason against the people, they should be awarded the strictest sentence, including death as a deterrence against corruption.

If some of these scoundrels are found guilty of lesser crimes, such as Congressman Barney Frank, for destroying the housing market; he should be stripped of all assets and banished from the United States to a place where he can never suck a dick again!

~ About the Author ~
Federal Observer contributing columnist Rick Biesada hosts Perspectives On Our Heritage - The Angry White Male Hour over Radio Station WJJG 1530 AM, Chicago’s Hometown station, Wednesdays from 4:00 to 5:00 PM Central Time, which can now be heard LIVE on the net at http://www.wjjgam1530.com. Rick is the co-founder of The Chicago Minuteman Project.

Angry White Male and The Horse He Rode In On by Rick Biesada can be special ordered through most book stores, or through the publisher at wholesale price off of the Angry White Male web site at http://www.stylefeeder.com/i/pf0v5r2j/Angry-White-Male-And-The-Horse-He-Rode-In-On-By-Rick-Biesada-Paperback.

On July 6, 2010, I attended a Douglas City Council Meeting at City Hall. It was a special meeting called by Mayor Mike Gomez to try for a second time to pass a resolution stating that the U.S.–Mexican Border had reached a point where it was out of control and had become lawless and therefore dangerous to the citizens of Douglas and the surrounding area. This resolution was not a statue or law with subsequent penalties or boundaries; it was merely a resolution, or statement; a sort of cry out of the wilderness so to speak declaring the need for some assistance from the federal and/or state level to shut down illegal outlaw activity on the Mexican Border. The Arizona League of Cities had encouraged Mayor Mike Gomez to get this passed and had promised unanimous support. They planned to send it on to Washington D. C., with every city in Arizona signing along with Douglas. The resolution, it was hoped, would pull some weight and get the attention of the powers that be at the national level. In what one television reporter called “The most bizarre meeting I have ever attended,” the city council turned down the resolution.

The meeting was packed out with a standing room only crowd that was extremely polarized to say the least. Many ranchers from the surrounding ranching community were there who, along with many residents within the city limits, were in support of the resolution. Also in attendance were some open border advocates, who claimed to stand for civil rights (they looked like professional protesters to me). The meeting was heated by arguments both pro and con about the resolution. One council person spoke stating that she couldn’t vote yes on the resolution because it would be admitting Douglas was a lawless place and she felt safe there and it would be sending the wrong message. Another council person stated he couldn’t vote yes because his constituents wouldn’t approve.

Many local ranchers pleaded for the passage of the resolution reminding the council of the murder of Rob Krentz and a multitude of other incidents where people had been molested by illegal aliens. Upon hearing these pleas for help a council person replied “You people have got some problems.” And then repeating himself, “You people have got some problems,” emphasizing “you” so everyone present would observe a deliberate disconnect between him and anyone advocating the resolution. Even through nothing about the resolution would be legally binding, four council members stated that in their opinion the border was not out of control and passing it would be sending the wrong message to the outside world. As far as they were concerned the status quo was just fine. The resolution was voted down with four council members voting no, and one council member, along with the Mayor, voting yes. They had spoken; Douglas was just a nice little border town, peaceful and quiet, and there was no need to get in an uproar about the outlaw activity on the border.

While all this goes on, it is business as usual for the outlaw trade on the Mexican line. Due to the media attention of Rob Krentz’s murder the Border Patrol has swamped the San Bernardino Valley east of Douglas with agents, so the illegal alien traffic is down substantially in that area, but there is still a considerable amount of dope filtering through. To the west, though, it is a different story. In the area around Naco and the Huachuca Mountains the traffic is going strong. You can go to youtube and watch numerous videos of aliens hiking through these areas. The Sasabe area, including the Baboquivari Mountains southwest of Tucson, is particularly hot right now. But perhaps the hottest spot of all is the Tohono O’odham Reservation and Organ Pipe National Monument near Ajo and Sells, AZ where dope and contraband flow like a river.

Upon pondering these things I would like to ask a few questions of our elected officials and other people. I would like to know if the members of the Douglas City Council still feel safe in Douglas, AZ?

I wonder how many times Mexican outlaws would have to bust through the border fence and drive around Douglas 80 miles an hour with headlights off in the middle of the night before these council members would get concerned? Perhaps the outlaws know where they live, and out of respect they deliberately avoid their neighborhoods while on their 80 mile an hour sojourn through town? If they can’t vote yes on the resolution because it would go against their constituent’s wishes, I would like to know just who their constituents are and how they make a living? Who would oppose a plea for assistance to establish law and order? I wonder if the councilman who purposefully established the disconnect between himself and anyone who was having problems, thinks perhaps there is a problem now? I suppose this recent high speed chase through residential areas of Douglas wouldn’t warrant his concern. I wonder how many high speed chases it would take to get his attention? Perhaps a few innocent bystanders being killed by the outlaw’s speeding car would rattle his chain. I wonder if Janet Napolitano still thinks the border is safer than ever. I suppose she’s under strict orders to never say “uncle” even though every day another story emerges from somewhere between Brownsville and San Diego of another Narco Terrorist invasion, or another murder or kidnapping, and tons of contraband being seized, all at the expense of the tax paying, law abiding American citizens.

But that leads to another question. How have law abiding American citizens suddenly become the enemy in this nation? We recently had to endure the scourging of Felipe Calderon, speaking from our own capitol building at the invitation of Barack Obama, and now there is talk that Obama is dragging us before the United Nations so they can reprimand us for such violations as defending our border.

Sheriffs Larry Dever and Paul Babeau are neither members of the AZ State Legislature or the United States Senate or House of Representatives. They have no law making responsibility or power. Their purpose is to enforce the laws of the land, written by the politicians that we elect. Because they are merely doing their job they are now being sued by members of Obama’s radical left. A lawsuit is senseless and will do nothing but deplete their resources and energy, precious commodities they need to accomplish a duty they took a solemn pledge to fulfill when they took office. Why have they become the enemy?

This leads to more questions. How did we get here? Larry Devers, Paul Babeau, and Jan Brewer all took oaths pledging to fulfill the duties of their office and to enforce the laws of the land. SB1070 is merely a reflection of Federal law passed by elected officials. Why are they being crucified for trying to establish some sort of order in the midst of chaos? Are there people who just don’t get it? Is there some sort of disconnect here, some sort of breakdown in the natural order of things? It seems like we suffer from a lack of direction, a loss of knowing the truth, we’ve shifted off of the foundations we built upon, and I believe the assault flows from the top downward.

One wonders who Barack Obama’s constituents are. Are they the citizens of Arizona and Texas? Or are they the citizens of a larger world? One wonders where his loyalties lay. Perhaps the United States isn’t big enough for him?
Obama loves to use tax payer’s money to host parties for Bush bashers like Paul McCartney. Obama can shuck and jive with the best of them on the Ellen Degeneres and Oprah shows. He has straight white teeth and a good looking wife, but these are not the ingredients of a statesman. Campaign speeches and signs proclaiming change you can believe in aren’t worth much when the ship needs a pilot to guide it through troubled waters.

That leads to another question. I wonder how seriously Barack Obama took his oath of office. Was he pledging allegiance to the Constitution of the United States or the Bylaws of the United Nations? I wonder who his heroes are, Jeremiah Wright, Louis Farrakhan, or Samir Shabaz? It seems he’s more comfortable around Hugo Chavez and Felipe Calderon than he is Jan Brewer or Dick Chaney. After all, they are merely U.S. citizens.

So I asked myself, who are my heroes? At the top of my list are George Washington and Winston Churchhill. I always root for the underdog, so I added to my list: Larry Dever, Paul Bebeau, Joe Arpaio, and Jan Brewer. I realize that I’m just a dumb cowhand and I don’t understand the intricacies of international politics and high-minded, political innuendo, (like the intellectually stimulating writings of Karl Marx, or the mastery of political skill by individuals like Adolph Hitler) but for an old cowboy like myself there’s just something appealing about someone who will get a bull by the juevos and hold on while they are getting the living crap stomped out of them.

Ed Ashurst
Apache, AZ

Submitted to the Federal Observer, by the author for publication.

The Ashurst Archive

“Published originally at Federal Observer.com“: Republication allowed with this notice and hyperlink intact.

Human beings have a strange attachment to the concept of the “decision makers vs. the decision followers”, even in the U.S. The Declaration of Independence was meant to herald the birth of a society which dissolved the separation between the rulers and those who are ruled. Our country was built upon the premise that every citizen has a right to participate in the making of his own providence, to play a part in the decisions that directly or indirectly affect his future. Of course, those were the days when average Americans saw themselves as giants, as innovators of history, not as little people.

Today, in the face of globalization, some American’s see the evolution of a rulership class as natural and even necessary.

One of the most overwhelming aspects of the so called globalization (corporatization) of Western civilization has been the incredible amounts of lost time. We are thrust into a 70% service based economy in which the average person feels little to no pride in their work and absolutely no fulfillment. That same person then goes home at the end of the day to his digital cable T.V., which immerses him in visions of a happy-go-lucky planet, a fantasy realm that promises better days ahead but bears no resemblance to the world outside his living room. Like ‘Alice in Wonderland’, he finds himself surrounded by confusion, hypocrisy, and misdirection. A land of madmen and clowns. All the “professionals” he is told to trust make claims that seem outrageously incongruent with reality. Nothing is what it appears to be, and so, he stops questioning the illusion and pretends that the abracadabra of our elitist run America doesn’t bother him. He stops caring, and so, his time on this Earth loses its value.

For the past several decades, those of us who have been aware of the smoke and mirrors and refuse to ignore their effects have paid a dear price; the anguish of witnessing the deconstruction of our nation, as well as the infantization of our friends and family.

When I was very young, I had certain assumptions about the path to adulthood. I believed that it was a transition that came as naturally to every person as walking or talking. Surely, I thought, there simply came a time when a man crossed a biological threshold that made him more responsible, more principled, more intuitive, more courageous, more compassionate, more wise. Now that I am much older, I find to my disappointment that wisdom does not necessarily come with age. Some people choose to remain children forever.

In a society driven by a fabricated sense of affluence, Americans have lost the memory of what it was like to deliberately build their futures. The concept of debt creation, mass credit movements, free money bonanzas, facilitated by the policies of the private Federal Reserve, made overgrown babies out of us all. We came to demand a pre-constructed future, one in which we were entitled to whatever we wanted NOW, not later. We never earned the engineered prosperity we have enjoyed since the baby-boom of the 1950’s, and so we never learned to appreciate what true prosperity actually was; that it requires effort, and sometimes sacrifice. We merely expected that this was the way things were supposed to be, and that they would never change…

Infantized people are driven by a desperate search for ways to offload the responsibilities they inherit when they are forced to set off on their own lives. The idea of ‘struggle’ is abhorrent to them. As a result, they gravitate towards environments in which centralized authorities offer them the chance to simplify their existence in an ultimate sense. Essentially, like the children that they are, they look for a government which is willing to assume the role of ‘parent’ or legal guardian. They believe that out there, somewhere, a government system exists that is capable of cradling them in a blanket of pure safety and contentment from birth until death; a mother government. They believe in a ruling class that loves them unconditionally. They must! Why else would they blindly leave their fates in the hands of global bankers who now run both major parties of our political dynamic, dominate the ebb and flow of our economy, and write domestic policy? Why else would they ignore the signs of crisis that are ripping through the veil all around them? They must trust the Elites complicitly.

Many of us, when we were children, could not wait to take charge of our own lives without the constant prying eyes and prattling of our elders. Sometimes we forget that being a child can be carefree, but it also means doing what you are told. So, what price will the perpetual children of our society have to pay to be included in the feudal nanny state lifestyle of what globalist bankers and aristocrats commonly call the “New World Order”?

Austerity In A Nanny State?
EU member countries such as Greece are facing this awkward juxtaposition of economic elements today, and as elitists push for progressively bigger government in the U.S., we will be confronted with the same conundrum here. Austerity is basically the dissolution of national entitlement programs (welfare, social security, etc.) in an attempt to bridge gaps in budget shortfalls during financial crises and keep the government running. However, when that same government is attempting to administrate and micro-manage every detail of the lives of its citizens, Austerity and fiscal responsibility are not ideal. The fiat, as it were, must freely flow without question.

So, how will they solve this conflict? By continuing entitlement programs that keep the public hooked on government handouts, but diminishing the value of those handouts across the board. This is much like asking for a free lunch and being given a half-chewed sandwich. That is to say, welfare stipends will continue but become so small as to do more harm than good. The point of this is to acclimate the masses towards the idea of living on almost nothing while at the same time thanking the government for the opportunity to do so. One could just as easily live on almost nothing WITHOUT government handouts and table scraps with strings attached, but infantized Americans, desperate for a “loving” authority figure to lead the way, are unlikely to awaken to this fact.

Editor’s NOTE: If you don’t fully understand all, which has been spelled out in this essay, please take the time to view this 8 1/2 minute clip from the 1976 film, “Network.” It shall be enlightening experience.

Trading Privacy For The Illusion Of Safety
No government will ever be able to offer a guarantee of safety to its people. The more power officials are given to clamp down on citizens in the name of the “greater good”, the more liable those officials are to abuse that power and become a danger to the public themselves. Some might call this a paradox, but its not. Often, governments driven by elitist influences create fear in the citizenry so that they might exploit it. It is far preferable to fool an individual into asking you to take over his life, than it is to attempt to do so through brute force.

Infantized Americans always make the same statement when privacy rights are diminished; “If you have nothing to hide, then why does it matter if the government knows everything about you?” Firstly, because we get nothing out of the trade. Americans will not be safer under global centralization. Bigger governments do not prevent crime, they only mop up the aftermath and chase off curious onlookers. The only person that can be expected to provide for your personal safety is YOU. This is the reality that pro-nanny state people do not want to hear. They are frightened to death at the prospect that only they can ensure their own future. Most children are horrified at the idea of fending for themselves.

Secondly, no government has ever or will ever be honorable and forthright enough to assume the position of universal adjudicator. In America, you are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty, but in a world of constant surveillance, the government assumes that everyone is guilty unless proven otherwise. Surveillance creates a social atmosphere in which we must demonstrate our innocence everyday of our lives to some faceless official in a small room monitoring our every email, our every phone call, our every action. In short, whether or not I have “something to hide” is not for a bloated bureaucracy to decide. They will never be trustworthy enough to take on the task anyway. Instead, I think our country would be far safer if those cameras were turned the other way, into the White House, Congressman’s homes, etc. Any full grown adult who is cowardly enough to demand that other people constantly keep watch over him to ensure he never has to protect himself deserves the fate he is dealt when his watchers take advantage of him.

Health And Government Indifference
Ask any veterans you know how they feel about going to their government run VA hospital. The vast majority of them will shudder at the thought. Why? Because governments and elitists traditionally do not care about the well being of the citizenry, they only care about maintaining their positions of influence. They are sociopathic, and sociopaths tend not to make great doctors. Sure, corporate health care has many problems, but can a corporate hospital label you mentally unstable and take away your Second Amendment rights? How often do corporate hospitals “accidentally” infect thousands of patients with HIV, hepatitis, or cancer? How many purposely reuse unsanitary equipment or IV bags? How many corporate hospitals then physically threaten reporters trying to get information on such activities? All of this and more is commonplace in government run VA facilities. And, if this is how our government treats Veterans who served with distinction, how do you think they will treat the rest of us?

Wealth “Harmonization”
We all hated the rich kid in high school whose daddy bought him every ridiculously extravagant item imaginable. Some of us later grew up and realized that substantial wealth is pretty irrelevant compared to substantial personal character. Others of us didn’t grow up, and continued to hold a grudge.

The opportunity to become successful or wealthy is not the problem with America. The problem is those men who abuse wealth as a way to create an unequal playing field in which they never have to fairly compete with anyone else. America is not being destroyed by capitalist competitiveness. It is being destroyed by a complete lack of competitiveness! Wealth harmonization is yet another method by which this top1% of the world’s richest elites rig the game in their favor while fooling us into believing the system is more balanced.

Infantized Americans seem to think that asset redistribution is some magic math-blasting poverty buster. In fact, as efforts in the EU have revealed, harmonization does make everyone (except the top 1%) equal; it makes everyone equally poor. Rich countries degrade and lose the capacity to nurture productive and thriving societies while poor countries are lifted up just enough to appear more profitable but still stand on the edge of dire straights. The middle class slowly disappears, replaced by an enormous destitute population looking across an endless wage gap at the ultra rich, who only seem to benefit further from the so called “harmony”.

Unaccountable Leadership
How often do children get a chance to “vote out” a parent that has abused their authority or committed great trespasses? Never. If infantized Americans are so keen on establishing a parent/child relationship with their government, the same rules will apply.

These men and women love to parrot the argument that “in our democratic society, the people ARE the government, and we can make any changes we want if something goes awry…” Strangely though, they never seem to acknowledge that our government’s fundamental policy flaws never seem to change regardless of which party is in office. Infantized Americans like to focus on the opposing rhetoric of the two parties, but never their actions. If they did, they might finally understand that the Republicans and the Democrats at the highest levels have the exact same philosophies and goals, and therefore, the people have no real choice, and thus, we are NOT the government.

In the political tar pit we wallow in today, we do still at least have the ability through state and local governments to assert our sovereignty against federal imposition, but this is changing quickly. In a global union, a world order centered on the eradication of sovereignty and the deconstruction of the Constitution, this ability will be rendered useless.

It is odd to me that infantized Americans cling to the false perception that our federal government is democratic while at the same time supporting increasingly unconstitutional and undemocratic centralization of authority. It is as if they want to defer their responsibilities as citizens and be ruled, while still having the option of believing they are free to choose. This has perhaps been the goal all along; a perfect tyranny in which the total feudalized control of economy and culture is applauded by the dim witted masses yearning for complete autonomy from their own fear of self-determination while being convinced that they are still participating in the decision making process. Throw in some mandatory psychotropic medications and presto! You have a brave new world…

I’ve never quite understood our country’s social addiction to naïve youth. Its one thing to maintain a sense of awe and wonder with life, to always be willing to learn and grow beyond what we are, but there is a big difference between being “child-like, and “childish”. Surrendering the great gift of destiny, individuality, the inherent and inborn freedom to find one’s own path, just to prolong the cavalier and comparatively boring sheltered existence of our tender years, seems rather insane to me. At bottom, infantized Americans are looking for only one freedom; freedom from the demands of life. The Global Elites are able to function in the significant capacity they do because they cater to this insanity. But is anyone really crazy enough to believe that the global elites do this because they care about us? Is it the love of a parental figure in the air that comforts the men-children of the world? Or, is it the long hollow death of conscience and concern that has placed them in a hypnotic baby stupor?

Written by Giordano Bruno, published August 25, 2010, for the Neithercorp Press. You can contact Giordano Bruno at: giordano@neithercorp.us

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We’ve spent $787 billion on a stimulus program that didn’t stimulate. We’ve obligated at least $1 trillion to raise everyone’s future health care costs. The Democrats have just scraped up $26 billion to bail out public employee unions no matter how lavish their contracts. The Federal deficit may well double, to more than $20 trillion, by 2020.

And Obama’s “solution” is another pump-priming giveaway program for “small businesses”? I assume these “small businesses” will all be downtown in some urban Democratic stronghold selected by Nancy Pelosi.

The press has been fond of drawing parallels between Franklin D. Roosevelt and President Obama. I’ll draw some too:

First, both Roosevelt and Obama misrepresented themselves as they campaigned. Roosevelt said he favored cutting taxes, cutting government, and balancing the budget. Obama said he was a mild-mannered moderate who would change all those awful things done by George W. Bush.

Can we still remember the Bush errors that were worth a $20 trillion projected federal debt to correct?

Roosevelt, of course, lacked the current Democrats’ own Freddie Mac and Fanny Mae to poison the financial system with sub-prime mortgage instruments that carried the government’s implicit promise to pay for any losses. There’s another $400 billion or so in mortgage losses not yet “recognized” by the budgeters, and the total is mounting by the day.

Second, federal stimulus spending didn’t work for either President. Roosevelt took office in 1933 with unemployment at 24.9 percent, and it was still at 19 percent in 1938. Then WWII put everybody to work. Obama warned that if we didn’t pass his stimulus, unemployment might get all the way up to 8 percent! Were both honestly misled on how to fix the problems? Or did both believe we should “never let a good crisis go to waste”?

Third, both recognized the power of the Supreme Court. Roosevelt tried to “pack” the court with extra Justices he would have picked. How many Supremes will Obama get to appoint before he’s through, and how will that alter the country’s future?

Fourth, both Presidents were enthralled by government health care. Roosevelt never got it, but Obama has—unless it’s repealed fairly quickly. It’s ironic that Britain has chosen this moment to disband its long-standing “death panels” and turn its health decisions back to 50,000 general practitioners.

Fifth and finally, both Presidents will have ended their first terms dissatisfied. Roosevelt only got the top tax rate boosted from 25 to 79 percent, forestalling the creation of who knows how many thousands of jobs. Obama’s White House has reluctantly taken its projected $150 billion “clean energy” initiative off the books, unless a lame-duck Congressional session can ram through the energy taxes needed to support it.

How many more jobs would the energy taxes cost? Roosevelt would have been so jealous of the opportunity that the CO2 scare has provided to truly “transform” the American economy. But, then Roosevelt didn’t have the United Nations and the mainstream press to act as his propaganda staff.

August 29, 2010

~ The Author ~
Dennis T. Avery is a senior fellow for Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C. and is the Director for Center for Global Food Issues. He was formerly a senior analyst for the Department of State. Readers may write him at Post Office Box 202, Churchville, VA 24421.

I recognize that I’m no foreign policy or military strategy expert, but I can see how bravely parents of deployed troops silently bear their pain and fear. I watch how intensely Mike and Cindy pray for the safety of their sons and their comrades at church each Sunday—almost holding their breath until they return home. At the local grocery store, you see mothers staring at the cereal displays lost in their private thoughts. When I ask how their military son or daughter is doing, they answer with nervous pride, and we both avoid that deeper emotion that’s like adding one more drop of water to a glass full to the brim before it overflows.

These fellow citizens—mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, even sons and daughters—deserve sound and focused leadership of their families’ courage and sacrifice.

I understand the mission “to kill terrorists before they kill us” as a legitimate narrowly-focused self-defensive military and political objective. I don’t understand nation-building when some other family gets their child killed or mangled to advance any State Department mission—not building schools, not educating foreign women, not paving their roads while ours buckle, not providing humanitarian relief in countries where they shoot our soldiers delivering aid, etc. Back when leaders led from the front and spilled their noble blood among the blood of their regular troops, you can imagine that the missions were brutally focused and the rules of engagement practical.

Armies destroy, should be used rarely, and violence is only legitimate in the cause of self-defense. Something or someone else can build other people’s nations.

Speaking of those at the top of our political, social and financial ranks, what has happened to the concept of “To those whom much is given, much is expected”? Where are the Bush’s, Obama’s, Oberweis’, Gates’, and Hastert’s? Is it proper that their fame, fortunes, and power are protected by other families’ children’s lives? Ah . . . those invincible during peace but invisible during war!

Say what you will about Vice President Joe Biden and Congressman Joe Wilson, the person who shouted “Liar” during the State of the Union Speech, but they have multiple sons serving and deployed. And, please do not cheapen their heroism by snickering, “Well, you know, that’s the only job they can get . . .”

War most certainly feeds some of the rich, while it buries many of the poor and the patriotic. Our most liberal president since FDR has submitted the largest defense spending budget in U.S. history at approximately $700 billion for this year alone. The entire U.S. national debt accumulated from 1791 until 1977 (186 years!) was $699 billion. Lockheed Martin, Northup Grumman, Raytheon, General Dynamics, and Boeing defense allocations have grown from a total of $61 billion in 2000 to $156 billion in 2007 (a 155% increase), and their collective profits have grown to $13.5 billion. Of course, we can defeat the Taliban and al-Qaeda, but it’s a question of how much of our strength we are willing to commit and what is the most effective way to protect ourselves from twisted fanatics who see glory in killing innocent men, women, and children.

Whom do cowardly bullies beat up on children’s playgrounds? It’s certainly not the strong kid in the class, but rather the troubled child who wipes his nose with the back of his sleeve. Are vicious terrorists who kill to make their political point any less rational in selecting their victims? It is an unfortunate reality of human nature that we can only achieve peace and security through military and financial strength. While some in America fatten up on steady diets of sliders, Big Macs, and MTV enjoying security they have not paid for, there are others, “betters,” who harden and tighten themselves through incredible physical exertion and the core values of duty, honor, and country.

But, just as the kid who plays unmolested on the school playground is strong, he neither looks for nor starts fights. He knows his strength is meant to protect himself, not to hurt others. Prudent American foreign military policy has been based on self-restraint and self-defense, all the way back to General George Washington’s caution to avoid “entangling alliances,” whether these involve traditionally aggressive nations or more modern, self-centered multinational financial corporations and cartels.

We are borrowing money by the billions from totalitarian Chinese Communists to fuel a tsunami of cash that intensifies corruption, fuels resentment and more hostility among the civilian population towards us, and props up an unreliable, antithetical central government in Afghanistan while the Chinese capitalize on massive raw material developments (northeastern multi-billion dollar copper mines) with no security responsibilities. America fights, China profits.

There are sixty countries where al-Qaeda is operating cells. We will have to align our forward defense strategy to cover their offense, or it will be like the “pound-the-gopher head” game over at Luigi’s, but with life-and-death consequences.

Permanent recession, perpetual war, persistent anxiety and fear . . . these are not what we want. These are not the American Promise in either the Declaration of Independence or U.S. Constitution. But, that is what our current policies are delivering in domestic and foreign affairs.

We are not victims to some miserable fate. Wisdom and willpower produce lasting peace and prosperity.

So, where do we go from here in Afghanistan and Iraq?

First, we must restore our self-discipline as a nation. A country whose politicians are consistently dishonest, blubbery, and self-serving; where self-governance becomes a daily Blagojevich circus that mocks soldiers’ sacrifice; and, whose economic strength is sapped by 10-15% long-term unemployment, 99 weeks (nearly 2 years) of job-loss compensation and government confiscation of private enterprise cannot long compete against muscular Asian competitors or Central Asian fanatics.

Sen. Chris Lauzen

Second, recognize that political disagreements end at our borders no matter how sore we might be at the bad example of opposing parties when they were in the minority. Wrath should be focused on the enemy, not each other. Terrorists brought war to the mainland United States on 9/11/2001 with morally illegitimate violence that inexcusably killed more innocent men and women than the Japanese killed soldiers and civilians at Pearl Harbor which led to the total mobilization of our country into World War II. George Bush retaliated by invading Afghanistan. Barack Obama has now doubled the war to nearly 100,000 American troops. These are not Bush or Obama Wars, nor are they “good” or “bad” wars - - they are wars where the real sacrifices are being made by real American families who are willing to protect the rest of us with their blood, sweat, toil and tears.

Stop our political leaders’ nonsense of apologizing for our being Americans. Not to Europeans for some misplaced guilt for providing peace and reconstruction for nearly seventy years on their continent. Not to Africans because some Americans held African slaves until one hundred and fifty years ago. Not to the Communist Chinese (of all governments!) for the State of Arizona wanting to enforce existing federal immigration law and protect itself from the ravages of illegal immigration. These politicians act as the Pharisee who prayed in the Temple, “Lord, I thank thee that I am not like other men . . . “

Finally, correct our objective. Every month we are losing 50-100 of our finest youth killed, with many more permanently wounded, both physically and psychologically. Three lousy options are: (1) continue nation-building upon a fatally-flawed government, (2) invest more troops and financial resources like Lyndon Johnson did in Vietnam even after General and President Dwight Eisenhower had warned while sending only aid that he could not “conceive of a greater tragedy” for America than getting heavily involved there, or (3) downsize and consolidate the protection of a very few key strategic centers (forts) from which surgical strikes can be launched against terrorist camps based on increased and more accurate military intelligence on the ground.

Afghan President Karzai threatens us that he may reach out to join the Taliban. There are monthly reports of government Afghan troops turning on and shooting our own soldiers who are training them; C.I.A. reports that fewer than 50-100 al-Qaeda remain in Afghanistan, but now reside in hidden terrain in Pakistan while Iran marches forward to nuclear armament in the hands of madmen; investigations by the House Subcommittee for National Security that indicate “American taxpayers have inadvertently created a network of warlords across Afghanistan who are making millions of dollars escorting NATO convoys and operating outside of military controls (pay-to-protect Afghan-style); and, reports that 15-20% of Afghan army and police force members are routinely A.W.O.L. If their own people don’t value fighting to preserve a centralized government, why should our children fight for them?

Oh, we were told recently that there may be mineral deposits worth between $1-3 Trillion in Afghanistan, as if war will produce some type of neo-colonial incentive of wealth. I say, “Let the mining executives and their shareholders’ families secure their own booty “. . . not one drop of our children’s blood for multinational oil or raw material profits.

During the entire first seven years of war in Afghanistan, from October 2001 to January 2009, 625 American soldiers were killed. During the most recent year and a half, that number has doubled. We must decide whether we will go to war with terrorists, or go to court. The rules of engagement have become bizarre where Taliban fighters get a first lethal shot at our soldier before he can fire back and, even more insanely, serious consideration was being given to awarding medals for not shooting the enemy.

The politicization of conducting war and enforcing law will undermine our country. I cannot imagine how you order 18-24 year old Marines to read hostile Taliban their Miranda rights on the battlefield. Who then will testify in court for the prosecution and the defense? Why are Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his four Twin Tower jihadists granted all the privileges of the American Bill of Rights when he has already pleaded guilty to trying to destroy everything America stands for?

How perfectly insane is this? Nearly as impractical as telling our enemy how long we will fight . . . “Wait until July of 2011 and we’ll be on our way out”. The reason Cheney estimated that we would be in Iraq for one hundred years and one general announced that he was buying riverfront property on the Euphrates for his retirement was to demonstrate resolve and commitment. President Obama, with a peculiarly Chicago-style diplomacy has stated, “We ain’t stayin’ long.”

Answers may have changed over the last nine years in Afghanistan, but questions remain the same. Currently “What is vital to U.S. national interests in Afghanistan?” and “What are the clearly defined objectives for our troops consistent with our national interests?” It is obvious to most of us back home and to those brave men and women on the battlefield that answers to just these two questions indicate that we’ve lost our way in effectively fighting the wide-spread war on terrorism. Yet, the centrifuges in Iran, North Korea, Pakistan and only God knows where else continue spinning—while Americans appear unreliable to friends, compliant and apologetic to rivals, and weak to enemies.

Have you been on a military base lately? There aren’t a lot of hats on backwards and pants halfway down backsides. You see men and women, both leaders and in the ranks, who look you in the eye. They respect you because they respect themselves and what our country stands for. They say “Yes sir,” and “No, ma’am,” because their job is to serve others with courage and self-discipline.

If it was your son or daughter being deployed to the war zone, what would be your opinion of our mission?

Illinois Senator Chris Lauzen (R-Aurora)
25th District

Submitted to the Federal Observer for publication by Sen. Lauzen.

~ About Senator Chris Lauzen ~
Chris Lauzen has served in the Illinois State Senate since his election in 1992. During his years of service, Senator Lauzen has championed the issues that matter to families and businesses. His vision for government is based on his abiding faith in the capacity of people to see good beyond the horizon and the discipline to make the journey.

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WASHINGTON (August 27, 2010) – Less-educated, younger, and minority American workers face the worst job market in decades, far worse than their more educated counterparts. However, the situation for these workers was very difficult even before the current recession. A report from the Center for Immigration Studies examines their employment situation in the second quarters of both 2007 (before the recession) and 2010. Younger and less-educated workers are the most likely to be in competition with immigrants – legal and illegal.

Among the findings:
Younger and less-educated natives often do the same jobs as immigrants. During the second quarter of 2010, in the occupations employing the most young and less-educated U.S.-born adults, one in five workers was an immigrant.

In the second quarter of 2010, the unemployment rate for U.S.-born adults who have not completed high school was 20.8 percent. But even in the second quarter of 2007, before the recession, it was 11.1 percent.

Using the broader measure of unemployment that includes those who want to work but have not looked recently, and those forced to work part-time (the U-6 unemployment rate), the rate for those who haven’t completed high school was 29.3 percent in the second quarter of 2010 and 18.7 percent in the same quarter of 2007.

The unemployment rate for U.S.-born workers who have only a high school education and are 18 to 29 was 20 percent in the second quarter of 2010. But even before the recession in 2007 it was 9.6 percent in 2007.

The broader measure of unemployment for 18- to 29-year-old U.S.-born workers with only a high school education was 29.2 percent in the second quarter of 2010. It was still 16.6 percent in 2007.

The unemployment rate for U.S.-born black workers without a high education is currently 29 percent. Using the broader measure of unemployment it is an astonishing 39.8 percent.

The unemployment rate for U.S.-born black workers with only a high school education who are 18 to 29 is currently 22.9 percent. It is 32.4 percent using the boarder measure of unemployment.

The unemployment rate for U.S.-born Hispanic workers without a high education is currently 22.9 percent. It is 32.4 percent using the boarder measure of unemployment.

The unemployment rate for U.S.-born Hispanic workers with only a high education who are 18 to 29 is currently 23.3 percent. It is 33 percent using the boarder measure of unemployment.

In the second quarter of 2010 the unemployment rate of U.S.-born teens (16 and 17) was 31 percent. It was 38 percent using the boarder measure.

The total number of young and less-educated U.S.-born workers unemployed is enormous. If we look at the broad measure of unemployment for all workers who lack a high school education or have only a high school education and are young (18 to 29) or are teenagers (16-17), 6.3 million were unemployed in the second quarter of 2010.

In addition to the 6.3 million unemployed or underemployed, there were another 16 million of these younger and less-educated individuals who were entirely out of the labor market. That is, they were not working, nor were they looking for work, even using the broadest measure of unemployment.

To place these numbers in the perspective, there are an estimated seven to eight million illegal immigrants holding jobs.

Policy Discussion: One argument for amnesty and increased future immigration is that there are not enough Americans workers to do jobs that require relatively little education, such as construction labor, cleaning and maintenance, food service and preparation, delivery, and light manufacturing. However, the employment data analysis by the Center for Immigration Studies does not support these assertions. Unemployment is extremely high among the least-educated Americans who often do these kinds of jobs. In fact, the employment situation for such workers was very high even before the current recession began. Thus it is very difficult to find any evidence to support the contention that the country needs large-scale unskilled immigration. Since there is an abundance of such workers already in the country, employers who have difficulty finding workers may need to offer better pay and working conditions in order to attract Americans.

Methodology: All figures in this report are calculated from the public use files of the Current Population Survey, collected by the Census Bureau, for second quarters of 2007 and 2010. Figures are seasonally unadjusted. Figures for U.S.-born blacks are for those who chose only one race and are not Hispanic. Hispanics can be of any race and are not included in the figures for other races.

The full report. “From Bad to Worse: Unemployment and Underemployment Among Less-Educated U.S.-Born Workers, 2007 to 2010” is available ON LINE.

The Center for Immigration Studies is an independent research institute which examines the impact of immigration on the United States.

Submitted to the Federal Observer for republication by the CIS

FAIR USE NOTICE:This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to:

Our nation’s schools have long been factories of boredom, centers of academic incompetence. High school graduation rates have been in a fairly steady decline. At its peak in 1969, the rate was 77 percent. By 2007 it was 68.8 percent.

In mid-August, The Wall Street Journal reported that “New data show that fewer than 25% of 2010 graduates who took the ACT college-entrance exam possessed the academic skills necessary to pass entry-level courses, despite modest gains in college-readiness among U.S. high school students in the last few years.”

What caught my eye was a quote from Jack Jennings, president of the Center on Education Policy, a nonpartisan research organization in Washington, who said that “if our kids aren’t dropping out physically, they are dropping out mentally.”

The subject of education is important because they are the generation to which the future of the nation must be entrusted and “A recent study found the U.S. ranks only 12th in the percentage of adults aged 25 to 34 who hold college degrees.”

The failure of our nation’s schools, to my mind, coincides with the creation of the U.S. Department of Education in 1979, signed into law by President Jimmy Carter, and which began operating on May 16, 1980.

~ Supplemental documentation to Support the author’s column ~
All Children Left Behind

The word “education” does not appear in the U.S. Constitution and, until the Department of Education came along, it was the responsibility of States and local communities. A government that has managed Conrail since 1976 without once making a profit should not have been trusted with the nation’s educational system.

I opposed No Child Left Behind when former President Bush proposed it and, like former President Reagan, I have long believed the Department of Education should be ended and that responsibility be returned to the States and local communities. The DOE exists today as little more than an obstacle to learning in the classroom and a giant funding machine.

The DOE is pretty much owned by the National Education Association which is not an “association”, but a powerful union, the largest with an estimated 3.2 members. The Democrat Party is heavily indebted to it for funds and campaign workers.

It is doubtful that most Americans know that, for the past several months, the NEA’s website has recommended that its members read “Rules for Radicals” by the late Saul Alinsky, a dedicated communist. If NEA members adopt its political agenda, the enemy will literally be in our nation’s classrooms.

It has not gone unnoticed that Obama’s “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act”, otherwise known as the “Stimulus Act” enabled the education lobby to suck up billions more from taxpayers.

The Act allocated $5 billion to early learning programs, including the failed Head Start and Early Head Start, child care and programs for children with special needs. It also allocated $77 billion for “reforms” to allegedly strengthen elementary and secondary education, including $48.6 billion to “stabilize” state education budgets. It was a Full Employment Act for teachers and school administrators.

Apparently those billions were not enough because on August 11, President Obama signed a bill authorizing an additional $10 billion to states for education salaries. The Senate was so concerned the money might be spent for other purposes it included a provision that the money could not be used for anything else.

It apparently was not enough because in July the NEA president, Dennis Van Roekel, was calling for a complete overhaul of the No Child Left Behind Act, one that is entirely test-based without any notice of the fact that individual children learn at different rates. He didn’t much like the Obama Race to the Top program where schools competed for grants if they demonstrated any improvement in learning and graduation rates. Another $3.4 billion in grants is at yet unspent. Roekel didn’t like the idea of competition.

Clearly, schools that are graduating students ill-prepared to go onto college and that continue to experience high dropout rates are doing something wrong. Putting kids into teach-to-the-test straight jackets is not working.

In a new book by Dr. Tim Elmore, “Generation iY: Our Last Change to Save Their Future”, the author who founded a non-profit organization, Growing Leaders, writes that “I have spoken to employers who told me they will never hire another new graduate. I have heard teachers say they can hardly wait for retirement since they can’t do a thing about kids today. I’ve had parents confide in me that they don’t know what to do with their kids except scream at them.”

Statistics published by UNESCO and the CIA reveal that, while American students spend twelve years in school, ranking them first out of a hundred, they rank fifteenth out of twenty-seven in terms of literacy. Their math and science scores are poor. They poll at 35%, fifth out of seventeen, for their dislike of school, and 61%, second out of seventeen, find school boring.

The schools are failing, the students are being cheated of the knowledge, skills and attitudes they need to become productive adults, and the U.S. government thinks that, if it just spends a few more billions, this will change. It won’t.

The federal government must get out of the education business, must devolve responsibility back to the states and local communities, and they in turn should refuse to deal with teachers unions in order to regain control over the education of the nation’s most precious resource, its children.

© Alan Caruba, 2010

~ About the Author ~
Federal Observer contributor Alan Caruba writes a doily blog at http://factsnotfantasy.blogspot.com.

If there I were to be asked what bothers me the most about people, I would have to answer, stupidity. Yet that would not be entirely correct, as stupidity implies a lack of intelligence. What bothers me the most is people who refuse to use the brain that God has given them, not those who for some reason are physically incapable of cognitive thought.

I am not a great person by any means. I have not found the cure for some terrible disease, nor have I created some new gadget that makes everyone’s life easier. I have not written some musical masterpiece nor a novel of breathtaking importance. I am just an average guy.

However, I do differ in that I have an insatiable thirst for knowledge regarding the philosophies and principles which guided those men known as our founding fathers. Not only were these men great thinkers by their own right, they were guided and influenced by great thinkers from the past.

When I look around today, I find a drought of thinking. I feel as though we are entering another period of darkness of thought, similar to the Dark Ages. When I try to discuss the principles upon which our country was founded, I find myself on the receiving end of an emotional rant, or I get a dull, glazed over look as though I were attempting to explain quantum physics to a cow.

During my short respite from writing I once again read the book Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand. This time, instead of reading it in just under two days I took my time to fully absorb some of the profound thoughts contained within that masterpiece.

I find it amazing, that over 50 years ago this woman was able to see into this nations future and almost predict the course that this country would take. In the story the powers that be create various agencies to control various crises that arise and put men like Wesley Mouch in charge of them. They bear a striking resemblance to the myriad government agencies, each headed by a czar which were created to manage the various crises that our country has faced.

It is also amazing that, in both cases, with the assumption of powers by these people, our problems exponentially multiplied. Yet, when I try to explain that to people, that government is the problem, not the solution, I get this, dare I say it, stupid look on peoples faces.

Thomas Paine once said, “A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right.” For generations now our country has allowed government to assume powers that were not theirs to assume. We have gone on, generation after generation, thinking that these powers did in fact belong to our government. We did so because we did not take the time to learn for ourselves what powers the constitution granted our government, and why they were so limited to begin with. We let our government think for us, and then give us their version of the truth. Then we swallowed it hook, line, and sinker.

I feel a deep despair, for I see what lies on the horizon in this country. I feel as though I am defenseless against some unseen enemy who I am powerless against. That enemy being the ignorance and apathy of the people of this country.

There is a particular quote from Atlas Shrugged that I found quite appropriate. Hugh Atkinson is explaining to Dagny Taggart exactly how I feel now, “Fear? Yes-but it was more than fear. It was the kind of emotion that make men capable of killing-when I thought the purpose of the world’s trend was to destroy these children, that these three sons of mine were marked for immolation. Oh yes, I would have killed-but whom was there’re to kill? It was everyone and no one, there was no single enemy, no center and no villain, it was not the simpering social worker incapable of earning a penny or the thieving bureaucrat scared of his own shadow, it was the whole of the earth rolling into an obscenity of horror…”

Unfortunately for us, there is no John Galt to steal away all the great minds until the time comes to rebuild. It is up to us to do the thinking, and do it before our nation collapses in upon itself.

But I don’t see it though, not when half of this country so easily fell for the lies of one Barack Obama; when they let themselves be seduced by his promises of change instead of using a fraction of their thinking power to see beyond his lies and bullshit.

I don’t see it when the other half of the people in this country still believe that a return to GOP/conservative values will herald in the salvation of our nation. Not after the debacle that was George W. Bush.

I see our country heading steadily towards an abyss, and what lies beyond…well its not going to be pretty, of that, I am absolutely certain. It could be stopped, things could be turned around, if they would only think. Unfortunately, there just doesn’t seem to be much of that going on these days.

[T]o preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them.” - Federal Farmer

“A man’s country is not a certain area of land, of mountains, rivers, and woods, but it is a principle; and patriotism is loyalty to that principle.” - George William Curtis

~ The Author ~
Neal Ross can be reached for comments at bonsai@syix.com. Visit Neal’s Blog at http://www.zombie-slayer.com/neal

I’m 63. Except for one semester in college when jobs were scarce and a six-month period when I was between jobs but job-hunting every day, I’ve worked hard since I was 18. Despite some health challenges, I still put in 50-hour weeks, and haven’t called in sick in seven or eight years. I make a good salary, but I didn’t inherit my job or my income, and I worked to get where I am. Given the economy, there’s no retirement in sight, and I’m tired. Very tired.

I’m tired of being told that I have to “spread the wealth” to people who don’t have my work ethic. I’m tired of being told the government will take the money I earned, by force if necessary, and give it to people too lazy to earn it.

I’m tired of being told that I have to pay more taxes to “keep people in their homes.” Sure, if they lost their jobs or got sick, I’m willing to help. But if they bought McMansions at three times the price of our paid-off, $250,000 condo, on one-third of my salary, then let the left-wing Congress-critters who passed Fannie and Freddie and the Community Reinvestment Act that created the bubble help them with their own money.

I’m tired of being told how bad America is by left-wing millionaires like Michael Moore, George Soros and Hollywood Entertainers who live in luxury because of the opportunities America offers. In thirty years, if they get their way, the United States will have the economy of Zimbabwe, the freedom of the press of China, the crime and violence of Mexico, the tolerance for Christian people of Iran, and the freedom of speech of Venezuela.

I’m tired of being told that Islam is a “Religion of Peace,” when every day I can read dozens of stories of Muslim men killing their sisters, wives and daughters for their family “honor”; of Muslims rioting over some slight offense; of Muslims murdering Christian and Jews because they aren’t “believers”; of Muslims burning schools for girls; of Muslims stoning teenage rape victims to death for “adultery”; of Muslims mutilating the genitals of little girls; all in the name of Allah, because the Qur’an and Shari’a law tells them to.

I’m tired of being told that “race doesn’t matter” in the post-racial world of Obama, when it’s all that matters in affirmative action jobs, lower college admission and graduation standards for minorities (harming them the most), government contract set-asides, tolerance for the ghetto culture of violence and fatherless children that hurts minorities more than anyone, and in the appointment of U. S. Senators from Illinois.

I think it’s very cool that we have a black president and that a black child is doing her homework at the desk where Lincoln wrote the Emancipation Proclamation. I just wish the black president was Condi Rice, or someone who believes more in freedom and the individual and less arrogantly of an all-knowing government.

I’m tired of a news media that thinks Bush’s fundraising and inaugural expenses were obscene, but that think Obama’s, at triple the cost, were wonderful; that thinks Bush exercising daily was a waste of presidential time, but Obama exercising is a great example for the public to control weight and stress; that picked over every line of Bush’s military records, but never demanded that Kerry release his; that slammed Palin, with two years as governor, for being too inexperienced for VP, but touted Obama with three years as senator as potentially the best president ever. Wonder why people are dropping their subscriptions or switching to Fox News? Get a clue. I didn’t vote for Bush in 2000, but the media and Kerry drove me to his camp in 2004.

I’m tired of being told that out of “tolerance for other cultures” we must let Saudi Arabia use our oil money to fund mosques and mandrassa Islamic schools to preach hate in America, while no American group is allowed to fund a church, synagogue or religious school in Saudi Arabia to teach love and tolerance.

I’m tired of being told I must lower my living standard to fight global warming, which no one is allowed to debate. My wife and I live in a two-bedroom apartment and carpool together five miles to our jobs. We also own a three-bedroom condo where our daughter and granddaughter live. Our carbon footprint is about 5% of Al Gore’s, and if you’re greener than Gore, you’re green enough.

I’m tired of being told that drug addicts have a disease, and I must help support and treat them, and pay for the damage they do. Did a giant germ rush out of a dark alley, grab them and stuff white powder up their noses while they tried to fight it off?

I don’t think Gay people choose to be Gay, but I damn sure think druggies chose to take drugs. And I’m tired of harassment from cool people treating me like a freak when I tell them I never tried marijuana.

I’m tired of illegal aliens being called “undocumented workers,” especially the ones who aren’t working, but are living on welfare or crime. What’s next? Calling drug dealers, “Undocumented Pharmacists”? And, no, I’m not against Hispanics.

Most of them are Catholic, and it’s been a few hundred years since Catholics wanted to kill me for my religion. I’m willing to fast track for citizenship any Hispanic person, who can speak English, doesn’t have a criminal record and who is self-supporting without family on welfare, or who serves honorably for three years in our military. Those are the citizens we need.

I’m tired of latte liberals and journalists, who would never wear the uniform of the Republic themselves, or let their entitlement-handicapped kids near a recruiting station, trashing our military. They and their kids can sit at home, never having to make split-second decisions under life and death circumstances, and bad mouth better people than themselves.

Do bad things happen in war? You bet. Do our troops sometimes misbehave? Sure. Does this compare with the atrocities that were the policy of our enemies for the last fifty years and still are? Not even close. So here’s the deal. I’ll let myself be subjected to all the humiliation and abuse that was heaped on terrorists at Abu Ghraib or Gitmo, and the critics can let themselves be subject to captivity by the Muslims, who tortured and beheaded Daniel Pearl in Pakistan, or the Muslims who tortured and murdered Marine Lt. Col. William Higgins in Lebanon, or the Muslims who ran the blood-spattered Al Qaeda torture rooms our troops found in Iraq, or the Muslims who cut off the heads of schoolgirls in Indonesia, because the girls were Christian. Then we’ll compare notes. British and American soldiers are the only troops in history that civilians came to for help and handouts, instead of hiding from in fear.

I’m tired of people telling me that their party has a corner on virtue and the other party has a corner on corruption. Read the papers; bums are bipartisan. And I’m tired of people telling me we need bipartisanship. I live in Illinois, where the “Illinois Combine” of Democrats has worked to loot the public for years. Not to mention the tax cheats in Obama’s cabinet.

I’m tired of hearing wealthy athletes, entertainers and politicians of both parties talking about innocent mistakes, stupid mistakes or youthful mistakes, when we all know they think their only mistake was getting caught. I’m tired of people with a sense of entitlement, rich or poor, speaking of poor, I’m tired of hearing people with air-conditioned homes, color TVs and two cars called poor. The majority of Americans didn’t have that in 1970, but we didn’t know we were “poor.” The poverty pimps have to keep changing the definition of poor to keep the dollars flowing.

I’m real tired of people who don’t take responsibility for their lives and actions. I’m tired of hearing them blame the government, or discrimination or big-whatever for their problems.

Yes, I’m damn tired. But I’m also glad to be 63. Because, mostly, I’m not going to have to see the world these people are making. I’m just sorry for my granddaughter.

~ The Author ~
Robert A. Hall is a Marine Vietnam veteran who served five terms in the Massachusetts State Senate and is a member of the Tea Party.

FAIR USE NOTICE:This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to:

1. Before Barrack Obama’s next televised speech, prepare your “Bullshit Bingo” card

2. Check off the appropriate block when you hear one of those words/phrases.

3. When you get five blocks horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, stand up and shout…

“BULLSHIT!”

Testimonials from past satisfied “B.O.’s Bullshit Bingo” players:

“I had been listening to the speech for only five minutes when I won.” - Jack W., Boston

“My attention span during speeches has improved dramatically.” - David D., Florida

“What a gas! Speeches will never be the same for me after my first win.” - Bill R., New York City

“The atmosphere was tense in the last speech as 14 of us waited for the fifth box.” - Ben G., Denver

“The speaker was stunned as eight of us screamed “BULLSHIT!” for the third time in two hours.” - Harry A. Chantilly

“This is the most fun I have ever had with my pants up!” - Robert H., Portland

“I never win at anything. With this new game I can compete with anyone” - Brian W. Newcastle, CA

“I haven’t even played this game yet, but everytime I see B.O. on the tube, I want to scream, “BULLSHIT!” - so I feel as if I have already won. - J. Bennett, Phoenix