Some People May Think I Am Anti-Obama...

and those people would be absolutely correct! But let's not stop there... I am anti-anybody who would take steps to destroy our Republic and change it into a European-style socialist state. I stand against anyone who would introduce economic policies that will reduce the United States of America economically to the status of some Third World Banana-Republic Dictatorship! I am absolutely against anybody who spends our tax dollars frivolously - by supporting those who wish us nothing but harm; who bows to a Muslim king while failing to observe the same courtesy when granted an audience with a Christian queen; and also who snubs - and tries to dictate foreign policy to - our enduring allies.During these hard economic times I am totally UNsupportive of anyone who spends $73,000 of hard-earned taxpayer money for a "date night" in New York City, who rents a 28 acre Martha's Vineyard summer vacation estate for $50,000 a week, and who then hypocritically condemns "lavish lifestyles" and "saddling the rich with higher taxes".

Obama's motto seems to be, "There are some things money can't buy... and for everything else, there are taxpayers!

NOVEMBER 2ND IS LESS THAN SIX WEEKS AWAY! CHANGING OUR ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES IN THE HOUSE AND SENATE MAY SAVE OUR COUNTRY! WITHOUT THE RUBBER-STAMP SUPPORT OF A PREDOMINANTLY LEFT-WING CONGRESS, OBAMA CAN DO NO FURTHER HARM. REPLACE ALL THOSE WHO SUPPORTED OBAMA'S POLICIES WITH CONSERVATIVE CANDIDATES AND RESTORE THE CHECKS AND BALANCES TO OUR GOVERNMENT!
PERHAPS THE NEW CROP OF REPRESENTATIVES WILL GET THE MESSAGE -
"WE THE PEOPLE WILL BE HEARD!"

"THEY" WANT OUR MONEY - STOP GIVING IT TO THEM!

"They", in this case, being the liberal-progressive socialist-Marxists who presently control the White House, the DOJ, and the House and Senate.

If we fail to unseat this destructive liberal-progressive, socialist-Marxist, tax-and-spend government on November 2nd, our nation is doomed to enjoy the status of a 3rd world nation... like Zimbabwe, which has a history of inflation in the hundreds of percents daily!

DO NOT BELIEVE THE LIES FROM THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION! Those lies are what put us in this position. They would love to be able to blame George Bush, and their believers still do. They conveniently forget to mention the fact that during the last 2 years of the Bush administration, the Congressional purse strings were controlled by the liberal, tax-and-spend Democratic Party!
REPLACE ALL THOSE FROM EITHER PARTY WHO VOTED TO SUPPORT OUR IMPENDING BANKRUPTCY. Perhaps you can't FIX stupid, but you can vote it out of office!
The citizenry must remember the intent of our Constitution, for the Congress has surely forgotten what it means. Demand adherence to the Constitution - VOTE CONSERVATIVE this November!

VIOLENCE AND SEDITION - What Will The Left Think Of Next?

Interestingly, the left-wing, Marxist, socialist-progressive Democrats in government have labeled those of us who attend TEA Parties as "inciting violence" and "seditionists". Obama finds us "amusing"... your President finds concerned Americans who disagree with the direction in which he is sailing our "ship of state" to be "amusing"!

I have attended two Tea Parties locally, and have yet to witness any acts of violence, and have not yet heard a call to commit acts of violence. In fact, the only acts of violence I have even heard of are those committed against the TEA Party attendees by supporters and sympathizers of the left-wing, Marxist, socialist-progressive Democrats. A cowardly demonstration of attempting to provoke peaceful TEA Party attendees into acts of physical violence against the socialist turncoats.

Sedition is defined thus - "Conduct which is directed against a government and which tends toward insurrection but does not amount to treason." I don't know that there have been any acts of sedition associated with the TEA Party movement. If so, they were not sponsored or condoned by the TEA Party movement. But, the First Amendment to the Constitution guarantees us freedom of speech, in spite of the fact that the left-wing, Marxist, socialist-progressive Democrats wish to deny that Constitutionally protected right to those who voice disagreement with them.
Perhaps they have an understandable guilt created by diverting our government from its intended course, and an attendant fear that they will someday be held accountable for their treasonous acts by We the People.

The last statistic I heard regarding the Constitution dealt with the Tenth Amendment (States Rights), which states in plain English - "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.". The statistic I refer to reported that 33 states had reaffirmed their sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment. Now that may just be "window dressing" - like a couple reaffirming their marriage vows -, or it may be a precursor to secession. Could secession be considered an act of sedition? I suppose it could be if it were left up to some radical left-winger to define. But the Merriam-Webster Dictionary of the English Language defines secession to be - " 1 : withdrawal into privacy or solitude 2 : formal withdrawal from an organization." In other words, it's a simple statement saying, "I refuse to play your game any more because you want to change the rules the game was established with." If you can understand that then you have a grasp of the meaning of secession. It means a state - or states - chooses to remove itself from the Union of States.

Washington has turned a deaf ear to the conservative voices in this country... and THAT is the worst possible action the government could take. George III failed to hear the voices of the American colonists until December 16, 1773 - the night of the original Boston Tea Party. The rebellion against tyranny is not only expected of free men, it is required of them when rebellion becomes necessary to maintain that freedom. As Thomas Jefferson said, "When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty."
Jefferson was also - by today's definition - a "seditionist", condemned to be so by his own words. Read carefully and thoughtfully... "God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion. The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions, it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty.... And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to the facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure." He suggested that the people take arms against any tyrannical ruler. Along that same line, his view of the Second Amendment (Keep and Bear Arms) was quite elegant - "The beauty of the Second Amendment is that it will not be needed until they try to take it." And - "The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government." Attempts to erode and subvert the intent of the United States Constitution. Seditious speech? It would only considered as such by those who fear a free people.

Surprisingly, Jefferson also had views on government bailouts, stimulus packages, welfare and national health care, even though he had no exposure to such things -
"The policy of the American government is to leave their citizens free, neither restraining nor aiding them in their pursuits."
"To take from one because it is thought that his own industry and that of his father’s has acquired too much, in order to spare to others, who, or whose fathers, have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association—the guarantee to every one of a free exercise of his industry and the fruits acquired by it. "
"Was the government to prescribe to us our medicine and diet, our bodies would be in such keeping as our souls are now."
"To compel a man to furnish funds for the propagation of ideas he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical."
"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not."

The seeds of violence and sedition have been sown by those who thought it wise to blame the conservative right for such actions on nationwide television and radio. There were no such acts supported, coordinated, or condoned by the conservative right prior to April 18, 2010. There may be random acts of individuals here and there, but violence and sediton is not the goal of the conservatives. On the other hand, I once saw a bumper sticker that read "WHEN REASON FAILS, FORCE PREVAILS", which seems to be the motto of all international negotiators.

I wonder how "amusing" Obama will find the TEA Party movement in November...

Barack Obama - Leader of the Quisling Party!

I have seen no indications to the contrary... Obama is the leader of the de facto Quisling Party. I understand that most of us have never heard of Vikdun Abraham Lauritz Jonnsøn Quisling. His is a name hidden in history's Vault of Shame. He was Norway's version of our own Benedict Arnold. Quisling assisted Nazi Germany in conquering his own country, and then ruled the collaborationist Norwegian government. The term 'quisling" is synonymous with one who collaborates with the enemy - a traitor.

Quisling even captured a spot in our dictionary as: n. A traitor who serves as the puppet of the enemy occupying his or her country. We do have enemies in our midst... some are in your neighborhood, many are in your town, thousands are in your city, and tens of thousands are in your state. They do not meet the military definition of "occupying forces", but they are "occupying" much of America's real estate.
Obama showed his true colors with his appointment of communists, Marxist-socialists, and others who despise America as it is and has been for over two centuries, to power positions within our government. If "a man is known by the company he keeps", we now know Obama.
His "borrow, tax and spend" philosophy is textbook Cloward-Piven strategy, designed to collapse the system by creating crisis where there is none, and then correcting those man-made crises by throwing money at them, thereby overloading the system with unrealistic financial burdens - such as welfare for non-citizens and those capable of working, and other give-away programs. The Cloward-Piven strategy has not yet achieved its goal of total system breakdown and the establishment of a Marxist state... the key word being yet. Our current administration is doing everything it can to move us in that direction. The Cloward-Piven strategy is, quite simply, economic sabotage.

The 1996 "Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act" imposed time linits on federal welfare, along with strict eligibility and work requirements. Cloward and Piven were in attendance when President Clinton signed the act into law. However, the Obama administration has for any practical application suspended the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, with multiple extensions on unemployment compensation, and the granting of welfare to illegal aliens - just two more means of overburdening the financial system.

The left-wing socialist-progressives are using our system to destroy our system. Inflation due to unbelievable debt, permitting outsourcing of American jobs (thereby adding to already high unemployment) because of exorbitant union wages , pushing "amnesty" for tens of millions of illegal aliens (essentially buying votes for socialist-progressive politicians), and blatantly buying votes in the House and Senate to support Obama's health care program with political plums. Obama refused to host the traditional "National Day of Prayer" for Christians, yet worshiped at a mosque with his Muslim co-conspirators. Isn't that de facto promoting of one religion over another?

The unofficial Quisling Party moves forward under the direction of Obama, Pelosi, Reid, Franks, et al. Those elected officials in Washington who lack the courage to stand against the Quislings are as much to blame as those active participants in the destruction of our Republic!
TAKE A STAND AMERICA! TELL THEM "TOO MUCH"! MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD THIS NOVEMBER, AND SEND THIS MESSAGE:

TEA PARTY FRACTURED - What Does It Mean?

The Tea Party... is it a political party... or more like a "toga party"? As of today the Tea Party is not an official political party, nor is it seen as such by most Americans. Actually, outside of the Tea Party movement itself, most Americans don't have a real "handle" on what the Tea Party believes, does, or is.

There was a Tea Party conducted here in Grants Pass Oregon, a small town of approximately 30,000, on April 15th of 2009. "TEA", in this case, is an acronym representing the phrase "Taxed Enough Already". You should be able to deduce from that acronym - and the date upon which the nation-wide Tea Party was held - that the primary thrust of the movement is stabilized, preferably reduced taxation, and fiscal restraint demonstrated by our government. In fact, inasmuch as the beast of government survives only off the earnings of We the People, doing the first would necessitate the second.

You can now see that the Tea Party movement is (1) against increased taxes, (2) fiscally conservative, and (3) supports the concept of smaller, less powerful federal government - government within the confines of our Constitution.

The liberal radical left wants the world to believe that the Tea Party movement is not a true grass-roots movement, but rather that those extremely intelligent, "rich Republicans" are behind the whole idea. They few are the puppet masters, manipulating the rest of us poor, ignorant Bible-loving, gun-toting, freedom-addicted, Constitution-following dummies into supporting their desire for power. That's how they say they see us, because that's how they wish we really were. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Tea Party is made up of Republicans, Independents, and even some disenchanted Democrats. I'm fairly certain that some of the Republicans are "rich" - as are some of the Independents and some of the Democrats. However, I didn't see any truly exotic or outrageously expensive vehicles at our Tea Party. A few Cadillacs, a couple of Lincolns and a Mercedes or two. Not a Rolls, Bentley, Ferrari or Bugatti anywhere in sight. There were no YSL suits or A. Testoni shoes on the men. No Louis Vitton handbags or Prada shoes worn by the ladies. I saw one sport coat, and two ties in the crowd of 750. This was a working-class, jeans and t-shirt crowd. This was the backbone of America making itself heard!

The turnout here in Grants Pass for the Tax Day Tea Party was 750 people. That works out to 2.5% of the population. Since total figures for the national Tea Party are quite elusive, lets just use that 2.5% against the national population of 306,000,000. That calculates as 7,650,000 participants nationwide. This does not include those who may have been working, hospitalized or otherwise indisposed and were therefore unable to attend - we can consider them as "Tea Party Sympathizers". I won't even attempt to assign a numeric value to them, because I have no idea how many "sympathizers" there may have been. There could only be ten... or as many as ten million.

How is the Tea Party "fractured"? It is fractured by its very structure - or lack thereof. There is no clearly recognized, single focal point for a "National Tea Party Headquarters". The "leadership" is fragmented within geographical regions and even within states -
(1) Judson Phillips is the founder of the Tea Party Nation
(2) Tom Knapp claims to be founder of the 21st century version of the Boston Tea Party
(3) Eric Odom is the founder of the American Liberty Alliance (ALA), the group that launched and organized the tea party movement across the country
(4) Constitutionalist grass roots activist Chad Peace - as part of the original team of people who organized Boston Tea Party re-enactment protests in 50 different cities in late 2007 - claims to be the co-founder of the movement.
And recently, some moron lawyer/radio host in Florida filed a lawsuit to be granted copyrights to the name of Tea Party. There are even more claimants to founding the Tea Party movement!

Such fragmentation makes centralizing power difficult at best, and impossible at worst. The saving factor is that the goals of all the individual groups are the same - lower taxes, fiscal conservatism, and smaller government within the framework of the Constitution. There is, however, one consistent focal point within the movement - Sarah Palin. Sarah is not an official in any of the multiple branches of the movement, but she is the only physical common thread between them all.

The Tea Party Convention was attended by only 600 people. Perhaps there are only 600 "rich Republicans" in the movement, since - at $549 per ticket - it was out of the question for most of us who are associated with the movement. Had it been free - or even $100 per ticket - I'm sure there would have been thousands of attendees. The Tea Party movement has the potential to become the 3rd nationally recognized, viable political party - but only the potential at this point. What seems most likely is that the Tea Party will put its weight behind those candidates who have either proven track records as conservative traditional constitutionalists, or, those political newcomers who show the most promise of demonstrating those traits.

The only thing that is OBVIOUS about the Tea Party movement, is that America is still in the mood for "change", and that we are very unhappy with the ones that have been proposed during the past year by our government. Does government respond to those
indicators in a positive fashion? No... instead of adjusting their behavior, they "go to the mattresses" and begin their siege on Americans - insisting that the 535 people in Washington D.C. know better than the other 306,000,000 what is best for the country.

AMERICA STANDS ON THE BANKS OF THE RUBICON

On the 10th of January, 49BC, Julius Caesar dispatched one Roman Legion across the Rubicon - a 29 km long river in northern Italy. The river flows from the Apennine Mountains to the Adriatic Sea through the southern Emilia-Romagna region between the towns of Rimini and Cesena. The act of soldiers "crossing the Rubicon" initiated a civil war in the region. The rebellion was squelched, and Caesar became the unrivaled leader of the Roman world - and "crossing the Rubicon" became a popular idiom meaning to pass a point of no return.
The "leadership" of the United States of America now stands on the banks of our own Rubicon. "They" - the legislative and executive branches of our government - have ignored the expressed will of "We the People" for many years. However, since our most recent election, the disdain of our arrogant leadership for its people has been in plain view.
The liberal-progressive left wants a revolution. They ignore our Constitution. They wish to rebuild the United States using the socialist foundation of Marx and Engels... an overhaul which the conservative-traditional right stands firmly against. The liberals are in the process of destroying our economy. Revolution, like most other things in this world, is not free - it comes with a definite price. They may well get a revolution... but it will not be the revolution they desire.
Are "they" willing to pay the price to support the government's attempt to enslave a free people? Perhaps... but they find our Constitution to be a bothersome impediment to their agenda.
Are those who espouse freedom willing to pay the price to maintain it? From every indication I have seen the answer is YES, they are.

"THESE ARE THE TIMES THAT TRY MENS SOULS."

Those words were penned by Thomas Paine - American - on December 23rd, 1776, in a pamphlet called "The Crisis". Words which are as applicable today as they were 233 years ago. Paine was a true believer in freedom. Freedom from, freedom to, and freedom for all Americans. Freedom from tyranny and government oppression. Freedom to assemble, associate, speak, write and worship. Freedom for all motivated Americans to develop their full potential, or to earn a fair and reasonable wage for their labors. To worship - or not - in the manner of their own choosing, and to be the architects of their own destiny. Thomas Paine, although something less than a social and financial success, was the personification of "the American spirit".

At that time Paine was expressing his opposition to Britain's King George III's tyrannical rule over the American colonies. The wording is a bit archaic, and therefore awkward for today's reader, but tyranny is still tyranny, and revolution is still revolution. "These ARE the time that try mens souls."

In today's United States of America there is a significant political, philosophical, and moral rift between the left-wing "liberal progressives", and the right-wing "conservative traditionalists". There is a second Revolutionary War being fought as I write this blog. Thus far the skirmishes have been restricted to the mass media, the halls of Congress, and the "town hall meetings"... and the fusillades are only verbal. Retaliatory barrages from the White House consist of verbal smokescreens designed to blind and confuse the opposition forces, while simultaneously obscuring the intent of those who wish to rule rather than govern and discrediting those who are most outspoken against the rapid, insidious development of the infrastructure needed to support that rule. Citizens are governed by choice - slaves are ruled by whatever means necessary! Paine also said, "Britain, with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has a right (not only to TAX) but "to BIND us in ALL CASES WHATSOEVER" and if being bound in that manner, is not slavery, then is there not such a thing as slavery upon earth." (Two hundred thirty three years is a bit long, but I think that - were Thomas Paine alive today - he would be having a deja vu experience.)

Paine continues, delineating the difference between Tories (conservatives, sometimes called "loyalists") and Whigs (liberals, social reformists, believed in loose interpretation of the Constitution) -"Why is it that the enemy have left the New England provinces, and made these middle ones the seat of war? The answer is easy: New England is not infested with Tories, and we are. I have been tender in raising the cry against these men, and used numberless arguments to show them their danger, but it will not do to sacrifice a world either to their folly or their baseness. The period is now arrived, in which either they or we must change our sentiments, or one or both must fall. And what is a Tory? Good God! What is he? I should not be afraid to go with a hundred Whigs against a thousand Tories, were they to attempt to get into arms. Every Tory is a coward; for servile, slavish, self-interested fear is the foundation of Toryism; and a man under such influence, though he may be cruel, never can be brave."

Today's "Tories" are, politically speaking, primarily Republicans, Independents and assorted impotent-third-party followers. Mostly conservatives, they believe that the Constitution is an enduring document requiring little, if any, "interpretation". They also believe that the best government is the least government.

The "Whigs" of today are the Democrats - and their liberal following of government-dependent entitlement whores, who would sell our freedoms for a big screen TV and a couple of more government give-away programs. They believe the Constitution is a "living document" - one that should be changed as often as they change their minds... or their underwear, whichever comes first. The "blame America first" crowd, whose words and actions echo those of the Pogo Possum cartoon of 1970, wherein he proclaims "We have met the enemy and he is us."
The difference today is that the Tories are the ones who would "protect and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic", while the Whigs would tremble, quake and hide, while crying out for their nanny-government to protect and save them.

Our constitution - for all the wonderful rights it does promise us - it does not promise that we will be given anything other than that which we earn! It does not promise that we have a right to take that which another has earned, nor do we have a right to not be embarrassed, inconvenienced or otherwise upset by something we may experience during our appointed time on this Earth. We have the opportunity to fail in our endeavors, as well as the opportunity to succeed! How we exercise those rights and opportunities is entirely up to us.

Thomas Paine was not just a "man of his time"... he was a man for all times, and his words ring as true today as they did on December 23, 1776! Where will you be when the voices of opposition are silenced... right before the other noises begin?

DOJ Investigates CIA Over Use of "Severe Techniques" During Terrorist Interrogations

According to one of the wire services - "Several key Democrats and officials with Amnesty International and the American Civil Liberties Union said Tuesday that the potential prosecutions are a start, but they said the probe does nothing to investigate the actions of officials who sanctioned the brutal interrogation program."

So, lets see just who is upset over this... the left-wing headhunters who blame the Bush administration for everything since the crucifixion, the bleeding hearts who always side with those who have done wrong, and the American Communist Lawyers Unlimited who expend great time, energy and money defending anything designed to destroy the foundations of our nation. (It's always good to look past the heroic-sounding names to find out who the players really are and identify their true agenda.)

What is it they are upset about? Probably the only thing even close to a "severe technique"in this "brutal interrogation program" is waterboarding... which is something akin to a face washing on steroids. After waterboarding, comes those vicious techniques of threats and intimidation, and embarrassment.

Look at this word: TERRORIST. The first six letters spell TERROR, and the last three letters mean "practitioner of". So the CIA interrogators were dealing with PRACTITIONERS OF TERROR.

The first step in a successful communication - of any kind - is to use a language that the other party understands. It logically follows that if the party with whom you are trying to have a successful communication deals in inflicting terror upon others, then that is a language he or she will understand.

The next consideration is fluency in the language of the communication. In order to be effective, the interrogator must be generally as fluent as the person with whom he/she is trying to communicate, to insure the message is not misunderstood, without having to use the nuances of beheading, maiming, castration, murdering, or setting fire to their captive terrorists to "get their point across". If you are communicating in a language which is foreign to you, you do not want to be embarrassed by your clumsiness/inabilities in that language! Terrorists understand TERROR, so let's terrorize them... and feed them nothing but pork products!

Town Hall Meeting - Grants Pass OR - Aug 12, 2009

Well, by golly... I went to my first Town Hall meeting this afternoon. The meeting was scheduled for 5:15pm, and people began arriving around 3pm, which I know because I took a motorcycle ride past the Ann Basker Auditorium at 3pm and there were two people already waiting. I returned there about 3:30 after ironing a collared shirt to wear, so I'd "look respectable". By the time 5:15 rolled around there must have been about 4oo people crowded outside that venue.

You may recall that I have mentioned before how these politicians seem to choose their venue carefully and based upon limited seating capacity, so they don't have to hear too many complaints about how Washington is ruining the country... well, today was no exception! The Ann Basker Auditorium seats (or did for this particular event, anyway) 140 people, when 3 blocks away there was the Grants Pass High School Performing Arts Center that has a capacity of several thousand people.

Defending Obamacare was Congressman Peter DeFazio (D - 4th District, OR), whose voting record is generally liberal, yet he didn't impress me as a radical left-wing nut job. In the past, DeFazio has shown flashes of courage and independence, by not always keeping in the prescribed "party lock-step" mode. "Perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer" (thank you Henry David Thoreau) sometimes. These actions are not so infrequent as to be called rare, really, but they are infrequent enough to enable him to avoid the label of "Blue Dog Democrat". ("Defending" may not be the right word to begin this paragraph with either. He pimped the party line, but he did so without great enthusiasm. My take was that he was beginning to lean in the direction of Obamacare, but that he lacked the moral conviction to commit his full energies to that bill.)

By now you're probably wondering to yourself, "Well?? How the hell did the Town Hall meeting go?" Prior to the meeting there were some lukewarm exchanges outside, but no fists were thrown, nor were people really "getting in each others face", nor were they raising their voices much above that volume necessary for normal conversation in a crowd of that size. All-in-all it was pretty boring outside. Once the doors opened there was a semi-uncomfortable rush to get inside, since they had announced how many seats were available just before they opened the doors to the auditorium. (Luckily, I was the tenth person in line and made it inside within the first 5 seconds after the doors opened. And yes, I did push past a couple of left-wing, union line jumpers to accomplish that feat.)

After everyone was seated and awaiting the arrival of Rep. DeFazio, there was a bit more of the "lukewarm" antagonism tossed back and forth between the liberal, left-wing "I want the Government to be my daddy and take care of me forever." crowd, and the conservative, right-wing "We want the Government to stay the hell out of our lives, to follow the Constitution, and to allow us access to what we need to take care of ourselves!" group. And again, nothing got out of control. There were several times one group or the other tried to shout down a speaker, but regained their composure and returned to acting as adults within 10 seconds or so. Feelings ran strong on both sides, but there were no physical confrontations at all, and the verbal confrontations (also called "disagreements") were of very limited duration, and only at a slightly elevated volume. I believe there was an unplanned balance in the attendance, and it seemed that the number of people either for or against Obamacare was about even. There are certain media outlets that are claiming the Obama administration has "plants" in the audience of the Town Hall meetings, and that may be true to some small degree, but I believe the left - at least at our Town Hall meeting - was primarily represented by genuinely concerned citizens... as was the conservative right. BUT - those so-called "Town Hall Meetings" at which Obama appears are another story entirely. Of course they will be stacked with Obama supporters! What good politician (isn't that an oxymoron?) who is pimping his pet project wouldn't want to be seen on national TV with maximum support if he could arrange it? And, since the Secret Service provides the entry control at any Presidential event, they determine who gets inside and who doesn't. If you don't know the "secret handshake" (which would literally be something like having an invitation or your name on a guest list) you don't get in. Wearing a T-shirt that reflects conservative values, or if it displays any message that is contrary to Obama's socialist plans is also enough to keep you out.

According to plan, Representative DeFazio was Mr. Punctuality and arrived at precisely 5:15pm, and he departed at 6:16pm ( I won't fault him for a 1 minute overrun, but I will report it because it was so close to being perfect timing). The Josephine County Sheriff attended in his official capacity, along with a Deputy and two Grants Pass City Officers. DeFazio had a good handle on the subject matter (even if it was replete with party propaganda), and had obviously "done his homework". He even claimed to have read the entire 1108 page bill!

There were the usual concerns on each side - National health care vs private insurance; "How old will the government let me live to be"; and, "Where's the money coming from for this program?", etc. The only question he really dodged was, "IF Obamacare is so good, why aren't the House, Senate and Executive branch using it instead of just the rest of the citizens... why do YOU need gold plated health care?"

Did I come away from the Town Hall meeting feeling that I had learned anything new, or was inclined to change my mind about how I felt? No. Did I feel more comfortable about the ever-increasing role of our ever-expanding Government in our lives? Not a bit. Did I feel as if I had just wasted an hour of my life? Not exactly... it could have been more enlightening, but it wasn't exactly a Black Hole in my life either. Besides, anybody that goes to a meeting with any politician, and expects to come away from that meeting with a different understanding or perspective is going to be sorely disappointed.

I'm certain there are others who were in attendance, and heard the same words I heard - but carrying a totally different message than the one I heard - that felt as if the weight of the world had been lifted from their shoulders by Rep. DeFazio. I am equally certain there were those who left the meeting feeling as if the weight of the world had doubled in just 61 short minutes. And then there were the rest of us...

There's no way I could be wrong about this, since it is my perception of what I experienced this afternoon. So, neener-neener-neener to those of you who may think I am wrong!

Obama's 4 Ds - Disagreement, Disregard, Disenfranchisement, and Disinformation

It should have come to our attention by now that your "President" does not appreciate having his desires and actions questioned, for He is "The One". Oh, yeah ... he's The One, alright. He's the one whose only proven organizational ability is that of "Community Organizer", a "job" in which his primary function was to teach people how to be loud, boisterous, and civilly disobedient. He also trained them in how to be disruptive to those conducting the business of government, and how to refuse to take "NO" for an answer.

Now, when truly disappointed, frustrated and angry citizens attend "Town Hall Meetings" and demonstrate that disappointment, frustration and anger to their elected representatives, through their general demeanor and passionate, heart-felt outbursts Obama and his left-wing allies cry "foul". The Democraps seem to believe that when the left does these same things, it's just honest emotion, and therefore fine with them. But... when anybody who can see through the smoke, mirrors and misdirection of "The One" has the audacity to actually verbalize that belief, they are immediately demonized as "puppets of the wealthy Republicans", "unruly mobs", "racists" and "tea-party loons" by the left. (By the way, the attendees at the nationwide "tea parties" this past April 15th were an amalgam of Americans who are unhappy with the direction Obama and his cronies are taking this country. There were people of every stripe and color - Republicans, Independents, Libertarians, Constitutionalists, and yes... even a few liberals and intelligent Democrats. (We even had some neo-Nazi skinheads - whom we peaceably frustrated - show up at our tea party in Grants Pass Oregon. Their demeanor wasn't the least bit belligerent, but we felt their message wasn't an appropriate one for our rally.) All cultures and colors were represented - whites, blacks, native Americans, Mexicans, and Asians in attendance. There were natural-born citizens and naturalized citizens. There were Christians. Jews, Muslims, Hindus, some of the Orthodoxies (Greek, Russian, etc.), and atheists and agnostics there also. I saw no indication of any significant "wealth" there - no Armani suits, Rolls-Royce automobiles, or Gucci handbags - 99% of the attendees were quite casual in their manner of dress. Among the crowd of about 1,000, there may have been 10 people wearing something other than jeans, tennis shoes/flip-flops or boots, and a t-shirt or pullover. I saw one tie, and two sport coats. These were everyday, working-class folks who were demonstrating their concern about the direction (or is it misdirection?) our government is taking. The left wishes to denigrate those people who make up the backbone of America, and classify them as the "lunatic fringe". After all, one would have to be a lunatic to be in opposition of anything The One wanted done!

"We the People" are tired of being ignored by our elected officials! We are tired of ever-expanding, tax and spend government. We are disgusted with a government which bails out private corporations - to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars - using taxpayer money to do so. We are sick of ridiculous health care proposals that would euthanize, or at the least, withhold necessary life-saving treatment from the elderly, the disabled, and the chronically ill. We are angered by a government that insinuates itself further into our privates lives, and that ignores our Constitution in order to foist bogus, unnecessary, and expensive social programs upon us. We are confused and frustrated by a government that believes it can borrow - or print - money to recover from a financial crisis, all the while instituting more of the aforementioned "expensive social programs". (We spend our way into bankruptcy, not out of it!)

We are no longer the beneficiaries of government by the people... we have now become the victims of government of the people by the elitist, Marxist-socialist rich. Over 40% of our elected officials are multi-millionaires, and the remainder are just extremely "well-off". A few of those elected "representatives" brought their wealth with them into the office, the others made their wealth from within the office... I can't help but wonder how they made all that money from a job with a starting pay of $174,000 per annum? If they banked their entire pay - without spending so much as a penny of it - for 5.75 years they would just barely qualify as a millionaire. We have the best government that corporate and special interest money can buy!

As far as dissatisfied citizens "forming organized, orchestrated, and choreographed unruly mobs" is concerned... they ain't seen nothin' yet! These town Hall Meetings have, for the most-part, been held in (suprise) town halls. A town hall is generally a small, cramped venue with a capacity of perhaps 200 people in a large town hall. To hold these public meetings in a larger auditorium would allow too many people to attend, thereby taking too much of our elected representatives precious time, and perhaps it would also insure that he or she got an earful of what their constituents actually wanted! That could be disconcerting if the people wanted something that conflicted with what corporate America, the Special Interest groups, PACs and good paying lobbyists wanted. They choose the path of least resistance for themselves when it comes to hearing what people really think. If they want to see a MOB they should wait until 50,000 people march on Washington D.C. - which may happen in the near future.

I could be wrong about this, and your Congressional Representatives and Senators could actually care about you.

Obama Orders Closure of Guantanamo

There's no surprise in that, as any good left-wing, bleeding-heart, socialist liberal will tell you. But, that's not the end of it, OH NO! He also wants to bring those that are not released into the United States, give them all the benefits of our constitution, try them in civilian courts, and provide them with civilian attorneys!

Here's what's wrong with those ideas:

1. Personally (and I know all the Constitutional Law scholars would disagree with me), I don't believe that anybody who is not a citizen of this country should be entitled to the protections guaranteed by our constitution. I'm a bit flexible on that belief if somebody can show me a rational argument indicating that I'm wrong. So far though, nobody has.

2. Bringing them into this country gets them closer to their desired targets - Americans!
3. Trying them in civilian courts is absolutely ridiculous. These people are not peaceful demonstrators, they are enemy combatants detained by the US military as a result of, in many cases, armed, confrontations with US military forces. These cowards are not civilians, nor are they uniformed military, nor do they represent the publicly stated policies of any sovereign nation's government. What they are is organized armed thugs wishing to do physical harm of a terminal nature to all Westerners, and anybody else that does not believe exactly as they do! They hide among the civilian populations of the Middle East, attack from within those populations, and then when we respond to those attacks, they whine to the global left-wing media about Western forces injuring civilians. They are prisoners of war and, as such, they should be outside the purview of civilian courts, and subject to trial only by military tribunal. Never in the history of the world have run-of-the-mill prisoners of war been tried in civilian courts, why should we begin now?
4. Providing them with civilian attorneys is equally ridiculous, for the above reasons, PLUS the expense of their defense would be paid for by our tax dollars! On the other hand, perhaps all those good, left-wing, ACLU attorneys will provide their services pro bono ... but don't hold your breath while waiting for that to happen! Obama has already told us that he wants a national budget in the TRILLIONS of dollars, to bring his socialist give-away agenda to fruition. I sense that smug feeling of victory will soon disappear from those Americans who were so emotionally overwhelmed at Obama's election to the highest office in the land. It's called the Peter Principle ...

I could be wrong ... but, I'm NOT!

Political Plums Being Harvested Already - Leon Panetta To Head CIA ... Was Sean Penn Unavailable?

"WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President-elect Barack Obama has chosen former White House chief of staff Leon Panetta to lead the CIA, which has been widely criticized for harsh interrogation of terrorism suspects..."

I don't know who to feel the most sorry for - Obama for his stupid choice for CIA Director; Panetta for being so far out of his element; or the American people ... for having to suffer a fool in either office! Kiefer Sutherland, based on his "experience" as Agent Jack Bauer in the TV show 24, probably knows more about the internal operations of the CIA than does Leon Panetta. Panetta is best known as President Bill "Zipper" Clinton's Chief of Staff, and as a budget expert who tamed deficits in the Clinton White House. I'm confused ... how do either of these positions - or anything else in Panetta's résumé - qualify him him to oversee the largest single intelligence function of the United States Government?

So far, it appears that not only do we get a President with no proven qualifications, now he has shown himself to be foolish enough to surround himself with equally unqualified cabinet members. Or, does his Cabinet provide a buffer zone of deniability, selected by careful design to insulate Obama from policy failures? Is there more treachery afoot than meets the eye?

Obama's first really big mistake will be to turn his back on Israel. I could be wrong ... but I'm NOT!

OPEC Tries Leveraging Non-OPEC Oil Producing Countries!

The following was extracted from a Reuters News Service article dated November 15, 2008 -

"TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran's OPEC governor said on Saturday talks were underway on cooperation between OPEC and producers outside the cartel to reduce oil output, following tumbling crude prices in recent months.

"Now there are negotiations that non-OPEC countries cooperate with OPEC to lower output to some extent because if they don't ... or if they increase output, they have neutralized OPEC's action," Mohammad Ali Khatibi said in an interview broadcast live on Iranian state television."

OPEC's obvious intention is to attempt to further damage a struggling world economy, while OPEC members continue to bathe in money. The question then becomes: How can the United States protect itself from energy banditry by OPEC? OPEC is made up of people who would have no petroleum industry had it not been for western exploration, organization and technology.

Here's a brief history of the development of the petroleum industry as it exists today:

1. Oil drilling began in the U.S.A. in 1859, and wasn't taken to the middle east until 1901 when the first oil concessions were contracted with Persia (now Iran).

2. 1917 - The U.S. produced two-thirds of the world's oil!

3. 1932 - The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was created as a sovereign nation, and in 1933 the first oil concessions in Saudi Arabia were granted to Standard Oil of California.

4. 1937 - Oil was discovered in Saudi Arabia and, in 1945 U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and King Abdul Aziz of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, make an agreement whereby military protection of the Kingdom would be provided in exchange for oil supplies.

5. 1948 - Ghawar, the world's largest oil field, discovered in eastern Saudi Arabia.

6. 1950 - Completion of the 1,056 mile long Trans-Arabian Pipeline (TAPline). The Trans-Arabian Pipeline Company, a joint venture by Standard Oil of New Jersey (Esso), Standard Oil of California (Chevron), The Texas Company (Texaco) and Socony-Vacuum Oil Company (Mobil), was a major factor in economic development of Lebanon after independence and especially in the emergence of the south. TAPline was an important industrial adventure in global trade, the petroleum industry and American-Middle East politics.

7. 1953 - United States and Britain staged a coup d'etat against the democratically elected government of Iran's President Mohammed Mossadeq after he nationalized oil resources.

8. 1956 - Renowned Geophysicist, Dr. M. King Hubbert gave a speech outlining "the science of peak oil," in which he predicts US peak in 1970 and world peak in mid-1990s (the latter might have happened if the 1973 oil embargo had not reduced consumption).

9. 1960 - Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) formed.

10. 1961 - Iraq makes effort to seize Kuwait, stopped by British military.

11. 1964 - World oil discovery peaks.

12. 1965 - Middle East oil production exceeds that of the United States.

13. 1968 - Oil is discovered on the Alaska North Slope by British Petroleum Corp (BP).

14. 1969 - Oil is discovered in the North Sea.

15. 1971 - US petroleum production peaks.

16. 1973 - The Saudi oil embargo results in gas lines in the United States. President Richard Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger secretly contemplate seizing oil fields. The Alaska Pipeline is approved by Congressional vote, thereby exempting it from Federal law.

17. 1974 - Arab oil embargo ends.

18. 1975 - Oil drilling begins in North Sea.

19. 1977 - The Alaska pipeline opens ... President Carter gives a televised speech declaring that the energy crisis is the "moral equivalent of war."

20. 1979 - Gas lines return. On July 15th, 1979 President Jimmy Carter gave the following impassioned speech to America (emphasis added) - "What I have to say to you now about energy is simple and vitally important.
Point one: I am tonight setting a clear goal for the energy policy of the United States. Beginning this moment, this nation will never use more foreign oil than we did in 1977 -- never. From now on, every new addition to our demand for energy will be met from our own production and our own conservation. The generation-long growth in our dependence on foreign oil will be stopped dead in its tracks right now and then reversed as we move through the 1980s, for I am tonight setting the further goal of cutting our dependence on foreign oil by one-half by the end of the next decade -- a saving of over 4-1/2 million barrels of imported oil per day.
Point two: To ensure that we meet these targets, I will use my presidential authority to set import quotas. I'm announcing tonight that for 1979 and 1980, I will forbid the entry into this country of one drop of foreign oil more than these goals allow. These quotas will ensure a reduction in imports even below the ambitious levels we set at the recent Tokyo summit.
Point three: To give us energy security, I am asking for the most massive peacetime commitment of funds and resources in our nation's history to develop America's own alternative sources of fuel -- from coal, from oil shale, from plant products for gasohol, from unconventional gas, from the sun.
...In closing, let me say this: I will do my best, but I will not do it alone. Let your voice be heard. Whenever you have a chance, say something good about our country. With God's help and for the sake of our nation, it is time for us to join hands in America. Let us commit ourselves together to a rebirth of the American spirit. Working together with our common faith we cannot fail. Thank you and good night." (Point one didn't exactly come to pass, and now we're paying the price for it - again.)

21. 1988 - Alaskan pipeline production peaks - hits maximum output at three quarter billion barrels a year

22. 1990 - Iraq invades Kuwait. The United States Central Command is engaged in a war game exercise called "Internal Look" at this time that simulated Iraq invading Kuwait. In mid-August the United States starts sending troops to Saudi Arabia, Operation "Desert Shield" beings.

23. 1991 - Operation Desert Storm - US drives Iraq out of Kuwait, decimates Iraqi infrastructure.

24. 1993 - NAFTA Treaty established, which gives the United States some powers over water and fossil energy resources in Canada and Mexico.

25. 1994 - In March of 1994 Dr. Paul Wolfowitz, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, stated the following:
“The United States and the entire industrialized world have an enormous stake in the security of the Persian Gulf, not primarily in order to save a few dollars per gallon of gasoline but rather because a hostile regime in control of those resources could wreak untold damage on the world’s economy, and could apply that wealth to purposes that would endanger peace globally.” Wolfowitz concludes, “Given this permanent stake in the security of the Persian Gulf, the Gulf War provided an opportunity to base security on a foundation of credible commitment by the United States and its coalition partners.”

26. 2008 - The world sees oil prices top $140 per barrel, and watches as gas pump prices skyrocket.

Okay - I did say a brief history (covering 150 years in 26 points isn't excessive), and that pretty much brings us up to date. Prices have dropped significantly in October-November, but that will change if/when OPEC gets its way. What we need to do in order to protect our interests is to DRILL NOW! However, with the radical left taking control of our government in January of 2009, we undoubtedly will not do anything we need to do to insure our Nation's security - physical-, military-, economic -, or energy-security.

I could be wrong .............. and I HOPE I AM!

(but, I seriously doubt that I am ... )

Standard Liberal Voting Position

Guns, Guts and ... OH MY GOD! He got elected!

Well, the election is over, and so are many of the things I had come to love as a cultural traditionalist. This is not a 'wait and see' condition, it is a given if NObama runs true to his demonstrated character. There will be a left-wing push for a Constitutional Amendment to - or revocation of - the Second Amendment, in spite of the Supreme Court's recent ruling validating the individual citizen's right to keep and bear arms.

The reaction to this possibility has been astounding! In preparation for the expected left-wing modification/elimination of our rights, gun sales have skyrocketed, applications for Concealed Firearms Permits have doubled in some areas of the country, and the availability of ammunition has become sparse in many areas across the country.

Personally, I purchased an extra 200 rounds of 5.56mm ammuntion today, and ordered three 30-round magazines for my Mini-14. This brings me up to 500 rounds and 8 magazines. Then there's my 500 rounds of .45acp, and 10 magazines, and the additional 750 rounds of 9mm, and 8 magazines - altogether about ½ of what I will eventually have on hand. Plus there's about 600 rounds of .22 long rifle ammunition. Oh - and I almost forgot! I also have 150 rounds of 12ga shotgun shells, mixed 00-buckshot and slugs. I'll need to increase that level to 300.

And now, some of you are surely wondering, "What in the hell is this guy going to do with all that ammunition?" Nothing spectacular. I will - undoubtedly - shoot some of it in the near future:
a. to insure that my guns are functioning properly, and
b. to insure that I can consistently hit whatever I may have to aim at in the distant future.

I will neither create another Ruby Ridge, nor will I start my own 'branch' of the Branch Davidians. Homey don't play that. What Homey do play is the oath that he has taken several times during his life ... I, (NAME), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same. There's more, but as I see it, the remainder doesn't apply to me, since I am no longer a member of our active duty military, or the National Guard or Reserves - but I am, and always have been, an American citizen. And this is one citizen who takes that oath seriously! Have you noticed that in countries where private gun ownership is severely restricted - or prohibited - that their people are seldom citizens ... but, rather, SUBJECTS?

I could be wrong ....................................but I'm NOT!