Category Archives: 2012

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Oh!, I’m not stopping my blog. It’s the last post of the year, 2012. It’s New Years Eve. Snow is falling lightly outside. The temperature is hovering at freezing and the forecast calls for more snow throughout the day and into tomorrow.

My wife ran some last minutes errands this morning and we’re set for whatever may come—snow, ice or blizzard. Every year I promise to get an emergency generator and every year I don’t. I just hate to spend money on something that I may never use. I keep reminding myself it’s like insurance and I always forget. We’d need at least a 5KW generator at minimum. Then add the wiring necessary to have it perform properly and venting for the exhaust when it does.  

Not cheap.  And, I’m cheap; a holdover from my Depression Era parents and grandparents.

Truthfully, I’m not concerned about the weather. I have a strong tendency towards Cabin Fever. Before, if I started getting jumpy, I’d just get in the Tahoe and go somewhere…anywhere. The “where” didn’t matter. That’s not a real option at the moment. Saturday, the Tahoe’s transmission started slipping between gear shifts. Manual shifting appears to work but I’d rather not push it. I’ve phoned for an appointment at my friendly auto mechanic. He’ll return my call Wednesday, I expect.

I could drive my wife’s car, a rollerskate, in an emergency but I’d need a shoehorn to get in and help to get out. Not a viable option. So I’ll sit here, waiting for Wednesday and a callback.

Happy New Year!

***

The crazies come out at the end of every year. There were some examples in my American Thinker newsletter this week.

Professor Calls for Death Penalty for Climate Change ‘Deniers’

It is as inevitable as the rising of the sun; the Left, when thwarted in their quest for power, suggests the use of lethal force to compel those who disagree.

There is a nauseating litany of murders done by our betters in their pursuit of the Benthamite vision of “the greatest good for the most people” — which in their minds equates to collectivization and socialism. You have Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Margaret Sanger, Mao Tse Tung, Pol Pot. Now we can add one more name to the list: Professor Richard Parncutt, Musicologist at Graz University in Austria.

Parncutt has issued — and later retracted after it the public outcry — a manifesto calling for the execution of prominent “Climate Change Deniers”. What is interesting is that Parncutt hates the death penalty and supports Amnesty International’s efforts to end it.

This would be a shocking thing for a college professor to do were it an isolated incident, but this call has been made a number of times in the past. For instance, an anonymous poster at the liberal website Talking Points Memo called for similar action, as did Climate Progress editor Joe Romm, who called for “deniers” to be strangled in their beds. Grist magazine writer David Roberts called for Nuremberg trials for “deniers” and NASA’s James Hansen has likewise called for similar trials.

A common denominator of this kill-crazy proclamations is that they all are made by public employees…state-supported academics and government employees. They all hide behind their tenure, unions, government employee regulations that makes it nearly impossible to fire them; as long as they don’t embarrass their boss…too much.  You see, their bosses agree. That’s the real issue. Imagine the uproar if we declared the same for anyone supporting unproven pseudo-science as do these wackos?

Idiots.

***

Every once in a while an article appears that really invokes thought.  This is such one.  The title attracted me and then I read more. It’s really true that fiction is more often accurate than reality.

There is No Escape

Every once in a while we try to escape to one of those rare, childlike, stay-in-your-pajama’s, popcorn-munching days when we can block out the fear of a collapsing economy and hide from a repulsive culture that seems to embrace everything that is bad. Lately it just doesn’t work.

Settling in for an original “Star Trek” TV series episode called “A Piece of the Action,” I was shocked as it seemed more like a mocking commentary on our current crises.

Searching for a space vessel lost 100 years earlier, the crew of the USS Enterprise arrives on the planet Sigma Iotia II. The planet has been “contaminated” after salvaging a book from the lost vessel called Chicago Mobs of the Twenties; a book they now venerate and base their civilization on. Conventional government had broken down and society was now a tumult of mob bosses, crime, death, and revenge; it could operate no other way. One can’t help but think what an appropriate Rahm Emmanuel/Barack Obama scenario it was; similar to when Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals contaminated our own civilization.

Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/12/there_is_no_escape.html#ixzz2Gf6aVkRD

It’s a long article but I urge you to follow the link and read the entire column.  The parallels draw in it are astounding, amazing and incredibly accurate.

***

Y’all have a great New Years! Make sure you survive it.

 

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Tuesday’s Notes

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There have been a number of items appearing of interest today. Some are significant like the RNC attempting to establish a dictatorship within the party. Some, like the passing of Neil Armstrong, are life events of the changing times.

The RNC, as usual, stumbles along. They continue to associate Ron Paul with the Tea Party when he is not. Ron Paul and the Tea Party agree on a number of items but Ron Paul marches to his own radical drummer while the Tea Party follows another. Paul’s statement about Bin Ladin is a prime example of those differences. Paul fails to understand that the border for national security lies on their shores, not ours.

***

I received an e-mail today from city hall. It announced that the flags around town would be at half-mast in memory of Neil Armstrong. I watched Neil Armstron step on the moon in 1969 when I was assigned to Keesler AFB. I had just arrived a few days before to begin training. I and some friends were watching the landing in the BOQ dayroom.  It was all in black and white and somewhat grainy. The audio was clear fortunately. The transmission from the moon didn’t have the band-width for color.  All the color shots and videos were on film and brought back to be developed later.

I remember some commentary concerning the fate of the two in the lander if it could not take off. Whether they had “suicide pills.” The supporting technology, while extensively tested, was not really stable. So much of today’s advances were developed during that period as by-products of NASA and the space program.

Neil Armstrong refused to benefit from his feat. For a time he would give away his autograph. Then he discovered people were selling them for outrageous sums. He stopped autographing after that. He didn’t mind giving his signature but he didn’t want others to profit from that gift.

Goodbye, Neil. You’ll be remembered. You’ve left your legacy on Mare Tranquillitatis, beyond the reach of petty politicians here on Earth.

***

For those of you who’ve read my earlier posts about Ron Paul know I’m no fan.  However, he and the Tea party won a common victory yesterday against the ‘Pub establishment.

The establishment ‘Pubs were pressing a rule change that would disenfranchise any delegate who did not swear fealty to the establishment. The rule would force the state organizations to be puppets of the RNC.  When the proposed rule was published, a Hue ‘n Cry arose and the rule was amended to remove that tyrannical provision.

Republicans reach rules change deal to avert floor fight with Texans, Ron Paul backers

Republican leaders moved Monday to quell an uprising by Texans and Ron Paul supporters that threatened to steal the spotlight from GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney and expose rifts in the party right as its nominating convention got under way.

Under a compromise reached late Monday, Romney supporters and GOP leaders agreed to back down from a proposed rule change that effectively would have allowed presidential nominees to choose what delegates represent them at national conventions.

The proposed change was aimed at muting the power of insurgent candidates such as Tea Party favorite Ron Paul but prompted an uproar from Texas Republicans, who select their delegates through successive votes in conventions at precincts, then districts and finally statewide.

…

“We believe in Texas as a principle that no presidential candidate nor the RNC should be able to tell Texas who can or cannot be a delegate to the national convention,” Davis said.

“This isn’t Reagan versus Ford, Goldwater versus Rockefeller,” Davis added. “This is George Washington versus King George.”

And Texas Republican Vice Chairwoman Melinda Fredricks had flatly told RNC rules committee members Sunday night that the Lone Star State would stand its ground.

“The Texas delegation considers the new rule . . . an unacceptable infringement on our right to freely choose our delegates to the national convention,” she said in an e-mail to the committee members. “We realize not every state selects its delegates in the same manner we do, and perhaps you find it hard to understand what has us so worked up. Frankly, we find it hard to understand how your delegations would be willing to give away their rights.”

While this rule change was aimed at Ron Paul and his delegates, it also affected those delegates for Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and others. The delegates who supported the Tea Party would be as affected as those for Ron Paul.

I’ll give Paul credit for this. His organization lead the fight.

***

I found the following article during my daily scan of internet news.  The Washington Times is a good conservative source of information. However…this article doesn’t ring true.  The Tea Party, of all organizations, studies the Constitution more than the rank and file of the ‘Pubs.

Be that as it may, here is that article. It does bring forth questions. Just how knowledgeable are we?

Embracers of the Constitution are baffled by what’s really in it

Voters see rights they don’t have

By Stephen Dinan – The Washington Times, Monday, August 27, 2012

TAMPA, Fla. — They say they stand for a return to constitutional principles, but it turns out tea party supporters are just as confused as to what rights and powers are in the federal government’s founding document, according to the latest The Washington Times/JZ Analytics poll.

Most Americans say they’ve read all or most of the Constitution, but they tend to see more rights than the document actually guarantees, and struggle over what the Constitution says about the powers and structure of government itself.

For example, 92 percent of those surveyed said the Constitution guarantees the right to a jury trial, but only 40 percent knew that it grants Congress the power to coin money, and just 53 percent said it establishes Congress‘ power to levy an income tax.

And voters thought they had protections that they don’t have — at least not in the Constitution: 71 percent said the it protected the right to a secret ballot and 58 percent said it guarantees a right to education, though neither appears in the document.

“What most studies find is that many people think they know a great deal about the Constitution, but when asked specific questions about our founding document as a country they really miss the mark,” said Doug Smith, executive director at the Center for the Constitution, based at James Madison’s Montpelier home.

…

But The Times/JZ Analytics poll found self-identified Republicans and self-identified tea party sympathizers often shared the same views as other voters. For example, 66 percent of Republicans and 65 percent of tea party supporters said the Constitution guarantees a right to privacy, which was almost identical to the 68 percent of all voters who said the same thing.

The same held true on Congress‘ power to coin money and the right to a secret ballot.

Republicans, though, were far less likely to say the Constitution guarantees the right to education — which it does not — than the general public. While 71 percent of Democrats and 55 percent of independents said education was in the Constitution, only 47 percent of Republicans did.

…

He also said civics education has deteriorated, adding that he learned about the Constitution in ninth grade, but his daughter, who just completed that grade, did not.

The Washington Times article continues to a second page. I urge you to read the entire article. It contains some interesting information and implies that the lack of civics education has been driven by the federal government. I can’t speak to that but like the writer above, I was taught the federal and my state constitution as a requirement for graduation from high school.  My daughter, who graduated from a private Christian school, did not. Perhaps we should make this a goal of our new ‘Pub administration?

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Thieves in the night…

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There are a sundry of news items on the ‘net today. Although it’s not getting much press with the State Media, the political news is that Ron Paul says he’s not going to spend anymore money trying to win votes and delegates in the remaining primaries.

No, Ron Paul has another plan. What he can’t get through the ballot box, i.e., delegates to the ‘Pub convention this summer, he’ll use his supporters to seize in state conventions what he couldn’t win in the local caucuses.  This tactic was exposed in recent news items out of Iowa.

“I think we’re going to spend money and campaign time in Iowa making sure that we have ID’d every single delegate to the state convention and that we turn out all of our delegates to the Iowa state convention to make sure that they vote and get their voices heard,” Benton says.

The man who was elected chairman of the Iowa GOP in February is a Ron Paul supporter and former campaign aide. Ron Paul supporters now hold a majority of seats on the Iowa Republican Party’s state central committee.

“We want to get our people involved in the process,” Benton says, “and we want our people in positions of influence.” — Radio Iowa.

Ron Paul came in a distant third after Romney and Santorum in Iowa. That doesn’t matter to the Ron Paul controlled Iowa state ‘Pub committee. No, they’ll use parliamentary procedures to “pack” the convention. Apparently the plan is to disenfranchise the Romney and Santorum local delegates in favor of those who will toe the Paul party line.

We have seen such tactics here in Missouri. Ron Paul partisans seized control of a number of Missouri county caucuses in Jackson, Boone, St. Charles and other counties.  In the district caucuses, Ron Paul partisans attempted to seize control as well.  They failed. Across Missouri, Romney, followed by Santorum won most of the delegates with Ron Paul getting four and Gingrich one. 

The remaining Missouri delegates will be chosen next month at the state convention. I am already hearing rumbles that Ron Paul partisans will attempt a power play to gain more delegates. Unlike Iowa, the Missouri central committee tilts toward Romney the last I heard. But…the same delegates that attended the District Caucuses will likely attend the state convention. And, those counties controlled by Ron Paul have large delegations. There is still a chance for an ambush by the Paulbots.

Ron Paul knows he has no chance of winning anything via the ballot box. But, like any wannabe tyrant, he’ll not let such a technicality to be an obstacle. What he can’t achieve in the light of day, he’ll try to take “like a thief in the night.”

I don’t know what Paul thinks he’ll achieve. Even if he is successful, he still won’t have enough delegates to win the party nomination.  Pundits speculate that Paul wants concessions—selecting his son Rand Paul for Veep, adding items to the party plank such as an audit of the Federal Reserve or perhaps a cabinet position (Treasury?) for Paul.

Whatever the reason, his tactics, such as his supporters heckling Romney’s son in Arizona, are reminiscent of some 3rd-world dictator. Here is a quote from a Paul supporter in Arizona. Perhaps this quote is more telling about Paul’s tactics and goals than my speculation.

Paul supporters hope to disrupt conventions across the country. Their intent is to force a second vote at the national convention, in which they are not bound to Romney who won delegates in the primaries.

One young woman told the Paul supporters that they must not value the democratic process because they are trying to subvert the will of the people who mostly supported Romney. Mitt Romney won 47 percent and Ron Paul won 8.6 percent of the vote in Arizona’s primary vote. The remainder of the vote was divided between Gingrich and Santorum. — Arizona Daily Independent.

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Coasting to Nowhere

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     There has been several articles recently that speculate that not only is Obama over his head as President, he never realized the position actually required some work.  What a surprise!  It is, however, not too far from reality.  Obama has never had to work in his life.  He’s been the darling of the left, funded by them, supported by them, his mistakes shielded by them and his records hidden by them.  He’s never really been before public scrutiny in his life.

     Talk about being slapped with reality.

     Tony Katz, writing in the PJ Tattler, had this to say.

Will Obama Quit Rather Than Lose Re-election?

On my radio show, I have been discussing the 2012 presidential race, and when mentioning Obama, I have said, “Obama can’t win re-election.  I don’t even know why he is running.”  I have made this declarative statement on my show, as well as interviews on other radio shows around the country.
While some have made mention that it is too early in the race to make such a statement, and that such statements are generally reckless, I stand firm on my words.  Certainly, I could be wrong, and I advocate that no one give up working hard on the race to unseat him, but the writing is on the wall….and, now, on the web.
In today’s  “Morning Jolt” from Jim Geraghty over at NRO, he – knowingly or otherwise – makes my case by quoting Morrissey and Noonan.  From Peggy Noonan, Geraghty quotes:

The market is dispirited. I’m wondering if the president is, too, and if that won’t carry implications for the 2012 race. You can imagine him having lunch with political advisers, hearing some unwanted advice — “Don’t go to Martha’s Vineyard!” — putting his napkin by his plate, pushing back from the table, rising, and saying in a clipped, well-modulated voice: “I’m tired. I’m going. If they want this job so much let them have it.”

     When you look at Obama’s pattern of behavior, when things get tough, he goes golfing.  When things get really tough, he goes on vacation.  When he was informed of the earthquake in Virginia yesterday, an earthquake felt in Martha’s Vineyard, what did Obama do?

     Nothing.  Not even a public statement.

     Pundit Ed Morrissey writing in Hot Air said this.

posted at 10:20 am on August 21, 2011 by Ed Morrissey

I’m not talking about resignation, or just refusing to offer any proposals until after the next election. What if Obama simply decided not to run for a second term as President?

The thought occurred to me after reading Peggy Noonan’s piece this week for the Wall Street Journal, which argues that Obama has already quit in a practical sense:

The phrase of the day is “new lows.” It blares from every screen. The number of Americans satisfied with the ways things are going hits new lows—11%. President Obama’s popularity: new lows. The Dow Jones Industrial Average this year: new lows. Maybe it will enter ordinary language. “Charlie, it’s been ages. How are you, how’s Betty?” “I’m experiencing some volatility, but she’s inching toward new lows.”

The market is dispirited. I’m wondering if the president is, too, and if that won’t carry implications for the 2012 race. You can imagine him having lunch with political advisers, hearing some unwanted advice—”Don’t go to Martha’s Vineyard!”—putting his napkin by his plate, pushing back from the table, rising, and saying in a clipped, well-modulated voice: “I’m tired. I’m going. If they want this job so much let them have it.” …

The president shows all the signs of becoming a man who, around the time he unveils his new jobs proposal in September, is going to start musing in interviews about whether anyone can be a successful president now, what with the complexity of the problems and the forces immediately arrayed, in a politically polarized age, against any specific action. That was probably his inner rationale for not coming up with a specific debt-ceiling plan: Why give the inevitable forces a target? But his refusal to produce a plan became itself the target. Reverse Midas.

Under these circumstances he could not possibly be enjoying his job. On the stump this week in the Midwest, he should have been on fire with the joy of combat, he should have had them whooping and hollering with fresh material and funny lines. But even at his feistiest, he was wilted. Distracted. Sometimes he seems to be observing himself and his interactions as opposed to being himself and having interactions. His audiences wanted to show support, it was clear, that’s why they came. But there was something tentative in their response, as if they wanted to come through for the applause line but couldn’t figure out exactly where the applause line was. The president was dropping his g’s, always a terrible sign, a kind of bowing that assumes he speaks from a great height. He also started saying “folks” again. That too is a tell. It’s the word politicians who think they’re better and brighter than normal people use when they’re trying to make normal people think they’re normal.

Nothing says that Obama has to run for a second term in office.  We have had Presidents walk away from opportunities to run for re-election.  Prior to FDR, that would include every President who didn’t run for a third term, of course, but there are examples in the post-22nd Amendment era, too.  Harry Truman was specifically exempted from the term limits imposed by the constitutional amendment but chose not to run for a second full term in 1952.  Lyndon Johnson also chose not to run for his second full term in 1968.  Both men made those choices at least in large part because they had become so unpopular that they clearly couldn’t win, especially LBJ.

     I heard part of a radio interview of two democrat strategists in Iowa while monitoring the Iowa Straw Poll.  Both were extremely disappointed in Obama. One said they should have run Hilliary Clinton in 2008.  If that were the case, they wouldn’t be is a position of seeing a slaughter of their democrat ranks in 2012.
     Ed Morrissey continues.

If Hillary took Obama’s place in 2012, Republicans would face a much tougher electoral map.  They would still have the advantage of running against Obama’s record, but the GOP may not capture that disaffected Democratic working-class vote if Hillary also ran against Obamanomics and promised a return to Clintonian prosperity.  The eventual Republican nominee would have at least a tougher task in winning those votes and the White House.  And even if Hillary lost in a general election — Democrats lost the White House in 1952 and 1968, coincidentally both times with Richard Nixon on the Republican tickets — the Democrats might save a few Senate seats with an improved turnout in key states.

     Everything I’ve observed of Obama supports the hypothesis that Obama has quit and is coasting until his term expires.  That speculation is not solely from conservatives but, looking at comments as a whole from the left, it is rising among democrats as well.

     I’ll finish this post with a cartoon from Glenn McCoy.  Sometimes cartoons speak paragraphs.

Mama Griz

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I made an earlier post about the New York Times and Washington Post recruiting to examine 13,000 Palin e-mails written during her term as Alaska’s Governor.  Those e-mail were just released by the state.

Palin has been making a tour of the US with her family with “journalists” following her like fleas.  Charles Hurt of the Washington Times notes that it isn’t wise to keep prodding “Mama Grizzly.”
HURT: Watch out for Mama Grizzly Palin’s bite
** FILE ** In this May 31, 2011, file photo, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin walks to the door of Trump Tower for a scheduled meeting with Donald Trump in New York. Thousands of Palin's emails from her first two years as governor are being released by the state of Alaska, a disclosure that has taken on national prominence as she flirts with a run for the presidency. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle, File) 
** FILE ** In this May 31, 2011, file photo, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin walks to the door of Trump Tower for a scheduled meeting with Donald Trump in New York. Thousands of Palin’s emails from her first two years as governor are being released by the state of Alaska, a disclosure that has taken on national prominence as she flirts with a run for the presidency. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle, File)
By Charles Hurt – The Washington Times 5:42 p.m., Tuesday, June 14, 2011
You don’t exactly have to be Grizzly Adams to know that if you go out to shoot an Alaskan bear, there is one rule that rises above all others. Whatever you do, just don’t wound the bear.

Kill it, miss it, don’t shoot, run and hide, whatever. But if you hit it, you better kill it. Because the last thing you want coming after you is an angry wounded Alaskan bear with nothing to lose.

This is particularly true of the famed mother grizzly bears of which Sarah Palin has warned us Lower 48’ers about.

“In Alaska, I always think of the mama grizzly bears that rise up on their hind legs when somebody is coming to attack their cubs, to do something adverse toward their cubs,” she told us a while back. “You thought pit bulls were tough, well you don’t want to mess with the mama grizzlies.”

Unfortunately for liberals everywhere and professional Republicans here in Washington, Mrs. Palin’s wildlife lesson came too late. Or, so ascendant into their rarified air from the brutalities of nature or the concept of actual consequences in life, they simply failed to heed her wise counsel.

So, for years now, these liberals and professional Republicans have been out hunting this powerful, ferocious Mama Grizzly. Being mostly sissies from the city or generally opposed to gun ownership, none of them have been properly armed.

The Palin-hating left go after her with their peashooters, homemade slingshots and bullhorns that only annoy the Mama Grizzly.

Even funnier to watch are the professional Republicans who have had such heartburn ever since the Mama Grizzly was invited into their country club, causing scenes and tipping over cocktail carts with her wide swagger.

These fellows profess to cherish their Second Amendment rights but the best they can muster is a .22 target rifle like the ones skiers use in that ridiculous Winter Olympics competition. Even with aim worthy of an Eagle Scout badge, these small loads just bounce off bear hide.

Most hilarious of all is watching the goth Washington press corps stumble about. They whip out their throwing stars and nunchucks from youth, march as a pack into the woods and quickly discover they never did really learn how to use their weapons with any effectiveness. Especially not against the Mama Grizzly. The best was watching them last week poring over emails while live-blogging their embarrassing failure for the entire world in real time.

Which brings us to “Undefeated,” the new movie about Mrs. Palin’s life before she was thrust into the unforgiving glare of the national stage. John McCain’s disastrous campaign introduced her as a “hockey mom” but this movie reminds us that Mrs. Palin had a very impressive political career before we knew her.

She was a successful mayor of a booming town and took on Big Oil and the entrenched Republican Party in her state to become the wildly popular governor of the nation’s largest state.

“Undefeated” is powerful and persuasive for anyone open-minded enough to watch it. The film contains so much of the left’s caustic and vulgar hatred of Mrs. Palin that the uncut version is rated “XXX.”

Who knows whether the movie is as successful as it deserves to be. But if people do watch it, they will have a hard time walking out without a renewed respect and admiration for Mrs. Palin and the horrifying treatment she has endured.

And if Mrs. Palin emerges unscathed from all the the hate, prejudice and distortion that she has suffered though, there will be no stopping her. She will be the Mama Grizzly, rousted from her slumber with nothing but fury for those who have threatened her cubs.

You can read the entire article here.

There is a lot of speculation whether Pain will run in 2012.  There are polls out that 45% of the respondents say that if Palin runs for prez on the ‘Pub ticket, it will be bad for the party.  This was a Rasmussen poll and his are usually fairly accurate.  But I have to question the veracity of the poll.  Who were the respondents?  Where were they? What was the actual question and what were the choices offered. Given the poll’s headline, you also have to realize that 55% must have indicated that it would be good for the party if Palin runs.

Rick Perry is expected to announce soon whether he will run in 2012.  Michelle Bachman has already announced her candidacy.  Frankly, I could vote for any of the three.

My first choice, however will be Sarah Palin.

Cartoons of the Week: Chuck Asay, Ramirez

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New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is winning his battle against the state’s debt, spending and unions. When the teacher’s union complained about not getting pay-raises, Christie told them, in so many words, to take a hike. If they didn’t like the conditions, find another job.

Horrors! Working in the private sector!!!

The more I see of Governor Christie, the more I like him. To bad he’s refused to run for Prez in 2012. He’d still be a good candidate as would Bobby Jindal or Sarah Palin.

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This week, Obama changed the direction for NASA. You know, that federal organization that landed a man on the moon, launched the Space Shuttle and built in orbit the International Space Station. Yes, that NASA.

Well, now, we’re not going to Mars, nor even back to the moon. The Space Shuttle’s last flight is scheduled in September and will be scrapped after that. The only remaining access to the International Space Station will be via Russian capsules like the one that failed to dock this week and spun off into space with needed consumables for the station.

And what is NASA up to now?

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a recent interview that his “foremost” mission as the head of America’s space exploration agency is to improve relations with the Muslim world.—FoxNews.com, July 5, 2010.

Big shoes indeed. The ghost of dead astronauts must be haunting Administrator Bolden for such remarks.

Oh yes, he’s an Obama appointee.

Sarah Para Bellum

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This has appeared before, originally on the Free Republic, but it never hurts to repeat it. There was some controversy when it first appeared. It was attacked vociferously on the Daily KOS and other liberal sites and, unfortunately, by some republicans as well.

To me, the drawing depicts a strong, independent woman, who is determined to work towards her goals and does not mind getting her hands dirty. She’s ready to do physical labor and also to defend herself, her family and her nation against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

BTW, I’d be proud to vote for Sarah Palin for President in 2012.

Sarah Palin Immortalized With Remington 870 Pump
Written by Irwin Greenstein

In the shadow of Capitol Hill, a forgotten patriot consigned to America’s trash heap of the unemployed has created a new national symbol that celebrates the values Sarah Palin holds true.

A man who goes only by the name of Dale has cast Sarah Palin as the lost daughter of the World War II heroine, Rosie the Riveter – but with a twist.

Norman Rockwell’s classic 1943 Saturday Evening Post cover of Rosie shows a rivet gun in the lap of our plucky aircraft assembly-line worker during her lunch break. Dale has replaced it with a Remington 870 pump shotgun.

Dale explained in an email to us…

I replaced Rosie’s rivet gun with a Remington 870 12 gauge pump action shotgun, affectionately known as a “street sweeper” by law enforcement and military users. This classic weapon has a proud history for the defense minded everywhere and to my mind exemplified Palin’s unflagging support for our second amendment rights and preparedness to clean up the country while defending against all enemies foreign and domestic. A call to vigilance, not violence.

Dale calls his stunning poster, Sarah Para Bellum, inspired by the Latin maxim si vis pacem, para bellum: “If you wish for peace, prepare for war.”

Sarah-Para-Bellum

Sarah Para Bellum

But there has been little peace for this graying man, who is now a numeral in the database of America’s unemployed compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Shortly after Sarah Para Bellum appeared on the conservative web site, Free Republic, a writer with the screen name Devtob, launched into a rant against Dale’s illustration on the liberal blog, the Daily Kos. Devtob not only slammed Dale for his Rosie cum Sarah Palin, he mistakenly identified the pump-action Remington 870 as an over/under (since corrected).

As Dale observed in an email:

The old adage applies, what do you expect from people who don’t know which end of the tube the round comes out of?