Category Archives: Signs and Portents

Overheard at the barbershop

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A blogger friend frequently leads his posts with, “Heard in the ‘bolance…” I’m emulating him today about a discussion I had with my barber last week.

My barber is the current owner, of a string of owners, of the barbershop where I’ve been getting my hair cut for a long time, several decades, since I got out of the Air Force. My barber started as just another hair-cutter. She saved her money and when the last owner retired, she bought the shop. In the time I’ve known her, she’s raised a family and now has grandchildren.

I’m not sure how we approached the subject. Somewhere in our conversation she said she and twenty of her ‘girlfriends’ were taking CCW training the following day. She made the statement, “Getting one while she could.”

It was a strange statement, I thought. There is no movement in Missouri to abolish concealed carry. Nation-wide, the trend is just the opposite. Even Illinois, the last holdout, now has concealed carry. The first 5,000 certificates were mailed out this week.

Heller and McDonald ended any idea that the 2nd Amendment applied only to militias, or the National Guard, according to rabid liberals. The May-issue vs. Shall-issue controversy received a probable fatal blow this week when the 9th Circus, uhh, the 9th US Appellate Court, declared ‘May Issue’, in light of Heller and McDonald, was a denial of 2nd Amendment rights. The first case was against the San Diego Sheriff. That decision was echoed in a second case against another Sheriff.

Because of these court actions, I was surprised to hear my barber be so pessimistic about concealed carry and ownership of firearms in general. She, like all too many, is not a follower of 2nd Amendment news. In fact, she’s not a follower of the news in any form. She acquires bits and snips of information, frequently invalid information, from the internet and friends.

What she is, however, is a fair barometer of state of mind of American citizens at large. And that barometer foretells a storm season. I hadn’t told her that I was carrying concealed. There had been, until that time, no need. The conversation proceeded about how she planned to stash a pistol in her barbershop. She mentioned velcroing a holster to the back of her barber chair. I suggested that a pistol hidden in the shop would defeat its purpose if she was not at that spot when a need occurred. What would she do, I asked, if she needed that pistol and she was not at her chair but on a smoke break in the rear of the shop or sitting, reading during a slack period several feet away from her hidden pistol? I suggested she carry on her person instead. Her barber smock provided perfect concealment of a pistol in or outside of her waistband.

The entire conversation was an indication that normal, run-of-the-mill citizens are fearful, worried, not about crime so much as deeply concerned about the course of government. When I mentioned the confiscation threats being issued by the Connecticut and New York state governments, it was completely new to her. She was surprised, dismayed, and…enraged!

As I said, she was not a follower of the news. She was a typical representation of the vast majority of citizens living their lives, mindful of the growing governmental interference, who simply want to live life as they have been. But everyday, in some way, that vision of life is being changed, and not, in their view, for the better.

You see satirical articles, such as the one below, every day, it seems. This article used to be an inside joke—inside to those who are 2nd Amendment supporters. But it is new to some like my barber. To them, it isn’t satire aimed at over-reaching government; it is a strong possibility that is not fantasy nor satire.

The police panic in Boston last year following the Boston Marathon bombing is still fresh in people’s mind. (If you have a Facebook account, you can see a gallery of photos of illegal police actions.) The scenes of police invading homes without warrants could happen anywhere government becomes oppressive.

72 People Killed Resisting Gun Confiscation in Massachussetts!

Posted by Staff on March 09, 2014

Boston – National Guard units seeking to confiscate a cache of recently banned assault weapons were ambushed by elements of a Para-military extremist faction. Military and law enforcement sources estimate that 72 were killed and more than 200 injured before government forces were compelled to withdraw.

 

Speaking after the clash, Massachusetts Governor Thomas Gage declared that the extremist faction, which was made up of local citizens, has links to the radical right-wing tax protest movement.

Gage blamed the extremists for recent incidents of vandalism directed against internal revenue offices. The governor, who described the group’s organizers as “criminals,” issued an executive order authorizing the summary arrest of any individual who has interfered with the government’s efforts to secure law and order.

The military raid on the extremist arsenal followed wide-spread refusal by the local citizenry to turn over recently outlawed assault weapons.

Gage issued a ban on military-style assault weapons and ammunition earlier in the week. This decision followed a meeting in early this month between government and military leaders at which the governor authorized the forcible confiscation of illegal arms.

One government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, pointed out that “none of these people would have been killed had the extremists obeyed the law and turned over their weapons voluntarily.”

Government troops initially succeeded in confiscating a large supply of outlawed weapons and ammunition. However, troops attempting to seize arms and ammunition in Lexington met with resistance from heavily-armed extremists who had been tipped off regarding the government’s plans.

Of course, the article is satire, an updated version of the Battle of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775. To people like my barber, it brings a troubling possibility home. New York and Connecticut have already threatened their citizens that police break in their homes and seize so-called ‘assault’ weapons and ‘large-capacity’ magazines. Shotguns, too, in the case of New York. To a growing number of Americans, that threat is no longer a fantasy and certainly not satire.

While she finished my haircut, we had a nice conversation on the merits of auto-loading pistols versus revolvers. I think she will begin with a revolver…at first. Like all so many things, once you’ve bought your first firearm, you just can’t stop at one.

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So it begins…

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Yesterday, Harry Reid detonated the nuclear option in the Senate by arbitrarily changing the Senate rules concerning federal appointments, including the Judiciary. Before Reid’s act, appointments required a 60 vote super-majority. Reid changed that to a simple majority.

Immediately after the vote, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) called for more reforms—eliminating the filibuster for legislation. Harkin’s call for eliminating the filibuster was retaliation against Senator Ted Cruz’s and Rand Paul’s filibusters this year.

Reid’s act and Harkin’s call to eliminate all filibusters is a blatant power grab effectively making the Senate a democrat rubber stamp. The days of polite discussion, of gentlemanly discord are gone. The democrats have known this for decades. The ‘Pubs, hopefully, have finally realized the same. Politics has turned bloody. When will the ‘Pubs realize you don’t show up unarmed to a gun-fight?

I’ve said before, our current history appears to be a repeat of those days before the start of the Civil War in 1860. The issue then was not solely about slavery, although that was a very significant issue. A major issue at that time was the loss of political power by the Southern States to the more populous and economically powerful North. Tariffs and trade issues were passed that favored the North to the detriment of the South, issues that reduced the South’s trade with Europe. The result, when the South saw no other recourse,  was Secession.

Reid’s act yesterday followed immediately by Harkin’s call to eliminate all filibusters is another step that mirrors the conditions immediately before December, 1860. South Carolina seceded on December 20, 1860. Is it coincidence that Reid’s elimination of 225 of Senate tradition, of a history of a balance of power, happened in November? Are we approaching a day like that of 153 years ago?

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Positive Discrimination. What is that? It’s better known by its other name, Affirmative Action. Erick Erickson was invited to a debate on the issue at Oxford in the UK. The debate subject was “that positive discrimination is a necessary evil.”

Oxford Union Results: Winner

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  November 21st, 2013 at 08:03 PM

It is after midnight here in Oxford, UK as I write this.

Tonight, I debated in the Oxford Union — a society that has gathered each Thursday night for a black tie debate since 1823.

The proposition debated tonight was “that positive discrimination is a necessary evil.”

The side favorable to the proposition went first and vice versa to the end with me as the final speaker of the night. Each side had four participants — one student and three guests. The proponents included both Martin Castro and Ada Meloy, along with Carla Buzasi and Oxford student Toby Fuller. My side included Richard Kahlenberg, Heather McGregor, and Oxford student Martine Wauben.

I must thank Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity for encouraging me toward talk radio. I spoke for 8 minutes unaided by notes, which would have been impossible, but for two years of doing a talk radio show consisting of just me talking with no script. If you’ve ever seen the British House of Commons, you know how it went. We all stood beside dispatch boxes given by Winston Churchill. We all were interrupted by points of information by opponents.

Everyone told me I should expect to lose. Just last week the Oxford Union voted against patriotism. I simply made the point that positive discrimination, or affirmative action, is still discrimination and evil is still evil. Likewise, I pointed out that the United States is 150 years removed from the Gettysburg Address, we have our first black President, and we still have people clamoring for positive discrimination. We cannot trust that those who benefit from it will ever say we need no longer have it.

Likewise, I pointed out that we have had and will always have racism. A government that claims we are equal under the law, but still sees racism is not a government we can expect to write a law to dramatically get rid of racism.

But we do know that those negatively affected by positive discrimination will be bitter and those who benefit from it will always be under a lingering doubt that they were chosen as tokens, not on merit.

I had a wonderful time, topped off by a pint of Guinness with my wife and friends. Thanks for the prayers along the way. A guy who sounds like me somehow convinced a group of Brits that affirmative action is wrong.

My side won by 9 votes.

I agree with Erick Erickson. Discrimination, positive and negative, is evil and must be abolished. I prefer a meritocracy, myself.

mer·i·toc·ra·cy  (mr-tkr-s)n.pl.mer·i·toc·ra·cies

1. A system in which advancement is based on individual ability or achievement.

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An act of tyranny. The FEC by a 3-2 vote, refused to grant an exemption to the Tea Party Leadership Fund allowing them to keep their donar list private. The FEC has granted exemptions to the NAACP and the Socialists Worker’s Party but not the Tea Party.

Divided FEC rejects tea party group’s bid to conceal donors

Groups said disclosure opened door to harassment

By Kellan Howell – The Washington Times, Thursday, November 21, 2013

A sharply divided Federal Election Commission on Thursday denied a request from a leading tea party group for an exemption from disclosing its financial backers to protect them from harassment.

The FEC board voted 3-2 against a motion to exempt the Tea Party Leadership Fund. The fund will have to continue to disclose donors who contribute more than $200, despite its contention that its donors should be given an exemption given to special persecuted groups such as the Socialist Workers Party and the NAACP during the civil rights era.

FEC Chairwoman Ellen Weintraub, quoting Supreme CourtJustice Antonin Scalia, said “requiring people to stand up in public for their political acts fosters civic courage, without which democracy is doomed.”

Commissioner Steven Walther, who also voted against the fund’s motion, said the group was “not a minor organization” requiring special protection from the normal rules of disclosure.

The TPLF “has a lot more muscle and a lot more money,” Mr. Walther said. “I don’t think the donors are really worried about threats to themselves and safety issues that plagued the Socialist Workers Party.”

But Commissioner Matthew Petersen, one of the two Republican members of the panel who supported the exemption request, said the TPLF’s petition documenting past harassment justified the group’s request. The fund submitted more than 1,400 pages containing examples of harassment, ridicule and threats against tea party members from the media and the general public. The submission also noted the still-simmering scandal over whether the Internal Revenue Service deliberately targeted some conservative groups applying for federal tax-exempt status for special scrutiny and regulatory delays.

The case of the TPLF, Mr. Petersen said “is just as strong as, if not stronger than that of the Socialist Workers Party. I think [TPLF] is entitled to exemption.”

The FEC will grant exemptions to leftist, socialist organizations but not to conservative ones. This is what we get when Obama and the dems have unlimited power to appoint heads of federal agencies.

Tick…tick…tick…

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Convergence

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There was a movie a couple of years ago called, The Perfect Storm. A number of weather events converged to create a monster storm in the Atlantic. It’s beginning to appear as if a Perfect Storm is building in Washington, DC.

There are three scandals coming to light in Washington—four, if you include the Kermit Barron Gosnell trial in Philadelphia. First is the Benghazi investigation. We now know that not only were the Marine guards reduced during Hilliary’s term as SecState, that warnings of the attack were received in advance, that security forces were stood down from the beginning of the attack and the WH and the State Department tried to blame a You Tube video that was uploaded months previously and that had very few viewings.

The second is the IRS’ attempted intimidation by audit of the tax-exempt status conservative and Jewish groups supporting Israel and of those similar groups applying for tax-exempt status. We now know this affront was started in the IRS HQ in Washington, not solely in the Cincinnati field office as initially claimed. In fact that Cincinnati office isn’t a field office at all. It is the prime office governing Tax-exempt applications and audits of those tax-exempt organizations. This scandal continues to grow as more evidence is being uncovered that shows the audits of conservative and Jewish groups was much wider than initially thought.

The third scandal that has just appeared is the DoJ’s “investigation” of reporters of the Associated Press. The DoJ wiretapped 20 lines in the AP’s Washington office and seized telephone records of hundreds of reporters. The DoJ has refused to explain their actions. So much for Obama’s administration for the 1st Amendment and freedom of the press.

The pressure on Obama is mounting and the stress is showing. He’s acting more and more erratic. In a fundraiser at Harvey Weinstein’s home with Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel, he blamed Rush Limbaugh as the reason why ‘Pubs won’t cooperate with him and give him a rubber stamp to do whatever he wants. It’s like a child having a hissy-fit when that child doesn’t get what he wants. It is reminiscent of Nixon wandering the halls of the White House during his last days, conversing with the ghosts of past presidents and crying in the arms of Henry Kissinger.

However, Nixon was, by heritage, a Quaker. Obama’s heritage is that of a socialist, a Marxist.  Nixon, under pressure, reverted to his heritage. He sought forgiveness and redemption, an inculcation of his Quaker heritage that lead to his resignation.

We don’t know what Obama will do under pressure, but we can assume he won’t resign like Nixon. No, I would expect Obama to be more like Hitler, hiding to the last in a bunker as events sweep toward him, lashing out against his foes to the end.

In the mean time, we live under that old Chinese curse: “to live in interesting times.” Personally, I’d rather it’d not be quite so interesting. However, that option was taken from us with Obama’s reelection.

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What’s really going on?

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I am not a conspiracy theorist. I believe many, who exhibit those symptoms, have their tin-foil beanies on too tight. On occasion, however, when multiple sources cite multiple instances of similar events, you really have to wonder what’s going on.

What am I talking about? The militarization of the Department of Homeland Security.

Their are credible reports, reports that present irrefutable facts that the DHS, and other federal agencies, too, is militarizing. They are buying obscene amount of ammunition, 1.6 billion rounds, small-arms, and IED resistant, armored vehicles—MRAPs.

Beginning several years ago, the DHS began stockpiling ammunition, most, but not all, in .40S&W, a favored pistol caliber of law enforcement and federal agencies. They also bought large amounts of 5.56mm rifle cartridges, and 12ga 00 shotgun shells. 

Add to that the 2,700 armored MRAPs transferred from the Army to DHS, and a newly announced purchase of 360,000 more rounds of ammunition, and any rational person begins to get suspicious.

Add one more item to all of the above. DHS is freeing illegal aliens, criminal illegal aliens because of “sequester.” What a farce! Let’s estimate the cost of all that ammunition. Conservatively, let’s say each round costs $1.00. (Current prices for .40S&W hollow-point ammunition is in excess of $25 for a box of 20.) DHS could have spend that $1.6 billion on prosecuting the illegals DHS has in custody. Instead, Janet Reno turned them loose.

Think what could happen when all those criminals hit the streets—another manufactured crises? Some of those conspiracy theorists claim the FedGov is preparing for a coup. I can’t subscribe to that. Not quite, but it certainly is suspicious.

I’ll leave you with Michael Ramirez’s latest cartoon…

ramiriz_03252013

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Why does it feel like June 1914?

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This train of thought was triggered by blogger friend, Tam.  She wrote a short post noting the similarities of the current world events with those in the months prior to World War I.

Like pre-World War I Serbia, the RIFs around the world are rioting. Supposedly the cause of the rioting is a 10 minute YouTube video that had around a thousand views before 9/11/2012.  The Obama White House jumped on this excuse with both feet to cover the fact that the real reason of the riots were a planned series of attacks by a renewed Al-Qaeda—a renewed Al-Qaeda that thrived in the vacuum created by Obama’s policy of Mideast appeasement.

The riots were aided by Obama’s state department orders that removed the Marines from Libya and disarmed the Marine guards in Egypt. Obama and Hilliary Clinton ignored warnings that could have protected the Americans in Libya but did not.

The First World War started due to a cascade of events that triggered the mutual assistance treaties of the initial participants: the  Triple Entente among the British, French and Russians and the Triple Alliance of Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and Italy on the other. Like our Gulf Wars One and Two, the First World War was preceded by the Balkan War of 1908, The Boer War of 1880 and1899 and the Franco-Prussian War of 1870.

The ignition of that war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife. The assassination was preceded by months of protests and riots using the pretense of the earlier Balkan War of 1908. By coincidence, Britain’s Prince Harry may have been an unintended target recently during a Taliban attack on a NATO base where the Prince was assigned.

Here is where the similarities between now and WW I begin to emerge. Today’s Mideast riots were planned by Al-Qaeda.  They are nothing more than a continuation of the wars and war-like acts going back to the creation of Israel, the several Israeli-Arab wars, the two World Trade Towers attacks and Gulf Wars I and II. When you include the tension between China, Japan and the Philippine Islands over the oil rich islands and coral reefs of the South China Sea, the coincidences can be amazing.

The members of the Triple Alliance perceived a weakness among the members of the Triple Entente. They thought the Triple Entente signers would not honor the alliance. Likewise today, the US has mutual assistance treaties with Japan, Israel, the Philippine Islands and NATO. Our enemies see weakness in the US by the bunglings of Obama and Clinton. They see weakness in the economic disarray of the European Union, and, like the Triple Alliance of the last century, believe the current treaties will not be honored. The misperceptions of the Islamofascists, the Islamic Brotherhood and China could lead us to another global conflict that would rival the participants of World War I.

The election coming in November has an importance that extends far beyond our national borders. A Romney win and a repudiation of the Obama policy of Islamic appeasement could forestall another global conflict—one that could include tactical nukes if Iran completes her nuclear program or acquires a few nuclear weapons from Pakistan. The danger of a regional nuclear war is very real.

China has nuclear weapons as well. Japan has the knowledge and material to build nuclear weapons quickly if they perceived a real need.  Survival threats can easily overcome Japan’s nuclear phobia if the US does not stand as a shield against China.

We know the Islamofascists are not sane. We believe the Chinese leadership are sane…as long as they believe they can maintain their power. If China believes their need for resources, the oil fields of the South China Sea are such that the lack could endanger their position, they, too, may be willing to threaten to use nuclear weapons in a seizure of the contested islands and oil fields.

It is a perilous time. The Twentieth Century has been named, “The War Century” by some historians. The Twenty-first Century has the potential to be one as well.

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Bad News for Obama

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This last week is probably one Obama wishes he could forget.  The popularity numbers on his presidency continue to fall. About the only ones who still like him are Europeans.  Even his own party said his so-called Jobs bill was DOA.  So far, no democrat is submitted Obama’s “bill” to Congress.

Now this report from Powerline explains how Obama’s worse days are still to come.

Obama’s Last Chance

Posted on September 16, 2011 by Steven Hayward in 2012 Presidential election

Future historians are likely to look back on this week as the period Obama passed the point of no return for his presidency, and they may identify today, September 16, as the single most important day in his undoing.  I wonder if Obama has any clue that his presidency is collapsing in real time?  Dumb question: of course he doesn’t.
Yes, I was obviously playing around with my post earlier today on “Operation Chaos,” but then something deeply serious occurred here in Washington that I didn’t notice until the evening news: 36 Senators from both parties held a big press conference calling on the debt ceiling supercommittee to “go big” with sweeping pro-growth tax reform—one that would slash deductions and lower rates dramatically.  In particular, I was struck by Oregon’s Sen. Ron Wyden, a smart liberal, who cited the 1986 Reagan-tax reform that he said created millions of jobs.  He may not be correct strictly speaking about the job creation bit, but that misses the point:
This press conference was not meant for the supercommittee.  It was meant for Obama.
It is already crystal clear that Obama’s jobs bill Stimulus II can’t even pass the Democratic Senate, let alone the House.  It is such an obviously transparent play to try to set up his own re-election as Harry Truman redivivus, but the political mistake Obama has made is thinking that Democratic Senators whose own poll numbers are collapsing (78-year-old Dianne Feinstein is 60 percent closer to retiring next year according to the latest California polls) will want to be his advance guard and vote for a suicidal measure on his behalf.  The Senate press conference today was as close as you’ll get to a political intervention—they are trying to tell Obama, in the midst of his “you-love-me-pass-this-bill” tour, that he has one chance to save his presidency.
…
Obama is so besotted with class warfare mentality that he is unwilling to grasp the one huge bipartisan opportunity that is in front if him—an opportunity that has been in front of him for months.  He doesn’t care about economic growth; he cares only about redistribution and gaining more political control over the economy.  His dismissal of his own deficit commission last year showed his inclinations on this.
I reckon Obama has only about four days to see the light on this.  Harry Reid has said the Senate won’t take up his urgent jobs bill Stimulus bill until after their next recess.  If Democratic Senators go home without a course change from Obama, you can count on them coming back to DC with the attitude of “Obama jobs bill?  What Obama jobs bill?  Obama?  Obama who?”

Yep, even his own party is turning on him.  Piece by piece, so is the State Media. There are, and will be, a number of investigations on the Obama Administration.  “Fast and Furious,” the BATFE gun-running operation with Mexican drug cartels, is just the beginning.  

I predict that before the investigations end, someone is going to jail.  Even with Nixon’s Watergate scandal, no one was murdered.  The murder count with “Fast and Furious” continues to climb.

I came across a blurb on the internet that Las Vegas odds makers are betting Obama won’t complete his term—he’ll either resign like Nixon, or be impeached like Clinton—only unlike Clinton, he won’t get off.  I don’t remember the actual odds but they weren’t favorable to Obama.

The results of New York’s 9th Congressional District is like the writing on the wall (see the Book of Daniel.)  It portends hard times for democrats and liberals.

The people of this country are still smarter than the democrats and liberals think they are.

Observations: Wednesday, September 14, 2011

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Fall arrives a week from today.  Where did summer go?  It seems only like last week that Vacation Bible School started and the local pools and playgrounds were filled.  The adage that time accelerates as you get older is obviously true.

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Earlier this week I wrote about “Signs and Portents”, referring to the upcoming special election in New York to fill the Weiner’s House seat.  The polls at that time indicated the ‘Pub, Turner, was ahead.  The polls were right. Turner beat democrat Weprin.  It is the first time a non-dem will  hold that seat in over a hundred years.  More amazing is that the district is 40% Jewish and Weprin is also Jewish.  Jewish voters turned against one of their own.

Yep. Signs and portents.

Perhaps Obama’s policies against Israel have made a few voters understand just who are their allies.  Evangelical Christians are uniformly strong supporters of Israel.  I submit that Jews and Christians have more in common than Jews and liberals.

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As I’ve written before, I have no preference in the ‘Pub herd for President.  I have eliminated a few.  Romney, Ron Paul, Huntsman were never in the running as far as I’m concerned.  

I’m reluctantly eliminating another, Michele Bachmann. She attacked Perry about his executive order to provide HPV immunizations in Texas.  It was a mistake and he’s admitted it should have gone to the legislature instead of him issuing an Executive Order.

That’s the facts.

What is not true is the statement it would force all girls to be immunized.  Contrary to Bachmann’s claims, there was an opt-out option.  It should have been an opt-in option but the fact is that no girl would be forced to be immunized without parental consent.  Bachmann knows that and lied.

Strike one, Bachmann.

If Bachmann had stopped there, I would continue to look at her as a viable candidate. But she didn’t.  After the debates she spoke with Greta Van Susteren’s on Fox. She continued her claim that girls would be forced to be immunized, implied that Perry had been bribed by Merch, the company that produced the vaccine, and that the drug caused mental retardation.

There are no facts indicating any retardation after the immunizations.  Bachmann claims a mother after the debate said the immunization caused retardation in her teen-aged daughter. Bachmann spread that claim without bothering to investigate the facts. 

Strike two, Bachmann. 

The claim that Merch influenced Perry is untenable.  The information is publicly available to prove those claims false. If Merch had bribed Perry, that would be a crime.  Where are the facts.  True, Merch donated $5000 to Perry’s campaign.  They also donated similar amounts to other candidates.  Did they “bribe” those candidates too?

Unlikely. This is another variation of “Governor have you quit beating your wife?” strawman argument.

Strike three, Bachmann!  You’re out!

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I have to confess, I’m a people watcher.  And, listener.  I like to go to various greasy spoons for lunch and observe people and listen to their conversations.  You hear the wildest things that way. 

You also pick up trends and how the social and political winds are blowing.  The winds in New York’s 9th Congressional District are blowing here too.

Many of the patrons of the greasy spoons are blue-collar workers.  Landscapers, construction workers, plumbers, electricians, retirees, and minor politicians.

Most of these people have been democrats.  They grew up in democrat households. They belong to unions. They’ve played petty party politics for generations.  They now have to face the reality of that history.

They don’t like it.

When you hear union members being in favor of Right-to-Work, the unions are in danger.  When you hear blue-collar, self-employed tradesmen complain about taxes, licenses and fees, state and federal regulations, the burden of sustaining a family business, a core constituency of the democrats is in danger.  When you hear democrat pols talk about cutting spending and taxes, the democrat party is in danger.

I think the elections next year will be worse for the democrats than they have ever envisioned.

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The Census released the yearly poverty statistics this week.  What a joke.  The income levels for poverty does NOT include income from welfare, WIC, food-stamps, the Earned-Income-Tax credit (the negative income tax.)  That flaw makes the entire report false.

It comes down to: If you don’t like the figures and they don’t support your agenda, change the rules.

If it works for unemployment figures, it can work elsewhere too.

More governmental lies.

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Overhead at lunch this last weekend.

Man with union hat: “You watch Obama the other night?”

Companion: “Nah.  Watched the game.”

Man with union hat: “Me, too. Didn’t miss anything.”

Companion: “Yeah. Can’t believe anything from those turds.”

Man with union hat: “Yeah, he’s toast.”

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Fall has arrived a few days early. The highs today will only reach the mid-60s and that will continue until the weekend.  The long-range forecast has temps only in the mid 70s at the highest.  Summer  is over.

Stone Soup, September 13, 2011

I can understand, Alix.