Submitted by DickBachert on Wed, 08/20/2008 - 13:55.
Sorry but if this guy is elected, American will be IN a fix. It's STILL a dangerous world populated with millions of folks who wish to stamp out freedom and destroy this country. As if more proof were needed, the Ruskies just handed it to us in Georgia.
I think I have just figured out who Barack Obama reminds me of.
I have long been a Peter Sellers fan (you 20 somethings will need to run the name through a search engine).
While perhaps best known as Inspector Clouseau in the original “Pink Panther” flicks (not the sorry recent Steve Martin knock-off), my personal favorite Sellers role was that of Chance Gardener in the classic “Being There.”
If you’ve never seen it, rent it. Given the meteoric rise of Obama, it is MOST timely.
Chance is, in fact, the gardener at the estate of a wealthy family and, through a series of “chance” encounters with the wealthy and powerful friends of the family and an equally freaky series of prophetic comments, he, like Obama, swiftly rises to international prominence as some kind of wise sage. World leaders flock to him for advice and counsel, hanging on every slowly uttered remark.
Turns out Chance is, in reality, a moron whose demeanor and manner of speaking caused those around him to attribute to him a wisdom and intellect he simply does not possess. His utterances are almost verbatim recitations of lines he has seen -- on television. Fits right in with the VH1/MTV/ET generation of “voters.”
Now, I’m not calling Obama a moron. This dangerous character is ANYTHING but a moron.
What causes me to compare him to Chance are the eerie similarities in their manners of speech – although Hussein speaks a BIT faster -- and demeanor coupled with the absolutely MORONIC public RESPONSE to them both. That Obama has virtually NO record by which to assess his qualifications for the highest office in this nation and that his KNOWN positions are about as inimical to what USED to be traditional American values as anyone on the scene today doesn’t seem to bother those who now gather around him to hang on every pronouncement.
Sadly, that says more about the American people who quest after a new “messiah” to make their lives “good” again (almost always at the expense of others) than it does about their new hero-du-jour who is cunning enough to pander to that desire for political and personal gain.
At the end of “Being There,” Chance has rather stupidly wandered into – or, more accurately ONTO – a small pond on the estate. The final shot shows a bewildered Chance standing ON the surface of the water, looking about trying to recall how he got there.
I can only wonder when The New York Times will treat us to a front page shot of the NEW would-be savior of mankind walking on Lake Michigan.
The difference will be, of course, that the empty suit named Obama will know PRECISELY how he got there.
"I grabbed a pile of dust, and holding it up, foolishly asked for as many birthdays as the grains of dust...I forgot to ask that they be years of youth."
Thank you for commenting on the post. We need dialogue and, yet, the blogosphere is strangely and eerily silent. There are undercurrents that want to paint Barack Obama as anything, but a leader...whisperings about communism, Islam...You mention the book Being There. The book was written by Jerzy Kosinski, familiar with the landscape of hate, he wandered throughout post war Europe as an orphan, subjected to the most vile human behaviors. Yes--America has a terrible tendency to look for messiahs, but what constitutes the experience you think we need to run this country? I want someone who is able to diffuse the hate in our landscape. We have allowed our country to be run by hate. Barack Obama is the antithesis of the message of hate.
Submitted by DickBachert on Wed, 08/20/2008 - 15:20.
Re. hate, you apparently have never read his book or the now sealed thesis of his wife.
This guy came out of the thoroughly corrupt Daley machine in Cook County. They are the official purveyors of hate in the Chicago area.
My comparison of Obama to Gardener stands and if he is elected, America is toast.
"I grabbed a pile of dust, and holding it up, foolishly asked for as many birthdays as the grains of dust...I forgot to ask that they be years of youth."
Which book are you referring to in your reference to "his book?" Yes, political machines are evil. We are living with it here in Northeast Ohio. What exactly offends you about his political history? Working as an organizer in Chicago?
Submitted by DickBachert on Thu, 08/21/2008 - 09:21.
I apologize if my last post to you came off as curt or hostile. It was not intended as such.
But this country is at a MAJOR CROSSROADS. The futures of my 3 kids and 6 grandkids depend on whether we take one of the two roads to the left (Obama= FAR left and McCain = center left), right or take the center.
The Founders spoke of the "Golden Mean" and -- knowing that ALL systems based on either of the extremes led to tyranny -- TRIED to leave us a system they hoped would allow is to remain free.
My antipathy toward Obama has nothing to do with his race. Putting aside his complete inexperience, inability to express himself without his teleprompter, his connections to Chicago, George Soros, the leftist crowd infesting the media, his having said that if Islam were to begin to triumph here, he'd go with them, his poor showing and incredibly disingenuous "above my pay grade" remark at Saddleback, etc.
It has EVERYTHING to do with his open embrace of Marxism, a system which enslaved and KILLED -- and IS enslaving and KILLING -- more humans than any other in history. If Thomas Sowell, Walter Williams or Allen Keyes (for whom I campaigned) were running, I'd be out in front for them right now.
In my limited way and with limited success, I've TRIED to reach folks with the freedom message for over 30 years. Due to space and time limitations here, permit me to refer you to two of my recent efforts at
You seem like a reasonable fellow and I noted that you apparently have several grandchildren. You owe it to them to leave them at least the same freedoms you and I enjoyed when young. To do otherwise would be to tempt them to dig us up so they could spit in our faces for destroying their birthright.
PS: You really shouldn't smoke around them you know.
"I grabbed a pile of dust, and holding it up, foolishly asked for as many birthdays as the grains of dust...I forgot to ask that they be years of youth."
Submitted by DickBachert on Thu, 08/21/2008 - 09:49.
I'll be holding my nose as I vote or McCain.
On that topic, for years, I’ve been amazed at this idiotic quadrennial fascination with the beauty contest known as the (cue the trumpet fanfare) “PRESIDENTIAL RACE.” Our inattention and/or apparent desire for a king or a strong man dictatorship has allowed our system to morph to the present quasi-monarchy from its original foundations as a representative REPUBLIC.
People, the most important thing we can remember about all of this is that the Founders constructed the system to put – AND KEEP -- the KEYS TO THE FEDERAL CASH REGISTER ARE IN CONGRESS and current Gang of 535 could bring this out-of-control government spending and the steady usurpation of our freedoms to a screeching halt tomorrow at noon -- IF they wanted to. Attila the Hun could occupy the White House and without the dough to hire the bureaucrats, buy the desks and computers, etc., etc. ad nauseum, Mr. Hun would be hamstrung. (See Article 1, Section 7 of the now largely moribund Constitution for details.)
But they DON'T -- for a number of reasons: (And I cite the tax situation as but one example of the problem. Don’t get me started on the ENERGY thing!)
1. They understand the need to vacuum the excess FRAUDS (Federal Reserve Accounting Unit Denominators) -- there are no "dollars" circulating now! -- out of circulation BEFORE the bulk of the dumb masses (say it really fast for maximum effect) catch on to the resultant inflation. If you question that statement, ask yourself why else would a criminal enterprise (the federal government) having the power to "create" "money" with the stroke of a pen NEED YOURS every April 15th?
2. The current Gang of 535 understands the need for the massive tax code (so-called because it is written in code by gnomes chained to posts in the cellars of K Street lobbying firms and understood only by their keepers) to reward their friends, punish their enemies and keep the rest of us under their thumbs with threats of draconian punishments should we run afoul of it. It is impossible to NOT run afoul of it.
3. While the dumb masses rant about the abusive practices of this top criminal enterprise's subsidiary criminal enterprise (the IRS), members of the Gang can pose and posture for the cameras from time to time and declare that "something MUST be done to reign in the abuses of the IRS," NOTHING WILL BE DONE until we clean house on Capitol Hill and get back to the HONEST, CONSTITUTIONAL MONEY called for at Art.1, Sect. 10. They’ve been playing a rigged game of 3 card-Monte with us for so long – and getting away with it – that, as Herman Cain’s book title declares – “They Think You’re STUPID.” And, hell, for MOST of the dumb masses, they’re right.
And THAT process starts in YOUR STATE and CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT by finding and supporting decent candidates -- at ALL leverls -- who will go to YOUR state capitol and Malfunction Junction and do that house cleaning. Not marching on Washington...not sending "money" to the RNC (LOL!)...not writing poison pen letters to these current jerks...but THROWING OUT THE CURRENT JERKS and doing it as many times as necessary to get it done.
A good news in the viability of this approach is that the controlled so-called national mainstream media have far less impact on these widely separated congressional races making it easier to get some good guys elected.
The bad news is that I can speak from personal experience about how the national PARTIES will survey all the contested congressional races and if they DO find a candidate they do not or think they cannot control running on their side, they'll offer a "consultant" from headquarters to come in and ASSIST the campaign. In at least 4 cases with which I am familiar, the Republican National Committee TORPEDOED those campaigns so a good guy who might be more incined to harken to the Constitution before toeing the party line didn't make it to D.C.
And for you who, like a sad number of the dumb masses, THINK YOUR GUY IS OK, go to THROWTHEMOUT at
for your guy’s voting record on taxes, spending or your personal hot button issues. You might be in for an unpleasant surprise.
I often get the strong sense that the American people have some sick and sophomoric yearning for a new ROYAL FAMILY or BENEVOLENT KING to make their lives what they themselves feel incapable of making them without some nanny-state sovereign. Throughout history, with few exceptions conspicuous because of their rarity, those systems nearly always become malignant and freedom founders and eventually fails. With the exception of America – the IDEA, not the place – most men who have walked the earth have lived as slaves.
As opportunities afford themselves (and this is one), I simply attempt to remind my fellow citizens of that history and what lies ahead if they continue in their ignorance of that history.
I could go on for volumes but you get the idea.
One final thought: RE-ELECT NOBODY!!!!!
"I grabbed a pile of dust, and holding it up, foolishly asked for as many birthdays as the grains of dust...I forgot to ask that they be years of youth."
Food for thought and possibly a reason to jump off a bridge. I agree with a lot of your comments, but who we choose as our figurehead does make a difference. Why would McCain be any better as a figurehead than Barack Obama--someone who can help us advance a more one world presence?
BTW, where are you getting this Marxist stuff? I do know that it's the latest smear being used in northeast Ohio, where it seems all you have to do is whisper "communist" to the Eastern European masses and the sickle and hammer comes down. I would hope that NEO is not so predictably programmable and reactionary, but I have sadly watched the Rovian tactic work before.
Submitted by DickBachert on Thu, 08/21/2008 - 11:58.
Even putting ideology aside (admittedly not entirely possible), if one did the classic "plus/minus" ledger sheet on these two candidates, McCain would be the clear winner.
And with Putin's bear now showing its claws in Georgia (and we can only guess where next), McCain is the far better candidate to resist what appears to be a resumption of communist aggression.
OHHH, there's that dreaded word!! And for those who didn't notice, the communists never did collapse: They simply swapped their KGB ID cards and uniforms for blue business suits and, like Willie Lohman, a shoe shine and a smile.
Obama suffers from the typical utopian/leftist malady of believing that man is inherently good and can always be reasoned with. (Your reference to Jerzy Kosinski reminded me that had Neville Chamberlain NOT tried to appease the evil that was Hitler, the Jews of Europe would not have gone into the camps and died there.) And that the allies in the ensuing struggle included the butcher Stalin is -- or should be -- our everlasting shame.
The history of the world has been the struggle of good vs. evil. Despite what the relativists now declare, it is no different today. Obama has TOLD us that he will "hold discussions" with the purveyors of evil. Putin will have Obama for lunch. Literally! McCain comes from the warrior culture that allows us to even have THIS discussion. As Sherman observed, "War is hell." It is, however, often necessary if one is to remain free. In this time of increasing friction, I'd prefer a McCain as Commander-in-Chief to an Obama who'd attempt to talk the bad guys to death. I say kill them and let God sort it out.
But your comment re. "one-world presence" is that which gives me greatest pause (or is that paws?) for the cat fight coming up in November.
We can clear this up with one simple question: Do you believe that the United States was intended to be, should be and should remain a sovereign nation?
THAT is the question that lies at the root of all the others. If this nation answers that one incorrectly in November, there may be no way to peacefully turn back.
"I grabbed a pile of dust, and holding it up, foolishly asked for as many birthdays as the grains of dust...I forgot to ask that they be years of youth."
Submitted by Norm Roulet on Fri, 08/22/2008 - 08:11.
I don't consider McCain intellectually exceptional, to begin with, and he is showing clear signs of mental decline, which will accellerate throughout his short or long fall to death, depending on the various health issues facing that 70-something (I'm experiencing relatively healthy but declining parents going through that right now, which will obviously get worse until they die). Nothing could be worse for national security, or the well being of the people of the world, than to put a human in his/her 70s in charge of the most dangerous military in the world. That would be proof to the world that Americans as a whole are beyond hope, and make us fair target for attack from any corner of the Earth. Unacceptable candidate, not likely to make it to November without imploding anyways... what is the Republican Party thinking...
Submitted by DickBachert on Fri, 08/22/2008 - 10:46.
While I, too, have a number of problems with McCain, I will take him over the COMPLETELY INEXPERIENCED and desperately NIAVE/DUPLICITOUS/INDECISIVE Obama.
McCain's own CHILDREN are involved in what may well be a fight for the very survival of the West against a radical Islam emboldened to a resumption of the Crusades by the idiotic leftist political correctness and indicision of the U.S. And an already dangerous situation is further exacerbated by new rumblings from the Russian bear.
And if you read NOTHING ELSE of this post, go to the very bottom and read Obams's OWN WORDS on the subject of Islam!
The following was shamelessly STOLEN from the Net. Would give credit but don't know who authored it. I'm certain, however, that it was NOT a member of the MSM.
***************************
John McCain's Sons
Talk about putting your most valuable where your mouth is! Apparently this was not 'newsworthy' enough for the media to comment about. Can either of the other presidential candidates truthfully come close to this? ... Just a question for each of us to seek an answer, and not a statement.
You see...character is what's shown when the public is not looking. There were no cameras or press invited to what you are about to read about, and the story comes from one person in New Hampshire .
One evening last July, Senator John McCain of Arizona arrived at the New Hampshire home of Er in Flanagan for sandwiches, chocolate-chip cookies and a heartfelt talk about Iraq . They had met at a presidential debate, when she asked the candidates what they would do to bring home American soldiers - - soldiers like her brother, who had been killed in action a few months earlier.
Mr. McCain did not bring cameras or press. Instead, he brought his youngest son, James McCain, 19, then a private first class in the Marine Corps about to leave for Iraq . Father and son sat down to hear more about Ms. Flanagan's brother Michael Cleary, a 24-year-old Army First Lieutenant killed by an ambush ... a roadside bomb.
No one mentioned the obvious: In just days, Jimmy McCain could face similar perils. 'I can't imagine what it must have been like for them as they were coming to meet with a family that ......' Ms. Flanagan recalled, choking up. 'We lost a dear one,' she finished.
Mr. McCain, now the presumptive Republican nominee, has staked his candidacy on the promise that American troops can bring stability to Iraq . What he almost never says is that one of them is his own son, who spent seven months patrolling Anbar Province and learned of his father's New Hampshire victory in January while he was digging a stuck military vehicle out of the mud.
Two of Jimmy's three older brothers went into the military. Doug McCain, 48, was a Navy pilot. Jack McCain, 21, is to graduate from the Naval Academy next year, raising the chances that his father, if elected, could become the first president since Dwight D. Eisenhower with a son at war.
I chose to share this with those who I believe will pass it on, to others who will pass it on. We hear so much inflated trash out there. How about a simple act of kindness ... and dedication to others placed above oneself?
Has anybody heard if Barack Hussein Obama has served in The American Armed Services? NO, HE HAS NOT SERVED IN ANY CAPACITY!
This is for all you Obama voters. In his own words from his book, Audacity of Hope: 'I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.'
HE DID NOT SAY STAND WITH AMERICANS!!!!!
"I grabbed a pile of dust, and holding it up, foolishly asked for as many birthdays as the grains of dust...I forgot to ask that they be years of youth."
Submitted by Norm Roulet on Fri, 08/22/2008 - 19:47.
I am so disgusted with the America all of us including you have created, and the world we have really harmed, and folks proud of something about it. I do not want a single "experienced leader" who has had any significant role in creating this mess - Obama just makes the age and cronyized cut, to me - all the old farts, get out of the way.
Sorry to say this, in light of recent deaths among well loved old-timer politicians here, but RIP "Experience"... it is a disgrace for this 72 year old mediocre politician to take work away from more talented, sharp, young folks who may save the world the old farts destroyed.
When I think of boozy, bible-defiling billionaire McCain, from unsustainable Arizona, of unsustainable, obese, sick, poorly educated, overextended, murderous America, I see all the worst humans may be, which I believe is what the Muslims hate about us as well. Probably the Russians, as well. In fact, name a country that doesn't hate your America.
Sound like you have some paranoia going down - I've never met a Muslim or Russian I didn't like, but I'd be hard pressed to find a good old hick town Republican I could not hate. Funny living in this cursed land and time.
Submitted by TimFerris on Fri, 08/22/2008 - 20:25.
I was watching a Kevin Kline movie the other night about human trafficking, and in it, a young Mexican kid re-educated Kline's character to the fact that an American is somebody from the United States, or Mexico, other parts of Central America, or South America. I guess it would include Canadians, too. I just thought this was interesting.
Also, let's quit playing this military service card. As a former infantry captain whose active-duty service dates go from 1969 to 1975, all I can tell you is that it makes me more of a patsy than our current sitting vice president, Dick Cheney, my contemporary, who had "better things to do" than serve alongside me. I lost 6 years, but not my life. He, on the other hand, got a head start on the rest of us who were "dutiful."
For us to have guys over there at risk, fighting the same limited-engagement, politically hampered warfare that was the hallmark of Viet Nam, is nothing short of criminal. They are in harm's way, we pay for it and have the IRS hound us for the premium costs, and the war-wimps of the previous conflict pull the strings.
Both candidates have been in office during the buildup and the conflict. Both have been extremely tolerant and soft-spoken; they go along to get along. Neither is a prize package, at this point.
Instead of arguing over them and letting ourselves get polarized by this electoral dog-and-pony show, we need to unite as a people and go around what's accepted these days as traditional. They're serving us up a mess of nonsense and thinking we should be satisfied with it. We need to control the dialogue, not them. It doesn't matter who served or didn't. What matters is what's being taken from us while they have us distracted and taking sides against each other, all of us Americans.
What is our current debt to other nations? Sovereign nation? I think we lost that mantle a long time ago. I will take all of your comments in mind, but I would still prefer to go with a leader who promises not to continue America's "business as usual" policy.
Meanwhile, you and I can peacefully agree to disagree until the mud really starts to fly in the Fall :) To be revisited...
Submitted by DickBachert on Thu, 08/21/2008 - 18:54.
Yes, to be revisited after election night. It promises to be a long one so lay in an adequate supply of munchies and beverages.
Until then, be well and safe.
And for God's sake -- and YOURS -- quit smoking. :-))
Dick
"I grabbed a pile of dust, and holding it up, foolishly asked for as many birthdays as the grains of dust...I forgot to ask that they be years of youth."
Et tu! But, you will have to confront our man behind the curtain on the smoking issue...it's a case of mistaken cyber identities again :) Pall Mall...do you think that it is a derivation of "not bad?" My own parents poisoned us with L&Ms!!
Submitted by DickBachert on Fri, 08/22/2008 - 11:25.
Reformed Lucky Strike smoker since circa 1980 something. Only an occasional cigar since. They say there's nothing worse than a reformed drunk -- or smoker. "They" are correct.
But then, I DID live in Cleveland until I was 25 (1962) and recall making those drives along the Erie shore from Lakewood to Grandma's lake house past the BURNING DUMP where Burke AP now reposes. A few good sniffs of THAT stuff was equivalent to a carton of Camels. I figured Luckies were a step up from that.
So, smoke 'em if ya got 'em. :-))
"I grabbed a pile of dust, and holding it up, foolishly asked for as many birthdays as the grains of dust...I forgot to ask that they be years of youth."
Submitted by Susan Miller on Fri, 08/22/2008 - 08:19.
Since we don't seem to be prudent about other pollutants when it comes to "economic development" and "workforce development" (buzzwords that'll get any politician elected), I just have to jump in here and defend the "rights?" of smokers.
We seem to care little about other particulates and fear marijuana like it is as risky as NASCAR, but communities nationwide want to fund this, that and the other thing by taxing tobacco use. Think of what we could afford with legal and taxable marijuana. Still livin' in the era of reefer madness when the hemp industry was "put down". Still exalting Jefferson and Washington's penchant for tobacco. Still smoking for Gateway, Brown's Staduim and now our cultural options. Whopee we're all gonna die! How about we start taxin' beef?
Regional Economics Action Links North East Ohio
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Sorry but if this guy is
Sorry but if this guy is elected, American will be IN a fix. It's STILL a dangerous world populated with millions of folks who wish to stamp out freedom and destroy this country. As if more proof were needed, the Ruskies just handed it to us in Georgia.
I think I have just figured out who Barack Obama reminds me of.
I have long been a Peter Sellers fan (you 20 somethings will need to run the name through a search engine).
While perhaps best known as Inspector Clouseau in the original “Pink Panther” flicks (not the sorry recent Steve Martin knock-off), my personal favorite Sellers role was that of Chance Gardener in the classic “Being There.”
If you’ve never seen it, rent it. Given the meteoric rise of Obama, it is MOST timely.
Chance is, in fact, the gardener at the estate of a wealthy family and, through a series of “chance” encounters with the wealthy and powerful friends of the family and an equally freaky series of prophetic comments, he, like Obama, swiftly rises to international prominence as some kind of wise sage. World leaders flock to him for advice and counsel, hanging on every slowly uttered remark.
Turns out Chance is, in reality, a moron whose demeanor and manner of speaking caused those around him to attribute to him a wisdom and intellect he simply does not possess. His utterances are almost verbatim recitations of lines he has seen -- on television. Fits right in with the VH1/MTV/ET generation of “voters.”
Now, I’m not calling Obama a moron. This dangerous character is ANYTHING but a moron.
What causes me to compare him to Chance are the eerie similarities in their manners of speech – although Hussein speaks a BIT faster -- and demeanor coupled with the absolutely MORONIC public RESPONSE to them both. That Obama has virtually NO record by which to assess his qualifications for the highest office in this nation and that his KNOWN positions are about as inimical to what USED to be traditional American values as anyone on the scene today doesn’t seem to bother those who now gather around him to hang on every pronouncement.
Sadly, that says more about the American people who quest after a new “messiah” to make their lives “good” again (almost always at the expense of others) than it does about their new hero-du-jour who is cunning enough to pander to that desire for political and personal gain.
At the end of “Being There,” Chance has rather stupidly wandered into – or, more accurately ONTO – a small pond on the estate. The final shot shows a bewildered Chance standing ON the surface of the water, looking about trying to recall how he got there.
I can only wonder when The New York Times will treat us to a front page shot of the NEW would-be savior of mankind walking on Lake Michigan.
The difference will be, of course, that the empty suit named Obama will know PRECISELY how he got there.
"I grabbed a pile of dust, and holding it up, foolishly asked for as many birthdays as the grains of dust...I forgot to ask that they be years of youth."
Publius Ovidius Naso
Painted Bird
Thank you for commenting on the post. We need dialogue and, yet, the blogosphere is strangely and eerily silent. There are undercurrents that want to paint Barack Obama as anything, but a leader...whisperings about communism, Islam...You mention the book Being There. The book was written by Jerzy Kosinski, familiar with the landscape of hate, he wandered throughout post war Europe as an orphan, subjected to the most vile human behaviors. Yes--America has a terrible tendency to look for messiahs, but what constitutes the experience you think we need to run this country? I want someone who is able to diffuse the hate in our landscape. We have allowed our country to be run by hate. Barack Obama is the antithesis of the message of hate.
Re. hate, you apparently
Re. hate, you apparently have never read his book or the now sealed thesis of his wife.
This guy came out of the thoroughly corrupt Daley machine in Cook County. They are the official purveyors of hate in the Chicago area.
My comparison of Obama to Gardener stands and if he is elected, America is toast.
"I grabbed a pile of dust, and holding it up, foolishly asked for as many birthdays as the grains of dust...I forgot to ask that they be years of youth."
Publius Ovidius Naso
Dreams?
Which book are you referring to in your reference to "his book?" Yes, political machines are evil. We are living with it here in Northeast Ohio. What exactly offends you about his political history? Working as an organizer in Chicago?
And Michelle Obama nee Robinson's thesis is not hard to find online? Where does your ire stem from re:Barack Obama?
I apologize if my last post
I apologize if my last post to you came off as curt or hostile. It was not intended as such.
But this country is at a MAJOR CROSSROADS. The futures of my 3 kids and 6 grandkids depend on whether we take one of the two roads to the left (Obama= FAR left and McCain = center left), right or take the center.
The Founders spoke of the "Golden Mean" and -- knowing that ALL systems based on either of the extremes led to tyranny -- TRIED to leave us a system they hoped would allow is to remain free.
My antipathy toward Obama has nothing to do with his race. Putting aside his complete inexperience, inability to express himself without his teleprompter, his connections to Chicago, George Soros, the leftist crowd infesting the media, his having said that if Islam were to begin to triumph here, he'd go with them, his poor showing and incredibly disingenuous "above my pay grade" remark at Saddleback, etc.
It has EVERYTHING to do with his open embrace of Marxism, a system which enslaved and KILLED -- and IS enslaving and KILLING -- more humans than any other in history. If Thomas Sowell, Walter Williams or Allen Keyes (for whom I campaigned) were running, I'd be out in front for them right now.
In my limited way and with limited success, I've TRIED to reach folks with the freedom message for over 30 years. Due to space and time limitations here, permit me to refer you to two of my recent efforts at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypLu49pq3bI
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j73SsNFgBO4
You seem like a reasonable fellow and I noted that you apparently have several grandchildren. You owe it to them to leave them at least the same freedoms you and I enjoyed when young. To do otherwise would be to tempt them to dig us up so they could spit in our faces for destroying their birthright.
PS: You really shouldn't smoke around them you know.
"I grabbed a pile of dust, and holding it up, foolishly asked for as many birthdays as the grains of dust...I forgot to ask that they be years of youth."
Publius Ovidius Naso
Do you champion McCain?
Let's put it the other way--would you champion McCain? What are the alternatives?
(BTW--I am a librarian. Chances are --I h-a-v-e read the book. I read Obama's first book, but not the second.)
I'll be holding my nose as I
I'll be holding my nose as I vote or McCain.
On that topic, for years, I’ve been amazed at this idiotic quadrennial fascination with the beauty contest known as the (cue the trumpet fanfare) “PRESIDENTIAL RACE.” Our inattention and/or apparent desire for a king or a strong man dictatorship has allowed our system to morph to the present quasi-monarchy from its original foundations as a representative REPUBLIC.
People, the most important thing we can remember about all of this is that the Founders constructed the system to put – AND KEEP -- the KEYS TO THE FEDERAL CASH REGISTER ARE IN CONGRESS and current Gang of 535 could bring this out-of-control government spending and the steady usurpation of our freedoms to a screeching halt tomorrow at noon -- IF they wanted to. Attila the Hun could occupy the White House and without the dough to hire the bureaucrats, buy the desks and computers, etc., etc. ad nauseum, Mr. Hun would be hamstrung. (See Article 1, Section 7 of the now largely moribund Constitution for details.)
But they DON'T -- for a number of reasons: (And I cite the tax situation as but one example of the problem. Don’t get me started on the ENERGY thing!)
1. They understand the need to vacuum the excess FRAUDS (Federal Reserve Accounting Unit Denominators) -- there are no "dollars" circulating now! -- out of circulation BEFORE the bulk of the dumb masses (say it really fast for maximum effect) catch on to the resultant inflation. If you question that statement, ask yourself why else would a criminal enterprise (the federal government) having the power to "create" "money" with the stroke of a pen NEED YOURS every April 15th?
2. The current Gang of 535 understands the need for the massive tax code (so-called because it is written in code by gnomes chained to posts in the cellars of K Street lobbying firms and understood only by their keepers) to reward their friends, punish their enemies and keep the rest of us under their thumbs with threats of draconian punishments should we run afoul of it. It is impossible to NOT run afoul of it.
3. While the dumb masses rant about the abusive practices of this top criminal enterprise's subsidiary criminal enterprise (the IRS), members of the Gang can pose and posture for the cameras from time to time and declare that "something MUST be done to reign in the abuses of the IRS," NOTHING WILL BE DONE until we clean house on Capitol Hill and get back to the HONEST, CONSTITUTIONAL MONEY called for at Art.1, Sect. 10. They’ve been playing a rigged game of 3 card-Monte with us for so long – and getting away with it – that, as Herman Cain’s book title declares – “They Think You’re STUPID.” And, hell, for MOST of the dumb masses, they’re right.
And THAT process starts in YOUR STATE and CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT by finding and supporting decent candidates -- at ALL leverls -- who will go to YOUR state capitol and Malfunction Junction and do that house cleaning. Not marching on Washington...not sending "money" to the RNC (LOL!)...not writing poison pen letters to these current jerks...but THROWING OUT THE CURRENT JERKS and doing it as many times as necessary to get it done.
A good news in the viability of this approach is that the controlled so-called national mainstream media have far less impact on these widely separated congressional races making it easier to get some good guys elected.
The bad news is that I can speak from personal experience about how the national PARTIES will survey all the contested congressional races and if they DO find a candidate they do not or think they cannot control running on their side, they'll offer a "consultant" from headquarters to come in and ASSIST the campaign. In at least 4 cases with which I am familiar, the Republican National Committee TORPEDOED those campaigns so a good guy who might be more incined to harken to the Constitution before toeing the party line didn't make it to D.C.
And for you who, like a sad number of the dumb masses, THINK YOUR GUY IS OK, go to THROWTHEMOUT at
http://www.throwthemout.com/articles.php
for your guy’s voting record on taxes, spending or your personal hot button issues. You might be in for an unpleasant surprise.
I often get the strong sense that the American people have some sick and sophomoric yearning for a new ROYAL FAMILY or BENEVOLENT KING to make their lives what they themselves feel incapable of making them without some nanny-state sovereign. Throughout history, with few exceptions conspicuous because of their rarity, those systems nearly always become malignant and freedom founders and eventually fails. With the exception of America – the IDEA, not the place – most men who have walked the earth have lived as slaves.
As opportunities afford themselves (and this is one), I simply attempt to remind my fellow citizens of that history and what lies ahead if they continue in their ignorance of that history.
I could go on for volumes but you get the idea.
One final thought: RE-ELECT NOBODY!!!!!
"I grabbed a pile of dust, and holding it up, foolishly asked for as many birthdays as the grains of dust...I forgot to ask that they be years of youth."
Publius Ovidius Naso
Thank you
Food for thought and possibly a reason to jump off a bridge. I agree with a lot of your comments, but who we choose as our figurehead does make a difference. Why would McCain be any better as a figurehead than Barack Obama--someone who can help us advance a more one world presence?
BTW, where are you getting this Marxist stuff? I do know that it's the latest smear being used in northeast Ohio, where it seems all you have to do is whisper "communist" to the Eastern European masses and the sickle and hammer comes down. I would hope that NEO is not so predictably programmable and reactionary, but I have sadly watched the Rovian tactic work before.
Even putting ideology aside
Even putting ideology aside (admittedly not entirely possible), if one did the classic "plus/minus" ledger sheet on these two candidates, McCain would be the clear winner.
And with Putin's bear now showing its claws in Georgia (and we can only guess where next), McCain is the far better candidate to resist what appears to be a resumption of communist aggression.
OHHH, there's that dreaded word!! And for those who didn't notice, the communists never did collapse: They simply swapped their KGB ID cards and uniforms for blue business suits and, like Willie Lohman, a shoe shine and a smile.
Obama suffers from the typical utopian/leftist malady of believing that man is inherently good and can always be reasoned with. (Your reference to Jerzy Kosinski reminded me that had Neville Chamberlain NOT tried to appease the evil that was Hitler, the Jews of Europe would not have gone into the camps and died there.) And that the allies in the ensuing struggle included the butcher Stalin is -- or should be -- our everlasting shame.
The history of the world has been the struggle of good vs. evil. Despite what the relativists now declare, it is no different today. Obama has TOLD us that he will "hold discussions" with the purveyors of evil. Putin will have Obama for lunch. Literally! McCain comes from the warrior culture that allows us to even have THIS discussion. As Sherman observed, "War is hell." It is, however, often necessary if one is to remain free. In this time of increasing friction, I'd prefer a McCain as Commander-in-Chief to an Obama who'd attempt to talk the bad guys to death. I say kill them and let God sort it out.
But your comment re. "one-world presence" is that which gives me greatest pause (or is that paws?) for the cat fight coming up in November.
We can clear this up with one simple question: Do you believe that the United States was intended to be, should be and should remain a sovereign nation?
THAT is the question that lies at the root of all the others. If this nation answers that one incorrectly in November, there may be no way to peacefully turn back.
"I grabbed a pile of dust, and holding it up, foolishly asked for as many birthdays as the grains of dust...I forgot to ask that they be years of youth."
Publius Ovidius Naso
I don't believe McCain is mentally competent, simple as that
I don't consider McCain intellectually exceptional, to begin with, and he is showing clear signs of mental decline, which will accellerate throughout his short or long fall to death, depending on the various health issues facing that 70-something (I'm experiencing relatively healthy but declining parents going through that right now, which will obviously get worse until they die). Nothing could be worse for national security, or the well being of the people of the world, than to put a human in his/her 70s in charge of the most dangerous military in the world. That would be proof to the world that Americans as a whole are beyond hope, and make us fair target for attack from any corner of the Earth. Unacceptable candidate, not likely to make it to November without imploding anyways... what is the Republican Party thinking...
Disrupt IT
While I, too, have a number
While I, too, have a number of problems with McCain, I will take him over the COMPLETELY INEXPERIENCED and desperately NIAVE/DUPLICITOUS/INDECISIVE Obama.
McCain's own CHILDREN are involved in what may well be a fight for the very survival of the West against a radical Islam emboldened to a resumption of the Crusades by the idiotic leftist political correctness and indicision of the U.S. And an already dangerous situation is further exacerbated by new rumblings from the Russian bear.
And if you read NOTHING ELSE of this post, go to the very bottom and read Obams's OWN WORDS on the subject of Islam!
The following was shamelessly STOLEN from the Net. Would give credit but don't know who authored it. I'm certain, however, that it was NOT a member of the MSM.
***************************
John McCain's Sons
Talk about putting your most valuable where your mouth is! Apparently this
was not 'newsworthy' enough for the media to comment about. Can either of
the other presidential candidates truthfully come close to this? ... Just a
question for each of us to seek an answer, and not a statement.
You see...character is what's shown when the public is not looking. There
were no cameras or press invited to what you are about to read about, and
the story comes from one person in New Hampshire .
One evening last July, Senator John McCain of Arizona arrived at the New
Hampshire home of Er in Flanagan for sandwiches, chocolate-chip cookies and a
heartfelt talk about Iraq . They had met at a presidential debate, when she
asked the candidates what they would do to bring home American soldiers - -
soldiers like her brother, who had been killed in action a few months
earlier.
Mr. McCain did not bring cameras or press. Instead, he brought his youngest
son, James McCain, 19, then a private first class in the Marine Corps about
to leave for Iraq . Father and son sat down to hear more about Ms.
Flanagan's brother Michael Cleary, a 24-year-old Army First Lieutenant
killed by an ambush ... a roadside bomb.
No one mentioned the obvious: In just days, Jimmy McCain could face similar
perils. 'I can't imagine what it must have been like for them as they were
coming to meet with a family that ......' Ms. Flanagan recalled, choking up.
'We lost a dear one,' she finished.
Mr. McCain, now the presumptive Republican nominee, has staked his
candidacy on the promise that American troops can bring stability to Iraq .
What he almost never says is that one of them is his own son, who spent
seven months patrolling Anbar Province and learned of his father's New
Hampshire victory in January while he was digging a stuck military vehicle
out of the mud.
Two of Jimmy's three older brothers went into the military. Doug McCain,
48, was a Navy pilot. Jack McCain, 21, is to graduate from the Naval Academy
next year, raising the chances that his father, if elected, could become the
first president since Dwight D. Eisenhower with a son at war.
I chose to share this with those who I believe will pass it on, to others
who will pass it on. We hear so much inflated trash out there. How about a
simple act of kindness ... and dedication to others placed above oneself?
Has anybody heard if Barack Hussein Obama has served in The American Armed
Services? NO, HE HAS NOT SERVED IN ANY CAPACITY!
This is for all you Obama voters.
In his own words from his book, Audacity of Hope:
'I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly
direction.'
HE DID NOT SAY STAND WITH AMERICANS!!!!!
"I grabbed a pile of dust, and holding it up, foolishly asked for as many birthdays as the grains of dust...I forgot to ask that they be years of youth."
Publius Ovidius Naso
Same America stolen from the First Nation through genocide?????
I am so disgusted with the America all of us including you have created, and the world we have really harmed, and folks proud of something about it. I do not want a single "experienced leader" who has had any significant role in creating this mess - Obama just makes the age and cronyized cut, to me - all the old farts, get out of the way.
Sorry to say this, in light of recent deaths among well loved old-timer politicians here, but RIP "Experience"... it is a disgrace for this 72 year old mediocre politician to take work away from more talented, sharp, young folks who may save the world the old farts destroyed.
When I think of boozy, bible-defiling billionaire McCain, from unsustainable Arizona, of unsustainable, obese, sick, poorly educated, overextended, murderous America, I see all the worst humans may be, which I believe is what the Muslims hate about us as well. Probably the Russians, as well. In fact, name a country that doesn't hate your America.
Sound like you have some paranoia going down - I've never met a Muslim or Russian I didn't like, but I'd be hard pressed to find a good old hick town Republican I could not hate. Funny living in this cursed land and time.
Disrupt IT
Americans
I was watching a Kevin Kline movie the other night about human trafficking, and in it, a young Mexican kid re-educated Kline's character to the fact that an American is somebody from the United States, or Mexico, other parts of Central America, or South America. I guess it would include Canadians, too. I just thought this was interesting.
Also, let's quit playing this military service card. As a former infantry captain whose active-duty service dates go from 1969 to 1975, all I can tell you is that it makes me more of a patsy than our current sitting vice president, Dick Cheney, my contemporary, who had "better things to do" than serve alongside me. I lost 6 years, but not my life. He, on the other hand, got a head start on the rest of us who were "dutiful."
For us to have guys over there at risk, fighting the same limited-engagement, politically hampered warfare that was the hallmark of Viet Nam, is nothing short of criminal. They are in harm's way, we pay for it and have the IRS hound us for the premium costs, and the war-wimps of the previous conflict pull the strings.
Both candidates have been in office during the buildup and the conflict. Both have been extremely tolerant and soft-spoken; they go along to get along. Neither is a prize package, at this point.
Instead of arguing over them and letting ourselves get polarized by this electoral dog-and-pony show, we need to unite as a people and go around what's accepted these days as traditional. They're serving us up a mess of nonsense and thinking we should be satisfied with it. We need to control the dialogue, not them. It doesn't matter who served or didn't. What matters is what's being taken from us while they have us distracted and taking sides against each other, all of us Americans.
sovereign nation?
What is our current debt to other nations? Sovereign nation? I think we lost that mantle a long time ago. I will take all of your comments in mind, but I would still prefer to go with a leader who promises not to continue America's "business as usual" policy.
Meanwhile, you and I can peacefully agree to disagree until the mud really starts to fly in the Fall :) To be revisited...
Yes, to be revisited after
Yes, to be revisited after election night. It promises to be a long one so lay in an adequate supply of munchies and beverages.
Until then, be well and safe.
And for God's sake -- and YOURS -- quit smoking. :-))
Dick
"I grabbed a pile of dust, and holding it up, foolishly asked for as many birthdays as the grains of dust...I forgot to ask that they be years of youth."
Publius Ovidius Naso
E pluribus unum
Et tu! But, you will have to confront our man behind the curtain on the smoking issue...it's a case of mistaken cyber identities again :)
Pall Mall...do you think that it is a derivation of "not bad?" My own parents poisoned us with L&Ms!!
Reformed Lucky Strike smoker
Reformed Lucky Strike smoker since circa 1980 something. Only an occasional cigar since. They say there's nothing worse than a reformed drunk -- or smoker. "They" are correct.
But then, I DID live in Cleveland until I was 25 (1962) and recall making those drives along the Erie shore from Lakewood to Grandma's lake house past the BURNING DUMP where Burke AP now reposes. A few good sniffs of THAT stuff was equivalent to a carton of Camels. I figured Luckies were a step up from that.
So, smoke 'em if ya got 'em. :-))
"I grabbed a pile of dust, and holding it up, foolishly asked for as many birthdays as the grains of dust...I forgot to ask that they be years of youth."
Publius Ovidius Naso
could we afford Iraq without tobacco?
Since we don't seem to be prudent about other pollutants when it comes to "economic development" and "workforce development" (buzzwords that'll get any politician elected), I just have to jump in here and defend the "rights?" of smokers.
Here's some propaganda for ya: economic impact and history of tobacco industry
We seem to care little about other particulates and fear marijuana like it is as risky as NASCAR, but communities nationwide want to fund this, that and the other thing by taxing tobacco use. Think of what we could afford with legal and taxable marijuana. Still livin' in the era of reefer madness when the hemp industry was "put down". Still exalting Jefferson and Washington's penchant for tobacco. Still smoking for Gateway, Brown's Staduim and now our cultural options. Whopee we're all gonna die! How about we start taxin' beef?
Cough Cough
Now, now--let's at least clear the air of cigarette smoke people. We have sent the tobacco industry to China. It's part of the great plan.