Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Janice Hahn and Her Position (?) on Israel

I am not convinced that Councilwoman Janice Hahn will be "Pro-Israel" if elected House Rep for the CA-36th Congressional District.

Consider her wishy-washy appraisal of conflicts stifling the peace process ("The 36th Contenders"). Hahn openly chides the Israelis, specifically the Prime Minister, that they "probably (italics mine) didn't help the peace process" by announcing the construction of new settlements during Vice President Joseph Biden's March 2010 visit to Israel--settlements which Jews have a right to build in Jewish territory in the Jewish state, no less. While scolding the Israelis, she ignores the role of the Palestinians when stating that "the focus on the settlements was unhelpful to the peace process." Refusing to hold both sides accountable, declining to make judgments on these issues expose her mentality to choose positions that ingratiate her to all parties rather than take a stand for something on principle.

In response to President Obama's call for Israel to recede back to the indefensible pre-1967 borders, Hahn dithers that she was 'concerned about his remarks.' Concerned how? That his proposals go too far? Not far enough? Stating a state of mind does not convey views and values, a necessary prerequisite to getting votes to represent a broad constituency.

Hahn will not articulate a solid explanation or solution for the impasse in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It's apparent that President Obama and her party does not take the territorial integrity or existence of the Jewish State very seriously. Her unwillingness to hold anyone accountable or agree to a specific outcome in the "peace process" highlights the fact that Janice Hahn is a follower, not a leader, a legacy which has long haunted her tenure as LA City Councilwoman. .

Contrary to Mr. Lowenfeld's opinion, there is nothing to support the impression that as a House Rep for the CA-36th , Janice Hahn will buck her party and vote in the best interests of Israel.

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Janice Hahn Strikes a Low Blow

Janice Hahn is hyping her Pro-Choice stance in an attempt to scare prospective voters in California's 36th Congressional District (CA-36th) from voting for her Republican opponent, whom she mischaracterizes as an "out-of-touch" Tea Party extremist.

In fact, Hahn has only confirmed how out of touch she is: out of touch with the needs of her constituents, and out of touch with the voters' capacity to discern when a candidate is debating a valid issue versus simply throwing up a distraction to minimize a poor record of service. Hahn's open attack is just a petty smear to distract the voters of this district from the economic realities which would imperil any Democratic candidate's candidacy.

The State of California has 12+% unemployment, worse than any other state in the Union. President Barack Obama, Former house Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her Democratic demagogues spent more time shoving an unwanted medical mandate down the throats of the American people instead of making necessary reforms to improve our nation's economy. The United States is still facing trillion-dollar deficits plus a growing $14 trillion national debt which will sink our bond ratings, cripple our borrowing capacity, and scare away future investors. In two years, Democratic cabal of out-of-touch liberals in Congress have only deepened this nation's economic crises. Janice Hahn would be one more nail in the coffin of this nation's recovery from the Great Recession.

What is Ms. Hahn's record for improving the business climate in her Council District? Pretty abysmal at best. The Cruisline Industry in the Port of Los Angeles is lagging during this nation's slow recovery. Downtown San Pedro is turning into a failed ghost town. She even sat back while the parking fees went up 400%! Hardly a way to drum up business for a struggling business area.

During her tenure on the Los Angeles City Council, Hahn and her colleagues have failed to balance a budget, to resolve staggering pension liabilities, and to stave off massive layoffs--all major problems which our next Congressman will have to face.

Hahn has not distinguished herself as a constituent, a councilwoman, or candidate for Congress. The CA-36th needs a Representative who understands the needs of the entire district, from San Pedro to Venice, and every city in between. We need a Congressman who will advocate for us in a chamber of 435 ambitious pols who stop at nothing to beef up their own districts. Hahn is nothing more than a limited, lackluster politician who coasted to office on the coattails of an established name, who seeks to advance only one constituency: herself.

Janice Hahn is not the candidate for the CA-36th.

On July 12, for California's 36th Congressional District, vote for Craig Huey!

Pro-Life is Pro-Choice or Settling a Potential Wedge Issue

To be pro-life is to be pro-choice in the fullest sense of the idea. Let's submit to a willing constituency that the "conservative" position on this matter is in fact more liberal than at first considered.

Yet before advancing this argument, let us establishe one indisputable point: the being in the womb of a pregnant mother is a living human being, not a fetus, not a cancer, not a set of lifeless tissues that one can discard without ethical and moral implications.

1) First of all, being pro-life means allowing, as much as possible, for an unborn baby to be born and make choices. In other words, Pro-choice for the child as much as for the mother.

2) Pro-choice also means allowing the mother (and the father) to choose whether the child in the mother's womb will be delivered into the light of day . . . or not. it means permitting future parents and all other interested parties in discerning what is at stake if the mother choose to abort the child.

"Pro-Choice" in the mouths of liberals really ought to be "Pro-Abortion." Very rarely do we see Democrats press that both options--either to let the child live or to die--be presented to the mother, the father, or other interested parties.

In theses dire times when the United States is still facing an uphill battle to curb spending, reduce national debt, and retain as much of this nation's posterity for the future, Republicans should stop limiting their appeal with the scrubbed label "Pro-Life." Presidential candidate Ron Paul, an obstetrician who has taken the oath to first "do no harm", personally opposes abortion, yet has suggested that abortion be resolved by the states.

Abortion is conceivably necessary in very limited circumstances. Blunt sound-bite arguments on this fraught issue prevent candidates from discussing this issue properly. The matter of prompting a mother to let her unborn child live must be dealt with on as local a level as possible. Republicans should not allow Democrats to tarnish conservatives with one overbroad stoke of black-and-white extremism.

For campaigning purposes, Republicans could revise President Bill Clinton's mantra of "safe, legal, and rare", putting aside cries of out-of-touch extremism and appeal to limited-government libertarians who want to take power back from the Federal Government. Rather than attempting to finesse a wedge issue, Republican candidates can present themselves as fully "Pro-Choice", disparage Democrats as "Pro-Abortion", and shelve the matter.

Friday, May 27, 2011

MedicareReform Needed; Medicare Message also Needed

Congressman Ryan's plan is a good plan.

He is the first Congressman to have the guts to propose a comprehensive overhaul of Medicare.

His proposal can be articulated neatly and effectively.

Why won't the Republican majority do what needs to be done?

Too many of them seem attached to their seats. Budget reform is still not enough of a viable option for many Congressmen.

Enough bold, well-minded individuals can make it clear: the status quo is unsustainable. The Democrats want to support the Status Quo. The Republicans want to take steps to safeguard the interests that today's Americans will have something to collect later in life.

How does a voucher help? You choose where to spend your money!

You choose where you spend your money!

This simple mantra makes it abundantly clear: you choose, you spend, your money! Who would not want that? Why can't the republicans come up with this simple message?

Stop trying to sell people on the specifics. Tell then what they outcomes will be: money still available without huge deficits dragging down the future of this country.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Sarah Palin Pales as a Presidential Contender

Sarah Palin is the biggest advertisement why Sarah Palin should not run for President.

An out-spoken pundit, she does not possess the skills to create coalitions, to compromise, and to communicate with the other side, a necessity, even within the Republican Party, riven with diverse factions of differing agenda having varying layers of common ground and inflexibility.

A vocal critic of President of Obama, Palin is a lightning rod of dissent and dist ate. Independents do not like the woman, and their vote is crucial for anyone who wants to be the next President of the United States. Her unfavorability, played a significant role in the defeat of Republicans in swing states and heavily Democratic bastions, like Carly Fiorina for the U.S. Senate seat in California.

She is strident to the point of infecting her rhetoric with herself, a major distraction which has already set back the Republican Re-Revolution to stop the Statist Liberal Agenda. She campaigned aggressively for Christine O'Donnell in Delaware, a t-to-1 Democratic state which saw the primary loss of a shoo-in (moderate) Republican to another established Liberal. Her personal animosities frustrated the upstart victory of Alaskan Joe Miller, undermining the GOP's attempt to replace a moderate with a more reliable conservative voice in the U.S. Senate.

Palin is controversial and outgoing, both great traits for radio talk-show host, columnist, or motivational speaker, are not fitting for a presidential candidate, who must ingratiate herself to a very open, skeptical public.

Of course, there are also personal forays into media, like her failed reality TV show, and her gushing approval of daughter Bristol's scandalous self-exploitation on "Dancing with the Stars". Does the United States really want a president who would stoop low to make a show of herself or to make a profit. If those concerns seem petty, consider her sudden resignation as Governor of Alaska, a commitment which she tossed aside because of ethics allegations which, she claimed, would have cost her and the state too much. Those allegations were quickly resolved, at any rate, undermining any justification on the part of Governor Palin for abandoning the office to which she was elected.

These issues should be more than sufficient to discourage Sarah Palin from running for President.

"Truce on Social Issues"--A Further Consideration

When Governor Mitch Daniels of Indiana (and one-time no-longer candidate for President) declared the need for a "truce on social issues", he was asking for two things, one of which he probably wasn't aware of at first:

1) The GOP needs to focus on fiscal problems facing this country and not allow social issues to wedge apart the varying coalitions in the Republican party to elect Obama's replacement.

Here's the other subtext of Daniel's appeal:

2) The GOP, the media, and the public need to focus on the facts, the policies, and the vision of the Presidential candidates, not their personal lives, no matter how sordid or troubled--provided that candidates have adequately demonstrated that previous problems would not impinge on their possible Presidency.

Newt Gringrich is already waging a 90-degree (read "losing") battle against his very messy private life, man who divorced his first and second wives while dating their replacement. His lack of marital fidelity begs a crucial question for any candidate: If he cannot honor his commitments to one person, can the American People expect him honor his commitment to the Constitution?

Mitch Daniels and wife hit a rough patch in their marriage fourteen years ago. They have long since resolved the conflict between them, and they have enjoyed a happy, if uneventful, life together ever since. Yet reports were already circulating about the troubles that led to their untimely split, with implications as to how that conjugal upset would affect Governor Daniel's candidacy and potential presidency.

The Daniels have ably demonstrated their ability to rise above interpersonal adversity, which would not adversely affected his skills as an executive--consider the efficient government and robust economy of Indiana today compared to the other states in the Rust Belt.

Notwithstanding his enviable success in his home state, personal issues long dead and buried have resurrected to compromise the peace and integrity of the Daniels' home. For personal matters of an inconsequential nature, revealing very little of an incriminating nature about a presidential candidate, everyone needs to call a "truce" and let a candidate's current or unresolved record speak for itself.

Growing Bipartisan Majority Wants Out. . .of Afghanistan

Hasn't everyone gotten the news?

Osama bin Laden, Al-Qaeda mastermind is dead. The U.S. Navy SEALS found the evil plotter huddled in a compound in Pakistan, across the border from the original target of this nation's manhunt.

Now a month after his capture, kill, and dump into the sea, why is the United States military still stationed in Afghanistan? He wasn't there to begin with, little of Al-Qaeda has been rooted out of the tribal hills and caves.

Finally, members of Congress are responding to this welcome development. A bipartisan initiative in the House of Representative is preparing a bill to get our troops out of Afghanistan.

The measure is long overdue.

Any nation-building attempted by this nation and its paucity of coalition forces has continued to be an abject failure. The current "elected" president, Hamid Karzai, is just as corrupt as the Middle Eastern leaders being turned out of office by an enraged public. The police force of that nation is anemic at best, beset with corruption like every other office of government. And the one stable source of revenue for the chronically-impoverished Central Asian nation: Opium, hardly a legitimate cash crop in the eyes of the countries seeking to help Afghanistan get back on its feet.

We have no further business to attend to in that territory. Unmanned drones can patrol for terrorists just as well, without endangering the lives of our soldiers.

Sanctions against Syria: It's About Time (Or Is It Too Late?)

Recently, President Obama has now extended sanctions against the widely unpopular President Bassar Assad of Syria and high-ranking officials who work close to him.

What took the President so long, to call out the President of Syria for perpetrating human rights abuses against his own people, not just when the protests heated up the the Middle Eastern police state north of Israel, but ever since he took power?

This reticence on the part of President Obama to call out the oppression perpetrated by rogue heads of state in the Middle East is simply unacceptable.

This country deserves a chief executive who will make the hard decisions quickly, and make the obvious ones expeditiously. For years, soft-pedalling liberalism has sought to normalize relations with countries whose standing governments are hostile to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. With the upswing of populist repulsion against illegitimate rulers in the Arab World, the chief executive of the most powerful country on earth must speak out on behalf of the rebelling masses, demanding the rapid transition from insufferable rulers to democratic governments based on widespread suffrage.

Hezbollah Calling the Shots, Shoots Itself

Hezbollah, the terrorist state-within-a-state in Lebanon is calling on the people of Syria to stand by Assad.

What power they had as king-makers and shot-callers in the region, they have shot their credibility leaning on the wrong side of this conflict.

Assad is finished. The Shiitie-Alawite clan which has strangled the life out of the Sunni majority is losing its grip. There is great hope that the Sunnis will rise to power.

Why is Nasrallah, the head o Hezbollah, sticking his nose into this conflict, standing by the embattled ruling elite of Syria, whereas he applauded the populist uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt?

Because Assad is a Shiite, Hezbollah is Shiite, Iran is Shiite. This is a crude attempt at a naked power grab by the Minority faith of Islam.

How terrible it would if the universally humane desire for freedom deteriorated into a broader Sunni-Shi'a civil war.

At any rate, Nasrallah may very well have inadvertently discredited Hezbollah in the region, having championed a very unpopular leader, certain to lose, having already lost the respect of his people and the international community.

Hezbollah may have done more damage to itself than six weeks of fighting could between Israel and Lebanon five year ago.

Further Defense of Netanhyahu

In a joint press conference with United States President Barak Obama last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the President's recent proposal to advance the Israeli-Palestinian peace process by having Israel return to its 1967 borders. Part of his explanation included a historical summary of the ongoing Middle East peace process.

Following the Israeli Prime Minister's extended refutation of Obama's proposal, pundits from across the political spectrum are castigating Netanyahu for "lecturing" the President on the of the Israel-Palestinian peace process, one whose protracted complications President Obama unnervingly brushed aside in calling on Israel to recede to its borders before the 1967 Six-Day War.

Criticism of the Israeli Prime Minister is short-sighted and presumptuous.

Netanyahu represents a nation swamped by political chaos threatening Israel's right to exist and undermining long-term stability in the Middle East. He has every right to explain not just the White House, but to remind the world what is at stake in Palestine, both for the Jews as well as Arabs.

Furthermore, regardless of one's religious and political affiliations, Israel is an important ally of the United States in our on-going war against terrorism. We should not be undermining that nation's right to defend itself. Moreover, calm and cogent advocacy for the Jewish state is more than a talking point for Republicans, conservatives, or like-minded Democrats, but is a crucial issue for anyone who supports the preservation of the one stable democracy in the Middle East.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Reflection on Suicide in San Diego Suburb

In San Diego, a family of four was found dead.

They lived in an upscale suburb of the city, in a cul-de-sac, an inadvertent symbol of the dead end that a comfortable life of wealth and money can bring to any soul.

Young girl, young woman about to attend her high school senior prom, mother and father, all dead.

The bodies lay floating in the pool in back.

Another body was found dead in the bathtub..

Forensic experts contend that the Father killed his wife and kids then killed himself.

The reason? Financial problems were looming over the family.

It still amazes, though, that people are amazed, astounded when seemingly happy people commit suicide. Just a few weeks ago, a young man in Palos Verdes, a senior in high school who seemed to have it all, killed himself just before his graduation. The devastating news made the front page of the Daily Breeze.

Readers still fall for the belief that if you have money, a comfortable home, a well-ff family, that you have everything you need to succeed in life. Why do people still think that they can ignore the fundamental needs within, the needs for identity, security, and purpose which rise far above social and material satisfactions.

I think that it would be in the best interest of all if reports spent less time reporting on the seemingly happy lives cut so unseemingly short, and spend more time impressing on people that where you live, who you know, and what you have do not define a joyful, successful, and sufficient life.

Oprah Winfrey's Last Show: the End of a Dubious Legacy

Oprah Winfrey, media mogul form the Mudflats of Kusciuscko, Mississippi, is not just a celebrity, she's not just an icon, she is a revolutionary, a revolution, a movement and an era, a grand 25-year moment in Television History which is now drawing to a close.

She gave away so much. She advised woman, men, young and old, talented and just emerging. She interviewed the most protracted more than her fortune could account for. Cars, cruises, clothes, even careers.

She helped jumpstart the television reality TV self-help careers of two prominent doctors: Psychologist Dr. Phil McGraw and Dr. Mehmet Oz, heart surgeon and medical guru on fitness, health and elaborate excursions into exciting one's love life.

It's in this final development where the real decline in our

Oprah Winfrey, for all her charities, charitable work, notoriety, influence in media and literary circles, what has she really accomplished? What is her pièce de résistance, the one work that she has done with long-term power.

Despite her vocal support for President Obama instead of Hillary Clinton in the 2008 Presidential Election, she did not solidify herself as a populist king-maker. Instead, she crested on the wave of a ground-swell, she topped a movement which was spreading across the nation, a vapid self-absorbed populist agenda, no less, which she merely proddd along, with all of its unhappy prejudices that have handicapped our curretn political discourse. She only helped the beguiling of voters, inducing them to judge people by the color of their skin, and not the content of their character. Dresses in the trappings of royalty, she mesmerized eclectic audiences without ministering the deeped needs brought out by the human condition.

For a woman who advocated the values of finding love and building a happy home life with a life-long mate, how come long-time boyfriend Stedman Graham has remained long-term Beau rather than her happily-wedded husband? Fear of commitment, unwillingness to cooperate in the simple bonds of matrimony, all of it casts a tragic shadow on a life lived so brilliantly in the public eye.

For a woman who has survived abuse, slander, scandal at home and abroad, still to command a multi-billion dollar empire, how come she seems so superficial, so inconsequential.

If nothing, she epitomizes the reality that this life, a run-wild rat-race of fame and finances, dilapidated into a vain vanity of vanities. Her questionable integrity in private betrays any public good which she did on behalf of millions around the world. She may have blessed untold masses, yet is she in turn blessed? Is hers a life that one could envy?

Tea Party Upsets Republicans, Creates Upset Democratic Victory‏

Democrat Kathy Hochul won a vacant Congressional Seat in Upstate New York, an upset which the media and political wonks are chalking up to the growing "backlash" against Congressman Paul Ryan's plan to reform Medicare.

One crucial element ignored by the press (surprise, surprise):

Third Party Democrat-turned-Tea Party Candidate siphoned off 9% of the vote, which just as well could have gone to the embattled Republican.

It's not the unpopularity of the budget reform which is turning off voters, it's the needless split among establishment and Tea Party Republicans in convulsive districts which need to start establishing the necessary common ground to achieve political unity and victory over tax-and-spend liberal Democrats.

Didn't we see a replay of this in 2009?

Liberal Republican was slated for doom against the establishment Democratic nominee in another vacant Congressional District in Upstate New York. The Conservative/Tea Party candidate fired off to a meteoric rise, passing the Republican candidate, who suspended her campaign in favor of the Democrat. A reliable Republican district went to the Democratic candidate.

In the words of well-know befuddled New Yorker Yogi Bera, "This is deja vu all over again."

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

The Exhumation of Salvador Allende, Ressurrection of a Protest

The nation of Chile has authorized the exhumation of the body of deposed (and self-ending) former President of Chile, Salvador Allende. The next of kin of the long-deceased President gave their blessing to the autopsy, yet they believe that the Chilean government will not discover anything new.

What are the Chilean officials trying to find out? During the coup of September 11 1973, did the beleaguered President actually kill himself with a shot to the head (as most official records contend); did a faithful second finish him off after he failed to end his life; or was he killed by the soldiers at the behest of General Augustin Pinochet?

Rather than investigating the death of a former Marxist, Chile and the world should pay attention to the rise of another rabid Marxist-erstwhile-Communist in Peru. Scholars, politicians, pundits, and the public all need to consider how to depose another communistic head of state, Cesar Chavez of Venezuela, a blood-thirsty, deceitful, arrogant tyrant who has all but decimated the domestic economy of his country with socialist ruination, alienating Venezuela from the concord of his nation with his normalizing overtures to Iran and other terrorist entities and his despicable repudiation of Israel and the Jews of his homeland. Not to mention his overt violation of human rights, from shutting down opposition radio stations, to seizing private property, to silencing the very students who had vocally supported him in the past.

Rather that speculating on the cause of death of a defunct Communist President, let us reflect on the heinous folly of the ideology on which he had propelled himself to national office. A communistic regime would more than certainly have dragged Chile into the Soviet Union's baneful sphere of influence. The communist economic program of ubiquitous state control would have destroyed Chile's economy and impoverished the Chilean people long after Allende would have left office (if ever). Past question, if Allende and his Communist ilk had remained in power, Chile would not enjoy the free market prosperity which has propelled the nation past its neighbors and that helped guide the Chilean people through horrendous earthquakes and the near-disastrous humanitarian crisis which imperiled the now world-renowned Chilean miners.

Rather than probing the dead body of socialist President Salvador Allende, who ironically enough would have been anything but a savior to his fledgling country, let us ponder the cold carcass of Communism, a bereft social and economic agenda which has led to the death of hundreds of millions (more than the fascism of Hitler, Mussolini, and Tojo), the degradation of nations throughout the globe to this day, the impoverishment of millions then and now. In spite of the irrefutable evidence of Communism's intellectual and moral bankruptcy, the false prophets of Marx and Engels, armed with Ph.D.'s and protection as tenured University professors, are still indoctrinating Western youth en masse. Seduced into yearning for the phony utopia of a classless society at the barrel of gun, the brazenly sport the vulgar-chic commie icons of Che Guevara and Maoist China, ignorant of the world-wide and long-term destruction waged by these enemies of humanity.

The exhumation of Salvador Allende, rather than merely determining inconsequential causes and verifying long-forgotten reports of a bloody coup, should be the opportunity for the nation of Chile and the world to excoriate once and for all the defeated Communist agenda and glory in the robust prosperity of free-market Capitalism.

Janice Hahn's Endorsements Her Greatest Detractors

Councilwoman Janice Hahn now proudly claims to have rounded up the endorsements of the following high-profile Democracts for the CA-36th:

Governor Jerry Brown--Overwhelmed Governor serving his second run in the highest office of the (now-tarnished) Golden State, the former mayor of one of the most troubled cities in the State-Oakland, a near police state with a burdensome local taxes, hardly commended for its safety and stability. Incidentally, this same liberal is actually pursuing some of the "Extremist, Tea Party" policies denounced by Janice Hahn, including taking a machete to all the duplicitous, doubled-up state agencies and offices carved out for former lawmakers and friends of friends in high places.

Lt. Gavin Newsom-failed Gubernatorial candidate now serving in a stuffy ceremonial role, this crass mayor cheated on his wife with no lingering shame or incrimination, a statist who spent more time regulating plastic bags and palm readers in the City, he oversea the City by the Bay throwing up hostile regulations which have needlessly priced out minorities from the Bay Area Housing Market.

Congressional Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi--Is Councilwoman Hahn actually proud to have the endorsement of this out-of-touch East-Coast, West-Coast San Francisco liberal? FORMER majority leader Pelosi presided over a Democratic coalition with an allied Senate Majority and liberal-sympathizing President, only to watch this growing Democratic Constituency slip through her hands. The number of seats which switched Republican more than equaled all the seats which the Democrats had previously gained in the two previous election cycles. A failed leader, inarticulate, she lead the passage of the extensively unpopular "ObamaCare" medical mandate, forced on an unwilling nation, which fought back by firing her from her leadership post.

If Councilwoman Hahn really wants to get elected, she ought to find statesmen, not outrageous, arrogant politicians whose adherence to the Democratic Party line has only undermined any long-term economic recovery for the United States, the State of California, and the 36h.

Come to think of it, there really is not Democrat who meets this standard. For all her glorying in national-level endorsement, she has nothing to stand on but a flimsy, if not minimal records, as Councilwoman, plus the backing of a disparaged political party still retreading the same empty arguments that more state control and more government intrusion will somehow improve the lives of American citizens.

The Tea Party: Extremist?

Some people just can't hold their tea. . .

The TEA Party, i.e. Taxed Enough Already, is the rallying cry of more Americans across the country.

It is the vain, vapid effort of reactionary liberals to paint any top-down change within the United States in the interests of personal and local liberty as extreme, dangerous, to be shunned at all costs.

Such is the tired argument of LA City Councilwoman Janice Hahn, attempting for a second time in so many years to capture the House seat for the California 36th Congressional District.

Here is a short summary of some of the Tea Party Movement's "Extreme" positions:

Eliminate Excessive Taxes: Now, who is opposed to shouldering a lower tax burden? Who in this country would object to keeping more of their hard-earned money out of the hands of wasteful, inept government and spending it on providing for themselves, their families, their local businesses, and their communities? One of the reasons why the Founders of this Country rebelled against Great Britain was the growing tax burden which the Mother Country wanted to force upon the colonists, without their consent. There is nothing extreme in operating by the same principles in our expectations from the Federal Government.

Eliminate the National Debt: $14 Trillion in debts, with trillions more in unfunded liabilities from the Entitlements like Social Security and Medicare, will cripple future investment in this country, force upon future generations a heavier tax burdens, raise the cost of borrowing for this country, the several states, and individual entrepreneurs, as well as pricing out a college education for future high school grads. Only an extremist would dismiss these deleterious consequences and keep on spending.

Protect Free Markets: Economist Milton Friedman made the tried and true argument that "Free Markets make Free People." Free Markets create jobs. Free Markets open up commerce, release the prosperous flow of capital for producers and consumers. Consider: more business, more businesses, more jobs, more sales, more sales tax, more revenue for the state, and all without robbing people of their rightly-earned income.

Upholding the Constitution of the United States: This simple plank in the Tea Party platform is an essential element in every national statesman's oath of office. There is nothing extreme about expecting elected officials to do what they have sworn to do, protect and defend the U.S. Constitution. Just look at the fate of the majority of Democratic House Reps and Senators after the 2010 elections.

The Tea Party . . Extreme? Hardly! If nothing else, the Tea Party is right in line with the hopes and frustration of the American People.

The only extremists are the reactionary, regulatory liberals who slander the Tea Party like House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi and President Barack Obama, politicians who have stomped on the Constitution in their zeal to subjugate business and citizen to unworkable, unjustified regulations and mandates.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Debt Crisis in European: Don't Fatten the PIIGS

The PIIGS (Columnist Pat Buchanan's acronym for the debt-ridden countries of the European Union: Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, and Spain) do not deserve the opportunity to trample the pearls of hard-earned wealth from more stable European countries.

If these nations refused to be responsible enough to save state money for a rainy day (and this is a diluvian disaster), they do not deserve any bailout, large or modest, for France and Germany, of which the latter state is propping up the greatest share of the Euro.

The Southern European nations (and Ireland) chose to play fast and loose with tax-payer money, dive head first into a racing-hot housing market, which was destined to bust after the boom like any other speculative bubble (tulips, anyone?).

Even worse, socialist policies in welfare states which have propped the able-bodies to skip work and skirt taxes created the morass of societal helpless which grips these nations, both preventing them from acquiring new sources of revenue in the face of economic stagnation and social unrest. The masses, from the ditch-diggers to the University professors, have no interest in paying up, just in more pay out, a lecherous lifestyle induced by a nanny state headed by timorous politicians who, like indulgent parents, wouldn't say "No" in the better interests of their wards.

Do not fatten the PIIGS with any more bailouts. The euro will certainly collapse with this intervention, but the currency is destined to fail in light of the schlerotic regulations which inhibit its status as a sovereign trading commodity. If Greece, or another other nation defaults, it will ripple shock waves throughout the world, economic pain which at this point is simply inevitable. Yet better for the PIIGS to get slaughtered now than for the entire world to be carved up in economic stagnation, market seizures, and fiscal anarchy.

Republican Revival in the South Bay

Throw up your hands and shout "Hallelujah!" A new day is dawning in the South Bay: the Resurrection of the Republican Party.

For years, the socially moderate, fiscally conservative California 36th Congressional District (The "CA-36th") stretching from Venice to San Pedro has elected confirmed Democrats. The previous representative, Jane Harman, spouse of wealthy (are recently deceased) media magnate Sidney Harman, championed local industries and national security, but on all other issues the Blue Dog Democrat voted the Donkey Democrat party line.

Now that she has been raptured away to head some inane Washington Think Tank, the CA-36th must choose a candidate to replace her, who will either be life or death to the economic recovery of this district:

1) Janice Hahn, established and well-known incumbent of the Los Angeles City Council, current representing LA City's 15th Council District, which includes San Pedro, Wilmington, and Watts.

or

2) Craig Huey, an outsider from politics and small businessman of Rancho Palos Verdes, who has articulated a cogent message to promote fiscal discipline for a district and a nation too long on the wrong track.

For too long, the CA-36th tolerated a Blue-Dog Democrat who voted more and more like a stubborn statist mule pulling delegated powers into the hands of government while pushing out constitutional rights and guarantees. The best remedy for this reactionary liberalism is an infusion of fresh, fiscally-conservative, constitutional sound values to the CA-36th. This Republican, sticking staunchly to fiscal discipline, may carry the day against an established liberal incumbent with family name and district-wide recognition.

As a newly-elected member of Congress, Mr. Huey can help redeem this district, whose business climate has struggled in the midst of the Great Recession that has covered the land. With small-business sense and savvy, he can protect the needs of the large business constituency in the CA-36th as well as champion the larger corporations burdened with heavy taxes and onerous job-killing regulations. At the top of that list of Government intrusions, list ObamaCare, an outrageous unnecessary and dysfunctional mandate which Mr. Huey will assist in repealing while in office.

A firm supporter of Israel and the United States, Mr. Huey wishes to strengthen our ties with our closest ally in the Middle East, rather than pressuring to give up their land, as did President Obama in his proposal for the Jewish state to revert to its indefensible 1967 borders. Mr. Huey also supports a robust foreign diplomacy which defends this nation's at home and abroad, neither gutting or undermining the core constitutional mission of the U.S. Armed Forces.

Despite a list of impressive and respectable values, many may challenge that Craig Huey has no business seeking political office in light of his lack of political experience. In response, it is precisely his outsider status that makes him an excellent and well-qualified candidate for national office. He is even pledged to term limits both for himself and for all members of Congress to avoid becoming an out-of-touch career politician.

In contrast, Janice Hahn has a penchant for seeking higher office at every opportunity, having sought the CA-36th seat in 1998, then lost, then ran for LA City Council (riding on the power of the Hahn brand more than her own qualifications
), and while in office running for Lieutenant Governor. She seems to spend more time running for office instead of running her office, a controversy which has not enlarged her following. A number of constituents have denounced her lack of attention to the district. She has pretty much sat by, watching the near-decay of Downtown San Pedro, including the exorbitant hike in parking fees for a region desperate to create business, not scare it away. The Cruiseline Industry is also is also suffering, despite the tepid recovery in the Port of Los Angeles port traffic. Where is Janice Hahn to help her constituents. Contrary to the assertions of her campaign, her political discretion has betrayed her inexperience with creating jobs and improving local economies.

An political opportunist who supports state intervention in the economy ( a dead-on-arrival approach to any economic recovery), she touts her long-standing endorsement of green technologies, which siphon away jobs rather than create them. Janice Hahn has not demonstrated that she would be worthy of representing the greater CA-36th.

Let us hope in the ensuing months that residents in the CA-36th will pay attention to the fiscally-conservative argument of native son Craig Huey, whose views and attitudes will jump-start a district still struggling to increase trade and prosperity in the aftermath of a decimating housing crash and an anemic recovery.

Political, Fiscal, and Moral Revival is sweeping the land. Let's just hope that everyone gets swept up in the spirit of the new times!

Vote Craig Huey for the CA-36th!

Congratulations, Mr. Huey

Dear Mr. Huey:

Congratulations on entering the two-candidate run-off out of sixteen candidates for the 36th Congressional District.

Janice Hahn has already attempted to tarnish you as some out-of-touch Tea Party candidate. Yet if more people become aware of how devastating Democratic, statist principles have undermined the core power and values of this country, patriotic voters throughout the South Bay will choose you.

I also submit that attention to fiscal issues at the expense of divisive social issues will be more effective in reaching moderates who vote their wallet more than their Bible.

In her campaign, Hahn hammers stresses she can create jobs. I wonder how successful she has been at promoting commerce in her own council district, which includes the struggling San Pedro downtown area (where she allowed parking fees to be jacked up an astounding 400%!) and the troubled Watts area which still languishes economically. One resident sarcastically commented that her only real achievement for her district was finding a new home for Reggie, the pet alligator run amok in Lake Machado, a costly effort which tied up needed resources for a community still struggling with gang crime and unemployment.

For all purposes, Hahn is an out-of-touch career politician who has already sought higher office while still the rightfully and dutifully elected representative for the 15th Council District in Los Angeles. She has not ingratiated herself to the residents of her district. She has even been exposed by local media for using excessive energy, even when the LA City Council directed her I sincerely hope that the residents of this long and diverse congressional district will appreciate the momentous implications of this race and elect a tried-and-true fiscal conservative who will tackle this nation's budgetary problems and invigorate economic recovery.

Before I end this letter, I submit one question to you, which I am sure you and your staff have already deliberated on at length:

How do you, a small businessman from Palos Verdes, plan on reaching out to the independents and the large number of registered Democrats in this seaside district, which stretches from San Pedro to Venice?

I do not ask this question to mock or disparage your chances, for if New Jersey Governor Chris Christie could win the governorship in a state with a 2-to-1 Democratic majority, you certainly have more than a remote chance of replacing Jane Harman as the 36th's next House Representative.

Thank you for your time. Good luck to you, Mr. Huey.

Yemeni President Refuses to Resign . . Will Civil War Ensue?

President Saleh of Yemen has repudiated the UEA resolution for him to step down in thirty days and turn over power to his vice president.

Now as before, Saleh is playing off his usefulness to the United States in stalling his much-wanted departure. A stable Yemen prevents Al-Qaeda operatives from swarming the country and setting up terrorist operations against Saudi Arabia and the United States. Like other strongmen in the region, Saleh intuitively senses the long-term fears of the United States, that a power vacuum in the Southern Arabian Peninsula will lead to more political unrest.

At this point, however, there is so much political fervor demanding Saleh's ouster, it is nothing short of a miracle that Al-Qaeda has not struck out any more than it already has. Still, United States' foreign policy must construct a new calculus which factors in the removal of former rogue heads of state, no matter how much more this nation's national security may benefit more from a stable dictator than an unknown or unstable democratic ally.

If the United States Diplomatic core presented a United Front, one which expressly endorsed Democratic regimes, with the conditions respecting the integrity of indigenous peoples, their cultures, and their religions, we would be well-positioned to call for the immediate--if necessary, forceful--removal of President Saleh and an interim government to settle long-standing differences.

What if another civil war breaks out like in Libya? Despite the loss of life and civil order, Al-Qaeda still will not be able to launch more permanent bases against targeted states. Tribes fighting tribes, cities against countryside, any military disorder would severely inhibit contrived terrorist operations.

Beyond that, the United States must accept that we must be resigned to watching on the sidelines as the Arab Spring unfolds in directions we may or may not favor.

Cautious Optimism Gives Way to Muted Pessimism

Thrilling to behold the thug-state Syria slowly unraveled by its people, finally breaking through, climbing over breaking down the barrier of fear which kept them isolated and subjugated for so long.

The world is witnessing how the plight to public suicide of one frustrated fruit vendor has enraged docile populations to overthrow their "elected" leaders.

Yet when Egyptians rumbled under the yoke, yearning for the same freedom from dictatorship masquerading as democracy, the world took more pensive notice, worried as well as welcoming potential positive change. Mubarak, a stalwart ally of the United States and Israel, a leader who protected the Coptic Christian minority from engulfing encroachments, was threatened.

Would his protracted peace disappear with his departure? Would moderate reformers craft a stable government which respects natural rights? Or would a zealous Muslim majority take power and reshape the face of an already troubled Middle East?

It would appear that the latter scenario is developing. The Muslim Brotherhood has already established an operational political party to seize power. Egypt has opened diplomatic channels with Hamas and Iran, both sworn, virulent enemies of Israel and the United States. Anti-Israeli, Anti-Semitic, Anti-Western government is poised to influence politics as usual in the Middle East.

Recently, operators behind the scenes have even insinuated the dubious gossip that Libyan strongman Col. Moammar Gadhafi is actually a Jew! Another article in the LA Times also detailed a make-shift tent of the Libyan rebels, which lampooned Gadhafi as a poodle of the Jewish State, repleted with Stars of David on his military regalia. Future forces in power throughout the Middle East seem to be galvanizing hatred and hostility of the Jewish State.

All of this has been rolling out, with culminating mobs cresting over the borders of Northern Israel from Syria and Palestinians demanding an independent state.

The desire for freedom across these Arab States is transforming into a sinister solidarity which guarantees Sharia law and threatens the one viable Western democracy in the region.

Movement in Morocco Underscores Uninformed Kings and Unsettled Kingdoms

Kings in Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and now Morocco are feeling the breeze of the "Arab Spring."

King Abdullah II of Jordan was on "This Week with Christiane Amanpour" outlining his opinions on the political protests upsetting the Assad regime in Syria.

Either out of touch or craven in his calculating grasp for power, Abdullah believes that Assad is in control in his nation, despite the growing calls for his removal by Syrians of all ages. Now children are vowing revenge against the state which has butchered, their brother, fathers, and elders.

If King Abdullah is so out of touch about the growing wave of sweeping the region, it is only a matter of time before his grip on power is compromised.

If the King of Jordan's misunderstandings were not enough, the Kingdom of Morocco is beginning to hemorrhage with protests and fiercer police crackdowns. Even the nations which world-watchers assumed would weather out the Arab Revolutions are tumbling into unrest.

Unsettled monarchs are watching as heads of state roll with the punches meted out by their disaffected subjects. With only a matter of time protecting them from down-fall, they are not striking out. Their previous hesitancy has given way to violent apprehension.

Oscar de la Hoya in Rehab, or the Media's Inadvertent Service

Though a man may knock down opponents, make lots of money, and move in high powered circles, it all comes to nought if he has now Higher Power to answered.

In a way, it is refreshing to see the media expose the illicit comfort measures which celebrities pursue in their pursuit of the good life, fecklessly masking emptiness, hurt, and disillusion with success and financial favor.

True favor cannot be bottled up, thrown in a pill, wrapped in a fat paycheck, or amassed by large crowds of people clamoring for a piece of the power, yearning for the good life exuded by the well-positioned.

Even Donald Trump has acknowledged that money will not but happiness a profound admission and admonition from one who went from nearly one-billion dollars in debt to renewed notoriety and wealth through media deals and reality TV shows. He knows what he is talking about. Of course, the wisdom of the Preacher in Ecclesiastes formed this profound comclusion early on, a lesson which far too many have still failed to understand.

Returning to the current exposure of personal misfortune, Oscar de la Hoya seems to have it all: an excellent boxing record, stellar physical presence, incredible wealth, a desire to help people. And yet he still gave into illicit substances to ease himself. Beyond salivating over the downfall of a media golden boy, this incident may induce people to ask: For a man who has it all, why did he still feel the need to abuse controlled substances?

This is the message which the Media inadvertently preaches in exposing the personal and private fall-out of celebrities. Media pundits may have greedy immoral motives in humiliating celebrities who fall from grace, yet they indirectly highlight the vanity of pursuing our deepest needs in money, power, and prestige.

Or as the All-important Teacher and Savior put it: "What doth it profit a man if he gain the world, but lose his soul?" (Matt. 16:26)

Harold Camping, the Fleecing of the Masses, and the Distraction of the Media

Harold Camping, the unlicensed, uncredited, and self-ordained minister of May-Day Doomsday, is caught "flabbergasted." The world did not end, people are still moving to and fro in their busy, fruitless lives, ministers are still preaching the word, whether their hearers are moved into action or lulled into complacency.

What was this old falsehood thinking when he expounded with heady certainty a date which no one, not even Christ himself, knows?

It was all about the money, no doubt. It cost millions of dollars to mount an extensive ad-war of ministerial deception on the radio, with billboards, through the minds of desperate believers willing to believe anything that would remove them from the empty, hostile frustration of their lives.

People desperate for a quick fix have reverted to believing in soon-to-come end-times follies. Mr. Camping was more than willing to indulge them in their fantasies.

Then there is publicity. Mr. Camping and his "ministry" have dominated the airwaves for some time. I'm sure even TMZ will jump on the "hate-the-wacky-preacher" bandwagon, which is now rolling through the current news-cycle. Doomsday prophets market themselves widely, and they make good news, whether any of their predictions come true or not. As far as the media is concerned, as long as they have something newsworthy to bring to press, news organs are happy.

It brings one pause: perhaps the widespread phenomenon of false teaching is due in part to a ravenous media dedicated to printing whatever flippant froth it can foist on a foolish public, all the more fresh if it mocks religious sentiment of any denomination.

May 21, End-Time Prediction Fails--No Kidding

Harold Camping, the fundamentalist minister from Norther California, is shocked--shocked! that the world did not come to an end May 21, 2011. Despite hammering this
end-time prophecy for years, beguiling many people into believing, proselytizing, and advertizing this misinformation, the mistaken minister is "flabber-gasted".

So are hundreds of thousands of disillusioned followers. Maxed out credit cards, mounting bills, broken relationships, ruined lives: all a testimony to the effects of religious licentiousness at its worst.

Yet the very Scriptures which this fringe movement was relying have made it abundantly clear many times over"

"The day that the Lord comes will a like a thief in night.

"You will not know the day nor the hour" when the Lord may come (Matt. 25:13)

"For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night." (1 Thes. 5:2)

and

"But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up." (2 Pet. 3:10)

These scriptures make it very clear that the Lord's Return will be a surprise, one which we cannot predict and mentally prepare for with a few strokes of the pen to our calendars.

In fact, the secrecy of the date of the Lord's return is so cryptic, that:

"But of that day and hour knoweth no [man], no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. (Matt. 24:36; see also Mark 13:32)

Even the One who is returning has not yet been inoformed when He is returning! Who is anyone on earth to presume, therefore, that he can predict to the day and the hour when Jesus is coming back?

It is astounding, if not laughable, that preachers and thinkers insist on using archane and erudite methods to calculate the date of end-times, yet will not be bothered to read the Words of He who is to Come!

Well did Jesus say of the Pharisees and all other false teachers:

"Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me." (John 5:39) How sad that those well-verse in God's law, then and now, could know written word so well, yet miss the Written World walking in their midst.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

The King of Demons Takes on the President of the United States

Gene Simmons, né Chaim Witz, lead guitarist for the 70's-on rock band "KISS", was born in Israel to Hungarian Jews who had fled the Holocaust. Early in his life, he even thought about becoming a Rabbi. Declining the Rabbinate, he went with music, rocked and rolled all night, rocked in Detroit City, put the X in . . . well, you get the idea.


A child of the homeland, Jewish to the core, he's speaking up for the Jewish State.

For a man who has perversely played out his private life for the world to see, it is refreshing to hear him call Obama to the carpet about the ludicrous call for Israel to return to its pre-1967 borders.

It's a shame that Simmons still regards Obama in a positive light. Because he is such an unabashed liberal, it was inevitable that Obama would have reneged on resolute support for the State of Israel.

At least the Demon is starting to see the error of his ways.

Let's hope that voters across the country will share his sentiment come November 2012. With a solid Republican in office and more certain support for the Jewish State, Simmons, the United States, and the world at large will be able to "Rock and Roll all Night. . . "

Three Republicans Refuse to Run . . Now What?

Some Republican walkers, runners, pundits, and supports may look at the sudden reconsideration and refusal of number of potential Republican candidates for the 2012Presidential Elections with some trepidation, if not dismay.

Where have all the good candidates gone? Who will have the right mix of integrity, ingenuity, and intellect to persuade a wary electorate to vote for them in the face of the "We-are-the-Change-we-have-been-waiting-for" inanity of the current President?

Just because a worthy standard bearer for the party has not emerged, Republicans, and the nation at large, has nothing to worry about. In fact, the efficient winnowing process has more than ensured that the final nominee will command the allegiance of a significant and diverse electorate, not just within the Republican Party, with disaffected voters of all stripes.

Tim Pawlenty, former Governor of Minnesota, will announce his decision to run (or not). Herman Cain, well-established business mogul and radio host, has declared his candidacy, along with Ron Paul, another darling of the Tea Party who is commanding a growing legion of respect among voters, not just political wonks and college grads.

We still have not heard from Sarah Palin, which is all for the good. Mitt Romney has enlarged his war chest significantly, yet elections over time have asserted that money cannot buy elections. Newt Gingrich is foundering beneath his immediate change of mind and plans, almost as irresolute as his marriage vows.

There is still time for galvanizing potential candidates like Governor Rick Perry and Chris Christie to reconsider their disinclination to run.

Anything can happen, and this heighten, heated uncertainty is only a good thing!

Haley Barbour Declines to Run

Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour made a number of not-so-subtle solicitations of interest for the Presidency. Newspaper columnists and talk-show hosts talked up his potential to run.

As soon as his name his the headlines, people outlined his accomplishments as tenure as Governor of Mississippi. They also brought his previous work as a Beltway Lobbyists, a move which some argued would sour his chances with voters.

He has a commanding presence, a booming voice, plus a track record as a proven leader, having shepherded his native Gulf State through Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil spill. In office, he instituted tort reform and medical insurance reform to lower medical costs in Mississippi, proposals which fiscal conservatives have been recommending to improve the quality and cost of health care in this country.

In addition to his accomplishments, Barbour has demonstrated remarkable character in making his decision not to run. Succinctly, he stated that he was not willing to make a ten-year commitment to a new career. This resolution shows accurate self-awareness, a character trait highly wanting and desperately needed by the next chief executive of the United States

Mike Huckabee Steps out Before Stepping in

Another Republican Governor, Mike Huckabee, will not be joining the Republican race to challenge President in 2012 for the Presidency.

A sociable, voluble, gregarious man (who is literally half the man that he used to be), he held considerable sway over the evangelical vote.

With the distinction of winning the Iowa Caucuses and sweeping a number of Southern states in the primaries, Huckabee could very well have capitalized on his homespun charm and religious connections to make a second run for the White House.

Factors against him included his not-so-stable stance on taxes, his pardon of a convicted killer who went on to offend again (in Oregon). His economic populism also troubled more fiscally-restrained conservatism. Above all, a candidate heavily allied with the Religious Right would have a harder time reaching out to disaffected Democracts, secularists, and independents in a general election.

In the end, Huckabee's departure leaves a large bloc of voters open to courting by a more viable candidate. His pundit support as a Fox News Contributor will boost a lackluster campaign for a worthy candidate or at least highlight the strengths of a future presidential contender.

Mr. Gingrich, Please Leave

Mr. Gringrich has been in the race for President for only one week, and already he's struggling with damage-control.

Then again, his life following his departure from the House of Representatives as its beleaguered, ineffective Speaker to the present has been a natty exercise in cleaning up his own messes, explaining away past mistakes, and hiding latent indiscretions.

It appears that many have already forgotten the many strikes already lined up against "Mr. Gingrich for President":

For starters, this man cheated on his wife not once, but twice, having stepped out on his first wife and then on his mistress, who became his second wife, all while prosecuting President Bill Clinton for lying under oath about his infidelity with a staff intern. I wonder what goes through the mind of Wife Number Three every time someone brings up these unpleasant, previous problems. Now, I am all for forgiveness and remembering not former sins, but Mr. Gingrich has a penchant for minimizing his gross personal misconduct as "mistakes", only to engage in them again. It's one thing for a man to fall and rise again, but its inexcusable for a man to excuse himself endlessly.

Then there are his seeming reversals time and again over cap-and-trade legislation. But the epitome of disqualifying misjudgements was his unqualified judgement of Congressman Ryan's budget proposal as "right-wing social engineering." Tea Party advocates of all stripes want less government, less manipulation, less engineering. If Gingrich cannot cast his own constituents in a favorable light, then he has no business attempting to represent them in his run for nationwide office.

Mr. Gringrich, do yourself, your party, and your country a favor:

Please leave the 2012 United States Presidential Race!

Mitch Daniels Takes Hat out of the Ring

Mitch Daniels, well-documented fiscal conservative and darling of the Tea Party, has decided not to run for President in 2012.

He would have been a worthy candidate. Disciplined, consistent, well-spoken of, this Hoosier-Governor turned a massive budget deficit in his native state into a stable surplus. He championed privatizing measures, cut spending for socially immoral programs, and ingratiated himself to people of all persuasions throughout the state.

He was a straight talker, too, acknowledge the priority of this nation's fiscal woes enough to request a "moratorium on social issues." That was a necessary move, a moment of frank boldness which may ultimately have decided him against running.

Notwithstanding apparent factors, Daniels conceded publicly that he did not want the pressures of a nation-wide campaign to impinge on his family: a responsible, socially conservative stance.

His example as a man and statesman noteworthy, even though the country as a whole will not have the privilege of witnessing his leadership skills in action.

Bibi Shoots Down Obama

In a tense meeting with President Obama this morning, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ("Bibi") explained the essential position of his party and Israeli nation in rejecting an an old proposal recently promoted by President Obama.

On this new point of contention between the two statesmen, Netanyahu took part of the time in a shared press conference to explain the errors in President Obama's assertion that Israel should recede to its pre-1967 borders ("with land swaps" Obama supporters will chime in) as part of the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. Part of his explanation included a historical time-line of sorts.

The Israeli Prime Minister is not sharing an isolated opinion on this matter, either. It was President George W. Bush who rightly acknowledged that facts on the ground have fundamentally changed the dynamics for negotiations. Jewish settlements have legally proliferated in the West Bank. The handover of Gaza has only emboldened terrorists, now armed with political legitimacy, to harass Israel on both sides. Forcing Israel to pull back its borders would be suicide.

However, following Netanyahu's extended refutation of Obama's proposal, pundits from across the political spectrum are castigating Bibi because he was "lecturing" the President on the history of the protracted and frustrated peace process which has still refused fruition. Their criticism of the Prime Minister is short-sighted as well as arrogant and presumptuous.

Prime Minister Netanyahu is the head of state surrounded by states swapped by political chaos, all threatening to undermine any long-term stability OF Israel and the Middle East. He has every right to explain not just the White House, but to the misinformed world at large what is at stake in Palestine, both for the Jews as well as Arabs.

Furthermore it is sheer arrogance for the head of state from another nation to even insinuate to a fellow statesman where and how he should delineate the borders of his own country. How would we respond if a foreign statesman reprimanded us for protecting our own borders, for tracking down the merciless thugs who have attacked this country for years, and for undermining future attempts at national attacks against us?

President Obama, who has made a practice of maligning the policies of his predecessor (despite relying on the same to catch Osama bid Laden), has resolutely ignored the ongoing violent refusal of the Palestinians to recognize the legitimacy of the Jewish State and the rights of every person living in Palestine, both Jew and Arab (as well as Christian). Prime Minister Netanyahu needed to hold our President accountable for this blatant lack of awareness.

In the face of Obama's complete ignorance of crucial developments the stalled Middle East peace process, Netanyahu justifiably addressed in a calm and cogent manner the folly behind suggesting that Israel renounce its current holdings in the West Bank, a move which would endanger civilians, invite more terrorist attacks, and severely compromise the Jewish State's capacity to defend (and define) itself.

To put it another way, Bibi shot down Obama, and not a moment too soon!

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Obama must Pull Back on Pushing for Israeli Pullback

Amazing!

After all that the United States has done for the Jewish State, not to mention the incredibly important anti-terrorist fighting of Israel, President Obama wants the Jews to retract their nation back to 1967 borders.

Shameful!

That lands has belonged to the Jews ever since God himself made the covenant with the Partiarch Abaraham.

Christians and Muslims coexisted peacefully with the Jews in Palestine for centuries. Only recently have radical Muslims proclaimed Jerusalem as one of the Holy Sites of the Islamic faith. For hundreds of years before, they didn't care. Only when a well-established well-run Jewish State reappeared, just as the Prophets of old foretold, did radical Muslims get up in arms about the Holy Capital of the Jewish State.

Modern Israel has adeptly accomated the Arab/Muslim populations in its midst and in the near vicinity. In contrast, the Virulent Islamic Radicals forcibly created a permanent underclass of displaced Arab.Muslim rebels, refusing them citizenship in Jordan or surrounding Arab nations. Since then, they have unrighteously damned the rightful placement of the Jews in Palestine as "The Occupation".

In the face of virulent abuse from menacing opposition parties which refuse to compromise, President Obama still insists that Israel offer more concessions to the Palestinians. The Palestinian "state" (hardly a "nation" by definition) is ruled by the elected leadership of Hamas/Fatah (former rivals now sharing power), a political entity which blatantly repudiates the "Zionist Enemy" and all her supporters (especially the United States).

When Israel gave Gaza to the Palestinians, they not only elected Hamas, but the newly-elected leadership in that now-terrorized snippet of land instigated on-going rocket attacks against Southern Israel, impoverishing their own people while using defenseless women and children as shields against Israel's justified defense maneuvers. This recent failure of diplomacy demonstrates once again that every time Israel makes concessions to the Palestinians, the PLO, Hamas, Fatah, etc. fire back: "Death to Israel!"

No amount of counsel, diplomacy, agreements, arrangements, hopes, dreams, fears, , manipulating, cajoling, or outright pleading will produce peace in the Middle East. Israel wants to promote freedom and democracy; the Palestinians "Leadership" does not. Israel values human life: Jew, Arab, and Christian; the radical Muslims do not, glorifying despicable suicide bombers who massacre innocents in public places. Israel has always been willing to negotiate, with the understanding that that the Palestinians cease attacking Israel, respect the rights of all people (including their own), and support the peace process. The Palestinian people, however, incessantly bombarded by Anti-Semitic and Anti-American Propaganda, have been indoctrinated into refusing peace with a "Satanic" nation which they sincerely, insanely believe has no right to exist.

Snap out of it, President Obama! We must protect and support the Jewish people and the Jewish State in their fight for survival, in their on-going operations against terrorism and radical Islam, which not only threaten the Western way of life in the Middle East, but endanger the peace and safety of the world at large.

We have no business dictating to Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Israeli people how big or small their nation should be. We must press for reasonable concessions from the Palestinians, including full and irrevocable recognition of the State of Israel, renunciation of terrorist activities, and full freedom of right and movement for all inhabitants in the region: Jew, Christian, and Muslim.

Along with the capture and execution of mass-murderer Osama bin Laden, complete support and advocacy for the State of Israel would culminate a fruitful and meaningful Middle Eastern foreign policy.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Schwarzenegger's Confession gives way to Christ's Profession of Grace and Repentence

It's now official.

Former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger cheated on his wife Maria Shriver, and in the most clichéd fashion. He had an affair with his long-time live-in maid. After fathering a child with the woman, Schwarzenegger provided her and her child a new home in Bakersfield, though the maid continued working for the Governor and his family under a cloud of secrecy which kept the wife, kids, and the world at large in the dark.

I think the extensive media attention exposing this man's sin is just as sinful, distracting frail humanity from their own foibles, which in God's eyes are just as bad, even if they are not overt or exposed. Where do any of us get the idea that we are instantly morally superior because we have not stepped out on our spouses or have engaged in overtly unseemly conduct?

Jesus said that if we even lusts in hearts, we have committed adultery (Matt 5:28). We may not bed, rape, or molest someone, but if we have transgressed someone in our minds, we are just as guilty as the politicians, preachers, and pundits whom we so heedlessly condemn in the press.

By, expounding that God is also God of our thought-life, Jesus cast down once and for all the feigned fidelity of the Pharisees, the religious sect which in Jesus' time claimed the undeserved allegiance and admiration of many: "Your righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees." (Matt. 5:20) He also undid any presumptuous claim to moral uprightness on our part in today's world.Scripture makes the universal depravity of man clear-cut: "For we have all sinned, and come short of the glory of God." (Rom. 3:23)

Regarding intimate matters, not only are we all sinners, we are all like the adulterous woman featured in the Gospel of John Chapter 8. This flagrant woman was caught in the act of adultery, then put on impromptu trial by the vicious Pharisees, who were seeking to trap Jesus and undo his forceful grace-filled message of the Gospel.

Though we may not now be dragged and thrusted trembling before a public forum of self-righteous zealots, we all stand before God. We cannot hide our sins, whether public or private, from our all-seeing, all-knowing Father in Heaven (Heb 4:13).
For example, do we flirt with other who are not our spouses or significant others? Are we introverts in public, but perverts in private? Going no further than our minds, do we "slide into third base" with every person we meet, whether we actually accomplish anything physically? In these matters, no one can seriously claim to meet God's standard for moral purity.

Now, should this shocking revelation drive us into despair?

Yes, and No! Consider what Jesus did when confronted with the virulent hypocrisy of the Pharisees:

"Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more. (John 8:5-11, KJV)

Jesus came to redeem us from the curse of the law (Gal. 3:13), including "Thou shalt not commit adultery" (Ex. 20). Despite his legitimage authority to have the adulteroud woman executed, Jesus did not judge the woman (John 8:15), but rather gave sight to those who were blind, and to blind those who claimed to see (John 9:39). The adulteress was blinded by her sin; the Pharisees, who claimed to see well enough that they wanted to put her death, Jesus did not let off so easily. He held the Pharisees to the same standard by which they were condemning the woman. "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." One by one the Pharisees trailed off, tossing away their stones. Why? Their conscience testified against them loud and clear (v9), their inner discernment of right from wrong which declared without fail their own failure to live up to the moral law.

The law of Moses first prevents us from judging one another, for we are guilty. Then it brings us into absolute, dependent submission to the one who can save us, Jesus! For the law is our schoolmaster that leads us to Christ." (Gal. 3:24)

After the Pharisees left, John said "Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more. (John 8: 10-11, KJV). It's important to note here that Jesus refers to the sinner with great respect, just as he spoke to his Mother at the Wedding in Cana (John 2). More importatnly, the woman refers to Jesus as "Lord", not just "Rabbi", or even "friend". She believes on him, trusts him to save her and that makes her righteous. Compare Abraham before the LORD: "And Abraham believed the LORD, and it was accounted to him for righteousness" (Gen. 15:6), the very righteousness that saves every believer from death and ushers him into eternal life.

Consider also Zechariah Chapter 3, a manifestation in the Old Testament of the Saving Grace to come. Joshua the high priest stands covered in filthy rags before the Angel of the Lord, the Pre-incarnate Christ. Satan, the Accuser (like the self-righteous Pharisees in John 8) stands off to the side, speaking against Joshua, judging him for his sin.

How does Jesus deal with Satan? "The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan!" (Zech. 3:2)
Does Jesus just leave Joshua as is, dirty and down? Not at all!

He then says, "Take away the filthy garments from him. Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee. . . and I will clothe thee with a change of raiment." (Zech. 3:3)

What raiment does he give to naked, trembling, accused, caught-in-the-act sinners?

"To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion. . .the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness" (Is. 61:3)

and

" [God] hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels." (Is. 61:10)

In light of these promises, Jesus indeed clothes the adulterous woman with righteousness, his grace, not hers. He gives her reason to praise, for by his righteous defense she has escaped death and has received her life, with the fullest love from Jesus, the kind of love that she was so desperate to find in marriages and lovers.

This woman is not the first morally depraved figure whom Jesus meets and redeems. Consider the Samaritan woman at the well of Sychar in John 4. She was lowly esteemed in the community, in a sense a veritable sex offender. Breaking all social conventions of the time, addressing a woman, a Samaritan woman, and a woman with a sordid history, even by Samaritan standards, Jesus asked her for a drink. She tried to put him in his place, but in the end Jesus exposed her fruitless yearnings, having married five times and living in fornication with a sixth man. Rather than condemning the woman, he simply revealed everything which she had deluded herself into thinking that she could keep forever private. Not from God, however. Yet Jesus did not condemn the woman, thrust her from his presence, throw her down the well. He offered her Living Water, the only thing that could who satisfy her.

Overcome with joy at meeting the Messiah, she ran into the village to proclaim her faith and his arrival. Jesus' private admonition became a public confession, not of shame, but of faith!

Thus, we should not look down on the downfall of public figures for their immoral behavior. Instead, we must face resolutely within ourselves how depraved we are, how we are all "caught in the act", unable to hide. Yet we need not hide our shame, as did Adam and Eve, but bring ourselves to the Loving Light of the World who will dispel the shamers and blamers in our lives and redeem us with garments of praise and righteousness, no matter how depraved we have been in thought, word, or deed.

Schwarznegger's Confession, the Media's Distraction

Former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has owned up to having a child with his maid, a secret which he kept from everyone, including his wife and kids, for more than a decade.

This is what he had to say in response to the media onslaught which he will inevitably face:

"While I deserve your attention and criticism, my family does not."

No, Nein, Nicht! Schwarzenegger is wrong. He does not deserve the unremitting attention of the public or the media. Nor does he deserve the unmerited castigating which he will endure at the hand of Public Opinion.

No doubt, the former Governor's conduct is deplorable: cheating on his wife, fathering a child with the twenty-year live-in maid, hiding the secret with kickbacks and handouts to keep it quiet.

But for the media to insist on blasting a has-been governor, a so-so actor, and morally feeble human being, that is simply worse.

This country and its readers have more pressing matters to focus on. Let's consider:

-The plight of millions of displaced Japanese hammered into a humanitarian crisis by the worse earthquakes in the island nation's history.

-The growing clamor for freedom from oppressive governments sweeping across the Middle East, upsetting stable regimes in Sub-Saharan Africa, and endangering the State of Israel, the one long-standing democracy in the region.

-A now nuclear-armed Iran, run by religious zealots who openly avow a desire to impose freedom-killing, no, life-endangering Shariah law on the whole world

-Let's not forget the onerous budget deficit and escalating national debts eating away at Europe and threatening the fiscal solvency of the United States and the world, a financial disaster which would reap for worse havoc than the spreading military chaos engulfing the world.

And the media chooses to invest its resources in dishing on another philandering politician?

Consider also the invasive humiliation which Governor Schwarzenegger will face for his private failings.

We have no business bashing celebrities who do not affect or influence our lives. Statesmen and all other holders of public trust, however, must be open to public scrutiny. If they step out on their spouses, they must step out of office. After that, if we insist on purging a man for his private failings, we only debase ourselves, foolishly deluding ourselves into thinking we are somehow better.

We have all fallen short of the glorious moral ideal which we insist on for others. Instead of slaughtering another celebrated celebrity for his or her intimate escapades, we ought to take a look at ourselves.

Do we flirt with other who are not our spouses or significant others? Are we introverts in public, but perverts in private? Do we "slide into third base" with every person we meet, in our minds at least, whether we actually accomplish anything physically? No meets the standards for moral purity when it comes to matters of intimacy.

Rather than hounding one more ousted political figure with moral failings, let's focus on global issues that affect us, and mind our own P's and Q's.

Monday, May 16, 2011

Ron Paul Throws His Hat in the Ring, Again

Ron Paul, Tea-Party favorite before there ever was a Tea Party movement, is officially entering the 2012 Presidential Campaign.

He deserves the honor.

Twice before he has run for President first as a non-major party candidate in 1988. The second time, he ran in 2008, an outspoken wonk outspent by Romney and outdone by needless attacks by Rudy Giuliani over his stand on the war in Iraq.

In previous presidential contests, Paul stuck to sound and solid libertarian principles, which he still proudly endorses:

1) End the Fed (also the title of one of his books)

2) Return the U.S. Currency to the Gold Standard

3)Shrink the size of Government (including the Presidency, with Paul promising to cut his paycheck in half, since he would be overpaid considering all the cuts he would make in the federal bureaucracy)

4) Get the U.S. Armed forces out of Iraq, Afghanistan, and any other nation where they are needlessly stationed.

Paul is real, he's articulate, he's outspoken, and he has twenty-plus years of experience in government, yet has not sold out his libertarian beliefs. On the contrary, the whole country is starting to buy in to what he has been talking about all this time. Hardly the "cheerful anachronism" plaintively dismissed by columnist George F. Will four years ago.

If enough people in the United States begin to appreciate the gravity of runaway debt, sky-rocketing inflation, burgeoning government, and exorbitant taxes, then Ron Paul, the wacky also-run of yesteryear may become the next President of the United States.

The Donald Won't Run

Donald Trump has announced that he will not run for President in 2012.

That is the wisest political move that he could have made.

Rather than giving the American public the coveted privilege, Donald Trump has basically said to himself:

"You're Fired!"

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Response: "Report: GOP budget plan would leave 44 million more uninsured"

Response to "Report: GOP budget plan would leave 44 million more uninsured" from AP

How would this occur?

1) The Republican program would cut states' Medicaid funding by about one-third over the next 10 years.

According to the study, "Under the GOP plan, Medicaid would be converted from an open-ended program in which the federal government pays about 60 percent of the cost of services, into a block grant that would give each state a fixed sum of money. "

"Under current laws, Medicaid is expected to cover 76 million people in 2021, the end of the ten-year estimating window used in federal budgeting. Of those, some 17 million would gain coverage under Obama's expansion."


The more insurance and subsidies are made available, the more people will want to take advantage of government hand-outs. Free money has that strange, hypnotic effect of transforming people into leeches who croak "Give!" and "Give!!"

If the United States Government cannot take the bold action to cut insurance subsidies altogether, at least Paul Ryan and the Republican majority in the House of Representatives are willing to make cuts. A block-grants approach ensures that any money appropriated by the government is well-spent, tailored by state officials to meet state needs. With all the time and energy saved, not to mention to cut in bureaucratic waste, more people will receive better care with less money.

Besides, states are better positioned to take dependents slowly off the system.

Since when was it acceptable for any number of people in this country to be "expected" to live off the government dole? Good government, imbuing students with the skills and capacity to be independent, would not look proudly at the expansion of government welfare rolls.


The Republicans' plan, though not going far enough, begins limiting citizen-dependency on the federal dysfunctional bureaucracy, which is bankrupting the United States and impoverishing future generations.

Let's not forget that this nation is already broke. Since when should anyone project increasing enrollment in government largesse, when there isn't anything left to hand out?

Osama Bin Laden: DEAD and BURIED

Finally, they caught and killed Osama bin Laden, the Al-Qaeda Mastermind, the Architect of 9-11.

He was in hiding in Pakistan, in a compound which anyone within a five-mile radius could have found. He was hiding in plain sight. What does the Pakistani Government have to say for themselves?

Notwithstanding the set-backs and incompetence of our Middle Eastern ally in catching this international criminal, the United States has every right and reason to rejoice.

This man deserved to die. He refused mercy, he scorned human life, he plotted the demise of many, all in the name of "Our God is Greater" Allah.

Should we celebrate? Yes. Should the United States relax its vigilance at the downfall of a major adversary? No. Terrorism is a 24-7 evil. Should we be paranoid, though, in the wake of other Al-Qaeda operatives rising up and threatening retaliation? Absolutely Not. We do not give terrorists the satisfaction of inducing us to live in fear, all the more because they may run, but in the end they cannot hide!

Crackdowns in Syria, Civil War in Libya, Nowhere to Run

President Bashar al-Assad is not going down without a fight. Firing on his own people, pressing past the rising protests now bursting out throughout the region, clutching his authority following the mass resignation of state officials, his delusional seizure of power will not ease.

Colonel Moammar Gadhafi still clings to power in civil-war-striven Libya. Western and Eastern cities have risen up, beaten back his official armed forces, then been beaten back in turn.

The Jasmine Revolution is hitting some stiff resistance. The people are rising up, but the leaders in these are other countries are not backing down. Well-entrenched leaders have built up enough strength and resources to maintain their positions.

Moreover, if these rulers do abdicate, like Hosni Mubarak and President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, they will face more than search and arrest at the hands of Interpol.
Assad and Gadhafi are mass-murders world-renowned for their depravity. What nation would take them? Where could they claim refugee status? They are on the wanted list of some people, that even if they managed to flee to a nation whose leader was friendly towards them, countless adversaries would attempt to take them out.

Assad and Gadhafi will fight to the end, even if it means the dissolution of their respective countries. They have nowhere to run, and nowhere to hide.

Dangers in the State of the Rebelling States in the Middle East

"The thing which I greatly feared has come upon me." Job 3:25

Perhaps the dread of Jewish pundits is coming to pass.

Radical groups are rising up in Egypt, in the wake of the power vacuum following the flight of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

The Egyptian interim government has also begun normalizing relations with Hamas and Iran, two states which the previous government spurned, two states on the United States terrorist watchlist, two states inimical to the existence of the State of Israel.

Democracy does not a moral state create!