Monday, December 28, 2009

Predictions for 2010

By Mr. Quarter

I feel especially endowed with clairvoyant powers after the holidays have passed. So, heretofore on an annual basis Mr. Quarter's Corner will include my list of predictions of events, conditions and what-not for the coming year. Listed below are my predictions for 2010.

  1. The consensus on "climate change" will become that the climate is indeed changing. Anthropogenic causes of climate change will be considered insignificant.
  2. Inflation will reach over 7% by year end as reflected in the CPI
  3. US unemployment will remain greater than 8% for all of 2010.
  4. The US dollar will trade at 1.6 per Euro before the end of 2010.
  5. The yield on 3 year US Treasuries will drift upward reaching at least 3.0% during 2010.
  6. U.S. GDP growth will hover at 2% or less for all of 2010.
  7. A popular revolt will unseat the Islamic clerical government of Iran, however the military will remain in charge.
  8. Israel will launch a major strike at Iranian nuclear facilities.
  9. The price of oil will spike over $100/bbl.
  10. Hugo Chavez will launch a war of opportunity against Columbia. He will loose.
  11. Kim Jong Il will die of natural causes, sparking a power struggle between supporters of his chosen dynastic successor and the military in North Korea.
  12. Afghanistan will stabilize with fewer and fewer insurgent attacks. The focus of the Taliban action will shift to Pakistan tribal areas with insurgent bombing attacks increasing in tempo across the entire nation.
  13. China will steadily reduce its purchases of US debt. By the end of 2010, China will be a net seller of US debt.
  14. The Democrats in Congress will begin to re-brand themselves as deficit hawks. Proposals for a Value Added Tax will be introduced. A VAT of 3%-5% will come close to being enacted before the end of 2010.
  15. The Republicans in Congress will propose and pass a balanced budget amendment to the US Constitution in 2010. It will go out to the states for ratification.
  16. The 2010 elections will be a blood bath for the Democratic party. They will loose 8 seats in the Senate and more than 40 seats in the House. Health care reform, jobs, and the national debt will be the dominant issues.
  17. Growing and possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal use will be legalized in 4 states after paying a tax or purchasing a permit.
  18. Harry Reid will be defeated in Nevada.
  19. Arlen Spector will be defeated in a landslide in Pennsylvania. He will retire in ignominy for his foolish party switch.
  20. Obama will attempt to pivot to the center, however his approval ratings will not improve and will continue to drop in the the 20% range.
  21. Nancy Pelosi will loose her post as Speaker of the House after the 2010 elections (no matter the outcome) if not sooner.
  22. Janet Napolitano will be sacked from the Obama Administration.
  23. Rahm Emanuel will be sacked from the Obama Administration.
  24. Paris Hilton will get knocked up and decide to have the baby.
  25. Sarah Palin will not declare candidacy for office, but will become the defacto leader of the Tea Party Movement. The Tea Party Movement will not result in a 3rd party but will have strong influence on Republican Party candidates and policies.

Saturday, December 19, 2009

The Deuce and Tiger

Dear Tiger,

You don't know me, but I've got some suggestions on how you should deal with your current P.R. problem.

First, you absolutely must ignore the so-called P.R. pros. They'll want you to pick a major media event and confess all your sins, beg for forgiveness, cry and generally act like a slobbering fool.
Instead, you act like a man.

1. Give Elin the divorce. You're not going to get custody of the kids, but cut the best deal you can regarding visitation. Visit your kids often. Nothing is more important than being a father to your kids.

2. Cut your losses. Offer Elin a huge chunk of cash regardless of what your prenup says. If you don't, she'll stretch out the misery for years, fuck with your chi, and bleed you dry in attorney's fees.

3. Stay out of the press until the week of your first golf tourney next year. No interviews. No crying jags on Oprah. No "I'm scum" confessions to Barbara Walters.

4. Tell your sponsors what your strategy is. A divorce as quick and painless as possible. No counter accusations. No putting the blame on Elin. No b.s. excuses like you're a sex addict, or she just didn't understand you, or the pressure of being "me" was just too much.

5. Practice, practice, practice.

6. Now, this is the big one. The week of your first major tourney in 2010, here's what you say.
"I made some very serious mistakes. Those mistakes cost me my marriage, my ability to spend time with my kids and a butt-load of sponsor cash. I've paid the price for my mistakes. It's over. Now, it's all personal. I won't talk about it in public ever again.
I'm going to continue playing professional golf. I love it. It's how I make my living. It is who I AM. I've asked forgiveness from God. I won't ask for forgiveness from the press, the fans, or anyone else. When my kids are older, I'll explain myself as best I can, tell them I love them, and pray to God they keep on loving me.
I'm a man. Nothing more...nothing less. I'm dealing with it...you deal with it.

I'll see you at the first tee at The Masters...and I'm still Tiger."

ps. You better mean it. You won't get another chance, so don't blow it.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

The Deuce Laments

You ever feel like giving up? I mean, giving up on America; giving up on trying to keep America the kind of country you grew up in. I don't need all the psychological pain--who does? I don't need the anger, the never-ending astonishment at what is coming out of Washington. The whorishness of the Obama media. The disillusionment of knowing deep down that for whatever reasons a majority of Americans think communism is the best way to go. That's what we're doing you know? Not liberalism, or progressivism, or socialism...it's flat out no bullshit communism. The financial sector goes first, then the automotive sector, soon to be followed by health care, energy and the military. Big brother?

This is way beyond Big Brother. This is a politburo ( czars ) putting out endless five year plans designed to make us all equal, meaning poor peasants dependent on the local Duke for his life giving largess; mandated gas mileage targets for new cars so no one can own an SUV or other chariot of affluence that assaults the sensitivities of the green weenies; control of CEO salaries to cut down the number of yachts and thus limit the carbon footprint of the pleasure boating industry and preserve the self esteem of the boatless; outlawing incandescent light bulbs and replacing them with the energy efficient and long lasting florescent bulbs that won't fit in your lamp fixtures and put out the light equivalent to a 6th century candle; funding corrupt organizations and labor unions like ACORN and SEIU so they can use taxpayer money to proselytize for the communist cause and find more dead people to register to vote; spending our cash like it's all Monopoly money to weaken the dollar and push for a new "global currency" ( workers of the world unite! ) because the American dollar is naught but a tool of capitalist greed; working to "give" taxpayer dollars to developing nations ( third world shit holes being raped by ruthless killer dictators ) with "Climate Change" initiatives as payback for Western Civilization "dominating" said shit holes by introducing modern medicine, the rule of law, and other assorted alien technology, like roads and flush toilets; sapping the morale of our military by giving them impossible missions with impossible deadlines and impossible rules of engagement, because the military is the ultimate tool of Western Imperialism, while at the same time granting constitutional rights to throat-cutting barbarians held in Gitmo by putting them on trial in civilian courts as if they were your run of the mill convenience store stick up men.

Alice In Wonderland? The Matrix? Dante's seventh ring of Hell? Timothy Leary's best acid trip? The Reverend Wright's ultimate wet dream? Pick your nightmare.

All of this in less than a year. Obama has another three years to go. What do you want to bet that come 2012 there will be some momentous emergency that prevents the scheduled presidential election? Perhaps the election will be put on hold while we see if the Mayan prediction of the end of the world actually happens. Maybe a giant asteroid will be detected just six months out from colliding with Earth. Maybe the black messiah manifests himself in Obama's morning bowl of Count Chocula.

I would give up, except for one thing...there's nowhere else to go. There's no frontier, no undiscovered country, no new world. I'm not able to emigrate to Barsoom or Ring World or Middle Earth. I'm stuck in this world...and if America becomes just another failed experiment in freedom, I'll be dead...because I refuse to be a peasant, or a subject, or a slave.

If this continues, there will be blood shed.

"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. ... God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion; what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms." -- Thomas Jefferson to William Stephens Smith, 1787

Does America still "preserve the spirit of resistance?"

We'll see.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

A question of conscience.....

By Conservative Ken

Now, to begin, I will state for the record that I was raised in an Irish-Catholic home. I tell you that now so that as I talk about an event from this week's news, involving a member of our elected government you'll understand where I'm coming from. As you read, also keep in mind that I left the Catholic Church more than 30 years ago.

Abortion, in the eyes and laws of the Catholic Church, is tantamount to the murder of the unborn child. It is a sin - a mortal sin - the most severe of sins as defined by the Church.

This week, Congressman Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island was politely asked by his Archdiocese's Bishop, Bishop Tobin, to practice and work to more closely follow the faith in accordance with Church teachings. The Bishop also suggested to the Congressman that he should refrain from asking to partake in the sacrament of holy communion as a result of his non-support of Church doctrine. The congressman is a proponent of abortion rights, as are many Catholic members of congress and the senate.

Now, personally, I can support the idea of a woman having an abortion if there is a threat to life of the mother; in the case of incest or rape; and even in the case of a known and severe genetic abnormality in the unborn child. Beyond that, I think that abortion is all too often used as an additional - and final - means of birth control in this nation. To date, since the passing of Roe v Wade, this nation has aborted nearly 50,000,000 children. I do believe in the Christian God, and I'm fairly certain that God is not too happy about what we're doing here. So what is my point?

My point is that if one decides to identify oneself as part of a group; part of an organization; or especially part of a religion, that it be important for a person to abide by the group, organization, or religion's charter or rules. I applaud Bishop Tobin's position. For if the Congressman, or any other member of our government is going to publicly identify themselves as a Catholic, Jew, Rotarian, Mason, Shriner, Muslim, or any other group, he and/or they should make a meaningful representation of their membership by abiding by the group's rules.

Although I disagree politically with Congressman Kennedy and a host of others regarding abortion rights, I fully acknowledge and respect their rights to their opinions. That said, all I ask is they have the conviction of their beliefs and uphold them. Then again.....these are people running for office. What am I thinking?

Monday, November 23, 2009

I Can't Stand This Crap!

by Mr. Quarter

"Not that it matters politically because obviously she's a female Republican dunce and he's a male Democrat genius"

The quote above is the opening line from an article published in the Los Angles Times today regarding the tightening of public approval polling numbers between Sarah Palin and Barack Obama. Now, I personally am not sure that I would support Sarah Palin for high political office - although I voted for the McCain ticket in 2008. But, am absolutely fed up with the condescending clap trap that is dished out as journalism by the mainstream media! I mean really, is it so "obvious" that Sarah Palin is a dunce?

She certainly seems unpolished, or more precisely unadulterated by the oily slickness that pervades career politicians. I recently read an apt description of her methods and appeal as a "WalMart" kind of political strategy. The essence of which was find a need and fill it. The need was apparently that a plain spoken common identity that acknowledged that ordinary people may have an opinion that counts would connect with the voting public. That perhaps if you didn't have an Ivy League education, you could still have a role in governing.

I don't know what Ms. Palin's future plans are, but I sincerely hope that the MSM continues to underestimate her. It should be fun to watch.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

The Deuce And Fear

Fear has been called "nature's gift." It lets us know when our life is in danger, and so fulfills the only universal right--survive, if you can. When humans were little more than small, hairy bipeds trying to make a living on the savannas of east Africa a million years ago, fear is what made us climb the nearest tree when lions came prowling; it's what made us conquer fire so that we could light up the night and keep those lions at bay so we could sleep with both eyes closed; it's what led us to agriculture and the domestication of livestock, to ward off starvation and finally end the ceaseless need to follow the migrating herds of zebra, wildebeest and antelope just to get enough protein to survive another day. Fear is a survival tool--for the individual. Paradoxically, fear is killer for a people.

Americans today are more obsessed with safety than ever before. We can no longer tolerate the slightest chance of injury or death if there's any chance at all of avoiding them, and should someone actually be injured or killed doing the most innocuous of activities, then someone must be at fault and that someone will be sued for "damages." This has lead us to embracing the ridiculous. Big issue or small, fear rules this land--and it's destroying America.

You know; small children must, by law, be enclosed in high-tech, death-proof car seats that can insure the safety of any child regardless of the ferocity of any car crash. Schools embrace "zero tolerance" policies out of fear of law suits ( and fear of actually having to exercise any judgment ) that lead to suspensions and worse for little kids who bring a pen knife to school, or give a friend an aspirin, or give a classmate an innocent peck on the cheek on Valentine's Day, or wear a T-shirt that depicts a revolutionary war Minute Man holding a rifle ( zero tolerance for guns in school...really, it happened ). Dodge ball at recess? Forget it--too dangerous. Keep score at a youth soccer game? No way! It might injure the losers self esteem. Not give a trophy to any kid who's team didn't finish in the top three of the league? Outrageous!

This kind of fear leads to adult activities and behavior. Seat belts are mandatory and failure to comply leads to fines and points on your driving record; smoking is almost universally outlawed in any public place, even if it's outdoors; children go un-vaccinated out of fear of serums causing autism, so childhood diseases that had been all but eradicated are coming back; fear of being called racist leads to us allowing illegal aliens crossing our borders almost at will, introducing adult diseases like TB that had been extremely rare in the last 50 years; fear of a credit meltdown leads to us funding a $700 billion "toxic asset relief program" ( which was little more than the Goldman-Sachs fraternity protecting each other's private fortunes and professional reputations ); fear of global warming, uh, climate change, leads to the upcoming Cap and Trade legislation designed to limit/ration energy usage.

Fear. America is awash in it. It permeates every aspect of our lives. We don't build nuclear power plants out of fear of another Three Mile Island, though not one person died as a result of that accident; we don't drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, though the drilling would only effect less than 1% of the refuge and would have virtually no effect on the wildlife or the environment, even if there was a spill. Even Ted Kennedy stopped the development of a "wind farm" of electrical generators because of fear it would ruin the view off Hyannis Port and spoil his sailing...the hypocrite!

Many teachers even refuse to use red ink when they grade papers, out of fear it will traumatize their students! This is America? This is the country that spawned and cheered Patrick Henry? Daniel Boone? Davey Crockett? This is the nation that defeated the Nazis and freed Europe? This is the country that fought a civil war to save the union and end slavery? This is the country that went to the Moon?

Our national anthem ends with a two lines, "the land of the free, and the home of the brave." With each day that passes, we are less free...because we are less brave.

FDR said "the only thing we have to fear, is fear itself."

It was the truest thing he ever said.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Too Clever by Half

By Mr. Quarter

Try as I might, I cannot understand the logic or rationale of the Obama Department of Justice in bringing Khaled Sheikh Mohammad (KSM for short) and four of his Al Qaida cohorts to New York City for a civil criminal trial. These persons are enemy combatants, and under laws passed by the United States Congress and vetted by the U.S. Supreme Court, should rightfully be tried by military tribunals.

I have listened to the arguments both for and against. So far, the sole argument in favor of this decision seems to be that, unlike many of the criminals incarcerated at Gitmo, since KSM was actually apprehended off of the battle field in Pakistan, he is not an enemy combatant. However that would appear to be offset by the fact that he committed an act of war. Were not Japanese and German officers and civil authorities apprehended after WWII off of the field of battle? Were they not then tried by military tribunals?

The arguments against this decision are manifold and I will not repeat them here. They are so obvious as to beg the question, “What were they thinking?” The benefits? To redeem our stature as a nation before the European media? I think the strategy, and there is a strategy, is much more than merely a show for the world.

No, I think this was strictly a political decision by Obama. Perhaps it is a clever one, but maybe not. These trials will not begin until well into 2010 if not 2011, and by all accounts will likely last for several years. In other words, they will begin around the same time as the campaigns for the 2012 presidential elections launch. All through the campaign season, the American people will be bombarded through the media and distracted on a daily basis with the details of the trials. And what will these details be? That America itself, the Bush Administration, and CIA in particular are actually the entities on trial. The modus operandi of Obama is, has been, and will continue to be "We're not responsible, we're just cleaning up the mess." So, the campaign message continues: “BLAME BUSH.”

This strategy serves a number of objectives. It feeds Obama’s ultra liberal base a continuous bone for over 2 years preceding the elections, diminishing America and its methods for fighting against Islamic terrorists. It keeps the “BLAME BUSH” theme in front of the electorate for the entire election cycle. The Obama Administration will need the voters distracted and focused away from what is shaping up as the likely key issue of that election - the economy. Yes, most forecasts project unemployment over 10% and bad economic performance well into 2011, if not beyond. Best of all, it allows Obama to appear above it all and lets him continue to deny responsibility for the conduct of his own administration. Very clever.

Maybe Obama is too clever by half. Maybe the American electorate isn’t as stupid as he thinks. Maybe they will get pissed off that these terrorists are getting the forum that they wanted and turning a serious and solemn proceeding into a circus. Maybe Americans will die because jihadi terrorists will attack NYC to try and disrupt or even free KSM and his cohorts. Maybe KSM and his buddies will get lawyered up with the ACLU and the rest of the America haters, and start looking like they might be acquitted on some legal technicality. How do you think the voters will react to that, Mr. Obama?

Saturday, November 14, 2009

GW Bush 7 - Obama 0

By Mr. Quarter

I am struck by the unbending reluctance of the MSM, the Democrats in the Congress, and members of the Obama administration to call Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan's murderous acts terrorism. For those that just awoke from a long sleep, Maj. Hasan shot up a clinic at Ft. Hood Army base last week, killing 13 and wounding 32. Instead of calling this guy a terrorist, the Left seems most comfortable in calling him a victim. Poor man was suffering from the anxiety of the Army deploying him to Muslim countries where he might have to fight Muslims. He just lost it, the poor oppressed Muslim man.

The evidence seems to keep mounting that this guy was a sleeper agent of Al Qaida or some other Islamic extremist organization, placed here to cause murder and mayhem in the name of Allah. On the day of the shootings, witnesses reported that he leaped on to a table, pulled his weapons, shouted "Allahhu Akbar!", before firing. Today, there are reports in the newspapers that the guy was at the receiving or sending end of numerous wire transfers to Pakistan. Somehow the old adage, "Where there is smoke, there is fire" keeps popping into my head.

My guess is that the real reason for the Left's response the this heinous act it that the political office at the White House has sent out its talking points. The real truth of this is that George W. Bush kept this nation safe for seven years after 9/11 without faltering in his courage of conviction or determination that such an attack would never again take place against the United States while on his watch. Barry Obama, on the other hand, is a weak kneed and feckless apologist whose policies could not protect this country from another attack for even one year after he took office. Not only did he not protect us from another attack, but his policies have weakened this country and we will likely see more attacks come in the near future - especially since the Attorney General Eric Holder decided to hold federal criminal trials of the 9/11 planners in NYC. So you see dear reader, if the President or Democrats or the MSM were to acknowledge that Maj. Hasan's act was a terrorist act would be to admit that Barry just isn't getting the job done. More Americans will die if this self-centered concern by the President continues.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Finally Someone Tells The Truth

By Mr. Quarter

The following was published today (Nov. 11., 2009) in the opinion section of the Wall Street Journal. It is appalling, it is despicable, and it is wrong. Read it and understand where this country is headed. GET OFF YOUR BUTT AND DO SOMETHING! PHONE OR WRITE OR VISIT YOUR CONGRESSMAN AND SENATOR...TODAY, TOMORROW, AND EVERY DAY UNTIL THIS IS DEFEATED.


"The typical argument for ObamaCare is that it will offer better medical care for everyone and cost less to do it, but occasionally a supporter lets the mask slip and reveals the real political motivation. So let's give credit to John Cassidy, part of the left-wing stable at the New Yorker, who wrote last week on its Web site that "it's important to be clear about what the reform amounts to."

Mr. Cassidy is more honest than the politicians whose dishonesty he supports. "The U.S. government is making a costly and open-ended commitment," he writes. "Let's not pretend that it isn't a big deal, or that it will be self-financing, or that it will work out exactly as planned. It won't. What is really unfolding, I suspect, is the scenario that many conservatives feared. The Obama Administration . . . is creating a new entitlement program, which, once established, will be virtually impossible to rescind."

Why are they doing it? Because, according to Mr. Cassidy, ObamaCare serves the twin goals of "making the United States a more equitable country" and furthering the Democrats' "political calculus." In other words, the purpose is to further redistribute income by putting health care further under government control, and in the process making the middle class more dependent on government. As the party of government, Democrats will benefit over the long run.

This explains why Nancy Pelosi is willing to risk the seats of so many Blue Dog Democrats by forcing such an unpopular bill through Congress on a narrow, partisan vote: You have to break a few eggs to make a permanent welfare state. As Mr. Cassidy concludes, "Putting on my amateur historian's cap, I might even claim that some subterfuge is historically necessary to get great reforms enacted."

No wonder many Americans are upset. They know they are being lied to about ObamaCare, and they know they are going to be stuck with the bill."

Monday, October 26, 2009

The Deuce Believes!

In the last year or so things have happened in this country that I never would have believed possible.

A very large chunk of the American financial sector had to accept a federal bail out to avoid bankruptcy and the resulting "meltdown" of the entire credit industry and thus America's entire economy (which is now going to happen anyway).

America, knowingly or not, elected a communist President.

The mainstream media, long biased for the liberal left, cast aside all pretension of being balanced and openly supported and assisted in the election of Obama, and continues to cover for him and his allies.

The utter corruption of American government at its highest levels grows even more ubiquitous, with tax cheats appointed to high office, a racially biased women who was herself a multiple beneficiary of affirmative action was appointed to the Supreme Court and a revolving door of patronage between Goldman-Sachs and the U.S. Treasury Department.

Taking all of these impossible events into consideration, I am now forced to believe that everything I thought I knew was wrong, and so I must reconsider my world view...that is what I believe and what I do not believe.

I can now join so many of my American brethren and unabashedly say that I believe in:

UFOs, alien abduction, men in black, and that we faked the moon landing in '69. It's all real. How cool is that? Well, except that whole abduction thing...that sounds pretty yucky what with all the orifice probing.

Bigfoot, and all the international manifestations of him ( her?); Yeti, the Abominable Snowman, Swamp Thing and Rosie O'Donnel.

Legends and myths of lost civilizations like Atlantis, Camelot ( Arthur's, not Kennedy's ), Troy and Middle Earth. Who doesn't want to believe in Elves and magic rings of power? Now I can!

Astral projection, spirit traveling, past lives, pyramid power, magic crystals and channeling. Yes, its true...now that I believe, I can travel to alternate universes whenever I want...my favorite is the one where I'm rich, famous and a babe magnet. Who's your daddy?!

Vampires, werewolves and zombies. Thank God! Now when I bust a cap in some freak I don't like I don't have to be concerned that I've broken any law, 'cause wasting the undead is all good. Get some!

Ghosts, poltergeists, seances and Grey Men. Suddenly I'm a horror movie fan. Knowing all these evil spirits actually exist makes my life so much more interesting and my movie going all the more enjoyable! I don't sleep so good though.

JFK was killed by a cadre of the Mafia, Castro's agents, Lady Bird Johnson ( she was so jealous of Jackie you know ) and Joe Dimaggio ( as revenge for JFK's murder of Marilyn Monroe ). It's all so clear now!

The Bilderburgers, Illuminati and the Masons rule the world. Now that I know I don't have to take any responsibility for all the failures I've suffered in life. None of them were my fault! I mean, who can compete with those guys? I never had a chance...those BASTARDS!

And best of all...Elvis lives!

Thank you...thank you very much. I've left the building.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

The Deuce and Bold Men

In April of this year I wrote a post entitled The Deuce On Power. It was about how conservatives represented by the Republican Party didn't understand power...how to get it, how to hang on to it when they had it, and how to effectively exercise it. I have been wanting to expand on the theory of power and Mr. Quarter's most recent post about Saul Alinsky's Rules For Radicals is the perfect intro.

Bold men exercise power...often more power than we will ever realize. Most of us are enthralled by the chutzpah of such men. Think about it. Xerxes; Leonidas; Alexander The Great; Julius Caesar; Moses; Charlemagne; Attila; Genghis Khan; William the Conqueror. Men from history to be sure, most of them celebrated in history and literature as great men who accomplished great things. Books are written about them, movies made of their lives, scholars study their beliefs, methods and foibles. In more modern times the bold men continue to amaze us, even when some of them were fundamentally evil in their pursuits. Washington; Adams; Jefferson; A. Jackson; Lincoln; T. Roosevelt; Lenin; Stalin; Mao; Castro; Churchill; F. Roosevelt; Kennedy and Reagan. For good or ill, there's something about men who exercise great power that is...captivating, that engenders in most people a sense of awe and a desire to follow them...wherever they're going.

Consider Alexander. You're still in your teens, your father the king as just been assassinated and you have assumed the kingship. You're sitting around the fire one night with your captains, drinking and wenching and realize that you're bored, and a thought occurs to you. You dare to speak it aloud. "Lets assemble our army and go out and conquer the world." Your men look at you pondering your idea, take a deep gulp of wine and say "Hell yeah!" You and them spend the next twenty years riding roughshod over every civilization you run across from Greece to India to Egypt. Untold thousands are butchered, untold hundreds of cities, towns and villages are razed. Untold tons of gold, jewels and other valuables are shipped back to Greece. The Greek manner of civilization is forcibly spread throughout most of the known world. And in his time, and ours, we call Alexander great. Most of us admire him. Truth be told, he was simply just another invader...another man with too much power and too much chutzpah. His only thoughts were to enrich himself, his people, to garner everlasting glory for himself, and it didn't matter one whit how many people died to make his desires come true. Modern beliefs such as human rights, the rule of law and sovereignty didn't even exist in Alexander's time...but chutzpah did. Guts, balls, nerve...whatever you want to call it, was in great supply and unchecked by any moral beliefs.

Of all the people who were simply living their lives as best as they could, up until the day Alexander's army came riding into view, how many do you suppose thought of Alexander as great? Clearly they thought death or enslavement had come calling and they ran for their lives...or they fought and died...or they bent their knees and accepted Alexander's rule and paid his taxes.

So what's the point? The point is this; bold men come in two kinds, good and evil, and the evil ones don't give a rat's ass what anybody else thinks. They don't care what anyone thinks of their ideas, their methods or their goals...they just go out and do it...if they can. And God help us, this type of men have a certain allure that captures the imaginations of far too many people, including Americans. Good bold men earn our everlasting respect and gratitude. Washington, Adams, Lincoln and Churchill to name a few. But bold men who are fundamentally good do not capture our attention these days nearly as much as the evil ones. In today's America, the man who will stop at nothing to achieve his ends is the man most admired...most desired...as long as he has good public relations.

Alexander has been dead for over 2000 years, but we still know who he was and what he did. There are still bold men who dream of being like Alexander...great men of power and wealth and fame. Their methods of achieving their goals may not include military invasion, but in the modern world military invasion is generally not required. All that is required is money, favorable media attention and a people unsure of their beliefs...unsure of what is right and what is wrong...a people who are more interested in "bread and circuses" than they are of being free...a people who desire to be relieved of the daily necessity of making their own way in the world.

To a much too large extent, America is made up of such people.

This explains the never ending stream of Hollywood actors, literary types, artists and fringe politicians who go to Cuba to bask in the glory of Fidel. They invariably come back to America wearing Che t-shirts with reports of what a brilliant man Castro is, how wondrous the Cuban culture is, how egalitarian its policies are. What they neglect to report is the abject poverty of the Cuban people, or the not so hidden desire of many Cubans to escape Castro's rule. You see communism, under such an enlightened dictator as Castro, is good for all...the height of human existence. Just ask Sean Penn, Maxine Waters or Michael Moore, experts all!

Barack Obama is such a bold man. He has parlayed his race, white guilt, oratory skills and the strategies of Saul Alinsky to vault from obscurity to the presidency in the blink of an eye. 53 million Americans voted for him in 2008, when if you had asked those people who Obama was just a few years earlier, very few would have had a clue. This fact alone smacks of the cult of personality...the cult of a bold man.

Obama is attempting to do what Mao did in China. He is working on multiple fronts to "fundamentally change" America...to "return America's wealth to it's rightful owners." He has continued the nationalization of some of Americ'a biggest banks ( started by the terribly misguided Bush II who so famously had to "destroy capitalism in order to save it") and most of the auto industry with his "bail outs; he is attempting to nationalize the health care industry by creating a public health insurance plan similar to Medicare that anyone could join ( and may ultimately be forced to join ), driving the private health insurance industry out of business by undercutting their premiums ( and of necessity rationing care ); his "cap and trade" plan would effectively nationalize the entire energy sector of the U.S. economy.

Obama's methods are quintessential Alinsky. Force opponents to play by their own rules while observing no rules of your own; marginalize opponents by portraying them as racists hatemongers who hate the poor and want to destroy the Earth; overwhelm the existing political and economic systems by creating the perception of crisis and then enacting emergency powers ( grabbing more power ) to deal with the resulting emergencies.

Genghis Khan had his Mongol hordes; Attila had his Huns; Caesar had his legions. Obama has ACORN, SEIU, MOVEON.org, Media Matters, the mainstream media and majorities in both houses of the U.S. Congress.

America has elected a bold man to the presidency. And this President just happens to be a communist. Will America follow this bold man?

We'll know in November, 2010, when America next casts its votes for congress. It will be the second most important election in American history. The most important will be the presidential election in 2012...when America either ratifies Obama's communist dream by reelecting him, or casts out him and his nightmare vision for America.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Mr. Obama's Rules

by Mr. Quarter

I had not previously actually taken the time to read the advice that activist and community organizer, Saul D. Alinsky, provides in his book, Rules for Radicals. However, I was aware that Mr. Obama is a disciple of Mr. Alinsky. As I read through the various rules, I was struck by how much the Obama Administration's actions and public voice seems to mirror the advice of these rules. It is truly frightening. I have reproduced them here for your slow digestion and suggest that you ponder after reading each one, "Have I seen or heard that recently?" I think in particular of the implication that racism is the driving force behind Obama critics (See rules for ethics of means and ends), the attack on Fox News (See rule 12 of rules for radicals), the attacks on citizen "tea party" protests and the citizen town hall meeting opposition (see Rule 5).
____________
Rules for Radicals
Saul D. Alinsky


RULE 1: “Power is not only what you have, but what the enemy thinks you have.” Power is derived from 2 main sources – money and people. “Have-Nots” must build power from flesh and blood. (These are two things of which there is a plentiful supply. Government and corporations always have a difficult time appealing to people, and usually do so almost exclusively with economic arguments.)

RULE 2: “Never go outside the expertise of your people.” It results in confusion, fear and retreat. Feeling secure adds to the backbone of anyone. (Organizations under attack wonder why radicals don’t address the “real” issues. This is why. They avoid things with which they have no knowledge.)

RULE 3: “Whenever possible, go outside the expertise of the enemy.” Look for ways to increase insecurity, anxiety and uncertainty. (This happens all the time. Watch how many organizations under attack are blind-sided by seemingly irrelevant arguments that they are then forced to address.)

RULE 4: “Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules.” If the rule is that every letter gets a reply, send 30,000 letters. You can kill them with this because no one can possibly obey all of their own rules. (This is a serious rule. The besieged entity’s very credibility and reputation is at stake, because if activists catch it lying or not living up to its commitments, they can continue to chip away at the damage.)

RULE 5: “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon.” There is no defense. It’s irrational. It’s infuriating. It also works as a key pressure point to force the enemy into concessions. (Pretty crude, rude and mean, huh? They want to create anger and fear.)

RULE 6: “A good tactic is one your people enjoy.” They’ll keep doing it without urging and come back to do more. They’re doing their thing, and will even suggest better ones. (Radical activists, in this sense, are no different that any other human being. We all avoid “un-fun” activities, and but we revel at and enjoy the ones that work and bring results.)

RULE 7: “A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag.” Don’t become old news. (Even radical activists get bored. So to keep them excited and involved, organizers are constantly coming up with new tactics.)

RULE 8: “Keep the pressure on. Never let up.” Keep trying new things to keep the opposition off balance. As the opposition masters one approach, hit them from the flank with something new. (Attack, attack, attack from all sides, never giving the reeling organization a chance to rest, regroup, recover and re-strategize.)

RULE 9: “The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself.” Imagination and ego can dream up many more consequences than any activist. (Perception is reality. Large organizations always prepare a worst-case scenario, something that may be furthest from the activists’ minds. The upshot is that the organization will expend enormous time and energy, creating in its own collective mind the direst of conclusions. The possibilities can easily poison the mind and result in demoralization.)

RULE 10: “If you push a negative hard enough, it will push through and become a positive.” Violence from the other side can win the public to your side because the public sympathizes with the underdog. (Unions used this tactic. Peaceful [albeit loud] demonstrations during the heyday of unions in the early to mid-20th Century incurred management’s wrath, often in the form of violence that eventually brought public sympathy to their side.)

RULE 11: “The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative.” Never let the enemy score points because you’re caught without a solution to the problem. (Old saw: If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem. Activist organizations have an agenda, and their strategy is to hold a place at the table, to be given a forum to wield their power. So, they have to have a compromise solution.)

RULE 12: Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.” Cut off the support network and isolate the target from sympathy. Go after people and not institutions; people hurt faster than institutions. (This is cruel, but very effective. Direct, personalized criticism and ridicule works.)
___________
Rules of the Ethics of Means and Ends
Saul Alinsky


Rule 1: The judgment of the ethics of means is dependent upon the political position of those sitting in judgment.

Rule 2: In war the end justifies almost any means.

Rule 3: Judgment must be made in the context of the times in which the action occurred and not from any other chronological vantage point.

Rule 4: Concern with ethics increases with the number of means available and vice versa.

Rule 5: The less important the end to be desired, the more one can afford to engage in ethical evaluations of means.

Rule 6: Generally, success or failure is a mighty determinant of ethics.

Rule 7: The morality of a means depends upon whether the means is being employed at a time of imminent defeat or imminent victory.

Rule 8: Any effective means is automatically judged by the opposition as being unethical.

Rule 9: You do what you can with what you have and clothe it with moral garments.

Rule 10: Goals must be phrased in general terms like "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity," "Of the Common Welfare," "Pursuit of Happiness," or "Bread and Peace."

Monday, October 12, 2009

The Deuce and Mr. Nobel

I wasn't going to comment on TGL's ( The Glorious Leader ) recent award of the Nobel Peace Prize. Mr. Quarter hit all the low-points in his most recent post and the very idea of TGL, peace be upon him, of winning the award at this time is so ridiculous it defies understanding. But then I read this comment made by DNC communications director Brad Woodhouse.

"The Republican Party has thrown in its lot with the terrorists - the Taliban and Hamas this morning - in criticizing the President for receiving the Nobel Peace prize ... Republicans cheered when America failed to land the Olympics and now they are criticizing the President of the United States for receiving the Nobel Peace prize - an award he did not seek but that is nonetheless an honor in which every American can take great pride - unless of course you are the Republican Party...the 2009 version of the Republican Party has no boundaries, has no shame and has proved that they will put politics above patriotism at every turn. It's no wonder only 20 percent of Americans admit to being Republicans anymore - it's an embarrassing label to claim."

1. The criticism is of the Nobel committee, not TGL. God knows Obama merits the most extreme criticism at almost every turn, but in this case the humiliation belongs to the Nobel committee for giving the award to a man who had only held the office of the Presidency for ten days prior to the deadline for nomination for the award.
In other words, TGL received the award not for anything he has accomplished to further world peace, but instead for organizing communities, giving campaign speeches and orating "YES WE CAN" whenever the teleprompter told him to.
Even if one considers TGL's World Apology Tour 2009 as a contribution towards furthering world peace, the tour occurred after the nomination deadline.
The Nobel committee gave TGL the award not for anything he's done, but instead for what they hope he will do. Where I come from, we call that putting the cart before the horse, or if one is not inclined to be polite, we call it bullshit.

2. Our secret is out! Republicans are tight with the Taliban and Hamas. We be mates! We hang together. We're brothers by different mothers. We're homeys and G'Dawgs ( a little Michael Steele, hip-hop lingo there ).
You know what? If it wasn't for Republicans the Taliban would have been in control of Afghanistan years ago, and every member of N.O.W. would be tearing their hair out over the subordination and abuse of Afghan women ( because the welfare of women is the only good reason to invade any country don't you know? ). Are you telling me John Kerry, Ted Kennedy, Barney Frank and Nancy Pelosi would have sent America's military into Afghanistan after 9/11? Really? Those women don't believe in keeping score at kids soccer matches because it's just another manifestation of the violence of Patriarchy and destructive to the healthy formation of the "I'm great, no matter what" self-esteem movement. War? No way.

3. Republicans didn't "cheer when America failed to land the Olympics..." We jeered when, for once, TGL couldn't bullshit his way into getting what he wanted. To us Republicans, it seemed that for whatever reason, there was at least one international group that wasn't hypnotized by TGL's empty rhetoric. For once, posing in profile with his chin thrust out was inadequate to the challenge.

4. Since when do Americans "take great pride in" winning anything that is undeserved? TGL didn't deserve the Nobel. TGL got a Nobel for participation, just like all the little tea cups ( fragile children ) that chase butterflies while the other team is scoring on them during their soccer match. As long as TGL pretends to care, that's all that matters. TGL is "engaged", and results mean nothing. As the dean of science fiction, Robert Heinlein, once said, "A perfect mud pie is still just a mud pie...value nil." Getting an undeserved award, no matter how prestigious, is still undeserved...value nil.

5. Republicans "put politics above patriotism at every turn." This is without question the most insulting part of Mr. Woodhouse's quote. Patriotism is love of country. It is TGL and his "democrats" that believe America is in need of "fundamental change." It is TGL that is attempting to systematically deconstruct everything that made America great; free enterprise, individual liberty, small government, self responsibility and a belief in God.
The DNC's idea of patriotism is; socialism, group identity, all-powerful government, moral relativism and the worship of nature. In the eyes of the DNC, America is a cancer on the world, an empire of materialism, judgementalism, greed and racism that needs to be remade into a true people's paradise of equality and egalitarianism by making everyone the same...poor, powerless and obedient to the oligarchs who know better...the Democrats.
They sicken me.

6. Recently there have been many reasons to be ashamed of the Republican Party. John McCain comes to mind. Oh, he served his country admirably and paid a very dear price for it, and for that I honor him. But his willingness to compromise his beliefs is NOT worthy of my respect. There's a reason McCain was the Democrat's favorite Republican during the Bush administration and when he ran for the presidency...he believed in getting something done instead of believing in getting the right thing done.
George Bush II is another reason to be at least partially ashamed of the Republican party. I have repeatedly endorsed Bush's handling of 9/11, both the invasion of Afghanistan and strengthening America's defenses with The Patriot Act, the creation of the Department of Homeland Security and the eradication of barriers between our domestic security apparatus, the F.B.I. and our foreign security apparatus, the C.I.A. When it came to the military and intelligence response to 9/11, George Bush II got it right.
However, Bush was so focused on security that he virtually ignored domestic policy. He spent money like a drunken Democrat. The national debt soared, the annual budget deficits soared and the treasury just kept printing money to cover the costs. It was the beginning of America's financial Armageddon. TGL is continuing that Armageddon with a vengeance, tripling the budget deficit in one year and planning on adding more to the national debt than all the presidents that came before him ever did.

Better to be a rotting corpse than be a living Democrat.

If there were a Nobel Prosperity Prize, would TGL win that? After only ten days in office? After ten years in office? Not a chance.

Friday, October 9, 2009

For What?

By Mr. Quarter

On my way into work this morning, I happened to catch the news that President Obama had been awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace. I nearly drove off the road.


ARE YOU KIDDING ME? For what? What exactly has he done? Oh, now I remember - the apology tour. He went around the world kissing asses. Bowing from the waist to the King of Saudi Arabia, apologizing for American arrogance and unilateralism, asserting that American has been wrong in her intent, actions, and goals. As far as I can tell, that tour is the only task that Obama has actually finished since he took office. Other than that, I can't think of a single accomplishment that he initiated and took to conclusion. Every single thing that he has actually taken to a conclusion was started under the Bush administration - including the closing of Guantanamo.

I have never been ashamed as I am now. I have never felt such pity and real fear for those brave men and women that are now in Iraq and Afghanistan. Those poor bastards. What are the odds at this point, now that Obama has pocketed a Nobel Peace Prize, that he will do the right thing and put enough troops into Afghanistan to win. Shameful. If he had a hair on his sack, he would tell the Nobel Committee to take the award and stick it. If he was a grown up, he would never, ever mention it publicly for the rest of his (hopefully only) term in office.

UPDATE:

Adding fuel to the fire of what exactly has Obama done, the deadline for nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize was exactly 10 days after Obama was inaugurated. 10 DAYS!!!!! He was apparently incredibly busy peacemaking for those first 10 days into his presidency. Imagine what he will accomplish with a full term of 4 years. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. This guy is the friggin' Antichrist!!

"Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what your going to get."
Forrest Gump

Words to live by.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

How About We Stop Spending?

By Mr. Quarter

Yesterday, the Congressional Budget Office delivered it’s anxiously awaited assessment of the cost of the Health Care Reform bill hammered out after lengthy deliberations in the Senate Finance Committee. The estimated tab? A paltry $829 BILLION over 10 years. But hold on, here is the really good news! It will reduce the national deficit by $81 billion over 10 years, with “potential to save more in the future.” Really. Now there’s a deal that I’d rush to every time - spend $10 to save $1! So if I am doing the math correctly, if every decade we spend $829 Billion (or more adjusted for increases in population and inflation) and every decade we reduce the national deficit by $81 Billion (or less adjusted for inflation) after 100 years we will have spent $8.3 Trillion but will have reduced the deficit just enough to pay for the first 10 years. Of course, that is expressed in undiscounted cash flow terms, but it still doesn’t sound like the kind of bargain that I would jump on down at WalMart™. As I calculate it, the net outflow of tax dollars (assuming that the cost and the deficit reduction numbers stay the same) is $748 Billion every 10 years. That is $74.8 Billion more spending each year. That’s additional spending.

I guess to Senators and Congressmen, when contemplating an actual $1.4 Trillion annual deficit for federal spending for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2009, an additional $74.8 Billion in spending seems a little thing. But it would be done at the expense of the taxpayers. Who are the taxpayers? Well, in 2009 under the current and future tax code, it is a minority who are getting their pockets picked by the government to pay these bills, and the proceeds are distributed to the majority who consume those tax dollars.

According to the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, 46 percent of all tax filers will pay no income tax in 2009. Their further analysis indicates that nearly 47 percent of single tax filers, 40 percent of joint filers, over 70 percent of household heads, and about 55 percent of the elderly will pay no income tax. Because of the Earned Income Tax Credit and other programs, approximately 40% of taxpayers will actually receive a cash subsidy that totals approximately 10% of the total income tax collected.

So who is paying the freight in America? The top 20% of income earning taxpayers pay 91% of income tax. The top 1% pays 36% of income tax. The bottom 50%of income earning taxpayers pays less than 3% of income tax. Doesn’t sound too fair to me. So, let’s do a calculation. If there are 120 million taxpayers and 20% of the income earning taxpayers pay 91% of income tax, then the $74.8 billion additional annual cost works out to an average of about $2800/year of future debt service or additional future income tax for that group of taxpayers.

The problem is not taxes but spending. Taking of money from a small minority of tax payers and distributing it to the majority. This is the work of politicians, spending the government’s revenues in ways that get them re-elected. No politician today is willing to stop spending if it means that some block of voters getting their subsidy will get pissed off. That costs votes.

The endless increases in spending are sinking this country deeper and deeper into debt, and it has to stop. The well is running dry. In my state alone, there has been a proposed increase in state taxes to cover budget deficits. The Bush tax cuts are going to expire so the marginal rates will go up in 2010. The Alternative Minimum Tax is looming for many. Many employers, including my own, eliminated annual compensation adjustments and 401K matches in 2009, with no change forecast for 2010. Nationally, unemployment is near 10% officially, with the real unemployment number closer to 17%. And, yes, the cost of health care insurance has gone up for FY2010 – 10.9% at my employer. Enough! Our take home paychecks are getting smaller and smaller and smaller. But no one in Congress gives a damn, because they just want to keep spending and spending, taking more and more of your paycheck.

I have an idea for a second stimulus program, place a moratorium on income tax for three months. Let the taxpayers take their entire paycheck home and let them decide how to spend the money. Maybe it would do some good to let the people who earn it decide how to spend it.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

The Deuce Laughs...and Cries.

"Ah...so sorry...but be so kind as to pee prior to boarding." All this "carbon footprint" crap ( no pun intended ) is really getting out of hand. All Nippon Airways is, very politely I'm sure, asking all passengers to...well...pee, before boarding. Do we laugh or cry?

In a related story Irish school children are being asked by their local school authorities to bring their own toilet paper to school. Seems tax receipts are down and expenses are up. What do you bet that just two or three years ago, when the Irish economy was thriving and the envy of Europe, these same school authorities were bragging about how they were supplying all of their precious little students with laptop computers...because everyone knows you can't learn without a laptop...just ask Einstein, Abe Lincoln or Euclid.

The gimongous stimulus bill, aka the "porkulus bill" was supposed to be for "shovel ready" building projects...like the building that was done during the Great Depression. Dams, roads, bridges and the like. Giant public works that would benefit Americans by putting them to work and by building things that improved America. Like, oh say, upgrading the levys around New Orleans to withstand a cat-5 hurricane so all the poor little dears there wouldn't be endangered when they ignored warnings to evacuate the city. Instead, we the taxpayers, get to fund yet another welfare plan. The Glorious Leader and his evil minions are bankrupting us to help those of us that are unable or unwilling to help themselves. This false compassion is crippling us.

The value of the dollar is falling. Russia, France, Saudi Arabia, China and other countries are calling for an end in the exclusive use of the dollar for trading in oil ( oil can only be purchased using dollars ). They're doing this because they doubt the stability of the dollar, and hence the stability of the U.S. economy, and hence the stability of the U.S. As the dollar loses value as compared to other currencies, it means that more dollars must be spent to import all those wonderful goods that Americans love...like oil that's refined into gasoline and diesel fuel for our cars and trucks, big screen TVs and cars from Japan, and just about everything else from China. What do these countries know that the Obama administration and congress don't? Can you say inflation? It's coming, with a vengeance.

The U.S. budget deficit TRIPLED in one year, the fiscal year that ended September 30. This, more than anything else in my opinion, is the reason for the decline in the dollar. Simply put, we are spending money we don't have. We are monetizing our debt, which means we are printing dollars, then taking those newly printed sawbucks and selling them into treasury bonds, and then the U.S. government is buying its own bonds. It is very risky, the risk being inflation, or even hyper-inflation, as seen in the Wiemar Republic of 1920's Germany or numerous other countries since then. It's VERY bad. It's like you maxing out one credit card, then getting a new credit card and transferring the debt from the first card to the second card...and continuing to charge purchases. End result, you get deeper and deeper in debt until you have no hope of paying the debt off and you go bankrupt. BIG HINT...there is no bankruptcy court for America.

NASA is bombing the Moon. One has to wonder what the rules of engagement are? Can NASA bomb wherever it wants, a veritable free-fire zone, or are there potential targets that are off limits? Are there carbon footprint concerns? Might we not be creating climate change on the Moon? One thing is for sure...minorities and children will most effected.

And finally this. Are you a real man having problems attracting a suitable mate? Well, it's not you...it's chemistry. And you thought there was no trade off for those boner pills you've been taking.

Monday, October 5, 2009

There they go again!

By Mr. Quarter

Once again, I have read a hatchet job on the Republican Party by a leftist partisan hack that just made my blood boil. The article, by economist Paul Krugman (a man totally in the tank for the Democrats and Obama) who publishes in the NY Times (a partisan rag for the left) asserts that the Republican Party’s default position is opposition to anything that might make Obama look good and celebrates his defeats in all arenas. Alternatively, he asserts, that the Democratic Party’s opposition to ALL things George Bush was simply adherence to ideological reasoning. What manure.

One of my beefs with Mr. Krugman is that he is an economist, though from reading his stuff I have real doubts as to why the Nobel Committee even considered him for a prize. What exactly is it imparts standing to him as a political commentator except that he is an unrepentant partisan for the left and a shameless advocate for Obama? Probably that he has to produce a column each week and can publish his stream-of-consciousness drivel in the NY Times without review and without editorial control. Certainly not that it is relevant, accurate, or containing in-depth analysis or insight. So, weekly, he holds forth with intellectually dishonest and factually incorrect opinion, shamelessly slanted to cast aspersions on Conservatives in particular and Republicans in general.

Well here is my opinion: Mr. Krugman should have stayed with his first job. Why is it that commentators like Krugman are so lacking the intellectual honesty that they are comfortable suggesting that Democrats/Progressives are inherently good intentioned while Republicans/Conservatives are inherently bad intentioned? Why is it that we see so few conservative commentators directly calling out hacks like Krugman?

Let’s look at Krugman’s examples of George W. Bush’s privatization of social security accounts and the current Obama health care reform initiative. Mr. Krugman asserted that the Democratic opposition to Bush’s proposal was “ideologically” based. Democrats simply want to protect the people’s interest. As I recall, Republicans held the majority in both houses from 2000 to 2007! So Bush’s social security reform were defeated solely by Democrats? No, it was defeated because a bipartisan majority voted it down. Similarly, Mr. Krugman asserted that today, Republican’s dissent from Obama’s health care reform is nothing more than spiteful opposition to prevent Obama from having a victory – no matter that it might benefit the citizenry. Well, last I checked, Democrats control both houses of Congress. Last I checked a broad mixture of both Democrats and Republicans are in opposition. So much for Mr. Krugman’s dogmatic clap trap.

Frankly, I think it is time for conservative leaders and Republicans generally to start to stand up and call it like it is. I don’t necessarily agree with sending the Rush Limbaugh’s, Sean Hannity’s and Glen Beck’s of the world out on this mission. I think that they lack the gravitas. But a few Republican leaders that are willing to step up and publically question the veracity of these left wing commentators is what is needed. Show that this side still has the cajones to stand up and duke it out face to face.

Friday, October 2, 2009

The Deuce Ponders...Yet Again

In the month since the commanding general in Afghanistan requested more troops to accomplish his mission, 43 American warriors have died. While the TGL ( The Glorious Leader ) ponders America's "strategy" visa a vee Afghanistan/Iraq/The Middle East/Iran, soldiers and Marines are dying. Yet TGL finds the time to fly both himself and Mrs. Glorious Leader, accompanied by authentic Black woman Oprah Winfrey, to Copenhagen to make their pitch for Chicago to get the 2016 Summer Olympics. Mrs. Glorious Leader gives a speech about how TGL's and her trip to Copenhagen was such a sacrifice.

It was such a sacrifice, Mrs. TGL just couldn't find the time to bring in the harvest of her White House vegetable garden. Who do you suppose is the poor schmuck that was tasked with that job? Maybe Van Jones, the recently fired Czar of something or other ( there are so many Czars who can keep track of what they're Czaring? ). Well, on second thought, it wouldn't be him...he's authentically Black, and how would it look for a Black man to be seen picking vegetables from the White House garden? Glenn Beck in chains...maybe, but a black man...never! Meanwhile, good men are dying on the Rock Pile...for what? Fight to win or come home. TGL is criminally negligent, and neither him or the missus know a thing about sacrifice, especially when compared to the real sacrifice of America's warriors in Afghanistan and Iraq. Who the hell voted for this idiot?

If nothing else it should be really interesting watching the Olympics from Rio...where else can you see a riot at a beach volleyball match?

No wonder this country is so screwed up.

Thursday night, late night talk show host David Letterman revealed that he'd been the victim of a blackmail attempt. A man contacted him and demanded $2 million to not make public information that would damage Letterman. On his show, Letterman admitted to sexual liaisons with women who worked for him. The fact that Letterman is just one more elite who can't keep his johnson in his pants is largely immaterial. It was the reaction of his studio audience that was shocking. As Letterman told his story, he was interrupted repeatedly with laughter and applause. Even Letterman was non-plussed by the audience's reactions. The man was admitting that he had been cheating on his long time live-in girl friend, who he's now married to and has a son by, yet the audience could only cheer?

No wonder this country is so screwed up.

Movie director Roman Polanski was recently arrested in Switzerland on a thirty year old sexual assault warrant from the U.S. In 1977 this pederast plied a 13 year old girl with champagne and Quaaludes and then raped her vaginally, anally and orally. He was arrested and accepted a plea deal that he thought would keep him out of prison ( after spending 45 days in jail pending a court ordered psychiatric evaluation ). When Polanski thought a Superior Court judge might not honor the plea agreement and sentence him to prison he fled the country and has been living in France ever since, continuing to make movies and live the life of a successful movie director ( France repeatedly refused to extradite him...HUGE shock! ). According to The Wall Street Journal.com...

"... Producer Harvey Weinstein actually went so far as to describe Mr. Polanski's odious conduct as a "so-called crime." The names of such noted filmmakers as Mr. Allen, Jonathan Demme, Michael Mann, Sam Mendes, Mike Nichols, Martin Scorsese and Steven Soderbergh can be found on an international petition whose 100-plus signers "demand the immediate release of Roman Polanski." Equally predictable was the response of European bureaucrats such as French culture minister Frédéric Mitterrand, who called Mr. Polanski's arrest "absolutely dreadful," adding that it made "no sense" for him to be "thrown to the lions for an ancient story."

It's not so shocking that Woody Allen would sign the petition. After all, he married his own step-daughter, who he had helped raise. But names like Weinstein, Mann, Nichols, Soderbergh and Scorsese, Hollywood giants all, should not be on such a petition. These men have a had a huge impact on American film. Films seen by hundreds of millions of people around the world. And yet they can come to the defense of a pederast like Polanski? Who the hell can forgive the rape of a thirteen year old girl?

No wonder this country is so screwed up.

If you never watch Fox News you will be very surprised to know that on September 12 there was a little get together in Washington. The "Tea Party" folks met in D.C. to advise the oligarchs there that the peasants from the fly-over states were getting just a bit peeved at all the recent bail outs, mind boggling increases in the national debt and numerous other excesses perpetrated by the geniuses in the White House and Congress. Estimates of the size of the crowd ranged from 60,000 ( ABC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC ) to 1,000,000 ( Glenn Beck and other conservatives ). Now I'm no expert on crowd size estimation, but I can say this with extreme confidence; the crowd was a hell of a lot bigger than 60,000, but probably not a million. If we agree to split the difference and call it 500,000 I can live with that. It might have been more, but I doubt if it was any less. The point being this; the MSM intentionally downplayed the size of the protest. Why anyone would watch the MSM anymore is beyond me. Doing the MSM one better, the White House press secretary Robert Gibbs claimed that the "White House" was unaware of who exactly was gathered on the national mall and what they were protesting. LOL! It reminded me of Muhammed Saeed al-Sahaf, the head of the Iraqi Information Ministry, who so famously claimed on live TV in April, 1993, that U.S. forces were nowhere near Baghdad when tank and rifle fire could clearly be heard in the background. The MSM are nothing but toadies for the Democratic party.

No wonder this country is so screwed up.

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Further Insight

By Mr. Quarter

I also very much enjoy this quote:

"What am I most proud of? That I've never killed anyone - even though I have been sorely tempted many times."

- Gore Vidal

Insight

By Mr. Quarter,

To correct any false impressions that might be drawn from the title of this post, Mr. Quarter is not claiming any particular insight. Rather, this is to provide some insight into Mr. Quarter and the things that make him tick. I stumbled this quote several years ago, absolutely embraced it as a principal to live by. I've passed it on to my son, who is a very good lacrosse player. Recently, during a recruiting visit to Duke University, I saw it prominently displayed on a panel hanging on the wall of the hallway leading to the team locker room.

"It is not the critic who counts, not the one who points out how the strong man stumbled or how the doer of deeds might have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred with sweat and dust and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes up short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, if he wins knows the triumph of high acheivement; and who, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold timid souls that know neither victory or defeat."

Theodore Roosevelt

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Amateurish

By Mr. Quarter.

Mr. Obama apparently believes that making a pitch to locate the 2016 Olympics in Chicago as an appropriate use of the prestige of the Office of the President of the United States. Toward that effort, he is planning to depart to Denmark and “lead” the effort to sway the International Olympic Committee. Last week, Mr. Obama spent an entire night on the Dave Letterman show. How dignified. How Statesmanlike. Last week Mr. Obama made the carousel of Sunday morning talk shows, hawking his health care plan like Tony Mays humping OxyClean™, the stain remover extraordinaire. Is it any wonder that when he stands before the world and gravely warns that Iran must comply with international law, that the Iranian mullahs nearly piss themselves with laughter?

One would imagine that the “Leader of the Free World” might attempt to portray the image of gravitas and dignity, a person of some substance, someone not to be taken lightly. Unfortunately, Mr. Obama’s behavior is a rather sordid demonstration of his woeful lack of gravitas. The Office of the President of the United States is being diminished by his amateurish behavior.

In the matter of the 2016 Olympics, I have two thoughts. First, of the issues that should concern and consume the time of the President, the site of the Olympics would, one imagines, fall somewhere near the selection of this year’s White House holiday greeting card pattern. That he feels compelled to prioritize this issue over, say, economic recovery, soaring deficits, victory in Afghanistan and Iraq, crumbling infrastructure, literacy, and any of 100 other issues gives lie to all the times he stood before the camera’s proclaiming that “we are approaching catastrophe” in order to compel congress to pass the largest pork-laden boondoggles in American history. Who would believe him now? Second, there is probably only one reason for this trip – payback! It is the Chicago way. Obama is paying off some Chicago pol for the $$ support that got him elected. You back me and I’ll personally go to Denmark and get you the Olympics, we’ll make millions! How shameless and brazen. Does he actually think that ordinary Americans can not deduce what is going on?

I grieve for the loss of the majesty of the Office. There was a time, in the not so distant past, when the President was a man to be admired, emulated, and yes, feared. I remember a line from the movie “Nixon” where Nixon was visiting a Texas oil man supporter and the guy was griping about the EPA being on his back. Nixon asked, “Would you rather have the IRS on your back?” The Texan stepped back and replied, “Goddamn Dick, are you threatening me?” Nixon replied, quietly, “Presidents don’t have to threaten.”

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Playing the Race Card

By Mr. Quarter

I am disgusted with the increasing frequency of articles in periodicals and newspapers that assert that opposition to Mr. Obama’s policies and disagreement with his politics is really racism. Is this the new strategy to coming from the White House to counter the opposition to Mr. Obama? I have read and hear the formulation that it is “unfashionable” to be overtly racist today, so those who resent Mr. Obama’s presidency because they are racist actually manifest that view point by their opposition to everything Mr. Obama is doing or trying to accomplish. I read with jaw dropping shock Waldman’s absurd article on this topic in the online edition of The American Prospect yesterday. I also read a similar article on the opinion page of the Philadelphia Inquirer this morning that was equally absurd. The common thread through each was that any disagreement with Mr. Obama’s policies and the way that he is instituting them, or for that matter his politics, was plainly racist. I ask you to consider why is it that liberals and Democrats were free to obstruct, denigrate, and outright insult a white Republican president for eight solid years, and yet honest citizens disagreeing with a newly elected black Democrat president are accused of being closet racists and extremists?

Writers in the mainstream media are cherry picking to illustrate their point, but then plainly ignore similar behavior from the Democrat left. They point to Congressman Joe Wilson’s regrettable outburst on the floor of the house as “clear evidence.” They make the explicit formulation: Black President + (White Southern Congressman + “You Lie”) = RACISM. Even Jimmy Carter (shall his name be cursed in infamy) weighed in yesterday. He said explicitly that Joe Wilson’s outburst was “because President Obama is a black man.” How short is their memory? I recall half of the joint session of congress (Democratic Congressmen and Senators) booing President George W. Bush during his State of the Union address. Where was civility and decorum then? Was this any less boorish behavior than that of Congressman Joe Wilson? Was it racism? I think not.

They mainstream media asserts that those who question the legitimacy of Mr. Obama’s election by demanding to see his birth certificate are also racists and extremists, unable to accept that a black man could be elected. Now, I don’t count myself among the “Birthers” (although fellow blogger Conservative Ken is firmly among them). But I have a clear recollection of eight years, form 2000 to 2008, where Democrats of all stripes loudly questioned the legitimacy of Mr. Bush’s election in 2000. I have a clear recollection of the chant “selected, not elected” by Jesse Jackson. And how many times was Mr. Bush called a liar – “Bush lied and people died.” Newly elected Senator Al Franken actually made a living on that mercifully short lived radio network “Air America” and in his best seller book by never missing an opportunity to describe Mr. Bush as stupid. I never once heard any media commentator suggest that it was uncivil or prejudiced.

The mainstream media suggests that racism must be the underlying driver in the howling opposition to Mr. Obama’s addresses to school children this last week. Surely, they complained, those who objected had no other motivation in their opposition except that Mr. Obama is black, After all, Mr. Obama had no message other than to motivate the children to excel and prosper. But George W. Bush also gave a beginning of school address to a school in South Carolina in 2003. The response to that? Accusations of using school children as props, and a congressional investigation for misappropriation of funds! Didn’t seem to have a problem with that.

Fact. President Obama is a black man. Fact. His politics are left of center and his public record suggests he favors socialistic approaches to many issues. To disagree with his policies or politics is not racist, it is simply disagreement. It is our right. Mr. Obama, if you are indeed the leader of your party, you should understand that playing the race card is a sure recipe for igniting true outrage in this country and the defeat of the Democrat left at the ballot box. It is time to understand that you were elected precisely because many in America wanted to demonstrate that racism is the mentality of a very, very small minority of the electorate. To continue down this path of playing the race card at the first hint of opposition is a clear sign of your fear. In continuing to use this ploy, the Obama administration and the party Mr. Obama leads will surely foul the bed and guarantee that it will be decades before another black man is elected to the presidency.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

The Deuce And Independents

On my best days I'm a realist. On all the other days I'm a pessimist. Some 63 million people voted for Barack Obama for president last year...I would say 63 million Americans, but who knows how many illegal aliens voted in the election? Regardless, tens of millions of Americans who were born into a free-market, God-fearing, self sufficient and generally optimistic country voted for a a man who's mentors include Saul Olinsky ( communist ), the Reverend Jeremiah Wright ( Black nationalist ) and Bill Ayers ( domestic terrorist ). How does this happen? In a word..."Independents."


The first presidential election that I was personally aware of was in 1968, when Richard Nixon, Hubert Humphrey and George Wallace ran. Nixon won.


#1 Main stream Republican ( R ) defeats liberal Democrat ( D ) and segregationist.


Nixon wins re-election in 1972, defeating far-left liberal Democrat George McGovern.


#2 Main stream Republican defeats far-left liberal Democrat.


Nixon ultimately resigns his office in the wake of the Watergate scandal. His vice president, Gerald Ford became president.


Main stream Republican Ford lost to Democrat Jimmy Carter in the 1976 election.


#3 Main stream Democrat defeats main stream Republican.


Carter's presidency was an unmitigated disaster. Double digit inflation and unemployment, the Arab oil embargo and the Iran hostage crisis doomed Carter. Carter was defeated in 1980 by Ronaldus Magnus, the conservative Republican Ronald Reagan.


#4 Main stream Democrat ( being generous ) is defeated by conservative Republican.


Reagan ruled supreme for eight years, winning re-election in 1984 by the biggest landslide in U.S. history, defeating liberal Democrat Walter Mondale.


#5 Conservative Republican defeats liberal Democrat.


In 1988 it was main stream Republican George Bush I against liberal Democrat Michael Dukakis. Bush wins.


#6 Main stream Republican defeats liberal Democrat.


1992. Main stream Republican Bush loses re-election to main stream Democrat Bill Clinton.


#7 Main stream Republican loses to main stream Democrat.


1996. Clinton wins re-election, defeating old fashioned Republican Bob Dole.


#8 Now liberal Democrat defeats main stream Republican.


2000. Main stream Republican George Bush II wins over main stream Democrat Al Gore. The election comes down to one state, Florida, where tens of thousands of confused geezers and high school drop-outs claim to have voted for the wrong candidate due to alien "butter fly" ballot. Dem's force a couple of dozen recounts but run out of time over a month later when the U.S. Supreme Court says, "enough recounts all ready."


#9 Main stream Republican defeats main stream Democrat.


2004. Bush wins re-election due largely to continued support for war on terror and insufferable arrogance of far-left liberal Democrat John Kerry.


#10 Main stream Republican defeats far-left liberal Democrat.


And then last year. Far far-left liberal Democrat Obama defeats liberal Republican John McCain.


#11 Commie beats confused Republican socialist.


Since I've been politically aware, America has vacillated between Ronald Reagan at one extreme and Barack Obama at the other extreme? In twenty years? Are you kidding me?


The so called "independent" voter is the cause of this.

If you consider yourself an "independent" voter, may I humbly suggest you get off your damn fence and pick a side. Quit voting for the candidate you judge to be the "best man", or the best looking, or the most educated, or the best teleprompter reader, and finally figure out what in the hell you actually believe in! No sane adult human being could possibly vote for Carter in '76 and then Reagan in '80, or Reagan in '84 and then vote for Clinton in '92, or Bush II in 2004 and then Obama in '08. Only a schizophrenic could vote like that.


If you stop being suckered by smooth talking professional politicians whose greatest skill is never saying anything they can't deny they said the very next day, we're going to keep swerving from right to left and back again. If you continue to let shysters from both parties off the hook by letting them say "their remarks were taken out of context", or that "truth is relative", or that "circumstances have changed", then America will continue to elect disgusting politicians instead of leaders.


You either believe that small government maximizes individual freedom and that that's a good thing ( R ), or you believe "it takes a village" ( D ). Individualism or Communitarianism.


You either believe that low taxes for everyone stimulates our economy and everyone prospers ( R ), or you believe the rich are getting off easy at the expense of the working class ( D ). Free market capitalism or socialism.


You either believe that there are crazed fanatics out there that want to slaughter Americans and they need to be dealt with harshly ( R ), or you believe we just need to engage other people and apologize for our previous actions ( D ). Robust national defense or "we're sorry" diplomacy.


You either believe that the word Christmas perfectly describes that big holiday at the end of the year ( R ), or you believe that the word Christmas is divisive, racist and violates the separation of church and state ( D ). Freedom of religion or secular buying spree.


You either believe that political correctness is cowardice as well as stupid ( R ), or you believe that it makes everyone all warm and fuzzy, equal and protected ( D ).


You either believe that human action causes global warming or climate change or whatever the hell it's being called this month ( D ), or that the whole thing is about 95% B.S. ( R ).

You either believe that the current $1.38 trillion budget deficit is mildly disturbing but not a huge deal ( D ), or that it is a disaster of biblical proportion ( R ).


Come on people! Get out of the middle of the road. The rest of us are tired of slowing down to go around you.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

The Elite and The Rest of Us

By Mr. Quarter.

Across America, ordinary people rise in objection to the actions our President and Congress are taking and direction of our country is heading. Yet how do our media portray this outpouring of the common man's voice? How do the media characterize this constitutional right of self-expression? With scorn, ridicule, dismissive and belittling comments, outright contempt. Today, an opinion by Bob Herbert published in the NY Times (a bastion of liberal thought and confident that it, rather than its readers, is capable of divining what the people need to know) exemplifies the contempt that the media elite and politically elite hold towards the common ordinary taxpayer. In his commentary, he bemoans the "birthers", "deathers" and "wackos" that have "poisoned" the political debate, lamenting that "The wackiness is increasing, not diminishing, and it has a great potential for destruction. There is a real need for people who know better to speak out in a concerted effort to curb the appeal of the apostles of the absurd." Does he really think that he knows better? How dare he and all those of his ilk.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. This is the precise wording of first amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Nowhere in the language of this amendment is there a limitation that specifies that only those who "know better", those with high incomes, those in the media, or those in elected office may speak out for or against an issue or cause, or may petition to seek redress of grievances. All who have an opinion may express it. All who disagree with the Government may petition it for redress of that grievance. There is no freedom more precious in the United States.

I have heard political hacks from Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reed to the President's Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, publicly denigrate and express their contempt for ordinary citizens that dare to speak out and disagree with the Obama policies. The media belittles the common person, except when it can use the common person for its own benefit by selling its reporting on the latest tragedy or trial . These elites sincerely believe that what they do, they do for the good of all of us that, in their view, simply don't have the intellect to discern what is in our own best interest. Well I have had enough.

This country is made up of 300 million common, ordinary people. Most don't have college degrees, most can't find Singapore on a map, and most couldn't tell you who is the Vice President of the United States. What most of them do know about is getting up every morning, going out and making a living. They know about paying their bills, stretching their paycheck to put food on the table, clothing on their backs and a roof over the heads of themselves and their families. They know about raising their children, caring for their parents, and burying their dead. They face every day's challenges with a cunning and perseverance borne of necessity - they know how to get by. The know about turning wrenches, operating machines, driving, digging, shoveling, raking, picking, dealing with customers, and a million other jobs. They know about getting up the next day and doing it all over again - until they are too old or too incapacitated to continue.

Many of those 300 million are ignorant of an entire universe of things that simply aren't too important to how they live their lives every single day. But, there aren't many that are stupid. They all know what is in their own best interest. They all know when their pocket is being picked. They all know when they are paying more for less in return. They all know right away when something is bad for them.

My advice to the Senators, Congressmen, and President is that you had better wake up and listen closely - and soon. That annoying ringing in your ears is the bell of liberty. That noise is the roar of the voices of all those ignorant voters that can't tell you who is the Speaker of the House, but can send you all packing in a New York minute.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Teddy was a Red and a Traitor

By Mr. Quarter

Stumbled upon a article by a researcher that found documentation that Teddy Kennedy was in cahoots with the KGB while Andropov was in the Kremlin. Teddy was trying to get the Soviets to help him torpedo Ronald Reagan, and was willing to help them against the USA in order to do so. The proof was unearthed in the Soviet archives which Boris Yeltsin opened for a period (they are now closed). To read the the incriminating document (both in the original Russian and a translation that follows, click here. Funny, you haven't seen this one in the main stream media - have you?

The Difference Between Progressives and Mr. Quarter

I use the term "Progressive" as a synonym for the political mentality also known as "liberal." There is a big difference between Mr. Quarter and that side of the fence. I found this quote which I think really expresses the "progressive" mentality:

"Progressives believe that the top priority of politics should be more equitable government distribution of opportunities and goods."

On the other hand, as a "Conservative", I believe in the centrality of individual freedom, protection and preservation of religion and morality, limiting government’s scope, preservation of the free-market as the basis for economic activity, and ensuring that the principles embodied in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are the only ones that guide our government.