President Obama

Posted on Democrats, Liberals, Republicans, War on Terror

that’s a scary proposition

CBS newsman Bob Schieffer says that “Real security is built on trust in the government.”  He actually wrote that!  Read it here.

Trust in the government.  That’s a scary proposition if you really think about it.  The more bureaucracy you add to deal with a potential crisis, the more likely it is that the potential crisis becomes an actual crisis.  I get the point Schieffer was making about spin and how the feds should be honest with us when addressing terror-related events, but you can’t just depend on the government to protect you in these kinds of situations.  The flight crew and a brave passenger saved the day on Christmas Day.  Not the TSA or DHS.

Everything the federal government can and should do to improve our domestic security will not completely protect us from a future terrorist attack.  If we are completely committed to telling the truth to the American people, we should start by admitting this.

Posted on Democrats, Liberals, War on Terror

rules and other stupid things

Some new failed jihadist won’t be seeing his 72 virgins. 

Not yet anyway.  How fortunate those people on that Northwest flight are that the guy didn’t quite have the procedure down for detonating the explosive and that their fellow passengers and airline crew members took the initiative to deal with the threat.   This won’t always be the case.   Someday the United States may have to deal with a terrorist who knows exactly what he or she is doing, and has a foolproof plan to finish off the attack and to cause massive destruction in this country.   When we are confronted with a legitimate threat to the safety of our nation,  what will the federal government do about it?  There’s this theory going around that we can prevent future terrorist attacks by setting all sorts of limits on the innocent passengers just trying to get from point A to point B on an airplane.   Brilliant idea.  After all,  wannabe terrorists  / jihadists will follow all these rules too, won’t they? What lunacy is this?  We won’t prevent future terrorist attacks this way, and in the process of  “doing something” about the obvious problem, the feds might end up making us less safe by restricting our ability to protect ourselves in the event that someone slips by those watchful TSA agents.

One thing we can do that we are not doing is to be more selective about who gets visas into this country.  DHS should also consider keeping an eye on those folks once they get here, and kick them out once their visas expire.  I don’t think the federal government has a clue how to handle domestic terrorist threats, and this was true before President Obama arrived in Washington.   DHS is a flawed idea to begin with, and I often wonder if we would be safer leaving the security of the homeland in the hands of the FBI, rather than a large collection of bureaucrats.  We are where we are, so let’s take the situation as it is.   Enforcing current laws would go a long way toward keeping our country safe.  This also goes for illegal aliens of the non-Muslim variety that we have been ignoring for years under many different Presidential administrations.

Make it harder for potential terrorists by improving our intelligence gathering and enforcing current laws and visa restrictions.   Don’t keep imposing silly restrictions on airline passengers that do nothing to improve our chances of surviving a plane ride.  It’s common sense, something a lot of the fellows and ladies in DC seem to lack these days.

I agree with Hitch.  Read what he said in Slate.

Posted on Democrats, George W. Bush, Liberals

grading on a curve

We certainly can’t say that the President of the United States lacks self-confidence. When asked to grade his performance as President, he gave himself a B+.  Can’t imagine what kind of curve he was using to come up with that grade.   Obviously our citizen king knows better than we do about, well, everything, so his falling ratings have nothing to do with the great job he’s doing.  Got that, fellow citizens?  Also, he has the hardest Presidential job ever of any administration, because President Obama had to follow the flawed administration of George W. Bush.  There’s no question that President Obama has faced tough challenges, but his reaction to them hasn’t even been close to getting these problems fixed.

Forget about grades.  Let’s talk about objectives.

“You don’t get rid of poverty by giving people money.” – P.J. O’Rourke

How about fixing the economy?  One way to help with that is to support American businesses by creating conditions that allow American businesses to succeed, prosper, and add critical new jobs for the American people.   What has he done about that?  Nothing.  The stimulus has not gotten the job done, and besides that, I think Bush deserves most of the blame / credit for the end results of the current stimulus package.  Instead of rolling back the Bush spending, and spending less taxpayer money, the Obama administration is spending MORE.  Odd way to prove your differences from the previous President.  While President Bush wasn’t exactly known for his fiscal discipline (which I have pointed out on numerous occasions – look it up), President Obama also knows that there is no money for all of these ambitious programs he plans to implement.  There is no money for health care “reform” as he would like to see it, or for the greenies’ fave – cap and trade.  You don’t fix an economy by raising taxes on the few productive taxpayers who still have jobs and the employers who supply these jobs.  That’s what this administration has in mind.   The common phrase we most hear is “taxing the rich”.  Well, who exactly is rich?  Eventually, the answer will be YOU.

FIXING THE ECONOMY SHOULD BE THE MOST IMPORTANT PRIORITY OF THIS ADMINISTRATION.  IT IS NOT.

But maybe I’m being unfair. Maybe the reason President Obama was elected had more to do with his foreign policy views than with his ambitious domestic agenda.  Let’s see how he’s progressing with the kinder, gentler America through non-cowboy diplomacy, shall we?

The desirable objective is for our allies to be able to trust us and for our enemies (rogue states, terrorist sympathizers, and similar other bad actors) to fear and respect us.  I don’t think this is the perspective of our current President.  He doesn’t seem to make the distinction between countries who can be legitimate partners in our struggle against the jihadists, and countries who need to be controlled in their quest for world domination through nuclear power.  Without any sticks in sight, the bad actors will continue to be bad actors, because they know the threats of the UN and of the United States are worthless.

The disregard of our allies, especially the Brits, is a glaring mistake when we consider that there are only a few countries left in the the world who share our views on potential nuclear opponents like Iran and North Korea.  We need all the support we can get in trying to keep Iran and North Korea from extending their nuclear capability into dangerous weapons that threaten the security of the United States and our allies.  President Obama, with all his grand rhetoric about America being a friend to the world, needs to spend more time talking to our allies than proposing grand schemes to single-handedly talk rogue states out of their nuclear ambitions.  Right now, our allies don’t trust us.  That has more to do with the fluid foreign policy strategy of President Obama, and not as much to do with Bush and the Iraq war.

How are we doing with stopping the bad guys?  As far as Iran / North Korea is concerned, it’s a push.  But Iran is getting more vocal and belligerent day by day, and at some point, it will be too late to stop them from getting nukes.  It may already be too late.  North Korea is still out there, although we haven’t heard much from them lately.  Afghanistan is still a struggle, and I hope that the additional troops Obama is sending will be enough to get the job done.

Both the left wing and the right wing have reasons to be frustrated with the Obama administration.   I just pray that someday there will be enough Americans who disagree with current administration policies that they will vote out the Democrat Congress  in 2010 and President Obama in 2012.  It can happen.  The Republican Party just needs to get its own house in order first.

4 Comments Posted on Democrats, Liberals, Republicans

try something else

Let’s move on from the Barack Obama birth certificate controversy.  Much more important things to worry about.

Snopes.com debunks the rumors that President Obama is not a natural-born citizen, and thus ineligible to be President of the United States here.

According to Snopes, the Certificate of Live Birth provided by the Obama campaign is not a forgery.  FactCheck.org writers agree — they have seen the original document and provide pictures and other documentation to accompany their report.  In addition to that, both Snopes and FactCheck.org mention that there is a birth announcement in the Honolulu Advertiser on the day of Obama’s birth (Aug.13th, 1961).  That’s some excellent planning on somebody’s part to begin this conspiracy way back in 1961!  Also,  there’s an account of one of Barack’s former teachers who had a conversation with the obstetrician who delivered our 45th President.  Of course Hawaiian officials have confirmed that our President was born in Hawaii.

I’m convinced.   This may not be enough for some of my fellow Republicans, but I’ve done the best I can to lay these facts out there and let everyone come to their own conclusions.  But please, stop pushing this.  Ya’ll make all of us look like fools.

Posted on Democrats, Liberals

great headline

Roger Simon’s article at Politico : “Obama plays Goldilocks on Iran“.

Ha.  In all seriousness, though, I can’t say that I’m happy about the way President Obama has handled this Iran election mess.   Those who object to President Obama’s handling of this situation aren’t asking for a military intervention here.  What we expect from our President is for the leader of the free world to support those seeking more liberty for themselves and for their families. After all, isn’t that in America’s DNA?  Isn’t that why we broke away from England?  Shouldn’t we as Americans, and President Obama as our representative, do all we can to support those Iranians in their struggle?  There’s no question in my mind that we should.  The mullahs and religious leaders in Iran will blame the West no matter what happens, and they will continue on their nuclear course regardless of any American diplomacy, so there’s no advantage to staying quiet about a stolen election.

President Obama is a part of history at this very moment.   He will eventually have to make tough choices, and will have to say things that will be unpopular, even with his core of faithful lefties in Hollywood and in the media.  If he’s not ready to follow that course, he might want to reconsider running for re-election.

3 Comments Posted on Democrats, Liberals

undeniable truths from reason online

Here’s a few things we might want to know about this new and fabulous grand government scheme, more commonly known as a national health care plan.  Reason Online breaks it down here.

First, that the proposed national health care plan won’t cover everyone.

Second, that the subsidized lower plan premiums on a government-run / public plan would provide an almost irresistible incentive for employers to switch their employees’ coverage from private plans.   This doesn’t exactly promote or support the promise of increased choices for people, and it can be fairly assumed that any private insurance companies left competing with the feds for customers will have a difficult time making it profitable to stay in business.   The solution is not, and is NEVER, more government control or federal tax dollars to support a system that doesn’t operate as efficiently and effectively as it should.

*I’m not at all saying that there aren’t fixes and solutions that we can implement to make the current system work better for patients and those in the medical field.  I just think that President Obama has the wrong fix to what ails our health care system.*

The most important point is that it will become harder and harder to keep private health care plans.   The linked Reason Online article actually predicts that the ability to opt out of public health care will eventually disappear, because the private insurers will be out of business.  I’m not going to go that far here, but I do think it’s something we should be very concerned about, because once there is only one choice of health care plan and it’s the government plan, we all lose.

We need to consider carefully the next steps in any possible reform of health care in this country.  This isn’t something Congress should rush through and pass without reading it first and thoroughly discussing all options and alternatives.  Yes, the Democrats gained power and have the ability to pass whatever junk bill they support, but I believe that this requires more care and attention that any other piece of legislation they will ram through Congress this year.  Make no mistake about this — once the American people start to figure out what’s happening to them (and there are a few encouraging signs that this is the case),  the support for many of President Obama’s grand schemes could end up backfiring on the Democrats.

7 Comments Posted on Random Musings

patriotic dissent?

First, I am going to do something unusual and explain why I haven’t been blogging as much as I was before.  It’s quite simple — there’s just too much wrong with what’s been going on in this country under the Obama administration and I just don’t have the energy to fight all those bad ideas and post on each and every one of them.  It needs to be done, because once we implement national health care, there’s no turning back the clock on that policy.

Our President gave a speech to the Muslim world today.  He gets an unfavorable review from me on that speech, for reasons I will elaborate on in future posts.   One quick thought on it — he still doesn’t seem to distinguish the good guys from the bad guys, and there is a difference.

Posted on Random Musings

being the opposition

I’m sure there are many good reasons to oppose President Obama’s nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court.  What concerns me is the decision-making process that produced this nominee.  We seem to be more interested in a candidate’s personal story or appeal to important minority groups than his or her ability to, you know, actually do the job.  It’s good to have more minorities holding positions of power in our country.  But I’m not sure that President Obama looked far enough before picking this nominee.  In general it’s a good idea to spend significantly more time on this choice than it takes to order a latte from Starbucks.  Her record as a judge should be the most important factor in determining whether she would be a good choice as a Supreme Court justice, not whether she has “empathy” or whether she appeals to the right constituency groups.  That doesn’t appear to be the case here.  But at least she paid her taxes (We think).

Should the Republicans vote against this nominee?  Why not?  They have nothing to lose by doing so.   It’s clear that this nominee shares the President’s judicial philosophy, and that’s enough reason for me.  There have also been questions both from the left and the right about her judicial record that suggest an unsuitability for the high court. However, the Republicans do have to be careful in their opposition, because even legitimate criticisms of her could be considered as an attack on her as a minority.  We are already seeing this in the national media, and there’s nothing we can do to change the narrative of the MSM.  That’s just the way it is for the party out of power these days, folks.

1 Comment Posted on Conservatives, Democrats, Liberals, Republicans

thursday news bites

Former VP Cheney provides an impassioned defense of Bush administration foreign policy.

President Obama continues to insist that Gitmo must be closed, even as the Senate attempts to block funding for his grand scheme.

Senator DeMint writes an NRO op-ed critical of government-provided health care.

And my great gov Sanford continues to fight the state legislature after they overrode his veto of most of the stimulus money.  I’m cheering him on, but I’m not sure how this will all play out in the end.  He does tend to get a little scorched-earth about the things he passionately believes in, and some supporters might be turned off by his approach.  But he’s right in what he’s doing and the people of this state who aren’t brain-dead sheep (or dependent Democrats – same diff) will support our governor.

Nothing wrong with my state…the Republican Party here in SC is alive and kicking.  We have thrived under the outstanding outgoing Chairman, Katon Dawson, and our red state status will continue with our new Chairman (chairwoman?) Karen Floyd.   However, Senator Graham still has some work to do with the conservatives in this state, who he continues to tweak, even though we decided to vote for him in spite of a couple serious disagreements we had with him.

Posted on Conservatives, Democrats, Liberals, Republicans

moving on — part 1

After spending part of my weekend with my fellow right-wing extremists from the York County Republican Party,  the experience left me feeling more reflective on the current direction of the national party rather than energized about the good stuff happening on the local level. I’m going to try to put those impressions into words, but it may not all make sense.  I’m still trying to work through what I believe the next steps should be for the Washington Republicans, but I’m going to suggest a few things and throw them out there for discussion.

So here goes…

Step #1:  Recognize and acknowledge your own failure to live up to the standards you set when running for office. For the Party itself, acknowledge the deviation from what we claim as our core values — limited government and a commitment to fighting wasteful spending. It also wouldn’t hurt to find strong candidates to replace any corrupt Republican survivors in our Congress.

There is so much criticism of Democrats and President Obama (most of it well-deserved) about their agenda and the outrageous sums of money that will be spent by this administration. Republicans (and especially fiscal conservatives) are correct to be concerned about that. What Republicans fail to recognize is their own culpability in the wilderness state than our party now finds itself in. We did start this fiscal irresponsibility, and a few folks in our party are in fact corrupt. Failing to admit that continues to damage our credibility, and it prevents my party from becoming a viable alternative to the President and the Democrat party.

Admitting there is a problem with the lack of direction / leadership in our party is not the most painful part of this recovery process, however. We must make a choice to change our behavior — not so much to attract the independents and moderates, but to regain lost credibility on the issues we used to own over the Democrats. You can’t win elections without the base, and moving left loses that base for the Republicans.

Taking this first step won’t automatically fix our problems. There may be a few more lost elections in the current future of the Republican Party. But we can accelerate the process of regaining what we have lost if we start by admitting our mistakes and making a clear break from our past failures. Then when we attack the Democrats for wasteful spending and President Obama for his entire agenda, people might actually start listening to what we have to say.