Category: Politics

President Obama Told You to Ignore Me

On By kingsjesterIn Politics17 Comments

obamabillofrightsI don’t know why the president wants you to ignore me. I mean, what harm can my daily posts, which I have been writing since April of 2010, do to the Leader of the Free World? After all, he has the entire Federal Government at his disposal, along with the Democrat Party and, now it seems, a majority of the Republican Party, as well. However, yesterday, he appeared on national television and said,

Because we’ve all got a lot of work to do on behalf of the American people – and that includes the hard work of regaining their trust. Our system of self-government doesn’t function without it. And now that the government is reopened, and this threat to our economy is removed, all of us need to stop focusing on the lobbyists, and the bloggers, and the talking heads on radio, and the professional activists who profit from conflict, and focus on what the majority of Americans sent us here to do – and that’s grow this economy, create good jobs, strengthen the middle class, lay the foundation for broad-based prosperity, and get our fiscal house in order for the long haul.

Why does he want you to ignore me? After all, I’m just a little nobody. Heck, I don’t even get paid to write. It’s just something I do to vent. I do it because I enjoy it. I’m just an average Christian American, living an average life, in one of the “57 states”, as the president once referred to our country.

Obama is supposedly the smartest person in any room he walks into. Just ask the Main Stream Media…they will confirm that. And, if they won’t…Obama most certainly will.

How does little ol’ me threaten the most powerful man on the face of the world?

Is he intimidated by “words, just words” from anonymous Americans? Surely he isn’t. (And, don’t call me Shirley.) He mentioned “regaining the trust” of the American people. Coming out the day after the opposition party capitulated to you against the wishes of their Conservative Base, and calling out that same base, in no uncertain terms, reminds me of an imperious, didactic visiting lecturer, who believes that he intrinsically knows more that every student in his classroom. (Oh wait. That used to be you, at the University of Chicago, didn’t it, Mr. President? Oops. My bad.)

Being petulant and arrogant will not help you “win back America’s trust”, Scooter. Especially, since you never had it in the first place.

As far as growing the economy, that is the job of American Entrepreneurs. You remember them, don’t you Mr. President? They’re the ones whom you have taxed and penalized so harshly that they moved their businesses overseas.

Socialism does not lead to prosperity, sir. It has been tried numerous times…and has failed wherever it was put in place.  Capitalism leads to prosperity. All it takes is hard work, inspiration, and perspiration.

It takes Pookie getting off the coach, and earning her own money, instead of living off of those Americans who actually go to a job everyday.

During your “I won” Speech yesterday, you also said,

Those of us who have the privilege to serve this country have an obligation to do our job as best we can. We come from different parties, but we are Americans first. And that’s why disagreement cannot mean dysfunction. It can’t degenerate into hatred. The American people’s hopes and dreams are what matters, not ours. Our obligations are to them. Our regard for them compels us all, Democrats and Republicans, to cooperate, and compromise, and act in the best interests of our nation –- one nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

Allow me to translate. after all, ignorant ol’ crackas like myself, living here in America’s Heartland, may have trouble understanding a brilliant Hahvahd Graduate like yourself. What I believe you were saying was…

All of you peons need to understand who is charge around here. Dissent will not be tolerated. You will bow down and obey my commands, fulfilling my desire to make America a socialist nation. If you disagree with me, I will pout. Then, I will call you out, in front of the Main Stream Media, who will then attack you like a bunch of coyotes attacking a wounded deer. Placating the 47% is what is important…for as long as we give them their “benefits”, we Democrats will keep getting re-elected. And, if you Vichy Republicans want to keep your perks and privileged status, you will shut up and go along with whatever I want. Because, whatever I want, is what is best for the country…regardless of what Americans actually want. After all…what do they know?

Now, some of you may think that I am being a bit harsh with my translation. However, when you think about the present state of America The Beautiful, the harsh reality is…I was not harsh enough. There is no doubt in my mind that our Founding Fathers would be highly upset with today’s professional politicians and the Petulant President. Jefferson, Franklin, and Madison would read Congress the Riot Act. Gen. Washington would probably bust ol’ Scooter right in the proboscis.

You see, President Obama, that last line you threw in there: “one nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all”…when you say it, it reeks of unfathomable hypocrisy.

For the last 5 years, you have done your best to divide this nation, through your rhetoric espousing Class Warfare.

You have sought to limit American Christians’ daily walk with God, while glorifying the political ideology of Islam, even though their most ardent practitioners want to behead each and every American, while American Christians simply want to be allowed to speak to someone who needs to hear the Good News about Jesus Christ. 

As far as liberty and justice are concerned, you and your Administration seem to be more concerned about protecting the “rights” of illegal immigrants, the Occupy Movement and Muslim Terrorists, than the rights of American Veterans to visit the National Monuments built to honor their sacrifice on our behalf.

To repeat my original question: What harm can my daily posts, which I have been writing since April of 2010, do to the Leader of the Free World? 

Sunshine illuminates everything.

Until He Comes,

KJ

The Shutdown: The Surrender of the GOP Elite

On By kingsjesterIn Politics7 Comments

Republicans Vs. Tea PartyUnited we stand, Divided we fall. – Aesop

As my mind began to attempt to wrap itself around the sorry events of yesterday, the ancient saying above, came to mind.

I was going to say that no other words describe the present-day Republican Party as well, but, that would be wrong. I can think of several words to describe the Republican Establishment, or Vichy Republicans, as I dubbed them, a while back. However, forbearance precludes me from using those words, lest I “lose my witness”. (That’s a Southern Evangelical thang, y’all. Ask somebody.)

The Republican Party, itself, is right on the verge of a Civil War. You have the Vichy Republicans, the Moderate Republican Elite, who firmly believe that they speak for all Republicans, even though most of them have been up on Capital Hill so long, their chauffeur has to use a Garmin GPS to find their way back to their constituency. (Pardon me…but do you have any Gray Poupon?)

Opposing the Vichy Republicans are the Tea Party, or Reagan, Republicans. These are public servants who were elected on the promise to cut government spending, and shrink the size of the Federal Government, while opposing the policies of President Barack Hussein Obama (mm mmm mmmm) at every turn. The Tea Party Republicans are Conservatives who were placed in office during the Great Purge, otherwise known as the Mid-Term Elections of 2010.

They were, of course, named for the Grassroots Movement who put them in office.

As opposed to the Vichy Republicans, they truly seem to be down-to-earth individuals, with a servant’s heart, as was proven recently by Senators Mike Lee and Ted Cruz’s speaking to the Veterans last weekend, during their March on Washington, along with their gracious supporter, Former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin.

As a result of their popularity and attempts to go to Washington and get something done, the Tea Party Republicans have been vilified during the entire Government Shutdown Ordeal, by the Democrats, the Main Stream Media, and the Vichy Republicans.

The Vichy Republicans have responded to the Tea Party Republicans, as if they are jealous of and embarrassed by the zealousness and popularity of these political “newcomers”, who have stolen their thunder. These “do-gooders” cramp their style and disrupt the Washingtonian Status Quo.

Sen. Ted Cruz has been their biggest target, as his charisma and common sense have made him one of the Tea Party Movements favorite politicians. Just as Sarah Palin before him, he is being called everything but a child of God

Every since his “Not-a-Filibuster” against Obamacare, leading up to the Government Shutdown, the MSM, the Democrats, and the Vichy Republicans have formed a new “Axis” (to borrow a World War II term) , launching a smear campaign against the Senator From Texas, who dares to call them out, concerning their nefarious duplicity and political maneuvering.

It’s high time someone did.

As Former Representative, Lt. Col. Allen West (another Tea Party Favorite) observed yesterday,

I’m watching the spectacle occurring on the Senate floor. They have passed the 60 vote threshold for ending cloture. I want the American people to understand that tonight the Constitutional Republic we know as America has suffered a horrible defeat. Obamacare is not the law of the land. It is an edict handed down by a tyrant, not a President. The US Senate has just voted to affirm a new precedent that the executive branch can amend law without Congressional approval, and Congress allows it. The waivers, exemptions, and delays implemented by President Obama have delineated a separation, not of powers, but between the political elite and their cronies – and you, my fellow Americans. This is reprehensible, and we can expect even more bad behavior from a President that continues to spit on our Constitution and in our eyes…and smile. The incessant government spending continues with no solution for economic growth. Anyone voting for this tonight owes some explaining to Americans….but maybe not. As Obama stated, “I won.”

After Lt. Col. West watched that spectacle, he was treated to another, as the House of Representatives, led by the Spelunker of the House,  Cryin’ John Boehner, passed the Senate Bill, completing the capitulation, and another sell-out of the Republican Party’s Conservative Base.

The problem with all of the old Vichy Republicans, is the fact that they have been up on Capital Hill so long, the lines between ethical and unethical, and public-serving behavior and self-serving behavior, in their minds, have become blurred.

For instance, within Sen. McConnell/Sen. Reid’s bill,, it has been discovered that the bill includes a nearly $3 billion earmark for a Kentucky project.

Language in a draft of the McConnell-Reid deal (see page 13, section 123)shows a provision that increases funding for the massive Olmsted Dam Lock in Paducah, Ky., from $775 million to nearly $2.9 billion.

Nothing like a little pork to insure your re-election by the home folks, huh, Sen. McConnell?

It seems to me that the Republican Establishment have reacted to the resurgence of the Tea Party Republicans, like, excuse the expression, a bunch of cockroaches in the kitchen, scurrying for cover when the lights got turned on them.

When they regrouped from the initial shock, they became even more determined that no one, and I mean, no one, would disrupt “business as usual” in Washington, DC. Not Cruz, Lee, Palin, West, or any of us “smelly” Conservatives, living in America’s Heartland.

This obstinate “smartest people in the room” conceit, led directly to the spectacle that Lt. Col. West and the rest of us watched  yesterday.

The last time people saw something like that, was when the French Soldiers, defending their country from the German Invasion in World War II, dropped their rifles, and ran like scalded dogs.

Same thing.

Until He Comes,

KJ

The Shutdown: The Blame is Obama’s. Period.

On By kingsjesterIn Politics4 Comments

chickenlittleSo, will this be the day that Boehner or McConnell go ahead and end the Government Shutdown, capitulating to the Petulant President, completing the caving-in process and once again selling out the Conservative Base of the Republican Party?

Place your bets, ladies and gentlemen, because their failures yesterday sure weren’t from a lack of trying, as The New York Times reports…

With the federal government on the brink of a default, a House Republican effort to end the shutdown and extend the Treasury’s borrowing authority collapsed Tuesday night as a major credit agency warned that the United States was on the verge of a costly ratings downgrade.

After the failure of the House Republican leadership to find enough support for its latest proposal to end the fiscal crisis, the Senate’s Democratic and Republican leaders immediately restarted negotiations to find a bipartisan path forward. A spokesman for Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, said Mr. Reid was “optimistic that an agreement is within reach” with Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader.

With so little time left, chances rose that a resolution would not be approved by Congress and sent to President Obama before Thursday, when the government is left with only its cash on hand to pay the nation’s bills.

“It’s very, very serious,” warned Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona. “Republicans have to understand we have lost this battle, as I predicted weeks ago, that we would not b able to win because we were demanding something that was not achievable.”

A day that was supposed to bring Washington to the edge of resolving the fiscal showdown instead seemed to bring chaos and retrenching. And a bitter fight that had begun over stripping money from the president’s signature health care law had essentially descended in the House into one over whether lawmakers and their staff members would pay the full cost of their health insurance premiums, unlike most workers at American companies, and how to restrict the administration from using flexibility to extend the debt limit beyond a fixed deadline.

Even so, the House speaker, John A. Boehner, Republican of Ohio, and his leadership team failed in repeated, daylong attempts to bring their troops behind any bill that would reopen the government and extend the Treasury’s debt limit on terms significantly reduced from their original push against funding for the health care law. The House’s hard-core conservatives and some more pragmatic Republicans were nearing open revolt, and the leadership was forced twice to back away from proposals it had floated, the second time sending lawmakers home for the night to await a decision on how to proceed Wednesday.

So, as this new Soap Opera, “While Congress Turns”, proceeds, all attention has been diverted from the the individual who is actually responsible for this unholy mess, President Barack Hussein Obama (mm mmm mmmm).

His refusal to negotiate..about anything…was brought into focus yesterday by, of all people, Former CIA Director and Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta (a Clinton Loyalist).speaking at a Breakfast Meeting…

“We govern either by leadership or crisis. . . . If leadership is not there, then we govern by crisis,” Panetta said at the start of the session, sponsored by The Wall Street Journal. “Clearly, this town has been governing by crisis after crisis after crisis.”

Which raised the obvious question: What does this say about the president’s leadership?

Several observations ensued. “This town has gotten a lot meaner in the last few years.” Relationships have deteriorated. Redistricting into safe seats hasn’t helped. Neither has the explosion of money in campaigns, or the elimination of earmarks. (Negotiating one Clinton budget, Panetta recalled, “I think I sold about six bridges to get there.”)

Then, to Obama. “This president — he’s extremely bright, he’s extremely able, he’s somebody who I think certainly understands the issues, asks the right questions, and I think has the right instincts about what needs to be done for the country.”

Next came the “but” — without a name but with a clear message. “You have to engage in the process. This is a town where it’s not enough to feel you have the right answers. You’ve got to roll up your sleeves and you’ve got to really engage in the process . . . that’s what governing is all about.”

The difference between “Bubba” Clinton and “Scooter” Obama is a huge one. As Panetta points out, Bubba is a people person. Scooter is not. As long as Obama has himself, he will never be alone.

Bubba is the kind of guy whom, despite the fact that he’s a Liberal Democrat and morally reprehensible,  you could sit next to, at the counter at the Waffle House, and have a pleasant conversation with.

On the other hand, in Obama’s eyes, we are all filthy Capitalistic Colonials…oppressive, brutish people, whose antiquated system of ethics and values, based on American Christianity and Patriotism, needs to be “radically changed” by social experimentation, Executive Order, and huge, government-expanding laws, which nobody wants, such as the so-far-disastrous “Affordable Care Act”, passed in the middle of the night by a Congress, controlled by mindless minions, who, to this day, have no idea what is in the huge, horrible, life-changing bill that they passed.

The schadenfreude I have been experiencing, through watching the reactions of the young and dumb, when they realize that they are actually going to have to pay money for Obamacare Coverage, is priceless.

But, I digress…

I truly believe that Obama has never liked the concept of America. As others have written, he views our Blessed Land as being “just another flawed country”.

And now, having ascended to the Presidency, the punitive measures he has taken against our veterans and other citizens, by needlessly blocking admittance to our open-air National Parks and Monuments, show his true feelings toward the very Americans that he is supposed to be serving and protecting, in no uncertain terms.

As we head toward the “Fiscal Cliff”, if you want to know who the Head Lemming is…I’ll give you a clue: His name used to be Barry Soetoro.  

Until He Comes,

KJ

The Shutdown: Clowns to the Left of Me…Jokers to the “Right”

On By kingsjesterIn Politics1 Comment

clowncarAs the Government Shutdown wanes on, polls are coming out, seemingly every day, blaming the 17% Shutdown on Congress. Heck, some are even actually laying the blame on the shoulders of President Barack Hussein Obama, where is most certainly belongs.

As yesterday ended, Congress found themselves still without any sort of agreement, as the Wall Street Journal reports…

Top Senate leaders said they were within striking distance of an agreement Monday to reopen the federal government and defuse a looming debt crisis just days before the U.S. could run out of money to pay its bills.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) said on the Senate floor that the leaders had made “tremendous progress” toward a deal and that he was hopeful Tuesday would be a “bright day.” The Senate’s Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, seconded Mr. Reid’s optimism. “We’ve had a good day,” he said.

The White House postponed a planned afternoon meeting of congressional leaders with President Barack Obama, saying the schedule change would give Senate leaders time to hash out a deal.

The latest proposal would reopen the government at current spending levels until Jan. 15 and extend the federal borrowing limit until early February, according to aides familiar with the talks. Lawmakers also would begin longer-term negotiations on the budget, with the task of reaching an agreement by Dec. 13.

Even before the deal was unveiled, it provoked grumbling Monday night among restive House Republicans. Mr. McConnell said Monday he expected to “get a result that will be acceptable to both sides.”

By setting up yet another series of fiscal deadlines, the agreement, if embraced, would carry the hallmark of other deadline-driven deals that have become typical of the increasingly polarized Capitol.

“Everybody realizes that whatever happens, we’re going to be litigating this another day,” said Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, a member of the Senate GOP leadership.

…Republicans who entered the budget battle determined to gut the health law have steadily scaled back their demands in the face of Democratic resistance. Still, many could find it hard to accept the Senate proposal, especially if it makes no changes to the health law.

Some House Republicans would likely resist the deal, putting House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) in a tight spot.

Mr. Boehner could face a rebellion from the House’s most fiscally conservative lawmakers, many of whom were elected with tea-party support. That would force Mr. Boehner to rely on Democrats to pass the Senate measure.

The lack of immediate spending cuts, as well as the absence of major changes to the health law, could prompt conservative opposition.

“I can’t vote for something that doesn’t have substantive spending cuts right now,” said Rep. Joe Barton (R., Texas).

Many House Republicans declined to comment until they saw the final Senate proposal. Some still were smarting from Mr. Obama’s decision to end discussions with them on Friday, which effectively sidelined the House GOP and accelerated talks in the Senate. The House offer abandoned many of the GOP’s initial policy demands. It would have raised the debt ceiling for six weeks without making other policy changes. But it didn’t appear to contain any explicit agreement to reopen the government immediately.

“We believed that we could have worked with the president,” said Rep. Pete Sessions (R., Texas) “and then the president dropped us like a hot potato.”

There is actually more animus from the House Republicans toward the RINOs in the Senate, than the WSJ alluded to, as Breitbart.com tells us…

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), chair of the House Budget Committee, told conservative talk radio host Charlie Sykes Monday morning that House Republicans had demanded a one-year delay in Obamacare’s individual mandate, along with an end to congressional exemptions, while offering a six-week debt ceiling hike to allow room for negotiations on broader budget issues. The offer was made to President Barack Obama last Thursday.

President Obama, said Ryan, listened but declined to respond. In the meantime, Ryan said, it became clear the president was negotiating separately to obtain more favorable terms from Senate Republicans, trying to “jam” the House Republicans in the process. Ryan told Sykes that Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had “overplayed their hand” in attempting to prolong the crisis to maximize political damage to Republicans.

Ryan described the delay to the individual mandate as an “obvious” step to take, given that technical issues with the Obamacare exchanges might prevent the mandate from being enforced at all. “We could have spent the weekend putting an agreement together that says we’re gonna deal with the debt, we’re gonna deal with this economy, and we’re gonna fix these big flaws in Obamacare, or at least give people delays in these penalties.”

While Ryan actually makes a good point, concerning delaying the Individual Mandate, that is like using a slingshot to bring down an elephant.

The fact of the matter is that Americans do not want Obamacare…period…as proven by the fact that only 51,000 nationally, signed up for Obamacare in its first week.

That is less Americans than attend a College or Professional Football Game.

Evidently, the Manchurian President feels like he can more easily con the old RINO’s in the Senate, like McConnell, McCain, and Graham, who have been publicly bashing Conservatives for a while now, including the last week, than he can Cryin’ John and Company, in the House.

Meanwhile, average Americans, like you and me, are forced to watch these clowns and jokers, as they hurl accusations at one another, making Capital Hill and the White House sound more like a Daycare Center, rather than the Seat of Government.

Judging from the fact that Obama is the one who refuses to negotiate…

I’d say that somebody needs a nap.

Until He Comes,

KJ

The Shutdown: The Million Vet March

On By kingsjesterIn Politics4 Comments

veterans marchYesterday was a very special day in this country. Our Brightest and Best, along with other Patriotic Americans, including Former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin, and Senators Ted Cruz and Mike Lee, gathered for a celebration of American Freedom, and a protest against tyranny.

Per foxnews.com…

Veterans marched on Sunday in Washington in protest of the partial government shutdown that has kept them and other Americans from visiting war memorials across the country, with support from several star conservatives.

“This is the people’s memorial,” Texas Sen. Ted Cruz told a crowd of several hundred gathered near the WWII Memorial on the closed National Mall, which has become a national symbol of the shutdown and the country’s response. “Simple question: Why is the federal government spending money to keep veterans out of the memorial? Why did they spend money to keep people out of Mount Vernon, Mount Rushmore? Our veterans should be above political games.”

Veterans, including many in wheelchairs, took down police barricades and entered the memorial at about midday as others took the protest to the edge of the White House South Lawn.

“Today somebody’s wife [or] husband is dead in Afghanistan. Is somebody going to pay her husband [or] his wife or their children?” one protester shouted at the White House, referring to the partial shutdown cutting off benefits for the survivors of military personnel.

Some of the metal barricades were carried the roughly half-mile walk from the memorial to the White House, where they were left near the fence in front of Pennsylvania Avenue.

A man was arrested at the event in connection with bringing at least one gun in a bag.

A witness named Jacob Reed told Fox News the man was standing in line to talk to Washington Republican Rep. David G. Reichert.

Reed said a police officer asked the man what he was doing, then asked him to take his bag off his back. The man complied and said the bag contained a bunch of firearms, at which point he was handcuffed and taken into custody.

Cruz was joined by 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, on a gray, rainy day in the nation’s capital.

“Veterans have proven they are not timid. And we will not be timid in calling out anybody that uses the military as pawns,” Palin told the crowd assembled at the Million Vet March on Memorials. “We can only be America, home of the free, if we are America, home of the brave.”

Protesters shouting “U.S.A.” and “Tear down these walls” put the blame squarely on President Obama and Democratic congressional leaders.

“In a mean-spirited fit of selfish anger, Barack Obama has shut down our nation’s war memorials,” march organizers said in a press release. “And he has declared open war on our honored veterans. The World War II memorial, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the Korean War Veterans Memorial, Obama has shut them all down to force his will on the House of Representatives and, frankly, to get revenge on the American people who oppose ObamaCare and his other naked power grabs.”

As America’s Veterans were exercising their Constitutional Rights, where was the Commander-in-Chief? Was he negotiating with Republicans to end the Government Shutdown? Did he go outside to address the tumultuous crowd outside his front door?

Oh, heck no.

According to reuters.com…

Just before noon, the White House gave the pool of reporters and photographers who travel with the president notice that it would be highly unlikely that Obama would leave the White House or speak publicly for the rest of the day.

Senator Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader, was slated to hold talks on Sunday with his Republican counterpart, Mitch McConnell, about how much to raise the debt ceiling, and how to end the ongoing government shutdown, now in its 13th day.

Obama made a series of high-profile public appearances during the early days of the shutdown, where he sought to blame Republicans for the fiscal impasse.

But Obama has stayed away from television cameras since he began meeting with lawmakers on Wednesday afternoon.

Vice President Joe Biden, who has close relationships with lawmakers who he served with during his long service in the U.S. Senate, also has stayed out of the public eye.

Biden’s schedule for the weekend showed that he and his wife Jill Biden would spend time at Camp David, the presidential retreat in rural Maryland.

“Maybe we need to get Joe Biden out of the witness protection program,” Republican Senator John McCain said on CBS Television’s “Face the Nation” program on Sunday morning, alluding to Biden’s legendary ability to clinch deals with Republicans.

Obama’s favorite President, Abraham Lincoln, had an Open Door Policy at the White House. Obama has just the opposite. Using the Sequester as an excuse, he stopped all public tours of the White House. However, that has not stopped him from entertaining lobbyists and friends, including the Muslim Brotherhood.

The protesters yesterday were met by Park Rangers in riot gear, mounted police, and helicopters, with armed men hanging off of the sides.

It was rumored that one of those helicopters took Obama away from the White House, in flight from the American Citizens he is supposed to be serving.

Obama’s punitive measures which he has unnecessarily taken against American Citizens, under the guise of the Government Shutdown, are the reason for the march, yesterday.

If Obama was in any hurry to undo these actions, he would have entered into negotiations with the Republicans to end the Shutdown.

However, being the petulant man-child that he is, he is not finished with his temper tantrum, yet.

Thanks to a bunch of American Heroes,though, he has some “Barry-cades” outside his front door to build a playpen with.

Until He Comes,

KJ

The Shutdown: Still…”A Time for Choosing”

On By kingsjesterIn Politics3 Comments

reaganI really did not know what to write about today. Like the rest of you, I am getting sick and tired of the self-serving politicians, up in the Halls of Power, acting like a bunch of spoiled children choosing sides for a kickball team.

Our petulant President, while remaining in the middle of a now 13-day-long Temper Tantrum, wants everything his way, refusing to negotiate, because those eeeevil Republicans won’t bow down and kiss his Imperial Hindquarters, as the Vichy “Moderates” among them usually do.

Give them a couple of days. Paul Ryan is working on it, even now.

Anyway, my mind traveled back, as it often does, to a seminal moment in our nation’s history, which might give us guidance in a situation like this.

I found an appropriate message in the words of the greatest President in our Generation, Ronald Wilson Reagan.,delivered on a legendary night in 1964, as he was out delivering stump speeches for the Republican Presidential Campaign of Barry Goldwater. The title of the speech is “A Time For Choosing”, and The Gipper’s words ring as true today, as they ever have…

It’s time we asked ourselves if we still know the freedoms intended for us by the Founding Fathers. James Madison said, “We base all our experiments on the capacity of mankind for self government.”

This idea — that government was beholden to the people, that it had no other source of power — is still the newest, most unique idea in all the long history of man’s relation to man. This is the issue of this election: Whether we believe in our capacity for self-government or whether we abandon the American Revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far-distant capital can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves.

You and I are told we must choose between a left or right, but I suggest there is no such thing as a left or right. There is only an up or down. Up to man’s age-old dream–the maximum of individual freedom consistent with order — or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism. Regardless of their sincerity, their humanitarian motives, those who would sacrifice freedom for security have embarked on this downward path. Plutarch warned, “The real destroyer of the liberties of the people is he who spreads among them bounties, donations and benefits.”

The Founding Fathers knew a government can’t control the economy without controlling people. And they knew when a government sets out to do that, it must use force and coercion to achieve its purpose. So we have come to a time for choosing.

Public servants say, always with the best of intentions, “What greater service we could render if only we had a little more money and a little more power.” But the truth is that outside of its legitimate function, government does nothing as well or as economically as the private sector.

Yet any time you and I question the schemes of the do-gooders, we’re denounced as being opposed to their humanitarian goals. It seems impossible to legitimately debate their solutions with the assumption that all of us share the desire to help the less fortunate. They tell us we’re always “against,” never “for” anything.

…Are you willing to spend time studying the issues, making yourself aware, and then conveying that information to family and friends? Will you resist the temptation to get a government handout for your community? Realize that the doctor’s fight against socialized medicine is your fight. We can’t socialize the doctors without socializing the patients. Recognize that government invasion of public power is eventually an assault upon your own business. If some among you fear taking a stand because you are afraid of reprisals from customers, clients, or even government, recognize that you are just feeding the crocodile hoping he’ll eat you last.

If all of this seems like a great deal of trouble, think what’s at stake. We are faced with the most evil enemy mankind has known in his long climb from the swamp to the stars. There can be no security anywhere in the free world if there is no fiscal and economic stability within the United States. Those who ask us to trade our freedom for the soup kitchen of the welfare state are architects of a policy of accommodation.

They say the world has become too complex for simple answers. They are wrong. There are no easy answers, but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right. Winston Churchill said that “the destiny of man is not measured by material computation. When great forces are on the move in the world, we learn we are spirits–not animals.” And he said, “There is something going on in time and space, and beyond time and space, which, whether we like it or not, spells duty.”

You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. If we fail, at least let our children and our children’s children say of us we justified our brief moment here. We did all that could be done.

Today, as we watch our nation’s Veterans, who sacrificed for this great nation, visit the memorials built in their honor, closed right now by the order of a Petulant  President, in the middle of a Temper Tantrum, think about the words of The Great Communicator, who also said, 

Man is not free unless government is limited.

Call your Republican Representatives and tell them, in the words Scotsman William Wallace, to “Hold that Line!” against this present-day tyranny which America is suffering under.

Remind them that our Freedom and their jobs depend on it.

Until He Comes,

KJ

The Shutdown: Obama Stonewalls. Vichy Republicans Plot Their Surrender. Who Speaks for Average Americans?

On By kingsjesterIn Politics8 Comments

Cartoon-Cruz-Vs-Establishment-600I’m sitting here, facing the reality of an imminent GOP”strategic surrender” to President Barack Hussein Obama’s demands, regarding ending the 17% Shutdown of the Federal Government.

Evidently, House Speaker John Boehner and the rest of the Vichy Republicans actually believed the obviously rigged NBC/Washington Post poll showing that more of the country sided with the Democrats on the issue of the Shutdown.

It turns out that the poll included not only the usual oversampling of Democrats, it also included a 20% sample of Government Employees.

Heck yeah, they’re going to support the Democrats’ side. They, like the rest of us in the Obama Economy, need their jobs.

The Republicans, themselves, are another issue.

There is a schism in the Grand Old Party, which is about to blow wide open.

Ever since 2010, when a groundswell of average Americans, like you and me, bonded together in our disgust over our out-of-control Federal Government, and the Progressive Politicians on both sides of the aisle, responsible for the situation, and voted a lot of the bums out of office, replacing them with Conservative Public Servants, the Old Guard Establishment Republicans has been solidifying their power. At the same time, in conjunction with Obama and the Democrats, and their lap-dogs in the MSM, they have publicly ridiculed and isolated the Tea Party and the Conservative Representatives and Senators whom we elected.

The difference between these ‘Vichy Republicans” and “Tea Party” or Reagan Republicans, can be clarified if we focus on two Senators,:  John McCain of Arizona and Ted Cruz of Texas.

Politico.com reports that

Sen. John McCain said Wednesday that there was never a chance of defunding Obamacare, blaming politicians who said it was possible for the current government shutdown.

“We started this on a fool’s errand, convincing so many millions of Americans and our supporters that we could defund Obamacare,” McCain (R-Ariz.) told Wolf Blitzer on CNN. “[That] obviously wouldn’t happen until we had 67 Republican senators to override a presidential veto.”

McCain stopped short of naming any of his colleagues specifically when asked who was to blame for the shutdown, but he did say that he believes those who initially advocated for tying the president’s signature health care law to budget negotiations were responsible.

“[It was] the people that convinced so many millions of Americans, tea partiers specifically we’re talking about, that there was some way to defund Obamacare. We can’t,” McCain said.

Negotiations to end the government shutdown have become entangled with discussions over the debt ceiling in recent days. According to the Treasury, the debt ceiling must be lifted by Oct. 17 to avoid a default on the government’s debt.

That deadline has been questioned by conservatives who insist incoming daily revenues will allow the government to continue paying interest on its debt, thereby avoiding a default altogether.

McCain stressed that such an option could still be disastrous.

“Technically they may be correct, because there are tax revenues coming in,” McCain said. “But I know some people on Wall Street that are telling me that the markets would react in a very, very negative fashion.

Concerning Cruz, the Boston Globe reported that

Hours before he and other Senate Republicans were scheduled to meet with President Obama at the White House on Friday, Senator Ted Cruz, the Tea Party firebrand from Texas, called upon Republican House members to stand strong in their fight against “Obamacare.”

Federal power has exploded under the Obama administration, Cruz declared at the Value Voters Summit at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, a gathering of social conservatives.

“None of us knows what is going to happen on this Obamacare fight right now. In my view the House of Representatives needs to keep doing what it’s doing, which is standing strong!” Cruz exhorted to wild applause.

“That is the model for every other fight,” Cruz said. “We need no more Washington solutions. We need to go back to the American people.”

Cruz pumped up the crowd from the stage, telling them that they – not him or any other elected official – have the power to stop the health law. “It is because of you that the House of Representatives has been standing strong, because the House has been listening to the people,” he said.

“The nice thing is the left will always, always, always tell you who they fear, and they fear you,” Cruz said. “They fear the American people. The fundamental problem in Washington is Washington is not listening to America.”

Cruz blamed the White House for the impasse as the shutdown entered its 11th day and the government is less than a week from the Oct 17 deadline to raise its borrowing limit or face a government default and resulting economic calamity .

“The Democrats are feeling the heat,” Cruz said. Noting that he planned to head to the White House Friday with other Senate Republicans to meet with the president, he joked: “If I am never seen again, please send a search and rescue team.”

Others scheduled to speak to the faith-based activists include Senators Paul Ryan, Rand Paul and Marco Rubio, as well as Representative Michele Bachmann. The summit is often seen as a platform for potential Republican presidential contenders.

Someone once wrote that power is an aphrodisiac…and total power corrupts totally.

I find the words and actions of McCain, Boehner, McConnell, Ryan, Graham, and the rest of the Vichy Republicans quite revealing. They are blindly determined to sell out their constituency, in order to preserve the status quo in Washington, and therefore, hang on to their Seats of Power.

They believe that by selling out, they will keep their “seats at the table”.

That is why Senator Ted Cruz and the rest of the Tea Party Conservatives scare the Hell out of Progressives on both sides of the aisle, and in the Main Stream Media, as well.

True Public Servants like Cruz, Mike Lee, and Rand Paul, are a threat to those who roam the Beltway Halls of Power with impunity. Their servants’ hearts and their forthrightness, are anathema to the Good Ol’ Boys and Girls. who have made a lucrative, self-serving career off of the American Citizenry whom they are supposed to be serving and protecting.

Just as turning on the light in the kitchen makes the cockroaches scatter for cover, the speaking of the truth by Tea Party Conservatives, makes the Old Guard Republicans close ranks, and then lash out, in a desperate attempt at self-preservation. While at the same time, continuing to “reach across the aisle”, in continuation of the Washingtonian Status Quo.

Leaving American Citizens to pick up the tab.

Until He Comes,

KJ

The Shutdown: Does Obama View Himself as the “Real Victim”?

On By kingsjesterIn Politics7 Comments

Obama-Shrinks-2Boys and girls, as the Government Shutdown wanes on, the inner workings of the Obama Administration more clearly resemble a Mack Sennett Comedy Pie Fight Scene, with every new crisis they have to deal with.

First, “Jaybird” Carney said that there was no reason for the President to sign the bill passed by the House and Senate which would restore Military Death Benefits.

Then, Obama signed it, as Fox News reports…

President Obama signed a bill late Thursday to pay death benefits to families of fallen soldiers during the partial government shutdown.

The move came after the White House drew heavy criticism from Republicans over White House press secretary Jay Carney’s comment earlier in the day that it was “not necessary” to sign the bill since a charity already had stepped in to foot the expenses.

The Senate approved the bill Thursday afternoon, after it cleared the House a day earlier. The bill reinstated the $100,000 “death gratuity” payments to military families and resumed funeral and burial expenses.

The funding had been suspended as a consequence of the partial government shutdown.

Carney claimed the bill was “not necessary,” noting that charity group The Fisher House Foundation had just entered into an agreement with the Pentagon a day earlier to provide the benefits in the short-term.

“The legislation is not necessary,” Carney said, adding that the Defense Department had already agreed to reimburse the Fisher House.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who pushed the bill in the Senate, blasted the White House over Carney’s remark.

“Now, we’re learning the president has taken his political obstinacy to a new low and believes the legislation Congress has passed to right this wrong is ‘not necessary,'” he said in a written statement. “Not only is this legislation necessary it’s the moral obligation of this nation and it’s the spoken will of Congress that we deliver immediate assistance to the families of fallen service members.

“I call on the president to sign this necessary legislation without delay. Anything less would represent dereliction of duty by our commander in chief,” he said.

By voice vote Thursday, the Senate approved the measure that would reinstate benefits for surviving family members, including funeral and burial expenses, and death gratuity payments. The Pentagon typically pays out $100,000 within three days of a service member’s death.

Twenty-nine members of the military have died on active duty since the government shutdown began last Tuesday.

The Pentagon infuriated congressional Republicans and Democrats and touched off a national firestorm when it claimed earlier that a law allowing the military to be paid during the partial government shutdown did not cover the death benefit payments. Congress passed and Obama signed that measure into law before the partial government shutdown last Tuesday, and lawmakers insist that the benefits shouldn’t have been affected.

Despite the Senate vote, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., sided with the White House. He said the voice vote was “for show” and the Pentagon had essentially resolved the problem. He said the issue was moot, but he didn’t object to passage of the bill.

Uh huh. Tell us another one, Dinghy.

As I have observed in previous blogs this week, Obama has not acted like an American President at all, in dealing with this Government Shutdown. His behavior has more closely resembled a petulant child.

Dr. Keith Ablow, seen on Fox News, has a theory about Obama’s “issues”…

President Obama’s rhetoric is finally coming closer to what appears to be his psychological truth: Because America victimized him and countless millions of others, any person or party or movement that opposes his views and does not yield to him is not just his adversary, but abusive, predatory and even threatening.

…It is exceedingly difficult to come to terms with a person who sees you as his oppressor, his kidnapper, and someone terrorizing him who might well destroy him. You aren’t likely to consider whether your assailant and jailer and would-be killer has a few good ideas, after all.

A victim mentality would explain why the president immediately allies with anyone else he thinks might be a victim, too.

Seeing Barack Obama as someone who has a victim mentality would explain a lot. That mentality relies on believing one has been harmed, that one was not responsible for the injuries that occurred, that one could not have prevented what happened and that the person’s suffering makes that person morally right and deserving of sympathy.

As a young boy, Obama was, indeed, helpless.

He was helpless to stop his father from abandoning him.

He was helpless to stop his mother from leaving him with his grandparents.

He was helpless to stop his white grandmother and caretaker from communicating to him her fears of black people.

I’m not sure the president ever got over it.

Dr. Ablow’s theory definitely seems to have a basis in fact.

That chip that Obama continuously carries on his shoulder would certainly go along with the diagnosis of “victim Mentality”.

If Obama views the world as being “out to get him”, the defensive, non-negotiable stance he has taken since the Shutdown started, would definitely make sense, psychologically.

The problem is, American does not need a thumb-sucking , Little Lord Fauntleroy, siting at the President’s Desk in the Oval Office. We need a leader of men. One who is willing to protect the citizenry from “enemies foreign and domestic”.

And, in the situation we’re in right now, we do not need a President who views the citizens he is supposed to be serving, as brutish, victimizing louts, who deserved to be punished, because it makes him feel better about himself and his lack of leadership skills.

We need a President who is not only a people person, but also a shrewd negotiator, with Real World experience in business negotiations.

Unfortunately, we have Obama, instead.

Until He Comes,

KJ

The Shutdown: Will the Republicans Snatch Defeat Out of the Jaws of Victory?

On By kingsjesterIn Politics11 Comments

boehnercrying

There is an old political adage which states,

If your opponent is digging a hole for himself, get out of the way. If you can, lend a hand.

Republicans do not seem to realize that they’ve got a good thing going. The American public has had it up to here with the antics of their Petulant President, and the political pendulum is beginning to swing to the right again. The problem is, the Republican Establishment’s Vichy inclinations are handicapping them from taking advantage of the egregious behavior of the Manchurian President.

According to the great American Economist, Dr. Thomas Sowell,

If the continued existence of mathematics depended on the ability of the Republicans to defend the proposition that two plus two equals four, that would probably mean the end of mathematics and of all the things that require mathematics.

Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner, epitomized what has been wrong with the Republicans for decades when he emerged from a White House meeting last Wednesday, went over to the assembled microphones, briefly expressed his disgust with the Democrats’ intransigence and walked on away.

We are in the midst of a national crisis, immediately affecting millions of Americans and potentially affecting the kind of country this will become if ObamaCare goes into effect — and yet, with multiple television network cameras focused on Speaker Boehner as he emerged from the White House, he couldn’t be bothered to prepare a statement that would help clarify a confused situation, full of fallacies and lies.

Boehner was not unique in having a blind spot when it comes to recognizing the importance of articulation and the need to put some serious time and effort into presenting your case in a way that people outside the Beltway would understand. On the contrary, he has been all too typical of Republican leaders in recent decades.

When the government was shut down during the Clinton administration, Republican leaders who went on television to tell their side of the story talked about “OMB numbers” versus “CBO numbers” — as if most people beyond the Beltway knew what these abbreviations meant or why the statistics in question were relevant to the shutdown. Why talk to them in Beltway-speak?

When Speaker Boehner today goes around talking about the “CR,” that is just more of the same thinking — or lack of thinking. Policy wonks inside the Beltway know that he is talking about the “continuing resolution” that authorizes the existing level of government spending to continue, pending a new budget agreement.

But, believe it or not, there are lots of citizens and voters outside the Beltway. And what is believed by those people whom too many Republicans are talking past can decide not only the outcome of this crisis but the fate of the nation for generations to come.

You might think that the stakes are high enough for Republicans to put in some serious time trying to clarify their message.

As the great economist Alfred Marshall once said, facts do not speak for themselves. If we are waiting for the Republicans to do the speaking, the country is in big trouble.

What the heck does Boehner want? He’s got an out-of-control narcissist, punitively picking and choose which National Parks and Monuments to close down, while rolling out the Red Carpet for protesters, who are here illegally, to demonstrate, in front of God and everybody, on the National Mall.

On top of that, he’s got a Speaker of the Senate, from the Opposition Party, asking why Congress should be worried about saving a Pediatric Cancer Patient’s life!

Obama’s and the Democrats’ bungling of the whole Government Shutdown, has left a gaping maw of a Public Relations Hole big enough for The Speaker of the House to drive a semi-truck through.

However, Cryin’ John and his Republican Elite cronies, for all of their public protestations, seem to be stuck in their typical “reach across the aisle” mode.

Boehner needs to hold a scorcher of a press conference every day, hammering Obama and his minions on their refusal to negotiate. He needs to point out how many “mini-funding” bills they’ve passed in the House to attempt to keep parts of the government funded during the President’s Temper Tantrum.

In fact, today, he needs to hold a press conference about passing a bill yesterday to fund survivors’ benefits for the families of our Best and Brightest who gave the ultimate sacrifice in service to our country.

Right now, the Republicans actually seem to be united in their opposition to the Petulant President and his punitive punishment of American Citizens.

It would be an absolutely politically ignorant move to fall back on their Vichy Republican ways and capitulate to the Presidents’ wishes to spend our nation into oblivion.

Put a muzzle on John McCain and a leash on his pet dog, Lindsey Graham, and tell that out-of touch Mitch McConnell to sit down, Boehner, you’ve got this.

Now is not the time for surrender.

Now is the opportunity to stand up on your hind legs, Republicans, and actually do what you were sent to Capitol Hill to do: represent your constituency.

Now is not the time to be timid and inarticulate, Republicans.

 It is time to fight for the American people, like your jobs depended on it

Because, they do.

Until He comes,

KJ

The Shutdown: Of Parks, Presidents, Prayers, and a Puny Presser By a Petulant President

On By kingsjesterIn Politics25 Comments

government shutdown rushmore cartoonSince the Government Shutdown started, a week ago last Monday, I’ve been sitting here thinking that the actions of The Manchurian President can not get any worse.

However, each day we go further into the shutdown, brings new revelations of this Administration’s mistreatment of American Citizens.

By now, I am sure you’ve heard about the group of Senior Citizens who were basically held captive by Park Rangers at the Yellowstone Park Hotel. The brown shirt-wearing Rangers would not let the Seasoned Citizens out of the Hotel to view the park, because of the Government Shutdown.

That’s right. It is now illegal to look at National Parks. The Head of the Regime has decreed it so.

And, while we are on the subject of our National Parks…

Nearly two dozen people have been issued citations for entering Grand Canyon National Park after a partial government shutdown forced its closure.

Grand Canyon Chief Ranger Bill Wright says some people have been caught at the South Rim, on trails, attempting rim-to-rim hikes or trying to sneak in through dirt roads.

All of the citations will be handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Wright says each of the 21 citations issued as of Monday has a mandatory order to appear in federal court.

A state highway that runs through the national park was closed after Grand Canyon officials found tourists removing barricades at overlooks along the road.

Wright says law enforcement will be patrolling the park around the clock. Most other park employees have been furloughed.

Evidently, this Land ain’t our land anymore. It’s Obama’s land.

President Teddy Roosevelt said in 1903,

There can be nothing in the world more beautiful than the Yosemite, the groves of the giant sequoias and redwoods, the Canyon of the Colorado, the Canyon of the Yellowstone, the Three Tetons; and our people should see to it that they are preserved for their children and their children’s children forever, with their majestic beauty all unmarred.

And, what’s equally as galling as Americans being arrested for wanting to see the Grand Canyon, is that fact that Obama opened our National Mall for a rally for people who are in our country illegally, saying that it was an exercise in “First Amendment Rights”.

Correct me if I’m wrong, boys and girls, but don’t OUR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS specifically apply to UNITED STATES CITIZENS?

And, isn’t one of the rights outlined in that Amendment, something about” limiting the free exercise” of religion?

Why, yes, I believe it is.

Then, considering the argument used for that rally on the National Mall yesterday, please…one of y’all explain this to me…

David Brody of CBN reports…

Apparently, a priest was denied access to a military chapel this weekend. Father Ray Leonard serves at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay in Georgia but because of the government shutdown, he wasn’t allowed to go to celebrate Mass this past weekend.

He is contracted by the Defense Department to meet the spiritual needs of Catholics, but not now. The chapel doors were locked and the sign said, “Shutdown: No Catholic service till further notice.”

Father Leonard said the following:

“This is our church, Catholics have an expectation and obligation to attend Mass and we were told, ‘No you can’t go to church this week…“ My parishioners were upset. They were angry and dismayed. They couldn’t believe that in America they’d be denied access to Mass by the government.”

Rep. Tim Huelskamp had this reaction:

“Time and time again this Administration demonstrates it is waging a war against the very religious freedoms upon which America was founded. This is exactly why we worked to pass legislation (House Concurrent Resolution 58) this past weekend – to protect the religious liberties of all those who bravely serve in our Armed Forces.”

You know what gives me gas about this whole idiotic situation?

It’s the fact that the 44th President of the United States actually thought that Americans would cower in the face of his egregious mistreatment of us.

I mean, I’ve known all along that Obama has as much in common with average Americans like you and me, as Meghan McCain does with MENSA, however, the shear brazen despotism which he has shown to the very country he is supposed to be serving and protecting, is so unabashedly tyrannical, it makes Caligula look like St. Augustine.

The weapon Obama has chosen to attempt to reinforce this Government Shutdown is an old one: fear.

During his, at times, incoherent Presser, yesterday,Obama warned of “Economic Chaos” if his and Congress’ impasse does not allow our country to pay its bills. He proceeded to whine and say that he would settle for a short-term Debt Ceiling increase (instead of the unlimited ability to borrow and spend our nation into oblivion, as seems to be his wont).

On the Internet yesterday, Obama’s minions were spreading that same concern, stating that Boehner and the Republicans should accept whatever Obama offers them, and just go ahead and capitulate., because…get this…”we’re (Conservatives) losing”.

To which I reply,

“NUTS!”

One of the Liberals’ heroes, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, once told the nation,

The only thing we have to fear…is fear itself.

Truer words were never spoken. Those words are the perfect answer to Obama and his minions’ fear-mongering strategy.

Obama’s strategy is one born out of desperation. Americans are proving to be stronger than he had planned on.

We don’t tolerate tyranny very well. Never have.

While it was actually nothing but third-rate bloviating by a Petulant President, it was also very appropriate that Obama called out the Tea Party during his Press Conference, yesterday.

King George did not like the Tea Party, either.

Until He Comes,

KJ