Category: Politics

Terrorists in Thomson, IL (Say Hello to Your New Neighbors)

On By kingsjesterIn Politics3 Comments

Thomson CCWhen Barack Hussein Obama ascended to the throne of the Regime, he promised to close Guantanamo Bay, in acquiescence to the wishes of the clown car known as the United Nations and Obama’s donors…err…I mean, friends….err…I mean, fellow Muslims…umm…let me just say that he was trying to appease Middle Eastern Muslims and quiet their claims of torture going on at Gitmo.

On 22 January 2009, two days after being sworn in as the new U.S. president, Barack Obama signed several Executive Orders covering the detainees at Guantanamo Bay, interrogation techniques, and CIA secret detention sites. Summaries of these executive orders, as provided by the White House, are provided below.

1. Executive Order regarding Guantanamo Bay detainees:

This Order requires closure of the Guantanamo detention center no later than one year from the date of the Order. Closure of the facility is the ultimate goal but not the first step. The Order establishes a review process with the goal of disposing of the detainees before closing the facility. The Order sets up an immediate review to determine if it is possible to transfer detainees to third countries, consistent with national security. If detainees cannot be transferred, there will be a second review to determine if a prosecution is possible and in what forum. If there are detainees who cannot be transferred or prosecuted, the review will examine the lawful options for dealing with them. The Order directs the Secretary of State to seek international cooperation aimed at achieving the transfers of detainees; directs the Secretary of Defense to halt all military tribunals until the review can be completed; and requires that the conditions of confinement at Guantanamo comply with Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions and all other applicable laws.

2. Executive Order regarding Detainee Policy:

This Order creates a Special Task Force to consider the policy options for apprehension, detention, trial, transfer, or release of detainees. The Special Task Force must submit its report to President Obama within 180 days of the date of the order.

3. Executive Order regarding Interrogation:

This Order revokes an earlier Executive Order (No. 13440) issued by President G.W. Bush replacing it with the requirement that all interrogations of detainees in armed conflict, by any government agency, follow the U.S. Army Field Manual interrogation guidelines. It further prohibits reliance on any Department of Justice or other legal advice concerning interrogation that was issued between September 11, 2001 and January 20, 2009.

The Order requires all departments and agencies to provide the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to detainees in a manner consistent with the Department of Defense regulations and practice.

It also orders the CIA to close all existing detention facilities and prohibits it from operating detention facilities in the future.

Well, they blew that EO with the reported detention facility run through the ill-fated American Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, didn’t they?

Finally, this Order creates a Special Task Force to review the U.S. Army Field Manual interrogation guidelines in reference to the CIA’s methods. This Special Task Force will also look at rendition and other transfer policies to ensure the U.S. policies and practices comply with all obligations and are sufficient to ensure that individuals do not face torture and cruel treatment if transferred.

Also in 2009, Obama and his minions announced that they were interested in buying Thomson Correctional Center in rural Illinois, in order to bring the Islamic Terrorists who want to kill all of us, to the United States.

The Chicago Tribune has the story:

Under orders from President Barack Obama, the U.S. Justice Department moved forward Tuesday with the purchase of Illinois’ long-dormant Thomson prison, cutting a $165 million check to the cash-strapped state and bypassing the objections of a powerful veteran Republican U.S. House member who had blocked the sale.

“At this point, the president had to intervene and do this directly. I hope people understand he’s doing it for his state,” said U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, the state’s senior senator and No. 2 Democrat in the chamber. Durbin acknowledged it was a “rare” move to bypass the written approval of a high-ranking House Appropriations Committee member to proceed with the purchase of the facility in northwest Illinois.

…The Thomson sale has been mired by Washington politics for at least three years. Built for $140 million in 2001, the state never opened the prison because it lacked the money to operate it.

Though the prison was appraised for $220 million, federal and state officials agreed on a $165 million sale price. Justice Department officials presented the check to a federal judge in Rockford as part of a “friendly condemnation suit,” Durbin said.

“This is excellent news that will create more than 1,100 jobs in northwestern Illinois and provide relief to taxpayers across the state who will no longer be forced to pay for an empty, unnecessary facility,” Gov. Pat Quinn said in a statement.

A Quinn aide said an undetermined amount would be used to retire bonds that funded construction of the facility. The governor’s office said it will work with lawmakers to earmark the remainder to offset some of the state’s multibillion-dollar backlog of unpaid bills.

You know what Obama and his minions are not telling you?

Thomson Correctional Center is located on 1100 One Mile Road in Thomson, IL.

That is 3/10ths of a mile off of Highway 84N.

Guantanamo Bay is on the island of Cuba, at an American Naval Base surrounded by a mine field.

It does not take a genius to figure out which prison location would be safer for the American people if  these Muslim Terrorists  were housed there.

What is Obama’s motive for this stupid move?

A.) Kissing up to the Muslim Brotherhood

B) Providing clients for AG Eric Holder’s old law firm

C) Because he can

D) All of the above

Aw…you guessed.

This must not be allowed to happen. Please contact your Congressman/woman.

Until He Comes,

KJ

Mele Kalikimaka, President Obama…From the Proletariat

On By kingsjesterIn Politics4 Comments

What are you doing for Christmas? Are you going to get to travel?

Heck, most of us will consider ourselves lucky to be able to spend it at a friend’s or family-member’s house.

But, what about the First Family? As I wrote yesterday, he’s in deep…ummmm…negotiations with the Republicans to avoid the “Fiscal Cliff”.

So, surely, he’ll be spending a working Christmas at Camp David, laboring feverishly to save us all from financial ruin, right?

Nope. And, don’t call me Shirley.

The Big Kahuna is going back to “The Land of the Choom Gang”.

The Hawaii Reporter has the story:

Residents living near the beachfront homes where President Barack Obama and First Family vacation with their friends every year since 2008 were alerted on Monday to some specifics of the Obamas’ holiday vacation plans.

The report delivered to residents living along the ocean and canal that surrounds the multi-million dollar homes at Kailuana Place where the President stays, informed them of restrictions that will be implemented for 20 days beginning December 17 and running through January 6.

In a matter of weeks, Kailua residents will see the familiar street barricades fronted by U.S. Secret Service agents and Navy Seals and the U.S. Coast Guard stationed in canal and ocean waters.

The President, who spent some of his childhood years in Hawaii, brings his wife, two daughters, Sasha and Malia, with dog Bo in tow, each holiday season. They settle into the small town community known for its spectacular sparkling beaches, warm turquoise ocean, rolling surf, country shops and restaurants and friendly people.

The homes where they stay are just a two-minute drive from Kaneohe Bay and the Marine Corps Base Hawaii, where the Obamas and friends can access private white sand beaches and military workout facilities.

Kailua Beach

While many residents welcome the First Family, others are disheartened by the restrictions put on air, water and road travel while the President and family are in town, especially because it is the holiday season and many families on vacation want to use their boats or surf and paddle in the welcoming ocean waves fronting the Kailua homes. In addition, the President’s caravan of at least 22 vehicles including an ambulance can easily overwhelm the community that typically has single lane streets.

Adding to the controversy surrounding the President’s visit is the cost of the trip.

With the staff, special forces, local police presence and equipment, the President’s visit adds up annually to at least a $4 million vacation courtesy of the Hawaii and federal taxpayers.

While the President and his friends pay for their own rental homes, taxpayers pick up the cost of security and waterfront housing for the Secret Service, Navy Seals and Coast Guard as well as staff accommodations at a plush beachfront Waikiki hotel.

TRAVEL: $3,629,622

The biggest expense is President Barack Obama’s round trip flight to Hawaii via Air Force One.

A Congressional Research Service report released in May 2012 said the plane typically used by the President, a Boeing 747, costs $179,750 per hour to operate. The U.S. Air Force has listed the cost of travel as high as $181,757 per flight hour.

Travel time for Air Force One direct from Washington D.C. to Hawaii is about 9 hours or as high as $1,635,813 each way for a total of $3,271,622 for the round trip to Hawaii and back.

I want to go back to my little grass shack; In Kealakekua, Hawaii…

While Americans are eating Vienna Sausages, the Obamas dine on Wagyu Beef…on OUR money.

Beforeitsnews.com reported in October that

Over one recent 12 month period, Michelle Obama spent 42 days on vacation (and that does not even count Saturdays and Sundays). The following is an excerpt from a Daily Mail article about the legendary Obama vacations….

The First Lady is believed to have taken 42 days of holiday in the past year, including a $375,000 break in Spain and a four-day ski trip to Vail, Colorado, where she spent $2,000 a night on a suite at the Sebastian hotel.

And the first family’s nine-day stay in Martha’s Vineyard is also proving costly, with rental of the Blue Heron Farm property alone costing an estimated $50,000 a week.

The source continued: ‘Michelle also enjoys drinking expensive booze during her trips. She favours martinis with top-shelf vodka and has a taste for rich sparking wines.

‘The vacations are totally Michelle’s idea. She’s like a junkie. She can’t schedule enough getaways, and she lives from one to the next – all the while sticking it to hardworking Americans.’

As I wrote about the other day, many Americans are working so hard just to survive in this economy that they don’t ever get to take any vacations at all.

But it doesn’t seem to trouble the Obamas that many of their vacation trips cost more than many American workers will make in an entire decade….

The following is from a recent Newsmax article….

A trip to Spain in 2010 by Michelle Obama, family, and staff cost taxpayers $467,585 and a trip by the First Lady and family to South Africa and Botswana last year cost $424,142 for the flight and crew alone, according to Judicial Watch.

Yes, when the family of the president travels it is going to be expensive, but this is ridiculous.

It can even be insanely expensive for the Obamas to take a vacation even if they don’t leave the country.

For example, in 2010 an Obama family vacation to Hawaii ended up costing U.S. taxpayers more than a million dollars.

So how much is too much?

It has been reported that Michelle Obama spent over 10 million dollars of U.S. taxpayer money on vacations during just one recent 12 month period alone.

At a time when there are 46 million Americans on food stamps is this an appropriate amount of U.S. taxpayer money to spend on vacationing?

And yet, this is the president who recently won re-election by playing the Class Warfare Card.

Hypocrite, thy name is Obama.

Until He Comes,

KJ

The Fiscal Cliff: The Spartan Defense

On By kingsjesterIn Politics2 Comments

As the date for the Bush Tax Cuts to cease looms ever closer, it appears that the Republicans might actually be trying to man up and mount a defense, reminiscent of the Spartans defending the pass through the mountains in the movie “300”.

Foxnews.com reports that

House Republican leaders said Wednesday they’ve done their job in negotiations to solve the looming fiscal crisis, while President Obama is returning to the campaign trail to sell tax hikes that studies show won’t have much, if any, effect on solving the problem.

“We have done our part by putting revenue on the table,” said House Majority Leader Eric Cantor.

Cantor and fellow House leaders have agreed to close tax loopholes to generate revenue to reduce the $1.1 trillion annual deficit. But they argue the president has yet to say publicly what cuts he will make to the federal budget — specifically to costly entitlement programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security — to reduce the deficit.

They also say the president’s plan to extend tax cuts only to middle-class Americans will not generate enough revenue to significantly reduce the deficit.

The leaders made their argument the same day Gene Sperling, director of the president’s National Economic Council, told House Democrats that failing to extend Bush-era tax cuts to the top 2 percent of income earners could trickle down to hit the middle class, sources tell Fox News.

On Wednesday afternoon, the president ramped up his public pitch amid a backdrop of hand-picked, middle-class voters at the White House.

“Right now, as we speak, Congress can pass a law that would prevent a tax hike on the first $250,000 of everybody’s income,” he said. “And that means that 98 percent of Americans and 97 percent of small businesses wouldn’t see their income taxes go up by a single dime.”

He also urged Americans to use social media to try to persuade their congressional representatives to take the deal – telling them to use Facebook and their Twitter accounts. Obama even announced a new White House hashtag My2K — a reference to the estimated $2,200 tax increase that a typical middle-class family of four would see if the Bush tax cuts expire.

Of course, when word got out that Obama and his minions came up with that goofy #Mt2K idea, Conservatives immediately started hijacking it. Your’s truly was no exception:

kingsjester ‏@kingsjester1

Our money – Washington’s “revenue” – #My2k

kingsjester ‏@kingsjester1

“From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.” – #My2k

kingsjester ‏@kingsjester1

We’re all going to be too poor to pay attention – #My2k

Have you ever noticed how these modern Democrats try desperately to mask Marxism with the cloak of nobleness?

For example:

We’ve got to raise taxes! It’s for the children!

Republicans want control of your uterus!

and, of course,

The Republicans want you all back in chains!

How…noble? No. Self-serving.

If the Dems were as noble as they claim to be, they would keep their promises.

Like, the promises they made in the Debt Ceiling Compromise last August:

House Speaker John Boehner had to rely on a blend of Republicans and Democrats to push the bill through his chamber, with some conservatives unhappy about key provisions in the compromise.

House Democrats don’t want to carry Republicans’ water, though. Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-N.Y., said earlier Monday that every Democrat who votes for the bill takes a Republican off the hook — he urged colleagues to wait until Republicans put at least 200 votes on the board “before we give them cover.”

Liberal Democrats are unhappy in part because the first phase of the plan relies solely on spending cuts — $900 billion worth of them.

The second phase of the plan relies on a special committee to come up with roughly $1.5 trillion in additional deficit reduction. Both sides are wary about what that process could produce, in terms of entitlement reform and tax reform.

And conservatives are particularly agitated about a provision that would enact sweeping defense cuts if the committee’s recommendations are not approved by the end of the year. Plus some are peeved that, while the package would call for a vote on a balanced-budget amendment, it would not require its approval in order for the debt ceiling to be increased.

About those Spending Cuts…they never happened.

This scenario, concerning the battle on the edge of the Fiscal Cliff, is, actually just a continuation from the recent presidential campaign.

On one side, you have Obama and the Democrats, playing the class warfare card for all it’s worth, blaming those eeevil rich people (I never got a job from a poor man.) and those wascally wepublicans (The Dems are huntin’ Entitlements. Heheheheheh.) for standing in the way of Baracky Claus delivering all the free stuff that his base really, really wants…err…needs.

On the other side is Speaker John Boehner and the Republicans, trying to man  up and find a Conservative spine among all that Moderation, in order to put on a good show for the home folks.

How long the Republicans will hold to their convictions remains to be seen.

This bunch, who gave us Mitt Romney, the candidate who thought that Obama was a good guy, who is just in over his head, seems to suffer from the same indecisiveness as Romney’s Campaign.

They can’t seem to figure out whether to stand and fight against Obama’s tax increases, go back into negotiations, or, just drop their guns and run.

(By the way…is anybody out there interested in two WW II French Army Rifles? Dropped once. Never shot.)

The question remains…are the Republicans going to be Spartans? Or, Vichy French?

Until He comes,

KJ

BenghaziGate: The “I’m Rubber, You’re Glue” Defense

On By kingsjesterIn Politics1 Comment

The latest “But…but…they did it ,too!” Defensive Strategy from the Democrats,  concerning the unabashed lies told by this Administration and its spokesperson, Susan Rice, regarding the murder of 4 brave Americans on 9/11/12, on the ground of the American Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, is an attempt to President George W. Bush’s claiming that there were WMDs in Iraq with the Obama Administration’s numerous bald-faced lies blaming an un-watched Youtube video for the Middle Eastern Riots on 9/11/12.

The Democrats’ claim doesn’t hold water.

From the New York Post:

There were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq after all.

The massive cache of almost 400,000 Iraq war documents released by the WikiLeaks Web site revealed that small amounts of chemical weapons were found in Iraq and continued to surface for years after the 2003 US invasion, Wired magazine reported.

The documents showed that US troops continued to find chemical weapons and labs for years after the invasion, including remnants of Saddam Hussein’s chemical weapons arsenal — most of which had been destroyed following the Gulf War.

In August 2004, American troops were able to buy containers from locals of what they thought was liquid sulfur mustard, a blister agent, the documents revealed. The chemicals were triple-sealed and taken to a secure site.

Also in 2004, troops discovered a chemical lab in a house in Fallujah during a battle with insurgents. A chemical cache was also found in the city.

Regarding BenghaziGate, Susan Rice had a lot to say yesterday, in her meeting with Senators McCain, Graham, and Ayotte. It was a meeting that did nothing by leave the Senators feeling more uncomfortable about the quadruple murder at the Consulate, than when they began the meeting.

Susan E. Rice may have hoped that paying a conciliatory call on three hostile Senate Republicans on Tuesday would smooth over a festering dispute about the deadly attack on the American diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, and clear a roadblock to her nomination as secretary of state.

“If you think these three Senators walked in with open minds and no agenda, I’d like to sell you a bridge that crosses the East River into Brooklyn. McCain’s little kangaroo court is about as transparent as his anger.”

But the senators seemed anything but mollified, signaling instead that they would still oppose Ms. Rice, the ambassador to the United Nations, if she is nominated by President Obama, even after she conceded errors in the account of the assault she gave on Sunday morning television programs shortly after it occurred in September.

Two of the Republicans, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, said they would seek to block Ms. Rice, who according to administration officials remains Mr. Obama’s preferred choice to succeed Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. The third Republican, Senator John McCain of Arizona, said on Fox that he would be “very hard-pressed” to support Ms. Rice.

“Bottom line, I’m more disturbed than I was before,” Mr. Graham said after the tense, closed-door meeting.

The continued criticism of Ms. Rice, 48, a diplomat with close ties to Mr. Obama, deepens an already bitter and unusually personal feud between the White House and Republicans over Libya. Responding to a question about criticism of Ms. Rice at a news conference two weeks ago, Mr. Obama said, “If Senator McCain and Senator Graham and others want to go after somebody, they should go after me.”

It also raises the prospect of a confirmation battle if the president goes ahead with nominating Ms. Rice. To some extent, that battle is already under way, even before he has submitted her name. Ms. Rice’s visits to senators, which will continue Wednesday, bear all the hallmarks of a presidential nominee seeking to win over reluctant lawmakers.

A senior administration official said the harsh reaction to Ms. Rice’s appearance on Tuesday would have no effect on her chances for secretary of state. “They’ve been saying the same thing for months,” he said.

Senator John Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts and the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, is the other leading candidate for the post. Several senators, including Mr. McCain, said they would prefer Mr. Kerry and predicted that he would sail through a confirmation hearing.

In a statement after the meeting, Ms. Rice said she incorrectly described the attack in Benghazi, which killed Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans, as a spontaneous protest gone awry rather than a premeditated terrorist attack. But she said she based her remarks on the intelligence then available — intelligence that changed over time.

That’s called “lying”, ma’am.

Those Senators should not rest until they find out who issued the “Stand Down” order on that fateful night, leading to the murders of those brave Americans.

As Americans, we must not relent in seeking the truth in this rapidly evolving scandal.

No matter how many revisions to their initial lie-filled explanation of the attack that they offer.

President Harry S. Truman had a sign on his desk in the Oval Office that said, “The Buck Stops here.”

I firmly believe that President Barack Hussein Obama has one on his desk that says, “It’s Not My Fault.”

Washington’s “Revenue” = Our Money

On By kingsjesterIn Politics3 Comments

20 years ago, members of Congress signed the following pledge from the Americans for Tax Reform:

I, _______________, pledge to the taxpayers of the _____ district of the state of__________, and to the American people that I will:

ONE, oppose any and all efforts to increase the marginal income tax rates for individuals and/or businesses; and

TWO, oppose any net reduction or elimination of deductions and credits, unless matched dollar for dollar by further reducing tax rates.

Evidently, Obama’s promises aren’t the only ones that come with expiration dates.

Foxnews.com reports

New York Rep. Peter King and Sen. Lindsey Graham said Sunday they would break the pledge and accept tax changes to generate more revenue to curb the trillion-dollar federal deficit.

Their statements followed a similar one Thursday by Georgia Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss.

“I agree entirely with Saxby Chambliss,” King said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “A pledge you signed 20 years ago, 18 years ago, is for that Congress. … The world has changed, and the economic situation is different.”

The New York congressman said he was opposed to tax increases but that “everything should be on the table” when President Obama, House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid try to broker a deal.

“I’m not going to prejudge it, and I’m just saying we should not be taking ironclad positions,” King added. “I have faith that John Boehner can put together a good package.”

Should Congress and the White House fail to reach an agreement, a $500 billion mix of federal cuts and unrelated tax increases would kick in January 2 — the result of lawmakers failing to reach a more measure approached to cutting the deficit and keeping the country from going over the so-called “fiscal cliff.”

The across-the-board cuts to the federal budget would equal more than $1 trillion over the next 10 years.

Graham has suggested earlier that he would be open to changes in taxes but repeated Sunday only if Democrats are willing to cut federal spending by scaling back entitlement programs like Medicare and Social Security.

“I will violate the pledge, long story short, for the good of the country, only if Democrats will do entitlement reform,” he said on ABC’s “This Week.”

He also said the only pledge that should be made when the country is trillions in debt is to “avoid becoming Greece.”

“Republicans should put revenue on the table,” he continued. “We don’t generate enough revenue.”

However, Graham said he agrees with pledge champion Grover Norquist that tax rates should not be increases and instead suggested generating revenue through capping tax deductions.

Indiana Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin, on the same show, acknowledged that his party needs to “bring entitlement reform into the conversation.”

When Politicians like Lindsey Graham use the word “revenue”, it positively chaps my hindquarters.

It’s not “revenue”, Sen. Graham! It is Americans’ hard-earned wages ,which you want to tax the stew out of, in order to continue to fund the out-of-control leviathan known as the United States Federal Government.

The  term “fiscal cliff” refers to

A combination of expiring tax cuts and across-the-board government spending cuts scheduled to become effective Dec. 31, 2012. The idea behind the fiscal cliff was that if the federal government allowed these two events to proceed as planned, they would have a detrimental effect on an already shaky economy, perhaps sending it back into an official recession as it cut household incomes, increased unemployment rates and undermined consumer and investor confidence. At the same time, it was predicted that going over the fiscal cliff would significantly reduce the federal budget deficit.

Grover Norquist, the head of Americans for Tax Reform, summarizes the situation thusly:

Obama’s present demand is that the top two marginal tax rates be increased to 39.6 percent plus the 3.8 percent Obamacare tax surcharge for a top rate of 43.4 percent. The death tax would also jump back to 55 percent, capital gains tax would jump from 15 percent to 23.8 percent, and the tax on dividends would increase from 15 percent to 39.6 percent.

Speaker John Boehner is calling for extending all of the Bush tax cuts for all income groups.

Boehner notes that there are 11 million businesses that pay taxes at the individual level. Obama, on the other hand, is demanding that more than half of small business income be taxed at 43.4 percent rather than today’s 35 percent. This would be a body blow to job creation.

If Obama follows through on his threat and refuses to extend the Bush tax cuts, then there would be an automatic $500 billion tax increase beginning January 1, 2013, that would total $5 trillion over the decade.

…Here’s the thing

Now Obama is trying to conflate these two issues: the automatic tax hike that takes place unless the present rates are not extended as they were two years ago and the automatic spending cuts. They are of course very different. The tax hikes would hurt the economy. The spending cuts would reduce the Obama debt machine and strengthen the economy.

So far, both House Speaker Boehner and Senate Republican Mitch McConnell have both said they would not support any increase in marginal tax rates. They have said they are open to more revenues from economic growth. One fear is that taxes could be raised by limiting tax deductions for home mortgages, health insurance, charitable giving and state and local taxes to raise a great deal of money from taxpayers without technically increasing marginal tax rates.

This would be a bad idea one, because those tax hikes would be instead of spending restraint and second, because reducing deductions now in order to spend more money makes tax reform much more difficult later.

Some had hoped that President Obama would focus on job creation and back off his high tax/stimulus spending agenda that has so damaged the economy. It does appear that four years of failure have taught him nothing.

Obama has not put on the table any specific entitlement reforms and is demanding a total of $1.6 trillion in tax hikes. He is all tax hikes and no spending restraint. Nothing has changed in four years.

Obama, and every politician who decides to jump on his socialist bandwagon and raise taxes during the horrible economic conditions the American Taxpaxers are facing, are playing fast and loose with Americans’ money.

In the business world, that is called poor investing at best, and a con game at worst.

I tell you what, Sen. Graham. Why don’t you and the rest of Hussein Obama’s 40 thieves fix your own fiscal house first, and tighten your own belts, before you force hard-working Americans to pay more taxes to keep you all in the lifestyle to which you have become accustomed.

It’s called being a “good steward” and a “public servant”.

Terms you folks up on Capital Hill seem to have forgotten in the past 20 years, since you signed that pledge.

Until He comes,

KJ

The GOP and Social Conservatives: A Party Divided

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics3 Comments

Now that the Presidential Election is over with, and the GOP Establishment’s hand-picked Candidate, the man who could not lose, Mitt Romney, lost, guess what segment of the Republican Party is being blamed for the loss?

You guessed it…Social Conservatives, i.e., Christians.

Back in February, when Republican Candidate Rick Santorum was being blasted for his Christian views, Rush Limbaugh said the following…

The Republican establishment, for the most part, if they could, would simply excommunicate every social conservative Republican they could find. They’d kick ’em out of the party, and they would gag ’em. They’d find a way to make sure they couldn’t speak. That’s how much they hate ’em, detest ’em, are embarrassed by them. And it’s based on one thing, primarily. It’s based on the fact that these establishment Republicans and others who don’t like the social conservatives are primarily, singularly worried about what people are going to think of them for being in the same party with the social conservatives. It really is no more complicated than that. I mean there are other things. They think social conservatives lose elections. They think social conservatives make the whole Republican Party a big target, like what’s going on now, this contraception business.

Paul Jesep, an attorney, policy analyst, and author of Lost Sense of Self & the Ethics Crisis: Learn to Live and Work Ethically, wrote the following in an article posted on allvoices.com

It’s been said Rockefeller Republicanism is almost dead, if not dead. Only a few GOP moderates are in Congress and seem to be only tolerated by social conservative colleagues. Yet it is equally true Goldwater conservatism has been pushed aside for an evangelical fundamentalism attempting to use government and a political party to legislate God, religion, and morality. This is a far cry from what had been Republicanism. Ironically, it’s what social conservatives purport to disdain the most – activism falsely packaged as limited government.

Today’s GOP social conservatives lament their liberty is threatened when someone else is empowered with personal rights with which they disagree and though they are not impacted. It’s an odd argument coming from a group who fears government, yet seeks to use it to define values and personal responsibility for others.

If Republicans truly want to engage in genuine soul-searching to rebuild their shattered party, then they should start with a history lesson. At one time they championed the separation of church and state to protect religion. In the past, respect and good stewardship of the land was considered conservative. And Republican, conservative, and moderate had nothing to do with God. Until this generation of Republicans learn their own history, reform of the GOP seems futile.

In other words, Mr. Jesep believes that the GOP has to become the Democratic Party II, in order to compete for the hearts and minds of Americans.

Eric Erickson wrote in an article on redstate.com on November 9th,

What’s really going on here is that the people who voted Republican, but who disagree with pro-lifers and defenders of marriage, have decided it must be those issues. They can’t see how what happened actually happened unless it happened because the issues on which they disagree with the base played a role.

This is a psychological avoidance of larger issues and does not stack up to the data.

Mitt Romney won about a quarter of the hispanic vote and a tenth of the black vote.

Those numbers may not sound like much, but in close elections they matter.

A sizable portion of those black and hispanic voters voted GOP despite disagreeing with the GOP on fiscal issues. But they are strongly social conservative and could not vote for the party of killing kids and gay marriage. So they voted GOP.

You throw out the social conservatives and you throw out those hispanic and black voters. Further, you make it harder to attract new hispanic voters who happen to be the most socially conservative voters in the country.

Next, you’ll also see a reduction of probably half the existing GOP base. You won’t make that up with Democrats who suddenly think that because their uterus is safe they can now vote Republican. Most of those people don’t like fiscal conservatism either — often though claiming that they do.

If you really need to think through this, consider MItt Romney. He is perhaps the shiftiest person to ever run for President of the United States. He shifted his position on virtually every position except Romneycare. Of all the politicians to ever run for office, he’d be the one most likely to come out and, after the Republican convention, decide he’d changed his mind. He’d be okay with abortion and okay with gay marriage.

Had he done that, he’d have even less votes.

So, the reality is, once you travel outside the Northeast corridor, home to all the Liberal and Moderate Political Pundits, there are actually living, breathing, thinking Conservative American Christians, who still call this sacred land our home.

By the way…

Did you know that more than 1.2 million meals have been served to victims of Hurricane Sandy by Southern Baptist Disaster Relief (SBDR) volunteers since the storm hit?

In all, over 1,200 SBDR volunteers from 34 states and Canada have responded to provide disaster relief following the superstorm that ravaged the East Coast, the North American Mission Board (NAMB) reports in a disaster relief update on its website. These volunteers have also reported that 56 people have made professions of faith in Jesus Christ as a result of the organization’s work.

I just threw that in, because I did not read anywhere about the Freedom From Religion Foundation doing any relief work with the victims of Hurricane Sandy.

But, that’s an analysis for another time…

If the GOP turns its back on Reagan (Social) Conservatives, they will not win another election…period. 

Conservative Ideology did not lose this presidential election.

Poor communication of it, did.

Until He comes, 

KJ

Morsi: Obama Version 2.0?

On By kingsjesterIn Politics2 Comments

Last Wednesday, the President of these United States, Barack Hussein Obama, let the world know his feelings concerning the ruler of Egypt:

President Barack Obama on Wednesday spoke with Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, praising his efforts to help broker a ceasefire in the conflict flaring in the Middle East, the White House said.

Under the Egyptian-brokered agreement, Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire after more than a week of fighting in the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 140 Palestinians and five Israelis. (Reuters)

Unfortunately for Morsi, his own countrymen don’t feel the same way about him.

The Jerusalem Post Reports

Protesters stormed the headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood’s party in Alexandria on Friday, throwing chairs and books into the street and setting them alight, after the Egyptian president granted himself sweeping new powers.

Supporters of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi and opponents also threw stones at each other near a mosque in the city, Egypt’s second largest, a witness said.

Two cars had glass smashed as the clashes moved away from the area.

In Port Said, another port on the Mediterranean, hundreds of protesters gathered outside the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice party headquarters and pelted it with rocks. Some tried to storm it but did not enter, another witness said.

In Cairo, thousands demonstrated against the decree issued on Wednesday night.

Morsi’s decree exempting all his decisions from legal challenge until a new parliament was elected caused fury amongst his opponents on Friday who accused him of being the new Hosni Mubarak and hijacking the revolution.

Morsi’s aides said the decree was to speed up a protracted transition that has been hindered by legal obstacles but Morsi’s rivals were quick to condemn him as a new autocratic pharaoh who wanted to impose his Islamist vision on Egypt.

“Morsi a ‘temporary’ dictator,” was the headline in the independent daily Al-Masry Al-Youm and hundreds of protesters in Tahrir Square, the heart of the 2011 anti-Mubarak uprising, demanded Morsi quit, accusing him of launching a “coup”.

Buoyed by accolades from around the world for mediating a truce between Hamas and Israel, Morsi on Thursday ordered that an Islamist-dominated assembly writing the new constitution could not be dissolved by legal challenges.

Morsi, an Islamist whose roots are in the Muslim Brotherhood party, also gave himself sweeping powers that allowed him to sack the unpopular general prosecutor and opened the door for a retrial for Mubarak and his aides.

The president’s decree aimed to end the logjam and push Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous nation, more quickly on its democratic path, the presidential spokesman said.

“President Morsi said we must go out of the bottleneck without breaking the bottle,” Yasser Ali told Reuters.

The president said any decrees he issued while no parliament sat could not be challenged, moves that consolidated his powers but look set to polarize Egypt further, threatening more turbulence in a nation at the heart of the Arab Spring.

“The people want to bring down the regime,” shouted protesters in Tahrir, echoing one of the chants that was used in the uprising that forced Mubarak to step down.

So, who is this Mohammed Morsi, anyway? According to The Times of Israel:

The bespectacled and bearded Morsi squeaked to victory in the freest election in Egypt’s history, and now the 60-year-old university professor must prove his mettle by standing up to the ruling generals who in recent days have stripped the presidency of real power.

For 35 years, Morsi obediently followed the Muslim Brotherhood’s strict rules, abiding by the principle of unquestioned obedience to its supreme leader — a position that changed hands five times during that period and currently is held by Mohammed Badei.

Morsi has dutifully mirrored the group’s strategy of couching a hardline doctrine with short-term pragmatism. In an example that looms large now that he has been elected, Morsi is anti-Israel but he does not call for annulling Egypt’s 1979 peace treaty.

His history makes clear he will not be the comfortable interlocutor for Israel that Mubarak was. His first active role in the Brotherhood was through membership in an “anti-Zionist” committee in his Nile Delta province of Sharkiya in late 1980s, promoting rejection of normalization with the Jewish state. Brotherhood officials have said he will not meet with Israelis, but also will not prevent other officials from doing so.

Morsi helped build the Brotherhood constituencies in Nile Delta provinces at a time the group’s meetings were held in secret, away from the eyes of security forces that waged crackdowns and sent thousands to prison for “belonging to prohibited group” during Mubarak’s three-decade rule. To this day, the 84-year-old organization relies on a disciplined network of cadres backing a leadership whose strategies are formulated behind closed doors.

Unlike other group members who spent years in prison, Morsi was only detained for eight months in 2008 along with 800 Brotherhood members for showing solidarity with independent judges. He was also rounded up along with 34 other Brotherhood members in the first few days of the 2011 uprising. He says he fled the prison with the help of people who helped demolish its walls.

Morsi, who served in the parliament, is said to have never been the ideas man in the Brotherhood. Instead, he served as an implementer of policy. Critics say Morsi is solidly part of the hard-line wing of the Brotherhood that has shown little of the flexibility or willingness to compromise. Throughout his rise in the group, Morsi has been closest to the two figures who are now the Brotherhood’s powerful deputy leaders, Mahmoud Ezzat and Khairat el-Shater.

“Morsi has no talents but he is faithful and obedient to the group’s leaders, who see themselves as above the other Muslims,” said Abdel-Sattar el-Meligi, a former senior Brotherhood figure who broke with the group, particularly because of el-Shater’s grip on the organization. “Morsi would play any role the leaders assign him to, but with no creativity and no uniqueness.”

As a result of this reputation, Egyptians widely assume Morsi’s presidency will be unofficially subordinate to the Brotherhood’s strongman and chief strategist, el-Shater, who was the group’s first choice for pesident. But he was disqualified by election authorities because of his prison conviction during the Mubarak regime. Morsi served only as a backup candidate, earning him the unflattering nickname, “Spare Tire.”

So, basically the Egyptian people are upset that the fella that they elected to be in charge of their nation, who promised them “Hope and Change”, turned out to be a lightweight, is now in the process of passing executive orders and taking all of their freedoms away, and has become a despot.

No wonder Obama likes him.

Until He comes,

KJ

2016: A Reagan Conservative Wins!

On By kingsjesterIn Politics4 Comments

Everyone on the Republican side seems to be pointing fingers at each other, in the wake of Mitt Romney’s loss on November 6th.

According to the GOP Establishment, who has been responsible for pushing through the nominations of our last two candidates, both Establishment Republicans, who were Moderate, at best, the candidates failed because they did not espouse the same ideals as the Democratic Party.

You know, like being pro-abortion, (It’s a baby, not a choice.) being pro-Gay Marriage, ( I now pronounce you man…and…err..ahhh…aww, forget it.) being pro-amnesty, (I don’t care if you buy their votes, boys. They’re still going to vote Democratic.) and minimize (eliminate) “SoCons’ ” (Reagan Conservatives’) role in the Party.  (Yeah. That worked so well this time, didn’t it?)

Now, I swallowed hard on November 6th and voted for the creator of RomneyCare, Mitt Romney, the Godfather of Obamacare, because he seems to be a good man, and the rear end of Caligula’s Horse would be better than the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

However, before we get closer to 2016. I have a novel idea: Let’s nominate a Reagan Conservative!

As shown in 2010, the Conservative Base is still alive and well, and will turn out to vote, if the candidate shares their values system.

Americans want somebody who does not question whether the Constitution is relevant or not.

Americans want a candidate who cares more about America’s safety than about negotiating with those who want to murder us, or about placating the United Nations.

They want a candidate who actually gives a hoot ‘n holler that 20% of Americans are unemployed or have just given up…someone who cares that 20% of our nation has to rely on the Federal Government to feed their families.

Americans want a candidate who is not ashamed to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance…including the words One Nation UNDER GOD…Indivisible.

They want a candidate who loves and honors, as much as we do, our fighting men and women, who make our freedom possible.

Americans want a candidate who will fight for the rights of every American…including the unborn.

And, they want a candidate who will stand toe-to-toe with his/her opponent, and fight…for them.

In fact, Americans want someone who can speak like this:

I don’t believe the people I’ve met in almost every State of this Union are ready to consign this, the last island of freedom, to the dust bin of history, along with the bones of dead civilizations of the past. Call it mysticism, if you will, but I believe God had a divine purpose in placing this land between the two great oceans to be found by those who had a special love of freedom and the courage to leave the countries of their birth. From our forefathers to our modern-day immigrants, we’ve come from every corner of the earth, from every race and every ethnic background, and we’ve become a new breed in the world. We’re Americans and we have a rendezvous with destiny. We spread across this land, building farms and towns and cities, and we did it without any federal land planning program or urban renewal.

Indeed, we gave birth to an entirely new concept in man’s relation to man. We created government as our servant, beholden to us and possessing no powers except those voluntarily granted to it by us. Now a self-anointed elite in our nation’s capital would have us believe we are incapable of guiding our own destiny. They practice government by mystery, telling us it’s too complex for our understanding. Believing this, they assume we might panic if we were to be told the truth about our problems.

Why should we become frightened? No people who have ever lived on this earth have fought harder, paid a higher price for freedom, or done more to advance the dignity of man than the living Americans the Americans living in this land today. There isn’t any problem we can’t solve if government will give us the facts. Tell us what needs to be done. Then, get out of the way and let us have at it.

And like this…

If I could just take a moment- I had an assignment the other day. Someone asked me to write a letter for a time capsule that is going to be opened in Los Angeles a hundred years from now, on our Tricentennial. It sounded like an easy assignment; they suggested I write something about the problems and issues of the day, and I set out to do so, riding down the coast in an automobile, looking at the blue Pacific out on one side and the Santa Ynez Mountains on the other, and I couldn’t help but wonder if it was going to be that beautiful a hundred years from now, as it was on that summer day. And then, as I tried to write, let your own minds turn to that task. You’re going to write for people a hundred years from now, who know all about us; we know nothing about them, we don’t know what kind of a world they’ll be living in. And suddenly I thought to myself, if I write of the problems, they’ll be the domestic problems, which the president spoke here tonight, the challenges confronting us, the erosion of freedom that has taken place under Democrat rule in this country. The invasion of private rights. The controls and restrictions on the vitality of the great free economy that we enjoy. These are our challenges that we must meet. And then again there is that challenge, which he spoke, that we live in a world in which the great powers have poised and aimed at each other horrible missiles of destruction, nuclear weapons that can in a matter of minutes arrive in each other’s country and destroy virtually the civilized world we live in.

And suddenly it dawned on me: Those who would read this letter a hundred years from now will know whether those missiles were fired. They will know whether we met our challenge. Whether they have the freedom that we have known up until now, will depend on what we do here. Will they look back in appreciation and say thank God, for those people in 1976 who headed off that loss of freedom, who kept us now a hundred years later free, who kept our world from nuclear destruction, and if we fail, they probably won’t get to read the letter at all because it spoke of individual freedom and they won’t be allowed to talk of that or read of it.

This is our challenge. And this is why here in this hall tonight, better than we’ve ever done before, we’ve gotta quit talking to each other and about each other and go out and communicate to the world, that we may be fewer in numbers than we’ve ever been, but we carry the message they’re waiting for. We must go forth from here united, determined, and what a great general said a few years ago is true: There is no substitute for victory. Mr. President” (applause, cheering) …

 Indeed.

Or, the Republican Party could nominate a Moderate again…and practice the definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again hoping that it will turn out different this time.

…Let’s not…and say we did.

Until He comes,

KJ

 

Give Thanks With a Grateful Heart

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics7 Comments

When upon life’s billows you are tempest-tossed,

When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,

Count your many blessings, name them one by one,

And, it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

I cannot tell you how many times in 30 years of singing in choirs, that I have sung that wonderful old hymn.

As I’ve gotten…older, the truth of those wonderful words, has hit home, this year, more than ever.

Yes, I did my share of whining and crying after the Presidential Election, but, then, I realized, God is in control.

I am still His and He is mine.

I still have my wonderful Bride, my children, my grandson, my loving sister and her family, and all my friends, who are my extended family.

Plus, since June of this year,  I have a wonderful new job. I am blessed beyond measure.

I said to myself, self…this would be a wonderful time to, once again, give my testimony of how a 53 year old, working at a Government Internship to try to help ends meet, became a Vice-President of Marketing, literally overnight, through the Grace and Mercy of God.

As we all know… (originally posted 6/9/2012)

Obama’s feckless Economic Plan has done about as much good for our country as a screen door on a submarine.

I know.  I was one of those affected by it.

Beginning in January of 2009, I attempted to sell Health Insurance, first with AFLAC, then as an agent with an Independent Broker.

I gave it my best shot, battling against Obama’s war on the American Healthcare System.  However, as I soon found out, creditors don’t take promises as collateral.

Desperate to try to bring some money into the household, a good friend of mine told me about an opportunity for a technology internship, working with a quasi-governmental non-profit agency that came in from Canada to work with the schools after Hurricane Katrina.

At the age of 52, I became the world’s oldest intern.

I began with them in January of 2011, working at a local school for 30 hours a week and the local branch of the state Employment Office for the remaining 10 hours each week.

It was a good experience.  The Lord taught me humility, while allowing me to catch up with technology, such as Skype and interactive whiteboards.  I also had the opportunity to work with some great professionals, and some great young interns.

While at the Employment Office, I was able to observe folks down on their luck, struggling to find work and survive in this economy.

I also saw American families whose existance living on the Government Dole, had become generational.

It is these people whom Obama and the Democrats have hypnotized into believing that Uncle Sugar loves them, and is their only solution to surviving a stifling existence.

They are so, so wrong.

The strength and vitality of America does not come from the benevolence of a Nanny-state Federal Government.

As the greatest American President of our lifetime, Ronald Reagan said:

The nine words you never want to hear are:  I’m from the Government and I’m here to help.

Being enslaved to the Government Dole steals one’s ambition.  It takes away any impetus or desire to create a better life for yourself and your family, to challenge yourself to pick yourself up by your bootstraps and pursue the American Dream.  It makes you reliant on a politically-motivated spider’s web full of government bureaucrats who view you and your family as job security.

I watched American citizens trapped in this web of government bureaucracy,  so numbed of any initiative that they once had, that they seemed offended that they actually had to prove that they inquired about three jobs that week in order to keep their “benefits”.  Others seemed puzzled that they had to search through the state data base and pick out a job that they wanted to talk to an interviewer about receiving a referral to, and weren’t just simply handed a job when they walked through the door.

My last day as an intern was yesterday.  This Monday, I begin an new adventure.  Thanks to another very good friend, I was given the opportunity to interview for a position at a 100 person, 5-company corporation.

Last Saturday, my friend called me with the good news:  I got the job!

The title:  Vice-President of Marketing.

I’ll be doing some Internet Marketing, including Blogging and Tweeting, writing press releases and newsletters, attending Chamber of Commerce Meetings, and, of course, other duties as assigned.

It wasn’t Uncle Sugar/the Obama Administration that gave me this job.  

It was a God thing and I hope you understand.

Epilogue:  Now, don’t be mistaken, we are  still struggling paycheck-to-paycheck, to get out of the debts we accrued, during my period of unemployment and underemployment. 

But, with the help and encouragement of family and friends, and the Grace of God, I know we’ll male it.

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Romans 8:31 (ESV)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Until He comes,

KJ

“By the Content of His Character”

On By kingsjesterIn Politics2 Comments

MSNBC…you know, the Cable Network that airs propaganda as news?

Well, it turns out that they did not air one negative story about President Barack Hussein Obama (mm mmm mmmm) for one week before the November 6th Presidential Election.

I’m shocked. Shocked I tell you.

And what’s more, according to Richard Wolfee, VP and Executive Editor of that pitiful excuse for a cable news channel, all those ugly Republicans are nothing but a bunch of RAAACISTS!!! 

There is the question about John Kerry, but I think now that John McCain has sunk his teeth in, he’s made it about presidential authority, and, frankly, it’s outrageous that there is this witch hunt going on the right about these people of color, let’s face it, around this president. Eric Holder, Valerie Jarrett, now Susan Rice. Before it was Van Jones. This is not about who is hawkish in the same way John McCain is about foreign policy because if you look at Iran and Libya, Susan Rice checks those boxes. This is a personal vendetta.

This isn’t the first time this Liberal Idiot (but, I repeat myself) has cried RAACIIIST! over criticism of his messiah. Back on August 31st, he said

The interesting question is: What is it about this president that has stripped away the veneer of respect that normally accompanies the Office of the President? Why do Republicans think this president is unpresidential and should dare to request this kind of thing? It strikes me that it could be the economic times, it could be that he won so big in 2008 or it could be, let’s face it, the color of his skin. This is an extraordinary reaction to a normal sequence of events.

About that “veneer of respect”, Dickie…Obama has not earned any. Americans still respect the office, but not the occupier.

Just like you and your ilk “respected” George W. Bush.

Right after Obama’s 2010 State of the Union Address, Keith Olbermann, while still employed by MSNBC, attacked critics of the Lightbringer as, you guessed it, RAAACIIIST!!!

…But our winners, these guys, assessing not the speech but the president himself. Eric Erickson, “cocky”; John Stossel said he hoped the president would admit he was, quote, arrogant. Jay Nordlinger, “looks arrogant whether he is arrogant or not”; Mark Thiessen, “defensive, arrogant”; John Hood, “flippant” and “arrogant.” Glenn Beck, “like a punk.”

Here’s a little secret: gathering sadly from witnessing it my whole life even from some in my own family, when racist white guys get together and they don’t want to be caught using any of the popular epithets that are in use every day in this country about black people, there’s a chance one of them or worse still a white guy who doesn’t get it, might wander in and hear the conversation. When there’s a risk even in saying uppity or forgetting his place, the racist white guys revert to euphemisms and code words and among the code word that they think they’re getting away with are “cocky, flippant, punk, and especially arrogant.”

On July 18th, during the heart of the campaign, Breitbart.com’s John Nolte wrote the following

…By screaming racism (which is what “birther” really means) and claiming perfectly valid criticism of Obama is “dangerous,” this is how the media protects Obama from effective criticism and spins that criticism around into an attack against Republicans.

In 2008, using this partisan tactic, the media was able to intimidate and cow John McCain into submission. In fact, when Sarah Palin started hitting Obama for his relationship with domestic terrorist Bill Ayers, out of whole cloth the media made up the charge that someone at a Palin rally screamed, “Kill him!,” in reference to Obama.

You see, this is how the corrupt media attempts to snuff out criticism Obama can’t weather. If they can’t call the criticism racist they call it dangerous. And if they have to, the media will simply create a narrative based on what they know is a lie.

The corrupt media refuses to vet Obama, because they know that if they did, he would lose. This means that they must also stop Republicans from discussing Obama’s past by any means necessary. And this includes bullying Obama’s critics by declaring their criticism “racist” and “dangerous.”

Here’s the thing: Until the Replicans grow some…errr…intestinal fortitude and start calling a sp…err…a liar, a liar, Liberal Idiots like MSNBC and the rest of the MSM will be able to get away with the fallacious defense of racism in covering up the biggest lightweight to ascend to the Presidency of the United States of America since Jimmy Carter.

On August 28, 1963,  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, in which he said,

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

Unfortunately, sir, we are not there, yet. If we were, Mitt Romney would be the President-elect.

Until He comes,

KJ