Tag: President Barack Hussein Obama

Preparing For a Political Tsunami (A KJ Op Ed)

On By kingsjesterIn PoliticsLeave a comment

AFBrancoObamaISIS922014It must stink on ice right now to be a ardent supporter of President Barack Hussein Obama.

How can you defend the man with a straight face?

His popularity poll numbers are in the tank, and he really does seem to be semi-retired on the job.

For the Liberals, their now-fallen “messiah”, who started out with such great promise, and who was going to radically change this nation from a greedy capitalistic country to a socialist utopia, has proven to be nothing but an miserable failure.

Yes, he made a lot of promises, and he actually did get some of his agenda “accomplished” during these past 7 years, including funding abortions around the world, having Congress fund a stimulus package to all of his Democratic cronies, and, of course, having a democratically – led Congress pass the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare, in the dark of night, against the wishes of the American people .

Unfortunately, domestically, that is not all Obama has “accomplished”.

Obama has succeeded in driving a racial wedge between the people of this country, by using the time – worn tactics of Karl Marx and Saul Alinsky, early on in his presidency he turned up the rhetoric of class warfare and social injustice. Through the slavishness of the sycophantic Main Stream Media, Obama used this divisive rhetoric to increase his street cred among black Americans for his first six and one-half years in office, providing himself with a strong voting base who would stand by his side no matter what.

Obama used the power of the Federal Government and the tax money of average Americans to increase LBJ’s Great Society to epic proportions.

“Baracky Claus” increased the number of those Americans who are on food stamps to one sixth of our nation’s population, while simultaneously increasing the number of Americans who have dropped out of our workforce entirely to 92,600,000.

Which,  if you think about it, is exactly what happened in the old Soviet Union.

Instead of everyone having a piece of the pie, as Marx promised, in that Communist country,  the huge central government had all the wealth and power along with their cronies in the Bourgeois,  while the poor working citizens or Proletariat, just became poorer.

Sound familiar?

That is what is happening in the United States right now.

After almost 7 years of the Presidency of Barack Hussein Obama, the American Middle Class is dang near non-existent, while the federal government has grown by leaps and bounds and wealthy Democratic Donors, who are part of the one percent that Obama is always railing against,  are getting richer, while proclaiming to anyone who will listen, their deep concern for the plight of the American working class.

Culturally, Obama has had several accomplishments in this arena as well.

For example, Obama changed his mind about the hot topic of homosexual marriage. He changed from being against it to for it, and then, wholeheartedly supported activist judges on the state level in their overturning the votes of the people in each state who had banned homosexual marriage, publicly comparing it to the Civil Rights struggle of black Americans in the 1960’s .

Have I missed something? Have homosexual Americans been hung from trees, had hoses turned on them, and had dogs let loose on them by police officers and sheriff’s deputies?

President Barack Hussein Obama seems to be for equal rights for everyone… except Christian Americans.

Obama has had some “accomplishments” with his “Smart Power” Foreign Policy, as well.

Just look at the Middle East.

Through skillful negotiation, Obama was actually able to set the entire Middle East on fire, creating the world’s largest bonfire, which became known as Arab Spring.

Through this remarkable strategy, Moderate Muslim Dictators who actually would negotiate with us, were replaced by Radical Muslim Dictators, won’t give us the time of day.

And, our sworn enemies, the Mullahs of Iran, are on the verge of “gifting” the world with their very own nuclear bomb.

We are now reaping the benefits of this wonderful strategy, as his premature evacuation of Iraq has directly led to a radical Muslim terrorist group known as ISIS blazing a path of destruction straight toward Baghdad, dodging Obama’s war by remote control bombing patterns with ease.

Is it any wonder, that the journalists over in Great Britain dubbed Obama “President Pantywaist”, early on in his presidency?

With “accomplishments” like these, is it any wonder that his popularity poll numbers are dropping daily?

However, our ever-ambitious president has new “mountains to climb”.

Even as I write this, Obama and his administration are preparing Executive Orders to commence after the midterm elections are held in the next couple of weeks. Among those orders are rumored to be a blanket amnesty for illegal aliens and new legislation in support of the con game known as “climate control”.

These executive orders will be another fine “accomplishment” for the Obama administration.

Of course, I’m being facetious and sarcastic.

These things which I have dubbed “accomplishments” are not accomplishments at all, but mile markers on the path to America’s destruction, which Obama has let us on in the last 7 years.

The good news is, we have a chance in a couple weeks to throw up a roadblock on that path.

The 2014 Mid-Term Elections will provide Americans the opportunity to at least slow Obama down and to turn him into a two-year lame duck.

I firmly believe that Americans have started waking up, especially after seeing a a formerly-partisan crowd walk out this past weekend on Obama during a political rally speech in Maryland.

It is up to average Americans, like you and me, to say with a loud and clear voice,

No More!

This is our country and Obama and his minions are supposed to be our servants.

It is time to start firing some of them and get their attention.

Until He Comes,

KJ

From “Lightbringer” to “Leper”: Crowd at Political Rally Walks Out On Obama

On By kingsjesterIn PoliticsLeave a comment

Obama-Shrinks-2I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy, I mean, that’s a storybook, man. – Joe Biden, February 8, 2007

Do you remember when Barack Hussein Obama first burst onto the scene? It was during the 2004 Democratic National Convention. Here was this young Senator from the state of Illinois, who received the opportunity of a lifetime, to be one of the main speakers at the convention.

Meticulously prepared by his handlers,  when the young senator took the stage, you would have thought it was the second coming of Elvis.

George Soros, David Axelrod ,and all of the powers behind the scenes in the Democratic Party made sure that the Main Stream Media would trumpet the triumphant arrival of their next “Golden Boy”, a charismatic individual who would carry the Democrat Party on his back in their quest to reclaim the White House.

And sure enough, thanks to a propaganda campaign by the Main Stream Media and a Democrat ground game spearheaded by the illegal efforts of ACORN, America’s low information voters, desperately wanting to ride the wave of an event which they were told would be historic, the election of America’s first black president, elected instead, America’s first Anti-American president.

As our country quickly found out, we did not elect a world leader, we elected a community organizer.

Obama’s first term revealed who he was to the entire world. And everyone, except the 47% of Americans who worshiped Baracky Claus, because he gave them FREE STUFF, was not impressed.

President Barack Hussein Obama (mm mmm mmmm), rode into office on his second term, making a lot of bogus promises, which low information voters lapped up like a dog at a rain puddle.

Unfortunately for ol’ Scooter, since he was sworn in for this, his “Lame Duck” Term in office, things have not exactly gone his way.

Obama has been hit with bad news concerning scandal after scandal, from the targeting of Conservative Groups, to Hearings designed to get to the bottom of what happened at the Benghazi Embassy Compound,  being overseen by Congressional Conservative Firebrand Trey Gowdy, to the horrible mistreatment of our Brightest and Best at Veterans Administration Hospitals, a harbinger of the Obamacare “Death Panels” to come.

Unfortunately for our safety as nation, Obama’s Fantasyland view of the world, which is not unlike the old Coca Cola Advertisement where everyone had a Coke and a smile, set him up to be a disastrous failure at Foreign Policy.

A failure, which finds our enemies in Iran still working on a nuclear bomb and Russian Leader Vladimir Putin beginning the process of annexing surrounding countries and rebuilding the old Soviet Union, which was dissolved, thanks to the efforts of a real leader and American President, Ronald Reagan.

The President’s poor decisions, aloof manner, and waffling indecisiveness, while the White House Roof caves in on him, has not escaped the notice of a majority of Americans.

An attitude which has been especially noticeable, as Ebola, a disease which Obama claimed would never reach our shores, has reared its deadly head in our Heartland.

Is the “Storybook”, which Biden described,  ending?

Reuters.com reports that

President Barack Obama made a rare appearance on the campaign trail on Sunday with a rally to support the Democratic candidate for governor in Maryland, but early departures of crowd members while he spoke underscored his continuing unpopularity.

With approval levels hovering around record lows, Obama has spent most of his campaign-related efforts this year raising money for struggling Democrats, who risk losing control of the U.S. Senate in the Nov. 4 midterm election.

Most candidates from his party have been wary of appearing with him during their election races because of his sagging popularity.

Not so Lieutenant Governor Anthony Brown of Maryland, who is running for governor, and Governor Pat Quinn of Illinois, who is running for re-election. Obama plans to appear at an event for Quinn later in the evening.

“You’ve got to vote,” Obama repeated over and over at a rally for Brown in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, near Washington.

Democrats have a history of not turning up to vote in midterm elections.

“There are no excuses. The future is up to us,” Obama said.

A steady stream of people walked out of the auditorium while he spoke, however, and a heckler interrupted his remarks.

Obama’s help, or lack thereof, may not matter much to Brown, who is 11 points ahead of Republican opponent Larry Hogan, according to an average of polls by RealClearPolitics.

Quinn’s race is tighter. He is ahead of Republican opponent Bruce Rauner by 1.8 points, according to the RealClearPolitics average.

Obama is scheduled to spend the night at his Chicago home after the campaign event for Quinn.

Obama’s incompetency, accompanied by his undeserved arrogant aloofness, has finally started to hit home with even his most ardent supporters.

His dwindling cadre of supporters will continue to make excuses for Obama’s failures, but nobody’s buying it, here or abroad.  Obama has stubbornly set himself on his own flight path and, if the November Mid-Term Election is the Political Massacre it promises to be,  the next two years could very well be the longest kamikaze flight on record.

 One could possibly use the Peter Principle to describe the Manchurian President.

The Peter Principle is a theory that proposes that, as people rise in a hierarchy, they eventually rise to their level of incompetence.

However, that does not apply in the case of President Barack Hussein Obama.

He started out unvetted and incompetent.

Now, he’s become a disaster.

Until He Comes,

KJ

Memphis Mob Violence: Mayor And DOJ “Jail Not the Answer”

On By kingsjesterIn PoliticsLeave a comment

Memphis KrogerFlashMobEach new generation born is in effect an invasion of civilization by little barbarians, who must be civilized before it is too late. – Dr. Thomas Sowell

Friday Night Football. High School students, parents, and teachers rooting from thier team as they line up er stadium lights across the country.

Great memories, made to last a lifetime.

And now, the Administration of my hometown wants to end that tradition, in order to “protect the citizens” from teenage thugs who are beating the snot out of the very citizens he is supposed to be protecting.

Friday Night Football games could end for high schools in Memphis, because of an increase in youth mob violence.

Memphis Mayor A C Wharton has asked Superintendent Dorsey Hopson to look into the possibility of ending night games on Friday breaking one of the biggest fall traditions in the Mid-South.

“What I told him today that we would look at it, we certainly want to be good neighbors,” Hopson told WMC.

Hopson added that the problem isn’t what’s happening inside school stadiums where the games are played.

“We are not having incidents at the games. What’s happening is things are happening outside the games after the game issues,” Hopson shared with WMC.

There have been waves of violent attacks by youth in recent weeks, including an attack at a local Kroger store and a high school mob who attacked a mother’s car.

Hopson explained that he thinks poverty and other factors are contributing to the increase in students acting out. He also said that something needs to be done right away about the social conditions people are living under before a change in the behavior of the youth happens.

Congressman Steve Cohen announced Wednesday that more than $800,000 in federal dollars will be spent in the 9th district to fight youth behavior and prevent violence. A portion of the money will be used to target at-risk teenagers and help their families create violence prevention strategies. Anti-violence programs will also be established in schools within the area with the money.

What the heck ever happened to actually punishing these tugs for their crimes?

The Obama/Holder Department of Justice Guidelines happened, that’s what.

WREG.com reports the following…

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — US Attorney Edward Stanton III was in Memphis to talk about something that’s on everyone’s mind: youth violence.

He says court summons instead of jail time aren’t the cause of an uptick in violence, but admits the justice system needs to make serious changes.

“I want to be clear that Smart on Crime is not a hug-a-thug policy or program,” he said.

Stanton says it’s time for a change in the justice system because Memphis, and the rest of Shelby County can’t arrest their way out of violence. He argued mass incarceration has never made our streets safer.

“We need to understand that one size does not fit all. What we may have tried 15, 20 years ago or when I was a youth, those things may not be working,” he said.

Stanton says this is especially true with kids today. He says the Memphis streets he grew up on are much more dangerous, and kids are getting sucked into crime at a much younger age.

“We didn’t have to worry about drugs or gangs or bullets flying over our heads. I think what we are doing today is a great start,” he said.

He said Thursday’s Justice Reform Conference shows the community wants to help bring change to the streets. And he says this is exactly where change starts.

Stanton brushed off suggestions the Department of Justice mandate that gives most kids court summons instead of jail time is leading to more violent crime. He says this mandate protects kids from a potentially racially biased system.

“We want to be vigilant in holding individuals accountable but the constitution prevails and safeguards must be in place before doing those things,” he said.

These messages of community and coming together to tackle the problem are exactly what everyone else in leadership roles are saying, but Memphians have said time and again, enough with the talk, let’s see, some action.

My beloved hometown of Memphis, Tennessee has been gutted by decades of poor financial stewardship and corrupt Black Democratic Leadership, who never saw a dollar they couldn’t spend, or a relative or friend that they couldn’t give a job with the city to.

And now, Memphis’ chickens have come home… to roost…brought about by a failed school system which turned in its charter in a successful scheme to take over the more affluent county school system, only to see the county municipalities start their own individual systems, Memphis’ black citizens murdering each other every night, and gangs of black teenagers beatomg the snot out of innocent people, simply because they’re bored, they have no parental guidance, and they know, as “juvenile offenders”, that nothing will happen to them.

President Obama will not address Memphis’ problem.

And, Outgoing (Praise the Lord) Attorney General Eric Holder is noticeably silent as well as are the Justice Brothers, Revs. Jackson and Sharpton.

For, boys and girls, the harsh reality of an out-of-control populace of a Democratically-ran city, well on its way to becoming another Detroit, must be ignored at all costs…due to political correctness, political expediencies, and the Liberal naivete that these “misguided lren do not need to be punished for ‘acting out”. They need to be “affirmed”.

Because, for these self-serving Democrat Liberal Politicians, as President Barack Hussein Obama himself has conceded, it is not about those “Black Youth” who break the law, it’s about making up for “past transgressions” that America was supposed to have moved past, with the election of Barack Hussein Obama.

Under the presidency of “The Great Uniter”, America has become more divided.

Until He Comes,

KJ

America 2014: A Country In Need of A Leader [A KJ Op Ed]

On By kingsjesterIn PoliticsLeave a comment

WashingtonPrayingAs I was sitting at my computer this morning, trying desperately to come up with a subject to write about, I was overwhelmed.

In perusing the headlines on the Internet this morning, I was greeted by the following:

FEDS MUM ON PROSECUTION OF ILLEGALS

COMMUNISTS DAZZLE…

Record 92,269,000 Not in Labor Force; Participation Rate Matches 36-Year Low

UPDATE: RUSSIAN NUKE BOMBERS INTERCEPTED NEAR ALASKA…

Obama signs bill to train, arm, Syrian rebels against ISIS

474 Illegals from Terror-Linked Countries Apprehended in 2014…

UN: Ebola threatens global peace, security…

US troops heading into Africa — soon…

Doctors: ‘Irresponsible’…

Domestically, our nation is the most divided it has been since the turbulent 1960s, when the dream of a “New Camelot” ended and the Nanny State of “The Great Society” was born.

It was a time when American Heroes perished valiantly in a war that was improperly prosecuted and those who survived that nightmare returned to their home, only to be spit on and reviled as “baby killers”, by long-haired spoiled brats and academicians, who did not have a clue as to the real cost of their freedom.

Now, 50 years later, the same people who spit upon our heroes, are “radically changing” our beloved country.

And, they still don’t have a clue.

Our Foreign Affairs Strategy, as I wrote on Thursday, is reminiscent of the story of three blind men describing an elephant.

It all stems from the fact that you have the self-proclaimed “Smartest People in the Room” attempting to practice American Diplomacy as if they were organizing a “Sit-In” in the office of the President of their University.

And, when it comes to dealing with those who view our nation as “The Great Satan”, those who have sworn their life to “killing all the infidels” by means of a “Holy War”, in the “Name of the Prophet”, our nation’s Administration believes that they can sit down with these toilet paper-less Muslim Barbarians, like one would sit down with a British Diplomat and have a cup of tea.

As I have remarked, before, America has gone from “Ronnie Gay-gun” to “Steve Urkel”.

So much so, that, shortly after President Barack Hussein Obama ascended to the Throne of the Regime, British Journalists dubbed him “President Pantywaist”.

And, now they want to arm “Moderate” Syrian Rebels?

US Ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, would probably disagree…if he was still on this mortal plane to do so.

Meanwhile, back here in the “Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave”, Average Americans are being attacked on all sides, by those who want us to “conform”.

Every single one of the Societal Pillars, upon which our nation was founded and went on to flourish under, are purposefully being redefined by a generation whose morality is ambiguous, whose ethics are situational, and whose greatest allegiance is to themselves.

In other words, as we say down here in Dixie,

They ain’t got no home trainin’.

America’s Moral Compass has been broken for quite a while now, a casualty of the advocacy of self-indulgence and irresponsible behavior of the same “Smartest People in the Room”, I mentioned earlier.

If you engage a member of this current generation of  “young and dumb” in a conversation on the Internet, or, *gasp** in real life, you will understand where I’m coming from, but, **warning** your head will hurt after your conservation with them.

The group to which I am referring believes that morality is relative. Basically, they believe that “if it feels good, do it.” And, when you try to explain to them “Traditional American Values” are based on a heritage derived from our “Judeo-Christian Belief System”, they look at you as if you are speaking Mandarin Chinese.

It gets better…

When the subject of “Ethical Behavior” comes up, this generation of Americans believe that the real world operates like “Survivor”, “Big Brother”, or “Dallas”, a world in which the Golden Rule is

Do unto others…then split.

All of this moral ambiguity and embracing of unethical behavior has led to a generation who are totally immersed in self-adoration and gratification.

I was watching the news yesterday morning, and one of the local reporters was interviewing some idiot, who had been sitting in front of an ATT Store since Wednesday, in order to be first in line to receive the new iPhone 6.

The other day, I was talking to a young fellow with a wife and a couple of small children, who are struggling to getting by. He was bragging about the new $200 tattoo he just got.

And, people wonder why marriages are dissolving at such a rapid rate.

Priorities matter.

Which brings us to the title of today’s blog.

I firmly believe that the issues our nation faces today, are the result of a lack of leadership…beginning with the American Family and going all the way to the White House.

Our nation was built on the backs of leaders. American men and women who saw what needed to be done to ensure the continuance of our liberty…and, they went out and did it.

Mother and Fathers who took responsibility for themselves , their relationship, and their children….including handling the important parental task of guiding and disciplining those young lives, whom they were responsible for.

As I have written before, I am the son of members of the Greatest Generation, those who sacrificed to keep their families together and our country strong and free.

To this day, you can see “4…5…6…” on the back of my legs from my mother’s yardstick.

But, I digress…

Even “public servants”, back in the day” took the responsibility of their jobs very seriously, from the local dog catcher to the President of the United States.

Everybody “took care of business”, even the Leader of the Free World, as Harry Truman reminded us, with a sign sitting on his desk, which read,

The Buck Stops Here.

…as opposed to the sign which sits on our current President’s desk in the Oval Office, which reads,

It’s Not My Fault!

For America to reclaim our rightful place, as the Greatest Country on God’s Green Earth, it is going to take LEADERSHIP…both local and national.

For after all…

Liberty is Freedom…with Responsibility.

Until He Comes,

KJ

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our country, down to every last amber wave of grain, is careening down a broken ore cart track in a mine, and we desperately need an Indiana Jones to make sure we survive this out-pf-control journey, in which the cart in which we are riding seems to be about to go off the rails at any second.

 

 

Apologetic President Says that Muslim Terrorist Organization “Not Islamic”. Murder and Mayhem “in the Name of the Prophet” Continues…

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, PoliticsLeave a comment

ObamaISIL9142014Now let’s make two things clear: ISIL is not Islamic. No religion condones the killing of innocents, and the vast majority of ISIL’s victims have been Muslim. And ISIL is certainly not a state. It was formerly al-Qaida’s affiliate in Iraq and has taken advantage of sectarian strife and Syria’s civil war to gain territory on both sides of the Iraq-Syrian border. It is recognized by no government nor by the people it subjugates. ISIL is a terrorist organization, pure and simple. And it has no vision other than the slaughter of all who stand in its way. – President Barack Hussein Obama, September 10, 2014, transcript courtesy of Washingtonpost.com

“ISIL is not Islamic”? Really, Mr. President? What are they, Mormons?

Let’s break down the evidence to dispute President Obama’s cockamamie claim, shall we, boys and girls?

The Daily Caller reported in August 2014:

Beginning in the summer of 2013, fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria [ISIS] — the successor of al-Qaida and other jihadist movements — seized vast swathes of Syria and began pushing into Iraq. Their offensive picked up speed in the early months of 2014, snowballing out of control after their capture of Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, in June. At the end of June ISIS changed their name to Islamic State (IS) and announced the formation of an Islamic caliphate in the Syrian and Iraqi territory they controlled. Under the leadership of Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the group has cut a swath of death and devastation through northern Iraq, killing Christians and other religious minorities, forcing thousands more into hiding and assaulting key U.S. allies in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq.

As I reported earlier this week, ISIS/ISIL has grown in number to 31,500 Jihadists. Already responsible for the beheading of two American Journalists, this week, they went for the Trifecta…

Yesterday, the  London Daily Mirror reported that

Islamic State militants have released footage claiming to show the beheading of British hostage David Haines.            

The aid worker, 44, was captured by ISIS in Syria in March 2013.            

The plight of the dad-of-two was revealed when he appeared at the end of a video showing the beheading of US journalist Steven Sotloff earlier this month.            

ISIS had threatened to kill Mr Haines if world leaders do not bow to their demands.

Tonight, the extremists posted a new video lasting 2minutes and 30 seconds which appears to show the beheading of David Haines.

At the end of the video, ISIS parade another hostage.            

The militants have not responded to any of the family’s attempts to make contact so far, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) said.                         
10:54 pm
 
He has a 17-year-old daughter with his first wife Louise, and a four-year-old daughter with Dragana who described him as a “fantastic man and father”.            

Mr Haines was taken while working for ACTED, having previously helped people in Libya and South Sudan.            

Militants from IS have beheaded two American journalists, Jim Foley and Sotloff, posting the evidence online in gruesome videos featuring a masked jihadist with a British accent.

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has said the FCO will be doing “everything” they could to protect Mr Haines. 

So, what drives ISIS/ISIL to invade Iraq and kill innocents? Those words that they are shouting, when they commit mayhem and murder sure aren’t,

Would you like to hear about the time that Jesus came to America?

These barbarians shout,

Allahu Akbar!

Daniel Greenfield, in an article for David Horowitz’s discoverthenetworks.org, writes the following,

Fundamentalist Islam presents itself, on the one hand, as an intensified reaffirmation of faith in a transcendent God. But on the other hand, it is a militant ideology, demanding political action now. In one instance it takes the form of a populist party, asking for ballots. Showing another face, its spokesmen, evoking deep, longstanding historical resentments against the West, call for bullets. The moralists of fundamentalism pour scorn on Western consumer culture as debilitating to Islam, yet its strategists avidly seek to buy the West’s latest technologies in order to strengthen Islam.

Fundamentalist Islam remains an enigma precisely because it has confounded all attempts to divide it into tidy categories. “Revivalist” becomes “extremist” (and vice versa) with such rapidity and frequency that the actual classification of any movement or leader has little predictive power. They will not stay put. This is because fundamentalist Muslims, for all their “diversity,” orbit around one central idea: Islam must have power in this world. It is the true religion—the religion of God—and its truth is manifest in its power. When Muslims believed, they were powerful. Their power has been lost in modern times because true Islam has been abandoned. But if Muslims now return to the original Islam, they can preserve and even restore their power.

That return, to be effective, must be comprehensive and must accept one basic principle: Islam provides the one and only solution to all questions in this world, from public policy to private conduct. It is not merely a religion, in the Western sense of a system of belief in God. It possesses an immutable law, revealed by God, that deals with every aspect of life, and it is an ideology, a complete system of belief about the organization of the state and the world. This law and ideology can only be implemented through the establishment of a truly Islamic state. The empowerment of Islam, which is God’s plan for mankind, is a sacred end and can be pursued by any means necessary. At various times, these have included persuasion, guile, and violence.

So, what does the Islamic Book of Faith, the Koran (Quran) say about “killing in the Name of the Prophet (Mohammed)”?

  • Quran (4:76) – “Those who believe fight in the cause of Allah…”
  • Quran (4:89) – “They but wish that ye should reject Faith, as they do, and thus be on the same footing (as they): But take not friends from their ranks until they flee in the way of Allah (From what is forbidden). But if they turn renegades, seize them and slay them wherever ye find them; and (in any case) take no friends or helpers from their ranks.”
  • Quran (4:95) – “Not equal are those believers who sit (at home) and receive no hurt, and those who strive and fight in the cause of Allah with their goods and their persons. Allah hath granted a grade higher to those who strive and fight with their goods and persons than to those who sit (at home). Unto all (in Faith) Hath Allah promised good: But those who strive and fight Hath He distinguished above those who sit (at home) by a special reward,-”  This passage criticizes “peaceful” Muslims who do not join in the violence, letting them know that they are less worthy in Allah’s eyes.  It also demolishes the modern myth that “Jihad” doesn’t mean holy war in the Quran, but rather a spiritual struggle.  Not only is the Arabic word used in this passage, but it is clearly not referring to anything spiritual, since the physically disabled are given exemption.  (The Hadith reveals the context of the passage to be in response to a blind man’s protest that he is unable to engage in Jihad and this is reflected in other translations of the verse).
  • Quran (4:104) – “And be not weak hearted in pursuit of the enemy; if you suffer pain, then surely they (too) suffer pain as you suffer pain…”  Is pursuing an injured and retreating enemy really an act of self-defense?
  • Quran (5:33) – “The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His messenger and strive to make mischief in the land is only this, that they should be murdered or crucified or their hands and their feet should be cut off on opposite sides or they should be imprisoned; this shall be as a disgrace for them in this world, and in the hereafter they shall have a grievous chastisement”
  • Quran (8:12) – “I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them”  No reasonable person would interpret this to mean a spiritual struggle.
  • Quran (8:15) – “O ye who believe! When ye meet those who disbelieve in battle, turn not your backs to them. (16)Whoso on that day turneth his back to them, unless maneuvering for battle or intent to join a company, he truly hath incurred wrath from Allah, and his habitation will be hell, a hapless journey’s end.”
  • Quran (8:39) – “And fight with them until there is no more fitna (disorder, unbelief) and religion should be only for Allah”  Some translations interpret “fitna” as “persecution”, but the traditional understanding of this word is not supported by the historical context (See notes for  2:193).  The Meccans were simply refusing Muhammad access to their city during Haj.  Other Muslims were allowed to travel there – just not as an armed group, since Muhammad had declared war on Mecca prior to his eviction.  The Meccans were also acting in defense of their religion, since it was Muhammad’s intention to destroy their idols and establish Islam by force (which he later did).  Hence the critical part of this verse is to fight until “religion is only for Allah”, meaning that the true justification of violence was the unbelief of the opposition.  According to the Sira (Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 324) Muhammad further explains that “Allah must have no rivals.”
  • Quran (8:57) – “If thou comest on them in the war, deal with them so as to strike fear in those who are behind them, that haply they may remember.”  
  • Quran (8:67) – “It is not for a Prophet that he should have prisoners of war until he had made a great slaughter in the land…”
  • Quran (8:59-60) – “And let not those who disbelieve suppose that they can outstrip (Allah’s Purpose). Lo! they cannot escape.  Make ready for them all thou canst of (armed) force and of horses tethered, that thereby ye may dismay the enemy of Allah and your enemy.”
  • Quran (8:65) – “O Prophet, exhort the believers to fight…”

Islam and Christianity present two very different Deities, who may share some similarities, but who have different identities and ultimately different standards. for the President of the United States of America, Barack Hussein Obama and the rest of today’s Liberals to pretend they are the same is not only to be clueless of the faith of 76% of the citizens of this nation, but, to be ignorant of an integral part of our American Heritage, the legacy of Christian Faith, which our Founding Fathers bequeathed us.

Now, I am not saying that every Muslim is on a jihad against “the infidels”.

However…

When Christians become “radicalized”, we want to share the testimony of what God has done for us through His love, with everyone we meet. We get involved in our local church and we become better fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, and American citizens.

When Muslims become “radicalized”, they want to “kill the Infidels” in the name of “Allah the Merciful”.

In the case of tISIS/ISIL and their invasion of Iraq and promised invasion of our Sovereign Country, they are murdering innocents “in the Name of the Prophet”..

For President Barack Hussein Obama and his fellow dangerously-naive Liberals to deny that, is disingenuous at best, and just plain out-and-out lying at worst.

Until He Comes,

KJ

US President With “No Strategy” To Address Skeptical Nation on ISIS

On By kingsjesterIn PoliticsLeave a comment

ObamaISIS8212014Tonight, United States President Barack Hussein Obama is going to address the nation on the subject of how he will handle the ongoing invasion of Iraq by ISIS.

A little over 46 years ago, another Democrat American President was waging a limited war in a foreign land with the help of a coalition. He also decided to go in for the American people to explain how he was prosecuting a “limited” war.

On March 31, 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson gave an “Address to the Nation Announcing Steps To Limit the War in Vietnam and Reporting His Decision Not To Seek Reelection”.

Here’s an excerpt:

Tonight, I have ordered our aircraft and our naval vessels to make no attacks on North Vietnam, except in the area north of the demilitarized zone where the continuing enemy buildup directly threatens allied forward positions and where the movements of their troops and supplies are clearly related to that threat.

The area in which we are stopping our attacks includes almost 90 percent of North Vietnam’s population, and most of its territory. Thus there will be no attacks around the principal populated areas, or in the food-producing areas of North Vietnam.

Even this very limited bombing of the North could come to an early end–if our restraint is matched by restraint in Hanoi. But I cannot in good conscience stop all bombing so long as to do so would immediately and directly endanger the lives of our men and our allies. Whether a complete bombing halt becomes possible in the future will be determined by events.

Our purpose in this action is to bring about a reduction in the level of violence that now exists.

It is to save the lives of brave men–and to save the lives of innocent women and children. It is to permit the contending forces to move closer to a political settlement.

And tonight, I call upon the United Kingdom and I call upon the Soviet Union–as cochairmen of the Geneva Conferences, and as permanent members of the United Nations Security Council–to do all they can to move from the unilateral act of deescalation that I have just announced toward genuine peace in Southeast Asia.

Now, as in the past, the United States is ready to send its representatives to any forum, at any time, to discuss the means of bringing this ugly war to an end.

I am designating one of our most distinguished Americans, Ambassador Averell Harriman, as my personal representative for such talks. In addition, I have asked Ambassador Llewellyn Thompson, who returned from Moscow for consultation, to be available to join Ambassador Harriman at Geneva or any other suitable place–just as soon as Hanoi agrees to a conference.

I call upon President Ho Chi Minh to respond positively, and favorably, to this new step toward peace.

But if peace does not come now through negotiations, it will come when Hanoi understands that our common resolve is unshakable, and our common strength is invincible.

Tonight, we and the other allied nations are contributing 600,000 fighting men to assist 700,000 South Vietnamese troops in defending their little country.

Our presence there has always rested on this basic belief: The main burden of preserving their freedom must be carried out by them–by the South Vietnamese themselves.

We and our allies can only help to provide a shield behind which the people of South Vietnam can survive and can grow and develop. On their efforts–on their determination and resourcefulness–the outcome will ultimately depend.

Of course, we all remember how the Vietnam War ended…with the last American Military Helicopter bugging out of Saigon as the Communist Regime of North Vietnam took over the country.

Like me, you have probably heard it said, time and time again, that “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it”.

Evidently, Obama did not study the Vietnam War in his Indonesian Madrassa, Hawaiian High School, Columbia, or Harvard.

If he did, he did not pay attention to the mistakes that were made, because what we saw unfold in Libya, and are currently seeing unfold in Iraq, follow a pattern reminiscent of the beginning of “that Crazy Asian War” (with apologies to Kenny Rogers and Mel Tillis).

However, we don’t have to go back to the Vietnam War to experience the failure of an American “Limited Engagement”.

Obama already has a failed “Limited Engagement” on his Presidential Resume. As I write this blog, Radical Muslims are swimming in the US Embassy pool in Libya, while 11 airplanes remain missing from the Libyan Airport.

Let’s face facts.

During his presidency Obama has reached out to adherents of the “Religion of Peace”, addressing them shortly after his first Inauguration at the University of Cairo, in a conciliatory speech, setting a milksop tone for his Foreign Policy, which after its full implementation, has turned out, at the hands of Obama and his two Secretaries of State, Hillary Clinton and John Kerry, to be a miserable failure.

An ineffective President Barack Hussein Obama is looking like a fool to a world who used to look to America as a bastion of strength and freedom, not weakness and political expediencies.

President Barack Hussein Obama has placed us in untenable position with his weak and vacillating Smart Power Foreign Policy.

Those who used to cringe in their desert tents, while calling us the Great Satan, now laugh in our faces as they walk across our southern borders with the rest of the illegal immigrants.

That is, if Obama simply does not invite them to the White House and meet with them, as he has the Muslim Brotherhood.

Tonight, as he faces the nation he is supposed to protect, I am certain that we will continue to hear the same rhetoric and failed “Smart Power!” Foreign Policy Strategy coming from “the smartest person in the room”.

At a time when we need “Ronnie Ray-gun”, we’re stuck with Steve Urkel.

Until He Comes,

KJ

The Illegal Alien Invasion: “…That I Will Support and Defend the Constitution of the United States of America…”

On By kingsjesterIn PoliticsLeave a comment

illegal immigration 3As our country was celebrating our independence from a tyrannical oppressor yesterday, our sovereignty was still being threatened by an invasion of unaccompanied minors, illegal aliens who have been streaming across our Southern Border, from Mexico, Central America, and South America, bringing with them disease, gang members, and possible enemies of our country, traveling in disguise.

Unfortunately, it appears that the enemies of our sovereign nation, are already here.

Breitbart News reported yesterday that

Opponents of illegal immigration had gathered in Murrieta to stop Friday’s planned transfer of Central American illegal aliens, as they did earlier this week. A pro-amnesty counter-demonstration was organized in response.

The illegal aliens, many of them unaccompanied children, are being brought from overcrowded Texas detention facilities for processing in California.

In addition, Breitbart News obtained photographs of torn-up flags that pro-amnesty demonstrators had impaled on a fence.

Bonnie Lewis, an anti-immigration activist, told Breitbart News that she saw one of the pro-amnesty activists dragging an American flag on the ground.

“I said: ‘Hey, don’t do that.’ He said: ‘That’s where it belongs,'” she said.

Another anti-illegal immigration activist said that pro-amnesty demonstrators called her a “f***ing whore” i Spanish, and shouted, “F*** America!”

Yesterday, President Barack Hussein Obama continued to push amnesty for illegal aliens at a naturalization ceremony for immigrants who wish to earn their US Citizenship by serving in our military, the desire of just 8 % of the illegal alien population who have “broken in” to to our Sovereign Nation. During the ceremony, Obama said,

Together, all of you remind us that America is and always has been a nation of immigrants. Throughout our history, immigrants have come to our shores in wave after wave, from every corner of the globe. Every one of us –- unless we’re Native American –- has an ancestor who was born somewhere else.

And even though we haven’t always looked the same or spoken the same language, as Americans, we’ve done big things together. We’ve won this country’s freedom together. We’ve built our greatest cities together. We’ve defended our way of life together. We’ve continued to perfect our union together.

And that’s what makes America special. That’s what makes us strong. The basic idea of welcoming immigrants to our shores is central to our way of life, it is in our DNA. We believe our diversity, our differences, when joined together by a common set of ideals, makes us stronger, makes us more creative, makes us different. From all these different strands, we make something new here in America. And that’s why, if we want to keep attracting the best and brightest from beyond our borders, we’re going to have to fix our immigration system, which is broken, and pass commonsense immigration reform.

We shouldn’t be making it harder for the best and the brightest to come here, and create jobs here, and grow our economy here. We should be making it easier. And that’s why I’m going to keep doing —

…So I’m going to keep doing everything I can do to keep making our immigration system smarter and more efficient so hardworking men and women like all of you have the opportunity to join the American family and to serve our great nation. So we can be stronger and more prosperous and more whole –- together.

Today, on this Fourth of July, all across the country –- from Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello to the Alamodome in Texas — immigrants from around the world are taking the oath of citizenship. And many of them have worked and sacrificed for years to get to this moment. All of them have done it for something none of us should ever take for granted: the right to be called an American, from this moment, and forever after.

And that fact should give us hope and should make us confident about the future of our country. Because as long as there are men and women like all of you who are willing to give so much for the right to call yourselves Americans, and as long as we do our part to keep the door open to those who are willing to earn their citizenship, then we’re going to keep on growing our economy, we’ll continue to journey forward, and we’ll remind the world of why the United States of America is and always will be the greatest nation on Earth. We’re very proud of you. Congratulations.

For once in his radical life, Obama got something right. American Citizenship is not something to be taken lightly. It is something that must be earned…legally.

I know that you have heard America referred to as a Melting Pot.

That phrase was actually made popular in the 1908 play, “The Melting Pot,” a stage play by Israel Zangwill that encouraged assimilation into our nation’s culture by the immigrants of the time.

Zangwill was the London-born son of Russian Jewish immigrants. His play made its debut in Washington in 1908 and played in New York for four months the next year. The main character is David Quixano, a Jewish immigrant, orphaned by a pogram, which is a massacre of Jews. Quizano lives with his uncle on Staten Island and becomes smitten with the daughter of a Russian nobleman.

In the end, the good guy(David) gets the girl, which inspires him to shout from the rooftop of a Lower East Side settlement house that “America is God’s crucible” and to proclaim: “What is the glory of Rome and Jerusalem where all nations and races come to worship and look back, compared with the glory of America, where all races and nations come to labor and look forward!”

What Obama and the Pro-Amnesty Supporters in Washington, the Main Stream Media, and throughout the country  fail to realize, is that you can’t buy loyalty to a nation.

The British found that out with their hired German Mercenaries, the Hessians, during the Revolutionary War.

In their self-absorbed Political Greed, America’s professional politicians are setting the stage for the possible fall of our nation.

Legal Immigrants earned their citizenship. They showed that they were willing to become a part of the Great American Melting Pot (from the Schoolhouse Rock video of the same name).

They demonstrated that, as the US Citizen and Immigration services states, that they were willing to

Support the Constitution;
Renounce and abjure absolutely and entirely all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which the applicant was before a subject or citizen;
Support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic;
Bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and
A. Bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; or
B. Perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; or
C. Perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law.

Additionally, these legal immigrants also took the following oath:

I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God.

Illegal Immigrants do not respect the laws of our land, to begin with. Why would that change, if they were given the rights of citizenship?

Obama is right. Being an American is not a matter of birthplace. And, he ought to know. (I kid. I kid.)

It’s a matter of loyalty.

Until He Comes,

KJ

 

The 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics…Munich Revisited?

On By kingsjesterIn Politics3 Comments

Sochi OlympicsAs we approach the start of the Winter Olympics, Russian Officials have their hands full, dealing with with Muslim Terrorists.

USAToday reports that

The deaths of at least 16 people in a suicide bombing in southern Russia on Sunday fit a pattern of recent terror attacks and increased the focus on already-heavy security for the Sochi Olympics in six weeks, U.S. scholars of Russia say.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing in Volgograd, but it came several months after Chechen rebel leader Doku Umarov called for attacks against civilian targets in Russia, including the Sochi Games. Umarov, the self-proclaimed emir of a terrorist group that calls itself the Caucasus Emirate, has called on Muslims to prevent the Olympics from occurring.

“An open question is how much authority he really has over these different groups,” said Jeffrey Mankoff, deputy director and fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Russia and Eurasia Program. “A lot of the attacks seem to be inspired by Umarov but may not be directly controlled by him.”

“If you are a terrorist group in the Caucasus, the Sochi Olympics are going to be a very inviting target,” said Steven Pifer, director of the Brookings Institution’s Arms Control and Non-Proliferation Initiative. “I think you’re going to see at the Sochi Olympics a very heavy security presence.”

The government has deployed tens of thousands of soldiers, police and other security personnel to protect the Games.

Some Muslim terrorists view the Olympics as a provocation, Mankoff said. Sochi, like other cities in the region, was conquered militarily in the middle of the 19th century. “They view it as a provocation on territory they consider stolen from Muslims in the 19th century,” he said.

“It’s a very tense environment,” Mankoff said, noting that Muslim insurgency in the region began around 1990 in Chechnya. “Chechnya has been relatively pacified, but the insurgency has spread out to surrounding areas,” he said.

Russian Officials, and every nati0n attending, including the USA, have every right to be worried.

The XXth Olympic Games took place in Munich, Germany in September of 1972.

The few few days went off without a hitch.

A little after 4 a.m. on September 5, as the Israeli athletes were asleep in their rooms, eight members of the Palestinian terrorist organization, Black September, climbed over a six-foot high fence and entered the Olympic Village.

The barbarians headed straight for 31 Connollystrasse, the building where the Israeli team was staying. the terrorists entered the building entered the building around 4:30 a.m. They immediately attacked the occupants of apartment 1 and then apartment 3. Several of the Israelis fought back; two of them were killed. A couple of others were able to escape out windows. Nine were taken hostage.

By 5:10 a.m., the police had found out about it and news of the attack had begun to spread around the world. The terrorists then dropped a list of their demands out the window: they wanted 234 prisoners released from Israeli prisons and two from German prisons by 9 a.m.

Through negotiations the deadline the Muslim Terrorists set was delayed to noon, then 1 p.m., then 3 p.m., then 5 p.m. However, the terrorists would not forego their demands and Israel refused to release the prisoners.

Things were going to get bad…and, in short fashion.

At 5 p.m., the terrorists asked for two planes to fly both the terrorists and the hostages to Cairo, Egypt, hoping that they would have more leverage in another Middle Eastern country. The Germans agreed, but knew that they could not let the terrorists leave Germany. In a last-ditch bid to end the international situation, the Germans came up with Operation Sunshine, a plan to storm the apartment building.

Unfortunately, the terrorists found out about the plan by watching television. The Germans then modify their plans to attack the terrorists on their way to the airport, but again the terrorists found out their plans.

Around 10:30 p.m., the terrorists and hostages were taken to the Fürstenfeldbruck airport by helicopter. The Germans had snipers waiting for them there. Once on the ground, the terrorists realized, too late. that there was a trap. Snipers started shooting at them and they shot back. Two terrorists and one policeman were killed. Then a stalemate developed. The Germans called for armored cars and waited for over an hour for them to arrive on the scene.

When the armored cars arrived, The Muslim Terrorists knew that it was over, so they became suicidal. One of the terrorists jumped into a helicopter and shot four of the hostages, then threw in a grenade. Another terrorist hopped into the other helicopter and used his machine gun to kill the remaining five hostages. The snipers and armored cars killed three more terrorists in this second round of gunfire. Three terrorists survived the attack and were taken into custody.

Less than two months later, the three surviving terrorists were released by the German government after two other Black September members hijacked a plane and threatened to blow it up unless the three were released.

Following the massacre, the Israeli government organized a retaliation against Black September, called Operation Wrath of God.

For those of us who are old enough to remember the Munich Massacre, the horrible description of it, as given by the late, great ABC Sports Announcer and former newspaper reporter, Jim McKay, haunts us to this day:

They’re all gone.

I pray that we do not hear similar words at Sochi.

Because, as Iran is proving, by continuing their Uranium Enrichment, after playing Secretary of State John Kerry and President Barack Hussein Obama for suckers, the sponsors of Islamic Terrorism have no respect for the United States of America. We remain, despite the Administration’s flagrant courtship of these barbarians, “The Great Satan”.

And, Muslim Terrorists, such as the ones who killed Israel’s Olympic Team in 1972, whether they are Chechen or Palestinian, if given the opportunity, will not hesitate to kill Russia’s, Israel’s, or America’s Olympians, gay or straight, in 2014.

Until He Comes,

KJ

Paul Ryan…the Much-Needed Spark

On By kingsjesterIn Politics5 Comments

I remember the first time I really paid attention to Paul Ryan, the Vice-Presidential pick of the presumptive Republican Presidential Nominee, Mitt Romney.

It was the 2010 Healthcare Summit, when he looked President Barack Hussein Obama in the eye and said this:

Look, we agree on the problem here. And the problem is health inflation is driving us off of a fiscal cliff.

Mr. President, you said health care reform is budget reform. You’re right. We agree with that. Medicare, right now, has a $38 trillion unfunded liability. That’s $38 trillion in empty promises to my parents’ generation, our generation, our kids’ generation. Medicaid’s growing at 21 percent each year. It’s suffocating states’ budgets. It’s adding trillions in obligations that we have no means to pay for it.

Now, you’re right to frame the debate on cost and health inflation. And in September, when you spoke to us in the well of the House, you basically said — and I totally agree with this — I will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits either now or in the future.

Since the Congressional Budget Office can’t score your bill, because it doesn’t have sufficient detail, but it tracks very similar to the Senate bill, I want to unpack the Senate score a little bit.

And if you take a look at the CBO analysis, analysis from your chief actuary, I think it’s very revealing. This bill does not control costs. This bill does not reduce deficits. Instead, this bill adds a new health care entitlement at a time when we have no idea how to pay for the entitlements we already have.

Now, let me go through why I say that. The majority leader said the bill scores as reducing the deficit $131 billion over the next 10 years. First, a little bit about CBO. I work with them every single day — very good people, great professionals. They do their jobs well. But their job is to score what is placed in front of them. And what has been placed in front of them is a bill that is full of gimmicks and smoke-and-mirrors. Now, what do I mean when I say that?

Well, first off, the bill has 10 years of tax increases, about half a trillion dollars, with 10 years of Medicare cuts, about half a trillion dollars, to pay for six years of spending.

Now, what’s the true 10-year cost of this bill in 10 years? That’s $2.3 trillion.

It does couple of other things. It takes $52 billion in higher Social Security tax revenues and counts them as offsets. But that’s really reserved for Social Security. So either we’re double-counting them or we don’t intend on paying those Social Security benefits.

It takes $72 billion and claims money from the CLASS Act. That’s the long-term care insurance program. It takes the money from premiums that are designed for that benefit and instead counts them as offsets.

The Senate Budget Committee chairman said that this is a Ponzi scheme that would make Bernie Madoff proud.

Now, when you take a look at the Medicare cuts, what this bill essentially does — it treats Medicare like a piggy bank. It raids a half a trillion dollars out of Medicare, not to shore up Medicare solvency, but to spend on this new government program.

Now, when you take a look at what this does, is, according to the chief actuary of Medicare, he’s saying as much as 20 percent of Medicare’s providers will either go out of business or will have to stop seeing Medicare beneficiaries. Millions of seniors who are on — who have chosen Medicare Advantage will lose the coverage that they now enjoy.

You can’t say that you’re using this money to either extend Medicare solvency and also offset the cost of this new program. That’s double counting.

And so when you take a look at all of this; when you strip out the double-counting and what I would call these gimmicks, the full 10- year cost of the bill has a $460 billion deficit. The second 10-year cost of this bill has a $1.4 trillion deficit.

And I think, probably, the most cynical gimmick in this bill is something that we all probably agree on. We don’t think we should cut doctors 21 percent next year. We’ve stopped those cuts from occurring every year for the last seven years.

We all call this, here in Washington, the doc fix. Well, the doc fix, according to your numbers, costs $371 billion. It was in the first iteration of all of these bills, but because it was a big price tag and it made the score look bad, made it look like a deficit, that bill was — that provision was taken out, and it’s been going on in stand-alone legislation. But ignoring these costs does not remove them from the backs of taxpayers. Hiding spending does not reduce spending. And so when you take a look at all of this, it just doesn’t add up.

And so let’s just — I’ll finish with the cost curve. Are we bending the cost curve down or are we bending the cost curve up?

Well, if you look at your own chief actuary at Medicare, we’re bending it up. He’s claiming that we’re going up $222 billion, adding more to the unsustainable fiscal situation we have.

And so, when you take a look at this, it’s really deeper than the deficits or the budget gimmicks or the actuarial analysis. There really is a difference between us.

And we’ve been talking about how much we agree on different issues, but there really is a difference between us. And it’s basically this. We don’t think the government should be in control of all of this. We want people to be in control. And that, at the end of the day, is the big difference.

Now, we’ve offered lots of ideas all last year, all this year. Because we agree the status quo is unsustainable. It’s got to get fixed. It’s bankrupting families. It’s bankrupting our government. It’s hurting families with pre-existing conditions. We all want to fix this

But we don’t think that this is the answer to the solution. And all of the analysis we get proves that point.

Now, I’ll just simply say this. And I respectfully disagree with the vice president about what the American people are or are not saying or whether we’re qualified to speak on their behalf. So…

(LAUGHTER)

… we are all representatives of the American people. We all do town hall meetings. We all talk to our constituents. And I’ve got to tell you, the American people are engaged. And if you think they want a government takeover of health care, I would respectfully submit you’re not listening to them.

So what we simply want to do is start over, work on a clean- sheeted paper, move through these issues, step by step, and fix them, and bring down health care costs and not raise them. And that’s basically the point.

That bravura performance aside, why did Romney pick Ryan?

Robert Costa writes in nationalreview.com that:

“We’re very much inclined in the same direction,” Romney told NRO in March. “We [have spoken] together about my plans on Medicare, for instance, and ultimately the Wyden-Ryan bill is very similar, if not identical, to what I proposed some time ago. We all have ideas about what should be done with Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security — and we’re on the same page.”

According to Romney insiders, Romney deeply appreciated Ryan’s willingness to privately share his critique of the campaign during the heated Republican primary, where Romney often struggled to make his case. As he watched from afar, long before he endorsed, Ryan drafted a series of detailed strategy and policy advisories, and discussed them with Romney over the phone. For Romney, those corporate-style memos made a lasting impression — and catapulted Ryan into Romney’s circle, where he has remained since.

Okay. the team is set. Now, let’s see what they can do.

I hope that Ryan can stoke a fire under Romney, as Sarah Palin tried to do to John McCain.

The time for “go along to get along” is over. Mitt needs to get up on his hind legs and fight.

For America’s sake.