The Constitution. How Hard Can It Be???

The Constitution. How Hard Can It Be???
By J. D. Longstreet
***********************

You know, every now and then, every American ought to read the US Constitution from beginning to end. I’d wager that if we did, we would not be living in such a screwed-up country as we have today.

One of the things I have learned, over my better than 6 and a half decades on this earth, is that the fellows who wrote the Constitution were quite likely the smartest, most intelligent, men on the entire planet at that time… and… without a doubt… would rank at the top of the intelligentsia today!

Funny thing is that back in the 18th century, folks had a tendency to say what they meant and mean what they say. They had never heard of political correctness, so… they called “a spade a spade”. When they applied pen to paper, to write their thoughts, they didn’t hem and haw about… they wrote down those words, which illustrated, exactly, their thoughts and their intentions.

Now, here’s the thing: When a person, of even average intelligence today, takes it upon himself, or herself, to read the US Constitution… as those Founding Fathers wrote it… they understand it! It’s as clear as a bell.

Now the question: Why, then, do we find it so inconvenient today? Yes, the US Constitution is inconvenient. To the power brokers in the US, the Constitution is a roadblock. It is continually getting in the way. And that is where the US Supreme Court comes in.

When an American turns to the Constitution, to learn the duties of the Supreme Court, often he, or she, is surprised at the limits on the Court. More surprising, still, is the mantel of powers the Court has assumed which the Constitution does not grant the Court!

The national powerbrokers learned, long ago that a Supreme Court molded in their likeness, could extend THEIR powers simply by INTERPRETING the Constitution in a manner which would benefit them. To arrive at that beneficial arrangement, the powerbrokers had to see that they determined the make-up of the court… that only those nominees to the Court who favored their biases could be allowed on the court. That set off a continuing battle between the two sides of the American Political Spectrum, which is near a fever pitch today.

A fairly intelligent high school student can interpret the Constitution. It is that clearly written. Yet, today we require a court of nine persons made up of scholars of the law… even though the Constitution does not require one to be a lawyer to serve on the Supreme Court! Did you know that?

Let me give you an example of how simple the Constitution is to interpret: Article One, section 8 of the Constitution declares that the District of Columbia shall be no larger than ten square miles. Got that? Ok, then why, today, is the District of Columbia 98.25 square miles? Huh? Oh, you see the constitution was inconvenient when it came to that ten square mile law.

The point in all this rambling is… you really ought to acquaint yourself with the US Constitution. When you do, you are going to marvel at how far from the Constitution the US has strayed.

May we suggest that you set out to familiarize yourself with the Constitution while you can? Already, our government is in talks with Mexico and Canada to merge the three countries into a single entity patterned after the European Union. Once that happens, there is a better than even chance the US Constitution will become subject to whatever passes as a constitution for the North American Union.

J. D. Longstreet

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Rid The Sea Lanes Of Piracy

Rid The Sea Lanes Of Piracy.
By J. D. Longstreet
********************

I reside just minutes from the Atlantic Ocean and the coast of North Carolina and those barrier Islands along our coast which made for wonderful hiding places for the pirates of yesteryear. The Coast of North Carolina is drenched in folklore about pirates. The infamous Blackbeard was captured here and decapitated. The sports teams of at least one noted university here are named “The Pirates.” So, we Tar Heels have a colorful history of interaction with pirates as does our sister state to the south. .

That was then. This is now.

Again the high seas are infested with pirates. Their aim is the same… to rob and steal. But now, they have added ransom.

Recently we heard of an Ocean Liner being attacked, but managing to speed away. A few days later, in the same waters, a freighter was attacked. It, too, managed to get away. As I write, at least one of the largest vessels afloat, an oil tanker, is being held for ransom by a handful of modern day blackhearts in full view of the world, and the world’s navies, including warships of the US Navy.

Our own Caribbean is littered with modern day pirates. Yachts disappear to show up at some other location, with a different registration, and different name. Sometimes passengers disappear, too.

On at least two different occasions in our history, under two Presidents, Thomas Jefferson and Teddy Roosevelt, the US Navy, and Marines, had to rid the coast of Africa of pirates. The Barbary Coast Pirates.

I bring up these particular pirates because they were based along the African coast, mainly the North African coast. The pirates we seem to be having the most trouble with today are also on the African coast, but the east African coast…the coast of Somalia to be more exact. So far this year, alone, those pirates have attacked over 90 ships. They have managed to hijack 39 freighters, tankers, and fishing vessels. At least 14 of them are currently anchored, under heavy guard, off pirate villages along the coast of Somalia. Estimates run as high as 30 million dollars paid in ransom money.

Turns out it is not as easy today as it used to be to take on the pirates. All sorts of national and international laws tie the hands of governments and makes them less than eager to take on a couple of dozen men with small arms and two or three rubber boats. But there is an outfit, based here in North Carolina, eager to do what the governments of the world sea powers are reluctant to do. I speak, of course, of Blackwater Worldwide.

Equipped with their own warship, the McArthur, Blackwater is looking to provide a new service to the merchant navies of the world. Blackwater offers to escort paying customer’s ships through the pirate infested waters, safely. Their plan is simple: Issue verbal warnings to approaching vessels which appear to have piracy in mind, followed by a few shots in the air, and if that fails… then the sharpshooters aboard a couple of helicopters, flown from the deck of the McArthur, will do their job by taking out as many barefooted pirates as it takes to discourage the attack.

Already Blackwater is receiving inquiries from dozens of shipping companies and shipping insurance companies concerning Backwater’s services in escorting their ships through the world’s most dangerous waters.

There is an excellent article on all of this at:

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,592433,00.html

The country of Somalia still has no functioning government and it is a breeding ground for this type of activity.

Teddy Roosevelt, the last President of the United States to deal with Barbary Pirates, had the opportunity to use the big stick he carried and, he did just that. He sent seven battleships from the Atlantic Fleet to the North African Coast. It worked and the pirates backed down.

This blight on the oceans will not go away if we turn a blind eye. It will get worse. Eventually they will manage to stop and board a passenger liner and death and destruction will be the result. Or, terrorists will seize an oil tanker, sail her into the harbor of one of the world’s great cities, and blow it up with unbelievable death and devastation as the result.

Now is the time to hunt them down and destroy them… even if that means following them to their center of operations in the seacoast villages of the country, or countries, providing them safe haven.

J. D. Longstreet

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Conservative+US+Pirates

Petition To Prove Obama’s Eligibility To Serve As President Of The US

Petition To Prove Obama’s Eligibility To Serve As President Of The US
By J. D. Longstreet
************************

There is a petition circulating right now, which calls for the public release of Obama’s real birth certificate in order to prove that he is, indeed, a natural born US citizen and eligible to serve as this country’s President. .

I know, I know. There shouldn’t have to be such a thing. You’d think that a person fully qualified to be President of the US, under the terms set forth in the Constitution, and other US laws, would be more than happy to lay it all out and squash these rather harsh accusations that claim he is not qualified. Well, wouldn’t you?

But, for whatever reason, the Obama camp is doing everything in their power to stop the lawsuits, which number in the teens now, from making their way through the courts and eventually forcing him to hand over those documents and prove his eligibility to serve as POTUS.

There is a petition “demanding that the constitutional eligibility requirement of Obama be taken seriously and that any and all controlling legal authorities in this matter examine the complete birth certificate of Barack Obama, including the actual city and hospital of birth, and make that document available to the American people for inspection.”

You’ll find the petition at:

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=81550

We urge you to go over to this site and at least inspect the very simple and easy to understand petition… and… if you feel it is important that only Americans serve as President of the country, then sign the petition. This needs to be done as quickly as possible.

It’s our country, as Americans, and we still have a few rights left… at least temporarily. Let’s use them… before we lose them.

J. D. Longstreet
*********************
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Obama And The American Socialized Healthcare System.

Obama And The American Socialized Healthcare System.
By J. D. Longstreet

*************************

The MsM is telling us that Obama fully intends to push for socialized medicine early in his first year as President. Why not? Our financial institutions have already been socialized (nationalized, whichever you prefer). Our auto Industry looks, for all the world, as if they are ready to become nationalized, as well. Now healthcare, which accounts for one-seventh of the US economy, is about to be the next huge segment of the American economy to be taken over by the government. How can anyone, observing the American slide into socialism, not be concerned and even outraged at what our government is doing to the democratic representative republic given us by our Founding Fathers?

The soon to be proposed national healthcare program will most likely be patterned after the Canadian nationalized healthcare system. So how does the Canadian healthcare system stack up against US healthcare these days, anyway? Where better to get a comparison than from a declared liberal site. So we dropped by the site “Classically Liberal” at:

http://freestudents.blogspot.com/2007/09/does-canadian-health-care-really-stack.html

We found some interesting stuff. We recommend you visit the site and read it in its entirety.

Socialized medicine is not about our healthcare as Americans. It’s about power over the American citizen and control over every facet of our life by the government of the US.

Our every move will be monitored, and we will be directed, by the government, in every facet of our lives.

Weigh too much? Lose weight… or the government won’t pay for your medical bills.

Drive too fast? Slow down or the government won’t pay for your medical bills if you’re in an accident.

Smoke? The government won’t pay for your medical bills, period.

Have more than (two) kids? Your medical bills will not be paid if you exceed the allowable limit on babies.

Pregnant with a third child and the government insists that you have an abortion, but you really want this third child? Well, either have an abortion, or that third child will have no medical coverage and the cost of the pregnancy, and delivery, will not be covered, either.

Didn’t finish High School? Your medical bills will not be covered if you do not get a High School Diploma.

Take the wrong courses in college? Well, if you didn’t check before you signed up for a course, and you signed-up for a course the government thinks is uncalled for, or that you do not need for your chosen occupation… then your medical bills will not be picked up by the National Healthcare.

Choose the wrong career, and you are on your own! No medical help from the government.

Get the picture? Almost total control. And you, and I, will have given that power to the government.

What about the cost? You sure you want to know? Well let me establish first… there is no such thing as free healthcare. Somebody is going to pay. Who pays? You and I will pay… in taxes. There is no free lunch! There never has been! If you want it… you must be prepared to pay for it… and if you think healthcare is expensive now… just wait ‘til it’s free!

So, next time you hear someone calling for National Healthcare, remind them of all the freedom they will give up for that cradle to the grave care.

The founders of this country wanted us to live free… healthy, if we can manage it, but free, in any event. Today, it seems we are prepared to give our freedom up for a form of modern day Marxism. Socialized Medicine.

J. D. Longstreet

*****************

conservative+universal+healthcare+Socialism+Obama

The End Of The World, Or Not?

The End Of The World, Or Not?
By J. D. Longstreet
*****************************
Some predictions:

1. Obama's "hold out your hand to everyone" foreign policy is going to be a catastrophe. They'll love it in Europe. They're probably laughing their heads off about it in the Middle East already.

2. The US hasn't suffered a terrorist attack by al Qaeda since 9/11, but we'll get at least one during Obama's term.

3. We're going to lose in Afghanistan.

4. Iran will get nuclear weapons. There will be nuclear war between Iran and Israel. (This is the only irreversibly terrible thing I see upcoming, and it's very bad indeed.)


These are not my predictions. They are from an article by Steven Den Beste titled: “Not the End of the World.” You’ll find the full article at:

http://chizumatic.mee.nu/not_the_end_of_the_world


A friend emailed Mr. Beste’s article to me and, after reading it, I thought I would pass it on to my readers.

There are, indeed, some critical times ahead for the US. There is no doubt about it. Mr. Beste has given us things to ponder over the next few months as we wait out the end of Mr. Obama’s term in office.

During that time, however, conservatives are going to have to decide the route they intend to take to remain a force in American politics. It is more than a little obvious that remaining in the GOP and expecting to be a movement to “be reckoned with” is now out of the question. We have, for all intents and purposes, been told to “sit down and shut up,” or, get out. Many of us have chosen to become Independent Conservatives until such time as a viable Conservative Party can be organized to promote our ideology. That may be a long time coming. I am not detecting movement in that direction and the lack of motivation toward that end troubles me greatly.

There comes a time in any effort when you reach the point of diminishing returns. It appears, at least to me, that conservative efforts within the GOP have reached that point. For evidence one only has to consider the manner in which the GOP campaigned during both the election cycles of 2006 and 2008. Both those campaigns underscored the GOP’s snubbing of the conservative wing of the party.

It is time to stop crying in our beer and get off our collective behinds and get to work building a conservative party. The sooner… the better.

J. D. Longstreet
********************

Independent+Conservative+Political+Party

The UN Celebrates “Palestinians”, Hates Jews ... by Alan Caruba

The UN Celebrates “Palestinians”, Hates Jews
By Alan Caruba

*******************

On Monday, November 24, the United Nations will commemorate its annual “International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People”, a hate-filled day that ignores its own role in the establishment of Israel.

An international institution that trumpets its Universal Declaration of Human Rights while openly seeking the destruction of the population of one of its member nations is so inherently debased that it should cease to exist.

The notion that the United States of America should continue to participate in the UN on the grounds that it is the only forum or means to resolve conflicts is absurd.

Monday’s observance marks November 29, 1947, the day that the United Nations voted to establish a Jewish and an Arab state in what was formerly the Palestinian Mandate whose administration had been ceded to Great Britain following the end of World War One.

The State of Israel was not created out of “Palestinian” lands. It was part of the Ottoman Empire that had ruled much of the Middle East for four hundred years and which, at the Versailles conference following the end of WWI, was divided into nations conjured up by England and France. Among the newly designated nations were Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq.

There were no “Palestinian” people claiming a land called Palestine. Most of the Arabs regarded themselves as living in the southern portion of Syria.

The 1947 UN partition plan mandated the creation of two states on the remaining twenty percent of the Palestine Mandate. There was to be the State of Israel for the Jews and a new state for the Arabs.

What happened, however, was that the Arabs rejected a state of their own and launched a genocidal war against Israel. The war was the primary cause of the Arab refugee problem that exists today because none of the Arab nations in the region would accept the refugees and the UN facilitated their permanent status and continues to do so today.

There were, however, Jewish refugees. Between 1949 and 1954, an estimated 800,000 Jews were forced to flee the Arab and Muslims lands where they had lived for hundreds of years. In addition, many European Jews who had survived the Nazi Holocaust migrated to Israel. Later they would be followed by the persecuted Jews of Russia and other lands.

On Monday afternoon, the UN General Assembly will convene to discuss the “Question of Palestine” and if this is redolent of the Nazi “Final Solution” the comparison is accurate. The General Assembly is scheduled to adopt six resolutions condemning only Israel for violations of human rights. This will bring the total thus far this year to twenty such resolutions as opposed to four resolutions critical of any of the remaining 191 UN member nations.

Israel is not “occupying” land that belongs to a Palestinian state because no such state exists. It has occupied land won repeatedly in combat for its very existence. In recent years it ceded the Gaza strip to the Palestinian Liberation Authority, Fatah, but the result has been that Hamas drove Fatah from Gaza at gunpoint and now uses it to launch rockets against Israel on a daily basis. The West Bank, by any international standard, is a legitimate part of Israel.

The Arabs who did not flee Israel in 1947 were the lucky ones. They were able to remain in the only functioning, true democracy in the Middle East and today their children and grandchildren number more than a million Israel citizens, some of whom serve in the Israeli Knesset or parliament, on the Israeli Supreme Court benches, and as tenured professors in Israeli colleges and universities.

The United Nations continues to promulgate the most offensive anti-Semitism found anywhere in the world and Monday’s observance is just one aspect of it. Its “Durban II” conference on racism to be held in Geneva in April 2009 will be a repeat of the hateful first conference that was boycotted by several nations, including the United States. It should be condemned and avoided by all nations that take the professed UN Human Rights declaration at its word.

Those attending Monday’s International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People should be hosed down and driven from the chambers where it is held. The General Assembly should be seen for what it is, a place of shame, duplicity, and genocidal hatred in which no civilized nation should take its seat.

November 24, 2008

Alan Caruba

*********************

Conservative+UN+Israel+Palextinians+Antisemitism

Religious Conservatives Should Leave The GOP!

Religious Conservatives Should Leave the GOP!
By J. D. Longstreet
*************************

If I have said it once, I have said it a dozen times! The Republican Party no longer wants conservatives, especially RELIGIOUS CONSERVATIVES! As if one needed proof, here comes an article by Kathleen Parker to end the discussion. The article is titled: “ Heresy and Other Truths.” In her article, Ms. Parker says:

“As Republicans sort out the reasons for their defeat, they likely will overlook or dismiss the gorilla in the pulpit.

Three little letters, great big problem: G-O-D.

I'm bathing in holy water as I type.

To be more specific, the evangelical, right-wing, oogedy-boogedy branch of the GOP is what ails the erstwhile conservative party and will continue to afflict and marginalize its constituents if reckoning doesn't soon cometh."

You can read the entire article at:

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_11024437

This underscores the on-going battle within the Republican Party these days. Religious conservatives are flat-out at odds with the moderates and liberals in the party and they (The moderates and liberals) want us (The conservatives, including the religious conservatives) gone. In fact, they seem to want GOD gone from the party.

I am indebted to Ms. Parker for “backing up” what I have been saying for many years now. Conservatives need to get out of the GOP and found their own political party and be done with it. When I refer to CONSERVATIVES, I, of course, mean the religious conservatives because there are very few, if any, non-religious conservatives. You must understand that, in my opinion, the term “religious conservatives” means ALL conservatives.

There has been worry in recent years that the union of social and religious conservatives and the Republican Party is beginning to fray. I beg to differ. As far as I am concerned, it isn’t fraying. It is threadbare! It’s OVER! It’s long since time for conservatives, social, AND religious, to move on.

Look, as a social, and religious, and fiscal, and political, and every other kind of conservative, I can tell you, with no hesitation, conservatives need their own party. We are not wanted any longer, if we ever were, in the GOP. It is getting embarrassing for me as a staunch conservative to maintain my allegiance to a party that so obviously wishes I would LEAVE!

Turning the tables on the GOP would taste very good at this point. They know they have a snowball’s chance of winning another election without conservative support. If we leave the party they will be forced to come to us and beg for our support in any future elections. That’s fine by me!

Yes, founding a third party is going to be tough. Yes, we may never have a Conservative Party candidate on a national ticket. But, conservatives would be able to swing elections and you had better believe our support would be sought. That alone would give us more input into future elections than we have now. Much more.

I am a conservative first and a republican second. I am a republican because there was no conservative party, as such, to turn to. Given a choice, I would have joined the Conservative Party and never been a Republican in the first place. There are hosts of southern voters who feel the same way. I suspect there is another host of voters across the other regions of the country that feel the same way.

In two years we have another extremely important election coming up. If conservatives want to see any gains for conservatism in the Congress we had better get ourselves organized and ready. We cannot do that by staying in the Republican Party.

J. D. Longstreet


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Conservative+GOP+GOD+Religious+Voters+Political+Party

America’s Group Hug About to End

America’s Group Hug About to End
BY J. D. Longstreet

************************

As I watch, read, and listen to the MsM report the news of Obama’s selection of those people he wants to serve in his administration, it occurred to me that the change he had promised was simply a change… back to the Clinton Administration.

Remember how it is when you begin watching a TV show that is a rerun, but you are not aware of it in the opening moments? As the characters begin to flash onto the screen and the plot becomes more and more familiar it slowly dawns on you that you have seen this show before. As I watch Obama gather his merry band together, that is exactly the feeling I get. I have seen this show before. Eight years ago. So… it IS “Change BACK”!

Well, what about HOPE? Remember… Bill Clinton was “The Man From HOPE!”

Look, the dems are nothing if they are not persistent. They don’t seem to have had a NEW idea in decades. They are still running elections with the same promises and pledges and even the same phraseology in their speeches that FDR used in his. So it should not be surprising that the Obama Administration looks so very much like the Clinton Administration because, for all intents and purposes, it IS the same. All Democratic Party Presidential Administrations are the same.

As soon as Americans stop slapping themselves on the back and congratulating themselves for making history, and overcoming “White Guilt”, and ending racism, and all that baloney, it will dawn on them that they have been had… again.

Soon, it will become clear that Americans, well, SOME Americans, are expecting entirely too much of Obama. Too much was promised and too little will be delivered.

Lowering expectations is the order of the day on the democratic side of the aisle. Very serious democrats, in and out of the Mainstream Media, and in and out of the Democratic Party apparatus, are telling us to not expect so much from Obama. Of course, that is exactly the opposite of what they were telling us just a few weeks ago. Way back then they were promising miracles, hinting that Obama could heal the sick, make the lame to walk, the blind to see, the mute to speak, and there was a better than 50/50 chance that Obama could walk all the way across the Potomac… on his bare feet! And yet, today, we are told that we should lower our expectations. This is all a bit much. But this is what you get when the candidate is a blank slate upon which the voters can write their own expectations, their own desires, and, yes, their own fantasies.

That American group hug, we mentioned at the beginning of this article, is slowly breaking apart as Americans begin to look up and cast their eyes in the direction of Obama’s selectees for his cabinet. There’s some anxiety about its reflection of the Clinton Administration. Then, too, the confirmation that among Obama’s foreign policy plans is one to lean on Israel to retreat back to it’s borders as they were before they were attacked by their Arab neighbors in 1967 and had to fight for their very existence. In the war that ensued, Israel recaptured the old city of Jerusalem thereby reuniting it. Now, apparently, the US is going to insist Israel turn it back over to the people who call themselves Palestinians. This has caused a stir in Israel and there is now some strain between Jews in Israel and those Jews in America who supported the Obama campaign. They are NOT a happy bunch, at the moment. Neither are the Evangelical Christians in America and around the world. But, then, Evangelical Christians did not support Obama and won’t.

And there is more, much, more to come.

Too much is being expected of Obama by the Germans, the Iraqis, the Afghanis, the Georgians, most of eastern Europe, and all of Africa. Here at home, in America, too much is being expected of Obama by the African-Americans, the White Americans, the Spanish-Americans, the Gay Americans, the unborn Americans, the poor Americans, the sick Americans, the old Americans, the young Americans, even those busy breaking into America across our wide open southern border in hopes of change with Obama.

Disappointment comes first. Then comes dissatisfaction. Then comes disaster. After all, Obama is but a man. How he handles these three “D” words will define him for history.

Unlike George Bush, or any Republican President, Obama will have the added luxury of a Mainstream Media to justify his mistakes, his shortcomings, his disgraces, etc, to the nation and the world. After all, he is THEIR man and they will not allow him to fail.

Clear thinking Americans, both republican and democrats, know whom America elected and they are worried. They have reason to worry. America is as vulnerable as it was before World War Two… and every bit as naive. In a country like America, vulnerability and naiveté can bring on disaster. Anything can happen. Like a blind man negotiating a minefield, America must tread softly, and carefully, over the next few years. Inexperienced leadership was not what the country needed, but that is what we have. Americans are now trusting in blind luck to get us through.

Me? I pray a lot.

J. D. Longstreet

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Conservative+Liberal+Obama+Expectaions+Disapointment+Dissatisfaction+Disaster

Turning Boom into Bust ... By Alan Caruba

Turning Boom into Bust
By Alan Caruba

Energy is called “the master resource” because every other aspect of life operates off of it. Nations that are rich in energy resources such as oil, natural gas, and coal, grow wealthy.

There is also something called “the curse of oil” because, if the price per barrel drops, the fate of some nations goes with it. This is the case, for example, of the former Soviet Russia whose government collapsed when it could no longer secure hard currency when oil and gas prices fell. Venezuela is an economic basket case these days, having nationalized oil and most of its financial and business sectors.

The history of nationalized oil and gas-rich nations is that they tend not to invest in their energy industries. They do not engage in sufficient exploration. They do not expand their capacity to extract their natural resources or to refine it. We have seen otherwise oil-rich nations like Mexico encounter financial tremors as in the 1990s when the Clinton administration had to loan Mexico billions to keep it functioning.

America has adopted anti-energy policies because of incessant environmental propaganda about “dirty” coal, out of the fear of nuclear power, and the refusal to permit exploration of 85% of the continental shelf and, of course, Alaska’s ANWR area, a tiny fraction of that State’s landmass.

If Congress imposes a windfall profits tax on the American oil industry, it will quite simply wreck the economy. As my friend, Seldon B. Graham, Jr., a longtime oil industry attorney as well as a petroleum engineer, points out, “”President Jimmy Carter started the ethanol subsidy on November 9, 1978 and signed the oil windfall profits tax on April 2, 1980.”

In effect, Carter put in motion an anti-oil policy that has existed for over three decades. Why is that a bad thing? The ethanol policy has severely disrupted the price of food worldwide as corn is diverted into fuel. The justification for this is “energy independence” from the purchase of foreign oil, but U.S.-produced oil has always been cheaper than imported oil.

If, however, the government creates conditions under which it is simply too risky, too expensive or prohibited to explore for more oil reserves, obviously oil production declines. There has been a 59% decline in U.S. oil production since 1980, the year the windfall profits tax was imposed. It was later repealed, but U.S. oil companies have a responsibility to their investors to act prudently and that has driven them to explore for oil outside of the U.S. or, to put it another way, to find foreign oil.

When you add in the idiotic ethanol mandates, you compound the problem. Graham points out that, “After thirty years, U.S. ethanol production was only able to produce less than 3% of our oil demand last year.” Moreover, “ethanol cost taxpayers $3.3 billion in subsidies in 2007.” Environmental claims that ethanol is cleaner than oil are false. Not only do you get less energy and poor mileage when ethanol is blended with gasoline, it actually emits more carbon dioxide per mile. “It is absolutely impossible for ethanol to replace foreign oil,” says Graham.

The justification for a windfall profits tax on oil companies ignores, for example, that ExxonMobil, just one of the few remaining oil companies operating in the U.S., pays more than $100 billion in taxes on the average.

Less than 11% of ExxonMobil’s profits come from marketing and refining in the United States and the company recently announced it was spinning off its retail outlets. Yes, it made great profits in recent years, but it also had enormous, risk-filled expenses.

Imposing a windfall profits tax on oil companies will give them cause to consider moving their corporate headquarters to other more congenial nations. The city of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates has been engaged in a vast office building effort, perhaps anticipating the movement of corporate headquarters.

Americans greeted the expiration of the ban on offshore exploration and drilling with the expectation that American oil would begin to flow and thus lower their costs for this vital national asset. That will not happen if the President or a Democrat controlled Congress reinstates the ban and/or imposes a windfall profits tax.

The city of Houston has been enjoying a boom due to the increase in the cost of a barrel of oil. Even at $80 dollars a barrel, it is enough to have created “its strongest resurgence in more than 20 years” according to a 2007 New York Times article about Houston. “Some energy companies are expanding and putting up new buildings.” Others, like Schlumberger among the hundreds of service providers to the energy industry have established their headquarters in Houston.

Houston is home to the headquarters of ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips, and foreign owned companies like Citgo, BP and Royal Dutch Shell also maintain corporate offices there.
About half of Houston’s jobs, an estimated 1.1 million positions, are tied to the energy industry. The impact of a windfall profits tax would prove devastating to Houston.

Destroying the oil industry in America, a process that has been in place since the Carter administration, has left the nation vulnerable to foreign sources. The U.S. already imports some 70% of its oil. There has been a significant decline in the exploration and development of national reserves.

Unleashing the energy industries in America could dramatically improve our present financial troubles. Congress, having turned boom into bust, has a historical opportunity to reverse that trend.

Editor’s Note: “Why Your Gasoline Prices Are High” by Seldon B. Graham ($10.95) is available from Amazon.com.

Alan Caruba writes a weekly column posted on the Internet site of The National Anxiety Center, http://www.anxietycenter.com/. He blogs daily at http://factsnotfantasy.blogspot.com/.

© Alan Caruba, November 2008
**********************


Conservativ+Oil+Ethanol+Carbon+Tax e

Planet Wide Anxiety Bubbling To The Surface

Planet Wide Anxiety Bubbling To The Surface.
By J. D. Longstreet
******************************

The human brain has this tiny little part called the amygdale. It’s in that tiny part of the brain where fear is generated and the fight or flee order is given to the rest of the human body. It is where fear is born. As silly as it may seem, it is the reason we humans have survived on this planet so far and, if we are to survive much longer, we are going to have to begin listening to it again.

If you are honest with yourself, you will have to admit that for sometime now that amygdale of yours has been elbowing you to get your attention. It is saying, “Hey, something is wrong! Something is about to happen, prepare, prepare.” OK, so it is a chemical thing and the amygdale doesn’t speak. Well, if it did, I’d bet it would say something like that, though.

If you have been paying close attention to the news lately, and I don’t mean election news, I mean the news that, for the most part never even made the “A” section of your newspaper, you have noticed that certain world leaders have been hinting strongly about a coming event, or events, that is/are imminent and will cause great distress on the people of the planet. Even the US VP-Elect has hinted at it when he mentioned something bad happening within six months of Obama’s inaugurating. Other world leaders have alluded to it as well.

Remember Biden’s cryptic warning a few weeks ago, at the Sheraton in Seattle, Washington: ““I can give you at least four or five scenarios from where it might originate, And he’s (Obama) gonna need help. And the kind of help he’s gonna need is, he’s gonna need you - not financially to help him - we’re gonna need you to use your influence, your influence within the community, to stand with him. Because it’s not gonna be apparent initially, it’s not gonna be apparent that we’re right.”

Well, whether Obama’s reaction to WHATEVER IT IS is right, or not, remains to be seen. But that is not what is troubling me at the moment. No. I am more concerned with what the “THING”, the “event”, the “occurrence”, that is going to happen is!

Seems to me the first worry should be the chances of a terrorist nuclear attack on the continental United States. As a matter of fact, we don’t even know if one has already been attempted or not. Such is the power of the Homeland Security agency. A spokesman for Al Qaida has said their goal is: “to kill 4 million Americans—2 million of them children—and to exile twice as many and wound and cripple hundreds of thousands.” He went on to explain that this is what justice requires to balance the scales for casualties supposedly inflicted on Muslims by the United States and Israel.

It would take over thirtenn hundred terrorist attacks equal to the attack on 9-11 to reach that figure. Or, the terrorists could do it with just one nuclear attack. See?

There is an excellent article on this very thing titled: “How Likely is a Nuclear Terrorist Attack on the United States?” at:

www.cfr.org/publication/13097/how_likely_is_a_nuclear_terrorist_attack_on_the_united_states.html

But, this concern would only affect the people of the United States. The anxiety we are speaking of is felt around the world. There must be something else.

May I tell you what I think it is? I think our friends in the Green Movement have succeeded in scaring the wits out of people with their ever-present chant that the world is ending… right now! It isn’t, of course. It isn’t even getting warmer. In fact, it is getting cooler. Yet, millions upon millions of people, the world over, have bought into the propaganda and as a result, they fear for their lives, and the lives of their children and grandchildren, from a threat of something that doesn’t even exist. Talk about a Bogy Man!

I think this explains how a man as inexperienced and as devoid of substance as Barack Obama won an election to be the next President of the United States. We have a populace so used to accepting the spin of the world’s Mainstream Media that they readily bought into the spin on Obama. They have been conditioned to do that, you see.

My generation is not as easily fooled. My mother used to say: “J.D., you won’t believe ox horns will hook until you’ve been gored!” She was right. I still don’t. So what is my generation afraid of? We’re afraid of what is going to happen if the younger generation continues blindly following the leadership of those nefarious characters who have molded them and conditioned them to accept the results of sloppy science as fact, and accepting that they must live out their days with the Damocles Sword of their self-imposed destruction of the world hanging over their heads. Remember the fairy tale of the King Who Had No Clothes? The Green Movement has no clothes, but as in the fairy tale, everyone is afraid to speak up and question where the facts are. I suspect you will find them in the closet alongside the King’s clothes.

If this were a movie this is the point in the story where the protagonist would grab his sidekick by the shoulders and shake him violently for a second or two and proclaim: “Get hold of yourself man! Start thinking!” But it is difficult to do the entire world that way.

Now, I have just scratched the surface of the underlying cause(s) of the thread of fear running through the psyche of the human race these days. There is more, much more.

Another thing comes to mind. The new President-Elect apparently is set to offer a divided city of Jerusalem on the alter of Middle East peace and, to sweeten the deal, we are hearing rumours that there is also a possibility that he will be willing to offer up Israel’s nuclear arsenal, as well. Our friends at The Liberty Sphere have an article you should read on this very thing at:

http://thelibertysphere.blogspot.com/2008/11/confirmed-obama-supports-dividing.html

And there’s another excellent piece by Caroline Glick at http://www.carolineglick.com/ . The article is entitled: “The Perils Ahead.” You’ll find it at:

http://www.carolineglick.com/e/2008/11/the_perils_ahead.asp

Yes, these are perilous times. I have no solace to offer. It is well to note, I suppose, that Nature has a way of warning us, even when we are not listening, that trouble is brewing. These days, a little paranoia, I think, is a good thing!

J. D. Longstreet

******************

Conservative+Paranoia+Global+Worry+Israel+Terrorism

Controlling A Nations Economy Means Controlling That Nation’s People.

Controlling A Nations Economy Means Controlling That Nation’s People.
By J. D. Longstreet

******************


The title to this article was taken for one of Ronald Reagan’s speeches. It is as true as truth gets. Ronald Reagan, the icon of the conservative movement in America, understood the fundamental truth of the Founding Fathers of America.

The Founding Fathers of America understood that a strong central government would never work in a republican form of government, the form of government they gave the American people. They knew that. They had just declared the independence of Americans from the “strong central government” of King George of Great Britain. They understood that for Americans to thrive and become a great nation of great people the government should provide one thing… freedom. They knew the American government should provide security from any and all enemies that presented a threat to the freedom of the American people so the American people could make the seeds of liberty grow and flourish.

Meeting in Philadelphia in 1776 they labored to create a constitution, the bedrock foundation of this nation, dedicated to the idea that the people would control their own destiny, not the government, that the people would make or break this experiment in democracy, not the government, that the labors of the people, known as business, would be free to create and manufacture, to sell, and to create wealth and keep that wealth or distribute it as they chose, not the government.

The constitution is as simple a governing document as has ever been written. It was drawn up to protect the people of this country from its government. Our Founding Fathers had just turned their backs on government which had insinuated itself into the lives and businesses of its colonists to the point that those colonists rebelled and said: “No more!” With the constitution, the Founding Fathers put in writing the limits of the new American government.

For the past 232 years the constitution has been a fly in the ointment to the political left everywhere on earth. When a people yearning to breath free, anywhere on the globe, look for a way, for a pattern, for directions on how to set up a non-repressive government, they turn to the US Constitution. There must be a reason. There is. Because it works!

Today, however, Americans themselves are ready to toss the constitution overboard and cling to a government, drunk on power and ready to do exactly the same thing King George did , insinuate itself into every aspect of the American people’s life. So bent on desecration of the constitution are they, that 52 % of the American voters cast their ballots for a man who has declared his allegiance to creating a strong central government, which will take away the freedoms, the liberty, our forefathers fought, bled, and died to give us. They have declared their overwhelming willingness to toss the democratic form of government in favor of a socialist form of government, which will guarantee cradle to the grave security. They voted “yes” to exchanging liberty for security. They voted to turn their backs on all the heroes of American history to follow in the footsteps of the Pied Piper of Socialism the now President-Elect of the United States of America.

Again, let’s turn to Ronald Reagan for clarity. In 1964 Reagan said the following:

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


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


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


…….. Regardless of their sincerity, their humanitarian motives, those who would sacrifice freedom for security have embarked on this downward path. Plutarch warned, "The real destroyer of the liberties of the people is he who spreads among them bounties, donations and benefits."


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


On taxation, Reagan said this: “We need true tax reform that will at least make a start toward restoring for our children the American Dream that wealth is denied to no one, that each individual has the right to fly as high as his strength and ability will take him.... But we cannot have such reform while our tax policy is engineered by people who view the tax as a means of achieving changes in our social structure...."


Reagan asked these essential questions: "Will you resist the temptation to get a government handout for your community? Realize that the doctor's fight against socialized medicine is your fight. We can't socialize the doctors without socializing the patients. Recognize that government invasion of public power is eventually an assault upon your own business. If some among you fear taking a stand because you are afraid of reprisals from customers, clients, or even government, recognize that you are just feeding the crocodile hoping he'll eat you last.”


About financial security, Reagan had this to say: “There can be no security anywhere in the free world if there is no fiscal and economic stability within the United States. Those who ask us to trade our freedom for the soup kitchen of the welfare state are architects of a policy of accommodation."


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


As I view the America the voters of this nation created, on November fourth, I am inclined to say that, indeed, we have, just as Reagan warned, sentenced our children to a thousand years of darkness.


J. D. Longstreet

*********************

Conservative+Constitution+Freedom+Security+Socialism

Obama And Hole Digging Rule Number One

Obama and Hole-Digging Rule Number One
By J. D. Longstreet
***********************

The first Rule of Hole Digging is: When you find yourself in one… stop digging! Obama didn’t do that and now he is in too deep. His obvious ineptness in foreign affairs has led to a blunder that will surely come back to haunt him when he tries his hand at a reconciliation of the mess between Israel and the so-called Palestinians. On the home front, his promises of tax cuts for the Middle-Class grow more impossible each time the sun slips above the horizon. So far, the only thing impressive about our new President Elect is his ability to paint himself into a corner and look good while doing it.

As the Obama brigade prepares the stage for the almost immediate turnaround of all things wrong with America under a Bush Administration, some very scary reports of Obama meeting with some of America’s enemies are leaking out. News of occurrences we suspected, but were not allowed to ask about, lest we be shouted down by the Obama legions in the American press and the world press or, as we like to refer to them, the Mainstream Media, is finally leaking out.

One such occurrence which was “blacked out” by the MsM was this one:

Hamas says its officials met with Obama aides before the U.S. Election but kept the meeting secret so as not to aid the McCain Campaign. You can find that story here:

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1036364.html

The meeting apparently took place in Gaza.

So why was this meeting kept secret? Could it be that the American voter suspected, and still suspects today, that Obama has ties to the Islamic community that are not welcomed, and even found to be repugnant by the majority of Americans? Had this news been known it certainly would have had an effect on the election. Whether or not it would have swayed more voters to vote for McCain, and possibly have won the election for the GOP, is difficult to say. But it certainly would have hurt the Obama campaign.

So, what else has been covered-up and blacked out by the Mainstream Media? Remember, this is a Mainstream Media that made no secret of its slavish devotion to Obama. Eventually the answer to that question will be brought to light. By then, of course, it will be too late. Obama is the President Elect, even though that fact sends shudders down the spines of a host of Americans who will work tirelessly to bring the real Obama to light for the public to see and observe for themselves.

Who is Obama? What does he REALLY believe? Did he lie to the American electorate? Is he lying today? It’s all going to come out, but, I predict, it will not matter until, some very serious things begin to come to the fore and America finds herself in real jeopardy. By then, it will be too late.

The left is nothing if they are not persistent and predictable. For those of us who have been around for a while and have even been a part of the Mainstream Media, at some level, we are not surprised by any of this, and we are bracing for the onslaught of the left leaning Mainstream Media types as they suddenly make a massive attempt at changing the bad news Americans are getting now. Soon, beginning before the actual inauguration, you will see, read, and hear stories of how Obama has given new spirit, NEW HOPE, and new levels of confidence to foundering Americans businesses and how his Messianic visage has brought about the salvation of America’s business community.

Now, let’s be honest here. America has bought a “pig in a poke,” as the very old expression goes, and soon, as the snout of that porcine creature begins to peek out of the bag, Americans are going to become disappointed and still others are going to become extremely angry. The vilification of Obama will not only rival that of George W. Bush, but we fully expect it to far exceed that aimed at Bush. Those of you who have nearly melted the trunk lines of the Internet with your heated fury of “W” please be advised… you already have the reputation for bring able to dish it out while not being able to take it when it comes back at you. You are in for a rough time… a rough time, indeed. Many of us are going to be hard pressed to contain our glee, mixed with pity, for those so easily fooled by silver tongued oratory. By the time the deconstruction of Obama is complete, the secret talks with Hamas will seem like trivial stuff.

Based on the way the economic situation of the planet has changed since Obama first made his promise of tax cuts for the Middle-Class, I’d have to say those plans, if they ever really existed, are only as good as they paper they were written on. They certainly have no meaning today. Obama based those “plans” on the world’s economic situation, as it was believed to be when they were devised. All that has changed. HUGE economic challenges face Obama within the first few days of his presidency.

Does Obama REALLY mean to raise the capital gains tax when the last thing hard pressed Americans, especially small business, needs now is more capital drain? And what about Obama’s promise a 39.5 % top tax rate on individual earned income? How many Americans can actually stand that increase without filing bankruptcy?

Obama needs to go back and reassess his tax promises. In fact, he will be forced to do so by the reality of the economic situation the country and the world finds itself in today. Of course, we have no idea as to how the situation will have changed by January 20th, 2009. All expectations now, however, seem to point to the stagnation, or worsening, of the worldwide financial meltdown we are currently experiencing.

If Obama is forced to retreat by the facts on the ground, his “feet of clay” will be revealed for all to see. Some of his most ardent worshipers will have their faith shaken, if not destroyed. That is NOT a good way for a prince of the people to begin his reign.

J. D. Longstreet
*********************


Liberal+Obama+Taxes+US+Economy+Promises+Hamas+Israel

Americans Arm Themselves At Record Pace

Americans Arm Themselves To The Teeth In Expectation of Democrat Gun Control Under Obama
By J. D. Longstreet

*******************

First, take a look at this AP article by Dena Potter entitled: “Fears of Democrat crackdown lead to gun sales boom.” You’ll find it at:

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gHIVt7MERGIbR6SEMaTMPoeCiuiwD94AGFIO0

This was as predictable as sunrise. We told you a number of times to expect this. But, as with so many things, the Mainstream Media is blindsided by it.

Here’s another report on Americans rushing to arm themselves in advance of the Obama Administration. It’s from CNSNEWS.COM. It’s titled:

“Gun-Shop Business Booms in Advance of New Administration”

Here is a brief excerpt: “……..Gun shops and gun shows are running out of inventory as Second Amendment enthusiasts prepare for Barack Obama to become the new president.” You’ll find the full story here:

http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=39115


Here in “Gun Territory”, just minutes from my home, folks are hurrying to purchase a gun. The gun stores are forced to add new sales people to handle the increase in customers. You can read the story titled: “Gun Sales Booming After Election", by John Ramsey, at the Fayetteville Observer site at:

http://www.fayobserver.com/article?id=310283

You may ask why American individuals are buying so many firearms per person. Simple. Some will be used, others will be hidden... concealed. If anyone asks about them they will have been lost, stolen, or destroyed in some kind of catastrophe such as a fire, etc.

Americans are scared witless that the democrats, under the Obama leadership, will make a determined effort to seize their guns. The democrats, including Obama, say they are for “Common sense” gun control. The definition of “Common sense” is what scares gun owners. I mean, when a Congress, so devoid of knowledge about firearms, outlaws an entire type of rifle because it LOOKS scary,” that tells you all you ever need to know about their “common sense.”

Remember those scary weapons? No amount of talking or demonstrating could convince the Congress that the weapons they outlawed were simply weapons designed merely to look militaristic, to look scary. Many hunting rifles carry the same ammunition as those “scary” weapons. The only difference is in the appearance of the weapons. But the “girlie” men in the Congress, and some of the “girlie” girls in the Congress were frightened by the appearance of those weapons… thus… they outlawed them. Talk about “common sense.”

There is a very real concern they will go after concealed weapon laws in the various states that have concealed carry permit laws such as my state, North Carolina. Here in the Tar Heel state one can obtain a concealed carry permit after you have completed a course in handling your firearm and in firearm safety. However, you don’t need a permit of any kind if you carry the weapon in plain sight. Yes, dear reader, you can carry your pistol in a holster, on your belt, in plain sight, and be legal in this state.

We gun owners are not relying on the Supreme Court to preserve our 2nd amendment rights. True, they did just rule that the 2nd amendment means what it says… but… and this is a big BUT… Obama is going to have the opportunity to replace at least two of those justices and, frankly, I cannot see him, or the Senate, approving anyone for the court who is a solid believer in the 2nd amendment. Thus, the fear that soon, our right to guns will be curtailed.

Another thing they have apparently not considered is… a cottage industry springing up in the manufacture of firearms. They are relatively easy to produce in most home workshops.

The majority of Americans now understand, at some level, that America now has a socialist government in power in Washington, DC. They also understand that socialism resembles a whited sepulcher. It may be beautiful on the outside but inside it is filled with the corpses of the dead. Socialism’s outside is layered with promises of all things beautiful but inside there resides the dead bodies of truth. Most Americans know that our new leaders cannot be trusted. That means that the American citizen is vulnerable. That vulnerability is the key to the insecurity that is driving the purchase of weapons.

We are entering a perilous time IN America and FOR America. Already our traditional enemies are moving and positioning their armed forces to areas and positions strategic to their plans for expansion. They know America’s new government will not have the will or the fortitude to stop them and they will have a free hand, especially in Eastern Europe. In the Middle East the Arabs are positioning troops for another onslaught against our only real friend in the area, Israel. Without America’s assistance, Israel will rely on her nuclear arsenal to defeat those age-old enemies. Israel has stated, unabashedly, she will employ her nukes to preserve her freedom, indeed her continued survival.

As US troops begin leaving through Iraq’s front door Iranian troops will likely begin entering the back door. Soon after all US troops are out of Iraq, Iran will, most likely, invade and easily conquer Iraq before another strongman regime can be instituted by the Iraqi people themselves.

Afghanistan will bleed our treasury dry while we have another try at “Nation Building” in a country with a people who have no concept of a nation, only tribes. The Afghanis will simply wait for us to give up and go home before they resume their centuries old way of life groveling in the dirt before the meanest man with the biggest gun.

And these are just the bright spots.

Yes, Americans are arming themselves because they fear what is coming… and with good reason.

J. D. Longstreet

************************

Conservative+Firearms+Freedom+Gun+Control+Gungrabbing+Democrats

How America has Changed ... by Alan Caruba

How America Has Changed
By Alan Caruba
**********************

Many of those who helped elect Barack Obama as the next President represent a very different generation of Americans from earlier ones. They have passed through the politically correct indoctrination of government/union controlled schools and have little accurate knowledge of history, geography, or civics with which to make informed judgments. They are more the product of popular media and culture than any previous generation.

The struggle for civil rights dominated the 1960s. The Watergate scandal marked the 1970s and the nation experienced its first serious military defeat after a protracted war in Vietnam. The rise of the Islamic Revolution began in 1979 and continued through the 1980s and 1990s, until it led to the 9/11 attack in 2001. The nation has been engaged militarily in the Middle East ever since. Events alter perceptions.

Here are some of the ways that America has changed since the 1960s:

The nuclear family—mother, father and children—is no longer the most common household type. It was in 1960, but today the nuclear family ranks third among alternative types of households behind married couples without children at home (mostly older, empty-nesters) and people living alone (also among the growing demographic of older Americans.) Divorce and out-of-wedlock births have caused the number of single parents to increase dramatically. Abortion ends 24% of pregnancies these days.

Most children have working mothers. In America today, 69% of married mothers work. The result is that most pre-school children are in daycare programs being raised and cared for by people other than their parents.

Only 16% of Americans think that our nation’s schools are doing a good job. To put it another way, 84% think schools are failing in their mission to educate today’s children. There are ample statistics to demonstrate this. For example, only 39% of white students in fourth grade were reading at or above their grade level in 2005. Among black students, it was only 12%. Asian American students, however, scored at 40%. Educators tell me that today’s schools are virtual zoos requiring all manner of monitoring of disruptive students. Fear rules the halls of too many schools, both inner city and suburban.

The median household income peaked in 1999 after some forty years of rising incomes. Between 1967 and 2006 the median household income grow by 32%, after adjusting for inflation, to $48,201. The average American household makes $1,000 less than it did a few years ago. The earning power of men peaked in 1989. Between 1967 and 2006, the median earnings of women who worked full-time grew by 53%. Together, those incomes allowed families to buy houses, SUVs, and other top dollar items. Americans have been on a credit spree, however. The median debt of average American households is $55,300!

The Social Security Trust Fund will exhaust its surplus in 2041. Nine out of ten people aged 65 years or older receive a Social Security check each month. It accounts for 40% of their income.

In a recent issue of Budget & Tax News, published by The Heartland Institute, an article noted that “Federal regulations cost Americans almost as much as the income tax and more than 40 percent of all federal spending…Federal environmental, safety, health, and economic regulations cost more than $1 trillion a year in addition to the costs of official federal spending.” These costs are passed along to consumers.

Fully 63% of Americans believe in God and have no doubts about it, but 57% believe that it is not necessary to believe in God to be a moral person with good values.

According to the 2000 Census, America was home to 63 distinct racial groups, but it was the first census in which individuals could identify themselves as belonging to more than one such group, i.e., were multiracial. Whites constituted 211 million people. Blacks were 14% of the population and represented 25% of those living in poverty, but non-Hispanic whites represented 44%. Blacks constitute 41 million Americans and are outnumbered five to one by whites.

Despite the failure of some sub-prime mortgages, fully 68% of households own a home. The Great Depression caused such losses that the government created the Federal Housing Administration and a new system of financing, the 30-year, fixed rate mortgage. By 1950 home ownership rate had climbed to 55%. Allowing people to buy homes with no money down and a reasonable expectation of paying their monthly mortgage has proven to be a very bad idea.

If you were born in 1901 life expectancy was 47 years. By 2006, average life expectancy was 78! The leading cause of death in America is heart disease. More than two million Americans die of this cause every year.

Antonio Gramsci, a dedicated communist, wrote a book setting out a strategy for taking over strong Western democracies by infiltrating their churches and educational system, as well as a nation’s media. Communism could be imposed by turning churches into ideologically-driven political clubs. Educational systems had to be dumbed down and offer a politically correct curriculum. Mass media had to discredit traditional institutions such as marriage and commonly shared moral values.

If any of this looks like America today, consider yourself warned.

Alan Caruba writes a weekly column posted on the Internet site of The National Anxiety Center, www.anxietycenter.com. He blogs daily at http://factsnotfantasy.blogspot.com.

© Alan Caruba, November 2008

*************************

Conservative+Americans+Change+Obama+Culture+History+Family+Education+Religion

Happy Veteran's Day

Please take the time to thank a Veteran for their service today.

J. D. Longstreet
*******************
href="http://technorati.com/tag/Conservative+Veterans+Day+Gratitude+USA" rel="tag">ConservativeVeterans+Day+Gratitude+USA

Conservative Leaders Meet to Draw Up Battle Plans

Conservative Leaders Meet to Draw Up Battle Plans.
By J. D. Longstreet

*****************************

A few days after the election, Conservative leaders met, quietly, in Virginia to draw up battle plans for the fight against Obama and the leftward sprint of Congress. This meeting is said to be the first of many such confabs over the next few weeks. It there was just one topic of discussion I would suggest for them it would be whether conservatives should remain in the GOP or break free and form their own party. You can find the story here:

http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=38961

I’m not privy to what was actually talked about, or discussed, but my fervent hope is that they talked of creating a new conservative political party and pulling all conservatives out of the Republican Party.

Yes, once again, the conservatives are the scapegoats of the GOP for their bungling of the 2008 presidential election. From the viewpoint of someone on the outside looking in, the McCain campaign was, perhaps the worse run campaign I have ever seen in my nearly 7 decades on this planet. It was truly awful. The bluebloods and country club set, the liberals and moderates, made the decision to put John McCain on the ticket as a conservative candidate. See, the first thing you have to understand is… conservatives recognize one another. NONE of us recognized John McCain as a conservative, simply because he is not! So, we conservatives balked. The few conservatives who DID vote for McCain held their noses as they did so.

How many times have you read my scribbling in which I have stated, flat out, that it is impossible for a republican candidate to win a presidential election without the conservative vote? Back in the days of my broadcast commentaries it was a constant theme. It remains today as a thread running throughout all my writings. And yet… McCain tried it… and failed. When conservatives pour their time, talent, money, and most importantly, their zeal and fervor, into a campaign that campaign has the forward momentum of a racecar and the strength of a bulldozer. McCain’s campaign had none of this. Observing the McCain Campaign was akin to watching a car rust!

So, if the so called leaders of the conservative movement want to do something worthwhile they can lead us (the conservatives) out of the GOP and into our own party. I am tired of being the whipping boy for the upper crust within the Grand Old Party. I have had it. They don’t know conservatives until they want our vote or our money.

Understand this, my friends on the left, the conservative movement did not lose on November 4th, the moderates and liberal republicans lost. Harry Truman once said: “Give the voters a choice between a fake republican and a real republican and they’ll choose the real republican every time.” Of course, the same thing can be said of democrats. That’s what happened on November 4th. The only conservative near the campaign was Sarah Palin… and by many accounts… she was not welcomed by the McCain Camp.

If conservatives ever hope to climb to the top of a political party, and really control that party, they/we are going to have to have our own party. It’s a simple as that.

I know it’s tough. I know it will take a long time to organize and get candidates on the ballots in all 50 states, but I see no other alternative short of remaining where we are, in the GOP, serving as a doormat for the elite upper crust of blue bloods and those who frequent the country club.

I had rather put my time and talents toward a party with a platform I believe in, and candidates I believe in, and lose every time than continuing to do that for the GOP only to be sneered at, and told to go to the back of the bus.

Conservatives need national leadership at the top. We haven’t a declared leader, at all. There is no single conservative we can rally around and declare the “Top Dog” today. At the moment the conservative movement is like a ship’s crew without a captain/navigator. We can sail the ship but we can’t plot the course.

One thing is crystal clear, however, conservatives cannot remain in the Republican Party and ever expect to have the respect of the party, nor the chance to lead the party on a conservative course. Our only hope to effect conservative change on the US Government is with our own party.

J. D. Longstreet
***************************

Conservative+Leadership+Political+National+USA

Obama’s Praetorian Guard Or Another “SS”

Obama’s Praetorian Guard Or Another “SS”
By J. D. Longstreet
**********************

The Praetorian Guard was a special force of household troops used by Roman Emperors. Augustus saw the need to establish a body of soldiers explicitly loyal to himself. Following the death of Sejanus the Guards began to play an increasingly ambitious and bloody game in the Empire. With the right amount of money, or at will, they assassinated emperors, bullied their own Prefects, or turned on the people of Rome. In 41Caligula was killed by conspirators from the senatorial class and from the Guard. The Praetorians placed Claudius on the throne, daring the Senate to oppose their decision.


In 1925 Adolf Hitler formed his own personal bodyguard called the Schutzstaffel (SS). The SS was a major Nazi organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. The SS grew from a small paramilitary unit to an elite, powerful, force that served as the Fuhrer’s “Praetorian Guard’ the Nazi Party's "Shield Squadron" and a force with as much political influence as the regular German Armed Forces. Built upon the Nazi racial ideology, the SS, under Heinrich Himmler’s command, is said to be primarily responsible for many fo the war crimes perpetrated by the Nazis during World War Two.


Recently Mr. B. H. Obama President-Elect of the United States of America said the following:
"We cannot continue to rely on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we've set. We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded."

Mrs. Obama said this:
"Barack Obama will require you to work. He is going to demand that you shed your cynicism. That you put down your divisions. That you come out of your isolation. That you move out of your comfort zones. That you push yourselves to be better. And that you engage. Barack will never allow you to go back to your lives as usual, uninvolved, uninformed."

For those of you who traipsed into the voting booth and dropped a ballot for Obama, ask yourselves this: Has Obama described a “New National Brownshirts” organization to make sure you conform to the “Change” he promised to bring you?

Yes, it is called the "Civilian National Security Force.” But what will be its duties? What Obama described is another military unit separate from the current US Military. Other countries have, or had, their national security forces. Countries like the old Soviet Union, Cuba, China, North Korea, and Venezuela, and in the past, Hitler’s own “SS,” and let us not forget the Iranian “Republican Guard.” Glancing over this list of nations…did you happen to notice any similarities among them?

Alan Caruba, a friend and fellow blogger, said just a few days ago: “Barack Obama wants to institute a Civilian National Security Force, a vast militia not unlike Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, a personal army. He knows he would need such a force to protect him and to enforce his will on Americans.” Alan went on to say: “If you want to see another civil war, just wait for this new security force to come into being. Obama would need it because the concept of Posse Comitatus forbids the use of the U.S. military to enforce laws within the nation. An army of domestic followers of “the One” would fill that need, assuming that all other law enforcement agencies failed to resist such a horrendous plan. Alan is “spot on” as our Brit cousins used to say.

We have learned that ammunition sales and firearms sales are at an historical high currently within the United States. Americans are preparing to exercise their 2nd Amendment rights. Our forefathers put that amendment in the US Constitution for just such emergencies as the one we may be seeing develop right now.

Now, here is the bone chilling truth: SOME American citizens will be, as usual, completely happy to allow the government to do whatever it wants as long as nothing is required of them. However, the majority of Americans will not sit idly by and allow a President or a Congress to go “rogue” on us without resisting with whatever means necessary.

At the risk of being referred to as some sort of Swamp Pundit, allow me to assure you it takes no special skill, no special talent, or gift, (as in a ‘gift” to see into the future), to know there will be domestic violence in America’s future. The country is ruptured now, and Obama’s tossing of salt into the wound with his own “Praetorian Guard” will have no curative effect. In fact, just the opposite will occur. There are a lot of angry Americans between the two seas and short fuses are the order of the day.

When America is finished with its warm and fuzzy group hug, congratulating itself on how good it feels to have elected a black man as President, reality is going to set in. Reality can be a hard thing. The first thing Americans will realize is that the nation is just as divided as it was on November 3rd. They will realize, too, racism is still a fact of life in America, as it is in the rest of the world, and, about six months into the Obama regime, when those voters who were besotted by Obama’s charisma suddenly understand there is no way he can even begin fulfilling the promises he made, “Buyer’s Remorse” will set in. There are going to be some very unsettling times ahead for America. A Presidential Private Army will only make matters worse both for Obama and for the people of America.

J. D. Longstreet

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Obama+Praetorian+Guard

What Media Objectivity?

Media Objectivity is Dead! But Most Americans Just Noticed.
By J. D. Longstreet

******************
Pardon me if I stand and cheer when I read and hear reports of newspaper organizations crumbling and going under, some out of business. Forgive me if I applaud loudly as the “unbiased” media gets it’s due.

It is always good to see the arrogant ones get what’s coming to them and of all the arrogant businesses on the face of the planet; theMainstream Media is certainly the most arrogant.

This past election cycle in the United States the Mainstream Media dropped all pretence of being unbiased. They decided early on that Obama was their candidate and they did everything possible to promote him and his campaign… and they succeeded. To hell with what the readers and viewers wanted! To hell with being fair! The media knew Obama was the best thing for America and they went about making absolutely sure he was elected.


It was a terrible thing to do to their subscribers and readers. They have been losing subscribers and listeners and viewers by the droves and yet, they hang on to the overt liberalism in their biased reporting --- all the while insisting that they are not the least bit biased and that all their reporting is “right down the middle”. Why, even a blind man can see through that claim.

Have you ever wondered how blogging suddenly came out of nowhere and became such an overnight success? Well, the bias of the Mainstream Media is your answer. People have grown tired of their false claims and their “in the tank” reporting for all causes liberal and many decided they could do a better job of it by simply telling readers right at the banner head of their website that yes, this site is biased in favor of conservatism, or even liberalism. Surfers on the Internet like that honesty. They surf to a site, see the declaration of it’s biases right on the front page and, Walla, they like it! The Web Log business took off like a rocket and shows no sign of losing strength or popularity among users of the Internet.

Cal Thomas has an excellent piece on this very thing over at:
http://townhall.com/columnists/CalThomas/2008/11/04/media_meltdown?page=full&comments=true We recommend you drop by and read it. He is right on the money.

Thomas mentions an article titled: “The Death of Objectivity” in the Colorado Springs Gazette. That, too, is a must read and you’ll find it here:

http://www.nachi.org/forum/f13/death-objectivity-journalists-work-elect-obama-33863/

For years now, I have been relying on what I refer to as “off shore” media to access news of current events in America. I simply do not trust my own country’s media to supply a straight forward report on what happened, who was involved and when… basically, the fundamentals of a news story, and allow me to draw my own conclusions. I have grown weary of being told what I should think about a news story, how I will be expected to react to that story, and why I should react in a certain way. I’m a big boy. I’m fairly well educated and I have nearly seven decades of experience in a whole lot of things including the broadcast news business.

Will the Mainstream Media recover? Possibly. But I doubt they will survive in the same configuration. Already, many have established a presence on the Internet, experimenting with the “New Media,” if you will. But it will take many decades to recover, even if they are successful. I expect their turf has been lost to the New Media, the Internet. If one could point to any single show of bias from the media as the “coup de grace,” it would have be their almost total and blatant bias for Obama the democratic candidate for President of the US. (Now President-Elect) It will take at least a generation for Americans to finally “get over it” as they say. Me? I will never forgive them for it.

On the other hand, it just might be that the News business has reverted to it’s past when all the news outlets were overtly biased. In which case the newspaper business, as a hard copy, on paper, delivered to your door each morning, is dead. It’s as dead as their objectivity.

J. D. Longstreet

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Liberal+Media+Bias

Some Of Us Mourn The Loss Of America Today.

Some Of Us Mourn The Loss Of America Today.
By J.D. Longstreet
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We mourn the loss of Freedom, Democracy, and America's position in the world as it’s leader. In place of all these, America has chosen SOCIALISM the "Destroyer of Nations".

I am ashamed of my fellow Americans for giving up their freedom, their constitution, their liberty, everything the Founding Fathers gave us, for so cheap a price and so fleeting a dream. They were promised nothing. They accepted nothing and will be given nothing.

The disunity of America is now complete. There is nothing left of that which bound us together. The descent of America, into the ash heap of history, has officially begun. The decline will be relatively swift and excruciatingly painful.

May God have Mercy on America, on those who warned "the other people who live in this country". I cannot use "fellow Americans" as that phrase no longer applies. It has been shredded by the Obama Machine and by the Democratic Party.

It is now time to prepare for the coming anarchy. Providence, it seems, has decided to withdraw it’s protection and leave exposed those who have defaced and destroyed this land from within.

Soon America will face wars within and without our bordrrs, financial collapse, descention between the races, and open hostility in the streets of our cities. Those expecting utopia will quickly learn they have been duped and no such paradise on earth is within their reach nor their sight. They will learn they were simply a means toward an end and now that that end has been accomplished they are no longer needed nor wanted.

Please consider the following from the Bible... Revelation 6: 7

{7} When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come!" {8} I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.

Today we mourn the passing of the UNITED States of America. Today America is the Democratic Socialist States of America. Today the “pale horse” has been loosed upon the land.

America is about to enter a tribulation period unlike anything it has ever experienced in it’s entire history. Our ship of state is about to founder on the rocks and we have chosen an inexperienced deckhand to navigate us away from the shoals and the rocks. America has done some “dumb” things in her colorful history but this one will be forever marked in red in the records of our deeds as the day America forsook freedom for the slavery of socialism.

J. D. Longstreet

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href="http://technorati.com/tag/Obama+Liberal+Socialist+Marxist+America" rel="tag">Obama+Liberal+Socialist+Marxist+America

The Pivot Point in American History.

The Pivot Point in American History.
By J. D. Longstreet
************************

When you cut through all the smoke and mirrors and hot air this election is about whether the US will continue to exist as a proud, free, nation, or slip into socialist slavery. When historians look back on this day, they will say it was the day, the point in history, which changed America. Will America remain free, or will America retreat and surrender to the forces of socialism? The choice is ours, America.

When the great warrior leader of the Israelites, Joshua, had control handed to him upon Moses’ death, the tribes were bickering among themselves as they approached the very doorstep of the Promised Land. Finally, Joshua had had enough! He called them together and challenged them: “Choose you, this day, whom you will serve! As for me, and my house, we will serve the Lord!”

And so it is that today, Americans are called to choose whom they will serve. We will choose to commission certain, from among us, to have power over us. This is an awesome thing. It is voluntary submission. But, it is how a representative republic operates. We must be certain that those we elect are not shallow, empty suits, interested in power for power’s sake. That will defeat the purpose of our republic. It will also place this republic in immense danger.

Our enemies gather today… and watch. They pray for Americans to turn the power of this government over to those who will appease them. Their intention is to conquer the US and they will be happy if the electorate of the US makes it much easier for them to accomplish that mission by electing weak spined, naïve, people to fill the seats of power in our government.

If we choose today to turn this government over to those who cannot, for whatever reason, understand this nation is at war for it’s life, then there will be a heavy price to pay. Just as 9-11, and the two wars which followed, in my opinion, was the price we paid for electing the last democratic administration, we can expect an even heavier price for returning that element to power in the government of the US.

As I cast my ballot one week ago today, I thought of my family, of my wife, of my children and my grandchildren. I was reminded that I have a responsibility to ensure, as far as it is within my power, that they have a guaranteed future as a free people. I could not do that by voting for the Democratic Party. To vote for the freedom and security of my family I had no choice but to vote for the Republican candidates.

You see, I believe Americans have forgotten that for a free nation, national security comes first, above all things. Without the security of our nation, nothing else is possible. Without national security even that which has already been accomplished is in danger. An unsecure nation can only exist at the mercy of it’s enemies. And that mercy, once extended, and accepted, becomes the chain and the shackles that enslave entire nations.

I believe it was the Apostle Paul who once said: “It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of God!” He was, of course, correct. I am convinced this nation was created, by God, as a beacon for the people of this world. As such we Americans are answerable to God for our actions as a nation. We are also told, by the scriptures, that God punishes those he loves. When we act as a God fearing nation, this nation does well. When we fail, we pay the price. When we make the right decisions we prosper. When we make the wrong decisions we suffer.

We stand at the precipice of a decision today. Two choices are presented for us from which to choose. As agents of free will WE must make that decision. Paraphrasing the words of the ancient Israelite warrior prophet Joshua, “America, choose you, this day, whom you will serve”! Choose wisely, America, choose wisely.

J. D. Longstreet
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Obama+Liberal+Socialist+America+Vulnerable+Terrorism+Election

After America… Who Will Lead The World?

After America… Who Will Lead The World?

By J. D. Longstreet

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November 4th, 2008, will likely go down in the history books as the day America gave up her world leadership role and became another “has been” nation.

About two years ago when I first began to look seriously at this fellow named Obama, I recognized his overt socialism immediately. It wasn’t difficult. It was right there for everyone to see… if one wished to see it. But it now seems that millions of Americans are perfectly fine with assisting in the suicide of America by accepting his message of socialism, the destroyer of nations.

I’m an old codger, in my late sixties, and I have seen socialism as an enemy of the United States and what, back in my day, we called Americanism. Americanism is simply defined as democratic capitalism.

When I was in the US military we were taught to fight socialism. We trained to meet the socialists on the field of battle. There was no question that Americanism and socialism could not exist on the same globe without conflict, and, we rightly assumed, armed conflict.

Months ago, as I began to write about the dangers of socialism to America, (and how the Democratic Party has become a sort of Socialist/Democratic party) I was stunned when they, the democrats, did not refute it. I had expected democrats to deny any connection to socialism. But they didn’t. It was then that it struck me… they don’t deny it because they can’t. They have become socialist! They have embraced socialism.

Back in 1935, or so, FDR, a democrat, introduced Socialism to America with his New Deal. America has never been able to extricate itself from the New Deal. It is still with us today.

As hard as it is to fathom, there are millions of Americans today educated in America’s public schools who have no idea what socialism is. As the democrat party controls our public school system, the courses taught are favorable to socialism. American “scholars” are not taught that socialism is a cancer, which will eat away the core of a capitalist nation by simply removing any desire of the citizens to advance their station in life. It squashes all ambition to live better, to make more money, to manufacture better goods, to offer better services, to do/say/produce anything in which one could exhibit pride either in themselves or their country.

How can this be? Well, socialism demands the end of private enterprise. Under socialism there would be no small businesses, no Mom and Pop stores, no entrepreneurs. Socialism demands the redistribution of wealth. That means taking the money you earned and giving it to those who did not earn it. Socialism demands that all wealth in a nation, and that includes yours, will be controlled by the government. In other words, you will own nothing --- not even your own money. The government owns everything and everyone is given only what it takes for that person to survive. Socialism celebrates the lack of an upper class and a lower class. Under socialism there is only one class. And in THAT class all people suffer equally.

It would seem that America has made the decision to turn it’s back on everything good the forbearers made and sacrificed to give us… an America, unique in all the world and in all the world’s history. What, then, is America about to do? America is about to join the mediocrity of the remainder of the world. No longer desirous of the leadership role, no longer willing to do the heavy lifting required by freedom, America has decided to join the pack of “has been” nations now embarrassed by their past glory years.

If I am right, and I am convinced that I am, tomorrow will begin the” Post-America” period in world history. Which leads to the burning question, at least for me. That question is: after America, who will lead the world?

J. D. Longstreet

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Obama+Liberal+Socialist+America

The Obama Commercial ... By Alan Caruba

The Obama Commercial
By Alan Caruba
************************
The Wednesday evening half-hour, $4 million dollar television commercial for the candidacy of Sen. Barack Obama was a masterpiece of imagery.

It was also entirely devoted to class warfare, class envy, and most of all to fear.

This has been the Democrat message since Franklin D. Roosevelt took over the White House in the midst of the Great Depression—the real one, not the Recession the economy has encountered today. We don’t have 15% percent unemployment as was the case in the 1930s, but we do have a vast matrix of costly government programs left over from those times.

Obama’s message and the theme of his campaign are those the Democrat Party has always used to acquire political power. They are the promises about tax cuts that mysteriously never occur once they are in office.

They are about protecting people from every kind of change that could harm them and they promise “change” as a government that will come to their aid in sickness, in their old age, to help their children attend better schools, to help them go to college, and on, and on, and on.

The Obama commercial focused entirely on people struggling against changes in their lives over which they had no control. For example there was a Ford Motor Company couple laid off from their jobs, but no mention is made of the endless federal mandates imposed on all auto companies that drove up the cost of every automobile for everyone, nor the massive union pension and health programs those companies had to agree to in order to stay in business. These and other factors have killed the auto industry in America.

The Obama commercial talked of more teachers and better schools, but ever since the 1960s, the creation of the Department of Education, and the rise of the control over all schools by teachers unions, education in America has declined so sharply that we rank behind many other nations and produce students programmed to believe government is the answer but it has been federal government that has destroyed local community control over schools and their curriculum.

At one point, Obama said, “I will always be honest with you” and I recalled Jimmy Carter’s promise that “I will never lie to you.” Both candidates arrived out of the political wilderness with very thin resumes to suggest they had the knowledge or ability to run a nation. Carter’s one term in office was a failure in so many ways, but worse, we continue to pay for those failures in foreign and domestic policy.

And wasn’t it Obama who promised to accept public funding for his campaign only to renege on that promise?

At the end of the Obama commercial the scene shifted to the now familiar large crowd of adoring supporters. How long will that last if Obama cannot make the Recession go away? How long will his popularity last if the homeland comes under attack again and we see a weak response? It was the decade of the 1990s during which a two-term, Democrat Clinton administration failed to respond with strength against al Qaeda’s bombing of our embassies and other targets. By 2001, the targets were the Twin Towers and the Pentagon.

It is the unanticipated problems that test a presidency, not ones that have been around for decades. And, if Americans think that government is the answer, they need to remind themselves of Hurricane Katrina.

On so many levels, the commercial will have appealed to lots of people, young and old, struggling to pay bills, but the American government works best when it gets out of the way of Americans and let’s them begin new businesses, expand existing ones, and conduct business with the least amount of paperwork and other distractions.

That’s not how the government functions these days and, under Obama, the effort to “change” America will continue to add thousands of new laws and regulations to the Federal Register, but the class warfare and class envy will not end, nor will the fear.

Alan Caruba writes a weekly column posted on the Internet site of The National Anxiety Center, http://www.anxietycenter.com/. He blogs daily at http://factsnotfantasy.blogspot.com/.

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Obama+Liberal+Socialist+America